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THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY 


IN    MASSACHUSETTS, 


<-^=>WITH  =^_> 


|(llii«trafiou^  and  |fit0gniplikiil  §Iietclie^ 


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SOME    OF    ITS    PRC^MINENT    MEN    AND    PIONEERS 


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NENT    v. 


>         VOL.     I. 


PHI LADELPHl A: 


1879. 


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PRESS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO.,  PHILADELPHIA. 


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PUBLISHER'S    PREFACE. 


The  History  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachusetts,  which  has  been  in  course  of  preparation 
during  the  past  twelve  months,  is  at  length  completed,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

The  compilation  of  a  work  covering  such  a  large  extent  of  territory,  and  treating  of  events  trans- 
piring through  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  and  forty-three  years,  as  can  be  readily  understood,  is  a  labor  of 
extraordinary  magnitude,  involving  a  heavy  outlay,  and  requiring  a  vast  amount  of  research,  the  exercise 
of  impartial  judgment,  and  the  most  critical  discrimination. 

The  subjects  treated  cover  a  wide  range, — from  the  adventurous  life  of  the  pioneer  of  1636,  through 
every  branch  of  human  experience,  industry,  and  knowledge,  to  the  wonderful  physical  and  intellectual 
development  of  the  present  day. 

Materials  for  the  work  have  been  abundant.  Several  of  the  towns  in  the  Valley  possess  excellent 
published  histories,  while  the  preserved  files  of  newspapers  and  the  various  records  constitute  a  mine  of 
wealth  which  can  scarcely  be  exhausted.  The  entire  region  abounds  in  rich  treasures  of  local  history, 
and  such  works  as  the  excellent  "  History  of  Western  Massachusetts,"  by  Dr.  Josiah  Gilbert  Holland, 
the  numberless  volumes  in  public  and  private  libraries,  colonial  records,  family  genealogies,  and  biogra- 
phies of  eminent  men  and  women,  are  accessible  at  every  turn. 

The  people  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  are  pre-eminently  intelligent  and  widely  alive  to  all  which 
pertains  to  the  history  of  their  indomitable  ancestors,  and  always  ready  to  assist  in  the  production  of  meri- 
torious works  which  may,  in  any  manner,  shed  additional  light  upon  the  past. 

The  aim  of  the  publisher  of  the  present  work  hasbeen  to  make  it  as  full  and  reliable  a  compendium 
of  the  history  of  this  beautiful  and  iiiieresting  region  as  a  lavish  expenditure  of  money,  time,  and  talent 
could  produce;  and  it  is  believed  tliat  no  similar  ■syork  has  ever  been  published  in  this  country  which 
could  compare  with  it,  either  in  magnitude,  variety  and  interest  of  subjects  treated,  or  in  the  number 
and  beauty  of  its  illustrations,  which  amount  to  not  far  from  five  hundred,  all  excellent  specimens  of 
the  engraver's  art.  -  -  • 

The  plan  of  illustrating  local  histeries  is  one- which  the  people  themselves  have  inaugurated,  and 
which  has  so  enhanced  the  appearance  of  each  successive -volume,  and; so  increased  the  general  interest 
therein,  that  it  has  been  permanently  and  successfully  adopted  by  the  publishers.  The  testimony  of  a 
most  respectable  majority  of  the  citizens,  wherever  such  publications,  have  been  introduced,  and  especially 
among  those  most  prominent  and  best  capable  of  judging,  is  ample  proof  that  portraits  of  those  who 
have  been  or  are  citizens  of  a  county  at  the  date  of  publication;  who  by  their  enterprise,  integrity,  and 
public  spirit  have  materially  aided  its  growth  and  prosperity,  and  whose  lives  have  been  worthy  ex- 
amples, may   very  properly  appear  upon  the  pages  of  such  local  history. 

Ex-Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York,  remarked  of  the  history  of  his  own  county,  that  the  portraits 
therein  of   its  deceased  and  living  citizens  greatly  enhanced    its    value    in   his  estimation.     Dr.   Holmes, 

32072 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 


State  Librarian  of  New  York,  considers  the  illustrated  portion,  including  personal  sketches  of  prominent 
citizens,  a  feature  which  will  become  more  interesting  with  the  lapse  of  time,  and  one  which  gives 
additional  value  to  the  work. 

The  illustrations  of  each  town,  like  its  written  history,  are  distinct  and  complete  in  themselves,  and 
are  selected  as  fair  representatives  of  its  worthy  citizens,  indepeudently  of  any  comparison  with  those  of 
any  other  city  or  town.  The  highest  ideal  is  not  always  reached,  but  the  endeavor  has  been  to  haudle 
this  department  with  due  regard  to  the  rules  of  propriety  and  consistency,  the  tastes  and  desires  of  the 
people  of   the  Valley,  and  the  true  interests  of   the  publisher  and  the  community. 

This  explanation  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  fact  that  there  have  been  those  who  criticised  without 
thoroughly  understanding  the  system  adopted,  and  without  giving  the  subject  due  consideration.  Every 
effort  has  been  put  forth  to  render  this  work  as  complete  in  all  departments  as  possible,  and  to  bring  it 
fully  up  to  the  expectations  of  those  who  have  so  liberally  indorsed  it,  with  the  confident  belief  that 
they  will  appreciate  the  lalwr  and  patient  research  necessary  in  the  production  of  a  work  wiiicii  contains, 
among  other  items,  a  hundred  thousand  ])roper  names,  and  at  least  one  thousand  biographies  and  per- 
sonal sketches.  Perfection  is  impossible,  but  the  work  is  placed  in  tiie  hands  of  its  patrons  witii  tlie 
hopeful  assurance  that  its  immense  array  of  interesting  facts  will  be  invaluable  to  the  student  and  his- 
torian, to  the  professional  man  and  the  mechanic,  and  to  the  farmer  in  the  midst  of  his  family. 

The  writers  engaged  upon  the  work  have  been  almost  invariably  treated  with  the  greatest  courtesy, 
and  have  had  every  facility  extended  which  the  necessity  of  the  case  required,  by  county  and  town  offi- 
cials ;  by  the  clergy  of  all  denominations,  members  of  the  bar,  the  medical  profession,  the  press,  the  faculties 
of  the  various  colleges,  the  principals  of  academies,  seminaries,  and  schools,  and  by  manufacturers  and 
business  men  generally ;  to  all  of  whom  they  acknowledge  their  sincere  obligations.  They  would  also 
gratefully  remember  the  farming  community,  whose  members  have  added  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
interest  and  value  of   the  work. 

To  the  following,  among  many  hundreds  of  citizens,  the  publisher  would  acknowledge  himself  under 
special  obligations:  Judge  Henry  Morris,  "William  Kice,  D.D.,  and  lady,  Hon.  William  L.  Smith,  David 
P.  Smith,  M.D.,  C.  C.  Chaffee,  M.D.,  Wm.  G.  Breck,  M.D.,  P.  Le  B.  Stickney,  M.D.,  Gen.  Horace  Lee, 
Major  Ingersoli,  Paymaster  United  States  Armory;  Capt.  J.  K.  Xeweli,  Brewer  Brothers,  druggists, 
A.  P.  Stone,  all  of  Springfield  ;  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  Easthampton  ;  J.  R.  Trumbull,  Rev.  Dr.  Gordon  Hall, 
O.  O.  Roberts,  M.D.,  Hamilton  J.  Cate,  ^I.D.,  and  Sheriff  Longley,  of  Northampton^  Ex-Gov.  Wm.  B. 
Washburn,  Jas.  S.  Grinnell,  Jona.  W.  D.  Osgood,  M.D.,  A.  C.  Deane,  M.D.,  Hon.  David  Aiken,  Judge  C. 
C.  Conant,  and  Rev.  J.  F.  Moors,  of  Greenfield;  Dr.  Roswell  Field,  of  Gill;  Hon.  George  Sheldon,  of 
Deerfield;  Dr.  C.  ]NL  Duncan,  of  Shelburne;  Dr.  Parley  Barton,  of  Grange;  Jas.  H.  Waterman,  M.D., 
and  Henry  Holland,  of  Westfield ;  Dr.  H.  S.  Lucas,  of  Chester;  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Rockwell,  of  Southwick. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  July,  1879. 


ERRATA. 

On  page  G5,  where  mention  is  made  of  a  small  fort  erected  in  Blandford  about  1744,  it  is  spoken  of  as  being  in  the  caistefn 
part  of  Hampden  County  ;  it  should  read  western. 

On  page  855,  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo  is  mentioned  as  settling  in  Springfield  in  1874 ;  it  should  be  1872. 

Since  the  work  went  to  press,  Charles  McClallan,  whose  purtruit  and  biography  ajipear  between  pages  980-81,  has  deceased, 
his  death  occurring  on  the  22d  of  June,  1879. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME     I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  AND  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTI- 
CUT VALLEY  IN  MASSACHU- 
SETTS. 

CHAPTKR 
I.- 
II.- 
III. 

IV.- 

V.- 

VI.- 


PAGE 

-Introduction 9 

-Civil  Divisiuiis 11 

-Topograph  y 14 

Geological  Untlinus 16 

Indiiin  Occupancy IS 

Early  Explorei-s,  Eaily  Patents  uf 
New  Englaiul,  Tlie  Charter  of 
the    Culony    of    Massachusetts 

Bay 22 

VII. — The  New  England  People,  Origin 
of   the    Engliyli    Puritans,    The 

Pilgrim  Fathers 25 

VIII. — The  Kemoval  to  the  Connecticut 

Valley 29 

IX.— The  Founding  of  the  Mi.ther 
Towns,  tlie  Planting  of  .Spring- 
field in  1C:JG,  "William  Pynchon 
and  his  Books,  the  Planting  of 
WVsIfiehl  in  1G4)J.  Northampton 

in  1654 31 

X.— The  Pefpiut  W'nr 3G 

XI. — The  Separation  of  Springfield 
from  the  JuiiBdictiou  of  Con- 
necticut        39 

XII. — The  Import  Duty  imposed  by  Con- 
necticut upon  Spriiigtield  in 
1645,  Resi.sted  by  Massachusetts.      42 

XIII.— Witchcraft 44 

XIV.— The  Regicide;, 50 

XV.— King  Philip's  War 53 

XVI.— The  Frfnch-aiid-Indian  "Ware 61 

XVII.— The  W-.iv  of  the  Revolution 66 

XVIII.— The  Shays  Rebellion 75 

XIX.— The  War  of  1812-15,  The  Washing- 
ton Benevolent  Society 80 

X-X. — Internal  Improvements jCi 

XXI. — Internal  Navigation,  Improve- 
ment of  the  Connecticut  River..      HG 

XXII.— Railways 97 

XXIII. — Population,  Industi-y  and  Wealth, 

Educational 106 

XXIV. — Valley  and   County   Agricultural 

Associations Ill 

XXV.— The  Bar  <>f  the  Connecticut  Valley.    114 

XXVI.— The  Hampden  County  Bar 121 

XXVII.— The  Bar  of  Franklin  County 127 

XXVIII. — HonKeopathy  in  Western  Mjissa- 

chusetts 134 

XXIX. — Military.  History  of  Organiza- 
tions which  sei-ved  during  the 
Rebellion   1861-65.    The  Tenth 

Regiment 136 

XXX. — Eighteenth,       Twentieth,        and 

Twenty-Firet  Regiments 145 

XXXI.— Twenty-Seventh  Regiment 146 

XXXII.— Thirty-Fii-st,  Thirty-Fourth, 
Thirty -Seventh,  and  Forty-Sixth 
Regiments 151 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXXIII.— Fifty  Second  Regiment 154 

XXXIV.— Fifty-Seventh  and  Sixty-First 
Regiments,  Artillei-y  and  Cav- 
alry      161 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE 
COUNTY. 

ClIAI'TKU  PAGE 

I. — Civil  Organization 163 

II.— The  Courts,  County  Conuni&sionere,  and 

County  Buildings 163 

III.— Representative  Districts,  Civil  Lists 16S 

IV.— Societies 170 

TOWNS  OF  HAMPSHIRE  t'OCXTY. 

Northampton 172 

Andiei-st 235 

Easthanipton 263 

Westhanipt^in 287 

Southampton 301 

Hadley 317 

South  Hadley :J47 

Ware 359 

Hatfield 385 

Williamsburg 404 

Plainfield 42G 

Cummington 439 

Worthington 454 

Middlefield 465 

Gv»8hen 479 

Chesterfield 4'J2 

Huntington 54(6 

Belchertown 521 

Greenwich 534 

Giunhy 542 

Pelham 54S 

Prescott 558 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

PAUE 

G.  W.  Swazey,  M.H facing  i;i4 

Gen.  Luke  Lyman "  146 

Dr.  C.  B.  Smith "  152 

Joseph  K.  Taylor "  153 

E.  C.  Clark "  154 

Mark  H.  Spaulding "  155 

Rev.  Jomiihan  Edwards 201 

Rev.  John  Hov.ker 2(.i2 

Rev.  Solomon  Williams 203 

Rev.  Samuel  P.  Williams 2()3 

Rev.  Mark  Tucker,  D.D 207 

Rev.  Ichabod  Spencer,  D.D 207 

Rev.  John  P.  Cleaveland,  D.D 207 

Rev.  Zachary  Eddy,  D.D 207 

L.  B.Williams 229 

Luther  Boihuaii 230 

Daniel  W.  Btind 231 

Austin  W.  Thompson,  A.M.,  M.D 231 


PAGE 

0.  O.  Roberts,  M.D 232 

Josephus  Crafts 2.32 

Henry  A.Longley between  2;J2,  233 

H.  K.  Parsons "       232,  2:J3 

Ansel  Wright 23.^ 

George  F.  Wright 233 

Gen.  .lohn  Lord* His 2^34 

J.  Howi,*  Demond :i*J.5 

Sanmel  r  Carter facing    250 

Hon.  Edward  Dickinson,  LL.D 201 

W*njt*lill  Dickinson 262 

Ezra  Ingram facing    202 

Simeon  Clark between  262,  2(>;^ 

Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer 2tt3 

Samuel  Williston 284 

Horatio  G.  Knight 286 

Edwin  R.  Bosworth., 286 

William  N.  Clapp between  286,  2H7 

Joseph  W.  AVinslow,  31. D facing    287 

Ansel  Clapp "         300 

Jesse  Lyman "         301 

Franklin  Btjiiney,  M.D 346 

Eleazar  Porter, between  340,  347 

Lorenzo  N.  Granger "        346,  .347 

Hon.  Joseph  Smith "         346,347 

Sylvester  Smith facing    347 

Joseph  Carew 358 

Martin  AV.  Burnett I  etween  358,  359 

Capt.  Broughton  Alvord "        358,359 

Deacon  Moses  Slontagiie "        35S,  359 

Hiram  .Smith,  deceased 359 

Hiram  Smith 359 

Hon.  ("has.  A.  Stevens 376 

Epaphras  Clark 384 

Kingsley  Underwood 385 

Joseph  Smith facing    402 

Cynis  Miller "         420 

Daniel  Collins,  M.D '*         421 

Hon.  Hiram  Nash "         422 

Elnathan  Graves "  42:1 

Thomas  Meekins "         424 

Benjamin  S.  Johnson "         425 

Horace  Ctde "         4-56 

Hon.  E.  H.  Brewster "         457 

Milliam  D.  Blush "         478 

Harvey  Root "         479 

Garry  Munson "  .V20 

Jabin  B.  Williams "         521 

Deacon  Lyman  Sabin '*  532 

Henry  Graves,  Jr between  532,  5:i3 

Joseph  R.  Gould "        532,  533 

John  H.  Morgan facing    540 

S.  P.  Bailey between  540,  541 

LynusTourtellott 541 

Cluules  S.  Record 541 

Addison  Gridley facing    546 

Deacon  Samuel  Smith 548 

Capt.  Wm.  B.  Clark 548 

[Note. — For  additional  biographical  matter,  see 
chapters  on  the  legal  and  medical  pmfessions,  and 
also  the  town  iiistories.] 


N 


CONTENTS. 


ILXjTJSTI?.^TIOnsrS. 


PAGE 

P.\GE 

HATFIELD. 

View  i)f  Coniiectkut  Valley  from  51t.  Noiio- 
tuck  (Frontispiece) facing  1 

Town-Hall            

267 

PiGE 

itle. 

Portrait  of  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer  (steel). 

.facing 

283 

ResidenceofWm.H.  Dickinson 

..facing 

386 

Map  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachu- 

9 

Williston  Seminary... between  284,  285 

Portrait  of  Sam'l  Williston  (steel)       "        284,285 

Smith  Academy 

394 

setts facing 

Portrait  of  Joseph  Smith 

40? 

Portrait  of  William  Pynchon  (steel) " 

31 

Horatio  G.  Knight  (steel).. 

.facing 

285 

Residence  of  Joseph  S.  Wells..., 

402 

Fac-siniile  of  Toinhstone  of  Mary  Pynchon... 

32 

Edwin  R.  Bosworth  (steel) 

..    " 

286 

"             pag:e  from  William  Pynchon's 

"         William  N.  Clapp between    280 

287 

WILLIAMSBURG. 

35 
41 

J.W.Wiuslow,  M.D 

.facing 

287 

Portrait  of  Cyrus  Miller 

..facing 

"             page  from  Pynchon's  Record... 

420 

134   . 

WESTHAMPTON. 

"         Dr.  Daniel  Collins 

■■ 

4"'l 

"          Hon.  Hiram  Nash 

422 

NOETHAMPTOX. 

Portrait  of  Ansel  Clapp 

.facing 

3U0 

"         Elnathan  Graves 

.     " 

423 

Portrait  of  0.  0.  Hoberts,  M.D..  (steel)  ...facing 

135 

.    " 

301 

..    " 

4->+ 

146 

" 

"         Gcii,  Luke  Lyman 

*'          E  C  Clark      '' 

154 
155 

HADLEY. 
Hadley  in  1603 

319 

CUMMINGTOX. 

Shackles  of  the  Old  Jail  at  Xorthampton 

1G7 

Poi-trait  of  Franklin  Bonney,  M.D. 

(steel). 

Residence  of  L.  J.  Orcutt 

..facing 

440 

Central  Part  of  Northampton  in  IS^i!)... facing 

172 

340 

'■                           "                     1870...     " 

172 

Portrait  of  Eleazar  Porter bet\Y 

3en    .340 

,347 

WORTHIXGTOK. 

Memorial  Hall  and  Public  Library 

1S4 

"         Lorenzo  N.  Granger..       " 

340,  347 

Portrait  of  Hon.  E.  H.  Brewster 

•facing 

456 

219 

"         Hon.  Joseph  Smith...       " 

346 

347 

"           Horace  Cole 

4,i7 

Portrait  uf  L.  B.  Williams  (steel) facing 

229 

'•         Sylvester  Smith 

.facing 

347 

"          Luther  Budinan  (steel) *' 

230 

MIDDLEFIELD. 

D.  \\  .  Bond  (steel) between  230 

231 

A.  W.  Thompson  (steel)     "         230 

231 

Portrait  of  Wm.  D.  Blush 

.facing 

478 

"          -Toscplius  Crafts  (steel) facing 

232 

Mt.  Hulyoke  Seminary  (steel) 

.facing 

351 

"         Harvey  Root 

..    " 

479 

H.  .K.  Longley between  232 

233 

Lyman  Williston  Hall  (steel) 

..     " 

351 

H.  K.  Pai-sons "        232 

233 

Carew  Paper  Co.,  Hadley  Falls 

it 

355 

HUNTINGTON. 

233 

„ 

355 

Portrait  of  Garry  Munson 

..facing 

521 

Geo.  F.  Wright ■' 

233 

234 

..    " 

355 

356 

"         Gen.  J.  L.  Otis  (steel)  " 

Hampshire  Paper  Co.  Mills 

"         J.  Howe  Demond  (steel) " 

235 

Portrait  of  Joseph  Carew  (steel) 

..facing 

358 

BELCHEETOWX. 

AMHERST. 

Martiu  W.  Burnett between  358, 359 

"         Capt.  Broughton  Alvord    "         358,359 

Portrait  of  Jusepli  K.  Gould 

"         Deacon  Lvniaii  Sabin 

..lacing 

527 
53-' 

Portrait  of  Samuel  C.  Carter facing 

250 

"         Dea.  Moses  Blontague      " 

358,  359 

,1 

531 

The  Amhei^t  College  Buildings  and  Grounds 

"         Hiram  Smith,  deceased 

.facing 

359 

(double  page) between     250 

Residence  and  Portrait  of  Oreu  Williams, 

251 

u 

GKEEXWICII. 

facing 

251 

WARE. 

Portrait  of  John  H.  Morgan 

.facing 

540 

Massachusetts  Agricultural  College 

254 

S.  P.  Bailey bet^ 

■een  540 

,  rAl 

Residence  of  E.  Hobjirt facing 

254 

Portrait  L>f  Hon.  Chas.  A.  Stevens  (steel). facing 

375 

Residence  of  Estos  Slumiwiiy 

.540 

541 

*'          W  S  Clark   " 

255 

ENFIELD. 

"         and  Portrait  of  Lynus  Tourtolli)!!, 
faciuL- 

Portrait  of  Hon.  Edward  Dickinson,  LL.D. 

541 
542 

(steel) tacing 

261 

Residence  of  Heni-y  Fobes 

..facing 

376 

262 
262 

"          J.  .J.  Howe 

L.F.  Shearer 

..     " 

370 
377 

GRANBY. 

"          Simeon  Clark between     2G2 

203 

"           David  Blodgett 

"           Lyman  D.  Potter 

"           E.P.Smith 

1, 

377 

Portrait  of  Dr.  C.  B.  Smith 

.facing 

V'-> 

(, 

38'' 

"          .lusepli  K  Tavlor 

l.">3 

EASTHAMPTllN. 

,( 

383 

.. 

Residence  of  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer facing 

Mrs.  Emily  G.Willistou...    " 

204 
265 

..     " 

384 
385 

"         WiUiani  B  Clark 

.     " 

.547 

"         Kingsley  Underwood 

"         Samuel  Smith 

547 

ONNE^CTICTST 


\N      MASSKCHUSETTS. 

WmCiNG  THE  COUNTiES   OF/MANKUM.  J(AMFSHIEK  &^ffAMPDm 


V  r  p,  ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLV    FOR  THIS  WORK 
.,        \    y~^      n\  \   j'Adamertlli' 


/\ 


HISTORY 

OF   THE 

CONNECTICUT  VALLEY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 


BY   NATHANIEL    BARTLETT    8YLVESTER. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTKODUCTION. 
I. 

SCOPE   OF   THE   WORK. 

Around  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut*  River,  where,  in  its 
course  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  the  stream  crosses  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,!  clusters  an  untold  wealth  of  historic 
memories. 

The  long  history  of  this  valley — long  for  the  New  World — 
begins,  strictly  speaking,  with  the  story  of  the  building,  by 
John  Cable  and  his  companion  John  Woodcock,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1635,  of  a  solitary  hut  on  the  old  Indian  muck-cos- 
quH-faj,  meadow,  or  corn-planting  ground,  called  Ag-a-wam, 
which  lay  along  the  southern  bank  of  the  Ag-a-wam  River,  a 
half-mile  above  its  mouth,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Quo?i-eh-ti- 
cui,  nearly  opposite  what  is  now  the  city  of  Springfield.  Or, 
in  a  wider  sense,  it  may  be  said,  the  history  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley,  in  Massachusetts,  begins  with  the  planting  of 
Springfield  itself,  near  Us-quaiok,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Quon-eh-ti-ciit 'River,  "over  against"  the  Indian  meadows  yl^- 
a-wam  and  (^ua-na,  by  William  Pynchon  and  his  little  band 
of  pioneer  settlers,  in  the  early  spring  of  the  year  1636,  and 
begins  anew,  as  it  were,  with  the  planting  of  each  new  settle- 
ment in  the  valley.  It  begins  anew  with  the  story  of  the 
earl}'  founding  of  the  plantation  of  Northampton,  in  the  year 
16.53,  on  the  old  Indian  hunting-ground  and  meadows  called 
Non-o-tuck  ;X  with  the  planting  of  Hadley  in  the  year  1661, 
on  the  site  of  the  Indian  hunting-ground  called  Nol-wo-togg ;^ 
with  the  organization  of  the  above-named  pioneer  towns  of 
Springfield,  Northampton,  and  Hadley,  and  certain  contigu- 
ous territory,  comprising  half  the  State,  as  early  as  the  year 
1663,  into  the  old  county  of  Hampshire  ;  with  the  first  occupa- 
tion of  the  Indian  beaver-hunting  country,  called  Wo-ro- 
noak,  now  Westfield,  by  the  Connecticut  fur-traders  in  1640,|| 
and  its  permanent  settlement  by  Springfield  people  in  1669  ; 
with  the  planting  of  Hatfield  in  1670,  of  the  laying  out  of 
Beerfleld  on  the  old  Indian  hunting-ground  Pa-comp-tuck  in 
1672,f  and  of  the  reservation  by  commissioners  for  a  town  of 
Northfield  at  the  Indian  Squnk-heag  in  1669  ;**  and  so  the  his- 
tory stretches  on  through  all  the  intervening  years,  until  the 

*  From  the  Indian  Qiioti-eh-ti-cut,  "Tho  Long  River." — TnirnhuWs  Hist.  Conn. 
QuimiUuk,  "lung  tidal  river;"  Qituiniluk-id,  country  on  either  side  of  "long  tidal 
river." — Col.  Conn.  Ilint.  Societt/,  Vol.  II.,  p.  8. 

■f  From  the  Indian  M'-m-tcha-smg,  "  countrj'  this  side  of  the  mountuk 
nalVs  Top.  Description  of  North  Am.  Mass-utlcliureit,  "near  the  great  I 
—  Col.  Conn.  Hist.  Socitli/,  Vol.  II.,  p.  20. 

t  MiBS.  Col.  Rec.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  :iW. 

8  Mass.  Col.  Roc,  Vol.  IV,,  Part  II.,  p.  13. 

II  See  Mass.  Col.  Bee.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  32:i. 

Tl  Mass.  Col.  Ecc,  Vol.  IV.,  Part  II.,  p.  55S. 

**  Mass.  a>l.  Rec,  Vol.  I.,  Part  II.,  p.  436. 


story  is  told  of  the  final  division  of  the  old,  historic  county  of 
Hampshire  into  four  counties,  and  of  the  planting  of  all  the 
seventy  and  one  towns  of  the  three  counties  of  which  this  work 
treats, — the  last  of  which,  the  town  of  Hampden,  in  Hampden 
County,  was  organized  in  the  year  1878,  just  two  hundred  and 
forty-two  years  after  the  planting  of  Springfield  in  1636. 

In  pursuing  the  history  of  this  valley  through  the  changing 
scenes  and  the  varying  fortunes  of  its  almost  two  centuries  and 
a  half  of  existence  as  the  home  of  the  white  man  and  the  abode 
of  Christian  civilization,  we  shall  first  see  in  our  mind's  eye 
the  opening  clearing  upon  the  site  of  the  city  of  Springfield,  in 
the  dawn  of  its  birth-year,  1636,  with  the  early  traces  of  what 
was  long  its  only  street — now  Main  Street — laid  out  along  the 
"town  brook,"  and  facing  the  long,  narrow  "home  lots"  of 
the  settlers,  which  lots  extended  from  the  street  to  the  river, 
while  at  the  rude  wharf  is  moored  Governor  Winthrop's  little 
shallop  of  thirty  tons  burden,  called  the  "Blessing  of  the 
Bay,  "ft  which  of  a  truth  might  well  be  called  the  "  May- 
flower" of  Springfield,  in  which  the  first  inhabitants,  when 
they  started  with  their  wives  and  little  ones  on  the  old  Indian 
trail,  since  known  as  the  "  Bay  Path,"  for  their  far-off  wilder-  | 
ness  home,  sent  round  by  water  their  scanty  store  of  house-  \ 
hold  goods. 

We  shall  see  at  the  infant  settlements  of  Springfield, 
Northampton,  Hadley,  Westfield,  Hatfield,  Deerfield,  and 
Northfield,  as  they  successively  spring  up  in  the  depths  of 
the  virgin  wilderness,  the  first  half-dozen  log  huts  in  the 
centres  of  little  clearings,  hewn  out  of  the  before  unbroken 
forests,  bordered  on  either  side  by  a  hundred  miles  of  pathless 
woods.  We  shall  see  at  these  rude  pioneer  homes  the  father, 
with  his  gun  by  his  side,  planting  his  corn  among  the  black- 
ened logs  or  in  the  little  Indian  meadow  on  the  river's  banks. 
We  shall  see  the  mother,  surrounded  by  her  infant  children, 
plying  her  daily  toil  within  the  single  room  of  the  humble  log 
dwelling,  and  often  casting  anxious  glances  into  the  shadowy 
woods,  which  her  imagination  peoples  with  hordes  of  wild 
beasts  and  wilder  men,  and  with  troops  of  witches,  goblins, 
and  other  uncanny  things.  We  shall  see  in  the  daily  struggles 
for  the  daily  bread,  in  the  hardships  and  dangers,  in  the  som- 
bre religious  life  of  those  early  pioneer  homes,  the  origin  and 
the  growth  of  those  homely  and  sturdy  virtues  upon  which 
the  prosperity  of  great  States  has  since  been  so  securely 
founded. 

We  shall  follow  the  varying  fortunes  of  these  pioneers  of 
the  wilderness  and  their  descendiints, — the  people  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley, — through  the  weary  years  of  the  witchcraft 
delusion,  into  the  clearer  light  of  more  auspicious  times.  We 
shall  witness  their  suft'erings,  their  fortitude,  their  bravery, 


ft  Built  at  Mystick  and  launched  July  4  1631,  being  the  second  bark  built  in 
the  colony. —  Yoniu/$  Citron,  of  Mues.,  p.  1S5. 


10 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


their  triumphs,  in  the  Pequot  and  King  Philip  wars,  and 
through  the  long  and  bloody  French  and  Indian  wars.  "We 
shall  dwell  with  pride  upon  the  noble  part  they  took  in  the 
war  for  Independence,  and  bring  the  story  to  its  close  in  re- 
counting the  wonderful  development  of  the  last  fifty  years, — a 
progress  which  has  made  the  valley  to-day  almost  a  continuous 
city,  stretching  along  both  banks  of  its  beautiful  river  across 
the  entire  State  from  north  to  south,  inhabited  by  almost  two 
hundred  thousand  people,  counting  their  aggregate  wealth  by 
tens  of  millions,  enriching  all  lands  with  the  material  prod- 
ucts of  their  countless  workshops,  and  enlightening  the  world 
by  the  precious  fruits  of  their  intellectual  labors.  And  all 
this  long  stor)',  from  the  date  of  the  weak  and  weary  j'cars  of 
the  first  feeble  settlements  in  the  valley,  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  the  present  era  of  its  prosperity  and  power 
in  the  closing  j'ears  of  the  nineteenth, — a  period  of  more  than 
two  hundred  and  forty  years, — is  but  the  story  of  the  struggles 
and  the  triumphs,  the  ceaseless  endeavor  and  fruitful  achiev- 
ments,  of  a  branch  of  that  people  which  must  be  classed  among 
the  most  remarkable  the  world  ever  produced, — the  people  of 
New  England. 

But  this  is  not  all.  For  a  hundred  j-ears  this  valley  and 
the  mountain  towns  adjoining  have  been  sending  forth  their 
full  share  of  that  mighty  stream  of  New  England  emigrants 
over  the  Berkshire  hills,  across  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and 
over  the  Allegbanies  into  the  ever-retreating  West,  carrying 
with  them  the  daring  enterprise,  the  nimble,  inventive  skill, 
the  cheerful  endurance,  the  love  of  liberty  under  law  and 
order,  the  high,  religious  life,  chastened  b_y  the  traditions  of 
suffering  and  sacrifice  in  early  pioneer  homes,  the  vivid  appre- 
ciation of  beauty  and  refinement  everywhere  characteristic  of 
the  New  England  people,  until  every  State  in  the  nation,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  bears  upon  all  its  institutions  the 
unmistakable  impress  of  its  high  New  England  parentage. 

Thus  has  this  valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts 
for  a  hundred  years  been  lavishly  giving  of  her  best  citi- 
zens to  people  the  fertile  fields  of  the  teeming  West,  yet  the 
cup  of  her  prosperity  is  still  full  to  the  brim  and  running 
over. 

II. 

THE   NEW   ENGLAND   SPIRIT. 

The  carh-  settlers  who  came  across  the  ocean  to  subdue  New 
England,  of  whom  the  first  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Valley 
formed  a  part,  were  weak  in  numbers  and  mostly  poor  in 
worldly  goods,  but  they  were  rich  in  faith  and  strong  in  spirit ; 
and  the  result  has  been  that  from  the  handful  of  feeble  pil- 
grims a  mighty  nation  has  arisen,  still  deeply  imbued  with 
their  rich  faith  and  strong  spirit,  which  nation  now  gives 
sustenance,  liberty,  and  law  to  the  world. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  fathers  in 
coming  hither  was  "to  advance  their  church,  to  build  them- 
selves in  holiness,  to  convert  the  Indian,  and  to  promote  free- 
dom." 

That  this  was  their  object  and  aim  there  is  abundant  evi- 
dence. The  company  in  its  first  general  letter  to  Endicott 
and  his  council,  under  date  of  17th  April,  1629,  says  : 

"And  for  the  propagating  of  the  Gospel  is  the  thing  we  do 
profess  above  all  to  be  our  aim  in  settling  this  Plantation.  We 
have  been  careful  to  make  plentiful  provision  of  godly  minis- 
ters, by  whose  faithful  preaching,  godly  conversation,  and 
exemplary  life  we  trust  not  only  those  of  our  own  nation  will 
he  built  up  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  but  also  the  Indians  may 
in  God's  appointed  time  be  reduced  to  the  obedience  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ."* 

Again,  in  the  preamble  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation  be- 
tween the  United  Colonies,  adopted  UHh  Ma_y,  1643,  there  is 
this  language:  "Whereas  we  all  came  into  these  parts  with 


*  Young'8  Chron.  of  Maaa.,  p.  141. 


one  and  the  same  end,  namely,  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of  the  gospel  in 
purity  with  peace." 

Having  thus  come  to  the  solitudes  of  the  New  World  with 
this  high  end  and  aim  in  view,  and  having  themselves  passed 
through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  religious  persecution  at  home,  in 
their  treatment  of  those  of  diflerent  faith,  who  early  sought 
homes  among  them,  the  charge  of  inconsistency  has  often  been 
laid  at  their  door. 

It  has  often  been  urged,  and  with  much  plausibility,  that 
they  who  fled  from  religious  intolerance  in  the  Old  World 
should  have  themselves  practised  religious  toleration  in  the 
New.  But  those  who  use  this  argument  forget  the  spirit  of 
the  age  as  well  as  the  circumstances  under  which  they  lived, 
and  the  high  ideal  of  the  New  England  fathers. 

The  .spirit  of  the  age  was  distinguished  by  its  intense  reli- 
gious fervor.  The  world  to  come,  now  of  such  dim  and 
shadowy  aspect  to  the  bodily  senses  of  modern  men,  although 
perhaps  no  less  real  to  their  eye  of  faith,  was  to  the  Puritan 
fathers,  in  the  dim  light  of  the  imperious  and  awful  theologic 
dogmas  which  guided  their  daily  walk,  a  tangible,  if  not  visi- 
ble, reality.  To  their  haunting  visions  of  immortal  joy  or 
woe  saddening  their  lives,  must  be  added  the  contest  with  the 
grim  wilderness,  the  hard,  unrelenting  circumstances  of  pio- 
neer life.  Each  age  has  its  own  methods  of  battling  for  the 
right  and  asserting  justice.  Each  age  has  its  own  ideas,  too, 
of  what  is  right  and  just,  but  conscience — the  desire  to  do  right 
and  justly — has  been  active  in  all  ages,  perhaps  more  active  in 
the  age  of  the  Puritans  than  now. 

It  should  be  remembered,  also,  that  while  religious  intoler- 
ance is  wrong  when  it  is  not  necessarj'  for  the  public  safety, 
it  becomes  a  virtue  when  needful  in  self-defence  and  where 
tolerance  would  be  public  ruin. 

The  early  New  England  people,  in  order  to  protect  their  re- 
ligious freedom,  were  obliged  to  exclude  with  a  strong  hand 
those  in  whose  presence  they  could  not  live  with  security. 
They  had  fled  from  the  powerful  English  hierarchy  to  the  wild 
solitudes  of  America.  Should  they  sutler  it  to  follow  them  ? 
Divisions  in  their  councils,  in  their  weak  and  defenceless  con- 
dition, would  be  fatal  to  their  peace,  if  not  to  their  very  exist- 
ence. Should  they  sutler  divisions  to  occur?  In  tho.se  days, 
too,  religious  toleration  held  no  place  among  the  Christian 
virtues.  To  difter  from  the  established  religion  was  rank 
heresy,  and  heresy  was  punished  in  most  Christian  countries 
as  a  heinous  crime.  It  was  the  high  ideal  of  the  New  England 
fathers  to  engraft  upon  the  new  State  a  new  form  of  Christian 
worship,  subject  to  the  same  restrictions  as  the  old.  But  thej' 
sought  more.  Their  aim  was  nothing  less  than  the  complete 
sanctification  of  the  State.  To  make  a  pure  and  perfect  State, 
founded  in  every  respect  upon  the  sublime  teachings  of  Holy 
Writ  in  worship  and  morals,  was  what  they  attempted.  To 
further  this  end,  they  rightly  judged  that  to  fashion  and  mould 
a  State  the  individual  members  thereof  must  first  be  fashioned 
and  moulded,  and  so  they  began  at  the  foundation,  and  kept 
the  strictest  watch  over  every  individual  in  the  colony  whether 
high  or  low. 

Every  one's  conduct  was  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions 
the  subject  of  stricture  and  discipline,  and  every  infraction  of 
law  or  duty  promptly  and  severely  punished.  In  religious 
matters  especially,  no  such  thing  as  freedom  of  individual 
opinion  existed.  Heresy  in  every  form  must  be  nipped  in  the 
bud  as  a  thing  dangerous  to  both  the  State  and  the  souls  of 
men.  No  inipure  thing  like  witchcraft  must  be  suftered  to 
live  for  a  moment.  All  who  participated  in  the  government 
in  any  form  must  be  members  of  the  visible  church,  and  must 
square  their  every  action  by  the  Mosaic  law  of  the  Bible. 
There  must  bo  one  common  faith,  one  common  church,  one 
commonwealth.  These  facts,  so  often  overlooked  in  consider- 
ing their  case,  while  they  by  no  means  justify  their  errors  and 
excesses,  explain  their  conduct.     That  they  were  zealots  and 


HISTOllY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


11 


committed  excesses  in  the  line  of  discipline  and  punishment  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  consider  their  views  of  things. 
Judged  from  their  standpoint  they  were  in  the  right,  or  at 
least  excusable.  In  the  broader  light  of  modern  times  they 
were  outrageously  in  the  wrong.  Yet  no  unprejudiced  one 
has  ever  for  a  moment  doubted  the  unflinching  honesty  of 
purpose,  the  deep  sense  of  responsibility,  and  the  high  moral 
aims  of  the  New  England  fathers.  Out  of  their  very  faults, 
or  rather  out  of  those  heroic  virtues,  which  they  often  carried 
into  grievous  faults,  have  developed  the  grandest  results  in 
modern  history.  The  best  things  of  the  nation  germinated  in 
New  England. 

Local  self-government  guided  by  the  spirit  of  law  and  order, 
appealing  to  the  conscious  dignity  and  innate  self-respect  of 
human  nature,  and  which  is  the  very  foundation  of  our  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  from  which  so  many  blessings  flow, 
had  its  birth-place  in  the  town-meetings, — the  first  feeble  or- 
ganizations of  the  early  New  England  towns  at  Plymouth 
Kock,  at  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  in  the  Valley  of  the  Connec- 
ticut. And  this  is  the  more  remarkable  when  we  consider 
that  it  took  place  in  the  opening  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, while  the  lordly  Stuarts  were  on  the  English  throne, 
haughty  and  unrelenting  in  the  enforcement  of  the  royal  pre- 
rogative, and  the  Bourbon  kings  had  yet  in  store  almost  two 
centuries  of  despotic  sway  in  now  republican  France. 

And  in  the  New  England  Confederacy  of  1043,  for  which 
they  had  no  warrant  in  their  charters,  "but  which  in  its  incep- 
tion was  a  bold  assumption  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  young 
colonies,  we  see  the  prototype  and  germ  of  our  great  republic. 

And  further  still,  the  high  culture,  the  refined  and  elegant 
life  of  the  nation  first  took  root  in  the  rugged  soil  of  New  Eng- 
land. The  wonder  is  that  so  fair  and  fragile  a  flower  as  cul- 
ture should  ever  have  flourished  amid  such  rocky  solitudes  as 
the  wild  New  England  shores  of  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago. 

The  very  next  thought  of  the  Puritan  fathers  of  New  Eng- 
gland,  after  making  provision  for  the  support  of  the  gospel 
and  organizing  their  government,  was  to  establish  institutions 
of  learning. 

As  early  as  the  28th  day  of  October,  1636,  the  general  court 
provided  for  a  college,*  which  two  years  after,  on  the  13th 
March,  1638-39,  was  named  in  honor  of  its  first  considerable 
benefactor,  the  Rev.  John  Harvard. f 

"After  God,"  says  an  old  chronicler,  "had  carried  us  safe 
to  New  England,  and  we  had  builded  our  houses,  provided 
necessaries  for  our  livelihood,  reared  convenient  places  for 
God's  worship,  and  settled  civil  government,  one  of  the  next 
things  we  longed  for  and  looked  after  was  to  advance  learning, 
and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity  ;  dreading  to  leave  an  illiterate 
ministry  to  the  churches  when  our  present  ministers  shall  lie 
in  the  dust.  And  as  we  were  thinking  and  consulting  how  to 
effect  this  great  work,  it  pleased  God  to  stir  up  the  heart  of 
one  Mr.  Harvard,  a  godly  gentleman  and  a  lover  of  learning 
then  living  amongst  us,  to  give  the  one-half  of  his  estate,  it 
being  in  all  about  £1700,  towards  the  erecting  of  a  college, 
and  all  his  library.  "J 

But  the  pulpit  of  New  England  has  after  all  been  its  high- 
est educator.  In  every  village  and  hamlet,  in  the  centre  of 
every  hill  town  in  the  land,  stood  a  humble  church  edifice, 
in  which  ofliciated  a  man  of  liberal  education,  and  it  may 
be  said,  almost  without  exception,  of  gentle  manners  and  of 
much  culture  and  refinement.  Possessed  of  almost  imperious 
power,  the  New  England  minister  moulded  the  hearts,  the 
minds,  the  manners  of  the  people  into  his  own  image. 

And  the  religious  spirit,  which  was  the  controlling  spirit  of 
the  New  England  people,  is  itself  the  most  refining  of  all  in- 
fluences.    Eeligion  in  its  various  forms,  notwithstanding  tlie 


*  Mass.  Col.  Eec,  Yol.  I.,  p.  18.-!. 
t  Mass,  Col.  Eec,  Vul.  I.,  p.  2.33. 
X  New  Eoglaad's  First  Fruifcj,  p.  12. 


enormities  committed  in  its  name,  is  the  crucial  fire  that  re- 
lieves human  life  of  its  dross,  and  sends  forth  the  pure  gold 
of  human  conduct  to  enlighten,  to  vivifj',  and  to  bless  the 
world. 

"With  such  surroundings  the  New  England  people  moulded 
their  own  destiny.  Under  such  influences  they  made  them- 
selves the  Etrurians  of  the  West. 

The  settlement  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  followed  close 
upon  the  settlement  of  the  Bay.  The  settlers  of  the  valley,  as 
it  were,  on  their  way  from  their  English  homes  tarried  four 
or  five  years  at  the  Bay  to  take  a  breathing  spell  before  they 
encountered  the  dangers  of  the  great  wilderness  in  their  final 
homes  on  the  great  river  of  New  England. 

It  will  readily  be  seen,  that  while  the  history  of  the  valley 
is  in  many  respects  the  history  of  a  distinct  and  separate  com- 
munity, yet  so  bound  up  are  its  people  in  their  relations  to  the 
people  at  the  Bay  and  in  the  mother  country,  that  no  intelli- 
gible history  of  the  valley  can  be  given  without  some  account 
at  least  of  what  and  who  the  settlers  were  in  their  English 
homes,  and  without  some  account  of  what  the  settlers  did  at 
Plymouth  and  the  Bay. 


CHAPTER  IL 


CIVIL   DIVISIONS-COUNTIES— TOWNS.  

I. 
EXTENT   OF   TEURITORIES    INCLUDED    IN   THIS    WORK. 

The  Connecticut  Valley  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  of 
which  this  volume  treats,  extends  along  both  sides  of  the  Con- 
necticut River,  across  the  whole  width  of  the  State  from  north 
to  south,  and  comprises  the  three  counties  of  Ham[)shire, 
Franklin,  and  Hampden,  named  in  the  order  of  their  erection. 

This  territory  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  States  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire,  on  the  east  by  the  county  of  Wor- 
cester, on  the  south  by  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  on  the 
west  by  the  county  of  Berkshire.  It  has  an  average  length 
from  north  to  south  across  the  State  of  iibout  forty-nine  miles, 
and  an  average  width  from  east  to  west  between  Worcester 
and  Berkshire  Counties  of  forty  miles.  It  is  centrally  distant 
on  an  air-line  from  Boston  about  eighty  miles,  and  about  one 
hundred  miles  by  the  usual  travelled  route. 

This  territory  is  situated  between  latitude  42°  and  42°  45' 
north,  and  between  longitude  3°  52'  and  4°  5'  east  from  Wash- 
ington, and  longitude  72°  8'  and  73°  4'  west  from  Greenwich. 

According  to  the  last  census,  taken  in  the  year  1875,  the 
population  of  Hampshire  County  was  44,821  ;  of  Franklin 
County,  33,696  ;  and  of  Hampden  County,  94,304  ;  the  whole 
territory  included  in  this  history  containing  a  population  of 
172,821. 

II. 

HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 

The  county  of  Hampshire  was  erected  and  organized  by  the 
Colonial  General  Court,  at  a  session  of  the  same  held  at  Boston, 
on  the  7th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1662,  by  the 
following  act,  which  is  copied  from  the  records  of  the  court  in 
the  original  orthography,  and  is  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"  At  a  General  Court  of  Election,  held  at  Boston,  7th  day,  3d  mouth,?  a.b.  166  2  . 

"Forasmuch  as  the  inhabitantsof  this  jurisdiction  are  much  increased,  so  that 
now  they  are  planted  farre  into  the  country  upon  Connecticut  Biver,  who  by 


§  May.  According  to  the  Julian  method  of  computing  time,  or  what  is  famil- 
iarly known  as  Old  Style,  the  civil  year  began  on  the  25th  day  of  March,  and 
March  was  called  the  first  month  and  Februai-y  the  twelfth.  To  reconcile  this 
method  with  the  historical  year,  which  began  January  1,  as  now,  in  all  dates 
before  March  25,  both  years  were  given :  thus  January  2, 1062-63,  meant  January 
2, 1662,  of  the  civil  year,  and  January  2, 1663,  of  the  historical  year.  Of  couree  on 
all  dates  between  March  25  and  Dweniber  31,  both  inclusive,  the  date  of  the 
year  ran  the  same  in  both  ciises.  Tliia  method  was  used  in  England  and  her 
colonies  until  the  Old  Style  was  changed  to  the  New  by  act  of  Parliament  in  1752. 


12 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


reason  of  their  remoteness  cannot  conveniently  be  annexed  to  any  of  the  coun- 
tyes  already  settled,  and  that  publicke  afTaires  may  with  more  facility  be  trans- 
acted according  to  the  lawes  heere  established,  it  is  ordered  by  this  Court  &  au- 
thority thereof,  that  henceforth  Springfeild,  Noi-thanipton,  and  Hadley  shall  be 
and  are  hereby  constituted  as  a  county,  the  bounds  or  Ijmitta  on  the  south  to 
be  the  south  Ijne  of  the  patent;  the  extent  of  other  bounds  to  be  full  thirty 
miles  distant  from  any  or  either  of  the  foresajd  townes,  &  what  townes  or  vil- 
lages soever  shall  heerafter  be  erected  within  the  foresajd  precincts  to  be  & 
belong  to  the  siyd  county  ;  and  further  that  the  sajd  county  shall  called  Hamp- 
shire, &  shall  have  and  enjoy  the  libertjes  &  priviledges  of  any  other  county; 
&  that  Springfeild  shall  be  the  shire  towne  theer,  &  the  Courts  to  be  kept  one 
time  at  Springfeild  &  another  time  at  Northampton ;  the  like  order  to  be  ob- 
served for  their  shire  meetings,  that  is  to  say  one  yeere  at  one  towne  and  the 
next  yeare  at  the  other  from  time  to  time.  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  all  the 
inhabitants  of  that  shier  shall  pay  their  publicke  rates  to  the  countrey  in  fatt 
catle,  or  young  catio  such  as  are  iitt  to  be  putt  off  that  so  no  unnecessary  damage 
be  put  on  the  country ;  &  in  case  they  make  payment  in  corne  then  to  be  made 
at  such  prises  as  the  lawe  doe  commonly  passe  amongst  themselves,  any  other 
former  or  annuall  orders  referring  to  the  prises  of  come  notwithsttmding."* 

Hampshire  County  an  Original  Couniy  of  the  State. — It 
will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  record  that  when  Hampshire 
County  was  erected  and  organized  in  the  year  1662  it  was  not 
set  off  from  or  carved  out  of  an  older  county  of  the  colony  hut 
it  was  erected  entirely  out  of  virgin  territory,  never  before 
placed  under  county  organization.  Hamp.shire  County  there- 
fore became  one  of  the  original  or  mother  counties  of  the  State. 
That  such  is  the  fact  will  be  readily  seen  by  reference  to  the 
first  division  of  the  colony  or  the  eastern  part  of  it  into  coun- 
ties in  the  year  1643.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  minutes 
of  the  General  Court,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the 
first  division  of  the  State  into  counties,  although  the  valley  of 
the  Connecticut  had  been  settled  for  .seven  years,  and  Spring- 
field had  already  been  recognized  as  a  town  by  the  General 
Court,  it  was  not  included  in  either  county  then  erected,  and 
that  its  territory  formed  no  part  of  any  county  until  nineteen 
years  afterward,  when  it  was  united  with  Northampton  and 
Hadley  to  form  Hampshire  County. 

"  At  a  General  Court  of  Election  held  at  Boston,  10th  day  of  the  3d  month, 
A.D.  1643. 

"  The  whole  plantation  within  this  jurisdiction  is  divided  into  four  sJieires,  to 
wit:t 

"  Essex.  Mipplesex. 

Salem,  Charlstowne, 

Linn,  Cambridge, 

Enon,  Watert^iiwn, 

Ipswich,  Sudberry, 

Kowley,  Concord, 

NewbeiTy,  Wooborne, 

Glocester,  Meadford, 

Cochichawick.  Linn  Village. 
(Andover.) 
"  SiTFFOLK.                                              Norfolk. 

Boston,  Salsberry, 

Koxbury,  Hampton, 

Dorchester,  Haverill, 

Dedham,  Excetter, 

Braintree,  Dover, 

Waymoth,  Strawben-y  Banck." 

Hingham,  (Portsmouth.) 

Nantaskot. 

La7-ge  Extent  of  Old  Hampshire  County. — It  will  be  seen  that 
when  first  erected,  Hampshire  County,  although  containing 
within  its  limits  but  three  towns,  Springfield,  Northampton, 
and  Hadley,  yet  in  extent  of  territory  it  covered  all  the  western 
half  of  that  part  of  the  State  then  belonging  to  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.  It  included  the  western  tier  of  towns  of 
what  is  now  Worcester  County,  and  the  whole  of  what  are 
now  the  counties  of  Franklin,  Hampshire,  Hampden,  and 
Berkshire. 

First  Division  of  the  County— Towns  in  Worcester  County 
set  o/r.— The  first  division  of  the  territory  of  Old  Hampshire 
County  was  made  by  the  Provincial  General  Court  in  the 
year  a.d.  1730,  and  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  George  II. 
Below  is  given  the  first  section  of  the  act,  which  shows  the 


*  Mass.  G>1.  Bee,  Vol.  IV.,  Part  II.,  p.  52. 
t  See  Mass.  Col.  Kec.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  38. 


territory  affected  by  it.  The  act  took  effect  on  the  10th  day  of 
July,  1631. 

*'v4n  aci  for  erecting,  graiiling,  and  maJcing  a  cmmly  in  Vie  inland  parts  of  this  promnce, 
to  be  called  the  counttf  of  Worcester,  and  for  establishing  courts  of  justice  within  the 
Sonne. 

"  Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Repre- 
sentatives, in  general  court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  the 
towns  and  places  hereinafter  named  and  exjjressed,  that  is  to  say,  Worcester, 
Lancaster,  Rutland,  and  Lunenburgh,  all  in  the  county  of  Middlesex;  Mendon, 
Woodstock,  Oxford,  Sutton,  including  Hilssanamisco,  Uxbridge,  and  the  land 
lately  granted  to  several  petitioners  of  Medfield,  all  in  the  county  of  Suffolk, 
Brookfield  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  the  south  town  laid  out  for  the  Nar- 
ragansett  soldiei-s,  and  all  other  lands  lying  within  the  said  townsliips,  with  the 
inhabitants  thereon,  shall  from  and  after  the  tenth  day  of  July,  which  will  be  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundr-ed  and  thirty-one,  be  and  remain 
one  entire  and  distinct  county  by  the  name  of  Worcester,  of  which  Worcester 
to  be  the  county  or  shire  town,  and  the  said  county  to  have,  use,  and  enjoy  all 
such  powers,  privileges,  and  immunities  as  by  law  other  counties  within  this 
province  have  and  do  enjoy."J 

Berh.'ihire  County  Set  Off. — The  second  division  of  Old 
Hampshire  County  was  made  by  the  provincial  General  Court 
in  the  year  a.d.  1761,  and  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  George 
III. 

The  first  section  of  the  act  given  below  shows  what  terri- 
torial changes  were  made  by  it.  The  act  took  effect  on  the 
30th  day  of  June,  1761. 

"^n  Act  for  dividing  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  for  erecting  and  estffhlishing  a  nejv 

cotmty  in  the  icesiei-ly  part  of  the  county  of  Hampshire,  to  be  called  the  cotuity  of 

BerJ:shire,  and  for  establishing  courts  of  justice  within  the  same. 

*'  Whereas,  The  great  extent  of  the  county  of  Hampshire  makes  it  convenient 

and  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  new  county  erected  and  established  in  the 

westerly  part  thereof: 

"  Sec.  1.  Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Governor,  Council,  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, that  the  towns  and  plantjitions  hereinafter  mentioned,  that  is  to 
say,  Sheffield,  Stockbridge,  Egremont,  New  Marlborough,  Poontoosack,  New 
Framinghara,  West  Hoosack,  Number  One,  Number  Three,  and  Number  Four, 
and  all  other  lands  included  in  the  following  limits,  viz. :  beginning  at  the  west- 
ern line  of  Gi-anvill  where  it  touches  the  Connecticut  line,  to  run  northerly  as 
far  as  said  west  line  of  Granvill  runs,  thence  easterly  to  the  southwest  corner  of 
Blandford,  and  to  run  by  the  west  line  of  the  same  town  tti  the  northeast  corner 
thereof,  from  thence  northerly  in  a  direct  line  to  the  s<:)utheast  corner  of  Num- 
ber Four,  and  so  running  by  the  easterly  line  of  said  Number  Four  to  the  uortli- 
east  corner  thereof,  and  thence  in  a  direct  course  to  the  soutlieast  corner  of 
Charlemont,  and  so  northerly  in  the  corner  of  tlie  west  lino  of  the  same  town  till 
it  comes  to  the  north  bound  of  the  province,  and  northerly  on  the  line  between 
this  province  and  the  province  of  New  Hampshire,  southerly  on  the  Connecticut 
line,  and  on  the  west  by  the  utmost  limits  of  this  province,  shall  from  and  after 
the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  one,  be  and 
remain  one  entire  and  distinct  county  by  the  name  of  Berkshire,  of  which  Shef- 
field tor  the  present  to  be  the  county  or  shire  town ;  and  the  said  county  to  have, 
use,  and  enjoy  all  such  powei-s,  privileges,  and  immunities  as  by  law  other  coun- 
ties in  this  province  have  and  do  enjoy."g 

Present  Extent  of  Hampshire  Couniy. — After  Berkshire 
County  was  set  off  no  changes  were  made  in  Hampshire 
County  until  the  years  1811  and  1812,  when  it  was  again 
divided  for  the  third  and  fourth  time,  and  Franklin  and 
Hampden  set  off  in  those  years  respectively.     Up  to  the  year 

1811,  when  Franklin  County  was  set  off,  Hampshire  had  in- 
creased its  number  of  towns  in  the  territory  still  remaining 
to  it  to  sixty-three.  Of  these,  Franklin  County  took  off 
twenty-four  in  1811,  and  Hampden  took  eighteen  towns  in 

1812,  leaving  twenty-one  towns  in  Hampshire  County  remain- 
ing after  the  fourth  and  last  division.  To  these  two  have 
since  been  added,  and  Hampshire  now  contains  twenty-three 
towns,  and  is  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit :  north  by  Frank- 
lin County,  east  by  Worcester  County,  south  by  Hampden 
County,  and  west  by  Berkshire. 

The  several  towns  now  belonging  to  Hampshire  County  arc, 
with  the  dates  of  their  incorporation,  respectively  as  follows, 
to  wit : 

Amherst,  incorporated  Feb.  13,  1759. 

Belohertown,    "  June  30,  1761. 

Chesterfield,    "  June  11,  1762. 

CuMMiNGTON,       "       •   June  23,  1779. 

Easthampton,     "  June  17,  1785. 

X  See  Ancient  Cliarters  and  Colony  and  Provincial  Laws  of  Mass.  Bay,  p.  484. 
I  Ibid.,  p.  038. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


13 


Enfield,       incorporated 

Goshen,  " 

Granby,  " 

Greenwich,  " 

Hadlet,  " 

Hatfield,  " 

Huntington,  " 

MiDDLEFIELD,  " 

Northampton,  organized 
Pblham,  incorporated 
Plainfield,  " 

Prescott,  " 

South  Hadley,  " 
Southampton,  " 
Ware,  " 

Westhampton,  " 
Williamsburgh,  " 
Worthinqton,      " 


Peb.  16,  181G. 
May  14,  1784. 
June  11,  1768. 
April  20,  1754. 
May  20,  1661. 
May  31,  1670. 
June  29,  1773. 
March  11,  1783. 
Oct.  18,  16.54. 
Jan.  15,  1742. 
March  16,  1785. 
Jan.  28,  1822. 
April  12,  1753. 
Jan.  5,  1753. 
Nov.  25,  1761. 
Sept.  29,  1778. 
April  24,  1771. 
June  30,  1761. 

III. 


franklin  county. 
The  county  of  Pranklin  was  set  off  from  Hampshire  by  an 
act  of  the  General  Court  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts, passed  on  the  24th  day  of  June,  a.d.  1811,  the  first  sec- 
tion of  which,  indicating  the  territorial  changes  involved  in 
the  division,  is  given  below,  and  is  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"An  Act  to  fUride  the  county  of  Hampshire  and  coiistUttte  the  northerly  part  thereof  into 

a  county  by  the  name  of  the  comity  of  Franklin, 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court 
aasenibled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same: 

"  That  the  county  of  Hampshire  shall  be  divided  by  a  line  beginning  on  the 
westerly  line  of  the  county  of  Worcester,  at  the  west  corner  of  the  town  of  Peter- 
sham, in  said  county  of  Worcester ;  thence  southerly,  following  the  cast  line  of 
the  town  of  New  Salem,  to  the  southeast  corner  of  said  New  Salem ;  thence 
westerly  on  the  southerly  lines  of  the  towns  of  New  Salem  and  Shutesbury  to 
the  southwesterly  corner  of  the  town  of  Shutesbury ;  thence  northerly  on  the 
line  of  Shutesbury  to  the  southerly  line  of  the  town  of  Levorett ;  thence  westerly 
on  the  southerly  lines  of  the  towns  of  Leverett  and  Sunderland,  to  Connecticut 
Kiver;  then  beginning  on  the  west  bank  of  said  river  at  the  southeasterly  cor^ 
ner  of  the  town  of  Whatelj' ;  then  westerly  and  northerly  upon  the  line  of  said 
Whately  to  the  southerly  line  of  the  town  of  Conway  ;  thence  westerly  and  north- 
erly upon  the  line  of  said  Conway  to  the  southeasterly  corner  of  the  town  of 
Ashficid ;  thence  westerly  and  northerly  upon  the  line  of  the  said  Ashfield  to  the 
southeasterly  corner  of  the  town  of  Hawloy  ;  thence  westerly  upon  the  line  of 
said  Hawley  t^3  the  easterly  line  of  the  county  of  Berkshire. 

"  And  the  bounds  of  the  county,  by  this  Act  created,  on  the  east  shall  be  the 
line  heretofore  estnblished  between  the  counties  of  Hampshire  and  Worcester, 
and  on  the  west  by  the  line  between  the  counties  of  Hampshire  and  Berkshire, 
and  on  the  north  by  the  north  line  of  the  Commonwealth. 

"  Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  and  every  part  and  parcel  of  the  late 
county  of  Hampshire  included  within  the  lines  before  described  shall  be  and  the 
same  is  hereby  formed  and  created  into  an  entire  and  distinct  county  by  the  name 
of  Franklin,  of  which  Greenfield  shall  be  the  shire  or  county  town.  And  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  county  of  Franklin  shall  hold,  possess,  use,  exercise,  and 
enjoy  all  tlie  powers,  rights,  and  immunities  which  by  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  this  Commonwealth  the  inhabitants  of  any  county  within  the  same  do  hold, 
possess,  use,  exercise,  enjoy,  and  are  entitled  to."* 

Franklin  County  is  bounded  north  by  the  States  of  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire,  on  the  east  by  the  county  of  Worcester, 
on  the  south  by  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  on  the  west  by 
the  county  of  Berkshire.  When  first  erected  Pranklin  County 
contained  but  twenty-four  towns.  Two  towns  have  since  been 
added,  and  the  county  of  Pranklin  now  contains  twenty-six 
towns  as  named  below,  with  the  respective  dates  of  their  incor- 
poration. 

Ashfield,  incorporated  June  21,  1765. 


Bernardstown, 

Buckland, 

Charlemont, 

coleraine, 

Conway, 

Dberfield, 

Erving, 

Gill, 


March  6,  1762. 
April  14,  1779. 
June  21,  1765. 
June  .30,  1761. 
June  16,  1767. 
May  24,  1682. 
April  17,  18.38. 
Sept.  28,  1793. 


*  Laws  of  Massachusetts. 


Greenfield,  incorporated  June  9,  1753. 


Hawley, 

Heath, 

Leverett, 

Ley'den, 

Monroe, 

Montague, 

New  Salem, 

Northfield, 

Orange, 

ROWB, 

Shelburne, 

Shutesbury, 

Sunderland, 

Warwick, 

Wendell, 

Whately^, 


Feb.  7,  1792. 
Feb.  14,  1785. 
May,  1774. 
Feb.  22,  1809. 
Feb.  21,  1822. 
Dec.  22,  1753. 
June  15,  1753. 
Feb.  22,  1713. 
Feb.  24,  1810. 
Feb.  9,  1785. 
June  21,  1768. 
June  30,  1761. 
Nov.  12,  1714c^ 
Feb.  17,  1763. 
May  8,  1781. 
April  24,  1771. 


IV. 

HAMPDEN   COUNTY. 

A  few  months  after  the  county  of  Franklin  was  set  off  from 
Hampshire  County  the  last-named  county  was  again  divided 
for  the  fourth  and  last  time,  and  the  county  of  Hampden 
erected  on  its  southern  border.  Hampden  County  was  erected 
and  organized  on  the  20th  day  of  February,  a.d.  1812,  by  an 
act  passed  by  the  General  Court,  the  first  section  of  which  is 
given  below,  .showing  the  territorial  changes  made  therein : 

"An  Act  for  dividing  the  cotmty  of  Hampshire,  and  erecting  and  forming  tJie  southerly/ 

part  thereof  into  a  separate  county,  by  the  name  of  Hampden. 

"Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  general 
court  assembled,  and  by  authority  of  the  same.  That  the  county  of  Hampshire 
be  and  is  hereby  divided ;  and  the  following  towns,  in  the  southerly  part  thereof, 
be  and  hereby  are  erected  and  formed  int4.>  a  county  by  the  name  of  Hampden, 
that  is  to  say,  Springfield,  Longmeadow,  Wilbraham,  Monson,  Holland,  Brim- 
field,  South  Brimfield,  Palmer,  Ludlow,  West  Springfield,  Westfield,  Montgom- 
ery, Russell,  Blandford,  Granville,  Southwick,  Tolland,  and  Chester,  of  which 
Springfield  shall  be  the  shire  town;  and  that  all  that  part  of  said  county  of 
Hampshire  included  within  the  boundaries  of  the  towns  before  mentioned  shall 
be  deemed  and  taken  to  compose  the  said  county  of  Hampden.  And  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  said  county  of  Hampden  shall  have,  use,  exercise,  and  enjoy  all  such 
powers,  rights,  privileges,  and  immiinities  as  by  the  constitution  and  laws  of  this 
Commonwealth  other  counties  within  the  same  have,  use,  exercise,  and  enjoy." 

Hampden  County  is  bounded  north  by  the  county  of  Hamp- 
shire, east  by  the  county  of  Worcester,  south  by  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  and  west  by  the  county  of  Berkshire.  At  the 
date  of  its  organization  Hampden  County  contained  but 
eighteen  towns.  Four  towns  have  since  been  erected,  and  it 
now  contains  twenty-two  towns  as  named  below,  with  the 
dates  of  incorporation  respectively  : 

Agawam,  incorporated  May  17,  1855. 

Blanford,  "  April  10,  1741. 

Brimfield,         "  July  14,  1731. 

CHE.STER,  "  Oct.  31,  1765. 

Chicopee,  "  April  29,  1848. 

Granville,         "  Jan.  25,  1754. 

Hampden,  "  March  28,  1878.  - 

Holland,  "  July  5,  1785. 

Holyoke,f  "  March  14,  18.50. 

Longmeadow,    "  Oct.  17,  1783. 

Ludlow,  "  Feb.  28,  1774. 

Monson,  "  April  25,  1760. 

Montgomery,     "  Nov.  28,  1780. 

Palmer,  "  Jan.  30,  1752. 

Russell,  "  Feb.  25,  1792. 

Southwick,         "  Nov.  17,  1770. 

Spriiigfield,X   organized   May  14,  1636. 

Tolland,  incorporated  June  14,  1810. 

Wales,  "  Sept.  18,  1762. 

Westfield,        "  May  16,  1069. 

We.st  Springfield,  incorporated  Feb.  23,  1774. 

Wilbraham,  "  Jan.  15,  1763. 


t  City. 


tCity. 


14 


HISTOKY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


V. 

OTHER   COUNTIES   OF   THE    STATE. 

For  convenient  reference  in  connection  with  the  above,  a 
list  of  the  remaining  counties  of  the  State,  as  now  divided,  is 
given  below,  with  the  date  of  the  organization  of  each  : 

Barnstable,  organized  June  2,  1685. 

Bristol,  "  June  2,  1685. 

Dukes,*  "  Nov.  1,  1683. 

Essex,  "         May  10,  1643. 

Middlesex,  "  May  10,  1643. 

Nantucket,  "  June  20,  1695. 

Norfolk,!  "         March  26,  1793. 

Plymouth,  "  June  2,  1685. 

Suffolk,  "         May  10,  1043. 


CHAPTER    IIL 

TOPOGKAPHY. 
I. 

MOUNTAINS. 

The  distinguishing  topographical  characteristics  of  the  re- 
markably interesting  region  of  wliich  this  work  treats  are  a 
wide  valley  stretching  entirely  across  the  State  from  north  to 
south,  through  the  centre  of  which  winds  a  broad  and  beauti- 
ful stream  which  has  been  aptly  called  the  "Nile  of  New 
England,"  the  valley  terminating  ou  eitlier  side  at  the  foot  of 
mountain  ranges,  while  a  tliird  mountain  range  uplifts  its  rug- 
ged and  deeply-serrated  clifls  along  the  central  parts  of  tlie 
valley.  Such  are  the  main  features,  the  grand  outlines  of  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts.  As  seen  from  the 
top  of  one  of  its  central  peaks  or  from  the  towering  hills  on 
either  side,  or  even  from  the  arsenal  tower  at  Springfield,  no 
fairer  scene  anywhere  greets  the  human  vision  than  this  valley, 
— rock-ribbed  on  either  hand  and  centrally  mountain-crowned. 

The  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River  in  New  England  seems 
to  be  a  deep  downward  fold  of  the  ranges  of  the  great  Appa- 
lachian mountain  system  of  the  Atlantic  slope  of  tlie  conti- 
nent. This  mountain  system  extends  the  whole  length  of  the 
Atlantic  slope  of  the  continent  from  Nova  Scotia  on  the  north 
to  Florida  on  the  south. 

Through  New  England  and  Eastern  New  York  the  separate 
ranges  of  this  great  mountain  system  seem  to  all  trend  nearly 
due  north  and  south  obliquely  to  the  general  direction  of  the 
whole  system.  Thus  we  have  in  Eastern  New  York  and  ex- 
treme Western  Massachusetts  the  Taconic  range  bordering  the 
valley  of  the  Hudson  and  blending  its  peaks  with  the  Green 
Mountains  on  the  east.  In  New  England  are  the  Green  Moun- 
tain range,  continued  by  the  Berkshire  hills  bordering  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  on  the  west,  and  the  White  Mountain  range, 
extending  far  southward  through  the  States  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut,  toward  Long  Island 
Sound,  bordering  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River  ou  the 
east. 

The  Connecticut  Valley,  however,  differs  from  its  sister  val- 
ley of  the  Hudson  in  its  greater  width,  although  resembling 
it  in  length  and  in  its  general  direction  north  and  south. 

Tlie  average  width  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  through  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  is  about  twenty  miles.  Towards  tiie 
south  it  widens  into  broad  plains,  but  grows  narrow  towards 
tlie  north.  It  terminates  abruptly  on  either  hand  in  some- 
what precipitous  mountain  sides,  while  through  its  centre  rises 


*  Dukes  County  was  organized  by  the  Duke  of  York  as  one  of  tlio  counties  of 
the  province  of  New  York,  but  was  finally  allotted  to  Massachusetts. 

+  The  original  county  of  Norfolk,  organized  May  10,  1643,  contiiiued  some  of 
the  northern  towns  of  what  is  now  Essex  County  ami  a  part  of  what  is  now  tho 
State  of  New  Uarapshirc  afljoining.    It  is  known  as  Old  Norfolk  to  historians. 


another  mountain  range  singular  in  its  formation  and  greatly 
diversifj-ing  the  scenery  of  the  charming  valley.  This  other 
range  is  the  Mount  Holyoke,  Mount  Tom,  Mount  Toby,  and 
Sugar-Loaf  ranges  of  Red  Sandstone  and  Trapean  rocks. 

This  last-named  range  extends  northerly  from  the  south  line 
of  the  State  along  the  west  side  of  the  river,  about  equidistant 
between  Springfield  and  Westfield,  into  the  high  precipitous 
sides  of  Mount  Tom,  crosses  the  Connecticut  below  Northamp- 
ton, bends  easterly,  and  ends  in  the  rugged,  jagged  peaks  of 
Mount  Holyoke.  Farther  to  the  north  this  central  range  ap- 
pears again  in  the  knobs  of  two  Sugar-Loaf  Mountains  and  the 
conical  summit  of  Mount  Toby,  and  extends  into  the  high,  pre- 
cipitous ridges  near  Greenfield. 

MOUNTAIN   BORDERS   OF   THE  VALLEY. 

The  two  ranges  of  highlands  which  border  the  valley  of 
the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts  are  in  reality  vast  swells 
of  laud  stretching  across  the  State,  each  witli  a  width  of  forty 
or  fifty  miles,  and  of  an  average  elevation  of  a  thousand  feet 
above  tide-water.  These  broad  swells  of  highlands  form  a 
base  from  which  rise  many  mountains,  sometimes  in  chains, 
and  at  others  in  isolated  groups  of  peaks  rising  to  an  altitude 
several  thousand  feet  higher  than  their  base,  and  which  fill 
up  both  the  eastern  and  western  towns  of  the  three  valley 
counties  with  the  wild  and  rugged  grandeur  of  their  mountain 
masses.  Tliese  two  mountain  belts,  however,  difl'er  somewhat 
in  their  structure  and  form  of  outline. 

THE    WESTERN   BELT. 

The  western  belt,  bearing  the  general  name  of  the  Green 
Mountains,  is  made  up  of  two  mountain  chains,  more  or  less 
continuous,  between  which  the  valley  of  the  Housatonic  runs 
through  the  central  and  southern  part,  while  between  the 
northern  part  runs  the  valley  of  the  Hoosac.  The  western 
range  of  this  belt  is  the  Taconic  range.  The  eastern  range  of 
this  belt,  extending  between  the  Housatonic  Valley  and  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut,  which  is  properly  the  extension 
of  the  Green  Mountain  range  into  Massachusetts,  and  which 
is  commonly  called  the  "  Berkshire  Hills,"  is  an  extremely 
rugged  elevation,  averaging  in  height  from  one  thousand  to 
fifteen  hundred  feet.  This  range  is  deeply  furrowed  by  the 
transverse  valleys  of  the  Agawam  or  Westfield  River  on  the 
south,  and  the  Deerfield  River  on  the  north.  Stretching  over 
these  rugged  hills  lie  the  western  hill  towns  of  Hampshire, 
Franklin,  and  Hampden  Counties.  Between  Westfield  and 
Pittsfield  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad  bed  attains  an  ele- 
vation of  fourteen  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  in  crossing 
this  range.  On  the  northern  border  of  the  State,  the  Hoosac 
Tunnel  road-bed  runs  under  this  range  at  a  depth  of  eighteen 
hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  mountain. 

EASTERN   BELT. 

The  broad  belt  of  highland  bordering  the  Connecticut  Val- 
ley in  Massachusetts  on  the  east  seems  to  have  no  continuous 
mountain  range,  like  the  great  western  belt,  but  is  a  broad, 
undulating  swell  of  highlands,  rising  on  an  average  about  a 
thousand  feet.  Over  this  belt  stretch  the  eastern  mountain 
or  hill  towns  of  the  river  counties. 

Of  the  central  range,  in  the  valley.  Mount  Tom  is  twelve 
hundred  and  fourteen  and  Mount  Holyoke  eleven  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Of  the  western  belt.  Mount  Graylock,  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  State,  in  Berkshire  County,  rises  to  the  height  of 
three  thousand  five  hundred  and  five  feet  above  tide. 

Of  the  eastern  belt  Wa-tat-ick  is  eighteen  hundred,  and  Wa- 
chu-sett  over  two  thousand  feet  above  tide- water. 

Tlie  two  great  belts  run  near  to  each  other  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  until  above  Greenfield  their  masses  almost 
interlock,  while  to  the  south  they  separate  into  a  broad  valley. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


15 


II. 

WATERS. 

The  principal  running  waters  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  in 
Massachusetts  are  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  the  Agawam  or 
Westtield  River,  the  Chicopee  Kiver,  Miller's  River,  the  Mill 
River  of  Springtiekl,  the  Mill  River  of  Northampton,  the 
Green  River,  the  Beerlield  River,  and  numerous  smaller 
streams. 

The  Connecticut  River,  the  great  river  of  New  England, 
— the  old  Indian  Quo7i-eh-ti-cut,  meaning  in  their  tongue  the 
"long  tidal  river,"* — rises  on  one  of  the  high  ridges  of  the 
great  Appalachian  mountain  chain,  which  serves  as  the  division 
line — the  water-shed — between  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
at  the  extreme  northern  limit  of  the  State  of  New  Hampsliire, 
and  running  southerly  down  the  mountain  slope,  between  the 
States  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  enters  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  charming  valley  above  described,  and 
winding  through  it  tlien  crosses  the  State  of  Connecticut  and 
empties  into  Long  Island  Sound. 

Its  length  is  four  hundred  miles.  Through  its  whole  course  it 
separates  two  broad  belts  of  highland,  while  a  series  of  terraces 
breaks  the  level  of  its  bed.  In  the  first  quarter  of  its  course 
down  the  mountain  slope,  between  its  source  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Pa-sam-sic  River,  opposite  the  White  Mountains,  its 
descent  is  twelve  hundred  feet.  At  this  point  its  bed  is  four 
hundred  feet  above  tlie  sea.  In  eighty  miles  farther  to  Bel- 
low's Falls,  Vermont,  it  descends  one  hundred  feet.  From 
thence  to  Deerfield  it  sinlss  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet ; 
from  Deerfield  to  Springfield  it  falls  one  hundred  feet  more, 
leaving  its  bed  at  Springfield  but  forty  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  Its  average  width  between  Mount  Tom  and  the 
north  line  of  the  State  is  about  eight  hundred  feet. 

Its  average  breadth  between  Mount  Tom  and  the  Connecti- 
cut line  is  not  far  from  twelve  hundred  feet,  and  witli  a  deptli 
of  water  below  Holyolce  sufficient  to  float  vessels  of  considera- 
ble tonnage.  At  Holyolie  costly  and  extensive  hydraulic  works 
have  been  constructed,  producing,  it  is  claimed,  the  greatest 
artificial  water-power  in  the  world.  Its  channel  is  remarka- 
bly clear  of  islands  in  its  "course  through  the  State,  and 
presents  a  broad  and  majestic  appearance,  sweeping  in  mag- 
nificent curves  between  its  lofty  banks,  greatly  resembling  in 
this  respect  the  lower  Mississippi. 

In  certain  localities,  as  at  Holyoke,  its  waters  flow  directly 
over  the  red  sandstone  of  the  valley,  but  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  distance  through  the  county  the  bed  of  the  river  is  com- 
posed of  alluvial  deposits, — sand,  gravel,  and  bowlders. 

In  seasons  of  annual  floods  it  overspreads  its  banks,  and 
covers  the  lowest  bottom  lands  sometimes  for  miles.  This 
annual  overflow  produces  the  same  result  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Nile  in  Egypt,  acting  as  a  thorough  fertilizer  by  reason  of  the 
rich  silt  which  it  holds  in  solution.  In  some  places  the  meadow 
lands  are  protected  from  floods  by  dykes  or  levees,  similar  in 
construction  to  those  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  though  gener- 
ally of  smaller  dimensions. 

The  Agawam,  or  Westfield  River,  as  it  is  often  called,  rises 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Berkshire  County,  among  the  Green 
Mountains,  and  flows  in  a  southeastern  course  a  distance  of 
about  fifty  miles,  to  the  Connecticut.  Its  eastern  and  largest 
branch  unites  with  the  middle  and  western  branches  in  the 
town  of  Huntingdon.  The  two  last-named  branches  enter 
the  town  of  Chester  from  the  northwest,  and  flow  diagonally 
through  it  to  the  junction  in  Huntingdon.  From  thence  the 
main  stream  flows  through  or  between  the  towns  of  Mont- 
gomery, Russell,  Westfleld,  West  Springfield,  and  Agawam, 
and  unites  with  the  Connecticut  by  several  mouths  nearly 
opposite  the  city  of  Springfield.  The  Little  River,  which  heads 
in  Blandford,  Granville,  and  Tolland,  unites  with  it  a  short 
distance  below  the  village  of  Westfield.     Its  other  principal 

*  Trumbuirs  History  of  Connecticut. 


affluents  are  Mill  Brook,  in  Westfield,  and  Great  Brook,  which 
heads  in  Southwicli,  and  discharges  into  the  main  stream  near 
the  east  line  of  Westfield. 

The  Agawam  is  a  rapid  stream,  and  affords  with  its  numer- 
ous branches  an  abundant  supply  of  water-power,  which  is 
extensively  utilized  in  numerous  localities.  It  has  a  number 
of  islands  in  its  channel. 

The  CnicoPEEf  River  is  formed  by  the  union  of  three  con- 
siderable streams,  the  Swift,  Ware,  and  Qnnhoin/  Rivers,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town  of  Palmyra.  The  curious  nieander- 
ings  of  these  streams  in  the  vicinity  of  their  junction  gave 
rise  in  early  times  to  a  local  name — "  The  Elbows" — which  is 
still  to  some  extent  in  use.f 

Swift  River  rises  for  the  most  part  in  Petersham,  Worcester 
County,  and  New  Salem  and  Shutesbury,  in  Franklin  County, 
and  flows  in  a  direction  a  little  west  of  south  through  the  east- 
ern part  of  Hampshire  County  to  its  junction  with  Ware  River 
on  the  town  line  of  Palmer. 

Ware  Kiver  takes  its  rise  in  the  northern-central  portions 
of  Worcester  County,  and  flows  in  a  direction  nearly  southwest 
to  its  junction  with  the  Quaboag  River. 

The  Quaboag  River  is  formed  by  the  union  of  numerous 
branches  in  the  southwest  part  of  Worcester  County,  and  flows 
in  a  general  direction  a  little  south  of  west  to  the  village  of 
Three  Rivers,  where  it  unites  with  Ware  River.  It  forms  the 
southern  and  eastern  boundary  of  the  town  of  Palmer  for  a 
distance  of  about  eight  miles.  From  Three  Rivers  to  its  union 
with  the  Connecticut  the  stream  bears  the  name  of  Chickopee 
River.  It  forms  the  boundary  between  the  towns  of  Ludlow, 
Wilbraham,  and  Springfield,  and  for  a  short  distance  between 
the  last-named  town  and  Chicopee.  It  pursues  a  tortuous 
course  through  the  latter  town,  and  there  are  several  import- 
ant islands  in  its  channel.  Its  principal  affluents  below  Three 
Rivers  are  Broad  Brook  in  Ludlow,  Twelve-Mile  Brook  in 
Wilbraham,  and  Higher  and  Field  Brooks  in  C/i>co]>ee.  The 
Quaboag  River  receives  the  waters  of  a  considerable  stream 
(Elbow  Brook)  in  Brimfield,  and  the  Chicopee  Brook  unites 
with  it  from  Monson.  The  Chicopee  River  and  its  numerous 
branches  aflbrds  extensive  power,  which  is  emplo3'ed  in  nu- 
merous places  in  driving  machinery.  The  best  water-power 
on  the  stream  is  in  the  town  of  Chicopee,  where  two  thriving 
villages  have  grown  up  in  recent  years. 

The  QuiNNEBAUO  River  drains  a  small  region  in  the  ex- 
treme eastern  end  of  the  county,  and  the  Scti/ific  Brook,  which 
discharges  into  the  Connecticut  in  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  drains 
the  southern  portion  of  Wilbraham  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Longmeadow. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  county,  Farmington  River 
drains  the  greater  part  of  the  towns  of  Tolland  and  Granville. 

Mill  River,  of  Springfield,  rises  in  the  central  parts  of  the 
old  town  of  Wilbraham,  and  flowing  west  through  Spring- 
field, discharges  into  the  Connecticut  in  the  southern  suburbs 
of  the  city.  It  furnishes  considerable  power,  which  is  utilized 
for  various  purposes  in  the  city.  The  two  branches  unite  in 
what  is  called  Water  Shops  Pond.|  Longmeadow  and  Pe- 
cowsic  Brooks,  in  the  town  of  Longmeadow,  flow  into  the 
Connecticut,  the  former  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town,  and 
the  latter  a  little  north  of  the  Springfield  line.  Three-Mile 
Brook  and  Still  and  Philo  Brooks  are  in  Agawam. 

The  Deerfield  River  takes  its  rise  among  the  Green 
Mountains  of  Southern  Vermont,  entering  Massachusetts  in 
the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  Franklin  County,  between  the 
towns  of  Monroe  and  Rowe.  After  skirting  for  a  while  the 
easterly  line  of  Berkshire  County,  where  it  touches  the  east 

t  Michel  Saiattis,  an  Iiiiliau  of  the  AJiroudacks,  says  CTie-cau-jiee  means  the 
place  of  many  springs. 
X  The  land  in  this  vicinity  was  long  known  as  the  "Elbow  Tract." 
g  Tliis  pond,  which  extends  for  nearly  three  miles,  is  produced  by  the  dam 
erected  by  the  United  States  Government  to  furnish  power  for  what  arc  known 
as  the  "  Water  Shops,"  which  are  a  portion  of  the  armory  works. 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


end  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  it  bends  easterly,  and  running 
centrally  throughout  Franklin  County,  reaches  the  Connecti- 
cut Eiver  in  the  north  end  of  the  town  of  Deerfield.  Along 
its  course  are  many  important  water-powers,  and  its  deep 
valley,  winding  among  the  mountains,  leaves  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Eailroad  by  easy  grades  from  the  Connecticut 
Valley  to  the  mouth  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  through  which 
the  road-bed  runs  under  the  mountain  for  the  distance  of  four 
and  a  half  miles,  and  nearly  two  thousand  feet  beneath  its 
summit,  being  one  of  the  modern  wonders  of  the  world. 

The  Mill  River  of  Northampton  rises,  one  branch  of  it, 
in  Goshen,  Hampshire  County ;  another  in  Southern  Franklin 
County,  and  runs  southeasterly  through  Williamsburgh  and 
Northampton  to  the  Connecticut.  This  stream  is  famous  for 
recent  disasters  by  flood,  occasioned  by  the  breaking  away  of 
reservoirs  situated  among  the  hills  near  its  source,  an  account 
of  which  is  given  in  succeeding  chapters. 

MiLLEK's  River  is  one  of  the  larger  streams  which  run  into 
the  Connecticut  from  the  east.  It  rises  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  "Worcester  County,  enters  Franklin  in  the  town  of 
Orange,  runs  westerly  between  Wendell  and  Erving,  and  then 
westerly  and  northerly  between  Erving  and  Montague  to  the 
Connecticut. 

Green  River  rises  near  the  Vermont  line,  and  runs  south- 
erly between  Leyden  and  Colerain  and  through  Greenfield 
and  a  part  of  Deerfield  to  the  Deerfield  River. 

Other  Streams. — There  are  are  many  ponds  and  numer- 
ous other  streams  of  more  or  less  importance  watering  the 
territory  of  the  three  counties  of  which  this  history  treats,  all 
of  which  are  described  in  the  histories  of  the  several  towns.* 

Paucatock  Brook  rises  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Holyoke, 
and  draining  Wright's  and  Ashley's  Ponds  in  the  same  town, 
flows  south  through  West  Springfield,  and  unites  with  the 
Agawam  River  in  the  southwest  part  of  that  town.  A  branch 
of  the  Monhan  River  takes  its  rise  on  the  eastern  flank  of 
Mount  Tom,  runs  several  miles  south,  to  near  the  centre  of 
Holyoke  in  the  western  part,  and  then,  making  a  detour, 
leaves  the  town  near  its  northwest  corner,  and  flowing  along 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  unites  with  another  branch  and 
flows  into  the  Connecticut  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  on 
the  north. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GEOLOGICAL    OUTLINES. 

I. 

ERAS — AGES — PERIODS. 

The  rocky  groundwork  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, while  it  does  not  present  as  many  fossils  as  some 
regions,  yet  so  rich  and  varied  is  its  structure  that  it  possesses 
many  curious  features  of  surpassing  interest  to  the  geological 
student.-)-     But  it  is  not  within  the  province  or  scope  of  this 

*  The  following  account  of  the  fisheries  in  the  valley  is  from  the  diiiry  of  the 
late  Sewell  White,  of  ^Yest  Springfield  : 

"  THE  SALMON  AND  SHAD  FISHERY  IN  THE  CONNECTICUT  RIVER  FIFTT  YEARS  AGO. 

"  Not  a  salmon  has  been  caught  in  the  Connecticut  Biver  for  a  good  many 
years,  and  the  shad-fishery  has  gradually  declined  ever  since  the  canal  dam  was 
built  at  South  Hadley. 

"  They  collected  in  great  schotds  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  and  would  not  ven- 
ture to  go  up  the  river  until  the  water  was  settled  so  that  they  could  see  their 
way  through  the  rumble-jumble  of  the  Imiling  watei-s. 

"  Two  thousand  shad  were  once  taken  at  one  haul  at  the  foot  of  tlie  falls,  at 
the  place  called  Old  Sluggard,  and  in  one  case  twenty-five  shad  were  tjiken  at 
one  dip  by  a  scoop  net.  It  is  saiil  that  the  shad  took  fright  and  went  down  over 
Willimanset  in  such  a  school  as  to  cause  the  river  to  rise  two  inches." 

f  Acknowledgments  are  due  to  Prof.  \\'ni.  N.  Rice,  of  Wesleyan  Univei-sity, 
Middletown,  Conn.,  for  valuable  suggestions  uiMni  the  geology  of  the  Connecticut 
Yalley. 


work  to  enter  minutely  into  the  details  of  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, and  no  more  will  be  attempted  here  than  to  give  its  general 
outlines  so  far  as  the  subject  relates  to  the  economic  interests 
and  historical  associations  of  the  valley. 

And  this  outline  will  relate  principally  to  the  departments 
of  Historical  and  Physiographic  geology,  leaving  to  the  inter- 
ested student  the  inviting  fields  of  Lithological  and  Dynamical 
geology,  of  which  the  region  is  so  rich  in  specimens  and  natu- 
ral illustrations,  to  be  studied  in  the  field  itself  here  spread  out 
before  him  in  superabundant  richness  or  in  the  special  works  . 
devoted  to  the  science. 

Geology  has  been  defined  as  the  science  of  the  structure  of 
the  earth.  It  aims  to  show  not  only  what  the  rocky  structure 
of  the  earth  is,  but  it  also  treats  of  the  origin  of  its  structure. 
It  is  therefore  an  historical  science,  and  unfolds  to  us  to  some 
extent  the  mysteries  of  the  world's  creation.  The  earth  itself, 
like  the  plant  or  animal  it  sustains  on  its  surface,  is  a  thing  of 
growth,  of  development  from  the  original  chaos  when  "  it  was 
without  form  and  void"  into  its  present  wonderfully  compli- 
cated and  varied  structure.  The  different  periods  of  this 
growth  and  development  are  more  or  less  distinctly  marked 
upon  the  earth's  rocky  structure  by  the  various  fossil  forms  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life  found  therein.  These  fossil  forms 
of  organic  nature  seem  to  rise  successively  from  the  lowest 
forms  of  dawning  life  found  in  the  oldest  rocks  up  through 
all  the  wondrous  scale  of  being  to  the  present  age  of  man,  the 
crowning  life  of  all.  So  every  rock  marks  a  period  in  the 
earth's  growth,  every  group  of  rocks  an  age,  and  still  larger 
groups,  called  geologic  systems,  mark  great  eras  of  geologic 
time. 

The  extremely  interesting  geologic  features  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley  and  its  surroundings  can  be  best  explained  bj'  refer- 
ring to  the  geologic  eras  and  ages  of  the  world  based  upon  the 
progress  of  life  and  living  things,  as  shown  by  successive  rocky 
formations. 

The  subdivisions  of  geologic  time  are  eras,  ages,  and  periods. 

The  eras  are  five  in  number,  marked  in  all  by  seven  ages 
and  each  by  various  periods. 

I. — ARCH.EAN   Era,  including  Azoic   and  Eozoic   {The 
Dawn  of  Life). 

1.  The  Laurentian  Age — Upper  and  Lower. 
II.— Pal.eozoic  Era  (Old  Life). 

2.  The  Silurian  or  Age  of  Mollusks. 

3.  The  Devonian  or  Age  of  Fishes. 

4.  The  Carboniferous  or  Age  of  Coal  Plants. 
III. — Mesozoic  Era  (Middle  Life). 

5.  The  Reptilian  Age. 

IV.— Cenozoic  Era  (Plant  Life). 

6.  The  Age  of  Mammals  (Tertiary). 
V. — PsYCHOZOic  Era  (Era  of  Mind). 

7.  The  Age  of  Man  ((Quaternary). 

The  geological  formations  found  in  the  Connecticut  Valley 
and  its  bordering  mountain  ranges  present  rocks  which  mark 
only  a  few  periods  of  the  ages  indicated  by  the  above  table, 
but  those  represented  present  many  features  of  peculiar  interest 
to  the  scientific  inquirer. 

IL 

ARCH.BAN  ROCKS. 

It  seems  to  be  the  favorite  theory  of  the  New  England  geol- 
ogists of  the  Hitchcock  and  Dana  schools  that  all  the  older 
rocks  of  the  region  have  been  metamorphosed.,  that  is  to  say, 
these  rocks  were  originally  sedimentary  sandstones,  lime- 
stones, and  clays  deposited  in  the  ocean's  bed,  like  the  Silu- 
rian beds  of  central  New  York,  and  that  by  the  action  of  heat 
and  the  presence  of  superincumbent  strata  they  wore  changed 
into  granite,  gneiss,  schists,  slates,  and  other  hard  crystalline 
rocks.  That  during  the  change  the  most  of  the  fossil  remains 
of  the  primeval  animals  and  plants  they  contained  in  their 
original  structure  were  obliterated.    Indeed,  Mr.  Dana  claims 


HISTORY  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


17 


that  evRii  the  oldest  Lavirentian  rocks  of  Northern  New  York 
and  Canada  are  all  metamorphic  in  their  nature.  Yet, 
while  this  theory  would  seem  to  be  the  true  one  in  regard  to 
most  of  the  New  England  strata,  it  is  open  to  grave  doubts  as 
to  the  Laurentian.  Rather  does  it  seem  that  the  old  or  Lower 
Laurentian  rocks,  and  perhaps  the  Upper  Laurentian,  not- 
withstanding the  high  authority  of  Mr.  Dana  is  to  the  con- 
trary, are  not  metamorphic  in  their  nature,  but  are  original 
rocks,  in  which  the  materials  which  constitute  their  structure 
have  stood  through  countless  ages  in  changeless  relation  to 
each  other  since  they  first  crystallized,  as  it  were  in  each  other's 
arras,  in  the  slowly-cooling  crust  of  the  intensely-heated  pri- 
meval earth. 

Yet,  whether  these  crystalline  beds  in  Massachusetts  are 
metamorphic,  or  are  the  result  of  successive  upheavals  of 
original  rocks,  in  tracing  out  the  developments  of  the  conti- 
nent from  its  Archaean  beginnings  in  the  old  Laurentian, 
such  has  been  the  disturbance  and  upheaval  of  strata  in  the 
region  bordering  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  that  it  has 
been  so  far  a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty  to  correlate  their 
various  groui)S  with  those  of  known  ago  in  the  State  of  New 
Y'ork,  west  of  the  Hudson  River,  which  have  given  to  geologi- 
cal science  its  American  nomenclature. 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  Azoic  and  Eozoic  rocks 
were  pretty  well  represented  in  various  beds  of  granite,  gneiss, 
syenite,  mica  schist,  and  other  crystalline  rocks  found  in  the 
region.  But  all  these  formations  belong  to  an  age,  it  would 
seem,  far  younger  than  the  Laurentian. 

The  Eozoic  rocks  are  divided  by  geologists  into  three  great 
series,  constituting  the  lowest  accessible  portion  of  the  earth's 
crust. 

These  three  scries  of  old  crystalline  rocks  are  the  old  or 
Lower  Laurentian,  the  Upper  Laurentian,  sometimes  called 
the  Labradorian,  and  the  Huronian.  To  some  one,  if  not  all,  of 
these  three  divisions  of  the  ancient  rocks  geologists  now  refer 
the  gneissic  rocks  of  the  Hoosac  Mountain  range,  the  gneiss 
flanking  on  both  sides  the  sandstones  of  the  Connecticut 
Valle}',  and  the  mica  schists  associated  with  the  granite  about 
Amherst  and  Loverett. 

Gneiss. — In  the  mountain  towns  of  the  eastern  portions  of 
the  three  counties  of  Franklin,  Hampshire,  and  Hampden, 
which  border  the  beds  of  sand  rock  on  the  east,  the  prevailing 
and  almost  the  only  rock  found  is  Gneiss,  sometimes  wrongly 
called  granite.  Gneiss,  like  granite,  is  composed  of  the  three 
minerals, — feldspar,  quartz,  and  mica  ;  but  the  crystals  of 
these  minerals  in  granite  are  confusedly  mixed  together,  while 
in  gneiss  they  are  arranged  in  a  stratified  form  or  in  layers. 
This  rock  here  is  mostly  light  gray  in  color.  An  example 
of  this  gneiss  is  seen  in  what  is  commonly  called  the  "  Mon- 
son  Granite,"  much  used  for  building  purposes. 

West  of  the  sandstone  region  of  the  valley  the  crystalline 
rocks  underlying  the  western  mountain  towns  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Franklin,  Hampshire,  and  Hampden  are  much  more 
diversified  than  those  east  of  the  valley.  While  on  the  east 
the  prevailing  rock  is  gneiss,  on  the  west  there  are  belts  of 
talcose  schist,  mica  schist,  calciferous  mica  schist  and  granite, 
as  well  as  gneiss. 

Calciferous  Mica  Schlst. — A  wide  belt  of  this  rock  un- 
derlies most  of  the  western  mountain  towns  of  Franklin  and 
Hampshire  and  the  northern  towns  of  Hampden  County,  the 
belt  terminating  in  a  point  in  Granville.  Above  Northamp- 
ton this  belt  borders  on  the  sandstones  of  the  valley. 

In  this  belt  "  numerous  thin  beds  of  dark  siliceous  lime- 
stones," says  Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  of  Dartmouth,  "are  in- 
terstratified  with  the  schists.  These  increase  at  the  expense 
of  the  other  beds  in  passing  north,  and  in  Canada  they  pre- 
dominate, containing  characteristic  fossils  of  the  Upper  Si- 
lurian system,  especially,  those  belonging  to  the  Niagara 
limestone  of  New  York.\.  .  .  In  Bernardstown  there  is  a 
thick  bed  of  limestone  containing  numerous  fragments  of  the 

3 


stems  of  enormous  crinoids.  Similar  ones  occur  in  the  upper 
Helderberg  group  of  New  York,  belonging  to  the  Devonian 
system."  Soapstone  is  also  found  in  Blandford,  Chester, 
Rome,  Granville,  and  other  towns. 

Talcose  Schist. — West  of  the  above-named  belt  of  cal- 
ciferous mica  schist,  a  narrow  belt  of  talcose  schist  stretches 
across  the  extreme  western  ends  of  the  three  valley  counties 
and  borders  the  easterly  line  of  the  gneiss  belt  of  the  Hoosac 
Tunnel  range  in  eastern  Berkshire  County.  In  this  there  are 
bands  of  magnesian  rocks, — either  dolomite,  serpentine,  or  soap- 
stone.  In  Middleford,  Hampshire  Co.,  in  the  line  of  this  belt, 
is  found  the  most  important  soapstone  quarry  in  the  country. 
In  Chester  there  has  lately  been  discovered  and  worked  the 
rare  mineral  called  emery.  This  bed  of  emery  was  discovered 
by  Dr.  H.  L.  Lucas,  of  Chester,  in  the  j'car  1856,  and  has 
since  been  profitably  worked. 

Granite. — There  are  several  beds  of  granite,  of  small  ex- 
tent, lying  within  the  limits  of  the  three  counties,  the  most 
important  of  which  is  the  formation  extending  from  the 
corners  of  Ashfield  and  Goshen,  southerly  through  parts  of 
Go.shen,  Williamstown,  Chesterfield,  Northampton,  West- 
bampton,  Easthampton,  and  Southampton,  and  so  on,  bor- 
dering the  sandstone  on  the  west  to  the  Connecticut  line, 
between  Granville  and  Southwick.  In  this  granite  bed,  and 
between  it  and  the  mica  schist,  lead  ore  has  been  found  in  con- 
siderable quantities  in  several  of  the  towns  above  named.  In 
Northampton  lead  was  known  to  exist  as  early  as  1767,  and 
bullets  were  cast  of  it  during  the  Revolution. 

Trap  or  Basalt. — In  the  midst  of  the  sandstone  beds  of 
the  valley  a  remarkable  formation,  possessing  but  little  eco- 
nomic value,  but  of  great  interest  to  the  student  of  geology, 
exists  in  a  singular  upheaval  of  the  rock  belonging  to  the 
Archiean  age,  known  as  trap,  basalt,  or  greenstone.  This 
formation  consists  of  the  Mt>unts  Tom  and  Holyoke  range. 
In  some  wonderful  convulsion  of  nature  the  beds  of  valley 
sandstones,  although  supposed  to  have  been  of  the  remarkable 
thickness  of  many  thousand  feet,  were  suddenly  rent  asunder, 
and  up  through  the  fissures  came  in  molten  form  these  im- 
mense masses  of  trap  rocks,  which,  cooling  as  they  rose,  har- 
dened into  abrupt  mountain  ranges.  This  trap  range  ex- 
tends from  the  northern  part  of  Massachusetts  down  through 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River  in  somewhat  lengthy 
mountain  ranges,  or  in  isolated  groups  of  hills  to  New  Haven, 
where  it  ends  in  East  and  West  Rock.  This  rock  is  intensely 
hard,  and  much  dreaded  by  railroad  men  in  making  exca- 
vations. 

Besides  the  minerals  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  pages  as 
occurring  in  and  among  the  crystalline  rocks,  are  several 
others,  including  ores  of  iron,  oxide  of  manganese,  etc.,  a 
description  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  histories  of  the  towns 
in  which  they  occur. 

PAL.i:OZ0IC   ROCKS. 

To  the  Palaeozoic  era,  the  era  of  old  life,  the  rocks  of  which 
rest  in  their  natural  position  upon  and  next  above  the  old 
crystalline  rocks,  belong  the  stratified  deposited  rocks  of  the 
Silurian,  or  age  of  mollusks,  the  Devonian,  or  age  of  fishes,  and 
the  Carboniferous,  or  age  of  coal  plants. 

The  rocks  of  this  era  are  scarcely  represented  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  three  river  counties.  Small  isolated  patches 
exist  here  and  there. 

MESOZOIC    ROCKS. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  the  Mesozoic  era, — the  era  of 
middle  life, — distinguished  by  the  age  of  reptiles,  finds  its  fit- 
ting representative  in  the  vast  beds  of  what  is  commonly  called 
red  sandstone,  and  known  to  science  as  Trlnssic  sandshme  and 
conqlomcrate.  This  rock  is  above  all  others  the  distinguish- 
ing feature  of  the  groundwork  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  It 
is  in  great  part  of  a  dark-red  color,  and  lies  in  stratified  beds. 


18 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


The  upper  beds  seem  to  consist  of  fine  sand  hardened  into 
rock,  and  often  present  the  appearance  of  slates  and  shales. 
The  lower  beds  consist  mainly  of  coarse  sand  and  gravel,  often 
mixed  with  bowlders,  some  of  which  are  known  to  measure 
four  feet  in  diameter.  This  diflTerence  in  the  structure  of  this 
rock  has  led  some  geologists  to  suppose  that  it  consisted  of  two 
formations, — the  Permian  of  the  upper  coal  measures,  belonging 
to  the  Palseozoic  era,  and  the  Triassic  period  of  the  Mesozoic 
era.  But  the  better  opinion  now  seems  to  be  that  it  all  belongs 
to  the  Triassic  period. 

On  the  Connecticut  State  line  the  bed  of  sand  rook  is  nearly 
twenty  miles  in  width.  As  it  extends  up  the  river  it  covers  a 
space  from  four  to  eight  miles  in  width  until  it  narrows  to 
about  one  mile  on  the  north  line  of  the  State.  This  bed  is  com- 
puted to  be  of  an  average  thickness  of  from  three  thousand  to 
fourteen  thousand  feet.  The  strata  of  this  rock,  throughout  its 
whole  extent  in  the  valley,  have  a  dip  or  indication  varying 
from  fifty  to  thirty  degrees, — always  in  an  easterly  direction, — 
the  dip  being  the  greatest  on  the  western  side  throughout  the 
valley.  This  dip  of  the  sand  rock  strata  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  affected  in  the  least  by  the  trap  irruption  through  its 
centre  part.  It  is  probable  that  this  red  sand  rock  once  filled 
the  valley  nearly  to  a  level  with  the  summit  of  Mount  Tom, 
more  than  a  thousand  feet  of  it  having  been  ground  up  and 
carried  away  by  glacial  action  and  the  war  of  the  elements. 

The  question  arises.  How  was  this  immense  bed  of  sand  rock 
formed  ?  The  obvious  answer  to  this  question  is,  the  valley 
far  back  in  the  geologic  ages  was  an  estuary,  or  arm  of  the 
sea.  Its  bottom  and  shores  were  formed  by  the  gneiss  rocks 
on  the  east,  and  the  mica  schist  on  the  west,  while  the  two 
met  together  somewhere  in  the  centre  of  its  bottom,  perhaps 
where  the  trap  afterwards  came  up  through.  Into  this  com- 
paratively quiet  estuary  the  streams  from  the  hills  and  moun- 
tains around  washed  the  sand  and  gravel  formed  by  the  wearing 
away  of  the  rocks  by  the  action  of  the  elements.  The  sand 
and  gravel  so  washed  into  this  estuary  settled  to  the  bottom, 
and  in  the  course  of  long  ages  it  became  gradually  hardened 
into  rock  and  filled  up  the  valley.  After  the  valley  was  filled 
with  the  sand  rock  to  such  great  depths,  the  whole  continent 
must  have  arisen  from  the  water  into  something  like  its  present 
position.  After  the  glacial  denudation  this  valley  must  have 
again  sunk  below  the  sea-level,  and  have  been  again  filled 
up  with  the  beds  of  sand,  clay,  and  gravel  that  are  now  found 
in  it.  Again  rising  from  the  waters,  it  became  fit  for  the 
habitation  of  man. 

FOOT-MARKS. 

But  the  most  interesting  things  about  this  bed  of  sand  rock 
are  the  fossil  foot-prints  to  be  found  between  its  strata.  The 
ancient  foot-marks  occur  in  some  thirty  places  in  the  valley  of 
the  Connecticut  between  the  upper  strata.  They  must  have 
been  made  by  the  animals  and  birds  of  the  period  walking  in 
the  soft  mud  of  the  shallow  bottom  of  the  estuary  while  the  tide 
was  out  and  the  water  low.  During  low  tide  the  mud  dried 
rapidl}'  in  the  then  warmer  than  tropical  atmosphere.  On  the 
coming  in  of  the  waters  these  tracks  were  at  once  filled  with 
another  layer  of  sand,  and  the  impression  made  permanent  as 
the  rock  itself. 

These  foot-prints  being  mostly  those  of  birds,  their  existence 
has  given  rise  to  a  new  branch  of  natural  history  called  Ich- 
notoffi/,  or  the  "science  of  tracks." 

The  "bird  tracks''  are  the  most  interesting  of  all  these  fos- 
sil foot-prints.  The  largest  bird  that  frequented  the  muddy 
shores  of  the  primeval  estuary  of  this  valley  had  a  foot  eigh- 
teen inches  long,  and  must  have  been  five  times  the  size  of  the 
ostrich  of  to-day.  The  smallest  bird  was  like  the  snipe.  Many 
strange  animals  now  unknown  to  man  left  on  these  rocks  their 
foot-prints.  Among  these  were  an  order  of  reptilian  birds  or 
horpetoids.  The  largest  foot-mark  was  made  by  a  gigantic 
frog,  called  Otozoum  Moodii.    Its  track  is  twenty  inches  long. 

To  President  Edward  Hitchcock,  late  of  Amherst,  is  due  the 


first  scientific  description  of  these  interesting  remains.  Dr. 
Hitchcock  made  the  first  geologic  survey  of  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  from  1832 — the  date  of  his  first  report — to 
1865  he  published  numerous  works  upon  the  subject,  all  of 
which  are  of  high  scientific  authority. 

In  speaking  of  these  strange  foot-prints  on  the  red  sandstone 
rocks  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  President  Hitchcock 
eloquently  says,  "  Now  I  have  seen  in  scientific  vision  an  ap- 
terous bird  some  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  high — nay,  large  flocks 
of  them — walking  over  the  muddy  surface,  followed  by  many 
others  of  an  analogous  character,  but  of  .smaller  size.  Next 
comes  a  biped  animal — a  bird,  perhaps — with  a  foot  and  heel 
nearly  two  feet  long.  Then  a  ho.st  of  lesser  bipeds  formed  on 
the  same  general  type,  and  among  them  several  quadrupeds 
with  disproportioned  feet,  yet  many  of  them  stilted  high,  while 
others  are  crawling  along  the  surface  with  spreading  limbs. 
Next  succeeds  the  huge  Polemarch,  leading  along  a  tribe  of 
lesser  followers,  with  heels  of  great  length  and  armed  with 
spurs.  But  the  greatest  wonder  of  all  comes  in  the  shape  of  a 
biped  batrachian  with  feet  twenty  inches  long.  We  have  heard 
of  the  Lahyrinthodon  of  Europe — a  frog  as  large  as  an  ox — but 
his  feet  were  onh'  six  or  eight  inches  long,  a  mere  pigmy  com- 
pared with  the  Otozoum  of  New  England.  Behind  him  there 
trips  along,  on  unequal  feet,  a  group  of  small  lizards  and 
Salamandridce,  with  trifid  or  quadrifid  feet.  Beyond,  half 
seen  amidst  the  darkness,  there  move  along  animals  so  strange 
that  they  can  hardly  be  brought  within  the  types  of  existing 
organization.  Strange,  indeed,  is  this  menagerie  of  remote 
sandstone  days  ;  and  the  privilege  of  gazing  upon  it  and  bring- 
ing into  view  one  lost  form  after  another  has  been  an  ample 
recompense  for  my  efforts  though  they  should  be  rewarded  by 
no  other  fruit."* 

CENOZOIC    ERA.  '' 

The  Cenozoic  era,  or  era  of  recent  times,  is  represented  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley  by  the  Tertiary  age,  or  age  of  mammals, 
and  the  Quaternary  age,  or  age  of  Man. 

The  geologic  formations  of  this  age  are  composed  of  two  dis- 
tinct subdivisions,  the  Glacial  or  Drift,  and  the  Recent  or  Ter- 
race formations,  which  overlie  all  the  others  in  depths  varying 
from  a  few  inches  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  or  more.  The 
bottom  layers  lying  directly  upon  the  rock  formations  are  com- 
posed largely  of  coarse  bowlders  graduating  into  pebbles  and 
sand,  while  the  Terraces  are  mostly  or  wholly  of  finer  sands  or 
clay  and  marls,  the  last  two  sometimes  beautifully  arranged  in 
thin  layers,  and  often  curiously  convoluted  and  complex  in 
their  arrangements,  as  may  be  seen  at  the  brick-works  in  the 
southern  suburbs  of  the  city  of  Springfield.  The  lower  de- 
posits are  of  Diluvian  or  Drift  origin,  while  those  on  and  near 
the  surface  are  of  Fluvial  or  Lacustrine  formation.  The  Ter- 
race formation  is  finely  exhibited  to  the  west  and  southwest  of 
Holyoke,  and  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  below  Springfield. 


^ 


CHAPTER    V. 


INDIAN    OCCUPANCY. 

r 

THE    INDIAN   TITLE   TO   THE   SOIL. 

The  New  "World  was  the  natural  home  of  the  Indian.  He 
was  the  sole  proprietor  of  its  soil.  His  title  was  the  clearest 
of  all  titles,  the  right  derived  from  undisputed,  immemorial 
possession.  His  tenure  was  that  of  absolute  property  in  the 
soil,  covered  by  no  shadow  of  incumbrance.  The  white  man 
was  first  an  invader  and  trespasser,  and  then  a  purchaser. 
No  white  man's  title  to  the  soil  to-day  is  worth  a  straw  in  the 
eyes  of  absolute  law,  unless  it  can  be  traced  back  to  some  In- 
dian deed.     It  may  be  true  that  Sir  Edmund  Andros  once 

*  QuotMl  in  Holl.ind's  Hist.  Wcf  t  Maps.,  'Vol,  I.,  p.  348. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY". 


19 


said  that  an  Indian  deed  was  worth  no  more  than  the  "scratch 
of  a  bear's  paw,"  but  no  sound  jurist  will  consider  Sir  Ed- 
mund's dictum  worth  anything  in  the  ease. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  1629,  Governor  Cradock  wrote  in 
behalf  of  the  Company  as  follows :  "  The  earnest  desire  of  our 
whole  compan}'  is  that  you  have  a  diligent  and  watchful  eye 
over  our  own  people,  that  they  live  unblamable  and  without 
reproof,  and  demean  themselves  justly  and  courteously  to- 
wards the  Indians." 

When  William  Pynchon,  the  father  of  the  settlements  in 
the  Connecticut  Valley, — the  founder  of  Eoxbury  and  Spring- 
field,— in  the  year  1636,  first  led  his  little  band  of  pioneers 
along  the  old  "  Bay  Path"  through  a  hundred  miles  of  howl- 
ing woods  to  the  garden-banks  of  the  great  river  at  Ag-a-wam, 
he  found  the  fertile  meadows  of  the  stream  owned  by  a  few 
feeble,  broken  bands  of  Indians,  each  governed  by  its  own 
petty  sachem  or  sagamore. 

From  each  of  these  petty  tribes  the  early  settlers  of  the 
valley  took  exceeding  care  to  obtain  deeds  of  the  lands  by 
them  owned  and  occupied. 

Thus,  from  "Cut-to-was,  the  right  owner  ot  Ag-a-wam  and 
Qua-na,"  his  mother  Kew-e-nask,  the  Tam-a-sham  or  wife  of 
We-na-wis,  and  Ni-ar-com,  the  wife  of  Co-a,  the  English 
bought  the  ancient  site  of  Springfield,  by  deed  bearing  date 
the  15th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  16.30, — ^a  facsimile  of  the 
record  of  which  maj*  be  found  farther  on  in  this  volume,  in 
the  history  of  Springfield.  From  C'hick-toal-log,  alias  Waw- 
hil-low,  Hen-es-scha-lant,  Nas-si-co-ha,  Re-unks,  Pa-quah-a- 
hat,  As-sel-la-quo7n-pas,  and  A-wo-nunsk,  wife  of  Wal-lut-ha, 
all  Indians  and  right  owners  of  Non-o-iuck,  they  took  a  deed 
of  Northampton,  bearing  date  24tli  September,  1653.* 

From  C'hick-wal-lopp,  Uin-pan-cha-la,  and  Wa.mp-shaw,  sa- 
chems of  Nol-wo-togg ,  they  took  a  deedf  of  Iladley,  bearing 
date  25th  December,  1658.  And  again,  on  the  8th  day  of  Au- 
gust, 1662,  We-qua-gon,  his  wife  A-wo-nunsk,  and  Squomp, 
their  son,  also  deeded  land  in  Hadley. 

From  Um-pan-cha-la,  alias  \Voms-eo)7i,  sachem  of  Nol-wo- 
togg,  they  took  a  deedj  of  Hatfield,  dated  July  10,  1660. 

From  Al-quot,  the  Indian  sachem  of  Wo-rc^ioak,  they  took 
a  deed^  of  Westfield,  bearing  date  June  30,  1669. 

From  We-qua-u-gan  and  Wa-wa-paw  they  took  the  title  of 
lands  for  the  "  use  and  behoof"  of  the  town  of  Springfield,  by 
deed  ||  bearing  date  in  the  year  1674,  being  parts  of  the  present 
towns  of  West  Springfield  and  Agawam,  and  Nee-sa-hea-gan, 
alias  Squani-scat,  and  Ke-pa-quontp,  alias  Squi-ma-mop,  also 
deeded  part  of  West  Springfield  by  deed^l  dated  20th  June, 
1666. 

From  Mas-se-rnet,  Pa-noot,  Pani-mook,  Ne-ne-pow-nian,  his 
squaw,  Woiti-pe-ly,  and  Nes-sa-cas-coni,  Indians  of  Squak-lieag, 
in  the  year  1671,  they  took  a  deed  of  ten  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Northfield  ;  and  again,  on  the  9th 
September,  1673,  they  took  a  deed  from  Nnl-lah-am-com-gon 
or Na-ia-nas,  Mas-hep-e-tot,  and  Kis-quan-do  Pam-pat-c-ke-mo, 
"  a  squaw,  which  is  Mas-hep-e-tot' s  daughter,"  of  another  part 
of  Northfield.  For  an  account  of  the  Pa-comp-tuck  Indian 
deeds  of  Dcerfield  see  history  of  that  town  in  this  work. 

II. 

TWO   FAMILIES   OF   NATIONS. 

When  the  Europeans  first  landed  on  this  continent  the 
Indians  who  inhabited  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  Alleghany 
range,  the  basin  of  the  great  lakes,  and  the  valley  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  were  divided  into  two  great  families  of  nations. 
These  two  families  were  soon  known  and  distinguished  by  the 

*  Recorded  in  office  of  Eegister  of  Deeds  at  Springfield,  Book  A,  B,  p.  13. 

f  Recorded  in  Boole  of  Deeds  A,  p.  11. 

X  Recorded  in  Book  of  Deeds,  Book  .\,  p.  6. 

g  Recorded  In  Book  of  Deeds  A  B,  p.  50. 

[I  Recorded  in  Book  of  Deeds  A  B,  p.lse  19. 

%  Recordeil  in  Book  of  Deeds  A  B,  page  21. 


whites  as  the  Iroquois  and  Algonquin  families,  so  named  by 
the  French. 

These  two  families  differed  radically,  both  in  language  and 
lineage,  in  the  manner  of  building  their  wigwams,  as  well  as 
in  many  of  their  manners  and  customs. 

III. 

THE   IROQUOIS. 

The  Iroquois  proper,  the  best  types  and  leading  people  of 
this  family,  were  the  Five  Nations  of  Central  New  York, 
called  by  themselves  the  Ho-de-no-sau-nee.  To  the  south  of 
the  Five  Nations,  in  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  were  the 
Andastes,  and  to  the  westward  of  them,  along  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  were  the  Eries.  To  the  northward  of 
Lake  Erie  lay  the  Neutral  Nation,  and  near  them  the  Tobacco 
Nation,  while  the  Hurons,  another  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,  dwelt 
along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  that  still  bears  their  name. 
There  was  also  a  branch  of  the  Iroquois  family  in  the  Caro- 
linas, — the  Tuscaroras, — who  came  north  and  united  with  the 
Five  Nations  in  1715,  after  which  the  confederacy  was  known 
as  the  Six  Nations.** 

On  every  side  these  few  kindred  bands  of  Iroquois  were  sur- 
rounded by  the  much  more  numerous  tribes  of  the  greater 
Algonquin  famih'. 

Among  all  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  New  World 
there  were  none  so  politic  and  intelligent,  none  so  fierce  and 
brave,  none  with  so  many  germs  of  heroic  virtues  mingled 
with  their  savage  vices,  as  the  true  Iroquois,  the  people  of  the 
Five  Nations  of  Central  New  York.  They  were  a  terror  to  all 
the  surrounding  tribes,  whether  of  their  own  or  of  Algonquin 
speech  and  lineage.  In  1650  they  overran  the  country  of  the 
Hurons;  in  1651  they  destroyed  the  Neutral  Nation;  in  1652 
they  exterminated  the  Eries ;  in  1663  they  ravaged  the  coun- 
try of  the  Pa-comp-tucks  and  Squak-heags,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut;  in  1C72  they  conquered  the  ^nrfasfes  and  reduced 
them  to  the  most  abject  submission,  calling  them  the  women 
of  their  tribe  in  derision. 

They  followed  the  war-path,  and  their  war-cry  was  heard 
westward  to  the  Mississippi,  southward  to  the  great  gulf,  and 
eastward  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  New  England  na- 
tions mostly,  as  well  as  the  river  tribes  along  the  Hudson, 
whose  warriors  trembled  at  the  name  of  Mohawk,  all  paid 
them  tribute.  The  Montagnais,  on  the  far-off  Saguenay,  whom 
the  French  called  the  paupers  of  the  wilderness,  would  start 
from  their  midnight  sleep  and  run  terror-stricken  from  their 
wigwams  into  the  forest  when  hut  dreaming  of  the  dreadful 
Iroquois.  They  were  truly  in  their  day  the  conquerors  of  the 
New  World,  and  were  justly  styled  "The  Eomans  of  the 
West."  "My  pen,"  wrote  the  Jesuit  Father  Ragueneau,  in 
the  year  1650,  in  his  Relations  des  Hurons — "  My  pen  has  no 
ink  black  enough  to  paint  the  fury  of  the  Iroquois." 

The  Iroquois  dwelt  in  palisaded  villages  upon  the  fertile 
banks  of  the  lakes  and  streams  which  watered  their  country. 
The  houses  of  all  the  Iroquois  families  were  built  long  and 
narrow.  Thej'  were  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in 
width,  but  often  exceeded  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length. 
Within  they  built  their  fires  at  intervals  along  the  centre  of 
the  earth-floor,  the  smoke  passing  out  through  openings  in 
the  top,  which  likewise  served  to  let  in  the  light.  In  every 
house  were  many  fires  and  many  families, — every  family 
having  its  own  fire  within  the  space  allotted  to  it. 

From  this  custom  of  having  many  fires  and  many  families 
strung  through  a  long  and  narrow  house  comes  the  significa- 
tion of  the  Indian  name  the  league  of  the  Five  Nations  called 
themselves  by.  This  Indian  name  was  Ho-de-yio-sa^i-nee, 
"The  people  of  the  Long  House."  They  likened  their  con- 
federacy of  five  nations  or  tribes,  stretched  along  a  narrow 
valley  for  more  than  two  hundred  miles  through  Central  Now 

**  See  Oolden's  History  of  the  Five  Nations. 


20 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


York,  to  one  of  their  long  wigwams  containing  many  families. 
The  Mo/iau-ks  guarded  the  eastern  door  of  this  typical  long 
house,  while  the  Senecas  kept  watch  at  the  western  door. 
Between  these  doors  of  their  country  dwelt  the  Oneidas,  the 
Onondagas,  and  the  Cayugas,  each  nation  around  its  own 
family  fire,  while  the  great  central  council-fire  was  always 
kept  brightly  burning  in  the  land  of  the  Onondagas. 

The  nation  of  the  Irofjuois  to  whom  the  Indians  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  paid  unwilling  tribute  was  the  Mohawk. 

In  the  Algonquin  speech  of  the  Connecticut  Kivcr  Indians 
the  Mohawks  were  called  Mau-qua-wugs  or  Ma-quag,  that  is 
to  say,  "  man-eaters."* 

The  Mohawk  country  proper^  called  by  themselves  Ga-ne- 
a-ga-o-no-ga,  all  lay  on  and  beyond  the  westerly  bank  of  the 
Hudson,  but  by  right  of  conquest  they  claimed  all  the  terri- 
tory lying  between  the  Hudson  and  the  sources  of  the  easterly 
branches  of  the  Connecticut. 

By  virtue  of  this  claim  all  the  Indians  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  paid  annual  tribute  to  the  Mo/iawks. 

Ever}'  year  two  old  Mohawk  cliiefs  would  leave  their  castles 
on  the  Mohawk  Kiver,  in  their  elm-bark  canoes,  and  crossing 
the  Hudson,  ascend  the  Has-sicke  (Iloosac)  to  its  head,  and 
carrying  them  over  the  mountain  range,  re-embark  in  the  head- 
waters of  the  Ag-a-wam  (Westfield  River)  and  the  Deerfield 
River,  come  down  to  the  villages  of  the  Wo-ro-noaks,  the 
Ag-a-wams,  the  Non-o-tucks,  the  Pa-comp-tucks,  the  Squak- 
heags,  in  the  valley,  and  to  the  Nip-mucks  at  the  head  of  the 
Chicopee,  and  gather  the  wampum  in  which  tribute  was  paid. 

As  will  be  seen  further  on  in  these  pages,  when  all  these 
river  tribes  joined  King  Philip  in  his  attempt  to  exterminate 
the  whites  in  New  England  the  Mohawks  sided  with  the  Eng- 
lish, and  did  material  service  against  Philip. | 

IV. 

THE   ALGONQUIN   FAMILY. 

Surrounding  the  few  tribes  of  the  Iroquois  on  every  hand 
dwelt  the  much  more  numerous  tribes  of  the  Algonquin  family, 
to  which  belonged  all  the  New  England  tribes,  as  well  as  the 
New  York  Indians  who  dwelt  east  of  the  Hudson. 

Northward  of  the  Iroquois  were  the  Nipissings,  La  Petite 
Nation,  and  La  Nation  de  I'Isle,  and  other  tribes  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ottowa  River.  Along  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
dwelt  the  Algonquins  proper,  the  Abenaquis,  the  Montagnais, 
and  other  roving  bands  below  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay. 

The  Algonquins  and  Montagnais,  and  the  other  wild  rovers 
of  the  country  of  the  Saguenay,  who  subsisted  mostly  by  the 
chase,  were  often  during  the  long  Canadian  winters,  when 
game  grew  scarce,  driven  by  hunger  to  subsist  for  many  weeks 
together  upon  the  buds  and  bark,  and  sometimes  upon  the 
young  wood,  of  forest-trees.  Hence  their  hereditary  enemies, 
the  more  favored  Mohawks,  called  them  in  mockery  of  tlieir 
condition  Ad-i-ron-daks,  that  is  to  say  tree-caters.  This  name, 
thus  borne  in  derision,  was  given  by  Prof.  Emmons  to  the 
principal  mountain  chain  of  Northern  New  York,  and  has 
since  been  applied  to  its  whole  wilderness  region,  now  so 
famous  as  a  summer  resort.  J 

The  New  England  tribes  of  the  Algonquin  fiimily  dwelt 
mostly  along  the  sea-coast,  and  on  the  banks  of  larger  streams. 
In  Maine  the  Et-et-che-mins  dwelt  farthest  east  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Croix  River.  The  Abenaquis,  with  their  kindred  tribe 
the  Taratines,  had  their  hunting-grounds  in  the  valley  of  the 
Penobscot,  and  as  far  west  as  the  river  Saco  and  the  Piscata- 
qua.  In  the  southeast  corner  of  New  Hampshire,  and  over 
the  Massachu.setts  border,  dwelt  the  Pcnnacook  or  Pawtueket 
tribe.  The  Massachusetts  nation  had  their  home  along  the 
bay  of  that  name  and  the  contiguous  islands.     It  was  a  tradi- 


*  Brief  History  by  Increase  Mather,  p.  38. 

t  Coim.  fill.  Iter.,  Vol.  II,,  p.  4(il,  etc.. 

J  See  lli.^tolu■al  Ski'tilicmif  N,.itliiMn  New  Yoik,  l.y  N.  B.  Sjivestor, pp. nn, 40. 


tion  of  this  tribe  that  they  formerly  dwelt  farther  to  the  south- 
west, near  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  hence  their  name  Ma^s- 
ad-chu-sit,   "  near  the  great  mountains. "J 

The  Wampanongs  or  Pokanokcts  dwelt  along  the  easterly 
shore  of  Narragansett  Bay,  in  Southeastern  Rhode  Island,  and 
in  the  contiguous  part  of  Massachusetts  adjoining  these,  being 
near  neighbors  of  the  Plymouth  Pilgrims.  The  Nansets 
along  Cape  Cod  were  a  family  of  the  Wampanoags,  and  paid 
them  tribute.  Next  in  line  were  the  Narragatisetts,  and  their 
sister  tribe  the  Nyantics,  along  the  westerly  shore  of  Narra- 
gansett Bay,  in  Western  Rhode  Island.  Between  the  Narra- 
gansetts  and  the  river  Thames  in  Southeastern  Connecticut, 
then  called  the  Pequot  River,  dwelt  the  Pequot  nation ;  and 
between  the  Pequots  and  the  east  bank  of  the  Connecticut 
River  was  the  home  of  Uncus  and  his  Mahicans. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Connecticut  the  territory  of  the  Mo- 
hawks was  supposed  to  begin  ;  and  in  Western  Massachusetts, 
and  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Vermont,  no  Indian  tribes 
had  permanent  homes.  This  large  territory  was  a  beaver- 
hunting  country  of  the  Iroquois. 

Before  the  great  distemper  visited  these  New  England  In- 
dian nations,  just  prior  to  the  landing  of  the  Plymouth  Pil- 
grims, their  numbers  must  have  been  from  thirty  to  forty 
thousand  souls.  Of  these  Connecticut  and  Rhode  I.sland 
probablj'  contained  one-half. 

V. 

THE    INDIANS   OF   THE   VALLEY. 

The  valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts  was  occu- 
pied by  several  tribes,  or  remnants  of  tribes,  all  of  which 
seemed  to  owe  some  sort  of  fealty  to  the  Nipmueks  or  Nipnets 
of  Central  Massachusetts,  if  not  to  the  more  powerful  Pequots, 
Wampanoags,  and  Narragansetts. 

Ag-a-wams. — In  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  the  city  of 
Springfield  dwelt  the  Ag-a-wam  Indians.  They  claimed  all  the 
territory  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Connecticut,  between  the 
Enfield  Falls  below  and  the  South  Hadley  Falls  above.  The 
principal  village  of  the  Ag-a-wams  was  situated  on  the  Pecowsic 
Brook,  which  heads  in  the  eastern  part  of  Longmeadow  and 
discharges  into  the  Connecticut  nearly  on  the  town  line  be- 
tween Springfield  and  Longmeadow  ;  another  on  the  bank  of 
the  Ag-a-wani  River,  and  probably  others  in  various  parts  of 
the  county. 

On  a  peculiarly-shaped  blufl',  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south 
of  the  centre  of  Springfield  and  some  fifty  rods  southeasterly 
of  the  east  end  of  the  new  bridge  crossing  to  Agawam  and  on 
what  is  called  "  Long  Hill,"  the}'  had  a  strong  palisaded  work 
overlooking  the  valley  and  virtually  impregnable  to  Indian 
attack.  It  was  protected  on  all  sides  excepting  a  mirrow  neck, 
fiftj'  yards  in  width,  which  connected  It  with  the  mainland  by 
steep  banks  descending  to  two  deep  ravines  on  the  north  and 
south,  and  to  the  bottom-lands  bordering  the  Connecticut  on 
the  west.  Water  was  convenient  immediately  under  the  wall 
of  the  fortress  on  the  south,  and  the  whole  area,  occupying 
from  one  to  two  acres,  was  admirably  adapted  for  defense 
against  anything  except  artillery. 

The  meadows  or  corn-planting  grounds  of  the  Ag-a-wams, 
called  by  them  muck-cos-quit-taj,  were  quite  extensive.  On 
the  leaf  of  the  book  containing  the  record  of  the  first  Indian 
deed  of  what  is  now  Springfield  and  vicinity  is  a  memorandum 
in  the  following  words,  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  John 
Holj'oke,  in  the  year  1679,  which  contains  an  accurate  descrip- 
tion, doubtless,  of  the  situation  of  the  various  corn-planting 
meadows  of  the  Ag-a-wams  : 

"Memorandum:  Agaam  or  Agawam.  It  is  that  meadow 
on  the  South  of  Agawam  Riv"'  whcer  y=  English  did  first  build 
a  house,  w'''  now  we  comonly  cal  y'=  house  meadow,  that  piece 
of  ground  is  it  w'^''y'  Indians  do  call  Agawam,  &  y'y'=  English 

g  See  CollectioDB  of  C^nn.  llis.  Soe.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  8. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


21 


kept  y'  residence  who  first  came  to  settle  and  plant  at  Spring- 
field now  so  called :  &  at  }■'  place  it  was  (as  is  supposed)  that 
this  purchase  was  made  of  the  Indians.  Quana  is  the  middle 
medow  adjoyning  to  Agaw"  or  house  meadow.  Masacksick  is 
y'  y'  English  call  the  Longmeadow  below  Springfield,  on  y" 
East  of  Quinecticat  Eiver;  Usquaiok  is  the  Mil  River  w*  the 
land  adjoyning  ;  Nayasset  is  the  lands  of  Three  corner  meadow 
&  of  the  Plaine.^' 

From  the  date  of  the  first  settlement,  in  the  year  1G36,  the 
Afl-a-wum  Indians  lived  on  terms  of  peace  and  amity  with  their 
white  neighbors  until  the  year  1675,  when  they  joined  King 
Philip  in  his  war  of  extermination.  On  the  evening  of  the 
4th  day  of  October,  1675,  they  admitted  into  their  fort  three 
hundred  hostile  Indians,  who  assisted  them  on  the  morrow  in 
the  burning  of  Springfield.  Upon  the  arrival  of  Maj.  Treat 
with  his  men  from  Connecticut,  and  Maj.  Pynchon  with  the 
Springfield  troops  from  Hadley,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  burn- 
ing, l(V-9!/o-7(7n,  the  chief  sachem  of  the,4(/-o-ttO»).<  and  ring- 
leader in  the  aft'air,  with  all  his  people  suddenly  left  their  vil- 
lage, fort,  and  corn-planting  ground,  never  to  return. 

Wo-RO-NOAKS. — Ten  or  twelve  miles  up  the  Agawam  River, 
in  a  direction  nearly  west  from  Springfield,  on  the  site  of 
what  is  now  Westfield,  dwelt  the  tribe  of  Indians  called  the 
Wo-ro-noaks,  who  were  a  part  of  the  Aff-a-tcam/s. 

The  Wo-ro-noaks  were  famous  for  the  nnnibcr  of  beaver- 
skins  and  other  furs  caught  by  them  on  the  near  mountains 
to  the  west  of  them,  along  both  branches  of  the  Agawam, 
now  Westfield  River,  and  in  the  marshes  at  their  head-waters. 
So  famous  was  their  village  for  its  furs  that  Governor  Hop- 
kins, of  Hartford,  as  early  as  the  year  1640,  obtained  a  grant 
of  land  there,  and  that  year  or  the  next  built  trading-houses 
there.  This  grant  was  made  to  him  by  the  Connecticut  peo- 
ple, who  suppo.sed  it  to  be  within  their  jurisdiction.  But  the 
earliest  surveys  showed  it  to  be  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  and  the  Connecticut  settlement 
was  abandoned. 

NoN-o-TUCKS. — Above  the  point  in  the  Connecticut  River 
where  it  breaks  through  between  Mounts  Tom  and  Holyoke 
its  valley  widens  and  the  river  takes  an  extremely  tortuous 
course,  winding  around  two  or  three  peninsulas  which  are 
almost  islands,  on  one  of  which  is  situated  the  village  of  Had- 
ley. Between  Northampton  and  Mount  Tom  is  another  of 
these  bends  in  the  river,  which  is  called  the  Oxbow,  in  the 
middle  of  which  lies  an  island. 

Tlie  name  Nocn-tuk,  No-ah-tuk,  or,  as  it  is  now  written,  Non- 
o-tuck,  means  "in  the  middle  of  the  river,"  in  allusion  to 
such  peninsulas  and  islands. 

The  Non-o-iucks  claimed  all  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  from  the  head  of  the  South  Hadley  Falls  to  the  south  side 
of  Mount  We-quomps,  now  Sugar-Loaf  Mountain. 

They  had  several  villages  and  forts  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  and  numerous  corn-planting  fields  of  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  acres  each.  Their  principal  fort  was  on  a  higli  bank 
near  the  mouth  of  Half- Way  Brook,  between  Northampton 
and  Hadlc}'.  This  fort  was  occupied  until  the  night  of  the  24th 
August,  when  Um-pan-cha-la,  chief  sachem  of  the  No7i-o-tucks, 
left  the  land  with  all  his  tribe  for  some  far-off  Western  home, 
no  one  knows  whither.  Another  fort,  containing  about  an 
acre  inclosed,  was  occupied  by  another  Non-o-tuck  sachem, 
called  Quoii-quont.  It  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  in 
Hadley,  on  a  ridge  between  East  and  West  School  Meadow. 

Pa-comp-tucks. — In  the  fertile  valley  of  Deerfield  River, 
and  on  its  adjoining  hills,  dwelt  the  Pa-cotftp-fucks,  the  most 
numerous,  best  known,  warlike,  and  powerful  tribe  in  the 
valley.  They  claimed  all  the  country  lying  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  from  Mount  We-guomps  to  the  north  side  of  the 
meadow  called  Nal-la-ham-com-gon,  now  Bennett's  Meadow, 
in  Northfield,  and  indefinitely  westward.  Their  principal 
fort  was  on  what  is  now  known  as  Fort  Hill,  which  is  about 
one-half  mile  northeast  of  the  Deerfield  meeting-hou.'e.    Their 


corn-planting  fields  were  in  the  valley  of  the  Deerfield  River. 
Here  they  raised  such  quantities  of  corn  that  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  1638  they  furnished  fifty  canoe-loads  for  the.starving 
people  of  Connecticut,  impoverished  by  the  Pequot  war  of  the 
year  before. 

In  the  year  1656,  Uncas,  with  his  Mahicans,  made  war  upon 
the  Pa-comp-tucks,  but  was  defeated  and  driven  back.  The  next 
year  the  Pa-comp-tucks  invaded  the  country  of  Uncas  and  did 
his  people  considerable  damage. 

In  the  year  1663  the  Mohawks  made  war  upon  the  Pa-cotnp- 
tucks,  and  invaded  their  country.  They  attacked  the  fort  on 
Fort  Hill,  and  carried  it  after  a  severe  contest,  driving  the  Pa- 
comp-tucks  before  them  with  great  slaughter.  From  this  severe 
blow  the  Pa-comp-tucks  never  recovered.  In  the  year  1669  the 
Pa-comp-tucks,  Non-o-tucks,  and  Squak-heags  united  with  the 
Massachusetts  Indians  and  the  Narragansetts  in  an  expedition 
into  the  Mohawk  country.  Chic-ka-taw-but,  the  chief  sachem 
of  the  Massachusetts  tribe,  was  in  command.  The  band  num- 
bered some  seven  hundred  warriors.  They  penetrated  the  Mo- 
hawk country  and  laid  siege  to  the  nearest  castle,  called  Te-hon- 
de-lo-ga,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Schoharie  kill,  afterwards  the  site 
of  Fort  Hunter.  But  failing  in  the  attempt,  the  allied  tribes 
retreated  towards  their  own  country.  The  Mohawks  followed, 
and  making  a  detour  formed  an  ambuscade,  into  which  the 
Eastern  Indians  fell  and  suflered  fearful  loss.  After  King 
Philip's  war  the  Pa-comp-tucks  went  west,  and  settling  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hoosac  River, 
became  known  as  the  Scliaghticoke  Indians.  A  part  of  the 
Wampanoags  and  Narraganscits  fled  with  them.* 

Squak-heags. — On  the  northerly  border  of  the  State,  at 
what  is  now  Northfield,  dwelt  the  fourth  tribe  of  river  Indians. 
Their  country  reached  on  both  sides  of  the  Connecticut  north- 
erly beyond  the  bounds  of  the  State.  The  Squak-heags  were 
allied  by  consanguinit}'  to  the  Pennacooks  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire sea-coast.  They  had  numerous  corn-planting  fields,  and 
also  villages  and  forts.  The  famous  fishing-ground  which 
they  called  Pas-quams-cut,  now  Turner's  Falls,  was  in  the 
country  of  the  Squak-heags.  When  the  Mohawks,  in  the  year 
1663,  invaded  the  Pa-comp-tucks  they  also  overran  the  whole 
territory  of  the  Squak-heags,  captured  all  their  forts,  destroyed 
their  villages,  and  drove  them  from  their  homes.  From  this 
blow  as  a  tribe  they  never  recovered.!  In  King  Philip's  war 
Squakheag  was  an  important  post  to  the  hostile  Indians.  At 
its  close  the  Squak-heags  went  east  and  north  into  Canada. 

FoRT.s. — The  Indians  of  the  valley  built  their  forts  on  high 
blutfs  near  springs  of  water,  and  usually  on  or  not  far  from 
the  bank  of  some  river.  The  forts  were  circular  in  form,  in- 
closing about  one  acre  of  ground,  and  constructed  of  palisades 
set  close  together  in  the  ground,  and  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  in  height.  Within  they  built  rows  of  wigwams  along  both 
sides  of  well-defined  streets. 

Wigwams. — The  Indians  of  the  Algonquin  family  of  na- 
tions built  their  wigwams  small  and  circular,  and  for  one  or 
two  families  only,  unlike  the  Iroquois  nations,  who  built  theirs 
long  and  narrow,  each  for  the  use  of  many  families.  The  Al- 
gonquin-shaped wigwam  of  the  valley  tribes  was  made  of 
poles  set  up  around  a  circle,  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  across. 
The  poles  met  together  at  the  top,  thus  forming  a  conical 
frame-work,  which  was  covered  with  bark  mats  or  skins ;  in 
the  centre  was  their  fireplace,  the  smoke  escaping  through  a 
hole  in  the  top.  In  these  wigwams  men,  women,  children, 
and  dogs  crowded  promiscuously  together  in  distressing  viola- 
tion of  all  our  rules  of  modern  housekeeping. 

Corn-Plantino  Fields. — The  meadows  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley  were  famous  in  Indian  annals  for  their  corn-fields. 
Every  autumn,  after  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  came  the  Indian  sum- 
mer, in  which  they  set  fire  to  the  woods  and  fields,  and  thus 


*  See  pap^T  liy  John  Fitcli,  in  New  York  His.  Mag.,  June,  187C. 
f  History  of  NortliflelJ,  by  Temple  :ind  Sheldon. 


22 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


burned  over  the  whole  country,  both  upland  and  meadow,  once 
a  year.  This  burning  destroyed  all  the  underbrush,  and 
mostly  all  the  timber  on  the  uplands  save  that  growing  in 
swales  and  on  wet  lauds.  When  the  whites  came  they  found 
much  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  as  bare  of  timber  as  the 
Western  prairies.  Their  corn-tields  on  the  meadows  usually 
contained  from  fifteen  to  twenty  acres  of  ground.  One  tool 
for  planting  was  all  they  had.  This  was  a  hoe,  made  of  the 
shoulder-blade  of  a  deer  or  moose,  or  a  clam-shell  fastened  into 
a  wooden  handle.  For  manure  they  covered  over  a  fish  in 
each  hill  of  corn  at  planting-time.  Their  planting-time  was 
about  the  10th  of  May,  or  as  soon  as  the  butternut-leaves  were 
as  large  as  squirrels'  ears.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the 
large  extent  of  their  planting-tields,  when  it  is  stated  that  the 
Pa-comp-tucks  alone  planted  in  the  valley  of  the  Deerfield  River 
in  the  spring  of  1676,  the  second  year  of  Philip's  war,  about 
three  hundred  acres.  Perhaps  this  was  an  exaggerated  story, 
and  that  one  hundred  acres  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth. 
But  Philip  was  killed  in  the  summer  following,  and  the  Pa- 
comp-tucks  abandoned  their  unharvested  corn-tield  for  the  new 
home  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Hoosac.  They  took  what  is  now  the  "  Tunnel  Route"  for  the 
west.  The  women  did  all  the  corn-planting  and  raising,  but 
the  men  alone  planted  and  took  care  of  the  tobacco.  It  was 
too  sacred  a  plant  for  women  to  handle  or  smoke,  and  no  young 
brave  was  allowed  to  use  it  until  he  had  made  himself  a  name 
in  the  chase  or  on  the  war-path. 

Food. — The  Indians  had  fish  and  game,  nuts,  roots,  berries, 
acorns,  corn,  squashes,  a  kind  of  bean  now  called  seiva-bean, 
and  a  species  of  sunflower  whose  tuberous  root  was  like  the 
artichoke. 

Fish  were  taken  with  lines  or  nets  made  of  the  sinews  of 
the  deer  or  of  the  fibres  of  the  dog-bane.  Their  fish-hooks  were 
made  of  the  bones  of  fishes  and  birds. 

They  caught  the  moose,  the  dear,  and  the  bear  in  the  win- 
ter season  by  shooting  with  bows  and  arrows,  by  snaring  or 
in  pitfalls.     In  the  summer  they  took  a  variety  of  birds. 

They  cooked  their  fish  and  flesh  by  roasting  before  the  fire 
on  the  point  of  a  long  stick,  or  by  boiling  in  stone  or  wooden 
vessels.  They  made  water  to  boil,  not  by  hanging  over  the 
fire,  but  by  the  immersion  in  it  of  heated  stones.  Their  corn 
boiled  alone  they  called  homing/;  when  mixed  with  beans  it 
was  succotitsh.  They  made  a  cake  of  meal,  pounded  fine  by 
a  stone-pestle  in  a  wooden  mortar,  which  they  called  iiookhik, 
corrupted  by  the  English  into  "  no  cake."* 

Social  Condition. — Their  government  was  entirely  patri- 
archal. Each  Indian  was  in  his  solitary  cabin  the  head  of  his 
family.  His  wife  was  treated  as  a  slave,  and  did  all  the  drudg- 
ery. The  only  law  that  bound  the  Indian  was  the  custom 
of  his  tribe.  Subject  to  that  only,  he  was  as  free  as  the  air  he 
breathed,  following  the  bent  of  his  own  wild  will.  Over 
tribes  were  principal  chiefs  called  sachems,  and  inferior  ones 
called  sagamores.  The  succession  was  always  in  the  female 
line.  Their  war-chiefs  were  not  necessarily  sachems  in  time 
of  peace.  They  won  their  distinction  only  by  prowess  on  the 
war-path. 

The  language  of  the  Indian,  in  the  terms  of  modern  com- 
parative philology,  was  neither  the  monosyllabic,  like  the 
Chinese,  nor  inflecling,  like  that  of  the  civilized  Caucasian 
stock,  but  was  agjjbitinaiing,  like  many  of  the  northwestern 
Asiatic  tribes,  and  those  of  southeastern  Europe.  They  express 
ideas  by  stringing  words  together  in  one  compound  vocable. 
The  Algonquin  languages  were  not  euphonious,  like  the  Iro- 
quois dialects,  but  were  harsh,  and  full  of  consonants.  Con- 
trast the  Iroquois  names,  2^a-wa-sen-ta,  Si-a-wat-ha,  or  0-no- 

*  What  wo  now  call  jolinny-cake,  in  the  early  days  was  known  as  joumeij- 
cake,  frum  the  facility  with  which  it  was  carried  while  traveling.  It  is  saiii  that 
it  was  changed  to  jolinnij-cakQ  in  honor  of  Governor  Jonathan  Trumhull,  of  Con- 
necticut, the  friend  of  Washington,  who  always  iulclres.sed  him  faniili.irly  as 
"  Brother  Jonathan."    Hence  tliat  title  of  the  typical  Yankee  to  this  day. 


a-la-go-na,  with  the  Algonquin  names,  Sqiiak-heag,  Qua-boag, 
or  Wampan~oag. 

Religion. — The  Indian  had  but  the  crudest  possible  ideas, 
if  any  at  all,  of  an  abstract  religion.  He  had  no  priests,  no 
altars,  no  sacrifice.  His  medicine  men  were  mere  conjurers. 
Yet  he  was  superstitious  to  the  last  degree,  and  spiritualized 
everything  in  nature.  The  mysterious  realm  about  him  he 
did  not  attempt  to  unravel,  but  bowed  submissively  before  it 
with  what  crude  ideas  he  had  of  religion  and  worship.  The 
flight  or  cry  of  a  bird,  the  humming  of  a  bee,  the  crawling 
of  an  insect,  the  turning  of  a  leaf,  the  whisper  of  a  breeze, 
were  to  him  mystic  signals  of  good  or  evil  import,  by  which 
he  was  guided  in  the  most  important  relations  of  life. 

In  dreams  the  Indian  placed  the  most  implicit  confidence. 
They  seemed  to  him  to  be  revelations  from  the  spirit-world, 
guiding  him  to  the  places  where  his  game  lurked  and  to  the 
haunts  of  his  enemies.  He  invoked  their  aid  on  all  occasions. 
They  taught  him  how  to  cure  the  sick,  and  revealed  to  him 
his  guardian  spirit,  as  well  as  all  the  secrets  of  his  good  or 
evil  destiny. 

Although  the  Indian  has  been  for  three  centuries  in  more 
or  less  contact  with  the  civilized  life  of  the  white  man,  he  is 
still  the  untamed  child  of  nature.  "  He  will  not,"  says  Park- 
man,  "  learn  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  he  and  his  forest 
must  perish  together.  The  stern,  unchanging  features  of  his 
mind  excite  our  admiration  from  their  very  immutability  ; 
and  we  look  with  deep  interest  on  the  fate  of  this  irreclaima- 
ble son  of  the  wilderness,  the  child  who  will  not  be  weaned 
from  the  breast  of  his  rugged  mother,  "f 


CHAPTER  VL 


EAHLY"  EXPLORERS— EARLY  PATENTS  OP  NEW 
ENGLAND-THE  CHARTER  OF  THE  COLONY  OP 
MASSACHUSETTS  BAY. 


EARLY    EXPLORERS. 

As  the  early  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  were  them- 
selves among  the  comparatively  early  voyagers  to  the  New 
World,  and  in  coming  here  suffered  the  dangers  of  the  deep 
incident  to  early  navigation,  it  will  be  necessary,  in  order 
properly  to  understand  their  history,  briefly  to  consider  the 
voyagers  who  preceded  them,  as  well  as  the  results  of  their 
explorations  and  attempts  at  settlement. 

If  the  glory  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  by  Euro- 
peans belongs  forever  to  Columbus,  under  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Spain,  on  the  12th  day  of  October,  1492,  it  is  no 
less  certain  that  the  honor  of  the  first  exploration  of  the  con- 
tinent of  North  America  belongs  to  John  Cabot  and  his  son, 
Sebastian  Cabot,  under  Honry  VII.  of  England.  If  neither 
can  justly  claim  that  glory  or  this  honor,  but  both  must  give 
way  to  the  Scandinavian  mariners, — the  Northmen  of  the 
tenth  century, — then  it  was  upon  the  virgin  soil  of  New  Eng- 
land that  the  first  white  men  landed,  and  within  her  borders 
that  the  first  white  settlement  was  attempted  on  the  wild 
American  shore. 

Of  this  visit  of  the  Danes  to  America  in  the  tenth  century 
there  is  considerable  evidence,  amounting  almost  to  a  demon- 
stration of  the  theory;  but  there  are  still  some  missing  links 
in  the  chain  of  testimony,  which,  until  supplied,  will  forever 
place  the  matter,  with  the  burial-place  of  Moses,  the  coming 
of  the  Etruscans  to  Italy,  the  building  of  the  pj'ramids,  and 
the  story  of  the  Western  mound-builders,  among  the  unsolved 
problems  of  history. 

THE   NORTHMEN. 

The  historical  evidence  upon  the  coming  of  the  Danes  to 
America  as  early  as  the  tenth  century  consists  principally  in 

t  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  Vol.  I.,  p.  44. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


23 


extracts  from  the  compositions  of  some  eighteen  writers, 
chiefly  Icelandic,  which  hav*  heen  puhlished  by  the  Eoyal 
Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries  at  Copenhagen. 

If  the  accounts  of  these  writers  are  not  romance,  but  are 
veritable  history,  then  about  the  j'ear  98fi  one  Biorne  sailed 
from  Iceland  for  Greenland  in  search  of  his  father,  who  had 
preceded  him  thither.  He  was  overtaken  by  fogs  and  lost  his 
way.  When  the  weather  cleared,  and  he  recovered  his  lost 
reckoning,  to  his  surprise  he  discovered  that,  while  he  was 
sailing  in  the  wrong  direction,  on  his  larboard-side  lay  a  low 
woodland  shore.  Continuing  the  same  course  for  nine  days, 
he  reached  Greenland  in  a  direction  directly  opposite  to  that 
with  which  the  voyage  had  heen  begun. 

It  is  evident,  from  the  direction  Biorne  was  sailing  after 
having  recovered  his  reckoning,  that  he  saw  on  his  larboard- 
side  the  "low  and  wooded  land"  of  the  eastern  shore  of  North 
America.  If  the  account  of  this  voyage  is  trustworthy,  Biorne 
was  the  discoverer  of  the  New  World. 

For  fourteen  years  the  discovery  of  Biorne  w-as  talked 
about  bj'  the  Danish  navigators,  when,  in  the  year  1000,  Lief 
Ericson,  with  a  single  ship  and  a  crew  of  thirty  men,  went  in 
search  of  the  newly-found  land.  Lief  found  it  and,  landing, 
gave  it  the  name  of  Helhilaml,  signitying  in  Icelandic  the 
land  of  slate.  Ee-embarking  and  sailing  southerly  along  the 
coast,  he  came  to  a  country  "well  wooded  and  level,"  which 
he  called  Marldand,  in  allusion  to  its  wood.  Sailing  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  out  of  sight  of  land  for  two  days  more, 
he  came  to  an  island,  along  whose  northern  shore  he  passed 
westwardly,  and  reaching  the  mainland  went  on  shore  and 
built  huts,  in  which  he  passed  the  winter.  One  of  his  men,  a 
German,  while  wandering  in  the  woods  found  an  abundance 
of  wild  grapes,  such  as  wine  was  made  of  in  his  own  country, 
and  from  this  circumstance  Lief  called  the  country  Vinland. 

Jt  is  supposed  that  the  name  Helluland  was  applied  by  Lief 
to  the  rocky  shore  of  Labrador,  long  since  famous  for  its  beds 
of  dark  Laurentian  rock,  mistaken  by  him  for  slate.  Mark- 
land  may  have  been  Nova  Scotia,  and  it  is  highly  probable 
that  Vinland  was  the  southeastern  shore  of  3Iassachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island.  In  the  year  1003  Thorwald,  and  in  the  year 
100.5  Thorfinn,  are  said  to  have  visited  Yinland,  and  such  visits 
are  said  to  have  been  continued  until  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

But  whether  the  Northmen  were  or  were  not  the  first  Euro- 
pean explorers  of  the  New  World,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  year 
1497,  but  five  years  after  Columbus  made  his  first  voyage,  the 
Cabots — father  and  sons — discovered  and  explored  the  coast  of 
North  America  in  the  region  of  New  England,  thus  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  British  claim  to  such  vast  American  pos- 
sessions. 

John  Cabot  was  a  merchant  of  Venice,  who  settled  at  Bris- 
tol, invited  by  the  peaceful  commercial  policy  of  Henry  VII. 

On  the  5th  day  of  March,  1496,  Henry  granted  to  John  Cabot 

and  his  three  sons,  Lewis,  Sancius,  and  Sebastian, — the  last  of 
whom,  Sebastian,  was  born  in  England,  at  Bristol,  in  1477, — 
his  royal  letters-patent  authorizing  them  to  "sail  to  all  parts, 
countries,  and  seas  of  the  East  and  of  the  West,  and  of  the 
North,  under  our  banners  and  ensigns,  with  five  ships  of  what 
burden  or  quantity  soever  they  may  be,  to  seek  out,  discover, 
and  find  whatsoever  isles,  countries,  regions,  or  provinces  of 
the  heathen  and  infidels,  whatsoever  they  may  be,  and  in  what 
part  of  the  world  soever  they  may  be,  which  before  this  time 
have  been  unknown  to  all  Christians." 

The  Cabots,  by  these  letters-patent,  were  to  occupy,  subdue, 
possess,  and  govern  such  regions  as  they  might  discover  for 
their  own  behoof,  but  in  the  name  of  England,  the  king  to 
have  one-fifth  part  of  the  profits  of  the  enterprise.  This  was 
the  first  patent  for  discovery  issued  by  the  British  crown. 

In  May,  1497,  Cabot,  with  his  son  Sebastian,  set  out  on  his 
voyage.  His  fleet  consisted  of  two,  or  perhaps  five  ships, 
with  three  hundred  men  on  board.     The  expedition  touched 


at  Iceland,  and  from  thence  sailed  boldly  into  the  unknown, 
mysterious  west  in  search  of  gold  and  emjiire.  They  were  the 
first  in  the  search  for  the  still  undiscovered  northwest  passage 
to  the  "  harbor  of  Cathay,"  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia,  all 
unconscious  of  the  mighty  continent  which  lay  between  them 
and  the  object  of  their  desire.  Unexpectedly  soon  they  reached 
the  shores  of  Newfoundland  or  Labrador.  Cabot  first  sailed 
northwardly  along  the  coast  in  search  of  the  northwestern 
passage  as  far  as  the  sixty-seventh  degree  of  north  latitude. 
Although  in  July,  the  cold  became  intense,  and  he  reversed 
his  course,  and  sailed  south  as  far  as  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of 
north  latitude.  Failing  in  his  object  he  returned,  taking  to 
the  king  as  trophies  three  American  Indians.  The  Cabots 
probably  saw  nothing  but  the  bays  and  headlands  along  the 
shores,  but  upon  their  discovery  rests  England's  claim  to  her 
North  American  possessions. 

The  next  year  the  king  renewed  his  patent  to  John  Cabot. 
But  John  Cabot  presently  died,  and  whether  his  son  Sebastian 
made  a  second  voyage  to  America  is  one  of  history's  unsolved 
problems. 

In  the  year  1500  the  Portugese  admiral.  Gasper  Cortereal, 
made  a  voyage  to  America,  sailed  along  the  coast  some  six  or 
seven  hundred  miles,  and  returned  with  a  number  of  Indian 
captives,  giving  glowing  accounts  of  the  country. 

John  Verazzano,  a  Florentine,  sailing  in  the  service  of 
France,  in  the  year  1524  made  a  voyage  to  America,  which 
was  followed  by  results  as  important  to  France  as  Cabot's 
voyage  was  to  England.  Verazzano,  during  this  voyage,  lay 
at  anchor  for  fifteen  days  in  what  is  now  the  harbor  of  New- 
port, and  entered  the  Hudson  Kiver  more  than  eighty  years 
before  the  visit  of  the  explorer  whose  name  it  bears.  About 
the  same  time,  in  the  year  1.524  or  1-525,  Stephen  Gomez  was 
fitted  out  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  and 
some  merchants  of  Coruna  and  sent  on  a  voyage  in  quest 
of  the  northwest  passage.  He  first  touched  at  Newfound- 
land, and  then  passing  Cape  Cod,  sailed  through  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  also  entered  the  Hud.son,  which  he  named  the  Rio 
de  San  Antonio.  In  the  year  1655,  Jacques  Cartier,  the  emi- 
nent mariner  of  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  on  the  10th  of  August 
of  that  year,  it  being  the  festival  of  St.  Lawrence,  discovered 
the  bay  and  river  of  that  name,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  French  claim  to  Canada. 

These  discoveries  opened  a  large  field  for  industry  and  tempt- 
ing sources  of  profit  to  European  adventurers.  As  early  as 
the  year  150.3,  only  three  years  behind  Cortereal,  fishing-vessels 
began  to  arrive  at  Newfoundland  and  along  the  coast  from 
Brittany  and  Normandy,  and  by  the  year  1517,  only  twenty 
years  after  the  voyage  of  the  Cabots,  no  less  than  fifty  ships, 
French,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese,  were  engaged  in  these  fish- 
eries. 

Henry  VIII.  paid  little  attention  to  American  discovery. 
It  was  not  until  the  year  1548,  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.,  that  Parliament  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  passed 
laws  protecting  English  fishermen  on  the  American  coast. 

But  it  was  not  until  during  the  last  half  of  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  that  a  permanent  settlement  of  the  American  con- 
tinent was  undertaken  by  Englishmen.  Sir  Humphrey  Gil- 
bert was  the  half-brother  of  Sir  Walter  P>aleigh,  and  his 
fellow-soldier  in  the  Protestant  armies  of  France.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  Parliament,  was  well  versed  in  geographical 
and  commercial  knowledge,  and  the  well-known  author  of  a 
"  Discourse  to  prove  a  Passage  by  the  Northwest  to  Cathaia 
and  the  East  Indies." 

With  Kaleigh,  he  cordially  embraced  the  scheme  of  the 
colonization  of  North  America.  Mexico,  the  West  Indies, 
and  Peru  were  pouring  immense  wealth  into  Spain.  How 
could  London  and  Bristol  behold  unmoved  the  strange  pros- 
peritv  of  Cadiz?  The  queen  gave  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  a 
patent,  conveying  privileges  on  him  similar  to  those  granted 
by  Henry  VII.  to  John  Cabot.     He  and  his  heirs  were  to  he 


24 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


proprietors  of  such  countries,  paying  homage  therefor  to  the 
crown  of  England,  togetlier  with  one-fifth  part  of  all  precious 
metals  found.  Sir  Humphrey  was  given  admiralty  jurisdic- 
tion over  neighboring  seas  as  well  as  full  power  to  govern  on 
the  land.  After  malting  his  first  attempt,  which  proved 
ahortive,  Gilbert  finally  set  sail  the  second  time,  on  the  11th 
of  June,  1583,  with  two  hundred  and  sixty  men  in  five  ships. 
He  reached  the  coast  of  North  America,  on  the  fifty-flr.st 
parallel,  north  latitude,  July  30,  and  on  the  3d  of  August 
entered  the  harbor  of  St.  John,  in  Newfoundland.  On  the 
5th  of  August  he  landed,  and,  pitching  his  tent  on  shore, 
called  around  him  the  commanders  of  the  thirty-six  fishing- 
vessels  of  difterent  nations  he  had  found  there,  and,  with 
imposing  ceremonies,  toolv  possession  of  the  territory  in  the 
name  of  the  British  crown.  His  commission  was  read  and 
interpreted,  a  turf  and  a  twig  were  formally  delivered  to  him 
in  tolven  of  investiture  and  of  allegiance  to  the  crown,  and 
proclamation  made  of  his  authority  to  govern  the  country  for 
two  hundred  leagues  on  every  side.  He  set  up  a  pillar  with 
the  royal  arms  aiBxed  thereto  graven  on  lead,  and  made'grants 
of  land  in  severalty  for  erecting  stands  for  curing  fish. 

But  this  attempt  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  at  settlement, 
the  first  made  by  Englishmen  on  American  soil,  heads  also 
the  long  list  of  frustrated  settlements  whose  sad  details  are 
more  interesting  to  the  historian  than  those  of  many  a  suc- 
cessful one.  His  search  for  gold  was  unavailing.  His  com- 
pany was  unused  to  hardships,  and  many  sickened  and  died. 
One  disaster  followed  another,  and,  utterly  discouraged,  Gil- 
bert sailed  for  England.  He  took  passage  himself  on  the 
least  seaworthy  vessel,  thus  choosing  the  place  of  danger  ;  and 
on  the  9th  of  September  his  little  ship,  in  a  violent  storm, 
went  to  the  bottom,  and  every  soul  on  board  perished.  The 
last  words  he  was  heard  to  utter  by  those  who  survived  on 
other  ships  were,  "  We  are  as  near  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 

After  Gilbert's  death  his  patent  wa.9  renewed  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  who,  in  1584  and  the  following  year,  made  his  attempt 
to  colonize  Virginia,  so  named  in  honor  of  England's  virgin 
queen. 

EARLIEST    ENGLISH    SETTLEMENT    IN    MASSACHUSETTS. 

It  was  in  the  year  1602,  nineteen  years  after  the  failure  of 
Sir  Humjihrey  Gilbert,  that  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  a  mariner 
-of  the  West  of  England,  under  the  command  and  with  the 
consent  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  at  the  cost  among  others  of 
Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton,  in  a  small  ship 
called  the  "Concord,"  set  sail  for  "the  north  part  of  Vir- 
ginia" with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  a  colony.  Gosnold 
sailed  from  Falmouth  on  the  26th  of  March,  and  had  with  him 
a  company  of  thirty-two  persons,  eight  of  whom  were  seamen, 
and  twenty  men  to  become  planters.  On  the  14th  of  May  he 
saw  land  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  soon  after  taking  a  large 
quantity  of  fish  near  a  headland,  he  named  it  Cape  Cod. 

Gosnold,  Brereton,  and  three  o'hers  went  on  shore,  being 
first  Englishmen  who  are  known  to  have  set  foot  on  the  soil 
of  Massachusetts.  Sailing  southerly  and  westerly  to  the  south 
of  Nantucket,  Go.snold,  after  landing  at  No-man' s-lnnd,  to 
which  he  gave  the  mime  Martha's  Vinf>/ard,  since  transferred 
to  the  larger  island,  reached  an  island  now  called  by  the  In- 
dian name  of  Cut-iii-hunk,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
settlement.  In  three  weeks  after  landing  he  had  dug  a  cellar, 
prepared  timber,  and  built  a  house  fortified  with  palisades 
after  the  Indian  fashion.  A  dispute  arose  between  the  planters 
and  the  sailors  as  to  their  provisions,  and  a  party  going  out  in 
search  of  shell-fish  was  attacked  by  hostile  savages.  Becom- 
ing discouraged,  at  the  end  of  a  month  from  landing  on  the 
island  Gosnold  abandoned  his  settlement  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land. But  his  enterprise,  althougli  a  present  failure,  was  fruit- 
ful in  its  con.sequences.  Out  of  it  slowly  developed  the  final 
settlement  of  New  England.  Such  glowing  accounts  were 
given  by  his  men  of  the  fruitfulncss  of  the  soil  and  the  saiu- 


brity  of  the  climate  that  other  expeditions  soon  followed. 
The  land  was  "overgrown,"  said  they,  "  with  wood  and  rub- 
bish, viz. :  oaks,  ashes,  beech,  walnut,  witch-hazel,  sassafrage, 
and  cedars,  with  divers  others  of  unknown  name.  The  rub- 
bi.sh  is  wild  pease,  young  sassafrage,  cherry-trees,  vines,  eglan- 
tine, gooseberry-bushes,  hawthorn,  honeysuckles,  with  others 
of  like  quality.  The  herbs  and  roots  are  strawberries,  rasps, 
ground-nuts,  alexander,  surrin,  tansy,  etc.,  without  count." 

In  the  year  1603,  Richard  Hakluyt,  the  learned  cosmo- 
grapher,  took  an  active  interest  in  schemes  for  the  further  ex- 
ploration of  North  Virginia,  as  New  England  was  then  called, 
which  resulted  in  the  voyage  of  Martin  Pring  of  that  year, 
and  in  1005  Lord  Southampton  fitted  out  and  sent  George 
Way  mouth. 

In  the  mean  time,  between  the  years  1603  and  1606,  the 
French,  through  the  Sieur  de  Monts,  came  near  taking  posses- 
sion of  North  Virginia.  De  3Ionts,  with  Pontgrave  and  De 
Poutrincourt  for  his  lieutenants,  and  Samuel  de  Champlain 
for  his  pilot,  in  1604  set  sail  for  the  principality  of  Acadie,  of 
which  he  had  a  patent.  Thinking  the  climate  of  that  region 
too  severe,  the  next  season  he  embarked  for  the  shores  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  was  upon  the  coast  nearly  at  the  same  time 
with  Wayniouth ;  but  the  Indians  were  ho.stile,  and  he  did  not 
stay.  The  next  year  his  companions  renewed  the  voyage,  and 
De  Poutrincourt  sent  a  party  on  shore  at  Cape  Cod  to  plant  a 
cross  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  France.  The  Indians  at- 
tacked his  men,  killed  two  and  wounded  others.  His  situation 
becoming  dangerous  he  returned  to  Port  Royal,  leaving  North 
Virginia  to  become  New  England,  and  not  New  France. 

In  pursuing  this  rapid  sketch  of  the  early  navigators,  we 
now  come  to  many  names  more  prominently  identified  with 
the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  conspicuous  among  which 
are  Sir  Fernando  Gorges  and  Capt.  John  Smith,  the  one  the 
founder  of  Virginia,  and  the  other,  in  a  certain  sense,  the 
father  of  Puritan  New  England.  

In  the  year  1604,  Sir  Fernando  Gorges  was  made  governor 
of  Plymouth.  W^aymouth,  on  his  return  from  America  in 
the  year  1605,  brought  with  him  several  Indian  captives. 
Three  of  these  he  gave  to  Gorges.  "This  accident,"  writes 
Gorges,  "  was  the  means,  under  God,  of  putting  on  foot  and 
giving  life  to  all  our  plantations."  Gorges  took  the  natives 
into  his  house  and  kept  them  three  j'ears.  He  taught  them 
to  speak  in  the  English  tongue,  and  listened  with  delight  to 
their  accounts  of  the  "stately  islands  and  safe  harbors"  of 
their  native  land,  "what  great  rivers  ran  up  into  the  land, 
what  men  of  note  were  seated  on  them,  what  power  they  were 
of,  how  allied,  what  enemies  they  had,  and  the  like."* 

Sir  J(jhn  Popham,  another  name  conspicuous  in  earl}'  New 
England  history,  was  then  lord  chief-justice  of  the  King's 
Bench,  and  Gorges,  who  had  befriended  him  in  former  times, 
obtained  his  powerful  influence  at  court  for  authority  to  renew 
operations  in  America.  This  movement  of  Gorges  and  Pop- 
thS^~|__ham,  in  the  west  of  England,  was  seconded  by  "certain  noble- 
men, knights,  gentlemen,  and  merchants"  of  London,  who 
were  desirous  of  renewing  the  attempt  made  by  Raleigh  in 
Virginia. 

The  result  of  this  joint  application  was  the  incorporation 
of  two  companies,  called  in  the  patent  the  "  First  and  Second 
Colony."  Both  companies  were  placed  under  the  common 
supervision  of  a  body  called  "The  Council  of  Virginia," 
to  be  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  each  company  was  to  be 
governed  on  the  spot  by  a  council  appointed  in  like  manner. 

The  First  or  London  Comjiaii;/  had  assigned  to  it  South 
A'^irginia,  being  the  territory  extending  from  the  thirty-fourth 
to  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitude,  with  a  breadth  of 
fifty  miles  inland.  The  Second  or  Plymouth  Conijiany,  under 
the  management  of  "  sundry  kniglits,  gentlemen,  and  other 
adventurers,  of  the  cities  of  Bristol   and  Exeter,  and  of  the 


*  Mxis.  Hist.  Coll.,  XXVI.,  .in,  h\. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONxNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


25 


town  of  Plymouth,  and  of  other  places,"  was  authorized  to 
plant  in  North  Virginia,  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty- 
fifth  parallels.  As  their  territory  overlapped  in  part,  neither 
company  was  to  settle  within  one  hundred  miles  of  land  pre- 
viously occupied  by  the  other.  All  the  rights  of  British  sub- 
jects were  granted  to  the  colonists  and  their  descendants. 

Under  this  last-named  patent  various  abortive  attempts  at 
settlement  were  made  by  both  companies — notably  that  of 
-Xrorges,  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  to  plant  a  colony  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebeck,  in  Maine,  in  the  year  1007. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  year  1614  that  a  new  impetus  was 
given  to  the  settlement  of  America.  In  that  year  Capt.  John 
Smith  sailed  from  London  for  the  American  coast,  in  com- 
mand of  two  ships,  fitted  out  by  some  private  adventurers. 

The  history  of  John  Smith,  the  founder  of  Virginia,  under 
the  London  Company,  reads  more  like  some  mythical  ro- 
mance of  prehistoric  times  than  the  sober  account  of  events 
occurring  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  in  the  very  days 
of  William  Pynchon,  the  father  of  Springfield.  The  fa.sein- 
ating  story  belongs  rather  to  the  Old  Dominion  than  to  New 
England. 

-Suffice  it  to  say  that  Smith  visited  the  coast  of  North  Vir- 
ginia in  the  year  l(il4,  drew  a  map  of  it  "  from  point  to  point, 
isle  to  isle,  harbor  to  harbor,  with  the  soundings,  sands,  rocks, 
andJandmarks,"  and  he  was  the  first  to  call  it  by  the  name 
of  New  Eiiglatid. 

After  his  failure  on  the  Kennebeck,  in  1007,  Gorges,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  sent  out  Richard  Vines  to 
New  England  in  1016-17,  and  Thomas  Dermer  in  the  early 
summer  of  1020,  who  landed  at  Plymouth  a  few  months  before 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  came,  and  carried  back  to  England  the 
news  of  the  terrible  plague  among  the  Indians,  that  had  so 
m/arly  depopulated  the  country. 

II. 

GRK.VT  PATENT  OF  NEW  KNGLAND. 

At  length,  on  the  3d  day  of  November,  1620,  King  James 
granted  to  the  Plymouth  Company  a  separate  charter  of  their 
part  of  the  patent  under  the  control  of  the  "  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia," and  formed  them  into  a  separate  corporate  body,  styled 
in  the  patent  "  The  Council  established  in  Plymouth,  in  the 
county  of  Devon,  for  the  planting,  ruling,  ordering,  and 
governing  of  New  England  in  America." 

Of  the  forty  patentees  named  in  this  patent  thirteen  were 
peers,  some  of  the  highest  rank,  and  most  of  the  others  were 
men  of  distinguished  consequence. 

The  following  extracts  from  this  patent  will  be  interesting 
to  New  England  readers  : 

"  We,  therefure,  of  our  special  grace,  mere  motion,  and  certain  knowledge, 
by  the  advice  of  the  lonls  and  others  of  om-  privy  council,  have,  for  us,  our 
heil-s,  and  successors,  granted,  ordained,  and  established  that  all  that  circuit,  con- 
tinent, precincts,  and  limits  in  America  lying  and  being  in  breadth  from  forty 
degrees  of  northerly  latitude  from  the  equinoctial  line  to  forty-eiglit  degrees  of 
the  said  northerly  latitude,  and  in  length  by  all  the  breiulth  fiforesaid,  through- 
out tlie  main  land,  from  sea  to  sea,  with  all  the  seii^,  rivers,  islandti,  creeks,  inlets, 
ports,  and  havens  within  the  degrees,  precincts,  and  limits  of  the  said  latitude 
and  longitude,  shall  be  tlie  limits,  and  bounds,  and  precincts  of  the  said  second 
colony." 

"And  to  the  end  that  the  said  territiries  m.ay  forever  hereafter  be  more  par- 
ticularly and  ceitainly  known  and  distinguished,  our  will  and  pleasure  is  tluit 
the  same  shall  from  henceforth  be  noniinated,  termed,  and  called  by  the  name 
of  New  England  in  America;  and  by  that  name  of  New  England  in  America,  the 
said  circuit,  precinct,  limit,  continent,  islands,  and  places  in  .\menca  aforesaid, 
we  do,  by  these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  successors,  name,  call,  erect,  found, 
and  establish,  and  by  that  name  to  have  continuance  forever." 

As  it  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  people  of  the  present  day 
to  know  who  were  the  "  principal  knights  and  gentlemen  and 
other  persons  of  quality"  who  were  the  real  projectors  and 
founders  of  the  New  England  colonies  resident  in  England, 
some  of  whom  came  over  to  this  side  and  many  of  whom  were 
represented  in  the  infant  settlements  by  their  near  relatives 
and  friends,  we  give  below  a  list  of  the  first  patentees  and 
proprietors  with  their  titles  as  recited  in  the  patent : 


"Our  right  tnisty  and  right  well-beloved  cousin  and  counselor,  Lodowick, 
Duke  of  Lenox,  lord  Stewart  of  our  household ;  George,  Lord  Marquis  Bnckin- 
ham,  our  high  admiral  of  England;  James,  Marquis  Hamilton  ;  William,  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  lord  chamberlain  of  our  household ;  Thonia.s,  Earl  of  Arundel ;  and 
our  right  trusty  and  light  well-beloved  cousin,  William,  Earl  of  Bath;  and  our 
right  tnusty  and  right  well-beloved  cousin  and  counsehu-,  Henry,  Earl  of  South- 
ampton ;  and  our  right  trusty  and  well-beloved  cousins,  William,  Earl  of  Salsbury, 
and  Robert,  Earl  of  Warwick  ;  and  our  right  trusty  and  right  well-beloved  John, 
Viscount  Iloddington;  and  our  right  tru.sty  and  well-lieloved  counselor,  Ed- 
waid.  Lord  Zouch,  lord  warden  of  our  cinque  ports ;  and  our  trusty  and  well-be- 
loved E'lmond,  Lord  ShefHeld;  Edward,  Lord  Gorges;  and  our  well-beloved  Sir 
Edward  Seymoiir,  Knight  and  Baronet ;  Sir  Robert  Mansel;  Sir  Edward  Zouch, 
our  knight  nuii-shal ;  Sir  Dtidley  Biggs,  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  Sir  Fcrdinando  Gor- 
ges, Sir  Francis  Popham,  Sir  John  Brooks,  Sir  Thonu^  Gates,  Sir  Richard  Haw- 
kins, Sir  Richard  Edgecomb,  Sir  Allen  Apsley,  Sir  Warwick  Hoale,  Sir  Richard 
Catchmay,  Sir  John  Bourgchin,  Sir  Nathaniel  Ricli,  Sir  Edward  Giles,  Sir  Giles 
Monipesson,  Sir  Thonia.s  Worth,  Ivniglits;  and  our  well-beloveti  Blatthew  Sut- 
clitf,  Dean  of  Exeter;  Robert  Heath,  Esq.,  Recorder  of  our  city  of  London; 
Henry  Bourgchin,  John  Drake,  Ealeigl)  Gilbert,  Geoi'ge  Cliudley,  Thomas  Hamon, 
and  John  Argall,  Esquires  to  be  .  .  .  the  first  modern  and  present  council,  es- 
taldislied  at  Plymoutli  in  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the  planting,  ruling,  ordering, 
and  governing  of  New  England  in  ^Vmerica." 

It  will  be  seen  that  at  the  very  date  this  patent  of  New  Eng- 
land was  granted  a  little  ship — the  "  Ma^yflower" — was  on 
the  ocean  with  its  precious  freight, — the  Pilgrim  Fathers, — 
who  were  destined  to  be  its  first  permanent  settlers. 

III. 

THE    CHARTER    OF    THE    COLONY    OF    MASSACHUSETTS    BAY. 

Following  closelj'  upon  the  patent  of  New  England,  and 
being  the  immediate  title  of  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Valley 
in  Massachusetts,  came  the  colony  charter. 

The  charter  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  was  granted  by 
King  Charles  I.,  in  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  on  the  4th  day 
of  March,  1628. 

The  charter  made  and  constituted  the  persons  below-named, 
among  whom  was  William  Pynchon,  the  founder  of  Springfield, 
"one  body  corporate  and  politick  in  fact  and  name,  b}'  the 
name  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  the  Massachu.ietfs  Bay 
in  New  England,"  viz. :  Sir  Henry  Roswell,  Sir  John  Younge, 
Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  Thomas  Southcott,  John  Humfrey, 
John  Endicott,  Simon  Whctcome,  Isaac  Johnson,  Samuel 
Aldersey,  John  Ven,  Matthew  Cradock,  George  Harwood, 
Increase  Nowell,  Richard  Puey,  Richard  Billingham,  Na- 
thaniel Wright,  Samuel  Vassall,  Theophilus  Eaton,  Thomas 
Goii'e,  Thomas  Adams,  John  Browne,  Samuel  Browne, 
Thomas  Hutchins,  William  Vassall,  William  Pinchion,  and 
George  Foxcrofte. 

This  charter  was  brought  over  to  New  England  in  the  year 
1030,  by  John  Winthrop,  and  the  colony  founded. 


CHAPTER    VIL 

the:  NEW^  ENGLAND  PEOPLE-OHIGIN  OF  THE 
ENGLISH  PUEITANS  — THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS 
OF  NEW"  ENGLAND  — THE  PURITAN  FATHERS 
OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

I. 
THE    NEW   ENGLAND   PEOPLE. 

TuE  early  settlers  of  the  Valley  of  the  Connecticut  in 
Ma.ssachusetts  were  almost  without  exception  English  Puri- 
tans. Of  a  truth  almost  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley,  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  were  descendants  of 
English  Puritans.  "Civilized  New  England,"  saj's  John 
Gorham  Palfrey,  "  is  the  child  of  English  Puritanism."  The 
English  emigration  to  New  England  began  with  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  in  the  year  1620.  It  was  not  until  1630,  ten  years 
later,  that  they  came  in  any  considerable  numbers.  Ten  years 
later  still,  in  1040,  the  English  emigration  to  New  England 
almost  ceased.  During  the  twenty  years  of  this  active  move- 
ment about  twenty  thousand  English  people  in  all  came  to 
New  England.  These  twenty  thousand  people  thenceforth, 
for  over  a  century  and  a  half,  multiplied  on  their  own  soil  in 
remarkable  seclusion  from  other  communities  who  were  their 


26 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


neighbors  in  the  New  World.  "  Till  the  time  of  the  Boston 
Port  Bill,  eighty-four  years  ago,"  says  Palfrey,  writing  in 
1858,  "  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  the  two  principal  English 
colonies,  had  with  each  other  scarcely  more  relations  of  ac- 
quaintance, business,  mutual  influence,  or  common  action, 
than  either  of  them  had  with  Jamaica  or  Quebec."*  Thus 
isolated  and  almost  free  from  foreign  influences,  this  remark- 
able people  preserved  its  identity  quite  unimpaired.  During 
all  this  long  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  was 
making  of  itself  a  homogeneous  race,  and  as  such  was  forming 
a  distinct  character  and  working  out  its  own  problems  in  re- 
ligion and  government.  It  is  true  that  some  small  settlements 
were  composed  of  other  elements,  and  there  were  from  time 
to  time  .small  accessions  to  its  numbers  from  abroad.  Thus, 
in  1651,  Cromwell,  after  the  battles  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester, 
exiled  some  four  or  five  hundred  of  his  Scotch  prisoners  to 
Massachusetts  Bay,  few  traces  of  whom  are  left.  In  the  year 
168.5,  after  Louis  XIV.  had  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  families  of  French  Huguenots 
came  to  Massachusetts,  and  in  1719  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  families  of  Scotch-Irish  came  over  and  settled  in  Lon- 
donderry,  N.  H.,  and  elsewhere  in  New  England.  But  the.se 
few  strangers  had  no  perceptible  influence  upon  the  sturdy 
New  England  character.  In  the  solitudes  of  the  old  primeval 
wilderness  this  remarkable  people  worked  out  its  own  high 
destiny  in  suftcring  and  in  faith.  The  reader  must  bear  in 
mind,  however,  the  distinction  that  is  made  in  New  England 
history  between  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  of  Plymouth,  and  the 
Puritan  Fathers,  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Although  both  arc 
of  English  Puritan  stock,  yet  they  difler  in  this  :  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  who  landed  at  Plymouth  Kock  in  1620,  separated 
from  the  Church  of  England  several  years  before  they  fled  to 
Holland,  from  whence  they  came  to  America,  while  the  Puri- 
tan Fathers,  who  mostly  landed  at  the  Massachusetts  Bay, 
about  the  year  IG.SO,  did  not  separate  from  the  English  Church 
until  after  their  arrival  here.  In  fact,  their  first  religious 
services  after  their  arrival  were  in  strict  accordance  with  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  save  in  such  matters  of  non-con- 
formance as  had  led  to  their  coming  here.  With  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  no  ministers  came.  Their  religious  services  were 
conducted  by  laymen  for  several  years  after  their  arrival. 

The  ministers  who  came  with  the  Puritan  Fathers  were 
without  exception  all  regularly-ordained  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England.  It  is  true  the  most  of  them  had  been 
silenced  in  the  mother-country  for  non-conformity,  yet  their 
full  connection  with  the  church  had  not  been  lawfully  severed. 

II. 

ORIOIN   OF   THE    PURITANS. 

Christianity,  it  is  probable,  was  first  planted  in  Britain  in  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  by  the  early  Christian  fathers, 
if  it  was  not  even  earlier  by  Saint  Paul  himself,  as  some  say. 
It  is  known  to  have  existed  there  in  the  fourth  century,  and 
that  British  bishops  during  that  period  attended  the  general 
councils  of  the  church  on  more  than  one  occasion.  The  Saxons 
■invaded  Enghuid  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  and 
not  only  drove  out  the  ancient  British  peo]ile,  but  nearly  ex- 
terminated the  early  British  church. 

From  this  early  Christian  church  of  Britain,  the  Protestant 
Church  of  England  claims  descent.  The  sway  of  the  See  of 
Borne  over  the  Church  of  England  began  with  the  missionary 
efforts  of  St.  Austin  or  Augustin  in  the  year  596,  when  he 
was  sent  by  Pope  Gregory  I.  to  convert  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
St.  Augustin  was  made  the  first  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
but  the  few  remaining  British  bishops  refused  to  come  under 
his  rule. 

It  is  claimed  by  the  Church  of  England  that  the  Protestant 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  but  a  revival  of  the 
ancient  church  of  Britain  freed  from  the  sway  of  Rome. 


*  Preface  to  Vol.  I.,  Historj-  of  New  England,  p.  viii. 


Of  a  truth  the  Church  of  England,  even  from  the  days  of 
the  Saxon  Heptarchy,  all  through  the  long  centuries  of  Roman 
rule,  was  always  more  or  less  Protestant  in  spirit.  At  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  the  Church  of  England  protested 
against  the  rule  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Puritans  pro- 
tested against  the  sway  of  the  Church  of  England  in  turn, 
and  thus  became,  as  they  have  aptly  been  called,  the  "  Protes- 
tants of  Protestants." 

Almost  from  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons  in  England  by 
St.  Augustin,  Saxon  versions  of  the  Bible  were  in  use  among 
the  people,  from  which  they  obtained  Scriptural  knowledge, 
and  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  ritual  of  the  Mass  both  the  gospel 
and  the  epistle  were  read  by  the  clergy  from  the  steps  of  the 
altar,  not  in  the  Latin  but  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  tongue.f 

In  the  year  1076  even  William  the  Conqueror  came  near  to 
a  quarrel  with  the  Holy  See,  by  forbidding  his  bishops  to  obey 
its  citations  to  Rome,  and  ordering  spiritual  causes  to  be  tried 
in  the  county  courts. J  In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  which  began 
in  the  year  a.d.  1100,  the  larger  portion  of  the  English  clergy- 
had  wives,  with  Henry's  ap]iroval,  in  doubtful  submission  to 
the  injvmctions  of  the  Holy  See,  and  even  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury there  were  married  priests  in  England. § 

In  the  year  1301  the  barons  of  Edward  I.,  in  the  dispute 
about  the  Scottish  crown  with  the  See  of  Rome,  denied  the 
latter's  sujiremacy  in  unmistakable  terms,  and  Edward's  Stat- 
ute of  MoHmahi  was  passed  to  protect  the  people  against  the 
heavy  pecuniary  exactions  of  the  monks  and  priests. 

And  so  we  find  from  the  earliest  times  up  to  the  days  of 
Wyclift'e  in  the  fourteenth  century  a  succession  of  acts  showing 
that  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  English  people  were  ex- 
tremely jealous  of  what  they  called  continental  interference 
in  their  religious  and  civil  affairs. 

JOHN    WTCLIFFE. 

The  father  of  English  Puritanism  was  John  Wycliffe.  He 
was  born  in  Yorkshire,  near  Richmond,  about  the  year  1324, 
and  died  peacefully  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  in  December,  in 
the  year  1384. 

Wycliffe  first  came  into  notice  while  he  was  still  an  obscure 
young  student  at  Oxford,  when  in  the  year  1351,  King  Ed- 
ward's famous  Siafufe  of  Prorisoex  asserted  for  the  English 
church,  in  certain  matters,  independence  of  the  See  of  Rome. 

A  tract  published  by  Wyclift'e  on  this  occasion,  in  which 
he  warmly  espoused  the  English  cause,  not  only  brought  him 
into  notice,  but  made  him  famous.  Ten  years  of  study  and 
controver.sy  only  served  to  widen  his  departure  from  the  Or- 
thodox, or  Roman  standard.  His  departure  from  the  Orthodox 
faith  was  radical.  His  views,  boldly  published  in  England  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  differ  in  no  important 
particular  from  those  held  upon  the  same  subjects  by  the  Pil- 
grim and  Puritan  fiithers  of  New  England,  three  hundred 
years  later,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth,  nor  of  their 
descendants  now  living,  nearly  three  hundred  years  later  still, 
at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth,  century. 

W.yclifte  asserted  the  entire  sufficiency  of  the  Bible  as  a 
rule  of  faith.  He  denied  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  He 
denied  the  dogma  of  the  real  presence  in  the  eucharist,  the 
validity  of  absolution  and  indulgences,  as  well  as  the  merit  of 
penance  and  monastic  vows.  He  opposed  ecclesiastical  forms 
and  ceremonies,  and  the  observance  of  festival  days.  He 
protested  against  auricular  coni'essi(m,  prayers  to  saints,  the 
use  of  set  forms  of  prayer,  and  denounced  the  canonical  dis- 
tinction between  priests  and  bishops.  || 

His  numerous  writings,  many  of  them  in  the  English 
tongue,  were  extensively  circulated  and  read  with  eagerness 

f  Sice  Pnlfroy's  Histoiy  of  Now  England,  Vol.  I.,  p.  100. 
J  m<l..  \K  1(11. 

g  I'iillivy,  Vol.  I.,  p.  Kli;.  L\tlk't..ii,  Lifi-  of  Ilcmy  III.,  pp.  42,  328.  Wilkins, 
Couciliii  III.,  p.  277. 

II  Palfrey's  New  England,  Vol.  T.,  p.  104. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


27 


by  all  eliisses  of  people.  There  was  a  decided  tendency  of 
opinion  in  the  realm  toward  change  in  religious  matters,  of 
which  movement  Wycliife  was  the  acknowledged  leader. 
Among  his  supporters  were  persons  no  less  exalted  than  the 
queen  and  the  king's  mother,  widow  of  the  Black  Prince. 
The  House  of  Commons  threw  out  a  bill  to  suppress  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  by  a  large  majority.  Chaucer,  the 
father  of  English  literature,  was  the  reformer's  friend,  and 
influenced,  doubtless,  the  cultivated  intelligence  of  England 
by  dealing  somewhat  freely  with  the  Church,  the  clergy,  and 
the  friars  in  the  direction  of  reform.  Yet  Wycliffe  did  not 
produce  all  this.  The  spirit  of  reform  was  alive  and  active 
in  the  heart  of  the  English  nation.  The  people  heard  him 
gladly.     With  prophetic  tongue  he  uttered  the  people's  voice. 

But  the  English  Reformation,  so  auspiciously  begun,  in  the 
days  of  Wyclift'e,  under  Edward  III.,  was  yet  destined  to 
slumber  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  until  the  great  awak- 
ening in  the  religious  thought  of  the  tirst  quarter  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  known  in  history  as  the  Reformation,  shook 
to  their  centre  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 

Under  the  Lancastrian  kings  the  court  took  a  different 
direction,  in  attempting  to  prop  "the  unsteady  throne  of  an 
unlineal  liouse,"  by  calling  to  its  aid  the  spiritual  power  of 
Rome.  In  the  troublous  times  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses, 
questions  of  religion  were  mostly  lost  to  view.  It  was  not  till 
the  reign  of  the  second  Tudor,  Henry  VIII.,  that  allegiance 
to  Rome  was  sundered  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  the  English 
sovereign  declared  to  be  the  head  of  the  English  Church. 
Yet,  under  Henry  VIII.,  all  that  the  Church  of  England 
gained  was  this  emancipation  from  the  control  of  the  See  of 
Ronie.     Her  doctrines  were  still  mainly  unchanged. 

THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCH  OF  ENULAND. 

The  Church  of  England,  as  modified  by  the  Refornuition, 
and  mainly  as  she  is  constituted  to-day,  assumed  her  form  and 
shape  in  doctrine  and  observances  through  the  measures  insti- 
tuted in  her  behalf  during  the  reign  of  the  boy-king,  Edward 
VI.,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  the  year  1.547. 

In  the  year  1540,  under  his  father's  reign,  the  Statute  oj'  the 
Six  Articles  had  condemned  to  death  by  burning,  and  to  for- 
feiture of  estate,  whosoever  should  deny  the  real  presence,  and 
to  imprisonment  and  confiscation  for  the  first  oftense,  and  to 
death  for  the  second,  such  as  should  "in  word  or  writing 
speak  against  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  the  communion  in 
one  kind,  vows  of  chastity,  private  masses,  or  auricular  con- 
fession." *  Under  this  law,  and  others  no  less  severe,  against 
the  using  or  keeping  of  the  Bible  in  Tyndal's  translation, 
then  just  made,  many  suftered  death  at  the  stake,  and  many 
fled  the  realm.  But  an  entirely  new  order  of  things  was  in- 
augurated under  Edward  VI.  "  The  thunder  of  the  Six  Ar- 
ticles," says  Palfrey,  "  was  permitted  to  die  away.  Prisoners 
for  heresy  were  set  at  liberty,  and  fugitives  were  allowed  to 
return  from  the  Continent.  Church  images  were  destroyed. 
Preaching,  which  had  fallen  much  into  disuse,  was  revived. 
The  Bible,  in  English,  was  placed  in  every  church."  f  Dur- 
ing the  young  king's  flrst  year  laws  were  passed  directing  the 
dispensation  of  both  the  elements,  bread  and  wine,  to  the  laity 
in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  repealing  the  statute  of  the  Six 
Articles. 

In  April,  1-5.52,  uniformity  of  public  worship  was  provided 
by  requiring  all  ministers  to  use  the  liturgy  which  had  been 
prepared  under  Bishop  Cranmer,  which  is  substantially  that 
used  by  the  Church  of  England  to-day  in  her  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer.  Incense,  candles,  and  holy  water  were  forbid- 
den, and  the  high  altar  exchanged  for  the  communion  table. 

But  the  use  of  ministerial  robes  and  vestments,  the  rochet, 
the  cape,  the  surplice,  was  still  enjoined  upon  the  clergy. 


*  Burnett,  History  of  the  Reformation, 
f  History  of  New  England,  Vol.  I.,  p.  111. 


THE   PURITANS. 

It  was  the  requirement  last  above  named — that  in  reg;ird  to 
the  use  of  vestments  by  the  clergy,  as  provided  for  in  the  ritual 
of  Edward  VI. — that  was  destined  soon  to  dismember  the  Prot- 
estant Church  of  England;  and  it  was  in  the  young  king's 
reign  that  this  question  of  clerical  costume  came  forward  into 
prominent  importance. 

Those  who  advocated  uniformity  in  the  use  of  sacred  vest- 
ments claimed  that  they  contributed  largely  to  the  seemliness, 
decency,  and  dignity  of  public  worship ;  that  unnecessary  de- 
partures from  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  were  inex- 
pedient ;  and  that  to  oppose  the  will  of  rulers  in  so  small  a 
matter  indicated  a  factious  temper  rather  than  the  possession 
of  sound  sense.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  alleged  that  in  the 
popular  mind  clerical  vestments  were  intimately  associated 
with  the  "  idolatry  of  Rome,"  and  were  part  and  parcel  of  the 
"  mischievous  machinery  of  the  Mass,"  and  that  a  "  Christian 
minister  owed  it  to  the  simplicity  and  godl}'  sincerity  which 
became  his  vocation"  to  abstain  from  their  use. 

The  party  in  opposition  to  the  use  of  the  clerical  habit  soon 
became  known  as  Puritans,  and  shortly  afterward  were  called 
Non-conformists. 

In  the  year  1.5.50,  the  first  overt  act  occurred  in  this  dispute 
in  the  English  Protestant  Church  over  the  use  of  vestments 
by  the  clergy,  which  resulted  in  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  to  Plymouth  Rock.  In  that  year  (1550)  John  Hooper 
was  appointed  bishop  of  Gloucester.  Belonging  to  the  oppos- 
ing or  "Puritan  party,  he  took  the  resolution  to  decline  the  pro- 
motion rather  than  to  submit  to  what  he  considered  the  dis- 
honor of  clothing  himself  in  the  Episcopal  robes.  The  young 
king  was  inclined  to  relent,  but  Bi-shops  Cranmer  and  Ridley 
insisted  upon  his  compliance.  He  was  so  obstinate  that  they 
put  him  in  jail.  At  length  they  persuaded  him  so  far  to  yield 
his  scruples  as  to  consent  to  wear  the  habit  of  his  order  at  his 
consecration,  and  once  afterward  in  preaching  at  court.  After 
this  he  put  it  on  no  more.  His  example  was  followed  by  a  few 
bishops  and  numbers  of  the  other  clergy. 

But  the  reign  of  the  young  king  was  short,  and  at  its  close 
the  Princess  Mary  succeeded  to  the  throne.  During  her  short 
reign  the  old  order  of  things  in  matters  of  religion  was  re- 
established. In  November,  1554,  Parliament  at  a  single  blow 
rescinded  all  the  laws  respecting  religion  which  had  been  passed 
during  the  last  reign.  The  unholy  fires  of  religious  persecu- 
tion were  soon  lighted,  and  over  three  hundred  persons  were 
burned  at  the  stake,  among  whom  were  five  bishops.  Num- 
bers of  the  dissentients  fled  to  the  continent,  taking  refuge  in 
Frankfort-on-the-Main  and  other  places. 

Upon  the  death  of  Queen  Mary,  Nov.  17, 1558,  the  Princess 
Elizabeth,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Henry  VIII.  by  Ann 
Boleyn,  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  England.  Her  long  reign 
began  with  the  restitution  of  the  Protestant  order.  The  laws 
concerning  religion  passed  in  the  time  of  her  brother,  Edward 
VI.,  were  re-enacted.  This  was  soon  followed  by  two  impor- 
tant acts,  the  one  called  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  and  the  other 
the  Act  of  Uniformity.  The  first  required  of  all  the  clergy 
and  oflScial  laymen  an  oath  renouncing  the  authority  of  any 
foreign  priest  or  prelate  in  matters  both  temporal  and  spiritual, 
and  recognizing  the  supremacy  of  the  sovereign  of  England 
"  in  all  causes  ecclesiastical  and  civil."  The  latter  act  forbade 
all  ministers  to  conduct  public  worship  otherwise  than  accord- 
ing to  the  rubric  under  the  penalty  of  life-imprisonment  for 
the  third  offense.  But  religious  persecution  did  not  cease  with 
the  death  of  Queen  Mary.  During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
numbers  of  Roman  Catholics  were  punished  by  imprisonment 
and  forfeiture  of  estates,  and  two  hundred  of  them  put  to  death 
for  their  religion.  On  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the 
throne,  numerous  Protestant  fugitives  to  the  continent,  driven 
into  exile  by  the  rigorous  laws  of  Queen  Mary,  returned  to 
Eno-land.  During  their  absence  in  different  continental  cities 
they  had  kept  up  the  controversy  regarding  vestments  and 


28 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


other  requirements  of  the  rubric  of  Edward  VI.,  Ijegun  dur- 
ing his  reign,  and  on  (heir  return  this  controversy  was  trans- 
ferred to  England. 

The  jjarty  who  followed  in  the  lead  of  Bishop  Hooper,  and 
who  were  opposed  to  the  use  of  vestments,  had  now  come  to 
be  called  Puritans.  They  not  only  opposed  the  use  of  the  cleri- 
cal habit,  but  also  objected  to  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in 
baptism,  of  the  ring  in  marriage,  and  of  the  kneeling  posture 
in  the  communion. 

The  queen  and  Parliament  both  sided  with  the  advocates  of 
the  Praycr-Book,  and  in  loO.O  a  royal  proclamation  was  issued 
requiring  uniformity  in  peremptory  terms.  Upon  the  issuing 
of  this  proclamation  of  conformity,  thirty-seven  out  of  ninetj'- 
eight  London  ministers  were  summoned  for  contumacy  before 
the  bishops,  suspended,  and  deprived  of  their  livings.  This 
began  the  long  contest  in  the  English  Church  between  the 
Churchmen  and  the  Puritans,  which  resulted  in  the  with- 
drawal of  a  part  of  the  Puritans  to  New  England  in  search 
of  that  religious  liberty  which  was  denied  them  at  home,  and 
in  the  complete  triumph  for  a  while,  at  least,  of  the  Puritan 
cause  in  the  mother-country,  under  Cromwell. 

In  the  year  1.583,  upon  the  death  of  Archbishop  Grindal, 
who  was  a  man  of  moderate  temper  and  principles,  Arch- 
bishop "Whitgift  succeeded  to  the  primacy  of  England.  In 
the  week  of  his  consecration  he  issued  instructions  to  his 
bishops  to  forbid  and  prevent  preaching,  catechising,  and 
praying  in  any  private  family  in  the  presence  of  persons  not 
belonging  to  it,  and  to  silence  all  preachers  and  catechists 
who  had  not  received  orders  from  episcopal  hands,  or  who 
refused  or  neglected  to  read  the  whole  service,  or  to  wear  the 
prescribed  clerical  habit,  or  to  subscribe  to  the  queen's  su- 
premacy, the  Thirty-Nine  Articles,  and  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  This  was  aimed  at  the  Puritan  party,  and  during 
the  first  year  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England,  of  Puritan  proclivities,  were  suspended 
in  six  counties  of  the  province  of  Canterbur}'. 

By  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  passed  in  the  first  year  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  the  sovereign  had  been  authorized  to  appoint  a 
"Court  of  High  Conmiissioti,"  with  power  "to  visit,  reform, 
redress,  order,  correct,  and  amend  all  errors,  heresies,  schisms, 
abuses,  contempts,  otienses,  and  enormities  whatsoever."  This 
was  the  royal  tribunal  for  the  trial  of  ecclesiastical  causes, 
and  Archbishop  Whitgift,  in  the  year  1584,  was  ordered  by 
Elizabeth  to  organize  this  court. 

The  Court  of  High  Commission  was  formed  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  forty-four  commissioners,  of  whom  twelve  were 
bishops,  and  began  at  once  to  try  persons  accused  of  violating 
the  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity. 

And  so  the  contest  went  on  from  year  to  year,  with  varying 
intensity,  between  the  two  parties  of  the  Church  of  England, 
through  the  remaining  years  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  and 
into  the  reign  of  her  successor,  until  a  part  of  the  Puritan 
party,  at  least,  sought  refuge  from  further  persecution  in  the 
wilds  of  America. 

III. 

THE    PILaRIM    FATHERS. 

But  years  before  the  appointment  of  the  Court  of  High 
Commission  a  new  party  in  this  religious  controversy  ap- 
peared upon  the  troubled  scene,  which  was  destined,  in  the 
persons  of  some  of  its  humble  followers,  to  play  a  prominent 
part  in  the  world's  history.  This  was  the  party  of  "Sejia- 
ratists,"  or  "  Brownists,"  as  they  were  sometimes  called,  from 
the  name  of  their  first  leader,  one  congregation  of  which,  in 
the  year  1G20,  were  the  Pilgrims  of  the  "  Mayflower." 

As  early  as  1567  separate  congregations  had  been  formed, 
and  in  1572  the  "first-born  of  all  presbyteries"  was  estab- 
lished at  Wandworth  in  Surrey.* 

Robert  Brown  was  the  leader  of  the  new  sect  whicli  bore 


»  Barry's  Hist,  of  Maes.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  46. 


his  name  in  1.581.  He  not  only  preached  against  the  ceremo- 
nies and  discipline  of  the  Established  Church,  but  also  advo- 
cated the  democratic  doctrine  of  the  independency  and  the^ 
complete  jurisdiction  of  every  congregation  in  its  own  aftairs, 
— in  short,  the  Congregational  system.  But  Eobert  Brown 
soon  went  back  to  the  Establishment,  and  his  followers,  re- 
fusing to  be  called  by  his  name,  became  known  as  Separatists 
or  Independents. 

In  1592  a  congregation  of  Separatists  was  gathered  at  Lon- 
don by  Francis  Johnson.  It  was  soon  after  broken  up  by  the 
authorities,  and  the  i)ast.or,  with  a  portion  of  his  flock,  escaped 
to  Amsterdam,  in  Holland. 

About  the  year  1594  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims  first  met  at 
Gainsborough  and  afterward  at  Scrooby,  "  to  the  north  of  the 
Trent,  near  the  joining  borders  of  Nottinghamshire,  Lincoln- 
shire, and  Yorkshire."  In  1.594,  Mr.  William  Brewster,  so 
well  known  as  the  leader  of  the  church  at  Plymouth,  was 
appointed  postmaster  at  Scrooby,  and  occupied  as  tenant  the 
Scrooby  manor-house.  It  was  at  his  house  that  the  first 
meetings  were  held,  Scrooby  was  situated  near  the  high-road 
from  York  to  London,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Hatfield  Chase. 
It  was  a  favorite  resting-place  for  the  Archbishops  of  York 
in  their  journeys  to  the  metropolis,  and  was  often  resorted 
to  for  the  enjoyment  of  field-sports.  Archbi.shop  Savage  often 
resided  there  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  and  it  was  for  some 
time  the  abode  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  in  his  disgrace.  Yet 
Scrooby  has  most  honor  as  the  first  home  of  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers. 

But  the  story  of  the  flight  of  this  church  to  Holland,  and 
from  thence  back  to  England  on  its  way  to  Plymouth  Hock 
in  the  "  Mayflower,"  need  not  be  related  here. 

IV. 

THE    PURITAN    FATHERS. 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  the  distinction  between  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  and  Puritan  Fathers.  It  has  been  seen  above 
that  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  who  landed  in  1620  separated 
from  the  Established  Church  of  England,  and  first  held  their 
meetings  in  the  Congregational  form  at  the  Scrooby  manor- 
house  in  1694;  that  they  went  to  Holland  as  Separatists,  and 
came  to  America  as  such.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Puritans, 
who  came  to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  the  year  1630,  were  simply 
Non-conformists,  and  did  not  separate  from  the  English  Church 
until  after  their  arrival  here.  Connected  with  the  National 
Church,  they  submitted  to  her  authority  so  far  as  they  could, 
acknowledged  her  as  their  "  mother"  in  all  matters  of  doctrinal 
concern,  and  only  diflered  from  her  as  to  the  propriety  of  some 
of  her  observances.  Had  liberty  been  allowed  them,  they 
would  doubtless  have  remained  in  England,  and  in  the  bosonr 
of  the  mother-church.  It  has  been  seen  in  the  last  preceding 
chapter  that  the  charter  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  was 
granted  in  the  year  1628.  In  the  same  year  John  Endicot 
came  over  and  settled  in  Salem.  The  next  spring  he  was  fol- 
lowed by  Francis  Higginson  and  his  company,  and  in  the 
year  1630  John  Winthrop  came  over  with  the  charter  and 
founded  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  William  Pynohon 
the  founder  of  Springfield,  came  over  with  Winthrop  and  th 
charter  and  settled  at  Roxbury. 

True  to  the  object  of  their  coming,  the  first  care  of  the 
Puritan  Fathers  after  landing  was  to  provide  for  their  minis- 
ters, as  will  be  seen  by  the  record  of  the  first  General  Court 
held  in  New  England,  which  is  as  follows,  viz. ; 

The  first  Court  of  ,\ssi.stAnts  holilcn  nt  Charlton,  August  23,  Ano.  Dom.  in:lO. 

"  Prcaont — Mr.  .To  :  "Winthrop,  Gonnr.,  Mr.  Increase  Nowell,  Mr.  Tho :  Duilloy, 
Bopnt.  Gounr.,  Mr.  Tho :  Sharpe,  Sr.  Rich  :  Snltonstall,  Kt.,  Mr.  Will :  Piuchion, 
Mr,  Rolitc:  Liullowe,  Mr.  Sim:  Bradstreete,  Mr.  Edward  Rossiter. 

"  Imi'R.,  it  wiis  ppoundud  howe  the  miuistcrs  should  be  mayntayued.  Mr.  Wil- 
son A  filr.  Pliillips  (ini'Iy  i)pounded. 

'•  It  Wius  orderi'ii  that  hou,ses  should  ho  built  for  them  with  convenient  spccdp, 
att  the  |)ublii|ue  eliarge.  Sr.  Rich  :  Saltonstall  undertookc  to  sci-  it  done  att  hid 
plauacou  for  Mr.  Phillips  and  Mr.  Gouur.,  at  the  otlier  plantiicou  for  Mr.  Wilson. 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


29 


"  It  was  ppoiindeil  what  sIioiiUl  be  their  p'soiit  maynetcnancc. 

"Ordereil,  that  Mr.  Pliillips  should  have  aUoweil  him  3  hogsh(!a<ls  nf  iiir-ahi,  1 
hogsh  of  nialte,  4  hushells  of  Iiuliau  conic,  1  hnshfll  of  oatineale,  half  an  liun- 
dred  of  salte  fislie ;  for  iipparcll  and  other  pvisious  XX/.,  or  els  to  huva  Xi.  given 
him  in  money  p.  ann,,  to  make  his  owne  pvisions  if  liee  chuse  it  the  rather,  tlie 
yeare  to  begin  the  tii-st  of  September  nexte. 

"  It.,  that  Mr,  Wilson  should  hereafter  XXZ,  p.  ann.  till  bis  wife  come  over ;  his 
yeare  to  begin  the  lotb  of  July  h-uit.  All  this  to  be  att  the  common  charge, 
those  of  MatUipau  &  Salem  only  exempted."* 


CHAPTER    VIIL 

THE  HEMOVAL  TO   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  some  account  is  given  of  who  and 
what  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts  were,  and  what  oc- 
casioned their  coming  to  the  New  World.  In  this  chapter 
will  be  given  some  account  of  the  early  emigration  of  a  jiart 
of  them  to  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  principal  towns  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  in 
Massachusetts. 

The  removal  of  William  Pynchon  and  his  few  followers  in 
the  year  1636  from  Roxbury  at  the  bay  across  the  virgin  wil- 
derness, one  hundred  miles  to  the  fertile  wild  meadows  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley,  was  not  a  separate  undertaking,  but 
formed  a  small  part  only  of  an  important  movement  which 
resulted  in  not  only  the  planting  of  Springfield,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Agawam,  but  also  in  the  founding  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut.  At  the  time  of  this  removal  from  the  bay  to 
the  river  the  people  at  the  bay  were  in  the  midst  of  a  serious 
religious  controversy,  occasioned  by  the  promulgation  of  what 
they  called  the  heretical  views  of  Ann  Hutchinson  and  Koger 
Williams,  and  religious  considerations  may  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  removal.  That  this  may  have  been  the 
case  more  particularly  with  Mr.  Pynchon,  he  being  a  man  of 
what  were  then  considered  liberal  religious  views,  as  the  sequel 
will  show,  is  more  than  probable.  That  Mr.  Pynchon  with  the 
rest  had  some  desire  to  settle  outside  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  and  set  up  a  separate  government,  the 
facts  seem  to  warrant,  for  during  the  tirst  two  or  three  years 
after  their  arrival  in  the  valley  the  settlement  of  Agawam 
(now  Springfield)  was  deemed  to  be  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Connecticut  colony,  and  as  such  sent  delegates  to  Hartford  to 
meet  in  General  Court. 

Mr.  Pynchon  had  been  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  at  the  bay, 
and  his  selection  of  Agawam,  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream  of 
that  name,  down  which  the  Indians  brought  their  furs  in  bark 
canoes  from  the  great  mountain  beaver-hunting  country  of  the 
Mohicans  and  from  the  Wo-ro-)ioaks  at  Westfield,  was  doubt- 
less influenced  by  that  consideration  as  well  as  others. 

It  was  not  until  Mr.  Pynchon  had  some  serious  difficulty 
with  the  Connecticut  people,  and  the  discovery  was  made  that 
Springfield  really  lay  within  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction, 
that  she  quite  abruptly  separated  herself  from  the  control  of 
the  Hartford  colony,  and  her  people  renewed  their  govern- 
mental relations  with  the  people  at  the  Bay.  And  this  change 
of  allegiance  by  the  Springfield  people,  from  the  Hartford 
authorities  to  the  Bay,  was  not  made  without  sharp  contro- 
versy between  the  General  Courts  of  the  two  colonies,  and 
was  followed  by  a  bitter  feud  in  regard  to  import  duties,  which 
is  treated  of  in  a  succeeding  chapter  of  this  work. 

FIRST    VI.SIT    OP    THE    QUON-EH-TA-CUT    SAGAMORE.S    AT    THE 
BAY. 

As  early  as  the  year  16.31,  the  year  after  the  founding  of 
Boston  by  Winthrop,  and  five  years  before  Pynchon  and  his 
band  founded  Springfield,  three  Indian  sachems  came  to  the 
Bay  ft'om  the  Connecticut  River,  for  the  purpose  of  inviting 

*  Col.  Kecds.  of  Mass.,  Vul.  I.,  p.  73. 


the  English  to  come  and  settle  in  the  fertile  meadows  that 
border  the  stream. 

In  "  Winthrop's  History  of  New  England,"  the  following 
graphic  account  is  given  of  this  visit,  which  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  time  the  attention  of  the  settlers  at  the  Bay  was 
called  to  the  subject  of  emigrating  to  the  Connecticut  River 
Valley,  and  doubtless  led  the  way  to  their  coming.  Winthrop's 
accountf  is  this : 

"April  4,  1631,  U'a/i-f/in-na-cuf,  a  sagamore  on  the  River' 
Quon-eh-ta-cut,  which  lies  west  of  Nar-a-gan-cet,  came  to  the 
governour  at  Boston  with  John  Sagamore  and  Jack  Straw 
(an  Indian  who  had  lived  in  England,  and  had  served  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  and  was  now  turned  Indian  again),  and 
divers  of  their  sannops,  and  brought  a  letter  to  the  governour 
from  Mr.  Endeeott,  to  this  effect :  that  the  said  Wah-gin-iin- 
cut  was  very  desirous  to  have  some  Englishmen  to  come  plant 
in  his  country,  and  offered  to  find  them  corn,  and  give  them 
yearly  eighty  skins  of  beaver,  and  that  the  country  was  very 
fruitful,  etc.,  and  wished  that  there  might  be  two  men  sent 
with  him  to  see  the  country.  The  governour  entertained  them 
at  dinner,,  but  would  send  none  with  him.  He  discovered 
after  that  the  sagamore  is  a  very  treacherous  man,  and  at  war 
with  the  I'c-linaih.  (a  far  greater  sagamore).  His  country  is 
not  above  five  days'  journey  from  us  by  land.  The  gov- 
ernor," continues  Winthrop,  "entertained  them  at  dinner, 
but  would  send  none  with  hiiu." 

FIRST    WHITE    VISITOR    FROM   THE    BAY. 

It  was  not  until  two  years  after  the  visit  of  the  Quo7i-r/i- 
in-cut  sachem  Wah-gin-na-cut  at  the  Bay,  that  it  was  returned 
by  the  whites.  From  Winthrop's  Journal,  under  date  of 
Sept.  4,  1633,  it  appears  that  John  Oldham,  then  an  inhabit- 
ant at  the  Bay,  made  an  overland  journey  to  the  Connecticut 
River  Valley,  which  visit  is  the  first  there  appears  any  account 
of  in  history  made  by  the  New  England  people. 

The  account  of  Oldham's  visit  to  the  valley  is  in  the  follow- 
in !'  words : 

"  1633,  4th  September. — About  ten  days  before  this  time,  a 
bark  was  set  forth  to  Connecticut  and  those  parts  to  trade. 

"  John  Oldam,  and  three  with  him  went  overland  to  Connec- 
ticut to  trade.  The  sachem  used  them  kindly  and  gave  them 
some  beaver.  They  brought  off  the  hemp,  which  grows  there 
in  abundance,  and  is  much  better  than  the  English.  He  ac- 
counted it  to  be  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  He 
brought  some  black  lead,  whereof  the  Indians  told  him  there 
was  a  whole  rock.    He  lodged  at  Indian  towns  all  the  way. "J 

THE   DUTCH    ON   THE   CONNECTICUT. 

The  Dutch  settlement  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson  River,  where  now  stands  the  city  of 
New  York,  has  the  honor  of  sending  the  pioneer  white  occu- 
pants to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

Henry  Hudson,  an  English  navigator,  in  the  employ  of  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company,  had  explored  the  river  which 
still  bears  his  name  as  early  as  the  year  1609,  but  no  perma-/ 
nent  settlements  were  made  on  its  banks  by  the  Dutch  until 
five  -years  later.  In  the  year  161.5  the  Dutch  began  two  settle- 
ments on  the  Hudson, — one  on  the  island  of  Manhattan,  and 
the  other  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  up  the  river,  where  now 
stands  the  city  of  Albany. 

Soon  after  these  settlements  on  the  Hudson,  the  Dutch  made 
voyages  to  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut,  which  they  called 
the  Fresh  River,  or  the  Fresh  Wafer  River,  and  drove  a  profit- 
able trade  with  the  Indians  on  its  banks,  claiming  the  stream 
and  its  fertile  valley  by  the  right  of  prior  discovery.  But  the 
Dutch  made  no  attempt  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  Connecticut 
or  to  take  actual  possession  of  the  territory  adjoining  its  banks  ^ 
till  the  year  1633,  about  the  time  of  Oldham's  visit.     During 

t  See  Winthrop's  History  of  Now  England,  Vol.  I.,  p.  52. 
t  Winthrop's  Hist,  of  New  Eng.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  178. 


30 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


\ 


the  summer  of  that  year  the  Dutch  sailed  up  the  Connecticut, 
landing  at  the  point  where  the  city  of  Hartford  now  stands, 
and  threw  up  a  rude  work,  upon  upon  which  they  mounted 
two  small  cannon.  But  the  Dutch,  although  the  first  white 
occupants  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  were  not  its  first 
permanent  settlers. 

THB   PLYMOUTH    MEN   ON   THE    CONNECTICUT. 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  from  a  year  or  two  after  their  settle- 
ment at  Plymouth  in  1620,  doubtless  from  time  to  time  made 
voyages  of  trade  and  discovery  to  the  Fresh  Rieer,  so  called 
b_y  the  Dutch,  but  thej'  made  no  attempt  to  colonize  its  banks 
jntil  the  year  1633. 

In  July  of  that  year,  having  heard  that  the  Quon-eh-ta-ciif 
Eiver  atforded  " a  fine  place  both  for  plantation  and  trade," 
the  plan  was  conceived  by  Winslow  and  Bradford  to  form  a 
partnership  with  certain  men  at  Boston  with  the  view  of 
building  a  fort  and  trading-house  on  its  banks,  and  thus  if 
possible  anticipate  the  Dutch,  who,  it  was  said,  had  pro- 
jected a  similar  scheme.  The  Massachusetts  men  having 
formed  the  opinion  that  the  river  was  shallow,  and  that  war- 
like Indians  were  to  be  found  in  great  numbers  inhabiting  its 
banks,  concluded  to  take  no  part  in  the  enterprise.  The  men 
of  Plymouth,  not  so  easily  discouraged,  fitted  out  a  vessel  with 
the  frame  of  a  house  and  materials  for  its  building,  and  sailed 
up  the  Connecticut  in  search  of  a  suitable  place  to  plant  a 
colony.  This  A\ms  in  October,  and  the  Dutch  had  already 
preceded  them.  At  what  is  now  Hartford,  where,  as  above 
stated,  the  Dutch  had  built  a  fort,  they  were  challenged  by 
the  little  garrison.  After  a  parley  and  many  threats  on  both 
sides  the  Dutch  let  them  pass  on  up  the  stream  without  mo- 
\.  lestation.  They  went  up  to  what  is  now  Windsor,  built,  for- 
tified, and  provisioned  their  house.  A  part  of  the  company 
remained  to  hold  it,  and  the  rest  returned  to  Plymouth.  The 
next  summer  the  Dutch  sent  up  a  company  of  seventy  men 
to  dispossess  them.  But  the  Dutch  wisely  concluded  not  to 
attack  the  spirited  little  English  garrison,  and  returned  with- 
out accomplishing  their  object.  It  was  the  destiny  of  the 
English  people  and  not  the  Dutch  to  settle  the  Connecticut 
Valley. 

THE    MASSACHUSETTS    PEOPLE    ON   THE    CONNECTICUT. 

It  has  been  seen  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  people  who  came 
over  with  Winthrop  in  such  numbers  to  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  the  year  1630,  and  the  two  or  three  following  years, 
dispersed  themselves  into  several  plantations  at  and  near  Bos- 
ton. Among  these  plantations  were  Dorchester,  Watertown, 
Newtown  (now  Cambridge),  and  Eoxbury.  The  people  of 
these  four  towns  were  destined  soon  to  take  an  important  part 
in  the  settlement  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River. 
Roxbury  in  particular  is  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  this  his- 
tory, as  from  it  came  Mr.  William  Pynchon  and  his  little 
band, — the  pioneers  of  Springfield  andof  the  "Connecticut 
Valley  in  Massachusetts." 

While  William  Pynchon  was  the  leader  of  those  from  Rox- 
bury,  who  settled  in  the  Massachusetts  part  of  the  valley, 
those  from  Kewtown  and  Dorchester,  who  settled  in  and 
founded  what  is  now  the  State  of  Connecticut,  were  led  by 
the  ministers  Thomas  Hooker  and  Samuel  Stone,  and  their 
parishioner,  John  Haynes,  of  Newtown,  and  Roger  Ludlow, 
the  principal  la3'-citizen  of  Dorchester. 

The  ministers  Hooker  and  Stone  had  both  been  educated  at 
that  institution  of  Puritan  proclivities — the  Alma  Mater  of 
most  of  the  early  New  England  clergy — Emmanuel  College, 
Cambridge,  England.  Mr.  Stone  before  coming  over  had  been 
a  lecturer  in  Northamptonshire,  and  Mr.  Hooker  had  been  in 
the  same  employment  at  Chelmsford,  in  Essex,  near  the  English 
home  of  Pynchon.  Doubtless  the  friendship  that  must  have 
existed  between  Hooker  and  Pynchon  in  their  common  Eng- 
lish home  led  to  their  association  in  this  new  project.  John 
Haynes  was  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1U35,  of  Con- 


necticut in  1639  and  other  years,  and  Roger  Ludlow  was 
deputy-governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1634,  and  deputy-gov- 
ernor of  Connecticut  in  1639  and  other  years. 

It  was  at  the  fir.st  General  Court,  held  at  Boston  in  the  year  , 
1634,  May  14,  that  the  Newtown  people,  the  first  to  move  in  the 
matter,  presented  their  petition  for  leave  "to  look  out  either 
for  enlargement  or  removal. ' '  This  general  proposition,  doubt- 
less not  fully  understood,  was  at  once  granted.  At  the  next 
meeting  of  the  General  Court,  held  on  the  4th  of  September 
following,  the  purpose  was  avowed  to  remove  to  Connecticut. 
This  propositiim  to  remove  to  Connecticut  met  with  much 
opposition  and  to  many  days'  warm  debate  in  the  General 
Court. 

"  The  principal  reasons  for  their  removal,"  says  Winthrop, 
"  were,  1st.  Their  want  of  accommodation  for  their  cattle, 
so  as  they  were  not  able  to  maintain  their  ministers,  nor  could 
receive  any  more  friends  to  help  them  :  and  here  it  was  alleged 
by  Mr.  Hooker  as  a  fundamental  error  that  towns  were  set  so 
near  each  to  other.  2d.  Tlie  fruitfulness  and  commodiousness 
of  Connecticut,  and  the  danger  of  having  it  possessed  by  others, 
Dutch  or  English.  3d.  The  strong  bent  of  their  spirits  to  re- 
move thither.*' 

"Against  these,"  continued  Mr.  Winthrop,  "it  was  said, 
1st.  That  in  point  of  conscience  they  ought  not  to  depart  from 
us,  being  knit  to  us  in  one  body,  and  bound  by  oath  to  seek 
the  welfare  of  this  commonwealth.  2d.  That  in  point  of  state 
and  civil  policy  we  ought  not  to  give  them  leave  to  depart." 
In  support  of  this  last  objection  the  following  reasons  were 
urged  :  "  (1.)  Being  we  were  now  weak  and  in  danger  to  be 
assailed.  (2.)  The  departure  of  Mr.  Hooker  would  not  only 
draw  many  from'us,  but  also  divert  other  friends  who  would 
come  to  us.  (3.)  We  should  expose  them  to  evident  peril 
both  from  the  Dutch  [who  made  claim  to  the  same  river  and 
had  already  built  a  fort  there]  and  from  the  Indians,  and  also 
from  our  own  State  at  home,  who  would  not  indure  they 
should  sit  down  without  a  patent  in  any  place  which  our  king 
lays  claim  to." 

The  remaining  objections  urged  were  as  follows,  viz.  :  "  3d. 
They  might  be  accommodated  at  home  by  some  enlargement 
which  other  towns  offered.  4th.  They  might  remove  to  Mer- 
rimack, or  other  place  within  our  patent.  5th.  The  removal 
of  a  candlestick!  is  a  great  judgment." 

When  the  matter  came  to  be  voted  upon,  the  House  of 
Deputies  stood  fifteen  to  ten  in  favor  of  granting  the  privilege 
of  removal.  Of  the  magistrates,  all  but  Governor  Dudley 
and  two  assistants  voted  in  the  negative.  So  the  two  houses 
disagreed,  and  leave  was  refused.  But  the  next  year — 1635 — Mi 
John  Haynes  was  made  governor,  the  magistrates  ceased  to 
press  their  objections,  and  on  the  6th  of  May,  1635,  they  con-  -  ' 
sented  to  vote  as  follows : 

"There  is  liberty  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Watertown 
to  remove  themselves  to  any  place  they  shall  think  meet  to 
make  choice  of,  provided  they  still  continue  under  this  gov- 
ernment. "J 

In  the  mean  time,  without  waiting  for  the  decision  of  the 
General  Court,  during  the  summer  of  1635  a  party  from  Dor- 
chester went  to  what  is  now  Windsor,  to  the  spot  where  the 
Plymouth  colony  had  planted  two  years  before,  and  another 
party  from  Watertown  established  themselves  at  the  place 
now  Weathersfield.  It  was  also  in  the  year  1635,  as  late  as 
October,  that  another  party  of  sixty  persons — men,  women, 
and  children — set  out  overland,  driving  their  cattle  before 
them,  to  the  infant  settlements  on  the  Connecticut.  The 
winter  set  in  early,  and  they  had  little  time  to  prepare  for  it. 
In  six  weeks  from  the  date  of  their  departure  twelve  of  the 
number  struggled  back  to  Boston,  suffering  untold  hardships 
on  the  way. 

*  Winthiop's  Hist,  of  New  Eiiglaiul,  Vol.  I.,  p.  140. 
t  Thin  reffi-s  to  tlic  figure  in  Revelations  i.  11-13,  etc. 
}  MiUB.  Col!  Rec,  Vol.  I.,  p.  140. 


-^^^/Tta^i  ^yncOioi 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


31 


It  was  in  the  same  year — 1G35 — that  John  Cahle  and  his 
'^i:^,sistant,  John  Woodcock,  built  the  first  rude  dwollinij;  in  the 
'House  Meadow,"  at  Af/awam,  whidi  led  the  way  to  the 
planting  of  Springfield. 

But  the  year  1636  witnessed  the  great  emigration  of  the 
rounders  of  the  settlements  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

Karly  in  that  year  AVilliam  Pynchon,  and  six  other  heads  of 
families  from  Roxhury,  removed  to  Agawam,  now  Springfield ; 
and  Mr.  Hooker  with  his  whole  flock,  consisting  of  about  one 
hundred  persons,  followed  in  June  to  near  the  little  Dutch 
fort,  at  what  is  now  Hartford.  Later  in  the  summer  the  church 
of  Dorchester,  under  Mr.  Warham,  settled  at  "Windsor;  and 
the  church  at  Watertown,  under  a  new  pastor,  Mr.  Henry 
Smith,  found  their  way  to  the  valley  and  settled  Weathersfield. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  in  the  month 
of  October,  of  the  year  before  this  important  removal,  John 
"VVinthrop  the  younger  came  the  second  time  to  New  England, 
bearing  a  commission  from  Lord  Say  and  Sole,  Lord  Broke, 
and  others,  proprietors  of  the  patent,  as  governor  of  Con- 
necticut for  one  j'ear,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  Saj'brook, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

The  General  Court  at  Boston  of  course  knew  this,  and  were 
also  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  lower  towns  on  the  river  were 
not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Massachusetts,  but  as  a 
matter  of  necessity  a  commission  was  granted  to  the  emigrants 
for  their  government  the  first  3'ear,  which  was  as  follows,  viz. : 

"  At  the  General  Court,  boldrn  at  Ncwe-Townc,  March  3d,  1G3.5-G. 

"A  Commission  granted  to  several  persons  to  gnverve  the  People  alt  Couupcticott  for 
the  spoctf  of  a  yeare  itotce  neste  comeing,  an  exeini>Vtficution  whereof  ensueth : 

"  Whereas,  upon  some  reason  and  grounds,  tliere  arc  to  remove  from  this  or 
commonwealth  and  body  of  the  Mattachusetts  in  America  dj-^'"  of  o*"  lovi-ing 
friends,  nt^ighh",  freemen  and  membere  of  Newe  Towne,  Dorchester,  Watert^iwn, 
and  other  places,  whoe  are  resolved  to  transplant  themselves  and  their  estates 
unto  the  Ryver  of  Connecticott,  there  to  reside  and  inhabite,  and  to  that  end 
dyv"  are  there  already,  and  dyv"  others  shortly  to  goe,  wee,  in  this  present 
Court  assembled,  on  the  behalfe  of  o'  said  menib",  and  John  Wintlirop,  Jun', 
Esqr,  Uovnr,  appoyntetl  by  certaine  noble  personages  and  men  of  iiuallitie  inter- 
ested in  tlie  said  ryvr,  wch  are  yet  in  England,  on  their  behalfe,  liave  luul  a 
serious  consideration  tliere(on),  and  thinke  it  mcete  that  where  there  are  a 
people  to  sitt  down  and  cohabite,  there  will  followe,  upon  occasion,  some  cause 
of  difference,  as  also  dyvere  misdemeanoui-s,  wch  will  require  a  speedy  redresso ; 
and  in  regard  of  the  distance  of  place,  this  State  and  government  cannot  take 
notice  of  the  same  as  to  apply  timely  remedy,  or  to  dispence  etpiall  justice 
to  them  and  their  affaires,  as  may  be  desired;  and  in  regard  the  said  noble  per- 
Bonsiges  and  men  of  qualitie  have  something  ingaged  themselves  and  their 
estates  in  the  planting  of  the  said  ryver,  and  by  vertue  of  a  pattent,  doe  require 
jurisdictiuTi  of  the  said  place  and  people,  and'  neither  the  jnindes  of  the  saiil 
personages  (they  being  writ  wixXa))  are  as  yet  knowen,  nor  any  manner  of  gov'm't 
is  yet  agreed  on,  and  there  being  a  necessitie,  as  aforesaid,  tliat  some  present 
gov'm't  may  be  observed,  wee  therefore  thinke  meete  and  soe  order,  that  Roger 
Ludlow,  Esqr,  William  Pinchou,  Esqr,  John  Steele,  William  Swaine,  Henry 
Smytbe,  William  Plielpes,  William  Westwood,  and  Andrewe  Ward,  or  the  greater 
parte  of  them,  shall  liave  full  power  and  authoritee  to  hear  and  detemiinc  in  a 
judicial  way,  by  witnesses  upon  oathe  examine,  w'''in  the  said  plantation,  all 
those  differences  w^''  may  arise  betweene  pai-tie  and  partie,  as  also,  upon  misde- 
meanor, to  inflicte  corporall  punishm"  or  imprisonment,  to  fine  and  levy  the 
same  if  occasion  soe  require,  t^:)  make  and  decree  such  orders,  for  the  present, 
that  may  be  for  the  peaceful  and  quiett  ordering  the  affaires  of  the  said  planta- 
tion, both  in  trading,  planting,  building,  lotts,  militarie  dissipline,  defensive  warr 
(if  need  soe  require),  as  shall  best  conduce  to  the  publique  good  of  the  same,  and 
that  the  said  Roger  Ludlow,  Wm.  Pinchon,  John  Steele,  Wm.  Swaine,  Henry 
Sniythe,  Wm.  Phelpes,  Wm.  Westwuod,  Andrew  Wai-d,  or  the  greater  parte  of 
them,  shall  have  power,  under  the  greaf  pr**  of  their  hands,  att  a  ilay  or  dayes 
by  them  appoynted,  upon  convenient  notice,  to  convent  the  said  inhabitants  of 
the  said  townes  to  any  convenient  place  that  thcye  shall  thinke  meete,  in  a  legal 
and  open  manner,  by  way  of  Court,  to  proceed  in  executing  the  power  and 
authoritee  aforesaide,  and  in  case  of  present  nessesitie,  two  of  them  joyneing 
togeather,  to  inflict  corporall  punishment  upon  any  offender  if  they  see  good 
and  warrantable  groundes  soe  to  doe ;  provided,  alwayes,  that  this  conmiission 
shall  not  extende  any  longer  time  than  one  whole  yeare  from  the  date  thereof, 
and  in  the  meane  time  it  shall  be  laA\'full  for  this  Court  to  recall  the  said  presents 
if  they  see  cause,  and  if  soe  I>o  there  may  be  a  mutual  and  settled  gov'm't  con- 
descended unto  by  and  with  the  good  likeing  and  consent  of  the  saide  noble 
personages,  or  their  agent,  the  inhabitiints,  and  this  comonwealthe ;  pi'ovided, 
also,  that  this  may  not  be  any  predjudice  to  the  intei-stof  those  noble  personages 
in  the  s*  rj'ver  and  confines  thereof  within  their  severall  lymitts." 

The  reader  will  see  that  this  instrument  constituted  a  new 
General  Court  similar  to  that  at  Boston,  and  the  sequel  shows 
that  the  colony  of  Connecticut  was  organized  under  it,  and 


General  Court  hold  by  virtue  of  its  provisions  the  first  year, 
and  that  Mr.  Pynchon,  of  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  attended 
its  sittings. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  FOUNDING  OP  THE  MOTHEB  TOWNS— THE 
PLANTING  OF  SPRINGFIELD  IN  1636-WILLIAM; 
PYNCHON  AND  HIS  BOOKS— THE  PLANTING  OF 
WESTFIELD   IN   1640— NORTHAMPTON    IN    1654. 

I. 

THE    PLANTING    OF    SPINOFIELD. 

Springfield,  the  garden  town  of  the  old  Buy  Stiite,  is  at 
once  the  mother  .'settlement  and  the  queen  city  of  the  Valley 
of  the  Connecticut  in  Ma.ssachusetts.  Its  name  wa.s  bestowed 
upon  it  by  William  Pynchon,  its  illustrious  founder,  in  honor 
of  his  country-seat  of  that  name,  near  Chelmsford,  in  E.ssex 
County,  England.  As  the  reader  has  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  Springfield  was  settled  in  the  year  163(3,  in  connection 
with  the  movement  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  Kiver  of 
that  year,  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut. 

In  this  chapter  it  will  only  be  attempted  to  give  some  ac- 
count of  the  first  planting  of  the  mother  towns  in  the  valley, 
leaving  the  main  incidents  of  the  settlement  and  development 
to  the  several  town  histories,  which  will  be  found  farther  on 
in  these  pages. 

THE   JOURNEY   THROUGH   THE   WILDERNESS. 

As  has  also  been  seen  in  the  last  chapter,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  infant  towns  at  the  Bay,  who  had,  for  want  of  more  room, 
determined  to  remove  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  expe- 
rienced considerable  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  consent  of  the 
General  Court.  At  length,  on  the  6th  day  of  May,  163.5,  that ' 
consent  was  reluctantly  given  to  the  people  of  several  towns, 
and  among  others  to  Roxhury,  in  the  following  w'ords,  viz.  : 

"The  inhabitants  of  Kocksbury  hath  liberty  granted  them 
to  remove  themselves  to  any  place  they  shall  think  meet,  not 
to  prejudice  another  plantation,  provided  they  continue  still 
under  this  government." 

To  carry  out  his  undertaking,  and  to  provide  some  shelter 
for  the  families  of  the  new  wilderness  home,  in  the  summer  of 
1G35,  Mr.  Pynchon  sent  on  two  men  to  build  a  home  at  Ag-a- 
u'am,  the  Indian  name  of  the  new  settlement.  These  two 
men  were  named  John  Cable  and  John  Woodcock.  They 
built  a  small  house  on  the  Agawam  meadow,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  and  south  side  of  the  Agawam 
Kiver,  about  one-half  mile  above  its  mouth.  This  meadow 
has  since  borne  the  name  of  the  "  House  Meadow."  It  now 
lies  in  the  town  of  Agawam,  and  is  beautifully  situated  in 
what  was  once  a  bend  of  the  stream,  afterward  cut  off  by  a 
change  in  its  bed.  Its  surface  was  mostly  some  ten  feet  higher 
than  the  adjoining  meadows,  which  were  subject  to  overflow. 
The  Indians,  however,  told  them  that  it  was  likewise  subject 
to  overflow  in  extreme  high  water,  and  therefore,  as  a  place  of 
settlement,  it  was  abandoned.  The  house,  however,  probably 
stood  there  for  a  year  or  more. 

It  was  not  until  the  spring  of  the  next  year,  1636,  that 
everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  departure  of  the  emigrants. 
But  before  we  follow  them  to  their  new  homes,  along  the  old 
Indian  trail  leading  w-est  from  Boston,  afterwards  known  to 
the  people  of  Springfield  as  the  "  Bay  Path,"  and  since  cele- 
brated in  story  and  song,  let  us  first  take  a  survey  of  the 
situation  in  the  early  spring  of  that  year,  and  attempt  to  form 
some  notion  of  the  magnitude  and  danger  of  their  undertak- 
ing. Prom  ocean  to  ocean,  from  sea  to  sea,  from  the  frozen 
Northland  to  the  flowing  Gulf-Land,  the  whole  vast  continent 
was  one  unbroken  solitude,  covered  with  limitless  forests  filled 
with  savage  beasts,  and  still  more  savage  men,  and  within  it 


32 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


all  were  only  a  few  feeble  white  settlements  at  vast  distances 
from  each  other.  On  the  north  Champlain  was  nursing  his 
little  colony  of  Quebec.  On  the  west  there  was  a  small  fur- 
trading  Dutch  colony  at  Fort  Orange,  now  Albany,  and 
another  at  Manhattan,  now  New  York.  Farther  to  the 
south,  in  small  numbers,  were  the  English  on  the  James, 
and  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  ;  but  it  was  two  years  before  the 
wedes  landed  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  But  neitlier 
of  these  settlements,  if  it  would,  could  atlbrd  them  any  aid  or 
sympathy.  But  this  was  not  the  worst  of  it.  As  they  jour- 
neyed tlirough  the  State  from  east  to  west,  the  B!ly  Path  on 
which  they  trod  was  flanked  on  their  left  with  no  less  than 
four  powerful  Indian  nations, — the  Wniiijmnonffs,  the  Karrn- 
f/nnsetis,  the  Pequuts,  and  the  Mohicans,  either  of  which  could 
send  a  thousand  warriors  into  the  field.  Along  their  route  lay 
the  villages  of  the  Nijimucks,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  river 
which  was  to  be  their  future  home  dwelt  four  or  five  tribes 
more.  Would  the  time  ever  come  when  all  these  tribes 
throughout  New  England  should  rise  and  rend  them?  Alas! 
too  soon. 

The  very  ne.\t  year  after  their  arrival  in  the  valley  the  ter- 
rible struggle  with  the  Pequuts  occurred.  In  this  war  the 
inhabitants  of  Springfield  took  no  active  part,  yet  towards  it 
they  contributed  their  full  share  of  the  expenses.* 

Of  the  journey  of  William  Pynchon  and  his  little  band  of 
settlers  in  the  earlj'  spring  of  1636  over  the  old  Indian  trail 
wliich  led  from  the  Bay  to  Agawam  on  the  Connecticut,  and 
often  called  in  the  early  records  the  "  Bay  Path,"  we  have  no 
authentic  account.  It  must  be  left  to  the  imagination,  there- 
fore, to  picture  the  incidents  of  the  journey. 

Of  their  leave-takings  and  tearful  farewells  from  old  and 
long-tried  friends ;  their  daily  march  through  the  almost  path- 
less forest  for  weeks  together ;  their  arrival  at  their  now  home 
in  the  old  wilderness,  welcomed  only  by  its  savage  occupants ; 
of  their  first  ravishing  view  of  the  fertile  meadows  of  the  beau- 
tiful river,  the  largest  in  New  England,  there  is  no  recorded 
word. 

Their  household  goods  were  sent  around  by  water,  as  will 
be  seen  by  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Governor  Win- 
throp  to  his  son  John  at  the  time,t  in  the  "Blessing  of  the 
Bay:" 


"  Son, — Blesserl  be  tlie  Lord  wJio  hath  preserved  and  prospered  you  hitherto. 

"I  received  your  lettel-s  by  tlie  'Blessing,'  wliich  arrived  here  the  1-ttb  of  tliis 
present,  and  is  to  return  to  you  with  Mr.  Pynchon's  goods  so  soon  as  she  can  bo 
laden. 

********** 

"I  think  tlie  bark  goeth  away  in  the  morning.  Therefore  I  here  end  with 
Balntiitions  to  all  oui-  friends  witli  you. 

"This  2fith  of  the  2  Mo.  (.\|iril),  1036. 
"  To  my  venj  lovhuj  miij  Mr.  Winthrop,  Jtnt,,  Gov.  of  the  new  PUmUition  iqion  Con- 
neclicuV 

Upon  their  arrival  at  the  site  chosen  by  Pynchon,  finding 
the  "House  Meadow"  unsuitable  for  their  settlement,  they 
pitched  upon  the  spot  which  lies  over  against  Agawam,  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Connecticut,  now  the  site  of  the  city  of  Spring- 
field. 

Not  far  from  the  present  line  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Kail- 
road  a  small  stream  of  pure  water  ran  down  from  the  hills 
across  the  marshy  ground,  and  striking  the  higher  level  of  the 
sandy  plain  which  borders  the  river's  bank,  separated  into  two 
parts,  one  running  south  and  the  other  north,  each  emptying 
into  the  river  a  mile  or  more  from  the  point  of  separation. 

The  part  of  this  stream  which  turned  toward  the  south  they 
called  the  Town  Brook.  It  ran  along  the  easterly  side  of  what 
is  now  Main  Street,  and  emptied  into  Mill  River  just  above 
the  point  where  that  stream  enters  the  Connecticut. 

Along  this  stream  of  pure  water  running  southerly  they 
laid  out  their  first  street,  now  known  as  Main  Street,  and  be- 

*  See  Trnnibnirs  Hist,  of  Conn. 

t  Winthrnp's  Hist,  of  N.  E.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  .■i89. 


tween  this  street  and  the  river  extended  the  home  lots  of  the 
settlers,  of  different  widths. 

On  these  home  lots  bordering  the  Main  Street  the  settlers 
built  their  first  rude  log  cabins  opposite  the  town  brook,  and 
began  their  life  in  the  wilderness. 

To  each  settler  a  portion  of  the  "  Hasseky  Marish,"  which 
lay  between  the  town  brook  and  the  hill  to  the  eastward,  was 
allotted,  as  well  as  parts  of  the  meadow  land  and  corn-plant- 
ing ground  lying  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  in  Agnwum 
and  Qiirnin. 

Tlie  further  interesting  incidents  of  their  history,  with  copies 
of  the  compact  they  entered  into  for  the  government  of  their 
plantation,  and  the  Indian  deed  which  they  took,  will  be  found 
farther  on  in  these  pages,  in  the  history  of  the  town  and  city 
of  Springfield,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

II. 

WILLIAM    PYNCHON. 

William  Pynchon,  the  founder  of  Springfield  and  the  pioneer 
settler  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachusetts,  was  no  com- 
mon man. 

He  was  possessed  of  a  considerable  estate  in  England,  and  on 
its  inception  became  interested  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Baj'.  He  was  one  of  the  assistants  named  in  the  charter,  and 
came  over  with  Winthrop  when  that  instrument  was  brought 
from  England  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  the  year  1630.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  Roxbury,  near  Boston,  and  remained 
there  until  his  removal  to  the  Connecticut  Valley.  His  wife 
died  soon  after  his  arrival,  leaving  an  only  son  and  daughter, 
John  and  JIary,  who  accompanied  him  to  the  Connecticut 
River. 

John  Pynchon  remained  at  Springfield,  and  became  dis- 
tinguished in  history  in  aftcr-j'ears  as  the  "  Worshipful  John 
Pynchon."  John  Pynchon,  on  the  30th  day  of  October,  1645, 
married  Amy,  daughter  of  George  Wyllys.J 

Mary'  Py'nchon,  on  the  20th  day  of  November,  1640,  was 
married  to  Elizur  Holyoke,  another  name  distinguislicd  in  the 
early  annals  of  Springfield.  A  simple,  upright  slab  of  the  Old 
Red  Sandstone  which  underlies  the  valley  of  her  home  in  the 
cemetery  at  Springfield  tells  the  story  of  her  death  and  good 
qualities  in  touching  language,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith 


HekeLyeh  The  BodyofMari 

THEWITE  OFEDZyRHoLVoKL 

WHo  Died  oc-tobek  xi.tbS7 
Shtt  y  l^jtiKttrc  (i)ft5  ulv-'iltsKt  ilbod. 


Mary  Holyoke,  dan.  of  M'm  Pynchon  the  leader  of  the  Colonists  who 
settled  Springfield  a'as  born  in  England  and  died  as  recorded  here. 


The'reniains  of  the  Pynchon  Family  luere  removed  from  the  old 
burying  ground  at  the  foot  of  Elm  Street  Mar.  1S49  and  are  de- 
posited around  this  stone. 


In  the  year  1638,  two  years  after  the  planting  of  Springfield, 
William  Pynchon  became  involved  in  difliculties  with  the 
Connecticut  people  at  Hartford,  under  whose  jurisdiction  he  had 
till  then  remained,  on  account  of  which,  and  also  on  account 
of  the  fact  then  discovered  that  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  lay 

X  Hartford  records  give  this  date  incorrectly  as  the  0th  of  Noveudjer,  1046, 
See  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  series,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  376. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


33 


within  the  boundaries  of  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  he 
seceded  from  Connecticut,  and  became  subject  to  the  authori- 
ties at  the  Bay. 

The  controversy  which  arose  on  account  of  the  separation 
is  set  forth  somewhat  at  length  in  a  succeeding  chapter.  In 
the  mean  time  we  must  follow  the  fortunes  of  Wm.  Pynchon 
until  he  leave  the  colony. 

In  the  year  1637,  being  the  autumn  after  the  first  arrival  of 
the  colonists  at  Agawam,  came  the  Rev.  George  Moxon,  the 
first  minister  at  Springfield.  Mr.  Moxon  was  educated  at 
Sidney  College,  Cambridge,  England,  where  he  took  the  de- 
gree of  A.B.  in  1623.  He  came  to  Massachusetts  in  the  year 
1637,  and  first  settled  at  Dorchester.  He  was  made  a  freeman 
Sept.  7,  1637,  and  that  very  autumn  followed  his  old  friend  to 
Agawam,  on  the  Connecticut  River. 

The  following  records,  transcribed  from  the  early  town 
books  of  Springfield,  throw  some  light  upon  Mr.  Moxon 's 
coming,  and  the  early  establishment  of  religious  services  at 
the  infant  colony  at  Agawam  : 

I. 

March  20, 1637. — It  is  ordered  that  in  consideration  of  certayn  charges  which 
tile  present  inhaliitants  liave  been  at  for  Mr.  Moxon's  house  and  fencing  his  lott, 
sucli  as  sliall  for  future  tynie  come  to  inhaliite  in  ye  place  shall  bear  a  share  in 
the  like  charges  in  proportion  with  ourselves. 

II. 

January  16,  1C38. — It  is  ordered  that  the  three  rod  of  grownd  yt  lyes  betwixt 
John  Woodcock's  parcell  and  Goodman  Gregory's  lott,  shall  be  appropriated, 
two  rod  of  it  tj  Goodman  Gregory  and  one  i-od  of  it  to  Kich'd  Everett,  reserving 
40  rods  for  a  place  for  a  meeting-house,  which  is  to  be  allowed  out  of  Goodman 
Gregory's  lott. 

III. 

The  13th  of  January,  1638. — A  voluntary  vote  agreed  upon  the  day  above  said 
for  ye  raising  of  fourty  pounds  toward  ye  building  of  a  house  for  Mr.  Moxon. 

.John  Searle 00  01  00  00 

Thomas  llortou 

Thomas  Mirack 00  01  00  m 

John  Leonard 00  12  00  (X) 

Rjbert  Ashley : 00  01  00  00 

John  Woodcock 00  00  12  00 

Richard  Everitt 00  01  10  00 

John  Alline 00  01  00  01) 

John  Burt 00  (HI  111  0(1 

Henry  Smith 00  O.'i  00  00 

Jehu  Burr 00  07  00  00 

Mr.  William  Pynchon 00  21  00  00 

John  Cable 00  01  12  00 

00  41  04  m 

IV. 

13th  January,  1638. — For  Mr.  Moxon's  maintenance  till  next  Michaelmas. 

£.  8.  d. 

Mr.  William  Pynchon 24  06  0.S 

J.huc  liuiT 08  03  fH 

Ili'nrv  Smith 05  10  m 

John'Cable 02  0(J  00 

40  00  00 

John  Searle 01  00  IKl 

Rich.  Everett 01  (Kl  (HI 

John  Alline 01  00  00 

Thos.  Horton 01  00  00 

John  Woodcock 01  00  00 

Robt.  Ashley 00  16  00 

.John  Leonard 00  10  INI 

Thos.  Mirach 01  05  iki 

07  11  00 

In  1653,  Mr.  Moxon  returned  to  England  with  Mr.  Pynchon, 

and  died  there  Sept.  15,  1687. 

MR.    PYNC'HON'S    BOOKS. 

In  the  year  1650,  Mr.  P3'nchon  published  a  book  in  Eng- 
land upon  a  controverted  religious  topic,  which  shortly  after 
caused  his  removal  from  the  colony.  The  title  of  this  book 
was, 

"  The  Meritorious  Price  of  Our  Redemption,  Justification,  etc.,  Cleering 
it  from  some  common  errors,  and  proving, — 

"  Part  I. — 1.  Tliat  Christ  did  not  suffer  for  ue  those  unutterable  torments  of 
God's  wrath,  that  commonly  are  called  Sell-torments,  to  redeem  our  soules  from 
them.  2.  That  Christ  did  not  bear  our  sins  by  God's  imputation,  and  therefore 
he  did  not  bear  the  curse  of  the  Law  for  them. 

"Part  II.— 3.  That  Christ  bath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  Law  (not 
by  suffering  the  said  cui-se  for  us,  but)  by  a  satisfactory  price  of  atonement,  viz., 
by  praying  or  performing  unto  bis  Father  that  invaluable  precious  thing  of  which 
his  Mediatoriall  sacriflce  of  atonement  was  the  master-piece.  4.  A  sinner's  right- 
eousness or  justification  is  explained,  and  cleered  fi-om  some  common  erroi^. 

5 


"By  William  Pynchon,  Qcntlonian,  in  New  England. 

"The  MetliatLir  saith  thus  t(.»  his  father  in  Psal.  40:  8-10:  'Ideligiit  to  dn  thy 
will,  0  my  God:  Ye;x,  tliy  Law  is  within  my  heart;'  viz.,  I  delight  to  do  tliy  will 
or  Law  as  a  Blediator. 

" '  I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my  heart ;  I  have  declared  thy  faith- 
fulness and  thy  salvation;'  namely;  I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  or  thy  way 
of  making  sinners  righteous,  but  liave  declared  it  hy  the  performance  of  ray  Me- 
diatoriall sacrifice  of  atonement,  as  the  procuring  came  of  thy  atonement,  to 
the  Great  Congregation  for  their  everlasting  righteousness. 

"London:  Printed  by  T.  M.,  for  George  Whittington  and  James  Muxon,  and 
are  to  be  sold  at  the  blue  Anchor  in  CoruhiU,  neer  the  Royal  Exchange,  1050. 
158  pages." 

The  doctrines  upon  the  Atonement  advocated  by  Mr. 
Pynchon  in  this  book  were  repugnant  to  the  gloomy  dog- 
mas of  the  New  Enghmd  theologians  of  the  time,  and  were 
considered  to  be  heretical  and  dangerous. 

The  matter  was  promptly  brought  before  the  General  Court 
at  Boston,  and  action  taken  thereon,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  record  : 

"October  19,  1650. 

"  This  Court  havinge  had  the  sighte  of  a  booke  lately  printed  under  the  name 
of  "William  Pinchon,  in  New  England,  gent.,  and  judginge  it  meete,  iloe  there- 
fore order,  first,  that  a  protest  be  drawno  fully  and  clearly  to  satisfy  all  men  that 
this  Court  is  so  farre  from  approvinge  the  same  as  that  they  doe  utterly  dislike 
it  and  detest  it  as  erroneous  and  dangerous. 

"  2adJy,  That  it  be  suffyciently  answered  by  one  of  the  reverend  elders. 

"3dly,  That  the  said  William  Pinchon  be  summoned  before  the  next  Generall 
Court,  to  answer  for  the  same. 

"  4thly,  That  the  said  booke  now  broughte  over  be  burnt  by  the  executioner  (or 
such  other  as  shall  be  appoynted  thereto,  provided  that  the  party  app<.)ynted  bo 
willinge),  and  that  in  the  market-place  in  Boston  on  the  morrow  immediately 
after  the  Lecture.    Per  Curkt. 

"  The  declaration  and  protestation  of  the  Generall  Court  of  the  Massachusetta 
in  New  England, 

"  The  Generall  Court,  now  sittinge  at  Boston,  in  New  England,  this  sixteenth 
of  October,  1650.  There  was  broughte  t<i  o^  hands  a  booke  written  as  was  therein 
subscribed,  by  William  Pinchon,  Gent.,  in  New  England,  entitled, '  The  Meritori- 
ous Price  of  o'  Redemption,  Justification,  etc.,  clearinge  it  from  common  errors,' 
etc.,  which  booke,  brought  over  hither  hy  a  shippe  a  few  days  since,  and  con- 
tayning  many  errors  and  heresies  generally  condemmed  hy  all  orthodox  writers 
that  we  have  met  with,  wee  have  judged  it  meete  and  necessary  for  vindication 
of  the  truth,  so  far  as  in  us  lyes,  as  also,  to  keepe  and  preser\'e  the  people  here 
committed  to  our  care  and  trust  in  the  tnie  knowledge  and  fayth  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Chiist,  and  of  our  owne  redemption  by  him,  as  likewise  for  the  cleareing 
of  ourselves  to  our  Christian  brethren  and  others  in  England  (where  this  booke 
was  printed  and  is  dispersed),  hereby  to  prc>teste  our  innocency  as  being  neither 
partyes  nor  privy  to  the  writings,  composeing,  and  printinge,  nor  divulginge 
thereof;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  we  detest  and  abhorre  many  of  the  opinions 
and  assertions  therein  as  false,  eronyons,  and  hereticall ;  yea  and  whatsoever  is 
contayned  in  the  said  booke,  which  are  contrary  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  and  the  generall  received  doctrine  of  the  orthodox  churches 
extant  since  the  time  of  the  last  and  best  refomiation,  and  for  proffe  and  evi- 
dence of  our  sincere  and  playne  moaninge  therein,  we  doe  hereby  coudemne 
the  said  booke  to  be  burned  rn  the  market-place,  at  Boston,  by  the  common  ex- 
ecutioner, and  doe  purpose  with  all  convenient  speede  to  convent  the  said  William 
Pinchon  before  authority,  to  find  out  whether  the  said  William  Pinchon  will 
owne  the  said  booke  as  his  or  not;  which  if  he  doth,  we  purpose  (God  willinge) 
to  precede  with  him  accordinge  to  his  demerits,  unless  he  retract  the  same,  and 
give  full  satisfaction  lx»the  here  and  by  some  secoude  writinge,  to  be  printed  and 
dispersed  in  England ;  all  of  which  we  thought  needfuU,  for  the  reasons  alx>ve 
aleaged,  to  make  knowne  by  this  sliorte  protestiition  and  declaration.  Also  we 
further  propose,  witli  what  convenient  speede  we  may,  to  appoint  some  fitt  per- 
son to  make  a  particular  answer  to  all  materiall  and  controversyall  passages  in 
the  said  booke,  and  to  publish  the  same  in  print,  that  so  the  eiTors  and  falsyties 
therein  may  be  fully  discovered,  the  tnjth  cleared,  and  the  minds  of  those  that 
love  and  seeke  after  truth  confirmed  therein.    Per  CarUi. 

*'  It  is  agreed  upon  by  the  whole  Court  that  Mr.  Norton,  one  of  the  reverend 
elders  of  Ipswich,  should  be  iutreated  to  answer  Mr.  Pinchou's  booke  with  all 
convenient  speede. 

"  It's  ordered,  that  the  foregoing  declaration  concerninge  the  booke  subscribed 
by  the  name  of  William  Pinchon  in  New  England,  gent.,  should  be  signed  by  the 
secretary  and  sent  into  England  to  be  printed  there.    Per  Curia. 

"It  is  ordered  that  Mr.  William  Pinchon  shall  be  summoned  to  appeare  before 
the  next  Generall  Court  of  Election,  on  the  firet  day  of  theire  sittinge,  to  give 
his  answer  for  the  booke  printtul  and  published  under  the  name  of  William 
Pinchon,  in  New  England,  gent.,  entitled  'The  Meritorious  price  of  o'  Redemp- 
tion, Justification,'  etc.,  and  not  to  depart  without  leave  from  the  Court.  Per 
Curia."* 

In  accordance  with  this  order,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norton  was 
employed  b}'  the  court  to  confer  with  Mr.  Pynchon  upon  the 
subject,  and  prepare  an  answer  to  his  book. 

At  a  General  Court  held  in  Boston,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1651, 

*  Mass.  Col.  Records,  Vol.  III.,  page  216. 


34 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Mr.  Pynchon  presented  the  following  recantation,  a  copy  of 
which  we  give  from  the  records: 

"  AccoKDiNO  to  the  court's  advise  I  have  conferred  with  the 
Bevs.  Mr.  Cotton,  Mr.  Norrice,  and  Mr.  Norton,  ahout  some 
points  of  the  greatest  consequence  in  my  hook,  and  I  hope  I 
have  so  explained  my  meaning  to  them  as  to  take  oft'  the  worst 
construction  ;  and  it  hath  pleased  God  to  let  me  see  that  I 
have  not  spoken  in  my  book  so  fully  of  the  price  and  merit 
of  Christ's  sufferings  as  I  should  have  done,  for  in  my  book  I 
call  them  but  trials  of  his  obedience,  yet  intending  thereby  to 
amplify  and  exalt  the  mediatorial  obedience  of  Christ,  as  the 
only  meritorious  price  of  man's  redemption  ;  but  now  at  pres- 
ent I  am  much  inclined  to  think  that  his  sufferings  were  ap- 
pointed by  God  for  a  further  end,  namelj',  as  the  due  punish- 
ment of  our  sins  by  way  of  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  for 
man's  redemption.* 

"Your  humble  servant,  in  all  dutiful  respect, 

"William  Pynchon." 

On  the  23d  of  October,  IGOO,  Roger  Williams,  writing  to 
John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  among  other  things  speaks  of  this  book 
as  follows  : 

"  He  tells  me  of  a  booke  lately  come  over,  in  Mr.  Pynchon's 
name,  wherein  is  some  derogation  to  the  blood  of  Christ.  The 
booke  was  therefore  burnt  in  the  market-place  at  Boston,  and 
Mr.  Pynchon  to  be  cited  to  the  court. 

"  If  it  is  in  hand,  I  may  hope  to  see  it.  However,  the  Most 
High  and  only  Wise  will  by  this  case  discover  what  liberty 
conscience  hath  in  this  land."f 

Mr.  Pynchon  gave  bail  for  his  further  aiipearance  at  court, 
and  the  matter  was  further  continued  until  the  next  meeting. 

In  the  mean  time,  before  tlie  day  of  hearing  came  on,  Mr. 
Pynchon  had  left  his  adopted  country,  a  voluntary  exile,  never 
to  return. 

In  the  year  1653,  and  after  Mr.  Pynchon's  arrival  in  Eng- 
land, Mr.  Norton's  answer  was  published  in  London.  It  was 
entitled  "A  Discu.s.sioN  of  that  Great  Point  in  Divinity, 

THE  SUFPEUINGS  OF  ChRIST,"  etC. 

Mr.  Pynchon  published  a  rejoinder  to  this  hook,  of  which 
the  following  is  the  title  in  full : 

"THE  MERITORIOUS   PRICE   OF   MAN'S   REIIEMPTION  ; 

"or, 

"  CHRIST'S  SATISFACTION  DISCUSSED  AND  EXPLAINED. 

"  1.  By  SHEWING  how  the  siiffeiiugs  and  the  saciifice  of  Chiist  did  satisfie 
God's  Justice,  iiatitie  his  Wmth,  and  procure  his  Reconciliation  for  Man's  Re- 
demj)tioi)  from  Satan's  Head  plot. 

"  2.  By  \indicating  the  suffeiings  and  the  saciifice  of  Christ  from  that  most 
dangerous,  Sciiptureless  Tenents,  that  is  lield  foith  hy  Mr.  Noiton,  of  New  Eng- 
land, in  his  Book  of  Chiist's  sufteiing,  attiiming  that  he  suffered  the  Essential 
Tornionta  of  Hell,  and  the  second  death,  from  God's  immediate  vindictive  wrath. 

"3.  By  showing  that  the  Righteousness  of  God  (so  called  in  Rom.  3 :  21,  22,  26; 
in  Roiu.  10:  3;  in  Cor.  5;  21;  and  in  Phil.  3;  9)  is  to  he  undei-stood  of  Gi>d  the 
Father's  perfoi  niance  of  his  covenant  with  Christ ;  namely,  that  upon  CIn  ist's 
perfornumce  of  liis  Covenant  (hy  coinliating  with  Satan,  and  at  last  hy  making  his 
death  a  saciitice)  he  would  he  reconciled  to  helieving  sinners,  and  not  impute 
their  sins  to  them.  And  therefore :  1.  This  Righteousness  of  God  must  needs  he 
the  formal  cause  of  a  sinner's  justification.  And  2.  It  must  needs  he  a  distinct 
soit  of  Righteousness  from  the  Righteousness  of  Chiist,  contrary  to  Mr.  Noi  ton's 
Tenent.    This  is  evidenced  in  Chap.  14,  and  elsewhere. 

"6.  By  explaining  God's  Declaiation  of  the  Conihato  between  the  Devil  and 
the  seed  of  the  Woman  in  Gen.  3:  1.5,  from  whence  (as  from  the  foundation 
J>i  inciple)  this  present  reply  doth  explain  all  the  after-prophecies  of  Christ's  Suf- 
ferings. 

"  7.  By  cleai  ing  several  other  Scriptures  of  the  greatest  note  in  these  C^jiitro- 
versies  from  Mr.  Norton's  eomipt  Expositions,  and  hy  exixmnding  them  in  their 
right  sense;  Both  according  to  the  Context,  and  according  to  sundry  eminent 
Oithodox  Wiiters.l 

"by  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  LATE  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.   1655." 

Mr.  Pynchon  followed  up  the  discussion  in  a  book  printed  at 
London  in  1662,  called  "  The  Covenant  of  Nature  made  with 
Adam  Described,  etc.,  and  cleared  from  sundry  great  mis- 

*  Mass.  Col.  Rec,  Vol.  III.,  p.  229. 
t  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  Series,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  285. 

J  The  author  is  indehted  to  the  kindness  of  the  Lihraiian  of  Harvard  I'ln- 
veibity  for  the  privilege  of  exanuiiing  this  rare  volume. 


takes."     In  this  last-named  volume,  the  address  to  the  reader 
is  dated  "From  my  Study,  Wraysbury,  Feb.  10,  1661." 

Mr.  Pynchon  died  at  Wraysbury  on  the  Thames,  in  Buck- 
inghamshire, some  time  during  the  month  of  October,  1662, 
aged  seventy-two  3'ears. 

OTHER   BOOKS   OF    MR.  PYNCHON. 

Mr.  Pynchon  published  other  works  than  those  above  re- 
ferred to,  among  which  is  one  entitled 

"the  TIME  WHEN  THE  FIRST  SABBATH  WAS  ORDAINED. 

"1.  Negntirehj.    Not  in  the  times  of  Adam's  innocency,  as  many  say  it  wa^. 

"  2.  Ajjlrnutiirdij.  It  was  ordained  after  the  time  of  Adam's  fall  and  re-crea- 
tion. 

*********** 

"  And  herein  it  follows: 

"  1st.  That  as  the  Sahhath  was  ordained  to  he  a  tj'pica!  sign,  so  it  must  he  abol- 
ished as  Boon  as  Christ  had  perfoi med  his  said  propitiatory  saciifice. 

"2d.  As  it  was  ordained  to  he  the  sanctified  time  for  the  exercise  of  the  said 
hlessed  ordinance,  so  the  next  day  of  the  week  into  which  it  was  changed  must 
continue  without  iutei  mission  until  the  end  of  the  world. 

"  By  William  Pynchon,  Esq.,  London.  Printed  by  R.  I.,  and  are  to  he  sold  hy 
T.  N.,  at  the  three  Lyons  in  Cornhill,  near  the  Royal  Exchange.    1U54." 

In  this  work  Mr.  Pinchon's  argument  sounds  strange 
enough  to  our  modern  ears,  and  to  give  the  reader  some 
idea  of  the  methods  of  the  speculative  theology  of  that  daj-, 
a  statement  of  some  of  his  propositions  is  given,  and  a  single 
quotation  from  the  last-named  work  is  indulged  in. 

Mr.  Pynchon  argues  that  Adam  and  Eve  fell  from  Para- 
dise on  the  first  day  of  their  creation,  which  was  the  sixth  of 
the  creation  as  mentioned  in  Genesis. 

That  God  made  Adam  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and 
commanded  the  beasts  of  the  field  as  well  as  the  angels  in 
heaven  to  become  man's  ministering  servants.  The  beasts 
were  brought  before  Adam,  and,  as  no  helper  was  found 
among  them  meet  for  him.  Eve  was  formed,  and  the  pair  was 
placed  in  Paradise  ;  that  a  part  of  the  angels  obeyed  and  min- 
istered unto  Adam  and  Eve,  but  that  a  large  number  of  the 
angels,  seeing  that  Adam  was  but  formed  of  dust,  disobeyed 
and  refused  to  serve  them.  Upon  this,  the  disobedient  angels 
were  cast  out  of  heaven,  and,  uniting  together,  became  Satan's 
head.  Hearing  the  covenant  between  God  and  Adam  as  to 
the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  and  the  tree  of  life, 
the  fallen  angels  resolved  to  accomjilish  the  fall  of  man  also. 
So,  in  the  first  few  hours  of  man's  innocency,  Satan's  head 
appeared  in  the  serpent  as  an  angel  of  light  and  tempted  the 
woman  Eve.  We  now  quote  at  this  point  of  the  argument 
what  Mr.  Pynchon  says  :  "  Now,  God,  being  a  cunning  and 
complete  Workman,  would  not  be  outbidden  by  Satan's  brags, 
and  therefore  he  gave  Satan  leave  to  do  his  worst  (as  he  did 
afterwards  give  him  leave  to  do  his  worst  to  Christ) ;  for  he 
know  that  if  his  workmanship  .should  fail  upon  the  trial,  he 
could  tell  how  to  mend  it,  and  how  to  make  it  better  able  to 
endure  the  trial  for  the  time  to  come." 

On  page  35  is  a  fac-simile  of  one  of  the  pages  of  Mr.  Pyn- 
chon's Book  of  Records,  kept  at  Springfield  while  acting  as 
a  magistrate  in  his  infant  settlement.  It  is  interesting,  not 
only  as  showing  Mr.  Pynchon's  handwriting,  hut  as  being  the 
first  page  of  the  records  of  his  court.  The  first  action  recorded 
was  between  Cable  and  Woodcock  ahout  the  building  of  the 
historic  house  on  the  "House  Meadow,"  or  Agawam,  in  the 
summer  of  1635.  In  the  second  action  recorded  it  will  be 
seen  that  Mr.  Pynchon  was  not  only  judge  of  the  court,  but 
the  plaintiff'  in  the  suit  in  which  Henry  Smith,  his  son-in- 
law,  was  foreman  of  the  jury. 

III. 


THE    PLANTING   OF   WESTFIELD. 

Although  Northampton  was  the  first  permanent  settlement 
made  after  Springfield  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massa- 
chusetts, yet  the  first  attempt  at  settlement  was  made,  and 
the  first  buildings  outside  of  Springfield  were  put  up,  at 
Wo-ro-noak,  now  Westfield. 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNp]CTICUT   VALLEY. 


35 


This  settlement  at  Woronoak  was  l)egnn  by  Connecticut 
people  as  early  as  the  year  1040,  they  supposing  that  the  place 
lay  within  their  jurisdiction. 

In  that  year  Governor  Hopkins  erected  a  trading-house  at 
what  is  now  Westfield,  and  had  considerable  interest  in  the 
plantation.*  About  this  time  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  was 
leaving  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  for  that  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

In  the  dispute  wliieh  then  arose  regarding  the  boundary 
line,  Wo-)-o-nnnk  was  claimed  by  both  jurisdictions.  The  matter 
was  taken  to  the  General  Courts  of  the  respective  colonies  ; 
and  at  a  General  Court,  held  in  Boston  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1641,  the  following  letter  concerning  Wo-ro-noak  was  ad- 
dressed by  the  General  Court  at  Boston  to  the  General  Court 
at  Hartford,  which  will  throw  some  light  on  the  subject: 


"  From  the  Generall  Court  nt 
Bostiin,  2il  of  the  4th  month, 
IMl. 

"  Sr, — It  is  grievous  to  us  to 
niepte  w*!"  any  ocration  that 
niiglit  cause  difference  to  arise 
betweene  y  people  and  us, 
standing  in  so  near  relation  of 
friendsliip,  neighborhood,  and 
Cliristianity,  especially ;  there- 
fore o'  study  is  (when  any  such 
arise)  to  laho'  the  renioveing  of 
them  ujion  the  first  appearance. 
Now  so  it  is,  that  wee  have  l>een 
certified  that  yo**  have  given 
leave  to  some  of  you",  to  set  up 
a  trading-house  at  Waronoch, 
which  is  known  to  bee  w""in  u' 
patents  lying  as  much  or  more 
to  the  north  thiin  Springfield. 
Wee  heare  also,  that  you  have 
granted  to  Mr.  Robt.  Saltonatjlll 
a  great  (juanfity  of  land,  not  far 
beneath  Siiringfield,  wh*'''  wee 
conceive  also  to  belong  to  us. 
Wee  desire  yo"  to  consider  of  it, 
as  that  which  we  apprehend  to 
bee  an  ijijury  to  us,  and  do  us 
such  right  in  redresse  hearof  aa 
yo"  would  e.vpect  fro  us  in  a 
like  ca.se.  M'ee  suppose  wee 
shall    not   need   to   use   other 


a^irr^     ff-h'-ty^    -nW^   ^^""Z 
-jju    7*--^       7-f^^     S'^'r*^^  J^-r^y  <,rf^Y  ^    -^^•«<-r^^.J"(W^ 


in  case  the  petitioners  should  settle  themselves,  and  a  min- 
ister within  three  j'ears,  "the  order  for  Wo-ro-noak  hence- 
forth to  lye  to  Springfield  should  be  void,"  otherwise  the  land 
should  belong  to  Springfield  until  a  plantation  should  be 
settled  there. 

This  scheme  seems  to  have  entirely  failed,  only  one  man 
having  acquired  title  by  his  residence  of  five  years  there.  At 
length,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1664,  at  a  town-meeting  held 
at  Springfield,  Capt.  Pynchon,  Elizur  Holyoke,  and  Messrs. 
Ely,  Colton,  and  Cooley,  were  appointed  a  standing  committee, 
"  To  have  the  sole  power  to  order  matters  concerning  Wo-ro- 
noak,  both  for  admitting  of  inhabitants  to  grant  lands,  or  for 
any  other  business  that  may  concern  tliat  place,  and  conduce 
to  its  becoming  a  town  of  itself." 

Under  this  arrangement  a  permanent  settlement  was  made 

at  Wo-ro-noak.  Inl6G9 
it  was  incorporated  as  a 
town,  by  the  name  of 
Wcstfield.J 


"_?i:t 


fiia-A^' 


■^u/ 


vVf 


*^-o  "^-y 


C«^~c/ 


"•^'-y^c?'  >i^€j- 


22,-^  -^L-f^  fO-^  ^'^'^   ~'  -^^-"^-^  ^^^'^^ 

777^ rv- *^-^>^  ^yvif — c*^r»^      *7_- — /^^  —f    ~^ 


IV. 

THE    PLANTING    OF 
NORTHAMPTON. 

Northampton  sits  at 
the  foot  of  the  towering 
central  mountain  chain 
of  the  Connecticut  Val- 
ley in  Massachusetts, 
filled  with  the  lingering 
charm  of  more  than  two 
centuries  of  cultivated 
and  refined  life. 


"  Art's  storied  dwelling,  learn- 
ing's green  retreat." 


/' 


yr^^  f ^.^-tr^^^t:^  ^ 


Argu"";  wee  know  to  whome 

weewright.    Wee  have  thought    ')f<ri*->W.^  //|- ■  /  gj^       ^VJ'to 

-^.f^-.M^  s-j^^  TS-A^*^  :& 


rd^^ 


Uleete  upon  these  occations  to 

intimate  further  unto  yo"  that 

wee  intend  (by  Goil's  help)  to 

know  the  certainty  of  o'  limitts, 

to  the  end  that  wee  may  neither 

intrench  ui>on  the  right  of  any 

of    or    neighlwrs,    nor    suffer 

o^selves  and  or  posterity  to  bee 

deprived  of  what  rightly  be- 

longeth  unto  us,  wheh  wee  hope 

will  bee  wUiout  offense  to  any ; 

and  upon  this  wee  may  have 

some  ground  of  proceeding  in  o' 

further    treaty   wtb  yo"  aluult 

such  things  as  may  concerne 

the  welfare  of  us  all.     Tlu'se  tilings  wee  leave  t 

expect  .yo'  answear. 

In  the  mean  time  wee  rest."f 


The  matter  was  finally  referred  to  the  Commissioners  of  the 
nited  Colonies,  and  on  the  27th  day  of  October,  1648,  an  order 
entered  b_y  the  Commissioners  awarding  Wo-ro-noak  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  Connecticut  people  seem 
to  have  abandoned  their  settlements,  and  Wo-ro-noak  became 
a  part  of  the  town  of  Springfield. 

In  1662  another  movement  was  made  to  settle  Westfield  by 
certain  gentlemen  who  appear  to  have  belonged  in  Windsor 
and  Dorchester.  They  petitioned  the  General  Court  for,  and 
received,  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square,  conditioned  that 

*  See  Trumbull's  Hist,  of  Conn.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  147. 
t  Mass.  Cil.  Rec,  Vol.  I.,  p.  323. 


Her  Indian  name  Non- 
o-tuck,  or  Nan-o-iuk  as 
oftener  written   in    old 
records,  and  sometimes 
Nol-wo-togg,  is  of  local 
significance   descriptive 
of  a  feature  of  her  near 
landscape.     In  the   In- 
dian   tongue   Noen-tuk, 
or No-a,k-tuk,  means  "in 
the  middle  of  theriver," 
in  allusion  to  the  island 
situate  between  North- 
ampton   village    and 
Mount  Tom,  surrounded 
by  an  old  channel  of  the 
stream,  and  to  the  penin- 
sula upon  which  Hadley 
is  built.  § 
After  Springfield  had  become  firmly  established  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Agawam,  the  first  movement  of  her  people  in  search  of 
"  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new"  was  not  westward,  hilt  north- 
ward, and  up  the  "  Great  River,"  as  it  was  then  called.     The 
first  record  which   we  find  looking  towards  a  settlement  at 
Non-o-tuck  is  the  following : 


PAGE    FROM    WM.    PYNCHON's    COURT    RECORD. 


you''  coiisitleiiitii'ii,  and  mIuiU 


"  Att  a  General  Court  of  Election,  held  at  Boston  tlie  18th  of  the  3d  mo., 
Anno  1653.  Mr.  Samuel  Cole,  of  Boston,  having  lunge  since  disbursed  fifty  poun^ls 
in  the  cunimon  stocke,  as  appeared  by  good  testimony  tij  the  cuuit,  on  his  own  re- 
quest hath  400  acors  of  land  graunted  him  at  Nonotucke,  to  be  layd  out  by  Cap- 
tayne  Willard." 

In  the  mean  time  a  petition  had  been  filed  in  the  General 
Court,  by  certain  inhabitants  of  Springfield,  asking  the  privi- 

X  Holland's  Hist,  of  Western  Ma.ss.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  C5. 
I  Col.  of  Conn.  Hist.  Society,  Vul.  II.,  p.  11. 


36 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


lege  of  making  a  settlement  at  Non-o-tuck,  on  the  Connectieut, 
which  was  in  the  following  words : 

"  Your  highly  honored,  the  General  Court  of  the  Massachusetts.  The  humble 
petition  of  John  Pj'nehou,  Eleazur  Holliock,  antl  Samuel  Chapin,  Inhabitants  of 
Springtield,  sheweth,  We  hartyly  desire  the  continuance  of  your  peace.  And  in 
exercise  of  your  stibirch  in  these  parts,  In  order  where  unto  we  humbly  tender 
o'  desire  of  that  liberty  may  be  granted  to  erect  a  plantation,  Aliout  fifteen 
miles  Above  us,  on  this  river  of  Connecticut,  if  it  be  the  will  of  the  Lord,  the 
place  being,  as  we  tliiuk,  very  conmiodious, — »i<leratis  con  Sijrondo  sor, — the  con- 
taining Large  quantities  of  e,\cellent  land  and  meadow,  and  tillable  ground  suf- 
ficient for  two  long  plantations,  and  work,  w^*",  if  it  should  go  on,  might,  as  we 
conceive,  prove  greatly  Advantagous  to  your  Common  Wealth, — to  w^*"  purpose 
there  are  divere  mour  Neighboring  plantatur  that  have  a  desire  to  remove 
thither,  with  your  approbation  thereof,  to  the  number  of  twenty-five  families, 
at  leaet,  that  Already  appear,  whereof  many  of  them  are  of  considerable  quality 
for  Esttates  and  for  the  matter  for  a  church,  when  it  shall  please  God  to  find  op- 
portunity that  way :  it  is  the  humble  desire  that  by  this  Hon*^  Corte  some  power 
may  be  established  or  some  course  appointed  for  the  regulating,  at  their  1st  pro- 
ceedings, as  concerning  whome  to  admit  and  other  occurrences  that  to  the  glory 
of  God  may  he  furthered.  And  your  peace  and  happiness  not  retarded.  And 
the  Inducement  to  us  in  these  desires  is  not  Any  similar  respect  of  our  owne,  but 
that  we,  being  Alone,  may  by  this  means  may  have  som  more  neighborhood  of 
your  jurisdiction,  thus,  not  doubting  your  acceptance  of  our  desires,  w^  thus 
entreat  the  Lord  to  sit  among  you  in  All  your  counsels,  And  remain  your  most 
humlde  servts. 

"  Springfield,  the  5th  of  ye  3d  Mo.  1653.* 

"John  Pynchon, 
•'  Elezer  Holliok, 
"  Sam'l  Chapin." 

This  petition  seems  to  have  been  favorably  received  by  the 
General  Court,  and  the  prayer  thereof  granted  in  the  follow- 
ing words : 

"  Att  a  General  Court  of  Election  held  at  Boston  the  18  day  May,  1653, 
In  answer  to  the  inhabitants  of  Springfield's  petition  and  othere  thereabouts, 
this  Court  doth  order,  that  Mr.  John  Pinchon,  Mr.  Holyoke,  and  some  other  of 
the  petition"  should  be  appoynted  a  committee  to  divide  the  land  petitioned  for 
into  two  plantations  and  that  the  petition"  make  choice  of  one  of  them,  where 
they  shall  have  liberty  to  plant  themselves;  provided,  they  shall  not  appropriate 
to  any  planter  above  one  hundi'cd  acors  of  all  sorts  of  land,  whereof  not  above 
twenty  acors  to  be  meddow,  till  twenty  inhabitants  have  planted  there,  whereof 
twelve  to  be  freemen,  or  more,  which  said  freemen  shall  have  power  to  distribute 
the  land  and  give  out  proportions  of  land  to  the  severall  inhabitjints  as  in  other 
townes  of  this  jurisdiction,  and  that  the  land  be  divided  aecording  to  estates 
or  eminent  qualifications,  and  that  Samuel  Chapin  be  joined  witli  Mr.  Pynchon 
and  Mr.  Holyoke  for  the  dividing  of  the  t*iwnes."f 

In  pursuance  of  this  order  the  Commissioners  appointed 
thereby  performed  the  duty  therein  enjoined,  and  returned  to 
the  General  Court  the  following  report,  to  wit : 

"  Nov.  1,  1C54. 

"  To  the  honored  Generall  Court  of  the  ]\Iassacliusetts.  Wee  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  being  appointed  to  ilivide  the  lands  at  Naotucke  into  two  planta- 
tions, wee  accordingly  have  granted  to  them  that  now  first  appeared  to  remove 
thitherto  plant  themselves  on  the  west  side  of  the  River  l^onnecticott,  its  they 
desired,  and  have  laid  out  their  bounds,  viz.:  from  the  little  meadowe  above 
theire  plantation,  which  meadowe  is  called  Capawonk  or  Mattaomett,  doune  to 
the  hea4l  of  the  falls  which  are  belowe  them,  reserving  the  land  on  the  east 
side  of  the  said  river  for  another  plantation  when  God,  by  his  providence  shall 
80  dispose  thereof,  and  still  remaincj 

"  Your  humble  sen'ants, 

"John  Pinchon, 
"Elizer  Holyoke, 
"  Samuel  Chapin." 

Upon  the  completion  of  these  proceedings  a  settlement  was 
made  at  Non-o-tuck,  tlie  particulars  of  which  the  reader  will 
find  related  in  the  history  of  Northampton  contained  in  the 
following  pages. 

It  has  been  said  by  many,  and  among  others  by  Mr.  Sylves- 
ter Judd,  the  learned  historian  of  Hadley,  that  there  was  no 
act  of  the  General  Court  incorporating  the  town  of  Northamp- 
ton. It  would  seem,  however,  that  this  is  an  error,  as  will  be 
seen  bj-  the  record  below. 

If  the  establishing  of  government  at  a  place  and  the  ap- 
pointing of  officers  to  administer  the  same  thereat  is  not  an 

*  To  this  record  in  the  town-book  at  Northtunpton  is  the  following  attestation : 
"That  which  is  above  written  is  a  true  copie,  compared  with  the  original  ex- 
hibited in  the  C  sitting  in  Uoston  in  May,  1653. 
"Synced  and  left  on  tile. 

".\ttest:  lOnWARIi    POBBINS." 

+  Mius«.  Col.  Kec,  Vol.  ill.,  p.  :io«. 

J  M.-16S.  Col.  Eecorde,  Vol.  IV.,  ^^rt  I.,  p.  21.3. 


act  of  incorporation,  what  is  it?  The  act  of  the  General  Court 
above  referred  to  may  be  found  in  the  Massachusetts  Colonial 
Records,  Vol.  IV.,  Part  I.,  page  227,  and  is  as  follows,  to  wit: 

"  May  23,  1655. 
"  In  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Nonotucke,  humbly  desiring  the 
establishment  of  government  amongst  them,  theire  petition  is  graunted,  and  itt 
is  ordered  that  William  Houlton,  Thomas  Bascome,  and  Edward  Elmer  shall  and 
hereby  are  imitowered  as  the  threemen  to  end  all  smole  causes,  according  to  lawe 
here,  they  repayring  to  Springfield,  to  Mr.  Pinchon,  Mr.  Holyoke,  &c.,  who  are 
authorized  to  give  them  their  oathes,  as  also  the  constable's  oath  to  Robert  Bart- 
lett." 

In  a  diary  kept  by  Judge  Samuel  Sewall,  while  holding 
court  in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  in  the  year  1689,  will  be 
found  interesting  allusions  to  the  customs  of  the  day  as  well 
as  a  flattering  reference  to  Northampton.  It  is  printed  in  a 
late  volume  of  the  collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society : 

"  Aug.  15. — Second  day.  Set  out  for  Springfield  ;  lodged  at 
Marlborow.  Aug.  16.  To  Quaboag  with  a  guard  of  20  men, 
under  Cornet  Brown.  Between  Worcester  and  Quaboag  we 
were  greatly  wet  with  rain,  wet  to  the  skin.  Got  thither  before 
'twas  dark.  A  guard  of  20,  from  Spgfield,  met  us  there,  & 
saluted  us  with  their  trumpets  as  we  alighted. 

******* 

"  Aii(j.  20. — Went  to  the  Long  Meadow  to  bring  the  Maj.- 
Gen.,  going  toward  Hartford.  Meet  with  Joe  Noble;  with 
him  went  to  Westfleld,  and  kept  Sabbath  with  Mr.  Taj-lor 
Aug.  21. 

'■^  Aug.  22. — Eeturned  to  Springtield,  Mr.  Tailor  with  me. 
Rained  hard  in  the  afternoon  and  night,  and  part  of  the  morn, 
Augt.  23,  By  which  means  were  not  able  to  reach  Quaboag ; 
and  it  'twas  thought  could  not  pa.ss  the  Rivers.  So  went  to 
Northampton, — a  very  Paradise.  Lodged  at  the  Ordinary, 
getting  to  town  in  the  night.  Aug.  24  very  fair  day.  Mr.  Cook 
&  I  went  with  Mr.  Stoddard,  &  heard  Mr.  I.  Chauncy  preach 
his  first  lecture  at  Hadley.  Made  a  very  good  sermon.  In- 
vited us  to  dinner.  Went  over  to  Hatfield.  Lodged  all  night 
with  Mr.  Williams." 

For  a  history  of  the  planting  and  development  of  the  (owns 
of  Hadley,  Hatfield,  Deerfield,.  Northfield,  and  all  the  others 
of  the  seventy  and  one  towns  included  within  the  territory  on 
which  this  work  treats,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  separate 
histories  of  the  several  towns  respectively,  which  will  be  found 
placed  in  their  order  farther  on  in  this  volume. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  PEQUOT  WAH. 
I. 

CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR. 

Among  the  earliest  important  events  which  interested  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  was  the  de- 
struction of  the  Pctjuot  Indian  nation  by  the  whites  in  1036-37.  / 
This  war  occurred  so  soon  after  the  first  settlers  arrived  at 
Springfield,  and  they  were  then  so  few  in  number,  tluit  they 
took  but  little  if  any  part  in  it,  but  its  results  were  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  them.  The  Peqimts  were  the  most  pow- 
erful tribe  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Connecticut  Valley, 
and  their  destruction  was  a  great  relief  to  the  infant  settle- 
ments. 

The  situation  of  the  settlements  on  the  Connecticut  River 
at  the  time  was  perilous  in  the  extreme.  In  all  the  towns 
from  Springfield  to  New  Haven,  in  the  year  1636,  there  were 
scarcely  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  capable  of  bearing  arms. 
The  savage  tribes  of  the  wilderness  surrounding  them,  whose 
hunting-grounds  reached  from  the  Hudson  Kiver  on  the  west  to 
the  Nai-ragansett  Bay  on  the  east,  could,  if  united,  have  fallen 
upon  thein  with  a  force  of  four  or  five  thousand  warriors.  Thi^ 
three  most  powerful  nations  were  the  Prquot!<,  near  by,  the'' 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


37 


Narragnnscfts,  fartlier  cast,  and  the  Mo/iicaiis,  on  the  west. 
Their  near  neighbors,  the  Pequots,  endeavored  to  unite  their 
sister  tribes  in  a  war  of  extermination  against  the  whites,  not 
only  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  but  of  all  New  England ;  but 
failing  to  do  this,  the  Pequots  entered  the  contest  alone.  The 
result  was  the  total  destruction  of  them  as  a  nation.  They 
were  all  slain,  or  scattered  as  slaves  to  the  English  or  to  the 
surrounding  savage  tribes. 

This  decisive  blow  doubtless  saved  the  colonies  of  New  Eng- 
land from  annihilation.  It  struck  such  terror  into  the  sur- 
rounding nations  that  it  was  forty  years  before  another  gen- 
eration of  warriors,  under  King  Philip,  again  threatened  the 
destruction  of  the  New  England  people. 

v,The  Pequot  country  was  in  the  southeasterly  part  of  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Connecticut,  bordering  on  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  running  northward  between  the  river  Pawcatuck, 
now  the  western  boundary  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  river 
then  bearing  their  name,  but  now  called  the  Thames.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  western  boundary  of  the  Pequot  country  was 
not  more  than  thirty  miles  distant  from  the  nearest  infant  set- 
tlement on  the  Connecticut  Kiver. 

The  Pequots  had  overawed  the  Narragnnsetts,  whose  hunt- 
ing-grounds lay  to  the  east  of  their.^,  but  had  not  yet  subjected 
them;  while  \ho  Mohicans,  their  near  neighbors  to  the  east, 
had  long  paid  them  unwilling  tribute,  but  were  now  ready 
for  rebellion. 

The  chief  sachem  of  the  Pequots,  whose  name  was  Sns-sa- 
cus,  had  twenty-six  subordinate  sachems,  with  their  people, 
under  his  sway. 

Sas-sa-cus  had  become  discontented  at  what  he  considered 
to  be  the  encroachments  of  the  English  people  U])on  his  hunt- 
ing-grounds in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  and  resolved  to 
drive  them  away. 

To  ettcct  his  purpose,  he  attempted  to  unite  the  neighboring 
tribes  in  a  war  of  extermination  against  the  English. 

He  made  overtures  to  his  hereditary  enemies  the  Narragan- 
setts  for  a  union  against  the  English,  and  had  he  succeeded 
in  conciliating  them  would  doubtless  have  enlisted  the  Mohi- 
cans in  the  scheme.  But  Roger  Williams,  at  the  risk  of  his 
life,  visited  the  Narragansett  country,  and  through  his  in- 
fluence the  ancient  hostility  of  the  Narragansetts  was  too 
much  for  the  insidious  diplomacy  of  Sas-sa-cus,  and  the  Pe- 
quots were  obliged  to  enter  the  contest  alone. 

Through  the  influence  of  "Williams,  some  of  the  Narragan- 
sett chiefs  even  went  to  Boston  in  the  autumn  of  1636,  and 
concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance  with  the  English. 

Sas-sa-cus  was  the  prototype  and  forerunner  of  King  Philip, 
Pontiac,  and  Tecumseh,  and  had  he  succeeded  in  forming  his 
union  of  the  tribes,  the  days  of  the  New  England  people 
would  have  been  numbered  before  they  had  scarcely  begun 
their  settlements  in  the  New  World. 

The  Pequot  war  had  virtually  begun  four  years  before,  in 
1G33,  when  some  Indians  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Sas-sa-cus 
murdered  two  English  traders,  with  their  whole  coni]Hiny,  who 
had  gone  up  the  Connecticut  River  to  trade  with  the  Dutch. 
These  traders  were  named  Stone  and  Norton. 

In  going  up  the  river  with  their  crew  of  six  persons  they 
admitted  twelve  of  the  natives  on  board  their  vessel,  and  en- 
gaged others  to  pilot  two  of  their  men  farther  up  the  stream. 
These  two  men  were  murdered  b}'  their  guides,  and  the  twelve 
Indians  on  board  the  vessel  the  same  night  rose  upon  her 
company,  while  all  were  asleep,  and  put  them  to  death. 

Sas-sa-cus,  in  October  of  the  year  following,  fearing  attacks, 
both  from  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Dutch,  sent  messengers 
to  Boston  to  make  overtures  of  peace. 

His  envoys  agreed  to  surrender  the  only  two  murderers  of 
Stone  then  surviving,  and  pay  smart-money  in  the  form  of 
wampum  and  furs,  but  the  Pequots  soon  grew  arrogant  and 
violaled  their  treaty. 

The  murder  of  Stone  was  followed  up  by  the  murder  of 


John  Oldham,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1636.  Oldham,  with  two 
boys  on  board  his  vessel,  was  on  a  trip  to  the  Connecticut 
River,  with  whose  people  he  had  opened  commercial  relations. 
While  near  Black  Island,  he  was  surprised  and  killed  by  the 
Indians.  When  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Oldham 
reached  Boston  it  occasioned  great  uneasiness,  and  Governor 
Vane  dispatched  ninety  men,  under  the  command  of  John 
Endicott,  of  Salem,  in  three  small  vessels,  to  Long  Island 
Sound,  to  chastise  the  arrogant  Pequots. 

It  seems  that  Endicott  did  not  acquit  himself  of  this  trust 
in  a  very  satisfactory  manner.  He  killed  and  wounded  some 
of  the  Block  Islanders,  destroyed  their  canoes,  burned  their 
houses,  and  cut  down  their  corn. 

He  then  sailed  for  the  Pequot  country  and  demanded  of 
Sas-sa-cus  surrender  of  the  murderers  of  Stone,  the  delivery 
of  hostages  for  further  good  conduct,  and  the  payment  of  a 
thousand  fathoms  of  wampum.  The  Pequots,  before  this  con- 
ference was  ended,  discharged  their  arrows  at  his  men  and  fled 
to  their  forts.  After  burning  some  of  their  wigwams  and 
canoes,  and  collecting  some  corn,  he  returned  to  Boston  with- 
out loss. 

The  Narragansetts  afterward  reported  that  Endicott  killed 
thirteen  and  wounded  forty  Pequots.  This  movements  only 
served  to  irritate  the  warlike  Pequots,  and  Sas-sa-cus,  without 
delay,  attempted  the  union  of  the  tribes  spoken  of  above. 

Failing  in  this,  and  resolving  to  carry  on  the  war  alone, 
Sas-sa-cus  took  immediate  measures  to  spread  consternation 
among,  and  to  provoke  the  resentment  of,  the  whites  and  their 
allies. 

In  October,  1636,  they  murdered  Butterfleld  near  Gardiner's 
fort,  at  the  mouth  of  tlie  river,  and  a  few  days  later  took 
two  white  men  out  of  a  boat  and  tortured  them  to  death  with 
ingenious  barbarity. 

During  the  winter  they  constantly  kept  a  marauding-party 
near  the  fort,  burning  out-building.s  and  killing  cattle. 

In  the  spring  Gardiner  went  out  with  ten  men  to  do  some 
farming-work.  His  party  was  waj'laid  by  Pequots,  and  three 
of  them  slain. 

Soon  after,  two  men  while  sailing  down  the  river  were  taken 
out  of  their  canoe,  their  bodies  cut  in  two  lengthwise,  and  the 
parts  hung  up  by  the  river's  bank. 

A  man  who  had  been  carried  off  by  the  Indians  from 
Wcthersfleld  was  roasted  alive,  and  soon  after  that  place  was 
attacked  by  a  liuudred  Pequots,  who  killed  seven  men,  a 
woman,  and  a  child,  and  carried  away  two  girls  into  captivity. 

IL 

THE    WAR   BEGINS. 

The  Pequots  had  now  put  to  death  no  less  than  thirty  of  the 
English,  and  the  infant  settlements  on  the  Connecticut  River 
had  become  thoroughly  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  impending 
danger. 

The  time  had  come  when  the  question  must  be  settled,  once 
for  all,  which  should  hold  the  land,  the  white  man  or  the  In- 
dian,— but  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  sufficient  for 
the  emergency. 

The  Pequots  numbered  no  less  than  a  thousand  warriors,  and 
had  they  succeeded  in  uniting  with  them  the  Narragayisetts 
and  the  Mohicans,  the  combination  could  have  sent  into  the 
field  no  fewer  than  five  thousand  warriors.  As  there  was  still 
danger  of  such  a  union  of  the  tribes,  no  time  was  to  be  lost. 

Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  Colonies  were  both  solicited 
for  aid.  Massachusetts  nuide  a  levy  of  a  hundred  and  sixty 
men,  the  sum  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  in  money,  and 
"ordered  that  the  war,  having  been  undertaken  on  just 
grounds,  should  be  seriously  prosecuted;"  but  such  was  the 
emergency  that  the  Connecticut  people  could  not  wait  till 
these  troops  should  come  up,  and  a  force  of  ninety  men,  under 
the  command  of  Ca]it.  John  Mason, — forty-two  of  whom 
were  furnished  by  Hartford,  thirty  by  Windsor,  and  eighteen 


38 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COXNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


by  Wethersfleld, — was  on  the  1st  of  May  dispatched  against 
the  Pequoi  country. 

Capt.  Mason  had  seen  service  in  the  Netherhinds,  under  Sir 
Thomas  Fairfax,  who  then  formed  so  high  an  opinion  of  his 
merits  that  he  afterward  urged  him  to  return  to  Enghmd 
and  help  the  patriot  cause. 

Capt.  Mason  first  settled  at  the  Bay,  and  while  there  was 
a  member  of  a  committee  to  direct  fortification  at  Boston, 
Dorchester,  and  Castle  Island.  Before  he  came  with  his  fel- 
low-townsmen to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  he  had  served  two 
years  as  a  deputy  from  Dorchester  to  the  General  Court. 

Mason  was  first  sent  down  the  river,  with  twenty  nu'n,  to 
reinforce  the  garrison  at  its  mouth  ;  but  meeting  Underbill 
there,  with  an  equal  force  from  Massachusetts,  Mason,  leaving 
Underbill  at  the  fort,  returned  to  Hartford. 

III. 

THE   DESTRUCTION   OP   THE   PEQUOTS. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  1637,  Mason  set  out  with  his  wliole 
levy,  besides  seventy  friendly  Indians,  for  the  Petjtiuf  country. 
The  whole  company  embarked  in  three  small  vessels.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  of  Hartford,  was  chaplain  of  the  expedition, 
while  Uneas,  sachem  of  the  Mohic/iiis,  led  the  Indian  war- 
riors. 

Upon  arriving  at  Gardiner's  fort,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Mason  added  to  his  forces  Underbill  and  his  company  of 
twenty  men,  and  sent  back  twenty  of  his  own  men  for  the 
better  security  of  the  settlements  up  the  river. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  a  council  of  officers  was  held. 
Mason  had  been  ordered  to  land  at  the  mouth  of  Pcquot  River 
(now  the  Thames),  and  attack  the  enemy  on  their  western 
frontier,  but  knowing  that  Sas-sa-cus,  expecting  to  be  invaded 
from  that  quarter,  had  strengthened  himself  accordingh', 
Mason  was  desirous  of  approaching  him  from  the  east,  and 
surprising  them  in  their  rear  ;  but  this  would  require  several 
days'  additional  time,  and  his  oflicers  opposed  leaving  their 
homes  so  long,  as  well  as  shrunk  from  disobeying  their  positive 
instructions. 

Mason,  left  alone,  proposed  that  the  conference  should  be 
adjourned  until  the  morning,  and  that  during  the  night  their 
chaplain,  Mr.  Stone,  should  seek  divine  guidance  in  prayer. 
Early  in  the  morning  Mr.  Stone  went  on  shore,  declaring  that 
the  captain's  plan  was  the  proper  one.  The  council  imme- 
diately determined  unanimously,  upon  the  advice  of  the  chap- 
lain, to  adopt  the  captain's  proposal. 

The  little  squadron  at  once  set  sail  from  the  fort,  and  on 
the  following  evening  (that  being  the  20th  of  May)  arrived 
near  the  entrance  of  Narragansett  Bay,  at  the  foot  of  what 
is  now  Tower  Hill,  which  overlooks  Point  Judith. 

The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  which  they  kept  quietly  on 
shipboard,  and  a  storm  prevented  them  from  embarking  till 
Tuesday  evening. 

While  here  Mason  received"  a  message  from  Providence, 
from  Capt.  Patrick,  who  had  arrived  there  witli  a  Massachu- 
setts party,  requesting  him  to  wait  until  it  could  come  up. 
But  Mason,  deeming  that  a  rapid  movement  was  of  more  con- 
sequence than  a  larger  force,  concluded  not  to  wait  for  Capt. 
Patrick,  and  with  his  sixty  Mohican  allies,  and  four  hundred 
more  Indian  warriors,  furnished  by  the  friendly  sachems  of 
the  Narragansetts,  on  the  24th  of  May  marched  twenty  miles 
westward  to  the  Pequot  country. 

At  night  the  party  stopped  at  a  fort,  which,  being  occupied 
by  some  suspected  neutrals,  they  invested  for  the  night.  On 
Thursday  they  marched  fifteen  miles  farther  west,  and  en- 
camped at  a  place  lying  five  miles  to  the  northwest  of  the 
present  village  of  Stonington. 

They  were  now  within  two  miles  of  the  principal  Indian 
fort,  at  which  it  was  evident  that  no  alarm  had  been  given, 
for  the  sentinels  could  hear   the    noi.'^y  reveling  within   the 


place  until  long  after  midnight.  Their  Indians,  however,  had 
mostly  deserted. 

Sas-sa-cus  had  seen  the  little  fleet  pass  to  the  eastward  along 
the  sound,  and  supposed  the  English  had  abandoned  their 
hostile  intentions. 

The  encampment  of  Capt.  Mason  was  at  a  place  that  is  now 
known  as  "  Porter's  Rocks,"  at  the  head  of  Mystic  River. 

The  site  of  the  Indian  fort  was  two  or  three  miles  farther 
down  the  river,  on  its  western  side,  toward  Mystic  village. 

It  was  a  ])alisaded  fort,  inclosing  a  circular  area  of  an  acre 
or  two  of  ground  within  the  fort.  Along  two  streets  were 
some  seventy  wigwams,  covered  with  matting  and  thatch.  At 
points  opposite  each  other  were  two  gatewa3"s  leading  into  the 
fort,  and  it  was  resolved  that  Mason  and  Underbill,  each  at 
the  head  of  half  the  Englishmen,  should  force  an  entrance 
through  these  openings  from  opposite  directions,  while  the 
Indians  that  were  left  should  invest  the  fort  in  a  circle,  to 
arrest  the  fugitives,  should  the  attack  prove  successful. 

The  little  band  of  Englishmen,  wearied  by  their  long  march, 
slept  soundly,  until  awakened  in  the  morning,  two  hours 
before  dawn. 

Before  breaking  up  their  camp  they  took  time  to  join  in 
prayer,  and  under  a  bright  moonlight  set  out  toward  the  fort. 

The  surprise  was  complete.  Mason  had  come  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  sally-port  which  he  was  seeking,  when  a  dog 
barked,  and  the  cry  of  O-wan-ux !  0-tvan-u.r  J — meaning  Eng- 
lishman !  Englishman  ! — was  heard  within,  showing  that  the 
alarm  was  given.  At  the  head  of  si.xtcen  men  Mason  pushed 
into  the  inclosure,  while  Underbill  did  the  same  on  the  oppo- 
site side. 

The  awakened  savages  rushed  out  of  their  wigwams  in 
terror,  but  were  soon  driven  back  by  the  English  broadswords 
and  firearms.  Again  rushing  forth,  the  contest  became  gen- 
eral, and  there  was  danger  that  the  English  would  be  over- 
powered by  numbers. 

In  this  emergency  Mason  snatched  a  live  firebrand  from  a 
wigwam  and  threw  it  on  a  matted  roof,  and  Underliill  set  a 
fire  with  a  train  of  powder  in  his  quarter.  The  straw  village 
was  soon  in  flames.  The  scene  within  now  beggars  description. 
The  Indians  who  escaped  the  fire  were  shot  down  by  the  mus- 
kets of  the  English,  and  those  who  escaped  from  the  fort  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  surrounding  circles  of  Indian  allies,  who 
slaughtered  them  without  mercy. 

Underbill,  in  his  account,  saj's :  "It  is  reported  by  them- 
selves that  there  were  about  four  hundred  souls  in  this  fort, 
and  not  above  five  escaped  out  of  our  hands." 

Says  another  old  chronicler:  "  The  number  they  destroyed 
was  considered  to  be  above  four  hundred.  At  this  time  it  was 
a  fearful  sight  to  see  them  thus  frying  in  the  fire,  and  the 
blood  quenching  the  flame,  and  horrible  was  the  sight  and 
scent  thereof;  but  the  victory  seemed  a  sweet  sacrifice,  and 
they  gave  praise  thereof  to  God  who  had  wrought  so  wonder- 
fully for  them,  thus  to  inclose  their  enemies  in  their  hands, 
and  give  them  so  speedy  victory  over  so  proud,  insulting,  and 
blasphemous  an  enemy."* 

It  was  doubtless  a  revolting  scene,  distressing  to  humanity  ; 
yet  the  exigences  of  the  hour  demanded  the  sacrifice.  At  the 
most  urgent  reasons  of  public  safety  less  than  a  hundred  de- 
termined men  had  taken  their  lives  into  their  hands,  and 
marched  into  the  enemy's  country.  Had  they  failed,  the 
result  would  have  been  the  utter  extermination  not  only  of 
themselves,  but  of  their  wives  and  little  ones,  whom  they  had 
left  behind. 

The  awful  conditions  of  the  case  seemed  to  justify  the  stern 
means  of  winning  the  victory  which  thej'  employed.  "  At 
all  events,  from  the  hour  of  that  carnage  Connecticut  was 
secure ;  there  could  now  be  unguarded  sleep  in  the  long- 
harassed   homes   of   the    settlers.     It   might   be   hoped   that 


*  New  England's  Memorial,  page  134. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY". 


39 


civilization  was  assured  of  a  porinanont  aliode  ii>  New 
England."* 

Only  two  of  the  English  were  killed,  but  tlie  number  of  the 
wounded  was  more  than  a  quarter  of  the  force. f 

Mason,  encumbered  by  his  wounded,  had  no  little  difficulty 
in  making  his  way  out  of  the  Indian  country.  His  vessels 
were  to  meet  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pequot  Kiver.  While 
slowly  pursuing  his  way  he  was  attacked  by  another  party  of 
Peqiwts,  numbering  more  than  three  hundred,  who  approached 
from  another  neighboring  fort,  tearing  their  hair,  stamping 
on  the  ground,  and  clamoring  for  vengeance.  The  Nnrrn- 
gansettH  drove  the  Pequofs  away.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  Mason  ascended  an  eminence  with  his  exhausted 
party,  when  his  eyes  were  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  his 
vessels  coming  to  anchor  in  the  harbor.  At  evening  they 
all  went  to  rest  on  board  their  ve.ssels. 

What  was  left  of  the  Pcqnois  collected  in  the  western  fort, 
and  debated  the  question  whether  they  should  fall  upon  the 
Narragansetts  and  the  English  or  seek  safety  by  flight.  After 
a  stormy  council,  they  resolved  on  the  latter  course,  and,  set- 
ting fire  to  their  wigwams,  started  off  on  their  journey  to  join 
the  Mohawks  on  the  Hudson.  On  their  way  they  put  to  death 
some  Englishmen,  and  a  part}'  of  them,  some  three  or  four 
hundred  strong,  were  pursued  by  Capt.  Mason  with  forty 
Connecticut  men,  who  had  been  joined  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  from  Massachusetts  under  Capt.  Stoughton. 

The  Indians  were  overtaken  a  little  west  of  what  is  now 
New  Haven,  encamped  in  the  centre  of  a  swamp.  But  few 
of  them  escaped.  Stragglers  of  the  tribe  from  time  to  time 
were  put  to  death  in  large  numbers  by  the  Mohicans  and  the 
Nnrrngansetis,  among  whom  the  survivors  of  the  Pequot  na- 
tions were  divided  by  the  English  and  held  as  slaves. 

Sas-sa-cus,  the  last  of  the  Pequots,  fled  beyond  the  Hudson, 
and  was  killed  by  the  Mohawks.     His  nation  was  extinct. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Pequots,  troubles  arose  between 
XJncas,  of  the  Mohicans,  and  Mi-an-to-no-mo,  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts, which  finally  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  Uncas,  and 
the  death  of  Mi-an-to-no-mo  at  his  hands  ;  but,  so  far  as  the 
white  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  and  the  rest  of  New 
England  were  concerned,  from  that  hour  of  slaughter  in  the 
Pequot  fort,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mystic,  there  was  peace  for 
forty  years,  until  King  Philip,  at  the  head  of  another  genera- 
tion of  Indian  warriors,  waged  the  second  war  of  extermina- 
tion between  the  white  man  and  the  Indian,  which  deluged 
the  land  with  blood. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Pequot  war,  the  General  Court  of 

the  Massachusetts  colony  adopted  the  following  resolutions, 

to  wit : 

I. 

PEQUOT  WAR. 

"  The  Court  did  intreat  the  magistrates  to  treat  with  the  elders  about  a  day 
of  thanksgiving  upon  the  return  of  the  soldiers,  and  tiie  soldiers  to  he  feiisted 
by  their  towns." 

Gen,  Court  at  New  Town,  Aug.  1,  1637. 

II. 

"  The  12th  of  the  8tb  mo.  was  ordered  to  bee  kept  a  day  of  publike  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  his  great  m'ies  in  subdewing  the  PecoUs,  bringing  the  soldiers 
in  safety,  the  suceesse  of  the  conference,  and  good  news  from  Geiniany." 

Geu.  Court,  Sept.  2r.,  1037. 


CHAPTER    XL 

THE    SEPAKATION  OF  SPRINGFIELD  FEOM  THE 
JUEISDICTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

The  reader  has  seen  in  chapter  VIII.,  of  this  volume,  that 
the  removal  of  William  Pynehon  and  his  company  from  Rox- 
bury,  near  Boston,  to  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  on  the  Con- 

*  Palfrey's  Hist,  of  New  Eng.,  Vol.  I.,  page  407. 
t  Mason's  Pequot  War,  p.  141. 


necticut  River,  was  not  a  di.stinct  and  separate  movement, 
made  for  the  planting  of  Springfield  only,  but  formed  a  part 
and  parcel  of  a  larger  undertaking  entered  into  by  several 
towns  at  the  Bay,  which  resulted  in  the  foundation  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut. 

It  has  also  been  seen  that,  before  the  departure  of  the  emi- 
grants to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  the  General  Court  of  the 
Colony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  at  Boston,  granted  them  a 
commission,  which  in  effect  organized  a  separate  government, 
in  which  commission  William  Pynehon  and  Henry  Smyth, 
his  son-in-law,  were,  with  Roger  Ludlow,  John  Steele,  Wil- 
liam Swaine,  William  Phelps,  William  Westwood,  and  An- 
drew Ward,  named  as  assistants. 

Soon  after  the  colonists  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  had 
arrived  at  Hartford,  Windsor,  Wethersfield,  and  Springfield, 
in  the  spring  of  1036,  the  General  Court  authorized  in  their 
commission  met  at  New  Town,  now  Hartford. 

The  following  heading  to  the  first  meeting,  copied  from  the 
Connecticut  records,  shows  the  time  of  said  meeting,  and 
which  of  the  above-named  assistants  were  then  present : 

"  A  Corte  Holden  at  Newtowne,J  26  April,  1636.  Present, 
Roger  Ludlow,  Esq.,  Mr.  Steele,  Mr.  Phelps,  Mr.  Westwood, 
Mr.  Ward." 

It  will  be  seen  that  at  this  court,  first  held  at  Connecticut, 
neither  Mr.  Smith  nor  Mr.  Pynehon  was  present.  They 
were  doubtless  so  busily  engaged  in  their  removal  from  Rox- 
bury,  and  in  providing  places  of  shelter  for  their  families  at 
Agawam,  that  it  was  inconvenient  for  them  to  attend. 

General  Courts  were  afterward  held  at  Dorchester,  now 
Windsor,  on  the  7th  of  June  ;  at  Watertown,  now  Wethers- 
field, on  the  1st  of  September  ;  and  again  at  Newtowne,  now 
Hartford,  on  the  1st  of  October.  At  neither  of  which  the 
Agawam  assistants  were  present.  y 

The  first  General  Court  of  Connecticut  at  which  an}-  one 
from  Springfield  appeared  was  held  in  November  following, 
of  which  we  give  a  copy  of  the  records, J  so  far  as  it  shows 
those  who  were  present. 

"  A  Corte  held  at  New  Towne  1st  Novemb',  1636.     Prese: 
Mr.   Ludlow,   Mr.   Pynehon,  Mr.  Swaine,   Mr.   Steele,  Mr. 
Phelps,  Mr.  Westwood,  Mr.  Ward." 

It  appears  by  the  "  Connecticut  Colonial  Records,"  above 
referred  to,  that  Mr.  Pynehon  had  furnished  to  the  Connecticut 
people  considerable  quantities  of  Indian  corn,  upon  contract 
with  the  General  Court,  and  that  out  of  this  trade  in  corn, 
and  other  matters  arising  between  Mr.  Pynehon  and  the  Con- 
necticut people,  a  difficulty  arose,  which  resulte'd  in  the  sud- 
den withdrawal  of  Mr.  Pynehon  and  his  company  of  settlers 
at  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Con- 
necticut into  and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 

At  a  General  Court  held  at  Hartford  on  the  5th  day  o; 
April,  1638,  among  others,  Mr.  Pynehon,  Mr.  Smith,  and 
Mr.  Moxon  of  Agawam  were  all  present. 

At  this  General  Court  the  following  resolution  in  reference 
to  the  ditficulty  with  Mr.  Pynehon  about  the  corn  was 
adopted  :|{ 

"  mtereiiit,  There  \V{is  some  complaint  made  against  Mr.  William  Pynehon,  of 
Agawam,  for  that  aa  was  conceived  and  upon  proof  appeared,  he  wa£  not  so  care- 
ful to  promote  the  pul  ilic  good  in  the  tragic  of  corn  as  he  was  bound  to  do.  It  is 
ordered  the  said  Mr,  Pynehon  shall,  with  all  convenient  speede,  pay  as  a  fine  for 
his  so  failing,  40  bushels  of  Indian  corn  for  the  publick,  and  the  said  corn  to  be 
delivered  to  the  treasurer  to  be  disposed  of  as  shall  be  thought  meete." 

This  was  the  last  appearance  of  any  of  the  Springfield 
people  at  the  Connecticut  General  Court.  It  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  documents,  that  shortly  after  this  the  inhabi- 

t  Changed  to  Hartford,  Feb.  21, 1030-37,  in  honor  of  the  residence  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Stone,  in  England.  The  emigrants  to  the  river  first  named  these  towns  after  the 
places  they  had  left  at  the  Bay,  and  Dorchester  was  changed  to  Windsor  and 
Wateitown  to  Wethei-sfield  respectively. 

g  Col.  Kec.  of  C<:)nn.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  5. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  19. 


"61 

IWS  ^^ 

nt,'^ 


40 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


tants  of  Agawam  set  up  a  provisional  government  for  them- 
selves. It  must  also  be  considered  that  the  Agawam  people 
had  satisfied  themselves  in  the  mean  time  that  Agawam  did  in 
reality  lie  to  the  north  of  the  Connecticut  line,  and  was  actually 
within  the  bounds  of  the  territory  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Pynchon  was,  however,  a  magistrate  of  Connecticut, 
and  not  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  in  the  absence  of  any  authority 
from  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  the  inhabitants  of  the  little 
hamlet  of  Agawam  in  the  February  following  adopted  a  form 
of  government  of  their  own  in  the  following  compact,  which 
is  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  this  country,  saving  the 
compact  entered  into  by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  on  the  "  Maj'- 
flower,"  before  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock.  By  this  compact 
they  made  Mr.  Pynchon  their  magistrate.  His  authority  was 
derived  from  the  people  themselves, — now,  but  not  then,  recog- 
nized as  the  highest  of  all  authority.  Their  compact  was  as 
follows,  to  wit : 

"  February  the  Uth,  1638-9.— We  the  luliabitaiitj  of  Agaam,  upper  Quiunetticut, 
takinge  iuto  consideration  the  manifould  inconveniences  that  may  fall  uppon  us 
for  want  of  some  fit  magistracy  amonge  us ;  Being  now  by  Godes  providence 
fallen  into  the  line  of  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction;  &  it  being  farr  oflf  to  re- 
payer  thither  in  such  cases  of  justice  as  may  often  fall  out  amonge  us,  doe  there- 
fore thinke  it  meet«  by  a  generall  consent  &  vote  to  ordaine  (till  we  receive 
further  directions  from  the  Generall  Court*  in  the  Massachussetts  Bay)  Mr.  "Wil- 
liiun  Pynchon  to  execute  the  office  of  a  magistrate  in  this  our  plantation  of 
Agaam,  viz. : 

"  To  give  oathes  to  constables  or  military  officers,  to  direct  warrantes,  both 
process,  executions,  &  attachmentes,  to  heare  and  examine  misdemeanours,  to  de- 
pose witnesses,  &  uppon  proofe  of  misdemeanour  to  inflict  corporal  punishment, 
as  whipping,  stockinge,  byndinge  to  the  peace  or  good  behaviour,  &  in  some 
cases  to  require  sureties,  &  if  the  offense  require  to  commit  t*)  prison,  and  in  de- 
fault of  a  common  prison  to  commit  delinquents  ti.>  the  charge  of  some  fit  person 
or  pereons  till  justice  be  satisfyed ;  also  in  the  Trj-all  of  actions  for  debt  or 
trespasse,  to  give  oathes,  direct  juries,  depose  witnesses,  take  verdicts  &  keepe 
Records  of  verdictes,  judgments,  executions,  &  whatever  else  may  tend  to  the 
keepings  peace  and  the  manifestation  of  our  fidellity  to  the  Bay  Jurisdiction  & 
the  restraininge  of  any  that  shall  violate  Godes  lawes;  or  lastely  whatsoever  else 
Diay  fall  within  the  power  of  an  assistiiut  in  the  Slassachusett. 

"  It  is  also  agreed  uppon  by  a  mutual  consent,  that  in  case  any  action  of  debt  or 
trespasse,  he  to  bo  tryed  seeinge  a  jury  of  12  fit  persons  cannot  be  had  at  present 
amonge  us,  that  six  pereons  shall  be  esteemed  &  held  a  sufficient  Jury  to  try  any 
action  under  the  some  of  Ten  pounde  till  we  shall  see  to  y»  contrary*,  &  by  com- 
mon consent  shall  alter  the  number  of  JuFors,  or  shall  be  otherwise  directed  from 
the  generall  court  in  the  Maiisachusetts." 

Thus,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  they  boldly  seceded  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  and,  going  back  to  first  principles, 
adopted  a  constitution  of  their  own,  until  the}^  could  find  safety 
under  the  sheltering  wing  of  the  General  Court  at  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay. 

Out  of  this  abrupt  separation  of  Mr.  Pynchon  and  his 
Agawam  colony  there  grew  up  between  the  Connecticut  people 
and  the  people  of  Agawam  and  the  Massachusetts  Bay  a  bitter 
controversy,  which  lasted  for  several  years,  and  interfered 
even  with  the  union  formed  by  the  colonies,  known  as  the 
United  Colonies. 

Thus,  we  find,  in  a  letter  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  of 
Hartford,  to  Governor  Winthrop,  written  in  1638,  in  speaking 
of  the  proposition  of  the  aforesaid  union  of  the  colonies,  he 
says :  "  The  negotiation  was  interrupted  in  consequence  of  the 
claim  preferred  by  Massachusetts  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Aga- 
wam (Springfield),  which  had  been  hitherto  conceded  to  belong 
to  Connecticut." 

Governor  Winthrop,  in  his  reply  to  this  letter  of  Mr.  Hooker, 
undur  date  Aug,  28,  1038,  complained  of  three  things  ;  the 
third  matter  complained  of  related  to  the  controversy  about 
Agawam.  "3d.  That  they  [the  people  of  Connecticut]  still 
exercise  jurisdiction  at  Agawam,  though  one  of  their  commis- 
sioners disclaim  to  intermeddle  in  our  line,  and  thereupon  we 
challenged  our  right,  and  it  was  agreed  so  ;  and  I  had  wrote 
to  desire  them  to  forbear  untill  that  Mr.  Pynchon  had  small 
encouragement  to  be  under  them  ;  that  if  his  relation  were 
true,  I  could  not  sec  the  justice  of  their  proceeding  against 
him," 


To  this  letter  of  Governor  Winthrop,  of  August,  1638,  Mr. 
Hooker  replied  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 

This  reply  is  so  interesting  that  we  copy  it  entire,  so  far  as 
it  has  reference  to  the  third  complaint  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  above 
stated. 

"The  third  thing  touching  the  business  of  Agaam  comes  last  into  considera- 
tion, in  wliich  I  shall  crave  leave  to  open  myself  freely  and  fully,  that  the 
rule  of  righteous  proceeding  may  appear  in  undeniable  plainness  where  it  is. 
The  sum  of  that  cause  is  to  be  attended  in  two  things :  partly  in  the  jurisdiction 
we  have  exercised,  paitl}'  in  the  jurisdiction  which  at  this  time  you  so  suddenly, 
so  unexpectedly,  take  to  yourselves. 

"  For  a  fair  and  full  answer  you  may  be  pleased  to  understand :  1.  That  I  have 
advised  with  the  commissioners,  and  their  expressions  to  me  were  these ;  that 
they  were  so  far  from  consenting  that  you  should  take  away  the  jurisdiction  iu 
Agaam  from  them  to  yourselves  that  to  their  best  remembrance  there  was  no 
such  thing  mentioned  ;  nor  were  there  one  syllable  sounding  that  way  in  all  the 
agitation  of  the  business.  Wlien  the  commissioners  of  other  towns,  and  amongst 
them  one  from  Agaam,  came  to  establish  the  jurisdiction  which  they  now  exor- 
cised, in  reason  it  could  not  be  their  commission,  nor  the  intention  of  tlie  towns, 
to  de-stroy  their  own  jurisdiction,  for  that  was  to  cross  the  scope  of  the  treaty,  and 
overthrow  the  combination  for  the  establishment  whereof  they  were  now  sent. 

"The  act  of  jurisdiction  which  hath  been  exercised  since  your  letter,  it  was 
this:  there  was  an  inhabitiint  in  Agaam  apprehended  in  some  misdemeanor;  the 
town  sent  the  delinquent  to  the  court  to  desire  justice,  which  they  answerably 
did;  and  why  they  might  not  do  it,  nay,  how  they  could  avoid  it,  according  to 
rule,  it  is  beyond  all  my  skill  to  conceive.  For  at  the  time  of  our  election*  the 
committees  from  the  town  of  Agajim  came  in  with  other  towns,  and  chose  their 
magistrates,  installed  them  into  their  government,  took  oath  of  them  for  the 
execution  of  justice  according  to  Giod,  and  engaged  themselves  to  submit  to  their 
government  and  the  execution  of  justice  by  their  means,  and  dispensed  by  the 
authority  which  they  put  upon  them  by  choice. 

"Now  when  these  men  demand  justice  from  magistrates  so  chosen  and  en- 
gaged, how,  in  a  faithfulness  and  according  to  their  oath,  they  could  deny  it  with- 
out sin,  the  covenant  continuing  firm  on  both  parts,  and  renounced  at  this  time 
by  neither,  it  is  beyond  my  compass  to  comprehend,  and,  under  favor,  I  do  think 
beyond  the  skill  of  any  man  by  sound  reason  to  evince. 

"  The  magistrates  who  are  lawfully  called,  and  stand  bound  by  oath  to  execute 
justice  unto  a  people,  to  deny  the  execution  of  justice  when  it  is  demanded  by 
such,  is  a  grievous  sin.  But  the  magistrates  were  thus  called,  thus  by  oath  bound, 
and  justice  was  in  this  manner  demanded.  Therefore  had  they  then  refused  it 
they  had  grievously  sinned.  Yea,  taking  it  for  granted  that  it  is  in  each  inhabi- 
tant's liberty  in  Agawam  to  choose  his  jurisdiction  (which  is  to  me  beyond  ques- 
tion), if  I  was  there  as  an  inhabitant,  I  should  judge  myself  bound  in  conscience 
to  sulmiit  t<j  the  jurisdiction  of  the  river,  and  do  believe  I  should  make  a  breach 
of  the  eighth  command  if  I  should  otherwise ;  because  in  so  doing  I  should  steal 
from  mine  estiite,  iu  that  I  should  rush  myself  into  needless  and  endless  incon- 
veniences; namely,  to  cast  myself  into  that  condition  that  for  a  nuitter  of  five 
shillings  (as  the  case  may  fall  out)  I  should  put  myself  to  unreasonable  charges 
and  trouble  to  seek  for  justice  a  hundred  miles  off  iu  the  wilderness.  If  Mr.  Pyn- 
cheon  can  devise  ways  to  make  bis  oath  bind  him  when  he  will,  and  loosen  him 
when  he  list;  if  he  can  tell  how,  in  faithfulness,  to  engage  himself  in  a  civil  cov- 
enant and  combination  (for  that  he  did,  by  his  committees  in  their  act)  and  yet 
can  cast  it  away  at  his  pleasure,  before  be  give  in  sufficient  warrant,  more  than 
his  own  word  and  will,  he  must  find  a  law  in  Agaam  for  it;  for  it  is  written  iu 
no  law  or  gospel  that  ever  I  reail.  The  want  of  his  help  troubles  not  me  nor  any 
man  else  I  can  hear  of,  I  do  assure  you  ;  we  know  him  from  the  l»ott«m  to  the 
brim,  and  follow  him  in  all  his  proceetUngs,  and  trace  him  in  his  privy  foot-.tep8 ; 
only  we  would  have  him  and  all  the  world  tt»  underetand  he  doth  not  walk  in 
tlie  dark  to  us.  By  tliis  it  is  evident  what  the  jurisdiction  was  which  was  exer- 
cised since  your  letter."! 

Early  in  the  controversy  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moxon.  of  Springfield, 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  Gov.  Winthrop,  in  relation 
to  the  Agawam  matter.  The  reader  will  remember  that 
Mr.  Moxon  was  the  first  minister  of  Springfield.  His  letter 
is  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  illustrative  of  the  history  of 
the  controversy  in  question.  It  was  first  published  by  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"To  y«  Wor^i  liia  much-respected  frieude,  Mr,  Winthroppe,  at  bis  house  in  Bos- 
ton, he  these  dd. 

"  Worthy  Sr, — Salutation  in  Cr.  Jesus.  S^,  I  make  bold  to  trouble  you  with 
these  few  lyncs,  in  thus  intrcating  your  helpe  to  cleare  this  poynt,  whether  we 
of  Agawam  were  dismissed  out  of  the  Bay  with  this  proviso  to  continue  of  the 
Bay's  jurisdiction.    If  there  be  any  order  of  court  touchinge  that  matter  it  may 

*  In  this  sentence  Mr.  Hooker  has  supplied  an  impoi'tant  omission  in  the  colony 

records.  Nothing  lias  been  known,  hitherto,  of  the  constitution  of  government 
in  Connecticut  between  the  expiration  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  in 
March,  IfiiJ?,  and  the  adoption  of  the  Fundamental  Laws  in  January,  1G30.  At 
the  General  Court  at  Hartford,  April  5, 1638,  the  names  of  Mr.  George  Moxam 
and  Mr.  Jolin  Burr,  both  of  Agawam,  appear  in  the  list  of  committees,  and  those 
of  Mr.  Pynchon  and  i\Ir.  Smith  among  the  magistrates.  [Note  by  Mr.  Trumbull 
in  Col.  Kec.  of  Conn.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  17.] 
t  Copied  front  the  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  2,  etc. 


HISTORY    OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


41 


give  lijrlit  Y*  grounile  of  my  request  is  tluis  much:  I  have  heard  tliat  some  of 
o'  ueighUt's  in  the  River  are  doubtful  wliether  we  lye  not  in  sin  (not  in  falling 
from  their  government  but)  in  falling  disorderly  from  them  without  fiif*t  orderly 
debfltinge  y«  matter,  and  our  grievances  if  we  had  any.  I  would  therefore 
gladly  have  such  grounds  as  may  be  convincing  to  any  that  shall  desire  a  reai^on 
of  us  if  any  shall  hereafter  epeake  of  it  to  any  of  us.  I  conceive  some  objection 
may  be  grounded  on  this,  that  they  were  possest  of  us  at  that  tyme.  Through 
God's  mercy  we  [are]  all  well  in  o'  plantiition,  only  Mr  Pynchon  lately  lust  a  Itoy 
who  tendinge  cowes  near  our  river  too  ventuously  went  into  a  birchen  cauowe, 
i^voh  overturned  and  he  was  drowned.  Kcmember  myne  and  my  wife's  truest 
love  to  yor  selfe  and  BIi-s.  "Winthrop. 

"The  Lord  sanctifye  y"^  pa&sages  of  His  providence  to  you  and  bear  up  your 
spirits  in  close  walkeing  with  Him.  Soe  prayes  yo'  lovinge  frinde  to  use  in  the 
service  of  y**  Gospell.* 

"G:  BIoxoN." 


This  controvers^y  was  at 
General  Court  of  the 
Massachusetts  Baj', 
adopted  on  the  2d  of 
June,  1641,  in  which 
Massachusetts  asserts 
her  right  of  jurisdic- 
tion OTer  the  town  of 
Agawara,  which  not 
until  the  year  before 
had  been  named  Siiring- 
field,  and  organized  a 
governnient,  with  Mr. 
Pynchon  at  the  head  as 
chief  magistrate. 

In  the  light  of  the 
facts  above  stated,  this 
resolution  of  the  Gen- 
eral  Court,  although 
somewhat  lengthy,  be- 
comes interesting  to  the 
student  of  history,  and 
we  copy  it  entire  : 


f-C.'nx  c_(n.    1-n. 


ength  ended  by  a  re.'iolution  of  the 


o^^U-^^ 


c^7d 


^•^^A 


,inL 


"  The  Answer  to  the  Peti- 
tion of  Blr.  Pyuclion  and 
others  of  Springfield,  upon 
Conectecott,  exIiiViited  to  the 
Gou'al  Court,  hualdeu  at  Bos- 
ton 2d,  4th  ui". 

*'  The  Petition  beiii);;  reado 
iu  open  CVjuit  and  the  records 
and  other  wiitings  penised  and 
refeiTed  a  comimttee  to  bee 
further  examined,  uiion  tlieir 
report,  the  matter  was  again 
considered  by  the  whole  Court, 
and  agreed,  that  answera 
should  bee  given  thereunto  as 
followeth,  vid.:  whereas  the 
said  petition"  do  certify  as 
that'Bome  of  their  neighbors 
and  friends  upon  C-oneetecott 
have  taken  oflense  at  them  fur 
adhereing  U)  v'  government 
and  w^hdrawingfroni  that  upon 
the  rivei*,  supposing  that  tliey 
had  furmeriy  dismissed  from 
their  jurisdiction,  and  that 
wee  liad  Ixtund  ourselves  (by 

o'  own  act)  from  claiming  any  jurisdiction  or  interest  in  Agawam,  now  Spring- 
field, and  fur  proofe  hearof  they  allcadge  some  jMissages  in  a  commission 
granted  by  this  Court  in  the  first  ni. 

*'  In  1635,  to  the  said  Mr.  Pyidieon  and  others,  for  the  government  of  the  said 
inhabitants  upon  the  said  rjTer,  and  some  passages  also  in  cerfeine  aiticles  sui>- 
posed  to  have  been  propounded  to  them  by  the  authority  of  this  Court.  It  is 
hereby  declared, — 

"  1st.  That  the  said  passages  in  the  said  commission  {as  they  are  expressed  in 
the  petition)  are  mis-recited,  so  as  the  true  scope  and  intention  is  thereby 
altered;  as  Ist,  Whereas  the  words  in  the  commission  are,  they  are  resolved  to 
transplant  themselves;  in  the  recital  it  is,  to  plant  themselves.  2nd,  In  the  com- 
mission it  is  said  that  those  noble  personages  have  interest  in  the  ryver,  and  by 
vertue  of  their  patent  ilo  require  juris'liction  ;  iu  the  recitali  it  is,  that  wee  con- 
fesse  it  belougetli  to  their  jurisdiction.   3d,  In  the  coumiissiou  it  is  provided  this 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Society  Col.,  5  series,  Vol.  I.,  p.  296. 


may  not  bee  any  prejudice  to  the  interest  of  those  noble,  &c.;  in  the  recitall  it  is, 
that  nothing  should  bee  done  or  intended  to  the  prejutlice  of  the  lords  or  their 
intendments. 

"2nd.  That  the  said  commission  was  not  granted  upon  any  intent  either  to 
dismise  the  persons  from  us,  or  to  determine  any  thing  alxmt  the  limits  of  juris- 
dictions, the  interest  of  the  lands,  and  o'  owne  limits  being  as  then  unknowne ; 
therefore  it  was  granted  ouely  for  one  yearo ;  and  it  may  rather  appeare,  by  o>" 
granting  such  a  commission,  and  then  accepting  of  it,  as  also  that  clause,  viz.: 
Till  some  other  course  were  taken,  by  mutuall  consent,  &c.,  that  wee  intended  to 
reserve  an  interest  then  upon  the  rj'ver,  and  that  themselves  also  intended  to 
stand  to  the  condition  of  the  first  licence  of  departure  given  to  the  most  of 
them,  w^*'  was,  that  tliey  should  remaine  still  of  o""  body. 

"3d.  For  those  arguni"  w=i>  they  draw  from  those  articles  certified  in  the 
petition,  wee  answer,  that  they  were  pi-opounded  and  drawen  out  onely  by  some 
of  the  magistrats  of  ea<-h  party  w^iout  any  order  or  alowance  of  this  Court;  and 
therefore  (whatsoever  those  magistrats  might  intend  thereby)  the  intent  of  the 
Court  cannot  be  gathered  from  any  thing  therein;  hut  iu  those  ai-tides  wo*> 

were  agitated  and  brouglit  to 
some  issue  in  o'  Genfall  Court 
at  Cimibridge,  in  the  4th  m". 
16.18,  when  their  commission- 
ers were  present,  Springfield, 
t  h  e  n  called  Agawam,  was 
claymed  by  the  Court  (though 
by  occasion  of  some  piivate 
epeach,  &c.)  to  belong  to  us; 
and  it  was  then  agrod  by  the 
Court,  and  yeilded  unto  by 
^  their    commissioners,   that  so 

(^        "^  ~   ^ir^^^^  J'^^^^'CZ    nimrh  of  the  ryver  of  Conecte- 

'-^  '^'^^   {^/»  '     '^"*'*^^''""'f'*''^'l^''^'n  the  line 

^<i V^^^iT—    ^  C^OjyotM    „f  ,,r  patent  should  continew 

^        .<      ^     '^^''^^  "^^ff^  within    our  jurisdiction   (and 

it  was  then  t^iken  for  granted 
that  Springfield  would  fall  to 
us  without  question) ;  and 
those  articles  had  then  beene 
fully  agreed  on  betweeue  the 
Court  and  their  Commission", 
had  there  not  beene  some  ques- 
tion about  them  granting  us 
free  passage  up  the  river,  in 
regard  of  the  lords'  interest  (as 
they  alleaged). 

"Its  now  hearby  ordered, 
that  Willi:  Pincben,  gent,  for 
this  yeare  shall  hearby  have 
full  power  and  authority  to 
governe  the  inhabitants  at 
Springfield,  and  to  heare  and 
determine  all  causes  and  of- 
fenses, botli  (-ivill  and  crimi- 
nall,  that  reach  not  to  life, 
limbs,  or  banishment,  accord- 
ing to  the  lawes  heare  estab- 
lished ;  provided,  that  iu  mat- 
tei-8  uf  weight  or  difficulty,  it 
shall  bee  lawfull  for  any  party 
to  appeal  unt^j  the  Court  of 
Assistants,  at  Boston,  so  as 
they  prosecute  the  same  ac- 
cording to  the  order  of  tais 
Court;  provided,  also,  that 
these  tryalls  bee  by  the  oathes 
of  G  men,  untill  they  shall 
have  a  greater  number  of  in- 
habitants for  that  service." 


/7\J) 


^ay^oiiJ"'^'- 


i'AC-SIMILE    OF    PAGE    FROM    PYNCHON 'S    RECORD 


The  reader  who  is  fa- 
miliar with  the  law  re- 
lating to  the  construc- 
tion of  statutory  enactments  will  not  fail  to  discover  that 
the  order  which  concludes  the  above  record  organizes  a  gov- 
ernment at  Springfield,  and  is  in  reality  the  act  incorporating 
the  town.  It  may,  therefore,  be  considered  that  the  town  of 
Springfield  was  incorporated  by  the  General  Court  on  the  2d-' 
day  of  June,  1641. 

It  will  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  reader  to  know  who 
were  the  freemen  of  Springfield  eighteen  years  after  this  event, 
and  to  show  this  we  produce  another /ac-simi?e  page  from  the 
Kecord-Book  of  Mr.  Pynchon.  This  page,  however,  is  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  "Worshipful"  John  Pynchon,  his 
father,  William,  having  been  self-exiled  to  England  ten  years 
before. 


42 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


CHAPTER    XIL 

THE  IMPOBT  DUTY  IMPOSED  BY  CONNECTI- 
CUT UPON  SPBINGFIEX-D  IN  1645-EESISTED  BY 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

In  the  year  1639  George  Penwiok,  with  his  lady  and  family, 
left  England  and  arrived  in  Connecticut  with  the  intent  of 
making  a  plantation.  Mr.  Fenwick  is  described  as  a  worthy 
and  pious  gentleman,  who  had  been  a  barrister  at  Gray's  Inn. 
His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Apsley.  He  was 
interested  in  the  Connecticut  patent,  and  came  over  as  agent 
for  the  patentees. 

The  little  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  commanded  by 
Gardiner  in  the  Prquot  war,  had  no  political  connection  with 
the  upper  towns,  and  Fenwick  took  possession  of  it,  made  his 
residence  there,  and  named  it  Saybrook,  in  honor  of  the  two 
noblemen  who  were  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the 
company. 

Fenwick,  in  the  year  1644,  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  set- 
tlement at  Saybrook  to  the  upper  towns  of  Hartford,  Windsor, 
and  Wetherstield.  The  conditions  of  the  sale  were  that  Mr. 
Fenwick,  during  the  period  of  ten  years,  should  receive  the 
avails  of  certain  duties  to  be  collected  from  all  vessels  passing 
out  of  the  river,  and  of  certain  taxes  on  the  domestic  trade  in 
beaver  and  live  stock. 

As  the  purchase  and  maintenance  of  the  fort  were  deemed 
necessary  by  the  Connecticut  people  for  the  protection  of  all 
the  towns  on  the  river,  including  Agawam,  to  pay  this  debt 
to  Mr.  Fenwick  and  to  raise  money  sufficient  to  maintain  the 
fort,  it  was  resolved  to  impose  a  duty  upon  all  exports  which 
should  pass  out  of  the  river.  To  effect  this  object,  officers 
were  appointed  at  "Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield  to 
give  clearances  to  vessels  outward  bound,  and  the  fort  at  Saj- 
brook  was  authorized  to  "make  stays"  of  vessels  which  did 
not  produce  such  clearances. 

The  traders  from  Springfield,  the  other  river  town,  refused  to 
pay  this  duty,  on  the  ground  that,  as  they  belonged  to  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  had  no  right  to  impose 
the  same  upon  them,  and  they  promptly  laid  the  matter  before 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  at  Boston.  This  duty 
was  imposed  on  the  6th  day  of  February,  1645. 

On  the  18th  day  of  June  of  that  year  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court  adopted  this  resolution,  viz. : 

"  Itt  is  yc  niindo  of  tliis  House  yt  none  of  om-s  shoulrl  pay  any  import  to  any  of 
Connecticntt  jurisdiction,  witli  ri'latiun  to  ye  passing  through  any  parte  of  Con- 
necticut llivei*." 

Information  of  this  resolution  was  conveyed  to  the  people 
of  Connecticut,  and  an  animated  dispute  grew  up  between  the 
two  colonies,  which  was  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  com- 
missioners of  the  other  colonies  for  settlement. 

The  penalty  prescribed  for  the  non-payment  of  these  duties 
was  confiscation  of  property,  but  Connecticut  deferred  the 
execution  thereof  until  the  decision  of  the  commissioners 
could  be  obtained. 

Accordingly,  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  1646,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  held  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut  brought  the  question  before  that  body, 
representing  that  the  purpose  of  the  import  was  "  chiefly  to 
maintain  the  fort  for  security  and  conveniency,"  and  that 
"Springfield  had  in  its  proportion  the  same  benefit"  as  the 
towns  lower  down  the  river. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  following  record  of  the  action  of  the 
commissioners  that  they  were  of  the  same  mind  ;  but  the  mat- 
ter was  postponed  for  further  consideration,  at  the  request  of 
Massachusetts : 

"  September,  164G. — A  question  was  propounded  by  the  C<.>mniissioner8  for  Con- 
necticut concerning  an  imposition  layd  on  goods  iias.singe  ity  the  River's  moutli  to 
tlie  sea,  which  all  the  plantiitions  on  Connecticut  River  pay,  cliieliy  t<>  niant^iyue 
the  fort  for  security  and  conveniency,  onely  Mr.  Pincham,  at  .Sprinktield,  who 


have  in  their  proportion  the  same  benefit,  refuse.  The  Commissioners  thought  it 
of  weighty  concernment  to  the  plantations  above,  that  the  mouth  of  the  River 
be  secured  ;  but  Mr.  Pincham  being  jibsent,  and  noe  instructions  given  from  the 
General  Courte  in  the  Mattachusetts,  the  issue  and  determination  was  respited 
till  the  Commissioners'  next  meetings."* 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  held  on  the 
4th  day  of  November  next  after,  the  resolution  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Colonies  was  presented,  and  action  taken 
thereon.  The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  General  Court  at 
this  meeting  were  presented  in  the  argument  of  the  matter 
before  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  which  was 
held  in  Boston  the  succeeding  summer,  an  account  of  which 
follows. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1647,  a  special  session  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  United  Colonies  was  held  at  Boston,  and  the 
matter  of  the  Connecticut  import  duties  again  considered. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  fort  had  been  destroyed  by 
fire. 

Upon  the  argument  written  briefs  were  delivered  by  both 
the  contending  colonies. 

That  of  Massachusetts  consisted  of  the  resolves  of  her  Gen- 
eral Court  adopted  at  the  November  session,  as  above  stated, 
which  were  in  words  as  follows  : 

"Novemhei'  ith,  1G46. — The  Committee  having  considered  ye  controversy  be- 
tween the  jurisdiction  of  Hai*tford  upon  Cfumecticutt  &  the  inhabitants  of 
Springlield,  on  ye  same  river,  touching  either  the  purchase  of  ye  fort,  Ac,  at  the 
river's  mouth,  or  the  juiyment  of  such  customes  as  is  or  shall  be  imposed  upon 
them  towards  the  maintainance  of  the  same,  doe  declare  their  judgments  as  fol- 
loweth : 

"  1st.  They  conceave  y'  ye  jurisdiction  of  Hartford  upon  Connecticutt  had  not 
a  legall  power  to  force  any  inhabitant  of  another  jurisdiction  to  purchase  any 
fort  or  other  lanils  out  of  their  jurisdiction  without  their  consent. 

"  2d.  They  conceave  y'  it  were  injurious  to  require  custome  to  ye  maintainance 
of  such  a  fort  which  is  not  usefull  to  such  of  whom  it  is  demanded. 

"3d.  They  think  it  very  unequall  for  them  to  impose  a  custome  upon  their 
frienils  and  confederates,  who  have  not  more  benefitt  of  the  liver,  by  e.\portiug 
and  importing  of  goods,  Ac,  than  straingers  of  another  nation,  who  (though  they 
live  within  Haitford  jurisdiction)  ])ay  none. 

"4th.  The  pounding  and  standing  upon  an  imposition  &  custome,  to  be  paid  to 
ye  river's  month  by  such  as  were  or  are  within  our  jurisdiction,  hindered  our 
confederation  above  tenn  yeares  since,  and  then  never  any  paid  Ui  this  day,  & 
now  tji  impose  it  on  Jiny  of  our  confederation  will  putt  us  to  new  thoughts. 

"  oth.  Itt  seems  to  us  very  hard  y*  any  of  our  jurisdiction  should  lie  forced  to  such 
a  bondage  as  will  either  constrain  them  to  depart  their  habitations  or  weaken 
much  their  estates,  especially  when  as  they,  with  the  fii"st,  tooke  possession  of 
the  river,  and  were  at  great  charge  of  builtting,  etc.,  which,  if  they  had  fore- 
seene,  would  not  then  have  been  planted. 

"  Gth.  If  Hartford  jurisdiction  shall  make  use  of  their  power  over  any  of  ours, 
we  conceave  we  have  the  same  power  to  imitate  them  in  ye  like  kinde,  which 
wee  deesier  may  be  forborne  on  both  sides.  The  whole  Couile  approves  of  this 
retourne.     By  both." 

Upon  the  presentatiim  of  these  resolutions  of  her  General 
Court  the  Massachusetts  Commissioners  rested  their  case. 

On  the  part  of  Connecticut,  Mr.  Hopkins,  "some  respite 
being  given  him  to  consider  of  the  same,"  delivered  the  fol- 
lowing answer  in  writing: 

",\  SHORTE  Answer  to  tlierea.son  jiropounded  by  generall  Corte  of  the  Matta- 
chusetts for  Springfield  not  jiaying  of  the  imposition  at  Seabrook  forte  presented 
the  Comniissionei-s  of  the  United  Colonies,  27  .Tuly,  1647. 

"  The  first  argument  seemed  (at  leilst  to  us)  to  laboure  of  a  greate  mistake  in 
reference  to  the  case  in  hand  (to  omit  all  other  just  exceptions  that  might  bo 
m.ade  against  that  affirmation)  and  doth  not  touch  the  present  question,  which 
is,  whether  such  an  imposition  be  lawfuU  and  regular,  liottomed  uptm  a  foun<la- 
tion  of  equity  and  righteousness,  &  not  to  what  uses  or  improvement  the  means 
raised  upon  the  imposition  is  put;  for  if  there  be  suflicient  grounds  &  reason  for 
the  imposition,  that  it  transgresse  not  a  rule  of  righteousness  in  regard  to  of 
the  tbiuge  itself,  not  exceeding  a  rule  of  moderation  in  regarde  of  tlie  quantity, 
it  concemes  not  the  party  that  payes  to  inquire  after,  or  call  to  account  for,  the 
employment  of  the  monies  raised  by  ye  imposition ;  therefoi-e,  the  further  answer, 
it  might  be  denyed  that  which  is  imposed  to  be  payed  by  Springfield  as  they 
paj^se  is  to  purchase  land  or  forte.  The  second,  as  it  is  a  position  in  itselfe, 
nakedly  considered,  seems  at  least  to  lay  most  of  the  government  of  Europe 
under  the  guilt  of  injustice;  yet  because  it  hath  an  appearance  of  an  equitable 
consideration  in  it,  we  are  content  the  issue  of  the  present  difference  may  lye 
there,  for  we  atfirme  the  forte  mentioned  hath  beene  for  nigh  12  yeares  past,  is  at 
present,  &  may  be  still  for  the  future,  usefull  to  that  plantation,  &  yet  not  ja. 
\A  I>y  them  towards  it  to  this  very  day. 

»■  Plymouth  Col.  Rec. 


HISTORY  OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


43 


"  The  tliiid  is  but  a  presumption,  &  if  it  had  any  uloare  fuinuhition,  yet  the  com- 
parison is  not  eqnail. 

"The  fourth,  ever  since  the  first  readiuge  of  it,  hath  bcene  a  reall  trouble  to 
our  thouglits,  laboringe  of  so  apparant  mistakes,  botli  in  the  one  part  of  it  &  in 
the  other,  which  makes  ua  heartily  wish  that  we  may  be  all  conscientious  care- 
full  that  our  publick  records  may  carry  such  evidence  of  the  truth  that  those 
who  desire  to  take  advantages  may  not  have  any  just  occasions  given  them ;  for 
whereas  it  is  said  the  combination  was  hindred  above  10  years  by  the  means 
propounded,  if  a  due  consideration  be  had  of  it,  it  will  appeare  it  was  not  above 
five  years  from  the  mentioned  agitation  for  combination  &  the  conclusion  of  this 
present  confederation,  the  one  beinge  in  June,  1638,  the  other  agreed  upon  in 
May,  1G43 ;  and  whereas  it  is  affirmed  that  the  px'opounding  and  standing  upon  an 
imposition  of  customes  at  the  River's  mouth  hindered  the  combination  soe  many 
yeares,  it  shall  (if  need)  be  made  appeare  by  the  oath  of  thost^  who  were  em- 
ployed in  tliat  service,  that  they  were  soe  far  from  stiffly  standing  upon  such  an 
imposition  that  they  did  not  soe  much  as  propounde  it,  as  it  is  there  expressed, 
nor  could  they  in  reason  doe  it,  the  townes  havinge  no  interest  in  nor  relation 
to  the  forte  at  that  time. 

"  The  fifth  carrieth  not  that  strength  of  reason  with  it  as  to  coinpell  our  under- 
standing to  fall  in  therewith,  for  what  inthralement  sucli  an  imposition  is  or 
can  be  to  the  inhabitants  there,  as  to  cause  them  to  forsake  their  habitations 
upon  that  grounde,  our  thoughts  reach  not,  especially  consideringe  if  that 
jurisdiction  grow  exorbitant  in  their  taxes,  tliere  is  a  remedy  provided  in  tliis 
combination  to  rectify  any  such  deviations;  but  if  weakningo  of  estates  be  a 
sufficient  plea  to  free  men  from  payinge  of  taxes,  we  know  not  who  will  pay, 
for  all  such  payments  doe  weaken  men's  estates. 

"  What  is  meant  by  taking  of  possession  of  the  River  (which  was  possest  by  the 
other  townes  a  considerable  time  before  the  foundation  of  that  plantation  was 
layd)  &  the  greate  charges  in  buildings  we  understand  not,  for  we  are  wholly 
ignorant  what  expences  they  have  beene  at  in  that  kinde,  But  for  their  owne 
particular  private  advantages ;  nor  can  we  yeild  a  ready  beleefe  to  what  is  aftirmed, 
that  if  they  had  foreseen  the  or  present  imposition  would  have  been  required 
tliey  would  not  then  have  planted,  fur  the  thing  carryeth  that  evidence  of  equity 
with  it  that  Mr,  Pincbon,  while  he  looked  upon  himselfc  as  a  member  of  that 
jurisdiction,  acknowledged  the  same  &  yielded  upon  a  motion  made  by  himselfe 
to  Mr.  Fenuicke  (as  wo  have  it  from  his  testimony  deserving  credit)  that  the 
trade  of  beaver  upon  the  River,  which  is  the  greatest  thing  now  stuck  at, 
ought  in  reason  to  contribute  to  the  chardg  of  the  forto;  besides  the  incourage- 
ment  given  by  Mr.  Pinchon  under  his  owne  hand,  by  othere  U)  the  gentlemen 
interested  in  Seabrooke  forte,  which  might  well  draw  out  from  them  an  addition 
to  the  former  expense,  there  seems  to  deserve  some  weight  of  consideration  in 
the  present  case. 

"To  tlie  sixth  we  willingly  assent,  &  in  parallel  cases  shall  readily  submit." 

The  argument  being  coneluded  on  the  part  of  the  colonies, 
the  Commissioners  gave  their  decision  thereon  in  writing,  of 
which  the  foUowing  is  a  copy,  to  wit : 

"Which  Argumknts  &  answers  being  read  &  a  further  debate  betwixt  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Massachusetts  &  Connecticut  had,  &  Mr.  Pincheon,  then 
in  Boston,  being  sent  for  and  desired  to  add  what  further  reiisons  he  could 
against  the  imiwsitious  in  question,  he  wliully  referring  to  what  the  Generall 
Corte  had  done,  it  appeared  to  the  Commissioners  for  the  other  two  ColUmies, 
upon  their  most  serious  consideration,  that  it  wiis  of  weighty  concernment  to  all 
the  plantations  upon  the  River  of  Connecticut  that  the  mouth  of  the  River  & 
the  passages  of  goods  through  it  to  and  fro  (though  at  some  charilg)  bo  preserved, 
and  seemed  to  them  that  though  the  forte  at  Seabrooke  bo  not  of  force  against 
an  enemy  of  any  considerable  strength,  yet  an  English  plantation  being  now 
settled  there  it  may  more  easily  be  preserved,  &  may  in  a  comfortable  measure 
secure  the  passage  aforesaid  for  the  convenience  of  all  the  plantations  upon  that 
River,  of  which  benefite  Springfield  doth  share  with  the  rest.  That  though 
nothinge  be  as  yet  demanded  from  the  Dutch  house  within  Hartford  limit*!,  yet 
this  imposition,  with  other  difference,  are  like  to  be  considered  in  a  fitt  scjison. 
That  whatever  conference  hath  formerly  passed  about  the  custome  or  imposition 
at  Seabrooke,  there  never  was  any  settled  or  demanded  of  any  of  the  plantations 
upon  that  River  have  paid  it,  hath  upon  the  same  grounds  beene  demanded  and 
expected  of  it  from  Springfield.  That  it  is  no  impeachment  of  any  liberty 
granted  by  patent  to  the  Mattachusetts  that  Springfield,  seated  upon  the  River 
of  Connecticut,  doe  beare  a  moderate  &  equall  parte  of  charges,  whither  of 
scouring  any  parte  of  that  River,  or  River's  mouth  (if  there  should  be  occasion) 
or  in  making  or  mainetayning  such  a  forte  as  is  in  question  to  secure  the  pas- 
sage to  and  fro.  That  the  imposition  in  question  is  but  the  payment  of  2il  p. 
bushell  for  come  and  about  jd  pt  for  beaver  passing  out  through  yc  moutli  of 
that  River,  and  therefore  seemeth  a  moderate  charge  in  reference  to  the  custome 
propounded  &  no  matter  of  just  grievance  or  discouragement  to  the  plantations 
themselves,  then  settled, 

"  The  premises  being  weighed  &  considered  with  all  due  tenderness  <fe  respects 
to  the  Intresiens,  the  said  Commissioners  for  Plymouth  &  New  Haven  doe  con- 
ceive and  conclude :  Firat,  that  Springfield  doe  henceforward  from  time  to  time 
give  in  t(.>  Connecticut  or  the  Agent  or  agents  a  true  note  or  accompt  of  all  corne 
&  beaver  they  or  any  of  them  ship,  or  carry  out  tlirough  the  mouth  of  that 
River  to  the  sea,  to  pay  or  desposet  into  their  bands  after  the  rate  of  2d  per 
bushell  for  corne  &  20s  per  hogshead  for  beaver  soe  exported, 

"That  the  mentioned  imposition  be  neether  at  any  time  hereafter  raised  nor 
increased  upon  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  Springfield  without  just  &  necessary 
cause,  to  be  firet  approved  &  allowed  by  the  other  Colonies,  nor  continued  longer 
than  the  forte  in  question  is  maintayned  &  the  passage  as  at  present  thereby 
secured. 


"That  at  the  next  meetinge  of  the  Commissioners  any  Deputy  from  the  Mat- 
tachusett  Colony,  or  from  Springfield  plantation,  shall  have  liberty  further  to 
propound  or  object  as  they  see  cause  agsiinst  the  present  imposition,  which,  ac- 
cording to  tlie  nature  &  proper  weiglit  of  the  matter  alleadged,  shall  be  duly 
heard  &  considered,  without  any  disadvantage  from  the  conclusion  now  made 
in  the  premises." 

But  this  did  not  end  the  matter.  On  the  7th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1648,  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  met  at 
Plymouth,  and  the  dispute  between  the  two  colonies  of  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts  in  reference  to  import  duties  levied 
upon  goods  passing  out  of  the  mouth  of  Connecticut  Kiver 
was  again  renewed  with  considerable  bitterness  on  both  sides. 

In  addition  to  the  reasons  urged  in  the  argument  before  the 
commissioners,  the  following  year  further  reasons  were  urged 
on  both  sides,  for  a  statement  of  which  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  records  of  the  commissioners. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  arguments,  the  commissioners 
decided  that  they  found  not  sufficient  cause  to  reverse  what 
was  done  the  last  year;  but,  as  there  were  some  questions  in 
the  matter  still  unsettled,  among  others,  that  of  jurisdiction 
over  Springfield,  they  desired  that,  if  there  were  cause,  the 
matter  should  be  brought  and  presented  to  the  commissioners 
for  further  consideration  the  next  year,  and  "that  in  the 
mean  time  the  colonies  would  agree  upon  some  equal  and  satis- 
fying way  of  running  the  Massachusetts  line." 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1(349,  the  action  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  commissioners  held  at  Plymouth,  in  September,  1048,  con- 
firming the  action  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies 
at  their  meeting  held  in  July,  1G47,  was  presented  to  the  court, 
and  caused  great  indignation.  Retaliatory  measures  were  at 
once  resolved  upon,  the  nature  of  which  can  best  be  shown  by 
quoting  the  records  of  the  General  Court,  expressed  in  the 
quaint  but  forcible  language  of  the  times  : 

"Jl/a?/3, 1649. 

"The  answer  of  the  Court  concerning  Springfield  wee  think  itmeete  that  our 
commission",  at  their  next  meeting,  be  mindful!  to  press  what  arguments  and 
reasons  they  cann  for  the  revertion  of  the  last  order  of  the  commissioners  con- 
cerning Springfield,  and,  amongst  other,  these  in  speciall: 

"  1st.  That  the  commissioners  of  Connecticutt  produced  no  pattentt,  or  exem- 
plification thereof,  or  any  order  of  their  own  Courte  for  their  custome  they  re- 
quire of  Springfield. 

*'  2nd.  They  had  no  evidence  of  any  forte  at  all  in  being  at  the  river's  mouth,  as 
we  are  informed. 

**3d.  By  a  clause  in  the  commissioners'  order,  July,  1647,  when  they  first  de- 
termined against  Springfield,  page  111,  they  provided  that  the  said  imposition 
should  be  continewed  no  longer  than  the  forte  in  question  was  maintained,  and 
the  passage  thereby  secured  as  at  that  present;  yett  after  the  said  forte  was  de- 
molished by  fire,  and  no  security  of  the  passage  provided,  the  commissioners 
confirmed  their  former  order  at  the  last  meeting. 

"  Whereas,  the  coramissionei-s  for  the  United  Colonies  have  thouglit  it  but  just 
&  equal!  that  Springfield,  a  member  of  this  jurisdiction,  should  pay  custome 
or  contribution  to  the  erecting  and  muintanency  of  Seabrooke  forte,  being  of  no 
force  against  an  enemy  of  any  considerable  strength  (before  it  was  burnt)  in  the 
commissioners'  owne  judgment,  exprest  in  their  owne  order,  page  109,  which 
determination  against  Springfield  they  have  also  continewed  by  an  order  at  their 
last  meeting  at  Plimmouth  (though  tlie  said  forte  was  then  demolished  by  fire, 
and  the  passage  not  secured),  contrary  to  a  clawse  in  their  order,  provided  on 
Springfield's  bchalfe,  page  111;  and  forasmuch  as  this  jurisdiction  hath  ex- 
pended many  thousand  pounds  in  erecting  and  maintaining  several  forts  which 
others  (us  well  as  oui'selves)  have  received  the  benefit  of,  and  have  at  present  one 
principall  forte  or  castle  of  good  force  against  an  enemy  of  considerable  strength, 
well  gaiTisoned,  and  otherwise  furnished  with  sufficient  ammunition,  besides 
severall  other  fortes  and  batteries,  whereby  vessels  and  goods  of  all  sorts  are 
secured, 

"It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  courte  and  the  authority  thereof,  that  all 
goods  belonging,  or  any  way  appertaining  to,  any  inhabitant  of  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Plymouth,  Connectioott,  or  New  Haven,  that  shall  be  imported  within 
the  castle  or  exported  from  any  parte  of  the  Bay,  shall  pay  such  custome  as  here- 
after is  expressed,  viz. :  all  skinns  of  beaver,  otter,  mouse,  or  beare,  two  pence 
per  skinn ;  and  all  other  goods  packt  up  in  hogsheads  or  otherwise,  tenn  shil- 
lings pr  tunne ;  meale  and  corne  of  all  sorts,  two  pence  per  bushell ;  biskett,  sixe 
pence  pr  hundred;  &  it  is  further  ordered,  that  all  such  akinns  and  other 
goods  as  shall  be  imported  or  exported  as  aforesaid  shall  be  dewly  entered  with 
the  Auditor  Generall,  and  the  custome  thereof  paid  or  deposited,  before  any 
parte  of  the  said  goods  be  either  sould,  shipt,  landed,  or  otherwise  disposed  of, 
under  the  penalty  of  forfeiting  the  said  goods  not  so  entered,  or  the  dew  value 
thereof. 

"And  if  any  inhabitant  of  this  jurisdiction,  or  strainger,  shall  buy  any  of  the 
forementioned  goods  belonging  or  any  ways  appertaining  to  any  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Plymouth,  Connecticott,  or  New  Haven,  aforesaiil,  imiwrted  to  any  other 


44 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


parte  of  our  jurisdittion,  or  shall  sell  or  deliver  to  any  such  inhabitant  any  other 
goodes  in  any  parte  of  the  Bay,  without  tiie  Bay,  without  the  Castle,  he  shall 
enter  the  said  goods  with  the  auditor  generall,  and  pay  or  deposite  the  same, 
after  the  same  manner  .and  proportion,  and  under  the  same  penalty,  as  is  provided 
for  goods,  4c.,  brought  within  the  castle.  This  order  tu  take  place  the  first  day 
of  the  next  niontli. 

"  .\nd  tlie  auditor  generall  is  hereby  appointed  and  authorized  to  take  care  for 
the  execution  of  this  order  in  all  the  particulars  thereof,  either  by  himself  or  by 
his  deputy  or  deputies."* 

In  July,  1649,  another  special  meeting  of  the  commission- 
ers of  the  United  Colonies  was  convened  at  Boston,  and  the 
controversies  between  Massachusetts  'and  Connecticut  were 
again  brought  to  its  notice. 

In  behalf  of  Massachusetts  it  was  represented  that  she  had 
agreed  with  Mr.  Fenwick,  who  represented  Connecticut, 
to  run  the  boundary-line  between  the  two  colonies  at  their 
joint  expense.  That  the  line  had  been  run  accordingly,  but 
at  the  sole  charge  of  Massachusetts.  And  as  Mr.  Fenwick 
had  "  failed  to  send  in  any  to  join,"  and  as  Connecticut  was 
dissatisfied  and  desired  the  work  to  be  done  anew,  it  ought 
to  be  at  her  own  cost. 

The  nature  of  the  past  relations  of  Springfield,  both  to  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut,  was  now  at  some  length  discussed. 
On  the  part  of  Massachusetts,  it  was  denied,  1st.  That  there 
was  "any  fort  at  all  in  being,  worthy  the  name  of  a  fort." 
2d.  It  was  denied  that  "any  instance  could  be  given  of  any 
government  in  the  world  that  had  compelled  the  people  of  any 
other  jurisdiction  to  contribute  to  the  erecting  of  a  fort  or 
place  of  strength  by  which  they  might  rule  over  them  and 
order  them  at  pleasure,  as  well  as  be  a  protection  to  them." 
Massachusett.s  also  produced  the  vote  passed  two  months  be- 
fore, quoted  above,  imposing  retaliatory  duties,  not  only  upon 
Connecticut,  but  also  upon  Plymouth  and  New  Haven. 

As  the  quarrel  was  now  becoming  general,  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  other  colonies  forwarded  a  remonstrance  to 
Massachusetts  against  her  action,  and  with  proper  dignity  re- 
solved that  they  "desired  to  be  spared  in  any  case  all  further 
agitations  concerning  Springfield." 

This  prompt  and  decisive  action  on  the  part  of  Mass.achu- 
setts,  the  more  powerful  colony,  and  which  seems  to  have  been 
just,  under  the  circumstances,  at  once  decided  the  contest. 
The  manner  of  its  termination  is  best  shown  by  quoting  from 
the  Ma.s.saehusetts  General  Court. 

"  JIf.ii/ 3.1, 1(550. 

"  Is  ANSWER  to  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  for  repealing  the  order 
that  requires  custome  of  the  other  colonies. 

"  This  Court,  having  beene  credibly  informed  th.it  the  jurisdiction  at  Queneccti- 
cott  will  for  tlie  present  suspend  the  takinge  of  any  custcime  of  us,  &  that  at 
tlieire  next  Generall  Court,  they  intend  to  repeale  the  order  whereby  they  im- 
poseri  it.  doth  therefore  hereby  order  that  there  shall  be  no  more  custome  re- 
qiiired  of  the  other  confederate  colonies  until  WO  shall  certainly  know  that  Cou- 
necticott  doe  take  cust*.inie  of  uap.  curUtm,^^ 


CHAPTER    XIIL 

WITCHCRAFT. 
I. 

THE   BELIEF   IN    IT   TNIVEKSAL   IN   FORMER   TIME.S. 

The  tragic  events  growing  out  of  the  witchcraft  delusion 
of  the  seventeenth  century  in  New  England  cast  sombre 
shadows  over  tlie  brightest  page  of  her  history,  the  era  of  her 
early  struggles  through  the  wilderness  to  the  promised  land 
of  her  prosperity  and  power.  But  those  tragic  scenes  were 
after  all  the  outgrowth  of  the  prevailing  errors  and  super- 
stitions of  tlic  times,  heightened  by  the  rigorous  circumstances 
under  which  they  lived,  rather  than  the  result  of  any  inherent 
viciousness  in  the  character  of  the  New  England  people. 

The  belief  in  witchcraft  was  one  of  the  lingering  supersti- 
tions  of  the  Middle  Ages.     It  was   by  no  means  peculiar 

*  Mass.  Col.  Eec,  Vol.  III.,  p.  151. 


to  New  England.  All  Christendom  was  at  the  time  still 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  most  implicit  belief  in  witches, 
and  in  the  power  of  Satan  to  possess  individiutl  men  and 
women,  and  use  them  as  his  instruments  in  tormenting  and 
destroying  the  souls  and  bodies  of  their  fellows.  All  Chris- 
tendom, too,  at  the  time,  with  rare  exceptions,  was  ferreting 
out  witches  by  due  form  of  law,  convicting  them  at  courts 
presided  over  by  the  most  eminent  judges  of  the  daj-,  and 
burning  their  bodies  eventually  at  the  stake.  What  wonder 
then  that  the  stern  and  sombre  theologians  of  New  England 
should  be  zealous  in  doing  what  no  one,  unprejudiced,  disputes 
they  honestly  believed  was  God's  service,  in  ridding  the  world 
of  those  whom  they  deemed  to  be  Satan's  chosen  children? 

These  considerations  are  not  urged  by  way  of  excuse  or 
justification,  for  to  excuse  or  justify  such  doings  would  be  to 
uphold  grievous  wrongs,  but  they  are  urged  by  way  of  ex- 
planation. They  do  not  justify,  but  they  do  explain,  many 
things  which  have  so  often  been  charged  as  being  inconsistent 
with  the  religious  professions  of  the  Puritan  Fathers.  Dut_v, 
duty  toward  God  and  man,  was  the  one  solemn  incentive 
which  moved  the  stern  hearts  and  strong  minds  of  the  prim- 
itive people  of  New  England,  and  do  it  they  must,  though  to 
do  it  was  to  walk,  with  stained  hands  and  blistering  feet 
through  blood  and  fire. 

Books  on  sorcery,  magic,  witchcraft,  and  kindred  subjects, 
were  brought  to  this  country  b_y  the  early  settlers,  and  taken 
with  them  to  their  loneh',  secluded  homes,  in  the  dreary  soli- 
tudes of  the  New  World.  These  books,  doubtless,  were  most 
attentively  studied,  and  their  contents  colored  and  enlarged 
upon  by  imaginations  expanded  into  marvelous  powers  by 
the  unseen  terrors  of  the  limitless  wilderness, — the  boundless 
extenfof  woods  and  waters  and  mountain  chains,  stretching 
off  in  infinite  expan.se  on  every  hand,  peopled,  they  knew, 
with  savage  beasts  and  still  more  savage  men,  and,  for  aught 
they  knew,  with  countless  ghosts,  hobgoblins,  nymphs,  and 
fairies. 

So  the  early  settlers  around  Boston  about  1G30,  and  the 
early  settlers  of  the  Quin-)iec-ti-cutt  Valley,  who  came  with 
William  Pynchon  to  Ag-a-wam,  now  Springfield,  in  the  spring 
of  1636,  and  the  early  settlers  of  Indian  Non-o-tuck,  now 
Northampton,  in  16-54,  and  of  Indian  Nol-wo-togg,  now  Had- 
ley,  in  1661,  had  hardly  got  within  the  rude  walls  of  their  log 
cabins  before  the  trouble  of  witchcraft  began  to  haunt  their 
firesides,  like  dim  spectres  of  evil. 

Yet  so  much  prominence  has  been  given  to  the  so-called 
Salem  witchcraft,  which  occurred  as  late  as  the  year  1692,  that 
the  numerous  cases  which  happened  both  before  and  since,  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  have  been  quite  overlooked  by  the 
general,  and  almost  entirely  pa.ssed  over  by  the  local,  histo- 
rians of  New  England.  "  It  can  hardly  be  supposed,"  says 
Samuel  G.  Drake,  in  his  "Annals  of  Witchcraft  in  New  Eng- 
land" published  as  No.  VIII.  of  "Woodward's  Historical 
Series,"  at  Boston,  in  1869,  "that  they  purposely  omit  those 
Details  with  a  Belief  that  they  will  be  forgotten,  and  the  Re- 
proach they  occasion  with  them.  This  would  be  a  short- 
sighted Decision  indeed.  But  the  Affair  at  Salem  has  not 
been  omitted.  That  has  been  a  Peg  on  which  to  hang  Re- 
proaches against  New  England,  early  and  late ;  as  though  it 
were  the  Corner-stone  of  all  the  Troubles  of  the  kind  which 
ever  happened  in  the  land." 

EDWARD   .SEYMOUR'S   PROPHECY    IN    1637. 

Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  in  his  book  called  "The  Wonders  of  the 
Invisible  World,"  printed  in  Boston,  in  1692,  thus  begins  his 
first  discourse,  entitled  "Enchantments  Encountered." 

"  It  was  as  long  ago  as  the  year  1637,  that  a  faithful  min- 
ister of  the  Church  of  England,  whose  name  was  Mr.  Edward 
Seymour,  did,  in  a  sermon  afterwards  printed,  thus  express 
himself:  '  At  New  England  now  the  sun  of  comfort  begins  to 
appear,  and  the  glorious  day-star  to  show  itself;  Sed  Venient 


HISTOKY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


45 


Annis  Swculce  Seeis,  there  will  come  times  in  after-ages  when 
the  clouds  will  overshadow  and  darken  the  sky  there.  Many 
now  promise  to  themselves  nothing  hut  successive  happiness 
there,  which,  for  a  time,  through  God's  mercy,  tliey  may  en- 
joy, and  I  pray  God  they  may  a  long  time ;  but  in  this  world 
there  is  no  happiness  perpetual.'  An  observation,  or  I  had 
almost  said  an  inspiration,"  continues  Mather,  "very  dis- 
mally now  verity'd  upon  us." 

WITCHCRAFT   DEFINED. 

Kdvvard  Phillips,  a  nephew  of  John  Milton,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  English  lexicographers.  The  third  edition  of  his 
work,  "The  New  World  of  Words,"  was  printed  in  1671. 
Ill  tluit  he  defines  witchcraft  to  be  "A  certain  evil  Art 
whereby  with  the  A.ssistance  of  the  Devil,  or  evil  Spirits, 
some  Wonders  may  be  wrought  which  exceed  the  common 
Apprehension  of  Men.  It  cometh  from  the  Dutch  Word 
Wiirlielen, — that  is,  to  divine  or  guess ;  it  is  called  in  Latin 
Veneficiam ;  in  Greek,  Pharmaceia, — i.e.,  the  Art  of  making 
Poisons." 

Dr.  Ogilvie,  in  his  "Imperial  Dictionary,"  published  in 
Glasgow  in  1856-59,  thus  defines  it : 

"Witchcraft:  the  practice  of  witches  ;  sorcery;  enchant- 
ments ;  intercourse  with  the  devil ;  a  supernatural  power 
persons  were  formerly  supposed  to  obtain  possession  of  which 
by  entering  into  compact  with  the  devil.  Indeed,  it  was  fully 
believed  that  they  gave  themselves  up  to  him  body  and  soul, 
while  he  engaged  that  they  should  want  for  nothing  and  be 
able  to  assume  whatever  shape  the}'  jileased,  to  visit  and  tor- 
ment their  enemies,  and  accomplish  their  infernal  purposes. 
As  soon  as  the  bargain  was  concluded,  the  devil  was  said  to 
deliver  to  the  witch  an  imp  or  familiar  spirit,  to  be  ready  at 
call,  and  to  do  whatever  it  was  directed.  By  the  aid  of  this 
imp  and  the  devil  together,  the  witch,  who  was  almost  always 
an  old  woman,  was  enabled  to  transport  herself  through  the 
air  on  a  broomstick  or  a  spit,  and  to  transform  herself  into 
various  shapes,  particularly  those  of  cats  and  hares;  to  inflict 
diseases  on  whomsoever  she  pleased,  and  to  punish  her  enemies 
in  a  variety  of  ways.  The  belief  in  witchcraft  is  very  ancient. 
It  was  universally  believed  in  Europe  till  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, and  even  maintained  its  ground  with  tolerable  firmness 
till  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Vast  numbers  of 
reputed  witches  were  condemned  to  be  burned  every  year,  so 
that  in  England  alone  it  is  computed  that  no  fewer  than  thirty 
thousand  of  them  sutlered  at  the  stake." 

The  bargain  between  the  witch  and  the  devil  was  said  to 
have  been  this  :  "  The  witch  as  a  slave  binds  herself  by  vow 
to  believe  in  the  devil,  and  to  give  him  either  body  or  soul, 
or  both,  under  his  handwriting  or  some  part  of  his  blood. 
The  devil  promiseth  to  be  ready  at  his  vassal's  command,  to 
appear  in  the  likeness  of  any  creature,  to  consult  and  to  aid 
him  for  the  procuring  of  pleasure,  honor,  wealth,  or  prefer- 
ment ;  to  go  for  him,  to  carry  him  any  whither,  and  to  do 
any  command."* 

LAWS   against    witchcraft. 

In  the  year  1636  the  colony  of  Plymouth  included  in  their 
summary  of  ofl^enses  "  lyable  to  Death"  a  statement  in  these 
words  :  "  Solemn  Compaction,  or  conversing  with  the  Divell 
by  way  of  Witchcraft,  Conjuration,  or  the  like." 

In  1C41  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  adopted  their 
"  Body  of  Liberties,"  in  which  they  incorporated  these  words, 
drawn  from  the  Bible :  "  If  any  Man  or  Woman  be  a  Witch, 
that  is,  hath  or  consulteth  with  a  familiar  Spirit,  they  shall 
be  put  to  death." 

In  1642  Connecticut  also  included  witchcraft  in  her  penal 
code  as  a  crime  subject  to  the  death  penalty. 

In  1047  the  General  Court  of  Rhode  Island,  iu  the  Acts  of 


*  See  Drake's  Hist.  Witchcraft  Delusion  in  N.  E.,  'VoL  I.,  p.  18. 


May  of  that  year,  included  this  :  "  Witchcraft  is  forbidden  by 
this  present  Assembly  to  be  used  in  this  Colonic ;  and  the 
penalty  imposed  by  the  Authoritie  that  we  are  subject  to  is 
Felonie  of  Death." 

II. 

trials  for  witchcraft. 
In  the  year  1648,  on  the  15th  of  June,  the  first  execution 
for  witchcraft  iu  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  took  place  at 
Boston. f  The  victim  was  Margaret  Jones,  wife  of  Thomas 
Jones,  of  Charlestown.  She  was  a  nurse  and  physician, — an 
employment  common  enough  in  those  days  among  the  mothers 
of  the  early  settlements, — and  literally  went  about  doing  good. 
But  she  was  suspected  of  witchcraft,  and  "  was  found  to  have 
such  a  malignant  touch  as  many  persons  were  taken  with 
deafness  or  vomiting,  or  other  violent  pains  or  sickness." 
Her  accusers  also  .said  that  "her  medicines,  though  harmless 
in  themselves,  yet  had  extraordinary  violent  etfects."  It  was 
further  said  that  to  those  who  refused  her  medicines  "she 
would  tell  that  they  would  never  be  healed,  and  accordingly 
their  diseases  and  hurts  continued  with  relapse  against  the 
ordinary  course,  and  beyond  the  apprehension  of  all  physi- 
cians and  surgeons."  It  was  proved  in  court  against  her  that, 
as  she  lay  in  prison,  "  a  little  child  was  seen  to  run  from  her 
into  another  room,  and,  being  followed  by  an  officer,  it  was 
vanished."  Other  testimony,  equally  ridiculous,  need  not  be 
recited.  The  poor  forsaken  woman  was  deserted  by  all  those 
to  whom  she  had  shown  nothing  but  kindness,  and  she  per- 
ished miserably  on  the  gallows,  a  victim  to  the  infatuation  of 
the  hour. 

"WITCHCRAFT   IN   SPRINGFIELD. 

Among  the  earliest  trials  for  witchcraft  which  took  place 
in  the  colony  were  those  of  Hugh  Parsons  and  Mary,  his 
wife,  of  Springfield.  Hugh  Par.sons  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Springfield.  He  probably  went  there  in  Mr.  Pynchon's 
company  in  tlie  year  1636,  or  very  soon  after.  He  was  a  labor- 
ing man,  and  a  sawyer  and  brick-maker  by  occupation.  On 
the  27th  of  October,  1645,  he  married  a  young  woman,  named 
Mary  Lewis.  The  first  child  of  this  marriage  of  which  there 
is  any  record  was  born  the  4th  of  October,  1649.  It  was  named 
Samuel,  and  lived  but  one  year.  On  the  26th  of  October,  1650, 
their  son  Joshua  was  born.  It  was  soon  after  the  birth  of 
this  child  that  the  charge  of  witchcraft  was  made  against  the 
father.  The  mother's  sickness,  joined  with  the  exciting  inci- 
dents of  the  blight  upon  her  family,  rendered  her  hopelessly 
insane.  It  was  alleged  her  unhappy  condition  was  brought 
about  by  witchcraft.  In  her  ravings  she  accused  both  her 
husband  and  herself  of  witchcraft.  Her  second  child,  bereft  of 
a  mother's  care,  died  on  the  1st  of  March,  1651.  She  first  ac- 
cused her  husband  of  being  the  cause  of  its  death,  brought 
about  by  his  league  with  the  devil,  and  at  last  accused  herself 
of  murdering  it  under  the  same  satanic  influence. 

Early  in  the  year  1651,  Hugh  Parsons  was  apprehended, 
and  a  long  and  tedious  examination  of  his  case  was  had  before 
Mr.  William  Pynchon,  sitting  as  magistrate  in  Springfield. 
At  the  close  of  the  examination  he  was  sent  to  Boston  for 
trial.  At  Boston  a  bill  of  indictment  was  found  against  him, 
as  follows,  to  wit : 

"The  grand  jury  for  this  commonwealth  present  Hugh 
Parsons,  of  Springfield,  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  his 
eyes,  in  or  about  March  last,  and  divers  times  before  and  since 
at  Springfield  aforesaid  (as  they  conceived),  had  familiar  and 
wicked  converse  with  the  Devil,  and  did  use  divers  devilish 
practices  and  witchcraft,  to  the  hurt  of  divers  persons,  as  by 
several  witnesses  and  circumstances  doth  appear,  and  do  leave 
him  to  the  court  for  his  further  trial  for  life." 

His  trial  came  on.     Witnesses  were  produced  in  court,  and 

t  Drake's  Annals  of  Witchcraft  in  New  England,  p.  58. 


46 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  testimony  taken  before  Mr.  Pynchon,  at  Springfield,  was 
read  to  the  jury.  The  verdict  of  the  trial-jury  was  in  writing, 
as  follows : 

"The  jury  of  Life  and  Deatli  finds  against  Hugh  Parsons, 
by  the  testimony  of  such  as  appeared  in  court,  so  much  as  gives 
him  grounds  not  to  clear  him  ;  but  considered  with  the  testi- 
monies of  divers  that  are  at  Springfield,  whose  testimonys  were 
only  sent  in  writing,  as  also  the  confession  of  Mary  Parsons, 
and  the  impeachment  of  some  of  the  bewitched  persons  of  the 
said  Hugh  Parsons,  and  the  impeachment  of  the  bewitched 
persons,  or  other  of  them,  and  the  testimonies  that  are  in  writ- 
ing, but  appeared  not  in  person, — authentic  testimonies,  ac- 
cording to  law, — then  the  jury  finds  the  said  Hugh  Parsons 
guilty  of  the  sin  of  witchcraft. 

"  Edward  Hutchin.son,  Foreman. 
"  With  the  consent  of  the  rest  of  the  jury." 

In  the  mean  time  the  poor  demented  wife  had  confessed 
herself  a  witch,  and  that  she  had  killed  the  child  herself, 
whose  death  it  had  been  alleged  was  caused  by  the  practice  of 
witchcraft  in  the  husband.  Mary  Parsons  was  imprisoned 
upon  the  double  charge  of  witchcraft  and  murder.  Her  case 
was  presented  to  the  grand  jury,  and  two  indictments  found. 
She  was  tried,  and  found  guilty  of  murder  only.  Her  case  was 
reviewed  by  the  General  Court,  and  on  the  7th  of  May,  1651, 
the  following  opinion  was  recorded  : 

"Mary  Parsons,  of  Springfield,  having  two  Bills  of  Indict- 
ment framed  against  her,  the  one  for  having  familiarity  with 
the  Devil,  as  a  witch,  to  which  she  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  not 
sufficient  evidence  appearing  to  prove  the  same,  she  was  ac- 
quitted of  witchcraft.  The  second  indictment  was  for  willfully 
and  most  wickedly  murdering  her  own  child,  to  which  she 
pleaded  guilty  ;  consent  the  fact,  and  according  to  her  deserts 
condemned  to  die." 

This  proceeding  against  the  miserable  wife  changed  the  as- 
pect of  the  hu.sband's  case.  His  case  was  reviewed  by  the 
General  Court  on  the  27th  of  May,  1651,  and  the  following 
conclusion  is  recorded : 

"  The  magistrate,  not  consenting  to  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
in  the  Parsons  case,  the  cause  coming  legally  to  the  General 
Court  for  issue,  the  court,  on  peru.sal  of  the  evidence  brought 
in  against  him  for  witchcraft,  do  judge  that  he  is  not  legally 
guilty  of  witchcraft,  so  not  to  die  by  our  law." 

So  ended  the  first  trial  for  witchcraft  in  Springfield.  The 
wife  was  doubtless  hanged,  and  Parsons  never  returned  to  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut  to  live. 

Capt.  Edward  Johnson,  in  his  "Wonder- Working  Provi- 
dence," published  in  1654,  says  of  Springfield,  "  There  hath  of 
late  been  moer  than  one  or  two  in  this  town  greatly  suspected 
of  witchcraft,  yet  they  have  used  much  diligence  both  for  the 
finding  them  out  and  for  the  Lord's  assisting  them  against 
their  witchery  ;  yet  have  they,  as  is  supposed,  bewitched  not  a 
few  persons,  among  whom  two  of  the  Keverend  Elder's  chil- 
dren." The  Reverend  Elder  referred  to  was  Mr.  George 
Moxon,  the  first  minister  settled  at  Springfield,  who  went  to 
England  with  Mr.  Pynchon  the  year  after. 

To  show  the  reader  the  flim.sy  and  nonsensical  nature  of  the 
evidence  in  such  cases  a  part  of  the  tcstimonj-  adduced  in  this 
case  is  given  below,  that  relating  to  the  death  of  the  child  being 
omitted.  The  whole  testimony  is  printed  at  length  in  the  Ap- 
pendix to  Drake's  "Annals  of  Witchcraft  in  New  England." 

HUGH   parsons'    EXAMINATION. 

'^  All  these  testimonies  now  taken  upon  oath  Before  me. 

"  William  Pynchon. 
"  Hugh  Parsons — You  are  attached  upon   supposition  of 
Witchcraft. 

"  Feb.  25,  16.50,  George  Lankton  saith  on  oath  that  his  wife 
made  a  pudding  in  a  bag,  and  because  my  wife  had  the  child, 
I  took  it  and  put  it  out  of  the  bag  at  dinner  this  day  fortnight 


(which  was  the  11th  of  Feb.),  and  as  it  slipt  out  of  the  bag  it 
fell  into  two  pieces  lengthwise,  and  in  appearance  it  was  cut 
straight  along  as  smooth  as  if  it  had  been  cut  with  a  knife.  It 
was  cut  straight  along  almost  the  whole  length  ;  it  lacked  but 
very  little.  Hannah,  the  wife  of  George  Lankton,  doth  upon 
oath  concur  with  her  husband  in  the  said  testimony. 

"Feb.  23,  1650-51,  George  Lankton  and  Hannah,  his  wife, 
jointly  testify  upon  oath  that  they  had  another  pudding  in  the 
former  bag  that  was  cut  lengthwise,  and  as  it  was  slipt  out  of 
the  bag  it  fell  into  three  parts,  one  piece  being  cut  all  along  on 
the  one  side,  and  two  pieces  all  along  on  the  other  side.  Then 
they  sent  for  some  neighbors  to  see  it. 

"  Roger  Pritchard  testified  upon  oath  that  he  saw  the  said 
pudding,  and  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  cut  all  the  three  pieces  as 
evident  and  as  plain  to  him  as  that  which  George  Lankton 
cut  with  his  knife. 

"  These  testimonies  were  all  taken  upon  oath  before  me. 

"William  Pynchon. 

"  George  Lankton  and  Hannah,  his  wife,  do  jointly  testify 
upon  oath  that  on  Friday  last,  being  the  21  February,  they 
had  a  pudding  in  the  same  bag,  and  that  as  soon  as  it  was 
slipped  out  of  the  bag  it  was  cut  lengthwise  like  the  former 
pudding  and  like  another  on  the  23  Feb.,  as  smooth  as  any 
knife  could  cut  it,  namel}',  one  slice  all  along,  wanting  but 
very  little  from  end  to  end. 

"  Also  Hannah,  the  wife  of  George  Lancton,  saith  upon  oath 
that  a  neighbor  came  in  and  she  showed  it  to  him,  and  that 
neighbor  took  a  piece  of  it  and  threw  it  into  the  tire ;  and  she 
saith  that  about  an  hour  after,  perhaps  a  little  moer,  she  heard 
one  mutter  at  the  door  ;  then  she  asked  Goody  Sewell,  who  was 
then  at  her  house  (and  near  the  door),  who  it  was ;  she  said  it 
was  Hugh  Parsons,  and  that  he  asked  whether  Goodman  Lank- 
ton were  at  home  or  no.  I  said  no,  and  so  he  went  away,  but 
left  not  his  errand. 

"  Deposed  in  court  by  Hannah. 

"  Hugh  Parsons  being  asked  what  his  answer  was,  he  spake 
to  other  things  and  not  to  the  question.  Being  asked  the 
2d  time  what  his  errand  was,  he  spake  again  of  other  matters 
and  not  the  question.  Being  asked  the  3d  time  what  his  errand 
was,  and  charged  to  make  a  direct  answer,  then  he  said  it  was 
to  get  some  hay  of  him.  Being  asked  again  whether  he  had 
propounded  his  errand  since  to  Goodman  Lankton,  he  said 
he  never  saw  him  since. 

' '  Then  one  or  two  that  weer  present  testified  that  they  saw 
him  meet  Goodman  Lankton  next  day  below. 

"  Symon  Bemon  and  Rice  Bodorthe  say  upon  oath,  that  the 
next  day  but  one  they  saw  Hugh  Parsons  meet  Goodman 
Lankton  accompanied  with  Thomas  Sewell  in  the  street,  and 
they  saw  him  speak  to  Goodman  Lankton. 

"George  Lankton  saith  on  oath  that  he  never  to  this  day 
asked  him  for  any. 

"  When  Hugh  Parsons  saw  himself  taken  tardy  in  this  put 
of,  then  he  said  that  he  did  not  ask  him  because  John  Lum- 
bard  bad  told  him  that  Goodman  Lankton  had  sold  more  liay 
to  Goodman  Herman  than  he  could  spare.  But  after  inquiry, 
John  Lombard  saith  upon  oath,  March  17,  1650-51,  that  the 
Wednesday  before  that  Hugh  Parsons  came  to  Goodman 
Lankton's  House  for  hay  ;  that  he  had  spoken  to  buy  some 
hay  of  Goodman  Lankton,  namely,  as  he  passed  by,  whcer  he 
and  Hugh  Parsons  were  at  work  together,  and  had  a  denial. 
And  then  he  told  Hugh  Parsons  that  Goodman  Lankton 
could  spare  him  no  hay,  for  he  had  already  sold  more  to 
Goodman  Herman  than  he  could  spare,  and  said  he  should 
now  want  himself 

"John  Lunibard  also  saith  on  oath,  that  the  Friday  after 
when  the  said  Pudding  was  so  strangely  cut  he  told  Hugh 
Parsons  that  Lankton  had  no  hay  to  sell. 

"  Hugli  Parsons  not  being  able  to  reply  any  further,  it  is 
evident  that  his  coming  to  the  door  of  Goodman  Lankton 


HISTOllY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


47 


presently  after  the  burning  of  tlie  iniclcling,  which  was  the 
next  day  after  John  Lunibard  had  told  him  that  he  had  no 
ha}-  to  spare,  that  his  errand  to  get  hay  was  no  true  cause  of 
his  coming  thither,  but  rather  that  the  Spirit  that  bewitched 
the  pudding  brought  him  thither. 

"  Mary  Parsons  being  present  at  the  2d  examination  saith, 
one  reason  why  I  have  suspected  my  husband  to  be  a  witch 
is  because  all  that  he  sells  to  any  bod_y  doth  not  prosper.  I  am 
sorry,  said  she,  for  that  poor  man  Tho.  Millar,  for  two  days 
after  my  husband  and  he  had  bargained  for  a  piece  of  ground 
Thomas  Millar  had  that  mischance  of  that  cut  in  his  leg. 

"  Thomas  Millar  being  present  saith  upon  oath,  that  ho  being 
in  company  with  several  other  workman  about  timber  trees 
in  the  woods,  as  we  weer  at  dinner  and  merry  together  Hugh 
Parsons  sat  on  a  bough  somewhat  higher  than  the  rest.  Then 
one  of  the  company  started  this  question :  I  wonder  why  he 
sits  there?  Thomas  Miller  saith  he  answered,  To  see  what 
we  have,  and  then  I  began  to  speak  of  the  cutting  of  the  pud- 
ding in  town. 

''  Thomas  Cooper  being  present  with  the  said  workmen  saith, 
that  he  was  much  troubled  in  his  mind  because  Thomas  Mil- 
lar spake  so  plainly  to  Hugh  Parsons  least  some  evil  event 
should  follow. 

"  And  both  Tho.  Cooper  and  Thomas  Millar  .say  upon  oath, 
that  Hugh  Parsons  was  as  merry  and  as  pleasant  before  this 
speech  about  the  pudding  as  any  in  the  company,  but  after  this 
he  was  wholy  silent  and  spake  not  a  word  in  reply  about  the 
pudding,  but  sat  dumb.  And  Thomas  Millar  saith,  that  about 
half-a-quarter  of  an  hour  after,  at  his  first  setting  to  work, 
his  leg  was  cut. 

"April  3,  1651,  Thomas  Burnham  saith  upon  oath,  that  he 
said  to  Hugh  Parsons,  a  little  before  his  apprehension,  '  beer 
is  strange  doings  in  town,  about  cutting  of  puddings  and 
whetting  of  saws  in  the  night  time.'  Hugh  Parsons  heard 
these  things  much  agitated  among  divers  then  present,  and 
was  wholly  silent,  but  at  last  he  said,  '  I  never  heard  these 
things  before  this  night.'  Thomas  Burnham  saith  he  said  to 
him  that  is  strange  that  you  .should  not  hear  of  these  things, 
and  I,  being  but  a  stranger  in  town,  do  hear  of  it  in  all  places, 
wherever  I  come.  At  this  Hugh  Parsons  held  down  his  head 
and  was  wholly  silent,  but  he  took  occasion  to  speak  of  other 
by  matters,  as  pleasantly  as  anybody  else,  but  to  the  matter 
of  the  pudding  he  would  say  nothing  ;  and  yet,  saith  Thomas 
Burnham,  I  spake  to  him  of  it  several  times,  and  of  the  whet- 
ting of  saws,  on  purpose  to  see  what  Hugh  Parsons  would  say 
to  it,  but  still  he  continued  silent,  and  would  not  speak  any- 
thing about  these  things.  Then  Goodman  Mann  being  present, 
said,  I  would  that  those  who  whet  saws  in  the  night  time  and 
on  Lord's  days  were  found  out.  Then  saith  Thomas  Burn- 
ham, I  said  you  sawyers  you  had  need  to  look  to  it.  Hugh 
Parsons  being  a  sawyer,  never  returned  any  answer,  but  still 
continued  silent.  This  matter  about  tho  pudding  and  whet- 
ting of  saws  was  often  tossed  up  and  down  between  several 
persons,  and  many  said  they  never  heard  the  like.  And  Hugh 
Parsons  was  often  spoken  to  in  particular  and  asked  if  he  ever 
heard  the  like,  but  still  he  continued  wholy  silent. 

"  Joane,  the  wife  of  "William  "VVarrence,  and  Abigail,  the 
wife  of  Goodman  Mann,  being  present  when  the  said  speeches 
were  used,  do  acknowledge  that  they  remember  all  things  that 
have  been  related  by  Thomas  Burnham,  and  that  Hugh  Par- 
sons was  wholly  silent,  and  do  testify  the  same  upon  oath,  the 
day  and  j'ear  above  said. 

"SECOND   COUNT. 

"  Blanche  Bodortbe  saith  on  oath,  Feb.  27,  and  March  1st, 
and  March  18th,  1649,  that  about  two  years  since,  Hugh  Par- 
sons being  at  our  house,  we  had  some  speeches  about  a  bargain 
with  my  husband  about  some  bricks,  and  then  Blanch  Bo- 
dortbe saith  that  she  spake  something  about  the  said  bricks 
that  did  much  displease  Hugh  Parsons ;  thereupon  he  said 


unto  me.  Gammer,  you  needed  not  have  said  anything.  I 
spake  not  to  you,  but  I  .shall  remember  you  when  j'ou  little 
think  on  it.  .  .  .  Blanch  Bodortbe  doth  testify  upon  oath, 
that  soon  after  this  threatening  speech,  as  she  was  going  to 
bed,  and  had  put  off  her  waistcoat  made  of  red  shag  cotten, 
and  as  she  was  going  to  hang  it  up  on  a  pin,  she  held  it  up 
between  her  hands,  and  then  she  saw  a  light,  as  it  had  been 
the  light  of  a  candle,  crossing  the  back  of  her  waistcoat  on 
the  inside,  three  times,  one  after  another,  at  which  she  was 
amazed  ;  and  therefore  she  saith  that  after  she  had  laid  it 
down  she  took  it  up  again,  to  try  if  the  firelight  might  not  be 
the  cause  of  it,  but  she  saith  that  the  firelight  being  all  one, 
as  it  was  before,  she  could  not  perceive  any  such  light  by  it, 
and  besides,  she  saith  it  could  not  be  the  firelight,  because 
there  was  a  double  Indian  mat  compassing  the  bed  and  the 
place  where  she  was,  so  that  it  could  not  be  the  firelight,  for 
this  double  mat  was  betwixt  her  and  the  fire;  and  she  saith, 
moreover,  that  because  this  light  was  so  strange  to  her,  she 
took  her  waistcoat  several  other  nights  to  try  if  the  firelight 
would  not  give  such  a  light  as  she  saw  first,  and  held  it  up 
the  ^ame  way  that  she  did  at  first,  but  she  saith  she  could  not 
perceive  any  such  light  afterward. 

"  2dly.  About  a  month  after  this  she  saith  that  when  she 
was  iu  child-bed,  and  as  well  as  most  women  used  to  be 
and  better  than  she  used  to  be,  yet  at  the  week's  end,  being 
desirous  to  sleep,  she  lay  still  that  she  might  sleep,  and  she 
did  sleep.  And  yet  about  an  hour  or  more  after  she  awaked 
and  felt  a  soreness  about  her  heart,  and  this  soreness  increased 
more  and  more  in  three  places,  namely,  under  her  left  breast 
and  on  her  left  shoulder  and  in  her  neck :  and  in  these  three 
places  the  pain  was  so  tedious  that  it  was  like  the  pricking  of 
knives,  so  that  I  durst  not  lie  down  but  was  fain  to  be  shored 
up  with  a  bag  of  cotton-wool  and  with  other  things,  and  this 
extremity  continued  from  Friday  in  the  forenoon  till  Monday 
about  noon,  and  then  the  extremity  of  the  pain  began  to  abate, 
and  by  Tuesday  it  was  pretty  well  gone ;  and  suddenly  after 
mj-  thoughts  were  that  this  evil  might  come  upon  me  from 
the  said  threatening  speech  of  Hugh  Parsons. 

"  3dly.  Blanch  Bodorthe  saith,  upon  oath,  that  mj'  child, 
being  about  two  years  old,  as  he  was  standing  near  to  his 
father,  did  hastily  run  to  him,  and  strived  to  get  up  upon  his 
knees,  and  cryed,  'I  am  afraid  of  the  dog!'  and  yet  theer 
was  no  dog  theer.  His  father  asked  him  wheer  the  dog  was  : 
he  said  it  was  gone  under  the  bed.  His  father  asked  him 
whose  dog  it  was.  He  said  it  was  Lumbard's  dog :  his  father 
said  that  Lumbard  had  no  dog ;  then  he  said  again  it  was 
Parsons'  dog:  but  the  child's  meaning  was  at  first  that  it  was 
Parsons'  dog.  I  know  it  by  this,  because  when  Parsons  did 
after  use  to  come  to  our  house,  he  did  often  call  him  Lum- 
bard. And  ever  and  anon  he  is  much  aft'righted  with  this 
dog,  and  doth  often  speak  of  it,  and  yet  Parsons  hath  no  dog, 
neither  was  there  any  dog  in  the  house;  but  the  earnestness 
of  the  child,  both  then  and  since,  doth  make  me  conceive  it 
might  be  some  evil  thing  from  Hugh  Parsons. 

"  Hugh  Parsons  having  heard  all  these  testimonies,  alleged 
stood  still  at  his  2d  examination,  as  at  the  first,  and  made  no 
answer. 

"  MR.  MOXON's   children. 

"  Your  wife  saith  that  she  suspects  you  may  be  the  cause  of 
all  the  evil  that  is  befallen  to  Mr.  Moxon's  children,  because, 
when  she  hath  spoken  to  you  about  the  bargain  of  bricks  that 
you  undertook  to  make  for  Mr.  Moxon's  chimnies,  and  that 
she  thought  Mr.  Moxon  would  expect  the  performance  of  the 
said  bargain,  thereupon  you  said  if  Mr.  Moxon  do  force  me 
to  make  bricks  according  to  bargain  I  will  be  even  with  him, 
or  he  shall  get  nothing  by  it ;  for  she  saith  that  these  two 
speeches  are  very  usual  with  you  when  you  are  displeased 
with  anybody. 

"  Answering,  Hugh  Parsons  saith,  I  said  mit  that  I  would  be 


48 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


even  with  him ;  but  this  I  said,  if  he  would  hold  me  to  my 
bargain  I  could  puzzle  him  in  the  bargain. 

"  John  Mathews  being  present,  saith,  upon  oath,  that  when 
he  went  with  Hugh  Parsons  to  fetch  some  of  his  fannell 
bricks,  he  said  to  Hugh  Parsons :  '  Do  not  you  make  more 
bricks  for  Mr.  Moxon's  chimnies  he  will  stay  with  us  now, 
and  then  I  believe  he  will  have  up  his  chimnies.'  Hugh  Par- 
sons said,  'No;  that  I  know  of;'  then  said  I,  'Mr.  Moxon 
will  hold  you  to  your  bargain  about  the  said  bricks  ;'  then  said 
he,  'If  he  do  I  will  be  even  with  him.'  And  when  Hugh 
Parsons  made  my  chimnies  he  did  often  use  the  same  speech  ; 
and  when  he  is  displeased  with  anybody  it  his  usual  speech. 

"At  this  testimony  of  John  Mathews,  Hugh  Parsons  was 
silent  and  made  no  reply. 

"Mr.  Moxon  being  present,  saith,  the  same  week  that  I 
spake  to  Hugh  Parsons  about  the  bricks,  and  to  his  wife 
about  another  business,  my  daughter  Martha  was  taken  ill 
with  her  fltts.  I  confess,  also,  that  when  I  spake  to  him  of 
the  said  bargain,  that  Hugh  said  I  could  not,  in  strictness, 
hold  him  to  the  bargain.  But  this  last  answer  doth  not  take 
oil'  the  ill  purpo.se  of  his  former  threatening. 

"4th.  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Alexander  Edwards,  testifies  upon 
oath,  Feb.  27th,  1650,  that  about  two  years  ago,  more  or  less, 
Hugh  Parsons,  being  then  at  the  Longmeadow,  came  to  her 
house  to  buy  some  milk ;  she  said,  '  I  will  give  you  a  half- 
penny worth,  but  I  cannot  let  you  have  any  more  at  this 
time.'  This  was  at  that  time  when  my  cow  gave  three 
quarts  at  a  meal ;  but  the  next  meal  after  she  gave  not  above 
a  quart,  and  it  was  as  yellow  as  saflron,  and  yet  the  cow  ailed 
nothing  that  I  could  discerne.  The  next  meal  it  altered  to 
another  strange,  odd  color,  and  so  it  did  every  meal ;  for  a 
week  together  it  still  altered  to  some  odd  color  or  other,  and 
also  it  grew  less  and  less;  and  yet  all  the  while  the  cow  was 
as  well  as  at  any  time  before,  as  far  as  I  could  discerne ;  and 
about  a  week  after  she  began  to  mend  her  milk  again,  without 
any  means  used.  Upon  this  I  had  thoughts  that  Hugh  Par- 
sons might  be  the  cause  of  it. 

"Alexander  Edwards  swore  that  George  Coulton  saw  the 
milk  in  strange  colors. 

"Hugh  Parsons  saith  that  he  did  not  lie  one  night  at  ye 
Long  Meddow  that  Somer,  but  only  in  the  Spring  of  the  Yeere, 
eather  in  March  or  in  the  beginning  of  Aprill,  when  he  set 
up  fencing  there,  and  that  he  never  had  Milk  of  her  but  that 
one  Tyme ;  and  at  that  Tyme  of  the  Yeere  he  thinks  her  Cow 
could  not  give  three  Quarts  at  a  Meale. 

"  But  now  at  his  2nd  Examination,  May  the  18th,  16.50,  he 
seeing  Alexander  Edwards  about  to  testify  ye  contrary,  he 
confesseth  that  he  lay  a  night  there  in  plantinge  T3'me,  about 
the  end  of  May. 

"  I  remember  ye  Alexander  Edwards  came  to  me  to  tell  me 
of  this  accident,  and  said  that  he  was  perswaded  the  Cow  was 
bewitched  by  Hugh  Parsons ;  but  I  did  not  believe  him  at 
that  tyme.  I  rather  conceived  that  the  Cow  was  falling  into 
some  dangerous  sickness  ;  for  such  a  sudden  abatement  I  tould 
him  was  a  sign  of  some  dangerous  sicknesse  at  hand  ;  but,  see- 
inge  no  sicknesse  followed,  I  tould  Hugh  Parsons  that  such  a 
sudden  change  could  not  come  from  a  Naturall  Cause. 

"  5thly.  Anthony  Dorchester  saieth  upon  oath,  Feby.  25, 
1650,  the  1st  Day  of  the  1st  Month  and  the  18th  Day,  that 
about  September  was  twelve  Monthes,  four  had  equall  shares  in 
a  Cow ;  each  had  a  Quarter,  and  ye  Otfall  was  to  be  divided 
also ;  and  Hugh  Parsons  desired  to  have  the  roote  of  the 
Tongue ;  but  he  had  it  not,  it  fell  to  my  share ;  and  a  cer- 
taine  time  after  I  had  salted  it,  I  tooke  the  said  Roote  and 
another  peace  of  Meete,  and  put  it  into  the  Kettle  as  it  was 
boylinge  over  the  Fire  at  Hugh  Parsons'  House,  where  I 
lived  at  that  present ;  and  there  was  no  body  there  but  his 
wife,  and  I  and  my  wife,  who  was  sick  of  a  consumption, 
sittinge  on  her  bed  and  not  able  to  gett  of  without  lielp ; 
neather  were  any  of  my  children  able  to  take  such  a  Thinge 


out  of  a  boyling  kettle.  This  being  the  Sabbath  Day,  Hugh 
Parsons  and  his  wife  went  to  Church  before  me ;  then  I  made 
myself  ready  and  went  presently  after  them,  and  came  Home 
before  them,  and  took  up  my  Meate  before  they  came  Home, 
but  the  Roote  of  the  Tovinge,  which  Hugh  Parsons  formerly 
desyred,  was  gonn ;  his  wife  come  Home  presently  after  me 
(but  he  came  not  with  her).  Then  I  told  her,  and  she  won- 
dered how  it  could  be  gonn  ;  and  she  went  to  ye  Tubb  where 
it  was  salted  to  see  if  it  might  nott  be  forgotten,  and  it  was 
not  there.  Then  said  I  to  her,  I  am  sure  I  put  it  into  the 
boyling  Kettle,  and  .she  confessed  that  she  saw  me  pick  it  and 
wash  it,  and  being  present  did  much  wonder  ye  strange  going 
of  it  away,  and  said  that  she  feared  her  Husband  might 
convey  it  away.  She  tould  me  that  her  Husband  went  along 
with  her  till  we  came  to  (ioodraan  Merricke's,  and  was  very 
pleasing  to  her,  more  than  usually  he  had  bin  a  great  while 
before  ;  but  there  he  laid  the  Child  downe  and  went  no  further 
with  her  ;  and  she  saw  him  no  more  till  ye  Meeting  was  almost 
donn(all  this  Mary  Parsons,  being  present,  dothe  acknowledg). 
Presently  after  this  he  came  home ;  then  I  spake  of  it  to  him, 
and  all  that  be  said  was  that  he  thought  I  did  not  put  it  in  ; 
but  I  tould  him  that  I  was  sure  I  put  it  into  the  boyling 
Kettle.  And  I  have  ever  since  believed  that  no  Hand  of  Man 
did  take  it  away,  but  that  it  was  taken  away  by  Witchcraft. 

"  Ans.  Hugh  Parsons  confesseth  that  he  de.syred  the  Roote 
of  ye  Toung,  but  withall  saith  he  is  ignorant  as  ye  Child 
unborn  which  way  it  went.  Some  by-Standard  objected  it 
might  be  taken  away  by  his  wife  as  well  as  by  him.  But 
that  is  not  so  likely,  because  Hugh  Parsons  went  not  with 
her  to  ye  Meeting,  but  laid  down  her  Child  and  went  from 
her,  and  she  saw  him  no  more  till  Meeting  was  almost 
donn. 

"ylns.  Hugh  Parsons  saith  that  he  doth  not  remember  that 
he  went  away  any  whither,  unlesse  he  might  go  into  Good- 
win Merricke's  Howse  to  take  a  pipe  of  Tobacco ;  and  though 
his  wife  saw  him  no  more  till  the  Meeting  was  almost  donn, 
yet  he  saith  he  might  be  standing  without  the  Dore,  though 
she  saw  him  not.  And  at  his  2nd  examination  he  asked  how 
it  did  appeare  that  he  came  not  to  the  Meeting  till  it  was 
almost  donn. 

"  Abigail  Mun,  being  present,  doth  testifie  upon  Oath  that 
she  knew  by  the  Talk  aboutt  the  strange  going  away  of  this 
Roote  of  the  Toung  what  Sabbath  was  meant,  and  she  saith 
that  she  saw  him  come  that  Sabbath  to  3'e  meeting  when  ye 
Sermon  was  well  onward. 

"Jonathan  Taylor  deposed  in  open  Courte,  saith  that  he 
heard  the  said  Parsons  say  (notwithstanding  the  Roote  of  the 
Toung  was  desired  by  Anthony  Dorchester  for  his  wife,  being 
sicke),  yett  he  said  I  will  have  it. 

"6thly.  Griffin  Jones  saith  upon  Oath,  Feby.  25,  1650, 
March  1  and  18  Day,  that  when  he  lived  at  his  House  neere 
Hugh  Parsons'  House  about  2  yrs.  agoe,  on  a  Lord's  Day  I  went 
Home  to  Dinner;  I  took  up  my  Dinner  and  laid  it  on  a  little 
Table  made  on  ye  Cradle  Head.  I  sought  for  a  Knife  and 
could  not  find  any.  I  cleered  the  Table  where  I  dined  to  see  if 
any  were  there  ;  and  I  searched  every  where  about  j'e  House, 
and  I  could  find  none.  I  went  to  an  ould  Basket  where  I 
had  Things  to  mend  Shoes  withall,  and  there  was  a  rusty 
Knife,  and  with  that  I  was  faine  to  eate  my  Dinner.  After  1 
had  dined,  I  tooke  away  ye  Victuals  that  were  left  and  laid 
it  up ;  and  then  I  laid  the  rusty  Knife  on  the  corner  of  the 
Table  to  cutt  a  pip  of  Tobacco  withall. 

"  But  before  I  cut  my  Tobacco  I  first  went  out  of  Dore  to 
serve  a  Pigg  that  was  a  very  little  of  the  Dore,  and  no  man 
could  come  in  but  I  must  see  them  ;  and  as  soon  as  I  come  in  to 
cutt  my  Tobacco  with  the  said  rusty  knife,  there  lay  three  Knivea 
together  on  ye  Table,  which  made  me  blush,  wondering  how 
they  come  there  seeing  no  Body  was  in  ye  House  but  my  self; 
and  I  was  going  to  cut  ye  Tobacco,  Hugh  Parsons  come  in, 
and  said,  where  is  the  Man?    Are  you  ready  to  go  to  ye  Meet- 


HISTORY   OP   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


49 


inge?  I  said  by  and  by,  as  soon  as  I  have  taken  a  pipe  of 
Tobacco.     So  he  staid  and  took  some  with  me. 

'Mrts.  Hugh  Parsons  saith  he  is  ignorant  of  any  such 
Thing,  and  in  the  sight  of  God  can  cleare  his  Conscience. 

"  It  was  tould  him  that  such  a  strange  Thinge  fallinge 
oute  just  at  his  comeing  in  did  minister  just  occasion  of 
Suspition  of  Witchcraft ;  he  replyed  that  one  Witness  was 
not  sufficient. 

"  Tthl}'.  Mary  Parsons,  his  wife,  saith  that  one  Reason  why 
she  doth  suspect  you  to  be  a  Witch  is  because  you  cannot  abide 
that  any  thing  should  be  spoken  again.st  Witches.  She  saith 
that  you  tould  her  that  you  were  at  a  Neighbor's  House  a  little 
before  Lecture,  when  they  were  speaking  of  Carrington  and 
his  Wife,  that  were  now  apprehended  for  Witches;  she  saith 
that  when  you  came  Homo  and  spake  these  speeches  to  her 
she  said  to  you,  I  hope  that  God  will  find  out  all  such  wicked 
Persons  and  purge  New  England  of  all  Witches  ere  it  be  long. 
To  this  she  saith  you  gave  her  a  naughty  looke,  but  never  a 
word  ;  but  presently  after,  on  a  leight  Occasion,  you  took  up  a 
Block,  and  made  as  if  you  would  throw  it  at  her  head,  but  yet, 
in  ye  end,  you  did  not,  but  threw  it  downe  on  ye  hearth  of 
ye  chimney.  This  expression  of  ye  anger  was  because  she 
wished  the  Ruin  of  all  Witches. 

"  Mary  Ashley  testifies  this  substance  uppon  Oath. 

'^  Attn.  Hugh  Parsons  saith  he  dare  not  remember  that  ever 
he  tooke  up  a  Block  to  throw  at  her,  but  uppon  further  De- 
bate he  said  at  last  that  he  tooke  up  a  Block  but  remembered 
not  the  Occasion  ;  at  his  2nd  Answer  he  saith  that  he  took  up 
no  Block  on  that  Occa.sion. 

"  RepVie :  it  might  well  be  on  that  Occasion,  for  not  long 
since  she  saith  that  you  said  to  her,  if  ever  any  Trouble  doe 
come  unto  you,  it  will  be  by  her  Meanes,  and  that  she  would 
be  the  Meanes  to  hang  3'ou. 

"Ans.  Hugh  Parsons  saith  that  he  might  say  so,  because  in 
his  Anger  he  is  impatient,  and  doth  speak  what  he  should  not. 
At  his  2nd  Examination,  he  said  he  might  say  so,  because  she 
is  the  worst  Enemy  that  I  have,  considering  the  Relation  that 
is  betwecne  us  ;  and  if  any  Body  be.speake  Evill  of  me  she  will 
speake  as  ill  and  as  much  as  any  Body  else. 

"  Mary  Parsons  replied,  I  have  often  intreated  him  to  con- 
fe.sse  whether  he  were  a  Witch  or  no.  I  tould  him  that  if  he 
would  acknowledge  it  I  would  bcgg  the  Prayers  of  God's  Peo- 
ple on  my  knees  for  him  ;  and  that  we  are  not  our  owne,  we 
are  bought  with  a  Price,  and  that  God  would  redeeme  from 
the  power  of  Sathan,  &c. 

"  Hugh  Parsons  was  asked  if  his  Wife  had  spoken  An3-thing 
to  him  at  any  Tyme  to  confess  W^itchcraft. 

"  ,4n.s.  Not  anything  to  me  about  Witchcraft,  that  I 
remember. 

"  Mary  Parsons  saith,  did  I  not  speake  of  it  to  you  uppon  the 
death  of  my  Child  ?  did  I  not  tell  you  then  that  I  had  jeal- 
ousies that  you  had  bewitched  your  own  Child  to  Death  ? 

"  To  this  he  was  silent,  and  made  no  answer. 

"  Then  she  desyred  Anthony  Dorchester,  that  lived  then  in 
their  House,  whether  he  could  not  remember  that  she  had 
charged  her  husband  with  the  bewitching  of  his  child. 

"Anthony  Dorchester  said  that  he  did  not  remember  that 
ever  she  spoke  directly  to  him  of  bewitching  his  Child,  but 
that  she  had  jealousies  that  he  had  bewitched  his  child  to 
death. 

"  Mary  Parsons  said  that  when  her  last  Child  was  ill  she 
tould  him  that  she  suspected  he  had  bewitched  that,  as  he  had 
done  his  other  child,  and  said,  I  have  spoken  of  it  to  him,  and 
to  other  Polkes,  together  above  forty  Tymes. 

"  It  was  alledged  that  he  might  well  be  suspected  to  have 
be  witched  his  former  Child  to  Death,  because  he  expressed 
no  Kind  of  Sorrow  at  the  Death  of  it. 

"  Ans.  Hugh  Parsons  saith  that  he  w-as  loath  to  express  any 
Sorrow  before  his  wife,  because  of  the  weak  condition  that  she 
was  in  at  that  Tyme. 


MARY    B.VNDALL. 

The  foregoing  trial  of  Hugh  Parsons  and  Mary,  his  wife,  for 
witchcraft,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  one  had  for  that  of- 
fense in  the  valley,  and  the  case  of  Mary  Randall  seems  to 
have  been  the  last  one  entertained  in  the  Hampshire  County 
courts. 

On  the  29th  day  of  September,  1691,  Mary  Randall  was 
brought  before  the  court  at  Springfield  upon  the«charge  of 
witchcraft.  The  complaint  against  her  was  entertained  by 
the  court,  but  for  some  reason  or  other, — it  may  have  been  for 
want  of  sufficient  evidence  to  convict  her, — the  case  was  put 
over  for  a  year.  William  Randall,  her  father,  became  surety 
for  her  good  behavior,  but  no  trial  or  other  proceedings  were 
ever  had.     In  her  case  the  following  record  was  made  : 

"  Mary  Randall  being  presented  to  this  court  for  Witchcraft, 
the  several  evidences  were  produced  and  read  in  court.  The 
court,  upon  the  serious  thoughts  of  her  examination  and  al- 
leged evidence  against  her,  did  declare  that  there  was  vehe- 
ment suspicion  of  her  having  familiarity  with  the  Devil ;  did 
therefore  order  her  committed  to  prison  in  Springfield,  until 
security  be  given  in  the  sum  often  pounds  for  her  good  behavior 
until  the  next  court  at  Springfield,  this  time  come  twelve 
months. 

"  William  Randall,  her  father,  did  become  surety  in  the  sum 

of  twenty  pounds  for  his  said  daughter,  for  her  good  behavior 

as  aforesaid." 

III. 

WITCHCRAFT   IN   NORTHAMPTON. 

Mrs.  Mary  Parsons. — Among  the  most  important  trials  for 
witchcraft  which  took  place  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  was  that  of  Mrs.  Mary  Parsons,  wife  of  Joseph  Par- 
sons, a  man  of  wealth  and  high  standing  residing  at  North- 
ampton. 

In  the  month  of  July,  in  the  year  1674,  Mrs.  Mary  Bartlett, 
wife  of  Samuel  Bartlett,  of  Northampton,  sickened  and  died. 
Such  "  chirurgeons"  as  the  young  settlement  then  afforded 
were  at  a  loss  as  to  the  nature  of  her  malady,  and  a  ready 
solution  of  the  difficulty  was  arrived  at  by  attributing  it  to 
witchcraft.  Of  course  some  one  must  be  fixed  upon  for  the 
witch.  To  the  surprise  of  everybody,  in  this  instance  a  person 
of  no  less  standing  and  accomplishments  than  Mary  Parsons 
was  fixed  upon  as  the  guilty  person.  Soon  after  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Bartlett,  her  husband,  Samuel  Bartlett,  began  to  procure 
evidence,  in  the  shape  of  depositions  made  by  divers  persons 
against  Mrs.  Parsons,  for  the  purpose  of  substantiating  his  ac- 
cusations against  her  before  the  next  court,  to  be  held  at  Spring- 
field on  the  29th  day  of  September  following. 

Mrs.  Parsons,  aware  of  what  was  going  on,  did  not  wait  to 
be  served  with  process,  but  voluntarily  appeared  in  person  be- 
fore the  court  to  answer  her  accusers.  In  her  plea  she  denied 
her  guilt,  and  in  a  speech  to  the  court  "  she  did  assert  her  own 
innocency,  often  mentioning  how  clear  she  was  of  such  a  crime, 
and  that  the  righteous  God  knew  her  innocency,  and  .she  left 
her  cause  in  his  hand."  But,  notwithstanding  her  most 
solemn  protestations  of  innocence,  the  court  at  Springfield 
proceeded  to  entertain  the  case,  and,  as  the  record  shows,  "ap- 
pointed a  jury  of  soberdized,  chaste  women  to  make  diligent 
search  U]ion  the  body  of  Mary  Parsons,  whether  any  marks  of 
witchcraft  appear,  who  gave  in  their  account  to  the  court  on 
oath  of  what  they  found."  This  report,  with  the  depositions, 
was  sent  to  the  governor  and  magistrates,  at  Boston,  and  Mrs. 
Parsons  was  ordered  to  appear  before  them  ;  and  she  was  also 
bound  over  in  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds,  with  her  husband  as 
surety,  for  her  further  appearance  at  the  Hampshire  County 
court. 

On  the  2d  day  of  March,  1C75,  her  case  was  presented  to 
the  grand  jury  of  the  court,  and  an  indictment  found  against 
her.  Upon  the  finding  of  the  bill  of  indictment  against  her, 
she  was  sent  to  prison  to  await  her  trial. 

Her  trial  came  on  on  the  13th  dav  of  May  following.     In 


50 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  indictment  she  was  charn;cd  with  witchcraft,  "  in  that  she 
had,  nut  having  the  fear  of  God  before  her  eyes,  entered  into 
familiarity  with  the  Devil,  and  committed  sundry  acts  of 
witchcraft  on  the  person  or  persons  of  one  or  more."  To  this 
charge  she  entered  the  plea  of  "not  guilty,"  and  after  the 
matter  was  submitted  to  the  trial-jury  they  brought  in  a  ver- 
dict of  acquittal..  Thus  ended  the  trial  of  Mary  Parsons,  of 
Northan>jiton.  An  attempt  was  made  afterward  to  fasten 
the  guilt  upon  her  son,  John  Parsons,  but  the  court  deemed 
the  evidence  against  him  insulBcient,  and  the  case  was  aban- 
doned. 

Again,  in  1679,  the  "powers  of  darkness"  were  visible  in 
Northampton.  On  the  7th  of  March  of  that  year  one  John 
Stebbins  died  in  an  "  unusual  manner." 

An  inquest  was  held  upon  his  body,  with  Dr.  Thomas  Hast- 
ings, of  Hatfield,  among  the  twelve  jurymen.  The  "jury 
found  several  hundred  small  spots  on  the  body,  as  if  made 
with  small  shot.  These  spots  were  scraped,  and  holes  found 
under  them  into  the  body."  It  was  suspected  that  this  was 
caused  by  witchcraft.  It  is  a  tradition  in  Hadley  that  a 
short  time  before  John  Stebbins  died  he  was  at  work  in  a 
saw-mill,  when  the  logs  and  boards  became  bewitched,  and 
cut  up  strange  and  divers  capers. 

The  county  court  received  the  evidence  in  the  case  and  trans- 
mitted it  to  Governor  Bradstreet,  but  no  further  notice  was 
taken  of  it.* 

IV. 

"WITCHCRAFT   IN    IIADLEY. 

In  1683  the  noted  case  of  Mary  "Webster,  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Webster,  occurred  in  Hadley.  She  was  charged  before 
the  court  at  Northampton,  consisting  of  Col.  John  Pynchon, 
of  Springfield,  Peter  Tilton  and  Philip  Smith,  of  Hadley, 
William  Clarke  and  Aaron  Cooke,  of  Northampton.  She  was 
sent  to  jail  at  Boston  in  April,  and  on  the  '2'2d  of  May  was 
taken  before  the  Governor  and  assistants  and  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury.  Her  trial  began  in  Boston  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember following,  and  resulted  in  her  acquittal.  This  case 
created  a  great  deal  of  excitement  at  the  time  in  the  Connec- 
ticut Valley,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  most  noted  cases 
of  the  kind  occurring  in  Hampshire  County. 

In  1685  Mary  Webster  was  again  accused  of  .sorcery,  and 
of  committing  murder  by  the  practice  of  the  art.  But  the 
charge  was  not  substantiated,  and  the  poor  harassed  iild 
woman  lived  some  years  afterward,  dying  in  1696. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    EEGICIDES.t 

After  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
and,  in  the  year  1060,  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  New 
England  became  the  e.xile  home  of  three  of  the  judges  who 
signed  the  death-warrant  of  the  unfortunate  Charles  I.  in  the 
-year  1649,  namely,  Edward  Whalley,  William  Gotfe,  and 
John  Di.\well,  since  famous  in  American  history  as  the  Kegi- 
cides. 

The  story  of  the  Regicides  imparts  to  the  history  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley  an  interest  quite  as  melancholy  as  it  is 
instructive.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  judges  com- 
missioned by  the  House  of  Commons  to  conduct  the  trial  of 
the  king,  "  seventy-four  sat,  sixty-seven  were  present  at  the 
last  session  and  were  unanimous  in  passing  the  definitive 
sentence  upon  the  king,  and  fifty-nine  signed  the  warrant  for 
his  execution,  1649." 

*  Drake'rt  Annals  of  Witchcraft,  p.  140. 

t  This  chapter  was  prepared  by  Horace  Mack. 


At  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  in  1660,  when  Charles  II. 
became  king,  twenty-four  of  the  judges  had  died ;  but  the 
vengeance  of  the  crow'n  followed  the  survivors  with  unflag- 
ging pertinacity.  Nine  were  executed  and  sixteen  escaped 
from  the  kingdom.  Three  of  these  came  to  New  England, — 
Maj.-Gen.  Edward  Whalley,  Maj.-Gen.  William  Gofle,  and 
John  Dixwell. 

The  familj-  of  Whalley  was  prominent  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VI.  Gen.  Whalley's  father,  Richard,  was  a  grandson  of  Rich- 
ard Whalley,  Esq.,  of  Kirkton,  in  the  county  of  Nottingham, 
who  died  in  1583,  aged  eighty-four.  His  mother  was  Frances, 
a  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Cromwell,  knight,  and  was  aunt  to 
Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Protector.        • 

Gen.  Whalley  married  the  sister  of  Sir  George  Middleton, 
knight,  an  enemy  of  Charles  I.,  and  had  several  children,  of 
whom  one  became  the  wife  of  Gen.  Gofl'e.  Although  "brought 
up  to  merchandise,"  he  was  a  man  of  great  strength  of  mind, 
and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  stirring  events  of  the  twenty 
years  anterior  to  the  conviction  of  Charles.  He  was  noted  as 
a  civilian,  as  a  military  commander,  and  as  a  member  of  Par- 
liament, and  was  among  the  foremost  of  those  who  opposed 
the  king. 

Geii.  Guff'c  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Stephen  Gofie,  ji  Puritan  di- 
vine, rector  of  Stanmore,  in  Sussex.  He  abandoned  the  busi- 
ness of  merchandising  while  yet  a  young  man,  entered  the 
Parliament  army,  and  won  successively  the  positions  of  colo- 
nel of  foot  and  general.  He,  like  Whalley,  became  an  active 
agent  in  the  proceedings  against  the  king,  and  "S^as  subse- 
quently a  member  of  Parliament  under  Cromwell.  It  is  re- 
corded that  he  "  by  degrees  fell  off  from  the  anti-monarchical 
principles  of  the  chief  part  of  the  army,  and  was  the  man, 
with  Col.  William  White,  who  brought  musqueteers  and 
turned  out  the  Anabaptistical  members  that  were  left  behind 
of  the  Little,  or  '  Barebones,'  Parliament  out  of  the  house, "J 
April,  1653. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  some  historians  that  Whalley  and 
Gofte  had  "escaped  to  the  Continent,  and  were  a,t  Lucerne, 
in  Switzerland,  in  1664,"  and  by  others  that  they  "  wandered 
about  for  years  and  died  in  a  foreign  clime,  but  when  or  where 
unknown."  The  newly-settled  provinces  in  the  wilds  of  the 
Western  continent  promised  them  a  safer  asylum,  and  so,  an- 
ticipating by  a  short  period  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy 
with  its  quick-following  penal  decrees  toward  the  surviving 
judges,  they  came  to  New  England. 

Governor  Hutchinson,  who  wrote  in  1764,  and  who  had  po.s- 
session  of  Goffe's  diary  and  other  papers, §  gives  the  following 
account : 

"  In  the  ship  which  arrived  at  Boston  from  London  the  27th 
of  July,  1660,  there  came  passengers  Col.  Whalley  and  Col. 
Goti'e,  two  of  the  late  king's  judges.  Col.  Gott'e  brought  tes- 
timonials from  Mr.  John  Row  and  3Ir.  Seth  Wood,  two  min- 
isters of  a  church  in  Westminster.  Col.  Whalley  had  been  a 
member  of  Mr.  Thomas  Goodwin's  church.  Gofte  kept  a  jour- 
nal or  diary  from  the  day  he  left  Westminster,  May  4,  until  the 
year  1667,  which,  together  with  several  other  papers  belonging 
to  him,  I  have  in  my  possession.  Almost  the  whole  is  in  char- 
acters or  short  hand,  not  difficult  to  decipher.  The  story  of 
these  persons  has  never  yet  been  published  to  the  world.  They 
did  not  attempt  to  conceal  their  persons  or  characters  when 
they  arrived  at  Boston,  but  immediately  went  to  the  Gover- 
nor, Mr.  Endicott,  who  received  them  very  courteously.  They 
were  visited  by  the  principal  persons  of  the  town  ;  and,  among 


X  Fasti  Oxoniensis,  p.  79,  as  quoted  by  President  Stiles. 

g  Mr.  Judd  says  (page  215),  "  Governor  Hutchinson  was  in  possession  of  Goffe's 
diary  and  liis  papei-s  and  letters,  which  had  lung  been  in  the  library  of  the 
Matlicrs  in  IJuston.  Ilutcliinsun  was  a  Tory,  and  liis  house  wss  rifled  liy  a  mob 
in  17(1'),  iind  the  journal  of  Gofle  and  utlier  papei-s  rekitiiii,'  to  the  jud^e.s  are  sup- 
pufied  to  have  been  destroyed.  From  them  he  had  publislied  in  1704  a  siiort 
account  of  Wlialley  and  Gofl'e  in  his  tirst  volume  of  the  'History  of  Massachn. 
Betts.' " 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


51 


others,  they  take  notice  of  Col.  Crown's  coming  to  see  them. 
He  was  a  noted  Royalist.  Although  they  did  not  disguise 
themselves,  yet  they  chose  to  reside  at  Cambridge,  a  village 
about  four  miles  distant  from  the  town,  where  they  went  the 
first  day  they  arrived.  They  went  publicly  to  meetings  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and  to  occasional  lectures,  fasts,  and  thanksgiv- 
ings, and  were  admitted  to  the  sacrament,  and  attended  private 
meetings  for  devotion,  visited  many  of  the  principal  towns, 
and  were  frequently  at  Bo.ston  ;  and  once,  when  insulted  there, 
the  person  who  insulted  them  was  bound  to  his  good  behavior. 
They  appeared  grave,  serious,  and  devout,  and  the  rank  they 
had  sustained  commanded  respect.  Whalley  had  been  one  of 
Cromwell's  lieutenant-generals,  and  Goffe  a  major-general. 
The  reports,  by  way  of  Barbadoes,  were  that  all  the  judges 
would  be  pardoned  but  seven.  "When  it  appeared  that  they 
were  not  excepted,  some  of  the  principal  persons  in  the  gov- 
ernment were  alarmed  ;  pity  and  compassion  prevailed  with 
others.  They  had  assurances  from  some  that  belonged  to  the 
General  Court  that  they  would  stand  by  them,  but  were  ad- 
vised by  others  to  think  of  removing.  The  22d  of  February, 
1661,  the  Governor  summoned  a  court  of  assistants  to  consult 
about  securing  them,  but  the  court  did  not  agree  to  it.  Find- 
ing it  unsafe,  to  remain  any  longer,  they  left  Cambridge  the 
26th  following,  and  arrived  at  New  Haven  the  7th  of  March, 
1661.  One  Capt.  Breedan,  who  had  seen  them  in  Boston,  gave 
information  thereof  upon  his  arrival  in  England.  A  few  days 
after  their  removal,  a  hue  and  cry,  as  they  term  it  in  their 
diary,  was  brought  by  way  of  Barbadoes,  and  thereupon  a 
warrant  to  secure  them  issued  the  8th  of  March  from  the  Gov- 
ernor and  assistants,  which  was  sent  to  Springfield  and  other 
towns  in  the  western  part  of  the  colony,  but  they  were  beyond 
the  reach  of  it." 

They  tarried  at  New  Haven  for  some  days,  where  tliey  met 
with  kind  treatment,  but,  learning  of  the  king's  proclamation, 
decamped  on  the  27th  of  March,  and,  employing  an  adroit 
strategy,  appeared  openly  at  New  Milford,  making  themselves 
known,  and  then  returned  secretly  to  New  Haven,  where  they 
lay  concealed  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Davenport,  the  minister, 
until  April  30.  About  this  time  news  came  of  the  execution 
of  ten  of  the  judges,  with  another  mandate  from  the  king, 
dated  March  5,  1660-61,  which  stimulated  the  court  to  more 
vigorous  search  for  the  fugitives.  Thomas  Kirk  and  Thomas 
Kellond,  who  were  zealous  Royalists,  were  commissioned  to 
search  "through  the  colonies  as  far  as  Manhados," — Man- 
hattan, now  New  York. 

Informed  of  this  procedure,  the  judges  began  a  series  of 
hegiras,  which,  with  the  accompanying  incidents,  would  form 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  romantic  chapters  of  Ameri- 
can history.  These  can  only  be  briefly  summarized  in  this 
narrative.  They  soon  removed  from  Mr.  Davenport's  to  the 
house  of  William  Jones,  remained  there  until  May  11,  spent 
the  next  two  days  in  a  mill,  and  on  the  13th  joined  Mr.  Jones 
and  two  others — Sperry  and  Burrell — in  the  woods,  and  were 
conducted  to  a  place  known  as  "  Hatchet  Harbor,"  where 
they  remained  two  nights,  by  which  time  their  friends  had 
prepared  "a  cave  or  hole  in  the  side  of  a  hill"  for  their  recep- 
tion. Here  they  remained  from  May  16  to  June  11,  during 
which  time  tlie  country  was  being  scoured  to  "  Manha- 
dos"  by  the  merchant-minions,  Kellond  and  Kirk,  who 
oflfered  large  rewards  to  insure  their  capture.  Mr.  Daven- 
port was  suspected  of  having  given  them  aid  and  comfort,  and 
was  liable  to  arrest,  whereupon  they  oftered  to  surrender,  that 
their  friends  might  not  suft'er,  and  actuallj'  made  known  their 
whereabouts  to  Deputy-Governor  Leet,  who  took  no  advan- 
tage of  the  information.  They  were  the  next  day  advised  not  to 
surrender.  Thej',  however,  appeared  publicly  at  New  Haven, 
thus  relieving  Mr.  Davenport  "from  the  charge  of  still  con- 
cealing them,"  and  again  retired  on  the  24th  of  June  to  their 
caveat  "Providence  Hill,"  as  they  termed  the  place.*     On 

*  Accorfiing  to  President  Stiles,  thie  cave  was  not  "in  the  6t*ie  of  a  hill,"  but 


October  19  the  hunt  for  them  had  nearly  ceased,  and  permitted 
a  change  to  better  quarters,  which  they  secured  "at  the  house 
of  one  Tompkins,  near  Milford  meeting-house,  where  they  re- 
mained two  years,  without  so  much  as  going  into  the  orchard. 
After  that  they  took  a  little  more  liberty,  and  made  them- 
selves known  to  several  persons  in  whom  they  could  confide." 

In  1664,  the  commissioners  from  Charles  II.  having  landed 
at  Boston,  they  again  sought  the  privacy  of  their  cave,  and 
lived  there  eight  or  ten  days.  Soon  after  this  the  cave  and 
the  bed  were  discovered  by  Indian  hunters  and  became  un- 
tenable, whereupon,  on  the  13th  of  October,  in  the  saitie  year, 
they  set  out  foV  the  new  frontier-town  of  Hadley,  which 
would  seem  almost  to  have  been  "planted"  purposely  for  their 
reception,  begun  as  it  was  only  the  year  previous  to  their  ar- 
rival at  Boston.  They  were  doubtless  on  the  road  four  nights, 
arriving  on  or  about  the  17th  at  the  house  of  the  minister, 
Mr.  Ru.ssell,  who  had  engaged  to  receive  them.  Rev.  Ezra 
Stiles,  then  president  of  Yale  College,  writing  in  1794,f  gave 
the  following  hypothetical  account  of  this  journey  of  the  fugi- 
tives : 

"On  the  13th  of  October,  1664,  they  left  Milford  and  pro- 
ceeded on  their  excursion.  I  shall  su|ipose  that  the  first  night 
they  came  over  to  New  Haven  to  their  friend  Jones, — though 
of  this  there  is  no  tradition,  as  there  is  of  their  making  a 
lodgment  at  Pilgrims'  Harbor,  so  called  from  them,  being 
twenty  miles  from  New  Haven,  at  a  place  since  called  Meri- 
don,  half-way  between  New  Haven  and  Hartford.  Here  they 
might  rest  and  lodge  one  day,  and  the  next  night  proceed 
to  Hartford,  and  the  night  following  to  Springfield,  and  the 
succeeding  night  reach  Hadley.  But  of  this  I  tind  no  tradi- 
tion, saving  only  that  on  their  route  to  Hadley  they  made 
one  station  at  Pilgrims'  Harbor." 

Once  at  the  minister's  home,  they  remained  in  almost  abso- 
lute seclusion  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  or  until  they  died, 
though  not  wholly  at  Mr.  Russell's.  Little  concerning  their 
life  in  Hadley  can  be  known,  outside  of  what  has  been  gleaned 
from  the  diary  and  papers  of  Gen.  Goffe.  Governor  Hutch- 
inson gives  the  following,  some  of  which  seems  to  be  tradi- 
tional : 

"  The  last  account  of  Gotfe  is  from  a  letter  dated  Ehenezer, 
the  name  they  gave  their  several  places  of  abode,  April  2, 
1679.  Whalley  had  been  dead  some  time  before.  The  tradi- 
tion at  Hadley  is,  that  two  persons  unknown  were  buried  in 
the  minister's  cellar.  The  minister  was  no  suiFerer  by  his 
boarders.  They  received  more  or  less  remittances  every  year, 
for  many  years  together,  from  their  wives  in  England.  Those 
few  persons  who  knew  where  they  were  made  them  frequent 
presents.  Richard  Saltonstall,  Esq.,  who  was  in  the  secret, 
when  he  left  the  country  and  went  to  England,  in  1672,  made 
them  a  present  of  fifty  pounds  at  his  departure  ;  and  the}'  take 
notice  of  donations  from  several  other  friends.  They  were  in 
constant  terror,  though  they  had  reason  to  hope,  after  some 
years,  that  the  inquiry  for  them  was  over.  They  read  with 
pleasure  the  news  of  their  being  killed,  with  other  judges,  in 
Switzerland.  Their  diary,  for  six  or  seven  years,  contains 
every  little  occurrence  in  the  town,  church,  and  particular 
families  in  the  neighborhood.  They  had,  indeed,  for  five  years 
of  their  lives,  been  among  the  principal  actors  in  the  great 
affairs  of  the  nation.  They  had  very  constant  and  exact  in- 
telligence of  everything  which  parsed  in  England,  and  were 
unwilling  to  give  .up  all  hopes  of  deliverance.  Their  greatest 
expectations  were  from  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecies.  They 
had  no  doubt  that  the  execution  of  the  judges  was  the  slaying 
of  the  witnesses.  They  were  much  disappointed  when  the  year 
1666  had  passed  without  any  remarkable  event,  but  flattered 
themselves  that  the  Christian  era  might  be  erroneous.     Their  , 

among  the  rocks  on  the  top  of  "  West  Eock,"  about  two  miles  and  a  half  uorth- 
■\vest  of  New  Haven. 

t  A  History  of  Three  of  the  Judges  of  King  Charles  I.,  by  Ezra  Stiles,  late 
President  of  Yale  College. 


52 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


lives  were  miserable  and  constant  burthens.  They  complain 
of  being  banished  from  all  human  society.  A  letter  from 
GofJ'e's  wife,  who  was  Whalley's  daughter,  I  think  worth 
preserving.  After  the  second  year  GofFe  writes  by  the  name 
of  Walter  Goldsmith,  and  she  of  Frances  Goldsmith,  and  the 
correspondence  is  carried  on  as  between  a  mother  and  son. 
There  is  too  much  religion  in  their  letters  for  the  taste  of  the 
present  day  ;  but  the  distresses  of  two  persons  under  these  pe- 
culiar circumstances,  who  appear  to  have  lived  very  happily 
together,  are  verj-  strongly  described. 

"  Whilst  they  were  at  Hadley,  Feb.  10,  1664-65,  John  Dix- 
well,  another  of  the  judges,  came  to  them ;  but  from  whence, 
or  in  what  part  of  America  he  first  landed,  is  not  known.  He 
continued  some  years  at  Hadley,  and  then  removed  to  New 
Haven.  He  married  at  New  Haven  and  had  several  chil- 
dren. After  his  death  his  son  came  to  Boston,  and  lived  in 
good  repute  ;  was  a  ruling  elder  of  one  of  the  churches  there, 
and  died  in  1725.  Colonel  Dixwell  was  buried  in  New 
Haven." 

In  the  house  of  Mr.  Russell  there  already  existed,  or  he  had 
caused  to  be  prepared,  a  secret  chamber  or  hiding-place,  to 
which  his  unfortunate  guests  could  betake  themselves  at  short 
notice.  The  main  or  south  part  of  the  house — a  double  one, 
about  twcntj'  b}'  forty-four  feet  in  size — "  had  two  large  rooms 
below,  with  an  old-fashioned  chimney  and  a  front  entry  and 
stairs  between  them."  Above  were  corresponding  chambers, 
separated  in  part  by  the  chimney,  which  had  on  the  north  side 
a  passage-way,  or  dark  closet,  used  as  a  communication  be- 
tween the  rooms.  A  door  from  each  room  opened  into  this 
closet,  in  the  floor  of  which  was  a  loose  board,  nicely  adjusted, 
that  might  be  taken  up,  permitting  entrance  to  a  similar  space 
between  the  lower  rooms,  but  with  no  opening  into  either. 
The  judges  occupied  the  upper  apartment,  on  the  east  side, 
and  it  is  related  that  they  "once  were  concealed  in  this  dark 
place  behind  the  chimney  when  searchers  went  through  the 
passage  above." 

President  Stiles,  who  visited  Hadley,  May  21,  1792,  says: 
"The  Kev.  Mr.  Hopkins  carried  me  to  Mr.  Eussel's  house, 
still  standing.  It  is  a  double  hou.se,  two  stories  and  a  kitchen. 
Although  repaired,  with  additions,  yet  the  chamber  of  the 
judges  remains  obviously  in  its  original  state,  unmutilated,  as 
when  these  exiled  worthies  inhabited  it.  Adjoining  to  it,  be- 
hind or  at  the  north  end  of  the  large  chimney,  was  a  closet, 
in  the  floor  of  which  I  saw  still  remaining  the  trap-door 
through  which  they  let  themselves  down  into  an  under 
closet,  and  so  thence  descended  into  the  cellar  for  conceal- 
ment, in  case  of  search  or  surprise."  He  adds,  "They  must 
have  been  known  to  the  family  and  domestics,  and  must  have 
been  frequently  exposed  to  accidental  discoveries,  with  all 
their  care  and  circumspection  to  live  in  stillness.  That  the 
whole  should  have  been  etfectually  concealed  in  the  breasts  of 
the  knowing  ones  is  a  case  of  secrecy  truly  astonishing." 

Chester  Gaylord,  born  in  1782,  in  the  Russell  hou.se,  which 
his  father  then  owned,  told  Sylvester  Judd,  in  1858,  that  when 
a  boy  he  had  frequently  entered  the  "dark  hole"  behind  the 
chimney  and  replaced  the  board  above  him;  and  that  "if 
there  was  once  a  passage  into  the  kitchen  cellar,  it  had  been 
closed. ' '  * 

One  or  both  of  the  judges,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
stayed  at  the  hou.se  of  Peter  Tillton  ;  and  a  tradition  in  the 
Smith  family,  narrated  by  Rev.  Samuel  Hoj)kins,  in  1703, 
claims  that  they  were  "a  part  of  the  time"  at  the  house  of 
Lieut.  Samuel  Smith. 

Much  speculation  has  been  indulged  concerning  the  times 
and  places  of  the  death  and  burial  of  these  self-immured 
.exiles.  The  veil  that  so  effectually  concealed  them,  living, 
was  not  lifted  when  they  died  ;  and  circumstance,  embarrassed 


*  The  visit  of  PrCf^ident  Stiles  must  have  been  during  the  "  boyhood"  of  Mr. 
Gaylord. 


by  conflicting  traditions,  yields  but  an  imperfect  clue  for  the 
historian. 

Mr.  Hopkins  submitted  the  several  traditions  to  President 
Stiles, — one  claiming  that  after  Whalley's  death  Goft'e  went 
to  Hartford,  thence  to  New  Haven,  where  he  was  suspected 
and  disappeared  ;  another,  that  Whalley  died  at  Tillton 's  and 
was  buried  behind  his  barn,  and  that  Golfe  then  went  to  "  the 
Narragansett,"  and  there  being  set  upon  went  southward,  as 
far  as  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  ;  another,  that  both  died  in 
Hadley  ;  and  still  another,  that  the  one  that  died  in  town  was 
buried  in  Mr.  Tillton's  garden  or  in  his  cellar.  Mr.  Hopkins 
adds,  "It  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  conjecture  among 
the  inhabitants, — in  Tillton's  cellar,  in  his  garden,  or  behind 
his  barn,  as  they  imagined  most  probable.  Of  his  being 
buried  under  a  fence,  between  two  lots,  I  do  not  find  anj-- 
thing;f  nor  of  his  being  afterward  removed." 

President  Stiles  appears  to  have  formed  the  belief  that 
Whalley  and  Gofle  both  died  at  Hadley, — the  former  at  Mr. 
Russell's,  and  the  latter  at  Mr.  Tillton's.  This  conclusion 
was  strengthened  when,  in  1795, — one  year  after  he  wrote  the 
history  of  the  judges,  and  three  years  subsequent  to  his  visit 
to  Hadley, — at  the  rebuilding  of  the  main  part  of  the  old 
house  of  Mr.  Russell,  the  bones  of  a  man  of  large  size  were 
found  four  feet  below  the  surface  and  near  the  middle  part  of 
the  front  wall. 

In  August,  1674,  Gen.  GofFe  wrote  to  his  wife  concerning 
her  father,  "He  is  scarce  capable  of  any  rational  discourse, 
his  understanding,  memory,  and  speech  do  so  much  fail  him, 
and  he  seems  not  to  take  much  notice  of  anything  that  is 
either  said  or  done,  but  patiently  bears  all  things  and  never 
complains  of  anything.  The  common  question  is  to  know 
how  he  doth,  and  his  answer  for  the  most  part  is.  Very  well, 
I  praise  God.  He  has  not  been  able  of  a  long  time  to  dress, 
undress,  or  feed  himself,  without  help  ;  it  is  a  great  mercy  to 
him  that  he  has  a  friend  who  takes  pleasure  in  being  helpful 
to  him." 

As  Governor  Hutchinson  says  Whalley  had  been  dead  some 
time  when  the  last  known  letter  of  Goffe  was  written,  April 
2,  1679,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  not  alive  when  Capts.  Loth- 
rop  and  Beers  came  to  Hadley  in  August,  1675,  during  the 
war  of  King  Philip.  The  bones  found,  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able, were  those  of  Gen.  Whalley. 

Mr.  Judd  intimates  that  Mr.  Russell  began  to  entertain  the 
officers  of  the  Indian  war  in  1675.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  Gen.  Gofle — after  the  death  of  his 
companion,  to  whom  he  took  "pleasure  in  being  helpful" — 


t  This  miasine  tradition  was  secured  by  President  Stiles  himself ;  he  says:  "On 
my  return  from  Hadley,  passing  through  Wetherstiehl,  on  the  2oth  of  May,  I 
visited  Mrs.  Porter,  a  sensible  and  judicious  woman,  aged  77.  She  was  a  datighter 
of  Mr.  Elienezer  Marsh,  and  born  at  Iladley,  1715,  next  door  to  Mr.  Tillton's, 
one  of  the  temporary  and  interchanged  residences  of  the  judges.  This  house 
Wius  in  her  day  occupied  by  Deacon  .Tt>sei)!i  Eastman.  She  had  the  general  story 
of  the  judges,  but  said  she  knew  nothing  with  certiiinty  concerning  them,  hut 
only  that  it  was  said  they  sometimes  lived  at  Mr.  llusseU's,  and  sometimes  where 
Deacon  Ea.stman  lived, — that  one  was  buried  in  Mr.  Russell's  cellar  and  another 
in  Mr.  Tillton's  lot.  As  she  said  she  had  notliing  certain,  I  pressed  her  for  fabu- 
lous anecdotes.  She  said  she  was  ashamed  t*i  tell  young  people's  whims  and 
notions.  But  in  the  conree  of  conversation  she  said  that  when  she  was  a  girl 
it  was  the  constant  belief  among  the  neighboi-s  that  an  old  man,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  had  been  buried  in  the  fence  between  Deacon  Eastman's  and  her 
father's.  She  said  the  women  and  girls  from  their  house  and  Deacon  Eastman's 
used  to  meet  at  the  dividing  fence,  and  while  chatting  and  talking  together  for 
amusement,  one  and  another  at  times  would  say,  with  a  sort  of  skittish  fe.ar  and 
laughing,  *  "Who  knows  but  we  are  now  standing  on  the  old  man's  grave?'  She 
and  other  girls  used  to  I»e  skittish  and  fearful,  even  in  wjvlking  the  street,  when 
they  came  against  the  pla<;e  of  that  supposed  grave ;  though  it  was  never  known 
whereabouts  in  that  line  of  fence  it  lay.  She  supiwsed  the  whole  was  only 
young  folks'  foolish  notions;  for  some  were  much  concerned  lest  the  old  man's 
ghost  should  appear  at  or  about  that  grave.  But  this  lady  was  very  reluctant  at 
narrating  these  circumstances  and  stories,  to  which  she  gave  no  heed  herself. 

"  In  repeatedly  visiting  Hadley  lor  many  years  past,  and  in  cnnvel-sation  with 
pel-sons  l«irn  .and  brought  up  in  Hadley,  but  settled  elsewhere,  I  have  often  per- 
ceived a  concurrent  tr.adition  that  Iwith  died  there,  and  were  buried  somewhere 
in  Hadley  unknown,  though  generally  agreed  that  one  was  buried  at  Russell's." 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


53 


went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Tillton,  and  there  eked  out  his  days 
in  solitude.  The  time  o(  liis  death  is  matter  of  conjecture, 
— possihly  as  early  as  1680. 

In  concluding  his  hi.story,  President  Stiles  says:  "The  en- 
lightened, upright,  and  intrepid  judges  of  Charles  I.  will 
hereafter  go  down  to  posterity,  with  increasing  renown,  among 
the  Jephthahs,  the  Baraks,  the  Gideons  and  the  Washingtons, 
and  others  raised  up  by  Providence  for  great  and  momentous 
occasions ;  whose  memories,  with  those  of  all  the  other  suc- 
cessful and  unsuccessful,  but  intrepid  and  patriotic  defenders 
of  real  liberty,  will  be  selected  in  history,  and  contemplated 
with  equal,  impartial,  and  merited  justice  ;  and  whose  names, 
and  achievements,  and  sufferings  will  be  transmitted  with 
honor,  renown,  and  glory,  through  all  the  ages  of  liberty  and 
of  man." 

It  is  certainly  to  the  credit  of  New  England  that  so  early 
in  her  history  there  existed  such  manifest  love  of  liberty  and 
scorn  of  oppression,  that  no  son  of  hers  who  had  knowledge 
concerning  the  refugees  accepted  royal  gold  for  their  be- 
trayal. 

The  story  which  connects  the  name  of  Gen.  Goft'e  with  an 
alleged  defense  of  Hadley  is  given  place  in  the  history  of  that 
town. 

Mr.  Israel  P.  "Warren,  in  his  book  entitled  "The  Three 
Judges,"  in  substance  says,  that  after  the  death  of  Whalley 
the  danger  of  the  discovery  of  the  retreat  at  Hadley  was  en- 
hanced by  the  coming  to  America  of  Edward  Randolph,  with 
a  sort  of  roving  commission,  as  a  spy  upon  the  colonies  ;  and 
that  in  consequence  Gen.  Goft'e  may  have  changed  his  place 
of  abode,  as  he  had  done  before  under  similar  circumstances. 
In  support  of  such  a  change,  Mr.  Warren  quotes  from  the 
letters  of  Gen.  Goffe  and  Mr.  Tillton. 

The  former,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  of  Boston, 
dated  "  Ebenezer,  Sept.  8,  1676,"  says,  "I  was  greatly  be- 
houlding  to  Mr.  Noell  for  his  assistance  in  my  remove  to  this 
town.  I  pray,  if  he  be  yet  in  Boston,  remember  my  atfection- 
ate  respects  to  him." 

This  would  seem  certainly  not  to  mean  the  removal  to  Had- 
ley twelve  years  previous  ;  and  the  expression  "wiy  remove" 
indicates  that  he  was  alone,  Whalley  having  died.  In  the 
same  letter,  he  writes,  "  I  have  received  the  letters  from  Eng- 
land that  you  inclosed  to  Mr.  Whiting."  And  again,  Oct. 
23,  1678,  "  I  should  take  it  as  a  great  kindnesse  to  receive  a 
word  from  you,  if  you  please  to  inclose  it  to  Mr.  Whiting, 
onely  with  this  short  direction  (these  for  Mr.  T.  D.).  I  hope 
it  would  come  safely." 

Mr.  Warren  remarks,  "This  Mr.  Whiting  was  doubtle.ss 
Mr.  Samuel  Whiting,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Hartford  at 
that  time.  '  T.  D.'  were  the  initials  used  by  himself  in  his 
letters  to  Dr.  Mather,  and  were  evidently  well  known  to  Mr. 
Whiting.  The  inference  seems  almost  unavoidable  that  the 
latter  gentleman  was  made  the  medium  of  transmitting  Gott'e's 
letters,  in  consequence  of  living  near  and  being  intimately 
acqiuiinted  with  him. 

"Still  more  conclusive  is  a  letter  to  Gofl'e  from  Mr.  Peter 
Tillton,  of  Hadley,  dated  July  30,  1679.  '  Yours,  which  I 
cannot  but  mention,  dated  M"""  18,  '78,  I  receaved,  crying 
howe  Wellcome  and  refreshing  to  my  poors  unworthye  selfe 
(which  as  an  honeycombe,  to  use  your  owne  similitude,  full 
of  pretious  sweetenes),  I  would  you  did  but  knowe,  being  a 
semblance  or  representation  of  what  sometimes,  though  un- 
worth}-e,  I  had  a  ftuller  ft'ruition  of.  I  have  here  sent  you  by 
S.  P.  tenn  pounds,  haveing  not  before  a  safe  hand  to  convey 
it,  it  being  a  token  of  the  love  and  remembrance  of  severall 
friends  who  have  jou  uppon  their  hearts.'  Then,  after  men- 
tioning certain  news  lately  received  from  England,  he  says, 
'  which  I  presume  Mr.  Russell  hath  given  you  a  full  account 
of,  as  understanding  he  hath  written  to  Hartford,  that  I  neede 
not  tawtologize  in  that  matter,' — i.e.,  repeat  it." 


CHAPTER    XV. 

KING    PHILIP'S    ■WAB. 

I. 

ITS   CAUSES. 

The  Indian  war  of  1675  and  1676,  known  to  historians  as' 
King  Philip's  War,  was  the  culmination,  and  to  the  Indians 
the  final  catastrophe,  of  the  long  struggle  between  the  white 
and  the  red  races  for  the  mastery  of  the  soil  of  New  England. 

Its  ravages  filled  New  England  with  mourning  over  new- 
made  graves.  It  found  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
in  Massachusetts,  from  Springfield  to  Northfield,  prosperous 
and  thriving,  but  left  it  a  desolate,  blackened,  blood-stained, 
and  almost  desolate  waste. 

In  the  autumn  before  its  close  Springfield  was  in  ashes,  and 
its  terrified  people  were  about  deserting  it  forever.  The  inhab- 
itants of  Northfield  and  Deerfleld  had  fled  from  their  ruined 
homes,  and  the  people  of  Westfield,  Northampton,  Hadley,  and 
Hatfield  were  debating  whether  it  were  not  too  dangerous  to 
stay  longer  in  their  isolated  position  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
enemy's  land,  for  their  old  Indian  neighbors  of  the  valley, 
with  whom  they  had  lived  so  long  in  peace, — the  Ag-a-viams, 
the  Wo-ro-noaks,  the  Non-o-tucks,  the  Pa-comp-tucks,  and  the 
Squak-heags, — had  all  joined  King  Philip. 

But  at  its  close  the  Indian  fled  and  the  white  man  stayed. 
Prom  the  first  settlement  of  New  England  by  the  whites  it  was 
evident  that  sooner  or  later  there  must  come  a  war  of  races. 
On  the  part  of  the  whites  every  efi'ort  was  made  to  conciliate  the 
savage  and  win  him  into  the  paths  of  civilization  and  peace. 
On  the  first  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  a  fearful 
distemper  was  almost  exterminating  the  natives.  The  white 
men  and  women  visited  them  in  their  wigwams,  at  the  risk  of 
contagion,  and  afforded  them  every  relief  in  their  power.  A 
few  years  later  missionaries  devoted  their  lives  to  the  object  of 
converting  the  Indians  to  Christianity,  and  with  infinite  labor 
learned  their  language  and  translated  the  whole  Bible  into 
their  difficult  tongue.  Everywhere  their  right  to  the  soil  was 
respected,  and  no  part  of  it  was  occupied,  that  had  not  been 
already  deserted  by  them,  without  fairly  purchasing  the  same 
and  taking  deeds  therefor.  But  all  of  these  eflbrts  proved  una- 
vailing. 

Over  the  mind  of  the  Indian  the  influences  of  a  humane 
civilization  bore  little  sway.  Under  all  circumstances  his 
temper  was  sullen,  jealous,  passionate,  intensely  vindictive, 
and  ferociously  cruel.  It  was  impossible  that  the  Indian  of 
New  England  should  ever  become  a  good  neighbor.  "  The 
white  man  or  the  Indian  must  cease  from  the  land." 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  for  the  first 
fifty  v'ears  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  in  the  year 
1620,  there  was  but  little  actual  warfare  between  the  whites 
and  the  Indians  of  New  England.  This  long  immunity  from 
the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare  was  doubtless  occasioned  in  part 
by  the  uniform  fair  treatment  of  the  savages  by  the  Fathers  of 
Now  England,  and  also  in  part  by  the  decisive  measures  taken 
by  the  earl\'- settlers  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  once-power-  -■ 
ful  Pequot  nation  in  the  year  1637. 

II. 

UN-CAS   AND    MI-AN-TO-NO-MO. 

Although  the  destruction  of  the  Pequots  relieved  the  whites 
of  New  England  from  further  Indian  ravages  for  a  period  of 
forty  years,  and  until  another  generation  of  men  came  on  the 
stage  of  active  life,  yet  it  tended  to  intensify  the  hatred  which 
had  long  existed  between  the  neighboring  tribes  of  Mohicans 
and  Narragansetts. 

The  Pequots,  the  reader  will  remember,  dwelt  on  the  eastern  '' 
border  of  Connecticut,  between  the  Rhode  Island  line  and  the 
river  Thames,  then  called  the  Pequot  River.     To  the  east  of 
the  Pequots  were  the  Narragansctts,  and  to  the  west  of  them, 
between  the  Thames  and  the  Connecticut,  dwelt  the  Mohicans, 


54 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


At  the  close  of  the  Prquot  war  the  eaptives  were  divided  by 
the  whites  between  Un-c.as,  of  the  Mo/ik-ans,  and  Mi-iin-io- 
no-mo,  of  the  Narragnnsetts. 

These  two  tribes  were  hereditary  enemies,  althougli  both 
were  the  allies  of  the  English,  and  both  aided  the  whites  in 
the  war  against  the  Peqnots.  The  deserted  hunting-grounds 
of  the    Peqiiofs  soon  became  a  bone  of  contention  between  the 

val  tribes,  and  in  the  year  1643  war  broke  out  between  them. 
Previous  to  the  commencement  of  hostilities  the  emissaries  of 
Miantonomo  had  made  several  attempts  ujmn  the  life  of  tin- 
eas, and  Uncas  had  made  complaints  to  the  whites  of  such 
treatment. 

Miantonomo  had  also  made  an  ineffectual  attempt,  about  the 
■J-ear  1042,  to  unite  the  New  England  tribes^in  a  war  of  exter- 
mination against  the  whites.  Failing  in  this  scheme,  and 
incensed  at  Uncas  for  not  joining  him  in  it,  he  determined  to 
make  war  upon  the  Mohicans. 

In  the  month  of  July,  in  the  year  164.3,  Miantonomo, 
without  giving  Uncas  any  previous  notice  of  his  intentions 
or  making  any  formal  declaration  of  war,  set  out  at  the  head 
of  some  seven  hundred  warriors  to  invade  the  Mohican  country. 
Uncas,  learning  of  his  approach,  hastily  gathered  an  equal 
number,  and  marched  out  to  bar  his  progress. 

The  two  hostile  bands  met  upon  the  old  Pequot  hunting- 
ground,  and,  halting  in  sight  of  each  other,  with  a  level  plain 
between  them,  the  two  rival  chieftains  advanced  to  the  front 
and  held  a  parley. 

The  wildest  romance  of  the  old  wilderness  warfare  presents 
no  more  striking  scene  than  this  meeting  of  Uncas  and  Mian- 
tonomo. Uncas  proposed  that  they,  the  two  chieftains,  should 
there  and  then  decide  the  contest  b}'  single  combat,  and  that 
the  people  of  the  one  vanquished  should  become  the  subjects 
of  the  victorious  sachem. 

To  this  proposal  of  Uncas,  Miantonomo  made  haughty  an- 
swer :  "  My  warriors  have  come  to  fight,  and  they  shall  fight. " 

Upon  receiving  this  defiant  answer,  Uncas  fell  prostrate 
upon  the  ground.  It  was  the  signal  for  his  men  to  rush  over 
his  body  upon  the  Narraganseits.  The  Mohicans  were  victo- 
rious. Miantonomo  was  overtaken  in  the  flight,  and  made  a 
prisoner  by  Uncas.  Haughty  and  defiant  still,  he  would  ask 
no  quarter;  but  Uncas  for  the  time  being  saved  his  life,  and 
delivered  him  to  the  English,  at  Hartford,  for  safe-keepins;. 

The  ease  of  Miantonomo  was  brought  by  Uncas  before  the 
commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  and  they  ordered  that  he 
should  suffer  death,  and  that  Uncas  should  be  his  executioner. 

Miantonomo  was  taken  to  the  field  of  the  fight,  and,  in  the 
presence  of  two  Englishmen,  a  warrior  of  Uncas  sunk  a 
hatchet  into  his  brain.  The  spot  where  he  is  said  to  have 
Tallen,  in  the  town  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  is  marked  by  a  block 
of  granite,  simply  inscribed  with  his  name,  Miantonomo. 
Thus  died  the  second  prominent  Indian  conspirator  against 
the  whites, — the  prototype,  after  Sas-sa-cus,  the  Pcqiiof,  of 
Philip  and  Pontiac,  of  Tecumseh,  Black  Hawk,  and  Osceola. 

The  part  which  the  English  took  in  this  quarrel  between 
Uncas  and  Miantonomo,  still  rankling  in  the  minds  of -the 
Narraganseits,  doubtless  led  to  their  union  with  the  Pokano- 
kets,  nearly  forty  years  later,  in  Philip's  war.  The  killing  of 
the  Narragansctt  sachem  in  cold  blood,  while  a  prisoner  of 
war,  was  without  doubt  justifiable  in  the  minds  of  the  New 
England  fathers  as  a  means  of  self-defense,  for  had  his  life 
been  spared  the  dreadful  scenes  of  Philip's  war  would,  it  is 
probable,  have  been  enacted  long  before  they  were,  while  the 
colonists  were  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  savages.  Yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  side  of  the  Indian  has  never  been 
written. 

III. 

MAS-SA-SOIT    AND    HIS    TWO   .SONS,    WAM-SUT-TA    AND    MKT-A- 
CO-SIET. 

The  powcrl'\il  tribe  of  the  Wnmpanoags,  or  Po-l;a-no-kefs, 
dwelt  at  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay  and  along  its  eastern 


shore,  and  consequently  were  the  near  neighbors  of  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  of  Plymouth.  Mas-sn-snH,  the  chief  sachem  of 
the  Pokanokets,  was  always  the  warm  friend  and  steadfast 
ally  of  the  Engli.sh.  Massasoit  had  two  sons,  who  were  the 
hereditary  heirs  of  his  sachemship,  named  Wa>n-sut-ta  and 
Mci-a-co-met.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1060,  Mas-sa-solt  died 
at  an  advanced  age,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Wam- 
suf-fa.  In  the  month  of  .June,  1600,  Wam-sui-ta  visited  the 
General  Court  at  Plymouth,  and  among  other  requests  was 
desirous  of  an  English  name.  It  was  easy  for  the  court  to 
grant  this  last  request,  and  so  they  "ordered  that  for  the  fu- 
ture he  should  be  called  by  the  name  of  Alexander  Pokanoket." 
Desiring  the  same  in  behalf  of  his  brother,  the  court  at  the 
same  time  ordered  that  Met-a-co-met  should  from  thenceforth 
be  called  Philip. 

But  the  reign  of  Alexander  over  the  Pokanokets  was  short. 
It  was  reported  at  Plymouth  in  the  summer  of  1662  that  he 
was  plotting  with  the  JVarraga»srffs,  and  a  message  was  sent 
to  him  to  come  to  town  and  explain  his  conduct.  Failing  to 
come,  an  armed  party  was  sent  for  him.  He  made  satisfactory 
explanations,  and  set  out  on  his  return.  At  the  end  of  two  or 
three  days  he  changed  his  mind,  and  turned  back  toward 
Boston.  He  reached  Maj.  Winslow's  house  at  Marshfield, 
and  there  was  taken  sick  of  a  fever.  He  was  carefullj'  taken 
home  by  water,  soon  died  there,  and  his  brother,  Philip,  be- 
came chief  sachem  of  the  Pokanokets. 

IV. 

PHILIP    OF   POKANOKET. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1602,  at  the  beginning  of  Philip's 
sachemship,  he  was  summoned  to  attend  the  General  Court 
at  Plymouth.  Apprehensions  were  felt  as  to  the  temper  he 
was  in,  and  he  was  called  to  answer  such  questions  as  should 
be  proposed  to  him,  and  to  deliberate  upon  such  matters  as 
might  tend  to  the  promotion  of  peace  and  good-will.  At  this 
interview  "  it  was  concluded  by  the  court  and  him  mutually, 
that  the  ancient  covenant  betwixt  his  predecessors  and  them 
should  be  continued,"  and  Philip,  with  five  of  his  sagamores, 
signed  an  instrument  acknowledging  himself  to  be  a  subject  of 
the  king  of  England,  and  to  faithfully  keep  and  preserve  in- 
violate the  agreements  made  by  his  father,  Massasoit,  and  his 
brother,  Alexander. 

At  the  end  of  five  years  of  peace,  in  June,  1667,  it  was  ru- 
mored at  Plymouth  that  Philip  was  making  overtures  to  the 
Dutch  or  French  for  a  combined  movement  against  the  Eng- 
lish ;  but  Philip  so  explained  the  matter  that  the  apprehen- 
sions of  the  English  were  allayed. 

Again,  in  1671,  Philip  began  to  excite  suspicions  of  mis- 
behavior. His  arms  were  ordered  to  be  given  up,  and  the 
court  appointed  eight  persons  to  act  with  the  magistrates  as  a 
"Council  of  War."*  Advice  was  also  asked  of  the  colonies 
of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island.  Philip  in  the  mean  time 
continued  contumacious,  and  made  complaint  to  divers  gen- 
tlemen of  Massachusetts.  The  latter  colony  offered  its  assist- 
ance in  the  quarrel  between  Philip  and  the  Plymouth  court. 
This  resulted  in  another  compact  with  Philip,  and  three  more 
years  of  peace  ensued. 

In  the  year  1674  new  troubles  began.  Satc-.ta-maii,  a  faith- 
ful Indian,  informed  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  "  that  the  said 
Philip  was  undoubtedly  endeavoring  to  raise  new  troubles,  and 
was  endeavoring  to  engage  all  the  sachems  round  about  in  a 
war."!  This  resulted  in  the  murder  of  Sau-sa-man  in  .lone, 
1675.  His  murderers  were  caught,  tried  by  the  court,  con- 
victed, and  executed. 

A  short  time  before  the  court  met  at  which  this  trial  took 
place,  "Philip,"  says  an  old  chronicler,  "began  to  keep  his 
men  in  arms  about  him,  and  to  gather  strangers  unto  him,  and 

*  Plym,  Co!.  Roc,  Vol.  V.,  p.  63,  etc. 

t  Records,  etc.,  in  Hazard,  II.,  532;  quoted  in  Palfrey's  Hist,  of  New  England, 
Vol.  III.,  p.  150. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY". 


55 


to  marcli  about  in  arms  toward  the  upper  end  of  the  neck  on 
which  he  lived  and  near  to  the  English  houses." 

Mount  Hope,  the  home  of  Philip,  which  he  inherited  from 
his  father  Massasoit  through  his  elder  brother  Wamsutta, 
alias  Alexander,  was  on  that  beautiful  peninsula,  about 
twelve  miles  long,  which  extends  southerly  from  the  north- 
eastern shore  of  Narragansett  Bay,  and  now  belongs  to  the 
town  of  Bristol,  R.  I.  Down  through  this  peninsula  runs  a 
range  of  hills,  on  one  of  which,  called  Mount  Hope,  was 
Philip's  home. 

The  Bejiinnimj  of  the  War. — The  English  settlement  nearest 
to  Mount  Hope  was  Swanzey,  in  the  Plymouth  colony.  As 
early  as  the  14th  of  June,  1675,  news  came  to  Swanzey  that 
Philip  was  continually  in  arms ;  that  many  strange  Indians 
were  flocking  to  his  fort ;  that  they  had  sent  their  wives  to 
the  Narragansett  country;  and  that  they  "were  giving  fre- 
quent alarums  by  drums  and  guns  in  the  night,  and  invaded 
the  passage  toward  Pl3'mouth  ;  and  that  their  young  In- 
dians were  earnest  for  war."  At  length,  on  Sunday,  the  20th 
day  of  June,  the  first  blow  of  the  war  came.  On  that  day.  a 
party  of  Philip's  Indians  approached  Swanzey,  burned  two 
hou.ses,  and  then  withdrew.  On  the  23d  the  Indians  again 
appeared  at  Swanzey,  and  robbed  a  dozen  houses.  During 
the  next  three  days  several  Englishmen  were  killed  and  their 
bodies  brutally  mangled. 

Decisive  measures  were  at  once  taken  by  the  colonists. 
Troops  from  Plymouth  under  Maj.  Bradford  and  Maj.  Cud- 
worth,  and  from  Boston  under  Capt.  Henchman,  a  troop  of 
horse  from  Boston  under  Capt.  Prentice,  and  a  hundred  vol- 
unteers under  Capt.  Mosely,  all  reached  the  scene  of  action 
on  the  28th.  The  troops  were  attacked  on  the  evening  of 
their  arrival,  one  man  killed,  and  others  wounded.  The  next 
morning  the  Indians  approached  the  English  camp,  were 
driven  back  by  Capt.  Mosely,  and  five  or  six  of  them  killed. 

But  Philip,  in  the  mean  time,  found  his  position  untenable, 
and,  leaving  it  in  the  night,  went  over  in  canoes  to  the  east 
shore  of  the  ba_v.  The  English,  under  Maj.  Savage,  who  had 
arrived  from  Boston  to  assume  the  chief  command,  now 
crossed  over  and  occupied  Mount  Hope.  While  this  was 
going  on,  Philip's  Indians  marched  toward  Plymouth,  and, 
falling  upon  the  settlements  at  Dartmouth,  Taunton,  and  Mid- 
dleborough,  burned  the  houses  and  killed  three  inhabitants. 

But  our  account  of  this  war  must  hereafter  be  confined 
principally  to  the  bloody  scenes  enacted  during  its  contin- 
uance in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  And  in  this  chapter 
but  little  more  than  a  summary  of  the  main  incidents  of  the 
struggle  will  be  attempted,  leaving  the  details  to  the  histories 
of  the  different  towns  in  which  such  incidents  occurred. 

V. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1675  IN  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 
The  Rising  of  the  Nipmucks. — Up  to  the  middle  of  July, 
1675,  the  war  had  been  confined  to  the  eastern  country  bounded 
on  Narragansett  Bay,  but  now  a  new  danger  menaced  the 
English, — that  of  the  union  of  all  the  tribes  in  a  common  war 
of  extermination.  With  the  view  of  preventing  this,  on  the 
15th  of  July  the  commissioners  of  the  colonies  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  attended  by  a  strong  military  force, 
went  into  the  country  of  the  Narraganseiis,  and  concluded 
with  them  a  treaty  of  alliance,  by  the  terms  of  which  that 
powerful  tribe  agreed  to  aid  the  English  against  Philip. 

But  at  this  time  the  Nipmucks,  who  occupied  the  central 
^region  of  Massachusetts,  in  what  is  now  the  county  of  Worces- 
ter, commenced  hostilities  against  the  English  by  attacking 
the  town  of  Mendon,  on  the  I4th  day  of  July,  and  the  Indians 
in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  began  to  show  decided  symp- 
toms of  uniting  their  fortunes  with  Philip.  Then  the  war 
suddenly  assumed  a  new  and  more  formidable  aspect,  and  the 
English  prepared  for  the  work. 

Lt  Qaaboag,  now  Brookfield,  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  families 


had  settled.  At  this  place,  by  the  middle  of  July,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Nipmucks  had  assembled.  On  the  28th,  Capt.  Edward 
Hutchinson  arrived  at  Quaboag,  with  the  object  of  making 
with  the  Nipmucks  a  treaty  similar  to  the  one  just  made  with 
the  Narragansetts.  Arrangements  were  made  for  a  conference, 
and  Hutchinson,  on  the  2d  da}'  of  August,  repaired  to  the  spot 
agreed  upon,  but  the  Indians  failed  to  appear.  Hutchinson 
proceeded  seven  miles  farther  in  search  of  the  Indians,  but  fell 
into  an  ambuscade,  and  was  driven  back  with  severe  loss.  In 
the  mean  time,  on  the  day  before  this  fight,  Philip  arrived  at 
Quaboag.  The  little  force  under  Hutchinson  made  their  way 
back  to  the  settlement,  and,  joining  the  inhabitants,  hastily 
fortified  a  large  house.  On  the  3d  and  4th  days  of  August  the 
Indians  invested  the  fort,  and  made  repeated  attempts  to 
destroy  it  by  fire.  An  hour  after  nightfall  of  the  4th,  Maj. 
Simon  Willard  galloped  into  town  at  the  head  of  forty-seven 
horsemen,  and  relieved  the  little  garrison.  In  this  affair  the 
Indians  lost  about  eighty  men.  The  day  after  the  siege  was 
raised,  Philip,  with  forty  of  his  warriors,  met  the  Nipmuck 
chiefs  in  a  swamp  some  ten  miles  from  Brookfield,  and  made 
them  presents  for  their  bravery  in  the  late  encounter  with  the 
English. 

Brookfield  was  deserted,  and  Maj.  Willard  went  to  Hadley 
with  his  troops,  where  he  remained  three  weeks. 

The  seat  of  war  was  now  transferred  to  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  the  Indians  of  the  valley  were  animated  and 
encouraged  by  the  presence  of  Philip  himself. 

First  Signs  of  War  among  the  River  Indians. — In  the  spring 
of  1675  the  inhabitants  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  noticed  that 
the  Indians  who  lived  among  them  exhibited  many  signs  of 
discontent,  if  not  of  open  hostility.  Among  other  things  the 
Indians  neglected  to  plant  the  usual  breadth  of  corn,  and 
began  to  remove  their  eflfects  to  within  the  shelter  of  their 
forts.  Some  friendly  Non-o-tuck  squaws  also  told  families  at 
Northampton  of  the  impending  trouble. 

After  the  attair  at  Brookfield  was  over,  the  exposed  state  of 
the  towns  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  excited  the  special  solici- 
tude of  the  General  Court,  and  large  forces  were  immediately 
sent  in  that  direction  from  the  seaboard  towns,  which,  now  that 
Philip  had  left  them  and  gone  into  the  Nipmuck  country,  were 
enjoying  a  season  of  peace. 

Hadle}-,  being  protected  on  three  sides  by  water,  was  desig- 
nated as  the  principal  military  fort,  and  the  place  of  deposit 
for  supplies. 

The  Massachusetts  troops  sent  to  the  valley  were  under  the 
command  of  Capt.  Beers,  of  Watertown,  Capt.  Lothrop,  of  Ips- 
wich, and  Capt.  Mosely,  of  Boston.  The  Connecticut  troops 
sent  from  Hartford  were  commanded  by  Maj.  Treat,  of  Mil- 
ford,  who  had  with  him  at  Hadley  a  band  of  Mohican  Indians. 
The  highest  officer  in  command  of  these  forces  after  Willard 
went  eastward  was  Maj.  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield. 

When  the  news  reached  Springfield  of  the  attack  on  Qua- 
boag, Maj.  Pynchon  immediately  sent  Lieut.  Thomas  Cooper, 
with  a  Springfield  company  and  thirty  men  from  Hartford,  to 
the  relief  of  that  settlement.  But  this  force  arrived  at  Qua- 
boag after  the  Indians  had  been  driven  away  by  Maj.  Wil- 
lard and  the  troops  from  the  Bay  under  Capts.  Lothrop  and 
Beers.  • 

After  the  return  of  the  troops  from  Quaboag,  the  people  of 
the  valley  awaited  further  developments  with  great  anxiety. 
Precautions  were  taken  to  guard  against  surprise,  and  detach- 
ments of  troops  from  Hadley  were  stationed  at  Northampton, 
Hatfield,  Deerfield,  and  Northfield. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August,  Maj.  Pynchon  wrote  to  Capt. 
John  AUyn,  of  Hartford,  as  follows  : 

"  Springfield,  Aug.  22, 1675. 
"  Capt.  John  Allyn,  S^ — In  ye  uiglit  a  Post  was  sent  me  from  Hadley  that  o' 
forces  are  returned ;  Capt.  Wats  thither  and  the  Bay  forces  to  Quatiaug.    Nothing 
done,  but  about  50  wigwams  they  found  empty  vi^^  they  have  burnt. 

"  They  write  from  Hadley  they  expect  nothing  but  ye  enemy  to  insult  and  fall 
upon  ye  remote  Townes ;  that  they  are  in  great  feares ;  a  guard  of  20  left  at 


56 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Squakeok  is  too  weak ;  some  of  y^  soldiers  left  at  Pacomnick  Capt.  Wats  speaks 
of  calling  of,  well  trollies  y^  gtly ;  suspect  u'  Indians  y*  went  out  to  be  fearefuU 
or  false  or  both  ;  say  y*  ye  sheepe  at  Squakeake  are  driven  away  since  y  soldiers 
were  ttiere ;  suspect  y«  enemy  to  be  between  Hadley  and  Squakeok,  at  Paquayag, 
about  lit  mile  from  y"  G"  River.  I  am  sending  to  Capt.  Wats  to  stay  wt""  his 
ftn'ces  there :  I  would  gladly  you  would  allow  it,  and  give  further  order  about  it ; 
as  yt  they  may  make  discovery  for  ye  enemy  at  ye  place  forenamed.  The  Indian 
you  formerly  writt  off  coming  in  to  Uncas,  it  must  be  seriously  considered 
whether  none  that  are  murderers  of  y  English  be  among  them,  and  such  must 
be  delivered  up.     I  pray  God  direct  you  and  us  <&  be  our  salvation. 

"  Comunecate  advice  and  councell  as  you  may  judge  needfuU.  They  much  de- 
sire y«  presence  of  some  principall  man  at  Hadley  to  direct,  sis  need  reg's  &  to  ex- 
pedite affaii-s. 

"  Yotii-s  in  ye  L'd  Jesus, 

" John  Pynchon. 

"  Momonto  thinks  ye  Indian  enymy  may  be  in  a  swamp  called  Momattanick, 
about  .3  mile  off  Paquayag,  between  Hadley  and  Squakeake ;  it  is  a  pitty,  but 
they  should  be  disrested ;  and  yo'  Indians  will  be  ye  most  likely  to  doe  some- 
thing. I  pray  give  further  orders  about  Capt  Wats,  &  if  Major  Tallcot  might  be 
w***  y",  I  hope  it  w'"*  turne  to  good. 

[Diiected]     "These  Fur  Mr.  John  Allyn,  Hartford. 

"  Haat,  Post  Hast." 

On  the  25th  of  August  the  first  engagement  occurred  in  the 
valley.  At  Hatfield  was  a  little  stockaded  fort  garrisoned  by 
some  friendly  Indians.  These  Indians  were  suspected  of  being 
unfaithful,  and  Capts.  Beers  and  Lothrop  were  sent  to  disarm 
them.  The  Indians  had  left  the  fort  the  night  before  the 
arrival  of  the  English.  The  English  pursued,  and  overtook 
them  in  a  swamp  near  the  foot  of  Sugar-Loaf  Mountain.  In 
the  battle  which  then  occurred  ten  of  the  whites  and  twenty- 
si.\  of  the  Indians  were  killed. 

An  attack  was  made  on  Deerfield  on  the  1st  day  of  Septem- 
ber; several  houses  and  barns  were  burned,  and  two  men 
killed.  On  the  1st  day  of  September  also  occurred,  it  is  said, 
the  attack  on  Hadley,  during  which  it  is  a  tradition  that  the 
Regicide,  Col.  Goffe,  mysteriously  appeared  amid  the  confu- 
.sion  occasioned  by  the  outcries  of  the  furious  savages,  and, 
throwing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  frightened  populace,  re- 
stored order  and  expelled  the  foe.  The  authenticity  of  this 
story  is  questioned  by  Mr.  Sheldon,  the  historian  of  Deerfield. 
The  details  of  this  aft'air  will  be  found  by  the  reader  in  the 
history  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  farther  on  in  this  volume. 

On  the  2d  of  September,  at  Northfield,  a  small  party  ven- 
tured out  of  the  fort,  and  on  their  return  were  intercepted  by 
the  savages  and  nine  of  their  number  killed. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  Capt.  Beers,  with  thirtj'-six  men, 
was  sent  up  from  Hadley  with  wagons,  to  bring  off  the  re- 
mainder of  the  garrison  at  Northfield,  with  its  stores.  When 
within  three  miles  of  the  fort  the  English  fell  into  an  am- 
bu.scade,  and  fought  bravely  till  their  ammunition  was  ex- 
hausted. Capt.  Beers,  with  twenty  of  his  men,  was  slain,  as 
well  as  twenty-six  of  the  eiiem}'. 

Two  days  after,  Maj.  Treat  went  up  the  river  with  one  hun- 
dred men,  to  repeat  the  attempt  to  bring  off  the  Northfield 
garrison.  Although  attacked  by  the  Indians,  he  fought  his 
way  through,  succeeded  in  bringing  away  the  people  from 
Northfield,  and  that  settlement  was  abandoned  to  the  enemy. 

After  Northfield  was  abandoned,  Deerfield  became  the  fron- 
tier-town in  that  direction.  It  was  deemed  to  be  so  insecure, 
that  about  the  9th  of  September  its  inhabitants  left  it  and 
sought  shelter  in  the  towns  below.  The  Deerfield  people  left 
behind  them  a  large  quantity  of  wheat,  which  it  was  thought 
desirable  to  secure.  Capt.  Lothrop,  with  a  company  of  ninety 
men,  was  sent  with  eighteen  wagons  and  their  teamsters  to 
bring  this  wheat  away.  The  wheat  was  thrashed,  the  wagons 
loaded,  and  Capt.  Lothrop,  on  his  return  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, fell  into  the  ambuscade  of  Bloodi/  Bronk.  Lothrop 
was  soon  shot  dead.  His  company,  known  as  "The  Flower 
of  Essex," — having  been  "all  culled  out  of  the  towns  of  that 
county," — were  all  slain  save  seven  or  eight  at  the  utmost. 
"  The  day,"  says  Hubbard,  "  was  the  saddest  that  ever  befell 
New  England."  The  details  of  this  tight  will  be  found  farther 
on,  in  the  history  of  Deerfield. 

A  few  days  after  the  afi'air  at  Blocxly  Brook,  Deerfield  was 


abandoned  by  its  little  garrison,  under  Capt.  Mosely.  And 
now  that  Northfield  and  Deerfield  were  both  deserted  by  their 
white  inhabitants,  the  Squak-heags  and  Pa-comp-tucks  recov- 
ered for  a  time  the  possession  of  their  ancient  hunting- 
grounds.  This  was  an  important  acquisition  to  the  Indians. 
The  most  famous  fishing-ground  on  the  river,  the  Pas-quam- 
scut, — now  Turner's  Falls, — was  again  theirs,  as  well  as  the  ex- 
tensive corn-planting  meadows  on  the  Deerfield  River.  This 
region  now  became  the  headquarters  of  the  savages,  and  in  its 
secure  fastnesses  King  Philip  lurked. 

THE    BURNING    OF   SPRINGFIELD. 

The  next  blow  fell  upon  Springfield.  On  the  morning  of 
the  5th  of  October  following,  Springfield  was  attacked  by  the 
Indians,  and,  save  two  or  three  buildings,  laid  in  ashes.  The 
most  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  having  received  timely 
warning,  had  assembled  at  the  fortified  house  of  Mr.  John 
Pynchon,  and  saved  their  lives.  Only  Ensign  Thomas  Cooper 
and  two  or  three  others  were  killed.  For  the  details  of  the 
sacking  of  Springfield  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  history  of 
Springfield,  farther  on  in  these  pages. 

On  the  first  page  of  Vol.  III.  of  the  Town  Records  of 
Springfield  is  pasted  a  sheet  of  paper  on  which  is  written  the 
following  pathetic  memorandum  of  this  event: 

"Oh  the  6th  day  of  October,  in  the  year  1675,  a  day  to  be  kept  i[i  memory  by 
posterity,  when  the  Barbarus  heathen  made  an  attack  on  this  poore  towne,  killed 
two  men  ami  a  woman  and  wounded  severall,  one  of  which  dyed.  Soon  after 
Burned  down  29  dwelling-lionses  and  Barns,  much  Corne  and  Hay  ;  but  God  did 
wonderfully  preserve  us,  or  we  had  been  a  prey  to  there  teeth.  God  in  his  good 
providence  so  ordered  it,  an  Indian  gave  intelligence  of  the  enemies'  designs  to 
fall  on  this  Towne,  whereby  we  escaped  with  our  lives,  for  which  we  should  give 
God  the  glory. 

".rONATHAN  BUKT  being  an  eye-witness  of  the  same." 

The  day  before  Springfield  was  destroyed  Maj.  Pynchon, 
with  the  Springfield  troops,  had  marched  to  Hadley,  leaving 
his  home  defenseless.  The  inhabitants  of  Springfield  con- 
trived to  send  a  messenger  to  Hadley,  and  Maj.  Pynchon 
hastened  back  with  his  troops  for  the  relief  of  his  be- 
leaguered home,  arriving  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. Maj.  Treat,  with  his  Connecticut  troops,  had  reached 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  in  West  Springfield,  in  the  fore- 
noon of  that  day,  but  the  Indians,  being  in  overwhelming 
numbers,  succeeded  in  preventing  him  from  crossing  the 
stream.  The  Indians,  therefore,  were  not  driven  away  from 
Springfield  until  the  timely  arrival  of  Maj.  Pynchon  with 
the  Springfield  troops. 

SITUATION   OF   THE   VALLEY    IN   THE   AUTUMN    OF    1675. 

In  the  autumn  of  1675  the  situation  of  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  in  Massachusetts  was  critical  in  the  extreme. 
At  the  north  Deerfield  and  Northfield  were  both  held  by  the 
enemy.  At  the  south  Springfield,  with  all  its  stores  of  corn 
and  hay,  was  in  ashes.  In  the  centre  were  the  three  small 
towns  of  Hadley,  Northampton,  and  Hatfield,  garrisoned  by 
small  bodies  of  troops.  Ten  miles  west  of  Springfield  was 
Westfield,  also  defended  by  a  body  of  troops. 

In  the  mean  time  Maj.  Pynchon  had  resigned  his  command 
of  the  forces  on  the  Connecticut  River,  and  Capt.  Appleton 
had  been  appointed  in  his  place. 

THE   EFFICIENT   AID   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  this  emergency  Connecti- 
cut, with  generous  hand,  did  everything  in  her  power  to  assist 
her  struggling  neighbors  farther  up  the  river.  Her  eificient 
troojis,  under  Maj.  Treat,  Maj.  Talcot,  and  others,  were  almost 
constantly  in  the  field,  and  her  Council  met  almost  daily  at 
Hartford  for  many  months  to  devise  means  to  carry  on  the 
war. 

CORRESPONDENCE     RELATING     TO     THE     SITUATION     OF     THE 
VALLEY   IN   THE   FALL   OF    1675. 

The  following  letters  are  of  such  historical  interest,  and  .so 
well  explain  how  matters  stood  in  the  valley  at  the  time,  that 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


57 


we  copy  them  here  entire.  The  first  is  frcnn  Rev.  John  Russell, 
of  Hiidlc}',  to  Governor  Leverett,  and  was  written  after  re- 
ceiving a  letter  from  Maj.  Pynchon,  at  Springfield,  dated 
the  5th  October,  acquainting  him  of  the  disaster  there,  and 
requesting  him  to  inform  the  governor.  The  letter  of  Maj. 
Pynchon,  dated  the  5th  October,  will  be  found  in  the  history 
of  Springfield,  farther  on  in  this  volume. 

FROM    REV.    JOHN    RUSSKLL    TO    GOV.    LEVERETT. 

"Right  Winpfi^ — Tlie  light  nf  another  day  hath  tiirnd  o''  yesterday  foare  int* 
certainties  and  hitter  Ijiinentati  )ns  for  y"  lalamitios  and  distresses  of  o'  bretliereri 
and  friends  at  Spnagrfield,  whose  habitations  are  now  become  an  heapc.  Such 
increase  of  judgm"  shows  ye  greatnesse  of  ye  wrath  y'  is  kindled  against  us 
and  y  greatiiesse  of  y  provocations  y'  have  caused  it.  We  have  nothinge  to  say 
hut  that  till'  Lord  is  rigliteoiis  utid  we  have  rebelled,  greatly  rebelleil,  against  him. 

"The  iiiclnsed  from  tlie  IIotio^i  Major  will  givi'  you  such  account  of  it  as  is 
w'h  us  to  make.  We  luive  little  more  to  adde,  only  that  the  houses  standing  are 
alH)Ut  thirteeiie.  Two  ineu  and  one  woman  slain,  viz.,  Leift.  Cooper,  who  was 
going  toward  the  foit  to  treate  w"'  the  Indians  y'  the  day  before  ptended  great 
froindship,  bring  w"*  tliree  or  four  more  gott  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  out  of 
Town,  was  shott  so  ius  lie  fell  off  his  horee ;  but  got  up  again  and  rode  to  the  end 
of  y"  Town,  when  he  was  shott  again  and  dyed.  The  other  was  one  Miller,  of 
Spiingfield,  There  ajijieared  not  (according  to  tlieir  estimate)  above  100  In- 
dians, of  whom  tlieir  own  were  the  cheife.  Their  old  Sarbeni  Wequogan  (in 
whom  as  much  confidence  was  putt  as  in  any  of  their  Indians)  was  ringleader  in 
worde  and  deede.  Another  of  their  prineipall  men  cryed  out  to  them,  and  told 
tUeni  he  wius  lUie  y'  burnt  Quabaug,  and  now  would  make  them  like  to  it. 

"Tliey  were  gone  ere  Major  Pynchon  came  in  with  his  forces,  w"*"  wjis  atwut 
two  or  three  of  ye  clocke.  They  signifyerl  their  scnce  of  his  approch  by  their 
hoops  or  watchwords,  &  were  p^scntly  gone.  Major  Treate  wjls  gote  down  some 
hours  sooner  on  y^  west  side  of  the  River;  whose  coming  being  perceived,  iivo 
men  went  out  of  Town,  and,  alth»>  pursued  by  twenty  Indians,  carried  over  a  Iwat 
w^''  Wius  filled  w***  men;  but  the  Indians,  Htandingon  River's  banke,  shott  at  tliem, 
&  shott  one  through  the  necke  (who  is  not  likely  to  recover);  they  dui-st  not 
ativenture  to  passe  ye  River,  till  Major  Pynchon  wjis  come  in  &  the  Indians  gone. 

"  It  was  but  the  day  before,  viz.,  on  ye  i""  of  October,  y'  ye  ganison  Bouldiei"s, 
alx)ut  4.')  in  number,  left  them ;  to  their  nintuall  sorrow,  as  looking  they  should 
quickly  after  be  in  hazard  of  y'  mine  v."^  is  now  come  upon  them. 

"Our  Army  had  p'^i)ared  all  things  in  readinesse  to  goe  forth  on  Munday  at 
night  (wC"  was  y  occasion  of  calling  forth  tliese  from  Springfield)  against  a  con- 
siderable party  discovered  about  five  or  six  miles  from  Ha<lley.  But  the  three 
alarms  we  mett  w"",  &  ye  tydings  from  Springfield,  whcdly  disappointed  it.  O"" 
men  in  their  Towns,  who  before  trembled  at  the  ordei-.  That  none  should  be  left 
in  the  garrison  when  the  Army  went  out,  are  now  much  more  distressed  at  the 
thoughts  of  it,  as  looking  at  y^selves  thereby  exposed  to  inevitable  mine  upon 
yo  enemies'  assault  w^h  we  must  then  expect;  especially  c  Town  of  Hadley  is 
now  likely  to  drinke  next  (if  mercy  p^vent  not)  of  this  bitter  cup.  We  are  but 
about  50  families,  &  now  left  solitarj'. 

"The  neerest  Town  now  left  up.)n  the  river  on  this  side,  being  (as  I  guesse) 
about  70  miles  distant,  And  those  on  y^  other  side  the  River  being  so  utialile  to 
come  at  as  v/^^  any  help  had  they  it  to  afTord,  Experience  shews  us  that  an 
hundred  men  on  the  other  side  y^  River  can  lend  little  reliefe.  We  desire  to 
repose  o'  confidence  in  the  eternal  &  living  God,  who  U  the  refuge  of  his  people, 
a  p'sent  one  in  the  time  of  trouble ;  and  to  stTnd  ready  to  doe  and  suffer  his  will 
in  all  things,  acquainting  y'selves  w'h  o"-  p'sent  state,  y'  so  if  there  be  anythinge 
yt  yor  wisedomes  see  it  to  call  for,  &  yo^selves  in  a  capacity  t  >  apply  it,  we  may 
not  faile  thereof.  Perhaps  the  empowring  of  some  man  or  men  as  the  Hon"''* 
Major  or  Capt.  Applettm,  or  both,  to  direct  &  order  us  in  o'  fortifications,  might 
not  be  unusefull.  We  are  in  the  Lord's  hands,  and  then  we  would  be  in  keeping 
his  way  &  doing  his  will  wt^out  any  amazem*.  Yet  the  Lord's  now  delivering  his 
own  as  well  as  o^^  houses  into  y"  enomie's  hand  is  more  amazing  &  threatening 
to  us.  His  will  is  done.  To  his  grace  I  commend  you.  And  rest,  Yo'  WorP* 
humbly  in  all  service. 

"Jno.  Russell. 

"  0''  wounded  men  are  greatly  distressed  for  want  of  Medicines.  Those  by  sea 
not  yet  come  at  us;  those  expected  by  Capt.  Waite  left  at  Roxbury." 

FROM  MAJ.  PYNCHON  TO  GOV.  LEVERETT. 

The  second  letter  is  from  Maj.  Pynchon  himself  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  was  written  before  he  knew  that  his  resignation 
had  been  accepted.     The  messenger  was  then  on  his  way  to 

inform  him  of  that  fact. 

"  Springfield,  Oct.  8,  1675. 

"  Honored  Sr., — I  desyred  Mr.  Russell  to  give  you  an  aco'  of  ye  stroake  upon 
Pore  distressed  Springfield,  w^h  I  hope  will  excuse  my  late  doeing  of  it.  On  y" 
4">  of  Oct.  o""  Soldiers  w«''  were  at  Springfield  I  had  called  all  off,  leaving  none 
to  secure  y«  Towne  by  ye  commissioner's  order  was  so  strict. 

"  That  Night  Post  was  sent  to  us  that  500  Indians  were  about  Springfield,  in- 
tending to  destroy  it,  so  y'  ye  o'*"  of  Oct.,  w»»>  about  200  of  o'  Soldiers,  I  marched 
downe  to  Springfield,  when  we  found  all  in  flames,  about  30  dwelling  houses  burnt 
down,  &  24  or  25  Barnes,  my  Corne-mill,  saw-mill,  and  other  Buildings. 

"  Generally  men's  Hay  &  Corne  is  Burnt,  &  many  men  whose  houses  stand  had 
their  goods  burnt  in  other  house  w'^''  they  had  caryd  y™  too. 

"  Leift.  Cooper  &  two  more  slayne  &  4  pers<_tns  wounded,  2  of  w"''  are  doubtfull 
their  Recovery. 

8 


"  The  Ld  hath  made  to  drinko  deepe  of  the  cup  of  sorrow.  I  desire  we  may 
consider  y"  opperation  of  his  hand,  A  what  he  speakes  yet.  That  ye  Town  did 
not  utterly  i)ei  ish  is  cause  of  g''  ThankfuUness.  As  soon  as  o"^  forces  appeared 
ye  Indians  all  drew  oft,  so  y'  we  saw  none  of  y™.  Sent  out  Scouts  y*'  night  &  y» 
next  day,  but  discovered  ujne,  neither  can  we  satisfie  o'selves  wh  way  they  are 
goii,  their  Tracts  being  many  ways.  Some*  we  think  they  are  goa  downe  ye 
River.  O''  hist  discovery  was  of  a  considerable  Tract  upward.  O""  Indeavoi-s  here 
are  to  secure  ye  houses  and  Corne  y' is  left;  for  this  sad  providence  hath  ob- 
structed o'  going  out  w'b  ye  Anny,  &  wi  can  be  done,  I  am  at  a  g"  loss.  O''  peo- 
ple are  under  g"  disco urageni*^,  Talke  of  Leaving  y«  place.  We  need  yo'  orders 
&  directi'm  about  it.  If  it  be  deserted,  how  wofully  doe  we  yield  to  &  Inccmrage 
o'  insolent  enymy,  and  how  doth  it  make  way  for  y  giving  up  all  ye  Townes 
above.  If  it  be  held,  it  must  be  by  strength  and  many  soldiei-s,  &  how  to  have 
Provision, — I  meane  Bread, — for  want  of  a  mill,  is  difficult.  Ye  Soldiers  here  al- 
ready ccmiplaiiu-  on  y'  aco',  although  we  have  tlesh  eneough ;  &  this  very  strait — 
I  meane  no  mill — will  drive  many  of  o'  Inhabitants  away,  especially  those  y*  have 
noe  Corne,  &  many  of  them  noe  houses,  v/°^  fills  &  throngs  up  every  Koome  of 
those  y'  have,  together  w'li  ye  soldiers  now  (wh  yet  wc  cannot  be  w'^'out)  in- 
creasing o""  nund)ei-s,  so  y*,  indeed,  It  is  very  uncomtorUiblc  Living  here;  &  for 
my  owno  particular,  it  were  far  better  for  me  to  goe  away  f""  here.  I  have  n*  t 
anything  left.  I  mean  noe  Corne,  neither  Indian  nor  English,  and  noe  means  to 
keej)  one  beiist  here,  nor  can  I  have  Reliefe  in  this  Towne,  because  so  many  aio 
destitute.  But  I  resolve  to  attend  what  Cod  calls  me  to,  &.  to  stick  to  it  as  long 
as  I  can,  and  though  I  have  met  g*^'  loss  of  my  Comfeits  yet  to  doc  what  I  can 
for  defending  ye  Place.  I  hope  God  will  make  \ip  in  himselfe  what  is  wanting 
in  ye  creature  to  mee  &  to  us  all.  This  day  a  Post  is  sent  up  from  Harlford  to 
call  off  Major  Treate  w^i"  a  part  of  his  Soldiers,  from  Intelligence  they  have  of  a 
paity  of  Indian  lying  at  Wethei-sfield,  on  Kiust  side  of  ye  river,  so  y*  matters  of 
action  here  doe  Linger  exceedingly,  w^^  makes  me  wonder  what  ye  L"*  intends 
w'i>  his  i)eople,  strange  Providences  diverting  us  in  all  o'  hopefull  designs,  &  ye 
Ld.  giving  opportunity  to  ye  enymy  to  doe  us  mischiefe,  &  then  hiding  of  y", 
And  answering  all  o""  Prayere  by  Terrible  things  in  righteousness. 

"S'',  I  am  nut  capable  of  holding  any  command,  being  more  and  more  unfit  & 
almost  confounded  in  my  understanding ;  the  Ld.  direct  yo"  to  Pitch  on  a  ineeter 
person  tlian  ever  I  was;  according  txi  Liberty  from  ye  Councill  I  shall  devolve 
all  uiton  Cap*.  Appleton,  unless  Major  Treate  retnrne  againe,  till  yo  shall  give 
yo'  orders  as  shall  be  most  meete  to  yo'selves. 

"To  speake  my  tlioughts,  all  these  Townes  ought  to  be  Garrisoned,  as  I  have 
formerly  hinted,  and  had  I  bin  left  Ui  my  selfe  I  should  I  think  have  y'  we*"  Posi- 
bly  might  have  prevented  this  danuige.  But  ye  express  orders  to  doe  as  I  did, 
was  by  ye  wise  disposeing  hand  of  God,  who  knew  it  best  for  us,  &  therein  we 
must  acquiess.  And  truly  to  goe  out  after  y"  Indians  in  ye  swamps  and  thickets 
is  to  hassard  all  o'  men,  unless  we  knew  where  they  keepe,  we*"  is  altogether  un- 
known to  us,  it  God  hides  from  us  for  ends  best  knowtie  to  himselfe.  I  have 
many  tynies  thought  yi  y«  winter  were  yo  tyme  to  fall  on  y"",  but  there  are  such 
ditticnltys  y'  1  shall  leave  it,  yet  suggest  it  to  consideration.  I  will  not  further 
Trouble  yo  at  present,  but  earnestly  crave  yo'  Prayers  for  ye  Ld's  undertaking 
for  us  and  sanctifting  all  iiis  stroaks  to  us. 

"  I  remain,  yo'  unworthy  ser^-'t, 

"John  Pynchon. 

"We  are  in  g''*  hassard  if  we  doe  but  st'  out  for  wood  to  be  shot  downe  by 
some  sculking  Indians.  M"^.  Glover  had  all  his  Bookes  Burnt;  not  so  much  as  a 
Bible  saved;  a  g"  loss,  for  he  had  some  choice  bookes  and  many." 

The  nest  letter  is  from  the  Council,  at  Boston,  to  Captain 
Appleton,  at  Hadley,  informing  him  of  the  resignation  of 
Major  Pynchon,  and  his  appointment  in  the  major's  place  as 
commander  of  the  forces  of  the  valley. 

COUNCIL    OF    MASSACHUSETTS    TO    CAPT.  SAMUEL    APPLETON. 

Caft.  Appleton, — The  Council  have  seriously  considered  the  earnest  desire  of 
Major  Pynchon,  and  the  great  affliction  upon  him  &  his  family,  anil  have  at  last 
consented  to  his  request  to  dismiss  him  from  the  chief  command  of  the  army  in 
these  parts,  and  have  tliought  meet  upon  mature  thought  to  commit  the  chief 
command  unto  yourself,  being  persuaded  that  God  hath  endowed  you  with  a 
spirit  &  ability  to  manage  that  affair;  and  for  the  better  enabling  you  to  your 
employ  we  have  sent  the  Council's  order  enclosed  to  Major  Pynchon  to  be  given 
to  you,  and  we  refer  yon  to  the  instructions  given  him  for  your  directions,  ordering 
you  fiom  time  to  time  to  give  ns  advice  of  all  occurrences,  and  if  ytm  need  any 
further  orders  and  instiurtions  they  shall  be  given  you  Jis  the  matter  shall  require. 
"  So  committing  you  to  the  Lord,  desiring  his  presence  with  you  and  blessing 
upon  you,  we  remain 


"Your  friends  &  Servants. 


'  Boston,  4th  October,  1G75. 


"  Capt.  Samuel  Appleton, 
"  Comniander'in-Chief  al  tlie  headquarters  at  U-idley.'^ 

CAPT.    APPLETON    TO    GOV.    LEVERETT. 

"Oct.  12,  l(i75. 
"RiuiiT  WoKsniPFULL, — Yours  by  Lieut.  Upham  I  received,  as  also  that  of 
Oct.  9^\  from  you,  together  with  the  order  from  the  Commissi  on  ere,  concerning 
the  number  and  order  of  management  of  the  forces  in  these  parts.  In  reference 
whereto,  I  humbly  present  two  things  to  your  consideration :  First,  as  to  the  or- 
dering the  chief  command  to  one  of  such  an  inferior  capacity ;  the  vei^  thoughts 
of  it  were  and  are  to  be  such  matter  of  trouble  and  humiliation,  as  that  I  know 
not  how  to  induce  my  spirit  to  any  compliances  therewith,  lest  it  should  jirove  a 
mattj^i-of  detrinnuit  and  nut  help  to  the  public,  from  which  nothing  should  have 
moved  me  but  the  consideration  of  the  present  exigencies,  together  with  the 


58 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


remembrance  of  the  duty  I  owe  to  you  and  the  common  concerns;  unto  which 
the  Hun.  Major  havinjj;  iiddL-d  his  sni'ruwfnl  comphiitits,  fur  whifh  there  \v:is  such 
abun<tant  and  manifest  cause.  It  was  indeed  an  heart-breaking  thing  to  me, 
and  forced  me  against  my  own  spirit  tu  yield  to  the  improvement  of  the  whole 
of  my  small  talent  in  your  senice,  untill  I  might  send  to  you  (which  I  now  do) 
tj  intreat  that  there  may  be  speedilj'  an  ai)pointment  of  some  other,  more  able 
to  the  work,  and  likely  tu  obtain  the  desired  end.  I  humbly  intreat  your  most 
serious  consideration  and  help  herein.  Secondly,  my  hnniMe  recpiest  is,  that  you 
would  be  pleased  to  revive  that  part  of  your  work,  and  that  the  Hon.  Cummis- 
eioners'  ordei-s,  which  doth  strictly  prohiliit  the  fixing  of  any  of  our  soldiers  in 
gaiTistin.  I  doubt  not  but  tlic  reasLins  inducing  thereto  were  weiglity,  which 
notwithstanding  we  fiud  the  attendance  here  extremely  hazardous  to  the  loss  of 
towns  (which  is  the  loss  of  all)  as  appears  by  lamentable  experience  we  have  had 
at  Springfield,  as  also  what  is  obviims  to  the  eye  of  ejich  man's  rejison.  The 
thought  hereof  put  us  to  great  straits ;  most  willingly  would  we  attend  the  ex- 
press letter  of  your  order,  and  yet  cannot  but  tremble  at  the  thought  of  exposing 
the  towns  to  ruin.  Be  pleased,  as  seasonably  o.s  may  be,  tu  give  us  your  re- 
Bolves  herein. 

"  As  to  the  state  of  poor  desolate  Springfield,  to  whose  relief  we  came  (though 
with  a  march  that  hail  put  all  our  men  into  a  most  violent  sweat,  and  was  more 
than  they  could  well  bear)  too  late,  their  condition  is  indeed  most  afflicted,  there 
being  alwut  33  houses  and  twenty-five  barns  burnt,  and  about  fifteen  houses  left 
unburnt ;  the  people  are  full  of  fear,  and  staggering  in  their  thoughts  as  to  their 
keeping  or  leaving  of  the  place.  Thej'  whose  houses  and  provi.sions  are  con- 
sumed incline  to  leave  the  jilace,  as  thinking  they  can  better  labor  for  a  living 
Id  places  of  less  danger  than  where  they  now  are ;  hence  seem  unwilling  to 
stay,  except  they  might  freely  share  in  the  corn  and  provision  which  is  lemaiu- 
ing  and  preserved  by  the  sword.  I  cannot  but  think  it  conducive  to  the  public 
land  for  aught  I  see  to  the  private)  interests  that  the  place  be  kept,  there  being 
corn  and  provisions  enough  and  to  spare  for  the  sustenance  of  the  persons,  whose 
number  is  considerable,  and  cannot  be  maintained  elsewhere,  without  more  than 
almost  any  plan  can  afford  to  their  relief. 

"  The  worth  of  the  place  is  considerable,  and  the  holding  of  it  will  give  en- 
couragement and  help  to  others,  and  the  quitting  of  it  great  tUscouragement, 
and  hazard  to  our  passage  from  one  place  to  another,  it  being  so  vast  a  distance 
from  Hadley  to  any  other  Town  on  this  side  of  the  River.  I  have,  in  regard  of 
y*  present  distress  of  ye  piKtr  people,  adventured  to  leave  Capt.  Sill  there,  to  be 
ordered  by  the  Hon.  IMajur  until  further  t)rder  be  received. 

"What  hazard  I  run,  I  am  not  insensible,  but  do  rather  choose  to  adventure 
hazard  fci  myself  than  to  the  public,  and  so  throw  myself  on  your  worshipH 
mercy  in  so  doing. 

"  We  are  at  present  in  a  broken  posture,  incapable  of  any  great  action,  by 
reason  of  Major  Treate's  absence,  who,  upon  a  report  of  Indian  lower  down  the 
liver,  about  Hai-tford,  was  (while  I  was  absent)  recalled  by  the  Council  uf  Con- 
necticut upon  the  eighth  of  this  instant,  and  is  not  yet  returned,  nor  do  I  know 
how  it  is  with  him,  nor  when  is  like  to  return.  We  have  sent  to  the  C-ouncil  of 
Connecticut  signifying  that  our  Colony  having  been  mindful  to  complete  their 
numbers,  we  do  earnestly  expect  and  intreat  his  speedy  return,  and  that  the  am- 
munition now  at  Hartford,  and  needed  by  us,  may  be  brought  up  under  their 
guard  ;  hereto  we  have  not  yet  received  answer. 

"  In  the  account  of  Springfield  houses,  we  only  presented  the  number  of  them 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  that  in  the  town  platt;  for  in  all  on  the  west 
side  and  in  the  outskirts  on  the  east  side,  there  are  about  sixty  houses  standing, 
and  much  corn  in  and  al»out  them,  which,  coming  into  the  Indians'  hands,  will 
yield  great  support  to  them.  We  have  been  considering  the  nmking  of  a  boat 
or  Ijoats,  and  find  it  not  desirable ;  first,  because  the  river  is  not  navigable,  and 
so  none  niaile  here  can  be  had  up;  secondly,  should  we  make  alwve  the  falls, 
there  must  be  an  army  to  guard  the  workmen  in  the  work  ;  thirdly,  we  find  ex- 
ceeiUug  hard,  by  any  provision,  to  secure  our  men  in  the  boats,  by  reiison  that 
the  high  banks  of  the  river  giving  the  enemy  so  great  advantage  of  shooting 
downward  upon  us;  and  la.stly,  as  we  must  follow  the  enemy  where  he  will  go, 
We  must  eitlier  leave  a  very  strong  guard  upon  our  Ixjats,  or  lose  them,  perhaps, 
aa  soon  an  made.  There  being  now  come  in  sixty  men  under  Captain  and  Lieut. 
Upham,  and  we  needing  commanders,  especially  part  of  our  men  being  now  at 
Springfield,  and  we  not  daring  to  send  all  thither,  we  have  retaiiu'd  Capt.  Pool  to 
command  these  sixty  men  until  fuither  orders  be  given. 

"  We  are  hut  this  evening  come  up  from  Springfield,  and  are  applying  ourselves 
presently  to  the  sentling  out  scouts  for  the  discovery  of  the  enemy,  so  that  so, 
the  Lord  assisting,  we  may,  with  these  forces  that  we  have,  be  making  some  onset 
upon  him,  to  do  something  for  the  glorj'  of  God  and  release  of  his  distressed 
pe  jple,  the  sense  of  which  is  so  much  upon  my  heart  that  I  count  jiot  my  life  too 
dear  to  venture  in  any  motion  wherein  I  can  persuade  myself  I  may  be  in  a  way 
of  his  providence,  and  expect  his  gracious  presence,  without  which  all  our  en- 
deavors are  in  vain. 

"  We  confide  we  shall  not,  we  cannot,  fail  of  ye  steady  and  continued  lifting 
up  the  hands  and  hearts  of  all  God's  precious  ones,  that  our  Israel  may  in  his 
time  prevail  against  this  cursed  Amalek,  against  whom  I  believe  the  Lord  will 
have  war  forever,  until  he  have  destroyed  him.  With  Him  I  desire  to  leave  our- 
selves and  all  the  c<mcern,  and  so  doing,  to  remain 

"  Your  seiTant  obliged  to  duty, 

"Samukl  Appleton. 

"  I  commnnicated  thoughts  with  Major  Pynchon  alxtut  the  garrison  idacing  at 
Brookfiflil.  And  although  it  wotihl  lie  some  relit-f  and  comfort  to  our  messen- 
gers going  post,  yet  ctuisidering  the  great  chargt*  which  nuist  necess;irily  be  ex- 
pended upon  it,  and  that  they  have  no  winter  provision  there  for  the  keeping  of 
hoi-ses.  without  much  use  of  which  we  see  not  how  they  can  Bul»sist,  we  have 
not  seen  cause  to  order  any  ganison  thither  (nor  for  aught  yet  appeal's  shall  do, 
except  we  have  Bome  special  direction  frf>m  you  for  it).    We  also  find  that  the.se 


three  towns*  being  but  small,  and  having  sustained  much  lr)ss  in  their  crop  by 
reason  of  the  war,  and  had  much  expense  of  what  hath  been  gathered  here,  ix)th 
by  the  siddiers  and  by  those  coming  to  them  from  the  places  that  are  already 
deserted,!  are  like  to  find  the  weight  of  sustaining  the  army  too  hard  for  them  ; 
and  tlierefore  we  apprehend  it  will  be  advisable  and  uecessiiry  to  send  to  Con- 
necticut to  afford  some  help  as  may  be  needed  from  some  of  their  plantations. 

"  Capt.  Musely  makes  present  of  bis  humble  service  to  your  woi-sbip,  whereto 
the  scribe  also  desires  to  subjoin  the  tender  of  his  own. 

"These  for  the  Woi-shipful  John  Leverett,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the  Miissachu- 
setts,  at  Boston." 

Agjiin,  on  the  17th,  the  anxious  Captain  Appleton  writes  to 
the  Governor.  [The  most  of  these  letters  have  been  copied 
from  former  publications  in  which  the  spelling  had  been 
modernized.] 

CAPT.    APPLETON    TO    GOV.    LEVERETT. 

"  Hadlev,  Oct.  17,  H;75. 

"  Right  Worshipful, — I  thought  it  convenient  &  necessary  to  give  you  a 
present  account  of  our  state  and  iwsture,  that  so  you  might  thereby  be  the  better 
capacitated  both  to  send  orders  to  us  and  to  know  how  to  act  towards  others,  as 
tlie  case  doth  require. 

"On  Tuesday,  Oct.  12th,  we  left  Springfield,  and  came  that  night  ti  Hadley. 
On  the  13th  &  14th  we  used  all  diligence  to  make  discovery  of  the  enemy  by 
scouts,  but  by  reason  of  the  distance  from  here  to  Squakheage,  and  the  tim- 
orousuess  of  the  scouts,  it  turned  to  little  account ;  thereupt)n  I  found  it  very  dif- 
ficult to  know  what  to  do.  Major  Treat  was  gone  from  us,  and  when  like  to 
return  we  know  not;  our  ordere  were  to  leave  no  more  in  garrison,  but  keep 
all  for  a  field  army,  which  was  to  expose  the  towns  to  manifest  hazard.  To  sit 
still  &  do  nothing  is  t*i  tire  ourselves,  and  spoil  our  soldiers,  and  to  ruin  the 
country  by  the  insupix)rtable  burden  and  charge.  All  things  laid  together,  I 
thought  it  best  to  go  foith  after  the  enemy  with  our  present  forces.  This  once 
resolved,  I  sent  foith  warrants  on  the  14th  instant,  early  in  the  morning,  to  Capt. 
Mosely  and  Cajit.  (;is  be  is  caHed)  Seely,  at  Hatfield  &  Northampton,  to  repair 
forthwith  tu  the  headcpuirter,  that  we  might  be  rejuly  for  service.  Capt.  Mosely 
was  accordingly  with  us  with  his  whole  company  very  speedily.  Capt.  Seely,t 
after  a  considerable  time,  came  without  his  company ;  excused  their  absence  by 
his  want  of  commission.  This  commission  he  produced,  and,  upon  debate  about 
it,  seemed  satisfied,  expressing  that  his  purpose  was  to  attend  any  orders  that 
should  be  given.  I  wrote  another  warrant  and  gave  into  his  hand  to  appear 
with  his  company — which  are  alxtut  oO  men  — the  next  morning,  but  in  the  night 
he  sent  a  messenger  to  me  with  a  note,  about  intelligence  from  Major  Treat  to 
stay  till  further  orders,  etc.  I  presently  posted  away  letters  to  the  Council  at 
Hartford,  declaring  to  them  how  the  work  was  obstructed  by  absence  of  Major 
Treat  (whose  company,  indeed,  I  much  desired,  he  approving  himself  while  with 
us  a  worthy  gentleman,  and  a  discreet  and  encouniging  commander)  and  by  ab- 
sence (indeed)  of  Capt.  Seely  and  those  few  that  were  with  him. 

"  The  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Council  and  of  my  warrant  to  Capt.  Seely,  and 
his  returns  to  me,  I  send  you  here,  all  of  them  enclosed.  This  morning,  Oct.  16th, 
I  received  a  letter  sent  first  to  Major  Pynchon,  and  from  Springfield  hither,  from 
the  Omncil  at  Hartford,  dated  Oct.  12th,  which  I  also  send  the  copy  of,  whereby 
you  will  perceive  that  they  seem  to  make  some  excuse,  and  stick  at  the  want  of 
forces  here  from  Plymouth,  wherein  I  not  so  fitted  to  return  tliem  an  answer  as 
perhaps  I  might  be,  for  want  of  underetanding  the  specialties  of  agreement  be- 
tween the  Hon'd  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies;  only  thus  much  seems 
evident,  that  they  ail  agreed  their  number  should  be  500,  the  which  is  nuule  up 
by  our  Colony  and  Connecticut,  though  there  be  none  from  Plymouth,  so  that 
we  see  the  reality  of  the  thing  is  done,  though  we  know  not  the  rea^^on  of 
Plymouth  not  bearing  a  share  iu  it.  By  a  letter  from  Major  Pyncluui  we  under- 
stand that  the  ammunition  is  come  up  to  Springfield,  which  I  am  presently  send- 
ing for.  This  likewise  informs  of  an  old  Indian  squaw,  taken  at  Springfield, 
who  tells  that  the  Indians  who  burnt  that  tuwn  lodged  about  si.x  miles  off  the 
town ;  some  men  went  forth,  found  24  fires  and  some  plunder.  She  saith  there 
came  of  the  enemy  270.  That  the  enemy  iu  all  are  600.  The  place  where  they 
keep  is  at  Coassit  (as  is  supi>osed),  about  oO  miles  above  Hadley. 

"After  the  sendiug  my  letter  to  Hartford,  I  drew  forth  our  own  men,  all  but 
Capt.  Sill's  (who  are  near  sixty),  inteiuUng  to  march  up  to  Sqbakeage;  we  had 
not  marched  alwve  a  mile  or  two  ere  we  received  intelligence  by  post,  that  the 
enemy  was  by  his  tracks  discovered  to  be  in  great  numbere  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river.  We  presently  changed  our  coui-se,  and  ha-sted  over  the  river.  It  was 
sunset  ere  we  got  out  of  Hatfield.  W'e  marched  some  miles,  and  in  the  dark  saw 
a  gun  fired,  and  heard  its  report;  and  our  scouts  saw  and  heard  this  gun.  Some 
also  said  they  heard  a  noise  of  Indians.  My  purpose  was  now  to  march  to  Deer— - 
field,  but  upon  what  we  discovered,  our  officei's,  especially  Capt.  Mosely,  was  very 
apprehensive  of  danger  to  the  towns  here,  if  we  should  march  up.  This  being 
often  pressed,  and  I  alone  for  proceeding,  none  of  Connecticut  men  with  us,  nor 
any  left  in  the  towns  of  Hadley  &  Hatfield,  and  night  threatening  rain  and 
tempest,  I  yielded  against  my  own  inclinations  to  return  to  our  quarters,  which 
we  did  in  the  night. 

"  This  muruiiig,  we  understand  by  scouts,  that  there  is  certainly  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  enemy  at  Deerfield,  and  some  of  them  much  nearer.  This  evening,  we 
have  received  a  letter  from  the  General  Court  at  Hartford,  whereby  I  perceive 

*  Hatlley,  Hatfiudd,  and  Nurtliami.ton. 
+  Dcfiti.-ld  and  Nortbfield. 

J  Capt.  Seoly  was  stationed  at  Nurtbiitii|iloii  with  a  company  of  Cunneoticiit 
troops. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


59 


it  is  very  uncei-fciin  when  wc  uro  like  to  have  their  forces  again.  In  very  truth, 
I  am  in  straits  on  every  side.  To  leave  the  tjwns  without  any  lieljt  is  to  leave 
them  to  their  apparent  ruin. 

*'  To  supply  with  any,  except  now  in  the  absence  of  Connecticut,  is  hardly  rec- 
oncilable with  the  order  of  the  Cjlnmissioners.  This  evening,  late,  I  am  assaulted 
with  vehenient  and  affectionate  request  from  Northampton  (who  have  already 
with  them  about  oO  of  Capt.  Seely's  men)  that  I  would  aftbrd  them  a  little  more 
help,  they  fearing  to  be  assaulted  presently. 

"And  at  the  same  time  while  these  are  speaking,  Capt.  Mosely  informs,  the 
enemy  is  this  evening  discovered  within  a  mile  of  Hatfield;  and  that  he  verily 
expects  to  be  assaulted  there  to-morrow,  which  I  am  so  sensible  of,  that  I  account 
it  my  duty  presently  to  repair  thither,  now  at  ten  or  eleven  of  the  cluck  in  the 
night,  some  of  the  forces  having  already  passed  the  River. 

"  Nor  are  we  without  apprehensions  of  Hatfield  and  Hadley's  danger  at  the 
same  time,  where,  with  respect  to  the  wounded  men  and  the  town,  I  strive  with 
fliyself  to  leave  al->out  twenty  men,  or  but  few  more,  though  the  Indians  were 
yesterday  discovered  within  5  or  6  miles ;  and  we  are  necessitated  to  send  so 
many  of  them  for  ]iosts  (on  which  account  si.x  are  at  this  present)  and  other  oc- 
casions, as  makes  them  less  than  their  little  selves,  I  desire  in  all  to  approve 
myself  to  the  Lord,  and  faithfully  to  his  people's  interests,  so  as  I  persuade  my- 
self would  most  reach  and  take  your  lieart.s,  were  you  present.  I  crave  your 
candid  acceptance  of  what  comes  from  a  heart  devoted  to  your  service ;  and  your 
speedy,  reasonable  return  to  what  I  have  written ;  which  waiting  for,  I  leave  the 
whole  matter  with  the  wise  ordering,  and  remain 

"  Your  Worship's  most  humble  servant, 

"Samuel  Appleton. 

"Hoping  for  the  return  of  our  post  from  .vou,  and  that  our  going  forth  last 
night  might  produce  something  of  consequence,  we  delayed  the  sending  away  this 
letterone  day.    But  Providence  hath  delayed  onr  expectation  and  dejiire  in  l>oth. 

"  Our  post  is  not  come  in,  and  we  have  wearied  ourselves  with  a  tedious  uigbt 
and  morning's  march,  without  making  any  discovery  of  the  eueniy. 

"Thus  the  Lord  ordei-s  all  things  wisely,  holily,  well ;  may  we  but  see,  and 
close  with  the  goodness  of  bis  will,  and  wait  for  the  working  of  all  things  to- 
gether, it  shall  be  peace,  in  the  latter  end,  to  all  that  love  God,  that  are  perfect 
ones;  for  which  praying  and  waiting,  I  am 

"  Your  servant,  as  above, 

"S.  A. 

"Oct.  17th,  afternoon. 

"  These  for  the  Worahipfnl  John  Leverett,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the  Massachu- 
setts in  Bjston.    H;ist — Hast — Post  hast." 

Maj.  Appleton's  fears,  so  earnestly  e.\pressed  in  his  last 
letter  above  copied,  were  soon  realized.  An  attack  was  made 
on  Hatfield  on  the  19th  of  October  by  seven  or  eight  hundred 
Indian.*,  but  they  were  repulsed.  It  was  a  desperate  and 
spirited  fight.  The  garrison  was  under  Capts.  Mosely  and 
Poole.  Maj.  Appleton,  with  the  Hadley  forces,  was  soon  on 
the  ground,  and  after  a  short  engagement  the  enemy  fled. 
A  detailed  account  of  this  atfair  will  be  found  iii  the  history 
of  Hatfield,  farther  on  in  this  volume. 

The  attack  on  Hatfield  was  the  last  engagement  of  impor- 
tance which  occurred  in  the  valley  during  the  year  1675.  After 
that  afl'air  the  Indians  seemed  to  disperse  and  go  into  their 
winter  quarters.  The  Nashaways  returned,  and  with  the 
Quabonffs  settled  down  for  the  winter  at  Wenimisset.*  The 
River  Indians  took  up  their  winter-quarters  at  a  point  above 
Northfield,  over  the  Vermont  border. 

MOVEMENT.S    OF    PHILIP    IN    THE    WINTER   OF    1675-76. 

In  tile  month  of  November,  1675,  King  Philip,  with  his 
warriors,  left  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and  went  over  to  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson  River,  with  the  intention  of  passing  the 
winter  there.  With  him  was  a  numerous  band  of  the  Pa- 
comji-tucks.  It  must  have  been  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fish  Creek, 
opposite  Lake  Saratoga,  the  scene  of  the  Burgoj-ne  surrender 
a  hundred  years  later,  in  what  is  now  Saratoga  County,  that 
Philip  had  his  temporary  abode  during  this  winter.  Governor 
Andross  writes : 

"  New  Youk,  Jan.  6,  1676. 

"This  is  to  acquaint  you  that  late  last  night  I  had  intelli- 
gence that  Philip  and  four  or  five  hundred  North  Indians, 
fighting  men,  were  come  within  forty  or  fiftj'  miles  of  Albany 
northerly,  where  they  talk  of  continuing  this  winter.  That 
Philip  is  sick,  and  one  Sahamaschahaf  the  commander-in- 
chief." 

Says  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Moors,  in  his  historical  address  at 
Turner's  Falls  on  the  31st  of  May,  1876  : 

*  Temple  and  Sheldon's  Northfield,  p.  83. 
f  Hiin-cmn-a-cha  was  a  Nou-o-itick  sachem. 


"  The  winter  of  1675-76  was  a  dark  and  sad  one,  both  for 
natives  and  colonists.  The  advantage  in  the  war,  so  far,  had 
been  on  the  side  of  the  Indians.  They  had  killed  many  of  the 
settlers  and  broken  up  their  settlements.  But  they  could  but 
feel  that  they  were  the  weaker  party,  and  that  sooner  or  later 
they  would  be  obliged  to  yield.  They  had  drawn  their  foes, 
as  yet  unaccustomed  to  Indian  warfare,  into  fatal  ambuscades  ; 
they  had  fired  at  them  with  fatal  eft'ect  from  behind  trees ; 
they  had  lurked  for  them  in  leafy  thickets.  They  had  never 
met  the  English  in  open  field,  but  in  secret,  as  beasts  of  prey. 
Skillful  marksmen,  in  part  provided  with  firearms,  conversant 
with  all  the  paths  of  the  forest,  patient  with  fatigue,  mad  with 
a  passion  for  rapine  and  vengeance,  with  only  the  mercy  of 
savages,  they  were  a  foe  to  be  especially  feared  and  dreaded. 

"To  the  feeble  and  scattered  colonists  the  prospect  was  dark 
indeed.  Their  isolated  position  increased  their  danger  and 
their  sense  of  loneliness.  The  husband  and  father,  going  out 
to  his  labor  in  the  field,  must  have  felt  that  his  own  life  was  ex- 
posed every  moment  to  the  bullet  of  a  dark  and  treacherous 
foe.  The  mother,  left  alone  in  the  hou.se  with  her  children, 
must  have  passed  the  Ikjui-s  in  mortal  fear  of  an  enemy  that 
spared  neither  sex  nor  age.  That  winter  occurred  the  '  Swamp- 
Fight,'  as  it  has  been  called." 

THE   NARRAGANSETT   SWAMP-FIGHT. 

The  white  inhabitants  of  New  England  now  began  to  con- 
sider that  with  them  it  had  become  a  matter  of  life  and  death. 
It  was  evident  to  their  minds  that  should  the  powerful  Nnr- 
rayansetts  unite  with  the  other  tribes  in  the  war,  the  days 
of  civilized  New  England  would  soon  come  to  a  tragic  end. 
To  prevent  such  a  union  of  the  tribes,  no  less  a  project  was 
deemed  necessary  than  to  break  at  once  and  forever  the  power 
of  the  Narrngansefts.  The  Narragansetts  had  already  broken 
their  treaty  made  but  a  few  months  before,  and  were  already 
making  hostile  demonstrations. 

The  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  met  at  Boston 
on  the  2d  of  November.  They  accordingly  made  a  formal 
declaration  of  war  against  the  Nai-ragansettn,  ordered  one 
thousand  men  to  be  raised  from  the  several  colonies,  appointed 
Governor  Winslow,  of  Plymouth,  commander-in-chief,  agree- 
ing that  the  second  in  command  should  be  appointed  by  the 
General  Court  or  Council  of  Connecticut  when  the  forces 
should  be  in  that  colony.  The  Commissioners  further  ordered 
that  the  Connecticut  soldiers  should  rendezvous  at  Norwich, 
Stonington,  and  New  London,  and  those  of  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth  at  Rehoboth,  Providence,  and  Warwick,  by 
the  10th  of  December.  They  also  recommended  to  the  several 
colonies  to  appoint  the  2d  of  December  following  a  day  of 
humiliation  and  prayer  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise  in 
which  they  were  about  to  engage.  We  again  quote  from  Mr. 
Moors  : 

"The  Narragansetts  were  the  most  powerful  of  the  New 
England  tribes.  The  colonists  regarded  them  as  their  most 
dangerous  enemies,  and  a  thousand  men,  levied  in  the  colo- 
nies, invaded  their  territory,  came  stealthily  upon  their  clu.ster 
of  wigwams,  which  were  speedily  set  on  fire,  and  not  only 
were  the  savage  warriors  slain,  but  their  old  men,  their  wives 
and  little  ones,  perished  by  hundreds  in  the  flames.  Much 
blame  has  been  attached  to  the  English  for  this  act  of  cruelty, 
equaling  almost  in  barbarity  the  conduct  of  the  savages  them- 
selves. It  was  a  terrible  thing  to  do,  but  we  have  learned, 
even  in  our  day,  that  war  in  its  very  nature  is  full  of  cruel- 
ties, and  we  certainly  can  have  a  feeling  of  charity,  if  not  of 
full  forgiveness,  for  our  fathers,  who  had  reason  to  know  that 
there  was  no  safety  for  them  or  their  families  except  as  this 
savage  element  was  rooted  out  of  the  land.  It  liad  become  a 
war  of  extermination  on  both  sides." 

The  "Swamp-Fight"  occurred  on  the  19th  of  December. 
Winter  had  then  already  set  in  with  great  severity,  travel  was 
almost  impossible,  and  both  whites  and  Indians  remained  in 


60 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


close  quarters  till  the  last  of  Januar_v,  167fi,  when  a  sudden 
thaw  took  oft"  the  snow. 

IV. 

THE   CAMPAIGN    Of    1676    IN    THE    VALLEY. 

After  the  destruction  of  their  fort,  the  Nary-agaiisetts  deter- 
mined to  unite  their  fortunes  with  Philip  against  the  English. 
So,  when  the  January  thaw  had  cleared  the  ground,  a  large 
part  of  this  tribe  set  out,  under  the  lead  of  their  sachem  Ca- 
nonchet,  for  the  Nipmuc.k  headquarters  at  Quaboag,  now 
Brookiield.  They  reached  Brookfield  about  the  middle  of 
February,  and  remained  there  about  two  weeks. 

But  the  English  troojis  were  also  in  motion,  and  the  mounted 
men  under  Maj.  Thomas  Savage,  and  the  Connecticut  troops 
under  Maj.  Treat,  reached  Brookiield  about  the  2d  of  JIarch. 

THE  GATHERING  OF  THE  TRIHES  AT  SQUAK-HKAG  IN  THE 
SPRING    OF    167G. 

Upon  learning  of  the  near  approach  of  the  English  the 
Indians  left  Quaboag  and  went  northward.  This  band  com- 
prised the  Narragansetts,  the  Nipniucks,  and  the  Grafton  In- 
dians, a  "  miscellaneous  crowd,"  numbering  in  all  about  two 
thousand  souls.  The  English  pursued,  but  the  Indians  by  a 
feigned  attack  drew  them  otl"  on  a  wrong  trail,  so  that  the 
whole  body  of  the  Indians  was  safely  across  Miller's  Eiver 
before  the  English  came  to  the  fording-place,  on  the  6th  of 
March.  The  stream  was  swollen  by  the  spring  floods,  and 
the  English  dare  not  cro.ss  in  pursuit.  The  Indians  reached 
Squak-heag  on  the  7th  of  March,  and  found  Philip  and  his 
allies  already  there.  In  February,  Philip  had  been  attacked 
by  the  Mu/iawks,  and  driven  back  to  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut. This  gathering  of  the  tribes  at  Northfield  in  the 
early  spring  of  1076  was  one  of  the  most  notable  events  of  the 
war.  King  Philip,  chief  sachem  of  the  Pulninokcis,  was 
there  with  all  the  allied  tribes.  The  Indians  as  well  as  the 
whites  were  conscious  that  the  coming  struggle  was  one  of 
life  or  death.  With  Philip  were  his  kinsman,  Quinnapin, 
and  Canonchei,  the  son  of  Miantonomo,  the  hereditary  sachem 
of  the  powerful  Narragnnsetis.  With  Philip  were  San-cum- 
a-cha,  a  sachem  of  Non-o-tuck,  who  was  the  leader  of  the 
Pa-comp-tucks  and  Agnwam.s,  and  Maiitamp,  chief  of  the 
Nlpmucks.  With  Philip  also  were  large  numbers  of  strag- 
glers from  the  broken  tribes,  making  in  all,  with  the  Sqiiak- 
lii'.iigs,  a  mi.xed  nmltitude  two  thousand  live  hundred  strong. 

On  the  27th  of  April  a  captured  Indian  told  Samuel  Marsh- 
field  that  the  Indians  "had  three  forts  this  side  Wassquack- 
heag;  that  the  number  of  Indians  at  Deerfield  and  on  the 
river  was  three  thousand,  of  whom  one  thousand  were 
men."* 

Early  in  May  the  Indians  separated  into  four  parties.  One 
remained  at  Sqiiuk-heag  fur  jilanting  and  fishing;  one  went 
to  the  Pa-comp-tuck  meadows  to  plant  corn  ;  one  to  Pnijuat/ag, 
now  Athol,  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  a  large  crowd  gathered 
at  Pas-quam-scut,  now  Turner's  Falls,  to  fish.  It  was  against 
those  at  Pas-quam-scut  that  evil  was  impending. 

The  Indians  at  Pa-cump-tuck  began  their  corn-planting,  as 
was  their  usual  custom,  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  planted — it 
was  estimated  at  the  time  difl'erently — from  one  hundred  to 
three  hundred  acres.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1676  an  order 
or  request  was  made  by  the  Court  at  Boston  for  the  outlying 
towns  in  the  valley  all  to  remove  to  Springfield  and  Hadlcy. 
This  movement  was  so  stoutly  opposed  by  Westfield  and 
Northampton  that  on  the  1st  of  April  the  order  was  rescinded 
and  the  plantations  allowed  to  remain. f 

THE   FALLS    FIQHT. 

By  far  the  most  important  action  of  the  war  in  the  year 
1676  which  occurred  in  the  valley  took  place  at  Pas-quam- 

*  Temple  ami  Sheldon's  Nm  thtiolj,  p.  90. 

t  Sec  llolland's  Hist,  of  Western  Muss.,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  112-1111. 


sruf  Falls,  the  great  Indian  fishing-ground,  on  the  morning 
of  the  19th  of  May,  O.  S.,  corresponding  to  our  31st. 

In  the  opening  of  spring  a  large  English  force,  consisting 
of  four  Massachusetts  companies  and  four  from  Connecticut, 
were  stationed  in  the  towns  of  Northampton,  Hadley,  and 
Hatfield.  From  time  to  time  small  parties  of  Indians  attacked 
their  outposts,  but  gained  no  considerable  advantage.  Hear- 
ing of  the  large  gathering  of  Indians  at  the  F'alls,  an  expedi- 
tion was  planned  against  them.  We  again  quote  from  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Moors'  historical  address. 

"It  was  resolved  to  make  a  night-attack  upon  the  Indian 
camp  at  the  Falls.  A  force  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  mounted 
men,  under  command  of  Capt.  Turner,  was  dispatched  from 
Hatfield  for  this  purpose.  Making  their  way  by  a  night- 
march  of  twenty  miles,  they  pa.ssed  the  ruins  of  Deerfield, 
forded  the  Deerfield  Eiver  near  the  north  end  of  Pine  Hill, 
passed  over  Petty's  Plain,  and  crossed  the  Green  Eiver  near 
Nash's  Mill.  In  crossing  the  Deerfield,  the  guide,  by  mistake, 
took  them  to  the  west  of  the  customary  fording-place.  The 
mistake  saved  them  frmn  an  attack.  Some  Indians  encamped 
near  Cheapside  heard  the  crossing  of  the  troops,  and  started 
to  intercept  them  at  the  ford  ;  but  finding  no  one  there,  they 
hastily  inferred  it  was  some  moose  they  had  heard,  and  retired 
to  their  own  quarters. 

"  Then,  turning  to  the  east.  Turner's  party  made  their  way 
through  the  forest,  following  an  Indian  trail,  upon  the  north 
edge  of  the  swamp,  till  they  reached  the  level  ground  north- 
west of  Factory  village.  Dismounting  here,  and  leaving  their 
horses  in  charge  of  a  small  guard,  they  hastened  noiselessly 
down  into  the  'Hollow,'  foi'ded  Fall  Eiver  just  above  the 
upper  bridge,  and  .scaled  the  abru])t  bank  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  there  reached  the  summit  north  of  Mr.  Stoughton's  house, 
and  drew  up  in  line  on  the  gentle  slope  south  of  Mr.  Stough- 
ton's house.     The  Indian  camp  was  now  just  before  them. 

"  The  day  was  just  dawning.  All  was  still  and  peaceful  as 
a  Christian  Sabbath-day.  The  only  sound  to  be  heard  was 
the  morning  song  of  the  birds  and  the  monotonous  roar  of  the 
waters  of  the  'Great  Eiver,'  as  they  dashed  tumultuously 
over  the  rocks.  The  dusky  warrior  slept  in  unguarded,  un- 
suspecting security.  If  he  dreamed  of  war,  it  was  of  some 
distant  scene  where  he  carried  death  and  destruction  to  some 
settlement  of  the  hated  foe.  He  did  not  dream  how  near  the 
danger  was  to  him.  The  silent  signal  was  given,  and  the  eager 
soldiers  moved  silently  nearer  their  sleeping  enemy,  and,  at 
the  word  of  command,  poured  a  volley  of  musketry  into  those 
unprotected  cabins.  The  Indians,  roused  from  profound  sleep, 
sprung  upon  their  feet  in  terror,  simie  crying  out  ^JMa/inivks! 
Mohawkx !'  believing,  in  their  sudden  fright,  that  their  furious 
enemy  was  upon  them.  They  made  but  a  feeble  and  useless 
resistance.  Many  were  killed  on  the  spot  by  shot  and  sword, 
others  rushed  madly  into  the  river,  and  were  swept  away  by 
its  resistless  torrent.  Keport  says  that  one  hundred  and  forty 
persons  passed  over,  the  cataract  that  morning,  and  that  all 
but  one  were  drowned. 

*********** 

"The  firing  soon  aroused  the  other  camps  across  the  river 
and  at  Smead's  Island.  A  party  soon  cro.ssed  above  the  Falls 
to  assist  their  companions  in  their  need.  Twenty  of  Turner's 
men  were  sent  to  attack  them,  while  the  main  body  started 
for  the  spot  where  their  horses  had  been  left.  This  little  band 
proved  not  to  be  strong  enough,  and  were  forced  to  retire  and 
with  difficulty  joined  their  comrades  ;  and  altogether,  having 
recovered  and  mounted  their  horses,  they  started  on  their 
return  to  Hatfield.  But  by  this  time  the  Indians  at  Smead's 
Island  had  crossed  to  the  west  shore  and  assailed  the  left  and 
the  rear  of  the  Engli.sh. 

"  It  seems  to  have  been  no  part  of  Turner's  plan  to  attack 
the  other  camps.  The  English  had  learned  and  adopted  the 
Indian  mode  of  warfare, — by  sudden  and  unexpected  night- 
attacks,  nnd  to  retire  as  soon  as  there  is  danger  that  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEV. 


61 


assailpcl  prtrty  maybe  reinforced.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  order 
to  return  and  commence  their  homeward  march,  it,  in  the 
ambiguous  language  of  war,  might  have  been  styled  a  '  glo- 
rious victory.'  But  from  that  moment  the  fortunes  of  war 
seem  to  have  changed. 

"  The  assault  upon  their  flank  and  rear  by  an  unseen  foe, 
firing  from  behind  the  covert  of  the  trees,  caused  a  sudden 
panic,  heightened  by  a  baseless  rumor,  which  spread  among 
the  men,  that  King  Philip  had  arrived  with  a  thousand  war- 
riors. Order  and  disci])line  were  lost;  the  force  was  broken 
up  into  little  detached  parties,  each  one  intent  only  on  self- 
preservation.  The  victory  of  the  early  morning,  so  complete, 
and  attended  with  so  little  loss,  became  a  stampede  for  per- 
sonal safety, — a  procedure  most  fatal -to  themselves  and  most 
favorable  to  their  savage  pursuers,  who  a.ssailed  each  wander- 
ing squad  and  gained  an  easy  victory  over  them.  One  party, 
getting  lost  in  the  woods  and  swamps,  were  taken  prisoners, 
and  the  tradition  is  that  they  were  put  to  death  by  burning." 

The  lo.ss  of  the  Indians  was  variously  estimated.  It  may 
have  been  as  high  as  two  hundred,  men,  women,  and  children. 
In  the  disastrous  retreat  of  the  English  forces  from  the  scene 
of  the  morning's  encounter  the  whole  loss  was  about  thirty 
men.  Among  the  slain  was  C'apt.  Turner,  who  was  killed  in 
the  Greenfield  Meadows.  Capt.  Holyoke,  the  second  in  com- 
mand, also  died  before  the  winter.  Although  but  twenty-eight 
years  old,  the  exertions  of  the  day  broke  down  his  strength. 
The  beautiful  falls  on  the  Connecticut  long  since  lost  their  old 
Indian  name,  and  now  bear  the  name  of  the  lamented  com- 
mander of  the  fight,  Capt.  Turner.  An  account  of  Capt. 
Turner  will  be  found  in. the  history  of  Greenfield,  farther  on 
in  this  work. 

After  the  Falls  fight,  the  Indians,  on  the  30th  of  May,  at- 
tacked Hatfield  with  a  force  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  warriors, 
killed  five  men,  burned  many  houses,  and  drove  away  a  large 
number  of  horses  and  cattle. 

Again,  on  the  12th  of  June,  the  .same  party  attacked  Hadley, 
and  were  repulsed.  This  ended  the  main  incidents  of  the  war 
in  the  valley.  Upon  the  death  of  King  Philip,  on  the  12th  of 
August  following,  the  savages  left  their  homes  in  the  valley 
never  to  return,  except  from  time  to  time  in  a  few  roving,  pre- 
datory bands. 

EXAMINATION   OK    ME-NOWN-IETTS. 
In  the  month  of  August,  1070,  an  Indian  named  Mf:-nown- 
retts  was  examined  at  Hartford,  whose  testimony  we  append 
as  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  reader  : 

"  Me-notni-ietis^  Exitminnthtiy  Au(iitnt,  1G70. 

"  Where  have  you  been  these  12  months?  He  answered,  '  He  was  halfe  ,1  Hfo 
heiuj  and  halfe  a  Naragoncett ;  he  came  last  year  to  Nortaltoij,  and  hath  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  hunting.' 

**  Being  askt  wlieth'  he  ha4  been  in  any  engagements  against  the  English  ? 
he  said, '  Yes ;  he  was  in  that  fight  that  was  above  Northampton,  where  he  saw  7 
English  slayn  in  one  place ;  and  othere  were  slayn,  but  how  many  he  knows  not.' 

"  How  many  Indians  were  killed  in  the  fight?     He  answered,  'Not  one.' 

"Wliere  went  you  next?  He  says,  'They  went  to  Pacomptock  and  assaulted 
that,  alwnt  GO  of  them,  and  slue  one  Englishman.'  Wliere  had  you  the  next  en- 
gagement w'li  the  English?  He  say"',  '  He  was  at  N.  Hampton  when  it  was  as- 
saulted last  spring,  wh""  they  lost  an  Indian  and  4  wounded ;  one  was  mortally 
wounded.  In  ye  Fall  fight  were  slayn  4<.>  Nortrottog  Qtiapmtti,  10  Narogancets, 
and  [  ].     He  was  at  Uadley  fight  and  shot  in  ye  leg.'    Whoe  were 

those  that  kild  the  man  between  Midleton  &  Wethersfield  ?    '  Muiich,  Co-lias,  To- 
si>-^iniy  CaircohoGije,  We-wa-wo-as.^ 

"  Who  killed  G.  Elmore  at  PoduiiJc  f  '  He  was  one  of  them  himselfe ;  there  was 
9  in  company ;  3  did  the  business,  which  were  IVmwoiif^  Johmiot,  and  Mmhhiott.^ 

"  He  also  sayth  Cohas  and  anothers  Naragancet  shot  Wm.  Hill. 
.    "Who  kild  Henry  Denslow?    ^  Wegutifh  S.,   Weawosse,  H[i>lu'<j,  Whowusittnuoh- 
Wer.,  Pawwaiptcoire  Spr.,  and  Mttwcalnrai,  .Spr.,  Saitchnmvire,  Que;  and  Wesomke- 
tuicher,  Nor ;  and  these  were  those  that  burnt  Simsbury.' 

"  Cvhas  burnt  G.  Coal's  house ;  SepawcuU  was  wtl>  the  Indians  o'  enemies  at  WaJi- 
hofmU,  and  said  he  had  kild  7  English  of  ye  seaside. 

"  He  sayth  that  the  Noni-oUach,  Springfield  Indians,  and  others  are  gon  to  a 
place  about  Hudson's  River  called  Paguai/ag,  and  were  encouraged  to  come  there 
by  a  great  man  of  those  parts,  whoe  hath  allso  encouraged  them  to  engage 
against  the  English,  and  that  they  should  not  be  weary  of  it. 

"  He  did  not  see  the  man  nor  doth  not  know  who  it  was.    He  was  askt  where 


the.v  luwl  ye  ammunition  to  carry  on  the  w.ar;  he  said  the  Poivgniitg  Indians 
bought  it  of  ye  Dutch  and  sold  it  y"'. 

"  Ho  was  askt  how  many  of  the  North  Indians  hail  gon  that  Wiiy  ?  He  8a,vth, 
'  About  'JO  men  of  them  and  Siicgmnice  is  wtl"  them ;  he  was  very  sick,  and  as  like 
to  die  as  live.' 

"  Cohas,  Wewa^antoch  .Spr.,  Mamnaumpaquack  Spr.,  were  in  company  wtb  him; 
in  tlio  woods  weere  TuiixM  and  3  squas  and  4  children ;  they  had  2  horses,  and 
pease  and  corn  ;  they  took  from  G.  Coal's  farme. 

"  He  sayth  y  Indians  hid  a  gi'eat  many  gunns  about  Pacoitipiirh ;  y"  place  ho 
described  to  Tota.  He  sayth  he  took  au  Englishman  at  the  Longmeadow  about 
Springfield  captive,  and  carryed  him  away,  but  ho  got  away  afterwju-ds  he 
thinks.  W* Indians  be  at  i/"H8e(<oiH<'t/  'None.  They  are  all  gon  to  PmyHH'j/,  y* 
west  side  of  Hudson"  River.'* 

"Tjiken  before  John  Allyn, 

"  Assist." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE    FEENCH-AND-INDIAN    "WAKS-1609   TO  1763 
I. 

1009  TO  1042. 

The  century  and  a  half  of  warfare  waged  between  the  Eng- 
lish and  Dutch  settlers  and  their  Indian  allies  of  the  Atlantic 
Slope  on  the  one  part,  and  the  French  colonists  and  their  In- 
dian allies  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  great 
lakes  on  the  other  part,  was  a  struggle  for  the  mastery  of  the 
North  American  continent  by  peoples  holding  diametrically 
opposing  ideas, — Roman  Catholicism,  fostered  b}'  despotic 
royalty,  on  the  side  of  the  French  in  Canada ;  Protestantism, 
upheld  by  constitutional  liberty,  on  the  side  of  New  England, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia. 

The  story  of  these  long  wars  waged  in  the  depths  of  the  old 
wilderness  reads  more  like  the  wild  romances  of  the  savage 
border-wars  of  ancient  and  mediteval  times  than  it  does  like 
the  history  of  wars  waged  as  they  were  between  enlightened 
nations  in  comparatively  UKjdern  times.  But  the  Indian  and 
the  forest  dragged  down  as  it  were  the  humane  and  civilizing 
tendencies  of  the  white  men  engaged  with  them  to  their  own 
wild  and  savage  level.  Hence  the  old  French-and-Indian 
wars  were  marked  by  a  thousand  atrocities  elsewhere  unknown 
in  modern  times.  Many  of  these  atrocities  occurred  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachusetts,  some  account  of  which 
will  be  given  farther  on  in  this  chapter,  or  in  the  town  histories 
farther  on  in  this  volume.  In  order,  however,  properly  to 
comprehend  the  subject,  brief  mention  must  be  made  of  pre- 
ceding events  as  well  as  of  the  closing  scenes  of  the  great 
dranuv. 

CHAMPLAIN'S    FIRST   BATTLE   WITH   THE   IROQUOIS. 

In  the  year  1609,  eleven  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at 
Plymouth,  two  important  events  took  place  in  America.  One 
was  the  discovery  and  exploration  by  Samuel  de  Champlain 
of  the  lake  in  the  early  summer,  and  the  other  was  the  dis- 
covery and  exploration  of  the  river  by  Henrj'  Hudson  in  the 
early  autumn  of  that  year,  which  lake  and  river  each  will 
bear  the  name  of  its  immortal  discoverer  to  the  latest  posterity. 

Champlain,  then  the  Governor  of  New  France,  had  estab- 
lished his  infant  colony  of  Quebec  only  the  year  before,  although 
Jacques  Cartier,  the  di.scoverer  and  first  explorer  of  the  river 
St.  Lawrence, — the  old  Indian  Ho-c/ie-Ui-r/a, — had  first  sailed 
upon  its  waters  up  as  far  as  the  rapids  below  Montreal,  in  the 
year  153.5. 

The  Indians  told  Champlain  of  a  wilderness-sea  stretching 
many  days'  journey  to  the  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  into  the 
country  of  the  Iroquois,  and  in  the  spring  he  determined  to 
visit  and  explore  it.  He  set  out  from  Quebec  as  soon  as  the 
melting  snows  would  permit,  and  proceeded  first  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  then  up  the  Irnquoh  River — as  then  called ;  now 
known  as  the  Richelieu  or  Sorel — into  the  lake  that  has  since 
borne  his  name.  Entering  the  broad  waters  of  the  lake,  he 
continued  on  his  way,  traveling  only  in  the  night-time  and 
lying  on  the  shore  by  day,  as  his  Algnriquin  attendants  were 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  Vol.  II.,  p.  471. 


62 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


in  miirtal  fear  of  meeting  the  much-dreaded  Iroquois  on  the 
war-path.  Their  fear?  were  soon  to  be  realized.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  29th  day  of  July,  Champlaiu  met  a  flotilla  of  Iro- 
quois paddling  down  the  lake.  Both  partie.s  landed,  and  waited 
till  the  dawn  of  day.  Then  the  Iroquois  marched  bravely  up 
to  (Jhamplain  and  offered  battle.  Champlain  discharged  his 
firearms,  and  the  Iroquois,  terrified  at  the  strange  noise,  fled, 
with  the  loss  of  two  of  their  bravest  war-chiefs.  This  en- 
counter, fought  on  the  soil  of  Northern  New  York,  was  the 
beginning  of  the  long  enmity  between  the  French  and  the 
Iroquois,  which,  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  often 
crimsoned  the  soil  of  the  old  wilderness-with  blood. 

II. 

THE   DI.SCOVERY   OF    LAKE   GEORGE. 

Champlain  went  up  the  lake  which  bears  his  name  far 
enough  to  hear  the  chiming  waters  of  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George,  but  returned  without  seeing  it,  in  the  olden  time  the 
fairest  of  all  the  wilderness-waters. 

The  first  white  men  who  saw  Lake  George  were  the  Jesuit 
Father  Isaac  Jogues  and  his  companions,  Rene  Goupil  and 
Guillame  Couture.  They  were  taken  over  its  waters  as  pris- 
oners— tortured,  maimed,  and  bleeding — by  the  Mohawks  in 
the  month  of  August,  1H42,  Since  their  encounter  with 
Champlain  in  1G09  the  Iroquois  had  ceased- to  make  war  upon 
their  Algonquin  enemies  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  but  they  had 
not  forgotten  their  humiliating  defeat.  At  length  the  Dutch 
had  supplied  them  with  firearms,  and  their  hour  of  sweet 
revenge  had  come.  Among  their  first  victims  was  Father 
Jogues.  In  a  year  or  two  Jogues  escaped  from  the  Mohawks 
and  returned  to  Canada.  In  the  year  1G46  he  returned  to  the 
Mohawk  country  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  Iroquois,  and  on 
his  way  again  passed  over  Lake  George.  He  entered  the  lake 
on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi,  and  in  honor  of  the  day  named 
it  "  The  Lake  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament."  It  was  known  as 
Lake  St.  Sacrament  until  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  the  summer 
of  175-5,  changed  its  name  to  Lake  George,  in  honor  of  Eng- 
land's Hanoverian  king. 

III. 
TRACY    AND   COURCELLE    IN    1066. 

Again,  in  1666,  there  was  war  between  the  French  and  the 
Iroquois.  The  Iroquois  took  the  war-path  and  committed  many 
depredations  in  Canada.  In  retaliation,  the  Marquis  de  Tracy, 
Lieutenant-General  of  Canada,  and  Governor  Courcelle,  in 
the  autumn  of  1666,  marched  a  large  force  thro\igh  the  wil- 
derness to  the  Mohawk  towns  and  destroyed  them. 

And  so  the  war  raged  between  the  French  and  the  Iroquois 
until  the  Revolution  of  1688  in  England  raised  a  line  of  Cal- 
vinistic  kings  to  the  British  throne,  the  effect  of  which  was  to 
bring  about  long  wars  with  France. 

IV. 

KING   WILLIAM'S    WAR. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  of  the  long  series  of  French-and- 
Indian  wars  in  which  the  English  colonies  were  involved. 
The  English  Revolution  of  1688 — which  dethroned  the  Stuart 
dynasty  and  elevated  William  of  Orange  and  Mary  of  England 
to  the  British  throne,  and  which  was  in  many  ways  so  beneficent 
in  its  eti'ects  upon  England — involved  serious  consequences 
to  the  dependencies  of  the  British  crown.  Although  bloodless 
in  England,  it  resulted  in  the  battle  of  Boyne  Water  in  the 
year  1689,  the  animosities  of  which,  there  engendered,  still 
linger  in  the  breasts  of  Irishmen,  and  brought  about  the 
sacking  and  burning  of  Schenectady  in  the  depth  of  the 
winter  of  1690,  which  was  the  beginning  of  seventy  long 
years  of  colonial  warfare. 

During  these  seventy  years  of  border  warfare,  from  1G90  to 
1760,  many  incidents  occurred  directly  or  remotely  affecting 
the  people  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  During  these 
seventy  years  the  people  of  the  valley  were  in  constant  fear  of 


the  savage  invader,  and  many  times  suffered  from  the  attacks 
of  the  French  and  Indians.  Yet  it  will  not  be  attempted  in 
this  chapter  to  do  much  more  than  to  make  mention  of  the 
more  important  incidents,  leaving  the  details  thereof,  and  the 
mention  of  the  minor  events,  to  the  narrations  of  the  town 
historians  in  the  succeeding  chapters  of  this  work. 

The  Canadian  Invasion  of  1690. — The  first  attempt  made  to 
invade  Canada  by  the  province  of  New  York,  jointly  with 
the  New  England  colonies,  was  in  the  year  1690. 

On  the  1st  day  of  May,  1690,  the  first  American  Congress 
met  at  the  old  fort  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  pursuance 
of  its  resolutions,  a  joint  undertaking  of  the  colonies  was 
planned  and  fitted  out  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.  It  was  to 
consist  of  two  expeditions, — one  overland  against  Montreal, 
and  another  by  sea  against  Quebec.  The  command  of  the 
overland  expedition  was  given  to  Gen.  Fitz-John  Winthrop, 
of  Connecticut.  The  province  of  Massachusetts  had,  two 
days  before  the  meeting  of  this  Congress,  fitted  out  and  sent 
by  sea  an  ex()edition  against  Port  Royal,  under  Sir  William 
Phipps.  The  fleet  cons.isted  of  eight  small  ve-ssels,  with  seven 
or  eight  hundred  men.  The  fort  surrendered  with  little  resist- 
ance, and  Sir  William  took  possession  of  the  whole  coast,  from 
Port  Royal  to  New  England.  This  success  by  sea  greatly 
encouraged  the  expedition  by  land  undertaken  by  the  United 
Colonies. 

On  the  14th  day  of  July,  Gen.  Winthrop,  with  the  New 
England  troops,  left  Hartford,  and  passing  through  a  virgin 
wilderness,  whose  shades  were  broken  only  by  the  little  settle- 
ments at  and  near  Albany,  reached  Stillwater,  on  the  Hudson, 
on  the  1st  day  of  August.  On  the  day  after,  he  reached 
Sar-agh-to-ga,  on  the  Hudson,  where  he  found  Maj.  Peter 
Schuyler,  with  the  New  York  troops,  waiting  his  arrival. 
The  expedition  went  still  farther  up  the  Hudson,  and  crossed 
the  "  Great  Carrying-Place"  to  Wood  Creek,  the  head-waters 
of  Lake  Champlain,  but  went  no  farther.  Like  one  after 
another  of  the  many  expeditions  which  followed  it  during  the 
long  seventy  years  of  forest  warfare,  this  first  one  was  an  utter 
failure.  The  ex|)edition  by  sea,  under  Sir  William  Phipps, 
consisting  of  thirty  vessels,  with  two  thousand  men,  reached 
Quebec  late  in  the  fall,  but  effected  nothing. 

French  and  Indiatis  in  the  Connecticut  Valley. — It  was  not 
long  before  Count  de  Frontcnac  adopted  retaliatory  measures. 
The  first  demonstration  of  the  war  made  in  Massachusetts  was 
an  attack  by  the  French  and  Indians  upon  Brookfield  about 
the  1st  of  August,  1692. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  1693,  the  Indians  attacked  Deerfield, 
and  again  in  October,  1694,  in  August,  1695,  and  again  in  the 
fall  of  1696. 

In  the  summer  of  1698  a  party  of  Indians  attacked  Hatfield 
The  treaty  of  Ryswick,  signed  between  England  and  France 
on  the  20th  of  September,  1697,  brought  a  short  peace  to  the 
colonies.  On  the  4th  daj'  of  May,  1702,  war  was  declared 
between  England  and  France. 

V. 

QUEEN   ANNE'S    WAR. 

The  accession  of  Queen  Anne  to  the  throne  of  England, 
like  that  of  William  and  Mary,  brought  war  between  France 
and  England,  the  consequences  of  which  were  a  severe  visita- 
tion upon  the  colonies.  One  of  the  first  places  to  suffer  in 
Massachusetts  was  Deerfield. 

The  Burning  of  Deerfield.  —  On  the  old  Indian  hunting- 
ground  called  Pa-cowp-tuck  was  planted  the  town  of  Deer- 
field, the  richest  of  all  the  valley-towns  in  heroic  historic 
memories.  Many  a  page  of  her  eventful  story  speaks  of  the 
blood  of  fair  women  and  brave  men,  of  the  burning  dwelling 
and  ruined  home,  and  is  filled  with  piteous  tales  of  captive 
'children  marching  through  the  frozen  wilderness,  with  touch- 
ing stories  of  self-sacrifice  and  deeds  of  daring  valor. 

In  the  winter  of  1704,  Hertel  de  Rouville,  with  four  brothers, 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


63 


led  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  from  Montreal,  niimberinii; 
two  hundred  and  fifty,  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  in 
Massachusetts.  The  blow  fell  upon  devoted  Deertield,  hardly 
yet  recovered  from  the  devastating  effects  of  Philip's  war. 
De  Rouville  and  his  band  approached  the  sleeping  hamlet  in 
the  night,  killed  sixty  of  the  inluibitants,  and  carried  off  a 
hundred  prisoners.  Among  the  prisoners  was  the  minister  of 
the  place,  ilr.  John  Williams.  A  full  account  of  this  dis- 
tressing affair  will  be  found  in  the  history  of  Deertield,  farther 
on  in  this  work,  contributed  by  George  Sheldon. 

Tfif  Deerfield  BcU. — The  little  Indian  village  of  Ca>i(ih-na- 
waga  is  situate  on  the  south  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River, 
opposite  the  village  of  Lachine,  at  the  head  of  the  Saut  St. 
Louis,  nine  miles  above  Montreal. 

In  the  little  mission  church  in  Canghnawaga,  it  is  believed, 
^till  hangs  the  bell  taken  from  Deerfield  by  the  French  and 
Indians  on  the  29th  day  of  February,  1704. 

This  bell  has  been  called  the  bell  of  St.  Regis.  It  has  been 
celebrated  in  song  by  Mrs.  Sigourney,  in  her  poem  with  that 
title : 

"  The  red  men  came  in  their  pride  aud  wrath, 
Deep  vengeance  fired  their  eye; 
And  the  I>lniid  of  the  white  was  in  their  path, 
And  the  flame  from  liis  roof  rose  high. 

"Then  down  from  the  hurning  ehurch  they  tore 
The  hell  of  trumpet  sound, 
And  on  with  their  captive  train  they  lK)re 
That  wonderful  thing  toward  their  native  shore, 
The  rude  Canadian  bound." 

But  says  Dr.  Hough:  "That  the  Deerfield  bell  could  not 
have  been  taken  directly  to  St.  Regis  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  fifty-six  years  elapsed  between  its  capture  and  the  found- 
ing of  St.  Regis."* 

In  fact,  St.  Regis  was  settled  by  emigrants  from  Caughna- 
waga  in  1760,  the  main  part  remaining  behind  and  doubtless 
retaining  the  bell  brought  from  Deerfield,  as  the  mission  of 
the  Saut  St.  Louis  continued  with  no  interruption. 

"While  on  a  visit  to  Caughnawaga,  in  October,  1852,  Dr. 
Hough  found  a  small  bell  that  once  had  an  inscription,  but 
was  then  effaced.  'He  also  found  a  direct  tradititni  in  con- 
nection with  the  bell,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  priest  a  manu- 
script in  French,  of  which  he  gives  the  following  translation, 
which  is  inserted  here  for  what  it  is  worth  : 

"  LEGEND  OF  THE  BELL  OF  SAUT  ST.  LOITIS  (cAUGHNAWAGA),  NEAR  MONTREAL. 

"Father  Nicolas,  having  assemhleil  a  considerable  number  of  Indians,  who 
had  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith,  had  established  them  in  the  village 
which  now  bears  the  name  of  the  Saut  St.  Louis,  upon  the  River  St.  Lawrence. 
The  situation  of  the  village  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  which  the  banks  of 
that  noble  river  present*!,  and  is  among  the  most  picturesque  which  the  country 
contains. 

"  The  church  stands  upon  a  point  of  land  wliich  jnt-*  int^)  the  river,  and  its  bell 
sends  its  echoes  over  the  watere  with  a  clearness  which  fomis  a  striking  contrast 
with  tlie  iron  bells  which  were  formerly  so  common  in  Canarla,  while  tlie  tin- 
covered  spire  of  the  church,  glittering  in  the  sunlight,  with  the  dense,  gloomy 
rt)rests  which  surround  it,  gives  a  character  of  romance  to  this  little  church  and 
the  legend  of  its  celebrated  bell. 

"Father  Nicolas,  having,  with  the  aid  of  the  Indians,  erected  a  church  and  a 
belfi*y,  in  one  of  his  sermons  explained  to  his  humble  auditoi-s  that  a  bell  was 
as  necessary  to  a  belfry  as  a  priest  to  a  church,  and  exhorted  them  to  lay  aside 
a  portion  of  the  furs  which  they  collected  in  hunting,  until  enough  was  accu- 
mulated to  purchase  a  bell,  which  could  only  be  procured  by  sending  to  France, 
The  Indians  exhibited  an  inconceivable  ardor  in  performing  this  religious  duty, 
and  the  packet  of  furs  was  promptly  made  out  and  forwarded  to  Havre,  where 
an  ecclesiastical  personage  was  delegated  to  make  the  purchase.  The  bell  was 
accordingly  ordered,  and  in  due  time  forwarded  on  bojird  the  '  Grande  Monanpie,' 
which  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  Quebec.  It  so  liappened  that,  after  her 
departure,  one  of  the  wars  which  the  French  and  English  then  so  often  waged 
sprung  up,  and  in  consequence  the 'Grande  Monarque' never  attained  her  des- 
tined port,  but  was  taken  by  a  New  England  privateer,  brought  into  the  port  of 
Salem,  where  she  waa  condemned  as  a  lawful  prize,  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of 
her  captoi-s. 

"The  bell  was  purchased  by  the  village  of  Deerfield,  ujKtn  the  Connecticut 
River,  for  a  churcli  then  aliont  being  cret.ti'd  by  the  congregation  of  the  cele- 
brated Rev.  John  Williams. 

*  Hongh's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  N.  T.;  page  115. 


"  When  Father  Nicolas  received  news  of  the  misfortune,  he  asBomblod  his  In- 
dians, related  ti>  them  the  miserable  condition  of  the  bell  retained  in  purgatory 
in  thr  hands  of  heretics,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  it  would  be  a  most  praise- 
worthy enterprise  to  go  and  recover  it. 

"  This  appeal  had  in  it  as  it  were  a  kind  of  inspiration,  and  fell  upon  its  hearers 
with  all  the  force  of  the  eloquence  of  Peter  the  Hermit  in  preaching  the  Cm- 
sad  es. 

"The  Indians  deplored  together  the  misfortune  of  their  bell,  which  had  not 
hitherto  received  the  rite  of  baptism.  They  had  not  the  sligbtcst  idea  of  a  bell, 
but  it  was  enough  for  them  that  Father  Nicoliis,  who  i)reached  and  said  mass  for 
them  in  their  church,  said  that  it  had  some  indispensable  use  in  the  service  of 
the  diurch. 

"  Their  eagerness  for  the  chase  was  in  a  moment  suspended,  and  they  assem- 
bled together  in  groups,  and,  seated  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  conversed  on  the 
unliappy  captivity  of  their  bell,  and  each  brought  forward  his  plan,  which  he 
deemed  most  likely  to  succeed  in  effecting  its  recovery.  Some  of  their  number, 
who  ha'l  heard  a  bell,  said  it  could  be  heard  beyond  the  murmur  of  the  rapid,  and 
that  its  voice  wjis  more  harmonious  than  that  of  the  sweetest  songster  of  the 
grove  heard  in  the  ipiii't  stillness  of  evening,  when  all  nature  was  liushed  in 
repose. 

"All  were  melancholy  and  inspired  with  a  holy  enthusiasm  ;  many  fjutted,  and 
others  performed  severe  penances  to  obtain  the  deliverance  of  the  bell,  or  the 
palliation  of  its  sufferings. 

"At  length  the  day  of  its  deliverance  approached.  The  Marquis  de  Vaudrenil, 
Governor  of  Canadii,  resolved  to  send  an  expedition  against  tin;  British  colonies 
of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  The  conmiand  of  this  expedition  was 
given  to  Major  Hertel  dc  Rouville,  and  one  of  the  friends  of  the  Jesuit  college 
at  Quebec  was  sent  to  procure  the  services  of  Father  Nicolas  to  accompany  the 
expedition. 

"  The  Indians  were  immediately  assembled  in  the  church.  The  messenger  was 
presented  to  the  congregation,  and  Father  Nicolas,  in  a  solemn  discourse,  pointed 
to  him  as  worthy  of  their  veneration,  from  his  being  the  bearer  of  glail  tidings, 
win  I  was  alxmt  departing  for  his  return  to  Quebec  to  join  the  war.  At  the  end 
of  the  discoui-ae  the  whole  audience  raised  with  one  voice  the  ci*y  of  war,  and  de- 
manded to  be  led  to  the  place  where  their  bell  waa  detained  by  the  heretics. 

"The  savages  immediately  began  to  paint  themselves  in  the  most  hideous 
colors,  and  were  animated  with  a  wild  enthusiasm  \a>  join  the  expedition. 

"  It  was  in  the  depth  of  winter  wlien  they  departed  to  join  the  army  of  M.  de 
Rouville,  at  Fort  Chambly.  Father  Nicolas  marched  at  thi'ir  head  with  a 
large  banner  surmounted  by  a  cross,  and,  as  they  departed  from  their  village, 
their  wives  and  little  ones,  in  imitation  of  women  of  the  crusades,  who  animated 
the  warriors  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  they  sang  a  sacred  hymn  which  their  ven- 
erated priest  had  selected  for  the  occasion.  They  arrived  at  Chambly,  after  a 
march  of  great  hardship,  at  the  moment  the  French  soldiers  were  preparing  to 
start  on  their  march  up  Lake  Chamidain. 

"  The  Indians  followed  in  their  rear  with  that  pei-severance  peculiar  to  their 
character.  In  this  order  the  Indians  remained,  following  in  silence  until  they 
reached  Lake  Champlain,  where  all  the  army  had  been  ordered  to  rendezvous. 
This  lake  was  then  frozen  and  less  covered  by  snow  than  the  shores,  and  was 
ta.ken  as  a  more  convenient  route  for  the  army.  With  their  thoughts  wrapped 
up  in  the  single  contemplation  of  the  unhappy  captivity  of  their  bell,  the  In- 
diana remained  taciturn  during  this  pensive  march,  exhibiting  no  symptoms  of 
fatigue  or  of  fear ;  no  regret  for  their  families  or  homes ;  and  they  regarded  with 
equal  indifference  on  the  one  hand  the  interminable  line  of  forest,  sometimes 
black  from  dense  evergreens  and  in  others  white  with  loads  of  snow,  and  on 
the  other  the  black  lines  of  rocks  and  deserts  of  snow  and  ice,  which  bordered 
their  path.  The  French  stddiei-s,  who  suff"ered  dreadfully  from  fatigue  and  cold, 
regarded  with  admiration  tlie  agility  and  cheertulness  witli  which  the  Indians 
seemed  to  glide  over  the  yielding  suri'ace  of  tlie  snow  on  their  snow-shoes.  The 
great  endurance  of  the  proselytes  of  Father  Nicolas  formed  a  striking  contrast 
with  the  excitability  and  impatience  of  the  Fiench  soldiers. 

"When  they  arrived  at  the  point  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Burlington, 
the  order  was  given  for  a  general  halt  to  make  more  efficient  arrangements  for 
penetrating  tlirough  the  forests  to  Massachusetts.  In  leaving  this  point,  Dp 
Rouville  gave  to  Father  Nicolas  the  command  of  his  Indian  warriors  and  took 
the  lead  of  his  own  himself,  with  compass  in  hand,  to  make  the  most  direct 
course  for  Deerfield.  Nothing  wliich  the  troops  had  thus  far  suflered  could 
compare  with  what  they  now  lafcdured  on  this  march  through  a  wild  country,  in 
the  midst  of  deep  snow,  and  with  no  supplies  beyond  what  they  could  carry. 

"  The  French  soldiers  became  impatient,  and  wasted  their  breath  in  cui-ses  and 
complaints  at  the  hardships  they  suffered;  but  the  Indians,  animated  by  a  zeal 
which  snst^iined  them  above  the  sense  of  hardships,  remained  steadfast  in  the 
midst  of  fatigue  which  increased  with  the  severity  of  their  sufferiugs. 

"Their  custom  of  travelling  in  the  forest  had  qualified  them  for  these  hard- 
ships, which  elicited  the  curees  and  execrations  of  tlieir  not  less  brave  but  more 
irritalde  companions.  Some  time  before  the  expedition  arrived  at  its  destination 
the  priest,  Nicolas,  fell  sick  from  over-exertion.  His  feet  were  worn  by  the  labor 
of  travelling,  and  his  face  torn  by  the  branches  which  he  neglected  to  watch  in 
his  eagerness  to  follow  the  troops. 

"  He  felt  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  holy  expedition,  and  recalling  to  mind  the 
martyrdom  of  the  saints  and  the  persecutions  which  they  endured,  he  looked 
forward  to  the  glory  reser^-ed  for  his  reward  for  the  sufferings  which  he  might 
encounter  in  recovering  the  bell. 

"On  the  eveiung  of  February  20th,  1704,  the  expedition  arrived  within  two 
miles  of  Deerfield  without  being  discovered. 

"De  Rouville  here  ordered  his  men  to  rest  and  refresh  themselves  a  short 
time,  and  he  here  issued  his  ordei-s  for  attacking  the  town. 

"The  surface  of  th^  snow  was  frozen  an  1  cracked  under  their  feet,  but  De 


64 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEV. 


Kouville,  with  a  remarkable  sagacity,  adopted  a  stratagem  to  deceive  the  iuhab- 
itantg  and  the  garrison. 

"  He  gave  ordere  tliat  in  advancing  to  the  assanlt  the  troops  should  make  fre- 
quent paut^es  and  then  rush  forward  with  rajpidity,  tlius  iniit;iting  tlie  noirie  made 
in  the  forest  hy  the  iiTeguhir  blowing  of  the  wind  among  branches  laden  with 
ice. 

"  Tile  alarm  was  at  length  given,  and  a  severe  combat  ensued,  wliich  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  the  town  and  the  slaughter  or  dispereion  of  the  iuhal>itjints  and 
the  garrison. 

"This  occurred  in  the  night,  and  at  da.vbreak  the  Indians,  who  had  been  ex- 
hausted by  the  lalHjrs  of  the  night,  presented  themselves  before  Fatlier  Nicolas 
in  a  btidy  aud  begged  to  be  led  to  the  bell,  that  they  might  by  their  homage 
prove  their  veneration  for  it.  Their  priot  was  greatly  allected  liy  this  earnest 
request,  and  De  Rouville  and  others  of  the  French  laughed  immoderately  at  it; 
but  the  priest  wished  not  to  discourage  them  in  their  wishes,  and  he  obtjiined  of 
the  French  chief  permission  to  send  one  of  his  soldiers  tj  ring  it  in  the  hearing 
of  the  Indians. 

■'The  sound  of  the  bell  in  the  stillness  of  the  cold  morning,  au'l  in  the  midst 
of  the  calmness  of  the  forest,  echoed  clear  and  far,  and  fell  upon  the  irai-s  of  the 
simple  IndiaTis  like  the  voice  of  an  oracle.  They  trcmldeil,  aud  were  filled  with 
fear  aud  wonder. 

"  The  hell  was  taken  from  the  belfry,  and  attached  to  a  pole  in  such  a  ntauuer 
that  four  men  could  carry  it,  aud  in  this  way  it  was  borne  off  with  tlieir  plunder 
in  tiinmph,  tlie  Indians  glorying  in  the  deliverance  of  this  miraculous  wonder. 

"  But  they  shortly  perceived  it  was  too  heavy  a  burden  for  the  rugged  route 
they  pursued  aud  the  yielding  nature  of  the  suows  over  wIulIi  they  traveletl. 
Aceorihngly,  upon  arriving  at  the  point  on  the  lake  where  they  had  left  it,  they 
buried  their  cherished  treasure,  witli  numy  benedictions  of  Father  Nicohis,  until 
the  period  should  arrive  when  they  could  transport  it  with  more  convenience. 

"  As  soon  as  the  ice  had  disappeareil,  and  the  bland  air  of  spring  had  returned, 
giving  foliage  to  the  trees  and  the  fragrance  and  beauty  of  flowers  to  the  forest, 
Father  Nicolas  again  assembled  at  the  church  his  Indian  conveits  to  select  a 
certain  nunilier  of  the  tribe,  wdio,  with  the  assistance  of  a  yoke  of  oxen,  should 
go  ami  bring  in  the  dearly-prized  bell. 

"  During  the  interval  all  the  women  and  children  of  the  Indian  village,  having 
been  informed  of  the  wonderful  qualities  of  the  bell,  awaited  its  arrival  with 
eagerness  and  impatience,  and  regarded  its  advent  as  one  of  those  events  wdiich 
but  rarely  mark  the  progress  of  ages.  As  the  time  apiiroached  when  the  curious 
object  should  arrive,  the.v  were  assembled  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  dis- 
coursing ui)on  the  subject,  when  far  off  in  the  stillness  of  the  twilight  ttiere  was 
heard  from  the  depths  of  the  forest  a  sound  which,  from  being  feeble  aud  scarcely 
audible,  became  every  moment  lotnler.  Every  one  listened,  when  presently  the 
cry  arose  '/(  w  the  hell !  iiiit Uie  heU IT  and  in  a  moment  after  the  oxen  were  seen 
emerging  from  the  wood  surrounded  by  a  group  of  Imlians,  aud  bearing  the 
precious  bui-den  on  a  pole  between  them.  They  had  hung  ui)on  the  beiUu  and 
around  the  bell  clusters  of  wild-flowera  and  leaves,  and  the  oxen  were  adorned 
with  garlands  of  flower.s.  Thus  marching  in  ti'iuraph.  Father  Nictpliia  entered 
his  village  more  proud  of  his  success  and  received  with  more  heartfelt  joy  than 
a  Roman  general  returning  in  triumph  from  the  conquest  of  nations. 

"  From  this  triumphal  march  in  the  miiist  of  the  quiet  of  the  evening,  which 
was  broken  only  by  the  murmur  of  the  rapid  softened  by  the  distance,  arose  the 
shouts  of  rejoicing  a&  the  cortege  entered  the  village  and  the  idol  bell  was  de- 
posited in  the  church.  Every  one  gratified  his  eager  curiosity  by  examining  the 
strange  musical  metal,  and  the  crusade  had  been  crowned  with  unqvuililicd 
success. 

*'  In  due  time  it  was  raised  to  its  place  in  the  belfry,  and  has  ever  since,  at  the 
accustomed  hours,  sent  its  clear  tones  over  the  broad  bosom  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
t«i  announce  the  hour  of  prayer  and  lapse  of  time;  anil  although  its  tones  are 
shrill  and  feeble  beside  its  modern  companion,  they  possess  a  music  and  call  up 
an  association  which  will  long  give  an  interest  to  the  church  of  the  Saut  St. 
Louis,  at  the  Indian  village  of  Gtiujh'mc-wa-ga" 

Further  Depredations. — After  the  sacking  of  Deerfield,  in 
the  month  of  Fehruary,  the  Indians  hung  around  the  devoted 
settlement  during  all  the  spring  months,  killing  several  per- 
sons. 

In  July,  1708,  Samuel  Chapin,  of  Springfield,  was  shot  by 
the  Indians,  and  severely  wounded. 

During  the  same  year  Samuel  and  Joseph  Parsons,  of 
Northampton,  sons  of  Captain  John  Parsons,  were  killed  in 
the  woods.  On  the  26th  of  July  that  year,  seven  or  eight  In- 
dians attacked  the  house  of  Lieut.  Wright,  and  killed  "  old 
Mr.  Wright"  and  two  soldiers  named  Aaron  Parsons  and 
Barijah  Hubbard.  They  also  knocked  two  children  on 
the  head,  one  of  whom  died,  and  took  Henry  Wright's  wife 
captive. 

Expeditions  of  1709  and  1711. — In  the  year  1709  an  under- 
taking on  a  large  scale,  for  the  capture  of  Canada,  was 
planned  by  England. 

A  squadron  of  ships  from  England  was  to  be  sent  to  Boston 
with  five  regiments  of  regular  troops,  numbering  in  all  three 
thousand  men.  Massachu.setts  and  Rhode  Island  were  to  raise 
twelve  hundred  men,  and  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  New 


Jersey  fifteen  hundred  men.  This  last-mentioned  body  of 
troops  was  to  proceed  up  the  Hudson  to  attack  Montreal.  The 
former,  under  Col.  Vetch,  were  to  join  the  fleet  against  it  at 
Quebec. 

The  expedition  against  Montreal  was  intrusted  to  the  com- 
mand of  Maj.-Gen.  Nicholson.  Like  that  under  Gen.  Fitz- 
John  Winthrop,  of  nineteen  years  before,  it  took  the  route  of 
the  valley  of  the  Hudson.  On  his  way  up  the  Hudson,  Gen.  - 
Nicholson  built  Port  Ingoldsby  at  Stillwater,  Port  Saratoga 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Batteukill,  Port  Nicholson  at  what  is 
now  Port  Edward,  and  Port  Anne  on  Wood  Creek.  Like  that 
under  Pitz-John  Winthrop,  it  returned  with  nothing  accom- 
plished. In  this  e-xpcdition  the  troops  suffered  greatly  from 
sickness, — notably  at  Port  Anne,  on  Wood  Creek,  near  Lake 
Champlain,  where  many  of  them  died.  The  English  fleet 
sailed  for  Portugal  instead  of  New  England,  and  of  course 
the  expedition  by  sea  against  Quebec  was  abandoned. 

In  1710  an  expedition  was  dispatched  again.st  Port  Royal. 
This  met  with  better  success.  On  the  29th  of  September  the 
garrison  capitulated. 

In  the  j'ear  1711  another  attempt  was  made  by  England  to 
conquer  Canada.  Again  an  expedition  by  land  went  u]i  the 
valley  of  the  Hudson  as  far  as  Fort  Anne,  on  Wood  Creek. 
This  time  the  fleet  sailed  from  England,  but  before  reaching 
Quebec  encountered  a  storm,  and  a  thousand  men  perished. 
Hearing  of  the  disaster  by  sea,  the  land-forces  again  retired 
from  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Hudson.  While  these  move- 
ments were  going  on  the  Indians  still  lurked  in  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley,  killing  persons  at  Northampton  and  other  places. 
At  length,  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1713,  the  peace  of 
Utrecht  was  concluded  between  England  and  Prance,  and 
Prench-and-Indian  hostilities  soon  ceased  in  the  colonies. 

VI. 

WAR    WITH    EA.STERX    INDIANS — 1722-26. 

Fdllirv  Sebn/itian  Rrrsle. — In  the  year  1722,  while  France 
and  England  were  still  at  peace,  war  broke  out  between  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  and  the  Aben-a- 
quis,  an  important  Indian  tribe  dwelling  to  the  east  and 
north  of  the  Merrimack  River,  who  were  the  allies  of  the 
French.  The  French  had  before  this  established  a  mission 
among  the  Aben-a-qiiis  at  Norridgewock,  on  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Kennebeck  River,  which  was  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  in  charge  of  the  Jesuit  Father  Sebastian  Rasle.  Father 
Rasle  had  been  in  charge  of  this  mission  on  the  Kennebeck 
since  the  year  1695,  and  as  Norridgewock  was  the  principal 
station  from  whence  war-parties  were  sent  against  the  English^ 
this  has  sometimes  been  called  Father  Raslc's  War. 

Oratj-Lock,  of  Wo-ro-noak. — But  the  real  leader  of  the  In- 
dians in  this  war  was  a  sachem  called  Gray-Lock.  Before 
King  Philip's  war  Gray- Lock, — so  called  from  the  color  of  his 
hair, — had  lived  on  the  Agawam  or  Westfield  River.  After 
the  death  of  King  Philip,  Gray-Lock  fled  to  the  Mohawk 
country.  In  the  year  1723  he  lived  at  his  fort  on  Missisquoi 
Bay,  at  the  northerly  end  of  Lake  Champlain.  Here  Gray- 
Lock  had  collected  a  band  of  trusty  warriors,  doubtless  from 
among  his  own  people,  who  had  fled  from  the  valley  of  the 
Agawam,  who.se  squaws  planted  their  corn  on  the  meadows 
near  his  fort.  Prom  this  secure  retreat  Gray-Lock  made 
numerous  hostile  excursions  against  his  old  neighbors,  the 
English  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Valley, — an  account  of 
which  will  appear  in  the  history  of  the  towns,  farther  on, — 
the  most  noted  of  which  were  his  raids  on  Northfleld  on  the 
13th  of  August,  1723,  and  on  the  18th  of  June,  1724. 

Early  in  the  year  1724,  Fort  Deummer  was  built  at  what  is 
now  Brattleboro',  Vt.,  by  Capt.  Kellogg,  and  when  completed 
garrisoned  by  Capt.  Timothy  Dwight  and  fifty-five  men.* 

The  forts   at   Northfield   and   Deerfield   were  garrisoned, 

*For  a  nnisler-rol!  of  Oapt.  Dwight's  company,  see  Temple  ami  Sheldon's 
History  of  Northfleld,  p.  201. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


65 


and  the  inhabitants  were  kept  in  continual  alarm.  In  the 
summer  of  1724  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  by  the  English 
against  the  Aben-a-quis,  consisting  of  two  hundred  and  eight 
men  under  command  of  Capts.  Moulton,  Harmon,  Bourne, 
and  Bane;  Ascending  the  Kennebeck  River,  the  English 
readied  Ntirridgewock  on  the  23d  of  August,  and,  taking  the 
village  by  surprise,  killed  a  large  number  of  its  inhabitants, 
among  whom  was  Father  Kasle. 

After  prowling  around  the  English  settlements  all  summer, 
Gray-Lock  returned  to  his  fort  at  Missisquoi  in  the  autumn. 
Early  in  1725,  Capt.  Benj.  "Wright  raised  a  company  of  men, 
and  marched  from  Northlield  to  attack  Gray-Lock  in  his 
stronghold  on  Lake  Champlain,  but,  failing  to  reach  his  des- 
tination, early  abandoned  the  enterprise,  and  returned  with- 
out accomplishing  his  object.* 

Among  the  most  notable  events  of  the  war  was  Capt.  John 
Lovewell's  expedition  to  the  Indian  country  in  the  spring  of 
1725,  and  his  battle  with  Paugus  on  the  8th  of  May  at  Frye- 
burg. 

A  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  with  the  Eastern  Indians  at 
Boston,  Dee.  15,  1725,  which  was  ratified  at  Falmouth  on 
the  5th  of  August,  1726.t  The  highest  mountain  in  Massa- 
chusetts still  bears  the  name  of  Gray-Lock,  the  last  of  the 
Wo-ro-noaks. 

VII. 

FEENCH-AND-INDIAN   WAR   OF    1744-48. 

n  the  20th  of  March,  1744,  war  again  broke  out  between 
England  and  France. 

At  this  time  Loui.sburg,  on  Cape  Breton,  was  the  strong- 
hold of  the  Frencli  in  the  east,  and  Governor  Shirley  planned 
an  expedition,  sent  out  by  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  for 
its  capture.  The  expedition  was  commanded  by  Sir  William 
Pepperell,  and  he  was  joined  by  a  British  fleet  under  com- 
mand of  Sir  Peter  Warren,  commodore.  On  the  16th  of  June 
Louisbiirg  surrendered  to  the  combined  forces  of  Pepperell 
and  Warren.  Its  capture  "  filled  Europe  with  astonishment 
and  America  with  joy."  In  this  alfair  the  Massachusetts 
troops  won  high  honor. 

Fort  MnfssachusieUit. — Upon  the  breaking  out  of  this  war 
the  Massacliusetts  General  Court  resolved  upon  the  erection 
of  a  line  of  forts  to  protect  her  northwestern  frontier.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  year  1744,  a  fort  was  built  at  Hoosac,  now 
Adams,  and  named  Fort  Massachusetts ;  one  in  the  present 
town  of  Heath,  called  Fort  Shirley  ;  and  another  in  the  town 
of  Rowe,  which  was  named  Fort  Pelham.  There  was  also  a 
small  fort  erected  at  Blandford,  in  the  eastern  part  of  what 
is  now  Hampden  County. 

At  this  time.  Col.  John  Stoddard,  of  Northampton,  of  the 
Hampshire  County  regiment,  was  chief  in  command  of  the 
provincial  forces  in  Western  Massachusetts,  while  Capt.  Eph- 
raim  Williams  had  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  western 
forts,  with  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Massachusetts. 

No  attacks  of  importance  took  place  in  Western  Massacliu- 
setts until  the  month  of  August,  in  the  year  1746.  On  the 
26th  of  that  month.  Fort  Massachusetts  was  invested  by  a 
French-and-Indian  force  numbering  from  eight  to  nine  hun- 
dred, under  command  of  the  Marquis  deVaudreuil.  There 
were  but  twenty-two  men  at  the  time  in  the  fort,  under  com- 
mand of  Sergt.  John  Hawks.  For  t%venty-eight  hours  the 
brave  little  garrison  held  out  against  the  enemy,  in  hopes  of 
succor.     But  no  help  came,  and  Sergt.  Hawks  surrendered. 

On  the  24th,  fifty  of  Vaudreuil's  Indians  left  the  main  body 
and  paid  another  hostile  visit  to  the  scene  of  their  old  depre- 
dations in  Dcerfield.  During  this  raid,  Samuel  Allen,  Adon- 
ijah  Gillet,  and  Oliver  Amsden  were  killed,  and  a  boy,  Samuel 
Allen,  Jr.,  taken  prisoner. 

*  Capt.  Wright's  journal  is  given  entire  in  Temple  and  Sheldon's  Histoi-y  of 
Northfield,  p.  2ln. 

fJ't)!-  II  full  account  t)f  tliis  war,  sec  Temple  and  Sheldon's  History  of  Nortli- 
field,  pp.  188  to  21.0. 


In  May,  1748,  Noah  Pixley,  of  Southampton,  was  killed 
by  the  Indians.  At  this  time  Col.  Stoddard  died,  while  in 
attendance  at  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  and  Col.  Israel 
Williams,  of  Hatfield,  succeeded  to  the  command  in  Western 
Massachusetts.  On  the  2d  day  of  August  a  body  of  two  hun- 
dred Indians  made  an  attack  upon  Fort  Massachusetts.  At 
the  time  the  fort  was  garrisoned  by  one  hundred  men,  under 
Capt.  (afterward  Col.)  Epliraini  Williams.  After  a  spirited 
assault  of  some  two  hours'  duration,  the  Indians  abandoned 
the  attempt  upon  the  fort,  and  retreated,  carrying  with  tliem 
their  dead  and  wounded. 

The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  signed  on  the  7th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1748,  put  an  end  to  the  war. 

VIII. 

LAST   FRENCH-AND-INDIAN    WAR — 1753-63. 

We  now  come  to  the  stirring  events  of  the  last  French-and- 
Indian  war.  During  the  continuance  of  its  active  movements 
in  the  field,  from  1755  to  1759,  great  armies  marched  through 
the  old  northern  war-paths  of  the  wilderness,  dyeing  its  streams 
with  blood  and  filling  its  wild  meadows  with  thousands  of 
nameless  new-made  graves.  At  its  close  the  sceptre  of  the 
French  kings  over  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  dropped  from 
their  hands  forever. 

The  Hampshire  County  Regiment,  under  Col.  Epliraini  Wil- 
hams,  at  Lake  George  in  1755. — In  the  summer  of  1755  a 
regiment  was  raised  in  Hampshire  County  to  accompany  the 
expedition  of  that  year  against  Crown  Point  commanded  by 
Col.  (afterward  Sir)  William  Johnson.  The  command  of 
this  Hampshire  County  regiment  was  given  by  Governor 
Shirley  to  Col.  Ephraini  Williams,  the  hero  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  English  forces 
unjer  Col.  Johnson  had  reached  the  foot  of  Lake  George,  and 
were  encamped  there  awaiting  the  construction  of  boats  to 
transport  them  to  Crown  Point,  when,  on  the  8th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, they  were  unexpectedly  attacked  by  the  French. 
Baron  Dieskau,  in  command  of  the  French  forces,  had  ad- 
vanced the  evening  before,  with  a  large  force  of  French  regu- 
lars,-  Canadians,  and  Indians,  to  within  two  miles  of  Fort 
Edward,  on  the  Hudson, — then  called  Fort  Lyman, — with 
the  intention  of  attacking  that  place.  But  his  Indians  were 
afraid  of  the  cannon  of  the  fort,  and  he  turned  toward 
Lake  George  to  attack  Col.  Johnson's  forces  in  the  rear. 
Col.  Johnson,  hearing  of  the  movement  of  the  French  on 
Fort  Edward,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  sent  Col. 
Williams,  at  the  head  of  a  thousand  men  and  two  hundred 
Mohawks,  led  bj'  their  chief,  King  Hendrick,  to  the  relief 
of  its  garrison,  not  knowing  that  Dieskau  had  changed  his 
course.  Dieskau,  hearing  of  the  approach  of  Col.  Williams, 
formed  his  men  into  an  ambuscade  at  the  distance  of  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  English  camp.  Williams,  at  the 
head  of  his  men,  led  by  the  Mohawks,  marched  unsuspectingly 
into  the  jaws  of  death.  Upon  entering  the  ambuscade  the 
English  received  a  terrible  fire.  Col.  Williams  was  soon 
killed,  and  King  Hendrick  mortally  wounded.  Upon  the 
death  of  their  commander  the  English  fled  in  confusion  to  the 
camp  on  Lake  George.  The  French  followed,  and  fiercely 
attacked  the  English  camp.  After  a  four  hours'  fight  the 
French  were  repulsed  with  great  loss,  leaving  their  com- 
mander, the  Baron  Dieskau,  wounded  and  a  prisoner  in  the 
liands  of  the  English. 

Tlie  loss  in  both  engagements  was,  on  the  English  side,  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  killed  and  ninety-six  wounded.  The 
Hampshire  County  regiment  suffered  most  severely  of  all. 
Forty-six  were  killed  and  twenty-four  wounded. 

Besides  Col.  Williams,  the  oiEcers  of  this  regiment  killed 
were  Maj.  Noah  Ashley;  Capts.  Moses  Porter,  Jonathan 
Ingersol,  and  Elisha  Hawley ;  Lieuts.  Daniel  Pomeroy,  Simon 
Cobb,  and  Nathaniel  Burt;  and  Ensigns  John  Stratton  and 
Reuben  Wait. 


66 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  news  of  this  victory  was  received  with  great  joy  by  all 
the  colonies,  but  it  brought  sorrow  into  many  a  home  in  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts.  One-fourth  of 
the  slain  were  from  Hampshire  County.  The  death  of  Col. 
Williams  was  especially  lamented.  A  monument  now  marks 
the  spot  where  he  fell  on  the  field  of  that  "bloody  morning 
scout,"  but  his  most  enduring  monument  is  the  college  he 
founded,  which  bears  his  name,  and  is  situated  near  the  site  of 
his  beloved  Fort  Massachusetts. 

The  war  moved  sullenly  on  for  four  years  more,  until  Que- 
bec fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victorious  Wolfe.  But  to  follow 
its  long  train  of  events  would  not  be  within  the  scope  of  this 
work.  As  late  as  the  month  of  March,  1758,  the  Indians  from 
time  to  time  committed  depredations  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  but  at  lengtli  peace  came  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  war-worn  English  colonies. 

The  war  was  virtually  ended  in  1759,  but  the  peace  of 
Paris  was  not  concluded  until  the  7th  day  of  February,  1763. 

For  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  the  people  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley  had  sown  in  terror  for  the  Indian  to  reap  in  blood. 


CHAPTER   XVI  L 

THE  W^AR  OF  THE  REVOLUTION —  THE  HAMP- 
SHIRE COUNTY  MINUTE-MEN  OP  APRIL,  1775- 
COL.  PORTER'S  REGIMENT. 


TiiK  war  of  the  Revolution  was  tlie  final  result,  the  sure 
outcome,  of  the  principles  of  liberty  and  equality  held  by  the 
Pilgrim  and  Puritan  Fathers  from  the  beginning.  Its  seed 
germinated  in  the  little  Separatist  congregation  which  met, 
in  l(i07,  at  Scrooby  Manor,  in  Lincolnshire,  England. 

The  tender  plant  was  carried  with  weary  feet  to  Holland, 
brought  to  America  in  the  "  Mayflower,"  and  planted  amid 
sacrifice  and  suffering  in  the  rugged  soil  of  New  England. 
Our  republic  is  the  bright  consummate  flower. 

From  the  beginning  the  New  England  people  were  restive 
under  royal  rule.  Both  the  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth 
colonies,  a  hundred  years  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
broke  out,  in  their  Fundamentals  and  Bills  of  Rights  set 
forth  in  the  clearest  terms  the  principle  of  no  taxation  with- 
out representation. 

This  principle  has  always  been  one  of  the  great  bulwarks  of 
English  libert}',  and  its  violation  led  to  the  English  Revolu- 
tion of  1688.  Hardly  were  the  long  and  bloody  Indian  wars 
over,  hardly  had  the  people  of  the  colonies  begun  to  settle 
down  in  safety  in  their  no  longer  imperiled  homes  and  to 
profit  by  the  arts  of  peace,  before  a  new  danger  menaced 
them.  The  blessings  of  peace  had  been  bought  at  the  ex- 
pense of  an  enormous  waste  of  treasure,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  the  mother-country  found  herself  burdened  with  a 
debt  which  she  could  scarcely  hope  to  pay.  In  her  distress, 
she  determined  to  tax  the  colonies,  and  in  order  to  do  this 
Parliament  assumed  to  exercise  the  most  arbitrary  power  over 
them. 

From  the  year  1764 — the  very  next  year  after  the  peace  of 
Paris — to  the  year  1775,  the  British  Parliament,  in  many  of- 
fensive and  arbitrary  ways,  directed  its  eftorts  to  the  end  of 
depriving  the  provinces  of  their  liberties,  and  of  forcing  them 
to  contribute  to  the  revenues  of  the  British  crown. 

The  men  who  at  this  time  managed  the  jjolitical  affairs  of 
England  seemed  to  lack  both  the  wi.sdom  and  the  moderation 
whijh  could  alone  secure  to  her  the  benefit  of  her  triumphs. 
They  were  ignorant  of  the  geography  of  the  country,  as  well 
as  of  the  character  of  its  residents.  They  were  neither  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  the  country,  nor  did  they  compre- 
hend the  opinions  which  prevailed  there.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  people  of  the  colonies  demanded,  not  as  a  favor,  but  as  a 


right,  equality  with  their  fellow-subjects.  As  a  consequence 
such  offensive  and  arbitrary  measures  as  tliose  before  mentioned 
met  with  a  most  spirited  and  determined  resistance. 

As  early  as  April  5,  1764,  what  is  known  as  the  "Sugar 
Act"  was  passed  by  Parliament.  This  act  laid  a  duty  upon 
many  articles  that  were  imported  into  the  colonies;  among 
others,  upon  all  sugars  so  imported.  This  was  considered  by 
the  northern  colonies  as  a  sacrifice  of  their  interests  to  the 
superior  interest  in  Parliament  of  the  West  Indies. 

But  this  was  followed  by  a  still  more  obnoxious  measure. 
On  the  22d  day  of  March,  1765,  the  Stamp  Act,  having  before 
received  the  assent  of  both  houses  of  Parliament,  received 
the  royal  signature.  This  measure  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
American  Revolution. 

To  detail  the  events  which  followed  is  hardly  within  the 
scope  of  this  work. 

"  The  events,"  says  Dr.  Holland,  "  which  followed  the  arbi- 
trar3'  measures  of  Governor  Bernard,  the  arrival  of  military 
force,  the  misrepresentation  of  the  colonists  abroad,  the  re- 
fusal to  hear  their  petitions,  the  popular  combinations  against 
importing  British  goods,  the  struggle  between  patriotism  and 
governmental  policy  in  the  British  Parliament,  the  ever- 
memorable  and  ever-glorious  protests  against  oppression  by 
the  General  Assembh'  of  the  colony,  the  collisions  of  the  sol- 
diery with  the  people  of  Boston,  the  firm  and  persistent  oppo- 
sition to  the  usurpations  of  chartered  rights,  the  traitorous  con- 
duct of  the  Governor  in  his  capacity  as  the  tool  of  the  British 
ministry,  the  destruction  of  the  tea  in  the  harbor  of  Boston, 
the  holding  of  county  meetings  and  conventions,  the  insti- 
tution of  committees  of  safety  and  correspondence, — all  these 
events,  in  which  civil  liberty  and  national  glory  were  taking 
root,  prepared  the  way  for  the  first  demonstration,  which 
sealed  in  blood,  on  the  soil  of  Massachusetts,  the  doom  of 
British  rule  in  the  American  colonies."* 

In  this  great  struggle  the  county  of  Hampshire  was  in  no 
degree  behind  her  sister  counties  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State  in  manifesting  her  determination  to  defend  the  rights  of 
the  colonies  to  the  last  extremity.  The  records  of  nearly  every 
town  in  the  county  tell  of  meetings  held  and  of  measures  de- 
vised to  assist  and  co-operate  with  their  brethren  of  the  east 
and  of  the  other  provinces.  In  the  histories  of  the  towns 
which  follow,  the  reader  will  find  copies  of  many  of  these 
records.  The  resolutions  adopted  by  Northampton  and 
Springfield  only  are  given  here,  as  well  representing  the 
general  tenor  of  them  all. 

NORTHAMPTON    TOWN    RECORDS. 

I. 

"Dec.  2G,  1774. — The  inhabitants  met  in  pui"suanee  t()  a<y<^nrnment, and  chose 
a  committee  of  twelve  persons  to  receive,  preserve,  &  convey  snirli  articli-s  as 
shall  lie  contrihnteil  hy  the  Inhabitants  of  this  town  for  the  relief  of  their  sllf- 
feiing  brethren  in  the  Towns  of  Boston  and  Ciiarlestown." 
II. 

"  March  4,  mi). — At  this  meetiny:  a  (Xjnimittee  of  Correspondence,  Inspection, 
and  Safety  wjus  chosen,  conststing  of  fifteen  pei-sons." 
III. 

"Oct.  :i,  1770. — The  question  at  this  meeting  wsls  put.  Whether  the  Town  will 
give  their  Consent  that  the  present  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  Knglaud,ttigether  with  the  Council  (if  they  consent), 
in  one  body  with  the  House,  and  by  equal  voice,  should  consult,  agree  on,  and 
enact  such  a  Constitution  &  Form  of  Government  for  this  SUlte  as  the  said  House 
of  Representatives  and  Council  as  aforesaid  on  the  fullest  and  most  niiitnre  Delil)- 
eration  shall  judge  will  most  conduce  to  the  Safety,  peace,  and  Happiness  of  this 
StJite  in  all  after  succession  and  generations;  .and  it  piLssed  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Tlie  (Question  was  then  jint.  Whether  the  Town  would  direct  that  the  same 
be  made  Pnblick  for  the  Inspection  and  perusal  of  the  Inhabitants  before  the 
ratification  thereof  by  the  Assembly;  and  it  passed  in  the  attirnnltive." 

IV. 

"  March  3,  1777. — The  Town  entered  upon  the  consideration  of  the  matter 
which  hail  been  debated,  viz.:  wluxt  methods  they  would  take  to  encourage  and 
facilitate  the  raising  of  this  Town's  prolKirtion  of  men  for  the  Continental  Army, 
and  pa.ssed  the  following  votes  thereon,  viz. : 

"  That  those  pereona  that  shall  now  engage  in  the  service  aforesaid,  who  be- 


«  Holland's  History  of  Western  Mass.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  Sai. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


C7 


longed  to  Capt.  Alliii's  and  Capt.  Chapin's  Company  tliG  last  year,  lK>tIi  officei-s 
and  privates,  sliall  have  full  conipensatitui  for  all  losses  by  them  suBtiiined  in 
Cloaths  aii<l  other  articles,  when  such  losses  were  iinavoidalilo,  and  not  through 
the  negligence  of  those  who  sustained  them. 

*'  And  as  u  further  encouragement  to  them,  or  any  other  able-bodied  men  be- 
longing to  tliis  town  wlio  will  engage  in  the  said  service, 

"The  t<.>wn  Voted  that  they  and  each  of  them  whall  receive  from  the  Inhab- 
itants of  the  Town  of  Northam]tton  the  sum  of  fifteen  pounds,  which  sum  shall 
be  paid  ta  them  several  times,  viz.:  namely,  five  pounils  before  they  shall  march 
to  join  the  said  Army,  and  five  pounds  more  shall  be  paid  to  them  or  to  their 
Order  in  the  month  of  April,  1778,  and  the  other  five  pounds  in  the  month  of 
April,  177!).*  And  whereas,  it  was  represented  to  the  Town  tliat  some  of  the  in- 
habitants have  liereti.>fore  failed  of  doing  their  proportion  in  promoting  the 
publick  cause, 

"  The  T(»wn  voted  that  a  large  Committee  should  be  appointed  to  examine  and 
consider  what  pei>ions  in  ttic  Town  have  been  so  delinquent,  and  that  the  said 
Committee  make  out  a  list  of  such  pei-sons,  with  the  sums  affixed  to  their  re- 
spective names  which  they  judge  it  will  be  necessary  for  them  to  advance,  in 
order  t^)  their  iloing  their  full  proportion  with  the  other  inhabitants  of  this  town, 
and  that  those  who  are  found  delinquent  as  aforesaid,  shall  bo  required  to  pay 
the  sum  so  affixed  to  their  names,  to  such  persons  as  the  Town  shall  appoint  to 
collect  tlie  same. 

"The  Town  also  voted  that  the  sum  of  seventy  pounds  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  Town  Treasurer,  being  the  Fines  nf  Several  i)er8uns  who  refused  tu  marcli 
in  the  last  Draughts  of  the  Militiii,  be  apjdyed  to  the  payment  of  the  l>ounty 
aforesaid,  and  that  what  further  sums  shall  be  necessary  ti»  make  up  the  losses 
and  pay  the  Bounty  as  aforesaid,  shall  bo  Assessed  upon  tlui  Polls  and  Estiites  of 
the  Inbabitant.s  nf  this  Town  at  such  time  as  the  Town  shall  order. 

"April  15, 1777,  voted  to  increase  the  bounty  to  'M  pounds." 

SPRINGFIELD    RECORDS. 

"".,„„,,„„-„,..„.„.c:_.. ..„„.,„„ 

that  Dea.  Nathaniel  Brewer,  Capt.  Geo.  Pynchon,  Doct.  Charles  Pynchon,  Capt. 
Simon  Colton,  Moses  Field,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jun.,  Ensign  Pliineas  Chapin,  James 
Sikes,  Daniel  Harris,  Be  of  this  Committee,  and  that  they  take  into  cxjusideration 
the  two  hist  articles  contained  in  the  Warrant,!  '"■'"^  make  report  at  ye  a^journ- 
ment  of  this  meeting." 

II. 

"July  12, 1774. — The  Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Town  at  the 
last  meeting,  to  take  into  Consideration  the  two  last  Articles  contained  in  the 
Warrant  for  calling  the  Meeting,  was  at  this  Meeting  presented,  read,  and  con- 
sidered, and  unanimously  voted  and  accepted,  which  report  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

"This  Town,  taking  into  serious  and  deliberate  consideration  Hie  present  dan- 
gerous situation  of  this  Province,  came  into  the  following  vote,  viz.: 

"  Ist.  That  by  the  Royal  Charter  of  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  which  we 
have  possessed  for  near  a  Centur}*,  and  which  has  from  time  to  time  been  recog- 
nized both  by  Kings  and  Parliament,  we  are  Intitled  to  and  ought  forever  to 
enjoy  all  the  Liberties  and  Immunities  of  any  of  his  Majestie's  subjecte  within 
any  of  his  Dominions,  Some  of  the  most  essential  of  which  are,  that  they  shall 
not  be  taxed,  but  with  their  own  consent,  given  in  Pereon  or  by  their  Represen- 
tatives, nor  Disseized  of  their  Property,  or  Condemned  to  any  Penalties  but  by 
Judgement  of  good  and  Lawfull  men  of  the  vicinage,  &c. 

"2ndly.  That  the  Charters  of  the  Collonies  ought  to  be  held  sacred,  and  every 
Infraction  upon  them  carefully  avoided,  as  tending  to  Interrupt  that  Harmony 
between  the  Collonies  and  the  Parent  State  which  is  so  essential  to  the  happiness 
of  both. 

"3dly.  That  though  Great  Deference  &  Respect  is  due  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
British  Parliament,  yet  we  can't  consider  ourselves  as  enjoying  the  liberties  and 
Immunities  of  natural,  fi-eelx)rn  subjects  of  the  King  if  we  are  lyable  to  be 
taxed  without  representation  or  to  be  disseized  of  our  Property,  or  any  way  pun- 
ished witliout  the  Judgement  of  our  Peers.  Nor  do  we  apprehend  that  we  have 
so  much  as  a  Virtual  representation  in  a  Legislature  which  is  not  itself  Subject 
to  those  Laws  which  it  imposes  upon  us. 

"4thly.  That  the  later  Boston  Port  Act,  which  inflicts  a  most  severe  punishment 
iipon  that  town  (ami  in  it*  operations  upon  alnn'xst  the  wlude  continent)  fur  de- 
struction made  of  the  property  of  some  British  nienbants  by  persons  uidtnowii, 
— and  that  before  any  demand  of  compensation  wa-s  nnule  or  any  citation  sent  to 
the  town  to  answer  for  itself, — is  a  step  that  ought  to  alarm  us  and  fill  us  with 
deep  concern. 

"Sthly.  That  the  proposecl  new  System  of  Ciovernment,  virtually  annihilating 
our  most  essential  Charter  Rights,  added  to  the  Boston  Port  Act,  gives  us  such 
apprehension  of  the  designs  of  administration  against  our  Liberties  as  we  have 
never  before  allowed  ourselves  to  entertain. 

"  6thiy.  Impressed  with  just  concern  for  our  privileges,  and  at  the  .same  time 
governed  by  sentiments  of  Loyalty  to  our  Sovereign  and  AVith  warm  afl^ection  for 
our  Mother  Country,  we  ardently  wish  that  all  the  Collonys  and  evei-y  Individ- 
ual in  them  may  unite  in  some  prudint,  peaceful,  constitutional  measure  for  the 

*  Voted,  March  12, 1777,  to  pay  the  fifteen  pounds  before  the  soldier  marched. 

f  The  two  last  articles  in  the  warrant  were  as  follows : 

"6th.  To  Desire  the  Clerk  of  said  Town  to  Communicate  tii  the  Tnwn  all  the 
letters  he  has  Rec'd  from  the  Town  of  Boston,  that  they  may  advi.se  aud  act 
thereon. 

"  7thly.  To  pass  any  Resolves  respecting  the  said  letters  or  any  matters  therein 
contained,  and  choose  any  Committee  tor  that  pui'pose,  and  pass  all  proper  vote 
thereon." 


Redress  of  our  Grievances,  the  Securities  of  our  Liberties,  &  the  ResWration  of 
union  and  mutual  Confidence  between  Great  Britain  &  the  Collonies. 

"  7thly.  That  it  is  the  unqiiestionable  Right,  so  we  esteem  it,  the  indispensible 
duty,  of  the  several  Collonies  in  this  day  to  correspond  together  and  act  in  Con- 
cert, and  we  wait  with  patience  for  the  result  of  the  approaching  Continental 
Congress. 

"  Hoping  that,  Tnfluence<l  by  Wisdom  from  above,  they  will  recommend  those 
measures  which  shall  be  Imth  unoffensive  in  their  nature  and  salutary  in  their 
tendency.  And  as  it  appears  to  us  that  a  discontinuance  of  Trade  and  Commerce 
with  Great  Britain  might  ser\'e  the  Interest  of  the  Country  in  divers  Respects, 
so,  should  any  well-digested,  prudently-regulated,  and  practicable  plan  for  this 
end  be  proposed,  we  shall  readily  accede  to  it,  &  afford  our  aid  for  the  Relief  of 
those  who  may  thereby  be  deprived  of  ye  means  of  substance  as  well  as  con- 
tribute to  the  Succour  of  our  Brethren  already  Suffering  in  their  Country's  Cause. 

"8thly.  In  the  mean  time  we  think  it  our  duty  to  express  our  utter  abhor- 
rence of  all  such  resolves  and  measures  as  are  unnecessarily  affrontive  to  the 
British  Parliament,  and  carry  an  air  of  Insult  upon  tliat  Respectable  Body,  as 
well  as  all  Tumults  and  Riots  among  ourselves,  Insults  upon  men's  persons,  and 
luvations  of  their  properties.  We  are  unanimously  resolved  to  discountenance 
everything  of  this  kind,  and  to  yield  and  promote  due  obedience  to  his  Majesty's 
Government  in  this  Province,  To  treat  his  Majesty's  Representatives  with  all 
due  respect,  To  aid  Inferior  Magistrates  in  the  Regular  Constitutional  Execu- 
tion of  the  Good  Laws  we  arc  under,  and  to  sujiport,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  their 
Just  Influence  in  their  Respective  ottices.  And  we  hope  those  Gentlemen  un- 
biiised  by  pereonal  Interest,  and  greatfully  remembering  that  the  favor  of  the 
People  first  raised  them  to  view,  and  recommended  to  tliem  the  Honoure  they 
sustjiin,  will  readily  unite  with  us  in  all  reasonable  and  Constitutional  means  of 
Redress.  And  though  wo  will  injure  no  man  in  his  pereon  or  property  fiir  a 
diversity  of  opinion,  Yet  we  shall  not  think  ourselves  Iwund  to  continue  our 
favore  ti  any  Gentlemen  who,  lost  to  the  sentiments  of  Gratitude  A  Humanity, 
can  coolly  saciifiee  his  Country's  liberties  to  bis  own  private  emolument. 

"  The  foregoing  Votes  were  passed  in  a  full  Town-Meeting  by  a  large  Majority." 

IIL 

"  July  12, 1774. — This  meeting  adjourned  to  July  26, 1774,  at  which  meeting  it 
was  *  Voted,  Tliat  the  Town  Clerk  be  directed  to  Transmit  a  copy  to  the  Town 
Clerk  of  Boston  of  the  Resolves  Passed  at  the  meeting  July  12,  1774.'" 

IV. 

"  Sept.  20, 1774.— Voted,  That  Mr.  James  Sikes,  Lt  Luke  Bliss,  Jomithan  Hale, 
Jun"",  Dan  Burt  (lid),  Edward  Cliapin,  Phincas  Chapin,  William  Pynchon,  Jun', 
be  a  Committee  to  prepare  the  fonn  of  an  Association.  Voted,  jus  the  opiniim 
of  this  Town,  that  thero  be  County  Congress;  in  case  there  should  be  one,  the 
following  pei-sons  were  chosen  Delegates  for  that  purpose,  viz.,  Doct  Charles 
Pynchon,  Luke  Bliss,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jun^ 

"Voted,  That,  as  the  sense  of  this  town,  that  a  Congress  be  held  at  North- 
ampton on  Thui-sday,  22d  day  of  September,  Inst.,  by  the  several  towns  and  Dis- 
trict.s  in  this  County,  if  judged  best,  and  that  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
acquaint  the  said  towns  therewith. 

"  Voteii,  Tlnit  Dr.  Charles  Pynchon,  Luke  Bliss,  Thos.  Stebbins,  Williston, 
Scth  Stover,  Coburn,  Samuel  Coltjn,  Phineas  Chapin,  Edward  Chapin,  and  Jona- 
than Bliss  be  a  Committee  to  procure  the  necessaries  and  Subsistence  for  the 
Industiious  Poor  in  Boston. 

"Voted,  To  Choose  a  Committee  t^)  Correspond  with  the  Neighboring  Towns 
in  the  County  of  Hampshire,  and  that  this  Committee  consist  of  Nine  Pei-sons 
viz..  Dr.  Charles  Pynchon,  Capt.  Geo.  Pynchon,  James  Sikes,  Nathaniel  Brown, 
John  Hale,  &  William  Pynchon,  Jun'." 

On  the  22d  and  23d  days  of  September,  1774,  a  convention  ' 
of  committees  from  every  town  in  Hiimpshire  County,  except 
Charlemont  and  South  wick,  was  held  at  Northampton.     Tim- 
othy Banielson,  of  Brimfield,  was  Chairman,   and  Ebenczer 
Hunt,  Jr.,  of  Northampton,  Clerk. 

A  series  of  resolutions  was  adopted,  in  substance  similar  to 
the  town  resolutions  copied  above. 

II. 

THE    ROLLS    OF    THE    HAMPSHIRE    MINUTE-MEN — HER    ROLLS 
OF    HONOR. 

As  none  of  the  leading  events  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
occurred  in  Hampshire  County,  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of 
this  work  to  notice  them  here.  The  limited  space  allotted  to 
us  in  this  chapter  cannot  be  used  to  better  purpose  than  to 
give  the  names  of  the  "  Mituite-Men"  of  old  Hampshire. 
These  papers,  filed  away  in  the  archives  of  the  State,  consti- 
tute her  true  rolls  of  honor.  On  them  are  recorded  the  names 
of  the  brave  men  who  first  nobly  stepped  forth  at  the  call  of 
their  country  : 

"  They  left  the  plowshare  in  the  mould, 
Their  flocks  and  hearths  without  a  fold. 

And  mustered  in  their  simple  dress, 
For  wrongs  to  seek  a  stern  redress." 


68 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


For  rolls  of  mihute-men  not  given  below,  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  histories  of  the  several  towns  in  this  volume. 

I. — AMHERST,    LEVERETT,   AND   SHUTESBURY. 

"  A  Minute  Koll  of  the  Company  under  the  Command  of 
Capt.  Eeuben  Dickinson,  in  Col.  Woodbridge's  Regt: 

"Captain,  Keuben  Dickinson. 

"  Lieutenant,  Zacheus  Crocker. 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  Joseph  Dickinson. 

"  Sergeants,  Daniel  Shay,  Abraham  Cutter,  Isaac  Marshall, 
Ezra  Wood. 

"Corporals,  Solomon  Comings,  Ebenezer  Estman,  Adam 
Eice,  Jonathan  Dickin.«on. 

"Drummer,  John  Church. 

"  Privates,  Clement  Mar.shal,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  John  Hod- 
son,  John  Ingram,  Reuben  Dickinson,  Thos,  Norton,  John 
Estman,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  John  Dickinson,  Luke  Coifin, 
Stephen  Smith,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Eldad  Moody,  Timothy 
Green,  Azariah  Dickinson,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Elihu  Dick- 
inson, Martin  Smith,  Keuben  Smith,  Aaron  Osgood,  John 
Wetherbee,  Saml.  Eanger,  John  Witt,  Abial  Blanchard, 
Archelos  Leonard,  Benj.  Barrows,  Jonathan  Farce,  Saml. 
Totman,  David  Bangs,  Abel  Woods,  George  Bridge,  Eph- 
raim  Barrows,  Danil  Bradley,  Wm.  Field,  Jon'n  Bartlett, 
Peter  Stanton,  Jonathan  Gilbert,  Uriah  Montagues,  Jonathan 
Graves,  Phineas  Clary,  John  Keet,  Joseph  Smith,  Elijah 
Prout,  Simeon  Smith,  William  May,  Ambrose  Williams, 
Saml.  Backman,  Silas  Ball."* 

II. — AMHER.ST. 

"  An  Abstract  of  Ely  Parker,  first  lieutenant  of  the  Minute- 
Men  who  went  to  Cambridge  on  the  Alarm  of  the  19th  of 
April,  1775: 

"First  Lieutenant,  Ely  Parker. 

"  Sergeant,  Thomas  Bascom. 

"  Privates,  Joel  Billings,  Thomas  Hastings,  Gideon  Dicken- 
son, John  Ingram,  Noah  Smith,  Elijah  Hastings,  Eeubin 
Cowles,  Enos  Coleman,  Elijah  Elmore,  John  Lee." 

III. — AMHERST. 

"  James  Hendrick  Roll  and  account  of  the  men  that  raarcht 
under  his  command  on  April  20,  1775,  to  Cambridge,  on  the 
Alarm  made  at  Lexington,  on  the  19th  of  said  month,  by  the 
ministerial  Buchers.  Said  James  Hendrick  was  chosen  2nd 
Lieut,  in  Capt.  Thomas  Foster's  company  of  Matrossers,  in 
Col.  Ruggles  Woodbridge's  Regt.,  belonging  to  Hampshire 
County : 

"  Privates,  James  Hendrick,  Medad  Dickinson,  Ebenezer 
Petty,  Simon  Rood,  John  Brooks,  Oliver  Marsh. 

"  Lieut.  Noah  Dickerson  Roll  for  the  Militia  of  Amherst 
in  the  Co.  of  Hamp.shire,  that  went  down  to  Cambridge  in 
the  time  of  the  Alarm  made  on  tiie  19th  of  Apl.,  1775,  & 
under  his  command : 

"  Lieutenant,  Noah  Dickerson. 

"Sergeants,  Henry  Franklin,  David  Blodgett,  Oliver  Clapp, 
Elijah  Dickinson,  Amasa  Allen,  Lem.  Mood}-. 

"Corporal,  Joel  Moody. 

"  Privates,  Stephen  Cole,  Ezekiel  Smith,  Noah  Dickin- 
son, Hezekiah  Cole,  Jacob  Warner,  Elihu  Hubbard,  Zach. 
Havvley." 

IV. — ASHFIELD. 

"  A  Mustor-roll  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett  Company  from  the 
22nd  day  of  Apl.  to  the  26th,  both  days  inclusive: 

"Lieutenant,  Saml.  Bartlett. 

"  Ensign,  Saml.  Allen. 

"  Sergeants,  Ephraim  Jennings,  Zebulon  Bryant. 

"  Privates,  Enoch  Allen,  Jam''  Bloodworth,  Joseph  Baker, 
Amos  Crittenden,  Elias  Clarke,  Anthony  Jones,  David  Kaw, 
Nathan  Lyon,  Joseph  Lillie,  Thomas  Mclntier,  Benjamin 
Phillips,  Nath.  Sprague,  Eoland  Sears,  Daniel  Shaw,  Jasher 

*  Vol.  XII.  Revolutionary  Papers,  State  Archives. 


Taylor,  Sam.  Washburn,  Isaiah  Washburn,  Jonathan  Yea- 
mons." 

V. — BELCHERTOWN.f 

"A  Muster-role  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Bardwell's  Company  of 
Minet-Men,  in  Col.  Jonathan  AVarrcn's  Eegt.  Men's  names 
marched  on  ye  20th  Apl.,  1775,  to  Cambridge: 

"Captain,  Jonathan  Bardwell. 

"First  Lieutenant,  Aaron  Phelps. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Sylvanus  Howe. 

"Sergeants,  Moses  Howe,  Asa  Shumway,  Abner  Eddy, 
Thomas  Lawrence. 

"Corporals,  Elijah  Thayer,  Philip  Bartlett,  Simeon  Bard- 
well, Joseph  Billings. 

"Drummer,  Elijah  Howe. 

"  Privates,  Stephen  Ayres,  Solomon  Bartlett,  John  Bard- 
well, Abner  Coley,  Calvin  Chapin,  Matthew  Clark,  Caleb 
Dagg,  Abijah  Gale,  John  Howard,  Jetfe  Harward,  Salmon 
Kentfield,  Calvin  Kinsley,  James  McGardner,  David  Pratt, 
Joseph  Kernsdale,  Solomon  Shumway,  Nathan  Shumway, 
Jonathan  Smith,  Enoch  Thair,  Asa  Sholbrooks,  Joseph  Wil- 
liams, Obadiah  Ward,  Boardman  Williams." 

VI. — BELCHERTOWN   AND   GRANBY. 

"  Muster-roll  of  the  Company  that  marched  on  the  20th  of 
April,  under  the  Command  of  Capt.  John  Cowles,  in  Col. 
Woodbridge's  Regt. : 

"  Captain,  John  Cowles. 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Asahel  Smith. 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  Eleazer  Warner. 

"  Sergeants,  James  Walker,  Joseph  Law,  Gideon  Wannum, 
Elijah  Kent. 

"  Corporals,  David  Town,  John  Preston,  Elijah  Chapin,  Asa 
Smith. 

"  Privates,  Dea.  Joseph  Smith,  Elijah  Dwight,  Wm.  Ken- 
field,  Gideon  Stebbins,  Phineas  Lee,  Moses  Cowles,  Asa 
Newton,  Micah  Pratt,  Thaddeus  Fairfield,  Matthew  Moody, 
David  Worthington,  Elisha  Root,  Joseph  Bardwell,  Martin 
Bardwell,  William  Bliss,  Solomon  Hannum,  Sam'l  Clark, 
Amasa  Town,  Jon.  Kenfield,  David  Kenfield,  Calvin  Chapin, 
David  Bridges,  Philip  Carrier,  Israel  Cowls,  Joseph  Hulit, 
Solomon  Smith,  Levi  Shumway,  Eli.sha  Warner,  Benj.  Whit- 
ney, David  Church,  Eliphalet  Green,  Jno.  Lane,  Ivory  Witt, 
Fenamor  Taylor,  Benj.  Witt,  Eben''  Taylor,  Ezekl.  Barthon, 
Abiather  Vinton,  Jesse  Gilbert,  David  Patrick,  James  Gideon, 
James  Preston,  Sam'l  Dickinson,  Aaron  Ayres,  Rob't  Owens, 
Luther  Ranger,  Eleazer  Ayres,  Aaron  Bartlett,  Plyny 
Dwight." 

VII. — BLANDFORD  AND  MURRAYFIELD  (CHESTER). 

"  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute-men  under  Capt.  John  Fergu- 
son in  Col.  Timothy  Danielson's  Regt.,  Apl.  20,  1775: 
"  Captain,  John  Ferguson.  J 
"First  Lieutenant,  David  Hamilton. | 
"  Second  Lieutenant,  Silas  Noble.J 
"Sergeants,  James  Wiett,}:  James  Stewart. J 
"  Privates,   Moses  Kqt,X  George  Black, j;  Timothy  Blair, :j: 
Ashable  Black,  Joseph  Baird,!  John  Crook, J  Cornelius  Coch- 
ran,]: Solomon  Ferguson, J  Samuel  Hamilton, J  Oliver  Knox, J 
John  Knox, J  James  Knox, J    David  Kennedy, J  John   Ken- 
nedy,J  William  Mitchell,!  Alexander  Morgan, J  John  Pro- 
ven,J  Matthew  Proven, J  Jehiel  Stewart, J  Spence  Stewart, J 
John    Savage, J    Thomas    Smith, J:  John  Wheeler,J   William 
More,^    David    Blair, §    Jonathan    Henry, ^    John    Lucore,§ 
Thomas  Elder, ^  Reuben  Boies, J  Robert  Blair, |  Joel  Boies. J" 

VIII. — BRIMFIELD. 

"  A  Muster-roll  made  up  by  Capt.  James  Sherman  in  Col. 
Pynchon's  Regt.,  who  marched  on  the  Alarm  of  the  19th 
Apl.,  1775: 

t  Vol.  II.,  page  207. 

X  Served  one  week  and  three  days. 

I  SerA'ed  two  weeks  and  six  days. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


69 


"Captain,  James  Sherman. 

"First  Lieutenant,  Phineas  Sherman. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Jo"  Thomson. 

"  Sergeants,  John  Carpenter,  James  Thomson. 

"Privates,  Benjamin  Trash,  David  Jones,  Benj.  Nelson, 
The'  McCluer,  Aaron  Lumbard,  Judah  Terry,  Solomon 
Janes,  Abel  Burt,  Josiah  Hill,  Isaac  Draper,  Jo"  Janes, 
Eben'  Wood,  Josh  Witham,  Calvin  Davidson,  Nat.  Collins, 
Gershom  "Whitney,  Sam  Andrews,  Nat  Danielson,  Israel 
Janes,  Abrani  Sherman,  John  Thom.son,  Jonas  Haynes, 
Aaron  Charles,  Benj.  Morgan,  Eliph' Janes,  William  Trash, 
Lemuel  Sherman,  Jo".  Hubbard,  Joseph  Morgan,  Eph  Bond, 
Jo°  Brown,  Barth"  Brown,  George  Shaw,  George  Sherman, 
John  Blashfield,  Abner  Carpenter,  Wm.  Ha^ynes,  Abner  3Iis- 
hill,  James  Sheman,  Jr.,  Oliver  Mason,  Zadoek  Nichols, 
Joseph  Browning,  Azarah  Cooley. " 

IX. CHESTER. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute-Men  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  David  Shephard  in  Col.  Seth  Pomeroy's  Kgt.,  who 
marcht  down  to  Cambridge  in  the  Alarm,  Apl.,  1775  : 

"  Captain,  David  Shephard. 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  James  Clark. 

"  Sergeants,  Ger.shom  Rust,  John  Mclntire. 

"  Fifer,  Russell  Dewey. 

"  Privates,  George  Williams,  Nathan  Wright,  Benj. Wright, 
Edwd.  Wright,  Jr.,  John  Blair,  Asa  Gould,  Benj.  Ed.son, 
James  Geers,  Archelaus  Anderson." 

X. — CONWAY   AND    MONTAGUE. 

"  A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute  Company  commanded  by 
Robert  Oliver  in  ye  Regt.  Commanded  by  Saml.  Williams, 
who  marched  for  the  relief  of  the  Country,  April  ye  22d,  1775 : 

"  Captain,  Robert  Oliver. 

"Lieutenant,  Asahel  Gunn. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Saml.  Weels. 

"Clerk,  Alexander  Oliver. 

"Sergeants,  Abel  Dunsmore,  Jonathan  Whitney,  David 
Patterson. 

"  Corporals,  Ezra  Sniead,  Gersham  Farnsworth,  Aber  Pack- 
ard, Kufus  Smith. 

"Privates,  John  Goodcoit,  Moloch  Maynard,  James  Gil- 
more,  Matthew  Graves,  Tho^  Nutting,  Jonathan  Dunham, 
Wra.  Farnsworth,  Eben"'  Allen,  Daniel  Newhall,  Jabez 
Newhall,  Daniel  Davison,  Caleb  Beals,  Aaron  How,  Benj. 
Whitney,  Eben'  Hart,  John  Herbert,  Sherebiah  Lee,  Stephen 
Temple,  Joseph  Rice,  Jesse  Harrington,  Moses  Snow,  Isaiah 
Harton,  Lamberton  Cooper,  John  Thwing,  Oliver  Whitmore, 
Robert  Hamilton,  Elijah  Smith,  Ebenezer  Groves,  Samuel 
Gunn,  Samuel  Taylor,  Ebenezer  Marsh,  Caleb  Benjamin, 
Elihu  Clapp,  Ira  Leat,  Nathan'l  Taylor,  Joshua  Graves, 
Joel  Adams,  Samuel  Larance,  Sylvanus  Lartel,  Daniel  Ba- 
kers, Simeon  Cox." 

XI. — GRANVILLE. 

"  A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute-Men  Company  that  marched 
from  Granville  ye  29th  Apl.,  1775: 

"  Captain,  Stebbins  Ball.* 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Lem'l  Bancroft.* 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Jesse  Munson.f 

"Sergeants,  John  Stiles, f  Benjamin  Stow,*  Elijah  Stiles, f 
Joel  Bancroft.* 

"Corporals,  Ebenezer  Smith,f  Jacob  Bates,*  John  Corn- 
well,*  Jonathan  Torbs.* 

"Fifer,  Mirrick  Hitchcock.* 

"  Privates,  John  Wright, f  Asher  Granger,!  Ebenezer  Cur- 
tiss,!  Linus  Bates,f  Lem'l  Hanes,|  David  Rose,f  Reuben 
Hickcox,f  Ebenezer  B.  Gould,*  Ebenezer  Barlow,*  Elijah 
Rose,*  Gad  Rose,*  Peter  Gibbons,*  Amos  Clark,*  Jesse  Mil- 
ler,* Ru.ssel  Rose,*  Albert  Black,*  Fenner  Foster,*  Daniel 


«  Enlisted. 


f  Returned. 


Rose,*  Israel  Coe,*  Seth  Granger,*  John  Bancroft,*  Daniel 
Cooley,*  George  Hubbard,*  Abner  Barlow,*  Eber  Spelman,* 
Richard  Brown,*  Jonathan  Rose,*  Ephraim  Munson,*  Jere- 
miah Griswold,*  Stephen  Wright,*  Abner  Rose.*" 

XII. — GRKENWICH. 

"  Muster-roll  of  Part  of  a  Company  of  Militia  in  the  Regt. 
whereof  Elijah  Porter,  Esq.,  was  Col.,  commandid  by  Thomas 
Weeks,  2nd  Lieut.,  who  marched  21st  Apl.,  1775,  In  defence 
of  the  liberties  of  America  : 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Thomas  Weeks. 

"Sergeant,  Jabez  Upham. 

"  Corporals,  Aaron  Abbot,  Peter  Russel. 

"  Privates,  Jabez  Groos,  William  Fisk,  William  Paterson." 

XIII. — GREENWICH. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  Capt.  Joseph  Hooker's  Company  of 
Minute-Men  to  the  Regt.  whereof  Ruggles  Woodbridge,  Esq., 
was  Col.,  who  marched  on  the  20th  April,  1775: 

"  Captain,  Joseph  Hooker. 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Isaac  Gray. 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  Josiah  Willison. 

"  Sergeants,  John  McCarn,  Simon  Stone,  John  McWhorter, 
Thomas  McMiller. 

"Corporals,  Darius  Price,  Robert  Field,  Joseph  Hinds, 
Moses  Stone. 

"Privates,  William  Baxter,  Thomas  Horth,  Benj.  Fields, 
Timothy  Hinds,  Nahum  Powers,  Thomas  MeCluer,  Daniel 
Plumley,  Joseph  Field,  Luke  Hitchcock,  James  Felton,  Joel 
Chase,  Elijah  Wares,  Jabez  Town,  Ephraim  Woodward, 
Thomas  Tenant,  Elisha  Train,  Thomas  Montgomery,  Isaac 
Hunter,  Solomon  Hinds,  Ezekiel  Lampson,  William  Shearer, 
William  Hoskins,  William  Crossett,  Thomas  Thompson,  Wil- 
liam Gilinor,  Alexander  Conckey,  Zenas  Conckey,  John  John- 
son, Alexander  Conckey,  Jr.,  Eliot  Gray,  John  Crosset,  Seth 
Muzza,  John  Thompson,  Matthew  Clark,  John  Donnally, 
Isaac  Conckey,  David  Abercumbie,  Eliphalet  Town,  James 
McCluer." 

XIV. — HATFIELD. 

"Muster-roll  of  Captain  Chapin  Minet  Company  that 
marched  the  20th  of  April  to  2(3th,  boath  days  Inclusive. 
Col.  John  Fellows'  Regiment:! 

"Captain,  Israel  Chapin. 

"Lieutenant,  Beres  Bardwell. 

"Ensign,  William  Watson. 

"Sergeants,  Nathaniel  Sartwell,  Joseph  Belding,  Robert 
Weir,  Nathaniel  Sylvester. 

"Corporals,  Samuel  Wails,  Able  Scott,  James  Pach,  John 
Lewis. 

"  Drummer,  Phineas  Frary. 

"  Fifers,  Ebenezer  Frary,  Luces  Graves. 

"Privates,  Moses  Ellies,  Timothy  Alvord,  Esea  Fair, 
Ebenezer  Burris,  James  Baskin,  Isten  Cole,  Jonathan  Dick- 
inson, Zenas  Field,  Jotham  Hitchcock,  Elihu  Hastings,  David 
Morton." 

XV. — HATFIELD. 

"Capt.  Perez  Graves  marched  with  a  company  of  thirty- 
five  on  the  2^t  of  April,  1775,  to  Ware  and  returned  home, 
being  in  service  two  days. 

"  Captain,  Perez  Graves. 

"  Lieutenants,  Seth  Murray,  Silas  Smith,  Elijah  Colman. 

"Drummer,  Nehemiah  Waite. 

"  Privates,  Silas  Graves,  John  Makins,  Sam  Bodman,  Wm. 
Bodraan,  Levi  Makins,  Thos.  Potter,  Moses  Warner,  Abia 
Billing,  Ganiss  Crofts,  John  Ballard,  John  Smith,  Jo°  Ed- 
son,  Salmon  Morton,  Daniel  Dickinson,  Josiah  Otis,  Benj. 
Wells,  Elihu  Smith,  Joel  Smith,  Gideon  Dickinson,  Andrew 
Crawford,  Elihu  Morton,  Elijah  Mercy,  Seth  Tubs,  Jacob 

X  This  rompany  enliKted  for  and  eeirei  s^von  days. 


70 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Mosher,  Joseph  Ponas,  Wm.  Howard,  Benj.  Smith,  Salmon 
Waite,  Ira  Waite. " 

XVI. — LONGMEADOW. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  a  Militia  Company  of  the  town  of 
Springfield  that  mustered,  in  order  to  assist  our  Brethren  at 
Lexlnton,  on  the  21st  day  of  April,  a.d.  1775,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieut.  David  Burt  and  Lieut.  Jonathan  Hole ;  said 
Company  marched  to  Brooktield,  and  there  rec'd  orders  to 
return. 

"  First  Lieutenant,  David  Burt. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  J.  Hole. 

"  Sergeants,  Ebenezer  Colton,  Samuel  Keepe. 

"  Corporals,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Josiah  Cooley. 

"Privates,  Abner  Cotton,  John  Cotton,  Ebenezer  Bliss 
(2d),  Aaron  Bli.ss,  Saml.  Smith,  David  White,  John  Ackley, 
Elijah  Burt,  Richard  Woodvvorth,  Oliver  King,  Neheniiah 
Rumrill,  Thomas  Stebbins,  Saml.  Morgan,  James  Parker, 
Gad  Lamb,  Ebenezer  Stebbins,  Saml.  Burt." 

XVII. — MONTAGUE. 

"A  Muster-roall  of  Capt.  Thomas  Grover  Company,  as 
Minnet-Men,  Commanded  by  Col.  Williams,  of  a  Minuet 
Regt.  forces  of  America  alarmed  Ap'l  19"',  1775: 

"Captain,  Thomas  Grover. 

"  Lieutenants,  John  Adams,  Josiah  Adams. 

"Sergeants,  Philip  Ballard,  Simeon  King,  Asa  Fuller,  Jo- 
siah Burnham. 

"  Drummer,  Elisha  Phillips. 

"  Privates,  Elisha  Wright,  David  Sprague,  Til  Barthrick, 
Henry  Ewers,  Elias  Sawyer,  William  Allis,  Asa  Smith,  Joel 
Perkins,  Jonathan  Harvey,  Moses  Brooks,  Uriah  Weaks, 
John  Brooks,  Sanuiel  Smith,  Samuel  Bardwell,  Thomas 
Whiting,  David  Burnham,  Nathaniel  Nichols,  Reuben 
Granby,  Joshua  Combs,  Joseph  Combs,  Elisha  Trizel,  Joshua 
Searls,  Zedodiah  Allis,  John  Ewers,  Moses  Harvey." 

XVIII.  —  NORTHAMPTON. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute  Company  of  Capt.  Jo"  Al- 
len in  Genl.  Pomeroy's  Regt.,  April  20,  1775: 

"  Captain,  Jonathan  Allen.* 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Oliver  Lyman.* 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  James  Shephard.f 

"  Sergeants,  Jonathan  Stearns,*  Asahel  Clapp,*  Abner  Ly- 
man,* Josiah  Dickinson. f 

"  Drummer,  John  Strong. f 

"Fifer,  John  Bibbins.f 

"  Corporals,  Elihu  Root,*  Itbamar  Strong,*  Spencer 
Phelps,*  Elizur  Wright.* 

"  Privates,  Seth  Hunt,*  Jedadiah  Smith,*  Eleazur  Strong,* 
Jonathan  Pomeroy,*  Richard  Clarke,*  Chester  Kellogg,* 
William  Colder,*  Jonas  Clark,*  Jo,seph  Parsons,*  Noah  Cook,* 
Eliab  Alvord,*  John  Bullard,*  Alvord  Edwards,*  James 
Taylor,*  Nathan  Strong,*  Noah  Parsons,*  John  Brown,* 
William  Willis,*  Elisha  Allen,*  Simeon  Pomeroy,*  Timothy 
DaJy,*  Lyman  Clark,*  Elias  Thayer,*  Daniel  Strong,*  Na- 
thaniel Phelps,*  Paul  Clapp,*  Joseph  Arvin,*  Daniel  Burt, 
Elihu  Bellows,*  Simeon  Judd,*  Russell  Clark,*  Michael 
McDonnell,*  Oliver  Edwards,*  Cyrus  Fanning,*  Joseph 
Coots,*  Hezekiah  Hutchins,*  Pliny  Pomeroy,*  Luther  Pome- 
roy,-)- Solomon  Allen, -]■  Warham  Warner. f" 

XIX. — PALMER. 

"  Capt.  David  Speer's  Muster-roll  in  Col.  Pynchon  Regi- 
ment of  Militia,  who  marched  from  Palmer  In  the  Alarm,  on 
the  igu-of  Ap'l,  1775: 

"Captain,  David  Speer. 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Robert  Hunter. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  David  King. 

"Sergeants,  Samuel  McLannothen,  Samuel  Buel,  Stephen 
Blackmau,  John  Allen  McElwane. 


*  Enlietcd. 


f  Returned. 


"  Corporals,  Eraim  Shaw,  Daniel  King,  Joseph  Shaw,  Luke 
Hitchcock. 

"Privates,  John  King,  John  Sherer,  Tho'  McLanethan, 
David  Bratters,  Joshua  McMarter,  Jonas  Tylaer,  Daniel 
Dodge,  Joseph  McNall,  Andrew  Brown,  Simeon  Graves, 
Eleazer  Bishop,  Seth  Bishop,  David  Shaw,  Robert  Burns, 
Gideon  King,  Wm.  Shearer,  Josiah  Denny,  Wm.  Sloan, 
Asher  Cooley,  Simon  Burroughs,  Henry  Thompson,  Moses 
Lammon,  Obadiah  Brown,  Jno.  Allen  Smith,  Jno.  Gardner, 
Nathan'l  Roger,  Gideon  Graves,  Uriah  Ward,  Rufus  Thomp- 
son, Jno.  Morse,  Jno.  Gibson,  Adonijah  Jones,  Solomon 
Cummings." 

^ XX. SPRINGFIELD. 

1  "A  Muster-roll  of  the  Comjiany  of  Minute-Men  that 
marched  from  Springfield  for  the  defence  of  the  United  Col- 
onies, Apl.  20,  1775,  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Andrew 
Colton  : 

"  Major,  Andrew  Colton. 

"  Privates,  Sol.  Brewer,  Jno.  Cotton,  Thos.  Bates,  Matthew 
Keep,  Benj.  Colton,  Jun.,  Abijah  Edson,  Jno.  Burt,  Jun., 
Jacob  Kellogg,  Moses  Harris,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Jun.,  Oliver 
Burt,  Robt.  Stevens,  Jacob  Chiipin,  Oliver  Field,  Eleazer 
Chapin,  Medad  Stebbins,  Jonah  Cooley,  Simeon  More,  Thos. 
Hale,  Jun.,  Seth  Storer  Coburn." 

XXI. — SOUTH  WICK. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute  Company  that  came  from 
South  wick,  Apl.  20,  1775: 

"  Privates,  Silas  Fowler, J  George  Grainger, J  John  Reent,J 
Jesse  Dunham, J  Elijah  Hough, J  Jonathan  Haies,J  John 
Campbell, J  Roger  Rost,};  Zenas  Graves, |  Saml.  Olds, J  Israel 
Loomis,J  Stephen  Russell, |  Moses  Campbell,};  Thomas  Camp- 
bell,J  Ezekiel  Graves, J  Levi  Bradley, §  John  Stevenson, J  Is- 
rael Haies,^  Amos  Loomis,^  Noah  Looniis,§  Silas  Stephens, § 
Elijah  Harmon,^  Wm.  Campbell, §  James  Nelson, |  Amos 
Ives.  I" 

XXII. — SOUTH  WICK. 

"SouTHWiCK,  Apl.  20,  1775. — A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minet 
Company  of  Southwick,  commanded  by  Capt.  Silas  Fowler, 
whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  who  were  all  able,  efl'ect- 
ive  men,  and  were  all  marched  on  the  21st  daj'  of  Apl.,  1775,  for 
Roxbur3',  and  arrived  att  Roxbury  the  2Hth  day  of  April 
aforesaid,  and  joined  the  Regt.  commanded  by  Col.  Danielson 
and  Col.  Wm.  Shepherd,  his  Let.,  and  Bordcd  and  Beeded  and 
Vittled  our  selves  During  the  march,  which  is  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  upon  our  own  Coast : 

"Captain,  Silas  Fowler. 

"  Lieutenant,  George  Granger. 

"Ensign,  John  Keent. 

"  Sergeants,  Levi  Dunham,  Elijah  Hough,  Jonathan  Houis. 

"Corporals,  .lohn  Campbell,  Amos  Ives,  Wm.  Campbell. 

"  Fifer,  Zenas  Graves. 

"  Privates,  Israel  Loomis,  John  Stephenson,  Noah  Loomis, 
Silas  Stephens,  Elijah  Harmon,  Ezekiel  Graves,  Moses  Camp- 
boll,  Israel  Haies,  Amos  Loomis,  Roger  Root,  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, Sam'l  Olds,  Levi  Bradley,  James  Nelson,  Stephen 
Russell. 

"  14  men  were  in  service  21  days  ;  11  men  were  in  service 
11  days." 

XXIII. — SOUTH    HAMPTON    AND    NORWICH. 

"  Muster-roll  of  Capt.  Pomeroy  men  that  marched  Apl. 
21st,  1775: 

"  Captain,  Lemuel  Pomeroy. 

"  Lieutenant,  David  Scott. 

"  Second  Lieutenant,  Abner  Pomeroy. 

"Sergeants,  Tim°  Clapp,  Dan'l  Kortland,  Elihu  Strong, 
Lemuel  Burt. 

"  Corporals,  James  Tearman,  Aaron  Clapp,  Solomon  Blair, 
Paul  Sheldon. 


J  Served  two  weeks  and  two  days. 


§  Served  one  week  and  one  day. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


71 


"Drummer,  Dan  Liuldington. 

"  Fifer,  Alincr  Clark. 

"Privates,  Noah  Lyman,  Nath'l  Dodtl,  Israel  Sheldon, 
Roger  Miller,  Solomon  Strong,  Eber  Kglestoiie,  Tim  Clark, 
Sam'l  Edwards,  Eli  Danks,  Nathan'l  Searls,  Ashael  Har- 
man,  Stephen  Cla])p,  Jacob  Pomeroy,  Moses  Clark,  Ezekiel 
Wood,  Gershom  Pomeroy,  Ebenezer  Gee,  David  Crow,  Thos. 
Crow,  Jon.  Frost,  Sam'l  Fobes,  Wm.  Fobes,  Chas.  "Williams, 
Isaac  Williams,  John  Tift'any,  Asa  Cook,  George  How,  Jehiel 
Egglestone,  John  Crossett,  Jesse  Joy." 

XXIV. — SOUTH    HADLEY. 

"  A  Roll  of  Capt.  Noah  Goodman  Company  of  Southadley 
who  marched  in  defense  of  American  liberty  on  the  Alarm 
last  April,  occasioned  by  Lexington  fight: 

"  Captain,  Noah  Goodman. 

"  Privates,  Joseph  Swan,  Sen.,  Peter  Pendergrass,  Eliphalet 
Galord,  Dan  Comstock,*  Joseph  Smith,*  Nathaniel  Ingra- 
hani,*  Timothy  Hilord,*  Oliver  Taylor,*  David  Nash,*  Toby 
White,*  Selor  Sword,*  Jon.  Hoftard,*  Wm.  Waite,*  Jon. 
Mashel,*  Oliver  Galord."* 

XXV. — WEST   SPRINGFIELD. 

"A  Minute-roll  of  the  Company  under  the  Command  of 
Capt.  Enoch  Cliapin,  marched  Apl.  20th,  1775: 

"Captain,  Enoch  Chapin, 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Samuel  Flower. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Luke  Day. 

"Sergeants,  Abiathar  Robinson,  Joseph  White,  Joel  Leon- 
ard, William  Kendell,  Jacob  Day. 

"  Corporals,  Sam'l  Dumbleton,  Timothy  Leonard,  Daniel 
White,  John  Killum,  Pelatiah  Bli.ss. 

"  Filers,  Jared  Smith,  Andrew  Go.ss. 

"Privates,  Jo.shua  Guile,  Thos.  Francis,  Oliver  Dewey, 
Abel  Chapin,  Thos.  Green,  John  Inglesbee,  Joshua  Chapman, 
Thomas  Tre.scott,  Vinton  Leonard,  Mishoek  Remington, 
Edvv'd  Ely,  Ebenezer  Inglesbee,  Enoch  Ely,  Gideon  Jones, 
Chancy  Taylor,  Roger  Miller,  David  Roggers,  Joseph  Young, 
Gideon  Morgan,  Oliver  Bagg,  John  Rockwell,  John  Burger, 
Abel  Cooley,  Dan  Taylor,  Lewis  Ely,  Timothy  Day,  Sam'l 
Cooper,  Benj.  Stebbins,  Judah  Bagg,  Darick  Yanhorne, 
David  Merick,  Nathaniel  King,  Simeon  Smith,  Jesse  Morgan, 
Joseph  Copley,  Joel  Day,  Jon'n  Smith,  Benj.  Loomis." 

XXVI. — WEST   SPRINGFIELD. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  the  Company  of  Minnet-Men  that 
marched  from  S)iringtield  for  the  defence  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies Apl.  20th,  1775,  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Andrew 
Cotton : 

"  First  Lieutenant,  Gideon  Burt. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Walter  Pj'nchon. 

"Sergeants,  Aaron  Steel,  William  White. 

"Corporals,  Ambrose  Collins,  Luther  Hitchcock. 

"  Fifers,  William  Cotton  (3'i),  David  Justus  Chaiiin. 

"  Drummer,  Lewis  Chapin. 

"  Centinels,  Jeduthan  Sanderson,  Israel  Chapin,  Sam'l 
Gridley,  Alexander  Bliss,  Aaron  Parsons,  Jun.,  Aaron  Ferry, 
Gad  Horton,  Sam'l  Bliss,  James  Nash,  Abel  Hancock,  Jun., 
Geo.  Wright,  Jun.,  Matthew  Langdon,  Jun.,  Peter  Coulton, 
John  Stedman. 

"  Privates,  Abner  Ru.ssell,  Asahel  Cooley,  John  Warner, 
Jun.,  Justin  Smith,  Sam'l  Edson,  Patrick  Nugent,  Benj.  Par- 
sons, Jon.  IngersoU,  Calvin  Bliss,  Henry  Stiles,  Luther  Cotton, 
Abner  Coolej',  Samuel  Parsons,  Noah  Bliss,  Joseph  King, 
Caleb  Cooley,  Jun.,  Zadoc  Bliss,  Ebenezer  Romerill,  James 
Taylor,  Spencer  Merrick,  Sylvanus  Hall,  Moses  Bliss,  Joseph 
Parsons,  "f 

*  Served  three  Anye. 

f  TliiM  CMmpnny  \vu.s  in  service  one  niontli  iind  tliree  rlays. 


XXVII. — WESTFIELD. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  the  Minute  Company  that  came  from 
Westfield : 

"  Lieutenant,  John  Shepherd. 

"Second  Lieutenant,  Zachariah  Bush. 

"  Sergeants,  Benj.  Dewey,  Moses  Dewey,  Gideon  Shepherd, 
Asa  Noble. 

"Corporals,  Israel  Sackett,  Roger  Noble,  Benj.  Winchel, 
James  Ninocks. 

"  Drummer,  Ruggles  Winchel. 

"  Fifer,  Jedediah  Taylor. 

"  Privates,  William  Welch,  James  Colverson,  Jas.  Derrick, 
Jared  Plumb,  Stephen  Dewey,  David  Taylor,  Wm.  Robin- 
son, Martin  Root,  Eliab  Dewey,  Ashbel  Noble,  Abijah  Dewey, 
Aaron  Chapman,  David  Ross,  Jon°  Smith." 

XXVIII. WORTHINGTON. 

"Muster-roll  of  Capt.  Webber's  company  that  marched 
frcmi  Worthington   the  20th  day  of  April,  1775: 

"  Captain,  Eben"'  Webber. 

"Sergeants,  Jere  Kinne,  Jo"  Prentice,  Joshua  Morse,  Ger- 
shom Randall. 

"  Drummer,  Anthony  Morse. 

"  Fifer,  Ezeli'l  Gardner. 

"  Privates,  Abner  Dwclle,  Tho'  Cleveland,  Stephen  Clap, 
Eben  Leonard,  Eiih™  Wheeler,  Reuben  Gardner,  Moses  Buck, 
David  Curtis,  Nehim  Gates,  Jonas  Pettingall,  Eli.sha  Kinne, 
Lem'l  Clap,  Stephen  Fitch,  Constant  Wilber,  Sam.  Crosby, 
John  Watt,  Hez'>  Mahuram,  Daniel  Morse,  W"  Barn,  Nat. 
Daniels,  Jr.,  John  An.son,  Nath  Daniels,  Elias  Gilbert,  John 
Ski  ft'." 

XXIX. — WILLIAMSBURQ. 

"  A  Muster-roll  of  Captain  Abel  Thayer  Company  that 
marched  the  21st  Apl.,  1775: 

"  Lieutenant,  William  Bodman. 

"  Privates,  Isaiah  Dwite,  Isaac  Warren,  Daniel  Ball, 
Ephraim  Fisher,  Aaron  Hemingway,  William  Reed,  Jona- 
than Warner,  James  Hunt,  Jonathan  Munrow." 

XXX. — WHATELY    AND    HATFIELD. 

"  Muster-roll  of  the  Minnet-Men  of  Captain  Chapin's  Com- 
pany that  Marched  the  20th  Apl.,  1775,  and  returned  Home: 

"  Privates,  Jcihn  Dickinson,  Gad  Wait,  Thomas  Potter,  Seba 
Scott,  Ebenezer  Fitch,  Ezekiel  Mieldis,  Lsaac  Miller,  Line 
Meetings,  William  Young." 

XXXI. — CAPT.   JOSEPH    THOMPSON'S   COMPANY. 

"A  Muster-roll  of  a  Minct  Company  Commanded  by  Capt. 
Joseph  Thompson  In  Col.  Timothy  Danielson's  Regt. : 

"Captain,  Joseph  Thomjison. 

"Sergeants,  Aaron  Mighill,  Jo.seph  Hoar,  Joseph  Morgan, 
Thomas  Lambert,  Th(unas  Bliss,  Jonathan  Brown,  David 
Morgan. 

"  Corporals,  John  Harris,  Joseph  Hitchcock,  Judah  Stibens. 

"  Privates,  Zcdadiah  Abbot,  Jonathan  Charles,  Aaron  Lum- 
bard,  Elijah  Hitchcock,  Eldad  Hitchcock,  Jacob  Hitchcock, 
Aaron  Morgan,  Solomon  Charles,  Hanniah  Ebinrod,  John 
Stebbens,  Samuel  Sharmar,  Samuel  Bond,  Daniel  Livermore, 
William  Blashfield,  John  Bliss,  Bryan  Sherman,  Daniel 
Moftat,  Henry  Abbot,  Edward  Bond,  Stoddard  Cadey,  Elijah 
Jay,  Medad  Hitchcock,  Hebi  Hitchcock,  Reuben  Lilley, 
Thos.  Lumbard,  Joseph  Lilley,  Nathaniel  Miller,  Adam 
Townley,  Gad  Townley,  Joseph  Tucker,  Jesse  Bement, 
William  Davis,  Thomas  Shearman,  Ozer  Blashfield,  Nath'l 
Chickering,  Jon"  Morgan." 

XXXII. — GREENFIELD. 

"Capt.  Agrippa  Wells'  Muster-roll  in  Col.  Sam'l  Wil- 
liams' Regt.  of  Minute-Men  who  marched  from  Greenfield 
on  the  Alarm,  Apl.  ye  19,  1775: 

"Captain,  Agrippa  Wells. 

"Lieutenant,  Ezekiel  Foster. 


72 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"Sergean-ts,  Oliver  Atherton,  Elijah  Kingsley,  Dan.  Cors. 

"Corporals,  Asaph  Allen,  John  Wells,  Eben"' Scott. 

"Privates,  Samuel  Turner,  Sam'l  Shattuek,  Daniel  Cliapin, 
Thomas  Hunt,  David  Davis,  Wm.  Chadwiek,  Eliphaz  Childs, 
Sam'l  Nichols,  Sam'l  Dean,  John  Dewey,  Leanus  Dewey. 

"  Lieutenant,  Joseph  State. 

"Sergeants,  Joel  Chapin,  Ariel  Hindsdell. 

"Corporal,  Caleb  Chapin. 

"Privates,  Wm.  Kempland,  Sam'l  Hastings,  Sam'l  Cunna- 
hcl,  Elijah  Michel,  Hezekiah  Chapin,  Jonathan  Atherton, 
Amasa  Smead,  Tubal  Nash,  Simeon  Allen,  Daniel  Picket, 
Hophni  Rider,  Daniel  Edwards,  Daniel  Wells,  Fannin  Wood, 
Michael  Frizzle,  John  Severance,  Moses  Ames." 

III. 

ACTION  OF  SPKINGFIELD  AND  NORTHAMPTON  ON  THE  ADOP- 
TION OF  THE  ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CON- 
STITUTION OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

To  the  above  rolls  of  the  Minute-Men  we  append  the  fol- 
lowing papers  transcribed  from  the  town  books  of  Spring- 
tield  and  Northampton,  which  show  how  such  important 
matters  were  considered  by  each  separate  town  : 

SPRINGFIELD    RECORDS. 
I. 

"Jan.  7th,  1778. — To  tiike  into  cunsidtrution  articles  of  Confederation  and  per- 
petual union  projiosed  to  be  entered  into  by  the  United  American  Stites,  with  the 
address  of  Congress  respecting  the  same,  and  the  address  of  the  General  Court 
of  the  State  of  Mtiasachu setts  Bay,  or  pass  any  vote  or  give  any  instruction  re- 
specting the  same  The  Town  sliall  tliink  proper. 

"  The  articles  of  Confederation,  Ac,  being  Read,  voted,  To  choose  a  Committee 
of  five  persons  to  take  the  same  into  consideration  and  prepare  Instructions  for 
the  Representation  of  said  Town." 

II. 

"  Jan'y  2Gth,  1778. — The  Instruction  prepared  to  lie  given  to  t!ie  Representa- 
tives of  said  Town  was.  by  the  C-ommittee  appointed  for  that  purpose  at  the 
former  meetings,  presented,  read,  and  considere<l,  and  vuted  that  tlie  same  be 
accepted,  the  report  of  whicli  here  follows : 

'"  To  the  ItepresetiUUires  of  the  Town  of  Spring^field: 

" '  Gentlemen, — You  are  soon  to  act  upon  the  mo&t  interesting  matter  that  ever 
was,  or,  perhaps,  ever  will  be,  referred  to  your  Deliberation,  and  to  give  your  suf- 
frages for  the  ratification  or  rejection  of  a  plan  proposed  for  the  perpetual  Union 
of  the  thirteen  United  States  of  America.  Impressed  witli  a  deep  sense  of  the 
vast  importance  of  the  object  for  which  we  are  contending, — Tlie  establishment 
of  Liberty  for  ourselves  and  posterity, — and  remembering  that  the  jdan  of  union 
laid  before  you  is  not  to  be  temporary,  but  perpetual,  and  is  so  framed  that  being 
once  ratifyed  it  is  no  more  to  be  altered  witliout  univei-sal  consent.  You  will, 
with  the  gi'eatest  care,  examine  and  discuss  every  article,  paragraph,  and  sen- 
tence, compare  part  with  part,  that  the  tendency  of  the  whole  to  the  security  or 
subvei-Sion  of  publick  Liberty  may  be  ascertained  as  far  as  human  foresight  can 
extend.  You  will  consider  what  were  the  grievances  we  complaijied  of  under 
the  Dominion  of  Britain,  and  from  what  causes  they  were  brought  upon  us, 
and  be  watchful  that  uothing  be  admitted  in  our  own  Constitution  wliich  may 
probably  produce  the  same  Evils. 

"'An  iuquii'j' by  what  unhappy  defect  or  error  in  tlie  inherent  Constitution 
most  of  the  nations  of  Europe  (not  excepting  those  wlio  have  Bled  in  the  Defence 
of  Liberty)  are  now  fallen  under  so  despotic  and  Arbitrary  Government  mi<^ht 
aid  you  in  forming  a  judgment  of  the  good  or  ill  tendency  of  the  proposed  Con- 
federation ;  however  necessary  a  sjieedy  establishment  of  a  Continental  Constitu- 
tion hiay  be,  yet  it  is  a  matter  of  too  vast  concern  to  be  hurried  into  effect.  Let 
the  foundation  be  well  laid,  that  the  building  may  be  strong  and  duralde.  It 
cannot  be  expected  that  we,  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Town,  many  of  whom  have 
little  leisure  for  Political  Speculation,  should  be  so  capable  of  judging  in  a  matter 
of  this  intricate  nature  us  you  are  whom  we  have  chosen  to  represent  us.  We 
must  confide  much  in  you  and  your  Associates;  our  liberties  are  in  your  hands, 
and  at  your  hands  they  will  he  required.  Therefore,  proceed  with  Caution, 
Judge  Calmly;  if  you  lUscover  any  thing  in  the  Confederation  dangerous  to 
Liberty  give  not  your  Voice  for. its  Ratification  till  the  necessary  amendments. 
Act  not  with  implicit  confidence  in  any;  see  for  yourselves.  We  shall,  as  we 
think  our  duty,  suggest  some  things  to  you  which  deserve  your  particular  atten- 
titin.  Tlie  representation  in  Congress  appeai-s  to  us  too  unequal.  Why  may  it 
not  be  proportioned  to  the  Taxation  ?  To  the  unequal  represeuUition  in  parlia- 
ment have  been  imputed  most  of  our  latfi  oppressions.  Let  us  guard  against  a 
Danger  so  fresh  in  our  experience.  The  mode  of  taxation  is  liable  to  exception ; 
all  charges  of  War  &c.  are  to  he  born  i[i  the  several  States  in  proportion  to  the  value 
of  Land  with  the  Buildings  and  Improvements  thereon  in  each  State.  Will  not 
the  Commercial  States  bo  underly  eased,  and  the  Landed  ones  overburtliened  by 
such  a  mode  ?  Why  ought  not  the  Tax  to  be  pi-oportioncd  to  the  real  ability  and 
Value  of  each  state,  in  what  so  over  tiiat  ability  consists?  We  apprehend  the 
powei-s  Delegated  to  Congress  too  unlimited.  You  will  observe  that  the  Congress 
is  to  be  a  Single  House,  not  seveial  Distinct  Clianibers  wliich  nuiy  have  an  In- 
spection over  ami  cln-ck  upon  each  other;  tlM-ir  powers,  therefore,  need  to  be  the 


more  circumscribed.    By  the  Confederacy  they  are  not  only  to  order  the  Quotas 

of  men  to  be  raised  in  each  state  for  a  Continental  Army,  To  Direct  the  opper- 
atiou  of  the  army  when  raised,  to  appoint  the  General  Officers,  and  Commission- 
ate  officers  of  whatever  rauk,  but  also  to  have  the  absolute  Command  of  the 
purse,  without  being  accountable ;  and,  consequently,  the  Army  will  be  entirely 
under  their  influence.  They  may  borrow  or  emit  what  sums  they  please,  and 
appropriate  them  at  Discretion,  only  transmitting  the  several  States  an  account 
of  the  sums  Iwrrowed  or  emitted;  but  we  find  not  that  they  are  accountable  for 
the  expenditure  or  appropriations.  We  wish  you  to  Deliberate  whether  the 
Army  and  the  purse  can  safely  lodged  in  the  same  hands;  ^Vhether  it  be  not 
Dangerous  that  a  single  House  chosen  by  the  representatives  should  have  so 
large  and  uncontrollable  a  power.  A  Ci.institution,  Gentlemen,  should  be  formed 
upon  a  supposition  that  it  may  in  some  future  period  be  administered  by  design- 
ing men. 

" '  What  has  happened  in  Europe  may  happen  in  America.  How  easy  it  is  for 
those  who  have  the  forces  and  money  of  the  people  in  their  own  hands  to  sub- 
vert a  Constitution  &  establish  themselves  in  Power !  We  ratlier  choose  that  the 
Congress  should  only  ascertain  and  proportiim  the  sum  necessary  for  the  Publick 
service,  and  lay  the  estimate  before  the  several  legislatures,  and  that  the  Legis- 
latures make  the  grants  for  the  supply  of  the  Continental  Treasury ;  we  should 
also  Desire  that  the  Congress  keep  not  only  a  Journal  of  their  proceedings,  with 
an  entry  of  the  yeas  and  nays  upon  every  question.  But  also  an  exact  amount  of 
all  the  expenditures,  and  that  this  Journal  and  amount  be  open  to  the  Inspection 
of  a  Committee  of  any  Legislature,  The  Committee  being  sworn  not  to  Divulge 
any  matter  which  tlie  Publick  safety  may  require  to  he  kept  secret  till  the  neces- 
sity of  Secrecy  shall  cease.  We  should  choose  that  the  Congress  should  be  re- 
strained from  keeping  up  an  army  in  time  of  peace  without  the  Consent  of  the 
several  Legislatures,  and  from  marching  any  Troops  into  any  State  in  time  of 
peace  without  the  express  permission  of  the  Legislature  of  that  State.  We  take 
notice  that,  by  the  Confederation,  no  two  or  more  states  shall  enter  into  any 
treaty  with  each  other  without  the  consent  of  Congress ;  we  would  this  excep- 
tion were  adiled :  Unless  it  be  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  redress  of  grievance ; 
it  ought  to  be  Declared  LawfuU  for  any  person  or  pei-sons  to  petition  Congress, 
and  for  any  Legislature  to  desire  the  Concurrence  of  tlie  other  Legislature  for 
obtaining  redress  in  case  of  oppression ;  under  our  oppression  from  Great  Brit- 
tain  we  have  found  the  advantage  of  Circular  Lettei-s  and  Joint  C-onsultations ; 
it  is  at  least  possible  there  may  be  some  future  occasion  for  similar  measures. 
Use  your  Influence  that  the  House  of  Representatives  be  Less  in  number,  as  we 
imagine  the  present  House  t-j  be  too  Large  to  transact  busines,  and  that  the 
whole  State  be  justly  and  equally  represented.  In  the  next  place  we  direct  you 
that  you  use  your  influence  [in  case]  the  Militia  should  be  called  for  upon  any 
future  emergency  they  may  not  be  drafted  as  heretofore,  believing  such  drafts 
have  a  tendency  to  establish  Military  government,  ami  are  dangerous  to  the 
Liberty  for  which  we  are  conteudiug.  But  that  the  men  may  be  encouraged 
by  bounty  to  enter  into  the  service.  This  Town,  taking  into  their  most  serious 
consideration  the  present  high  price  of  merchandize,  and  even  of  the  very 
necessary's  of  life,  cannot  believe  it  is  principally  owing  to  monopoly,  but  that 
the  present  circulating  paper  currency  is  not  sufficiently  valued ;  are  under  great 
ai)preheusioii  that  it  is  a  vast  deal  to  plenty ;  believe  that  the  money  is  not  a 
pn>per  encouiagement  to  Industry,  and  are  under  fearful  apprehensions  that 
the  farmer  will  not  be  properly  induced  to  raise  grain  and  meat  for  the  subsist- 
ence of  the  armies  and  Inliabitatits;  earnestly  recommend  that  the  quantity  he 
reduced,  and  that  every  other  possible  mctliod  be  taken  to  support  its  credit ; 
and  as  Civil  government  is  necessary  not  only  to  the  well-being,  but  to  the  very 
being  of  society,  we  recommend  to  you  the  Immediate  Establishment  of  it  in  all 
the  Countys,  that  the  Civil  IVlagistrate  be  properly  encouraged  and  protected  in 
executing  the  good  and  wholesome  laws  of  the  Land,  and  that  due  care  he  taken 
that  the  Military  be  kept  in  due  subordination  to  the  Civil  Autiiority,  without 
which  our  Liberties  will  Irretrievably  he  Annihilated.'  " 

NORTHAMPTON    RECORDS. 

I. 

"Jan'y  15, 1778. — The  Toun  proceeded  to  consider  the  ai'ticles  of  Confederation 

and  Perpetual  Union  proposed  by  the  Hon**'**  Continental  C<-)ngress,  and  voted 

that  they  approve  of  the  same,  and  direct  their  Representation  at  the  General 

Court  to  act  accordingly." 

II. 
"  May  18, 1778. — At  this  meeting  the  Constitution  and  Form  of  Government 
recommended  by  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  should  be  taken  up  and 
read.  And  it  being  read  and  considered  The  Question  was  put,  Whether  the 
Toun  did  approve  of  the  said  Constitution  and  Form  of  Government;  and  upon  a 
Division  of  the  House,  appeared  that  thirty-six  were  for  it  and  seventeen  against 

it." 

III. 

"  Nov.  22,  1787.— At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Toun  of  Northampton 
qualified  to  vote  in  the  choice  of  ReprejdenUitives,  being  legally  warned  and  as- 
sembled at  tlie  Court-house  in  said  Town,  on  Thui-sday,  tin.'  22d  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1787. 

"The  Question  being  put,  whether  the  Town  would  send  any  Delegates  to  the 
State  Convention  projiosed  to  be  held  at  B*iston,  on  the  second  Wednesday  in 
January  next,  and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative. 

"The  Town  then  voted  to  send  two  Delegates  to  the  said  Convention,  and  ac- 
cordingly chose  tlie  Ilon^ic  Caleb  Strong  and  Mr,  Benj.  Sheldon  for  that  purpose. 

"Tlie  Toun  then  voted  to  Choose  a  Committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the 
Delegates  expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Town  touching  the  important 
business  for  which  they  were  appointed,  and  accordingly  chose  Samuel  Hen- 
shaw,  Esq.,  Robert  Brech,  Esq.,  Dea.  Elijah  Clark,  Elijjth    Wright,  Doct.  Shep- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


73 


henl,  ami  Mr.  Jonathan  Clap  for  that  purpose,  and  the  said  Committee  soon 
after  repoitecl  the  following,  which,  being  repeatedly  read  and  considered,  was 
unanimously  approved  by  the  Town  (excepting  one  dissenting  vote). 

"  '  To  the  Hon.  Caieb  Strong  <t  Mr.  Beiij.  Sheldon  : 

"  'Gentlemkn, — In  conformity  to  a  resolution  of  the  Gen'l  Court  of  the  25th 
of  October  last.  We  have  Delegated  you  to  meet  iu  State  Convention  on  the  sec- 
ond Wednesday  of  January  next,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  or  rejecting  the 
Reported  Con&titutiou  for  the  United  States  of  America.  The  object  of  your 
Mission,  Gentlemen,  in  of  the  highest  magnitude  in  human  aftaira;  much  time 
and  unwearied  application  are  requisite  in  order  thoroughly  to  investigate  it. 

" '  The  Civil  Dignity  of  this  State,  of  the  United  States,  and,  i>erhaps,  of  Hu- 
manity, are  suspended  upon  this  momentous  Question.  We  wish  you.  Gentle- 
men, patiently  to  hear  and  attentively  to  examine  every  argument  that  shall  be 
oflered  for  or  against  iU  adoption.  Bo  not  unduly  influenced  by  Local  Consid- 
erations. Let  your  mind  be  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  having  an  Erpial, 
Energetic,  Federal  Government.  'Tis  the  welfare  of  the  Union  Jis  well  a.s  of 
Massachusetts  that  yon  are  to  consult.  And  while  you  are  tenacious  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  People,  be  not  afraid  t*>  delegate  to  the  federal  Gov- 
ernment such  powei-8  as  are  absolutely  necessary  for  advancing  and  maintaining 
OTir  National  Honor  and  happiness. 

'"  But,  Gentlemen,  we  mean  not  to  give  you  positive  instructions  relative  to 
your  voting  for  or  against  the  reported  Constitution,  Wlien  in  convention  you 
will  have  the  collected  wisdom  of  the  State  before  you,  Will  hear  all  that  can 
be  said  on  the  subject,  and  will  consequently  be  able  to  form  a  judicious  opinion ; 
and  having  the  fullest  contidence  in  your  political  wisdom.  Integrity,  and  Pa- 
triotism, We  cheerfully  {on  our  part)  submit  the  aIl-import;iDt  question  to  your 
decision.  And  we  beseech  the  all-wise  Governor  of  the  world  to  take  the  Con- 
vention under  his  holy  intluence,  that  so  the  result  may  be  the  best  good  of  tlie 
United  States  of  America. 

"  '  Northampton,  Nov.  22, 1787. 

*"By  order  of  the  Committee. 

"'Sam'l  Henshaw,  Chairman.^''* 

IV. 

COL.    ELIHU    porter's    REGIMKNT. 

To  the  ill-fated  expedition  against  Canada  of  the  winter  of 
1775-76,  in  which  the  lamented  Montgomery  lost  his  life,  the 
county  of  Hampshire  contributed  a  regiment,  the  command  of 
which  was  intrusted  to  Col.  Elihu  Porter,  of  Hadlcy.  To 
follow  the  fortunes  of  this  regiment  in  its  wearisome  marches 
would  hardly  be  within  the  scope  of  this  work,  did  our  limited 
space  allow.  We  make  room,  however,  for  the  following  in- 
teresting documents  relating  to  the  subject,  which  we  have 
been  permitted  to  copy  from  the  originals  now  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Col.  Porter's  descendants : 

I. 

WASHINGTON'S   LETTER. 

"Cambridge,  10th  February.  1776. 

"  The  Continental  Congress  haveing  confirmed  my  application  to  this  Govern- 
ment to  raise  a  Regiment  for  tlie  service  of  the  United  Cidonies,  which  is  now 
complieii  with,  and  you  are  ai><nnted  to  the  command  thereof.  I  have  to  desire, 
ttiat  you  will  use  the  utmost  diligence  and  dispatch  possible  to  complete  the 
said  Regiment,  and  march  it  into  Canmla  by  the  shortest  aiul  best  way  that,from 
your  own  knowledge  of  the  Ouintry  and  the  best  information  you  can  get,  you 
think  will  be  the  most  expeditious, 

"  I  have  to  acquaint  you  that  if  you  take  your  rout  by  number  four  and  Onion 
River  there  will  be  a  supply  of  Provisions  ready  for  you,  laid  in  by  order  of 
General  Schuyler. 

"  As  this  Regiment  is  to  be  upon  the  Continental  Establishment,  agreeable  to 
the  terms  and  Requisitions  of  Congress  transmitted  to  the  Legislative  power  of 
this  Province,  and  the  necessity  of  Reinforceing  our  troops  posted  and  forming 
the  Blockade  of  Quebec  is  too  apparent  to  need  dwelling  on,  I  would  order  each 
Company  to  march  as  fast  as  they  are  raised, — the  whole  putting  themselves 
under  the  Command  of  the  General  or  Commanding  Officer  in  Canada  as  fast 
as  they  anive  there. 

*'  Such  necessarys  as  y"  will  think  realy  proper,  and  that  you  cannot  do  with- 
out, will  be  provided  for  you  by  the  Commissary-General  &  Quarter-Mtister  Gen- 
eral, and  I  shall  depend  upon  you  that  the  strictest  economy  is  used  consistent 
with  the  dispatch  nece-ssary  ui)on  this  occasion. 

"These,  Sir,  are  my  instructions  to  you,  and,  from  the  character  you  bear,  I 
doubt  not  you  will  pay  due  attention  t^)  them.  I  must  again  reccommend  your 
making  all  possible  dispatch  ;  and  that  y"  may  share  in  tlie  glory  of  expelling 
the  Instmmeuts  of  Ministerial  Tyranny  from  that  fair  Province  is  the  sincere 
wish  of 

"  Sir,  your  most  H.  St., 

"  G°  Washington. 

"Colonel  Elisua  Porter." 

II. 
GEN.  Schuyler's  letter.* 

"Albany,  Februai-y  5, 1770. 

"  Sir,— Colo.  Fellows  has  represented  to  me  the  Improbability  of  compleating 
the  Regiment  ordered  to  be  raised  by  the  Honorable  Assembly  of  the  Massa- 

*  Addressed,  "  To  Colo.  Williams,  at  Stockbridge.  To  be  by  him  forwarded  to 
Ctdonel  Porter,  at  IIa<lley,"  and  endorsed,  "  ReC*  Feb.  13,  1776.  Seal''  &  for- 
warded by  Colo.  Porter's  Humbl  Serv't,  T.  Williams." 

10 


chusetts  Bay  to  go  into  Canada,  unless  part  of  the  Troops  already  marched  from 
Berkshire,  under  the  command  of  Major  Cady,  be  considered  a.s  part  of  the  Regi- 
ment. These  under  Major  Cady  arc  only  engaged  to  the  15th  April ;  hence,  con- 
sidering them  as  part  of  your  Regiment  would  not,  I  suppose,  fulfil  the  views  of 
the  Assembly.  It  would,  however,  be  {a  Cb»)tinental  saving  of  two  or  three 
companies  if  those  gone  under  Msijor  Cady  could  be  induced  to  engage  for  an 
equal  Term  with  those  you  are  now  enlisting.  If  there  was  a  prospect  that  they 
would  do  this,  I  think  it  would  be  a  prudent  step  not  to  engage  tlic  full  Regi- 
ment in  the  Odony ;  but  this  is  a  matter  the  Asseudily  must  determine,  as  I  cau- 
not  presume  to  inteifere  with  or  counteract  their  Regulations.     I  am,  sir, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"  Ph.  Schuyler. 
"  To  Colo.  Porter." 

III. 

GEN.  Arnold's  orders. 
"To  Colo.  Porter,  at  Chamblce. 

"Sir, — 1  am  this  nnnute  Informed  of  your  arrival  at  St.  .John's,  with  part  of 
your  Regt.  You  will  pleiuse  on  receipt  {'!)  of  this  to  Draw  Ten  Days'  Provisions  at 
Cbamble,  &  itroceed  In  your  Battoes  Down  the  Sorell  to  the  Army  before  Quebec 
and  j(dn  Gen'l  Wooster.  You  will  please  to  take  as  many  men  in  the  Battles  as 
they  will  Carrj',  with  Two  Chests  of  Medicine  (at  Chamblce).  I  wish  you  success. 
"  1  am.  Sir,  Your  Hbl.  Sent., 

"  B.  Ak.vold,  B.  Geul. 
"Montreal,  Apl.  2i),  1770." 

IV. 

BARON    DE   WOELDTKe'S   LETTER.f 

"  SoRRELL,  May  23,  1770. 
"Sir, — I  have  sent  with  my  Servants,  my  Baggage,  &c.,  to  St.  Jolin\s,  and  as 
their  baggage  must  be  forwarded  from  your  place  by  land  s<jme  distance,  on  ac- 
count of  the  ItapUit^  wotdd  be  extremely  oblige  to  you  if  you  would  have  some 
carriages  procured  to  forward  them,  directly  if  i»ossible.  Your  compliance  will 
much  oblige  your  huml.  Ser\'t., 

"  Baron  De  Woeldtke. 
"If  my  men  shall  want  any  provisions  you  will  please  to  order  them  some." 

Y. 

GEN.    WOOSTER'S   LETTER  AND  0RDER.| 

"  Montreal,  May  26, 1776. 

"  Sir. — You  will  send  a  CompJ  of  Men  to  La  Chine  to  Garrison  that  place ;  and 

the  remainder  of  Col.  Reed's  Regt.,  if  there  is  any.  you  v\  ill  order  to  this  place- 

Genl.  Arnold  is  gone  with  the  Troops  for  La  Chine,  iu  pursuit  of  the  Enemy. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  h'bl  Serv't, 

"Dav'd  Wooster,  Br'u/r-Gvncral." 

VI. 

COL.  THOS.  WILLIAMS  TO   COL.  ELISHA   PORTER. 

"Stockbridge,  Jan.  27, 1776, 
"  Our  men  are  some  of  those  already  marched ;  others  are  going  to  March  to- 
morrow.   We  are  directed  by  Genl.  Schuyler  to  march  by  the  way  of  Albany." 

VII. 

MR.   GERRY'S   letter.^ 

"Philadelphia,  June  18, 1776. 

"  Dear  Sir,— I  rec^  your  favour  of  y«  31st  May,  p""  Mr.  Chase,  but  I  have  heard 
nothing  of  y«  other  letter  which  yo  mentioned  therein.  I  am  sorry  to  find  y" 
Affaire  of  Canada  in  such  a  situation,  but  they  will  be  soon  assisted  if  in  y" 
power  of  Congress  to  effect  it.  General  Gates  is  ordered  to  y«  Command  in 
Canada;  0000  Militia  for  Connecticut,  Msissachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire  are 
soon  to  join.  Coin,  21,000  Dollars  in  Specie,  and  part  of  500,000  iu  bills,  were  sent 
from  this  city  y«  16th  for  Albany,  and  y«  Commissary -General  is  to  undertake 
supplying  y*  Army ;  a  Committee  is  appointed  to  provide  Medicine  &  Clothing, 
&  a  strict  Scrutiny  will  be  made  into  y«  causes  of  Miscarri;iges  in  that  Depart- 
ment. I  am  grieved  at  y"  loss  of  General  Thomas,  and  think  lie  was  a  brave 
officer,  and  could  wish  to  have  rec^  a  better  account  of  another  officer  of  which 
you  mention. 

"The  persons  which  you  mention  at  our  old  lodgings  were  well  a  short  time 
since,  and  your  desire  of  being  remembered  to  them  shall  be  complied  with, 

"  Things  are  going  on  well  in  ye  Colonies  with  respect  to  Independency,  Con- 
federation, &c.,  Ac,  and  y^  question  relative  to  y^  former  is  to  be  agitated  in  Con- 
gress ye  1"  July  next. 

"General  Wiishington  is  tx.>  be  reiiiforced  with  15,000  men  at  New  York,  which 
will  augment  his  army  to  25,000,  &  a  flying  camp  is  to  be  posted  in  ye  Jerseys 
consisting  of  10,000  men  more.  You  have  undoubtedly  heard  of  the  prize  lately 
taken  and  carried  into  Boston,  out  of  which  were  landed  seventy-five  tons  of 
powder,  1000  arms,  &c.,  Ac,  Ac.  Saltpetre  is  manufactured  in  abundance  in  ye 
Massachusetts,  and  by  Mr.  Diven's  .account  they  have  already  delivereil  into  y» 
magazines  ./i%  fc)iw,  and  have  Odrtij  tons  of  sulphur  imported  and  left  in  Bo.ston. 
Three  mills  are  built  there,  two  of  which  turn  out  upward  of  1000  each  p'  week. 

"I  hope  the  disposition  that  has  appeared  in  some  officers  tj  censure  others 
will  cease,  &  that  in  Lieu  thereof  a  laudable  Eumlatiun  will  take  place  to  excell 
in  Discipline  &  Valor,  without  which  an  army  must  be  disgraced.  I  sincerely 
wish  yo  success  and  happiness,  and  remain  your  friend  & 

"  Hum.  ser-, 

"Elbkidge  Gerry. 

"  P.S. — Pray  continue  to  give  me  ye  state  of  things  in  Canada. 

"  Colo.  Porter." 

■f-  Addressed  "To  The  Commanding  Officer  at  Fort  Clianibly." 
J  "To  The  Commanding  Officer  on  Public  Service  at  St,  John's." 
§  Addressed,  "Col.  EJisha  Porter,  in  C^anada." 


74 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


VIII. 

GEN.  Schuyler's  letter  to  col.  fellows. 

"  Albany,  Janiiai-y  20, 1776. 
'' Hal/ after  ten  A.M. 

"  SiH, — Tour  favor  of  yesterd'ys  <late  was  this  moment  delivered  t<>  me. 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  information  it  ccmtains,  and  am  happy  to  learn  that  yon 
have  already  enlisted  so  considerabK"  a  number  of  men.  As  the  Assembly  of  the 
MassachuHetts  Bay  have  ordered  a  Regiment  to  he  raised,  and  the  men  to  be  en- 
listed for  a  year,  it  will  supersede  the  necessity  of  raising  any  more  in  conse- 
Tfuence  of  my  directions  to  yon ;  but  I  do  not  wish  that  those  already  enlisted 
{who  I  suppose  will  Ber\'e  beyond  the  15th  of  April  next)  should  be  considered 
as  part  of  the  regiment  to  be  raised  by  virtue  of  the  act  or  order  of  your  Assem- 
bly, unless  they  would  also  engage  for  a  year.  I  therefore  luipe  they  will  march 
without  delay,  and  the  whole  to  be  under  the  command  of  Major  Cady,  as  Maj. 
Commandant  of  the  Corps,  unless  you  should  think  proper  to  take  command  of 
them.  It  is  with  infinite  satisfaction  that  I  learn  the  alacrity  with  which  my 
countrymen  step  forth  on  this  occasion  ;  it  will  at  once  redound  much  to  the  honor 
of  the  pei-sons  who  engage  in  this  senice,  &  of  those  who  have  1  leen  active  in  pro- 
moting it,  and  also  evince  to  our  enemies  that  no  obstacle  can  deter  Americans 
from  prosecuting  their  righteous  cause. 

*' Your  zeal,  sir,  on  this  occasion  merits  the  Thanks  of  your  Country;  if  mine 
are  worth  the  accepting  you  have  tliem  most  sincerely,  &  I  shall  not  fail  of  doing 
myself  the  pleasure  to  mention  you  and  the  respectable  Committee  of  Berkshire 
to  Congress  in  Honorable  terms. 

"  I  am,  sir,  with  much  respect, 

"  Your  must  hvmible  ser\'ant, 

"  Ph.  Schuyler. 

"Coll.  John  Fellows." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE    SHAYS    EEBELLION. 
I. 

CAUSES   OF   THE   MOVEMENT. 

The  great  uprising  among  the  discontented  people  of  New 
England,  commonly  called  the  Shays  rebellion,  which  oc- 
curred at  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  has  scarcely 
yet  been  given  its  proper  place  in  history. 

In  the  great  contest  for  independence.  New  England,  in 
common  with  the  other  parts  of  the  country,  strained  every 
nerve  to  its  utmost  tension,  and  in  behalf  of  the  cause  ex- 
hausted her  resources  to  the  point  of  depletion.  At  its  close 
she  was  free,  but  was  utterly  prostrate  and  bleeding  at  every 
pore.  While  the  excitement  lasted  the  fever  in  her  blood  sus- 
tained her  activities,  but  the  occasion  over  the  excitement 
waned  and  the  reaction  came.  This  reaction  was  the  first 
great  trial,  and  bj-  all  odds  the  severest  strain,  save,  perhaps, 
the  great  Rebellion,  to  which  our  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment has  yet  been  subjected.  The  history  of  this  insurrec- 
tionary movement,  written  at  all  in  detail,  would  of  itself  fill  a 
large  volume.  Our  limited  space  will  allow  us,  therefore,  to 
attempt  nothing  more  than  a  brief  summary  of  its  most  im- 
portant incidents. 

That  this  sedition  did  not  more  seriously  obstruct,  if  not 
quite  overturn,  the  new  government  was  owing  mostly  to  the 
incapacity  of  its  leaders.  The  spirit  of  rebellion  was  rife 
among  the  people,  but  from  anmng  the  ruling  classes  no  com- 
petent man  stepped  forth  to  lead  it,  and  it  spent  its  force  in 
boisterous,  disorganized,  and  therefore  fruitless,  revolt  against 
the  authority  of  law  and  order.  Had  some  bold,  ambitious 
man,  competent  to  lead ;  had  some  brave  Stark  or  unscrupu- 
lous Arnold  or  sagacious  Schuyler ;  had  some  Davis,  Lee,  or 
Stonewall  Jackson  at  the  critical  moment  headed  the  insur- 
gents in  Western  Massachusetts,  or  commanded  at  the  attack 
on  the  United  States  arsenal  at  Springfield, — there  is  strong 
reason  to  believe  that  England  would  soon  have  regained  her 
lost  power  and  our  republic  would  have  never  been.  But 
Daniel  Shays  and  Luke  Day  were  not  the  men  for  the  hour  or 
place. 

But  it  should  be  said,  in  juslice  to  those  engaged  in  it  as 
well  as  to  the  authorities  they  sought  to  subvert,  that  this 
rebellious  spirit  was  after  all  rather  of  the  nature  of  the  quer- 
\ilo\is  discontent  of  children  smarting  under  imaginary  wrongs 


than  of  any  deliberately  treasonable  intentions  against  the 
new  government. 

Of  a  truth,  the  new  order  of  things  had  hardly  begun. 
The  natural  chaos  and  disorder  attendant  on  a  period  of  revo- 
lution had  hardly  subsided.  The  people  had  not  forgotten 
the  old  order,  nor  yet  learned  to  love  and  respect  the  new. 
That  they  suffered  from  some  cause  or  other  they  were  sure 
of,  and  it  was  natural  enough  that  they  should  attribute  their 
troubles  to  the  new  order  of  things,  and  rise  in  rebellion 
against  it. 

When  we  look  at  the  condition  of  things  in  Ma.ssachusetts 
at  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  it  is  easy  to  discover, 
in  the  light  of  our  country's  subsequent  experience,  the  causes 
of  this  discontent  and  sedition. 

Among  the  several  causes  which  brought  about  the  "hard 
times"  that  resulted  in  the  Shays  Rebellion  may  be  enumer- 
ated the  following : 

1st.  The  State  was  heavily  in  debt.  The  private  State  debt 
was  £1,. 800, 000.  The  State's  proportion  of  the  Federal  debt 
was  not  less  than  £1,500,000.  This,  contrasted  with  the  whole 
State  indebtedness  before  the  war, — which  did  not  exceed 
£100,000, — was,  for  the  times,  an  enormous  sum. 

2d.  The  financial  embarrassments  of  the  several  towns. 
Every  town  was  heavily  embarrassed  by  advances  which  they 
had  made  to  the  often-repeated  requisitions  for  men  and  sup- 
plies to  support  the  army,  and  which  had  been  done  upon 
their  own  particular  credit.* 

.3d.  The  inexperience,  if  not  the  incapacity,  of  public  men 
in  the  management  of  financial  affairs. 

4th.  The  lingering  distinctions  of  caste,  which  the  Revolu- 
tion had  not  quite  done  away  with. 

5th.  The  depreciation  of  paper-money. 

6th.  The  vast  amount  of  private  debts  which  had  accumu- 
lated during  the  war,  and  the  hard,  if  not  unjust,  laws  in  force 
in  favor  of  creditors. 

"The  insurrection,"  says  William  L.  Smith,  in  a  paper 
read  by  him  before  the  Connecticut  Valley  Historical  Society, 
at  Springfield,  Oct.  1,  1877,  "  was  the  result  of  a  condition  of 
things  now  popularly  described  as  'hard  times.'  It  did  not 
originate  so  much  in  disaffection  toward  the  State  govern- 
ment as  in  an  uncontrollable  impulse  of  a  distressed  people  to 
seek  relief  in  some  way,  or  any  way.  The  long  and  burden- 
some war  of  the  Revolution  had  just  been  brought  to  a  close. 
The  countr}'  was  impoverished.  The  Continental  paper-money 
had  become  worthless,  and  no  substitute  for  it  had  been  pro- 
vided. There  was  no  trade,  no  demand  for  labor,  no  way  in 
which  the  value  of  property  of  any  kind  could  be  measured. 
Under  the  barbarous  laws  then  in  force  the  jails  were  becom- 
ing filled  with  prisoners,  whose  only  offense  was  their  ina- 
bility to  pay  their  debts.  Men  who  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
talk  about  their  grievances  and  distresses  were  easily  excited 
to  turbulence,  and  local  disturbances  were  frequent  and  serious. 
The  authorities  were  too  often  in  sympathy  with  the  offenders 
against  the  law,  and  guilty  parties  went  unpunished.  The 
State  constitution,  adopted  in  1780,  was  viewed  with  disfavor 
by  a  large  minority  of  the  people,  and  was  not  regarded  as 
securely  established.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
had  not  then  been  framed,  and  all  existing  government  was 
merely  experimental. 

"  There  was  at  that  time  no  law  for  the  equitable  distribu- 
tion of  a  debtor's  property  among  his  creditors.  The  execu- 
tions of  the  creditors  were  levied  in  the  order  in  which  their 
attachments  were  made,  and  each  creditor  was  satisfied  in  his 
turn  until  all  were  paid  or  the  debtor's  estate  was  exhausted. 
A  man  whose  credit  was  suspected  found  his  property  covered 
by  attachments  at  once,  and  in  the  condition  of  things  then 
existing  a  very  slight  circumstance  excited  suspicion.  Litiga- 
tion became  general.     The  State  was  showered  with  execu- 

*  MinotV  Hist,  nf  Tnpurrecttnn  in  Masp.,  p.  6. 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT    VALLEY. 


75 


tions,  and  large  amounts  of  property  were  sold  for  almost 
nothing  to  satisfy  thoni.  In  the  unreasoning  excitement  of 
the  time  the  courts,  lawyers,  and  sheritfs  were  denounced  in 
the  wildest  terms  as  the  promoters  of  the  sufl'ering  that  men 
were  inflicting  upon  each  other.  A  cry  arose  that  the  courts 
ought  to  be  abolished.  Threats  were  made  that  the  courts 
should  not  be  allowed  to  sit,  that  no  more  suits  should  be 
entered  and  no  more  executions  issued.  It  was  such  wild 
clamor  as  this  that  led  to  the  first  overt  act  in  resistance  to 
the  lawful  authority." 

II. 

CONVENTIONS. 

Agitations  began  in  Western  Massachiisetts  as  early  as  in 
the  year  1781.  The  prime-mover  in  these  first  etforts  to  sub- 
vert the  authority  of  the  government  was  Samuel  Ely.  He 
had  been  for  some  years  an  irregular  minister  of  the  gospel  at 
Somers,  Conn.  He  was  now  suspended  from  his  ministry  and 
a  resident  of  Hamp.shire  Co.,  Mass.  In  the  year  1781  conven- 
tions began  to  be  held,  principally  upon  the  instigation  of 
Ely,  in  Western  Massachusetts,  to  consult  upon  the  subject 
of  grievances.  These  conventions  were  made  up  of  delegates 
from  several  towns,  and  their  action  tended  greatly  to  excite 
the  spirit  of  rebellion. 

III. 
MOBS. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1782,  Ely  succeeded  in  raising  a 
mob  at  Northampton  of  sufficient  force  to  disturb  the  holding 
of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  and  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  there.  For  his  complicity  in  this  disturbance  Ely  was 
arrested,  indicted,  and,  pleading  guilty  upon  trial,  was  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment  at  Springfield.  Soon  after,  at  a  time 
when  the  people  of  the  town  were  mostly  absent,  a  mob  as- 
sembled and  set  him  at  liberty.  Capt.  Densmore,  Lieut.  Paul 
King,  and  Lieut.  P.  Bardwell  were  arrested  as  ringleaders  of 
the  rescue,  and  put  in  jail  at  N(prtham]iton.  Another  mob  of 
three  hundred  men  gathered  in  Hatfield  for  the  relea.se  of  the 
ringleaders.  The  sheritf  of  the  county,  Gen.  Elihu  Porter, 
called  out  twelve  hundred  militia  to  protect  the  jail.  The 
rioters  sent  a  committee  to  Gen.  Porter  with  a  demand  for 
the  release  of  the  three  prisoners.  Gen.  Porter  so  far  com- 
plied with  their  demand  as  to  release  the  three  men  on  parole, 
conditioned  for  the  delivery  of  their  bodies  or  that  of  Samuel 
Ely  on  demand  of  the  General  Court. 

The  General  Court  treated  this  matter  with  a  leniency  that 
seemed  to  intensify  rather  than  pacify  the  excited  feelings  of 
the  populace. 

The  next  overt  act  of  rebellion  of  much  importance  occurred 
the  year  following,  at  Springfield. 

In  the  month  of  May,  on  the  last  day  of  the  session  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  the  Court  of  the  General  Sessions 
of  the  Peace,  in  Springfield,  a  mob  of  sixty  persons  assembled 
from  difi'erent  parts  of  the  county  to  prevent  the  session. 

The  Mtissnchusetts  Gazette  or  General  Advertizer,  of  Spring- 
field, of  the  date  of  May  27,  gives  the  following  account  of 
this  affair : 

"  On  Tuesday  last,  beiug  the  day  on  which  tlie  General  Ses.sions  of  the  Peace 
and  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  opened  in  this  town,  a  banditti,  collected  from 
the  obscure  corners  of  the  county,  composed  of  men  of  the  most  infamous  char- 
acter, to  the  amount  of  about  sixty  in  number,  met  in  this  town  to  prevent 
the  sitting  of  the  court.  .  .  .  They  showed  no  disposition  to  attax:k  the  courts 
in  the  forenoon;  at  two  o'clock  they  met  at  a  public-house  in  the  town,  and  re- 
solved themselves  to  be  a  convention  of  the  county,  met  together  for  the  purpose 
of  redressing  grievances;  after  having  parsed  several  important  residves  they 
adjourned  their  convention  to  the  elm-tree  near  the  court-house ;  when  the  hell 
rang  for  the  court,  they,  in  hostile  parade,  armed  with  white  bludgeons,  cut  for 
that  pui-i)ose,  marched  before  the  door  of  the  court-house,  and  when  the  court, 
headed  by  the  sheriflF,  came  to  the  door,  with  insolence  opposed  tlieir  entrance; 
the  sheriff,  in  the  mild  terms  of  persuasion,  addressing  them  as  gentlemen,  de- 
sired them  to  make  way.  His  civility  was  repaid  with  outrage,  and  an  action 
soon  commenced  ;  happily,  there  was  a  collection  of  people  friendly  to  the  gov- 
ernment present,  and  the  mob  was  repulsed  with  broken  lieads.  A  number  of 
them  were  instantly  taken  and  committed  t<j  pri:^on  ;  after  which,  by  a  regular 


procedure,  they  were  brought  before  the  Court  of  Sessions  for  oxaniinatioii,  and 
were  hound  to  appear  before  the  Supreme  Court." 

IV. 

THE   TENDER   ACT. 

On  the  3d  day  of  July,  1782,  the  "  Tender  Act"  was  passed 
for  the  benefit  of  private  debtors.  By  this  act  it  was  provided 
that  executions  issued  for  private  demands  might  be  satisfied 
by  neat  cattle  and  other  articles  enumerated  therein,  at  an  ap- 
praisement of  impartial  men  under  oath.  By  its  retrospective 
action  it  tended  to  suspend  lawsuits,  and  this  increased  the 
very  evils  it  was  intended  to  remedy.  Its  action  was  limited 
to  one  year,  at  the  end  of  which  it  was  suffered  to  expire.  But 
its  consequences  were  more  lasting.  It  was  the  first  signal  for 
hostilities  between  creditors  and  debtors, — the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  few  and  the  many.  From  opposing  and  defying 
creditors,  the  discontented  were  fast  led,  under  the  evil  in- 
fluences of  this  law,  to  opposing  and  defying  the  courts 
themselves. 

And  so  matters  went  on  from  bad  to  worse  through  the 
weary  years,  with  now  a  convention  and  then  a  mob.  "  Be- 
tween the  conventions  and  the  mobs  everything,"  says  Dr. 
Holland,  "  became  a  grievance.  Lawyers  assisted  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  ;  therefore  lawyers  were  never  excluded 
by  the  popular  voice  from  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Money  was  scarce ;  therefore  there  was  a  loud 
call  for  the  issue  of  paper  currency.  The  Legislature  re- 
fused ;  a  cry  then  arose  against  the  Legislature. 

"The  Legislature  of  1780  was  elected,"  says  William  L. 
Smith,*  "at  a  time  of  great  excitement.  IJemagogism  was 
in  its  glory,  and  the  distresses  of  the  people  were  used  for  the 
accomplishment  of  personal  and  political  ends.  Many  of  the 
men  who  had  been  intrusted  with  the  responsibilities  of  legis- 
lation, and  were  prominent  in  the  service  of  the  State,  were 
superseded  by  inexperienced,  and  in  many  cases  by  utterly 
unfit,  persons.  Patriots  of  the  Eevolution,  whose  elegant  ap- 
peals had  aroused  the  spirit  that  carried  the  country  tri- 
umphantly through  the  war  of  independence,  were  defeated 
as  candidates  merely  because  they  happened  to  be  lawyers. 
When  the  Legislature  assembled  various  visionary  schemes 
were  brought  forward,  among  them  a  proposition  that  the 
State  should  go  into  the  business  of  manufacturing  paper- 
money.  The  'Greenback'  party  of  the  day  was  active  and 
noisy.  The  very  men  who  had  lived  through  a  period  of 
great  inflation  and  consequent  depreciation  wanted  to  travel 
over  the  same  wretched  road  again.  We  should  wonder  at 
this  if  we  had  not  seen  recently  history  repeating  itself  in 
this  particular.  After  reading  the  discussions  of  that  time 
one  is  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  the  advocates  of  rag- 
money  have  not  materially  strengthened  their  arguments 
during  the  last  ninety  years.  The  Legislature  proceeded 
deliberately,  influenced  no  doubt  by  the  conservative  senti- 
ment of  Boston,  and  finally  rejected  the  proposition ;  and 
the  Senate  stood  firmly  in  the  way  of  other  dangerous  schemes. 
Thereupon  there  arose  a  new  clamor.  It  was  declared  that 
the  Senate  should  be  abolished,  and  that  the  Legislature 
should  not  continue  to  hold  its  sessions  at  Boston ;  and  the 
agitators  proceeded  to  supplement  their  boisterous  declamations 
by  a  formal  organization." 

The  Legislature  adjourned  on  the  8th  day  of  July,  and  the 
excitement  increased.  It  spent  its  violence  again  in  conven- 
tions and  mobs. 

V. 

MORE   CONVENTIONS. 

Conventions  and  mobs  seem  to  have  constituted  the  ma- 
chinery by  which  the  discontented  sought  to  relieve  their  dis- 
tresses. The  conventions  were  at  first  respectable,  but  soon 
became  the  abettors  of  violence.     The  first  object  of  the  mobs 

*  Address  before  Conn.  Val.  Hist.  Society  at  Springfield. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


seems  to  have  been  the  stoppage  of  the  inferior  courts,  so  that 
debts  could  not  be  collected,  and  the  next  object  was  the  de- 
struction of  the  superior  courts,  so  that  themselves  might  not 
be  in  danger  of  trial  for  their  crimes.* 

Cotii-etition  at  Worcester. — On  the  15th  of  August,  1786,  a 
convention  was  held  at  Worcester,  composed  of  delegates  from 
thirty-seven  towns  of  Worcester  County.  It  first  voted  that 
it  was  "  a  lawful  and  constitutional  body."  It  then  voted  that 
the  following  were  the  causes  of  discontent  among  the  people, 
to  wit : 

"  1st.  The  .sitting  of  the  General  Court  in  Boston. 

"2d.  The  want  of  a  circulating  medium. 

"  3d.  The  abuses  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  the  exorbi- 
tance of  the  fee-table. 

"4th.  The  existence  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  in 
their  present  mode  of  administration. 

"  6th.  The  appropriating  the  revenues  arising  from  the  im- 
post and  excise  duties  to  the  payment  of  the  State  securities. 

"6th.  The  unreasonable  and  unnecessary  grants  made  by 
our  General  Court  to  the  attorney-general  and  others. 

"  7th.  The  servants  of  the  government  being  too  numerous, 
and  having  too  great  salaries. 

"8th.  This  Commonwealth  granting  aid  or  paying  moneys 
to  Congress  while  our  public  accounts  remain  unsettled.  But 
this  convention  proposed  that  relief  should  be  sought  only  by 
lawful,  and  constitutional  means,  and  deprecated  all  riots  and 
mob  violence."! 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  war,  like  all  others,  had  engen- 
dered luxury  and  expensive  living.  It  greatly  stimulated  the 
importation,  and  consequently  the  consumption,  of  foreign 
goods.  This,  of  course,  added  in  the  end  to  the  other  burdens. 
The  public  prints  of  the  day  were  full  of  comments,  suggested 
by  the  confusion  of  the  times.  One  says,  "  How  much  soever 
we  may  be  oppressed,  yet  this  much  is  certain  :  we  cannot  be 
oppressed  without  justice.  Why,  then,  should  we  wish  to 
stop  its  execution?  If  we  have  honestly  involved  ourselves 
in  public  or  private  debts,  let  us  honestly  discharge  the  obli- 
gations we  have  contracted.  We  have  nobly  bled  for  our 
liberty,  and  finally  obtained  the  victory.  But  at  the  rate  we 
are  about  to  use  it,  God  knows  it  cannot  be  much  preferable 
to  slavery.  "J 

Convention  at  Hatfield. — On  the  22d  day  of  August,  1786,  a 
cimvention  met  at  Hatfield,  in  Hampshire  County.  This  con- 
vention was  called  at  the  rcccmimcndation  of  a  minor  con- 
vcnti<m  previously  held  at  Pelham. 

This  convention  was  constituted  of  delegates  from  fifty 
towns  in  Hamjishire  County.  After  a  deliberation  of  three 
days,  it  decided  upon  and  put  forth  the  following  body  of 
grievances,  to  wit : 

"At  a  meeting  of  delepites  from  fifty  towns  in  the  county  of  Ilumpshire, 
ill  convention  Iielil  Ht  Iliittielti,  in  said  c^mnty,  on  Tnesday,  tlie  22ii  day  of  August 
instant,  and  continued  by  adjuurnmeutd  until  tlio  twenty-fiftii  ult.,  voted  tliat 
tliis  meeting  is  constitutional. 

"Tile  convention,  from  a  thorough  conviction  of  great  uneasiness  subsisting 
among  the  peojile  of  tliis  county  and  Commonwealth,  then  went  into  an  inquiry 
for  tlie  cause  ;  and,  upon  mature  consideration,  deliberation,  and  debate,  were  of 
opinion  that  nmny  giievances  and  unnecej^sary  burdens  n<jw  lying  uixui  the 
people  are  the  sources  of  that  discontent  so  evidently  discoverable  throughout 
this  C<>mmonwealth.  Among  which  the  following  ai  tides  were  voted  as  such,  viz. : 

"1st.  The  e.\i.-.tence  of  the  Senate. 

"  "Jd.  The  present  mode  of  representation. 

";td.  The  officers  of  government  not  being  annually  dependent  on  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  in  General  Couit  assembled,  for  their  salaiies. 

"4th.  All  the  civil  oflicoi-s  of  government  not  being  annually  elected  by  the 
Ilepresentativesof  the  people  in  General  Court  a.ssembled. 

"."ith.  The  existence  of  the  Courts  of  Cttmnion  Plesis  and  General  Sessions  of 
the  Peac^e. 

"  6th.  The  Fee-Table,  as  it  now  stands. 

"7th.  The  present  mode  of  appropriating  the  impost  and  excise. 

"  8th.  The  unreasonable  grants  made  to  some  of  the  officers  of  government. 

"  9th.  The  supplementary  aid. 

*  Holland's  Hist,  of  Western  Mass.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  23S. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  Sili. 
i  Ibi.l.,  p.  237. 


"  10th.  The  present  mode  of  paying  the  governmental  securities. 

"11th.  The  present  mode  adopted  for  the  payment  and  collection  of  the  hitt  tax. 

"12tli.  The  present  mode  of  taxation,  as  it  operates  unequally  between  the 
polls  and  estates,  and  between  landed  and  mercantile  interests. 

"  13th.  The  present  method  of  practice  of  the  attornies-at-law. 

"14th.  The  want  of  a  suilicient  medium  of  trade  to  remedy  the  mischiefs 
aiissing  from  a  scarcity  of  money. 

"1.5th.  The  General  fVjuit  sitting  in  the  town  of  Boston. 

"loth.  Tile  present  embarrassments  on  the  lu'ess. 

"  17th.  The  neglect  of  the  settlement  of  impoitant  matters  depending  between 
the  Commonwealth  and  Congress  relating  to  monies  and  averages. 

"  IStb.  Voted.  This  convention  recommend  to  the  several  towns  in  this  county 
that  they  instruct  their  representatives  to  use  their  influence  in  the  next  Gen- 
eral Court  to  have  emitted  a  bank  of  paper-money,  subject  to  a  depreciation ; 
making  it  a  tender  in  all  payments,  equal  to  silver  and  gold,  to  be  issued  in  order 
to  call  in  the  Commonwealth's  securities. 

"  19th.  Voted,  That  whereas  several  of  the  above  articles  of  grievances  arise 
from  defects  in  the  constitution,  therefore  a  revision  of  the  same  ought  to  take 
place. 

"  20th.  Votetl,  That  it  be  recommended  by  this  convention  to  the  several  t-twns 
in  this  county  that  tliey  Jjetition  the  Governor  to  call  the  General  Court  to- 
gether, in  order  that  the  other  grievances  complained  of  may,  by  the  Legislature, 
be  redressed; 

"21st.  Voted,  That  this  convention  recommend  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
county  that  they  abstain  from  all  mobs  and  unlawful  assemblies  until  a  consti- 
tutional method  of  redress  can  be  obtained. 

"22d.  Voted,  That  Mr.  Caleb  West  be  desired  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  pro- 
ceeilings  of  this  convention  to  the  convention  of  the  cortnty  of  Worcester. 

"23d.  Voted,  That  the  chairman  of  tliis  convention  be  desired  Ut  transmit  a 
copy  of  the  proceedings  of  this  convention  to  t'lie  county  of  Berkshire. 

"24th.  Voted,  That  the  chiiirman  of  this  convention  be  directed  to  notify  a 
county  convention,  upon  any  inotiim  m.ade  to  him  for  tliat  puriK)se,  if  be  judge 
the  reasons  oflTered  be  sufficient,  giving  such  notice,  together  with  the  reiisona 
therefor,  in  the  publick  papers  of  the  county. 

"  25th.  Voted,  Tliat  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  this  convention  bo  sent  to  the 
press  in  Springfield  for  publication." 

As  the  natural  result  of  such  deliberations  mob  violence 
was  again  the  order  of  the  day. 

On  the  last  Tuesday  of  August  following,  a  mob  numbering 
fifteen  hundred  persons  assembled  under  arms  at  Northamp- 
ton. J  It  was  on  the  day  appointed  by  law  for  the  sitting  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  the  General  Sessions  of  the 
Peace.  The  mob  took  possession  of  the  ground  adjoining  the 
court-house.  The  result  was  that  no  court  was  held.  Mob 
violence  was  again  triumphant.  Those  who  did  nut  wish  to 
pay  their  debts  accomplished  their  object. 

The  clerk  of  the  court  at  Northampton  made  the  following 
minute  in  his  records,  to  wit: 

"  Early  on  the  morning  of  this  day  there  was  collected  a  considerable  number 
of  persons  under  arms,  who  paraded  near  the  coui  t-house,  with  a  proposed  de- 
sign to  prevent  this  couit  from  sitting;  a  committee  from  whom  presented  a 
petition,  requesting  the  couit  would  not  proceed  to  any  business.  The  court 
having  considered  thereof,  thought  proper  t4»  open  the  same  at  the  house  of  Capt. 
S,amuel  Clark,  innholder,  in  Noithamptoii ;  and  having  coiitituied  all  matters 
now  pending  in  said  couit  to  the  term  of  this  couit  next  to  be  hidden  in  Spring- 
field, in  and  for  tlie  county  of  Hampshire,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  November 
next,  adjourned  without  day." 

But  no  November  term  of  the  court  was  held.  The  court 
was  continued  by  legislative  action  till  the  May  following. 

After  being  informed  of  the  action  of  the  Northampton 
mob.  Governor  Bowdoin  at  once  i-ssued  his  proclamation  call- 
ing upon  all  "judges,  justices,  sheriffs,  gn^nd  jurors,  consta- 
bles, and  other  officers,  civil  and  military,  to  suppress  all  such 
riotous  proceedings."  The  proclamation,  after  appealing  to 
the  State  pride,  personal  honor,  and  patriotism  of  the  people, 
enjoined  upon  the  attorney-general  the  duty  of  prosecuting 
and  bringing  to  condign  punishment  not  only  the  ringleaders 
and  abettors  of  the  Norlhampton  mob,  but  also  all  subsequent 
offenders  against  law  and  order. 

On  the  week  succeeding  the  Northampton  demonstration 
the  sittings  of  the  courts  were  also  stopped  at  Worcester,  and 
on  the  11th  of  September  a  mob  at  Concord  stopped  the  sit- 
tings of  the  courts  of  Middlesex  County.  But  the  mob  of 
Berkshire  County  seemed  so  far  to  be  the  most  violent  of  any. 
They  assembled,  at  the  opening  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  at  Great  Barrington,  to  the  number  of  eight  hundred,  and 

g  Minot's  Hist.  Insurrections  iu  Mass.,  p.  37. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


77 


not  (inly  stojijied  the  fitting  of  the  court,  but  broke  open  the 
jail  and  liberated  the  prisoners. 

UNIVERSAL    DISORDER. 

The  whole  State  was  now  aflame  with  excitement ;  from 
one  end  of  it  to  the  other  rebellion  and  anarchy  stared  the 
people  in  the  face. 

VI. 

DANIEL   SHAYS. 

And  now  appear  upon  the  scene  two  strong  and  turbulent 
spirits  who  soon  brought  the  rebellion  to  a  head,  but  not  until 
they  had  stirred  the  troubled  waters  to  their  profoundest 
depths, — Daniel  Shays  and  Luke  Day. 

Daniel  Shays,  who  about  this  time  came  to  the  front  as  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  the  insurrection,  seems  to  have  been  a 
soldier  of  fortune.  His  parents  had  been  extremely  poor,  and  his 
early  education  was  neglected.  Yet  he  was  a  man  of  good  ad- 
dress and  not  unpleasing  manner.  He  was  courageous,  ambi- 
tious, strong-minded,  and  sagacious,  but  unscrupulous  in  ac- 
complishing his  ends.  He  was  born  in  Hopkinton  in  the  year 
1747.  When  young  he  worked  some  time  on  a  farm  in  Fra- 
mingham.  He  removed  to  Great  Harrington  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  violent  phase  of  the 
rebellion  resided  at  Pelham.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  he 
entered  into  the  service  of  his  country,  with  the  rank  of  ensign, 
and  was  conspicuous  for  his  bravery  at  Bunker  Hill.  In  the 
year  1776  he  was  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  Col.  Varnam's 
regiment,  and  was  soon  detached  on  recruiting  -service.  He 
enlisted  a  company,  which  he  took  to  West  Point,  whose 
engagement  to  serve  was  on  the  condition  of  his  being  the 
captain.  This  condition  was  not  fulfilled,  and  the  men  were 
apportioned  to  different  corps.  He  was  at  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne,  and  at  the  storming  of  Stony  Point.  In  1779  he 
received  a  captain's  commission,  and  was  with  Col.  Putnam's 
regiment  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  October,  1780,  when  he  resigned 
and  left  theservice.  He  possessed  few  qualifications  for  a  high 
command.  After  the  suppression  of  the  insurrection  he  re- 
moved to  Sparta,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived  in  utter  poverty,  dying 
in  the  year  1825. 

VII. 

LUKE    DAY 

was  born  at  West  Springfield,  July  2-5,  1743.  His  father  was 
a  wealthy  land-owner,  but  the  land,  for  some  reason,  fell  to 
a  younger  brother.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution he  was  commissioned  as  a  captain.  He  served  honor- 
ably in  the  Continental  army  for  several  years,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  war  returned  home  poor  and  a  major  by  brevet. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  somewhat  rough,  boisterous  man, 
but  brave,  and  influential  among  his  fellows.  Of  the  two,  he 
was  perhaps  stronger-minded  and  more  sagacious  than  Shays, 
but  less  plausible  and  gentlemanly.  He  raised  his  own  men, 
drilled,  and  commanded  them.  He  was  a  most  inveterate 
speech-maker,  and  often  met  the  turbulent  spirits  of  his 
neighborhood  at  the  old  Stebbins  tavern  in  West  Springfield, 
and  harangued  them  for  hours  together.  A  few  days  before  the 
attack  of  Shaj's  upon  the  arsenal  at  Springfield,  Day,  in  talking 
to  his  men,  said,  "  My  boys,  you  are  going  to  fight  for  liberty. 
If  you  wish  to  know  what  liberty  is,  I  will  tell  you.  It  is  for 
every  man  to  do  what  he  pleases,  to  make  other  folks  do  as 
you  please  to  have  them,  and  to  keep  folks  from  serving  the 
devil."  After  the  defeat  of  Shays,  Day  fled  to  New  York. 
He  afterward  returned,  under  the  conditions  of  a  general 
pardon,  to  his  native  town,  and  died  there,  miserably  poor, 
at  an  advanced  age.  While  drilling  his  men  on  West 
Springfield  Common,  they  wore  in  their  hats  a  sprig  of 
hemlock,  which  afterward  became  the  sj'mbol  of  the  in- 
surgents. 

Such  were  the  two  men  who,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
more  violent  phase  of  the  rebellion,  assumed  its  leadership. 


VIII. 

THE     ATTACK     UPON     THE     SUPREME     JUDICIAL     COURT     AT 
SPRINGFIELD. 

Tluis  far,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  the  attacks  of  the  mob  had 
been  made  upon  tlie  inferior  courts, — the  Courts  of  Common 
Pleas  and  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace.  But  the  grand 
jury  met  also  with  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  and  unless 
the  sittings  of  that  court  could  also  be  prevented,  the  rioters 
could  all  be  indicted  and  punished. 

The  next  sitting  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  was  to  be 
held  in  Springfield,  on  the  2()th  day  of  September.  The  in- 
surgents resolved  to  prevent  its  sitting.  But  the  friends  of 
law  and  order  were  also  at  this  time  profoundly  conscious  of 
the  impending  danger,  and  made  up  their  minds  that  the 
court  should  be  held  at  whatever  cost. 

The  rebellion  had  now  reached  its  height.  Outrages  had 
been  committed  in  Middlesex  and  Bristol,  as  well  as  in  the 
western  counties  of  the  State.  Even  the  city  of  Boston  was 
threatened,  and  the  movement  spread  into  the  adjoining 
States.  It  is  probable  that  at  this  time  neither  the  insur- 
gents nor  the  State  authorities  knew  its  extent.  After  it  was 
over,  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  disqualifying  persons  en- 
gaged in  the  rebellion  from  holding  office.  It  was  then  fcnind 
that  in  some  towns  there  were  not  enough  men  untainted  to 
fill  the  offices,  and  it  became  necessary  to  pass  an  enabling 
act.  This  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  Supreme  Court 
was  first  attacked  at  Springfield. 

But  it  would  seem  that  this  high-handed  outrage  was  the 
culmination  of  the  insurrectionary  movement. 

The  determined  stand  here  taken  by  the  friends  of  law  and 
order  opened  the  eyes  of  the  thinking  ones,  and  one  after 
another  they  returned  to  their  homes,  leaving  it  to  the  more 
unscrupulous  rabble  to  follow  Shays  in  his  mad  attempt  upon 
the  arsenal  in  the  following  winter. 

On  the  27th  day  of  September,  the  Governor  issued  his  proc- 
lamation convening  the  Legislature.  The  command  of  the 
governmental  forces  at  Springfield  was  intrusted  to  Gen.  Wil- 
liams. We  cannot  do  better  here  than  to  copy  the  account 
of  this  aft'air  given  in  the  able  paper  of  William  L.  Smith, 
above  referred  to.     Mr.  Smith  says  : 

"Gen.  Shepard  succeeded  in  collecting  about  six  hundred 
militia  and  volunteers,  and  anticipated  the  plans  of  the  insur- 
gents by  taking  possession  of  the  court-house.  On  the  ap- 
pointed day  the  court  was  openedj  Chief-Justice  Cushing  and 
Justices  Sargeant,  Sewall,  and  Sumner  being  present,  and 
Shays  appeared  at  the  head  of  a  force  largely  superior  in 
numbers  to  Gen."  Shepard's,  but  his  men  were  not  as  well 
armed  as  were  the  militia.  The  insurgent  leaders  were  dis- 
concerted at  finding  the  militia  in  possession  of  the  court- 
house ;  their  followers  were  enraged,  and  insisted  upon  making 
an  immediate  attack.  But  the  leaders  were  more  prudent. 
They  knew  that  the  government  troops  were  well  armed,  they 
had  no  artillery,  arid  they  were  especially  disgusted  with  the 
bark  of  a  small  cannon,  which  they  styled  the  '  government's 
puppy.'  They  offered  to  withdraw  if  the  judges  would  agree 
that  no  other  than  the  ordinary  criminal  business  of  the  term 
should  be  taken  up.  The  judges  replied  in  substance  that 
they  had  a  public  duty  to  di-scharge,  and  would  attend  to 
such  business  as  should  properly  come  before  them.  But  by 
the  time  this  answer  was  received  the  insurgent  leaders  were 
indifferent  as  to  the  action  of  the  court,  for  they  were  satisfied 
the  grand  jury  could  not  be  got  together,  and  that  there  would 
be  no  trials.  They  .saw  their  main  purpose  would  be  accom- 
plished without  fighting.  Shays  had  his  headquarters  on  or 
near  Ferry  Lane  (now  Cypress  Street),  and  a  tavern  that 
stood  on  the  southerly  corner  of  the  present  Main  and  Sar- 
gent Streets  was  a  favorite  rendezvous  of  the  insurgents. 

"The  inhabitants  of  Springfield  were  beginning  to  feel  some 
relief  from  their  anxiety,  when  a  new  commotion  was  seen  in 


78 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  camp  of  the  insurgents.     It  was  rumored  among  them 

that  the  militia  had  determined  that  they  should  not  be  per- 
mitted to  march  past  the  court-house.  It  is  not  likely  that 
any  person  in  authority  on  the  government  side  threw  down 
the  gauntlet  in  that  way.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  rumor 
originated  with  some  of  the  Shays  men,  who  wanted  a  pre- 
text for  a  fight  and  consequent  pillage.  But  the  rumor,  how- 
ever it  originated,  aroused  the  fighting-qualities  of  the  insur- 
gents. Old  soldiers  were  not  to  be  told  that  they  must  not 
march  over  the  highway.  They  notified  Gen.  Shepard  that 
they  would  march  past  the  court-house  forthwith,  and  they 
did  so  in  military  order  and  with  loaded  muskets,  and  they 
countermarched  and  again  passed  under  the  windows  of  the 
court-house.  But  no  one  came  forward  to  knock  the  chip 
from  their  leader's  shoulder.  The  experiment  of  the  insur- 
gents proved  a  failure.  The  militia  could  not  be  tempted  to 
accept  a  mere  challenge  or  invite  a  battle.  A  taunt  or  a  care- 
less word  would  have  occasioned  a  collision,  but  the  word  was 
not  spoken.  But  some  of  the  militia  were  so  impressed  by 
the  numbers  and  bearing  of  the  insurgents  that  they  deserted 
their  colors  and  enlisted  under  Shays. 

"  The  court  was  kept  open  three  days,  but  the  proceedings 
amounted  to  a  mere  ceremony.  The  grand  jury  did  not 
assemble.  Parties  to  causes,  jurors,  and  witnesses  were  under 
arms,  either  on  one  side  or  the  other.  One  defendant,  who 
was  out  on  bail,  was  defaulted,  and  that  was  the  only  business 
transacted  at  the  term.  The  adjournment  of  the  court  under 
such  circumstances  was  a  victory  for  the  insurgents,  and  their 
triumph  was  made  complete  when  they  learned  that  the  judges 
had  determined  not  to  hold  the  October  term  at  Great  Bar- 
rington.  The  judges  had  been  informed  of  the  preparations 
made  for  their  reception  at  that  place,  and  knew  it  would  be 
useless  to  attempt  to  hold  the  term. 

"  The  rebels  had  accomplished  all  they  intended,  and  more, 
but  success  had  crazed  them.  The  rank  and  file  were  clam- 
orous for  a  fight,  and  Shays  sent  a  message  to  Gen.  Shepard 
demanding  a  surrender  of  the  court-house.  Gen.  Shepard 
did  not  deem  the  possession  of  the  court-house  worth  fighting 
for,  the  court  having  adjourned,  and  moved  his  forces  to  the 
Federal  arsenal,  where  there  was  valuable  property  that  re- 
quired protection.  The  insurgents,  finding  no  satisfaction  in 
standing  guard  over  an  empty  building,  and  not  yet  being  ready 
to  make  war  against  the  Federal  authority,  soon  dispersed." 

On  the  27th  day  of  September  the  Legislature  assembled, 
according  to  the  proclamation,  and  the  Governor,  in  an  able 
speech  from  the  chair,  presented  to  the  members  the  alarming 
state  of  aflairs.  The  Senate  appeared  to  be  decided  in  their 
opinion  that  stringent  measures  were  necessary  to  he  taken, 
but  the  lower  house,  more  or  less  in  sympathy  with  the 
objects,  if  not  with  the  acts,  of  the  insurgents,  wavered,  and 
favored  conciliation. 

Various  disturbances  occurred  in  different  parts  of  the 
State,  and  the  military  was  called  out  to  protect  the  courts. 
Upon  hearing  this,  Shays  issued  the  following  order  to  the 
insurgents : 

"Pelham,  Oct.  23, 1786. 
"Gentlemen, — B3'  infurmatiuQ  from  tlie  General  C<nirt,  they  are  tletermiued 
to  call  all  those  who  appeared  to  stop  the  court  to  coudigu  punishment.  There- 
fore I  request  you  tj  assemble  your  men  together,  to  see  that  they  are  well 
armed  and  equipped  with  sixty  rounds  each  man,  and  to  be  ready  to  turn  out  at 
a  minute's  warning;  likewise  to  be  properly  organized  with  officers. 

"  Daniel  Shays." 

Further  disturbances  occurred  in  various  parts  of  the  State, 
and  again,  early  in  December,  the  insurgents  were  preparing 
to  renew  their  opposition  to  the  laws  in  the  county  of  Hamp- 
shire, as  the  following  address  issued  at  the  time  will  show  : 

"an  address  to  the  people  of  the  sevebal  towns  in  the  covntv  of  habip- 

SHIKE,   NOW   at   arms. 

"  Gentlemen, — We  have  thought  proper  to  inform  yuu  of  some  of  the  principal 
causes  of  the  late  risings  of  the  penph*,  and  also  of  tlieir  present  movements,  vi/. : 
'■   "1st.  The  present  expensive  mode  of  cullecting  debts,  which,  by  reason  of  the 


great  scarcity  of  cash,  will  of  necessity  fill  our  gaols  with  unhappy  debtors,  and 

tiiereby  a  reputable  Imdy  of  people  rendered  incapable  of  being  serviceable  either 
to  themselves  or  the  community. 

"  2d.  The  moneys  raised  by  impost  and  excise  being  appropriated  to  discharge 
the  interest  of  gtivernmcntal  securities,  and  not  the  foreign  debt,  wlien  these 
securities  are  not  subject  to  taxation. 

"3d.  A  suspension  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  by  which  those  persons  who 
have  stepped  forth  to  assert  and  maintain  the  rights  of  the  people  are  liable  to 
be  taken  and  conveyed  even  to  the  most  ilistant  part  of  the  commnnwealth,  and 
thereby  subjected  to  an  unjust  punishment. 

"4th.  The  unlimited  power  granted  to  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Sheriffs, 
Deputy  Slieriffs  and  Constables,  by  the  Riot  Act,  indemnifying  them  tt>  the  prose- 
cution thereof,  when,  perhaps,  wholly  actuated  from  a  principle  of  revenge, 
Iiatred,  and  envy. 

"  Furthermore,  Be  assured  that  this  body,  now  at  arms,  despise  the  idea  of 
being  instigated  by  British  emissaries,  which  is  so  strenuously  propagated  by  the 
enemies  of  our  liberties,  and  also  wish  the  most  proper  and  speedy  measures 
may  be  taken  to  cUscharge  both  our  foreign  and  domestic  debt, 

"  Per  Order, 

"Daniel  Gray, 
"  ChairniaH  of  the  CommiU.ee  for  the  above  purpose" 

At  the  same  time  another  publication  appeared  in  the  Hamp- 
shire Herald^  published  in  Springfield,  of  similar  tenor: 

"  To  tiie  Printer  of  tJie  Hampshire  Herald: 

"  Sir, — It  hiis  somehow  or  other  fallen  to  my  lot  to  be  employed  in  a  more  con- 
spicuous manner  than  some  otliei-s  of  my  felluw-citizens  in  stepping  forth  in 
defence  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  peojde,  more  especially  of  the  county 
of  Hampshire. 

"Therefore,  upon  the  desire  of  the  people  now  at  arms,  I  take  this  method  to 
publish  to  the  world  of  mankind  in  general,  particularly  the  people  of  this  com- 
monwealth, some  of  the  principal  grievances  we  complain  of,  and  of  which  we 
are  now  seeking  redress,  and  mean  to  contend  fnr  until  a  redress  can  be  ol»- 
tained,  which  we  hope  will  soon  take  place  ;  and  if  so,  our  brethren  in  this  com- 
monwealth, thaf  do  not  see  with  us  as  yet,  shall  find  we  shall  be  as  peaceable  as 
they  be. 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  must  refer  you  to  a  draught  of  grievances  drawn  up  by  a 
committee  of  the  people  now  at  arms,  under  the  signature  of  Daniel  Gray,  chair- 
man, which  is  heartily  approved  of;  some  other  also  are  here  added,  viz. ; 

"  1st.  The  General  Court,  for  ceitain  obvious  reasons,  must  be  removed  out  of 
the  town  of  Boston. 

"2nd.  A  revision  iif  tlie  constitution  is  absolutely  nessessarj'. 

"3rd,  All  kinds  of  governmentiil  securities,  now  on  interest,  that  have  been 
l«ught  of  the  original  owners  for  two  shillings,  three  shillings,  four  shillings, 
and  the  highest  for  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  on  the  pound,  and  have  received 
more  interest  than  the  principal  cost  of  the  speculator  who  purchased  them,  that 
if  justice  was  done,  we  verily  believe,  nay,  positively  know,  it  would  save  this 
conmionwealth  thousands  of  i>ounds. 

"4th.  Let  the  lands  belonging  to  this  commonwealth,  at  the  eastward,  be  sold 
at  the  best  advantage,  to  pay  the  remainder  of  onr  dnmestick  debt. 

"5th.  Let  the  monies  arising  from  impost  and  excise  be  appropriated  to  dis- 
charge the  foreign  debt. 

"  6th.  Let  that  act  passed  by  the  General  Court  last  June,  by  a  small  majority 
of  only  seven,  called  the  Supplementarey  Aid,  for  twenty-five  years  to  come  be 
repealed. 

''7th.  The  total  abolition  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  C<.»mmon  Pleas  and  General 
Sessions  of  the  Peace. 

"8th.  Deputy  Sheriffs  totally  set  aside,  as  a  useless  set  of  officers  in  the  com- 
munity, and  Constables,  who  are  really  nessessary,  be  empowered  to  do  the  duty, 
by  which  means  a  large  swarm  of  lawyers  will  be  banished  fmm  their  wonted 
haunt!,  who  have  l>een  more  damage  to  the  people  at  large,  especially  the  com- 
mon farmers,  than  the  savage  beasts  of  prey. 

"Tu  this  I  boldly  sign  my  proper  name,  as  a  hearty  well-wisher  to  the  rights 
of  the  people. 


"  Thomas  Grover. 


'  Worcester,  Dec.  7, 1786.' 


At  length,  on  the  26th  day  of  Decemher,  Shays,  at  the  head 
of  an  armed  moh  of  three  hundred  men,  marched  into  the 
court-house  at  Springiield,  and  forcibly  prevented  the  sitting 
of  the  court  appointed  to  be  held  there. 

A  letter  from  Springfield  to  the  Botiio?i  Chronicle^  under  date 
of  the  2Tth  of  December,  gives  an  account  of  this  outrage, 
committed  there  the  daj'  before  : 

"  There  is  a  stagnation  of  almost  every  kind  of  business  among  us  by  reason 
of  the  tunmlts  which  are  so  prevalent  here.  Yesterday  we  had  another  visit 
from  the  mobility :  about  3o0  men  mai-cbed  in  hostile  array,  with  drums  beating, 
and  took  possession  of  the  court-house,  commanded  by  Shays,  Day,  and  Grover, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  sitting  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  which  by  law  was 
to  have  been  held  here  at  that  time.  This  they  effected,  as  there  was  no  opposi- 
tion on  the  i)art  of  the  government.  It  was  not  possible  fur  the  court  (as  they 
were  surrounded  by  an  armed  force  and  a  guard  placed  at  the  door  uf  the  room 
in  which  the  judges  were  met)  t*»  proceed  to  do  business.  They  therefore  in- 
formed a  committee  who  were  chosen  by  the  insurgent;!  to  wait  «jn  them  that 
they  would  not  attempt  to  oj)eu  tlie  court.  After  which,  al«>ut  dark,  the  insur- 
gents left  the  town." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


79 


IX. 

THE    ATTACK    ON    THE   ARSENAL    AT   SPRINCiFIELD. 

This  mid  other  outrages  incited  the  Governor  and  his  coun- 
cil, in  the  absence  of  the  Lcgishiture,  to  adopt  the  most  ener- 
getic measures  for  the  restoration  of  order  and  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  now  continuing  so  formidable. 

Says  Mr.  William  L.  Smith  :  "  The  Governor  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  Council  were  capable  and  resolute  men, 
and  were  faithful  to  their  great  trusts,  but  they  were  power- 
less. They  did  not  have  at  their  command  the  means  of  sus- 
taining even  a  single  regiment  in  the  field.  The  emergency 
Avas  finally  met  by  some  of  the  capitalists  and  business-men  of 
Boston,  who  realized  the  danger  to  which  their  interests  would 
be  exposed  by  a  revolution,  and  came  forward  with  an  offer  of 
a  loan  to  the  State,  trusting  to  future  legislation  for  their  reim- 
bursement. Their  offer  was  accepted,  and  there  was  at  once  a 
change  in  the  condition  of  aflTairs.  There  was  a  new  and 
wholesome  activity  in  the  executive  departments.  Orders  were 
issued  for  the  raising  and  equipment  of  four  thousand  five 
hundred  men,  a  considerable  army  in  that  day.  Public  senti- 
ment at  once  exhibited  a  more  healthy  tone.  The  wavering 
and  doubting  began  to  get  off  the  fence  and  range  themselves 
on  the  side  that  had  troops  and  money,  and  the  lukewarm  and 
more  thoughtful  among  the  insurgents  began  to  think  of  their 
allegiance.  Shaj-s  and  his  council  had  been  in  deliberation 
over  two  distinct  plans  of  operation.  The  more  reckless  of 
the  leaders  advised  an  attack  upon  Boston,  for  the  purpose  of 
releasing  two  of  their  number  who  had  been  arrested  and 
were  held  in  jail.  Others  advised  that  the  attack  on  Boston 
be  delaj'ed  until  after  the  seizure  of  the  Continental  arsenal  at 
Springfield,  with  its  store  of  war  material ;  and  this  last  plan 
was  the  one  adopted. 

"The  Hampshire  County  quota  of  twelve  hundred  men 
were  ordered  to  assemble  at  Springfield,  and  Gen.  Shepard 
was  placed  in  command.  The  Eastern  militia  were  to  meet  at 
Roxbury,  whence  they  were  to  march  to  Worcester,  and  there 
be  joined  with  the  force  raised  in  Worcester  County.  The 
chief  command  was  given  to  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  an  ac- 
complished ofiScer  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Gov.  Bowdoin's 
orders  to  Gen.  Lincoln  required  him  to  protect  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  at  the  January  term  at  Worcester,  and  left 
his  further  movements  against  the  insurgents  to  his  own  dis- 
cretion." 

The  orders  of  the  Governor  to  Gen.  Lincoln  were  as  follows : 


"  Boston,  Jimy  W,  1787. 

"Sir, — You  will  take  command  of  The  Militia  detached  in  nbedience  to  my 
orders  of  the  4th  iiit-tant.  The  great  ohjects  to  be  effected  are  to  protect  the  Ju- 
dicial Courts  paiticularly  those  next  to  be  holden  in  the  County  of  Worcester, 
if  the  justices  of  the  said  courts  should  request  your  aid ;  to  assist  the  civil  magis- 
trates in  executing  the  laws,  and  in  repelling  or  apprehending  all  and  every  such 
person  and  persons  aj5  shall,  in  a  hostile  manner,  attempt  or  enten>rise  the  de- 
struction, detriment,  or  annoyance  of  this  Commonwealth  ;  and  also  t>  aid  them 
in  apprehending  the  disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  as  well  as  all  such  persons  as 
may  be  named  in  the  State  wari-ants,  that  have  been,  or  shall  be,  committed  t<:> 
any  civil  officer  or  officers,  or  to  any  other  person,  to  execute. 

"  If,  to  these  important  ends,  the  militia  already  ordered  out  should,  in  your 
opinion,  be  incompetent,  you  will  call  on  the  Major-Generals  for  further  and  ef- 
fectual aid ;  And,  if  you  can  rely  on  their  attachment  to  government,  you  will, 
in  the  tir-st  instance,  call  on  the  militia  in  the  neighborhood  of  your  camp.  I 
cannot  minutely  point  out  to  you  the  particular  line  you  shall  pursue  in  execu- 
ting these  orders:  But  would  observe  in  genera!,  that  if,  to  answer  the  aforesaid 
■ahiable  purposes,  .you  should  judge  it  necessary  to  march  a  respectable  force 
hrough  the  western  counties,  you  will  in  that  case  do  it.  This  would  give  con- 
tidence  tci  the  well  .affected;  would  aid  and  protect  the  civil  officci>i  in  executing 
their  duty,  &  would  convince  the  misguided  of  the  abilities  of  government,  and 
its  determination  to  pui-sue  every  legal  and  constitutional  mesisure  for  restoring 
peace  and  order  to  the  Commonwealth. 

"  Ton  are  to  consider  yourself,  in  all  your  military  offensive  operations,  con- 
stantly as  under  the  direction  of  the  civil  officers,  saving  when  any  armed  force 
appears,  and  oppose  your  marching  to  execute  these  ordei-s. 

"That  1  may  be  fully  acquainted  with  all  the  proceedings  of  the  armed  force 
under  your  command,  and  with  all  mattei-s  that  respect  the  great  objects  U^  be 
effected,  yon  will  give  me  regular  inform-ation  by  every  post.  And  for  inter- 
mediate and  nessessary  intelligence  you  will  order  the  Quartennaster-Gen'l  to 
provid  the  nesseesary  expresses. 


"  On  these  attempts  to  restore  system  and  order,  I  wish  the  smiles  of  heaven, 
anil  that  you  may  have  an  agreeable  command,  the  most  perfect  success,  and  a 
speedy  and  safe  return,  and  am  with  much  esteem, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"James  Bowdoin. 
"  Hon.  M.\jor-General  Lincoln." 

We  again  quote  from  Mr.  Smith  : 

"  Gen.  Shepard  again  anticipated  the  movements  of  Shays. 
Acting  under  the  authority  of  the  secretary  of  war,  he  took 
possession  of  the  arsenal.  Gen.  Lincoln  reached  Worcester 
on  the  22d  of  January,  after  a  three  days'  march  from  Rox- 
bury through  the  deep  snow  of  midwinter.  The  court  was 
opened,  and  proceeded  with  the  business  of  the  term.  Order 
was  restored  at  Worcester,  and  substantially  at  all  points  in 
the  State  east  of  that  place.  The  insurgents  were  concentrat- 
ing their  strength  in  the  western  counties,  and  it  was  under- 
stood on  all  hands  that  the  issue  was  to  be  tried  and  deter- 
mined at  Springfield. 

"  The  positions  of  the  several  armed  forces  on  the  evening 
of  January  24  were  as  follows :  Gen.  Shepard  was  posted  at 
the  arsenal  with  ab<jul_£Uie-thausanAjnen.  Shays  had  just 
reached  Wilbrahani  on  his  march  from  Rutland.  A  part  of 
Lincoln's  command  was  less  than  two  days'  march  in  the  rear 
of  Shays.  Luke  Daj',  an  insurgent  leader,  was  at  West 
Springfield  v.ith  about  four  hundred  men  and  boys,  well 
armed  and  well  drilled.  There  was  a  good  ice-bridge  at  the 
time,  so  that  he  was  within  easy  reach  of  the  arsenal.  Eli  Par- 
sons, a  Berkshire  leader,  was  in  the  north  parish  of  Springfield 
(now  Chicopee)  with  about  four  hundred  men.  The  total 
insurgent  force  was  about  double  that  of  Gen.  Shepard. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Springfield,  except  such  as  were  within 
the  immediate  protection  of  Gen.  Shepard,  were  kept  in  con- 
stant alarm.  Respectable  citizens  were  seized  in  their  own 
houses  and  taken  to  Day's  camp  in  West  Springfield,  where 
they  were  kept  under  guard  as  hostages  and  for  purposes  of 
retaliation.  Men  were  not  sure  whether  their  near  neighbors 
were  friends  or  foes,  and  unprotected  homes  were  exposed  to 
outrage  and  plunder.  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  that 
Shays  had  reached  Wilbraham,  most  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren who  had  means  of  conveyance  fled  from  the  town,  the 
greater  part  of  them  going  to  Longmeadow. 

"On  his  arrival  at  Wilbraham,  Shays  sent  a  message  to 
Day  informing  him  that  he  intended  to  attack  the  arsenal  on 
the  2oth.  Day  replied  by  letter  that  he  could  not  move  on 
that  day,  but  would  join  in  the  attack  on  the  26th.  Day's 
messenger  was  arrested,  and  his  letter,  instead  of  going  to 
Shays,  went  to  Gen.  Shepard.  On  the  25th,  Shays  moved 
upon  Springfield,  expecting,  of  course,  the  co-operation  of  Day 
and  Parsons.  Even  if  he  had  received  Day's  letter,  he  could 
not  have  delayed  his  attack.  His  only  chance  of  success  was 
in  seizing  the  arsenal  before  Gen.  Lincoln  could  come  up. 

"  At  that  time  none  of  the  buildings  now  standing  on  the 
arsenal  grounds  had  been  erected.  There  were  two  wooden 
buildings,  built  for  barracks  and  for  storage,  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill  looking  to  the  north,  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present 
storehouse.  There  was  a  private  dwelling-house  on  the  site 
of  the  present  middle  arsenal  (opposite  the  Olivet  Church).  It 
was  to  this  house  that  the  dead  and  wounded  insurgents  were 
carried.  East  of  that  point  there  were  no  buildings  except 
the  powder-magazine,  that  stood  in  a  then  remote  spot  in  the 
woods.  Magazine  Street  has  since  been  located  over  its  site. 
The  present  main  Armory  square  was  the  public  training- 
field.  There  were  not  then  any  gun-shops  on  the  arsenal 
grounds.  If  there  was  one  in  the  town  at  the  time,  it  was  in 
Ferry  Lane,  where  government  gun-work  was  originally  done 
in  Springfield. 

"  When  Shays  left  Wilbraham,  on  the  morning  of  the  2.5th, 
Asaph  King,  a  deputy-sheritt',  started  on  horseback  to  give 
information  to  Gen.  Shepard.  He  was  obliged  to  avoid  the 
highways,  and  made  his  way  across  the  fields,  through  snow- 
drifts and  over  fences,  and  is  said  to  have  accomplished  the 


80 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


distance  in  forty-five  minutes.  This  was  the  first  exact  infor- 
mation received  by  Gen.  Shepard  of  the  approach  of  Shays, 
and  he  proceeded  to  raalie  ready  for  his  fitting  reception.  His 
men  were  stationed  near  the  barracks,  and  his  cannon  were 
planted  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  commanding  the  approach  by 
the  Boston  road.  A  part  of  his  force  was  posted  in  Main 
Street,  at  the  point  now  crossed  by  the  Boston  and  Albany 
Railroad,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  Day  in  cheek  in  case  he 
should  attempt  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Shays.  A  considerable 
mob  collected  at  that  point,  but  did  not  attempt  an  attack  upon 
the  militia. 

"  It  was  toward  the  close  of  the  short  winter  day  that  the 
insurgents  were  seen  from  the  arsenal  making  their  toilsome 
march  through  the  snow  on  the  Boston  road.  They  were  in 
the  best  of  spirits.  Every  attempt  they  had  hitherto  made 
had  succeeded,  but  it  was  not  an  unprotected  court-house  they 
were  now  intending  to  occupy.  Some  of  them  were  to  bo  dead 
within  the  next  few  minutes.  Shays  was  entirely  confident. 
Some  of  his  old  army  comrades  went  out  to  meet  him,  and 
advised  him  to  keep  out  of  the  range  of  Gen.  Shepard's  guns 
and  abandon  his  treason.  He  received  them  pleasantly,  told 
them  he  was  sure  of  success,  and  was  inclined  to  be  jocose. 
He  did  not  know  his  own  men. 

"  There  is  a  good  deal  of  loose  tradition  about  the  affair  of 
the  2oth  of  January,  which  is  entirely  omitted  here  for  the 
reason  that  it  does  not  seem  to  be  supported  by  any  trustwor- 
thy contemporary  evidence.  There  was  not  any  battle.  The 
only  firing  was  on  the  government  side,  and  there  was  but 
little  of  that.  Only  one  shot  seems  to  have  been  fired  in  gen- 
uine earnest,  and  that  was  followed  by  a  panic  among  the  in- 
surgents and  a  flight.  The  official  report  of  the  firm  but 
kind-hearted  Gen.  Shepard  to  the  government  gives  us  relia- 
ble history.     It  is  as  follows  : 

*' '  Springfield,  January  26, 1787. 

'"Sir, — The  uuliappy  time  has  corae  in  which  we  have  been  obliged  to  shed 
iilood.  Sliays,  who  was  at  the  liead  of  abont  twelve  hundred  men,  marched  yes- 
terda.v  afternoon  abont  4  o'clock  toward  the  public  buildings,  in  battle  array. 
Ho  marched  his  men  in  an  open  column  by  platoons.  I  sent  several  times,  by  one 
of  my  aids,  and  two  other  gentlemen,  Capts.  Buflington  and  Woodbridge,  to  him 
to  know  what  he  was  after,  or  what  he  wanted.  His  reply  waii,  He  wanted  bar- 
racks; barracks  he  would  have,  and  stores.  The  answer  wa.s,  He  must  purchase 
them  dear,  if  he  had  them.  He  still  proceeded  on'his  march  until  he  approached 
within  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  arsenal.  He  then  made  a  halt.  I  im- 
mediute>y  sent  Maj.  Lyman,  one  of  my  aids,  and  Capt.  Bviffington,  to  inform  him 
not  to  march  his  troops  any  nearer  the  arsenal  on  his  peril,  as  I  was  stationed 
hero  by  order  of  your  E.tcellency  and  the  secretary  at  war,  for  the  defense  of  the 
piiblick  property;  in  case  he  did,  I  should  surely  fire  on  him  and  his  men.  A 
Mr.  Wheeler,  who  appeared  to  be  one  of  Shays'  aids,  met  Mr.  Lyman  after  he  had 
delivered  my  orders  in  the  most  peremptory  manner,  and  nnule  answer,  that  that 
was  all  he  wanted.  Shays  immediately  put  his  troops  in  motion,  and  marched  on 
rapidly  near  one  hundred  yards.  I  then  ordered  Maj.  Stephens,  who  commanded 
the  iutillery,  to  fire  upon  them ;  he  accordingly  did.  The  two  first  shots  he  en- 
deavored to  overshoot  them,  in  hope  that  they  would  have  taken  warning  witli- 
out  firing  among  them,  but  it  had  no  effect  on  them.  Maj.  Stephens  then  di- 
rected his  shot  through  the  centre  of  his  column.  Tlie  fouitli  or  fifth  shot  put 
the  whole  column  into  the  utmost  confusion.  Shays  made  an  attempt  to  display 
his  ccdinnn,  b\it  in  vain.  We  had  one  howit,  which  was  loaded  with  grape- 
shot,  wliicb,  when  fired,  gave  them  great  uneasiness.  Had  I  been  disposed  to 
destroy  them,  I  might  have  charged  upon  their  rear  and  flanks  with  my  infantry 
and  the  two  fiehl-piece.s,and  could  have  killed  the  greater  part  of  his  whole  army 
within  twenty-five  minutes.    There  was  not  a  single  musket  fired  on  eitlK'r  side. 

" '  I  found  three  men  dead  on  tlie  spot,  and  one  wounded,  who  is  since  dead. 
One  of  our  artillerymen,  by  inattention,  was  badly  wounded.  Three  muskets 
were  taken  up  with  the  dead,  which  were  all  deeply  loaded.  I  enclose  to  your 
excellency  a  copy  of  a  paper  sent  to  me  last  evening.  I  have  received  no  rein- 
forcements yet,  and  expect  to  be  attjicked  this  day  by  their  whole  force  com- 
bined.   I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect, 

" '  William  Sukpaud. 

" '  On  the  back, — "  By  Col.  EH  Parsons." 

" '  His  Excellency,  James  Bowdoin,  Esq.' 

"  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  paper  inclosed  in  the  above 
letter : 

"'  Heabuuaeters,  West  Sprinofieid,  January  26, 1787. 

"'The  body  of  the  people  assembled  in  arms,  adhering  to  the  first  principles 
in  nature,  self-preservation,  do,  in  the  mosl  peremptory  manner,  demand 

'"1.  That  the  troops  in  Springfield  lay  down  their  arms. 

"'2.  That  their  arms  be  deposited  in  the  publick  stores,  under  the  care  of  the 
IHTjper  ofBcei-s,  to  be  returned  to  the  owners  at  tliC  t«nuinatiou  of  the  present 
contest. 


"'3.  That  the  troops  return  to  their  homes  upon  parole. 
" '  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

'"Luke  Day. 
" '  Captain  Commandant  of  this  dirision. 
" '  To  the  commanding  officer  at  Springfield,  Jan.  2.>,  1787.'  "* 

With  the  affair  at  the  arsenal  at  Springfield  ended  every- 
thing of  importance  which  occurred  during  this  uprising  in 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

On  the  night  of  the  25th,  Shays  retreated  to  "  Chapin's 
Tavern,"  five  miles  east  of  Springfield.  The  next  day  he 
marched  to  Chicopee,  and  joined  the  force  of  Parsons,  two 
hundred  of  his  men  deserting  by  the  way. 

On  the  27th,  Gen.  Lincoln's  army,  consisting  of  three  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  a  body  of  cavalry,  and  three  companies  of 
artillery,  entered  Springfield.  After  an  hour's  rest,  Lincoln's 
infantry  and  artillery  crossed  the  river  to  the  west  side  in 
quest  of  Day  and  his  party.  At  the  same  time  Gen.  Shepard 
with  his  force  moved  up  the  east  bank,  and  the  cavalry  went 
up  the  river  on  the  ice  to  prevent  the  junction  of  Day  and 
Shays.  The  insurgents  manifested  no  further  disposition  to 
fight.  The  pursuit  was  kept  up  with  vigor  until  the  insur- 
gents were  all  dispersed  and  their  leaders  captured  or  driven 
from  the  State.  , 

We  again  quote  from  Mr.  Smith's  paper: 

"John  Hancock,  who  was  the  first  Governor  under  the 
State  constitution,  was  again  elected  in  1787.  It  is  no  un- 
favorable criticism  of  the  administration  that  immediately 
preceded  him  to  say  that  his  election  was  generally  received 
as  a  promise  of  the  removal  of  the  prevailing  discontent.  The 
armed  insurrection  had  been  suppressed,  but  the  work  of 
bringing  the  people  of  the  State  to  a  cordial  and  unanimous 
su]iport  of  the  constitution  and  laws  remained  to  be  performed. 
The  new  Governor  assumed  this  difficult  undertaking,  and  ac- 
complished it.  John  Hancock  did  not  believe  in  the  religion 
of  hate.  Nine  of  the  leading  insurgents,  who  were  convicted 
of  treason  and  sentenced  to  death,  were  pardoned,  some  of 
them  at  the  foot  of  the  gallows,  the  only  condition  being  that 
they  should  never  hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  within 
the  commonwealth.  A  large  number  of  persons  convicted  of 
seditious  offenses  were  pardoned  unconditionally.  A  member 
of  the  Legislature,  who  was  convicted  of  treasonable  practices, 
was  sentenced  to  stand  for  an  hour  on  the  gallows,  with  a  rope 
around  his  neck,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty' pounds.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  sentence  carried  into  execution. 
It  would  be  a  good  plan,  perhaps,  to  revive  this  mode  of  dealing 
with  recreant  legislators.  Conciliator}'  measures  were  adopted 
by  the  Legislature.  The  sullen  mutterings  of  the  defeated 
insurgents  gradually  subsided.  Commerce  soon  settled  com- 
mercial difficulties  in  its  own  way,  as  it  always  does  if  unfet- 
tered by  meddlesome  legislation,  and  a  season  of  prosperity 
ensued.  The  rebellion  was  ended  at  last  in  accordance  with 
the  grand  precepts  of  the  gospel  of  forgiveness  and  of  peace. 
And  all  history  tells  us  that  rebellion  is  never  completely 
conquered  in  any  other  way." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  men  whose  names  will  go 
down  in  history  as  leaders  in  this  movement:  Daniel  Shays, 
Luke  Day,  Eli  Parsons,  Perez  Hamlin,  Elisha  Manning, 
Daniel  Dunham,  Ebenezer  Crittenden,  Jacob  Fox.  " 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE    "WAR    OP     1812-15— THE    ■WASHINGTOTT     BE- 
NEVOLENT  SOCIETY. 

I. 

THE    WAR   OF    1812-15. 

It  is  generally  well  known  that  the  people  of  New  England 
were,  as  a  rule,  opposed  to  the  war  with  England  of  1812-15. 

=*'  This  paper,  read  by  Mr.  William  L.  Smith,  before  the  Connecticut  Valley 
Historical  Society,  was  published  in  tlie  Springfield  Sepubtican  of  Oct.  2,  1877. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


81 


The  declaration  of  hostilities  by  the  United  States  occurred  on 
the  18th  of  June,  1812,  and  the  feeling  was  so  intense  among 
the  people  of  the  three  river  counties  that  preliminary  meet- 
ings were  held  and  delegates  chosen,  within  a  few  days 
succeeding  the  declaration,  to  attend  a  convention  to  be  held 
at  Northampton  on  the  14th  day  of  July  following. 

On  the  day  appointed  eighty-eight  delegates  from  tifty- 
seven  towns  of  the  three  counties  assembled  at  the  court-hou.^e 
in  Northampton.  Upon  calling  the  roll  the  following-named 
delegates  answered  to  their  names  and  took  their  .seats  in  the 
convention : 

Springfield. — John  Hooker,  Chauncey  Brewer,  Justin  Lom- 
bard, Joseph  Pease. 

Northampton. — Joseph  Lyman,  Isaac  Clark,  Elijah  H. 
Mills,  Lewis  Strong. 

Hadhy. — Charles  Phelps,  Samuel  Porter. 

Hatfir.ld. — Isaac  Maltby,  Israel  Billings. 

Def'rfield.  —  Ephraim  William.*,  Epaphras  Hoyt,  Pliny 
Arms. 

Sunderland. — Simeon  Ballard. 

Blandford. — Jedediah  Smith,  Alanson  Knox. 

Pelham. — Isaac  Abercrombie. 

Palmer. — Amos  Hamilton,  Alpheus  Converse.   . 
'Southampton. — Luther  Edwards,  John  Lyman. 

South  Hadleij. — Mark  Doolittle,  Bezaleel  Alvord. 

Greenfield. — Richard  E.  Newcomb,  Samuel  Wells. 

New  Salem. — Samuel  C.  Allen. 

Montague. — Henry  Wells. 

Granville. — David  Curtis. 

Greenwich. — Robert  Field,  Joseph  Williams. 

Amherst. — Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  Simeon 
Strong. 

Monsoti. — Deodatus  Dutton. 

Belchertown. — Joseph  Bridgman,  Justus  Forward,  Phineas 
Blair. 

Coleraiii. — John  Drury. 

Shutesbury. — William  Ward. 

Ware. — William  Paige. 
.     Chesterfield. — Asa  White,  Spencer  Phelps. 

South  Brimfield. — Darius  Munger. 

Wai-toicJi. — Caleb  Mayo. 

Wilhraham. — Robert  Sessions,  Aaron  Woodward. 

A.'il field. — Henry  Bassett. 
'CAre;'i(;?non<. ^Stephen  Bates. 

Chester. — Asahel  Wright. 

Conway. — Elisha  Billings,  John  Bannister. 

Granby. — Eli  Dickinson,  Levi  Smith. 

Shelburne. — William  Wells. 

Worthington. — Ezra  Starkweather,  JonathiUi  Brewster. 

Whately. — Phineas  Frary. 

Williamsburg. — William  Bodman,  John  Wells. 

Norwich. — William  Fobes,  Jesse  Joy. 

Wesffiampton. — Sylvester  Judd,  Aaron  Fisher,  Jonathan 
Clarke. 

Buckland. — Levi  White. 

Cum,mington. — Peter  Bryant. 

Montgomery. — Edward  Taylor. 

Wendell. — Joshua  Green. 

Goshen. — .Oliver  Taylor. 

Middlefield. — Erastus  Ingham. 

Home. — John  Wells. 

Heath. — Roger  Leavitt. 

Hawley. — Thomas  Longley. 

Gill. — Gilbert  Stacey. 

Plainfield. — Nebemiah  Joy. 

Easthampton. — Thaddeus  Clapp. 

Holland. — John  Policy. 

Tolland. — Eleazer  Slocomb. 

The  irregular  delegates  were  Rufus  Stratton,  from  North- 
fleld  ;  Hezekiab  Newcomb  and  Caleb  Chapin,  from  Bernard.s- 
11 


ton ;    Pelatiah   Bliss    and    Timothy    Burbank,   from   West 
Springfield  ;  and  Rufus  Graves,  from  Leverett. 

The  convention  was  organized  by  choosing  John  Hooker, 
of  Springfield,  President,  and  Isaac  C.  Bates,  of  Northamp- 
ton, Secretary. 

An  executive  committee  was  appointed,  which  drew  up  a 
memorial  to  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  praying  that  commissioners  might  be  appointed  for  the 
speedy  negotiation  of  terms  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  which 
was  unanimously  adopted.  The  committee  also  reported  in 
favor  of  a  State  convention,  and  recommended  that  four  del- 
egates be  appointed  from  each  county  to  attend  the  same,  pro- 
vided other  portions  of  the  Commonwealth  coincided  with 
them  in  the  call ;  and  also,  that  committees  of  correspondence 
and  safety  be  appointed  in  each  county  and  town  throughout 
the  State  ;  which  recommendations  were  adopted. 

But  notwithstanding  their  determined  opposition  to  the  war 
on  general  principles,  the  people  of  Connecticut  Valley  were 
not  found  wanting  in  ardor  or  patriotism  when  their  services 
were  required  to  defend  the  country.  Caleb  Strong  was  at 
that  time  Governor  of  the  State. 

Upon  the  first  overthrow  of  Napoleon  I.  and  his  banish- 
ment to  the  island  of  Elba,  Great  Britain  concentrated  her 
powerful  navy  against  the  American  States,  and  blockaded, 
at  least  theoretically,  the  whole  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  from 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  southern  cape  of  Florida.  Occa- 
-  sionally  troops  were  landed,  and  on  the  1st  of  September, 
1814,  a  body  of  them  took  possession  of  Castine,  a  port  on  the 
Penobscot  River,  without  opposition.  The  region  erected  into 
the.  State  of  Maine  in  1820  was  then  a  province  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  and  this  aggressive  proceeding 
ended  at  once  all  political  discussions  and  opposition  to  the 
war,  and  united  the  people  unanimously  against  the  common 
eneni}'. 

Governor  Strong,  apprehensive  of  a  descent  upon  the  coast 
of  Massachusetts,  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  calling 
out  the  militia,  who  were  ordered  to  assemble  forthwith  at 
Boston.  Western  Massachusetts  responded  nobly.  A  regi- 
ment of  infantry  was  raised  in  the  northern  part  of  old  Hamp- 
shire County,  and  marched  under  command  of  Col.  Thomas 
L<mgley,  of  Hawley;  another  was  recruited  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  county,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Enos  Foote,  of  Southwick  ;  and  a  regiment  of  artillery  was 
made  up  in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  under  the  command  of 
Col.  William  Edwards. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  telegraphic  lines  or  railways, 
and  all  information  was  conveyed  by  post-riders,  or  the  slower 
method  of  the  old-time  stage-coach ;  and  the  troops,  when 
raised  and  prepared  for  the  field,  were  compelled  to  march 
over  the  hundred  miles  which  intervened  between  the  Con- 
necticut River  and  the  sea-board,  instead  of  being  whirled  in 
the  space  of  three  or  four  hours  on  board  a  flying  train  to 
their  destination. 

Most  of  these  troops  were  probably  drafted  or  volunteer 
members  of  the  State  militia,  and  hurried  to  Boston  in  the 
ordinary  dress  of  citizens, — the  infantry  armed  with  old 
"flint-lock"  muskets,  many  of  which  had  done  good  service 
against  this  self-same  enemy  nearly  forty  years  before  at  Bun-  . 
ker  Hill.  One  company  of  the  artillery  regiment  was  from 
Springfield,  commanded  by  Capt.  Quartus  Stebbins  ;  one  from 
Northampton,  under  Capt.  Asahel  Strong  ;  one  from  Belcher- 
town, under  Capt.  Bridgman;  and  one  from  Northfield  and 
vicinity,  under  Capt.  Mattoim.  An  entire  regiment  of  in- 
fantry was  also  raised  in  Berkshire  County. 

The  commander-in-chief  of  this  force  was  Maj.-Gen.  Whi- 
ton,  of  New  Marlborough.  Among  the  staff-officers  were 
Col.  Henry  Dwight,  of  Stockbridge,  and  Col.  Sloane,  of 
Lanesborough.  Jacob  Bliss,  of  Springfield,  commanded  a 
brigade.  The  force  commenced  its  march  for  Boston  about 
the  middle  of  October.     The  Springfield   artillery  company 


82 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


left  on  Sundiiy  morning,  after  a  prayer  and  benediction  by 
Kev.  Dr.  Osgood. 

On  their  arrival  at  Boston,  the  troops  from  the  Connecticut 
Valley  were  cantoned  at  Dorchester,  and  the  Berkshire  regi- 
ment at  Ciimbridgeport. 

After  a  sojourn  of  nearly  six  weeks  in  camp,  during  which 
time  they  had  a  very  pleasant  experience  and  were  reviewed 
by  the  Governor,  apprehensions  of  a  descent  by  the  British 
troops  having  ceased,  they  were  discharged  from  further  duty, 
and  returned  to  their  homes  without  having  the  satisfaction 
(if  firing  a  gun  at  the  enemy.  This  little  episode  in  the  mili- 
tary history  of  Massachusetts  was  subsequently  known  as 
"Governor  Strong's  War." 

The  Hartford  Convention  met  on  the  15th  of  the  following 
December,  and  consisted  of  twenty-six  delegates  from  the  New 
England  States,  of  whom  twelve  were  from  Massachusetts. 
Two  of  these  were  from  Western  Massachusetts, — George 
Bliss,  of  Springfield,  and  Joseph  Lyman,  of  Northampton. 

The  definitive  treaty  of  peace  concluded  in  the  early  part 
of  the  following  year  (1815)  was  hailed  with  the  utmost  satis- 
faction by  the  people  of  New  England,  and  from  henceforth 
her  development  in  every  branch  of  human  knowledge  and 
industry  was  rapid  and  permanent. 

The  Mexican  war^f  1846-47  was  generally  opposed  by  the 
better  classes  of  New  England;  but  notwithstanding  this  feel- 
ing a  regiment  was  raised  and  forwarded  to  the  seat  of  war, 
where  many  of  its  officers  and  men  laid  down  their  lives, 
among  whom  was  the  gallant  Ct)l.  Truman  B.  Ransom,  of 
Vermont,  who  fell  in  the  attack  upon  the  castle  of  Cha- 
pultepec* 

II. 

THE    WASHINGTON    BKNKVOLENT    SOCIETY. 

The  Washington  Benevolent  Society  was  a  secret  political 
organization,  which,  early  in  the  present  century,  spread  itself 
over,  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States.  This  society  was 
formed  to  further  the  interests  of  the  Federal  party.  It 
sought  to  bring  back  by  this  means  the  country  to  what  the 
Federalists  thought  were  sounder  views  on  the  questions  of  a 
strong  central  government  as  opposed  to  State  sovereignty. 
In  a  word,  it  advocated  the  views  of  Hamilton  and  Adams 
in  opposition  to  Jeiferson  and  the  Democratic  party.  The 
ostensible  object  of  the  society  was  benevolence.  But  the 
candidate,  upon  his  initiation  into  its  secret  workings,  soon 
discovered  that  it  really  had  more  to  do  with  politics  than 
with  charity. 

There  was  a  society  at  Northampton,  and  probably  societies 
at  other  places  in  Hampshire  and  Franklin  Counties. 

W^e  copy  the  following  papers  from  the  book  of  records  of 
the  county  society  at  Springfield.  From  these  papers  the 
reader  will  be  able  to  gather  the  objects  and  aims  of  the 
society : 

"WASHINGTON     BENEVOLENT    SOCIETV   OF  THE    COUNTY    OF    HAMPDEN    &    COMMON- 
WEALTH  OF   MASSACHrSETTS. 

"Many  persons  being  desirous  that  the  Wiishington  Benevolent  Societj*  should 
be  instituted  at  Springfield,  in  the  county  uf  Hampshire,  by  the  name  of  the 
Washington  Benevolent  Society  of  the  County  of  Hompdeo,  the  following  per- 
sons, viz.,  John  Hooker,  Esq.,  Thomas  Dwight,  Esq..  Jonathan  Dwight,  Jr.,  Esq., 
Edward  Pynchon,  Esq.,  Moses  Bliss,  Jr.,  James  Wells,  and  Edward  Bliss,  mem- 
bers of  the  said  Society  established  at  Northampton  in  the  Cmintj'  of  Hampshire, 
having  obtained  the  constitution  of  said  society  at  Northampton,  adojited  the 
same  as  the  constitution  of  said  Society  in  the  County  of  Hampden  ;  and  having 
met  at  the  Dwelling-House  of  Eleazur  Williams  in  Springfield,  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  Eighteen  Hundred  and  Twelve,  and 
having  chosen  John  Hooker,  Esq.,  President  j)ro  tempore,  the  following  persona 
were  proposed  for  ailmission,  viz.,  Doct.  William  Sheldon,  Oliver  B.  Morris,  Esq., 
Daniel  Bontecon,  Edninnd  Dwight,  Doct.  Samuel  Kingsberry,  Samuel  Orne, 
Amiisa  Parsons,  Jonathan  Packard,  Henry  Bates,  and  John  Howard,  and  being 
balloted  for,  were  elected  members,  and  were  then  admitted  and  initiated  into 
said  Society  according  to  the  Constitution. 


*  This  officer  was  the  father  of  Gen,  T.  E.  G.  Riinsom,-svho  died  at  Rome,  Ga., 
in  October,  18fi4,  while  in  command  of  tlie  17th  Army  Corps. 


"constitution   of  the   WASHINGTON    BENEVOLENT    SOCIETY   OF  THE    COUNTY   OF 
HASU'DEN. 

"  Considering  that  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  ages  have  sanctioned  the  fact 
that  public  virtue,  founded  in  the  integrity,  discernment,  magnanimity,  and  good 
faith  of  the  individuals  composing  the  community,  is  the  only  euro  basis  of  na^ 
tional  honor,  prosperity,  and  glory ; 

"  Considering  how  deeply  we  are  interested  for  ourselves  and  for  our  posterity 
in  the  welfare  of  our  counti-j',  and,  consequently,  in  the  permanence  and  pros- 
perity of  our  Government ; 

"  Considering  that  a  foundation  for  national  glory  laid  deep  and  secured  iu 
the  affections  and  virtuous  principles  of  the  people  most  certainly  insures  t!ie 
peiibmiance  of  those  offices  of  charily,  kindness,  and  brotherly  affection  which 
so  well  become  members  of  one  great  f;iniily  in  a  state  necessarily  exposed  to 
the  infirmities  and  sufferings  of  humanity  and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  mortal  life; 
being  convinced  that  associations  founded  on  humane  and  benevolent  princi- 
ples, proposing  the  highest  model  of  human  excellence  for  their  imitation, — yet 
imitable  because  human, — embracing  the  inexperience  of  youth  an<l  the  wis- 
dom of  gray  hairs,  and  inviting  to  a  free  interchange  of  opinion,  but  carefully 
guarding  against  the  influence  of  passion,  prejudice,  or  vice, — cannot  fail  of  af- 
fording one  of  the  surest  methods  of  inculcating  pure  and  correct  doctrines,  of 
promoting  good  morals  and  social  afl^ection,  of  essentially  advancing  the  good 
of  the  community,  and  guarding  against  the  evils  which  threaten  it,  especially 
in  times  of  public  danger  and  distress, — 

"  We,  whose  names  are  here  underwritten,  do  associate  together  for  the  pur- 
pose alHjve  expressed,  and  we  adopt  the  following  articles  iis  the  C^onstitution  by 
which  we  will  be  regulated  and  governed: 

"  First. — The  Society  shall  be  denominated  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society 
of  the  County  of  Hampden. 

"Second. — The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  consist  of  a  President,  three  Vice- 
Presidents,  a  Secretary,  Treasurer,  four  Stewards,  a  Standing  CH)mmittee  of  ten 
persons,  a  Doorkeeper,  and  an  Assistant  Doorkeeper,  all  which  officers  (when  the 
Society  shall  be  permanently  organized)  shall  hold  their  offices  during  the  period 
of  one  year,  and  shall  be  elected  annmiUy,  at  such  times  as  the  Society  sliull  ap- 
pi.iiut.  If  a  vacancy  happen  it  may  be  filled  at  the  next  regular  meeting  of  the 
Society. 

"Third. — The  Society  shall  hold  regular  meetings  on  the  first  Tuesday  of 
every  month,  and  may  iuljourn  from  time  to  time  at  the  discretion  of  every 
meeting. 

"The  President,  or  in  liis  absence  the  oldest  Vice-President,  or  in  the  absence 
of  the  Vice-Presidents  a  President  elected  for  the  purpose,  shall  presjile. 

"Fourth. — The  Secretary  shall  keep  the  books  and  papers,  and  shall  record 
such  proceedings  as  the  President  shall  direct. 

"  Fifth. — The  Stewards  shall  provide  a  place  of  meeting  for  the  Society,  pro- 
cure nessessary  accomodations,  distiibute  and  collect  ballots,  assist  in  keeping 
order,  and  be  the  acting  officers  of  the  Society  under  the  direction  of  the  Acting 
President,  and  their  accounts  of  disbursement  shall  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer. 

"Sixth. — The  Stiinding  Committee  shall  ^Ustribute  the  benevolent  donations 
of  the  Society,  reccomniend  pei'sons  proposed  ;is  membere,  and  attend  to  such 
other  duties  as  the  Society  shall  direct.  No  benevolent  donatit.ns  shall  exceed 
the  sum  of  five  dollars  to  any  one  person  in  one  month  without  the  consent  of 
the  Society  firet  obtained.  Kepoit  shall  be  made  to  the  Societj-  everj'  three 
months  what  donations  have  been  made,  and  to  what  persons;  and  the  C<im- 
mittee  shall  have  jwiwer  to  draw  on  tlie  Treasurer  for  such  sums  i\s  they  shall 
have  expended. 

'•  Seventh. — The  Treasurer  shall  hold  the  funds  of  the  Society,  collect  initia- 
tion fees  and  dues  of  tlie  members,  and  report  every  three  mouths  the  stat«  of 
the  Funds. 

"  Eighth. — Every  member  of  this  Society  shall,  on  his  being  initiated,  pay  the 
sum  of  one  dollar,  and  then  aftenvard  he  shall  pay  every  three  months  twenty- 
five  cents  so  long  as  he  shall  continue  a  member  of  the  Society. 

"Ninth. — Honorarj'  members  may  be  admitted  on  such  teims  as  the  Society 
shall  direct. 

"  Tenth. — Pereons  proposed  as  members  must  be  reccommended  by  three  or 
more  of  the  Standing  Committee  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Society,  and  bal- 
loted for,  at  the  same  or  next  meeting  of  the  Society,  by  bhick  and  white  balls. 
The  President  shall  examine  the  ballots  and  declare  whether  the  candidate  is 
admitted.  Two-thirds  of  the  members  present  voting  in  favor  of  the  canditlate, 
he  shall  be  admitted,  otherwise  he  shall  not  be  admitted.  No  person  shall  be 
balloted  for  unless  fifteen  members  are  present. 

"  Eleventh. — The  President  shall  address  the  Candedate  when  initiated,  par- 
ticularly reccommending  the  nessessity  of  morality,  benevolence,  sociability,  and 
brotherly  love.  The  forms  of  initiation  shall  be  signed  by  the  President  and 
certified  by  the  Secretary.  The  President  shall  keep  a  copy  for  his  own  use,  and 
deliver  the  same  to  his  successor  in  office  for  the  use  of  the  Acting  President. 

"  Twelfth. — The  Society  shall  have  power  to  make  such  By-Laws  as  they 
shall  think  nessessarj',  but  no  part  of  this  Constitution  or  the  By-Laws  shall  be 
altered  without  the  consent  of  the  mtyority  of  the  members  of  the  Society. 

"Springfield,  April  27th,  1812." 

INITIATION    SERVICE. 

After  being  balloted  for  and  admitted  the  president  ad- 
dressed the  candidates  as  follows : 

"  Gfjatijemen  :  You  have  been  balloted  for  and  admitted  members  of  the  Wash- 
ington Brnevolcnt  Society,  estaldished  in  tliis  place ;  but  before  you  can  be  enti- 
tled to  all  the  privileges  of  membership  it  is  my  duty  to  explain  to  you  more 
parti  uhiily  the  principles  upon  which  this  Society  is  founded.    We  believe  that 


HISTOllY   OV   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


83 


it  lA  better,  by  iuL-uU-ating  stuiml  principles  of  morality,  sobriety,  and  integrity, 
t*>  endeavor  to  gnunl  uur  t'cllow-uitizens  against  the  distress  consequent  upon 
iuiUKintlity  and  i^jnorance  than  to  trust  to  alleviating  them  by  donati-ins  in 
m  mey  when  too  late  to  prevent  the  perniiious  consequences  to  the  public.  We 
believe  tliat  the  best  method  of  preventing  distress  among  the  eitizenrt  of  any 
counti'ir'  irf  the  institution  of  a  government  for  themselves  which  makes  pro- 
vision for  the  security  and  free  exercise  of  their  inalienable  rights.  And  such 
government  we  verily  believe  to  be  sacredly  gmiranteed  to  us  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  No  system  of  government,  however,  can  be  so  perfect  but  it 
may,  if  perverted  and  mal-aduiinistered,  become  ruinous  and  destnictive  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  While  the  illustrious  \Vashingti,in  was  at  the  head  of  the 
ailministratiju  of  the  Federal  government,  our  unparalleled  prospeiity  proved 
that  our  national  affairs  were  conducted  with  purity  and  wisdom.  Tlien  the 
C.Justitution  was  strictly  and  sacredly  regarded,  and  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  people  not  only  acknowledged,  but  constantly  cherished  and  promoted.  But 
during  the  disastrous  administration  of  Thomas  Jetteison  and  his  successors  in 
office  our  Constitutijn  has  been  openlj'  violated,  public  sentiment  has  been  cor- 
rupted, virtue  and  tilents  have  been  proscribed,  and  the  rights  and  interests  of 
the  people  have  been  made  the  sport  of  unprincipled  ambition.  A  government 
like  ours  cannot  well  be  administered  when  individual  distress  becomes  general. 
It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen  to  use  all  exertions  to  prevent  cor- 
ruption, whatever  specious  mask  it  may  assume,  from  destroying  our  Constitution. 
Having,  with  deep  regret,  observed  the  baneful  etTects  produced  by  combinations 
against  the  morals  and  politics  of  our  fellow-citizens,  having  marked  the  dangerous 
influence  of  ambitious  and  designing  men,  uniting  to  obtain  by  means  of  jjopular 
deception  evei-y  honorable  and  profitable  office  under  the  government,  and  being 
Convinced  that  very  many  of  those  who  are  loudest  in  their  professions  of  love  of 
tlie  people,  love  of  liberty  and  equality,  have  no  otlier  object  than  the  attainment 
of  power  and  the  building  of  fortunes  upon  the  ruin  of  their  country,  we  have 
arlopted  as  our  motto, '  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'  When  bad  men  com- 
bine good  men  must  unite.  The  members  of  this  Society  have  thciught  it  neces.sary 
to  associate  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating  and  maintiiining  the  true 
principles  of  our  government,  and  of  more  effectually  promoting  and  cherishing 
among  ourselves  and  our  fellow-citizens  friendship,  beuevolenco,  mutual  coitfi- 
dence,  and  union  of  sentiment;  to  relieve  the  unfortunate,  and  tj  diffuse  such 
useful  information  as  will  tend  to  pramote  the  general  welfare  and  fundamental 
principles  of  this  Society. 

"  Gentlemen,  are  you  willing  to  join  a  society  avowing  and  solemnly  pledged 
to  support  these  principles?  You  will  then,  on  your  sacred  honor,  answer  me  to 
sucli  questions  as  1  shall  put  to  you.  Are  you  firmly  atta;-tu*d  li^  the  Constitiitinu 
of  the  United  States?  Are  yon  willing  to  use  your  exerthtns  to  preserve  and  de- 
fend it  against  the  inroads  and  contaminations  of  arist jcracy,  monarchy,  despot- 
ism, and  democracy?  Will  you  endeavor  to  divest  yourself  of  all  partialities  for 
foreign  nations,  more  especially  when  such  partiality  will  intei"fere  with  the  in- 
terest of  the  United  States?  Will  you  use  your  endeavors  to  liave  the  govern- 
ment administered  upon  the  principles  of  our  beloved  Wjishington?  Do  you 
jdedge  your  word  that  you  will  exercise  your  privilege  as  a  citizen,  and  vote  at 
all  elections  for  such  men  as  you  conscientiously  believe  will  be  faithful  to  tlio 
Constitution  and  as  are  attached  to  the  political  principles  which  distinguislicd 
the  glorious  administi-ation  of  Washington  ?  Will  you  endeavor  to  aid  and  assist 
the  memliers  of  this  Society  in  their  several  lawful  callings,  when  it  will  not  in- 
terfere with  yt)ur  interest  or  your  duty  to  others?  Do  you  promise  never  to  com- 
municate anything  said  or  done  in  this  Society  unless  it  be  to  a  member  of  the 
same,  or  when  compelled  to  do  so  by  due  process  of  law?  To  the  support  and 
practice  of  all  these  principles  and  things  you  pledge  your  sacred  honor,  in  pres- 
ence of  all  these  witnesses,  whom  I  now  call  on  to  notice  the  transaction." 

The  last  meeting  of  this  society  was  held  on  the  22d  day 
of  February,  1813.  The  constitution  above  copied  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  signatures  of  seven  hundred  and  nineteen 
members. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

INTEHNAL      IMPROVEMENTS  —  EARLY      ROADS  — 
TURNPIKES   AND  TOLIj-BRIDGES-FERRIES. 

BY    SAMUEL    W.    DURANT.* 


The  earliest  roads  traveled  by  human  beings  in  Massachu- 
setts—at least,  since  the  advent  uf  the  Indian  race— were  no 
doubt  simple  paths  or  "trails,"  which  threaded  the  mazes  of 
the  unbroken  wilderness  from  one  settlement  to  another.  The 
savages  always  traveled  in  a  single  line,  one  behind  the  other, 
and  their  trails  were  well  defined,  and  in  places  so  worn  down 
into  the  soil  as  to  have  remained  for  many  years  after  their 
dusky  travelers  had  passed  away. 

These  highways  of  the  red  man  were  no  doubt  made  use  of 
by  the  early  English  settlers  for  "bridle-paths,"  and  when 

*  This  chapter,  and  to  the  end  of  the  Genera!  Histnry  of  the  CunuectL-ut  Val- 
ley, edited  by  Samuel  W.  Diirant. 


wheeled  vehicles  began  to  appear  they  were  widened  and 
cleared  up  to  accommodate  the  new  mode  of  travel. 

It  is  well  known  that  many  of  the  old  war-trails  of  the 
Indians  were  adopted  by  the  whites,  in  various  parts  of  the 
Union ;  among  them  the  great  Iroquois  trail  from  the  Hudson 
River  to  Lake  Erie,  and  the  celebrated  "  Nemacolin's  trail" 
through  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and,  no  doubt,  the 
"Bay  Path,"  which  was  one  of  the  first  important  roads  laid 
out  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  followed  substan- 
tially a  great  trail  of  the  savages  which  ran  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Boston — or  "Shawmut,"  as  it  was  called  by  the 
Indians — to  the  Long  River,  and  thence  over  the  mountains  to 
the  valley  of  the  Hudson. 

This  famous  route  followed  substantially  the  present  line  of 
the  Boston  and  Albany  Railway,  striking  the  Quaboag  River 
probably  in  Brookfield,  and  thence  following  that  stream  and 
the  Chicopee  River  to  the  vicinity  of  Indian  Orchard,  when 
it  bore  away  from  the  river  and  entered  Springfield  by  what 
is  still  called  the  "  Old  Bay  Road"  and  Bay  and  State  Streets, 
passing  near,  and  perhaps  partly  over,  the  ground  now  occupied 
by  the  United  States  armory  and  arsenal. 

II. 

TURNPIKES. 

Turnpikes  began  to  multiply  quite  rapidly  in  the  years  fol- 
lowing the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  and  the  Shaj's 
rebellion.  From  the  close  of  the  latter  business  began  to 
revive,  and  improved  means  of  travel  and  communication 
were  demanded.  Macadamized  and  plank-roads  had  not  been 
introduced  into  America  at  that  date,  and  an  improved  com- 
mon road,  built  by  a  chartered  corporation  with  ample  capital, 
was  for  many  years  considered  the  tic  plus  ulfra  of  highways. 

"The  Second  Massachusetts  Turnpike  Corporation"  was 
chartered  by  the  General  Court  on  the  8th  of  March,  1797,  for 
the  purpose  of  constructing  an  improved  road  from  the  west 
line  of  Charlemont,  then  in  Hampshire  County,  to  the  west 
foot  of  Hoosac  Mountain,  in  the  town  of  Adams,  in  Berkshire 
County.  The  charter  was  granted  to  Asaph  White,  Jesse 
King,  and  their  associates. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1797,  the  Third  Massachusetts  Turn- 
pike Corporation  was  chartered  to  build  a  turnpike  from  the 
east  side  of  Roberts'  Hill,  in  Northampton,  to  the  east  line  of 
Pittsfield,  and  passing  through  Westhampton,  Chesterfield, 
Worthington,  Peru  (then  Partridgefield),  and  Dalton.  The 
principal  members  of  this  company  were  Jonah  Brewster, 
Elisha  Brewster,  Jonathan  Brewster,  Samuel  Buflington,  and 
Tristram  Browning. 

According  to  Dr.  Holland,  there  was  no  Fourth  Massachu- 
setts Turnpike  Company  chartered  ;  but  the  Williamstown 
Turnpike  Company  properly  occupied  its  place.  This  was  or- 
ganized on  the  1st  of  March,  1799,  for  the  purpose  of  building 
and  keeping  in  repair  a  road  from  the  west  side  of  Hoosac 
Mountain,  commencing  at  the  termination  of  the  road  of  the 
Second  corporation,  in  Adams,  and  thence  running  through 
the  towns  of  Adams  and  Williamstown  to  the  line  of  Peters- 
burg, Ren.sselaer  Co.,  N.  Y. 

The  Fifth  corporation  was  chartered  on  the  1st  of  March, 
1799,  for  the  building  of  a  road  from  Northfield,  through  War- 
wick and  Orange,  to  Athol,  in  Worcester  County,  and  also 
from  Greenfield,  through  Montague  and  the  unimproved  lauds, 
to  Athol,  where  the  two  roads  were  to  be  united  and  proceed 
through  Templeton,  Gardner,  Westminster,  and  Fitchburg  to 
Leominster. 

The  Sixth  Massacliusetts  Turnpike  Corporation  was  char- 
tered the  22d  of  June,  1799,  for  the  construction  of  a  road  from 
the  east  line  of  Amherst  to  Worcester,  passing  through  the 
towns  of  Pelbam,  Greenwich,  Hardwick,  New  Braintree,  Oak- 
ham, Rutland,  Holden,  and  Worcester,  and  uniting  with  the 
"great  road  in  Shrew.sbury,"  leading  from  New  Tork  to 
Boston.    This  road  was  to  be  not  less  than  four  rods  in  width, 


84 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


and  the  track  not  less  than  eighteen  feet  in  the  narrowest 
place. 

The  Eighth  Massachusetts  Turnpike  Corporation  was  char- 
tered on  the  24th  of  February,  1800,  the  principal  names  being 
those  of  Joseph  Stebbins,  James  S.  Dwight,  and  George  Bliss. 
Their  road  commenced  on  the  line  between  the  towns  of  West- 
field  and  Russell,  near  the  Agawam  River,  and  followed  the 
river  through  portions  of  Blandford  and  Russell  to  a  point 
known  as  Falley'.s  Store;  thence  by  the  west  branch  of  the 
river,  through  portions  of  Blandford  and  Chester,  to  the  Ctov- 
ernment  road,  which  it  followed  to  Becket,  and  thence  by  the 
usual  road  to  the  Pittslield  line. 

The  Tenth  Turnpike  Corporation  was  chartered  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1800,  for  the  construction  of  a  road  from  a  point  where 
the  Farmington  River  crosses  the  line  between  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut ;  thence,  by  the  side  of  the  river,  through  San- 
disfield,  Bcthleliem  (now  part  of  Otis),  Becket,  and  Lee,  to 
Lenox  Court-House  ;  thence  over  the  mountain,  through  Rich- 
mond and  Hancock,  to  the  New  York  State  line. 

The  Eleventh  Turnpike  Company  was  chartered  on  the  19th 
of  June,  1801,  with  Ezra  Marvin,  Elihu  Stow,  and  one  hun- 
dred others,  as  incorporators,  to  build  a  road  from  the  Con- 
necticut line  through  the  east  parish  of  Granville  to  Blandford 
meeting-house,  and  thence,  through  the  town  street  in  Bland- 
ford, to  Becket,  in  Berkshire  County. 

The  Thirteenth  corporation  was  chartered,  June  19,  1801, 
to  construct  a  road  from  Connecticut  State  line,  in  Granville, 
through  that  town  to  the  northwestern  part  of  Loudon,  now 
included  in  the  town  of  Otis. 

"  The  Fourteenth  corporation  was  chartered  on  the  11th  of 
March,  1802,  to  construct  a  road  from  the  west  end  of  the 
Fifth  turnpike,  in  Greenfield,  through  that  town,  Shelburne, 
Buckland,  and  Charlcmont,  to  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
Second  turnpike,  leading  over  Hoosac  Mountain." 

The  Sixteenth  corporation  was  chartered,  Feb.  14,  1803,  to 
construct  a  road  from  the  west  line  of  West  Springfield  (the 
portion  now  forming  the  town  of  Agawam),  through  South- 
wick,  Granville,  Tolland,  and  Sandistield,  to  the  turnpike  pass- 
ing through  ShefBeld  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  to  Hudson,  N.  Y. 

The  Petersham  and  Monson  Company  was  chartered  on  the 
29th  of  February,  1804,  to  build  a  turnpike  from  the  Fifth 
turnpike,  in  Athol,  through  that  town,  Petersham,  Dana, 
Greenwich,  Ware,  Palmer,  and  Monson,  to  connect  in  the 
latter  with  the  road  leading  to  Staftord,  Conn. 

The  Springfield  and  Longmeadow  Company  was  established 
March  7,  1804,  to  construct  a  road  from  the  south  end  of  Main 
Street,  in  Springfield,  through  Longmeadow,  by  a  direct  route, 
to  the  State  line  of  Connecticut. 

The  William.sburg  and  Windsor  Corporation  was  chartered 
on  the  Kith  of  March,  180.5,  to  build  a  road  from  Williams- 
burg, through  the  towns  of  Goshen,  Cunimington,  and  Wind- 
sor, to  the  east  line  of  Cheshire,  in  Berkshire  County. 

In  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  list,  there 
were  the  Belchertown  and  Greenwich,  the  Blandford  and  Rus- 
sell, the  Chester,  and  perhaps  a  few  other  minor  corporations 
within  old  Hampshire  County. 

These  toll-roads  were  as  great  favorites  as  were  plank-roads 
in  the  West  at  a  later  date,  though  they  continued  much 
longer. 

They  were  deservedly  po|)ular,  for  they  aft'orded  the  best 
system  of  intercomnuinication  and  transportation  then  in  u.se 
in  the  countrj'. 

They  were  most  of  them  continued  by  their  several  corpora- 
tions until  about  the  year  18.50,  when  they  were  transferred 
to  the  custody  of  the  public,  and  have  since  been  kept  in  re- 
pair by  a  tax. 

III. 

BKIDQKS. 
Bridges  were  constructed  by  various  means,. — among  others 
by  a  lottery  system,  whicli  was  quite  popular  for  many  pur- 


poses during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century.  On  the  Oth  of  March,  1782,  a  lottery 
was  granted  by  the  General  Court  to  aid  in  building  a  bridge 
over  the  "  Chikabee"  River,  on  the  road  leading  from  Spring- 
field to  Hadley ;  and  on  the  1st  of  November  of  the  same 
year  another  was  granted,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  and 
supporting  one  over  the  Agawam  River,  in  West  Springfield  ; 
and  still  another,  for  the  benefit  of  a  bridge  over  the  same 
stream,  near  a  place  called  Weller's  Mills,  in  Westfleld. 

Many  of  the  bridges  over  the  smaller  streams  were  built  by' 
incorporated  companies  and  supported  by  a  system  of  tolls. 
Occasionally  small  sums  were  granted  by  the  countj-  authori- 
ties to  aid  in  their  construction.  In  1816  the  towns  of  Palmer 
and.  Westfleld  petitioned  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  (then 
the  official  county  body)  for  assistance  to  construct  bridges 
over  the  larger  streams  in  those  towns,  and  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  was  granted  for  a  bridge  over  the  Agawam  in 
Westfield. 

A  remonstrance  was  presented  against  the  petition  from 
Palmer,  but  the  court,  after  a  careful  hearing,  granted  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  for  a  bridge  over  the  Chicopee 
River  in  that  town. 

The  task  of  bridging  the  Connecticut,  or  "Great  River," 
was  long  considered  an  impo.ssible  one.  The  earliest  bridges 
were  built  by  chartered  companies,  and  maintained  by  tolls 
fixed  by  law. 

The  earliest  legislation  which  we  find  touching  bridges  over 
the  larger  rivers  was  on  July  7,  1786,  when  Jonathan  Hoit 
and  John  Williams  were  associated  together,  and  authorized 
to  construct  a  bridge  over  the  Deerfield  River  at  a  place  known 
as  "  Rocky  Mountain." 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1792,  a  company,  consisting  of  David 
Sexton,  David  Smcad,  Lyman  Taft,  Elisha  Mack,  and  associ- 
ates, was  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  bridge  over 
the  Connecticut  River  between  Greenfield  and  Montague,  at 
Great  Falls. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1795,  another  company,  consisting  of 
Jonathan  Leavett,  Eliel  Gilbert,  and  their  associates,  was 
chartered  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  bridge  between  Mon- 
tague and  Greenfield. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1797,  Jonathan  Hoit  and  David  Smead 
were  incorporated  as  the  proprietors  of  the  Deerfield  River 
bridge,  in  the  town  of  Deerfield,  at  the  point  known  as  Wil- 
liams' Ferry. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1800,  the  town  of  Westfield  was 
authorized  to  build  a  toll-bridge  over  "Westfield  Great 
River,"  near  Park's  Mills. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1803,  David  Morley  was  author- 
ized to  erect  a  toll-bridge  over  the  Agawam  River,  "  near  the 
late  dwelling-house  of  Stephen  Noble,  deceased." 

On  the  22d  of  Febnuiry  in  the  same  year  a  company,  con- 
sisting of  John  Hooker,  George  Bliss,  Joseph  Williams, 
Sanuiel  Fowler,  Jonathan  Dwight,  Thomas  Dwight,  Justin 
Ely,  and  associates,  was  incorporated  as  proprietors  of  the 
bridge  over  the  Connecticut  between  Springfield  and  West 
Springfield.  The  rates  of  toll  to  be  charged,  upon  the  com- 
pletion of  this  bridge,  which  was  the  first  one  erected  at  this 
point,  were  fixed  as  follows  : 

For  each  lb<it-pa.sseiiger 3  t-eiits. 

"      "      hurse  hikI  liilel" 7  *' 

"      "      horse  iind  chaise,  chuir,  or  slllk.v It)  " 

"     "     chai  lot,  phaeton,  or  other  four-wheeled  carriage 

for  paasengel-s 33  •' 

*'     "     curricle 2o  " 

"     "     horse  and  sleigh 10  " 

"      "      heail  ncat-cattie 3  " 

"      "        "      sheep  and  swine 1  " 

This  bridge  was  twelve  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  long, 
forty  feet  above  low  water,  and  cost  thirty-six  thousand  two 
hundred  and  seventy  dollars.  It  consisted  of  six  arches,  sup- 
ported by  two  abutments  and  five  piers,  each  twenty-one  feet 
wide  and  sixty-two  feet  long.  Thirty  rods  above  the  bridge 
two  guard-piers,  to  break  the  ice,  were  built.     The  curve  of 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


85 


each  arch  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet,  and  the 
chord  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet.* 

It  was  erected  in  the  two  following  years,  and  ojionod  to  the 
public  on  the  30th  day  of  October,  1805,  upon  which  occasion 
Bev.  Joseph  Latlirop  preached  a  famous  sermon  from  Isaiah 
45:  18.  A  procession  was  formed,  and  a  salute  of  seventeen 
gun.'-  was  thrice  repeated  from  each  end  of  the  bridge. 

The  following  paragrajih  is  from  the  Falfral  Sjii/,  a  news- 
paper of  the  time : 

"  The  bridge  is  so  constructed,  with  frames  upon  piers  con- 
nected by  long  timbers  with  the  arches,  that  the  traveler 
passes  over  nearly  the  whole  extent  of  it  on  an  elevated  plane, 
affording  a  view  of  extensive  landscapes,  in  which  are  blended 
well-cultivated  fields,  plains  and  villages,  river  and  meadows, 
lofty  (?)  mountains,  and,  indeed,  a  variety  in  the  beauties  of 
nature  which  is  highly  gratifying  to  the  eye." 

It  would  appear  that  this  bridge  was  painted  red  and  was  a 
famous  structure  for  a  time ;  but  the  old  men  who  said  that  a 
bridge  "  could  not  be  built  that  would  stand"  were  right,  for 
it  is  recorded  that  the  old  red  bridge  "gave  way,  and  fell  into 
the  water,"  July  19,  1814,  after  standing  less  than  nine  years. 
The  fall  is  said  to  have  been  brought  about  by  the  passage  of 
heavy  United  States  army-wagons,  probably  loaded  with  am- 
munition. 

A  new  bridge  was  constructed  in  the  same  place,  and  o]]ened 
Oct.  1,  1816.t 

This  second  structure  was  carried  away  by  the  flood  of 
March,  1818.  Five  of  the  seven  piers  and  abutments  were 
demolished  with  the  bridge,  two  on  the  west  end  being  left. 

The  present  covered  bridge  succeeded  the  one  destroyed  in 
1818,  but  whether  built  the  same  season  or  at  a  later  period 
we  are  not  informed,  though  most  probably  it  was  finished  as 
soon  as  possible. J  It  is  said  that  the  last  two  bridges  were 
constructed  in  part  by  the  aid  of  a  lottery,  which  a  prominent 
divine  characterized  as  "aid  from  the  evil  one."  It  would 
not  be  very  strange,  surely,  if  the  company,  in  the  face  of  such 
a  rapid  destruction  of  their  bridges,  had  resorted  to  all  legiti- 
mate means  of  obtaining  the  necessarj'  funds  wherewith  to 
rebuild.  The  present  sidewalk  on  the  south  side  of  the  bridge 
was  added  in  1878. 

In  1872  commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Supreme 
Court  to  appraise  the  value  of  this  bridge  and  fix  the  amount 
of  damages  which  should  be  paid  to  the  bridge  company.  The 
value  fixed  was  §30,000,  which  sum  was  paid  by  the  county, 
and  the  towns  of  Springfield,  West  Springfield,  and  Agawam, 
in  the  following  proportions  : 

County  of  Hampden $1."i.iiih1 

Sprinfifielii W,lK») 

West  Spi ingfleld .-. 4,IKJ0 

Aguwiim l.lKl 

The  property  was  then  transferred  to  tlie  custody  of  the 
county  commissioners,  and  made  a  free  bridge. 

A  bridge  was  built  at  Chicopee,  over  the  Connecticut,  in 
1848-49,  forty-three  years  after  the  erection  of  the  Springfield 
bridge,  and  this  was  transferred  to  the  county  commissioners 
after  appraisal,  in  1870,  at  a  valuation  of  $36,000,  divided  as 
below  :  County  of  Hampden,  §18,000  ;  Chicopee,  §12,000  ; 
West  Springfield,  §0000.|  All  the  bridges  in  the  county  are 
now  free. 

A  wooden  trestle-bridge  was  built  at  Sunderland  about  the 
year  1815.  It  was  an  open  bridge,  and  was  soon  superseded  by 
a  covered  bridge  resting  on  stone  piers  and  abutments,  which 
seems  not  to  have  been  very  strong,  for  it  was  replaced  in 
1832  by  a  covered  bridge  built  after  what  was  then  called  the 
X-work  style.     In  1840  a  portion  of  this  was  carried  away, 

*  From  tlie  Springfield  Republimu  at  Feb.  2, 1879. 

t  Tlie  second  bridge  cost  nbont  S22,O0O,  and  tlie  third,  built  in  1820,  S'ii.OOO. 
J  This  bridge  is  1287  feet  long,  28  feet  alX)Ve  low  water,  and  18  feet  wide. 
g  This  bridge  has  a  length  of  1237  feet  between  the  abutments. 


and  immediately  rebuilt.  In  1857  two  spans  were  again  car- 
ried away,  together  with  one  of  the  piers,  and  it  was  rebuilt 
somewhat  narrower  than  before. 

In  1868  a  great  flood  took  off  all  but  one  span,  and  it  was 
again  rebuilt  in  1870.  On  the  9th  of  December,  1876,  a  strong 
wind  completely  demolished  it. 

In  1877  the  present  elegant  and  substantial  iron  structure 
was  erected  by  the  Iron  Bridge  Company,  of  Massillon,  Ohio. 
This  bridge  is  eight  hundred  and  thirtj'-eight  feet  in  length, 
thirty-eight  feet  above  low  water-mark,  with  a  roadway  of 
eighteen  feet,  and  a  total  height  of  twenty-five  feet  above  the 
floor.  The  completion  of  this  structure  was  celebrated  on  the 
23d  of  November,  1877.  The  river  is  spanned  at  Turner's 
Falls  by  two  suspension-bridges,  recently  erected.  Altogether 
there  are  five  railway-bridges  over  the  Connecticut  within  the 
State, — one  in  Northtield,  two  between  Deerfield  and  Mon- 
tague, one  at  Hoh"okc,  and  one  at  Springfield, — mostly  wooden 
structures. 

IV. 

NKW   BRIDGE.S. 

The  act  establishing  the  south  end  bridge,  in  Springfield,  was 
passed  April  15,  1873.  The  contracts  for  its  construction  were 
awarded  Nov.  8,  1877.  The  contract  for  the  substructure  was 
made  with  John  Beattie,  of  Leet's  Island,  Conn.,  at  an  aggre- 
gate cost  of  $48,950.  The  rip-rapping  was  done  by  O.  S.  Doug- 
lass, of  Suffield,  Conn.,  at  $2.25  per  yard.  The  contract  price 
for  the  iron  superstructure  was  .§45,700,  which  was  subsequently 
increased  on  account  of  additional  work.  This  bridge  is 
twelve  hundred  feet  in  length,  having  eight  spans,  and  is 
twenty  feet  wide  in  the  clear,  and  twenty-four  feet  high.  It 
is  of  the  wrought-iron  truss  style,  with  vertical  ends.  The 
total  cost  will  not  be  far  from  §100,000,  to  be  paid  for  largely 
by  the  towns  of  Springfield,  Agawam,  and  Longmeadow. 

The  north  end  bridge  is  a  noble  structure,  of  the  "open 
Warren  girder"  or  riveted  lattice  style.  It  is  eleven  hundred 
and  thirty-four  feet  long,  twenty-five  feet  three  inches  high, 
and  thirty  feet  wide,  not  including  a  substantial  sidewalk  on 
the  south  side.  It  has  seven  spans,  and  is  twenty-two  feet 
above  the  mean  water-level.  Work  was  commenced  upon  it 
in  July,  1876,  and  it  was  completed  Sept.  1,  1877.  The  filling 
of  the  east  side  approach  cost  §10,500,  the  substructure  §68,000, 
and  the  superstructure  §71,500,  making  the  total  expense 
§150,000.  The  builders  consider  it  one  of  their  best  structures, 
and  the  finest  highway-bridge  in  the  United  States. 

The  first  bridge  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railway  Company 
over  the  Connecticut  was  a  wooden  structure  with  a  single 
track,  erected  in  183.5.||  The  present  fine  iron  structure  was 
erected  in  1872,  at  a  total  cost  of  §262,000.  It  is  twelve  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  in  length,  and  carries  a  double  track.  The  iron- 
work of  these  three  last-mentioned  bridges  was  constructed 
by  the  Leighton  Bridge  and  Iron  Company,  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y. 

There  is  some  talk  of  demolishing  the  old  covered  structure 
on  Bridge  Street,  and  erecting  another  iron  one  in  its  stead  ; 
but  the  heavy  expense  entailed  by  those  already  built  will 
probably  postpone  this  project  for  some  time,  unless  some  un- 
foreseen calamity  shall  make  it  necessary.  The  old  bridge  is 
good  for  ten  years,  if  not  destroyed  by  fire  or  flood. 

On  the  2d  of  March,  1803,  a  compan\',  consisting  of  Eben- 
ezer  Hunt,  Levi  Shepard,  Joseph  Lyman,  Jr.,  Asahel  Pome- 
roy,  John  Taylor,  and  others,  was  incorporated  for  the  purpose 
of  constructing  a  bridge  over  the  Connecticut  between  North- 
ampton and  Hadley.^ 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1803,  Lemuel  Dickinson  and  seventy- 
four  others  were  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
a  bridge  over  the  Connecticut  between  Hatfield  and  Hadley. 
This  bridge  has  not  been  maintained  for  many  years. 

1  The  cost  of  this  bridge  was  Sl:tl,(112.12. 
If  See  History  of  Northampton. 


86 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


V. 

FERKIES. 

Ferries  were  the  primitive  means  of  crossing  the  Connecti- 
cut and  all  the  larger  streams  from  the  first  settlement  down 
to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  tirst  important 
hridges  were  erected.  There  may  possibly  have  been  a  few 
points  between  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  where  the 
"  Great  Kiver"  was  fordable  at  low  water. 

The  smaller  streams  were  crossed  by  means  of  fords  at  the 
shallow  places,  and  it  was  many  years  before  they  were  all 
substantially  bridged. 

The  earliest  legislation  which  we  find  touching  the  matter 
of  ferries  on  the  Connecticut  at  Springfield  was  in  February, 
1G83,  when  the  following  appears  of  record  : 

"At  the  General  Town-Meeting,  Febry.  .'),  1G8.3,  it  was 
further  voted  and  concluded  that  the  Selectmen  should  dis- 
course with  any  person  for  the  keeping  a  ferry  over  the  Great 
River,  and,  having  found  such  a  one,  to  make  a  report  there- 
of tt)  the  Town ;  as  also,  they  are  to  consider  the  most  meet 
place  where  it  shall  be  kept,  and  signify  accordingly." 

"At  a  town-meeting,  March  14,  1683-84,  The  Honorable 
Corte  having  appointed  this  Town  to  consider  and  state  a 
place  for  a  country  Ferry  and  to  procure  a  person  to  attend 
it,  and  make  report  thereof  to  the  Honored  Corte,  The  Town 
did  vote  and  conclude  that  the  place  should  be  at  John  Dor- 
chester's ;  and  he  declaring  himself  willing  to  attend  the 
Ferry,  provided  he  may  have  liberty  to  sell  drink  and  be 
freed  from  military  training ;  and,  to  encourage  him,  the 
Town  did  vote  and  conclude  him  to  have  liberty  to  take  nine 
pence  per  horse  and  man  of  our  own  Inhabitants  a  time  ;  and 
the  said  John  Dorchester  declaring  himself  contented  that  any 
of  the  Inhabitants  use  any  other  way  or  man  or  means  to 
transport  on  the  river." 

The  following  items  are  also  from  the  early  town  records : 
"  May  7,  1718. — It  was  also  Voted,  that  their  be  levied  on  tlie  Inhaliitjints  of 
the  Town  Nine  pounds  for  the  Procuering  of  a  free  ferry  for  tliis  present  year, 
&  twenty-five  ponnds  for  the  year  en.sning,  &  that  the  Nine  pounds  be  raiseti 
this  year.  .\nd  it  wna  also  voted,  that  if  tlleir  be  notification  for  so  much  as  the 
wliole  sum,  tliat  the  Remainder  be  paid  into  the  Town  Treasury.  And  it  is  also 
voted,  that  John  Worthington,  &  Josejih  Williston,  &  Jos.  MelTick  be  a  Com- 
mittee to  see  ye  affair  Respecting  the  ferr>'  effected ;  <&  it  is  voted,  also,  that  the 
ferry  be  kept  at  the  upper  wharfe. 

'*  Jan.  SI,  1727. — Voted,  that  the  FeiTy  at  the  upper  wharfe  be  let  out  for  five 
yeai-s  on  the  Desire  of  Mr.  John  Huggius,  Dated  Jan'y  al,  1727,  viz.,  tluit  the 
Town  would  grant  him  the  Ferry  and  the  whole  Piivilege  thereof  at  the  place 
called  the  upper  Wharfe,  at  the  great  River,  being  the  common  place  for  the 
Ferry  in  Spi  ingfield,  for  the  space  of  five  years,  and  he  will  give  them  Sixty 
shillings  for  the  same  yearly,  every  year,  for  the  whole  lime,  and  give  sufficient 
Bund  for  keeping  said  Ferry  well  the  whole  Time,  and  to  begin  within  Twenty 
Dayes  from  tliis  date  or  Time,  and  to  give  Bond  within  Twenty  Days  to  the 
Town  Treiisurer  and  bis  Sucksessor,  the  which  Bond  is  to  be  of  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  pounds.  .\t  this  meeting  tlie  said  Desire  of  the  said  John  Hnggins  was 
granted. 

"  March  12, 1728. — Also  to  consider  and  settle  the  FeiTy  at  Agawam,  &  with 
reference  to  the  s.aid  fen-y.  The  following  vote  was  voted,  viz.,  that  there  bo  a 
Ferry  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Agawam  River,  to  cross  l«ithe  the  great  River 
and  said  Agawam  River,  and  that  the  present  Selectmen  be  .apiwinted  to  agree 
and  settle  a  feiTyman  for  that  puil>ose. 

"A  Town  Ferry  was  established  at  the  middle  wharfe  by  Vote,  May  1.5, 1749. 
Voted,  that  Josiab  Dwigbt,  Daniel  Parsons,  George  Pynchon,  Jacob  White  may 
have  the  liberty  to  set  up  a  Vessell  at  the  middle  wharfe  ill  said  town."* 

At  the  August  term  of  1814,  Amasa  Parsons  was  licensed 

to  keep  the  "  upper  ferry,"  which  was  probably  located  at  the 

point  where  the  upper  bridge  now  crosses.     The  following 

were  the  rates  of  loll  fi.xed  by  the  court  for  all  the  ferries  on 

the  Connecticut  River  within  the  county  of  Hampden : 

Foot-passenger .1     cents. 

Man  and  horse 0  " 

Horse  and  chaise  or  sulky 121^     " 

One-horse  wagon  and  passengers 12^^  " 

Coachee,  coach,  or  Jihaeton 2.')  " 

Four-horse  carriage  with  passengers 30  " 

One-horse  wagon  or  cart 1()  " 

Two-horse  wagon  or  cart 16  " 

The  same  with  more  than  two  beasts 20  " 

Tlie  same  with  more  than  five  beasts 30  " 

Si.K-hortie  cariiage 35  " 

*  Sec  histories  of  the  rivor-towns  for  interesting  items  in  this  connection. 


Neat  cattle,  each 3    cents. 

Hni-se  or  mule  without  rider 3        " 

Sheep  and  swine,  eaeh 1        " 

In  the  same  v'ear  Ruel  Warriner  was  licensed  to  keep  the 
lower  ferry.  In  1831,  Hiram  Jones  was  licensed  to  keep  a 
ferry  over  the  Connecticut  River  at  Chicopee  for  two  years. 

Benjamin  Ashley  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  put  a  steam 
ferry  in  operation  on  the  Connecticut  River.  When  the  bridge 
was  erected  at  Cabotville  (now  Chicopee),  he  sold  to  the  com- 
pany boat  and  franchise  for  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
The  ferry  between  Springfield  and  Agawam  was  run  by  steam. 


CHAPTER    XXL 

INTERNAL      NAVIGATION  —  IMPROVEMENT       OP 
CONNECTICUT    RIVER. 

I. 

CANALS. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  the  valley  down  to  the  close  of 
the  Shays  rebellion  the  means  of  transportation  in  Western 
Massachusetts  had  been  very  limited,  and  the  necessity  of 
better  facilities  began  to  be  apparent  as  the  country,  which 
had  been  exhausted  by  the  long  period  of  war  and  disturbance, 
slowly  emerged  from  its  lethargic  condition  and  took  a  new 
departure  on  the  road  to  prosperity. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  enterprises  in  the 
-country  was  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Con- 
necticut River.  The  first  movement  in  this  direction  was  the 
construction  of  a  canal  around  the  falls  at  South  Hadley  and 
at  Turner's  Falls,  in  the  town  of  Montague. 

Petitions  were  drawn  up  and  presented  to  the  Legislature, 
and  on  the  23d  of  February,  1792,  that  body  passed  "  An  Act 
incorporating  the  Hon.  John  Worthington,  Esquire,  and 
others  therein  named, — for  the  purpose  of  rendering  Connecti- 
cut River  passable  for  boats  and  other  things  from  the  mouth 
of  Chicopee  River  northward  through  this  Commonwealth, — • 
by  the  name  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  on 
Connecticut  River."  The  individuals  named  in  this  act  were 
John  Worthington,  Samuel  Lyman,  Jonathan  Dwight,  John 
Hooker,  and  William  Smith,  of  Springfield  ;  Caleb  Strong, 
Robert  Breck,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Ebenezer  Lane,  Ebenezer 
Hunt,  Benjamin  Prcscott,  and  Levi  Shepard,  of  Northamp- 
ton ;  Theodore  Sedgwick,  of  Stockbridge  ;  David  Se.vton  and 
John  Williams,  of  Deerfield  ;  Samuel  Fowler,  of  Westfield  ; 
Justin  Ely,  of  W^est  Springfield  ;  Dwight  Foster,  of  Brook- 
field  ;  Simeon  Strong,  of  Amherst ;  and  William  Moore. 

Work  was  commenced  at  South  Hadley  as  soon  as  practica- 
ble after  the  act  of  incorporation,  under  the  superintendence 
of  Benjamin  Prescott,  of  Northampton,  as  engineer.  Mr. 
Prescott  was  subsequently  superintendent  of  the  United  States 
armory  at  Springfield. 

This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  work  of  the  kind 
attempted  in  the  United  States,  though  the  "  Western  Inland 
Lock  Navigation  Company"  was  incorporated  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1792,  for  the  improvement  of  the  Mohawk  River  and 
Wood  Creek,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  Middlesex 
Canal  Company,  in  Eastern  Massachusetts,  was  incorporated 
in  1793.  At  all  events,  Mr.  Prescott  had  no  precedent  in  this 
country  as  a  guide  to  his  operations. 

On  the  2-5th  of  February,  1793,  the  company,  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature,  was  empowered  to  assess  the  proprietors  in 
such  amounts  as  were  necessary  for  the  work,  and  in  case  such 
assessments  were  not  paid  to  sell  the  shares  of  delinquents. 
The  shares  were  also  made  transferable,  and  established  as 
personal  estate. 

The  enterprise  had  not  progressed  very  far  before  it  was 
found  that  the  cost  had  been  greatly  underestimated,  and, 
money  being  very  scarce,  the  aspect  of  the  company's  affairs 
wore   anything  but  a   pleasant  look.     The   necessary   funds 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


87 


were  not  furtlxMHiing,  iind,  as  a  last  resort,  an  agent  was  dis- 
patched to  Holland — then,  perhaps,  the  foremost  money-power 
in  Christendojn — to  enlist  the  capitalists  in  the  enterprise. 
He  succeeded  in  disposing  of  considerable  stock,  and  returned 
with  the  means  thus  obtained. 

The  capacity  of  the  locks,  as  required  by  the  act  of  incorpo- 
ration, wa.s  to  be  equal  to  the  passage  of  boats  or  rafts  twenty 
feet  wide  and  sixty  feet  long.  This  it  was  soon  found  would 
involve  a  heavier  outlay  than  was  deemed  advisable,  and  ac- 
cordingly a  supplementary  act  was  obtained  at  the  session  of 
June,  1703,  permitting  the  company  to  reduce  their  capacity 
to  the  accommodation  of  boats  of  forty  feet  in  length  and 
twenty  in  width. 

Even  with  this  modification  of  the  work,  it  was  soon  found 
that  the  works  at  South  Hadlcy  would  be  all  that  a  single  cor- 
poration could  manage  successfully,  and  accordingly,  on  the 
27th  of  February,  1794,  another  act  was  passed  for  the  purpose 
of  dividing  the  interests  in  the  upper  and  lower  canals.  It  was 
enacted  that  the  Proprietors  of  the  latter  should  remain  a  cor- 
poration, and  that  Samuel  Henshaw  and  Benjamin  Prescott, 
of  Northampton,  and  Jonathan  Dwight,  of  Springfield,  and 
their  associates,  should  be  a  distinct  corporation,  by  the  name 
of  "The  Proprietors  of  the  Upper  Locks  and  Canals  on  Con- 
necticut River,"  vested  with  all  the  powers  pertaining  to  cor- 
porations. The  number  of  shares  in  this  new  enterprise 
was  504. 

The  lower  canal  and  locks  were  the  first  completed.  The 
canal  was  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length,  and  was  sunk  for  a 
good  portion  of  the  distance  in  the  red-sand  rock.  When 
finished,  its  bed  was  not  low  enough  to  take  the  water  from 
the  river,  and  this  circumstance  rendered  the  construction  of 
a  dam  necessary.  It  was  pushed  from  the  head  of  the  canal 
in  an  oblique  line  up  the  river  to  a  point  in  the  stream,  and 
thence,  at  right  angles  to  the  current,  to  the  eastern  shore.  But 
the  work  was  not  permitted  to  remain.  The  overflow  oau.-^ed 
by  it  flooded  a  considerable  extent  of  the  meadows  above,  and 
the  people  of  Northampton  were  wrought  to  a  wonderful 
pitch  of  excitement ;  and  the  difficulty  finally  culminated  in 
the  indictment  of  the  company  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
nuisance.  The  case  was  decided  against  the  corporation,  and 
all  the  dam,  except  its  oblique  portion  near  the  right  bank, 
was  ordered  removed  by  the  court. 

A  number  of  Dutch  capitalists  who  had  been  interested  in 
the  work,  alarmed  by  these  proceedings,  sold  their  shares  and 
abandoned  the  enterprise,  and  the  stock  soon  fell  into  the 
hands  of  comparatively  a  few  individuals. 

The  knowledge  of  constructing  locks  and  machinery  for  the 
passage  of  boats  and  rafts  was  exceedingly  crude  at  that  date, 
and,  though  the  system  has  long  been  abandoned,  a  brief  de- 
scription of  it  may  he  worthy  of  preservation.  The  following 
account  is  from  Dr.  Holland's  "  History  of  Western  Massachu- 
setts," and  is  no  doubt  substantially  correct : 

"At  the  point  where  boats  were  to  be  lowered  and  elevated 
was  a  long  inclined  plane,  traversed  by  an  immense  car  of 
the  width  of  the  canal,  and  of  sufficient  length  to  take  in  a 
boat  or  a  section  of  a  raft.  At  the  top  of  this  inclined  plane 
were  two  large  water-wheels,  one  on  either  side  of  the  canal, 
which  furnished,  by  the  aid  of  the  water  of  the  canal,  the 
power  for  elevating  the  car,  and  for  balancing  and  controlling 
it  in  its  descent.  At  the  foot  of  the  inclined  plane  the  car 
descended  into  the  water  of  the  canal,  becoming  entirely  sub- 
merged. A  boat  ascending  the  river,  and  passing  into  the 
canal,  would  be  floated  directly  over  and  into  the  car,  the 
brim  of  the  latter  being  gauged  to  a  water-level  by  its  eleva- 
tion aft  in  proportion  to  the  inclination  of  the  angle  of  the 
traverse-way.  The  boat  being  secure  in  the  car,  the  water  was 
let  upon  the  water-wheels,  which,  by  their  common  shaft, 
were  attached  to  the  car  through  two  immense  cables,  and 
thus,  winding  the  cables,  the  car  was  drawn  up  to  a  proper 
point,  when  the  boat  passed  out  into  the  canal  above.     The 


reverse  of  this  operation,  readily  comprehended  by  the  reader, 
transferred  a  boat  or  the  section  of  a  raft  from  above  down- 
ward." 

As  business  on  the  river  increased,  it  became  obvious  that 
the  volume  of  water  aft'orded  by  the  wing-dam  was  insufficient 
for  the  demand,  and  it  was  finally  resolved  to  petition  the 
Legislature  for  relief,  in  the  shape  of  a  lottery  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  twenty  thousand  dollars,  to  enable  the  company  to 
increase  the  volume  of  water  by  deepening  the  canal-bed  four 
feet  through  its  whole  extent.  On  the  25th  of  February, 
1802,  the  Legislature  granted  the  petition,  and  Thomas 
Dwight,  Justin  Ely,  Jonathan  Dwight,  Joseph  Lyman,  Jr., 
and  John  Williams  were  appointed  managers  of  the  scheme ; 
each  being  bound  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  the  trust.  The  grant  extended  to  a  period 
of  four  j'ears. 

The  matter  was  duly  advertised  in  the  papers,  the  plan 
succeeded,  and  about  the  close  of  the  year  1804  the  work  was 
completed.  The  engineer  of  this  improvement  was  one  Ariel 
Cooley,  a  man  of  great  ingenuity  and  energy.  Under  his 
direction  the  old  plan  of  inclined  planes,  water-wheels,  and 
elevating  apparatus  was  laid  aside,  and  the  simple  lock  .system 
substituted. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  improvements  Jlr.  Coolev  of- 
fered to  take  charge  of  the  canal  and  locks,  keep  them  in  re- 
pair, survey  the  craft  passing  through,  and  collect  the  tolls 
for  a  period  of  fifty  years,  for  one-fourth  the  amount  of  tolls. 
A  contract  was  accordingly  drawn  and  signed,  and  he  entered 
upon  his  duties  at  once  ;  thus  relieving  the  corporation  from 
nearly  all  care  in  the  premises. 

In  1814  he  deemed  it  necessary,  for  the  more  perfect  working 
of  the  canal,  to  build  another  dam,  and  the  work  was  partially 
completed  when  the  spring  flood  of  1815  swept  it  away  ;  but 
during  the  same  year  he  completed  a  new  one,  which  stood 
until  1824,  when  it  was  swept  away.  In  the  mean  time  Mr. 
Cooley  had  died,  and  his  administrators  rebuilt  the  dam,  which 
was  still  standing  when  the  great  dam  of  the  Hadley  Falls 
Company  was  built,  about  1849 ;  a  slight  ripple  marking  its 
location.  These  dams  were  indicted  as  nuisances  at  the  instance 
of  those  engaged  in  the  shad  fishery,  but  the  indictment  of  the 
first  was  stopped  by  the  agreement  of  Mr.  Cooley  to  build  a 
fi.sh-way,  by  which  the  shad  could  pass  the  obstruction. 

He  accomplished  this  work  in  a  unique  and  ingenious  man- 
ner, through  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the 
fish. 

Below  and  near  the  dam,  on  the  eastern  side,  he  constructed 
an  oblique  wing-dam,  extending  for  some  distance  into  the 
stream.  This  arrested  the  water  from  the  main  dam,  produ- 
cing an  eddy,  in  which  the  fish  could  find  a  quiet  stopping- 
place  after  passing  the  rapids  below. 

Opposite  this  wing-dam  he  cut  down  the  main  dam  for  the 
width  of  a  few  planks,  making  a  passage  through  which, 
notwithstanding  the  velocity  of  the  gushing  water,  the  fish 
could  dart  into  the  pond  above. 

The  second  indictment  brought  on  an  extensive  lawsuit, 
which  employed  nearly  all  the  attorneys  then  living  in  the 
county  on  one  side  or  the  other,  and  resulted  in  the  rebuild- 
ing of  the  fish-way.  The  contract  entered  into  by  the  com- 
pany and  Mr.  Cooley  was  eventually  surrendered  by  his 
administrators,  and  the  canal  was  utilized,  more  or  less,  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  until  it  was  purchased  by  the  Had- 
ley Falls  Company,  who  were  empowered  to  build  the  present 
dam,  "subject  to  an  equitable  indemnification  of  the  fishing 
rights  above." 

The  construction  of  the  dam  at  Montague  was  originally 
attempted  at  a  point  some  two  miles  below  the  falls  at  Smead's 
Island,  under  the  supervision  of  Capt.  Elisha  Mack,  of  Mon- 
tague, who,  according  to  Dr.  Holland,  operated  either  as  en- 
gineer for  the  corporation  or  as  a  contractor  for  the  work. 
But  the  project  proved  impracticable,  chiefly  on  account  of 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  depth  of  water,  and  was  abandoned  after  considerable 
labor  and  expense. 

In  connection  with  the  experiments  at  this  place,  Dr.  Hol- 
land relates  an  interesting  incident  illustrating  the  saying  of 
Solomon  that  "  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun." 

"While  Capt.  Mack  was  operating  at  Smead's  Island,  an 
itinerant  Scotchman  made  his  appearance,  who  undertook  to 
construct  a  sort  of  leathern  case  for  the  body,  with  a  long 
tube  attached  for  the  purpose  of  respiration,  and  glass  about 
the  face  for  the  use  of  vision. 

"  He  succeeded  in  worming  his  way  into  the  captain's  favon 
worked  steadily  at  the  curious  armor,  and,  on  a  Saturday 
night,  pronounced  it  complete,  and  appointed  3Ionday  (fol- 
lowing) for  an  experimental  test.  After  closing  wm-k  he 
obtained  the  loan  of  Capt.  Mack's  gray  mare,  a  valuable  ani- 
mal, for  the  purpose  of  visiting  a  lady,  a  somewhat  attractive 
fair  (one)  of  the  times  and  locality.  Capt.  Mack  conferred 
the  favor  gladly,  and  would  have  been  rejoiced  to  see  the  in- 
genious Scotchman  again  ;  but  he  never  did,  both  mare  and 
rider  mysteriously  disappearing." 

Capt.  Mack  finally  succeeded  in  constructing  a  dam  at  Tur- 
ner's Falls  in  179.3,  which  was  allowed  to  stand  one  year  on 
trial,  and,  contrary  to  many  doubts,  it  stood  the  test  of  the 
spring  flood.  The  canal  was  commenced  in  1794,  but  was  not 
completed  until  1796  or.  1797.     It  was  three  miles  in  length. 

ii. 

SHAD   AND   SALMON    FISHERIES. 

In  the  early  days  before  the  construction  of  dams  on  the 
Connecticut,  shad  and  salmon  were  exceedingly  plenty,  and 
the  fisheries  formed  for  many  years  a  most  important  industry, 
and  it  is  not  astonishiug  that  the  people  who  derived  so  large 
a  share  of  their  sustemuice  and  means  of  livelihood  from 
this  source  should  have  jealously  guarded  their  rights,  and 
persistently  fought  against  all  attempts  to  obstruct  the  river 
by  artificial  means. 

Turner's  Falls,  and  those  at  South  Hadley,  were  famous  re- 
sorts for  the  Indians,  and  for  ages  before  the  advent  of  the 
EnglLsh  they  must  have  sought  annually  these  prolific 
sources  of  their  food  supplies. 

The  salmon  remained  in  the  river  until  some  time  after  the 
construction  of  the  dam  at  Montague.  The  first  season  after 
its  construction  they  were  very  plenty  at  Turner's  Falls,  and 
were  taken,  in  immense  numbers,  as  they  could  not  pass  the 
obstructions  at  that  place  ;  but  their  numbers  declined  rapidly 
from  year  to  year,  until  about  the  last  seen  of  them  were  a  few 
stragglers  at  South  Hadley  Falls,  about  the  year  1800.  The 
following  description  of  the  mode  of  capturing  this  magnifi- 
cent fish,  furnished  by  an  eye-witness,  is  from  Dr.  Holland: 

"  In  hauling  in  a  seine  in  the  shad  fishery  they  not  unfre- 
quently  formed  a  portimi  of  the  prey,  and  manifested  their 
presence  by  commotions  well  understood  by  the  fishermen. 
The  common  seine  could  not  withstand  their  powerful  strug- 
gles, and  the  fishermen  were  obliged  to  wade  out  and  get  be- 
hind the  net,  and,  by  kicking  it  and  striking  upon  the  water, 
drive  them  into  the  shallow  water  near  shore,  where  they  were 
grasped  by  the  skillful,  and  rendered  powerless  by  sending 
deftly-delivered  raps  upon  the  head. 

"At  that  time  as  many  as  two  thousand  shad  were  fre- 
quently taken  at  a  haul. 

"The  shad  fishery  has  gradually  declined  since,  owing 
partly,  doubtles-j,  to  the  actual  diminution  of  the  number  of 
shad  entering  the  river,  and  partly  to  the  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  gill-nets  in  the  lower  part  of  the  river,  which  have  be- 
come so  prevalent  as  to  operate  almost  as  an  absolute  bar  to 
their  progress  up  the  stream. 

"  The  shad  fisheries  at  Hadley  Falls  were  formerly  consid- 
ered common  property,  and  were  participated  in  by  all  who 
had  a  taste  for  the  business.  But  when  the  fish  became  .scarce, 
and  consequently  enhanced  in  value,  the  owners  of  the  lands 


bordering  the  river  availed  themselves  of  the  lawgiving  them 
the  exclusive  right  of  fishing  thereon,  and  drove  away  the  old 
fishermen  and  carried  on  the  business  themselves,  thereby 
reaping  all  the  benefits  accruing  therefrom.  In  the  year  1853 
they  took  out  from  forty  thousand  to  fifty  thousand  shad,  which 
were  all  disposed  of  at  remunerative  prices." 

The  business  has,  however,  gradually  diminished,  princi- 
pally in  consequence  of  the  net  or  "pound"  fisheries  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  which  occupy  the  entire  channel  during 
the  season,  not  even  being  removed  over  Sunday, — the  only 
chance  the  fish  have  of  passing  them  being  while  a  net  is  on 
shore  for  a  few  hours. 

Small  fisheries  are  at  present  maintained  at  Longmeadow, 
Agawam,  Springfield,  and  South  Hadley,  and  considerable 
numbers  of  this  tine  fish  are  still  taken  in  their  season.  The 
entire  catch  is  disposed  of  in  the  cities  and  villages  of  the  valley, 
a  large  share  being  sold  in  the  Springfield  markets. 

Within  the  past  fifteen  years  arrangements  have  been  made 
for  restocking  the  Connecticut  with  several  varieties  of  fish, 
among  them  the  salmon  and  the  delicious  black  bass  of  the 
Western  lakes  and  rivers,  and  the  latter  are  now  taken  in  con- 
siderable numbers. 

It  is  a  question,  however,  whether  the  salmon  can  ever  again 
be  persuaded  to  inhabit  their  former  home.  In  addition  to 
the  dams  on  the  Connecticut  and  the  immense  amount  of 
chemical  refuse  of  various  kinds  which  finds  its  way  into  the 
stream  from  the  great  manufacturing  establishments,  all  the 
smaller  streams,  where  they  formerly  swarmed  in  thousands, 
are  entirely  debarred  from  them  by  innumerable  dams,  con- 
structed without  provision  for  their  passage. 

III. 

THE   CONNECTICUT    RIVER. 

The  following  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  Connecticut 
River  were  furnished  to  the  Connecticut  A'alley  Historical 
Society  in  a  series  of  articles  by  T.  M.  Dewey,  Esq.,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Springfield  Rrpiihlicnn  in  1872.  Mr.  Dewey  has 
obligingly  furnished  copies  for  this  work: 

"Early  Navigation  of  the  Connecticut  River. — The  Connecti- 
cut River  has  its  sources  in  New  Hampshire  and  the  moun- 
tainous tracts  of  Lower  Canada  or  Canada  East.*  Its  general 
course  is  south.  It  is  navigable  for  vessels  of  considerable 
burden  for  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  to  Hartford,  Conn.,  and 
to  Middletown,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  Sound,  for  vessels 
of  twelve  feet  draft.  It  is  the  Quoncktacut  of  the  Indians, 
said  to  signify  'Long  River,'  or,  as  it  is  rendered  by  others, 
the  'River  of  Pines.'  Its  western  branch  forms  the  boundary 
line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  the  main 
river,  dividing  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  crosses  the 
western  part  of  Massachusetts,  passes  through  the  central  part 
of  Connecticut,  and,  after  a  fall  of  about  sixteen  hundred 
feet  in  its  whole  length  of  four  hundred  and  ten  miles,  enters 
Long  Island  Sound  in  about  41°  north  latitude.  At  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  it  bears  ofl'  considerably  to  the  east.  In  its 
course  it  passes  through  a  beautiful  country  and  by  many 
fiourishing  towns,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Haver- 
hill, Orford  (particularly  beautiful  to  me),  Hanover,  Walpole, 
and  Charlestown,  in  New  Hampshire;  Windsor,  Newbury, 
and  Brattlcboro',  in  Vermont;  Greenfield,  Hadley,  Northamp- 
ton, and  Springfield,  in  Massachusetts  ;  and  Hartford,  Middle- 
town,  and  the  Haddams,  in  Connecticut.  Its  width  varies 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  at  its  entrance  between  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire  to  four  hundred  feet  at  Orford 
and  twelve  hundred  feet  at  Springfield.  The  navigation  of  its 
upper  course  was  improved  by  means  of  locks  and  canals, 
which  secure  boat-navigation  to  the  mouth  of  Wells  River  in 
Vermont,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above 
Hartford.  The  falls  of  most  celebrity  are  Bellows  Falls, 
Queechee,  and  White  River  Falls,  in  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 

*  Now  Province  of  Queber. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


89 


moiit,  Turner's  and  South  Hatlley  Falls  in  Massachusetts, 
and  Enfield  Falls  in  Connecticut.  The  descent  of  the  river 
between  White  River  Falls  and  the  foot  of  Enfield  Falls, 
where  it  meets  tide-water,  is  above  three  hundred  and  seventy 
feet. 

"Since  the  clearing  up  of  the  forests  along  its  banks  and 
adjoining  country  the  channel  of  the  river  has  materially 
changed,  and  notably  at  the  '  Ox-Bow,'  at  Newbury,  Vt.,  at  Old 
Hadley,  and  at  Hockanum.  At  this  last  place  it  has  within  a 
few  years  cut  its  way  directly  across  the  neck  of  the  bow, 
which  shortens  the  distance  three  and  one-half  or  four  miles. 
At  Hadley,  where  it  takes  a  bend  of  six  miles  to  gain  only 
one,  it  has  worn  its  way  into  those  beautiful  meadows  at  the 
'  upper  side'  more  than  its  whole  width,  so  that  a  well  which 
once  stood  in  Hadley,  on  the  east  side,  is  now  quite  a  distance 
from  the  river-bank,  in  Hatfield,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river! 

"The  canal  at  South  Hadley  Falls  was  made  by  the  Hol- 
landers, probably  as  early  as  1790,  or  thereabout,  and  the 
boats  were  passed  up  and  down  upon  an  inclined  plane.  The 
locks  at  this  place  were  built  by  Ariel  Cooley  about  the  year 
1790.  This  inclined  plane  is  very  much  of  a  tradition  at  this 
time,  as  I  can  find  no  one  living  who  can  describe  it  in  any- 
thing like  detail.  The  opinion  of  the  oldest  men  at  South 
Hadley  Falls  is  that  a  triangular  box  was  sunk  under  the 
boat,  and,  as  the  whole  was  drawn  forward  out  of  the  water, 
the  boat  itself  would  rest  level  on  the  box  as  it  ascended.  It 
is  supposed  that  the  power,  fixed  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
plane,  was  a  windlass  with  sweeps  and  carried  around  by 
horses,  thus  winding  up  the  rope  or  chain.  How  the  boat 
was  again  launched  into  the  canal  above  I  have  not  learned.* 

"In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  and  before  the 
locks  and  canals  at  Enfield  were  built,  the  boats  used  for  the 
transportation  of  freight  were  quite  small.  A  ten-ton  boat 
was  considered  a  large  one  at  that  time.  These  boats,  bound 
for  Springfield  or  above,  were  propelled,  unless  the  wind  was 
favorable  for  sailing,  by  the  laborious  process  of  poling, — a 
jirocess  which,  with  other  details  of  river  navigation,  will  be 
described  in  another  chapter.  A  number  of  men  called  falls- 
men  kept  themselves  in  readiness  at  the  foot  of  the  falls — that 
is,  at  Warehouse  Point — to  assist  in  '  poling  over  the  falls' 
the  boats  carrying  six  or  eight  tons.  The  article  of  rum  con- 
stituted quite  a  large  proportion  of  the  freight  in  those  days. 

"  Capt.  Flower,  of  Feeding  Hills,  who  was  master  of  a 
vessel  for  many  years  running  between  Hartford  and  Boston, 
would  take  a  miscellaneous  cargo  to  Boston  in  the  fall  of  the 
year,  and,  remaining  there  through  the  winter,  would  return 
in  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  river  opened,  with  a  cargo  of  rum 
and  mackerel !  But  the  rum  was  better  than  it  is  now.  Va- 
rious methods  were  employed  by  the  boatmen  above  Hartford 
to  obtain  their  daily  rations  of  rum  on  their  trips  up  the  river. 
Among  others,  the  following  was  the  most  novel  and  success- 
ful:  A  common  junk-bottle  would  be  filled  with  water,  and 
then  its  nozzle  inserted  in  the  bung-hole  of  a  full  barrel  or 
hogshead  of  rum,  whereupon  the  water,  being  of  heavier  spe- 
cific gravity  than  the  rum,  would  descend  into  the  barrel,  and 
the  rum  would  consequently  be  forced  up  into  the  bottle. 
This  operation  was  liable  to  be  repeated  until  the  reduced 
strength  of  the  rum  rendered  it  not  only  impracticable,  but 
undesirable.  The  abrasion  of  the  skin  on  the  front  of  the 
shoulder  caused  by  the  work  of  'poling'  was  in  many  cases 
very  severe,  especially  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  and  a 
frequent  application  of  rum  was  necessary,  which  operated 
as  a  toughener  as  well  as  a  cure  ;  and  it  was  generally  supposed 
to  be  a  judicious  plan  to  take  a  little  inwardly,  to  keep  it 
from  striking  to  the  stomach. 

"  During  these  years  of  boating  over  Enfield  Falls  the  'John 
Cooley  Boating  Company'  was  formed,  consisting  of  John 
Cooley,  Hosea  Day,  Roderick  Palmer,  Henry  Palmer,  James 


*  See  anl£. 


Brewer,  and  the  Messrs.  Dwight  of  Springfield.  A  few  years 
after  (in  1820),  Edmund  and  Frederick  Palmer  and  Roderick 
Ashley  joined  the  company,  afterward  Sylvester  Day  and 
the  Messrs.  Stebbins. 

"  In  1809,  Springfield  bridge  was  carried  away  by  a  freshet. 
Mr.  Dwight,  a  large  owner,  fearing  it  would  go,  made  it  fast 
by  means  of  a  cable  to  a  tree;  'but',  said  my  informant,  Mr. 
Adin  Allen,  '  I  guess  that  didn't  stop  it  a  great  while.'  This 
was  in  Allen's  boyhood,  and,  living  a  mile  or  so  above  the  falls 
and  seeing  the  bridge  coming,  he  and  his  brother  ventured  out 
through  the  floating  ice  with  a  skifl",  mounted  the  bridge,  and 
busied  themselves  in  saving  the  iron  bolts  until  the  roar  of 
the  falls  and  the  screams  of  the  people  ashore  admonished  them 
that  they  had  better  be  getting  to  land,  which  they  did  by 
drawing  their  skiff  across  the  large  pieces  of  floating  ice  just 
in  time  to  escape  going  over  the  falls. 

"The  locks  and  canal  at  Enfield  were  built  in  1820,  and  there- 
after the  freight-boats  began  to  increase  in  size,  as  they  were 
not  obliged  to  climb  the  falls,  till  at  last  the  capacity  of  some 
of  the  Springfield  boats  reached  sixty  or  seventy  tons.  But  be- 
fore this  time  a  trial  of  steamboating  was  made.  A  company 
was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  the  navigation  of  the  river 
above  Hartford,  and  bore  the  name  of  '  The  Connecticut  liiver 
Valley  Steamboat  Company.'  Its  members  chiefly  resided  in 
Hartford,  although  a  few  were  scattered  along  the  line  of  the 
river.  3Ir.  Charles  Stearns,  of  Springfield,  was  a  member,  I 
think;  also  Gen.  David  Culver,  of  Lyme,  N.  H.,  who  after- 
ward became  an  active  partner  in  the  boating  compan}'  of 
'  Stockbridge,  Culver  &  Co.,'  and  the  inventor  of  a  number  of 
improvements  in  boating  machinery.  This  (Connecticut  River 
Valley  Steamboat  Company)  was  a  short-lived  company,  oper- 
ating only  one  season,  if  I  am  correctly  informed.  There  is 
no  record  of  its  incorporation,  but  I  learn  from  Cob  C.  H. 
Nortbam,  of  Hartford,  that  Philip  Ripley,  of  that  city,  was  its 
agent,  and  for  one  year  only.  They  built  a  small-sized  steam- 
boat, which  was  run  up  the  Connecticut  about  the  3"ear  1829, 
and  was  afterward  named  the  '  Barnet. '  The  '  Barnet,'  Capt. 
Nutt  master,  made  its  first  trip  up  the  river  as  far  as  Barnet, 
Vt.,  after  which  it  was  named.  It  drew  a  crowd  of  spectators 
from  all  along  the  river-bank.  The  farmer  left  his  team,  the 
merchant  his  store,  the  hired  man  shouldered  his  hoe  and  took 
to  his  heels,  and  even  the  girls  and  some  of  the  mothers  left 
their  spinning-wheels  and  dish-pans,  and  cut  for  the  river  to 
see  the  first  steamboat.  It  was  a  '  side- wheeler,'  high  pressure, 
with  two  engines  of  twenty-horse  power  each,  and  could  make 
about  six  miles  an  hour  up  stream.  I  learn  also  that  in  July, 
1830,  Col.  Clinton,  son  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  ran  a  steam- 
boat up  the  Connecticut,  and  that  on  the  4th  of  July,  1832, 
Dr.  Dean,  of  Bath,  N.  H.,  was  drowned  from  on  board  the 
steamboat  'Adam  Duncan;'  also  that  in  July,  1831,  the 
'  John  Ledyard'  ran  up,  probably  to  Wells  River.  These 
boats  were  stern-wheelers.  Upon  the  advent  of  the  flrst- 
named  'Barnet,'  Capt.  Nutt  master,  a  rollicking  poem  was 
written  by  a  resident  of  Haverkill,  commencing  thus  : 

'  This  is  tlie  day  that  Capt.  Nutt 
Sailed  up  the  fair  Connecticut.' 

But  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  rest  of  the  poetry. 

"  This  was  about  the  time  that  Allen  began  to  pilot  boats 
over  Enfield  Falls,  and  he  was  employed  to  run  the  'Barnet.' 
One  day  a  boat  was  seen  coming  down  the  river  having  three 
sails, — main  and  topsails  and  a  sail  above  them.  Its  name 
was  not  known.  But  it  seems  it  was  only  an  experiment,  and 
probably  never  was  tried  again. 

"  The  act  incorporating  the  '  Proprietors  of  the  Upper  Locks 
and  Canal'  (Turner's  Falls)  was  passed  in  the  winter  of  1792. 
The  first  dam  at  the  falls  was  built  in  1793  by  Capt.  Mack, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  year  following  the  canal  was  com- 
menced. The  locks  were  built  by  my  grandfather,  Capt. 
Hophni  King,  of  Northfield,  Mass.  They  are  of  sufficient 
size  to  pass  boats  and  boxes  thirteen  feet  wide  and  sixty-eight 


12 


90 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


or  seventy  feet  long.  Capt.  Kini;  was  the  first  builder  to  'lay 
out'  the  frame  of  a  buiklinj;  by  the  '  square  rule.'  Mr.  Timo- 
tliy  Billing.*,  of  South  Deertield,  who  was  his  api)rentice,  in- 
formed me  that  people  came  from  great  distances  to  see  a 
building  framed  in  that  way.  The  manner  of  framing  had, 
up  to  this  time,  been  by  the  '  scribe  rule.' 

"  There  was  in  operation  at  this  time  a  line  of  small 
steamers  running  between  Springfield  and  Hartford,  first 
started  by  James  Blanehard,  of  this  city.  The  first  was  the 
'  S])ringfield,'  a  side-wheel  steamer;  then  the  'Vermont,'  a 
stern-wliooler,  built  by  IJlancbard  ;  then  the  '  Massachusetts,' 
'Agawam,'  and  the  'Phrcni.x.'  The  captains  of  the  boats 
were  Peek,  Mosely,  and  Hoyt.  Capt.  Peck  was  not  exactly 
the  same  on  all  occasions, — at  times  plea.sant,  bland,  and  cour- 
teous to  his  passengers,  then  again  crusty  and  sarcastic.  Capt. 
Mosely  was  jovial,  social,  and  gentlemanly,  and  the  best  tenor 
singer  then  in  the  whole  valley.  Capt.  Hoyt  was  the  prince 
of  story-tellers,  and  always  drew  a  crowd.  Mr.  Adin  Allen 
was  the  pilot,  and  stood  at  his  post  through  wind  and  calm, 
storm  and  shine. 

"  The  Connecticut  River  has  borne  on  its  bosom  so  many 
pilgrims  during  the  earliest  settlements  of  this  country  in 
search  of  a  permanent  home,  from  Windsor,  Hebron,  and 
other  towns  in  the  State  of  Connecticut  to  the  upper  counties 
in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and  has  become  so  incorpo- 
rated and  interwoven  into  our  history  and  progress,  that  any 
incident  in  which  it  bears  a  prominent  part  .should  not  be 
pa.ssed  over  unnoticed  in  our  historical  researches.  In  the 
spirit  of  this  sentiment,  therefore,  I  claim  for  it  the  honor  of 
bearing  upon  its  waters  the  first  steamboat  ever  built  in 
America.  The  justice  of  this  claim  is  established  by  the  fol- 
lowing article,  which  was  written  by  Rev.  Cyrus  Mann,  after 
careful  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  was  printed  in  the 
Boston  Recorder  in  1858  : 

"  '  Who  was  the  original  inventor  of  the  steamboat?  The 
credit  of  the  original  invention  of  the  steamboat  is  commonly 
awarded  to  Robert  Fulton  ;  but  it  is  believed  that  it  belongs 
primarily  and  chiefly  to  a  far  more  obscure  individual.  So 
far  as  is  known,  the  first  steamboat  ever  seen  on  the  waters  of 
America  was  invented  by  Capt.  Samuel  Morey,  of  Orford, 
N.  H.  The  astonishing  sight  of  this  man  ascending  the  Con- 
necticut River,  between  that  place  and  Fairlee,  in  a  little  boat 
just  large  enough  to  contain  himself  and  the  rude  machinery 
connected  with  the  steam-boiler  and  a  handful  of  wood  for  a 
fire,  was  witnessed  by  the  writer  in  his  boyhood  and  by  others 
who  yet  survive.  This  was  as  early  as  1793  or  earlier,  and 
before  Fulton's  name  had  been  mentioned  in  connection  with 
steam  navigation.  Morey  had  his  mind  set  upon  the  steam- 
boat, and  had  actually  brought  it  into  operation,  although  in 
a  rude  and  imperfect  state,  at  that  period.  He  had  corre- 
sponded with  Prof  Silliman,  of  New  Haven,  and  been  jncour- 
aged  by  that  distinguished  patron  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 
Many  of  the  writings  of  this  correspondence  are  still  extant. 
Soon  after  a  few  successful  trips  in  his  boat  on  the  river, 
Morey  went  with  tlie  model  of  it  to  New  York,  where  lie  liad 
frequent  interviews  with  Messrs.  Fulton  and  Livingston,  to 
whom  he  exhibited  and  explained  his  invention.  They  ad- 
vised to  have  the  engine  in  the  side  or  centre  of  the  boat,  in- 
stead of  the  bow  or  forepart,  to  which  it  had  been  assigned  by 
Morey.  That  they  were  highly  pleased  with  what  he  had  ex- 
hibited is  numifest  from  the  otter  niade  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  if  he  would  return  home  and  make  the  alteration 
suggested,  so  as  to  operate  favorably.  They  treated  him  with 
great  respect  and  attention.  Taking  a  friendly  leave,  he  re- 
turned to  his  distant  residence  to  make  the  alteration. 

"'Having  completed  the  work  at  considerable  expense  of 
time  and  study,  and  with  the  help  of  his  brother,  Maj.  Israel 
Morey,  who  aided  in  making  the  machinery,  he  repaired  to 
New  York,  expecting  the  same  cordiality  which  he  had  before 
experienced.     But,  to  his  surpri.sc,  he  was  treated  with  great 


coldness  and  neglect,  and  no  further  intercourse  with  him  was 
desired.  The  secret  of  his  invention  bad  been  fully  acquired, 
and  from  subsequent  developments  it  appeared  that  Fulton,  in 
the  interval  of  Morey's  absence,  had  planned  and  formed  a 
boat  according  to  the  model  shown  him,  and  he  now  desired 
no  further  communication  with  the  originator.  He  even  went 
to  Orford,  during  the  period  in  which  the  alteration  was  being 
made,  to  examine  its  progress  and  the  prospect  of  success. 

"  '  In  1798,  several  years  after  Morey's  boat  had  ascended  the 
Connecticut  River,  the  Legislature  of  New  York  passed  an 
act  investing  Mr.  Livingston  with  the  exclusive  right  and 
privilege  of  navigating  all  kinds  of  boats  which  might  be 
propelled  by  the  force  of  fire  or  steam  on  all  the  waters  within 
the  territory  or  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

"  '  Subsequently,  Mr.  Livingston  entered  into  a  contract  with 
Fulton,  by  which,  among  other  things,  it  was  agreed  that  a 
patent  should  be  taken  in  the  United  States  in  Fulton's  name. 
In  1802  or  1803,  Fulton  came  forward  with  an  "experimental 
boat,"  for  which  he  obtained  a  patent  with  the  usual  exclusive 
privileges.  Thus  it  appears  that  there  was  ample  time  after 
his  interviews  with  Morej-  for  him  to  complete  his  schemes 
previous  to  their  consummation.  He  now  claimed  to  be  the 
inventor  of  the  steamboat.  The  patent  could  not  be  obtained 
without  Mr.  Fulton's  taking  an  oath  that  the  improvement 
was  wholly  his. 

"'Does  not  this  look  like  great  unfairness  toward  Mr. 
Morey  ?  Does  it  not  almost  irresistibly  convey  the  idea  that 
the  patentee  surreptitiously  seized  upon  the  invention  and 
turned  it  to  his  own  account,  taking  advantage  of  the  quiet 
disposition  and  retired  position  of  the  real  inventor?  In  this 
light  Morey  ever  after,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  viewed  the 
whole  transaction.  Living  witnesses  testify  that  he  repeatedly 
complained  of  Fulton  for  superseding  him  in  obtaining  a 
patent  and  stealing  the  honor  and  emolument  of  the  inven- 
tion. A  gentleman  of  unimpeachable  veracity,  who  was  with 
Morey  some  of  the  last  years  and  days  of  his  life,  asserts  that 
he  most  bitterly  criminated  Fulton  for  hi.*  ill-treatment  in 
secretly  depriving  him  of  his  sacred  rights  and  privileges. 
Why  should  the  dying  man  have  done  this,  and  persisted  in 
it  amidst  the  solemnities  of  his  situation  and  the  approacliing 
realities  of  eternity,  unless  he  knew  that  the  truth  was  on  his 
side?  He  was  a  man  of  veracity,  in  whom  his  friends  and 
acquaintances  had  entire  confidence.' 

"  Very  much  of  interesting  detail  of  the  early  navigation  of 
our  river  has  passed  out  of  remembrance  of  those  living  at  the 
present  time.  Had  such  a  society  as  this  been  formed  line  hun- 
dred or  fifty  years  ago,  we  should  doubtless  have  secured  this 
detail,  perfectly  familiar  to  the  men  of  that  day,  but  now  be- 
yond our  reach.  Hence  I  regard  the  pre.sent  work  of  this  so- 
ciety, in  resuscitating  whatever  incidents  we  can  of  our  early 
history,  by  interviewing  the  aged  who  are  yet  left  to  us,  and 
by  examination  of  records  and  memoranda  wherever  thej'  may 
be  found,  as  worthy  the  special  attention  of  us  all. 

"  Boatiiiri  on  //le  Conneciinit  Foriy  i'eara  ago. — The  'Con- 
necticut Uiver  Valley  Steamboat  Com]iany'  was  in  full  opera-' 
tion  in  1833,  when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  the  freight- 
ing business  on  this  river.  They  owned  a  line  of  boats  called 
'  luggers,'  running  from  Hartford  to  the  head  of  navigation 
at  Wells  River,  Vt.,  and  also  several  stern-wheel  steamboats 
used  for  towing  the  same.  As  the  steamers  were  too  large  to 
pass  through  the  locks  and  canals,  the  first  steamer  would  take 
them,  sometimes  four  and  even  six  at  a  time,  as  far  as  Wil- 
limansett.  They  were  then  drawn  over  '  Willimansett'  (I  use 
the  river  parlance)  by  a  strong  team  of  oxen  led  \>y  a  sjian  of 
horses,  operated  through  the  South  Hadley  locks  and  canal,  and 
were  taken  by  the  next  steamer  above  to  Montague  Canal  ;  then 
by  the  next  from  Miller's  River  to  the  foot  of  Swift  Water,  at 
Hinsdale,  N.  H.,  and,  I  believe,  in  a  good  pitch  of  water,  as 
far  as  Bellows  Falls;  and  so  on.  Other  boating  companies 
were  engaged  at  the  same  time,  and  carrying  large  amounts 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


91 


of  goods  of  almost  every  description  used  in  country  stores 
from  Hartford  to  all  the  principal  towns  in  the  valley,  freight- 
ing down  with  wood,  brooms,  hops,  staves,  shingles,  wooden- 
ware,  and  sometimes  fine  lumber.  These  companies  used  more 
convenient  and  serviceable  boats,  well  rigged,  with  main  and 
topsails,  running-boards  and  cabin,  with  rudder  and  helm  in- 
stead of  the  steering-oar. 

"Commencing  at  the  lower  section,  there  were  the  'John 
Cooley  Company,'  consisting  of  Edmund  Palmer,  Roderick 
Ashley,  Sylvester  Day,  J.  B.  M.  and  '  Kit'  Stebbins  ;  and  the 
'Parker-Douglass  Company,'  of  Stoddard  Parker,  George 
Douglass  and  brother,  Albert  Gowdy,  and  Horace  Harmon. 
These  two  companies  did  the  freighting  for  the  merchants  of 
Hampden  County,  each  owning  and  running  a  steamer  for 
towing  their  boats,  and  sometimes  the  boats  of  other  com- 
panies, and  having  their  headquarters  at  Springfield.  Next 
above  was  Bardwell,  Ely  &  Co.,  consisting  of  Josiah  Bardwell, 
Hiram  Smith,  Peletiah  and  Jo.scph  Ely,  Broughton  Alvord, 
Whiting  Street,  and  David  Strong ;  they  carried  for  South 
Hadley,  Northampton,  and  adjoining  towns.  Capt.  Nash,  who 
ran  one  boat  only,  for  the  business  of  Hadley  and  Amherst, 
was  a  veteran  in  the  business  when  I  commenced,  and  con- 
tinued until  boats  and  boating  were  superseded  by  the  rail-car. 
On  the  Greenfield  reach  were  Stockbridge,  Culver  &  Co., — 
David  Stockbridge,  David  Culver,  J.  D.  Crawford,  and  T.  M. 
Dewey.  This  company  struck  hands  with  the  '  Greenfield 
Boating  Company'  in  1837,  and  took  the  name  of  Stockbridge, 
Allen,  Root  &  Co.,  Messrs.  Allen  and  Root  taking  the  place 
of  Gen.  Culver.  They  owned  the  steamer  'Ariel  Cooley,' 
which  took  their  boats  from  the  head  of  South  Hadley  Canal, 
and  winding  around  the  smiling  Hockanum  and  Old  Hadley 
bends,  and  through  the  sinuosities  of  School-Meadow  flats, 
landed  them  at  the  foot  of  Montague  Canal.  This  run  (forty 
miles)  was  generally  made  in  twelve  hours,  with  four  boats  in 
tow,  and  through  the  night  as  well  as  daytime,  unless  it  was 
very  cloudy.  The  steamer  was  a  '  stern- wheeler,'  ninety  feet 
long  and  eighteen  feet  wide,  with  two  high-pressure  engines 
of  twenty-horse  power  each.  She  was  overhauled  in  18.30,  her 
name  changed  to  '  Greenfield,'  and  in  the  spring  of  1840,  just 
above  Smith's  Ferry,  she  burst  her  boiler,  killing  Capt.  Craw- 
ford, Mr.  Lancy,  tif  this  city,  the  maker  of  her  machinery,  and 
Mr.  Wood,  the  engineer. 

"Above  Turner's  Falls,  after  the  collapse  of  the  Connecti- 
cut River  Valley  Steamboat  Company,  all  steamboating  was 
given  up, — the  freight-boats,  smaller  than  those  at  the  lower 
sections  of  the  river,  relying  on  the  south  wind  and  the  '  white- 
ash  breeze.'  J.  G.  Capron  and  Alexander  ran  one  or  two 
boats  in  connection  with  their  store  at  Winchester,  N.  H.  ; 
Hall  &  Townsley,  of  Brattleboro',  ran  two  or  more,  and  sup- 
plied the  merchants  of  that  place  and  vicinity,  and  Wentworth 
&  Bingham  those  of  Bellows  Falls.  Other  individuals  and 
companies,  whose  names  I  cannot  recall,  were  engaged  in  this 
enterprise,  and  the  merry  boatmen's  song  was  heard  far  up 
the  valley.  Some  of  the  ups  and  downs  incidental  to  this 
laborious  work  may  interest  the  reader. 

"  No  department  of  the  business  of  this  country  offered  so 
wide  scope  of  incident,  and  called  into  action  so  great  a  num- 
ber of  jolly,  hard-working,  determined,  and  unselfish  men,  as 
that  of  Connecticut  River  boating  in  its  palmiest  days.  They 
were  the  stoutest,  heartiest,  and  merriest  in  all  the  valley,  and 
there  were  few  towns  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  to  Northumber- 
land, N.  H.,  unrepresented.  If  there  arose  any  disturbance 
in  city  or  town,  it  was  a  common  thing  to  send  for  a  few  Con- 
necticut River  boatmen,  and  it  was  soon  quelled.  I  was  en- 
gaged to  teach  a  common  district  school  of  seventy  scholars 
in  one  of  the  river-towns,  in  the  winter  of  1834,  where  the 
previous  winter  the  '  big  boys'  had  turned  out  four  teachers, 
— some  out  of  the  door  and  some  out  of  the  window  ;  and  as 
soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  committee  had  hired  a  boatman 
to  teach  their  scliool,  the  'boys,'  like  Captain  Martin  Scott's 


coon,  decided  that  I  'needn't  fire,' — they'd  come  down.  I 
had  no  trouble  with  the  school..  One  of  the  young  men  we 
used  to  call  Lee,  who  rejoiced  in  the  height  of  six  feet  seven 
inches  in  his  stockings,  made  the  boys  believe  I  had  killed 
several  'ugly  boys'  up  in  Upper  Cohoes  !  These  river-men 
might  indeed  be  called  '  sons  of  Anak,'  as  they  were  of  prodig- 
ious strength.  The  names  of  Sam  Granger,  Tim  Richardson, 
Charles  Thomas,  Bart  Douglass,  Mart  Coy,  Sol  Caswell,  Cole 
Smith,  and,  last  and  stoutest  of  them  all.  Bill  Cummins,  would 
strike  terror  to  all  loafers,  beats,  or  bruisers  in  the  city  of 
Hartford,  or  wherever  they  were  known.  Cummins  would 
lift  a  barrel  of  salt  with  one  hand  by  putting  two  fingers  in 
the  bung-hole,  and  set  it  from  the  bottom  timbers  on  top  of 
the  mast-board :  I  have  seen  him  do  it.  While  in  Hartford 
and  belonging  to  one  of  the  Wells  River  boats,  he  was  told 
that  a  gang  of  twenty  Irishmen  had  laid  a  plan  to  meet  on 
the  next  night  and  give  him  a  'mauling.'  He  found  Cole 
Smith  and  told  him  to  look  on,  and  if  he  thought  it  necessart/ 
he  might  lend  a  hand.  When  the  gang  made  their  appearance 
near  Knox's  Slip,  Cummins  went  for  them,  and  in  twenty 
minutes  there  wasn't  an  Irishman  in  sight  except  five  or  six 
who  were  lying  around  loose  on  the  ground  with  bloody  noses 
and  broken  ribs.  Smith's  services  were  not  needed,  but  he 
never  liked  it  in  '  Bill'  because  he  did  all  the  pounding  him- 
self. 

"  Very  few  persons  of  the  present  day  know  anytliing  about 
the  method  of  propelling  a  boat  of  from  thirty  to  sixty  tons 
up  the  river  by  means  of  the  white-ash  breeze  aforesaid,  and  it 
may  be  worth  an  explanation.  In  our  river  vernacular  the 
term  given  to  this  kind  of  propulsion  is  'poling  a  boat.' 
The  poles  used  are  made  of  the  best  white-ash  timber,  and  are 
from  twelve  to  twenty  feet  in  length,  according  to  the  depth 
of  water,  and  two  inches  or  more  in  diameter,  with  a  socket- 
spike  in  the  lower  end,  and  a  head  on  the  upper  end  for  the 
shoulder.  The  bowsman  selects  the  pole  he  needs, — this  is,  if 
he  is  an  inside  bowsman,  a  short  pole,  if  an  outside  a  longer 
one, — sets  it  firmly  over  the  side  near  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and, 
placing  the  head  of  the  pole  against  his  shoulder,  straightens 
hiuLself  out  along  the  wale  of  the  boat,  with  his  feet  on  the 
bow-piece,  and  walks  along  down  on  the  timbers  to  the  mast- 
board,  shoving  the  boat  ahead.  If  there  are  two  or  more  men 
on  each  side,  No.  2  takes  a  'set'  in  the  same  way,  the  first 
one  lifting  his  pole  over  No.  2,  and  walking  back  to  the  bow 
to  take  another  'set,'  and  so  on.  Sometimes,  in  hard  water 
or  over  bars,  there  are  five  or  six  men  on  each  side.  This  is 
probably  the  hardest  work  ever  known  to  men.  Men  have 
sometimes  been  obliged  to  pole  a  boat  from  Hartford  to  Wells 
River  without  any  aid  from  wind  or  steam,  and  for  several 
days  before  they  got  toughened  their  bloody  shoulders  bore 
testimony  to  the  severity  of  their  labor.  The  water  from 
Hartford  to  Windsor  locks  is  what  is  called  'hard  water,'  as 
well  as  many  other  places  farther  up ;  and  rest  assured  that 
a  south  wind  or  a  steamboat  was  welcome  to  a  boat's  crew 
bound  up-river. 

"  One  Sabbath  morning,  in  the  spring  of  1837  or  1838,  the 
boat  of  one  of  our  oldest  river-men,  who.se  destination  was 
Old  Hadley,  lay  at  the  foot  of  Perry  Street,  Hartford,  loaded 
and  ready  for  starting.  The  men  were  variously'  employed. 
Some  were  smoking,  some  washing  their  clothing,  and  some 
reading ;  but  all  of  them  were  trying  to  '  woo  the  southern 
breeze,'  which  gave  signs  of  immediate  action.  At  this  point 
the  old  captain  came  down  to  the  river,  eyeing  the  mare-tails 
in  the  southern  sky,  and  told  his  men  not  to  start  if  the  wind 
did  blow,  as  he  was  opposed  to  Sabbath  work  entirely.  But 
as  he  was  leaving  he  called  '  Moses'  aside  and  handed  him 
fifty  dollars,  saying,  '  You  may  want  it  for  toll  and  other  ex-  . 
penses.'  Probably  Moses  knew  what  that  meant  when  trans- 
lated into  Connecticut  River  English.  The  captain  then 
returned  to  Bartlett's  Hotel,  took  a  glass  of  '  pep'mint,'  called 
for  his  horse  and  carriage,  and  drove  twelve  miles  to  AVindsor 


92 


HISTOKY   OP  THK   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


locks,  where  he  found  his  bout  and  men  trying  to  persuade 
Mr.  Wood,  the  toll-gatherer,  to  let  them  through.  Tlie  men 
were  not  dismissed  for  disobeying  orders,  for  they  had  '  a 
glorious  south  wind.' 

"  Now  go  with  me  from  Hartford  up  the  river  on  one  of  our 
b«st  cabin-boats,  in  a  good  south  wind  or  by  steam.  First  get 
under  Hartford  bridge;  then  up  mast,  hoist  .sail,  and  we  leave 
Pumpkin  Harbor  gushingly.  On  Windsor  flats  and  Scantic 
we  .stir  up  the  sand,  but  the  wind  increases  and  away  we  go. 
Steady  there!  Wind.sor  locks!  Let  off  that  brace;  round 
with  'em;  down  sail.  'Jo,  run  along  and  get  a  horse  ready 
while  we  operate  through  the  locks.'  And  so  we  pass  through 
Enfield  Canal,  six  miles,  by  horse-power;  operate  through  the 
guard-lock;  up  sail  again,  and,  leaving  behind  the  roar  of  the 
falls,  and  the  still  louder  roar  of  'Old  Country'  Allen,  our 
boat  goes  through  '  Longmeadow  Keach'  kiting  with  a  'bone 
in  her  mouth.'  We  pass  Springfield  on  a  close-haul,  and  soon 
reach  the  foot  of  Williraansett.  Here  Capt.  Ingraham  hitches 
on  his  big  team  of  six  oxen  and  two  horses,  with  a  chain  one 
hundred  feet  long,  and  draws  us  through  the  swift  canal,  called 
'  drawing  over  Williniansett.'  We  then  cross  over  to  the  foot 
of  South  Hadley  Canal  (now  no  longer  a  canal),  operate 
through  the  locks,  after  paying  toll  to  'Uncle  Si,'  then 
through  the  canal,  two  miles,  and,  if  the  wind  is  strong 
enough,  sail  '  out  at  the  head,'  and  on  up  the  winding  river. 

"The  operation  of  'getting  out  at  the  head'  .should  be 
described.  On  account  of  the  rocky  .shore,  the  canal  was 
begun  a  half-mile  below  the  commencement  of  quick-water. 
Of  course  the  current  is  swift,  and  in  high  water  it  sometimes 
used  to  require  from  fifteen  to  twenty  men  to  get  a  boat  out. 
This  was  done  mainly  by  'tracking.'  A  number  of  men  go 
ashore  with  a  long  track-line  hitched  to  the  mast,  and,  with 
yokes  or  collars  over  the  shoulders,  trudge  and  clamber  along, 
and  'haul  her  over,'  with  inside  polesmen  to  aid.  These  extra 
men  were  put  on  at  the  expense  of  the  canal  corporation.  In 
later  years  this  hand  work  was  avoided.  A  machine  was  in- 
vented by  Harry  Robinson,  one  of  our  first-class  pilots,  for 
drawing  boats  'out  at  the  head'  of  this  canal,  which  did, the 
work  successfully.  The  boatmen  called  it  a  '  fandango. '  Upon 
a  good  staunch  boat  were  placed  two  upright  timbers,  firmly 
braced  fore  and  aft,  one  on  each  side  of  the  boat.  Across  these 
rolled  the  axle,  with  a  drum  for  the  rigging  to  wind  upon, 
with  floats  and  buckets  at  each  end  and  outside  of  the  boat. 
By  means  of  timbers  reaching  from  this  axle  to  the  stern  these 
floats  could  be  lowered  into  or  raised  out  of  the  water.  An 
inch-and-a-quarter  rigging  was  made  fast  at  the  head  of  this 
shute,  and,  reaching  to  the  fandango  (some  two  thousand 
feet),  was  attached  to  the  drum.  Now  cast  off  and  let  the 
floats  down  into  the  water,  and  the  current  will  carry  them 
around,  winding  the  rigging  around  the  drum.  So  away  goes 
the  majestic  fandango  up  the  stream,  taking  along  a  boat  made 
fast  to  its  stern,  and  the  faster  the  water  runs  the  faster  will  go 
the  flotilla  against  it. 

"  But  while  I  have  been  describing  this  machine  our  boat 
has  sailed  on  around  Hockanum,  and,  with  a  little  aid  from 
'white  ash,'  around  'Old  Hadley  turn,' and  now,  after  run- 
ning the  gauntlet  of  School  Meadow  flats,  which  would  puzzle 
an  eel  to  do,  has  made  the  foot  of  Montague  Canal.  And  so 
on  through  the  canal  and  through  Miller's  upper  locks,  and 
thence  plain  sailing  to  the  'foot  of  swift  water'  at  Hinsdale. 
Here,  if  the  wind  is  not  very  strong,  we  take  in  a  few  'swift- 
water-men'  for  twelve  miles,  then  on  to  Bellows  Falls,  and  the 
same  over  and  over  to  Quecchee  and  White  River  locks  up  to 
Wells  River.  This  is  a  good  week's  work,  but  it  has  been 
done  in  less  time.  A  day's  work  with  the  poles,  however, 
would  be  from  Hartford  to  Windsor  locks, — with  a  good  south 
wind,  from  Hartford  to  Montague  Canal.  Between  the  last- 
named  places  but  little  poling  has  been  done  in  the  latter  years 
of  boating,  as  sleani  or  wind  was  more  available. 

"  The  down  trips  of  these  boats  were  a  different  thing.     A 


boat  loaded  with  wood,  brooms,  wooden-ware,  hops,  and  other 
bulky  articles  was  not  an  easy  thing  to  handle  in  a  wind. 
Pilots  wei-e  necessary  over  the  falls  at  Enfield  and  Williman- 
sett.  At  the  latter  place  Harry  Robinson  held  this  responsible 
position  many  years,  and  Joseph  Ely  was  his  successor.  At 
Enfield  the  signal  strain  of  '  Pilot  ahoj" !'  was  heard  at  short 
intervals  through  each  boating  season,  either  for  boats  or  rafts. 
This  call  brought  out  Jack  Burbank,  Alv  Allen,  '  Old 
Country'  Allen,  and  Capt.  Burbank,  Sr. ,  who  would  come 
aboard  and  draw  cuts  for  the  chance.  The  boat  was  then  put 
into  trim  for  'going  over,'  oars  and  poles  all  handy,  rigging 
properly  coiled,  and  every  man  read)'  for  any  emergency. 
The  channel  is  as  difficult  to  run  as  that  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
from  Montreal  to  Laprairie,  but  the  aforementioned  pilots 
seldom  touched  a  rock.  This  run  of  six  miles  was  quickly 
made,  when  the  pilot  would  sometimes  get  a  chance  to  ride, 
but  generally  walked  or  ran  back  for  the  next  boat.  His  fee 
was  one  dollar  and  a  half  each  trip,  and  his  was  a  laborious 
life.  But  they  have  all  gone  '  over  the  river'  for  the  last  time, 
except  Adna  Allen,  formerly  for  twenty-one  years  pilot  of  the 
passenger-boats  running  between  this  city  and  Hartford,  and 
who  now  resides  in  this  city. 

"  It  was  a  custom  to  '  break  in'  the  raw  hand  on  the  passage 
of  the  freight-boats  over  Enfield  Falls  by  showing  him  the 
silver  mine  at  '  Mad  Tom.'  The  initiate  must  get  down  close 
on  the  bow-piece  to  look  for  the  silver,  and  when  the  boat 
pitched  into  'Mad  Tom,'  and  the  water  rushed  over  him  a 
foot  deep,  he  would 'generally  retire  aft  and  say  he'd  'seen 
enough,'  and  it  would  require  quite  a  number  of  gin-cocktails 
at  Hartford  to  dry  him  ! 

"  Some  of  the  pleasantest  days  of  my  life  were  spent  at  the 
helm  of  the  old  steamer  '  Ariel  Cooley'  in  passing  up  and 
down  between  South  Hadley  and  Greenfield, — sometimes  with 
four  or  six  boats  in  tow,  sometimes  with  only  two,  the  down 
trip  being  usually  made  without  any, — as  we  wound  around 
the  placid  Hockanum  of  former  days,  before  the  impatient 
river,  like  many  a  would-be  reformer  of  the  present  day,  con- 
cluded to  straighten  things,  and  so  cut  a  channel  through  its 
narrow  neck, — that  is,  cut  its  throat, — with  Mount  Holyoke 
on  our  right,  looking  majestically  down  upon  our  boys  who 
were  quietly  enjoying  the  scene,  as  if  saying  to  then^,  '  Come 
up  higher,'  while  the  carpeted  meadows  of  Northampton 
seemed  as  urgently  to  invite  their  attention  to  their  own  realm 
of  beauty. 

"  This  towing  process  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  men,  as  it 
gave  them  the  leisure  they  so  much  needed  to  wash,  to  mend, 
and  to  refresh  themselves,  and  prepare  for  the  hard  work  to 
come,  when  the  steamer  had  taken  them  through.  In  this,  as 
in  other  vocations,  some  will  be  remembered  by  their  eccen- 
tricities, some  by  their  reticence,  and  others  by  their  loquacity. 
I  have  listened  till  '  beyont  the  twal'  to  the  anecdotes  of  Ed- 
mund Palmer  and  Bob  Abbe.  I  have  known  John  Sanborn 
to  go  the  whole  round  trip  from  White  River,  Vt.,  without 
speaking,  and  Dick  Thorpe  would  talk  enough  to  make  it  up  I 
Other  notables  were  Capt.  Peck,  who  presided  with  so  much 
dignity  over  the  passenger-steamers  from  tliis  city  to  Hartford, 
and  who  was  said  to  have  been  arrested  for  smuggling  I  This 
was  a  line  of  small  steamers  first  put  on  by  James  Blanchard, 
then  of  this  city.  The  first  was  the  'Springfield,'  a  side- 
wheel  steamer ;  then  tlie  '  Vermont,'  a  stern-wheeler,  built  by 
Blanchard,  the  'Massachusetts,'  the  'Agawam,'  and  the 
'Phcvnix.'  The  'Massachusetts'  only  could  come  up  over 
Enfield  Falls,  and  many  of  this  day  can  remember  the  sturdy 
form  of  the  faithful  pilot,  Ad  Allen,  who  so  long  guided  these 
boats  through  storm  and  shine.  Capt.  Increase  Mosely,  too, 
commanded  one  of  these  boats  awhile, — the  best  singer  on 
Connecticut  River;  Capt.  David  Hoyt  another,— the  complete 
story-teller. 

"('apt.  Jonathan  Kcntfield  was  also  one  of  tlie  early 
workers  on  this  river,  and  ran  a  line  of  boats  on  his  own  ac- 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


93 


count  for  a  number  of  years.  His  distinguisliing  character- 
istic was  pomposity,  but  he  was  a  considered  a  trusty  and 
competent  boatman.  While  he  was  in  his  best  days,  the  body 
of  a  deceased  member  of  Congress  from  Vermont  was  sent 
forward  from  Washington,  and  came  from  New  York  to 
Hartford  by  steamboat,  directed  to  his  friends  in  Vermont,  to 
go  by  lirst  boat  up  the  Connecticut  River.  None  of  the  up- 
river  companies  were  willing  to  take  it.  Finally,  one  who 
knew  the  captain's  weak  spot  (he  was  called  '  Capt.  Don't') 
told  him  that  the  remains  of  a  Vermont  member  of  Congress 
had  been  forwarded  to  his  special  care  to  go  up  by  his  boat. 
'Very  well,'  said  Capt.  Don't.  'Boys,  do  you  hear  that? 
Drop  down  the  boat  to  the  steamboat,  and  take  the  body 
aboard  1  How  the  people  of  the  city  of  Washington  knew 
that  I  was  an  old  and  experienced  boatman,  God  only  knows. 
I  don't !'  The  boatmen  took  it  aboard,  taking  a  frequent  sniff 
of  something  warm  the  while,  and  when  fairly  under  way  by 
the  side  of  the  up-river  steamboat,  Capt.  Don't  called  his  men 
and  said  to  them,  '  Come  aft,  men,  come  aft,  and  take  some- 
thing to  drink ;  dead  bodies  aboard, — ten  or  fifteen,  p'haps, 
one  sartain, — and  who  knows  but  what  they  died  of  some  d — n 
spontaneous  disease?  Drink  behind  that  hogshead,  and  don't, 
for  (iod's  sake,  let  Gen.  Culver  see  you  I' 

"Mr.  Blanchard  sold  out  his  interest  in  these  boats,  after 
running  them  two  or  three  years,  to  Sargent  &  Chapin,  who 
used  them  in  connection  with  their  line  of  stages.  It  was  a 
very  pleasant  mode  of  travel  unless  the  water  was  low,  but 
many  a  time  have  the  passengers  been  obliged  to  jump  into 
the  water  and  lift  the  'Phcenix'and  'Agawam' over 'Scantic' 
In  the  new  scheme  for  improving  Connecticut  River  naviga- 
tion. Gen.  Ellis,  the  government  engineer,  is  confident  of  se- 
curing a  channel  of  three  or  three  and  a  half  feet  of  water 
over  these  sand-flats,  by  means  of  wing-dams  running  diag- 
onally from  each  side  of  the  river,  bringing  the  water  into  a 
narrow  channel,  which  is  expected  in  this  way  to  keep  itself 
clear  by  forcing  the  continually  moving  sand  down  through 
this  channel.  I  find,  however,  that  most  of  the  old  experienced 
boatmen  now  living  have  little  faith  in  it.  The  rest  of  the 
enterprise  looks  feasible,  and  no  doubt  will  succeed  if  Congress 
will  make  the  needed  appropriation. 

"  Before  closing  these  reminiscences  I  should  also  speak  of 
Messrs.  Abbe  and  Ensign,  who  boated  so  many  years  to  Ware- 
house Point;  King  Hiram  Smith,  of  South  Hadley  ;  Capt. 
Sam  Nutt,  of  White  River;  Tom  Dunham,  of  Bellows  falls; 
and  Rufus  Robinson,  the  most  consummate  waterman  of  the 
Connecticut  River  Valley,  who  performed  the  feat  of  sailing 
a  boat  loaded  with  a  valuable  cargo  through  to  Wells  River, 
Vt.,  the  first  time  he  ever  went  up  the  river  beyond  Turner's 
Falls.  He  also  ran  the  'Adam  Duncan,'  minus  her  machinery, 
over  South  Hadley  Falls,  and  came  safe  ashore  below.  Yet, 
with  all  his  skill,  his  life  was  closed  by  his  being  carried  over 
Holyoke  dam,  a  few  years  since.  Capt.  Granger,  who  had 
no  superior  on  the  river,  recently  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five. 
His  old  comrades  will  hold  him  in  afl'ectionate  remembrance. 
We  have  now  left  among  us,  of  the  men  who  formerly  took 
part  in  the  scenes  I  have  described,  Roderick  Ashley,  Stod- 
dard Parker,  Albert  Gowdy,  Adna  Allen,  and  Sylvester  Day, 
who,  with  others  I  have  named,  are  and  were  good  and  sub- 
stantial men. 

"  Raftiuf)  on  the.  Conneciicitt  a  Generation  Ago. — The  late 
rush  of  logs  down  the  '  dark  rolling  Connecticut'  calls  to 
mind  the  various  attempts,  in  years  long  gone  bj',  to  transfer 
lumber  from  the  forests  of  Northern  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont  to  Hartford  and  Middletown,  Conn.  Many  a  law- 
suit during  the  old  boating-times  has  grown  out  of  this 
river-driving  business.  Like  the  case  of  '  Bullum  versus 
Boatum,'  the  lumberman  would  sue  the  farmer  for  stopping 
his  logs,  and  the  farmer  would  sue  the  lumberman  for  damage 
d(me  to  liis  meadows  by  the  said  logs.  So  they  wrangled  and 
strove,  and  the  courts  were  well  patronized.     But  this  river- 


driving,  or  running  logs  loose,  was  found  to  bo  a  losing  busi- 
ness, and  the  most  available  method  of  transporting  lumber 
down  the  Connecticut — logs,  boards,  clap-boards,  and  shin- 
gles— was  by  rafting,  an  account  of  which  may  be  of  interest. 
The  rafting  terms  used  on  this  river  are,  division,  raft,  box, 
steerage,  beams,  snubbers,  flyers,  ties,  oars,  lock-downs,  catch- 
pins,  cross-ties,  and  scull-boards.  The  box,  being  the  unit,  is 
a  collection  of  masts  or  logs,  made  thirteen  feet  wide  and  sixty 
or  seventy  feet  long.  If  it  is  made  up  of  long  timber,  the 
box  is  the  length  of  the  timber,  more  or  less,  provided  it  is 
not  too  long  to  go  through  the  locks.  If  of  short  timber,  it 
is  made  by  piecing  out,  so  as  to  be  of  the  requisite  length. 
These  logs  are  fastened  by  oak  or  ash  pins,  driven  through 
the  steerage-beam  at  each  end  of  the  box,  and  in  case  of  short 
logs  they  are  held  by  cross-ties,  using  lock-downs  or  catch- 
pins.  Two  inch-and-a-half  or  two-inch  holes  are  bored  in 
the  middle  of  each  steerage-beam  and  through  into  the  logs, 
for  oar-pins ;  then  some  smart  flexible  sticks  or  flyers  are  bent 
in  to  rai.se  the  oar  to  a  proper  position,  and  we  have  a  '  box' 
of  round  timber.  Six  of  these  boxes,  fastened  together — three 
in  width  and  two  in  length — by  ties,  make  a  division.  Any 
number  of  boxes,  or  divisions  even,  fastened  together  in  run- 
ning order,  is  a  raft.  Fifty  years  ago  this  river  was  full  of 
rafts  during  the  spring  run,  as  well  as  of  salmon  and  shad. 
A  lumber  company  would  generally  run  six  or  eight  divisions 
at  one  trip,  having  shanties  built  on  some  of  them,  wherein 
to  cook,  eat,  and  sleep.  In  my  boyhood  I  used  to  listen  with 
delight  to  the  creak  of  the  ponderous  oar,  as  it  swung  back 
for  its  oft-recurring  dip,  and  echoed  through  the  quiet  valley. 
It  was  the  welcome  precursor  of  a  coming  jubilee  for  the  boys, 
who  were  ever  ready  to  rush  to  the  river-bank  to  see  the  stal- 
wart men  and  hear  their  jolly  songs  ;  and  the  girls  too,  and 
men,  women,  and  children,  would  watch  with  pleasure  the 
grand  flotilla  of  rafts,  as,  emerging  into  view  around  the  bend 
of  Sawyer's  Mountain,  they  came  along  down  one  after  another 
in  all  the  grandeur  of  an  army  corps. 

"One  of  the  three  or  four  men  assigned  to  each  division 
acts  as  pilot, — that  is,  he  runs  the  division.  His  position 
is  forward, — one  of  great  responsibility ;  and  such  was  the 
scope  of  the  pride  of  the  majority  of  these  pilots  that  they 
would  as  soon  forfeit  their  hard-earned  summer's  wages  as  to 
run  a  raft  upon  a  rock  or  a  flat.  The  rafts  were  often  loaded 
with  boards,  shingles,  and  clap-boards.  This  was  called  'top- 
loading.'  Then  we  had  '  board-rafts,'  the  boards  being  rafted 
into  the  water,  and  of  the  same  length  and  width,  and  with 
as  many  courses  as  the  nature  of  the  water  and  locks  would 
permit,  drawing  from  one  to  two  feet  of  water.  When  a  sale 
was  made  of  a  box  of  boards,  the  next  and  most  disagreeable 
task  was  to  '  draw'  them.  One  man  would  stand  with  a  broom 
and  swash  them  off,  while  the  rest  would  carry  them  ashore, — 
about  the  hardest  work  a  mortal  man  was  ever  called  upon  to 
do  ;  and,  I  must  add,  it  requires  very  nearly  as  much  new  rum 
to  draw  a  box  of  boards  handsomely  as  would  float  the  box  I 
On  reaching  the  vicinity  of  the  locks  the  second  divisions  are 
'  snubbed,' — i.e.,  made  fast  ashore.  The  process  of  snubbing  a 
raft  is  laborious,  difficult,  and  dangerous.  The  rigging,  which 
is  heavy,  must  be  handled  in  a  hurry,  and  just  right.  The 
strength  and  velocity  of  movement  of  the  ponderous  body  of 
lumber  admits  of  no  false  motions.  If  it  is  brought  up  too 
suddenly,  the  rigging  parts  or  the  raft  is  torn  to  pieces  ;  if 
not  soon  enough,  the  rigging  runs  out,  and  away  goes  the  raft ; 
another  trial  is  to  be  made  at  the  next  available  tree.  A  man 
who  can  snub  a  raft  handsomely  in  high  water  must  have  a 
head  exactly  level,  and  a  body  made  up  mainly  of  steel 
springs  and  india-rubber.  Now,  to  operate  through  the  locks, 
cast  off  the  ties  and  shove  in  one  box  at  a  time,  stationing  one 
man  below  to  re-arrange  and  tie  the  boxes  together  as  they 
come  through.  This  is  the  process  over  and  over  at  White 
River,  tjiu'echee,  Bellows  Falls,  Miller's  River,  Turner's  Falls, 
South  Hadley,  and  at  Enfield  Falls  and  Swift  Water,  although 


94 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


at  the  two  last  named  a  whole  division  could  go  over  in  high 
water.  Generally,  however,  at  Enfield  only  one  or  two  boxes 
could  be  run  at  a  time,  and  this,  with  the  freight-boats,  gave 
the  Aliens  and  the  Burbanks,  the  pilots,  all  they  could  do 
during  the  rafting  season. 

"  I  call  to  mind  a  few  of  the  laughable,  and  peradventure 
startling,  incidents  which  served  in  those  days  to  give  human- 
ity a  jog  and  beguile  some  of  the  tedious  hours.  There  was 
a  little  man,  by  the  name  of  Jarve  Adams,  who  had  risen  to 
the  dignity  of  ferryman  at  Thompsonville, — that  is,  the  head 
of  Enfield  Palls.  One  pleasant  day  Jarve  found  the  rafts 
encroaching  upon  his  ferry-rights, — that  is  to  say,  as  they  lay 
along-shore  waiting  the  action  of  the  pilots,  they  had  been 
allowed  to  drop  down  a  little  too  far,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
douglity  ferryman ;  and  he,  being  a  man  of  immense  conse- 
quence according  to  his  own  reckoning,  uttered  many  large 
words,  accompanied  with  a  number  of  quite  respectable  physi- 
cal demonstrations.  One  of  the  big  Vermonters, — I  think  it 
was  Steve  Ames, — having  listened  to  his  fulminations  till  he 
was  tired  of  it,  told  him  that  he  ran  something  of  a  risk  in 
coming  on  board  the  rafts  ;  that  he  (Ames)  'sometimes  had 
fits,'  and  when  he  did  he  clutched  hold  of  anything  within 
his  reach,  and  would  as  likely  as  not  walk  right  into  the  river, 
so  he  must  look  out.  This  squelched  him  for  a  day  or  so,  but 
he  soon  got  his  '  dander  up'  again,  and,  forgetting  about  the 
fits,  came  aboard  and  began  to  call  down  vengeance  on  all  the 
raftsmen  between  there  and  '  Fifteen-Mile  Falls.'  Whereupon 
Ames,  a  six-foot-and-four-incher,  telling  Jarve  his  fit  was 
coming  on,  grabbed  him  and  walked  straight  into  the  river, 
wading  out  beyond  his  struggling  victim's  depth,  and  sousing 
him  vigorously,  only  letting  him  up  to  breathe,  and  telling 
him  all  the  while  he  couldn't  help  it,  and  '  I  told  you  so,'  till 
poor  Jarve  was  nearly  exhausted  and  begged  piteously  to  be 
let  otf.  After  punishing  him  as  much  as  he  thought  was  right 
he  allowed  him  to  go  ashore,  cautioning  him  next  time  to  look 
out  for  'them  fits.'  The  roars  of  laughter  raised  at  Jarve's 
expense  could  be  heard  above  the  roar  of  the  falls.  Ad  Allen 
was  there  and  saw  the  fun,  and  from  him  and  Mr.  Elwell, 
our  artist,  I  got  the  story. 

"  One  day  Capron  and  Alexander  had  a  lot  of  boxes  lying 
at  the  head.  Capron  and  'Old  Country'  took  a  couple  of 
them  and  started  over  the  falls.  Just  as  they  entered  on  the 
upjier  falls  the  forward  tie  broke,  and  away  they  went,  spread- 
ing and  swinging  around,  taking  off  the  other  tie  in  less  time 
than  I  am  writing  it;  and  the  two  were  thenceforth  separate, 
each  man  going  over  tbe  surging  waters  on  his  own  hook. 

"  Old  Country. — '  Point  her  ashore,  Capron  !' 

"  Capron. — '  Go  to  thunder  !   I  can  run  her  over.' 

"  Country. — 'Can  ye?  Well,  you've  got  to  go  about  right 
or  you'll  fetch  up  on  Leonard.' 

"  Capron. — 'Tell  'em  I'm  a-coniing.'. 

"It  was  said  by  a  boatman  who  was  coming  up  through 
the  canal  that  he  saw  some  one  running  a  box  of  lumber 
through  all  manner  of  cliannels,  and  he  was  not  sure  but  he 
made  the  attempt  once,  at  least,  to  scull  it  over  the  falls,  but 
that  was  not  generally  believed.  It  might  have  been,  how- 
ever, that  he  ran  around  the  island  once  or  twice ;  and  it  was 
said  he  was  last  seen  pointing  her  diagonally  with  the  stream, 
with  a  view  of  giving  her  sufficient  headway  to  put  over  into 
the  canal,  but  I  never  believed  it.  At  any  rate,  he  landed  his 
box  safe  and  sound  at  the  foot  of  the  falls,  which  was  consid- 
ered in  those  days  '  right  smart.'  Whether  it  was  with  him 
as  with  many  others  we  read  about,  that  the (old  gentle- 
man) '  always  keeps  his  own,'  I  shall  not  venture  to  say. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  recall  the  names  of  those  ancient 
lumbermen,  nor  is  it  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  this  paper. 
But  I  desire  to  note  here  and  now  those  I  do  remember,  in 
honor  of  the  days  of  Auld  Lang  Syne,  .all  of  whom  were 
owners  or  cajitains. 

"Vp  Country. — Ebenezer  L.  Carlton,  James  Hutchins,  Sul- 


livan Hutchins,  Deacon  Gilchrist,  Samuel  Hutchins,  Josiah 
Wilson,  Nahum  Wilson,  Jonathan  Wilson,  Abiel  Deming, 
Daniel  Holt,  Moses  Chase,  Timothy  Morse,  Wyram  Morse, 
Stephen  Morse,  Jacob  Morse,  Charles  Scott,  Cyrus  Scott,  Jared 
Wells,  Horace  Wells,  Hiram  Wells,  Windsor  Cobleigh,  and 
William  Abbott. 

'^  Down  Count>y. — Stratton,  Solomon  Spencer,  Silas  Burn- 
ham  and  sons,  S.  P.  Dudley,  W'illiam  Dudley,  George  W. 
Potter,  B.  F.  Savage,  and  Daniel  Burnham. 

"  Stephen  Morse, — or  rather  '  Steve,'  as  he  was  better  known, 
— was  one  of  those  queer  compounds  of  music,  mirth,  and  meta- 
physics, of  logic,  labor,  language,  and  loquacity,  intermixed 
with  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  social  as  well  as  the  vocal 
element,  which  is  sure  to  fi.x  itself  permanently  in  one's 
memory.  Those  who  have  heard  him  ring  out  the  old  song 
of  '  The  Sea,  the  Sea,  the  Open  Sea,'  on  the  soft  evening  air, 
as  they  floated  by,  while  every  man  sat  upon  his  oar,  and  not 
a  ripple  on  the  stream,  while  gentle  Luna  looked  down  with 
approval,  will  never  forget  how  it  echoed  and  re-echoed  among 
the  grand  old  mountains  and  through  the  groves  and  vales. 
And  now  I  think  of  it,  and  apropos  to  this  rush  of  logs  down 
the  river,  Morse  had  a  number  of  divisions  of  logs  lying  in 
the  pond  above  Montague  Canal.  On  inquiry  he  found  it 
would  cost  him  eight  hundred  dollars  to  run  them  through 
the  canal.  This  he  thought  was  a  gouge  game,  and  gave  out 
word  that  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours  every  stick  of 
that  lumber  would  be  turned  loose  over  Turner's  Falls. 
Hearing  of  this,  and  knowing  the  sort  of  a  man  he  had  to 
deal  with,  the  agent  went  to  see  him,  and,  fearing  he  should 
lose  the  toll  on  that  lumber,  softened  down  to  five  hundred 
dollars.  Morse  said,  'Mr.  Thayer,  I'll  give  you  just  two 
hundred  dollars  to  put  that  lumber  through.  Not  one  cent 
more.'  The  lumber  went  through  the  canal  on  the  eve  of 
the  Sabbath-day.  While  this  lot  of  lumber  lay  in  the  canal, 
near  the  lower  locks,  the  men  of  these  and  other  rafts  lying 
around  loose  and  idle  and  enjoying  a  quiet  time,  Morse,  ac- 
cording to  a  notice  which  had  been  given  out,  took  the 
family  Bible  from  the  hotel  upon  his  shoulder  and,  followed 
by  all  these  men  and  also  by  the  citizens  of  the  place,  wended 
his  way  to  the  school-house,  and  after  the  usual  preliminaries 
took  his  text  and  delivered  an  acceptable  Baptist  sermon, 
every  way  proper  and  appropriate,  and  none  the  worse  for 
coming  from  inside  of  a  blue  frock.  A  generous  contribu- 
tion was  taken  up  on  the  spot,  which  the  preacher  declined, 
but  requested  that  it  be  given  to  the  poor.  Mr.  Henry,  the 
hotel-keeper  at  that  place,  not  to  be  outdone  by  '  Steve,' 
opened  his  book  and  squared  the  account  against  him  and 
his  men.     The  next  night  was  '  flip  night.' 

"  It  will  never  do  in  these  reminiscences  to  omit  the  name 
of  'Uncle  Bill  Russell,'  the  long-time  toll-gatherer  of  the 
Montague  Locks  and  Canal  Company ;  yet  I  will  not  attempt 
to  describe  him,  save  by  these  Ibur  adjectives, — rough,  honest, 
eccentric,  faithful.  One  incident  will  show.  Capt.  Spencer 
had  gone  through  the  locks  with  a  lot  of  lumber,  and  went 
back  to  settle  his  toll.  '  Uncle  Bill'  handed  him  his  duplicate 
receipt,  as  was  usual.  Now,  the  captain,  although  a  good 
man,  had  a  habit  of  using  one  profane  term,  to  wit :  '  by 
h^l.'  This  was  the  extent  of  his  swearing,  but  this  came  in 
pretty  often.  On  looking  at  the  duplicate  he  thought  Uncle 
Bill  had  rated  him  too  high.  '  By  h— 1!  Uncle  Bill,'  said  he, 
'  that's  too  bad  ;  that's  altogether  too  high.'  Russell  paid  but 
little  attention  to  him,  until  after  Spencer  had  followed  him 
all  over  the  canal  grounds  and  had  teased  him  most  persist- 
ently to  change  it,  when  he,  taking  the  paper,  went  in  and 
added  about  one  hundred  dollars  more  to  the  toll,  and,  hand- 
ing him  back  the  paper,  said,  in  Spencer's  own  language, 
'There,  by  h — 1!  see  if  you're  satisfied  now.'  One  of  the 
Wells  River  raftmen  was  a  little  too  many  for  Uncle  Bill  at 
one  time,  when  he  .'iold  him  a  coupU^  of  young  owls,  at  a  very 
tall  price,  for  parrots.     Dictionaries  were  no  account  when  he 


IIISTOllY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


95 


discovered  the  cheat.  Capt.  Silas  Buriihain  hiid  just  finished 
rafting  a  lot  of  down-country  lumber,  and  was  ready  to  start 
down  the  river,  but  he  had  one  man  he  wanted  to  discharge. 
So  he  bethought  him  that  his  man,  'Uncle  Ira,'  could  not 
read ;  he  therefore  took  a  shingle  and  wrote  upon  it,  '  Mr. 
Cheney,  dismiss  Uncle  Ira  and  pay  him  off.'  He  then  sent 
him  down  with  the  shingle,  telling  him  it  was  '  money-busi- 
ness.' Uncle  Ira  marched  into  the  store,  well  filled  with 
customers,  and,  with  quite  an  air  of  authority,  said,  '  Mr. 
Gincry,  bore  buddy  watted'  (more  money  wanted),  at  the 
same  time  producing  the  shingle.  Mr.  Cheney  looked  at 
the  shingle  and  saw  the  joke.  'Why,  Uncle  Ira,'  said  he, 
'this  is  for  your  discharge!'  Uncle  Ira  looked  all  sorts  of 
surprise,  and  at  last,  turning  to  leave  the  store,  said,  'Dab 
that  Silas  Burdab  I'  Capt.  Burnham  was  well  known  on  the 
river,  and  I  could  note  a  great  variety  of  anecdotes,  but  they'll 
tell  better  than  they  can  be  written.  It  was  always  an  insult 
to  a  raftman  to  ask  him  which  way  he  was  going,  '  up  or 
down  ?'  One  kind  old  lady,  who  had  just  served  breakfast  for 
the  captain  and  his  men,  innocently  asked  him  this  tabooed 
question  just  as  he  was  leaving  for  his  raft.  Hearing  it  from 
her,  he  turned  and  soberly  answered,  '  Yes,  ma'am  I' 

"  In  1849  I  bought  for  Kimball  &  Clark,  the  contractors, 
eight  hundred  thousand  feet  of  hemlock  timber,  near  the  head 
of  navigation,  for  the  present  Holyoke  dam.  This  was  rafted 
and  run  to  the  South  Hadley  Canal  that  season,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  unwieldy  jobs  that  a  raftman  ever  knew.  It  was 
maiuifactured  mainly  at  the  head  of  the  canal,  and  passed 
through  to  the  dam.  The  contractors  sunk  money  in  propor- 
tion as  the  soggy  hemlocks  sank  in  the  water,  but  the  dam 
stands. 

"  How  the  valley  rang  with  the  songs  of  these  boatmen  and 
raftmen  of  thirty  or  forty  years  ago!  Good  singers  they  were, 
too,  some  of  them ;  and  even  after  these  long  years  have 
intervened,  with  their  ever-increasing  rush  of  business,  at- 
tended by  the  scream  of  the  whistle  and  the  thundering  of  the 
car,  it  requires  but  a  slight  effort  of  the  imagination  to  recall 
the  mellow  songs  of  Cutler,  of  Guildhall,  Vt.,  Chamberlain, 
of  Newbury,  Morse,  of  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  Humes,  of  Mon- 
tague, and  nuiny  more  whose  names  have  not  in  my  memory 
survived  their  voices.  Capt.  Jonathan  Smith,  of  South  Had- 
ley, the  pilot  for  many  years  over  Willimansett,  and  the 
father  of  the  superintendent  of  our  street-railway,  was  one  of 
the  jolly  singers  of  that  day,  and  always  ready  to  contribute 
his  share  for  the  gratification  of  the  company.  But  farewell 
to  the  river-men  of  old  and  the  incidents  of  their  time  until  wo 
'  gather  at  the  river' !" 

IV. 

STEAM   NAVIGATION. 

The  first  attempt  to  navigate  the  Connecticut  above  Hart- 
ford by  steam  was  in  1826,  when  a  company  was  formed 
in  that  city  for  the  purpose.  An  agent  was  sent  West  to  ex- 
amine boats  on  the  Western  rivers  and  make  a  report.  On 
his  return  the  "Barnet,"  of  the  wheelbarrow  pattern,  was 
built  in  New  York,  and  made  her  first  trip  to  Springfield  in 
November,  1826,  arriving  on  the  28th  of  the  month.  She 
ascended  the  river  at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour,  under  the 
pilotage  of  Roderick  Palmer,  of  West  Springfield,  and  went 
as  far  as  Bellows  Falls,  Vt.,  and  passed  Springfield  on  her 
way  down  on  the  18th  of  December. 

It  was  apparent  that  she  could  not  be  depended  upon  to  as- 
cend the  rapids  at  Enfield,  Conn.,  and  the  project  of  building 
a  canal  was  agitated,  and  work  was  finally  commenced  on  it 
in  1827,  but  it  was  not  completed  for  about  two  years. 

In  the  mean  time  an  ingenious  mechanic,  long  an  employe 
at  the  United  States  armory, — Mr.  Thomas  Blanchard, — built 
a  side-wheel  boat  at  Hartford,  put  in  the  machinery,  and 
named  it  the  "Blanchard."  He  made  a  trial  trip  to  South 
Hadley  on  the  30th  of  July,  1828.     On  the  11th  of  September 


he  made  an  excursion  to  Hartford  and  return  with  about  sixty 
passengers,  making  the  downward  trip  in  a  little  over  two 
hours,  but  taking  much  longer  to  return  over  the  rapids  at 
Enfield.  On  the  30th  of  the  same  month  she  made  an  eight- 
mile  trip  with  a  large  number  of  school-children  on  board. 

But  the  "Blanchard"  was  found  to  be  but  little  better 
adapted  to  overcome  the  Enfield  obstructions  than  the  "  Bar- 
net,"  and  Blanchard  constructed  a  new  boat  upon  an  improved 
plan,  which  was  named  tlve  "Vermont."  She  was  a  stern- 
wheeler,  seventy-five  feet  in  length  and  fifteen  feet  wide,  and 
only  drew  one  foot  of  water. 

This  boat  was  built  on  wheels,  east  of  Main  Street,  nearly 
opposite  the  present  Wilcox  Street.  This  was  probably  the 
first  steamboat  built  in  Massachusetts  with  engine  complete.* 
It  was  launched  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  1829,  being  drawn 
to  the  river  by  the  men  who  had  gathered  to  "see  the  sight." 
This  boat  made  six  miles  an  hour  up-stream,  and  in  July 
made  several  trips  to  Hartford  with  one  hundred  passengers, 
returning  the  same  day,  and  ascending  the  falls,  a  distance  of 
five  miles,  in  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes.  In  August  she 
went  up  toBrattleboro',  and  was  at  Windsor,  Vt.,  in  October. 
This  first  trip  of  a  regular  steamer  was  the  occasion  of  great 
excitement  along  the  river,  where  the  people  assembled  from 
many  miles,  and  celebrated  the  occasion  by  the  ringing  of 
bells  and  the  firing  of  guns. 

The  secret  of  the  success  of  the  "  Vermont"  lay  in  the  fact 
that  her  wheel  was  placed  far  enough  astern  to  work  in  the 
dead  water. 

The  "Enfield  Canal"  was  finished  Nov.  11,  1829,  and  the 
"  Vermont"  took  down  a  party  from  Springfield  and  returned, 
passing  the  canal  both  ways.  The  "  Blanchard"  also  brought 
up  a  party  from  Hartford  to  the  lower  end  of  the  canal. 

In  April,  1830,  the  schooner  "  Eagle,"  which  had  been 
running  between  New  York  and  Warehouse  Point,  came 
around  from  Albany  and  up  through  the  canal  with  a  load  of 
rye  for  Springfield.  The  steamers  "Vermont"  and  "Blan- 
chard" also  laid  at  the  wharves  at  that  time.  The  latter  was 
advertised  on  the  1.5th  of  May,  1830,  to  make  regular  trips  to 
Hartford. 

Mr.  Blanchard  had  then  recently  returned  from  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  where  he  had  built  the  "  Allegheny,"  on  the  model  of  the 
"Vermont,"  which  pattern  was  universally  adopted  on  the 
Western  rivers.  On  the  first  of  June  the  "  Vermtrnt"  com- 
menced running  regularly  between  Springfield  and  Hartford, 
and  there  was  a  lively  competition  during  the  season  between 
the  boats  and  the  stage-lines,  which  latter  ran  on  each  side 
of  the  river,  under  the  management  of  Messrs.  Sargent  & 
Chapin. 

A  new  steamer,  called  the  "  Massachusetts,"  was  built  by 
Mr.  Blanchard  in  the  winter  of  1830-31,  calculated  for  the 
better  accommodation  of  passengers,  but  too  long  for  the  low 
stages  of  water  In  the  river.  It  was  much  the  largest  and  most 
complete  boat  which  had  yet  been  seen  in  Springfield,  having 
a  cabin  upon  deck  and  a  double  engine.  It  commenced  run- 
ning in  the  spring  of  1831,  hut  could  not  go  through  the 
locks  or  run  in  low  water. 

It  was  said  that  Mr.  Blanchard  had  invested  eight  thousand 
dollars  in  his  boats.  He  had  at  first  been  greatly  accommo- 
dated by  the  canal  company,  but  now  they  threatened  him 
with  heavy  tolls  unless  he  would  do  towing,  which  would  in- 
terfere with  passenger  travel. 

The  season  of  1831  opened  with  the  "  Hampden"  in  March, 
which  then  commenced  running  for  John  Cooley  &  Co.,  as  a 
freight-towing  boat.  In  April  the  "Vermont"  commenced 
the  passenger  business,  under  an  arrangement  between  Mr. 
Blanchard  and  Messrs.  Sargent  &  Chapin  by  which  the  stages 
running  in  competition  with  the  boat  were  withdrawn. 

The  "Springfield"  (probably  the  "Blanchard"  under  an- 

*  See  article  of  Mr.  T.  M.  Dewey,  preceding  this. 


96 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


other  name)  also  commenced  towing  in  April  for  the  Connecti- 
cut River  Valley  Company.  This  company  had  just  launched 
the  "  Ledyard"  at  Springfield,  for  the  use  of  the  towing  trade 
above  the  town.  In  July  the  "  Wm.  Hall"  was  put  on  as  a 
tow-boat,  to  run  between  Hartford  and  South  Hadley  Falls, 
while  the  "Ledyard"  was  placed  above,  between  the  Falls 
and  Greenfield. 

The  "  Massachusetts"  commenced  her  trips  in  June,  and  in 
the  course  of  the  following  month  Messrs.  Sargent  &  Chapin 
purchased  Mr.  Blanchard's  interest  in  the  steamers  "Ver- 
mont" and  "Massachusetts;"  and  his  connection  witli  the 
boating  business  ceased  from  that  time,  though  he  remained 
in  Springfield  a  year  or  two  afterward. 

Another  steamer,  called  the  "  James  Dwight,"  was  also  put 
on  the  line  between  Hartford  and  Springfield  for  the  accom- 
modation of  passengers  coming  up  in  the  morning  and  return- 
ing in  the  evening. 

The  "Massachusetts,"  immediately  after  her  transfer,  was 
thoroughly  overhauled,  and  supplied  with  new  and  heavier 
boilers  and  furnaces.  The  superintendent  of  that  work  was 
afterward  the  engineer  of  the  ill-fated  ocean  steamer  "Arctic," 
lost  ofl'Cape  Race  ;  and  is  said  to  have  put  oft'  from  the  sinliing 
ship,  and  was  never  afterward  heard  of. 

The  "  Massachusetts"  was  in  service  some  twelve  years,  and 
was  finally  burned  at  her  wharf  in  Hartford. 

Contemporary  with  the  "Massachusetts,"  the  "Agawam" 
was  put  on  the  line  and  run  in  connection  with  her ;  and  two 
other  boats,  the  "Phceni.\"  and  "Franklin,"  were  built  and 
launched  for  the  pas.senger  traffic,  but  saw  very  little  service, 
as  the  boats  were  all  withdrawn  upon  the  opening  of  the  rail- 
way from  Springfield  to  Hartford,  in  1844.  The  "Franklin" 
was  sold  and  taken  to  Philadelphia,  and  the  other  two  were 
taken  to  Maine,  where  they  were  engaged  in  the  trade  of  the 
Kennebeck  River. 

In  1842,  Charles  Dickens  made  his  first  visit  to  this  country, 
and  in  the  beginning  of  February  went  from  Springfield  to 
Hartford  on  the  "Massachusetts."  It  was  the  first  trip  of  the 
season,  and  the  second,  he  says,  "as  early  in  February,  within 
the  memory  of  man."  Though  the  boat  was  the  largest  and 
most  capacious  of  all  that  had  been  built  or  used  on  the  river 
in  Massachusetts,  yet  he  treated  it  as  a  small  aftair,  and  de- 
scribed it  as  of  about  one-half  pony-power.  The  grand  cabin 
he  compared  to  the  parlor  of  a  Liliputian  public-house  which 
had  got  afloat  in  a  flood  and  was  drifting  no  one  knew  where, 
but  it  contained  the  inevitable  rocking-chair,  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  get  away  from  in  America. 

"The  boat,"  says  he,  "was  so  short  and  narrow  we  all 
kept  the  middle  of  the  deck,  lest  it  should  une.xpectedly  tip 
over;  the  machinery,  by  some  surprising  process  of  condensa- 
tion, worked  between  it  and  the  keel;  the  whole  forming  a 
warm  sandwich  about  three  feet  thick." 

It  was  raining  hard  the  whole  day,  the  river  was  full  of 
floating  ice,  and  the  boat  was  obliged  to  work  in  the  shallow 
water  to  avoid  the  huge  blocks. 

He  thought  the  Connecticut  a  fine  stream,  and  the  banks 
beautiful  in  summer. 

"After  two  hours  and  a  half  of  this  odd  traveling  (includ- 
ing a  stoppage  at  a  small  town,  where  we  were  saluted  by  a 
gun  considerably  bigger  than  our  own  chimney),  we  reached 
Hartford." 

During  the  fifteen  years  in  which  boats  were  running  on  the 
river  there  was  only  one  serious  accident:  the  steamer  "Green- 
field" exploded  her  boilers  at  South  Hadley  in  May,  1840,  by 
wliich  three  lives  were  lost  and  property  to  the  value  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  was  destroyed. 

V. 

CANALS. 

The  first  attempt  to  connect  the  western  part  of  the  State 
with  Boston  and  tide-water  was  as  early  as  1791,  when  Gen. 


Henry  Knox  took  active  measures  to  determine  the  physical 
feasibility  of  the  work  by  causing  a  series  of  surveys  to  be 
made  by  an  eminent  engineer,  John  Hills,  Esq.,  upon  two 
routes, — a  southern  one  via  Worcester,  and  a  more  northern 
one. 

Gen.  Knox  and  his  associates  were  finally  incorporated  by 
the  Legislature  on  the  10th  of  March,  1792,  with  the  title  of 
"  The  Proprietors  of  the  Massachusetts  Canal,"  with  authority 
to  construct  a  canal  from  Boston  to  the  Connecticut  River. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  anything  of  importance  was  at- 
tempted under  this  charter.  Maps  and  estimates  were  made, 
which  were  preserved  and  subsequently  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  State  Commissioners  for  Canal  Surveys  in  182.5. 

On  the  2oth  of  February,  1825,  upon  the  recommendation 
of  Governor  Eustis,  three  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
ascertain  the  practicability  of  constructing  a  canal  from  Boston 
Harbor  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  of  extending  the  same 
to  some  point  on  the  Hudson  River  in  the  vicinity  of  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Erie  Canal  with  that  river.  Nathan  Willis,  of 
Pittsfield,  Elihu  Hoyt,  of  Deerfield,  and  Gen.  Henry  A.  S. 
Dearborn,  of  Boston,  were  ajipointed  commissioners,  and 
Col.  Laommi  Baldwin  engineer. 

At  the  June  session  of  the  Legislature,  in  the  same  year. 
Governor  Lincoln  devoted  a  portion  of  his  message  to  the 
subject,  and  urged  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Legis- 
lature. He  also  made  mention  of  the  then  new  subject  of 
railways. 

A  report  of  the  above  commission  was  made  at  the  session 
of  January,  1820,  recommending  a  route  for  a  canal  through 
the  north  part  of  Worcester  County  to  the  mouth  of  Deerfield 
River,  and  thence  up  that  stream  through  the  Hoosac  Moun- 
tain, by  means  of  a  four-mile  tunnel,  and  through  to  the 
Hudson  River,  near  Troy. 

The  district  west  of   the    mountains  was   surveyed    and 

mapped  by  George  Tibbits,  Esq.,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  on  the 

east  side,  from  the  summit  of  the  mountains  to  the  raoutli  of 

Deerfield  River,  by  General  Epaphras  Hoyt,  of  Deerfield.   The 

length  of  the  proposed  canal  was  given  at  178  miles,  100  of 

which  was  between  the  Connecticut  River  and  Boston,  and 

78  between  the  river  and  the  Hudson.     The  total  lockage — 

rise  and  fall — was  3281jYo  ^^*'^- 

The  estimated  cost,  exclusive  of  the  tunnel,  was ^5,103,240 

T\mnel,  ^0  bj-  l^ij^  feet,  4  miles,  2H,1!UU  cuLic  jards,  at  $4.3fi..       a2(l,»b2 

Total  cost $0,024,072 

The  Governor  in  his  message  spoke  favorably  of  the  work, 
and  recommended  the  continuance  of  the  commission,  with 
enlarged  jiowers,  and  a  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Legis- 
lature for  turther  sur.voys,  which  was  not  only  laid  on  the 
table,  but  the  former  resolve,  under  which  the  survey  had 
been  made,  was  repealed.  This  virtually  put  an  end  to  the 
canal  project. 

HAMPSHIRK   AND    HAMPDEN   CANAL. 

By  an  act  passed  Feb.  4,  1823,  Samuel  Hinckley  and  others 
were  incorporated  as  "  The  Hampshire  and  Hampden  Canal 
Company,"  to  construct  u  canal  from  the  Connecticut  River, 
in  Ni>rtluaniiton,  through  Easthampton  and  Southampton, 
in  Hampshire  County,  and  Westtield  and  Southwick,  in 
Hampden  County,  to  connect  with  one  to  be  constructed  in 
Connecticut  from  New  Haven  to  the  Massachusetts  line,  in 
Southwick.  The  capital  of  the  Massachusetts  company  was 
fixed  at  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  work  was  com|ileted  from  New  Haven  to  Westtield  in 
1830,  and  finished  to  Northampton  in  1834,  at  a  total  cost  of 
twi>  million  dollars.* 

In  1831)  a  new  company,  called  "  The  New  Haven  and  North- 
ampton Canal  Company,"  was  chartered  by  the  Legislatures 
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  which  purchased  the  whole 

*  Another  account  says  the  total  cost  was  about  one  million  dollars. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY". 


97 


line  for  three  hundred  thousand  dolhirs,  and  kept  up  tlie 
business  until  about  1847,  when  railway  competition  com- 
pelled the  abandonment  of  the  work.  The  present  New 
Haven  and  Northampton  Railway  follows  substantially  the 
line  of  this  canal. 


CHAPTER    XXIL 

RAIL-WAYS. 

THE  WESTERN    RAILROAD THE    BOSTON   AND    ALBANY   RAIL- 
ROAD.* 

In  1820  petitions  were  presented  by  Thomas  H.  Perkins  and 
.  others  of  Boston,  and  A.  J.  Allen  and  others,  that  a  survey 
for  a  railway  be  made  between  Boston  and  the  Hudson  Eiver, 
and  the  committee  on  roads  and  canals  was  "  instructed  to 
inquire  whether  any  practicable  and  useful  improvements 
have  been  made  in  the  construction  of  railways  and  of  steam- 
carriages  used  thereon,  so  as  to  admit  of  their  being  success- 
fully introduced  into  this  commonwealth;  and  if  so,  whether 
it  is  expedient  to  extend  thereto  the  aid  and  encouragement  of 
this  Legislature." 

This  committee  reported  a  resolution  authorizing  the  Gov- 
ernor to  appoint  three  commissioners  and  an  engineer  upon 
the  subject  of  railways,  which  passed  the  Senate,  but  was  in- 
definitely postponed  in  the  House. 

At  the  June  session  of  1826  a  select  committee  of  the  House 
was  ap])ointed,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Abner  Phelps  and  George 
W.  Adams,  of  Boston,  and  Emorj'  Washburn,  of  Worcester, 
with  instructions  to  consider  the  practicability  and  expediency 
of  constructing  a  railway  from  Boston  on  the  most  eligible 
route  to  the  western  line  of  the  county  of  Berkshire,  in  order 
that,  if  leave  can  be  obtained  from  the  government  of  New 
York,  it  may  be  extended  to  the  Hudson  Kiver,  at  or  near 
Albany  ;  and  that  the  committee  be  instructed  to  report  infor- 
mation and  estimates  of  expense  as  they  deem  proper."  This 
is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  concerted  movement  looking 
to  the  construction  of  a  railway  in  the  State.f 

The  above-named  commissioners,  who  were  authorized  to  sit 
during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature,  sent  circulars  throughout 
the  State,  and  employed  all  available  means  to  obtain  infor- 
mation. They  made  a  report  on  the  19th  of  January,  1827. 
The  report  entered  somewhat  at  length  into  a  discussion  of 
plans  for  a  road,  and  cited  the  experience  of  the  people  of 
Great  Britain.  It  would  seem  that  the  idea  of  using  steam 
locomotive-carriages  as  a  motive-power  had  been  only  hinted 
at,  for  the  plans  for  single-  and  double-track  roads  were  inva- 
riably coupled  with  arrangements  for  employing  only  horse- 
power, and  provision  was  made  for  a  horse-path,  and  paths  for 
the  drivers  and  attendants,  on  each  side  of  the  road.  Some 
mention  was  made  of  locomotives,  and  it  was  stated  that  "  an 
engine  of  two  eight-inch  cylinders,  weighing  about  live  tons, 
will  move  forty  tons  at  the  rate  of  nine  or  ten  miles  an  hour, 
and  is  said  to  have  moved  ninety  tons  at  the  rate  of  four  miles 
an  hour." 

The  committee  reported  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
ject, and  "  that  a  railway  would  be  far  more  useful  to  the 

*  The  article  upon  the  Western  and  Boston  and  Albany  Railwaj's  has  been 
mostly  compiled  from  a  hist<.iry  of  the  fonner  road,  written  by  Hon.  George  Bliss, 
and  published  in  1863,  and  data  furnished  by  the  officers  of  the  Boston  and  Al- 
bany road. 

As  this  was  the  pioneer  among  the  inijxtrtant  long  lines  of  New  England,  and 
during  its  construction  met  with  numy  difficulties  and  embarrassments,  we  have 
given  its  history  much  more  in  detail  than  that  of  the  other  roads  passing  through 
or  connecting  with  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachusetts. 

The  history  of  these  companies  best  illustrates  the  difficulties  encountered  by 
the  early  railway  corporations  in  New  England,  and  in  a  prominent  manner 
conveys  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  various  stages  in  the  growth  of  this  im- 
portant interest  throughout  the  countrj*. 

■f  The  first  railway  constructed  in  the  United  States  was  the  short  line  from 
the  Quincy  granite  quarries  to  the  sea,  in  1826.  It  was  three  miles  in  length, 
and  was  used  solely  for  the  transportation  of  stone,  and  employed  horse-power 
only. 

13 


public  than  a  canal."  They  recommended  the  appointment 
of  three  commissioners  and  an  engineer  to  ascertain  the 
practicability  of  such  a  road,  and  to  make  surveys,  plans, 
and  estimates,  and  were  in  favor  of  an  appropriation  for  the 
purpose,  not  exceeding  $5000. 

These  recommendations  were  not  followed,  but  the  Legisla- 
ture, on  the  22d  of  February,  1827,  passed  a  resolution  author- 
izing the  appointment  of  "three  commissioners,  to  constitute 
a  Board  of  Internal  Improvements,"  to  attend  to  all  matters 
concerning  canals  and  railways.  This  board  consisted  of 
Messrs.  J.  J.  Fiske,  Willard  Phelps,  and  James  Hayward,  at 
a  compensation  of  four  dollars  per  day.  This  committee  ap- 
pear to  have  performed  very  little  work,  and  none  with  refer- 
ence to  the  proposed  line  of  railway. 

At  the  June  session  of  1827,  upon  a  petition  of  James 
Whiton  and  others,  of  Berkshire,  and  Josiah  Quincy  and 
otliers,  of  Boston,  the  Legislature  authorized  the  appoint- 
ment of  two  commissioners  and  an  engineer  to  make  the 
necessary  surveys,  plans,  and  estimates  for  a  road  from  Bos- 
ton to  the  New  York  line,  and,  with  leave  obtained  from  the 
authorities  of  the  latter  State,  to  the  Hudson  Kiver.  Ten 
thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose.  Nahum 
Mitchell,  of  Boston,  and  Samuel  McKay,  of  Pittsfield,  were 
accordingly  appointed  such  commission,  with  James  F.  Bald- 
win as  engineer. 

Two  entire  routes  were  examined, — one,  called  the  southern, 
through  Framingham,  Worcester,  Springfield,  Chester,  Wash- 
ington, Pittsfield,  and  West  Stockbridge,  to  the  State  line  at 
Canaan ;  thence,  through  Chatham  and  Kinderhook,  to  the 
Hudson  at  Albany.  The  northern  route  was  from  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  by  Hoosac  Four  Corners,  Williamslown,  and  Adams,  to 
the  Connecticut  Kiver  at  Northampton  ;  thence,  by  Belclier- 
town,  Rutland,  Boylston,  Watertown,  and  Cambridge,  to 
Boston. 

Lateral  examinations  were  also  made  from  Chester,  by 
Walker  Brook,  Becket,  and  Stockbridge,  to  the  State  line  at 
Canaan,  and  others. 

Accurate  instrumental  surveys  were  made  only  upon  the 
southern  route,  and  upon  this  only  for  twelve  miles  west  of 
Boston,  and  from  Connecticut  River  to  Albany.  These  sur- 
veys and  examinations  were  conducted  exclusively  with  ref- 
erence to  the  use  of  animal  jmwe?-,  as  "  better  adapted  to  the 
transportation  of  that  endless  variety  of  loading  which  a  dense 
and  industrious  population  requires."  The  length  of  the  pro- 
posed road  was  given  at  180  miles  and  212  rods.  No  special 
estimate  of  cost  was  made,  but  the  commissioners  reported  a 
probable  outlay  not  exceeding  one-half  the  cost  of  English 
railways  per  mile. 

In  transmitting  the  report  to  the  Legislature,  Governor 
Lincoln  in  his  message  said :  "  The  results  to  which  the  coVn- 
mission  have  already  arrived  may  be  considered  as  fully  es- 
tablishing the  pracHcahilUt/,  within  the  reasonable  applica- 
tion of  means,  of  the  construction  of  the  road." 

In  the  Legislature  the  Committee  on  Roads  and  Railways 
reported  on  the  15th  of  February,  1828,  that  "after  mature 
examination  of  the  facts  and  statements  contained  in  said  Re- 
port, they  are  of  opinion  that  the  railroad,  as  applicable  to 
Massachusetts  and  to  New  England  generally,  has,  since  the 
making  of  said  report,  assumed  a  new  and  greater  impor- 
tance ;  that  it  will  prove  a  new  creation  of  wealth,  power,  and 
superiority  to  the  State.  That  a  railroad  can  be  constructed 
at  far  less  expense  than  a  canal,  and  be  productive  of  still 
greater  advantages." 

On  the  11th  of  March,  1828,  an  act  was  passed  providing  for 
a  Board  of  Directors  of  Internal  Improvements,  to  serve  with- 
out compensation,  except  the  payment  of  expenses  when  on 
duty.  They  were  clothed  with  powers  to  transact  all  neces- 
sary business,  and  were  required  to  report  to  the  Legislature. 
This  board  consisted  of  nine  persons,  as  follows:  Levi  Lin- 
coln, Nathan  Hale,  Stephen  White,  David  Henshaw,  Thomas 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


W.  Ward,  Royal  Makepeace,  George  Bond,  William  Foster, 
and  E.  H.  Robbing,  Jr.  James  F.  Baldwin  was  appointed 
engineer. 

Nearly  simultaneously  with  these  proceedings,  the  Legisla- 
ture of  New  York  (April  15,  1828)  passed  "an  act  to  facili- 
tate the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  the  city  of  Boston  to 
the  Hudson  River;"  and  under  it  Ebenezer  Baldwin,  of  Al- 
bany, Oliver  Wiswall,  of  Hudson,  and  George  Tibbits,  of  Troy, 
were  appointed  commissioners,  and  William  C.  Young,  en- 
gineer. This  act  "pledged  the  Legislature  that  if  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  shall  construct  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  the 
boundary  of  this  State,  either  directly  or  through  the  medium 
of  an  incorporated  company,  the  Legislature  of  this  State  will 
construct  it  from  thence  to  the  Hudson  River,  or  grant  to  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  or  some  authorized  company,  the  right 
of  so  doing,  and  taking  tolls  thereon,  under  proper  restrictions 
as  to  jurisdiction." 

Explorations  and  surveys  were  in  progress  under  the  com- 
missioners of  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  on  every  part  of 
the  line  from  Boston  to  the  Hudson  River,  during  the  year 
1828. 

Reports  by  the  commissioners  of  tl^e  two  States  were  made 
early  in  1829, — by  those  of  Massachusetts  on  the  16th  of  Jan- 
uary, and  by  those  of  New  York  on  the  2.5th  of  February. 
The  latter  reported  upon  two  routes  between  the  Hudson 
River  and  the  State  line,  which  had  been  minulely  surveyed, 
viz.:  one  from  Troy,  through  Pownal,  Vt.,  to  Adams,  and 
one  from  Albany  and  Hudson  to  West  Stockbridge,  the  lines 
from  Albany  and  Hudson  to  unite  at  Chatham. 

The  Massachusetts  commissioners  reported  a  number  of  sur- 
veys. The  principal  one  was  substantially  the  same  as  after- 
ward adopted  by  the  Boston  and  W^orcester  and  the  Western 
Railroads  as  far  as  the  State  line  in  West  Stockbridge;  among 
the  others  were  two  lines  from  the  last-named  point  to  Albany. 
From  the  State  line  to  Chatham  Four  Corners  both  pursued 
substantially  the  same  line,  not  varying  greatly  from  where 
the  road  now  runs.  Prom  thence  one  line  bore  more  to  the  west, 
striking  the  Hudson  near  Schodack  Landing,  thirteen  miles 
below  Albany,  and  thence  by  the  valley  to  Greenbush.  The 
other  struck  the  river  at  Castleton,  eight  miles  from  Green- 
bush.  The  road,  as  finally  located,  kept  upon  higher  land, 
and  reached  the  river  directly  at  Greenbush. 

By  these  surveys  the  distance  from  Boston  to  the  Connecti- 
cut River  was  9-1  miles  and  64  chains,  and  to  the  State  line 
160  miles  and  44  chains,  and,  by  the  shortest  survey,  198  miles 
and  6  chains  to  Albany.  By  the  other  route,  the  distance  from 
Boston  to  Albany  was  200J^  miles. 

The  cost  of  the  New  York  section  was  estimated  by  Engineer 
Young  at  §658,601,  or  at  the  average  of  §16,162  per  mile. 

A  second  route  was  examined,  farther  north,  crossing  the 
Connecticut  River  at  Northampton  ;  and  a  third,  still  farther 
north,  passing  through  the  valleys  of  Miller's,  Dcerfield,  and 
Hoosac  Rivers  to  Troy.  The  distance  by  the  northern  route 
from  Boston  to  Troy  was  190  miles,  and  by  the  Northampton 
route  210  miles. 

The  passage  of  the  Green  Mountains  was  largely  in  favor  of 
the  southern  route  through  Springfield,  and  thence  up  the 
valley  of  the  Agawam  River. 

Several  local  surveys  were  made  on  some  portions  of  the  line 
west  of  the  Connecticut  River,  with  a  view  to  taking  every 
possible  advantage  in  the  topography  of  the  country;  but  the 
various  results  only  the  more  thoroughly  established  the  south- 
ern route,  and  mainly  as  the  road  now  runs. 

A  long  discussion  upon  the  relative  merits  of  horse-  and 
steam-power  finally  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  locomotive. 

The  road  which  is  now  known  as  the  Boston  and  Albany 
Railroad  was  constructed  by  a  number  of  distinct  corporations, 
first  of  which  was  The  Ilo.ifon  (oid  W'urcrster  Rnilroad  Cor- 
porat'hiH,  wliich  was  chartered  on  the  2Md  of  June,  18:il,  to 
construct  a  road  from  Boston  to  Worcester. 


The  proposed  capital  stock  of  this  company  was  10,000  shares 
of  §100  each,  or  a  total  of  $1,000,000,  which  was  subscribed, 
and  the  company  organized  on  the  1st  of  May,  1832.  Sur- 
veys were  made  by  John  M.  Fessenden,  in  1831,  and  the  total 
distance  found  to  be  43|  miles.  The  terminus  in  Worcester 
was  found  to  be  4.56  feet  above  Western  Avenue,  in  Boston. 
The  original  estimated  cost  of  the  road  and  equipment,  with 
the  bed  graded  for  a  double  track,  was  §883,000.  This  road 
was  opened  from  Boston  to  Worcester,  July  4,  1835. 

On  the  l.jth  of  March,  1833,  the  directors  of  the  Boston  and 
Worcester  Railroad  Company  were  individually  incorporated 
as  The  Western  Railroad  Corporation,  with  authority  to 
construct  a  railroad  from  Worcester  to  the  Connecticut  River, 
at  Springticld,  and  thence  to  the  western  boundary  of  the 
State.  The  capital  stock  was  to  consist  of  not  less  than 
10,000  nor  more  than  20,000  shares  of  §100  each.  The  Bos- 
ton and  Worcester  company  had  exclusive  control  of  the 
charter  of  the  Western  road,  and  of  all  proceedings  under  it. 
The  charter  conferred  the  authority  of  building  branc^n  roads 
in  any  or  all  towns  immediately  adjoining  those  through  which 
the  road  passed. 

On  the  5th  of  May,-  1834,  the  Legislature  of  New  York 
chartered  The  Castleton  atid  West  Stockbridge  Railroad  Com- 
pany,  with  authority  to  construct  a  road  from  Castleton  to 
the  State  line  at  West  Stockbridge.  The  name  of  this  cor- 
poration was  changed  by  act  of  the  same  body  on  the  •5th  of 
May,  1836,  to  The  Albany  and  West  Stockbridge  Railroad  Com- 
pany, with  authority  to  construct  a  road  from  the  Hudson 
River,  at  Greenbush,  to  the  line  of  Massachusetts,  at  West 
Stockbridge.  The  capital  stock  was  §300,000.  In  this  charter 
the  State  reserved  the  right  to  purchase  the  road  after  ten  years, 
and  within  fifteen  years  of  the  completion  of  it,  paying  ten  per 
cent,  interest. 

The  stock  of  this  company  was  duly  suhscribed,  and  the 
company  organized  about  the  23d  of  May,  1835.  Samuel 
Cheever  was  appointed  superintendent,  and  Wm.  H.  Talcott 
engineer. 

At  the  same  date  a  charter  was  also  granted  for  a  railroad 
from  the  city  of  Hudson  to  the  Massachusetts  line  at  West 
Stockbridge.  The  stock  of  this  company  was  principally  taken 
in  New  York  City,  and  the  road  was  located  ria  Chatham  Four 
Corners. 

The  company's  books  were  not  opened  for  subscriptions  to 
the  stock  of  the  Western  Railroad  until  late  in  the  fall  of  1834, 
after  the  Boston  and  Worcester  road  had  been  completed  to 
Westboro',  and  the  effort  was  then  confined  to  Springfield  and 
the  towns  between  there  and  Worcester.  People  were  very 
loath  to  invest  their  money  in  what  was  to  a  great  extent  con- 
sidered a  chimerical  undertaking,  and  matters  progressed  very 
slowly.  At  one  time  an  informal  oft'er  was  made  by  New 
York  parties  to  subscribe  the  whole  required  capital,  provided 
they  could  haye  the  control  of  the  company  and  stock.  But 
this  was  looked  upon  as  a  stock-exchange  scheme  to  control 
the  road  in  thei,  interests  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the 
offer  was  declineu. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1835,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Spring- 
field, a  committee  of  correspondence  and  inquiry  was  ap- 
pointed, and  on  the  16th  of  February  of  the  same  year  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  town-hall  in  Springfield,  when  Mr. 
George  Bliss,  of  the  above-named  committee,  laid  what  infor- 
mation had  been  obtained  before  the  meeting,  and,  after  dis- 
cussion, the  committee  was  instructed  to  call  a  convention  at 
Worcester,  on  the  5th  of  March  ensuing,  for  the  purpose  of 
devising  means  for  making  an  immediate  survey  of  the  route. 

Tlie  convention  at  Worcester  was  numerously  attended,  and 
a  committee  of  one  from  each  town  was  appointed  on  resolu- 
tions, who  reported  as  follows  ; 

"  1.  That  a  railroad  from  Worcester  to  Springfield  was 
greatly  to  bo  desired,  was  feasible,  and  ouglit  to  be  entered 
upon  without  delay. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


99 


"2.  That  an  accurate  survey  and  estimate  be  made  the 
present  season  ;  and  that  a  committee  of  three  in  each  town 
interested  be  appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions  therefor. 

"  3.  That  an  executive  committee  of  five  be  appointed,  to 
procure  surveys  and  estimates,  and  obtain  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  construction  and  probable  income  of  the  proposed 
road,  with  power  to  appoint  a  treasurer. 

"  4.  That  the  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  ccjm- 
pany  be  requested  to  organize  the  Western  Railroad  corpora- 
tion as  early  as  in  their  opinion  the  stock  can  be  taken  up,  and 
on  the  terms  on  which  the  Boston  and  Worcester  corporation 
was  first  organized." 

Following  these  resolutions  an  executive  committee,  con- 
sisting of  George  Bliss,  Caleb  Rice,  and  W^.  H.  Bowdoin,  of 
Springfield ;  Joel  Norcross,  of  Monson ;  and  N.  P.  Dewey 
(or  Denny),  of  Leicester,  was  appointed  "  to  procure  accurate 
surveys,  a  location,  and  estimates  for  the  road,  as  far  as  from 
Worcester  to  Springfield." 

Town  committees  were  appointed,  and  instructed  to  report 
to  the  executive  committee. 

The  first  thing  was  to  procure  funds  for  a  survey,  and  the 
sum  of  §7000  or  |8000  was  soon  raised  in  the  towns  along 
the  line,  and  by  consent  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  com- 
pany, their  engineer,  John  M.  Fessenden,  was  employed  to 
make  the  survey,  which  was  commenced  in  May,  1835.  This 
survey  included  an  examination  of  the  proposed  route  between 
Springfield  and  Hartford. 

The  engineer  reported  the  distance  between  Worcester  and 
Springfield  at  o3J  miles,  and  between  Springfield  and  Hart- 
ford at  23  miles.     His  estimates  included 

Grading,  ma.<»onr>',  anfl  engineering ^'jfiO.OOO 

Supei-stnictiire,  including  turnouts 42S,(«K) 

Damages,  fencing,  engines,  cars,  and  deput  grounds l)S3,l)0() 

Springfield  and  Hartford  Line,  3G3-2  miles  with  heaviest  edge  rail 4iMt,iH«i 

?1,OUO,UOU 

An  estimate  of  probable  business  was  made  by  the  com- 
mittee as  follows : 

55,510  passengers  at  J1.75 ?97,H2 

42,lK)4  tons  merchandise  at  :^.00 1(J8,U10 

S2li5,l.j8 
Less  Mr.  Fesseuden's  estimate  of  annual  expenses S-O.IXtO 

Net  income. 8180,158 

The  people  of  Connecticut,  and  particularly  of  Hartfordi 
were  in  the  mean  time  not  idle.  Elt'orts  were  made  in  various 
directions  to  establish  railways.  Routes  were  discu-ssed,  and 
some  of  them  surveyed,  from  Worcester  to  Hartford,  and 
thence  to  New  York ;  from  Worcester  to  Albany,  via  Hart- 
ford;  from  Worcester,  via  Norwich,  to  New  York;  from 
Hartford  to  West  Stockbridge,  etc. 

The  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  company  were 
urged  to  open  the  books  for  subscriptions  to  the  stock  of  the 
Western  company,  which  request  was  complied  with  on  the 
3d  day  of  August,  1835,  at  Boston,  New  York,  Springfield, 
Worcester,  Albany,  Hudson,  Pittsfield,  and  Lee,  the  books  to 
remain  open  for  ten  days. 

One  of  the  conditions  of  subscription  was  that  the  com- 
pany should  not  be  organized  until  stock  to  the  amount  of 
$2,000,000  had  been  taken.  Every  possible  exertion  was  made 
to  reach  this  amount,  but  when  the  books  were  closed,  on  the 
13th  of  August,  the  total  amount  subscribed  was  found  to  be 
only  13,000  shares,  or  §1,300,000.  Of  this  amount  8500  shares 
were  taken  in  Boston  and  vicinity. 

Determined  to  succeed,  it  was  resolved  by  the  directors  to 
call  a  mass-meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  which  was  ac- 
cordingly done,  and  a  large  number  of  people  assembled  on 
the  evening  of  Oct.  7,  1835.  Delegations  were  present  from 
Albany  and  Hudson,  and  all  the  interior  towns  on  the  route. 
Hon.  Abbott  Lawrence  was  chairman  of  the  meeting.  Ad- 
dresses and  reports  were  made  and  resolutions  adopted,  and 


the  meeting  was  enthusiastic  in  favor  of  raising  the  required 
sum.  Committees  were  appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions,  but 
when  the  result  was  known  it  was  found  that  only  18,300 
shares  had  been  subscribed,  leaving  a  deficiency  of  1700. 

On  the  20th  of  November  another  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Supreme  Court-room,  Boston,  which  was  addressed  in  a  spirited 
manner  by  a  number  of  gentlemen,  and  the  following  resolu- 
tion, otl'ered  by  Isaac  Parker,  Esq.,  was  adopted:  "In  the 
opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  construction  of  the  Western  Rail- 
road is  of  vital  importance  to  this  community,  and  the  project 
should  not  be  abandoned  while  any  just  and  proper  measures 
are  left  untried  for  its  accomplishment." 

By  persevering  efforts  the  required  amount  was  obtained  by 
the  5th  of  December,  1835,  and  the  corporation  was  organized 
on  the  4th  of  January,  1836,  at  the  court-house  in  Boston. 
The  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  directors  :  Thomas  B. 
Whales,  William  Lawrence,  Edmund  Dwight,  Henry  Rice, 
John  Henshaw,  Francis  Jackson,  and  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  of 
Boston,  and  Justice  Willard  and  George  Bliss,  of  Springfield. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  directors,  Thomas  B.  Wales  was 
chosen  President ;  Ellis  Gray  Loring,  Clerk  ;  and  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.,  Treasurer. 

Maj.  William  G.  McNeil  was  secured  as  chief  engineer  and 
captain  ;  William  H.  Swift  as  assistant  engineer ;  the  latter 
to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  work.*  George  Bliss  was  ap- 
pointed general  agent  of  the  corporation,  March  10,  1836. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  stockholders  for  organization,  they 
instructed  the  directors  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  for  aid  in 
the  construction  of  the  road.  On  the  16th  of  January,  1836, 
a  petition  was  presented  by  George  Ashmun,  asking  for  an 
act  of  incorporation  for  a  bank,  to  be  called  "  The  Western 
Railroad  Bank,"  to  be  located  in  Boston,  with  a  capital  of 
$5,000,000. 

Among  other  reasons  urged  for  the  establishment  of  this 
bank  was  the  fact  that  several  millions  of  capital  had  been 
withdrawn  from  the  State  by  the  e.xpiration  of  the  charter  of 
the  United  States  Bank.    - 

At  the  same  session  a  memorial  of  sixty  pages,  signed  by 
prominent  citizens  of  Boston  to  the  number  of  1736  indi- 
viduals, was  presented,  praying  for  the  establishment  of  a 
bank  with  a  capital  of  $10,000,000.  Thirty-two  petitions 
from  various  portions  of  the  State  supported  this  memorial. 
These  petitions  succeeded  so  far  that  a  Bank  Bill  was  pas.sed  to 
a  third  reading,  but  was  finally  indefinitely  postponed  in 
consequence  of  the  passage  of  another  bill  directing  the  State 
Treasurer  to  sub.scribe  .$1,000,000  to  the  stock  of  the  railroad 
corporation,  providing  three  of  the  nine  directors  should  be 
chosen  by  the  Legislature.  This  bill  was  signed  by  Governor 
Everett  on  the  29th  of  March,  1836. 

Under  this  act  the  Legislature  chose  Messrs.  Isaac  C.  Bates, 
William  Jackson,  and  Robert  Rantoul,  Jr.,  as  directors  on 
behalf  of  the  State,  and  at  the  next  annual  meeting  the  mem- 
bers of  the  old  board  were  re-elected,  with  the  exception  of 
Me-ssrs.  Lawrence,  Rice,  and  Willard. 

An  attempt  was  made,  while  these  proceedings  were  pend- 
ing, to  get  a  company  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing a  road  from  Worcester  to  Hartford,  and  thence  to 
Stockbridge,  and  a  careful  survey  and  estimates  were  made 
and  a  report  presented  to  the  Legislature,  which  was  accepted ; 
but  a  motion  to  report  a  bill  in  favor  of  the  project  was  voted 
down,  as  it  was  considered  a  project  which  would  embarrass 
the  Western  company  and  impair  its  credit. 

Surveys  were  begun  on  the  Western  road  in  April,  1836, 
by  two  parties,  and  were  prosecuted  with  diligence,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  resident  engineer,  during  the  year;  and  in 
June  of  the  same  year  three  parties  were  put  in  the  field  west 
of  the  Connecticut  River. 

A  great  amount  of  preliminary  surveying  was  done  on  the 

*  Capt.  Swift  died  in  New  York  City,  about  the  7th  of  April,  1879.  . 


100 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


line  between  Worcester  and  Springfield,  but  the  line  as  now 
located  was  finally  adopted  and  put  under  contract.  The 
first  grading  was  commenced  at  the  crossing  of  the  Worcester 
and  Hartford  Turnpike  in  Charlton,  about  the  1st  of  January, 
1837. 

Between  Brookfield  and  the  Connecticut  River  four  sepa- 
rate lines  were  surveyed,  to  wit : 

1.  The  Cabotville,  or  extreme  north  line,  passing  a  little 
south  of  Chicopee  Falls,  through  Cabotville  (Chicopee),  cross- 
ing the  Connecticut  a  little  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Chi- 
copee River,  and  running  thence  to  Bush's  Notch,  in  the 
Trap  Range,  or  to  the  Garden  Brook  line  at  Ashley's  Mills, 
in  West  Springfield  (now  Holyoke). 

2.  The  End  Brook  route,  cro.ssing  the  Connecticut  about 
midway  between  the  mouth  of  the  Chicopee  and  Springfield, 
and  thence  to  Bush's  Notch,  or  to  the  Garden  Brook  line  at 
Ashley's  Mills. 

3.  The  Garden  Brook  line,  nearly  on  the  route  finally 
adopted,  which  was  to  cross  the  river  between  the  old  bridge 
and  Ferry  Street,  in  Springfield,  and  thence  by  a  route  (un- 
determined) on  the  north  or  south  side  of  the  Agawam  River, 
near  Westfield  village. 

4.  The  Mill  River  line,  following  that  stream  to  the  south 
part  of  the  village  of  Springfield,  and  thence,  through  the 
east  part  west  of  Maple  and  Chestnut  Streets,  to  the  Garden 
Brook  line.  The  first  two  lin^  were  favored  by  parties  in- 
terested in  manufactures  on  the  Chicopee  River. 

The  Garden  Brook  line  was  recommended  by  the  engineers 
as  being  the  shortest  and  most  direct,  having  the  least  maxi- 
mum grade,  and  involving  the  least  expense  for  grading  and 
bridging. 

The  certainty  of  the  road  being  built  caused  considerable 
speculation  in  lands  at  Springfield,  and  the  location  of  the 
depot  grounds  was  the  subject  of  a  stirring  controversy,  even 
involving  serious  charges  against  certain  parties,  which  were, 
however,  subsequently  cleared  up. 

In  January,  1837,  a  reconnoi.ssance  of  the  route  around  the 
north  end  of  Mount  Tom,  and  thence  up  the  Manhan  River, 
through  Easthampton  and  Southampton  to  Westfield,  was 
made  by  the  engineers ;  but  as  the  route  was  six  miles  longer 
than  by  way  of  Springfield,  and  as  tlie  charter  required  the 
crossing  of  the  Connecticut  at  the  latter  point,  this  line  was 
abandoned. 

The  line  from  East  Brookfield  to  the  Connecticut  River,  as 
since  constructed,  was  approved  by  the  directors  in  the  spring 
of  1837,  and  it  was  definitely  located,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  two  miles  next  the  river  in  Springfield,  put  under  contract  in 
June  of  that  year. 

At  first  it  was  intended  to  grade  the  road  and  build  bridges 
for  a  single  track  only,  but  subsequently  this  plan  was  changed, 
and  the  deep  cuts,  heavy  embankments,  culverts,  and  bridges 
were  generally  made  for  a  double-track  road. 

Extensive  surveys  and  examinations  were  made  in  finding 
the  best  route  from  the  Connecticut  River  to  the  State  line. 
The  Green  Mountain  range  was  thoroughly  examined  for  a 
distance  of  22  miles,  north  and  south,  including  a  careful  sur- 
vey of  every  important  depression  and  the  valley  of  every 
considerable  stream.  The  northern  route,  as  surveyed  by  Mr. 
Baldwin  in  1828,  was  from  the  first  considered  the  most  favor- 
able ;  but  there  was  a  strong  feeling  also  in  favor  of  a  route 
v!a  Lee  and  Stockbridge,  and  it  was  accordingly  surveyed  by 
R.  P.  Morgan,  beginning  at  the  village  of  Westfield  and  pass- 
ing by  the  valley  of  the  Little  River,  ascending  the  slope  of 
Sodom  Mountain  to  Loomis'  Gap,  Mount  Pisgah,  and  Cobble 
Mountain,  with  a  tunnel  of  GOO  feet ;  and  thence  to  the  Bland- 
ford  line,  and,  by  Bush  Hill,  to  Spruce  Swamp  Summit,  1470 
feet  above  the  beach  mark  on  Connecticut  River,  and  about  30 
miles  from  it ;  thence  down  the  western  slope  through  East  Otis, 
by  Great  Pond,  Nichols'  Pond,  and  Greenwater  Pond,  to  the 
valley  of  Hop  Brook,  througli  the  corner  of  Tyringham  to 


Stockbridge  Plain  and  West  Stockbridge  to  the  State  line, 
a  distance  of  62.38  miles  from  Connecticut  River  at  Spring- 
field, and  with  no  grade  exceeding  80  feet  per  mile. 

The  dilference  between  the  northern  and  southern  routes, 
west  of  the  river,  was  only  j^j^j  of  a  mile  by  the  measurement, 
but  the  equated  distances  gave  about  five  miles  in  favor  of  the 
north  route.  There  were  five  summits  on  the  south  line,  and 
four  on  the  north.  The  estimated  cost  of  grading  and  bridg- 
ing the  north  line  was  $1,259,100.87,  and  of  the  south  line 
$1,232,905.45,  showing  a  ditlercnce  in  favor  of  the  south  line 
of  §26,195.42.  The  engineers  had  reported  in  favor  of  the 
north  line,  probably  because  the  average  of  grades  was  the 
best ;  but  before  this  was  known  to  the  parties  the  Board  of 
Directors,  at  their  request,  gave  the  friends  of  each  route  a 
hearing  at  Springfield,  June  25,  1837. 

After  an  examination  of  both  routes  by  members  of  the 
board,  and  a  full  consideration,  on  the  10th  of  August  in  the 
last-mentioned  year,  they  decided  in  favor  of  the  northern 
route  through  Pittsfield,and  ordered  it  to  be  definitely  located, 
reserving,  however,  a  few  points  for  further  examination. 

But  during  these  proceedings  very  little  had  been  done 
toward  completing  that  portion  of  the  road  between  Albany 
and  the  State  line. 

The  Hudson  and  Berkshire  Railroad,  from  Hudson  to  the 
State  line,  at  the  Canaan  Gap  at  West  Stockbridge,  33  miles, 
had  been  graded  during  the  year  1837,  and  the  track  laid  with 
flat-  or  strap-iron,  and  the  road  opened  for  use  in  1838. 

The  city  of  Albany  bad  also,  on  the  3d  of  October,  183G, 
through  Erastus  Corning,  Esq.,  its  mayor,  subscribed  §250,000 
to  the  stock  of  the  Albany  and  West  Stockbridge  Railroad 
Company,  but  thus  far  nothing  had  been  paid  upon  it.  Ex- 
tensive surveys  and  estimates  had  also  been  made  upon  the 
last-named  road  by  several  routes  in  1836,  but  nothing  had 
been  done  toward  constructing  it  up  to  the  close  of  the  j'ear 
1838. 

The  financial  revulsion  of  1830-37  had  a  serious  effect  upon 
the  building  of  the  Western  road  ;  and  at  the  close  of  1837, 
out  of  six  assessments,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  §900,000, 
only  a  little  over  §600,000  had  been  collected.  The  estimates 
of  the  engineers  for  the  whole  line  in  Massachusetts  were 
§4,000,000,  exclusive  of  engineering,  depots,  and  general  ex- 
penses. The  funds  provided  for,  if  the  stock  was  all  paid  up, 
would  he  only  §3,000,000. 

At  this  stage  of  affairs  a  general  meeting  of  the  stockholders 
was  held  on  the  23d  of  November,  1837,  when  it  was  decided 
to  call  on  the  Legislature  for  assistance,  to  the  amount  of 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  stock,  in  State  scrip,  having 
thirty  years  to  run  at  five  per  cent.,  payable  in  London,  Eng- 
land, with  warrants  for  the  interest. 

Accordingly,  a  petition  was  presented,  Jan.  13,  1838,  by 
Emory  Washburn,  of  Worcester,  and  the  same  was  referred 
to  a  joint  select  committee  of  both  Houses.  After  a  care- 
ful examination  by  the  committee,  a  detailed  report  was 
made,  and  a  bill  drawn  up  granting  the  credit  of  the  State  to 
the  amount  of  §2,100,000  in  scrip,  payable  in  thirty  years,  at 
five  per  cent,  interest,  interest  and  principal  payable  in  Lon- 
don. This  bill,  after  an  exhaustive  discussion  and  several 
proposed  amendments,  was  finally  passed  and  approved  on  the 
21st  of  February,  1838. 

This  legislation  immediately  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  the 
work,  and  during  the  year  six  miles  of  track  were  laid,  depots 
established,  engines  and  cars  purchased,  etc.  West  of  the 
river  the  line  was  definitely  located  (except  through  the  vil- 
lage of  Westfield),  the  road  from  Chester  to  the  State  boun- 
dary was  put  under  contract,  and  work  commenced. 

But  up  to  the  close  of  1838  nothing  had  been  done  upon  the 
New  York  portion  of  the  road.  The  authorized  capital  of  the 
Albany  company  was  §650,000.  In  May,  1839,  the  New 
York  Legislature  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  city  of  Albany 
to  borrow  §400,000  to  be  used  upon  the  road,  in  the  purchase 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


101 


of  or  subscription  to  its  stock.  The  engineer  of  this  part  of 
the  line  had  estimated  the  expense  (in  July,  1830)  of  con- 
structing the  road  from  Albany  to  the  State  line  at  $580,280.73, 
including  half  the  expense  of  a  double  track  on  the  Hudson 
road. 

During  1838  work  on  the  Western  road  progressed  so  favor- 
ably that  reliable  estimates  could  be  made  upon  the  cost  of  the 
whole  work,  and  in  December  of  that  year  a  detailed  state- 
ment and  report  upon  the  finances  was  made,  containing  36 
pages. 

From  this  report  the  following  statements  are  compiled. 
Expenses  to  date,  with  estimates  for  completion  by  the  resi- 
dent engineer: 

East  of  the  Connecticut  River: 

GraJing,  masonry,  bridges,  and  engineering S1,H7,5(>9.93 

Superstnicture 49fi,3IS,37 

Engines  and  cars 87,15o.lX) 

Buildings,  etc 38,li'..IKI 

Miscellaneous  expenses 34,652.72 

Land  damages,  fencing,  and  depot-grounds 0U,913.1U 

Total  east  of  the  river $1,864,729.12 

West  of  the  river : 
Grading,  masonry,  bridges,  engineering,  superstructure, 

engines,  cara,  and  1>uildings 92,213,493.47 

Miscellaneous  expenses $28,497.12 

Laud  damages,  fencing,  and  depots 84,452.02 

112,949.14 

Total  west  of  the  river $2,32li,442.r,l 

Total  cost  IIG  6-10  miles $4,191,171.73 

The  funds  provided  were  : 

Six  assessments  at  $5  eacii  on  30,000  shares  and  interest.....    $91O,('*i.30 
Proceeds  of  State  scrip  at  par 2,UiO,(m).00 

8:!,(I10,M3.30 

Deducting  this  from  total  expenses  shows  a  deficiency  of 
11,180,528.43. 

In  this  condition  of  afl'airs  it  was  resolved  to  again  petition 
the  Legislature  for  additional  aid  in  the  shape  of  State  scrip 
for  |1, .500,000,  which  was  done;  and  on  the  23d  of  March, 
1839,  a  bill  for  the  purpose  of  loaning  the  credit  of  the  State 
to  the  amount  of  $1,200,000  was  passed,  and  approved  by  the 
Governor. 

Under  this  fresh  impetus,  the  work  was  prosecuted  with 
vigor,  and  the  road  was  opened  on  the  1st  of  October,  1839, 
for  passenger-trains  to  .Springfield,  and  for  freight  on  the  23d 
of  the  same  month.  The  distance  from  Worcester  to  Spring- 
field was  !iij^^js\  miles. 

West  of  the  Connecticut  the  work  was  also  well  advanced 
during  the  year,  and  the  directors  reported  in  January,  1840, 
that  the  funds  provided  would  be  sufficient  to  complete  the 
whole  line  within  the  limits  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  mean  time  nothing  had  been  done  toward  construct- 
ing the  portion  between  Albany  and  the  State  line  ;  and  in 
view  of  the  discouraging  condition  of  that  portion  of  the 
work,  at  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Western  road, 
held  on  the  12th  of  February,  1840,  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  corporation,  which  was  done, 
and  a  report  made  to  another  meeting  held  March  12th  fol- 
lowing. Upon  the  committee's  report  a  body  of  delegates, 
consisting  of  E.  H.  Derby,  George  Bliss,  A.  Walker,  P.  P. 
F.  Degrand,  J.  Henshaw,  A.  T.  Lowe,  E.  H.  llobbins,  Lemuel 
Pomeroy,  and  Charles  Stearns,  was  appointed  to  proceed  to 
Albany  and  Troy,  and  advocate  the  speedy  construction  of 
that  portion  of  the  road. 

A  large  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Albany  was  convened, 
and  upon  the  arrival  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation  they 
were  introduced  by  Samuel  Stevens,  Esq.,  and  addrasses  were 
made  to  the  meeting  by  Messrs.  Bliss,  Derby,  Degrand,  and 
Walker.  The  meeting  was  very  enthusiastic,  and  strong 
resolutions  were  passed  unanimously  pledging  a  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  work. 

Subsequently  a  proposition  was  submitted  by  the  Albany 
directors  that  the  Western  company  should  construct  and 
manage  the  road,  and  on  the  23d  of  April,  1840,  a  contract 
was  executed  in  three  parts  by  the  city  of  Albany  and  the  two 
railroad  companies,  by  which  the  city  agreed   to  subscribe 


^650,000  to  the  stock  of  the  Albany  company,  and  the  said 
company  agreed  to  intrust  the  construction  and  control  of 
the  road  to  the  Western  company  under  certain  restrictions 
and  regulations.  The  Western  company,  on  their  part,  agreed 
to  construct  and  open  the  road  as  soon  as  it'  could  be  conve- 
niently done.* 

Upon  the  consummation  of  this  desirable  arrangement  the 
Western  company  appointed  John  Chikle  as  resident  and 
George  W.  Whistler  as  consulting  engineer,  and  immedi- 
ately proceeded  to  make  a  careful  examination  and  survey  of 
various  routes  from  the  State  line  to  Albany,  which  resulted 
in  the  recommendation  of  the  engineers  for  an  entirely  new 
line,  the  Hudson  and  Berkshire  line  being  considered  as 
wholly  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  anticipated  business 
of  the  road. 

The  route  recommended  was  38^^^^^  miles  in  length,  and  in- 
volved the  construction  of  a  tunnel  at  Canaan  of  GOO  feet. 
The  estimated  cost  of  the  line  was  §1,412,804,  and  the  maxi- 
mum grades  were  from  40  to  44y*i;'jj  feet  for  nine  miles. 

The  Hudson  and  Berkshire  road  was  subsequently  purchased 
by  the  Western  company  upon  its  sale  by  the  State  of  New 
York,  which  held  a  mortgage  of  §250,000  upon  it  for  assist- 
ance rendered  in  its  construction. 

During  the  year  1840  the  road  was  pushed  rapidly  forward. 
The  unfinished  portions  east  of  the  Connecticut  River  were 
completed,  and  the  foundations  for  the  bridge  over  the  river 
were  laid.  West  of  the  river  53  miles  were  graded,  35  miles 
of  rail  laid,  and  work  on  the  mountain  division  well  advanced. 
22  miles  of  the  Albany  road— from  Greenbush  to  Chatham 
Four  Corners — were  under  contract,  and  work  was  progress- 
ing upon  12  miles  of  it. 

As  work  progressed  the  company  learned  many  things 
which  had  not  been  anticipated,  and  for  which  the  country 
furnished  no  precedent  as  a  guide. 

In  1839  there  occurred  severe  floods,  which  necessitated  the 
raising  of  the  track  for  many  miles  along  the  valley  of  the 
Agawam  Kiver,  together  with  the  enlargement  of  bridges  and 
culverts,  and  it  was  found  that  the  work  on  excavations,  rock- 
cuts,  and  embankments  would  be  largely  in  excess  of  estimates. 
Upon  making  up  the  accounts  in  December,  1840,  it  was  found 
that  the  excess  of  expenditures  over  the  original  estimates 
was, — 

On  the  Eastern  division $152,240.78 

And  on  the  Western 891,614.17 

Making  a  total  of. $1,043,854.95 

The  operations  of  the  company  were  considerably  embar- 
rassed by  investigations  set  <m  foot  in  the  Legislature  touch- 
ing its  management,  salaries  of  officers,  rates  of  fare,  etc. 

A  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  company  in  January, 
1840,  showed,— 

Cbsl.— East  of  the  river $2,016,969.90 

West  of  the  river 3,218,056.78 

Albany  road 1,412,804.00 

$6,647,830.68 

To  meet  this  the  following  means  were  provided  to  Dec.  31, 
1840: 

m                 i      ,  o.  .          •  f      $2,100,000 

Two  grants  of  State  scrip -j        l  20<UXM) 

City  of  Albany  scrip,  nett 'goo'.OOO 

Eight  a;sse88ment3  on  $3,000,000  of  stock 1,200,000 

$5,400,000 

leaving  a  deficiency  of  about  $1,2-50,000  to  be  provided  for. 

Another  application  to  the  Legislature  became  necessary, 
and  was  accordingly  made  on  the  4th  of  February,  1841. 

The  subject  was  carefully  considered  by  the  Legislature  in 
all  its  bearings,  and,  after  much  debate  and  many  different 
propositions  and  amendments,  a  bill  was  finally  passed  on  the 
12th  of  March,  1841,  granting  the  credit  of  the  State  to  the 
amount  of  $700,000  in  further  aid  of  the  road. 

*  For  the  partieulara  of  this  contract  see  Historical  Memoir  of  the  Western 
Railroad,  by  Hon.  George  Bliss,  1863. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


This  last  legislation  virtually  assured  the  completion  of  the 
road,  and  during  the  year  1841  it  was  rapidly  forwarded. 
Twenty-eight  miles  of  the  line  west  of  the  river  were  opened 
to  Chester  on  the  24th  of  May,  and  the  whole  line  from  the 
river  to  the  State  line  was  finished  on  the  4th  of  October. 
The  bridge  over  the  Connecticut  River  was  completed  on  the 
4th  of  July  of  the  same  year,*  and  thus  early  in  October  the 
entire  road  from  "Worcester  to  the  New  York  line  was  ready 
for  use. 

That  part  of  the  Albany  road  between  Albany  and  the 
junction  of  the  Hudson  and  Berkshire  roads,  at  Chatham 
Four  Corners,  was  opened  for  use  on  the  21st  of  December, 
1841,  and  trains  commenced  running  between  Boston  and 
Albany  on  that  day. 

In  commemoration  of  the  completion  of  this  important 
road,  then  the  longest  line  in  the  Union,  the  municipal  author- 
ities of  Albany  and  Boston  arranged  for  an  interchange  of 
visits ;  and,  on  the  27th  of  December,  the  authorities  of  Bos- 
ton, together  with  many  gentlemen  from  other  cities  and 
towns  to  the  number  of  12.5,  took  the  train  for  Albany,  rest- 
ing between  two  and  three  hours  at  Springfield,  and  arriving 
at  Albany  at  7.30  p.m.,  where  they  were  received  by  the  au- 
thorities and  citizens,  and  escorted  by  the  military  to  their 
lodgings. 

On  the  next  morning  the  Eastern  delegation  was  received 
at  the  City  Hall,  and  subsequently  visited  the  Common  Coun- 
cil rooms,  where  the  members  were  formally'  welcomed  by  the 
mayor.  In  the  evening  dinner  was  served  at  Stanwix  Hall  to 
about  300  guests,  the  mayor  presiding,  wlio  delivered  a  con- 
gratulatory address,  which  was  responded  to  by  Mr.  Chapman, 
mayor  of  Boston.  Addresses  were  also  nuide  by  other  gen- 
tlemen. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  in  response  to  an  invitation  from 
the  Massachusetts  people,  a  train  bearing  about  250  gentle- 
men from  Albany  and  vicinity  visited  Boston,  arriving  about 
7.30  P.M.  They  were  welcomed  by  a  large  concourse  of  people, 
and  escorted  to  the  United  States  Hotel. 

On  the  next  day  they  visited  various  places  of  interest,  and 
at  5.30  P.M.  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous  repast  at  the  United 
States  Hotel,  presided  over  by  Mayor  Chapman.  Speeches 
were  made  by  the  mayors  of  the  two  cities  and  sundry  other 
gentlemen,  including  Governor  Davis,  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  occasion  was  among  the  memorable  ones  of  the  Puritan 
city.     The  Albany  delegation  returned  home  on  the  31st. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  entire  road,  in  December,  1841, 
Mr.  Thomas  B.  Wales  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  com- 
pany, which  position  he  had  held  since  1836.  Mr.  George 
Bliss  also  resigned  his  office  as  agent  of  the  company,  and  on 
the  1st  of  March,  1842,  was  chosen  president,  John  Howard, 
Esq.,  having  acted  as  president  ;dto  tern,  since  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Wales. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1842,  the  respective  executive  officers 
and  Legislatures  of  the  States  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts, 
upon  invitation  of  the  board  of  directors,  met  at  Springfield 
to  exchange  congratulations  and  reciprocate  courtesies  on  the 
occasion  of  the  permanent  union  of  the  two  States  by  the  iron 
rail.  On  the  day  named  the  Boston  party  arrived  at  Spring- 
field at  12.30  P.M.,  and  the  Albany  party  at  1.30  p.m.,  and 
both  bodies  were  escorted  to  the  Masonic  Hall,  where  Gov- 
ernors Davis  and  Seward  were  introduced  by  the  Hon.  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate,  who  pre- 
sided, when  Governor  Davis  welcomed  the  delegation  from 
New  York  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts  in  an  appropriate  ad- 
dress, to  which  Governor  Seward  responded  in  his  usual  happy 
manner. 

An  hour  or  more  was  spent  in  introductions  and  social  in- 


*  Tliu  Bret  bridge  cost  8131,012.l-2.  The  new  iron  structure,  erected  in  1S72 
cost  $202,(100.  Tlie  bridge  over  the  Hudson  at  Albany,  built  about  18C8,  cost 
S227,C(H;.8.'i. 


tercourse,  when   the  assemblage   repaired  to  the   town-hall, 
where  the  members  partook  of  a  grand  dinner. 

President  Quincy,  presiding  at  the  banquet,  gave  as  a  toast, 
"The  Western  Railroad  Corporation,"  which  was  responded 
to  by  Mr.  Bli.ss,  president  of  the  company,  who  closed  with  a 
sentiment  to  the  State  of  New  York,  which  was  responded  to 
by  Mr.  Paige,  acting  president  of  the  New  York  Senate. 

Speeches  were  also  made  by  Mr.  Walley,  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  Dr.  Taylor,  speaker 
of  the  New  York  Assembly,  and  Gen.  Root,  the  father  of  the 
New  York  Senate,  who  gave,  "The  happy  union  of  the  stur- 
geon and  the  codfish;  may  their  joyous  nuptials  ctt'aoe  the 
melancholy  recollections  of  the  departure  of  the  Connecticut 
River  salmon  !" 

The  independent  road  of  the  Albany  and  West  Stockbridge 
company,  between  Chatham  Four  Corners  and  the  State  line, 
was  completed  on  the  12th  of  September,  1842. 

The  following  data  are  from  the  report  of  Jan.  4,  1843  : 

The  length  of  the  Western  road,  from  its  junction  with  the 
Boston  and  Worcester  road,  at  Worcester,  to  the  east  abut- 
ment of  the  Connecticut  River  bridge,  54  miles,  3080  feet ; 
thence  to  the  State  line,  63  miles,  .568  feet ;  making  a  total  of 
117  miles,  4248  feet.  The  Albany  and  West  Stockbridge 
road,  from  the  State  line  to  the  face  of  the  Greenhush  dock, 
38  miles,  1180  feet.     Total,  156  miles,  148  feet. 

Total  from  the  passenger  depot  in  Boston  to  the  Hudson 
River,  200  miles,  468  feet. 

Total  from  passenger  depot  in  Boston  to  Albany  Shore,  200 
miles,  883  feet. 

Elevations  above  base-line  of  Worcester  road  on  the  mill- 
dam  :  Boston  :f  Western  depot,  at  Worcester,  474  feet ; 
Charleton  summit,  909  feet;  depot  at  Springfield,  71  feet; 
Washington  summit,  1456  feet ;  track  at  State  line,  916  feet ; 
summit  at  Canaan,  955  feet;  depot  at  Greenhush,  N.  Y.,  26 
feet. 

The  heaviest  grades  include  about  13  miles,  varying  from 
74  to  83  feet.  The  highest  grades  on  the  Albany  and  West 
Stockbridge  road  are  40  to  Hj^^  feet  for  about  9i  miles. 

Length  of  straight  line  on  the  Western  road,  about  63 
miles  ;  on  the  Albany,  about  18  miles. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  Western  road  to  Jan.  1,  1843,  paid 
out  and  estimated  or  contracted  for,  was  §5,814,807.52  ;  of  the 
Albany  and  West  Stockbridge  road,  $1,751,984.05.  Total  for 
both  roads,  §7,566,791.57. 

The  mountain  division  of  Vi{i^  miles  cost  $980,000,  or 
over  §70,000  per  mile  ;  and  a  single  mile  cost  $219,929.87. 

The  summit  section,  in  Washington,  IJj  miles,  cost  $241,- 
311.39,  or  per  mile,  $134,000. 

A  curious  phenomenon  (which  has  since  become  quite 
common,  especially  on  the  Michigan  Central  and  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  roads,  in  Michigan  and  Indiana)  was  the  sinking 
of  about  1100  feet  of  the  road-bed  in  tlie  Richmond  swamp 
to  the  depth  of  from  75  to  90  feet  below  the  natural  surface. 

The  first  locomotives  used  on  the  road  were  seven  of  the 
Winans  (Baltimore)  manufacture,  purchased  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  Maj.  Whistler,  at  a  cost  of  $11,000  each. J 

Maj.  Whistler  entered  the  service  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment in  June,  1842,  as  superintendent  of  the  great  St.  Peters- 
burg and  Moscow  Railway,  420  miles  in  length. 

The  Winans  engines  caused  a  considerable  controversy 
to  arise  respecting  the  merits  of  various  manufactures  of 
locomotives,  and  they  were  gradually  superseded  by  others,  so 
that  the  last  one  disappeared  from  the  road  before  1850. 

The  total  earnings  of  tlie  road  for  a  series  of  years  were  as 
follows  :  1842,  $512,688.28  ;  1843,  $573,882.51 ;  1844,  $753,- 
752.72;  1845,  $813,480.15. 

t  These  elevations  are  given  in  round  numbers,  leaving  off  fractions  of  feet,  or 
adding  when  over  one-half. 

J  During  the  construction  of  the  roail  the  couipany  had  used  some  of  the 
engines  of  the  Lowell  Locks  and  Canal  CVjmpany. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


103 


Between  1843  and  1850  the  value  of  the  stock  of  the  com- 
pany fluctuated  between  40|  and  114|. 

Up  to  the  time  when  Maj.  Whistler  resigned  his  position,  in 
1842,  he  had  filled  the  offices  of  engineer  and  superintendent. 
Upon  his  resignation  the  directors  ordered  that  the  duties  of 
engineer  and  superintendent  should  devolve  upon  the  presi- 
dent, thereby  concentrating  in  one  individual  the  duties  of 
president,  agent,  engineer,  and  superintendent. 

In  September,  1842,  upon  the  urgent  request  of  the  presi- 
dent, the  board  of  directors  appointed  James  Barnes,  acting 
master  of  transportation,  as  engineer,  with  authority  to  assume 
certain  duties  as  superintendent. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  1843,  Edmund  Dwight  was  elected 
president,  and  his  salary  fixed  at  $500  per  annum.  On  the  7th 
of  April  following,  James  Barnes  was  elected  superintendent 
and  engineer,  the  president  having  been  relieved  of  the  duties 
of  those  offices.  In  1844,  George  Bliss  was  again  chosen  presi- 
dent, and  by  a  vote  of  the  board  was  also  made  general  agent 
of  the  company.     He  was  also  re-elected  in  1845. 

The  Hartford  and  Springfield  road  was  opened  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1844,  and  the  road  between  Springfield  and 
Northampton  in  the  following  year.  These  roads  added  con- 
sideral)ly  to  the  traffic  of  the  Western  road. 

In  1845  two  dividends  of  three  per  cent,  each  were  made, 
besides  paying  into  the  sinking  fund  $-30,000,  and  the  stock  of 
the  company  advanced  in  the  same  year  from  '.tOJ  to  104J. 

The  Pittsfield  and  North  Adams  Railroad  Company  was 
chartered  in  March,  1842,  revised  in  1845,  tlie  capital  sub- 
scribed and  the  road  built  in  1845-46.  The  work  was  done  by 
the  Western  company,  which  took  a  lease  of  the  new  line  for 
thirty  years,  agreeing  to  pay  an  annual  rental  of  6  per  cent, 
upon  the  cost.  This  road  was  not  a  paying  one,  but  has  since 
been  connected  with  the  Vermont  sj-stem  at  Bennington. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1846,  after  a  service  of  ten  years. 
President  Bliss  notified  the  company  of  his  intention  to  with- 
draw as  a  candidate  for  re-election,  on  account  of  the  state  of 
his  health.  Mr.  Addison  Gilmore  was  chosen  in  his  stead 
in  Februar}'  following. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  new  board  in  February,  1846, 
an  old  controversy  with  the  Worcester  company  was  amicably 
adjusted,  and  satisfactory  arrangements  were  made  by  the  two 
companies  by  the  signing  of  a  contract  to  run  three  years. 

The  affairs  of  the  Western  companj'  were  in  a  flourishing 
condition  at  the  close  of  1846.  The  total  earnings  of  the  road 
for  that  year  were  §954,417.80,  and  the  expenses  $412,679.80. 
Net  earnings,  $541,738.09. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  April  24,  1847,  the  com- 
pany was  authorized  to  increase  its  capital  stock  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  $1,000,000.  This  step  was  taken  with  a  view  to 
enable  the  company  to  increase  its  facilities  in  the  way  of  an 
additional  track,  new  engines,  cars,  etc.  The  increase,  under 
this  act,  brought  the  capital  up  to  $4,000,000. 

The  total  receipts  for  1847  were  $1,325,336.06,  and  the  ex- 
penses $676,689.75,  leaving  net  earnings  $648,640.31.  The 
dividends  amounted  to  $302,000. 

During  1847,  20  ten-ton  engines  and  100  freiglit-cars  were 
added  to  the  equipment,  and  28  twenty-ton  engines  and  400 
freight-cars  were  ordered,  and  about  12  miles  of  second  track 
were  constructed.  The  market  price  of  the  stock  had  ruled 
during  the  year  at  from  99  to  114J. 

At  the  beginning  of  1848,  Hun.  Josiah  Quincy  retired  from 
the  treasurership  after  a  service  of  twelve  years,  and  Stephen 
Fairbanks,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  An- 
sel Phelps,  Jr.,  of  Springfield,  was  appointed  solicitor. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  May  9,  1848,  the  com- 
pany was  further  authorized  to  increase  its  capital  stock  to 
the  amount  of  $1,000,000,  to  be  appropriated  to  construction 
and  for  the  purchase  of  engines  and  cars. 

During  the  year  1848,  32  miles  of  second  track  were  laid 
with  seventy-pound  rail,  and  400  freight-cars  and  25  engines  of 


twenty-three  tons  each  were  added  to  the  equipment,  making 
a  complement  of  70  engines.  A  large  freight-building  was 
also  erected  at  Greenbush,  costing,  with  land,  tracks,  etc., 
$115,000. 

The  gross  earnings  of  the  road  for  1848  were  11,332,068.29, 
and  the  expenses  $652,357.11,  leaving  the  net  earnings  $679,- 
711.18.  The  heaviest  receipts  of  the  road  from  the  time  of 
its  opening,  in  1841,  to  1862,  were  in  the  year  1856,  when  they 
reached  a  total  of  $2,115,820.05.  The  receipts  of  1862  were 
$2,095,922.50. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  1861,  a  serious  fire  at  East  Albany 
destroyed  all  the  station-buildings,  one  of  the  bridges  leading 
to  the  island,  and  67  freight-cars,  involving  a  loss,  exclusive 
of  freight-cars,  of  $113,143.76.  The  buildings  were  imme- 
diately rebuilt. 

At  the  close  of  1862  there  remained  about  40  miles  of  the 
second  track  to  be  laid  between  Boston  and  Albany.  The 
double  track  was  completed  through  in  1868. 

The  long-continued  difficulties  between  the  Western  and 
the  Boston  and  Worcester  Railroad  companies,  regarding 
passenger  and  freight  rates  and  the  pi-o  rata  division  of  the 
earnings  of  the  two  roads,  operated  to  diminish  the  business 
of  the  lines,  and  was  the  subject  of  various  arrangements  and 
compromises,  and  many  attempts  were  made  to  adjust  and 
settle  the  questions  arising  ;  but  no  permanent  or  satisfactory 
solution  was  reached  until  Dec.  1,  1867,  when  the  two  lines 
were  consolidated  under  a  new  corporation,  which  from  that 
date  took  the  name  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad 
Company. 

In  addition  to  the  main  line  the  company  operate  the  fol- 
lowing roads  and  branches  :  Grand  Junction  Railroad,  New- 
ton Lower  Falls  Branch,  Brookline  Branch,  Saxonville  Branch, 
Milford  Branch,  Milbury  Branch,  North  Brookfield  Branch, 
Spencer  Branch,  Ware  River  Road,*  Pittsfield  and  North 
Adams  Road,  and  the  Chatham  and  Hudson  Road.  The 
Ware  River  Road  is  operated  under  a  lease  for  999  years. 

The  present  capital  of  the  company  is  $20,000,000.  The 
equipment  of  the  road  consists  of  243  locomotives,  averaging 
29tV<t  *°^*  each,  184  passenger  cars,  55  baggage  and  postal, 
4907  merchandise,  517  other,  and  11  snow-plows. 

The  following  table  shows  the  cost  of  the  road  to  Sept.  30, 

1878: 

Graduation,  masonry,  and  bridging ^7,516,075.08 

Superstructure,  includiug  iron 5,795,293.04 

Laud,  land  damages,  and  fencing 5,173,713.61 

Passenger  and  freigtit  stations,  wood-slieds,  and  water- 
stations 2,947.617.89 

Engine-houses,  car-sheds,  and  turn-tables 516,442.53 

Macbine-shops,  machinery,  and  tools 777,276.23 

Engineering,  interest,  agencies,  salaries,  etc 1,642,298.12 

Locomotives  and  snow-plows 1,215,000.00 

Passenger,  mail,  and  baggage  cars 488,W)0.0O 

Merchandise  cars 1,442,400.00 


Total 527,.514,116.50 


Cost  of  road  and  equip- 
ment    $27,514,116.50 

Cost  of  South  Boston 
property 605,098.22 

Hudson  Kiver  bridges ..         475,4So.OO 

Materials 1,130,944.07 

Real  estate  and  land 119,678.96 

Ledger  balances  due 
from  individuals  and 
corporations 495,483.83 

West  Stockbridge  K.  R. 
stock 13,000.00 

Cash 549,874.09 


TRIAL   B.\LAXCE,   SEPTEMBER   30,  1878. 

Capital  stock ?2O,0O0,0O0.0O 

Seven  per  cent.  Iwnds...       5,000,000.00 

Six  per  cent.  Ijonds 2,000,000.00 

Unclaimed       dividends 

and  interest 33,685.50 

Dividend   No.    20,   due 

Nov.  15,  1877 800,000.00 

Dividend  No.  2,  P.  &  N. 

A.  R.  R.,  due  Jan.  1, 

1878 11,250.00 

Dividend   No.   8,  Ware 

R.R.,  due  Jan.  1,1878  26,250.00 

Notes  pavable 507,4.34.75 

Proflt  andloss 2,425,060.42 


$30,803,680.67 


830,803,680.67 

The  gross  earnings  of  the  road  for  the  year  ending  Sept.  30, 
1878,  were  $6,633,533.41 ;  expenses  for  same  period,  $4,413,- 
997.27;  net  balance,  $2,219,536.14. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  rapid  increase  in  the  quan- 
tity of  grain  of  all  kinds  received  into  the  East  Boston  elevator 


*  This  lino  runs  from  Palmer  up  the  Ware  River,  and  through  Worcester 
Couuty.  It  was  incorporated  May  24,  1S51,  bi  build  a  road  from  Palmer  to 
Templeton,  in  Worcester  County.  The  road  connects  with  the  Fitchburg  Kail- 
wav  at  Baldwinsville. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


during  the  last  five  years  :  1873-74,  1,508,083  bushels;  1874- 
75,  2,588,1227  bushels ;  1875-76,  4,406,785  bushels ;  1876-77, 
4,240,501  bushels  ;  1877-78,  9,763,280  bushels. 

A  severe  storm  and  flood  on  the  10th  of  December,  1878, 
caused  considerable  damage  to  the  road  in'the  valley  of  the 
Agawam  Eiver,  the  total  loss  to  track,  bridges,  etc.,  being  es- 
timated at  ^20,000.  There  was  also  serious  interruption  to 
travel  and  traffic  for  a  number  of  days. 

The  presidents  of  the  Western  Railroad  company,  and  of 
the  Boston  and  Albany,  since  the  consolidation  with  the  Bos- 
ton and  Worcester  company,  have  been  as  below :  Thomas  B. 
Wales,  of  Boston,  from  January,  1836,  to  February,  1842. 
John  Howard,  ^);'o  tern.,  two  months,  1842.  George  Bliss, 
from  March,  1842,  to  1843.  Edmund  Dwight,  1843-44,  one 
year.  George  Bliss,  one  year,  1844-4-5.  Addison  Gilmore, 
1846  to  latter  part  of  1850,  when  he  died.  John  Gardner, 
pro  tern.,  1850-51.  Captain  Wm.  H.  Swift,  1851  to  1854. 
Chester  W.  Chapin,  of  Springfield,  1854  to  1877.  D.  Waldo 
Lincoln,  of  Worcester,  the  present  incumbent. 

Present  Officers  of  the  Corporation. — Directors,  D.  W.  Lin- 
coln, C.  W.  Chapin,  Ignatius  Sargent,  Moses  Kimball,  John 
Cummings,  Henry  Colt,  Geo.  O.  Crocker,  Edward  B.  Gillett, 
J.  H.  Chadwick,  Charles  L.  Wood,  J.  N.  Dunham,  D.  N. 
Skillings,  Francis  B.  Hayes.  D.  Waldo  Lincoln,  President, 
Boston ;  William  Bliss,  General  Manager,  Springfield ; 
C.  O.  Russell,  General  Superintendent,  Springfield ;  Wal- 
ter H.  Barnes,  Assistant  Superintendent,  Boston ;  J.  B. 
Chapin,  A.ssistant  Superintendent  Albany ;  C.  E.  Stevens, 
Treasurer,  Boston ;  J.  A  Rumrill,  Secretary  and  Clerk, 
Springfield;  M.  E.  Barber,  Auditor,  Springfield;  H.  J. 
Hayden,  General  Freight  Agent,  Boston ;  J.  M.  Griggs, 
General  Ticket  Agent,  Springfield ;  A.  S.  Bryant,  Cashier, 
Springfield  ;  Albert  Holt,  Paymaster,  Springfield. 

THE    CONNECTICUT   RIVER    RAILROAD. 

The  first  link  in  this  line  was  that  portion  between  Spring- 
field and  Northampton.  A  company  known  as  "The  North- 
ampton and  Springfield  Railroad  Corporation"  was  chartered 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1842.  The  leading  corporators  were 
John  Clarke,  Sam'l  L.  Hinckley,  Stephen  Brewer,  Jonathan 
H.  Butler,  and  Winthrop  Hillyer.  The  capital  stock  was 
limited  to  §400,000,  but  this  was  increased  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature,  Feb.  23,  1844,  to  ;ti.500,000. 

On  the  2.5th  of  February,  1845,  Henry  W.  Clapp,  Ralph 
Williams,  Henry  W.  Cushman,  and  associates  were  incorpo- 
rated as  "  The  Greenfield  and  Northampton  Railroad  Com- 
pany," with  authority  to  construct  a  road  between  the  above- 
mentioned  towns.  The  capital  stock  was  limited  to  $500,000. 
These  two  corporations  were  consolidated  on  equal  terms  in 
July,  1845,  and  took  the  name  of  "The  Connecticut  River 
Railroad  Company."  An  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  March 
21,  1845,  authorized  "The  Northampton  and  Springfield  Com- 
pany" to  change  its  route  to  the  one  where  the  road  now 
runs.  "The  Connecticut  River  Company"  was  authorized 
on  the  16th  of  April,  1846,  to  extend  its  road  northward  from 
Greenfield  to  the  Vermont  State  line,  and  to  increase  its  stock 
by  an  amount  not  exceeding  ?500,000. 

The  road  was  opened  from  Springfield  to  Cabotville  (now 
Chicopee)  on  the  28th  of  February,  1845,  and  to  Northampton 
on  the  13th  of  December  of  the  same  year.  On  the  17th  of 
August,  1846,  it  was  opened  to  South  Decrtield,  and  on  the 
23d  of  November  following  to  Greenfield.  The  branch  from 
Chicopee  to  Chicopee  Falls  was  completed  September  8  of  the 
same  year. 

The  earnings  of  the  road  from  the  first  opening  to  January 
1,  1846,  were  $13,521;  expenditures  same  time,  $5519.  The 
receipts  for  1846  were  $58,246.99  ;  expenses,  $21,752.43.  Re- 
ceipts for  1847,  $123,951.61.  Receipts  for  1848,  $165,242.13; 
and  the  luiniber  of  passengers  carried  was  299,865;  tons  of 
merchandise,  101,314. 


The  road  was  completed  to  the  south  line  of  Vermont  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1849,  a  distance  of  52  miles  from  Springfield. 
The  total  cost  of  the  road  to  that  date  was  $1,798,825. 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1849,  the  company  entered  into  an 
agreement  with  the  Ashuelot  Railroad  Company,  of  New 
Hampshire,  chartered  to  construct  a  line  from  the  Cheshire 
Railroad,  in  Keeno,  N.  H.,  to  the  west  shore  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  in  South  Vernon,  Vt.,  by  which  the  Connecticut  River 
company  should  operate  the  Ashuelot  road  for  a  period  of  ten 
years,  paying  7  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  cost  of  the  road. 
The  annual  rental  was  subsequently  fixed  at  $30,000.  The 
Connecticut  company  commenced  running  cars  over  this 
road  Jan.  27,  1851.  The  company  is  still  running  this  line 
under  a  special  contract,  and  is  also  operating  the  Vermont 
Valley  road  from  Brattleboro'  to  Bellows  Falls,  as  agent. 
The  company  also  has  a  branch  of  Z\  miles  from  Mount  Tom 
Station  to  Eastharapton. 

The  total  cost  of  the  road  and  equipments  has  been  $2,637,- 
976.52,  the  present  capital  stock  is  $2,100,000,  and  the  funded 
debt  $250,000;  surplus,  $578,886.75. 

The  following  table  shows  the  annual  receipts  and  expenses 
of  the  road  from  1848  to  1878 : 


Receipts. 

1849 81112,072.49 

1850 l'Jl,.'i87.12 

1861 199,894.83 

1852 229,004.98 

1853 2.58,220.89 

18.54 277,770.71 

1855 280,562.55 

1856 288,669.71 

1857 267,710.57 

1858 2.38,390.37 

1859 271,592.15 

1860 .306,264.68 

1861 2.50,836.00 

1862 268,152.15 

1863 344,194.19 

1864 472,320.85 


Expenses. 
895,090.93 
104,149.18 
102,185.45 
113,1.54.02 
126,122.68 
144,828.67 
106,067.07 
163,045.72 
156,667.60 
125,293.06 
133,367.00 
14;),637.78 
127,880.39 
134,297.86 
176,186.72 
306,389.07 


Receipts. 

1865 8533,108.96 

1866 617,142.88 

1867 629,165.01 

1868 619,348.69 

1869., 649,196.49 

1870 571,972.32 

1871 725,391.83 

1872 73:1,368.37 

1873 751,30:174 

1874 706,405.45 

1875 ;.  649,249.26 

1876 589,.W6,86 

1877 573,302.63 

1878 584,670..50 


Expenses. 
8364,403.89 
439,821.75 
460,001.39 
426,:)89.98 
446,:).54.29 
374,797.81 
526,2:34.43 
617,886.95 
627,:i21.10 
491,208.97 
419,079.65 
382,209.44 
376,983.92 
399,750.44 


Total*. ..86,534,:!97.45      84,462,487.00 


TABLE  SHOWING   BUSINESS   OF   STATIONS  FOR  YEAR  ENDING 

SEPT.  30,  1878. 


Stations. 


^Tons  of 
Forwarded. 

Springfield 139,768 

Briglitwood 

Cliicopee 8,062 

Chicopee  Falls 4,316 

Wijlimansett 97 

Holyoke 20,890 

Smith's  FoiTy 2,931 

Mount  Tom 13,936 

Ea;^thampton 1,682 

Northampton 6,186 

Hatfield 1,218 

North  Hatfield 1,255 

Whatelv 647 

South  IJeerfleld 2,252 

Deerfield 1,892 

Greenfield 12,947 

Bernardston 1,072 

Si>utli  Vernon 87,928 


Freight.-^ 

Received. 

96,226 


Hinsdale  . 

Ashuelot 

Winchester... 

Westport 

Swanze.v 

Keeiie 


1,454 
3,666 
2,361 
874 
1,139 
7,548 


22,661 

10,306 

473 

74,115 

456 

354 

7,402 

17,689 

817 

1,135 

621 

3,9(H 

1,976 

24,535 

1,118 

32,028 

6,454 

1,793 

1,767 

125 

861 

16,196 


-Number  of 

Forwarded. 

287,092 

23,216 
138,463 

57,74) 

27,:)04 

159,269 

4,989 

9,001 

19,806 

71,260 
0,214 
2,388 
2,139 
9,171 
4,636 

32,837 
6,045 

34,516 
8,517 
5,:iI6 
8,322 
2,819 
6,316 

20,523 


Received. 
332,147 

24,076 
115,521 

44,.548 

24,851 

149,053 

6,394 

9,195 

19,8:i8 

72,597 
7,201 
1,785 
2,033 
9,2:31 
4,:!93 

33,794 
6,915 

33,224 
8,007 
6,272 
8,167 
2,936 
0,078 

19,984 


Total 322,900  322,900 


946,900  946,900 


The  presidents  of  the  company  since  its  organization,  in 
their  order,  have  been  Erastus  Hopkins,  of  Northampton; 
Henry  W.  Clapp,  of  Greenfield;  Chester  W.  Chapin,  of 
Springfield ;  Henry  W.  Clapp,  again ;  Erastus  Hopkins, 
again;  Daniel  L.  Harris,  of  Springfield. 

Present  Officers. — Directors:  Daniel  L.  Harris,  Springfield; 
I.  M.  Spelman,  Edward  A.  Dana,  Boston;  Charles  S.  Sar- 
gent, Brookline ;  Chester  W.  Chapin,  Springfield ;  O.scar 
Edwards,  Northampton  ;  W\  B.  Washburn,  Greenfield  ;  Ro- 
land Mather,  Hartford,  Conn. ;  S.  M.  Waite,  Brattleboro',  Vt. 
Daniel  L.  Harris,  President,  Springfield;  John  Mulligan, 
Superintendant,  Springfield  ;  Setb  Hunt,  Clerk  and  Treasurer, 
Springfield  ;  John  Whittelsey,  Auditor,  Northampton  ;  Wm. 
H.  Stearns,  Master  Mechanic,  Springfield;  H.  E.  Howard, 
General  Freight  Agent,  Springfield ;  F.  D.  Hey  wood.  General 
Ticket  Agent,  Springfield ;  Geo.  E.  Frink,  Cashier  and  Pay- 

*  These  sums  include  the  earninge  of  the  Ashuelot  road  for  ahout  11  years. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


105 


master,  Springfield;  C.  H.  Cram,  General  Freight  Clerk, 
Springfield;  Wm.  E.  Hill,  Lost  Freight  and  Baggage  Agent, 
Springfield. 

THE    NEW    YORK,    NEW    HAVEN    AND    HARTFORD    RAILWAY. 

This  line  e.xtcnds  from  Springfield,  via  Hartford  and  New 
Haven,  to  New  York  City,  and  is  made  up  of  a  consolidation  of 
several  lines,  among  which  were  the  Springfield  and  Hart- 
ford and  the  Hartford  and  New  Haven  roads.  The  Spring- 
field and  Hartford  road  was  opened  in  1844,  and  passengers 
took  steamer  at  New  Haven,  on  the  Long  Island  Sound  boats, 
for  New  York.  The  completion  of  the  New  York  and  New 
Haven  line  opened  a  through  route  from  Boston  to  New  Y'ork 
via  Springfield,  and  it  now  constitutes  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant lines  in  the  State  of  Connecticut. 

THE   NEW    LONDON    NORTHERN    RAILROAD. 

This  line  was  originally  chartered  by  the  Connecticut  Legis- 
lature in  May,  1847,  as  "The  New  London,  Willimantic  and 
Springfield  Railroad  Company."  The  northern  terminus  was 
subsequently  changed  to  Palmer.  The  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lature in  1848  authorized  the  company  to  extend  its  line  from 
the  State  line,  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  to  the  line  of  the 
Western  Railroad  at  Palmer  depot. 

The  road  was  opened  from  New  London  to  Willimantic,  a 
distance  of  30  miles,  in  November,  1849;  to  Statford  Springs, 
in  March,  18-50;  and  to  Palmer,  on  the  20th  of  September, 
1850;  a  total  di.stance  of  60  miles.  The  original  cost  of  the 
road  was  I5il,.524,329.0lj,  and  of  the  portion  in  Massachusetts, 
1207,201.53. 

THE   AMHERST   AND    BELCHERTOWN    RAILROAD   COMPANY 

was  incorporated  in  1851,  with  authority  to  construct  a  line 
from  Palmer,  through  the  towns  of  Belchertown,  Amherst, 
Leverett,  Sunderland,  and  Montague,  to  the  Vermont  and 
Massachu.setts  Railroad,  at  or  near  Montague.  The  company 
was  organized  June  30,  1851.  Luke  Swcetser  was  chosen 
President,  and  John  S.  Adams  Clerk  and  Treasurer. 

The  road  was  opened  from  Palmer  to  Amherst,  May  9,  1853, 
and  was  leased  to  the  New  London,  Willimantic  and  Palmer 
company  for  ten  years,  but,  the  arrangement  proving  unsat- 
isfactory, the  contract  was  dissolved  Nov.  5,  18.53,  and  the 
road  was  from  that  date  to  1804  operated  by  the  Amherst  and 
Belchertown  company.  The  cost  of  this  road  between  Pal- 
mer and  Amherst  was  $280,000. 

In  1800  the  name  of  the  New  London,  Willimantic  and 
Palmer  company  was  changed  to  the  present  one,  and  in 
1804  the  latter  bought  out  the  Amherst  and  Belchertown 
road,  and  extended  the  line  to  a  connection  with  the  Vermont 
and  Massachusetts  road,  at  Grout's  Corners,  in  1806. 

The  principal  stations  on  this  line  in  Massachusetts  are 
Monson,  Palmer,  Belchertown,  Amherst,  Montague,  and  Mil- 
ler's Falls.  The  road  forms  an  important  route,  and  furnishes 
valuable  facilities  to  the  eastern  portions  of  the  three  river- 
counties. 

The  consolidated  line,  extending  from  New  London,  Conn., 
to  South  Vernon,  Vt.,  is  operated  under  lease  by  the  Vermont 
Central  Railway  Company. 

THE   NEW   HAVEN    AND    NORTHAMPTON    RAILROAD. 

This  corporation  is  the  result  of  a  consolidation  of  several 
independent  companies  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 

THE    HAMPDEN    RAILROAD    COMPANY' 

was  chartered  in  1852,  with  a  capital  of  $175,000,  with  authority 
to  build  a  road  from  Westfield  to  the  State  line  in  Granby, 
Conn. 

THE    NORTHAMPTON   AND    WESTFIELD    COMPANY 

was  chartered  in  the  same  year  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  for 
the  purpose  of  continuing  the  first-named  road  from  Westfield 
to  Northampton.  The  two  roads  were  united  under  the  name 
of 

14 


THE   HAMPSHIRE    AND    HAMPDEN    RAILROAD    COMPANY 

in  1853.  The  line  was  put  in  operation  to  Northampton  in 
1850,  and  extended  to  its  present  northern  terminus  in  1868. 
The  New  Haven  and  Northampton  Canal  Company  was 
authorized  in  18.53  to  dispose  of  corporate  property  to  the 
Hampshire  and  Hampden  Railroad  Comjjany. 

The  Holyoke  and  Westfield  road  was  built,  under  the  Mas- 
sachusetts laws,  to  accommodate  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  the  former  place,  in  1871.  The  capital  was  mostly  sub- 
scribed in  that  city.  It  is  operated  b}'  the  New  Haven  and 
Northampton  company,  which  furnishes  ten  extra  freight- 
trains  daily.  It  forms  a  valuable  competing  line  with  the  New 
Y^ork,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  road. 

THE    CONNECTICUT    CENTRAL    RAILROAD. 

This  line  is  made  up  of  the  Springfield  and  New  London  Rail- 
road, which  was  organized  under  a  general  law  of  Massachu- 
setts, in  1874,  ostensibly  with  the  view  of  connecting  the  points 
mentioned,  and  the  first-named  road  was  chartered  in  1868, 
and  obtained  a  supplementary  charter  in  in  1869.  The  road 
extends  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  to  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  has 
a  branch  in  Connecticut  from  Melro.se  to  Rockville,  7j  miles. 

The  road  was  built  in  1875,  and  put  in  operation  in  Janu- 
ary, 1876.  The  length  of  the  road  is  30  miles.  The  whole  line 
is  operated  by  the  Connecticut  Central.  It  connects  at  Hart- 
ford with  the  Valley  Railway,  to  Saybrook,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Connecticut,  and  at  Springfield  with  the  Athol  Railroad. 

The  presidents  of  the  Connecticut  Central  company  have 
been  J.  W.  Phelps,  from  organization  to  1876,  and  D.  D. 
Warren,  the  present  incumbent.  Gordon  Bill  has  officiated 
as  president  of  the  Springfield  and  New  London  road  since  its 
organization. 

THE   SPRINGFIELD,  ATHOL   AND    NORTHEASTERN    RAILROAD. 

This  road  was  originally  the  Athol  and  Enfield  Railroad, 
chartered  about  1864-65.  The  first  portion  was  constructed 
from  Athol  to  a  connection  with  the  New  London  Northern 
road  at  Barrett's,  from  whence  the  company's  trains  ran  to 
Palmer,  four  miles,  over  the  New  London  Northern  track. 

In  1872  the  company  obtained  a  supplementary  charter, 
changing  the  name  of  the  corporation  to  the  present  one,  and 
authorizing  them  to  build  a  line  from  Barrett's  to  Springfield, 
about  17  miles,  which  was  constructed  in  1873.  The  city  of 
Springfield  holds  about  $300,000  of  this  company's  stock. 

The  officers  of  this  company  are;  President,  Willis  Phelps; 
Superintendent,  H.  W.  Phelps  ;  Treasurer,  T.  H.  Good.specd  ; 
General  Freight  and  Ticket  Agent,  E.  M.  Bartlett. 

THE    HOOSAC   TUNNEL    LINE. 

This  is  the  most  important  line  of  railway  passing  through 
the  northern  part  of  the  State.  The  component  lines  which 
make  the  complete  road  from  Boston  to  the  Hudson  River  at 
Troy  are  the  Fitchburg  Railroad,  from  Boston  to  Greenfield, 
a  distance  of  100  miles ;  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  road,  from 
Greenfield  to  North  Adams,  37  miles,  including  the  tunnel, 
which  is  the  property  of  the  State ;  and  the  Troy  and  Boston 
road,  from  North  Adams  to  the  Hudson  River,  48  miles ; 
making  a  total  distance  of  191  miles  from  tide-water  to  tide- 
water again. 

The  height  of  the  centre  of  the  tunnel  above  tide-water  is 
something  over  800  feet. 

These  lines,  or  those  portions  traversing  Franklin  County, 
follow  very  closely  the  valleys  of  Miller's  and  the  Deerfield, 
or  Pocomtuck,  Rivers,  nearly  from  the  eastern  to  the  western 
extremity  of  the  county  ;  passing  through  or  near  the  towns 
of  Orange,  Wendell,  Erving,  Montague,  Deerfield,  Greenfield, 
Shelburne,  Conway,  Buckland,  Charlemont,  and  Rowe ;  and 
giving  about  50  miles  of  continuous  track  within  the  county. 
There  are  sections  of  heavy  and  expensive  work  on  this  road 
in  many  places,  but  the  advantages  possessed  by  the  tunnel 
route  over  every  other  will  be  best  understood  by  the  statement 


lOG 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


that  the  highest  point  in  the  Hoopac  tunnel  is  612  feet  nearer 
the  sea-level  than  the  summit  on  the  Boston  and  Alhany  route. 

The  line,  as  originally  surveyed  and  located,  crossed  Green 
River  in  the  town  of  Deerfield,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from 
the  business  centre  of  Greenfield  village,  which  place  was 
accommodated  until  ahout  1876  by  backing  up  the  trains.  At 
the  latter  date  the  track  was  changed  and  laid  through  the 
southern  portion  of  the  village,  describing  a  grand  curve,  and 
crossing  the  former  track  a  mile  and  a  half  southwest  of  the 
village,  and  over  a  mile  west  of  the  old  bridge  over  Green 
River.  The  di.stance  is  somewhat  increa.=fd,  but  the  village 
is  much  better  accommodated,  and  the  grade  reduced  from 
about  70  feet  to  26  feet  per  mile. 

The  Troy  and  Greenfield  road  was  chartered  in  1848,  and 
organized  in  1849.  Ground  was  broken  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1851,  under  an  appropriation  of  5i25,000  made  for 
"  experiments  on  the  tunnel."  Application  was  abso  made  in 
that  year  for  aid  from  the  State,  but  without  success,  and 
again  in  1853  with  a  similar  result. 

In  1854  a  third  application  was  successful,  and  State  aid 
was  granted  to  the  extent  of  $2,000,000.  The  actual  com- 
mencement of  work  on  the  tunnel  proper  was  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1856,  when  Herman  Haupt,  an  eminent  engineer,  of- 
fered to  undertake  the  job  ;  and  on  the  30th  of  July  of  that 
year  a  contract  was  entered  into  with  Messrs.  H.  Haupt  & 
Co. 

From  that  date  until  1861  work  was  vigorously  pushed  so 
long  as  the  funds  held  out,  but  in  the  summer  of  that  year 
they  became  exhausted,  and  work  was  suspended.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1862,  the  tunnel  was  transferred  to  the  State,  the 
work  at  that  time  having  progressed  to  the  extent  of  half  a 
mile  into  the  mountain. 

■  The  State  entered  upon  the  work  vigorously,  and  continued 
it  until  1868,  when  the  expense  had  become  so  enormous  that 
the  people  became  alarmed,  and  the  State  finally  abandoned 
it. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  1868,  the  Messrs.  Shanley,  of 
Montreal,  Canada,  contracted  for  the  completion  of  the  tunnel 
for  the  sum  of  $4,594,368,  and  whatever  interest  might  ac- 
crue under  the  contract.  Under  their  management  the  work 
steadily  progressed  to  completion  early  in  the  year  1874. 

The  headings  east  of  the  central  shaft  met  on  the  12th  of 
December,  1872,  and  the  western  headings  on  the  27th  of  No- 
vember, 1873,  amid  great  rejoicings. 

First  and  last  the  labor  was  continued  through  a  period  of 
about  eighteen  years,  at  a  total  cost,  including  interest,  of 
about  .?17,000,000.*  The  total  length  of  the  tunnel  which 
passes  under  the  Hoosac  Mountain — a  portion  of  the  Green 
Mountain  range — is  25,586  feet,  or  4  miles  and  3666  feet.  The 
tunnel  is  26  feet  in  width  and  the  same  in  height.  The  highest 
point  of  the  mountain  above  the  tunnel  in  the  western  part 
is  1718  feet,  and  of  the  summit  east  of  the  centre,  1429  feet. 
The  central  shaft,  running  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  to 
the  tunnel  below,  is  1037  feet  in  vertical  depth.  The  grade 
of  the  track  within  the  tunnel  is  26.4  feet  per  mile,  and  the 
summit  is  near  the  centre,  with  an  equal  grade  on  either  side. 
The  drainage  is  perfect. 

The  character  of  the  various  rock-formations  encountered 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  commencing  at  the  eastern 
entrance  and  going  west,  reads  as  follows,  according  to  a 
diagram  of  the  work:  "  Talcose  slate,  J  of  a  mile;  mica- 
schist,  ahout  ^  of  a  mile  ;  mica-schist  with  quartz  veins, 
about  one  mile ;  mica-schist  and  gneiss,  about  f  of  a  mile  ; 
granite  and  conglomerate,  about  \  of  a  mile;  mica-schist, 
3  of  a  mile;  gneiss,  J  of  a  mile;  and  mica-schist,  f  of  a 
mile." 

The  road  was  opened  from  Greenfield  to  the  tunnel,  Aug. 


*  An  estimate  of  tlie  cnut  of  a  tmint-l  at  this  point  for  tlo'  paspage  of  n  canal, 
made  in  1821J,  was  $920,832. 


17,  1868;  the  first  construction-train  passed  through  the  tun- 
nel Feb.  9,  1875,  and  the  first  passenger-train,  April  9th  of  the 
same  year. 

This  great  line  possesses  uncommon  and  remarkable  facili- 
ties for  the  handling  of  heavy  freight  at  its  termini  in 
Boston  and  Troy.  Its  arrangements  for  transferring  grain, 
stock,  and  merchandise  to  and  from  cars,  vessels,  and  canal- 
boats  are  unsurpassed,  while  its  dockage-fronts  and  storage 
accommodations  on  tide-water  are  of  the  best  possible  de- 
scription. 

The  expense  of  moving  heavy  trains  over  that  great  natural 
barrier,  the  Green  Mountain  range,  is  reduced  to  a  minimum 
by  the  completion,  after  years  of  labor  and  many  millions  of 
expense,  of  the  great  Hoosac  tunnel,  which  is  in  some  re- 
spects the  most  remarkable  and  important  tunnel  in  the 
world. f  It  is  on  the  line  of  the  greatest  commercial  activity 
on  the  continent,  as  well  as  lying  in  the  exact  track  between 
the  grain-producing  region  of  the  Northwest  and  the  grain- 
consuming  millions  of  New  England  and  Europe.  The 
amount  of  its  business  is  very  large,  and,  in  the  line  of 
freights,  rajiidly  increasing,  and  its  importance  is  probably 
only  beginning  to  be  comprehended. 

THE    VERMONT   AND    MASSACHUSETTS    RAILROAD. 

This  road,  which  extends  from  Fitchburg  to  Greenfield  and 
Brattleboro',  Vt.,  was  chartered  in  1844,  and  opened  from 
Fitchburg  to  Athol,  Jan.  1,  1848 ;  to  Brattleboro'  via.  North- 
field  and  South  Vernon,  in  February,  1849;  and  to  Green- 
field via  Deerfield,  in  1850.  It  is  now  known  as  the  Fitch- 
burg line. 

The  portion  of  this  line  lying  between  Grout's  Corners  and 
the  Vermont  line  is  operated  under  a  lease  by  the  Vermont 
Central  Railroad  Company,  in  connection  with  the  New 
London  Northern  road.  Its  termini,  Brattleboro',  Vt.,  and 
Greenfield,  Mass.,  are  thriving  and  important  towns  ;  and  the 
connections  of  the  road  at  these  points  and  others  with  the 
great  tunnel  line  and  the  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire 
systems  are  very  important  factors  in  its  general  busine.ss. 

This  company  operates  the  short  line,  or  branch,  from 
Greenfield  to  Turner's  Falls,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  from 
the  switch  on  the  Deerfield  River  to  the  Fulls.  There  is  a 
probability  of  a  line  being  eventually  constructed  from  Tur- 
ner's Falls  to  Miller's  Falls. 


CHAPTER    XXII L 

POPULATION— INDUSTEY  AND  ■WEALTH— EDUCA- 
TIONAL. 

The  population  of  Massachusetts  from  1776  to  1875,  accord- 
ing to  the  colonial,  State,  and  United  States  censuses,  has 
been  as  follows:  1776,  295,080;  1790,  378,787;  1800,  422,845; 
1810,  472,040;  1820,  523,287;  1830,  610,408;  1840,  737,700; 
1850,  994,514;  18.5.5,  1,132,369;  1860,  1,231,066;  1865,  1,267,- 
030;   1870,  1,4.57,3.51;   1875,  1,651,912. 

The  number  of  inhabitants  per  square  mile  by  the  last 
census  is  shown  to  be  212,  being  the  greatest  of  any  State 
in  the  Union. 

The  population  of  Massachusetts  cities  in  1875  was  as  fol- 
lows:  Boston,  341,919;  Lowell,  49,688;  Worcester,  49,317; 
Cambridge,  47,838;  Fall  River,  45,340;  Lawrence,  34,916; 
Lynn,  32,600;  Springfield,  31,0.53;  Salem,  25,958;  New  Bed- 
ford, 2.5,895 ;  Somerville,  21,868;  Chelsea,  20,737;  Taunton, 
20,445;  Gloucester,  16,754;  Holyoke,  16,260;  Newton,  16,105; 
Haverhill,  14,628;   Newburyport,  13,323  ;   Fitchburg,  12,289. 

The  following  tables  show  the  population  of  the  three  river- 
counties  by  towns  since  1776  : 

t  This  tunnel  lies  wholly  within  the  town  of  rioiida,  Berkshire  Co.,  but  it« 

eastern  poftal  opens  on  the  west  hank  of  tlie  Deertield  River,  wliicli  divides  the 
counties  of  Berkshire  and  Fi'anklin. 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY". 


107 


COMPARATIVE   CENSUS  RETURNS   FOR   ONE    HUNDRED    TEARS. 

HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY,  MASS. 


W.& 

- 

IM 

11 

United  Suites  Census. 

11 

11 

o 

oo 

o 

o 

o 

o 

1662. 

1776. 

1790. 

1800. 

1810. 

1820. 

1830. 

1840. 

1850. 

1855. 

1860. 

I86S. 

1870. 

1875. 

1759 

915 

1,233 

1,.358 

1,469 

1,917' 

2,631 

2,550 

3,057 

2,937 

3,206 

3,415 

4,035 

3.937 

17HI 

972 

1,485 

1,878 

2.270 

2,426  ' 

2,491 

2,554 

2,680 

2,698 

2,709 

2,636 

2,428 

2,315 

U62 

1,092 

1,183 

1,323 

1,408 

1,447  --1,416 

1,132 

1,014 

950 

897 

801 

811 

746 

1779 

S73 

985 

1,009 

1,060  J 

1,261 

1,237 

1,172 

1,004 

1,085 

980 

1,037 

916 

1785 

457 

586 

660 

7124 

h     745 

717 

1,312 

1,386 

1,916 

2,869 

3,620 

3,972 

ISIfi 

873 

■  1,056 

976 

1,036 

1,036 

1,025 

997 

1,023 

1,065 

1781 

681 

724 

652 

632 

I-     617 

556 

512 

471 

439 

411 

368 

349 

1768 

491 

596 

786 

850 

1,066 

.  1,064 

971 

1,104 

1,001 

907 

908 

863 

812 

1754 

890 

1,045 

1,460 

1,225 

778 

h     813 

824 

838 

803 

699 

648 

665 

606 

lfi61 

681 

882 

1,073 

1,247 

1,461. 

1,686 

1,814 

1,986 

1,928 

2,105 

2,240 

2,.301 

2,125 

1B70 

582 

703 

809 

805 

823 

893 

933 

1,073 

1,162 

1,337 

1,405 

1,594 

1,600 

177:i 

742 

742 

959 

968 

S49 

795 

750 

756 

1,172 

1,216 

1,163 

1,156 

1,095 

17S:i 

608 

877 

822 

755  ■ 

r      720 

1,717 

737 

677 

748 

727 

728 

603 

1654 

1,79" 

1,628 

2,190 

2,631 

2,854  • 

3,613 

3,750 

5,278 

5,819 

6,788 

7,925 

10,160 

11,108 

1742 

729 

1,040 

1,144 

1,185 

1,278 

f-     904 

956 

983 

789 

748 

737 

673 

633 

1785 

458 

797 

977 

936  r 

984 

910 

814 

652 

639 

579 

521 

481 

1822 



758 

780 

737 

643 

6U 

596 

541 

493 

1753 

534 

759 

801 

902 

1,047  f> 

1,185 

1,458 

2,495 

2,051 

2,277 

2,099 

2,840 

3,370 

1753 

740 

829 

983 

1,171 

1.160 

1,244 

1,157 

1.060 

1,195 

1,130 

1,216 

1,159 

1,050 

1761 

773 

773 

997 

996 

1,154  n  2,045 

1,890 

3,785 

3,198 

3,597 

3,374 

4,259 

4,142 

1778 

683 

756 

793 

896^      918 

759 

602 

670 

603 

636 

587 

556 

1771 

534 

1,049 

1,176 

1,122 

1,037^  1,236 

1,309 

1..537 

1,831 

2.095 

1,976 

2,159 

2,029 

1768 

639 

1,116 

1,223 

1,391 

1,276-    1,179 

1,197 

1,134 

1,112 

1,041 

925 

860 

818 

12,154 

18,823 

22,885 

24,553 

26,487 

30,254 

30,897 

35,732 

35,485 

37,823 

39,269 

44,388 

44,821 

Amherst 

Belchertovvn  ., 
Chesterfield... 
Cummington.. 
Easthampion. 

Enfield...., 

Goshen 

Granby 

Greenwich 

Hadlcy 

Hatfield 

Huntington ,., 
Middlefield.... 
Northampton  , 

Pelham 

Plainfield , 

Prescott 

South  Hadley 
Southampton. 

Ware 

Westhamptou 
Williamsburg 
Worthington.. 

Totals 


FRANKLIN  COUNTY,  MASS. 


Towns. 

Date  of 
Incurpo ra- 
tion. 

11 

United  States  Census. 

«  2 

A 

H  a. 
0 

2S 
«  s 
as 

1811. 

1776. 

1790. 

1800. 

1810. 

1820. 

1830. 

1840. 

1850. 

1855. 

I860. 

1865. 

1870. 

1875. 

Ashfield 

1765 

1762 
1779 
1765 
1761 
1767 
1682 
1838 
1793 
1753 
1792 
1785 
1774 
1809 
1822 
1753 
1753 
1713 
1810 
1785 
1768 
1761 
1714 
1763 
1781 
1771 

628 
607 

665 
566 
897 
836 

"735 

..''.* 

"293 

"575 
910 
580 

575 
598 
409 
766 

410 

1,459 

691 

718 

665 

1,417 

2.092 

1,330 

1,498 
539 
379 
524 
989 

"906 

1,543 

868 

784 

443 

1,183 

674 

462 

1,246 

519 

736 

1,741 
780 
1,041 
875 
2,014 
2,013 
1,531 

"700 

1,254 

878 

604 

711 

1,095 

1,'222 

1,949 

1,047 

766 

575 

1,079 

930 

537 

1,233 

737 

773 

1,809 

811 

1,097 

987 

2,016 

1,784 

1,570 

160 

762 

1,165 

1,031 

917 

769 

1,009 

"934 

2,107 

1,218 

764 

839 

961 

939 

551 

1,227 

983 

891 

1,748- 

912  + 

1,037-^ 

1,081- 

1,961 

1,705  - 

1,868 

331- 

800  • 

■  1,732 

918 

1,039 

1,065 

1,877 

1,563 

2,003 

488 

864 

1,610 

992 

1,084 

1,127 

1,971 

1,409 

1,912 

309 

798 

1,756 

977 

895 

875 

632 

282 

1,255 

1,305 

1,673 

1,501 

703 

1,022 

987 

719 

1,071 

875 

1,072 

1,394 

937 

1,056 

1,173 

1,785 

1,831 

2,421 

449 

754 

2,580 

881 

803 

948 

716 

254 

1,518 

1,253 

1,772 

1,701 

659 

1,239 

912 

792 

1,021 

920 

1,101 

1,342 

908 

1,614 

1,113 

1,604 

1,784 

2,766 

471 

732 

2,945 

774 

741 

982 

653 

217 

4,509 

1,221 

1,951 

1,753 

601 

1,401 

939 

839 

1,002 

738 

1,052 

1,302 

968 

1,702 

1,075 

1,798 

1,689 

3,073 

527 

683 

3,193 

671 

661 

964 

606 

236 

1,593 

957 

1,712 

1,622 

619 

1,448 

798 

839 

932 

704 

1,057 

1,221 

902 

1,922 

994 

1,726 

1,538 

3,038 

576 

635 

3,211 

687 

642 

914 

592 

191 

1,574 

1,116 

1,660 

1,909 

563 

1,564 

788 

861 

901 

603 

1,012 

1,180 

961 

1,946 

1,005 

1,742 

1,460 

3,632 

579 

653 

3,589 

672 

613 

877 

518 

201 

2,224 

987 

1,720 

2,091 

581 

1,582 

614 

832 

769 

539 

1,068 

1,190 

991 

1,921 

1,029 

1,699 

1,452 

3,414 

794 

673 

3,540 

588 

545 

831 

524 

190 

3,380 

923 

1,641 

2,497 

661 

1,590 

558 

860 

744 

503 

958 

Buekland 

Charleniont 

Deerfield 

Erving 

Gill 

Greenfield 

Hawley 

Heath 

Leverett 

1,361  J   1,540 

1.089-    1,037 

1,122-    1,199 

857  \      939 

974-1-     796 

!      265 

1,074  +  1.152 

Ley den 

New  Salem 

2,146  - 

-  1,889 

Northfield 

Orange 

1,584  i 
829  f 
8511 

1,022- 

1,029 
597 

1,256 
958 

1,076 

1,757 
880 
716 

-    995 
986 
666 

-1,150 
874 

y  1,U1 

Shutesbury 

Sunderland 

Warwick 

Wendell  

Whately 

Totals 

10,294 

21,743 

26,300 

27,421 

29,418 

29,630 

28,812 

30,870 

31,652 

31,434 

31,340 

32,635 

33,696 

108 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONxVECTICUT  VALLEY. 


HAMPDEN  COUKTY,  MASS. 


TOWNB. 


Agawam  

Blandford 

Brimfield 

Chester 

Chicopee 

Granville 

Holland 

Holyoke 

Hampden"^ , 

Longmeadow. 

Ludlow 

Monson 

Montgomery 

Palmer 

Kussell 

Southwick 

Springfield 

Tolland 

Wales 

WestBeld 

West  Springfield. 
Wilbrahain 


=  c  ^ 
OS 


Totals.. 


1865 
1741 
1731 
1765 
1848 
1754 
1785 
1850 
1878 
1783 
1774 
1760 
1780 
1752 
1792 
1770 
1636 
1810 
1762 
1669 
1774 
1763 


.2  a 


United  States  Census. 


1812.        1776. 


772 

.1,064 

405 


1,126 


413 
813 

'727 

"si'i 
1,974 


850 
1,488 
1,744 
1,057 


13,274 


1,416 
1,211 
1,119 


1,979 
428 


744 

560 

1,331 

449 

809 


841 
1,574 


606 
2,204 
2,367 
1,555 


19,193 


1800.       1810. 


1,778 
1,384 
1,542 


2,309 
445 


973 
650 

1,635 
560 

1,039 
431 
867 

2,312 


1,613 
1,325 
1,534 


1,504 
420 


774 
2,185 
2,835 
1,743 


23,462 


1,036 

7.M 

1,674 

595 

1,114 

422 

1,229 

2,767 

798 

645 

2,130 

3,109 

1,776 


24,421 


1,515 
1,612 
1,526 


1,643 
453 


1,171 
1,246 
2,126 

6«4 
1,197 

491 
1,255 
3,914 

692 

683 
2,668  i 
3,246 1 
1,979 


1,590 
1,599  . 

1,407  f 


1,649 
453 


1840.       1850. 


1,427 
1,419 
1,632 


1,257  I- 
1,327  1 
2,263  r 

579  - 
1,237  ^ 

507  i 


1,414 
423 


1,270 
1,268 
2,151 

740 
2,139 

955 


1,418 
1,420 
1.521 
8,291 
J,305 
449 
3,245 


1,365-1  1,214 

6,784  t|10,985 

723  ■•   627 


28,021 


■  665 

2,940 
.3,270 
2,034. 


31,639 


686 
3,526 
3,626 
1,864 


37,366 


1,252 
1,186 
2,831 

393 
3,974 

521 

1,120 

11,766 

594 

711 
4,180 
2,979 
2,127 


1,543 
1,271 
1,343 
1,255 
7,576 
1,316 
392 
4,639 


51,283 


1,348 
1.191 
2,942 

413 
4,012 

677 

1,130 

1.3,788 

603 

713 
4,575 
2,090 
2,032 


1.698 
1,256 
1,363 
1,314 
7,261 
1,385 
419 
4,997 


54,849 


1,376 
1,174 
3,164 

371 
4,082 

605 

1,188 

15,199 

696 

677 
5,055 
2,105 
2,081 


57,366 


1,664 
1,087 
1,316 
1,266 
7,577 
1,367 
368 
5,648 

1,480 
1,232 
3,272 

353 
3,080 

618 

1,155 

22,035 

5.11 

696 
5.634 
2,100 
2,111 


2,001 
1,026 
1,288 
1,253 
9,607 
1,293 
344 
10,733 


1,342 
1,136 
3,204 

318 
3,631 

635 

1,100 

26,703 

509 

831 
6,519 
2,606 
2,330 


w    3 


1875. 


2,248 

964 

1,201 

1,396 

10,335 

1,240 

334 

16,260 


1,467 
1,222 
3,733 

304 
4,672 

643 

i,n'4 

31,053 
462 
1,020 
8,431 
3,739 
2,676 


64,570    78,409    94,304 


The  amount  of  foreign-born  population  in  each  of  the  coun- 
ties, by  the  cen.sus  of  1875,  was  as  follows:  Hampshire  County, 
8585;  per  cent.,  19.15.  Franklin  County,  3990;  per  cent., 
11.84.     Hampden  County,  26,235;  per  cent.,  27.82. 

The  total  number  of  voters  in  each  of  the  three  counties  was 
as  follows:  Hampshire,  9253;  Franklin,  8516;  Hampden, 
18,912.  The  military  population  of  the.se  counties  is  about 
25,000,  reckoning  those  of  military  age  at  two-thirds  the  total 
number  of  voters. 

Of  aged  people,  there  were  in  Hampshire  County  42  over 
90  years  ;  in  Franklin,  28  ;  and  in  Hampden,  82  ;  and  of  these 
several  were  above  100. 

Of  families  and  dwellings  there  were  as  follows:  Hampshire 
County — families,  9.596;  dwellings,  8254.  Franklin  County — 
families,  7856  ;  dwellings,  6877.  Hampden  County — families, 
19,990;  dwellings,  13,628.  Of  unoccupied  dwellings,  Hamp- 
shire had  .306;  Franklin,  268;  and  Hampden,  502. 

The  number  of  dwellings  in  the  larger  towns  was  as  follows: 
Springfield,  4977  ;  Holyoke,  1479  ;  Westfield,  1468  ;  Chicopee, 
632  ;t  Northampton,  2197;  Amherst,  833;  Greenfield,  696; 
Deerfield,  639. 

The  number  of  colored  people  other  than  white,  and  includ- 
ing Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Indians,  is  shown  below :  Hamp- 
shire— black,  209 ;  mulatto,  95 ;  Chinese,  13 ;  Japanese,  1. 
Franklin— black,  64  ;  mulatto,  10 ;  Chinese,  9.  Hampden— 
black,  828 ;  mulatto,  213 ;  Chinese,  33 ;  Japanese,  1 ;  Indians,  15. 

AQRICITLTURAL.J 

The  total  number  of  farms  in  the  State  was  44,549,  with  a 
total  acreage  of  3,402,369,  valued  at  1182,663,140;  being  an 
average  value  for  each  farm  of  |4100,  and  of  each  acre  |53.69, 
nearly. 

The  number  of  farms  in  Franklin  County  was  3950,  with  a 
total  acreage  of  3.50,443  ;  average  number  of  acres  for  each 
farm,  88  acres;  average  value  of  farms,  $2870;  total  value  of 
farms  (including  buildings),  $11, 352, .503. 

The  number  of  acres  in  market-gardens  was  214],  of  the 
value  of  $12,448. 

*  Furmed  since  census  was  lakeu.  Included  in  Wilbraluim.  Sec  t+jwn  liis- 
tory. 

t  By  tlic  census  report,  Cliicnpee  had  032  dwellings  and  2[t4n  fandlies. 
X  Compiled  from  the  census  of  lS7a. 


The  number  of  acres  of  cultivated  land  was  79,871  ;  of  un- 
improved land,  175,218;  of  unimprovable  land,  20,517;  and 
of  woodland,  74,837. 

The  number  of  farms  in  Hampden  County  was  3736,  with  a 
total  acreage  of  316,015;  average  number  of  acres  per  farm, 
85 ;  average  value  of  farms,  $3880 ;  total  valuation  of  lands  and 
buildings,  $14,496,445. 

The  number  of  acres  in  market-gardens  was  464,  valued  at 
$.54,325. 

The  number  of  acres  of  cultivated  land  was  79,726;  of  un- 
improved land,  147,359;  of  unimprovable  land,  15,262;  and  of 
woodland,  73,668. 

The  number  of  farms  in  Hampshire  County  was  3666,  with 
a  total  acreage  of  316,991  ;  average  luimber  of  acres  per  farm, 
86  ;  average  value  of  farms,  $3344  ;  total  value  of  lands  and 
buildings,  $12,260,330;  number  of  acres  in  market-gardens, 
89,  valued  at  $18,220;  number  of  acres  of  cultivated  land, 
98,311;  of  unimproved  land,  145,894;  of  unimprovable  land, 
10,342  ;  of  woodland,  62,444. 

The  total  domestic  and  agricultural  products  of  the  three 
counties  was  as  follows :  Franklin  Count_y — domestic,  $810,792 ; 
agricultural, $$2, .593, 738.  Hampden  County — domestic,  $618,- 
356  ;  agricultural,  $2,774,297.  Hampshire  County — domestic, 
$745,046  ;  agricultural,  $3,066,883. 

The  production  and  value  of  butter  in  the  three  counties 
was  as  follows:  Franklin  County — 1,285,048  pounds;  value, 
$414,977.  Hampden  County— 783,879  pounds ;  value,  $272,749. 
Hampshire  County— 1,149,077  pounds;  value,  $392,423. 

Of  cheese:  Franklin  County — 03,711  pounds;  value, 
$9065.  Hampden  County— 105,761  pounds  ;  value,  $13,157. 
Hampshire  County — 87,8.56  pounds;  value,  $12,178. 

Of  maple-sugar  :  Franklin  County — 372,439  pounds;  value, 
$42,271.  Hampden  County— 149,297  pounds  ;  value,  $16,114. 
Hampshire  County— 291,084  pounds;  value,  $34,000. 

Apples  :  Franklin  County— 192,117  bushels  ;  value,  $79,417. 
Hampden — 247,672  bushels  ;  value,  $93,213.  Hampshire— 
191,857  bushels  ;  value,  $80,397.  The  apple  crop  of  1878  was 
very  large,  aggregating  for  the  three  valley-counties  probably 
1,-500,000  bushels. 

Milk  :  Franklin  County— value,  $169,819.  Hampden 
County — value,  $4-59,103.  Hampshire  County — value,  $396,- 
203. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


109 


Hay. — The  amount  mid  value  of  all  kinds  of  hay  produced 
was  as  follows : 

Tone.         Vnluo. 

Franklin  County 61,056       S9;i,8Ki 

Hampden  County ; 4^,lHti        778,513 

Hanipsliire  County 58,398        890,817 

Corn. — The  three  river-counties  are  the  largest  corn-pro- 
ducing counties  in  the  State,  excepting  Worcester,  the  amount 
grown  in  each  being  respectively  as  follows : 

Busliels.  Value. 

Franklin  County 154,310  $145,996 

Hampden  County 130,ol>4  127,458 

Hampshire  County 156,193  150,121 


Total 441,007      Ji23,575 

The  total  amount  raised  in  the  State  was  1,040,290  bushels, 
valued  at  §1,006,384.  Worcester  County,  the  only  one  which 
exceeded  either  of  them,  produced  195,963  bushels. 

Potatoes. — Franklin  County,  2-54,528  bushels  ;  Hampden 
County,  317,653  bushels  ;  Hampshire  County,  298,396  bushels. 

Tobacco. — Of  this  product  nearly  the  whole  amount  produced 
in  the  State  was  grown  in  the  river-counties,  as  follows : 


Acres.  Pounds.  Value. 

Franklin  County 121Bl.<  1,997,0!)!  Si21,81.i 

Hampden  County 808U  1,224,670  2:)ll,475 

Hampshire  County 1662>4  2,055,561  462,956 

The  total  grown  in  all  other  parts  of  the  State  was  about 
115,000  pounds,  valued  at  about  §17,000. 

Wheat.*  —  Franklin  County,  7456  bushels;  Hampden 
County,  182  bushels;  Hampshire  County,  2946  bushels. 
Franklin  and  Hampshire  Counties  produced  three-fourths  of 
the  total  amount  grown  in  the  State. 

The  total  value  of  farm  property,  including  lands,  buildings, 
fruit-trees  and  vines,  domestic  animals,  and  agricultural  imple- 
ments thereon,  was  as  follows  :  Franklin  County,  S13,.)ll,984  ; 
Hampden  County,  §16,500,860;  Hampshire  County,  §14,379,- 
386. 

The  total  number  of  hired  persons  employed  in  agricultural 
operations  in  each  of  the  counties  was  as  follows:  Franklin 
County— 3086 ;  total  wages  paid,  §324,490.  Hampden  County 
— 3049 ;  total  wages  paid,  §445,226.  Hampshire  County — 
2985;  total  wages  paid,  §385,551. 


VALUATION   AND   PRODUCTS  OF  HAMPSHIRE   CO.,   MASS.,   FOR  THE   YEAR  ENDING   MAY   1,   1875. 


Amherst 

Belchertown 

Ch<  sterfield 

Cummington  

Easthampton 

Enfield 

Goshen 

Granby 

Greenwich 

Hadley 

Hatfield 

Huntington 

Middletield 

Northampton 

Pelham 

Plainfield 

Prescott 

,South  Hadley 

Southampton 

Ware...., 

We.«thamptnn 

Williamsburg 

Worthington 

Totals $7,261,049 


Pel^onal 
Property. 

Real  Est^ite. 

Total  Valuation. 

Manufaetnres 
and   Fisheries. 

Agriculture  and 
Mining. 

Total  Producta. 

$740,745 

$1,896,705 

$2,637,450 

$497,526 

$263,925 

$761,451 

151,820 

848,228 

1,000,048 

138,152 

303,662 

441,814 

87,453 

220,170 

307,623 

19,904 

84,626 

104,530 

143,025 

297,817 

440.842 

109,496 

111,755 

221,251 

834,654 

1,570,879 

2,405,533 

1,968,155 

140,127 

2,108,282 

291,510 

375.390 

666,900 

372,361 

111,353 

483,714 

29,794 

108,028 

137,822 

4,750 

52,344 

57,094 

103,242 

399,009 

502,251 

26,988 

191,816 

218,804 

85,760 

205,360 

291,120 

43,794 

73,569 

117,363 

275,117 

1,121.987 

1,.397,104 

207,345 

492,551 

699,896 

398,929 

820,085 

1,219,014 

65,200 

413,426 

478,626 

137,640 

375,585 

513,225 

114,112 

83,418 

197,530 

156,250 

216,410 

372,660 

97,089 

64,855 

161,944 

2,242,989 

5,627,900 

7,870.889 

3,673,063 

317,408 

3,990,471 

26,096 

150,494 

176,590 

9,225 

58,553 

67,778 

47,350 

133,460 

180,810 

16,685 

74,395 

91,080 

30,648 

172,110 

202.758 

9,260 

60,403 

69,663 

361,312 

1,407,285 

1,768,597 

1,056,428 

164,173 

1,220,601 

77,687 

417,637 

495,324 

66,669 

184,796 

251,465 

482,770 

1,239,470 

1,722,240 

1,957,611 

200,863 

2,158,474 

42,910 

260,259 

303,169 

16,698 

114,797 

131,495 

424,511 

756,855 

1,181,366 

299,935 

108,741 

408,676 

88,837 

267,453 

356,290 

27,110 

161,928 

189,038 

$7,261,049 

$18,888,576 

$26,149,625 

$10,797,556 

$3,833,484 

$14,631,040 

VALUATION  AND   PRODUCTS   OF   FRANKLIN  CO.,   MASS.,   FOR  THE   YEAR  ENDING  MAY   1,   1875. 


Towns. 


PerBonal 
Property. 


Seal  Estate.     Total  Valuation. 


Manufactures    Agriculture  and  ~  ,  ,  p„,j,„.b, 
and  Fisheries.  Miuing.  *"""  rroducts. 


Ashfield 

Bernardston 
Buckland.... 
Charlemont . 
Coleraine.,.. 

Conway 

Deerfield 

Erving 

Gill 

Greenfield... 

Hawley 

Heath 

Leverett 

Leyden 

Monroe 

Montague 

New  Salem 

Northfield 

Gran 

Rowe 

Shelburne.. 

Shutesburj 

Sunderland 

Warwick..., 

AVendell  .... 

Whately.... 


$142,173 
87,094 

100,536 
69,249 

192,888 

254,049 

295,276 
75,767 
78,815 

853,321 
33,535 
38,112 
62,105 
36,089 
8,062 

450,200 
69,960 

107,255 

302,675 
38,174 

215,417 
21,025 
61,865 
44,804 
21,228 

190,121 


$387,744 
314,044 

505,874 
285,125 
491,570 
564,244 

1,044,766 
242,292 
391,691 

1,969,665 
123,685 
153,210 
255,405 
171,042 
39,715 

1,598,600 
257,270 
596,819 

1,093,125 
141,445 
651,424 
164,525 
378,428 
221,232 
157,460 
529,240 


$529,917 
401,138 
606,410 
354,374 
684,458 
818,293 

1,340,042 
318,059 
470,506 

2,822,986 
157,220 
191,322 
317,510 
207,131 
47,777 

2,048,800 
327,230 
704,074 

1,395,800 
179,619 
866,841 
185,550 
440,293 
266,036 
178,688 
719,361 


$12,860 

103,700 

433,765 

38,750 

390,622 

333,430 

312,720 

272,145 

18,500 

479,621 

7,070 

9,630 

32,004 

2,454 

1,700 

1,478,446 

44,550 

79,455 

807,242 

15,202 

193,306 

11,357 

800 

86,810 

68,035 

67,700 


$142,806 

114,490 

117,265 

118,347 

183,900 

235,296 

410,166 

34,210 

148,348 

170.840 

71,299 

86,714 

84,200 

95,260 

23,071 

175,186 

89,916 

267,021 

84,990 

70,761 

164,943 

54,942 

184,520 

72,026 

46,005 

172,473 


$155,666 

218,190 

551,030 

157,097 

574,522 

568,726 

722,886 

306,355 

166,848 

650,461 

78,369 

96,.344 

116.204 

97,714 

24,771 

1,653,6.32 

134,466 

346,476 

892,232 

85,963 

358,249 

66,299 

185,320 

158,836 

114,040 

240,173 


Totals $3,849,795   $12,729,640   $16,579,435    $5,301,874  |  $3,418,995  j  $8,720,869 


*  According  to  State  census  1875. 


110 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


VALUATION  AND  PRODUCTS  OF  HAMPDEN  COUNTY,  MASS.,  TOE  THE  YEAR  ENDING  MAY  1,  1875. 

• 

Cities  and  Towns. 

Personal 
Property. 

Beal  Estate. 

Total  Valuation. 

ManufHCtures 
and  Fisheries. 

^^"jlhling.  '"*|  'f<"»'  Products. 

$274,961 

112.400 

129,440 

94,025 

1,833,975 

89,364 

16.957 

2,889,882 

182,340 

121,311 

320,925 

28,919 

636,187 

107,139 

121,885 

8,398,912 

68,464 

163,535 

1,945,085 

319,153 

202,343 

$897,950 
294,915 
436,050 
435,047 

3,641,860 
315,80s 
120,190 

6,791,245 
849.595 
445,267 

1,017.386 
112,807 

1,237,475 
316,446 
458,097 
31,125,660 
198,866 
284,415 

5,354,590 

2,487,159 
756,012 

$1,172,911 
407,315 
565,490 
529,072 

5,475.835 
505,172 
137,147 

9,681,127 

1,031,935 
566.578 

1,338,311 
141,726 

1,87.3,662 
423,585 
579,982 
39,524,572 
267,330 
447,950 

7,299.675 

2,81)6,312 
958,355 

$177,000 

44,375 

103,438 

184,496 

4,035,600 

68,280 

2,059 

8,788,306 

159,040 

253,800 

1,270,000 

3,6  43 

1,855,218 

181.500 

63.058 

12,483,010 

82,540 

904,603 

3,446,358 

621,698 

964,802 

$314,094     i        $491,094 

163,856 
169,302 
104,271 
214,799 

208,231 

272,740 

288.767 

4,250,399 

Rrimfield                    

122,860 

191,140 

Holland                                      

33,056     1            35.115 

63,340     i       8.851.646 

261.935     !          420,975 

149,776     1          403,576 

312,370 

1.582,370 

Montgomery 

Palmer         

54,331 
163,472 

34,848 
227,956 

57,974 

2,018,690 

216.348 

291,014 

Ru««ell            .             

248,903     !     12,731,913     | 
62,818     i          145,358     | 

Wales 

48,998 
362,900 
141,299 
290,999 

953,601 
3,809,258 

762,997 
1,255,801 

West  Springfield 

Totals        

$18,057,202 

$57,576,840 

$75,634,042 

$35,692,824 

$3,546,183 

$39,239,007 

Manufactures  of  Hampshire  County.f 

Number  of  Capital  Value  of  Goods 

Towns.                                      Estalilishments.   Invested.  Produced. 

Amherat 40  f2(l4,:):K  $407,4(14 

Bidehel-town 2S  5«,275  130,0.52 

Chestel-fleld 10  31,.tIK)  19,184 

Cunmiington 20  93,250  104,271 

Eastliampton 17  1,020,375  l,883,ia5 

Enfield 11  240,6U0  367,981 

Goshen 5  3,(100  4,350 

Granby 3  7,800  13,480 

Greenwich 6  1.8,800  34,894 

Hadley 13  VI.IKW  201,295 

Hatfield 4  32,11X1  62,7IK1 

Huntington 5  80,.8(lo  108.3(KI 

Middlefleld 4  SO.IIX)  96,789 

Northampton.- 36  l,(i9U,300  3,179,199 

Pelham 2  S.IKJO  9,228 

Plainfleld 7  9,000  9,150 

Prescott 2  4,000  9,260 

South  Hadley 15  9(19,972  1,028.:»3 

Southampton 13  18,1IH)  01,778 

Ware 31  1,2.83,750  1,93(1.1(10 

Westhampton 7  24,94(1  14.173 

Williiun-ilrarg 8  22:i,8lKl  29,8,1(10 

Wortliingtou 13  2:i.58(l  22,277 

Totals 297  *i;.718,547  59,993,217 

Manufactures  of  Franklin  County.^ 

Number  of  Capital  Value  of  Goods 

Towns.                                   Estaldisliments.   Iiivestuil.  Produced. 

Ashfield 4  *13,.8(«1  819.094 

Bernardston 4  4(),(X)0  87,000 

Bu<*land 8  317.li(M)  426,1(55 

Chailemont 13  14,973  32,7.80 

Coleraine 8  :i.8(i,(Klfl  390,622 

Conway 7  228,700  284,150 

Bcerficld 12  7.8,1(X)  297,700 

Ening 9  291,2(KI  200,925 

Gill 1  78.3(H)  17,000 

Greenfield 40  3.84,800  308,6.!4 

Hawley 10  5,425  6,070 

Heath      4  3,900  9,630 

lieverett 14  22,050  32,004 

Leyden 3  2,900  2,464 

Monroe 0  2,200  1.700 

Montogue 24  1,604.,889  1,364,730 

New  Salem 8  10,400  40,5.80 

Northficld 18  28,080  .89,855 

Orange 23  669,100  782,149 

Rowc 7  7,780  12,087 

Shellmrno 18  113,041  178.790 

Shutesbury 8  7.975  10,0.57 

Sunderland 1  900  8(XI 

Warwick 14  38,400  86,810 

Wendell 6  28,300  67,785 

Whately 6  14,700  07,000 

Totals 282  $4,127,715  $4,843,117 

Maniifartiires  of  Hampden  Cowity.f 

Number  of  Capital  Value  of  G Is 

Towns.                                  Establishments.  Invested.  Produced. 

Agawani 3  $171,478  $177.(KH) 

Blaiidford 11  IS.KK)  33.,828 

Brimfield 10  40.6.80  11I2..888 

Chester 19  ls.8,.830  174..841 

Chicopee ., 71  1,90.8.140  3,781.9(« 

Criiiiville 13  47..875  0.8,080 

ll..ll!iMd 4  1.8,80  1,459 

ll.ilv..ke 28  0,802,IHK)  8,7.37,800 


*  Ineluding  the  town  of  rlani]>deii,  formed  1878. 


+  Census  of  1875. 


Number  of  Capital       Value  of  Goods 

Towns.                                 Estal  Hshments.    Invested.  Produced. 

Longmeadow 9  $151,:l(IO  $149,308 

Ludlow 4  201..8(KJ  263,000 

Monsun 10  279,300  1,179,275 

Montgomery 2  1,7(hi  3,643 

Palmer 22  947.200  1,761,161 

Russell 4  150.(.l(lo  170,0(K1 

Southwick 13  13,338  49.3(18 

Springfield 251  6,39.8,213  10,089.,S42 

Tollaud 0  10,100  82,640 

Wales 12  247,750  896.476 

West  Springfield 0  088,(KK1  (i(.l9,906 

Westfleld 121  l,0(V.i.9:W  3,240,270 

Wilbrahani 14  7(i9,.8a(l  942,762 

Totals 033        $19,705,118        $32,504,175 

The  number  of  steam-engines  in  use  in  Franklin  County 
was  28,  with  actual  horse-power  of  1406 ;  the  number  of 
water-wheels  was  267,  with  8586  horse-power.  The  number 
of  steam-engines  in  Hampden  County  was  137,  of  5989  actual 
horse-power ;  water-wlieels,  285,  with  14,472  horse-power. 
Number  of  steam-engines  in  Hampshire  County,  56,  of  3716 
horse-power ;  of  water-wheels,  246,  representing  6416  horse- 
power. 

The  total  number  of  persons  employed  in  Franklin  County 
was  3115;  total  annual  wages,  $1,346,125;  in  Hampden 
County,  19,496;  wages,  $8,844,270;  in  Hampshire,  5807; 
wages  paid,  S2,259,986. 

The  principal  manufactures  were  firearms,  agricultural 
implements,  artisans'  tools,  clothing,  cotton  goods,  food  prep- 
arations, furniture,  lumber,  machinery,  metals  and  metallic 
goods,  paper,  printing  and  publishing,  tobacco,  woolen  goods, 
wooden  ware,  worsted  goods,  etc. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Schools. — Some  account  of  the  schools  will  be  found  in  the 
history  of  the  several  towns  and  cities,  including  those  of 
various  kinds  and  grades. 

The  following  statistics  are  from  the  State  census  for  1875  : 

The  total  number  of  public  schools  in  Franklin  County  was 
219,  and  total  valuation  of  property,  $208,015;  number  of 
private  schools,  9;  total  valuation  of  property,  $26,155;  the 
total  attendance  of  all  ages,  5792 ;  the  total  number  of  illiter- 
ates was  842,  of  whom  098  were  foreign-born. 

Hampden  County. — Number  of  public  sch(xils,  214;  valua- 
tion of  pnjperty,  .$1,136,1.54;  number  of  private  schools,  16; 
value  of  property,  $195,435  ;  total  attendance,  all  ages,  15,717  ; 
total  illiterates,  9195,  of  whom  7942  were  of  foreign  birth. 

Hampshire  County. — Number  of  public  schools,  209  ;■  valua- 
tion of  property,  $383,039 ;  number  of  private  schools,  31 ; 
value  of  property,  $763,515;  total  attendance,  all  ages,  8789; 
total  illiterates,  2288,  of  whom  1998  were  foreign-born. 

Libraries. — The   number   of   public   libraries,   volumes, 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Ill 


voarly  oirculiitioii,  and  value  (if  buiklinns  in  the  three  cminties 
wa-s  as  follows  : 

Fraiik/m  Counly. — Nnniherof  libraries,  10;  volumes, IT), 824; 
yearly  cireulation,  56,907;   value  of  library  liuildings,  $8000. 

lianipden  Cininly. — Number  of  libraries,  5;  number  of  vol- 
umes, 14,350;  circulation,  20,(356;   value  of  buildings,  $2500. 

Hampshire  Ciiiiniy. — Number  of  libraries,  8;  number  of 
volumes,  25,256 ;  circulation,  77,435 ;  value  of  buildings, 
$80,000. 

Of  public  and  private  school  libraries,  Franklin  County  had 
1,  with  a  circulation  of  1050;  Hampden  County  6,  with  a 
circulation  of  2783  ;  and  Hampshire  2,  with  a  nominal  circu- 
lation. 

Of  scientific  and  artistic  libraries,  there  were  1  in  Franklin, 
with  120  volumes;  1  in  Hampden,  with  7700  volumes;  and  1 
in  Hampshire,  with  1800  volumes. 

Of  association  libraries,  Franklin  had  6,  containing  12,330 
volumes  ;  Hampden  5,  containing  about  40,000  volumes  ;  and 
Hampshire  4,  with  3716  volumes. 

Hampden  also  had  5  private  circulating  libraries,  containing 
3705  volumes. 

Hampshire  County  also  had  1  college  librarv',  with  30,406 
volumes,  with  an  endowment  fund  of  $33, (XK),  and  value  of 
library  buildings,  $10,000. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

VALLEY  AND  COUNTY  AGRICULTUKAL  ASSOCI- 
ATIONS-HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN,  AND  HAMP- 
DEN AGRICULTUKAL  SOCIETY.* 

HAMPSHIRE,  FRANKLIN,  AND    HAMPDEN    AGRICULTURAL 

SOCIETY. 

Thi.s  society  was  organized  on  the  22d  of  January,  1818, 
and  included  the  territory  of  the  three  river-counties. 

The  officers  chosen  at  thi.s  meeting,  which  was  held  in  North- 
ampton and  very  largely  attended,  were  Hon.  Joseph  Lyman, 
President;  Josiah  Dwight,  Secretary;  and  J.  D.  Whitney, 
Treasurer.  Committees  upon  Agriculture,  Domestic  Animals, 
and  Manufactures  were  appointed,  and  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars  was  subscribed  for  contingent  expenses. 

The  act  incorporating  the  society  was  passed  in  February, 
1818,  and  the  first  meeting  subsequently  was  held  on  the  5th 
of  May  following,  at  the  court-house  in  Northampton,  at 
which  time  the  organization  was  completed.  Measures  were 
also  taken  to  provide  for  a  cattle-show,  which  was  appointed 
for  the  14th  and  15th  of  October  following.  The  premium- 
list  included  an  aggregate  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents,  which  was  to  be  paid  in  silver-plate. 

About  the  year  1835  great  interest  began  to  be  manifested  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  Chinese  mulberry-plant,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  domestic  silk  therefrom  ;  but,  from  climatic  and 
other  causes,  the  attempts  to  make  it  a  profitable  industry 
were  within  a  few  years  abandoned. 

At  the  annual  exhibition  of  1847  there  was  a  display  of  three 
hundred  head  of  horned  cattle,  many  of  them  imported,  and 
the  fair  was  a  marked  success.  At  this  exhibition  there  was 
also  a  remarkable  display  of  fina  blooded  horses,  there  being 
ninety-six  entered,  many  of  them  of  the  justly-celebrated 
Justin  Morgan  breed.  The  first  noted  horse  of  this  fine  breed 
was  the  "Justin  Morgan"  which  was  raised  in  "Western 
Massachu.set.ts,  and  taken  to  the  State  of  Vermont  in  1798, 
and  from  whom  nearly  all  the  fine  stock  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tain State  has  descended. 

At  the  fair  of  1847  were  also  present  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  yokes  of  working-oxen.     There  was  in  addition 

*  For  accounts  of  Bevcral  minor  societies  in  various  parts  of  tbe  tliree  coun- 
ties, not  Iierein  mentioned,  see  history  of  tbe  respective  towns  where  tlieir 
grounds  or  heaijquarters  are  located. 


kinds    of    fruit, — apples,    pears. 


a   fair    display   of    various 
peaches,  and  grapes. 

In  1857  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  horses  on  exliibi- 
tion, — a  greater  number  than  ever  before, — and  the  "show 
of  fruit  was  magnificent." 

From  the  date  of  its  organization  down  to  the  year  1857 
the  annual  exhibitions  of  the  society  were  held  on  Main 
Street,  at  the  head  of  King  Street,  in  Northampton,  and  on 
the  common  near  the  cemetery,  and  the  town-hall  was  used 
for  the  display  of  domestic  manufactures. 

In  1856  the  society  purchased  fourteen  acres  and  sixty 
square  rods  of  land  on  North  Street,  at  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  dollars  per  acre,  which  was  inclosed  with  a  sub- 
stantial fence,  and  a  trotting-course,  half  a  mile  in  length, 
laid  out  and  made  ready  for  use.  The  necessary  sheds  and 
buildings  were  erected  and  fitted  up,  and  the  whole  amount 
expended  was  four  thousand  and  four  dollars  and  sixty-one 
cents. 

For  a  number  of  years  following  the  exhibitions  of  stock 
were  held  on  this  ground,  while  the  domestic  manufactures 
were  displayed  in  the  town-hall.  In  1861  the  society  voted 
to  erect  a  hall  on  the  grounds,  so  that  every  part  of  the  ex- 
hibition could  be  together ;  and  a  suitable  building,  costing 
two  thousand  two  hundred  dollars,  was  completed  the  follow- 
ing year.  Since  that  time  the  exhibitions  have  been  emi- 
nently successful. 

In  the  year  1872  two  additional  acres  of  land  adjoining 
the  grounds  on  the  north  were  purchased ;  the  track  was 
lengthened  and  graded  anew,  the  hall  moved  to  a  better 
location  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  lot,  the  cattle-sheds 
and  pens  removed  and  rebuilt,  and  everything  put  in  excel- 
lent order.  The  cattle-sheds  are  suflScient  to  accommodate 
about  80  head  under  cover,  and  the  grounds  have  been  re- 
cently supplied  with  abundance  of  water  from  the  town  aque- 
duct. 

In  1874  the  experiment  was  tried  of  holding  the  fair  during 
three  consecutive  days,  which  proved  very  successful,  and  has 
been  continued.  The  ])remiums  paid  in  1875  amounted  to 
about  $1200. 

The  following  list  shows  the  names  of  those  who  have  been 
presidents  and  secretaries  of  the  society,  and  the  date  of  their 
election  from  its  formation  to  the  present : 

Presidents. — Hon.  Joseph  Lyman,  elected  1818;  Hon.  I. 
C.  Bates,  elected  1826;  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle,  elected  1830; 
Joseph  G.  Coggswell,  Esq.,  elected  1833;  Hon.  Samuel  La- 
throp,  elected  1835;  Hon.  I.  C.  Bates,  elected  1840;  Hon.  Ed- 
ward Dickinson,  elected  1841;  Wells  Lathrop,  Esq.,  elected 
1845 ;  President  Hitchcock,  elected  1847 ;  Hon.  William 
Clark,  elected  1849;  Paoli  Lathrop,  Esq.,  elected  1852;  Hon. 
Elisha  Edwards,  elected  1857  ;  T.  G.  Huntington,  Esq.,  elected 
18-59;  Henry  S.  Porter,  Esq.,  elected  1863;  Milo  J.  Smith, 
Esq.,  elected  1866;  Elnathan  Graves,  E,sq.,  elected  1870;  A. 
P.  Peck,  elected  1872;  A.  T.  Judd,  elected  1873;  J.  H. 
Stebbins,  elected  1874 ;  J.  H.  Deraond,  elected  1877 ;  H.  C. 
Haskell,  elected  1879. 

Secretaries. — Jona.  H.  Lyman,  chosen  1818  ;  Joseph  Strong, 
1821;  Daniel  Stebbins,  1823;  Harvey  Kirkland,  1840;  S.  L. 
Hinckley,  1847;  W.  O.  Gorham,  1850;  Benj.  Barrett,  1854; 
John  W.  Wilson,  1855;  Horace  J.  Hodges,  18-56;  H.  K. 
Starkweather,  1859  ;  A.  Perry  Peek,  1865;  L.  C.  Ferry,  1872. 
Addresses  have  been  delivered  at  the  annual  cattle-show 
and  fairs  of  the  Hampshire,  Franklin,  and  Hampden  Agri- 
cultural Society  as  follows:  1818,  Noah  Webster,  LL.D.  ; 
1819,  Hon.  Joseph  Lyman ;  1820,  Hon.  Jonathan  A.  Lyman  ; 
1821,  Hon.  Epaphras  Hoyt ;  1822,  Hon.  John  Mills;  1823, 
Hon.  I.  C.  Bates;  1824,  Hon.  George  Grennell ;  1825,  Hon. 
W.  B.  Calhoun;  1826,  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle;  1827,  President 
Hitchcock  ;  1828,  Patrick  Boies,  Esq.  ;  1829,  Festus  Foster, 
Esq.  ;  18-30,  Hon.  Samuel  C.  Allen  ;  1831,  Hon.  Sam'l  F.  Dick- 
inson ;  1832,  Hon.  Myron  Lawrence ;  18.33,  Rev.  Henry  Cole- 


112 


HISTOllY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


man;  1834,  Hon.  Samuel  Lathrop ;  1835,  Rev.  Jolin  Todd; 
1836,  Hon.  George  T.  Davis;  1837,  Hon.  Osmyn  Baker; 
1838,  Rev.  Henry  Coleman;  18.39,  Hon.  W.  W.  Bates;  1840, 
Rev.  Henry  Coleman;  1841,  Prof.  W.  C.  Fowler;  1842,  Rev. 
John  Todd ;  1843,  Hon.  Charles  Hudson ;  1844,  Hon.  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.  ;  184.5,  President  Hitchcock ;  1846,  John  S. 
Skinner,  E.sq. ;  1847,  Prof.  Chas.  U.  Shepard ;  1848,  Prof. 
John  P.  Norton;  1849,  Prof.  John  P.  Norton;  18.50,  Dr. 
Daniel  Lee;  1851,  Dr.  Daniel  Lee;  18.52,  John  S.  Gould, 
Esq.;  18.53;  William  S.  King,  E.sq.  ;  18.54,  Prof.  J.  A. 
Nash  ;  1855,  Solon  Robinson,  Esq.  ;  1857,  Hon.  A.  H.  Bul- 
lock;  18.58,  George  B.  Loring,  M.D.  ;  1859,  Hon.  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.  ;  18K0,  B.  Perley  Poore,  Esq. ;  1861,  William  G. 
Goldtiiwaite;  1862,  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington;  1863,  Judge 
Thomas  Russell ;  1864,  Hon.  Darwin  E.  Ware ;  1865,  Hon. 
Daniel  Needham  ;  1866,  Charles  L.  Flint,  Esq.  ;  1867,  Hon. 
Daniel  Needham;  18(;8,  Hon.  Charles  Delano;  1870,  Rich- 
ard Goodman,  Esq.;  1871,  Prof  P.  A.  Chadbourne ;  1872, 
Rev.  Dr.  Seelye ;  1873,  Prof  Parker;   1874,  H.  M.  Burt. 

HAMPDEN   COUNTY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY. 

About  the  year  1843  the  project  of  establishing  a  cattle- 
show  or  fair  for  the  benefit  of  the  agricultural  interests  of 
Hampden  County  was  discussed  by  some  of  the  leading  farm- 
ers in  the  central  portions  of  the  county,  which  procedure 
eventuated  in  a  petition  to  the  Legislature  for  a  chartered  or- 
gaization.  The  petition  was  granted,  and  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1844,  a  charter  was  granted  for  the  "  Hampden  County  Agri- 
cultural Society,"  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  in  General  Court 
a«seniblcd,  and  by  the  authority  of  tlie  same, — 

"  Sec.  I. — AVilliam  B.  Calhoun,  Forbes  Kyle,  D.  W.  AVillard,  and  their  associates 
and  successors,  are  hereby  made  a  corporation,  by  the  name  of  the  Hampden 
County  Afjricultural  Society,  for  the  encouragement  of  AgriL-ulture  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts  in  the  County  of  Hampden,  by  premiums  and  other  means. 

"Sec.  II. — And  said  corporation  may  hold  and  manage  real  estate  not  exceed- 
ing in  value  fifteen  thousand  ilollai-s,  and  pei-sonal  estate  not  e.xceeding  a  like 
sum,  for  the  puqjose  aforesaid." 

The  first  meeting  under  the  charter  was  convened  at  the 
call  of  the  president,  Hon.  William  B.  Calhoun,  on  the  9th 
of  April,  1844.  It  was  numerously  attended  by  people  from 
all  parts  of  the  county.  A  constitution  was  adopted,  of  which 
the  following  are  some  of  the  provisions  : 

"Any  male  may  become  a  member  of  this  society  by  pay- 
ing into  its  treasury  the  sum  of  five  dollars,  and  any  female 
by  paying  the  sum  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

"  The  annual  meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  third  Wednes- 
day in  December  of  each  year,  for  the  election  of  officers,  etc. 

"  All  animals,  to  be  entitled  to  premiums,  must  have  been 
owned  or  kept  for  three  months  previous  to  the  annual  ex- 
hibition within  the  county." 

At  the  first  election  the  following  were  the  officers  chosen  : 
Hon.  William  B.  Calhoun,  President;  thirteen  Vice-Presi- 
dents ;  James  R.  Crooks,  Treasurer  ;  D.  M.  Bryant,  Secretary. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  June,  1844,  it  was  determined  to  hold 
the  first  cattle-show  and  fair  in  the  city  of  Springfield,  on  the 
Kith  and  ITlh  days  of  October,  1844;  proridcd,  the  citizens  of 
Springfield  should  before  that  time  contribute  six  hundred 
dollars  to  the  society's  funds. 

The  fair  was  held  at  the  appointed  time,  and  was  considered 
a  great  success.  There  was  a  large  attendance,  and  an  attract- 
ive display  of  stock.  The  premiums  paid  at  this  exhibition 
amounted  to  a  total  of  $269. 

In  18.52  the  amount  paid  in  premiums  had  risen  to  ,?48.5.  In 
1855  the  society  numbered  over  500  members,  and  had  accu- 
mulated a  permanent  fund  of  Ji4860. 

The  society  has  had  a  total  membership  of  about  1000,  which 
have  been  distributed  among  the  various  towns  of  the  county 
as  follows:  Agawam,  21  members;  Blandford,  2;  Brimfield,  1  ; 
Chicopec,  88 ;  Chester,  5;  Granville,  1  ;  Hnlyoke,  16;  Long- 
meadow,  33 ;    East  L<mgmeadow,  22 ;    Ludlow,  10;    Monson, 


12;  Montgomery,  1  ;  Palmer,  12;  Russell,  2;  Springfield,  520; 
West  Springfield,  62;  Southwick,  5;  Tolland,  1 ;  Westfield,  44; 
Wilbraham,  28;  Hampden,  18;  non-residents  of  the  county,  78. 

The  following-named  individuals  have  been  officers  in  the 
order  of  rank  and  service  : 

Presidents. — Hon.  William  B.  Calhoun,  Hon.  John  Mills, 
Hon.  Josiah  Hooker,  Thomas  J.  Shepherd,  Francis  Brewer, 
Horace  M.  Sessions,  Hon.  George  Bli.ss,  Hon.  Chester  W. 
Chapin,  Phineas  Stedman,  William  Birnie,  Hon.  Eliphalet 
Trask,  George  Dwight,  Norman  T.  Leonard,  Esq.,  William 
Pynchon,  Charles  L.  Buel. 

Secretaries. — D.  M.  Bryant,  Hon.  Henry  Vose,  Samuel  Par- 
sons, A.  A.  Allen,  J.  Newton  Bagg. 

Treasurers. — James  W.  Crooks,  James  Brewer,  A.  A. 
Allen,  R.  E.  Ladd,  J.  Newton  Bagg,  J.  S.  McElwain,  J.  E. 
Russell,  E.  S.  Bachelder. 

The  society  elects  a  delegate  to  the  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture once  in  three  years,  and  an  annual  report  is  published 
under  dii-cction  of  the  secretary. 

HAMPDEN    HARVEST    CLUU. 

This  society  was  organized  on  the  11th  of  December,  1857, 
at  the  house  of  George  M.  Atwater, — "  Rockrimmon  Farm," — 
at  which  time  the  following  persons  were  present:  from  Spring- 
field, J.  H.  Demond,  A.  W.  Stacy,  George  M.  Atwater ;  from 
Chicopee,  Phineas  Stedman,  H.  J.  Chapin,  and  Benjamin  H. 
Stedman.      , 

The  first  president  was  Phineas  Stedman,  and  the  first 
secretary  George  M.  Atwater. 

In  October,  18.58,  the  club  was  reorganized,  with  Phineas 
Stedman,  President,  and  J.  N.  Bagg,  Secretary.  A  lecture 
committee  was  chosen,  consisting  of  William  Birnie,  George 
M.  Atwater,  and  Phineas  Stedman,  and  a  series  of  bi-monthly 
meetings  inaugurated,  which  have  since  been  continued. 

At  the  last-mentioned  date  eighteen  members  were  admitted, 
as  follows:  William  Birnie,  Col.  Edward  Parsons,  Phineas 
Stedman,  H.  J.  Chapin,  George  M.  Atwater,  Wm.  Pynchon, 
A.  L.  McKinstry,  J.  H.  Demond,  A.  W.  Stacy,  B.  H.  Sted- 
man, Richard  Bliss,  Reuben  Brooks,  J.  N.  Bagg,  Justin  Ely, 
Wilbur  Wilson,  Ethan  C.  Ely,  and  John  Chase. 

The  club  has  had  during  the  twenty-two  years  of  its  exist- 
ence over  one  hundred  active  and  honorary  members.  In  the 
honorary  list  are  the  names  of  Chief-Justice  Chapman,  of 
Springfield ;  Hon.  C.  L.  Flint,  of  Boston ;  Prof  Levi  Stock- 
bridge,  of  Amherst;  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  of  New  York;  Col. 
J.  M.  Thompson,  of  Springfield;  Wells  Lathrop,  of  South 
Hadley  ;  Samuel  Bowles,  of  Springfield  ;  Maj.  Edward  Inger- 
soll,  of  the  U.S.A.  ;  and  Marvin  Chapin,  of  Springfield,  who 
have  attended  the  meetings  of  the  club  and  taken  an  active 
interest  in  its  deliberations. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1858,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  of 
Boston,  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  club  upon  the  subject  of 
milk-farming,  and  other  lectures  and  addresses  by  distinguished 
agriculturists  have  been  given  from  time  to  time. 

By  a  standing  rule  of  the  club,  the  presiding  officer  is  se- 
lected by  a  standing  committee  at  a  previous  meeting,  and 
elected  at  each  session.  The  secretary  and  committees  are 
elected  at  the  annual  meeting,  which  is  held  on  the  first  Tues- 
day of  December  in  each  year. 

J.  Newton  Bagg,  of  West  Springfield,  the  present  secretary, 
has  held  the  office  for  twenty-one  years.  The  club  holds 
meetings  during  the  winter  months  at  the  residences  of  its 
members.  The  wives  of  the  members  are  always  invited,  and 
frequently  take  part  in  the  discussions. 

FRANKLIN    HARVEST   CLUB.* 

The  earliest  "  Farmers'  Club"  organized  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley   in    Massachusetts  was   a   town    club    in    Sunderland, 

*  Materials  from  an  addrese  delivered  by  L.  F.  Mellen,  Esq.,  Dec.  7, 1878. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


113 


Franklin  Co.,  in   January,   1833,   witli   twenty-three  mem- 
bers. 

The  Franklin  Harvest  Club  was  organized  at  the  Mansion 
House,  in  Greenfield,  in  the  year  18')!).  Many  of  the  original 
members  had  previously  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  together 
for  the  purpose  of  discussing  matters  and  questions  pertaining 
to  agriculture. 

The  first  officers  of  the  club  were  Thomas  J.  Field,  of 
Northfield,  President;  Edward  W.  Stebbins,  of  Deerfield, 
Vice-President ;  Hon.  James  S.  Grinnell,  of  Greenfield,  Secre- 
tary. 

The  following  is  the  preamble  to  the  constitution :  ' '  Whereas, 
The  experience  of  each  of  our  farmers  ought  to  inure  to  the 
benefit  of  all,  and  since  free  conversation  in  a  social  gathering 
is  the  best  way  of  transmitting  infornlation  to  each  other,  and 
since,  also,  associated  action  is  more  effective  than  individual 
exertions ;  we  hereby,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  eliciting  and 
disseminating  agricultural  information,  agree  to  form  an 
agricultural  association,  to  be  called  the  'Franklin  Harvest 
Club.'" 

Article  3  of  the  constitution  says :  "  The  active  membership 
of  this  club  shall  never  exceed  twenty-two,  and  candidates 
shall  be  admitted  by  unanimous  ballot  after  being  proposed 
by  a  member.ship  committee." 

One  of  the  by-laws  j)rovides  that  "  refreshments  served  at  the 
meetings  of  the  club  shall  be  ])lain  and  unostentatious;  and 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  other  than  those  of  domestic  manu- 
facture, shall  be  prohibited  at  the  meetings  of  the  club." 

The  active  membership  of  the  society  has  for  several  years 
included  many  of  the  most  prominent  agriculturists  of  the 
valley,  distributed  through  the  three  counties  of  Franklin, 
Hampshire,  and  Hampden,  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  coun- 
ties of  Merrimack,  in  New  Hampshire,  and  Hartford,  in  Con- 
necticut. Its  transactions  have  been  published  in  the  agricul- 
tural papers  throughout  the  country,  and  it  has  been  said  of  it 
that  "  no  agricultural  organization  in  the  State  possesses  more 
dignity,  intelligence,  and  enterprise  than  the  Franklin  Har- 
vest Club." 

The  total  membership  since  its  organization  considerably 
exceeds  one  hundred,  representing  stock-raisers,  breeders  of 
special  lines  of  neat  cattle, — Durharas,  Devons,  Jerseys,  and 
Ayrshires, — market-gardeners,  and  fruit-growers. 

A  comparison  of  the  productions  of  the  county  for  tlie  last 
thirty  years  shows  considerable  improvement,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  this  society  has  very  likely  been  more  or  less  instru- 
mental in  producing  the  change  for  the  better.  The  rapid 
growth  of  the  manufacturing  centres  in  Western  Massachu- 
setts has  caused  important  changes  in  some  of  the  chief  pro- 
ductions, and  led  to  the  cultivation  of  those  products  which 
were  more  immediately  in  demand  in  the  local  markets.  The 
best-paying  farms  are  those  situated  nearest  these  markets ; 
and  the  production  of  butter,  in  particular,  has  increased  re- 
markably since  1855,  the  amount  now  produced  being  nearly 
double  what  it  was  then. 

In  1845  there  were  more  acres  of  corn  grown  in  the  three 
counties  of  the  valley  than  now,  but  the  yield  per  acre  has  in- 
creased in  Franklin  County  from  thirty-two  to  thirty-seven 
and  a  half  bu.shels  ;  in  Hampshire,  from  twenty-nine  to  thirty- 
two  bushels ;  and  in  Hampden,  from  twenty-five  to  twenty- 
seven  and  five-eighths  bushels  per  acre. 

The  Franklin  Harvest  Club  elects  its  officers  at  the  annual 
meeting,  held  on  the  first  Saturday  in  December  each  year. 
The  following  are  the  present  officers  :  President,  S.  Augustus 
Bates,  of  South  Hadley ;  Vice-President,  Joseph  P.  Felton, 
of  Greenfield  ;  Secretary,  L.  F.  Mellen,  of  West  Springfield. 

FKANKLIN   COUNTY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY. 
This   important  agricultural   organization  grew   out  of  a 
voluntary  exhibition  held  at  Greenfield  on  the  l-5th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1849.      In  the  course  of  that  year  subscriptions  were 
15 


obtained,  and  the  society  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature 
in  the  winter  of  1849-50. 

The  first  formal  meeting  of  the  society  was  held,  for  the 
election  of  officers,  at  Greenfield,  on  the  13th  day  of  June, 
18.50,  when  the  following  were  elected  to  serve  for  the  year: 
President,  Henry  W.  Clapp,  of  Greenfield ;  Vice-Presidents, 
Wm.  Bardwell,  of  Shelburue ;  Moses  Stebbins,  of  Deerfield ; 
Hon.  H.  W.  Cushman,  of  Bernardston ;  James  White,  of 
Northfield  ;  R.  B.  Hubbard,  of  Sunderland ;  Secretary,  W. 
T.  Davis,  of  Greenfield ;  Treasurer,  A.  G.  Hammond. 

The  amount  of  subscriptions  received  at  the  time  of  organi- 
zation was  about  as  follows,  by  townships:  A.shfield,  $24; 
Bernardston,  $72;  Buckland,  §5;  Deerfield,  !?104  ;  Coleraine, 
110;  Greenfield,  $711;  Gill,  $10;  Northfield,  $1)4;  Rowe, 
$18;  Shelburne,  $159;  Sunderland,  $45;  Warwick,  $12; 
Wendell,  $13;  Charlemont,  $10;  Montague,  $5;  Orange, 
$100  ;   a  total  of  $1362. 

The  first  annual  cattle-show  and  fair  was  held  on  the  25th 
of  September,  1850,  and  was  a  very  successful  one.  The  an- 
nual meeting  was  held  on  the  2d  of  January,  1851,  when 
Henry  W.  Cushman  was  elected  president.  The  total  receipts 
for  1850,  as  reported  by  the  treasurer,  amounted  to  $1809.54. 
Annual  fairs  have  been  held  without  intermi.ssiou  at  Green- 
field since  the  year  of  organization. 

The  society,  in  common  with  others  throughout  the  State, 
has  received  annually  from  the  State  the  sum  of  $600. 

The  first  purchase  of  grounds  for  permanent  occupation 
was  made  in  1860,  when  five  acres  of  land  were  bought  of 
Hon.  Almou  Brainerd  for  $2000.  In  1862  an  additional  five 
and  a  half  acres  were  purchased  of  the  same  party  for  $3000, 
making  a  total  of  ten  and  a  half  acres,  at  a  total  cost  of  $5tl00. 
These  grounds  were  situated  on  the  Green  River  meadow, 
near  the  middle  turnpike  bridge,  and,  though  small,  answered 
fairly  for  a  number  of  years. 

A  trotting-track  was  laid  out,  about  one-third  of  a  mile  in 
circuit,  open  seats  and  cattle-pens  were  constructed,  and  a  few 
cheap  buildings  ^ected ;  but  it  became  apparent,  with  the 
growing  interest  soon  manifested  in  the  annual  gatherings, 
that  more  spacious  grounds  were  a  necessity,  and  after  several 
years  of  agitation,  and  the  occupation  of  a  portion  of  the  land 
by  the  new  line  of  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railway,  the 
property  was  finally  sold  at  auction  in  1876  to  John  Oster- 
hout  for  $7200,  who,  in  turn,  sold  to  Newell  Snow,  who 
disposed  of  about  one-third  subsequently  to  the  railroad 
company. 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  annual  meeting  in  Janu- 
ary, 1876,  to  dispose  of  the  old  and  purchase  new  grounds, 
consisted  of  Imla  K.  Brown,  T.  J.  Field,  G.  P.  Carpenter, 
Newell  Snow,  Christopher  Stebbins,  Carlos  Batchelder,  and 
N.  Austin  Smith. 

This  committee,  after  considerable  negotiation,  finally  pur- 
chased in  1876  of  various  individuals  about  thirty-three  and  a 
half  acres  of  finely-situated  land  in  what  is  known  as  "  Petty 's 
Plain,"  a  half-mile  southwest  of  the  railway  station,  and  on 
the  southwest  side  of  Green  River.  The  location  is  every  way 
unexceptionable,  and  overlooks  the  Deerfield  Valley  and  the 
village  of  Greenfield.  The  original  cost  of  the  land  was 
$2571.70.  The  grounds  contain  a  beautiful  grove  of  about  five 
acres,  and  are  finely  and  most  conveniently  fitted  up  with  all 
modern  appliances,  including  excellent  water  furnished  from 
the  Greenfield  water-works,  and  one  of  the  best  half-mile 
tracks  in  the  State.  The  track  was  fitted  up  at  an  expense  of 
$1650.  The  total  outlay  for  all  purposes  has  been  between 
$9000  and  $10,000. 

The  whole  number  of  members  in  1851  was,  according  to 
the  statement  of  Hon.  Henry  W.  Cushman,  about  220. 

The  life-membership  at  the  present  time  (1879)  exceeds  2-500, 
and  it  is  believed  to  be  the  largest  of  any  county  society  in  the 

State. 

The  amount  of  premiums  paid  at  the  last  annual  fair,  in 


114 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1878,  amounted  to  a  total  of  §663. 25  on  sixteen  different 
classes  of  exhibits.  Of  this  sum  Shelburne  carried  olF  the 
largest  amount  of  any  one  town,  S242.75;  and  Greenfield  came 
next,  with  §124.7-5.  Upon  neat  stock,  Shelburne  received 
§134,  and  Deerfield  came  next,  with  §39. 

The  value  of  the  property  now  owned  by  the  association  is 
about  §10,000,  and  its  liabilities,  in  the  shape  of  indebtedness, 
amount  to  §1780.82. 

OFFICERS. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  presidents  and  secretaries 
from  1850  to  1879,  inclusive  : 

Presidents.— iSoO,  Henry  W.  Clapp,  of  Greenfield  ;  1851-56, 
Hon.  Henrj-  W.  Cushman,  of  Bernardston ;  1857,  Josiah 
Fogg,  of  Deerfield;  1858-59,  Z.  L.  Raymond,  of  Greenfield; 
1860-61,  Henry  W.  Clapp;  1862-6.3,  Hon.  Henry  W.  Cush- 
man; 1864-65,  Edward  W.  Stebbins,  of  Deerfield;  1866, 
Joseph  Anderson,  of  Shelburne  ;  1867-68,  Thomas  J.  Field,  of 
Northfield;  1869,  Henry  Wells,  of  Shelburne  ;  1870-71,  Wm. 
Keith,  of  Greenfield;  1872-73,  James  M.  Crafts,  of  Whately  ; 
1874-75,  Imla  K.  Brown,  of  Bernardston :  1876-77,  D.  Or- 
lando Fisk,  of  Shelburne  ;  1878,  James  S.  Grinnell,  of  Green- 
field ;  1879,  James  S.  Grinnell,  of  Greenfield. 

The  secretaries  have  been:  18.50-52,  W.  T.  Davis,  of  Green- 
fled  ;  1853-54,  Hon.  H.  G.  Parker,  of  Greenfield ;  1855,  Ed- 
ward F.  Eaymond,  Esq.,  of  Greenfield;  1856-62,  James  S. 
Grinnell,*  of  Greenfield  ;  1863-65,  Austin  De  Wolf,  of  Green- 
field ;  1866-68,  Edward  E.  Lyman,  of  Greenfield ;  1869-72, 
Samuel  J.  Lyons,  of  Greenfield  ;  1873-76,  Francis  M.  Thomp- 
son, of  Greenfield;  1877-78,  John  A.  Aiken;  1879,  Henry  G. 
Nims,  of  Greenfield. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

THE  BAR  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY.t 
Hon.  George  Bliss,  in  his  address  to  the  members  of  the 
Bar  of  Hampshire,  Franklin,  and  Hampden  Counties,  de- 
livered at  Northampton,  Sept.  26,  1826,  divides  its  history 
into  four  periods,  viz. :  the  first,  extending  from  the  first  set- 
tlement of  the  Connecticut  Kiver  colony  in  Massachusetts, 
in  1636,  to  1691,  in  which  latter  year  the  province  charter 
was  granted  ;  the  second,  from  that  date  to  the  year  1743  ; 
the  third,  from  1743  to  1774,  when  the  courts  were  suspended 
by  the  troubles  between  the  mother-country  and  the  colony; 
and  the  fourth  period  fi-om  1774  down  to  1826,  and  in  which 
may  also  be  properly  included  whatever  is  worth}'  of  record 
to  the  present  time. 

In  his  preliminary  remarks  Mr.  Bliss  makes  the  following 
observations  :  "The  first  settlers  of  the  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts were  by  no  means  destitute  either  of  natural  endow- 
ments or  literary  acquirements.  Some  of  them  were  distin- 
guished in  our  profession.  The  first  governor,  Winthrop, 
was  a  lawyer,  and  the  son  of  a  lawyer.  His  grandfather, 
also,  had  been  an  eminent  counselor.  His  posterity  in  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts  were  much  distinguished.  But  the 
spirit  of  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  the  special  object  of 
their  emigration,  and  the  business  in  which  they  were  inces- 
santly engaged  after  they  came  to  this  country,  prevented 
the  first  settlers  from  devoting  much  attention  to  the  forms  of 
legal  proceedings.  The  practice  of  law  in  England,  as  ex- 
hibited in  some  of  its  departments,  in  the  time  of  James  the 

*  In  1802  Mr.  Grinnell  went  t»i  Washington,  D.  C,  as  cliief  clerk  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agricnltiire,  where  he  serveil  three  yeai-s,  when  he  was  appointed 
chief  clerk  of  the  Patent  Office,  where  he  remained  for  ten  years.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  England  and  fliassachnsetts  Agricnltural  Societies,  and  of  the 
State  Agricultural  IJoard  of  MassaehuHetts;  and  is  also  connected  with  other 
»niilar  associations.     See  chapter  on  the  Bar. 

f  The  three  following  cliai>ters  have  been  compiled  largely  from  the  addresses 
of  Hon.  George  Blis.s,  IS-iO,  Hon  William  G.  Bates,  1S74,  and  Hon.  Whiting  Gris- 
wold,  lS7:i.  supplemented  with  such  additiiuis  as  we  have  been  able  to  make  from 
information  gathered  from  various  authentic  sources. 


First  and  the  elder  Charles,  had  no  charms  for  the  Puritans 
in  general,  or  the  emigrants  to  this  country  in  particular, 

"  An  extensive  examination  of  the  earliest  records  of  the 
colonies  of  Plj-mouth  and  Massachusetts  has  induced  me  to 
believe  that  our  ancestors  were  not  so  ignorant  of  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  justice  had  been  administered  in  the  mother- 
country  as  some  have  asserted.  But  it  has  also  abundantly 
satisfied  me  that  they  were  either  in  a  great  degree  ignorant 
of  the  forms  of  legal  proceedings,  or  considered  them  of  very 
little  importance, 

"  During  our  first  period  but  little  can  be  said  of  the  repu- 
tation of  the  lawyers  or  of  their  practice," 

The  first  administrator  of  justice,  and  the  first  person  who 
had  any  knowledge  of  the  law  in  the  Agawam  colony,  was 
its  first  magistrate  and  principal  business-man,  William 
Pynchon,  Mr.  Pynchon  was  one  of  the  original  patentees 
of  the  Massachu.setts  colony,  and  also  a  magistrate;  and  when 
the  General  Court  granted  him  and  his  associates  permission 
to  emigrate  to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  it  also  constituted  him 
the  magistrate  of  the  new  colony, J 

Early  in  the  year  1639,  at  a  "full  town-meeting"  held  at 
Agawam,  a  voluntary  association  was  formed,  and  the  people 
gave  Mr,  Pynchon  formal  authority  to  continue  until  the 
General  Court  should  provide  fur  them.  This  movement  was 
in  consequence  of  the  establishment  of  the  line  between  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut  in  1638,  which  left  the  Hartford 
colony  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  latter  State.  The  legis- 
lative proceedings  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  had  been  for  a 
number  of  years  held  at  Hartford,  and  Agawam  was  repre- 
sented in  that  court. 

In  1641  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  took  cogni- 
zance of  the  matter,  "and  Pynchon  was  authorized  to  exer- 
cise an  extensive  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction." 

The  right  of  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  at  Boston, 
was  granted  in  difficult  and  weighty  cases, 

Mr,  Pynchon  continued  to  exercise  this  jurisdiction  down 
to  the  year  1650,^  at  which  date  he  was  suspended  from  his 
office  in  consequence  of  the  publication  of  a  theological  pam- 
phlet by  him,  which  was  adjudged  as  heterodox. 

His  son-in-law,  Henry  Smith,  was  appointed  in  his  place, 
but  both  he  and  Mr.  Pynchon  .soon  after  returned  to  England, 
In  1652  a  joint  commission  was  given  to  three  persons,  of 
whom  John  Pynchon  was  one,  having  similar  powers  before 
possessed  by  the  single  magistrate. 

In  1658  authority  was  given  to  the  commissioners  of 
Springfield  and  Northampton,  united,  to  hold  courts  alter- 
nately at  those  ])laces ;  and  by  the  same  authority  the  right 
of  appeal  was  granted  to  the  County  Court  at  Boston,  instead 
of  to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  This  arrangement  continued 
until  the  erection  of  Hampshire  Count}',  in  March,  1662, 

There  would  seem  to  have  been  very  little  respect  shown  to 
the  lawyers  of  those  days,  and  the  business  of  the  profession 
was  anything  but  a  lucrative  one. 

An  ordinance  passed  by  the  General  Court  in  1663  shows 
the  estimation  in  which  the  profession  was  held  in  the  early 
days  and  tlie  manifest  determination  to  keep  it  in  the  back- 
ground. It  prohibits  every  person  "  who  is  a  usual  and  com- 
mon aHorney  in  any  inferior  court"  from  being  admitted  to 
sit  as  a  deputy  in  the  General  Court,  and  the  regulation  con- 
tinued in  force  until  the  expiration  of  that  charter. 

According  to  Mr,  Bliss,  the  earliest  record  of  attorneys 
admitted  to  practice  in  Hampshire  County  bears  date  Sep- 
tember, 1686,  The  parties  were  .lohn  King,  of  Northampton, 
and  Samuel  Marshficld  and  J<inathan   Burt,  Sr,,  of  Spring- 

X  In  e.xplanatiun  of  Mr,  Pynchon's  powera  it  is  specifically  stated  that  his  au- 
thority "shall  extend  to  all  causes,  civil  or  criminal,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the 
Courts  of  Assist.ants,  with  a  jury  of  si.x  men,  until  they  shall  have  a  greater  num- 
ber for  that  service." — }Inn.  H*.  G.'Il'ttes'  uiitlri»)i,  pa^jp  IS. 

g  Hon.  AVni.  G.  Bates  makes  tliis  date  litol.  For  further  notice  of  Mr.  Pyn- 
chon see  general  chapters  of  early  history  in  this  work. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECT  [CUT  VALLEY. 


115 


lipid,  who  took  the  oath  for  the  faithful  ]ierformance  of  their 
duties.  In  addition  to  these,  he  states  that  there  were  several 
others  incidentally  mentioned  as  attorneys,  though  there  is  no 
written  evidence  of  their  having  been  admitted  to  practice. 

There  seems  to  be  very  little  information  concerning  the 
legal  profession  on  record  during  the  colonial  period  fi-om  1620 
to  1691,  when  the  new  charter  was  granted.  During  the 
second  period,  from  1691  to  1743,  the  records  are  more  full 
and  explicit,  though  a  portion  of  them  are  missing;  but  it 
appears  certain  that  the  practice  of  the  law  throughout  Hamp- 
shire County,  and  probably  the  entire  province,  was  consider- 
ably improved. 

Touching  this  matter,  Mr.  Bliss  says:  "There  were  some 
general  regulations  which  had  a  tendency  to  produce  this  re- 
sult. A  Superior  Court  was  substituted,  in  the  several  coun- 
ties, for  a  Court  of  Assistants,  and  Courts  of  Common  Pleas 
for  County  Courts. 

"  At  first  no  time  or  place  was  fixed  for  holding  the  Supe- 
rior Courts  in  the  county  of  Hampshire;  but  appellate  juris- 
diction was  given  to  the  court  holden  at  Boston,  with  power 
to  the  Governor  and  Council  to  order  a  Superior  Court  to  be 
holden  in  the  county  as  occasion  should  require ;  but  in  the 
year  1699  a  Superior  Court  was  ordered  to  be  holden  once  a 
year  at  Springfield  ;  and  in  the  year  1771  an  addtional  term  of 
that  court  was  directed  to  be  holden  annually  at  Northampton. 
These  courts  were  continued  without  interruption  till  all  the 
courts  of  justice  in  the  county  were  stopped,  in  the  year  1774. 

"  By  a  law  pas.sed  in  1692,  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  were 
expressly  authorized  to  establish  rules  of  practice.  At  the 
same  time  liberty  was  given  to  plaintiffs,  if  they  should  so 
elect,  in  all  cases  where  the  demand  exceeded  ten  pounds,  to 
institute  their  suits  at  first  in  the  Superior  Courts.  In  the 
year  1701  the  form  for  the  oath  of  an  attorney  was  prescribed, 
which  is  in  use  to  this  day.* 

"  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  that  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  established  any  rules  of  practice,  except  one  affect- 
ing attorneys  living  out  of  the  province  and  practicing  in  our 
courts,  which  imposed  some  restraints  upon  them,  and  regu- 
lated the  costs  which  they  should  tax.  These  rules  also  pro- 
vided that  a  person  not  residing  in  the  State  should  not  be 
admitted  to  take  the  oath  of  an  attorne}',  and  that  none  who 
had  not  taken  the  oath  should  tax  attorneys'  fees  ;  that  there 
should  be  no  costs  taxed  for  the  writ  from  the  clerk's  office. 
No  taxation  to  be  allowed  further  than  there  was  actual  at- 
tendance. An  attorney  might  elect  to  take  his  fees  or  his 
client's  travel  and  attendance,  but  not  both.  The.se  rules  were 
adopted  at  the  March  term  of  1728." 

Between  the  years  1094  and  1720  there  is  a  chasm  in  the 
court  records,  and  the  names  of  attorneys  practicing  during 
that  period  cannot  be  given.  Mr.  Bliss  mentions  John  Hug- 
gins  and  Christopher  Jacob  Lawton  as  being  residents  of 
Springfield  in  1086  and  subsequently,  and  as  having  consider- 
able ]iractice, — probably  more  than  any  other  persons.  Hug- 
gins,  in  particular,  had  an  extensive  practice,  and  was  an 
attorney  of  excellent  information.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  Lower  Housatonic  (now  SheflSeld),  where  he  continued  in 
practice,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son.  His  declarations 
were  drawn  with  much  formality. 

Lawton  was  regularly  admitted  in  1726,  but  very  little  is 
known  of  his  subsequent  career. 

Samuel  Partridge,  who  had  been  clerk  of  the  court,  is  men- 
tioned as  an  attorney,  and,  after  the  year  1720,  as  chief-justice 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

Among  the  prominent  men  mentioned  is  Timothy  Dwight, 
of  Northampton,  who  was  regularly  admitted  at  the  August 
term  in  1721,  "continuing  many  years  in  reputable  prac- 
tice," and  subsequently  held  the  ofBce  of  judge.  The  names 
of  William  Pynchon   and   Josiah   Dwight,   of  Springfield, 


are  also  given,  but  the  date  of  their  admission  to  practice 
seems  not  to  have  been  known.  John  Ashley,  of  Westficld, 
was  admitted  in  1732,  and  at  the  March  term  of  173.3  the 
names  of  Joseph  Dwight,  Esq.,  of  Brookfiold  (now  in  Wor- 
cester County),  and  Oliver  Partridge,  of  Hatfield,  appear  of 
record.  There  is  no  mention  of  their  legal  acquirements  other 
than  that  shown  by  the  records. 

Cornelius  Jones,  a  resident  of  Springfield,  and  a  tailor  by 
trade,  is  mentioned  as  having  commenced  practice  as  a  petti- 
fogger in  1732;  was  regularly  admitted  in  1752,  and  con- 
tinued in  practice  down  to  176-5.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
peculiar,  and  perhaps  eccentric,  in  his  manner  of  doing  busi- 
ness, but,  notwithstanding,  had  about  as  much  practice  as 
any  attorney  of  his  day. 

It  would  appear,  from  information  obtained  by  Mr.  Bliss, 
that  the  attorneys  practicing  in  the  western  part  of  the  State 
previous  to  1743  had  few  books,  and  those  not  the  most  valu- 
able. He  says,  "In  the  latter  part  of  this  period  three 
of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  had  been  prac- 
ticing attorneys, — Samuel  Partridge,  John  Ashley,  and  Henry 
Dwight.  At  a  later  period  Timothy  Dwight  and  Josiah 
Dwight  were  also  judges  ;  and  at  one  time,  after  the  year  1743, 
the  three  Dwights  above  named  were  on  the  bench  together. 

"  Though  there  is  plenary  evidence  that  the  practice  had 
been,  for  several  years  before  the  year  1743,  gradually  im- 
proving, yet  it  was  in  many  respects  incorrect,  and  knowledge 
of  legal  principles  was  imperfect.  From  that  time  both  were 
very  much  advanced.  This  ought  to  be  attributed  principally 
to  three  men, — Phinehas  Lyman,  of  Suffield,  John  Worthing- 
ton,  of  Springfield,  and  Joseph  Hawley,  of  Northampton." 

Gen.  Phinehas  Lyman  was  born  at  Durham,  Conn.,  in 
1716,  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1738,  and  was  a  tutor  in 
that  institution  for  three  years.  In  1742  he  left  that  position, 
and  was  soon  after  admitted  to  practice  law,  probably  at  New 
Haven,  whence  he  came  to  Suffield,  then  considered  a  part  of 
old  Hampshire  County,  and  commenced  practice  in  1743.  His 
business  soon  became  extensive  for  those  days.  Mr.  Bliss  says  : 
"  He  was  a  distinguished  advocate,  and  afterward  an  able 
politician  and  renowned  officer."  He  continued  in  practice 
until  1749,  at  which  date  Suffield  renounced  the  jurisdiction 
of  Massachusetts,  which  result  the  general,  according  to  his 
biographer.  Dr.  Dwight,  was  very  instrumental  in  bringing 
about,  though  what  the  motives  were,  which  impelled  him  to 
this  course,  are  left  to  conjecture. 

The  general  had  a  small  but  valuable  library,  including 
.several  ancient  authors.  From  the  date  of  separation  between 
the  two  colonies,  he  probably  withdrew  from  practice  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  French  war  in  1755,  we  find 
him  holding  a  prominent  position  in  military  circles  as  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  militia  of  Connecticut,  and  the  same 
year  he  served  with  Sir  Wm.  Johnson  in  the  campaign  around 
Lake  George.  He  was  second  in  command  at  the  series  of 
battles  fought  on  the  8th  of  September  in  that  year,  and  when 
Sir  William  Johnson  was  wounded  took  the  command,  and  de- 
feated the  enemy  under  the  Baron  Dieskau,  who  lost  their 
commander  and  many  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners. 

He  was  also  with  Abercrombie  at  Ticonderoga  in  17.58,  at 
the  capture  of  Crown  Point  by  Amherst  in  1759,  and  at  the 
surrender  of  Montreal  to  the  same  officer  in  September, 
1780.  In  1762  he  commanded  the  provincial  troops  in  the 
Havana  expedition.  Subsequently  he  went  to  England, 
where  he  remained  for  several  years,  endeavoring  to  procure 
grants  of  land  in  the  Mississippi  "Valley  for  the  purpose  of  es- 
tablishing a  colony.  In  this  he  was  at  length  successful,  and, 
in  1775,  embarked  with  his  son  and  others  for  the  Mississippi 
country,  but  died  in  West  Florida,  on  his  way  thither,  in 
the  same  year. 

Worthington  and  Hawley  were  both  students  of  Gen.  Ly- 
man.    The  former  commenced  practice  in  1744,  and  the  latter 


116 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


about  1749.  "  Contemporary  with  these,  in  the  early  part  of 
their  practice,  were  Oliver  Partridge,  of  Hatfield,  Charles 
Phelps,  of  Hadley,  Josiuh  Dwight,  then  of  Westfield,  John 
Ashley,  of  Lower  Housatonic,  and  Cornelius  Jones,  of  Spring- 
field.    Jones  died  in  1765." 

The  following  list  of  barristers  and  attorneys  who  were 
practicing  at  the  close  of  the  third  period,  in  1774,  is  from  Mr. 
Bliss'  address.  It  includes,  as  will  be  noticed,  the  names  of  five 
who  were  residents  of  Berk.shire  County,  but  who  practiced 
before  the  Superior  Courts  in  Hampshire  County  :  John  Wor- 
tbington,  of  Springfield,  barrister  ;  Joseph  Hawley,  of  North- 
ampton, barrister;  Charles  Phelps,  of  Hadley;  Moses  Bliss, 
of  Springfield,  barrister ;  Mark  Hopkins,  of  Great  Barring- 
ton  ;  Simeon  Strong,  of  Amherst,  barrister ;  Thomas  Wil- 
liams, of  Stockbridge ;  Timothy  Danielson,  of  Brimfield ; 
Elisha  Porter,  of  Hadley  ;  Jonathan  Bliss,  of  Springfield,  bar- 
rister ;  Daniel  Hitchcock,  of  Northampton ;  Theodore  Sedg- 
wick, of  Sheffield,  barrister  ;  Thomas  Bridgman  (qua-re,  of 
Brimfield) ;  Jonathan  Ashley,  of  Deerfield  ;  John  Phelps,  of 
Westfield;  Justin  Elj',  of  West  Springfield;  Samuel  Field, 
of  Deerfield  ;  Elijah  William.s,  of  Deerfield  ;  William  Bil- 
lings, of  Sunderland;  Samuel  Barnard,  of  Deerfield;  Wood- 
bridge  Little,  of  Pittsfield  ;  Samuel  Fowler,  of  Westfield  ; 
John  Chester  Williams,  of  Hadley ;  Caleb  Strong,  of  North- 
ampton, barrister ;  David  Noble,  of  Williamstown.  Several 
of  these,  according  to  Mr.  Bliss,  including  the  Williamses, 
Danielson,  Bridgman,  and  Hitchcock,  were  mostly  retired 
from  practice. 

Mr.  Bliss  observes  that  previous  to  the  advent  of  W^or- 
thington  and  Hawley  "  the  practice  was  very  illiberal ;  techni- 
cal distinctions  were  much  in  vogue.  This  practice  continued 
for  some  time  after  their  admission,  but  it  seems  gradually  to 
have  gone  out  of  use,  and  a  more  free  and  liberal  course  was 
adopted. 

"  While  Worthington  and  Hawley  were  at  the  head  of  the 
profession  in  this  county  the  Bar  ado]ited  a  number  of  rules 
of  practice,  and,  among  others,  the  imjiortant  one  requiring 
three  years'  study  before  a  recommendation  for  admission 
should  be  given.  From  the  first  establishment  of  courts  to 
that  time  there  seems  to  have  been  no  rule,  no  settled,  uni- 
form practice,  on  this  subject.  Probably  the  courts  generally 
required  some  previous  study,  and  it  has  been  .said  that  a 
year  had  been  many  times  required. 

"  Thi.s  rule  was  adopted  but  a  short  time  before  the  Revolu- 
tion. These  regulations  originated  with  the  Esse.x  Bar.  That 
county  has  always  been  among  the  foremost  in  improvement 
in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  law.  .  .  .  Some  respect- 
able members  of  the  Bar,  when  this  rule  as  to  admission  was 
proposed,  doubted  whether  the  term  of  study  was  not  too  long, 
but,  after  thorough  experiment,  became  well  satisfied  with  it." 

William  Pynchon,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  was  a  native  of  old 
Hampshire  County,  though  he  neither  studied  nor  practiced 
in  the  county  of  his  birth.  He  removed  to  Salem  in  1745,  and 
read  law  with  Mr.  Sewall.     He  died  in  1790. 

In  speaking  of  the  Superior  Courts,  and  the  customs  of  the 
early  days,  Mr.  Bliss  remarks,  "  After  the  Superior  Courts 
were  ordered  to  be  liolden  in  tliis  county,  eminent  counsel  from 
Boston  very  frequently  attended.  The  appearance  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  that  period  was  adapted  to  fill  the  mind 
with  respect.  It  came  into  the  county  but  once  a  year,  and 
was  ushered  into  it  by  the  sherift'  with  his  posse.  The  dress  of 
the  judges  while  on  the  bench — their  robes  and  wigs — added 
to  the  majesty  of  their  appearance.  I  saw  the  court  when  a 
boy;  and  after  making  all  due  allowance  for  the  cilcct  upon 
the  mind  of  a  child,  I  feel  confident  that  no  earthly  tribunal 
could  inspire  greater  reverence  than  its  appearance  did  on  my 
mind.  I  must  believe  that  there  was  much  in  its  appearance 
well  adapted  to  command  veneration  and  respect.  The  attor- 
neys of  that  court  were  all  obliged  to  dress  in  black,  and  the 
barristers,  when  in  court,  to  wear  black  gowns.     To  me  it  has 


been  a  subject  of  regret  that  no  peculiar  costume  has  been 
retained  or  adopted  by  the  Bench  and  the  Bar.  When  I  saw 
a  chief-justice  of  the  United  States  dressed,  while  on  the 
bench,  in  a  drab  or  mixed  russet  suit,  it  appeared  to  me  out  of 
character.  I  know  that  such  a  man  as  Chief-Justice  Jay 
cannot  fail  to  command  respect  and  veneration,  but  we  ought 
not  to  reason  from  the  eflTect  produced  by  a  Jay  or  a  Parsons 
to  ordinary  cases. 

"After  Worthington  and  Hawley  came  to  the  Bar  they 
soon  acquired  a  distinguished  reputation,  and  were  employed 
in  all  important  trials.  Associated  with  them,  though  much 
their  juniors,  were  Simeon  Strong,  Moses  Bliss,  and  Jonathan 
Bliss,  and,  toward  the  close  of  their  practice,  Mark  Hopkins, 
Theodore  Sedgwick,  and  Caleb  Strong." 

The  northern  section  of  the  county,  constituting  the  present 
county  of  Franklin,  was  much  more  recently  settled  than  the 
southern  and  middle  portions,  and  many  of  the  towns  were 
then  entirely  unsettled.  This  was  also  the  case  with  the 
northern  part  of  the  county   of  Berkshire. 

"  For  a  short  time  before  the  Revolution,  Ashley  and  Bar- 
nard were  at  Deerfield,  Billings  at  Sunderland,  and  Field,  as 
I  believe,  at  Conway ;  Woodbridge  Little  at  Pittsfield,  and 
David  Noble  was  at  Williamstown.  These,  I  believe,  were  all 
that  were  in  practice  in  the  northern  part  of  these  counties. 

"  In  the  present  county  of  Hampshire  I  cannot  find  that 
there  were  attorneys  in  any  of  the  towns  except  Northamp- 
ton, Hadley,  and  Amherst.  And  in  the  limits  of  the  county 
of  Hampden  there  were  none  except  within  the  limits  of  what 
was  then  Springfield  and  Westfield  ;  for  I  think  it  uncertain 
whether  either  Danielson  or  Bridgman  were  in  practice  at 
Brimfield  as  late  as  the  year  1774.  Pleading,  during  this 
period,  acquired  in  general  the  same  standard  which  it  now 
(1826)  has.  This,  however,  must  have  been  gradual  rather 
than  sudden.  Though  Worthington  and  Hawley  made  rapid 
improvements,  considering  the  disadvantages  under  which 
they  labored,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  could  pro- 
duce an  instantaneous  revolution.  It  took  them  some  time 
to  procure  libraries  and  become  themselves  sufficiently  in- 
structed, and  it  must  have  taken  time  to  induce  the  court  and 
their  seniors  at  the  Bar  to  conform  to  their  standard.  ...  In 
proportion  to  its  numbers,  this  Bar  has  at  no  period  had  mem- 
bers of  superior  legal  ability  to  tliat  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded the  Revolution." 

The  following  paragra]ihs  upon  the  lives  and  characters  of 
Col.  Worthington  and  3Iaj.  Hawley  are  from  Mr.  Bliss'  ad- 
dress : 

"  CoL.  Worthington  was  a  native  of  Springfield,  born 
Nov.  24,  1719.  He  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  the  year  1740,  and  where  he  was  some  time  a 
tutor.  He  left  there  in  1743,  and  read  law  a  short  time — as  is 
supposed,  about  a  3'ear — with  Gen.  Lyman,  at  Suffield.  He 
commenced  practice  in  1744,  at  Springfield,  where  he  resided 
till  his  death. 

"  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  anj'  record  of  his  admission, 
nor  that  of  Lyman  Hawley.  His  legal  attainments  were 
higlily  respectable.  He  usually  attended  the  courts  at  Wor- 
cester, and,  after  Berkshire  was  made  a  county,  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  there.  His  practice  was  very  extensive.  He 
was  public  prosecutor,  or  king's  attorney,  for  this  county.  I 
never  heard  him  argue  a  cause  to  a  jury ;  but,  from  what  I 
have  known  of  his  method  of  managing  controversies,  I  have 
no  doubt  but  he  was  an  able  advocate.  His  mind  was  ardent, 
his  imagination  lively,  his  feelings  strong.  His  ideas  were 
apt  to  flow  in  torrents,  and  he  had  great  command  of  lan- 
guage. He  was  many  times  very  powerful.  If  he  had  any 
fault  as  an  advocate,  it  was  this, — that,  being  very  forcibly 
impressed  with  his  subject,  he  would  sometimes  forget  the 
condition  of  those  whom  he  addressed,  and,  not  alway.s  real- 
izing their  feelings,  he  would  urge  a  topic  beyond  what  it 
would  bear.     His  style  was  nervous,  forcible,  and  uncom- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


117 


monly  correct.  He  had  a  taste  for  general  science,  and  his 
knowledge  was  not  confined  to  law  and  politics. 

"From  the  interruption  of  the  courts  in  August,  1774,  to 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  April,  1800,  Worthington  lived  re- 
tired from  public  and  professional  business.  Having  been 
thirty  years  in  practice,  and  during  that  time  conversant  W'ith 
the  judges  and  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  eminent  law- 
yers of  his  time,  he  was  capable  of  communicating  much  legal 
information  while  his  health  and  ability  to  converse  were  con- 
tinued, and  many  interesting  particulars  of  the  course  of  prac- 
tice and  of  the  character  of  the  eminent  jurists  of  his  time, 
and  was  very  free  to  do  it.  I  had  frequently  the  pleasure  and 
benefit  of  his  instructions.  As  he  had  been  for  many  years  so 
situated  as  to  form  a  very  extensive  acquaintance,  and  lived  to 
a  good  old  age,  he  had  many  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances 
to  visit  him  and  enjoy  his  conversation.  He  died  in  the 
eighty-first  year  of  his  age.* 

"Of  Maj.  Hawley  I  know  much  less  than  of  Col.  Worth- 
ington, but  the  information  I  have  is  derived  from  those  who 
were  many  years  associated  with  him  in  practice.  He  was 
born  at  Northampton  in  1724,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College 
in  the  year  1742.  After  he  left  college  he  studied  divinity, 
and  was  a  preacher  for  several  years,  though  he  was  never 
settled  in  the  ministry.  He  officiated  as  a  chaplain  in  the  pro- 
vincial army,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg.  After  this 
he  studied  law  with  Glen.  Lyman,  at  SuiBeld,  but  for  how 
long  a  time  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  He  came  to  his 
native  place,  and  went  into  practice  there.  The  precise  time 
when  he  began  to  practice  is  not  ascertained.  The  first  notice 
of  him  as  an  attorney  in  court  is  at  the  May  term,  1749, 
which,  by  tradition,  is  the  first  year  of  his  practice. 

"His  practice  was  extensive,  though  more  circumscribed 
than  that  of  Worthington.  He  did  not  usually  practice  in 
Worcester  County,  but  regularly  attended  the  Berkshire 
courts  after  they  were  established.  He  was  grave  and  solemn 
in  his  demeanor,  was  strictly  conscientious,  and  had  an  in- 
stinctive abhorrence  of  anything  approaching  to  deceit.  Ju- 
ries had  confidence  in  his  assertions  ;  their  opinion  of  his 
stern  and  undeviating  integrity  made  them  very  ready  to 
listen  to  him.  His  opinions  had,  with  them,  great  weight. 
It  was  said,  and  generally  believed,  of  him  that  he  would  not 
engage  in  a  cause  until  he  was  fully  persuaded  that  his  client 
had  right  and  justice  on  his  side. 

"  When  Hawley  was  satisfied  of  the  justice  of  his  cause  his 
arguments  were  very  powerful  and  convincing.  When  a 
point  of  law  was  to  be  taken  he  would  meet  the  case  fairly, 
and  reason  upon  it  as  a  sound  logician.  Hawley's  judicial 
science  was  profound.  He  was  peculiarly  attached  to  the  old 
English  black-letter  law.  He  was  very  attentive  to  forms 
and  tenacious  of  ancient  English  precedents.  Compared  with 
Worthington,  he  was  probably  more  conversant  with  Bracton, 
Britton,  Fleta,  and  Rastell,  but  not  so  well  acquainted  with 
the  more  modern  authors,  and  less  acquainted  with  the  various 
branches  of  commercial  or  mercantile  law. 

"  Hawley  was  a  very  active  and  zealous  magistrate.  He 
was  subject  to  turns  of  great  depression  of  spirits.  The  general 
tenor  of  his  manners  made  him  more  in  favor  with  the  people 
than  with  the  court. 

"  Worthington,  though  very  popular  among  his  own  towns- 
men, was  more  courtly  in  his  manners,  and,  being  thought  to 
stand  high  with  the  provincial  government,  had  less  general 
popularity.  They  were  generally  engaged  on  opposite  sides 
in  court.  When  they  were  united  a  successful  opposition  to 
them  rarely  occurred.  They  were  both  correct  special  pleaders, 
and  could  not  endure  to  have  legal  proceedings  in  any  other 
than  appropriate  technical  language. 

*  It  is  said  by  one  writer  that  there  were  suspicions  of  the  colonel's  loyalty  to 
tlie  cause  of  the  colonies  during  the  era  of  the  Revolution,  .and  that  Zebina  Steb- 
liiiis,  chairman  of  the  t«jwn  committee  of  correspondence,  once  gave  him  a  cer- 
tificate of  good  cliaracter  against  tlie  charge  of  Toryism. 


"  Maj.  Hawley,  in  the  year  1767  or  '68,  fell  under  the 
censure  of  the  Superior  Court  and  was  suspended  from  prac- 
tice. At  the  next  term  he  was  restored  at  the  motion  of  Col. 
Worthington.  The  precise  state  of  the  case  I  cannot  give, 
but  have  always  understood  that  there  was  no  imputation  on 
Hawley's  character  in  the  affair.  He  was  counsel  for  some 
persons  in  the  county  of  Berkshire  who  had  been  indicted  for 
being  concerned  in  a  riot.  In  the  course  of  the  trial  he  made 
some  observations  which  the  court  considered  as  having  too 
much  of  the  spirit  of  liberty  to  be  permitted  to  pass  without 
animadversion. 

"  Worthington  and  Hawley  had  the  honor  of  numbering 
among  their  pupils  those  who  would  be  ornaments  to  any 
Bar.  Hawley  never  practiced  after  the  year  1774,  but  occa- 
sionally presided  in  the  Court  of  Sessions  as  the  oldest  magis- 
trate in  the  county.  He  died  in  March,  1788,  aged  sixty-four 
years." 

President  Dwight,  in  speaking  of  Hawley,  uses  this  lan- 
guage :  "  Many  men  have  spoken  with  more  elegance  and 
grace.  I  never  heard  one  speak  with  more  force.  His  mind, 
like  his  eloquence,  was  grave,  austere,  and  powerful. 

"  Worthington  and  Hawley  were  both  men  in  whose  honesty 
and  fairness  those  who  knew  them  intimately  would  place 
unbounded  confidence.  Hawley  retained  more  of  the  man- 
ners of  our  Puritan  ancestors.  Worthington  had  long  been 
conversant  with  the  most  polished  society  in  our  country,  and 
added  to  great  acquisitions  as  a  lawyer  those  of  a  scholar  and 
a  gentleman.  Though  their  manners  were  very  different,  a 
dishonest,  unprincipled  man  would  choose  to  keep  out  of  their 
way. 

"  That  Worthington  and  Hawley  should,  with  the  means 
then  in  their  power,  have  acquired  such  eminence  is  a  proof 
of  great  talent  and  industry.  It  is  also  evidence  that  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  the  law,  as  derived  from  its  ancient 
sources,  will  make  a  man  respectable  without  reading  every 
modern  publication. 

"Hawley's  law-library  consisted  principally  of  ancient 
authors.  Worthington  had  a  much  better  collection  of  more 
modern  authors." 

Moses  Bliss  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1755,  after 
which  he  studied  divinity  and  preached  for  a  considerable 
time.  Subsequently  he  read  law  a  j-ear  with  Col.  Worthing- 
ton, and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  November,  1761.  It 
appears  that  he  practiced  several  years  before  his  admission, 
which  would  seem  from  the  records  to  have  been  a  common 
occurrence  in  those  days.     He  retired  from  practice  in  1798. 

Hon.  George  Bliss  says  of  him,  "He  was  generally  es- 
teemed as  a  sound  lawyer  and  a  skillful  special  pleader.  His 
contemporaries  valued  his  legal  opinions." 

Si.MEON  Stronu  was  born  at  Northampton  in  1735,  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College  in  1756,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
ministry  for  several  years ;  but  relinquished  the  profession  he 
had  marked  out,  which  he  could  the  more  easily  do  as  he  had 
not  yet  been  settled  over  a  church,  on  account  of  pulmonary 
difficulties.  He  afterward  read  law  in  the  office  of  Col.  Worth- 
ington and  commenced  practice  at  Amherst  in  1762,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  in  November  of  that  year. 

After  the  stoppage  of  the  courts,  in  1774,  there  followed  an 
interval  of  several  years  before  he  resumed  practice.  From 
1780  to  1800  he  had  an  extensive  business,  and  regularly  at- 
tended the  courts.  In  1800  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  During  his  retirement  from 
practice,  it  is  said  that  he  employed  his  time  in  an  extensive 
revision  of  his  law-books. 

In  summing  up  his  character,  Mr.  Bliss  says  of  him,  "  There 
were  some  traits  in  his  character  which  may  be  worthy  of  par- 
ticular notice.  He  was  very  modest  and  unassuming  in  his 
deportment,  and  on  all  occasions  treated  the  court  before 
whom  he  appeared  with  deference  and  respect.  Whatever  he 
might  think  of  the  man,  he  always  respected  the  judge.     In 


118 


HISTOEY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


a  person  of  his  acquirements,  and  with  wit  of  such  caustic 
powers  as  he  sometimes  exhibited,  and  before  judges  at  times 
for  whom  no  very  high  claims  could  be  advanced,  this  was  a 
feature  of  character  rarely  to  be  found.  It  is  possible  this 
might  partially  be  owing  to  the  respect  habitually  paid  to  the 
old  Superior  Court ;  but  I  am  satisfied  it  was  principally  per- 
sonal, and  that  he  lost  nothing  in  this  way. 

"  I  have  known  Mr.  Strong  to  acquire  considerable  advan- 
tage by  the  course  he  pursued.  Another  trait  not  always  to 
be  found  in  the  character  of  distinguished  advocates  was  the 
perfect  fairness  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  treat  his 
antagonists.  He  was  as  astute  as  any  man  to  discover  a  mis- 
take, but  would  never  take  unreasonable  advantage  of  it.  In 
his  remarks  to  the  jury  the  client  or  the  case  might  feel  the 
keen  point  of  his  satire,  but  toward  his  brethren  of  the  Bar 
he  was  always  civil  and  courteous.  He  was  eminently  skilled 
in  the  science  of  special  pleading.  He  generally  attended  the 
courts  in  Worcester  as  well  as  Hampshire,  and  in  the  former 
part  of  his  practice  frequently  attended  at  Berk.shire. 

"  After  deducting  the  intervals  of  his  practice,  he  was  nearly 
a  third  of  a  century  at  the  Bar.  His  manner  was  not  the  most 
graceful,  but  the  clearness,  force,  and  point  of  his  address  to 
the  jury  always  procured  him  great  attention.  As  Judge 
Strong  was  more  than  five  years  on  the  Bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  soundness  of  his  legal  opinions  will  appear  from 
the  reports.     He  died  December  14,  1805. 

"Among  the  distinguished  members  of  the  Bar  before  the 
Revolution  was  Jonathan  Bliss,  of  Springfield.  He  gradu- 
ated at  Cambridge  in  17H3,  read  law  with  Judge  Trowbridge, 
and  was  contemporary,  and  many  years  corresponded,  with 
Francis  Dana.  He  began  practice  in  November,  17G4;  was 
in  good  practice,  and  esteemed  an  able  advocate  and  coun- 
selor. At  the  approach  of  the  Revolutionary  contest,  in 
August,  1774,  having  no  family,  he  went  to  England,  and 
never  afterward  resided  in  the  United  States.  He  was  suc- 
cessively attorney-general  and  chief-justice  of  the  province  of 
New  Brunswick,  and  died  in  the  latter  office  at  an  advanced 
age.  These  otfices  he  filled  with  high  reputation.  His  manners 
were  those  of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school."* 

With  reference  to  the  five  last-mentioued  attorneys,  Mr. 
Bliss  says  they  "  were  the  only  barristers  there  were  in  this 
[Hampshire]  county  before  the  Revolution.  Governor  Strong 
and  Judge  Sedgwick  were  invested  with  this  honor  after  the 
peace. 

"  One  other  distinguished  man  read  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  this  county, f  though  I  do  not  learn  that  he  ever 
practiced  here.  Pierpont  Edwards  was  of  Northampton ; 
he  was  admitted  February  term,  1771.  He  soon  removed  to 
New  Haven,  where  he  acquired  great  professional  celebrity. 
His  eloquence,  as  much  as  that  of  any  other  man,  appeared  to 
be  strictly  e.xtemporaneous ;  yet  I  had  the  opportunity  of 
knowing  that  no  person  was  accustomed  to  bestow  more  pains 
in  preparing  a  case.  He  was  wont  to  study  it  thoroughly,  and 
examine  all  points  likely  to  arise  in  it." 

In  speaking  of  the  law-libraries  of  early  times  in  this  region, 
Mr.  Bliss  says  that  Col.  Worthington's  was  the  most  exten- 
sive ;  but  that  Maj.  Hawley,  after  he  purchased  Gen.  Lyman's 
old  works,  had  a  more  valuable  collection  of  ancient  English 
authors.  This  last  was  mostly  destroyed  bj'  fire  about  1820  or 
1822.  Jonathan  Bliss  also  had  an  extensive  library,  which 
remained  in  the  country  until  after  the  peace  of  1783. 

Prom  the  recMirds  of  the  county  it  ajipcars  that  the  admin- 
istration of  justice  in  the  inferior  courts  was  suspended  during 
the  years  1765  and  1766,  for  the  reason  that  all  venires  were 
required  by  the  celebrated  "  Stamp  Act"  to  be  on  stamped 

*  It  is  stated  by  Dr.  Booth  that  Mr.  Bliss  returned  to  Springfield  in  1791,  married 
a  daughter  of  Col.  Worthiugton,  and  returned  to  New  Brunswick.  One  of  his 
sons  became  a  lawyer  in  London,  England,  and  another  was  ma<le  chief-justice 
of  the  tV)urt  of  (Jueeii's  Bench,  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  n-.sided  at  Hulifa.\. 

t  Old  Hampshire  County. 


paper.  These  courts,  imbued  with  something  of  the  spirit 
which  actuated  the  people  of  the  colony,  declined  to  use  the 
evidence  of  what  was  considered  an  unjust  and  unlawful  tax, 
and  continued  all  jurj'  causes  till  the  law  was  repealed. 

"At  the  time  the  courts  were  stopped,  in  1774,  there  were 
probably  in  Hampshire  and  Berkshire  a  little  more  than  twenty 
persons  who  paid  some  attention  to  professional  business,  but 
the  principal  part  of  it  was  done  by  a  much  less  number.  Of 
these,  Worthington  and  Hawley  never  returned  to  practice, 
though  Cpl.  Worthington  had  several  students  in  his  office 
after  1774.  Jonathan  Bliss  had  removed,  as  I  have  stated, 
and  three  out  of  five  barristers  entirely  left  the  courts.  Many 
of  the  other  lawyers  retired,  and  either  never  came  to  the  Bar 
again  or  did  very  little  business  there. 

"  The  courts  of  justice  were  closed  in  August,  1774,  and 
no  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  appointed  till  May,  1778. 
The  Superior  Court  might  have  been  holden  once  or  twice  dur- 
ing the  interval ;  but  very  little  professional  business  was  done 
till  the  close  of  the  Revolutionarj'  war.  The  most  of  what  was 
done  was  by  Governor  Strong  and  John  Chester  Williams. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  business  was  very 
greatly  increased  in  our  courts.  The  fountains  of  justice, 
which  had  been  some  time  closed,  were  suddenly  opened,  and 
the  torrents  seemed  likely  to  overwhelm  everything  in  their 
course.  But  this  was  soon  checked.  Barriers  of  various  kinds 
were  interposed,  and  the  doors  were  but  partially  open.  At 
this  time  the  people  in  this  county  were  greath'  in  debt.  The 
merchants  at  Boston  and  New  York  had  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, many  of  them,  given  extensive  credit  to  the  country 
traders ;  they,  in  their  turn,  had  generally  sold  their  goods 
on  credit. 

"  Those  debts  which  had  escaped  the  blast  of  paper-money — 
and  many  such  there  were — had  accumulated  to  a  large  amount. 
In  addition,  too,  the  public  burdens  pressed  very  heavily. 
The  debts  incurred  for  hiring  and  supporting  soldiers,  as  well 
as  direct  taxes,  were  beyond  the  means  of  the  people  to  dis- 
charge. There  was  no  market  for  produce,  and  its  price  was 
greatly  reduced.  Distressed  and  driven  almost  to  desperation, 
instead  of  imputing  their  sufferings  to  the  real  causes,  the 
people  looked  only  to  the  immediate  instruments,  the  attor- 
neys, and  sheriffs,  and  collectors  of  taxes,  and  considered  them 
as  nuisances  and  pests  to  society. 

"  From  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1784  the  practice  of  the 
law  was  for  several  years  in  this  county  tinder  a  cloud.  Mobs 
obstructed  courts  of  justice  and  opened  the  prisons.  Great 
pains  were  taken  by  artful  and  designing  men,  by  means  of 
publications  in  the  newspapers  and  in  various  other  ways,  to 
fasten  popular  odium  on  the  profession,  and  for  a  time  their 
efforts  were  successful. 

"  Lawyers  were  accused  of  multiplying  suits  unnecessarily, 
and  of  improperly  enhancing  bills  of  costs.  However  thi.s 
might  be  in  other  parts  of  the  commonwealth, — and  I  have 
never  heard  any  proof  of  the  assertion  in  regard  to  anj-  county, 
— it  is  certain  that  in  this  there  was  no  foundation  for  the  ac- 
cusation. 

"  The  Bar  in  this  county,  as  a  body,  took  a  variety  of 
measures  to  avert  the  odium.  They  determined  to  discourage 
all  suits,  where  it  could  be  done  with  safety,  and  adopted  a 
practice,  which  has  since  become  extensive,  instead  of  appeal- 
ing or  continuing  actions  at  large,  that  of  continuing  them 
for  final  judgment,  thereby  diminishing  the  expense,  and 
giving  each  party  as  much  advantage  as  would  have  been  de- 
rived from  an  appeal  upon  default.  But  all  expedients  were 
ineft'ectual." 

The  discontent  among  the  people  succeeding  the  Revolution 
resulted  in  conventions  which  met  to  consider  the  state  of  the 
country  and  to  devise  measures  for  relief  in  various  places, 
prominent  among  them  being  those  held  at  Worcester,  on  the 
15th  of  August,  and  at  Hatfield,  on  the  22d  of  the  same  month, 
1786. 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


119 


These  conventions  voted  themselves  constitutional  bodies, 
and  drew  up  formidable  lists  of  grievances,  prominent  amona; 
them  being  the  laclc  of  a  circulating  medium  and  the  "  method 
of  practice  of  the  attorneys-at-law." 

The  discontent  iinally  culminated  in  the  celebrated  "  Shays 
Rebellion,"  which  was  quelled  by  force  of  arms  in  January, 
1787.  But  the  ditficulties  were  not  disposed  of  by  its  suppres- 
sion, and  the  General  Court  undertook  to  remedy  the  existing 
evils  bj'  numerous  acts,  among  which  was  the  one  known  as 
the  "  See  Cause  Act,"  which,  however,  was  passed  in  Decem- 
ber, 1786,  before  the  dispersion  of  the  insurgents. 

This  act  gave  justices  of  the  peace  greatly-increased  juris- 
diction, and  was,  no  doubt,  intended  to  virtually  do  away 
with  the  necessity  for  emplo3'ing  attorneys  in  all  ordinary 
cases.  This  law  was  somewhat  modified  after  1790,  but  busi- 
ness did  not  return  to  its  regular  channels  until  about  the 
year  1800. 

Mr.  Bliss  closes  his  remarks  upon  the  old  Bar  of  Hampshire 
County  with  somewhat  extended  notices  of  Governor  Caleb 
Strong  and  Judge  Sedgwick,  from  which  we  make  copious 
extracts.  Of  Governor  Strong  he  says,  "  He  was  born  at 
Northampton,  Jan.  9,  174.5,  and  graduated  at  Cambridge 
College  in  1764.  After  he  left  college  his  health  was  very 
feeble,  and  he  was  so  much  atllicted  with  weakness  in  his  eyes 
as  to  be  entirely  unable  to  read.  He,  however,  commenced  the 
study  of  law  with  Maj.  Hawley,  and  was  accustomed  to  pro- 
cure his  father  or  one  of  his  sisters  to  read  for  him.  He  spent 
considerable  of  his  time  in  journeying  to  regain  his  health. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  record  of  his  admission.  I 
have  been  told  that  the  courts  were  for  some  time  disinclined 
to  admit  any  more  attorneys,  but  finally  consented  to  admit 
him. 

"  It  is  said  he  began  to  practice  in  1772,  and  in  that  year  I 
first  find  him  named  as  attorney  of  record.  It  is  verv  mani- 
fest that  the  court  pursued  no  fixed  course  in  regard  to  admis- 
sions, and  it  is  also  probable  that  some  were  admitted  whose 
names  may  not  appear  on  record.  As  it  was  but  little  more 
than  two  years  from  the  time  that  Strong  began  to  practice  to 
the  time  when  the  courts  were  interrupted,  it  is  probable  that 
his  business  was  not  very  extensive.  But  after  the  courts 
were  re-established,  and  until  he  left  the  Bar,  in  1800,  his 
practice  was  more  extensive  than  that  of  any  person  in  the 
county.  He  regularly  attended  the  courts  in  Worcester  and 
Berkshire,  as  well  as  this  county.  Though  much  employed 
in  public  business,  he  generally  was  able  to  attend  to  his  pro- 
fessional engagements  as  well  as  his  public  duties.  That  fore- 
cast which  was  so  remarkable  a  trait  in  his  character  was 
advantageously  employed  in  making  his  arrangements  to  at- 
tend the  courts  without  deserting  public  business.  When  at 
General  Court  or  at  Congress,  he  would  come  and  attend  a 
court  and  return,  and  perhaps  not  be  missed  at  all. 

"He  was  one  of  the  most  diligent  and  industrious  men  living ; 
he  improved  every  moment.  With  a  very  large  civil  docket 
and  many  criminal  eases  to  manage, — for  he  was  public  prose- 
cutor for  the  county  from  the  re-establishment  of  the  courts, 
in  1778,  till  he  left  the  Bar, — his  business  was  so  arranged  as  to 
be  always  ready.  Habits  of  procrastination,  which  are  some- 
times found  among  lawyers,  he  never  indulged,  and  it  was 
astonishing  how  much  business  he  would  accomplish  without 
any  noise,  or  even  the  appearance  of  extraordinary  engage- 
ments. His  mind  was  uncommonly  versatile:  interruption 
did  not  seem  to  break  its  course.  He  would  resume  a  subject, 
after  attending  to  some  important  business,  as  though  nothing 
had  intervened.  He  was  very  fond  of  reading,  and  always 
had  a  book  at  hand,  that  he  might  improve  every  leisure 
moment.  His  knowledge  of  law  was  more  universal  than 
that  of  any  of  those  already  named,  but  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say  that  he  was  so  peculiarly  distinguished  in  the  doctrines 
of  real  actions  as  Judge  Strong  ;  but  in  this  branch  of  the  law 
he  was  respectable,  and  there  was  no  deficiency  when  applied 


to  practice.  His  draughts  and  forms  wore  uncommonly  accu- 
rate. It  was  rare  indeed  that  any  defects  or  mistakes  were 
discovered.  Being  peculiarly  skilled  in  draughting,  he  was 
much  employed  in  this  branch  of  business. 

"Many  of  the  statutes  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  com- 
monwealth were  formed  by  him.  His  pleading  was,  among 
professional  men,  alwa3's  received  as  good  authority ;  it  was, 
however,  rather  less  in  the  English  style  than  that  of  his 
master,  or  of  Judge  Strong. 

"Governor  Strong's  aid  and  counsel  were  as  much  sought 
after  and  relied  on  as  those  of  any  one.  He  was  a  very  suc- 
cessful advocate  before  a  jury.  His  manner  was  as  dift'erent 
from  that  of  Hawley  as  could  well  be  conceived.  His  address 
was  pleasing  and  insinuating.  He  commonly  began  in  a  very 
low  tone  of  voice,  talking  to  the  jury  in  a  very  familiar  man- 
ner, but  so  as  to  gain  their  attention.  Whether  others  heard 
or  not,  he  was  not  concerned.  Not  infrequently,  before  those 
whom  he  addressed  or  any  one  else  suspected  it,  he  had 
gained  his  point.  I  have  frequently  heard  it  observed  by  one 
who  had  been  called  to  practice  in  all  the  counties  in  the 
State  that  he  found  no  man  he  so  much  feared  as  closing 
counsel  as  Caleb  Strong. 

"He  was  the  favorite  advocate  when  the  rights  of  humanity 
were  to  be  vindicated.  He  early  took  a  decided  part  in  favor 
of  the  negroes.  As  he  lived  several  years  after  he  retired  from 
public  life,  and  in  good  health  and  spirits,  his  conversation 
was  uncommonly  instructive  and  entertaining.  He  had 
known  most  of  the  great  men  of  our  country  from  the  early 
part  of  the  Eevolution,  and  been  conversant  with  most  of  the 
important  measures  that  had  been  postponed  or  adopted ;  and 
as  his  memory  was  very  tenacious,  he  was  ready  to  give  an- 
ecdotes of  nearly  all,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  was  always 
pleasing.  He  was  twice  otlered  a  seat  on  the  Bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  declined  it.  He  died  Nov.  7,  1819,  in 
his  seventy-fifth  j'car." 

The  Hon.  Theodore  Sedgwick  "was  born  at  Hartford, 
West  Division,  in  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1746  ;  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1765,  read  law  in  the  county  of  Berkshire 
with  Mark  Hopkins,  Esq.,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
1766.  It  is  said  that  be  did  not  complete  his  college  term,  and 
was  therefore  admitted  to  the  Bar  very  young.  The  first  no- 
tice I  find  of  him,  in  our  courts  in  this  county,  is  at  the  May 
term  of  1767.  He  first  practiced  in  Great  Barrington,  then 
removed  to  Sheffield,  and  afterward  to  Stockbridge.  He  was 
fast  rising  into  eminence  when  the  Revolution  interrupted  the 
regular  administration  of  justice.  Prom  the  beginning  of  his 
practice  until  the  year  1802,  when  he  was  appointed  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  he  regularly  attended  our 
courts  and  practiced  at  our  Bar.  His  practice,  however,  was 
subject  to  many  interruptions  by  public  business.  As  he  was 
many  years  a  judge,  those  who  did  not  know  him  personally 
may,  from  the  reports,  learn  how  profound  his  knowledge  of 
law  was.  He  was  ardent  in  his  feelings,  and  of  a  sanguine 
temperament.  His  eloquence  was  forcible  and  commanding. 
What  he  gained  was  by  fair  means.  His  attacks  were  above- 
boai'd  ;  he  gave  warning,  and  put  his  adversary  upon  his  guard. 
In  all  important  causes  his  assistance  was  requested,  and  he 
was  frequentlj'  called  out  of  the  State. 

"There  is  one  thing  which  ought  to  be  mentioned  to  his 
honor.  He  stood  many  years  at  the  head  of  the  profession  in 
the  county  of  Berkshire.  During  his  professional  life  he  had 
many  students.  His  pupils,  through  his  attention  and  that 
of  an  honorable  gentleman  long  associated  with  him,  came 
into  practice  much  better  indoctrinated  than  many  of  those 
who  had  served  a  clerkship  in  this  county." 

Of  another  prominent  attorney  Mr.  Bliss  says:  "  The  Hon. 
Eli  p.  Asdmun  had  not  the  advantages  of  a  public  education. 
He  read  law  with  Judge  Sedgwick,  and  was  a  bright  example 
to  what  eminence,  notwithstanding  the  want  of  a  thorough 
classical  education,  and  notwithstanding  very  great  feebleness 


120 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


of  voice,  a  person  may  arrive.  It  will  be  no  disparagement 
to  any  one  to  say  that  he  was  for  many  years  at  the  head  of 
the  profession  in  this  county.  He  was  an  eminent  advocate 
and  sage  counselor ;  but  he  was  more,  very  much  more,  than 
these  epithets  imply." 

Previous  to  the  year  1826  the  territory  now  constituting  the 
four  western  counties  of  the  State  had  furnished  one  governor, 
two  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  two  members  of  the  old 
Congress,  four  United  States  senators,  one  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives  of  the  United  States,  one  member 
of  the  original  United  States  Constitutional  Convention,  three 
members  of  the  convention  that  formed  the  State  constitution, 
seven  representatives  in  Congress,  twenty-seven  State  sena- 
tors, six  State  councillors,  one  president  of  the  State  Senate 
and  two  speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  eight  judges 
of  the  Common  Pleas  and  Circuit  Courts,  five  judges  of  Pro- 
bate, and  four  sherifis. 

In  summing  up  his  remarks  upon  the  Bar,  Mr.  Bliss  con- 
tinues :  "  The  men  of  whom  I  have  given  a  particular  account 
had  not  the  advantages  wliieh  students  now  have.  Probably 
a  copy  of  Blackstone  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  county  before 
the  year  1770.  They  had  Hale  and  Gilbert,  and,  a  short  time 
before  the  Revolution,  Bacon's  Abridgment,  but  there  was  not 
in  the  county  a  copy  of  Cornyn's  Digest.  They  had  Coke 
and  Littleton,  as  well  as  Rastell,  Fitzherbert,  Bracton,  Brit- 
ton,  and  Fleta.  It  is,  however,  to  be  recollected  that  what 
they  had  was  in  a  narrow  compass.  They  were  not  obliged, 
in  acquiring  the  treasures  of  legal  science,  to  hunt  for  them  in 
hundreds  of  detached  volumes,  or  to  search  for  gold  where  it 
was  spread  out  so  thin,  or  the  thread  of  it  drawn  so  fine,  that 
even  a  modern  microscope  could  scarcely  discover  it.  A  per- 
son who  was  apt  to  learn  might  sooner  get  all  their  books  by 
heart  than  cursorily  look  through  modern  law-publications." 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  attorneys  and  counselors, 
either  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  the  county  of  Hampshire  or 
practicing  in  that  county,  from  1786  to  1826,  taken  from  the 
appendix  to  Hon.  George  Bliss'  address  in  1826:  Elihu  Ly- 
man, Moses  Bliss,  Simeon  Strong,  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Caleb 
Strong,  Justin  Ely,  John  Phelps,  Samuel  Fowler,  William 
Billings,  John  Chester  Williams,  Abner  Morgan,  Edward 
Walker,  John  Chandler  Williams,  Alexander  Wolcott,  Sam- 
uel Lyman,  Pliny  Mirrick,  Samuel  Hinckley,  John  Hooker, 
Ephraim  Williams,  John  Barrett,  Samuel  Mather,  George 
Bliss,  Joseph  Lyman,  John  Taylor,  William  Coleman,  Jona. 
E.  Porter,  Simeon  Strong,  William  Ely,  John  Phelps,  Eli  P. 
Ashmun,  Jona.  Leavitt,  Elijah  Paine,  Stephen  Pynchon, 
John  Ingersoll,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Wm.  M.  Bliss,  Richard 
E.  Newcomb,  Jonathan  Grout,  Hezckiah  W.  Strong,  Charles 
P.  Phelps,  Samuel  Lathrop,  Elijah  Bates,  Solomon  Vose, 
Jonathan  Dwight,  Jr.,  Jotham  Cushman,  Benjamin  Parsons, 
Edward  Upham,  Jonathan  Woodbridge,  Joseph  Proctor, 
Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  Phinehas  Ashmun,  Joseph  Bridgnian, 
Sylvester  Maxwell,  Wm.  Billings,  Elijah  H.  Mills,  Pliny 
Arms,  Elijah  Alvord,  Samuel  C.  Allen,  Theodore  Strong, 
Edmund  Dwight,  Oliver  B.  Morris,  Henry  Barnard,  Giles  E. 
Kellogg,  Charles  Shepard,  John  Nevers,  James  M.  Cooley, 
Solomon  Strong,  Alvin  Coe,  Noah  D.  Mattoon,  Isaac  C.  Bates, 
Jonathan  H.  Lyman,  John  M.  Gannett,  Lewis  Strong,  Alan- 
son  Knox,  Asahel  Wright,  Mark  Doolittle,  Samuel  Orue, 
Hooker  Leavitt,  Samuel  Howe,  Phinehas  Blair,  Samuel  Cut- 
ting, Isaac  B.  Barber,  Laban  Marcy,  Lsrael  Billings,  Deodatus 
Dutton,  Apollos  Cushman,  Kodolphus  Dickinson,  Edward 
Bliss,  Daniel  Shearer,  Calvin  Pepper,  Wm.  Blair,  John  H. 
Henshaw,  James  Stebbins,  Wm.  Ward,  George  Grinnell, 
David  Willard,  Horace  W.  Taft,  John  Drury,  Franklin  Rip- 
ley, Thomas  Powar,  Augustus  Collins,  Dyer  Bancroft,  War- 
ren A.  Field,  Patrick  Boise,  Jolin  Mills,  John  Hooker,  Jr., 
Samuel  Johnson,  Wm.  Knight,  John  Howard,  Benjamin 
Day,  Jo.shua  N.  Uphara,  George  Bliss,  Jr.,  Justice  Willard, 
Charles  F.  Bates,  Solomon  Lathrop,  Wm.  Bowdoin,  Hophni 


Judd,  Ithamar  Conkey,  Norman  Smith,  James  Fowler,  Eli.sha 
Hubbard,  Eli  B.  Hamilton,  Daniel  Wells,  Samuel  Wells,  Al- 
fred Stearns,  Caleb  Rice,  Jonathan  A.  Saxton,  Frederick  A. 
Packard,  Lucius  Boltwood,  .Jonathan  Eastman,  Waldo  Flint, 
Charles  E.  Forbes,  Cyrus  Joy,  David  Brigham,  Aaron  Arms, 
Joseph  P.  Allen,  Benjamin  Brainard,  Jonathan  Hartwell, 
David  A.  Gregg,  Epaphras  Clark,  Benjamin  Mills,  Timothy 
C.  Cooley,  John  B.  Cooley,  Asa  Olmstead,  Horace  Smith, 
Joshua  Leavitt,  Mason  Shaw,  Elisha  Mack,  John  H.  Ash- 
mun, Samuel  F.  Lyman,  Justin  W.  Clark,  Horatio  Bj'ington, 
Emory  Washburn,  Horatio  G.  Newcomb,  Wm.  B.  Calhoun, 
Josiah  Hooker,  Wm.  Bliss,  Erasmus  Norcross,  Daniel  N. 
Dewey,  Myron  Lawrence,  James  W.  Crooks,  Richard  D. 
Morris,  Dan  Parish,  Homer  Bartlett,  Osmyn  Baker,  Elijah 
Williams,  Francis  B.  Stebbins,  Norman  T.  Leonard,  Reuben 
A.   Chapman,  George  Ashmun,   Henry  Chapman,  Stephen 

Emory, Field,  Edward  Dickinson,  Andrew  A.  Locke. 

The  attorneys  and  counselors  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Hamp- 
shire County  since  1826  have  been  as  follows  : 
1827.— Edward  Hooker. 
1829.— Arad  Gilbert,  William  Dwight,  Chfis.  P.  Huntington, 

Elijah  Williams  (2d). 
1830.— William  M.  Lathrop,  Henry  Starkweather,  Fred'k  H. 
Allen,  William  G.  Bates,  Barlow  Freeman,  William 
D.  Gere. 
1831. — George  G.  Parker,  Benjamin  D.  Hyde. 
1832. — Chauncey  B.  Rising,  Almon  Brainerd,  Francis  Dwight. 
1833.— Samuel  L.  Hinckley. 
1834. — Lincoln  B.  Knowlton. 
1836.— Samuel  Henshaw  Bates. 
1839.— Addison  H.  White. 
1840. — John  Chester  Lyman. 
1842. — Charles  Delano,  Whiting  Griswold,  Henrj'  L.  Dawes 

Ervin  H.  Porter,  Calvin  Torrey. 
1844. — Samuel  T.  Spaulding,  Horace  I.  Hodges,  Chauncey  P. 

Judd. 
1845.— William  Allen,  Jr. 

1846. — W'm.  W.  Whitman,  James  W.  Boyden. 
1850. — D.  G.  Sherman,  F.  H.  Underwood,  Lewis  J.  Dudley, 

Charles  Allen. 
1852. — John  Newton  Rogers. 
1858. — Ephraim  L.  Lincoln. 

1859. — James  E.  Dewey,  Homer  B.  Stevens,  Wm.  E.  Turner. 
I860. — Charles  H.  Day,  Jos.  Lyman  Morton,  Robert  Ogden 

Dwight. 
1862.— Justin  P.  Kellogg. 
1863.— William  P.  Duncan. 
1864.— Francis  A.  Beals. 
1865.— Daniel  W.  Bond. 
18.66.— Charles  L.  Gardner. 
1868. — John  C.  Hammond. 
1869.— Henry  H.  Bond. 
1872.— Wm.  Bradford  Homer,  Wm.  Slattery,  Jr.,  Timothy  R. 

Pelton. 
1873.— Terrence  B.  O'Donnell. 
1874.— John  B.  Bottum. 
1875.— Moses  M.  Hobart. 
1876.— Arthur  Watson. 
1877.— Charles  N.  Clark. 
1878. — James  I.  Cooper,  Enos  Parsons,  Wm.  H.  Clapp,  David 

Hill,  John  B.  O'Donnell,  Robert  W.  Lyman. 
1879.— Edward  A.  Greeley. 

The  following  attorneys  resident  in  Hampshire  County 
were  admitted  elsewhere:  Wm.  A.  Dickinson,  John  Jameson, 
Edward  E.  Webster,  Wm.  P.  Strickland,  Alburn  J.  Fargo, 
Wm.  G.  Bassett,  Thaddeus  Graves,  George  Kress,  Franklin 
D.  Richards,  Henry  C.  Davis. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  in  Hamp- 
den County  from  1812  to  1879,  with  the  date  of  their  admit- 
tance : 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


121 


1812.— Patrick  Boise.* 

1813. — Jolin  llookor,  Jr.,*  George  Hinckley, f  John  Howard.* 

1814.— Solomon  Lathrop.* 

1815.— Charle.s  F.  Bates,*  Benjamin  Day,*  George  Bliss,  Jr.,* 
Eli  B.  Hamilton.* 

181tj.— Gorham  Parks.* 

1817.— Alfred  Stearns,*  Caleb  Eice.* 

1818.— William  B.  Calhoun,*  John  B.  Cooley.* 

1819. — Epaphras  Clark,*  Erasmus  Norcross,*  Heman  Steb- 
bins,*  Asa  Olmstead.* 

1820.— Josiah  Hooker.* 

1822.— William  Bliss,*  Joel  Miller,!  Richard  D.  Morris.* 

1824. — -Warham  Crooks,*  Norman  T.  Leonard. 

1825. — Reuben  A.  Chapman.* 

1827.— Matthew  Ives,  Jr.* 

1828.— William  G.  Bates,  William  M.  Latlirop.f  Josejili 
Knox,f  George  Aslimun.* 

1829.— Cbauncey  B.  Rising,!  William  Dwight.f 

1830.— Francis  Dwight,*  William  Hyde.f 

1831.— Joseph  Huntington.* 

1832.— William  Bliss, f  William  C.  Dwight.* 

1833.— E.  D.  Beach.* 

1834.— Richard  Bliss.-j- 

1835.— Henry  Morris. 

1836.— H.  H.  Buckland,*  George  Baylies  Upham.f 

1837.— Ru.ssell  E.  Dewey. f 

1839.— William  W.  Blair.f 

1840.— George  B.  Morris.* 

1841.— Henry  Vose.* 

1842.— Edward  Bates  Gillett. 

1843. — Otis  A.  Seamans,*  Lorenzo  Norton,*  William  O.  Gor- 
ham,f  Lorenzo  D.  Brown. f 

1845. — Allen  Bangs,  Jr.,*  Wellington  Thompson,*  Ephraim 
W.  Bond,  Lester  E.  Newell,!  Albert  Clarke,!  Wil- 
liam Allen,  Jr.f 

1846. — P.  Emory  Aldrich,f  Thomas  B.  Munn,*  George 
Walker,  Bernard  B.  Whittemore,f  Lester  Wil- 
liams, Jr.,t  Charles  C.  Hay  ward. f 

1847. — Samuel  L.  Fleming, f  Elbridge  G.  Bowdoin,f  James 
H.  Morton,*  Samuel  Fowler,  Edwin  M.  Bigelow,t 
Charles  K.  Wetherell.f 

1848. — Fayette  Smith, f  Charles  R.  Ladd,  George  L.  Squier,f 
Reuben  P.  Boies, f  Charles  H.  Branscomb.f 

1849.— Joseph  M.  Cavis,f  William  B.  C.  Pearsons,  Aug.  L. 
Soule,  Henry  Fuller,  John  Munn,f  Edward  P.  Burn- 
ham. | 

1850.— Timothy  G.  Pelton.f  Charles  A.  Winchester,*  Asahel 
Bu.sh,f  Franklin  Crosby. f 

1851.— Charles  T.  Arthur,*  John  M.  Stebbins,  William  How- 
land,!  Oramel  S.  Senter,f  N.  A.  Leonard,  James-C. 
Hinsdale. f 

1852. — George  M.  Stearns,  Martin  J.  Severance,!  James  F. 
Dwight, f  William  C.  Greene, f  George  L.  Frost.* 

1853.— Milton  B.  Whitm.'y,  William  L.  Smith,  James  G. 
Allen,*  John  H.  Thompson. f 

1854. — John  M.  Emerson,*  Henry  B.  Lewis,  George  O.  Ide,t 
James  K.  Mills. f 

1855. — Norman  L.  Johnson, f  James  E.  Mclntire,  Samuel  J. 
Ross,f  A.  M.  Copeland. 

1856.— Joel  T.  Rice,t  William  S.  Shurtleff,  Irving  Allen,t 
George  H.  Knapp. 

1857.— Ambrose  N.  Merrick, f  S.  B.  Woolwurth.f  E.  A.  Wai- 
riner,f  Edw.  D.  Hayden.f 

1858. — Liberty  B.  Dennett, f  Stephen  E.  Seymour,  Frank  E. 
Merriman.-j- 

1859.— Moses  W.  Chapin,*  Henry  E.  Daniels.f  Porter  Under- 
wood, William  C.  Ide,f  William  H.  Ilaile,  Benton 
W.  Cole,*  E.  Howard  Lathrop,  Homer  B.  Stevens. 


*  Deceased. 

16 


■f  RemoTed  from  the  countj-. 


1860.— Gideon  Wells. 

1801. — James  A.   Kumrill,  John  W.  Moore, f  Otis  P.   Aber- 

crombie.f 
1862. — Timothy  M.  Brown,  Marcus  P.  Knowlton,  Joseph  H. 

Blair.f 
1863. — Sidney  Sanders,f  Reuben  Chapman,*  Samuel  G.  Lor- 

ing.f 
1804. — W^illiam  S.  Green,  Edward  Morris. 
1865. — Charles  A.  Beach, f  James  C.  Greenough,|  J.  P.  Buck- 
land,  E.  W.  Chapin,  Joseph  Morgan. 
1866. — George  D.  Robinson. 
1807. — George  B.   Morris,  Jr.,f  Hugh  Donnelly,  Charles  A. 

Birnie,f  J.  Porter,  Jr.,f  C.  L.  Gardner. 
1868. — Charles   C.   Spellman,   Elisha    B.    Maynard,    Luther 

White. 
1869. — William  B.  Rogers,  John  W.  Burgess. f 
1870.— Elbridge  W.  Merrill,t  Joseph  W.  Browne,  John  M. 

Cochran.f 
1871.— Albert  A.  Tyler,  Edward  Bellamy. 
1872.— John  P.  Wall,  Thomas  F.  Riley, f  Harris  L.  Sherman, 

John  W.  Converse,  Charles  L.  Long,  William  Slat- 

tery,  Jr.,  S.  S.  Taft. 
1873. — Robert  O.  Morris,  Jonathan  Allen,  Luther  Emerson 

Barnes,!  F.  E.  Carpenter. 
1874. — James  R.  Dunbar,  Loranus  E.  Hitchock. 

The  following  additional  names  have  been  added  since  Mr. 
Bates'  list  was  prepared  : 
1874.— W.  J.  Quinn,f  H.  K.  Hawes,  Austin  P.  Cristy,t  Daniel 

E.  W^ebster. 
1875. — Joseph  M.  Ross,  Geo.  L.  Pease,  Elislia  P.  Bartholomew, 

Michael   L.   Moriarty,f  Harrison  Hume,  John  L. 

King,t  Wm.  G.  White,  Thomas  B.  Warren,  C.  A. 

Sherman,  H.  A.  Bartholomew. 
1876. — Hubert  M.  Coney,  Charles  J.  Bellamy,  Neill  Dumont,f 

Edmund  P.  Kcndrick,  John  B.  Vincent,  Jr. 
1877.— Charles  H.  Hersey,!  Geo.  H.  Graves,!  ^^d-  H.  Gil- 
lett,! Michael  T.  Foley,  A.  L.  Murray,  Patrick  H. 

Casey,  Allen  Webster,  Wm.  H.  Brooks. 
1878. — Jeremiah  P.  Wbalen,-)-  George  Kress,  Willmore  B. 

Stone,  Henry  M.  Walradt,  Charles  R.  Dudley,  W. 

W.  McClench. 


MOSTLY 


CHAPTER    XXVL 

PKACTITIONERS     AT     THE     HAMPDEN 
COUNTY    BAR. 


HON.    GEORGE   BLISS. 

The  Bliss  family  have  been  prominent  in  the  history  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley,  and  especially  in  connection  with  the  Bar, 
having  furnished  a  half-dozen  or  more  prominent  members  of 
the  legal  profession. 

According  to  Mr.  Bates,  the  oldest  member  of  the  Bar  in 
1828  was  Hon.  Gboroe  Bliss,  author  of  the  well-known  ad- 
dress delivered  to  the  members  of  the  old  Hampshire  Bar  at 
Northampton,  in  1820,  and  also  of  an  historical  address  de- 
livered in  1828. 

Mr.  Bliss  was  born  in  1765,  and  died  in  1830,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five  }-ears.  He  graduated  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  in  1784. 
"  He  was  called  '  Master  George,'  because  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  have  a  number  of  students,  and  was  reported  to  have 
been  more  than  usually  attentive  to  their  instruction." 

It  is  said  that  he  prepared  a  course  of  lectures  upon  differ- 
ent branches  of  the  law,  which  he  was  accustomed  to  deliver 
to  his  students.  It  has  been  stated  that  when  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  was  organized,  in  1820,  be  desired  and  expected 
an  appointment  as  one  of  the  judges,  but  another  was  chosen, 


f  Removed  from  the  county. 


122 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


and  Mr.  Bliss  was  so  much  disappointed  that  he  never  after- 
ward practiced  in  that  court. 

T)ie  reason  of  his  not  being  appointed  was  claimed  by  his 
friends  to  have  been  his  religious  opinions.  He  was  a  well- 
read  and  thorough  lawj-er,  as  the  various  papers  from  his  pen 
and  the  reports  amply  testify.  His  address  before  the  Bar  of 
old  Hampshire  County  is  a  most  excellently  written  paper, 
and  an  honor  alike  to  his  head  and  heart.  Mr.  Bates  pays 
him  several  merited  compliments  in  the  incidents  related  of 
his  practice  in  Hampden  County. 

He  was  a  distinguished  advocate  before  the  Supreme  Court, 
where  he  was  a  formidable  antagonist  of  Governor  Caleb 
Strong;  which  statement  is  in  itself  a  high  compliment  to  his 
scholarship  and  ability. 

John  Inoersoll*  was  born  in  Westflekl,  Mass.,  Aug.  13, 
1769.  His  paternal  and  maternal  ancestors,  the  Ingersolls 
and  the  Moseleys,  were  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  that 
town.  His  remote  paternal  ancestor  was  John  Ingersoll, — one 
of  the  "seven  pillars"  or  "foundation-men"  who  united  to 
form  the  church  in  Westfleld  in  1079. 

His  collegiate  education  was  received  at  Yale  College, 
where  he  was  a  member  of  the  class  of  1790.  He  began  the 
study  of  the  law  in  Westfield,  and  subsequently  continued  it 
in  the  office  of  Hon.  Caleb  Strong,  of  Northampton,  where  he 
was  admitted  to  practice  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  1797. 

He  commenced  practice  in  his  native  town,  where,  as  early 
as  the  year  1800,  he  was  successfully  established.  In  the  last- 
named  year  he  married,  at  Northampton,  Elizabeth  Martin,  of 
Antigua,  West  Indies.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  county  of 
Hampden,  in  1812,  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  courts,  but 
continued  to  reside  at  Westfield  until  November,  1814,  when 
he  removed  his  family  to  Springfield,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  until  his  death,  in  1840. 

He  held  the  office  to  which  he  was  appointed  until  his 
decease, — a  period  of  about  twenty-nine  years, — which  is  ample 
evidence  that  he  was  a  faithful  and  an  able  officer. 

The  following  extract  is  from  an  article  which  appeared  at 
the  time  of  his  death  in  the  local  paper : 

"John  Ingersoll,  Esq.,  died  at  his  residence  in  this  town 
on  Saturday  last,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age.  Since 
the  organization  of  this  count}' — a  period  of  twenty-eight  or 
nine  years — he  has  held  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  courts  for 
the  county,  the  duties  of  which  he  has  faithfully  and  promptly 
discharged.  He  was  universally  respected  by  the  members  of 
the  Bar,  and  his  absence  from  the  post  which  for  so  many  years 
he  has  honorably  occupied  will  be  by  them  seriously  felt. 

"  In  his  social  and  private  relations  he  was,  we  believe,  what 
a  good  citizen,  a  friend  and  father,  should  be,  and  bj'  his  vir- 
tues endeared  himself  to  a  large  circle  of  friends,  by  whom 
his  loss  will  be  felt,  his  memory  cherished." 

Hon.  Samuel  Lathrop  was  the  fourth  son  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Lathrop ;  born  in  West  Springfield  in  1771,  and  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1792.  He  read  law,  but  the  date  of  his  ad- 
niiiision  to  the  Bar  is  not  stated. 

In  1797  he  married  Mary  McCrackan,  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
by  whom  he  had  ten  children, — four  sons  and  six  daughters. 

He  was  an  attorney  of  eminent  ability,  and  was  elected  to 
Congress,  and  represented  his  district  from  1818  to  1824. 

He  was  also  for  ten  years  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and 
president  of  that  body  in  1819-20,  and  ran  very  close  for 
Governor  of  the  State  at  one  gubernatorial  election.  His 
services  in  the  State  Legislature  and  in  the  national  Congress 
interfered  with  his  practice  of  the  law,  though  he  continued 
it  as  late  as  1825.  In  his  later  years,  he  devoted  considerable 
of  his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  paid  great  attention 
to  the  improvement  of  stock  in  the  valley.  He  died  in  1846, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 


*  From  nit^nioranda  furnished  by  Jus  son,  Mhj.  Edward  Inj^ereul!,  Paymastt^r 
U.  S.  A. 


Hon.  Elijah  H.  Mills  was  the  next  in  order  of  seniority 
of  those  who  were  practicing  at  the  Hampden  County  Bar  in 
1825.  He  was  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  1797,  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  at  North- 
ampton, in  1803,  and  was  in  an  extensive  practice. 

His  election  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  interfered 
with  his  practice,  but  during  the  vacations  he  had  abundant 
opportunities  for  the  display  of  his  powers. 

"He  was  connected  in  business  with  Hon.  John  H.  Ash- 
mun,  who  was  subsequently  Eoyal  professor  of  law  in  the 
Harvard  University,  and  who  was  well  able  to  prepare  his 
cases  or  to  argue  them  in  ease  of  the  necessary  absence  of 
Mr.  Mills. 

"During  the  years  1827-28  I  was  in  the  law-school  at 
Northampton,  and  was  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Mills  &  Ash- 
mun,  and  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  their  mode  of 
preparing  cases.  This  was  mostly  done  by  Mr.  Ashmun 
during  the  absence  of  Mr.  Mills.  He  prepared  an  elaborate 
brief,  noticing  the  anticipated  objections  and  citing  the  author- 
ities, and  also  setting  down  the  objections  to  be  made  to  the 
proposed  evidence  of  the  opposite  counsel.  This  was  done 
with  a  thoroughness  which  I  have  never  seen  equaled.  The 
brief  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Mills,  who  appeared  to  apprehend 
it  instinctively,  and,  with  a  slight  conversation,  went  forth 
equipped  for  the  contest. 

"  He  was  a  man,  in  person,  of  full  size,  well  formed,  erect 
and  graceful  in  his  carriage,  with  an  eye  which,  when  lighted 
up  with  excitement,  was  as  powerful  as  that  of  the  Caliph 
Vathek  upon  the  heart  of  a  dishonest  witness.  He  was  con- 
nected with  .Judge  Howe  in  the  management  of  the  law-school 
at  Northampton,  but  his  health  was  then  in  a  decline,  and  he 
gradually  withdrew  from  the  school,  and  at  last  from  the 
active  duties  of  the  law-office. 

"At  the  courts  in  Hampshire  he  was  the  adversary  of  Hon. 
Lewis  Strong  and  Hon.  Isaac  C.  Bates.  The  contests  between 
them  used  to  call  together  large  audiences.  The  people  seemed 
delighted  to  witness  the  intellectual  struggles  of  these  eminent 
advocates."! 

"  Hon.  Isaac  C.  Bates  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1802 
with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class.  He  was  admitted  in  the 
Supreme  Court  in  1807."  He  studied  law  in  New  Haven, 
and  there  acquired  that  knowledge  of  general  principles  which 
served  him  so  well  in  after-years.  His  tastes  naturally  led 
him  in  the  direction  of  agricultural  pursuits,  and  for  some 
time  he  gave  up  the  care  of  his  office  to  his  partner,  con- 
tenting himself  with  giving  his  time  occasionally  to  such 
cases  as  seemed  to  force  themselves  upon  him. 

"  A  speech  of  his  before  the  Agricultural  Society,  in  1823, 
and  an  address  before  the  Bible  Society  in  New  York  City, 
about  the  same  time,  by  the  complimentary  notices  which 
they  elicited,  seemed  to  arouse  his  energies,  and  he  afterward 
devoted  himself  to  the  argument  of  important  cases  in  the 
courts."  His  success  was  brilliant.  In  Hampshire  County 
he  rivaled  Mr.  Mills  as  a  leader,  and  in  a  certain  class  of 
cases  far  exceeded  him.  He  was  equallj'  successful  in  Hamp- 
den County,  where  he  was  an  acknowledged  leader. 

"  His  addresses  to  the  jury  were  studied  and  eloquent,  and, 
when  the  facts  and  law  of  a  cause  would  authorize  it,  his  in- 
fluence was  omnipotent.  Judge  Howe,  on  his  return  from  a 
term  in  Hampden,  in  narrating  a  speech  of  Mr.  Bates,  spoke 
of  it  as  the  most  effective  and  eloquent  to  which  he  had  ever 
listened  ;  and  Prof.  Ashmun,  in  speaking  of  another  argu- 
ment, when  he  was  upon  the  other  side,  said  that  he  was  so 
hurried  along  by  the  power  of  the  advocate  that  he  for  the 
time  forgot  on  which  side  he  was  engaged,  and  that  all  his 
sympathies  moved  on  with  him  in  opposition  to  the  case  of 
his  own  client. 

"He  was  elected,  and  served  a  number  of  terms  in  the 


f  Bates'  address. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


123 


House  of  Kepresentatives  and  for  a  period  of  five  years  in  the 
Senate,  and  his  eloquence  in  each  body  received  high  com- 
mendation. Those  who  listened  to  or  read  the  glowing  tribute 
to  his  memory  pronounced  by  Mr.  Webster  in  the  United 
States  Senate  will  appreciate  how  feelingly  the  words  of  the 
great  Senator  portrayed  the  eloquence  of  one  whose  lips  were 
to  be  evermore  silent." 

Hon.  Oliver  B.  Morrls. — The  following  notice  of  this 
eminent  and  honored  citizen  of  Hampden  County  is  compiled 
from  an  article  published  in  the  Springfield  Republican  of 
April  10,  1871  : 

Oliver  B.  Morris,  who  died  on  Sunday  morning,  repre- 
sented Springfield  more  fully,  and  for  a  longer  period,  than 
any  man  who  remains  among  us.  He  was  born  in  the  village 
of  South  WilV^raham  (now  Hampden),  Sept.  22, 1782,  and  was 
consequently  in  his  eighty-ninth  year  and  the  oldest  man  in 
Springfield.  His  father,  Edward  Morris,  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  serving  principally  in  Canada,  and 
his  mother  was  the  daughter  of  John  Bliss,  of  Wilbraham, 
who  was  an  oflScer  in  the  Massachusetts  militia  which  served 
at  "White  Plains,  and,  after  the  war,  a  county  judge  and  repre- 
sentative at  the  General  Court. 

Judge  Morris  prepared  for  college  with  Rev.  Moses  Warren, 
a  South  Wilbraham  clergyman,  and  at  the  early  age  of  fif- 
teen years  entered  Williams  College.  He  graduated  in  1801, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  the  oldest  living  graduate  of 
that  institution. 

He  came  from  college  to  Springfield,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  with  Hon.  George  Bliss,  then  a  leading  at- 
torney in  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Mr.  Bliss  resided  in  the 
house  next  below  the  old  Universalist  church  on  Main  Street, 
and  his  office  was  in  the  wing  of  the  building.  Judge  Morris 
boarded  with  Mr.  Bliss  during  his  studies,  and  in  1813  mar- 
ried his  daughter  Caroline. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1804,  and  opened  his  first  of- 
fice in  a  frame  building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  State  Streets, 
owned  by  Moses  Bliss  (on  the  site  of  the  present  Savings-Bank 
building),  where  he  continued  until  he  retired  from  practice 
in  1835. 

He  was  appointed  register  of  Probate  for  Hampden  County 
in  1813,  and  held  the  olfice  until  1829,  when  he  was  appointed 
judge  of  the  same  court,  and  continued  in  that  position  until 
1858.  From  1820  to  1832  he  was  county  attorney.  During 
the  years  1809-10-11  and  1813,  he  represented  Springfield  in 
the  General  Court,  and  in  1820  was  a  member  of  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention. 

For  at  least  fifty  years  he  bore  a  prominent  part  in  all  the 
public  life  of  Springfield.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  feelings 
and  positive  convictions.  Politicallj',  he  was  originally  a 
Federalist,  subsequently  a  Whig,  and  lastly  a  Republican, 
'•  though  he  was  never  wholly  recom/iled  to  the  decay  of  the 
Whig  party,  to  which,  through  all  of  its  career,  he  was  ar- 
dently attached,  and  of  which  he  was  an  infiuential  local 
leader." 

One  of  his  best-known  efforts  at  the  Bar  was  his  defense  of 
the  son  of  Francis  Elliot,  who  had  killed,  accidentally  or 
otherwise,  a  boy  named  Buckland.  His  address  to  the  jury 
was  so  convincing  and  exhaustive  that  a  verdict  of  acquit- 
tal was  rendered  and  the  young  man  discharged  from  cus- 
tody. 

No  man  in  Springfield,  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his 
life,  was  so  familiar  as  Judge  Morris  with  its  early  history 
and  with  its  prominent  business-men  and  representative  fami- 
lies. In  July  and  August,  1847,  he  furnished  to  the  Spring- 
field Gazette  a  series  of  papers  covering  two  hundred  years  of 
the  history  of  the  place ;  and  the  only  regret  is  that  he  did  not 
more  fully  put  upon  record  his  valuable  recollections  of  the 
town  and  people  with  whom  he  was  so  familiar. 

For  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  his  life  Judge  Morris 
gradually  withdrew  from  the  local  life  of  the  place,  but  until 


within  two  or  three  years  of  his  death  he  made  daily,  in  pleas- 
ant weather,  the  round  of  his  little  circle,  chatting  at  the  "  old 
corner  store"  with  his  friends,  and  "criticising  with  all  his 
youthful  positiveness  the  course  of  public  affairs  and  public 
men." 

On  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Springfield  he  delivered  a  most  thorough  and  able  historical 
address  in  the  presence  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  State  and  a 
great  concourse  of  people,  who  gathered  from  far  and  near  to 
celebrate  the  founding  of  the  colony. 

He  was  stricken  with  paralysis  while  sitting  at  the  table  on 
Saturday,  and  died  on  Sunday  morning,  April  9,  1871,  in  the 
eighty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

Hon.  Alanson  Knox. — Gen.  Knox,  as  he  was  usually 
called  (probably  in  consequence  of  his  position  in  the  State 
militia),  was  the  son  of  Elijah  Knox,  who  was  a  grandson  of 
William  Knox,  one  of  the  pioneers  who  settled  in  Blandford 
about  1737.  The  general  was  born  in  Blandford  about  1785. 
He  probably  received  a  fair  education,  and  subsequently  read 
law,  but  with  whom  we  are  not  informed.  He  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  1810,  and  settled  in  his  native  town,  where  he 
practiced  the  greater  part  of  his  active  life.  He  had  at  various 
times  quite  a  number  of  students  under  instruction,  among 
them  his  future  son-in-law,  Hon.  Reuben  Atwater  Chapman, 
afterward  Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court.  In 
his  latter  years  he  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  died. 

AsAHEL  Wright. — Of  this  gentleman  we  have  very  little 
information,  except  that  he  was  a  graduate  of  Williams  College 
in  1803,  and  settled  in  Chester,  Hampden  Co.,  where  he  married 
a  daughter  of  Rev.  Aaron  Bascom,  of  that  place.  It  is  said  in 
the  history  of  Chester  that  Mr.  Wright  was  an  early  settler. 
He  studied  law  and  settled  in  Chester,  where  he  practiced  his 
profession  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1830,  at  the  com- 
paratively early  age  of  forty-eight  years.  His  professional 
business,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  was  small,  but  he  was 
among  the  prominent  men  of  the  town,  and  his  loss  was 
seriously  felt. 

Hon.  John  Mills  was  born  in  Sandisfleld,  about  1790. 
He  read  law  in  the  office  of  John  Phelps,  of  West  Granville, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1815.  He  married  a  daughter 
of  Col.  Enos  Foote,  and  probably  settled  in  Southwick  about 
the  time  of  his  admission  to  practice. 

His  business  was  extensive  and  profitable,  and  he  amassed 
a  considerable  property.  Quite  early  in  life  he  gave  great  at- 
tention to  politics,  and  became  ver^-  prominent.  He  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  in  1826-28  was  president  of 
that  body,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  most  excellent 
and  able  officer. 

Mr.  Bates  relates  a  very  good  story  of  him  during  the  visit 
of  Lafayette  to  this  country  in  1824-25.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  marquis'  visit  to  Boston  he  paid  his  respects  to  the  State 
Senate,  and  the  members  were  personally  introduced  to  him. 
Mr.  Mills  was  presented  in  his  turn  as  the  Hon.  John  Mills', 
the  Hampden  Senator. 

"  They  shook  hands  with  great  cordiality,  and  as  Lafayette 
arose  from  his  bowing  position  his  eye  fell  upon  the  polished 
head  of  the  young  Senator.  Looking  at  him  with  an  intense 
gaze,  a  delightful  recognition  stole  over  his  joyous  features, 
and,  again  taking  the  hand  of  Mr.  Mills  in  both  his  own  and 
shaking  it  cordially,  he  exclaimed,  with  fervid  energy,  '  My 
dear  friend,  I  recollect  you  in  the  Revolution  !'  " 

Mr.  Mills  eventually  removed  to  Springfield,  where  he 
erected  a  fine  residence  and  gave  up  his  profession  for  com- 
mercial speculations,  which  eventually  swept  away  his  prop- 
erty, leaving  him  only  regret  that  he  had  abandoned  an 
honorable  business  for  alluring  but  uncertain  speculations 
which  so  often  end  in  disaster. 

Hon.  Patrick  Boise. — The  Boise,  or  Boies,  family  is  said 
to  be  of  French  extraction,  and  the  original  name  Du  Boyce. 
It  is  said  that  an  ancestor  fled  from  his  native  country  to 


124 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Scotland  in  the  days  of  the  great  Cardinal  Richelieu,  and 
fn>m  thence  his  descendants  emigrated  to  America. 

The  tirst  of  the  name  who  settled  in  the  town  of  Blandford 
was  David,  who  had  four  sons ;  but  to  which  branch  of  this 
family  Patrick  belonged  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 
He  graduated  at  Williams  College,  and  read  law  with  his 
uncle,  John  Phelps,  of  West  Granville,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1815. 

He  opened  an  office  in  Granville,  where  he  succeeded  to 
the  legal  business  of  Mr.  Phelps,  who  had  been  elected  sheritl' 
of  Hampden  County.  Granville,  in  those  days,  was  a  pros- 
perous and  thriving  town,  and  his  business  grew  to  important 
proportions.  He  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  attorneys 
of  the  county,  and  attended  arbitrations  and  references  in  the 
western  part  of  the  county  and  in  Southern  Berkshire.  His 
competitors  in  that  region  were  Sheldon,  of  New  Marlboro' ; 
Filley,  of  Otis ;  Twining,  of  Sandisfleld  ;  Mills,  of  South- 
wick  ;  Cooley,  of  Granville  ;  Kno.x,  of  Blandford  ;  and  some- 
times the  more  renowned  and  dignified  Lathrop,  of  West 
Springfield. 

Mr.  Bates  speaks  of  Mr.  Boise  as  an  impulsive  man,  easily 
e.vcited,  having  great  command  of  language,  and  possessing  a 
wonderful  power  of  invective  whenever  sharp  practice  in  the 
opposite  counsel  rendered  its  use,  in  his  estimation,  necessary. 
He  was  perfectly  at  home  in  country  trials  and  arbitrations, 
which  allowed  his  peculiar  powers  a  freer  scope  than  would 
be  admissible  before  a  graver  tribunal. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  Justin  Wilson  as  sherifi" 
of  the  county,  in  18.53,  Mr.  Boise  was  appointed  to  the  otBce, 
which  jiosition  he  filled  for  two  years  with  signal  ability  and 
discretion.  He  was  a  member  of  both  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  the  Senate  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and 
bore  an  unblemished  reputation  through  all  his  public  career. 

In  1830,  when  business  began  to  withdraw  from  the  outlying 
towns  toward  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  centres,  he 
removed  to  Westfield,  where  he  remained  until  his  decease,  in 
18.59. 

He  had  an  exhaustless  store  of  wit  and  could  on  occasion 
make  use  of  the  most  brilliant  repartee,  and  his  control  of  the 
risibilities  of  an  audience  was  most  remarkable. 

William  Blaik. — This  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Bland- 
ford and  a  direct  descendant  of  David  Blair,  who,  with  his 
family  of  twelve  children,  emigrated  to  America  and  settled 
in  Worcester,  Mass.,  about  the  year  1720.  Matthew,  the 
eldest  son  of  David,  removed  from  thence,  and  was  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Blandford.  Robert,  a  brother  of 
Matthew  and  father  of  William,  also  removed  to  Blandford 
at  an  early  date. 

William  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1813,  and  soon  after 
settled  in  Westfield.  He  is  spoken  of  as  a  young  man  of 
ability,  industrious  and  painstaking,  thorough  in  all  his  under- 
takings, and  a  man  of  great  promise.  But  he  unfortunately 
contracted  a  habit  which  insidiously  destroyed  his  brilliant 
capabilities  and  clouded,  in  the  very  noon  of  his  influence  and 
promise,  the  usefulness  which  might  have  placed  him  in  the 
foremost  position  among  his  compeers.  He  had  a  fine  sense 
of  personal  honor,  and  was  most  scrupulous  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  towai'd  others.  At  his  death  he  was  univer.sally 
pitied  and  respected. 

Hon.  Justice  Willard. — Justice  Willard,  of  Springfield, 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  1816. 

Upon  tbe  appointment  of  Oliver  B.  Morris  to  the  office  of 
judge  of  Probate,  Mr.  Willard  succeeded  him  as  register 
of  Probatp.  He  also  represented  his  district  in  the  State 
Senate.  He  was  considered  the  ablest  special  pleader  of  his 
time,  \yitb  the  exception,  of  Hon.  George  Bliss.  Mr.  Bates 
says  of  him:  "Eloquence  was  not  }ih  forte.  His  manner 
was  dry  and  hesitating,  and  he  was  too  much  given  to  refining 
and  making  nice  distinctions  to  impress  his  views  upon  the 
jury.     But  ho  had  great  fervor  of  character;  and  when  once 


he  had  examined  a  subject,  he  adopted  the  results  with  his 
whole  heart." 

He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  new  subject  of  railway  in- 
tercommunication, and  was  so  sanguine  of  the  possibilities  of 
the  future  that  to  those  less  demonstrative  and  of  a  soberer 
faith  he  sometimes  appeared  altogether  too  enthusiastic,  though 
the  wonderful  advance  in  this  branch  of  science  has  long  since 
made  his  belief  a  reality.  For  instance,  he  once  prophesied  that 
during  the  lifetime  of  some  in  his  presence  a  train  of  cars  would 
make  the  trip  from  Springfield  to  Boston  and  return  between 
sun  and  sun, — a  prophecy  long  since  fulfilled. 

Hon.  Caleb  Kice,  born  in  1792,  was  a  graduate  of  Wil- 
liams College,  and  read  law  in  the  office  of  William  Blair,  in 
Westfield.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1819,  and  settled 
in  West  Springfield.  He  was  sherilf  of  Hampden  county 
from  1831  to  1850,  and,  soon  after  his  appointment,  removed 
to  Springfield.  He  also  represented  his  town  and  county  in 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  was  mayor  of  Spring- 
field. To  whatever  office  he  was  elevated,  he  brought  distin- 
guished ability  and  received  the  approbation  of  his  constitu- 
ents. 

Mr.  Bates  saysof  him  that  "  he  was  a  good  lawyer,  prudent, 
careful,  and  sagacious."  His  death  occurred  in  1873,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-one. 

Charles  F.  Bates  was  a  native  of  Granville,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Williams  College  in  1812.  He  read  law  with  his 
brother,  Elijah  Bates,  of  W^estfleld,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1815.  Looking  around  for  a  favorable  location, 
he  finally  settled  himself  at  Southampton,  it  being  the  only 
considerable  village  in  the  region  not  represented  by  a  member 
of  the  legal  profession.  But  a  few  years  satisfied  him  that  its 
quiet  people  were  not  calculated  to  furnish  an  attorney  with 
profitable  legal  employment,  and  he  threw  up  the  business  and 
returned  to  his  paternal  acres.  But  his  parents  were  dead  and 
all  the  members  of  his  father's  family  had  removed  from  the 
neighborhood,  and  even  his  own  children  eventually  found 
new  homes  in  the  flourishing  State  of  Ohio;  and  thither  he 
followed  them,  and  died  among  his  kindred. 

Asa  Olmste.^d  was  a  native  of  Brimflekl,  and  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  Hon.  George  Bliss,  in  Springfield.  He  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  1819,  but  did  not  long  continue,  hav- 
ing removed  at  an  early  date  to  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died 
in  1874.* 

Eli  B.  Hamilton  was  a  native  of  Blandford,  whi're  he  read 
law  with  General  Knox.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1815, 
and  settled  in  Westfield. 

Mr.  Bates  says  of  him  :  "  Nothing  was  wanting  to  his  suc- 
cess but  continued  and  faithful  application.  But  this  was  a 
quality  which  he  had  not,  and,  in  the  constitution  of  his  na- 
ture, he  could  never  have :  the  very  intensity  of  his  tempera- 
ment forbade  it.  In  size  and  figure  he  was  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  strength  and  manly  grace.  He  was  over  six  feet  in 
height,  erect  and  well  proportioned,  and,  with  no  marks  of 
obesity,  his  weight  was  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  pounds. 

"  Mr.  Hamilton  was  an  ardent  lover  of  natural  scenery. 
He  loved  to  wander  over  the  country,  and  particularly  into 
its  wildest  scenes.  With  his  dog  and  gun  or  fishing-tackle, 
he  roamed  over  the  mountains  and  through  the  valleys,  ford- 
ing brooks  and  rivers,  and  never  changed  his  wet  clothing 
when  he  returned,  because,  as  he  said,  it  exposed  him  to  a  cold. 
He  was  born  with  a  constitution  for  the  years  of  Methu.saleh, 
and  with  a  strength  and  activity  that  I  never  saw  equaled  ; 
but  exposure  and  irregularity  told  their  tale,  and  the  strong 
man  yielded  himself  in  the  very  pride  of  his  years." 

Hon.  James  Cooley  was  a  native  of  East  Granville,  a 
graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  a  brother  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Timothy  M.  Cooley.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1814, 
after  having  read  law  in  the  office  of  John  Phelps,  in  West 

*  See  history  of  Wilbraham. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


125 


Granville.  After  his  admission  he  opened  an  office  in  his  na- 
tive town.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  was  a 
useful  citizen. 

Hon.  Gkokge  Bliss,  Jr.,  was  the  son  of  George  Bliss,  Sr., 
already  mentioned  in  these  pages.  He  read  law  in  his  father's 
office  and  was  entered  at  Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in 
1812  with  the  reputation  of  a  scholar  well  educated  and  tittcd 
for  the  profession  of  the  law.  He  was  admitted  in  1816,  and 
at  first  settled  at  Monson,  but  soon  removed  to  Springfield, 
where  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  father-in-law,  Jona- 
than Dwight,  Jr.  Mr.  Bliss  attended  to  most  of  the  court 
business  and  was  the  active  member  of  the  firm.  He  ac- 
quired a  fine  reputation  as  a  tliorough,  able,  and  careful 
attorney. 

He  served  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  was 
speaker  of  the  House  and  president  of  the  Senate.  He  was  for 
several  years  connected  with  the  Western  Eailroad,  and  also 
with  railroads  in  the  West.  He  died  in  1873,  leaving  an  un- 
tarnished reputation  and  respected  and  mourned  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

Norman  T.  Leonard  was  admitted  to  practice  in  Berkshire 
County  in  1824,  and  as  an  attorney  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1827.  He  was  for  some  years  a  resident  of  Feeding  Hills, 
West  Springfield,  now  in  Agawani.  He  finally  removed  to 
Westfield  in  1830.  He  was  town-clerk  from  1836  to  1842,  and 
also  represented  Westfield  in  the  General  Court. 

AuGtrsTUS  Collins,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  Berkshire  County,  and  afterward  settled  in 
Westfield,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  He 
was  an  indefatigable  student  and  an  e.\cellent  ofiice  lawyer. 
He  served  as  the  principal  civil  magistrate,  and  was  remark- 
able for  his  untiring  industry  and  the  e.\treme  care  with  which 
all  his  business  was  conducted. 

Solomon  Lathkop. — Of  this  gentleman  we  have  very  little 
information,  except  that  he  was  admitted  in  1816  and  resided 
in  West  Springfield.  Mr.  Bates  says  his  business  was  never 
extensive,  and  thinks  he  emigrated  to  the  West. 

Samuel  Johnson. — Mr.  Johnson  appears  to  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  the  old  county  of  Hampshire  before  its 
subdivision  in  1811-12.  In  early  years  he  practiced  in  Ches- 
ter village,  now  in  the  town  of  Huntington,  Hampshire  Co. 

He  is  described  as  being  a  large  and  fine-looking  man,  of 
dignified  carriage  and  formal  and  stately  address,  but  exceed- 
ingly eccentric  in  all  his  ways.  His  business  was  not  exten- 
sive, and  he  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  history 
and  the  knowledge  to  be  obtained  from  the  town-libraries. 
"He  was  a  standing  Fourth-of-July  and  eighth-of-January 
orator,"  and  was  always  ready  for  great  or  small  occasions,  as 
the  case  might  be. 

He  married  an  estimable  woman  somewhat  late  in  life  and 
removed  to  the  West,  where  he  is  said  to  have  established  a 
reputation  as  an  able  advocate. 

William  Kniqiit. — For  notice  of  this  gentleman,  see  his- 
tory of  the  town  of  Wilbraham,  in  this  work. 

Alfred  Stearns  was  a  native  of  Hardwick,  Worcester 
County.  He  was  connected  with  the  Westfield  Academy  for 
several  years  as  usher,  and  finalU'  as  preceptor.  He  read  law 
with  Elijah  Bates,  of  Westfield,  and  was  admitted  to  practice 
in  1820.  He  was  for  a  few  years  a  partner  of  Mr.  Bates.  He 
afterward  removed  to  Illinois,  where  he  died. 

John  Hooker,  Jr.,  was  the  son  of  Hon.  John  Hooker,  the 
second  judge  of  Probate  for  Hampden  County.*  He  was  ad- 
mitted in  1813,  but  seems  to  have  never  opened  an  office  and 
seldom  appeared  in  court,  being  mostly  engaged  in  business 
outside  of,  and  foreign  to,  his  profession. 

JosiAH  Hooker  was  a  younger  brother  of  the  last-named, 
and  was  admitted  in  1829.     He  is  remembered  as  an  excellent 


*  Mr,  Bates  in  his  adtlress  states  that  Mr.  Hoolcer  wajs  the/rs(  judge  of  Prn 
hato,  but  the  records  give  tlie  uamc  of  Saml.  Fowler,  of  Westfield. 


Uiw-yer  and  valuable  citizen,  fair  and  impartial  in  all  his  deal- 
ings, and  so  thorough  and  efficient  as  to  be  frequently  called 
upon  to  act  as  arbitrator,  referee,  and  auditor,  in  which  po- 
sitions he  always  sustained  the  highest  reputation. 

Erasmus  Norcro.ss  was  a  native  of  Monson,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  1823.  He  opened  an  office  in  his  native 
town,  and  practiced  for  a  brief  period.  His  business  was  not 
extensive,  and  he  was  never  a  prominent  member  of  the  pro- 
fession. 

John  B.  Cooley  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1818, f  and 
settled  in  Brimfield.  He  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York 
in  1831,  but,  according  to  Mr.  Bates'  statement,  has  returned 
to  Massachusetts  within  a  few  years.  He  is  described  as  an 
able  man,  full  of  wit  and  humor,  but  not  altogether  given  to 
laborious  study  or  steady  practice. 

Richard  D.  Morris,  a  brother  of  Hon.  O.  B.  Morris,  was 
born  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  August,  1797.  He  was  admit- 
ted to  the  Bar  in  1822,  and  was  for  a  time  a  law-partner  with 
his  brother. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  Western  Railway  Company 
he  was  employed  to  settle  the  damages  consequent  upon  ob- 
taining the  right  of  way  and  in  attending  to  other  necessary 
business  for  the  corporation.  Upon  accepting  his  position  he 
gave  up  his  regular  professional  business,  and  devoted  himself 
exclusively  to  the  interests  of  the  railway  company.  He  was 
also  a  representative  in  the  General  Court  from  his  native 
town.     He  died  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 

William  Bliss  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1822,  and  began 
practice  in  the  then  village  of  Springfield,  where  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  Justice  Willard.  His  health  failing,  Mr. 
Bliss  was  compelled  to  abandon  practice,  and  accepted  the 
office  of  county  commissioner,  in  the  hope  that  out-door  ex- 
ercise and  a  purer  air  would  restore  his  wasted  energies  ;  but 
in  vain.  His  death  soon  followed,  and  the  community  lost  a 
valuable  citizen  and  a  man  of  much  promi.se  in  his  profession. 

Hon.  William  B.  Calhoun. — This  gentleman  was  prob- 
ably a  student  of  Hon.  George  Bliss,  Sr.,  and  was  admitted 
in  1821.  Having  a  strong  taste  for  political  life,  he  did  not 
continue  practice  very  long.  He  was  quite  successful  in  the 
political  arena,  and  represented  his  district  in  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature.  In  1828  he  was  chosen  to  the  responsible 
office  of  speaker  of  the  House,  which  position  he  filled  until 
1835,  and  in  1846-47  he  was  president  of  the  Senate.  He  was 
also  for  many  years  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  the 
Springfield  district.  The  latter  years  of  his  life  were  quietly 
passed  upon  his  farm. 

James  Stebbins  was  born  in  Springfield  ;  studied  law  and 
practiced  in  Palmer  for  manv  years.  In  his  old  age  he  re- 
moved to  his  native  town,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death. 

James  W.  Crooks  was  a  native  of  Westfield,  and  a  gradu- 
ate of  Yale  College  in  1818.  He  taught  in  the  Westfield 
Academy  for  several  years,  and  also  in  Springfield.  He  sub- 
sequently read  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  George  Bliss,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  1824.  He  opened  an  office  on  the 
"Hill,"  in  Springfield,  and  for  some  years  had  a  large  and 
lucrative  business.     His  death  occurred  in  18C7. 

Francis  B.  Stebbins  was  born  in  Granville.  He  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1820,  after  which  he  set- 
tled in  Brimfield,  where  he  opened  an  office  and  became  a 
skillful  and  quite  prominent  member  of  the  profession. 

He  eventually  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York,  where 
he  engaged  in  commercial  business,  giving  up  the  practice  of 
law.  His  wife  was  the  sister  of  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Bond,  of 
New  Haven,  Conn.     His  death  took  place  some  j^ears  ago. 

Matthew  Ives,  Jr.,  studied  law  with  William  Blair,  of 
Westfield,  and  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  of  the  Common 
Pleas  Court  in  1827,  but  never  engaged  in  practice.     He  was 

t  Mr.  Bates  says  in  1822. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  also 
held  the  office  of  postmaster  under  President  Jackson. 

Francis  Dwight  was  a  student  at  the  law-school  of  Judge 
Howe,  at  Northampton,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1830. 
He  soon  after  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  died,  after  a  short  but 
useful  life,  in  the  flower  of  his  days. 

Joseph  D.  Huntington. — Mr.  Huntington  studied  law 
with  Augustus  Collins,  of  Westfield,  and  was  admitted  in 
1831,  but  never  practiced  in  Hampden  County.  He  removed 
to  Lancaster,  Mass.,  where  he  died. 

George  B.  Morris,  son  of  Hon.  0.  B.  Morris,  and  brother 
of  Judge  Henry  Morris,  was  born  in  Springtield,  Nov.  12, 1818. 
He  graduated  at  Amherst  College  in  1837,  and  read  law  in 
the  oifice  of  his  brother.  On  the  resignation  of  Richard  Bliss 
as  clerk  of  the  courts  in  1852,  he  was  appointed  to  the  posi- 
tion, and  continued  to  fulfill  its  duties  in  a  most  faithful  and 
thorough  manner  until  the  time  of  his  death,  July  7,  1872. 

He  was  universally  respected  by  the  members  of  the  Bar, 
who  were  greatly  attached  to  him  for  his  gentlemanly  man- 
ners and  social  habits.  His  long  term  (over  twenty  years)  in 
the  clerk's  office  leaves  honorable  testimony  to  his  popularity 
as  a  citizen  and  public  officer. 

Henry  Vose  was  admitted  in  1841,  and  practiced  for  a  few 
years  in  Springfield.  When  the  Superior  Court  was  substi- 
tuted for  the  old  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  justices;  which  office  he  held  until  his  death,  in  1809. 

Mr.  Vo.se  was  a  native  of  Norfolk  Co.,  Mass.,  and  graduated 
at  Harvard,  in  1839.* 

Erasmus  U.  Beach  was  a  native  of  Sandisfield  and  a 
nephew  of  Hon.  John  Mills,  of  Southwick,  and  a  student  in 
his  office.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1833,  and  located  in 
Springfield,  where  he  had  a  very  extensive  business.  He  had 
at  various  times  as  partners  James  W.  Crooks,  William  G. 
Bates,  Edward  B.  Gillett,  and  Ephraim  W.  Bond.  He  was 
a  courteous  gentleman,  and  always  exercised  a  strong  influence 
over  a  jury. 

Lorenzo  Norton  was  a  student  in  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Chapman  &  Ashmun,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1843. 
He  subsequently  formed  a  partnership  with  the  above  flrm, 
which  continued  until  his  death,  about  1850.  Mr.  Bates  speaks 
of  him  as  a  "  diligent  and  faithful  lawyer." 

Hon.  Edward  Dickinson  was  born  in  the  year  1803,  and 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1823,  in  the  "class  with  Hon. 
George  Ashmun,  with  whom  he  was  a  room-mate  and  a  life- 
long friend."  He  was  a  diligent  and  untiring  student,  of 
excellent  habits,  and  at  college  took  a  high  rank  among  his 
compeers. 

He  early  exhibited  those  distinguishing  traits  which  marked 
his  subsequent  career.  He  formed  his  opinions  upon  careful 
examination,  and  was  ever  after  decided  in  expressing  them. 
His  independence  of  character,  while  it  possibly  stood  in  the 
way  of  his  advancement,  detracted  nothing  from  the  high  es- 
timation in  which  he  was  held  by  the  people.  In  his  later 
years  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
he  died  suddenly,  on  the  same  day  in  which  he  had  been  en- 
gaged upon  an  important  question  then  before  the  House. 

Amos  W.  Stockwell  was  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College 
in  1833.  He  read  law  at  the  school  of  the  Harvard  University, 
and  was  also  a  student  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Isaac  Davis,  in  the 
city  of  Worcester,  and  was  for  a  short  time  a  partner  with  him. 
Subsequently  he  removed  to  Chicopee,  and  became  a  promi- 
nent practitioner  at  the  Hampden  Bar. 

His  health  at  length  became  too  delicate  to  withstand  the 
labors  of  his  profession,  and  he  finally  died  in  1853,  regretted 
and  respected  both  as  a  member  of  the  legal  profession  and  as 
a  useful  citizen. 

Hon.  Reuben  Atwater  Chapman. — This  distinguished 

*  See  Bar  of  Franklin  County. 


citizen  was  born  in  Russell,  Hampden  Co.,  Sept.  20,  1801. 
His  parents  being  in  ordinary  circumstances,  his  means  of  ed- 
ucation were  limited  to  the  facilities  aft'orded  bj'  the  common 
district  school,  which  was  open  only  a  few  months  during  the 
year.  His  home  was  in  a  sequestered  portion  of  the  country, 
and  he  labored,  when  not  at  school,  upon  the  farm  of  his  father. 

Books  were  exceedingly  scarce,  but  young  Chapman  made 
such  good  use  of  his  opportunities  that  when  he  became  of 
proper  age  his  services  were  in  demand  as  a  teacher,  and  at  the 
early  age  of  seventeen  years  he  taught  a  district  school  in  the 
neighboring  town  of  Montgomery.  'Soon  after,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  Blandford.  It  was  during  his 
stay  at  this  place  that  he  first  distinguished  himself  as  a  de- 
bater in  a  lyceum,  or  debating-school,  which  the  j'ouug  men  of 
the  place  had  established. 

He  subsequently  entered  the  office  of  Gen.  Alan.son  Knox, 
of  Blandford,  as  a  law-student.  During  his  course  of  study 
he  was  accustomed  to  attend  justices'  trials  in  the  neighbor- 
hood as  a  practitioner,  and  even  before  his  admission  to  the 
Bar  had  some  considerable  reputation. 

He  was  admitted  in  1825  at  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
and  immediately  opened  an  office  in  Westfield ;  but  owing  to 
the  fact  that  there  were  already  more  attorneys  in  the  place 
than  were  needed,  his  success  was  not  flattering.  In  1827  he 
removed  to  Monson,  and  again,  in  1829,  changed  his  residence 
to  the  more  thriving  town  of  Ware.  There  he  was  regarded 
as  an  intruder,  and  rivalry  soon  ripened  into  controver.sy, 
during  which  he  won  an  enviable  reputation  and  distanced 
his  competitors. 

In  1830,  when  his  reputation  was  well  established,  he  was 
oftered  a  partnership  by  Hon.  George  Ashmun,  of  Springfield, 
which  he  accepted,  and  removed  thither  the  same  year,  when 
the  firm  of  Chapman  &  Ashmun  was  formed.  Subsequently, 
Mr.  Lorenzo  Norton  was  admitted,  and  continued  a  member 
of  the  firm  until  his  death.  In  1850  the  firm  was  dissolved, 
and  Mr.  Chapman  continued  the  business  for  some  time  alone. 
In  1854,  Mr.  Franklin  Chamberlain  became  his  partner,  and 
this  relation  continued  until  Mr.  Chapman  was  appointed  a 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  in  18tj0,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Hartford,  Conn.  Upon  the  retirement  of  Chief- 
Justice  Bigelow,  in  February,  1868,  Mr.  Chapman  was  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  him,  and  held  the  position  till  his  death, 
June  28,  1873. 

Chief-Justice  Chapman  ranked  high  even  among  the  dis- 
tinguished men  who  preceded  him  upon  the  Bench,  among 
whom  were  Shaw,  Parsons,  and  Parker, — men  whose  charac- 
ters and  abilities  are  recognized  wherever  the  English  tongue 
is  understood.  He  rose  by  his  own  exertions  from  an  obscure 
origin,  and,  through  difficulties  wellnigh  insurmountable,  to 
one  of  the  most  responsible  and  honorable  positions  in  the 
commonwealth.  It  is  related  of  him  that  in  the  intervals  of 
his  daily  routine  of  duties  after  he  commenced  practice,  he 
acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  and 
was  a  constant  reader  of  the  classics.  He  also  successfully 
cultivated  a  knowledge  of  the  French  and  German  languages. 
He  gave  considerable  attention  to  the  natural  sciences  and 
entered  into  many  discussions,  in  which  he  bore  himself  with 
credit  and  ability.  He  was  an  able  and  impartial  administra- 
tive officer,  and  possessed  the  faculty  of  expediting  business  in 
a  remarkable  degree. 

Hon.  George  Ashmun. — This  distinguished  citizen  was 
the  son  of  Hon.  Eli  P.  Ashmun  and  a  brother  of  the  late 
Prof  John  Hooker  Ashmun,  of  Northampton.  He  graduated 
from  Yale  College  in  1823,  and  was  a  student  in  the  office  of 
his  brotlier  at  Northampton,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  of  Hampshire  County  in  1830  as  counselor.  He  first 
opened  an  office  at  Enfield,  Hampshire  Co.,  but  after  a  few 
years  removed  to  Springfield  and  entered  into  a  law-partner- 
ship with  Reuben  A.  Chapman,  which  continued  for  many 
years. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


127 


Mr.  Ashmun  filled  many  important  positions  in  the  gift  of 
the  people.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  and 
speaker  of.  the  House  of  Kepresentatives,  and  bore  a  distin- 
guished part  in  its  deliberations.  He  also  represented  his  dis- 
trict in  Congress.  He  was  well  known  as  a  leader  of  th"e  Bar, 
but  his  official  positions  interfered  .somewhat  with  the  practice 
of  his  profession,  though  he  continued  it  during  the  intervals 
in  his  public  life,  and  always  commanded  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  his  brethren  of  the  Bar,  as  well  as  of  the  community 
generally.     He  died  in  Springfield  in  1870. 

An.sel  Phelps,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Greenfield,  Franklin  Co., 
in  1815,  and  was  a  student  in  the  office  of  Wells,  Alvord  & 
Davis  at  Greenfield,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
1840. 

He  at  first  settled  in  Ware,  Hampshire  Co.,  where  he  con- 
tinued practice  until  1846,  when  he  removed  to  Springfield 
and  accepted  the  position  of  attorney  and  legal  adviser  of  the 
Western  Eailroad  Company.  In  that  capacity  he  attended 
to  its  business  in  the  courts,  and  also  before  the  Legislature. 
He  was  a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  was 
always  distinguished  for  his  activity,  intelligence,  and  ener- 
getic business-habits.  He  also  filled  the  office  of  mayor  of  the 
city  of  Springfield  from  18-56  to  18.59,  in  which  capacity  he 
fulfilled  the  highest  expectations  of  his  constituents.  His 
death  took  place  in  1800,  at  the  age  of  forty-five. 

Hon.  John  Wklls. — This  prominent  advocate  and  jurist 
■was  born  in  Eowe,  Franklin  Co. 

He  was  a  graduate  of  W^illiams  College,  and  attended  the 
law-school  of  Harvard  University,  where  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  his  future  eminence  imder  the  tutelage  of  Story  and 
Greenleaf.  It  is  believed  that  he  never  practiced  as  a  local 
attorney  in  his  native  county,  but  opened  an  office  first  in 
Chicopee,  Hampden  Co.,  where  he  practiced  for  some  years. 

During  his  residence  at  that  place  he  held  the  position  of 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Probate  and  Insolvency  from  1858  to 
1863.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  General  Court.  From 
Chicopee  he  removed  to  the  sister-village  of  Chicopee  Falls, 
where  he  continued  until  his  appointment  to  the  Bench  of  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  in  1866,  when  he  removed  to  Norfolk 
County.  He  presided  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and  finally 
died  at  Salem,  in  Essex  County,  Nov.  23,  1875. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  the  common- 
wealth, held  at  Boston,  Dec.  4,  1875,  the  attorney-general 
made  a  very  appropriate  and  feeling  address,  from  which  we 
take  the  following  extracts  : 

"  I  first  knew  him  thirty-four  years  ago,  in  the  law-school 
of  the  university,  where,  under  the  guidance  of  Story  and 
Greenleaf,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  superstructure  which 
he  subsequently  reared.  From  that  time  to  his  death  I  was 
honored  by  his  friendship,  and  have  watched  his  progress 
from  young  manhood  to  middle  age,  and  the  only  change 
noticed  in  him,  as  he  advanced  through  the  years,  was  a  con- 
tinued ripening  day  by  day.  He  was  the  same  John  Wells 
all  through  those  j-ears, — thoughtful,  conscientious,  patient  of 
labor,  making  all  that  could  be  made  out  of  his  opportunities, 
apparently  ambitious  only  to  discharge  faithfully  his  duty  in 
that  station  of  life  to  which  God  had  called  him,  and  thus 
procure  the  approval  of  his  own  conscience,  which  he  never 
intrusted  to  the  keeping  of  others.  Neither  then  nor  since 
am  I  aware  of  his  ever  saying  or  doing  a  brilliant  thing,  and 
never,  to  my  knowledge,  was  he  guilty  of  a  fooli.sh  act  or 
silly  utterance ;  but  he  moved  right  on  with  that  steady, 
self-poised,  and  well-determined  action  which  attracts  no  at- 
tention until  its  results  are  accomplished. 

"  As  a  lawyer  in  the  country  village  which  he  had  selected 
for  his  home,  you  find  him  no  noisy  or  cunning  pettifogger 
seeking  to  profit  in  pocket  or  reputation  by  the  disputes  of'the 
people ;  no  stirrer-up  of  strife,  but  one  who  remembered  that 
the  peacemakers  are  blessed. 

"  You  find  him  the  diligent  student,  the  safe  adviser,  the 


kind  neighbor,  the  efficient  member  of  the  parish,  the  active 
and  Christian  citizen,  rendering  cheerfully  to  the  community 
every  good  influence,  every  kind  act. 

"A  few  years  later  he  is  in  the  General  Court,  exerting  a 
commanding  influence  as  a  sound,  safe,  and  discreet  legis- 
lator. 

"As  judge  of  the  Probate  Court, — that  most  difficult  office  to 
fill,  where  the  incumbent  must  be  judge,  counsel,  and  sympa- 
thizing friend  at  one  and  the  same  time, — as  well  as  by  his 
well-earned  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  he  demonstrated  his  men- 
tal, professional,  and  moral  fitness  for  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities of  a  judge  of  this  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the 
State,  to  which  he  was  appointed,  I  believe,  upon  the  unani- 
mous recommendation  of  the  Bar  of  W^estern  Massachusetts. 
The  wisdom  of  the  recommendation,  upon  his  appointment  to 
the  Bench,  was  conceded  at  once  upon  acquaintance  by  the 
Bar  of  the  commonwealth,  and  his  judicial  course  proved  that 
he  had  no  superior  where  all  should  be  equals. 

"  In  his  court-room  every  one  felt  that  he  was  in  a  place 
'  appropriated  to  justice,  to  security,  to  restraint ;  where  there 
is  no  high  nor  low,  no  strong  nor  weak ;  where  will  is  nothing 
and  person  is  nothing  and  members  are  nothing,  and  all  are 
equal  and  all  are  secure  before  the  law.' 

"The  corner-stone  upon  which  the  reputation  of  Judge 
Wells  rested  as  a  man,  a  lawyer,  and  a  judge  was  his  Chris- 
tian character,  vindicated  by  his  love  to  God  and  to  his  neigh- 
bor, consistent  always,  forgetful  never." 

T.  Morton  Dewey. — This  gentlemen  was  born  in  Orford, 
N.  H.,  March  16,  1812.  He  was  the  son  of  Abel  Dewey,  a 
farmer  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Mr.  Dewey  read  law  with 
Hon.  H.  G.  Parker,  of  Greenfield,  and  Burt  and  Lincoln,  of 
Boston.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  at 
Boston  in  October,  1855,  commenced  practice  at  Greenfield, 
Mass.,  in  the  same  year,  and  remained  until  1860,  when  he 
removed  to  the  town  of  Montague  and  practiced  four  years. 
In  1864  he  went  to  Westfield,  where  he  remained  until  1867, 
when  he  settled  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  has  since  re- 
mained in  the  successful  practice  of  his  profession. 

He  has  filled  various  civil  and  secular  offices,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  superintending  school  committee  of  his  native  town, 
and  also  at  Montague,  has  been  a  member  of  the  city  board 
of  a.s.sessors  in  Springfield,  and  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  for  thirty-five  consecutive  j'ears. 

He  is  an  ardent  lover  of  music,  and  has  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  cultivation  and  promotion  of  that  branch  of  a>sthetics 
as  a  teacher  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Boston  Philharmonic  Institute,  of  which  organiza- 
tion he  was  president  for  a  period  of  three  years.  He  has  also 
been  a  member  of  a  church  choir  (a  large  share  of  the  time  as 
director)  for  a  period  of  fifty  years. 

In  his  younger  days  he  was  a  student  in  the  military  school 
of  Capt.  Aldcn  Partridge  in  Norwich,  Vt.,  and  has  been 
familiar  with  the  early  navigation  of  the  Connecticut  River, 
of  which  he  wrote  up  a  few  years  ago  some  exceedingly  read- 
able sketches,  which  will  be  found  in  this  volume. 

He  married,  in  1838,  Maria,  daughter  of  Ira  Kellogg,  of 
Montague,  Mass.     His  family  consists  of  four  sons. 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 

THE  BAR   OF   FRANKLIN   COUNTY. 

The  first  lawyer  credited  with  being  a  resident  of  Green- 
field, and  perhaps  of  what  now  constitutes  the  county  of 
Franklin,  was  William  Coleman,  who  was  horn  in  Boston 
in  1776,  studied  law  at  Worcester  with  Judge  Paine,  and 
settled  in  Greenfield  in  some  of  the  latter  years  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. He  was  always  spoken  of  as  "  Lawyer  Coleman,"  and 
was  a  man  of  talents  and  taste,  enterprising  and  persevering. 


128 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


and,  as  Willard  has  it  in  his  history  of  Greenfield,  "  excelled 
in  everything,  even  in  athletic  exercises ;  in  music,  dancing, 
skating,  hall-playing,"  and  particularly  in  writing.  He  built 
what  is  known  as  the  "  Hollister  House,"  importing  Architect 
Shaw  from  Boston  to  draw  the  plans  and  superintend  its  erec- 
tion. It  was  built  after  the  liberal  plans  of  the  mansions  of 
that  day,  and  was  the  linest  dwelling  for  years  in  this  part  of 
the  county.  It  is  still  a  roomy  and  well-preserved  building. 
It  was  erected  previous  to  1800.  Mr.  Willard  says  he  did  not 
complete  it,  however. 

He  subsequently  embarked  in  land  speculation  in  Virginia, 
which  resulted  disastrously.  Abovit  1800  he  went  to  New 
York,  where  he  became  famous  as  a  Federal  politician  and 
editor  of  the  Ifcio  1'orl;  Erenhig  Post,  the  first  number  of  which 
was  issued  Nov.  19,  1801,  and  which  boasted  among  its  con- 
tributors the  gifted  statesman  Alexander  Hamilton.  It  is 
stated  by  Mr.  Willard  that  he  was  also  the  law-partner  of 
Aaron  Burr.  From  the  founding  of  the  Post  he  was  principal 
editor  for  a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years,  and  was  connected 
with  it  until  his  death.  William  Cullen  Bryant  succeeded 
him,  and  was  also  junior  editor  in  connection  with  him. 

He  was  appointed  in  New  York  clerk  of  the  city  court,  at  a 
salary  of  three  thousand  dollars.  "  He  was  also  a  reporter  of 
decisions,  and  published  a  volume  of  reports  which  bears  his 
name."  He  was  thrown  from  his  carriage  in  1829  and  severely 
injured,  and  died  from  a  combination  of  his  injuries  and  other 
diiHculties,  at  his  dwelling  in  Hudson  Street,  New  York,  July 
13,  1829,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years. 

During  his  residence  in  Greenfield  he  planted  a  number  of 
the  beautiful  elms  which  still  adorn  and  beautify  its  pleasant 
streets. 

Jonathan  Leavitt  was  a  son  of  Eev.  Jonathan  Lcavitt, 
of  Heath,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College 
in  1786,  studied  law  in  New  Haven,  and  settled  in  Greenfield 
about  1790.  He  was  senator,  judge  of  Probate  from  1814  to 
1821,  and  also  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  His  wife 
was  the  daughter  of  President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College. 

The  imposing  mansion  still  standing  east  of  the  Mansion- 
House  block  was  erected  by  him,  probably  in  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century.  It  is  sometimes  also  known  as  the 
"  Hovey  Mansion."  In  this  elegant  and  substantial  dwelling 
he  lived  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1830,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-six  years.  He  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  close  student 
and  a  good  lawyer,  and  previous  to  his  appointment  to  the 
Bench  had  a  very  extensive  and  lucrative  practice. 

Kichard  English  Newcomb  was  a  son  of  Hezekiah  New- 
comb,  of  Bernardston.  He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in 
1770,  and  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1793.  He 
studied  law  with  William  Coleman,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  179G.  He  was  a  representative  to  the  General 
Court,  county  attorney,  and  judge  of  Probate.  "  He  was  an 
able  lawyer  and  a  powerful  advocate  when  in  his  prime,  and 
had  an  extensive  practice.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
school,  of  vigorous  constitution  and  strong  will,  courageous 
and  firm,  but  gentlemanly  and  courteous  in  all  his  intercourse 
with  society."  At  the  dedication  of  the  second  court-house 
in  1849  he  was  present,  though  in  feeble  health,  and  spoke  at 
considerable  length  in  a  powerful  and  feeling  manner. 

He  died  in  1840,  aged  seventy-nine  years.  He  was  stately 
and  dignified  in  his  appearance  even  to  his  last  days. 

Horatio  Gates  Newoomb  was  the  son  of  Hezekiah  New- 
comb,  of  Bernardston,  Mass.,  and  brother  of  Judge  Newcomb. 
He  was  born  Sept.  27,  1785;  studied  law  with  John  Barrett, 
of  Northfield,  and  with  his  brother  in  Greenfield,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  1813.  His  first  practice,  for  short  periods, 
was  in  Winchondon  and  Northfield,  Mass.  Ho  settled  in 
Greenfield  about  the  year  1827  as  a  law-jiartner  of  his  brother, 
and  continued  a  succe.ssful  practice  until  his  death.  The  hon- 
orary degree  of  A.M.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Williams 
College.      He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  master  in 


Chancery  under  the  insolvency  law  of  1838,  and  judge  of  the 
Insolvency  Court  under  the  revised  constitution  for  a  short 
time  before  his  death. 

He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Maria  Pratt,  of 
Winchester,  N.  H.,  by  whom  he  had' one  daughter.  He 
married  for  his  second  wife,  about  1821,  Elmira  Wells,  of 
Deerfield,  Mass.,  by  whom  he  had  five  children, — two  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Of  the  six  children,  one  son  is  now  living 
in  California,  one  daughter  in  Boston,  one  in  Chicago,  and 
two  in  Greenfield. 

Mr.  Griswold,  in  his  address,  when  speaking  of  Mr.  New- 
comb, uses  the  following  language :  "  He  was  employed  much 
in  the  settlement  of  estates  and  in  probate  business ;  was  a 
good  lawyer  and  counselor,  and  always  advised  to  that  course 
which  was  for  the  interest  of  his  client,  not  his  own.  He  took 
a  deep  interest  in  local  and  public  questions.  He  was  kind  and 
sympathizing,  and  if  he  was  not  one  of  the  greatest,  he  was, 
what  is  of  much  more  value,  one  of  the  best,  of  men." 

His  death  occurred  in  Greenfield,  Sept.  18,  1857,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two  years. 

Samuel  Clesson  Allen,  son  of  Joseph  Allen,  of  Ber- 
nardston, graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  1794,  and  settled  in  the 
ministry  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  in  the  following  year  ;  but  the 
calling  seems  not  to  have  been  congenial,  and  we  find  him  ad- 
mitted to  practice  law,  after  studying  with  John  Barrett,  of 
Northfield,  about  the  year  1800.  He  then  settled  in  New 
Salem,  Mass.,  and  remained  until  about  1822,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Greenfield,  locating  himself  on  a  farm  on  the  banks 
of  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  where  "he  pursued  agriculture, 
practiced  law,  prosecuted  his  political  and  literary  studies,  and 
reared  a  family  of  children." 

Three  of  his  sons  were  eminent  lawyers,  two  of  them  mem- 
bers of  Congress  from  Maine,  and  one,  Elisha  H.  Allen, 
chancellor  and  chief-justice  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Another  son,  Samuel  C.  Allen,  was  for  many  years  repre- 
sentative from  Northfield  to  the  Legislature, — an  able  states- 
man, a  prominent  farmer,  an  indefatigable  advocate  of  tem- 
perance, and  subsequently  postmaster  at  East  Boston.  The 
elder  Allen  was  State  senator,  county  attorney,  and  member 
of  Congress  for  this  district  from  181H  to  1828. 

"  He  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  a  statesman  of  high 
national  reputation." 

Elijah  Alvord,  son  of  Caleb  Alvord,  studied  law  with 
Judge  Newcomb,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1802. 

His  residence,  excepting  the  years  from  1805  to  1809,  during 
which  he  was  at  Greenwich,  was  at  Greenfield.  The  hono- 
rary degree  of  A.M.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Dartmouth 
and  Williams  Colleges.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tutional  Convention  in  1820.  He  was  clerk  of  the  courts, 
register  of  Probate,  and  representative  to  the  General  Court, 
and  in  every  position  sustained  the  reputation  of  a  "  capable, 
courteous,  and  faithful  public  officer." 

In  connection  with  Judges  Leavitt,  Newcomb,  and  Grin- 
iiell,  he  exercised  a  strong  influence  on  the  questions  connected 
with  the  establishment  of  Franklin  County,  the  location  of 
the  county-seat,  and  the  erection  of  the  public  buildings. 

James  C.  Alvord  was  the  son  of  Elijah  Alvord,  and  was 
born  in  1808.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  1827,  studied 
law  with  his  uncle,  Daniel  Wells,  and  at  the  law-school  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1830. 

He  was  elected  to  both  branches  of  the  State  Legislature, 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  codify  the  criminal  laws  of 
Massachusetts,  and  was  the  author  of  the  article  on  homicide 
and  assault, — one  of  the  ablest  included  in  the  report  of  the 
commission.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1838,  but  never 
took  his  seat,  in  consequence  of  his  death,  in  1839.  Mr.  Gris- 
wold pays  him  a  high  tribute  in  the  following  passage  : 

"  He  gave  early  promise  of  great  eminence  in  his  ])rofession 
and  in  public  life.  What  others  worked  long  to  achieve  he 
seemed  to  grasp  by  intuition.      Law  was  the  idol  of  his  love, 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


129 


the  field  of  his  greatest  ambition.  It  was  the  shrine  nt  wliieh 
he  worshiped.  He  loved  it  a.s  a  science,  he  loved  it  in  prac- 
tice, and  to  it  he  devoted  his  days  and  niglits  without  cessa- 
tion. As  a  lawyer  and  advocate  at  the  time  of  hi.s  death, 
though  but  thirty-one  years  old,  he  had  but  few  equals,  and 
no  superior,  at  this  or  any  other  Bar." 

D.  W.  Alvord,  son  of  Elijah  Alvurd,  was  born  in  1,S17. 
He  graduated  at  Union  College,  S<'henectady,  N.  Y.,  in  1838, 
subsequently  studied  law  with  Wells,  Alvord  &  Davis,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1841. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1853,  and  district-attorney  and  collector 
of  internal  revenue  for  this  district.  The  early  training  of  his 
father  and  his  experience  with  his  uncle,  Daniel  Wells,  his 
brother,  James  C.  Alvord,  and  George  T.  Davis,  all  able  law- 
yers and  accomplished  men,  was  invaluable,  and  he  profited 
from  it  largely.  He  died  in  Virginia,  in  1871,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four  years. 

Had  he  lived  to  the  ordinary  age  and  devoted  himself  ex- 
clusively to  his  profession,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  taken 
the  foremost  rank. 

RoDOLPiius  Dickinson  was  the  son  of  Col.  T.  W.  Dickin- 
son, of  Deerfield,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  180.').  He 
studied  law  with  John  Taylor,  of  Northampton,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  1808.  He  opened  an  office  and  prac- 
ticed in  Springfield,  Mass.,  until  1811,  when  he  removed  to 
the  then  new  county  of  Franklin,  and  was  the  first  clerk  of 
its  courts,  from  1811  to  1819,  when  he  changed  from  law  to 
divinity,  took  orders  in  the  Epi-scopal  Church,  and  settled  in 
South  Carolina,  where  he  was  instrumental  in  forming  the 
parishes  of  Greenville  and  Pendleton.  Many  of  the  distin- 
gui.shed  men  of  that  State  were  his  parishioners,  among  tbcm 
being  John  C.  Calhoun.  He  was  a  great  student  and  quite  a 
prolific  writer,  publishing  several  important  works.  He  sub- 
sequently returned  to  Western  Massachusetts,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  politics  with  the 
Jefferson  school,  and  once  came  very  near  being  elected  to 
Congress.  He  bore  the  reputation  of  being  an  accom]ilished 
scholar,  statesman,  and  distinguished  Christian  gentleman. 
He  died  in  October,  18(j2. 

Hon.  George  Grinnell  was  born  in  Greenfield,  Dec.  25, 
178(i.  He  was  the  son  of  George  and  Lydia  Grinnell,  and 
received  his  early  education  in  the  common  schools  of  his  time 
and  at  the  old  Deerfield  Academy.  He  entered  Dartmouth 
College,  and  graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years  with 
liigh  honors.  Soon  after,  he  entered  the  law-office  of  Hon. 
Kichard  English  Newcomb,  and  in  1811  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  of  old  Hampshire  County.  He  commenced  practice  in 
the  new  county  of  Franklin,  which  was  organized  the  same 
year,  and  opened  an  office  in  Greenfield.  He  held  the  office 
of  county  attorney  from  1820  to  1828,  and  from  1824  to  1827 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate.  In  1828  he  was  elected 
Representative  to  Congress  from  his  district,  his  term  of  ser- 
vice commencing  on  the  same  day  with  the  administration  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  March  4,  1829.  He  was  successively  re- 
elected to  the  same  position  in  18.30,  1832,  1834,  and  1836. 
During  this  service  of  ten  years  in  Congress  he  was  the  col- 
league of  Isaac  C.  Bates,  John  Davis,  Edward  Everett,  Rufns 
Choate,  George  N.  Briggs,  and  John  Quincy  Adams,  "all  of 
whom  honored  him  with  their  friendship  and  confidence." 
He  declined  a  re-election,  and  in  1839  returned  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession  as  a  member  of  the  well-known  and  emi- 
nent law-firm  of  Grinnell  &  Aiken  (George  Grinnell  and 
David  Aiken). 

In  1840,  Mr.  Grinnell  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  Presidential 
electors.  In  1841  he  was  appointed  register  of  Probate  for 
Franklin  County,  which  position  he  filled  until  1849,  when 
he  was  appointed  judge  of  Probate,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occa- 
sioned by  the  death  of  Hon.  R.  E.  Newcomb.  This  office  he 
resigned  in  1853,  and  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  courts  of  the 
17 


county,  which  office  he  filled,  by  appointment  and  election, 
until  1866,  when,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  he  withdrew 
from  the  active  duties  and  cares  of  |)ublic  life. 

Mr.  Grinnell  took  an  active  and  influential  part  in  all  the 
enterprises  tending  to  promote  the  interests  of  his  town  and 
county.  He  was  one  of  the  corporators  and  first  president  of 
the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad  Company.  In  connection 
with  Hon.  Whiting  Griswold  and  others,  he  gave  all  his  influ- 
ence to  the  constructing  of  that  line  of  road  and  the  great 
tunnel  under  the  Hoosac  Mountain,  and  in  August,  1877,  had 
the  satisfaction  of  passing  over  the  road  and  tlu-ough  the 
tunnel. 

He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  in 
1838  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  a  trustee  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, on  behalf  of  the  State,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
faithfully  and  efficiently  for  twenty-one  years,  when,  his  other 
duties  rendering  it  impossible  for  him  to  attend  the  annual 
commencement  exercises,  he  resigned  the  position. 

In  1854  the  lionorary  title  of  LL.D.  was  conferred  upon 
him  b\-  that  college. 

He  was  a  worthy  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  uniting 
with  it  in  1813,  and  in  1815  was  elected  master  of  Repub- 
lican Lodge,  in  Greenfield.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
(with  one  exception)  the  oldest  member  in  this  vicinity. 

In  1817,  Mr.  Grinnell  united  with  the  Second  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Greenfield,  and  continued  to  the  day  of  his 
death  a  consistent  and  active  member.  Commencing  with  the 
year  1821,  he  served  in  the  capacity  of  deacon  for  fifty  years. 
Judge  Grinnell  was  twice  married.  In  August,  1814,  he 
married  Helen  Adele  Blake,  daughter  of  Hon.  George  Blake, 
of  Boston.  She  died  in  1818.  In  1820  he  married  Eliza 
Sej'mour  Perkins,  daughter  of  Rev.  Nathan  Perkins,  of  East 
Amherst.  The  children  by  this  union  were  James  S.  Grinnell, 
for  a  long  period  chief  clerk  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Washing- 
ton, but  who  returned  to  Greenfield  about  1876  to  care  for 
his  aged  parents;  George  B.,  William  F.,  and  Thomas  P. 
Grinnell,  formerly  prominent  brokers  in  New  York  City  ; 
Helen,  who  married  George  Milne,  member  of  a  noted  bank- 
ing-house in  England;  Harriet,  the  wife  of  Mr.  McCulloch, 
a  shipping  merchant  of  Montreal;  and  Ella,  wife  of  Maj. 
Thonnis  W.  Ripley,  of  Boston.  Mr.  Grinnell  died  at  Green- 
field, on  the  20th  of  November,  1877,  in  his  ninety-first  year. 
James  S.  Grinnell,  son  of  Hon.  George  Grinnell,  was 
born  in  Greenfield,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  "Elm 
House,"  July  24,  1821.  He  gi-aduated  at  Amherst  College  in 
1842,  and  read  law  in  the  office  of  Grinnell  &  Aiken,  and  also 
at  the  Cambridge  law-school. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1846  and  opened  an  office  in 
Greenfield,  where  he  soon  had  a  valuable  office-practice  and 
appeared  in  a  large  number  of  court-cases.  But  his  tastes 
were  greatly  inclined  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  1862  he 
removed  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  had  been  appointed 
chief  clerk  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  which  position 
his  previous  studies  and  experience,  as  well  as  natural  taste, 
had  well  fitted  him  to  fill.  In  this  capacity  he  remained  for 
three  years,  when  he  was  appointed  chief  clerk  of  the  Patent 
Office,  which  position  he  held  for  a  period  of  ten  years.  It  is 
proper  to  remark  that  these  important  offices  were  never  more 
ably  filled  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

In  1876  he  returned  to  his  native  town  to  look  after  and 
care  for  his  aged  parents,  and  upon  the  death  of  his  venerable 
father,  in  1877,  became  the  representative  of  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  highly-respected  families  of  the  place.  Since 
his  return  he  has  devoted  his  time  wholly  to  agricultural  mat- 
ters, except  that  he  occasionally  transacts  patent-business  for 
his  personal  friends ;  and  no  man  in  the  valley  may  be  truth- 
fully said  to  have  a  greater  number.  He  is  now  occupying 
the  original  farm  owned  and  cultivated  by  his  grandfather  a 
hundred  vears  ago,  and  exemplifying  by  practical  farming  his 
knowledge  in  that  most  ancient  and  honorable  occupation. 


130 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


In  the  amount  of  labor  pcrformod,  and  in  the  extent  of  his 
knowledge  and  influence,  his  position  is  properly  at  the  head 
of  the  agricultural  interest  in  Massachusetts,  which  position 
is  unanimously  accorded  him.  He  is  prominently  connected 
with  various  agricultural  organizations  and  leads  an  exceed- 
ingly busy  life,  but  one  pre-eminently  to  his  tastes,  and  under 
exceedingly  favorable  circumstances  and  surroundings.  He 
was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  class  of  agricultural  implements 
and  machinery  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition  in  1876,  where 
the  display  probably  exceeded  anything  before  seen  in  any- 
country  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Grinnell  is  a  man  of  fine  education  and  excellent  liter- 
ary attainments.  His  library  is  one  of  the  most  unique  and 
valuable  in  New  England,  containing  many  rare  and  quaint 
old  volumes,  some  of  which  date  back  in  their  compilation  to 
the  year  1440.  Among  the  most  interesting  are  "Lives  of 
the  Christian  Fathers,"  from  the  imprint  of  Wm.  Caxton, 
the  first  English  printer,  dating  back  to  1490;  a  beautiful 
illuminated  prayer-book,  printed  and  illustrated  in  colors  by 
hand  and  of  venerable  age;  many  of  the  famous  "black- 
letter"  imprint,  and  the  Bible  once  owned  by  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  with  his  name  and  the  date,  1780,  engraved  on  the 
cover.  He  has  a  rich  agricultural  library,  a  collection  of 
English  dictionaries,  numbering  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
varieties,  two  hundred  and  fifty  volumes  of  Arctic  explora- 
tions, and  a  most  rare  and  complete  collection  cjf  various  edi- 
tions of  Shakspeare's  works,  together  with  curious  works 
upon  English  field-sports,  volumes  upon  heraldry,  etc. 

Mr.  Grinnell  was  married  on  the  8th  of  August,  1855,  to 
Mi.ss  Anne  E.  Stannard,  of  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  who  died  in 
May,  1857,  leaving  no  children.  His  homestead  occupies  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  locations  in  the  village  of  Greenfield,  at 
the  head  of  Main  Street,  commanding  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
views  to  be  found  in  New  England,  and  surrounded  by  ample 
and  well-kept  grounds. 

Franklin  Ripley,  the  son  of  Jerome  Ripley,  of  Green- 
field, was  born  in  1789.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College 
in  1809,  studied  law  with  John  Barrett,  of  Northfield,  Mass., 
and  at  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
1812.  He  practiced  law  at  Northfield,  was  judge  of  Probate, 
and  cashier  and  principal  manager  of  the  old  Greenfield — since 
First  National — Bank,  of  Greenfield,  which  position  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  until  his  death,  in  I860,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
one  years.  Mr.  Griswold  says  of  him  :  "He  was  a  man  of 
the  strictest  integrity,  of  great  industry,  and  exerted  a  wide 
and  salutary  influence  in  business,  in  politics,  and  in  the 
church." 

Daniel  Wells  was  the  son  of  Col.  Daniel  "Wells,  of 
Greenfield,  born  Jan.  14,  1791.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
in  1810;  studied  law  with  Elijah  Alvord,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  1813. 

He  was  State  Senator,  district  attorney  for  the  four  western 
counties  of  Massachusetts,  and  chief-justice  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  from  1844  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1854, 
aged  sixty-four. 

"  He  was  a  most  conscientious  and  pure-minded  man;  the 
kindest  of  husbands  and  fathers ;  of  deep  moral  convictions 
and  enlarged  public  .spirit ;  progressive  in  all  his  ideas ;  an 
indefatigable  student,  able  lawyer  and  advocate,  and  lor 
thirty  years  held  the  leading  sway  at  the  Franklin  Bar."* 

Hon.  Wiiitino  Griswold. — This  distinguished  member 
of  the  Franklin  Bar  was  the  son  of  Hon.  Joseph  Griswold, 
who  died  in  1843  while  a  member  of  the  State  Senate.  He 
was  the  tenth  of  a  family  of  fourteen  children,  and  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Buckland,  Nov.  12,  1814.  He  remained  upon 
his  father's  farm,  laboring  with  his  hands  and  laying  the 
foundation  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  until  his  twentieth 
year,  when  he  entered  Amherst  College  after  fitting  himself 

*  Gri8wolil*6  address,  1873. 


under  able  instructors  in  his  own  town,  and  graduated  among 
the  first  in  his  class  in  1838.  Subsequently  he  established  a 
select  school  in  Buckland,  and  gained  a  wide  reputation  as  a 
successful  and  popular  teacher. 

In  the  spring  of  1839  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  with 
the  firm  of  Wells,  Alvord  &  Davis,  of  Greenfield,  with  whom 
he  remained  one  year,  completing  his  legal  studies  in  the 
oiBce  of  Messrs.  Grinnell  &  Aiken,  and  in  1842  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  and  immediately  opened  an  office  in  Greenfield, 
where  he  took  an  influential  position  in  the  profession,  which 
he  ever  after  maintained. 

His  political  career  commenced  as  a  mcniber  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  which,  in  1847,  elected  him  as  Representative  to 
the  General  Court,  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1848  and  1849. 
In  October,  1850,  he  was  nominated  for  the  State  Senate  by 
both  the  Democratic  and  Free-Soil  parties,  and  elected  by  a 
very  large  majority,  being  the  first  Democratic  Senator  ever 
chosen  by  the  electors  of  Franklin  County. 

During  the  succeeding  se.ssion  of  the  Legislature  he  voted 
steadily  for  Charles  Sumner  for  United  States  Senator.  In 
1853  he  was  a  prominent  and  influential  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  from  the  town  of  Erving,  and  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  debates  of  that  body,  ranking  among  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  the  commonwealth.  In  1855  he 
was  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination 
of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in  1856  was  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  National  Convention,  which  put  in  nomination 
for  the  Presidency  James  Buchanan  ;  he  was  also  one  of  the 
candidates  for  electors-at-large  on  the  Democratic  State  ticket. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  troubles  which  culminated  in  the 
Rebellion  he  joined  the  Republican  party,  and  was  elected  to 
the  State  Senate  in  1800.  During  the  long  and  bloody  years 
of  the  war  he  stood  manfully,  and  at  all  times,  by  the  side  of 
Governor  Andrew  and  Charles  Sumner  "in  defense  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  American  people,  powerfully  sus- 
taining the  imperiled  government  by  both  tongue  and  pen. 

In  1864  he  was  one  of  the  electors-at-large  on  the  ticket 
with  Edward  Everett.  In  1869  he  was  a  third  time  in  the  State 
Senate,  where  he  greatly  distinguished  himself  by  his  able 
advocacy  of  woman  suflTrage  and  other  important  measures. 
As  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  in  1851  he  exerted  a  power- 
ful influence  in  behalf  of  tlie  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad 
and  in  the  interests  of  the  great  Hoosac  tunnel.  While  in  the 
Senate  in  the  last-named  year  he  reported  a  bill  providing  for 
submitting  to  the  people  the  question  of  calling  a  convention 
for  revising  the  State  Constitution,  of  which  convention,  as 
previously  stated,  he  was  a  member. 

Among  minor  positions  he  held  the  office  of  superintending 
school  committee  of  his  town  ;  was  one  of  three  commissioners 
appointed  by  Governor  Briggs,  in  1848,  to  visit  the  remnants 
of  the  Massachusetts  Indians;  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Smith  charities  in  1849  ;  and  one  of  the  State  directors  of  the 
Western  Railroad  corporation  about  1850,  in  all  of  which 
positions  he  acquitted  himself  with  his  usual  ability  and 
success. 

"  In  his  domestic  relations  Mr.  Griswold  was  an  exemplary 
husband  and  father.  He  was  twice  married, — first  in  1844, 
and  again  in  1856.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Jane  M.  Martin- 
dale,  of  Greenfield,  who  died  in  1852.  His  last  was  Miss 
Fanny  L.  Clark,  of  Bangor,  Maine,  who  died  in  1867,  leaving 
two  children,"  who  both  survived  their  parents. 

Mr.  Griswold  died  in  Greenfield,  Ma.ss,  on  the  28th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1874,  aged  sixty  years. 

Ex-Governor  Emory  Washburn  practiced  law  in  Frank- 
lin County  for  a  short  time  immediately  after  being  admitted 
to  the  Bar.  He  -vyas  admitted  in  Berkshire  County,  March  1, 
1821,  and  on  the  3d  of  the  same  month  opened  an  office  in 
Charlemont,  where  he  remained  until  the  18th  of  September 
in  the  samp  year,  whep  he  renKiyed  to  Leicester,  his  native 
town. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


131 


Among  the  numerous  practitioners  who  have  been  residents 
of  Franklin  County  may  be  mentioned  Pliny  Arms,  Jona- 
than A.  Saxton,  Aaron  Arms,  and  Elijah  Williams,  of 
Deertield;  Elijah  Paine,  of  Ashfield ;  Sylvester  Max- 
well and  Joseph  P.  Allen,  of  CharlenKmt ;  John  Drury 
and  Isaac  Barber,  of  Coleraine;  Jonathan  Hartwkll,  of 
Montague;  Stephen  Emery,  of  Orange;  William  Bil- 
lings, of  Conway  ;  Horace  W.  Taft  and  Henry  Barnard, 
of  Sunderland  ;  and  Benjamin  Brainard,  of  Gill.  These 
mostly  practiced  during  the  first  period  of  the  history  of 
Franklin  County,  or  from  1811  to  the  building  of  the  second 
court-house,  in  1848. 

Hon.  David  Aiken,  son  of  Phineas  Aiken,  a  farmer  of 
Bedford,  N.  H.,  was  born  in  that  town  June  7,  1804.  He 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1830,  studied  law  with 
Wells  &  Alvord,  of  Greenfield,  and  commenced  practice  in 
that  jdace  in  1834,  where  he  has  since  continued  with  the  ex- 
ception of  three  years,  from  1856  to  18.59,  during  which  period 
he  was  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Massachu.setts. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  in  1873-74.  Judge 
Aiken  has  had  numerous  law-partners,  among  them  Henry 
Chapman,  George  Grinnell,  Davis  &  Allen,  Chester  C. 
Conant,  Colonel  W.  S.  B.  Hopkins,  and  Charles  E.  Forbes, 
the  latter  of  Northampton.  Since  1844  he  has  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  Franklin  Bar.  He  married,  in  1844,  Miss  Lydia 
W.  Boot,  of  Greenfield,  who  died  in  1846,  leaving  no  chil- 
dren. In  1848  he  married  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Adams,  of 
Amherst,  Mass.  He  has  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  John 
Adams,  his  eldest  son,  is  in  practice  with  him  in  Greenfield. 
William  F.  is  teller  in  the  Franklin  County  National  Bank, 
and  Edward  E.  is  fitting  for  college  at  Easthampton,  Mass. 

Hon.  Almon  Brainard  was  born  in  Kandolph,  Orange 
Co.,  Vt.,  about  1803.  He  graduated  at  Hamilton  College, 
N.  Y.,  in  1826,  and  subsequently  attended  the  military  school 
of  Captain  Alden  Partridge,  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  for  a 
year.  He  studied  law  with  Hon.  George  Grinnell,  of  Green- 
field, and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1829.  From  1842  until 
1856  he  held  the  oflices  of  register  of  deeds  and  county  treas- 
urer, and  was  for  many  years  secretary  of  the  Franklin 
County  Mutual  Fir«  Insurance  Company.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Senate  in  18.56,  and  at  his  death  had  held  the 
office  of  trial-justice  for  over  fourteen  years.  He  was  a  man 
of  sterling  integrity  and  of  remarkable  capacity,  and  the 
amount  of  labor  performed  during  a  period  of  about  forty- 
five  years  in  various  capacities  was  very  great.  His  practice 
was  extensive  and  lucrative,  and  at  one  time  he  had  ainas.sed 
a  very  comfortable  fortune.  He  married,  in  1848,  Margaret  E. 
Langstroth,  who  died  in  1876,  leaving  two  sons.  Mr.  Brain- 
ard died  in  Greenfield,  Jan.  19,  1878,  of  disease  of  the  heart, 
aged  about  seventy-five  j'ears. 

George  T.  Davis  is  a  native  of  Barnstable  Co.,  Mass., 
born  Jan.  12,  1810,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University  in 
1829.  He  studied  law  at  Cambridge  and  with  the  firm  of 
Wells  &  Alvord,  of  Greenfield,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 
in  1832.  Mr.  Davis  practiced  his  profession  for  many  years 
in  Greenfield,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  his  time. 
He  was  a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  once  in 
the  House  and  twice  in  the  Senate,  and  also  represented  the 
old  Connecticut  River  district  in  Congress.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  Portland,  Maine. 

Mr.  Griswold  says  of  him  :  "  In  many  respects  he  was  the 
most  striking  figure  in  the  second  period.  He  was  a  keen, 
discriminating,  able  lawyer;  a  most  charming  conversation- 
alist and  speaker  ;  the  brightest  of  men,  bristling  with  wit, 
fun,  and  raillery  ;  most  skillful  in  the  examination  of  witnesses, 
and  extracting  amusement  from  the  dryest  case.  He  did  more 
than  all  others,  at  law  and  nisi  priiis  terms,  to  incorporate  into 
the  cold  and  rigid  logic  and  routine  of  courts  and  trials  some- 
thing of  the  cheerful,  jolly,  softer,  better  side  of  hunum  na- 
ture ;  and  if  he  did  not  win  verdicts  from  the  hands,  he  drove 


dyspepsia  from  the  bodies,  of  the  judges,  jurors,  and  law3'ers 
by  the  frequent  convulsions  of  laughter  which  followed  his 
inimitable  wit  and  repartee."  Mr.  Davis  died  in  Portland, 
June  17,  1877,  and  was  buried  in  the  Greenfield  cemetery. 

Wendell  T.  Davis,  younger  brother  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  in  Sandwich,  Barnstable  Co.,  Mass.,  April  12,  1818. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1838;  studied  law  at 
Cambridge  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1841,  in  which 
year  he  entered  into  a  law-partner.ship  in  Greenfield  with 
his  brother,  George  T.  Davis,  and  Charles  T.  Devens,  Jr.,* 
which  continued  for  seven  years.  He  was  largely  interested 
in  real  estate  in  and  around  Greenfield,  laid  out  and  opened 
Davis  Street,  and  added  much  to  the  growth  and  beauty  of 
the  village. 

He  was  for  some  years  subsequent  to  1844  clerk  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Upper  Locks  and  Canal  Company,  at  Turner's 
Falls, — since  the  Turner's  Falls  Company, — and  was  princi- 
pally instrumental  in  the  founding  of  that  embryo  city.  For 
man_v  years  he  was  clerk  and  treasurer  of  the  Troy  and  Green- 
field Railroad  Company,  and  was  Representative  at  the  General 
Court  for  two  years.  He  was  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  trial- 
justices  of  the  county,  and  probably  heard  more  cases  than 
any  other  officer  in  the  county. 

In  1863  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Austin  De  Wolf, 
which  continued  for  eleven  years,  when  the  firm  took  in  Mr. 
F.  G.  Fes.senden.  In  1875  he  was  appointed  register  in 
bankruptc}',  which  office  he  held  till  his  death.  Prom  the 
date  of  this  appointment  he  wholly  retired  from  active  law- 
practice.  He  also  held  the  position  of  selectman  of  Green- 
field, was  a  prominent  officer  in  the  State  militia,  and  an  hon- 
ored member  of  the  Masonic  order. 

His  wife  died  in  1874,  leaving  two  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters,— N.  Russell  Davis,  of  Wyoming  Territory,  George  T. 
Davis,  lieut.-commander  U.  S.  navy;  Carrie  W.,  Mary  B., 
who  married  Hon.  John  Conness,  of  Boston,  and  Louisa,  who 
married  Lieut.-Commander  Charles  V.  Clark,  U.  S.  navj*. 

Mr.  Davis  was  a  man  of  rare  natural  abilities,  of  a  pre- 
eminently social  nature,  a  friend  to  the  needy  and  distressed, 
and  one  who  always  had  an  encouraging  word  for  every 
young  man.  His  death  occurred  on  the  3d  of  December, 
1876,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years. 

Col.  W.  S.  B.  Hopkins  practiced  law  in  Greenfield,  as  a 
partner  of  Judge  Aiken,  from  about  1866  to  1872.  This  was 
probably  the  commencement  of  a  very  successful  career  as  a 
practitioner.  He  is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Erastus  Hopkins,  of 
Northampton,  and  a  native  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  During 
his  stay  in  Franklin  County  he  achieved  a  good  reputation  as 
a  lawyer,  and  is  now  in  the  successful  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  the  city  of  Worcester.  He  is  a  man  of  excellent  natu- 
ral talents,  cool,  imperturbable,  and  successful  as  an  advocate. 

Col.  Hopkins  saw  arduous  service  during  the  Rebellion  as 
lieutenant-colonel  of  the  31st  Massachusetts  Infantry,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  Red  River  expedition  under  Banks,  at  the 
siege  of  Port  Hudson,  and  in  many  minor  movements  in  the 
Southwest. t 

Hon.  Henry  L.  Dawes,  the  present  distinguished  United 
States  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  was  for  a  time  a  resident 
of  Franklin  Count}',  and  for  some  years  practiced  in  its  courts. 
He  was  born  in  Cummington,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass., — which 
was  also  the  birthplace  of  William  Cullen  Bryant, — in  1816,  and 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1839.  After  leaving  college  he 
came  to  Greenfield  and  read  law  in  the  office  of  Wells,  Davis 
&  Alvord,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1842.  He  married 
in  A.shfield,  Franklin  Co.,  and  finally  settled  in  North  Ad- 
ams, Berkshire  Co.,  where  he  was  district  attorney  for  the 
northwest  district  of  Massachusetts,  and  this  brought  him 
often  before  the  courts  in  Greenfield.     He  was  a  member  of 


*  Now  attoi-ney-general  of  the  United  Suites, 
f  Sec  history  of  31.st  Regiment,  in  this  volume. 


132 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1853,  member  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  subsequently  member  of  Con- 
gress for  many  years,  and  is  now  a  United  States  Senator. 

Hon.  Charles  Mattoon  was  born  in  Northfleld,  Franklin 
Co.,  Juno  17,  1816.  In  early  life  he  emigrated  to  Muscatine, 
Iowa,  where  he  married  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law.  Subsequently  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  local  politics  of  Franklin  County.  For 
some  years  he  held  a  position  in  the  Boston  custom-house. 
In  June,  1853,  he  was  appointed  register  of  Probate  and  In- 
solvency for  Franklin  County  and  removed  to  Greenfield, 
where  he  continued  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  the  office  until  the 
13th  of  May,  1858,  when,  upon  the  reorganization  of  the 
courts,  he  was  appointed  judge;  which  oflice  he  held  until 
his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  12th  of  August,  1870,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  The  fatal  malady  wliicli  carried 
him  oft'  was  pulmonary  consum]>tiun. 

For  about  eleven  year.s  he  was  secretary  and  active  manager 
of  the  Franklin  County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and 
also  held  various  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  town  and  county. 
In  all  the  positions  occupied  by  him  he  ever  bore  himself  as 
a  faithful,  capable,  and  efficient  official  and  a  popular  and 
estimable  citizen. 

Hon.  Charle.s  Devens,  Jr.,  the  present  attorney-general 
of  the  United  States,  was  for  several  years  a  resident  of  Frank- 
lin County.  He  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  April  4, 
1820;  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1838;  studied  law  at  the 
Cambridge  law-school  and  with  Hubbard  &  Watts,  of  Boston  ; 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1841,  and  opened  an  office,  with 
Wendell  T.  Davis  for  a  partner,  in  Northfleld.  In  1844 
he  removed  to  Greenfield,  where  he  became  the  law-partner 
of  Geo.  T.  and  Wendell  T.  Davis.  He  was  State  Senator  from 
Franklin  County  in  1848  and  184f),  and  United  States  mar- 
shal from  184!)  to  1853.  In  1854  lie  opened  an  office  in  Wor- 
cester, where  he  remained  until  1801,  a  portion  of  the  time  in 
partnership  with  G.  F.  Hoar.  He  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self in  the  service  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  left  the 
army  with  the  brevet  rank  of  major-general  of  volunteers. 
In  1806  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  at  Worcester;  in  1807 
was  appointed  associate  justice  of  the  Superior  Court.  In 
October,  1873,  appointed  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  upon  the  election  of  President  Hayes  was  appointed 
attornc}' -general  of  the  United  States. 

Horatio  G.  Parker  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College 
in  1844.  He  studied  law  at  Keene,  N.  H.,  with  his  father, 
and  with  William  Curtis  Noyes,  of  New  York,  and  Henry 
M.  Parker,  of  Boston,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  New 
York  in  1847  and  in  Massachusetts  in  the  following  year.  He 
settled  and  commenced  practice  in  Greenfield.  During  his 
residence  here  he  represented  the  town  one  term  in  the  Legis- 
lature, and  also  held  the  office  of  judge  of  Probate.  Subse- 
quently he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  has  an  excellent 
reputation  in  his  profession  and  enjoys  a  very  large  and  lucra- 
tive practice.  In  1800  he  was  employed  to  assist  the  commis- 
sioners in  the  revision  of  the  statutes  of  the  commonwealth,  in 
which  position  his  services  were  laborious  and  valuable. 

Hon.  Charles  Allen,  son  of  Sylvester  Allen,  a  prominent 
merchant  of  Greenfield,  was  born  in  that  town  about  1827.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1847,  read  law  with  Davis  & 
Devens  and  at  the  Cambridge  law-school,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  18.J0.  Soon  after  his  admission  he  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Aiken  &  Davis,  at  Greenfield,  and  by 
attention  to  his  profession  and  the  cultivation  of  excellent 
natural  abilities  soon  placed  himself  in  the  foremost  rank  of 
the  profession. 

About  the  year  1800  he  removed  to  Boston  and  became  a 
member  of  the  Sutfolk  Bar,  and,  in  a  wider  field,  has  won  a 
high  reputation  and  distinguished  Imnors. 

Soon  after  his  settlement  in  Boston  he  was  appointed  law- 
reporter  for  the  Siiprenic  Court  of  tlie  State,  in  which  position 


he  continued  for  several  years,  serving  with  unusual  ability. 
His  reports  cover  from  ten  to  fifteen  volumes. 

In  the  fall  of  1867  he  was  elected  to  the  honorable  and  im- 
portant office  of  attorney-general  of  the  commonwealth,  which 
position  he  filled  with  great  acceptance  for  a  period  of  four 
years.  Since  1871  he  has  been  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, a  portion  of  the  time  in  partnership  with  James  C.  Davis, 
a  son  of  George  T.  Davis.     Mr.  Allen  has  never  married. 

Jame.s  C.  Davis  is  a  son  of  George  T.  Davis,  and  was  born 
and  educated  in  Greenfield  and  at  Harvard  University.  He 
has  for  many  years  been  a  member  of  the  Suffolk  Bar,  where, 
though  comparatively  young  in  years,  he  has  taken  high  rank 
in  his  profession.  His  standing  and  abilities  are  indicated  by 
his  elevation  to  the  position  of  assistant  attorne^y-general  of  the 
State,  the  duties  of  which  he  has  discharged  with  signal  ability 
and  in  a  manner  to  win  the  highest  respect  and  confidence  of 
all. 

Chester  Cook  Conant,  judge  of  Probate  for  the  county 
of  Franklin,  was  born  at  Lyme,  N.  H.,  Sept.  4,  1831.  His 
father.  Col.  Jonathan  Conant,  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of 
1812;  his  mother  was  Clarissa  Dimick.  He  graduated  with 
honor  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1857,  and  at  the  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  law-school  in  1859.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  came 
to  Greenfield,  an  entire  stranger,  and  entered  into  partnership 
with  Judge  David  Aiken. 

In  1803  he  was  elected  register  of  Probate  and  Insolvency, 
and  subsequently  re-elected.  On  the  death  of  Judge  Charles 
Mattoon,  in  1870,  he  was  appointed  judge  of  Probate  and 
Insolvency,  which  office  he  now  (1879)  holds.  Besides  the 
duties  of  his  judicial  office,  he  has  an  extensive  law-]iractice 
in  the  Superior  and  Su)irenie  Judicial  Courts. 

He  was  one  of  the  three  original  corporators  of  tlic  Green- 
field Saving.s-Bank,  and  has  been  a  trustee  and  its  secretary 
since  its  organization.  He  is  also  a  director  in  the  Franklin 
County  National  Bank.  He  has  served  in  the  town  school 
committee  for  a  number  of  terms,  and  is  a  trustee  of  the 
Greenfield  Library  Association,  of  which  he  was  for  ten  years 
the  secretarj'  and  efficient  upbuilder.  He  married,  in  1800, 
Sarah  B.,  only  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Howard,  then  of 
Portland,  Me.,  and  since  president  of  Norwich  University,  at 
Norwich,  Vt.     He  has  two  children. 

Samuel  O.  Lamb,  of  Greenfield,  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 

in  1851  and  located  in  GreenHeld,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

He  has  an  extensive  practice  and  good  standing  among  his 

professional  brethren,  and,  but  for  his  extreme  modesty,  would 

.have  had  a  more  extended  notice  in  this  chapter. 

Ansel  Phelps,  Jr.,  son  of  Hon.  Ansel  Phelps,  of  Green- 
field, studied  law  with  Wells,  Alvord  &  Davis ;  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  1840,  and  settled  in  Ware,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass., 
where  he  soon  built  up  a  reputation  and  a  successful  practice. 
Being  ofl'ered  the  post  of  attorney  for  the  Western  Railroad, 
he  left  Ware  and  settled  in  Springfield.  (See  Chapter  XXVI. 
of  this  volume.) 

George  W.  Hokr  was  born  in  New  Salem,  Franklin  Co., 
Mass.,  of  a  good  family.  He  was  at  the  Cambridge  law-school 
for  two  years,  and  studied  with  Davis  &  Allen  and  with  May- 
nard,  Lincoln  &  Chatfield,of  New  York  City.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  18(i0,  and  to  the  United  States  Court  in  1870. 
He  commenced  practice  in  New  Salem,  but  soon  removed  to 
Athol,  where  he  has  since  built  up  quite  an  extensive  business. 
He  also  has  a  good  reputation  as  a  lecturer  upon  astronomy 
and  other  subjects  before  the  public  schools  and  popular  assem- 
blies. 

Ephraim  Williams  was  born  in  Deerfield,  Mass.,  in  1760. 
He  studied  law  with  his  uncle,  the  eminent  Judge  Sedgwick, 
of  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  where  he  resided  and  practiced  his  pro- 
fession as  a  partner  with  his  uncle  for  about  twenty  years, 
during  which  he  had  an  extensive  practice  and  accumulated 
a  handsome  competency. 

In  1803  he  returned  to  Deer  ."eld,  where  he  resided  until  his 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


133 


death,  in  1835.  He  was  usually,  among  his  intimate  friends, 
called  Bob  Williams,  and  the  reason  is  said  to  have  been  that 
the  cognomen  was  an  ancient  and  honorable  one  in  the  family. 
He  was  named  for  his  uncle,  Col.  Ephraim  AVilliams,  the 
founder  of  Williams  College,  who  fell  at  Lake  George,  in 
August,  17o5.  One  of  his  sons  was  Bishop  Williams,  of  Con- 
necticut. 

"  While  in  practice  in  Berkshire  County  he  hud  a  misun- 
derstanding with  the  presiding  judge,  who  charged  him  with 
stating  what  was  incorrect  and  ordered  him  to  sit  down. 

"  Indignant  at  having  bis  veracity  called  in  question,  he  re- 
plied that  he  would  not  sit  down,  hut  would  leave  the  Bar  and 
never  enter  it  again;  which  he  did,  and  faithfully  kept  his 
promise." 

He  was  the  reporter  of  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Masssicbu- 
setts  Reports.''  He  was  several  times  a  member  of  both 
branches  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  also  a  member  of 
the  Governor's  council.  His  counsel  was  often  sought  by 
men  of  high  legal  standing,  and  it  is  said  that  Chief-Justice 
Parsons  used  all  his  influence  to  persuade  him  to  return  to  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  but  without  success. 

James  R.  Curti.s,  of  Boston,  practiced  law  for  some  time 
in  Northtield.  He  attended  the  law-school  at  Cambridge  one 
year,  and  subsequently  studied  in  the  oiflce  of  Messrs.  Wells 
&  Alvord,  of  Greenfield.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Franklin 
County  Bar  about  one  year,  when  he  removed  to  Boston, 
where  he  became  eminent  as  a  member  of  the  Sutl'olk  Bar,  and 
on  the  Bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Previous  to  the  organization  of  Franklin  County,  North- 
field  was  more  of  a  centre  for  legal  talent  than  Greenfield,  and 
many  prominent  men  were  in  practice  then,  among  whom 
were  John  Barrett,  John  Nkvers,  and  William  G. 
WooDARD.  It  was  a  noted  place  for  law-students,  and  John 
Barrett's  oifice  seems  to  have  turned  out  a  large  luimber  of 
them.  Mr.  Barrett  was  a  long-continued  and  successful  prac- 
titioner, and  we  find  his  name  very  often  mentioned. 

John  Nevers  became  sheriff  in  1831,  and  relinquished  prac- 
tice. Mr.  Woodard  subsequently  removed  to  Iowa,  and 
became  one  of  the  supreme  judges  of  that  State. 

John  Drury,  Jr.,  the  son  of  John  Drury,  a  farmer  of  Athol, 
Worcester  Co.,  Mass.,  was  born  in  that  town,  March  22,  1"80. 
He  gradiuited  at  Williams  College  and  studied  law  at  Peters- 
ham and  Grafton,  in  Worcester  County,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  about  1811. 

He  nuirried,  in  1813,  Miss  Susan  Reed,  of  Petersham,  and 
settled  in  Coleraine  Centre,  where  he  continued  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  was  for  nuiny 
years  postmaster  at  the  Centre,  and  also  justice  of  the  peace. 
He  also  carried  on  farming  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  was 
altogether  a  prominent  man  in  the  community. 

He  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  The  sons  moved  to 
Troy,  Miami  Co.,  Ohio,  many  years  ago,  and  thither,  about 
1854,  their  father  followed  them,  and  died  in  that  place,  Sept. 
19,  1860,  in  his  eighty-first  year.  His  sons  were  merchants  in 
Ohio,  and  the  youngest  enlisted  during  the  Rebellion  and  died 
in  the  service.  Two  of  his  daughters  are  now  living  in 
Coleraine. 

RuFUS  D.  Chase  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1845, 
studied  law  with  E.  D.  Beach,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  and,  with 
Royal  Tyler  and  Asa  Keyes,  of  Brattleboro',  Vt.,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  1849,  and  soon  after  settled  in  the  thriving 
village  of  Orange,  where  he  still  practices.  He  sustains  a  good 
reputation  and  has  a  very  satisfactory  business. 

Haynes  H.  Chilson,  now  of  Northampton,  is  a  native  of 
Buckland,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass.  He  studied  law  with  Hon. 
Whiting  Griswold,  in  Greenfield,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 
in  1847.  He  settled  in  Northampton,  where  he  married  the 
daughter  of  Hon.  Isaac  C.  Bates,  and  has  been  to  the  present 
time  in  active  business.  He  has  held  the  positions  of  school 
committee,  postmaster,  county  commissioner,  commissioner  of 


insolvency,  and  United  States  assessor  of  internal  revenue. 
During  his  continuance  in  these  various  offices  he  gave  up 
practice  at  the  Bar  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  but  of  late  has 
again  resumed  his  profession. 

George  Leonard  Barton  was  the  son  of  Bradford  Ben- 
jamin Barton,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Gill,  in  Franklin 
County,  where  he  was  born  in  the  old  red  homestead-house  at 
"  Riverside,"  Nov.  6,  1845.  His  early  education  was  received 
at  the  district  school  and  at  the  Powers  Institute,  in  Ber- 
nardston,  where  he  studied  under  Prof.  Ward.  He  subse- 
quently fitted  himself  for  college  at  the  Exeter,  N.  H.,  Acad- 
emy, and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1867.  In  1870 
he  received  the  degree  of  A.M.  from  that  institution.  About 
1868  he  visited  the  West,  stopping  for  some  time  in  Chicago 
and  Omaha,  and  resided  for  about  two  years  in  Madison, 
Wis.,  where  he  read  law  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Carpenter,  an 
eminent  attorney.  Keturning  to  Massachusetts,  he  became 
principal  of  the  high  school  in  Greenfield,  continuing  his  law- 
studies  after  school-hours  in  the  office  of  Col.  Hopkins.  Hero 
he  continued  about  two  years,  when  he  accepted  a  position  as 
private  tutor  in  a  wealthy  family  at  Framingham,  Mass., 
where  he  remained  about  one  year,  studying  law  in  the  mean 
time.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1871,  and  opened  an 
office  at  Turner's  Falls  in  January,  1872,  where  he  continued 
in  practice  until  his  death.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the  trial- 
justices  of  the  county  in  the  same  year,  and  soon  established 
himself  as  an  able  and  industrious  professional  man  and 
valuable  citizen,  and  his  business  prospered.  He  also  held  the 
position  of  notary  public,  and  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Crocker  Savings-Bank.  He  had  recently  erected  a  fine  and 
tasteful  residence  on  the  bluff,  overlooking  the  broad  river 
and  in  full  view  of  the  falls,  shrouded  in  its  rolling  mist  and 
within  agreeable  sound  of  its  "thundering  waters." 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1872,  he  married  Emma  Sanford, 
daughter  of  Charles  Sanford,  E.sq.,  of  Jackson,  Mich.,  by 
whom  he  had  three  children,  fine,  intelligent  boys,  who  are 
left  with  a  widowed  mother  to  mourn  his  untimely  loss.  He 
died  of  pneumonia  on  the  19th  of  February,  1879,  in  his 
thirty-fourth  year.  His  standing  in  the  community  was  that 
of  a  faithful,  upright  citizen,  a  competent  and  excellent 
public  officer,  and  a  true  husband  and  father. 

Justin  W.  Clark  practiced  law  in  Whately  about  1825 
to  1827,  and  afterward  in  Hatfield,  where  he  was  the  law- 
partner  of  Israel  Billings,  file  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and 
the  firm  had  great  strength  and  an  extensive  practice. 

Hon.  Samuel  T.  Field  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1852, 
and  commenced  practice  at  Shelburne  Falls,  where  he  has 
since  resided  and  built  up  a  respectable  and  successful  prac- 
tice. He  is  a  man  of  large  capacity,  and  bears  an  excellent 
reputation  in  the  profession.  He  was  for  three  years  (from 
1874  to  1877)  district  attorney,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Legislature. 

Among  the  distinguished  members  of  the  Bar  from  abroad 
who  have  practiced,  and  still  continue,  in  the  Franklin  County 
courts,  are  the  following,  who.se  names  are  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Griswold  in  his  address,  delivered  in  March,  1873,  before  the 
Bar  of  the  county :  George  M.  Stearns,  of  the  Hampden 
Bar  ;  Edward  Dickinson  and  Ithamar  F.  Conkey,  of  Am- 
herst; Charles  Delano  and  Samuel  T.  Spaulding,  of 
Northampton  ;  Charles  Field  and  F.  F.  Fay,  of  Athol ; 
Peter  C.  Bacon  and  P.  Emory  Aldrich,  of  Worcester; 
Richard  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  Charles  R.  Train,  and  B.  F.  Hal- 
lett  (deceased),  of  Boston;  and  Charles  Davenport,  of 
Brattleboro',  Vt.,  the  latter  a  native  of  Franklin  Co.,  Mass. 

Hon.  Rbfus  Choate  also  visited  the  county  a  number  of 
times  during  his  practice  as  an  attorney,  and  on  each  occasion 
his  presence  was  greeted  with  a  crowded  house  of  both  sexes. 

For  notices  of  Col.  George  D.  Wells  and  Capt.  George 
W.  Bartlett,  see  Rev.  Mr.  Moors'  "  History  of  Greenfield," 
and  the  military  chapters  in  other  parts  of  this  work. 


134 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


For  notice  of  Hon.  John  Wells,  see  Chapter  XXVI. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  lawyers  who  have  been  members 
of  the  Franklin  County  Bur  since  1811,  with  the  dates  of  their 
admission  : 

Greenfield. — "William    Coleman,    ;    Jonathan    Lcavitt, 

about  1789;  Richard  E.  Newcomb,  about  17913;  Elijah  Alvord, 
about  1802;  Elihu  Lyman,  about  180(3;  George  Grinnell,  about 
1811;  Hooker  Leavitt,  about  1811;  Franklin  Ripley,  about 
1812;    David  Willard,  about  1812;   David  Brigham,  about 

;  Daniel  Wells,  about  1813 ;  Horatio  G.  Newcomb,  about 

1813 ;  Samuel  Wells,  about  1816 ;  Henry  Chapman,  in 
1826 ;  Almon  Brainard,  in  1829 ;  James  C.  Alvord,  in 
1830;  George  T.  Davis,  in  1832;  David  Aiken,  in  1833; 
Charles  Mattoon,  in  1839;  Daniel  W.  Alvord,  in  1841; 
Wendell  T.  Davis,  in  1841;  Charles  Devens,  Jr.,  in  1841; 
AVhiting  Griswold,  in  1842;  Franklin  Ripley,  Jr.,  in 
1845;  James  S.  Grinnell,  in  1840;  Horatio  G.  Parker,  in 
1847;  George  D.  Wells,  in  1849;  Charles  Allen,  in  18-50; 
Samuel  O.  Lamb,  in  1851;  Edward  F.  Raymond,  in  1854; 
W.  S.  B.  Hopkins,  in  18.58;  George  W.  Bartlett,  in  18-59; 
Chester  Cook  Conant,  in  18-59;  James  C.  Davis,  in  1861; 
Edward  E.  Lyman,  in  1801  ;  Austin  De  Wolf,  in  1863  ;  Gor- 
ham  D.  Williains,  in  1808;  William  H.  Gile,  in  1809;  George 
L.  Barton,  in  1871;    John  D.  Aiken,  in  1876;   Franklin  G. 

Fessenden,  in  ;   Francis  M.  Thompson,  in  1876;  Henry 

L.  Nelson,  in ;  Bowdoin  S.  Parker,  in ;  Samuel  D. 

Conaut,  in  1878. 

Derrfield. — Pliny  Arms,  about  1805;  Rodolphus  Dickinson, 
about  1808;  Jonathan  A.  Sa.xton,  about  1817;  Aaron  Arms, 
about  1817;  Elijah  Williams,  about  1825. 

Niirthfield. — Samuel  C.  Allen,  about  1800;  John  Nevers, 
about  1808;  John  Barrett,  about  1808;  Benjamin  R.Curtis, 
in  1832;  William  G.  Woodard,  about  1833;  Solomon  Vose, 
about . 

Charlemont. — Sylvester  Maxwell,  about  1804;  Joseph  P. 
Allen,  about  1817 ;  Emory  Washburn,  in  1821 ;  Edwin  H. 
Parker,  in  1842. 

^ls/i/7>W.— Elijah  Paine,  about  1793. 

Cuuieai/. — William  Billings,  about  1812;  Charles  Baker, 
about  1825;  Albert  C.  Clark,  about  1847;  John  Newton, 
about  1853. 

Sunderland. — Horace  W.  Taft,  about  1810;  Henry  Bar- 
nard,   . 

Montague. — Jonathan  Hartwcll,  about  1812 ;  Timothy  M. 
Dewey,  in  1855 ;  William  S.  Dana,  in . 

Orange. — Stephen  Emory,  about  1811  ;  Rufus  D.  Chase,  in 
1849  ;   Edgar  V.  Wilsim,  in  1870. 

Gill. — Benjamin  Brainard,  about  1815. 
(CAa^c/i/.— Justin  W.  Clark,  about  182.5. 

Colera'me. — Isaac  B.  Barber,  about  1808;  John  Drury,  Jr., 
in  1811 ;   William  Lanfair,  in  1845. 

-SAettwrne.— Arthur  Maxwell,  1849;  Samuel  T.  Field,  18-52; 
Henry  M.  Puffer,  1867. 

Shutesbury. — AVilliam  Ward,  . 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

HOMCEOPATHX"  IN  WESTERN    MASSACHUSETTS.* 

HI.STORICAL    AND    .STATISTICAL. 

Thk  young  man  with  no  past  to  look  back  upon  presses 
forward  to  grasp  and  control  the  future,  stimulated  and  in- 
spired by  hope  rather  than  by  memory.  Homreopathj',  in  the 
vigor  of  a  lusty  youth,  heir  of  all  the  ages  behind  it,  has  a 
short  but  magniflcent  past  to  recall.  Suggested,  more  or  less 
distinctly,  from  the  days  of  the  father  of  medicine,  its  guiding 
lirinciple,  condensed  into  the  terse  aphorism  "  Similia  simil- 


«  Hy  II:iiiiilt..ri.T.  Ci.tc-,  M.I). 


ibus  curantur,"  was  never  distinctly  forniulatcd  as  a  law,  or 
developed  into  an  art  of  healing,  until  the  last  decade  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries.  It 
was  introduced  into  this  country  by  Dr.  Gram,  who  came  to  New 
York  in  1825;  into  Philadelphia,  seven  years  later,  by  George 
Butt,  aided  in  1833  by  Dr.  Hering ;  into  Boston  by  Dr.  Gregg 
in  1838,  although  physicians  and  laymen  had  been  testing  the 
remedies  about  five  years  previous  to  this  date.  Attention 
was  first  called  to  homceopathy  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  by 
!i  newspaper  war,  carried  on  in  the  papers  of  Northampton, 
between  Gen.  B.  E.  Cook  and  his  brother.  Dr.  G.  W.  Cook, 
of  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  in  behalf  of  homoeopathy,  and  representa- 
tives of  the  old  school  of  medicine.  The  facts  and  arguments 
in  favor  of  homojopathy,  vigorously  presented  by  Gen.  Cook 
and  his  brother,  roused  attention  in  Northampton  to  the 
claims  of  the  new  school,  and  led  to  experiments  with  the  reme- 
dies by  at  least  one  allopathic  physician  and  by  several  laymen, 
and  to  the  purchase,  by  a  few,  of  domestic  books  and  cases. 

To  Gen.  Cook  belongs  the  honor  of  introducing  into  the 
Connecticut  Valley  the  first  trial  of  homoeopathic  remedies, 
both  lay  and  professional,  and  of  bringing  about  the  first 
conversion  to  the  new  school  from  the  ranks  of  allopathy. 
No  one  now  living  is  able  to  state  the  precise  time  at  which 
Dr.  Charles  Walker,  who.se  life  is  sketched  below,  began  his 
experiments  with  homoeopathic  remedies  and  his  study  of  its 
principles.  We  know  that  he  was  the  first  physician  to  adopt 
the  new  practice  in  Western  Massachusetts,  and  one  of  the 
very  earliest  in  the  State.  When  Dr.  Cate  succeeded  Dr. 
Walker,  after  the  hitter's  death,  in  18-55,  Dr.  Cate  was  the  only 
homoeopathic  physician  in  Hampshire  County;  in  Franklin 
County  there  were  only  two;  in  Hampden,  none  outside  of 
Springfield.  Now  there  are  twenty-five  in  the  three  river- 
counties,  not  counting  those  who  employ  both  methods  of  prac- 
tice, while  there  are  few  allopathic  physicians  who  do  not,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  employ  homoeopathic  remedies, — none 
■whose  practice  is  not  largely  modified  by  its  influence.  Here, 
as  elsewhere,  the  clientele  of  homceopathic  physicians  is  made 
up  of  families  of  the  highest  culture  and  intelligence ;  here, 
as  elsewhere,  the  proportion  of  believers  in  homieopathy  is  a 
safe  gauge  of  the  intelligence  and  education  of  a  community. 
As  has  been  noted  elsewhere,  in  the  biographical  sketch  of 
Dr.  Swazey,  he  came  to  Springfield  in  1844,  and  thenceforth 
became  a  force  in  the  ranks  of  homoeopathy  in  Western  Massa- 
chusetts. In  Franklin  County,  Dr.  Collins,  of  Conway,  and 
Dr.  Chisholm,  at  Greenfield,  were  the  earliest  physicians  to 
adopt  the  new  mode  of  practice.  Dr.  Chisholm  remained  at 
Greenfield  but  a  short  time,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Stone, 
a  sketch  of  whose  life  is  given  below,  and  in  whose  hands 
homoeopathy  at  once  assumed  a  strong  and  respected  position. 
A  portion  of  the  physicians  through  the  valley  are  members  of 
the  large  and  vigorous  State  organization  ;  but  in  1877  "  The 
Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Western  Massachusetts" 
was  formed,  for  the  convenience  of  those  living  in  the  western 
half  of  the  State.  The  society  holds  quarterly  meetings  at 
some  accessible  place,  at  which  practical  papers  are  read  and 
discussed  and  cases  and  patients  presented  for  advice  and 
treatment.  It  now  has  thirty-six  members,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  list,  with  their  places  of  practice :  E.  R.  Morgan, 
Shelburne  Falls;  D.  T.  Viwing,  Conway;  A.  Harvey,  North 
Adams;  L.  Macfarland,  Springfield;  H.  Tucker,  Brattleboro', 
Vt. ;  J.  U.  Woods,  Holyoke;  E.  W.  Higbee,  Northampton; 
C.  F.  Sterling,  Amherst;  J.  K.  Warren,  Palmer;  W.  F. 
Harding,  Westfleld ;  Geo.  H.  Smith,  Holyoke;  H.  J.  Cate, 
O.  0.  Roberts,  Northampton ;  L.  W.  Cole,  Springfield  ;  Geo.  F. 
Forbes,  West  Brookfield;  J.  M.  Barton,  W.  B.  Chamberlain, 
J.  H.  Carmichael,  F.  R.  Sibley,  Worcester;  D.  B.  Whittier, 
'Fitchburg;  D.  Warren,  Winsted,  Conn.;  G.  G.  Hitchcock, 
South  Hadley  Falls;  W.  R.  Bartlett,  Chicopee;  W.  S.  Sever- 
ance, Greenfield  ;  J.  H.  Darling,  Thompsonville,  Conn..;  W. 
H.  Wentworth,  Pittsfie.ld. 


Photo,  by  Wm.  B.  Miles. 


George  W.  Swazey,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Exeter, 
N.  H.,  Aug.  10,  1812.  He  was  seventh  son  of  Thomas 
Swazey,  a  carpenter  by  trade,  honest  and  industrious  in 
character. 

Having  passed  the  first  ten  years  of  his  life  at  Exeter, 
he  went,  in  1822,  to  Maine,  Pennsylvania,  and  later  to  New 
Jersey,  where  in  various  ways  he  earned  a  living,  embracing 
every  opportunity  to  further  his  ambition  for  the  attainment 
of  knowledge.  His  first  tuition  of  any  importance  was 
received  in  the  Manual  Labor  School,  Germantown,  and 
afterward  at  Elizabeth  town.  In  1832  he  entered  Bowdoin 
College,  where  he  pursued  his  education  with  close  attention, 
and  finally  graduated  from  the  medical  department  of  the 
college  at  Brunswick,  in  1837,  and  removed  to  Harwich, 
Mass.,  where  he  acquired  a  good  practice,  and  later  settled 
in  Bucksport,  Me.,  where  a  large  field  was  open. 

In  this  eventful  decade  of  life  he  married  Sarah  E.  Allen, 
of  Bath,  Me.,  who  had  at  one  time  been  his  pupil.  Having 
embraced  the  Swedenborgian  faith,  he  was  excommunicated 
from  the  communion  of  the  Calvinist  church,  which  he  had 
joined  in  early  life. 

Becoming  a  partial  convert  to  the  theory  of  medicine 
introduced  by  Hahnemann,  Dr.  Swazey  devoted  a  period  of 
four  years  to  anxious  and  earnest  study,  while  still  pursuing 
the  practice  of  the  old  school.  Being  firmly  persuaded  as 
to  the  true  course,  and  determined  to  adopt  homa3opathy,  he 
announced  his  intention  and  removed  to  Newburyport, 
where  he  introduced  the  practice,  bitterly  opposed  by  the 
practitioners  of  the  allopathic  school.  From  Newburyport 
he  removed  to  Springfield,  and  remained  the  sole  practitioner 


ot  homoeopathy  until  1854,  and  became  the  pioneer  of 
homoeopathy  in  Western  Massachusetts,  where  for  more  than 
thirty  years  he  pursued  an  eventful  career,  rejoicing  in  the 
steady  progress  of  the  truths  developed  by  the  new  theory 
of  practice,  as  well  as  in  the  success  of  his  life's  ambition. 

Dr.  Swazey  was,  in  the  full  acceptation  of  the  term,  a 
self-made  man,  having  from  the  age  of  eleven  educated  and 
maintained  himself  by  his  own  unaided  efforts,  demonstra- 
ting in  his  life  the  fact  that  perseverance  and  industry  can 
accomplish  wonderful  results.  He  occupied  honorable  posi- 
tions in  the  State  and  national  societies  of  his  school,  and 
contributed  to  its  literature. 

The  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Massachusetts 
speaks  as  follows  of  him  : 

"  He  stood  high  in  our  school  of  medicine,  and  the  many 
honors  conferred  upon  him  by  his  professional  brethren 
were  merited  by  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  homoeopathy. 
.  .  .  He  was  nerved  and  disciplined  for  his  career  by 
his  early  conditions  in  life.  He  had  genius  and  capacity 
for  great  endurance.  .  .  .  His  fortitude  did  not  fail 
him  even  in  a  few  minutes  of  consciousness  that  remained 
after  his  fatal  fall,  a  distance  of  nearly  thirty  feet,  from  a 
bridge  in  Deerfield,  near  nine  o'clock  of  Saturday  night, 
Sept.  8,  1877.  Among  the  most  striking  characteristics  of 
his  nature  were  versatility  of  talent,  and  undaunted  courage 
to  attack  error  and  defend  truth,  patience  to  wait,  and  wis- 
dom to  act." 

His  wife  died  in  the  year  1857,  and  he  was  married  to 
Sarah  A.,  daughter  of  Harvey  Clark,  of  Mansfield,  Conn., 
who  survives  him,  and  resides  in  Springfield. 


"■>""»«■  a,  s.,^  s.M^-^'^ 


0. 0.  /fe^Sr-^^r^ 


HISTORY   OF   THE    COXXECTICUT   VALLEY. 


135 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Dk.  Charles  Walker,  of  Northampton,  has  a  riglit  to  the 
fir.st  phice,  in  point  of  time,  among  those  of  whom  we  id,ive 
biographical  sketches  as  identified  with  the  early  history  of 
homosopathy  in  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

Dr.  Walker  was  horn  July  28,  1802.  Graduating  at  Dart- 
mouth College,  he  took  his  medical  degree  at  Philadelphia. 
He  married  Miss  Sarah  Storrs,  of  Northampton,  whose  deatli 
preceded  his  by  but  a  few  months. 

His  attention  was  early  called  to  honiteopathj',  and  there  is 
positive  knowledge  of  at  least  one  homoeopathic  prescription 
made  by  him  which  could  not  have  been  later  than  1834,  and 
may  have  been  as  early  as  the  preceding  year, — certainly  the 
earliest  in  Western  Massachusetts,  and  perhaps  in  the  State. 
It  is  impossible  to  state  when  he  first  announced  himself  as  a 
homoeopathist.  There  was  no  point  of  time  on  one  side  of  whicli 
he  was  an  allopathist,  on  the  other  a  homceopathist. 

Dr.  Walker  embraced  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  new 
school  when  it  required  courage  to  do  so, — when  the  change 
involved  not  only  professional  but,  to  a  great  extent,  social 
ostracism.  It  has  been  said  that  the  history  of  every  great 
discovery  has  its  three  stages, — of  ridicule,  of  persecution,  of 
general  acceptance.  Dr.  Walker  tested  the  first  two  of  these 
stages. 

He  early  became  a  Christian,  identifying  himself  first  with 
the  old  church,  but  withdrawing  to  aid  in  forming  the  Ed- 
wards Church  in  183.3.  He  was  naturally  genial  in  manner 
and  character,  and  loved  well  to  hear  and  to  tell  a  good  story. 
His  health  and  strength  gradually  waned  .in  the  last  years  of 
his  life,  and  his  death  took  place  Jan.  17,  18.5.5. 

Hamilton  J.  Cate,  M.D.,*  was  born  in  Sanbornton,  N.H., 
March  11,  1824.  His  father  was  Capt.  Jonathan  Cate,  an 
officer  of  the  war  of  1812  ;  his  mother  was  Elizabeth  Sanborn. 
Both  were  of  Sanbornton,  and  grandchildren  of  two  of  tlio 
early  and  large  proprietors  of  the  township.  In  Dr.  Cate's 
native  town  was  an  e.xcellent  academy,  somewhat  noted  in 
those  days,  and  in  this  Dr.  Cate  was  fitted  for  college.  A  born 
lover  of  learning  he  was,  and  to  this  day  has  remained ;  a  hard- 
working student  in  all  directions  where  knowledge  is  to  be 
found, — knowledge  of  the  sciences,  the  languages,  general 
literature,  and  of  the  profession  to  which  he  gave  himself. 
And  apropos  of  his  profession,  it  was  natural  that  he  should 
choose  medicine,  since  he  found  himself  in  a  family  of  physi- 
cians on  the  maternal  side.  There  are  in  the  family  of  Dr. 
Cate's  own  generation  four  physicians,  all  of  them  homceo- 
pathic,  including  himself.  In  1845,  Dr.  Cate  began  his  studies 
with  his  uncle,  Dr.  Benaiah  Sanborn,  of  Lyndon,  Vt.,  whose 
partner  was  Dr.  Charles  B.  Darling.  They  were  then  allo- 
pathists,  but  within  the  next  few  years  the  preceptors  and 
many  of  their  pupils,  including  Dr.  Cate,  became  homojopath- 
ists,  being  among  the  earliest  converts  to  the  new  school 
in  that  part  of  New  England.  As  an  allopath  Dr.  Cate  at- 
tended one  course  of  lectures  in  1840  at  Castleton,  Vt.,  and 
two  courses  at  Woodstock,  where  he  graduated  in  1840.  In 
the  same  year  he  married  Miss  S.  E.  Roberts,  of  Lyndon,  Vt. 
After  the  change  in  his  convictions  he  studied  homceopathy 
with  Dr.  Alpheus  Morrill,  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  with  whom,  in 
1851,  he  went  into  partnership,  in  1849-50  and-  in  1852—53 
attending  lectures  at  the  Philadelphia  Honueopathic  College. 
Upon  Dr.  Walker's  death,  in  1855,  he  came  to  Northampton, 
where  he  remained  until  1857.  In  this  year  he  was  nuirried  to 
Miss  Mary  D.  Plant,  of  Northampton. 

Dr.  Cate  has  at  no  time  in  his  life  been  strong,  and  has 
many  times  been  the  subject  of  breakdowns,  more  or  less  pro- 
tracted. One  came  in  1857,  and  from  that  time  until  1865  he 
was  unable  to  practice,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  In  1865  he  returned  to  Western  Massachu- 
setts, settling  at  Amherst,  where  he  still  has  an  office  in  eon- 


*  Written  by  n  fiieiiil. 


nection  with  his  practice  at  Northampton,  where  he  now 
resides.  Dr.  Cate  is  a  member  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natu- 
ral History  and  of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of 
Western  Massachusetts.  He  was  succeeded  at  Northamp- 
ton by  Dr.  O.  O.  Roberts. 

OsMON  O.SBORNE  ROBERTS,  M.D.,  was  born  Oct.  27,  1828, 
in  Lyndon,  Vt.  His  father,  Charles  Roberts,  was  a  farmer, 
living  near  the  village  which  was  called  "the  depot  of  the 
lawyers  of  Caledonia  County."  There  were  churches,  their 
pastors  and  their  families ;  physicians,  and  their  students 
and  families ;  there  were  good  common  schools  and  an 
academy  ;  so  that  Dr.  Roberts  had  good  educational  and  social 
advantages.  In  1850  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Hamilton  J.  Cate,  remaining  with  him 
through  the  whole  course.  In  1851-52  he  attended  lectures 
in  Woodstock,  Vt.,  and  in  1852-53  at  the  Philadelphia  HomcE- 
opathic  College,  where  he  graduated.  Beginning  practice  in 
a  few  months  at  Milford,  N.  H.,  he  remained  there  until 
1857,  when  he  removed  to  Northampton,  where  he  still  re- 
mains in  the  full  practice  to  which  his  faithfulness,  physical 
energy,  and  his  "hail-fellow-well-met"  qualities  have  fully 
entitled  him. 

In  Ma}',  1857,  he  married  Miss  Emiiie  E.  Eastman,  of  Lit- 
tleton, N.  H.  They  have  had  no  chidren,  but  their  handsome 
house  is  made  attractive  by  its  many  vines  and  flowers, 
by  fine  collections  of  coins  and  minerals,  and  by  rich  old 
furniture. 

Joshua  Stone,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Westfield,  N.  Y.,  Oct. 
21,  1825.  After  the  usual  course  of  medical  study,  he  attended 
lectures  at  the  Homoeopathic  College  of  Philadelphia  in  the 
winter  of  1851-.52,  and  graduated  in  the  spring  of  1852.  The 
first  years  of  his  professional  life  were  spent  in  St.  Johnsbury, 
Vt.,  in  partnership  with  Dr.  Benaiah  Sanborn,  of  whom  we 
have  elsewhere  spoken  as  a  prominent  physician  and  one  of 
the  earliest  converts  to  homceopathy  in  Vermont.  In  Novem- 
ber, 18-55,  he  married  Miss  E.  L.  Ingersoll,  of  Greenfield, 
Mass.,  and  in  July,  18.56,  removed  to  Greenfield,  where  he 
remained  in  practice  until  his  death,  Sept.  1,  1859.  Dr.  Stone 
was  still  a  young  physician  when  he  died,  and  to  his  many 
friends  his  early  death  seemed  a  sad  one  for  homoeopathy  and 
for  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  really  the 
pioneer  of  homoeopathy  in  Greenfield,  as  Dr.  Chisholm  was 
there  but  a  short  time  and  homoeopathy  had  gained  no  sub- 
stantial foothold.  In  one  of  the  most  conservative  communi- 
ties in  conservative  New  England,  he  at  once  won  a  high 
position  for  himself  and  for  homoeopathy.  A  man  of  unusual 
intellectual  calibre,  energetic,  alert,  and  studious  in  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  profession  which  he  had  chosen  and 
loved,  he  at  once  gained  and  retained  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  gave  one 
the  impression  of  a  refined  gentleman, — a  gentleman  by  habit 
and  instinct.  He  won  love  as  well  as  respect.  Genial,  kindly, 
and  sympathetic  in  manner  and  heart,  loving  a  good  story 
and  telling  one  well,  he  was  able  to  reinforce  his  medical  pre- 
scriptions by  imparting  to  his  patients  the  hopeful  and  cheer- 
ful mood  often  quite  as  important  as  medicine.  For  many 
years  before  his  death  Dr.  Stone  was  an  earnest  Christian, 
carrying  into  all  his  life — domestic  and  public — the  divine 
principles  of  the  Master  whom  he  faithfully  served.  The 
friends  who  knew  him  best  loved  him  best,  and  the  friends 
of  homoeopathy  in  Western  Massachusetts  must  join  with  his 
many  personal  friends  in  regretting  his  early  death.  He  was 
a  phj'sician  "  to  the  manor  born,"  and  united  in  himself  to  a 
rare  degree  the  qualities  that  would  have  secured  for  the  new 
school,  as  for  himself,  a  strong  and  secure  position  in  public 
respect  and  confidence. 

William  Baker  Chamberlain,  M.D.,  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  London,  N.  H.,  Sept.  15,  1827.  Educated 
in  Sanbornton,  in  1849  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  Alpheus  Morrill,  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  spending  the  latter 


136 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


part  of  his  pupilage  with  Dr.  S.  M.  Gate,  of  Augusta,  Me., 
with  whom  he  was  also  associated  in  practice.  In  185'2  he 
became  partner  of  one  of  the  pioneers  of  homoeopathy  in 
Maine, — Dr.  J.  Roberts,  of  North  Vassalboro', — and  the  next 
year  was  settled  at  China,  Me.,  still  in  partnership  with  Dr. 
Roberts. 

Dr.  Chamberlain  attended  allopathic  lectures  at  Hanover, 
and  in  the  winter  of  1853-54  took  his  final  course  at  the  Cleve- 
land Homeeopathic  College,  where  he  graduated  in  March, 
1854.  After  graduating  he  succeeded  Dr.  J.  C.  Baker,  at 
Keene,  N.  H.,  rapidly  building  up  a  large  and  widely-e.xtended 
practice.  Here,  also,  in  1859,  he  married  Miss  Louisa  Brainard, 
of  Boston.  On  account  of  the  failing  health  of  his  brother- 
in-law.  Dr.  J.  C.  Freeland,  of  Fitehburg,  he  went  to  that  city 
in  1863.  In  January,  186(3,  he  established  himself  in  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  where  he  still  remains  in  large  and  successful 
practice, — successful  in  the  highest  and  worthiest  sense.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Worcester  County  society  and  of  the 
State  society,  having  been  president  of  both  these  societies ; 
he  is  also  member  of  the  society  of  Western  Massachusetts 
and  of  the  American  Homeeopathic  Institute. 

Observant  and  watchful  by  nature  and  habit,  always  a 
student,  liberal  and  progressive  in  all  directions.  Dr.  Chamber- 
lain has  in  himself  the  elements  that  deserve  and  win  success. 
Genial  in  face,  character,  and  manner,  kind  and  sympathetic 
in  his  intercourse  with  the  sick  and  suft'ering,  with  a  hearty 
and  infectious  laugh  to  which  his  somewhat  aldermanic  pro- 
portions are  ever  ready  to  respond,  thoughtful  and  courteous 
in  his  intercourse  with  others,  especially  helpful  to  students 
and  younger  physicians, — he  is  eminently  and  deservedly  suc- 
cessful. 

Daniel  Brainard  Whittier,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Goifs- 
town,  N.  H.,  Oct.  21,  1834,  inheriting  English  blood  from  his 
father  and  Scotch-Irish  from  his  mother.  After  finishing  his 
academical  education,  he  spent  two  years  or  more  at  the  W'est 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  thence  returning  to  New  Hamp- 
shire, where  he  married  Miss  Mary  Chamberlain  in  October, 
1858.  Soon  after  this  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  W.  B.  Chamberlain,  then  of  Keene, 
N.  H.  In  the  winter  of  1859-00  he  attended  lectures  at  Har- 
vard University,  during  that  of  1862-63  at  the  New  York 
HonifBopathic  College,  where  he  graduated  in  March,  1863. 
In  the  mean  time  he  had  begun  practice,  at  first  for  a  short 
time,  in  Gardner,  Mass.,  from  which  place  he  went,  in  1862, 
to  Fitehburg,  where  he  still  remains. 

Dr.  Whittier  has  made  a  specialty  of  the  disea.ses  of  women 
and  children,  in  which  he  has  acquired  a  creditable  degree  of 
skill  and  reputation.  He  is  a  member  and  has  been  president 
of  the  State  society,  member  and  president  of  the  Worcester 
County  society,  and  member  of  the  society  of  Western  Mas- 
sachusetts. Inheriting  from  his  parents  a  large  degree  of 
physical  and  intellectual  vigor,  kind  and  sympathetic  by  na- 
ture, thoroughly  informed  in  everything  pertaining  to  the 
profession  he  has  chosen,  he  has  gained  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  patrons  and  built  up  a 
large  and  prosperous  business.  A  Christian  gentleman  and 
a  good  citizen  as  well  as  physician,  he  is  interested  in  all  the 
moral  and  political  questions  of  the  day,  and  contributes  by 
his  influence  and  efibrts  to  the  success  of  every  worthy  cause. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

MILITABY-HISTORY  OF  ORGANIZATIONS  W^HICH 
SERVED  DURING  THE  REBELLION,  1801-e5-iOTH 
REGIMENT. 

TiiK  history  of  the  various  organizations  which  went  out 
during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  from  the  three  river-counties 

of   Massachusetts,  and  including   portions  fi i   Berkshire,  is 

largely  compiled  from  the  volumes  of  the  adjutant-general  of 


the  State  and  P.  C.  Headley's  "Massachusetts  in  the  Rebel- 
lion." 

The  10th  and  27th  Regiments  are  exceptions,  the  former 
being  condensed  from  Capt.  Joseph  K.  Newell's  very  com- 
plete and  interesting  history  of  that  organization,  and  the 
latter  partly  from  Headley's  work  and  partly  from  information 
furnished  by  Gen.  Horace  C.  Lee,  of  Springfield,  who  com- 
manded it  until  his  capture  at  Drury's  Blutf  (Fort  Darling). 
To  these  gentlemen  we  are  under  special  obligations.* 

It  has  been  deemed  advisable,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  no 
entire  regiment  was  recruited  in  either  of  the  counties,  to  in- 
clude the  history  of  the  various  organizations  in  general  chap- 
ters covering  the  whole  valley.  It  is  not  as  full  and  elaborate 
as  we  could  wish,  but  the  immense  number  of  topics  treated 
in  this  work  compels  the  adoption  of  an  abbreviated  form  for 
the  military  portion. 

military  statistics. 

The  total  number  of  men  furnished  by  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  all  arms  of  the  service  during  the  Rebellion  was,  in 
round  numbers,  160,000.  This  covered  a  surplus,  over  and 
above  all  calls,  of  13,492  men.  The  proportional  quota  for 
the  three  river-counties,  according  to  population,  would  have 
been  about  15,000,  divided  about  as  follows  among  the  coun- 
ties :  Hampden,  7000;  Hamijshire,  4500;  Franklin,  3500. 

It  is  probable  that  the  13,000  surplus  men  were  mostly  from 
the  seaboard-counties,  where  large  numbers  entered  the  naval 
service,  but  were  not  credited  to  the  State  for  some  time  after 
their  enlistment,  the  counties  being  called  upon  to  furnish 
their  regular  quotas  for  the  army  without  deducting  seamen. 

The  total  expenditure  by  the  State  during  the  war  was 
$27,705,109,  exclusive  of  amounts  raised  by  cities  and  towns, 
and  also  of  all  sums  contributed  1>}'  sanitarj'  and  aid  societies, 
etc.,  which  amounted  to  verj'  large  figures. 

TIIK    TENTH    MASSACHtJSETTS   INFANTRY. 

This  fine  regiment  was  made  up  largely  of  members  of  the 
10th  Massachusetts  Regiment  of  militia,  which  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Rebelliim  consisted  of  the  following  eight  com- 
panies: A,  of  Shutesbury;  B,  of  Leverett;  C,  of  Northamp- 
ton; D,  of  Belchertown  ;  E,  of  Coleraine  ;  P,  of  S|)ringfield  ; 
G,  of  Greenfield  ;  H,  of  Shelburne;  five  companies  being  from 
Franklin  County,  two  from  Hampshire,  and  one  fnmi  Hamp- 
den. Col.  J.  M.  Decker,  of  Greenfield,  was  in  command  of 
the  regiment. 

The  companies  consisted  of  about  40  men  each.  Under  the 
provisions  of  a  bill  passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
Feb.  6,  1861,  infantry  and  rifle  companies  were  required  to 
contain  64  privates.  Cos.  A,  B,  and  D,  not  being  able  to  ful- 
fill the  requirements  of  this  law,  were  disbanded,  and  their 
places  supplied  by  companies  from  Great  Harrington,  North 
Adams,  and  Pittsfield.  Co.  E,  of  Coleraine,  was  divided 
among  other  companies,  and  its  place  supplied  by  a  company 
from  Springfield  recruited  by  Capt.  Barton.  A  new  company, 
I,  was  formed  by  uniting  the  volunteers  of  Holyoke  and  West 
Springfield,  and  a  full  company,  K,  Wiis  recruited  at  West- 
field. 

The  State  of  Massachusetts  was  tolerably  well  prepared  for 
hostilities  when  the  rebellion  burst  forth.  Her  statesmen  had 
anticipated  the  secession  movement,  and  the  militia  had  been 
pretty  thoroughly  strengtliened  and  made  ready  for  any  emer- 
gency during  the  three  or  four  months  preceding  the  first 
hostile  steps  taken  by  the  South. 

When  the  electric  thrill  passed  over  the  Northern  States 
following  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  proclamation 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  sent  to  every  part 
of  the  land  calling  for  75,000  men  for  three  months,  there  was 

*  We  are  also  under  obligatiuns  to  Rev.  Dr.  Moors,  of  Greenfield,  and  Adjt. 
Holmes,  of  tlie  27tli  Ilegiiiient,  for  siiec-iiil  favora.  The  history  of  the  62d  llegi- 
ment  is  mainly  fi-uiii  Iti'v.  James  K.  llosmer's  most  interesting  volume  entitled 
"The  Color-Giuuil." 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


137 


a  sudden  rush  to  the  recruiting-stations  in  every  State  which 
remained  loyal  to  the  government;  but  Massachusetts,  with 
her  organized  militia,  was  at  once  prepared  to  dispatch  her 
quota  to  the  "  seat  of  war."  The  quota  being  only  two  regi- 
ments, the  6th  and  8th,  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  State, 
were  immediately  sent  forward,  and  were  the  first,  or  among 
the  first,  to  succor  the  national  capital,  in  immediate  danger 
of  attack  from  the  hosts  of  armed  rebels  which  had  been  pre- 
paring for  months  to  overthrow  the  republic  and  erect  upon  its 
ruins  a  y««si-republic,  with  slavery  as  its  "  chief  corner-stone." 
So  ftir  as  we  can  ascertain  from  military  records,  the  three 
Connecticut  River  counties  only  furnished  six  men  to  the 
three  months'  service,  of  whom  three  were  from  Hampden, 
two  from  Hampshire,  and  one  from  Franklin  Counties.  It  is 
claimed,  however,  that  a  suificient  number  of  men  from  the 
four  western  counties  of  the  State  (impatient  at  the  delay  of 
the  government)  crossed  over  the  border  and  enlisted  in  other 
State  organizations  to  have  formed  at  least  half  of  a  full  regi- 
ment. 

At  length  the  long-looked-for  order  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  was  issued  on  the  1.3th  of  May,  1801, 
calling  for  six  three  years'  regiments  in  addition  to  the  two 
three  months'  regiments  already  in  the  field. 

Under  this  call  one  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  four  west- 
ern counties,  and  the  following  companies  were  chosen  to  form 
its  complement :  Springfield  City  Guard,  Capt.  Hosea  C.  Lom- 
bard ;  Capt.  Fred.  Barton's  company,  then  in  camp  at  Hamp- 
den Park,  Springfield;  the  company  made  up  from  Holyoke 
and  West  Springfield,  under  Capt.  John  H.  Clilford ;  the  West- 
field  company,  Capt.  Lucius  B.  Walkley  ;  the  Northampton 
company,  Capt.  William  R.  Marsh  ;  the  Shelburne  company, 
Capt.  Ozro  Miller  ;  the  Greenfield  company,  Capt.  E.  E.  Day ; 
the  Pittsfield  company,  Capt.  Thomas  W.  Clapp ;  the  Adams 
company,  Capt.  Elisha  Smart ;  and  the  company  from  Great 
Barrington,  Capt.  Ralph  O.  Ives.  The  company  of  Capt. 
Oliver  Edwards,  encamped  on  the  park,  and  the  Coleraine 
company,  Capt.  Nelson,  were  broken  up  and  divided  among 
the  others. 

On  the  31st  of  May  the  company  from  Great  Barrington 
arrived  and  went  into  camp  at  Hampden  Park,  making  three 
companies  then  on  the  ground. 

On  the  9th  of  June,  it  being  Sunday,  the  three  companies, 
accompanied  by  the  Springfield  Guards,  attended  divine  ser- 
vice at  the  First  Church,  which  was  tastefully  decorated  for  the 
occasion. 

By  orders  from  headquarters  of  the  State  government,  the 
ten  companies  composing  the  regiment  were  directed  to  ren- 
dezvous at  Hampden  Park,  Springfield,  on  the  14th  of  June, 
there  to  remain  until  equipped  for  the  field.  All  the  compa- 
nies reported  promptly,  except  the  Pittsfield  company,  which, 
by  a  mistake  in  mailing  the  orders,  did  not  arrive  until  the 
15th. 

The  companies  were  sworn  into  the  United  States  service 
on  the  21st  of  June  by  Capt.  Marshall,  of  the  regular  army. 
The  following  is  the  roster  of  the  regiment  as  at  first  orga- 
nized :  Colonel,  Henry  S.  Briggs,  of  Pittsfield ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  Jeftbrd  M.  Decker,  of  Lawrence;  Major,  James  S. 
Grinnell,  of  Greenfield  (Mr.  Grinnell  declined  the  appoint- 
ment, and  Capt.  William  R.  Marsh,  of  Northampton,  was 
commissioned  in  his  stead) ;  Surgeon,  Dr.  C.  N.  Chamberlain, 
of  Northampton  ;  Assistant  Surgeon,  Dr.  William  Holbrook, 
of  Palmer;  Adjutant,  Oliver  Edwards,  of  Si)ringfield;  Quar- 
termaster, John  W.  Howland,  of  North  Adams  ;  Chaplain, 
Frederick  A.  Barton,  of  Springfield  ;  Sergeant-Major,  Edward 
K.  Wilcox,  of  Springfield  ;  Quartermaster-Sergeant,  Elihu  B. 
Whittlesey,  of  Pittsfield  ;  Commissary-Sergeant,  Frank  Jones 
Childs ;  Hospital  Steward,  Charles  C.  Wells.* 

*  The  eommissiona  were  not  all  received  at  the  same  time,  and  some  of  tlie 
non-commissioned  staff  were  not  appointed  until  a  subseijuent  date.  In  the 
course  of  the  war  they  were  all  liable  to  change  from  casualtie-s,  promotions,  etc. 

18 


Company  A. — Captain,  Ralph  O.  Ives ;  First  Lieutenant, 
James  L.  Bacon ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Henry  L.  Wilcox. 

Company  B. — Captain,  Elisha  Smart;  First  Lieutenant, 
F.  C.  Traver ;  Second  Lieutenant,  John  Goddard. 

Company  C. — Captain,  Wm.  R.  Marsh  ;  First  Lieutenant, 
Jo.seph  B.  Parsons  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Flavel  Shurtleff.f 

Company  D. — Captain,  Thomas  W.  Clapp ;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, Charles  Wheeler;  Second  Lieutenant,  George  E. 
Hagar. 

Company  E. — Captain,  Fred.  Barton ;  First  Lieutenant, 
Byron  Porter ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Wallace  A.  Putnam. 

Company  F. — Captain,  Hosea  C.  Lombard ;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, Hiram  A.  Keith ;  Second  Lieutenant,  George  W. 
Bigelow. 

Company  G. — Captain,  Edwin  E.  Day ;  First  Lieutenant, 
George  Pierce;  Second  Lieutenant,  L.  M.  Remington. 

Company  H. — Captain,  Ozro  Miller ;  First  Lieutenant,  C. 
J.  Woodward  ;   Second  Lieutenant,  B.  F.  Leland. 

Company  I. — Captain,  John  H.  Clilford  ;  First  Lieutenant, 
Joseph  K.  Newell ;  Second  Lieutenant,  James  P.  Brooks. 

Company  K. — Captain,  Lucius  B.  Walkley ;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, Pliny  Wood ;  Second  Lieutenant,  David  M.  Chase. 

On  the  same  day  Capt.  Marsh,  of  Co.  C,  was  appointed 
major  in  place  of  James  S.  Grinnell,  declined,  and  this  made 
other  changes  in  the  company  oflScers,  Lieut.  J.  B.  Parsons 
being  promoted  to  captain,  James  H.  Weatherell  to  first,  and 
Flavel  Shurtleft'  to  second  lieutenant. 

Under  the  State  militia  law  each  company  was  entitled  to 
four  lieutenants,  and  several  of  them  were  fully  oflicered; 
but  in  the  United  States  service  only  two  lieutenants  were 
provided  for,  and  the  surplus  oificers  were  consequently 
thrown  out.  James  P.  Brooks,  who  had  been  elected  as 
second  lieutenant  of  Co.  I,  was  set  aside,  and  Joseph  H. 
Bennett  substituted  in  his  place.  Changes  were  also  made 
in  Co.  K. 

Commanders  of  companies  took  their  positions  according 
to  seniority  of  rank,  the  right  company  being  the  first  post 
of  honor,  the  left  the  second,  the  color-company  the  third, 
etc.,  alternately.  This  arrangement  was  continued  through- 
out the  war.  In  some  portions  of  the  volunteer  army  the 
regulation  order  was  kept  up  without  regard  to  seniority  of 
commission. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Camp  Hampden  until  the  16th 
of  July,  during  which  interval  the  men  were  initiated  into 
the  business  of  a  soldier's  life  so  far  as  is  practiced  in  camp. 
They  were  regularly  drilled  each  day  in  company  movements 
and  in  the  manual  of  arms  and  practiced  in  guard-mounting, 
and  on  the  anniversaries  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and 
the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  took  part  in  the 
local  celebrations. 

On  the  2d  of  July  the  regiment  marched  to  the  United 
States  armory,  where  they  were  furnished  with  muskets  of 
the  pattern  of  1842,  which  they  retained  until  the  5th  of  the 
same  month,  when  they  were  exchanged  for  the  English  En- 
field rifle,  which  in  turn  was  eventually  supplanted  by  the 
improved  Springfield  rifled  musket,  at  that  time  the  best 
infantry  arm  in  use. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  war  it  was  deemed  essential 
that  nearly  every  regiment  of  infantry  should  be  provided 
with  a  regimental  band,  and  the  10th  was  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  The  band,  which  was  from  North  Adams,  under  the 
leader-ship  of  William  D.  Hodge,  joined  the  regiment  on  the 
Sth  of  July.  Subsequently  nearly  all  the  regimental  bands 
were  mustered  out  under  orders  from  the  War  Department, 
and  thenceforward  about  one  band  to  each  division  was 
allowed  with  the  active  army. 

On  the  10th  of  July  the  regiment  was  reviewed  and  in- 
spected by  Gov.  Andrew  and  stall'.    During  his  stay  the  Gov- 


t  See  farther  on. 


138 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


ernor  visited  the  armory,  where  he  was  received  with  much 
attention  and  complimented  with  a  national  salute. 

Prom  the  11th  to  the  13th  the  men  were  granted  leave  of 
absence  to  visit  families  and  friends,  preparatory  to  departing 
for  the  seat  of  war. 

On  the  15th  of  the  month  a  stand  of  elegant  and  costly 
colors  was  presented  to  the  regiment  hy  Mrs.  James  Barnes, 
on  behalf  of  the  women  of  Springfield.  Col.  James  M. 
Thompson  presided  on  the  occasion,  which  drew  together  a 
large  concourse  of  spectators.  The  colors  were  the  exclusive 
gift  of  the  ladies  of  the  city,  and  were  procured  at  an  expense 
of  5275. 

Among  other  presentations  by  friends  were  a  splendid  chest- 
nut horse  to  Adjt.  Edwards,  a  fine  pair  of  pistols  to  Capt. 
Lombard,  a  revolver  each  to  Capt.  Clift'ord  and  Lieut.  Ben- 
nett, a  gold  chain  and  signet-ring  to  Lieut.  Newell,  and  a 
sash  and  epaulettes  to  Lieut.  Geo.  W.  Bigelow. 

On  Tuesday,  July  16,  1861,  the  regiment  abandoned  their 
camp  at  Hampden  Park,  and,  with  the  Springfield  Cadets  and 
Union  Guard  as  escort,  moved  to  the  railway  depot,  where 
they  hade  adieu  to  families  and  friends,  and,  filling  seventeen 
passenger-cars,  which  slowly  pulled  out  from  the  station, 
they  departed  for  Boston  amid  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs 
and  banners  and  the  tears  and  acclamations  of  the  assembled 
spectators,  many  of  them  destined  never  to  look  upon  the  old 
familiar  places  again  in  this  life.  The  story  of  the  departure 
of  every  regiment  which  went  into  the  field  during  the  dark 
years  of  the  Rebellion  is  almost  identical, — the  same  sad  hand- 
shakings and  tearful  adieus,  the  same  "  Good-by  I  God  bless 
you ! ' ' 

Never  was  a  nation  more  thoroughly  stirred  to  its  deepest 
depths,  and  never  in  the  history  of  the  world,  perhaps,  has 
there  been  such  a  spontaneous  burst  of  patriotism, — such  a 
vast  ottering  of  the  blood  and  treasure  of  a  peo])le  voluntarily 
upon  the  altars  of  Freedom  and  Humanity.  The  feeling  and 
uprising  of  the  Southern  people  were  probably  in  a  similar 
degree,  and  it  is  for  the  pen  of  the  impartial  historian  of  the 
future  to  weigh  well  the  underlying  causes  of  the  "  Great 
Civil  War"  and  assign  to  each  belligerent  in  the  gigantic 
struggle  its  proper  position  in  the  liistory  of  the  human  race. 

The  passage  of  the  train  through  the  numerous  towns  and 
stations  Ij'ing  between  Springfield  and  Boston  was  the  occa- 
sion of  patriotic  demonstrations.  The  regiment  arrived  in 
Boston  without  accident  about  five  o'clock,  and  was  imme- 
diately escorted  by  the  Second  Battalion  of  Infantry,  under 
Maj.-Gen.  Samuel  Andrews,  via  Bunker  Hill,  to  their  new 
camp  in  Medford. 

At  this  place — which  was  named  "Camp  Adams,"  from  the 
fact  that  John  Quincy  Adams  once  owned  the  land — the  regi- 
ment remained  until  the  25th  of  July,  perfecting  its  discipline 
and  getting  ready  for  active  service. 

On  the  22d  the  regiment  was  provided  with  twenty-five 
baggage-wagons,  five  ambulances,  two  hospital-wagons,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-three  horses,  delivered  to  the  quarter- 
master at  Cambridge  Arsenal.  This  amount  of  transportation 
was  no  doubt  considered  necessary,  but  when  in  the  course  of 
the  war  it  was  reduced  to  two  wagons  and  a  hospital-wagon 
and  one  ambulance,  divided  between  two  regiments,  it  began 
to  be  understood  how  cumbersome  were  the  trains  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  contest. 

The  regiment  was  visited  by  Capt.  Marshall  on  the  2.3d, 
who  administered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  about  one  hundred 
men  who  had  not  been  sworn.  Among  those  mustered  was 
Master  Myron  P.  "Walker,  the  drummer-boy  of  Co.  C,  from 
Belchertown. 

At  Medford  village,  on  the  2.5th,  the  regiment  was  addressed 
by  Hon.  George  N.  Briggs,  father  of  the  colonel,  and  formerly 
Governor  of  the  State. 

At  three  p.m.  the  train  took  the  regiment  to  Boston,  where 
it  was  formed  in  line,  and,  escorted  by  the  police,  marched 


through  the  city  to  Central  Wharf,  receiving  a  perfect  ovation 
all  along  its  course.  Here  the  regiment  was  divided,  and  Cos. 
C,  K,  B,  D,  and  G  went  on  board  the  steamer  "  S.  R.  Spaul- 
ding,"  accompanied  by  the  colonel,  major,  adjutant,  surgeon, 
and"Tegimental  band.  Cos.  A,  H,  E,  F,  and  I  embarked  on 
the  steamer  "  Ben  De  Ford,"  accompanied  by  the  lieutenant- 
colonel,  quartermaster,  and  assistant  surgeon. 

The  two  steamers  were  completely  filled  by  this  one  regi- 
ment and  its  transportation  and  baggage,  but  at  the  close  of 
the  war  two  or  three  regiments  were  amply  accommodated, 
with  all  their  paraphernalia,  on  board  a  single  vessel. 

Salutes  were  fired  by  Fort  Independence  and  the  steamers 
as  the  ships  passed  down  the  harbor,  and  soon  they  were  on 
the  heaving  waters  of  the  Atlantic.  They  arrived  at  the  en- 
trance to  Chesapeake  Bay  on  the  afternoon  of  the  27th,  and 
about  four  o'clock  P.M.  of  the  28th  reached  the  wharf  in 
Washington,  D.  C. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  29th  the  regiment  marched  to 
Kalorama  Heights,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  the 
Capitol,  where  a  temporary  camp  was  occupied  in  the  midst 
of  a  heavy  rain  until  the  next  day,  when  another  was  pro- 
vided. 

On  Sunday,  August  4th,  the  regiment  was  supplied  with 
new  uniforms, — gray  pants  and  blue  blouses.  On  the  6th  of 
August  the  camp  was  again  exchanged  for  one  on  the  Seventh 
Street  road,  about  four  miles  from  the  Capitol,  where  the 
regiment  was  brigaded  with  the  7th  Massachusetts,  2d  Rhode 
Island,  and  36th  New  York. 

On  the  9th  the  camp  was  once  more  exchanged  for  a  more 
eligible  and  much  more  healthful  one  at  Brightwood,  near  the 
residence  of  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.  Here  the  regiment  began 
to  experience  the  usual  results  of  camp-life,  and  measles  were 
among  the  troubles  that  visited  the  men. 

Gen.  McClellan  visited  the  regiment  on  the  12th,  took  a 
good  survey  of  the  men,  complimented  them  on  their  soldierly 
appearance,  and  said  he  should  soon  need  their  services. 

Religious  services  were  usually  held  on  Sunday,  Chaplain 
Barton  officiating.  On  the  2.5th  of  August  he  preached  to 
them,  and  the  music  was  furnished  by  a  choir  extemporized 
from  among  the  members  of  the  regiment,  assisied  by  the 
band.  On  Sunday,  Sept.  1st,  religious  exercises  were  omitted, 
as  the  entire  regiment  was  detailed  to  work  on  the  fortifica- 
tions. 

On  the  2d  of  September  the  brigade  was  reviewed  by  Gen. 
McClellan,  and  on  the  3d  orders  were  received  to  be  ready  to 
move  at  a  moment's  notice. 

On  the  13th  the  regiment  was  paid  off  for  the  first  time, 
receiving  gold  or  treasury-notes,  at  each  man's  option.  On 
the  same  day  Col.  Briggs  left  for  Massachusetts  to  visit  his 
venerable  father,  who  had  met  with  a  serious  accident,  from 
which  he  expired  before  his  son  reached  home. 

On  the  nth  occurred  the  first  funeral  in  the  regiment, — that 
of  private  John  C.  Squires,  of  Co.  I,  who  died  of  camp-fever 
on  the  13th.  This  sad  occasion  brought  many  sober  looks  to 
faces  which  in  after-days  looked  upon  death  as  upon  any  other 
common  occurrence. 

The  regiment  was  reviewed  and  inspected  again  on  the  15th 
by  Maj.-Gen.  Don  Carlos  Buell,  division  commander.  The 
day  was  inten.sely  warm,  and  some  of  the  men  were  overcome 
by  the  heat. 

On  the  17th  a  valuable  addition  was  made  to  the  regiment 
in  the  persons  of  Mrs.  Solyman  Merrick,  of  Springfield,  and 
Miss  Helen  Wolcott,  of  Agawam,  who  came  to  otter  their 
services  as  nurses  for  the  regimental  hospital.  The  same  day 
Lieut.  Remington  arrived  with  fifty  recruits  for  the  regiment. 

Considerable  sickness  prevailed,  and  on  the  1.5th  of  October 
forty  men  were  in  the  hospital,  and  about  seventy-five  were 
unable  to  do  duty.  On  the  17tli,  Governor  Andrew  visited 
the  camp  of  the  regiment. 

During  the  stay  of  the  regiment  in  the  vicinity  of  Wash- 


HISTORY  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


139 


ington  the  friends  at  home  collected  and  forwarded  at  different 
times  large  quantities  of  necessaries,  comforts,  and  even  luxu- 
ries, for  the  benefit  of  the  members.  On  the  20th  of  November 
Co.  I  received  three  large  boxes  filled  with  all  manner  of  good 
things, — clothing,  blanlcets,  provisions,  etc.  A  liberal  supply 
of  reading-matter  was  also  sent  on  and  distributed  among  the 
men. 

Co.  E  also  received  a  welcome  donation  of  similar  articles, 
and  most  of  the  other  companies  were  also  remembered. 

On  the  12th  of  December  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  of  Hol- 
yoke,  forwarded  for  the  use  of  the  regiment  another  invoice 
of  clothing,  blankets,  towels,  and  many  other  things  which 
were  exceedingly  acceptable  and  highly  appreciated. 

On  the  15th  another  instalment  of  similar  comforts  was 
received  and  distributed.  On  the  26th  of  December,  Surgeon 
Chamberlain  sent  a  letter  of  acknowledgment  to  the  Spring- 
field Republican  for  publication. 

In  December  the  regiment  built  themselves  wooden  huts,  or 
barracks,  which  during  the  cold  weather  were  much  more  com- 
fortable tlian  tents.  They  were  also  more  commodious,  and 
were  warmed  by  small  sheet-iron  stoves,  which  the  men  paid 
for  out  of  their  wages.  A  number  of  the  officers'  wives  visited 
the  camp,  and  some  of  them  remained  tlirough  the  winter. 

In  January,  1862,  a  case  of  small-pox  occurred,  and  the 
whole  regiment  was  vaccinated  to  prevent  the  spreading  of  the 
disease.  On  the  8th  of  January,  Col.  Briggs  returned  from 
Massachusetts,  where  he  had  been  to  attend  the  obsequies  of 
his  father.  On  the  13th  the  regiment  was  paid  ofi"  for  two 
months'  service.  On  the  6th  of  February  private  Carter,  of 
Co.  K,  while  on  duty  with  the  provost-guard,  shot  a  member 
of  Co.  D,  7th  Massachusetts,  for  attempting  to  run  the  line. 
He  was  badly  wounded,  but  not  killed,  and  the  occurrence 
created  considerable  excitement  for  a  time. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  Dr.  George  Jewett,  of  Fitch- 
burg,  arrived  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  promotion 
of  Dr.  Holbrook  to  be  surgeon  of  the  18th  Massachusetts. 

February  12th  news  of  Burnside's  success  at  Roanoke  Island 
was  received  with  music  and  general  rejoicings.  At  this  date 
the  health  of  the  men  was  reported  as  excellent. 

On  the  15th  a  new  excitement  visited  the  camp.  The  regi- 
ment was  ordered  to  fall  in  line,  a  hollow  square  was  formed, 
and  then  the  colonel  read  an  order  from  headquarters  calling 
for  volunteers  for  the  gunboat  service  in  the  Western  waters. 
Over  200  of  the  men  at  once  volunteered,  but,  the  number 
being  restricted  to  ten  from  each  regiment,  a  good  many  were 
disappointed.  The  following  were  finally  selected :  From 
Co.  B,  Corp.  N.  0.  Blinn  and  private  John  Boyle ;  Frank 
Boise,  Co.  C ;  Joseph  A.  Winn,  Co.  I ;  William  Levy,  Co. 
A;  John  H.  Ro.ss,  Co.  D;  Henry  L.  Copley,  Co.  K;  Benj. 
F.  Brady,  Co.  F  ;  Peter  Bard,  Co.  H.  The  men  left  for  their 
new  field  on  the  17th  with  the  blessings  and  hearty  good-bys 
of  their  companions.  On  the  same  day  news  was  received  of 
the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelsou,  with  15,000  prison- 
ers, by  Gen.  Grant,  which  was  hailed  with  the  greatest  en- 
thusiasm. This  was  the  first  important  victory  of  the  war, 
and  forced  the  rebels  entirely  from  the  States  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  by  flanking  the  strong  positions  of  Columbus, 
Bowling  Green,  Nashville,  and  Memphis.  The  Confederate 
commanders  were  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  the  lines  of 
Corinth,  and  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee  Kiver  beyond 
Tuseumbia. 

Washington's  natal-day  was  duly  celebrated  by  a  dress- 
parade  in  the  morning,  the  reading  of  his  Farewell  Address, 
and  target-shooting.  On  the  27th  an  order  was  received  to  be 
ready  for  an  important  expedition  at  two  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  with  four  days'  rations,  one  hundred  rounds  of  ball- 
cartridge,  a  blanket,  a  change  of  clothing,  and  an  extra  pair 
of  shoes.  Preparations  were  made,  and  the  chaplain  made  a 
feeling  address  to  the  men,  but  at  eight  p.m.  the  orders  were 
countermanded. 


The  question  of  slavery  and  the  return  of  contrabands  to 
their  masters  were  hotly  discussed,  ;)/'o  and  con.,  and  not  a  little 
feeling  was  manifested  on  both  sides. 

On  March  1st  six  Maryland  planters  came  into  the  camp 
looking  for  contrabands.  Matters  speedily  developed  a  crisis, 
and  the  slave-hunters  were  glad  to  get  away  with  their  lives. 

On  the  same  night,  by  some  unaccountable  means,  a  majority 
of  the  enlisted  men  of  the  regiment  were  found  to  be  missing. 
The  explanation  was  this :  Some  one  had  propounded  the  query 
whether  it  would  not  be  a  good  thing  to  visit  "my  Maryland" 
and  administer  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  a  few  of  the  planters 
in  that  benighted  region.  A  short  discussion  ended  in  a  unan- 
imous decision  in  the  affirmative,  whereupon  a  secret  expedi- 
tion stealthily  left  the  camp  and  marched  about  eight  miles  to 
the  house  of  one  Nolan,  where  the  skirmish-line,  consisting  of 
the  negro  pilot,  got  into  difficulty  with  the  "missus,"  which 
brought  the  soldiers  at  once  to  the  spot,  and  two  stalwart  gen- 
tlemen of  the  Nolan  family  had  the  oath  administered  to  them 
on  their  bended  knees.  The  soldiers  outside,  meantime,  had 
trouble  with  the  poultry,  and  the  whole  ended  with  the  return 
of  the  "  expedition"  to  camp  accompanied  by  a  generous  del- 
egation of  the  feathered  tribe. 

When  the  discovery  of  the  movement  was  made  in  camp 
"  there  was  mounting  in  hot  haste,"  and  the  foragers  were  in- 
tercepted on  their  return  "from  the  field  of  their  fame  fresh 
and  gory,"  disarmed,  reprimanded,  and  sent  to  their  quarters, 
and  only  the  early  demand  for  the  services  of  the  regiment  in 
the  field  prevented  a  severer  punishment. 

On  the  10th  of  March  the  regiment  started  on  a  movement 
into  Virginia,  which  was  pushed  only  a  few  miles  toward 
Manassas,  when  intelligence  was  received  that  the  enemy  had 
evacuated  that  strong  position  and  fallen  back  toward  Rich- 
mond. After  a  stay  of  a  couple  of  days,  orders  were  received 
to  return  to  Chain  Bridge,  where  a  halt  was  made  during 
about  twentj'-four  hours,  when  orders  were  given  to  return  to 
their  old  camps  north  of  the  city. 

On  the  22d  of  March  orders  were  issued  for  the  army  to  pre- 
pare for  an  immediate  movement.  Baggage  was  reduced  to 
the  minimum  and  all  surplus  stored  in  an  outbuilding,  which 
was  the  last  seen  of  it. 

The  10th  broke  camp  on  the  25th  and  moved  toward  the 
city,  expecting  to  take  passage  for  Fortress  Monroe ;  but  at 
nightfall  it  was  ordered  to  return  to  camp  at  Brightwood  for 
the  night. 

On  the  26th  the  regiment  bade  adieu  to  their  old  camp, 
joined  the  brigade,  and  marched  to  the  foot  of  Sixth  Street, 
where  transports  were  in  readiness  to  convey  the  troops  south- 
ward. The  10th  numbered  at  that  time  about  1000  men.  The 
day  was  occupied  in  getting  on  board  the  transports,  and  the 
regiment  was  divided  and  quartered  in  detachments  on  three 
ditlerent  vessels,  to  wit:  the  "Sea-Shore,"  the  "Donaldson," 
and  the  "  Ariel."  The  remainder  of  the  brigade  was  embarked 
partly  on  these  vessels  and  partly  on  the  "  Daniel  Webster," 
while  the  sutlers'  wagons,  etc.,  were  stowed  on  hoard  the 
"Mystic." 

At  nine  o'clock  p.m.  the  squadron  was  under  way,  and  on 
the  28th  reached  Portress  Monroe,  where  it  was  detained  for 
orders.  On  the  29th  the  troops  landed,  and  encamped  until 
the  -Jth  of  April,  when,  at  seven  in  the  morning,  the  column 
started  on  the  march  toward  Yorktown.  From  this  time 
until  the  5th  of  May  there  was  a  gradual  advance  toward  the 
rebel  capital,  and  the  10th  was  engaged  on  picket  and  fatigue 
duty,  varied  occasionally  by  forming  line  of  battle  when  ap- 
proaching a  belt  of  timber,  while  the  skirmish-line  was  pu-shed 
to  the  front  and  the  field-guns  unlimbered  and  put  in  position 
for  battle.  There  was  a  little  occasional  skirmishing,  but  no 
serious  fighting  until  the  army  approached  Williamsburg  , 
where  the  enemy  was  found  in  force  and  strongly  posted  be- 
hind formidable  fortifications,  above  which  floated  defiantly 
the  "  Stars  and  Bars"  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


140 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Aljout  noon  on  the  5th  the  sound  of  heavy  firing  came 
hooming  over  the  level  country  around  them,  and  the  troops 
were  hurried  forward  as  fast  as  possible  through  the  sticky 
mud, — infantry,  cavalry,  artillery,  and  trains  all  pushing 
toward  the  dread  sound  of  battle  in  the  front,  where  Hooker 
was  hotly  engaged. 

As  the  division  rapidly  advanced,  about  five  p.m.,  to  the  sup- 
port of  Hooker,  the  dead  and  wounded  were  being  borne  to 
the  rear  on  the  bloody  stretchers,  whose  first  sight  to  a  soldier 
is  something  indescribable.  Orders  were  given  to  load,  which 
was  done  with  the  assurance  that  at  last  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  and  the  trying  hour  had  come. 

As  the  division  deployed  in  line  of  battle  and  advanced,  an 
orderly  dashed  up  from  the  front  with  a  request  from  Gen. 
Hancock  that  reinforcements  be  sent  him,  as  he  was  being 
fiercely  assailed  ;  and  the  statement  was  fully  confirmed  by  the 
terrible  crash  of  musketry  and  artillery  in  front.  The  10th 
Massachusetts  was  immediately  ordered  forward  to  the  assist- 
ance of  Hancock,  but  when  it  arrived  the  enemy  had  already 
been  repulsed  by  a  skillful  movement  of  that  otficer.  The  10th 
was  placed  in  the  front  line,  and  remained  through  the  night. 

A  little  in  advance  was  an  unfinished  field-work,  into  which 
the  enemy  had  carried  many  of  their  wounded,  and  their 
groans  and  cries  through  the  night  were  anything  but  pleas- 
ant to  the  ears  of  raw  troops.  Under  cover  of  night  the 
enemy  fell  back  toward  Richmond,  and  in  the  morning  their 
works  were  found  abandoned. 

On  the  6th  the  army  moved  forward  over  the  rebel  works, 
and  encamped  near  Williamsburg.  The  principal  work  of 
the  enemy  was  known  as  Fort  Magruder,  named  for  the  rebel 
Gen.  John  B.  Magruder.  On  the  same  day  the  Union  gun- 
boats the  "Galena,"  "Monitor,"  and  "Naugatuck,"  moved 
up  the  river,  while  the  rebel  gunboats  retreated  before  them 
beyond  Fort  Darling. 

The  10th  remained  in  camp  until  the  9th,  when  it  again 
moved  forward  to  James  City,  and  the  next  day  to  Barhams- 
ville,  where  it  remained  until  the  13th,  when  it  again  moved 
toward  Kichmond,  and  halted  at  New  Kent  Court-House. 

On  the  14th  the  entire  regiment  was  detailed  on  picket  duty, 
and  was  out  through  the  day  and  night  in  a  hard  rain. 

It  was  remarked  by  the  Union  troops  that  every  house 
along  the  road  had  its  "  flag  of  truce"  displayed  in  some  con- 
spicuous place,  and  nobody  was  found  at  home  but  women, 
children,  and  old  men.  Everybody  professed  loyalty,  even 
while  their  husbands,  sons,  and  fathers  were  in  the  rebel 
army. 

On  the  16th  and  17th  the  regiment  advanced  a  few  miles, 
and  went  into  camp  at  Crump's  Cross-Roads,  on  ground  re- 
cently occupied  by  Cobb's  Georgia  Legion.  Here  it  remained 
until  the  19th,  when  it  was  advanced  three  miles  to  the  rail- 
way running  from  Richmond  to  West  Point.  Here  the  men 
went  into  camp  in  a  fine  grove  close  to  the  enemy's  picket- 
line. 

The  regiment  moved  again  on  the  21st  two  miles  nearer 
Kichmond,  and  in  the  evening  Cos.  B  and  I  were  detailed 
upon  outpost  duty  beyond  the  Chickahoniiny,  crossed  the 
burned  railway-bridge  on  planks,  waded  knee-deep  through 
the  swamp,  and  watched  for  the  enemy  until  daylight,  when 
the  enemy's  cavalry  pickets  were  driven  in.  The  picket-line 
was  advanced  a  half-mile  on  the  2'2d,  and  occasionally  ex- 
changed shots  with  the  rebel  pickets  in  their  front  on  the  rail- 
way. 

On  the  23d  the  regiment  crossed  the  river,  when  the  picket 
companies  were  called  in,  and  on  the  24fh  the  troops  advanced 
to  within  twelve  miles  of  Kichmond.  The  10th  was  on  a  re- 
connoissance  with  Gen.  Neg!ey'.s  division,  and  witnessed  an 
artillery  duel  between  the  7th  New  York  Battery  and  the 
enemy. 

May  25,  at  nine  a.m.,  the  10th  marched  to  Seven  Pines, 
within  seven  and  a  half  miles  of  Richmond ;   all  baggage 


and  trains  ordered  to  the  rear.  On  the  27th  the  enemy  began 
their  attacks  upon  the  extreme  right  of  Gen.  McClellan's 
army  near  Mechanicsville,  which  finally  ended  in  the  retreat 
of  the  army  from  in  front  of  Richmond  to  a  new  base  at  Har- 
rison's Landing,  on  the  James  River.  During  the  27th  the 
division  to  which  the  10th  belonged  was  employed  in  cutting 
timber  and  throwing  up  rifle-pits  and  light  field-works. 

On  the  31st  of  May  was  fought  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks, 
which  was  commenced  by  a  sudden  and  desperate  assault  by 
the  rebels,  soon  after  noon,  upon  the  division  of  Gen.  Casey. 
Instantly  the  various  regiments  were  in  line,  and  the  strag- 
glers from  Casey's  division  were  swarming  to  the  rear.  The 
10th  was  ordered  forward  to  some  rifle-pits,  when,  finding 
them  full  of  water,  the  men  threw  themselves  upon  the  wet 
ground,  where  they  remained  for  some  time,  while  the  bat- 
teries on  both  sides  played  over  their  heads.  Several  men 
were  wounded,  some  of  them  by  defective  shells  from  the 
Union  guns. 

The  55th  New  York  Regiment  was  in  the  mean  time  ordered 
to  take  a  position  in  front  of  the  10th  Massachusetts,  in  the 
midst  of  some  felled  timber,  where  they  were  exposed  to  a 
heavy  and  destructive  fire  from  the  enemy,  and  soon  compelled 
to  fall  back.  The  10th  was  now  ordered  forward,  and  soon 
found  itself  "  under  fire"  and  in  a  dangerous  position,  with 
the  enemy  on  the  fnmt  and  left  flank.  The  regiment  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  fray  from  this  time  until  dark.  The  losses 
were  heavy,  and  the  gallantry  of  both  men  and  officers  con- 
spicuous even  among  the  many  other  gallant  regiments  en- 
gaged. 

Col.  Briggs,  who  was  in  command  of  his  men,  was  severely 
wounded  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  by  a  minie-ball, 
which  passed  through  his  left  thigh  and  into  the  right. 
Lieut.-Col.  Decker  being  disabled  by  rheumatism,  and  Maj. 
Marsh  absent  as  officer  of  the  day,  the  .command  devolved 
upon  Capt.  Miller,  who  handled  the  troops  with  such  skill  and 
bravery  as  to  call  out  the  highest  compliments  from  his  com- 
manding otficers. 

Among  the  many  encomiums  bestowed  upon  the  10th,  the 
following  by  Gen.  Keyes  is  all  we  have  space  for.  In  conver- 
sation with  a  gentleman  from  W^estern  Massachusetts,  he  said  : 
"  Tell  them,  when  you  go  back,  that  I  have  led  a  hundred 
regiments  into  battle,  and  never  did  I  see  such  bravery.  I 
looked  at  them  as  they  advanced,  while  the  shot  fell  like  hail, 
and  there  never  was  such  a  dauntless  corps.  When  the  fight 
was  over  I  spoke  to  them  of  their  courage,  and  they  said  they 
had  only  done  their  duty  ;  but  I  never  heard  them  mentioned 
in  the  journals.  Their  conduct  was,  and  is,  unparalleled  in 
the  whole  war." 

The  total  losses  amounted  to  27  killed  and  95  wounded,  6  of 
them  mortally.  Among  the  officers  killed  were  Capts.  Smart 
and  Day,  and  among  the  wounded  were  Col.  Briggs  and  Capts. 
Parsons  and  Newell. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  which  was  Sunday,  the  regiment  was 
on  picket  duty  all  day.  Details  were  made  from  each  com- 
pany to  bury  the  dead,  who  were  mostly  interred  where  they 
fell.  So  far  as  possible,  the  graves  were  marked  fur  identifica- 
tion at  a  future  day.  The  rebels  retired  from  in  front  of  their 
lines,  leaving  all  their  dead  and  part  of  their  wounded.  A 
curious  incident  is  related  by  Capt.  Newell  of  an  omnibus- 
load  of  sight-seers  from  Kichmond  venturing  so  far  that  they 
were  taken  prisoners  and  brought  into  the  Union  lines. 

From  the  date  of  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks  to  the  28th  of 
June  the  10th  was  engaged  in  picket  and  fatigue  duty,  oc- 
casionally varied  by  a  sharp  skirmi.sh.  About  the  10th  of 
June  the  surgeon  received  two  large  boxes  of  hospital  stores 
from  the  Ladies'  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  consisting  of  articles 
of  clothing,  bedding,  bandages,  dried  fruits,  wines,  jellies  and 
jams,  and  many  other  things,  all  most  acceptable  and  useful. 

On  the  14th,  Maj.  Marsh  received  his  discharge  and  started 
for  home.     Lieut.  Woodward,  of  Co.  H,  was  also  discharged 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


141 


for  disability  on  the  same  day.  Lieut.  Chaise  resigned,  and 
started  home  on  the  23d. 

On  the  25tli  the  division  was  called  out  and  marched  to  the 
battle-ground  of  Fair  Oaks,  where  line  of  battle  was  formed 
and  arms  stacked  for  a  brief  period,  when  the  division  was 
ordered  to  the  front,  and  again  formed  in  line  in  the  edge 
of  some  timber,  about  four  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy, 
where  the  men  began  to  throw  up  breastworks,  hut  found  so 
much  quicksand  they  were  obliged  to  desist.  The  division 
remained  here  all  night,  during  which  there  was  a  constant 
skirmish-fire  in  front,  and  the  rebs  were  busy  felling  timber 
and  apparently  strengthening  their  lines.  Just  before  day- 
light on  the  26th  the  troops  were  withdrawn  to  the  breast- 
works of  Casey's  division,  and  about  noon  returned  to  camp. 

There  was  heavy  firing  on  the  right  of  the  army  during  the 
27th.  On  the  28th  the  great  movement  toward  the  James 
River  commenced.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  the  army  passed 
within  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  enemy's  outposts, 
but  such  was  the  silence  of  the  march  that  the  movement  was 
not  suspected.  On  the  30th  the  10th  arrived  at  Haxall's 
Landing,  on  the  James,  and  the  entire  army  was  rapidly 
moving  and  concentrating  at  Harri.son's  Landing. 

The  morning  of  July  1st  found  the  whole  army  United  for 
the  first  time  since  crossing  the  Chickahominy,  and  holding  a 
strong  position  at  Malvern  Hill. 

"  Malvern  Hill  forms  a  high  plateau,  sloping  toward  Rich- 
mond from  Cold  Banks,  near  the  river,  and  bounded  by  deep 
ravines,  making  an  excellent  defensive  position. 

"The  national  line  of  battle  was  formed  with  Porter's  corps* 
on  the  left,  near  Crew's  house,  where  the  artillery  of  the  re- 
serve, under  Col.  Hunt,  was  so  disposed  on  high  ground  that 
a  concentrated  fire  of  sixty  guns  could  be  brought  to  bear  on 
any  point  on  his  front  or  left,  and  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
hill  Col.  Tyler  had  ten  siege-guns  in  position. "f 

The  10th  Massachusetts  was  in  Couch's  division,  which  was 
on  the  right  of  Porter's  line. 

The  extreme  left  of  the  army,  near  the  river,  and  where  the 
heaviest  attack  was  likely  to  be  made,  was  strengthened  by 
abatis  and  covered  by  the  gunboats. 

On  this  ground  was  fought  one  of  the  most  terrible  battles 
of  the  war. 

The  Union  army  had  lost  heavily  on  their  retreat  from  the 
Chickahominy,  both  in  men  and  material,  but  now  they  were 
in  a  strong  position;  and,  moreover,  defeat  would  be  almost 
certain  destruction,  and  they  resolved  that  hitherto  the  rebels 
could  come,  but  no  farther. 

The  battle  began  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  with  a 
heavy  artillery  fire,  which  continued  until  afternoon,  when 
Gen.  Lee  resolved  to  carry  the  Federal  position  by  storm ; 
and  about  two  o'clock  p.m.  Anderson's  North  Carolina  bri- 
gade charged  across  the  level  ground  in  front  of  Couch's 
division,  but  were  bloodily  repulsed  by  the  10th  Massachu- 
setts and  36th  New  York  Regiments  and  the  fire  of  the  bat- 
teries. 

The  moment  the  enemy  broke,  the  10th  and  36th  left  their 
works  and  charged  them  in  turn,  and  took  a  new  position  in 
advance  of  the  regular  line.  In  this  charge  the  flag  of  the 
30th  North  Carolina  Regiment  was  captured,  and  a  large 
number  of  prisoners.  While  the  10th  w-as  occupying  the 
advanced  position  Maj.  Miller  was  mortallv  wounded  by  a 
shot  through  the  neck,  and  when  the  Union  army  fell  back 
was  left,  with  other  wounded  men,  in  charge  of  Dr.  Jewett, 
and  taken  to  Richmond,  where  he  died. 

About  four  o'clock  p.m.  the  enemy  made  a  second  attempt, 
with  overwhelming  numbers,  to  capture  the  petition.  They 
formed  in  three  double  lines,  which  deliberately  filed  out  of 
the  woods,  formed  in  line  of  battle,  and  pushed  steadily  and 
rapidly  on  with  the  determination  to  force  the  position  with 


*  Grand  diyision. 


f  From  history  of  the  Tenth  Begiment. 


the  bayonet,  and  so  roll  up  the  Union  army  from  left  to 
right. 

When  this  stern  gray  mass  of  men  fairly  appeared  in  the 
open  ground,  sixty  guns  from  the  heights  and  the  whole  line 
of  infantry  opened  a  storm  of  fire  upon  them  which  flesh  and 
blood  could  not  withstand.  After  a  desperate  but  vain  attempt 
to  force  their  way  through  the  lines  of  the  Union  army,  dur- 
ing which  the  "  rebel  yell"  could  be  distinctly  heard  above  the 
roar  of  battle,  they  broke,  and  fled  in  irretrievable  confusion. 

In  this  battle  the  10th  had  a  little  over  400  men  engaged. 
When  the  fight  began  each  man  had  sixty  rounds  of  ball-car- 
tridge, and  these  were  all  expended,  besides  many  more  taken 
from  the  cartridge-boxes  of  the  fallen.  The  losses  in  the  regi- 
ment were  8  killed  and  73  wounded.  Among  the  killed  or 
mortally  wounded  were  Maj.  Ozro  Miller  and  Sergts.  Hem- 
menway,  of  Co.  D,  and  McFarlane,  of  Co.  E;  and  among  the 
wounded  were  Lieuts.  Wheeler,  Pierce,  and  Shurtleti". 

After  the  battle  was  over  the  10th  was  relieved,  and  marched 
to  the  rear  of  the  batteries. 

On  the  2d  of  July  the  whole  army  was  put  in  motion  from 
the  field  where  it  had  given  the  enemy  such  a  terrible  defeat, 
and  moved  to  Harrison's  Landing.  Why  Gen.  McClellan 
was  in  such  haste  to  retreat  before  a  beaten  enemy,  leaving  his 
badly  wounded  and  considerable  stores  on  the  field,  seems  in- 
explicable, but  such  was  the  fact,  and  it  most  certainly  reflects 
little  credit  upon  him  as  a  commander.  When  the  veteran 
Taylor  was  hard  pressed  by  Santa  Anna  at  Buena  Vista,  and 
his  oiflcers  urged  a  retreat,  he  nobly  replied,  "My  wounded 
are  behind  me,  and  I  will  never  pass  them  alive."  But  here  was 
a  general  claiming  to  have  defeated  the  enemy,  and  yet  ha.stily 
retreating  before  him  and  leaving  many  of  his  wounded  to 
languish  in  rebel  prisons! 

At  evening  on  the  2d  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  were 
encamped  in  column,  by  division,  in  an  immense  wheat-fleld, 
under  cover  of  the  gunboat  fleet. 

At  this  point  the  10th  remained  until  the  16th  of  August. 
On  the  8th  of  July,  President  Lincoln  visited  the  army,  and 
was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  The  regiment  was 
engaged  a  good  part  of  the  time  on  picket  and  fatigue  duty, 
varied  by  an  occasional  reconnoissance  toward  the  enemy's 
lines. 

On  the  16th  of  August  the  retrograde  movement  of  the  army 
was  continued,  and  on  the  20th  the  10th  arrived  at  York- 
town,  where  it  remained  until  the  29th,  when  it  embarked  on 
board  the  screw-steamer  "  Key  West"  for  Alexandria. 

At  Yorktown,  on  the  27th,  Dexter  F.  Parker,  of  Worcester, 
formerly  brigade  quartermaster,  reported  for  duty  as  major  of 
the  10th,  in  place  of  Maj.  Miller,  who  had  died  of  his  wounds 
in  Richmond  on  the  loth  of  July.  This  appointment  was 
received  with  anything  but  satisfaction  by  the  line-officers  of 
the  regiment,  and  eventually  produced  a  vast  deal  of  trouble. 
It  was  not  claimed  by  the  ofiicers  of  the  regiment  that  Maj. 
Parker  was  lacking  in  bravery  or  any  of  the  essentials  of  a  gen- 
tleman, or  the  necessary  qualifications  for  his  particular  branch 
of  the  service.  The  objections  were  precisely  the  same  as 
would  be  raised  in  any  volunteer  regiment.  He  did  not  belong 
to  the  regiment  and  was  not  educated  in  the  experience  of  a 
line-oflBcer,  and  the  otEcers  of  the  10th  regarded  the  appoint- 
ment as  an  innovation  upon  the  claims  of  brave  and  competent 
men  in  their  own  ranks. 

The  troops  debarked  at  Alexandria  on  the  1st  of  September, 
and  were  ordered  to  Fairfax  Court-House,  to  the  support  of 
Gen.  Pope.  The  march  was  commenced,  and  continued  for  a 
few  miles,  but  on  the  2d  the  troops  were  ordered  to  return  to 
Alexandria ;  which  order  was  soon  changed,  and  they  moved 
to  the  Chain  Bridge,  which  point  they  reached  at  noon  on  the 
3d.     Here  Col.  Eustis  assumed  the  command. 

On  the  5th  the  10th  moved  forward  with  the  balance  of  the 
troops  toward  the  rebel  army  in  Maryland.  Gen.  Pope  had 
been  superseded  by  Gen.  McClellan,  and  on  the  14th  and  17tb 


142 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


were  fought  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  rebel  army  retreated  once  more  into 
Virginia. 

The  regiment  was  in  the  vicinity  of  both  these  great  actions, 
but  not  actively  engaged  in  either.  On  the  1.5th  a  strong 
force,  including  the  10th,  was  ordered  to  the  relief  of  the  gar- 
rison at  Harper's  Ferry,  then  closely  invested  by  Lee's  army. 
The  command  proceeded  rapidly  on  its  way,  but  within  an  hour 
the  firing  at  Harper's  Ferry,  which  had  been  very  heavy  all 
the  morning,  suddenly  ceased,  and  it  was  at  once  understood 
that  the  garrison,  amounting  to  about  12,000  men,  had  surren- 
dered. It  was  no  doubt  a  shameful  and  unnecessary  act,  and 
the  Union  commander  has  been  severely  criticised.  On  the 
evening  of  the  17th  the  10th  reached  the  Antietam  battle-field 
after  a  most  fatiguing  day  of  marching  and  countermarching, 
and  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  for  a  little  rest. 

On  the  18th  the  10th  was  assigned  a  position  on  the  right  of 
the  front  line,  where  it  remained  during  the  day.  The  battle, 
as  is  well  known,  was  not  renewed,  and  the  morning  of  the  19th 
found  the  rebel  army  across  the  Potomac,  and  evidently  retreat- 
ing southward.  After  a  great  amount  of  marching  the  10th 
went  into  camp  on  the  24th  of  September,  near  Downesville, 
where,  on  the  2.5th,  the  men  were  mustered  for  pay.  The  cam- 
paign had  been  a  rough  one,  and  the  regiment — both  officers 
and  men — was  ragged  and  shabby. 

At  this  camp,  on  the  27th,  eleven  line-officers  of  the  regiment 
tendered  their  resignations  in  consequence  of  the  appointment 
of  Maj.  Parker.  The  names  of  these  officers  were  as  below: 
Captains  Thomas  W.  Clapp,  George  Pierce,  Samuel  C.  Traver,  • 
Joseph  K.  Newell ;  Lieutenants  Hiram  A.  Keith,  Joseph  H. 
Bennett,  Lorenzo  M.  Remington,  George  E.  Hagar,  Henry  E. 
Crane,  Edwin  E.  Moore,  and  James  Knox. 

Lieuts.  Charles  Wheeler  and  David  W.  Wells  were  honor- 
ably discharged  on  surgeons'  certificates. 

At  dress-parade  Col.  Eustis  informed  the  officers  that  he 
had  received  the  resignations,  but  had  not  forwarded  them, 
and  would  hold  them  until  the  next  morning,  trusting  that 
they  would  be  reconsidered  and  recalled.  He  cautioned  them 
at  the  same  time  that  they  were  violating  the  7th  article  of 
war,  and  must  expect  the  consequences. 

None  of  them  were  withdrawn,  however,  and  on  the  28th 
the  officers  were  all  ordered  under  arrest.  A  court-martial 
was  advised  by  Gen.  Devens,  the  brigade  commander,  who 
deprecated  in  strong  terms  the  action  of  the  officers.  From 
this  time  until  the  14th  of  November  the  court-martial  sat  as 
opportunity  was  offered,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  offenders 
remained  with  the  regiment,  under  arrest-  and  without  arms 
or  command.  The  last  case  was  disposed  of  by  the  court- 
martial  on  the  last-mentioned  date,  and  forwarded  for  ap- 
proval. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  regiment  was  almost  constantly  on  the 
move  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  though  scarcely  under  fire. 

During  the  month  of  November  a  number  of  men  were 
transferred  from  the  regiment  into  the  regular  artillery  ser- 
vice, most  of  them  going  into  Butler's  battery,  2d  U.  S. 
Artillery. 

During  the  greater  part  of  November  the  regiment  was 
moving  from  place  to  place  in  Virginia,  and  in  the  beginning 
of  December  began  a  movement  which  terminated  in  front  of 
the  rebel  position  on  the  Rappahannock  at  Fredericksburg. 

The  10th  was  present  at  the  great  battle  of  Fredericksburgi 
on  the  13th  of  December,  1862,  but,  with  the  exception  of 
being  exposed  at  one  time  to  a  heavy  shelling,  did  not  partici- 
pate. Upon  the  retreat  of  the  army  on  the  morning  of  the 
15th,  the  10th  was  selected  as  rear-guard  for  the  left  wing,  and 
was  the  last  regiment  to  leave  the  ground.  The  troops  went 
into  camp  near  Falmouth. 

The  officers  who  tendered  their  resignations  had  their  cases 
gradually  disposed  of,  and  on  the  20th  of  December  the  last 
of  them  received  their  discharges  from  the  service.     The  sen- 


tence of  the  court-martial  was  that  the  four  senior  officers  be 
cashiered  and  the  remainder  dismissed  the  service. 

Upon  the  presentation  of  a  written  statement  of  the  fact.s 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  he  set  aside  the  findings 
of  the  court,  and  all  the  officers  were  honorably  discharged. 
Several  of  them  subsequently  served  with  credit  in  the  army. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  Lieut.  Wallace  A.  Putnam,  of 
Co.  E,  had  excused  some  of  his  barefooted  men  from  drill. 
Upon  hearing  of  this  the  colonel  called  the  lieutenant  to  ac- 
count, and  ordered  him  to  take  these  men  and  bring  wood 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  replenish  the  fire  in  front  of  his  tent, 
and  keep  at  work  until  he  ordered  him  to  stop.  The  lieutenant, 
considering  the  order  an  inhuman  one,  flatly  refused  to  obey 
it,  and  was  at  once  put  under  arrest  by  the  colonel.  Upon 
his  trial  he  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charges,  and  upon  giving  a 
written  statement  of  the  reasons  for  disobeying  the  orders  the 
reviewing-officer  returned  him  to  duty. 

About  the  5th  of  January  the  10th  was  virtually  recon- 
structed, with  mostly  a  new  set  of  officers,  the  places  of  those 
killed,  disabled,  and  discharged  having  been  filled  by  new 
men. 

The  following  list  shows  the  officers  at  this  time  :  Colonel, 
Henry  L.  Eustis  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Joseph  B.  Parsons ; 
Major,  Dexter  P.  Parker;  Adjutant,  Charles  H.  Brewster; 
Surgeon,  C.  N.  Chamberlain ;  Assistant  Surgeon,  A.  B.  Rob- 
inson; Acting  Assistant  Surgeon,  G.  C.  Clark;  Quarter- 
master, Allen  S.  Mansir  ;  Chaplain,  A.  J.  Bingham. 

Company  A. — Captain,  Ralph  O.  Ives;  First  Lieutenant, 
Levi  Ross ;  Second  Lieutenant,  C.  H.  Knapp. 

Compaiii/  B. — Captain,  William  Streeter  ;  First  Lieutenant, 
E.  B.  Bartlett;  Second  Lieutenant,  G.  C.  Kaulback. 

C'ompaHij  C. — Captain,  James  H.  Weatherall  ;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, Edwin  Whitney;  Second  Lieutenant,  E.  H.  Graves. 

Qimpany  D. — Captain,  Homer  G.  Gilmore  ;  First  Lieuten- 
ant, H.  M.  Cotrell  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  E.  B.  Whittlesey. 

Company  E. — Captain,  Edwin  L.  Knight;  First  Lieutenant, 
Wallace  A.  Putnam ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Simeon  N.  El- 
dridge. 

Company  F. — Captain,  George  W.  Bigelow  ;  First  Lieuten- 
ant, L.  O.  Eaton ;  Second  Lieutenant,  T.  S.  Noble. 

Company  G. — Captain,  George  Pierce,  Jr.  ;  First  Lieuten- 
ant, N.  H.  Gardner ;  Second  Lieutenant,  George  W.  Potter, 
Jr. 

Company  H. — Captain,  Flavel  Shurtleff ;  First  Lieutenant, 
A.  E.  Munyan  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  A.  W.  Midgley. 

Company  I. — Captain,  Willard  I.  Bishop  ;  First  Lieutenant, 
William  A.  Ashley  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  W.  F.  Darby. 

Various  articles  from  the  officers  of  the  regiment  and  others 
appeared  in  the  papers,  and  altogether,  with  its  distinguished 
services  in  the  field  and  its  internal  difficulties,  its  history  was 
among  the  most  interesting  and  eventful  of  any  that  took  the 
field  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

The  new  chaplain  did  not  remain  long  before  continued  ill 
health  compelled  his  resignation.  He  was  quite  popular  in 
his  regiment,  and  upon  the  eve  of  his  departure  made  a  very 
feeling  address  to  his  companions. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  occurred  the  famous  "  forward- 
and-back"  movement  of  Burnside's  army,  which  was  denomi- 
nated the  "  mud  campaign"  by  the  soldiers.  In  this  the  lOlh 
bore,  as  usual,  a  conspicuous  part.  The  movement  took  place 
between  the  20th  and  24th  of  the  month,  and  resulted  in  nothing 
except  wear  and  tear  of  men  and  transportation. 

Soon  after  the  "  mud  campaign,"  Col.  Eustis  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  brigade  to  which  the  10th  was  attached. 
While  encamped  and  doing  picket  duty  along  the  Rappahan- 
nock, the  pickets  of  the  two  armies  kept  open  communications 
across  the  river,  and  exchanged  news]iapers,  tobacco,  coft'ee, 
and  compliments,  and  occasionally  written  correspondence, 
notwithstanding  it  was  strictly  forbidden. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1863,  three  wagon-loads  of  express 


HISTORY  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


143 


goods  were  received  and  distributed,  making  glad  the  hearts  of 
the  soldiers,  who  felt  that  they  were  still  remembered  at  home. 
During  the  month  of  March  reviews  and  drills  indicated  ac- 
tive worl<  at  hand.  On  the  8th  of  April  the  army  was  reviewed 
by  President  Lincoln,  who  was  accompanied  by  his  two  sons. 

At  one  period  during  the  spring  of  1863  a  balloon  was  at- 
tached to  the  army,  and  the  10th  Massachusetts  had  the  honor 
of  furnishing  an  officer  (Lieut.  Kaulback)  and  30  men  to  take 
charge  of  the  apparatus. 

Gen.  Joe  Hooker  was  now  in  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  high  hopes  were  entertained  of  great  things 
to  come. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  Gen.  Charles  Devens,  Jr.,  who  had 
been  a  long  time  in  command  of  the  brigade,  was  ordered  to 
report  to  Gen.  Howard,  of  the  11th  Corps,  as  commander  of  a 
division,  and  on  the  following  day  lie  bade  his  old  command 
an  affectionate  adieu. 

While  lying  in  their  camps  about  Falmouth  the  boys  of  the 
10th  and  various  other  regiments  instituted  a  series  of  base-ball 
games  to  while  away  the  monotony  of  camp-life.  The  game 
had  not  then  risen  to  the  prominence  it  has  since  acquired  as  a 
national  one,  neither  had  it  been  reduced  to  such  a  science  as 
at  the  present  time,  but  it  furnished  abundance  of  sport,  and 
was  played  with  the  greatest  zest  by  both  officers  and  men. 

On  the  28th  of  April  commenced  the  series  of  movements 
which  culminated,  on  the  3d  of  May,  in  the  battles  of  Salem 
Heights  and  Chancellorsville.  The  left  wing  of  the  army, 
under  Sedgwick,  gallantly  carried  the  rebel  positions  in  front 
of  Fredericksburg  which  had  cost  such  sacrifices  in  Burnside's 
army  the  previous  December ;  but  the  centre  and  right  wing, 
under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen.  Hooker,  were  re- 
pulsed at  Chancellorsville,  and  this  enabled  Gen.  Lee  to  throw 
an  overwlielming  force  upon  Sedgwick's  corps  and  compel 
it  to  fall  back  across  the  Rappahannock  with  considerable  loss. 

The  10th  was  heavily  engaged  in  the  attack  upon  Salem 
Heights  and  suffered  severely,  losing  10  killed  and  5G  wounded. 
Among  the  killed  was  First  Sergt.  Amos  Pettis,  of  Co.  I,  and 
among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  Shurtlett"  and  Lieut.  Noble. 

Col.  Eustis,  of  the  10th,  exhibited  great  skill  and  bravery 
in  handling  the  brigade  after  Col.  Brown  was  wounded. 
Maj.  Parker  was  in  command  of  the  10th. 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp,  wliich  was  named  "  Camp 
Eustis,"  from  the  8th  of  May  to  the  5th  of  June,  when  active 
operations  were  again  commenced.  On  the  23d  of  May,  Co. 
K  was  made  the  color-company.  The  men  were  constantly 
exercised  in  drilling  and  fatigue  duty. 

On  the  morning  of  June  5th  the  ball  was  opened  by  the 
Vermont  brigade,  who  crossed  the  Kapjiahannock  in  boats, 
charged  the  enemy  gallantly  under  a  heavy  artillery  fire, 
drove  them  from  their  rifle-pits,  and  captured  200  prisoners. 
During  these  operations  the  10th  was  under  arms,  but  took  no 
part  in  them. 

On  the  7th  a  detail  of  1000  men,  including  seven  companies 
of  the  10th,  was  sent  across  the  river  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  fully  armed  and  equipped.  Once  on  the  farther  side, 
they  were  furnished  with  intrenching  tools,  and  b}-  daylight 
of  the  8th  had  thrown  up  a  strong  line,  a  mile  in  length,  con- 
fronting the  rebel  position.  The  detail  was  then  relieved,  and 
recrossed  the  river. 

Intrenching  and  skirmishing,  varied  by  artillery  firing,  was 
kept  up  until  the  14th  of  June,  when  the  army  began  the 
famous  march  toward  the  culminating  battle  of  the  war,  at 
Gettysburg.  Lee  was  moving  his  army  toward  the  North, 
and  the  Federal  army  moved  in  a  parallel  course  abreast  of  him, 
and  brought  him  to  bay  at  length  among  the  hills  of  Southern 
Pennsylvania  when  the  rich  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more were  almost  within  his  grasp. 

During  the  long  and  toilsome  march,  wliile  at  Westminster, 
the  3t;tli  New  York,  which  had  been  brigaded  with  the  10th 
Massachusetts  ever  since  they  were  at  Brightwood,  left  the 


brigade  and  returned  home,  the  two  years  for  which  they 
enlisted  having  expired. 

The  10th,  during  the  terrible  battle  of  July  3d,  was  among 
the  reserves,  almost  constantly  moving  from  one  point  to 
another,  and  during  Gen.  Lee's  terrific  cannonade  with  one 
hundred  and  twenty  guns  upon  the  centre  of  the  Union 
position  it  passed  through  the  concentrated  storm,  but  for- 
tunately losing  only  two  men  wounded. 

On  the  5th  the  army  started  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating 
enemy.  On  the  25th  the  10th  was  near  Warrenton,  where  it 
remained  until  the  15th  of  September.  On  the  21st  of  July 
a  detail  of  three  commissioned  and  six  non-commissioned 
officers  was  made,  to  proceed  to  Massachusetts  on  recruiting 
service.  On  the  29th  of  July  a  fine  new  set  of  colors  was 
received  from  Boston.  The  old  colors  were  .sent  to  Boston  for 
safe-keeping. 

On  Saturday,  the  8th  of  August,  Capt.  George  Pierce  re- 
joined the  regiment,  having  been  reinstated  by  Governor 
Andrew  in  his  command.  He  was  one  of  those  who  resigned 
on  account  of  the  appointment  of  Maj.  Parker.  About  this 
time,  also,  the  sutler  made  his  appearance  with  two  wagon- 
loads  of  goods.  On  the  17th  of  August  the  regiment  was  paid 
off  for  four  months.  Besides  the  allotments  to  their  families, 
the  quartermaster  expressed  home  for  the  boys  $10,105.  The 
regiment  at  this  time  numbered  about  400  men. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  Capt.  Ives,  who  had  gone  to  a 
house  outside  the  picket-line  for  a  glass  of  milk,  was  captured 
by  guerrillas  and  taken  to  Richmond.  About  the  middle  of 
•  September,  Col.  Eustis  was  promoted  to  brigadier-general  for 
meritorious  services.  Col.  Parsons  had  commanded  the  regi- 
ment after  the  battle  of  Salem  Heights. 

Soon  after  the  promotion  of  Col.  Eustis  about  $.300  was 
raised  to  purchase  a  sword  and  accompanying  trappings,  to  be 
presented  to  him  as  a  token  of  esteem  from  the  officers  and 
men  of  his  old  command.  A  subscription  was  also  started 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  suitable  memorial  for  presenta- 
tion to  Gen.  McClellan.  This  last  was  participated  in  by  the 
whole  army. 

At  dress-parade  on  the  26th  of  September  an  order  was  read 
dismissing  Capt.  Ralph  O.  Ives  from  the  service  for  violation 
of  the  49th  article  of  war.  The  regiment  was  again  paid  ofl" 
on  the  19th  of  September. 

During  the  month  of  October  the  regiment  was  marching 
in  Virginia,  stopping  for  a  few  days  at  Bristow  Station,  where 
it  was  expected  the  troops  would  go  into  winter-quarters.  On 
the  15th  of  October,  Capt.  Fred  Barton,  of  the  staft"  of  Gen. 
Eustis,  was  captured  by  guerrillas  while  at  Fairfax  Station  to 
see  his  father  off  on  the  cars. 

On  the  7th  of  November  occurred  the  action  at  Rappahan- 
nock Station,  where  a  strong  work  was  captured  by  Gen.  Rus- 
sell's brigade  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  the  10th  lost  2  men  wounded,  1  mortally. 

At  this  place  about  1.500  of  the  enemy  were  captured,  in- 
cluding the  famous  "  Louisiana  Tigers." 

During  the  latter  part  of  November  the  whole  army  made 
an  advance  beyond  the  Bapidan,  and  there  was  much  skir- 
mishing and  considerable  fighting  between  the  26th  of  No- 
vember and  the  1st  of  December,  at  which  latter  date  the 
army  commenced  falling  back  toward  Brandy  Station.  The 
10th  went  into  camp  on  the  John  Minor  Botts  farm  on  the 
3d  of  December. 

At  this  place  the  regiment  constructed  a  permanent  camp. 
The  men  built  log  huts,  using  tents  for  roofs.  The  huts  were 
six  feet  by  ten  on  the  ground,  with  walls  four  feet  in  height. 

During  their  stay  at  this  camp  a  large  number  of  the  10th 
Regiment  re-enlisted  for  three  years.  Every  man  who  re- 
enlisted  was  promised  thirty-five  days'  furlough.  On  the  2d 
of  January,  1864,  the  re-enlisted  men  of  nine  companies  were 
mustered  for  three  additional  years  of  service  by  Capt.  Smith, 
of  Gen.  Terry's  staff,  and  on  the  next  day  the  remaining  com- 


144 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


pany  was  mustered.  At  one  time  during  their  stay  here  ru- 
mors were  afloat  that  the  regiment  would  be  ordered  to  San- 
dusky, Ohio,  to  guard  prisoners  of  war. 

About  the  middle  of  January  the  regiment  was  supplied 
with  a  new  chaplain,  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  of 
Montague.  Recruits  began  now  to  arrive  in  camp.  Early 
in  February  the  chaplain,  having  no  suitable  place  for  con- 
ducting religious  services,  set  about  constructing  a  chapel, 
which  was  soon  completed.  It  was  built  of  logs  plastered 
with  mud,  and  was  seventeen  by  twenty-three  feet  and  could 
accommodate  about  one  hundred  persons.  It  was  decorated 
with  bunting  and  evergreens. 

Not  long  after  the  chapel  was  completed  the  inajor  took 
possession  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  practicing  the  bayonet  exer- 
cise, but  upon  a  representation  of  the  matter  to  Col.  Parsons 
the  business  was  discontinued.  A  Ij'ceum  was  organized  in 
the  regiment,  and  meetings  were  held  once  a  week.  There 
was  heavy  firing  along  the  Eapidan  on  the  6th  of  February, 
and  indications  of  some  movement  in  the  rebel  camp. 

On  the  10th  of  February  the  re-enlisted  veterans  left  for 
home  on  their  promised  furloughs.  The  balance  of  the  regi- 
ment was  consolidated  into  four  companies,  under  command 
of  Maj.  Parker. 

On  the  19th,  Gen.  Eustis  was  presented  with  an  elegant 
sword  and  trappings  by  the  10th  Regiment.  Maj.  Parker 
made  the  presentation  in  an  appropriate  speech,  which  was 
feelingly  responded  to  by  the  general.  The  old  band  of  the 
10th  was  reorganized  as  a  brigade  band,  and  rejoined  the 
command  under  the  lead  of  B.  A.  Stewart  on  the  14th  of  Feb-  ■ 
ruary,  and  on  the  20th  Mr.  Burdick  died  very  suddenly  in  the 
hospital.  The  regiment  was  again  paid  off  on  the  2.5th  of  this 
month. 

From  the  27th  of  February  to  March  2d  the  regiment  was 
out  on  a  reconnoissance.  From  the  latter  date  until  May  4th 
it  remained  in  camp.  On  the  2d  of  April  the  paymaster  again 
made  his  appearance.  On  the  18th  there  was  a  grand  corps 
review  by  Gens.  Grant,  Meade,  and  Sedgwick.  During  the 
latter  part  of  April  various  games  of  ball  (wfcket,  base-ball, 
etc.)  were  indulged  in,  one  company  being  generally  matched 
against  another. 

On  the  4th  of  May  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  broke 
camp  and  began  the  great  forward  movement  under  a  new  and 
at  length  successful  leader. 

The  10th  was  hotly  engaged  in  the  battle  of  May  5th,  the 
initial  conflict  of  the  terrible  "  Wilderness"  battles,  and  lost 
11.5  killed  and  wounded,  being  about  one-third  of  the  whole. 
Among  the  killed  was  Lieut.  Ashley,  of  West  Springfield,  and 
among  the  wounded  were  Lieuts.  Eaton  and  Midgley,  the 
latter  mortally. 

During  the  next  day's  fighting  the  10th  was  in  the  reserve 
line,  and  suifered  very  little.  Capt.  Shurtlefi'  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  arm.  After  two  days'  severe  fighting.  Gen. 
Lee  became  convinced  that  new  tactics  had  been  adopted  by 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  that  he  could  no  longer  main- 
tain his  position  against  Gen.  Grant's  tremendous  a.ssaults.  He 
accordingly  abandoned  his  advanced  line,  and  retired  behind 
his  heavy  intrenchments. 

The  10th  was  slightl}'  engaged  on  the  8th,  losing  1  killed  and 
8  wounded.  During  the  night  of  the  8th,  Gen.  Lee  succeeded 
in  taking  up  a  very  strong  position  across  Gen.  Grant's  line  of 
marcli,  and  here  he  held  the  national  army  at  bay  for  the  space 
of  twelve  days.  On  the  9th,  Gen.  John  Sedgwick  fell  near 
the  right  of  the  10th.  Gen.  H.  G.  Wright  succeeded  him  in 
command  of  the  6th  Army  Corps. 

During  the  battle  of  Spottsylvania,  on  the  10th,  about  900 
prisoners  were  captured  by  Gens.  Russell  and  Upton's  brigades 
of  the  6th  Corps.  The  total  losses  of  the  10th  from  the  5th 
to  the  11th  of  May  were  17  killed  and  94  wounded. 

On  the  12th  of  May  occurred  some  of  the  most  terrible 
fighting  of  the  war.     Under  cover  of  a  dense  fog,  in  the  gray 


light  of  the  early  morn.  Gen.  Hancock,  by  direction  of  Gen. 
Grant,  suddenly  penetrated  the  left  centre  of  the  Confederate 
army,  and  captured  their  works  and  about  30  gun^,  together 
with  2  generals  and  .3000  men,  who  were  immediately  sent  to 
the  rear  by  Hancock  with  the  laconic  dispatch,  "  I  have  cap- 
tured from  thirty  to  forty  guns;  I  have  finished  up  Johnson, 
and  am  going  into  Early."  The  charge  cut  the  rebel  army  in 
two,  and  Lee  himself  narrowly  escaped  capture. 

But  though  this  success  was  highly  satisfactory,  it  did  not 
demoralize  the  rebel  general  or  his  armj',  and  preparations 
were  immediately  made  by  him  to  recover  the  lost  ground,  at 
whatever  cost. 

In  the  mean  time  the  brigade  to  which  the  10th  was  attached 
was  placed  inside  the  captured  works,  and  here  for  twenty- 
three  consecutive  hours  they  withstood  one  continuous  as- 
sault and  sustained  a  most  terrific  fire.  As  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  these  statements,  it  is  said  that  two  years  after  the 
battle  "  full  one-half  of  the  trees  of  the  wood,  at  a  point 
where  the  fiercest  struggle  ensued  within  the  salient  of  the 
Confederate  works,  were  dead,  and  nearly  all  the  others  were 
scarred  from  the  effects  of  musket-balls." 

A  large  oak-tree,  twentj'-one  inches  in  diameter,  was  cut 
in  two  by  musket-balls  alone.* 

A  section  of  this  tree  is  preserved  at  Wa.?hington. 

The  small  battalion  of  the  10th  lost  in  this  battle  11  killed, 
44  wounded,  and  6  missing  and  prisoners.  Among  the  killed 
or  mortally  wounded  were  Maj.  Parker,  Capt.  Weatherell, 
Lieut.  A.  E.  Munyan,  and  Sergts.  James  H.  Abbott  and 
Charles  W.  Thompson. 

On  the  17th  the  10th  Massachusetts  and  3d  Vermont  Regi- 
ments made  a  reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  Spottsyl- 
vania Court-House  to  discover  the  position  of  the  enemy's 
infantry  line,  which  was  successfully  accomplished,  the  com- 
mand driving  the  rebel  cavalry  before  it  for  a  distance  of  five 
miles. 

On  the  18th  was  fought  the  battle  of  Spottsylvania  Court- 
House,  in  which  the  10th  took  a  prominent  part,  and  suffered 
correspondingly.  The  losses  were  3  killed,  6  wounded,  and 
12  taken  prisoners.  Among  the  killed  were  Lieut.  E.  B.  Bart- 
lett  and  Sergt.  Paull. 

From  the  18th  of  May  until  the  3d  of  June  the  regiment 
was  moving  toward  the  James  River,  foraging  and  skirmish- 
ing by  the  way.  On  the  3d  of  June  occurred  one  of  the 
bloodiest  affairs  of  the  whole  war,  the  assault  upon  the  rebel 
lines  at  Cold  Harbor.  The  10th  was  in  the  supporting  line,  and 
consequently  suffered  less  than  those  in  front.  The  loss 
was  1  killed  and  4  wounded.  Four  men  were  also  wounded 
on  the  1st  inst.  On  the  4th  the  regiment  lost  1  man  killed 
and  1  wounded.  On  the  6th,  James  Cormick,  of  Co.  A,  was 
killed. 

On  the  IGth  of  June  the  regiment  crossed  the  James  River, 
and,  marching  all  night  and  the  next  day,  reached  the  vicinity 
of  Petersburg  at  nightfall.  On  the  18th  the  10th  was  engaged 
in  an  attack  which  carried  the  enemy's  line  in  front,  in  which 
it  had  7  mei\  wounded. 

On  the  evening  of  the  19th  the  regiment  was  relieved,  and 
ordered  to  the  rear. 

During  the  20th,  while  awaiting  orders  to  return  home,  the 
rebels  opened  a  battery  of  20-pounder  guns  upon  the  comnumd, 
by  which  Sergt.-Maj.  George  F.  Polley  was  instantly  killed.f 

*  The  compiler  recollects,  during  the  investment  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  by  Sher- 
man's army,  seeing  a  black-walnut  tree,  about  two  feet  iu  diameter,  nearly  cut 
off  by  musketry -fire. 

t  A  day  or  two  preceding  his  death  Sergt.  Polley  carved  out  the  following 
inscription  upou  a  board  similar  to  those  placed  at  the  head  of  soldiers'  graves: 
"  Sergt.-Maj.  George  F.  Polley,  10th  Ma&s.  Vols.,  killed  June  ,1864."  He  re- 
marked, "  I  guess  I'll  leave  the  date  blank."  Afterward,  by  advice  of  his  com- 
rades, he  split  up  the  Iward  to  kindle  fires  with. 

An  exact  fac-simile  of  this  was  placed  at  his  grave.  He  had  been  commissioned 
first  lieutenant-,  but  the  commission  djd  not  reach  the  command  until  after  his 
death. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


145 


The  poor  fellow  was  buried  on  the  21st  at  City  Point,  and  the 
regiment  embarked  for  home  on  the  22d. 

It  arrived  in  Springfield  on  the  2oth,  where  it  was  tendered, 
on  behalf  of  the  people  of  Western  Massachusetts,  a  most  en- 
thusiastic reception.  The  streets  were  decorated  with  banners 
and  inscriptions,  and  every  window  and  balcony  was  crowded 
with  faces.  Salutes  were  tired,  church  bells  rung,  and  citizens, 
societies,  and  orders  turned  out  to  do  it  honor.  The  regiment 
numbered  220  men  in  the  grand  procession  which  graced  the 
occasion. 

The  procession  marched  to  Court  Square,  where  Mayor 
Alexander  welcomed  the  remnant  of  the  gallant  band  which 
had  left  the  city  three  years  before,  1000  strong,  in  a  most  ap- 
propriate speech,  which  was  responded  to  by  Col.  J.  B.  Par- 
sons on  behalf  of  the  regiment,  after  which  the  men  partook 
of  a  grand  collation. 

On  the  1st  of  July  the  field  and  staff  otficers  and  five  com- 
panies were  mustered  out  by  Lieut.  Arnold,  of  the  18th  U.  S. 
Infantry,  and  on  the  6th  the  remaining  companies.  On  the 
18th  the  regiment  was  paid  oft'  at  Springfield. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

EIGHTEENTH,  TWENTIETH,  AND   TWENTY- 
FIKST  REGIMENTS. 

EIGHTEENTH    REGIMENT. 

This  regiment  was  raised  mostly  in  the  counties  of  Norfolk, 
Bristol,  and  Plymouth,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service 
Aug.  27,  18G1.  A  portion  of  Co.  K  was  from  Springfield  and 
Chicopee. 

The  commander.  Col.  James  Barnes,  and  the  surgeon,  David 
P.  Smith,  were  also  from  Springfield.  Col.  Barnes  was  pro- 
moted to  command  of  the  brigade  July  14,  1802. 

The  regiment  left  the  State  under  orders  for  Washington, 
D.  C,  Aug.  28,  1801,  and  on  the  3d  of  September  was  ordered 
to  cross  the  Potomac  and  report  to  Gen.  Fitz-John  Porter. 

It  participated  in  Gen.  McClellau's  Kichmond  campaign, 
was  engaged  in  many  of  the  bloody  battles  of  the  advance 
and  retreat,  and  was  present  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  or 
Manassas,  Aug.  30,  1862,  where  its  loss  was  equal  to  fift^'-two 
per  cent,  of  the  number  engaged. 

The  regiment  was  present  at  the  battles  of  Antietam  and 
Fredericksburg,  in  the  latter  action  losing  again  ver\-  heavily. 
In  May  following  (1863)  it  took  part  in  the  disastrous  battle 
of  Chancellorsville,  and  in  .July  following  was  on  the  field  of 
Gettysburg. 

In  the  great  campaign  of  1864,  under  Gen.  Grant,  it  bore  a 
conspicuous  part  and  gallantly  sustained  the  honor  of  its  State. 
In  July  it  was  reduced  to  a  battalion  by  the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  service  of  a  portion  of  the  regiment,  which  was  ordered 
to  Washington.  The  battalion  left  in  the  field  was  in  Sep- 
tember consolidated  with  the  32d  Massachusetts  Regiment,  and 
mustered  out  upon  expiration  of  its  term  of  service.  The  32d 
Regiment  was  one  of  three  to  which  was  awarded  a  splendid 
outfit,  furnished  by  Americans  in  Europe,  for  the  three  best- 
disciplined  regiments  at  that  time  in  the  Union  army. 

TWENTIETH    REGIMENT. 

The  20th  Regiment  was  first  stationed  on  the  upper  Poto- 
mac as  a  portion  of  Gen.  F.  W.  Lander's  brigade  of  Gen. 
Stone's  division.  It  was  engaged  in  the  unfortunate  aftair  at 
Ball's  Bluff,  where  it  lost  208  men,  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing. 

During  the  following  winter  the  regiment  was  on  picket 
duty  on  the  Potomac.  In  May,  1862,  the  brigade,  under  Gen. 
Dana,  marched  to  the  assistance  of  Gen.  Banks  in  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley,  but  on  reaching  Berryville  was  ordered  back  to 
Harper's  Ferry.  On  the  2oth  it  returned  to  Washington,  and 
on  the  27th  of  May  embarked  for  Fortress  Monroe,  Va. 
19 


The  regiment  was  engaged  throughout  the  Richmond  cam- 
paign of  1862,  and  took  part  in  the  actions  at  Yorktown,  West 
Point,  Fair  Oaks,  Allen's  Farm,  Savage  Station,  White  Oak 
Swamp,  and  Nelson's  Farm. 

After  the  retreat  to  Harrison's  Landing  it  was  transferred 
with  the  army  to  Northern  Virginia,  and  thence  to  Maryland, 
and  on  the  17th  of  .September  it  took  part  in  the  severe  battle 
of  Antietam,  where  its  loss  was  137  men. 

Again,  at  the  disastrous  battle  of  Fredericksburg  the  regi- 
ment was  warmly  engaged  and  lost  heavily ;  during  the  follow- 
ing winter  it  was  encamped  at  Falmouth. 

In  the  grand  campaign  of  Gettysburg  it  took  an  important 
part,  and  in  the  dreadful  battles  of  July  2d  and  3d,  outof  a  total 
of  230  officers  and  men  engaged,  lost  110.  It  was  in  the  pur- 
suit of  Lee  toward  and  into  Virginia,  and  at  Kelly's  Ford,  on 
the  25th  of  August,  received  183  recruits.  On  the  12th  and 
13th  of  October  it  was  engaged  with  the  enemy  at  Catlett's  and 
Bristow  Stations. 

In  October  and  November  the  regiment  was  skirmishing 
with  the  rebels  under  Ewell,  and  on  the  5th  of  December  went 
into  winter  quarters  at  Stevensburg. 

While  in  this  camp  about  two-thirds  of  the  old  members  of 
the  regiment  re-enlisted  for  three  years. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1864,  it  moved  forward  into  the  terrible 
campaign  of  the  Wilderness,  and  thence  "on  to  Richmond," 
and  arrived  at  Petersburg,  twenty-three  miles  beyond  the 
Ccmfederate  capital,  on  the  15th  of  June. 

It  was  hotly  engaged  with  the  enemy  on  the  20th,  21st,  and 
22d  of  June,  and  on  the  latter  date  its  services  were  of  vast 
importance  in  checking  a  formidable  assault. 

The  term  of  its  original  enlistment  expired  on  the  18th  of 
July,  1864,  and  those  who  had  not  re-enlisted  were  sent  to 
Boston,  where  they  were  mustered  out  of  service.  The  veter- 
ans and  recruits  were  consolidated  into  seven  companies  and 
incorporated  with  the  15th  Massachusetts,  which  made  up  a 
total  of  ten  companies. 

On  the  12th  of  August  it  was  engaged  in  the  action  at  Deep 
Bottom,  where  it  met  with  considerable  loss,  Maj.  Patten  being 
among  those  mortally  wounded. 

On  the  23d  of  the  same  month  it  was  in  the  severe  engage- 
ment at  Reams'  Station,  on  the  Weldon  Railway,  where  the 
entire  number  of  men  present,  excepting  ten,  was  either  killed 
or  captured. 

On  the  11th  of  September,  Capt.  Magnitzky  arrived  at  the 
front  and  took  command  of  the  remnant  of  the  regiment,  now 
consolidated  into  one  company  of  70  men.  Subsequently,  upon 
the  arrival  of  convalescents  from  hospital,  it  was  organized  into 
three  companies,  and  employed  in  fatigue  duty  upon  the  forti- 
fications until  the  latter  part  of  October,  when  it  was  moved 
down  the  left  of  the  line  and  encountered  the  enemy  at 
Hatcher's  Run.  Advancing  on  the  Boydton  Plank-Road,  it 
again  encountered  the  enemy.  On  the  30th  of  November  the 
battalion  went  into  camp  near  Fort  Emory. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1865,  it  participated  in  the  second 
movement  across  Hatcher's  Run,  and  on  the  29th  of  March 
began  its  march  in  the  final  campaign  against  Gen.  Lee,  par- 
ticipating in  all  the  operations  which  culminated  in  the  sur- 
render of  the  rebel  army  on  the  9th  of  May,  1865. 

The  regiment  took  part  in  the  grand  review  at  Washington 
on  the  23d  of  May,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service  on  the 
28th  of  July,  after  serving  three  years  and  ten  days. 

TWENTY-FIRST   REGIMENT. 

This  regiment  had  a  considerable  number  of  men  from 
Hampden  County  scattered  through  its  ranks,  though  there 
was  no  single  company  wholly  from  the  county. 

The  regiment  was  organized  at  Camp  Lincoln,  Worcester, 
which  place  it  left  on  the  23d  of  August,  1861,  numbering 
1004  men. 

Its  first  campaign  in  the  field  was  in  connection  with  the 


146 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Biirnside  expedition  against  Eoanoke  Island.  The  regiment 
\ii\s  ctnimandcd  by  Lieut. -Col.  Albert  Maggi.  It  left  An- 
napolis, Md.,  on  the  6th  of  January,  18C2,  and  passed  a  stormy 
and  disagreeable  month  on  board  the  steamer  "Northerner," 
oft'  Cape  Hatteras,  N.  C. 

It  disembarked  on  the  7th  of  February,  and  was  eonspicu- 
ouslj'  engaged,  capturing  a  rebel  battery  and  a  stand  of  colors 
in  a  steady  charge  with  the  bayonet. 

On  the  4th  of  March  following  Maj.  C"lark  was  promoted 
to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy  in  place  of  Lieut.-Col.  Maggi,  re- 
signed, and  took  the  command. 

In  the  battle  of  Newbern  it  was  hotly  engaged,  and  again 
captured  a  battery  in  a  niagniticent  bayonet  charge,  for  which 
gallant  action  it  was  commended  by  Gen.  Burnside  and  pre- 
sented with  one  of  the  guns  captured  from  the  enemy.  The 
gallant  Lieut.  F.  A.  Stearns  fell  in  this  engagement. 

The  regiment  left  Newbern  on  the  17th  of  April,  and, 
marching  via  Elizabeth  City,  took  part  in  the  spirited  affair 
at  Camden  on  the  19th,  and  thus  celebrated  the  first  blood 
shed  in  the  Rebellion  by  a  victory. 

In  May  the  regiment  made  a  forced  march  to  Pollocksville, 
and  rescued  the  2d  Maryland  (Union)  Regiment  from  immi- 
nent danger  of  capture. 

On  the  9th  of  July  it  went  into  camp  at  Newport  News, 
near  Fortress  Monroe,  and  from  thence,  on  the  2d  of  August, 
proceeded,  via  Aquia  Creek,  to  Fredericksburg,  where  it  en- 
camped for  a  short  season. 

The  ccmmand  took  part  in  the  campaign  of  Gen.  Pope, 
and  was  present  and  warmly  engaged  at  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  It  was  also  engaged  at  the  battle  of  Chantilly, 
where  its  losses  aggregated  l.'JO  men,  killed,  wounded,  anel 
captured.  In  this  battle  the  brave  and  accomplished  Gen. 
Kearney  fell  near  the  battle-line  of  the  21st.  Col.  Clark  was 
very  near  being  captured,  but  finally  came  into  the  Union 
lines,  alter  wandering  in  the  woods  until  the  fourth  day  suc- 
ceeding the  battle. 

The  21st  was  hotly  engaged  at  the  battle  of  South  Mountain, 
Sept.  15,  1862,  where  anollier  valuable  Union  officer,  Gen. 
Reno,  was  killed  in  the  moment  of  victory.  It  was  also 
present  at  the  great  battle  of  Antietam,  fought  on  the  17th  of 
the  same  month,  by  which  the  rebel  commander  was  compelled 
to  withdraw  once  more  within  the  Virginia  fortifications. 

In  the  fatal  attack  upon  the  enemy's  lines  at  Fredericksburg, 
in  December  following,  the  21st  bore  an  honorable  part,  and 
lost  69  men.  The  regiment  was  stationed  at  Falmouth,  where 
it  performed  picket  duty,  until  the  10th  of  January,  1863, 
when  it  was  transferred  to  Newport  News,  and  thence,  in 
March,  to  the  State  of  Kentucky.  It  was  engaged  in  picket 
and  scouting  duty  in  various  parts  of  East  Tennessee  from 
July  to  the  middle  of  November,  when  it  was  moved  toward 
Knoxville,  where  Gen.  Burnside  was  besieged  by  a  strong 
force  under  the  rebel  Gen.  Longstreet.  After  sharp  fighting 
and  much  weary  marching,  the  21st  succeeded  in  readiing 
Knoxville  on  the  17th  of  November. 

During  the  siege  it  was  actively  engaged,  and  bore  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  action  of  the  24th  of  November,  when,  in 
connection  with  another  picked  regiment,  it  forceel  the  enemy 
from  his  positions  in  North  Knoxville  and  occupied  his 
works. 

Upon  the  advance  of  Sherman's  column  from  Chattanooga 
for  the  relief  of  Burnside,  Longstreet  hastily  broke  up  his 
camps  and  retreated  into  Virginia,  and  during  the  pursuit  the 
21st  was  actively  engaged,  and  shared  all  the  dangers  and 
privations  of  that  remarkable  period. 

On  the  29th  of  December  the  regiment,  with  the  exception 
of  twenty-four  men,  re-enlisted  for  the  war.  On  the  8th  of 
January,  1864,  it  started  home  on  "  veteran  furlough,"  and  on 
its  arrival  at  Worcester  was  arcurded  a  most  enthusiastic 
reception. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  its  I'nrliugli  it   rejuincd  the  Army 


of  the  Potomac,  and  was  assigned  to  the  first  division  of  the 
9th  Corps,  under  Gen.  Stevenson.  In  the  famous  movement 
of  Gen.  Grant's  army  upon  Richmond  it  bore  its  full  share  of 
the  murderous  conflicts  of  the  "Wilderness,"  Spottsylvania 
Court-House,  and  Cold  Harbor,  losing  many  men  and  officers. 
On  the  loth  of  June  it  was  transferred  to  the  lines  in  front  of 
Petersburg,  where  it  immediately  became  fiercely  engaged 
with  the  enemy,  taking  part  in  the  desperate  assault  which 
followed  the  explosion  of  the  mine' under  the  rebel  works  on 
the  3d  of  July,  where  its  losses  were  severe. 

On  the  18th  of  August  the  military  authorities  decided  it 
was  not  a  veteran  regiment,  because,  of  the  three-fourths  who 
had  re-enlisted,  56  men,  for  various  reasons,  had  been  rejected. 
The  organization  was  ordered  to  be  broken  up,  and  the  officers 
and  non-re-enlist[;d  men  were  ordered  home  to  be  mustered  out 
of  service. 

On  the  19th  of  August  the  remnant  left  behind  was  engaged, 
and  lost  several  men,  among  them  Capt.  Sampson,  Sergt. 
May,  and  private  Murphy.  Those  remaining  were  soon  after 
consolidated  with  the  36th  Massachusetts  Regiment.  Capt. 
Clark  was  mortally  wounded  at  Petersburg,  but  lived  long 
enough  to  reach  his  home. 


CHAPTER   XX  XL 

T"WrENTY-SEVENTH    REGIMENT. 

This  regiment  was  raised  in  the  four  western  counties  of 
the  State, — principally  in  the  three  river-counties.  Horace 
C.  Lee,  of  Springfield,  was  its  first  Colonel ;  Luke  Lyman, 
of  Northampton,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  Wm.  M.  Brown,  of 
Adams,  Major;  Geo.  A.  Otis,  of  Springfield,  Surgeon  ;  Miles 
Sanford,  of  Adams,  Chaplain ;  Geo.  W.  Bartlett,  of  Green- 
field, Adjutant ;  and  William  H.  Tyler  (2d),  of  Adams,  Quar- 
termaster. 

The  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service 
at  Springfield,  Mass.,  Sept.  20,  1861.  It  was  known  as  the 
2d  Western  Regiment,  and  its  officers  were  from  the  militia 
regiments  of  the  .State. 

It  left  the  State  on  the  2d  of  November,  1861,  and  arrived 
by  sea  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  on  the  5th  of  the  same  month.  At 
this  point  it  remained  until  the  6th  of  January,  1862,  em- 
ple)yed  in  perfecting  its  drill  and  in  learning  the  duties  of  camp- 
life. 

On  the  last-mentioned  date  the  regiment  embarked  on  trans- 
ports and  proceeded  to  Fortress  Monroe,  where  it  arrived  on 
the  nth.  At  this  place  two  men — Michael  Cavanaugh,  of 
Co.  F,  and  James  M.  Hamblin,  of  Co.  E — were  drowned  by 
the  upsetting  of  a  boat,  which  was  run  down  by  a  steam-tug. 

The  27th  formed  a  part  of  the  Burnside  expedition,  and 
left  Fortress  Monroe  on  the  12th  of  January  and  arrived  at 
Hatteras  Inlet,  N.  C,  on  the  13th.  Here  the  expedition  re- 
mained, on  account  of  severe  weather,  until  the  6th  of  Feb- 
ruary, when  the  fleet  proceeded  to  Pamlico  Sound,  and  ar- 
rived in  sight  of  Roanoke  Islanel  the  same  evening.* 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th,  after  a  heavy  bombardment  by 
the  gunboats,  the  land  forces,  of  which  the  27th  formed  a 
part,  were  landed  on  the  island,  where  they  bivouacked  in 
an  open  field  in  a  drenching  rain. 

On  the  following  morning,  February  8th,  the  troops  were 
formed,  and  advanced  to  the  attack  of  the  enemy's  intrench- 
ments.  The  approach  was  through  almost  impenetrable 
thickets  and  mirj'  swamps  ;  but  nothing  could  check  the  ardor 
of  the  men,  and  the  enemy's  right  and  left  we're  turned  after 
a  sharp  cncounte-r,  and  the  place  soon  surrendered.  In  this 
its    first    engagement    the   27th   lost   5   men  killed   and    15 

*  This  island  is  famous  as  having  been  the  site  of  an  English  settlement  in 
1585,  tweuty-two  years  before  the  settlement  at  Jamestown,  Va.  It  was,  how- 
evci-  soon  after  abandoned. 


Photo,  by  Hardie  &  Schadee. 


/Vyi^^yi^y 


LCKE  Lyman,  son  of  Horace  and  Electa  Lyman,  is  a  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent  families 
of  the  historic  town  of  Northampton. 

He  was  born  in  Northampton,  Nov.  1,  1824.  His  edu- 
cation was  obtained  at  the  public  schools  iu  his  native  town, 
which  have  ever  been  considered  among  the  best  in  the 
State.  He  was  reared  as  an  agriculturist,  and  continued  in 
that  honorable  vocation  until  1856,  when  he  was  elected  to 
the  important  office  of  register  of  insolvency,  since  which 
period  his  time  has  been  occupied  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  the  various  official  positions  to  which  he  has  been 
called  by  his  fellow-citizens. 

Gen.  Lyman  has  ever  been  active  in  the  political  arena, 
and  has  been  a  Republican  from  the  organization  of  that 
party.  He  has  been  chosen  to  various  offices  within  the 
gift  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  and  brought  to  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  a  sound  judgment  and  a  ripe  knowledge  of 
men  and  events.  As  mentioned  above,  he  was  elected 
register  of  insolvency  in  1856,  and  in  1858  register  of 
probate  and  insolvency,  and  has  held  the  office  continuously 
since.  In  addition  to  this  he  has  held  the  office  of  selects 
man,  assessor,  overseer  of  the  poor,  water  commissioner, 
clerk  of  that  board,  director  in  the  Massachusetts  Central 
Railroad,  director  in  Hampshire  County  National  Bank, 
engineer  of  fire  department,  and  various  other  offices. 

In  military  matters  Gen.  Lyman  has  ever  manifested 
a  lively  interest,  and  in  the  old  militia  held  the  various 
ranks  from  private  to  captain. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  promptly  and 
patriotically  stepped  to  the  front,  and  in  the  first  outburst 


of  Northern  patriotism,  in  April,  1861,  he  organized  a 
company  for  the  service,  but,  the  call  being  filled,  the  com- 
pany was  not  accepted.  On  the  15th  of  September,  1861, 
he  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  27th  Regi- 
ment Massachusetts  Volunteers,  and  remained  in  the  service 
until  June,  1863. 

The  gallant  27th  saw  severe  service,  and  Col.  Lyman 
was  ever  found  sharing  the  fortunes  of  the  regiment, 
whether  on  long,  tedious  marches,  or  in  front  of  rebel 
bullets.  He  accompanied  the  memorable  Burnside  expe- 
dition, and  participated  in  the  following  engagements: 
Roanoke  Island,  Newbern,  Kingston,  Goldsboro',  Gum 
Swamp,  Whitehall,  and  the  siege  of  Washington,  N.  C. 
He  was  a  brave  and  gallant  officer,  and  was  commissioned 
brevet-colonel  for  brave  and  meritorious  conduct  at  the  siege 
of  Washington,  N.  C.  His  conduct  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  commanding  officers,  and  he  was  commissioned  brevet 
brigadier-general  for  meritorious  conduct  during  the  war. 

Upon  leaving  the  field,  in  1863,  he  returned  to  North- 
ampton, and  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Andrew  superintend- 
ent of  recruiting  for  Hampshire  County,  and  is  now  a 
member  of  the  "  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  League  of 
Massachusetts." 

In  all  matters  concerning  the  welfare  of  his  native  town 
and  county,  Gen.  Lyman  has  ever  been  found  aiding  in 
both  time  and  money.  He  is  also  prominent  in  Masonic 
circles,  and  is  the  present  eminent  commander  of  the 
Northampton  Commandery  of  Knights  Templar.  In  relig- 
ous  matters  he  is  a  Congregationalist,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  first  parish. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


U7 


wounded.  On  the  llfh  it  went  on  board  the  tran-tports,  where 
it  reniiiinod  for  about  a  month  in  very  crowded  and  uncom- 
fortable quarters.  Many  were  taken  sick  in  consequence,  and 
on  the  l^lh  of  February  Capt.  Henry  A.  Huliliard,  of  Co.  A, 
died. 

On  the  lltb  of  March  followins;  the  troops  left  Roanoke 
Isbmd,  and,  binding  on  the  coast  on  the  13th,  marched  toward 
Newbern,-N.  C.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th  the  enemy  was 
encountered,  well  posted  in  a  strong  position  near  Newbern, 
and  immediately  attacked  by  the  27th  Regiment,  which  pushed 
forward  and  maintained  the  fight  until  its  ammunition  became 
exhausted,  when  it  was  withdrawn  and  replaced  by  another 
regiment.  In  this  affair  it  suffered  a  lo.ss  of  15  killed  and  78 
wounded.  The  result  compelled  the  retreat  of  the  enemy, 
who  was  rapidly  followed  up  by  the  Union  force  to  the  vicinity 
of  the  city,  which  was  found  abandoned  and  on  fire  in  several 
places.  The  27th  crossed  the  river  Trent  in  boats,  the  great 
bridge  having  been  fired  by  the  retreating  rebels,  and  went  into 
camp  in  the  abandoned  camp  of  the  7th  North  Carolina  Regi- 
ment, about  a  half-mile  from  the  city,  where  it  found  good 
quarters  and  abundant  supplies.  Here  it  remained  about  six 
weeks. 

The  month  of  May  was  passed  at  Batchelder's  Creek,  about 
eight  miles  from  Newbern.  On  the  1st  of  June  the  regiment 
returned  to  its  first  camp,  near  the  city,  where  it  remained 
until  the  latter  part  of  July,  under  command  of  Lieut.-Col. 
Lyman,  Col.  Lee  being  in  command  of  a  brigade. 

While  lying  at  this  place  the  regiment  made  a  reconnois- 
sance  to  Trenton  to  ascertain  the  force  and  positions  of  the 
enemy.  A  body  of  cavalry  was  met  and  dispersed,  and,  find- 
ing no  fortifications,  the  force  returned  to  Newbern  after  an 
absence  of  three  days. 

On  the  9th  of  September  three  companies  of  the  regiment 
were  ordered  to  Washington,  N.  C,  and  five  companies  to 
Newport  barracks,  the  two  remaining  companies  having  been 
left  some  time  previously  at  Batchelder's;  Creek.  On  the  30th 
of  November  the  regiment,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  last- 
named  companies,  was  ordered  to  join  the  expedition  to  Wil- 
liamston  and  Hamilton. 

The  27th  also  formed  a  part  of  the  expedition  to  Goldsboro', 
N.  C.  The  brigade  to  which  it  was  attached  consisted,  be- 
sides the  27th,  of  the  3d,  4th,  5th,  25th,  and  45th  Ma.ssachu- 
setts  Regiments,  all  under  command  of  Col.  Lee,  of  the  27th. 

The  brigade  left  Newbern  on  the  11th  of  December,  occu- 
pying the  position  of  rear-guard  with  the  baggage-train.  At 
nightfall  the  troops  encamped  on  the  Trenton  road.  On  the 
12th  the  march  was  over  terribly  swampy  roads,  which  were 
continually  growing  worse.  On  the  13th,  about  noon,  the 
command  arrived  within  a  short  distance  of  Kinstou,  where 
the  enemy  were  driven  in  by  the  advance.  Here  they  en- 
camped for  the  night.  Two  days'  rations  and  twenty  rounds 
of  ammunition  were  served  to  each  man.  On  the  14th  the 
brigade  moved  up  the  read,  leaving  the  5th  Regiment  to  guard 
the  baggage,  and  soon  encountered  the  enemy,  who  retreated. 
The  27th  reached  Kinston,  where  it  encamped  for  the  night. 
On  the  15th  it  marched  all  day,  and  encamped  about  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  On  the  16th  the  enemy  was  encoun- 
tered at  Whitehall,  when  sharp  firing  ensued,  and  the  27th 
was  ordered  toward  Goldsboro',  and  the  following  night 
encamped  eight  miles  below  that  town.  On  the  17th  the 
movement  was  resumed,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  the  command 
came  in  sight  of  the  Wilmington  Railroad.  Here  ensued 
considerable  fighting,  in  which  the  27th  behaved  finely.  The 
object  of  the  expedition  being  accomplished,  the  regiment  re- 
turned to  Newbern. 

The  command  remained  in  camp  near  Newbern  from  this 
time  until  the  4th  of  January,  1863,  when  it  was  ordered  to 
Washington,  N.  C,  which  place  it  reached  by  water  on  the 
5th. 

On   the  27th   cf  January  two  companies,   G  and   H,  were 


sent,  under  command  of  Maj.  I$arthol<miew,  to  Plymouth, 
N.  C,  where  they  arrived  on  the  2Hth,  and  Maj.  Bartholomew 
assumed  command  of  the  fort  at  that  place.  Here  they  re- 
mained, doing  garrison  duty  until  the  8th  of  May,  when  they 
were  ordered  to  Newbern.  During  their  stay  at  Plymouth 
the}'  performed  coiisiderable  scouting  duty  on  and  around 
Albemarle  Sound.  Upon  the  attack  of  the  post  at  Winfield, 
on  the  Chowan  River,  Co.  H  and  three  companies  of  the  25th 
Massachusetts  were  sent  to  its  aid.  The  enemy  hastily  re- 
treated and  were  pursued,  and  Co.  H,  having  the  advance,  soon 
came  up  with  them,  and  had  a  sharp  encounter  with  a  portion 
of  the  42d  North  Carolina  Regiment,  in  which  the  company 
lost  two  men  killed  and  one  wounded. 

Everything  remained  quiet  at  Washington  until  the  30th  of 
March,  when  the  enemy  appeared  before  the  place,  his  advance 
driving  in  the  pickets,  and,  his  whole  force  being  brought  up, 
the  place  was  regularly  invested.  Gen.  Foster,  being  on  a  visit 
to  the  place,  took  command  of  the  garrison.  The  enemy's  bat- 
teries were  completed,  and  fire  was  opened  on  the  3d  of  April, 
and  the  siege  was  pressed  with  great  vigor  for  the  next  ten  or 
twelve  days.  The  weather  was  cold  and  stormy,  but  the  men 
behaved  admirably,  whether  under  fire  or  running  the  block- 
ade for  supplies. 

The  rebels  were  in  superior  force  and  succeeded  in  cutting 
off  all  supplies,  and  rations  began  to  be  short,  but,  a  short  time 
after,  the  steamer  "Escort"  passed  their  batteries,  with  food 
and  ammunition  and  the  5th  Rhode  Island  Regiment  on  board, 
when  the  enemy,  despairing  of  success,  abandoned  the  siege, 
and  retired  to  Kinston  on  the  16th. 

On  the  24th  of  the  same  month  the  27th  returned  to  New- 
bern. On  the  27th,  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  rain,  it  started 
for  Batchelder's  Creek.  On  the  28th  the  enemy  were  unex- 
pectedly encountered  behind  strong  works,  but  were  driven 
from  them  with  the  loss  of  forty  men.  The  regiment  lost  one 
man,  wounded.     The  command  reached  Newbern  on  the  30th. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  in  company  with  the  .58th  Pennsylvania 
Regiment,  the  27th  went  on  an  expedition  against  the  enemy 
at  Gum  Swamp.  The  command  endeavored  to  gain  the  en- 
emy's rear,  and  marched  for  fourteen  hours,  cutting  their  way 
through  a  dense,  swampy  undergrowth,  and  at  length  reached 
the  rebel  rear,  where  an  immediate  attack  was  made  upon  them, 
Cos.  D  and  I  following  the  opening-fire  with  a  furious  charge. 
The  enemy  were  completely  routed,  with  the  loss  of  170  men 
taken  prisoners,  one  piece  of  artillery,  and  several  ammunition- 
wagons.  But  they  soon  rallied,  and  in  turn  attacked  the  Union 
force,  which  retreated  on  Newbern,  where  a  skirmish  ensued, 
in  which  Col.  Jones,  the  leader  of  the  expedition,  was  killed. 

From  June  until  December  the  regiment  was  doing  duty  as 
provost-guard,  and  supported  the  cavalry  in  the  Warsaw  and 
Rocky  Mountain  raids ;  afterward  joined  Gen.  Hickman's 
brigade  at  Newport  News,  Va.,  and  was  on  duty  at  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth.  During  its  stay  at  these  points,  up  to  the  22d 
of  December,  1863,  200  of  the  men  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and 
these  went  home  on  furlough ;  194  recruits  also  joined  the 
command."  During  the  year  1863  the  regiment  had  been  in 
command  of  Lieut.-Col.  Lyman  and  Maj.  Bartholomew,  Col. 
Lee  being  in  command  of  a  brigade. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1864,  the  regiment  took  part  in  an 
expedition  to  Magnolia  Springs.  On  the  22d  it  was  relieved 
of  provost  duty  by  the  4th  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  and  went 
into  camp  near  Julien's  Creek,  Va.,  with  the  exception  of  Co. 
F,  which  was  left  at  Norfolk  until  April  15,  and  a  detail  of  50 
men  who  were  on  duty  as  prison-guard  during  the  summer. 

April  12th  the  regiment  was  engaged  in  an  expedition  beyond 
SuflFolk,  being  gone  three  days  and  returning  in  a  furious  snow- 
storm. While  stationed  at  Getty's,  Lieut.-Col.  Bartholomew 
had  command  of  the  regiment,  Col.  Lee  commanding  a  brigade. 
On  the  26th  of  April,  under  marching  orders,  the  27th  went 
on  board  the  steamer  "Escort,"  which  had  relieved  them  a 
year  before  when  besieged  at  Little  Washington,  N.  C.     The 


148 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEV. 


steamer  proceeded  to  Yorktown,  Va. ,  where  the  troops  landed 
and  encamped  until  the  4th  of  May.  From  this  point  the 
knapsacks  and  surplus  baggage  were  sent  to  Portsmouth,  Va., 
for  safe-keeping. 

At  Yorktown  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Hickman's 
brigade,  composed  of  the  23d,  25th,  and  27th  Massachusetts 
Kegiments  and  the  9th  New  Jersey  Kegiment,  and  constituting 
the  1st  Brigade,  2d  Division,  18th  Army  Corps,  Army  of  the 
James.  Here  Col.  Lee  again  resumed  command  of  the  regi- 
ment. On  the  1st  of  May  it  embarked  on  board  the  steamer 
"  Wenonah,"  and,  in  company  with  a  large  fleet,  sailed  down 
the  York  and  up  the  James  River  to  Bernuida  Hundred,  where 
the  troops  landed  on  the  5th  and  encamped.  On  the  morning 
of  the  6th,  Hickman's  brigade  took  the  advance  and  marched 
to  Cobb's  Plantation,  six  miles,  driving  in  the  enemy's  pickets 
on  the  way.  At  four  p.m.  of  the  same  day  Hickman's  brigade, 
with  a  section  of  the  4th  United  States  Batter}',  wa.s  sent  out 
by  Maj.-Gen.  W.  F.  Smith,  commanding  18th  Corps,  on  a 
reconnoissance  to  Port  Walthall,  three  miles  away.  The  27th 
had  the  advance,  Co.  H,  under  Capt.  Sanford,  being  deployed 
as  skirmishers.  The  column  rapidly  advanced,  the  skirmishers 
on  both  sides  keeping  up  a  brisk  fire.  At  a  place  called  Mary 
Dunn's  Farm  the  enemy  were  formed  in  line  of  battle  behind 
a  fence  near  the  railroad.  The  troops  were  immediately 
deployed  in  line,  and  moved  on  the  enemy.  The  27th  was  soon 
briskly  engaged,  the  other  regiments  forming  a  supporting 
line,  and  the  firing  was  kept  up  until  nearly  nightfall,  when 
the  command  was  withdrawn  in  good  order,  the  orders  being 
not  to  bring  on  a  general  engagement.  The  enemy's  loss  was 
stated  by  themselves  at  200  killed  and  wounded,  among  whom 
were  three  field-officers.  The  loss  in  the  27th  amounted  to  1 
man — Sergt.  G.  S.  Mantor — killed  and  15  wounded,  including 
1  mortally.     The  enemy  did  not  pursue. 

On  the  7th  the  brigade  was  sent,  accompanied  by  the  same 
guns,  to  make  a  feint  on  Port  Walthall,  while  Brooke's  Di- 
vision of  the  18th  Corps  advanced  to  the  railroad  at  another 
point,  flanking  the  enemy  and  tearing  up  the  track.  The  enemy 
were  driven  toward  Petersburg,  and  .several  miles  of  the  rail- 
road and  telegraph  were  destroyed.  Five  men  were  slightly 
wounded  in  the  27th.  The  heat  was  excessive,  and  there  were 
about  150  cases  of  sunstroke  reported  in  the  brigade. 

On  the  9th  of  May  the  advance  on  Petersburg  was  resumed 
by  the  whole  force,  and  the  enemy  were  encountered  in  strong 
force  near  Arrowtield  Church.  Their  skirmishers  and  batteries 
opened  briskly,  and  the  Union  line  of  battle  was  quickly  formed, 
with  the  27th  on  the  right  and  the  25th  on  the  left,  supported 
by  the  9th  New  Jersey  and  25th  Massachusetts.  A  section  of 
the  4th  U.  S.  Battery  was  in  position  on  the  road,  but  was 
soon  after  disabled  by  the  heavy  fire  of  the  enemy  and  forced 
to  retire.  This  elated  the  enemy,  and  they  immediately  formed 
for  a  charge,  their  commander  telling  them  that  our  forces 
were  a  lot  of  Massachusetts  militia  whom  they  could  easily 
disperse.  The  rebel  regiments  which  made  the  charge  were 
the  11th,  23d,  25th,  and  27th  South  Carolina,  and,  curiously 
enough,  they  were  opposed  by  three  Massachusetts  regiments 
bearing  the  same  numbers  as  the  three  last  named, — Massa- 
chusetts against  South  Carolina.  They  came  rushing  forward 
with  that  peculiar  yell  so  well  known  by  the  "  boys  in  blue," 
four  lines  deep,  and  with  such  impetuosity  that  they  reached 
within  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  of  the  Union  line  before  they 
were  checked  by  the  terrible  fire  poured  upon  them.  Very 
few  of  them  ever  got  back  to  their  lines.  When  they  were 
within  fifty  yards  the  2.jth  and  27th  Ma.ssachusetts  Regiments, 
on  the  flanks  of  the  line,  opened  at  right  and  left  oblique  a 
most  deadly  fire,  literally  piling  up  /the  dead  and  wounded. 
At  the  same  time  a  portion  of  the  27th  Massachusetts  and  9th 
New  Jersey  Regiments  made  a  counter-charge,  and  the  enemy 
were  soon  driven  behind  their  works  beyond  Swift  Creek. 
The  casualties  in  the  27th  were  Lieut.  Pliny  Wood,  of  Co.  F, 
mortally  wounded,  4  enlisted  men  killed  and  31  wounded. 


The  battle  closed  at  dark,  and  the  brigade  remained  on  the 
ground  through  the  night,  which  was  cold  and  disagreeable. 
At  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  morning,  when  expecting  or- 
ders to  move  on  Petersburg,  the  troops  were  ordered  to  with- 
draw to  their  intrenchments. 

Orders  were  received  to  move  on  Richmond  at  daylight  on 
the  12th  of  May,  and  the  brigade  advanced  slowly  in  line  of 
battle,  "  en  ichelun."  Skirmishing  continued  through  the  day, 
and  the  27th  had  four  men  wounded.  The  two  succeeding 
nights  were  cold  and  rainy,  and  the  men  were  exceedingly  un- 
comfortable, being  without  blankets  or  overcoats,  but  there 
was  very  little  complaining.  During  the  13th  the  brigade 
moved  slowly  in  line  of  battle  and  without  casualties.  On  the 
14th  the  advance  continued,  and  the  line  came  in  sight  of  the 
fortifications  at  Drury's  Bluft"  at  nine  a.m.  The  outer  line 
of  works  was  quickly  taken  and  the  enemy  driven  within  his 
inner  defenses.  The  rebel  batteries  were  silenced  by  sharp- 
shooters. The  casualties  in  the  27th  on  this  day  were  14  men 
wounded. 

On  the  15th  there  was  sharp  skirmishing  all  day,  and  the 
regiment  lost  9  men  wounded.  During  the  13th,  14tb,  and 
loth  the  regiment  expended  80,000  cartridges  in  skirmishing. 
On  the  last-mentioned  day  the  troops  commenced  to  throw  up 
a  defensive  line,  using  shovels,  bayonets,  plates,  tin  cups,  and 
anything  they  could  possibly  make  use  of,  in  the  absence  of 
sufficient  intrenching  tools.  During  the  night  of  the  15th  the 
27th  constructed  a  temporary  breastwork  of  logs,  rails,  and 
dirt  along  their  front,  which  was  on  an  old  road,  and  in  the 
edge  of  a  belt  of  timber  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in 
width,  beyond  and  in  front  of  which  was  an  open  field  run- 
ning up  to  the  main  works  of  the  enemy  on  the  James  River, 
at  Drury's  Bluff.  In  rear  of  the  line  was  another  open  field 
of  smaller  dimensions.  Co.  D,  which  was  on  picket,  was  at- 
tacked several  times  during  the  night,  and  the  enemy  could 
be  heard  nnissing  troops  in  front.  Gen.  Beauregard  had 
arrived  with  heavy  reinforcements,  and  was  preparing  for  an 
overwhelming  attack  ujion  the  exposed  portions  of  the  Union 
line. 

At  daylight,  under  cover  of  a  dense  fog,  the  enemy  made  a 
sudden  and  furious  attack  on  the  line  with  both  musketry  and 
artillery.  The  pickets  had  not  time  to  rally,  but  the  line  of 
battle  was  ready,  and  f>pened  on  them  with  a  rapid  discharge 
of  musketry.  There  was  no  artillery  on  the  portion  of  the 
line  occupied  by  the  27th.  At  three  dift'crent  times  the  enemy 
made  desperate  attempts  to  carry  the  line  by  an  attack  in  front, 
but  the  troops  held  the  ground  for  an  hour,  and  repulsed  the 
rebels  with  severe  loss.  At  length  they  drew  back,  and  there 
was  a  temporary  lull  in  the  firing.  At  this  time  the  ammu- 
nition of  the  27th  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  a  supply  was 
ordered.  Suddenly  a  volley  of  musketry  was  poured  in  from 
the  rear.  At  first  it  was  supposed  that  reinforcements  coming 
up  had  mistaken  friends  for  foes,  but  a  glance  at  the  long  line 
of  gray  uniforms  soon  undeceived  them.  They  were  the 
enemy,  closed  nn  masse  in  rear  of  the  line.  A  portion  of  the 
regiment  faced  about  and  fired  into  them,  but  another  force, 
pressing  in  front,  rendered  resistance  useless,  and  the  colonel 
gave  the  order,  "  Left  face,  run  !"  A  portion  of  the  three  left 
companies  escaped,  but  nearly  all  of  the  remainder  were  cap- 
tured. 

This  surprise  was  caused  by  the  giving  waj'  of  two  regi- 
ments on  the  right  of  the  27th,  in  spite  of  all  Gen.  Hickman's 
efforts  to  hold  his  line  until  reinforcements  arrived.  The  gen- 
eral sent  Lieut.  Wheeler,  an  aid,  to  notify  Col.  Lee  that  the 
right  was  withdrawn  and  to  order  a  change  of  front  in  the 
27th,  but  the  lieutenant  was  mortally  wounded  while  endeav- 
oring to  execute  the  order,  and  the  message  did  not  reach  Col. 
Lee.  Gen.  Hickman,  getting  impatient  at  the  continued  ab- 
sence of  Lieut.  Wheeler,  started  to  attend  to  the  matter  him- 
self, and  was  captured. 

The  casualties  in  the  27th  were:  killed,  Capt.  Charles  D. 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


149 


.Sanford,  ii  brnvc  and  accomplished  nfficpr  and  a  pnimising 
young  man,  and  5  enlisted  men  ;  wounded,  1  lieutenant  and  29 
men  ;  prisoners,  9  officers,  including  the  colonel  and  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  243  enlisted  men.  The  remaining  portions  of 
the  regiment,  after  disengaging  themsehes  from  the  swamps 
through  which  they  were  compelled  to  pass,  were  finally  rallied 
under  Capt.  Moore,  senior  officer  present,  and  were  under  tire 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  The  disasters  of  the  morn- 
ing were  partially  redeemed,  and  the  enemy  were  compelled  to 
retire.     The  troops  fell  back  to  their  camps  at  eleven  p.m. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Gen.  G.  Wietzell  to 
Gen.  W.  F.  Smith  will  throw  considerable  additional  light  on 
this  affair.     It  is  dated  May  29,  1804 : 

"  My  Dear  Gkneral, — Have  jii.st  received  full  files  of  Ricliniond  paijeis  from 
16th  to  2Sth  Ijy  flag  of  truee  boat.  Full  details  of  our  flglit,  with  li.st  of  killed 
and  wounded,  and  list  of  officei-s  captured  from  us.  The  force  that  attacked  my 
division  was  six  brigades  of  infantry  and  one  unattached  regiment  of  infantiy, 
and  three  batteries  of  artillery,  all  under  M;ij.-Gen.  Ransom.  His  entire  loss 
was  3(i00,  by  official  list.  Two  bi  igadiers  (Ransom  and  Cove)  wounded.  Sevei  al 
high  ofticere  killed.  They  have  about  oOO  of  my  men  luisonere.  Gen.  Hick- 
man sends  word  that  Gilniore  could  easily  have  gone  in.  They  speak  of  the 
wire  us  a  devilish  contiivance  whicli  none  but  a  Yankee  conld  devise.  Infor- 
mation pretty  authentic  that  the  bulk  of  Beauregard's  force  left  us  day  before 
yesterday  to  join  Lee.     In  liaste,  yours, 

"G.  WiF.Tzr.LL. 

"  To  Ma.i.-Gf,s.  W.  F.  Smith. 

".T.  W.  Holmes, 

(Official  copy.)  ^^  At^t.  27tk  Mttiis.  Volinitver  Iii/utUnj.^^ 

The  surrender  of  the  regiment  occurred  at  about  0.30  a.m., 
and  the  prisoners  were  taken  immediately  to  Richmond,  where 
the  officers  were  incarcerated  in  Libby  prison  and  the  enlisted 
men  in  a  building  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  Here  they 
remained  about  two  weeks,  when  the  prisons  were  ordered 
cleared,  and  the  officers  were  sent  to  Macon,  Ga.,  and  the  men 
to  Andersonvillc  stockade.  From  the  time  the  officers  left 
Richmond  until  they  reached  Macon  was  about  ten  days.  The 
enlisted  men  were  subsequently  shifted  about  and  considerably 
scattered  between  Florence,  Charleston,  Mellen,  etc.  Over  one 
hundred  died  while  prisoners. 

Col.  Lee  and  Lieut.-Col.  Bartholomew  remained  only  about 
a  week  at  Macon,  when  they  were  ordered  to  Charleston,  to  be 
placed  under  the  fire  of  the  Union  batteries.  These  two  were 
exchanged  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1804,  and  returned  to  the 
regiment,  where  the  lieutenant-colonel  remained  until  his  sub- 
sequent capture.  Col.  Lee  was  mustered  out,  as  elsewhere 
stated,  in  October  following. 

The  seven  remaining  officers  were  removed  from  Macon  to 
Charleston,  and  subsequently  to  Columbia,  S.  C,  where  two 
of  them,  Capts.  J.  H.  Nutting  and  P.  McManus,  escaped  and 
rejoined  the  Union  army.  The  remaining  five  were  held  pris- 
oners until  the  close  of  the  war.  None  of  the  captured  officers 
died  while  prisoners. 

Following  the  Drury's  Bluff  affair  the  brigade  was  reorgan- 
ized, the  Goth  Pennsylvania  Regiment  being  added  to  it, 
and  Brig-Gen.  Stannard  was  assigned  the  command.  The 
command  of  the  27th  devolved  on  Maj.  William  A.  Walker. 
The  troops  were  engaged  in  picket  duty  until  the  28th  of  May, 
when  (on  the  next  day,  29th)  they  were  embarked  on  a  steamer, 
and  proceeded  with  the  18th  Army  Corps  to  White  House,  on 
the  Pamunkey  River,  which  was  reached  on  the  30th. 

On  the  31st  the  troops  moved  with  five  days'  rations  toward 
Cold  Harbor,  and  the  next  day  joined  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. Cos.  F  and  H  of  the  27th  were  sent  on  the  skirmish-line, 
where  they  remained  until  ten  p.m.  of  the  2d  of  June,  and  had 
two  men  wounded.  The  other  companies  were  sent  to  Uevens' 
brigade,  of  the  6th  Corps,  and  were  on  picket  during  the 
night.  On  the  morning  of  the  2d  these  companies  were  moved 
by  the  right  flank,  and,  passing  under  a  heavy  fire,  had  4 
men  killed  and  12  wounded. 

On  the  3d  of  June  occurred  the  disastrous  assault  upon  the 
rebel  works  at  Cold  Harbor.  The  27th  was  deployed  as  skir- 
mishers for  the  brigade,  and  in  the  charge  which  followed  suf- 


fered severely.  The  casualties  were:  officers  killed,  3, — Major 
William  A.  Walker  (comnnuiding  regiment),  Capt.  E.  R. 
Wilcox  (of  Gen.  Stannard's  stall'),  and  Lieut.  Morse;  officers 
wounded,  4, — Capt.  Caswell  (slight),  Lieuts.  McKay,  Newall, 

and  Harrington  ;  enlisted  men  killed,  10;  wounded,  54. 

Capt.  Caswell,  being  the  senior  officer,  now  took  the  com- 
mand, and  the  regiment  remained  in  the  trenches  until  the 
evening  of  the  12th  of  June.  During  this  period  it  was  con- 
stantly under  fire,  and  Lieut.  Coombs  (commissioned,  hut  not 
mustered)  was  killed,  and  Lieut.  F.  C.  Wright,  of  North- 
ampton, mortally  wounded.  Five  enlisted  men  were  also 
wounded,  and  seven  taken  prisoners. 

On  the  night  of  the  12th  the  regiment  marched  to  White 
House  Landing,  arriving  at  five  a.m.  on  the  13th.  The  dis- 
tance was  twenty-one  miles,  and  the  dust  and  stench  from 
dead  horses,  killed  in  Sheridan's  cavalry  fight  two  weeks  be- 
fore, were  almost  intolerable. 

On  the  13th,  Capt.  Caswell  was  relieved,  and  Capt.  Moore 
took  command  of  the  regiment.  Here  it  embarked  on  the 
transport  "  Claymont,"  and  landed  at  Point  of  Rocks,  on  the 
Appomattox  River,  on  the  evening  of  the  14th.  On  the  15th 
the  command  crossed  the  Appomattox  and  advanced  slowly 
toward  Petersburg,  driving  the  enemy's  pickets  before  it 
toward  their  main  force,  about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the 
city.  At  four  P.M.  the  enemy's  outer  line  of  works  was  car- 
ried with  slight  loss.  The  work  of  the  day  had  been  exhaust- 
ing, the  line  having  to  push  through  thickets  and  swampy 
ground  under  a  heavy  fire  of  shot  and  shell.  The  27th  lost 
H  enlisted  men,  severely  wounded.  During  the  16th  and  17th 
the  regiment  was  in  reserve,  though  under  fire  most  of  the 
time. 

On  the  18th  of  June  a  general  advance  was  ordered,  and 
one  line  of  rifle-pits  was  carried  and  an  assault  made  on  the 
second  line  in  front  of  Petersburg.  The  flrst  assaulting  line 
was  formed  of  Col.  Steadnum's  brigade,  and  the  27th  was  in 
the  second  line  supporting.  The  advance  was  terrific  and  the 
slaughter  almost  unparalleled,  Gen.  Stannard  remarking  that 
he  had  never  witnessed  so  severe  a  fire  in  any  of  the  forty  bat- 
tles in  which  he  had  been  engaged.  Steadmaii's  brigade  was 
repulsed,  but  Stannard's  advanced  gallantly  to  its  support  and 
helped  to  establish  the  line  within  fifty  yards  of  the  enemy. 
The  loss  of  the  27th  in  this  affair  was  3  officers  wounded, 
leaving  one  lieutenant  alone  remaining,  10  enlisted  men  killed, 
and  32  wounded, — nearly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of 
men  engaged. 

Soon  after  this  battle  a  number  of  officers  were  ordered  back 
to  the  regiment  from  detached  service,  and  during  the  two 
succeeding  months  Capts.  McKay,  Bailey,  Caswell,  and  Bart- 
lett  and  Lieuts.  W.  H.  H.  Briggs  and  W.  C.  Hunt  rejoined 
the  regiment  and  successively  had  the  command.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  affair  in  front  of  Petersburg  the  command 
devolved  upon  Lieut.  E.  M.  JilLson,  the  only  commissioned 
officer  remaining  unhurt  after  the  battle  was  over.  The  regi- 
ment remained  in  the  trenches  in  front  of  Petersburg  until 
August  24th,  and  was  under  fire  every  alternate  two  days 
during  that  period.  Two  men  were  killed  and  8  wounded 
during  the  time  by  the  enemy's  sharpshooters. 

On  the  24th  of  August  the  18th  Corps  was  relieved  by  the 
10th  Corps,  and  the  27th  went  back  to  Gen.  Butler's  lines, 
between  the  Appomattox  and  James  Rivers,  where  for  the  first 
time  the  men  found  themselves  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
enemy's  pickets  (of  Longstreet's  Corps),  and  not  exposed  to 
danger  from  picket  firing.  Gen.  Butler's  good-will  toward 
Hickman's  brigade  procured  an  order  for  the  four  original 
regiments  to  be  transferred  and  sent  to  their  old  field  in  North 
Carolina.  The  27th  left  the  army  on  the  17th  of  September 
on  the  transport  "  Convoy."  Col.  Lee  had  been  exchanged  in 
August,  and,  meeting  the  regiment  at  Norfolk,  obtained  an 
order  from  Gen.  Butler  to  retain  all  the  men  whose  term  of 
service  expired  before  Oct  1.    Capt.  McKay  and  Lieut.  Holmes 


150 


niSTOllV  OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


were  detailed  to  take  command  of  this  detachment  (179  men), 
and  proceeded  to  Springliuld,  Mass.,  where  they  were  mus- 
tered out  on  the  27th  of  September,  1864.  Col.  Lee's  term  of 
service  expired  on  the  20th  of  September,  but  he  was  not  mus- 
tered out  until  some  time  in  October. 

On  the  19th  of  September  that  portion  of  the  regiment  still 
in  the  field  sailed  for  Beaufort,  N.  C,  on  the  steamer  "  United 
States."  The  regiment  went  into  camp  near  Carolina  City 
on  the  21st,  and,  having  no  tents,  built  themselves  log  huts. 
The  regiment  was  commanded  by  Maj.  Moore  from  September 
17th  to  November  21st,  when  Lieut.-Col.  Bartholomew,  who 
had  been  under  tire  with  Col.  Lee  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  hav- 
ing been  exchanged,  arrived  and  took  command. 

On  the  28th  of  November  the  regiment  broke  camp  and 
proceeded  to  Beaufort,  under  orders  from  Col.  McChesney, 
commanding  sub-district.  Here  they  were  engaged  on  picket 
duty  until  the  4th  of  December,  when  they  were  ordered  to 
Newbern,  and  embarked  on  the  steamer  "  Mas.sasoit." 

On  the  7th  of  December  they  landed  at  Plymouth,  where 
they  were  assigned  to  a  conmiand  under  Col.  Jonas  Frankle, 
2d  Massachusetts  Artillery. 

December  9th  the  command  moved  out  at  five  a.m.,  and 
soon  encountered  the  enemy's  scouts  near  Jamestown.  Capt. 
Graham's  company  of  North  Carolina  (Union)  cavalry  charged 
them,  and  they  fell  back  to  Foster's  Mills.  Here  they  made  a 
stand  and  attempted  to  prevent  a  crossing  of  the  stream.  The 
27th  was  sent  ft)rward  and  secured  the  bridge,  and  the  enemy 
soon  fled,  pursued  by  Graham's  cavalry.  That  night  the  force 
encamped  at  Williamstown  and  remained  until  the  12th,  when 
an  advance  was  made  to  Hamilton  ;  the  enemy's  pickets  were 
encountered  three  miles  from  this  place.  At  Spring  Church 
the  force  was  divided.  The  27th  Massachusetts  and  9th  New 
Jersey,  under  Col.  J.  E.  Stewart,  of  the  latter  regiment,  were 
ordered  to  execute  a  tiank  movement  and  gain  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  works  at  Butler's  Bridge.  The  movement  was  an  en- 
tire success,  and  the  rebels  were  taken  so  completely  by  sur- 
prise that  Col.  Hinton,  of  North  Carolina,  commanding  the 
post,  took  the  Union  force  for  a  Confederate  reinforcement, 
and  was  only  disabused  of  the  belief  when  Lieut.-Col.  Barthol- 
omew grasped  the  bridle-rein  of  his  horse  and  informed  him 
that  he  was  a  prisoner. 

The  command  returned  to  Plymouth  on  the  1.5th,  the  27th 
acting  as  rear-guard  on  the  return.  The  loss  during  this  move- 
ment was  1  killed  and  2  wounded. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  180-3,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
Newbern,  which  place  it  reached  on  the  11th.  Six  companies 
were  stationed  at  Rocky  Run,  under  command  of  Lieut.-Col. 
Bartholomew,  and  the  other  four  companies  at  Red  House, 
under  Capt.  McKay. 

Early  in  March  the  regiment  was  brigaded  with  the  ISth 
Connecticut,  to  form  the  2d  Brigade,  2d  Division  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Beaufort,  under  command  of  Col.  Upham,  and  ordered 
to  report  to  Gen.  Cox,  at  Cove  Creek,  where  it  arrived  on  the 
afternoon  of  March  4th. 

From  this  point,  on  the  6th,  the  command  of  Gen.  Cox 
made  the  movement  which  resulted  so  disastrously.  At 
nightfall  the  troops  had  made  only  eight  miles,  to  Gum 
Swamp.  On  the  7th  the  27th  marched  from  Gum  Swamp  to 
Southwest  Creek,  where  the  enemy  were  found  strongly  in- 
trenched behind  the  creek.  Skirmishing  ensued,  and  during 
the  night  the  Union  skirmish-line  was  advanced  within 
seventy-five  yards  of  the  creek,  and  rifle-pits  were  thrown  up. 
The  brigade  numbered  about  1000  men,  and  was  at  this  time 
two  miles  in  advance  of  supports. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th  information  was  received  that 
the  enemy  were  making  a  movement  on  the  left,  and  upon 
this  Col.  Bartholomew  faced  to  the  left  and  formed  his  com- 
mand at  right  angles  with  the  15th  Connecticut,  who  were 
also  ordered  to  face  in  the  same  direction,  but  when  found  by 
Adjt.  Holmes,  of  the  27tb,  who  carried  the  order,  they  were 


lying  on  their  faces  and  fronting  away  from  the  enemy,  and 
seemingly  bewildered  as  to  what  should  be  done.  Subse- 
quently, during  the  enemy's  attack,  they  partially  faced  to  the 
left,  and  fired  directly  into  the  ranks  of  the  27th. 

There  wa<  a  company  of  cavalry  attached  to  this  command, 
under  Lieut.  Fish,  and  they  had  two  small  howitzers,  which 
the  lieutenant  placed  in  position  and  served  splendidly  until 
resistance  was  useless,  when  the  gallant  fellow  limbered  up  and, 
charging  directly  through  the  enemy,  escaped  with  his  men 
and  guns. 

The  enemy  occupied  the  thick  underbrush,  from  whence 
they  poured  in  an  incessant  and  heavy  fire.  By  a  sudden 
charge  they  forced  the  27th  back  upon  the  15th  Connecticut, 
but  the  two  regiments  kept  their  ground  for  nearly  an  hour, 
when  they  broke  and  endeavored  to  escape,  but,  as  the  enemy 
had  entirely  surrounded  them,  very  few  succeeded.  The  27th 
had  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  muskets  at  the  begiiuiing 
of  the  tight,  and  only  one  man  succeeded  in  making  his 
escape* 

While  trying  to  rally  his  men  Col.  Bartholomew  was  struck 
through  the  leg  and  fell,  and  at  his  request  Adjt.  Holmes 
remained  with  him.  The  adjutant  had  just  succeeded  in 
binding  a  handkerchief  around  the  wounded  limb  and  getting 
the  colonel  into  a  comfortable  position  beside  a  tree,  when  a 
rebel  officer  of  Gen.  Hoke's  staff  rode  up,  and,  dismounting, 
snatched  the  handkerchief  from  the  wounded  officer,  and, 
taking  the  overcoats,  blankets,  boots,  and  what  money  he  could 
find  from  both  men,  rode  away.  They  were  soon  taken  to 
Kingston,  where  the  colonel's  wound  was  dressed,  and  from 
thence  were  removed  to  Goldsboro'  the  next  day,  where  Col. 
B.  was  placed  in  hospital,  with  other  wounded  Union  men,  and 
three  surgeons  were  left  to  attend  them,  who  for  a  whole  day 
paid  no  attention  to  them  whatever,  until  Adjt.  Holmes  re- 
ported the  matter  to  a  superior  officer,  who  speedily  ordered 
them  to  attend  to  their  duties. 

To  Surg.  Mathers,  of  the  28th  Georgia  Regiment,  Col. 
Bartholomew  was  indebted  for  the  saving  of  his  limb  after  a 
council  of  surgeons  had  decided  to  amputate  it.  Adjt.  Holmes 
was  permitted  to  remain  with  the  colonel  for  a  short  time, 
when,  with  the  remaining  officers,  he  was  sent  to  Weldon, 
where  the  officers  occupied  a  church  for  two  days,  in  the  midst 
of  a  cold  rain-storm,  upon  a  promise  that  they  would  respect 
it.  The  wounded  men  were  left  in  hospital  at  Goldsboro'.  The 
able-bodied  enlisted  men  were  marched  to  Richmond,  and  the 
officers  were  taken  from  Weldon  on  the  top  of  box-cars  and 
placed  in  Libby  prison. 

A  few  days  after  this  affair  Gen.  Sherman's  army  occupied 
Goldsboro'  on  their  way  north.  While  in  Libby  prison  the 
officers  purchased  their  own  provisions,  and  consequently  lived 
quite  comfortably.  Before  the  final  campaign  of  1865  began 
the  officers  were  taken  to  City  Point,  and  from  thence  went 
home  on  parole.  The  enlisted  men  were  also  paroled,  and  re- 
turned to  Massachusetts.  Subsequently  they  were  taken  to 
Annapolis,  Md.,  and  regularly  exchanged. 

Col.  Bartholomew  eventually  recovered  from  his  wound, 
though  still  crippled,  and  is  at  present  living  at  Tampa,  Fla. 
Both  he  and  Adjt.  Holmes  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  Surg. 
Mathers,  who  was  unremitting  in  his  attentions  to  the  Union 
wounded  men ;  and,  as  a  mark  of  gratitude  for  the  saving  of 
his  limb,  the  colonel  presented  him  with  his  gold  watch-chain, 
which  he  had  concealed  when  captured. 

The  rebel  force  engaged  in  this  aflfair  was  Gen.  Hoke's  entire 
division,  numbering,  according  to  their  own  accounts,  8000 
men.  Their  loss  was  not  known.  It  was  one  of  the  last 
expiring  struggles  of  the  war.  The  battle  of  Bentonville 
occurred  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month. 

The  following  statement  exhibits  the  casualties  in  the  regi- 

*  The  loss  of  the  27th  on  the  field  iu  this  affair  wa.i  14  killed  and  48  wounded, 
including,  among  the  latter,  Col.  Bartholomew  and  four  other  officers. 


HISTORY   OF   THK   CONNECTICUT   VALLKY. 


151 


mcnt  durinsj  the  war,  not  including  those  who  died  in  retel 
hands,  who  probably  nimibered  over  100  additional : 

Commissioned  Officers. — Killed,  6;  died  of  wounds,  2;  taken 
prisoners,  9;*  wounded,  12;  died  of  disease,  3. 

Enlisted  Men. — Killed,  70;  died  of  wounds,  47  ;t  died  of 
disease,  128  ;f  wounded,  272;  died  of  disease  while  prisoners, 
(about)  250;  taken  prisoners,  430;  deserters  to  Dec.  31,  18G4, 
51. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  commissioned  officers 
who  were  killed  or  died  of  wounds  and  disease : 

Capt.  Henry  A.  Hubbard,  Feb.  12,  1862,  died  of  disease. 

Lieut.  Joseph  W.  Lawton,  March  14,  18G2,  killed,  Newbern. 

Lieut.  Cyrus  W.  Goodale,  Oct.  30,  1862,  died  of  disease. 

Lieut.  Edw.  D.  Lee,  April  17,  1864,  died  of  disease. 

Capt.  Charles  D.  Sanford,  May  16,  1864,  killed,  Drury's 
Bluff. 

Lieut.  Pliny  Wood,  May  31,  1864,  died  of  wounds. 

Lieut.  Edgar  H.  Coombs,  June  1,  1864,  killed,  Cold  Harbor. 

Capt.  Ed.  D.  Wilcox,  June  3,  1864,  killed.  Cold  Harbor. 

Lieut.  Saml.  Morse,  June  3,  1864,  killed.  Cold  Harbor. 

Maj.  Wm.  A.  Walker,  June  3,  1864,  killed.  Cold  Harbor. 

Lieut.  Fred.  C.  Wright,  June  27,  1864,  died  of  wounds. 

Asst.-Surg.  Franklin  L.  Hunt,  Nov.  18,  1864,  killed. 


CHAPTER    XXX  IT. 

THIHTY-PIHST,     THIRTY-FOURTH,     THIRTY-SEV- 
ENTH,   AND    FORTY-SIXTH    REGIMENTS. 

THIRTY-FIRST    REGIMENT. 

This  regiment  was  raised  in  the  western  part  of  the  State 
and  designated  the  "Western  Bay  State  Regiment."  Co.  E 
was  mostly  from  Hampden  County,  and  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  Hampden  men  in  Co.  K. 

On  the  I'Jth  of  February,  1862,  marching  orders  were  re- 
ceived, and  on  the  21st  it  left  Boston,  and  reached  Fortress 
Monroe  on  the  22d,  when,  taking  on  board  Gen.  Butler  and 
staff,  it  proceeded  to  Ship  Island,  in  the  Mexican  Gulf,  where, 
after  encountering  considerable  stormy  weather,  it  arrived  on 
the  20th  of  March.  Here  it  remained  until  the  18th  of  April, 
when  it  sailed  for  New  Orleans. 

The  regiment  witnessed  the  bombardment  of  Forts  Jack- 
son and  St.  Philip,  and  the  wonderful  naval  victory  of  Ad- 
miral Farragut  over  the  powerful  rebel  fleet  which  con- 
tested the  passage  of  the  river  with  stubborn  but  unavailing 
bravery. 

On  the  first  day  of  May,  1862,  the  city  surrendered,  or 
rather  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  army  and  navy,  the 
31st  Massachusetts  Infantry  being  the  first  regiment  to  land 
on  the  levee,  and  to  it  was  assigned  the  duty  of  dispersing  the 
noisy  crowd  of  traitors  who  thronged  the  river-front  of  the 
city,  and  of  escorting  the  commanding  general  to  his  head- 
quarters. 

The  regiment  was  at  first  quartered  in  the  United  States 
Custom-House;  but  in  August  the  command  was  divided, 
and  part,  under  Col.  Gooding,  stationed  in  Forts  Jackson  and 
St.  Philip,  part,  under  Lieut. -Col.  Welden,  at  Fort  Pike,  and 
part  assigned  to  picket  duty  in  the  citj'. 

In  January,  1863,  the  detachments  were  united,  and  on  the 
10th  of  February,  under  command  of  Lieut. -Col.  Hopkins, 
the  regiment  took  part  in  the  Plaquemine  Bayou  expedition. 

In  March  the  division  to  which  the  31st  was  attached  was 
assigned  to  the  army  destined  to  invest  Port  Hudson. 

On  the  13th  of  April  the  regiment  was  hotly  engaged  at 
Fort  Bisland,  under  Gen.  Emory.  It  was  present  during  the 
siege  of  Port  Hudson,  and  was  prominently  engaged  in  the 

*  Not  including  those  taken  at  the  Gum  Swamp  affair. 

t  This  is  only  up  to  Jan.  1,  I8G0,  and  does  ntt  include  those  who  died  in  the 
service  or  in  rebel  piisons. 


battles  of  May  2-jth  and  27th  and  June  14th.  Soon  after  the 
surrender  of  this  stronghold,  which  occurred  on  the  8th  of  July, 
1863,  it  was  ordered  to  Baton  Rouge,  when  it  was  assigned  to 
the  2d  Brigade,  1st  Division,  of  the  19th  Army  Corps.  On 
the  9th  of  September  the  three  companies  which  had  been  on 
detached  service  at  Fort  Pike  returned  to  the  regiment. 

On  the  9th  of  December  the  regiment  reported  to  Gen.  Lee 
at  New  Orleans,  and  on  the  IHth  was  ordered  to  be  mounted  as 
cavalrv",  and  was  furnished  with  cavalry  arms,  sabres,  and  re- 
volvers. It  was  for  a  time  known  as  the  6th  Massachusetts 
Cavalry. 

It  was  subsequently  brigaded  with  the  3d  Massachusetts,  the 
2d  Illinois,  and  the  2d  New  Hampshire  cavalry  regiments, 
which  formed  the  4th  Cavalry  Brigade,  commanded  by  Col. 
Dudley,  of  the  30th  Massachusetts. 

The  brigade  was  in  the  celebrated  but  disastrous  Red  River 
expedition  under  Gen.  Banks,  and  participated  in  the  desperate 
battles  of  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  April  8th,  and  Pleasant  Hill,  on 
the  9th  and  10th.  Upon  the  retreat  of  the  army  the  31st  acted 
as  train-guard  until  the  army  reached  Grand  Ecore. 

Grand  Ecore  was  evacuated  on  the  21st  of  April,  and  on  the 
23d  occurred  the  battle  of  Cane  River,  in  which  the  31st  led  the 
advance,  capturing  a  number  of  Texas  cavalry.  At  Hudnot's 
Plantation,  seventeen  miles  from  Alexandria,  a  sharp  action 
was  fought,  in  which  the  31st  again  distinguished  itself  and  cap- 
tured more  prisoners.  In  the  retreat  from  this  point  the  regi- 
ment acted  as  rear-guard,  and  had  numerous  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy. 

On  the  3d  of  Jul}-  the  regiment  encamped  on  its  old  ground 
of  two  years  before,  opposite  New  Orleans,  where  it  remained 
until  the  21st,  when  it  started  via  the  Mississippi  and  Cairo, 
on  veteran  furlough,  on  the  steamer  "Pauline  Carroll."  It 
arrived  at  Boston  on  the  4th  of  August  and  remained  until  the 
8th  of  September,  when  it  left  Pittsfield  for  New  York,  from 
which  port  it  sailed  on  the  9th,  and  landed  at  New  Orleans  on 
the  19th,  of  the  same  month.  It  was  at  this  time  restored  to 
its  original  organization  as  infantry.  A  few  days  subse- 
quently it  again,  by  order  of  Gen.  Canby,  reported  to  the  chief 
of  cavalry  to  be  re-mounted. 

On  the  19th  of  November  the  three  years'  term  of  service 
of  Cos.  A,  B,  C,  and  D  expired,  and  they  were  mustered  out 
of  the  service.  The  regiment  was  tlien  consolidated  into  a  bat- 
talion of  five  companies.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1864  it  was 
the  onlv  Massachusetts  regiment  remaining  in  the  Department 
of  the  Gulf. 

From  this  time  until  the  beginning  of  February  the  battal- 
ion was  engaged  in  the  arduous  duty  of  guarding  and  pro- 
tecting a  large  district  of  country  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  had  several  collisions  with  scouting-parties  of 
the  enemy. 

On  the  8th  of  February  the  regiment  was  brigaded  with 
three  others,  and  the  whole  assembled  at  Carrollton  prepara- 
tory to  a  march  upon  Mobile.  The  advance  commenced  on 
the  19th  of  March,  and  the  regiment  performed  various  du- 
ties during  the  siege  of  that  important  place.  The  forts  were 
captured  on  the  8th  and  9th  of  April,  and  on  the  4th  of  May 
the  regiment  formed  the  escort  of  Gen.  Granger,  to  whom  Gen. 
Dick  Taylor  surrendered  on  that  day.  The  regiment  was  finally 
discharged  on  the  30th  of  September,  1865. 

THIRTY-rOURTH    REGIMENT. J 

This  regiment  was  raised  principally  in  Worcester  County. 
Cos.  D  and  G  were  largely  from  Hampden  County.  It  left 
the  State  on  the  loth  of  August,  1862,  with  full  ranks,  and 
proceeded  to  Washington,  D.  C,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Camp 
Casey,  on  Arlington  Heights. 

On  the  22d  of  August  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  Gen. 
Banks'  corps,  and  marched  to  Alexandria,  Va.,  near  which  it 


X  Three  years. 


152 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


performed  picket  duty  during  Gen.  Pope's  retreat  from  Manas- 
sas, and  in  addition  furnished  a  provost-guard  for  Alexandria. 

From  the  1.5th  of  September,  1862,  to  Ma.v,  18G.3,  it  was 
stationed  at  Fort  Lyon,  one  of  the  defenses  of  Washington. 
In  June  the  regiment,  together  with  the  brigade  to  which  it 
had  been  assigned  (the  1st  of  Naglee's  division),  marched  to 
Harper's  Ferry  and  took  possession,  capturing  a  number  of 
prisoners.  It  was  for  some  time  employed  in  that  vicinity  on 
picket  duty.  On  the  18th  of  October  the  Confederate  Gen. 
Imboden  surprised  and  captured  a  portion  of  the  force  at 
Charlestown,  West  Va.  Imboden  was,  however,  beaten  off 
by  the  brigade  with  considerable  loss. 

The  regiment  took  part  in  the  valley  e.xpedition  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Averill,  who  made  a  successful  raid  upon 
the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Railway.  In  this  movement  the 
34th  extricated  itself  from  a  perilous  situation  in  a  masterly 
manner,  under  Col.  Wells.  On  the  return  from  the  raid  the 
infantry  marched  over  the  one  hundred  miles  between  Har- 
risonburg and  Harper's  Ferry  in  less  than  four  days. 

From  Dec.  24,  1803,  to  April  2!),  1864,  the  regiment  re- 
mained in  the  neighborhood  of  Harper's  Ferry,  employed  in 
various  duties.  At  the  last-named  date  it  left  Martinsburg 
with  the  force  of  Gen.  Franz  Sigel,  and  advanced  up  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  as  far  as  New  Market,  Va.,  where,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  it  was  heavily  engaged  with  the  enemy,  and  lost 
28  men  killed  and  74  wounded,  including  1  officer  killed  and 
8  wounded. 

At  Piedmont,  on  the  5th  of  June,  a  severe  action  ensued, 
in  which  the  ;:i4th  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  and  the  command 
captured  1000  prisoners.  This  battle  was  fought  by  Gen. 
Hunter. 

On  the  9th  of  June  the  regiment  was  transferred  to  the  bri- 
gade commanded  bj'  Col.  Wells,  and  on  the  17th  it  reached 
Lynchburg,  and  laid  in  line  of  battle  the  following  night.  On 
the  18th  a  severe  battle  was  fought,  and  during  the  remainder 
of  the  month  it  was  constantly  engaged  in  marching  and 
skirmishing,  and  suft'ercd  considerably  from  lack  of  provisions. 
On  the  19th  of  the  month  it  took  part  in  the  desperate  battle 
of  Fisher's  Hill,  where  the  rebels  were  terribly  beaten  by  the 
army  under  Gen.  Sheridan. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  in  a  severe  action.  Col.  Wells  was 
mortally  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  and  died  the  same 
evening  at  Strasburg.  The  34th  was  also  engaged  on  the 
11th.  On  the  19th  it  was  ordered  to  Newtown,  Va.,  where  it 
rested  for  a  month  after  a  most  arduous  campaign,  during 
which  it  had  lost  7  officers  and  73  men,  killed  or  mortally 
wounded  on  the  field. 

On  the  18th  of  December  the  regiment  received  marching 
orders,  and,  marching  to  Washington,  embarked  on  board  a 
steamer  and  proceeded  to  the  James  River  and  joined  the 
Army  of  the  James  ;  was  a.ssigncd  tothe  24th  Corps,  and  went 
into  camp  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  Federal  line. 

On  the  2.5th  of  March,  1865,  the  regiment  moved  toward 
Hatcher's  Run  and  repulsed  a  sharp  attack  by  the  enemy  on 
the  1st  of  April.  On  the  2d  it  was  engaged  in  the  terrible  and 
successful  assault  upon  Battery  Gregg,  a  strong  advanced  work 
of  the  enemy,  which  was  carried  under  a  terrific  fire,  and  the 
fort  and  its  entire  armament  and  garrison  captured,  with  a  loss 
to  the  34th  of  4  killed  and  36  wounded. 

This  was  the  last  fighting  in  which  the  regiment  was  en- 
gaged, and  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  on  the  10th  of 
June  folldwing. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  officers  belonging  to  the  34th  Regi- 
ment who  were  killed  or  died  during  its  term  of  service  : 

Col.  Geo.  D.  Wells,  Oct.  13,  1804,  killed  at  Stickney  Farm, 
Va. 

Maj.  Harrison  W.  Pratt,  Sept.  25,  1864,  died  of  wounds. 

Capt.  George  W.  Thompson,  Sept.  19,  1864,  killed  at  Win- 
chester, Va. 

Capt.  Wm.  15.  Bacon,  May  15,  1864,  killed. 


Lieut.  Samuel  F.  Woods,  June  26,  1864,  died  of  wounds. 
Lieut.  Albert  C.  Walker,  Aug.  23,  1864,  died  of  wounds. 
Lieut.  James  Dempsey,  Dec.  3,  1834,  died  of  wounds. 
Lieut.   Malcolm  Ammidown,  Oct.   1,   1864,  died  in  prison, 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

Lieut.  Charles  I.  Woods,  Oct.  13,  1804,  killed. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 

This  regiment  was  mostly  raised  in  the  county  of  Berkshire, 
but  Cos.  A,  D,  L,  and  K  were  in  good  part  from  Hampden 
County.  The  regiment  was  recruited  at  Cam))  Briggs,  Pitts- 
field,  and  left  the  State,  Sept.  7,  1802,  for  Washington,  when  it 
was  assigned  to  Gen.  Briggs'  brigade  and  went  intoa  temporary 
camp  below  the  Long  Bridge,  Va.,  and  was  subsequently, 
until  November  13,  engaged  in  various  duties  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia. 

It  was  present  under  fire  at  the  disastrous  attack  upon  the 
rebel  lines  at  Fredericksburg,  in  December,  1862,  and  subse- 
quently took  part  in  what  was  denominated  the  "  mud  cam- 
paign," in  January,  1863. 

In  March  a  great  amount  of  sickness  occurred,  and  a  new 
camp  in  a  healthier  location  was  laid  out,  when  the  men  con- 
structed a  hundred  and  sixty  comfortable  log  houses,  or,  as  the 
boys  were  wont  to  call  them,  '^c/ieban/js,"  each  twelve  by  seven 
feet,  and  five  feet  to  the  eaves,  with  a  fireplace,  and  a  floor  of 
pine-poles  or  "  puncheons."  This  work  was  completed  in  one 
week,  and  more  than  realized  the  expectations  of  the  officers 
and  surgeons. 

On  the  28th  of  April  the  spring  campaign  was  opened,  and 
the  regiment  crossed  the  Rappahannock  and  manoeuvred  until 
the  2d  of  May,  when,  making  a  night-march,  they  took  posi- 
tion on  the  morning  of  the  3d  in  front  of  Fredericksburg 
Heights,  also  called  Mary's  Hill.  In  the  course  of  the  fore- 
noon the  position  was  gallantly  carried,  the  enemy  being 
routed  at  all  points. 

Pushing  forward,  the  enemy  were  soon  encountered  in  a 
strong  position  at  Salem  Heights. 

The  following  paragraphs  are  from  an  account  written  by 
an  officer  of  the  regiment :  "  Renewing  the  attack,  the  first 
line  of  battle  was  severely  repulsed,  and  thrown  back  in  great 
disorder  upon  the  second  line,  formed  by  our  brigade,  in  which 
were  three  Ma.ssachusetts  regiments.  Nobly  did  they  sustain 
upon  that  field  the  honor  of  the  Old  Bay  State.  Not  a  man 
faltered  ;  freely  they  exposed  their  breasts  to  the  leaden  storm, 
and  they  who  swarmed  from  the  wood  in  assaulting  columns, 
flushed  with  victory  and  yelling  like  demons,  were  thrown 
back  into  its  sheltering  cover,  baffled,  discomfited,  defeated. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  their  assault  the  37th  was  in  column 
by  wing  upon  the  extreme  left  of  our  line  of  battle,  the  right 
wing  in  part  supporting  two  batteries. 

"  The  enemy  had  come  within  fifty  yards  of  the  guns.  At 
this  point,  by  order  of  Maj. -Gen.  Brooks,  I  sent  Lieut.-Col. 
Montague  with  the  left  wing  to  check  the  a.ssauUing  column 
of  the  rebels,  which,  overlapping  our  line  of  battle,  was  en- 
dangering our  left  flank.  Crossing  a  ravine,  and  moving  by 
the  flank  under  cover  of  a  brush  fence,  they  came  within  fif- 
teen paces  of  the  enemy's  right  without  being  perceived,  and 
poured  into  them  several  deadly  volleys,  which  threw  them 
back  in  confusion  to  the  shelter  of  the  woods.  The  right  wing 
having  joined  the  left,  and  the  36th  New  York  being  added  to 
the  command,  we  held  the  enemy  at  bay  on  the  extreme  left 
of  the  front  line  during  the  night  and  the  next  day  (May  4), 
during  which  time  nearly  the  whole  of  Lee's  army  was  en- 
gaged by  the  6th  Corps  alone.  After  dark  upon  the  evening 
of  the  4th  we  fell  back  to  Banks'  Ford,  and  before  daylight 
on  the-5th  safely  recrossed  the  river. 

"  May  6lh  we  returned  to  our  old  camp  at  Falmouth.  June 
0th  we  marched  to  Franklin's  Crossing,  and  crossed  over  to 
tlic  south  bank  June  10th.  There  we  remained,  threatening 
the  enemv,  till  the  13th,  when  we  recrossed  the  livcr  and  took 


Dr.   C.   B.   smith. 


Dr.  Cyrus  B.  Smith  is  a  doscenflant  in  the  eighth  generation  from 
Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  wlio,  with  his  wife,  sailed  from  Engliuiil,  April 
.30,  1634.  They  settled  tir.-^t  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  and  in  Ifitill  re- 
moved to  Hadley,  Mass.,  where  he  died  in  lOSO.  He  was  a  magis- 
trate, and  was  prominent  in  town  and  church  affairs. 

The  subsequent  generations  were  as  follows:  2d.  Chileab.  ;>d. 
Ebenezer.  4th.  John,  who  was  a  deacon  in  Granby,  Mass.  6th. 
Nathan,  also  a  deacon  in  the  same  town.  The  above  generations  were 
prominent  owners  of  real-estate  and  leading  men.  Gth.  Samuel,  a 
deacon  in  (iranby,  Mass.  7th.  Cyrus,  the  father  of  Dr.  Smith, 
and  after  whom  he  was  named.  He  was  born  in  ISIO,  and  died  Aug. 
13,  1849,  in  Huntington,  Mass.  He  was  a  leading  citizen  in  town 
affairs  and  active  in  support  of  the  church. 

His  wile,  and  the  mother  of  Dr.  Smith,  was  Julia  Ann  Warner, 
born  in  ISIU,  in  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  where  she  at  present  resides. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Silas  Warner,  of  Williamsburg,  who  was  the 
son  of  Jonathan,  one  of  the  lirst  settlers  of  the  town,  a  wealthy  land- 
owner, and  prominent  in  military  and  civil  affairs. 

The  ancestral  line  of  the  Warner  family  can  be  traced  back  to  the 
Waldenscs  or  Huguenots,  who  emigrated  to  England,  and  settled  in 
Wales,  shortly  after  the  Reformation.  The  original  name  was  "  Wer- 
ner," but  it  is  quite  probable  the  "  Warners"  of  this  country  gener- 
ally can  trace  their  genealogy  back  to  this  Welsh  origin. 

Dr.  Cyrus  Burnett  Smith  was  born  April  24,  1839,  in  South  Hadley, 


Mass.  When  he  was  two  years  old  his  father  removed  to  West 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  when  he  was  six  years  old  to  Springfield. 
Mass.,  where  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  The  next  year 
his  father  removed  to  Huntington,  Mass.  Three  years  later  his  father 
died,  leaving  his  mother  and  four  children.  Mrs.  Smith  removed  lo 
Haydenville,  Mass.  There  she  ciirefully  trained  her  family  of  four 
boys,  all  of  whom  are  now  men  of  standing  and  influence  in  their 
respective  communities. 

S.  Warner  Smith,  the  eldest  son,  lives  in  Haydenville,  Mass.,  and 
also  Lewis  Finley  Smith,  the  third  son.  Dr.  Smith  is  the  second  son  : 
the  fourth  is  William  W.  Smith,  who  resides  in  Hartford,  Conn. 

Dr.  Smith  attended  the  public  schools  in  the  towns  in  which  the 
family  lived  until  his  seventeenth  year,  partially  supporting  himself 
by  his  own  labor.  He  also  attended  school  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and 
the  high  school  in  Northampton,  Ma,ss.,  and  supplemented  this  edu- 
cation by  private  instructions  in  Latin,  French,  and  in  music. 

Selecting  the  medical  profession,  he  entered  the  office  of  Drs.  D. 
A  J.  Thompson,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  later  read  with  Drs. 
Thompson  &  Chamberlain,  of  the  same  place.  Diligently  pursuing 
his  studies,  he  supported  himself  (with  some  assistance  from  home)  by 
teaching  instrumental  and  vocal  music. 

After  a  few  months  he  entered  the  office  of  Profs.  T.  A  H.  H.  Childs, 
of  Pittslield,  Mass.  While  there  he  attended  the  Berkshire  Medical 
College,  taking  the  full  course,  and  graduated  in  November,  1859 


Photo,  by  Lewis 


the  youngest  member  of  his  class,  and  was  vice-president  of  the 
Alumni  Association  of  the  college.  He  commenced  the  practice  of 
his  profession  at  Indian  Orchard  (Springlield),  Mass.,  where  he 
remained  until  the  spring  of  1862,  when  he  removed  to  Granby, 
Mass. 

At  the  time  of  his  departure  from  Indian  Orchard  his  friends  pre- 
sented him  with  a  valuable  horse.  He  practiced  in  Granby  and 
Indian  Orchard  until  July,  1862,  when  he  was  examined  by  the 
board  of  surgeons  in  Boston,  and  was  commissioned  by  Gov.  Andrew, 
July  31st,  assistant  surgeon  of  the  34th  Massachusetts  Infantry. 
When  he  left  Granby  for  the  army  his  friends  in  that  town  presented 
him  with  a  beautiful  and  valuable  sword.  During  his  first  two  years 
of  service  he  was  with  the  regiment,  and  on  hospital  duty  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  about  Alexandria,  Va.,  and  filled  various  positions 
as  operating  surgeon.  He  was  appointed  post-surgeon,  and  also 
placed  in  charge  of  the  hospital  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Vh..  and  wiis 
subsequently  promoted  surgeon  of  the  11th  Massachusetts  Infantry, 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  had  charge  of  the  3d  Division  ho.spitals. 
Army  of  West  Virginia,  with  Hunter,  Sigel,  and  Sheridan,  in  West 
Virginia ;  after  the  battle  of  Winchester,  Va.,  in  charge  of  the 
Smith  Hospital  several  months. 

He  subsequently  had  charge  of  the  field  hospital,  and  was  opera- 
tive surgeon  in  this  army  department.  He  was  also,  for  a  time,  in 
charge  of  the  general  hospital.     He  was  mustered  out  of  the  service 


in  August,  1865,  and  returned  to  Granby,  Mass.,  where  he  has  since 
practiced  his  profession. 

Dr.  Smith  has  been  a  contributor  lo  the  medical  journals  of  the  day  ; 
has  prepared  valuable  papers  on  the  "  Treatment  of  Asphyxia  by 
Chloroform,"  which  was  )iublished  in  the  Ilnslmi  ilei/icat  iiud  Sun/ica) 
Jininial,  and  also  an  article  on  "  Comi»itibility  of  Medicines,"  which 
was  published  in  the  Phlldrlelphln  Umtiral  mid  Snnikiil  Kejtuilti. 
He  was  elected  in  1S7S  president  of  the  Hampshire  District  Medical 
Society,  and  re-elected  in  1879,  and  is  one  of  the  councillors  of  the 
Mnssachusetts  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Smith  has  well  sustained  the  traditions  of  his  ancestors  by  his 
active  interest  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  his  town. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  school  committee  for  many  years,  and 
was  a  representative  to  the  Legislature  in  1S72,  serving  also  ut  the 
special  session  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 

Feb  IS,  1865,  he  married,  in  Haydenville,  Mass.,  Mary  Jane, daugh- 
ter of  Jerome  and  Triphena  (Root)  liulbert,  of  Pittslield,  Mas-. 
She  died  July  31,  1868,  in  Granby,  Mass. 

He  married  a  second  time,  Nov.  3,  1869, — Louise  Jane,  daughter  of 
Christopher  C.  and  Hannah  (Leach)  Aldrich,  of  Granl>y,  Mass.  Her 
father  w.as  a  prominent  woolen  manufiwturer,  since  retired  from 
business,  and  residing  in  Granby.  The  children  by  this  marriage 
are  two,— Cyrus  Aldrich,  born  Sept.  30,  1872,  and  Mary  Louise,  born 
Sept.  25,  1873. 


JOSEPH   KNIGHT   TAYLOR. 


Joseph  Knight  Taylor  was  descended  in  the  fourth 
scncration  from  Ebenezer  Taylor,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
settlei-s  of  Granby,  Mass.,  and  a  noted  Indian-fighter.  His 
ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Hadley,  Mass. 

Levi,  the  son  of  Ebenezer,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  entering  the  army  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He 
was  at  West  Point,  and  while  there  witnessed  Arnold's 
fliiiht  down  the  river  to  the  British  man-of-war  "  Vulcan." 

His  descendants  now  living  lemember  hearing  the  old 
■'entleman  narrate  many  anecdotes  of  the  Revolution.  Like 
the  Spartan  mother,  who,  wlien  her  son  went  out  to  battle, 
said,  "  Return  with  yoursliield  or  upon  it,"  .so  Levi  Taylor's 
motlier  said  to  him,  when   lie  left  his  home  to  enter  the 


Continental  army,  "  Levi,  never  let  me  hear  of  vour  being 
a  coward." 

Willard,  the  son  of  Levi,  was  for  many  years  a  deacon 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Granby,  Mass.,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years.  His  son,  Frederick 
Taylor,  Esq.,  the  father  of  Joseph  Knight  Taylor,  is  a 
resident  of  Granby.  His  business  is  located  in  South  Had- 
ley, where  he  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  paper. 

The  mother  of  Joseph  K.  Taylor  was  Sarah  H  ,  daughter 
of  Rev.  Joseph  Knight,  formerly  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Granby,  M.ass. 

Joseph  Knight  Taylor,  whose  portrait  appears  upon 
this    page,    was   born    in    Granby,    Dee.    6,    1840.       His 


preliminary  education  was  obtained  at  Willi.ston  Seminary, 
Easthampton,  Ma.ss.,  entering  Amherst  College  in  1861, 
where  he  remained  about  one  year,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Co.  F,  ;^7th  Massachusetts  Infantry.  The  company  was 
then  under  command  of  Capt.  George  L.  Montague.  He  was 
promoted  to  first  sergeant,  and  participated  with  his  regi- 
ment ill  many  of  the  battles  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
On  Aug.  21,  18C4,  he  was  wounded  at  Charleston,  W. 
Va.,  where  he  rose  from  a  sick-bed  to  accompany  his 
comrades  to  battle.  His  wound,  which  was  in  the  hip, 
was  a  severe  one.  The  ball  was  extracted,  and  for  a  time 
hopes  were  entertained  of  his  recovery  ;  and  he  wrote  two 
letters  in  a  liopcful  spirit  to  his  fatiier ;  but  a  relap.se  fol- 
lowed, and  he  died  suddenly,  nine  days  after  the  action,  in 
the  field  hospital  at  Sandy  Hook,  Md.     He  was  a  brave 


Fli..|...l..v  T.  R.  Lmvls. 


and  efficient  soldier,  and  would,  undoubtedly,  h.ave  received 
a  commifssion  had  he  survived  his  wound. 

Sergt.  Taylor  belonged  to  that  large  class  of  the  promising 
young  men  of  the  country  who,  leaving  their  homes  and 
friends,  cheerfully  took  up  arms  in  defense  of  the  imperiled 
liberties  of  the  nation,  and,  whether  in  the  duties  of  the 
camp,  on  the  weary  march,  or  amidst  the  clash  of  arms, 
did  thoroughly  and  well  whatever  duty  was  assigned  them. 

While  his  great-grandfather,  Levi  Taylor,  fought  to 
establish  a  nation,  so,  ninety  years  later,  Sergt.  Taylor 
fought  and  died  to  save  it. 

His  remains  lie  in  tlie  cemetery  of  his  native  town,  to 
which  they  were  taken  by  his  bereaved  father.  On  his 
tombstone  are  these  words  : 

*'  Sweet  lifter  battle  is  the  tired  soMier's  rest." 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


153 


up  our  line  of  march,  whose  northern  limit  was  Gettysburg. 
Our  corps  protected  the  rear,  crossing  the  Potomac  at  Edwards' 
Ferry,  June  27,  1863. 

"  At  four  o'clock  p.m.  on  July  2,  1863,  we  reached  the  battle- 
field of  Gettysburg,  after  a  forced  march  of  thirty-four  miles, 
marching  from  nine  o'clock  p.m.,  July  1st,  without  a  halt  even 
long  enough  to  make  coliee.  Almost  immediatcl}'  upon  our 
arrival  we  were  ordered  on  the  double-quick  to  the  support  of 
our  left,  then  hotly  engaged  in  repelling  the  attack  of  Long- 
street's  corps.  The  next  day  we  were  kept  moving,  much  of 
the  time  at  double-quick,  from  point  to  point  of  the  line  of 
battle.  The  heat  was  intense,  and  about  20  men  fell  in  the 
ranks  from  sun-stroke. 

"  About  three  o'clock  p.m.,  while  marching  from  the  right  to 
the  left  centre,  we  passed  through  the  most  terrific  shell-fire  I 
ever  witnessed,  in  the  first  two  minutes  losing  23  nu-n  killed 
and  wounded.  The  steadiness  of  the  men  (e-\hibited  in  this, 
the  severest  test  of  the  soldier,  when  he  is  obliged  to  receive 
blows  with  no  chance  to  give)  justly  entitles  them,  beyond 
anything  else,  to  the  proud  name  of  veterans.  "With  no  quick- 
ened step,  with  no  confusion,  straight  through  that  feu  d'enfer, 
they  marched  with  a  coolness,  a  steadiness,  that  deserves  the 
highest  praise." 

The  fighting  of  the  3d  virtually  ended  the  series  of  terrible 
conflicts  which  will  go  down  to  history  as  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg. Gen.  Lee,  satisfied  that  any  attempt  at  a  farther  ad- 
vance would  end  in  irretrievable  disaster,  withdrew  with  his 
decimated  battalions  toward  Virginia. 

The  Federal  army  followed  the  retreating  enemj',  and  on 
the  19th  of  July  the  6th  Army  Corps  crossed  the  Potomac  and 
advanced  to  Manassas  Gap,  where  it  took  up  a  position  near 
Warrenton,  on  the  Sulphur  Spring  Road. 

On  the  30th  of  July  the  37th  was  detailed  by  Gen.  Sedg- 
wick for  service  in  putting  down  the  draft  rioters  who  were 
disgracing  the  American  name  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Arriving  at  that  place  on  the  2d  of  August,  the  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Fort  Hamilton,  and  on  the  night  previous  to 
the  beginning  of  the  draft  it  bivouacked  on  Washington 
parade-ground,  with  the  exception  of  two  companies,  who 
were  stationed  in  the  building  where  the  drawing  was  to  take 
■  place.  After  serving  on  this  duty  for  three  days  it  was  ordered 
back  to  Fort  Hamilton. 

On  the  14th  of  October  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  report  to 
Gen.  Halleck,  at  Washington,  and  on  the  17th  it  rejoined  its  old 
brigade  at  Chantilly ,  and  followed  up  the  retreating  rebel  army. 

On  the  7th  of  November  it  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Rap- 
pahannock Station,  though  not  closely  engaged.  On  the  2d 
of  December  the  array  fell  back  and  went  into  camp  near 
Brandy  Station,  where  the  regiment  remained  until  the  29th 
of  February,  1864,  when  it  moved  to  one  of  its  former  camps 
near  Madison  Court-House.  On  the  24th  of  March  it  was 
tranferred  to  the  4th  Brigade,  2d  Division,  6th  Corps. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Wilderness  ccmipaign.  May  4, 
1864,  the  regiment  numbered  29  ofiScers  and  580  enlisted  men 
present  for  duty.  In  the  dreadful  battles  of  the  5th  and  6th 
of  May  the  regiment  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fray  and  suf- 
fered severely,  losing  150  men  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
among  whom  were  Capts.  J.  L.  Hayden  and  R.  P.  Lincoln, 
and  Lieut.  Chalmers. 

On  the  12th  of  May  the  regiment  was  again  closely  engaged, 
and  captured  a  stand  of  colors  from  the  enemy.  From  this 
date  to  the  2d  of  July  it  was  constantly  on  duty  in  various 
directions,  and  on  the  9th  of  July,  along  with  the  6th  Corps, 
it  embarked  for  the  defense  of  Washington  against  Gen. 
Early.  At  this  time  it  numbered  17  ofiicers  and  308  men. 
Arriving  at  Washington,  it  was  engaged  in  the  affair  at  Fort 
Stevens  on  the  12th,  where  it  lost  7  men,  killed  and  wounded. 
On  the  14th  of  July  it  was  furnished  with  the  Spencer  repeat- 
ing-rifle.  August  21st  it  was  engaged  in  skirmi.shing  nearly 
the  whole  day  and  lost  17  men,  killed  and  wounded. 
20 


On  the  16th  of  September  the  veterans  and  recruits  of  the 
7th  and  10th  Massachusetts  Regiments  were  consolidated  with 
the  37th,  pursuant  to  Special  Order  No.  302,  War  Depart- 
ment.    This  added  73  men  to  its  ranks. 

On  the  19th  of  September  the  regiment,  now  numbering  296 
guns,  crossed  the  Opequan  Creek  and  encountered  the  enemy 
in  an  action  which  lasted  until  dark,  when  they  were  driven 
through  Winchester.  In  this  afl'air  the  colors  of  Stonewall 
Jackson's  old  regiment  were  taken  from  the  enemy.  The  37th 
was  warmly  commended  for  its  services  on  this  occasion. 

The  regiment  was  engaged  in  provost  duty  at  Winchester 
until  the  13th  of  December,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Washing- 
ton, and  thence  to  the  6th  Corps,  in  front  of  Petersburg,  where 
it  was  encamped  until  April,  1865,  with  two  short  interruptions. 
These  were  on  the  occasions  of  the  aftairs  at  Hatcher's  Run  and 
Dabb's  Mills,  on  the  5th  and  7th  of  February,  and  on  the  25th 
of  March,  at  the  time  the  enemy  captured  Ft)rt  Stedman,  in  the 
opening  of  the  campaign  of  1865.  It  was  ordered  to  the  lines 
in  front  of  the  fort,  but  had  only  marched  a  part  of  the  distance 
when  it  was  announced  that  the  fort  had  been  re-taken  and  the 
enemy  driven  into  his  own  lines. 

On  the  1st  of  April  the  37th  participated  in  the  attack  upon 
the  rebel  lines,  and  was  the  first  regiment  to  enter  Petersburg, 
which  surrendered  to  Col.  Edwards. 

On  the  6th,  after  a  four  days'  march,  it  was  present  and  en- 
gaged in  the  last  battle  of  the  war,  at  Amelia  Court-House.  The 
following  account  of  the  share  taken  by  the  87th  is  from  the 
official  report : 

"At  noon  we  had  made  a  march  of  twenty-five  miles, 
double-quicking  nearly  eight  miles  of  the  way,  and  were  con- 
fronting the  enemy,  with  a  deep  stream  between  us.  Our 
brigade  was  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  line,  and  the  37th  oc- 
cupied the  left  of  the  brigade.  Rushing  like  an  avalanche 
across  Saylor's  Creek,  with  the  water  up  to  our  arm-pits,  we 
dislodged  the  enemy  from  the  oppiisite  bank  and  drove  them 
over  the  crest  of  the  hill. 

"  Beyond  the  stream,  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  we  advanced 
through  a  thick  growth  of  underbrush,  fighting  as  we  went. 
The  firing  waxed  hotter  and  hotter,  until  suddenly  we  found, 
to  our  dismay,  that  the  regiment  on  our  right  had  given  way 
and  the  brigade  on  our  left  had  broken  the  connection  and 
halted  some  distance  back.  We  were  lost  to  our  friends.  Our 
nearest  neighbor  was  our  foe.  The  rebels  came  pouring  down 
upon  us,  and  within  a  few  seconds  had  attacked  and  enveloped 
both  flanks  of  the  regiment.  A  hand-to-hand  conflict  ensued. 
Many  men  were  wounded  with  the  bayonet,  and  pistol-shots 
were  freely  exchanged. 

"  Meanwhile,  the  Spencer  rifle  was  working  the  havoc  for 
which  it  was  intended.  All  down  the  front  of  our  regiment 
the  gaps  that  our  fire  opened  in  the  enemy's  ranks  were  fear- 
ful. They  had  started  to  attack  us  massed  in  heavy  columns ; 
scattered  fragments  only  reached  us.  They  came,  throwing 
down  their  guns,  raising  their  hands,  and  imploring  a  cessation 
of  the  fire.  After  the  battle  more  than  70  corpses  were  counted 
on  the  ground  in  our  immediate  front ;  and  when  we  consider 
that  the  proportion  of  the  slain  to  the  disabled  on  the  field 
of  battle  is  usually  only  as  1  to  6,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
carnage  was  terrific.  Among  the  prisoners  who  fell  into  our 
hands  was  Maj.-Gen.  Custis  Lee,  the  son  of  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  rebel  armies.  We  lost  in  this  engagement  8 
men  killed  and  31  wounded. 

"  Sergt.  Bolton  was  a  veteran,  transferred  to  our  regiment 
from  the  10th  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  perfect  soldiers  the  regiment  could  boast ;  was  always  a 
courteous  gentleman,  and  lion-hearted  in  battle.  After  passing 
unscathed  through  nearly  four  years  of  the  battles  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  he  fell  in  the  very  last  engagement  of  the  war, 
just  as  his  comrades  were  rejoicing  in  the  Jiiiale  of  their  hard 
labors. 

"  Capt.  Hopkins  commanded  the  regiment  in  the  engage- 


154 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


ments  of  the  2cl  and  6th  of  April,  and  received  great  praise 
for  the  skill  with  which  he  handled  his  command.  He  was 
twice  brevetted  for  his  gallantry  in  battle.  After  the  battle  of 
Saylor's  Creek,  we  followed  the  track  of  Lee's  army  until  it 
surrendered,  on  the  9th,  near  Appomattox  Court-House." 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1865,  the  regiment  began  its  homeward 
march.  It  was  reviewed  on  the  15th  of  June  in  "Washing- 
ton, and  left  for  Massachusetts  on  the  22d  of  the  same  month. 
It  was  finally  mustered  out  and  disbanded  at  Eeadville  on  the 
1st  of  July.  The  following  officers  were  killed  or  died  in  the 
service:  Assist.  Surg.  J.  J.  Ellis,  March  27,  1863,  died  of  dis- 
ease ;  Capt.  Franklin  W.  Pease,  May  14,  1864,  died  of  wounds  ; 
Lieut.  Charles  S.  Bardwell,  Oct.  6,  1864,  died  at  Winchester, 
Va.  ;  Lieut.  George  E.  Cook,  May  12,  1864,  died  of  wounds  ; 
Lieut.  J.  Follansbee,  May  23,  1864,  died  in  hospital. 

FOKTY-SIXTH    INFANTRY.* 

The  46th  Eegiment  included  five  companies  from  Hampden 
County, — viz..  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E, — besides  individuals  in  other 
companies.  It  was  mustered  into  service  in  September  and 
October,  1862,  and  was  a.ssigned  to  the  Department  of  North 
Carolina.  It  arrived  at  Newbern  on  the  loth  of  November, 
1862,  and  was  placed  in  the  brigade  commanded  by  Col.  Horace 
C.  Lee,  of  the  27th  Ma.ssachusetts. 

Soon  after  its  arrival,  and  while  encamped  on  the  Neuse 
Kiver,  two  of  its  companies,  A  and  K,  were  detached  and 
assigned  to  outpost  duty  at  Newport  barracks,  of  which  post 
Capt.  Spooner  was  placed  in  command.  During  the  winter 
the  regiment  remained  most  of  the  time  in  camp,  engaged  in 
fatigue  duties  and  in  perfecting  its  drill  and  discipline.  It 
took  part  in  the  Goldsboro'  expedition  in  December,  1862,  and 
January,  1863,  and  returned  to  its  camp  on  the  23d  of  Jan- 
uary. 

The  detached  companies  soon  after  rejoined  the  regiment, 
and  its  duties  were  continued,  large  details  being  made  each 
day  to  work  on  the  fortifications,  until  the  13th  of  March, 
when  the  enemy  showed  his  columns  in  force  in  front  of  the 
place  and  evinced  a  determination  to  attempt  its  capture.  A 
strong  demonstration  was  made  on  the  Trent  road,  and  the  5th 
and  46th  Massachusetts  Regiments  were  assigned  important 
positions  in  the  defense.  But,  the  enemy  attacking  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Neuse  River,  Gen.  Palmer,  commanding  the 
division  to  which  these  regiments  belonged,  withdrew  his 
command  inside  the  fortifications. 

On  the  14th  of  March  the  46th  was  sent  out  on  the  Trent 
road  to  reinforce  Col.  Amory,  but  only  had  the  satisfaction  of 
following  a  retreating  enemy  during  the  three  following  days. 
From  the  date  of  its  return  to  camp  until  March  26th  it  was  en- 
gaged in  >ts  old  duties.  On  the  last-mentioned  date,  with  the 
exception  of  two  companies,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Ply- 
mouth, N.  C,  a  very  important  post,  then  heavily  threatened 
by  the  rebels. 

Under  command  of  Col.  Pickett,  of  the  25th  Massachusetts 
Infantry,  the  whole  land-force  was  employed  in  strength- 
ening and  completing  the  fortifications. 

The  town  of  Washington  was  besieged  during  eighteen  days 
by  the  enemy,  and  all  this  time  the  force  under  Col.  Pickett 
worked  uninterruptedly  within  sound  of  the  besiegers'  guns, 
expecting  every  hour  that  their  own  turn  would  come.  Bvit 
the  enemy  at  length  withdrew  from  the  contest,  having  been 
defeated  in  every  attempt,  and  the  garrison  at  Plymouth  escaped 
un.scathed. 

On  the  8th  of  May  the  regiment  went  into  barracks  on  the 
Neuse  Kiver,  where  it  was  employed  in  the  construction  of 
fortifications  during  the  remainder  of  its  stay,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  period  occupied  in  the  expedition  against  the 
enemy's  outposts  at  Dover  Swamp,  about  eight  miles  from 
Kinston,  which  attack  was  eminently  successful. 

During  the  absence  of  the  regiment  at  Plymouth,  the  de- 

*  Nine  months. 


tachment  left  at  Newbern  took  an  active  part  in  the  defense  of 
that  place  against  a  second  threatened  attack.  It  was  also 
employed  upon  outpost  duty  at  Bachelder's  Creek,  where  it 
served  with  the  comuiand  of  Col.  Jones,  commanding  the  line 
of  outposts,  and  rendered  gallant  and  efficient  service  in  hold- 
ing the  position  against  a  most  determined  attack  made  by  the 
enemy  on  the  23d  of  May.  In  this  severe  encounter  Col.  Jones 
was  killed,  and  in  consequence  of  this  deplorable  event  the 
detachment  did  not  receive  a  just  recognition  of  its  services 
on  the  occasion. 

Capt.  Titft  received  most  honorable  mention  in  connection 
with  this  affair  for  great  bravery  and  soldierly  conduct  in 
holding  his  position  when  the  command  of  Col.  Jones,  demor- 
alized for  an  instant  by  the  fall  of  their  leader,  had  fallen 
back.  The  brave  captain  valiantly  held  his  post  until  discov- 
ered and  relieved. 

"  The  nine  months'  service,  reckoning  from  the  date  of  their 
muster  into  service,  of  five  of  the  companies  of  the  46th  Regi- 
ment expired  on  the  25th  of  June.  It  had  been  decided  by 
the  War  Department  that  the  term  must  be  reckoned  from  the 
day  of  the  muster  in  of  the  last,  or  tenth,  company.  This 
giving  dissatisfaction  on  account  of  lengthening  the  terms  of 
several  other  of  the  nine  months'  regiments,  Gen.  Foster 
issued  a  circular,  leaving  it  to  the  option  of  the  men  to  go 
home  or  remain.  The  46th  remained.  Over  100  of  the  regi- 
ment re-enlisted,  under  command  of  Col.  Frankle,  who  was 
recruiting  at  Newbern  a  regiment  of  heavy  artillery,"  the  2d 
Massachusetts. 

On  the  23d  of  June  the  regiment  reported  to  Gen.  Halleck 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  for  orders,  and  was  assigned  to  Gen. 
Dix's  command;  which  was  preparing  for  a  demonstration 
upon  the  rebel  capital.  Before  reporting  for  dutj',  however, 
it  was  found  that  Gen.  Dix  did  not  desire  the  services  of  troops 
whose  terms  had  so  nearly  expired ;  and,  upon  the  proposition 
of  Gen.  Naglee,  the  nine  months'  regiments  were  ordered  to 
report  to  Gen.  Schenck  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  the  46th 
was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Tyler,  command- 
ing the  exterior  defenses  of  that  city.  The  brigade  of  nine 
months'  men  was  stationed  at  "Camp  Bradford,"  where  it 
was  employed  in  guard  and  patrol  duty  until  the  6th  of  July, 
when  it  was  ordered  to  occupy  Maryland  Heights,  arriving 
there  on  the  7th  of  July.  The  brigade  performed  picket 
duty  on  the  Sharp.sburg  road  until  July  11th,  when  it  was 
sent  to  join  the  main  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

It  joined  the  1st  Corps,  where  it  remained,  momentarily  ex- 
pecting orders  for  active  operations,  until  the  day  on  which 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  crossed  the  river  at  Berlin,  when 
orders  were  received  for  the  brigade  to  proceed  to  Massachu- 
setts for  the  purpose  of  being  mustered  out.  On  the  21st  of 
July  the  46th  reached  Springfield,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the 
service  by  Capt.  Gardner. 

The  total  losses  of  the  46th  during  its  term  of  service  were 
reported  at  215  men,  of  whom  33  died  of  sickness. 


CHAPTER    XXXII I.f 

FIFTY-SECOND    KEGIMENT. 

This  regimentj  was  recruited  in  the  counties  of  Hampshire 
and  Franklin  in  1862,  and  served  till  August,  1863. 

It  was  organized  at  Camp  Miller,  Greenfield,  with  the  fol- 
lowing officers:  Colonel,  H.  S.  Greenleaf ;  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
S.  J.  Storrs  ;  Major,  Henry  Winn  ;  Surgeon,  F.  A.  Sawyer  ; 
Chaplain,  J.  F.  Moors. 

The  regiment  embarked  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  on  board 
the  steamer  "Illinois,"  on  the  19th  of  November,  1862,  and 

■f  The  greater,  and  by  far  the  most  interesting,  portion  of  this  chapter  has  been 
compiled  from  '*  The  Color-Gtiard,"  by  Kev.  .Tanifs  K,  Hosmer. 
J  Nine  months. 


EDWIN   C.  CLARK. 


EnwiN  C.  Ci,AEK,  soil  of  Allen  and  Sophia  Cook 
Clark,  was  born  in  Nortiianipton,  Oct.  23,  1826. 
Here  he  passed  his  boyhood,  and  was  educated  in 
tiie  public  schools.  In  1849,  when  the  "gold  fever" 
swept  over  the  land,  he,  like  many  other  adventurous 
spirits,  left  for  California,  where  he  worked  in  the 
mines  one  year,  and  returned  to  Northampton. 
Here  he  remained  one  season,  and  then  went  to 
New  York,  and  was  with  Beebe  &  Co.  four  years, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  again  returned 
to  his  native  county,  and  located  in  Southamj)ton. 
In  this  town  he  (conducted  the  lumber  business  for 
four  years,  then  returned  to  Northampton  and  en- 


gaged in  the  livery  business,  where  he  has  since 
remained. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  promptly 
— in  April,  1861 — enlisted  in  a  rifle  company  ;  but 
the  government  declining  to  accept  a  single  company, 
he,  with  otiiers,  recruited  Company  A,  27th  Regi- 
ment Massachusetts  Volunteers,  and  was  commis- 
sioned second  lieutenant.  His  war  record  lie  may 
well  be  proud  of. 

He  was  in  the  Burnside  expedition  to  North 
Carolina,  and  in  the  battles  of  Roanoke  and  New- 
bern.  He  resigned  and  came  home  in  1862.  With 
others   he    enlisted    a   company,  and    was   commis- 


Pholu.  bj  Hai'dia  &  SchaJee, 


CPoIm^  /u?.6)l^^ 


sioiied  first  lieutenant  in  the  52d  Regiment  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers;  was  subsequently  commis- 
sioned quartermaster,  and  went  with  the  Banks 
expedition  to  Louisiana.  He  was  at  the  recapture 
of  Baton  Rouge,  went  with  the  army  into  Western 
Louisiana,  and  was  post  quartermaster  at  Barry's 
Landing ;  was  at  the  cajiture  of  Port  Hudson, 
and  with  the  first  regiment  that  ascended  the  Missis- 
sippi River ;  and  mustered  out  of  the  United  States 
service  in  the  fiill  of  1863. 

Mr.  Clark  married  Emily  L.  Hine,  of  Lee,  Mass., 
in  November,  1850.  Their  family  consists  of  four 
children,  viz. :  Ida  B.,  Edwin  C,  Jr.,  Mary  A., 
and  William  H. 


Politically,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  attends  the 
Congregational  Church.  He  has  always  taken  an 
active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  native  town, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  fire  department  more 
than  twenty-five  years,  serving  several  terms  as 
engineer.  He  has  been  superintendent  and  treasurer 
of  the  Northampton  Street  Railway  Company  since 
December,  1877. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Clark  were  William,  wlio 
came  from  England  in  1630,  and  died  in  North- 
ampton in  1691.  John,  born  in  1651.  Increase, 
born  in  1684.  Daniel,  born  in  1712.  Solomon, 
born  in  1744,  and  died  in  1821.  Allen,  born  in 
1789,  and  died  in  1849. 


MARK    H.   S PAULDING. 


Capt.  Mark  H.  Spaui.dino,  son  of  Josiah  and  Fanny  Ilil- 
dreth  Stiauldini;,  was  born  in  Townsend,  Mass.,  March  20, 1827. 
His  father  wasof  the  sevontli  generation  by  the  nanieof  Spauld- 
ing  in  this  country,  and  descendant  in  a  direct  line  of  Edward 
Spaulding,  who  cimie  to  this  country  from  England  in  16.30. 
The  history  of  the  Spaulding  family  is  traced  back  to  the  time 
that  Ethel'bald  began  to  re'ign  in  "England,  a.d.  716.  The 
Spaulilings  were  men  of  prominence  in  England  and  .Scotland. 
The  mother  of  Captain  Spaulding  was  of  the  family  of  Hil- 
dreths,  of  Braintrce. 

Young  Spaulding  remained  at  home  until  fourteen  years  of 
age,  during  which  lime  he  attended  the  common  schools.  He 
was  then  apprenticed  to  a  rope-malier,  with  whom  ho  reniained 
about  (me  year,  and  then,  as  he  facetiously  expressed  it,  "  I 
concluded  that  I  should  like  the  ;»i//Jni7  of  ropes  better  than 
making  them,  and  went  to  sea."  He  experienced  the  ups  and 
downs  of  seafaring  life,  and  at  the  age  ot  eighteen  was  second 
officer  of  a  ship.  He  remained  at  sea  many  years,  and  traveled 
on  salt  wuti^r  about  four  hundred  thousand  miles.  He  visited 
nearly  all  the  cities  and  ports  of  Europe,  the  Mediterranean, 
ports  of  Africa,  east  and  west  coast  of  South  America,  nearly 


all  the  West  India  Islands,  and  nearly  every  port,  city,  and 
State  in  the  United  States. 

In  1848  he  shipped  as  first  officer  of  a  vessel  from  Savannah 
to  San  Francisco.  Upion  arriving  at  California,  during  the 
"gold  fever"  of  1849,  he  became  what  was  known  as  one  of  the 
old  "forty-niners"  of  that  period,  and  continued  mining  and 
trading  until  18.56.  While  here  he  was  a  member  of  the 
constitutional  cimvention  that  made  California  a  State  In 
IS-'ifi  he  left  the  gold  coast  for  New  England,  and  in  November 
of  the  same  year  began  the  mercantile  bnsine^-s  in  Northamp- 
ton, in  which  he  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  civil  war  he  rallied  to  the 
defense  of  his  imperiled  country,  and  in  April,  1861,  enlisted 
in  a  riflccompany.  Thegovernnient,  however,  refused  to  accept 
a  single  company,  and  he  with  others  then  organized  Co.  A, 
27th  I'pgiment  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  and  he  was  commis- 
sioned 1st  lieutenant.  He  saw  active  service,  and  was  ever 
found  in  the  line  of  duty.  He  was  in  the  Burnside  expi'dition 
to  North  Carolina;  in  the  battles  of  Roanoke  and  Newbcrn. 
AVas  disabled  by  sciatic  rheumatism  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Newbern   by  hardship   and   exposure,   resigned,  came   home, 


.^^/44^f/^/^^^^'/^ 


recovered  during  the  summer,  and  enlisted  a  company  ;  was 
commissioned  captain  in  the  52d  Regiment  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteers, and  went  with  the  "  Banks  expedition"  to  Louisiana, 
anil  ]iarticipated  in  the  second  recapture  of  Baton  Rouge.  In 
the  first  expedition  and  demonstration  on  Port  Hudson,  Captain 
S|iaulding  had  charge  of  the  advance  infantry  picket  line  when 
the  "  Hartford"  ran  the  batteries  of  Port  Hudson,  and  was  in 
the  battles  of  Franklin,  Vermilion  Bayou,  Opelousas,  and  the 
assault  and  final  capture  of  Port  Hudson.  His  was  the  first 
United  States  regiment  that  steamed  the  entire  length  of  the 
Mississippi  after  the  war  commenced.  At  the  close  of  an 
honored  and  active  military  career.  Captain  Spaulding  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  in  the  autumn  of  18G3. 

Politically,  Captain  Spaulding  is  a  Republican,  and  has  held 
many  offices  within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-citizens,  always  dis- 
charging their  duties  in  a. satisfactory  manner  He  was(dcct.ed 
collector  and  treasurer  of  Northamiiton  in  1865,  and  held  the 
office  nine  years  ;  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1875  and 
1876,  and  was  also  chairman  of  the  board  of  selectmen  in  1876. 

He  has  always  labored  to  advance  the  interests  of  North- 


ampton, and  was  decidedly  active  in  hunting  down  the  incen- 
diaries that  lurked  about,  causing  such  great  havoc  in  the 
village  in  1867. 

In  18.56  he  united  in  nuirriage  with  Sylvia  Sanders,  of 
Townsend,  Mass.,  daugliter  of  Ebenezer  Sanders,  of  the  eighth 
generation  of  that  name  who  came  from  England  about  the 
year  1625.  Their  family  consists  of  six  children,  viz.  :  Sylvia 
S.,  Marcia,  Nellie  B.,  Mary  L.,  Josephine,  and  M.  Harry. 
Sylvia  S.  was  one  of  the  fi'fteen  in  number  that  comprised 
the  first  class  of  the  Smith  Female  College. 

The  travels  by  land  and  water  of  Captain  Spaulding  have 
been  of  a  verv  interesting  character.  He  was  in  Rome,  Italy, 
in  1848,  when  the  French  held  armed  possession  for  Pope 
Pins  IX.,  and  was  at  Sacrificios,  near  Vera  Cruz,  when  Gen- 
eral Scott  bombarded  and  cajitured  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz, 
Mexico,  and  lias  been  in  every  port  on  the  Atlantic  coast  and 
Gulf  of  Mexico  from  Camjieachy  to  Sidney,  Cape  Breton. 

Captain  Spaulding  is  now  one  of  the  active  business-men  of 
Northampton;  is  a''hardware  merchant.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  first  parish  of  Northampton  twenty-one  years. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


155 


arrived  at  Now  Orleans  after  a  short  and  generally  pleasant 
voyage.  During  the  two  succeeding  months  it  was  stationed 
at  Baton  Rouge. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1803,  it  was  sent  on  a  reconnoissance 
toward  Port  Hudson,  and  made  a  bold  advance  to  within 
range  of  the  guns  of  the  fortifications.  Col.  Greenleaf,  in  his 
report  for  the  month,  says,  concerning  this  movement: 

"  Our  reconnoissance  to  within  about  five  hundred  y.ard8  of  the  rebel  batteries  of 
Port  Hudson  we  regard  as  an  exceedingly  Iiazardons  one  to  ourselves,  but  it  was, 
nevertheless,  handsomely  done,  the  regiment  not  only  deporting  itself  to  my 
entire  satisfaction,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  to  call  forth  the  congratulations  of 
our  brigade  and  division  commanders." 

On  the  1st  of  April  the  regiment  moved  from  I'ancoult,  on 
the  Bayou  Lafourche,  to  Cox's  Plantation,  thirteen  miles  ;  on 
the  2d,  from  Cox's  to  Thibodeaux,  fifteen  miles;  on  the  4th, 
by  rail,  to  Bayou  Boeuf,  seventeen  miles  ;  on  the  9th  marched 
from  Brashear  City,  ten  miles  ;  on  the  11th  took  passage  on 
the  steamer  "St.  Mary,"  and  landed,  on  the  13th,  at  Indian 
Bend,  on  Grand  Lake,  about  thirty-five  miles  from  Brashoar 
City,  and  marched  thence  about  three  miles,  during  which 
there  was  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  who  was  driven  back. 
Grover's  division  encamped  for  the  night  on  Madame  Porter's 
plantation. 

The  battle  of  Indian  Eidge  was  fought  on  the  14th,  but  the 
regiment  did  not  participate  in  the  action,  the  brigade  to 
which  it  was  attached  being  in  reserve.  On  the  l-5th  and  10th 
it  marched  to  New  Iberia  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  enemy, — 
a  distance  of  thirty-two  miles. 

Four  companies  were  left  at  this  point  on  provost  duty, 
while  the  remainder  of  the  regiment  advanced  to  Barre's 
Landing,  where  it  remained  until  the  21st  of  May,  busily 
engaged  in  collecting  and  guarding  negroes,  cotton,  corn, 
sugar,  molasses,  etc.,  and  in  loading  and  unloading  steamers. 
The  six  companies  of  the  52d  and  Niras'  battery  were  left  in 
charge  of  the  post,  the  remainder  of  Grover's  division  pushing 
on  in  the  direction  of  Alexandria.  By  the  5th  of  the  month 
there  had  been  collected  about  4000  negroes,  mostly  women 
and  children,  4000  bales  of  cotton,  considerable  quantities  of 
sugar  and  molasses,  and  100  horses. 

On  the  12th  inst.  Col.  Thomas  E.  Chickering  arrived  from 
Opelousas,  and,  by  order  of  Gen.  Banks,  assumed  command 
of  the  post.  On  the  19th  the  companies  left  at  New  Iberia 
(A,  E,  F,  and  G)  rejoined  the  regiment,  having  marched  as 
far  as  Brashear  City,  and  thence  coming  by  boat. 

On  the  21st  of  May  the  command  began  its  return  march  to 
Brashear  City,  taking  with  it  a  supply-train  and  a  large 
number  of  negroes.  The  force  was  commanded  by  Col. 
Joseph  S.  Morgan,  of  the  90th  New  York  Infantry  Volun- 
teers. 

On  the  22d,  after  a  steady  march  of  two  days,  the  expedition 
reached  Bayou  Teche, — a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles  from 
Barre's  Landing.  On  the  23d  the  force  marched  about  eighteen 
miles,  passing  through  St.  Martinsville,  and  encamped  about 
a  mile  above  New  Iberia.  On  the  24th  it  marched  about  fifteen 
miles,  passing  through  New  Iberia,  and  encamped  in  a  fine 
grove  of  oak  on  the  Bayou  Teche. 

On  the  25th  the  command  passed  through  Franklin  and 
Centreville,  near  which  it  was  suddenly  attacked  in  the  rear 
by  what  the  commanding  ofiicer  supposed  to  be  the  advance 
of  a  large  force  under  the  rebel  Gen.  Mouton.  Here  the  52d 
was  sent  back  a  distance  of  five  miles  to  repel  the  enemy,  who, 
however,  retreated,  and  the  troops  resumed  their  march,  con- 
tinuing it  through  the  night,  and  making  a  distance,  in  the 
course  of  twenty-four  hours,  of  forty  miles.  Brashear  City  was 
reached  a  few  hours  later.  Prom  this  latter  point  it  went  by 
rail  to  Algiers,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Springfield  Landing. 
From  thence  it  marched  to  headquarters  in  front  of  Port 
Hudson,  where  it  arrived  at  midnight  on  the  30th,  after  a  very 
fatiguing  march  of  twelve  miles. 

From  the  5th  to  the  8th  of  June  the  regiment  formed  a  ]ior- 


tiou  of  a  column  under  Gen.  Paine,  which  marched  to  Clinton 
and  dispersed  a  body  of  the  enemy. 

On  the  14th  of  June  an  assault  was  made  upon  Port  Hudson, 
and  the  52d  was  assigned  a  position  in  the  line  of  battle,  but  was 
subsequently  ordered  to  deploy  toward  the  flank  as  skirmishers, 
to  prevent  a  threatened  attack  by  the  enemy.  It  took  up  a 
position  within  easy  range  of  the  works,  which  it  occupied 
until  the  20th,  when  it  was  withdrawn  and  sent  under  Col. 
Greenleaf  as  part  of  an  escort  for  a  wagon-train  to  Jackson's 
Cross-Eoads.  While  engaged  in  loading  the  wagons  at  the 
latter  point  it  was  vigorously  attacked  by  a  greatly  superior 
force,  which  was  gallantly  repulsed  with  a  loss  to  the  enemy 
of  30  or  40  killed  and  wounded  and  a  number  taken  prisoners. 
The  regiment  lost,2  men  taken  prisonersi  and  about  60  teams, 
which  stampeded  in  the  melee. 

On  the  night  of  the  20th  the  command  returned  to  its  posi- 
tion in  the  besieging-lines  before  Port  Hudson.  Its  loss  during 
the  month  was  1  captain  and  8  men  killed,  12  wounded,  and  2 
taken  prisoners  ;  total,  23.  The  regiment  arrived  home  on 
the  3d  of  August,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service  Aug.  14, 
1803.  It  returned  via  the  Mississippi  Eiver,  and  was  said  to 
have  been  the  first  to  ascend  the  river  after  the  surrender  of 
the  rebel  strongholds,  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson.* 

The  Eev.  James  K.  Hosmer,  who  had  very  recently  been 
settled  as  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Deer- 
field,  was  a  volunteer  in  the  52d  Eegiment,  and  held  the  posi- 
tion of  corporal  in  the  color-guard.  He  kept  a  journal  of  his 
experiences  and  those  of  the  regiment  during  his  term  of  ser- 
vice, which  was  sent  to  his  father's  family,  and  others,  in  the 
form  of  letters,  and  at  their  request,  on  his  return  from  the 
field,  he  revised  the  journal  and  consented  to- its  publication 
under  the  title  of  '-The  Color-Guard,"  making  a  book  of 
two  hundred  and  forty-four  pages.  It  is  written  in  a  scholarly, 
racy,  and  most  interesting  manner,  and  gives  the  reader  the 
most  graphic  and  vivid  description  of  the  life  of  a  soldier  of 
anything  which  we  remember  to  have  seen  in  connection  with 
the  great  Eebellion.  From  the  very  beginning  in  the  tent  in 
Camp  Miller,  at  Greenfield,  to  the  close,  it  fixes  the  closest 
attention,  detailing  the  thousand  and  one  things  pertaining  to 
the  life  of  the  soldier  with  great  faithfulness  and  a  most  life- 
like delineation,  which  bring  before  the  mind  the  varied  scenes, 
both  grave  and  gay,  that  mark  the  bivouac,  the  march,  the 
battlefield,  and  the  hospital. 

Aside  from  its  value  as  a  narrative  of  thrilling  adventures, 
skirmishes,  battles,  sieges,  it  possesses  rare  literary  merit, — sel- 
dom found  in  works  of  the  kind.  In  perusing  its  pages  the 
attentive  reader  lives  over  again  the  life  on  board  the  crowded 
ocean  steamer,  where  the  soldier  is  stowed  away  in  the  midst 
of  a  confused  mass  of  munitions  of  war,  batteries  of  shining 
guns,  bales  of  hay,  accoutrements,  mules,  and  boxes  of  pro- 
visions ;  he  hears  the  bugle-call  and  the  roll  of  the  drum ;  he 
sees  the  ghastly  paraphernalia  of  the  hospital ;  he  stands  guard 
with  the  weary  sentinel  amid  the  pelting  storm  ;.he  lies  down 
in  the  muddy  cornfield  at  night ;  he  hears  the  whistling 
musket-ball  and  the  shriek  of  the  monster  shell,  and  trembles 
with  the  terrible  sound  of  battle.  He  grows  weary  on  the  long 
and  perilous  march  beneath  a  burning  sun  ;  he  sees  the  brave 
line  of  "  boys' in  blue,"  the  gittering  bayonets  sweeping  to  the 
charge,  and  hears  the  shout  of  victory  from  myriad  throats  as 
the  rebel  rag  comes  down  upon  the  smoking  ramijarts,  and  the 
"starry  banner"  flings  out  its  wondrous  folds  upon  the  sul- 
phureous air. 

His  descriptions  of  the  terrible  fever  and  the  death  of  his 
brother,  the  orderly-sergeant  of  his  company,  are  equal  to  the 
finest  passages  to  be  found  in  the  language ;  while  his  recital 
of  ludicrous  and  picturesque  camp-scenes  is  true  to  the  very 
life,  vividly  recalling  the  times  "  when  we  went  soldiering." 

*  Portions  of  Gen.  Grant's  army  at  Vicksburg  had  been  furloughed  and  sent 
up  the  river  at  an  earlier  date.  It  was  probably  the  first  re<jiment  to  ascend  th  e 
river. 


156 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


We  make  some  interesting  selections  from  this  book  : 

"  Our  guns  were  issued  to  us  the  other  d;i}', — beautiful  pieces 
of  the  most  approved  pattern, — the  Springfield  rifled  musket 
of  1862.  Mine  is  behind  me  now,  dark,  black-walnut  stock, 
well  oiled,  so  that  the  beauty  of  the  wood  is  brought  out ;  hol- 
lowed at  the  base  and  smoothly  fitted  with  steel,  to  corre- 
spond exactly  with  the  curve  of  the  shoulder,  against  which 
I  shall  have  to  press  it  many  a  time.  The  spring  of  the  lock, 
just  stift'  and  just  limber  enough  ;  the  eagle  and  stamp  of  the 
Government  pressed  into  the  steel  plate  ;  barrel  long  and  glis- 
tening,— bound  into  its  bed  by  gleaming  rings, — long  and 
straight,  and  so  bright  that  when  I  present  arms  and  bring  it 
before  my  face  I  caji  see  nose  and  spectacles  and  the  heavy 
beard  on  lip  and  chin,  which  already  the  camp  is  beginning  to 
develop.  Then  the  bayonet,  straight  and  tapering,  dazzling 
under  a  sun-ray,  grooved  delicately  as  if  it  were  meant  to 
illustrate  a  problem  in  conic  sections,  smooth  to  the  finger  as 
a  surface  of  glass,  and  coming  to  a  point  sharp  as  a  needle." 

Of  the  ocean  passage  and  life  on  the  steamer  he  thus  dis- 
courses :  "  I  have  been  down  the  brass-plated  staircase  into  the 
splendors  of  the  commissioned  officers'  cabin, — really  nothing 
great,  after  all,  but  luxurious  as  compared  with  our  quarters, 
already  greasy  from  rations  and  stained  with  tobacco-juice,  and 
sumptuous  beyond  words  as  compared  with  the  unplaned 
boards  and  tarry  odors  of  the  privates'  quarters.  Have  I  men- 
tioned that  now  our  places  are  assigned?  The  'non-coms' — 
non-commissioned  meaning,  not  non  compos,  though  evil- 
minded  'high  privates' declare  that  it  might  well  mean  that — 
have  assigned  to  them  an  upper  cabin,  with  state-rooms  over 
the  quarters  of  the  officers,  in  the  after-part  of  the  ship.  The 
privates  are  in  front,  on  the  lower  deck,  and  in  the  hold.  I 
promise  in  a  day  or  two  to  play  Virgil  and  conduct  you 
through  the  dismal  circles  of  this  Malebolge.  Now  I  speak 
of  tlie  cabin  of  the  officers.  The  hatches  are  open  above  and 
below,  to  the  upper  deck  and  into  the  hold.  Down  the  hatch 
goes  a  dirty  stream  of  commissary  stores,  gun-carriages,  rifled 
cannon,  and  pressed  hay,  within  an  inch  or  two  of  cut-glass, 
gilt  mouldings,  and  mahogany.  The  third  mate,  with  voice 
coarse  and  deep  as  the  grating  of  ten-ton  packages  along  the 
skids,  orders  this  and  that,  or  bays  inarticulately  in  a  growl  at 
a  shirking  sailor. 

"  Five  sergeants  in  our  company,  and  two  corporals  of  us, 
have  a  state-room  together, — perhaps  six  feet  by  eiglit.  Besides 
us,  two  officers'  servants  consider  that  they  have  a  right  liere. 
Did  any  one  say  '  elbow-room  '  ? 

..."  The  keel  of  the  ship  grates  harshly  upon  the  bottom. 
The  captain  jumps  to  the  wheel,  and  it  is  about  immediately, 
until  land  fades  again,  and  it  is  once  more  'one  wide  water  all 
around  us.'  The  sun  sets  gloriously  behind  this  land  of  ro- 
mance. A  soft  crimson  haze  hangs  over  it,  and  smokes  up 
/.enithward  like  rich  fumes  and  vapor  from  old  Ponce  de  Leon's 
fountain  of  youth.  A  splendor  of  cloud  and  light  is  thrown 
upon  the  west, — tall  buttressed  pillars  glowing  in  the  light  as 
if  the  powers  of  the  air  had  begun  to  paint  there  the  proud 
escutcheon  of  the  Spanish  kings.  In  another  moment  I  shall 
behold  the  crowned  shield  and  the  rampant  lions;  but  it  fades, 
and  now  to  the  eastward  rises  the  moon.  The  sky  to-night  is 
vapory,  with  fine,  clear  lines  of  azure  running  through  the 
vapor-like  veins, — veins  how  blue  and  deep,  as  if  filled  with 
the  blue  blood  of  the  true  hidalgos  of  Old  Castile !" 
Approdi'liing  New  Orleans  : 

"  We  go  below  for  sup]ier.  When  we  return  to  the  deck 
niglit  has  fallen,  and  in  front  we  can  just  begin  to  see  the 
lights  of  New  Orleans.  To  the  right  of  the  city,  in  the  heavens, 
glares  a  conflagration,  red  like  a  great  light  we  saw  on  the 
night  of  our  arrival  at  Ship  Island,  said  then  to  be  toward  Mo- 
bile, and  perhaps  the  signal-fire  of  the  enemy.  E.  and  I  sit  on 
the  paddle-box  watching  the  liglit, — the  hostile  city  in  chains 
and  under  our  cannon.  Now  we  are  close  upon  it.  At  our 
side  lies  the  '  North  Star,'  when  plunge  goes  the  anchor,  with 


its  rattling  chain,  in  twenty-five  fathoms  water.  All  is  mys- 
tery about  us  except  that  through  the  night  the  invisible  city 
looks  at  us  through  its  blinking  lights, — eyes  alone  visible, 
like  the  wolf  that  Putnam  followed  into  its  cavern.  The 
'United  States,'  the  'Boardman,'  and  other  vessels  of  the 
squadron  come  up.  The  fine  band  of  the  41st,  on  the  '  North 
Star,'  play  'Twinkling  stars  are  laughing,  love,'  and  other 
pieces,  to  the  delight  of  all  the  transports.  One  of  our  fellows 
oflFers  to  '  swap  our  band  for  yours,'  which  goes  for  a  great  joke 
aboard  the  'Illinois,'  we  being  rather  lame  in  point  of  music, 
— a  few  drums  and  fifes,  with  a  most  limited  i-epertoire  of 
tunes.  A  certain  creeper,  the  pest  of  camps  from  time  imme- 
morial, has  made  its  appearance  on  the  'Illinois,'  as  was  to  be 
expected,  and  been  the  staple  horror  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
voyage.  Of  course  some  one  must  yell  out  the  inquiry  if  the 
41st  know  anything  about  them.  The  answer  comes  jiealing 
back  across  the  water:  'We've  got  'em  with  U.  S.  marlced  on 
their  backs.'     So  the  jokes  go  through  the  evening. 

"  I  sit  on  deck  beneath  a  June-like  sun.  A  crowd  have  as- 
sembled on  the  levee, — in  large  part,  of  contrabands.  Boys 
cry  the  papers  with  Gen.  Butler's  farewell.  Behind  me,  in  the 
river,  lie  the  'Hartford,'  with  Admiral  Farragut  on  board, 
the  'Mississippi,'  '  Pensacola,'  and  the  smaller  gunboats.  In 
the  distance,  down  the  stream,  lie  two  French  war-ships,  and 
the  '  Rinaldo'  flying  the  cross  of  St.  George.  Up-stream  lies 
a  steamer  with  the  flag  of  Spain, — swarthy  watchmen  on  the 
paddle-boxes,  the  space  over  the  forecastle  crowded  with  sailors 
of  the  same  hue.  There  are  but  few  merchant-ships,  and  little 
appearance  of  commercial  bustle.  Big  artillery-men  (artillery- 
men always  look  strong),  Boston  boys  in  red-trimmed  jackets, 
wheel  the  light  cannons  aboard  the  ship.  These  shining  pieces 
are  no  holiday  aft'airs,  that  never  go  out  of  the  arsenals  except 
on  Fourth  of  July  or  after  an  election,  and  then  only  to  belch 
harmless  discharges.  Eacli  one,  on  the  average,  has  probably 
killed  its  score  of  men,  and  wounded  perhaps  two  or  three 
times  as  many.  Smooth,  elegant,  polished,  quiet,  they  stand 
on  deck  like  elegant  French  swordsmen  I  have  read  of,  who 
go  with  dainty  rapiers,  almost  plaything-like,  soft  as  silk,  but 
dangerous  as  death. 

"  My  first  visit  to  the  hospital  put  me  face  to  face  with  its 
gloomiest  spectacles.  A  mail  had  come,  and  it  fell  to  me  to 
distribute  to  the  patients  their  letters.  I  had  been  giving  let- 
ters to  well  men,  had  my  own  pocket  full,  was  happy  myself, 
and  had  come  from  among  men  happy  as  men  ever  are  ;  for  I 
have  discovered  the  secret  of  happiness  to  be  hidden  in  mail- 
bags.  I  rushed  up  the  stairs  leading  to  the  second  story  of  the 
building,  the  rooms  of  which  are  used  as  part  of  the  hospital. 
Two  or  three  doors  were  before  me.  I  opened  the  first,  and 
found  myself  alone  in  the  presence  of  a  corpse.  It  was  the 
body  of  a  man  who  had  died  the  night  before.  He  lay  in  full 
soldier's  dress,  decently-brushed  coat  with  military  buttons, — 
'  his  martial  cloak  around  him,' — and  vvitli  a  white  cloth  cov-  ■ 
ering  the  face.  He  was  buried  in  the  afternoon,  the  regiment, 
drawn  up  in  a  hollow  square,  solemnly  silent  while  the  ser- 
vice was  performed,  then  standing  reverently  while  the  body 
and  its  escort  with  the  muffled  drum  moved  to  the  burial.  I 
have  heard  of  the  '  wail'  of  the  fife,  but  never  made  it  real  to 
myself  until  then,  when  across  the  parade-ground,  down  the 
street,  then  from  the  distance,  came  the  notes  of  the  '  Dead 
March.' 

"  In  the  next  room  to  the  one  in  which  lay  the  corpse  the 
floor  was  covered  with  pale,  sick  men.  Now  they  have  rough 
bedsteads, — '  bunks,' — but  then  there  was  nothing  but  the  mat- 
tress under  them,  and  sometimes  only  the  blankets.  One  or 
two  attendants — as  many  as  could  be  spared  from  the  regiment 
— had  the  care  of  the  whole,  but  they  were  far  too  few.  One 
poor  man  was  in  a  sad  way  with  inflammatory  rheumatism, 
which  made  it  very  painful  for  him  to  stir,  and  at  the  same 
time  with  dysentery,  so  that  he  required  to  be  lifted  every  few 
minutes.     Pale,  forlorn  men,  away  from  friends,  tended  by 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


157 


nurses  who  have  no  special  interest  in  them  and  are  over- 
worked, crouching,  wrapped  up  in  blankets,  over  the  fire,  or 
stretched  out  on  a  floor.     God  pity  the  world  if  it  has  sights 
in  it  more  melancholy  than  a  military  hospital !'' 
Approach  inf/  Port  Hudson  ; 

"Boom!  go  the  far-away  guns.  We  are  moving  ra])idly 
to  the  front ;  so  the  other  regiments  and  the  stout  batterymen 
and  the  yellow  cavalrymen  give  way  for  us,  cheering  us  on. 
Down  a  cross-road  toward  the  river  a  sweet  south  wind 
shaking  white  cloud-favors  in  heaven  at  us,  the  sun  smiling 
God-speed,  and  the  lady  rose-bushes,  from  fence-corners  like 
balconies,  showing  their  blossom  handkerchiefs. 

"A  sweet  woodland  by-road !  We  rush  forward  at  double- 
quick.  Ah,  here  is  war  indeed!  a  colonel  on  the  general's 
staff,  just  wounded  by  the  retreating  rebel  pickets,  lying  by 
the  roadside.  I  catch  a  glimpse  of  him  on  an  extemporized 
litter  of  rails  as  he  lies  under  the  surgeon's  hands.  We  rush  by, 
— tramp  !  tramp  ! — at  the  double-quick,  and  he  pushes  himself 
up  a  little  with  his  hands,  so  that  we  can  see  his  pale  face,  just 
wounded  ahead  here  in  the  road  where  we  are  going. 

"  Cautiously,  boys  !  A  few  steps,  and  we  stumble  over  the 
handsome  horse  of  the  wounded  colonel,  dead  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  with  eight  bullets  in  him.  There,  too,  is  the  bloody 
boot  of  his  rider,  hastily  cut  off  after  the  wounding  was  accom- 
plished. A  company  are  detailed  as  flankers,  and  as  they  go 
through  the  wood  a  few  rods  distant  from  the  road  they  hear 
the  groans  of  other  wounded  men.  They  cannot  go  to  them, 
for  to  stop  would  be  to  expose  the  whole  flank  of  the  column 
to  danger. 

"  Now  we  pass  other  dead  horses  belonging  to  cavalrymen, 
which  were  shot  in  the  road  by  the  retreating  rebel  pickets. 
At  length  we  reach  a  fork  where  is  a  regiment  drawn  up,  and 
Gen.  Glover  sitting  on  horseback  with  hisstaft', — a  light-haired 
man,  with  face  sufficiently  resolute,  his  beard  cut  in  a  peak, 
and  wearing  a  cavalier-hat.  We  halt  only  for  a  moment.  The 
general's  pointing  hand  indicates  the  direction  we  are  to  take  ; 
so  down  we  go  through  a  wooded  road,  driving  before  us  the 
enemy's  pickets,  our  flankers  in  the  wood  seeing  them  mount 
their  horses  and  gallop  off  as  we  come  within  musket-range. 
Presently  we  go  by  their  camps,  where  they  have  cut  on  trees 
.some  defiance  or  warning  to  us  :  '  Beware,  Yankee  !  This  is  a 
hard  road  to  travel.' 

"  By  the  side  of  the  column  rides  an  officer  of  engineers, 
who  stops  every  now  and  then  to  note  a  by-path  or  prominent 
knoll,  or  draw  a  rough  plan  of  the  wood.  The  dust  has  hardly 
settled  yet  along  the  wood  from  the  tramp  of  their  retreating 
infantry.  We  press  on  close  behind,  until  at  length  the  column 
halts  close  within  range  of  the  Port  Hudson  batteries. 

"  It  is  now  just  after  sunset.  I  hitch  my  cartridge-box  a 
little  off  my  shoulder  for  relief,  and  bathe  my  head  and  face 
in  a  roadside  pool.  At  the  head  of  the  column  spj'^glasses 
are  being  passed  from  hand  to  hand  among  the  officers.  What 
is  it  they  and  the  skirmishers  see  to  the  northward  and  westward 
from  the  bend  in  the  road  ?  If  we  camp  here  for  the  night,  we 
rank  and  file  will  go  forward  and  see  for  ourselves.  They  are 
the  outer  earthworks  of  the  rebel  stronghold.  As  the  dusk 
deepens  the  column  turns,  and  back  we  go,  we  fellows  in  the 
very  heart  of  it,  the  crimson  stripes  of  the  standard  leaping 
and  flowing  out  above  us  like  currents  of  arterial  blood. 

"  We  fell  back  that  Saturday  night  two  or  three  miles,  then 
camped  in  the  woods.  Later  a  battery  went  forward  to  a  posi- 
tion near  that  to  which  we  advanced,  and  fired  shells  for  a 
while  toward  the  rebel  intrenehments.  Our  blankets  and  bag- 
gage were  four  miles  behind.  We  hung  equipments  and  haver- 
sacks on  the  gun-stocks,  and,  wet  with  sweat,  lay  down  in  our 
clothes,  without  covering. 

"  The  eyelids  shut  together  like  a  pair  of  .scissors-blades  and 
cut  the  thread  of  consciousness  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  my  dream- 
ing crash  after  crash  broke  upon  my  ear  like  the  chorus  of 
doomsday.     We  all  jumped  to  our  posts,  for  we  thought  the 


hour  of  battle  had  come.  I  looked  at  my  watch  by  the  light 
of  a  few  embers  :  it  was  half-past  eleven.  At  the  time  we  were 
completely  ignorant  of  the  events  that  were  transpiring.  We 
know  now  that  it  was  the  fleet  just  passing  the  batteries,  and 
all  this  was  the  uproar  of  the  bombardment.  Through  the 
trees  to  the  westward  arose  the  flashes,  incessant,  like  the  wink- 
ing heat-lightning  of  a  hot  summer  evening.  Through  the 
air  rolled  reports,  now  isolated,  now  twenty  combining  in  a 
grand  crash,  now  a  continuous  roll  of  them, — a  thundering 
rub-a-dub,  as  if  the  giants  were  going  to  storm  heaven  again, 
and  were  beating  a  reveille  to  summon  every  gnome  and  all 
the  genii  and  each  slumbering  Titan  to  fall  in  for  a  charge. 
The  centre  of  the  regiment,  the  color-guard,  rested  in  the  road. 
The  pickets,  four  or  five  rods  off,  could  see  the  falling  bombs, 
the  streams  of  comet-like  rockets,  and  the  outlines  of  the 
shore-batteries  lit  up  by  the  cannon  flames.  It  went  on,  and  we 
sat  listening  with  our  hands  close  at  our  guns.  Then,  at  last, 
the  heavens  reddened  high  and  far  with  a  fiercer  and  steadier 
glare  that  moved  slowly  southward,  crimsoning  in  turn  the 
moss  and  old  scars  on  the  north,  on  the  west,  and  on  the  south- 
west of  the  tree-trunks.  Meantime  came  up  the  boom  of  can- 
non, slowly  receding  in  the  same  direction.  So  we  heard  the 
swan-song  of  the  stern  old  '  Mississippi,'  abandoned,  beaten 
with  shot,  ragged  through  her  whole  frame  where  shells  had 
torn  and  burst.  On  that  night  a  freight  of  dead  men  were  on 
her  deek,  and  the  bodies  of  drowned  men  floated  about  her 
hoary  hull  for  retinue.  Then  came  a  crash, — a  light  making 
all  bright,  fiung  back  from  the  burnished  gun-stocks,  from  the 
pool  by  the  roadside,  revealing  the  watching  soldiers  and  the 
slain  steeds  fallen  headlimg  in  the  road  in  the  midst  of  the 
camp.  So  passed  the  veteran  ship  through  fire  and  earth- 
quake-shock to  an  immortality  in  history." 
On  the  battlefield  in  Louisiana  : 

"  Presently  we  hear  the  sound  of  firing.  '  They  have  found 
them  again,'  I  say  to  the  color-sergeant ;  and  we  look  off  over 
the  woods  to  where  the  white  cloud  of  the  discharge  can  be 
seen  rising  among  the  trees.  As  we  sweep  along  the  road 
toward  the  firing,  the  day  each  minute  becomes  more  and 
more  beautiful.  Each  minute,  too,  the  roar  of  cannon  is 
more  frequent,  and  becomes  mingled  at  last  with  sharp,  rattling 
volleys  of  small-arms. 

"  We  come  at  last  into  full  view  of  the  scene.  We  halt  in 
the  road;  and,  leaning  against  a  fence,  looking  southward 
through  the  rails,  the  whole  combat  is  visible  to  us,  who  are 
now  within  cannon-range.  We  look  down  a  gentle  slope. 
To  the  left  we  can  see  a  battery  posted,  which  fires  very  vigor- 
ously ;  then  bodies  of  infantry,  in  long,  dark  lines,  moving 
upon  an  open  field  in  front  of  a  wood.  In  the  lines  are  gaps, 
which  may  be  caused  by  moving  over  rough  ground  or  by  the 
plunge  of  shot  and  shell. 

"  To  the  right,  again,  we  can  see  bodies  of  troops  and  bat- 
teries. Hear  that  long  crash  of  musketry  !  each  individual 
discharge  so  blending  into  others  that  we  can  only  hear  one 
long  sound,  like  the  slow  fall  of  some  huge  tower.  It  is  a 
rebel  volley,  terribly  effective,  as  we  afterward  hear ;  and 
while  the  wind  bears  it  to  us  we  are  ordered  forward,  and 
presently  are  on  the  very  field. 

"Ambulance-men  with  stretchers  are  hurrying  across  the 
field  to  a  sugar-house  in  the  rear,  where  a  hospital  is  estab- 
lished. On  each  stretcher  is  a  wounded  man,  and  the  number 
of  these  make  it  certain  to  us  that  the  engagement  has  reached 
the  sad  dignity  of  a  pitched-battle.  We  are  passing  ammu- 
nition-wagons now;  now  a  tree,  beneath  which  is  a  surgeon 
at  work ;  and  close  where  he  stands,  on  his  back,  stiff  and 
stark,  dead,  a  tall,  broad-chested  man  with  closed  eyes.  The 
column  files  to  the  right,  out  of  the  road,  and  we  stand  in 
line  of  battle  just  in  the  rear  of  the  action,  within  rifle-range 
of  the  woods  where  the  enemy  lie  concealed,  expecting  every 
moment  the  order  to  advance.  The  firing,  however,  slackens  ; 
and  presently  word  comes  that  the  enemy  are  withdrawing. 


158 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"  Between  the  color-company  and  the  next  company,  through 
the  centre  of  our  line,  runs  the  cart-track  down  into  the  iield, 
along  which  is  now  constantly  passing  a  stream  of  wounded 
men  on  stretchers  or  supported  by  comrades,  and  lines  of  rebel 
prisoners.  I  am  close  by,  and  can  hear  the  talk  of  a  sergeant, 
bloody,  but  able  to  walk,  who  is  glad  he  has  had  a  chance  to 
do  some  service.  I  look,  too,  upon  the  ghastly  head  of  a 
young  lieutenant  who  is  dying  upon  his  stretcher,  and  upon 
many  others.  Prisoners  come  in  by  squads,  sometimes  five  or 
six,  sometimes  twenty  or  thirty  ;  some  in  gray,  some  in  blue, 
some  in  faded  brown.  Once  in  a  while  there  is  an  intelligent, 
good-looking  face ;  more  often  the  features  are  unintelligent, — 
the  brutish  face  of  that  deteriorating  class,  the  '  white  trash.' 
Thus  we  stand  close  at  hand  to  suffering  and  death. 

"The  pursuit  is  being  continued  down  the  road.  Hours 
pass,  and  we  still  remain  in  line.  We  cook,  eat,  and  sleep. 
I  get  out  my  portfolio  and  write  a  little.  In  the  course  of 
the  day,  up  into  the  blue,  calm  sky  go  mighty  columns  of 
smoke,  with  deep  reports,  the  explosions  of  rebel  gunboats 
and  transports,  overtaken  in  the  Teche  by  the  victorious  army, 
and  blown  up  by  their  crews  as  they  flee.  Within,  half  a 
dozen  rods  of  our  line  is  a  field-hospital,  where  lie,  of  one 
New  York  regiment,  the  wounded  colonel,  the  dead  lieuten- 
ant-colonel, adjutant,  and  other  ofticers  and  men.  Of  other 
regiments,  too,  are  many  wounded.  Federal  and  rebel,  some 
dying  under  the  surgeons'  hands.  I  go  over  and*  see  the 
writhing  wounded,  and  the  hospital  attendants  laying  out 
the  dead.  An  Irish  private  lies  close  by  the  straight  3'oung 
adjutant,  whose  face  is  reverently  covered,  and  not  far  oft"  is 
a  rebel  covered  thick  with  his  own  gore.  Before  death  go 
down  all  distinctions  and  animosities. 

"  Does  it  not  seem,  when  the  experiences  are  so  out  of  the 
common  course  and  so  dreadful,  as  if  there  ought  to  be  some 
change  in  outward  circumstances  to  make  them  correspond? 
But  no  ;  it  was  a  perfect  summer  day,  an  almost  cloudless 
sky,  with  a  cool,  sweet  wind  coming  from  the  woods  where  the 
rebels  had  been  hidden, — the  woods  green  and  fresh  and  inno- 
cent as  if  they  were  only  a  haunt  for  fairies. 

"Toward  night  I  go  down  the  cart-path  to  the  actual  field, 
and  see  the  broken  muskets,  the  scattered  knapsacks  and  cloth- 
ing, the  furrows  where  the  enemy  lay,  the  bloody  pools  where 
the  dying  fainted,  the  burial-parties,  and  the  piles  of  distorted 
corpses  lying  by  the  trenches  just  dug  to  receive  them." 
In  the  hospital  : 

"At  Baton  Kouge  we  heard  first  of  the  sudden  investment 
of  Port  Hudson  by  Gen.  Banks,  and  that  very  day,  in  front  of 
the  beleaguered  fortress,  such  a  battle  was  threatened  as  the  de- 
partment had  never  known.  The  transports  were  all  detained 
to  wait  for  this  struggle,  and  even  the  sick  had  been  sent  up 
from  the  hospitals  to  do  duty  with  the  ambulances.  There 
would  be  no  opportunity  to  rejoin  the  regiment  for  some  days, 
so  I  went  to  the  medical  director  :  '  I  am  So-and-so,  doctor,  on 
li^ave  of  absence ;  if  I  can  be  of  any  service,  send  me  up  as  a 
nurse  till  I  can  rejoin  my  regiment.' 

"  That  night  I  went  to  'Springfield  Landing,'  three  miles 
below  the  grim,  hostile  batteries, — as  near  as  peaceful  vessels 
dare  go.  As  we  touched  land  at  midnight  the  air  was  full  of 
thunder,  and  whirling  among  the  stars  went  the  lighted  fuses 
of  the  slow-revolving  bombs,  high  up  toward  the  zenith,  then 
dropping  through  a  long,  fire-lit  arch  to  a  deep  explosion, — all 
this,  now  close  at  hand,  what  we  had  been  hearing  on  the  re- 
mote bayou,  fifty  miles  away." 
Battle  : 

"A  formidable  battery  of  ship's  guns  has  opened,  within  a 
few  days,  not  far  from  us.  My  first  visit  to  it  was  in  the 
evening.  Bivins  and  I  slung  our  canteens  (for  we  never  miss 
an  opportunity  of  going  for  water),  and  started  down  the 
blind,  obstructed  cart-track  which  leads  out  of  the  woods. 
Every  few  minutes  came  in  the  heavy  crash  of  the  Dahlgrens 
we  were  going  to  see,  and  the  lighter  reports  of  guns  farther 


off.  We  were  soon  out  on  the  plain  where  the  battery  is 
placed.  To  the  right  of  it  ran  a  hedge,  behind  which, 
screened  from  the  rebel  riflemen,  lay  a  regiment  stationed 
there  to  protect  the  guns  against  a  sudden  dash  of  the  enemy. 

"  It  is  now  quite  dark,  but  in  the  starlight  we  can  see  the 
outlines  of  the  sandwork  behind  which  the  guns  are  ranged. 
The  rebel  intrenchments  are  from  a  quarter  to  a  half-mile 
away  in  front  of  us.  We  can  see  three  or  four  large  fires 
burning  within  them.  Volumes  of  flame  and  smoke  roll  up 
among  the  trees,  and  the  soldiers  about  us  think  they  can 
make  out  the  figures  of  men  standing  by  the  glare.  As  often 
as  once  a  minute,  from  the  east,  where  lies  a  huge  New  York 
battery,  from  the  right,  which  Weitzel  holds, — or  over  on 
the  opposite  side  from  us,  where  lies  the  fleet  in  the  river, 
as  often  as  once  in  a  minute,  like  heat-lightning, — flashes  a 
cannon  ;  then,  in  a  few  seconds,  comes  the  roar ;  then  another 
light  within  the  fortress  as  the  shell  explodes. 

"  Now  a  '  Dahlgren'  in  our  battery  here  is  discharged. 
How  fierce  and  sullen  !  I  must  have  a  nearer  view  ;  so  I 
make  my  way  in  behind  the  earthwork  itself,  and  stand  with 
the  sailors  who  are  detached  from  duty  on  shipboard  to  man- 
age these  great  fellows.  Each  gun  stands  on  a  broad  platform, 
sloping  from  rear  to  front  to  prevent  the  recoil  of  the  piece 
from  sending  it  too  far  back.  They  are  a  part  of  the  broad- 
side of  the  Richmond,  and  have  already  done  good  service  at 
the  taking  of  the  forts  and  the  running  of  the  Port  Hudson 
batteries  in  March. 

"  '  Ready  there  at  No.  2!'  says  the  officer  in  charge.  The 
crew  of  '  No.  2'  stand  back,  and  I  brace  myself  for  the  con- 
cussion. A  sailor  jerks  a  lanyard,  and  it  is  done.  It  is  no 
light  field-piece,  remember,  but  one  of  war's  grimmest  mon- 
sters. Clash  go  my  teeth  together  ;  my  bones  almost  rattle ; 
then  follows  the  hungry,  ravening  shriek  of  the  shell,  which 
breaks  forth  like  a  horrible  bird  of  prey  to  devour  the  whole 
world.  It  sweeps  hoarsely  toward  the  enemy's  line;  then 
1  hear  it  go  'thud-thud!'  through  some  obstruction.  In  a 
moment  the  air  beyond  is  lit  up  with  its  bursting,  and  the 
sound  roars  back  to  us, — to  us,  now  enveloped  in  the  sulphure- 
ous cloud  that  wraps  the  whole  neighborhood." 
The  attack  .- 

"Before  dark  we  were  ordered  into  line  and  stacked  our 
arms.  Each  captain  made  a  little  speech :  '  No  talking  in 
the  ranks;  no  flinching.  Let  every  one  see  that  his  canteen 
is  full,  and  that  he  has  hard  bread  enough  for  a  day.  That 
is  all  you  will  carry  besides  gun  and  equipments.' 

"  We  left  the  guns  in  stack,  polished  and  ready  to  be  caught 
on  the  instant,  and  lay  down  under  the  trees.  At  midnight 
came  the  cooks  with  coffee  and  warm  food.  Soon  after  came 
the  order  to  move ;  then  slowly,  and  with  many  halts,  nearly 
four  hundred  strong,  we  took  up  our  route  along  the  wood- 
paths. 

"  Many  other  regiments  were  also  in  motion.  The  forest  was 
full  of  Rembrandt  pictures  :  a  bright  blaze  under  a  tree,  the 
faces  and  arms  of  soldiers  all  aglow  about  it ;  the  wheel  of  an 
army-wagon  or  the  brass  of  a  cannon  lit  up ;  then  the  gloom 
of  the  wood,  and  the  .night  shutting  down  upon  it. 

"At  length  it  was  daybreak,  and  with  every  new  shade  of 
light  in  the  east  a  new  degree  of  energy  was  imparted  to  the 
cannonade.  As  we  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  wood,  it  was  war 
on  all  sides.  In  a  few  moments  we  were  in  motion  again. 
We  crossed  a  little  bridge  over  a  brook  thickly  covered  with 
cotton,  to  conceal  the  tramp  of  men  and  noise  of  wheels, 
climbed  a  steep  pitch,  and  entered  a  trench  or  military  road 
cut  through  a  ravine,  passing  some  freshly-made  rifle-pits  and 
batteries.  We  are  now  only  screened  from  the  rebel  works  by 
a  thin  hedge.  Here  the  rifle-balls  began  to  cut  keen  and  sharp 
through  the  air  about  us,  and  the  cannonade,  as  the  east  now 
began  to  redden,  reached  its  height, — a  continued,  deafening 
uproar,  hurling  the  air  against  one  in  great  waves  till  it  felt 
almost  like  a  wail  of  rubber,  bounding  and  rebounding  from 


f 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


159 


the  body, — the  great  guns  of  the  'Kiohmond,'  the  siege-Pav- 
rotts,  the  smaller  field-batteries,  and,  through  all,  the  bursting 
of  the  shells  within  the  rebel  lines  and  the  keen,  deadly 
whistle  of  well-aimed  bullets.  A  few  rods  down  the  mili- 
tary road  the  column  paused.  The  work  of  death  had  be- 
gun, for  ambulance-men  were  bringing  back  the  wounded, 
and,  almost  before  we  had  time  to  think  we  were  in  danger,  I 
saw  one  of  our  men  fall  back  into  the  arms  of  his  comrades, 
shot  dead  through  the  chest.  The  banks  of  the  ravine  rose  on 
either  side  of  the  road  in  which  we  had  halted  ;  but  just  here 
the  trench  made  a  turn,  and  in  front,  at  a  distance  of  five  or 
six  hundred  yards,  we  could  plainly  see  the  rebel  rampart,  red 
in  the  morning  light  as  with  blood,  and  shrouded  in  white 
vapor  along  the  edge,  as  the  sharpshooters  behind  kept  up  an 
incessant  (discharge.  I  believe  I  felt  no  sensation  of  fear,  nor 
do  I  think  those  about  me  did. 

"  Our  brigadier  is  with  us  at  the  front ;  and  now,  calling 
the  colonel,  the  two  soldierly  figures  climb  the  bank  of  the 
ravine  and  take  a  narrow  survey  of  the  ground.  In  a  mo- 
ment the  order  comes.  We  are  to  move  up  this  rough  path 
to  the  right,  then  advance  out  from  the  shelter  of  the  trees 
into  the  open  space  before  the  fortifications,  deploying  as 
skirmishers  meanwhile,  and  making  our  way  through  the 
fire  to  a  closer  position.  We  climb  up  the  path.  I  go  with 
my  rifle  between  W.*  and  H.*,  keeping  nearest  to  the  former, 
who  carries  the  national  flag.  In  a  minute  or  two  the  column 
has  ascended  and  is  deploying  in  a  long  line,  under  the  col- 
onel's eye,  on  the  open  ground.  The  rebel  engineers  are  most 
skillful  fellows.  Between  us  and  the  brown  earth-heap  which 
jve  are  trying  to  gain  to-day  the  space  is  not  wide,  but  it  is  cut 
up  in  every  direction  with  ravines  and  gullies.  These  were 
covered,  until  the  parapet  was  raised,  with  a  heavy  growth 
of  timber ;  but  now  it  has  all  been  cut  down,  so  that  in  every 
direction  the  fallen  tops  of  large  trees  interlace,  trunks  block 
up  every  passage,  and  brambles  are  growing  over  the  whole. 
It  is  out  of  the  question  to  advance  in  line  of  battle:  it  seems 
almost  out  of  the  question  to  advance  in  any  order  ;  but  the 
word  is  given,  'Forward!'  and  on  we  go.  Know  that  this 
whole  space  is  swept  by  a  constant  patter  of  balls  ;  it  is  really 
a  '  leaden  rain.'  We  go  crawling  and  stooping  ;  but  now  and 
then  before  us  rises  in  plain  view  the  line  of  earthworks, 
smoky  and  sulphureous  with  volleys;  while  all  about  us  fall 
the  balls,  now  sending  a  lot  of  little  splinters  from  a  stump, 
now  knocking  the  dead  wood  out  of  the  old  tree-trunk  that  is 
sheltering  me,  now  driving  up  a  cloud  of  dust  from  a  little 
knoll,  or  cutting  off  the  head  of  a  weed  just  under  the  hand 
as  with  an  invisible  knife.  I  see  one  of  our  best  captains  car- 
ried off  the  field  mortally  wounded,  shot  through  both  lungs, 
—straight,  bright-eyed,  though  so  sadly  hurt, — supported  by 
two  of  his  men ;  and  now,  almost  at  my  side,  in  the  color- 
company,  one  soldier  is  struck  in  the  hand  and  another  in  the 
leg.  'Forward!'  is  the  order.  We  all  stoop,  but  the  colonel 
does  not  stoop ;  he  is  as  cool  as  he  was  in  his  tent  last  night 
when  I  saw  him  drink  iced  lemonade.  He  turns  now  to  ex- 
amine the  ground,  then  faces  back  again  to  direct  this  or 
that  flank.  W.  springs  from  cover  to  cover,  and  I  follow 
close  after  him.  It  is  hard  work  to  get  the  flag  along ;  it 
cannot  he  carried  in  the  air,  and  we  drag  it  and  pass  it  from 
hand  to  hand  among  the  brambles,  much  to  the  detriment  of 
its  folds.  The  line  pauses  a  moment.  Capt.  Morton,  who  has 
risen  from  a  sick-bed  to  be  with  his  command,  is  coolly  caution- 
ing his  company.  The  right  wing  is  to  remain  in  reserve,  while 
the  left  pushes  still  farther  forward.  The  major  is  out  in  front 
of  us  now.  He  stands  upon  a  log  which  bridges  a  ravine, — a 
plain  mark  for  the  sharpshooters,  who  overlook  the  position 
not  only  from  the  parapet,  but  from  the  tall  trees  within  the 
rebel  works.  Presently  we  move  on  again  through  brambles 
and  under  charred  trunks,  tearing  our  way  and  pulling  after 

*  Fictitious  names. 


us  the  colors  ;  creeping  on  our  bellies  across  exposed  ridges, 
where  bullets  hum  and  sing  like  stinging-bees;  and  right  in 
plain  view  the  ridge  of  earth,  its  brow  white  with  incessant 
volleys. 

"  Down  this  slope,  and  it  will  do.  The  color-guard  is  some 
rods  in  advance  of  the  company,  and  many  pause.  I  hear  cheer- 
ing. A  ridge  hides  the  space  in  front  of  the  works  from  which 
it  comes,  and  I  tell  W.  I  must  creep  up  and  see  the  charge. 

"  '  Better  not,'  he  says.  '  We  will  go  where  our  duty  lies, 
but  we  had  better  run  no  risk  beyond  that.' 

"He  is  wiser  than  I.  While  bespeaks  I  have  partially 
raised  myself  to  climb  forward  to  the  point  of  view.  Balls 
are  striking  close  by  me.  I  have  become  a  mark  to  sharp- 
shooters in  the  trees,  and  lie  down  again  to  be  safe. 

"  The  color-guard  are  under  orders  not  to  fire  except  when 
the  colors  are  specially  threatened.  My  piece  is  loaded  and 
capped,  but  I  can  only  be  shot  at  without  returning  the  dis- 
charge. Down  into  our  little  nook  now  come  tumbling  a 
crowd  of  disorganized,  panting  men.  They  are  part  of  a  New 
York  regiment,  who,  on  the  crest  just  over  us,  have  been 
meeting  with  very  severe  lo.ss.  They  say  their  dead  and  dying 
are  heaped  up  there. 

"We  believe  it,  for  we  can  hear  them,  they  are  so  near; 
indeed,  some  of  those  who  come  stumbling  down  are  wounded  ; 
some  have  their  gunstocks  broken  by  shot  and  the  barrels 
bent,  while  they  are  unharmed. 

"They  are  frightened  and  exhausted,  and  stop  to  recover 
themselves  ;  but  presently  their  officers  come  up  and  order 
them  forward  again.  From  time  to  time  afterward  wounded 
men  crawl  back  from  their  position  a  few  yards  in  front  of 
where  we  are, — one  shot  through  the  ankles,  who,  however, 
can  crawl  on  his  hands  and  knees ;  one  in  the  hand ;  one  with 
his  blouse  all  torn  about  his  breast,  where  a  ball  has  struck 
him,  yet  he  can  creep  away." 
In  the  sap  : 

"  You  shall  go  with  me  into  this  outmost  sap  and  know 
what  sights  and  .sounds  it  is  our  business  now  to  be  familiar 
with.  Into  this  sap  I  am  obliged  to  go  three  times  a  day  for 
my  rations,  out  of  the  retreat  of  the  colors.  First  wc  must 
creep  out  of  our  ravine  through  the  top  of  this  prostrate  tree, 
whose  boughs  catch  our  clothing ;  then  up  by  the  charred 
trunk,  the  feet  slipping  in  the  mud.  Your  head  now  comes 
within  the  range  of  riflemen  in  the  trees  over  there.  Some- 
times they  are  in  the  trees,  though  not  always.  A  few  steps 
more,  and  we  come  within  full  range  from  the  parapet ;  but  do 
not  stop  to  look.  Stoop  as  low  as  you  can,  and  run.  This 
stump  will  shelter  you, — pitted  with  the  striking  of  balls 
against  it,  as  if  it  had  the  smallpox  when  a  sapling.  When 
you  have  caught  your  breath,  run  for  that  trunk.  It  is  an 
ugly  one  to  get  over,  for  it  is  breast-high,  and  one's  whole 
body  has  to  come  into  the  enemy's  view.  Once  over  this,  and 
the  road  is  smoother.  We  soon  gain  the  cover  of  the  woods, 
and  are  comparatively  safe.  The  other  day  I  was  twice  shot  at 
while  passing  the  space  we  have  just  been  over.  I  do  not  know 
how  near  the  bullets  came  ;  only  the  first  seemed  as  if  it  were 
sweeping  my  legs  oft"  at  the  knee  with  its  sharp  rush.  I  stooped 
and  labored  through  the  brush,  when  the  second  came  cold 
along  the  length  of  my  spine  just  above  the  vertebra.  We 
are  to  have  a  better  road,  however.  One  of  Co.  E  has  just  been 
shot  through  the  head — dead  in  an  instant— here,  and  we  are 
to  have  a  protected  pa.ssage-way. 

"  Down  this  little  gully,  and  we  enter  the  beginning  of  the 
sap  at  the  end  of  the  military  road.  Behind  the  angle,  just 
back  there,  is  the  station  of  the  ambulance-men.  They  wait 
there  day  and  night  with  stretchers  ready.  These  stretchers 
are  now  all  blood-stained.  Three  or  four  a  day  out  of  the  brig- 
ade and  working-party  are  carried  out.     The  ambulance-corps 

is  made  up  largely  of  the  musicians,  but  m\isic We  never 

hear  it  now,  not  even  the  drum  and  fife.  It  is  too  stern  a  time 
for  that. 


ICO 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


"  We  pass  out  into  the  sap.  Here  is  the  most  dangerous 
point  of  all,  just  at  the  entrance,  where  the  first  man  from  our 
regiment  was  killed  the  day  of  the  assault.  You  see  how  the 
rebel  parapet  commands  it.  We  are  going  considerably  nearer 
to  it,  but  we  shall  be  better  sheltered.  'Tis  just  in  front,  with 
an  old  shot-pierced  building  behind  it,  and  white  sand-bags 
lying  on  the  top  of  the  lawny  slope.  That  old  building  might 
be  a  ruinous  mill,  and  those  bags  might  be  grist  laid  out 
there  along  the  wall  until  the  miller  was  ready  for  it,  but 
every  bag  or  two  there  is  a  sharp-eyed  Mississippian  with 
his  rifle  pointed  through  some  chink.  Let  us  go  at  a  good 
pace,  so  that  no  one  of  those  fellows  will  have  a  chance  to 
'  draw  a  bead'  on  either  of  us.  The  trench  goes  under  a  large 
trunk,  stretching  from  bank  to  bank,  and  from  here  we  are 
tolerably  safe.  Only  tolerably,  for  the  other  day,  close  by 
here,  one  of  our  company  was  hit  in  the  face  by  a  glancing 
ball ;  and  Sergt.  Bennett,  of  Co.  K,  was  mortally  wounded 
by  a  fragment  of  one  of  our  own  shells,  which  flew  back  into 
our  lines  from  over  the  rebel  parapet,  where  the  shell  ex- 
ploded. We  are  coming  close,  you  see.  Climb  a  steep  pitch 
now,  and  we  reach  the  station  of  Co.  D.  The  sap  is  here 
about  six  feet  wide  and  four  deep,  dug  out  of  the  hard  soil, 
the  dirt  being  thrown  out  on  the  side  toward  the  enemy, 
forming  a  bank  rising  about  five  feet  from  the  surface,  and 
therefore  about  nine  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  trench. 
Here  now  are  our  boys,  the  few  that  are  left, — barely  twenty. 
Along  the  top  of  the  ridge  of  earth  logs  arc  placed,  into  the 
under  side  of  which  notches  are  cut  at  intervals  of  three  or 
four  feet,  leaving,  between  the  earth  below  and  the  timber 
above,  a  loop-hole  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter  for  the  men 
to  fire  through.  McG.  has  just  sprung  down  after  discharg- 
ing his  piece.  Before  he  loads  again  let  us  climb  up  and  take 
a  view  of  the  world  through  the  hole.  Carefully  !  Lay  your 
body  up  against  the  steeply-sloping  bank,  resting  your  feet 
on  the  edge  of  the  sap.  By  all  means  take  care  that  the  top 
of  your  head  does  not  project  above  the  narrow  timber.  Your 
face  is  at  the  hole  now.  From  the  outside  a  groove  runs 
along  the  top  of  the  thick  bank,  then  comes  the  open  air,  and 
opposite  you,  within  call  easily  enough,  is  the  deadly  ridge, — 
the  two  or  three  tents  behind  it,  the  old  ruinous  chimneys, 
the  one  or  two  shattered  buildings,  so  near  you  can  plainly 
see  threads,  and  bricks,  and  splinters.  Do  not  look  long. 
Every  yard  (perhaps  the  intervals  are  less)  behind  the  sand- 
bags there  is  a  rifleman.  Mellen,  of  Co.  F,  has  just  been 
shot  while  aiming  his  piece  through  one  of  these  holes.  The 
ball  entered  through  the  hole,  hit  the  band  of  his  gun,  then 
the  lock,  splintering  wood  and  steel,  then  crashed  in  through 
his  chest. 

"  You  duck  your  head  now  as  the  balls  whistle  over.  It  is 
a  marvelous  sound,  but  you  would  soon  get  over  that  here. 
They  go  with  a  hundred  different  sounds  through  the  air,  ac- 
cording to  the  shape,  size,  and  velocity  of  the  projectile.  Two 
strike  the  bank.  It  is  like  two  quick  blows  of  a  whiplash. 
That  went  overhead,  sharp  as  the  cut  of  a  cimeter ;  another 
goes  with  a  long  moan,  then  drops  into  the  earth  with  a  '  thud ! ' 
It  comes  from  some  more  distant  point,  and  is  nearly  spent. 
A  shot  comes  from  some  great  gun  in  the  rear, — an  earthquake 
report,  then  the  groaning,  shuddering  rush  of  the  shell,  as  if 
the  air  were  sick  and  tired  of  them  and  it  was  too  much  to  be 
borne  that  they  should  be  so  constantly  sent. 

"  But  let  us  go  out  to  the  end  of  the  sap.  We  pass  the 
young  captain  of  engineers  who  is  in  charge  here, — a  pleasant, 
active  young  fellow,  who  nods  back  to  us  as  we  give  him  the 
salute.  We  make  several  turns,  and  presently  are  at  the  end. 
Negroes  are  making  the  trench  here  wider.  We  push  through 
them  to  the  cotton-stuft'ed  hogshead  at  the  extremity.  They 
roll  this  forward  a  foot  or  two,  then  dig  out  behind  it,  and  so 
on.  A  lieutenant  of  engineers  and  a  negro  have  just  been  shot 
here.  From  this  crevice  we  can  get  a  peep.  Is  it  not  near? 
You  can  easily  throw  a  hard  tack  across.    Looking  back  on  to 


a  side-hill,  we  can  see  some  of  the  old  wreck  of  the  assault, — a 
rusty  gun  or  two,  muddy  equipments,  and  there  a  skeleton. 
Some  regiments  got  very  near  on  the  14th.  Close  by  runs  the 
little  disused  path,  among  weeds  and  wild-flowers,  along  which, 
before  we  came,  the  garrison  used  to  go  from  their  works  to 
the  road.  It  looks  innocent  as  the  path  up  Pocomtuc,  but 
what  a  way  of  death  it  would  be  to  him  who  should  go  out  of 
the  sap  and  try  to  walk  in  it  I  Our  boys  in  the  sap  have  dis- 
tinguished company.  Almost  every  day  Gen.  Banks  comes 
through, — sometimes  with  quite  a  retinue,  sometimes  only 
with  Gen.  Stone. 

"  '  Well,  boys,  how  do  you  stand  it?'  said  he  the  other  day 
to  our  men. 

"  '  Arrah,  now,  yer  honor,'  said  Pat  O'Toole,  '  we're  nearly 
dead  intirely  for  the  want  of  whisky.'  " 

One  more  extract,  and  we  close  the  sketch.  After  the  sur- 
render the  troops  visited  Port  Hudson  and  the  grounds  lying 
between  the  hostile  lines.  On  the  first  day  the  "  color-guard" 
visited  the  salient  in  front  of  where  the  ■52d  had  lain  for  twenty- 
five  days  breasting  the  fiery  storm  of  war.  In  speaking  of 
his  second  visit  to  another  portion  of  the  rebel  lines,  Mr. 
Hosmer  says : 

"The  'citadel'  at  the  southern  end  of  the  intrenchments 
was  the  goal  of  an  excursion  on  the  day  following.  It  was  a 
walk  of  a  mile  and  a  half.  Here  the  siege-operations  had 
been  of  greater  magnitude  than  at  our  approach.  The  eflfects 
of  the  enormous  artillery  of  the  fleet  appeared  as  they  could 
not  be  seen  elsewhere.  Here,  too,  the  rebels  had  placed  along 
the  bluft"  their  most  formidable  guns, — the  mouths  that  had 
spoken  so  thunderously  the  doom  of  the  '  Mississippi,'  stranded 
on  the  shore  opposite  there  that  night  in  March  when  we  lis- 
tened in  the  woods.  We  found  great  cavities  where  the  large 
bombs  had  exploded.  If  the  earth  was  soft,  it  is  not  ex- 
aggerating much  to  say  that  these  were  large  enough  for  cel- 
lars to  small  houses.  If  the  earth  was  hard,  they  were  large 
enough  to  make  rifle-pits  for  a  soldier.  We  came  to  smooth 
round  holes,  a  foot  or  so  in  diameter,  bored  down  into  the 
earth  out  of  sight.*  I  thought  at  first  they  were  ventilators 
to  S(mie  deep  bomb-proof  or  subterranean  passage  of  the  enemy, 
but  they  were  too  numerous  and  too  irregularly  disposed  for 
that.  They  were  made  by  descending  shot.  Presently  we 
found  some  projectiles, — gigantic  bolts  of  iron  two  feet  long 
and  eight  inches  thick,  and  cone-shaped  at  one  end.  We 
could  not  begin  to  lift  them,  nor  many  of  the  fragments  of 
the  exploded  shells. 

"  The  shells  were  the  missiles  whose  wonderful  flight  I  had 
watched  so  often,  alone,  at  midnight,  from  the  top  of  the  slope 
above  the  ravine  of  the  color-guard.  The  southern  horizon 
would  light  up  with  the  wide-spreading  glare  of  the  dis- 
charge ;  then  came  the  majestic  planetary  sweep  of  the  as- 
cending bomb,  revealed  by  its  revolving  fuse,  far  into  the 
zenith,  the  deep,  swinging  roar,  the  stern  music  of  the  rush- 
ing sphere ;  then  the  awful  fall  from  the  perihelion  of  its  tre- 
mendous orbit,  and  the  earthquake  crash  at  last.  In  such 
manner  once,  perhaps,  a  circling  world  with  fire-charged 
heart  burst  into  the  asteroids. 

"  As  we  approached  the  southern  defenses,  we  found  them  to 
be  evidently  of  older  construction  and  more  formidable  charac- 
ter than  those  we  had  before  seen.  The  citadel  was  an  outly- 
ing work  in  front  of  a  double  or  triple  line  of  parapets.  Less 
than  an  eighth  of  a  mile  opposite,  across  a  depression,  was  a 
seventeen-gun  battery  of  ours,  which  had  added  its  force  to 
that  of  the  fleet.  From  this  battery  toward  the  river  ran  a 
trench  perhaps  forty  rods  in  length.  Opening  from  the  trench, 
a  zigzag  sap  approached  the  citadel,  so  dug  that  troops  could 
come  up  to  its  walls  without  exposure.    The  approach  touched 


*  A  rebel  surge.m.  Dr.  Bnyd,  tjikeri  prisniier  iluriiif^  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
stated  that  he  had  Been  these  lioles  made  by  lieavy  shells  fium  the  mortar  fleet 
that  extended  into  the  ground  sixteen  feet  by  actual  measurement. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


161 


the  hostile  parapet,  and  ended  in  a  mine  which  was  nearly 
completed  at  the  time  of  the  surrender,  and  ran — a  deep,  re- 
sounding cavern — far  under  the  feet  of  the  defenders.  It  was 
designed,  by  means  of  this,  to  blow  this  whole  part  of  the  fort- 
ifications into  the  air. 

"The  clash  of  the  hostile  forces  here  had  been  tremendou.s. 
It  was  impossible  to  think  of  the  Northern  power  e.vcept  as  a 
terrible  fiery  tide,  which,  responding  to  some  tempest-breathing 
of  God,  had  hurled  itself  upon  this  outpost.  I  came  when  the 
storm  was  gone,  and  could  see  the  mark  of  the  sublime  impact. 
The  sea  had  torn  its  rugged  zigzag  way  through  the  bosom  fif 
the  hill  and  plain,  dashed  against  battlement  and  cliff,  and 
reared  at  the  bases  until  it  had  hollowed  out  for  itself  deep, 
penetrating  channels.  Everywhere  it  had  scattered  its  fiery 
spume.  Within  the  citadel  laj'  siege-guns  and  field-pieces 
broken  and  dented  by  blows  mightier  than  those  of  trip-ham- 
mers; wheels  torn  to  bits;  solid  oaken  beams  riven  as  by  light- 
ning ;  stubborn  parapets  dashed  through  almost  as  a  locomo- 
tive's plow  dashes  through  a  snow-drift, — these  and  the  bloody 
garments  of  men." 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

57TH   AND    61ST   REGIMENTS    ARTILLERY   AND 
CAVALRY. 

Quite  a  number  of  men  enlisted  in  these  regiments  from  the 
county  of  Ham]«Ien,  though  there  was  no  full  company  from 
the  county. 

The  57th  was  organized  at  Worcester  as  the  2d  Veteran 
Massachusetts  Volunteers,  in  the  autumn,  winter,  and  spring 
of  1803-64.  It  left  the  State  for  the  field  on  the  18th  of  April, 
18(54,  though  not  fully  organized,  and  with  one  company  (H) 
unarmed. 

The  regiment  arrived  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  on  the  20th  of 
April,  and. was  assigned  to  the  9th  Army  Corps.  It  crossed 
the  Rajiidan  on  the  -Jth  of  May,  and  at  once  became  engaged 
in  the  Wilderness  battles,  and  in  that  of  the  6th  sustained  a 
loss  of  251  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Among  the 
wounded  was  Col.  Bartlett.  Again,  in  the  action  of  the  24th, 
the  regiment  suftered  severely,  and  Lieut.-Col.  Chandler  was 
taken  prisoner. 

On  the  loth  of  .June  the  regiment  crossed  the  James  River, 
and  encamped  within  sight  of  Petersburg.  About  sunset  on 
the  17th  of  .June  the  3d  Division,  9th  Corps,  with  which  the 
57th  was  connected,  carried  the  rebel  works  with  the  bayonet. 
The  loss  was  5  otficers  and  41  men,  and  among  the  wounded 
of  the  57th  was  Capt.  J.  M.  Tucker. 

In  the  bloody  affair  known  as  the  action  of  the  "crater," 
on  the  30th  of  June,  the  regiment  was  in  the  assault  which 
followed  the  springing  of  the  mine  under  the  rebel  works. 
The  "crater"  was  occupied  by  the  o7th  and  other  regiments, 
and  the  men  were  so  crowded  as  to  be  incapable  of  acting  to 
advantage,  but  they  maintained  the  position  against  every  at- 
tempt of  the  enemy  to  regain  it  until  the  repulse  of  the  4th 
(colored)  Division  of  the  9th  Corps,  which  fell  back  upon  the 
troops  already  thronging  the  covered-way,  and  brought  on  the 
greatest  confusion.  A  terrible  charge  of  the  rebel  infantry 
followed,  and  the  affair,  which  promised  so  much  in  the  be- 
ginning, ended  in  disaster  and  defeat. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  action  the  .'37th  numbered  7 
olBcersand  91  enlisted  men,  of  whom  6  oflScers  and  45  men 
were  killed,  wounded,  or  captured,  and  the  national  standard 
of  the  regiment  was  lost  in  the  melee. 

Maj.  Prescott  and  Capts.  Howe  and  Dresser  were  killed, 
Lieuts.  Barton  and  Anderson  wounded,  and  Lieut.  Keed  miss- 
ing. The  remnant  of  the  regiment  was  left  in  command  of 
Lieut.  Albert  Doty. 

From  July  31st  to  August  18th  the  regiment  was  on  duty  in 
the  trenches,  and  in  that  period  lost  five  enlisted  men,  killed 
•i\ 


and  wounded.  On  the  19th  of  August  it  took  part  in  the 
operations  on  the  Weldon  Railway,  and  in  a  fight  of  an  hour's 
duration  lost  15  men  out  of  a  total  of  46,  or  33  per  cent. 

The  regiment  was  again  engaged  on  the  30th  of  October 
near  the  Pegram  House,  losing  several  men.  Lieut.-Col. 
Tucker  was  now  in  command.  It  was  engaged  in  the  move- 
ment against  the  South  Side  Railway,  and  again  on  the  Wel- 
don road  on  the  gth  and  12th  of  December. 

From  the  1st  of  January  to  the  25th  of  March,  1865,  it  was 
in  the  lines  before  Petersburg,  with  the  single  exception  of 
making  a  reconnoissance  on  the  Weldon  Railway  under  Gen. 
Warren. 

On  the  25th  of  March  the  57th  was  engaged  in  the  action 
with  the  rebel  Gen.  Gordon's  corps,  during  which  Sergt.-Maj. 
Pinkham  captured  the  colors  of  the  57th  North  Carolina  Regi- 
ment. 

On  the  .3d  of  April  the  regiment  entered  Petersburg,  and 
was  subsequently  engaged  in  picket  duty  on  the  roads  until 
toward  the  last  of  April,  when  it  proceeded  with  the  9th 
Corps  to  Washington,  where  it  remained  on  duty  in  and 
around  the  city  until  August,  when  it  was  sent  home  and  dis- 
charged at  Readville  on  the  9th  of  that  month.  The  59th  was 
consolidated  with  this  regiment,  June  20,  1865. 

The  services  performed  by  the  57th,  and  the  losses  and 
hardships  endured,  were  most  remarkable,  considering  the 
time  of  its  service.  Among  those  who  fell,  none  were  more 
sincerely  lamented  than  Maj.  .James  Dolierty,  who  was  mor- 
tally wounded  on  the  25th  of  March,  1865,  while  gallantly 
encouraging  his  men. 

The  61st  Regiment  was  organized  in  October  as  a  battalion 
of  five  companies  at  Galloupe's  Island,  Boston  Harbor.  On 
the  7th  of  October  it  embarked  for  the  field,  and  reached  City 
Point,  Va.,  on  the  12th,  where  it  was  immediately  assigned 
to  duty  with  Gen.  Benham's  engineer  brigade  in  erecting  forti- 
fications, where  it  continued  until  the  10th  of  November.  It 
was  then  advanced  toward  Prince  George's  Court-House,  on 
the  extreme  left  of  the  defenses  of  City  Point,  where  it  re- 
mained on  picket-duty  until  the  10th  of  December.  Here  the 
sixth  company  joined  the  battalion. 

Leaving  this  position,  the  brigade  was  moved  to  the  lines  to 
the  left  of  Fort  Sedgwick  (commonly  called  Fort  Hell),  which 
it  held  until  the  12th  of  December,  when  it  was  ordered  back 
to  its  old  camp  at  City  Point. 

This  regiment  was  engaged  in  the  desperate  fight  about  Fort 
Sedgwick  (Hell)  on  the  2d  of  April,  1865,  and  when  the  rebels 
forced  a  portion  of  the  9th  Corps  from  Fort  Mahone,  the  61st 
retook  the  work  in  a  furious  charge  with  the  bayonet,  losing 
35  men  in  the  encounter. 

The  regiment  was  honored  with  a  number  of  brevet  pro- 
motions for  gallant  conduct.  On  the  12th  of  April  it  was  sent 
in  charge  of  the  late  army  of  Gen.  Ewell  to  City  Point.  On 
the  1st  of  May  it  marched  for  Washington.  The  original 
companies  were  discharged  at  Readville,  June  17.  The  re- 
maining companies  were  mustered  out  on  the  1st  of  Augu.st. 

In  addition  to  those  alread\'  named,  there  were  man}-  men 
from  Hampden  County  in  other  organizations.  Cos.  A  and 
H,  of  the  8th  Infantry, — one  hundred  days'  men, — were  from 
Springfield,  and  Co.  H,  of  the  8th  Infantry, — nine  months' 
men, — was  partly  from  Springfield. 

ARTILLERY. 

Co.  I,  of  the  3d  Regiment  Heavy  Artillery,  was  mostly  re- 
cruited at  Springfield.  The  company  was  on  detached  service 
during  its  term  of  enlistment.  The  following  sketch  of  its 
services  is  from  the  report  of  Gen.  Michie,  chief-engineer  De- 
partment of  Virginia  : 

"Co.  I  was  ordered  to  report  to  Maj. -Gen.  Butler,  com- 
manding Department  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  It 
was  mostly  recruited  from  Springfield  Armory,  and  wa-s  com- 
posed of  as  fine  a  body  of  men  as  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  ser- 


162 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


vice  ;  and  1  may  add  here  that  their  after-conduct  more  than 
justified  the  expectations  then  formed. 

"  It  was  at  once  assigned  to  duty  with  Capt.  F.  U.  Farquhar, 
United  States  Corps  of  Engineers,  chief-engineer  of  the  De- 
partment, and  was  put  in  charge  of  the  pontoon-trains  of  this 
army.  Knowing  nothing  of  pontoon-drill,  the  officers  and  men 
applied  themselves  so  steadily  that  early  in  May  they  were 
excellent  pontoniers,  and  could  build  a  bridge  as  rapidly  and 
as  well  as  men  of  longer  experience. 

"Briefly,  it  has  since  built  two  bridges  across  the  Appo- 
mattox Kiver  and  taken  care  of  them.  These  bridges  con- 
nected the  armies  of  the  Potomac  and  the  James.  Kepaired, 
and  almost  re-made,  the  bridge-train  wagons  furnished  by  the 
government.  Built  two  pontoon-bridges  across  the  James, 
which  enabled  our  army  to  cross  and  advance  on  Chaffin's 
Farm,  Sept.  29,  1864.  Assisted  in  building  wharves,  perma- 
nent bridges,  and  road-ways.  Repaired  and  took  charge  of 
three  captured  and  burnt  saw-mills,  which  have  cut  nearly 
2,000,000  feet  of  lumber  since  October  last,  used  in  building 
hospitals,  bridges,  batteries,  and  magazines,  and  thereby  saved 
the  government  the  cost  of  that  quantity.  Had  charge  of  the 
pontoon-train  which  accompanied  the  Army  of  the  James  in 
its  rapid  march  against  Gen.  Lee,  and  built  the  pontoon- 
bridges  at  Farmville,  which  passed  over  the  artillery  and  trains 
of  two  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — 2d  and  6th — and 
enabled  them  to  follow  in  rapid  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Had 
charge  of  the  pontoon-bridges  across  the  James  River  at  Rich- 
mond, which  passed  over  safely  all  the  Army  of  the  James, 
Army  of  the  Potcmiac,  Sherman's  army,  and  Sheridan's  cav- 
alry, with  their  trains  and  artillery.  Furnished  the  assistance 
to  the  surveying-parties  engaged  in  mapping  the  rebel  lines 
and  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Richmond. 

"  This  company  has  merited  the  best  praise  and  commenda- 
tion that  a  commander  can  give  his  men.  They  have  always 
given  a  ready  and  willing  obedience  to  every  order,  are  good 
and  worthy  men,  and  are  now  ready  to  make  upright  citizens." 

The  1st,  2d,  and  3d  Regiments  of  heavy  artillery  contained 
more  or  less  men  from  Hampden  County,  and  the  30th  unat- 
tached company  of  the  same  arm  was  from  Springfield. 


The  3d  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Cavalrj'  had  one  com- 
pany (M)  mostly' from  Springfield  and  vicinity.  The  regi- 
ment was  recruited  and  organized  as  the  41st  Infantry  in 
1862,  and  saw  its  first  service  in  Louisiana  under  Gen.  Banks. 
Its  first  experience  under  fire  was  at  the  battle  of  Irish  Bend, 
in  the  Lafourche  country,  April  14,  1863. 

As  the  41st  Mounted  Rifles  the  regiment  formed  a  part  of 
the  force  which,  under  Col.  Chickering,  left  Barre  Landing 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1863,  and  conducted  an  immense  train 
of  army-wagons  and  contrabands  to  Berwick — a  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  five  miles — in  five  days.  On  the  25th,  when 
near  Franklin,  the  convoy  was  attacked  by  a  large  body  of 
the  enemy,  consisting  of  infantry  and  Texas  cavalry,  but 
they  were  easily  beaten  off. 


The  41st  was  reorganized  on  the  17th  of  June,  by  Special 
Orders  No.  144,  as  the  3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry.  During 
the  month  of  September  the  regiment  was  encamped  at  Port 
Hudson,  and  sufl'ered  severely  from  sickness.  During  the 
months  of  October  and  November  it  was  constantly  in  the 
saddle,  and  upon  one  occasion  a  detachment  was  fired  upon 
by  guerrillas,  who  killed  and  wounded  10  men  and  captured 
an  olficer  and  4  men. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment  was  assigned  to 
the  4th  Cavalry  Brigade,  and  made  ready  for  the  Red  River 
campaign.  At  Henderson  Hill  the  regiment  was  conspicuous 
in  the  engagement  of  March  21st,  in  which  a  Texas  battery 
and  the  2d  Louisiana  Infantry  were  captured.  At  the  battle 
of  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  3d  was  hotly 
engaged,  losing  73  men  and  157  horses. 

During  the  retreat  of  Banks'  army  the  3d  formed  the  rear- 
guard of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  corps  (19th),  and  was  constantly 
skirmishing  with  the  enemy  for  many  miles.  On  the  26th  of 
April  was  fought  the  action  of  Muddy  Run,  and  on  the  29th 
there  was  another  collision  with  the  celebrated  Quantrell's 
band.     In  these  encounters  the  3d  lost  a  number  of  men. 

From  the  9th  to  the  17th  of  May  the  regiment  was  skir- 
mishing daily,  and  in  the  battle  of  Tellow  Bayou,  on  the  17th, 
made  a  splendid  charge,  in  which  300  prisoners  were  captured, 
the  regiment  losing  14  men  and  39  horses. 

On  the  25th  of  June  the  regiment  was  dismounted  by  special 
orders,  armed  as  infantry,  and  ordered  to  report  to  Lieut. -Gen. 
Grant,  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

It  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  Gen.  Sheridan,  and  on 
the  10th  of  August  moved  with  his  army,  and  in  the  battle 
of  Opequan  made  a  gallant  charge,  driving  the  enemy  three 
miles,  and  losing  in  the  action  104  men.  It  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Fisher's  Hill  and  Cedar  Creek,  and  subsequently 
went  into  winter-quarters  at  Opequan  Creek,  where  it  re- 
mained until  Dec.  25th. 

Feb.  18,  1865,  after  performing  duty  as  infantry  for  six 
months,  the  regiment  was  reorganized,  and  thoroughly,  with 
new  arms,  horses,  colors,  and  equipments,  and  again  sent  to 
the  field  as  cavalry,  where  it  relieved  the  20th  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry  at  Duffield  Station,  Va. 

On  the  1st  of  March  the  regiment  reported  to  Maj.-Gen. 
Torbert,  chief  of  cavalry,  at  Winchester,  Va.  The  3d  took 
part  in  the  grand  review  at  Washington  in  May,  and  was 
subsequently  transferred  to  Nebraska.  The  regiment  was 
mustered,  out  of  service  at  Fort  Kearney,  Aug.  28,  1865. 
From  thence  it  returned  to  Massachusetts  ria  Chicago,  Detroit, 
and  the  Great  Western  Railway  of  Canada,  having  been  the 
only  regiment  that  entered  the  Dominion  during  the  war. 

On  the  8th  of  October  it  was  paid  off  and  finally  discharged 
from  service.  During  its  term  of  service  it  traversed  fifteen 
thousand  miles  of  territory  and  was  in  thirty  engagements, 
among  which  were  Irish  Bend,  Henderson  Hill,  Cane  River, 
Port  Hudson,  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  Muddy  Bayou,  Piney 
Woods,  Snag  Point,  Bayou  de  Glaze,  Yellow  Bayou,  Ope- 
quan Creek,  Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar  Creek. 


HISTORY 

OF 

HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY,  MASSACHUSETTS.' 


CHAPTER   I. 

CIVIL  ORGANIZATION. 

A  COMMITTEE  was  appointed  by  the  town  of  Springfield, 
Feb.  26,  lliH'2,  "  concerning  settling  the  towns  in  this  western 
portion  of  the  colony  into  the  form  of  a  county."  On  the  7th 
day  of  May  ensuing,  the  General  Court  passed  the  act  estab- 
lishing the  county  of  Hampshire. 

The  county  was  organized  with  very  indefinite  bounds,  and 
a  committee  was  soon  afterward  chosen  by  the  several  towns 
"  to  order  and  settle  y*  affaires  of  y'  county."  This  commit- 
tee consisted  of  Capt.  John  Pynchon,  Mr.  Henry  Clarke,  Capt. 
Aaron  Cooke,  Lieut.  David  Milton,  and  Klizur  Holyoke,  who 
reported  April  2,  1G(J3,  that  they  had 

"  Agreed  and  determined  y'  y°  Beginning  of  y"  yeare  for  y° 
Shire  meetings  of  this  County  shal  be  on  y'  first  day  of  March 
yearly  J  And  that  the  Shire  meetings  shal  be  each  other  yeare 
at  Springfield,  and  each  other  yeare  at  Northampton,  in  a  con- 
stant course.  And  all  our  Shire  meetings  this  yeare  to  be  at 
Northampton  ;  Springfield  having  had  them  last  yeere.  Also 
they  agreed  that  y"  Commissioner  chosen  in  March  yearely 
by  y°  Shire  Commissioner  to  carry  y'  votes  for  Nomination  of 
Magistrates  to  Boston,  shall  have  allowed  him  by  the  County 
thirty  shillings,  to  be  paid  by  the  County  Treasurer;  the  rest 
of  his  charges  he  is  to  beare  himself;  and  that  noe  one  man  be 
thereby  overburthened.  It  is  determined  that  there  be  a  change 
yearely  of  y'  person  to  carry  the  votes,  except  for  necessity  or 
conveniency  they  shall  see  cause  to  act  otherwise." 

The  county  of  Berkshire  was  set  oflf  from  Hampshire  in 
1701. 

The  county  of  Franklin  was  set  off  from  Hampshire  in  1811, 
and  the  county  of  Hampden  in  1812.  The  histories  of  these 
counties  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Joseph  Ly- 
man was  appointed,  Sept.  6,  1813,  ''a  commissioner  to  meet 
with  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  counties  of  Franklin 
and  Hampden  to  complete  and  adjust  the  equitable  share  of 
each  of  said  counties  in  the  moneys  and  credits  due  them  at  the 
time  of  the  division  of  the  old  county  of  Hampshire,  agree- 
ably to  an  act  of  the  General  Court,  passed  Feb.  27,  1813." 

The  following  addition  was  made  to  the  county  b\'  an  act 
approved  Mtiy  2.5,  18-53  : 

"Sect.  1.  So  muc}i  of  the  toWQS  of  Chester  and  Blandford,  io  the  county  of 
Hampden,  with  tlie  inhabitants  thereon,  as  lies  within  the  following^descrihed 
line  is  hereby  set  off  from  said  towns  of  Cliesler  and  Blandford,  and  annexed  to 
the  town  of  Norwich,!  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  made  a  part  of  said 
county  of  Hampshire,  to  wit;  Beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Norwich,  at 
a  stone  monument  in  the  river  at  Chester  Village,  and  running  thence  north  six 
degrees  and  four  minutes  east,  iu  the  line  between  Chester  and  Norwich,  six 
hundred  and  ninety  rods,  to  a  point  forty-four  rods  north  of  the  grist-mill  in  Nor^ 
wich,  known  as  tlie  Red  Mill ;  thence  soutli  fifty  degrees  forty-five  minutes  west, 
seven  hundred  and  eighty  rods,  to  a  point  in  the  line  between  Chester  and  Bland- 
ford; thence  south  forty-three  degrees  forty  minutes  east,  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-five  rods  and  thirteen  links,  to  the  angle  in  the  line  between  Blandford 
and  Russell,  designated  by  a  tree  knowu  as  '  Love  and  Unity  Tree ;'  tliencc  north, 


*  Prepared  by  Horace  Mack. 


t  Changed  to  Huntington. 


twenty-eight  degrees  forty-one  minutes  east  In  tlie  line  between  Blandford  and 
Montgomery,  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  rods,  to  the  corner  known  as  Rock- 
bouse  Corner;  thence  north  seventy  degrees  west,  in  the  line  between  BlandfortI 
and  Norwich,  two  hundred  and  forty  rods,  to  the  first-mentioned  bound." 

A  county  treasurer  was  first  chosen  in  1660.  William 
Pynchon,  the  first  treasurer,  held  the  ofiice  until  1681,  when 
Mr.  Peter  Tilton  succeeded,  and  served  until  1689.  Major 
John  Pynchon  followed  Mr.  Tilton.  The  next  treasurer 
whose  name  appears  on  the  records  as  such  was  William 
Pynchon,  1798. 

A  county  marshal  wa.s  appointed  by  the  court  in  1668. 
After  1692  the  office  of  sheriff  supplanted  that  of  marshal. 
"  The  second  Samuel  Porter  held  the  office  several  years,  and 
in  1696  executed  two  Indians  for  murder.  "J  The  records  do 
not  certainly  indicate  who  were  sheriffs  between  the  years 
1696  and  1781,  although  in  the  years  1771,  '72,  and  '73  Oliver 

Warner,  Wright,  and  William  and  Walter   Pynchon 

seem  to  have  attended  the  courts  in  such  capacity. 

Hampshire  County  contains  twenty-three  towns, — Amherst, 
Belchertown,  Chesterfield,  Cummington,  Easthampton,  En- 
field, Goshen,  Granby,  Greenwich,  Hadley,  Hatfield,  Hunt- 
ington, Middlefield,  Northampton,  Pelham,  Plainfield,  Pres- 
cott.  South  Hadley,  Southampton,  Ware,  Westhampton, 
Williamsburg,  and  Worthington. 

PRESENT   COUNTY    OFFICERS. 

State  Senator,  Hampshire  District,  John  Ii.  Otis;  Judge 
of  Probate  and  Insolvency,  William  G.  Bassett,  Easthamp- 
ton ;  Register  of  Probate  and  Insolvency,  Luke  Lyman, 
Northampton;  Sheriff,  Henry  A.  Longley ;  Clerk  of  the 
Courts,  William  P.  Strickland  ;  Treasurer,  Watson  L.  Smith; 
Register  of  Deeds,  Henry  P.  Billings  ;  County  Commissioners, 
Elisha  A.  Edwards,  Southampton,  term  expires  December, 
1879;  Elnathan  Graves,  Williamsburg,  term  expires  Decem- 
ber, 1880;  Flavel  Gaylord,  Amherst,  term  expires  December, 
1881 ;  Special  County  Commissioners,  Samuel  L.  Parsons, 
Northampton,  Charles  E.  Blood,  Ware,  whose  terms  expire 
December,  1880  ;  Trial-Justices,  Franklin  D.  Richards,  Ware; 
Edward  A.  Thomas,  Amherst ;  Garry  Munson,  Huntington  ; 
Charles  Richards,  Enfield  ;  Franklin  Dickinson,  Belchertown; 
Nathan  Morse,  South  Hadley ;  Albion  P.  Peck  and  Haynes 
H.  Chilson,  Northampton;  Francis  H.  Dawes,  Cummington; 
Lafayette  Clapp,  Easthampton. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    COURTS,    COUNTY    COMMISSIONERS,    AND 
COUNTY    BUILDINGS. 

The  colonial  courts  of  Massachusetts  were  established  at  an 
early  period,  and  in  September,  1639,  the  Legislature  ordered 
that  every  judgment  of  court,  "with  all  the  evidence,  be  re- 


X  See  Judd's  History  of  Hadley,  pp.  B5,  96. 


163 


IG-l 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


corded  in  a  took  to  be  kept  to  posterity,"  and  that  records  be 
"kept  of  wills,  administrations,  and  inventories;"  also  of 
marriages,  births,  and  deaths. 

The  Court  of  Assistants  was  established  by  the  charter  of 
1028,  and  remained  a  Superior  Court ;  while  county  courts 
were  formed  as  early  as  1042,  having  jurisdiction  in  cases  in- 
volving the  amount  of  forty  shillings  and  upward.  In  1642 
certain  actions  were  "triable  before  the  commi.ssioners  in  Bos- 
ton," and  actions  under  forty  shillings  before  such  court  or 
before  one  magistrate,  "or  the  three  commissioners  for  ending 
small  causes."  By  an  act  passed  in  1650  an  appeal  was  al- 
lowed from  any  inferior  court  to  the  Court  of  Assistants, 
whose  decision  was  final  except  in  some  special  cases.  By 
another  act,  in  1654,  the  Inferior  Court  was  allowed,  in  private 
suits,  to  state  the  question  to  be  decided  to  the  General  CoUrt, 
who  thus  determined  the  diflBcult  questions  arising. 

Town  magistrates  were  empowered,  by  acts  passed  in  1647 
and  subsequently,  to  hear  and  determine  all  causes  arising 
within  their  county  in  matters  of  debt  or  trespass  not  exceed- 
ing forty  shillings.  In  a  town  having  no  such  magistrate  the 
Court  of  Assistants  or  County  Court  might,  on  the  request  of 
the  town,  "appoint  three  of  the  freemen  as  commissioners  in 
such  cases." 

By  an  act  passed  in  1651  the  commissioners  in  Boston  were 
annually  chosen,  and  were  empowered  to  try  and  decide  causes 
under  ten  pounds,  with  one  magistrate,  who  resided  within 
the  town,  and  each  commissioner  was  made  a  judge  in  crimi- 
nal ca.ses  where  the  tine  did  not  exceed  forty  shillings  for  one 
offense  ;  but  an  appeal  lay  to  the  Court  of  A.ssistants. 

A  County  Cmirt  was  established  in  each  county,  to  be  held 
by  the  magistrates  living  in  it,  or  any  other  magistrates  that 
could  attend  the  same,  or  by  such  magistrates  as  the  General 
Court  should  appoint  from  time  to  time,  "together  with  such 
persons  of  worth,  where  there  shall  be  need,  as  shall  from  time 
to  time  be  appointed  by  the  General  Court."  This  court  had 
power  to  hear  and  determine  all  causes,  civil  and  criminal, 
not  extending  to  life,  member,  or  banisliment,  or  to  cases  of 
divorce.     Probate  matters  also  were  within  its  jurisdiction. 

May  28,  16511,  the  General  Court  enacted  as  follows : 
"In  iiiiswBr  to  llic  petition  of  tlie  inhabitants  of  Springfield,  it  is  ordered,  tliat 
Capt.  .lolin  Pindion,  Left.  Eliznr  Holyolle,  and  Ml-.  Samuel  Cliapin,  for  the  year 
ensuinK,  and  until  the  Courte  shall  take  fu'ther  orders,  shall  have  full  power 
and  authoiite  to  govcrne  the  inhahitaTits  of  Spiingfielil,  and  to  liearo  and  deter- 
mine all  cases  and  offences,  both  civil  and  criminall,  tllat  reacli  not  life,  limb,  or 
banishment,  according  to  the  laws  here  established  ;  provided  it  shall  and  may 
be  lawfull  for  any  party  to  appeale  to  the  Couit  of  Assistants  at  Boston,  so  as 
they  jirosecute  the  same  according  to  the  order  of  this  Courtc;  provided,  .also, 
that  thi'ire  trialls  may  be  by  the  oaths  of  six  men,  if  twelve  cannot  be  hiul  for 
that  service,  and  that  Northampton  be  refencd  to  Springfiehl  in  reference  to 
County  Courts,  w=l>  Courts  shall  be  kept,  one  on  the  hi^t  Tuesday  in  the  first 
month,  and  the  other  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  September,  yearly,  at  Springfield, 
nnlesso  the  commissioners  aforesaid  shall  see  just  cause  to  keepe  one  of  tlieni  at 
Northampton;  and  the  two  Ctiuits  to  be  kept  at  Springfield  or  at  Northamp- 
ton, as  aforesaid,  shall  iy  all  respects  have  the  power  and  privileges  of  any  County 
Court  till  this  Court  shall  see  cause  otherwise  to  determine ;  provided,  they  shall 
not  warne  above  fower  jurjnicu  fiom  Northampton  to  Spiingfield,  or  from 
Springfield  to  Northampton;  and  all  flues  as  well  as  entry  of  actions  shall  goe 
toward  the  defraycijig  of  chardgcs  of  Courts  ;  and  out  of  Cciurt  the  commission- 
ers, or  any  two  of  them  agreeing,  may  act  in  all  respects  as  any  one  miigistrate 
may  doc,  either  at  Springfield  or  Northampton ;  and  the  commission  graunted 
last  yearc  respecting  Northampton  is  hereby  repealed."* 

The  first  session  of  court  held  within  the  territory  of  the  old 
county  of  Hampshire  was  at  Springfield,  March  27,  1660,  by 
Capt.  John  Pynchon,  Mr.  Samuel  Chapin,  and  Elizur  Holyokc, 
in  the  capacity  of  commissioners.  The  jurors  present  were 
Thomas  Cooper,  George  Colton,  Benjamin  Cooley,  .Thomas 
Stebbins,  Jonathan  Burt,  John  Dumbleton,  Thomas  Gilbert, 
Benjamin  Parsons,  and  Samuel  Marshfield,  of  Springfield; 
Henry  Curtis,  Henry  Woodward,  and  Thomas  Bascomb,  of 
Northampton.  The  first  case  presented  was  one  for  breach  of 
agreement,  which  was  dismissed,  plaintiff  being  adjudged  to 
pay  ten  shillings  and  eightpence,  costs  of  court,  and  six  shil- 

•  Uase.  Records,  Vol.  IV.,  Pait  1,  page  379. 


lings  and  eightpence  for  defendant's  "journey  from  North- 
ampton." The  second  case  was  that  of  Nathaniel  Clark,  son 
of  William  Clark,  of  Northampton,  against  Edward  Elmer, 
for  "slander  in  calling  said  Nathaniel  Theife,  to  the  damage 
of  five  pounds."  Judgment,  four  pounds  for  plaintifi"  and 
costs  of  court. 

The  county  courts  were  held  alternately  at  Springfield  and 
Northampton,f  the  first  at  the  latter  place  being  on  the  26th 
of  March,  1661,  when  there  "  were  sent"  to  hold  the  same  Mr. 
John  Webster,  Capt.  John  Pynchon,  and  Elizur  Holyoke, 
commissioners.  At  the  second  court,  held  at  Springfield,  Sejjt. 
25,  l(i60,  Elizur  Holyoke  was  "appointed  recorderer  f<jr  this 
Court  and  Count}'." 

The  following  order  of  the  court,  made  Jan.  28,  1665,  illus- 
trates the  condition  of  court  affairs  in  the  early  times : 

"  This  Corte  doth  determine  that  the  reasonable  charges  of  y«  horses  of  the 

Judges  or  Commissioners  &  .lurymen  that  travel!  to  the  Oirtes  at  Noithampton 
and  Springfield  shal  be  satisfyed  by  the  County  Treasurer.  This  in  reference  to 
y«  Towns  now  in  being  in  y  CVmnty,  &  not  for  such  Townes  as  may  hereafter  be 
nearer.  By  reasonable  charges  for  liorses  mentioned  in  this  lU-dcr  the  Corte  d(^ 
clarcd  to  be  meant  &  intended  only  pasture  or  hay  according  to  ye  season;  and 
by  travelling  to  intend  only  such  as  travell  from  Springfield  to  Northampton,  & 
from  Northampton  and  Hadlcy  to  Springfield." 

The  first  record  of  a  Court  of  Assistants  occurs  under  date 
of  Sept.  26,  1665.  This  court  was  held  by  Capt.  .lohn  Pyn- 
chon, one  of  his  Majesty's  assistants,  and  Lieut.  William 
Clark,  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  and  Mr.  Peter  Tilton,  associates. 
The  last-named  became  assistant,  by  appointment,  May  27, 
1685.  Capt.  Pynchon  and  Mr.  Tilton  "  presided  in  the  county 
courts,  and  were  members  of  the  house  of  magistrates,  at 
Boston,  and  judges  of  the  Courts  of  Assistants." 

By  the  second  volume  of  court  records,  it  appears  that  the 
last  act  of  the  original  county  court  was  at  a  meeting  of  the 
worshipful  3Iaj.  Pynchon  and  the  worshipful  Peter  Tilton, 
Esquires,  at  Springfield,  when  two  wills  were  admitted  to 
probate. 

From  the  opening  of  the  courts  in  Hampshire  until  1692, 
the  records  were  kept  in  the  same  volumes  J  with  the  registry 
of  wills  and  probate  proceedings,  and,  until  1077,  by  one 
clerk,  who  followed  the  court  in  its  perambulations  between 
the  two  places.  In  that  year  the  court  at  Springfield  ordered 
as  follows : 

"  This  court,  considering  the  remoteness  of  the  places  one  from  the  other 
where  the  County  Couits  are  kept,  and  the  trouble  and  the  hazard  in  carrj'ing 
and  conveying  the  records  from  place  to  place,  besides  the  inconveniencys  and 
the  charge  to  the  people  in  going  for  to  search  any  records,  {is  <iccasion  may  be. 
Do  therefore  judge  meet  to  have  the  records  kept  henceforward  in  or  near 
each  town  where  the  courts  are  kept,  that  there  may  be  double  records  for  the 
greater  security,  for  which  end  it  is  couclnded  to  have  two  clerks,  or  recorders, 
for  this  county;  Samuel  Pal-trigg  being  already  stated,  he  is  henceforward  to 
attend  at  Northampton  couri,  and  to  keep  and  record  all  matters  that  respect  y* 
pai-t  of  the  county  thereabout**;  and  this  court  doth  now  appoint  Mr.  John 
Holyoke  also  a  Clerke  of  the  Courts,  who  is  to  attend  at  Springfield  Ciiults,  and 
is  to  record  deeds  for  liands,  etc.,  and  whatever  respetts  this  pai  t  of  the  county 
herealiouts ;  each  clerk  to  attend  y^  respective  coui  ts  in  their  several  stations, 
and  some  shoi  t  time  after  the  end  of  every  court,  .as  soon  as  they  have  fairly 
recorded  y  acts  (,f  tlie  court  mit  of  their  day-Iwiok  or  waste-booke,  which  they 
are  speedily  to  do,  and  then  to  transmit  the  day-book  to  the  other  clerk,  who  is 
likewise  to  record  as  fair  in  his  book,  &  then  return  y^  day-ljook  or  wa-ste-book  ; 
&  this  each  of  them  to  attend  from  time  to  time." 

PROVINCIAL    COURTS. 

Provincial  courts  were  established  under  the  charter  of 
William  and  Mary,  of  1691.  The  provincial  Legislature  was 
empowered  by  this  charter  "  to  erect  and  constitute  judicato- 
ries, and  courts  of  record  or  other  courts,"  to  be  held  in 
the  name  of  the  King.  By  the  same  charter  the  governor  for 
the  time  being,  with  the  council  or  assistants,  had  power  to 
"  do,  execute,  and  perform  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  probate 

t  The  courts  were  held,  till  the  erection  of  a  court-house,  at  the  house  of  some 
innholder,— in  those  days  called  an  ordinai-y.  The  first  in  Northampton  were  held 
at  the  house  of  Henry  Woodward,  who  kept  an  ordinary  near  where  the  Smith 
College  now  stands. 

X  There  aret\v,t  such  volumes, — the  first  in  the  office  of  the  register  of  protiate, 
the  second  in  that  of  the  clerk  of  the  courts. 


HISTORY   OF    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY'. 


1G5 


of  wills,  and  granting  administrations  for,  touching,  or  con- 
cerning, any  interests  or  estates  which  any  person  or  persons 
shall  have  within  our  said  province  or  territory." 

In  1092  the  "  Superior  Court  of  judicature  over  the  whole 
province"  was  instituted,  to  be  held  by  "  one  chief-justice  and 
four  other  justices,"  three  of  them  to  be  a  quorum.  This 
court  had  power  in  civil  cases,  and  was  also  a  court  of  assize 
and  general  jail  delivery.  A  further  act,  pas.sed  in  1G90, 
added  to  the  powers  of  this  court,  authorizing  it  to  take  cog- 
nizance "  of  all  other  matters,  as  fully  and  amply,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  whatsoever,  as  the  Courts  of  King's  Bench, 
Common  Pleas,  and  Exchequer,  within  his  Majesty's  kingdom 
of  England  could  do." 

By  the  acts  of  Ifl'.ll'  and  1609  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common 
Picas  was  established  in  each  county,  to  be  held  by  four  jus- 
tices duly  appointed  and  commissioned,  three  of  whom  should 
form  a  quorum.  Their  powers  extended  to  all  civil  actit>ns 
arising  or  happening  within  the  county  triable  at  the  common 
law,  and  upon  judgment  to  award  execution. 

By  the  same  acts  there  was  established  a  Court  of  General 
Sessions  of  the  Peace,  to  be  held  in  each  county  four  times 
each  year,  empowered  "  to  hear  and  determine  all  matters  re- 
lating to  the  conservation  of  the  peace  and  punishment  of 
offenders,  and  whatever  is  by  them  cognizable  according  to 
law."  By  the  later  act,  1699,  the  defendant  was  allowed  his 
appeal  to  the  next  Court  of  Assize.  This  court  was  held  at  the 
same  time  and  place  with  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

The  first  record  of  any  court  held  under  the  laws  of  the 
province  is  that  of  a  "General  Sessions  of  the  Peace,  County 
Court,  and  Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas,"  held  July  2.">, 
1692.     The  record  reads  ; 

"  At  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace,  held  at ,  in  West  Hampshire,  in  y" 

Majesty's  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  being  the  tiret  sesisions 
after  that  his  E.vcellency  S'  William  Phips,  Knight,  tooke  the  Guvernnietif, — 
present,  John  Pynchon,  Sam'  Partrigg.  Aaron  Cooke,  Joseph  Ilawley,  Esq.  The 
Commission  for  their  Majesties' Justices  of  the  Peace  for  said  Hampshire,  in  their 
Majesties'  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  for  the  conserva- 
tion of  t!ie  Peace,  and  for  the  quiet  Rule  and  Government  of  the  people  of  said 
County,  waa  firstly  read,  htiprijiiui,  it  w.ts  ordered  tliat  constJihles,  tithitig-men, 
or  other  officers,  according  to  their  respective  times  and  places  chosen  and  sworn, 
shall  stand  and  continue  their  i-espective  ycer  by  and  according  to  s''  choices  and 
oathes,  and  to  officiate  accordingly." 

Having  thus  established  the  civil  government  on  a  firm 
footing,  the  court  decreed  that  "  Capt.  Samuel  Partrigg  hath 
license  to  retaile  strong  drinke. " 

There  is  a  gap  in  the  records  of  this  court  from  June  5, 
1694,  until  March  7,  1727,  when  it  again  appears  as  an  "  Infe- 
rior Court  of  Common  Pleas,"  with  Samuel  Partrigg,  John 
Stoddard,  John  Ashley,  and  Henry  Uwight,  Esquires,  pre- 
siding. The  last  session  of  this  court  prior  to  the  Revolution 
was  held  May  17,  ^774,  at  which  sat  Israel  Williams,  Oliver 
Partridge,  Timothy  Dwight,  and  Thomas  Williamson,  jus- 
tices. After  an  intermission  of  four  years  this  court  was 
again  organized  by  the  General  Court,  which  appointed  Es- 
quires Timothy  Danielson,  Eleazer  Porter,  John  Bliss,  Samuel 
Mather,  Jr.,  to  be  justices  thereof,  who  made  Robert  Breck 
clerk',  and  held  their  first  session  Aug.  2.5,  1778. 

The  province  courts  were  superseded  by  those  of  the  com- 
monwealth in  1782. 

COMMONWEALTH    COUBT.S. 

The  courts  of  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  were 
established  by  act  of  July  3,  1782.  These  were  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court,  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  Court  of 
General  Sessions  of  the  Peace. 

The  judges  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  by  that  act,  were 
to  "hold  their  offices  as  long  as  they  behave  themselves  well," 
and  to  have  honorable  salaries,  ascertained  and  established  by 
standing  laws.  This  court  was  to  consist  of  one  chief  and 
four  other  justices,  any  three  of  whom  constituted  a  lawful 
tribunal.  It  was  given  jurisdiction  in  civil  and  criminal 
causes  and  in  various  other  matters,  and  was  constituted  the 


"Supreme  Court  of  Probate,"  with  ajipellate  jurisdiction  in 
nearly  all  probate  matters. 

A  Court  of  Common  Pleas  established  by  the  same  act  for 
each  county  was  similar  to  the  provincial  court  of  that 
name,  and  was  superseded  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  by  act  of  June  21,  1811  ;  which  act  divided  the  State 
into  six  circuits,  exclusive  of  Dukes  and  Nantucket  Counties. 
This  court  was  abolished  in  1821,  and  a  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  throughout  the  State  established,  consisting  of  four 
judges,  one  judge  empowered  to  hold  a  court.  The  powers 
and  duties  of  the  latter  court  were  substantially  those  of  the 
Circuit  Courts. 

The  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  established  by 
the  act  of  1782  for  each  county  was  held  by  the  justices  <if 
peace  therein,  and  determined  matters  relating  to  the  con- 
servation of  the  peace  and  the  punishment  of  offenses  cogni- 
zable by  them  at  common  law.  After  several  changes  and 
modifications  its  powers  and  duties  were  transferred  to  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  before  described. 

The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  finally  abolished  in  1859. 

PROBATE    f'OURT.S. 

In  1689,  as  previously  stated,  the  Legislature  ordered  that 
records  be  kept  of  "  wills,  administrations,  and  inventories." 
On  page  (!  of  tlic  first  volume  of  court  records  is  the  first  will 
that  was  admitted  to  probate,  as  follows : 

"  Tlie  will  and  te.'ttament  of  John  Hamian,  of  Sp'gfld,  deceased,  who  died  the 
Ttli  d;iy  of  March,  1660-1661.  Know  all  whom  this  may  concerne,  that  John 
Ilai  man,  of  Springfield,  being  sick  <fe  weake  in  body,  but  of  ready  memory  & 
understanding,  being  requested  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1660-1661,  to  settle 
his  worldly  estate,  did  refuse  to  dispose  of  any  thing  l)ertickerlarly,  but  said 
he  would  leave  all  tliat  he  had  unto  his  wives  hand  ;  for  he  said  shee  is  a  ten- 
der Mother,  &  therefore  Shee  should  have  the  dispose  of  all.  This  wax  spoken 
by  the  said  John  Hernulu  the  day  above  mentioned,  beingo  two  dayes  before  his 
deatii.    Witnesses  whereunto  were  the  mark  of 

"  Elizur  IIolyoke  &  John  X  LcMBAnn. 

"  Recorded  May  13,  1661." 

By  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  "judges  of  probate 
of  wills,  and  for  granting  letters  of  administration,"  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  are  appointed  and 
commissioned  by  the  Governor.  By  the  act  of  March  12, 
1784,  probate  courts  were  established,  and  their  powers  and 
duties  prescribed. 

When  the  provincial  courts  were  established,  in  1792,  the 
Court  of  Probate  was  separated  from  the  others, — at  least,  in 
Hampshire  County.  From  that  time  until  June,  18.58,  the 
officers  of  this  court  were  a  judge  of  probate  and  a  register  of 
probate.  At  the  latter  date  the  Court  of  Insolvency  was 
placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  these  officers,  who  have  since 
been  denominated  respectively  "Judge  of  Probate  and  In- 
solvency" and  "  Register  of  Probate  and  Insolvency." 

The  Court  of  Insolvency  was  established  in  1856,  supersed- 
ing the  commissioners  of  insolvency,  who  had  previously  the 
charge  of  insolvent  matters.  Horace  I.  Hodges  was  appointed 
judge  of  insolvency  in  June  of  the  year  named,  and  R.  B. 
Hubbard  register.  The  latter  served  until  January,  1857, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Luke  Lyman,  who  was  chosen  in  the 
fall  of  1856,  the  office  having  been  made  elective.  The  duties 
of  these  officers  ceased  when  the  courts  were  united  as  above 
named  in  1858. 

FIRST    coroner's   INQUEST. 

The  first  coroner's  inquest  within  the  old  county  of  Hamp- 
shire was  held  on  the  7th  of  April,  1660.  The  jurors  present 
were  Thomas  Cooper,  William  Branch,  William  Warriner, 
Thomas  Stebbins,  Thomas  Noble,  John  Stewart,  Samuel 
Marshfield,  Henry  Burt,  Benjamin  Par.sons,  Abel  Wright, 
Richard  Sikes,  and  John  Clark.  The  following  is  from  the 
record  of  the  inquest : 

"Tills  day  the  y^oungest  child  of  John  Harmon,of  Springfield,  called  Ebenezer, 
of  about  three  years  of  age,  was  found  dead  in  the  brooke  in  Nathaniel  Pritch- 
ard's  yard ;  concerning  whose  death  there  was  search  and  inquiry  made  by  a  jury 
of  twelve  men  of  this  Towne  of  Springfield  how  the  said  child  came  to  its  end. 


166 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"  The  jury's  returne  upon  oath  before  Samuell  Chapin  &  Elizur  Holyoke,  com- 
iniS8ionel-B,  was  that  accordinge  to  their  best  liglit  that  they  could  have  iu  the 
case  they  judge  that  the  child  was  drowned  iu  the  brooke  through  its  own  weak- 
ness and  inibecillity,  without  the  hand  of  any  other  peraon  being  any  occasion  or 
cause  thereof." 

COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

A  board  of  county  commissioners  was  established  by  act 
of  the  General  Court,  Feb.  25,  1828.  The  powers  and  duties 
of  the  Court  of  Sessions  and  of  commissioners  of  highways 
were  transferred  to  the  board  of  commissioners.  The  board 
consists  of  three  members,  one  of  whom  is  chosen  annually 
for  a  term  of  three  years.  Two  special  commissioners  are 
elected,  each  at  the  same  time,  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

The  commissioners  have  the  care  of  county  property,  and 
are  empowered,  among  other  things,  to  estimate  and  apportion 
county  taxes,  erect  and  repair  county  buildings,  lay  out  high- 
ways, license  ferries  and  inn-holders,  appoint  overseers  of  the 
house  of  correction,  and  establish  rules  for  its  government. 

The  special  commissioners  are  called  to  act  in  cases  of  va- 
cancy in  the  board,  or  where  the  commissioners  are  interested 
parties. 

Hon.  Levi  Lyman,  Hon.  Charles  P.  Phelps,  and  Alvan 
Rice  were  the  first  county  commissioners,  and  Ithamar 
C'onkey*  the  first  special  county  commissioner. 

COUNTY   BUILDINGS — COURT-HOUSES. 

In  165.5  a  committee  of  five  persons  was  appointed  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Northampton  "  to  build  a  house 
for  the  town  of  sawen  timber."  It  is  probable  that  this  build- 
ing was  used  to  accommodate  the  courts,  which  were  first  held 
in  Northampton  in  1661,  and  was,  in  fact,  the  "first  court- 
house," which  is  described  as  having  been  situated  "  near  the 
intersection  of  Main  and  King  Streets." 

March  6,  1738,  the  inhabitants  of  Northampton  voted  to 
build  a  "Town-House"  the  summer  following,  and  chose  a 
committee  to  present  the  matter  to  the  Court  of  General  Ses- 
sions of  the  Peace,  "to  see  what  they  will  order  toward  de- 
fraying the  charges  of  building  the  Town-House."  The 
materials  of  the  old  meeting-house,  so  far  as  suitable,  were  to 
be  employed  in  the  proposed  building. 

This,  the  second  court-house,  was  situated  "  near  the  east 
end  of  the  green,  fronting  Shop  Row."f  When  it  was  built,  or 
by  whom,  are  matters  unrevealed  ;  but  it  was  occupied  by  the 
courts  until  the  erection  of  its  successor  in  1813.  The  com- 
mittee having  the  new  edifice  in  charge  were  authorized  to 
dispose  of  the  old  court-house,  and  it  was  finally  sold  to  Isaac 
Damon,  the  contractor,  at  "the  appraisement  of  men."  At 
the  court  held  in  Januarj-,  1814,  it  was  ordered  "  that  the  old 
court-house  be  removed  from  the  county  ground  within  fif- 
teen days  from  the  18th  day  of  January."  It  was  removed 
to  the  rear  of  the  present  Granite  Kow,  where  it  was  occupied 
for  a  time  as  a  vinegar-factory,  and  finally  to  Market  Street, 
where  it  now  stands  (1879),  the  property  of  Erastus  Slate. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  third  court-house  was  laid  in  due 
form  by  the  otficers  and  members  of  Jerusalem  Lodge,  Juno 
24,  1813.  An  address  was  delivered  upon  the  occasion.  In 
the  "  foundation-stone  of  the  northeast  corner"  were  deposited 
sundry  silver  and  copper  coins  of  our  own  and  foreign  coun- 
tries, both  ancient  and  modern.  The  oldest  coin  was  of  the 
reign  of  Canute,  King  of  England.  "  The  cavity  was  filled 
with  melted  lead,  over  which  was  placed  a  plate  of  lead  having 
the  following  engraved  thereon:  'June  24,  a.l.  5813,  was 
laid  the  foundation-stone  hereof, — the  superstructure  designed 

*  Who  was  the  other  cummissioner  for  1828  does  not  appear. 

f  A  correspondent  of  the  Hampshire  Gazeile,  "D.  T.,"  June  1,  1869,  says:  "The 
church,  court-house,  and  school-Iiouse  were  on  a  lino.  The  school-house  stood 
on  the  flat,  iti  front  of  the  two  elms  that  now  stand  there,  and  the  two  firet-nanied 
buildings  on  the  hill."  .Vnother  cuncspondtMit,  .Iiine  15,  says :  "  Tlie  court-house 
stood  nearer  the  street  than  the  church,  doore  at  the  west,  with  a  bank  wall  of 
stone,  topped  by  a  round  log  or  logs,  unheweil,  running  from  the  southwest  cor- 
ner, in  a  diagonal  direction,  toward  the  street,  making  a  rather  crooked  jiath  up 
to  the  court-house." 


for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  public  records  and  dedicated  to  Jus- 
tice. Daniel  Stebbins,  P.  D.  D.  G.  M.  Isaac  Damon,  archi- 
tect.' "  This  stone  at  the  date  of  building  was  about  three 
feet  below  the  hewn  stone  at  the  northeast  corner. 

The  first  steps  toward  the  erection  of  the  third  building 
were  taken  in  August,  1810,  when  a  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  William  Ely,  Jonathan 
Smith,  Jr.,  Sylvester  Judd,  A.sa  Stebbins,  Richard  E.  New- 
comb,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Oliver  Smith,  who  reported,  Jan.  11th  fol- 
lowing, that  a court-hou.se  ought  to  be  erected  "on  the  county 
land  near  where  the  present  court-house  now  stands,  and  that 
it  be  built  with  bricks,  sixty  by  fifty  feet,  with  twenty-eight  feet 
walls  :  the  court-room  to  be  on  the  upper  floor,  and  clerk's 
oifice  and  jury-rooms  on  the  lower  floor."  The  cost  was  esti- 
mated at  six  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  dollars 
and  eighty  cents.  There  was  no  progress  made  until  Decem- 
ber, 1812,  when  a  contract  was  made  with  Isaac  Damon  for 
the  proposed  work,  a  new  estimate  and  proposals  having 
meantime  been  submitted. 

This  ediflce  was  occupied  by  the  courts  and  county  offices 
until  November,  1822,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  which 
originated  in  the  space  above  the  court-room,  under  the  roof. 
The  fire  was  discovered  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  during 
a  session  of  the  court,  and  defied  all  eflbrts  to  extinguish  it. 
"The  interiors  of  the  fire-proof  rooms  were  not  atfected  by  the 
flame,"  but  their  contents  were  removed.  J 

Feb.  27,  1823,  a  contract  was  made  with  Capt.  Damon,  the 
builder  before  mentioned,  for  "  rebuilding  the  fire-proof  offices 
required  by  law,  connected  with  the  court-rooms  and  jury- 
rooms."  After  some  time  considering  the  question  of  location, 
it  was  ordered,  April  9th,  that  the  "southeasterly  corner  be  the 
same  as  that  of  the  late  court-house,  and  to  extend  northwest- 
erly on  a  line  of  the  old  foundation,  sixty-eight  feet,  the  north- 
easterly corner  thereof  to  be  five  feet  farther  toward  the 
northeast  than  the  former  court-house,  and  the  line  of  the  front 
end  be  the  same  as  the  front  line  of  that  house."  Hon.  Jona- 
than H.  Lyman  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  rebuilding. 
Oliver  W^arner's  hall  was  used  for  sessions  of  the  court  during 
the  interval  of  building. 

This,  the  present  court-house,  has  been  several  times  changed 
in  its  interior  arrangement,  the  last  alteration  being  made  in 
1858,  when  an  office  was  prepared  for  the  register  of  deeds. 
Besides  this  office  it  now  contains  on  the  ground-floor  an  office 
for  the  clerk  of  the  courts,  in  which  are  the  court  records  and 
the  Hampshire  Law  Library,  and  an  office  for  the  register  of 
probate,  and  a  jury-room.  The  court-room  is  in  the  former 
building,  and  occupies  the  upper  floor. 

HOUSES   OF    CORRECTION    AND   JAILS. 

A  little  more  than  one  year  before  the  erection  of  the  county 
the  first  steps  were  taken  toward  providing  a  house  of  correc- 
tion. March  26,  1061,  Mr.  Pynchon,  "  the  county  treasurer," 
having  a  balance  of  <£13  10s.  in  his  hands,  the  court  ordered 
that  said  sum  should  be  "  allowed  and  improved  to  the  build- 
inge  of  a  house  of  Correction  in  Springfield,  which  buildinge 
the  said  Mr.  Pynchon  is  appoynted  to  take  care  of,  that  it  be 
carried  on  to  effect."  Sept.  30,  1662,  the  court  ordered  a  rate 
levied  upon  the  three  towns  in  "  reference  to  charges  concern- 
ing ye  house  of  Correction  and  other  occurrences."  Jan.  17, 
1665,  Nathaniel  Ely  was  authorized  to  finish  "  said  house  with 
all  possible  speed  to  compleat  it  for  y'  service  to  which  it  is 
appoynted."  Sept.  24,  1667,  the  court  authorized  Capt.  Pyn- 
chon and  Elizur  Holyoke  to  agree  with  a  master  to  keep  the 
house,  and  to  "engage,  if  they  see  cause,  that  he  shall  have 
five  pounds  per  annum  paid  unto  him  by  this  county." 

The  building  was  completed  in  1658 ;  was  forty  feet  in  length, 
and  constructed  mainly  of  hand-sawed  boards,  plank,  and  tim- 
ber.   Accommodations  for  the  keeper  were  provided  under  the 

I  Yiie  Hampshire  Gazetie,  Nov.  Zl,  1822. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


167 


same  roof.  The  prison  was  burned  by  the  Indians  in  1075, 
and  a  new  one  built  in  1G77-80,  at  a  cost  of  about  sixty  pounds. 
Simon  Lobdell  was  the  first  keeper,  in  1G68. 

The  first  prison  built  at  Northampton  was  erected  in  1704 ; 
it  was  twenty-four  by  sixteen  feet  in  size,  "besides  the  chim- 
ney," and  had  a  small  dwelling  at  one  end  for  the  keeper.  It 
stood  near  where  the  present  town-hall  is  situated. 

Between  1783  and  1794,  Stephen  Burroughs  was  convicted 
upon  the  charge  of  passing  counterfeit  coin,  with  knowledge, 
and  was  confined  in  the  jail  at  Springfield.  Owing  to  the 
supposed  insecurity  of  that  edifice  as  a  place  of  confinement 
for  the  illustrious  prisoner,  he  was  removed  to  Northampton 
jail.  "  About  sunset,"  he  says,  "  we  arrived  at  Northampton, 
and  were  consigned  to  the  abodes  of  misery.  The  ponderous 
doors  growled  on  their  reluctant  hinges.  The  rattling  of 
bolts,  bars,  and  locks,  reverberating  through  the  hollow  apart- 
ments of  the  dreary  abode,  made  such  an  impression  on  my 
mind  that  with  difficult}'  I  supported  myself  under  this  situa- 
tion. The  appearance  of  the  Cerberus  of  these  infernal  abodes 
was  equal  to  every  poetic  description  of  the  janitor  of  hell. 
'  Hail,  ye  infernal  powers,'  said  I,  'who  inhabit  these  regions  I 
Assemble  your  forces,  gather  your  strength,  and  keep  high 
carnival  to-day,  in  consideration  of  those  victims  which  have 
now  fallen  a  sacrifice  at  your  shrine!'  I  was  confined  in  a 
room  on  the  ground-floor,  alone  and  shut  out  from  the  possi- 
bility of  seeing  any  company." 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Rood  was  soon  after  placed  in  the 
same  cell,  charged  with  having,  by  mistake,  "taken  some 
cattle  not  his  own."  The  two  were  later  joined  by  another, 
named  Hutchins,  alias  Warner,  who  was  charged  with  passing 
counterfeit  bank-bills.  Burroughs  planned  an  escape,  the 
story  of  which  he  tells  as  follows : 

"  Notwithstanding  the  assistance  of  Kood  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected, Warner  and  I  were  determined  to  make  the  attempt 
immediately  after  the  approach  of  night,  as  that  was  the  only 
time  in  which  we  could  work  without  an  immediate  detection. 
Therefore,  after  the  time  of  retirement,  we  pulled  otf  our  coats 
and  went  to  work  with  a  great  degree  of  energy  upon  the  stone 
in  the  chimney  ;  we  soon  filled  our  room  with  stones  and  rub- 
bish." In  this  situation  we  experienced  great  inconvenience 
for  want  of  light,  being  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  pine  slivers 
peeled  otf  from  a  board,  which  kept  one  hand  constantly  em- 
ployed in  feeding  the  blaze  lest  it  should  bo  extinguished,  which 
would  at  once  defeat  all  our  purposes.  As  1  was  the  strongest 
of  the  two,  I  kept  Warner  feeding  the  light,  whilst  I  labored 
like  Sisyphus  in  rolling  huge  stones  out  of  the  chimney-way. 
Happy  should  I  have  thought  myself  at  that  time  if,  Hercules- 
like, I  could  have  turned  the  course  of  some  mighty  river  under 
the  jail,  to  have  assisted  me  with  its  force  to  sweep  away  those 
huge  rocks.  I  labored  and  toiled  without  intermission  till  about 
midnight,  when,  coming  to  a  rock  I  could  hot  po.ssibly  get  out 
of  the  hole,  I  for  a  moment  despaired  of  success,  after  strain- 
ing with  all  my  might  a  number  of  times  to  no  effect.  Kood, 
seeing  the  situation  in  which  matters  stood,  jumped  out  of  bed 
and  helped  to  lift  the  stone  from  its  place,  and  then  returned 
again  into  bed.  I  again  renewed  my  labor,  and  had  overcome 
the  greatest  part  of  the  difficulties  before  us  when  the  light 
became  extinct  for  want  of  fuel,  the  board  being  all  consumed. 
1  tried  to  pursue  the  business  in  the  dark,  but  found  it  in  vain, 
and  therefore  was  obliged  to  quit  our  undertaking.  How  much 
would  I  now  have  given  for  a  farthing  candle !  but  wishes 
were  as  vain  as  our  expectations  were  unfounded." 

Toward  morning  the  attempt  was  renewed,  without  success : 
"  The  jailer  came  into  the  room,  and  what  was  the  scene  pic- 
tured to  his  view  ?  Rubbish,  rocks,  stones,  and  dirt  filled  the 
room.  Two  men  almost  naked,  covered  with  sweat  and  dust." 
Burroughs  and  Warner  were  given  "ten  lashes"  each,  put 
into  the  dungeon,  where  they  lay  two  days,  and  were  then 
transferred  to  another  room.  The  narrative  continues  :  "The 
second  day  of  my  confinement,  nearly  night,  I  heard  a  terrible 


clanking  of  massy  chains  approaching  toward  my  apartment. 
The  door  of  the  dungeon  opened,  when  lo  I  horrid  to  relate,  a 
deformed  Vulcan  attended  with  his  grislj'  Cyclops,  carrying 
with  them  a  huge  iron  chain  and  all  the  tools  for  their  infer- 
nal purpose.  I  was  ordered  into  another  apartment,  and  to 
work  went  those  engines  of  cruelty.  They,  in  the  first  place, 
made  fast  a  flat  ring  around  my  leg,  about  six  inches  wide  and 
an  inch  thick.  This  was  connected  with  a  chain  weighing 
about  thirty-six  pounds,  and  ten  feet  in  length.  The  other 
end  of  the  chain  was  fastened  to  the  timber  composing  our 
floor,  with  a  staple  driven  in  with  a  sledge  which  made  the 
whole  jail  tremble.  After  I  was  fixed  in  this  manner  they 
left  me  to  my  reflections,  inwardly  exulting  at  their  mighty 
power  and  making  a  poor  wretch  secure  from  enjoying  the 
cold  comfort  of  hoping  for  better  times."* 

It  is  probable  that  Burroughs  was  confined  in  the  last-men- 
tioned jail,  built  in  1704.  If  such  be  the  fact,  this  vivid 
description  furnishes  the  only  remaining  clew  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  that  edifice,  whose  old  joints  trembled  under  the 
blows  of  the  sturdy  blacksmiths.  The  handcufl's  made  for 
Burroughs  are  preserved,  with  other  g3'ves  and  bonds  of  iron, 
in  the  custody  of  Christopher  Wright,  the  present  deputy 
sheriff  of  the  county,  and  bring  to  the  sensitive  imagination 
visions  of  the  Bastile  and  of  instruments  of  the  Inquisition. 
The  annexed  cut  represents  two  pairs  of  handcuffs,  one  pair 
of  leg-fetters,  the  great  bull-ring,  and  the  key  to  the  outer 
door  of  the  prison.  Their  combined  weight  is  thirty-six 
pounds.  The  key  belonged  to  the  prison  next  described,  and 
may  also  have  been  used  for  its  predecessor. 


SHACKLES  OF  THE -OLD  JAIL  AT  NORTHAMPTON. 

The  second  "gaol"  was  erected  in  the  years  1800  and  1801, 
concerning  which  the  first  discoverable  record  bears  date  in 
January  of  the  latter  year.  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
then  ordered  "that  the  county  treasurer  pay  to  Ebenezer 
Mattoon,  Jr.,  Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Josiah  Dickin- 
son, the  committee  for  building  the  gaol  in  Northampton, 
one  thousand  dollars,  they  giving  their  receipt  to  be  account- 
able for  the  expenditure  of  the  same."  There  had  already 
been  expended,  Jan.  1,  1800,  $1443.84  for  materials  furnished, 
including  6000  feet  of  square  timber,  .5000  feet  of  two-inch 
oak  plank,  600  feet  of  boards,  15,000  shingles,  50  hogsheads 
of  lime,  600  loads  of  stone  at  3s.,  300  loads  of  stone  at  5s., 
and  7000  bricks.  The  iron  required  was  estimated  at  4  tons, 
at  £40  per  ton.  This  jail  was  of  stone  principally,  was  situ- 
ated on  Pleasant  Street,  in  the  rear  of  William  R.  Clapp's 
present  residence,  and  cost  $8321.12,  exceeding  the  estimate 
13137.27.  May  30,  1801,  Benjamin  Smith,  David  Mack,  and 
Samuel  Taylor,  Esq.,  who  were  appointed  to  examine  the 
accounts  of  the  building  committee,  reported  a  "balance  of 


*  Memoii-s  of  .Stephen  Burroughs,  published  by  JI.  N.  Spear,  Amherst,  Mass., 
ISoS. 


IfiS 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


|il3.56  due  to  the  eommittoo,  after  deducting  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  the  old  gaol." 

The  building  was  approximately  forty  by  fifty  feet  in  size, 
was  of  two  stories,  about  eight  feet  between  joints,  and  had 
five  or  six  rooms  besides  the  dungeon,  which  was  on  the 
ground-floor.  It  contained  a  "debtors'  room,'' de.scribed  as 
being  "more  cheerful"  than  the  others.  The  common  cells 
had  rings  in  the  floor,  to  which  prisoners  were  chained;  one 
had  a  stone  floor  and  a  fireplace.  The  house  of  Mr.  Clapp, 
already  mentioned,  was  the  residence  of  the  jailer,  and  con- 
nected with  the  prison  by  a  covered  passage.  The  house  has 
since  been  remodeled. 

No  further  record  concerning  a  prison  or  house  of  correction 
is  found  prior  to  March  1,  1825,  when  the  following  occurs: 

"No  fit  tmil  convenient  house  of  correction  being  provided  in  the  county  of 
Hampshire,  it  is  ordered  by  the  court  that  tlie  ctyimnon  prison  in  said  county  be 
mode  use  of  for  tliat  jnirpose,  to  be  used  and  employed  fol'  tlie  iieepiug,  correct- 
ing, and  setting  to  work  of  l-ogues,  vagabonds,  and  common  beggais,  and  other 
idle,  disorderly,  and  lewd  pereons;  and  Cephas  Clapp,  of  Northampton,  is  nomi- 
nated and  appointed  master  of  said  house  of  correction." 

May  3,  1833,  Charles  Phelps,  Joseph  Lyman,  and  Daniel 
Stebbins,  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  made  a  con- 
tract with  Asahel  S.  Abel  for  the  "erection  and  finishing  of 
a  county  house  of  brick,  to  be  connected  with  and  to  accom- 
modate the  gaol."  The  building  was  e.\arained  and  accepted 
Sept.  8,  1834,  and  cost  $4100.  The  same  committee,  finding 
the  roof  of  the  gaol  very  defective,  caused  the  same  to  be 
sheathed  with  tin,  at  a  cost  of  $225.90.* 

The  jailers  from  1825  to  18-52  were  Cephas  Clapp,  Ansel 
Wright  (one  year),  Frederick  W.  Clark,  William  W.  Part- 
ridge, Christopher  Wright,  and  Hiram  Ferry. 

The  present  jail  and  house  of  correction  was  ordered  built 
in  September,  1850,  and  was  finished  in  18-52.  It  is  of  brick, 
consists  of  a  central  edifice,  four  stories  or  sixty-six  feet  in 
height,  with  basement  and  attic,  and  with  ground  dimensions 
forty-six  by  sixty-one  feet ;  and  two  wings,  each  with  a  front- 
age of  sixty-five  feet  and  a  width  of  forty-five,  and  fifty  feet 
in  height.  The  jail  wing  contains  two  departments, — one  for 
males,  the  other  for  females,  that  for  males  including  twelve 
cells,  eight  by  ten  feet  in  size  and  ten  feet  high,  while  that 
for  females  has  twenty-two  cells,  four  by  ten  feet  and  ten  feet 
high.  The  other  wing  is  the  "house  of  correction,"  and  has 
fifty-four  cells  corresponding  in  size  to  the  cells  for  females  in 
the  jail  wing.  These  are  all  for  males.  The  cell-floors  are  of 
brick. 

The  building  contains  also  the  keeper's  residence,  chapel, 
jioor  debtors'  room,  hospital,  and  bathing-room.  In  the  rear 
of  the  main  building  is  a  workshop,  thirty  by  sixty  feet  and 
two  stories  in  height. 

The  jailers  who  have  served  in  the  present  institution  are 
Hiram  Ferry,  Cornelius  Delano,  and  James  Bangs  ;  the  last 
uring  five  .years, — 18-5(5  to  18(il.  Since  the  last  date  named 
the  sherift'  has  discharged  the  duties  of  a  jailer. 


CHAPTER    IIL 

REPKE3ENTATIVE    DISTHICTS— CIVIL    LISTS. 
REPKKSKNTATIVE    DISTRICTS. 

Prior  to  1857  each  town  in  the  county  wS^  entitled  to 
separate  representation  in  the  General  Court.  Districts  were 
first  formed  in  that  year,  each  comprised  of  two  or  more  towns, 
and  each  empowered  to  send  one  or  more  representatives.  Two 
changes  in  the  com])osition  of  these  districts  have  since  been 
made. 

From  1857  to  1860,  inclusive,  the  districts  were  as  follows : 
Fimt  District. — Easthampton,  Hatfield,  Northampton,  and 
Southampton. — Two  representatives. 


*  Thomas  Pratt  was  employed  by  the  committee  to  make  a  "survey  and  plan 

of  the  county  ground." 


Sfcnnd  District. — Chesterfield,  Huntington,  Westhampton, 
and  Williamsburg. — One  representative. 

Third  District. — Cummington,  Goshen,  Middlefield,  Plain- 
field,  and  Worthington. — One  representative. 

Fourth  District. — Hadley  and  South  Hadley. — One  repre- 
sentative. 

Fifth  District. — Amherst,  Granby,  and  Pelham. — One  rep- 
resentative. 

Si.rth  District. — Belchertown,  Enfield,  Greenwich,  Prescott, 
and  Ware. — Two  representatives. 

From  18U7  to  1870,  inclusive,  the  districts  were  as  follows  : 

First  District. — Easthampton,  Northampton,  Southampton, 
and  Westhampton. — Two  representatives. 

Second  District. — Chesterfield,  Cummington,  Goshen,  Mid- 
dlefield, Plaintield,  and  Worthington. — One  representative. 

Third  District. — Hadley,  Hatfield,  and  Williamsburg. — 
One  representative. 

Fourth  District. — Amherst  and  South  Hadley. — One  repre- 
sentative. 

Fifth  District. — Belchertown,  Granby,  and  Pelham. — One 
representative. 

Sixth  District. — Enfield,  Greenwich,  Prescott,  and  Ware. — 
One  representative. 

From  1877  to  the  present  time  (1879)  the  districts  have  been 
as  follows  ; 

First  District. — Easthampton,  Northampton,  and  South- 
ampton.— Two  representatives. 

Second  District. — Hadley,  Hatfield,  Westhampton,  and 
Williamsburg. — One  representatative. 

Third  District. — Chesterfield,  Cummington,  Goshen,  Hunt- 
ington, Middlefield,  Plainfieid,  and  Worthington. — One  rep- 
resentative. 

Fourth  District. — Amherst,  Pelham,  Prescott,  and  South 
Hadley. — One  representative. 

Fifth  District. — Belchertown,  Enfield,  Granby,  Greenwich, 
and  Ware. — One  representative. 

CIVIL    LIST. 
Among  the  residents  of  Hampshire  who  have  served  the 
country  in  public  ofliees  are  the  following  : 

United  States  Senators. 
Caleb  Strong,  Northampton,  1789-90;   Eli  Porter  Ashmun, 
Northampton,   1810-18;    Elijah    Hunt   Mills,   Northampton, 
1820-27  ;   Isaac  C.    Bates,  Northampton,  1841-45. 

Goccrnors  of  the  Co/umonioeatfh. 
Caleb  Strong,  Northampton,  1800-7. 

Secretaries  of  the  Common  weal  th. 
Ephraim  M.  Wright,  Northampton,  18-33-50  ;  Oliver  War- 
ner, Northampton,  1858-70. 

State  Senators. 
Levi  Stockbridge,  Hadley,  180.5-00  ;  Edmund  H.  Sawyer, 
Easthampton,  1807-08;  Edward  A.  Thomas,  Prescott,  1809  ; 
Stephen  M.  Crosby,  Williamsburg,  1870;  Rufus  D.  AVoods, 
Enfield,  1872-73  ;  Francis  Edson,  Hadley,  1874  ;  William  M. 
Gaylord,   Northampton,    1876  ;    Lewis    N.   Gilbert,    Ware, 

1877-78. 

Count;/  Treasurers. 

Maj.  John  Pynchon,  Springfield,  May  27,  1600,  to  1681 ; 
Mr.  Peter  Tilton,  Hadley,  1082  to  1088;  John  Pynchon, 
Sjiringfield,  appointed  Jan.  23,  1089  ;  .  .  .  William  Pynchon, 
Springfield,  from  1798,  and  perhaps  earlier,  to  1808,  when  he 
died  ;  Edward  Pynchon,  appointed  March  30,  1808,  continued 
until  November,  1812;  Daniel  Stebbins,  November  12,  1812, 
to  1845 ;  Jonathan  H.  Butler,  1840  to  1849  ;  Charles  De  Lano, 
18-50  to  18-58  ;t  Henry  S.  Gere,  18.59  to  1876;  Watson  L. 
Smith,  1877  to . 


■f  Prior  to  I8.'k)  treasurers  were  chosen  yearly.    In  that  year,  and  subsequently, 
they  wore  chosen  for  terms  of  throe  yeare. 


HISTORY  OF   IIAMPSHIEE   COUNTY. 


169 


Tho  fullowing  have  served  as  sheriff's  of  Hampshire  County 
since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the  commonwealth 
in  1780.     The  dates  are  those  of  appointment : 

Elisha  Porter,  Hadloy,  Sept.  20,  1781. 

Ebenczcr  ISFattoon,  Amiierst,  June  9,  170li. 

Thomas  Shepard,  Nortliampton,  Oct.  8,  1811. 

Ehenezer  Mattoon,  Amherst,  June  20,  1812. 

Joseph  Lyman,  Northampton,  July  3,  1816. 

Samuel  L.  Hinckley,  Northampton,  Nov.  25,  1844. 

Alfred  L.  Strong,  Easthampton,  July  8,  1851. 

William  A.  Hawlcy,  Northampton,  March  10,  1853. 

Henry  A.  Longley,  Belchcrtown,  Jan  24,  1855. f 

Judges  of  Probate. 
Col.  John  Pynchon,  Springfield,  appointed  10112. 
Col.  Samuel  Partridge,  Hatfield,  1703. 
Col.  John  Stoddard,  Nortlnunpton,  1729. 
Col.  Timothy  Dwight,  Northampton,  1748. 
Col.  Isaac  Williams,  Hatfield,  17(>4-74. 
Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  Nortliampton,  1770.1 
Eleazer  Porter,  Hadley,  1779. 
Samuel  Henshaw,  Northampton,  1797. 
Jonathan  Leavitt,  Greenfield,  1809. 
Joseph  Lyman,  Northampton,  1810. 
Samuel  Hinckley,  Northampton,  1810. 
Ithanuir  Conkey,  Amherst,  1834. 
Samuel  F.  Lyman,  NorthaMi|iton,  1858. 
Samuel  T.  Sjiaulding,  Nortlumipton,  1873. 
William  G.  Bassett,  Easthampton,  1879.§ 

Bit/lifrrs  of  Prohntc. 
Samuel  Partridge,  Hatfield,  appointed  1692. 
John  Pynchon,  Springfield,  1703. 
Timothy  Dwight,  Northampton,  1729. 
Timothy  Dwight,  Jr.,  Northampton,  1748. 
Solomon  Stoddard,  Northampton,  1704. 
Israel  Williams,  Jr.,  Hatfield,  1709-74. 
John  C.  Williams,  Hadley,  177e,|| 
Samuel  Hinckley,  Northampton,  1787. 
Isaac  C.  Bates,  Northampton,  1816. 
Samuel  F.  Lyman,  Northampton,  1827. 
A.  Perry  Peck,  Northampton,  1855. 
Luke  Lyman,  Northampton,  1859. 

Clerks  of  the  Courts.^ 
Elizur  Ilolyoke,  Springfield,  appointed  September,  1000. 
Samuel  Partridge,  Hatfield,  March,  1676. 
John  Holyoke,  Springfield,  1678. 
John  Pynchon,  Springfield,  Dec.  20,  1693. 
Israel  Williams,  Hatfield,  1735. 
William  Williams,  Hatfield,  Feb.  14,  1758. 
Robert  Breck,  Nortliamptcm,  May  21,  1778. 
Joseph  Lyman,  Northampton,  1798. 
Josiah  Dwight,  Northampton,  1810. 
John  Taylor,  Northampton,  1811. 
Josiah  Dwight,  Northampton,  1812. 
Solomon  Stoddard,  Northampton,  1821. 
Samuel  Wells,**  Northampton,  1837. 
William  P.  Strickland,  Northampton,  1865. 

Registers  of  Deeds. 
The  first  record  of  real  estate  conveyances  for  the  middle 
district  of  Hampshire  County  made  in  Northampton  bears 

*  See  qm/c,  "  Civil  Organization." 
t  The  office  wns  made  clortivo  in  1850. 

X  A  viu^ancy  of  about  two  yoafs  prectuiod  Pr.  Maftier'H  apiKijiitlnpnt. 
-  §  Vacancy  in  1S7S. 
II  A  vacancy  of  alutiit  two  ycai-s  preceded  Mr.  WilliuniH'  appointmont. 

1[  SC(10)|(C,  "C..IUI.S." 

**  Oflicc  made  elective  in  lS5ti.     Mr.  Wells  was  accidentally  shot  in  October, 
1864,  Mr.  Strickland  Bucceeding  for  the  unexpired  term  of  two  years. 

22 


date  Aug.  1,  1787.  The  offlce  of  the  register  for  the  old 
county  of  Hampshire  was  previously  kept  in  West  Spring- 
field, from  whence  it  wtvs  removed  to  Springfield.  The  follow- 
ing have  been  registers  of  deeds  from  the  several  dates  named, 
respectively:  Ehenezer  Hunt,  Aug.  1,  1787;  Levi  Lyman, 
May  20, 1790;  Solomon  Stoddard,  May  24,  1811  ;  Levi  Lyman, 
May  15,  1821  ;  Charles  Hooker,tt  •Ian.  29,  1830;  C.  P.  Hunt- 
ington, May  10,  1833;  Giles  C.  Kellogg,  Dec.  30,  1833;  Har- 
vey Kirkland,  June  9,  1840  ;  Henry  P.  Billings,  Jan.  1,  1871. 

Trial-Jushces. 

In  1858  a  law  was  passed  giving  certain  powers  in  criminal 
cases  to  justices  of  the  peace,  who  were  entitled  Trial-Justices. 
These  wore  appointed  by  the  Governor,  to  hold  ottice  for  three 
years.  The  county  of  Hampshire  is  entitled  to  ten  trial-jus- 
tices. The  names  of  those  persons  who  have  held  the  office 
since  the  law  went  into  efl'eet  are  given  below.  Those  still  in 
office  are  designated  by  a  *. 

Horace  T.  Hodges,  Northampton,  appointed  May  7,  1858. 

James  W.  Boyden,  Amherst,  May  7,  1858. 

William  S.  Brackenridge,  Ware,  May  11,  1858. 

Elisha  U.  Brewster,  Worthington,  May  7,  1858. 

Epaphras  Clark,  Enfield,  May  7,  1858. 

Elijah  N.  Woods,  Huntington,  June  3,  1858. 

Franklin  Dickinson,*  Belchcrtown,  June  8,  1858. 

Albion  P.  Howe,  Amherst,  Dec.  8,  1859. 

Albion  P.  Peck,*  Northamiiton,  June  29,  1860. 

Fraiu'is  De  Witt,  Ware,  Oct.  3,  1800. 

Franklin  D.  Kichards,*  Ware,  Jan.  20,  1803. 

Samuel  Wells,  Northampton,  Oct.  7,  1803. 

Charles  Richards,*  Enfield,  May  28,  1804. 

Hiram  Smith,  Jr.,  South  Hadley,  Dec.  30,  1864. 

Oliver  Pease,  Amherst,  May  5,  1865. 

Wm.  P.  Strickland,  Northampton,  May  17,  1865. 

Seth  Warner,  Easthampton,  May  25,  186.5. 

R.  Ogden  Dwight,  South  Hadley,  Jan.  23,  1808. 

C.  Edgar  Smith,  Northampton,  March  23,  1809. 

William  G.  Bassctt,  Easthampton,  May  28,  1809.    • 

Alfred  M.  Copeland,  Huntington,  June  11,  1809. 

Francis  H.  Dawes,*  Cummington,  April  5,  1870., 

Garry  Munson,*  Huntington,  June  14,  1872. 

Edward  A.  Thonnis,*  Amherst,  May  19,  1874. 

Haynes  H.  Chilson,*  Northampton,  May  12,  1875. 

Nathan  Morse,*  South  Hadley,  1870. 

Lafayette  Cla|)p,*  Easthampton,  1877. 

County  Commissioners. 
The  following  have  served  as  commissioners,  during  the 
periods  named,  as  nearly  as  could  be  ascertained  :  Hon.  Levi 
Lyman,  1829-30;  Hon.  Charles  P.  Phelps,  1828-34;  Alvan 
Rice,  1829-33 ;  Ithamar  Conkej;,  1830-34 ;  Osmyn  Baker, 
1834-37;  Elisha  Strong,  1835-40;  Joseph  Cummings,  1835-52; 
Chauncey  B.  Rising,  1838-40;  Roswell  Hubbard,  1888;  Israel 
Billings,  1841-43;  Timothy  A.  Phelps,  1841-43;  Mark  Doo- 
little,  1844-40;  Joel  Hayden,  1844-52;  Hon.  William  Bow- 
doin,  1847-48;  ISenjamin  Barrett,  1847-48 ;  Haynes  H.  Chil- 
son, 1850-52;  Horace  I.  Hodges,  1853-54;  Elisha  H.  Brewster, 
1853-65;  John  Warner,  1853;  William  P.  Dickin.son,  1855-59; 
Elkanah  Ring,  Jr.,  1856-58;  Daniel  B.  Gillett,  1859-61 ;  Enoch 
H.  Lyman,  1800-06;  William  C.  Eaton,  1802-67;  P.  Smith 
Williams,  1867-69;  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  1808-79;  Justin 
Thayer,  1869-74;  Samuel  Mills  Cook,  1871-75;  Elnathan 
Graves,  1875-79;  Flavel  (Jay lord,  1879. 

Special  County  Commissioners. 

Ithamar  Conkey,  1828-29;  Oliver  Smith,  1830-34;  Eli.sha 

Strong,    1830-34;    Dyar    Bancroft,    1835;     Ephraim    Smith, 

1835-40;    Benjamin   White,    183.5-40;    William   Clark,   Jr., 

1841-43;  James  H.  Clapp,  1841-43;  Joseph  Smith,  1844-48; 

tf  Died  1833;  C.  P.  Huntington  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 


170 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Luther  Edwards,  1844-49;  John  A.  Morton,  1849;  George 
Allen,  1850-52;  Elkanah  King,  Jr.,  1850-52;  Adolphus 
Strong,  1853-56;  Otis  G.  Hill,  1853-56;  Charles  Adams, 
1857-62;  Justin  Thayer,  1857-68;  Lorenzo  S.  Nash,  1863-68; 
Elnathan  Graves,  1869-74;  Austin  Eastman,  1869-73;*  Sam- 
uel L.  Parsons,  1874-79  ;  Charles  E.  Blood,  1874-79. 

JUDTCIARY. 

Since  the  Revolution  the  persons  whose  names  follow  have 
been  appointed  to  positions  on  the  Bench  : 

Justices  of  Superior  Court  of  Judicature  and  Supreme  Ju- 
dicial Court. — Simeon  Strong,  Amherst,  appointed  in  1801, 
continued  until  his  death  in  1805 ;  Charles  Augustus  Dewey, 
a  native  of  Northampton,  appointed  from  Worcester  in  1837, 
continued  until  the  year  of  his  death,  1866  ;  Charles  Edward 
Forbes,  Northampton,  appointed  in  1848,  resigned  in  the  same 
year,  resides  in  Northampton. 

Justices  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. — Solomon  Strong, 
Amherst,  appointed  in  1820,  resigned  in  1842,  died  in  18-50; 
Samuel  Howe,  Northampton,  appointed  in  1820,  left  the  Bench 
in  1828,  the  year  of  his  death ;  Charles  Edward  Forbes, 
Northampton,  appointed  in  1847,  and  to  the  Supreme  Bench 
in  the  following  year. 

William  Allen,  Northampton,  was  appointed  in  1872  to  the 
Bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  established  in  1859,  and  is  still 
in  that  position,  1879. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SOCIETIES. 
THE  HAMPSHIRE  DISTRICT  MEDICAL  SOCIETY 
was  organized  in  1833,  and  embraced  in  that  year  the  follow- 
lowing  members  :  Joseph  H.  Flint,  Benjamin  Barrett,  David 
Hunt,  Elisha  Mather,  Edward  E.  Denniston,  Northampton ; 
Reuben  Bell,  Hadley ;  Isaac  G.  Cutler,  Rufus  Cowles,  Am- 
herst ;  Elihu  Dwight,  South  Hadley ;  William  Bridgman, 
Belchertown ;  Atherton  Clark,  Ira  Bryant,  Cummington ; 
Bela  B.  Jones,  Southampton ;  Caleb  H.  Stickney,  Hunting- 
ton ;  Samuel  Shaw,  Plainiield;  Joseph  Warren,  Middlefield  ; 
Edward  Dickinson,  John  Hastings,  and  Moses  Porter. 

The  subjoined  additional  names  first  appear  in  the  books  of 
the  treasurer  of  the  society  in  the  years  given  respectively : 
1840,  Watson  Loud,  S.  Clapp,  Lewis  S.  Hopkins  (now,  1879, 
in  Bridgewater),  Gardner  Dorrance,  Amherst.  1841,  Edward 
G.  Upford,  West  Springfield;  T.  H.  Brown,  Wortbington  ;f 
Henry  Orcutt,  Westhampton  ;f  Chauncey  A.  Hall,  North- 
ampton ;  S.  E.  Strong,  Amherst ;  Philemon  Stacy,  Hadley, 
lost  his  eyesight  and  left  the  profession.  1842,  Daniel  Thomp- 
son, Northampton,  to  which  place  he  removed  in  1837  ;  Thos. 
Meekins,  Williamsburg;  Addison  S.  Peck,f  Hatfield,  removed 
to  California.  1843,  Horatio  Thompson,  Belchertown  ;  James 
Thompson,!  Northampton ;  Seth  Fish,  North  Hadley,  died  at 
North  Amherst;  Israel  H.  Taylor,  Pelham,  was  a  resident  of 
Amherst  in  1864.  1844,  Artemas  Be!l,f  Southampton;  Wash- 
ington Shaw,  died  at  Haydenville.  1845,  Ebenezer  C.  Rich- 
ardson, Ware.  1846,  J.  W.  Smith,  practiced  dentistry  ;  Loriii 
Allen,  Belchertown,  now  in  Illinois.  1848,  Franklin  Bonney, 
Hadley,  where  he  is  still  in  practice ;  Samuel  D.  Brooks,  Nor- 
wich, now  at  Springfield,  Mass.  1852,  Benjamin  F.  Smith, 
Amherst,  where  he  died ;  Samuel  A.  Fisk,  Northampton. 
1853,  D.  O.  Perry,  Chesterfield ;  James  Dunlap,  Northamp- 
ton. 1854,  Francis  C.  Green,  Eastharapton.  1855,  Levi 
Chamberlain,  Hatfield ;  Cyrus  N.  Chamberlain,  son  of  the 
preceding,  Granby,  is  now  in  Lawrence.  1856,  Edward  S. 
Hill,  Williamsburg.  1857,  John  H.  Richardson,  Chester- 
field. 1858,  Henry  C.  Prentiss,  Northampton  ;  Theron  Tem- 
ple,  Belchertown  ;   Lebbeus  E.   Marsh,  Granby.     1860,  John 


*  A.  R.  Owen  is  named  as  special  commissioner  in  1872. 


f  Deceased. 


W.  Barker,  Easthampton ;  William  M.  Trow,  Haydenville ; 
W^illiam  Lester,  South  Hadley ;  Noah  Gilman,  Hatfield. 
1861,  George  F.  Thompson,!  Belchertown  ;  Lorin  H.  Pease, 
Amherst ;  Austin  W.  Thompson,  Northampton  ;  Edward  B. 
Barrett,  Northampton.  1862,  John  W.  Bement,  Belcher- 
town. 1864,  Alfred  Montville,  Hatfield  ;J  William  H.  Prince, 
present  first  assistant  superintendent  of  the  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  at  Northampton  ;  Joseph  W.  Winslow,  Easthampton. 
1865,  David  W.  Miner,  Ware.  1866,  Cyrus  K.  Bartlett,  then 
connected  with  the  hospital  at  Northampton,  now  in  charge 
of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum,  Minnesota ;  Oscar  C.  De  Wolf, 
now  commissioner  of  health  at  Chicago,  111. ;  Edwin  M. 
Johnson,  Williamsburg,  studied  medicine  at  the  office  of  Dr. 
James  Dunlap,  Northampton,  and  with  his  entire  family  was 
swept  away  in  the  flood  which  devastated  the  former  place. 
May  16,  1874;  Edwin  F.  Ward,  Easthampton,  now  practic- 
ing in  New  York  City  ;  Dyar  B.  N.  Fish,  Amherst;  Harlow 
Gamwell  and  Josiah  H.  Goddard,§  Huntington;  Albert  H. 
Daniels  and  Orvis  F.  Bigelow,  Amherst.  1867,  Alonzo  Lewis, 
Hatfield  ;  John  DoleJ  and  Edward  R.  Lewis,  Amherst ;  John 
Yale,  Ware ;  Oscar  L.  Roberts,  Belchertown.  1868,  John  B. 
Tyler,  Henry  B.  Stoddard  (now  at  Newtonville),  and  Charles 
L.  Knowlton,  Northampton;  Thomas  D.  Smith,  Easthamp- 
ton; Charles  M.  Billings,  Hatfield.  1870,  John  B.  Learned, 
Florence.  1871,  Chester  M.  Barton,  Wortbington,  now  of 
Hatfield  ;  Gardner  Cox,  South  Hadley  Falls  ;  Cyrus  B.  Smith, 
Gr.anby;  Edwin  A.  Kemp,  Enfield.  1872,  Samuel  E.  Thayer, 
Southampton  ;  John  R.  Greenleaf,  Easthampton.  1874,  Wil- 
liam Dwight,  North  Amherst ;  George  A.  Pierce,  Hatfield ; 
Thomas  Gilfillan,  Northampton.  1875,  Christopher  Seymour, 
Edward  B.  Nims,  assistant  superintendent  of  the  hospital ; 
Pliny  Earl,  superintendent  of  the  hospital,  and  Junius  31. 
Hall,  Northampton  ;  Joseph  C.  Yale,  Ware,  son  of  John 
Yale,  M.D.  1876,  Arthur  H.  Kimball,  Cummington.  1877, 
Harmon  Heed,  Pelham  ;  Charles  W.  Parsons,  Wortbington  ; 
Solon  R.  Towne,  Enfield  ;  James  D.  Seymour,  now  of  Whate- 
ly.  1878,  Daniel  Pickard,  assistant  at  the  hospital,  North- 
ampton ;  George  W.  Wood,  Southampton ;  Elbridge  Gerry 
Wheeler,  Middlefield ;  James  N.  Dick.son,  now  at  Hunting- 
ton ;   Charles  W.  Cooper,  Amherst. 

Dr.  Josiah  Goodhue. — This  distinguished  medical  man, 
though  not  a  native  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  was  for  a  long 
time  a  citizen  of  Hampshire  County,  and  foremost  in  his  pro- 
fession. He  was  born  at  Dunstable,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass., 
Jan.  17,  1759.  Early  in  life  he  devoted  himself  to  study, 
and  entered  Harvard  University  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  but  owing  to  the  disturbances  of  that 
period  the  doors  of  the  institution  were  of  necessity  closed, 
and  he  returned  to  his  home.  Here  he  was  troubled  by  a 
white-swelling  upon  one  of  his  knees,  and  applied  to  Dr. 
Kittredge,  of  Tewksbury,  for  medical  treatment.  While  un- 
der the  care  of  Dr.  Kittredge  he  became  interested  in  medi- 
cine, and  afterward  began  the  study  of  physic  and  surgery 
with  him,  continuing  for  two  years,  which  was  then  the  cus- 
tomary term.  He  then  returned  to  Putney,  Vt.,  where  his 
parents  then  resided,  and  commenced  practice,  under  very  dis- 
I'ouraging  conditions,  when  he  was  about  twenty  years  of  age. 
The  reputation  of  Dr.  Kittredge,  however,  gave  him  some 
advantages,  and  he  soon  won  the  confidence  of  the  people;  and 
a  successful  operation  soon  gave  him  a  reputation  and  brought 
him  plenty  of  practice. 

By  great  industry  he  ere  long  obtained  an  extensive  patron- 
age, and  his  practice  eventually  extended  widely  in  Vermont, 
and  thence  to  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  His  first 
capital  operation — the  amputation  of  a  log — he  performed  with- 
out ever  having  seen  it  done  before, — was  guided  solely  by 
knowledge  obtained  from  books.  His  reputation  rapidly  in- 
creased and  spread  abroad,  and  he  was  thronged  with  students. 


X  Deceased. 


g  See  medical  chapter  in  Franklin  County  history. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


171 


who  came  from  far  and  near, — among  them  the  afterward 
greatly  celebrated  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  the  founder  of  the 
medical  department  of  Dartmouth  College. 

"  In  the  year  1800,  in  consequence  of  his  high  attainments 
and  respectable  standing  in  the  profession,  the  faculty  of 
Dartmouth  College  conferred  upon  him  the  highest  medical 
honor  which  can  be  granted  to  any  physician,  viz.,  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  doctor  of  medicine." 

In  1803,  with  a  view  to  extend  his  sphere  of  usefulness,  he 
removed  to  Chester,  Vt.,  where  he  remained  until  1816,  fully 
sustaining  his  previous  reputation,  when  the  approaching  in- 
firmities of  age  admonished  him  of  the  necessity  of  relaxing 
somewhat  from  his  arduous  duties.  He  accordingly  removed 
to  Hadley,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass.,  where  his  duties  would  be 
less  laborious,  on  account  of  the  more  level  character  of  the 
country.  Here  he  continued  to  enjoy  an  unlimited  prac- 
tice, and  maintained  his  great  reputation  in  the  profession 
until  declining  health  compelled  him  to  abandon  active  prac- 
tice. 

In  1823  he  was  appointed  by  the  trustees  president  of  the 
Berkshire  Medical  Institution,  which  position  he  continued  to 
hold  to  the  time  of  his  death,  on  the  9th  of  September,  1829, 
in  his  seventy-first  year. 

Dr.  Goodhue  was  for  a  great  number  of  years  president  of 
the  Windham  County  Medical  Society,  called  the  Vermont 
Second  Medical  Society.  He  was  also  for  one  term  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  State  Legislature. 

His  practice  in  operative  surgery  was  very  extensive.  He 
performed  the  operation  of  trepanning  upward  of  forty  times, 
and  operated  for  strangulated  hernia  as  many  more.  He  be- 
lieved himself  to  have  been  the  first  man  in  New  England  to 
amputate  at  the  shoulder-joint. 

He  was  extremely  temperate  and  regular  in  his  manner  of 
living,  and  for  many  years  previous  to  his  death  abstained 
entirely  from  spirituous  liquors,  at  a  time  when  their  use  was 
universal  among  all  classes. 

He  raised  a  family  of  eight  children, — four  sons  and  four 
daughters.  Two  of  his  sons  adopted  the  prof&ssion  of  medi- 
cine, one  of  whom  died  in  Alabama  about  1842,  and  the  other 
settled  in  Canada.  His  eldest  surviving  daughter  married 
Dr.  Twitchell,  of  Keene,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  sur- 
geons of  New  Hampshire. 

Dr.  David  Hunt  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer  Hunt,  of  North- 
ampton, Mass.  He  was  born  at  Northampton  in  1773.  His 
study  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  was  mostly  in 
his  father's  office.  His  active  practice  commenced  in  his  native 
town  soon  after  he  became  of  age,  and  was  continued  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years. 

Although  not  a  college  graduate,  he  was  an  excellent  scholar 
and  respectable  practitioner,  and  was  held  in  such  high  repute 
that  in  1818  Yale  College  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  doctor  of  medicine.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Antiquarian  Society,  the  American  Geological  Society,  and 
of  the  Physico-Medical  Society,  of  New  York. 

He  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  study  of  mineralogy  and 
geology,  and  collected  a  very  fine  and  rare  cabinet  of  minerals. 
He  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Dr.  Bruce  and  Professors  Sil- 
liman,  Cleaveland,  and  Hitchcock,  and  othei  distinguished  ge- 
ologists and  mineralogists.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Association  in  1813,  and  resigned  in  1833. 

Dr.  Elisha  Mather  was  a  native  of  Northampton,  Hamp- 
shire Co.,  where  he  was  born  in  1792.  Both  his  father  and 
grandfather  were  also  natives  of  that  place,  and  both  were  emi- 
nent physicians.  The  elder  was  a  contemporary  of  Dr.  Pyn- 
chon,  of  Springfield,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Williams,  of  Deerfield, 
and  the  three  were  about  the  only  physicians  of  note  in  their 
day  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  in  Massachusetts. 

Dr.  S.  W.  Williams  says  that  Dr.  Mather  was  a  respectable 
practitioner,  and  a  member,  counselor,  and  censor  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Medical  Society,  with  which  he  united  in  1824,  and 


continued  his  fellowship  to  the  time  of  his  death,  on  the  24th 
of  April,  1840,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years. 

Prom  an  obituary,  which  appeared  at  the  time  of  his  decease 
in  the  columns  of  the  Hatnps/tit-e  Gazette,  we  extract  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  In  noticing  the  death  of  this  good  man  and  physician,  it  is 
not  our  object  to  analyze  ])articularly  his  character  or  describe 
minutely  the  elements  of  what  it  was  composed,  but  generally 
to  bear  testimony  to  his  high  standing  in  the  profession  and 
the  excellency  of  his  character. 

"Dr.  Mather  was  undoubtedly  more  self-taught  than  most 
of  his  professional  brethren.  He  was  indebted  to  his  talents, 
his  industry,  and  his  application  for  the  rank  which  he  at- 
tained. In  all  the  various  branches  of  his  profession  he  was 
i  entitled  to  entire  confidence.  With  the  structure  and  func- 
tions of  the  different  parts  of  the  human  system  he  was  most 
intimately  acquainted,  and  was  seldom  surpassed  in  accur'icy 
of  anatomical  knowledge. 

"  In  his  deportment  he  was  neither  forbidding  nor  imposing, 
but  affable  and  accessible  to  all,  so  that  his  younger  brethren 
could  always  approach  him  without  being  apprehensive  that 
they  should  be  overpowered  by  his  feeling  of  superiority.  In 
his  domestic  relations  he  was  greatly  endeared." 

Daniel  Thomp.son,  M.D.,  was  born  at- Pelham,  Jan.  14, 
1800.  His  father  and  grandfather  were  farmers  of  that  town 
during  their  lives.  His  paternal  grandmother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Cowan,  was  of  Scotch  descent ;  his  mother 
was  Matilda  Pierce,  of  Middleborough,  near  Boston. 

He  attended  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town,  which 
were  then  in  good  repute,  and  afterward  became  a  member  of 
Amherst  Academy,  of  which  Jared  H.  Hallock  was  then 
principal.  He  pursued  medical  studies  at  Northampton  and 
Pittsfield,  and  attended  three  full  courses  of  lectures  at  the 
Berkshire  Medical  Institution,  at  Pittsfield,  in  the  years 
1823-2.5.  From  Dec.  3,  1825,  until  Oct.  20,  1837,  he  pursued 
the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Pelham,  from  whence  he  re- 
moved to  Northampton,  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Flint,  who 
was  about  to  remove  to  Springfield.  In  1827  he  married 
Caroline  Augusta,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  David  Hunt,  son  of  Dr. 
Ebenezer  Hunt,  who  died  at  Northampton,  Jan.  18,  1874. 

In  1839  Dr.  Thompson  formed  a  copartnership  with  Dr. 
Benjamin  Barrett,  one  of  his  former  preceptors  in  Northamp- 
ton, which  lasted  till  the  latter  retired  from  practice, — a  period 
of  nearly  seven  years.  He  then  took  as  partner  his  brother 
James,  the  connection  lasting  until  the  latter's  death,  when  he 
admitted  to  the  same  relation  his  nephew,  A.  W.  Thompson, 
— graduate  of  the  Boston  School  of  Medicine,— whom  he  had 
adopted  as  a  son.  After  a  few  years  this  partnership  was 
dissolved.  Dr.  Thompson  ever  after  pursuing  his  profession 
single-handed  down  to  the  present  time. 

Dr.  Thompson  has  risen  from  comparative  poverty  to  a  con- 
dition of  pecuniary  independence,  notwith-standing  the  gener- 
osity with  which  he  has  given  of  his  means  for  worthy  objects. 
With  him  the  fee  was  never  the  inspiring  motive  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  profession,  hut  rather  the  wish  to  benefit  mankind. 

Edward  Evans  Denniston,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Cocks- 
heath,  County  Donegal,  Ireland,  July  2,  1803,  and  received 
his  education  at  Dublin,  and  at  Edinburgh,  in  Scotland.  He 
was  for  six  years  bound  apprentice  to  the  firm  of  Bernard 
Rogan  &  Sons,  surgeons  and  physicians  to  the  hospital  and  dis- 
pensaries at  Strabane,  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and  in  that 
institution  succeeded  Dr.  Rogan  as  surgeon  upon  the  latter's 
election  to  the  superintendency  of  the  Ulster  Insane  Asylum, 
at  Londonderry.  In  1833  he  settled  in  Northampton,  for 
three  years  successfully  pursuing  his  profession  in  partnership 
with  Dr.  Benjamin  Barrett,  and  the  succeeding  ten  years  quite 
as  successfully  alone.  A  severe  injury  which  he  received  at  the 
end  of  this  period  unfitting  him  for  the  drudgery  of  ordinary 
country  practice,  he  entered  upon  the  charge  of  an  establish- 
ment devoted  to  the  cure  of  chronic  invalidism!  and  known  as 


172 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"Spring  Dale,"  situated  near  the  village  of  Northampton. 
After  thirty-three  years  of  unremitting  service  in  that  insti- 
tution, he  retired  therefrom  in  May,  1879,  but  continues,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six,  in  active  practice. 

Joseph  H.  Flint,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Leicester,  Worcester 
Co.,  Mass. ;  removed  to  Northampton  prior  to  1830,  where, 
for  a  number  of  years,  he  followed  the  practice  of  his  chosen 
profession.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Springfield,  where 
he  died.  While  at  Northampton  he  was  associated  profes- 
sionally with  Dr.  Eli-sha  Mather.* 

James  Dunlap,  M.D.,  attended  Amherst  College  from 
1843  to  18-15,  graduated  five  years  afterwards  at  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  New  York  City,  and  has  since 
been  engaged  in  active  practice  in  Northampton,  Mass. 

Timothy  J.  Gkidley  was  a  pupil  of  the  elder  Dr.  Smith 
in  the  medical  college  at  New  Haven ;  was  celebrated  as  a 
surgeon,  and  was  in  practice  at  Amherst,  in  or  near  the  year 
1821.t 

THE    HAMPSHIRE    MISSIONARY   SOCIETY"    AT   NORTHAMPTON 

was  incorporated  Feb.  21,  1804.  Officers  of  the  society  were 
chosen  yearly  "  on  the  Thursday  of  the  week  when  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas"  was  held,  in  the  month  of  August.  The 
following  were  the  otficers  for  the  year  1805, — President,  his 
Excellency,  Caleb  Strong ;+  Vice-President,  Eev.  Samuel 
Hopkins  ;  Treasurer,  Euggles  Woodbridge,  Esq.  ;  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Rev.  Enoch  Hale;  Eecording  Secretary, 
Rev.  Samuel  Taggart;  Trustees,  Hon.  John  Hastings,  Joseph 
Lathrop,  D.D.,  Hon.  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Joseph  Lyman,  D.D., 
Justin  Ely,  Esq.,  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  Wm.  Billings, Esq., 
David  Parsons,  D.D.,  Chas.  Phelps,  Esq.,  Eev.  Eich'd  S.  Storrs. 

THE    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE   SOCIETY' 

was  formed  July  10,  1816,  at  a  meeting  holden  at  the  court- 
house in  Northampton,  "  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  Holy  Scriptures  without  note  or  comment." 
At  this  meeting  Noah  Webster,  Esq.,  was  chairman,  and 
Josiah  Dwight,  secretary. 


A  constitution  was  adopted  at  the  same  meeting,  the  second 
article  of  which  provides  that  the  "  towns  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  county  of  Hamp.shire  containing  a  member  or  members 
of  the  society  shall  enjoy  all  the  benefits  and  privileges  of 
towns  within  the  county." 

The  constitution  provided  that  any  surplus  funds  not  needed 
for  use  within  the  limits  of  the  society  shall  be  forwarded  to 
the  American  Bible  Society,  established  in  New  York,  "  to 
which  this  society  shall  so  far  be  considered  auxiliary." 

A  president,  vice-president,  treasurer,  secretary,  and  a  hoard 
of  trustees  are  chosen  annually.  The  president  and  vice-presi- 
dent are  trustees  ex-officio.  The  treasurer  is  the  only  paid 
officer.  The  following  were  the  first  officers  chosen :  Presi- 
dent, Hon.  Caleb  Strong  ;  Vice-President,  Rev.  Nathan  Per- 
kins ;  Treasurer,  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Jr.,  Esq.;  Secretary,  Isaac 
C.  Bates  ;^  Trustees,  Hon.  Joseph  Lyman,  Eev.  Henry  Lord, 
Dr.  William  Porter,  of  Amherst,  Eev.  Nathan  Pease,  Noah 
Webster,  Esq. 

The  following  have  served  as  presidents :  Caleb  Strong, 
1816;  Nathan  Perkins,  1817  to  1839;  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle, 
1840  to  1855;  Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  1856  to  1879.  As  vice-presi- 
dents :  Nathan  Perkins,  1816  ;  Joseph  Lyman,  1817  to  1823  ; 
Isaac  C.  Bates,  1824  to  1830;  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle,  1832 1|  to 
1839;  Rev.  Charles  Wiley,  1840  to  1844;  Hon.  David  Mack, 
1845  to  1853 ;  Luke  Sweetzer,  1854  to  1871  ;  Eev.  Ephraim 
Lyman,  1872  to  1873;  Eev.  Samuel  T.  Seelye,  1876 1|  to  1879. 
As  treasurers:  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Jr.,  1816  to  1823;  Samuel 
Wells,  Jr.,  Esq.,  1824  to  1830;  Eliphalet  Williams,  1832|| 
to  1873  ;  J.  L.  Warriner,  1876||  to  1879.  As  secretaries,  Isaac 
C.  Bates,  1816  to  1823;  Eliphalet  Williams,  1824  to  1830; 
William  H.  Stoddard,  1832  to  1879. 

Present  Officers. — Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  D.D.,  President;  Rev.  , 
Samuel  T.  Seelye,  D.D.,  Vice-President;  William  H.  Stod- 
dard, Secretary ;  J.  L.  Warriner,  Treasurer ;  John  Whittle- 
sey, Auditor;  Eevs.  W.  S.  Leavitt,  E.  G.  Cobb,  A.  M.  Colton, 
E.  S.  Dwight,  and  A.  J.  Lincoln,  Directors. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TOWNS  OF  HAMPSHIRE  CODNTY. 


NORTHAMPTON. 


As  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  beauty  of  location,  and  pictur- 
esque scenery  of  the  "grout  river,"  as  Cotton  Mather  called 
the  Connecticut,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  overcrowded 
settlements  at  the  Bay  in  1635,  so  in  1653  the  fertile  meadows 
of  Nonotuck^  were  regarded  as  the  most  inviting  locality  for 
a  new  plantation  by  the  settlers  at  Windsor,  Hartford,  and 
Springfield,  and  on  the  20th  day  of  May  in  that  year  a  peti- 
tion was  presented  to  the  General  Court  by  inhabitants  of  the 
above  towns  for  leave  to  plant  a  settlement  at  Nonotuck. 
There  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  the  real  projectors  and  those 
through  whose  energy  and  influence  the  scheme  was  sustained 
and  fostered  were  John  Pynuhon,  son  of  William  Pynchon, 

*  Sec  chapter  on  the  medical  professiuu  of  Hampden  County. 

t  For  additional  items  upon  the  medical  profession  of  Hampshire  County,  eee 
histories  of  the  various  towns. 

X  Ex-officio  trustee  of  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  instituted  at  Bos- 
ton, May  28, 1790;  also  United  States  Si-nator. 

K  There  is  a  tradition  thai  one  Euglisli  funiily  came  to  this  place  in  l(J*r2,  and 
lived  here  during  the  next  winter  on  land  which  lies  east  of  wlmt  is  called  Haw- 
ley  Street  (Williams). 


the  founder  of  Roxbury  and  Springfield,  Elizup  Holyoke, 
son-in-law  of  John  Pynchon,  and  Samuel  Chapin. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  original  petition  : 

"  To  the  Kight  Worshypful  Governor,  and  the  Worshypful  Magistrates,  Assist- 
ants, and  Deputies  of  tliis  much -honored  C<>urt. — Yuur  humble  petitioners 
wish  increaee  of  all  felicity.  Your  humble  Petitioners  being  fully  perauaded  by 
your  former  promptness  and  pious  endeavors  to  begin  and  settle  Plantations  in 
Bucli  pla«.H'8  as  appeared  convenient  witliin  the  liberty  of  your  Jurisprudence  and 
Patent,  for  the  furtlier  enlarging  of  tlie  territories  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Clirist,  and  the  common  utility  of  the  Common  Weal,  are  therefore  em- 
bv)ldened  to  present  these  few  lines  to  your  Judicious  consideration,  and  their 
request  therein  that  you  would  be  i)lcased  to  give  and  grant  Liberty  to  your 
Petitioners  whose  names  are  subscribed,  ami  such  a^  sii  join  with  them,  accord- 
ing to  your  wonted  clemency,  power,  right,  and  authority,  from,  by,  and  under 
you  to  plant,  possess,  and  inhabit  the  place,  being  ou  C«->netiqnot  River,  al»ove 
Springfield,  called  Nonotuck,  iis  their  own  inheritance,  according  t^i  their 
divisions  by  estate,  and  to  carry  on  tiie  affairs  of  the  phice  by  erecting  a  town 
there,  to  he  governed  according  to  the  laws,  directions,  and  instructions  they 
shall  receive  from  you.  Tour  Petitioners  having  some  knowledge  of  the  place 
by  reason  of  the  propinquity  of  our  habitation,  to  be  a  place  desirable  to  erect  a 

§  Subsequently  L'nited  States  Senator. 

II  No  election  of  ofticere  in  1831, 1874,  and  1875. 


SHOWING    THE    COURT-HOUSE,    FIRST    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH,    ETC.,    AS    SEEN    FROM    THE    ROAD    IN    A    NORTHEASTERN    DIRECTION. 


City  Hull.  Public  Library.  First  Congregational  Churi-li. 


Court-Uoiiae. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE    COUNTY. 


173 


town  in  fui-  the  furthenince  of  the  public  weal,  by  providing  corn  and  raising 
cjittle,  not  only  for  their  own  but  likewise  for  tlie  good  of  others, — the  propaga- 
ting of  tlie  gospel, — the  place  promising  in  an  ordinaiy  way  of  God's  Providence 
n  comfoitable  subsistence,  whereby  people  may  live,  and  attend  upon  God  in  his 
holy  ordinances  without  distraction.  So,  committing  you  to  the  Guidance  of  the 
mighty  Counsellor,  we  rest  your  liumble  Petitioners. 

"Edward  Elmore,  Richard  Smith,  John  Gilbert,  \Vm.  Miller,  John  Alien, 
Kichard  Wckley,  Thomas  Burnham,  Matthias  Foot,  Thomas  Rout,  Wm.  Clark, 
Joseph  Smith,  John  Stedniaii,  Jonathan  Smith,  M'^m.  Holton,  Robt.  Bartlett,  John 
Cole,  Nicbohis  Ackley,  John  Webb,  Thom;is  Stednuin,  Thomas  Bird,  Wm.  Janes, 
John  North,  Joseph  Bird,  and  James  Bird." 

This  petitioii  for  the  planting  of  Non-o-tuck  was  supplemented 
by  a  petitioii  signed  by  John  Pynchon,  Elizur  Holyolce,  and 
Samuel  Chapin,  praying  that  the  prayers  of  the  above  petition- 
ers might  be  granted,  and  they  state  that  twenty-tive  families 
at  least  were  desirous  of  forming  a  new  settlement,  "many  of 
them,"  to  use  their  own  words,  **  of  considerable  quality  for  es- 
tates and  fit  matter  for  a  church  when  it  shall  please  God  to 
give  opportunity  that  way;"  and  further  on  it  is  stated  that 
"the  inducement  to  us  in  these  desires  is  not  any  sinister  re- 
spect of  our  own,  but  that  we,  being  so  alone,  by  this  means  may 
have  some  more  neighborhood  and  your  jurisdiction." 

The  petition  was  finally  granted  by  the  General  Court,  May 
18,  1653,  and  Messrs.  Pynchon,  Holyoke,  and  Chapin  were 
chosen  as  commissioners  to  lay  out  the  plantation  of  Non-o-tuck. 

The  next  move  to  be  made  in  the  grand  scheme  which  Mr. 
Pynchon  had  projected  was  the  purchase  of  the  lands  from  the 
Indians,  and  in  this  he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illus- 
trious and  humane  father  in  dealing  honestly  and  fairly  with 
the  children  of  the  forest.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  in- 
strument that  conveyed  the  lands  of  Non-o-tuck  to  John  Pyn- 
chon and  others : 

"  Be  it  known  by  these  presents  that  Chickwallop,  alias  Wawliillowii,  Nenfissa- 
halant,  NrBsisobee,  Kiiinks,  Paquabarlant,  ^Vssellaquompas,  &  Awonusk,  the 
wife  of  Wulluther,  all  Nonotiick,  who  are  the  chief  and  proper  ownera  of  all  the 
lands  on  the  west  side  of  Connecticut  River  at  Nonotuck,  on  the  one,  do  give, 
grant,  bargain,  and  sell  unto  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield,  on  the  other  party, 
to  him,  his  heirs,  and  a.ssigns,  all  the  Grounds  and  Meadows,  Woods  and  Ponds  & 
W  lying  on  the  west  side  of  Quonetticut  Rivei-,  beginning  the  small  vivcr  (below 
Munham)  called  Sankrohonk,  &  So  up  by  tiuuuetticut  River  to  tho  little 
meadow  called  Capawonk,  namely,  to  the  little  brook  or  Gutter  on  this  side  Cap- 
awonk,  which  little  brook  is  called  Masquampe,  and  the  Grounds  lying  West- 
ward from  Connecticut  River  (within  the  compass  aforesaid)  fur  nine  miles  out 
into  the  woods,  viz. :  as  far  as  Manskoonish  is  from  Springfield, — for  so  it  was  ex- 
pressed to  the  Indians, — all  that  Tract  of  Grounds  from  Saukronk  river,  Quonaik- 
guck,  called  Munham,  Pocbneck,  Pelowwag,  Aspowounk,  Luckconmiuk,  Assat- 
tiiyyagg,  Hayyagg,  Na^'ounihegg,  Masqump,  and  by  whatsoever  othcruames the 
said  Grounds  are  called,  &  all  out  into  the  woods  fn)m  the  great  river  for  0  miles 
within  this  compass.  The  aforesaid  Indians,  and  in  Particular  Wawbollowa, 
Nenessahalant,  &  ^Nassachohee,  being  the  Sachems  of  Nonotuck,  do  for  them- 
selves, &  with  the  consent  of  the  other  Indians  and  owners  of  the  Said  Grounds, 
Sell,  Give,  and  Grant  unto  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield,  and  to  his  assigns,  for 
and  in  consideration  of  tmo  hundred  fatliom  of  Wampara  by  Sale  &  for  Ten  coats 
(beside  some  small  gifts)  in  hand  paid  to  the  said  Sachems  &  ownei"s,  all  tlie  land 
aforesaid  as*  these  presents  have  bargained,  Granted  &  Sold  to  the  said  Pynchon 
all  and  singular  the  said  lands  free  from  all  Incumbrances  of  Indians,  provided 
the  Said  Pynchon  Shall  plow  up,  or  cause  to  be  plowed  up,  for  the  said  Indians 
Sixteen  acres  of  land  on  the  Easterly  side  of  (iuonctticut  river,  which  is  to  bo 
done  sometime  next  Summer,  l(j54;  and  in  the  meantime,  viz.,  the  next  spring 
1G54,  the  Indians  have  liberty  to  fdant  their  present  cornfields,  but  after  that 
time  they  are  wholly  to  leave  that  west  side  of  the  river,  A  not  to  plant,  or  mo- 
lest the  English  there. 

"  All  the  said  premises  the  said  Pynchon  &  his  assigns  Shall  have  &  enjoy  ab- 
solutely &  cleiirly  forever,f  all  Incumbrances  from  any  Indians  or  their  Corn- 
fields. Witness  of  this  these  presents  the  said  Indians  have  subscribed  their 
marks  this  twenty-fourth  day  of  September,  1G53. 

"  The  mai'k  of  Chick  wallop, 


'  The  mark  of 


d^ 


The  Diark  of 


alias  Wawhillowa. 
"The  mark  ^^ — ^^--^ of  Paquahalant." 


*  Omissions  in  deed. 

t  This  grant  was  witnessed  by  Eliziir  Holyoke,  Henry  Burt,  Thomas  Cooper, 
TliuB.  Stebhius,  anil  two  Indians. 


The  two  great  step.s  had  now  already  been  taken,  and  on 
Oct.  3,  16.53,  not  two  weeks  after  the  jiureha.se  was  made,  the 
proprietors  met  at  Springfield  to  confer  concerning  the  future 
plantation  and  the  regulation  thereof.  Among  other  things, 
it  was  agreed  that  of  the  petitioners  all  should  be  "resident 
there,  and  dwell,  themselves  and  their  families,  there  by  the 
spring  next  ensuing  the  date  hereof."  It  was  also  agreed  that 
any  person  failing  to  do  this  should  "  lose  his  money  paid  for 
the  purchase,  with  the  charges."  At  this  meeting  it  seems  the 
whole  number  of  petitioners  did  not  appear,  and  ten  new  per- 
sons were  substituted. 

It  is  evident  that  the  object  of  the  above  meeting  was  to 
perBianently  secure  the  settlement  of  the  place  in  the  following 
year,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  held  at  Springfield, 
Nov.  15,  1653,  it  was  announced  that  the  petition  had  been 
granted,  and  the  following  order  was  made  : 

"  It  is  ordered  and  agreed  that  all  such  persons  as  shall  go  up  to  Nalwottoge 
the  next  spring  ensuing  the  date  hereof,  there  to  dwell  the  next  winter,  for  the 
furthering  and  promoting  the  planting  of  the  said  place,  it  is  agreed  that  every 
single  man  shall  receive  four  acres  of  meadow  besides  the  rest  of  his  division, 
and  every  head  of  a  family  shall  receive  five  acres  beside  the  rest  of  their 
division." 

In  that  early  day  it  was  considered  an  "  inalienable  right" 
of  the  "good  men"  of  the  town  to  designate  who  shoiild  be 
admitted  into  the  plantation.  At  a  meeting  of  the  progenitors 
of  the  settlement,  held  at  Springfield  in  1653,  a  committee  of 
five  was  appointed  "to  receive  in  such  inhabitants  as  they 
shall  judge  fit  for  the  carrying  on  the  designs  of  the  company, 
and  to  accommodate  them  according  to  the  former  rule,  which 
is  a  quarter  to  twenty  families,  being  in  estimation  eight  hun- 
dred acres," — that  is,  that  the  first  twenty  families  were  to 
have  forty  acres  each. 

Among  the  early  regulations  of  the  plantations  were  these: 
that  there  must  be  a  residence  of  four  years  before  any  settler 
should  have  a  right  to  either  sell  or  let  his  lands,  and  in  case 
he  should  remove  from  the  town  before  the  expiration  of  four 
years  his  lands  should  be  declared  forfeited. 

In  the  spring  of  1654,  Pynchon,  Holyoke,  and  Chapin,  in 
furtherance  of  this  plan,  proceeded  to  lay  out  the  plantation 
of  Non-o-tuck,  as  shown  by  the  following  record  in  the  old 
town-book  of  Northampton : 

"  A  true  copy  of  the  bounds  of  the  plantation  wliicli  the  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Honored  General  Court  laid  out  to  the  I'l.auters  of  Nonotuck. 

"  Wliereas,  we  whose  names  are  underwritten  were  appointed  by  the  General 
Court  of  the  Masisachusetts  to  lay  out  the  land  at  Nonotuck  for  two  plantations, 
for  the  present  we  have  only  appointed  the  bounds  of  one  of  them,  to  which  we 
allow  tlie  great  Meadow  on  the  west  side  of  Conecticote  River,  as  also  a  little 
meadow,  calleil  by  the  Indians  (Capawonke),  which  lieth  about  two  miles  above 
the  great  Meadow,  the  bounds  of  which  plantation  is  to  e.xtend  from  the  (south 
side)  of  the  little  meadow,  called  Capawonke,  to  the  great  falls,  to  Springfield 
ward;  and  westward  is  to  extend  nine  miles  into  the  woods,  from  the  river  of 
Conecticote,  lying  .  .  .  east  the  foresaid  meadows ;  and  (the  same)  to  belong  to 
the  planters  and  such  as  shall  come  to  idant  with  them,  who,  according  (to  the) 
liberty  granted  from  the  Court,  have  made  choice  thereof  for  themselves  and 
their  successors,  not  molesting  the  Indians  (nor)  depriving  them  of  their  just 
right  and  property  without  allowance  to  their  satisfaction. 

"  By  us,  "  John  Pynchon, 

"  Elezur  Holyoke, 
"Samuel  Chapin. 

"  SpitlNGFIELD,  9th  May,  1054." 

In  this  connection  the  following  record  also  appears,  under 

date  of  Oct.  18,  1654  : 

"Nonotuck  Plantation. 

"  To  the  Honoreil  General  Court  of  the  Massachusetts :  We  whose  names  are 
underwritten  being  apiKiintod  to  divide  the  lands  at  Nonotuck  into  two  planta- 
tions, we  accordingly  have  granted  to  them  that  now  firet  appear  to  remove 
thither  to  plant  themselves  on  the  west  side  of  the  River  Conecticott,  as  thay 
desired,  and  have  laid  out  their  bounds,  viz.,  from  the  little  meadow  above  thire 
plantation— which  meatlow  is  called  Capawonke  or  Mattomett — down  to  the  head 
of  the  falls  ivhich  are  below  them,  reserving  the  lands  on  the  east  side  of  said 
river  for  another  Plantation,  when  God,  by  his  Providence,  shall  so  dispose 

thereof,  and  still  rcnnvin  yipur  humble  servants, 

"John  Pynchon, 

"  Elizuh  Holyoke, 

"SA3IUEL  Chapin. 

"  The  Court  approves  of  this  return." 

We  have  now  presented  to  the  reader  in  detail  the  various 


174 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


petitions,  orders,  etc.,  that  gave  a  "local  habitation  and  a 
name"  to  Non-o-tuck,  and  next  in  order  is  to  mention  the 
names  of  those  sturdy  pioneers  who  left  the  rude  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  the  plantations  in  this  valley,  that  had  been 
settled  more  than  a  decade,  and  had  already  taken  upon  them 
many  of  the  attributes  of  the  Eastern  home,  for  an  abode  in 
the  wilds  of  Non-o-tuck.  It  required  no  prophetic  eye  to 
discern  that  the  rich  intervales  of  this  section  must  soon 
become  the  site  of  a  flourishing  settlement,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  project  of  John  Pynchon  met  with  a 
hearty  response,  and  that  the  people  were  anxious  to  rear  their 
homes  in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  on  Non-o-tuck, 
within  the  shadows  of  those  grand  upheavals  of  creatjon. 
Mounts  Tom  and  Holyoke. 

Among  the  tirst  of  those  courageous  pioneers  who  located 
at  Non-o-tuck,  erecting  the  standard  of  home  in  the  midst  of 
a  dense,  uninviting  wilderness,  surrounded  by  wild  beasts  and 
the  treacherous  savages,  were  Thomas  Judd,  John  King, 
Joseph  Parsons,  Thomas  Bascom,  Isaac  Shelden,  John  Strong, 
Thos.  Ford,  Edward  Elmore,  Aaron  Cook,  John  Hlllyer, 
William  Hulburt,  Thomas  Woodford,  Samuel  Wright,  Robt. 
Bartlett,  John  Lyman,  James  Bridgman,  Thomas  Root,  Alex- 
ander Edwards,  Wm.  Miller,  David  Burt,  Samuel  Allen, 
William  Hannum,  William  Hulburt,  Nathaniel  Phelps,  and 
John  Stebbins. 

The  healthful  climate  and  fertility  of  the  soil  of  the  "  Plan- 
tation of  Non-o-tuck,"  as  the  place  was  called,  soon  attracted 
the  attention  of  others,  and  the  years  1G58  to  1062  witnessed 
an  influx  of  sturdy  j'eomen  from  the  adjoining  settlements  of 
Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Springfield.  Among  them  are  men- 
tioned the  names  of  Edward  Baker,  John  Searle,  Eleazer 
Mather,  Alexander  Alvord,  Wm.  Clark,  Henry  Woodward, 
Enos  Kingsley,  Aaron  Cook,  John  Strong,  Medad  Pomeroy, 
Jonathan  Hunt,  and  John  Taylor.  Soon  after  came  Israel 
Rusk,  Preserved  Clapp,  Caleb  Pomeroy,  Solomon  Stoddard, 
Robert  Banks,  Samuel  Judd,  and  Thomas  Judd. 

It  is  a  somewhat  singular  fact  that  of  the  twenty-four  peti- 
tioners for  the  settlement  of  Non-o-tuck  only  eight  settled  here, 
viz.,  Edward  Elmore,  William  Miller,  Thomas  Root,  William 
Clark,  William  Holtun,  Robert  Bartlett,  John  Webb,  and 
William  Janes. 

The  home-lots  of  the  first  settlers  were  located  in  the  vicinity 
of  what  is  now  known  as  Market,  Pleasant,  King,  and  Haw- 
ley  Streets.  As  the  plantation  increased,  settlements  were 
next  made  west  of  the  "old  church,"  and  later  south  of  Mill 
River. 

The  pioneers  evidently  gave  but  little  attention  to  the  lay- 
ing out  of  streets,  and  it  has  been  said  that  they  were  laid  out 
by  the  cows,  the  inhabitants  building  wherever  these  animals 
made  a  path. 

The  causes  which  drove  the  fugitives  from  their  native 
country  to  Plymouth  Rock  were  still  fresh  in  their  minds,  and 
the  settlement  had  hardly  been  effected  ere  a  movement  was 
made  toward  the  erection  of  a  house  of  wor.ship.  It  was 
placed  under  the  control  of  the  town,  the  town  voting  for  the 
selection  of  a  minister,  his  wages,  etc.*  The  first  meeting- 
house was  contracted  to  be  built  by  five  of  the  settlers,  and  to 
he  completed  by  the  middle  of  April,  1655. 

March  13,  1057,  the  town  employed  an  agent  "to  obtain  a 
minister,  and  to  devise  means  to  prevent  the  exce.ss  of  liquors 
and  cider  from  coming  to  town."  This  commission  alone 
clearly  portrays  the  character  of  the  pioneers  of  Northampton. 
They  were  religious  and  temperate,  firm  in  the  right,  and  with 
a  strength  of  character  that  rendered  them  conspicuous.  Tliey 
left  their  impress  upon  the  following  generations,  and  the 
"  New  England  traits  of  character"  have  ever  been  synonj'ms 
with  honesty,  uprightness,  sobriety,  and  Christianity. 

During  the  first  four  years  the  expenses  of  the  plantation 

*  See  history  uf  the  Fii-st  Cluirch. 


must  have  been  very  light,  as  the  first  record  of  a  tax  voted 
was  under  date  of  March  29,  1658,  when  they  voted  a  tax  of 
thirty  pounds  to  pay  the  town's  debts;  this  doubtless  covered 
the  period  from  the  date  of  settlement  to  that  time.  At  that 
meeting  it  was  also  voted  that  a  ferry-boat  be  built  for  the 
common  use  of  the  people. 

"January  4,  1658,  "The  Town  voted  to  pay  Mr.  Mather 
twenty-five  pounds  for  half  a  year,  in  good  and  merchantable 
pay  in  wheat,  in  this  place."  They  also  granted  eighty  acres 
of  land  for  the  ministry. 

Uecember  20,  16.58,  "  The  Town  voted  one  hundred  pounds 
to  build  a  minister's  house." 

It  Is  quite  certain  that  hospitality  was  not  reckoned  as  one 
of  the  virtues  of  the  good  people  of  Northampton  in  1672,  as 
the  town  records  for  that  year  disclosed  the  following  order : 

"  4th  (1)  '72,  73.  Whereas  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  detriment,  and  change  have 
been  brought  upon  this  Town  by  reason  of  receiving  int^i  the  same  Foreigners 
and  Strangers,  we  do,  therefore,  by  tliis  order,  and  by  this  it  is  ordered,  tllat  wlio- 
soever  in  this  town  sliall  bring  into  it  or  receive  into  liis  family  a  foreigner  or 
Stranger,  or  any  man  fi-om  aliroad,  or  entei  tain  him  in  his  house  above  Ten  days 
without  Liberty  from  the  Selectmen,  shall  forfeit  to  the  Town  Ten  Shillings  for 
everj'  week  so  entertaining  him.  By  the  Selectmen,  David  Wilton,  William 
Clark,  Wm.  Holton,  Henry  Woodward,  and  Medad  Pomeroy." 

Feb.  8,  1657,  it  was  voted  that  three  men  should  be  chosen 
"  to  end  small  causes.  They  shall  first  choose  one,  and  he  that 
hath  most  votes  by  Papers  Shall  Stand  for  one  and  for  the 
rest  in  order."  It  seems,  however,  there  were  but  two  chosen, 
WlUlam  Holton  and  Thomas  Bascom. 

In  1658  thirty  pounds  were  levied  to  pay  the  town  debts. 

In  1661  it  was  voted  that  the  mill  be  free,  and  "  that  the 
Town  win  build  a  new  boat." 

It  seems  in  those  early  days  there  was  a  penalty  for  being 
absent  from  town-meetings,  as  under  date  of  Feb.  9,  16.58,  it 
was  ordered  that  whosoever  he  be  that  absents  himself  from 
the  town-meeting,  after  having  been  warned  by  the  townsmen, 
shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  l'2d.  A  fine  of  Id.  was  also  ordered 
"  if  they  be  not  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting  when  it  is 
orderly  begun." 

Some  trouble  was  evidently  experienced  in  the  town-meet- 
ings, as  the  following  order  appears  on  the  town-book  : 

"  Northamjiton,  19th  of  12th  mo.,  1(;60.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  con- 
sidering that  might  be  for  the  well  ordering  of  town-meetings,  and  finding  by 
expciience  that  Tumults  and  many  speaking  at  one  time  in  Such  a  Tumultuous 
manner  that  it  hinders  the  work  in  hand,  and  is  dishonorable  to  God  and  grievous 
to  many  persons,  do  therefore  order  whilst  any  common  business  is  in  hand,  or 
under  consideration  and  debate,  every  man  shall  apply  himself  to  the  common 
Wt)rk,  and  not  ti>  be  more  speakera  than  one  at  a  time,  lovingly  and  moderately, 
upon  the  Penalty  of  12*^  for  every  such  offence,  to  be  levied  by  distress.  We 
intend  not  to  hinder  any  man  to  give  his  advice  in  an}'  matter  one  at  a  time." 

On  the  31st  of  the  10th  month  "it  was  voted  and  agreed 
that  the  town  rates  for  this  present  year  wheat  shall  go  for 
3s.  f'xl.  per  bushel." 

"  Cornelius,  the  Irishman,"  was  dealt  with  as  follows  : 

"  17th  day,  0th  mo.,  l(iR3.  At  a  legal  Town-meeting  there  was  then  granted 
to  Cornelius,  the  Irishman,  three  acres  of  laud,  upon  condition  he  build  upon  it 
&  make  improvement.s  of  it  within  one  ye.^r;  yet  not  so  as  to  make  him  Capable 
of  Acting  in  any  Town  affairs  no  more  than  he  had  before  it  w.is  granted  tti  him.' 

The  price  of  grain  for  the  year  1664  was  fixed  as  follows  : 
wheat  3«.  and  id  ;  "pease,"  3s.  per  bushel  ;  and  Indian  corn 
at  2.<!.  and  3rf.  per  bushel,  "  till  they  see  cause  to  alter  it." 

"  2  April,  1G(j4,  Capt.  Cooke  brovight  a  wolf's  head  to  my  house,  &  I  cut  off  his 
ears,  according  to  law. 

"  Per  me.        David  Wilton." 

"  Capt.  Cooke"  was  evidently  a  wolf-hunter,  as  the  records 
show  that  within  a  few  months  he  killed  twelve  of  these  ani- 
mals, all  of  whose  "  ears  were  cut  oft""  by  David  Wilton, 
"  according  to  law." 

The  sport  of  "horse-racing"  was  not  In  much  favor  with 
the  "  goodmen"  of  the  parish  away  back  in  1664,  as  it  voted 
in  that  year  "  that  if  any  shall  run  races  with  their  horses  or 
mares  in  any  Street  in  this  Town  shall  for  every  such  otfense 
pay  2s.  6(/.,  the  one-half  to  the  town  the  other  half  to  its 
Informer." 


HISTORY   OF    HAMPSHIRE    COUNTY. 


175 


THE    INDIANS — KING    PHILIP'S   WAR. 

The  Indians  of  whom  the  plantation  was  purchased  still 
roamed  the  forests,  and  were  given  the  right  to  hunt  on  all 
the  lands  sold.  A  friendly  intercourse  was  maintained,  and 
not  the  slightest  discord  arose  to  mar  the  brotherly  t'oeling  ex- 
isting until  the  breaking  out  of  King  Philip's  war.  The  mu- 
tual confidence  between  them  can  be  no  better  illustrated  than 
by  the  following  permit  to  erect  a  fort,  which  appears  on  the 
old  town  records  under  date  of  April  7,  Kifii  : 

"At  a  Town-meeting  the  Indians  advised  a  place  to  bnilil  a  fort.  The  Town 
granted  tliey  sliouhl,  provided  they  would  attend  tliesc  artielus  underwritt^m. 
The  men  that  the  Town  choose  U>  deliver  their  mind  t(j  the  Indians  were  David 
Wilton,  John  Lyman,  and  Joseph  Parsons.  The  Town's  mind  wjus  declared  to 
the  Indians  liy  us  April  13,  l&H. 

"5:  "2  mo.,  I0G4,  upon  the  Indians'  request  to  the  Town  to  have  lilierty  W  linild 
a  fort  on  our  land,  on  which  the  Town  declare  on  what  Terms  they  may  make  a 
fort  on  our  land,  viz. : 

"  1.  Fii-st,  they  shall  not  break  the  Sabbath  by  working  or  gaming,  or  carrying 
Burdens  or  tlie  like. 

"  2.  Tliey  shall  not  Powwow  on  that  place  or  any  where  else  amongst  us. 

"  3.  Tliey  shall  not  get  Liquore  or  Cider  and  diink  themselves  drunk  as  So  kill 
one  another  as  they  have  done, 

"  4.  They  shall  not  take  in  other  Indians  of  other  places  to  seat  amongst  them, 
we  allow  Nowutague  Indians  tliat  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  place. 

"  5.  Tliey  shall  not  break  down  our  fences  and  let  in  cattle  and  Swine,  but  shall 
go  over  a  stile  at  one  place. 

"(J.  T!ie  Murderers,  Callawane  &  Wuttowhau  &  Pacquallant,  Shall  not  seat 
amongst  ttiem. 

"7.  Tliey  shall  not  hunt  or  kill  our  cattle  or  sheep  or  swine  with  their  dogs ; 
if  they  do,  they  shall  pay  for  them." 

The  cause  that  led  to  the  building  of  this  fort  was  doubtless 
their  fear  of  other  Indians.  "  The  fort,"  says  Rev.  Solomon 
, Williams,  in  his  "  Historical  Sketch  of  Northampton,"  a  ser- 
mon delivered  April  13,  1815,  "is  said  to  have  been  built  on 
the  northerly  end  of  Fort  Plain,  which  is  now  in  Easthamp- 
ton."* 

When  King  Philip  sounded  the  war-whoop  through  this 
beautiful  valley,  these  natives  in  the  vicinity  of  Northampton 
were  inclined  to  remain  true  to  the  English,  with  whom  they 
had  dwelt  so  long  in  peace,  never  receiving  any  but  the  kind- 
est treatment,  but  the  proud  chief  of  the  Wampanoags  roused 
their  lurking  treachery,  and  they  joined  the  hostile  savages. f 

As  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that  the  Indians  here  had 
joined  Philip's  warriors,  and  that  the  coming  contest  was 
likelj'  to  be  of  a  serious  nature,  a  barricade  was  built  around 
the  town — a  sort  of  Chinese  wall — to  defend  the  settlement 
against  a  surprise.  This  was  constructed  of  palisades, — 
pieces  of  wood  about  eight  feet  long  tirmly  planted  in  a 
trench.  March  14,  1676,  a  body  of  Indians  as.saulted  this  de- 
fense, and  forced  their  way  through,  but  were  driven  back  by 
the  soldiers.  In  this  attack  they  killed  six  persons,  among 
whom  were  Robert  Bartlett  and  Thomas  Holton,  and  burned 
a  number  of  buildings.  No  further  attempt  was  made  by  the 
Indians  to  molest  this  town  ;  but  in  the  contest  at  Deertield, 
May  19,  1676,  fifteen  residents  of  Northampton  were  killed. 
The  town,  after  the  close  of  Philip's  war,  remained  in  com- 
parative quiet,  and  the  barricade  was  allowed  to  decay.  In 
the  year  1790,  during  King  William's  war,  the  town  was 
again  thrown  into  a  state  of  alarm,  and  the  place  was  sur- 
rounded by  pickets,  located  near  the  site  of  the  old  barricade. 
No  attack  was,  however,  made,  and  in  fact  Northampton  was 
never  after  molested  by  the  enemy.  In  1704,  old  style,  the 
village  of  Paokhomuck,  located  in  what  is  now  Southampton, 
was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  and  all  the  inhabitants  were 
either  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  As  an  instance  of  the  bar- 
barity of  the  savages,  it  is  stated  that,  not  content  with  the 
horrible  butcheries  just  perpetrated  on  the  unsuspecting  in- 
habitants of  the  little  settlement,  they  conveyed  the  wife  of 
Benjamin  .lanes  to  the  top  of  Pomeroy's  Mountain,  where 
she  was  knocked  in  the  head  and  scalped.     She  was  found  in 

*  Dr.  Dwight  in  his  Travels  says,  *'  This  fort  was  built  in  the  heart  of  the  town, 
at  the  distance  of  perhaps  twenty  rods  from  the  most  populous  street." 
t  See  hist*)ry  of  King  Philip's  war,  in  the  general  history  of  this  work. 


this  condition,  and  was  carried  to  Northampton,  and  lived 
until  she  reached  the  age  of  over  eighty  years. 

For  a  number  of  years  after,  the  savages  roamed  the  adja- 
cent forest,  committing  depredations,  and,  Jan.  9,  1708,  killed 
Samuel  and  Joseph  Parsons,  and  in  1711,  Samuel  Strong,  Jr., 
was  killed,  and  his  father  taken  prisoner.  In  1724,  Nathaniel 
Edwards  was  killed,  and  in  1747  the  prowling  savages  mur- 
dered Elisha  Clark,  and  soon  after  Noah  Pixley  also  fell  by 
the  hands  of  these  murderous  marauders.  The  two  latter 
lived  in  what  is  now  Southampton. 

Although,  as  stated  above,  the  inhabitants  of  this  town 
were  not  attacked  after  Philip's  war,  nevertheless  they  dwelt 
in  almost  constant  .alarm  until  the  conquest  of  Canada,  in 
1759.  In  1745  there  were  fourteen  "  forted"  houses  in  the 
town ;  and  in  1755,  during  the  French-and-Indian  war,  a 
watch  was  kept  during  the  nights,  and  a  number  of  soldiers 
were  stationed  here  for  the  defense  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
vicinity. 

In  the  year  1749  the  resolute  little  band  of  settlers  in  this 
frontier  plantation,  who  had  retained  and  defended  their  forest 
home  through  the  various  wars,  believing  that  peace  was  soon 
again  to  settle  down  over  this  beautiful  valley,  voted,  under 
date  of  June  12,  1749,  "  That  the  forts,  mounts,  and  fortifica- 
tions in  the  town  of  Northampton  be  demolished,  and  that 
Lieut.  Ebenezer  Clark,  Mr.  Josiah  Parsons,  and  Benjamin 
Alvord  be  a  committee  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  timber, 
boards,  etc.,  to  the  best  advantage  of  the  town." 

THE    REVOLUTION. J 

When  the  tidings  of  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  at  Concord 
reached  the  settlement,  and  the  hideous  head  of  British  oppres- 
sion rose  in  this  free  land,  the  inhabitants  rallied  around  the 
colonial  standard,  and,  during  the  eight  long  years  of  that 
arduous  struggle,  contributed  freely  in  both  men  and  means. 

In  1775  a  committee  of  "Correspondence,  Inspection,  and 
Safety"  was  organized  with  the  following  persons:  Joseph 
Hawley,  Robert  Beck,  Ezra  Clark,  Josiah  Clark,  Jacob  Par- 
sons, Col.  Seth  Pomeroy,  Elijah  Hunt,  Ephraim  Wright, 
Elias  Lyman,  Elijah  Clark,  Capt.  Joseph  Lyman,  Quartus 
Pomeroy,  Martin  Phelps,  Caleb  Strong,  Jr.,  and  Dr.  Shep- 
herd. 

Among  the  leading  spirits  of  Northampton  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution  was  Seth  Pomeroy,  who  was  instrumental 
in  raising  troops,  and  subsequently  became  a  brigadier-gen- 
eral. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  written  to  his  son,  Capt. 
Pomeroy,  of  Southampton,  under  date  September,  1776 : 

"Northampton,  Sept.  18, 1776. 

"Df,.\r  Sir,— The  affair  of  enlisting  one  .5th  of  y«  men  To  go  in  this  the  present 

exigency  is  of  y"^  greatest  importance,  and  thay  must  be  equipped  and  sent  off  as 

soon  as  possible,  and  carry  with  them  as  much  provision  as  to  last  them  down ; 

and  I  think  they  had  better  take  lioi-scs,— that  is,  I  think  a  horee  to  two  men  will 

do,  lest  thay  may  take  turns  to  ride.     So  leave  y  horee  at  a  place  as  they  shall 

agree  for  y=  other  to  take  when  he  comes  to  him.    This  town  and  Southampton 

will  make  a  company  when  raised;  they  shall  have  such  officers  as  they  shall 

choose. 

"  In  great  haste. 

"  From  your  Loving  Father, 
"  Captain  Pomeroy.  "  Seth  Pomeroy." 

Gen.  Pomeroy  was  made  a  brigadier-general  June  22,  1775. 
He  was  a  volunteer  at^the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  also 
served  in  the  French  war  under  Sir  William  Johnson.  He 
died  in  February,  1777. 

Maj.  Jonathan  Allen  and  four  brothers  also  served  with  dis- 
tinction. Capt.  Elisha  Hawley,  Lieut.  Daniel  Pomeroy,  and 
Thomas  Wait,  natives  of  this  town,  were  killed  in  battle  at 
Lake  George,  in  1755. 

It  seems  that  two  companies  of  soldiers  were  sent  to  the 
army  from  Northampton,  in  1776,  as  the  records  of  March  3, 
1777,  contain  the  following  vote:    "That  those  persons  that 


t  For  names  of  Revolutionary  soldiei-s  see  Chapter  XVII. 


176 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


shall  now  engage  in  the  service  of  the  Continental  Army,  who 
belonged  to  Capt.  AUin's  and  Capt.  Chapin's  Company,  the 
last  year,  both  oificers  and  Privates,  Shall  have  full  compensa- 
tion for  all  losses  by  them  sustained  in  Cloaths  and  other  arti- 
cles where  such  losses  were  unavoidable,  and  not  through  the 
negligence  of  those  who  sustained  them." 

At  the  same  meeting  a  bounty  of  Slo  was  voted ;  and  a  committee  also  ap- 
pointed "to  examine  and  consider  what  pereons  liave  in  the  town  heen  delin- 
quent in  doing  their  proportion  in  promoting  the  publiek  cause."  This  com- 
mittee was  constitued  as  follo%vs: 

"  Capt.  Jonathan  AUin,  Lieut.  Elijah  Clark,  Lieut.  Enoch  Clark,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Clark,  and  Mr.  Robert  Breck,  for  the  first  company." 

Lieut.  Simon  Chap,  Lieut.  Joseph  Cook,  Dea.  Josiah  Clark,  Mr.  Eliafi  Lyman, 
and  Mr.  Abuer  Barnard,  for  the  second  company. 

Lieut.  El^ah  Lyman,  Lieut.  Hezekiah  Russell,  Mr.  .\sa  Wright,  Mr.  Samuel 
Clark,  and  Mr.  Jacob  Parsons,  for  the  third  company. 

Lieut.  David  Lyman,  Messrs.  Jonatlian  Janes,  Samuel  Judd,  David  Chapman, 
and  Joel  Parsons,  for  the  fourth  company. 

Messrs.  Martin  Clark,  William  Bartlett,  Abner  Clafllin,  John  Smith,  and  Aza- 
riah  Lyman,  for  the  fiftli  company. 

In  1779  it  was  voted  "  that  every  able-bodied  man  that  shall 
engage  to  serve  in  the  Continental  army  for  the  term  of  nine 
months  shall  have  paid  to  him  by  the  town,  according  to  the 
rate  of  eighteen  pounds  for  nine  months  for  the  term  he  shall 
actually  serve,  in  wheat  at  four  shillings  per  bushel,  rice  at 
three  shillings  per  bushel,  or  Indian  corn  at  two  shillings  per 
bushel."  Sixty  pounds  bounty  was  also  voted  them,  and  "  two 
shillings  perjnile  for  mileage." 

Aug.  9,  1779,  the  town  promptly  voted  to  raise  1500  pounds 
"  to  pay  for  the  clothing  that  is  called  for  from  this  town  by 
the  General  Court  for  the  Continental  army." 

At  a  meeting  held  Oct.  1.5,  1779,  a  motion  was  made  by 
Capt.  Cook  that  the  town  should  refund  to  the  militia  officers 
money  which  they  had  paid  "  for  liquor  to  facilitate  the  raising 
of  men."     The  motion  "passed  in  the  negative." 

June  5,  1780,  under  a  call  for  men  by  the  General  Court,  the 
quota  of  this  town  was  twenty-two  men,  and  the  following 
were  appointed  "a  committee  to  manage  and  transact  the 
whole  business  of  raising  the  twenty-two  men :  the  militia 
officers,  together  with  Maj.  Hawley,  Quartus  Pomeroy,  Elijah 
Clarlv,  Stephen  Baker,  Capt.  Samuel  Clark,  Benj.  Sheldon, 
Samuel  Judd,  Nathaniel  Edwards,  and  Ithamer  Strong." 

The  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  signed  on  the  3d  of  September,  1783,  was  duly  cele- 
brated at  Northampton,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  on  the 
occasion  by  Kev.  Mr.  Spring.  The  proclamation  was  read 
from  the  court-house  steps  by  the  sherifl"  of  the  county  to  the 
militia  under  arms  and  a  large  as.sembly  of  gentlemen,  "  and 
the  evening  was  concluded  with  decent  mirth  and  hilarity." 
It  seems  that  the  ladies  of  the  town  were  allowed  no  part  in 
this  demonstration,  and,  much  incensed,  on  the  following  day 
celebrated  the  event  by  drinking  to  Lady  Washington  and 
Congress,  after  which  the  following  toasts  and  sentiments  were 
given  :  "  Reformation  to  our  liusbands,"  "  May  the  gentlemen 
and  ladies  ever  unite  on  joyful  occasions!"  "Happiness  and 
prosperity  to  our  families,"  "  Reformation  to  the  men  in  gen- 
eral," and  "  May  refined  husbands  ever  find  obedient  wives  !" 

Some  rhymster  of  the  day  caricatured  them  as  follows: 

**  The  prcsidentess,  spry  tfl  leap. 
Led  just  an  shepherd  leads  the  sheep; 
The  rest  rush  in  witli  sturdy  str.addle, 
With  each  in  liaud  a  pudding-paddle. 
By  neat  tow-strings,  all  at  their  backs. 
Hung  thirteen  pretty  little  sticks. 
All  tied  tight;  they  did  conceal 
Just  thirteen  quaj  ta  of  Indian  meal. 
Each  had  a  spoon  of  white-wood  metiil. 
Each  at  her  side  a  nice  tin-kettle. 
Thus  lixed,  they  nnirch  riglit  through  the  town, 
Nor  wo\ild  bo  stopped  by  spark  or  rlown. 
Old  Dido  with  her  Tyrian  band 
Ne'er  cvit  a  flash  one-lialf  so  grand, 
Wliile  they  moved  on  with  pomp  and  show, 
To  take  some  tea  and  pudding  too." 


LAFAYETTE'S   VISIT. 

_  The  name  of  this  honored  chieftain  and  soldier,  who  left 
his  home  in  sunny  France  to  assist  the  struggling  and  op- 
pressed colonists  in  1776,  will  ever  be  revered  by  the  American 
citizen.  His  visits  to  the  country  which  he  had  helped  to  free 
from  the  yoke  of  Britain  were  a  series  of  ovations,  towns 
vying  with  each  other  in  paying  him  tributes  of  respect. 

The  papers  of  the  day  announced  that  in  1820,  when  he 
passed  through  here,  he  entered  the  village  attended  by  the 
sherift',  the  committee,  the  cavalry,  and  private  guests,  under 
Col.  Shepherd,  chief  marshal.  At  the  village  the  procession 
was  met  by  the  infantry,  artillery,  and  volunteer  companies 
of  the  town.  He  visited  the  Round  Hill  school,  then  con- 
ducted by  Bancroft  &  Co.,  afterward  returned  to  "Warner's 
Hotel,  and  was  introduced  to  the  selectmen  of  the  town.  He 
then  drove  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  town,  attended 
by  his  suite  and  attendants,  and  stopped  at  the  church,  where 
he  was  introduced  to  various  persons.  After  partaking  of  a 
feast  at  two  o'clock,  he  proceeded  on  his  journey  westward, 
and  Northampton  had  met  and  honored  Lafayette. 

OTHER   EARLY   SETTLERS. 

In  addition  to  the  other  pioneers  noted  on  a  previous  page, 
the  following  list,  which  was  compiled  by  Wm.  Allen,  D.D., 
in  1854,  is  subjoined: 

Samuel  Allen*  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Allyn,  who  died  at 
Windsor  in  1648,  and  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  brother 
of  Mathew  Allyn,  of  Hartford  and  Windsor,  and  of  Thomas 
Allyn,  of  Middletown.  His  lot  was  north  of  Mr.  Woodford's, 
afterward  Jonathan  Edwards',  in  King  Street.  He  married 
Hannah  Woodford  in  1659,  and  died  Oct.  18,  1703.  His  chil- 
dren were  ten,  of  whom  Samuel,  who  died  in  1839,  was  a 
deacon  of  the  church  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Edwards.  Deacon 
Samuel's  son,  Joseph,  was  the  father  of  Thomas  Allen,  the 
first  minister  of  Pittsfield,  and  of  other  sons. 

Nehemiah  Allen,  son  of  Samuel,  of  Windsor,  married 
Sarah  Woodford  in  1664,  and  died  in  1684.  He  had  nine 
children.  Samuel  removed  to  Deerfield  in  1706,  and  thence 
to  Coventry.  His  son  Joseph,  born  in  1708  at  Deerfield,  mar- 
ried Mary  Baker,  of  Woodbury,  and  was  the  father  of  Col. 
Ethan  Allen,  of  Vermont. 

John  Allen,  son  of  Samuel,  of  Windsor,  married  Mary 
Hannum  in  1669  and  removed  to  Deerfield,  where  both  were 
killed  by  the  Indians  in  May,  1704. 

Alexander  Alvord  settled  here  in  about  1658. 

Edward  Baker  was  here  as  early  as  1655.  Osmyn  ]5aker, 
at  one  time  member  of  Congress,  was  a  descendant. 

Thomas  Bascom  came  from  the  nortli  of  England  and  set- 
tled here  in  about  1650,  and  died  in  1689. 

James  Bridgman  was  also  an  early  settler.  Thomas  Bridg- 
man,  a  descendant,  published  a  work  entitled  "Inscriptions 
on  the  Grave-Stones  of  Northampton,"  and  several  other 
works  relating  to  cemeteries  in  Boston  and  elsewhere. 

Daniel  Burt  was  a  son  of  Henry  Burt,  of  Springfield. 

Preserved  Clapp  was  born  Nov.  23,  1643,  and  died  in  1720. 
A  descendant,  Simeon  Clapp,  was  at  Saratoga  during  the  Rev- 
olution, and  was  also  a  guard  of  Maj.  Andre  at  his  execution. 
He  died  in  1851. 

William  Clark  removed  to  Northamjiton,  and  was  one  of 
the  pillars  of  the  church  in  1661. 

Capt.  Aaron  Cook  came  to  this  place  in  1661.  Robert 
Danks  was  also  an  early  settler. 

Alexander  Edwards  located  here  in  1655.  Prof.  Bela  Bates 
Edwards  and  Dr.  Justin  Edwards  were  descendants. 

Joseph  Hawley,  grandfather  of  Maj.  Joseph  Hawley,  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  was  here  as  early  as  1678. 

Nehemiah  Strong,  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  in  Yale  College,  graduated  in  1755,  and  died  in 

*  Spelled  AHyn  in  the  old  recordfi. 


HISTORY   OF    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


177 


1807.  He  heard  Edwards  preach  the  sermons  constituting  his 
"History  of  Redemption."  Simeon  Strong,  LL.D.,  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  was  born  here  in  173-5.  He  died  in  180-3. 
Joseph  Strong,  LL.D.,  and  his  son,  Henry  Strong,  LL.D., 
both  died  in  Norwich,  Conn.  Caleb  Strong,  minister,  of  Mon- 
treal, died  in  1847.     He  was  a  grandson  of  Gov.  Caleb  Strong. 

The  name  of  Lyman  has  ever  been  prominent  in  the  history 
of  Northampton.  Richard  Lyman  was  here  in  1G-j8,  and 
died  in  1002.  A  descendant,  Jonathan  H.  Lyman,  was  re- 
corder of  the  proprietors  of  Non-o-tuck  from  1054  to  1657. 
John  Lyman,  brother  of  Isaac,  was  here  as  early  as  1058. 

Among  other  early  settlers  were  William  Holton,  William 
Hulburt,  Jonathan  Hunt,  William  Jane-s,  Thomas  Judd,  John 
King,  Enos  Kingsley,  David  Lee,  William  Miller,  Joseph 
Parsons,  Nathaniel  Phelps,  Eldad  Pomeroy,  Thomas  Root, 
John  Searle,  Isaac  Sheldon,  John  Stebbins,  John  Strong, 
Thomas  Woodford,  Samuel  Wright,  and  Benjamin  Tappan. 

EMINENT    MEN. 

Northampton  has  ever  been  the  home  of  men  prominent  in 
the  councils  of  the  State  and  nation.  Her  record  is  a  noble 
one.  In  addition  to  the  long  list  of  talented  and  venerated 
divines  who  occupied  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Church,  and 
whose  history  may  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  that  church, 
there  were  men  whose  talents  and  genuine  worth  elevated  them 
to  many  of  the  highest  councils  in  the  land. 

This  town  has  sent  three  representatives  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  gave  Massachusetts  one  of  the  purest 
Governors  of  the  many  noble  statesmen  who  have  occupied  the 
gubernatorial  chair, — Hon.  Caleb  Strong.  He  was  born  in 
Northampton,  Jan.  9,  1745.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1704,  and  began  the  study  of  the  law  with  that  able  counselor 
Maj.  Joseph  Hawley.  He  earlj'  manifested  an  interest  in 
public  matters,  and  in  1774  represented  the  town  in  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress.  From  this  period  his  life  was  passed  chiefly 
in  the  public  service.  In  1776  he  received  the  appointment 
of  county  attorney,  which  office  he  held  twenty-four  years. 
He  represented  the  town  at  the  convention  called  to  adopt  a 
constitution,  and  was  on  the  committee  appointed  to  submit  a 
plan.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  in  1780,  and  was 
also  appointed  a  delegate  to  Congress.  The  latter  office  he 
declined.  At  the  framing  of  the  Constitution  in  1787  he  was 
a  delegate,  and  in  the  following  year  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  He  was  re-elected  in  17113,  but  resigned  before 
the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office. 

In  1800  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  in 
seven  or  eight  towns  about  Northampton  not  one  vote  was 
polled  against  him.  He  was  re-elected  in  1811,  and  after  four 
years  of  office  withdrew  permanently  from  public  life.  Ho 
died  here  Nov.  7,  1819,  aged  seventy-four. 

CoL.  John  Stoddard  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Solomon  Stod- 
dard, and  was  born  in  1682.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
in  1701,  and  for  a  number  of  years  after  took  no  prominent 
part  in  public  life.  In  1713,  however,  he  was  sent  on  public 
business  to  Quebec,' and  from  this  time  forward  was  an  ac- 
knowledged power  in  the  affairs  of  Western  Ma.ssachusetts. 
During  his  long  career  he  never  stooped  to  the  tricks  which  so 
often  then,  as  well  as  now,  marked  the  course  of  many  poli- 
ticians, but  his  talents  shone  resplendent  in  important  af- 
fairs. 

He  ever  commanded  the  respect  of  the  foremost  men  of  that 
day  in  the  State,  and  with  Maj.  John  Pynchon,  of  Sjiringtield, 
and  Samuel  Partridge,  of  Hatfield,  formed  the  trio  "  which 
ruled  or  led  Western  Massachusetts  through  a  century  of  its 
history."  President  Edwards,  speaking  of  him,  said,  "  Upon 
the  whole,  everything  in  him  was  great,  and  perhaps  there 
was  never  a  man  in  New  England  to  whom  the  denomination 
of  a  great  man  did  more  properly  belong."  Hediedin  Boston, 
June  19,  1748,  aged  sixtj"-six. 

Isaac  C.  Bates. — Among  the  prominent  citizens  of  Nortli- 
23 


ampton  none  occupied  a  more  prominent  position  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation  than  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Isaac  C.  Bates,  son  of  Col.  Jacob  Bates  and  Ruth  Robinson 
Bates,  was  born  at  Granville,  Mass.,  Jan.  23,  1779,  and  was 
prepared  for  college  by  Rev.  Timothy  M.  Cooley,  M.D.,  of 
East  Granville.  He  entered  Yale  College  and  took  high  rank 
among  his  associates,  and  was  valedictorian  of  the  class  of 
1802.  He  studied  law  in  New  York,  and  subsequently  settled 
in  Northampton,  and  soon  took  a  prominent  position  at  the 
Bar  of  the  State. 

He  was  active  in  political  matters,  and  in  1803-9,  and  once 
afterward,  was  a  Representative  in  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  1817  took  his  seat  in  Congress,  where  he  re- 
mained eight  years,  and  then  declined  a  re-election.  Later  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  and  was  once  a  Pres- 
idential elector.  In  1841  he  was  chosen  United  States  Senator 
to  till  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Hon.  John 
Davi.s,  who  had  been  elected  Governor  of  the  State.  At  the 
close  of  this  term  he  was  re-elected  Senator  for  six  years,  and 
while  serving  this  term  he  died  at  Washington,  March  16, 
1845,  aged  sixty-six  years.  The  morning  after  his  death, 
amid  a  large  concourse  of  people,  Daniel  Webster  arose  in  the 
Senate  Chamber,  and  pronounced  a  fitting  eulogy  upon  the  life 
and  character  of  this  distinguished  citizen.  Mr.  Bates  was  a 
thorough  scholar,  a  sound  thinker,  a  tine  writer,  and,  as  an 
advocate,  he  ranked  among  the  foj'emost  orators  in  the  Senate. 

Elljah  H.  Mills  died  in  Northampton,  May  6,  1829,  aged 
fifty-seven.  He  was  a  lawyer.  Graduated  at  Williams  Col- 
lege in  1797.  In  his  profe.ssion  he  attained  the  highest  rank 
as  a  jurist,  and  particularly  as  an  advocate,  and  for  many  years 
was  professedly  at  the  head  of  the  Bar  in  the  western  part  of 
the  State.  He  was  for  a  long  period  a  member  of  our  State 
Legislature  in  both  branches.  During  the  war  of  1812  he  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Federal  party  in  Massachusetts,  and 
was  the  author  of  the  address  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
to  the  people  of  Massachusetts  protesting  against  that  measure. 
Afterward  he  was  repeatedly  elected  Representative  in  Con- 
gress, and  served  two  terms  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
in  which  station  he  remained  till  his  health  failed. 

Other  noted  men  born  in  Northampton  were  Nehemiah 
Strong,  an  eminent  preacher,  born  1730,  and  died  in  1807; 
Simeon  Strong,  a  celebrated  jurist  and  preacher,  born  in  1736, 
died  in  1805;  Thomas  Allen,  born  in  1743,  was  a  chaplain  in 
the  Revolutionary  army,  died  in  1810;  Moses  Allen,  a  promi- 
nent preacher,  born  in  1748,  and  died  in  1779;  Pierpont  Ed- 
wards, a  celebrated  advocate,  born  in  1750,  and  died  in  1826; 
Solomon  Allen,  a  preacher,  born  in  1751,  and  died  in  1821; 
William  Lyman,  born  in  17-52,  was  a  member  of  Congress 
from  1793  to  1797,  died  in  1811;  Timothy  Dwight,  LL.D., 
D.D.,  was  born  in  1752,  and  was  celebrated  as  a  divine,  poet, 
and  author:  he  died  in  1817;  Theodore  Dwight,  a  member  of 
Congress  from  1800  to  1807,  was  born  in  1764,  and  died  in 
1846;  Benjamin  Tappan,  the  able  jurist,  was  born  in  1773,  and 
died  in  1857;  Phineas  Allen,  a  noted  editor,  was  born  in  1776, 
and  died  in  1860;  the  distinguished  philanthropist  Arthur 
Tappan  was  born  here  in  1785,  and  died  in  1865;  Ebenezer 
Lane,  LL.D.,  an  eminent  attorney,  was  born  in  1793,  and 
died  in  1866  ;  Dorus  Clarke,  D.D.,  divine  and  author,  was  born 
near  here  in  1797 ;  Geo.  H.  Clark,  the  poet,  in  1809 ;  Henry 
Lyman,  the  author,  in  1810,  died  in  1834;  Josiah  Dwight 
Whitney,  the  geologist,  in  1819  ;  William  Dwight  Whitney, 
LL.D.,  the  able  philologist,  in  1827;  and  Austin  Flint,  the 
author  and  physician,  in  1836. 

THE    first    druggist — I'lONEKR    ADVERTISEMENTS. 

The  first  druggist  in  this  section  of  the  country  was  Levi 
Shepherd,  who  came  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  located  here 
in  1705.  Four  years  later  he  formed  a  copartnership  with 
Dr.  Ebenezer  Hunt.  Their  drugs  and  medicines  were  imported, 
and  their  trade  extended  over  a  large  section  of  country. 


178 


HISTOKY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  Hampshire  Gazetie  of  1786  contains  an  advertisement 
of  Breck,  Shepherd  &  Clark,  who  inform  the  people  that 
"  they  have  just  received  a  fresh  supply  of  goods,  which  they 
propose  to  sell  for  Cash,  Grain,  Pork,  Potash,  Salts,  Flaxseed, 
etc."  The  printing-otfice  advertises  for  sale  the  tirst,  second, 
and  third  part  of  Webster's  Institute,  also  Watts'  Hymns,  and 
one  copy  of  Col.  Humphrey's  poem.  Soon  after  this  date  an 
advertisement  of  Levi  Shepherd  appears,  and  also  of  Prescott 
&  Dixon. 

In  the  issue  of  March  4,  1787,  James  Shepherd  is  authorized 
to  receive  the  several  articles  hereinafter  enumerated,  at  the 
price  thereunto  annexed,  for  all  arrearages  of  taxes  assessed 
during  the  jear  1784,  viz. :  good  merchantable  beef  at  1*-.  and 
8rf.  per  hundred ;  pork  at  3^rf.  per  pound  ;  wheat,  5.5.  ;  rye, 
3s.  and  %d. ;  corn,  3s.  ;  oats,  Is.  6rf.  ;  peas,  5s. ;  beans,  5s.  per 
bushel ;  well-dressed  flax,  8rf.  per  pound  ;  wheat  flour,  16s.  per 
hundred ;  good  tobacco  packed  in  casks,  according  to  law,  25s. 
per  hundred  ;  potash,  10s.  per  ton  ;  pearlash,  39(/.  and  10s.  per 
ton  ;  and  on  all  nails  the  same  sum  shall  be  allowed  as  in  the 
stores  in  the  town  of  Boston. 

HOSTELRIES. 

The  tavern,  or  inn,  of  "  ye  olden  time"  was  as  much,  if  not 
more,  of  an  "  institution"  in  a  town  or  village  than  the  more 
pretentious  structures  of  modern  times  are  to  the  people  of 
to-day.  Among  the  first  records  of  the  town  may  be  seen 
votes  designating  the  number  of  "ordinaries"  that  should  be 
kept,  and  naming  their  keepers. 

Northampton  very  soon  after  its  settlement  became  an 
important  point  in  Western  Massachusetts,  and  prior  to  and 
during  the  Revolution  it  kept  pace  in  its  improvements  with 
the  various  towns  in  the  Bay  State,  and  its  places  of  enter- 
tainment for  man  and  beast  were  about  on  a  par  with  other 
inns  throughout  the  valley. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  in  1794,  Asahel  Pomeroy, 
who  was  a  valiant  .soldier  in  that  struggle,  built  the  tavern 
subsequently  known  as  the  Warner  Hou.se,  which  was  an 
"institution"  of  Northampton  for  seventy-six  years.  In 
1821  it  received  the  name  of  Warner  House,  from  Oliver 
Warner,  who  purchased  it  that  year  and  became  its  landlord. 
In  1832  he  sold  the  house  to  J.  B.  Vinton,  who  resold  it  to  Mr. 
Warner  in  1840,  and  he  conducted  it  until  his  death  in  1853. 
During  the  period  it  was  kept  by  Mr.  Warner,  it  gained  a 
reputation  far  and  near  as  one  of  the  best  inns  in  the  country. 
The  traveler  was  ever  anxious  to  reach  the  "  Warner  House," 
with  its  well-supplied  larder,  good  beds,  and  genial  host. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Warner  it  was  purchased  by  Strong 
&  Lewis,  and  kept  by  Wm.  Marsh  &  Son.  C.  F.  Simonds 
subsequently  purchased  it,  and  for  several  years  was  its  pro- 
]irietor.  It  was  afterward  kept  by  Roswell  Hunt  and  J.  C. 
Orcutt.  In  the  days  of  the  stage-coach  Northampton  was  on 
the  line  from  Boston  to  Albany,  and  from  Springfield  to  Brat- 
tleboro',  and  it  was  no  uncommon  occurrence  for  eight  coaches 
to  arrive  and  depart  during  a  single  day.  The  blast  of  the 
horn  and  the  crack  of  the  driver's  whip  have  long  since  pa.ssed 
away,  and  in  the  early  morning  of  July  18, 1870,  the  old  build- 
ing succumbed  to  the  fiery  element,  and  the  old  Warner  House 
passed  into  history.  The  old  Mansion  House  on  Elm  Street, 
now  used  as  a  dwelling-house,  was  at  one  time  one  of  the 
prominent  hotels  of  this  section. 

The  Mansion  House,  which  now  occupies  the  site  of  the 
Warner  Ho\ise,  was  erected  Ijy  the  Fitch  brothers,  of  Hatfield, 
in  1870,  and  opened  as  the  Fitch  Hotel  by  the  Fitch  Brothers 
&  Simonds,  who  conducted  it  about  two  years,  when  Mr. 
Simonds  became  proprietor.  After  various  vicissitudes  Mr. 
Hill  became  proprietor,  and  its  name  was  changed  to  Man- 
sion House.  He  conducted  it  a  short  time,  and  was  succeeded 
(1877)  by  its  present  projirictor,  Mr.  Frank  Kingman,  a  land- 
lord of  large  experience,  who  has  placed  the  Mansion  House 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  best  hotels  in  the  Connecticut  Valley. 


Round  Hill  Hotel,  pleasantly  located  on  Round  Hill,  is 
closed  during  the  winter  months,  being  used  only  as  a  summer 
resort.  It  is  at  present  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Olney. 
Its  picturesque  location  and  pleasant  surroundings,  together 
with  the  deserved  popularity  of  its  landlord,  give  it  a  wide 
notoriety  throughout  the  country. 

Uther  hotels  are  the  Hampshire  House  and  Nonotuck  Ho\ise. 

MASONIC — ODD-FELLOWS. 
The  first  Masonic  lodge  of  which  we  have  any  record  estab- 
lished in  this  town  was  the  Hampuhire  Lotlffe,  chartered  Jan. 
30,  1784.  Who  were  its  founders,  how  long  it  flourished,  and 
when  it  ceased  to  exist,  we  have  been  unable  to  discover.  Its 
history  and  transactions  are  buried  in  oblivion. 

Jerusalem.  Ludge  was  chartered  June  13,  1797.  The  peti- 
tioners for  the  lodge  resided  in  South  Hadley,  and  there  its 
sessions  were  held  for  many  j-ears.  Its  charter  members  were 
as  follows:  Samuel  Alvord,  Thos.  White,  Frederick  Milton, 
Jus.  White,  Justin  Alvoid,  E.  Goodman,  Jr.,  Adonijah  Nash, 
Jos.  Kellogg,  John  Bennett,  Jr.,  Bezulial  Alvord,  E.  Dwight, 
and  Simeon  Goodman.  Though  the  Hampshire  Lodge  had  an 
existence  at  Northampton  prior  to  the  establishment  of  Jeru- 
salem Lodge  at  South  Hadley,  yet  it  seems  to  have  died  before 
the  latter  had  been  long  at  work. 

In  May,  1802,  it  was  voted  to  move  the  lodge  from  South 
Hadley  to  Northam])ton,  and  in  the  following  month  the  lodge 
met  at  the  house  of  Asahel  Pomeroj',  in  the  latter  place,  the 
following  persons  acting  as  officers  :  Daniel  Stebbins,  W.  M. ; 
Levi  Lyman,  S.  W. ;  John  Bennett,  Sec.  ;  N.  Pease,  Treas. ; 
Justin  Alvord,  J.  W.  ;  Aaron  Wright,  Jr.,  J.  D.  ;  Levi 
Smith,  S.  D. ;  and  Aaron  Bartlett,  T.  In  October,  1807,  the 
lodge  was  removed  to  Williamsburg,  where  it  remained  until 
Nov.  18,  1817,  when  it  was  again  removed  to  Northampton, 
where  it  has  since  remained.  During  the  reign  of  fanaticism 
and  bigotry  known  as  the  Morgan  excitement  the  lodge 
ceased  to  work,  but  with  Spartan  zeal  refused  to  surrender  its 
charter,  although  demanded  by  the  Grand  Lodge. 

The  following-named  persons  served  as  Masters  of  the  lodge 
from  1797  to  1879  :  Simeim  Goodman,  1797-98;  John  Smith, 
Elihu  Dwight,  1799;  Daniel  Stebbins,  1800-3  ;  Henry  Frink, 
1804  ;  Phineas  Ashmun,  1805  ;  Daniel  Stebbins,  1806  ;  Phineas 
Ashmun,  1806;  Isaac  C.  Bates,  1807;  Southw'th  Jenkins, 
1808-9  ;  Edmund  Taylor,  1810-13  ;  Southw'th  Jenkins,  1814- 
15 ;  Joseph  H.  Flint,  1816-17  ;  Isaac  C.  Bates,  1818  ;  Charles  E. 
F(jrbes,  1819-20  ;  Levi  Lyman,  1821  ;  Charles  E.  Forbes,  1822; 
Christo].her  Clarke,  1823-24  ;  James  Hutchison,  1825;  W.  W. 
Partridge,  1826-27;  Nelson  Palmer,  1828;  Wm.  W.  Part- 
ridge, 1845-40  ;  Benj.  E.  Cook,  1847-48 ;  Ebenezer  Hancock, 
1849-50;  Benj.  E.  Cook,  1851;  Ebenezer  Hancock,  1852; 
Samuel  N.  Bosworth,  1853  ;  Geo.  F.  Wright,  1854-55  ;  D.  W. 
Crafts,  1850-60;  Wm.  H.  Jones,  1861  ;  W.  D.  A.xtell,  1862- 
64;  J.  H.  Prindle,  1865;  J.  C.  Williams,  1866-67;  W.  C. 
Pomeroy,  1868-69;  S.  B.  Fuller,  1870;  H.  W.  Morgan,  1871- 
72 ;  C.  L.  Bartlett,  1873-74 ;  S.  A.  Phelps,  1875-70 ;  W.  C. 
Robinson,  1877-78  ;  C.  Humphrey,  1879. 

Royal  Arch  Chapter. — The  chapter  was  constituted  June  23, 
1825,  with  the  following  charter  members :  Isaac  C.  Bates, 
Jonathan  H.  Lyman,  John  R.  Goodnough,  Guy  Trumbull, 
Jonathan  Smith,  Wm.  W.  Partridge,  Benj.  Willard,  John  F. 
Judd,  O.  M.  Stillman,  Nelson  Palmer,  Wm.  M.  Weatherill, 
Josiah  White,  and  James  Hutchinson.  Isaac  C.  Bates  was 
first  H.  P.  ;  J.  II.  Lyman,  first  K.  ;  John  R.  Goodnough,  first 
Scribe. 

During  the  Morgan  excitement  the  meetings  were  discon- 
tinued, and  Marcli  7,  1848,  the  charter  was  restored  and  the 
labors  of  the  chapter  resumed. 

The  following  have  served  as  High-Priest:  Isaac  C.  Bates, 
1825-27  ;  Nelson  Palmer,  1828  ;  J.  F.  Judd,  1829  ;  G.  D.  Peck, 
1848-55;  Wm.  Parsons,  1856;  G.  D.  Peck,  1857;  B.  E.  Cook, 
1858  ;  David  VV.  Crafts,  1859-62  ;  S.  W.  Lee,  Jr.,  1863-64  ;  W. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


179 


C.  R,il)in<on,  18fi5;  J.  H.  Prindle,  181)6-07;  J.  A.  Prentiss, 
18fi8-70;  J.  C.  Williams,  1871-72;  S.  B.  Fuller,  1873;  R.  R. 
Mayers,  1874 ;  W.  C.  Pomeroy,  1875-77 ;  H.  Jones,  1878. 

Northampton  C iin-nifid'iry  of  Knights  Templar. — This  or- 
ganization was  instituted  June  9,  1870,  and  worked  under  a 
dispensation  for  one  year.  The  iirst  officers  chosen  were  D. 
W.  Crafts,  E.  C. ;  C.  S.  Pratt,  Gen. ;  Geo.  S.  Phelps,  C.  G.  ; 
J.  H.  S.  Prindle,  Prelate;  J.  C.  Williams,  S.  W. ;  A.  C.  Bar- 
ton, J.  W.  ;  A.  Wright,  Jr.,  Treas. ;  E.  C.  Crafts,  Recorder; 
J.  W.  Wilson,  Sw.  B. ;  Smith  Carr,  St.  B. ;  G.  L.  Manchester, 
War. 

A  charter  was  received  from  the  Grand  Conimandery  of 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  in  1871,  and  on  the  12th  of 
May  the  order  was  permanently  established  and  the  following 
officers  chosen :  D.  W.  Crafts,  E.  C. ;  C.  S.  Pratt,  Gen.  ;  G. 
S.  Phelps,  C.  G. ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  Prelate;  J.  C.  Williams,  S. 
W.  ;  A.  C.  Barton,  J.  W. ;  A.  Wright,  Jr.,  Treas.;  E.  C. 
Crafts,  Recorder. 

Qlficcrs  for  1872  and  1873.— J.  H.  S.  Prindle,  E.  C. ;  J.  C. 
Williams,  Gen.  ;  Luke  Lyman,  C.  G. ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  Prelate; 
W.  C.  Pomeroy,  S.  W. ;  H.  W.  Morgan,  J.  W.  ;  A.  Wright, 
Jr.,  Treas. ;  B.  W.  Peck,  Recorder. 

Officers  for  1874. — J.  C.  Williams,  E.  C.  ;  Luke  Lyman, 
Gen.;  W.  C.  Pomeroy,  C.  G. ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  Prelate;  H.  M. 
Brewster,  S.  W.  ;  G.  W.  Patterson,  J.  W. ;  Ansel  Wright, 
Treas.  ;  C.  Rust,  Recorder. 

Officers  for  1875. — J.  C.  Williams,  E.  C. ;  Luke  Lyman, 
Gen. ;  W.  C.  Pomeroy,  C.  G.  ;  J.  H.  S.  Prindle,  Prelate;  G. 
W.  Patterson,  S.  W. ;  W.  B.  Morgan,  J.  W.  ;  A.  Wright, 
Treas. ;  W.  G.  Mclntire,  Recorder. 

Officers  for  1876. — Luke  Lyman,  E.  C. ;  W.  C.  Pomeroy, 
Gen.  ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  C.  G.  ;  J.  H.  S.  Prindle,  Prelate;  W.  B. 
Morgan,  S.  W. ;  Jas.  Ellsworth,  J.  W. ;  A. 'Wright,  Treas.  ; 
W.  G.  Mclntire,  Recorder. 

Officers  for  1877. — Luke  Lyman,  E.  C.  ;  W.  C.  Pomeroy, 
Gen.  ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  C.  G. ;  H.  Jones,  Prelate ;  W.  B.  Mor- 
gan, S.  W. ;  Jas.  Ellsworth,  J.  W.  ;  A.  Wright,  Treas. ;  Y. 
E.  Cleaveland,  Recorder. 

Officers  for  1878. — Luke  Lyman,  E.  C.  ;  W.  C.  Pomeroy, 
Gen. ;  S.  B.  Fuller,  C.  G.  ;  H.  Jones,  Prelate  ;  W.  B.  Mor- 
gan, S.  W. ;  Jas.  Ellsworth,  J.  W. ;  A.  Wright,  Treas. ;  E. 
I.  Clapp,  Recorder. 

Non-o-titck  Lodge,  No.  61.— Feb.  5,  1845,  F.  P.  Tracy,  A. 
H.  Bullen,  S.  S.  AVells,  W.  A.  Arnold,  and  J.  W.  Smith 
applied  for  a  charter  for  a  lodge  of  Independent  Order  of  Odd- 
Fellows.     The  lodge  was  instituted  March  11,  1845. 

The  Noble  Grands  have  been  as  follows :  F.  P.  Tracy,  A. 
H.  Bullen,  J.  W.  Smith,  S.  S.  Wells,  Chas.  T.  Smith,  Lewis 
Bliss,  F.  A.  Clark,  E.  E.  Denniston,  C.  M.  Alvord,  William 
C.  Prentiss,  J.  B.  Augur,  James  Thom|)son,  La  Fayette 
Clapp,  William  D.  Clapp,  J.  L.  Wells,  J.  D.  Wells,  Jabez 
French,  J.  C.  Phelps,  George  B.  Drury,  J.  H.  Searle,  and 
E.  P.  Williams.  Several  of  the  above  served  more  than  one 
term.  S.  S.  Wells  was  Grand  Master  of  the  State  Grand 
Lodge  one  year.  The  lodge  surrendered  its  charter  March 
26,  18G6. 

Re-instituted  Sept.  16, 1872.  The  Noble  Grands  since  then 
have  been  C.  C.  Smith,  V.  W.  Skiff,  S.  W.  Clapp,  A.  G. 
Carley,  A.  L.  Sessions,  T.  C.  Cooley,  J.  M.  Skifl',  F.  L. 
Clapp,  R.  B.  Davis,  Jr.,  F.  O.  Hillman,  and  M.  H.  Beales. 
The  present  officers  are  E.  L.  Thompson,  N.  G.  ;  D.  F.  Cut- 
ting, V.  G. ;  E.  H.  Wade,  Rec.  Sec.  ;  E.  P.  Hall,  Treas.  ;  II. 
E.  Rowley,  Per.  Sec. 

INSTITUTIONS. 

Smith  Charities. — On  the  22d  day  of  December,  1845,  Oliver 
Smith,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Hatfield,  died,  leaving  an  estate 
valued  at  $370,000.  He  had  resolved  to  bequeath  his  hu-ge 
estate  to  charitable  purposes  for  the  benefit  of  the  towns  of 
Northampton,  Hadley,  Hatfield,  Amherst,  and  Williamsburg, 


in  Hampshire  County,  and  Doerfield,  Greenfield,  and  Whately, 
in  Franklin  County.  By  the  provisions  of  his  will  these  towns 
were  directed  at  each  annual  meeting  to  choose  a  person  who 
should  be  called  an  elector,  and  these  electors  .should  choose 
three  trustees,  who  were  to  have  the  charge  and  management 
of  the  entire  fund. 

The  will  provided  that  .|200,010  should  be  managed  by  the 
trustees  as  an  accumulating  fund  until  it  reached  the  sum  of 
$400,000.  This  amount  was  then  to  be  divided  into  three  dis- 
tinct funds,  viz.,  .{i30,000  to  found  the  Smith  Agricultural 
School,  at  Northampton;  $10,000,  the  income  to  be  paid  to 
the  American  Cjlonization  Society,  with  certain  provisions ; 
and  $300,000  for  indigent  boys,  indigent  female  children,  in- 
digent young  women,  and  indigent  widows.  The  remainder 
of  his  property  was  constituted  a  contingent  fund  to  defray 
expenses  and  keep  the  principal  funds  entire.  He  also  pro- 
vided that  the  agricultural  school  fund  should  be  accumu- 
lated for  a  period  of  si.xty  years  from  his  death, — 1905, — 
when  the  school  should  be  established  within  the  town  of 
Northampton. 

The  income  of  the  fund  of  $10,000  for  the  Colonization 
Society  was  to  be  used  in  transporting  persons  of  color  from 
the  United  States  to  the  colony  of  Liberia,  or  such  other  place 
as  the  society  might  select.  There  was  a  provision,  however, 
that  if  the  society  should  neglect  to  make  due  application  for 
the  fund  for  six  months  after  having  been  notified  that  it  was 
ready  for  distribution,  they  should  forfeit  their  claim  and  the 
money  should  be  incorporated  with  the  agricultural  school 
fund.  The  required  notification  was  given  by  the  trustees, 
but  the  society  neglected  to  apply  within  the  specified  time, 
and  the  legacy  was  added  to  the  school  fund.  The  society 
brought  suit  to  recover  it,  but  the  case  was  decided  by  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  in  favor  of  the  trustees. 

The  remaining  fund  of  $360,000  was  called  the  joint  or 
miscellaneous  fund,  and  was  divided  so  that  one-half  the  in- 
come should  be  applied  for  the  benefit  of  indigent  boj'S,  who, 
after  having  been  bound  out  and  served  satisfiictorily  till 
twenty-one  years  old,  should  receive  a  loan  of  $.500  for  five 
years,  to  become  a  gift  at  tlie  end  of  that  time.  The  income 
of  one-quarter  of  the  fund  was  appropriated  to  the  use  and 
benefit  of  indigent  female  children.  They  were  to  be  bound 
out  till  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  at  the  time  of  their  mar- 
riage were  to  receive  the  sum  of  $300  as  a  marriage-portion. 
The  income  of  one-eighth  part  of  this  fund  was  appropriated 
to  the  benefit  of  indigent  young  women,  in  sums  of  $50  as 
marriage-portions.  The  income  of  the  remaining  one-eighth 
part  was  to  be  paid  to  indigent  widows,  in  sums  of  not  more 
than  $50  to  any  one  person  in  one  year.  The  beneficiaries 
were  to  be  confined  to  the  eight  towns  above  enumerated,  but 
in  case  of  there  being  at  any  time  a  surplus  income,  benefi- 
ciaries might  be  .selected  from  any  other  towns  in  the  countj'. 

The  heirs-at-law  contested  the  will,  and  the  case  came  be- 
fore the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  in  this  town,  July  6,  1847. 
The  objection  to  the  will  was  that  one  of  the  attesting  wit- 
nesses, Theophilus  Parsons  Phelps,  was  incompetent  on  ac- 
count of  insanity.  Two  daj's  were  occupied  in  the  trial, 
Rufus  Choate  arguing  the  case  for  the  heirs-at-lavv  and  Daniel 
Webster  for  the  will.  The  court-house  was  crowded  to  over- 
flowing, and  ladders  were  put  up  to  the  windows,  so  eager 
were  the  people  to  see  and  hear  the  great  orators.  The  jury 
brought  in  a  verdict  sustaining  the  will. 

In  May,  1848,  the  board  of  trustees  was  organized,  and  Os- 
niyn  Baker  was  chosen  president,  which  position  he  continued 
to  hold  till  May,  1871,  when  failing  health  compelled  him  to 
resign,  and  Geo.  W.  Hubbard,  who  still  holds  the  oflice,  was 
chosen.  The  sum  paid  over  to  the  trustees  by  the  executor  of 
the  will,  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  board,  was 
$419,221.16;  of  this,  $214,000  composed  the  joint  fund  and 
$205,221.16  the  contingent  fund.  The  joint  fund  reached  the 
required  amount  of  $400,000,  Oct.  1,  18.59.     The  several  char- 


180 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


ities  under  it  were  put  in  operation  at  that  time,  and  have 
since  continued  to  spread  their  blessings  over  the  community. 

The  value  of  this  bequest  to  the  several  towns  does  not  con- 
sist wholly  in  the  charity  extended  to  their  citizens,  for  it 
forms  a  constantly-increasing  source  of  taxation.  It  was  the 
desire  of  the  testator  that  the  property  should  not  be  taxed, 
and  in  the  will  he  advised  the  incorporation  of  the  charities, 
and  requested  the  trustees  to  endeavor  to  obtain  their  exemp- 
tion from  taxation.  The  act  of  incorporation  was  granted  at 
the  session  of  1849,  but  the  Legislature  refused  to  exempt  the 
property  from  taxation.  On  the  contrary,  provision  was  made 
that  the  fund  should  be  taxed  equally  by  the  interested  towns. 
The  fund  is  therefore  divided  into  eight  equal  parts,  each  por- 
tion being  taxed  in  accordance  with  the  rate  of  taxation  in  the 
town  to  which  it  is  apportioned.  The  act  of  incorporation  was 
accepted  bj-  the  trustees  in  April,  1849. 

In  186.5  the  trustees  decided  to  erect  the  building  in  which 
their  offices  are  now  located.  It  is  52  by  30  feet,  built  of  Port- 
land stone,  is  a  handsome  and  commodious  structure,  and  cost 
§30,000. 

The  magnitude  of  this  system  of  charities  may  be  seen  in  the 
increase  of  the  funds,  in  the  amounts  paid  for  various  purposes, 
and  in  the  numbers  of  the  diHerent  classes  of  our  citizens  who 
have  been  the  recipients  of  the  bounties  disbursed.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1848,  the  funds  amounted  to  |;419,221,l(i.  During  the 
thirty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  that  time  they  have  in- 
creased nearly  2-30  per  cent.  The  report  of  the  trustees  for 
May  1,  1878,  shows  that  the  several  funds  of  the  institution 
have  reached  the  sum  of  §1,061,979.30.     ' 

The  agricultural  school  fund,  on  May  1,  1877,  amounted 
to  §94,621.41.  In  the  year  1905,  when  the  fund  becomes  avail- 
able, it  is  but  reasonable  to  expect,  should  the  present  rate  of 
increase  continue,  that  it  will  have  reached  the  sum  of  §350,000. 
The  testator  has  prescribed  what  sort  of  a  school  is  to  be  estab- 
lished. He  proposes  that  there  shall  be  two  farms,  one  as  a 
"  model"  and  the  other  as  an  "experimental''  farm.  On  these 
farms  are  to  be  established  a  manufactory  of  "Implements  of 
Husbandry,"  and  a  "School  of  Industry  for  ihe  Benefit  of  the 
Poor,"  in  which  boys  taken  from  the  most  indigent  cla.sses 
shall  receive  a  good  common-school  education  and  be  in- 
structed in  agriculture  or  mechanics.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  each  boy  is  to  receive  §200.  Here,  it  will  be  seen,  is  a 
system  more  comprehensive  than  any  school  of  the  kind  vet  in 
operation  in  this  country.  Here  is  another  view  in  which  this 
institution  is  of  great  value  to  this  community,  and  that  is  in 
the  fact  that  it  always  has  money  to  loan.  The  business-man 
or  mechanic  who  needs  a  little  money  to  make  him  a  home  or 
extend  his  business  can  readily  obtain  a  loan  from  the  institu- 
tion at  a  fair  rate  of  interest,  and  luimbers  avail  themselves  of 
the  privilege  every  year. 

The  following  is  an  exhibit  of  the  income,  condition,  and 
amount  of  the  funds  of  the  institution,  as  shown  by  the  report 
of  the  trustees  May  1,  1878: 

Miscellaneous  (or  Joint)  Fund.— The  amount  of  this  fund  on 
the  tirst  day  of  May,  1877,  was  §-589,720.99. 

Its  income  during  the  past  year  has  been  from 

Dividends  on  gtocks g4  fi.33.50 

Interest  on  lojins 3o'.556!36 

Profit  and  loss  account '  lu!85 

Total  income S:iJ,200.71 

The  payments  from  the  fund  during  the  year  have  been  as 
follows,  viz. : 

Indigent  young  women $4,000.00 

Indigent  widows 4  400  00 

Indigent  boys !."."!.7.'.'.'.!'.'.'.'.'  14'o0o!o0 

Indigent  female  children 3,670.00 

Total  payments $211,070.00 

This  leaves  a  balance  of  income,  to  wit,  §9130.71,  to  be 
added  to  the  principal  of  the  fund,  whicl)  makes  it  amount  to 
§598,851.70,  invested  as  follows,  viz. : 


State,  city,  and  government  stocks $74,000.00 

Bonds  and  moitgages 4.')4,lul.(Kl 

Apprentices'  loans 5.5,.'<20.i.i0 

Caah 14,971.70 

Total $598,851.70 

Twenty-seven  apprentice  boys  have  come  of  age  and  received 
loans  of  §500  each  during  the  year,  and  the  matured  notes  of 
-  28  others  have  been  surrendered. 

Twelve  of  the  girls  formerly  apprenticed  have  married  dur- 
ing the  year  and  received  the  marriage-portions  to  which  they 
were  entitled,  and  nine  others  of  the  same  class  have  received 
allowances  for  sickness  expenses. 

Forty-five  boys  and  27  girls  have  been  indentured  within 
the  year. 

The  whole  number  of  boys  under  indentures  at  this  time  is 
125  ;  and  of  girls,  04. 

Coniinr/ent  Fund. — The  principal  of  this  fund.  May  1,  1877, 
was  §335,938.06.     The  income  since  has  been  from 

Dividends  on  stocks $701.75 

lntere*t.s  on  loans lt;,701.2G 

Total  income $17,403.01 

The  payments  from  the  fund  have  been  : 

Ta.\es $11,767.74 

Expenses 5,0.09. K.'i 

Annuities il.iO.OO 

Indigent  widows 2,6.50.00 

Profit  and  loss 3,70S.IH) 

Total  expenditures $24,225.5!) 

The  principal  of  this  fund  is  now  §329,115.48,  invested  as 

follows,  viz. : 

Stocks $52,040.00 

Bonds  and  mortgages 262,390.00 

Cash 14,085.48 

Total ?;i29,115.48 

The  amount  paid  from  both  funds  for  the  j'ear  to  indigent 
widows  is  §7050. 

Agricultural  School  Fund. — The  principal  of  the  fund  on  the 

first  day  of  May  last  was  §94, .521. 41.     The  income  from  New 

York  City  stock  and  loans  the  past  year  has  been  §5914.54. 

Deducting  from  this  sum  the  contribution  of  the  fund  to  the 

taxes  and  expenses  of  the  institution,  amounting  to  §1821.83, 

and  adding  the  balance  of   the  income,  to  wit,  §4092.71,  to 

the  fund  as  reported  last  year,  the  principal  of  the  agricultural 

school  fund  at  this   time  amounts  to  §98,614.12,  invested  as 

follows,  viz.  : 

New  York  city  stock $10,n(.10.00 

Bonds  and  moitgages 86,725.(hj 

Ciish 1,889.12 

Total $98,614.12 

The  amount  of  the  several  funds  of  the  institution,  with 
the  building  and  lot  occupied  for  the  purposes  of  the  corpora- 
tion, is  §1,061,979.30,  divided  among  the  several  funds  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

Joint  fund $608,8.51.70 

Contingent  fund 329,115.18 

Agricultural  fund 98,614.12 

Banking  house  and  lot 35,398.00 

Total $1,061,979.30 

The  present  trustees  are  Geo.  W.  Hubbard,  Wm.  H.  Dickin- 
son, and  J.  P.  Felton. 

The  Clarke  Institution  for  Deaf  Mutes. — This  humane  in- 
stitution was  the  first  public  establishment  in  the  United 
States  where  the  deaf  were  taught  to  read  the  lips,  and  the 
dumb  to  speak. 

It  was  chartered  in  1867,  and  was  endowed  by  its  generous 
founder,  the  late  John  Clarke,  in  the  sum  of  §.50,000.  Imme- 
diately theretifter  the  school  was  established,  and  the  system  of 
instructing  by  articulation  decided  upon,  and  Miss  Harriet  B. 
Rogers,  who  had  been  successful  in  teaching  this  method,  was 
chosen  principal. 

Mr.  Clarke  died  in  1869,  and  made  the  institution  his  resid- 
uary legatee.  The  whole  endowment  of  the  school  is  derived 
from  bequests,  which  now  amount  to  over  §365,000.  The 
school  was  opened  in  what  is  known  as  the  Gothic  Seminary 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


181 


building,  on  Gothic  Street,  owned  hy  L.  J.  Dudley.  Here  it 
was  continued  until  the  year  1870,  when  the  Round  Hill 
jirofierty,  consisting  of  11  acres,  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of 
5i31,500,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the  school  was  opened. 
The  old  buildings  were  remodeled  and  now  ones  erected. 
Clarke  Hall  is  used  for  recitations,  Baker  Hall  for  boys'  dor- 
mitory, and  Rogers  Hall  for  the  girls'  dormitory  and  residence 
of  the  principal.  There  is  also  a  large  workshop,  a  laundr}-, 
a  stable,  and  a  cottage  for  the  farmer. 

In  the  matter  of  the  system  of  instruction  in  this  institu- 
tion, it  was  said  by  the  president  of  the  institute  in  his  first 
annual  report:  "Articulation  is  used  as  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion, because  we  believe  it  the  best  method  for  our  pupils. 
The  institution  is  not,  however,  pledged  to  any  unchangeable 
system,  but  only  to  that,  whatever  it  may  be,  w'hich  experience 
shall  prove  to  give  the  best  results."  An  experience  of  more 
than  eight  years  has  confirmed  this  opinion  concerning  the 
essential  characteristics  of  the  system,  but  modifications  in  its 
application  have  been  nuide;  and  these  modifications,  with  the 
causes  which  have  induced  them,  it  is  our  purpose  now  to 
present.  In  order  to  do  this,  it  will  be  necessar}'  to  note  some 
points  in  the  history  of  the  Clarke  Institution,  and  also  to 
mention  the  school  which  formed  the  germ  of  this, — a  private 
class  in  Chelmsford,  Mass. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  the  present  principal.  Miss  Harriet  B. 
Rogers,  took  under  her  care  a  deaf-mute  child,  intending  to 
teach  it  by  means  of  articulation  and  lip-reading.  This  she 
knew  had  been  done  in  Germany,  though  she  had  not  learned 
the  details  of  the  system  emploj'ed  thei'e.  As  the  needs  of  her 
pupil  demanded,  she  fashioned  a  .system  of  her  own,  which, 
as  later  comparison  showed,  had  many  points  of  resemblance 
to  the  German  method.  She  proposed  also  to  employ  the 
manual  alphabet,  during  the  first  years  of  instruction,  in  the 
use  of  words  which  the  child  could  not  articulate.  A  brief 
trial  of  this  combined  method  convinced  Miss  Rogers  of  the 
impossibility  of  attaining  complete  success  in  articulation  and 
lip-reading  unless  these  were  employed  as  the  sole  means  of 
communication;  for  the  pupil,  during  his  early  instruction, 
finding  it  more  difficult  to  read  words  from  the  lips  than  from 
the  fingers,  was  in  danger  of  becoming  dependent  on  the 
latter  rather  than  the  former,  and  thus  would  be  content  with 
that  which  was  intended  only  as  an  aid  to  the  higher  attain- 
ment of  lip-reading.  She  therefore  abandoned  the  manual 
alphabet,  and  retained  only  articulation  and  lip-reading,  and 
the  result  exceeded  her  expectations.  Encouraged  in  her  suc- 
cess by  the  favorable  opinions  of  several  leading  educators  in 
Boston,  she  made  further  trial  of  this  method  with  seven  other 
pupils,  three  of  whom  were  congenitally  deaf. 

"When  Miss  Rogers  became  principal,  in  18(57,  she  brought 
■with  her  her  former  pupils,  and  with  them  the  system  em- 
ployed by  her  in  the  school  at  Chelmsford,  which  was  the  exclu- 
sive use  of  speech,  lip-reading,  and  writing  as  means  of  in- 
struction, without  the  manual  alphabet  or  signs,  except  such 
natural  signs  as  are  used  with  all  children.  In  the  second 
annual  report  her  views  in  regard  to  signs  were  expressed  in 
the  following  words  :  '•  Believing  that  all  signs  on  the  part  pf 
pupils,  and  all  on  the  part  of  teachers,  except  those  few  and 
simple  ones  used  by  intelligent  mothers  and  nurses  to  explain 
the  meaning  of  new  words  or  phrases,  are  prejudicial  to  ad- 
vancement in  articulation,  whatever  their  intrinsic  merits,  we 
do  all  in  our  power  to  prevent  their  use." 

Articulation  was  taught  by  imitation.  Hearing-children 
acquire  it  by  the  same  process ;  the  difference  being  that,  among 
the  deaf,  sight  and  touch  are  to  be  educated  to  perform  the 
functions  of  the  lost  sense  in  the  production  of  articulate 
speech.  As  hearing  and  touch  are  educated  to  supply  the 
lack  of  sight  to  the  blind,  so  may  sight  and  touch  supply  the 
lack  of  hearing  to  the  deaf.  It  is  by  no  means  claimed  that 
the  highest  development  of  these  remaining  senses  can  furnish 
an   equivalent   for  the  loss  of  hearing,  since  the  avenue  of 


sound  is  always  open  in  the  bearing-child,  and  speech  i.s 
acquired  without  conscious  ett'ort,  and  often  before  the  child 
seems  capable  of  close  attention  ;  whereas,  on  the  part  of  the 
deaf  child,  the  closest  attention  must  be  given  ;  and  even  this 
cannot  compensate  him  for  the  loss  of  that  constant  tuition  in 
speech  enjoyed  by  every  hearing-child,  by  which  the  meaning 
of  the  articulate  and  inarticulate  sounds  about  him  is  made 
known,  and  by  which,  abso,  he  is  induced  to  imitate  those 
sounds  that  express  his  emotions.  Neither  can  any  substitute 
be  ofi'ercd  for  the  loss  of  hearing  as  a  constant  guide  in  speech. 
The  deaf  child  is  to  be  induced,  through  the  senses  of  sight 
and  touch,  to  attempt  the  imitation  of  each  position  and 
movement  of  the  vocal  organs  necessary  for  the  utterance  of 
these  sounds. 

Without  entering  further  into  detail,  it  may  truthfully  be 
written  that  with  Miss  Rogers  and  the  founding  of  this  insti- 
tution was  ushered  in  an  important  era  in  the  educating  of  deaf 
nuites.  Similar  institutions  have  sprung  into  existence  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  articulation  and  lip- 
reading  method  has  proved  a  great  success  and  blessing. 

The  finances  of  the  Clarke  Institution,  notwithstanding  the 
critical  condition  of  financial  alFairs  for  five  years  past,  are  on 
a  sound  basis,  and  the  prospect  for  the  future  is  good.  The 
statement  of  the  treasurer  shows  that  the  receipts  from  the  fund 
during  the  year  just  closed  were  §15,738.42;  from  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  $14,2-j0 ;  from  other  States  and  from  individ- 
uals, §3095.  The  school  expenses,  strictly  speaking,  have  been 
about  §25,000,  the  construction  and  furnishing  expenses  about 
S(;.")00,  and  the  other  expenses  about  |3000.  The  net  debt  of 
the  institution  now  stands  at  about  §3(3,000,  the  personal  prop- 
erty, including  the  fund,  may  be  valued  at  §2(35,000,  and  the 
real  estate  at  upward  of  §100,000.  The  debt  has  been  but 
slightly  reduced  in  1878,  but  will  be  more  rapidly  dimin- 
ished hereafter.  More  than  half  of  it  is  owed  to  the  fund 
itself. 

During  the  past  year  there  have  been  49  pupils  (27  boys  and 
22  girls)  in  the  primary  department  at  Baker  Hall,  while  23 
pupils  (8  boys  and  15  girls)  have  been  taught  in  the  grammar- 
school  department  in  Clarke  Hall.  At  the  present  time  (Oct. 
8,  1878)  the  number  in  the  primary  department  entered  for  the 
school-year  1878-79  is  5(3,  of  whom  31  are  boys  and  25  are  girls ; 
while  in  the  grammar-school  department  there  are  21  pupils 
(8  boys  and  13  girls) ;  and  in  both  departments,  77  pupils  (39 
boys  and  38  girls). 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  officers  of  the  Clarke  Institu- 
tion from  its  organization  to  the  present  time : 

Presidents. — Gardiner  Greene  Hubbard,  elected  18(37  ;  F.  B. 
Sanborn,  elected  1878. 

Coi-purators  by  Act  of  Incorporation. — Osmyn  Baker,*  "Wil- 
liam Allen,  Lewis  J.  Dudley,  Julius  H.  Seelye,  George  Walker, 
Gardiner  G.  Hubbard,  Theodore  Lyman,  Horatio  G.  Knight, 
Joseph  A.  Pond,*  William  Claflin,  James  B.  Congdon,  Thos. 
Talbot,  elected  1867. 

Corporators  by  Election. — Joseph  H.  Converse,  Jonathan  H. 
Butler,*  Frank  B.  Sanborn,  elected  18(38;  J.  Huntington 
Lyman,  elected  1870;  Samuel  A.  Fisk,  elected  1873;  Henry 
Watson,  elected  1875;  Charles  Delano,  Edward  Hitchcock, 
elected  1877. 

Treasurers.— Oimyn  Baker,  elected  18(37  ;  Lafayette  Maltby, 
elected  18(39. 

Principal. — Harriet  B.  Rogers,  elected  1867. 

Associate  Principal.— Ca.T<Aiae  A.  Yale,  elected  1873. 

Steward. — Henry  J.  Bard  well,  elected  1870. 

T/ie  State  Lunatic  Hospital.— The  movement  which  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  this  institution  was  begun  in  1854, 
when  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  inquire 
into  the  condition  and  number  of  insane  persons  in  this  State. 
The  committee  recommended  the  founding  of  an  asylum  in 


*  Deceased. 


182 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


the  western  part,  and  Northampton  was  chosen  for  the  loca- 
tion. 

The  erection  of  the  building  was  begun  in  March,  185(5, 
and  on  the  following  July  4th  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  July  1,  1858,  it  was  opened  for  pa- 
tients. The  original  cost,  including  furniture,  was  $343,000. 
The  centre  building  is  of  brick,  four  stories  in  height,  with 
wings  on  each  side  three  stories  high,  and,  with  its  extension  in 
the  rear,  which  is  190  feet  deep,  gives  a  front  line  of  512  feet, 
while  the  floors  cover  an  area  of  four  acres.  The  main  or 
centre  building  is  surmounted  by  an  observatory,  which  af- 
fords one  of  the  finest  landscape-views  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  The  centre  one  of  the  two  wings  on  each  side  of  the 
main  building  is  also  surmounted  by  a  cupola. 

Since  the  erection  of  the  building  various  improvements 
and  additions  have  been  made.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
floors  have  been  relaid,  a  laundry  has  been  added  to  the  main 
building,  also  storehouses,  carpenter-shops,  etc.  In  the  four 
years  ne.\t  following  its  opening  the  State  appropriated  for 
lands  and  outbuildings  $15,550.  Since  1867  the  institution 
has  not  only  been  self-supporting,  but  has  purchased  land 
«nd  erected  buildings  costing  $76,025.31.  The  institution  has 
cost  at  the  pre.sent  time  §443,175.31. 

The  hospital-farm,  which  twelve  years  ago  contained  but 
about  190  acres,  has  been  Increased  by  various  purchases  to 
about  332  acres,  and  is  now  sufficiently  large  for  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  institution.  The  site  is  admirably  adapted  to  the 
purpo.se  to  which  it  is  devoted,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
soil  is  available  for  tillage  and  pasturage.  Somewhat  more 
than  300  acres  of  the  land  is  in  one  tract,  nearly  a  mile  in 
length  from  east  to  west,  and  varying  from  a  quarter  to  half  a 
mile  in  width  from  north  to  south.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
north,  for  a  distance  of  a  little  more  than  a  mile  and  one-fifth, 
by  Mill  River;  and  on  the  south,  through  its  whole  length  (a 
distance,  including  curves,  of  6084  feet,  or  a  fraction  over  a 
mile  and  48  rods),  by  a  public  highway.  Thus  its  situation  is 
such  that,  although  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a  pretty 
large  town,  it  can  be  subjected  to  that  seclusion  and  iso- 
lation which  are  important  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane, 
with  but  comparatively  little  inconvenience  to  the  surround- 
ing inhabitants.  Its  position,  and  the  irregularities  of  its 
surface,  combine  to  invest  it  with  the  possibility  of  becom- 
ing one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  estates.  Nature  has  done  her 
share  of  the  work ;  and  it  now  awaits  the  share  of  art,  a  por- 
tion of  which  it  is  from  year  to  year  receiving. 

Although  a  State  institution,  this  hospital  has  received  no 
gratuitous  assistance  from  the  State  since  the  spring  of  1867. 
Since  tlnit  time  it  has  relied  for  its  income  solely  upon  the 
products  of  its  farm,  the  board-bills  of  its  patients,  and  the 
small  sum  of  $10  each  for  the  burial  expenses  of  State  patients 
who  die  in  the  hospital.  The  receipts  from  the  last-mentioned 
source  during  the  past  year  were  $100. 

For  the  entire  support  of  State  patient.*,  including  clothing 
and  loss  from  breakage  and  all  other  kinds  of  destruction,  the 
hospital  receives  $3.50  per  week  from  the  treasury  of  the 
commonwealth.  This  is  the  compensation  fixed  by  statute 
law.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  inmates  belong  to  this  class. 
During  the  past  year  the  weekly  average  of  them  was  48.14 
per  cent,  of  the  whole. 

For  town  patients  it  receives  $3.50  each  per  week  from  the 
town  treasuries  respectively  for  board,  together  with  pay  for 
clothing  furnished  by  the  hospital,  and  for  damages  suffered 
from  them.  Of  town  patients,  the  weekly  average  for  the  year 
was  39.75  per  cent.,  or  about  two-fifth.s  of  the  whole. 

For  private  patients  there  is  no  uniform  price.  The  average 
pay  from  all  who  were  here  Sept.  30,  1878,  was  $5.17j'jy  each 
per  week.  Clothing  and  damages  are  extra  charges.  The 
weekly  average  of  these  patients  during  the  past  year  was  10.12 
per  cent.,  or  a  trifle  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  whole. 

The  average  weekly  pay  per  capita  which  the  hospital  re- 


ceived for  ALL  its  patients,  State,  town,  and  private,  in  the 
course  of  the  year  is  $3.70j'j.  Such  are  the  only  pecuniary 
resources  of  the  hospital. 

In  April,  1865,  the  hospital  was  freed  from  debt,  and  the 
financial  statement  at  the  close  of  that  month  showed  a  balance 
of  $302.04  in  its  favor.  Between  that  time  and  the  1st  of 
June,  1867,  it  received  a  direct  bonus  from  the  State  of  $5000, 
in  two  appropriations,  for  specific  purposes, — one  of  $2000  and 
the  other  of  $3000. 

As  an  offset  to  the  $5000  bonus,  the  hospital  has  purchased 
and  paid  for  several  lots  of  land,  amounting  to  about  142  acres, 
the  total  cost  of  which  was  $22,565.  The  State,  then,  has  been 
overpaid  for  its  bonus  in  the  sum  of  $17,565. 

The  amount  paid  by  the  hospital  for  repairs  and  improve- 
ments in  the  course  of  the  thirteen  years  from  Sept.  30,  1865, 
to  Sept.  30,  1878,  is  $156,701.31. 

The  surplus  of  cash  assets  now  on  hand  is  .$27,590.88,  or 
$27,288.84  larger  than  it  was  on  the  30th  of  April,  1865. 

The  purchased  provisions  and  supplies,  including  fuel  and 
stored  clothing  now  on  hand,  are  estimated  to  have  cost 
$11,019.57.  The  amount  of  similar  supplies  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1865,  was  $2500.  The  increase  of  assets  under  this 
head  is,  therefore,  $8519.57. 

The  value  of  household  furniture  in  the  hospital  is,  at  a  low 
estimate,  at  least  $10,000  greater  than  it  was  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1865,  at  the  same  rate  or  standard  of  appraisal.  To  be 
certain,  however,  of  no  exaggeration,  let  it  be  called  $8000. 
Collecting  these  several  sums,  the  account  of  debit  of  the  com- 
monwealth to  the  hospital  appears  to  be  as  follows  : 

ExL^e.S8  of  cost  of  land  over  direct  bonus 817,565.00 

Repairs  and  improvements  156,701.31 

Excess  of  present  casli  assets 27,288.84 

Increase  of  provisions  and  supplies 8,519.57 

Increase  of  furniture 8,000.00 

Total $218,074.72 

The  necessary  current  repairs  of  the  buildings  may  be  esti- 
mated at  $3000  annually.  Deducting  this  sum  for  each  of  the 
thirteen  years  since  Sept.  30,  1865,— a  total  of  $39,000,— there 
is  a  remainder  of  $179,074.72.  To  this  amount,  then,  has  the 
hospital  assisted  itself  to  things  for  most  of  which  it  is  gen- 
erally expected  that  such  institutions  will  rely  upon  direct  ap- 
propriations from  the  treasury  of  the  commonwealth. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  deaths,  and  their  ratios, 
from  Sept.  30,  1858,  to  Oct.  1,  1878: 


■s  . 

1 

1 

1-2 

1 

Deaths. 

.£■•3 

"3  .. 

Officiai.  Yf.ar. 

B 

e 

1^ 

a 
1 

3 

g       . 

ill 

1858-59       

313 

398 
4.34 
442 
470 
475 
469 
488 
543 
665 
590 
604 
616 
619 
614 
626 
029 
029 
603 
551 

229.55 
265.90 
314.26 
313.80 
365.28 
367.63 
342.40 
376.35 
401.03 
413.41 
405.10 
408.83 
421.90 
428.72 
437.23 
469.54 
475.35 
474.21 
470.16 
442.43 

I 
15 

1^ 
17 
17 
18 
23 
25 
13 
22 
10 
19 
13 
14 
23 
18 
21 
14 

12 
18 
15 
10 

7 
30 
24 
13 
24 
18 
12 
11 
12 
18 

8 
11 
18 
19 
21 

9 

19 
27 
30 
19 
20 
47 
41 
31 
47 
4:1 
25 
33 
28 
37 
21 
26 
41 
37 
42 
23 

6.07 
6.78 
6.91 
4.29 
5.53 
9.89 
8.76 
6.36 
8.65 
7.01 
4.23 
5.40 
4.64 
5.97 
3.42 
3.99 
0.52 
6.88 
6.96 
4.17 

8.27 

10.54 

ISGiMil          

9.54 

0.a5 

7.31 

13.14 

l!^(Vi_(j5       

11.97 

8.23 

lSfi6  67         

11.71 

10.40 

If^OS-TiO       

0.17 

8.07 

1870-71 

0.04 
8.03 

187:i-73  

4.80 

1873-74 

5.32 
8.02 

7.80 

8.82 

1877  78 

5.19 

The  proportion  of  deaths  for  the  full  period  of  twenty  years, 
as  calculated  upon  the  whole  number  of  patients  annually 
treated,  is  6.01  per  cent. ;  as  calculated  upon  the  daily  average 
number  of  patients  in  the  hospital,  it  is  8.23  per  cent. 

The  proportion  of  mortality  of  the  first  ten  years  was  25  per 
cent,  greater  than  that  of  the  last  ten. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


183 


By  either  method  of  comparison  the  ratio  of  deaths  for  the 
year  just  closed  is  far  below  the  average,  not  onlj-  of  the  whole 
period,  hut  also  of  the  latter  half. 

At  the  close  of  the  official  year,  187G-T7,  475  patients  re- 
mained in  the  hospital :  229  of  them  were  men  and  24U  women. 
In  the  course  of  the  year  just  ended  40  men  and  3(j  women,  a, 
total  of  76,  have  been  admitted  ;  hence  the  whole  number  under 
treatment  within  the  official  year  was  551,  of  whom  269  were 
men  and  282  women.  The  number  discharged  was — of  men, 
40 ;  women,  59  ;  total,  99.  Of  deaths  there  were  23 ;  14  of 
them  being  of  men  and  9  of  women. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  Sept.  30,  1878,  215  men  and  214 
women,  a  total  of  429,  remained  in  the  hospital.  The  largest 
number  of  patients  on  any  day  in  the  year  was  476, — on  the 
26th  of  October,  1877  ;  and  the  smallest  number  429, — on  each 
of  four  successive  days  in  June,  1878.  The  average  daily  num- 
ber for  the  year  was  a  fraction  over  442. 

Of  the  99  patients  who  left  the  hospital,  26  were  recorded  as 

recovered,  44  as  impi-oved,  and  29  as  unimproved. 

Trustees  of  the  Northampton  Lunatic  Hospital. 

.,  T>    ■  1  When    Service     From  what 

Name.  Residence.       Appointed.  Kmle<l.        Cause. 

Term  expired. 


Charles  K.  Forbes Northampton I80G 

Lu.  i.ii  C.  liiivnton Uxbiidge URCi 

Elipliuh-t  Trask Springfield 1860 

.lohn  C.  lins-sell Great  Banington 1866 

Horace  Lyman Greenfield 1850 

Charles  Smith NorthamiJtou 18.6T 

Lutlier  V.  liell Somerville 1867 

Z.liiia  I.,  ll^ivmond Greenfield 1858 

FniiiUlin  Hipley Greenfield 1859 

Eihvar'i  I'irkiuson Amherst 185!) 

Walt.r  I.atlin Pittsfleld 1869 

Silas  JI.  Smith Noithampton 1800 

Chaihs  Allen Greenfield 1800 

Allied  U.  Ki.Id Greenfield 1801 

K.Kvard  Hit.  heock Amherst 1803 

Sihis  51.  Smith Noithampton 1804 

EiliiHind  H.. Sawyer Easthanipton 1864 

Ilciiiv  1,.  Sal  in Williamstown 1806 

AilanlsC.  Deaiie Greenfield 187.5 

Henry  W,  Taft Pittsfleld 1870 


1857 
18.68 
1876 
1869 
1857 
1800 
1869 
18.19 
1800 
1804 
1S06 
1863 
1801 
1804 


Resigned. 
Remove<i. 
Resigned. 


Died  in  office. 
Resigned. 
Term  e.\i»ireil. 

Resigned. 

Still  in  office. 


Tc'iiii  exjiired. 
Still  ill  office. 


The  institution  was  opened  with  W.  H.  Price,  M.D.,  as 
superintendent,  who  Remained  until  1864,  when  Dr.  Pliny 
Earle  was  appointed  to  the  position,  and  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. Dr.  Earle  has  ever  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  in- 
stitution, and  much  of  its  present  success  is  due  to  the  efficient 
manner  in  which  he  has  watched  over  and  guided  its  aftairs. 
The  present  officers  of  the  hospital  are  as  follows  : 

Tru.itees. — Silas  M.  Smith,  Esq.,  Northampton  ;  Adams  C. 
Deune,  M.D.,  Greenfield;  Henry  "W.  Taft,  Esq.,  Pittsfleld; 
Hon.  Edmund  H.  Sawyer,  Easthanipton  ;  Edward  Hitchcock, 
M.I).,  Amherst. 

Resident  Officers. — Pliny  Earle,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Superintend- 
ent;  Edward  B.  Nims,  M.D.,  First  Assistant  Physician; 
Daniel  Pickard,  M.D.,  Second  Assistant  Physician  ;  Walter 
B.  Welton,  Clerk  ;  Asa  Wright,  Farmer  ;  Danford  Morse, 
Engineer. 

Treasurer. — Pliny  Earle,  Northampton. 

Subordinate  Officers. — Jeremiah  E.  Shufelt,  Male  Super- 
visor ;  Lucy  A.  Gilbert,  Female  Supervisor ;  F.  Josephus 
Rice,  Steward  ;  Mary  E.  Ward,  Seamstress  ;  Nell  Russell, 
Laundress  ;  Charles  Ziehlke,  Baker. 

The  hospital  is  beautifully  located  on  an  eminence  about 
one  mile  west  of  the  village,  and  commands  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  views  within  the  bounds  of  the  Connecticut 
Valley. 

Shady  Lav:n  Sanitarium. — A.D.  1874,  Gothic  Seminary  be- 
comes Shady  Lawn  Sanitarium. 

After  a  considerable  period  of  disuse  this  attractive  estab- 
lishment was,  in  the  summer  of  1874,  selected  for  a  work  no 
less  commendable  and  useful,  and  as  profitable  and  honorable 
to  the  town,  as  had  flourished  within  its  precincts  in  its  palmiest 
early  days.  Indeed,  its  celebrity  can  hardly  have  been  as  great 
or  wide  as  at  the  present  moment.  In  another  division  of  this 
history  we  have  given  a  sketch  of  Dr.  A.  W.  Thompson,  who 
devoted  it  at  the  time  in  question  to  the  general  uses  of  a  pri- 
vate hospital  for  the  wealthier  classes  of  invalids,  with  especial 


reference,  however,  to  insanity,  to  diseases  peculiar  to  women, 
and  to  the  alcohol  and  opium  habits. 

Success  would  seem  to  have  been  secure  from  the  start  of  his 
enterprise.  Patients  were  sent  from  great  distances,  and  by 
the  advice  of  the  most  eminent  physicians.  Canada,  the  West- 
ern and  Southern  States,  California,  and  Cuba  have  con- 
tributed, as  well  as  New  England,  New  York,  and  the  home 
vicinage,  to  the  list  of  its  cases.  It  is  very  plain  to  the  visitor 
that  Dr.  Thompson  has  not  solely  relied  upon  either  his  own 
previous  reputation  with  the  public  and  his  medical  confreres, 
or  upon  the  beauty  of  his  grounds  and  the  loveliness  of  nature 
at  this  spot,  for  the  continuance  and  success  of  his  business. 
He  has  poured  himself  out  into  the  place.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  he  has  recreated  it ;  and  its  new  birth  has  com. 
pletely  adapted  it  to  every  want  of  its  invalid  guests.  A 
liberal  hand  has  supplied  every  modern  convenience  of  gas, 
water,  steam,  and  furniture.  Billiards,  exercises,  horses,  are 
made  a  free  means,  whether  of  diversion  or  needful  prescrip- 
tion. A  generous  air  of  taste,  conscientious  care,  skill,  and 
liberality  quite  fills  and  invests  the  establishment ;  and  we  add 
our  voice  to  the  concurrent  expression  of  visitors  and  writers 
who  speak  of  Northampton  men  and  institutions  when  we 
congratulate  both  the  doctor  and  the  town  upon  his  success. 

We  conclude  with  the  remark  that  we  should  suppose  Shady 
Lawn  would  eminently  meet  the  wants  of  invalid  luxury- 
seekers,  not  only  for  the  reasons  given  above,  but  because  of 
its  proximity,  over  easy  walks,  to  the  business-centre  of  a  fine 
town, — to  the  opera-house,  post-office,  public  library,  railroad 
stations,  and  stores, — being  only  one  block  removed ;  and  yet  it 
is  retired,  within  ample  grounds,  and  remote  from  rumble  and 
dust. 

"Hasten  slowly"  is  the  motto  of  the  house,  which  salutes 
one  entering  at  the  front. 

Memorial  Hall  and  Public  Library. — The  first  circulating 
library  of  any  extent  of  which  any  record  can  be  found  is 
that  of  Northampton  Social  Library.  Following  there  was 
the  High  School  Lyceum  Library,  and  in  1834  the  North- 
ampton Young  Men's  Society  was  commenced,  which  estab- 
lished a  library  and  reading-room,  and  the  books  of  the  So- 
cial Library  were  soon  added  to  its  shelves.  In  January, 
1839,  a  book  club  was  formed,  which  is  still  in  existence,  its 
members  being  limited  to  20.  The  Young  Men's  Institute, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  library  and 
promoting  public  instruction,  by  lectures  or  otherwise,  was 
organized  in  1846.  The  first  meeting  of  which  there  is  any 
record  was  held  on  the  8th  of  January,  1846.  The  week 
following,  on  the  15th  of  January,  the  organization  was 
completed,  a  constitution  and  by-laws  adopted,  and  Henry 
Bright  chosen  President ;  Joseph  Lathrop,  Treasurer ;  W.  O. 
Gorham,  Corresponding  Secretary  ;  and  W.  D.  Whitney,  Re- 
cording Secretary.  It  was  reported  that  §312  had  been  con- 
tributed, and  arrangements  were  made  for  a  course  of  lectures. 
The  books  of  the  already  existing  libraries  were  probably 
given  to  the  Institute,  as  a  vote  was  passed  on  the  21st  of  Oc- 
tober, 1846,  authorizing  J.  P.  Williston  to  "act  with  the 
principals  of  the  high  schools  as  a  committee  to  choose  books 
for  the  Social  Library,  according  to  the  stipulation  contained 
in  the  conditions  on  which  that  library  was  given  into  the 
charge  of  the  Institute."  For  a  number  of  years  the  library 
was  kept  in  a  room  over  the  store  of  Nathan  Dikeman,  in 
Shop  Row.  Soon  after  the  present  town-hall  was  built,  in 
1800,  the  Institute  asked  and  obtained  of  the  town  the  free  use 
of  a  room  in  the  hall,  and  in  the  same  year  a  reading-room 
was  added  to  the  library,  but  was  di-scontinued  in  1852.  It 
was  removed,  in  1850,  to  the  room  in  the  town-hall  at  present 
occupied  by  the  water  commissioners.  A  few  years  afterward 
the  library  was  moved  across  the  hall  to  the  two  rooms  now  used 
by  the  school  committee,  and  in  them  it  was  kept  till  its  re- 
moval to  the  present  building.  In  May,  1852,  Otto  Goldsmith 
and  Jenny  Lind  Goldsmith  presented  to  the  Institute  §700,  the 


18i 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


proceeds  of  a  concert,  which  they  desired  should  be  "  devoted 
to  the  purchase  of  staudiird  worlvs,  well  bound,  such  as  are  be- 
lieved to  be  of  permanent  value."  The  letter  accompanying 
the  donation  was,  by  vote  of  the  Institute,  framed  and  hung 
in  the  library.  In  November,  185:2,  the  subject  of  forming  a 
free  public  library,  in  accordance  with  a  then  recent  law  of  the 
State,  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  committee,  who  reported  in 
its  favor ;  but  the  subject  was,  after  discussion  at  several  meet- 
ings, indefinitely  postponed.  At  a  meeting  held  March  10, 
1853,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  obtain  an  act  of  incorpora- 
tion. On  the  21st  of  April,  18.J3,  an  act  was  granted  by  the 
Legislature,  naming  Samuel  A.  Fisk,  S.  W.  Hopkins,  and 
Henry  Dikeman  as  corporators  of  the  Northampton  Young 
Men's  Institute.  This  was  accepted  in  July  of  the  same  year, 
and  the  Institute  reorganized  under  it.  The  first  catalogue  of 
the  library  was  printed  in  1857,  the  second  was  issued  in  1862, 
and  the  third,  the  present  one,  in  1874.  Supplements  have 
been  printed  at  various  times,  as  books  accumulated. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1800,  the  Institute  voted  to  otfer 


Christopher  Clarke,  and  M.  M.  French.  Subscription  papers 
were  at  once  circulated,  the  sons  of  Northampton  living 
abroad  were  appealed  to,  and  many  very  liberal  donations 
were  obtained.  The  largest  sum  was  that  given  by  Mr.  John 
Clarke,  amounting  in  all  to  $7000,  of  which  §oOOO  was  do- 
nated to  the  building  fund  and  ^2000  to  the  Young  Men's 
Institute.  Mr.  George  Bliss,  of  New  York,  subscribed  §5000, 
and  Mr.  E.  H.  K.  Lyman,  $3500.  The  private  subscription 
was  filled  in  the  summer  of  1871,  and  the  committee  at  once 
proceeded  to  the  work  assigned  them. 

In  July,  ISO'.t,  occurred  the  death  of  Mr.  John  Clarke,  who 
left  by  his  will  the  "sum  of  §40,000  in  trust  to  the  town  of 
Northampton,  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  library  in  said 
town,  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  building,  and  the  increase 
and  maintenance  of  the  library,  and  for  no  other  purpose." 
In  accepting  the  trust  thus  conferred  upon  it,  the  town,  by  a 
special  vote,  set  apart  the  income  of  the  fund  for  the  purcha.se 
of  books. 

As  scion  aN  the  subscription  was  completed  the  committee 


MEMORIAL    HALL    AND    PUHLIC    LIBRARY. 


the  use  of  the  books  to  the  town  of  Northampton,  for  a  free 
public  library,  so  long  as  the  town  should  annually  appro- 
priate a  sum  not  less  than  40  cents  for  each  of  its  ratable  polls. 
At  the  annual  meeting  in  that  year  the  town  accepted  the 
proposition,  and  appropriated  §500  for  the  increase  and  main- 
tenance of  the  library.  From  that  time  the  town  has  made 
annual  appropriations,  varying  from  year  to  year,  the  largest 
amount,  $2500,  being  granted  in  1873. 

In  1867  measures  were  first  taken  toward  obtaining  a 
library  building,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  In- 
stitute to  act  in  reference  to  the  nuitter.  In  18f>8  the  lot  on 
which  the  building  is  located  was  purchased,  donations  for 
that  purpose,  of  §1000  each,  having  been  obtained  from  E.  H. 
K.  Lyman  and  Whiting  Street.  At  the  annual  town-meeting 
in  181)9  a  vote  was  passed  appropriating  the  sum  of  §25,000 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  memorial  hall  and  public  library 
building  in  honor  of  our  fallen  soldiers,  whenever  a  like 
amount  shall  have  been  raised  from  other  sources,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  five  persons  appointed  to  carry  out  the  vote.  This  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Charles  Delano,  A.  T.  Lilly,  Luke  Lyman, 


in  charge  of  the  matter  proceeded  to  obtain  the  necessary 
plans  for  the  construction  of  the  "  Memorial  Hall  and  Public 
Library  Building."  Consultations  were  had  with  some  of  the 
most  noted  architects  in  the  country  who  had  made  public 
buildings  and  liliraries  a  special  study,  and  the  present  plan 
was  offered.  After  obtaining  bids  for  the  erection  of  the 
building,  it  was  found  that  it  could  not  be  built  for  the  sum 
of  money  in  the  hands  of  the  committee.  A  meeting  of  the 
town  was  called,  and  the  alternative  presented  of  reducing 
the  size  of  the  building  or  increasing  the  appropriation.  It 
was  announced  that  a  further  private  subscription  of  §4000 
had  been  made,  on  condition  that  the  building  should  be 
erected  in  accordance  with  the  original  plan,  and  the  sum  of 
SIC), 000  additional  was  voted.  The  work  was  put  under  con- 
tract, and  the  building  erected  in  1872  and  '73.  The  committee 
had  not  taken  into  account,  in  their  estimate  of  expenditures, 
the  cost  of  the  heating  apparatus  nor  the  shelving  for  the 
books.  The  work  was  substantially  completed  in  the  fall  and 
winter  of  1873,  and  the  committee,  having  expended  all  the 
appropriations,  asked  the  town  for  money  enough  to  put  in 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


185 


the  steam-boiler  and  pipes.  At  the  first  meeting  the  town 
refused  an  appropriation.  A  second  meeting  was  afterward 
held,  at  which  the  sum  of  $4000  was  voted  for  this  purpose, 
and  the  committee  proceeded  at  once  to  put  in  the  heating 
apparatus.  The  library  was  removed  to  the  new  building  in 
March,  1874. 

The  memorial  hall  and  library  building  stands  deservedly 
in  the  front  rank  of  similar  buildings  in  this  country.  The 
memorial  hall,  the  most  imposing  portion  of  the  building, 
constitutes  the  main  entrance,  and  is  64  by  40  feet.  The  hall 
is  25  feet  square,  with  bays  on  each  side  5  feet  deep.  The 
floor  is  of  marble,  and  the  ceiling  20  feet  high.  It  is  cased  in 
black  walnut  and  ash,  elaborately  carved  and  highly  finished. 
On  each  side,  in  the  recesses,  will  be  placed  the  tablets  con- 
taining the  memorial  records  of  our  fallen  soldiers.  In  the 
rear  of  the  hall  is  a  building,  80  by  54  feet  and  two  stories 
high,  containing  the  library  and  reading-room.  At  the  rear 
end  of  the  memorial  hall  is  a  broad  flight  of  steps  ascending 
six  feet  to  the  library-room.  At  either  side  of  this  ascending 
entrance-way  is  a  stairway  descending  to  the  reading-room. 
From  the  landing-place  at  the  library-doors  ascend  steps  on 
each  side  to  the  museum  and  art-room  immediately  above  the 
memorial  hall,  and  occupying  the  entire  front  of  the  building. 
The  library-room  is  V9  by  51  feet,  with  a  nave  in  the  centre 
20  feet  wide  and  27  feet  high.  The  books  are  arranged  in 
cases  directly  beneath  the  nave  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  and 
inclosed  in  a  neat  iron  railing,  giving  ample  room  outside 
for  the  use  of  visitors.  The  cases  are  10  feet  long  and  7  feet 
high,  and  when  the  entire  space  is  filled  with  them  there  will 
be  ample  room  for  32,000  volumes.  The  entire  capacity  of 
the  building  is  sufiicient  for  three  or  four  times  that  number 
of  books.  On  the  same  floor  with  the  library  are  four  smaller 
rooms,  two  on  each  side  of  the  memorial  hall.  Those  on  the 
west  .side  are  used,  the  larger  as  a  general  reception-room,  and 
the  smaller  for  books  on  art  and  costly  volumes  not  to  be  taken 
from  the  building.  These  two  rooms  have  been  handsomely 
and  luxuriantly  furnished  by  L.  B.  Williams,  Esq.,  of  North- 
ampton. The  two  rooms  on  the  opposite  side  are  used,  the 
larger  as  a  consulting-room,  in  which  works  of  reference,  to 
be  examined  only  in  the  building,  are  kept,  and  the  smaller 
as  the  librarian's  private  apartment.  Directly  below  the 
library  is  the  reading-room,  which  is  38  by  51  feet,  with 
smaller  rooms  in  the  rear,  used  for  storage,  work-rooms,  etc. 
Here  is  also  a  circular  stairway  leading  from  the  cellar  to  the 
library-room,  and  two  elevators  for  books  and  packages. 
There  are  two  entrances  to  the  reading-room,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  building,  just  in  the  rear  of  the  memorial  hall. 
In  the  front  of  the  building  and  under  the  hall  are  cloak- 
room, lavatory,  water-closets,  etc.  In  the  cellar,  extending 
under  the  entire  building,  is  the  steam-boiler  by  which  the 
whole  is  warmed.  The  total  cost  of  building  and  grounds 
was  577,249.79. 

The  building  was  occupied  in  March,  1874,  and  the  library 
rearranged,  a  new  catalogue  printed,  and  the  whole  opened 
to  the  public  on  the  30th  of  March,  1874.  The  books  are 
classified  and  arranged  on  the  shelves  in  a  new  and  very  con- 
venient manner,  devised  by  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Leavitt,  who,  for 
the  last  half-dozen  years,  has  efliciently  and  satisfactorily 
managed  the  afiairs  of  the  institution.  The  arrangement  of 
the  books  is  such  that,  however  the  library  may  be  increased, 
each  class  can  always  be  kept  by  itself  in  adjoining  cases. 
The  first  figure  is  the  number  of  a  shelf;  1,  2,  etc.,  up  to  9, 
designate  the  class  to  which  the  books  on  that  shelf  belong. 
Thus  all  books  whose  shelf  numbers  commence  with  the 
figure  1  belong  in  the  class  of  fiction  or  juvenile  literature ; 
all  commencing  with  figure  2  belong  under  biography ; 
figure  3,  history,  travel,  voyages,  and  so  on  up  to  9,  which 
includes  art,  architecture,  and  illustrated  works.  There  is  a 
tenth  class,  comprising  books  of  reference,  which  have  no 
numbers  attached  to  them,  but  are  kept  in  the  consulting- 
24 


room,  where  any  one  is  at  liberty  to  examine  them.  For 
each  shelf  there  is  a  little  box,  like  a  post-otfice  box,  bearing 
the  number  of  the  shelf,  in  which  are  placed  the  tickets  given 
for  the  books  which  jire  drawn  out  from  that  shelf.  These 
simple  arrangements  are  found  to  facilitate,  perhaps  as  much 
as  possible,  the  task  of  finding  any  particular  book  on  the 
shelves,  or,  if  it  is  missing  there,  of  tracing  it  to  the  person 
into  whose  hands  it  has  gone. 

The  number  of  books  on  the  shelves  of  the  library  is  now 
not  far  from  12,000.  At  the  publication  of  the  previous  cata- 
logue, in  1862,  the  number  of  volumes  was  stated  to  be  4500. 
The  increase  within  the  last  thirteen  years  has  been  about 
7500  volumes.  A  large  portion  of  this  increase  has  been 
made  within  the  last  four  years,  and  has  been  purchased  with 
the  income  of  the  John  Clarke  fund.  It  cannot  be  expected, 
however,  that  the  library  will  continue  to  increase  as  rapidly 
in  the  future,  as  no  small  portion  of  the  income  of  the  fund 
is  now  swallowed  up  in  running  expenses,  the  town  having 
rescinded  the  vote  dedicating  the  income  of  the  fund  to  the 
purchase  of  books,  and  at  the  same  time  decreasing  the  amount 
of  its  annual  appropriation. 

The  fund  of  §40,000,  represented  by  ?50,000  second-mort- 
gage bonds  of  the  Ohio  and  Mis.sissippi  Railroad,  was  among 
the  securities  stolen  from  the  Northampton  National  Bank  at 
the  time  of  the  great  robbery  in  1870,  and  have  not  yet  been 
recovered.  No  income  has  been  received  from  them  for  two 
years,  while  the  road  has  been  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 

For  many  years  the  duties  of  librarian  have  been  performed 
in  a  most  satisfactory  manner  by  the  present  librarian,  Miss 
C.  S.  Laidley,  who  was  first  chosen  to  that  position  when  the 
library  was  first  opened  in  the  present  town-hall.  The  in- 
creased labors  incident  to  a  larger  circulation  of  books,  and  its 
removal  to  the  new  building,  demanded  other  assistance,  es- 
pecially in  the  evenings,  when  six  persons  are  usually  busily 
employed. 

The  library  is  in  a  very  prosperous  condition,  and  reflects 
great  credit  upon  the  enterprise  and  intelligence  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Northampton. 

BANKS. 

NORTHAMPTON    BANK. 

The  first  banking  institution  established  in  this  town  was 
the  old  Northampton  Bank,  organized  March  31,  1803,  with 
the  following  directors  :  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Jonathan  Dwigbt, 
Samuel  Porter,  Oliver  Smith,  Benj.  Prescott,  and  Erastus 
Lyman.  Levi  Shepherd  was  the  first  president,  and  Levi 
Lyman  the  first  cashier.  The  bank  went  into  operation  in 
the  fall  of  1803,  when  a  new  board  of  directors  was  chosen, 
at  which  Samuel  Hensaw  was  chosen  president,  Mr.  Lyman 
continuing  as  cashier.  The  institution  was  comparatively 
short-lived,  continuing  about  a  dozen  years. 

THE    HAMP.SHIRE    BANK 

was  organized  Aug.  15,  1818,  with  the  following-named  di- 
rectors :  Joseph  Lyman,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Seth  Wright, 
Oliver  Smith,  and  Ebenezer  Hunt,  Jr.  Joseph  Lyman  was 
elected  president,  and  Thos.  Swan  cashier.  The  capital  stock 
was  $100,000.  This  bank  continued  in  operation  about  twenty 
years,  with  Hon.  Joseph  Lyman  as  president  during  the  entire 

period. 

THE   NORTHAMPTON   NATIONAL    BANK. 

The  Northampton  Bank,  of  which  the  National  Bank  is 
the  successor,  was  organized  April  13,  1833,  with  a  capital  of 
$100,000,  which  was  increased  in  1837  to  $200,000.  The  first 
board  of  directors  was  constituted  as  follows  :  Eliphalet  Wil- 
liams, Thos.  Napier,  Lewis  Strong,  and  John  Hopkins,  of 
Northampton;  David  Mack,  Jr.,  of  Amherst;  Thos.  White, 
of  Ashfleld;  and  Nathan  Coolidge,  of  Hadley.  Eliphalet 
Williams  was  chosen  president,  which  position  he  held  until 
1850,  when  he  resigned,  and  J.  D.  Whitney  was  chosen  his 
successor.     He  remained  in  the  oflice  nine  months,  when  Mr. 


186 


HISTOKY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


'^Villiams  was  re-elected,  and  officiated  until  1857,  when  he 
again  resigned,  and  J.  H.  Butler  was  chosen  to  the  position. 
In  18()7,  ilr.  Butler  resigned,  and  Mr.  Williams  was  again 
made  president,  which  position  he  occupied  until  his  death,  in 
1874.  Oscar  Edwards  has  been  presfdent  since.  The  first 
cashier  of  the  hank  was  J.  D.  Whitney,  who  was  succeeded 
in  1850  by  Chas.  White,  of  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  who  remained 
until  1861,  when  J.  L.  Warriner,  of  Springfield,  was  chosen. 
In  1874,  Mr.  Warriner  resigned,  and  the  present  cashier,  Mr. 
Whittelsey,  became  his  successor.  The  bank  was  reorganized 
as  the  Northampton  National  Bank  in  1805,  and  the  capital 
increa.sed  to  $400,000.  The  present  directors  are  as  follows  : 
Oscar  Edwards,  Winthrop  Hillyer,  Geo.  W^.  Hubbard,  L.  B. 
W'illiams,  H.  R.  Hinckley,  J.  L.  Warriner,  Eleazer  Porter, 
William  Skinner,  and  George  A.  Burr. 

THE   FIRST   NATIONAL    BANK 

is  the  successor  of  the  Holyoke  Bank,  which  was  organized  in 
1848,  with  a  capital  stock  of  §100,000.  The  first  board  of 
auditors  was  as  follows:  John  Clarke,  Samuel  Williston, 
Austin  Smith,  Joel  Hayden,  Oliver  Edwards,  Jed  Allen, 
Luke  Sweetzer,  Charles  Delano,  and  A.  H.  Bullen.  The 
presidents  of  the  bank  have  been  as  follows:  John  Clark, 
1848-50;  Samuel  Williston,  1856-62;  Joel  Hayden,  1862-73; 
William  B.  Hale,  1873,  present  incumbent. 

The  following-named  persons  have  served  as  cashiers  from 
its  organization  to  the  present  time,  viz. :  Thomas  Green, 
1848-55;  Matthew  B.  Bartlett,  1855-63;  Henry  Roberts, 
1863,  present  cashier. 

The  Holyoke  Bank  was  chartered  with  a  capital  of  $100,000, 
which  was  increased  to  §1-50,000  in  1849,  and  in  1850  to 
§200,000.  The  bank  was  reorganized  as  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Northampton,  May  2,  1864,  with  a  capital  of  $.300,000. 
This  was  increased  in  1865  to  §400,000,  and  in  1869  to  1-500,- 
000,  its  present  capital.  The  bank  was  located  in  the  second 
story  of  the  building  corner  Main  and  Pleasant  Streets  until 
1865,  when  the  present  fine  banking  building  was  erected, 
corner  Main  and  King  Streets,  at  a  cost  of  §40,000. 

The  present  board  of  directors  is  constituted  as  follows : 
S.  M.  Smith,  W.  B.  Hale,  E.  H.  Sawyer,  M.  M.  French, 
M.  A.  Spaulding,  H.  ¥.  Williams,  A.  L.  Williston,  Charles 
Cook,  and  P.  M.  Wells. 

HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY    NATIONAL    BANK. 

This  institution  was  organized  in  May,  1864,  chiefly  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Luther  Bodnian,  Esq.,  who  had  been 
for  a  long  time  president  of  the  Conway  Bank.  It  was  char- 
tered with  a  capital  of  §100,000.  The  first  directors  were  as 
follows:  Luther  Bodman,  J.  C.  Arms,  Dr.  James  Dunlap, 
Deacon  Wm.  H.  Stoddard,  Wm.  H.  Dickinson,  Hiram  Nash, 
Josiah  Allis. 

Mr.  Bodnian  was  chosen  first  president,  and  still  retains 
the  position.  The  first  cashier  was  W.  C.  Robinson,  who  was 
succeeded,  in  1865,  by  the  present  ca.shier,  Lewis  W^arner. 
The  capital  of  the  bank  was  increased  to  .§200,000  in  1864, 
and  in  the  following  year  to  §250,000.  The  present  bank 
building  was  erected  in  1872,  at  a  cost  of  §26,000.  It  is  a 
brick  structure,  with  iron  front,  and  is  one  of  the  handsomest 
business  blocks  in  Northampton.  The  present  directors  of 
the  bank  are  as  follows:  Luther  Bodman,  Josephus  Crafts, 
James  Dunlap,  Wm.  H.  Stoddard,  Merritt  Clark,  Wm.  H. 
Dickinson,  and  Hiram  Nash. 

THE   NOKTHAMPTON    INSTITUTION    FOR   SAVINGS 

was  incorporated  March  1,  1842.  The  incorporators  were 
J.  H.  Butler,  Samuel  L.  Hinckley,  and  Stephen  Brewer. 
The  first  meeting  was  held  Oct.  1,  1842,  when  the  following 
officers  were  chosen:  C.  P.  Huntington,  President;  John  P. 
Williston  and  Benjamin  Barrett,  Vice-Presidents ;  John 
Clarke,  Ansel  Wright,   Winthrop  Hillyer,  W.  A.  Arnold, 


N.  A.  Hawley,  Joseph  Lathrop,  Trustees ;  J.  H.  Butler, 
Auditor  ;  S.  L.  Hinckley,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

The  presidents  of  the  bank  have  been  as  follows  :  C.  P.  Hunt- 
ington, 1842—50;  Erastus  Hopkins,  18-50-53;  Joseph  Lathrop, 
18-53-57;  Winthrop  Hillyer,  1857-64;  Benj.  Barrett,  1864- 
67  ;  J.  H.  Butler,  1867-68  ;  Wm.  Allen,  1868-76  ;  S.  T.  Spauld- 
ing, 1876-77 ;  H.  G.  Knight,  1877,  present  incumbent. 

Treasurers,  S.  L.  Hinckley,  1842-53;  W.  O.  Gorham,  1853- 
54;  Benj.  Barrett,  18-54-64;  John  Whittlesey,  1864-66;  L. 
Maltby,  1866,  present  incumbent. 

The  present  officers  and  trustees  are  as  follows :  H.  G. 
Knight,  President ;  Eleazer  Porter  and  M.  M.  French,  Vice- 
Presidents  ;  L.  Maltby,  Secretary  ;  W.  Hillyer,  O.  Edwards, 
J.  L.  Warriner,  D.  Kingsley,  C.  B.  Kingsley,  M.  Smith,  F. 
Dickinson,  F.  H.  Dawes,  S.  M.  Cook,  Elisha  Hubbard,  H.  R 
Hinckley,  Merritt  Clark,  C.  E.  Lamson,  T.  G.  Spaulding, 
Trustees. 

The  present  elegant  and  spacious  banking  building  was 
erected  in  1877,  at  a  cost  of  §20,000.  Previous  to  this  time  the 
bank  had  occupied  rooms  successively  in  the  office  of  the  treas- 
urer, over  the  store  of  O.  A.  Skilton,  and  in  the  second  story 
of  the  Northampton  Bank  building.  This  institution  is  in  a 
highly-prosperous  condition,  its  assets  amounting  to  §2,000,000. 

THE    H.iMPSHIRE    SAVINGS    BANK 

was  organized  in  May,  1869.  J.  C.  Arms  was  chosen  presi- 
dent, Lewis  Warner  treasurer,  and  Luther  Bodman  secre- 
tary. In  1873,  Mr.  Bodman  was  chosen  president,  and  still 
officiates  in  that  capacity.  This  bank  has  had  a  successful 
career,  and  its  deposits  now  amount  to  §473,8-52.91.  The 
present  officers  are  as  follows :  Luther  Bodman,  President ; 
Wm.  H.  Stoddard,  A.  Wright,  Webster  Herrick,  and  Lewis 
Bodman,  Vice-Presidents ;  H.  A.  Longley,  W.  T.  Clement, 
L.  B.  Williams,  James  C.  Arms,  Josephus  Crafts,  James 
Dunlap,  Solomon  Alvord,  Wm.  H.  Dickinson,  Hiram  Nash, 

E.  H.  Wood,  E.  A.  Edwards,  and  W.  A.  Nash,  Trustees; 
Lewis  Warner,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

THE  FLORENCE  SAVINGS  BANK 

was  organized  April  5,  1873,  and  opened  on  the  following 
month.  Deposits  are  placed  on  interest  quarterly.  The 
amount  of  deposits  Jan.  1,  1869,  was  §88,855.40.  The  insti- 
tution is  successful,  and  its  present  oflScers  are  as  follows :  A. 
T.  Lilly,  President;  George  A.  Burr  and  Oran  Storer,  Vice- 
Presidents;  A.  L.  W'illiston,  Samuel  Porter,  A.  G.  Hill,  H. 

F.  Cutler,  George  P.  Warner,  H.  H.  Bond,  S.  A.  Bottum,  D. 
F.  Ranney,  Amos  Eldridge,  A.  B.  Clark,  W.  L.  Wilcox,  E. 
E.  Wood,  R.  M.  Branch,  R.  D.  Wilson,  J.  B.  Learned,  and 
M.  W.  Bond,  Trustees. 

THE  NORTHAMPTON  BANK  ROBBERY. 

This  qiiiet  town  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  great  excitement 
Wenesda^-  morning,  Jan.  2G,  1876,  by  the  evidence  that  an 
attempt  had  been  made  to  rob  the  vault  of  the  Northampton 
National  Bank.  The  news  spread  like  wildfire,  and  through- 
out this  whole  region,  and  in  fact  all  over  the  country,  there 
was  the  most  intense  interest  manifested  to  learn  the  details  of 
the  burglary,  which,  in  brief,  are  as  follows : 

On  the  night  of  Tuesday,  Jan.  25,  1876,  seven  masked  men 
entered  the  house  of  John  Whittelsey,  cashier  of  the  bank, 
and  simultaneously  took  charge  of  the  seven  inmates,  hand- 
cufled  and  bound  them,  and  forced  the  cashier  to  give  the  com- 
binations to  the  locks  on  the  vault-door,  on  the  safe  in  the 
vault,  and  on  the  iron  box  inside  the  safe.  At  first  refusing, 
he  finally,  after  receiving  severe  personal  injuries,  gave  the 
combinations.  The  burglars  entered  the  bank  after  the  bank 
watchman  and  night  policemen  had  gone  of!"  duty,  opened  the 
vault  and  the  safe,  took  about  §12,000  in  currency  and  nearly 
§800,000  in  bonds,  and  decamped.  The  first  alarm  was  given 
about  a  quarter  before  seven,  but  the  general  alarm  was  not 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


187 


given  until  an  hour  or  more  after.  Even  then,  so  skillfally 
did  the  burglars  do  their  work  that  it  was  not  known  that  anj' 
of  the  fund^-of  the  bank  had  been  taken  until  the  following 
night,  when,  a  safe  manufacturer  having  arrived  from  New 
York  in  answer  to  a  summons,  it  was  found  that  the  robbery 
had  been  successful,  and  that  $800,000  in  money  and  bonds 
had  been  transferred  from  a  place  of  supposed  security  to  the 
possession  of  thieves. 

It  appears  that  the  seven  burglars  went  to  the  hou.se  of 
Cashier  Whittelsey,  on  Elm  Street,  soon  after  twelve  o'clock 
at  night.  They  passed  down  the  Paradise  Eoad,  went  up  the 
ravine  nearly  opposite  J.  C.  Ward's  house,  and  thence  across 
the  lots,  approaching  the  house  from  the  rear. 

The  house  was  occupied  by  Mv.  Whittelsey's  family,  con- 
sisting of  him.self  and  wife,  Miss  Mattie  C.  White,  of  Wil- 
liamsport,  Pa.,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  W.,  and  Kate  Nugent,  the 
kitchen  girl;  also  by  Mr.  T.  B.  Cutler,  a  Htimpshire  Gazette 
printer,  his  wife,  and  Miss  Benton,  an  invalid  lady,  making 
seven  occupants  of  the  house,  whose  sleeping-rooms  were  all 
on  the  second  floor. 

The  burglars  all  wore  masks  on  their  heads  and  fiices,  and 
were  dressed  in  overalls,  with  jackets  or  blouses  of  the  same 
goods.  One  of  them  wore  a  linen  duster.  They  wore  rubbers 
while  in  the  house.  Two  of  them  were  rather  tall  and  the 
others  of  medium  height,  but  all  were  stout  and  stalwart  men. 
Their  masks  were  made  by  cutting  otl'  the  legs  of  men's 
drawers  and  pulling  them  over  the  head,  cutting  holes  for  the 
eyes.  One  mask,  however,  was  made  of  cambric,  and  this 
was  worn  by  the  leader  of  the  gang.  They  talked  consider- 
ably while  in  the  house,  but  used  very  little  rough  or  profane 
language.  Two  or  three  of  them  seemed  to  be  men  of  gentle- 
manly manners,  as  indicated  by  their  conversation  and  the 
consideration  and  attentions  shown  to  the  ladies.  They  ap- 
peared to  be  under  the  direction  of  a  leader,  who  gave  orders 
directed  to  "number  one,"  "number  two,''  and  so  on.  No 
names  were  spoken,  but  they  had  signs,  one  of  which  was  a 
sort  of  hissing  noise  and  another  consisted  of  rapping.  Their 
voices,  with  one  exception,  all  seemed  to  be  those  of  Ameri- 
cans ;  but  one  man  spoke  with  a  brogue. 

Their  seemed  to  be  a  simultaneous  movement  upon  all  the 
apartments,  and,  there  being  seven  of  the  burglars,  there  was 
one  for  each  inmate  of  the  house.  Two  men  entered  Mr. 
Whittelsey's  room,  one  going  to  his  side  of  the  bed  and  the 
other  to  the  side  occupied  by  Mrs.  Whittelsey.  One  spoke 
sharply  to  Mr.  Whittelsey,  who  was  asleep,  and  that  aroused 
him.  Mrs.  Whittelsey  was  awake  then,  and,  instantly  com- 
prehending the  object  of  the  visitation,  she  told  them  it  was  of 
no  use  for  them  to  get  Mr.  Whittelsey's  key,  as  the  bank-vault 
could  not  be  opened  without  the  other  keys,  which  were  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Warriner  and  Jlr.  Prince.  The  reply  was, 
"  We  have  them."  Mrs.  Whittelsey'  said  this  before  the  burg- 
lars made  known  the  object  of  their  visit.  The  man  who  entered 
Miss  White's  room  was  seen  by  her  as  he  came  in.  He  had  a 
dark  lantern,  and  wore  a  linen  duster.  She  supposed  it  was 
Mr.  Whittelsey  in  his  dressing-gown,  and  that  there  was  some 
trouble  in  the  house  or  that  the  house  was  on  fire.  When  she 
saw  it  was  not  him  she  screamed  and  sprang  out  of  bed.  He 
pushed  her  back  and  told  her  to  keep  still  and  she  should  not 
be  hurt.     She  also  comprehended  the  object  of  the  visit. 

Mr.  Cutler  heard  Mi.ss  White  scream,  and  quickly  arose, 
stepped  out  into  the  hall,  and  inquired  what  the  matter  was. 
He  at  first  supposed  Miss  Benton  was  in  trouble.  At  the  head 
of  the  stairs  he  met  a  man  with  a  dark  lantern,  who  at  once 
placed  his  hand  over  Mr.  Cutler's  eyes  and  told  him  not  to 
make  a  noise  and  he  should  not  be  hurt.  He  handcuffed  Mr. 
C.  and  led  him  into  Mr.  Whittelsey's  room  and  ordered  him 
to  sit  on  the  bed.  He,  too,  comprehended  the  situation  as 
soon  as  the  man  placed  his  hand  upon  him.  He  knew  that 
they  were  in  the  power  of  a  gang  of  burglars. 

Mrs.  Cutler  was  not  captured  so  easily.    She  supposed  Miss 


Benton  was  in  trouble,  and  was  going  into  her  room,  when 
she  met  a  man  with  a  dark  lantern.  She  shut  the  door  upon 
him,  but  he  at  once  brought  a  sledge  to  bear  upon  it,  and 
smashed  out  the  panel.  She  had  lighted  a  lamp,  and  that 
displeased  the  man,  who  extinguished  the  light  and  placed  his 
hand  upon  her  throat  roughly,  when  .she  screamed;  but,  in- 
stead of  saying  to  her  to  be  quiet  and  she  should  not  be  hurt, 
he  used  abusive  language.  This  man  had  very  rough  hands. 
Another  man  entered  Miss  Benton's  room  by  breaking  in  the 
door  with  a  sledge,  and  still  another  took  charge  of  the  Irish 
girl,  Kate,  who  was  by  no  means  a  willing  captive.  They 
were  all  told  to  keep  quiet  and  they  would  not  be  hurt. 

When  all  had  been  captured  they  were  marched,  hand- 
cutfed,  into  Mr.  Whittelsey's  room.  Mr.  W.  was  still  in  bed, 
under  guard.  He  was  told  to  get  up  and  dress  himself,  and 
the  others  were  also  ordered  to  dress  themselves,  the  robbers 
getting  their  clothes  for  them.  Mr.  Whittelsey  was  then 
taken  down-stairs,  and  the  others  were  secured  and  safely 
guarded.  They  were  all  told  to  put  on  two  pairs  of  stockings, 
as  they  were  to  be  bound,  and  would  thus  be  more  comfort- 
able. Mr.  Cutler  was  handcufted  and  taken  to  his  room  and 
told  to  get  on  the  bed  quick  ;  he  was  then  strapped  and  lashed. 
His  legs  were  spread  out,  a  leather  strap  with  an  iron  ring 
upon  it  put  around  each  ankle,  and  a  cord  running  under  the 
bed  and  through  the  rings  on  the  straps,  drawn  tightly,  made 
him  almost  immovable.  They  very  considerately  placed  a 
shawl  under  his  feet  when  he  was  sitting  in  a  chair  before 
being  lashed  to  the  bed.  They  had  a  large  carpet-bag,  which 
contained  their  implements.  Once  an  article  was  missed,  and 
one  of  the  number  went  to  the  ravine  in  the  rear  of  the  house 
to  get  it,  but  came  back  and  reported  that  he  could  not  find  it. 
Mr.  Cutler  says  they  treated  him  very  considerately,  bringing 
him  extra  clothing  to  make  him  warm,  and  placing  a  pillow 
under  his  head. 

Mrs.  Cutler  and  Miss  Benton  were  bound  together  by  the 
hands  with  a  cord  of  the  size  of  a  clothes-line,  and  also  straps  on 
their  feet.  They  were  placed  on  the  bed  in  Mrs.  Whittelsey's 
room.  The  hired  girl  was  also  bound  and  placed  under  guard. 
She  was  asked  if  there  were  blinds  to  the  window,  and,  on 
being  told  that  there  were  not,  the  man  pulled  down  the  curtain. 

Mrs.  Whittelsey  and  Miss  White  were  bound  together  with 
handcufl's  on  their  hands  and  straps  about  their  feet.  Their 
other  hands  were  also  fastened  to  each  other  by  a  cord  running 
under  the  bed.  Their  feet  were  also  lashed  to  the  bed.  In  this 
position  they  were  guarded  until  about  fifteen  minutes  before 
six  o'clock.  More  or  less  conversation  passed  between  them 
and  their  guard,  but  he  was  not  in  the  least  rude  and  used  no 
ungentlemanly  language.  This  man  wore  a  pair  of  leather  or" 
kid  gloves,  and  was  quite  tall.  The  inmates  of  the  house  were 
bound  in  five  separate  rooms. 

When  the  burglars  went  away  they  took  one  of  Mr.  Cut- 
ler's long-handled  market-baskets,  holding  about  half  a  bushel. 
They  left  many  of  their  traps,  among  which  were  five  sledge- 
hammers, five  pairs  of  handcuffs,  five  masks,  five  dark  lan- 
terns, two  pairs  ot  rubbers,  ten  leather  straps,  one  pair  of 
soft  leather  gloves  with  the  finger-ends  cut  off,  five  large-sized 
gimlets,  five  gags,  and  some  cord.  They  passed  out  of  a  rear 
door,  having  closed  all  the  doors  of  the  rooms  in  which  the 
persons  were  confined.  Their  traps  were  left  in  Mr.  Cutler's 
sittina:-room  and  kitchen,  where  there  was  a  coal  fire. 

Soon  after  four  o'clock— the  inmates  of  the  house  think  it 
was  about  half-past  four— three  distinct  raps  were  heard.  Two 
other  raps  followed,  and  then  some  one  said,  "  All  doing  well." 
This  was  probably  a  communication  between  the  operators  at 
the  bank  and  those  left  in  charge  of  the  captives  in  the  house, 
or  between  a  spy  at  or  near  the  bank  and  the  main  body  at 
the  house. 

When  the  two  men  approached  3Ir.  Whittelsey's  bed,  one 
of  the  first  things  they  did  was  to  put  their  hands  under  the 
pillows  to  ascertain  if  there  was  a  pistol  there. 


188 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Getting  short  of  cord  while  lashing  the  ciiptives  to  the  heds, 
they  asked  the  hired  girl  where  the  clothes-line  was,  and,  on 
being  informed,  one  of  the  men  went  and  got  it. 

The  burglars  ransacked  the  house,  opening  every  closet  and 
all  the  bureau-drawers.  They  brought  clothing  for  the  ladies 
from  the  closets,  and  were  so  thoughtful  as  to  hunt  up  and  find 
a  lot  of  extra  stockings  in  a  drawer,  which  they  distributed 
among  the  persons  who  were  to  be  bound.  One  of  the  bur- 
glars was  asked  if  he  was  a  married  man.  He  said  he  was ; 
but  when  asked  how  many  children  he  had  he  seemed  to  be 
bothered  for  an  answer. 

The  rooms  were  not  much  lighted  by  the  dark  lanterns,  and 
the  robbers  could  not  be  seen  very  distinctly.  Once,  when  the 
light  was  favorable,  Mr.  Whittelsey  looked  closely  at  the  man 
who  was  questioning  him.  This  was  noticed  by  the  burglar, 
who  ordered  Mr.  W.  to  keep  his  eyes  away  from  him. 

Mrs.  Whittelsey  was  fortunate  enough  to  save  her  gold 
watch,  which  was  on  the  bureau,  near  Mr.  Whittelsey's.  She 
took  it,  and  by  a  quick  movement  slid  it  under  the  bureau, 
where  it  found  a  safe  resting-place. 

When  the  inmates  of  the  house  were  being  marshaled  to- 
gether in  Mr.  Whittelsey's  room,  one  and  another  of  them 
made  appeals  in  behalf  of  others,  who  were  sick  or  feeble. 
Mrs.  Whittelsey  appealed  to  them  not  to  treat  her  niece 
harshly.  Mr.  Cutler  put  in  a  plea  for  his  wife.  Mrs.  Cutler 
spoke  feelingly  for  the  invalid  Miss  Benton.  Miss  White  also 
appealed  for  kindness  toward  Miss  Benton.  The  reply  was 
very  significant :  one  of  the  burglars  said,  "  There  was  always 
some  one  sick  on  these  occasions." 

Cashier  Whittelsey  says  the  first  knowledge  he  had  of  the 
presence  of  the  burglars  was  the  pressure  of  a  man's  hands 
on  his  throat.  On  attempting  to  speak,  the  burglar  said,  "Be 
quiet,  and  no  harm  will  come  to  you."  He  was  immediately 
handcutfed,  but,  unlike  the  treatment  of  the  others,  his  hands 
were  fastened  behind  him.  He  was  kept  in  bed,  and  in  that 
position  he  remained  from  half  to  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 
When  all  the  other  inmates  of  the  house  had  been  secured, 
and  were  gathered  in  Mr.  Whittelsey's  room,  he  was  directed 
to  get  up  and  dress  himself.  Tor  that  purpose  they  unshackled 
his  hands,  and  assisted  him  in  dressing.  He  told  them  he  sup- 
posed their  object  was  to  get  into  the  bank-vault,  but  he 
assured  them  thej'  could  not  do  so,  as  four  keys  were  neces- 
sary. They  replied  that  they  would  take  care  of  that ;  that 
they  knew  more  about  bank-locks  than  he  did,  and  that  all 
they  wanted  of  him  was  the  combinations.  Before  he  arose 
they  examined  his  bed  to  see  if  tliere  was  a  pistol  in  it.  No 
pistol  was  presented  to  him  until  after  he  had  dressed  himself. 
They  asked  him  if  there  was  more  than  one  safe  in  the  vault, 
and  he  replied  that  there  was  not.  (There  were  two.)  They 
took  him  into  the  hall  and  sat  him  on  a  sofa.  He  thinks  they 
did  not  enter  the  house  as  early  as  the  other  inmates  say  they 
did,.for  soon  after  he  was  attacked  he  heard  a  clock  strike  two. 
After  that  he  could  not  keep  tlie  run  of  the  time,  as  they  took 
his  gold  watch  and  chain  and  stopped  all  the  clocks  in  the 
house.  They  told  him  they  were  going  to  take  him  down  to 
a  stable  in  the  rear  of  the  bank,  and  that  if  he  did  not  open 
the  vault  for  them  they  should  "make  it  hot  for  him."  At 
about  half-past  three  they  took  him  down-stairs  into  the  sit- 
ting-room. They  asked  him  for  the  key  to  the  bank-door.  He 
replied  that  he  did  not  have  it,  as  they  had  rifled  his  pockets. 
One  of  them  then  produced  a  key,  and  asked  him  if  it  was  the 
right  one.  He  said  it  was.  They  doubted  his  word,  and  tried 
the  key  in  the  lock  on  the  front  door  of  the  house.  It  fitted 
that,  and  they  then  accused  him  of  lying,  and  began  choking 
him.  The  house-key  was  soon  after  found  on  the  floor,  and 
they  became  satisfied  that  they  had  the  right  key. 

In  the  sitting-room  they  sat  by  a  table.  Here  they  de- 
manded the  combinations.  While  this  was  going  on  one  man 
sIikkI  with  a  pisti>l  pointed  at  his  head,  and  another  with  pencil 
and  paper  took  his  answer.s.    There  are  three  combinations,  of 


three  figures  each,  one  to  the  vault-door,  another  to  the  safe 
inside  the  vault,  and  the  third  to  the  safety-box  or  steel-chest 
inside  the  safe.  He  gave  them  false  answers.  They  ordered 
him  to  talk  fast,  and  when  he  hesitated  they  prompted  him  by 
punching  his  chest  with  a  large,  sharp-pointed  lead-pencil. 
Immediately  after  he  had  given  the  false  combinations  they 
ordered  him  to  repeat  them,  and  to  do  it  quickly.  That  he 
could  not  do,  and  they  then  told  him  he  had  lied.  They  com- 
menced choking  him  and  pummeling  his  chest,  putting  him  in 
great  torture.  They  assured  him  it  would  be  of  no  use  for  him 
to  continue  to  keep  from  them  the  combinations,  as  they  should 
force  him  to  divulge.  Their  manner  was  very  firm  and  de- 
cided ;  their  movements  and  speech  all  indicated  that  they  were 
fully  prepared  for  the  job  in  hand,  and  nothing  was  done  which 
did  not  show  that  it  had  been  previously  considered  and  de- 
cided upon.  Finally,  after  much  suft"ering,  Mr.  Whittelsey 
gave  them  the  eo];rect  combinations.  They  took  them  down, 
made  him  repeat  them,  ordered  him  to  give  certain  figures  in 
a  particular  combination,  and  in  various  ways  tested  him  until 
they  were  satisfied  that  they  had  obtained  what  they  wanted. 
Even  with  the  correct  combinations,  Mr.  Whittelsey  did  not 
believe  they  could  get  into  the  vault  without  the  keys  held  by 
Mr.  Warriner  and  Mr.  Prince,  and  so  told  them  ;  but  they  said 
that  was  their  business,  and  thoy  would  take  care  of  it.  At 
about  four  o'clock  they  bound  him  firmly  to  the  bed  in  the 
bedroom  below.  His  hands  were  shackled  behind  him,  his 
legs  were  secured  by  a  strap  and  tied  with  cords  to  the  side- 
rails  of  the  bedstead,  and  strong  cords  bound  his  bodj'  to  the 
bedstead.  He  was  also  gagged.  In  that  position  he  lay  about 
three  hours, — and  they  were  hours  of  fearful  torture  to  mind 
and  body.  He  was  released  at  about  seven  o'clock,  and  as  soon 
as  possible  went  to  the  bank.  His  handcuffs  were  still  on  his 
hands,  but  they  had  been  filed  apart  by  one  of  his  neighbors. 
Mr.  Whittelsey  was  told  b}^  one  of  the  burglars  that  he  had 
seen  him  at  Watch  Hill,  two  years  before,  while  Mr.  W.  was 
there  on  his  summer  vacation. 

At  about  four  o'clock — the  time  when  the  watchman  and 
night  police  went  home — all  but  two  or  three  of  the  burglars 
left  the  house  and  repaired  to  the  bank,  leaving  behind  a  force 
suiiicient  to  guard  the  prisoners. 

Just  before  the  last  of  the  burglars  left  the  house,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  gag  each  of  the  captives.  For  this  purpose  they  were 
prepared  with  rubber  gags.  This  gag  consisted  of  a  rubber 
ball,  about  the  size  of  an  egg,  through  which  ran  a  small  iron 
rod.  The  ball  was  perforated  with  three  or  four  holes,  so  as 
to  allow  of  breathing.  To  each  end  of  the  iron  rod  was  fast- 
ened a  strong  cord,  sufficiently  long  to  reach  around  the  neck. 
These  gags  were  placed  in  the  mouths  of  six  of  the  captives, 
and,  there  not  being  another.  Miss  White  was  gagged  with  a 
handkerchief,  a  knot  being  tied  in  the  centre  to  fill  the  mouth. 
When  the  gags  were  being  tied  to  Miss  White  and  Mrs. 
Whittelsey,  they  complained  that  they  were  hurt  by  their  hair 
being  drawn  into  the  knots.  The  burglar  then  very  carefully 
drew  up  their  hair  and  placed  the  cord  under  it,  where  he  tied 
it  without  injuring  them.  All  the  captives  being  gagged,  the 
two  or  three  burglars  in  charge  of  them  after  four  o'clock  left 
the  house  at  about  a  quarter  before  six,  which  would  give  them 
just  time  enough  to  get  to  the  depot  to  take  the  first  train  for 
Springfield. 

The  first  to  get  released  suflSciently  to  give  an  alarm  were 
Mrs.  Whittelsey  and  Miss  White.  They  worked  their  hands 
free,  and  finally  succeeded  in  raising  a  window.  This  was 
about  half-past  six.  Their  screams  attracted  Mr.  James  O. 
Mantor,  Mr.  Sydell,  and  one  or  two  others,  who  were  on  their 
way  to  the  hoe-factory.  Mr.  Charles  J.  Bridgman,  living  just 
across  the  street,  also  appeared  at  the  same  time.  Mrs.  Whit- 
telsey was  at  the  open  window,  screaming,  under  great  excite- 
ment. She  supposed  that  Mr.  Whittelsey  had  been  taken  to 
the  bank  by  the  burglars,  and  directed  the  men  to  make  all 
haste  to  find  him.     Mr.  Mantor  did  so,  but  found  the  bank- 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


189 


door  locked  as  usual,  with  no  appearance  of  any  trouble  there. 
lie  then  went  to  the  station-house  and  aroused  Policeman 
Richards,  who  hurried  to  the  bank.  Mr.  Richards  directed 
Mantor  to  go  to  the  otEce  of  the  deputy  sheriiT,  Ansel  Wright, 
where  he  would  find  him.  He  did  so.  It  was  6A5  when  Mr. 
Mantor  notified  him.  He  ran  to  the  bank  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, and  found  the  door  locked.  He  then  hurried  to  the 
Mansion  House,  where  Mr.  Warriner,  the  vice-president  and 
active  manager  of  the  bank,  boarded,  and  aroused  him.  Taking 
the  key  to  the  bank,  he  ran  back,  and  was  the  first  to  enter. 

The  outer  door  of  the  bank  was  found  fastened  as  usual. 
The  door  of  the  vault  was  shut,  the  two  dials  were  apparently 
all  right,  and,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  drawers  found 
open,  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  anybody  had  been 
in  the  bank  since  the  officers  left  it  the  night  before.  On 
attempting  to  turn  the  dials,  however,  they  were  found  to  be 
loose,  and  easily  came  off.  The  burglars  had  wrenched  them 
off,  but  had  carefully  replaced  them,  so  as  to  create  a  favor- 
able impression  upon  the  first  comers.  There  was  not  a  scrap 
of  paper  on  the  floor  or  upon  the  counters,  nor  anything  else 
such  as  the  presence  of  a  gang  of  burglars  would  be  likely  to 
create.  The  vault-door,  with  the  exception  of  the  loosened 
dials  and  the  marks  of  a  small  wedge,  showed  no  evidence  of 
having  been  tampered  with.  The  officers  of  the  bank  were  at 
once  summoned,  and  it  was  their  first  belief  that  the  vault  had 
not  been  opened.  This  belief  was  stoutly  maintained  by  them 
and  by  many  others  during  that  day,  but  the  great  majority  of 
people,  after  hearing  how  skillfully  and  successfullj' the  burglars 
had  planned  and  executed  their  previous  work,  had  little  doubt 
that  they  accomplished  the  object  of  their  attempt.  There 
was,  however,  enough  of  doubt  hanging  over  the  matter  to 
make  the  suspense  very  great.  The  maker  of  the  lock  at  New 
York  was  telegraphed  to  come  up  and  open  the  door.  He  re- 
plied that  a  man  would  be  sent  by  the  first  train,  but  he  did 
not  arrive  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  two  men 
came.  They  at  once  went  to  the  bank,  and  their  first  work 
was  to  replace  one  of  the  dials.  This  took  considerable  time. 
It  was  necessary  to  take  the  dial  to  Webster  Herrick's  machine- 
shop  to  have  a  hole  drilled  through  it,  so  that  a  set-screw  could 
be  put  in.  The  dial  was  thus  connected  with  the  spindle.  It 
was  then  necessary  to  get  the  dial  in  a  position  to  correspond 
with  the  position  of  the  burglars'  dial  when  that  was  removed 
from^the  lock.  After  trying  31  of  the  100  points,  the  operator 
struck  the  combination,  and  in  a  moment  the  great  bolts  were 
thrown  back.  The  operator's  work  being  done  he  stepped 
aside,  and  Vice-President  Warriner  came  forward  and  pulled 
open  the  door.  This  was  fifteen  minutes  before  twelve  o'clock. 
It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  when  the  dial  was  adjusted  to  the 
spindle.  The  burglars  had  locked  the  door  on  the  same  com- 
bination that  was  used  by  the  bank-officers.  If  they  had 
changed  the  combination,  the  door  could  not  have  been  opened 
in  less  than  four  or  five  days, — that  is,  the  man  who  put  it  on 
said  so. 

There  were  present  in  the  bank  when  the  door  was  swung 
open  about  a  dozen  of  the  bank-officers,  sheriffs,  and  parties 
interested.  The  sight  revealed  bj-  the  opening  of  the  vault 
was  appalling.  The  door  of  the  new  safe  in  the  vault  was 
found  to  be  wide  open,  also  the  door  of  the  inner  steel  chest. 
One  look  was  enough.  It  told  the  whole  story.  The  con- 
tents of  the  safe  were  gone,  and  the  success  of  the  great 
burglary  was  complete. 

The  scene  at  this  time  was  one  of  most  painful  interest. 
Up  to  the  last  moment  before  the  opening  of  the  vault,  Mr. 
Warriner  had  stoutly  maintained  his  belief  that  it  had  not 
been  entered  by  the  burglars.  His  confidence  in  the  lock  was 
unbounded,  and  his  astonishment  when  the  sight  of  the  empty 
safe  revealed  the  great  reality  was  overwhelming.  The  ex- 
citement of  the  others  present  was  equally  intense.  All  were 
astonished  and  confounded.  The  excitement  could  not  have 
been  greater  if  an  earthquake  had  opened  the  bowels  of  the 


earth  near  the  bank.  A  million  of  dollars'  worth  of  money, 
stocks,  and  bonds,  the  accumulations  of  half  a  century  of  toil, 
patient  waiting,  self-denial,  and  skillftil  financiering,  had 
vanished.  A  few  hours  before,  a  deep  sense  of  security  per- 
vaded the  minds  of  all  connected  with  or  interested  in  the 
bank.  With  watchmen,  vaults,  safes,  combination-locks, 
multiplied  kej-s,  and  locks  upon  locks,  it  was  felt  that  the 
treasures  within  were  almost  absolutely  secure.  But  they 
were  gone.  The  empty  shelves,  the  rifled  boxes,  the  plun- 
dered chest,  how  eloquent  of  the  uncertainty  of  things  earthly  ! 
Verily,  "  riches  take  to  themselves  wings  and  fl}'  away." 

On  the  floor  of  the  vault  there  was  found  a  jimmy,  which 
the  burglars  left.  It  did  not  appear  to  have  been  used  for 
any  purpose,  except  to  open  the  small  trunks  of  the  special 
depositors. 

The  office  of  the  four  keys,  the  absence  of  which  Cashier 
Whittelsey  relied  upon  to  prevent  the  vault  being  opened  by 
the  burglars,  was  simply  to  disconnect  the  dials  from  the 
spindle  or  shaft  which  moved  the  machinery  in  the  interior 
of  the  lock.  This  discotmection  was  properly  made  when  ihe 
bank  was  closed  Tuesday  afternoon, — ihe  bank-officers  are  cer- 
tain of  that.  The  burglars,  therefore,  could  do  nothing  with 
the  lock  in  that  condition.  A  very  reasonable  suggestion  is 
that  they  wrenched  off  the  dials,  taking  note  of  their  exact 
position,  and  put  on  a  skeleton  dial,  which  thej'  had  previously 
prepared,  and  which  was  arranged  with  a  set-screw,  by  means 
of  which  it  could  be  at  once  connected  with  the  spindle.  This 
is  the  way  the  expert  opened  the  vault.  He  did  just  what  the 
burglars  probably  did ;  but  they  had  the  advantage  in  knowing 
the  position  of  the  dials  they  took  off,  while  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  position  of  their  dial,  which  they  took  with  them.  He 
had  to  get  a  set-screw  put  in  ;  they  had  it  all  ready  at  hand. 
He  had  to  find  the  position  of  the  dial  taken  ofl";  they  knew 
it  exactly.  He  knew  the  combination  ;  so  did  they.  He  un- 
locked the  vault  in  forty-five  minutes  after  connecting  the 
dial  with  the  spindle ;  they  probably  did  it  in  two  minutes. 
If  we  knew  the  time  it  took  them  to  wrench  off  the  two  dials 
and  put  on  one  of  their  own,  we  could  tell  within  five  minutes 
the  time  it  took  them  to  open  the  vault  and  safe  and  gather 
up  the  monej'  and  bonds. 

For  several  years  the  three  banks  in  this  town  had  employed 
a  night  watchman.  His  orders  had  been  to  go  on  duty  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  off  at  four  in  the  morning.  Each  bank  kept  a 
gas-light  in  the  banking-room  during  the  night,  and  these  the 
watchman  would  turn  off  just  before  leaving.  He  did  so  on 
the  morning  of  the  robbery,  putting  out  the  lights  at  about 
four  o'clock.  There  were  also  two  night  policemen,  hired  by 
the  town,  who  went  on  duty  at  nine  and  off  at  four.  Why  it 
happened  that  this  force  was  permitted  to  retire  at  so  early  an 
hour  is  a  mystery,  and  was  one  of  the  weakest  points  in  all 
this  terrible  calamity.  From  four  to  half-past  five  o'clock 
during  the  winter  season  is  as  still  as  any  hour  of  the  night. 
It  was  probably  this  early  retirement  of  the  watch  and  police 
that  tempted  the  burglars. 

No  event  in  this  region,  with  the  exception  of  the  great 
reservoir  disaster  in  187-t,  caused  so  much  excitement  as  this 
robbery.  It  created  almost  as  great  consternation  as  did  the 
opening  scenes  of  the  Rebellion.  Nothing  else  but  the  robbery 
was  talked  of  Conversation  was  all  about  banks,  vaults, 
safes,  money,  bonds,  stocks,  robbers,  burglars,  masks,  gags, 
combinations,  cashiers,  pistols,  and  so  on,  until  every  man 
heard  enough  on  these  subjects  to  make  him  a  pretty  good 
financier,  if  not  a  hero. 

The  Sequel.— The  case  was  immediately  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Pinkerton  Agency,  and  that  astute  and  expe- 
rienced detective  and  his  assistants  strained  every  nerve  to 
ferret  out  the  robbers.  After  the  lapse  of  many  months  sus- 
picion seemed  to'  rest  upon  Robert  Scott,  James  Dunhip, 
"  Red"  Leary,  and  William  Connors  as  the  real  personnel  of 
the  gang.      The   burglars,  however,   upon   discovering   that 


190 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


they  had  taken  over  ?1, 000, 000  in  money  and  bonds,  felt 
very  secure,  as  they  knew  that  the  individual  losers  would  bo 
only  too  anxious  to  recover  the  stolen  bonds,  and  that  they 
would  be  safe  even  if  suspected,  and  immediately  negotiations 
for  a  compromise  were  begun.  William  D.  Edson,  a  salesman 
for  the  Herring  Safe  Company,  and  the  same  person  who  opened 
the  vault  after  the  robbery  was  committed,  began  ostensibly 
to  assist  the  bank-authorities  in  negotiating  for  the  funds,  and 
he  was  soon  suspected  of  "  having  a  hand  in  it,"  which  proved 
true.  Edson  was  one  of  the  gang,  and  had  been  connected 
with  the  robbers  a  number  of  years  while  in  the  employ  of 
the  Herring  Company  as  salesman  and  lock-expert,  which 
readily  gave  him  access  to  any  bank  using  this  company's 
safe.  He  was  concerned  with  the  gang  in  the  attempt  to  rob 
a  bank  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  Quincy,  111.,  Saratoga,  N.  Y., 
Long  Island,  Covington,  Ky.,  Rockville,  Conn.,  Pittston, 
Pa.,  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  Nantucket,  Syracuse,  and  Northamp- 
ton. In  1874  he  superintended  putting  in  the  doors  for  the 
Northampton  Bank,  and  later,  under  the  pretense  of  fixing 
the  locks,  took  them  oti'  and  took  impressions  of  them  for 
the  use  of  the  robbers ;  but  this  scheme  was  never  consum- 
mated. 

As  soon  as  Edson  saw  that  he  was  suspected  by  the  bank- 
authorities  he  made  still  more  strenous  eJforts  to  compromi.se, 
but  to  no  effect.  Mr.  L.  B.  Williams,  of  Northampton,  vis- 
ited New  York  several  times,  and  had  interviews  with  Wm. 
Connors,  the  negotiator,  but  no  satisfactory  terms  could  be 
agreed  upon.  At  last  Edson  was  charged  with  being  an  ac- 
complice, and  for  a  sum  of  money — said  to  be  |10,000 — went 
to  Pinkcrton's  Agency  and  gave  a  detailed  history  of  the 
robbery,  which  led  to  the  arrest  of  Scott,  Dunlap,  and  Con- 
nors, and  to  the  flight  of  "Red"  Leary.  The  real  cause, 
doubtless,  which  led  to  the  revelation  by  Edson  was  his  un- 
successful attempts  to  secure  what  he  deemed  to  be  his  portion 
of  the  plunder,  as  they  had  attempted  only  a  short  time  before 
to  cheat  him  out  of  his  fair  proportion  of  the  spoils  of  the 
Quincy  robbery.  Connors  escaped  from  the  Ludlow  Street 
jail,  but  Scott  and  Dunlap  were  brought  to  Northampton, 
tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  twenty  years  in  the  State- 
prison.  It  seems  that  many  attempts  were  made  to  compro- 
mise with  Scott  and  Dunlap  almost  to  the  hour  of  sentence, 
but  to  no  eftect ;  the  men  are  serving  out  the  sentence  for  tlieir 
crime,  and  the  funds  are  still  in  the  possession  of  the  robber 
gang. 

There  is  only  one  more  phase  of  this  robber}'  that  will  be  of 
interest  to  the  general  reader,  and  that  is.  Where  were  the  se- 
curities hidden  and  when  were  they  removed?  Immediately 
after  the  robbery  the  intelligence  was  given  to  Edson  that  the 
"  plunder"  was  secreted  in  Northampton,  and  as  soon  as  he  was 
in  a  position  to  communicate  this  intelligence  to  the  bank- 
authorities  he  did  so.  The  excitement  then  became  intense. 
About  two  hundred  men  patrolled  the  roads,  avenues,  and 
lanes  in  and  about  Northampton,  and  seemingly  every  possible 
spot  was  searched  for  the  hidden  treasure,  but  the  search  was 
useless.  At  last  Messrs.  Scott  and  Dunlap  evidently  suspected 
Mr.  Edson  of  treachery,  and  notified  him  that  the  securities 
had  been  removed  to  New  York.  Knowing  Scott's  consum- 
mate ability  to  plan  and  organize,  and  Dunlap's  ability  to  ex- 
ecute, he  readily  believed  it,  and  immediately  communicated 
the  information  to  the  bank-people,  who  in  turn  did  not  for  a 
moment  question  its  truth,  and  the  large  body  of  men — about 
two  hundred — who  had  been  guarding  the  town  at  no  little 
expense  were  withdrawn,  and  probably  that  very  night,  or  soon 
thereafter,  Dunlap,  who  had  been  on  the  watch  to  witness  the 
operation  of  this  ruse,  walked  over  from  Amherst,  and,  enter- 
ing the  school-house*  on  Bridge  Street,  tore  up  a  little  step 
which  was  fastened  to  the  floor  under  the  blackboard,  removed 


*  Till-  fitlit;  iif  the  SL-ho(»l-lmiisc  luid  been  ihsed  aji  a  rniiiluzvmis  for  tlie  robbei-s 
previous  to  the  burglary. 


the  securities,  and,  dumping  them  in  a  bag,  he  "shouldered" 
it,  and  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  marched  out  of  the  quiet 
town  of  Northampton  with  the  million  dollars  of  securities  to 
Amherst,  wliere  he  boarded  the  train,  and  a  few  hours  more 
found  him  with  his  plunder  safe  in  the  metropolis. 

CONFLAGKATIONS. 

Northampton,  as  well  as  other  towns,  has  not  escaped  the 
march  of  the  fire-fiend,  but  up  to  the  year  1870  was  accounted 
fortunate,  inasmuch  as  no  disastrous  conflagrations  had  oc- 
curred. In  that  year,  however,  it  was  visited  by  two  fires, 
which  desolated  the  central  part  of  the  village.  The  first  oc- 
curred on  the  night  of  May  19,  1870,  when  the  Hunt  building 
and  the  Edwards  church  were  destroyed,  the  loss  estimated  at 
$52,000;  insurance,  $28,250. 

Just  two  months,  lacking  one  day  (July  18),  from  this  dis- 
aster the  old  Warner  House,  Warner  House  Block,  and  Ly- 
man Blocks  were  burned,  which  was  the  most  disastrous  con- 
fiagration  that  ever  occurred  in  the  town.  This  fire  originated 
in  the  kitchen  of  the  hotel  and  rapidly  spread,  communicating 
the  flames  to  the  adjoining  buildings.  The  fire  raged  four 
hours,  and  completely  destroyed  the  buildings.  The  Warner 
House  was  owned  by  Charles  F.  Simonds,  J.  C.  Orcutt,  pro- 
prietor. The  Warner  House  Block  was  owned  by  Wm.  H. 
Todd,  the  Lyman  brick  block  by  the  Fitch  Brothers,  of  Hat- 
field, who  also  owned  the  Lyman  wooden  block.  A  small 
building  west  of  the  Warner  House,  and  a  barn  and  ice-house 
in  the  rear  of  the  Lyman  Block,  were  also  burned.  The  total 
loss  was  §100,000,  insured  for  .?84,600. 

FIRE    DEPARTMENT. 

The  peo]ile  of  Northampton  evidently  carl_y  manifested  an 
interest  in  the  matter  of  extinguishing  fires,  as  a  fire  company 
was  in  existence  at  an  early  daj',  but  its  history  and  the  names 
of  the  persons  composing  it  are  lost  in  oblivion.  The  first 
records  which  we  have  been  able  to  secure  date  back  to  18.54, 
at  which  time  a  series  of  by-laws  were  adopted,  and  the  fol- 
lowing "  engineers  of  the  fire  department"  were  appointed  by 
the  selectmen :  A.  H.  Bullen,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Samuel  L. 
Parsons,  Lucius  Lewis,  Luman  Bartlett,  Oscar  Edwards,  W. 
C.  Prentiss,  A.  D.  Wade,  Justin  Thaj'er,  Thomas  Mu.sgrove, 
and  Lewis  Wright.  At  a  "  meeting  of  the  engineers,"  held 
April  11^,  the  following  officers  were  chosen:  A.  H.  Bullen, 
Chief-Engineer;  Laman  Kingsley,  First  Assistant;  Ebenezer 
Strong,  Second  A.ssistant ;  Oscar  Edwards,  Clerk  and  Treas- 
urer. 

The  following  have  been  chief-engineers  from  that  time  to 
the  present:  Ansel  Wright,  1855;  Benjamin  E.  Cook,  1856-57  ; 
H.I.Hodges,  1858-00;  Webster  Merrick,  1861  (declined); 
C.  W.  Bramin,  1861-63;  S.  M.  Smith,  1864-67;  C.  W.  Bramin, 
1868;  Mark  H.  Spaulding,  1869-70;  Samuel  I.  Parsons,  1871- 
73;  Watson  L.  Smith,  1874;  E.  V.  Foster,  187-5-76;  Lewis 
Warner,  1877-79. 

The  present  organization  of  the  fire  department  is  as 
follows : 

Lewis  Warner, Chief-Engineer;  Levi  I.  Clark,  Joseph  Jew- 
ett,  George  H.  Smith,  Thomas  Rowland  (Bay  State),  George S. 
Graves  (Florence),  Charles  S.  Warner  (Leeds),  Assistant  En- 
gineers ;  John  Metcalf,  Secretary.  No.  1  Hose  Company,  12 
men,  5.50  feet  hose;  George  Hunt,  Foreman.  No.  2  Hose 
Company,  12  men,  3-50  feet  hose ;  Vetile  Francis,  Foreman. 
No.  3,  Spare  Reel,  350  feet  hose;  I.  N.  Taylor,  Foreman. 
No.  5  Hose  Company,  12  men,  5.50  feet  hose;  George  I. 
Abbott,  Foreman.  IIook-and-Laddcr  Company,  15  men; 
Calvin  B.  Kingsley,  Foreman.  Bay  State  Hand-Engine  and 
Hose  Company,  12  men  ;  Daniel  Kairn,  Foreman.  Nonotuck 
Hose  and  Extinguisher  Company,  16  men;  George  E.  Ballou, 
Foreman.  Florence  Hose  and  Exti'  .  isher  Company,  16 
men  ;  Albert  Shumway,  Foreman  Engine  and  Hose 

Company  (Leeds),  12  men;  An.-i.  i.v     ••    '.-,  Foreman.     One 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


191 


Steamer,  John  Tappan,  No.  1.    Hose, — Centre,  2500  feet;  Bay 
State,  oOO  feet ;   Florence,  loOO  feet ;   Leeds,  500  feet. 

WATER-WORKS. 

The  iirst  movement  to  furnish  this  town  with  a  water  supply 
was  made  in  1867,  in  an  attempt  to  organize  a  company.  The 
requisite  amount  of  stock,  however,  could  not  be  obtained, 
and  the  project  was  abandoned.  The  disastrous  fires  of  1870, 
noted  above,  again  brought  the  matter  prominently  before  the 
citizens  of  the  town,  and  at  a  meeting  held  July  2Gth  of  that 
year  a  committee,  consisting  of  D.  W.  Bond,  J.  S.  Lathrop, 
M.  M.  French,  Lucius  Dimock,  and  Luke  Lyman,  was  ap- 
pointed to  investigate  various  plans  for  supplying  Northamp- 
ton, Florence,  and  Leeds  with  water,  and  to  report  at  a  future 
meeting  ;  and  $1000  was  appropriated  to  defray  their  expenses. 
The  report  of  the  committee  was  made  in  October,  and  adopted 
by  the  town  on  November  .5th.  An  issue  of  §200,000  of  town 
bonds  was  authorized,  and  the  committee  were  chosen  as  a  board 
of  water  commissioners ;  and  in  1871  an  act  of  incorporation 
was  obtained.  Work  was  begun  on  the  reservoir  in  May,  1871, 
and  on  September  1 1th  the  reservoir  was  tilled.  It  covers  an  area 
of  between  three  or  four  acres,  and  has  a  capacity  of  4,000,000 
gallons.  The  reservoir  is  fed  from  various  mountain  streams 
in  the  towns  of  Northampton,  Westhampton,  Chesterfield, 
and  Williamsburg,  and  the  water  is  very  pure.  The  fall  of 
water  is  all  that  could  be  desired,  even  for  fire  purposes ;  it 
has  a  fall  of  ninety  feet  in  Florence,  two  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  in  the  centre  of  the  village  of  Northampton,  and  two 
hundred  and  forty  feet  at  the  Connecticut  Kiver  depot. 

The  works  were  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1871,  and  De- 
cember 7th,  same  year,  were  tested.  At  Florence  a  stream  was 
thrown  perpendicularly  to  the  height  of  seventy  feet,  and 
eighty  feet  horizontally.  In  the  centre  the  stream  reached 
the  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  was  forced  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  horizontally. 

The  last  report  of  the  water  commission  gives  the  number 
of  miles  of  pipe  laid  as  21f|f^;  number  of  gates,  84;  and 
number  of  hydrants,  123. 

The  total  cost  of  the  works  up  to  February,  1879,  had  been 
$208,836.24.  The  gross  income  for  the  year  ending  Feb.  1, 
1879,  was  $16,611.05,  ?4000  of  which  was  paid  by  the  town. 

The  present  board  of  water  commissioners  is  constituted  as 
follows :  J.  S.  Lathrop,  Luke  Lyman,  J.  L.  Hartwell,  Oscar 
Edwards,  Lucius  Dimock,  Geo.  A.  Burr.  J.  S.  Lathrop  is 
President;  Oscar  Edwards,  Treasurer;  Luke  Lyman,  Clerk; 
and  Jonas  M.  Clark,  Superintendent. 

THE   NORTHAMPTON    BRIDGE. 

Tlie  old  town  records  show  that  in  April,  1658,  it  was  voted 
that  as  a  means  of  crossing  the  river  a  ferry-boat  should  be 
built  for  the  common  use  of  the  people.  Robert  Bartle  was 
chosen  keeper;  and  "if  any  person  or  persons  have  occasion 
to  use  the  said  boat  they  shall  demand  the  key  of  Robert  Bar- 
tie,  and  that  all  such  person  or  persons,  after  that  they  have 
had  the  key  delivered  to  them,  shall  stand  to  the  hazard  of  the 
boat  till  the  key  be  delivered  to  the  proper  keeper."  It  was 
also  voted  that  "  no  person  or  persons  that  carry  over  the 
boat  over  the  river  shall  not  retain  it  there  above  one  hour 
and  half."  The  key  was  also  to  be  returned  within  an  hour 
and  a  half,  under  a  penalty  of  2s  and  dd. 

Clark's  ferry  and  Goodman's  ferry  were  subsequently  es- 
tablished, and  answered  the  purposes  of  the  people  until  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  when  a  movement  was 
started  for  bridging  the  Connecticut  at  this  point. 

In  1803  a  company  was  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of 
building  a  bridge  across  the  Connecticut,  under  the  name  of 
the  "Proprietors  of  the  Northampton  Bridge,"  and  the  fol- 
lowing-named persons  were  the  incorporators :  Ebenezer 
Hunt,  Levi  Shepard,  Jos.  Lyman,  Jr.,  Asahel  Pomeroy, 
John  Taylor,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Samuel  Porter,  Benj.  Par- 


sons, Eleazer  Clark,  Ebenezer  Liane,  Samuel  Hinckley,  Josiah 
Dickinson,  John  Breck,  Benj.  Prescott,  Benj.  Tappan,  Enos 
Smith,  Elisha  Dickinson,  .lohn  Smith  (2d),  Lemuel  Warner, 
Jonathan  E.  Porter,  Eleazer  Porter,  .lohn  Hopkins,  Wm. 
Porter,  and  Windsor  Smith. 

The  project  remained  quiet  until  1807,  when  an  estimate 
was  made  for  building  a  "  trussell-bridge"  at  Clark's  ferry. 
In  February,  1808,  the  proprietors  voted  to  build  a  bridge, 
which  was  built  during  the  summer,  and  on  the  27th  of  Octo- 
ber of  the  same  year  was  opened.  This  event  was  duly  cele- 
brated, as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  notice,  which  appeared 
in  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  of  Nov.  2,  1808: 

"  On  Thiirstlay  la.st  the  comiiletion  ami  opening  of  the  Northjimpton  Bridge 
wfLS  celelirated  in  this  town  liy  tlie  proprietors,  and  an  immense  concourse  of 
people  assembled  for  the  pni-pose.    At  11  o'elocli  a  procession  was  formed  at  the 
house  of  Sir.  Jun.is  Clark,  anrl  moved  in  the  following  order : 
*'  Mjirshal,  Gon.  Porter,  on  horseback. 

"  Mupic. 
"  Capt.  Breck 's  Company  of  Artillery. 
"Citizens  and  Strangers. 
"Workmen  at  Biidge. 
"  Ct>ntractors. 
"  Two  Standards  borne  by  two  Lieutenants. 
"  Members  of  the  Corjjomtion. 
"  Directors. 
"  President  and  Clergy. 
"  Deputy-Marshal,  Maj.  Chapman,  on  Iiorseback. 
"  In  this  order  the  procession  passed  and  repassed  the  biidge  under  the  salute 
of  minute-guns,  which  were  alternately  discharged  from  the  opposite  banks  of 
the  river.    In  the  centre  of  the  bridge  a  temporary  arch  was  erected,  elegantly 
decorated  with  evergreens,  over  which  three  United  States  standards  were  taste- 
fully arranged. 

"  From  the  bridge  the  procession  marched  to  the  meeting-house,  where  an  in- 
genious, elegant,  and  tnily  appropriate  sermon  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Mr.  Wil- 
lard,  of  Deerfield,  from  these  words :  '  Hath  not  mine  hand  made  all  these 
things?' 

"  After  divine  service,  a  large  party,  consisting  of  the  corporjition  and  numer- 
ous civil  and  military  guests,  repaired  to  Mr.  Billings',  where  an  elegant  enter- 
tainment was  provided." 

This  bridge  was  built  by  Jonathan  Wolcott  and  Peleg 
Kingsley,  at  a  cost  of  i?13,000.  It  was  an  open  bridge,  and 
in  1817  was  rebuilt  on  plans  made  by  Capt.  Isaac  Damon, 
who,  with  Capt.  Salmon  Graves,  of  Whately,  were  contractors. 
In  1824  the  bridge  was  swept  away  with  a  freshet,  and  it  was 
superseded  by  a  structure  costing  $33,333.99,  built  by  Capt. 
Isaac  Damon  and  a  Mr.  Town,  in  1826.  The  eastern  portion 
of  this  bridge  was  carried  away  by  a  freshet  in  1859.  The 
contract  to  rebuild  was  let  to  Messrs.  Harris  &  Briggs  for 
$20,000  ;  the  old  half  was  also  raised  at  a  cost  of  $1075.  In 
1871  the  charter  of  the  bridge  company  was  extended  for 
twenty  years  ;  provided,  also,  that  in  case  either  of  the  towns 
of  Northampton  or  Hadley  should  make  application  for  a  free 
bridge,  a  commission  should  be  appointed  to  determine  the 
amount  to  be  paid  by  the  respective  towns  interested  and 
Hampshire  County.  Nothing  was  done  in  this  direction  until 
1875,  when  the  town  of  Hadley  made  application  for  a  free 
bridge.  The  commission  appointed  to  determine  and  award 
the  amounts  to  be  paid  consisted  of  Henry  Morris,  of  Spring- 
field ;  C.  C.  Conant,  of  Greenfield ;  and  M.  B.  Whitney,  of 
AVestfleld,  who  adjudged  the  bridge  company's  rights  and  in- 
terest at  S25,000,  to  be  paid  as  follows  :  $7000  by  Northamp- 
ton, $4000  by  Hadley,  $3000  by  Amherst,  and  $11,000  by  the 
county  of  Hampshire.  These  sums  were  paid  during  the 
year  1875. 

The  first  toll-gatherer  was  Jonas  Clark,  appointed  in  1808, 
who,  with  his  son,  Spencer  Clark,  officiated  in  this  capacity 
until  about  18.58.  Others  have  been  Robert  B.  Graves,  Ed- 
ward Clapp,  and  Hiram  Day.  The  latter  served  about  eleven 
years. 

The  amount  of  tolls  received  were  as  follows:  in  1850, 
$4,304;  in  1855,  $3725;  in  1802,  $3700;  in  1860,  $5150;  in 
1871,  $5491 ;  in  1873,  $4523 ;  and  in  1874,  $5118. 

June  14,  1877,  the  bridge  was  destroyed  by  a  whirlwind, 
and  it  was  decided  to  build  an  iron  structure,  and  the  contract 


192 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


for  the  same  was  let  to  the  Canton  Wrought-Iron  Bridge  Co., 
of  Canton,  Ohio.  The  bridge  was  subjected  to  a  severe  test 
October  31st  and  November  1st,  and  on  the  3d  of  November  was 
accepted  by  the  selectmen  and  opened  to  the  public,  in  ninety- 
three  days  from  the  day  the  contract  was  signed.  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful and  substantial  structure,  and  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
133,526.36. 

GAS   COMPANY. 

The  Northampton  Gas-light  Company  was  incorporated  in 
1853,  by  Wm.  H.  Stoddard,  Samuel  A.  Fish,  and  Daniel 
Kingsley,  with  power  to  hold  real  estate  amounting  to  5!50,000. 
In  1855  the  company  was  organized,  and  the  construction  of 
the  works  begun  by  the  contractors,  Sabutton  &  Co.,  of  Mid- 
dletown.  Conn.  The  works  were  completed  in  1856,  at  a  cost 
of  135,000.  Dec.  12,  1856,  the  first  building  was  lighted  ;  this 
was  the  restaurant  of  L.  B.  Edwards.  The  first  president  of 
the  company  was  Joseph  Lathrop,  and  the  first  superintend- 
ent, J.  A.  Shepherd. 

The  charter  of  the  company  was  subsequently  amended, 
allowing  them  to  increase  the  capital  to  §100,000,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  lay  mains  to  the  neighboring  village  of  Flor- 
ence. This  plan,  however,  failed.  The  two  gas-meters  now 
in  use  by  the  company  have  a  capacity  of  45,887  feet.  Loca- 
tion, Eiver  Street. 

THE    MINING   BONANZA   OF    1679. 

In  the  year  1679  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  settlement  were 
startled  with  the  report  that  Robert  Lyman  had  discovered  a 
lead  mine  within  the  town,  and  at  a  meeting  held  July  27, 
1679,  a  letter  was  read  setting  forth  the  enterpri.^e,  and  the 
records  state  that  "  after  much  discourse  and  agitation"  it  was 
voted  that  the  town  have  a  general  interest  in  opening  the 
mines. 

The  interest  in  the  discovery  of  this  hidden  wealth  was  not 
allowed  to  wane,  and  "at  a  legal  meeting,  Oct.  16,  1679,  they 
then  having  further  Conference  about  the  lead  mine  which 
Robert  Lj'man  found  out,  they  then  voted  that  all  such  persons 
as  would  join  in  the  Carrying  on  of  that  design,  Should  meet  on 
the  23d  of  this  Instant  at  Sun  one  hour  high  at  night,  then  to 
give  in  a  list  of  their  names,  and  to  them  or  to  those  persons 
that  shall  then  appear.  The  Town  do  hereby  give  up  all  their 
right  in  that  mine,  lying  about  six  miles  oft",  at  the  west  side  of 
the  Town." 

The  "  Mineral  Company,"  formed  in  1679,  was  composed  of 
the  following  persons  :  William  Clark,  Sr.,  John  Strong, 
Samuel  Davis,  Israel  Rust,  Joseph  Parsons,  Sr.,  Robert  Ly- 
man, Joseph  Hawley,  John  King,  Joseph  Parsons,  Jr.,  Pre- 
served Clapp,  John  Lyman,  Sr.,  Martyn  Smith,  Sam'l  Bart- 
lett,  Richard  Lyman,  and  Medad  Pumroy." 

This  company,  however,  failed  to  develop  the  "  mines,"  and 
the  excitement  incident  to  their  discovery  soon  died  out.  Com- 
panies, mushroom-like,  have  sprung  into  existence  at  various 
times  for  the  purpose  of  working  them,  but  have  as  suddenly 
failed,  and  the  "hidden  wealth"  still  lies  buried  in  the  bosom 
of  mother-earth. 

THE   TOWN-HALL. 

For  many  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  town  the  good 
people  transacted  the  town's  business  in  the  "  meeting-house," 
and  subsequently  in  the  court-house.  The  movement  for  the 
erection  of  a  town-hall  was  begun  in  1819,  but  it  was  not 
until  1823  that  the  building  was  erected.  It  was  located  on 
the  corner  of  Main  and  King  Streets,  and  was  built  by  Capt. 
Isaac  Damon,  to  whom  the  town  for  a  number  of  years  paid 
an  annual  rental  of  $175.  It  was  subsequently  purchased 
by  the  town,  and  used  until  1849,  when  a  new  location  was 
secured,  and  the  present  building  erected.  It  was  dedicated 
in  1850. 

THE   CEMETERY. 

The  people  of  Nonotuck  evidently  early  manifested  an 
interest  in  a  burial-place  for  the  dead,  and  until  1661  they  were 


interred  near  the  church  on  "Meeting-house  Hill."  In  that 
vear  the  present  cemetery  was  selected,  which  has  been  enlarged 
and  beautified  from  time  to  time  until  it  is  now  one  of  the  most 
attractive  rural  cemeteries  in  New  England. 

EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS. 

Not  only  did  the  pioneers  of  Northampton  manifest  an 
interest  in  religious  matters,  but  the  schools  also  claimed  their 
early  attention,  and  in  1663  the  old  town  records  show  that  it 
was  "  voted  to  give  Mr.  Cornish  six  pounds  toward  the 
school  and  to  take  the  benefit  of  the  scholars,  provided  that  he 
teach  six  months  in  the  year  together." 

In  1666,  William  Jeanes  was  hired  by  the  town  to  teach 
school  one  year,  and  for  his  encouragement  and  satisfaction  for 
his  attendance  upon  that  work  the  town  and  himself  came  to 
this  conclusion  and  agreement : 

"  lly.  For  the  year  he  is  to  have  out  of  the  Towne  Stock  Ten  Pounds,  which 
the  Townsmen  promise  to  pay. 

"  21y.  Four  pence  per  week  for  such  as  are  in  the  primmer  and  other  English 
books, 

"3.  Six  pence  per  week  to  learn  Atidience-writing,  casting  accounts. 

"  4.  In  case  there  be  a  neglect  that  they  do  not  come  constantly,  3  days  shall  be 
accounted  a  week." 

It  is  evident  that  in  1668  the  schools  were  not  yet  an  estab- 
lished institution  of  the  town,  as  the  records  of  that  year  show 
that  it  was  "  voted  by  the  town  that  they  are  willing  to  have 
a  schoolmaster  for  the  year  ensuing." 

In  1670  one  hundred  acres  were  appropriated,  or  "seques- 
tered," as  it  was  called,  for  schools,  and  in  the  following  year 
the  "  town  voted  and  agreed  to  give  the  schoolmaster  30 
pounds  a  year,  provided  that  one  can  be  procured  fit  for  such 
an  employment." 

Warham  Mather  and  Joseph  Hawley  were  employed  to 
teach  the  school  in  1686,  the  former  to  receive  forty  pounds. 

Under  date  of  July  16,  1712,  it  was  voted  that  the  town 
would  maintain  a  grammar  school  in  its  town  for  the  next 
coming  twenty  j-ears. 

In  1783,  Major  Joseph  Hawley,  a  prominent  citizen  of  that 
period,  bequeathed  certain  lands  to  the  town  for  the  use  of 
schools,  which  were  subsequently  sold,  and  a  fund  known  as 
the  "  Hawley  fund"  established,  the  income  of  which  has  since 
been  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  schools.  This  fund  now  amounts 
to  $2906.87. 

The  first  school  committee,  consisting  of  four  persons,  was 
appointed  in  1799,  and  from  this  time  to  the  present  the  schools 
of  Northampton  have  ever  kept  abreast  with  the  rapid  march 
of  educational  progress  in  this  State. 

Northampton  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  the  establish- 
ment of  high  schools,  and  April  13, 1835,  the  boys'  high  school 
was  established.  The  brick  school  edifice  on  Centre  Street  was 
erected  on  lands  donated  by  Hon.  Joseph  Lyman.  In  1836 
it  was  voted  by  the  town  that  $3,500  be  expended  for  the  pur- 
chase of  land  and  erection  of  a  building  for  a  girls'  high  school, 
and  in  that  year  the  girls'  high  school  building,  on  Main  Street, 
was  erected.  The  schools  were  long  continued  separately,  but 
in  1852  the  higher  branches  were  united. 

In  1863  the  present  fine  school  building  at  Florence  was 
erected  by  Samuel  L.  Hill,  at  a  cost  of  $33,000,  he  generously 
donating  the  entire  sum  except  $2000,  voted  by  the  town.  In 
the  year  1864  the  present  commodious  high-school  building 
was  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $36,647.98,  $8000  of  which  was  con- 
tributed by  the  late  J.  P.  Williston,  through  whose  efl"orts  the 
movement  was  started  and  finally  brought  to  a  successful  com- 
pletion. Not  content  with  the  generous  contributions  he  had 
already  made,  he  expended  about  $0000  in  1804  on  the  present 
building  on  Centre  Street. 

PRIVATE   SCHOOLS. 

Various  private  schools  have  flourished  from  time  to  time 
in  Northampton,  the  most  prominent,   perhaps,   being  the 


HISTORV  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


193 


school  known  as  the  Round  Hill  School,  which  was  estab- 
lished by  George  Bancroft,  the  celebrated  historian,  and  J.  G. 
Coggswell,  in  1824.  For  many  years  it  was  one  of  tlie  lead- 
ing educational  institutions  of  its  class  in  this  State,  but  was 
discontinued  in  1830. 

T/ie  Gothic  Seminary,  on  Gothic  Street,  was  built  in  1835, 
and  opened  the  same  year,  by  Miss  Margaret  Dwight,  as  a 
young  ladies'  seminary,  and  was  exceedingly  prosperous  until 
the  death  of  Miss  Dwight,  in  1846,  when  it  was  discontinued. 

The  Northampton  Coller/iate  Institute  was  established  in  the 
defunct  Gothic  Seminary,  mentioned  above,  by  Lewis  J.  Dud- 
ley, in  1849,  and  for  many  years  was  continued  in  ii  flourish- 
ing condition.  It  was  discontinued  in  18G2,  and  the  building 
was  subsequently  occupied  by  the  Clark  Institution  for  Deaf 
Mutes.  It  is  now  occupied  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Thompson's 
Medical  Home  for  Invalids,  and  is  known  as  Shady  Lawn. 

A  law  school  was  also  established  here  in  1821  by  Elijah  H. 
Mills  and  Samuel  Howe,  in  what  was  formerly  known  as  the 
Lyman  brick  building.  Mr.  Mills  was  succeeded,  in  1824,  by 
J.  H.  Ashmun.  In  1822,  Mr.  Howe  was  appointed  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  but  remained  connected  with 
the  school  until  his  death,  in  1828.  Mr.  Ashmun  was  soon 
after  appointed  law-professor  in  Harvard  College,  and  the 
school  was  discontinued. 

SMITH    COLLEGE. 

The  grand  old  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  has  ever 
been  famous  for  the  number  and  excellence  of  its  educational 
institutions,  and  there  is  no  point,  even  in  this  State,  or  the 
union  of  States,  around  which  are  grouped  such  a  galaxy  of 
literary  institutions  as  Northampton.  Clustered  within  a 
radius  of  ten  miles  are  Amherst  College,  with  its  extensive 
art  and  scientific  collections,  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
College,  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  and  Williston  Seminary. 
A  new  constellation  was  added  to  this  galaxy,  and  one  whose 
brilliancy  has  already  been  recognized  in  the  literary  world, 
when,  in  1875,  Smith  College. was  dedicated. 

This  institution  was  founded  through  the  liberality  of  Miss 
Sophia  Smith,  of  Hatfield,  who  died  June  12,  1870,  aged 
seventy-four  years.  Miss  Smith's  charities  seemed  to  be 
almost  boundless,  and  her  donations  to  various  educational 
institutions  during  her  lifetime  were  large.  It  seems  that 
the  absence  of  institutions  for  women  where  they  might  re- 
ceive the  same  advantages  afforded  by  the  various  colleges 
to  men  caused  her  to  resolve  that  a  largo  portion  of  her 
wealth  should  be  donated  to  the  founding  of  a  female  college 
which  should  bo  equal  in  all  respects  with  the  highest  educa- 
tional institutions  in  the  land.  The  estate,  at  her  decease, 
amounted  to  1475,000,  all  of  which,  except  §91,400,  with  ac- 
crued interest,  by  the  provision  of  her  will,  was  devised  to  the 
founding  of  a  female  college  in  Northampton,  provided  the 
town  would  raise  §25,000  additional.  This  sum  was  voted  in 
1871,  which  made  the  fund  of  the  college  §411,008.29.  By  a 
provision  of  the  will,  the  expenditure  for  buildings  and  real 
estate  is  limited  to  one-half  the  total  amount  of  the  fund. 
"When  Miss  Smith's  will  came  before  the  Probate  Court  for 
action,  objection  was  made  by  one  of  the  heirs-at-law  and  the 
town  of  Hatfield,  on  the  ground  that  she  was  unduly  influ- 
enced in  locating  the  college  in  Northampton  ;  but  the  evi- 
dence was  deemed  insufficient  and  the  will  admitted  to  probate. 

In  1871  the  college  was  chartered,  and  the  first  move  was 
made  toward  the  location  of  the  college  in  the  purchase,  by 
the  trustees,  of  the  Judge  Dewey  estate  and  the  adjoining  es- 
tate of  Judge  Samuel  F.  Lyman,  consisting  of  twelve  and  a 
half  acres  of  laud,  at  a  cost  of  |51,000. 

In  June,  1873,  Prof.  L.  Clark  Seelye,  of  Amherst  College, 
was  chosen  president,  and  the  work  of  clearing  the  grounds 
and  laying  out  the  plans  for  the  buildings  was  immediately 
begun.  The  erection  of  the  first  college  building  and  the  pres- 
ident's house  was  begun  in  1874,  and  in  May  the  following 
25 


year  the  latter  was  completed,  and  on  the  14th  of  the  follow- 
ing July  the  college  proper  was  dedicated  and  President  See- 
lye inaugurated.  The  dedicatory  exercises  were  of  a  very 
interesting  character.  Addresses  were  made  by  Prof.  W.  S. 
Tyler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  Seelye,  Rev.  j.  M.  Green, 
Gov.  Gaston,  and  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.D. 

In  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  building,  its  architectu- 
ral design,  etc.,  we  clip  the  following  from  Scribner's  Monthly  : 

"To  carry  out  this  wish  of  tlie  foundei-,  the  tnistees  determined  to  inaugurate 
a  new  departure  witii  reference  to  college  buildings.  Instead  of  the  immense 
caravansaries,  four  or  five  stories  high,  in  which  are  gathered  recitation-rooms, 
kitchen,  dining-  and  sleeping-rooms,  it  wiis  determined,  in  order  to  realize  both 
an  academic  and  a  home  life,  to  erect  one  central  building  for  strictly  collegiate 
purposes,  and  to  group  around  it  smaller  dwelling-houses  which  should  furnish 
homes  for  the  students.  These  residences  were  to  accommodate  about  twenty- 
five  students,  and  at  the  head  of  each  household  there  was  to  be  a  lady  who 
should  sustain  to  it  a  relation  sinular  to  that  which  a  lady  in  an  ordinary  home 
holds  to  her  own  family.  She  should  preside  over  it  and  give  direction  to  its  so- 
cial and  domestic  life.  Each  Iiousehold  should  form  by  itself  a  separate  (estab- 
lishment, and  yet  all  should  be  connected  by  similar  interests  and  pursuits  as  a 
literarj'  community.  The  lady  teachers  might  also  live  in  these  different  fami- 
lies, and  by  their  society  and  influence  contribute  to  the  general  welfare  and  in- 
terest. None  of  the  buildings  were  to  be  more  than  two  stories  and  a  half  high, 
in  order  to  avoid  numerous  staircases.  These  plans  have  thus  far  been  strictly 
adhered  to,  with  gratifying  results.  The  beneficial  effects  of  the  home-Uke  life 
are  very  apparent  both  in  the  health  and  manners  of  the  students.  The  nervous 
tension  and  excitement  which  must  necessarily  arise  where  great  numbers  are 
gathered  together,  and  regulations  umltiplied,  are  avoided,  and  the  quiet  and 
freedom  of  a  smaller  family  are  secured. 

*'  Personal  peculiarities  can  also  thus  be  more  satisfactorily  studied,  and  refin- 
ing influences  more  successfully  exerted.  Instead  of  formal  lectures  on  decorum 
and  social  proprieties,  the  aim  is,  through  the  natural  daily  intercourse  of  a  well- 
ordered  family,  to  develop  the  best  social  characteristics. 

"  In  these  different  homes  the  young  ladies  receive  their  fiiends,  enjoy  their 
games  and  festivities,  and  their  smaller  sociables  from  time  to  time,  while  in  the 
larger  hall  in  the  college  building  they  also  frequently  meet,  with  invited  guests, 
for  various  enteltainments.  Instead  of  being  shut  up  entirely  to  their  own  so- 
ciety, they  are  thus  made  acquainted  with  intelligent  and  refined  people  of  many 
different  classes.  Musical  concerts  and  readings  are  interapersed  to  give  variety 
to  their  life. 

"  The  private  rooms  of  the  young  ladies  are  designed  to  suit  difl"erent  tastes. 
Some  of  them  are  for  two  pei-sons,  with  study  and  bedroom  ;  some  are  arranged 
as  single  rooms ;  all  are  well  ventilated  and  comfortably  furnished. 

"  The  style  of  the  main  collegiate  building  is  secular  Gothic.  It  is  built  of 
brick,  trimmed  with  stone,  and  the  interior  is  elegantly  finished  in  unpainted 
native  woods.  On  the  lower  floor  are  the  recitation-,  reading-,  and  dressing- 
rooms.  A  large,  well-furuished  laboratory  is  finely  arranged  in  a  single  story,  suf- 
ficiently disconnected  from  the  nniin  building  to  prevent  any  annoyance  from 
gases. 

"On  the  second  floor  there  are  the  largo  social  hall,  cabinets,  art-gallery  and 
art  lecture-rooms,  and  offices.  The  main  rooms  of  the  second  story  are  so  ar- 
ranged that  they  can  all  be  thrown  together  whenever  it  is  desirable  for  literary  or 
social  entertainments,  and  other  purposes.  The  social  hall,  also  used  as  a  chapel, 
affords  a  striking  combination  of  elegant  architecture  and  beauty  of  finish.  The 
art-galleiT,  even  unfurnished,  would  delight  the  eye  of  an  artist.  This  gallery 
is  divided  into  alcoves  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  Gothic  screens,  which  are 
covered  with  several  hundred  autotype  copies  of  representative  paintings  of  the 
Italian,  Flemish,  Butch,  German,  and  Spanish  schools.  The  ends  of  these  screens 
are  finished  to  form  effective  backgrounds  for  casts  representing  noted  statues. 
There  are  also  oil  copies  of  celebrated  paintings  of  the  different  schools.  The 
art  lecture-room  has  its  walls  covered  with  illustrations  of  the  French  school, 
and  an  adjoining  room  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  English  school  of  art." 

The  following  extract  from  Miss  Smith's  will  gives  a  general 
idea  of  the  scope  and  aim  of  the  institution  : 

"Sensible  of  what  the  Christian  religion  has  done  for  my  se.\,  and  believing 
that  all  education  should  bo  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  man,  I  direct 
that  the  Holy  Scriptures  be  daily  aud  systematically  read  and  studied  in  said 
college,  and,  without  giving  preference  to  any  sect  or  denomination,  all  the  edu- 
cation and  all  the  discipline  shall  be  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tian religion  ;  I  direct  also  that  higher  culture  in  the  English  language  literature 
be  given  in  said  college;  also  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Languages,  in  the  Mathe- 
matical and  Physical  Sciences,  in  the  Useful  and  Fine  Arts,  in  Intellectual,  Moral, 
and  JEsthetic  Philosophy,  in  Natural  Theology,  in  the  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
in  Gymnastics  and  Physical  Culture,  in  the  Sciences  and  Arts  which  pertain  to 
Education,  Society,  and  Government,  and  in  such  other  studies  as  coming  time 
may  develop  or  demand  for  the  education  of  women,  or  the  progress  of  the  race. 
I  would  have  the  education  suited  to  the  mental  and  physical  wants  of  woman. 
It  is  not  my  design  to  render  the  s*x  any  the  less  feminine,  but  to  develop,  as 
fully  as  may  be,  the  powers  of  womanhood,  and  furnish  women  with  the  means 
of  usefulness,  happiness,  and  honor,  now  withheld  from  them." 

The  diploma  of  Smith  College  covers  as  high  a  degree  of 
literary  merit  as  that  of  Harvard,  Amherst,  or  Williams. 
The  following  is  an  outline  of  the  course  of  study  : 


194 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


The  course  of  study  will  extend  through  four  years.  Dur- 
ing the  first  year  the  same  studies  will  be  required  of  all  the 
regular  students.  After  the  first  year  elective  courses  have 
heen  arranged,  designated,  respectively,  classical,  literary,  and 
scientific. 

The  classical  course  is  distinguished  from  the  others  by  the 
greater  attention  given  to  Greek  and  Latin  ;  the  literary,  by 
the  greater  attention  given  to  the  modern  languages,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  English  ;  and  the  scientific,  by  the  greater  atten- 
tion given  to  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences. 

Optional  studies  in  art  and  music  a(;e  arranged  in  connection 
with  all  these  courses.  Any  student  may  also,  under  the 
direction  of  the  faculty,  vary  the  optional  courses  by  select- 
ing from  them  those  studies  which  best  suit  personal  tastes 
or  acquirements. 

Enough,  however,  of  the  characteristic  studies  of  a  collegi- 
ate course  will  be  required  of  all  the  students  to  secure  a  cul- 
ture as  thorough  and  complete  as  that  demanded  in  our  best 
New  England  colleges. 

The  college  is  now  in  a  prosperous  condition,  and  the  esti- 
mated value  of  the  real  estate  and  the  productive  funds  is 
$525,000. 

The  faculty  is  as  follows:  Eev  L.  Clark  Seelye,  D.D.,  Presi- 
dent, and  Professor  of  English  Literature ;  Eev.  Henry  M. 
Tyler,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek  ;  M.  Stuart  Phelps, 
M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Moral  and  Mental  Philosophy  ; 
John  H.  Stoddard,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Physics  and 
Higher  Mathematics;  Samuel  A.  Fiske,  M.A.,  M.D.,  Lec- 
turer on  Physiology  and  Hygiene ;  Edward  P.  Crowell,  M.  A., 
Lecturer  on  Latin  Literature;  Richard  H.  Mather,  M.A., 
Lecturer  on  German  Literature;  William  C.  Esty,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Astronomy  ;  Benjamin  K.  Emerson,  M.A.,  Ph.D., 
Professor  of  Geology ;  Herbert  B.  Adams,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  History;  Kev.  John  W.  Churchill,  M.A.,  Lecturer 
on  Elocution  ;  J.  Wells  Champney,  Professor  of  Drawing  and 
Painting;  Benjamin  C.  Blodgett,  Professor  of  Music;  James 
Lalor,  Professor  of  Vocal  Music ;  Louis  C.  Stanton,  Assist- 
ant Teacher  of  Music ;  Miss  Be-ssie  T.  Capen,  Teacher  of 
Chemistry  ;  Miss  Maria  Whitney,  Teacher  of  French  and 
German  ;  Miss  Eliza  H.  Lord,  Teacher  of  Mathematics  ;  Miss 
Heloise  E.  Herscy,  Teacher  of  English  ;  Miss  E.  Harriet  Stan- 
wood,  Teacher  of  Latin ;  Miss  Lucy  D.  Hunt,  Teacher  of 
Gymnastics ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  J.  Hopkins,  lady  in  charge  of  the 
Dewey  House;  Mrs.  E.  B.  Eichards,  lady  in  charge  of  the 
Hatfield  House ;  Miss  Mary  Fosdick,  lady  in  charge  of  the 
New  House. 

The  present  board  of  trustees  is  as  follows :  Eev.  L.  Clark 
Seelye,  D.D.,  President;  Eev.  William  S.  Tyler,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Profe.ssor  at  Amherst;  Eev.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  LL.D.,  Presi- 
dent of  Amherst;  Hon.  William  B.  Washburn,  LL.D.,  of 
Greenfield;  Eev.  Edwards  A.  Park,  D.D.,  Professor  at  An- 
dover  ;  Hon.  Joseph  White,  LL.D.,  of  Williamstown  ;  Hon. 
Birdseye  G.  Northrop,  LL.D.,  of  New  Haven;  Hon  Edward 
B.  Gillett,  of  Wcstfield;  Hon.  George  W.  Hubbard,  of  North- 
ampton ;  Eev.  Andrew  P.  Peabody,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor 
at  Cambridge  ;  A.  Lyman  Williston,  Esq.,  of  Northampton  ; 
Eev.  Robert  M.  Woods,  of  Hatfield;  Rev.  William  R.  Hunt- 
ington, D.D.,  of  AVorcester  ;  Rodney  Wallace,  Esq.,  of  Fitch- 
burg. 

ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY. 

FIRST   CHURCH   AND   PARISH.* 

First  Mccting-IIouse. — In  the  original  document  asking  per- 
mission to  plant  a  new  settlement  on  the  "  Conetiquot"  River, 
the  petitioners  described  Nonotuck  as  a  suitable  place  for 
"propagating  the  gospel,  .  .  .  whereby  they  might  live  and 
attend  upon  God  in  his  holy  ordinances  without  distraction.'' 
Accordingly,  the  first  public  act  of  the  early  settlers  was  the 

*  By  J.  E.  Trumbull. 


erection  of  a  house  of  worship.  They  arrived  in  October, 
1654,  and  in  April,  1655,  the  building  was  completed.  The 
contract  for  this  house  is  as  follows : 

"  ■\Villiam  Holton  They  tire  to  build  a  bouse  for  the  Towne  of  Xorthamp- 

Richard  Lyman  tno,  of  Sawen  Tiuiber,  20  foot  long  k  18  foot  wide.  0  foot 

.luseph  Parsons  high  from  the  lower  p'  of  y  cell  to  the  upper  part  of  the 

John  Lyman  raisens. 

Edward  Elmore 

"  And  to  frame  the  Roofe  of  Sawen  Timber  4  pair  of  Rafters  with  Coller  beams, 
7  great  laths  5  inches  broad  3  inches  wide,  the  Spare  C  inches  one  way  &  5  the 
other,  with  the  punching  for  the  gable  ends  5  beluw  the  coller  beams,  one  above. 
Two  chimny-peeces,  4  braces  for  the  roofe  nailed  on,  only  the  Towne  must  find 
y  nails  &  help  to  raise  y*  roofe.  Two  halfe  Somers  &  one  Somer  &  Mortis,  the 
Somei-s  for  the  Joyce  &  to  make  a  doorway,  two  window  places,  the  peeces  S 
inches  thick  below  &  0  above  this,  to  be  done  by  the  niidle  of  April  ne.xt,  under 
the  same  forfeit  which  the  Towne  agree  for  their  part,  for  which  the  said  partyes 
are  to  have  £14  of  the  Towne  &  y°  foresaid  partyes  must  out  of  this  pay  their 
rates  to  the  house,  k  the  rest  of  the  £14  the  Towne  is  to  pay  in  worke  or  corne 
as  they  shall  agree  upon  by  the  midle  of  April  next,  55." 

This  instrument  has  no  date;  there  is  no  intimation  that 
the  house  was  intended  for  religious  purposes,  and  no  entry 
on  the  town  records  of  any  vote  authorizing  such  a  building. 
That  it  was  so  used,  however,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  in 
1658  the  burying-placc  is  fixed  upon  "Meeting-House  Hill," 
which  would  not  be  thus  designated  unless  a  meeting-house 
stood  upon  it,  and  in  1601  a  vote  was  passed  to  erect  a  "  new 
meeting-house."  The  location  of  this  building  is  not  known 
other  than  it  was  upon  Meeting-House  Hill,  and  upon  that 
elevation  a  house  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  has  ever 
since  occupied  a  prominent  position. 

First  Minister  Called. — When  this  house  was  completed  no 
church  had  been  formed,  and  two  years  elapsed  before  a  min- 
ister was  called.  Religious  services  were  undoubtedly  observed 
on  the  Sabbath,  probably  conducted  by  persons  who  had  held 
the  otiice  of  deacon  before  removing  to  Northampton,  but 
there  is  no  record  concerning  them.  The  congregation  was 
small,  the  settlement  containing  at  the  commencement  of  its 
fourth  year  but  thirty-eight  able-bodied  men.  The  first  record 
of  any  action  relative  to  securing  a  minister  was  that  of  a 
meeting  held  March  18,  1657.  William  Holton  was  then 
chosen  agent,  with  instructions  to  "  Sollicit  the  general  Court" 
with  reference  to  several  town  matters  and  endeavor  to  obtain 
a  minister.  He  was  also  "  to  desire  advice  what  course  to  take 
about  the  preventing  of  excess  of  liquors  in  coming  to  our 
Town  and  of  Cider."  Mr.  Holton  attended  to  his  duties, — at 
least,  so  far  as  the  ministerial  question  is  concerned ;  for  at 
the  session  of  the  court  held  on  the  26th  of  May,  1658,  the 
"condition"  of  the  Northampton  petitioners,  "in  relation  to  a 
minister,"  is  "  forthwith  commended  to  the  reverend  elders." 
Under  the  same  date  is  to  be  found  the  following  record  : 

"  This  Court  being  solicjted  by  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Northampton,  in  the 
name  of  the  rest,  to  comend  theire  condition — wanting  an  able  minister  of  the  gos- 
pell  to  administer  the  things  of  God  vnto  them — to  the  reuoreud  ciders,  w^"*  this 
Court  take  themselves  bound  to  further  what  Ijeth  in  theire  power,  and  vnder- 
standing  that  some  of  the  sajd  inhabitants  bane  an  eye  vnto  Mr.  Eliazer  Mather  as 
a  fitt  man  to  administer  the  things  of  God  vnto  them,  this  Court  judgeth  it  ineete 
to  declare  y'  in  case  God  so  incljnes  the  harts  of  those  who  are  concerned  therein, 
yt  Mr.  Mather  goe  vnto  North  Hampton  to  minister  vnto  the  inhabitants  there 
in  the  things  of  God,  they  both  approove  thereof  and  shall  be  ready  at  all  tinu'S 
to  encourage  him  in  that  service,  as  there  shall  be  occasion,  in  whatsoeuer  may 
rationally  and  meetly  be  expected." 

At  XI  meeting  held  June  7,  16.58,  the  town  "  agreed  by  unani- 
mous consent  to  desire  Mr.  Mather  to  be  a  minister  to  them  in  a 
way  of  trial  in  dispensing  his  gifts."  This  invitation  was  ac- 
cepted, and  Mr.  Mather  came  at  once.  In  October  the  town 
voted  to  pay  him  £25  for  half  a  year,  in  "good  merchantable 
pay  in  wheat,"  to  be  "levied  on  every  inhabitant  according  to 
his  due  proportion."  Another  vote  was  passed  in  the  follow- 
ing December  to  raise  £100  for  building  a  "  minister's  house," 
and  in  June  of  the  next  year  "the  five  town's  men"  were  in- 
structed to  contract  for  building  the  house  and  to  see  that  the 
appropriation  of  £100  for  that  purpose  was  levied  upon  the  in- 
habitants. Several  persons  having  signified  their  intention  of 
removing  from  Dorchester  to  Northampton  with  Mr.  Mather, 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


195 


a  portion  of  land,  to  lie  laid  off  iii  lots,  was  donated  for  tlieir 
use  by  those  who  had  already  received  grants.  For  this  pur- 
pose 1G3  acres  were  given  by  37  settlers — probably  every  owner 
of  a  house-lot  then  in  town — in  lots  containing  from  two  to  ten 
acres.  The  name  of  each  contributor  and  the  number  of  acres 
given  by  him  are  recorded  in  the  hook  of  "Proprietors'  Rec- 
ords." The  whole  was  laid  off  together  at  the  upper  end  of 
"  Munhan  Meadow,"  probably  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now 
South  Street. 

"April  Ifith,  1000,  It  was  voted  .ind  agreed  at  a  Town-meeting  that  .loscph 
Parsons,  Robert  Baitlett,  and  "William  Jeanes  were  chosen  by  the  Town  and  im- 
powered  to  measure  out  Twenty-nine  jicres  of  land  in  the  Middle  meadow,  and 
Twelve  a^-res  of  land  more  at  the  end  of  the  Second  Square,  lying  ut  the  rear 
of  the  Venturer's  field;  and  this  41  acres  aforesaid  is  Sequester'd  for  a  perpetnal 
standing  lot  for  the  ministrj',  and  never  to  be  alter'd,  but  to  continue  successively 
t»i  that  function  for  the- encouragement  of  the  ministry  in  the  Town  of  North- 
anijiton.  Considering  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  promoting  Ood's  Honor  and 
the  good  of  Posterity,  it  is  further  voted  and  agreed  that  William  Jeanes,  Robert 
Raitlftt,  and  Joseph  Parsons  are  to  take  care  to  see  that  the  aforesaid  41  acres  of 
land  be  recorded  according  to  the  tnie  intent  of  the  Grant  alrtjvcsaid." 

That  tract,  as  originally  laid  out,  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  parish,  and  the  yearly  income  of  the  "meadow  land"  is 
devoted  to  the  payment  of  parish  expenses.  For  the  3'ear 
beginning  April  12,  16G0,  a  salary  of  £80  was  voted  to  Mr. 
3Iather.  The  home-lot  of  four  acres  and  the  house  built  upon 
it,  together  with  forty  acres  of  meadow  land,  were  also  granted 
to  him,  in  case  he  should  remain  in  town  four  years;  the 
property,  should  he  die  within  that  time,  to  go  to  his  heirs. 
This  grant  to  Mr.  Mather  places  his  homestead,  according  to 
the  boundaries  of  the  original  deed,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Pleasant  Streets,  including  the  homestead  of  Maj.  Kirkland 
and  the  sites  of  several  stores  on  Shop  Kow  and  Pleasant  Street. 

Mr.  Mather  preached  three  years  before  a  church  was  organ- 
ized. During  that  time  a  controversy  seems  to  have  arisen 
relative  to  the  manner  of  conducting  services  on  the  Sabbath 
in  the  absence  of  the  minister.  So  great  was  this  disagreement 
that  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  concerning  it  was  deemed 
necessary.  At  the  .session  of  May  28,  16-59,  the  following  vote 
was  passed : 

"  And  in  relation  to  theire  carrying  on  the  duty  of  the  Saboath  in  Mr.  Mather's 
absence,  wherein  the  doe  so  much  disagree,  that  though  in  some  cases  private 
men  may  exercise  theire  grrifts,  where  there  are  such  as  are  knowne,  able,  ali- 
proved,  and  Or-thodoxe,  yet  for  present,  as  things  as  are  circumstanced  wtb  tlieni, 
the  Court  judgeth  it  theire  best,  safest,  and  most  peaceable  way,  in  the  absence  of 
theire  minister,  to  assemble  all  at  oire  place,  aird  to  spend  tlie  Saboath  together, 
besides  praying  and  singing,  iu  reading  and  repeating  of  knowne  godly,  Ortho- 
doxe  bookes  and  sermons." 

It  can  readily  be  imagined  how  such  a  question  should  arise. 
For  three  years  they  had  carried  on  Sabbath  services  among 
themselves.  When  the  minister  came — investing  as  they  did 
his  otfiee  with  reverence  and  awe — they  would  naturally  scru- 
tinize with  care  the  qualifications  of  any  who  should  presume 
to  take  his  place  in  the  pulpit  or  in  conducting  religious  exer- 
cises, especially  before  the  formation  of  a  church. 

Organization  of  the  Church. — Seven  years  elapsed  after  the 
arrival  of  the  first  settlers  before  a  church  was  established. 
The  meeting-house  had  been  built  and  the  minister  called  by 
vote  of  the  town.  The  people,  fearing  God  and  planting  them- 
selves in  the  wilderness  for  the  purpose  of  worshiping  him 
"  without  distraction,"  had  attended  faithfully  all  these  years 
upon  the  ministrations  of  their  chosen  pastor,  readily  granting 
from  their  slender  resources  all  that  was  needed  for  his  en- 
couragement. Now  the  time  had  come  for  the  establishment 
of  the  visible  church,  and  on  the  18th  of  June,  16C1,  that  work 
was  accomplished.  The  original  entry  on  the  records  of  the 
church  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  Cliurch  was  gathered  at  Northampton,  18,  4,  1001. 

"The  iiersons  tli at  begun  that  vvorke  were  in  number  8,  viz. :  Mr.  Eleazer 
Mather,  I)a%id  Wilton,  William  Clarke,  John  Strong,  Henry  CnnlilTe,  Uenry 
Woodward,  Thomas  Roote,  Thomas  Hanchett.  Messengers  that  were  present 
were  from  4  Churches.  Mr.  Peletiah  Glover,  Deacon  Clap,  Thomas  Tilst.irie, 
from  the  Church  of  Chii=t,  at  Dorchester;  Mr.  John  Eliot,  Sen.,  Goodman  Wil- 
liams, from  the  Church  of  Christ,  at  Boxbiiry ;  Capt.  John  Pyuchon,  Deacon 
Chapin,  from  the  Church  at  Spi  ingfleld  ;  Mr.  John  Russell,  y«  Pastor,  Mr.  Good- 


» in,  Goodman  White,  from  the  Church  of  Christ,  at  Hadleigh.  And  at  the  samo 
day,  after  lliey  had  eiiteieil  into  Covenant,  they  chose  Mr.  Kleaier  MaUicr  to 
the  office  of  a  Piustor,  which  they  hail  ccuielnded  to  doc  befoi-e,  and  desired  Rev- 
erend Mr.  Eliot  and  Reverend  Mr.  Russell  to  oi-dain  him,  which  accordingly  was 
done." 

Annexed  is  the  covenant  adopted  at  that  time,  and  the  names 
of  those  by  whom  it  was  signed  : 

"The  forme  of  wordes  expressing  the  Ch.  Covenant  entered  into  the  18  of  the 
fourth,  IGOl,  by  those  that  then  begun  that  worke,  and  afterward  by  such  as 
were  admitted  into  Ch.  estate  and  subsclibed  their  names  thereunto. 

"Disclaiming  all  confidence  of  arrd  any  wortliinesse  in  oureelves,  either  to  bee 
in  Covenant  with  God  or  to  partake  in  the  lea^t  of  his  mercyes,  and  allsoe  all 
strength  of  our  owne  to  keepe  Covenant  with  him,  or  to  peiibrme  the  least 
spirituall  duty  any  further  than  hee  by  his  free  spirit  shall  assist.  But  relying 
vpon  the  tender  mercy  and  gracious  assistance  of  the  Lord,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
wee  doe  promise  and  Covenant  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  the  searcher  of  all 
hearts,  and  before  the  lioly  .\ngells,  and  this  Company,  Ihrst,  and  chiefly,  to  cleave 
forever  vnto  God  with  our  nhol  bealts,  as  our  cliiefe,  best,  yea,  and  only  good, 
and  vnto  Jesus  Cliiist  as  onr  only  Saviour,  Husbaird,  and  lord,  and  only  High- 
Priest,  Prophet,  and  King.  And  for  the  furthering  of  this  holy  communion  with 
God,  the  father,  and  Christ  Jesus,  his  Sonne,  we  promise  and  engage  to  observe 
and  maintaine  according  to  of  jdace  and  vtmost  power  all  the  holy  institutions 
and  ordinances  which  hee  hath  appointed  for  his  Church,  bewaileing  the  neglect 
thereof,  and  the  sinful  defilements  of  the  same  with  the  inventions  and  corrup- 
tions of  men.  .  .  .  ,\nd  as  for  this  particular  company  and  society  of  Saints,  wee 
promise  and  engage  in  the  presence  of  the  lord  that  wee  will  cleave  one  vnto 
anotlier  in  brotherly  love,  and  seeke  the  best  spirituall  good,  each  of  other,  by 
frequent  exhortation,  seasonable  admonition,  and  constant  watchfuUnesse,  ac- 
cording vnto  the  rules  of  the  Gospell,  and  to  performe  each  vnto  other  all  duties 
that  the  Lor-d  in  his  word  doth  requil'eof  us  Jis  brethren  in  Christ,  and  as  fellow- 
members  of  the  same  individnall  hoily  of  Christ,  as  long  as  the  Lord  shall  con- 
tinue our  Church  i-elation  each  to  other.  .  .  .  And  allsoe  wee  promise  aird  engage 
mutuall  subjection  one  to  another  iir  all  the  Administrations  and  Dispensations, 
according  vnto  God,  of  all  those  dutys  which  by  our  covenant  to  God,  and  one  to 
another",  wee  are  bound  to  the  performance.  .  .  .  These  things  wee  all  promise 
in  the  synceiity  of  our  hearts  as  before  the  Lor-d,  the  examiner  and  tr-yer  of  all 
hearts,  beseeching  him  soe  to  blesse  vsas  w-ee  shall  t|-uely  endevour  by  his  grace 
the  faithful!  observation  of  the  same,  and  wheir  wee  through  weaknesse  shall 
fayle,  then  to  wayt  and  rely  vpon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  pardon,  acceijtance, 
healing,  for  his  name's  sake.  To  this  covenant,  and  every  part  of  it,  wee  wil- 
lingly and  syncei-ely  ingage  ourselves,  and  subsciibe  our  names  thereunto. 

"  North.^mpton,  Sth,  4,  IGGl. 
"Samuel  Wright,  .John  Mareh,  Thomas  Woodford,  Rathbern  Wilton,  Abigaile 
Strong,  Margaret  Wright,  Arthur  Williams,  Mary  Alford,  Sarah  Bridgnian, 
George  Allexander,  Isairc  Sheblen,  Slai-y  Stn-lden,  .\llexander  Edwards,  William 
Hanum,  Xathaniel  Phelps,  Rathbern  Williams,  .\nn  Baillct,  Deliverance  Han- 
chet,  George  Langton,  Esther  Mather,  Darius  Lyman,  Ruth  Baker,  Hannah 
Langton,  Honor  Hanum  (these  two  were  added  to  y*^  Ch.  IS  of  0,  '01),  Aaron 
Cooke,  William  Holton,  Joane  Cooke,  Mar>-  Holt^m.  Sanali  Clarke,  Susan  Cun- 
leife,  Eli'zabeth  Woodward,  .\lice  Hutchinson,  Susan  Allexander,  Richard  Lyman, 
Hepzibah  Lyman,  John  Lyman,  John  King,  Joiin  Ingersol.  Mary  Burt,  Sary 
King.  Abigail  Strong,  Josias  Dtiey,  Mai-y  Strong,  John  Stibbins,  Eleazer  Mather, 
David  Wilton,  ^\'illiarn  Clarke,  John  Strong,  Hejiry  Cunliffe,  Henry  Woodward, 
Thomas  Roote,  Thomas  Hanchet,  Willianr  Jeanes,  Thomas  Bascum,  William 
Hulburd,  Avis  Bascom,  Ann  Hulburd,  Elizabeth  Curtis  (these  six  last  were  added 
vnto  the  Ch.  14th,  5  m.,  '01),  Joseph  Eliot,  Clemente  Mason,  Elizabeth  Phelps, 
Robert  B.artlet  (exconrmunicated;  readnritted) ,  Richard  Weller,  Sarah  Smith, 
Joseph  Leeds,  Ffreedom  Strong,  Sar.ah  Hanum,  Sarah  Allin,  Samuel  Smith,  Mary 
Smith,  Joseph  Parsons." 

Such  was  the  foundation  on  which  was  established  the  First 
Church  of  Christ  in  Northampton,  219  years  ago.  Many  of 
the  persons  whose  names  are  appended  to  the  covenant  were 
ancestors  of  the  present  inhabitants  bearing  the  same  family 
name  living  in  this  and  neighboring  towns.  In  1668  a  Con- 
fession of  Faith  containing  46  articles  was  adopted,  together 
with  an  amended  and  enlarged  covenant.  The  population  of 
the  town,  when  the  church  was  organized,  was  pjrobably  not 
far  from  300.  In  1063,  78  settlers  had  arrived,  and  as  all  or 
nearly  all  of  them  had  families,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the 
nnmlSer  was  more  rather  than  less. 

Mr.  Mather  officiated  about  a  year  after  the  formation  of 
the  church  without  assistance.  In  December,  1662,  it  was 
voted  that  two  teaching  officers  should  be  appointed,  and  "  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  every  Ch.  to  doe  what  lyst  in  them  that 
they  may  bee  furnished  with  two  teaching  officers.".  .  .  "  It 
was  then  alsoe  declared,  by  vote  of  all  unanimously,  that  this 
church  had  neede  of  another  teaching  officer,  to  bee  joyned 
to  their  Pastor."  This  vote  seems  to  have  been  soon  supple- 
mented by  town  action,  the  people  voting  in  January  to  invite 
Mr.  Joseph  Eliot  to  settle  among  them  as  teacher.     About 


196 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


this  time  the  church  voted  to  choose  a  ruling  elder  and  a 
deacon.  Brother  John  Strong  was  chosen  to  the  former,  and 
Brother  William  Holton  to  the  latter,  office.  On  the  1.3th  of 
May,  1603,  these  two  persons  were  "  ordained,"  the  elder  "  by 
the  imposition  of  y"  hands  of  Pastor  and  Mr.  Kussell,  Pastor 
of  Hadleigh.  The  Deacon  afterward  by  the  impoisition  of 
the  hands  of  Pastor  and  Elder."  Messengers  were  present  at 
this  ceremony  from  churches  in  Hadley  and  Springfield,  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship  being  given  by  Mr.  Hol3'oke,  of  the 
latter  place. 

In  accordance  with  the  Cambridge  platform,  the  offices  of 
pastor  and  teacher  were  distinct.  Preaching  and  exhortation 
were  the  special  work  of  the  pastor.  The  duty  of  the  teacher 
was  to  explain  and  enforce  the  doctrine.  The  ruling  elder  was 
to  join  with  the  pastor  and  teacher  in  acts  of  spiritual  rule, 
in  admitting  members,  ordaining  officers,  and  excommunica- 
ting offenders.  This  distinction  of  offices  had  then  been  gen- 
erally adopted  in  the  colony,  but  it  gradually  declined,  and 
soon  after  entirely  ceased. 

In  1666  it  was  "Voted  and  unanimously  agreed  by  this 
Ch.  that  each  person  will  contribute  toward  defraying  the 
charge  of  the  Sacrament  three  pecks  and  halfe  of  wheate  for 
a  yeare,  this  to  bee  paid  in  to  the  Deacon  about  the  last  of 
September,  when  hee  shall  call  for  it." 

In  1668,  Thomas  Hanchet  was  chosen  deacon. 

Second  Mcctinrj-House. — The  first  meeting-house  was  used 
for  public  worship  about  seven  years,  and  but  one  settled 
mini.ster  occupied  its  pulpit.  It  had  no  steeple,  no  bell,  and 
there  was  little  except  location  to  distinguish  it  from  the  rude 
log  houses  of  the  settlers.  In  1063  it  was  converted  into  a 
school-house.  So  rapidly  did  the  plantation  increase  in  popu- 
lation that  a  new  meeting-house  soon  became  necessary,  and 
on  the  12th  of  July,  1061,  about  a  month  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church,  the  town  voted  to  build.  The  vote  speci- 
fied that  the  "  Inhabitants  of  this  Town  would  build  a  new 
meeting-house  of  42  feet  square,  and  that  they  will  lay  out 
about  £1  .SO. "  Six  persons  were  "chosen  and  empowered  to 
carry  on  and  finish  this  work,"  viz.,  William  Holton,  En- 
sign Milton,  Kobert  Bartlett,  Joseph  Parsons,  John  Stebbins, 
and  William  Clark.  The  location  of  this  building  is  un- 
known, except  that  it  stood  on  Meeting-House  Hill.  The 
house  was  square,  with  roof  rising  from  each  side  to  a  point 
at  the  centre,  and  was  surmounted  by  a  cupola  for  the  bell. 
The  bell-rope  hung  down  in  the  broad  aisle,  where  the  ringer 
stood.  Though  the  town  voted  to  spend  "  about  £1.50"  for 
the  new  meeting-house,  it  is  not  probable  that  so  much  was 
needed.  In  the  statement  of  town  taxes  for  1003,  the  sum  of 
£115  8.9.  9rf.  is  named  as  the  rale  to  be  assessed  for  the  new 
meeting-house.  No  additional  sum  is  afterward  recorded  as 
having  been  raised  for  that  purpose,  and  that  was  probably  its 
cost.  The  same  year  £70  9s.  2d.  were  raised  for  Mr.  Mather 
and  £50  for  Mr.  Eliot.  The  pews  being  owned  by  the  town, 
it  became  necessary  that  the  seats  in  them  should  be  assigned 
to  the  members  of  the  congregation.  Accordingly,  a  com- 
mittee of  seven  persons  was  chosen  in  1064  for  that  purpose, 
and  this  is  the  first  record  of  seating  the  meeting-house  in  the 
annals  of  the  town.  This  committee  was  instructed  to  con- 
sider "age,  estate,  qualifications,  only  respecting  commissioned 
officers  and  impartiality."  In  1070  side-galleries  were  put  in, 
and  in  1680  a  gallery  was  built  upon  the  "  front  side"  of  the 
meeting-house.  In  1077  the  Indians  were  troublesome,  sev- 
eral settlers  having  been  killed  and  their  houses  burned.  The 
year  previous  palisades  had  been  erected  about  the  town, 
but  the  Indians  succeeded  in  breaking  through  them.  For 
better  security,  and  as  a  place  of  refuge  in  case  of  a  similar 
disaster,  in  1077  the  meeting-house  was  fortified.  Up  to  that 
time  there  had  been  no  bell,  flic  drum  or  trumpet  serving 
to  call  the  people  together.  In  1677,  1078,  and  1079,  Jed- 
ediah  Strong  was  paid  18.s.  a  year  for  blowing  the  trumpet. 
The  town  voted  in  1082  to  procure  a  bell,  and  ordered  the 


selectmen  "to  labor  to  purchase  a  good  bell  that  might  bo 
heard  through  the  town."  It  was  obtained  in  accordance 
with  the  vote,  but  there  seems  to  have  been  some  "  irregu- 
larity" concerning  the  transaction,  for  at  the  March  meeting 
in  1088  the  town  empowered  Enos  Kingsley  "  to  sue  for  the 
wheat  sent  down  by  Mr.  Stevens  [to  pay  for  the  bell],  which 
he  pretends  w.as  spoiled,  and  so  gives  no  account  of  it."  At 
the  same  time  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  raise  a  rate  in 
money  sufficient  to  pay  what  was  due  on  the  bell. 

Fall  of  the  Gallery. — A  very  remarkable  accident  occurred 
in  this  house  in  1737.  It  is  thus  described  in  a  letter  written 
by  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  : 

"Ndrthampton,  March  10,  1737. 

"We  in  this  tjwn  were,  the  last  Lord's  day  [March  13th],  the  spectators,  and 
many  of  us  the  subjects,  of  one  of  the  most  amazing  instances  of  Divine  preser- 
vation that  perliaps  was  ever  Icnown  in  the  world.  Our  meeting-house  is  old 
and  decayed,  so  that  we  liave  been  for  some  time  building  a  new  one,  wliich  ia 
yet  nntinished.  It  lias  been  observed  of  late  tliat  the  liouse  we  liave  hitherto 
met  in  lias  gradually  spread  at  the  bottom;  the  sills  and  walls  giving  way,  espe- 
cially in  the  foreside,  by  reason  of  the  weight  of  timber  at  twp  pressing  on  the 
braces  that  are  inserted  into  the  posts  and  beams  of  the  house.  It  has  done  so 
more  tlian  ordinarily  this  spring,  wliich  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the 
lieaving  of  the  ground  through  the  extreme  frosts  of  tlie  winter  past,  and  its 
now  settling  again  on  that  side  whicli  is  next  tlie  sun  by  the  spring  tliaws.  By 
this  means  the  underpinning  \ias  been  considembly  disordered,  wliicli  people 
were  not  sensible  of  till  tlie  ends  of  tlie  joists  whicli  bore  up  the  front  gallery 
were  drawn  off  from  the  girts  on  wliicli  tliey  rested  by  the  walls  giving  way.  So 
that  in  the  midst  of  the  public  exercises  in  the  forenoon,  soon  after  the  beginning 
of  the  sermon,  the  whole  gallery — full  of  people,  witli  all  tlie  seats  &  timbers, 
suddenly  &  witliout  any  w.arning — sunk  and  fell  down,  with  the  most  amazing 
noise,  upon  the  lieads  of  tliosc  that  sat  under,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  con- 
gregation. Tlie  Iiouse  was  filled  with  dolerous  slirieking  &  crying ;  and  notliing 
else  was  expected  than  tj  find  many  people  dead  or  daslied  to  pieces. 

"The  gallery,  in  falling,  seemed  Xa  break  or  sink  firet  in  the  middle,  so  that 
those  who  were  upon  it  were  thrown  together  in  heaps  before  the  front  door. 
But  the  whole  was  so  sudden  thjit  many  of  those  who  fell  knew  nothing  what  it 
was  at  the  time  that  had  befallen  them.  Otliere  in  the  congregation  thought  it 
had  been  an  amazing  clap  of  thunder.  The  falling  gallery  seemed  to  be  broken 
all  to  pieces  before  it  got  down,  so  that  some  who  fell  with  it,  as  well  as  those 
who  were  under,  were  buried  in  the  ruins,  and  were  found  pressed  under  heavy 
loads  of  timber,  and  could  do  nothing  to  help  themselves. 

"  But  so  mysteriously  and  wonderfully  did  it  come  to  pass  that  every  life  was 
preserved  ;  &  though  many  were  greatly  bruised  &  their  flesh  torn,  yet  there  is 
not,  as  I  can  understand,  one  bone  broken,  or  so  much  as  put  out  of  joint,  among 
them  all.  Some,  who  were  thought  to  be  almost  dead  at  first,  are  greatly  recov- 
ered; and  but  one  young  woman  seems  yet  to  remain  in  dangerous  circumstances, 
by  an  inward  hurt  in  her  breast;  but  of  lute  there  appeals  more  hope  of  her 
recovery. 

"  None  can  give  .an  account,  or  conceive,  by  what  means  peoide's  lives  &  limbs 
should  be  thus  preserved  when  so  great  a  multitude  were  thus  imminently  ex- 
posed. It  looked  as  though  it  was  impossible  hut  that  great  numbers  must 
instantly  be  crushed  to  death  or  dashed  in  pieces.  It  seems  unrejxsonable  to 
ascribe  it  to  any  thing  else  but  the  care  of  Providence  in  disposing  tlie  motions 
of  every  piece  of  timber,  and  the  precise  place  of  sjifety  where  every  one  should 
sit  &  fall,  when  none  were  in  any  capacity  to  care  for  their  own  preservation. 
The  preservati.tn  seems  to  be  most  wonilei-ful  with  respect  to  the  women  &  chil- 
dren in  the  middle  alley,  under  the  gallery,  where  it  came  down  first  and  with 
greatest  force.  Si,  where  there  wa3  nothing  tj  break  the  force  of  the  falling 
weight. 

"  Such  an  event  may  be  a  sufRcient  argument  of  a  Divine  providence  over  the 
lives  of  men.  We  thouglit  oui-selves  called  on  to  set  apart  a  day  to  be  spent  in 
the  solemn  worahip  of  God,  to  humble  ourselves  under  sucli  a  rebuke  of  God 
upon  us,  in  time  of  public  service  in  his  house,  by  so  dangerous  &  surprising  an 
acciilent,  &  to  praise  his  name  for  so  wonderful,  it  as  it  were  miraculous,  a  pres. 
ervation.  The  last  Wednesday  was  kept  by  us  to  that  end ;  &  a  mercy  in  which 
the  hand  of  God  is  so  remarkably  evident  may  be  well  worthy  to  affect  the 
hearts  of  all  who  hear  it." 

This  meeting-house  stood  sevent3'-seven  years,  and  three 
settled  ministers  preached  in  it, — Kev.  Eleazar  Mather,  Rev. 
Solomon  Stoddard,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards. 

Rkv.  Eleazer  Matuer  was  born  at  Dorchester,  May  13, 
1037.  He  was  the  son  of  Richard  Mather  and  elder  brother 
of  Rev.  Increase  Mather.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  in  1650, 
he  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College.  He  became  seriously 
impressed  quite  early  in  life,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  Having  commenced  preaching  with  favorable 
pros])ects  in  10.58,  he  received  a  call  from  the  people  of  North- 
ampton, as  has  already  been  narrated. 

In  1002  the  town  requested  Mr.  Joseph  Eliot  (son  of  Rev. 
John  Eliot,  of  Roxbury)  to  settle  as  a  teacher  and  to  assist  in 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


197 


the  ministry.  He  was  voted  a  home-lot  and  £80  to  build  a 
house.  Mr.  Eliot's  salary  was  £00,  and  Mr.  Mather  offered 
to  contribute  £10  toward  it,  provided  he  (Mr.  Mather)  should 
be  "free  of  his  rates  for  a  year."  Mr.  Eliot  assisted  in  the 
ministry  for  several  years,  but  was  never  formally  settled  as  a 
teacher. 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Mather  were  abundantly  rewarded,  and 
many  names  were  added  to  the  church.  He  was  not  only  a 
very  zealous  preacher,  but  a  most  exemplary  man.  Just  pre- 
vious to  his  death  he  preached  several  sermons  having  special 
reference  to  the'spiritual  interests  of  the  rising  generation, 
which  were  published  in  1671.  Mr.  Mather  married  the 
daughter  of  Eev.  John  Warham,  of  Windsor.  He  left  one 
daughter,  who  married  Eev.  John  Williams,  of  Deerfield,  and 
was  killed  by  the  Indians  when  that  town  was  destroyed  by 
them  in  1704.  Though  71  names  are  ajipended  to  the  cove- 
nant adopted  by  the  church  at  its  organization,  not  all  of 
those  persons  were  in  full  communion.  The  church  records 
at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Mather  contain  the  names  of 
but  76  persons  who  are  classed  as  full  communicants,  though 
there  are  174  other  names  registered  as  having  been  "ad- 
mitted with  parents,  baptized,  or  personally  taken  the  cove- 
nant." 

Mr.  Mather  died  July  24,  1660,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
having  been  a  resident  of  the  town  about  eleven  years.  Dur- 
ing the  last  years  of  his  life  he  sutlered  from  ill  health,  proba- 
bly to  an  extent  that  interfered  with  his  pastoral  duties,  for 
in  March,  1669,  the  town  passed  a  vote  inviting  his  successor. 

Settlement  of  the  Second  Minister. — The  second  minister 
settled  over  the  church  in  Northampton  was  Rev.  Solomon 
Stoddard.  At  a  meeting  held  March  4,  1669,  the  town  voted 
unanimously  to  give  him  a  call.  He  was  offered  £100  per 
year,  £100  for  building  a  house,  and  within  live  or  six  years 
twenty  acres  of  land  "  within  our  fenced  field,  fit  for  plowing 
and  mowing."  Mr.  Stoddard  responded  favorably,  and  com- 
menced preaching  the  same  year,  but  did  not  at  once  accept 
the  terms  offered,  for  the  next  year  a  committee  of  nine  per- 
sons was  "  empowered  to  act  in  all  matters  in  reference  to  the 
settlement  of  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard."  They  determined  to 
ofter  him  £100  worth  of  meadow-land,  £100  a  year  "  for  his 
maintenance,"  £100  to  build  a  house  in  two  or  three  years, 
and  the  use  of  £100  worth  of  the  sequestered  land  till  it  is 
paid,  and  also  "  a  home-lot  of  four  acres  if  he  pleases."  These 
terras  were  on  condition  "  Mr.  Stoddard  doth  settle  and  abide 
amongst  us."  A  satisfactory  arrangement  based  on  these 
conditions  was  made,  though  the  installation  did  not  take 
place  till  two  years  after.  The  church  record  of  his  ordination 
is  as  follows : 

" Sepl.  IX,  1672. — Siilomou  StoJJard  w:is  onl.iined  Pastour  to  the  Church  at 
North  Hampton  by  Mr.  Jolin  Strong,  Ruling  EUIer  of  that  church,  &  Mr.  John 
Whiting,  Pa-styur  to  the  second  Church  in  Hartford,  &  Mr.  John  Russel,  Pajstour 
of  the  Cliurch  at  II.idley,  gave  the  Right  liand  of  fiVllowship  in  the  name  of  the 
second  church  at  Hartford,  the  churclies  of  Gilford,  Farmington,  Winsor,  Hadley, 
SpringtieWj  &  Hatfield,  whose  messengers  were  present." 

On  the  5th  of  the  following  November  the  church  passed 
this  vote  : 

"Voted  &  consented  unto  by  the  Elders  &  Brethren  of  this  church,  that  from 
year  to  year  such  as  grow  up  to  adult  age  in  the  church  shall  present  themselves 
to  the  Eldera,  &  if  they  be  found  to  undei-stand  &  assent  unto  the  doctrine  of  faith, 
not  to  be  scandalous  in  life,  &  willing  to  subject  tliemselves  to  the  government 
of  Christ  in  this  church,  shall  publicly  own  the  covenant  &  be  acknowledged 
members  of  this  church." 

Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard  was  burn  in  Boston  in  1642,  and 
was  the  son  of  Anthonj'  Stoddard,  who  was  prominent  in  the 
early  histor}'  of  the  colony,  having  been  a  member  of  the 
General  Court  from  1665  to  1684.  Having  been  graduated 
from  Harvard  College,  in  1662,  he  was  appointed  a  "Fellow 
of  the  House,"  and  held  the  position  of  librarian  (the  first  who 
ever  held  it)  from  1667  to  1674.  Intense  mental  application 
having  impaired  his  health,  he  went  to  Barbadoes,  as  chaplain 
to  Gov.  Serle,  where  he  remained  two  years.     A  short  time 


before  the  death  of  Mr.  Mather  he  returned  to  this  country. 
One  of  the  Boston  ministers,  having  been  requested  by  some 
person  belonging  in  Northampton  to  recommend  a  successor 
to  Mr.  Mather,  mentioned  Mr.  Stoddard  as  better  qualified 
than  any  other  within  his  knowledge.  Mr.  Stoddard  had  de- 
termined to  go  to  England,  had  engaged  his  passage,  put  his 
baggage  on  board  the  vessel,  and  was  expecting  to  sail  the 
next  day,  when  the  town  committee  applied  to  him.  Owing 
to  the  intercession  of  the  gentleman  who  had  recommended 
him,  he  decided  to  relinquish  his  voyage  and  go  to  Northampton. 

Mr.  Stoddard  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  piety,  and 
probably  possessed  more  influence  than  any  clergyman  in  the 
province  during  a  period  of  thirty  years.  Timothy  Dwight, 
president  of  Yale  College,  a  native  of  Northampton,  who  trav- 
eled through  New  England  in  1796,  says  of  him,  in  a  series 
of  letters  afterward  published  :  "  The  very  savages  are  said  to 
have  felt  toward  him  a  peculiar  awe.  Once  when  he  was 
riding  from  Northampton  to  Hatfield,  and  passing  a  place 
called  Dewey's  Hole,  an  ambush  of  savages  lined  the  road.  It 
is  said  that  a  Frenchman,  directing  his  gun  toward  him,  was 
warned  by  one  of  the  Indians,  who  some  time  before  had  been 
among  the  English,  not  to  fire,  because  '  that  was  the  English- 
man's God.'  A  similar  adventure  is  reported  to  have  befallen 
him  while  meditating,  in  an  orchard  immediately  behind  the 
church  in  Deerfield,  a  sermon  which  he  was  about  to  preach. 
These  stories,  told  in  Canada,  are  traditionally  asserted  to  have 
been  brought  back  by  English  captives." 

During  his  long  pastorate  of  fifty-seven  years,  Mr.  Stoddard 
enjoyed  the  respect,  confidence,  and  love  of  his  people.  Hav- 
ing reached  an  advanced  age,  and  finding  himself  inadequate 
to  discharge  the  whole  duty  of  a  minister,  he  requested  the  as- 
sistance of  a  colleague,  and  in  1727  his  grandson,  Jonathan 
Edwards,  was  associated  with  him  in  the  pastoral  office.  He 
lived  two  3'ears  after  this  event,  and  died,  Feb.  11,  1729,  aged 
eighty-six.  He  married  Esther,  widow  of  his  predecessor.  Rev. 
Eleazer  Mather.  She  died  in  1730,  aged  ninety-two.  One  of 
their  sons,  Anthony,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  and 
was  minister  of  Woodbury',  Conn.  Another  son,  John,  well 
known  in  town  affairs  as  Col.  John  Stoddard,  became  eminent 
as  a  civilian,  and  possessed  great  influence  throughout  the 
province. 

A  spirited  controversy  concerning  qualifications  for  church 
membership  sprang  up  between  3Ir.  Stoddard  and  Dr.  In- 
crease Slather,  of  Boston,  in  the  year  1700.  At  that  time 
many  of  the  churches  throughout  the  province  regarded  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  converting  ordinance, 
and  believed  that  all  baptized  persons,  not  scandalous  in  life, 
might  lawfully  approach  the  table,  though  they  knew  them- 
selves to  be  destitute  of  true  religion.  This  belief  and  prac- 
tice Dr.  Mather  assailed  in  a  sermon,  "  The  Order  of  the  Gos- 
pel," published  in  1700.  To  this  Mr.  Stoddard  replied  in  an 
earnest  and  convincing  manner.  The  controversy  was  re- 
sumed in  1708  and  1709,  and  prosecuted  on  both  sides  with 
vigor  and  ability.  A  few  years  later  this  same  conflict  of 
opinion  became  the  ostensible  reason  for  the  dismission  of  his 
colleague  and  successor.  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards.  The  biog- 
raphers of  Mr.  Edwards  assert  that  Mr.  Stoddard  changed  his 
views  on  this  subject  after  he  had  been  thirty-two  years  min- 
ister at  Northampton.  It  is  charged  that  without  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  church  he  introduced  this  change,  making  it  the 
rule  of  procedure,  and  prepared,  in  conformity  to  his  own 
opinions,  "a  short  profession"  for  persons  to  make  on  admis- 
sion to  membership.  This  is  incorrect.  The  vote  of  the  church 
at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Stoddard  (quoted  above)  proves  that 
he  had  no  need  to  change  his  sentiments.  The  church  be- 
lieved as  he  did  when  he  accepted  the  pastorate,  and  it  was 
only  to  defend  his  own  life-long  convictions  and  the  thirty- 
two  years'  practice  of  his  church  that  he  replied  to  Dr.  Mather. 

Mr.  Stoddard,  though  a  close  student  and  an  able  and  faith- 
ful preacher,  was  a  man  of  action,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in 


198 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


all  the  affairs  of  the  town.  In  connection  with  Josej)!!  Par- 
.son.s  ho  obtained  a  grant  for  the  site  of  the  first  saw-mill  ever 
erected  in  town,  though  he  afterward  relinquished  his  claim 
to  Mr.  Parsons.  In  those  days  the  only  route  to  Boston  was 
a  bridle-path  through  the  wilderness,  and  a  week  was  con- 
sumed in  the  journey.  Mr.  Stoddard  first  proposed  that 
change  in  it  which  subsequently  reduced  the  time  to  two 
days,  and  resulted  in  the  construction  of  the  famous  "  Bay 
Road,"  so  called  because  it  led  to  Massachusetts  Bay.  He 
had  an  influence  in  all  the  important  ecclesiastical  bodies  of 
the  State  that  was  not  usually  contested,  and  that  earned  him 
the  title  of  "  the  Pope  of  his  time."  He  was  a  faithful  and 
successful  minister.  Extensive  revivals  of  religion  took  place 
in  1G79,  1083,  1712,  and  1718.  During  the  fifty-seven  years 
of  his  ministry  G30  persons  were  admitted  to  the  church. 
Held  in  a  high  degree  of  reverence  by  members  of  the  church, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  who  had  grown  up  under  his 
ministry,  venerated  and  respected  him  as  a  father.  Mr.  Stod- 
dard was  a  voluminous  writer,  having  published  twenty-two 
sermons  and  pamphlets.  Specimens  of  his  manuscript  e.\- 
hihit  a  very  minute  handwriting  ;  so  small  are  the  letters  that 
it  is  impossible  to  read  them  without  the  aid  of  a  magnifying- 
glass.  On  a  page  and  a  half  of  small-sized  note-paper  were 
written  all  his  notes  for  an  elaborate  sermon.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  of  his  discourses  are  contained  in  a  small  12mo 
manuscript  volume.  His  home-lot  was  set  off  in  the  vicinity 
of  Round  Hill,  and  he  resided  on  the  homestead  now  occupied 
by  Mr.  H.  R.  Hinckley.  The  town  gave  Mr.  Stoddard  in  all 
about  33  acres  of  land. 

Third  Meeting-House. — After  seventy-four  years  of  constant 
use  the  second  meeting-house  became  somewhat  dilapidated 
and  much  too  small  for  the  growing  congregation.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1735,  the  town  voted,  by  a  "  very  great  majority,"  to  build 
a  new  meeting-house,  "get  the  timber,  frame  it,  raise,  and  cover 
it  by  the  end  of  the  summer."  Another  vote  provided  that 
the  house  should  be  about  70  feet  long,  46  to  48  feet  in  width, 
with  a  "steeple  or  balcony"  at  the  end,  leaving  the  e.\act  di- 
mensions with  the  building  committee.  It  was  also  voted  to 
raise  by  taxation  £100  toward  buying  nails  and  glass  for  the 
building.  An  attempt  was  made  at  a  meeting  held  in  August, 
1736,  to  change  the  location  of  the  house  and  place  it  on  the 
"  sand  hill  between  Moses  Lyman's  and  Jonathan  Wright's." 
The  town,  however,  refused  to  authorize  the  change,  but  voted 
that  the  house  should  be  set  "partly  on  the  northwest  side  of 
the  present  meeting-house,  and  partly  from  thence  northeast- 
wardly, on  the  ridge  of  land  where  Edward  Baker's  fence  now 
standeth."  Three  weeks  afterward  the  town  reatBrmed  the 
above  vote  as  to  location.  The  following  record  of  the  raising 
of  this  meeting-house  is  from  a  private  diary  of  Deacon  Ebenezer 
Hunt,  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Seth  Hunt : 

"  In  November,  1735,  we  passed  a  vote  to  build  a  new  meeting-house  seventy  feet 
in  length,  forty -six  feet  in  breadth,  and  proceeded  to  get  the  timber  the  winter  fol- 
lowing ;  and  in  the  anramer  of  1730  we  framed  it,  and  on  the  16th  day  of  Septem- 
ber we  laid  the  cills,  it  being  on  Thursday,  and  appointed  to  begin  to  raise  on 
the  Monday  following,  but  that  proved  a  wet  day ;  so  the  town  met  together  and 
agreed  to  liire  sixty  men  to  raise  tlie  meeting-house,  and  to  give  them  five  shil- 
lings the  day,  they  keeping  themselves,  excepting  drinks,  and  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing they  began  to  raise,  it  beingthe21stday  of  said  September,  and  they  raised  all 
the  posts  in  the  length  of  the  house,  excepting  two  of  a  side ;  and  on  Wednesday, 
the  22l1,  they  finished  the  body  of  the  house,  and  put  up  two  beams;  and  on 
Thursday,  the  23d,  we  put  up  all  the  beams  and  made  some  preparations  for  the 
raising  of  the  upper  part  of  the  bellfrec ;  and  on  Friday,  the  24tli,  wc  finished 
the  scatfolding  and  raised  one-half  of  the  bellfree ;  and  the  next  day,  the  2.jth,  it 
rained  till  noon,  and  in  the  afternoon  they  finished  the  body  of  the  bellfree ;  and 
on  Moniiay,  the  27th  of  said  montli,  we  finished  the  raising  of  said  house;  and 
we  have  .abundant  cause  to  take  notice,  with  thankfulness,  of  the  kindness  of 
God  to  us  in  protecting  and  preserving  the  lives  and  limbs  of  all  those  that  were 
active  in  the  building  of  the  house,  for  except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they 
labor  in  vain  tliat  build  it. 

"On  Thui-sday,  the  21st  day  of  July,  1737,  the  spire  of  our  meeting-house  was 
raised,  with  good  success,  for  whicli  we  have  cause  tj  be  thankful.  On  Friday, 
tlie  5th  day  of  May,  173S,  we  pulled  down  our  old  meeting-house,  without  hurt 
either  to  any  man  or  to  the  new  house." 

The  building  committee  consisted  of  Col.  John  Stoddard, 


Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Capt.  John  Clark,  Capt.  Preserved  Clapp, 
Ens.  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Ens.  Ebenezer  Clark,  and  Joseph 
Wriglit.  This  house  stood  in  the  present  highway,  facing 
•  eastwardly.  The  steeple  was  nearly  on  a  line  with  the  present 
edifice,  in  the  centre  of  the  eastern  gable.  This  was  the  first 
meeting-house  that  had  a  steeple.  There  were  entrances  on 
three  sides.  When  erected  it  was  a  plain,  unpretending  struc- 
ture, standing  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  Additions  and 
alterations  were  made,  however,  as  the  needs  of  the  comnui- 
nity  required.  In  1769  porches  were  placed  over  the  southern 
and  western  entrances,  and  the  gallery-stairs  removed  to  the 
belfry  and  one  of  the  porches,  in  order  to  enlarge  its  seating 
capacity.  The  pulpit  was  at  the  centre  of  the  north  side  of 
the  audience-room,  canopied  by  a  "sounding-board,"  on  which 
were  the  figures  "  1735."  The  pews  were  all  high-backed  and 
nearly  square,  with  seats  on  three  sides,  made  to  turn  up  to 
enable  worshipers  to  lean  on  the  top  of  the  pew  during  prayer- 
time.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  high-backs  were  nicely-turned 
little  balusters,  which  children  were  fond  of  handling.  In 
1808  there  were  49  pews  on  the  ground-floor,  14  pews  and  14 
long  seats  in  the  gallery.  The  schedule  for  seating  prepared 
in  that  year  by  the  selectmen  contains  the  names  of  1030 
persons  to  whom  seats  were  assigned.  The  building,  however, 
could  not  accommodate  that  number  of  people,  and  undoubt- 
edly many  names  were  afterward  added  as  changes  occurred 
in  the  population,  though  none  seem  to  have  been  erased. 

At  a  town-meeting  held  Feb.  11,  1737,  the  following  votes 
were  passed  : 

"  Voted,  to  accejit  of  the  meeting-house  account  presented  by  the  committee, 
with  that  limitation  that  the  committee  reduce  those  days  work  or  tliat  work 
that  Wild  done  in  the  fall  of  tlie  year  to  a  proportion  as  near  as  nuiy  be  to  the 
work  done  in  the  summer  season. 

"  Voted,  tliat  the  selectmen  or  assessors  raise  money  to  defcay  what  charge  hath 
arisen,  and  to  pay  for  what  hath  been  done  toward  building  the  meeting-house 
and  other  small  incident  charges. 

"  Voted,  that  the  meeting-house  be  completed  and  finished  next  year,  and  that 
a  committee  be  chosen  and  appointed  to  provide  m.aterials,  and  agree  with  work- 
men to  prosecute  that  design. 

"The  committee  nominated  and  chosen  to  manage  that  aflFair  were  Timothy 
Dwight,  Esq.,  John  Stoddard,  Esq.,  Ebenezer  Puniroy,  Esq.,  Ens.  Ebenezer  Par- 
sons, Ens.  Ebenezer  Clark,  Sergt.  Nath'l  Courtis,  and  Ens.  Samuel  Clapp. 

"  The  meeting  was  adjourned  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  the  town  met  and 
proceeded,  and  voted  that  the  throat-braces  already  provided  for  said  meeting- 
house should  be  put  into  their  places  for  which  they  were  provided  and  made, 
and  proceeded  to  consider  what  shall  be  done  with  respect  to  the  spire  or  steeple ; 
and  the  town  voted  to  leave  it  with  the  committee  aforesaid  to  aflvise  with  some 
workmen  witli  respect  to  tlie  height,  manner,  and  method  of  building  the  same, 
and  to  act  in  that  affair  ha  they  tliink  jiroper. 

"Voted,  that  in  the  meeting-house  now  building  there  shall  be  pews  made 
round  the  meeting-liouse,  and  only  seats  on  both  sides  the  alley.  It  was  also 
voted  with  respect  to  what  rem.ains  to  be  done  toward  tlic  meeting-house,  and 
the  finishing  the  same,  to  leave  it  with  the  committee  aforesaid  to  do  and  act  .as 
they  think  convenient  and  proper  in  all  things  respecting  the  same. 

"  It  was  also  voted  tliat  the  selectmen  or  assessoi"s  raise  three  hundred  pounds, 
besides  the  town  debts,  toward  finishing  the  meeting-house." 

The  exact  cost  of  this  meeting-house  cannot  now  be  ascer- 
tained. As  has  already  been  stated,  £100  were  voted  in  1735, 
and  =£300  more  appropriated  in  1737.  In  January  o^tho  suc- 
ceeding year  the  building  committee  presented  their  account 
to  the  town,  and  the  assessors  were  ordered  to  raise  money  to 
pay  what  was  due  on  it.  No  sum  was  named,  but  the  town 
treasurer's  account-book  shows  an  expenditure  of  £3014  0.9.  2d. 
for  the  new  meeting-house,  for  which  taxes  were  laid.  The 
£100  first  voted  for  glass  and  nails  were  used  in  the  following 

manner : 

.«  s.  rf. 
"Seth  had  £G3,  with  which  ho  bought  ten  Hundred  of 

rods  &  22,000  of  (!''  nails 03  00  00 

Carting  them  from  Hartford,  .50/ 02  10  00 

To  40,000  of  Lath  nails  ,t  2000  of  10'' nails 20  IC,  oi; 

To  80OO  of  Oi  nails  Itouglit  att  Uadley OS  111  00 

To  my  time,  care,  A  trouble  ill  buying  them 01  04  00 

To  .i5  12«.  I  Paid  Kaisers,  vi/..,  Cotton,  Shelden,  and 

Brown 05  12  00 

101    IS    OG" 
Ebenezer  Pomeroy  was  treasurer,  and   the   Seth  mentioned 
was  probably  his  brother.  Col.  Seth   Pomeroy.     Several  acci- 
dents occurred  during  the  erection  of  this  building.    The  town 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


199 


paid  Jonathan  Strong  £Z  for  "sotting  his  hone,  hroken  while 
working  at  ye  meeting-house,"  and  £3  10s.  to  "To  ye  bone- 
setter  for  setting  Ebenezer  Burt's  thy."  The  sum  of  £8  was 
"  paid  Stebbins  for  20  gallons  of  rum." 

Tliere  is  no  record  of  any  formal  dedication  of  this  house. 
It  was  used  for  public  worship  in  1737,  though  not  fully  com- 
pleted till  1739.  In  those  days  the  sexes  were  not  allowed  to 
sit  together  in  public,  and  when  the  new  meeting-house  was 
first  occupied  the  males  were  seated  at  the  south  and  the 
females  at  the  north  end.  Special  votes  were  passed  in  1737 
forbidding  "  men  and  their  wives"  being  seated  beside  each 
other,  though  the  committee  were  afterward  instructed  to 
allow  it  "when  they  incline  to  sit  together."  The  seating 
committee  at  this  time  were  instructed,  "  1st,  to  have  respect 
principally  to  men's  estate;  2d,  to  have  regard  to  men's  age; 
3d,  that  some  I'cgard  and  respect  be  had  to  men's  influence, 
but  in  a  lesser  degree." 

A  new  settlement,  afterward  Southampton,  commenced  some 
years  before,  had  so  far  progressed  when  the  new  meeting- 
house was  built  as  to  have  employed  a  preacher  of  its  own 
for  several  years.  The  proprietors  organized  the  district  in 
1730,  and  in  1733  the  town  "voted  to  repay  five  pounds  to 
those  persons  who  advanced  the  same  in  recompense  for  divers 
ministers  who  preached  at  the  new  settlement  over  Munhan 
Kiver."  From  that  time  till  1741,  when  the  Second  Precinct 
was  incorporated,  the  town  voted  yearly  to  remit  to  the  people 
at  the  new  town  their  proiiortion  of  the  town  tax  in  order  that 
it  might  be  applied  for  the  support  of  a  minister  there,  the 
overplus  to  be  used  for  building  a  meeting-house.  The  old 
meeting-house  was  taken  down  in  1738.  Some  of  the  pews  were 
put  into  the  galleries  of  the  new  one,  a  portion  of  the  materials 
used  in  building  a  new  town-house,  and  the  pulpit  and  seats 
remaining  were  given  to  the  new  settlement. 

As  the  town  increased  in  population,  and  the  outl3-ing  farm- 
lands were  occupied,  those  persons  living  remote  from  the 
meeting-house  found  it  necessary  to  shelter  their  horses  during 
the  long  Sabbath  services,  and  horse-sheds  seem  to  have  been 
erected  wherever  there  was  a  vacant  spot.  Several  votes  are 
on  record  giving  individuals  permission  to  occupy  portions  of 
the  highway  near  the  meeting-house  for  this  purpose.  Horse- 
blocks were  placed  at  each  of  the  three  entrances  in  1773. 
Various  alterations  increasing  the  seating  capacity  of  the 
house,  and  many  suggestions  for  its  enlargement,  were  made 
from  time  to  time.  In  1773  came  the  proposal  for  building  a 
new  meeting-house.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  matter,  but  no  evidence  that  any  report  was  ever  made 
can  be  found.  The  subject  came  up  again  in  1792,  and  was 
frequently  before  the  town  from  that  date  till  the  final  decision 
to  build  in  1811. 

The  thirty  years  following  the  building  of  the  third  meeting- 
house witnessed  great  changes  in  the  town.  Population  had 
largely  increased,  one  new  town  been  established,  and  the 
nucleus  for  another  gathered.  In  1769  the  "  Inhabitants 
dwelling  at  Paskhomuck  and  the  farms  adjacent,  and  at  Bart- 
lett's  Mill  and  the  farms  adjacent,"  petition  that  "they  may, 
by  some  means  agreed  to  by  the  town,  be  brought  under  more 
convenient  circumstances  for  attending  the  public  worship  of 
God."  A  committee  to  which  this  subject  was  referred  re- 
ported in  favor  of  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  inspect 
the  premises  with  a  view  to  "  pitch  upon  a  spot  for  a  meeting- 
house to  accommodate  such  farmers  and  out-settlements,"  and 
to  see  what  number  would  consent  to  assemble  there  provided 
the  town  would  "  set  up  a  meeting-house  at  said  place"  and 
defray  the  expense  of  winter  preaching.  The  report  was  ac- 
cepted, and  a  committee  appointed  in  accordance  with  its 
recommendations,  hut  no  further  action  seems  to  have  been 
taken.  This  settlement,  afterward  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Easthampton,  was  formed  into  a  new  district  within 
a  few  years. 

The  bell  purchased  in  1682  did  good  service  for  many  years, 


but  in  17G0  it  was  deemed  insufficient,  and  a  new  one  ordered, 
the  purchasing  committee  being  instructed  to  sell  the  old  one 
to  Southampton,  if  possible.  The  new  one  was  obtained  at 
once,  but  was  soon  after  broken,  and  the  town  was  called 
together  to  decide  about  replacing  it,  and  "  prosecuting  tho.se 
persons  who  were  active  or  instrumental  in  breaking  it." 
The  bell  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  founder  at  Fairfield,  to 
be  mended  or  recast,  and  if  recast  the  committee  were  author- 
ized to  receive  subscriptions  "toward  the  expense  of  it,"  and 
"  to  increase  and  enlarge  it  in  weight  as  much  as  they  may 
receive  subscriptions  for,  not  to  exceed  1000  lbs."  The  old 
bell  was  not  sold  to  Southampton,  as  there  was  further  town 
action  relative  to  its  sale  some  two  years  afterward.  It  was 
finally  disposed  of  to  the  Congregational  Society  in  Northfield, 
and  in  use  there  in  1824.  The  new  one  proved  unsatisfactory, 
and  attempts  were  made  in  a  few  years  to  increase  its  capacity 
by  enlarging  the  tongue,  a  vote  to  that  ell'ect  having  been 
passed  in  1768.  The  meeting-house  bell  was  used  not  only  for 
calling  the  people  together  on  the  Sabbath  and  for  other  re- 
ligious services,  but  for  warning  town  and  other  meetings, 
and  always  for  fire-alarms.  In  many  places  the  bell  was 
rung  at  noon  (twelve  o'clock)  and  at  nine  o'clock  at  night. 
This  hitter  practice  prevailed  in  this  town  till  1876,  the  bell  of 
the  First  Parish  being  used  for  that  purpose.  It  was  discon- 
tinued when  the  meeting-house  was  burned,  and  has  not  been 
resumed. 

There  was  a  clock  in  the  steeple  of  this  meeting-hou.se,  but 
no  record  of  its  purchase  or  presentation  can  be  found.  In 
1753,  3£  12s.  were  voted  to  Saul  Alvord  for  his  care  of  the 
"  meeting-house  and  clock"  as  sexton  the  current  year.  This 
is  the  first  intimation  that  there  was  a  clock  in  the  building. 
This  clock  was  wound  bj'  drawing  up  the  weights,  hand  over 
hand,  the  winder  standing  direetlj'  beneath  the  weights.  The 
length  of  cord  attached  to  the  weights  was  not  less  than  40 
feet.  It  is  related  that  an  apprentice  of  Mr.  Nathan  Storrs, 
in  1806,  while  winding  this  clock,  was  killed  by  the  falling 
weight,  the  rope  breaking  when  the  weight  was  nearly  at  its 
proper  height.  In  1790  a  committee  reported  in  favor  of  pur- 
chasing a  new  clock,  as  being  better  policy  than  to  repair  the 
old  one,  stating  that  a  new  one  would  cost  £30.  No  action 
was  taken  on  this  report,  and  the  old  clock  remained  in  use 
while  the  meeting-house  stood. 

The  trial  of  Dominic  Daly  and  James  Halligan  for  the 
murder  of  Marcus  Lyon,  at  Wilbraham,  was  held  in  North- 
ampton, before  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  in  April,  1806. 
This  trial  caused  much  excitement  throughout  all  this  region, 
and  was  attended  by  great  crowds  of  people.  The  court-house 
was  found  insufficient  to  hold  all  the  spectators,  and  the  trial 
was  adjourned  to  the  meeting-house.  It  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing. The  crowd  was  so  dense  in  the  galleries  that  it  was 
feared  they  would  fall.  The  cry  was  raised  that  they  were 
falling  ;  a  panic  ensued,  and  some  persons  attempted  to  escape 
from  the  upper  windows.  No  damage  resulted,  however. 
Quiet  was  soon  restored,  and  the  trial  proceeded. 

The  third  meeting-house  was  used  for  public  worship  about 
sevent3'-five  years,  having  been  torn  down  in  1813.  Its  pulpit 
was  occupied  by  three  settled  ministers, — Eev.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, Rev.  John  Hooker,  and  Rev.  Solomon  "Williams. 

In  1813,  after  the  completion  of  the  fourth  meeting-house, 
the  previous  one  was  sold  to  Josiah  Dwight,  who  proi}osed 
to  remove  and  fit  it  up  for  stores  or  tenements.  It  was  first 
necessary  to  take  down  the  steeple.  This  was  built  with  an 
open  space  about  the  "bell-deck,"  resting  at  that  point  upon 
eight  columns.  These  supports  were  partially  sawn  asunder 
and  ropes  attached  to  the  spire,  by  which  it  was  pulled  over. 
It  is  said  that  the  schools  were  allowed  a  holiday  when  this 
occurred.  A  graj'-haired  citizen  of  the  town  well  remembered 
helping,  with  other  boys,  in  the  work  of  bringing  it  to  the 
ground.  Mr.  Dwight  then  began  to  move  the  building.  His 
intention  was  to  place  it  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  South 


200 


HISTOKr  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Streets,  on  the  site  of  Hillyer's  Block.  When  he  had  moved 
it  about  half  the  distance,  the  popular  feeling  against  its  pro- 
posed location  became  so  great  that  a  subscription  was  raised 
sufficient  to  indemnify  Mr.  Dwight  in  part,  and  the  old  meet- 
ing-house was  taken  down  and  the  material  disposed  of  in 
various  ways. 

First  Precinct. — While  but  one  religious  society  existed  in 
town  there  was  no  occasion  for  the  establishment  of  a  parish. 
All  the  inhabitants  attended  the  same  ministrations  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and  all  business  was  transacted  in  town-meeting. 
As  the  limits  of  the  town  expanded  j'ear  by  year,  the  need  of 
more  convenient  places  of  worship  became  apparent,  and 
wherever  settlers  gathered  sufficient  in  number  to  bear  the 
expense  a  new  church  was  formed.  Allusion  has  already 
been  made  to  the  "  new  settlement  over  Munhan  Kiver. "  It 
was  first  named  on  the  town  records  as  the  "Second  Precinct," 
in  1739,  but  was  not  regularly  incorporated  till  two  years  after- 
ward. When  this  occurred  the  remainder  of  the  township 
became  the  First  Precinct.  The  earliest  record  of  a  meeting 
of  the  First  Precinct  is  dated  Feb.  10,  1741-2.  Col.  John  Stod- 
dard was  chosen  moderator  ;  the  selectmen  and  assessors  of  the 
town  were  made  assessors  for  the  precinct,  and  empowered  to 
call  precinct-meetings.  Samuel  Mather  was  chosen  clerk, 
and  Ebenezer  Pomroy  treasurer.  Parish  business  was  trans- 
acted in  the  name  of  the  First  Precinct  till  September,  1753. 
Southampton  being  incorporated  as  a  separate  district  in  that 
year,  the  precinct  organization  disappeared,  the  town  again 
became  the  parish,  and  so  continued  till  the  establishment  of 
the  Second  Congregational  (Unitarian)  Socict}',  in  1820. 

When  the  Second  Precinct  was  set  oif,  Kev.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards was  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church.  The 
principal  parochial  business  then,  as  well  as  at  the  present 
time,  was  to  vote  and  raise  supplies  for  the  ministry  and  care 
of  the  meeting-house.  The  bitter  controversy  with  the  pastor 
that  soon  after  occurred,  however,  brought  in  a  new  element, 
and  its  frequent  meetings  were  enlivened  with  earnest  and 
animated  discussions.  It  apjjears  that  at  this  time  no  perma- 
nent salary  for  the  minister  had  been  decided  upon ;  the 
amount  was  subject  to  the  yearly  vote  of  the  parish.  For 
many  years  £350  (old  tenor),  the  improvement  of  one-half 
the  sequestered  land,  and  firewood  was  regularly  voted.  The 
price  of  wood  per  load  wils  fixed  upon  by  the  meeting,  and  a 
committee  appointed  to  see  that  the  wood  was  furnished,  and 
to  "estimate  the  loads  in  proportion  to  the  price  fixed  upon 
for  an  ordinary  load."  The  price  of  wood  varied  from  year  to 
year,  increasing  from  12.s.  in  1743  to  25s.  in  1748.  During 
this  period  Mr.  Edwards  endeavored  to  obtain  from  the  parish 
a  fixed  and  permanent  salary,  presenting  his  petition  each 
year,  but  without  eflect.  There  was  difficulty  nearly  every 
year  relative  to  firewood,  the  price  per  load  in  many  instances 
having  been  increased  before  the  required  amount  was  fur- 
nished. In  1746  a  vote  was  passed  to  give  him  eighty  loads, 
at  18s.  per  load.  The  fluctuating  and  uncertain  value  of  the 
bills  of  credit  in  which  the  salary  was  paid,  the  constantly 
increasing  price  of  all  necessaries  of  life,  rendered  impera- 
tive an  augmentation  of  salary,  and  in  1740  an  addition  of 
£150  was  granted.  The  next  year  the  precinct  voted  to  estab- 
lish a  permanent  salary,  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with 
Mr.  Edwards,  and  gave  him  X600,  the  use  of  parish-land,  and 
firewood  for  that  year.  The  salary  mutually  agreed  upon  and 
adopted  in  1748  included  the  improvement  of  the  sequestered 
land,  £150  for  firewood  when  the  price  per  load  should  be 
25s.,  and  more  or  less  in  proportion  as  the  price  varied  from 
year  to  year,  and  £700  in  bills  of  public  credit  (old  tenor). 
The  value  of  the  bills  of  credit  was  based  on  the  price  of 
wheat,  rye,  Indian  corn,  pork,  and  beef.  Wheat  was  rated 
at  30s.  per  bushel,  rye  at  20s.,  corn  at  12s.,  pork  at  2s.  per 
pound,  and  "  beaf"  at  12rf.  per  pound.  In  case  of  change  of 
price  in  these  articles,  it  was  provided  that  there  should  be  a 
proportionate   increase  or  diminution  of  salary.     "  For  in- 


stance, if  each  of  those  five  articles  should  rise  in  their  price 
one-eighth,  that  then  an  eighth  be  added  to  the  £700;  and  if 
two  of  them  should  rise  one-quarter  and  one  rise  one-eighth, 
and  the  other  two  remain  at  the  same  price,  that  then  there 
should  be  an  addition  of  one-eighth  to  the  £700  ;  and  so  if  the 
price  of  those  necessaries  should  be  lowered  in  like  manner, 
that  the  sum  be  lowered  in  like  proportion."  This  amount 
was  to  be  paid  to  Mr.  Edwards  annual!}',  so  long  as  he  con- 
tinued "  in  the  ministry  amongst  them." 

For  some  years  the  influence  of  Mr.  Edwards  had  been  sen- 
sibly declining,  and  the  causes  which  eventually  led  to  his  dis- 
missal were  already  at  work  when  the  above  liberal  salary  was 
granted.  An  unfortunate  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  pastor  to 
correct  certain  alleged  immoralities  among  the  youth  of  the 
congregation,  in  which  he  was  not  seconded  by  the  church, 
eventually  estranged  him  from  his  people.  Emboldened  by 
the  lukewarmness  of  their  parents,  the  young,  losing  all  rever- 
ence for  sacred  things,  behaved  so  "  irreverently  and  disor- 
derly" on  the  Sabbath  that  in  1748  it  became  necessary  to 
appoint  a  special  committee  to  "  inspect  the  behavior  of  the 
'young  people  and  children  in  the  time  of  public  worship," 
with  instructions  to  prosecute  those  who  were  above  sixteen 
years  of  age  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  all  under  that 
age  who  did  not  behave  were  to  be  set  before  the  deacon's  seat 
as  a  public  example.  About  this  time  Mr.  Edwards  an- 
nounced his  views  on  the  qualifications  for  church  member- 
ship, and,  soon  after,  his  book  on  that  subject  appeared.  These 
sentiments  were  contrary  to  the  practice  of  this  church,  and 
not  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  churches  in  this  re- 
gion. Consequently,  there  was  great  excitement  throughout 
the  town.  Many  demanded  the  immediate  dissolution  of  the 
pastoral  relation,  and  little  inclination  was  manifested  to  ascer- 
tain or  thoroughly  understand  his  principles.  From  March, 
1748,  to  May,  1750,  twenty-two  precinct-meetings  are  recorded 
in  which  the  questions  in  agitation  between  pastor  and  people 
were  under  discussion.  Finall}'  both  parties  agreed  to  call  a 
mutual  council,  and  at  the  May  meeting  it  was  voted  to  pay 
the  expense  of  the  ecclesiastical  council  and  authorize  the 
church  committee  to  procure  at  the  charge  of  the  precinct  a 
minister  or  layman  to  assist  them  "  in  the  managing  the  cause 
on  the  part  of  the  Brethren  of  the  church  before  said  Council." 
In  November  following  it  was  voted  "  That  Dan  Shelden  be 
allowed  thirty  pounds,  old  Ten'',  and  as  much  more  as  he  de- 
serves, for  his  extraordinary  service  by  ringing  y'  Bell  for 
church-meetings  and  extraordinary  Parish  meetings,  and  any 
extraordinary  .sweeping  occasioned  by  such  extraordinary 
meetings." 

Three  years  elapsed  after  Mr.  Edwards  was  dismissed  before 
another  minister  was  settled.  The  disagreement  was  too  great 
to  be  readily  adjusted,  and  members  of  both  church  and 
parish  speedily  showed  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  result  of 
the  council.  It  becxime  so  marked  that  the  precinct  finally 
voted  not  to  procure  a  candidate  till  measures  had  been  taken 
by  the  church  to  settle  the  difficulties  "  with  those  who  call 
themselves  the  aggrieved  brethren."  A  vote  was  also  passed 
desiring  the  thurclx  to  appoint  a  committee  to  receive  "the 
papers  called  the  church's  remonstrance"  and  give  the  dissat- 
isfied persons  a  hearing.  A  settlement  was  early  agreed  upon, 
for  within  two  months  both  church  and  precinct  united  in  an 
invitation  to  the  fieV.  Daniel  Farrand,  of  Canaan,  Conn.  Mr. 
Farrand  had  already  preached  for  some  time,  and  seems  to 
have  given  good  satisfaction.  He  declined,  however,  and  the 
next  year  Kev.  Judah  Champion  received  a  call  to  the  pastor- 
ate, but  did  not  accept.  As  has  already  been  stated,  precinct 
and  town  were  again  merged  when  Southampton  was  incorpo- 
rated. The  last  precinct-meeting  was  held  Jan.  18,  1753,  and 
the  final  record  of  business  was  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Cham- 
pion. 

The  meeting-house  was  struck  by  lightning  in  1751,  and  the 
belfry,  steeple,  and  weathercock  injured.     Tlie  damage  was  re- 


I 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


201 


paired  at  a  cost  of  about  £10,  and  a  new  weathercock  pro- 
cured. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  was  born  at  East  Windsor, 
Conn.,  Oct.  5,  1703.  His  tiither,  Rev.  Timothy  Edwards,  was 
for  sixty-four  years  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  that 
place.  His  mother,  Esther  Stoddard,  was  a  daugliter  of  Rev. 
Solomon  Stoddard.  The  families  of  Edwards  and  Stoddard 
were  both  of  English  descent,  and  botli  "  distingnislied  for 
several  generations  for  piety,  intellectual  vigor,  and  com- 
manding influence  in  their  respective  spheres  of  duty."  Rev. 
Timothy  Edwards  was  noted  for  eminent  piety,  commanding 
talent,  and  as  a  finished  scholar.  The  historian  gives  Esther 
Stoddard  a  character  above  that  of  ordinary  women  of  her 
time.  She  was  noted  for  her  piety,  distinguished  for  her 
strength  of  mind,  of  superior  education,  and  fond  of  reading. 
Jonatluin  Edwards  was  the  fifth  of  eleven  children,  and  an 
only  son.  Each  of  his  sisters,  it  is  said,  was  si.x  feet  in  stature  ; 
hence  the  statement  of  a  distinguished  divine,  who  married 
one  of  them,  that  lie  was  allied  to  a  family  in  wliieli  there  were 
"  sixty  feet  of  daugliters."  Under  the  direction  of  his  father, 
young  Edwards  commenced  the  study  of  Latin  at  the  age  of 
six  years.  He  was  early  habituated  to  the  use  of  the  pen, 
taught  to  study  with  it  in  his  hand,  and  continued  the  prac- 
tice tliroughout  life.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  entered  Yale 
College,  graduating  at  seventeen,  when  lie  received  not  only 
the  first,  but  almost  the  sole  and  accumulated,  honors  awarded 
to  the  class.  His  first  religious  impressions  occurred  about  the 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  collegiate 
cour-se  these  impressions  were  strengthened,  and  from  that 
time  he  dated  the  commencement  of  his  religious  life. 

After  graduation  he  spent  two  years  diligently  prosecuting 
his  theological  studies.  In  1722,  a  few  months  before  the  com- 
pletion of  his  nineteenth  year,  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and 
for  a  few  months  presided  over  a  small  Presbyterian  Church 
in  New  Yorli  City.  About  this  time  he  formed  a  number  of 
resolutions  for  the  government  of  his  own  heart  and  life. 
They  were  seventy  in  number,  and  were  all  committed  to 
paper  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  Ever  afterward  he 
made  it  a  point  to  read  them  over  once  each  day.  In  1723  he 
obtained  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  and  was  at  the  same 
time  elected  tutor  in  Yale  College.  About  this  time  he  re- 
ceived several  invitations  to  settle  as  pastor,  but  declined  them 
all.  In  June,  1724,  Mr.  Edwards  commenced  his  tutorship. 
Having  discharged  the  duties  of  this  otiice  about  two  years, 
he  received,  in  1726,  a  pressing  invitation  to  become  colleague 
pastor  with  his  grandfather  Stoddard  in  this  town.  On  the 
15th  of  February,  1727,  in  the  24th  year  of  his  age,  he  was 
ordained  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  installed  as 
co-pastor  of  the  church  here.  He  applied  liimself  to  the  duties 
of  his  charge  with  seriousness  and  diligence,  and  won  the 
esteem  and  regard  of  all.  At  this  time  his  habit  was,  when  in 
ordinary  health,  to  spend  thirteen  hours  every  day  in  his 
study.  His  favorite  exercise  was  horsebaok-riding,  always 
carrying  pen  and  paper,  and  often  dismounting  to  write  down 
thoughts  that  suggested  themselves. 

When  Mr.  Edwards  was  settled  the  town  voted  to  give  him 
ten  acres  of  land  for  a  pasture  and  forty  acres  in  Munhan 
meadow ;  also  £300  to  buy  a  homestead,  and,  if  that  was  not 
enough,  to  increase  the  amount.  A  salarv  of  £100  a  year  was 
voted,  with  a  promise  of  more  if  needed.  Afterward,  when 
Mr.  Edwards  purchased  a  house  and  lot,  £80  more  were  added. 
The  ten  acres  of  pasture-land  were  set  off  on  Slow  (Slough) 
Hill.  His  salary  was  increased  from  time  to  time  until  it 
reached  £350,  remaining  at  that  figure  for  some  years,  and 
was  permanently  fixed  by  vote  of  the  First  Precinct,  as  already 
narrated. 

On  the  28th  of  July,  1727,  Mr.  Edwards  married  Miss  Sarah 
Pierrepont,  daughter  of  Rev.  James  Pierrepont,  pastor  of  a 
church  in  New  Haven.     Mrs.  Edwards  was  a  most  remarka- 
ble woman.     With  an  intellect  of  more  than  common  bril- 
26 


liancy,  cultivated  and  enlightened  by  an  education  the  best 
the  country  atibrded,  fervent  in  piety,  and  possessing  an  un- 
common share  of  prudence,  dignity,  and  poli,sh,  she  adorned 
and  honored  the  position  in  which  her  union  with  Mr.  Edwards 
placed  her.  She  was  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  beauty, 
and  of  great  firmness  and  energy  of  character.  Soon  after  her 
marriage  she  took  upon  herself  the  whole  management  of  the 
farm,  as  well  as  the  more  domestic  duties  of  the  family. 

In  February,  1729,  his  venerable  colleague,  Mr.  Stoddard, 
died,  and  the  whole  care  of  the  large  congregation  devolved 
upon  the  youthful  pastor.  Such  was  his  fidelity  and  success 
that  in  1733,  '34,  and  '35  the  town  was  favored  with  a  revival 
of  religion  so  extensive  and  powerful  as  to  constitute  a  mem- 
orable era  in  the  history  of  the  church.  At  the  request  of 
eminent  English  divines,  Mr.  Edwards  prepared  an  account  of 
the  work  of  grace  here,  which  was  published  in  England,  and 
in  1738  re-issued  in  Boston,  in  connection  with  five  of  his  dis- 
courses preached  during  the  revival. 

The  history  of  the  ministrj'  of  Mr.  Edwards  in  this  place 
abounds  in  instances  of  the  outpouring  of  the  grace  of  God, 
which,  abundantly  interesting  though  they  are,  cannot  he  con- 
densed within  the  limits  assigned  to  this  sketch.  He  co-oper- 
ated with  Whiteficld,  inviting  him  to  preach  in  Northampton, 
and  contriicted  a  friendship  with  this  celebrated  man  that  con- 
tinued thripugh  life.  During  this  time  he  became  acquainted 
with  David  Brainerd,  the  missionary,  assisted  him  with 
counsel,  ministered  to  his  nece.ssities,  and  finally  closed  his 
eyes  in  death  under  his  own  roof.  He  afterward  published 
an  extended  memoir  of  that  devoted  man. 

Until  the  j'ear  1744,  Mr.  Edwards  seems  to  have  retained  a 
firm  hold  upon  the  confidence  and  affections  of  his  people. 
During  that  year  were  sown  the  seeds  that  ripened  into  the 
open  hostility  that  finally  led  to  his  dismissal.  He  learned 
that  a  number  of  the  younger  members  of  his  church  had  in 
their  possession  licentious  books,  which  they  were  using  for 
immoral  purposes.  Satisfied  of  the  fact,  he  prepared  and  de- 
livered a  sermon  against  the  sin.  After  service  he  laid  the 
matter  before  the  church,  which  voted  to  investigate  the  sub- 
ject, and  appointed  a  committee  to  co-operate  with  the  pastor 
in  making  the  inquiry.  Mr.  Edwards  then  read  to  the  church 
a  list  of  the  names  of  such  as  he  desired  should  meet  the  com- 
mittee, and  when  it  was  found  that  the  youth  of  many  of  the 
most  respectable  families  in  the  place  were  implicated,  the  cur- 
rent of  public  opinion  changed,  and  the  matter  was  suffered 
to  drop.  Many  of  the  young  people  were  thus  disaflfected 
toward  the  pastor  ;  the  parents  .sympathized  ;  church  disci- 
pline was  openly  set  at  defiance ;  and  the  after-ministry  of  Mr. 
Edwards  was  attended  with  but  little  success.  This  unhappy 
ditl'erence  was  soon  followed  by  another.  It  had  become  cus- 
tomary for  all  persons  not  scandalous  in  life  to  join  the 
churcli ;  not  to  be  a  communicant  was  a  public  stigma,  and 
church  membership  came  to  be  considered  an  indispensable 
qualification  for  civil  office.  Mr.  Stoddard  taught  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  designed  to  be  a  converting  ordinance,  and 
that  genuine  piety  was  not  necessary  in  order  to  approach  it. 
Mr.  Edwards  acquiesced  in  this  doctrine  because  he  found  it 
adopted  and  in  practice,  not  from  belief  in  its  truth.  He 
always  doubted  it,  and  in  1740  published  a  work  setting  forth 
his  views  in  opposition  to  it.  This  was  made  the  ground  of  a 
most  bitter  and  unrelenting  controversy.  Great  efforts  were 
made  to  prevent  the  circulation  of  the  book.  The  precinct 
voted  to  apply  to  several  clergymen  to  answer  it,  but  without 
success.  Mr  Edwards  proposed  to  speak  upon  the  subject  from 
his  own  pulpit,  but  his  people  would  not  allow  it.  Afterward, 
when  he  decided  to  discuss  the  question  at  issue  in  a  series  of 
weekly  lectures,  his  society  sent  a  committee,  asking  him  to 
relinquish  the  project.  He  persisted,  however,  but  the  lectures 
were  very  thinly  attended  by  his  own  people.  Then  followed 
the  attempt  on  both  sides  to  gather  a  council.  Differences  in 
regard  to  its  composition  prevented  unity  of  action  for  some 


202 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


months,  and  it  was  not  till  the  22d  of  June,  1750,  that  the 
council  met.  This  body  decided  by  a  majority  of  one  that  the 
pastoral  relation  ought  to  be  dissevered,  and  accordingly  it 
was  dissolved. 

He  remained  in  town  for  some  time  after  this  action,  and 
was  occasionally  invited  to  preach.  The  biographers  of  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  however,  state  that  the  committee  for  supplying 
the  pulpit,  in  consequence  of  the  dissatisfaction  manifested, 
called  the  town  together  for  instructions,  and  a  vote  was  passed 
that  "  it  was  not  agreeable  to  their  minds  that  he  should  preach 
among  them!"  The  position  of  Mr.  Edwards  elicited  great 
S3'mpathy  from  churches  and  pastors  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic, and  he  received  an  invitation  from  Dr.  Erskine  to  take 
charge  of  a  church  in  Scotland,  but  declined.  In  May,  1751, 
a  council  was  called  to  take  into  consideration  the  formation 
of  a  new  church.  This  was  done  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
his  friends,  but  in  opposition  to  his  own  better  judgment.  The 
council  decided  against  the  formation  of  another  church,  in 
accordance  with  the  views  of  3Ir.  Edwards,  and  advised  him 
to  leave  Northampton.  For  the  support  of  his  large  family 
of  eight  children  Mr.  Edwards  was  entirely  dependent  on  his 
salary,  which  was  the  largest  then  paid  by  any  congregation 
in  New  England,  and  his  friends,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Scotland,  contributed  toward  his  expenses. 

In  December,  1750,  he  received  proposals  from  the  church 
in  Stockbridge,  and  about  the  same  time  the  "  commissioners 
at  Boston,"  acting  in  the  name  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  offered  to  employ  him  as  missionary  among  the  Hou- 
satonic  Indians  at  the  same  place.  He  accepted  both  proposi- 
tions, and  removed  to  Stockbridge  in  the  spring  of  1751.  His 
labors  here  were  arduous  in  the  extreme.  In  June,  175-1,  he 
was  seized  with  a  severe  fever  which  greatly  enfeebled  his 
constitution.  Twice  a  week  he  preached  to  the  white  inhabit- 
ants of  the  town,  once  by  an  interpreter  to  the  Indians,  and 
acted  also  as  instructor  to  the  children.  While  residing  in 
Stockbridge  he  published  his  most  important  works.  In  1754 
appeared  his  far-famed  treatise  "On  the  Freedom  of  tlic 
AVill,"  and  in  1758  that  on  "  Original  Sin." 

He  remained  at  Stockbridge  till  January,  17-58,  when  he 
removed  to  Princeton,  N.  J.,  having  been  elected  president 
of  the  college — Nassau  Hall — at  that  place  in  September, 
1757.  The  former  president  of  the  college.  Rev.  Aaron  Burr, 
married  Esther,  third  daughter  of  Mr.  Edwards,  in  1752.  He 
had  presided  over  the  college  ten  years,  but  died  very  sud- 
denly in  the  autumn  of  1757,  two  days  before  commencement. 
The  trustees  immediately  made  choice  of  Mr.  Edwards  as  his 
successor.  On  the  16th  of  February,  1758,  Mr.  Edwards  was 
inaugurated  as  president  of  the  college.  At  that  time  small- 
pox existed  in  Princeton,  and  President  Edwards  and  his 
daughters  were  inoculated.  He  appeared  to  have  the  disease 
favorably,  and  it  was  thought  that  all  danger  was  over,  when 
a  secondary  fever  supervened,  and  he  died  on  the  22d  day  of 
March,  17.58,  in  the  flfty-tifth  year  of  his  age,  and  just  five 
weeks  after  assuming  his  otficial  duties  as  president  of  the 
college.  Mrs.  Edwards  did  not  long  survive  her  hu.sband, 
but  died  at  Philadelphia,  Oct.  2,  1758. 

In  person  Mr.  Edwards  was  tall  and  slender.  He  was  a 
little  above  six  feet  in  stature,  and  his  countenance  was  strongly 
marked  with  benignity  and  intelligence.  His  voice,  in  public 
speaking,  was  rather  feeble,  and  he  made  very  few  gestures. 
He  was  the  father  of  eleven  children, — three  sons  and  eight 
daughters.  President  Edwards  resided,  while  in  this  town, 
on  King  Street,  the  house  standing  near  that  belonging  to 
the  heirs  of  the  late  J.  D.  Whitney,  E,sq.  In  front  of  that 
mansion  are  two  magnificent  elm-trees,  the  largest  of  which 
is  said  to  have  been  planted  by  the  eminent  divine  with  his 
own  hands.  President  Edwards  attached  great  dignity  to  the 
pastoral  office,  and  always  visited  his  parishioners  in  the 
canonical  dress  of  his  time.  During  his  pastorate  of  twenty- 
three  years,  .495  persons  were  admitted  to  the  church. 


Insfnllation  of  ihe  Fourth  Minister. — In  17.5o  the  town 
united  with  the  church  in  an  invitation  to  I'ev.  John  Hooker, 
oftering  him  £206  13s.  4f/.  as  a  settlement.  The  salary  was 
fixed  at  £80  for  the  first  year,  and  an  increase  of  £5  per  year 
for  four  years  ;  £100  to  be  the  permanent  sum.  In  addition, 
£6  13«.  id,  were  voted  for  firewood.  Mr.  Hooker  accepted  the 
call,  but  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  amount  allowed 
for  firewood.  The  articles  of  agreement  specified  that  the 
salary  should  be  paid  "  in  silver  of  sterling  alloy  at  six  shil- 
lings and  eight  pence  by  the  ounce,  or  in  Spanish  milled 
pieces-of-eight,  at  six  shillings  by  the  piece." 

Mr.  Hooker  was  ordained  on  the  5th  of  December,  the  town 
having  appointed  a  <'ommittee  of  six  persons  to  order  and 
direct  the  sittings  of  the  people  in  the  meeting-house  on  the 
day  of  ordination,  and  provided  that  the  services  should 
commence  at  ten  o'clock  a.m.  The  council  consisted  of  ten 
ministers  and  delegates,  viz. :  "  Rev.  Mr.  Williams,  of  Long- 
meadow,  moderator,  who  made  the  first  prayer  at  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands  and  gave  the  charge  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  of 
Springfield,  who  made  the  prayer  after  the  imposition  of 
hands ;  Rev.  Mr.  Raynolds,  of  Enfield,  who  made  the  prayer 
before  sermon  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge,  of  South  Hadley ;  Rev. 
Mr.  Parsons,  of  East  Hadley,  who  preached  the  sermon  ;  Rev. 
Mr.  Ashley,  of  Deerfield ;  Rev.  Mr.  Breck,  of  Springfield, 
who  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship ;  Rev.  Mr.  Ashley,  of 
Sunderland  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge,  of  Hatfield ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Judd,  of  Southampton." 

The  expenses  of  ordinations  were  always  paid  by  the  town, 
and  ordination  dinners  provided.  At  the  settlement  of  Mr. 
Hooker  the  town  paid  §21.43  for  expenses,  including  nine 
shillings  for  wine. 

Rev.  John  Hooker  was  born  in  1729,  at  Kensington, 
Conn.,  now  a  parish  in  the  town  of  Berlin.  He  was  great- 
grandson  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  colony  of  Connecticut,  and  first  minister  of  Hartford. 
Graduating  at  Tale  College  in  1751,  he  came  to  North- 
ampton two  years  afterward,  and  remained  pastor  of  the 
church  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1777.  He  was  mar- 
ried, Dec.  5,  1753,  to  Sarah  Worthington,  sister  of  Col.  John 
Worthington,  of  Springfield,  one  of  the  most  eminent  law- 
}-ers  in  Massachusetts.  His  ministry,  following  the  stormy 
and  tempestuous  close  of  Mr.  Edwards'  pastorate,  was  quiet 
and  peaceful.  The  asperity  and  bitterness  of  both  parties  were 
speedily  merged  in  a  mutual  and  common  attachment  to  the 
new  pastor.  He  seemed  eminently  fitted  for  the  pec\iliar  con- 
dition of  afl'airs  then  existing  here.  "The  gentleness  of  his 
deportment,  his  sound  discretion,  and  instructive  discourses 
in  the  pulpit,  secured  to  him  to  such  an  extent  the  love  and 
respect  of  his  people  that  they  were  always  satisfied  to  hear 
him,  and  did  not  care  to  hear  anybody  else."  He  particularly 
endeared  himself  to  the  youth  of  the  congregation,  and  is 
represented  as  a  man  of  most  condescending,  familiar,  and 
winning  manners.  As  a  preacher  he  was  earnest  and  attract- 
ive, stating  the  truth  with  simplicity  and  directness,  and  free 
from  everything  that  had  a  semblance  of  afl'ectation.  His 
death,  from  smallpox,  occurred  Feb.  6,  1777,  at  the  age  of 
forty-eight.  Only  two  of  his  sermons  were  published.  Mr. 
Hooker  was  pastor  of  the  church  twenty-three  years,  and 
during  that  time  409  members  were  added.  At  a  meeting 
held  November,  1787,  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  "  pro- 
cure a  decent  monument  to  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  the 
late  Rev.  3Ir.  John  Hooker,  at  the  cost  of  the  town." 

FiJ'ih  Minister  Called. — The  church  and  society  did  not  long 
remain  without  a  pastor  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hooker.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  town,  held  in  March  of  the  succeeding  year, 
the  committee  to  provide  preaching  were  directed  to  apply  to 
Rev.  Mr.  Williams  to  know  whether  he  was  willing  to  have  a 
church-meeting  called  relative  to  a  settlement  here,  and  desire 
him  to  preach  and  lecture  the  next  week.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  1778,  the  town  voted — 192  to  2 — to  concur  with  the 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


203 


church  in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Williams  as  pastor.  In  May  he 
accepted  the  call  and  £300  were  voted  for  a  settlement,  to  be 
paid  in  three  annual  installments.  His  salary  was  to  be  £100 
for  the  first  year,  with  an  increase  of  £-5  per  year  till  the  sum 
should  reach  £120.  As  in  other  similar  cases,  the  salary  was 
based  on  the  current  price  of  wheat,  rye,  and  corn,  and  varied 
in  accordance  with  the  price  of  those  commodities.  Firewood 
was  also  furnished,  and  nothing  in  the  vote  was  to  be  under- 
stood as  debarring  payment  in  gold  or  silver.  Mr.  Williams 
was  ordained  June  4,  1778.  The  council  was  composed  of 
Rev.  Eliphalet  Williams,  of  Hartford  ;  Rev.  Richard  Salter,  of 
Mansfield;  Rev.  Timothy  Kine,  of  Goshen  ;  Rev.  Jonathan 
Judd,  of  Southampton  ;  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  of  Hadley  ; 
and  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  of  Hatfield.  The  customary  ordi- 
nation dinner  was  provided,  and  lOG  pounds  of  beef,  pork,  and 
veal  furnished,  but  the  town  paid  for  no  liquor. 

Rev.  Solomon-  Williams  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Eliphalet 
Williams,  of  East  Hartford,  Conn.,  at  which  place  he  was 
born  July  25,  1752.  The  family  of  Mr.  Williams  is  of  Welsh 
origin,  and  came  from  Norwich,  England.  It  has  probably 
furnished  more  ministers  than  any  other  family  in  this  coun- 
try. Mr.  Williams  was  the  sixth  in  descent  from  the  original 
settler,  all  but  one  being  ministers.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  four  of  these  ministers — the  great-grandfather,  the  grand- 
father, the  father,  and  the  son — should  each  have  preached  a 
half-century  sermon  from  the  time  of  his  settlement.  Mr. 
Williams  spent  his  youth  with  his  grandfather.  Rev.  Solomon 
Williams,  of  Lebanon,  Conn.  He  was  graduated  at  Tale 
College  in  1770,  appointed  tutor  in  1773,  and  in  1778  ordained 
as  successor  to  Mr.  Hooker,  whose  daughter  he  married.  He 
died  Nov.  9,  1834,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two.  His 
success  as  a  preacher  was  quite  remarkable,  and  during  his 
pastorate  more  than  000  were  admitted  to  the  church.  After 
preaching  thirty-eight  J'ears,  when  sixty-four  years  of  age,  it 
became  necessary,  owing  to  the  infirmities  of  the  pastor,  to 
provide  him  an  assistant,  and  the  town  authorized  the  select- 
men, in  1816,  to  hire  a  preacher  to  aid  Mr.  Williams  when- 
ever, in  their  opinion,  the  good  of  the  town  required.  Three 
years  after,  a  vote  was  passed  to  settle  a  colleague  and  invite 
Rev.  Samuel  P.  Williams  to  assist  the  pastor.  Mr.  Williams 
was  first  employed  in  1816,  and  from  j'ear  to  year  for  three  or 
four  years,  but  was  never  settled  as  colleague.  In  1820  he 
had  a  salary  of  g.jOO,  and  the  same  year  |)200  was  added  to  the 
salary  of  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  making  his  compensation 
$700.  It  was  not  till  1824  that  a  colleague  was  actually 
settled.  In  that  year  Rev.  Mark  Tucker  was  installed  to  that 
office.  At  this  time  but  one  religious  society  existed ;  elements 
of  dissatisfaction,  however,  had  appeared  when  Mr.  Tucker 
was  settled.  The  town  voted  unanimously,  in  extending  an 
invitation  to  Mr.  Tucker,  that  this  society  are  willing  that  the 
colleague  who  may  be  settled  "should  exchange  with,  or  in- 
vite to  preach  in  the  desk,  any  pious  clergyman  of  any  de- 
nomination of  Christians,"  and  Mr.  Tucker  endorsed  this 
action.  He  afterward  declined  to  invite  Unitarian  clergy- 
men to  preach,  and  the  second  society  was  formed.  At  the 
March  meeting,  1824,  the  town,  "  in  consequence  of  the  great 
pressure  of  their  pecuniary  concerns  at  this  time,"  voted  to 
accept  the  oft'er  of  Mr.  Williams  to  relinquish  8200  of  his 
salary  toward  the  maintenance  of  a  colleague.  Mr.  Tucker's 
salary  was  fixed  at  SIOOO.  The  Second  Congregational  (Uni- 
tarian) Society  w-as  formed  Feb.  22,  1825.  Separate  religious 
worship  was  held,  however,  Dec.  5,  1824,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  of  Springfield,  preached.  Within  the  following  ten 
years  were  formed  the  Episcopal,  Baptist,  and  Edwards 
churches. 

Rev.  Solomon  Williams  was  a  man  of  medium  stature,  in 
manner  plain  and  unpretending,  and  never  addicted  to  dis- 
play. His  style  of  preaching  was  highlj'  scriptural,  his  ser- 
mons well  studied,  perspicuous,  polished,  and  .searching.  As 
a  pastor  he  was  untiring  in  his  duties, — always  ready  to  visit 


the  sick,  and  peculiarly  happy  in  prayers,  which  were  short, 
comprehensive,  and  appropriate.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
during  his  long  pastorate  of  fifty-six  years,  and  his  memory 
is  still  cherished  with  veneration  and  respect.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  his  sermons  were  published,  among  them  a  historical 
sketch  of  the  town,  in  1815.  That  sermon  is  now  quite  rare 
and  very  valuable,  a  copy  having  sold  in  New  York  within 
a  few  years  for  §12..50.  He  resided  on  King  Street,  in  the 
house  so  long  occupied  by  his  son,  Hon.  Eliphalet  Williams. 

Eev.  Samuel  P.  William.?,  mentioned  above,  was  a  de- 
scendant of  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon.  He  was 
born  in  1780  ;  preached  here  as  assistant  to  Mr.  Solomon 
Williams  from  1817  to  1820.  He  afterward  removed  to  New- 
buryport,  where  he  died  in  1826,  aged  forty-six.  Mr.  Wil- 
liams was  probably  hired  by  the  selectmen,  under  the  vote  of 
1816,  though  his  name  is  not  on  the  town  records  till  1819. 
He  is  spoken  of  as  an  eloquent  preacher. 

First  Five  Ministers. — The  church,  since  the  settlement  of 
the  town,  as  in  all  New  England  villages,  has  borne  a  prominent 
part  in  the  development.  The  pioneers  of  this  region,  allured 
by  the  fertile  meadows,  still  valued  above  all  tillable  lands,  in- 
tent "that  the  glory  of  God  might  be  furthered,"  fostered, 
protected,  cherished,  and  obeyed  those  divine  precepts  which 
formed  the  groundwork  of  their  faith  and  the  bulwark  of 
their  religion.  The  ministers  in  the  original  plantations  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  were  all  men  of  superior  education  and 
great  piety,  very  many  of  them  possessing  business  talents  of 
no  inferior  order.  They  were  not  only  the  spiritual,  but  often- 
times the  secular,  leaders  of  the  communities  in  which  they 
resided.  Then  ministers  were  settled  for  life.  The  pastoral 
relation  was  considered  too  sacred  to  be  readily  severed. 
When  the  pastor  became  old  and  infirm — unable  to  perform 
all  his  duties — a  colleague  was  provided.  The  lives  and 
labors  of  the  first  five  ministers  of  Northampton  are  so  in- 
terwoven with  the  history  of  the  church  and  the  town  that 
the  recital  of  the  one  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  other.  They 
led  the  people  through  the  early  struggles  of  the  plantation, 
assisted  its  growth  and  expansion  to  a  town,  suffered  with  them 
the  privations  of  frontier  life,  the  dangers  of  .savage  warfare, 
the  anxieties  and  perils  of  the  Revolution,  and  saw  the  new  re- 
public fairly  launched  on  its  career  of  success  and  prosperity. 

Mather,  the  pioneer,  laid  broad  and  deep  its  foundations  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness,  when  the  unbroken  forest  stretched 
eastward  to  Worcester,  northward  to  Canada,  and  westward 
to  the  Hudson.  We  can  imagine  with  what  fervid  eloquence 
he  spoke  to  the  meagre  congregation  gathered  in  the  rude  log 
meeting-house,  built  before  a  church  was  formed  or  even  a 
minister  provided.  The  purity  and  earnestness  of  his  daily 
life  supplemented,  illustrated,  and  enforced  the  religious  prin- 
ciples inculcated  from  the  pulpit.  He  it  was  that  comforted 
the  afflicted,  encouraged  the  faint-hearted,  and  uttered  words 
of  a.ssu7'ance  and  courage  when  the  savage  foe  hovered  about 
the  defenseless  settlement. 

Then  followed  Stoddard,  the  leader,  business-man  as  well  as 
preacher.  A  man  of  strong  convictions,  powerful  in  argu- 
ment, impatient  of  opposition,  and  stalwart  to  stand  up  for  the 
truth,  he  was  just  suited  to  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 
Imperious  as  a  thinker,  uncompromising  as  a  reasoner,  relent- 
less as  an  opponent,  he  won  an  influence  second  to  none  in  all 
this  region.  To  that  reverence  exacted  by  his  sacred  calling 
there  was  added  that  respect  commanded  by  business  talent, 
that  reliance  challenged  by  sound  judgment,  and  that  faith 
born  solely  of  high  endeavor.  During  the  devastations  and 
cruelties  of  King  Philip's  war  he  sustained  and  sympathized 
with  his  people,  and  never  hesitated  or  faltered  in  his  good 
work  though  an  Indian  musket  gleamed  in  ambush  from 
every  thicket.  The  influence  that  he  exerted  has  been  con- 
tinued through  a  long  line  of  descendants,  whose  names  are 
closely  interwoven  with  every  period  of  the  town's  history, 
even  to  the  present  generation. 


204 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Closely  connected  by  family  ties,  and  for  years  contempo- 
rary and  colleague  with  him,  was  Edwards,  theologian,  meta- 
physician, missionary,  president.  Greatest  of  all  and  still 
without  a  rival,  he  made  an  impression  for  good  upon  the 
community  that  will  never  be  eftaced.  The  humble  pastor  of 
a  village  church,  he  has  left  a  name  that  is  honored  and  revered 
wherever  the  Christian  religion  is  recognized.  Conferring  by 
his  talents  a  lasting  renown  upon  the  church  and  congregation 
that  drove  him  from  their  pulpit,  he  stands  foremost  among 
the  clergy  of  his  own  or  any  other  age.  The  inmiediate  re- 
sults of  his  labors  during  seventeen  years  of  his  pastorate  here 
have  seldom  if  ever  been  surpassed  by  any  clergyman  in  a 
similar  field.  Bitter  strife  and  dissension,  however,  soon  after 
severed  the  pastoral  relation, — the  first  that  had  been  dissolved 
in  this  community  except  by  death, — and  when  he  left  the  ele- 
ments of  discord  were  seething  and  boiling  in  unabated  fury. 

After  him  came  Hooker,  the  peacemaker.  By  suavity  of 
temper,  gentleness  of  demeanor,  and  ability  as  a  preacher,  he 
calmed  the  tempest  and  assuaged  the  troubled  waters  of  con- 
troversj'.  To  the  young  he  rendered  himself  peculiarly  attract- 
ive, and  soon  won  the  love  and  esteem  of  all  parties.  He 
labored  through  the  years  preceding  the  Revolution,  and 
helped  kindle  those  fires  of  patriotism  that  burst  into  flame  in 
1776.  He  lived  only  through  the  first  year  of  the  struggle, 
but  his  noble  words  and  bright  example  remained,  influencing 
his  people  through  all  those  years  of  strife. 

Williams,  fifth  in  order,  took  up  the  burden,  and  nobly  car- 
ried it  through  fifty-six  memorable  years.  His  fervor,  faith, 
and  piety  supported  the  drooping  sjiirits  of  his  townsmen 
through  the  long  struggle  with  Great  Britain.  During  the 
succeeding  years  of  destitution  and  poverty  he  bore  with  his 
people  without  complaint  all  the  hardships  of  the  time,  and 
rejoiced  with  them  in  the  return  of  prosperity.  To  education 
and  the  schools  he  gave  his  best  energies.  His  memory  is  still 
venerated  in  this  community,  and  the  outpourings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  vouchsafed  to  his  labors  are  still  remembered. 

It  is  seldom,  perhaps,  that  such  continued  family  ties  among 
its  pastors  have  prevailed  in  any  community  as  have  existed 
here.  The  first  three  ministers  were  all  connected  in  close  re- 
lationship. Mr.  Stoddard  married  the  widow  of  his  predeces- 
sor, and  the  father  of  Mr.  Edwards  was  son-in-law  to  Mr. 
Stoddard.  Mr.  Williams  married  the  daughter  of  his  prede- 
cessor, Mr.  Honker,  and  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  Mr.  Leavitt, 
is  grandson  to  Mr.  Williams. 

Fourth  Mccti/iff-Housc. — The  third  meeting-house,  after  an 
existence  of  nearly  seventy  years,  became  not  only  old  and  di- 
lapidated, but  ill  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  now  large  and 
prosperous  town.  The  question  of  building  a  new  one  was  in 
agitation  many  years.  There  was  a  large  minority  in  favor  of 
it,  and  the  subject  was  repeatedly  presented  in  town-meeting. 
Tlie  times,  however,  were  not  propitious  for  such  an  under- 
taking. Trade  was  depressed,  business  dull,  and  foreign  affairs 
complicated  and  tlireatening.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  a 
town  with  but  2031  inhabitants  should  long  hesitate  before 
committing  itself  to  an  expenditure  of  from  §15,000  to  5i2O,00O. 
In  180G  a  committee  reported  in  favor  of  a  new  meeting-house, 
but  the  town  refused  to  accept  the  report,  and  the  next  year 
voted  down  a  similar  proposition.  The  need  of  a  new  house 
became  so  imperative,  and  the  determination  to  procure  one 
so  fixed,  that  in  1800  tlic  town  was  requested  to  give  the 
old  house  to  any  individuals  who  would  engage  to  build  a  new 
one  and  convey  jiart  of  it  to  the  town.  After  long  and  ani- 
mated debate  on  this  proposition  it  was  decided  to  erect  a  new 
meeting-house,  and  pay  for  it  by  a  tax  upon  polls  and  estates. 
A  committee  of  fifteen  was  subsequently  appointed  to  devise 
suitable  measures  for  carrying  this  vote  into  eflfect.  This  com- 
mittee reported  at  a  meeting  held  Jan.  7,  1810,  and  its  recom- 
mendations werediscussed  paragraph  by  paragraph.  A  vote  was 
passed  first  to  reconsider  the  former  vote  assessing  the  cost  upon 
the  tax-payers,  and  then  to  build  after  a  plan  already  prepared 


by  Mr.  Asher  Benjamin,  provided  S16,000  worth  of  pews 
should  first  be  sold.  Labor  and  any  articles  useful  in  the  build- 
ing were  to  be  accepted  in  payment,  at  fair  cash  prices.  A  com- 
mittee of  three  persons  was  also  appointed  to  sell  the  pews,  who 
were  put  under  bonds  of  $20,000  for  the  faithful  performance 
of  their  duty.  This  committee  afterward  reported,  April  2, 
1810,  that  they  had  disposed  of  two-thirds  of  the  pews  for 
|il6,000  and  located  the  house  on  land  partly  owned  h_y  Dr. 
Hunt,  for  which  they  had  agreed  to  pay  $3000,  of  which  sum 
§1800  had  been  subscribed  by  citizens,  and  §1200  was  to  be 
paid  by  the  town.  They  had  also  contracted  for  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  foundation-stone,  and  asked  of  what  material  the 
house  was  to  be  constructed.  The  town  voted  to  appropriate 
and  assess  §1200  for  the  purchase  of  the  land,  and  gave  the  com- 
mittee full  power  as  to  material. 

This  purchase  from  Dr.  Hunt  embraced  all  the  land  from 
Main  Street  to  what  are  now  State  and  Park  Streets.  The 
upper  portion  of  this  lot,  extending  ninety  feet  bej'Ond  the 
rear  of  the  meeting-house  that  was  to  be  built,  was  deeded  to 
the  town  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  §1200.  The  resi- 
due of  the  land  was  conveyed  to  Judge  Joseph  Lyman,  and 
that  portion  of  it  on  which  the  town  school-house  stands  on 
Centre  Street  was  given  by  him  to  the  town  for  school  purposes 
in  1835. 

The  next  week,  April  9th,  at  a  meeting  called  expressly  for 
the  purpose,  and  after  a  lengthy  debate,  the  town  voted  to  re- 
consider and  annul  all  votes  heretofore  passed  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  building  a  new  meeting-house.  Such  a  vote,  after  the 
town  had  so  far  committed  itself,  was  no  doubt  quite  unex- 
pected, and  shows  that  there  was  yet  strong  opposition  to  the 
measure.  In  November  it  was  voted  not  to  choose  a  committee 
on  the  subject  of  a  new  meeeting-house,  and  the  town-clerk 
was  directed  to  deliver  up  the  bonds  of  the  former  committee 
and  return  the  notes  given  for  pews. 

In  December  the  subject  was  again  brought  up,  and  referred 
to  a  committee  of  eleven  persons.  This  committee  made  a 
report  agreeing  substantially  with  the  action  already  taken 
by  the  town,  and  annulled  with  reference  to  selling  pews, 
purchasing  land,  locating  the  building,  and  raising  such  sums 
as  should  he  needed  by  taxation.  The  report  was  accepted  bj' 
a  vote  of  110  to  .50.  On  the  7th  of  January,  1811,  the  town 
treasurer  was  authorized  to  pay  §2-15  toward  the  purchase  of 
the  Hunt  lot,  receive  a  deed  for  the  same,  and  give  a  note 
of  §1200  in  payment  therefor.  The  committee  to  sell  pews 
were  instructed  to  appraise  them  at  a  rate  not  less  than  ten 
per  cent,  below  the  appraisal  of  the  previous  year.  This 
committee  reported  in  1812  that  they  had  sold  pews  to  the 
amount  of  §13,008,  and  that  there  remained  unsold  pews  to 
the  value  of  §576.  A  building  committee,  consisting  of 
Joseph  Cook,  Abner  Hunt,  and  Oliver  Pomeroy,  was  chosen 
by  ballot,  and  instructed  to  give  bonds  in  the  sum  of  §20,000. 

The  fourth  meeting-house  was  located  partly  on  what  was 
then  a  highway,  and  partly  on  land  purchased  of  Dr.  Hunt. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  houses  from  Pomeroy's  tavern 
(Warner  House)  to  the  Whitney  building  (Northampton  In- 
stitution for  Savings).  The  house  of  Samuel  and  Eli  King 
was  near  the  intersection  of  Court  and  Gothic  Streets,  but 
farther  down  the  hill.  A  barn  of  Mr.  Hunt  stood  near  the 
highway,  in  the  rear  of  the  old  meeting-house,  and  another, 
belonging  to  Asahel  Pomeroy,  quite  near  it,  so  that  it  became 
necessary  to  remove  both  before  locating  the  new  house.  The 
building  stood  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  stone  meeting- 
house erected  in  1877. 

A  contract  was  made  with  Mr.  Peleg  Kingsley,  of  Brattle- 
boro',  to  build  the  house  above  the  foundations  for  §16,000, 
according  to  the  plans  of  Mr.  Benjamin,  and  he  was  put  under 
§30,000  bonds  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  work.  The 
foundation-stones  were  furnislied  by  citizens  of  the  town  at  a 
specified  price.  The  dressed  stone  for  the  underpinning  was 
supplied  by  Moses  Burt  and  Pynchon  Bliss,  of  Wilbraham. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


205 


The  timber  and  hiinber  were  obtained  in  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire,  and  floated  in  rafts  down  the  Connecticut  River  to 
tlie  Hadley  bridge,  thence  transported  to  the  common  near  the 
cemeter}'  on  Bridge  Street,  where  the  framing  was  done.  The 
foundation  and  stone-work  were  laid  during  the  summer,  and 
on  the  24th  of  September,  1811,  the  work  of  raising  the  frame 
was  commenced.  Raising  a  building  in  those  days  was  an  im- 
portant occasion,  and,  of  course,  in  raising  the  meeting-house 
the  whole  town  would  be  interested.  The  business  centre  of 
the  village  presented  a  holiday  appearance.  Flip,  the  popular 
beverage  on  such  occasions,  circulated  freely.  Mr.  Asahel 
Pomeroy,  who  kept  the  tavern  afterward  known  as  the  War- 
ner House,  spread  a  table  free  to  all.  A  little  more  than  a 
week  was  occupied  in  raising  the  body  of  the  house.  In  No- 
vember, when  the  building  was  well  under  way,  another  con- 
tract was  made  with  Mr.  Isaac  Damon,  which  superseded  that 
previously  made  with  Mr.  King.sley,  and  Mr.  Damon  com- 
pleted the  building.  A  few  changes  were  made  relative  to 
finishing  the  interior,  and  the  sum  agreed  upon  with  him  was 
§12,000.  The  cost  of  this  meeting-house  was  much  greater 
than  had  been  anticipated,  considerably  exceeding  the  archi- 
tect's estimate.  In  1813  a  committee  were  appointed  to  ex- 
amine the  accounts  and  report  the  expense  of  the  new  meeting- 
house. This  report  contains  a  complete  list  of  all  payments, 
shows  who  were  employed,  who  furnished  lumber  and  other 
material,  and  the  prices  paid  for  evervthing.  In  summing  up 
they  reported  iJlSO.j.S  as  expended  under  direction  of  the  build- 
ing committee  ;  $16,000  paid  Kingsley  and  Damon  ;  $1169.84 
extras  paid  Damon,  making  the  "  whole  cost  of  the  new 
meeting-house  itself,  without  the  land  on  which  the  same  is 
erected,  or  charges  of  the  building  committee  for  their  services, 
$20,223.43."  Of  this  sum  the  purchasers  of  pews  paid  .$13,115  ; 
the  remainder — $7108.43 — was  raised  by  taxation.  To  the 
above  amount  there  is  to  be  added  the  sum  of  $1200  paid  by 
the  town  for  the  land,  and  $740.50  paid  to  the  building  com- 
mittee for  their  services,  making  the  entire  cost  of  the  new 
structure  $22,173.93. 

The  house  was  completed  within  the  time  stipulated  in  the 
contiact,  and  dedicated  Oct.  28,  1812.  The  dedication  sermon 
was  preached  by  Rev.  Mr.  Williams,  from  the  text  Genesis 
xxviii.  17:  "  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said,  How  dreadful  is  this 
place  !  It  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of 
heaven."  The  first  prayer  was  made  by  Rev.  Jos.  Lyman, 
of  Hatfield,  and  the  last  prayer  by  Rev.  David  Parsons,  of 
Amherst.  Although  the  day  was  stormy,  1400  persons  were 
present. 

The  old  and  new  meeting-houses  stood  so  near  each  other 
that  the  bell  was  moved  from  the  old  to  the  new  steeple  by 
means  of  a  scaifold  erected  between  them.  This  was  the  bell 
purchased  in  1760.  It  was  used  till  1824,  w-hen  it  was  acci- 
dentally fractured.  A  new  bell  was  purchased  in  that  year. 
It  weighed  1500  pounds,  and  was  first  used  Aug.  1,  1824.  The 
old  bell  had  been  in  use  sixty-four  years.  It  had  summoned 
people  to  the  house  of  God  more  than  three  thousand  Sabbaths, 
and  its  solemn  notes  had  been  heard  at  the  burial  of  sixteen 
hundred  persons.  The  selectmen  obtained  the  bell  of  Mr.  Re- 
vere, of  Boston,  on  trial,  and  the  town  voted  not  to  accept  it, 
but  ordered  another  "of  a  time  resembling  the  old  one  as  near 
as  possible."  In  November  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to 
return  the  new  bell  (now  broken)  to  Mr.  Revere  and  procure 
another.  There  is  no  record  of  the  cost  of  this  bell,  except  that 
in  the  estimate  of  expenses  for  1825  appears  an  item  of  $200 
for  transportation  and  hanging  the  new  bell.  The  parish,  in 
1826,  at  its  first  meeting  after  organization,  to  complete  the 
payments  for  it,  voted  to  raise  $200. 

In  1812  a  new  clock  was  purchased,  the  expense  to  be  de- 
frayed by  the  sale  of  the  old  meeting-house,  or  of  the  five  un- 
sold pews  in  the  new  one.  For  sixty  years  this  clock  did  ex- 
cellent service.  In  1872  a  new  one  was  purchased  by  the 
town  and  placed  higher  in  the  steeple,  in  order  to  show  four 


instead  of  three  faces.  To  accomplish  this  the  bell  was  carried 
higher  up  and  the  steeple  strengthened.  The  cost  of  the  new 
clock,  including  the  expense  of  changes  in  the  steeple,  was 
$1200. 

Our  fathers  were  compelled  to  listen  to  their  Sunday  sermons 
in  the  cold.  No  heat  was  to  be  had  in  the  meeting-house  ex- 
cept what  was  alforded  l.iy  small  stoves,  containing  a  handful  of 
glowing  coals,  used  by  the  women  for  warming  their  feet.  In 
1820,  John  Tappan,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  presented  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  with  "two  large  and  valuable  church  stoves." 

Church  music  in  early  times  was  congregational.  The 
singers  were  scattered  throughout  the  congregation,  the  pitch 
was  given  by  a  chosen  leader,  and  all  joined  in  the  singing. 
Choirs  were  afterward  formed,  the  young  of  both  sexes  con- 
sidering it  quite  an  honor  to  become  members.  In  1816  the 
selectmen  recommended  the  formation  of  a  musical  society  of 
not  less  than  thirty  singers  of  both  sexes,  to  occupy  the  front 
seats  in  the  meeting-house.  Instrumental  music  followed  the 
formation  of  choirs,  the  flute  being  the  first  instrument  used. 
The  first  record  of  town  action  concerning  a  musical  instru- 
ment was  in  1810,  when  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to 
"purchase  the  Bass  Viol  now  in  use  in  public  worship,  pro- 
vided the  expense  do  not  exceed  $15."  In  1823  a  committee 
were  appointed  to  hire  a  bass  viol.  They  reported  that  they 
could  not  hire  the  bass  viol  then  in  use,  but  that  Mr.  White 
would  sell  it  to  the  town  for  $50,  and  the  town  voted  to  pur- 
chase it. 

In  1825  a  tax  of  $1500  was  voted  in  town-meeting  for  the 
support  of  religious  worship.  This  was  the  last  tax  laid  by 
the  town  for  that  purpose.  The  next  year  the  Unitarian  so- 
ciety was  formed,  and  the  first  parish  established.  The  town 
of  Northampton,  from  its  first  vote  to  raise  money,  or  its 
equivalent,  to  pay  Mr.  Mather,  to  its  last  vote  on  that  subject 
in  1825, — a  period  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  years,  with 
exception  of  about  twelve  years,  when  two  precincts  existed, 
— raised  yearly  by  taxation  a  sum  sufficient  to  generously  sus- 
tain the  gospel  ministry.  During  that  time  it  built  as  a  town 
four  meeting-houses,  the  fourth,  when  erected,  being  the 
largest  in  this  section  of  the  State.  At  this  time  there  was 
not  in  New  England  another  congregation  so  numerous  as 
that  which  usually  assembled  for  public  worship  at  the  meet- 
ing-house in  this  town.  The  number  frequently  exceeded 
1500,  and  seldom  fell  below  1200. 

Fi)-st  Parish. — From  1753,  when  Southampton  was  incor- 
porated, the  town  and  parish  were  identical.  It  became 
necessary,  however,  in  1826,  soon  after  the  formation  of  the 
Second  Congregational  Society,  to  organize  a  parish.  The 
meeting  for  that  purpose  was  called  under  the  statute  law  of 
the  State,  and  held  at  the  town-hall,  April  3,  1826.  Twelve 
names  were  appended  to  the  application  to  Levi  Lyman,  Esq., 
justice  of  the  peace,  to  issue  a  warrant  for  the  meeting. 
These  signers  were  Benj.  Tappan,  Chas.  Starkweather,  Asahel 
Pomeroy,  Timothy  Jewett,  Cecil  Dwight,  Nathan  Storrs,  S. 
Stoddard,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Strong,  William  Clark,  Asahel  Ly- 
man, Oliver  Warner,  and  David  Strong.  The  first  warrant 
was  issued  to  Cecil  Dwight.  Lewis  Strong  was  chosen  Mod- 
erator, D.  S.  Whitney,  Clerk;  and  from  that  time  the  First 
Parish  of  Northampton  had  a  legal  existence,  and,  of  course, 
became  owner  of  all  the  parochial  and  church  property.  At 
this  first  meeting  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to  Mr.  John 
Tappan,  of  Boston,  for  a  present  of  "  18  handsome  lamps,  to 
be  placed  and  used  in  the  meeting-house."  These  lamps  were 
in  use  till  gas  was  introduced,  in  1857. 

The  subject  of  procuring  a  parsonage  came  up  in  1829,  but 
no  action  was  taken  till  1836,  when  the  homestead  on  Bridge 
Street,  since  used  for  that  purpose,  was  purchased  for  $2500. 
A  new  parsonage  was  erected  in  1867.  The  old  house  was 
sold  and  removed  to  the  corner  of  Bridge  Street  and  Lincoln 
Avenue,  and  the  new  one  built  upon  its  site.  The  cost  of  the 
new  building  was  $8300. 


206 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Parish-meetings  were  held  in  the  town-hall  and  religious 
meetings  in  the  ehurcli  previous  to  1842.  In  1840  the  parish 
voted  to  unite  with  tlie  Centre  ydiool  Distriet  in  the  erection 
of  a  building  to  be  used  jointly  for  schools  and  for  parish  pur- 
poses. The  vestry  was  built  in  1841,  and  first  occupied  for  the 
annual  meeting  in  1842.  The  parish  paid  its  proportion  of 
the  cost  by  the  sale  of  pews  in  the  church,  the  amount  of  such 
sales,  in  1841,  reaching  $1450.  This  building  is  now  occupied 
by  the  Gazette  and  Courier  newspaper  as  a  printing-office. 
During  its  joint  ownership  the  parish  occupied  the  basement 
and  tlie  schools  were  in  the  upper  rooms.  The  arrangement 
was  satisfactory  to  all  parties  till  1856,  when  the  decision  was 
reached  to  build  a  chapel.  Eflorts  had  been  previously  made  by 
both  owners  to  buy  or  sell,  but  without  success.  The  parish  sold 
its  right  in  the  building  to  Mr.  J.  P.  Williston  for  §800,  raised 
11600  by  taxation,  and  Mr.  Williston  contributed  122-50  more, 
making  the  entire  cost  of  the  new  chapel  S!4G50.  It  was  located 
in  the  rear  of  the  meeting-house,  with  entrance  tower  at  its 
east  end.  A  narrow  road,  a  continuation  of  Court  Street,  sep- 
arated it  from  the  meeting-house.  Mr.  Williston  subsequently 
purchased  of  the  school  district  its  part  of  the  old  building  and 
sold  it  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Gazette  and  Courier.  After 
the  destruction  of  the  meeting-house  it  was  found  necessary 
to  remove  the  chapel,  and  it  was  sold  to  Mr.  Porter  Under- 
wood, of  Holyoke,  for  .5405.  He  moved  it  to  his  lot  adjoining 
the  parish  lands,  encased  it  with  brick,  and  converted  it  into 
a  public  hall. 

The  subject  of  purchasing  a  church  organ  was  first  agita'.cd 
in  1832.  For  fourteen  years  the  matter  was  frequently  bel'ure 
the  parLsli,  and  various  votes  are  on  record  concerning  it.  The 
linal  decision  to  purchase  was  not  reached  till  18-56,  when  the 
sum  of  $3100  was  appropriated  for  that  object.  A  contract 
was  made  with  Mr.  John.son,  of  Westfield,  and  a  very  fine  in- 
strument— at  that  time  one  of  the  very  best  in  this  part  of  the 
State — was  put  into  the  meeting-house. 

The  meeting-house  remained  without  much  alteration  for 
thirty-six  years.  At  a  meeting  held  June  27,  1848,  the  parish 
voted  to  alter  the  pews  and  repaint  the  interior  of  the  edifice. 
This  house  differed  from  its  predecessors  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  pews.  The  old  square  pew  was  discarded  and  the  long 
and  narrow  slip  substituted;  but  the  old-fashioned,  upright 
back  was  retained.  In  carrying  out  this  vote,  the  entire  in- 
terior of  the  house  was  remodeled  and  the  pews  modernized. 
The  expense  of  changing  the  pews  was  contributed  by  Mr. 
John  Tappan,  of  Boston.  In  1850,  Mr.  Eliphalct  Williams 
presented  to  the  parish  an  elegant  chandelier.  Seven  years 
afterward  gas  was  put  into  the  meeting-house  and  the  chan- 
delier refitted  for  its  use.  Stoves  were  used  for  heating  the 
house  till  1852,  when  two  furnaces  were  purchased,  Mr. 
Eliphalet  Williams  contributing  $200  toward  the  expense. 
In  1800  extensive  repairs  were  made.  Slates  were  substituted 
for  shingles  upon  the  roof,  the  walls  were  frescoed,  the  interior 
repainted,  and  the  pulpit  lowered  three  feet.  Originally  the 
pulpit  was  quite  high,  approached  by  narrow,  circular  stairs 
from  each  side.  The  cost  of  these  improvements  was  $2000. 
No  change  of  importance  was  afterward  made  in  the  building. 
Hon.  Eliphalet  Williams,  son  of  Kev.  Solomon  Williams,  who 
died  in  1874,  bequeathed  the  sum  of  $5000  to  the  parish  for 
the  purpose  of  paying  its  debt.  This  debt  had  been  incurred 
mainly  for  building  the  new  parsonage. 

The  parish  for  many  years  followed  in  the  accustomed  way 
of  taxing  the  members  for  its  expenses.  New  societies  were 
formed  and  its  numbers  reduced.  At  last  this  method  of  tax- 
atiou  became  burdensome,  and,  as  in  all  religious  societies, 
the  question  of  ways  and  means  became  more  and  more  per- 
plexing. The  pews  in  the  meeting-house  were  mostly  owned 
by  individuals,  some  of  them  not  members  of  the  parish. 
From  taxation  of  property  to  taxation  of  pews  was  but  a  step. 
Both  were  tried,  and  neither  proved  satisfactory.  Then  a.sj's- 
tem  of  voluntary  assessments  was  adopted,  in  which  each  mem- 


ber named  the  sum  upon  which  he  was  willing  to  be  taxed, 
based  upon  the  pledge  of  a  certain  amount  in  the  aggregate. 
This  system  worked  well  for  a  few  years,  but  finally  it  was 
found  difficult  to  obtain  the  requisite  aggregate,  and  the  taxa- 
tion of  pews  was  again  resorted  to.  Measures  were  in  progress 
for  the  purchase  of  the  pews  by  the  parish  for  purposes  of 
rental,  when  the  fire  occurred. 

Destruction  of  the  Fourth  Meeting-House. — This  meeting- 
house,— known  as  the  "  Old  Church"  far  and  near, — celebrated 
in  all  this  region  for  its  bold  front  and  fine  proportions,  was 
100  by  76  feet  in  dimensions.  The  steeple  in  the  centre  of  the 
front  was  about  140  feet  in  height.  After  the  repairs  in 
1848  it  contained  147  pews  on  the  lower  floor  capable  of 
seating  six  persons  each,  and  38  in  the  gallery,  giving  it  a 
seating  capacity  of  about  1000.  Ten  pews  were  at  different 
times  removed  to  make  room  for  stoves,  furnaces,  and  the 
organ. 

This  building,  after  serving  town  and  parish  as  a  place  of 
worship  sixty-four  years,  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire  on  the 
afternoon  of  Tuesday,  June  27,  1876.  The  fire  originated  near 
the  gas-meter,  and  is  attributed  to  the  carelessness  of  work- 
men who  had  been  making  repairs  upon  it  during  the  day. 
The  flames  spread  with  wonderful  rapidity,  soon  enveloping 
the  steeple.  Many  eyes  watched  their  progress  with  painful 
interest.  It  was  feared  that  the  steeple  would  fall  outward, 
in  which  event  damage  to  some  other  building  was  sure  to 
follow.  Fortunately,  however,  the  fire  burned  out  the  sup- 
ports, and  the  spire  fell  back  upon  the  burning  mass.  The 
fire  caught  at  half-past  five,  and  the  steeple  fell  at  fifteen  min- 
utes past  six  o'clock.  The  house  was  partially  cleared  of  its 
movable  contents.  The  pulpit  furniture,  nearly  all  the  car- 
pets in  the  aisles,  the  Sunday-school  library,  the  cabinet-organ, 
and  about  half  the  cu.shions  were  saved.  During  the  confla- 
gration the  wind  suddenly  changed,  and  to  this  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance may  be  attributed  the  safety  of  the  chapel  and  ad- 
joining property.  The  meeting-house  and  contents  were 
insured  for  $27,-500.  The  clock,  owned  by  the  town,  was 
insured  for  $1000. 

The  Ministers. — Nine  of  the  thirteen  {lastors  who  have  been 
settled  since  the  church  was  established  preached  in  this  meet- 
ing-house,— Solomon  Williams,  who  was  the  pastor  when  it 
was  built ;  Mark  Tucker,  from  1824  to  1827 ;  I.  S.  Spencer, 
from  1828  to  1832 ;  Joseph  Penny,  from  1833  to  1835 ;  Chas. 
Wiley,  from  1837  to  1845;  E.  G.  Swift,  from  1845  to  1851; 
J.  P.' Cleaveland,  from  18.53  to  1855;  Zachary  Eddy,  from 
18-58  to  1867;  William  S.  Leavitt,  from  1867  to  the  present 
time. 

In  1828,  when  Mr.  Tucker  was  dismissed,  the  parish  ex- 
tended a  call  to  Rev.  John  Wheeler,  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  to 
become  colleague  with  Mr.  Williams.  Mr.  Wheeler  declined, 
and  Rev.  I.  S.  Spencer  was  installed.  After  the  retirement 
of  Dr.  Penny,  in  1830,  Rev.  Mr.  Condit  and  Rev.  Mr.  Childs, 
of  Pittsford,  Vt.,  were  invited,  but  declined,  and  Rev.  Chas. 
Wiley  was  settled.  In  1845,  after  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Wiley, 
the  pari.sh  voted  to  invite  Rev.  Walter  Clark,  of  Canterbury, 
Conn.,  to  become  its  pastor.  He  declined,  and  Rev.  E.  (r. 
Swift,  of  Chillicothe,  O.,  was  called.  In  18-52,  after  the  re- 
moval of  Mr.  Swift,  Kev.  Dr.  K.  Cady,  of  Westborough,  was 
invited  to  a  settlement.  He  did  not  accept,  and  in  1853  Rev. 
Dr.  Cleaveland,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  installed.  Since 
1845  the  salary  had  been  $1000  ;  in  1853  it  was  raised  to  $1350. 
Dr.  Cleaveland  was  dismissed  in  18-55,  and  in  1856  Rev.  Oliver 
E.  Daggett,  of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.,  was  invited  to  become 
the  pastor,  at  a  salary  of  $1-500.  Dr.  Daggett  declined,  and 
an  invitation  was  extended  to  Rev.  E.  B.  Foster,  of  Lowell, 
and  in  1857  to  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Karr,  of  Brooklyn.  Both  de- 
clined, and  in  1858  Rev.  Zachary  Eddy,  of  Birmingham, 
Conn.,  was  installed.  In  1860,  $500  were  added  to  the  salary 
of  the  pastor,  making  it  $2000.  In  1807,  Rev.  William  S. 
Leavitt,  of  Hudson,  N-  Y.,  was  installed,  and  in  1868  the 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


207 


salary  was  increased  to  §2500.  In  1870,  Mr.  Leavitt  volun- 
tarily relinciuished  JiaOO  of  his  salary,  and  it  has  remained  at 
$2000  to  the  present  time.  Annexed  arc  sketches  of  the  sev- 
eral pastors  who  have  officiated  since  the  ministry  of  Mr. 
Williams. 

Rkv.  Mark  Tucker,  D.D.,  was  born  at  Whitestown, 
N.  Y.,  June  7,  1795.  He  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1814, 
studied  theology  under  President  Nott,  and  was  ordained  at 
Stillwater,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  8,  1817.  As  has  already  been  narrated, 
Mr.  Tucker  was  invited  to  become  colleague  pastor  with  Mr. 
"Williams  in  1824,  and  installed  March  10th  of  that  year.  At 
the  installation  services  Rev.  Mr.  Hale,  of  Westhampton, 
made  the  introductory  prayer ;  Eev.  Dr.  Nott,  president  of 
Union  College,  preached  the  sermon  from  2  Cor.  v.  20 ;  Kev. 
Dr.  Lyman,  of  Hatfield,  made  the  installing  prayer;  Eev. 
Mr.  Williams,  senior  pastor,  gave  the  charge  ;  Kev.  Mr.  Wis- 
ner,  of  Boston,  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  ;  and  Kev. 
M.  Williston,  of  Easthampton,  made  the  concluding  prayer. 
The  town  voted  !j500  toward  removing  his  family,  and  gave 
him  a  salary  of  §1000.  The  controversy  which  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Unitarian  Society  commenced  when 
Mr.  Tucker  was  settled,  and  culminated  soon  after  in  the 
establishment  of  the  new  society.  Mr.  Tucker,  it  seems,  gave 
offense  in  not  inviting  Rev.  Mr.  Peabody,  of  Springfield,  to 
ofSciate  after  the  latter  had  made  proposals  to  him.  Dr. 
Tucker  was  dismissed  Aug.  16,  1827,  after  a  ministry  of  three 
years.  Oct.  31,  1827,  he  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  Second 
Congregational  Church  in  Troj-,  N.  Y.  His  labors  there 
were  blessed  by  the  conversion  of  hundreds.  He  remained  at 
Troy  till  1837,  when,  declining  a  call  to  the  Park  Street 
Church  in  Boston,  he  became  colleague  pastor  with  Rev. 
James  Wilson  over  the  Beneficent  Church,  Providence,  R.  I., 
and  was  installed  June  30th  of  that  year.  He  was  dismissed 
Sept.  24,  1845.  During  this  time  237  were  added  to  the 
church.  He  was  installed  at  AVeathersficld,  Conn.,  Oct.  15, 
1845 ;  dismissed  March  24,  1856.  April  15,  1857,  he  was  in- 
stalled over  a  church  in  Vernon,  Conn.,  where  he  remained 
five  years,  being  dismissed  April  1,  1803.  He  lived  at  Elling- 
ton and  Old  Saybrook,  Conn.,  without  charge  until  1865, 
when  he  returned  to  Weathersfleld,  where  he  resided  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  March  19,  1875,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  The  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Wil- 
liams College  in  1831. 

Rev.  Ichabod  S.  Spencer,  D.D.,  was  born  at  Rupert,  Vt., 
July  23,  1798,  studied  at  Salem  Academy,  and  graduated  at 
Union  College  in  1822.  While  teaching  school  at  Schenectady 
and  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.,  he  studied  theology  under  the  di- 
rection of  Dr.  Andrew  Yates,  of  Union  College.  He  was 
first  settled  in  the  ministry  in  this  town  as  colleague  with  Mr. 
Williams,  Sept.  11,  1828.  Here  he  remained  hut  three  and 
one-half  years,  but  his  labors  were  abundantly  rewarded,  200 
persons  having  been  added  to  the  church  during  that  time. 
In  Pebruary,  1832,  he  asked  a  dismission,  which  was  granted 
with  reluctance  by  the  church  and  society,  and  his  connection 
with  it  was  dissolved  March  12,  1832.  Ho  accepted  a  call  to 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  during 
the  same  year,  where  he  remained  till  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred Nov.  23,  1854,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  He  published 
two  volumes  of  pastoral  sketches,  which  were  quite  popular. 
In  1855  appeared  two  volumes  of  his  sermons,  with  portrait 
and  sketch  of  his  life,  by  Kev.  J.  M.  Sherwood. 

Eev.  Joseph  Penny,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1790, 
educated  in  Dublin  and  Glasgow,  and  came  to  this  country  in 
1819.  He  resided  a  brief  time  at  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  and  was 
installed  over  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  April  3,  1822.  After  a  pastorate  of  eleven  years,  he 
was  dismissed  April  16,  1833.  He  was  installed  here  June  5, 
1833,  and  dismissed  Nov.  23,  1835.  After  leaving  this  town 
he  became  president  of  Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  N.  Y., 
where  he  remained  four  years.     Afterward,  after  temporarily 


residing  at  Nyack,  N.  Y.,  and  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  he 
returned  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  March  22,  1860, 
aged  seventy.  He  received  the  title  of  D.D.  from  Union 
College  in  1831. 

Ret.  Chas.  Wiley,  D.D.,  was  horn  in  New  York.  He 
studied  at  Nassau  Hall,  from  which  institution  he  received 
his  degree  of  D.D.  in  1846;  was  settled  in  Northampton  in 
1837,  where  he  remained  till  1845.  He  was  in  charge  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  from  1846  to  1850. 
Afterward  he  was  employed  as  teacher  in  Milwaukee,  in  1857; 
was  at  Birmingham,  Conn.,  from  1858  to  1859  ;  as  stated  sup- 
ply at  Lafayette,  Ind.,  in  1859;  was  installed  pastor  over  the 
Reformed  Church  in  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  in  1860,  and  remained 
there  till  1865,  since  which  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  teach- 
ing, mainly  at  Orange,  N.  Y.,  at  which  place  he  died  in  1877. 

Ret.  E.  Y.  Swift  was  born  at  Fairfax,  Vt,  Jan.  16,  1815, 
graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  in  1839,  and  at  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary  in  1842.  He  was  in  the  service 
of  the  American  Tract  Society  about  a  year  and  a  half,  and 
preached  for  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Chillicothe, 
Ohio,  for  about  eighteen  months.  He  was  installed  pastor  over 
the  Fii'st  Church  in  this  town  Nov.  19,  1845,  and  dismissed 
Sept.  22,  1851.  At  the  close  of  a  pastorate  of  about  six  years 
he  removed  in  the  fall  of  1851  to  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  where 
he  officiated  as  pastor  for  a  little  more  than  six  years.  Thence 
he  removed  to  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  where  he  preached  about  four 
and  a  half  years,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Congregational 
Church  in  AVilliamsburg,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  about  six 
years.  He  was  afterward  settled  at  Denmark,  Iowa,  where  he 
still  resides,  having  entered  upon  the  tenth  year  of  his  ministry 
there. 

Ret.  John  P.  Cleaveland,  D.D.,  was  born  at  Byefield, 
Mass.,  July  19,  1799,  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College  in  1821, 
and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  1824.  He  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  Tabernacle  Church,  Salem,  Mass.,  Feb.  14,  1827, 
and  dismissed  April  1,  1834.  He  was  pastor  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Detroit,  Mich.,  from  June  15,  1835,  to  Nov. 
1,  1838;  president  elect  of  Marshall  College,  Michigan,  and 
partially  acting  pastor  there,  from  Nov.  1,  1838,  to  Nov.  1, 
1843.  Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  from  Jan.  10,  1844,  to  Jan.  20,  1840,  and  pastor  of  the 
Beneficent  Church,  Providence,  R.  I.,  from  April  22,  1846,  to 
March  30,  1853.  He  was  installed  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
in  this  town  April  20,  1853,  and  dismissed  July  11,  1855;  pas- 
tor of  Appleton  Street  Church,  Lowell,  Mass.,  from  Oct.  2, 
1855,  to  Jan.  15,  1862,  and  chaplain  of  the  30th  Regiment 
Massachusetts  Volunteers  from  January  to  August,  in  1862. 
He  acted  as  stated  supply  at  Park  Street  and  Salem  Street 
Churches,  Boston,  from  Aug.  1,  1863,  to  July  1,  1864.  After 
that  he  was  at  Mattapoisett,  Mass.,  from  Jan.  1,  1865,  to  June 
7,  1867,  and  at  Bellerica,  Mass.,  from  1867  to  1869.  He  re- 
sided, without  charge,  first  at  Ipswich,  and  afterward  at  New- 
buryport,  till  his  death  at  the  latter  place,  March  7, 1873,  aged 
seventv-three.  He  was  a  man  of  marked  character  and  a 
strong  advocate  of  temperance  and  anti-slavery.  He  gained 
many  warm  friends  while  a  resident  of  this  town. 

Ret.  Zachary  Eddy,  D.D. —Dr.  Eddy  was  born  in  Stock- 
bridge,  Vt.,  Dec.  19,  1815.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Isaac 
Eddy,  and  the  seventh  in  descent  from  Rev.  William  Eddy, 
vicar  of  Craubrook,  Kent,  England,  1589-1610.  From  the 
ago  of  two  years  he  resided  in  Western  New  York.  His 
education  was  private,  irregular,  defective.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  (Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian) Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania,  and  ordained  by  that 
body  in  1835.  For  several  years  he  acted  as  home  missionary 
in  Western  New  York  and  Wisconsin.  He  was  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  at  Warsaw,  N.  Y.,  from  1850  to 
1855;  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Birmingham  from 
1855  to  1857  ;  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Northamp- 
ton, from  1857  to  1867;   of  the  Reformed  "Church  on  the 


208 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Heights,"  Brooklyn,  from  1867  to  1871;  of  the  Central 
Church  in  Chelsea  from  1871  to  1873 ;  has  been  pastor  since 
1873  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 
The  honorary  degree  of  A.M.  was  conferred  upon  him  by 
Brown  University,  and  that  of  B.D.  by  AVilliaras  College. 
Besides  many  occasional  sermons  and  pamphlets,  he  pub- 
lished, in  1868,  "  Immanuel,  or  the  Life  of  Jesus  Christ." 
He  was  the  principal  compiler  and  editor  of  "  Hymns  of  the 
Church"  (Reformed),  1869,  and  was  associated  with  Drs. 
Hitchcock  and  Schaff  in  preparing  "Hymns  and  Songs  of 
Praise,"  1873.  In  1877  he  was  selected  to  preach  the  annual 
sermon  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society.  The  dis- 
course, "The  Evangelization  of  our  Country,"  was  preached 
in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  May  (ith,  was  afterward  printed, 
and  has  had  a  very  large  circulation.  The  same  year  he 
preached  the  opening  sermon  of  the  National  Triennial  Coun- 
cil, which  was  ordered  printed. 

Rev.  William  S.  Leavitt. — Mr.  Leavitt  was  born  at 
Putney,  Yt.,  in  1822.  Graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1840. 
Studied  law  in  New  York  one  year.  Afterward  studied 
theology  four  years,  mainly  in  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York  City.  Ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Eliot 
Church,  Newton,  Mass.,  Dec.  2,  184-5.  In  November,  1853, 
he  was  dismissed  to  accept  a  call  from  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  installed  there  the  same 
month.  He  was  dismissed  in  April,  1867,  to  accept  the  call  of 
the  First  Parish  and  Church  in  Northampton,  and  was  in- 
stalled here  April  30th  of  that  year.  Mr.  Leavitt  is  son  of 
the  late  Dr.  Joshua  Leavitt,  of  New  York,  and  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon. 

Fifth  Meethiff-House. — In  July,  1876,  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable after  the  destruction  of  its  meeting-house,  the  parish 
was  called  together,  and  voted  unanimously  to  rebuild  upon 
the  old  site,  either  of  stone  or  brick,  and  at  a  cost  not  exceeding 
$50,000.  A  committee  of  iifteen  was  appointed  to  procure 
plans.  Proposals  were  invited  from  architects,  and  on  the 
10th  of  August  twenty-seven  plans  were  presented.  Four  of 
these  were  recommended  to  the  parish,  but  it  was  found  that 
none  of  them  could  be  built  for  the  sum  named,  and  a  build- 
ing committee  of  five  persons  was  chosen,  with  full  power  to 
act  in  the  matter,  being  restricted  only  as  to  cost.  A  com- 
mittee to  solicit  subscriptions  as  well  as  a  finance  committee 
were  appointed,  and  it  was  voted  not  to  include  bell,  organ, 
furniture,  heating  apparatus,  and  architect's  commission  in 
the  estimated  cost  of  the  building, — §-50,000.  In  accordance 
with  a  petition  authorized  by  the  parish,  the  county  commis- 
sioners discontinued  the  road  between  the  old  meeting-house 
and  chapel.  The  latter  was  sold  and  moved  away,  as  previ- 
ously stated.  The  building  committee  consisted  of  J.  S. 
Lathrop,  H.  K.  W.  Dickinson,  Webster  Herrick,  Rev.  L.  C. 
Seelye,  and  H.  R.  Hinckley. 

This  committee  engaged  Messrs.  Peabody  &  Stearns,  of 
Boston,  to  make  the  plans  and  supervise  the  erection  of  the 
building.  The  committee  intimated  to  them  what  was  wanted, 
and  the  architects  elaborated  the  design  and  perfected  the 
building  that  to-day  adorns  the  village  with  its  graceful  pro- 
portions and  elegant  interior.  In  general  style  it  is  Gothic, 
the  break  in  the  roof  and  the  dormer  windows  giving  all  the 
efl"ect  of  the  clerestory,  and  at  a  much  less  cost.  The  exterior 
of  the  building  is  constructed  entirely  of  stone,  with  slate  roof. 
The  foundations  are  of  granite,  and  above  the  water-table  the 
walls  are  of  Longmeadow  brown  stone,  ashler  work  on  hori- 
zontal beds.  The  tower  and  spire  are  built  from  foundation 
to  apex  entirely  of  stone.  The  walls  are  backed  by  eighteen 
inches  of  brick  throughout,  and  the  tower,  in  its  lower  story, 
has  a  backing  of  three  feet  of  brick.  The  contract  was 
awarded  to  Mr.  P.  B.  Johnson,  of  Springfield,  who  com- 
menced work  on  the  1st  of  May,  1877,  and  completed  the 
house  April  20,  1878.  The  building  was  located  on  the  site 
of  its  predecessor,  but  ten  feet  farther  back  from  the  street. 


The  corner-stone  was  laid  with  the  usual  ceremonies  on  the 
12th  of  July,  1877.  It  consists  of  a  block  of  brownstone 
taken  from  a  corner  of  the  meeting-house  destroyed  in  1876, 
and  beneath  it  was  deposited  a  box  containing  sundry  docu- 
ments appropriate  to  the  occasion.  The  day  chosen  was  most 
suitable,  as  it  was  on  the  12th  of  July,  1661,  two  hundred  and 
sixteen  years  previous,  that  the  town  of  Northampton  voted 
to  erect  its  second  meeting-house. 

The  new  house  extends  76  feet  on  Main  Street  by  113  on 
Centre,  with  a  chapel  35  by  76  feet  adjoining  it  in  the  rear. 
The  edifice  faces  the  south,  with  a  tower  at  the  southeastern 
corner.  The  tower  is  18  feet  square  at  the  base,  and  rises  190 
feet  above  the  sidewalk.  The  main  audience-room  is  104  by 
72  feet,  with  126  pews,  capable  of  seating  six  persons  each. 
The  floor  is  "  bowled,"  rising  two  feet  from  pulpit  to  vestibule, 
and  the  pews  are  placed  on  a  curve,  commencing  on  a  radius 
of  100  feet  and  decreasing  as  they  approach  the  pulpit.  The 
gallery  extends  across  the  front  of  the  building  over  the  vesti- 
bule, and  contains  29  pews.  About  1000  persons  can  be  seated 
comfortably  within  the  audience-room.  The  preacher's  plat- 
form, with  desk,  is  at  the  rear  end  of  the  building,  rising  three 
feet  from  the  floor.  The  whole  interior  of  the  meeting-house 
is  handsomely  finished  in  ash.  Directly  back  of  the  pulpit  is 
the  organ,  which  presents  a  full  front  of  displayed  pipes  finely 
decorated.  It  has  2126  pipes,  with  a  full  variety  of  stops. 
The  choir-gallery  has  accommodations  for  about  20  persons, 
and  is  about  one  foot  higher  than  the  pulpit-platform.  The 
building  is  lighted  by  gas,  requiring  3-50  burners.  The  bell 
weighs  3179  pounds,  and  is  upon  the  key  of  D.  The  clock  is 
one  of  the  best  that  modern  science  affords,  and  was  put  in  by 
the  town. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  building,  including  furniture,  fi.x- 
tures,  and  bell,  was  1562,900.  The  sum  of  .§51,0(X)  was  appro- 
priated by  the  parish  for  building  and  heating  apparatus.  The 
committee  expended  for  these  purposes  ^'•50,900,  or  iilOO  less 
than  the  appropriation.  The  whole  sum  has  been  raised  by 
private  eflbrt,  with  the  exception  of  $27,2.50  received  from 
insurance.  The  full  amount  was  provided  before  the  building 
was  dedicated. 

The  first  service  in  the  new  meeting-house  was  held  on 
Sunday  morning.  May  5,  1878.  It  had  been  intended  that 
the  communion  should  be  the  first  service  held  in  it,  but  cir- 
cumstances rendered  it  necessary  that  the  exercises  should  be 
mainly  financial.  After  closing  up  the  building-accounts  as 
far  as  possible,  it  was  found  that  |.5000  would  be  needed  to 
pay  all  expenses  and  relieve  the  society  from  the  burden  of 
debt.  Since  the  burning  of  the  meeting-house  the  congrega- 
tion had  occupied  the  town-hall  for  religious  meetings,  and  it 
had  been  determined  to  make  an  etfort  to  obtain  the  requisite 
amount  at  the  last  meeting  held  in  the  hall,  on  Sunday,  April 
28th.  That  day,  however,  was  so  stormy  and  the  attendance  so 
small  that  the  matter  was  postponed.  Hence  it  was'  brought 
up  at  the  first  meeting  in  the  new  house  of  worship.  Appro- 
priate remarks  were  made  by  the  pastor  and  various  members 
of  the  congregation.  Subscription-papers  were  circulated, 
and  in  a  short  time  it  was  announced  that  the  desired  amount 
had  been  pledged. 

The  dedication  services  were  held  on  Sunday  evening.  May 
5th.  The  house  was  crowded,  every  pew  was  closely  packed, 
the  aisles  were  filled  with  chairs,  and  many  persons  were 
standing  about  the  doors  in  the  vestibule.  The  audience 
numbered  at  least  1500  persons.  The  pastors  of  the  Edwards, 
Unitarian,  Baptist,  and  Florence  Congregational  Churches 
occupied  seats  upon  the  platform.  The  exercises  were  opened 
by  a  voluntary  upon  the  organ  by  J.  L.  Warriner,  followed 
by  the  singing  of  the  Doxology  by  the  choir  and  the  audi- 
ence. The  divine  blessing  was  invoked  by  Rev.  C.  B.  Ferry, 
pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church  ;  a  select  passage  of  Scripture 
was  read  by  Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Edwards 
Church  :  the  anthem,  "  Te  Deum  Laudamus,"  was  announced 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


209 


by  Rev.  Mr.  Jeft'erson,  pastor  of  tlie  Baptist  Cliurcli,  and 
iiiiely  rendered  by  tlie  choir;  a,  statement  from  the  building 
committee  was  read  by  President  Seelye,  of  Smith  College ; 
the  choir  then  sang  the  sentence,  "The  Lord  is  in  his  holy 
temple;"  prayer  was  otfered  by  Rev.  E.  G-.  Cobb,  pastor  of 
the  Florence  Congregational  Church  ;  an  anthem  was  then 
sung  by  the  choir ;  then  followed  the  dedication  sermon,  by 
Rev.  Wm.  S.  Lcavitt,  pastor  of  the  church  ;  the  dedication 
anthem  was  rendered  by  the  choir ;  the  prayer  of  dedication 
was  ottered  by  Rev.  Mr.  Lcavitt ;  the  hymn,  "  Jesus  shall 
reign  where'er  the  sun,"  was  sung  by  the  choir  and  the  con- 
gregation ;  and  the  whole  closed  by  the  benediction,  pro- 
nounced by  Dr.  Hall. 

The  meeting-house  was  dedicated  before  the  grading  was 
completed  or  the  walks  laid  about  it.  The  parish  accordingly' 
voted  in  1878  to  appropriate  $1700  for  grading,  curbing, 
fencing,  and  laying  walks,  and  appointed  a  committee  for  that 
purpose.  This  work  was  accomplished  during  the  summer  of 
that  year,  for  a  trifle  less  than  the  appropriation  ;  thus  com- 
pleting the  whole  and  finishing  the  meeting-house  within 
and  without  for  the  sum  of  $64,532.  The  building  as  a  whole 
gives  general  satisfaction.  It  is  a  spacious,  commodious,  ele- 
gant structure,  and  will  compare  favorably  with  any  of  the 
more  costly  church  edifices  in  this  part  of  the  State.  The 
parish  is  to  be  especially  congratulated  upon  obtaining  so  fine 
an  edifice  at  such  a  reasonable  cost,  and,  more  than  all,  that 
it  has  been  wholly  paid  for.  The  entire  work  has  been  carried 
through,  from  beginning  to  end,  without  accident  to  any  per- 
son connected  with  it. 

Other  Churches. — Six  churches  have  been  organized  by 
members  from  the  First  Church  since  its  formation.  All  the 
churches  in  the  several  towns  that  have  been  incorporated 
within  the  limits  of  the  original  plantation  have  been  oil- 
shoots  from  this.  The  first,  Southampton,  was  composed  of 
S2  members,  who  took  letters  of  dismission  and  recommenda- 
tion for  that  purpose  from  the  First  Church.  It  was  estab- 
lished June,  1743.  The  second,  Westhampton,  was  formed 
by  27  members,  who  were  dismissed  from  this  church  with 
the  design  of  being  organized  into  a  separate  body.  This 
church  was  formed  Sept.  29,  1779.  On  the  13th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1785,  47  members  of  the  First  Church,  having  been  regu- 
larly dismissed  for  that  purpose,  in  connection  with  25  mem- 
bers from  other  churches,  organized  a  sejiarate  church  at 
Easthamptou.  A  few  members  of  the  First  Church,  includ- 
ing one  of  the  deacons,  together  with  members  of  other 
churches  in  this  vicinity,  were,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1831, 
organized  into  a  separate  church,  by  the  name  of  the  "  Hamp- 
shire Colony  Church,"  to  be  located  on  the  Bureau  River,  in 
the  State  of  Illinois. 

When  the  fourth  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1812  many 
members  of  the  church  were  desirous  of  building  two  houses 
of  worship  and  organizing  a  second  Congregational  society. 
The  majority,  however,  preferred  the  erection  of  a  large  house, 
with  the  hope  of  retaining  the  whole  population  under  the 
ministry  of  one  clergyman.  This  expectation,  however,  was 
not  realized,  for  in  1820,  as  has  already  been  stated,  the  Uni- 
tarian Society  was  organized.  In  the  summer  of  1831  the 
parish  numbered  about  2800  souls,  and  the  necessity  for  a 
division  became  apparent.  Much  discussion  ensued,  and  Kev. 
Mr.  Spencer,  colleague  pastor  with  Mr.  Williams,  strongly 
urged  the  measure.  In  1832,  37  members  obtained  the  con- 
sent of  the  First  Church,  were  dismissed  from  it,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  a  new  society  under  the  name  of  the  "  Ed- 
wards Church." 

Sunday-school.— Ihe  Sunday-school  was  established  in  1815. 
The  first  meetings  were  held  in  the  old  town-hall,  which  stood 
east  of  the  court-house.  Mrs.  Daniel  Stebbins  was  the  first 
superintendent,  and  for  many  years  there  were  none  but  lady 
teachers.  The  school  was  held  only  in  the  summer,  and  was 
composed  of  pui>ils  of  both  sexes,  twelve  years  old  and  under. 
27 


At  the  close  of  the  summer  session  each  scholar  received  as  a 
present  a  small  book.  In  a  few  years  the  school  became  quite 
popular.  It  was  then  reorganized  under  a  male  superinten- 
dent, older  pupils  were  admitted,  and  teachers  of  both  sc.xes 
employed.  About  the  same  time  the  school  was  transferred 
to  the  meeting-house.  There  are  no  records  of  the  Sabbath- 
school  previous  to  1834  ;  if  any  existed  prior  to  that  date 
they  have  been  lost.  In  1853  the  school  was  reorganized,  and 
a  constitution  and  by-laws  adopted.  It  was  then  named  the 
"Sabbath-school  Society  of  the  First  Parish."  A  library 
has  been  connected  with  the  school  for  many  years,  though 
the  date  of  its  commencement  is  not  known.  The  parish 
makes  an  annual  appropriation  for  its  maintenance,  and  it  now 
numbers,  804  volumes.  In  1858  there  were  315  members,  with 
41  teachers,  in  the  school.  During  the  year  1878  the  whole 
number  of  scholars  was  275,  and  the  number  of  teachers  31. 

The  officers  of  the  school  for  the  ensuing  year  are  Deacon 
Geo.  L.  Wright,  Superintendent;  Mrs.  J.  H.  Butler  and  Mrs. 
J.  H.  Searl,  Assistant  Superintendents;  J.  H.  Searl,  Secretary 
and  Treasurer ;  E.  P.  Copeland,  Librarian  and  Chorister ; 
Deacon  Daniel  Kingsley,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Butler,  and  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Searl,  Directors. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  elders  and  deacons  since  the 
organization  of  the  church  : 

Elders. — John  Strong,  Preserved  Clapp,  Ebenezer  Strong. 
Deacons. — William  Holtou,  Thomas  Hanchctt,*  Medad 
Pomeroy,  Jonathan  Hunt,  Nathaniel  Phelps,  John  Clark, 
Thomas  Sheldon,  Ebenezer  Wright,  Samuel  Allen,  John 
Clark,  Noah  Cook,  Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Stephen  Wright, f 
Ebenezer  Hunt,  Supply  Kingsley,  John  Hawley,  Jonathan 
Hunt,  Aaron  Cook,  Josiah  Clark,  Elijah  Clark,  Moses  Kings- 
ley, J  Enos  Wright,  Solomon  Allen, |  Israel  Clark,  Luther 
Ciark,  Ebenezer  S.  Phelps, ||  Enos  Clark, ||  Eliphalet  Williams, 
Lewis  Strong,^  David  S.  Whitney,  John  P.  Williston,  Aaron 
Breck,  Jared  Clark,  Daniel  Kingsley,  Haynes  K.  Stark- 
weather,** Charles  B.  Kinsgley,  W.  P.  Strickland,  Wm.  H. 
Nowell,  Geo.  L.  Wright. 

The  number  of  church  members,  July,  1077,  was  76;  Sep- 
tember, 1706,  93;  November,  1736,  620;  January,  1832,  728; 
April,  1843,  515;  June,  1860,  485;  May,  1866,  508;  April, 
1875,  421. 

THE    EDWARDS    CHURCH,    NORTHAMPTON, 

originated  from  a  desire  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  evangelical 
religion  in  the  town.  Its  originators  were  urged  by  two  suc- 
cessive pastors  of  the  First  Church  to  commence  this  enterprise 
as  a  matter  of  duty.  The  town  was  growing,  the  parish  church 
had  become  too  large  for  the  care  of  one  pastor,  and  another 
organization  of  the  same  faith  was  imperatively  demanded. 
Such  was  the  argument  used  to  induce  certain  members  of  the 
First  Church  to  separate  and  form  the  Edwards  Church. 

Accordingly,  93  members  (42  males  and  51  females)  applied 
for  letters  of  dismission,  which  were  granted  in  a  Christian 
spirit,  and  they  were  organized  into  a  church  by  a  council  con- 
vened Jan.  29,  1833,  of  which  council  Rev.  Solomon  Williams, 
pastor  of  the  First  Church,  Northampton,  President  Hum- 
phrey, of  Amherst  College,  and  Dr.  Hawes,  of  Hartford,  were 
members.  The  name  Edwards  Church  was  adopted  in  mem- 
ory of  the  distinguished  Jonathan  Edwards,  whose  preaching 
and  theological  writings  gave  fame  to  Northampton  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  the  Edwards  Church  had  erected 
for  their  house  of  worship  a  brick  edifice,  83  feet  in  length  and 
54  in  width,  at  a  cost,  including  site,  of  §13,200.     While  this 


*  Removed  to  Westflcld. 

t  Rnnoved  to  2d  Precinct,  now  Southampton. 

I  Eeniovfd  to  Chesterfield  in  178-1. 

g  Became  a  minister,  and  removed  to  Now  York  in  1804. 

II  Removed  to  Illinois  in  1831. 

f  Dismissed  to  Edwards  Cliurch. 
**  Removed  to  California  in  ISTB. 


210 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


was  in  process  of  erection,  the  new  society  were  kindly  invited 
to  occupy  the  Baptist  church  edifice. 

The  Edwards  Society  were  afflicted  by  the  loss  of  their  house 
of  worship.  May  19,  1870,  when  a  fire  from  a  burning  build- 
ing adjacent  communicated  to  it,  and  the  ruin  was  complete. 
Under  the  necessity  of  building  anew,  the  society  removed 
from  the  corner  of  Main  and  South  Streets  to  a  location 
farther  west  on  Main  Street,  corner  of  State,  near  to  where 
the  college  buildings  have  since  been  erected.  The  new 
church  was  built  in  Ronianesriue  style,  brick,  with  stone  trim- 
mings, containing  an  audience-room  72  feet  by  04,  36  feet  in 
height,  capable  of  seating  940  persons.  In  the  rear  of  the  au- 
dience-room, and  on  the  same  level,  is  the  chapel,  SO  feet  by 
64,  and  15  in  height,  over  which  are  spacious  and  commodious 
parlors  and  other  rooms  for  social  purposes.  The  church  is 
surmounted  by  a  spire  184  feet  in  height.  The  tower  on  the 
corner  is,  at  the  base,  24  feet  square,  and  in  the  second  story 
is  a  room  finished  ofl"  and  frescoed  for  a  pastor's  study.  An 
organ  was  purchased  of  Steer  &  Turner  for  the  audience-room, 
at  an  expense  of  $4850.  The  entire  cost  of  the  building  com- 
plete, with  furniture,  organ,  etc.,  at  a  time  when  labor  and 
material  were  very  expensive,  was  ^82,152. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  Edwards  Church  was  Kev.  John 
Todd,  D.D.,  afterward  so  well  known  in  his  connection  with 
Pittsfield,  and  as  an  author  of  books  for  the  young.  Dr. 
Todd's  pastorate  was  from  Jan.  30,  1833,  to  Sept.  2(),  1836. 
The  second  pastor  was  Rev.  John  Mitchell,  installed  Dec.  8, 
1836,  and  dismissed  Dec.  20,  1842,  since  deceased.  The  next 
pastor  was  Dr,  E.  P.  Rogers,  installed  May  17,  1843,  and  dis- 
missed Nov.  24,  1846,  at  this  date  (1879)  pastor  of  a  Dutch 
church  on  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City,  where  he  has  min- 
istered many  years.  The  fourth  pastor  was  Dr.  George  E. 
Day,  installed  Jan.  12,  1848,  and  dismissed  May  7,  1851.  Dr. 
Day  has  for  a  number  of  years  been  connected  with  Yale 
Theological  Seminary  as  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature. 
The  present  pastor.  Dr.  Gordon  Hall,  was  installed  June  2, 
18-52,  and  is  consequently  near  completing  the  twenty-seventh 
year  of  his  ministry  with  this  people. 

This  church  has  been  favored  with  long  and  useful  deacon- 
ships.  The  office  was  held  by  Thomas  Napier  from  1833  to 
1845;  Enos  Clark,  from  1833  to  1864;  James  Hibben,  from 
1834  to  1871  ;  Lewis  S.  Hopkins,  from  1841  to  1865;  Chauncy 
Colton,  from  1847  to  1871  ;  J.  Huntington  Lyman,  from  1864 
to  1877.  The  present  deacons  are  five:  "Wm.  H.  Stoddard, 
who  has  held  the  office  since  November,  1841  ;  A.  J.  Lincoln, 
since  July,  1864 ;  S.  E.  Bridgman,  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Jones,  and 
George  Tucker,  since  January,  1876. 

Mr.  S.  E.  Bridgman  has  been  superintendent  of  the  Sab- 
bath-school for  fifteen  years.  The  present  membership  of  the 
church  is  380. 

THE    FIRST   BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

A  society  for  the  support  of  the  Baptist  faith  in  Northamp- 
ton was  organized  April  .30,  1824,  with  11  members.  Pre- 
viously, however,  considerable  missionary  work  had  been 
done  by  Rev.  Mr.  Rand,  of  West  Springfield,  and  other  Bap- 
tist clergymen.  As  early  as  1822,  when  there  was  no  Baptist 
church  within  twelve  miles,  Mr.  Benj.  Willard,  a  graduate  of 
Brown  University,  came  here  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Baptist  Missionary  Society.  From  that  time  he 
made  frequent  visits,  during  which  he  preached  in  ditt'ercnt 
neighborhoods,  with  tokens  of  divine  favor.  Many  attended 
upon  his  ministry,  and  several  were  converted  and  united  with 
the  church  in  West  Springfield.  When  they  were  baptized 
more  than  a  thousand  persons  assembled  at  the  river-side,  who 
probably  had  never  witnessed  the  administration  of  gospel 
baptism. 

Nov.  12,  1823,  Mr.  Willard  received  ordination.  The  ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  First  Congregational  Church,  then  the 
only  one  in  the  place.  The  next  year — April,  1H'_M — he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  town.     The  following  winter,  under 


the  smile  of  God,  thej'  resorted  to  their  Jordan  several  times, 
until  the  number  here  baptized  increased  to  10.  Other  ad- 
ditions from  various  sources  were  made  at  different  times,  till 
it  was  considered  proper  and  desirable  to  organize  a  Baptist 
Church.  For  this  purpose  a  meeting  was  called  April  25, 
1826,  and  there  were  present  12  brethren  and  14  sisters,  mem- 
bers of  Baptist  churches.  They  proceeded  to  adopt  a  decla- 
ration of  faith  and  a  church  covenant,  and  chose  two  brethren 
to  serve  as  deacons.  Appropriate  measures  were  immediately 
inaugurated  to  secure  their  public  recognition  as  a  church. 
Accordingly,  an  ecclesiastical  council  convened  at  Mr.  Wil- 
laid's  house  July  20th,  which,  after  careful  examination  of 
their  articles  of  faith  and  covenant,  voted  unanimously  to  re- 
ceive them  into  the  sisterhood  of  the  churches.  The  council 
also,  after  examination,  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands, 
set  apart  J.  Pomeroj'  and  E.  Ensign  to  the  office  of  deacons. 
In  the  first  letter  to  the  Westfield  Association  this  church  re- 
ported 40  constituent  members  and  3  additions, — 1  by  baptism 
and  2  by  letter.     It  asked  for  admission,  and  was  received. 

In  bringing  up  the  Baptist  cause  in  Northampton  to  this 
state  of  progress,  Mr.  Willard  and  his  associates  encountered 
great  opposition,  not  to  say  persecution.  Instead  of  the  fer- 
vent, hospitable  embrace  of  Christian  love,  they  were  assailed 
by  a  bigoted,  intolerant  spirit  at  every  point,  and  so  strong 
and  formidable  was  the  opposition,  at  times,  it  threatened  the 
extinction  of  the  Baptist  faith  in  the  town.  Their  cause  was 
so  unpopular,  and  its  supporters  treated  with  such  disrespect 
and  obliged  to  hold  their  meetings  in  private  houses,  it  was 
difficult  to  gain  in  members  or  pecuniary  means.  No  person 
of  any  considerable  wealth  or  social  standing  dared  to  join 
their  ranks. 

In  1828,  in  the  absence  of  a  suitable  place  for  worship, 
special  efforts  were  made  to  secure  funds  to  erect  a  meeting- 
house. Several  thousand  dollars  were  raised  by  sub.scriptions 
and  loans  from  friends  abroad,  and  a  building  committee  was 
appointed.  Having  procured  a  site,  the}-  erected  a  brick 
house  at  a  cost  of  some  3!6000,  which  was  dedicated  July  8, 
1829.  A  large  audience  aissembled,  14  ministers,  several  of 
whom  participated  in  the  services.  Prof.  Chase,  of  Newton 
Theological  Institution,  preached  the  sermon. 

In  1830,  14  members  were  received  into  the  church  from 
Amherst,  with  the  understanding  that  they  be  a  branch,  hav- 
ing power  to  receive,  discipline,  and  dismiss  members,  support 
public  worship,  and  administer  the  ordinances,  always  return- 
ing to  this  church  a  statement  of  their  proceedings  when  de- 
sired. In  1832  these  members  and  others  were  dismissed,  to 
constitute  an  independent  church. 

Mr.  Willard  resigned  his  pastorate  Feb.  25,  1838,  having 
served  the  church  more  or  less  fourteen  years.  During  this 
period  he  was  often  absent,  rendering  missionary  service,  for 
months  at  a  time.  While  he  was  away  the  house  was  seldom 
opened  for  worship.  In  1833  it  was  occupied  nearly  a  year  by 
the  Edwards  Church. 

Just  how  many  accessions  were  made  under  Mr.  Willard's 
ministry  cannot  be  ascertained.  Some  were  added  by  bap- 
tism, and  some  by  letter  and  experience,  so  that  at  one  time 
the  church  numbered  nearly  60.  Subsequently  it  was  re- 
duced by  deaths,  exclusions,  and  dismissions  ;  there  was  seri- 
ous apprehension  of  its  becoming  extinct.  In  1835  it  numbered 
only  30.  For  two  years  after  Mr.  Willard's  resignation  it 
was  pastorless.  During  this  period,  however,  it  was  supplied 
more  or  less  b_v  diflerent  ministers. 

In  February,  1840,  Rev.  Abel  Brown,  Jr.,  from  the  State 
of  New  York,  became  pastor,  and  remained  a  year  or  more. 
He  was  characterized  as  a  plain,  bold,  earnest  preacher,  fear- 
lessly assailing  sin  wherever  he  discovered  it,  whether  in 
church  or  state.  On  intemperance  and  slavery  he  took  an  ad- 
vanced position,  and  wielded  a  mighty  influence.  His  per- 
sistent, effective  labors  contributed  largely  to  the  formation 
of  that  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment  which  has  ever  since 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


211 


prevailed  in  this  town.  A  revival  occurred  during  his  pasto- 
rate, which  added  much  to  the  pecuniary  and  numerical 
strength  of  the  church.     It  received  24  by  baptism. 

Mr.  Brown  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Doolittle,  of 
Mount  Pleasant,  N.  Y.,  who  began  his  labors  here  May  16, 
1841 ;  but  his  career  was  short.  He  died  after  a  brief  illness, 
Feb.  13,  1842,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven,  and  just  at  the 
commencement  of  a  revival.  Six  had  already  been  baptized, 
and  others  were  waiting.  The  sudden,  mysterious  removal  of 
their  pastor  overwhelmed  the  little  struggling  church  in  disap- 
pointment. Mr.  Doolittle  was  a  shining  laborer  of  the  Lord, 
exhibited  singular  evidences  of  future  eminence  and  useful- 
ness. He  was  a  faithful  pastor,  and  as  a  preacher  much  beyond 
the  average.  Though  he  had  labored  here  only  a  short  time, 
he  was  much  beloved  by  the  church,  and  had  gained  public 
confidence  and  respect  to  a  remarkable  degree.  He  was  imme- 
diately succeeded  in  the  pastorate  by  his  brother,  Rev.  H.  D. 
Doolittle,  under  whose  judicious,  earnest  labors  the  revival 
already  in  progress  increased  in  power.  During  the  joint 
ministry  of  these  brothers  of  nature  and  grace  the  church 
was  greatly  strengthened  and  encouraged.  More  than  fifty 
were  received  by  baptism,  so  that  in  1844  it  numbered  93 ; 
but  many  of  them  were  non-resident.  His  health  failing,  Mr. 
Doolittle  resigned  Sept.  12,  1845,  after  a  successful  pastorate 
of  more  than  three  years.  Though  less  talented  than  his 
brother,  yet  he  was  highly  esteemed  in  the  church  and  in  the 
communitj'.  During  the  labors  of  the  brothers  Doolittle,  the 
long-standing  opposition  and  prejudice  against  the  church 
were  verj*  perceptibly  modified.  Still,  there  were  those  who 
regarded  it  with  disfavor  and  contempt. 

Hitherto  the  church  had  always  been  remarkable  for  its 
oneness  and  harmony,  but,  alas !  a  new  experience  awaited  it. 
In  an  eftbrt  to  settle  a  pastor  a  serious  difficulty  sprung  up, 
which  for  a  time  threatened  its  dissolution.  Members  became 
so  alienated  and  oppo.sed  to  each  other  that  there  was  little  hope 
of  reconciliation.  At  length,  however,  by  the  wise  counsel  and 
harmonizing  influence  of  a  neighboring  pastor,  the  difficulty 
was  so  adjusted  that  nearly  all  connected  with  the  church 
resumed  their  walk  with  it,  and  co-operated  in  the  support  of 
the  ministry. 

The  church,  having  been  pastorless  nearly  seven  months, 
extended  a  call  to  Rev.  D.  Crane,  of  Vermont,  which  was  re- 
luctantly accepted.  He  entered  upon  his  work  here  April  1, 
1846,  and  remained  more  than  twelve  years.  At  first  he  had 
little  to  inspire  hope  or  courage ;  the  congregation  and  Sun- 
day-school were  small,  and  there  were  but  two  society  men 
who  could  be  relied  on  to  contribute  for  the  support  of  the 
Baptist  ministry.  But  he  labored  on  with  fidelity  and  self- 
sacrificing  zeal.  In  the  early  part  of  his  pastorate  the  appro- 
priations which  had  been  received  from  the  Massachusetts 
Baptist  Convention  for  a  series  of  years  were  discontinued. 
Subsequently,  the  church  and  pastor  were  largely  aided  by  the 
sympathy  and  timely  contributions  of  numerous  friends  in  the 
other  denominations.  During  Mr.  Crane's  ministry  many 
excellent  members  were  lost  by  deaths  and  removals  to  other 
places,  among  them  the  two  deacons,  who  went  West  with 
their  families.  Four  special  revivals  occurred,  which,  though 
not  remarkable  in  extent  or  power,  were,  nevertheless,  of  in- 
estimable value  to  the  church.  To  it  were  added  162, — 79  bj' 
baptism  and  77  by  letter  and  restoration.  In  the  mean  time 
26  died,  46  were  dismissed  by  letter,  17  excluded  and  dropped, 
leaving  a  gain  of  73. 

Fifteen  hundred  dollars  were  expended  in  alterations  and 
repairs  on  their  house  of  worship,  $1000  of  which  was  paid  by 
the  church  and  society ;  the  rest  was  raised  outside.  The 
contributions  to  objects  of  benevolence  during  his  pastorate 
averaged  from  §75  to  §100  per  year.  He  retired,  leaving 
the  church  free  from  debt,  united,  and  prosperous.  His  fare- 
well sermon  was  preached  June  6,  1858.  While  a  resident 
in  town,  Mr.  Crane  labored  to  promote  its  educational  as  well 


as  its  religious  interests ;  was  ten  times  elected  a  member  of 
the  school  committee,  and  for  six  years  was  superintendent  of 
the  public  schools.  He  left  the  town  with  the  confidence  and 
kind  wishes  of  the  entire  community. 

Mr.  Crane  was  followed  by  Rev.  D.  Burrows,  of  Chester, 
Vt.,  who  began  his  labors  with  the  church  October,  1858,  and 
closed  them  December,  1859.  There  were  few  accessions 
during  his  short  pastorate,  a  gain  of  only  two.  He  was  es- 
teemed a  good  man,  an  able,  instructive  preacher,  yet  for 
some  reasons  the  church  and  society  failed  to  encourage  and 
sustain  him  in  his  work. 

From  Mr.  Burrows'  resignation  to  May,  1861,  the  church 
had  no  pastor,  but  at  that  date  called  Rev.  E.  Jerome,  who 
immediately  commenced  his  labors  with  them.  He  was  a 
devoted  Christian  worker,  a  sound  preacher,  and  faithful  pas- 
tor. Under  his  ministry  the  church  increased  in  strength 
and  infiuence,  though  there  was  a  loss  of  members,  occa- 
sioned by  an  unusual  number  of  erasures,  exclusions,  and 
dismissions.  Through  his  efficiency  extensive  alterations 
and  repairs  in  their  meeting-house  were  accomplished.  The 
health  of  his  wife  becoming  impaired,  Mr.  Jerome  resigned 
July,  1861,  to  the  regret  of  all. 

The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  I.  D.  Clark,  who  began  his  min- 
istry with  the  church  November,  1862,  and  continued  it  until 
March,  1866.  In  him  was  a  remarkable  combination  of  ex- 
cellent and  exceptionable  qualities, — singularly  self-confident 
and  strangely  given  to  hyperbole,  a  sagacious  manager  and. 
indefatigable  worker,  with  peculiar  eccentricities,  whicli  gave 
him  notoriety  and  always  drew  him  a  large  audience.  During 
his  pastorate  the  church  edifice,  having  been  damaged  by  fire, 
was  enlarged  and  neatly  repaired  at  a  cost  of  more  than  $3000, 
and  suitably  rededicated  December,  1864,  by  a  sermon  from 
the  pastor.  Near  the  close  of  his  labors  here  he  was  assisted 
by  Rev.  A.  B.  Earle  in  a  series  of  revival-meetings,  which 
added  70  to  the  church  bj'  baptism,  which  then  numbered  309, 
146  having  been  received  by  baptism  during  Mr.  Clark's  labors, 
and  a  sufficient  number  by  letter  and  otherwise  to  make  the 
net  gain  180. 

In  April,  1867,  after  an  interval  of  one  year,  Mr.  Clark  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  G.  L.  Hunt,  of  Athol,  Mass.  The  late  Dr. 
Ide,  of  Springfield,  preached  the  installation  sermon.  Mr. 
Hunt's  friends  regarded  his  effort  in  the  pulpit  his  strong 
point.  "His  sermons  were  rich  effusions  of  intellectual  cul- 
ture." He  taught  the  people,  and  was  esteemed  a  preacher  of 
uncommon  ability.  His  ministry  here,  however,  was  that  of 
the  sower,  having  baptized  only  three. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  followed  by  Rev.  C.  Y.  Swan,  who  began  his 
labors  as  pastor  Jan.  1,  1870.  He  was  regarded  as  an  able 
preacher, — plain,  fearless,  and  earnest,  and  somewhat  peculiar. 
The  congregation  immediately  increased,  and  a  fresh  impulse 
was  given  to  the  religious  activity  and  zeal  of  the  church. 
A  revival  of  considerable  power  was  enjoyed  under  his  min- 
istry ;  meetings  were  multiplied,  and  the  pastor  assisted  by 
his  father.  Rev.  I.  Swan,  of  Connecticut.  During  this  pas- 
torate the  church  gained  in  strength  ;  44  were  added  by  bap- 
tism and  21  by  letter  and  experience,  so  that  its  membership 
November,  1872,  when  Mr.  Swan  resigned,  was  333. 

Immediately  after  Mr.  Swan  retired,  Mr.  E.  T.  Hiscox,  son 
of  Eev.  Dr.  Hiscox,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  was  engaged  as  a 
temporary  supply.  He  was  called  to  become  pastor  March, 
1873,  and  was  ordained  the  following  May,  his  father  preach- 
ing the  sermon.  Mr.  Hiscox  was  a  young  man  of  rare  excel- 
lence, liberally  educated,  and  delivered  well-written,  instruct- 
ive sermons.  "  The  church  esteemed  him  very  highly  as  a 
Christian  brother."  Nevertheless,  wanting  fluency  and  ear- 
nestness in  the  pulpit,  he  failed  to  interest  and  attract  the 
people.  His  pastorate  closed  April,  1875,  during  which  five 
were  received  by  baptism  and  seven  by  letter.  In  the  mean 
time  the  membership  of  the  church  was  reduced  by  erasures, 
exclu.sions,  and  dismissions  to  2-50. 


212 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Mr.  Hiscox  was  succeeded  b}'  Rev.  A.  W.  Jeft'erson,  of 
South  Boston.  Accepting  the  call  of  the  church,  he  at  once 
hegan  his  labors  with  them.  Installation  June,  1875;  ser- 
mon by  Dr.  Adams,  of  Holyoke.  The  congregation  imme- 
diately increased.  The  following  December  a  series  of  revival 
meetings  was  sustained,  in  which  Mr.  Jeflersonhad  assistance 
from  neighboring  pastors.  Good  was  accomplished,  Chris- 
tians revived,  sinners  converted,  and  the  young  people's 
prayer-meeting  re-established.  Mr.  Jeft'erson's  resignation 
took  etl'ect  Aug.  1,  1878.  While  he  had  warm  friends  and 
was  generally  regarded  as  a  devoted  Christian,  anxious  to  do 
good,  he  failed  to  command  as  a  preacher  the  contidence  and 
respect  of  the  people.  During  his  pastorate  thirteen  were 
received  by  baptism  and  fifteen  by  letter  and  experience. 
Since  the  close  of  Mr.  Jetferson's  labors  the  pulpit  has  been 
supplied  by  Rev.  D.  M.  Crane,  to  whom  the  church  extended 
a  call,  March  10,  1879,  again  to  become  their  pastor.  Having 
accepted  it,  he  returns  to  finish  his  work  in  this  beautiful 
town. 

'  The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  243.  It  has  had 
twelve  pastors  and  twelve  deacons  ;  nine  of  the  former  and 
nine  of  the  latter  are  still  living. 

THE   TJNITAKIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Second  Congregational  Society  in  Northampton  was 
organized  on  Feb.  22,  1825,  six  years  subsequent  to  the 
preaching  of  the  celebrated  sermon  on  "  Unitarian  Chris- 
tianity," by  Dr.  Channing,  in  Baltimore, — a  sermon  that  did 
more  than  any  other  agency  to  bring  about  a  separation  of 
the  two  elements  which  had  long  existed  in  all  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  of  New  England,  known  as  the  Calvinistic 
and  the  Unitarian,  or  Armenian,  parties.  Fortunately,  or 
unfortunately,  in  Northampton,  the  rupture  was  postponed 
several  years  beyond  the  time  when  it  would  naturally  have 
occurred,  owing  to  certain  circumstances  of  a  local  character, 
among  which  was  the  fact  that  the  church  of  the  town  was 
presided  over  by  a  minister  who  was  far  advanced  in  years, 
whom  both  classes  respected  and  loved,  and  for  whom  neither 
party  wished  to  make  trouble  by  taking  the  initiative  in  any 
important  movement  that  would  be  sure  to  break  up  the 
hitherto  harmonious  and  pleasant  relations  that  had  subsisted 
between  members  of  diti'ering  beliefs  in  the  one  and  only 
church  of  the  town. 

But  when  the  time  came  for  the  settlement  of  a  new  and 
young  man  as  colleague  pastor,  the  liberals  felt  that  their 
reasonable  wishes  must  be  fairly  recognized  and  respected. 
What  they  wanted— and  the  utmost  they  at  any  time  de- 
manded— was  that  the  new  minister  should  occasionally  give 
them  the  opportunity  of  hearing  in  their  own  church  the 
preaching  of  views  which  to  them  were  fundamental  in  Chris- 
tianity, by  exchanging  with  neighboring  Unitarian  ministers. 
The  demand  was  not  an  unreasonable  one,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  liberal  party  represented  a  third  part  of  the 
taxable  property  in  the  society  and  embraced  some  of  the 
most  respectable  people  in  the  community,  and  also  that  the 
town,  having  jurisdiction  in  the  matter,  passed  the  following 
preamble  and  vote : 

"  Whereas  it  is  well  known  that  there  are  man_v  members 
of  this  society  whose  religious  sentiments  ditl'er  from  those  of 
their  present  pastor,  but  who  are  desirous  to  preserve  the 
spirit  of  unity  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  and  are  willing  to  concur 
in  the  settlement  of  a  colleague  whose  religious  sentiments 
are  ditferent  from  their  own  :  Therefore,  voted,  unanimously, 
that  this  society  are  willing  that  the  colleague  who  may  be 
settled  with  us  in  pursuance  of  the  vote  passed  in  November 
last  should  exchange  with,  or  invite  to  preach  in  the  desk, 
any  pious  clergyman  of  any  denomination  of  Christians." 

This  vote  was  passed  by  the  town  on  the  second  day  of 
Februarj',  1824.  It  was  afterward  unanimously  voted  in 
the  same  meeting  to  extend  to  Rev.  Mark  Tucker  an  invita- 


tion to  settle  over  the  society  as  colleague  pastor  with  Rev. 
Mr.  W^illiams.  As  this  colleague  pastor  figured  largely  in 
the  events  which  resulted  finally  in  the  separation,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  go  back  and  narrate  somewhat  in  detail  some 
previous  circumstances  in  relation  to  the  ditferences  in  contro- 
versy, in  which  he  was  a  prominent  actor.  Within  a  fort- 
night after  Mr.  Tucker  came  to  town,  some  time  in  the  early 
part  of  January,  1824,  to  preach  as  a  candidate.  Judge  Howe, 
a  prominent  member  of  the  liberal  party  in  the  church, 
sought  and  secured  a  lengthy  interview  with  the  future  pastor. 
This  gentleman  stated  the  fact  to  him  that  "  he  diftered  from 
him  in  his  religious  opinions,  and  was  desirous  to  avoid  any 
division  in  the  society  ;  but  that  he  and  some  others  had  made 
up  their  minds  that  they  would  not  concur  in  the  settlement 
of  any  person  as  a  colleague,  unless  upon  the  principles  of 
Christian  liberty  and  perfect  toleration  ;  that  in  former  years 
it  was  sutficient  that  a  man  was  settled  and  known  as  a  Chris- 
tian minister  (if  his  life  and  conversation  were  such  as  became 
his  station)  to  entitle  him  to  all  the  courtesies  and  civilities 
of  Christian  intercourse  ;  that  for  a  few  years  past  a  ditferent 
course  had  been  pursued ;  the  clergy  had  assumed  the  right 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  their  fellow-mortals,  to  institute  a 
scrutiny  into  the  private  sentiments  entertained  by  them,  and 
to  decide  upon  their  correctness.  This  circumstance  had  led 
the  members  of  this  Ministerial  Association  to  refuse  to  make 
any  exchanges  with  neighboring  ministers,  while  Unitarian 
ministers,  of  regular  standing  and  unexceptionable  morals, 
had  been  sufl'ered  to  attend  meeting  here  through  the  day 
without  being  invited  to  preach." 

The  candidate  replied  that  he  had  heard  something  of  the 
difficulties  which  had  existed  hero,  and  expressed  his  decided 
disapprobation  of  the  course  which  he  had  been  informed  the 
pastor,  3Ir.  Williams,  had  pursued  ;  that  he  thought  he  should 
have  no  diiiiculty  in  relation  to  the  subject ;  that  he  should 
not  undertake  to  decide  who  were  or  who  were  not  Christians  ; 
that  he  had  long  lived  among  and  had  intercourse  with  Chris- 
tians of  other  denominations,  but  that  he  had  avoided  all  diffi- 
culty by  putting  them  all  on  the  same  footing.* 

The  candidate  on  this  occasion  stated  to  Mr.  Joseph  Lyman — 
afterward  known  as  Judge  Lyman — that  "  he  should  pursue 
such  a  course  here  in  relation  to  invitations  and  exchanges  as 
would  satisfy  the  expectations  of  all." 

On  the  evening  next  previous  to  the  town-meeting  already 
alluded  to,  another  interview  was  held  between  several  of  the 
liberal  party  and  certain  members  of  the  church  who  differed 
with  them,  to  see  if  any  arrangement  could  be  made  on  the 
subject  of  exchanges.  One  gentleman  of  the  latter  party  said 
that  "  he  should  have  no  objection  that  Unitarian  ministers 
who  should  happen  to  be  here,  and  who  had  not  rendered 
themselves  obnoxious  by  their  actions  or  writings,  should  be 
occasionally  invited  to  preach."  To  this  it  was  explicitly 
affirmed  on  the  other  side  that  it  would  be  no  satisfaction 
to  the  liberal  party  to  have  a  Unitarian  minister  occa- 
sionally smuggled  into  the  pulpit;  that  it  was  the  principle 
they  were  contending  for,  and  not  an  idle  ceremony  or  child- 
ish gratification. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  following  Any  the  liberal  party,  after 
much  discussion,  secured  in  town-meeting  the  passage  of  the 
preamble  and  resolutions  given  above.  In  the  afternoon  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Tucker  and  in- 
form him  of  the  vote  of  the  town,  extending  to  him  a  call  to 
settle.  The  chairman  of  that  committee  first  read  to  him  the 
vote  of  the  town  in  relation  to  ministerial  exchanges,  and 
asked  him  if  he  had  any  conscientious  scruples  about  carrying 
it  into  execution.  He  replied  that  he  had  none  ;  that  he  cor- 
dially approved  of  the  vote,  and  was  glad  it  had  been  adopted. 
The  vote  of  the  town  was  then  communicated  to  him,  ex- 

*  From  "  Stateuiont  of  Facts  in  Kelation  to  the  Cull  arul  .Settlementof  Ecv.  Mr. 
Tucker." 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


213 


tending  to  him  a  call  to  become  the  colleague  pastor  of  the 
church. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  fair  promises  received  from  the 
newly-elected  pastor,  that  the  vote  of  the  town  relative  to  ex- 
changes should  be  duly  respected  by  him,  various  significant 
events,  subsequent  to  his  settlement,  convinced  the  liberal 
portion  of  the  society  that  they  had  really  nothing  to  hope 
from  him  in  that  regard.  The}'  were  therefore  forced  to  the 
painful  conclusion,  after  employing  all  honorable  means  look- 
ing to  an  amicable  composure  of  their  differences  without 
avail,  that  union  between  the  two  parties  on  the  old  basis  was 
no  longer  possible.  The  formation  of  a  new  society  they  felt 
to  be  their  only  honorable  recourse  left.  But  of  course  their 
property  rights  involved  in  the  act  of  separation  must  be  fully 
recognized,  and,  if  possible,  equitably  and  peacefully  adjusted. 

The  second  article  in  the  warrant,  calling  for  a  town-meet- 
ing to  be  held  on  the  21st  day  of  February,  1825,  only  one  day 
previous  to  the  formation  of  this  society,  reads,  "  To  see  if  the 
town  will  adopt  any  measures  for  the  relief  of  those  persons 
who  are  disappointed  at  the  course  pursued  here  in  relation  to 
ministerial  exchanges,  and  to  pass  such  votes  as  maybe  neces- 
sary to  effect  their  object."  At  a  certain  stage  in  this  meeting, 
the  question  being  on  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  afore- 
said article,  the  following  vote  was  offered:  "Whereas,  our 
numbers  have  greatly  increased  since  we  erected  our  meeting- 
house, and  are  still  increasing  to  such  degree  as  to  render  it 
expedient  to  make  further  provision  for  public  worship, 

"  And  whereas,  circumstances  have  occurred  since  the  set- 
tlement of  a  colleague  pastor  which  induced  many  members  of 
this  town  to  form  themselves  into  a  new  society  for  religious 
worship, 

"  Therefore  voted,  That  an  advance  ought  to  be  made  by 
the  town  to  those  individuals  who  form  themselves  into  a  new 
society,  for  their  interest  in  the  present  meeting-house,  propor- 
tioned to  the  amount  of  their  property  as  set  in  the  valuation 
of  the  present  year."  The  question  being  on  the  adoption  of 
this  motion,  it  was  voted  down. 

A  motion  was  then  made  for  a  reconsideration  of  this  vote, 
which,  after  considerable  discussion,  was  also  negatived. 

Ne.xt  a  motion  was  offered  to  grant  to  the  disaffected  the  use 
of  the  meeting-house  six  Sabbaths  in  the  year,  and  this  was 
lost. 

Next  a  motion  for  the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  whole 
subject  failed  of  an  adoption. 

Thomas  Shepherd  then  submitted  the  following:  "Voted, 
to  choose  a  committee  to  wait  on  the  colleague  pastor  to  see  on 
what  considerations  he  will  ask  for  a  dismission ;"  and  this  was 
not  carried. 

But  the  following  vote,  next  offered  by  a  Mr.  Strong,  was 
carried  :  "  Voted,  that  in  case  any  article  or  articles  affecting 
the  character  of  the  Kcv.  Mr.  Tucker  in  his  relations  to  this 
society  be  proposed  for  insertion  in  any  future  warrant,  the 
selectmen  be  instructed  to  insert  them,  if  at  all,  in  a  distinct 
warrant  to  be  issued  for  that  purpose."  Thus  completely 
foiled  in  every  attempt,  outvoted,  routed,  and  fairly  driven 
from  the  field,  the  liberal  party  probably  that  same  day  went 
out  in  a  body  from  the  ancient  church  in  the  town,  and  the 
day  following,  the  22d  of  February,  1825,  they  celebrated  the 
birthday  of  the  great  Father  of  this  country  by  organizing 
themselves  into,  so  giving  birth  to,  the  "  Second  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  Society  of  Northampton,"  which  should 
forever  stand  for  freedom  of  thought  and  a  common  and  equal 
recognition  of  the  rights  of  conscience. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  building  that  should  shelter  and  be 
a  home  for  the  new  society — the  simple  but  beautiful  edifice 
that  the  society  still  worships  in — was  laid  with  Masonic  cere- 
monies on  Wednesday,  May  25, 1825,  on  which  occasion  prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hall,  afterward  the  pastor  of  the 
societ}',  an  address  delivered  by  Charles  E.  Forbes,  Esq.,  now 
living,  and  the  then  clerk  of  the  society,  and  a  concluding 


prayer  given  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Trumbull,  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Cummington.  The  house  was  completed  and  dedi- 
cated on  the  7th  of  December  of  the  same  year,  the  dedicatory 
sermon  being  preached  by  Rev.  Henry  Ware,  Jr.,  of  Boston. 
In  the  early  stages  of  the  building's  construction  a  catastro- 
phe occurred,  which  the  enemies  of  the  movement  were  only 
too  ready  to  take  advantage  of  by  calling  it  "providential," 
furnishing  as  it  did  an  opportunity  to  be  improved  to  "  point 
amoral"  of  supernatural  warning  of  a  still  greater  retribu- 
tion that  awaited  the  little  company  of  "  infidels"  in  the  final 
catastrophe  of  the  future.  When  about  a  third  of  the  frame 
of  the  building  had  been  raised  and  firmly  secured,  as  was 
supposed,  in  its  upright  position,  it  was  blown  down  by  a  gale 
of  wind,  many  of  the  timbers  being  broken  and  rendered  use- 
less, but  without  the  slightest  injury  to  a  single  workman, — a 
providential  circumstance  that  seems  to  have  been  entirely 
overlooked  by  the  seekers  after  providential  signs  and  warn- 
ings of  another  kind. 

Rev.  Edward  B.  Hall  was  ordained  the  first  minister  over 
the  society,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1826,  whose  happy  and 
successful  ministry  was  continued  up  to  the  time  of  his  resig- 
nation, self-compelled  by  sickness. 

The  next  minister  of  the  society  was  Oliver  Stearns,  after- 
ward president  of  the  .Meadville  Theological  School,  and 
later  Parkman  Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  Harvard 
University.     The  length  of  his  ministry  was  eight  years. 

He  was  succeeded  by  John  Sullivan  Dwight,  the  ]iresent 
conductor  of  "  Dwight's  Journal  of  Music,"  who  remained 
with  the  society  only  a  year  and  a  half. 

Next  came  Rufus  Ellis,  the  present  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  in  Boston.  He  was  ordained  over  the  society  in  May 
of  the  year  1843,  and  dismissed  in  May  of  1845,  having  re- 
ceived a  call  to  settle  in  Boston. 

Rev.  Wm.  Sillsbee  was  installed  as  pastor  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1855,  and,  after  a  useful  ministry  of  eight  years,  resigned.  He 
is  now  settled  over  the  "  Reformed  Christian  Church"  of  Tren- 
ton, N.  Y. 

Rev.  Wm.  Lincoln  Jenkins  was  called  to  the  pastorate, 
and  installed  therein  on  May  1,  1865.  Resigned  May  1, 
1870. 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  Fish  was  ordained  for  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, and  settled  as  pastor  of  the  society  on  the  18th  of  May, 
1871 ;  his  ministry  covering  the  space  of  two  years. 

The  present  pastor.  Rev.  Charles  B.  Ferry,  was  installed  on 
the  10th  day  of  June,  1874. 

The  society  numbers  not  far  from  80  families,  with  an  aver- 
age congregation  of  150.  It  has  a  good  Sunday-school,  and 
is,  altogether,  in  a  healthy  and  prosperous  condition.  Its  in- 
fluence in  the  community,  and  in  the  vicinity,  in  liberalizing 
the  theology  of  the  churches  and  in  promoting  the  Christian 
religion  of  daily  life  among  men,  has  been,  from  first  to  last, 
very  marked.  As  a  social  factor  in  the  life  of  the  town  (al- 
though as  a  church  it  has  been  numerically  comparatively 
small)  it  has  been  second  to  none.  Its  history  and  its  present 
outlook  can  be  said  to  fully  justify  the  hopes  and  the  faith  of 
its  brave  and  noble  founders. 

THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHTTRCH. 

The  minutes  of  the  New  England  Conference  show  that 
there  was  Methodist  preaching  in  Northampton  in  1880  by 
W.  Ward  and  J.  Knight.  From  this  time  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church  in  1842  the  following  preachers  olBciated 
here :  Erastus  Otis,  0.  Wilder,  E.  Scott,  D.  Leslie,  E.  M. 
Bebee,  Asa  Niles,  and  Geo.  W.  Green. 

The  church  was  organized  in  1842,  and  the  following  is  a 
list  of  the  pastors  who  have  served  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  with  the  date  of  their  appointment  and  years  of  ser- 
vice:  W.  Ward,  1842,  two  years;  M.  Dwight,  1844,  two 
years;  W.  R.  Bagnall,  1846,  one  year;  C.  Baker,  1847,  one 
year;  J.  W.  Mowry,  1848,  one  year;  T.  Marcy,  1849,  one 


214 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


year;  D.  Wait,  1850,  one  year;  G.  Haven,*  1851,  two  years  ; 
J.  S.  Cushman,  1853,  one  year;  W.  C.  High,  1854,  two  years; 
J.  S.  Barrows,  1856,  one  year;  J.  E.  Rounds, f  1857,  one  year; 
H.  F.  Morse,  1858,  two  years ;  J.  Cajiin,  1860,  two  years ;  S. 
Jackson,  1862,  one  year;  H.  P.  Andrews,  1863,  one  year;  G. 
Hews,  1864,  one  year;  0.  D.  Hills,  1865,  two  years;  J.  H. 
Mansfield,  1867,  two  years;  J.  S.  Whedon,  1869,  two  years; 
6.  W.  Mansfield,  1871,  two  years;  D.  Richards,  1873,  two 
years ;  I.  H.  Packard,  1875,  two  j-ears  ;  Albert  Gould,  1878, 
two  years. 

The  present  church  edifice  was  eomjdeted  in  1851,  and  dedi- 
cated April  15th  of  that  year  by  Rev.  C.  K.  True, J  D.D.,  then 
of  Springfield.  The  present  trustees  of  the  church  are  as 
follows :  Roland  Lewis,  Zenas  Field,  Edward  S.  Barrett, 
Frank  Knowlton,  Ira  H.  Stevens,  Henry  N.  Ensign,  Chas. 
W.  Rowley. 

ST.    JOHNS    CHURCH. 

The  first  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  services  were  held  in 
this  town  in  August,  1826.  The  corner-stone  of  the  church 
was  laid  June  13,  1829,  and  the  church  was  opened  for  divine 
service  Dec.  22,  1829.  It  was  consecrated  by  Right  Rev. 
A.  V.  Griswold,  D.D.,  on  Jan.  13,  1830.  The  principal  mover 
and  largest  contributor  to  this  enterprise  was  Mr.  Joseph 
Coggeshall,  then  proprietor  of  a  large  boarding-schnol  for 
boys  on  Round  Hill.  The  church  building  was  materially 
altered  in  1855. 

The  rectors  of  the  church  have  been  as  follows  :  Rev.  Geo. 
Griswold,  Rev.  Jo.seph  Muenscher,  Rev.  D.  S.  Devans,  Rev. 
William  Chatterton,  Rev.  Henry  Burroughs,  Rev.  John  P. 
Hubbard,  Rev.  O.  Sievers  Barten,  Rev.  Henry  H.  Bean,  Rev. 
Royal  Marshall,  Rev.  E.  D.  Tompkins,  Rev.  J.  F.  Spaulding, 

Rev.  J.  K.  Lombard,  Rev.  Foxcroft,  Rev.  Gordon  M. 

Bradley.     The  present  rector  is  J.  Sturgis  Pearce. 

The  following  are  the  present  officers :  W'illiam  C.  Robin- 
son, David  W.  Crafts,  Wardens  ;  E.  C.  Clapp,  Wm.  War- 
nock,  A.  L.  Hall,  Vestrymen ;  Lewis  Warner,  Treasurer ; 
W.  C.  Robinson,  Parish  Clerk. 

ST.    MARY'S    (catholic)    CHURCH. 

Previous  to  the  erection  of  a  church  the  Catholics  of  North- 
ampton and  vicinity  assembled  for  worship  at  the  house  of  a 
man  named  Foley,  in  what  was  then  termed  "  Straw  Hollow," 
now  Leeds,  and  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Indelible  Pencil  Shop. 
The  first  Catholic  clergyman  that  ever  came  to  Northampton 
was  the  first  bishop  of  Boston,  M.  Cheverus,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  conviction  and  execution  of  two  Irish  boys  some  fifty 
years  ago.  These  lads  were  accused  of  having  robbed  and  mur- 
dered a  mail-carrier  in  the  vicinity  of  Whately.  On  this  occa- 
sion Cardinal  Cheverus  preached  to  an  immense  crowd  at  the 
Old  Church.  As  an  interesting  fact  connected  witli  this  it  may 
be  added  that  years  afterward,  on  his  death-bed,  the  real  mur- 
derer of  the  mail-carrier  acknowledged  his  guilt  and  vindicated 
— too  late — the  innocence  of  the  lads  who  were  executed  for 
the  crime. 

In  1834  the  King  Street  lot  was  secured  for  the  erection  of  a 
church,  and  ten  years  afterward  Rev.  John  Brady  erected  the 
church  which  hiis  since  been,  at  various  times,  enlarged  and 
improved  by  his  successors. 

At  first  Northampton  was  attached  to  the  Cabot  (now  Chico- 
pee)  parish,  and  was  afterward  transferred  to  the  Holyoke 
parish,  being  occasionally  visited  from  these  places  by  Father 
Brady,  Father  Strain,  Father  Benkinsop,  Father  O'Callaghan, 
and  Father  U'Sullivan. 

In  February,  1866,  Northampton  was  erected  into  a  parish 
by  Bishop  Williams.  The  history  of  the  parish  is,  therefore, 
for  the  most  part  yet  to  be  made.  The  late  Rev.  P.  V.  Moyce 
was  appointed  the  first  resident  pastor.   He  enlarged  the  church 

*  Now  a  bishop  in  the  Motlioilifit  Epitscopal  Church. 
t  President  of  a  theological  institute'  in  Baltimore,  Md. 
X  DeceaAod. 


by  the  addition  of  galleries,  erected  the  beautiful  churches  of 
Haydenville,  Easthampton  (since  destroyed  by  fire),  and  Am- 
herst.   His  labors  here  are  so  recent  that  they  are  well  known. 

The  society  has  become  a  large  one,  and  plans  have  been 
already  discussed  for  the  erection  of  a  larger  and  more  conve- 
nient church. 

The  present  efficient  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  M.  E.  Barry, 
took  charge  of  the  parish  in  February,  1872.  He  is  a  native 
of  South  Boston.  His  early  education  was  obtained  at  the 
schools  of  Cambridge  and  New  York  City.  He  was  pre- 
pared for  college  in  St.  Mary's  Latin  School  at  Boston.  Sub- 
sequently entered  St.  Charles  College,  near  Ellicott  City,  Md., 
and  in  1860  finished  his  college  and  seminary  course  at  St. 
Bonaventure's  College,  Allegany,  N.  Y.  Father  Barry  was 
ordained  June  12,  1869,  and  assigned  to  the  Springfield  parish, 
from  which  Cathedral  parish  he  came  to  Northampton. 

THE  PRESS. 
THE   HAMPSHIRE   GAZETTE. 

One  of  the  veteran  newspapers  that  seem  %o  live  through  all 
time  without  growing  beyond  an  influence  acquired  in  their 
youth  is  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  published  at  Northampton. 
It  is  now  nearing  the  close  of  a  full  century  of  existence.  It 
is  a  historical  paper.  In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  growing 
out  of  the  Shays  rebellion,  when  meetings  were  held  at  which 
the  supposed  grievances  of  the  people  were  strongly  depicted, 
it  became  necessary  to  establish  a  paper  to  convey  information 
to  the  people  in  the  interest  of  the  government  and  to  stem  the 
current  of  popular  insubordination.  The  Hampshire  Gazette 
was  the  paper  thus  established.  Among  the  writers  for  its 
columns  in  its  earlier  years  were  Caleb  Strong,  afterward 
Governor  of  the  State;  Maj.  Joseph  Hawley,  the  eminent 
patriot;  and  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  D.D.,  of  Hatfield.  It  be- 
came the  dut}-  of  patriotism,  in  the  infancy  of  the  republic, 
to  crush  at  once  the  schemes  of  the  demagogues  tlien  floating 
with  the  cUhris  of  the  Revolution  throughout  the  country, 
taking  advantage  of  the  scarcity  of  money  and  the  heavy 
taxes  to  excite  the  people  to  revolt,  and  it  was  only  by  means 
of  newspapers  that  this  could  be  eftectually  accomplished. 
Open  insurrections  and  rebellions  are  physically  suppressed  by 
military  power,  but  the  only  way  to  reach  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  unite  sections  and  communities  in  the  bitterness 
of  their  supposed  troubles,  is  through  the  newspaper,  which 
penetrates  to  the  hearths  and  heads  and  hearts  of  every  family, 
and  silently  and  ett'ectually  accomplishes  its  object. 

After  the  suppression  of  the  Shays  rebellion  the  Gazette  con- 
tinued in  existence,  and  became  a  permanent  institution,  pros- 
pering far  beyond  the  majority  of  country  papers.  It  ranks 
as  the  ninth  oldest  paper  in  the  United  States,  and  the  third 
in  Massachusetts.  The  two  papers  in  this  State  that  outrank 
it  in  age  are  the  Salem  Gazette,  established  Aug.  5,  1768,  and 
the  Worcester  Spij,  established  July  17,  1770. 

The  Gazette  was  established  Sept.  6,  1786,  by  William  But- 
ler, then  a  young  man  of  twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  came 
to  Northampton  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  where  he  served  an 
apprenticeship  with  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  printers  and  pub- 
lishers. He  also  had  a  job  printing-office  and  a  book-bindery, 
and  kept  a  book-store.  School-books  and  the  AVestminster 
Catechism  were  prominent  among  the  books  that  he  sold.  His 
store,  printing-otticc,  and  bindery  were  for  many  years  in 
the  wooden  building  on  Pleasant  Street  opposite  the  present 
residence  of  Maj.  Harvey  Kirkland,  and  now  occupied  by 
Dewey  &  Loomis,  grocers  ;  but  at  first  it  was  "  a  few  rods  east 
of  the  court-house."  The  size  of  the  paper  was  14  by  18 
inches,  three  columns  per  page,  and  the  type  small  pica,  long 
primer,  and  bourgeois,  old  style.  There  being  no  mails  in  this 
region  in  those  daj's,  the  paper  was  circulated  by  post-riders, 
of  whom  there  were  eight.  The  post-routes  were  about  as 
follows:  1.  To  Hadley,  Amherst,  and  Belchertown.  2.  To 
Hockanum,  South  Hadley,  and  Granby.     3.  To  Easthampton 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


215 


and  Southampton.  4.  To  Westhampton,  Norwich  (now  Hunt- 
ington), Middlefield,  and  Chester.  5.  To  Roberts  Meadow, 
Chesterfield,  and  Worthington.  G.  To  WillianLsburg,  Goshen, 
Cummington,  Plainfield,  and  Hawley.  7.  To  West  Hatfield, 
Conway,  Ashfield,  Buckland,  and  Charlemont.  8.  To  Hatfield, 
Whately,  Sunderland,  Deerfield,  Greenfield,  Shelhurne,  and 
Heath.  These  post-routes  were  maintained  substantially  as  here 
given  until  about  18(30,  and  four  of  them  are  still  in  existence. 
They  were  given  up  in  consequence  of  the  multiplication  of 
post-otfices  and  the  increasing  frequency  of  the  mails.  It  was 
custimmry  to  take  the  produce  of  the  farms  in  payment  for  the 
paper.  In  1788,  John  Long,  post-rider,  notified  his  sub- 
scribers in  Shelburne  that  "wheat  will  be  received  in  pay- 
ment at  Mr.  Ransom's  store,  provided  each  one  pays  his 
proportion  of  the  transportation  to  Northampton."  Several 
of  the  post-riders  came  to  Northampton  on  the  day  before 
the  day  of  publication,  and  on  .some  of  the  routes  it  required 
two  days  to  complete  the  distribution  of  the  papers.  The 
nearest  post-office  to  Northampton  was  the  office  at  Spring- 
field, and  to  that  place  Mr.  Butler  was  accustomed  to  send 
for  his  exchange  papers  and  letters.  A  man  brought  them 
up  on  horseback.  Thus  the  "  latest  news"  was  obtained. 
The  post-office  in  Northampton  was  established  in  17112, 
when  the  Gazette  was  six  years  old,  and  that  was  for  many 
years  the  only  office  in  the  present  county  of  Hampshire. 
The  mail  which  supplied  that  office  passed  up  and  down 
between  Springfield  and  Brattleboro'  once  a  week.  There 
was  no  mail-route  leading  to  the  east  or  the  west  from 
Northampton. 

The  paper,  under  Mr.  Butler's  management,  was  chiefly  filled 
with  foreign  news.  Congressional  proceedings,  speeches  and 
public  documents,  and  communications  relating  to  public  af- 
fairs. There  was  very  little  home  news,  and  the  editor  rarely 
ventured  to  express  his  opinions.  The  lists  of  marriages  and 
deaths  were  very  meagre,  less  than  half  a  dozen  death-notices 
appearing  during  the  first  two  years,  and  not  a  single  notice  of 
a  marriage.  In  the  early  years  of  the  paper  the  advertisements 
were  quite  limited  in  number  and  extent.  In  one  paper,  in 
1787,  only  one  advertisement  appeared. 

Mr.  Butler  built  the  first  paper-mill  in  Hampshire  County. 
It  was  on  Mill  River,  on  the  site  of  the  Vernon  paper-mill  that 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1878,  and  was  built  about  1794  for  the 
manufacture  of  writing-pajier.  It  had  but  one  vat,  and  all  the 
pajjer  was  made  by  hand.  It  afterward  passed  into  the  hands 
of  his  brother,  Daniel  Butler.  He  lived  on  Hawley  Street,  and 
the  house  in  which  he  lived  and  which  he  owned  is  still  occu- 
pied by  two  of  his  daughters.  He  sold  the  paper  June  28, 
1815,  on  account  of  impaired  health,  hut  retained  the  book- 
store several  years  afterward.  He  died  March  9,  1831,  aged 
sixty-eight  years.  To  show  the  great  change  in  the  manner  of 
conducting  newspapers  since  that  time,  the  fact  is  here  recorded 
that  the  only  notice  taken  in  the  Gazette  of  the  decease  of  the 
man  who  founded  the  paper,  published  and  edited  it  twenty- 
nine  years,  and  was  likewise  printer,  book-publisher,  book- 
binder, bookseller,  and  paper-manufacturer,  was  a  notice  of 
four  lines  under  the  head  of  deaths  ! 

June  28,  1815,  Mr.  Butler  sold  the  Gazette  to  William  W. 
Clapp,  of  Boston,  afterward  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Boston 
Saturday  Epen'mg  Gazette,  who  conducted  it  until  Jan.  1, 1817, 
when  it  was  sold  to  the  law-firm  of  Bates  &  Judd  (Hon.  Isaac 
C.  Bates,  the  distinguished  lawyer,  advocate,  and  statesman). 
Neither  Mr.  Bates  nor  Mr.  Judd  was  a  printer,  and  in  June, 
1817,  Thomas  W.  Shepard,  a  practical  printer,  was  admitted  to 
the  firm,  and  it  was  published  under  the  firm-name  of  Thomas 
W.  Shepard  &  Co.  until  April  10,  1822,  when  Sylvester  Judd, 
Jr.,  brother  of  Hophin,  purchased  the  establishment  and  be- 
came both  publisher  and  editor,  Mr.  Shepard  continuing  to  be 
the  printer.  Mr.  Judd  was  led  to  purchase  the  Gazette  through 
his  brother's  ownership  of  a  quarter-interest  in  it,  he  having 
deceased  while  one  of  its  proprietors.     Under  his  control  the 


paper  for  thirteen  years  enjoyed  a  remarkable  degree  of  pros- 
perity and  achieved  a  wide-spread  reputation. 

Mr.  Judd  was  born  in  Westhampton,  April  23,  1789.  Ho 
studied  with  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  the  first  minister  of  that  town, 
pursuing  a  classical  course.  In  181(3  he  gratuitously  superin- 
tended the  erection  of  the  meeting-house  in  Westhampton, 
in  1817  was  sent  to  represent  the  town  in  the  Legislature,  and 
for  several  years  was  in  the  mercantile  bu.siness  in  Westhamp- 
ton. He  came  to  Northampton  April  2,  1822.  He  early  en- 
listed the  paper  in  behalf  of  temperance,  and,  it  is  believed, 
was  the  first  who  excluded  liquor  advertisements.  His  man- 
agement of  the  paper  was  characterized  by  candor,  truthful- 
ness, and  respect  for  the  rights  of  all  classes.  He  was  distin- 
guished as  a  historian,  and  enriched  the  columns  of  the  Ga- 
zette with  much  of  the  fruits  of  his  historical  labors.  He  was 
likewise  distinguished  for  his  moderation,  his  exactness  of 
statement,  and  his  high  sense  of  honor  and  fair  dealing.  He 
scrupulously  avoided  objectionable  matter,  and  elevated  his 
paper  by  keeping  it  free  from  the  bitter  and  offensive  politics 
and  personalities  which  were  prominent  features  of  his  local 
contemporaries.  Thus  he  gained  the  confidence,  respect,  and 
support  of  the  public  to  a  remarkable  degree,  placing  his  pa- 
per, in  prosperity  and  usefulness,  second  in  the  list  of  Massa- 
chusetts weeklies.  The  only  other  paper  that  exceeded  it  in 
circulation  was  the  Massachusetts  Spi/,  published  at  Worcester. 

In  1833,  Mr.  Judd  commenced  keeping  a  regular  journal, 
in  which  were  entered,  with  scrupulous  reference  to  exactness, 
the  state  of  the  thermometer,  the  changes  of  the  weather,  the 
progress  of  vegetation,  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of 
birds,  frogs,  different  kinds  of  insects,  etc.  This  he  continued 
with  great  regularity  until  the  day  of  his  last  illness.  His 
labors  in  the  department  of  manuscript  collections,  which  he 
began  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  were  immense,  the  volumes, 
closely  filled,  amounting  to  about  sevent3--five.  He  was  made 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
Historical  Societies,  and  of  the  American  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety. In  1816  he  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Thomas 
Judd  and  his  Descendants." 

Why  he  sold  the  Gazette  may  be  inferred  from  these  ex- 
tracts from  his  private  journal.  Probably  his  sensitive  and 
independent  spirit  recoiled  from  the  rigid  party  discipline 
which  prevailed  in  those  days.  In  reference  to  giving  up 
the  paper  he  wrote:  "  The  truth  is  I  have  become  too  skepti- 
cal in  politics  to  be  the  conductor  of  a  public  press.  I  have 
but  little  confidence  in  politics  or  politicians.  I  dislike  high 
Whigism  and  high  Jacksonism,  and  cannot  go  with  either. 
I  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  people  of  this  county  as 
wanting  confidence  in  me  or  my  paper.  They  have  adhered 
to  me  to  the  last."  He  further  says:  "I  have  added  many 
books  to  my  library  that  I  might  help  the  Gazette  by  extracts 
and  abstracts.  I  have  thought  but  little  of  money-making ; 
have  labored  much  more  to  make  the  Gazette  interesting  and 
useful  to  others  (perhaps  unsuccessfully)  than  to  make  it 
profitable  to  myself" 

After  he  gave  up  the  paper,  Mr.  Judd  devoted  much  time 
to  historical  and  antiquarian  researches,  extending  his  labors 
to  Hampshire  County,  and  to  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut.  In  1857,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  many 
leading  citizens,  he  commenced  the  publication  of  a  history 
of  Hadley.  This  work  he  pursued  diligently  until  his  death, 
April  18,  1860,  when  he  had  completed  460  printed  pages  of 
the  work,  the  remaining  150  pages  being  finished  by  others, 
from  material  which  he  had  prepared.  This  book  was  printed 
by  John  Metcalf,  who  for  thirty-two  years  was  a  job-printer  in 
Northampton,  and  who  for  many  years  printed  the  Gazette  for 
Mr.  Judd, — all  the  press-work  being  done  on  a  hand-press. 

Jan.  1,  1835,  Mr.  Judd  sold  the  Gazette  to  Charles  P.  Hunt- 
ington, then  a  young  lawyer,  and  William  A.  Hawley,  a 
young  printer  just  out  of  his  apprenticeship  of  seven  years 
with  J.  S.  &  C.  Adams,  at  Amherst. 


216 


HISTOEY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


An  incident  occurred  at  this  time  which,  viewed  in  the 
light  of  later  experience,  renders  it  somewhat  curious  and 
decidedly  amusing ;  but  winch  at  that  time,  with  the  sensi- 
tive feeling  which  then  prevailed  with  regard  to  religious 
matters,  was  undoubtedly  considered  a  wise  stroke  of  policy. 
Mr.  Huntington  was  a  Unitarian,  and  the  patrons  of  the 
Gazette  were  largely  made  up  of  the  staunch  converts  to,  and 
defenders  of,  the  doctrines  of  the  orthodox  church  as  it  was 
represented  by  the  old-school  theologians  of  the  Congrega- 
tional order.  It  would  not  do  to  have  so  pronounced  a 
Unitarian  as  Mr.  Huntington  take  charge  of  the  Gazette. 
Therefore,  when  Mr.  Judd  retired,  he  made  the  following 
announcement : 

"  Mr.  Hawley,  whose  theological  opinions  correspond  with 
those  of  the  undersigned,  will  have  the  charge  and  control  of 
the  religious  part  of  the  paper,  and  there  will  be  no  change 
in  that  department  unacceptable  to  the  friends  of  sound  re- 
ligion." 

In  the  next  number  of  the  Gazette,  Jan.  7,  18.3.5,  the  new 
editors  fortified  themselves  against  any  possible  charge  of  re- 
ligious heresy  by  a  similar  announcement.     They  said  : 

"Mr.  Huntington  will  have  the  editorial  charge  of  the 
paper,  except  in  that  portion  of  its  columns  occupied  with 
religious  subjects,  which  Mr.  Hawley  will  control,  conducting 
that  department  with  views  corresponding  to  those  of  the  late 
proprietor." 

Mr.  Huntington  remained  connected  with  the  paper  only 
five  months,  and  on  June  3,  183.5,  sold  his  interest  to  his  part- 
ner, Mr.  Hawley,  who  continued  as  publisher  and  editor  until 
March,  1853,  when,  his  health  having  failed,  he  sold  the  estab- 
lishment to  Hopkins,  Bridgman  &  Co.,  booksellers  and  pub- 
lishers, at  the  old  Butler  book-store,  on  Shop  Row. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Hawley  became  an  owner  of  the  paper  he 
was  employed  in  the  office  as  a  journeyman  printer.  It  is 
related  of  him  that,  while  the  negotiations  for  the  purchase 
of  the  paper  were  going  on,  his  ambition  led  him  to  walk  to 
Amherst  to  consult  with  his  former  employers,  arriving  there 
before  they  were  at  breakfast.  The  paper  under  his  manage- 
ment enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  and  fully  main- 
tained its  former  reputation  for  excellence.  He  was  a  careful, 
industrious,  painstaking  man,  scrupulously  honest  and  trust- 
worthy, and  an  apt  and  successful  newspaper  manager.  He 
was  an  ardent  Whig,  and  a  faithful  laborer  for  his  party.  In 
1846  he  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  as  representative  from 
Northampton,  and  in  1847  and  1848  as  senator  from  Hamp- 
shire County.  In  1853,  soon  after  he  sold  the  Gazette,  he 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Clifibrd  to  be  sheritJ'of  Hampshire 
County,  which  otfice  he  held  two  years.  He  then  engaged  in 
business  in  Northampton,  with  Lewis  Mclntire,  one  year; 
then  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  for  a  short  time  in 
the  lumber  trade ;  and  then  became  connected  witli  the 
Chicago  Journal,  as  business  manager.  On  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Kebellion  he  was  appointed  a  quartermaster  in  the 
army,  and  for  most  of  the  time  was  .stationed  at  Alexandria, 
Va.,  where  he  died  of  consumption,  Dec.  24,  1803,  aged  fifty- 
one  years.     He  was  born  in  Andover,  Mass. 

From  March,  1853,  to  Jan.  1,  1858,  the  Gazette  was  pub- 
lished by  Hopkins,  Bridgman  &  Co.,  James  R.  Trumbull 
being  employed  as  editor.  Thomas  Hale,  of  Windsor,  Vt., 
then  purchased  a  half-interest  in  the  establishment,  and  be- 
came the  editor,  the  publishing  firm  being  Thos.  Hale  &  Co. 
In  September  of  the  same  year  the  paper  was  purchased  by 
James  R.  Trumbull,  who  published  and  edited  it  until  Nov. 
1,  1858,  when  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  and  the  Northampton 
Cotirier,  both  then  prosperous  papers  and  rivals  for  popular 
favor,  were  united  under  the  ownership  and  management  of 
Trumbull  &  Gere.  This  firm  continued  until  Jan.  1,  1877, 
when,  on  account  of  his  impaired  health,  Mr.  Ti'umbull  sold 
his  interest  in  the  establishment  to  his  partner,  who  has  since 
owned  and  conducted  the  paper  alone.     Mr.  Trumbull  learned 


the  printer's  trade  in  the  Gazette  office,  under  Mr.  Hawley, 
and  for  four  years  published  and  edited  the  Amherst  Express. 
His  editorial  service  was  almost  continuous  for  twenty-eight 
years.  The  present  proprietor  and  editor,  Henry  S.  Gere, 
learned  the  printer's  trade  in  the  Hampshire  Herald  office,  in 
Northampton,  the  first  abolition  paper  published  in  Western 
Massachusetts.  He  edited  that  paper  in  1847-48,  one  year, 
and  afterward  owned  and  edited  the  Northampton  Courier 
nearly  ten  years,  from  May  1,  1849,  to  Nov.  1,  18.58.  He 
has  thus  been  in  continuous  newspaper  labor  thirty-two  y.ears. 

Under  the  management  of  Trumbull  &  Gere  the  paper  for 
eighteen  years  enjoyed  great  prosperity,  with  a  gradually-in- 
creasing circulation.  It  devoted  much  of  its  space  to  matters 
of  local  interest,  and  in  this  respect  led  all  of  its  contempo- 
raries. It  also  gathered  and  published  much  historical  matter. 
The  history  of  Easthampton,  afterward  enlarged  and  published 
in  a  pamphlet  by  Rev.  Payson  W.  Lyman,  was  first  published 
in  the  Gazette  by  Mr.  Lyman  while  he  was  a  college  student. 
Histories  of  William.sburg,  Haydenvillc,  Florence,  and  Am- 
herst College  were  also  compiled  for  and  published  in  its 
columns.  It  published  a  carefully-prepared  compendium  of 
the  general  news  of  the  week,  and  devoted  a  liberal  space  to 
choice  and  instructive  reading  of  a  high  moral  and  literary 
character,  and  thus  won  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  tirst-class 
family  paper,  which  it  has  since  fully  maintained. 

The  long  service  of  the  conductors  of  the  Gazette  is  some- 
thing remarkable  and  worthy  of  special  mention.  Mr.  Butler 
conducted  the  paper  twenty-nine  years  ;  Mr.  Judd,  thirteen 
years;  Mr. -Hawley,  eighteen  years;  and  J.  li.  Trumbull, 
Trumbull  &  Gere,  and  H.  S.  Gere  (to  date),  twenty-five  years  ; 
covering  in  these  four  editorships  a  total  of  eighty-five  years. 

During  the  ninety-three  years  of  the  Gazette's  existence 
thirteen  other  papers  have  been  started  in  Northampton,  and 
have  died  ;  also  five  in  Amherst,  besides  college  publications, 
and  three  in  Ware.  It  has  been  enlarged  eight  times,  to  meet 
the  demands  of  its  patrons.  No  complete  file  of  it  is  in  exist- 
ence, the  nearest  approach  to  it  being  in  possession  of  the  pub- 
lic library  of  Northampton,  and  open  to  the  inspection  of  the 
public.  Nothing  is  known  respecting  the  extent  of  the  circu- 
lation of  the  paper  during  Mr.  Butler's  proprietorship,  but 
when  Mr.  Judd  took  it,  in  1822,  the  number  of  copies  printed 
was  1020;  in  1827  it  had  risen  to  1968;  and  in  1834,  when 
Mr.  Judd  sold  out,  he  stated  the  circulation  to  be  1900.  It 
continued  to  increase,  and  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Hawley's  pro- 
prietorship it  had  risen  to  2400.  In  1858,  when  the  Gazette 
and  the  Courier  were  united,  the  circulation  was  upward  of 
3000,  and  it  steadily  increased  until  it  reached  a  weekly  issue 
of  3550  copies.  All  this  was  accomplished  without  systematic 
canvassing.  Its  subscribers  have  come  to  it  voluntarily,  and 
the  associations  thus  formed  have,  in  numerous  cases,  been 
continued  half  a  century,  and  in  some  instances  much  longer. 
In  many  families  the  paper  has  been  taken  by  father,  son, 
grandson,  and  great-grandson,  from  its  first  issue,  and  it  has 
been  greeted  from  year  to  year  with  ever-increasing  cordiality 
and  ajipreciation. 

A  familiar  feature  of  the  Gazette  is  the  peculiar  type  in 
which  the  heading  is  printed.  This  style  of  type  was  used  in 
the  first  issue  of  the  paper,  and  remained  in  use  until  1790, 
when  a  more  ornamental  heading  appeared,  and  was  used  until 
1804,  at  which  time  the  old  type  was  restored,  and  has  been  in 
use  ever  since.  Tradition  says  that  when  the  old  style  of  type 
disa])peared  from  the  paper  the  subscribers  fell  oft'.  The  style 
of  type  now  in  use  lias  been  the  same  for  eighty  years. 

The  paper  was  printed  on  a  hand-press  until  about  the  year 
1840,  when  a  power-press  was  used,  the  motive-power  still  being 
that  of  the  human  arm.  In  1853  a  small  steam-engine  was 
used,  and  from  1860  to  1866  the  motive-power  was  furnished 
by  a  caloric-engine.  Since  then,  a  ten-horse  power  steam- 
engine  has  been  in  use.  Until  1865  the  office  of  the  Gazette  was 
in  various  places ;   but  in  that  year  its  proprietors  purchased 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


217 


the  brick  school-house  just  in  the  rear  of  the  old  church  and 
the  court-house,  and  in  this  eligible  location  the  jwper  lias 
since  been  printed  and  its  business  conducted. 

Job-printing  was  not  a  prominent  feature  of  the  Gazeffc 
office  until  about  1850 ;  but  since  that  time  that  department 
has  gradually  increased,  until  now  the  Gazette  Printing  Com- 
pany's job-office  is  one  of  the  best  equipped  in  Western  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Twice,  for  short  periods,  the  Gazette  has  been  issued  daily. 
In  184G,  while  the  interest  in  the  Mexican  war  was  at  its  highest 
pitch,  Mr.  Hawley  issued  a  daily  from  May  27th  to  July  20tli ; 
and  in  1861,  from  April  2Cth  to  May  25th,  when  the  excite- 
ment over  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  was  most  intense,  a  daily 
was  printed  by  Trumbull  &  Gere. 

The  first  directory  of  Northampton  was  issued  from  the 
Gazette  office  in  1860,  b}'  Trumbull  &  Gere,  containing  valu- 
able historical  matter  relating  to  the  business-men  of  the 
town.  In  1874  another  directory  of  the  town  was  issued  by 
the  same  firm,  and  again  in  1875,  the  latter  being  the  most 
complete  and  valuable  historical  register  ever  published  in 
Northampton. 

The  subscription  price  of  the  paper  during  its  earlier  years 
does  not  appear  in  its  columns.  Jan.  1,  1796,  at  the  time  of 
the  first  enhirgement  of  the  paper,  the  following  ])ublisher's 
announcement  was  made :  "  Tlie  price  from  tlie  1st  of  January, 
1796,  will  be  nine  shillings  per  annum.  He  tiatters  himself 
that  every  person  of  liberality  will  readily  acknowledge  the 
justice  of  so  trifling  an  advance,  when  they  advert  to  the  in- 
tolerable rise  of  almost  every  article  of  consumption  in  the 
country,  without  taking  into  notice  the  extra  labor  and  ex- 
pense of  a  sheet  of  this  size."  In  1803,  under  the  heading 
"Conditions  of  the  Gazette,''  it  was  announced  that  to  town 
subscribers  the  price  was  §1.50  a  year.  "  In  neighboring 
towns,  §1,  provided  payment  is  made  within  the  year;  if  not, 
$1.25."  Under  Mr.  Judd's  management  (1822  to  1835),  the 
price  was  $2;  under  Mr.  Hawley  (1835  to  1853),  the  price  was 
$1.50,  in  advance,  and  $2  at  the  close  of  the  year.  In  1864, 
after  seven  enlargements,  the  price  was  advanced  50  cents. 

It  is,  perhaps,  needless  to  say  that  during  the  whole  period 
of  its  long  existence  the  Gazette  has  been  a  power  in  the  field 
it  has  occupied.  It  has  never  been  of  a  sensational  order,  and 
has  never  attempted  to  influence  tlie  public  by  any  other  means 
than  calm  and  candid  appeals  to  reason  and  judgment.  Its 
conductors  have  been  men  of  wisdom,  experience,  and  high 
moral  sentiment ;  and  sound  sense  and  a  desire  to  elevate  the 
moral  tone  of  the  community  have  been  its  leading  character- 
istics. It  has  had  many  able  contributors,  and  the  foremost 
men  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  and  the  adjacent  hill  country 
have  from  time  to  time  communicated  their  views  to  the  public 
through  its  columns.  Prom  long  association,  and  from  that 
confidence  which  comes  from  continued  appreciation  of  worth, 
the  people  of  the  county  have  been  largely  influenced  by  it  in 
their  political  action.  It  was  the  able  and  fearless  defender 
of  the  cause  of  the  government  in  the  stormy  period  succeed- 
ing the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  Whig  party  and 
its  principles,  and  of  anti-slavery,  loyalty,  and  patriotism  as 
embodied  in  the  Republican  party.  But  not  alone  nor  least 
in  politics  has  its  influence  been  felt.  To  all  measures  aft'ecling 
the  industrial  interests  of  the  people  of  its  region  it  has  given 
a  vigorous  and  efficient  support;  and  as  a  teacher  of  good 
morals  it  has  exerted  an  influence  that  has  been  salutary  and 
far-reaching.  And  to  future  generations  may  it  continue  to 
teacli  wisely  and  be  heard. 

THE    HAMPSHIRE    COUNTY   JOURNAL. 

On  the  13th  day  of  April,  1860,  Henry  M.  Burt  issued  the 
first  number  of  the  Northampton  Free  Press,  which,  after 
various  vici.ssitudes  of  fortune,  fourteen  years  later  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Northampton  Journal,  the  paper  thereafter 
bearing  ilie  name  for  a  few  years  of  The  Journal  atul  Free 

'  28 


Press,  when,  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  present  proprietors, 
its  name  was  again  changed  to  the  Hampshire  County  Journal. 
A  historj'  of  the  independent  journalism  of  the  town  of 
Northampton  would  be  incomplete  without  a  mention  of  the 
establishment  and  the  proprietor  whose  work  has  led  to  its 
present  culmination,  and  we  will  therefore  briefly  pass  them 
in  review.  Mr.  Burt's  venture  was  in  the  shape  of  a  semi- 
weekly  sheet  of  four  pages,  20  by  28,  five  columns  to  the  page. 
The  new  paper  met  with  a  warm  reception,  and  the  marked 
independence  of  character  and  managerial  ability  of  its  owner 
and  editor  soon  impressed  itself  upon  the  paper  which  he 
edited,  and  the  Free  Press  became  noted  for  the  vigor  and  in- 
dependence of  its  conduct.  We  may  as  well  mention  just  here 
that  the  paper  has  always  been  what  it  claimed  to  be,  a  free 
press,  non-sectarian  in  character,  and  extending  to  all  phases 
of  political  and  religious  belief  a  representation,  through  cor- 
respondence, in  its  columns.  This  policy  has  continued  with 
the  successors  of  the  old  Free  Press,  and  is  a  characteristic  of 
the  present  Hampshire  County  Journal.  In  1864,  Mr.  Burt 
enlarged  his  paper,  making  it  21  by  33,  and  taking  as  partner 
Charles  H.  Lyman.  This  partnership,  however,  lasted  but  a 
few  months,  and  Mr.  Burt  remained  the  sole  conductor  of  the 
paper  a  few  mouths  longer,  disposing  of  his  entire  interest  in 
the  paper  Dec.  9,  1864,  to  Albert  R.  Parsons,  a  native  of 
Northampton,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College.  The  Free 
Press  was  again  enlarged  under  Mr.  Parsons'  management 
the  following  year,  making  it  23  by  35.  In  December,  1869, 
Mr.  Parsons  disposed  of  the  establishment  to  Calvin  Porter 
and  H.  M.  Converse,  of  Northampton,  who  gave  the  paper  a 
new  dress  of  type  and  improved  it  generally.  With  the  be- 
ginning of  the  new  year,  1'871,  the  paper  was  again  enlarged, 
and  changed  from  a  weekly  to  a  semi-weekly  paper.  Mr. 
Porter  severed  his  business  connection  witli  the  Free  Press 
November  3d  of  the  same  year,  and  the  new  firm  took  the 
name  of  Converse  &  Burleigh,  the  senior  partner  being  Le 
Moj-ne  Burleigh,  a  young  man  of  considerable  experience  in 
journalism,  and  one  well  qualified,  so  far  as  education  and 
ability  were  concerned,  to  make  the  paper  what  it  should  be. 
Mr.  Converse  sold  his  interest  in  the  Free  Press  to  Mr.  Bur- 
leigh Feb.  1,  1873,  and  Mr.  Burleigh  continued  alone  the 
management  of  the  paper  until  its  consolidation  with  the 
Journal,  the  latter  being  established  Sept.  12,  1874.  This  was 
an  eight-page  paper,  printed  in  old-style  type,  as  is  tlie  present 
Journal,  its  successor.  Its  proprietors  were  H.  H.  Bond  &  Co., 
H.  H.  Bond  and  A.  M.  Powell  being  editors.  In  1875,  A.  G. 
Hill,  of  Florence,  bought  of  Mr.  Bond  the  entire  interest  in 
the  Journal  property,  and  consolidated  the  Free  Press  with  the 
Journal.  Geo.  R.  Edwards  was  publisher  of  the  paper  until 
November,  1876.  Jan.  1,  1877,  the  present  proprietors.  Wade, 
Warner  &  Co.,  took  charge  of  the  office.  During  the  famous 
Scott  and  Dunlap  burglary  trial  in  Northampton,  in  1877,  the 
Journal  evinced  a  characteristic  enterprise  in  publishing  two 
daily  editions  of  the  paper,  in  whicli  stenographic  reports  of 
the  trial  appeared. 

LE   JEAN    BAPTISTE 

was  founded  in  Northampton  the  24th  of  February,  1875,  by 
Burleigh  &  Chatel.  September  21st,  P.  0.  Chatel  became  the 
onl}'  proprietor,  and  it  was  enlarged  for  the  first  time  Dec.  15, 
1879,  being  then  only  19  by  25,  and  becoming  21  by  31.  On 
April  10,  1876,  the  proprietor  moved  to  Holyoke,  taking  the 
publication  of  the  paper  there,  and  on  May  16,  1877,  it  was  en- 
larged again.  On  March  6,  1878,  Mr.  Chatel  took  as  partner 
Mr.  A.  Dupenault,  but  dis.solved  18th  of  March  of  the  same 
year,  when  it  was  removed  back  to  Northampton,  where  the 
paper  started  with  about  300  subscribers,  and  has  now  reached 
over  1200,  and  was  all  this  time  well  patronized  by  advertisers. 
It  has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  French  paper  in  Western 
Massachusetts. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  obsolete  publications :   The 


218 


HISTOKY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Patriotic  Gazette,  established  April  12,  1799,  discontinued  soon 
after.  The  Republican  Spy,  started  in  Springfield  in  1803,  re- 
moved to  Northampton,  and  in  1808  changed  to  the  Atiti- 
ilonarchlst  and  Republican  Watchman.  Its  name  was  subse- 
quently changed  to  the  Democrat,  and  it  died  out  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  second  war  with  England.  Tlic  Hire  was  started 
in  August,  1803,  by  T.  M.  Pomeroy.  It  died  in  180-5.  The 
Oracle,  a  religious  paper,  was  established  in  1823.  The  Chris- 
tian Freeman  was  moved  from  Greenfield  to  this  place,  and 
published  by  J.  A.  Saxton.  The  Hampshire  Republican  was 
begun  Feb.  18,  1835,  with  Chancey  Clark  as  editor.  It  was 
soon  changed  to  the  Northampton  Democrat,  and  in  1847  was 
purchased  by  the  Sprinqfield  Post.  The  Temperance  Banner 
was  commenced  in  1835  by  T.  H.  Mather,  and  continued  about 
one  year.  The  Hampshire  Courier  was  established  in  1845  by 
A.  W.  Tha3-er,  and  was  merged  in  the  Courier  in  1848.  The 
shortest-lived  sheet  commenced  in  Northampton  was  the  In- 
dcpendent  Citizen,  in  1849,  by  H.  S.  Smith,  two  numbers  only 
of  which  were  issued. 

REPEESENTATIVK   MANUFACTORIE.S. 

The  Williams  Basket  Manufacturiu;;  Company. — This  estab- 
lishment is  one  of  the  leading  industries  in  the  State,  and  the 
largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  The  business  was  originated 
in  Huntington,  by  L.  B.  Williams,  in  1850.  It  was  continued 
at  that  place  until  1862,  when  it  was  transferred  to  Northamp- 
ton, and  conducted  under  the  firm-name  of  L.  B.  Williams  & 
Co.  until  18G7,  when  it  was  organized  as  a  corporation  under 
the  name  of  the  Williams  Manufacturing  Company. 

In  the  beginning  about  20  persons  were  employed,  and  the 
daily  production  amounted  to  about  300  baskets.  Bj'  shrewd 
management  and  the  manufacture  of  the  best  quality  of  goods 
the  business  has  grown  from  a  comparatively  .small  beginning, 
until  now  the  building  is  supplied  with  the  latest  improved 
machinery  in  this  manufacture;  they  employ  150  persons,  and 
manufacture  5000  baskets  per  day.  The  main  building  is  40 
by  210  feet,  three  stories  high.  In  addition  to  this  is  the  en- 
gine-room, etc.,  30  by  70  feet  in  size. 

As  remarked  above,  none  but  the  best  quality  of  goods  are 
manufactured.  Kattan,  bamboo,  oak,  hickory,  elm,  and  ash 
are  used  in  the  manufacture,  and  every  style  and  size  of  basket 
is  made.  L.  B.  Williams,  the  head  of  the  company,  who  is 
a  thorough  and  energetic  business-man,  has  rendered  this  es- 
tablishment a  grand  success,  and  it  has  a  reputation  as  a  suc- 
cessful business  concern  second  to  none  in  the  country. 

The  Nonotuck  Silk-Mill,  mentioned  on  page  222,  in 
connection  with  the  history  of  Florence,  is  really  a  contin- 
uation of  the  silk  enterprises  started  by  Mr.  Whitmarsh  in 
1830.  The  establishment  took  the  name  of  the  Nonotuck  Silk- 
Mill  in  1844.  From  a  comparatively  small  beginning  the 
business  of  the  mill  has  increased,  until  now  it  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  country,  employing  over  50O  persons,  and  the 
monthly  pay-roll  ranges  from  $9000  to  |15,000.  There  are 
two  mills  belonging  to  this  company, — one  located  at  Flor- 
ence, and  the  other  at  Leeds.  The  latter  mill  is  under  the 
Buperintendency  of  Lucius  Dimock. 

At  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  1876,  the  Nonotuck  Com- 
pany made  a  very  fine  and  comprehensive  exhibition  of  goods, 
and  attracted  much  attention.  It  has  become  world-famous 
for  its  particular  trade-mark  silk,  the  "  Corticelli,"  and  the 
business  promises  to  be  greatly  stimulated  by  its  Philadelphia 
exhibit. 

The  officers  of  the  company  are  Ira  Dimock,  president,  and 
A.  T.  Lilly,  treasurer. 

The  Belding  Bros.  Silh-Mill.— The  Beldings  establi.shed 
their  mill  in  this  town  in  1874,  in  the  building  formerly  used 
by  the  Arms  Manufacturing  Company.  The  pay-roll  amounts 
to  $1000  per  month. 

Warner's  Sillc-Mill. — The  present  site  of  this  mill  has  been 
occupied  in  silk-manufacture  since  1844.     It  passed  through 


various  hands,  and  finally  was  operated  a  lang  time  by  Joseph 
Warner  as  sole  proprietor.  He  died  in  1877,  and  in  the  same 
year  his  son  Luther  purchased  the  interest  of  J.  S.  Lathrop, — 
with  whom  Mr.  Warner  had  been  in  partnership  since  1871, 
— and  has  since  conducted  the  busine-ss  alone.  The  pay-roll 
ranges  from  $800  to  §1000  per  month. 

The  last  established  silk-mill  in  Northampton  is  that  of  J. 
S.  &  Henry  Lathrop,  who  employ  about  20  persons,  and  manu- 
facture sewing-silk. 

The  Northampton  Cutlery  Company,  at  Bay  State,  was 
organized  in  1871,  and  employs  about  2.50  persons,  and  the 
annual  product  amounts  to  about  §500,000. 

The  Florence  Sewing-Machine  Company  was  organized  in 
1861,  with  a  capital  of  §125,000,  and  the  first  machine  was 
brought  out  during  the  same  year.  The  present  Florence  Ma-, 
chine  Company  is  the  successor  to  that  company,  and  was  or- 
ganized about  three  years  ago.  They  manufacture  oil-stoves, 
skates,  etc.,  and  will  probably  soon  manufacture  the  new 
"Crown"  sewing-machine.  The  present  officers  are  as  fol- 
lows: D.  G.  Littlefield,  president;  L.  S.  Parsons,  vice-presi- 
dent ;'  H.  P.  Dibble,  treasurer. 

The  Florence  Furniture  Company  was  organized  in  1873, 
with  a  capital  of  §30,000,  and  its  present  officers  are  A.  T. 
Lilly,  president,  and  H.  B.  Haven,  treasurer  and  agent. 

Among  the  leading  industries  the  Maynard  Hoe-Factory 
may  be  mentioned.  This  is  the  only  establishment  of  its  kind 
in  Northampton,  and  justly  merits  its  present  success.  Other 
industries  are  the  Lamb  Wire- Works,  Mvim's  Foundry,  etc. 

The  Greenville  manufacturing  Company,  located  at  Florence, 
is  the  only  cotton-mill  in  this  town.  The  building  now  occu- 
pied by  this  company  was  erected  by  the  "  Community"  in 
about  the  year  1836,  and  used  by  them  as  a  silk-mill.  With 
the  decline  6f  the  "Community"  this  property  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Mr.  S.  L.  Hill,  who,  in  1844,  sold  it  to  J.  P.  and 
Samuel  Williston,  who  then  began  the  manufacture  of  cotton. 
In  1846  the  present  company  was  formed.  The  establishment 
employs  about  100  persons,  and  its  daily  product  amounts  to 
about  6000  yards  of  sheetings  and  drills.  A.  L.  Williston  is 
president  of  the  company,  and  F.  H.  Stoddard,  secretary. 

T/(e  Florence  Tack  Company  was  organized  in  1874,  under 
the  superintendence  and  -inanagement  of  Geo.  W.  Bond,  of 
Florence,  who  made  the  original  drawings  for  the  machines, 
which  were  made  at  Florence  under  his  directions.  The  com- 
pany was  fairly  under  way  when  the  factory  and  machinery 
were  destroyed  by  an  incendiary  fire  in  March,  1876.  The 
company  rebuilt  and  repaired  its  works  and  machinery,  and 
commenced  running  again  in  1877.  It  is  now  manufacturing 
about  forty  tons  of  goods  per  month.  This  company  manu- 
factures all  kinds  of  tacks,  brads,  finishing,  Hungarian, 
trunk,  chair,  and  other  small  nails,  between  three  and  four 
hundred  ditt'erent  sizes.  It  is  a  new  industry  in  this  section 
of  the  State,  and  thus  far  has  been  carried  on  successfully. 

The  Florence  Manufacturing  Company  commenced  business 
early  in  1866,  and  was  organized  by  the  following  persons, 
viz.,  Daniel  G.  Littlefield,  I.  S.  Parsons,  Geo.  A.  Burr,  Sam'l 
L.  Hinckley,  and  Geo.  A.  Scott,  all  of  whom,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Mr.  Scott,  were  former  members  of  the  firm  of  Little- 
field, Parsons  &  Co.,  which  had  for  more  than  twenty  years 
previous  been  manufacturers  of  various  kinds  of  goods  from 
compositions,  but  more  especially  daguerreotype  cases  and 
buttons. 

In  1865,  Mr.  Scott  introduced  to  the  firm  the  idea  that 
toilet-brushes  could  be  manufactured  to  advantage  by  the  use 
of  their  material  to  form  the  backs  and  handles,  which,  after 
many  months  of  experimenting,  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  the  present  company  and  the  liquidation  of  the  old  firm  of 
Littlefield,  Parsons  &  Co.  The  company  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  the  erection  of  a  new  factory,  40  by  125  feet,  three 
stories  in  height,  which  was  completed  and  occupied  by  them 
in  December,  1866.   Since  that  time  the  company  have  manu- 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


219 


factured  very  many  different  kinds  of  goods,  but  brushes, 
hand-mirrors,  and  buttons  have  always  been  the  most  promi- 
nent of  t}ieir  war'es.  The  predecessors  of  this  company  were 
the  first  in  the  world  to  successfully  combine  the  various  ma- 
terials used  in  the  construction  of  their  goods,  and  in  fact 
were  the  first  successful  manufacturers  of  composition  goods 
of  anv  kind. 


We  clip  the  following  concerning  this  establishment  from 
the  Dinj  Goods  Bulletin  : 

"Of  all  the  various  uiatcrials  employed  in  t'.ie  formation  of  the  backs  of  hair- 
brushes and  the  frames  of  hanil-mirroi-s,  nothing  can  surpass  ivurj'  in  costly  ele- 
.  gance,  or  wood  for  cheapness  and  general  utility.  For  a  large  class  of  trade, 
however,  sometliing  of  value  between  these  extremes  is  highly  requisite,  aud 
the  attention  of  inventors  aud  nianufacturei's  has  for  many  years  been  directed 
toward  supplying  this  important  demand. 

*'  There  is  an  artificial  subst^mce — the  composition  of  which  is  a  secret  known 
only  to  the  manufacturers — which  has  stjod  the  test  of  practical  apidication  for 
many  yeare,  and  steadily  gained  upon  popular  appreciation,  until  it  is  now  very 
widely  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  materials  iu  use  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  such  goods  as  we  have  mentioned. 

"The  article  referred  to  is  known  by  the  uame  of  *  Lionite,'  and  is  made 
only  by  the  Florence  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Florence,  Mass.,  organized  iu 
ISCfi  for  the  production  of  goods  under  tliis  patent.  Their  works  are  large  aud 
completely  etiuipped  with  the"  most  improved  machinery  aud  appliances,  and 
turn  out  an  immense  (puintity  of  goods. 

"  This  '  Lionite,'  when  it  emerges  from  the  steel  dies  in  which  it  is  moulded  to 
any  desired  form,  possesses  a  brilliant  and  enduring  polish,  and  faithfully  repro- 
duces the  original  ornamentation,  with  a  sharpne-ss  of  outline  and  perfection  of 
minute  detail  that  are  unapproachable  in  any  other  material  shaped  by  the 
moulding  process. 

"  It  is  perfectly  impervious  to  the  action  of  water,  and  is  not  affected  by  changes 
of  temperature.  Its  strength  and  elasticity  are  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  iu 
point  of  durability  it  is  practioally  indestructible.  It  can  be  colored  in  many  dif- 
ferent shades,  but  black  and  a  beautiful  shade  of  brown  seem  to  be  most  gener- 
ally preferred  for  the  backs  of  brushes  and  mirrors.  It  is  cheaper  than  celluloid, 
much  cheaper  than  ivory,  and  for  these  goods  equals  any  known  material  in 
beauty.  It  can  be  moulded  iu  patterns  of  the  most  elaborate  designs,  every  out- 
line being  brought  out  with  such  clearness  and  accuracy  as  to  challenge  com- 
parison with  the  most  elaborate  carving  by  hand. 

"The  backs  being  of  solid  'Lionite,'  not  merely  veneered  with  it,  the  bristles 
are  held  with  great  strength.  Besides  hair-brushes,  in  many  sizes  and  shapes, 
the  company  also  manufacture  a  large  line  of  cloth-  and  hat-brushes,  etc.,  with 
backs  of  the  same  material. 

"The  hand-mirrors  are  made  iu  numerous  graceful  shapes,  and  the  ornamen- 
tation of  the  frames  is  very  beautiful.  The  glass  is  of  French  or  German  manu- 
facture, made  and  imported  e.vpressly  for  these  goods.  In  quality  it  cannot  be 
surpassed. 

"  In  addition  to  the  above  uses  for  '  Lionite,'  it  is  now  applied  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  buttons  for  ladies'  dresses  and  gentlemen's  coat?  and  vests.  These  beau- 
tiful goods  are  produced  in  all  sizes  and  various  colors,  such  a.s  blue,  bniwu,  green, 
slate,  drab,  and  mottled  conibioations  of  color,  to  harmonize  with  the  shades  of 
populiu-  dress  fabrics.    The  demand  for  these  buttons  is  very  large. 

"  Tlie  company  also  manufacture  a  flue  line  of  hair-brushes  with  solid  wooden 
backs,  anil  the  best  article  of  metallic  hair-brushes  iu  the  market.  Their  sales 
e-vtend  to  all  sections  of  the  United  State.-,  amjng  dry-goods  jobbers,  dealei-s  iu 
fancy  goods  and  notions,  druggists,  etc.,  and  they  also  do  considerable  e-vport 
trade  t.)  Canada  and  South  Auieiica.  They  are  interested  in  a  large  factory  in 
London,  England,  where  they  make  full  lines  of  all  the  above-named  goods  for 
the  European  markets." 


The  compan}'  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  is  under 
the  active  management  of  George  A.  Burr,  Esq.,  who  is  treas- 
urer and  agent.     Capital  employed,  $140,000. 

Other  manufactures  may  be  found  in  the  history  of  Leeds. 

NOKTHAMPTOS   STREET   RAILWAY. 

In  I860  the  Legislature  granted  a  charter  to  Lewis  Bodman, 
Thomas  E.  Hastings,  Joel  Hayden,  Jr.,  and  their  associates, 
under  the  name  of  the  Northampton  and  Williamsburg  Street 
lliiilway,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  street  railroad  from 
Nortliarapton  to  Williamsburg,  the  capital  stock  not  to  e.vceed 
§300,000,  and  the  corporation  to  hold  real  estate  to  an  amount 
not  e.\ceeding  §100,000.  Work  was  commenced  on  the  road 
in  April,  1800.  The  company  soon  after  purchased  the  Amer- 
ican House  property,  corner  of  Pleasant  and  Pearl  Streets,  to 
be  used  for  offices,  stables,  and  genera!  headquarters.  The  road 
was  finished  and  the  cars  commenced  running  September  6th 
of  that  year.  In  1873  the  Legislature  authorized  the  corpora- 
tion to  change  its  name  to  the  Northampton  Street  Kailway, 
and  reduced  the  capital  stock  to  §50,000.  The  road  is  a  trifle 
more  than  three  miles  in  length,  commencing  at  the  Connec- 
ticut I'ivcr  Railroad  depot,  and  ending  at  corner  of  Park  and 
Pine  Streets,  in  Florence.  In  1873  the  road  was  newly 
equipped  with  smaller  and  lighter  cars,  which  are  run  regu- 
larly every  hour.  The  road  is  quite  an  accommodation  to  the 
citizens,  and  is  well  patronized.  The  total  cost  of  construction 
and  equipment  was  ?o0,12.j. 

CIVIL    LIST. 
SELECTMEN,  165.5   TO    1879. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  selectmen  of  this  town  from 
1655  to  1879: 

10.55.— Mr.  Fitch,  Richard  Lyman,  William  Miller. 

1(;5G. — Joseph  Pal-stms,  Samuel  Wright,  Jr.,  Isaacs  Sheldon. 

1C.57.— William  Holton,  Robert  Bartlet,  Thomas  Woodford. 

lGo8.— Thomas  Root,  Rijhard  Lyman,  and  Joseph  Parsons. 

16-iO-Ofl.— No  record. 

1001.— William  Clark,  Henry  Woodward,  Henry  Cunliffe,  Zachary  Field,  Sr., 

John  Steltbins. 
1002.— Capt.  Cooke,  Lieut.  Clarke,  Ensign  Wilton,  John  Strong,  Edward  Baker. 
lOM.— David  Wilton,  William  Clark,  Deacon   Ilolton,  Joseph   Parsons,  Robert 

Bartlet. 
1004.- Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Lieut.  Daviil  Wilton,  Lieut.  William  Clark,  Deacon 

Ilolton,  Mr.  Woodward. 
lOCo.— William  Clark,  David  Wilt.ui,  Deacon  Holton,  Henry  Woodward,  Samuel 

Wiight. 
1056.— David  Wiltjn,  William  Clark,  Deacon  Holton,  Thomas  Root,  Sr.,  Joseph 

Parsons. 
1007.— Mr.  Woodward,  Thomas  Rjot,  Sr.,  and  John  Lyman. 
1608.— William  Clark,  William  Holton,  Thomas  Ilanchctt,  Josias  Dewey,  Medad 

Pomeroy. 
lOCn.— Lieut.  Wilton,  Lieut.  Clark,    Deacon   Holton,  .loseph    Parsons,  Me.lad 

Pomeroy. 
1070.— Henry  Woodward,  Richard  Weller.  John  King,  Medad  Pomeroy,  Jonathan 

Hunt. 
1G71.— William    Clark,  Deacon    Holton,   Sergt.  King,   John    Stebbins,  Medad 

Pomeroy. 
1072.— William  Clark,  David  Wilton,  Deacon  Holton,  Henty  Woodward,  Medad 

Pomeroy. 
1673. — .Same  as  above. 

1074.— David  Wilton,  John  Stebbins,  John  King,  Jonathan  Hunt,  Medail  Pomeroy. 
1075. -William  Clark,  Deacon  Holton,  John  Lyman,  Henry  Woodward,  John 

Stebbins. 
-Wniram  Vlark,  David  Wilton,  Thomiis  R  .ot,  Sr.,  .lonathan  Hunt,  Medad 


1676.- 


Pomeroy. 


1077.— .John  Lyman,  John   Stebbins,  John   King,  Jonathan  Hunt,  and  Medad 

Pomerov. 
167S,-Aaron  Cjoke,  William  Clark,  Deacon  Holton,  Julin  Stebbiua.  John  King. 
1079.— William  Clark,  Joseph   Hawley,  Jonatlian    Hunt,  Judah  Wright,  and 

Medad  Pomeroy. 
I680.-Aaron    Cooke,   Joseph    Hawley,  John    King,   Thomas    Strong,   Medad 

Pomerov. 
-William  Clark,  Thomas  Judd,  J.oiatbau  Hunt,  Judah  Wright,  Ebenezer 


1681.- 


Strong, 


1682.-Winiam  Clark,  John  King,  Joseph  Hawley,  Joseph  Parsons,  and  Medad 

Pomeroy. 
168:5.-^ouathan   Hunt,  John  Clark,  Preserved   Clapp,  John  Bridgman,  Medad 

PitDiemV-  -  ,, 

l^S4._jadah  AV>i;4ht,  James  Wright.  Mr.  Iluuley,  Joseph  Parsons,  John  Bndg- 

man. 


'  A>- 


^''^H<^  220 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1685. — Cupt.  Cuoke,  Deacon  Pomeroy,  Sergt.  King,  Jonathan    Hunt,  Samuel 

Baitk'tt. 
1G8G. — Jonathan  Hunt,  Joseph  Parsons,  Ensign  Clapp,  Medad  Pomeroy,  Ebenezer 

Strong. 
1G87. — Joseph  Hawley,  John  King,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Joseph  Parsons,  Samuel 

Wright. 
1088. — Meilad  Pomeroy,  Samuel  Bai  tlett,  Joseph  Parsons,  Samuel  Wright,  Sergt. 

King,  Deacon  Hunt. 
1G89. — J.  King,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Preserved  Clapp,  John  Clark,  MeduJ  Pumroy. 
1G90. — Deacon  Phelps,  Deacon  Hunt,  Joseph  Parsons,  Thomas  Lyman,  John  Par- 
sons, Philip  Paine. 
1G91. — John  King,  Sr.,  Joseph  Parsons,  Ebenezer  Strong,  William  Holton,  Jr., 

Medad  Pumroy. 
1692. — Jos.  Hawley,  Ensign  Baker,  John  King,  Preserved  Clapp,  Medad  Pumroy. 
1693. — Capt.  Clapp,  Jos.  Parsons,  Samuel  AUin,  Judah  Wright,  Samuel  Wright. 
1694. — Jos.  Hawley,  Noah  Cooke,  Thomas  Lyman,  John  Clark,  Medad  Pumroy. 
1G95.— Capt.  Clapp,  Judah  Wright,  Samuel  Wright,  Wm.  Clark,  Medad  Pumroy. 
1G96. — Joseph  Pai-sons,  Wm.  Holton,  Samuel  Parsons,  Enos  Kingsloy,  Thomas 

Lyman. 
1697. — Capt.  Clapp,  John  Clark,  Wm.  Clark,  Thomas  Sholders,  Medad  Pumroy. 
1G98. — Preserved  Clapp,  John  Clark,  Judah  Wright,  Thomas  Lyman,  and  Samuel 

Wright. 
1699. — Joseph  Hawley,  John  Parsons,  Lyman  Weaver,  Ebenezer  Pomroy,  Wm. 

King. 
1700. — Joseph  Parson,  Samuel  Marwhall,  Benjamin  Edwards,  Medad  Pumroy. 
1701.— Capt.  Clapp,  Ebenezer  Strong,  John  Clark,  Sam'l  Wright,  Thomas  Shel- 

den. 
1702.— Joseph  Hawley,  Samuel  Parsons,  Thomas  Lyman,  John  Clark,  Medad 

Pumroy. 
1703. — Preserved  Clapp,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Judah  Wright,  Samuel  Wright,  Eben- 
ezer Wright. 
1704, — Capt.  Clapp,  Deacon  Clark,  Benjamin  Edwards,  Isaac  Shelden,  Medad 

Pumroy. 
170J. — Ebenezer  Strong,  Samuel  Clark,  Benjamin  Edwards,  Thomas  Shelden,  and 

Ebenezer  Wriglit. 
170G.— Preserved  Chqip,  Ebenezer  Wiiglit,  William  Soutliwell,  John  Stoddard, 

John  King, 
1707.— Siinuud  Bartlett,  Sr.,  Samuel  Wright,  Sr.,  Samuel  Clark,  Sr.,  Nathaniel 

Phelps,  Isaac  Shelden. 
170S. — ^Preser^'ed  Clapp,  Samuel  Clark,  Thomas  Shelden,  Ebenezer  Wright,  Wm. 

Southwell. 
1709. — Ebenezer  Pomroy,   Ebenezer  Wright,  Isaac   Shelden,   Jonathan   Hunt, 

Ebenezer  Strong. 
1710. — Joseph  Parsons,  Samuel  Clark,  Samuel  Wright,  Isaac  Shelden,  Thomas 

Shelden. 
1711. — John  Parsons,  Samuel  Wright,  Benjamin  Edwards,  Ebenezer  Wright, 

Thomas  Strong. 
1712.— Joseph  Parsons,  Samuel  Clark,  Thomas  Shelden,  Ebenezer  Wright,  Benj. 

Edwards. 
1713. — Samuel  Clark,  Samuel  Marshall,  Samuel  Wright,  Jonathan  Hunt,  Eben- 
ezer Pumroy. 
1714. — Joseph  Parsous,  Thomas  Slielden,  Ebenezer  Wright,  Benjamin  Edwards, 

John  Clark. 
1715. — Jolin  Stoddard,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  John  King,  Ebenezer  AV right,  Joseph 

Hawley. 
1716. — Jolin  Stoddard,  Joseph  Parsons,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Samuel  Clark,  Joseph 

Hawley. 
1717. — John  Stoddard,  Jos.  Parsons,  Thomas  Shelden,  Samuel  Clark,  John  Clark. 
1718. — John  Stoddard,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Samuel  Wright,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Jos. 

Hawley. 
1719. — Joseph  Parsons,  Thomas  Shelden,  Samuel  Clark,  John  Clark,  Jos.  Hawley. 
1720.— Jos.  Parsons,  Samuel  Clark,  John  Clark,  Judah  Hutchinson,  Joseph  Haw- 
ley. 
1721. — Ebenezer  Strong,  Benj.  Lyman,  Jna.  Kiugsley,  Ebenezer  Pareons,  Pre- 

ser^'ed  Clapp. 
1722. — Col.  John  Stoddard,  Joseph  Hawley,  Preserved  Clapp,  Nathaniel  Strong, 

John  Clark. 
1723. — John  S.  Stoddard,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Jos.  Hawley,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Jr., 

Ebenezer  Parsons. 
1724.— E.  Wright,  Jos.  Hawley,  E.  Parsons,  E.  Strong,  John  Clark. 
1725.— John  Stoddard,  Preserved  Clapp,  Sanuiei  Allin,  Nath.  Strong,  and  Jos. 

Hawley. 
1726. — Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Ebenezer  Wright,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Ebenezer  Parsons, 

John  Clark. 
1727.— Ebenezer  Wright,  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Jno.  Clai'k,  Presen'ed  Clapp,  Jos. 

Hawley. 
1728.— Ebenezer  Wright,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Ebenezer  Pareons,  Judali  Hutchin- 
son, Jos.  ILawley. 
1729.— John  Stoddard,  Eben.  Pomeroy,  P.  Clapp,  Jno.  Clark,  Jos.  Hawley. 
1730.— Eben.  Pomeroy,  Jos.  Hawley,  Eben.  Wright,  Eben.  Parsons,  Preserved 

Clapp. 
1731. — Jno.  Stoddard,  Jno.  Hawley,  Eben.  Parsons,  Jonathan  Strong,  Ebenezer 

Clark. 
1732. — Eben.  Pomeroy,  Jos.  Clark,  Preserved  Clapp,  John  Parsons,  Samuel  Clapp. 
1733. — John  Stoddard,  Jos.  Hawley,  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Samuel  Mather,  Jonathan 

Strong. 
1734.— John  Stoddard,  Capt.  Clajip,  Jr.,  Eben.  Paraons,  Samuel  Mather,  Timothy 

Dwight. 


1735. — Ens.   Ebenezer   Parsons,  Increase   Clark,  Samuel    Phelps,  Capt.   Tim. 
Dwight,  Ebenezer  Pumroy. 

1736. — Ens.  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Capt.  Preserved  Clapp,  Capt.  Tim.  Dwight,  Jona- 
than Strong,  Sergt.  Joseph  Wriglit. 

1737. — John  Stoddard,  Capt.  John  Clark,  Capt.  Preserved  Clapp,  Ebenezer  Pum- 
roy, Jr.,  Samuel  Mather, 

1738. — Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Cai)t.  John  Baker,  Capt.  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Dr.  Samuel 
Mather,  Increase  Clark. 

1739. — Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Capt.  Ebenezer  Pai-sons,  Capt.  John  Baker,  Increase 
Clark,  Samuel  Clark, 

1740. — Col.  Stoddai-d,  Col.  Dwight,  Capt.  Clapp,  Jonathan  Strong,  Samuel  Mather. 

1741. — John  Stoddiird,  Timothy  Dwight,  Samuel  Mather,  Capt.  Preserved  Clapp, 
Capt.  Ebenezer  Parsons, 

1742. — John  Stoddard,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Noah  Wright,  Capt.  John  Clark,  Sam- 
uel Mather. 

1743. — Not  recorded. 

1744.— Col.  Stoddanl,  Col.  Tim.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Noah  Wright,  Dea.  Ebenezer 
Pumroy,  Samuel  Mather, 

1745. — Not  recorded. 

1746. — Lieut.  Noah  Wright,  Dea,  Ebenezer  Pumroj',  Josiab  Parsons,  Sergt.  Eben- 
ezer Hunt,  Jonathan  Strong, 

1747. — Maj.  Joseph  Hawley,  Lieut.  John  Lyman,  Samuel  Mather,  Lieut.  Jona- 
than Hunt,  Sergt.  Ebenezer  Hunt. 

1748. — Ebenezer  Hunt,  Dea.  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Samuel  Mather,  Noali  Clark, 
Lieut.  Noah  Wright. 

1749. — Lieut.  Noah  Wright,  Lieut.  John  Lyman,  Dea.  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Ebene- 
zer Hunt,  Nathaniel  Clark,  Jr. 

1750. — Capt.  Jonathan  Hunt,  Dea,  Ebenezer  Pumroy,  Lieut.  Gideon  Lyman, 
Jonathan  Strong,  Jr.,  Joseph  Hawley. 

1751, — Dea.  Waitstill  Strong,  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Hunt. 

1752.— Cvd.  Timothy  Dwight,  Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  Capt.  Noah  Wright,  Ens.  Na- 
thaniel Clark,  Ens,  Daniel  Pumroy. 

1753.— Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  Ens.  Nathaniel  Clark,  Sergt.  Jonathan  Strong,  Jr., 
Capt.  Timothy  Dwight,  Maj.  Joseph  Hawley, 

1754. — Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  Sergt.  Jonathan  Strong,  Jr.,  Sergt.  Ephraini  Wright 
Ens.  Daniel  Pomeroy,  Joseph  Hawley. 

1754-72. — There  are  no  records  to  be  found. 

1772.— Joseph  Hawley,  Ephraini   Wright,  Elijah   Hunt,  Caleb   Strong,  Jr.,  T, 
Dwight. 

1773.— J.iscph  Hawley,  Esq.,  Timothy  Dwight,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Esq.,  Benja- 
min Sheldon,  Jr.,  Dr.  Eben.  Hunt,  Jr. 

1774. — Josepli  Hawley,  Esq.,  Timothy  Dwight,  Elijah  Hunt,  Ei)hraim  Wright, 
Elijah  Clark. 

1775. — Joseph  Hawley,  Esq.,  Mr.  Ephraim  AVright,  Josiah  Clark,  Jr.,  Elijah  Hunt, 
Elijah  Chirk. 

1776. — Joseph  Hawley,  Ephraim  Wright,  Elijah  Hunt,  Jacob  Parsons,  Ezra  Clark, 

1777. — Ephraim  Wright,  Jacob  Parsons,  Josiah  Clark,  Jr.,  Elijali  Hunt,  Caleb 
Strong. 

1778. — Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  Jacob  Parsons,  Elijah  Hunt,  Abner  B;uuard,  Simeon 
Parsons. 

1779. — Joseph  Hawley,  Esq.,  Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  Elijah  Hunt,  Mr.  Jacob  Parsons, 
Mr.  Abner  Barnard. 

1780. — Joseph  Hawley,  Esq.,  Mr,  Timothy  Dwight,  Benjamin  Sheldon,  Stephen 
Baker,  Dea.  Joseph  Clark. 

1781. — Jos.  Hawley,  Esq.,  Mr.  Quartus  Pomeroy,  Mr,  Abner  Barnard,  Capt.  Joseph 
Cook,  Caleb  Strong,  Esq. 

1782.— Hon.  Joseph  Hawley,  Esq.,  Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  Benj.  Sheldon.  Elijah  Hunt, 
Abner  Barnard, 

1783.— Hon.  Joseph  Hawley,  Hon,  Caleb  Strong,  Benjamin  Sheldon,  Elijali  Hupt, 
Stephen  Baker. 

1784.— Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  Benjamin  Sheldon,  Elijah    Hunt,  Moses   Kingsley, 
Doctor  Eben.  Hunt,  Jr. 

1785.- Benj.  Sheldon,  Elijah   Hunt,  Moses  Kingsley,  Doctor  Ebon.  Hunt,  Mr. 
John  Lyman. 

1786.- Elijah  Hunt,  Benj.  Sheldon,  Dea.  Moses  Kingsley,  Mr.  John  Lyman,  Dea. 
Elijah  Clark. 

1787.- Benj.  Sheldon,  Elijah  CUirk,  Moses  Kingsley,  Doctor  Eben.  Hunt,  Mr. 
Joseph  Clark. 

1788. — Elijah  Hunt,  Deacon  Moses  Kingsley,  Deacon  Elijah  Chirk,  Mr.  Joseph 
Clark,  5tr.  Benj.  Sheldon. 

1789.— Sjlonion  Stoddard,  Eiq.,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Esq.,  Joseph  Clark,  Sinieon 
Clapp,  Asahel  Pomeroy. 

1790.— Sjlomon  Stoddard,  Esq.,  S;imuel  Henshaw,  Esq.,  Mr.  Joseph  Clark,  Mr. 
Asahel  Pomeroy,  Wm.  Lyman,  Esq. 

1791.— Elijah  Hunt,  Benj.  Sheldon,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Eben.  Hunt,  Joseph  Clark. 

1792.— Eben.  Hunt,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Moses  Kingsley,  Joseph  Clark,  Josiah 
Diekinson. 

1793.— Elijah  Hunt,  Sol.  Stoddard,  Joseph  Clark,  Jona.  Strong,  Jr.,  Daniel  Wright. 

1794.— Elijah  Hunt,  Sol.  Stoddard,  Samuel  Henshaw,  Esq.,  Jona.  Strong,  Jr., 
Daniel  Wright. 

1795. — Sjiomon  Stoddard,  Daniel  Wriglit,  Medad  Alvord,  Moses  Wright,  Jos. 

Cook. 
179G.— Samuel  Henshaw,  E ^q.,  E^en  Hunt,  E.^  i,  Mr.  Josiah  Dickinsju,  Mr.  Moses 
Wright,  Mr.  Isiuic  Clark. 

1797.— ENen.Huut,  Esq.,  Samuel  Hensluiw,E^q.,  Josiah  Dickinson,  Moses  Wright, 
Isaac  Clark. 

1798.— Mr.  Josiah  Dickinson,  Dr.  Levi  Shepherd,  Mr.  Mosca  Wright,  Mr.  Jonas 
Clark,  Levi  Lvman. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


221 


1799.— Levi  Slieplienl,  Josiuli  Pickinson,  Moses  AViight,  Jonas  Clark,  Levi  Ly- 
man. 

1800.— Moses  Wiight,  Isaac  Clark,  Levi  Lymau,  Asahcl  Ponieroy,  Nathiiuiel 
Phelps.  1 

ISO!.— Asahel  Puuieroy,  Moses  Wright,  Levi  Lyman,  Isaac  Clark,  "William  Eil- 
\\art!t>. 

1802.— Asahel  Pomeroy,  Moses  Wright,  Isaac  Clark,  Levi  Lyman,  William  Ed- 
wards. 

1803. — Levi  Shepherd,  Esq.,  Maj.  Erastus  Lyman,  Charles  Starkweather,  Abuer 
Hunt,  Asahel  Pomeroy. 

1804.— Asahcl  Pomeroy,  Moses  Wright,  Jos.  Lyman,  Jr.,  Esij.,  Wni.  Edwards, 
Joua.  Strong. 

1805. — Asahel  Pomeroy,  Moses  Wright,  John  Breck,  Wm.  Edwards,  Jonathan 
Strong.  ^ 

180G. — Moses  Wright,  Asahel  Pomeroy,  Josiah  Dickinson,  Juna.  Strong,  John 
Breck. 

1807. — Asahel  Pomeroy,  Moses  Wright,  Josiah  Dickinson,  Lemuel  Clark,  Solo- 
mon Stoddard,  Jr. 

1808. — Josiah  Dickinson,  Phineas  Parsons,  Eli  Edwards,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Jr., 
Jona.  Strong. 

1809. — Asahel  Pomeroy,  Phineas  Parsons,  Eli  Edwards,  Jona.  Strong,  Soln.  Stod- 
dard, Jr.    . 

1810. — Eli  Edwards,  Jona.  Strong,  Isaac  Gere,  Elisha  Graves,  Phineas  Parsons. 

1811. — Asahel  Pomeroy,  Eli  Edwards,  Isaac  Gere,  Asahel  Strong,  Lewis  Strong. 

1812. — Joseph  Lyman,  Esq.,  Elisha  Graves,  Eli  Edwards,  Joseph  Cook,  Cephas 
Clapp. 

1813. — Jo.seph  Lyman,  Eli  Edwards,  Joseph  C-ook,  Elisha  Graves,  Lemuel  Clark. 

1814. — Joseph  Lyman,  Esq.,  Elisha  Graves,  Isaac  Clark,  Eli  Edwards,  Oliver 
Warner. 

1815. — Lewis  Strong,  Isaac  Clark,  Oliver  Warner,  Elisha  Strong,  Jonas  Clark. 

181G.— Isaac  C.  Bates,  Abner  Hunt,  Preser\ed  Bartlett,  Oliver  Warner,  Elisha 
Strong. 

1817. — Isajic  C.  Bates,  Oliver  Warner,  Lemuel  Clark,  Elisha  Strong,  David 
Strong. 

1818. — Jonathan  If.  Lyman,  David  Strong,  Eli  Edwards,  Elislia  Strong,  Oliver 
Warner. 

1819. — Jonatlian  H.  Lyman,  Eli  Edwards,  David  Strong,  Elisha  Strong,  Oliver 
Warner. 

1820. — Jonathan  IL  Lyman,  Eli  Edwards,  David  Strong,  EUsha  Strong,  Oliver 
Warner. 

1821. — Asahel  Pomeroy,  Levi  Lyman,  EUsha  Graves,  Elisha  Strong,  Isaac 
Damon. 

1822. — Levi  Lyman,  Asahel  Pomeroy,  Elisha  Graves,  Elisha  Strong,  Isaac 
Damon. 

1823. — Levi  Lyman,  Elisha  Gi-aves,  EUsha  Strong,  Isaac  Damon,  Samuel  Par- 
sons. 

1824. — Levi  Lyman,  Samuel  Parsons,  Joseph  Burnell,  James  Dickinson,  James 
Shepherd. 

1825. — Levi  Lyman,  Joseph  Burnell,  Jonathan  Strong,  Oliver  Warner,  John 
Wright. 

1820. — Jonathan  Strung,  John  Wright,  Samuel  Parsons,  Levi  Lyman,  Joseph 
Biiruell. 

1827. — Levi  Lyman,  Jonathan  Strong,  Joseph  Burnell,  John  Wright,  Sanmel 
Parsons. 

1828. — Levi  Lyman,  Jonathan  Strong,  Joseph  Burnell,  John  Wright,  Samuel 
Parsons. 

1829. — Levi  Lyman,  Jonathan  Strong,  Joseph  Burnell,  John  Wright,  Samuel 
Pai-sons. 

1830.— John  Wright,  Samuel  Parsons,  Eliphalet  WilUams,  William  W.  Thomp- 
son, Jonathan  Strong. 

1831. — Eliphalet  Williams,  John  Wright,  Samuel  Parsons,  Azariah  Clapp,  Joseph 
Burnell. 

1832. — Eliphalet  Williams,  Samuel  Parsons,  Azariah  Clapp,  Joseph  Burnell, 
Thomas  W.  Shepard. 

1833. — Eliidialet  Williams,  Samuel  Parsons,  Azariah  Clapp,  Joseph  Burnell,  Sam- 
uel Whitmarsh. 

1834.— Samuel  Whitmarsh,  Azariah  Clapp,  Eliphalet  Williams,  John  Wright, 
William  W.  Thompson. 

1835. — John  Wright,  Azariah  Clapp,  Julius  Phelps,  William  W.  Partridge, 
George  Cook. 

1830.— Juhn  Wright,  Azariah  Clapp,  JuUus  Phelps,  William  W.  Partridge, 
George  Cook. 

1837. — William  W,  Partridge,  George  Cook,  Joseph  Warner,  Azariah  Clapp,  Wil- 
liam Clark. 

1838. — William  W.  Partridge,  George  Cook,  Joseph  Warner,  Azariah  Clapp,  Jona. 
H.  Butler. 

1839. — ^W.  W.  Partridge,  Azariah  Clapp,  George  Cook,  Joseph  Warner,  Theodore 
Clapp. 

1840. — William  W.  Partridge,  George  Cook,  Benjamin  Barrett,  Thomas  W.  Shep- 
ard, Aniri  Allen. 

1841, — W.  W.  Partridge,  Benjamin  Barrett,  George  Cook,  Oren  Munger,  John  P. 
Williston. 

1842. — W.  W.  Partridge,  Benjamin  Barrett,  George  Cook,  Oren  Munger,  Juhu  P. 
Williston. 

1843. — William  W.  Partridge,  George  Cook,  Amasa  D.  Wade. 

1844.— John  P.  Williston,  George  Shepard,  Samuel  Williams. 

1845. — Samuel  Williims,  Geo.  Shepard,  Amasa  D.  Wade,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Chester 
Clark. 


184G.— Samuel  Williams,  Geo.  Shepard,  Amasa  D.  Wade,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Wm.  W. 

Partridge. 
1847.— Samuel  WilUams,  Milo  J.  Smith,  W.  W.  Partridge,  Amasa  D.  Wade,  Ansel 

Jewett. 
1848.— Wm.  W.  Partridge,  Charles  Smith,  Henry  Strong,  Lyman  Kingsley,  Eben- 

ezor  Strong. 
1849. — Charles  Smith,  Lyman  Kingsley,  Henry  Smith,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Amasa 

D.  Wade. 
1850.— Sanmel  Parsons,  George  Shepard,  David  Ivy,  Wm.  Pai-sons,  Samuel  Day. 
1851.— Samuel  Day,  William  Clark,  Chauncey  Clark. 
1852.— Samuel  Day,  Porter  Nutting,  John  W.  Wilson. 
1853.— Harvey  Smith,  Charles  Clark,  Sydney  L.  Clark,  Lucius  Lewis. 
1854.— Charles  Clark,  Samuel  WilUams,  Oliver  Warner. 
1855.- Azariah  Clapp,  Charles  Clark,  Oliver  Warner,  Justin  Thayer,  Samuel  L. 

Parsons. 
1856. — Oliver  Warner,  Azariah  Clapp,  Justin  Thayer,  Charles  Strong  (2d),  Luke 

Lyman. 
1857. — Samuel  L.  Parsons,  Justin  Thayer,  Luke  Lyman,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Edward 

Parsons. 
1858.— Samuel  L.  Hill,  J.  B.  Graves,  Hervey  Smith,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Luke  Lyman. 
1859. — John  B.  Graves,  Luke  Lyman,  Samuel  L.  Parsons,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Haynea 

K.  Starkweather. 
18G0.— John  B.  Graves,  John  F.  Warner,  Luke  Lyman,  S.  S.  Wright,  H.  K.  Stark- 
weather, Jr. 
18Gl.-John  B.  Graves,  S.  S.  Wright,  John  F.  Warner,  H.  K.  Starkweather,  Jr., 

Nathaniel  Day. 
1862.— John  B.  Graves,  Nathaniel  Day,  John  F.  Warner,  S.  S.  Wright,  H.  K. 

Starkweather,  Jr. 
18G3.— John  B.  Graves,  Nathaniel  Day,  H.  K.  Starkweather,  Jr.,  John  F.  Warner, 

Emory  B.  Wells. 
1864.— John  B.  Graves,  Nathaniel  Day,  H.  K.  Starkweather,  Jr.,  John  F.  Warner, 

Emory  B.  Wells, 
18G5.— John  B.  Graves,  Emory  B.  Wells,  H.  K.  Starkweather,  Jr.,  John  F.  War- 
ner, Nathaniel  Daj'. 
18G6.— H.  K.  Starkweather,  Jr.,  John  B.  Graves,  Emory  B.  Wells,  John  F.  Warner, 

Nathaniel  Day. 
1867. — H.  K.  Starkweather,  Nathaniel   Day,  Ebenezer  Strong,  Milo  J.  Smith, 

Charles  Strong  (2d). 
1868. — H.  K.  Starkweather,  Nathaniel  Day,  Milo  J.  Smith,  Ebenezer  Strong, 

Charles  Strong  (2d). 
1869.- H.  K.  Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Strong,- Nathaniel  Day, 'Milo  J.  Smith, 

Charles  Strong  (2d). 
1870. — Haynes  K.  Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Strong,  George  A.  Burr,  William  F. 

Quigley,  Joseph  C.  Williams. 
1S71. — H.  K.  Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Strong,  George  A.  Burr,  William  F.  Quigley, 

Joseph  G.  Williams. 
1872,— Haynes  K.  Stiirk  weather,  Ebenezer  Strong,  George  A.  Burr,  Joseph  C.  Wil- 
liams, W.  F.  Quigley. 
1873. — Haynes  K.  Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Strong,  George  A,  Burr,  J,  C.  Williams, 

W.  F,  Quigley. 
1S74.— H.  K.  Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Strong,  J.  C.  Williams,  W.  F,  Quigley, 

George  A.  Burr. 
1875.— H.  K,  Starkweather,  J.  L,  Otis,  J.  C,  Williams. 
187G,— M,  H,  Spaulding,  J.  L,  Otis,  J,  C.  WilUams. 
1877.— Luke  Lyman,  Marcus  Morton,  Oren  St«rer, 
1878,— Luke  Lyman,  Oren  Storer,  Marcus  Morton. 
1879,— Luke  Lyman,  Oren  Storer,  Marcus  Morton. 

MEMBERS     OF    GENERAL    COURT. 

1834.— Asahel  Strong,  Chas,  E.  Forbes,  Scth  Strong,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Jr. 

1835.— Isaac  C.  Bates,  Asahel  Strong,  Setb  Strong,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Jr. 

1836.— Thomas  Pratt,  C.  P.  Huntington,  William  Clark,  Jr.,  Samuel  Strong. 

1837.— C.  P.  Huntington,  Roswell  Hubbard,  Solomon  Stoddard. 

1838.— Eliphalet  WilUams,  Joseph  Warner,  J.  P.  Strong. 

1839.— Eliphalet  WilUams,  Wm.  Clark,  Jr.,  Calvin  Strong. 

1840.— Charles  P.  Huntington,  Cornelius  Delano. 

1841.— Charles  P.  Huntington,  Oran  Mungan. 

1S42.— Benjamin  Barrett,  Milo  J.  Smith. 

1843. — Erastus  Hopkins,  Nathan  Dikeman. 

1844,— Erastus  Hopkins,  W.AV.  Partridge. 

1845,— Erastus  Hopkins,  Henry  Dikeman. 

1846.— Elisha  Strong,  W.  A.  Hawley, 

1847,— Erastus  Hopkins,  Charles  S,  Smith. 

1S4S, — Erastus  Hopkins,  Wm.  Parsons. 

1849, — Erastus  Hopkins,  Wm.  Parsons. 

1850. — No  choice, 

1851. — Erastus  Hopkins,  Azariah  Clapp. 

1852. — No  choice. 

1853.— Oliver  Warner,  Daniel  Kingsley. 

1854. — No  choice. 

1855. — Daniel  Kingsley,  Samuel  L.  Parsons. 

185G.— Erastus  Hopkins,  John  Deming. 

1857-58.— W.  F.  Arnold. 

1859. — Samuel  L.  Parsons, 

18G0-C1.— Daniel  G.  Littlofield, 

18G2-a3.— Erastus  Hopkins. 

1864-66,— Lewis  J.  Dudley. 

1867.— W.  F.  Arnold. 


222 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1808.— H.  K.  Starkweather. 

1869-71.— W.  F.  ArnolJ. 

1872.— L.  J.  Dudley. 

1873.— Porter  Nutting. 

1874.— Isaac  Stone,  Wni.  H.  Gajlord. 

1875-70.— Mark  H.  SpauUling. 

1877.— John  L.  Otis,  Timotliy  G.  Spauhling. 

1878.— Wm.  M.  Gaylord. 

FLORENCE. 

Tliis  locality  was  first  settled  by  a  family  named  Warner, 
and  was  formerly  known  as  the  Warner  School  District.  It 
is  evident  that  for  more  than  a  century  the  population  centred 
chiefly  in  the  village  of  Northampton,  for  as  late  as  1812  there 
were  only  seven  houses  within  its  limits,  viz.,  those  of  Enoch 
Jewett,  where  Samuel  A.  Bottum  now  lives,  of  Oliver  War- 
ner, who  kept  a  hotel,  Wm.  Warner,  known  as  the  Bos  worth 
place,  now  the  site  of  Cosmian  Hall,  Josiah  White,  Gains 
Burt,  Capt.  Julius  Phelps,  and  Joseph  Warner,  and  oven 
as  late  as  1847  there  were  only  about  a  dozen  houses  in  the 
district. 

The  village  received  its  name  from  Florence,  the  great  silk 
emporium  of  Italy.  It  had  previously  been  known  as  the 
"Community,"  "  Bensonville,"  and  Greenville. 

One  of  the  first  enterprises  started  in  Florence  was  the  manu- 
facture of  silk,  by  the  late  Samuel  Whitmarsh,  in  1835.  In 
June  of  that  year  Mr.  Whitmarsh  purchased  of  William  Clark 
about  400  acres  of  land,  embracing  the  site  of  the  present  village, 
e.xcept  perhaps  some  of  the  upland  near  the  sewing-machine 
company's  works.  A  company  was  formed  with  a  capital  uf 
Sl.jO,000,  called  the  New  York  and  Northampton  Silk  Co.n- 
pany.  Ebenezer  Jackson,  Charles  H.  Talbot,  and  others  were 
connected  with  the  enterprise.  The  purchase  included  the  oil- 
mill  of  Mr.  White  and  the  water-privilege. 

The  company  erected  the  brick  building  now  used  by  the 
Greenville  Manufacturing  Company  for  the  manufacture  of 
silks,  but  before  its  completion  some  machinery  was  put  in  the 
oil-mill.  Mr.  Whitmarsh  soon  after  went  to  Europe  in  search 
of  a  better  variety  of  mulberrj-  than  was  then  grown  here.  He 
obtained  seeds  of  a  variety  which  he  called  the  "  Alpine  mul- 
berry." About  100  acres  of  the  meadow  land  were  set  with 
this  mulberry.  The  excitement  over  the  mulberry-trees  was 
almost  marvelous,  and  the  people  all  over  the  country  seemed 
to  grow  crazy  on  the  subject.  It  proved  a  speculative  bubble 
which,  when  it  burst,  brought  ruin  to  thousands.  This  silk 
enterprise  attracted  considerable  attention,  and  Daniel  Web- 
ster, Abbott  Lawrence,  and  James  K.  Mills,  famous  for  their 
advocacy  of  protection  to  home  industries,  came  here  to  inspect 
it.  A  small  quantity  of  sewing-silk  was  manufactured,  and 
samples  of  plain  and  figured  satins  were  woven.  Specimens 
of  the  latter  were  taken  to  Washington  by  Mr.  Whitmarsh 
and  presented  to  Henry  Clay.  Mr.  Whitmarsh  left  the  com- 
pany after  two  j'cars,  and  little  was  done  afterward.  In  1840 
the  property  was  purchased  by  Capt.  Jose]ih  Conant,  of  Mans- 
field, Conn.,  and  he  sold  it  in  1842  to  the  Community  Associ- 
ation. From  1841  to  1846  there  flourished  here  an  association 
called  the  "Community,"  which  gave  considerable  notoriety 
to  the  village.  The  objects  of  the  association  were  "  progress 
toward  a  better  state  of  society  and  the  development  of  a  true 
social  and  moral  life."  Its  founders  were  doubtless  attracted 
to  this  point  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the  silk  company 
nitd  the  sale  of  its  property.  The  total  investment  of  the  asso- 
ciation in  real  estate  reached  §-50,000,  its  members  numbered 
150,  and  the  estate  included  about  .500  acres  of  land,  a  silk-fac- 
tory, saw-  and  grist-mills,  and  foiu'  or  five  houses.  Its  business 
was  divided  into  departments,  each  branch  being  under  the 
management  of  a  special  director.  One  department  of  its  busi- 
ness was  the  manufacture  of  silk,  and  from  that  beginning  has 
been  developed  the  jirescnt  flourishing  Nunotuck  Silk  Com- 
pany. In  1846  the  a.ssociation  was  dissolved,  but  it  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  present  busy  and  thriving  village.  The 
leading  men  engaged  in  the  association  were  S.  L.  Hill,  Geo. 


W.  Benson,  Capt.  Joseph  Comtnt,  David  Mack,  and  William 
Adam.  Another  outgrowth  of  this  a.ssociation  was  the  "Free 
Congregational  Society,"*  which  is  now  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. 

The  first  store  was  opened  in  Florence  in  1850  by  I.  S.  Par- 
sons, son  of  Capt.  Samuel  Parsons  and  S.  L.  Hill. 

The  post-ofBce  was  established  in  December,  1852,  with  Mr. 
Parsons  as  postmaster.  The  postmaster  at  Northamptcm 
strenuously  opposed  the  establishment  of  the  office,  but  the 
Florence  people  finally  triumphed. 

THE    FLORENCE    KINDERGARTEN 

was  started  in  1874,  under  the  management  of  Mrs.  C.  B. 
Aldrieh.  At  first  it  was  carried  on  in  the  dwelling-house 
of  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Hill,  and  for  a  short  time  in  "  Lower  Cos- 
mian Hall,"  and  in  1876  a  building  was  erected  by  Mr.  Hill 
expressly  for  this  purpose,  with  grounds  set  apart  for  it  suit- 
able to  be  used  in  connection  with  it  for  plant  culture  by  the 
children.  The  institution  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  a 
board  of  trustees,  and  made  free  to  all  the  people  of  Flor- 
ence, each  one  contributing  such  sum  as  he  felt  disposed. 
Mrs.  Aldrieh  still  remains  the  principal,  and  there  are  sev- 
eral assistant  Kindergartens  employed  with  her.  The  exper- 
iment thus  far  has  proved  a  very  great  success,  and  is  becoming 
more  and  more  beneficial  as  people  begin  to  see  its  advantages 
and  avail  themselves  of  them  for  their  children.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  Kindergarten  regular  meetings  are  held  at  the 
Kindergarten  building,  called  "mothers'  meetings,"  where 
the  mothers  of  Florence  meet  and  consider  such  matters  as 
relate  to  the  care  and  culture  of  their  children.  In  1877 
a  training-class  for  Kindergartens  was  started  in  connection 
with  the  Kindergarten.  The  Kindergarten  and  training- 
class  have  gained  quite  a  reputation  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  there  is  every  prospect  that  the  benefits  which  its 
founder  desired  to  bestow  upon  the  Florence  people  will  be 
realized  more  and  more  as  the  institution  continues,  and  the 
people  will  have  advantages  as  to  the  culture  of  their  children 
such  as  few  other  places  will  ever  possess. 

FREE    CONGREGATIONAL   SOCIETY   OF    FLORENCE. 

This  sotiety  was  probably  the  first  religious  body  in  the 
world  to  organize  on  a  platform  of  entire  freedom  of  thought 
and  speech. 

About  thirty-five  j-ears  ago,  a  band  of  noble  men  and 
women  tried  at  Florence  a  somewhat  crude  experiment  of  a, 
new  form  of  social  life.  Their  ideal  was  high,  their  motives 
evidently  pure ;  hut,  their  pecuniary  means  being  too  limited 
for  the  successful  working  of  their  praiseworthy  undertaking, 
the  enterprise  was,  after  a  few  years,  given  up.  In  all  their 
public  meetings  freedom  of  discussion  was  maintained.  Some 
of  the  members  of  the  association  remained  in  Florence,  and 
they  and  their  friends  held  Sunday  meetings  in  that  place, 
though  not  regularly,  down  to  the  time  of  the  formation  of 
the  Free  Congregational  Society  of  Florence. 

In  pursuance  of  the  following  call,  signed  by  27  citizens  of 
Florence  who  had  been  interested  in  these  Sunday  exercises, 
and  who  believed  that  the  friends  of  religious  freedom  should 
avail  themselves  of  the  strength  there  is  in  union  and  organ- 
ized effort,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  fiiue  and  place  therein 
named. 

"7*0  Ute  People  of  Florence  ami  viciititt/ : 

"  All  iuteresteil  in  the  promotion  of  good  niorati,  general  education,  and  liberal 
religions  sentiments,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  or  of  whatever  sect,  creed, 
or  nationality,  are  invited  to  meet  in  the  South  School-House,  on  Sunday,  May  3, 
18G3,  at  3V^  o'clock  P.M.,  to  organize  arrangements  for  the  better  attainment  of 
the  objects  above-named." 

At  the  meeting  a  societj'  was  organized  by  the  adoption  and 
signing  of  the  following  articles  of  agreement: 

"  We,  the  nmlei-signed,  inhabitants  of  Florence  and  its  vicinity,  in  the  town  of 
Nortlnuupton,  wishing  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  advantages  of  associate  etfort  for 
our  advancement  in  truth  and  goodness,  and  for  the  promotion  of  general  intel- 

*  See  history  elsewhere. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


223 


ligence,  good  morals,  and  libeml  religious  sentiments,  do  hereby  agree  to  form 
onrselves  into  a  body  corporate  under  the  name  of  the 'Free  Congregational 
Sofiety  of  Florence.' 

"  Kespecting  in  each  other  and  in  all  the  right  of  intellect  and  conscience  to 
be  free,  and  holding  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  one  to  keep  his  mind  and  heart  at 
all  times  open  to  receive  the  truth  and  follow  its  guidance,  ve  Bet  up  no  theo- 
logical condition  of  membership,  and  neither  demand  nor  expect  uniformity  of 
doctrinal  belief,  asking  only  unity  of  purpose  to  seek  and  accept  the  right  and 
true,  and  an  honest  aim  and  effort  to  make  these  the  rule  of  life.  And,  recog- 
nizing the  lirotiicrhood  of  the  human  race  and  the  equality  of  luinian  right*?,  we 
make  no  distinction  as  to  the  conditions  and  rights  of  luendiersbip  in  this 
80ciet.v,  on  account  of  sex,  color,  or  nationality." 

Whoii  it  became  neccssan'  to  provide  or  erect  a  suitable 
churcb  edifice,  it  was  found  tbat  the  society  was  not  incorpor- 
ated as  the  statute  required  in  order  to  hold  property.  To 
secure  this  right  a  new  organization  was  formed  on  the  10th 
of  April,  1872,  the  old  society  continuing,  on  its  original  plat- 
form, to  exercise  all  the  educational  and  religious  functions 
for  which  it  was  originally  founded. 

Charles  C.  Burleigh,  who  had  been  for  a  number  of  years 
prior  to  May  3,  18G3,  employed  as  Sunday  lecturer  at  Flor- 
ence, remained  as  resident  speaker  of  the  Free  Congregational 
Society  of  Florence  from  that  date  until  April  G,  1873,  when 
he  resigned.  In  May,  1871,  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Powell,  now 
Mrs.  Henry  H.  Bond,  began  to  officiate  as  associate  resident 
speaker,  and  continued  until  May,  1872,  when  Rowland  Con- 
nor took  her  place,  and  officiated  in  that  capacity  until  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Burleigh,  when  Mr.  Connor  became  resi- 
dent speaker,  and  held  the  office  until  Aug.  1,  1874.  From 
this  last-mentioned  date  the  society  had  no  resident  speaker 
until  Sept.  1,  1875,  when  David  H.  Clark,  the  present  incum- 
bent, took  the  office. 

The  resident  speaker  is  not,  like  the  minister  or  pastor  of 
other  religious  societies,  the  mouth-piece  of  the  members, 
voicing  the  doctrines  of  a  cast-iron  creed  ;  he  speaks  only  for 
himself,  and  his  utterances,  like  those  of  any  other  member, 
are  open  at  all  times  to  criticism.  He  is  usually  engaged  to 
.speak  for  a  portion  of  the  year,  as  it  is  the  purpose,  and  has 
been  the  practice,  of  the  societj'  to  have,  during  each  year,  a 
variety  of  speakers,  so  that  every  phase  of  thought  shall  be 
fairly  rejiresented. 

When  the  society  was  first  organized,  its  meetings  were 
held  in  the  district  school-house;  but  on  Sunday,  April  17, 
1804,  it  began  to  hold  meetings  in  the  new  chapel  and  hall 
built  for  the  purpose,  in  the  then  new  building  called  Flor- 
ence Hall.  The  use  of  the  chapel,  hall,  and  librarj'-room  for 
ten  years  was  given  to  the  society  by  its  president.  In  1874 
a  spacious  and  beautiful  editice,  called  Cosmian  Hall,  was 
completed,  having  been  erected  for  the  uses  of  the  society  by 
the  subscriptions  of  members  and  others ;  the  larger  part  being 
contributed  by  its  generous-hearted  president.  Cosmian  Hall 
oost  about  §40,000,  and  includes  an  attractive  and  richly-deco- 
rated auditorium,  capable  of  seating  700  persons,  a  choice 
organ,  and  a  spacious  and  amply-furnished  stage,  upon  which 
dramatic  entertainments  are  frequently  given  during  the 
winter.  The  basement  contains  "  Lower  Cosmian  Hall" 
and  a  suite  of  rooms  which  constitute  the  parlors  and  culi- 
nary department  of  the  "Ladies'  Industrial  Union,"  an  aux- 
iliary of  the  societj'. 

It  is  the  aim  of  the  society  to  maintain  a  free  platform  ;  to 
oflFer  a  cordial  welcome  to  all  shades  of  honest  conviction  and 
opinion.  It  has  been  addressed  by  women  as  well  as  men, — 
the  representatives  of  Judaism,  orthodox  and  heterodox 
Christianity,  Spiritualists,  Scientists,  Theists,  and  Atheists, — ■ 
and  cherishes  the  persuasion  that  in  this  free  exchange  of  ideas 
and  hospitality  to  diverse  religious  theories  is  the  surest  prom- 
iseof  the  truth  which  Lord  Bacon  pronounces  "the  sovereign 
good  of  human  nature." 

Among  the  prominent  names  who  have  addressed  the  society, 
some  of  them  repeatedly,  are  Theodore  D.  Weld,  John  Weiss, 
Samuel  Longfellow,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  D.  A.  Wasson, 
Charles  E.  Norton,  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  Parker  Pillsbury,  Mrs. 


Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Wm.  J.  Potter,  Frederick  Douglass, 
M.  D.  Conway,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Francis  E.  Abbott, 
Beriah  Green,  Aaron  M.  Powell,  Mrs.  Caroline  H.  Dall,  AVm. 
H.  Burleigh,  Henry  C.  Wright,  Lucy  Stone,  Rabbi  Schlcisin- 
ger,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Samuel  Johnson,  Josiah  P. 
Quincy,  Horace  Seaver,  John  W.  Chadwick,  Mrs.  Frances  D.  « 
Gage,  William  Denton,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  S.  H.  Morse,  Giles 
B.  Stebbins,  J.  L.  Hatch,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Kingsbury,  Dio  Lewis, 
B.  F.  Underwood,  Mrs.  Lillie  Devereux  Blake,  Prof.  C.  S. 
Chandler,  John  T.  Sargent,  Frederic  Frothingham,  S.  J.  Fin- 
ney, John  F.  Moors,  Erastus  Hopkins,  Susan  H.  Wixon, 
Elder  F.  W.  Evans,  Dr.  R.  T.  Trail,  Mrs.  M.  W.  Campbell, 
Chas.  Lenox  Remond,  Mrs.  F.  E.  W.  Harper,  Edward  C. 
Towne,  Mrs.  Nellie  T.  Brigham,  Stephen  S.  Foster,  Henry  B. 
Blackwell,  and  George  Thompson. 

The  present  officers  are  as  follows :  Moderator,  Samuel  L. 
Hill ;  Clerk,  A.  G.  Hill ;  Treasurer,  A.  T.  Lilly ;  Executive 
Committee,  Seth  Hunt,  A.  T.  Lilly,  and  Joseph  Marsh;  Com- 
mittee on  Music,  L.  F.  S.  Plympton,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Learned,  and 
George  Shepard  ;  Committee  on  Sunday-school,  D.  H.  Clark, 
Miss  M.  W.  Bond,  Mrs.  H.  Clark,  Miss  Sarah  Titcomb,  and 
J.  M.  Davis;  Committee  on  Charity,  A.  Eldredge,  E.  L.  Ham- 
mond, Mrs.  Henry  Gould,  H.  Townsend,  R.  M.  Branch,  and 
Mi.ss  Julia  M.  Lilly. 

THE   FLORENCE   CHURCH. 

In  the  fall  of  1800  a  movement  was  made  for  erecting  a 
church  edifice  in  Florence,  Northampton.  Land  for  this 
purpose  and  for  a  parsonage  was  given  by  the  Greenville 
Manufacturing  Company  of  that  place.  The  requisite  funds 
were  raised  by  subscription,  friends  in  the  centre  of  the  town 
making  liberal  contributions.  The  immediate  success  of  the 
effort  was  in  large  measure  due  to  the  earnest  co-operation  of 
Rev.  Z.  Eddy,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Church.  In  the 
chapel  of  that  church,  on  Saturday,  the  20th  day  of  October, 
1800,  the  "  Florence  Church  Society"  was  organized.  The 
subscribers  to  the  building-fund  were  al.so  present,  and  united 
w'ith  the  society  in  choosing  a  building  committee,  consisting 
of  Messrs.  D.  G.  Littlefield,  A.  L.  Williston,  I.  S.  Parsons, 
Joel  Hayden,  and  J.  P.  Williston.  In  the  following  spring 
the  editice  was  commenced,  and  by  the  ensuing  fall  it  was 
finished  and  paid  for. 

On  the  9th  of  October,  1801,  26  members  of  difierent  evan- 
gelical churches,  having  adopted  the  subjoined  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Covenant,  were  regularly  organized  by  an  ecclesi- 
astical council  into  a  Church  of  Christ,  and  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day  their  house  of  worship  was  dedicated  to  the 
Lord.  For  six  months  after  this  they  had  the  services  of 
Rev.  T.  A.  Leete,  w-ho  had  also  labored  with  them  for  some 
time  previous  to  the  organization.  He  was  then  succeeded  by 
Rev.  S.  O.  Dyer,  who  supplied  the  pulpit  for  the  term  of  three 
months.  On  the  15th  of  December,  1802,  Rev.  Horace  C. 
Hovey  was  called  to  settle  as  pastor,  and  on  the  5th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1863,  he  was  duly  installed. 

A  special  work  of  grace  was  enjoj'ed  in  the  spring  of  1863, 
which  resulted  in  the  hopeful  conversion  of  27  persons,  who, 
on  the  profession  of  their  faith,  were  admitted  to  the  church. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  1800,  Rev.  Horace  C.  Hovey  offered 
his  resignation,  was  released  by  a  mutual  council  September 
3d,  and  closed  his  labors  with  this  church  Oct.  1,  1860. 

On  the  21st  of  the  same  month  Kev.  E.  G.  Cobb  was  called 
to  settle  as  pastor,  and  on  the  6th  of  December,  1866,  was  duly 
installed. 

An  encouraging  season  of  religious  interest  was  enjoyed  in 
the  spring  of  1807,  and  another  in  the  spring  of  1871.  Both 
these  seasons  began  with  the  week  of  prayer,  and  resulted  in 
the  addition  of  cheering  numbers  to  the  church  of  such  as  we 
hope  will  be  saved. 

The  following  were  the  first  members  :  Thomas  Pomeroy, 
Sarah  Pomeroy,  Joseph  B.  Whitehouse,  Martha  A.  White- 


224 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


house,  A,  Lj'manWilliston,  Sarah  T.  "VVilliston,  Julius  Phelps, 
Edith  Phelps,  Ansoa  B.  Clark,  Sarah  31.  Clark,  Israel  A. 
Graves,  Sarah  Graves,  Thomas  Gladden,  Mary  O.  Leete,  Lea- 
vitt  Beals,  Mary  A.  Beals,  Mehetahle  Pond,  William  C.  Bam- 
forth,  Martha  E.  Bamforth,  Plyrapton  H.  Smith,  Mary  A. 
t  Smith,  Eleanor  M.  Squires,  Eliza  Whitehouse,  Susan  P. 
Smith,  Isaac  S.  Parsons,  and  Anna  S.  Parsons. 

A  chapel  for  the  use  of  prayer-meetings  was  built  in  18(54, 
at  a  cost  of  §2000,  exclusive  of  the  land  which  was  donated 
by  the  Greenville  Manufacturing  Companj'.  Parlors,  cloak- 
rooms, etc.,  were  added  to  the  chapel  in  1877,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$3000,  and  in  the  following  year  the  church  was  re-frescoed, 
organ-recess  built,  new  organ  put  in,  etc.,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$1500.  The  church  has  ever  been  in  a  prosperous  condition, 
and  has  received  an  average  of  2-5  members  annually  since  its 
organization.  The  largest  number — .37 — joined  March  5, 
1871. 

The  present  membership  numbers  201.  The  present  officers 
are  as  follows :  Kev.  E.  G.  Cobb,  Pastor ;  Thomas  Pomeroy, 
A.  L.  Williston,  A.  B.  Clark,  A.  C.  Estabrook,  W.  L.  Wilcox, 
and  William  M.  Smith,  Deacons;  A.  B.  Clark,  Clerk;  A.  L. 
Williston,  Treasurer  ;  and  William  M.  Smith,  Superintendent. 

THE    FLORENCE   METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

The  first  Methodist  church  organization  eflected  in  Flor- 
ence was  in  the  spring  of  18.5.5,  although  congregations  from 
time  to  time  assembled  to  hear  itinerant  preachers  as  far  back 
as  1848.  In  this  year,  18.5.5,  Rev.  Jonas  M.  Clark,  now  living 
in  Northampton,  was  stationed  in  Florence,  and  under  his 
administration  the  first  class-meeting  was  formed ;  likewise  a 
Sunday-school,  which  became  prosperous.  The  Sunday-school 
library  was  a  gift  of  a  Mrs.  Douglas,  then  residing  at  Dr. 
Munde's  Water-Cure.  The  society  numbered  25  members, 
and  the  congregation  ranged  from  60  to  100. 

The  church  building  was  erected  in  the  years  1873-74,  at  a 
cost  of  910,000,  and  was  flni.shed  and  dedicated  in  September 
of  the  latter  j-ear, — that  is,  it  was  finished  as  far  as  the  vestry 
and  the  exterior  are  concerned  ;  but  the  upper  interior  of  the 
building  remains  at  present  (March,  1879)  unfinished,  although 
an  effort  is  now  being  made  to  complete  it.  The  size  of  the 
building  is  76  by  46  feet,  of  wood,  and  is  situated  at  the  corner 
of  Main  and  Park  Streets. 

Services  were  held,  previous  to  building  the  church,  in  Par- 
sons' Hall.  Jan.  22,  1871,  Davis  Hall  was  rented  for  the  use. 
of  the  society.  From  1858  till  1870  Florence  was  abandoned 
by  the  Northeast  Conference,  no  preacher  being  sent  there. 
But  in  1870  the  Methodists  in  the  place  made  a  move,  re- 
quested preaching,  and  obtained  it. 

The  following  are  names  of  pastors  of  the  church  :  Rev. 
Jonas  M.  Clark,  1855,  one  year ;  Rev.  W.  M.  Hubbard,  1856, 
one  year;  Rev.  John  Noon,  1857,  one  year.  No  preaching 
regularly  until  July,  1870,  when  Rev.  J.  S.  Whodon,  of 
Northampton,  preached  a  few  months  by  request.  Occasional 
preaching  was  done  by  Mr.  Joseph  Zwifvell  and  George  E. 
Sanderson,  of  Wilbraham  Academy.  The  church  was  re- 
organized in  January,  1871,  and  at  a  Quarterly  Conference 
held  by  L.  R.  Thayer,  D.D.,  presiding  elder,  Rev.  J.  Zwifvell 
was  appointed  preacher  in  charge.  But  in  the  spring  of  1871, 
Rev.  T.  W.  Bishop  was  appointed  by  the  Northeast  Con- 
ference, and  remained  here  two  years.  His  successor  was 
W.  H.  Cook,  who  remained  here  two  years.  His  successor 
was  R.  F.  Holway,  who  stayed  three  years.  His  successor 
was  Rev.  F.  Bowler,  present  pastor. 

The  present  trustees  of  the  church  are  as  follows :  H.  K. 
Parsons,  G.  F.  Miller,  D.  W.  Goodell,  C.  Humphrey,  H.  A. 
Crosby,  C.  Damon,  F.  W.  Moore,  J.  A.  Bray,  and  A.  Back. 

The  church  membership  is  117. 

LEEDS. 
This  village,  which  has  been  rendered  famous  bj-  the  extent 
of  its  manufactures  and  the  disastrous  flood  of  1874,  is  pleas- 


antly located  on  Mill  River,  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town 
of  Northampton. 

The  village  was  first  known  as  a  portion  of  the  Rail  Hill 
school  district,  and  was  afterward  known  as  Shepherd's  Hollow, 
or  Shepherd's  Factory,  until  1849,  when  it  received  its  present 
name  in  honor  of  Thomas  Mu-sgrave,  the  first  postmaster  at 
the  place,  who  was  a  native  of  Leeds,  England. 

The  pioneer  building  within  its  limits  was  the  dwelling  of 
Luke  Day,  erected  in  1793.  Other  dwellings  were  erected 
about  this  time  on  the  road  leading  to  Williamsburg  by  James 
Smith,  Calvin  Clark,  and  Nehemiah  Washburne. 

The  excellent  water-power  afforded  by  Mill  River  at  this 
point  early  attracted  the  attention  of  manufacturers  and  capi- 
talists^  and  the  first  manufactor}'  in  the  town  of  Northampton 
was  established  here,  and  for  many  j'ears  it  was  the  most  active 
portion  of  the  town. 

The  first  industry  started  was  a  saw-mill,  built  bj'  Joseph 
Burnell  in  1800.  A  cotton-mill  was  erected  on  the  same  site 
by  Job  Cotton,  in  1808,  and  in  1812  a  cotton-mill  was  erected 
a  short  distance  below  by  Col.  James  Shepherd.  These  mills 
were  subsequently  consolidated,  and  both  operated  as  woolen- 
mills  by  the  brothers  James,  Thomas,  and  Charles  Shepherd, 
sons  of  the  first  druggist  in  Northampton,  Dr.  Levi  Shepherd. 
This  firm  changed  several  times,  and  when  it  was  abandoned 
in  1857,  it  was  known  as  the  Northampton  Woolen-Manufac- 
turing Company. 

The  first  broadcloth  in  this  country  was  made  in  Leeds.  The 
weaver's  name  was  Benjamin  Jackson. 

Another  early  manufactory  in  Leeds  was  a  woolen-mill, 
built  by  Sidney  Webster  in  1813.  It  was  subsequently  pur- 
chased by  James,  Chester,  and  Calvin  Cook,  Jr.,  and  conducted 
under  the  name  of  the  Cook  Brothers.  The  establishment  was 
burned  in  1823,  but  was,  however,  immediately  rebuilt  and 
carried  on  by  the  same  firm  until  1827,  when  they  failed,  and 
the  property  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Shepherds. 

In  1828  a  hammer  and  screw-driver  factory  was  built  by 
J.  D.  Kellogg,  and  in  1835  he  erected  a  larger  establishment, 
which  was  located  a  short  distance  above  the  Nonotuck  Silk- 
Mill. 

Another  prominent  industry  in  Leeds  is  the  Mill  River 
Button  Company.  The  manufacture  of  buttons  from  vege- 
table ivory  was  commenced  by  A.  P.  Critchlow,  in  1860,  in  a 
wooden  building,  which  was  burned  in  1870.  This  was  replaced 
by  a  brick  edifice,  which  was  destroyed  in  the  great  flood 
of  1874.  In  1870,  Mr.  Critchlow  disposed  of  his  business  to 
George  P.  Warner,  who  conducted  it  until  1874  under  the 
name  of  the  Critclilow  Ivory  Button  Company.  The  disaster 
of  1874  seemed  to  almost  paralyze  the  business,  but  in  the  same 
year  a  new  mill  was  built,  and  the  business  has  since  been  con- 
ducted under  the  name  of  the  Mill  River  Button  Company. 

In  1867  the  Northampton  Emerj--Wheel  Company  was  or- 
ganized at  Florence,  by  J.  L.  Otis  and  L.  B.  Williams,  with 
a  capital  of  810,000.  The  business  was  commenced  in  1868, 
and  continued  at  Florence  until  1870,  when  the  company  was 
reorganized,  capital  increased  to  $40,000,  and  the  establishment 
removed  to  Leeds. 

The  people  at  Leeds  have  ever  manifested  a  lively  interest  in 
schools,  and  as  early  as  1814  a  school-house  was  built,  which 
stood  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  lumber-yard  of  the  Non- 
otuck Silk-Mill. 

Tlie  first  store  was  opened  by  the  woolen  company. 

May  13,  1874,  Leeds  was  one  of  the  attractive  and  prosperous 
manufacturing  villages  of  the  State.  The  following  day  it  was 
swept  from  existence  by  the  rushing  waters  from  the  broken 
reservoir.  Nothing  stayed  the  fitful  torrent.  It  obliterated 
streets  and  swept  away  mills  and  dwellings.  The  loss  to  the 
town  was  immense,  and  then,  when  it  is  told  that  51  human 
beings  perished,  it  confronts  us  in  all  its  horrors.*    None  of 

*  See  historj'  of  Mill  Elver  disaster  elsewhere  in  this  work. 


HISTORY   OF    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


225 


the  maiuifoctories  were,  however,  removed,  and  steps  were  at 
once  taken  to  rebuild  and  repair,  and  Leeds  has  now  resumed 
its  former  activity. 

NONOTUCK    HALL. 

Nonotuck  Hall  and  School-House  was  erected  in  1876.  It 
is  a  commodious  and  substantial  brick  structure,  two  stories 
in  height,  and  beautifully  located.  The  lower  story  is  used 
for  school  purposes,  and  the  upper  story  for  a  hall.  It  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  about  817,000,  §7000  of  which  was  paid  by 
the  town,  and  810,000,  including  furniture,  fixtures,  etc.,  by 
Lucius  Dimmock,  a  public-spirited  and  generous  citizen,  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  Nonotuck  Silk-Mill.  The  hall  is  one  of 
the  most  complete  in  all  its  interior  decorations  and  appoint- 
ments in  Western  Massachusetts,  and  the  building  is  lighted 
by  gas  and  heated  with  steam.  Mr.  Dimmock  cannot  be  com- 
mended too  highly  for  his  indefatigable  efforts  and  generosity 
in  furnishing  Leeds  with  this  thoroughly-equipped  edifice. 


SMITH'S   FERRY 

is  a  station  on  the  Connecticut  River  Railroad,  about  four  miles 
south  of  Northampton.  The  locality  was  first  called  "  Ly- 
man's Farms,"  then  "South  Farms,"  later  "South  Harbor, " 
and  in  1835  or  1836  was  given  its  present  name. 

THE    REBELLIOff    OF    1861-65. 

The  inhabitants  of  Northampton  responded  promptly  to  the 
call  for  troops  in  1861,  and  during  the  war  furnished  751  men, 
104  of  whom  enlisted  for  nine  months,  29  for  one  year,  and 
the  remainder  for  three  years.  Seventy-one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twelve  dollars  was  paid  for  bounties,  85234  of 
which  was  refunded  by  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1863 
equalizing  the  bounties  throughout  the  State. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  those  who  enlisted  from  this 
town,  as  compiled  by  H.  K.  Starkweather,  Esq.,  in  1868: 


SECOND  REGIMENT— THREE  TEAKS. 
Beuj.  B.  Clark,  Co.  D  ;  must.  May  25, 1861 ;  re-enl. 

Dec.  31,  lSO:i;  discli.  July  14,  1865. 
Jos.  C.  Clark,  Co.  D ;  must.  May  25,  1861 ;  re-enl. 

Dee.  31,  1863;  discli.  July  14,  1865. 
John  Cahill,  Jr.,  Co.  D ;  must.  May  25, 1861 ;  discli. 

for  disab.,  Jan.  27,  1S63. 
Jerry  Daley,  Co.  K ;  uinst.  May  25, 1861 ;  died  Dec. 

23,  1863. 
Edward  G.  Hoyt,  Co.  K  ;  must.  May  25, 1861  ;  disch. 

June  10, 1864. 
Lewis  Bianclii,  must.  Aug.  26,  1864. 
Michael  Beniiet,  must.  July  21,  18G4. 
Heory  W.  Cole,  Co.  K;  must.  May  25,1861 ;  disch. 

Oct.  6, 1864. 
Peter  Carter,  Co.  K;  must.  May  25,  1861;  disch. 

for  disab  ,  Jan.  17, 1863. 
Ricliard  Collins,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Jan.  7,  1864. 
Moses  Caswell,  C^.  H  ;  must.  July  21,  1864;  disch. 

July  14, 1865. 
Geo.  Carey,  Co.  H  ;  must.  July  21, 1864. 
Jacob  Cohn,  must.  Aug.  29,  1864;  disch.  July  20, 

1865. 
John  Conners,  must.  Aug.  24,  1864. 
Alfred  Denten,  must.  June  3,  1864. 
John  Eberhardt,  Co.  ,  ;  must.  \ug.  26, 1864;  disch. 

July  14,  1865. 
Geo.  Fisher,  Co.  G;  must.  June  1,  1864;  disch.  July 

14,  1865. 
Tliomas  Flynn,  must.  July  19,  1864. 
Ferdinand  Gezeuback,  Co.  A;  must.  June  9,  1864; 

disch.  July  14,  1865. 
Thomas  Haiiley,  Co.  A ;  must.  June  7,  1864. 
Thomas  llallenell,  Co.  A;  must,  June  8,  1S64. 
John  llandley,  Co.  A;  must.  June  2,  1864. 
Joseph  Lainant,  Co.  C;  must.  July  16, 1864;  disch. 

July  14,  1865. 
Chas.  Blunson,  Co.  C;  must.  June  6,  1864;  sick  in 

hospital  when  the  regt.  was  disch. 
Patrick  Murray,  nmst.  June  7,  1864. 
Chas.  Miller,  must.  June  8,  1864. 
Jame:s  .Murphy,  must.  June  1, 1864. 
James  Murray,  must.  July  2U,  1864. 
Martin  Maquinn,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
Adolph  Nildenble,  must.  July  16,  1864. 
Thomas  Moore,  must.  July  23,  1S64. 
Paul  Offinger,  must.  June  8,  1864. 
John  Ryan,  Co.  B;  must.  June  8,  1864. 
Geo.  Wilson,  Co.  G;  must.  July  20,  1864. 
John  Quinn,  must.  June  3,  1864. 
John  Rearden,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
Joseph  F.  Shepherd,  Co.  I;  must.  May  25,1861; 

disch.  for  disab.,  June  5,  1862. 
Henry  Smith,  Co.  B;  must.  June  8,1864;  discli. 

July  14, 1865. 
Patrick  Sullivan,  Co.  A  ;  must.  June  7,  1864. 
Henry  Speiver,  Co.  A ;  must.  June  7,  1864. 
Albert  Schneider,  Co.  C;  nmst.  July  16,1864;  disch. 

July  14,  1S65. 
Patrick  ScanIan,Co.  C;  must.  July  16, 1864;  disch. 

July  14,  1865. 

NINTH   REGIMENT— THREE   YEARS. 
Hercules  Butler,  Co.  B ;  must.  Aug.  19, 1863 ;  trans, 
to  32d  Regt.,  Juno  9, 1804. 

29 


Henry  Conklin,  Co.  E  ;  must.  Aug.  18, 1863;  sub. 

for  Watson  L.  Smith. 
John    A.  Reynolds,  Co.   A;  must.  Aug.  18,  1863; 

trans,  to  32d  Regt.,  June  10,  1861. 
Patrick  Sweeney,  Co.  F;  must.  Aug.  19,1863  ;  sub. 

for  0.  A.  Skilton;  trans,  to  Navy. 
James  Welch,  Co.  A;  must.  Aug.  9,  1861;  sub.  f.>r 

John  Metcalf ;  disch.  for  disab.,  Dec.  15, 1863. 

TENTH   REGIMENT- THREE  YEARS. 

Maj.  W.  R.  Marsh.  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861; 

disch.  June  14,.1862. 
Capt.  J.  B.  Parsons,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ; 

pro.  to  lieut.-col.,  July  25,  1862;  disch.  July 

1, 1864. 
Lieut.  J.  H.  Weatherell,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 

1861 ;  pro.  to  capt.,  Sept.  8.  1862 ;   died  from 

wounds,  June  20,  1864. 
Lieut.  Chas.  H.  Brewster.  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 

1861  ;  pro.  to  1st  lieut.,  Sept.  29,  1862;  disch. 

July  1,  1864. 
James  H.  Braman,  Co.   C;   must.  June  21,  1861; 

killed  in  action  at  Fair  Oaks,  May  31, 1862. 
Lewis  Day,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861 ;  disch.  for 

disab.,  Oct.  28,  1861. 
John  A.  Nims,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,1861;  disch. 

for  disab.,  July  18, 1862. 
Wm.  J.  Bishop,  Co.  C;  must.  Jniie  21,  1861;  pro. 

to  cjipt..  Sept,  23,  1863;  disch.  July  1,  1864. 
Alanson  E.  Munyan,  Co.  C  ;  must.  June  21,  1861  ; 

pro.  to  1st  lieut.,  Dec.  21, 1862  ;  died  of  wounds. 

May  5,  1864. 
H.  A.  Brown,  Co.  C:  must.  June  21,  1861 ;  pro.  to 

1st  lieut.,  Sept.  2),  1863;  di.sch.  July  1,  1864. 
Charles  H.  Bigelow,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1801 ; 

re-enl.  Dec.  21,  1863;  disch.  July  16,  1865. 
Edwin  Bates,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,1861;  disch. 

for  disab.,  July  15, 1861. 
Frank  Boies,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1801 ;  killed  in 

action,  no  date. 
Wm.  H.  BuUard.Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861;  disch. 

for  disab.,  Oct.  22, 1862. 
Frederick  W.  Clark,  Co.  C ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ; 

disch.  Oct.  17, 1862. 
John  H.  Cook,  Co.  C  ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  July  16,  1862. 
Thomas  Cahill,  Co.  E ;  must.  June  21,  1861 ;  disch. 

Juno  28,  1864. 
Chas.   H.  Daniels,  Co.  C;   must.  June  21,  1861; 

disch.  July  6, 1864. 
Chas.  S.  Edwards,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  re- 
enlisted  ;  disch.  July  16,  1865. 
Lewis  Endicott,  Co.  C ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  trans. 

to  Sig.  Corps,  Oct.  7,  1863. 
Ezra  nines,  Co.  C ;  must.  June  21,  1861 ;  disch. 

July  6,  1864. 
Eben  M.  Johnson,  Co.  C ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  re- 
enlisted:  trans.  to37tb. 
Wm.  M.  Kingsley,  Co.  C ;  must.  June  21,  1861 ; 

disch.  July  17, 1804. 
Marcus  T.  Moody,  Co.  C;  must.  Juno  21,  1861; 

disch.  for  pro.,  Sept.  18,  1862. 
Edward  F.  Moody,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,1861; 

disch.  July  6, 1864. 


Linus  P.  Noble,  Co.  C  ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

July  6,  1S64. 
Alvin  Rust,  Co.  0:  must.  June  21,  1861;  disch. 

July  6, 1864. 
E.  H.  Stanley, Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  died  at 

Harrison's  Landing,  July  30, 1802. 
Wm.  L.  Stnmg,  Co.  C  ;  must.  June  1, 1861 ;  discli. 

July  6, 1864. 
Geo.  S.  Bliss,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861;  disch. 

for  pro.,  Nov.  18,  1862. 
Sidney  S.  Williams,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861  ; 

taken  prisoner,  May  12, 1864  ;  relieved  at  close 

of  war. 
Frederick  C.  Wright,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1801  ; 

discb.  for  pro.,  Aug.  21,  1861. 
Wm.  Mather,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861  ;  disch. 

July  6,  1864. 
Thos.  Gorden,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

for  disability,  Aug.  6,  1861. 
James  Tuttle,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861. 
Albert   Witherell,  Co.   E;   must.   June  21,  1801; 

re-enl.  Dec.  21, 1863. 
Hiram  P.  Prentiss,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861; 

disch.  for  disal^ ,  March  2,  1863. 
Chas.  .\.  Rogers,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Juno  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

July  6, 1864. 
Geo.  M.  Kellogg,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

Jnly  6,  1864. 
Flavel  ShuitlefT,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  pro. 

to  capt.,  July  31, 1862;  disch.  July  6, 1864. 
Henry  W.  Pai-sons,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861; 

died  at  Washington,  Oct.  7,  1861. 
Calvin  B.  Kingsley,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,1861; 

disch.  for  disab.,  April  20, 1862. 
Geo.  C.  Wells,  Co.  0;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

July  6,  1804. 
James  II.  Abbott,  Co.  C;   must.  June  21,  1S61  ; 

killed  in  action  at  Spottsylvania,  May  12, 1864. 
Wm.  B.  Allen,  must.  March   19,  1802;   hospital 

steward;  re-enl.  in  37lh. 
Constant  B.  Bamerat,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21. 1801 ; 

killed  in  action.  May  3,  1863. 
Timothy  Brown,  Co.  D  ;  must.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

for  dlsali.,  Dec.  23, 1862. 
Norman  S.  Cornwell,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  18,1801; 

re-enlisted  ;  disch.  Jan.  6,  1805. 
C.  N.  Ch  imberlain,  Co.  C  ;  must.  June  21,  1801  ; 

hosp.  surg. ;  trans,  to  U.  S.  A. 
Henry  French,  Co.  E;  must.  June  21,  1861 ;  died 

April  19,  1862. 
Chas.  Hickey,  Co.  E;  must.  June  21, 1861;  re-enl., 

Co.  K,  37th. 
David  E.  Hoxie,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  18, 1861 ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  March  20,  1863. 
Chas.  Mclntyre,  Co.  B ;  must.  June  21, 1801. 
Henry  L.  Nichols,  Co.  E;   must.  June  21,  1861; 

disch.  July  1,  1864. 
Edwin  S.  Pease,  Co.  C ;  must.  Oct.  18,  1861  ;  died 

Feb.  4,  1863. 
George   L.  Thayer,  Co.  C;   must.  Juno  21,  1861; 

disch.  for  disab.,  Jan.  22,  1863. 
Chas.  C.  Wells,  Co.  C ;  most.  June  21, 1861 ;  disch. 

for  disability. 
James  Welch,  Co.  C;  must.  Juno  21, 1801;  re-enl. 

Dec.  21,  1863. 


226 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Cba«.  H.  Tliompson,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1861 ; 

disch.  for  disal..,  Aug.  12,  I8G1. 
Patriik  Lovett,  Co.  C;  must.  Nov.  C,  18G2;  killed 

in  iiction,  July  12,  1804. 
Dennis  Sliay,  Co.  C ;  mn!.t.  Nov.  6,  1802 ;  disch. 

July  1,1864. 
"Wallace  B.  Cullen,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Mai  ch  18, 1862. 
Clias.  W.  Evans,  must.  March  SI,  1862. 
Henry  F.  Kisk,  must.  Oct.  14,  1802. 
Frederick  H.  Crockett,  must.  Oct.  14,  1862. 
Chas.  S.  Dodge,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Sept.  7, 1861 ;  trans. 

to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Michael   Timothy,   Co.   D;   must.   Oct.   14,   1802; 

disch.  for  disab.,  March  12, 1863. 
Wm.  A.  Ely,  Co.  C;  must.  June  21,  1801  ;  re-eul. 

in  37th. 
George  F.  Hul.bard,  Co.  H;  mu.st.  Dec.  21,  186a ; 

trans,  to  37th. 
James  Londergan,  Co.  E;  trans,  to  37th. 
John  O'Brien,  Co.  E;  must.  Feb.  29,  1804;  trans. 

to  37tli ;  disch.  June  21,  1805. 

ELEVENTH    REGIMENT— THREE   YEARS. 
William  Slooe,  must.  July  18, 1804. 

TUIKTEENTH    REGIMENT— THREE    YEARS. 

James  Watson,  must.  July  20, 1864. 

NINETEENTH  REGIMENT- THREE    YEARS. 
Chas.  H.  Lewis,  must.  March  30, 1864. 

TWENTIETH   REGIMENT- THREE   YEARS. 
Francis  W.  Warren,  Co.  K  ;  must.  July  18, 1861. 
Frederick  Rockman,  Co.  K  ;  must.  June  6, 1864. 
John  G.  Becker,  Co.  K  ;  must.  June  7, 1864. 

TWENTY-FIRST  REGIMENT— THREE  YEARS. 

Edwin  Bates,  Co.  H ;  must.  Aug.  5,  1801 ;  disch. 
for  disab.,  Dec.  8,  1802. 

John  H.  Witherell,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  2,  1861; 
disch.  for  disab.,  Jan.  24,  180:1. 

Charles  H.  Morey,Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  2,  1861;  died 
Aug.  21,1802. 

Thomas  Gilmartin,  Co.  G;  disch.  for  disab.,  Nov. 
18,  1802. 

Edward  S.  .ilvoril,  Co.  H;  must.  Aug.  6,  1861; 
trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  .\pril  1,  1804. 

Thomas  FarrcU,  Co.  C;  must.  Aug.  19,  1801;  re- 
enlisted  ;  disch.  July  12,  1805. 

Lewis  Holmes,  Co.  C;  must.  .Vug.  19, 1801;  disch. 
Oct.  15,  1864. 

Edward  S.  Wright,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Aug.  16,  1861 ;  re- 
enlisted;  disch.  July  12,  1805. 

William  H.  Spi-ar,  Co.  U ;  must.  Aug.  5,  1S61 ;  re- 
enlisted. 

Lewis  Smith,  Co.  II ;  must.  Aug.  5, 1801 ;  disch.  fur 
disab.,  May  7,  1862. 

Marcus  M.  Cochin,  Co.  B;  must.  Aug.  19,  1801; 
disch.  for  disab.,  May  13, 1862. 

Thomas  I'uffer,  Co.  B ;  must.  Aug.  19,  1801 ;  disch. 
for  disab..  May  13,  1802. 

Thomas  StepheUii,  Co.  B  ;  must.  Aug.  19,  1861  ;  ro- 
enl.  Jan.  1, 1864 ;  missing  Juue  17,  1804. 

TWENTY-FOURTH   REGIMENT— THREE 
YEARS. 
John  Hnber,  Co.  B;  must.  Feb.  10,1804. 

TWENTY-SIXTH    REGIMENT-THREE 
YEARS. 
James  Bates,  must.  June  2, 1864. 
George  Hall,  must.  June  7,  1804. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH   REGIMENT— THREE 
YEARS. 

Frank  Alvord,  Co.  A ;  must.  Sept.  28, 1801 ;  rc-en- 
listed  ;  disch.  April  10,  1865. 

Calvin  Blackmer,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  14,  1861 ;  re- 
enlisted  ;  disch.  June  20,  1865. 

Wm.  W.  Bramaii,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861  ; 
disch.  Sept.  27, 1864. 

Henry  C.  Bardwell,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  18,  1801; 
killed  at  Roauoke  Island,  Feb.  8,  1802. 

Levi  Brooks,  Co.  A ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801 ;  disch. 
Sept.  27,  1864. 

George  A.  Birge,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861 ; 
disch.  Sept.  27, 1864. 


Joseph  A.  Birge,  Co.  A :  must.  Sept.  27,  lf61 ; 

killed  by  lightning,  at  Newbcrn,  N.  C. 
Thomas  C.  Brady.  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861; 

died  July  11,1804. 
Edmund  Bride,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  19,  1801 ;  re-enl. 

Nov.  25,  1804;  disch.  Jan.  26,  1865. 
John  L.  Clark,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  15, 1801 ;  re-enl. 

Nov.  25,  '  804  ;  disch.  Jan.  20, 1805. 
Patrick  Coffee,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  17, 1861 ;  re-enl. 

March  6, 1864  ;  disch.  Jan.  26,  1805. 
Joseph  Cunningham,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  21, 1861  ; 

re-enl.  in  37th;  disch.  July  16,  1805. 
Edward  M.  Cobb,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  21,  1861  ;  re- 
enl.  in  37lh  ;  disch.  June  20,  1805. 
Andrew  Cahill,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Si'pt.  27,  1801 ;  died 

Sept.  16,1802. 
Wm.  H.  Center,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861 ;  died 

Sept.  5,  1863. 
Sidney   Davis,  Co.   K;  must.  Oct.  24,1801;  re-cn- 

listed  ;  disch.  June  26.  1805. 
John  R.  Davis,  Co.  K  ;  must.  Sept.  14,1861;  re-en- 
listed ;  disch.  June  20, 1865. 
Andrew   J.   Dunham,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  15,  1801 ; 

re-enlisted  ;  disch.  June  20,  1865. 
Charles  M.  Damon,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861; 

disch.  Sept.  27, 1804. 
Henry  A.  Dwiglit,  Co.  H  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861  ; 
pro.   to   aipt.   July  1,  1802;    disch.  Sept.  28, 
1804. 
Leonard   F.  Dunn,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801; 

disch.  Sept.  27,  1804. 
Samuel  II.  Douglass,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801 ; 

disch.  for  disab.,  Feb.  6, 1863. 
Edwin  Foster,  Co.  A;   must.  Oct.  11,  1861;  disch. 

for  disab.,  Aug.  30, 1862. 
Frank  Frey,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801;  re-en- 
listed; taken  prisoner  Jan.  30,  1805. 
Henry  W.  Howard,  Co.  D;  must.  Juno  14,  1801; 

discb.  for  disability. 
Charles  A.  Howard,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  10,  1861; 

disch.  for  disab.,  April  5,  1804. 
Stanley  Howard,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  17, 1801 ;  discll. 

for  disab.,  Nov.  25,  1803. 
John  F.  Hatinuni,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  15, 1861 ;  re- 

enlistcd  ;  disch.  June  20,  1805. 
Patrick  llickey,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,1861;  re- 
enlisted;  d;sch  June  26,  1865. 
Levi  L.  Holmes.  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept. 27, 1861 ;  disch. 

Sept.  27,  1864. 
Thonws  W.  Lavake,  Co.  G ;  must.  Oct.  15,  1801 ; 

disch.  Oct  15,  1804. 
Thomas  J.  Porter,  Co.  G  ;  must.  April  8,  1802 ;  died 

Nov.  8,  1862. 
Thomas  Shay,  Co.  G;  must.  Juue  16,1802;  killed 

in  action,  Dec.  10,  1864. 
Albert  Mier,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  17,  1861 ;  disci). 

Sept.  27,  1864. 
Henry  0.  Moran,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1801 ;  died 

July  4,  1862. 
John  A.  Stockwcll,  Co.  A;   must.  Sept.  27,  1861; 

discharged. 
George  A.  Stockwell,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861  ; 

disch.  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Daniel  Haney,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  15,  1801;  re-en- 
listed; disch.  June  20,  1865. 
Edward  Hayden,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1861 ;  died 

Nov.  4,  1804. 
Michael  Keef,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  10,  1801 ;  disch. 

Nov.  1,  1864. 
Daniel  Knight,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  17,  1801  ;  disch. 

Nov.  1,  1804. 
Quartus  D.  Kingsley,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861  ; 

disch.  lor  disab.,  April  1,  186.3. 
Nelson  H.  Kingsley,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  ISOI  ; 

re-enlisted  ;  di-ch.  June  20,  1805. 
Zcnas  M.  Kingsley,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801; 

tiled  at  Newbern,  March  15,  1862. 
Louis  Kreizer,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  13,  1861  ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  Oct.  22,  1802. 
Edwarti  J.   Lewis,  Co.   A;    must.  Sept.  27,  1801; 

ilhcU.  Sept.  27,  1804. 
Luke  Lyman,  lieut. -col.;  must.  Sept.  17,  1861 ;  res. 

May  27,  1803. 
Chailes  C.  Loud,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  9,  1801 ;  re-en- 
listed ;  disch.  June  20,  1805. 
Albei  t    Macomber,  Co.  G ;    must.   Oct.   17,  1801  ; 
disch.  Nov.  1,  1864. 


James  Mahar,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  15,  1801;  re-en- 
listed; disch.  June  26, 1865. 
Edwin  Meachani,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  25, 1861 ;  died 

in  rebel  prison,  Oct.  20,  1864. 
John  Manix,  Co.  G ;  must.  Oct.  15, 1861 ;  disch.  Nov. 

1,  1804. 
Thomas  D.  Morton,  Co.  G ;  must.  Oct.  17,  1861 ; 

re-enlisted  ;  disch.  June  26, 1865. 
J.  Freeman  Nutting,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  19,  1861 ; 

re-enlisted;  disch.  June  26,  1805. 
E.  Porter   Nutting.  Co.  G;   must.  Nov.   1,  1801; 

disch.  for.  disab.,  July  29,  1803. 
John  M.  North,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1861 ;  killed 

in  action.  May  9,1864. 
Charles  H.  Otto,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  20, 1801 ;  disch. 

for  di.-ab.,  Jan.  1, 1863. 
Wm.  W.  Partridge,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  21,  1801 ;  rc- 

enlisted  ;  died  in  rebel  prison,  Oct.  15, 1804. 
Edward   W.    Pease,  Co.  G;    must.  Oct.  14,  1861; 

tians.  to  Vet.  Kes.  Corps,  Aug.  14,  186.3. 
Austin  E.  Phelps,  Co.  A;    must.  Sept.  27,  1801; 

disch.  Sept.  27, 1804. 
Al.ner  E.  Parsons,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801; 

disch.  Nov.  1,  1863. 
Jonaihan  A.Polmatier,Co.G  ;  must.  Oct.  14,  1801; 

disch.  Nov.  7,  lf62. 
Theodore  M.  Place,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861. 
Patrick  R  ley,  Co..G  ;  must.  Oct.  15, 1861 ;  re-enl.; 

dinch.  May  6,  1865. 
Edwin  J.  Reed,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1861 ;  discll. 

Sept.  27,1864. 
Henry  B.  Smith,  Co.  A  ;  must. Sept.  27, 1801 ;  disch. 

for  disal..,  Oct.  3, 1861. 
Isaac  Smith,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  15,  1861  ;  disch. 

Dec.  14,  1864. 
Sylvanus  .Smith,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept. 27,1861  ;  di=ch. 

Oct.  15. 1864. 
Elihu  S.  Smith,  Co.  0  ;  must.  Oct.  15,1861  ;  re-cnl. ; 

disch.  June  CO,  186.5. 
Thomas  F.  Smith,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1861  ;  re- 
enl. 
Henry  W.  Strong,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1801;  died 

Oct.  17,  1862. 
Egbert  Strong,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  22,  1801 ;  died 

Oct.  4, 1804. 
Julius  Strong,  Co.  G ;  must.  Oct.  15,  1861 ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  Sept.  24,  1862. 
George  A.  Stockwcll,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27, 1861 ; 

disch.  Sept.  27,  1804. 
Mark  H.  Spaulding,  1st  lient.,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept. 

27,  1861  ;  res.  March  19,  lf62. 
Fred.  C.  Wright,  1st  lieut.,  Co.  G;  must.  Nov.  20, 

1E61  ;  died  of  wounds,  June  27, 1804. 
Jas.  M.  Willard,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Oct.  16, 1801 ;  disch. 

Oct.  15,  1864. 
Francis  B.Willard,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Oct.  9, 1801 ;  disci,. 

Sept.  27,  1804. 
Justus  Wrislcy,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  10,  1801;  died 

April  1,  1802. 
Francis  Valcour,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  27,  1801. 
Joseph  Valcour,  Co.  D ;  must.  Oct.  14,  1801. 
Robert  J.  Kearney,  Co. G;  mu.st.  Oct.  17, 1801;  died 

April  5,  1862. 
Edwin  C.  Clark,  2d  lieut.,  Co.  A;  must.  Oct.  16, 

1801  ;  res.  March  10,  1802. 
John  H.  Hannum,  Co.  G ;  must.  Oct.  15,  1S61 ;  re- 
enl.;  disch.  Juue  26,1865. 
James  Ilallorau,  Co.  G  ;  mu-t.  Oct.  17,  IsOl  ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  March  1,  1862. 
Henry   Dickinson,  Co.  A ;   must.  Sept.    27,   1861 ; 

killed  in  action.  May  16, 1804. 
Lewis  H.  Fidler,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Dec.  29, 1863. 
Francis  G.  Russell,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Dec.  19, 1863 ;  died 

in  rebel  prison,  .Inly  17,  1864. 
Ezra  B. Loveiing, Co. G ;  must.  Aug.  31, 1864 ;  disch. 

June  26, 1865. 
Chas.  L.  Wright,  Co.  C;  must. .Ian.  16, 1804;  disch. 

June  26,  180.5. 
Ileniy  M.  Pittsinger,  Co.  C;  must.  Jan.  10,  1S04; 

disch.  May  25,  1865. 
Franklin  Bailey,  Co.  C;  mu.st.  Jan.  10,  1S04. 
Hiram  J.  Van  Steamberry,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Sept.  20, 
1861. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH   BLGIMENT— THREE 

YEARS. 
Joseph  Piiynet,  must.  April  4,  18G4. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


227 


THIRTY-FIRST  REGIMENT— THREE  YEARS. 

Siliis  Bucknam,  Cu.  B;  must.  J:iii.  0,1802;  re-enl.; 
discli.  June  21,  180.5. 

Nattmn  H.  Clapp,  Co.  B;  must.  Nov.  20,  1.961. 

Sydney  S.  Olapp,  Co.  B ;  must.  Oct.  It.  1861. 

Wm   L.  Cowing,  Co.  B;  must.  Nov.  20,  1861. 

Mkhael  H.  Dunn,  Co.  B;  must.  Nov.  20,  1801. 

Daniel  Fninzen,  Co.  B;  nuHt.  Nov. 2G,  1861 ;  re-enl. 

George  Moran,  Co.  F;  must.  Nov. 20,  1861 ;  re-enl. 
Feb.  13,  laOi. 

George  C.  Green,  Co.  G;  mu«t.  Nov.  26,  1801. 

Edwin  B.  NoWe,  Co.  B;  mnst.  Nov.  20, 1861 ;  disch, 
Nov.  19,  1864. 

Henry  K.  Nul>Ie,Co.  B;  must.  Nov.  25, 1861  ;  diach. 
Nov.  1<^804. 

Joseph  Neido,  Co.G;  must.  .Ian.  0,  1802. 

John  R.  P,irsons,  Co.  B;  mnst.  Nov.  20,  1861. 

James  0.  Pierce,  Co.  B  ;  must.  Nov.  2,  1861. 

Wm.  H.  Sperbecli,  Co.  G;  must.  Jiin.  9,  1802;  re- 
enlisted  ;  disch.  Sept.  9,  1805. 

Jerry  Sullivan,  Co.  B;  must.  Oct.  4,  1801. 

Henry  Shuruer,  Co.  H;  must.  Feb.  19,  1862;  re- 
enl  istpd  in  U.  S.  \, 

Caleb  F.  Tufts,  Co.  H;  must.  Jan.  21,  1862;  disch. 
for  disab.,  June  18,  18li2. 

Geo.  W.  Jones,  Co.  A;  mnst.  Jan.  2,  1804;  disch. 
Sept.  9,  1865. 

Franklin  Meyers,  Co.  A;  must.  Jan.  7,  1864. 

THIRTY-TmUD  REGIMENT— THREE  YEARS. 
Thomas  Donnally,  muut.  June  9,  1864. 

THIRTY-FOURTH    REGIMENT— THREE 

YEARS. 
Frank  W.  Gordon,  Co.  D;   mnst.  Juno  22,  1862; 

disch.  for  disab.,  May  7,  1803. 
Melvin  Packard,  must.  Jan.  13,  1804. 

THIRTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT— THREE  YEARS. 
Charles  Eyles,  Co.  K;  must.  July  21,  1804;  trans, 
to  29tli. 

THIRTY-SIXTH  REGIMENT— THREE  TEARS. 
Frederick  Banfirth,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Aug.  2,5,  1864 ; 

disch.  July  12,  1804. 
MichaelMerrick,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Aug.  25, 1864;  trans. 

to  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  March  8, 1863. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT— THREE 

YEARS. 

Austin  J.  AUis,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  6, 1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
George  H.  Ames, Co.G;  must.  Aug.30, 1862;'disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Wm.  Ackers,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,1862;  died  Oct. 

9,  1S03. 
Hubbard  M.  Abbjtt,  Co.  G;  mnst.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

pro.  to  Ist  lii-nt. ;  di.«ch.  June  21,  1805. 
Ira  H.  Aldrich,  Co.  6;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862  ;  disch. 

June  21,  1805. 
Jonathan  J.  Aldricll,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802; 

disch.  June  21, 1805. 
Levi  H.  Bartlett,  Co.  G  ;  nmst.  Aug.  30, 1802 ;  disch. 

June  21,  1805. 
Wm.  Bliss,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  27,  1862;  pro.  to 

captain  Res.,  Dec.  25,  1864. 
Samuel  Burks,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch. 

June  21,  1805. 
Simeon  Birge,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Wm.  C.  Birge,  Co.  G;  mnst.  Aug.  30,  1862;  disch. 

■with  loss  of  arm,  Feb.  24,  I860. 
Edmund  M.  B.irtlett,  Co.  G ;  mitst.  Aug.  30,  1862  ; 

sick  in  hosp.  when  tlie  regt.  was  must.  out. 
Calix  Bushman,  Co.  O  ;  mnst.  Aug.  30, 1862;  killed 

at  Fort  Fisher,  April  2,  1865. 
Wm.  H.  Bigelow,  Co.  O  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  sick 

in  hosp.  when  the  regt,  was  must.  out. 
John  E.  Banks,  Co,  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862 ;  killed 

at  Charlestown,  Va.,  Aug.  21, 1804. 
Henry  Belden,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  disch. 

June  21,  1805. 
Seth  Belden,  Co.  G;  m-ust.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  killed  at 

Winchester,  Va.,  Sept.  19, 1864. 
Ed.  Bridgman,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862;  pro.  to 

1st  lient. ;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Edward  P.  Bridgman,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1802 ; 

disch.  June  21,  1866. 


Joseph  Bushman,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862 ;  killed 

in  Wiideiness,  May  0,  1804. 
Ogdcn  D.  Bucknam,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802; 

disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Ozro  M.  Bird,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
John  Bamhardt,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  :10, 1862 ;  disch. 

for  disab..  May  30, 1865. 
Horace  P.  Clark,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1802 ;  disch. 

June  21,  1805. 
Geo.  C.  Clapp,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  disch. 

A|iril  13,  1865. 
Christopher  C.  Colsou,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  .30, 1862  ; 

sick  in  hosp.  when  the  regt.  was  must.  out. 
John  W.  Carter,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862 ;  discli. 

June  21,  1865. 
David  Congden,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  disch. 

July  10,1803. 
James  Crampton,Co  K  ;  must.  Aug.  9, 1802;  killed 

at  Gettysburg,  July  13,  1863. 
Leaniler  F.  Dawes,  Co.  G;   must.  Aug.  30,  1802; 

disch.  July  21,  1865. 
Ashley  \V.  Dickinson,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.30, 1862  ; 

disch.  July  21,  180,5. 
Lnko  Day,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch.  July 

21,1805. 
Henry  Doane,  Co.  G;  mnst.  Aug,  30,  1802;  sick  in 

hosj).  when  the  regt.  wjis  must.  out. 
Wm.  H.  Damon,  Co.  G ;  mnst.  Aug.  30,  1802  ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  Feb.  25,  1S6!. 
Henry  E.  D.ayton,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862. 
Frank  0.  Dayton,  Co.  G  ;  mnst.  Aug.  3",  1862. 
Thoiuiis   Dumfp'e,  Co.  G;   must.   Aug.  311,   1862; 

disch.  Jnue  21, 1865. 
George  W.  Edwards,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

disch.  June  21,  1S65. 
Wm.  A.  E1.V,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch. 

June  21,  1803. 
Wm.  Farlell,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862. 
John  Fortune,  Co.  K;  must.  Aug.  13, 1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1885. 
Francis  A.  Gouch,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

disch.  for  disab  ,  Nov.  17, 1863. 
Elisha  Graves,  Jr.,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802 ;  sick 

in  hosp.  when  the  regt.  was  must.  out. 
Dolphus   Hulljurt,  Co.  G;   must.   Aug.  30,  1802; 

disch.  April  19,  1865. 
Milo  Holmes,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug   30,  1862;  died 

at  Washington,  Aug.  9,  1863. 
Richard  Haughton,  Co.  G;  mnst.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Segnr  R.  H  irris,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1362  ;  died 

May  1,  1804. 
Osborne  C.  Hiltchins,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862 ; 

disch.  June  21,  186.5. 
Erastus  Harris,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  pro. 

to  Ist  lieut.,  Co.  E;  disch,  June  21,  1805. 
Pascal    Janes,  Jr.,   Co.  G;  must.   Aug.  30,  1802; 

killed  at  Petei-sburg,  Va.,  June  18,  1864. 
Chas.  A.  Kellogg,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862. 
Theodore  P.  Kingsley,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1802 ; 

disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Albert  C.  Kinn-y,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

disch.  for  wounds,  Aug.  21,  1863. 
Wm.  M.  Knapp,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862  ;  killed 
in  action,  May  6,  1804,  in  battle  of  Wilderness. 
Ho.:ry  Leonard,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  3U,  1802;  died 

April  1,  1864.  , 
Solomon  C.  Lacore,  Co.  G ;  mnst.  Aug.  30,  1802 ; 

disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Lewis  Lanier,  Co.  G;   must.  Aug,  30,  1862;  died 

Feb.  6,  1863. 
Waldo  Ludden,  Co.  G;  must,  Aug,  30,  1862  ;  disch. 

June  21, 1865. 
James  Mitchell,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug,  ,30,  1862  ;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Thom.as  McKnight,  Co,  G ;  mnst,  Aug,  30,  1802. 
Joshua  May,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Albert  J.  Munyan,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ; 

on  detached  duty  when  regt.  was  mnst.  out. 
Morris  Moore,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  killed 

iu  Wilderness,  May  6,  1804. 
Michael  Melian,  Co.  K  ;  must.  Aug.  9, 1802. 
John  Marcey,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  disch. 

June  21,  1863. 
Marcus  T.  Moody,  capt.,  Co.  G;  must.  Sept.  18, 


1862  ;  pro.  to  major,  Dec.  5,  1863 ;  disch.  July 

26,1861. 
William  C.  Merrill,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Edward  V.  Nichols,  Co.  H;  must.  Aug.  15,1862; 

disch.  for  disab,,  Ju-ie  5,  1864. 
S.  E.  Nichols,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1863. 
.lohn  O'Brien,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Henry  L.  Pratt,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802. 
Horace  P.  Pratt,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Ang.  30,  1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Oscar  C.  Powell,  Co.  G;  mnst.  Ang.  30, 1862;  sick 

in  hospital  when  regt.  was  mnst.  out. 
Chas.   W.    Phelps,  Co.   G;    must.  Aug.  30,  1802; 

disch.  June  21, 1805. 
Ernest  0.  Pfiel,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30, 1802;  died 

April  6,  1805. 
Richard  Porter,  Co.  H;  must.  Aug.  19,  1862;  died 

Aug.  26, 1804. 
0.  A.  Parent,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1863. 
Samuel  Parent,  Co.  G;  must.  Ang.  30,  1S62. 
Mitchell  Rusbford,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802. 
Chas.  W.  Smith,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Ang.  30, 1802 ;  disch. 

June  21, 1805. 
Austin  H.  Stockwell,  Co.  G;  must.  Ang.  30, 1802 

disch.  for  ilisah.,  Feb.  2,5,  1803. 
John  W.  Stockwell,  Co.G;  must.  Ang.  30,  1862 

pro.  to  1st  lieut. ;  disch,  June  21,  1865, 
David  G.  Stockwell,  Co.  H;  must.  Aug.  27,1862 

disch.  for  disah.,  May  10,  1865. 
Lewis  F.  Stockwell,  Co.  G ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 

disch.  June  21, 186.5. 
Edward  C.  Stosvell,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug,  30,  1862 

disch,  June  21,  1865. 
Jerome  Sykes,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30,  1802  ;  disch 

June  21,  1863. 
Albert  G.  Taylor,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862 ;  disch 

June  21,  1863. 
Orson  E.  Train,  Co.  G;   must.   Aug.  30,  1862;  in 

hospital  when  regt.  was  must.  out. 
Henry   D.  Temple,  Co.  G;  must.  Aug.  30,  1862; 

killed  in  Wilderness,  May  0, 1804. 
Ira  Todd,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Aug.  30, 1862  ;  sick  when 

regt.  was  must.  out. 
Geo.  Strong,  Co.  A;  must.  Sept.  3,1862  ;  disch.  for 

disab..  May  16,  1863. 
Wm.  Biirke,  Co.  K;  must.  Aug.  23,  1862. 
Michael  Rowe,  Co.  K  ;  must.  Aug.  13,  1862. 
Edward  H.  Taylor,  Co.  G;  must.  Dec.  17,  1863. 
Jona.  W.  Phelps,  Co.  D;  mnst.  Feb.  20,  1864  ;  died 

April  3,1804. 
John  D.  Day,  Co.  A;  must.  Dec.  23,  1864;  died, 

no  date. 
James  Berry,  Co.  F  ;  must.  Feb.  7, 1864. 
Joseph  Cunningham,  Co.  G;  must.  Dec.  9,  1863; 

disch.  July  16,  1865. 
John  McGrath,  Co.  F ;  must.  Feb.  7,1864;  trans. 

to  20lh. 

FIFTY-SECOND  REGIMENT— NINE  MONTHS. 
Edw.  L.  Abercrombie,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1802  ; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Wm.  L.  Bolter,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Louis  Bcaugard,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862 ;  dlscb. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Alex.  H.  Baker,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  discb. 

Aug.  14,  186:1. 
Jona,  Bailey,  Co,  C ;  mnst,  Oct,  2, 1802 ;  disch,  Aug. 

14,  186:3. 
Jeremiah   Brodertck,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862  ; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Albert   L,  Bartlett,  Co,   I;  must,   Oct,  11,  1862; 

disch,  Aug.  14,  180.1. 
Geo.  S.  Bliss,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Nov.  18,  1862;  killed  at 

Port  Hudson,  June  10,  180:i. 
Chas.  A.  Belden,  Co.  C;  must.  Nov.  15,  1862;  disch. 

Ang.  14,  1803. 
Spencer  Clark,  Co.  C;  must,  Oct.  2,  1SG2 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1803. 
Edwin  C.  Clark,  1st   lieut.,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2^ 

1862;  discli.  Ang,  14,  1865. 
Orman  S.  Clark,  Co.  0  ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1882;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 186:3. 


228 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Charles  S.  Clark,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct,  2, 1862;  difch. 

Aug.  U,  18G3. 
James  W.  Clark,  2d  lieut.,  Co.  I ;  must.  Oct.  11, 

1862;  disch.  Aug.  14,  lS6:i. 
Lulher  A.  Clark,  2d  lieut,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11, 

1862;  disch.  Aug.  14, 18G:i. 
Geo.  D.  Clark,  liosp.  stew.,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11, 

18G2;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Geo.  W.  Clapp,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  II,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
Fred.  O.  Clapp,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
B.  E.  Cook,  Jr.,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
Eoyal  Cool;,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Joseph  M.  C.)le,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Simeon   B.  Childs,  Co.  C;   must.  Oct.  11,  186J; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
E.  W.  Cutler,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Bichard  B.  Davis,  Jr.,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  11, 1-S62  ; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
John  B.  rarrow,  Co.C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Moses  Khvell,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Joseph  French,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Edward   E.  Graves,  Co.  0;   must.  Oct.  11,  1862; 

discli.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
L.  D.  Gould,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862  ;  killed  at 

Port  Hudson,  June  14, 1863. 
Nathau  P.  Gould,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  11 ,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
Henry  S.  Gere,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
Henry  Grosarth,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Henry  W.  Gladden,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862; 

died  Aug.  6,  1863. 
John  R.  Hillman,  1st  lieut.,  Co.  C ;  must.  Oct.  11, 

1862  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Geo.  A.  Hunt,  Co.C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Edward  F.  Hamlin,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
William  Hickey,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
John  Hannah,  Co.  C ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Clevis  A.  Harley,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  186.3. 
Geo.  W.  Harlow,  Co.  C;  muit.  Oct.  2. 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Dwight  A.  Johnson,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Thos.  L.  Jewett,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Levi  K.  Kellogg,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Judson  I,.  Lee,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862 ;  disch. 

Aug,  14, 1863. 
Chas.  W.  Moore,  Co.  C ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862 ;  died  at 

Port  Hudson,  July  9,  1863. 
Grin   Q.  Moore,  Co.C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  rtisih. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Luther  A.  Martin,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Edward  Martin,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Nolson  Marsh,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;   disch- 

Aug.  14,  IK63. 
Francis  M.  Osden,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Gerrit  O'Neil,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862. 
Arthur  B.  Noble,  Co.  C:  must.  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Wm.  0.  Pomeroy,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Albert  R.  Pareons,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,1863. 
Joseph  P.  Pniy,  Co.  C  ;  must,  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  discli. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Speucer  Phelps,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862  ;  died  at 

Port  Hudson,  July  23,  1863. 


Lewis  M.  Phelps,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct. 2,  1802;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Edward  Potter,  Co.  I ;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
John    A.  Pittsiiiger,  Co.  E;   must.  Oct.  11,  1SC2 ; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Orrin  M.  Poller,  Co.  I;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,1863. 
Wm.  J.  Parker,  Co.  I;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Geo.  W.  Perig.i,  Co.  A  ;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862;  died  at 

Baton  K.iuge,  April  27,  1S63. 
Frank    Keady,  Co.  C;    must.   Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1803. 
Alfred  Kiley,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  disch.  Aug. 

14,1863. 
Horace  L.  Bichardson,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
John  Boss,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862. 
Diivid  L.  Samniis,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Francis  A.  Sh.aw,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
E.  G.  Southwick,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Geo.  H.  Strong,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1803. 
Edward  B.  Strong,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Henry  H.  Strong,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1802;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
J.  W.  Scroiig,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  died  in 

New  York. 
Edwin  D.  Strong,  Co.  I ;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
E.  J.  Smith,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch.  Aug. 

14,  1803. 
Delos  Smith,  Co.  C ;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862  ;  disch.  Aug. 

14,  1863. 
M.  D. Smith, Co.  C ;  Oct. 2, 1862 ;  disch.  Aug.  14,1863. 
Sidney  C.  Smith,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  died  at 

Brazier  City,  La.,  May  29,  1863. 
Mark  H.  Spaulding,  captain,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 

1862  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Edward  A.  Stevens,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Oct.  2,1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14.  1863. 
Edward  M.  Twiss,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Henry   E.  Thompson,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Eberi  W.  Thayer,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
John  N.  Thayer,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Leander  Tricgner,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  0, 1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14, 1863. 
John  B.  Taylor,  Co.  I ;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Truman  A.  Taylor,  Co.  I ;  must.  Oct.  11, 1862 ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Wm.  B.  Wilson,  Co.  0 ;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862  ;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Martin  L.  Williston,  Co.  K;  must.  Oct.  11,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Lewis  L.  White,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1802;  died  at 

Baton  Kouge,  Feb.  11,  1803. 
Nathan  T.  Warren,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1802;  died 

at  Balon  Rouge,  May  15,  1863. 
Albert  A.  Willis,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  died 

Aug.  14,  1803. 
Alphonso  Witberell,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Joseph   M.   Warner,   Co.   C;   must.   Oct.  2,  1862; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Franklin  G.  Waite,  Co.  C;  must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  died 

Feb.  14.  1863. 
Salmon  Waite,  Cip.  C;   must.  Oct.  2,  1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Henry  M.WIiilney, Co.C;  must.  Oct.  2, 1862;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1S63. 
Edward  A.  Whitney,  sergt.-miy.,  Co.C;  must.  Oct. 

2, 1862;'  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Charles  L.  Wright,  quartermaster,  Co.  C;  must. 

Oct.  2,  1862;  discli.  Aug.  14,  1863. 

FIFTY-SIXTH   REGIMENT. 
Wm.  Burrow,  Co.  .\ ;  must.  Doc.  20,  1S04;  discli. 

July  12,  I860. 


Thomas  Farrell,  Co.  A;  must.  Jan.  21, 1864;  disch. 
July  12,  1805. 

FIFTY-SEVENTH    REGIMENT— THREE 

YEARS. 

John  H.  Cook,  1st  lieut.,  Co.  A;  must.  Nov.  27, 

1863  ;  disch.  for  disab.,  Dec.  27, 1804. 
John  Cahill,  Jr.,  Co.  E;  must.  Feb.  2,  1804. 
Edwin  J.  Gough,  Co.  E;  must.  Sept.  1,  1804. 
John  Gray,  Co.  E;  must.  Jan.  16, 1804. 
James   O.  Halloian,  Co.  E;  must.  Jan.  28,  1864; 

disch.  lor  disab.,  Oct.  29,  1864. 
Martin  Haley,  Co.  I;  must.  March  10,  1864;  died 

Oct.  10, 1864. 
Joseph  L.  Baslin,  Co.  E  ;  must.  Feb.  1«>  1864. 
Thomas  O.  Kecf,  Co.  E ;  must.  Feb.  18,  1864 ;  disch. 

July  30, 1865. 
Michael  O'Connor,  Co.  E;  must.  Jan.  4,  1864; 

killed  in  action,  May  6, 1864. 
Sylvester    Myers,  Co.  I;   must.   March  10,  1864; 

disch.  for  disab.,  Dec.  17,  1804. 
Thos.  Timothy,  Co.  E ;  must.  Jan.  2,  1804  ;  disch. 

for  disab.,  March  1, 1804. 
Chas.  Sidell,Co.  1;  must.  March  10,  1804;  disch. 

July  30, 1805. 

FIFTY-NIKTn    KEGIMENT— THREE    TEARS. 
Fredk.  Soulie,  Co.  G;  must.  Feb.  18,  1864;  trans, 
to  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  Jan.  28,  1805. 

SIXTY-FIRST   KEGIMENT— THREE  YEABS. 
Alanson  Coats,  Co.  H  ;  must.  Jan.  12,  1865;  disch. 

July  15, 1865. 
Franklin   0.  Pierce,  Co.  H ;  must.  Jan.  12,  1865  ; 

disch.  July  15, 1865. 

FIRST   CAVALRY- THREE   Y'EARS. 

Wallace  S.   Clark,  Co.  E;  must.  Aug.  25,  1864; 

disch.  May  8,  1865. 
Henry  D.  Graves,  Co.  A;  must.  Dec.  29,  1863. 
Edward  S.  Kneeland,  Ca.  F;  must.  Aug.  20,  1862; 

re-enl.  Dec.  20,  1863  ;  disch.  June  26, 1865. 
Thomas  0.  Doniiell,Co.  M;  must.  Dec.  15,  1863; 

disch.  Juno  6,  1865. 
Philip  Purcell,  Co.  E  ;  must.  Oct.  31, 1861  ;  missing 

in  action. 
Franklin   Prince,  Co.   M;  must.   Dec.   24,  1863; 

disch.  June  26, 1865. 
Lewis  E.  Prince,  Co.   M;  must.  Jan.  14,  1804; 

disch.  June  20,  1865. 
Wm.  C.  Peltoli,  Co.  M  ;  must.  Jan.  14,  1864. 
Chas.  H.Thayer,  Co.  E;  must.  Aug.  20, 1862;  disch. 

June  26,  1805. 

SECOND   CAVALBY— THREE   YEARS. 
Henry  Anderson,  Co.  K  ;  must.  June  3, 1864. 
Chas.  E.  Bosworth,  Co.  C  ;  must.  July  19,  1864. 
Horatio  W.   Fern,   Co.  B;    must.  July  19,  1864; 

disch.  July  28,  1865. 
Chas.  Green,  Co.  H  ;  must.  June  7,  1864. 
Hugli  F.  Gallagher,  Co.  H;  must.  July  16, 1864. 
James  Jordan,  Co.  K;  must.  July  3, 1864;  disch. 

July  20,  1865. 
Thomas  Jones,  Co.  K  ;  must.  Aug.  29, 1864. 
Bernard  Kelley,  Co.  C;  must.  March  31,1864. 
John  Mahen,  Co.  C;  must.  July  16,  1864, 
John  O'Brien,  Co.  A;  must.  June  0,1861;  disch. 

July  20,  1865. 
Wm.  Riley,  Co.  K ;  must.  June  4, 1864. 
Joseph  P.  Tracy,  Co.  K  ;  must.  July  16,  1864. 
Daviii  Thompsun,  Co.  K  ;  must.  June  6,  1864. 
Wm.  S.  Wells,  Co.  H;  must.  June  20,  186:1. 
John  Williams,  Co.  K  ;  must.  June  .3,  1864. 
Wm.  Wildo,  Co.  K ;  must.  June  8, 1864. 

THIRD   CAVALRY— THREE    YEARS. 
Frary  Muller,  must.  June  1,1864. 
Nicholas  Boek,  must.  July  22,  1864. 
Fredk.  Baker,  must.  July  22,  1864. 
John  Boerschc,  must.  July  22, 1864. 

FOURTH  CAVALRY— THREE  YEARS. 
Wm.  H.  Warner,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
Chas.  Henry,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
.lobn  Allen,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
Robert  .\nderson,  must.  July  21,  1864. 
James  Crogan,  must.  July  21,  1864. 


■"S'biri.ERucUt':^  -'■ 


OL^Ot  ^^-^^.^ 


HISTORY  OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


229 


Henry  G.  Bickford,  Co.  F;  must.  Jan.  27,  1804; 

(lisch.  Jul.v  fi,  1SC.5. 
Josepli  Eanits,  Co.  B ;  must.  Feb.  24,  1865;  discli. 

Nov.  14,  1865. 
Riley  Ch.xso,  Co.  E;   must.  Jan.  27,  1864;  disch. 

June  8,  1865. 
Jereniiali  Crngin,  Co.  F;  must.  Jan.  27,  1864. 
Jeremiah  Deo,  Co-  F;  must.  Jan.  27,  1864. 
Chlis.  Fish,  Co.  G  ;  must.  Jan.  27, 1864 ;  diach.  Nov. 

14,1865. 
Wm.  McDonald,  Co.  G;  must.  Jan.  27, 1804;  disch. 

Nov.  14, 1865. 
Franli  Morey,  Co.  G ;  must.  Jan.  27, 1864. 
Walwoith  Smith,  capt.,  Co.G;  must.  Jan. 19, 1864; 

disch.  Nov.  14, 1865. 
Tln)ma3  Kilniartin,  Co.  H;  must.  Jan.  12,  1864; 

difd  Nov.  1,  1864. 

FIFTH  CAVALRY. 
Chas.  Thompson,  Co.  E;  must.  Jan.  4,1864;  disch. 

Oct.  :il,  18G5. 
Geo.  W.  Clarli,  must.  Aug.  24, 1864. 

FIKST   HEAVY   ARTILLERY. 

Wm.  W.  Graves,  Co.  E;  must.  Nov.  2,  1863  ;  disch 

Aug.  16,  1865. 
Wm.  W.  Harvey,  Co.E;  must.  Nov.  2, 1863  ;  trans. 

to  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  March  18,  1865. 
Charles  E.  Moore,  Co.  E;    must.  Nov.  11,  1863 

killed  in  action,  April  2,  1865. 
Edward  Oberempt,  Co.  O;   must.  Dec.  21,  1863 

disch.  Aug.  16,  1865. 
Orange  H.  Richardson,  Co.  D;  must.  Dec.  10, 1863 

disch.  Aug.  16, 1865. 
Lorenzo  Cady,  Co.  M  ;  must.  July  18,  1864;  disch 

Aug.  16,  18i;5. 
George  W.  Foster,  Co.  B;   must.  Aug.  24,  18G4 

disch.  May  22,1865. 
Cornelius  Geary,  Co.  B  ;  must.  June  7, 1864. 
David  II.  Kneeland,  Co.  D ;  must.  July  20,1864 

disch.  Aug.  16,  1865. 

SECOND    HEAVY   ARTILLERY. 
John   P.  Blackman,  Co.  G;  must.  Oct.  20,  1863; 

trans,  to  U.  S.  Col.  Troops. 
Stephen  Bulley,  Co.  C;  must.  Sept.  2,  1864;  disch. 

June  5,  1865. 
Frank  Blodgett,  Co.  C;  must.  Sept.  1,  1864. 
Horace  L.  Clark,  Co.  C  ;  must.  Aug.  4, 1863  ;  discfa, 

for  pro.,  Nov.  30,  1863. 
George  Curran,  Co.  F;  must.  Oct.  6,  1863;  disch. 

Sept.  5, 1865. 
Garrett  Conden,  Co.  E;  must.  Sept.  1, 1864;  trans. 

to  17th,  Feb.  9,  1865. 
Samuel   H.  Douglass,  Co.  E;  must.  Oct.  6,  1863; 

disch.  July  4, 1865. 
Henry   T.  Goetin,   Co.  H;    must.  July  26,  1864; 

trans,  to  171h,  Dec.  16,  1864. 
Charles  E.  Leonard,  Co.  M;  must.  July  16,  1804; 

disch.  Sept.  3, 1865. 
Elisha  Mather,  Co.  F;  must.  Oct.  21,  1863;  disch. 

Sept.  3,  1865. 
Timothy  Maley,  Co.  M;  must.  Sept.  2, 1864  ;  trans. 

to  17th. 
Arnold  Miller,  Co.  B;  must.  Jan.  2,  1864;  disch. 

Sept.  3,  1865. 
Alfred  Riley,  Co.  C;  must.  Sept.  2, 1864;  trans,  to 

17th,  Jan.  9, 1865. 
Peter  Rice,  Co.  C ;  must.  Sept.  7,  1861 ;  trans,  to 

17th,  Jan.  9,  1865. 
Edwin  E.  Kytlier,  Co.  C;  must.  Sept.  3,  1864; 

disch.  June  21, 1865. 


Timothy  Shea,  Co.  E;  must.  Sept.  1, 1864  ;  trans, 
to  17th. 

THIRD    HEAVY    ARTILLERY— THREE 

YEARS. 

John  V.Hennessey,  Co.  M;  must.  Aug.  23, 1864; 

disch.  June  17,  1865. 
Nicholas   Renke,   Co.   M;    nuist.   Aug.  23,   1864; 

disch.  June  17, 1865. 
James  H.  Wiley,  Co.  M;  must.  Aug.  23,  1864; 

disch.  June  17,  1865. 
William   Carver,   Co.   M;    must.   Aug.  26,   1864; 

disch.  Juno  17,  1865. 
John  J.  Kelly,  Co.  M  ;  must.  Aug.  26, 1864;  disch. 

June  17, 1865. 
Peter  Lynch,  Co.  M;  must.  Aug.  26,  1864;  disch. 

June  17,1865. 

FOURTH    HEAVY    ARTILLERY. 
Henry  Hodsden,  Co.  D;  must.  Sept.  1, 1864;  disch. 
Sept.  12, 1865. 

FOURTH    U.  S.  ARTILLERY. 

William  L.  Baker,  1st  lieut.,  Co.  E;  must.  Aug.  6, 

1861  ;  killed  at  Antietam,  Sept.  17,  1862. 

FIRST    LIGHT   BATTERY. 
John  W.  Main,  must.  Dec.  29,  1861;  disch.  Jnne  6, 
1865. 

THIRTEENTH   LIGHT   BATTERY. 
Lewis  Frederick,  mn^t.  June  7,  1864;  disch.  July 
28,  1865. 

FIFTEBNTH    LIGHT    BATTERY. 

John   Mack,  must.  Aug.  23, 1864;  disch.  June  19, 

1865. 

ANDREW  SHARPSHOOTERS. 
James  P.  Chenery  (2d),  must.  March  8, 1862  ;  disch. 

for  disability. 

REGULAR   U.  S.  SERVICE. 
Marcus  R.  Canfield,  hosp.  steward  ;  must.  Sept.  1, 
1861  ;  disch.  Juno  10,  1865. 

NAVAL    SERVICE. 
Anson  B.  Hitch,  must.  March  5, 1862,  on  "  North 

Carolina." 
E.  S.  D.  Howland,  must.  May  8, 1862,  on  "  Connec- 
ticut." 
James  B.  Hopkins,  must.  Jan.  28, 1863,  on  '*  Ceres." 
Tbomas  Horner,  must.  April  23,  1861,  on  "  Colo- 
rado." 
John  Harper,  must.  April  23, 1861,  on  "  Colorado." 
William  II.  Hughs,  must.  April  15, 1861,  on  "  Colo- 
rado." 
John  Haigh,  must.  April  15, 1861,  on  "Colorado." 
Peter  Hammond,  must.  April  25,  1861,  on  "  Colo- 
rado." 
Geo.  Hickey,  must.  April  25, 1861,  on  "  Colorado." 
James  Huidle,  must.  April  25, 1861,  on  "Colorado." 
James  Harrison,  must.  April  25,  1861,  on  "C<do- 

rado." 
Dennis  Harrington, must.  April  18, 1861, on  "Colo- 
rado." 
Thomas  F.  Henderson,  must.  April  26,  1861,  on 

'■  Colorado." 
Matthew  J.  Hall,  must.  April  27, 1861,  on  "Colo- 
rado." 
George  A.  Hathaway,  must.  April  27,  1861,  on 

"  Colorado." 
John  Thomas,  nmst.  Oct.  18,  1862,  on  "  Colorado." 
Tiios.  Young,  must.  Oct.  20, 1862,  on  "Colorado." 
Wm.  Zoller,  must.  Oct.  10, 1862,  on  "  Colorado." 


James   Hayde,   must.  April  24,  1861,  on  "Bain- 
bridge." 
Charles  Haulder,  must.  April  24,  1861,  on  "  Bain- 
bridge." 
Wm.  E.  Harrison,  must,  .\pril  27, 1861,  on  "  Bain- 
bridge." 
John   Harris,  must.    April   22,  1861,  on  "Missis- 
sippi." 
Henry   Ivers,  must.  April  15,  1861,  on  "  Minne- 
sota." 
Chas.  James,  must.  April  9, 1861,  on  "  Minnesota." 
Joseph  Jewett,  must.  April  13, 1861,  on  "Minne- 
sota." 
John  Jacknmn,  must.  April  20, 1861,  on  "Minne- 
sota." J 
David  Jones,  must.  April  24,  1861,  on  "Minne- 
sota." 
John  Williams,  must.  Nov.  28, 1862,  on  "Minne- 
sota." 
John  White,  must.  Dec.  6,  1862,  on  "  Minnesota." 
Alonzo  Wardbeck,  must.  Dec.  6,  1861,  on  "Minne- 
sota." 
Francis  Doyle,  must.  Sept.  18,  1862,  on  "New 

York." 
Michael  Daley,  must.  Sept.  24,  1862,  on  "  New 

York." 
Wm.  F.  Denman,  must.  Sept.  27,  1862,  on  "  New 

York." 
Ale.t.  Davis,  must.  Sept.  22, 1862,  on  "  New  York." 
John  Ornis,  must.  Oct.  31, 1862,  on  "  Ossipe." 
David  J.  Parker,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862,  on  "Rhode 

Island." 
Robert  Masters,  must.  Nov.  18,  1862,  on  "Rhode 

Island." 
Jacob  Hackerman,  must.  Nov.  18, 1862,  on  "  Rhode 

Island." 
John   Wclmes,  must.  Nov.  18,  1862,  on   "Rhode 

Island." 
Thos.  1>.  Webber,  must.  Nov.  24, 1862,  on  "  Rhode 

Island." 
David  Wlmrton,  must.  Nov.  29, 1862,  on  "  Rhode 

I.sland." 
Peter  White,  must.  Nov.  29,  1862,  on   "Rhode 

Island." 
Wm.  Payne,  must.  Sept.  11, 1862,  on  "  Sabine." 
Adgih  Young,  must.  Oct.  18, 1862,  on  "Sabine." 
Edward  Zaller,  must.  Oct.  10, 1862,  on  "  Sabine." 
Sprague  S.  Barren,  must.  Sept.  25,  1862,  on  "  Sa- 
bine." 
Thos.  H.  Short,  must.  Aug.  31,  1864,  on  "Sabine." 
Joseph  M.Warren,  must.  Aug.  21,1864,  ou  "Sa- 
bine." 
Charles  Payne,  must.  Sept.  18,  1862,  on  "  Trogan." 
John   McDernsett,  must.  Nov.  20,  1862,  on  "Tro- 
gan ." 
John    McNeil,   must.    Nov.   20,   1862,  on    "King 

Fisher." 
George  W.  Wing,  must.  Nov.  10, 1862,  on  "  King 

Fisher." 
Horatio  N.  Webster,  must.  Nov.  13, 1862,  on  "  King 

Fisher." 
Charles  Williams,  must.  Nov.  13,  1862,  on  "King 

Fisher." 
Thomas   Wallet,   must.    Nov.  13, 1862,  on  "King 

Fisher." 
Henry    Ward,    must.   Nov.    13,   1862,  on   "King 

Fisher." 
Richard   N.   Wenberg,  must.    Nov.   13,   1862,    on 

"  King  Fisher." 
Edward  Williams,  must.  Nov.  12, 1862,  on  "Queen 
of  the  Sea." 


BIOGEAPHIOAL    SKETCHES. 


L.  B.  WILLIAMS. 
L.  B.  Williams  was  born  in  Becket,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass., 
Feb.  3,  1825,  and  is  a  descendant  of  that  sterling  old  patriot 
Eoger  Williams,  whose  name  is  familiar  in  history  as  the  first 
settler  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Dr.  Leonard  Williams, 
grandfather  of  L.  B.  Williams,  was  a  leading  physician  in 
Chester  for  more  than  lift}'  years.  His  wife  was  the  daughter 
of  Deacon  Benjamin  Wadworth,  of  Becket,  a  citizen  promi- 


nent in  that  portion  of  the  county  for  his  worth  and  influence. 
Jabin  B.  Williams,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  for  a  long  period  a  successful  merchant  in  Chester. 

L.  B.  WilHams,  whose  name  heads  this  article,  received  his 
education  at  "Mountain  Seminary,"  at  Worthington,  and 
Wesleyan  Academy,  at  Wilbraham.  He  was  a  diligent  and 
careful  student,  and  acquired  an  education  that  well  qualified 
him  for  his  subsequent  successful  business  career.     In  1846  he 


230 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


became  associated  with  his  father  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Huntington,  formerly  known  as  Chester  Village,  which  he 
continued  until  1850,  when  he  began  the  industry  of  manu- 
facturing baskets  by  machinery,  and  to  him  belongs  the  honor 
of  establishing  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in  this  country. 
The  business  rapidly  developed  under  his  energetic  manage- 
ment, and  in  1862,  desiring  a  more  convenient  location  with 
better  shipping  facilities,  he  removed  the  business  to  North- 
ampton, which  gave  it  a  new  impetus,  and  to-day  the  "  Wil- 
liams Manufacturing  Compan\',"  of  which  he  is  the  head,  is 
the  largest  one  in  the  world  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
_  this  line  of  goods.  It  is  larger  than  any  other  four  concerns 
in  the  country,  and  than  all  the  basket  manufactures  in  New 
England  combined.  Mr.  Williams  resolved  to  manufacture 
none  but  the  best  quality  of  goods,  which  resolution  he  has 
strictly  adhered  to.  He  is  instinctively  a  thorough  business- 
man, prompt,  active,  and  fearless  in  all  transactions,  and,  in 
the  language  of  an  honored  citizen  of  Northampton,  "he 
has  won  a  reputation  as  a  business-man  second  to  no  one  in 
this  State." 

In  the  political  arena,  although  not  active,  he  was  identi- 
fied with  the  Democratic  party  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Kebellion,  when  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  raising  of 
troops,  and  has  since  voted  the  Republican  ticket.    . 

He  has  been  a  director  in  the  old  Northampton  Bank  seven 
years,  and  with  Mr.  Edwards  took  the  laboring-oar  in  the 
bank  troubles  which  followed  the  great  robbery  of  1876.  He 
has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Hampshire  Savings-Bank  since  its 
organization,  and  also  trea.surer  of  the  Florence  Sewing-Ma- 
chine  Company  during  its  prosperous  period. 

In  1847  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Harriet  Louisa, 
daughter  of  Melvin  Copeland,  of  Huntington,  Mass.,  formerly 
of  Hartford,  Conn.  Mr.  Copeland  was  a  leading  man,  intel- 
lectually and  morally,  in  the  community  of  which  he  was  a 
part. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W^illiams  have  one  child  living,  Harry  L., 
■who  is  at  Yale  College. 

The  Williams  mansion  in  Northampton  is  a  charming 
home,  and  is  known  as  "the  Whitmarsh  Place,"  formerly 
the  property  of  the  late  Samuel  Whitmarsh,  for  a  long  time 
one  of  Northampton's  leading  citizens. 


LUTHER   HODMAN. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  dates  his  ancestry  in  this  country 
to  John  Bodman,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  at  the  Bay,  and 
whose  wife  was  a  member  of  the  "Old  South  Church."  He 
had  three  sons, — John,  born  Aug.  6,  1U4.5,  Manoah,  born 
March  6,  1647,  and  Joseph,  born  Oct.  17,  16-53.  No  further 
record  is  found  of  the  first  two,  but  Joseph  ne.xt  appears  in 
Westfield,  in  1G81,  and  subsequently  in  Hatfield.  He  died  in 
Hatfield  May  11,  1711,  and  the  unique  old  stone  still  marks 
his  resting-place.  He  had  a  family  of  seven  children,  who 
settled  in  Sunderland,  Deerfield,  and  Hatfield.  Samuel, 
youngest  son  of  Joseph,  was  born  about  1709,  and  had  a 
family  of  seven  children,  three  of  whom — Joseph,  Samuel, 
and  William — removed  from  Hatfield  to  Williamsburg,  and 
settled  there  during  the  years  1770-7.5.  Joseph  died  Sept.  3, 
1818,  aged  eighty-eight;  Samuel,  June  26,  1827,  aged  ninety- 
one;  and  William,  Jan.  15,  1835,  aged  ninety-four,  the  united 
ages  of  the  three  being  273  years.  William  was  a  j)rorainent 
man  in  the  district,  and  afterward  town,  of  Williamsburg, 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  framed  the  State  con- 
stitution, and  repeatedly  represented  the  town  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. Luther  and  Clari-ssa  Bodman,  father  of  L.  B.,  had  a 
family  of  six  sons  and  one  daugliter;  five  of  the  sons  are  now 
living.     The  father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  boyhood  on  the  old 
farm  at  William.sburg,  working  summers  and  attending  the 
district  school  winters,  where  he  received  a  common-school  ed- 
ucation. At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  the  farm,  and  entered 
a  country  store  as  clerk,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  went 
into  business  at  Charlemont,  Mass.,  for  himself,  with  a  capital 
of  fi200.  For  the  first  four  or  five  years  he  made  no  headway 
in  the  business,  and  in  1842went  West  for  the  purpose  of  traffick- 
ing in  wonl  and  woolen  goods,  and  trading  with  the  manufac- 
turers. Here  his  energy  and  executive  ability  found  ample 
scope  for  development.  This  business  was  successful,  and  con- 
tinued for  about  twelve  years,  he  in  the  mean  time  keeping  the 
store  at  Charlemont. 

In  1854  he  retired  from  active  business,  and,  removing  to 
Williamsburg,  located  on  the  old  farm  by  his  father.  He  was 
solicited  by  Gen.  James  S.  Whitney,  who  was  residing  in 
Conway,  to  assist  in  organizing  a  bank  at  that  place.  The 
bank  was  organized,  and  he  was  chosen  its  president,  which 
position  he  occupied  until  1864,  when  he  resigned  to  take  the 
presidency  of  the  Hampshire  County  National  Bank  at  North- 
ampton, which  was  organized  through  his  instrumentality. 
It  was  thought  by  wise  heads  that  a  new  bank  could  not  live 
beside  the  time-honored  institutions  of  this  old  town,  but  time 
has  proved  this  a  mistake,  as  the  bank  has  ever  flourished,  and 
at  present  has  a  capital  of  S2.50,000  and  a  surplus  of  §-50,000. 
Its  success  has  been  chiefly  due  to  the  ripe  experience  of  Mr. 
Bodman  in  banking,  and  its  able  and  efficient  cashier,  Mr. 
Lewis  Warner,  who  has  occupied  that  position  fourteen  years. 
The  new  bank  building  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  ar- 
chitecture in  the  village,  and,  for  the  beauty  and  safety  of  its 
interior  arrangements,  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  Western 
Massachusetts.  The  Hampshire  Savings-Bank  is  also  kept  in 
this  building,  of  which  Mr.  Bodman  is  president  and  Mr. 
Warner  treasurer. 

Mr.  Bodman,  with  that  keen  foresight  that  ever  character- 
izes a  successful  busine.ss-man,  early  saw  that  the  then  unde- 
veloped West  must  eventually  "  blossom  like  the  rose,"  and  in 
18-54  entered  with  others  of  the  government  a  large  tract  ot 
land  in  Piatt  Co.,  111.,  and  he  still  retains  a  large  farm,  upon 
which,  in  addition  to  other  crops,  he  raises  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  broom  corn  per  year,  which  he  ships  East  and  sells 
mainly  throughout  this  valley.  The  farm  is  not,  however, 
exclusively  devoted  to  crops,  as  he  annually  feeds  about  three 
hundred  hogs,  grinding  and  cooking  their  feed  on  the  farm.  It 
is  beautifully  located  in  one  of  the  best  sections  of  the  State, 
and  has  twelve  miles  of  Osage  orange  hedge.  Mr.  Bodman 
still  retains  the  "old  paternal  acres"  at  William.sburg,  which 
have  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Bodman  family  over  a 
century. 

Mr.  Bodman  has  always  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  pub- 
lic matters,  and,  although  not  an  active  politician,  has  held 
various  offices  within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-citizens.  While  at 
Charlemont  he  held  the  offices  of  selectman,  town  treasurer, 
deputy-shcritf,  postmaster,  and  trial-justice. 

June  26,  1838,  he  united  in  marriage  with  Philena  N. 
Hawks,  a  native  of  Charlemont,  Mass.,  and  their  family  con- 
sists of  four  children,  viz. :  Edward  C,  now  a  grain  and^fom- 
mission  merchant,  doing  business  in  Toledo  and  Baltimore, 
but  residing  in  the  former  city.  He  is  a  prominent  business- 
man, and  is  director  in  two  banks.  Luther  W.  is  a  resident 
of  Bement,  111.,  and  is  a  member  of  the  banking  firm  of  Bry- 
ant &  Bodman.  He  is  also  engaged  in  the  grain  and  commis- 
sion business.  Nellie  R.  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  C.  H.  Parkhurst, 
Congregational  clergyman,  residing  at  Lennox,  Mass.  The 
other  daughter.  Miss  Clara  P.,  is  unmarried,  and  at  the  present 
time  is  traveling  in  Europe. 

In  religious  jnatters  Mr.  Bodman  evinces  the  same  spirit  of 
enterprise  that  marks  his  business  career,  and  is  an  active  and 
leading  member  of  the  Edwards  Church.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Democrat. 


'^yMt^  ^^^^^i^l 


.^ 


~^p- 


I 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


231 


DANIEL   W.  BOND. 

Tlie  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  descendant  of  William  Bond, 
who  settled  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  in  1630,  and  a  lirnnch  of  the 
Bond  family,  which  located  in  Canterbury  in  the  j-ear  1710. 
Daniel  W.  is  a  son  of  Daniel  H.  Bond  and  Deborah  White, 
the  former  a  native  of  Canterbury,  Conn.,  and  the  latter  of 
Tuubridge  Wells,  England.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Rev. 
George  S.  White,  who  emigrated  to  America  in  1812. 

Daniel  W.  Bond  was  born  in  Canterbury,  Windham  Co., 
Conn.,  April  29,  1838.  His  boyhood  was  passed  at  home  at 
work  for  neighboring  farmers  and  attending  the  "district 
school"  during  the  summer  and  winter  as  much  as  the  duties 
of  the  farm  would  allow  until  ten  years  of  age,  when  he  aban- 
doned the  summer  .school,  only  attending  during  the  winter 
season,  until  sixteen  years  of  age.  In  the  mean  time,  however, 
young  Bond  had  advantages  that  all  boys  in  country  towns 
during  this  period  did  not  enjoy.  His  father,  though  not  a 
man  of  large  property,  was  highly  intellectual,  and  he  provided 
himself  and  his  children  with  some  of  the  leading  periodicals  of 
the  day,  and  among  his  books  were  found  some  choice  and  valu- 
able works.  The  intellectual  and  studious  traits  of  the  father 
descended  to  the  children,  and  during  these  years  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  acquired  a  vast  fund  of  knowledge  which  was 
not  valueless  in  his  subsequent  career.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  he  entered  the  private  school  in  his  native  town  taught 
by  William  Kinnie,  now  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  He  subsequently 
attended  the  Plainfield  Academy,  then  under  the  charge  of 
Kev.  Lucien  Burleigh,  and  still  later  the  normal  school  at  New 
Britain,  Conn.  A  portion  of  the  time,  also,  he  was  assisted  in 
his  studies  by  the  Rev.  Robert  C.  Learned,  the  settled  minister 
of  the  parish  where  he  lived,  and  by  Charles  C.  Burleigh. 

If  we  were  to  place  before  the  reader  a  list  of  names  of  the 
distinguished  attorneys,  divines,  and  physicians  of  this  State, 
many  of  whom  have  risen  to  exalted  positions  in  their  various 
spheres,  who  at  one  period  in  their  career  taught  the  "  district 
school"  and  enjoyed  the  felicity  of  "boarding  round,"  that 
list  would  indeed  be  a  large  one.  Mr.  Bond  was  no  exceptioji 
to  this  rule.  His  previous  education  had  fitted  him  for  suc- 
cessfully wielding  the  sceptre  of  the  "district  school,"  and 
during  three  winters  he  "  taught  school"  and  "  boarded 
round"  in  his  native  town  and  vicinity. 

In  1859,  having  resolved  to  enter  the  legal  profession,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  Daniel  Frost, 
Esq.,  of  Canterbury,  a  celebrated  temperance  lecturer.  Soon 
after,  however,  he  went  to  Florence,  Mass.,  and  taught  an 
evening  school  for  a  year  and  a  half, — the  latter  portion  of  the 
time  teaching  the  day  school  also, — while  he  continued  read- 
ing law,  and  also  perfected  himself  in  phonography. 

In  the  fall  of  18ti0  he  entered  the  Columbia  College  law- 
school  at  New  York,  then,  as  now,  under  the  charge  of  Theo- 
dore W.  Dwight.  He  pursued  his  studies  with  diligence  and 
attention,  passing  his  vacation  in  the  law-oftice  of  William 
Dyer,  Esq.,  at  Central  Village,  Conn.  He  graduated  in  1862, 
and  won  the  proud  distinction  of  obtaining  the  prize  of  two 
hundred  dollars,  awarded  in  the  department  of  political  science, 
then  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Francis  Lieber. 

After  graduating  he  returned  to  his  native  town,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Windham  County,  at  the  August  term 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1862.  He  then  went  to  Providence, 
R.  I.,  and  entered  the  office  of  Benjamin  T.  Eames, — now  a 
member  of  Congress  from  Rhode  Island, — and  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  of  that  State  in  February,  1863.  In  the  follow- 
ing May  he  united  in  marriage  with  Susan  J.  Dyer,  daughter 
of  Mr.  Hervey  R.  Dyer,  of  Canterbury,  and  removed  to  Flor- 
ence, Mass.,  and  for  several  years  acted  as  the  attorney  for  the 
Florence  Sewing-Machine  Company.  He  found  this  position 
suited  to  his  taste,  as  it  required  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
patent  laws,  in  which  he  became  proficient,  and  has  ever  since 
had  considerable  practice  in  this  branch  of  the  law.  After  ceas- 
ing to  act  as  attorney  for  the  macliine  company,  he  conducted 


a  general  law-business  at  Florence,  and  in  1869  his  youngest 
brother — who  had  studied  law  with  him,  and  graduated  at  the 
Columbia  College  law-school,  where  he  took  the  prize  in  the 
department  of  ])olitic.al  science — became  a  partner,  and  the 
business  was  continued  by  them  until  May,  1870,  when  they 
formed  a  copartnership  with  Hon.  William  Allen,  a  legal  prac- 
titioner in  Northampton  for  more  than  twenty  years.  The 
firm  had  an  office  in  both  Florence  and  Northampton  until 
1872,  when  Mr.  Allen  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  Florence  office  was  discon- 
tinued. The  business  was  then  conducted  under  the  firm-name 
of  D.  W.  &  H.  H.  Bond  until  1875,  when  J.  B.  Bottum,  Esq., 
who  had  studied  law  with  them,  became  a  member  of  the  firm. 
He  was  also  a  graduate  of  the  Columbia  College  law-school. 
The  firm  has  since  been  Bond  Bros.  &  Bottum. 

In  1877,  D.  W.  Bond  was  elected  to  the  office  of  district 
attorney  for  the  northwestern  judicial  district,  which  com- 
prises the  counties  of  Hampshire  and  Franklin.  Previous  to 
his  election  the  firm  had  attended  to  the  general  law-business, 
but  upon  the  senior  member's  elevation  to  this  office  they 
ceased  to  act  for  defendants  in  criminal  cases,  and  Mr.  Bond 
refused  to  become  either  counselor  or  advocate  in  criminal 
cases,  except  in  his  official  capacity. 

It  may  truthfully  be  written  that  while  Mr.  Bond  has  ever 
been  interested  in  political  affairs,  as  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
citizen  to  be,  still  he  never  has  been  a  partisan.  With  the 
"  Know-Nothings"  he  did  not  sympathize,  believing  it  intoler- 
able to  make  any  distinction  in  regard  to  Irishmen  in  conse- 
quence of  their  nationality,  and  he  believed  slavery  wrong,  and 
never  had  that  prejudice  against  colored  people  that  some  men 
seemed  to  have.  He  sympathized  with  the  Republican  party 
and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  became  a 
great  admirer  of  him  as  a  great  and  wise  man.  After  the  war 
he  was  in  full  accord  with  the  teaching  of  the  precept,  "  with 
malice  toward  none  and  charity  for  all."  He  voted  for  Gen. 
Grant  at  his  first  election,  but,  like  others  throughout  the 
Union,  as  his  administration  drew  toward  its  close  became  dis- 
satisfied with  him,  and  when  the  movement  which  resulted  in 
the  Cincinnati  convention  was  set  on  foot  he  was  in  sympathy 
with  it,  was  an  earnest,  outspoken  "Greeley  man,"  and  received 
the  nomination  for  Congress  on  the  Greeley  ticket.  Although 
receiving  a  large  vote,  he  was  defeated.  In  1876,  although- 
not  much  could  be  hoped  for  in  the  platform,  the  letter  of  ac- 
ceptance seemed  to  presage  an  advance  in  the  right  direction, 
and  he  acted  with  the  Republicans.  He  has  always  voted  with 
the  Republicans  in  the  State  elections.  He  believes  in  reform, 
and  says  he  does  not  think  that  he  was  ever  constituted  for  a 
party  man. 

Mr.  Bond  says  that  as  he  looks  back  upon  his  life  during 
the  period  from  1856  to  the  time  he  graduated  at  the  law-school, 
he  can  see  that  it  had  its  hardships  as  well  as  advantages  over 
any  other ;  that  when  he  commenced  his  studies  he  had  noth- 
ing, and  was  obliged  to  work  and  earn  from  year  to  year  the 
greater  part  of  what  was  necessary  to  pay  his  expenses  ;  that 
during  that  period  he  was  aided  by  a  number  of  persons,  with- 
out whose  assistance  he  might  never  have  gone  on,  but  that  he 
attributes  his  succe.ss,  so  far  as  he  has  attained  any,  more  to  the 
assistance  and  encouragement  which  he  received  from  his  oldest 
sister  than  to  the  assistance  of  any  other  person. 

Mr.  Bond  has  ever  manifested  an  interest  in  public  men  and 
measures,  and  has  labored  earnestly  to  advance  the  welfare  of 
the  community  wherein  he  resides. 


AUSTIN   WHITE   THOMPSON,  A.M.,  M.D. 

It  is  the  historian's  pleasure  to  place  upon  his  page  "passing 
incidents"  in  the  lives  of  men  whose  energy  and  talents  are 
devoted  to  the  relief  of  the  unfortunate  and  the  amelioration 
of  the  human  race. 

And  such  we  find  to  have  been  the  career  of  the  subject  of 


232 


HISTORY  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


this  sketch,  who  was  born  in  Pelham,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass., 
May  22,  1834.  His  father,  Peleg  Pierce  Thompson,  died  when 
the  doctor  was  onl}'  four  years  of  age,  and  the  child  came  to 
Northampton,  joining  the  family  of  his  uncle,  Dr.  Daniel 
Thompson,  then  the  leading  physician  of  this  county.  The 
rudiments  of  his  education  were  obtained  at  the  excellent 
high  school  of  the  town,  and  he  subsequently  became  a  student 
in  what  was  at  that  time  known  as  the  Northampton  Colle- 
giate Institute,  a  nourishing  and  celebrated  institution,  con- 
ducted by  Lewis  J.  Dudley,  in  the  very  building  now  occupied 
by  Dr.  Thompson.  He  decided  upon  taking  a  thorough  col- 
legiate course,  and  after  completing  his  studies  at  this  institu- 
tion was  prepared  for  college  by  Kev.  Rufus  Ellis,  at  present 
editor  of  the  Chrisfian  Reffisfer,  of  Boston. 

Pursuing  the  curriculum  of  studies  at  Harvard  College,  be 
graduated  in  1854  with  the  commencement  honor  of  the  "salu- 
tatory" oration.  His  taste  and  proficiency  in  college  work  were 
in  the  direction  of  the  languages  and  intellectual  philosophy. 

Among  other  distinguished  men  of  his  class  were  Gen.  Chas. 
11.  Lowell,  who  fell  at  the  memorable  battle  of  Winchester ; 
Truman  Henry  Safl'ord  ;  William  J.  Potter,  one  of  the  leading 
freethinkers  of  the  age  ;  H.  H.  Furness,  of  Philadelphia  ;  and 
Hon.  William  Wirt  Warren,  now  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Uostou.  Dr.  Thompson  manifested  in  subsequent  years  a 
decided  interest  in  mental  philosophy,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  during  the  life  of  the  late  Samuel  Bowles  was  a  valued 
contributor  on  special  subjects  to  the  Springfield  Republican. 

Soon  after  graduating  he  read  law  a  few  months  with  Judge 
Huntington,  and  then  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office 
of  bis  uncle  in  Northampton.  Here  he  remained  a  short  time, 
and  during  bis  practice  made  a  specialty  of  mental  diseases,  and 
upon  the  opening  of  the  insane  hospital  at  Northampton  he  was 
appointed  assistant  superintendent.  Previously,  however,  to, 
the  opening  of  this  institution  he  was  ordered  to  visit  the 
asylums  at  Taunton  and  Worcester,  for  the  purpose  of  be- 
coming familiarized  with  the  manner  of  treatment,  etc.  He 
retained  the  position  of  assistant  superintendent  at  the  asylum 
about  two  years,  when  for  reasons  of  health  he  returned  to  the 
general  practice  of  medicine,  making  a  specialty,  as  mentioned 
above,  of  mental  diseases  and  diseases  of  women,  until  quite 
logically  be  created,  in  the  line  of  his  aptitude  and  experience, 
the  institution  which  has  already  rendered  him  famous,  known 
as  "Shady  Lawn,  a  Medical  Home  for  Invalids.''*  He  was 
president  of  the  Hampshire  County  Medical  Society  in  1856 
and  1857,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  etc.  Dr.  Thompson  has  one  child,  Caroline  Anna, 
now  seventeen  years  of  age,  whose  mother  died  in  the  child's 
infancy. 

OSMORE   O.  ROBERTS,  M.D., 

son  of  Charles  and  Hannah  Roberts,  was  born  in  Lyndon, 
Vt.,  Oct.  27,  1828.  His  boyhood  was  passed  in  his  native 
town,  attending  school  at  Lyndon  Academy.  As  he  ap- 
proached the  age  of  manhood  he  manifested  a  decided  liking 
for  medical  study,  and  finally  resolved  to  enter  the  lists  as  a 
medical  student,  with  a  determination  to  make  it  a  life-work. 
Accordingly,  in  18-50  he  began  the  study  of  the  profession 
with  Dr.  H.  J.  Cate,  with  whom  he  remained  two  years,  and 
then  removed  to  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  finished  his  studies  with 
Drs.  Morrill  and  Cate.  He  pursued  his  studies  with  diligence 
and  attention,  and  after  attending  two  courses  of  medical  lec- 
tures at  the  medical  college  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  went  to  Phila- 
delphia and  entered  the  Pennsylvania  Homoeopathic  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1853.  Among  other  distinguished  men 
of  his  class  may  be  mentioned  William  Todd  Helmoth,  now 
a  celebrated  surgeon  in  New  York,  and  Dr.  I.  T.  Talbot,  a 
distinguished  physician  residing  in  Boston. 

Soon  after  graduating.    Dr.   Roberts   located   in   Milford, 

*  See  history  of  "  Shady  Lawu,"  elsewhere. 


N.  H.,  and  entered  into  the  active  practice  of  his  profession. 
Here  he  remained  until  1857,  when,  desiring  a  more  extended 
field  for  his  labors,  he  removed  to  Northampton,  and  formed  a 
copartnership  with  his  brother.  Dr.  George  W.  Roberts,  with 
whom  hecontinued  about  two  years,  when  thecopartnership  was 
dissolved,  and  the  doctor  has  since  continued  the  practice  alone. 
When  Dr.  Roberts  came  to  Northampton  there  were  but 
few  fiimilies  favorable  to  the  horareopathic  practice.  After  a 
few  years  this  state  of  atfairs  began  to  change,  and  be  has 
since  enjoyed  an  extended  and  remunerative  practice,  and  to- 
day is  ranked  among  the  leading  physicians  of  Western  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  has  ever  manifested  a  decided  interest  in  the 
advancement  of  the  homoeopathic  school,  and  during  the  year 
the  Western  Massachusetts  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  was 
organized  became  a  member,  and  is  now  president  of  that 
society.  In  1857  he  married  Emilie  E.,  daughter  of  Abial 
and  Mary  L.  Eastman,  a  native  of  Danville,  Vt. 


JOSEPHUS   CRAFTS 

is  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  and  was  born  in  South 
Deerfield,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass.,  March  2, 1810.  Chester  Crafts, 
his  father,  was  born  in  Wbately,  Mass.,  in  1783;  he  died  in  1827, 
and  thus  at  the  age  of  seventeen  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
thrown  upon  his  own  resources.  His  opportunities  for  acquir- 
ing an  education  had  been  very  poor,  for  the  common  schools 
of  that  day  were  vastly  inferior  to  those  of  the  present,  and 
his  father's  straitened  means  could  furnish  him  no  better  advan- 
tages than  these  atforded.  He  showed,  however,  at  an  early 
age  that  he  possessed  both  industry  and  perseverance,  and  the 
lessons  learned  in  the  "school  of  adversity"  are  not  easily 
forgotten.  In  1828  he  went  to  Greenfield,  and  entered  the 
employ  of  Hiram  Root,  as  hostler,  receiving  eight  dollars  per 
month  for  six  months.  He  then  commenced  driving  the  stage 
from  Greenfield  to  New  Salem,  and  afterward  from  Greenfield 
to  Ashfield,  receiving  twelve  dollars  per  month  until  1832. 
He  afterward  purchased  Mr.  Abercrombie's  team  and  drove 
between  Greenfield  and  Ashfield  until  1835,  when  he  went  to 
Hancock,  and  bought  two  stage  teams,  one  on  the  Union  and 
one  on  the  Phojnix  line.  He  remained  in  that  place  only  a 
few  months,  and  then,  disposing  of  his  interest,  returned  to 
Ashfield  and  purchased  the  team  he  had  originally  bought  of 
Mr.  Abercrombie,  and  drove  the  stage  from  Greenfield  to  Ash- 
field, with  an  extension  to  South  Adams.  At  the  expiration 
of  a  year  he  again  sold  out,  purchased  a  farm,  and  leased  the 
hotel  in  Ashfield.  He  soon  sold  his  lease,  but  kept  the  farm 
until  May,  1851,  when  he  removed  to  Berkshire  County  and 
engaged  in  the  hotel  and  livery  business,  in  which  he  remained 
two  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  returned  to 
Ashfield,  where  he  resided,  with  the  exception  of  two  years 
spent  in  Shelburne  Falls,  until  1869,  when  he  retired  from  ac- 
tive business  and  removed  to  Northampton,  where  he  now  re- 
sides. By  industry,  perseverance,  and  economy  he  has  acquired 
a  competency,  and  by  a  life  of  integrity  has  gained  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  associated. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  since 
1841,  and  has  filled  many  offices  of  trust  in  the  towns  in  which 
he  has  resided.  In  1855  he  was  elected  director  of  the  Conway 
National  Bank,  and  also  of  Shelburne  Bank  ;  but  as,  in  accor- 
dance with  the  laws  of  the  State,  he  could  hold  but  one  of 
these  offices,  he  accepted  the  former,  and  has  filled  that  posi- 
tion up  to  the  present  time, — a  period  of  over  twenty-three 
years.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Hampshire  County  Bank, 
and  trustee  of  the  Hampshire  Savings-Bank.  During  the 
past  eight  years  his  time  has  been  much  occupied  with  the 
duties  of  executor,  administrator,  trustee,  etc.,  he  having 
during  this  period  settled  sixty-seven  estates.  Mr.  Crafts  was 
married  Feb.  13,  1833,  to  Roxie  D.,  second  daughter  of  Lj'man 
Cross.  By  this  union  he  had  six  children,  only  two  of  whom 
are  living  at  present  (December,  1878). 


^'¥ 


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Photo,  by  Hardie  &  Sohadee. 


y^^    ^^^:^>V^^-^ 


Prominent  among  tlie  pioneer  families  of  Western 
Massachusetts  was  tiiat  of  Longley,  descendants  of 
which  are  still  reckoned  among  the  leading  and  iion- 
ored  residents  of  this  locality. 

Henry  A.  Longley,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  a 
native  of  Hawley,  born  Jan.  5,  1814.  His  father, 
Col.  Joshua  Longley,  was  a  native  of  Hawley,  and 
his  mother,  Elizabeth  F.  Hawks,  was  born  in  Charle- 
mont.  Mr.  Longley's  boyhood  was  passed  in  his 
native  town,  where  he  attended  the  common  and 
select  schools,  finishing  his  education  at  the  Benning- 
ton (Vt.)  Seminary.  He  was  a  diligent  student,  and  at 
the  aere  of  nineteen  had  obtained  an  education  sufifi- 
cient  to  enable  him  to  teach  school,  and  during  tiic 
years  1833,  1834,  and  1835  he  enjoyed  the  felicity 
of  teaching  school  and  boarding  round  in  the  towns 
of  Agawam,  Springfield,  Grafton,  etc. 

His  father,  Col.  Joshua,  was  a  merchant  in  Bel- 
chertown,  and  after  young  Longley  ceased  his  labors 
as  teacher  he  entered  the  store  of  his  father  as  clerk, 
and  in  1837  became  a  partner  in  the  business,  and 
remained  there  twenty  years. 

Major  Longley,  as  he  is  fiimiliarly  called,  was  fond 
of  the  military,  and  was  major  in  the  old  militia. 
He  ever  manifested  an  active  interest  in  the  aifairs  of 
his  native  town  and  county,  and  was  clerk,  treasurer, 
and  collector  of  Belchertown  for  eleven  years,  and 
represented  that  town  in  the  Legislature  in  the  years 


1849,  1852,  and  1854.  In  1855  he  was  appointed 
sheriff,  which  he  held  by  appointment  two  years, 
when  the  office  was  made  elective.  During  the  two 
years  of  his  service  he  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
office  in  so  faithful  a  manner,  and  so  thoroughly 
satisfied  his  fellow-citizens,  that  he  was  then  elected 
to  the  office,  and  has  since  been  chosen  to  that  posi- 
tion at  each  successive  election.  A  quarter  of  a  century 
in  one  official  position !  Certainly  a  sufficient  commen- 
tary upon  the  manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the 
duties  of  that  important  office.  Kind  and  consider- 
ate, though  firm,  he  always  wins  the  respect  of  those 
whose  fortune  it  is  to  Ijc  placed  in  his  keeping,  and 
that  he  is  prompt  and  fearless  in  the  administration 
of  his  office,  and  that  he  discharges  its  manifold 
duties  to  the  satisfivction  of  the  electors  of  old 
Hampshire,  is  evinced  by  his  long  term  of  office. 

Sheriff  Longley  always  manifests  an  interest  in  all 
projects  tending  to  the  public  good.  As  a  father  he  is 
kind  and  affectionate ;  as  a  citizen,  upright  and  gen- 
erous ;  and  as  a  public  official,  ever  faithful  to  his 
trust.  Politically  he  is  a  Kepublican,  and  prior  to 
the  organization  of  that  party  was  a  Whig. 

He  was  married  in  Belchertown,  Oct.  16, 1839,  to 
Eliza  O.  Smith,  of  Belchertown,  daughter  of  Obed 
Smith.  They  have  had  two  children, — William 
Hyde  Longley,  died  at  the  age  of  nine  years ;  and 
Sylvia  Elizabeth,  who  resides  with  her  parents. 


H.   K.   PARSONS. 


The  ancestors  of  tlie  gentleman  wliose  name  ap- 
jiears  at  the  liead  of  this  sketcli  were  residents  of 
Enfield,  Conn.,  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  :  Philip, 
born  in  1697;  Nathaniel,  born  in  1736;  Josiah, 
born  in  1776;  and  Josiah,  born  in  1804.  His  grand- 
mother was  a  daugliter  of  Daniel  Kellogg,  an  oiBcer 
in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

H.  K.  Parsons,  son  of  Josiah  Parsons  and  Lucy 
Markham  Parsons,  was  born  in  Enfield,  Conn.,  Sept. 
11,  1835.  He  remained  in  his  native  town  until 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  was  educated  at 
Thompsonville  and  the  Wilbraham  Academy. 


At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  Thompsonville,  Conn. ;  but, 
with  that  patriotism  which  distinguished  the  sous 
of  this  old  commonwealth,  he  left  the  store  for  the 
battle-field,  enlisting  in  October,  1861,  in  Company 
C,  10th  Regiment  Infantry.  Lieut.  Parsons  par- 
ticipated in  many  of  the  severest  battles  of  the  war. 

He  wa-s  in  the  Burnside  expedition ;  battles  of 
Roanoke  Island  ;  Newbern,  N.  C. ;  siege  of  Charles- 
ton, S.  C. ;  St.  Augustine,  Fla. ;  Walthall  Junction, 
Va. ;  Drury's  Bluff;  Bermuda  Hundred;  Straw- 
berry Plains ;  Deep  Bottom ;   Deep  Run ;    siege  of 


I'hoto.  l.j  Iliinli.'  &  Scluului!. 


Petersburg;  Hatcher's  Run;  Fort  Gregg;  and 
Appomattox  Court-House..  Was  commissioned  1st 
lieutenant  and  regimental  (juartermaster,  and  was 
detailed  for  special  service  on  staff  of  Gen.  J.  R. 
Hawley,  in  the  expedition  to  New  York,  at  the  re- 
election of  President  Lincoln.  Served  on  staffs  of 
Gens.  H.  M.  Plaisted  and  G.  B.  Dandy,  as  brigade 
commissary,  and  with  Maj.-Gen.  John  Gibbon,  as 
assistant  quartermaster  of  the  24th  Army  Corps. 
He  was  mustered  out,  with  regiment,  Aug.  25, 
1865. 

In  January,  1867,  he  moved  to  Florence,  Mass., 
and  for  ten   years  was  agent  and    manager  of  the 


',;^^^.<a^^-^^ 


Florence  Mercantile  Company,  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful co-operative  stores  in  the  State. 

In  1860  he  united  in  marriage  with  Sarah  A. 
Leavitt,  at  Thompsonville,  Conn.  Their  family 
consists  of  five  children,  viz.,  H.  Lincoln,  Charles 
O.,  Royal  A.,  George  K.,  and  Harry  M. 

He  has  always  commanded  the  utmost  respect  of 
the  citizens  of  Florence,  and  has  been  a  justice  of  the 
peace  ten  years.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican  ;  in 
religious  matters,  a  Methodist. 

Lieut.  Parsons  is  now  engaged  in  the  coal  and 
flour  trade  at  Florence,  and  has  a  fine  residence  on 
Main  Street. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY". 


233 


ANSEL   WKIGHT 

was  of  the  eighth  generation  from  Samuel  "VVriglit,  who  came 
from  Enghind  and  settled  in  Northampton  in  1654.  The 
father  of  Ansel  was  Asahel  Wright,  a  Kevolutionary  soldier, 
who  had  two  sons  and  one  daughter, — Chester,  Ansel,  and 
Anna.  Ansel  Wright  was  horn  in  Northampton,  Oct.  29, 
1797,  and  died  Feh.  19,  1872.  His  parents  were  in  humhle 
circumstances,  and  were  in  part  supported  by  him.  He  had 
few  advantages  of  schooling,  but  possessed  natural  abilities  of 
a  high  order,  and  which  made  him  one  of  the  most  successful 
of  business-men.  From  1815  to  1825  he  was  in  the  employ  of 
Hon.  Lewis  Strong,  and  in  1823,  having  saved  from  his  earn- 
ings §115,  he  formed  a  copartnership  with  Theodore  Rust, 
their  united  capital  being  §236.  They  commenced  the  grocery 
business  in  the  basement  of  the  old  town-hall  building. 
During  the  first  two  years  of  their  copartnership  he  continued 
to  work  for  jNlr.  Strong,  assisting  Mr.  Rust  in  the  evenings, 
after  which  he  went  into  the  store  and  continued  until  the 
firm  expired  by  limitation,  after  an  existence  of  twenty-tive 
years.  The  firm-name  of  Wright  &  Kust  was  like  a  house- 
hold word  to  the  citizens  of  Northampton.  It  was  successful 
to  a  large  degree,  not  by  reason  of  its  speculations,  but  by 
reason  of  its  careful,  persistent,  and  steady  application  of  cor- 
rect business  principles.  On  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  in 
1848,  Mr.  Wright  associated  with  himself  his  son,  George  F. 
Wright,  and  continued  in  trade,  afterward  admitting  as  a 
partner  another  son,  Ansel,  the  firm  at  first  being  Ansel 
Wright  &  Son,  then  G.  F.  Wright  &  Co,  and  last,  A.  Wright 
&Co. 

Ansel  Wright  was  a  deputy-sheriff  for  Hampshire  County 
or  constable  for  the  town  of  Northampton  thirty-eight  years, 
and  during  the  most  of  that  time  he  held  both  those  otfices. 
He  was  also  deputy-sherift"f(ir  Franklin  County  sixteen  years, 
and  for  Hampden  County  fourteen  years.  During  this  time 
he  did  an  amount  of  legal  business  that  was  almost  wonderful. 
He  was  keeper  of  the  jail  and  master  of  the  house  of  correction 
one  year,  and  was  the  first  officer  to  set  the  prisoners  at  work 
for  the  benefit  of  the  county. 

He  was  collector  and  treasurer  of  the  town  of  Northampton 
twenty-two  successive  years.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion 
he  received  and  disbursed,  as  town  treasurer,  over  a  half-mil- 
lion dollars  for  State  bounties  to  volunteers  and  their  families. 
He  was  engineer  and  fire-warden  of  the  town  nineteen  years, 
and  was  a  coroner  twenty-four  years.  He  was  active  in  the 
effort  to  establish  the  Northampton  Savings-Bank,  and  was 
one  of  its  trustees  for  several  years. 

Ansel  Wright  was  one  of  the  most  active  men  that  ever  lived 
in  Northampton,  and  perhaps  no  man  in  Hampshire  County 
in  a  life  of  equal  duration  accomplished  more.  He  possessed 
an  iron  constitution,  which  enabled  him  to  endure  a  vast 
amount  of  hard  labor  and  exposure.  He  was  a  man  of  won- 
derful perseverance  and  energ\'.  He  was  never  discouraged 
nor  cast  down ;  so  self-possessed,  so  careful,  cautious,  and 
painstaking,  so  methodical  and  accurate,  was  he  in  all  that  he 
did,  that  he  seldom,  if  ever,  made  a  mistake.  Considering 
the  great  amount  of  important  and  intricate  business  which 
he  transacted  and  the  delicate  nature  of  a  great  portion  of  it, 
the  accuracy  which  he  displayed  and  the  satisfaction  which  he 
always  gjive  were  most  remarkable.  His  prisoners  were  al- 
ways his  friends.  His  business  was  largely  with  those  who 
were  in  trouble  ;  yet  he  ever  raanitained  the  most  friendly  re- 
lations with  them  all,  and  they  regarded  him  rather  as  a  helper 
and  protector  than  as  one  armed  with  the  hostile  authority  of 
the  law.  He  was  a  kind-hearted  man,  and  many  will  remem- 
ber his  acts  of  kindness  and  deeds  of  charity. 

Politically,  he  was  first  a  Democrat,  then  a  Free-Soiler,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party. 

Religiously,  he  was   a   Unitarian.     He   married   Elizabeth 
Bolyn,  daughter  of  Elijah  Bolyn,  of  Northampton,  and  for- 
30 


merly  of  Enfield,  Conn.  Mrs.  Wright  died  Sept.  10,  1848. 
By  this  union  they  had  nine  children, — seven  sons  and  two 
daughters, — only  one  of  whom,  Ansel,  is  now  living.  One  of 
the  sons,  Frederick  C,  was  a  promising  officer  (first  lieutenant 
27th  Massachusetts  Infantry)  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  died  from  the  efl'ects  of  a  gun-shot  wound  received  in  the 
battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  Va.  Another  son,  Chauncey,  was  a 
graduate  of  Cambridge  University.  He  was  noted  as  a  mathe- 
matician and  nietapln-sician,  and  was  the  author  of  several 
scientific  works.  He  was  extensively  known  among  scientific 
men,  numbering  as  his  correspondents  Canon  Kingsley,  Chas. 
Darwin,  etc.,  and  was  a  teacher  in  Professor  Agassiz'  school. 
He  died  in  Cambridge,  Sept.  12,  1875. 

Ansel  Wright,  one  of  the  pre.sent  deputy-shoritfs  of  Hamp- 
shire County, — appointed  in  1807, — inherits  largely  the  quali- 
ties which  distinguished  his  father.  Nov.  22,  1858,  he  married 
Sarah  L.  Fitts,  daughter  of  Robert  Fitts,  of  Northampton, 
formerlj'  of  Leverett,  Ma.ss.  They  have  four  children,  all  liv- 
ing,— Elizabeth  B.,  Frederick  W.,  Lucy  F.,  and  Sarah  H. 


GEORGE   F.  WRIGHT, 

eldest  son  of  Ansel  Wright,  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass., 
March  13,  1820.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  of 
his  native  town,  and  was  subsequently  associated  with  his 
father  in  business  in  Northampton.  He  was  appointed  deputy- 
sheriff  by  Sheriff  Hinckley  in  1847,  the  day  after  he  attained 
his  majority,  and  continued  in  the  uninterrupted  and  active 
discharge  of  the  responsible  duties  of  that  office  until  his  last 
illness. 

He  was  remarkable  for  promptness,  correctness,  and  effi- 
ciency in  executing  whatever  business  was  intrusted  to  him, 
rarely  failing  to  meet  the  highest  expectations  of  those  whom 
he  served.  He  possessed  a  noble  and  generous  nature  and 
kindness  of  heart  much  beyond  the  average  of  men,  and  no 
one  of  the  poor  and  humble,  as  well  as  the  rich  and  intluen- 
tial,  ever  appealed  to  him  in  vain  for  words  of  sympathy  or 
for  an  act  of  kindness.  His  business  brought  him  much  in 
contact  with  the  poorer  classes,  and  among  them  he  numbered 
his  chiefest  mourners.  Though  always  pressed  with  business, 
he  never  was  too  much  engaged  to  afford  the  assistance  re- 
quired, so  i-eady  was  he  on  all  occasions  to  devote  his  time  and 
labor  to  others  ;  and  so  successful  was  he  in  advice  and  in  exe- 
cution that  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  one  necessary  man 
in  the  community,  to  whom  all  classes  appealed  in  times  of 
trouble,  and  with  whom  all  rejoiced  in  days  of  prosperity. 
As  may  be  naturally  inferred,  his  friends  were  numerous, 
limited  only  by  the  extent  of  his  acquaintance  ;  and  not  only 
were  they  manj'  in  number,  but  strong  and  steadfast  in  their 
attachment  and  appreciation  of  his  excellent  qualities. 

He  was  appointed  deputy-collector  of  internal  revenue  for  a 
large  portion  of  Hampshire  County  when  the  revenue  law 
first  took  effect,  and  gave  the  same  degree  of  satisfaction  in 
that  office  that  distinguished  him  in  others.  He  was  one  of 
the  best  accountants  and  general  business  managers  in  the 
county.  His  engagements  were  always  faithfully  fulfilled,  for 
promptness,  truthfulness,  and  conscientiousness  were  among 
his  leading  characteristics.  His  promise  he  never  violated. 
As  an  officer  of  the  town,  and,  in  fact,  in  whatever  situation 
he  was  placed, — being  often  summoned  to  positions  of  respon- 
sibility and  trust, — he  never  failed  to  meet  the  public  expecta- 
tion. As  a  friend,  he  was  faithful,  .steadfast,  and  true ;  as  a 
citizen,  upright,  reliable,  and  public-spirited ;  and  in  his 
family  he  was  all  that  the  affectionate  and  trusting  heart 
could  wish. 

He  was  an  active  supporter  of  the  Free-Soil  party,  connect- 
ing himself  with  it  when  it  was  just  forming,  and  later  was 
a  Republican.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  LTnitarian 
Society  of  Northampton,  and  its  treasurer  for  many  years. 


234 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Nov.  20,  1855,  he  married  Hannah  B.  Fitts,  hy  whom  he  had 
two  children, — Harriet  E.  and  George  F.  He  died  Novem- 
ber 16,  1865. 


GEN.  JOHN   LORD   OTIS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
oldest  New  England  families,  many  of  whose  ancestors  fought 
in  the  arduous  struggle  for  American  libertj'.  His  mother 
was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Lord  family,  of  Lyme,  Conn. 

Samuel  Otis  was  born  in  Lyme,  New  London  Co.,  Conn., 
July  15,  1827.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  in 
his  native  State,  and  early  manifested  a  decided  predilection 
for  mechanical  engineering,  the  study  of  which  profession  he 
pursued  with  diligence  and  attention,  and  soon  became  master 
of  his  business.  He  remained  in  South  Manchester  for  four 
years,  during  which  time  he  started  for  Messrs.  Cheney  Bros, 
the  first  set  of  machinery  ever  put  in  operation  in  the  United 
States  for  the  manufacture  of  silk  and  wool  knit  goods. 

In  1859  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in  South  Manchester, 
and  returned  to  the  Pacific  Mills,  which,  during  his  absence, 
had  been  so  unsuccessful  in  business  as  to  necessitate  their 
stoppage. 

In  1851,  after  putting  in  operation  several  sets  of  delicate 
foreign  machinery  for  the  Pacific  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Manchester,  Conn.,  designed  for  the  manufacture  of  knit 
goods,  and  which  the  men  who  accompanied  the  machinery 
from  France  were  unable  to  put  in  operation,  he  remaimd 
for  five  years  superintendent  of  the  business,  which  was  very 
successful.  In  1855  he  left  this  concern  and  established  the 
Otis  Manufacturing  Company  of  South  Manchester. 

When  war's  "  loud  alarm"  sounded  over  this  republic,  call- 
ing for  brave  men  to  strike  at  the  hideous  head  of  Rebellion, 
Mr.  Otis  promptly  responded  to  the  President's  first  call  for 
troops,  and  in  August,  1861,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company 
B  of  the  10th  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteer  Infantry; 
was  made  a  second  lieutenant  in  September,  1861,  first  lieu- 
tenant November  4th,  and  captain  a  week  later.  In  November, 
1862,  was  made  major,  colonel  in  February,  1863,  and  brevet 
brigadier-general,  as  his  commission  recites,  "  for  special  gal- 
lantry at  the  crossing  of  the  James  River,  June  20,  1864,  and 
at  the  battles  of  Flusser's  Mills  and  Deep  Run." 

He  was  in  all  the  engagements  of  Burnside's  and  Foster's 
commands  in  North  Carolina,  Roanoiike  Island,  Newbern, 
Kinston,  White-Hall,  Goldsboro'  Bridge,  etc;  was  wounded 
once  at  the  battle  of  Newbern,  and  twice  at  Kinston.  At  the 
latter  place  his  regiment  charged  over  three  other  regiments, 
who  had  been  previously  ordered  to  make  the  charge,  but  had 
halted  and  laid  down.  Col.  Otis'  regiment  carried  the  posi- 
tion with  the  loss  of  one-third  of  the  enlisted  men  engaged 
and  seven  commissioned  officers,  capturing  twice  as  many- 
prisoners  as  the  regiment  had  men  in  the  ranks,  with  several 
pieces  of  artillery.  They  drove  the  enemy  across  the  Neuse 
River,  and  extinguished  the  fire  which  they  had  set  to  burn 
the  bridge.  Was  twice  wounded  in  this  engagment,  but  con- 
tinued with  the  command,  and  was  the  next  day  in  the  battle 
of  Whitehall,  and  two  days  later  in  that  of  Goldsboro'  Bridge. 
The  battle  of  Kinston  was  fought  on  Sunday,  Dec.  14,  1862. 

In  January,  1863,  went  to  South  Carolina  with  Gen.  Fos- 
ter's army,  and  commanded  the  advance  in  the  capture  of  Sea- 
brook  Island,  landing  under  the  guns  of  Com.  Geo.  Rogers' 
monitor.  Had  a  .sharp  skirmish  with  the  enemy's  cavalry  at 
nine  in  the  evening  in  front  of  Seabrook  Mansion,  drove  the 
enemy  off,  and  took  possession  of  the  causeway  leading  to 
John's  Island.  June  10th,  while  in  command  of  a  reconnoi- 
tring party  of  a  small  force  of  infantry  and  two  guns,  was 
attacked  by  a  force  of  cavalry  and  artillery  from  John's  Isl- 
and, which  they  defeated  and  drove  back.  In  July  accom- 
panied Terry's  command  to  James  and  Morris  Islands.  On 
James  Island  two  causeways,  half  a  mile  apart,  connected 


that  part  of  the  island  occupied  by  our  forces  with  that  occu- 
pied by  the  enemy.  Col.  Otis,  with  his  regiment',  the  10th 
Connecticut  Volunteers,  was  ordered  to  advance  over  the 
causeway  opposite  our  left,  while  Col.  Shaw,  with  the  54th 
Massachusetts,  performed  the  same  movement  on  the  right- 
hand  causeway.  During  the  night  of  the  14th  the  enemy 
planted  two  batteries  at  Grimball's  plantation,  just  in  front, 
and  at  daylight  opened  a  fearful  fire  on  the  gunboat  "Pawnee," 
lying  in  the  Stone  River,  not  one  hundred  yards  distant,  at  the 
same  time  attacking  the  causeways;  the  10th  Connecticut  held 
its  ground  and  repulsed  the  enemy,  but  the  54th  was  driven 
back  in  confusion,  suti'ering  considerable  loss,  while  the  gun- 
boat was  compelled  to  slip  her  cables  and  drop  down  the  stream 
to  get  range.  The  10th  did  not  retire  until  twice  ordered  to 
do  so  by  Gen.  Stevenson,  their  right  and  rear  being  exposed 
by  the  defeat  of  the  54th.  The  day  following,  Terry's  entire 
command  marched  across  Coles'  to  Morris  Island. 

A  week  later,  having  been  so  ill  from  malarial  fever  for 
three  weeks  as  to  be  almost  unfit  for  duty,  was  detailed  to 
go  North  and  take  command  of  the  conscript  camp  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.  The  camp  had  a  regular  garrison  of  eighty 
officers  and  five  hundred  men.  The  position  was  an  arduous 
and  disagreeble  one,  entailing  constant  care  and  watchfulness 
night  and  daj'.  After  remaining  in  command  for  two  months 
was  detailed  by  Gen.  Dix  to  preside  at  a  court-martial  detail 
for  the  purpose  of  trying  a  number  of  officers  for  grave 
oifenses.  After  presiding  for  six  weeks,  and  finding  that 
the  court  was  liable  to  continue  in  session  some  time  longer, 
asked  to  be  relieved  and  ordered  back  to  the  front.  Was  re- 
lieved, joined  the  regiment  at  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  in  Novem- 
ber, and  was  soon  after  placed  in  command  of  that  post.  Was 
relieved  April  17,  1864,  and  ordered  to  join  the  Army  of  the 
James.  Joined  at  Gloucester  Point,  and  was  in  all  the  move- 
ments and  engagements  of  that  command. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  Terry's  division,  with  an  additional 
brigade  from  Turner's,  marched  down  to  the  James  River  after 
dark  for  the  purpose  of  placing  a  pontoon-bridge  across  at  Jones' 
Landing  and  capturing  the  position  of  Deep  Bottom.  But  it 
was  found  that  there  would  be  so  much  delay  it  would  be  day- 
light before  it  was  accomplished  and  the  entire  movement 
frustrated,  and  it  was  decided  to  send  a  small  force  across  in 
boats  to  make  the  attack.  Col.  Otis  was  given  the  command 
and  allowed  to  select  any  two  regiments  in  the  command.  He 
took  his  own,  the  10th  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  the  11th 
Maine,  commanded  bj'  Lieut. -Col.  Hill,  crossed  just  after  mid- 
night, carried  the  position,  and  held  it,  repulsing  an  attack  of 
the  enemy  at  sunrise,  the  main  body  getting  across  about 
eight  o'clock.  It  was  for  this  and  his  conduct  at  Flusser's 
Mills  and  Deep  Run — at  both  of  which  he  had  command  of  the 
advance  of  his  corps,  and,  at  the  latter,  of  the  rear-guard  in 
the  retreat — that  he  was  breveted  a  brigadier-general.  At 
Strawberry  Plain,  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  with  two  regi- 
ments, he  attacked  and  drove  back  a  force  of  the  enemy  which 
had  just  driven  in  a  brigade  of  the  19th  Corps,  and  early  the 
next  morning,  with  the  same  regiments,  drove  the  enemy  out 
of  a  strong  work  from  which  they  had  just  repulsed  Barlow's 
division,  capturing  three  guns. 

To  mention  in  detail  all  of  the  battles  and  lesser  affairs  in 
which  Terry's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  James  took  part 
would  be  simply  tedious,  nor  within  the  bounds  of  this  work. 

At  the  close  of  his  military  career,  in  January',  1865,  he 
took  charge  of  the  business  of  the  Florence  Sewing-Machine 
Company,  at  Florence,  as  superintendent.  His  skill  and  abil- 
ity in  the  management  of  these  works  have  never  been  ques- 
tioned. In  the  spring  of  1807  he  established  the  Northampton 
Emery-Wheel  Company,  of  which  he  is  still  treasurer.  The 
business,  under  his  management,  has  been  very  successful. 

Gen.  Otis  has  ever  been  alive  to  the  advancement  of  the  pub- 
lic interest,  and  all  measures  tending  to  the  public  good  found 
in  him  an  earnest  advocate.     Politically,  he  is  a  Republican, 


NOTB.— In  tho  beginniug  of  tlio  flftli  Hue  of  tlio  abovu  biograiihy,  Samuel  should  read  General. 


[Ell  It  ATA.] 
(iKX.  JOHN    LORD   OTIS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  ii  descendant  of  one  of  the  oldest  New  England  families,  many  of  whose  ancestors  fought  in 
the  arduous  struggle  for  American  liberty.     His  mother  was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Lord  family,  of  Lyme,  Conn. 

General  Otis  was  born  in  Lyme,  New  London  Co.,  Conn.,  July  15,  1827.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  in  his 
native  State,  and  early  manifested  a  decided  predilection  for  mechanical  engineering,  the  stud}'  of  which  profession  he  pursued 
with  diligence  and  attention,  and  soon  became  master  of  his  business.  He  remained  in  South  Manchester  four  years,  during 
which  time  \\6  started  for  Messrs.  Cheney  IJros.  the  lirst  set  of  machinery  ever  put  in  operation  in  the  United  States  for  the 
manufacture  of  silk  and  wool  knit  goods. 

In  1851,  after  putting  in  operation  several  sets  of  delicate  foreign  machinery  for  the  Pacific  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Manchester,  Conn.,  designed  for  the  manufacture  of  knit  goods,  and  which  the  men  who  accompanied  the  machinery  from 
France  were  unul)le  to  put  in  operation,  he  remained  for  five  years  superintendent  of  the  business,  which  was  very  successful. 
In  1855  he  left  this  concern  and  established  the  Otis  Manufticturing  Company  of  South  Manchester. 

In  1859  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in  South  Manchester,  and  returned  to  the  PaciBc  Mills,  which,  during  his  ab-sence,  had 
been  so  unsuccessful  in  business  a.s  to  necessitate  their  stoppage. 


234 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Nov.  20,  1855,  he  married  Hannah  B.  Fitts,  by  whom  he  had 
two  children, — Harriet  E.  and  George  F.  He  died  Novem- 
ber 16,  18G5. 

GEN.  JOHN   LOKD   OTIS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
oldest  New  England  families,  many  of  whose  ancestors  fought 
in  the  arduous  struggle  for  American  liberty.  His  mother 
was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Lord  family,  of  Lyme,  Conn. 

Samuel  Otis  was  born  in  Lyme,  New  London  Co.,  Conn., 
July  15,  1827.  He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  in 
his  native  State,  and  early  manifested  a  decided  predilection 
for  mechanical  engineering,  the  study  of  which  profession  he 
pursued  with  diligence  and  attention,  and  soon  became  master 
of  his  business.  He  remained  in  South  Manchester  for  four 
years,  during  which  time  he  started  for  Messrs.  Cheney  Bros. 
the  first  set  of  machinery  ever  put  in  operation  in  the  United 
States  for  the  manufacture  of  silk  and  wool  knit  goods. 

In  1859  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in  South  Manchester, 
and  returned  to  the  Pacific  Mills,  which,  during  his  absence, 
had  been  so  unsuccessful  in  business  as  to  necessitate  their 
stoppage. 

In  1851,  after  putting  in  operation  several  sets  of  delicate 
foreign  machinery  for  the  Pacific  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Manchester,  Conn.,  designed  for  the  manufacture  of  knit 
goods,  and  which  the  men  who  accompanied  the  machinery 
from  France  were  unable  to  put  in  operation,  he  remained 
for  five  years  superintendent  of  the  business,  which  was  very 
successful.  In  1855  he  left  this  concern  and  established  the 
Otis  Manufacturing  Company  of  South  Manchester. 

When  war's  "  loud  alarm"  sounded  over  this  republic,  call- 
ing for  brave  men  to  strike  at  the  hideous  head  of  Eebellion, 
Mr.  Otis  promptly  responded  to  the  President's  first  call  for 
troops,  and  in  August,  1861,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company 
B  of  the  10th  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteer  Infantry; 
was  made  a  second  lieutenant  in  September,  1861,  first  lieu- 
tenant November  4th,  and  captain  a  week  later.  In  November, 
1862,  was  made  major,  colonel  in  February,  1863,  and  brevet 
brigadier-general,  as  his  commission  recites,  "  for  special  gal- 
lantry at  the  crossing  of  the  James  River,  June  20,  1864,  and 
at  the  battles  of  Flusser's  Mills  and  Deep  Run." 

He  was  in  all  the  engagements  of  Burnside's  and  Foster's 
commands  in  North  Carolina,  Roanoake  Island,  Newbcrn, 
Kinston,  White-Hall,  Goldsboro'  Bridge,  etc;  was  wounded 
once  at  the  battle  of  Newbern,  and  twice  at  Kinston.  At  the 
latter  place  his  regiment  charged  over  three  other  regiments, 


that  part  of  the  island  occupied  by  our  forces  with  that  occu- 
pied by  the  enemy.  Col.  Otis,  with  his  regiment,  the  lOtli 
Connecticut  Volunteers,  was  ordered  to  advance  over  the 
causeway  opposite  our  left,  while  Col.  Shaw,  with  the  54th 
Massachusetts,  performed  the  same  movement  on  the  right- 
hand  causeway.  During  the  night  of  the  14th  the  enemy 
planted  two  batteries  at  Grimball's  plantation,  just  in  front, 
and  at  daylight  opened  a  fearful  fire  on  the  gunboat  "Pawnee," 
lying  in  the  Stone  River,  not  one  hundred  yards  distant,  at  the 
same  time  attacking  the  causeways;  the  10th  Connecticut  held 
its  ground  and  repulsed  the  enemy,  but  the  54th  was  driven 
back  in  confusion,  sutt'ering  considerable  loss,  while  the  gun- 
boat was  compelled  to  slip  her  cables  and  drop  down  the  stream 
to  get  range.  The  10th  did  not  retire  until  twice  ordered  to 
do  so  by  Gen.  Stevenson,  their  right  and  rear  being  exposed 
by  the  defeat  of  the  .54th.  The  day  following,  Terry's  entire 
command  marched  across  Coles'  to  Morris  Island. 

A  week  later,  having  been  so  ill  from  malarial  fever  for 
three  weeks  as  to  be  almost  unfit  for  duty,  was  detailed  to 
go  North  and  take  command  of  the  conscript  camp  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.  The  camp  had  a  regular  garrison  of  eighty 
oiiicers  and  five  hundred  men.  The  position  was  an  arduous 
and  disagreeble  one,  entailing  constant  care  and  watchfulness 
night  and  da}'.  After  remaining  in  command  for  two  months 
was  detailed  by  Gen.  Dix  to  preside  at  a  court-martial  detail 
for  the  purpose  of  trying  a  number  of  officers  for  grave 
offenses.  After  presiding  for  six  weeks,  and  finding  that 
the  court  was  liable  to  continue  in  session  some  time  longer, 
asked  to  be  relieved  and  ordered  back  to  the  front.  Was  re- 
lieved, joined  the  regiment  at  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  in  Novem- 
ber, and  was  soon  after  placed  in  comnumd  of  that  post.  Was 
relieved  Ajiril  17,  1864,  and  ordered  to  join  the  Army  of  the 
James.  Joined  at  Gloucester  Point,  and  was  in  all  the  move- 
ments and  engagements  of  that  command. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  Terry's  division,  with  an  additional 
brigade  from  Turner's,  marched  down  to  the  James  Kiver  after 
darkfor  the  purpose  of  placing  a  pontoon-bridge  across  at  Jones' 
Landing  and  capturing  the  position  of  Deep  Bottom.  But  it 
was  found  that  there  would  be  so  much  delay  it  would  be  day- 
light before  it  was  accomplished  and  the  entire  movement 
frustrated,  and  it  was  decided  to  send  a  small  force  across  in 
boats  to  make  the  attack.  Col.  Otis  was  given  the  command 
and  allowed  to  select  any  two  regiments  in  the  command.  He 
took  his  own,  the  10th  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  the  llth 
Maine,  commanded  by  Lieut.-Col.  Hill,  crossed  just  after  mid- 
night, carried  the  position,  and  held  it,  repulsing  an  attack  of 
the  enemy  at  sunrise,  the  main   body  getting   across   about 


James  Island  two  causeways,  half  a  mile  apart,  connected     I     in  him  an  earnest  advocate.     Politically,  he  is  a  Republican, 


KOTK. — In  tho  begiuniug  of  tlio  fiflli  line  of  the  above  biography,  Sauiuel  should  read  Cciicth/. 


^'C^ 


\;>'^^e—i^^<^ 


^ 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


235 


and  has  labored  assiduously  in  the  ranks  of  that  part}'.  He 
was  selectman  and  assessor  of  Northampton  in  1875-76,  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1878,  and  at  present  is 
a  member  of  the  State  Senate  from  the  Hampshire  District. 
He  was  married  at  the  age  of  twentj--one  to  Catherine  Preston, 
of  Northam]iton,  Mass. 

Whether  upon  the  battlefield,  in  the  work-shop,  or  in  the 
Senate-chamber,  Gen.  Otis  has  ever  discharged  his  duties  with 
honor  and  marked  ability. 


J.  HONE  DEilUND 

was  born  in  Rutland,  "Worcester  Co.,  Mass,  Oct.  5,  182.5.  He 
lived  with  his  father  upon  a  farm  until  he  was  ten  years  old. 
His  father  then  became  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  rakes, 
and  subsequently  bought  a  grist-mill.  Young  Deniond  worked 
in  the  shop  and  mill  for  three  years,  excepting  the  winter 
months,  when  he  attended  the  common  school.  In  January, 
1828,  his  father  removed  to  Springfield,  and  was  without  capital 
or  means  of  subsistence,  having  lost  his  entire  property  by  fire. 
Springfield  at  that  time  was  but  a  village,  without  even  a  rail- 
road. They  moved  into  a  house  on  Main  Street  which  was 
connected  with  the  old  Springfield  Bakery,  and  situated  on  the 
spot  now  occupied  by  the  Second  National  Bank.  The  son 
worked  one  year  in  the  bakery,  and  afterward  wherever  he 
could  find  employment,  meanwhile  attending  school  during  a 
part  of  each  winter.  Among  other  things,  he  was  paid  two 
shillings  per  week  for  attending  to  the  street  lamps.  It  was 
his  duty  to  fill,  trim,  and  hang  the  lamps  in  their  places,  and 
to  bring  them  in  at  ten  o'clock.  He  worked  one  sea.son  for 
Justin  Lombard,  feeding  silk-worms  and  cultivating  the  mul- 
berry on  the  land  where  Pynchon  Street  is  now.  He  worked 
three  summers  for  Deacon  Bontacue,  and  received  for  his  labor 
at  first  eight,  and  afterward  nine,  dollars  per  month.  Mr. 
Bontacue  was  wont  to  say  that  Demond  was  the  most  faithful 
and  trusty  boy  he  had  ever  employed. 

When  eighteen  years  of  age  he  took  charge  of  Judge  Hook- 
er's farm,  on  what  is  now  North  Main  Street.  The  place  had 
been  sadly  neglected.  Going  to  work  with  energy  and  per- 
severance, he  brought  it  nearly  all  under  cultivation  in  the 
four  and  a  half  j-ears  he  remained  upon  it,  and  for  his  labor  he 
received  the  munificent  (?)  sum  of  sixteen  dollars  per  month 
and  board,  and  house-rent  for  his  parents.  He  was  allowed  to 
manage  the  farm  according  to  his  own  judgment,  his  employer 
not  seeing  him  oftener  than  once  a  month.  He  set  out  a  fine 
orchard  of  diflerent  kinds  of  fruit-trees,  and  considered  this  one 
of  his  greatest  achievements.     When  twenty-one  years  of  age 


he  purchased  of  John  Mills  seventeen  acres  of  land  situated  in 
what  was  then  Plainfield,  now  "  Brightwood,"  for  which  he 
agreed  to  pay  two  thousand  and  eighty-seven  dollars.  He 
gave  him  four  notes,  running  a  number  of  years,  and  eighty- 
seven  dollars  in  moncj-,  which  was  sill  he  possessed.  It  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  was  able  to  meet  the  notes  as  they  be- 
came due,  but  he  succeeded  at  last  in  paying  them,  and  sub- 
sequently purchased  of  Day  &  Morgan  seven  acres  adjoining 
his  fiirm,  and  stocked  it  with  cows  and  engaged  in  the  dairy 
and  milk  business,  selling  the  milk  in  Springfield. 

With  his  father's  assistance  he  built  a  house,  and  improved 
his  farm  by  planting  fruit-  and  maple-trees,  and  setting  out 
hedges.  He  increased  his  purchases  of  land  until  he  had  fifty 
acres  running  from  the  Connecticut  River  to  Chicopee  Street. 
He  raised  vegetables  and  tobacco,  and  did  his  own  marketing. 
He  followed  this  business  until  he  liquidated  all  his  debts  in 
1861. 

He  was  married  on  the  6th  of  March,  1866,  to  Emma  W. 
Browne,  of  Bernardston,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass.,  by  whom  he 
has  had  three  children,  only  one  of  whom  survives. 

In  1871  he  sold  his  farm  to  Hyde  &  Fisk  for  $60,000.  He 
then  purchased  a  residence  in  Northampton,  on  Elm  Street, 
the  surrounding  grounds  consisting  of  seven  acres,  mostly 
covered  with  different  kinds  of  fruit.  He  removed  there  in 
February,  1872. 

The  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Demond  is  held  by  his  townsmen 
has  been  shown  by  his  election  to  numerous  oflSces  of  public 
trust.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  Hampden  Agricultural 
Society  for  many  years,  and  has  expended  a  great  deal  of  time 
and  money  in  improving  Hampden  Park,  attending  to  the 
building  of  dykes  and  fences,  and  setting  out  trees  and  shrub- 
berv.  He  has  also  \\pn  a  number  of  premiums, — one  of  fifty 
dollars  for  the  best-conducted  farm,  and  a  silver  cup,  presented 
by  Francis  Brewer,  to  the  owner  of  the  best  herd  of  milch 
cows.  In  agriculture  he  was  a  leader,  and  among  the  first  to 
avail  himself  of  the  improvements  in  farming  utensils.  He 
bought  the  first  mowing-machine  brought  to  Springfield, 
which,  it  may  well  be  said,  was  far  inferior  to  those  of  the 
present  day.  He  was  one  of  the  four  gentlemen  who  originated 
the  Hampden  Harvest  Club.  In  1861  he  was  elected  council- 
man, and  served  four  years.  He  is  president  of  the  village  im- 
provement society,  and  of  the  Hampshire,  Hampden,  and 
Franklin  Agricultural  Society,  and  of  the  Western  Massachu- 
setts Poultry  Association.  Mr.  Demond  looks  back  with 
pleasure  to  the  struggles  and  privations  of  his  earlier  years, 
and  he  owes  his  success,  as  expressed  in  his  own  words,  "  to 
great  industry,  good  health,  temperate  habits,  honesty,  good 
parents,  and  a  kind  Providence." 


AMHERST. 


The  town  of  Amherst,  formerly  a  part  of  Hadley,  lies  east 
of  the  Connecticut  River,  being  separated  therefrom  by  the 
present  town  of  Hadley,  and  is  bounded  north  by  the  towns 
of  Sunderland  and  Leverett,  in  Franklin  County ;  east  by 
Shutesbury,  in  that  county,  and  by  Pelham  and  Belchertown, 
in  Hampshire  County ;  south  by  Granby  and  South  Hadley ; 
and  west  by  Hadlej'.  The  town  contains  in  the  vicinity  of 
18,400  acres,  having  received  additions  from  the  mother-town, 
Hadley,  at  four  separate  times. 

By  the  State  census  in  1875,  the  town  contained  3937  inhab- 
itants, of  whom  2006  were  males  and  1931  females.  Of  the 
whole  number,  334  were  of  foreign  birth.  (See  general  census 
tables.) 


TOPOGRAPHY. 

Amherst  presents  an  uneven  surface,  interspersed  with  low 
and  level  reaches — some  of  which  are  swampy — and  wide 
ranges  of  broken  upland.  The  principal  village,  Amherst, 
unincorporated,  occupies  a  picturesque  position  upon  a  wide, 
flattened  ridge  of  considerable  extent  from  north  to  south,  of 
which  Mt.  Pleasant  at  the  north,  and  the  elevation  occupied 
by  the  college  buildings  at  the  south,  are  prominent  features. 

"Laurence  Swamp"  is  a  large  tract  of  wet  land  in  the 
southeastern  portion  of  the  town.  The  Holyoke  range,  with 
its  several  peaks,  forms  the  town's  southern  boundary  and 
hems  in  the  southward  view,  while  the  hills  of  Pelham  and 
Shutesbury,  just  over  the  eastern  border,  present  a  similar 


236 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


barrier  in  that  direction.  Nortliward  loom  up  the  high  and 
rugged  prominences  of  Sunderland  and  Leverett,  above  the 
less  ambitious  "Flat  Hills"  of  Amherst,  which  intervene; 
and  westward  lie  the  broad,  rich  intervales  and. wooded  swamps 
of  Hadley.  The  greatest  elevation  is  "  Hilliard's  Knob,"  of 
the  Holyoke  range,  1120  feet  in  height,  standing  midway  of 
the  southern  boundary. 

STREAMS. 

The  streams  of  note  are  two, — "Fort  River"  and  "Mill 
River."  The  former  rises  in  Pelham,  enters  the  town  about 
two  miles  south  of  the  northeast  angle  thereof,  flows  southerly 
under  the  Pelham  bills,  and  thence  south  of  west  across  the 
town,  passing  the  western  bounds  into  Hadley  two  and  a 
half  miles  from  tlie  southwest  angle.  Mill  River  rises  in  the 
hills  of  Shutesbury,  crosses  the  southeast  corner  of  Leverett, 
enters  Amherst  a  short  distance  west  of  the  northeast  angle, 
traverses  the  town  in  a  general  southwesterly  direction,  and 
escapes  into  Hadley  across  the  south  line  of  the  800  acres 
added  to  the  town  of  Amherst  in  1814. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  settlers  of  Amherst  were  chiefly  from  Hadley,  Hat- 
field, and  Northampton.  Hadley  and  Hatfield  had  been  settled 
by  residents  of  Windsor,  Wethersfield,  and  Hartford,  in  Con- 
necticut, which  towns  had  been  colonized  respectively  from 
ancient  Dorchester,  Watertown,  and  Cambridge,  in  "Massa- 
chusetts Bay."  Of  the  immigrants  who  settled  in  the  latter 
towns  in  1631  it  is  written  that  they  "  comprised  men  of  gentle 
birth  and  life,  men  of  learning  and  mark,  men  of  heroism  and 
deep-toned  piety,  and  women  and  children."*  The  historian 
could  have  shown  that  among  the  "  women"  were  many  noble, 
intelligent,  and  brave,  who  planned  an4  toiled,  who  suftered 
and  endured  beyond  what  is  or  ever  can  be  known. 

The  territory  known  as  "  Amherst"  was  set  apart  for  settle- 
ment by  legal  action  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hadley  in  town- 
meeting,  March  4,  1700,  as  follows  : 

'*  Voted  by  the  town,  that  throe  miles  and  one-quarter  eastward  from  the  meet- 
ing-house, and  so  from  the  north  side  of  3Iount  Holyolte  unto  the  Mill  river, 
shall  lye  a.s  common  land  forever,  supposing  that  the  line  will  take  in  the  new 
swamp. 

"  Voted,  that  the  rest  of  the  commons  eastward  shall  he  laid  out  in  throe  divi- 
sions, that  is  to  say,  between  the  road  leading  to  Brookfield  and  the  Mill  river, 
notwithstanding  there  is  liberty  for  the  cutting  of  wood  and  timber  so  long  as  it 
lieth  unfeneed  ;  there  is  liUewise  to  be  left  between  every  division  forty  rods  for 
highways,  and  what  will  be  necessary  to  be  left  for  highways  eastward  and  "West 
through  every  division  is  to  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  measurei-s,  and  eveiy 
one  to  have  a  proportion  in  the  3d  division,  and  every  householder  to  have  a  £50 
allotment,  and  all  others  who  are  now  the  proper  inhabitants  of  Hadley,  16 
years  old,  and  upward,  to  have  a  £25  allotment  iu  said  commons." 

The  principle  which  governed  the  distribution  of  the  com- 
mon lands  among  the  proprietors  varied  at  dift'erent  periods, — 
the  interests  of  the  rich  inclining  to  a  property,  and  of  the 
poor  to  a/^er  capita,  basis.  By  the  third  day  of  May,  1703,  the 
town  measurersf  had  laid  out  the  lands  known  as  "  outward 
commons"  into  three  divisions. 

The  first  division — the  most  westerly — lay  next  the  three- 
and-a-quarter-miles  line,  and  was  240  rods  in  width,  extending 
from  the  Brookfieldroad  to  Mill  Kiver,  a  "measured  distance" 
of  1961  rods,  which  included  three  east  and  west  highways, 
each  40  rods  in  width.  This  division  contained  GO  lots,  of 
various  widths,  aggregating  2760  acres. 

The  second  division  was  also  240  rods  wide,  and  in  length 
measured  from  the  Brookfield  road  1674  rods,  inclusive  of 
three  east  and  west  highways, — two  of  40  rods  and  one  of 
32  rods.  This  division  contained  37  unequal  lots,  compris- 
ing only  2343  acres,  and  so  was  much  shorter  than  the  first 
division. 

Those  who  were  entitled  to  lots  in  these  two  divisions  drew 
them  in  the  order  given  in  the  following  table,  commencing 

•  As  quoted  by  Br.  Holland,  Hist,  of  "West.  BLass.,  p.  18. 

f  Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Cornet  Nehenuab  Dickinson,  and  .Samuel  Porter  were 
the  measurers,  and  laid  out  the  lands  without  a  compass. 


at  the  Brookfield  road  and  proceeding  northward.  The  width 
fif  each  lot  is  given  in  rods  and  feet.  Hatfield  people  are 
marked  thus  * ;  other  non-residents,  thus  f  : 

First  Division — Brookfield  Road. 

Kods.  Feet. 

1.  Jonathan  Marsli 57  7 

2.  Samuel  Niush l(i  1 

3.  Ebenezer  Nash 12  7 

4.  Samuel  M;ush*.  21  13 

5.  Epbraini  .Nash 12  7 

6.  SanineH'iow :i.-,  () 

7.  Th.iiiiiisSrl.liiig 7(1  0 

8.  .Tolin  .■^iMiii;; 211  7 

9.  William  ];.»iker 22  11 

10.  .b.si-ph  Siiillh 2ti  S 

11.  Wiil(.w  Craft 3  0 

12.  Sanm.I  HiiUinson* 8  13 

13.  Mr.  William  Willi.ams* 7  5 

14.  John  Cole* ,.  0  8 

15.  .lohn  Graves* .'.  4  0 

IG,  Stephen  IM.ling* 10  5 

17.  KI..-IHZ.I  Hilling* 5  2 

18.  Samuel  Iti-Ming,  Jr.* 3  0 

19.  Daniel  Warner* 8  7 

20.  Widow  Warner* 8  7 

Highw'ay  40  rods  wide,  south  of  Fort  River. 

21.  Joseph  Smith* 4  0 

22.  Ebenezer  Wells* 21  14 

23.  Nathaniel  White 72  11 

24.  John  Smith,  Tailor 44  8 

2.5.  John  Preston 2H  9 

26.  Nathaniel  Warner 45  0 

27.  Daniel  Ilnhhard (>(]  8 

28.  Col.  SiUHocI  I'artrigg* 40  8 

29.  .Samuel  I'aitiigg.Jr 75  0 

30.  Samuel  and  Elienezer  Moody CO  5 

31.  J..li]i  IiiKiam.Sr 42  5 

32.  J..lin  iM-iiiio,  Jr 24  1 

33.  Samnel  Iiiirram 17  9 

34.  NathuMir]  Ingram 17  9 

36.  Jonathan  Iiigr.am 17  9 

35.  ThMma..i  Ciinijman 52  9 

37.  John  Smitli,  .irphan 4S  2 

38.  Samuel  Barnard 45  0 

A  highway  40  rods  wide  goetli  over  New  swamp,  and  runs  to  Foot's  Folly. 

39.  Samuel  Cliuroh 45  0 

40.  .b.,-iah  Church 45  0 

41.  .b...iepli  Church 10  1 

42.  John  Tavlor,  Sr 08  11 

4:i.  .Tohn  Laylor,  Jr 17  8 

44.  Kleazar  Warner ! 17  8 

4.5.  Johnllihard 17  8 

40.  Williaiii  iiniwn 17  8 

47.  Nuthani.l  Dickinson* 3  11 

48.  Eilward  Church* 35  0 

49.  .Samuel  Smith,  Sr 17  8 

50.  James  Smith , 40  11 

51.  Preserved  Smith 17  8 

Highway  40  rods,  N.  end  of  Wells'  Hill. 

62.  Samuel  Oavlord 25  5 

53.  William  I iavlord 17  5 

54.  Willow  Hannah  Porter 25  10 

5.5.  Samuel  Porter 151  8 

50.  Hezekiah  Porter 31  0 

57.  .John  Porter 13  0 

58.  Experience  Pinter 32  3 

59.  Ichabod  I'.irtcr 2:1  0 

60.  Peter  Mo], ta-ue 89  0 

Mill  Elver,  North. 

Second  Division. — Broolificld  Road. 

Rods.  Feet. 

1.  John  Goodman 07  1 

2.  Aaron  Cook,  Esq 39  7 

3.  Thomas  Hovey 48  9 

4.  Westwood  Cook 73  9 

5.  Samuel  Cook 44  1 

Highway,  40  rods — removed  1734. 

0.  MosesCook 44  16 

7.  Samuel  lloltwood 02  1 

8.  Dani.  1  Mai>h 134  3 

9.  Th.imas  Uickinsont 44  15 

10.  Deacon  Samuel  Smith 45  10 

11.  John  Montague .54  0 

12.  Isaac  Warner 17  8 

13.  Danhl  Warner 8  13 

14.  Widow  Cnoke 2  15 

15.  Eiifi-n  CluUab  Smith 39  10 

IB.  .Samnel  Smith  (son  of  Ch.) 34  2     . 

17.  Luke  Smith 55  7 

IS.  Ebenezer  Smith 21  15 

10.  John  Smith 20  0 

20.  Mr.  Isaac  Chauncey 52  9 

21.  Town  lot,  00  acres 40  0 

22.  George  Stillman 55  7 

23.  Ichabod  Smith 38  0 

24.  Jacob  Warner 44  1 

Highway,  40  rods,  "  runs  down  to  Foot's  Folly  from  New  Swamp." 

25.  Land  of  Coleman 39  6 

26.  .John  Kellogg 32  8 

27.  Edward  K.llogg 17  8 

28.  Lieot.  Jo.-ph  Kellogg 65  6 

29.  Nathaniel  Kellogg 17  8 

30.  Mr.  Samuel  Bussellt *  ■\ 

31.  Mr.  Jonathan  Russellf *7  '• 

32.  John  Nash 31  0 

33.  Joseph  Nash 31  " 

34.  Thomas  Nash* 8  13 

High  wry  32  r^ds  in  Ireadth. 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


237 


Bods.  Feet. 

36.  Neli'h  Pklvinson  4  Sons 113  13 

30.  Timothy  Enstman 69         6 

37.  I'rtei- Tiltou,  oO"/^  acres 39         G 

Commons,  North. 

The  third  division,  separated  from  the  second  by  a  highway 
forty  rods  in  widtli,  was  two  miles  in  width  east  and  we.st,  tlius 
making  the  lots  two  miles  long.  The  number  of  lots  was  9-3 ; 
length  of  the  division,  1971  rods.  No  lateral  highways  crossed 
this  division,  whose  total  acreage  was  7881. 

In  laying  out  these  lands  the  measurers  encroached  upon 
what  were  afterward  known  as  the  "equivalent  lands,"*  now 
in  the  towns  of  Pelham  and  Belehertown.  By  subsequent 
survey  of  the  line  between  Hadlcy  and  the  equivalent  lands 
this  division  was  reduced  to  a  half-mile  in  width  at  the  north 
end,  and  a  gore  of  about  3000  acres  taken  oft'. 

To  31  persons  owning  lots  in  this  division,  who  had  suifered 
most  by  the  later  survey,  the  town  of  Hadley  made  a  grant  of 
"about  600  acres,  on  the  'Plat  Hills,'  so  called,  and  west  of 
them,  between  the  second  and  third  divisions  and  Mill  Eiver. " 

The  highways  separating  and  intersecting  these  divisions 
were  subsequently  reduced  in  width  from  time  to  time.  The 
latest  reduction  was  by  Amherst,  in  1788,  when  the  portion 
taken  off  was  sold  to  the  adjacent  land-owners. 

It  is  not  positivelj'  known  when  the  first  settlement  was 
made  on  the  lands  so  laid  out.f 

To  provide  a  place  for  worship  and  a  place  for  burial  required 
the  action  of  the  inhabitants  in  town-meeting  assembled. 
Much  has,  therefore,  been  preserved  in  the  town-records  tliat 
would  else  have  been  lost  concerning  these  early  communities. 
Jan.  5,  1730,  the  town  of  Hadley  provided  a  "  burial-placej 
for  the  east  inhabitants."  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  settle- 
ments began  some  time  prior  to  that  date.  The  following  per- 
sons were  residents  in  the  year  1731:  John  Ingram,  Sr.,  John 
Ingram,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  John  Cowls,  Jonathan  Cowls, 
Samuel  Boltwood,  Samuel  Hawley,  Sr.,  Nathaniel  Church, 
John  Wells,  who  soon  removed,  Aaron  Smith,  Nathaniel 
Smith,  Richard  Chauncey,  Stephen  Smith,  John  Nash,  Jr., 
Joseph  Wells,  Ebenezer  Scovil,  died  1731,  Ebenezer  Ingram, 
died  173-5,  Ebenezer  Dickinson.  Within  the  succeeding  eight 
years  the  following  persons  became  residents  :  Joseph  Clary, 
Zachariah  Field,  Jonathan  Athcrton,  died  1744,  Solomon 
Boltwood,  Charles  Chauncey,  William  Murray,  Joseph  Haw- 
ley, Samuel  Hawley,  Jr.,  Nathan  Moody,  Pelatiah  Smith, 
John  Perry,  Ebenezer  Williams,  John  Norton,  Moses  Smith. 

Another  si.v  years — 1739  to  1745 — brought  the  following: 
Samuel  and  Elisha  Ingram,  John  Field,  David  and  Jonathan 
Nash,  Moses  Hawlej',  Moses  and  Aaron  Warner,  Nathaniel 
Coleman,  Jonathan  Moody,  Samuel  Church,  Daniel,  John, 
Moses,  Nathan,  and  Jonatlian  Dickinson,  Jonathan,  Peter, 
Phinehas,  David,  and  Daniel  Smith,  Nehemiah  Strong,  Noah 
Baker,  Charles  Wright,  Preserved  Clapp,  Westwood  Cook, 
Jr.,  Joseph   Eastman,  Jr.,  Deacon  Eleazar   Mattoon,   Rev. 

*  "  Massachusetts,  adhering  to  a  wrong  south  line,  which  was  run  in  1G42,  and 
crossed  Connecticut  River  several  miles  too  far  south,  granted  south  of  the  true 
line  105,793  acres  of  land,  mostly  to  Suffield,  Enfield,  and  Woodstock,  but  partly 
to  individuals  and  to  other  towns.  After  a  long  controvei^y  it  was  agreed,  in  1713, 
that  M.iss.ichusetts  should  give  to  Connecticut  the  same  number  of  acres  as  an 
equivalent,  and  that  the  towns  named  should  remain  to  Massachusetts.  In  1715 
two  men  from  Connecticut  and  one  from  Massachusetts  laid  out  for  Connecticut 
105,793  acres,  viz.,  51,850  acres  east  of  Hadley,  afterward  in  Belehertown  and 
Pelham,*  10,000  acres,  afterwards  in  Ware,  and  43,943  acres  at  Coafiset,  above 
the  present  village  of  Brattleboro',  Massachusetts,  then  claiming  the  lower  part 
of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire." 

f  The  tradition  is  recorded  that  a  Mr.  Foote,  from  Hatfield,  put  up  a  liut  in  the 
east  precinct,  north  of  the  present  meeting-house  of  the  second  parish,  as  early 
as  1703.  He  failed  of  his  object, — that  of  giliuing  a  support  by  hunting  and  fish- 
ing,— and  abandoned  the  spot.  From  this  incident  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
town  was  for  a  long  time  called  "  Foote-Folly  Swamp." 

t  This  burial-place  was  laid  out  in  March,  1730,  "in  the  west  highway,  in 
lengtii  fifteen  rods  adjoiuing  Nathaniel  Church's  lot  on  the  west,  and  in  width 
twelve  rods  east  in  the  highway,  making  one  acre  and  twenty  rods." 


*  Judd's  Hist,  of  Hadley,  p.  298. 


David  Parsons,  Nathaniel  and  Ephraim  Kellogg,  Ale.vander 
Porter,  Joseph  Morton,  Seth  Kibbe. 

In  1738  there  were  29  settlers  or  heads  of  families,  who  had 
"  35  taxable  polls,  49  horses,  39  oxen,  52  cows,  some  hogs,  and 
3-50  acres  of  improved  land,  and  6  non-residents  had  43  acres 
of  improved  land."§ 

Between  1745  and  1703,  the  following  settled  in  East  Hadley 
and  Amherst,  the  latter  title  having  meantime  been  conferred  : 
Ebenezer,  Jr.,  Abraham,  and  Daniel  Kellogg  ;  Joseph  Church, 
Isaac  Hubbard,  Moses  Cook,  Jacob  Warner  ;  Gideon,  Reuben, 
Etenezer,  Jr.,  and  Joseph,  sons  of  Deacon  Ebenezer  Dickin- 
son ;  Nathan,  Jr.,  and  Ebenezer  (3d),  sons  of  Nathan  Dickin- 
son ;  Simeon,  Noah,  and  Jonathan,  Jr.,  sons  of  Jonathan 
Dickinson;  Jonathan,  Azariah,  Nathaniel,  and  Nehemiah, 
sons  of  Deacon  Samuel  Dickinson,  who  had  removed  from 
Hadley  to  Shutesbury  ;  David,  son  of  Israel  Dickinson,  of 
Hadley ;  Thomas  Hastings,  Simeon  Strong,  Ensign  Josiah 
Chauncey,  Isaac  Goodale,  Elijah  Baker,  Simeon  Pomero_y, 
John  Keet,  Jonathan  Edwards  ;  Alexander,  Edward,  Pelatiah, 
Jr.,  Simeon,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  David,  Martin,  Noah,  and  Eleazar 
Smith;  John  Petty  or  Pettis;  John,  Jr.,  and  Oliver  Cowls; 
Thomas  Morton,  Benjamin  Harwood,  Samuel  Elmer,  Eli  Col- 
ton,  James  Merrick;  Solomon,  Jr.,  and  William  Boltwood; 
Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Simeon  Clark,  John  Nash,  Jr.,  Noadiah 
Lewis  ;  John  (3d),  Philip,  and  Reuben  Ingram  ;  Hezekiah  Bel- 
ding,  William  Murray,  Jr.,  John  Field,  Jr.,  John  Allis,  John 
Billing,  Preserved  Cla])ji,  Jr.,  David  Blodget;  Jonathan,  Jr., 
and  Asahel  Moody;  Benjamin  Rhodes,  Justus  Williams, 
Thomas  Bascom,  Gideon  Henderson,  Abner  Adams. 

The  lands  in  the  first  and  second  divisions  were  estimated  at 
about  one  shilling  per  acre;  in  the  east,  or  third  division, 
from  four  to  six  pence.  The  prices  increased  when  the  Indian 
wars  cea.sed  and  settlement  became  safe. 

The  lands  north  of  Mill  River  were  divided  in  1742,  and 
those  south  of  the  Brookfield-Boston  road,  extending  to  Mt. 
Holyoke  and  to  the  southern  limit  of  the  present  town,  in 
1743.     The  latter  remained  in  Hadley  until  1812. 

ROADS. 

The  earliest  of  the  roads  of  Amherst  was  probably  the  Bay 
Road,  or  Boston  Road,  which  has  undergone  more  or  less 
change  in  its  position.     Mr.  Judd  says  : 

"  In  early  days  there  was  a  '  Nashaway  Path'  north  nf  Fort 
Eiver,  which  still  bears  the  old  name.  In  1674  and  many 
years  after,  the  Bay  Road  crossed  Fort  River  near  the  south 
end  of  Spruce  Hill.  The  road  was  laid  out  where  it  now  is 
after  1088,  but  no  record  of  the  change  is  found." 

The  roads  first  made  did  not  admit  of  the  passage  of  ve- 
hicles, but  were  mere  "paths  for  men  and  horses."  The 
broad  highways,  laid  out  in  1703,  separating  and  intersecting 
the  three  great  divisions  laid  out  in  the  same  year,  were  at 
different  periods  reduced  in  width,  until  now  few  are  left  e.x- 
cecding  four  rods.  The  decay  and  obliteration  of  the  original 
monuments  caused  much  trouble  to  the  town  and  serious  con- 
tentions with  the  adjoining  proprietors.  The  most  noted  of 
these  was  occasioned  by  the  supposed  encroachments  of  John  ' 
Morton  and  Nathan  Dickinson,  wliose  lots  wore  "  in  the  east- 
ern division,  north  of  the  Pelham  Road."  Morton  was  the 
first  settler  in  that  division.  They  had  been  beaten  at  home, 
and  applied  to  the  General  Court  for  relief  The  town  author- 
ities, in  a  lengthy  document, ||  set  forth  the  facts,  justified 
their  action,  and  prayed  that  the  petition  of  Morton  and  Dick- 
inson might  be  dismissed.     The  jirayer  was  granted. 

g  Judd's  Hist.  p.  424.  Of  these  settlers,  Joseph  Wells,  Aaron  Smith,  Nathaniel 
Church,  and  John  Perrj'  removed  about  1744;  in  addition,  "David  Nash  re- 
moved to  South  Hadley,  Phiiielnis  Smith  to  Granby,  and  David  .Smith  returned 
to  Hadley.  Noah  Baker  removed  to  Sunderland;  he  was  a  Baptist  preacher. 
Josei)h  Mortou  and  Seth  Kibbe  died.    Daniel  Smith  was  crazy." — Ibid. 

]|  A  copy  of  this  interesting  document,  and  other  papers  relating  to  .\niher8t, 
were  recently  depositel  by  M.  F.  Dickinson,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  in  the  library  of 
Amherst  College. 


238 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


INDIAN   OCCUPANCY   AND    WARS. 

Norwottuck  was  a  favorite  possession  of  the  Indians.  The 
rich  bottom  lands  produced  corn  with  little  labor,  and  the 
higher  ground,  clad  in  a  various  foliage,  sheltered  the  game 
which  supplied  so  nuiny  of  their  needs.  The  custom  followed 
by  many  of  the  tribes  prevailed  here, — that  of  burning  annually 
the  dried  grass  upon  the  meadows  and  the  leaves  and  under- 
brush of  the  adjacent  woodland.  Thus  extensive  openings 
were  made  here  and  there  favorable  to  the  spread  of  grasses, 
and  obstructions  removed  from  the  path  of  the  savage  hunter 
long  distances  through  the  forest.  The  "boundless  and  im- 
penetrable wilderness,"  so  often  associated  with  the  cabin  of 
the  pioneer,  lay  not  in  the  path  of  tlie  settlers  at  Norwottuck 
and  other  portions  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Those  at  llad- 
le}',  learning  the  advantage  of  the  annual  burnings,  "  not  only 
burnt  over  their  own  lands,  but  extended  their  fires  to  the  hills 
of  Pelham  and  Bclchertown,  in  order  to  increase  their  pastur- 
age."* 

The  savages  did  not  yield  their  plantations  and  bunting- 
grounds  without  a  prolonged  struggle,  in  which^  though  they 
were  at  last  vanquished,  many  of  the  whites  were  sacrificed. 

Frcnch-and-Iiidinii  War,  1744-53. — List  of  y'  mounted  sol- 
diers that  went  in  quest  of  y°  enemy  to  Capt.  Bridgman's 
Fort,  above  Northfield,  under  y°  command  of  Capt.  Seth 
Dwight,  Oct.  22,  1747,  and  were  out  six  days, — Sergt.  Solo- 
mon Boltwood,  Joseph  Clary,  Aaron  Smith,  Pelatiah  Smith, 
Hezekiah  Belding,  Samuel  Ingram,  David  Nash,  William 
Boltwood. f 

In  the  company  under  Sergt.  Wm.  Lyman,  at  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts, November  IGth  to  Jan.  12,  1747-48,  was  William 
JInrray. 

In  Capt.  William  Williams'  company,  out  from  March  10th 
to  October  20,  1748,  were  Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Eleazer 
Mattoon. 

In  Col.  Joseph  Dwight's  company,  on  the  Western  frontiers 
from  August  7  to  21,  1748,  were  the  following,  mosttt/  from 
Amherst:  Ens.  Solomon  Boltwood,  Sergt.  Solomon  Keyes, 
Corp.  William  Montague,  Corp.  Timothy  Nash,  Corp.  Jo- 
seph Hawley,  Gideon  Parsons,  Reuben  Smith,  Joseph  Kel- 
logg, Eleazar  Nash,  Josiah  Chauncy,  Joseph  Alexander, 
Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  William  Boltwood, 
John  Ingram,  Stephen  Smith. 

Frcnch-und-Indian  War,  1754-63. — In  Capt.  Israel  Wil- 
liams' company,  from  Aug.  31,  1754,  to  March  14,  1755, 
were  Corps.  Preserved  Clapp  and  Nathan  Dickinson. 

In  Capt.  Moses  Porter's  company,}:  in  the  Crown  Point  ex- 
pedition, April  1st  to  Dec.  25,  1755,  were  Sergt.  Itcuben  Dick- 
inson,J  David  Dickinson,  David  Smith,  Jonathan  Moody,  Jr., 
Nathan  Dickinson,  Preserved  Clapp ;  and  in  Col.  Joseph 
Dwight's  regiment,  on  the  same  expedition,  were  Joseph 
Clary,  Oliver  Cowls,  Benjamin  Eastman,  Samuel  Ilawley, 
Jr.,  and  his  son  Elijah, ||  aged  nineteen. 

Martin  Smith  was  impressed  into  the  service  April  22, 1756. 

In  Lieut.  Jonathan  Dickinson's  company.  Col.  Israel  Wil- 
liams' regiment,  called  out  to  defend  the  Western  frontiers 
when  Fort  William  Henry  was  besieged  in  1757,  were  Lieut. 

»  Judd's  Hist,  of  Undloy,  p.  106. 

f  "  In  the  '  brnve  little  gjiri  ison'  under  Capt.  Stevens  tlmt  so  courageously  de- 
fended the  fort  nt  No.  4  (Cluuiestown,  N.  II.)  near  the  first  of  April,  1747,  were 
si.\  men  from  South  Iludley  uiul  .Vmherst,  viz.,  Eleazar  Suiitli,  William  Bolt- 
wood,  Noheiuiah  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Church,  Jr.,  Josiah  Snow,  and  Kbenezor 
Dickinson.  In  the  sjime  fort  were  nine  men  from  Northampton." — Judd's  Hist, 
p.  34.^,  wliere  he  refers  to  Ht>yt's  Indian  Wars,  p.  24*2. 

X  This  company  was  out  in  the  "  Bloody  Morning  Scout,"  September  8th,  under 
Col.  Ei>hraim  Williams,  when  Capt.  Porter,  Ensign  Reuben  Wait,  and  three  pri- 
votcs  were  killed,  including  Zehadiah  Williams, — "  perhaps  from  Amheret." 
Col.  Williams  fell  that  day. 

g  Sergt.  Dickinson  became  noted  as  the  captain  of  the  Amherst  "  Minuto-Men," 
and  ser^'ed  through  the  Revi>lution. 

II  Died  previous  to  March  10,  17o7.  His  father  received,  by  order  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  April  7,  17o7,  "  the  full  allowance  for  bis  son's  subsistence  on  his  re- 
turn from  ye  army  at  Lake  George  in  17oo." 


Jonathan  Dickinson  ;  Ensign  Zaccheus  Crocker ;  Sergts.  Beza- 
leel  Wilder,  Nehemiali  Dickinson,  and  Robert  Gillmore; 
Corps.  Ephraim  Osgood,  Abner  Adams,  Philip  Smith,  and 
Moses  Wilder ;  Privates  Timothy  Nash,  Nathan  Adams, 
Benjamin  Harris,  Jonas  Locke,  William  Wheeler,  Thomas 
Temple,  Archelaus  Temple. 

The  following  were  in  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point,  in 
the  company  of  Capt.  Elijah  Smith,  of  Cold  Spring,  and  were 
out  from  April  27,  1759,  to  Jan.  3,  1760:  Israel  Chauncy, 
Samuel  Cutler,  Oliver  Cowls,  Robert  Emmons,  Abner  How, 
Eleazar  Harwood,  Philip  Ingram,  Aaron  Leonard,  Matthew 
Scott,  Isaac  Ward,  Jr.,1[  Charles  AVright. 

Judd  gives  these  additiomil  names,  with  year  of  enlistment : 
1755,  Elijah  Baker;  1756,  Justus  Williams,  Pelatiah  Buck- 
man;  1758,  Noadiah  Lewis,  Caesar  Prutt,  Asahel  Moody, 
Thomas  Morton,  Benjamin  Buckman  ;  1759,  Nathaniel  Dick- 
inson, Samuel  Graham,  Charles  Chauncy,  Charles  Wright, 
Philip  Ingi-am,  Nehemiah  How,  John  Keet,  Jr.,  Isaac 
Temple,  Alexander  Smith,  Moses  Warner,  David  Blodget, 
Lemuel  Moody,  Eli  Colton,  Paul  Guilford,  Nathan  Davis, 
Simeon  Walker;  1760,  Benjamin  Harwood  (died),  Mieah 
Guilford  (died),  Solomon  Sartwell,  John  Gould. 

The  lieroltdion. — The  larger  portion  of  the  people  of  Am- 
herst favored  the  principles  which  led  to  the  conflict  with  the 
mother-country,  and  many  of  them  took  active  part  in  the 
measures  of  that  period.  Through  their  committee  of  corre- 
spondence,** they  approved  the  destruction  of  the  tea  in  Boston 
Harbor,  and  in  vigorous  terms  evinced  their  co-operation  with 
the  Boston  committee.  They  were  represented  during  the 
war  by  the  usual  committees  of  "correspondence,"  "  inspec- 
tion," and  "safety,"  appointed  between  the  years  1774  and 
1779,  in  which  the  following  names  appear  conspicuously: 
Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson,  Joseph  AVilliams,  Moses  Dickinson, 
Esq.,  Jacob  McDaniel,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Joseph  East- 
man, Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  John  Dickinson,  Noah  Dick- 
inson, Nathan  Dickinson,  Hezekiah  Belding,  Isaac  Hubbard, 
Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Gideon  Dickinson,  John  Billings,  Lieut. 
Simeon  Smith,  Thomas  Hastings,  Elijah  Baker,  Simeon 
Fobes,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Martin  Kellogg,  James  Merrick, 
Joseph  Dickinson,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  Josiah 
Warner,  Maj.  Nathaniel  Peck,  Timothy  Green,  Henry  J. 
Franklin,  Gideon  Henderson. 

Ijexingion  Alarm. — The  following  enlisted  as  "Minute- 
Men"  after  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  the  time  of  the  alarm  at 
Lexington,  in  the  company  of  Capt.  Reuben  Diekinson,  of 
Amherst,  Col.  R.  Woodbridge's  regiment,  and  were  in  service 
as  minute-men  eleven  days,  though  some  remained  longer, 
as  indicated  :  Second  Lieut.  Joseph  Dickinson,  16  days;  Sergt. 
Ezra  Rood,  20;  Corp.  Ebenezer  Eastman,  15;  Corp.  Adam  Rice, 
Privates  Clement  Marshall,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  John  Hodden, 
15;  John  Ingram,  16;  Reuben  Dickinson,  Jr.,  16;  Thomas 
Morton,  35;  John  Eastman,  15;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  15;  John 
Dickinson  (Hadley),  Luke  Coifin,  Stephen  Smith,  15;  Wait- 
still  Dickinson,  15;  Eldad  Moody,  35;  Timothy  Green,  21  ; 
Ebenezer  Dickinson,  12;  Martin  Smith,  16;  Reuben  Smith, 
32  ;  Simeon  Smith,  16  ;  AVilliam  May,  39  ;  Ambrose  Williams, 
Samuel  Buckman. 

The  above  company  was  disbanded  April  30,  1775,  and  a 
new  company  enlisted  by  Capt.  Dickinson  for  eight  months, 
in  which  were  the  following,  the  first  nine  having  served 
in  the  company  of  Minute-Men  :j-f  Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson, 

^  Was  left  at  Crown  Point,  sick,  and  there  died  alx>ut  Dec.  20, 1760.  His  father 
was  allowed  £G  2.«.  4</.  for  expenses  incurred  in  sending  men  with  horses  to  his 
relief,  but  who  failed  to  reach  him. 

**  This  committee  was  composed  of  Moses  Dickinson,  Reuben  Dickinson,  Jacob 
McDaniels,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  and  Joseph  Williams.  Their  reiwrt  to  the 
town,  including  their  reply  to  the  Boston  committee,  is  preserved  in  the  office  of 
the  town  clerk  at  .Amherst. 

■f-f  Daniel  Shays,  of  Shutc^ury,  the  noted  leader  in  the  "  Shays  rebellion,"  had 
been  sergeant  in  the  company  of"  3Iinute-Men,"  but  was  promoted  to  ensign  in 
tile  new  company.  , 


?A^ 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


239 


Sergt.  Adam  Rice,  Corp.  Ebenezcr  Kellogg,  Corp.  Eliliu 
Dickinson,  Snnuiel  Buckman,  Luke  Coffin,  Azariali  Dickin- 
son, Ambrose  Williams,  John  Dickinson,*  who  now  appears 
from  Amherst ;  Fifer  Levi  Smith,  Benjamin  Buckman,  Elijah 
Baker,  Giles  Church,  David  Pettis,  Caj.sar  l'rutt,t  Daniel 
Kalef,  James  Shay,  Slielah  Diekin.son,  in  room  of  Kicliard 
Wait.  The  remainder  of  this  company  of  GO  were  mainly 
from  Shutesbury  and  Lcverctt. 

The  following  eight  months'  men  were  in  Capt.  Noadiah 
Leonard's  company,  same  regiment:  Ensign  Samuel  (Jould, 
Sergt.  Moses  Cook,  Corp.  Samuel  Field,  Privates  Moses  Hast- 
ings, Simeon  Pomeroy,  John  Billings,  Abner  Nash,  Elias 
Smith,  Isaac  Goodale,  Gideon  Henderson,  Ebenczer  Field, 
Amos  Nash,  and  Samuel  Church. 

A  company  of  00  men  was  enlisted  by  Capt.  James  llen- 
drick,  of  Amherst,  concerning  which  the  only  account  found 
in  the  State  archives  is  headed  as  follows:  "  Koll  for  Kations 
to  and  from  the  camp.  Charlestown  Camp,  No.  3,  Jan'y  II!, 
1776,"  and  names  the  Amherst  men,  viz. :  Capt.  James  Hen- 
dricks, Sergt.  Joel  Moody,  Reuben  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Joseph 
Petty,  Stephen  Smith,  Joseph  Nash,  Amariah  Dana,  Samuel 
Ingram,  Aaron  Dickinson,  Martin  Smith,  Elisha  Dickinson, 
Ebenezer  Petty,  Levi  Clark,  Ethan  Billings,  Henry  Dyer, 
John  Lee,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Timothy  Smith,  Timothy 
Smith  (2d),  and  Elijah  Elmer.  Others  in  this  company  were 
from  Iladley,  South  Hadley,  and  Granby.  The  march  from 
Amherst  is  reckoned  ninety-five  miles:  allowed  for  rations, 
15,9.  lOo!. 

The  following  were  attached  to  the  train  of  artillery  under 
Capt.  Thomas  Waite  Foster,  and  were  in  Col.  Woodbridge's 
regiment  at  Cambridge,  April  25,  1775:  Lieut.  James  Ilen- 
drick,  Moses  Dickinson,  and  Simon  Fobes. 

The  return  of  Col.  Woodbridge's  regiment  at  Cambridge, 
June  14,  1775,  gives  the  following  statistics:  (Japt.  K.  Dick- 
inson, GO  men,  stationed  at  the  college.  Capt.  D.  Cowden, 
31  men,  stationed  at  the  college.  Capt.  I.  Dexter,  44  men, 
stationed  at  Lechmere  Point.  Capt.  N.  Leonard,  54  men, 
stationed  at  Cambridge.  Capt.  S.  Pearl,  36  men,  stationed  at 
Cambridgl^  Capt.  W.  Meacham,  45  men,  stationed  at  the 
college.  Capt.  S.  Murray,  50  men,  station  not  given.  The 
return  is  signed  by  Richard  Montague,  adjutant,  and  appended 
to  it  is  the  following  record  : 

"  In  Committek  of  .S.\fktv,  June  IG,  1775. — Col.  "Wooilbridgn  informs  tlii.s  Com- 
initti'L',  ami  it  aiipoarw  by  tlio  rotura  lio  has  mado,  tliat  tiiroo  IiuntlriHl  and  Hi.\ty 
nK!ll  wtand  ready  to  go  nndcr  liim.  Wo  would  obsorvo  that  Col.  Woodbiiilgo  bafi 
boon  in  tho  oanl[i  with  bis  Minute-BIon,  doing  dnty,  evor  sincti  tim  Battle,  but 
did  iu)t  aindy  tu  tliis  Coniniitteo  for  inlisting  ordorb  until  ordoi-H  sutticiont  to  roin- 
plete  the  Army  were  issued;  and  tliereforo  tlie  Oomniitteo  did  not  givo  iiiin  or- 
dorn,  but  proniisod  they  would  rccommond  bini  if  tliorc  should  be  u  viu'auey." 

Most  of  the  companies  composing  this  regiment,  including 
Capt.  Dickinson's,  were  in  the  battle  on  Bunker  Hill, J  June 
17th,  although  the  officers  were  not  commissioned  until  the 
21st. 

A  return  dated  Sept.  30,  1775,  discloses  that  this  regiment 
was  then  stationed  on  the  west  side  of  Prospect  Hill,  on  tho 
road  leading  from  Charlestown  to  Menotomy.  In  December 
following  the  company  of  Capt.  Dickinson  was  stationed  at 
Lechinere's  Point,  where  one  of  his  men,  Abel  Woods,  of 
Shutesbury,  was  wounded  "by  a  swivel-ball  from  a  ship  of 
war  belonging  to  the  enemy."  Woods  was  allowed  JE22  lis. 
2d.  for  physician's  and  other  charges. 

In   the   company  of  Capt.   Oliver  Lyman,   Col.    Nicholas 

*  Squiro  John  Dickinson,  of  East  Amherst,  who  died  in  1850,  tho  last  survivor 
of  the  company. 

■j"  Ca:sar  I'rutt  was  a  negro,  tlie  fourth  child  of  Arthur  Prutt,  who  was  sai<l  to 
have  been  tho  slave  of  Kev.  Isaae  Chauncy.  Ca'sar  was  btirn  in  June,  17'27,  and 
liveil  for  a  time  with  Josiah  Chauncy,  Esq.  Judd  says,  "In  1807,  Aaron  Kel- 
logg, a  deranged  man,  and  Caesar  Prutt,  a  negro  aged  eighty  years,  wore  sot  uj)  at 
vendue  to  the  lowest  bidder,  and  the  former  was  bid  off  for  a  year  at  $50,  and  the 
latter  at  $05."     Viile  p.  422. 

X  Squire  John  Dickinson  told  BIr.  Judd,  in  1S47,  that  a  part  of  his  company — 
Capt.  Dickinson's — "  was  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  but  not  in  the  hot  fight." 


Dike's  regiment,  stationed  at  Dorchester,  were  the  following, 
who  served  from  Aug.  12,  1776,  to  March  31,  1777:  Sergt. 
Henry  Lee,  Azariah  Dickinson,  Levi  Dickinson,  Jonathan 
Warner,  John  Fo.\,  Isaac  Gould,  Nathaniel  Edwards,  Simeon 
Dickinson. 

T/ic  VamidUm  Canipnt<i)i. — In  Capt.  Aaron  Hayne's  com- 
pany. Col.  Asa  Whitcomb's  regiment,  were  Selah  Dickinson, 
April  1st  to  December,  1776,  and  Ebenczer  Kellogg,  enlisted 
May  1st,  died  Nov.  22,  1776. 

Under  the  call  of  June  25,  1776,  Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson 
enlisted  a  company  of  86  men,  from  Amherst  and  towns  adja- 
cent, which  was  attached  to  Col.  R.  Woodbridge's  regiment, 
and  served  from  July  IG,  1776,  to  March  1,  1777.  Those  from 
Amherst  were  Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson,  Corp.  Timothy  Hen- 
derson, Drummer  David  Adams,  Privates  Firman  Woods, 
John  Billings,  Jr.,  Adam  Rice,  John  Hastings,  Daniel  Lane, 
David  Hawley,  Hezekiah  Cowlcs,  John  Hodden,  Elihu  Dick- 
inson, Amasa  Allen,  Gideon  Lee,  Noah  Hawley,  Eneas  Ralef, 
Noah  Gould,  John  Workman,  James  Barnes,  Abner  Nash, 
Simeon  Pomeroy,  Simeon  Peck,  Jr.,  Samuel  Gould,  Jr., 
Benj.  Ralef 

The  following,  "  to  re-inforce  the  Northern  Army,"  enlisted 
for  two  months,  under  Capt.  John  Thompson,  Col.  Leonard's 
regiment.  May  7th  to  July  8,  1777:  Lieut.  Noah  Dickinson, 
Sergt.  Luke  Coffin,  Corp.  Ebenezer  Eastnnui,  Corp.  David 
Stockbridge,  Fifer  Levi  Smith,  David  Blodgett,  Benjamin 
lUickman,  live  Dickinsons, — Simeon,  Levi,  Zimri,  Elijah,  and 
Timothy, — Elihu  Hubbard,  John  Ingram,  Thomas  Morton, 
Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.     Travel,  180  miles. 

The  following  copy  of  the  pay-roll  of  the  company  of  Capt. 
Eli  Parker,  of  Amherst,  in  Col.  Leonard's  regiment,  raised  to 
reinforce  the  army  at  Ticonderoga,  contains  many  Amherst 
names  :2  Capt.  Eli  Parker,  Lieut.  Eliezer  (?)  Warner,  Lieut. 
Samuel  Cook,  Ens.  Ezra  Day,  Sergt.  Silas  Matthews,  Sergt. 
David  Town,  Sergt.  Matthew  Moody,  Sergt.  Timothy  Stock- 
well,  Drummer  Elisha  Nash,  Fifer  Reuben  Smith,  Corporals 
Amasa  Smith,  Samuel  Hastings,  John  Cowls,  and  Nathaniel 
Butterfield,  Privates  Moses  Alvord,  Nathan  Abbott,  Joshua 
Burt,  John  Burchet,  John  Bush,  Jonas  Burnet,  Enos  Cook, 
Judah  Clark,  Israel  Cole,  Sylvanus  Chapin,  Benjamin  Clough, 
Adonijah  Cole,  Samuel  Dean,  Jonas  Elwell,  Daniel  Gould, 
Enos  Goodman,  Eli|ihalet  Gaylord,  Joseph  Goodale,  Oliver 
Hastings,  Timothy  Hilyard,  Elijah  Haiinum,  John  Kibbe, 
Ebenezer  Kenttield,  Silas  Lee,  Amos  Lamb,  Elisha  Moody, 
William  Montague,  Lewis  Morgan,  Simeon  Peck,  Jeremiah 
Pike,  James  Persilield,  Daniel  Plumly,  Daniel  Reed,  Daniel 

Smith,  Aaron  Smith,  Caleb  Smith,  Paul  Smith,  Elisha , 

Stephen  Shumway,  Amasa  Shumway,  Enoch  Thayer,  Samuel 
Taylor,  William  Town,  William  Town  (2d),  Jonathan  War- 
ner, David  Worthington,  Enos  Woodbridge,  Sewall  Warner, 
Joshua  Whitney,  William  Waite.  This  company  enlisted  for 
two  months,  and  were  in  service  from  May  8th  to  July  16,  1777. 
In  Col.  David  Wells'  regiment,  under  Capt.  Jeremiah  Bal- 
lard, with  the  "Northern  Army,"  from  May  10th  to  July  20, 
1777,  were  Lieut.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  David  Lard,  and  Aaron 
Smith. 

Capt.  Keubon  Dickinson,  in  July  the  same  year,  marched 
with  a  company  to  Moses'  Creek  to  "  reinforce  the  army,"  and 
was  attached  to  Col.  Elisha  Porter's  regiment.  The  company 
served  38  days,  and  included  the  following  Amherst  men  : 
Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson,  Sergt.  Joel  Moody,  Daniel  Benjamin, 
Azariah  Dickinson,  Medad  Dickinson,  Mcdad  Moody,  Thomas 
Williams,  Giles  Church,  John  Dickinson,  Enos  Cowles,  Amos 
Ayrcs,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Timothy  Green,  Samuel  Ingram, 
Henry  Chandler,  Joseph  Pettis,  Reuben  Smith. 

The  following,  under  Capt.  Oliver  Smith,  in  the  same  regi- 
ment, marched  for  the  defense  of  Bennington,  Aug.  17,  1777, 


g  The  places  of  residence  are  not  given  in  the  document  from  which  this  is 
taken. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"  found  themselves,  carried  their  own  "baggage,"  and  were  out 
seven  days  :  Jonathan  Ingram,  John  Kibbe,  Moses  Kellogg, 
Elihu  Dickinson,  Oliver  Hastings,  and  Jonathan  Cook. 

The  following  went,  under  the  call  of  Augiist  Oth,  "  for  one- 
sixth  part  of  the  militia:"  in  Col.  Woodbridge's  regiment, 
Capt.  Moses  IIawe_y's  company,  Aug.  14th  to  Nov.  29,  1777; 
Lieut.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Lieut.  Elisha  Baker,  and  Sergt. 
Lemuel  Clark  ;  in  same  regiment,  under  Capt.  Samuel 
Cook,  of  Amherst,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,*  Lieut. 
Enoch  White,  Sergts.  Luke  Coffin  (promoted  to  quartermaster, 
October  Oth),  Adam  Rice,  Ethan  Pomeroy,  and  Nathaniel 
White  ;  Corps.  Isaiah  Carrier  and  Daniel  Lane  ;  Pifer  Levi 
Smith  ;  Privates  Elias  Smith,  Asa  Ayres,  David  Blodget, 
Samuel  Bacon,  Enos  Clark,  Caleh  Dodge,  Samuel  Dean, 
Ebenezer  Darwin,  three  Dickinsons, — Zimri,  Timothy,  and 
Simeon, — John  Elwell,  Noah  Hawley,  Nathaniel  Harring- 
ton, Thomas  Judd,  Amos  Kellogg,  Daniel  Kimball,  Zenas 
Leech,  John  Montague,  William  Montague,  Isaac  Marshall, 
Ahner  Nash,  Jonathan  Selden,  Oliver  Smith  (died  November 
28th),  Enos  Woodbridge,  Benjamin  Whitney,  Jacoh  Warner, 
Thomas  Gaylord,  Philip  Ingram,  Samuel  Packard,  Ebenezer 
Taylor,  Francis  Traiuor,  John  White.  Capt.  Cook's  com- 
pany was  out  from  August  17th  to  December  7th,  and  a  part 
was  in  the  battle  at  "  Bemis'  Heights,"  October  7th. 

The  companies  of  Capt.  Dickinson,  Capt.  Harvey,  and  Capt. 
Cook  "  were  in  the  army  under  Gen.  Gates  ;  all  took  a  more 
or  less  active  part  in  the  battles  of  September  19th  and  Oc- 
tober 7th,  and  all  were  present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne, 
October  17th." 

Campaigns  1777-81. — Under  the  call  for  three  years'  men, 
issued  in  January,  1777,  the  following  were  enlisted  from 
Amherst:  Willis  Coy,  §oO  bounty;  Reuben  Dickinson,  §!.50; 
John  Fox,  Jr.,  fifer,  §20;  Samuel  Gould,  killed;  David  Pet- 
tis, Joseph  Young,  re-enlisted  in  1780  for  three  years ;  Noadiah 
Lewis,  "during  the  war;"  and  James  Trumble,  Samuel 
Brown,  John  Johnson,  and  Jonathan  Battis,  each  three 
years. 

The  following  marched  Aug.  18,  1777,  "on.  an  alarm  to  A'ew 
Providence,"  and  were  out  four  daj'S,  under  Lieut.  Noah  Dick- 
inson, Col.  Porter's  regiment :  Lieut.  Noah  Dickinson  ;  Sergts. 
Isaac  Hubbard,  Joseph  Dickinson,  Henry  Franklin,  and  Josiah 
W^arncr ;  Privates  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Aaron  Alvord,  John 
Ingram,  Abner  Adams,  Amariah  Dana,  William  May, 
Martin  Kellogg,  Justus  Williams,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Dan- 
iel Church,  Jeremiah  Cadj',  Zachariah  Hawley,  John  East- 
man, Elijah  Dickinson,  Levi  Dickinson. 

The  following  on  September  2.3d  marched  "on  an  alarm  to 
Stilhcaier,"  and  were  out  until  October  24th,  under  Capt. 
Reuben  Dickinson,  Porter's  regiment:  Capt.  Reuben  Dickin- 
son; Lieut.  Noah  Dickinson;  Sergts.  Henry  Franklin  and 
Josiah  Warner ;  Corps.  Thomas  Marshall  and  Benjamin 
Buckman ;  Privates  Stephen  Smith,  John  Ingram,  Elihu 
Dickinson,  David  Blodget,  David  Cowls,  Nathan  Dickinson, 
Elihu  Hubbard,  William  May,  Simeon  Cowls,  Hezekiah 
Bckling,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Lemuel  Moody,  Timothy 
(;roen,  Ebenezer  Eastman,  Henry  Chandler,  Seth  Dickinson, 
Elijah  Dickinson. 

The  following  enlisted  for  twelve  months  "  in  R.  I.  service," 
from  Jan.  1,  1778,  under  Capt.  Joshua  Parker,  in  Nathaniel 
Wade's  regiment :  Lieuts.  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Elijah  Dick- 
inson, and  Philip  Ingram.  May  15th,  Ebenezer  Boltwood 
enlisted  in  Capt.  Parker's  company  for  eight  months. 

*  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,— known  as  Gen.  Miittoon,— died  at  an  advanced  age 
in  1843.  He  was  an  ai'deut  Wliig,  "  wim  graduated  at  Dartmouth'  in  177C,  and 
wf\s  many  years  Representative  and  Senator  in  tlie  Legislature ;  afterward 
member  of  Congress,  slierilf  of  Ilampsliire  County,  and  adjutant-general  of  tlio 
State.  Ho  was,  on  the  whole,  the  must  distinguished  piiblie  man — native  of  the 
town — who  has  resided  in  .\mlier!-t.  He  also  Wiw  iinty  twenty-four  years  of  a"-e 
when  lie  lieeame  a  llopresentative,  in  17S1,  and  bis  great  inUuence  coutiibuted 
in  marked  degree  toward  keeping  Amherst  on  the  right  sirle  in  the  Revolu- 
tiunai'y  struggle." — CcnlennUd  address  by  M,  F.  bUhiiimii,  Jr. 


"List  of  men  drafted  from  Amherst  for  nine  months'  ser- 
vice from  date  of  arrival  at  Fishkill,  July  8,  1778:"  David 
Lard,  age  88  ;  Simeon  Peck,  22  ;  Daniel  Gould,  18  ;  Timothy 
Dickinson,  17;  Zimri  Dickinson,  20;  Benjamin  Buckman,  21. 
These  were  under  Col.  Porter. 

"Men  in  Capt.  Abner  Pomeroy's  company.  Col.  Ezra 
Wood's  regiment,  eight  months'  service,  1778:"  Solomon 
Dickinson,  Edmund  Gould,  Levi  Smith,  titer,  Samuel  Buck- 
man. 

"  Men  enlisted  from  Amherst  to  serve  nine  months  in  the 
Continental  Army,  agreeable  to  a  Resolve  of  the  General 
Court  passed  June  9,  1779:"  Jonathan  Allen,  Joseph  Young, 
Eleazar  Baker,  John  Canada,  Nahum  Darby,  Joseph  Kim- 
ball, William  Ewing,  Hugh  Canada,  Daniel  Darby. 

Men  in  service  at  New  London,  Conn.,  in  Capt.  Elijah 
Dwight's  company,  July  20th  to  August  25,  1779:  Lieut. 
Luke  CofBn  ;  Enos  Nash,  Silas  Lee,  John  Boltwood,  Joseph 
Church,  Nathan  Smith,  Reuben  Ingram,  Nathan  Perkins, 
Enos  Kellogg,  Ashmael  Prutt,  Zimri  Dickinson,  James  Cow- 
den,  Elihu  Warner,  Silas  Wright,  Josiah  Pierce,  Carmi 
Wright,  Thomas  Adams,  Joseph  Cook,  Eldad  Moody. 

"  In  Capt.  Joshua  Woodbridge's  company  of  New  Levies, 
R.  I.  service,  for  the  month  of  December,  1779,"  were  Owen 
Briggs,  Bezaleel  Bowen,  Simeon  Dickinson,  and  Elihu  Dick- 
inson. 

In  Capt.  Moses  Montague's  company,  Oct.  1st  to  Nov.  21, 
1779,  were  John  Church,  Solomon  Dickinson,  Edmund  Gould, 
Elliott  Gray. 

"  Six  months'  men  enlisted  from  Amherst  in  the  Con- 
tinental service  July  1,  1780,  stationed  near  West  Point. 
Travel,  144  miles  to  camp:"  Simeon  Dickinson,  age  17; 
Samuel  Root,  10;  Edmund  Gould,  17;  Noah  Hawley,  20; 
Gideon  Moon,  20;  Nathan  Perkins  (2d),  Solomon  Dickinson, 
19;  Lemuel  Conant,  23 ;  Zenas  Dickinson,  Aaron  Bartlett, 
Joseph  Kimball,  18;  Zimri  Dickinson,  21;  Hezekiah  Moon, 
27 ;  William  Moore,  18 ;  Joseph  Robbins,  18 ;  David  Lard, 
40 ;  Simeon  Morton. 

Levi  Dickinson,  21,  enlisted  Aug.  10th,  for  three  months, 
under  act  of  June  22,  1780. 

"  Men  drafted  to  march  to  Horse  Neclc  under  Col.  Samuel 
How,  1780:"  in  Capt.  Thompson's  companj',  Robert  Emmons 
and  Benjamin  Leech  ;  in  Capt.  Brackenridge's  company,  Levi 
Nash,  John  Boltwood,  Solomon  Boltwood,  and  Zachariah 
Field. 

The  following  served  fi-om  Aug.  12th  to  Nov.  15, 1781,  under 
Capt.  Oliver  Coney,  in  Col.  Sears'  regiment :  Corp.  Solomon 
Dickin.son ;  Drummer,  John  Fox;  Simeon  Morton,  Levi 
Dickinson,  Joseph  Kimball,  Noah  Hawley,  Eli  Parker,  Jr., 
Edmund  Gould,  John  Belding,  Elisha  Ingram. 

Dec.  18,  1780,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  voted  to  "  give  to 
each  soldier  that  shall  inlist  for  this  town  for  three  years,  or 
during  the  war,  the  sum  of  three  pounds,  hard  money,  p' 
month,  the  town  to  receive  their  wages  ;  or  in  lieu  thereof,  the 
town  will  give  to  each  soldier  that  shall  inlist  as  afores''  forty 
shillings  pr.  month  in  hard  money,  in  addition  to  their  Conti- 
nental Pay  ;  also  that  the  town  will  give  each  soldier  that  shall 
inlist  as  aforesaid  two  shirts,  two  Pairs  of  Stockings,  and  two 
pairs  of  shoes  yearly,  in  case  he  fails  of  the  same  from  the 
Continent,  or  State ;  and  the  Town  Direct  the  Militia  otficers 
to  make  the  above  proposals  to  their  respective  companies  in 
the  name  of  the  Town." 

Toryhm. — Amherst  was  not  without  ]ironiinent  representa- 
tion of  Toryism.  Their  lack  of  zeal  in  the  patriot  cause,  in 
the  view  of  some  historians,  is  palliated  by  the  fact  that  they 
in  general  had  most  to  lose  in  case  of  failure.  Those  of  as- 
sured position  and  influence  under  the  British  crown  had  least 
to  gain  by  revolution.  Among  the  most  prominent  of  this 
class  were  the  minister,  Rev.  David  Parson?,  Josiah  Chauncoy 
and  his  son  Isaac,  Simeon  Strong,  Esq.,  Lieut.  John  Field, 
Ensign  John  Nash,  Solomon,  William,  and  Ebenezer  Bolt- 


TIISTOllY   OF    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY'. 


241 


wood,  Deacon  Simeon  Clark,  Isaac  Goodale,  Moses  Cook, 
Charles  Chauncey,  and  Lieut.  Kobert  Boltwood.  The  minis- 
ter was  a  man  of  positive  views  and  gave  oflfense  to  the  ma- 
jority, who  voted,  in  1777,  "  that  the  conduct  of  the  Rev.  David 
Parsons*  is  not  friendly  with  regard  to  the  common  cause,  and 
that  a  committee  notify  him  of  this  vote."  The  result  of  the 
committee's  interview  with  the  minister  is  not  recorded. 

Capt.  Isaac  Chauncey,  Lieut.  John  Field,  and  Ensign  John 
Nash,  who  had  respectively  received  their  commissions  from 
the  colonial  Governor,  Hutchinson,  were  required  to  formally 
renounce  all  authority  thus  conferred.  This  was  done  at 
Northampton  in  November,  1774,  and  subsequently  at  Am- 
herst. The  Whigs  were  still  suspicious  of  Chauncey  and 
Nash,  and  the  district  afterward  voted  that  Chauncey  should 
"  burn  all  the  commissions  he  had  ever  received  from  the 
king,"  and  commit  his  firearms  into  the  hands  of  the  select- 
men. The  latter  request  was  complied  with,  but  the  arms 
were  afterward  restored. f  Nash  also  was  required  to  destroy 
his  commissions. 

April  8,  1776,  Chauncey  was  convicted  of  ''insulting  be- 
havior" toward  the  committee  of  safety,  and  of  being  "an 
enemy  to  his  country,"  and,  as  he  afterward  complained, 
was  "refused  bail  and  a  fair  Tr\'al  by  another  committee, 
and  ordered  not  to  go  from  his  father's  Farm,  except  on  Sun- 
days and  to  Funerals,  and  was  likewise  ordered  to  pay  39 
shillings  lawful  money  to  six  men  whom  the  committee  had 
appointed  to  keep  him  the  night  before."  Ho  further  com- 
plained that  he  was  "confined  in  Northampton  Jail  with  a 
mittimus  to  the  Jailor  setting  forth  that  y'=  petitioner  was  an 
enemy  to  America,  and  requiring  the  Jailer  to  keep  y"  peti- 
tioner in  close  confinement  until  he  should  be  dismissed  by 
lawful  authority."  Those  facts  appear  in  his  petition  to  the 
General  Court,  dated  at  Northampton  jail,  April  13,  1776. 
On  the  18th  it  was  determined  "  that  the  petitioner  have  leave 
to  withdraw."  He  was  subsequently  "confined  to  certain 
limits,"  but,  on  August  26th,  was  advertised  by  the  committee 
as  having  "  clandestinely  departed  ('tis  supposed)  to  some  part 
of  Connecticut  on  no  good  design ;  this  is  therefore  to  desire 
the  good  people  of  that  State  or  of  other  States,  or  of  other 
States  where  he  may  be  found,  to  secure  him  in  such  manner 
that  ho  may  not  have  it  in  his  power  to  injure  America." 
Lieut.  Kobert  Boltwood  was  similarly  advertised. 

Church  affairs  suft'ered  by  disputes  which  the  diversity  of 
views  engendered,  and  occasionally  the  services  were  inter- 
mitted because  of  them.  A  friend  of  Mr.  Parsons,  with  whom 
he  sometimes  exchanged, — Kev.  Abraham  Hill,  of  Shutesbury, 
— greatly  offended  the  people  by  his  free  expression  of  opin- 
ions which  were  deemed  unpatriotic.  He  was  prohibited  from 
further  preaching,  by  a  vote  of  the  town,  in  January,  1780. 

In  1778  the  town  voted  that  "persons  not  owning  Inde- 
jjendence  on  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  agreeably  to  the 
Declaration  of  Congress,  shall  not  vote." 

NOTEWORTHY    INf'IDENTS. 

Mr.  Oliver  M.  Clapp  was  born  in  Amherst,  in  1802,  and  is 
one  of  the  few  belonging  to  the  ancient  families  of  the  town 
who  antedate  the  last  war  with  the  mother-country.  His 
grandfather  Oliver,  born  in  Northampton  in  1744,  was  de- 
scended by  five  removes  from  Eoger  Cla]ip  (an  immigrant  who 

*  The  stoi-y  is  related  of  Mr.  Parsons  tliat,  when  required  to  read  before  his 
people  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  new  government,  he  added  ti  the  usual  con- 
clusion— "  God  save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts !" — the  following  ex- 
pression of  his  own  views :  "But  I  say,  Gud  save  the  King!"  Whereupon,  a 
patriot  among  his  hearei-s  arose  and  exclaimed,  with  emphasis,  "  I  say  you  are  a 
damned  rascal !"  This  vehement  response  is  attributed  by  Mr.  M.  F.  Dickinson, 
Jr.,  to  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  one  of  the  foremost  friends  of  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty, and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1771.  Mr.  Oliver  M.  Clapp,  however, 
says  that  he  was  told  more  than  sixty  years  ago  by  his  grandfather,  Oliver  Clapp, 
and  again  about  twenty  yeare  since  by  David  Pai-sons,  grandson  of  the  offending 
ministei',  that  Stephen  Smith  littered  the  historic  words. 

t  "  According  to  tradition,  the  Whigs  of  .\mherst  burnt  Capt.  Chauncey's  com- 
mission under  a  tree,  with  Bome  display." — Judd's  Hist.,  p.  419,  note. 

31 


settled  at  Dorchester),  and  in  after-years  removed  to  what  is 
now  Amherst.  The  house  into  which  he  moved,  and  in  which 
Oliver  M.  was  born,  stood  on  East  Street,  and  hds  since  been 
demolished. 

Mr.  Clapp  relates  many  stirring  anecdotes,  some  of  which 
are  traditional,  and  others  of  happenings  within  his  experi- 
ence,— how  some  of  the  ofBcers  of  Gen.  Burgoyne,  previous 
to  the  battles  of  Saratoga,  ventured  to  attend  a  "country 
dance"  somewhere  beyond  their  lines,  believing  themselves 
sufficiently  disguised  to  escape  detection,  and  how  they  were 
captured  by  the  vigilant  "Yankees"  and  confessed  that  the 
latter  were  too  sharp  for  them  ;  how,  during  Shays'  rebellion, 
when  the  insurgents  were  being  driven  to  the  mountain  fast- 
nesses in  Pelham  by  the  government  forces,  eleven  loads  of 
supplies  were  sent  to  their  relief  by  sympathizers  in  Berkshire, 
each  load  guarded  by  two  mounted  soldiers.  These  twenty- 
two  forming  the  escort  sought  entertainment  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Clapp's  grandfather,  but  were  advised  to  make  all  haste 
to  Pelham,  as  the  militia  would  soon  be  upon  them.  The 
advice  was  timely,  for  the  pursuing  horsemen  were  already 
to  be  seen  coming  over  the  hill  from  the  west,  right  furious 
for  the  fraj'.  One  bold,  well-mounted  rebel  spurred  his  steed 
in  the  direction  of  the  pursuers,  swinging  his  hat  in  taunting 
defiance  until  they  came  very  near,  when  he  suddenly  wheeled 
and  led  the  chase  up  the  hills  to  the  eastward.  Selecting  a 
favorable  position,  the  giuird  displayed  their  arms  to  advantage 
across  the  path,  and  thus  checked  the  valiant  horsemen,  who, 
believing  they  were  decoyed  into  an  ambuscade,  sped  down 
the  hill  again  and  reported  that  they  had  barely  "  escaped  the 
jaws  of  hell." 

Mr.  Clapp  has  a  fine  collection  of  Indian  and  other  relics, 
many  of  which  were  obtained  near  by,  and  are  permanent  re- 
minders of  the  days  of  savage  occupancy,  and  of  the  trials  of 
those  who  opened  this  goodly  land  to  the  light  of  civilization. 

Many  of  the  cabinets  of  the  country  have  been  enriched  by 
specimens  procured  by  Mr.  Clapp.  Among  them  are  many 
of  the  fossil  foot-prints  for  which  this  portion  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  is  celebrated. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    TOWN. 

That  portion  of  the  town  of  Hadley  which  had  been  vari- 
ously designated  as  "  New  Swamp,"  "  Hadley  Farms,"  "  East 
Farms,"  and  "  East  Hadley"  was  set  oft'  as  "  Hadley,  Third 
Precinct,"  Dec.  31,  1734.  In  the  language  of  the  record, 
"  the  precinct  being  of  the  contents  of  two  miles  and  three- 
quarters  in  breadth  and  seven  miles  in  length,  bounded  westerly 
on  a  tract  of  land  reserved  by  the  town  of  Hadley  to  lie  as 
common  land  forever,  southerly  on  Boston  Road,  easterly  on 
equivalent  lands,  and  northerly  on  the  town  of  Sunderland." 

The  term  "precinct"  signified  a  parish;  hence  the  separa- 
tion from  Hadley  was  not  entire,  having  reference  chiefly  to 
affairs  ecclesiastical.  Certain  officers  were  chosen  by  the  pre- 
cinct, including  a  clerk,  a  treasurer,  and  assessors.  The  first 
proceedings  are  thus  recorded : 

*' Witriuiit  for  Mt;clui'j  iit  Htulh'ij,  Tliird precittct^  Anno  Dom.,  1735. 
"  H.\iiPSUEKE,  ss.  In  pursuance  to  the  request  of  several  freholdere  of  the  third 
or  e.ast  precinct  of  Hadley  for  the  calling  of  a  precinct-meeting.  To  El>euezer 
Kellogg, of  sd.  precinct,  those  are  In  his  Majestie's  name  to  will  aud  require  youe 
forthwith  to  notefy  the  free  Uoldei-s  and  other  luhabetjince  of  sd.  Precinct  on  the 
eaight  day  of  Octuber  next,  at  eaight  of  y"  clock  in  the  fore  noone,  in  order  to 
make  Choyce  of  all  nessessary  Preciuct  otTecers,  a  Committee  for  the  Calling  of 
Precinct  meatings  for  the  futui-e,  and  to  do  act  and  iigree  on  what  may  be  thought 
proper  Respecting  hireing  a  menester  Buihliug,  a  meeting-house,  and  agreeing 
on  a  place  to  set  it  in,  and  in  tinding  out  what  Lands  may  be  taxed  for  the  De- 
fraying charges  Abuute  the  same.   Given  under  my  hand  aud  scale  this  22nd  day 

of  Septem^^,  1735. 

"  Elezer  Poeter,  Jmtln  Peace. 

At  the  meeting  thus  called,  Samuel  Hawley  acting  as  a  mod- 
erator, and  John  Nash  as  clerk,  John  Ingram,  Sr.,  Samuel 
Boltwood,  and  Samuel  Hawley  were  chosen  a  committee  for 
calling  precinct-meetings,  and  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Aaron 
Smith,  and  John  Nash  were  chosen  assessors. 


242 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  territory  embraced  by  the  precinct  boundaries  was 
nearly  that  inclosed  in  the  present  town  of  Amherst,  north  of 
the  Boston  road.  This  territory  became  the  "  Second  Pre- 
cinct" in  1753.*  In  1759, — just  one  hundred  years  after  the 
"new  plantation,"  Hadley,  had  been  laid  out  at  "  Norwot- 
tuck," — this  precinct  became  a  district.  The  bill  creating  the 
district  was  signed  by  the  colonial  governor,  Pownall,  Feb- 
ruary 13th  in  that  year.  The  name  of  his  friend.  Gen.  Jeffrey 
Amherst,  was  adopted  by  the  governor  as  the  name  of  the 
district. 

Amherst  assumed  the  functions  of  a  town  in  ITT-J,  and  the 
distinct  title  in  177G,  although  no  authority  for  so  doing  ex- 
isted prior  to  1786. f 

As  a  district  Amherst  elected  its  first  officers  at  a  meeting 
held  at  the  meeting-house  March  19,  17-59,  as  follows  :  Deacon 
Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Modei-ator ;  Josiah  Chauncey,  Clerk ; 
Joseph  Eastman,  Trea.surer ;  Deacon  Ebenezer  Dickinson, 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Smith,  Ensign  John 
Dickinson,  Moses  Dickinson,  Selectmen ;  Deacon  Ebenezer 
Dickinson,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Moses  Dickinson,  Assessors  ; 
Pelatiah  Smith,  Isaac  Goodale,  Constables  ;  Joseph  Eastman, 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Tithingmen  ;  Simeon  Clark,  Nathaniel 
Coleman,  Fence V-iewer.s  ;  Joseph  Church,  John  Petty,  Reu- 
ben Ingram,  Hog-Reeves;  Gideon  Dickinson,  Daniel  Dickin- 
son, Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jacob  Warner, 
Surveyors  ;  Alexander  Smith,  Clerk  of  the  Market. 

The  town  was  somewhat  enlarged  in  1789  by  the  addition  of 
the  farms  of  "  Silas  Wright  and  three  Dickinsons,"  situated 
in  Hadley,  on  the  road  from  Amherst  to  Sunderland  ;  and,  in 
1812,  by  the  absorption  of  a  large  portion  of  the  fifth  or  "Moun- 
tain division,"  south  of  the  Brookfield  or  "Boston"  road.  This 
division  was  laid  out  by  Hadley,  in  1743,  and  the  part  annexed 
to  Amherst  contained  about  1700  acres,  whose  southern  limit 
was  the  "  top  of  the  mountain," — Holyoke.  In  1814  the  land 
which  forms  the  offset  in  the  west  line  of  Amherst  at  the  north 
end  was  taken  from  the  northeast  corner  of  Hadley,  and  con- 
tains 700  or  800  acres.  A  strip,  16  by  115  rods,  from  the  farm 
of  Elius  Smith,  where  the  Northampton  road  crosses  the  west 
line  of  the  town,  was  taken  in  subsequently.  The  present  town 
contains  not  far  from  twenty-eight  and  three-quarters  square 
miles,  or  18,400  acres.  J 

By  a  survey  and  map  made  in  1833  by  Alonzo  Gray  and 
Charles  B.  Adams,  then  of  Amherst  College,  the  boundaries 
of  that  town  were  fixed  as  follows,  the  magnetic  variation 
being  6°  4.5'  west :  commencing  at  the  west  end  of  the  south- 
ern boundary-line  ;  thence  N.  20°  W.  to  the  Boston  road  ; 
thence  S.  83°  W.  48  rods ;  thence  N.  12°  20'  E.  800  rods ; 
thence  S.  89°  W.  16  rods  ;  thence  N.  30°  E.  115  rods ;  thence 
N.  89°  E.  16  rods  ;  thence  N.  11°  31'  E.  800  rods  ;  thence  due 
west  24J  rods;  thence  N.  11°  6'  E.  .592  rods  to  the  Sunder- 
land line ;  thence  N.  86°  47'  E.  210  rods  ;  thence  N.  88°  45' 

*  South  Hadley,  the  original  "  second  precinct,"  became  a  "  district"  in  April, 
1753,  making  the  precincts  in  Hadley  one  less.  A  "district"  was  in  effect  a 
town,  except  in  the  matter  of  choosing  representatives.  The  Otlonial  Govern- 
ment was  enjoined  by  Great  Biitain  to  withhold  this  power  from  towns  newly 
formed.     This  limitation  was  enforced  from  about  the  year  1753. 

A  survey  made  in  1739  by  Oliver  Partridge,  of  Hatfield,  iixed  the  east  line  of 
Hadley — now  the  east  line  of  Amliei-st — at  six  miles  due  east  from  the  old 
meeting-house.  The  same  survey  showed  that  the  town  of  Sunderland  possessed 
a  strip  of  land  belonging  to  Hadley  50  l-oils  wiile  at  the  west  end,  and  55  I'ods  at 
the  east  end,  and  conttiining  457  acres.  Hadley  was  paid  by  Sunderland  for  this 
land,  one-half  of  which  wiis  in  the  "  third  precinct," — now  Amlie]-st.  The  north 
line  of  Amhel-st  is  therefore  about  50  rods  less  than  "  five  miles  no]  thward  from  the 
meeting-house."  All  these  lines  were  run  by  the  magnetic  meridian,  which  was 
then  8°  west  of  the  true  meridian. 

f  "  By  ft  general  law  of  178G,  all  districts  incorporated  prior  to  Jan.  1, 1777,  were 
declared  towns." — M.  P.  Du'kiusoii,  Jr.'s,  CfntciiitUil  Addresn. 

I  The  t*'rritory  wa.s  angniented  by  the  follo\\  ing  provision  :  '*  And  be  it  further 
enacted  that  Isaac  Ward,  Itenbcn  Ingram,  I'liilip  Ingram,  Isaxic  Hubbard,  and 
Edward  Kluior,  and  their  respective  estates  lying  within  the  bounds  of  the  tracts 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-seven  acres  petitioned  for,  and  adjoining  to 
said  second  l)recinct  line,  be,  and  hereby  are  ainiexed  to  tiie  saiil  di...tiict,  there 
to  eiyoy  privilege  and  do  duty." 


E.  084  rods  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  ;  thence  S. 
1°  22'  E.  to  the  line  between  Amherst  and  Granby  ;  thence 
westerly  along  said  line  and  the  Holyoke  range  to  the  j)lace  of 
beginning.  I 

CIVIL  LIST. 
REPRESENTATIVES   IN    CONGRESS.|| 

Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  1801-3 ;  Osmyn  Baker,  183i)-45 ;  Eilward  Dickinson, 
1853-55;  Julius  H.  Seelyc,  1874-75. 

STATE   COUNCILORS. 
Edward  Dickinson,  1840-47;  Timothy  J.  Gridley,  1849-50. 

STATE    SENATORS. 
Simeon  Strong,  1702-03;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  1705-90;  John  Leland,  1833- 
34;  Edward  Dickinson,  1842-43;  James  W,  Boydou,  1858 ;  Lucius  M.  Bidtwood, 
1860. 

DELEGATES  AND  REPRESENTATIVES  TO  THE  GENERAL  COURT. 
Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  delegate  to  First  Provincial  Congress,  at  Salem,  Oct. 
7,1774;  to  Second,  at  Cambiidge,  Feb.  1,  1775;  to  Third,  at  Watertown,  May  31, 
1775;  Moses  Dickinson,  July,  1775;  John  Billings,  May,  1770 ;  Ebenezer  Mat- 
toon, Jr.,  delegate  to  State  Conventiou  at  Concord,  May,  1770 ;  John  Billings  and 
Moses  Dickinson,  May,  1777;  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  and  Joseph  Eustnuin, 
1778;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  delegate  to  convention  at  Omcord  which  formed 
State  Constitution,  1779;  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  1780;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr., 
1781;  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  1783;  Eli  Parker,  1784-86;  Daniel  Cooley,  1787-88 ; 
Simeon  Strong,  1790-91 ;  Moses  Cook,  1792-93 ;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  1704 ; 
Zebina  Montague,  1790-1804;  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  1805-7;  Sanmel  F.  Dickin- 
son, Zebina  Montague,  1S08 ;  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  Simeon  Strong,  1809 ;  Medad 
Dickinson,  Elisha  Smith,  1810-11;  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Simeon  Strong,  1812; 
Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  Simeon  Strong,  1813 ;  Simeon  Strong,  Noah  Webster,  1814 ; 
Noah  Webster,  1815 ;  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  1810-18;  Noah  Webster,  1819;  Tim- 
othy Jones  Gi  idlcy,  1820 ;  Nathan  Franklin,  1821 ;  Aaron  Merrick,  1822  ;  Isaac 
Robbins,  1823-24 ;  Timothy  Jones  Gridley,  1825 ;  Chester  Dickinson,  Samuel  F. 
Dickinson,  1827 ;  Enos  Dickinson,  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  1828 ;  Elijah  Boltwood, 
Daniel  Dickinson,  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  1829;  Lsaac  G.  Cutlei-,  Zebina  Dickin- 
son, 1830 ;  Zebina  Dickinson,  John  Leland,  1831;  Oliver  Dickinson  (2d),  John 
Leland,  1832;  Osmyn  Baker,  Daniel  Dickinson,  George  Nutting,  183;j ;  Osmyn 
Baker,  Elij;ih  Boltwood,  Zebina  Dickinson,  1834;  Elijah  Boltwood,  Reuben  Koli- 
erts,  Ebenezer  Williams,  1835;  Martin  Baker,  Osmyn  Baker,  George  Nutting, 
1830;  Osmyn  Baker,  Enos  Dickinson  (2d),  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  1837;  Edward 
Dickinson,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  1838 ;  Edwanl  Dickinson,  Oliver  Dickinson,  1839; 
Charles  Adams,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Ji'.,  1840 ;  Samuel  C.  Carter,  1841-42 ;  Ezra 
Ingram,  1843;  Timothy  Jones  Gridley,  1844;  Thom.as  Jones,  1845;  Timothy 
Jones  Giidley,  1840;  John  Lel.and,  1847;  Alfred  Baker,  1848;  Luke  Sweetser, 
1849;  Waitstill  Dickinson,  1850 ;  William  Chauncey  Fowlei,  1851;  Oliver  Wat- 
son, 1852;  Moses  Billings  Greene,  1853;  Ithiuuar  F.  Conkey,  1854;  Benjamin  P. 
Smith,  1855;  Baxter  Esistman,  1850;  Enos  Dickinson  Williams,  1857;  George 
Warner,  1858;  Lorenzo  S.  Nash,  Gianby,  1859 ;  Josiah  Ayres,  1800;  Marcus  C. 
Grout,  Pelham,  1801 ;  John  B.  Cushman,  1802 ;  Samuel  Smith,  Jr.,  Granby,  1803 ; 
William  S.  Clark,  1804-05;  John  Jones,  Pelham,  1800 ;  William  S.  Clark,  18U7; 
Horace  Ward,  1808;  E.  Montague,  Hadley,  1809;  Levi  Stockbiidge,  1870;  Avery 
R.  Cushman,  1871 ;  Ira  Wi  ight.  South  IIadle.v,  1.S72 ;  Henry  Burt,  1873 ;  Edward 
Dickinson,  1874;  James  W.  Gaylord,  South  Hadley,  1875;  Newton  Smith,  South 
Hadley,  1870 ;  Chauncey  W.  Lessey,  1877 ;  Mai  tin  \V.  Burnett,  South  Haiiley, 
1878;  Edward  P.  (Jrowell,  1879. 

For  the  years  1782, 178G,  1789, 1795,  and  1825,  there  were  no  representatives 
chosen. 

Ebenezer  Mattoon  and  Israel  Scott  were  delegates  to  the  Constitutional  (Vui- 
venlion  of  1820,  and  Itbaniar  Ootdley  to  the  conventi<)n  of  1853. 

SELECTMEN. 

1759. — Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Jolm  Dickin- 
son, Moses  Dickinson. 

17GU.— Jonathan  Edwards,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  Jonathan  Mooiiy,  Josiah  Chaun- 
cey, Daniel  Kellogg. 

1701. — Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Dickinson,  Peter  Smith,  Josei)h  Ea.^Iniaii,  John 
Field. 

1762. — Josiah  Chauncey,  Simeon  Strong,  .\lexander  Smith ,  Daniel  Kellogg,  Moses 
Dickinson. 

1703. — Elisha  Ingi-am,  John  Billings,  Joseph  Ea.stman,  Moses  Dickinson,  Simeon 
Clark. 

1704. — Peter  Smith,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son, .Tohn  Dickinson. 

1705. — John  Billings,  Moses  Dickinson,  Simeon  Clark,  Joseph  Ea.stman,  Azaiiah 
Dickinson. 

1700. — John  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Edwards,  John  Field,  Samuel  Ingram,  .\lex- 
ander  Snnth. 

1707. — .Jonattnin  Dickinst)n,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  .loseph  Eastman,  Mt)ses  Dickin- 
son, Simeon  Clark. 

1708. — John  Dickiiison,  Alexander  Smith,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Jidm  Field,  Moses 
Dickinson. 

^  Three  of  the  distances  of  the  above  survey  are  not  given. 
II  .\nibei-st  is  now  in  the  Tenth  Congressional  District,  which  is  represented 
by  Amas.iNorcross,  of  Fitchburg. 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


243 


17G9. — Simeon  Strong,  Joseph  Eiistniaii,  Muses  Dkkiuson,  Nathaniel  Culenian, 
Jonathan  Dickinson. 

1770. — John  Dickinson,  Solomon  Boltwuod,  Jonathan  Eihvanls,  Josiah  Cliauncuy, 
Gideon  Dickinson. 

1771, — Simeon  Strong,  John  Field,  Moses  Dickinson,  Alexander  Smith,  Peter 
Smith. 

177'2. — John  Dickinson,  Natliaiiiel  Dickinson,  Moses  Dickinson,  Beuhen  Dickin- 
son, John  Billings. 

1773.— John  Dickinson,  Moses  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Didcinsjn,  Ebenezer  Mat- 
toon,  Renhen  Dickinson. 

1774. — Reuben  Dickinson,  John  Dickinson,  Moses  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Dickin- 
son, Ehenezer  Mattoon. 

1775. — Moses  Dickinson,  John  Dickinson,  Ileuhen  Dickinson,  Nathaniul  Dickin- 
son, Ehenezer  Mattoon. 

1776.— Joseph  Eastman,  Joseph  Williams,  Moses  Dickinson,  Simeon  Smith, 
Simeon  Dickinson. 

1777. — Moses  Dickinson,  John  Billings,  Reuben  Dickinson,  Elijah  Baker,  Joseph 
Williams. 

1778. — Moses  Dickinson,  Joseph  Williams,  Reuben  Dickinson,  Elijah  Baker,  John 
Billings. 

1779. — James  Merrick,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Joseph  Dickinson,  Josiah  War- 
ner, Ehenezer  Mattoon,  Jr. 

1780. — Eli  Parker,  Thomas  Hastings,  Alexander  Smith,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Mar- 
tin Kellogg. 

1781. — John  Billings,  Elijah  Baker,  Isaac  Hubbard,  Gideon  Henderson,  Moses 
Dickinson. 

1782. — Elijah  Baker,  Gideon  Dickinson,  Eliaha  Smith,  Jonathan  Smith,  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  Jr. 

1783.— Eli  Parker,  Eleazer  Smith,  Martin  Kellogg,  Joel  Billings,  Thomas  Hast- 
ings, Jr. 

1784. — Joel  Moody,  Jonathan  DiLkinson,  Jr.,  Enos  Dickinson,  Stephen  Smith, 
Ehenezer  Boltwood. 

1785. — Joseph  Church,  Noah  Smith,  Elialia  Smith,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Jolui 
Nash. 

178G. — EHsha  Smith,  Moses  Cook,  Joseph  Church,  Joseph  Eastman,  Jr.,  Elienezor 
Boltwood. 

1787. — John  Field,  Elisha  Smitli,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Joseph  Church,  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  Jr. 

1788. — Josiah  Warner,  Joseph  Dickinson,  John  Billings,  Thomas  Hastings,  Tim- 
othy Greenfield. 

1789. — Joseph  Eastman,  Jr.,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Elisha  Smith,  Ehenezer  Mattoon, 
Joseph  Church. 

1790. — Ehenezer  Mattoon,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Joseph  Church,  Elisha  Smith,  Jo- 
seph Eastman,  Jr. 

1791. — Ehenezer  Mattoon,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Joseph  Church,  Elisha  Smith,  Jo- 
seph Eastman,  Jr. 

1792.— Slosea  Cook,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Noah  Smith,  Daniel  Kt-llogg,  Elijali 
Dickinson. 

1793. — Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Moses  Cook,  Daniel  Kellogg,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son, Timothy  Hendei-son. 

1794, — Zehiiia  Montague,  Elisha  Smith,  Joseph  Dickinson,  Medad  Dickinson, 
Elijali  Dickinson. 

1795. — Zebina  Montague,  Noali  Smith,  Elisha  Smith,  Ehenezer  Boltwood,  Jona- 
than Dickinson. 

179G. — Zebina  Montague,  Medad  Dickinson,  Noah  Smith,  Elisha  Smith,  Jonathan 
Dickinson. 

1797. — Zebina  Mont;igue,  Medad  Dickinson,  Elijah  Dickinson,  Ehenezer  Bolt- 
wood,  Moses  Hastings. 

1708. — Zebina  Montague,  Medad  Dickinson,  Ebeuezer  Boltwood,  Moses  Hastings, 
Elijah  Dickinson. 

1799. — John  Dickinson,  Gideon  Stetson,  Medad  Dickinson,  Samuel  Hastings, 
Jonathan  Dickinson. 

1800. — Medad  Dickinson,  Noah  Smitli,  Samuel  Hastings,  Gideon  Stetson,  John 
Dickinson. 

1801. — Medad  Dickinson,  Noah  Smith,  Gideon  Stetson,  Samuel  Hiistings,  Moses 
Hastings. 

1802. — Timotliy  Henderson,  Jt)hn  Kellogg,  Nathan  Franklin,  Gideon  Stetson, 
Elijah  Dickinson. 

1803. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Gideon  Stetson,  Nathan  Franklin,  Timothy  Henderson, 
John  Kellogg. 

1804. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Timothy  Henderson,  Gideon  Stetson,  Nathan  Fiankliu, 
John  Kellogg. 

1805. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Medad  Dickinson,  Timothy  Henderson,  Nathan  Frank- 
lin, John  Kellogg. 

1806. — Medad  Dickinson,  Elijah  Dickinson,  Timothy  Henderson,  Nathan  Frank- 
lin, John  Kellogg, 

1807. — Medad  Dickinson,  Elijah  Dickinson,  Timothy  Henderson,  Nathan  Frank- 
lin, Jolin  Kellogg. 

1808. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Moses  Hastings,  Calvin  Merrill,  Ehenezer  Ingram, 
Aaron  Merrick. 

1809. — Moses  Hastings,  Calvin  Merrill,  Aaron  Merrick,  Elijah  Smith,  Chester 
Williams. 

1810. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Moses  Hastings,  Aaron  Merrick,  Chester  Williams, 
Elijah  Smith. 

1811. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Moses  Hastings,  Chester  Williams,  Aaron  Merrick, 
Elijah  Smith. 

1812. — Martin  Baker,  Chester  Williams,  Chester  Smith,  David  Smith,  Aaron 
Merrick. 


l.Si;i. — Moses  Hiistings,  Calvin  Merrill,  Justus  Williams,  Jr.,  Martin  Baker,  Aaron 

Merrick. 
1S14. — Elijah  Dickinson,  John  Eastman,  Justus  Williams,  Jr.,  Martin  Baker, 

Enos  Dickinson  (2.1), 
1815. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Jjhu  Eastman,  Justus  Williams,  Jr.,  Martin  Baker, 

Enos  Dickinson  (2d). 
1816. — Elijah  Dickinson,  Julin  Eastman,  Justus  Williams,  Jr.,  Martin  Baker, 

Enos  Dickinson  (2d). 
H<17. — Calvin  Merrill,  Nathan  Franklin,  Ehenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  Enos  Dickinson 

(2d),  Chester  Dickinson. 
1818. — Calvin  Merrill,  Ebenezer  Matttion,  Jr.,  Enos  Dickinson  (2d). 
1819.- Enos  Baker,  Elijah  Boltwood,  Chester  Dickinson,  Aaron  Merrick,  Timothy 

S.  Goodman. 
1820. — Chester  Dickinson,  Elijah  Boltwood,  Benoui  Rust,  George  Nutting,  Justus 

Williams. 
1821.— Chester  Dickinson,  Josiah  Warner,  Jr.,  Seth  Nelson,  Natlianiel  C.  Dickin- 
son, Hosea  Goodale. 
1822.— Chester  Dickinson,  Asahel  Thayer,  Jonathan  Bridgman,  Andrew  Hyde, 

Bufus  Cowls. 
1823. — Chester  Dickinson,  Andrew  Hyde,   Martin  Baker,  Ebenezer  Williams, 

Zebina  Hawley. 
1824. — Chester  Dickinson,  Martin  Baker,  Levi  Jones,  Oliver  Dickinson,  Rufus 

Kellogg. 
1825. — Asahel  Thayer,  Elijah  Boltwood,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Oliver  Dickinson  (2d), 

Levi  Jones. 
1826.— Elijah  Boltwood,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Oliver  Dickinson  (2d),  George  Nutting, 

Zebina  Dickinson. 
1827. — Elijah  Boltwood,  George  Nutting,  Oliver  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Ze- 
bina Dickinson. 
1828. — Elijah  Boltwood,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Zebina  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  C.  Dick- 
inson, Ebenezer  Williams. 
1S29.— Elijah  Boltwood,  Zebina  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Nathaniel  C.  Dick- 
inson, Ebenezer  Williams, 
1830.— Elijah  Boltwood,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  William  Kellogg,  Enos  Dickinson, 

David  Dexter. 
l$;jl,_EliJ!ih  Boltwood,  David  Dexter,  Enos  Dickinson,  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr., 

WiUiam  Kellogg. 
1S32. — Elijah  Boltwuod,  Zel'ina  Dickinson,  Solomon  R.  Eastman,  Ebenezer  Wil- 
liams, Jonathan  Bridgman, 
1833, — Solomon  R.  E:tstman,   Nathaniel  C.  Dickinson,  Jonathan   Cowls,  Luke 

Sweetser,  Asahel  Tliayer, 
ly34. — Thomas  Hiistings,  Chester  Dickinson,  Lucius  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Rico, 

Aaron  M.  Chandler. 
ISZo. — Zebina  Hawley,  W.  S.  Howland,  Lucius  Dickinson,  Daniel   Dickinson, 

Eleazer  Gaylord. 
l;^;j(j._.\lfred  Baker,  Enos  Dickinson  (2d),  Salvador  Andrews;  Leonard  M.  Hills» 

Ezra  Ingram. 
iy37._Enos  Dickinson  (2d),  Leonard  M.  Hills,  Alfred  Baker,  Salvador  Andrews, 

Ezra  Ingram. 
1838.— Alfred  Baker,  Ezra  Ingram,  Oliver  Dickinson  (2d),  Nelson  Rust,  Frederick 

A.  Palmer. 
18;j9,_Enos  Dickinson,  Simeon  Clark,  Charles  Adams,  Charles  Roberts,  Thomas 

Hastings. 
1S40. — Luther  Nash,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Gotten   Smith,  Seth   Nims,  AVillard   M. 

Kellogg. 
1841.— Simeon   Clark,   Oliver  Watson,   Seth   Nims,   Eleazer  Kellogg,   William 

Merrick. 
1S42.— Simeon  Clark,  Alfred  Baker,  Enos  Dickinson. 
1843.— Ebenezer  Williams,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Frederick  A.  Palmer. 
1844. —Frederick  A.  Palmer,  Salem  Hammond,  Ezra  Ingram. 
1815.— Russell  T.  Wheelock,  Lyman  Guun,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1846.— Russell  T.  Wheelock,  Lyman  Gunn,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1847._juhn  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Ansel  C.  Marshall,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1S48.— Russell  T.  ^^^leelock,  Ansel  C.  Marehall,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1849.— Ansel  C.  Mai-shall,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Willard  M.  Kellogg. 
1850.— Alfred  Baker,  Leonard  M.  Hills,  Simeon  Clark,  Truman  Nutting,  Ansel  C. 

Marshall. 
1851.— Alfred  Baker,  Leonard  M.  Hills,  Simeon  Clark,  Ansel  C.  Mai-shall,  Truman 

Nutting. 
1852.— Albiu  P.  Howe,  Ezra  Ingram,  Enos  D.  Williams. 
1853,— Josiah  Ayres,  Ezra  Ingram,  Enos  D.  Williams. 
18.54. — Edward  A.  Stanley,  Austin  Eastman,  Enos  D.  Williams. 
1855.— Josiah  Ayres,  Austin  Eastman,  William  Dickinson,  James  Hastings,  Robert 

Cutler. 
1856.— Juhn  R.  Cushman,  M.  Adams  Allen,  Bela  U.  Dickinson,  Daniel  Converse, 

Ezra  Ingram. 
1857.— Baxter  Eastman,  Russell  T.  Wheelock,  David  Pomeroy. 
1S58.— Russell  T.  Wheelock,  Alfred  Baker,  Austin  Eastman. 
1859.— Ezra  Ingram,  Willard  M,  Kellogg,  Daniel  Converse, 
18G0. — Ezra  Ingram,  Daniel  Converse,  Bela  V.  Dickinson, 
1861,— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Harlem  L.  Pomeroy. 
18ti2.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Daniel  Converse. 
18G3.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Daniel  Couvei-se. 
1804.- Ezra  Ingram,  Daniel  Couvci-se,  Avery  R.  Cushman. 
1865.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Porter  Dickinson. 
1866.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Porter  Dickinson. 
1867.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Porter  Dickinson. 
1868.— Ezra  Ingram,  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Porter  Dickinson. 


244 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1869. — Ezra  Ingram.  Eleazer  Kellogg,  Porter  Dickinson. 
1870. — Levi  Stockliritige,  Harrison  Ingram,  Flavel  Ga.vlord. 
1871. — Flavel  Giiyloril,  Harrison  Ingram,  Charles  S.  Smith. 
1872. — Flavel  Gaylorr],  Harrison  Ingram,  George  H.  Piince. 
1873. — Chauncey  W.  Lessey,  Edmund  Hohart,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1S74. — Cliauncey  W.  Lessey,  Edmund  Hohart,  Waitstill  Dickinson. 
1875. — Chauncey  W.  Lessey,  Allen  P.  Merrick,  Harrison  Ingram. 
1876. — Cliauncey  W.  Lessey,  Allen  P.  Merrick   Harrison  Ingram. 
1877. — Chauncey  W.  Lessey,  A.  J.  Kobinson,  Jonathan  Cowles. 
1878. — Dwight  W.  Palmer,  Harrison  Ingram,  James  E.  Menick. 

RECORDERS  OR  TOWN  CLERKS. 

After  1774,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  yeiwa  wlicn  .separate 
treasurers  were  elected,  the  offices  of  clerk  and  treasurer  were 
combined.  The  exceptions  are  appended  hereto.  From  1759 
to  1776,  when  Amherst  was  incorporated  as  a  town,  these  oifi- 
ccrs  were  chosen  by  and  represented  the  "  district  of  Amherst." 

Josiiih  Chauncey,  1759-62;  Simeon  Strong,  1763-66,  .Tosiah  Chauncey,  1767; 
Seth  Coleman,  1768-74;  Natiianiel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  1775-87  ;  Seth  Coleman,  1788- 
1803;  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  1801-18 ;  Elijah  Dwight,*  1819  ;  Elijah  Smith,  1820- 
22;  Ebenc/.er  Mattoon,  Jr.,  1823-27;  Itluuiuir  Conkey,  1828-29;  Lucius  Bjlt 
wood,  18.30-34 ;  John  S.  Adams,  lS;i.5 ;  Eusscll  T.  Wheelock,  1836 ;  Samuel  C.  Car- 
ter, 1837^15 ;  Newton  Fitch,  1846-47 ;  James  W.  Boyden,  1848-52,  and  1854 ;  Alvin 
P.  Howe,  1853,  '55,  '56;  Samuel  C.  Carter,  1857, — the  present  clerk,  whosi*  two 
periods  of  service  exceed  thirty-one  year's, 

PRESENT   TOWN    OFFICERS. 

Selectmen  and  Overseei"s  of  the  Poor,  Dwight  "W.  P.almer,  Harrison  Ingram, 
James  E.  Merrick ;  Clerk  and  Trc:isurer,  Samuel  Cutis  Carter ;  Assessor's,  Oliver 
D.  Hunt,  Ebenezer  P.  Spear,  James  E.  Merrick  ;  School  Committee,  Warren  H. 
Beaman,  Henry  C.  Nash,  William  B.  Gi'aves ;  Auditor,  Henry  Holland ;  Fence- 
Viewers,  Marquis  F.  Dickinson,  Harvey  ^V^lite,  William  W.  Smith ;  Field-Di  ivei-s, 
Charles  W.  Newell,  David  S.  Warner,  H.  Shaw,  Watson  W.  Cowles,  Waitstill 
Dickinson ;  Mejisurers  of  Wood  and  Bark,  B.  F.  Kellogg,  Forrester  P.  Ainsworth, 
Henry  Holland,  Oliver  D.  Hunt,  J.  Hiistings,  Albert  Clark,  W.  Dickinson,  George 
W.  .Smith,  L.  Roberts,  Charles  L.  Dadman ;  Surveyors  of  Lumber,  F.  Gaylord,  B. 
F.  Kellogg,  L.  E.  Dickinson,  Albert  Clark,  J.  H;istings,  Wm,  E.  Lyman,  S.  Har- 
rington ;  Sealers  of  Leather,  R.  W.  Stratton,  D.  H.  Kellogg ;  Sealer  of  Weights 
and  Measures.  James  Hiisting;  Pound-Keeper,  J.  P.  Gray;  Weighers  of  Coal,  T. 
W.  Sloan,  E.  T.  Wilson,  E.  S.  White,  Leander  Merrick,  Waitstill  Dickinson  ;  Col- 
lector of  Taxes,  Samuel  C.  Carter ;  Sextons,  C.  W.  Daua.  H.  White,  E.  D.  Marsh, 
W.  V.  Cutter;  Constables,  G.  B.  Gallond,  T.  W.  Sloan,  W.  W.  Smith,  W.  E.  Steb- 
bins,  E.  B.  Seai-s,  W.  W.  Cowles,  C.  L.  Dadman,  T.  M.  Armstrong ;  Elector  under 
Oliver  Smith  Will,  W.  S.  Clark  ;  Deputy-Sheriff,  G.  B.  Galhuid  ;  Medical  Exam- 
iner, Dr.  D.  B.  N.  Fish  ;  Trial-Justice,  E.  A.  Thomas ;  Policeman,  R.  D.  C.  Ingram. 

VILLAGES. 

AMHERST,    OR   AMHERST   CENTRE, 

is  a  post-village,  and  the  largest  and  most  important  village  in 
the  town.  It  occupies  the  uplands  near  the  town's  geograph- 
ical centre,  and  is  the  seat  of  Amherst  College,  founded  in 
1821,  and  of  the  State  Agricultural  College,  opened  in  1807. 

In  the  midst  of  the  village  is  a  common  containing  many 
beautiful  elms,  which  is  a  part  of  the  former  wide  highway 
between  the  divided  lands,  called  the  first  and  second  divisions. 
Many  of  the  buildings  of  Amherst  College  occupy  an  elevation 
at  the  south  end  of  the  common,  while  those  constituting  the 
principal  business  portion  of  the  village  are  grouped  around 
the  north  end. 

Main  Street  leads  east  from  the  business  centre  to  a  suburb 
called  "East  Amherst,"  a  mile  distant,  passing,  midway,  the 
depot  and  "  crossing"  of  the  New  London  Northern  Railway. 

The  village  contains  the  town  clerk's  office,  eight  churches, 
two  printing-offices,  three  hotels,  one  national  and  one  savings 
bank,  and  a  post-office,  with  a  branch  at  East  Amherst.  The 
place  has  a  small  fire  department  and  a  gas-works,  two  hat- 
manufactories,  and  two  establishments  which  produce  gold 
pens.     There  are  thirty  resident  ministers. 

Latitude  at  the  college  observatory,  42°  22'  17"  ;  longitude, 
72°  34'  3".     Elevation  above  sea-level,  2<37  feet. 

NORTH    AMHERST 

is  a  considerable  hamlet  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  town, 
whose  interests  are  mainly  agricultural.  It  has  a  post-office 
and  one  church  edifice.  Easterly,  about  one  mile  distant,  is  a 
settlement  called  "North  Amherst  City,"  where  is  situated 

*  Mr.  Dwight  died  during  the  year,  and  Mr.  Sniith  was  elected  to  the  vacancy 
in  December,  1819. 


the  depot,  on  the  line  of  the  New  London  Northern  Eailway. 
The  city  contains  also  a  branch  of  the  North  Amherst  post- 
office  and  one  church. 

On  Mill  Eiver,  about  three  miles  from  North  Amherst,  are 
two  mills  where  artificial  leather,  or  "  leather  board,"  is  made, 
and  one  mill  which  turns  out  coarse  wrapping-paper.  It  is 
said  that  a  man  named  Williams  had  a  mill  on  this  stream  in 
1782. 

SOUTH   AMHERST, 

another  small  place  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town  and 
south  of  Fort  River,  is  chiefly  sustained  by  its  agricultural  in- 
terests. It  has  one  establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  chil- 
dren's carriages,  a  post-office,  and  one  church.  This  village, 
like  the  preceding,  is  situated  on  the  line  of  the  New  London 
Northern  Railway.  The  post-office  was  established  here  in 
1838.  The  postmasters  have  been  Hiram  H.  Allen,  1838  to 
1844;  Waitstill  Dickinson,  1844  to  1850;  Charles  F.  Hay- 
ward,  18-50  to  1857  ;  Daniel  Paine,  1857  to  1859  ;  Sylvanus  M. 
Wright,  1859  to  1863 ;  Thomas  Reed,  1863  to  1866 ;  Waitstill 
Dickinson,  1866,  the  present  incumbent. 

PICTURE   OF   AMHERST   IN    1800. 

The  two  principal  streets,  lying  with  the  cardinal  points, 
and  intersecting  at  the  centre  of  the  vilhige,  were  originally 
laid  forty  rods  wide,  forming  a  spacious  common  before  the 
dwellings  fronting  upon  them.  They  were  afterward  nar- 
rowed, and  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  dwellings  thus  extended. 
The  Strong  house,  on  Amity,  and  the  Dr.  Eufus  Cowles  house, 
on  Pleasant  Street,  illustrate  the  change  which  has  taken 
place.     Says  Prof.  Tyler  :f 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century.  Judge 
Strong  owned  all  the  land  at  and  near  the  northwest  and 
northeast  corners  of  the  two  main  streets,  as  far  north  as  the 
Dr.  Cowles  house  and  the  Dr.  Coleman  house,  which  then 
stood  near  the  cemetery,  and  as  far  east  as  the  Dr.  Cutler 
house,  which  then  stood  on  the  brow  of  Sunset  Hill,  now  Mrs. 
Jones'.  Gen.  Zebina  Montague  owned  the  southeast  corner, 
and  Dr.  (David)  Parsons  the  whole  southwest  angle,  except 
the  corner,  which  was  occupied  then,  as  it  has  been  ever  since, 
by  the  hotel.  In  1815,  when  the  college  began  to  be  talked 
of,  there  were  still  not  more  than  twenty-five  houses  in  the 
entire  village.  Three  of  these  were  gambrel-roofed  houses, — 
the  then  aristocratic  style, — viz.,  those  of  Judge  Strong  and 
Dr.  Parsons,  and  the  hotel,  the  last,  however,  only  one  story, 
and  then  kept  by  Elijah  Boltwood.  Of  these  the  Judge  Strong 
house  is  the  only  remaining  specimen.  Between  the  hotel 
and  the  Parsons  house  there  was  no  building,  except  a  school- 
house,  near  the  site  of  the  present  tin-shop,  which  was  used 
sometimes  for  a  district  school,  and  sometimes  for  a  select 
school.  There  was  no  sidewalk,  and  the  road  (for  a  street  it 
could  hardly  be  called,  although  it  was  the  main  rood  leading 
to  the  '  meeting-house')  was  often  so  muddy  as  to  be  impass- 
able. Prof.  Snell  remembers  being  obliged  more  than  once, 
by  reason  of  the  mud,  to  betake  himself  to  the  Virginia  fence 
that  run  its  zigzags  alongside  this  road.  The  common  was 
partly  swamp  and  partly  pasture  ground,  grown  up  to  white 
birch,  on  which  each  family  was  allowed,  by  annual  vote  of 
the  town,  to  pasture  a  cow  so  many  weeks  every  season.  On 
the  east  side  there  was  a  goose-pond,  skirted  with  alders,  and 
alive  and  vocal  with  large  flocks  of  geese. 

"  The  corner  diagonal  to  the  hotel,  now  the  site  of  Pha'nix 
Row,  was  then  occupied  by  the  house  and  store  of  H.  Wright 
Strong.  Till  about  this  time  this  was  the  only  store  in 
town,  and  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  drug-store  or  carpen- 
ter's or  blacksmith's  shop  in  existence.  At  the  east  end  of 
what  is  now  Phoenix  Row  was  the  house  which  was  owned 
and  occupied  bj'  Noah  Webster  for  ten  years,  from  1812  till 
1822.    This  house  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1838.    The  orchard 

t  Hist,  of  Amherst  College,  1873. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


245 


which  Mr.  Webster  planted  and  cherished  (now  Foster  Cook's) 
is  still,  perhaps,  the  best  orchard  in  town.  Samuel  Fowler 
Dickinson  had  recently  erected  the  house  now  owned  b\'  his 
son,  the  first  brick  house  in  the  village.  The  road  betVveen 
Mr.  Webster's  and  Mr.  Dickinson's  then  took  a  zigzag  course 
toward  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Sweetser,  to  avoid  a  marsh 
in  which,  in  old  times,  cattle  were  not  unfrequently  mired. 
The  causeway  of  Main  Street  now  crosses  the  centre  of 
that  swamp,  and  the  village  church  is  built  on  its  margin. 
When  Esquire  Dickinson  built  his  brick  house,  he  removed 
the  wood  house  which  he  had  previously  occupied  on  the  same 
site  to  Pleasant  Street,  where  it  still  stands,  a  small,  old- 
fashioned,  two-story  house,  a  little»north  of  the  blacksmith- 
shop.  The  old  Whiting  house,  between  Pleasant  Street 
and  North  Street,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Ayers,  is  also  one  of 
the  antiquities  of  Amherst.  And  the  grand  old  elm,  which 
overshadows  it  like  a  protecting  forest,  if  it  were  only  gifted 
with  speech  like  some  trees  of  the  mythical  ages,  could  tell 
talcs  older  and  more  impressive  than  all  the  history  that  has 
been  gathered  from  the  oldest  inhabitants.  There  is  no  finer 
specimen  of  '  the  American  tree,' — '  the  tree  of  Liberty' — in 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  and  of  course  none  anywhere 
else  in  the  country  or  the  world. 

"  There  are  two  houses  on  the  east  side  of  the  common  which 
existed  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  and  still  remain 
quite  unchanged, — the  Warner  house  and  the  Merrill  house. 
And  we  must  not  forget  to  mention  an  hislHulion,  quite  char- 
acteristic of  the  good  old  times,  which  once  stood  on  the  back 
side  of  the  Merrill  lot,  but  which  has  passed  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  present  generation,  though  some  traces  of  it  have 
been  brought  to  light  in  recent  excavations.  We  refer  to  a 
distillery — the  first,  but  by  no  means  the  last,  in  this  region — • 
which  used  up  some  3000  barrels  of  cider  every  year,  turning 
it  into  cider-brandy,  and  used  up  as  effectually  some  of  the 
old  settlers.  Their  children,  who  are  still  on  the  stage,  re- 
count some  first  lessons  learned  there,  which,  with  the  help 
of  later  lessons  of  a  counter-tendency,  have  made  them  ever 
since  the  sturdy  friends  of  temperance. 

"In  the  construction  of  Prof.  Seelye's  fish-pond  lately,  the 
aqueduct  of  logs  which  brought  water  into  the  distillery  was 
discovered,  and  found  to  be  still,  after  three-quarters  of  a 
century,  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation.  College  Street 
now  runs  along  near  the  brow  of  this  distillery  ravine,  which 
used  to  be  covered  with  barrels  of  cider  and  cider-brandy. 
Fact  significant  not  only  of  change  but  of  improvement ! 
The  world  does  move;  and  it  moves  to  the  right  direction, — 
toward  temperance,  intelligence,  virtue,  and  piety." 

INDUSTRIES. 

Gold  Pens. — It  is  now — 1879 — nearly  thirty  years  since  Ira 
C.  Haskins  commenced  the  manufacture  of  gold  pens,  and 
twenty-five  years,  or  more,  since  he  transferred  the  business 
to  the  vicinity  of  Amherst.  For  a  considerable  time  his 
brother,  Joseph  A.,  as  the  senior  partner,  was  associated  with 
him,  "  Haskins  Brothers"  being  the  title  of  the  firm.  Joseph, 
because  of  ill  health,  about  18G9  retired  from  the  business 
to  a  farm  in  Shutesbury, — the  town  in  which  their  earlier 
business  was  conducted. 

Two  years  before  his  retirement,  however,  an  act  was  se- 
cured incorporating  the  two  brothers  and  Henry  A.  Marsh, 
of  Amherst,  as  the  "  Haskins  Gold  Pen  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany," and  authorizing  aproperty  in  real  estate  to  the  amount 
of  $20,000,  the  capital  being  !t!100,000.  There  has  been,  as  yet, 
no  regular  organization  under  the  act. 

The  products  of  the  present  establishment — now  conducted 
by  Ira  C.  Haskins — are  gold  pens,  in  nearly  50  diiferent  pat- 
terns, varying  in  size,  style,  and  number,  some  of  which,  as 
specialties,  bear  the  peculiar  names,  reservoir,  double  reser- 
voir, crow-quill,  and  stub  nib. 

Previous  to  the  location  at  Shutesbury,  Mr.  Haskins  had  an 


office  in  New  York  City,  and,  having  purchased  the  stock  of 
Wm.  Ball  &  Co.,  English  manufacturers  of  steel  pens,  at 
Newark,  N.  J.,  engaged  for  a  time  in  the  sale  of  pens  of  both 
steel  and  gold. 

POST-OFFICES. 

Amherst. — The  first  postmaster  in  the  town  of  Amherst  was 
Daniel  Kellogg,  who  was  appointed  about  the  period  of  the 
Revolution,  and  kept  the  post-office  in  East  Street.  His  suc- 
cessors have  been  J.  White,  J.  White,  Jr.,  H.  Wright  Strong, 
Samuel  C.  Carter,*  Seth  Nims,  L.  M.  Boltwood,  J.  L.  Skinner, 
John  Jamieson. 

North  Amherst. — A  post-office  was  established  at  North 
Amherst  nearly  or  quite  forty  years  ago,  upon  the  application 
of  Samuel  Davis  and  others.  Mr.  Davis  was  the  first  ap- 
pointee, and  served  about  years,  when  William  H.  Kobinson 
succeeded  him.  Mr.  Cutler  was  restored  to  the  office  by  Pres- 
ident Buchanan,  and  held  it  until  18G9,  when  he  resigned.  C. 
H.  Hobart  then  served  three  months  and,  in  turn,  resigned. 
F.  P.  Ainsworth,  the  present  incumbent,  then  entered  ujicm 
his  duties  in  that  office. 

THE   PRESS. 

The  first  paper  of  any  kind  issued  in  Amherst  was  The 
Chemist  and  Meteorological  Journal,  by  Carter  &  Adams  ;  ed- 
ited by  John  B.  Cotting.  The  first  number  appeared  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1826.  On  December  1st,  of  the  same  year,  Messrs. 
Carter  &  Adams  commenced  the  New  England  Enquirer.  It 
was  edited  successively  by  Hon.  Osmyn  Baker  and  Kev.  Sam- 
uel Worcester.  In  1839  the  Amherst  Gazette  appeared.  It 
was  edited  and  published  by  James  B.  Yerrington.  The  year 
1844  witnessed  the  advent  of  a  journal  of  more  permanent 
character,  the  Hampshire  and  Franklin  Express,  edited  by 
Samuel  C.  Nash.  In  1848  it  passed  into  the  possession  of 
Homer  A.  Cook.  J.  R.  Trumbull,  now  of  the  Hampshire 
Gazette,  became  its  publisher  and  editor  in  1849.  Messrs. 
Adams  Bros,  received  it  again  in  1853,  having  Leander 
Wetherell  as  editor.  Subsequently  Mr.  William  Faxon  be- 
came its  editor  and  publisher.  He  turned  it  over  to  J.  H. 
Brewster,  who  took  as  partner  the  Rev.  Pliny  H.  White. 
After  some  time  Mr.  Brewster  repurchased  Mr.  White's 
interest,  and  took  into  partnership  Rev.  J.  H.  M.  Leland. 
Afterward  Mr.  Brewster  left,  and  for  a  short  time  Mr.  Le- 
land had  sole  charge.  Mr.  H.  A.  Marsh  purchased  it  in  1858, 
changing  the  name  in  the  year  18G5  from  Hampshire  and 
Fratikim  Express,  which  it  had  borne  since  1844,  to  Hamp- 
shire E.rprcss.  In  the  fall  of  18fi6  he  disposed  of  it  to  Capt. 
J.  L.  Skinner,  who  published  and  edited  it  till  February, 
1868,  when  he  associated  with  himself  as  partner  Mr.  H.  M. 
McCloud.  In  May,  1868,  the  name  of  the  paper  was  changed 
to  Amherst  Record,  and  Mr.  McCloud  had  Mr.  Charles  L. 
Storrs  as  an  associate  for  a  couple  of  years.  In  1871,  Mr. 
McCloud  enlarged  the  paper  tp  eight  pages,  and  published  till 
June,  1877,  when  he  took  as  partner  Mr.  J.  E.  Williams. 
The  paper  is  still  published  by  McCloud  &  Williams. 

The  Amherst  Transcript  was  established  Sept.  18,  1877,  by 
the  brothers  Robert  A.  and  Charles  H.  Marsh,  the  former  being 
the  publisher,  the  latter  editor.  Robert  A.,  in  1875,  opened  a 
job-office  in  a  drug-store  in  the  First  National  Bank  building, 
and  removed  early  in  the  next  year  to  the  American  House 
block,  where  he  continued  until  August,  1877,  when  he  moved 
the  office  to  its  present  quarters  in  "  Palmer  Block,"  and  took 
a  contract  to  publish  the  Amherst  Student,  a  fortnightly  col- 
lege paper  of  sixteen  pages,  which  is  still  regularly  issued. 
The  Transcript  is  independent  in  politics,  treats  of  local  affairs, 
and  has  a  circulation  of  about  800  copies,  chiefly  within  the 
counties  of  Hampshire  and  Hampden.  The  paper  was  en- 
larged Jan.  7,  1879. 


*  Served  at  two  pei  iods,  in  all  nine  years, — first  under  Jno.  T^'ler,  last  under  Z. 
Taylor. 


246 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


BANKS. 

THE    riRST    NATIONAL    BANK    OF    AMHERST 

was  organized  in  January,  1864,  with  a  capital  of  §51,000. 
The  first  board  of  directors  was  constituted  as  follows  :  Leon- 
ard M.  Hills,  Jared  T.  Westcott,  Enos  D.  Williams,  James  G. 
Vose,  Ansel  C.  Marshall,  Seth  J.  Bennett,  Calvin  Bridgman. 
The  first  president  was  Leonard  JI.  Hills ;  the  first  cashier, 
William  P.  Smith. 

During  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Hills  the  capital  was  twice  in- 
creased,—in  November,  18f54,  to  §100,000,  and  in  May,  1865, 
to  $150,000,  where  it  remains. 

In  March,  1872,  Calvin  Bridgman  was  chosen  president, 
Mr.  Hills  having  resigned,  and  held  the  position  until  .Jan- 
uary, 1874,  when  he  was  .succeeded  by  the  present  incumbent, 
Leonard  D.  Hills.  In  October,  1865,  Reuben  J.  D.  Westcott 
was  chosen  cashier  in  place  of  Mr.  Smith,  resigned. 

Present  Directors. — Leonard  D.  Hills,  Jared  T.  Westcott, 
Ansel  C.  Marshall,  Calvin  Bridgman,  Enos  P.  Cook,  AVilliam 
A.  Dickinson,  William  S.  Tyler. 

Officers. — Leonard  D.  Hills,  President ;  Eeuben  J.  D.  West- 
cott, Cashier;  William  N.  Scott,  Teller;  Edgar  T.  Scott, 
Book-keeper. 

Capital,  $150,000.     Surplus,  ?.50,000. 

THE    AMHERST    SAVING.S-BANK 

was  incorporated  April  5,  1864,  and  went  into  operation  in 
January,  1865.  The  first  board  of  trustees  was  composed  of 
C.  W.  Lessey,  Charles  Adams,  E.  P.  Cook,  H.  Holland,  Cal- 
vin Bridgman,  James  Hastings,  D.  W.  Palmer,  W.  A.  Dick- 
inson, George  Cutler,  A.  Ft.  Cushman,  David  Rice,  Horace 
Ward,  N.  Austin  Smith. 

The  same  persons  constitute  the  present  board,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  B.  F.  Kendrick,  whose  name  appears  in  place  of 
C.  W.  Lessey.  The  deposits  Jan.  1,  1879,  were  §498,060 ;  sur- 
plus, $17,625.98  ;  guarantee  fund,  $2683.  Loans,  $501,623.10  ; 
cash,  $16,746.71. 

Present  Officers. — E.  F.  Cook,  President ;  D.  W.  Palmer, 
Vice-President ;  George  Cutler,  Secretary  ;  Samuel  C.  Carter, 
Treasurer. 

Board  of  Investment. — James  Hastings,  H.  Ward,  Amherst; 
N.  A.  Smith,  Sunderland;  C.  Bridgman,  Belchertown.  The 
annual  meeting  is  the  first  Wednesday  in  January. 

FIRE    DEPARTMENT. 

The  fire  department  of  Amherst,  as  a  lawfullj'-constituted 
organization,  is  of  recent  origin,  dating  from  March  3,  1874. 
Previous  to  this  time  the  town  had  for  several  years  appointed 
fire-wardens,  and  made  a  small  annual  appropriation  for  fire 
purposes.  In  the  year  named  apparatus  was  provided,  and  a 
hoard  of  twelve  engineers  was  appointed  by  the  selectmen. 
The  village  has  no  system  of  water-works,  and  its  situation  is 
unfavorable  for  obtaining  a  supply  of  water  from  any  of  the 
streams  of  the  town  that  would  not  involve  large  expenditure 
of  money.  Twelve  cisterns  have  therefore  been  provided  by 
the  town, — all  of  which  are  near  the  centre  of  the  village,  five 
being  on  the  "common," — whose  united  capacity  is  68,000 
gallons.  One  holds  13,000,  the  others  each  .5000.  These  are 
supplied  from  roofs  and  springs.  Edward  A.  Thomas  was 
chosen  as  the  first  chief-engineer,  and  served  until  March, 
1878,  when  the  present  chief,  Henry  Holland,  succeeded  to 
the  position. 

The  force  of  the  department  ccmsists  of  two  companies, — 
Cataract  Engine  Company,  with  a  hand-engine,  and  Lafay- 
ette Hook-and-Ladder  Company,  100  buckets,  one  Babcock 
extinguisher,  and  850  feet  of  good  hose. 

Losses  by  Fire  in  Amherst— Wti,  $19;  1875,  $15;  1876, 
$41,472;  1877,  $3785;  1878,  $18,.582.90;  January,  1879,  $.3000. 

Present  Department  Officers. — Henry  Holland,  Chief-Engi- 
neer ;  Lewis  J.  Spear,  First  Assistant;  Rufus  T.  Dickinson, 
Second  Assistant;  M.  E.  Cushman,  Clerk;  John  A.  Pierce, 


Watson  W.  Cowles,  L.  H.  Pomeroy,  William  E.  Stebbins, 
E.  Hitchcock,  Henry  E.  Johnson,  Horace  D.  Dana,  Assist- 
ants. 

Company  Officers. — "  Cataract  Engine  Company,"  Timothy 
W.  Sloan,  Foreman;  Henry  E.  Wheeler,  First  Assistant; 
George  J.  Gallond,  Second  Assistant ;  Henry  E.  Paige,  Clerk 
and  Treasurer  ;  Timothy  W.  Sloan,  James  W.  T.  Davis,  George 
B.  Gallond,  Trustees;  Frank  Martin,  Steward.  "Lafayette 
Hook-and-Ladder  Company,"  M.  N.  Spear,  Foreman;  C.  M. 
Osgood,  Assistant ;  J.  A.  Hall,  Clerk  and  Treasurer ;  David 
S.  Warner,  Commissary. 

HOTELS. 

The  first  keepers  of  inns  in  the  east  precinct,  now  Amherst, 
were  Ebenezer,  Ephraim,  and  Martin  Kellogg  ;  the  first,  from 
1734  to  1737  and  17.52  to  1757  ;  the  second,  1744  to  175C  ;  and 
the  last  named,  from  1771  to  1773.  "  Ephraim  had  mills  on 
Mill  River.  Moses  Smith  kept  a  tavern  on  the  Boston  road 
from  17.58  to  1766,  Alexander  Smith  on  West  Street,  south  of 
the  meeting-house,  from  1758  to  1763,  and  Moses  Warner, 
north  of  the  meeting-house,  from  1757  to  1771.  Josiah 
Chauncey  was  a  retailer  of  spirits  many  years  from  1759,  and 
£li.sha  Ingram  from  1766,  and  others  one  or  two  years. 
Chauncey  and  Ingram  sold  other  goods.  The  second  Solo- 
mon Boltwood  and  his  son  Ebenezer,  and  Jacob  McDaniel, 
traded.  From  1780  to  1793,  3,  4,  or  5  tavern-keepers  were 
j'early  licensed  in  Amherst,  and  4,  5,  or  6  retailers  of  liquors. 
In  1783  there  were  5  taverners  and  8  rum-sellers."* 

Amiicrst  House. — In  1800  there  was  a  hotel  on  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  the  "Amherst  House,"  described  as  a  low 
one-story  building,  with  a  gamhrel  roof.  This  was  then  kept 
by  Elijah  Boltwood.     The  succeeding  proprietors  have  been 

Rockwood,  A.  P.  Howe,  Frank  Kingman,  and  George 

Parker.  N.  S.  Beebee,  who  took  the  property  in  August, 
1875,  still  presides  worthily  over  the  spot  which  in  the  preced- 
ing century  was  dedicated  to  good  cheer  and  hospitality.  The 
house  was  rebuilt  in  1821. 

Viiion  House. — This  house  was  erected  as  a  dwelling  in  1853, 
for  the  use  of  a  conductor  of  the  Amherst  and  Belchertown 
Railroad, — Nathan  Patten.  It  was  enlarged  and  made  a  pub- 
lic-house by  S.  W.  Whitney,  who  was  succeeded  by.  T.  T. 
Sisson,  the  present  proprietor,  about  the  year  1867-68. 

ALMSHOUSE. 

What  now  constitutes  the  "poor-farm"  of  the  town  of 
Amherst  was  purchased  in  1837,  and  contains  about  150  acres. 
The  cost  of  the  farm  and  the  buildings  since  erected  thereon 
amounts  to  nearly  $7000,  of  which  sum  all  but  $1000  was  paid 
by  the  "  United  States  Surplus  Revenue  Fund."  Expended 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  for  year  ending  March  1,  1878, 
$2254.47. 

There  was  distributed  in  the  town  during  the  year  ending 
March  1,  1878,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Vill  of  the  late 
Oliver  Smith,  of  Hatfield,  as  follows  : 

To  140  widows,  S50  each JT.OnO 

To  SO  iutligeiit  youug  women,  S50  each 4,lHKJ 

?1 1,000 

Under  other  provisions  of  that  will  there  are  now  127  indi- 
gent boys  and  53  girls  serving  terms  of  indenture. 

The  will  of  the  late  Whiting  Street,  of  Northampton,  gives 
the  town  of  Amlierst  $6000,  as  a  permanent  fund  whose  income 
shall  be  used  "  for  the  relief  and  comfort  of  the  worthy  poor 
.  .  .  who  shall  not  be  in  the  almshouse  nor  be  town  nor  city 
paupers." 

RAILROAD. 

The  New  London,  Willimantic  and  Palmer  Railroad  was 
opened  in  1850,  and  an  extension,  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Amherst  and  Belchertown  Railroad,"  in  18-53.  Tliis  road, 
since  farther  extended,  traverses  the  town,  near  its  geograph- 

*  Judd,  p.  422. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


247 


ical  centre,  in  a  northerly  and  southerly  direction,  touching 
each  of  the  three  villages,  and  is  at  present  known  as  the  New 
London  Northern  Railway.  It  is  operated  under  lease  by  the 
Vermont  Central  Railroad  Company. 

SOCIETIES. 
PACIFIC  LODGE  OF  FREE  AND  ACCEPTED  MASONS 
was  chartered  June  8,  1801,  with  the  following  members: 
JPhineas  Hubbard,  Roswell  Field,  Edward  Ruggles,  Samuel 
Church,  Joseph  Willard,  Caleb  Hubbard,  Friend  Smith,  Rufus 
Field,  David  Stockbridge,  Cornelius  Wells,  John  Prentiss, 
William  Mather,  and  Elijah  AUis.  The  charter  was  executed 
by  John  Boyle,  S.  G.  W.,  and  Isaac  Hurd,  J.  G.  W.,  and  at- 
tested by  John  Proctor,  Grand  Sec,  and  authorized  meetings 
"within  the  town  of  S+mderland."  Dec.  13,  1802,  permission 
was  granted  for  the  removal  of  the  lodge  to  the  town  of  Am- 
herst, and  again,  June  8,  1807,  to  the  town  of  Leverett.  A 
final  change  was  authorized  Sept.  8th,  of  the  latter  year, 
when  the  lodge  was  transferred  to  Amherst  again. 

While  in  Sunderland  meetings  were  held  at  the  hotel  of 
Maj.  Caleb  Hubbard,  at  Plum-Trees.  Here,  it  seems,  the  first 
officers  were  chosen,  as  follows:  Phineas  Hubbard,  W.  M.  ; 
Roswell  Field,  S.  W. ;  Samuel  Church,  Jr.,  J.  W.  ;  Caleb 
Hubbard,  Treas.  ;  David  D.  Grey,  Sec. ;  Rufus  Field,  S.  D.  ; 
Beal  Crocker,  J.  D.  ;  Joseph  Watson,  S.  S.  ;  Friend  Smith, 
J.  S. ;  Ezra  Winslow,  Tyler.  When  first  removed  to  Am- 
herst, the  lodge  met  at  the  house  of  Capt.  Calvin  Merrill, 
where  a  memorandum  made  upon  a  return  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  shows  that  "  the  lodge  was  constituted  and  officers  in- 
stalled in  public  Sept.  5,  1804,  by  Solomon  Vose,  D.  D.  G.  M. ; 
sermon  by  R.  W.  Bro.  Pond."  Another  return  in  the  follow- 
ing year  discloses  that  the  lodge  then  embraced  three  physi- 
cians, two  gentlemen  of  public  education,  two  merchants, 
four  innkeepers,  three  majors,  four  captains,  four  lieutenants, 
two  selectmen,  seven  joiners,  two  hatters,  two  saddlers,  one 
goldsmith,  two  shoemakers,  one  clothier,  one  cooper,  one 
paper-maker,  twenty  farmers,  one  coroner.  During  the  few 
months'  stay  in  Leverett,  the  meetings  were  convened  at  the 
hotel  of  Lucius  Field,  and  after  the  last  removal  to  Amherst, 
"  at  the  hotels  of  John  Baggs,  in  East  Street,  Rufus  Kellogg, 
at  the  '  City,'  and  last  at  Boltwood's  Hotel,  now  the  Amherst 
House." 

Because  of  the  Morgan  excitement,  the  lodge  suspended  and 
returned  its  charter,  and  was  not  revived  until  18G0,  when  a 
dispensation  was  issued  under  which  the  lodge  worked  one 
year.  After  the  long  interval  of  thirty-three  years,  only  a 
few  of  the  old  members  remained,  Riley  Johnson  and  Dr. 
Seth  Fish,  alone  of  these,  joining  in  the  appeal  for  a  dispensa- 
tion. Nearly  all  the  furniture  of  the  old  lodge  had  disap- 
peared. 

"  On  the  24th  of  September,  1861,  Pacific  Lodge  was  again 
constituted,  its  hall  was  dedicated,  and  its  officers  installed." 
The  installation  ceremonies  were  performed  in  the  Baptist 
church. 

The  regular  communications  of  this  lodge  are  held  at  Ma- 
sonic Hall,  on  each  Monday  evening  next  preceding  the  full 
moon  in  each  month.     Annual  elections  in  November. 

Inclusive  of  the  }"ear  1875,  the  lodge  has  received  over  3-50 
members  within  its  fold. 

Present  oflicers  :  0.  F.  Morse,  W.  M.  ;  C.  W.  Adams,  S.  W. ; 
Edward  A.  Thomas,  J.  W.  ;  Henry  Holland,  Treas.  ;  E.  J. 
Wheaton,  Sec.  ;  R.  D.  C.  Ingram,  S.  D.  ;  F.  F.  Adams,  J.  D.  ; 
J.  L.  Lovell,  Chaplain;  T.  W.  Sloan,  Marshal;  J.  H.  War- 
ner, S.  S.  ;  E.  W.  Carpenter,  J.  S.  ;  Loren  L.  Ball,  J.  S.  ;  H. 
E.  Wheeler,  Organist;  Daniel  Currier,  Tyler;  Lecturer,  D. 
H.  Bartlett ;  Auditing  Com.,  O.  G.  Couch,  Levi  Stockbridge, 
E.  D.  Bangs;  Visiting  Com.,  George  B.  Gallond,  Henry 
Holland,  George  Field,  D.  A.  Horton,  Noah  Dickinson. 

Wells  Lodge,  No.  140,  was  organized  about  the  year  18.30, 
and  existed  about  ten  years,  when  it  was  discontinued. 


E.  M.  STANTON  POST,  36,  O.  A.  R., 
Department  of  Massachusetts,  was  formed  in  the  parlors  of 
the  Amherst  House,  Dec.  9,  1864,  the  charter  bearing  date 
Dec.  11,  two  days  later.  The  following  were  the  charter 
members :  A.  W.  Barrows,  W.  M.  Bassett,  Edmund  Bolt- 
wood,  D.  B.  N.  Fish,  B.  R.  Franklin,  T.  W.  Sloan,  T.  W. 
Lavake,  J.  L.  Skinner,  L.  J.  Winslow,  A.  H.  Daniels. 

Until  April  1,  1869,  the  meetings  of  the  post  were  held  in 
the  third  story  of  the  Amherst  House,  when  a  transfer  was 
made  to  rooms  in  "Phoenix  Row,"  which  had  been  remodeled 
for  the  purpose,  at  a  cost  of  about  §200.  These  rooms  were 
leased  for  five  years.  Here  the  post  remained  until  April  1, 
1875,  having  meantime  suffered  slightly  from  fire.  Again, 
having  hired  rooms  with  Amherst  Grange,  in  "Union  Block," 
they  suffered  loss  by  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  building, 
March  13, 1876.  The  next  lodge  was  with  "  Amherst  Grange," 
in  rooms  prepared  for  their  use  in  the  second  story  of  the  car- 
penter-shop of  Harvey  White,  where,  pursued  again  by  the  fire- 
fiend,  the  post  lost  all  their  furniture  and  even  their  charter, 
Jan.  3,  1879.  Their  last  resort  is  the  police  court-room,  where 
they  hope  to  arrest  the  approach  of  the  destro3'er. 

The  following  have  served  as  Commanders:  T.  W.  Sloan, 
Dec.  9,  1861,  to  Jan..  6,  1868,  and  for  the  year  1877;  L.  J. 
Winslow,  six  months;  C.  L.  Storrs,  six  months;  E.  Bolt- 
wood  and  J.  A.  Baker,  each  one  year;  J.  L.  Skinner,  1871, 
and  1873  to  1876;  H.  C.  Comins,  1872  and  1878;  Adjutants, 
J.  L.  Skinner,  three  years ;  J.  J.  Young,  five  years.  Since 
the  organization,  D.  B.  N.  Fish  has  served  as  Post  Surgeon, 
except  for  the  year  1868-69,  when  A.  W.  Barrows  held  the 
office;  B.  R.  Franklin  has  been  Quartermaster  for  eight  years, 
from  Jan.  1,  1871,  to  Jan.  1,  1879. 

Whole  number  on  the  muster-roll,  95 ;  present  members,  30 ; 
eight  have  died  within  eleven  years. 

Roster  of  Officers/or  1879.— B.  R.  Franklin,  P.  C.  ;  L.  W. 
West,  S.  V.  C.;  H.C.  Russell,  J.  V.  C;  Edgar  G.  Thayer, 
Adj. ;  J.  J.  Young,  Q.-M.  ;  George  Newell,  O.  D.  ;  D.  B.  N. 
Fish,  Surgeon  ;  J.  D.  Miller,  O.  6. ;  L.  D.  Smith,  S.  M.  ;  P. 
D.  Hubbard,  Q-M.-S.  ;  W.  B.  Kimball,  Delegate  to  Depart- 
ment Convention ;  L.  W.  West,  Alternate. 

Regular  meetings  are  held  the  last  Tuesday  of  each  month. 

THE   VILLAGE   IMPROVEMENT  SOCIETY 

was  originally  formed  as  the  "  Ornamental  Tree  Association," 
of  which  R.  B.  Hubbard  was  the  first  President,  Oliver  D. 
Hunt,  Secretary,  and  A.  R.  Henderson,  Treasurer.  In  1877 
the  name  of  the  society  was  changed  to  that  it  now  bears. 
The  objects  aimed  at  are  local  village  improvements,  such  as 
do  not  come  within  the  purview  of  the  customary  town  regu- 
lations. The  officers  are  E.  F.  Cook,  President ;  D.  W. 
Palmer,  B.  F.  Kendrick,  0.  G.  Couch,  Vice-Presidents ;  H. 
M.  McCloud,  Secretary;  O.  D.  Hunt,  Treasurer;  W.  A. 
Dickinson,  O.  F.  Bigelow,  E.  P.  Crowell,  W.  L.  Montague, 

M.  N.  Spear,  Charles  Deuel,  L.  J.  Spear,  Mrs. Cooper, 

Mrs.  Edward  Tuckerman,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Lovell,  Miss  Laura 
Emerson,  Executive  Committee. 

THE   AMHERST   GRANGE,    PATRONS   OF   HUSBANDRY, 

has  been  in  existence  as  an  organization  for  several  years. 
The  grange  store,  established  by  a  nvimber  of  stockholders  of 
the  grange,  was  opened  March  1,  1877.  The  following  are 
officers  of  the  grange:  Charles  S.  Smith,  Master;  William 
W.  Smith,  Overseer ;  Levi  Stockbridge,  Lecturer;  H.  W. 
Cook,  Steward ;  H.  E.  Stockbridge,  Assistant  Steward ;  H. 
L.  Cowles,  Chaplain ;  P.  D.  Spaulding,  Treas. ;  E.  T.  Sabin, 
Sec.  ;  H.  D.  Dana,  Gatekeeper ;  Mrs.  W.  W.  Smith,  Ceres ; 
Mrs.  E.  T.  Sabin,  Pomona ;  Mrs.  C.  S.  Smith,  Flora ;  Mrs. 
H.  W.  Cook,  Lady  Assistant  Steward. 

TEMPERANCE    SOCIETIES. 

There  are  two  temperance  organizations  in  xVmherst,  as  fol- 
lows:  the  "Temperance  Reform  Club,"  George  W.  Newell, 


248 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


President,  and  D.  H.  Biirtlett,  Sec. ;  and  tlie  "  Ladies'  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,''  Mrs.  P.  H.  White,  President,  and 
Miss  Kate  Merrick  and  Mrs.  E.  E.  Wheeler,  Sees. 

THE  EAST  HAMPSHIRE  AORICFLTURAL  SOCIETY 
was  incorporated  by  act  approved  May  1,  18-50,  constituting 
"Alfred  Baker,  Edward  Dickinson,  and  their  associates  and 
successors,"  a  society  by  that  name,  "  for  the  encouragement 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,"  and  authorizing  them 
to  "hold  and  manage  real  estate  not  exceeding  the  value  of 
115,000,"  and  personal  property  of  like  amount.  The  meeting 
for  a  formal  acceptance  of  the  act  and  for  organization  was 
held  Aug.  20,  1850,  at  which  Joseph  Smith,  of  Hadley,  pre- 
sided, and  Joseph  Colten,  of  Amherst,  officiated  as  secretary. 
By-laws  were  then  adopted  and  otHcers  chosen,  as  follows: 
Alfred  Baker,  Amherst,  President ;  Luke  Sweetser,  Amherst, 
Joseph  Smith,  Hadley,  Paoli  Lathrop,  South  Hadley,  Josiah 
B.  Woods,  Enfield,  Horace  Henderson,  Sunderland,  Vice- 
Presidents  ;  James  W.  Boyden,  Amherst,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer;  Edward  Dickinson,  Horace  Kellogg,  and  Willard 
M.  Kellogg,  Amherst,  Levi  Stockbridge,  Hadley,  William 
Thayer,  Belchertown,  Benjamin  Witt,  Granby,  Asa  L.  Field, 
Leverett,  Executive  Committee. 

At  a  regular  meeting  held  the  same  day  it  was  voted  "to 
accept  the  pair  of  North  Devon  cattle  received  from  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Agricultural  Society;"  and  further  voted,  on  mo- 
tion of  Mo.ses  B.  Green,  "that  ladies  be  admitted  to  seats 
on  cattle-show  day." 

The  first  "show"  was  held  in  Amherst,  Oct.  30,  18-50,  and 
was  an  inspiring  success  in  all  its  features.  The  records  re- 
veal that  "  the  number  of  working-cattle  on  the  ground  at 
noon  was  six  hundred  and  thirt}',  and  was  the  largest  display 
ever  made  in  this  part  of  the  State,"  and  that  "  the  artillery 
company  escorted  a  long  and  respectable  procession  to  the 
church,  where  Rev.  George  Cook  made  a  prayer  introductory 
to  the  excellent  address  of  Professor  Eowler. "  The  dinner 
was  capital,  speeches  good,  and  "  the  presence  of  many  ladies 
gave  new  interest  to  the  occasion."  The  show  was  held  upon 
the  "common"  and  the  satisfying  dinner  served  at  the  Am- 
herst House. 

This  society,  though  somewhat  local  in  its  organization, 
welcomes  all  localities  to  a  generous  competition  at  its  annual 
exhibitions.  The  present  officers  are  W.  L.  Warner,  Sunder- 
land, President;  Charles  S.  Smith,  Amherst,  Vice-President ; 
Moody  Harrington,  Amherst,  Secretarj- ;  E.  E.  Webster, 
Amherst,  Treasurer;  E.  F.  Cook,  Amherst,  A.  W.  Stacy, 
Belchertown,  H.  C.  Comins,  Hadley,  E.  H.  Judd,  South  Had- 
ley, Asahel  Gates,  Pelham,  Executive  Committee ;  D.  W. 
Palmer,  Amherst,  Auditor. 

EDUCATIONAL. 
Mr.  Judd  in  his  history  of  Hadley  says,  "  The  first  vote  of 
East  Hadley  relating  to  schools  was  March  13,  1749.  A  com- 
mittee was  to  hire  three  school-dames  for  three  or  four  months, 
in  the  summer  season,  to  teach  children  to  road.  Undoubtedly 
there  were  private  schools  before  1749,  and  some  boys  were 
sent  to  the  Hopkins  school.  Samuel  Mighill,  an  old  school- 
master, resided  in  East  Hadley  in  1739.  In  1753  there  were  to 
be  three  schools  in  the  precinct, — in  the  north,  middle,  and 
south  parts.  The  schools  were  long  kept  in  private  rooms. 
The  first  vote  to  build  school-houses  was  in  1761,  and  they 
could  not  agree  where  to  set  them.  In  1764  the  precinct  voted 
to  build  four  school-houses,  named  north,  south,  west-middle, 
and  east-middle.     One  was  built  near  the  Hartling  Stake.* 

*  Mr.  Judd,  on  page  413,  makes  thi  s  note:  "  The  Hartling  Stake  was  noted  in 
East  Hadley,  and  is  several  times  mentioned.  The  records  state  in  1795  that  it 
stood  one  rod  east  of  the  northeast  corner  of  Lieut.  Gideon  Parson's  house.  That 
house  was  where  Howe's  public-house  now  staud.s,*  near  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  common.  There  wjis  formerly  a  schotiMioase  not  far  from  the  Haitling 
Stake,  aud  a  pound."    The  public-house  mentioned  is  now  the  '*  Amherst  House." 


*  Written  about  1860. 


In  1780  there  were  to  he  six  schools,  and  each  was  to  be  kept 
three  months.     There  were  six  districts  in  1809." 

In  regard  to  school-dames,  he  adds,  "Females  taught  pri- 
vate schools,  but  were  not  often  employed  and  paid  by  towns 
previous  to  the  Revolution.  They  were  commonly  married 
women  or  elderly  maids,  aud  rarely  young  women,  and  they 
taught  in  their  own  rooms.  Amherst  hired  school-dames  to 
teach  children  to  read,  and  perhaps  girls  to  sew,  in  1749  and 
1752." 

The  late  John  Dickinson,  born  in  1757,  said  that  "  females 
seldom  taught  a  public  school  in  Amherst  when  he  was  a 
young  man."  And  again,  "  Oct.  27,  1766,  Josiah  Pierce,  the 
Hadley  schoolmaster,  began  to  teach  school  in  Amherst,  and 
he  taught  six  months  or  more  in  a  year  for  three  years,  half 
the  time  in  each  of  the  middle  school-houses,  which  were  then 
new.  His  pay  was  32s.,  or  So. 33,  a  month  and  his  board.  In 
winter  evenings  he  kept  ciphering  schools  a  few  weeks  at  Is. 
an  evening.  In  cold  months  from  30  to  42  scholars  attended 
his  day  school  in  Amherst,  and  in  warm  months  from  15  to 
30.  His  family  resided  in  Hadley.  He  sometimes  preached  in 
vacant  pulpits  gratis,  or  at  18  or  20s.  a  Sabbath.  March  29, 
1769,  he  dismissed  the  school  for  want  of  wood.  Such  things 
happened  in  other  towns.  In  1769  he  lent  three  volumes  of 
Dryden  to  Ebenezcr  Williams,  a  farmer  in  Amherst.  He 
probably  taught  Latin  if  any  desired,  and  in  1772,  Wm.  G. 
Ballantine  taught  Latin  and  English,  and  read  theology  with 
Mr.  Parsons,  "f 

PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

Previous  to  1860  the  schools  of  Amherst  were  not  graded. 
Three,  called  North,  South,  and  Centre  High-Schools,  per- 
formed each  in  part  the  functions  of  the  more  modern  schools 
of  that  name.  In  the  year  named,  the  town,  after  some  years 
of  op[)Osition  and  delay,  voted  to  "grade  the  schools,  with  one 
high  school  at  the  centre,"  and  the  subordinate  schools  in 
various  localities  substantially  as  now,  1879. 

The  high-school  building,  now  standing  on  School  Street, 
was  erected  and  made  ready  for  occupancy  in  September,  1861, 
when  26  scholars  were  admitted. J  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Storrs  was 
the  first  principal,  and  remained  until  the  fall  of  1862.  He 
was  succeeded  by  C.  D.  Adams,  one  term  ;  J.  G.  Merrill,  until 
the  fall  of  1863 ;  E.  S.  Frisbie,  until  January,  1807 ;  C.  H. 
Parkhurst,  from  spring  term,  1867,  until  the  end  of  the  scho(d 
year,  in  1869  ;  W.  J.  Holland  and  A.  H.  Buck,  each  one 
term  ;  Harvey  Porter,  until  the  fall  of  1870 ;  E.  C.  Winslow, 
until  the  close  of  winter  term,  1871 ;  J.  K.  Richardson,  until 
spring,  1872  ;  Vincent  Moses,  three  weeks  ;  H.  B.  Richardson, 
one  year  ;  Arnold  N.  Heap,  spring,  1873,  one  year  ;  C.  H.  K. 
Sanderson,  two  years;  George  L.  Smith,  two  years.  Edward 
B.  Marsh  succeeded,  and  is  now  principal. 

Biiihlbigs  and  Departments. — The  public  schools  consist  of 
eighteen  departments,  embraced  within  eleven  structures, 
some  of  which  are  large  and  substantial.  The  buildings  and 
departments  are  distributed  in  the  town  as  follows :  High 
School,  School  Street,  a  large  and  elegant  brick  building, 
contains  the  high  and  first  and  second  grammar  grades  ; 
Amity  Street  School,  of  brick,  contains  first  and  second 
primary,  and  first  and  second  intermediate  grades ;  East  Am- 
herst School,  on  East  Street,  is  of  wood,  and  has  one  primary 
and  (uie  intermediate  grade;  North  Grammar  School,  Lever- 
ett Street,  North  Amherst,  of  wood,  has  a  grammar  and  an 
intermediate  grade;  North  Primarj',  West  Pleasant  Street, 
North  Amherst,  of  brick,  has  one  primary  grade,  and  accom- 
modations for  one  other ;  City  Primary,  Northeast  Street, 
North  Amherst,  of  brick,  has  one  department ;  Mill  Valley 
School,  South  Pleasant  Street,  of  brick,  has  one  primary  and 
one  intermediate  grade ;  South  Green  School,  on  South  Green 

■    f  See  Judd's  Hist,  pp.  421  and  426. 

X  An  interesting  historical  sketch  of  the  Amheret  high  school  was  read  before 
its  alumni  association  in  June,  1878,  by  Miss  M.  E.  Harris.  Vide  Amherst  lYatts- 
cripl  of  July  2, 1878. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


24U 


Street,  of  brick,  has  same  as  the  preceding  ;  South  Grammar 
Sfhdol,  Green  Street,  South  Amherst,  of  wood,  has  one 
grununar  department;  Southeast  Scliool,  on  East  Street, 
South  Amherst,  of  wood,  has  one  primary  and  one  intermedi- 
ate department;  Southwest  School,  on  West  Street,  South 
Amherst,  of  wood,  has  grades  like  the  preceding.  Whole 
number  of  pupils,  6.54.  Expenditures  for  school  purposes  for 
the  years  1877-78,  §9381.37,  of  which  the  sum  of  $3588.34 
was  for  teachers'  Avagcs.  School  committee,  Rev.  Warren  H. 
Beaman  (Superintendent),  Henry  C.  Nash,  William  15. 
Graves. 

PRIVATE    .SCHOOLS. 

Professor  H.  C.  Nash  has  a  select  private  school  for  young 
men  at  his  residence  on  Mount  Pleasant,  north  of  Amherst 
"  centre."  This  residence  is  the  "central  edifice"  of  the  once- 
renowned  "  Mount  Pleasant  Classical  Institute,"  so  famous  in 
the  school-days  of  Henry  Ward  Bcecher,  who,  with  hundreds 
of  others,  was  there  prepared  for  college.  The  long,  low 
wings,  formerly  attached  to  the  sides  of  the  central  building, 
have  disappeared. 

The  Misses  Howland  have  a  select  school  of  about  thirty 
scholars ;  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Stearns,  widow  of  William  F. 
Stearns,  whose  splendid  gift  of  $30,000  secured  to  Amherst 
College  her  finest  edifice, — the  College  Church, — c<mducts  a 
small  select  boarding-school  for  young  ladies,  at  her  residence, 
the  "President's  House." 

LIBRARIE.S. 

The  North  Amlirrst  L'lhrnry  AfHiriciniion  was  formed  by  citi- 
zens of  North  Amherst,  March  17,  1869,  at  a  meeting  pre- 
sided over  by  George  Eastman.  The  following  persons  were 
then  chosen  an  executive  committee :  George  E.  Atkins, 
George  Eastman,  James  B.  Roberts.  Subscriptions  were  at 
once  solicited,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  the  pi-esent  library 
of  041  volumes.  For  the  first  two  or  three  j-ears  the  number 
of  books  did  not  exceed  200. 

Though  not  at  first  a  free  librarj',  it  was  made  such  in  1876, 
when  it  was  reorganized  in  conformity  with  the  statute  which 
requires  that  all  libraries  receiving  aid  from  the  tomi  shall  be 
free  to  "all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  The  following  officers 
were  chosen  by  the  new  organization,  and  still  continue  to 
serve  in  their  several  capacities,  having  been  each  year  re- 
elected: President,  Harrison  Ingram;  Vice-President,  Almon 
E.  Cowles  ;  Directors,  Harrison  Ingram,  George  E.  Atkins, 
Henry  W.  Haskins ;  Treasurer,  Clerk,  and  Librarian,  Forrester 
p.  Ainsworth.  The  library  receives  annually  §100  from  the 
town. 

The  Amherst  Free  Library  originated  in  a  book  club,  formed 
in  1872,  whose  members  contributed  their  individual  private 
collections,  or  parts  thereof,  as  a  nucleus  for  a  librarj'.  In  the 
spring  of  1873,  at  a  meeting  convened  at  the  house  of  Dr.  H. 
J.  Gate,  one  of  the  originators  of  the  club,  a  three  days'  fair 
was  determined  upon,  whose  proceeds  .should,  with  whatever 
subscriptions  could  be  obtained,  form  a  book  fund.  The  fair, 
which  was  held  in  the  following  October,  netted  §640.  A 
meeting  was  then  called  and  the  present  association  formed,  in 
which  the  annual  membership  fee  was  fixed  at  §-5,  and  life- 
memberships  at  §25.  A  small  association  at  East  Amherst,  pos- 
sessing about  200  volunteers,  was  absorbed  by  the  new  organ- 
ization, and  its  members  admitted  without  payment  of  the 
regular  fee.  The  library  then  contained,  including  recent 
purchases,  about  750  books.  The  association  was  further 
strengthened  by  a  stipulation  on  the  part  of  twenty  individ- 
uals to  give  yearly  §5  each  for  five  years.  In  addition,  the 
town  has  appropriated  annually  §200  for  this  library.  The 
number  of  books  has  now  reached  nearly  1800.  The  annual 
expenses  are  about  §425. 

The  officers  are  E.  A.  Thomas,  President ;  Levi  Stockbridge, 
Vice-President ;  H.  J.  Gate,  D.  B.  N.  Fish,  P.  E.  Irish,  L.  H. 
Allen,  J.  A.  Rawson,  E.  P.  Crowell,  0.  G.  Couch,  H.  H. 
32 


Goodell,  O.  F.  Bigelow,  Managers  ;  S.  C.  Carter,  J.  L.  Lovell, 
Auditors;  O.  G.  Couch,  Secretary;  J.  A.  Rawson,  Treasurer. 
The  college  library'  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  college. 

AMHERST    COLLEGE. 

This  celebrated  educational  institution  is  an  outgrowth  from 
Amherst  Academy,  whose  origin  and  opening  were  synchro- 
nous with  the  events  of  the  last  war  with  England  ;  but  it 
was  indirectly  the  result  of  the  high  moral  and  intellectual 
aspirations  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  this  portion  of  the 
colony. 

Fourteen  years  prior  to  the  Revolution — Jan.  20,  1762 — a 
portion  of  the  people  of  Hanip.shire  County  memorialized  the 
General  Court,  saying  "that  there  are  a  great  number  of 
people  of  this  county  of  Hampshire,  and  places  adjacent,  dis- 
posed to  promote  learning,  and  by  reason  of  their  great  dis- 
tance from  the  colleges  and  the  great  expense  of  their  education 
there,  many  of  good  natural  genius  are  prevented  a  liberal 
education,  and  a  large  country  filling  up  at  the  northwest  of 
them,  which  will  send  a  great  number  of  men  of  letters." 
"  They  therefore  pray  for  an  act  of  the  government  constitu- 
ting a  corporation  with  power  to  receive  monies  and  improve 
them  for  setting  up  a  seminary  for  learning,  and  that  a  charter 
may  be  granted  to  the  corporation  for  the  said  seminar}',  en- 
dowing it  with  power  to  manage  all  the  atlairs  relative  to  the 
same,  and  confer  the  honors  of  learning  upon  the  students  of 
the  same  qualified  therefor." 

This  effort,  though  meeting  with  some  encouragement  and 
the  favor  of  Gov.  Bernard, %  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  au- 
thorities of  Harvard  College,  who  took  immediate,  earnest  steps 
to  prevent  the  founding  of  "a  college  or  collegiate  school  in 
Hampshire  County,  by  charter  from  home  (England)  or  else- 
where.'' This  and  kindred  opposition,  together  with  the  pre- 
Revolutionary  agitations  which  soon  followed,  defeated  the 
movement. 

AVhile  the  people  of  Western  Massachusetts  deemed  the 
founding  of  a  collegiate  institution  somewhere  within  their 
borders  a  necessity,  they  were  not  agreed  upon  the  question 
of  location.  Among  the  competitors  of  Amherst  in  this  mat- 
ter, Northampton  seems  to  have  been  the  most  formidable. 
The  claim  of  the  former  was  subsequently  strengthened  by 
the  action  of  the  Franklin  County  Association  of  ministers, 
who,  having  convened  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Theophilus  Pack- 
ard, at  Shelburne,  May  10,  1815,  resolved  that  "knowledge 
and  virtue  might  be  greatly  subserved  by  a  literary  institu- 
tion situated  in  that  important  section  of  the  commonwealth," 
—Hampshire  County;  and  further,  that  Amherst  was  the 
"  most  eligible  place  for  locating  !t."f  Such  influential  en- 
dorsement, from  a  foreign  source,  did  much  to  disarm  the 
opposition  to  a  location  at  Amherst ;  but  the  projectors  of  the 
college  were  destined  to  see  another  and  less  ambitious  insti- 
tution in  some  measure  anticipate  their  action,  and  eventually 
prove  the  stepping-stone  to  full  success.  This  was  the  Am- 
herst Academy.  It  was  opened  in  1814  and  dedicated  in  1815. 
Because  of  "opposition  in  Amherst  and  in  the  neighboring 
towns,"  arising  in  part  from  local  differences  and  religious 
prejudice,  the  charter  was  delayed  until  1816.  Samuel  Fowler 
Dickinson  and  Hezekiah  Wright  Strong  were  active  agents  in 
establishing  the  academy,  as  afterward  the  college.      Other 


«  At  the  instance  of  Gov.  Bernard  a  charter  was  prepared,  Feb.  27, 1762,  in- 
corporating Israel  Williams  and  eleven  others  "  a  body  politic  by  the  name  of 
the  President  and  Fellows  of  Queen's  College."  This  college  was  to  be  in 
Northampton,  Hadley,  or  Hatfield,  and  ill  the  latter  place  a  building  was  in  tact 
erected,  which  was  called  "  Queen's  College,"  and  was  described  by  those  who 
remembered  it  as  an  "  old  gambrel-roofed  school-house." 

t  Besides  Mr.  Packard,  the  following  ministers  were  present:  Samuel  Tag- 
gait,  Josiah  Spaulding,  Jonathan  Cii-out,  Joseph  Field,  Thomas  A.  Wood,  Moses 
Miller,  Alvan  Sanderson,  and  Josiah  W.  Cannon.  Among  other  early  efficient 
friends  of  Amherst  who  resided  In  Franklin  County  were  Kev.  James  Taylor,  of 
Sunderland  ;  Col.  Rufus  Graves,  Nathaniel  Smith,  and  Dot.  Elish  Billings,  of 
Conway. 


-'50 


IIISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


citizens  of  Amherst  appear  upon  the  honor-roll  of  helpers  in 
the  times  of  adversity  and  of  prosperity  through  which  the 
academy  and  the  college  passed.  Dr.  David  Parsons — the 
second  pastor  of  the  original  church,  formed  in  1739 — gave 
the  land  for  the  academy  building,  and  became  the  first  presi- 
ident  of  its  board  of  trustees.  The  following  were  the  original 
trustees  :  David  Parsons,  Nathan  Perkins,  Samuel  F.  Dick- 
inson, Hczekiah  W.  Strong,  Noah  Webster,  John  Wood- 
bridge,  James  Taylor,  Nathaniel  W.  Smith,  Josiah  Dwight, 
Rufus  Graves,  Winthrop  Bailey,  Experience  Porter,  and 
Elijah  Gridley. 

A  grant  was  made  by  the  State  to  the  academy  of  half  a 
township  of  land  in  tlie  district  of  Maine,  upon  condition  that 
the  town  of  Amherst  should  raise  §3000. 

Female  students  were  admitted  to  this  institution  for  the 
first  ten  or  twelve  years.  The  instructors  were,  in  the  main, 
able,  and  placed  the  academy  on  a  par  with,  if  not  in  advance 
of,  the  other  academies  of  New  England. 

Dr.  Parsons,  Noah  Webster,  and  Dr.  Packard,  with  other 
prominent  citizens,  were  often  present  at  the  regular  public 
exercises.  It  is  written  that  "  once  a  year,  at  the  close  of  the 
fall  term  in  October,  the  old  meeting-house  was  fitted  up  with 
a  stage,  and,  strange  to  tell,  in  the  staid  town  of  Amherst, 
where  dancing  was  tabooed  and  cards  never  dare  show  them- 
selves, reverend  divines  went  with  lawyers  and  doctors  and 
all  cla.sses  of  their  people  to  the  house  of  God  to  witness  a 
theatrical  exhibition." 

Other  influences  combined  to  place  this  institution  in  the 
front  rank  of  academies, — chief  ^mong  which  were  the  com- 
parative cheapness  of  living,  and  the  intimate,  kindly  rela- 
tions existing  between  citizens  and  students.  The  same  pleas- 
ant relations  continued  after  the  founding  of  the  college,  and 
in  considerable  measure  still  exist. 

The  number  of  studenis  at  its  most  flourishing  period  was 
about  180,  of  whom  nearly  one-half  were  females.  Here,  in 
1821,  Mary  Lyon,  who  became  the  founder  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  pursued  her  studies.  After  the  abolition  of  the 
female  department,  at  or  about  the  year  1825,  when  the  char- 
ter was  granted  to  Amherst  College  and  the  trustees  of  the 
academy  ceased  to  be  trustees  of  that  institution,  the  academy 
entered  on  what  is  termed  a  "second  period,"  and  became 
chiefly  a  preparatory  school. 

The  establishment  of  new  schools  in  other  places  and  the 
((uickening  of  many  already  founded  subsequently  caused  the 
decline  of  Amherst,  in  common  with  other  unendowed  acad- 
emies, by  robbing  it  of  non-resident  patronage,  and  it  was 
finally  superseded  by  the  present  high  school. 

The  able  historian  of  Amherst  College,  after  indulging  in 
a  pleasant  retrospect  concerning  the  old  academy  building, 
says:  "  This  venerable  and  sacred  edifice  was  taken  down  in 
the  summer  of  1808  to  make  way  for  the  grammar-school, 
west  of  the  hotel*  which  now  occupies  the  site.  Amherst 
Academy  did  a  great  and  good  work  in  and  of  itself,  for  which 
many  who  were  educated  there,  and  not  a  few  who  were  spirit- 
ually '  born  there,'  will  bless  God  forever.  But  the  best  work 
which  it  did,  and  which  it  is  believed  will  perpetuate  its  mem- 
ory and  its  influence,  was  the  founding  of  Amherst  College."f 

The  principal  male  teachers  during  the  first  period,  in  their 
order,  were:  Francis  Bascom,  Joseph  Estabrook,  John  L. 
Parkhurst,  (ierard  Hallock,  Zenas  Clapp,  David  Green,  and 
Ebenezer  S.  Snell.  Lady  teachers  :  Lucy  Douglas,  afterward 
Mrs.  James  Fowler,  of  Westfield  ;  Orra  AVhite,  afterward  Mrs. 
Dr.  Hitchcock  ;  Mary  Ann  Field,  afterward  Mrs.  Henry  Mer- 
rill ;  Sarah  S.  Strong,  daughter  of  H.  W.  Strong,  who  became 
Mrs.  McConihe,  of  Troy  ;  and  Hannah  Shepard,  sister  of  Prof. 
Shepard,  afterward  Mrs.  Judge  Terry,  of  Hartford.     During 


*  The  Amherst  House. 

t  Prof.  W.  S.  Tyler's  "  History  of  Amherst  College,"  which  has  been  freely 
consulted  for  the  present  sketch.  Those  wishing  a  more  minute  history  of  the 
academy  and  college  are  referred  to  its  genial,  ample  pages. 


the  second  period,  Elijah  Paine,  Solomon  Maxwell,  Story 
Hehard,  Kobert  E.  Pattison,  William  P.  Paine,  William 
Thompson,  Simeon  Colton,  William  S.  Tyler,  Evangelinus 
Sophocles,  Ebenezer  Burgess,  George  C.  Partridge,  Nathan 
Gale,  and  Lj'man  Coleman  were  among  the  principal  or  assist- 
ant teachers. 

CHARITY    FUND   AND   COLLKGE. 

The  Franklin  County  Association,  previously  mentioned, 
having  directed  the  public  attention  toward  the  founding  of 
a  college  at  Amherst,  did  not  appear  again  as  such  in  the 
steps  subsequently  taken.  The  "  Charity  Fund,"  which  ulti- 
mately proved  the  immediate  basis  of  the  college,  and  was 
aptly  termed  its  "sheet-anchor,"  originated  in  a  movement  by 
the  trustees  of  the  academy  to  add  to  the  usefulness  of  that 
institution  by  securing  a  fund  for  the  gratuitous  instruction 
of  "indigent  J'oung  men  of  promising  talents  and  ho]icful 
piety,  who  shall  manifest  a  desire  to  obtain  a  liberal  educa- 
tion with  a  sole  view  to  the  Christian  ministrj'." 

Notwithstanding  the  ability  and  zeal  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  raise  the  fund,  thej'  reported  that  "  the  establishment 
of  a  single  professorship,"  as  contemplated,  "is  too  limited 
an  object  to  induce  men  to  subscribe."  They  recommended 
the  founding  of  a  separcde  inKiHution,  of  ii  /iii//icr  qrailr,  but 
with  the  same  object, — the  education  of  young  men  for  the 
ministry, — and  framed  a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  the 
raising  and  management  of  a  charity  fund.  This  was  ap- 
proved by  the  trustees,  but  more  than  this  was  needed,  and 
that  nothing  less  than  the  favor  and  .support  of  Christian 
brethren  generally.  To  secure  these,  the  scheme  was  sub- 
mitted to  a  convocation,  duly  appointed,  embracing  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  clergy  and  lay  delegates  from 
the  nearer  counties,  held  in  the  church  of  the  west  parish  of 
Amherst,  Sept.  29,  1818.  While  for  a  time  the  location  of  the 
proposed  institution  at  Amherst  was  warm]}'  opposed,  the 
delegates  seem  to  have  been  finally  convinced  of  the  superior 
advantages  of  that  place  by  the  eloquent  appeals  of  Samuel  F. 
Dickinson  and  George  Grinnell,  Jr.,  the  secretary  of  the  con- 
vention. This  body  thereupon  not  only  approved  of  the 
"Charitable  Institution,"  but  recommended  the  establishment 
also  of  a  college,  to  be  connected  therewith,  "possessing  all 
the  advantages  of  other  colleges  in  the  commonwealth,  and 
that  such  preparations  and  arrangements  be  made  as  will  ac- 
commodate students  at  the  institution  as  soon  ns  possible." 

Thus  supported,  the  trustees  made  quick  work  in  raising  the 
fund,  and  by  the  following  July  had  secured  subscriptions 
amounting  in  money  and  other  property  to  $51,404. 

At  this  period,  the  question  concerning  the  removal  of  Wil- 
liams College  to  some  more  favorable  situation — a  subject 
seriously  debated  at  intervals  since  1815 — ^was  again  actively 
pressed  by  the  friends  of  that  institution.  This  fact  caused  the 
trustees  of  the  Amherst  Institution  to  delay  further  action  until 
the  question  of  removal  should  be  settled.  They  appointed 
a  committee,  Oct.  20, 1818,  consisting  of  Rev.  JohnFiske,  Noah 
Webster,  and  Nathaniel  Smith,  to  confer  with  the  authorities 
of  Williams  College.  This  resulted  in  the  appointment  by 
Williams  College  of  a  committee,  who  were  instructed  "to 
visit  the  towns  of  Hampshire  County,  and  determine  the  place 
to  which  the  college  shall  be  removed,  the  trustees  pledging 
themselves  to  abide  by  their  decision,  provided  the  requisite 
sum  be  raised."  The  claims  of  Amherst  were  presented  be- 
fore this  committee  by  Noah  Webster,  John  Fiske,  Rev.  Ed- 
wards Whipple,  Rev.  Joshua  Crosby,  and  Nathaniel  Smith, 
a  bodj-  duly  constituted  for  the  purpose.  Their  efforts  did  not 
avail.  The  committee  were  "  unanimous  in  naming  North- 
ampton as  the  most  suitable  place  for  the  institution;"  but 
upon  an  appeal  being  made  to  the  Legislature  for  permission 
to  remove  the  college  to  that  place,  it  was  determined  that  the 
step  was  "neither  lawful  nor  expedient,"  and  so  the  project 
failed. 

Thus  much  of  this  episode  in  the  history  of  Amherst  College 


Photo,  by  T.ovell,  Amherst, 


Samuel  Cutts  Carter,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  born  in  New- 
buryport,  Mass.,  March  9,  1803,  and  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Elizabeth  Cutts  Carter.  His  mother  was  a  granddaughter  of  Edward 
Holyoke,  D.D.,  a  former  president  of  Harvard  College.  His  father 
was  a  prominent  merchant  and  importer  of  Newburyport  previous 
to  the  great  fire  of  ISll,  by  which,  and  by  losses  at  sea,  and  by  the 
French  spoliations  about  the  same  time,  he  was  reduced  from  wealth 
to  a  small  competence.  This  was  an  important  crisis  to  young  Car- 
ter, and  foreed  him  to  forego  his  hopes  of  a  higher  and  easier  walk 
in  life  and  adopt  one  of  toil.  To  the  end  that  he  might  do  so  profit- 
ably as  well  as  honorably  he  chose  to  learn  a  trade,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose entered  the  establishment  of  Jonathan  Leavitt.  of  Andover, 
Mass.,  where  he  undertook  a  regular  course  of  instruction  in  book- 
binding. Serving  five  years  as  an  apprentice,  he  arrived  at  man- 
hood independent  of  the  chances  of  trade  or  fortune  so  far  as  the 
means  to  secure  an  honest  livelihood  were  concerned.  Before  going 
to  Andover  he  was  engaged  in  the  book-store  of  Charles  Whipple,  in 
his  native  town,  and  in  the  extensive  publishing  house  of  Wells  & 
LiUey,  Boston.  Book-making  seems  to  have  been  his  natural  calling, 
for  he  was  engaged  in  some  department  of  that  pursuit  from  the 
time  he  commenced  until  his  retirement  from  active  business.  In 
September,  1825,  Mr.  Carter  settled  in  Amherst,  and  at  once  entered 
into  partnership  with  Mr.  John  S.  Adams,  under  the  firm-name  of 
Carter  A  Adams,  and  established  a  book-store,  printing-office,  and 
bindery.  The  first  volume  published  was  an  octavo  of  somu  three 
hundred  and  fifty  pages  of  sermons,  by  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Clark,  a  former 
pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church.  This  work  was  followed 
by  several  volumes  of  Scott's  novels  (Waverley)  for  a  Boston  firm.  In 
June,  1826.  they  commenced  the  publication  of  an  octavo  serial 
called  The  Chemht,  with  Prof.  John  R.  Getting  as  editor.  In 
December,  1826,  they  started  the  first  newspaper  in  Amherst,  the 
New  England  Inquirer,  with  Hon.  Osmyn  Baker  as  editor.  In  1827, 
Mr.  Carter  dissolved  his  partnership  with  Mr.  Adams.  During  this 
year  he  organized  an  engine  company  in  Amherst,  being  mainly 
instrumental  in  raising  the  money  for  the  purchase  of  the  engine. 
He  was  connected  with  the  company  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and 
was  foreman  for  a  long  time.  In  1828  he  was  chosen  librarian  and 
treasurer  of  the  Amherst  Lyceum,  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  West  Amherst  Temperance  Union,  which  oflficcs  he  held  twelve 
years.  It  was  while  in  his  position  in  the  temperance  society  that 
he  was  instructed  to  collect  statistics  touching  upon  intemperance 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  society.  The  care  bestowed  u])on  the  work, 
as  exhibited  in  the  extract  we  give  from  the  records,  is  but  a  sample 
of  the  thoroughness  with  which  he  did  everything  intrusted  to  him. 
The  record  says  that  during  the  year  1827  eighty  hogsheads  of  ardent 
spirits  were  sold,  besides  what  was  retailed  in  six  taverns,  making  a 
fair  estimate  of  one  hundred  hogsheads  sold  during  the  year,  besides 
about  two  hundred  barrels  of  cider.  It  was  reported  that  there  were 
forty-eight  drunkards  in  town,  and  twenty-three  widows  who  were 
made  so  by  rum.  Deaths  forty-five,  one-ninth  of  which  were  directly 
traceable  to  intemperance.  Three-fourths  of  the  pauperism  were  also 
traced  to  the  same  cause.  Five  crimes  were  committed,  and  five 
licenses  to  sell  liquors  were  issued.  On  the  first  night  of  meeting 
only  ten  names  were  obtained,  but  in  eight  years  no  less  than  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-three  names  were  added,  a  large  majority  of 
whom  remained  faithful. 

In  1829  he  was  appointed  librarian  of  the  We?t  Parish  Sunday- 


school,  and  for  nearly  fifty  years  has  been  directly  connected  with  that 
school,  either  as  scholar,  librarian,  teacher,  or  superintendent,  a  fact 
which  speaks  more  for  him  than  could  columns  from  our  pen.  His 
connection  with  the  church  and  the  parish  is  quite  as  remarkable,  he 
having  held  the  positions  of  clerk  and  treasurer,  and  served  as  one  of 
the  parish  committee.  He  is  now  one  of  the  trustees  and  also  treas- 
urer of  the  parish  sinking  fund.  By  referring  to  the  town  records  we 
find  how  honorable  has  been  his  c<mncction  with  the  affairs  of  the 
village.  In  1837-39  he  was  one  of  (he  prudential  school  committee. 
In  1837  he  was  appointed  town  agent  to  receive  and  loan  all  the 
money  received  from  surplus  revenue  of  the  United  States.  In  1841 
and  1842  he  was  representative  to  the  General  Court,  and  herj  again 
he  made  his  mark,  being  one  of  the  committee  to  draft  whaf  is  now 
known  as  the  registration  law.  This  sele(.;tion  was  a  fitting  recogni- 
tion of  his  ability,  and  made  in  consideration  of  the  fact  that  for  three 
years  before  he  had  made  the  registration  of  births,  marriages,  and 
deaths  a  matter  of  investigation.  Finally,  in  connection  with  Judge 
G.  F.  Bigelow,  he  secured  the  passage  of  the  law  above  referred  to. 
Of  its  inestimable  value  to  our  town  and  city  records  there  can  be  no 
possible  doubt,  and  its  authorship  is  an  honor  he  may  proudly  wear. 
In  1841  he  was  appointed  postmaster,  and  held  the  office  nine  years. 
There  are  many  who  remember  distinctly  the  outburst  of  feeling 
caused  by  his  removal,  coming  as  it  did  from  men  of  all  parties,  his 
gentlemanly  bearing  and  courteous  manner  having  won  to  his  defense 
many  who  difi'ered  from  him  in  politics.  Mr.  Carter's  contributions 
to  the  press  have  been  frequent  and  valuable,  his  statistics  on  educa- 
tional and  farm  matters  being  standard  authority.  But  his  greatest 
work  has  been  in  the  position  of  town  clerk  and  treasurer,  which 
office  he  has  filled  for  thirty-two  years,  during  which  time  he  has  re- 
ceived and  disbursed  $1,300,000.  He  has  kept  statistics  of  the  schools 
that  are  interesting,  and  as  zealously  guarded  their  welfare  and  success 
as  it  was  possible  for  man  to  do.  Another  work  to  which  he  has  de- 
vo'ted  over  a  year's  time  was  the  preparation  of  the  descriptive  li-^t  of 
the  soldiers  of  Amherst  in  the  late  war.  It  is  suflicient  to  say  that 
it  is  perfect,  every  man's  name,  age,  occupation,  date  of  enlistment, 
battles  in  which  he  or  his  regiment  or  company  was  engaged,  pro- 
motion, and  final  '*  muster  out"  or  other  discharge,  being  accurately 
arranged,  the  whole  in  alphabetical  order.  It  is  a  work  for  easy 
reference  in  all  time  to  come,  and  he  deserves  the  highest  praise 
for  his  labors  and  untiring  research.  Nor  did  his  work  for  the 
soldiers  end  there.  His  pleasant  face  and  kindly  word,  as  be  min- 
istered to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  "sleep  the  sleep  of 
the  brave,"  made  the  small  amount  he  was  commissioned  to  deal  out 
to  each  seem  the  more  that  it  was  delivered  by  a  cheerful  giver.  In 
1865  the  Amherst  Savings-Bank  was  organized,  and  Mr.  Carter  be- 
came its  treasurer,  which  office  he  still  holds,  discharging  this  as  well 
as  all  other  trusts  with  the  same  unvarying  fidelity.  Mr.  Carter  was 
married  in  1826  to  Miss  Matilda  Ayers,  of  Haverhill,  and  after  her 
decease  to  Miss  Elizabeth  D.  Jackson,  of  Boston,  in  183o.  Mr.  Carter's 
five  children  all  died  in  their  infancy  or  early  youth.  Although  in 
the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age,  his  step  is  as  firm  and  quick  as 
most  men  at  fifty,  and  his  appearance  indicates  that  he  may  be  spared 
many  years.  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  say  that  he  owes  his  long  life 
and 'perfect  health  to  his  strictly  temperate  habits.  He  never  used 
tobacco  or  spirits  in  any  form.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  man  in  Am- 
herst is  more  honored *or  respected,  or  would  be  missed  more,  than 
Samuel  C.  Carter.     He  has  built  his  own  monument,  and  built  it  well. 


p.  F.  Uoiet.  D^l 


Amw 


.MST  e@^^^' 


"^^mmr,  MAii. 


L.  H.  Everte,  Pulj'r.  Philn. 


OREN   WILLIAMS. 


Oren  Williams  was  born 
in  Aiuherst,  Hampshire^,  Co., 
Sept.  16,  1812,  son  of  Justus 
and  Sarah  (Warner)  Williams. 
His  grandfather,  Justus  Wil- 
liams, was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Amherst.  He  had  six 
sons  and  two  daughters.  Three 
of  the  sons  and  the  two  daughters, 
the  latter  wives  of  Dr.  William 
Sellen  and  Isaac  Robbins,  settled 
in  Amherst.  Justus  Williams, 
his  father,  was  born  in  Amherst, 
April  7,  17GG;  married,  Jan.  1, 
1800,  Sarah  Warner,  daughter 
of  Jonathan  and  Mary  (Cole- 
man) Warner,  by  whom  he  had 
children  as  follows :  Zebadiah, 
born  Dec.  27,  1800,  who  died 
in  the  State  of  Maine,  date  not 
known.  Jonathan,  born  Sept. 
3,  1802  ;  married,  removed  to 
California,  and  died  there.  Mary 
Ann,  born  July  5,  1805;  died 
in  Amherst,  of  consumption. 
Oren  and  Onam,  twins,  born 
Sept.  IG,  1812.  Onam  died  in 
infancy.  Onam  (second),  born 
Aus'.  3,  1824;  died  in  Lamoille, 
111.," June  1,  1878.  The  father 
died  in  1824  ;  the  mother,  Dec. 
29,  1838.  Both  are  buried 
in  the  cemetery  at  South  Am- 
herst. 


^^  ^M. 


"-^..^^^-^ 


Mr.  Williams  from  an  early 
age  was  thrown  upon  iiis  own 
resources.  His  opportui.ities  for 
education  were  quite  limited, 
being  confined  to  the  district 
school,  and  one  term  at  Amherst 
Academy.  He  was  married, 
May  29, 1836,  to  Eliza  J.  Howe, 
daughter  of  Sylvanus  and  Sukey 
Howe.  Mrs.  Williams  was  born 
in  Enfield,  5Ias.s.,  Nov.  17, 1812. 
They  have  no  children.  Upon 
the  death  of  his  mother  he  came 
into  possession  of  the  home- 
stead and  three  acres  of  land, 
which  constituted  his  start  in 
life.  By  indefatigable  industry 
and  strict  economy  he  was  en- 
abled to  add  to  the  original  three 
acres  nearly  fifty  more.  In  1841 
he  exchanged  the  place  now 
known  as  the  Wellington  farm 
for  the  home  and  farm  of  Deacon 
Nathaniel  C.  Dickinson,  border- 
ing "  Fiddler's  Green,"  South 
Amherst.  To  the  original  one 
hundred  acres  constituting  the 
farm  he  has  added  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres. 

In  politics  he  is  a  llepublioan. 
Both  himself  and  Mrs.  Williams 
have  for  many  years  been  mem- 
bers of  the  South  Amherst  Con- 
gregational Church. 


KlSSaiBllliVKSIl  ©F  ©IFlEir!)   SSOLyaBSli 

SOUTH     AMHERST,   MASS. 


HISTORY  OF  lIAMPSniUK  COUNTY. 


251 


is  iiivon  in  order  the  more  clearly  to  sliow  the  iliiKeiilties  and 
anxieties  attendant  upon  her  days  of  incubation,  and  because 
the  questions  involved  aroused  the  people  of  the  "Connecti- 
cut Valley"  and  of  Western  Massachusetts  in  scarcely  less  de- 
gree than  those  graver  ones  which,  nearly  a  half-century  be- 
fore, had  precipitated  the  Kevolution.  The  later  combat,  how- 
ever, was  one  of  words,  not  swords. 

At  the  time  of  this  agitation  Dr.  Zephaniah  Swift  Moore  was 
president  of  Williams  College,  and  in  all  honorable  wa^-s 
favored  its  removal  to  some  more  promising  situation.  The 
same  is  true  of  Rev.  Theophilus  Packard,  then  one  of  the 
trustees  of  that  college. 

First  College  Building. — The  Held  was  thus  made  clear  for 
action,  and  on  the  15th  of  March,  1820,  the  trustees  of  Am- 
lierst  Academy  took  appropriate  steps  to  secure  and  augment 
the  Charity  Fund,  and  "erect  the  necessary  buildings." 

Although  dependent  almost  entirely  upon  voluntary  contri- 
butions of  material  and  labor,*  the  work  progressed  like  magic, 
and  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  college  edifice  in  Amherst  was 
laid  by  Dr.  David  Parsons,  the  president  of  the  board,  on  Hie 
9th  of  August,  1820.  On  that  occasion  Noah  Webster  de- 
livered an  address,  and  Kev.  Daniel  A.  Clark  a  sermon. 

The  trustees  of  the  academy  and  of  the  fund  at  this  time 
were  Rev.  David  Parsons,  President ;  Noah  W^ebster,  Vice- 
President  ;  Revs.  James  Taylor,  Joshua  Crosb}',  Daniel  Clark, 
Nathaniel  Smith,  Samuel  F.  Dickinson,  and  Rufus  Graves. 
Dr.  Parsons  resigned  at  the  close  of  the  exercises  of  the  day, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Noah  Webster. 

The  act  relating  to  the  Charity  Fund  provided  for  the  elec- 
tion of  a  board  of  "overseers  of  the  fund."  The  first  board 
was  chosen  by  the  subscribers  on  the  day  the  corner-stone  was 
laid,  viz.:  Henry  Gray,  of  Boston;  Gen.  Salem  Towne,  Jr., 
of  Charlton  ;  Rev.  Theophilus  Packard,  of  Shelburne;  Rev. 
Thomas  Snell,  of  North  Brooktield ;  Rev.  Luther  Sheldon,  of 
Easton ;  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  of  Pittsfield ;  and  H.  Wright 
Strong,  of  Amherst. 

Ninety  days  after  these  events  the  roof-timbers  were  put  in 
place,  and  before  the  end  of  September,  1821,  the  building  was 
finished  and  a  large  part  of  the  rooms  liad  received  their  furni- 
ture. This  structure  was  of  brick,  was  four  stories  high,  and 
in  size  30  by  100  feet.  It  was  erected  on  land  set  apart  for  the 
purpose  by  Col.  Elijah  Dickinson,  and  which  contained  "nine 
acres,  more  or  less,"  as  conveyed,  Nov.  22,  1820,  by  his 
widow,  Jerusha,  and  his  son,  Mcses,  to  the  trustees  of  the 
college.  This  land  contains  all  the  earliest  buildings,  and  is 
the  centre  of  the  college  grounds.  The  college  well  was  dug 
during  the  progress  of  the  building. 

Fimt  Prcsidetit. — By  unanimous  vote  of  the  trustees.  May 
8,  1821,  Zephaniah  Swift  3Ioore  was  called  to  the  presidency 
of  the  "Charity  Institution,"  which  office  included  that  of 
professor  of  theology  and  moral  philosophy.  Dr.  Moore,  at 
the  time  president  of  Williams  College,  in  his  letter  of  accept- 
ance, June  12,  1821,  signified  his  previous  intention  to  resign 
that  oiBce,  and  says, — 

"  In  my  opinion  no  subject  has  higher  claims  on  the  charity 
and  benevolent  cflorts  of  the  Christian  community  than  the 
education  of  pious  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry'.  Their 
classical  education  should  be  thorough,  and  I  should  be  wholly 
averse  to  becoming  united  with  any  institution  which  proposes 
to  give  a  classical  education  inferior  to  that  given  in  any  of  the 
colleges  of  New  England.  On  this  subject  I  am  assured  your 
opinion  is  the  same  as  my  own,  and  that  you  are  determined 
that  the  course  of  study  in  the  institution  to  which  you  have 
invited  me  shall  not  be  inferior  to  that  in  the  colleges  of  New 


*  Prof.  Tylor  records  that  one  afternoon  the  lime  gave  out,  and  the  workmen, 
who  were  about  to  pack  their  kits  and  leave,  were  persuaded  to  delay  till  morn- 
ing. That  night  "  a  strange  team  was  seen  coming  through  the  village  from  the 
north.  It  proved  to  he  a  wagon  loaded  with  lime,  sent  some  twenty-five  miles 
hy  a  man  not  a  subscriber,  but  a  friend  of  the  cause,"  and  who  knew  nothing 
cf  the  emergency.     It  was  easy  to  believe  the  aid  providential. 


England.  I  am  also  a.«sured  that  you  will  make  provision  for 
the  admission  of  those  who  are  not  indigent  and  who  wish  to 
obtain  a  classical  education  in  the  institution." 

The  boardf  were  in  accord  with  the  sentiments  of  this  let- 
ter, and  gave  public  notice  that  "  young  men  who  expect 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  education  will  be  admitted  into 
the  collegiate  institution  on  terms  essentially  the  same  as  those 
prescribed  for  admission  into  other  colleges  in  New  England." 

Inauguratioti  and  Dedication. — President  Moore  was  in- 
augurated and  the  college  edifice  dedicated  Sept.  8,  1821,  the 
ceremony  taking  place  in  the  parish  church,  Noah  Webster 
presiding.  On  this  occasion  the  prayer  of  dedication  was 
made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Crosby,  of  Enfield,  a  sermon  preached  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Leland,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  Professors  Olds 
and  Estabrook  formally  inducted  into  their  positions, — the 
former  as  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosoph}-, 
the  latter  as  professor  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages. 
The  concluding  prayer  was  made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Snell,  of  North 
Brookfield.  The  day's  exercises  were  finished  with  the  cere- 
mony of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  president's  house.J 

On  the  day  following,  the  19th,  "  the  college  was  opened 
and  organized  by  the  examination  and  admission  of  forty- 
seven  students,  some  into  each  of  the  four  regular  classes." 

The  senior  class  had  two  members, — Pindar  Field?  and 
Ebenezer  S.  Snell  (subsequently  professor), — who  roomed  to- 
gether "in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  fourth  story"  of  the 
college,  and  there  received  daily  instruction  from  President 
Moore. 

During  Dr.  Moore's  administration  the  president's  house 
was  completed,  the  present  North  College  erected,  the  first 
lectures  in  chemistry  given,  by  Colonel  Rufus  Graves,  and 
others  afterward  in  the  North  College  by  Prof.  Amos  Eaton ; 
the  first  catalogue  published  March,  1822,  the  Alexandrian 
and  Athenian  Literary  Society  formed  and  their  library  es- 
tablished, and  the  first  revival  of  religion  enjoyed.  He  pre- 
sided at  the  first  commencement  exercises,  when  Senior  Snell 
delivered  a  salutatory  in  Latin  and  Senior  Field  an  oration  in 
English. II  The  juniors,  six  in  number,  generally  supplied 
the  remainder  of  the  exercises.  Gerard  Hallock,  then  princi- 
pal of  the  academy,  delivered  a  poem. 

The  following  at  this  period  constituted  the  faculty :  Rev. 
Zephaniah  Swift  Moore,  D.D.,  President  and  Professor  of 
Divinity  ;  Rev.  Gamaliel  S.  Olds,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy;  Joseph  Estabrook,  A.M., 
Professor  of  Languages  and  Librarian ;  Rev.  Jonas  King, 
A.M.,  Professor  of  Oriental  Literature;  and  Lucius  Field, 
A.B.,  Tutor.     Prof.  King  was  never  installed. 

Until  the  college  was  duly  chartered,  graduates  received 
testimonials  in  Latin  that  they  had  completed  the  usual  col- 
lege course.     All  such  afterward  received  the  degree  of  A.B. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Moore,  which  occurred  June  29,  1823, 
after  a  short  illness,  spread  such  a  gloom  over  the  brightening 
prospects  of  the  college  that  the  senior  class,  then  nearing 
graduation,  were  with  difliculty  persuaded  to  remain.  Dr. 
Moore  was  born  Nov.  20,  1770. 

Rev.  Heman  Humphrey  succeeded  to  the  presidency,  and 
was  installed  Oct.  15,  1823.  In  spite  of  much  bitter  opposi- 
tion, similar  to  that  encountered  by  "Queen's  College,"  the 
institution  made  marked  advance  during  his  incumbency. 
Largely  through  his  ettbrts,  after  repeated  applications  to  the 
Legislature,  the  act  incorporating  the  college  was  secured,  and 
became  operative  Feb.  21,  1825. 

During  his  incumbency,  another  dormitory  was  erected, 
1828,  which  was  dubbed  North  College,1[  a  new  house  for  the 

t  The  trustees  of  the  academy  were  also  trustees  of  the  college  until  the  lat- 
ter  was  incorporated,  Feb.  21,  1825. 

{  The  house  now  occupied  (1870)  by  M.  A.  Allen. 

?  Founder  and  firet  superintendent  of  the  first  Sabbath-school  in  Amherst. 

II  The  third  Senior,  Ezra  Fairchild,  who  had  joined  the  class,  left  before  the 
close  of  the  year,— afterward  received  his  Bachelor's  degree,  in  1832. 

>j  liurncd  in  18.57.     The  site  is  now  occupied  by  '■  Williston  Hall." 


lilSTOr.Y   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


president,  in  ISS'l^SS,  a  "  College  Churcli"  organized  1826,  of 
which  he  was  installed  pastor,  Feb.  28, 1827,  and  a  gymnasium 
and  bathing  establishment  provided  by  the  students.  In 
August,  1830,  the  "  Antivenian  Society"  was  formed.* 

This  period  of  prosperity  was  followed  in  18.37,  '38,  by  one 
of  adversity.  "  Zeal  for  orthodoxy  and  evangelical  Jiiety  was 
no  longer  at  a  white  heat.  The  passion  for  missions  and  the 
education  of  ministers  had  somewhat  cooled,"  and,  worse  still 
for  the  college,  the  question  of  slavery  gave  birth  to  opposing 
forces f  within  its  halls,  which  contained  many  students  from 
the  South.  The  "home  influence"  of  these  wrought  injury, 
which  the  embarrassed  financial  condition  of  the  college  made 
still  more  grievous.  To  crown  all,  many  students  became  dis- 
atl'ected  toward  the  president  and  others  of  the  faculty,  and  a 
change  was  somewhat  persistently  sought.  Dr.  Humphrey 
resigned  in  January,  1844,  and  was  succeeded  by  Prof.  Ed- 
ward Hitchcock,  April  14,  184.5.  Between  1825  and  1836,  the 
number  of  students  increased  from  126  to  259.  Dr.  Humphrey 
died  at  Pittsfield,  April  3,  1861,  aged  eighty-two. 

A  new  policyj  was  inaugurated  with  the  incoming  president, 
which  proved  advantageous.  The  self-sacrificing  action  of  the 
professors  met  its  full  fruition  in  the  generous  gifts  that  thence- 
forth blessed  the  institution.  In  1847  the  "Woods  Cabinet 
and  Lawrence  Observatory"  was  erected  on  "  Meeting-House 
Hill,"  on  the  site  of  the  first  meeting-house,  and  a  grant  of 
§25,000  obtained  from  the  Legislature,  after  repeated  failures, 
in  1837-38  and  '39  ;  the  library  building  appeared  in  18.52-53, 
in  which  stone  was  first  used  as  the  chief  material,  brick 
having  hitherto  prevailed.  A  fund  of  §15,000,^  raised  by  Pro- 
fessor Bela  15.  Edwards,  William  S.  Tyler,  and  others,  was  ex- 
pended for  building  and  books, — one-third  for  the  latter. 

In  1853  a  scientific  department  was  opened,  embracing 
studies  somewhat  collateral  to  those  of  the  regular  college 
course;  but  the  "Parallel  Course,"  established  for  a  similar 
purpose  in  1826,  proved  a  failure,  and  after  a  trial  of  about 
four  years  was  dropped. 

SlSiny  and  generous  were'  the  gifts  and  endowments  that 
flowed  in  upon  the  college  during  Dr.  Hitchcock's  presidency, 
a  full  account  of  which,  and  of  the  multitude  of  benefactions 
at  other  periods,  would  consume  too  much  space  in  this  history. 
The  admirable  work  of  Prof.  Tyler  makes  enduring  record  of 
these.  Before  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Hitdu-ock,  four  profes- 
sorships had  been  permanently  endowed,  and  important  sci- 
entific collections  secured.  Not  the  least  of  these  acquisitions 
was  the  doctor's  own  collection  of  "fossil  footmarks,"  which 
he  gave  to  the  college  a  few  months  previous  to  his  resignation. 

Dr.  Hitchcock  resigned  the  presidency,  to  take  eti'eet  when 
his  successor  should  be  appointed,  but  retained  the  professor- 
ship of  natural  theology  and  geology. 

Prof  William  A.  Stearns  was  chosen  president  and  professor 
of  moral  philosophy  and  Christian  theology,  and  inaugurated 
Nov.  22,  1854.  He  was  given  a  brilliant  welcome;  the  col- 
lege buildings  were  illuminated,  and  kind  words  of  greeting 
spoken.  Thus  auspiciously,  with  all  the  affairs  of  the  institu- 
tion in  a  prosperous  condition,  began  the  last  of  the  adminis- 
trations of  Amherst  College  which  have  become  historic. 

Six  new  buildings  were  added  to  the  group  of  college  struc- 
tures during  this  period,  and  the  donations  for  buildings  and 

*  The  members  were  pledged  tu  jib-stain  tutiilly  from  the  use  of  "anient  spiiits, 
wine,  opium,  and  toliaeco,  ns  artieles  uf  lu.vury  or  diet."  A  proposition  made  by 
Juliu  Tappen.uf  Boston,  involving  similar  conditions,  though  not  fully  accepted, 
led  to  the  fornuition  of  this  society. 

+  The  "  C<jloni/,ation  .Society"  ami  the  "  .\uti-Slavery  Society." 

X  I'lior  to  the  api)ointniont  of  the  new  president,  the  professors  bad  united 
upon  a  plan  of  retrenclnncnt  uiriiiue  as  rare.  They  agreed,  if  allowed  to  man- 
age the  institution  and  regulate  its  running  expenses,  that  they  would  accept 
for  their  services  wliatever  of  the  income  might  remain  after  paying  such  ex- 
penses; with  the  proviso  that  "the  agency  for  the  solicitjition  of  funds  shoulil 
cease,  and  with  the  expectation  that  Professor  Ilit^-hcock  would  be  appointed 
president."    This  plan  was  adopted. 

§  Of  this  sum  S4000  were  raissd  in  Amherst  and  vicinity,  SS0.)3  given  by  3Ii-. 
Williston,  and  SloOO  by  George  Mcrriam,  of  Springfield. 


other  purposes  amounted  to  nearly  §800, 000.  Among  the 
buildings  added  were  the  Barrett  Gymnasium,  Williston  Hall, 
Walker  Hall,  and  the  College  Church,  which  are  the  finest 
and  most  costl}'  of  the  structures  on  College  Hill. 

Dr.  Stearns  possessed  rare  executive  ability,  yet  his  govern- 
ment was  characterized  by  a  wise  gentleness,  as  of  one  who 
believed  in  "moral  suasion,"  which  drew  rather  than  forced 
obedience.  His  excellent  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  his 
Christian  character,  his  forbearance  and  kindly  sympathj',  and 
not  less  his  firmness  and  persistence  in  pursuit  of  truth  and 
right,  were  characteristics  which  insured,  as  they  surely 
brought,  to  Amherst  College  a  condition  in  name  and  sub- 
stance she  had  not  before  attained.  During  his  presidency  the 
teachers  in  the  college  increased  from  11  to  21,  the  students 
from  201  to  338,  while  the  alumni  were  more  than  doubled  in 
number. 

Dr.  Stearns  died  June  8,  1876,  after  a  sudden  attack  and 
brief  illness,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one. 

Dr.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  the  present  head  of  the  institution, 
was  inaugurated  May  24,  1877.  While  not  inferior  in  admin- 
istrative ability,  his  superior  qualities  as  an  instructor  chiefly 
distinguish  him  from  his  predecessor.  There  is  little  of  historic 
interest  that  can  be  said  of  (his,  the  dawning  of  a  still  more 
hopeful  era,  and  this  sketch  of  Amherst  College  may  be  fitly 
closed  with  a  record  of  the  fact  that  never  were  the  prospects 
brighter  than  to-day,  when  students  from  every  clime  have 
come  to  drink  at  her  ample  fount,  whose  sources  were  unlocked 
by  the  pious,  worthy  fathers  amid  the  sturdy  hills  of  Franklin 
and  Hampshire  more  than  a  century  ago. 

The  total  number  of  students,  by  the  catalogue  of  1878-79 
is  333,  distributed  as  follows  :  seniors,  76;  juniors,  75;  sopho- 
mores, 90;  freshmen,  92.     There  arc  two  resident  graduates. 

Buildings. — "South  College,"  a  dormitor}-,  erected  in  1820 
-21,  at  an  ultimate  cost  of  about  |ilO,000,  has  already  been 
sufliciently  described. 

"Middle  College,"  the  second  dormitory,  was  erected  in 
1822,  at  a  cost  of  §10,000.  It  is  four  stories  high,  and  in  size 
the  same  as  South  College  ;   it  contains  the  reading-room. 

"The  Chapel,"  or  "Johnson  Hall,"  dates  from  1827,  and 
cost  5il5,000.  For  a  long  time  it  was  known  by  the  name  of 
its  principal  donor,  Adam  Johnson,  of  Pelham,  who  had  be- 
queathed §4000  for  such  a  structure.  It  has  always  been  used 
for  morning  and  evening  prayers,  and  public  worship.  The 
chapel  proper  is  in  the  second  story.  Below  are  recitation- 
rooms  and  an  herbarium.  The  tower||  contains  the  college 
clock.  The  chapel  was  renovated  in'  1863-04  at  a  cost  of 
S16,000. 

"  North  College,"  a  dormitory  erected  in  1828,  cost  §10,000. 
It  was  burned  in  1857,  and  its  site  is  now  occupied  by  Willis- 
ton  Hall. 

"The  President's  House"  was  built  in  1834,  on  land  pur- 
chased from  the  estate  of  Dr.  Parsons.  The  house  built  for 
Dr.  Moore  in  1821  was  sold,  and  the  proceeds,  with  additional 
funds,  applied  to  the  erection  of  the  new  residence,  which  is  of 
brick,  and  cost  §9000. 

"The  Woods  Cabinet  and  Laurence  Observatory,"  erected 
in  1847,  at  a  cost  of  §9000,  occupies  a  prominent  situation  in 
front  of  Chapel  Eow,  and  contains  the  geological  collection, 
embracing  specimens  from  the  formations  of  Europe  and  the 
Missionary,  United   States,  'and  other  collections.     The  ob- 


II  The  tower  is  94  feet  iu  height.  The  view  from  its  top  is  extensive  and  of 
unusual  beauty  and  majesty.  To  the  east  aio  seen  the  mountains  Lincoln,  Hy- 
geia,  aiul  .\quilo ;  north,  Pleasant,  Taurus,  Mettawampe,  and  Sugar  Loaf;  north- 
west. Bald  Slountain,  Pocumtock,  the  Hoofi.ac  Range,  and  in  the  blue  distance 
the  Green  Mountiiins  of  Vermont.  Westward  rises  Mount  Warner,  while 
through  the  magnificeut  valley  courses  the  silvery,  winding  thread  of  the  "  Great 
River" — Connecticut.  Beyond,  appear  the  mountains  of  Western  Massachusetts, 
and  sout'.iward,  the  ne.ar,  majesti,^  peaks  of  the  Ti'ap  range,  NorwottucU,  Ilolyoke, 
Nonotuck,  and  Tom.  The  liver  finds  a  narrow  passage  between  Ilolyoke  and 
Nonotuck.  In  clear  weatlier  the  villages  of  Amhei-st,  Iladley,  Northampton, 
Easthanipton,  Wliately,  and  Sunderland  may  be  seen. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPslIlKE  COUNTY. 


253 


scrvatory  conttiin-i  n  transit  uirclo,  a  sidereal  eluek,  niul  twu 
portable  telescopes. 

A  room  adjoining,  eallcd  the  "  Nineveh  Gallery,"  costing 
$5G7,  was  the  gift  of  Enos  Dickinson,  and  contains  valuable 
archajological  treasures,  including  six  sculptured  slabs  from 
the  palace  of  Sardanapalus,  seals,  cylinders,  and  bricks  from 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  and  many  coins  of  gold,  silver,  and 
copper. 

"  The  Library  Building,"  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
was  erected  in  1853,  and  cost  810,000.  The  first  floor  is  de- 
voted to  working-rooms.  The  second  story  contains  the  library 
proper,  consisting  now'^  of  40,488  volumes,  including  the  "  So- 
ciety Librarj'"  of  5319  volumes.  The  nucleus  from. which 
this  larger  mass  has  grown  consisted  in  the  earlier  years  of  a 
few  books  in  a  case  at  South  College,  and  experienced  several 
removals  before  its  transfer  to  the  present  building. 

"The  Appleton  Cabinet"  was  erected  in  1855,  cost  §10,000, 
and  was  named  in  honor  of  Samuel  Appleton,  of  Boston,  its 
chief  donor.  It  contains  Dr.  Hitchcock's  ichnological  col- 
lection, the  Gilbert  museum  of  "  Indian  relics,"  and  the  Ad- 
ams zoological  cabinet.  The  geological  lecture-room  is  in  this 
building. 

"Williston  Hall"  occupies  the  site  of  "Old  North  College," 
which  was  burned,  cost  §15,000,  and  is  the  magnificent  gift 
of  Hon.  Samuel  Williston,  of  Easthampton.  Here  are  found 
the  chemical  laboratory  with  its  various  departments.  The 
rooms  of  the  two  literary  societies — "Alexandria"  and 
"  Athenai" — are  in  the  second  story. 

The  upper  story  is  devoted  to  the  "  art  gallery,"  opened  in 
July,  1874,  in  "  Alumni  Hall."  The  contents  of  this  splendid 
gallerj'  are  multifarious  and  valuable,  among  them  copies  of 
the  Elgin  marbles,  Ghiberti  bronze  doors,  Angelo's  "  Moses," 
and  other  casts  of  celebrated  statues,  bas-reliefs,  and  vases. 
For  this  fine  collection  the  college  is  chiefly  indebted  to  the 
labors  of  Prof.  Richard  H.  Mather. 

"  East  College,"  built  the  same  year,  is  a  dormitory  similar 
to  the  others,  and  cost  §15,000.  It  will  also,  like  the  other 
dormitories,  accommodate  fifty  students.  This  building,  now 
obstructing  the  front  of  the  College  Church,  will  doubtless 
soon  be  removed  to  a  better  situation  toward  the  southwest. 

"Barrett  Gymnasium"  is  the  nursery  of  the  iithletes  of 
Amherst,  and  furnishes  pleasurable  and  profitable  physical 
discipline  to  all  the  students,  for  all  who  are  able  are  required 
to  take  therein  daily  a  prescribed  round  of  exercise.  This 
building  is  of  Pelham  gneiss,  of  plain  style  of  architecture, 
was  furnished  in  18G0  at  a  cost,  including  fixtures,  of  §15,000. 
The  upper  story,  where  the  classes  exercise,  contains  a  gallery 
for  visitors. 

"  Walker  Hall,"  originating  in  the  generous  bounty  of  Dr. 
William  J.  Walker  and  other  friends  of  the  college,  was  for- 
mally opened  Oct.  20,  1870.  This  edifice  is  palatial  in  style 
and  proportions, — a  gem  among  the  many  fine  buildings  of 
Amherst.  It  is  built  of  stone,  cost  §120,000,  and  contains 
the  department  of  mathematics  and  astronomy,  natural  phi- 
losophy, and  the  Shepard  cabinet  of  minerals.  Here  also  are 
recitation-  and  lecture-rooms,  and  rooms  for  trustees,  presi- 
dent, and  treasurer. 

"College  Church,"  for  which  a  donation  of  §-30,000  had 
been  made  in  18G4  by  William  F.  Stearns,  the  eldest  son  of 
the  late  president,  after  much  delay  in  selecting  a  proper  site, 
was  commenced  in  1870.  The  corner-stone  was  formally  laid 
September  22d,  in  that  year,  Eev.  Christopher  Cushing,  of  Bos- 
ton, delivering  the  addre-ss.  A  chime  of  bells  hangs  in  the 
tower,  the  gift  of  George  Howe,  of  Boston,  and  is  intended 
in  part  to  commemorate  Amherst's  fallen  soldiery.  The 
church  was  finished  in  1872,  and  cost  §70,000. 

"College  Hall,"  formerly  the  village  church,  erected  in 
1828,  was  purchased  in  1867,  and  remodeled,  to  fit  it  for  its 


•  Jan.  18, 1879. 


present  use,  for  commencement  exercises,  examiinxtions,  and 
public  entertainments.  Cost  of  building  and  improvements, 
§10,000. 

Col/cye  Grounds. — The  present  college  grounds,  comprising 
about  30  acres,  are  the  aggregate  of  several  purchases  and  do- 
nations. In  1820,  9  acres  were  purchased  from  the  estate  of 
Col.  Elisha  Dickinson,  and,  in  1827,  2i  acres  more,  lying  east  of 
the  first  purchase.  These  purchases  now  contain  the  principal 
buildings.  Five  acres,  on  which  stand  the  president's  house, 
the  library,  and  College  Hall,  were  purchased  of  John  Leland, 
in  1828.  Meeting-House  or  Observator}'  Hill,  a  part  of  the  old 
common,  was  given  by  the  town.  In  1801,  5  acres  were  pur- 
chased from  Judge  John  Dickin.son,  as  a  site  for  the  College 
Church  ;  in  1806,  2J  acres  from  Lucius  Boltwood,  as  a  site  for 
Walker  Hall  and  other  improvements.  The  original  cost  of 
the  foregoing  land  was  about  §15,000. 

Hallock  Park  was  a  special  gift  to  the  college  in  1868,  upon 
condition  that  the  trustees  should  "preserve,  improve,  and 
keep  it  forever  as  a  public  park."  It  contains  7  acres  of  grand 
old  forest-trees,  chiefly  oaks  and  pines. 

The  College  Church  was  organized  in  1820.  Articles  of 
faith  and  covenant  were  adopted  in  consonance  with  the  views 
of  the  participants,  and  were  of  the  most  rigid,  Orthodox 
Trinitarian  type.  To  these,  thirty-one  students  gave  in  their 
adhesion,  and  the  church  was  formed  as  the  "  Church  of  Christ 
in  Amherst  College."  All  subsequent  revivals  in  the  college 
have  been  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  this  church  society. 
In  Prof.  Tyler's  history  much  prominence  is  given  to  these 
special  seasons  of  ingathering.  Changes  in  the  pastorship 
have  corresponded  with  the  changes  in  the  presidency  of  the 
college,  each  of  the  presidents  having  been  inducted,  in  turn, 
into  the  pastorate  of  the  church. 

College  Press. — The  printed  literature  of  Amherst  College, 
the  production  of  under-graduates,  dates  from  the  year  1831, 
when  a  magazine  called  The  Sprite  was  issued  at  bi-monthly 
periods,  and  continued  about  one  year.  It  was  devoted  to  the 
fanciful  and  romantic.  This  was  followed  by  monthlies  called 
The  Shrine  and  The  Guest,  each  about  one  year.  Then  ap- 
peared Horce  CoUcgianiv,  1837-40 ;  The  Indicator,  1848-51  ; 
The  Experiment,  1850-51  ;  The  Amherst  Collegiate  Magazine, 
1853-57  and  1801-02;  The  Ichnolite,  1857-61.  The  present 
publications  are  the  Olio,  a  students'  catalogue,  started  in  1808, 
and  published  annually  ;  and  the  Amherst  Student,  which 
originated  the  same  year,  and  is  issued  on  alternate  Saturdaj's 
during  the  college  term.  Both  are  edited  by  members  of  the 
junior  class. 

Boating  became  an  institution  at  Amherst  in  1869,  but  was 
not  continued  more  than  six  years.  In  1872  the  "Amherst 
boys"  were  victors  in  a  regatta,  and  made  what  was  then  the 
best  time  on  record. 

July  24,  1872,  in  the  second  regatta  of  the  rowing  associa- 
tion of  American  colleges,  at  Springfleld,  Amherst  beat  Am- 
herst Agricultural,  Bowdoin,  Williams,  and  Yale  in  a  univer- 
sity six-oared  race  with  shells,  three  miles  straightaway.  Time, 
10m.  32  4-5s. 

College  Corporation.— liev.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  President; 
Henry  Edwards,  of  Boston ;  Hon.  Alexander  H.  Bullock, 
LL.D.,  of  Worcester  ;  Hon.  Henry  Morris,  LL.D.,  of  Spring- 
fleld ;  Eev.  S.  Dwight,  D.D.,  of  Hadley  ;  Nathan  Allen,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  of  Lowell  ;  Hon.  Edward  B.  Gillett,  of  Westfleld  ; 
Kev.  Eichard  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ; 
Eev.  Eoswell  D.  Hitchcock,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  New  York; 
Eev.  Edmund  K.  Alden,  D.D.,  of  Boston;  Hon.  John  E. 
Sanford,  of  Taunton  ;  Eufus  B.  Kellogg,  of  Green  Bay,  Wis. ; 
Eev.  William  S.  Karr,  D.D.,  of  Hartford,  Conn.  ;  Henry  D. 
Hyde,  of  Boston. 

Eev.  Edward  S.  Dwight,  D.D.,  Secretary;  William  A. 
Dickinson,  Treasurer. 

Officers  of  the  '■^Charity  Fund." — Eev.  Charles  Cushing, 
D.D.,  of  Boston;    Rev.   Eowland  Ayres,  D.D.,  of  Hadley; 


1 


25i 


IIISTOKY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Hon.  Charles  Adams,  of  North  Brookfield;  Kev.  John  M. 
Greene,  of  Lowell  ;  Eleazar  Porter,  of  Hadley  ;  M.  Fayette 
Dickinson,  of  Boston  ;  Prof  William  B.  Graves,  of  Amherst, 
Overseers  ;  William  A.  Dickinson,  Commissioner ;  George 
Montague,  Auditor. 

Faculty  of  Amherst  College. — Rev.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  '49,  President,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philos- 
ophy, and  Pastor  of  the  College  Church  ;  Charles  U.  Shepard, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  '24,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Natural  History; 
Pvev.  William  S.  Tyler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  ■30,  Williston  Professor 
of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature  ;  Edwai-d  Tuckerman, 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Botany;  Edward  P.  Crowell,  A.M.,  '53, 
Moore  Professor  of  Latin  Language  and  Literature  ;  Edward 
Hitchcock,  A.M.,  M.D.,  '49,  Professor  of  Hygiene  and  Physi- 
cal Education;  William  L.  Montague,  A.M.,  '55,  Professor 
of  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish;  Richard  H.  Mather,  A.M., 
'57,  Professor  of  Greek  and  German  ;  William  C.  Esty,  A.M., 
'00,  Walker  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  ;  Elijah 
P.  Harris,  Ph.D.,  '55,  Professor  of  Chemistry  ;   Benjamin  K. 


periencing  hy  the  way  some  periods  of  exciting  change.  The 
former  has  72  members;  the  latter,  42.  "  Hitchcock  Society 
of  Inquiry,"  formed  in  1870,  has  G2  members  ;  the  "  Antivenian 
Society,"  1830,  114  acting  and  1924  graduated  members;  the 
"  Musical  Association,"  1869. 

Secret  Societies.— "  Alpha.  Delta  Phi,"  183G,  18  members; 
"  Psi  Upsilon,"  1841,  19  members;  "Delta  Kappa  Epsilon," 
1848,  19  members;  "Chi  Psi,"  1864,  22  members  ;  "Chi  Phi," 
1873,  28  members. 

Non  Secret. — "Delta  Upsilon,"  1847,  39  members. 

Scmi-Centennial. — The  alumni  and  friends  of  the  college 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  existence  in  a  manner 
loyal,  fraternal,  and  enthusiastic,  during  the  commencement 
season,  in  July,  1871.  On  this  occasion  addresses  were  made 
by  President  Stearns,  who  also  gave  the  baccalaureate  sermon, 
Hon.  A.  H.  Bullock,  Prof.  Snell,  Dr.  Edward  P.  Humphrey, 
Revs.  H.  N.  Barnum  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Profs.  Park 
and  Hitchcock,  and  Waldo  Ilutchins.  Nearly  seven  hundred 
of  the  alumni  were  p>resent. 


■^\^-~''fe''^=-,^^^S'x^^^"'.!ii--*-^''^- — ; 


MASSACHUSETT.S    AGRICULTURAI.    COLLEGE,  AMHEUST,  MASS. 


[Cut  luiiiicliL-d  by  the  College.] 


Emerson,  Ph.D.,  'G5,  Hitchcock  Professor  of  Geology  and 
Zoology  ;  Rev.  H.  Humphrey  Neil,  A.M.,  '66,  Williston  Pro- 
fessor of  Rhetoric  and  Oratory,  and  of  English  Literature ; 
Elihu  Root,  Ph.D.,  '67,  Walker  Profe.ssor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  History;  Joseph  H.  Chickering,  A.M.,  '69,  A.ssociate 
Professor  of  English;  Anson  D.  Morse,  A.M.,  '60,  Professor 
of  History  and  Political  Economy  ;  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Field, 
D.D.,  '34,  Samuel  Green  Professor  of  Biblical  History  and 
Interpretation,  and  Pastoral  Care;  Levcrett  Mears,  Ph.D., 
'74,  Instructor  in  Chemistry;  Levi  H.  Elwell,  A.M.,  '75, 
Instructor  in  Greek;  Henry  B.  Richardson,  A.M.,  '69,  In- 
structor in  Latin;  Benjamin  E.  Smith,  A.B.,  '77,  Walker 
Instructor  in  Mathematics;  John  M.  Clarke,  A.B.,  '77,  As- 
sistant in  Geology;  Rev.  Enoch  F.  Burr,  D.D.,  '68,  Lecturer 
on  the  Scientific  Evidences  of  Religion  ;  Frederick  Zucht- 
mann.  Instructor  in  Vocal  Music;  W^alter  S.  BLscoe,  A.M., 
'74,  Acting  Librarian;  Mclven  J.  Allen,  '79,  Assistant. 

The  "  Alexandrian"  and  "  Athenian,"  the  principal  literary 
societies,  were  formed  early  in  the  life  of  the  college,  in  1821, 
and  have  continued  their  existence  to  the  present  time,  ex- 


MASSACIIUSETT.S    AGRICULTURAL   COLLEGE. 

Little  had  been  done  in  the  United  States,  prior  to  1849, 
toward  the  practical  application  of  science  in  agriculture,  and 
no  school  existed  for  the  scientific  preparation  of  young  men 
for  farming  and  kindred  pursuits.  The  founders  of  the  Nor- 
folk Agricultural  Society  had  this  in  view  at  the  time  of  its 
formation,  and  at  their  first  exhibition,  Sept.  26,  1849,  were 
favored  with  an  address  by  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  embodying 
valuable  suggestions  upon  the  subject. 

"The  primary  object  in  the  address,"  said  Mr.  Wilder, 
afterward,  "was  to  awaken  a  more  general  interest  and  im- 
mediate action,  both  by  national  and  State  legislation,  in 
behalf  of  agricultural  colleges  and  schools."  There  were 
present  at  its  delivery  many  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  nation, 
among  whom  were  George  N.  Briggs,  then  Governor  of  the 
State,  Daniel  Webster,  Edward  Everett,  Horace  Mann,  Levi 
Lincoln,  Josiah  Quincy,  Gen.  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn,  Gover- 
nor Isaac  Hill,  of  New  Hampshire,  Lieut. -Governor  John 
Reed,   John   Pierpont,  Charles   Francis  Adams,   Robert   C. 


Res. OF  EDMUND   HOBART,  NORTH  Amherst.Mass. 


inSTOllY   OP  HAMPSHIHE  COUiNTY. 


255 


Winthrop,  and  Josiali  Quincy,  Jr.     licspecting  tlio  subject  of 
the  addresses,  Mr.  Everett  said  : 

"  I  need  not  enlarge  on  its  importance,  for  liere  sits  by  niy 
side  the  very  apostle*  of  this  inspired  gospel,  who  has  told  us, 
over  and  over  again,  the  advantages  of  education  ;  but  I  will 
say,  sir,  that  if  the  yeomanry  of  New  England  wish  their 
principles  to  prevail,  or  their  influence  to  be  perpetuated  over 
the  country,  the  only  way  in  which  they  can,  for  any  Icngtli 
of  time,  efl'ect  this  object,  is  to  educate  their  children  to  under- 
stand these  principles,  and  lirnily  and  ell'ectually  to  maintain 
them." 

Said  Mr.  Mann : 

"  I  rejoiced,  sir,  when  I  heard  j'ou  to-day  magnify  and 
extol  the  subject  of  scientific  education  for  the  farmer.  It 
cannot  be  too  much  exalted;  it  cannot  be  too  highly  lauded. 
Those  are  the  true  views  for  all  farmers,  for  all  men  who  are 
to  be  engaged  in  this  business,  thus  to  become  acquainted 
with  mineralogy  and  botany,  with  the  physiology,  the  pa- 
thology of  plants,  and  thereby  get  possession  of  this  machine, 
this  wonderful  apparatus,  which  has  been  produced  for  their 
use  ;  and  then,  sir,  we  should  have  a  yeomanry  in  this  country 
of  which  the  nation  might  well  be  proud." 

A  prejudice  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  from  which 
the  Legislature  itself  was  not  entirely  free,  against  what  they 
called  "  book-farming,"  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
appeals  for  State  assistance  were  supjiorted  by  the  reported  re- 
sults of  L>r.  Hitchcock's  comprehensive  investigations  con- 
cerning the  like  institutions  in  Europe,  the  friends  of  the 
movement  met  little  encouragement  until  1850.  In  that  year 
an  act  was  granted  incorporating  Marshall  F.  Wilder,  Benja- 
min V.  French,  George  W.  Lyman,  Seth  Sprague,  Moses 
Newell,  Richard  S.  Fay,  and  Samuel  S.  Hooper,  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Massachusetts  School  of  Agriculture,"  with  power 
to  hold  property,  real  and  personal,  not  exceeding  in  amount 
$000,000,  "  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  an  experimental 
farm  and  school  thereon."  Liberal  proposals  were  received 
from  Lexington  and  Springfield,  but  the  subsequent  action  of 
the  national  government  gave  a  new  direction  to  the  move- 
ment. 

In  July,  1862,  Congress  passed  an  act  setting  apart  for  each 
State  a  portion  of  the  public  lands,  conditioned  upon  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  at  least  one  college  "  where 
the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scientific 
and  classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practi- 
cal education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits 
and  professions  of  life." 

The  State  formally  accepted  the  grant,  amounting  to  300,000 
acres  of  land,  by  an  act  passed  April  18,  1803,  and  in  the  same 
year  incorporated  the  "Massachusetts  Agricultural  College." 

Gov.  Andrew  and  others  had  favored  an  alliance  of  the  new 
institution  with  some  one  already  founded ;  but  this  met  with 
the  disapproval  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  of  which  Marshall 
P.  Wilder  was  president,  upon  the  ground  that  such  connection 
was  not  within  the  intention  of  Congress.  The  bill  as  passed, 
however,  gave  one-third  of  the  revenue  of  the  endowment  fund 
to  the  "  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,"  located  at 
Boston,  thus  placing  the  department  of  "mechanic  arts"  in 
charge  of  that  corporation,  and  making  the  agricultural  col- 
lege "the  only  college  in  the  United  States  designed  exclu- 
sively for  the  education  of  farmers."! 

Among  the  propositions  put  forth  to  secure  the  location  of 
the  institution,  that  of  the  town  of  Amherst  was  deemed  most 
advantageous,  and  on  the  25th  of  May,  1864,  the  trustees  by 
a  unanimous  vote  located  the  college  in  Amherst,  the  town 
having  pledged  itself  to  pay  the  sum  of  $75,000  for  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings,  and  to  furnish  for  a  reasonable  price  a  satis- 


*  Hon .  Horace  Mann. 


t  Report  of  President  Clark,  1876. 


factory  tract  of  land  for  the  uses  of  the  institution.  In  the 
October  following  the  present  estate  of  the  college  was  pur- 
chased from  six  different  parties.  The  cost  of  the  land  and 
buildings  at  that  time  amounted  to  about  S-13,000,  the  total 
area  being  388J  acres.  "J 

The  buildings  were  dul3'  provided,  and  made  ready  for  the 
reception  of  students  Oct.  2,  1807,  at  which  time  the  first  class, 
numbering  33,  was  admitted. 

The  first  president,  Hon.  Henry  F.  French,  remained  only 
a  sufficient  time  to  arrange  the  several  departments  and  pro- 
vide a  course  of  study,  when  he  resigned.  The  mantle  of  office 
fell  upon  the  shoulders  of  Hon.  P.  A.  Chadbourne,  then  a  pro- 
fessor in  Williams  College,  who  with  characteristic  energy  and 
ability  completed  the  arrangements  preliminary  to  the  admis- 
sion of  students,  as  above  indicated.  After  a  few  months, 
because  of  poor  health,  he  too  resigned,  and  moved  to  the 
West. 

At  this  critical  period  Col.  W.  S.  Chu-k,  (hen  a  professor  in 
Amherst  College,  was  chosen  president,  and  to  the  time  of  this 
writing  has  continued  to  manage  its  afl'airs  with  signal  ability. 
To  him,  chiefly,  the  institution  owes  its  wide  renown  as  an 
agricultural  college,  for  not  only  Ma.ssachusetts,  but  the  world, 
has  profited,  directly  and  indirectly,  by  the  eft'ective  work  done 
in  its  fields,  laboratories,  and  halls  of  study. § 

At  this  college  thorough  training  and  instruction  are  given 
in  all  that  pertains  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  for  the  pro- 
duction of  field  and  garden  crops,  fruits  and  flowers.  Here 
the  student  is  taught  how  to  treat  the  various  soils,  what  food 
to  supply  for  any  given  crop,  how  to  care  for  and  improve  live- 
stock, and,  in  fivct,  such  training  is  given  as  will  enable  him  to 
increase,  economically,  the  yield  of  any  given  acreage  now 
Mnscientifically  tilled.  The  following  studies  are  embraced  in 
the  curriculum,  and  suggest  a  thorough,  well-rounded,  and 
practical  education  as  the  result  of  the  four  years'  course: 
botany,  horticulture,  agriculture,  chemistry,  geology,  veteri- 
nary science,  zoologj',  mathematics,  physics,  engineering,  Eng- 
lish, French,  German,  mental  and  moral  science,  and  military 
science.  All  who  complete  the  regular  course  receive  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Science,  and,  in  addition,  by  an  arrange- 
ment of  the  trustees  of  Boston  university,  "all  students  who 
desire  it  may  become  members  of  the  university,  and  receive 
its  diploma  in  addition  to  that  of  the  college." 

Of  the  college  structures  the  most  important  are  the  two 
large  dormitories  of  brick,  in  which  are  arranged  the  geolog- 
ical, ornithological,  and  other  collections ;  a  large  wooden 
building  near  by,  containing  the  audience-  and  lecture-rooms, 
laboratories,  and  apparatus  ;  the  "  Botanic  Museum,"  contain- 
ing the  office  of  the  pi-esident,  the  "Knowltou  Herbarium,"  and 
valuable  diagrams  illustrative  of  structural  and  scientific  bot- 
any. Near  the  museum  is  the  "Durfee  Plant-Hou.se,"  erected 
by  the  liberality  of  Dr.  Nathan  Durfee,  of  Fall  Kiver,  and 
centaining  a  rare  and  extensive  collection  of  plants.  To  the 
east,  upon  the  hill-side,  are  the  college  vineyard  and  fruit- 
orchard  and  the  "  Massachusetts  Garden  ;"  beyond  which,  on 
the  crest  of  the  hill, — a  northward  continuation  of  Mount 
Pleasant, — is  the  president's  house,  overlooking  the  entire 
farm. 

The  college  has  now,  January,  1879,  162  students. 

July  21,  1871,  in  the  first  regatta  of  the  Rowing  Associa- 
tion of  American  Colleges,  at  Ingleside,  Mass.,  Amherst 
Agricultural  beat  Harvard  and  Brown,  in  universitj'  six- 
oared  race  with  shells,  three  miles  straightaway. 

Board  of  Trustees.\\ — Members  Ex-Officiis:  President  of  Col- 
lege, Secretary  of  Board  of  Education,  Secretary  of  Board  of 
Agriculture.     Members  by  Election :    Marshall   P.  Wilder, 

X  President  W.  S.  Clark's  report,  January,  187G. 

§  The  Sapporo  A)^ricuUiiral  CuUege,  in  Japan,  was  organized  by  President 
Clark,  in  187G-77,  at  the  instance  of  that  government,  and  the  iii-st  professors 
selected  therefor  were  graduates  of  the  .\niherst  institution. 

11  Officers  as  per  report  .January,  1878. 


256 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEV. 


Boston ;  Charles  G.  Davis,  Plymoutli ;  Henry  Colt,  Pitts- 
field ;  Phineas  Steadman,  Chicopee;  Allen  W.  Dodge,  Ham- 
ilton; George  Marston,  New  Bedford  ;  William  B.  Washburn, 
Greenfield;  Henry  L.  Whiting,  Cambridge;  Henry  F.  Hills, 
Amherst;  Daniel  Needhani,  Groton ;  William  Knowlton, 
Upton ;  John  Cummings,  Woburn ;  P>ichard  Goodman,  Lenox. 
Executive  Committee :  William  S.  Clark,  Wra.  B.  Washburn, 
William  Knowlton,  Henry  Colt,  Phineas  Steadman ;  Secre- 
tary, Charles  L.  Flint,  of  Boston  ;  Auditor,  Henry  Colt,  of 
Pittsfield  ;  Treasurer,  George  Montague,  of  Amherst.  Board 
of  Overseers,  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture;  Examining 
Committee  of  Overseers,  O.  B.  Hadwen,  of  Worcester ;  John 
B.  Moore,  of  Concord ;  Paul  A.  Chadbourne,  of  Williams- 
town  ;  Charles  S.  Sargent,  of  Brookline  ;  J.  N.  Bagg,  of  West 
Springfield.  Members  of  Faculty  :  William  S.  Clark,  Ph.D., 
LL.D.,  President,  and  Professor  of  Botany  and  Horticulture  ; 
Levi  Stockbridge,  Professor  of  Agriculture ;  Henry  H.  Goodell, 
M.  A.,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages ;  Charles  A.  Goessman, 
Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry;  Henry  W.  Parker,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Mental,  Moral,  and  Social  Science;  William  B. 
Graves,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Physics  and  Civil  Engineering; 
First  Lieut.  C.  A.  L.  Totten,  4th  Artillery,  U.  S.  A.,  Profes- 
sor of  Military  Science  and  Tactics  ;  A.  S.  Packard,  Jr.,  M.D. 
(State  Entomologist),  Lecturer  on  Useful  and  Injurious  In- 
sects;  M.  Fayette  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Lecturer  on  Rural  Law; 
Charles  P.  Lyman,  V.S.,  Edin.,  Lecturer  on  Veterinary  Sci- 
ence and  Practice  ;  George  Montague,  Instructor  in  Book- 
keeping. Samuel  T.  Maynard,  B.S.,  Gardener  and  Assistant 
Professor  of  Horticulture.  A.  A.  Southwick,  B.S.,  Farm 
Superintendent. 

CHURCHES. 
TUK    FIRST   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH,  AMnER.ST,* 

was  organized  Nov.  7,  1739,  after  more  than  four  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  first  vote  of  the  precinct  concerning  a 
meeting-house.  Oct.  8,  1735,  it  was  "  Voted,  to  hiere  a  Min- 
ester  half  ayeare;  that  Jno.  Ingram,  Jr.,  Jno.  Coles,  Nath' 
Smith  be  Com'=  to  hire  a  Minester.  Voated,  to  Buil-d  a 
Meating-House.  Voted,  sd  house  forty-five  foots  in  Length 
and  thirty-five  in  Bredth.  Voted,  sd  meating-house  to  be 
covered  with  quarter  boards  of  spruse.  Voted,  also,  to  Cover 
y"  roofe  with  spruce  shingles  without  sap  and  twenty-one 
Inches  in  Lenth.  Voated,  to  set  sd  house  up  the  Hill,  East 
of  Jno.  Nash's  House,  in  y"  most  Convenient  place." 

Samuel  Boltwood,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  John  Cole,  Pelatiah 
Smith,  and  John  Ingram  were  made  a  committee  "to  order 
y=  building y'=  Meating-House."  November  25th,  thehouse  was 
ordered  "to  be  set  in  the  most  convenient  place  ueare  the  Hart- 
ling  Stake,  so  called."  December  25th,  it  was  voted  to  set  it  on 
"  y  East  End  of  Noah  Smith's  Lot."  March  10,  1735,  voted 
to  "  Rais  fifteen  pounds  of  money  to  be  paid  towards  y'  menis- 
ter's  Rate.  Voted,  y'  the  Remainder  of  said  Rate  be  paid  out 
of  y'  non-resdent  money,  and  y"  Remainder  of  sd  money  to 
be  Improved  for  y"  Building  of  y"  Meating-House."  Sept. 
13,  1736,  it  was  voted  to  hire  a  minister  six  months.  March 
17,  1737,  it  was  voted  "  to  cover  y«  Meeting-House."  March 
22d,  "  to  frame,  raise,  and  cover  y=  Meeting-House  this  year 
ensuing,"  and  Samuel  Hawley,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  Ebenezer 
Dickinson,  Jonathan  Atharton,  and  Aaron  Smith  were  made 
a  committee  to  "se  to  y"  Building  y"  Meeting-House." 

April  13, 1737,  the  precinct  voted  to  give  Mr.  David  Parsons, 
Jr.,  a  call  "  to  settle  in  y=  Ministry,"  and  ofi'er  him  "  two  lots 
of  land  that  was  granted  by  the  town  of  Hadley  for  the  set- 
tlement of  the  Gospel  in  this  Precinct,"  £80  in  money,  with 
yearly  increase  up  to  £100,  and  also  "  towards  Building  a 
Dwelling-House,  to  set  him  up  a  frame  forty  foots  in  length, 
in  Brcth  twenty-one  foots,  and  two  stories  high,  and  cover 
said  House  and  Build  y=  Chimney  and  Cellor." 

*  Tho  principal  farts  for  this  skott-Ii  were  furnished  hy  Mr.  Oliver  I).  Hunt, 
of  Amherst. 


November  22d,  it  was  voted  to  hire  a  ministerfor  five  months, 
at  40s.  a  Sabbath.  Nov.  14,  1738,  the  site  for  the  meeting- 
house was  again  changed,  and  it  was  put  in  the  place  first 
chosen,  —  a  little  north  and  east  of  the  present  "  W^oods 
Cabinet."  December  loth,  it  was  "Voted  to  raise  nineteen 
pounds  for  Thomas  Temple  for  framing  y"  Meeting-house," 
and  to  "Ebenezer  Kellogg  for  rum  and  sugar,  three  pounds 
seventeen  shillings,"  and  to  "raise  one  hundred  pounds  for 
Mr.  David  Parsons  for  preaching  the  ysar  past."  Mr.  Par- 
sons was  master  of  the  situation,  but  was  finally  induced  to 
accept  the  lots,  £175  toward  a  house,  and  a  salary  of  £100, 
with  gradual  annual  increase  until  it  reached  £1G0.  In  1739 
he  accepted  in  the  following  laconic  style:  "Sept.  28.  Com- 
ply'd  with  the  request  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  third  precinct 
in  Hadley.  Per  me,  David  Parsons,  Jun'r."  March  18, 
1740,  it  was  voted,  "  that  the  committee  to  build  y"  meeting- 
house go  on  with  y=  work,"  and,  March  16,  1741,  "that  sd 
committee  build  a  pue  for  y^  minister's  wife,  and  said  pue 
where  y'  Rev.  Mr.  David  Parsons  shall  chuse."  The  building 
was  occupied  before  1742,  and  a  person  chosen  to  sweep  the 
meeting-house  and  give  a  signal  for  meetings  in  1743.  Aug. 
25,  1749,  Jonathan  Smith,  Solomon  Boltwood,  John  Nash, 
Ebenezer  Dickinson,  and  Ebenezer  Kellogg  w-ere  appointed 
to  "seat"  the  meeting-house,  and  instructed  to  place  "the 
males  together  and  the  females  together."  Jan.  23,  1753,  £10 
were  voted  to  finish  the  meeting-house. 

The  church  was  organized  Nov.  7,  1739,  with  the  following 
members  :  David  Parsons,  Pastor  ;  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  John 
Ingram,  Samuel  Hawley,  Eleazur  Mattoon,  John  Nash, 
Pelatiah  Smith,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  John  Cowls,  Aaron 
Smith,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  Jonathan  Smith,  Nathaniel  Smith, 
Joseph  Clary,  Jonathan  Cowls,  Richard  Chauncey.  Jan.  1, 
1840,  David  Smith  (son  of  Luke)  and  27  females  were  ad- 
mitted. Until  the  admission  of  the  females,  among  whom 
were  the  wives  of  nearly  all  of  the  above,  the  church  cannot 
have  been  considered  as  fully  organized.  Mr.  Parsons  con- 
tinued in  the  pastorate  until  his  death,  Jan.  1,  1781,  in  the 
sixtj'-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

Rev.  David  Parsons, |  D.D.,  son  of  the  first  pastor,  was 
settled  Oct.  2,  1782.  A  division  in  the  church  was  occasioned 
by  his  settlement,  which,  in  spite  of  the  many  meetings  for  the 
healing  thereof,  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Second 
Church.  The  new  minister's  salary  was  made  equivalent  to 
1333.34  and  firewood ;  the  salary  was  increased  in  1807  to  §425. 
Dr.  Parsons  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request,  Sept.  1,  1819, 
when,  by  vote  of  council,  he  was  allowed  61300.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  ;  died  at  Wcthersfield,  Conn.,  May  18, 
1823,  aged  seventy-four.  During  his  pastorate,  in  December, 
1787,  it  was  voted  to  build  a  new  meeting-house,  near  the  old 

■f  "  To  the  Inluibitants  of  Amherst,  in  Toicn-ntretiitfj  assembled  on  the  Vlth  Iitst.,  Ah/jjihI, 

1782: 

"  Gentlemen, — Inasmuch  ns  you  have  passed  sundry  votes  respeeting  my  en- 
couragement and  support  in  case  I  should  settle  with  J'ou  in  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  Ministry;  and  as  it  is  always  expedient  that  the  meaning  of  parties  iu 
Transactions  of  this  nature  should  be  well  explained  and  clearly  understood,  to 
prevent  any  dispute  or  misunderstanding  between  them  afterward,  I  beg  leave 
to  express  to  you  my  sense  of  the  meaning  of  your  proposals  as  I  understand 
them,  which  is  as  follows  (viz.) :  The  several  sums  which  you  offer  me  in  settle- 
ment and  salary  I  understand  to  be  in  silver  money,  Spanish  Willed  Dollars  at 
si.x  Bliillings,  or  other  Silver  or  Gold  equivalent.  And  as  to  the  Payment  of  my 
settlement,  I  understand  that  you  will  procure  me  Real  Estate  t^j  the  value,  in 
case  any  such  can  be  procured  to  my  acceptance;  otherwise,  that  you  will  pay 
me  the  money  according  to  your  first  vote.  And  as  to  the  article  of  wood,  I  un- 
derstand that  the  most  that  I  am  ever  to  expect  is  forty  cords  of  fire-wood  of 
good  quality  in  a  year,  unless  the  town  shall  voluntarily  make  addition  on  being 
satisfied  that  forty  cords  is  not  sufficient  for  my  reasonable  use.  Give  me  leave 
further  to  add  that  I  must  undei'stand  it  to  be  your  intent  that  no  advantage 
shall  ever  be  taken  of  any  paper  Currency  Depreciated,  or  of  any  act  of  Govern, 
mcnt  that  may  be  passed,  to  avoid  the  fair,  honest,  and  equitable  intent  of  the 
Contract.  If  this  be  your  meaning,  as  I  have  expressed  my  sense  of  it,  and  if 
nothing  more  than  I  know  of  shall  appear  to  prevent,  you  may  expect  an  answer 
in  the  affirmative  to  the  Church's  Call. 

"  Your  afTeUionate  fiicnd  and  servant, 

"David  P.iiisoNS." 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


257 


one,  and  that  it  stand  on  hewn  stone  and  face  the  south.  The 
parish  also  voted  that  at  the  raising  "the  spectators  he  fur- 
nished with  cake,  cheese,  and  liquor  at  parish  expense,  and  the 
raisers  with  a  good  and  decent  entertainment." 

The  lirst  bell  was  purchased  for  £100  in  1792,  and  weighed 
982  pounds.  In  179-t  a  master  was  hired  to  teach  a  singing- 
school  for  four  months  at  a  salary  of  £12. 

In  November,  after  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Parsons,  an  etfort 
■was  made  to  unite  the  two  churches,  but  without  avail. 

Rev.  Daniel  Clark,  the  third  pastor,  was  installed  Jan.  20, 
1820;  dismissed  Aug.  .'j,  1824.  Rev.  Royal  Washburn  was 
settled  Jan.  5,  1826 ;  died  Jan.  1, 1833.  During  his  pastorate, 
in  1828,  the  third  meeting-house — now  the  property  of  the 
college,  and  known  as  "  College  Hall" — was  erected. 

The  following  jiastors  succeeded,  and  served  for  the  terms 
indicated  respectively:  Matthew  T.  Adams,  Dec.  26,  1833, 
Dec.  10,  1834;  Josiah  Bent,  April  19,  1837;  died  Nov.  19, 
1839;  Aaron  M.  Colton,  June  10,  1840,  June  4,  1853;  Ed- 
mund S.  Dwight,  August,  18o3,  Aug.  28,  1800;  Henry  L. 
Hubbel,  April  24,  1861,  April  4,  1865;  Jonathan  L.  Jenkins, 
Feb.  17,  18(i7,  installed  Sept.  24,  1868,  February,  1877;  How- 
ard Kingsbury,  Dec.  6,  1877  ;  died  Sept.  28,  1878.  The  church 
has  now,  February,  1879,  no  settled  pastor.  During  the  pas- 
torate of  Mr.  Dwight,  an  organ  was  first  obtained,  and  the 
stringed  instruments  were  supplanted.  The  fourth  and  last 
church  edifice  was  commenced  during  the  pastorate  of  Mr. 
Jenkins,  and  largely  through  his  eftbrts.  It  is  built  of  Mun- 
son  gneiss,  and  cost  complete,  including  land  and  parsonage, 
$67,000.  The  pulpit  was  made  from  logs  of  cedar  and  olive, — 
from  Mount  Lebanon, — secured  and  shipped  for  the  purpose 
by  Rev.  Daniel  Bliss,  D.D.,  of  Beirut.  The  cedar  log  was  7 
by  2J  feet,  and  bore  marks  of  great  age. 

In  the  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  years  of  its  e.xistcnce, 
the  church  has  grown  from  10,  or  rather  from  43,  members  to 
the  present  number,  433,  and  "has  one  offspring  in  East,  one 
in  South,  and  one  in  North  Amherst,  and  still  contains  the 
names  Kellogg,  Hawlcy,  Nash,  Smith,  Dickinson,  and  Cowlos, 
or  all  but  5  of  the  names  of  the  original  16  males." 

THE   SECOND   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH 

was  formed  in  November,  1782,  and  composed  of  22  members, 
who  had  withdrawn  from  the  First  Church  because  of  the 
settlement  of  the  second  Dr.  Parsons  by  that  body.  Cajit. 
Ebenezer  Mattoon  was  of  this  number. 

Simultaneously  with  the  ordination  of  Dr.  Parsons,  an  ad- 
visory council  representing  "  five  churches  west  of  the  river" 
was  held  at  Amherst,  October  1st,  2d,  and  3d,  but  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  reconciling  the  factions.  Another  council  convened 
October  28th  and  29th,  and  again  November  11th  and  12th, 
which  finally  determined  that  the  offer  of  the  mother-church 
was  "  unequal  and  unjust,"  and  advised  the  seceders  to  "  pro- 
ceed to  organize  and  to  settle  a  minister,"  unless  within  four 
weeks  the  former  should  accede  to  a  mutual  council.  A  di- 
vision and  much  ill  feeling  followed.*  The  succeeding  year, 
1783,  the  church  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Ichabod  Drajier,  who  was  installed 
in  the  fall  of  1785,f  and  dismissed  on  account  of  ill  health  Oct. 
12,  1809.  Mr.  Draper  was  from  Dedhara,  and  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  in  1783.  The  succeeding  pastors  have  been  the  fol- 
lowing :  Nathan  Perkins,  Jr.,  a  native  of  Hartford,  and  grad- 
uate of  Yale,  1795,  ordained  and  installed  Oct.  10,  1810,  died 
March  28,  1842;  Pomeroy  Belden,  born  at  Whately,  1811, 
graduated  at  Amherst,  1833,  installed  Sept.  14,  1842,  died  in 
the  pastorate,  March  2,  1849  ;  Charles  L.  Woodworth,  a  grad- 
uate of  Amherst,  1845,  ordained  and  installed  Nov.  7,  1849, 


*  "  Warm  contentions  and  unfriendly  dispositions,  which  were  lasting,  grew  out 
of  this  division.  My  grandfather  presided  in  this  council,  and  my  father  w,-)^  a 
delegate,  and  I  heard  much  about  this  strife  when  a  boy." — Judd'a  Hist,  of  Had- 
ley,  page  41lj  and  note. 

f  According  to  Judd,  he  was  ordained  Jan.  25, 1786. 


dismissed  Sept  2,  1803;  J.  Clizbee,  ordained  and  installed 
April  5,  1805,  dismissed  March  25,  1807;  F.  P.  Chapin,  in- 
stalled Jan.  21,  1808,  dismissed  Nov.  27,  1871  ;  C.  A.  Conant, 
acting  pastor,  from  July  1,  1872,  until  July,  1876.  Rev.  C. 
W.  Hawley,J  the  present  pastor,  was  installed  Nov.  15,  1876. 

The  first  meeting-house  stood  in  the  centre  of  old  Fast  Street, 
a  short  distance  southeast  of  the  present  church,  south  of  the 
"cast  and  west  highway,"  and  was  erected  in  or  about  the 
year  1790.  The  pews  were  so  many  pens,  like  unto  most  pews 
of  that  day,  and  the  children  could  look  only  heavenward  for 
light  and  freedom.  Many,  of  middle  age,  can  recall  the  raps 
and  significant  finger-pointings  of  the  tything-men,  in  reproof 
of  wayward  and  uneasy  youth.  The  present  church  was 
erected  in  1839,  and  is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  Main 
Street. 

The  old  conch,  whose  far-reaching  bray,  more  eloquent  than 
the  later  stage-horn,  once  summoned  young  and  old  to  "  meet- 
ing," has  lost  its  occupation,  though  not  its  latent  power,  and 
is  sacredly  preserved  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Clapp. 

THE  NORTH  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  OF  AMHERST^ 
was  organized  by  an  ecclesiastical  council,  convened  for  that 
purpose,  Nov.  15,  1826.  The  original  members  numbered  47, 
and  three  of  them  are  still  living.  The  original  name  of  this 
body  was  "The  Congregational  Union  Church  in  Amherst." 
The  first  officers,  chosen  Dec.  20,  1826,  were  :  Deacons,  Daniel 
Ru.ssell,  Jr.,  and  Ransom  Dickinson ;  Clerk,  Daniel  Dickinson  ; 
Treasurer,  Ransom  Dickinson  ;  Church  Committee,  the  dea- 
cons and  Jonathan  Cowles. 

Rev.  William  W.  Hunt  was  called  Feb.  7,  1827 ;  ordained 
as  first  pastor  March  7th  following.  Mr.  Hunt  was  a  native  of 
Belchertown,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  labored 
faithfully  and  successfully  in  the  pastorate  until  his  death, 
Oct.  5,  1837.  During  his  ministry  159  persons  united  with  the 
church.  George  Cook,  a  native  of  Keene,  N.  H.,  and  graduate 
of  Dartmouth  College,  was  ordained  pastor  Jan.  15,  1839,  dis- 
missed May  20,  18-52,  and  received  105  persons  to  membership. 

George  E.  Fisher,  of  Harvard,  graduate  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, was  installed  Sept.  16,  18-52,  dismissed  Jan.  6,  1858,  and 
welcomed  131  to  membership.  A  great  revival  occurred 
during  his  pastorate.  John  W.  XJnderhill,  a  native  of  Ips- 
wich, Mafe.,  and  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  was  ordained 
and  installed  Oct.  5,  18-59;  died  Oct.  17,  1862,  having  received 
22  to  membership.  Daniel  H.  Rogan,  a  native  of  Kingsport, 
Tenn.,  and  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  was  installed  Oct.  5, 
1865;  dismissed  Nov.  21,  1866.  William  D.  Herrick,  a  native 
of  Methuen,  Mass.,  and  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  was  in- 
stalled Sept.  19,  1867  ;  dismissed  May  25,  1874.  He  received 
119  to  membership.  The  seventh  pastor  was  George  F.  Hum- 
phreys, whose  pastorate  was  terminated  within  a  year  after  his 
ordination,  owing  to  trouble  in  the  church.  Since  this  time 
the  church  has  been  without  a  settled  pastor.  The  pulpit  was, 
however,  supplied  for  two  years  and  a  half  by  Rev.  Dwight 
W.  Marsh,  D.D.  The  present— 1879— acting  pastor  is  Rev. 
George  Henry  Johnson,  a  native  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College. 

The  present  and  only  church  edifice  of  this  society  was 
dedicated  Nov.  15,  1826,  and  will  seat  about  400.  It  was  re- 
paired in  1860.  The  present  number  of  members  is  205.  The 
officers  for  the  year  are  as  follows :  Acting  Pastor,  Rev.  George 
Henry  Johnson ;  Deacons,  Edmund  Hobart,  Samuel  E.  Har- 
rington, Asa  Adams,  George  L.  Cooley ;  Prudential  Commit- 
tee, the  pastor  and  deacons,  Lowell  W.  Roberts,  Ebenezer  P. 
Spear ;  Assistant  Clerk,  S.  P.  Ainsworth  ;  Superintendent  of 
Sunday-school,  Deacon  George  L.  Cooley;  number  of  Sunday- 
school  scholars,  210;  contributions  for  benevolent  purposes, 
$001.56. 

One  of  the  strange  facts— as  it  seems  in  this  day — connected 


I  Some  facte  for  this  sketch  were  furnished  by  the  pastor. 
§  Contributed  by  the  Kev.  George  Henry  .lohnson. 


33 


258 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


with  the  earlier  historj'  of  the  church,  was  that  previous  to 
1840  every  pew-deed  had  the  proviso  that  if  the  purchaser 
"shall  let  the  pew  or  any  part  thereof  to  any  negr«  or  mu- 
latto, or  in  any  waj'  admit  any  negro  or  mulatto  to  the  pos- 
session or  occupancy  of  the  same,  then  the  said  pew  or  pews, 
or  such  share  thereof  so  let  or  occupied,  shall  in  ever}-  such 
case  be  forfeited." 

It  is  said  that  a  goodly  amount  of  liquor  was  provided  for 
the  workmen  and  visitors  at  the  "raising"  of  the  church  in 
1826  ;  hut  the  present  belief  of  the  church  is  embodied  in  the 
following  article:  "  This  church  will  not  sanction  the  manu- 
facture, sale,  or  use  as  a  beverage,  of  intoxicating  drinks  bj' 
any  of  its  members." 

THE   SOUTH   CONGKEGATIONAL   CHURCH    OF   AMHERST* 

was  first  organized  in  1824,  but  reorganized  in  1858.  Its  house 
of  worship  was  dedicated  in  182-5,  remodeled  in  1843.  Its  set- 
tled pastors  have  been  as  follows :  Kevs.  H.  B.  Chapin,  1825-29 ; 
Aaron  Gates,  1832-37;  Gideon  Dana,  1838-40;  Dana  Good- 
sell,  1841-46;  James  L.  Merrick,  1849-64;  Walter  Barton, 
1864^6 ;  George  Lyman,  1869-73.  Rev.  F.  B.  Pullan  sup- 
plied the  pulpit  in  1875.  The  present  acting  pastor,  Rev. 
Charles  S.  Walker,  began  his  labors  in  April,  1870. 

The  original  number  of  members  was  48 ;  present  number, 
157.  The  present  officers  are :  Deacons,  R.  B.  Bridgman  and 
H.  C.  Dickinson ;  Standing  Committee,  C.  F.  Hayward,  A. 
J.  Robinson,  and  Thomas  Read ;  Superintendent  of  Sunday- 
school,  F.  Xi.  Pomeroy ;  Parish  Committee,  Thomas  Read, 
Charles  A.  Puffer,  and  Joseph  Dana. 

ZIOX   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHf    (COLORED). 

This  society,  although  existing  in  a  crude  form  as  early  as 
the  fall  of  1862,  was  ]iot  fully  organized  as  a  religious  body 
until  the  settlement  of  their  present  minister  in  1876. 

The  first  meetings  of  the  colored  people  of  Amherst  for 
religious  instruction  were  held  in  the  fall  of  1862,  and  were 
attended  numerously  by  their  friends  of  the  white  race.  These 
meetings  had  the  character  of  a  Sabbath-school,  in  which  the 
colored  members  were  scholars  and  some  of  the  whites  teachers. 
These  assemblies  were  first  held  in  the  old  academy  building, 
and  after  that  was  demolished,  in  18G8,  were  held  in  a  brick 
school-house  then  standing  on  Pleasant  Street.  Still  later, 
having  passed  the  winter  in  the  school-house,  the  society  re- 
moved to  the  Methodist  chapel,  then  standing  on  North- 
ampton Street.     The  present  chapel  on  Parsons  Street  was 

erected  in  .     This  society,  now  composed  of  about  ten 

members,  has  been  from  the  first  largely  assisted  by  those  at- 
tached to  the  college,  and  especiallj-  by  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  the  professors.  Students  of  theology  from  the  college 
sometimes  conduct  the  services.  Rev.  S.  L.  Hobbs,  a  retired 
missionary,  is  the  pastor  of  the  societ}'. 

THE    BAPTI.ST   CHURCH   IN   AMHERStJ 

was  organized  as  a  branch  of  the  New  Salem  and  Prescott 
Church,  Nov.  8,  1827,  removed  its  connection  from  the  church  . 
in  New  Salem  and  Prescott  to  the  church  in  Northampton  in 
October,  1830,  and  was  recognized  as  an  indejiendent  church 
— "  The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Christ  in  Amherst" — Aug.  3, 
1832.  The  church  began  its  separate  life  with  40  members,  and 
adopted  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  of  what  was 
then  the  Federal  Street  Baptist  Cluirch,  in  Boston.  Its  present 
house  of  worship  was  soon  erected,  and  was  set  apart  for  the 
worship  of  God  Nov.  10,  1855.  Its  original  dimensions,  60 
by  40  feet,  have  never  been  changed,  though  it  has  been  twice 
repaired, — once  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Cummino-s, 
and  again  in  1865.     At  the  latter  date  the  renovation  was 


*  Contriliutcil  by  Kov.  Charles  S.  Walker. 

t  Friiui  iiifwrinatiou  given  Iiy  BIi-s.  Olive  .Jju-kf^i 

I  Siippliett  t.y  the  iiastor,  Rev.  1).  W.  Hoyt. 


I,  uf  .Vmliei-st. 


thorough,  and  then  began  for  the  society  a  period  of  increased 
activity  and  usefulness,  its  membership  having  increased  nearly 
threefold.  The  church  has  had  to  meet  more  than  the  ordinary 
ditficulties  in  establishing  itself,  but  is  at  the  present  time 
(1879)  faii-ly  prosperous,  having  a  total  membership  of  181,  of 
whom  145  are  resident  members,  and  the  Sunday-school  mem- 
bership is  170,  with  15  officers  and  teachers.  Rev.  Stephen  S. 
Nelson,  a  resident  clergj'man,  and  Rev.  Solomon  Peck,  pro- 
fessor in  Amherst  College,  were  among  the  earliest  members. 
Of  its  constituent  members  only  three  now  remain, — Austin 
Eastman,  Mary  Robbins,  and  Orinda  Ball. 

The  following  persons  have  served  the  church  as  pastors, 
during  the  periods  given,  respectively:  Mason  Ball,  July,  1834, 

to  October,  1830,  and  March,  1846,  to ,  1848 ;  N.  G.  Lov- 

ell,  November,  1836,  June,  1840;  Joseph  Hodges,  August, 
1840,  August,  1841  ;  George  Waters,  January,  1843,  Febru- 
ary, 1846 ;  Elkanah  A.  Cummings,  May,  1850,  October,  1852, 
and  January,  1854,  January,  1855 ;  Edward  Anderson,  No- 
vember, 1852,  September,  1853  ;  J.  Torrey  Smith,  November, 
1856,  April,  1865;  A.  J.  Paddelford,  February,  1866,  April, 
1868;  F.  E.  Tower,  December,  1868,  December,  1871;  Syl- 
vester Burnham,  July,  1873,  April,  1874.  D.  W.  Hoyt,  or- 
dained July,  1874,  is  the  present  pastor. 

The  following  have  served  the  church  as  deacons :  Isaac 
Robbins,  Sylvester  Andrews,  Seth  Clapp,  Increase  Gilbert, 
Silas  Shaw.  The  present  deacons  are  Lewis  Fish,  J.  L.  Lovell, 
and  Samuel  Smith. 

GRACE   CHURCH,  g 

The  first  services  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ever 
held  in  the  town  and  the  ultimate  establishment  of  the  present 
church  organization  were  the  fruits  of  a  correspondence  opened 
early  in  the  summer  of  1864,  by  Miss  Almy  Emerson,  a  prior 
resident  of  Amherst,  with  Dr.  F.  L.  Huntington  and  Mi.ss 
Mary  H.  Jones,  a  resident  friend  of  the  cause.  This  lady  se- 
cured the  use  of  the  Baptist  meeting-house,  where,  on  July 
17,  1864,  and  for  five  successive  Sundays,  evening  services  were 
held  at  five  o'clock.  Rev.  G.  M.  Bradley,  of  Northampton, 
ofiiciating  the  first  Sunday,  Rev.  George  T.  Converse,  of  Rox- 
bury,  the  second,  and  Dr.  Huntington  the  last  four.  The 
first  communion  was  administered  by  Dr.  Huntington,  Sunday 
morning,  September  4th,  in  the  same  house. 

The  parish  was  organized  under  the  above  title  at  a  meeting 
held  September  12th  the  same  year,  in  the  presence  of  Dr. 
Huntington,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Jones.  Others  present  were 
I.  F.  Conkey,  Henry  C.  Nash,  L.  D.  Shepard,  George  Burn- 
ham,  Dr.  Rufus  Belden,  O.  G.  Couch,  George  Graves,  John  E. 
White,  C.  T.  Brown,  Merrick  M.  Marsh,  Henry  0.  Pease. 
George  Burnham  was  chosen  Senior  Warden ;  John  M.  Emer- 
son, of  New  York  City,  Junior  Warden;  O.  G.  Couch,  Clerk 
and  Treasurer ;  I.  F.  Conkey,  Henry  C.  Nash,  Horace  Ward, 
Charles  Deuel,  L.  I).  Shepard,  Jolin  C.  White,  Merrick  M. 
Marsh,  M.  N.  Spear,  R.  W.  Stratton,  Vestrymen. 

Rev.  S.  P.  Parker,  D.D.,  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Stockbridge, 
served  the  parish  from  Nov.  27, 1864,  but  was  not  settled  until 
January  11th  following.  Services  were  held  in  a  hall  of  the 
academy  until  March  2,  1866,  when  the  basement  of  the 
present  church  was  first  occupied.  July  17th  the  church  was 
consecrated,  and  on  the  1st  of  September  of  the  same  year  its 
tower  was  completed  and  supplied  with  a  fine  clock  and  bell. 
These  and  the  tower  were  the  oftering  of  George  C.  Shepard, 
D.D.  This  handsome  church  edifice  is  of  stone,  and  cost 
about  $35,000. 

Rev.  Henry  Freeman  Allen  began  his  labors  as  pastor  the 
first  Sunday  after  Easter,  1872;  resigned  April,  1877.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  present  rector.  Rev.  Frederick  Burgess, 
on  the  last  Sunday  of  that  year.     Present  membership,  80. 


\  Vm'U  for  this  sketch  were  t.iken  from  tlie  eiiurch  rectirdti  thruuj:li  the  eonr- 
tesy  of  the  pnstor.  Uev.  Frederick  Burgess. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


259 


WESLEY    METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   SOCIETY,    AMHERST.* 

In  1868  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  was  formed,  and 
carried  on  a  little  more  than  a  year,  with  Kev.  E.  Frank 
Pitcher  as  pastor.  The  project  of  building  a  churcli  was  at 
this  time  attempted  and  abandoned,  and  the  society  disbanded. 
In  the  winter  of  1874,  Rev.  S.  L.  Rogers,  who  was  siipplj-ing 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli  at  Nortli  Amherst,  formed 
a  class  at  Amherst  witli  twelve  members,  and  appointed  Mr. 
Cummings  Fish  leader.  The  church  was  again  organized 
in  the  summer  of  1875,  with  thirteen  members.  Kev.  S.  L. 
Rogers  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  new  society,  and  served  one 
year.  In  the  spring  of  1876,  Rev.  D.  S.  Coles  was  appointed 
preacher  in  charge.  He  also  supplied  one  year.  In  tlie  spring 
of  1877,  Rev.  E.  C.  Ferguson  succeeded,  and  remained  a  like 
period.  The  church  during  these  three  years  enjoyed  a  health- 
ful growth.  In  the  spring  of  1878,  Rev.  Edward  P.  King 
was  appointed  to  the  charge,  and  during  the  ensuing  fall  work 
was  commenced  on  a  church  edifice,  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Whitney  Streets.  Here  a  brick  church  has  been  erected, 
known  as  the  "Wesley  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."  The 
vestry  was  formally  dedicated  Jan.  26,  1879,  and  during  the 
ensuing  spring  the  audience-room  was  ready  for  worship. 

Present  membership,  34.  The  church  has  5  trustees  and  9 
stewards. 

THE    METHODIST    SOCIETY',  NORTH    AMHERST,! 

was  not  regularly  organized  until  March  9,  1849,  although 
preaching  was  begun  by  ministers  of  that  denomination  more 
than  six  years  earlier.  In  the  month  of  August,  1842,  Rev. 
E.  S.  Patter  held  services  in  the  school-house  in  "Amherst 
City," — so  called, — under  the  appointment  of  the  presiding 
elder  of  Springfield  District,  New  England  Conference.  He 
remained,  preaching  at  times  also  in  Hadley,  until  1844,  having 
meantime  united  with  the  "  Wesleyan  Connection."  James 
Billings,  of  the  W.  M.  Conference,  served  the  society  from 
June  until  October  of  the  same  year,  and  was  succeeded  by 
John  Pike,  as  supply,  until  the  close  of  the  conference  year, 
in  1845.  The  chapel  was  dedicated  January  1st,  in  that  year, 
E.  S.  Potter  preaching  the  sermon  of  dedication. 

The  succeeding  ministers  were  William  Bevins,  one  year, 
until  April,  1846;  J.  W.  Dadman,  supply,  November,  1846, 
to  April,  1847 ;  Jonas  M.  Clark,  who  found  a  few  friends  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  no  members,  April  23, 
1848,  until  1849.  March  9th,  of  the  latter  year,  anoeScial  board 
was  organized.  The  Quarterly  Conference  then  consisted  of 
Amos  Binney,  Presiding  Elder;  Jonas  M.  Clark,  Preacher  in 
Charge;  Joab  Ingram,  Steward.  B.Perkins  Farnham  was 
chosen  as  an  additional  steward. 

Then  succeeded  as  preachers,  H.  M.  Nichols,  April,  1849, 
two  years,  during  which  period  the  society  suffered  the  loss  of 
many  members  by  removal,  and  for  the  next  two  years  had 
no  regular  pulpit  services ;  David  Todd,  1853-54 ;  William 
Hubbard,  December,  1854,  to  April,  1855;  John  Peterson, 
local  supply,  April,  1858,  to  April,  1860;  J.  O.  Peck,  at  the 
same  time  a  student  in  Amherst  College,  one  year ;  Robert  H. 
Winslow,  one  year;  Rufus  Gerrish,  one  year;  John  Jones, 
of  Pelham,  who  served  as  a  supply  nearly  all  the  time  from 
1863  until  1867;  John  W.  Lee,  one  year;  John  Jones,  again 
supply,  one  year ;  Lorenzo  Dibble,  local  supply,  was  then  a 
student  at  Wesleyan  Academy,  Wilbraham,  April  to  August, 
1869;  William  S.  Jagger,  January,  1870,  to  1871  ;  J.  Jones, 
supply,  until  1872  ;  D.  K.  Bannister,  who  rendered  an  efficient 
two  years'  service ;  S.  L.  Rogers,  two  years,  until  the  spring 
of  1876,  when  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  C.  H.  Walter,  was 
appointed. 

The  church  edifice  was  repaired  at  considerable  expense 
during  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Lee,  1867-68  ;  and  during  that  of 
Mr.  Rogers — 1874-76— the  building  was  raised  and  a  vestry 

*  Contiihutcd  by  the  pasbw.  Rev.  Edward  P.  Kinj;. 

t  Fatts  for  this  sketch  were  furnished  by  Mr.  B.  II.  T.iylor. 


made  underneath,  at  a  cost,  with  other  repairs,  of  about  $600. 
Previously — 1858 — the  church  had  received  a  legacy  of  §100 
by  the  will  of  Mr.  Alden  Woods,  of  Leverett. 

The  church  now  has  about  30  members,  and  a  Sunday- 
school  averaging  nearly  40  pupils. 

The  present  stewards  are  D.  W.  Adams, William  H.  Lawton, 
B.  H.  Taylor,  J.  W.  Chandler,  and  James  A.  Hill. 

THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    SOCIETY,    AMHERST, 

for  some  time  anterior  to  the  building  of  their  house  of 
worship,  held  meetings  at  "  Palmer's  Hall,"  under  the  minis- 
tration of  the  pastors  of  the  church  at  Northampton,  who 
served  them  occasionally  in  a  missionary  capacity.  Their 
lot  on  Pleasant  Street  was  purchased  in  1869,  and  the  church 
building — of  wood — erected  during  1870-71.  Its  dedication 
took  place  June  25th  in  the  latter  year. 

Rev.  Francis  Brennan  became  the  first  resident  pastor,  and 
served  until  the  spring  of  1878,  a  period  of  six  years,  when, 
on  account  of  continued  ill  health,  he  returned  to  Ireland,  his 
earlj'  home. 

The  church  has  now  no  settled  pastor,  but  is  again  under 
the  care  of  the  church  at  Northampton,  and  served  by  Rev. 
Father  Barry,  of  that  parish. 

CEMETERIES. 

There  are  three  cemeteries  in  Amherst,  all  of  which  are 
owned  by  the  town.  The  old  cemetery,  laid  out  for  the  "  east 
inhabitants"  in  1730,  as  mentioned  previously,  is  situated  in 
what  was  formerly  the  west  highway,  west  of  the  lot  then 
owned  by  Nathaniel  Church,  and  at  first  contained  one  acre 
and  twenty  rods  of  land.  This  cemetery,  to  which  several 
acres  have  been  added,  is  situated  a  short  distance  north  of 
the  present  common  at  Amherst  Centre,  and  east  of  Pleasant 
Street,  which  is  about  four  rods  in  width,  all  that  remains  of 
the  original  forty  rods  known  as  the  "West  Highway," 
separating  the  first  and  second  divisions. 

The  cemetery  at  North  Amherst  contains  three  acres. 

The  cemetery  at  South  Amherst  contains  about  the  .same. 

The  compiler  of  the  foregoing  history  of  Amherst  gratefully 
acknowledges  his  indebtedne.ss  to  many  of  her  citizens  for 
valuable  assistance  and  information,  generously  supplied.  To 
Samuel  C.  Carter — so  long  the  honored  keeper  of  the  town's 
valuable  records,  and  still  their  watchful  custodian — thanks  are 
due  for  special  courtesies  extended,  officially  and  otherwise; 
to  Messrs.  Henry  M.  McCloud  and  John  E.  Williams,  of  the 
Amherst  Record,  for  ready  counsel  and  many  favors  ;  to  Prof. 
William  S.  Tyler  and  Prof.  William  S.  Clark,  for  important 
documents  and  information  ;  to  Prof.  H.  H.  Goodell,  for  the 
loan  of  invaluable  papers  pertaining  to  the  French-and-Indian 
and  Revolutionary  wars  ;  and  to  Messrs.  Edward  A.  Thomas, 
E.  F.  Cook,  M.  N.  Spear,  Dr.  H.  J.  Gate,  and  others,  for  aid 
in  various  ways. 

Chief  among  the  authorities  consulted  were  Prof.  Tyler's 
"History  of  Amherst  College,"  Dr.  Holland's  "History  of 
Western  Massachusetts,"  and  M.  F.  Dickinson's  "Historical 
Address,"  pamphlet. 

REBELLION   RECORD. 

The  following  soldiers,  residents  of  Amherst,  enlisted  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States  at  the  period  of  the  Rebellion. 
Their  record  shows  that  they  participated  quite  as  actively  and 
efficiently  as  any  soldiers  engaged  during  that  trying  period, 
and  suflTered  proportionately  with  the  bravest  and  best : 

Adiims,  Sylvester  H.,  2t3t  Mass. 
Allen,  Benjamin  Potivine,  14th  Mass. 
Ball,  John  D.,  10th,  37lh,  and  2llth  Mass. 
Bull,  Nelson  Roderick,  10th  Miiss. 
Ball.  Henry  C,  15th  Mass. 
Barton,  Austin,  2lst  Mass. 
Bolio,  Charles  C,  27th  Mass. 
Bolio,  Levi  M.,  27lh  Mass. 


260 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Baker,  Cliarlcs  K.,  27tli  Mass. 

Barton,  ClmiU-s  II.,  27ih  Mass. 

Bardwell,  Hfiiry  J.,  27th  IMass. 

BoUwooii,  Ednnnxl.  2d  Corp.,  27Ui  Mass. 

Baker,  Asel.  27tli  Mass. 

Btker,  Peti'r,  27tli  Mass. 

Baker,  Ezm,  27th  Mas*. 

Bolster,  Frank  E.,  27tli  Mass. 

Barton,  Morrison,  14ih  Ma^s. 

Bowman,  James,  27tli  Mass. 

Bowman,  Henry,  2(lth  Mass. 

Boynton,  Henry  E.,  14th  Ma**. 

ButterfieKI,  Francis,  1st  Msiss. 

Beston,  John,  ;'<7th  Mass. 

Beston,  Patrick,  ^7lli  Muss. 

Barrows,  Ashley  \V.,  27ih  Mass. 

Bell,  Fredfrick  R.,  37lh  Mass. 

Bartlett,  Lewis  A.,  52d  Mass, 

Bartlett,  Milo  A.,  52d  Mass. 

Barton,  George  H.,  52<i  Mass. 

Bell,  George  II.,  52il  Mass. 

Baker,  James  A.,  c-urp.,  52(1  Mass. 

Bliss,  William  L.,  .S2d  Mass. 

Cook,  Benjamin  O.,  lOlh  3Ias3. 

Clark,  William  S.,  m;ijor,  21st  Mass. 

Gates,  All.yrt,  27tli  M.iss. 

Cutter,  Ptolemy  P.,  29th  Mass. 

Ciishman,  John  E..  27th  Mass. 

Crossnian,  ISarton,  27th  Mass. 

Coy,  Henry,  llth,  0th,  and  32il  Mass. 

Cook,  Austin,  Ullh  Mass. 

Cooke,  George  E.,  37th  Mass. 

Cook,  Willard  S.,  37lli  Mass. 

Cowls,  Wat*.pn  W.,  52d  Mass. 

Clapp,  Charles,  52d  Mass. 

Calahan,  Edward,  52d  Mass. 

Calaban,  Jeremiah,  52d  Ma'^s. 

Dunakin,  Charles,  10th  Mass.;  Ist  V.  S. 

Dickirison,  Fnncis  Howard,  loth  Mass. 

Douglass,  Henry  F.,  21st  Mass. 

Dennison,  Ami  R.,  1st  lieiit ,  27th  Miiss. 

Biukinsou,  Ba.xter  E.,  3d  sergt..27lh  Mass. 

Dickinson,  Chester,  Jr.,  27th  Mass. 

Dickinson,  David  L.,14th  Mass. 

Dickinson,  Levi  P.,  ;i7th  Mass. 

Dickinson,  Willanl  R.,  27th  Mass. 

Dickinson,  Francis  E.,  2l8t,  3Cth,  and  oGth  Muss. 

Dickinson,  George,  52d  Mass. 

Draper,  George  A.,  27th  Mass. 

Dickinson,  Amariah,  D2d  Mass. 

Dickinson,  John  W.,  52d  Mass. 

Edson,  Levi,  27th  Mass. 
Fisher,  Homer  L.,  31st  Mass. 
Fisher,  George  L.,  3Ist  Mass. 
Fish,  Francis  W.,  37th  Mass. 
Fahey,  William,  37th  Mass. 
Franklin,  Benjamin  R.,  37th  Mass. 

Fales,  William  B.,  52d  Mass. 

Fish,  Nelson  D.  IV  L.,  asst.  siirg.,  27th  Mass. 

Finemore,  Charles  A.,  colored,  54th  Milss. 
Goodelt,  Charles  L.,  21st  Mass. 

Grover,  Jnseph,  27th  Mass. 

Graves,  William  O.,  37th  Mass. 

Gunn,  Charles,  J>7th  Mass. 

Gray,  Edward  P.,  1st  Mass.  Cav. 

Gunn,  Cephas  W.,  2d  sergt.,  52d  Miiss. 

Glazier,  John  A.,  :i7th  Mass. 

Hastings,  Willard  D.,  27th  Mass. 

llawley,  Henry  E.,  27tli  Moss. 

Haskell,  Ijewis  R.,  Hancock's  Corps. 

Hopkins,  William  J.,  27th  Ma.<ia. 

Hohnrt,  George  Martin,  27th  Mass. 

Hawes,  James  F.,  27th  Mjisb. 

Hastings,  Henry  B.,  27ih  Miiss. 

Hills,  Nehomiah  P.,  27th  Mass. 

Howland,  John  W.,  1st  Mass.  Cav. 

Hastings,  Joseph  C,  52d  Mass. 

Howes,  George  E.,  3d  sergt.,  52d  Mas^. 

Howes,  Charles  O.,  52d  M.iss. 

Holden,  Freeman  L.,  52d  Mass. 

Haywood,  Charles  E.,  52d  Mass. 

Hardaker,  James,  52d  Mass. 

Haling,  Horace,  ft2d  Mass. 

Hulibard,  Henry,  52(1  Mass, 

Heiidei'son,    Thonnis,  surgeon's     rinite,    Laurens 
Hospital. 

Johnson,  EU  H.,  27th  Mass. 


Johnson,  Ehenezer  M.,  10th  Ma?s. 

Johnson,  William  F.,  Jj3d  5Ias3. 

Johnson,  Silas  O.,  52il  Mass. 

Johnson,  Dwiglit  H..  52d  Mmfs. 

Jennings,  William  II.  H.,  54lh  Mass. 

Kellogg,  Charles  F.,  2d  and  o7th  Mass. 

Kellogg,  James  B.,  27th  Mass. 

Kellogg,  Justin  P.,  2d  lieut.,  52d  Ma^e. 

Kellogg,  B.  Franklin,  &2d  Mass. 

Kellogg,  Albert  H.,  musician,  37th  Mass. 

Lincoln,  Rufus  B.,  2d  lieut.,  37tli  Mass.;  pro.  to  col. 

Leggett,  Jtdin  A.,  37ih  Mass. 

Lovett,  Murray  B.,  10th  Slass. 

L<iomis,  Richard  B.,  21st  Mass. 

Lovett,  Wheaton,  27th  Mass. 

Latham,  William  W.,  27ih  Mass. 

Miles,  Marcus  T.  C'.,  20tli  Mass. 

Manley,  Edward  W.,  27th  Mass. 

Miles,  Reuben,  12th  Conn. 

Munsel,  Charles  K.,  37th  Mass. 

Maloney,  Michael,  52d  Mass. 

Mathews,  Charles,  31st  Mass. 

Mathews,  Francis  J.,  34th  Mass. 

Newell,  George  W.,21st  Mass. 

Putnam,  George,  10th  Mass. 

Plumb,  Henry,  21st  Mass. 

Pai'Bons,  John  I>.,  27th  Mass. ;  pro.  to  corp. 

Pi  ince,  Henry  B.,  27th  Jla-ss. ;  pro.  to  Corp. 

Preston,  James  A.,  27th  Mass. 

Potwine,  Edwin  H.,  27tli  Mivss. 

Preston,  Simeon  E  ,  27th  Mass.;  pro.  to  corp. 

Packard,  Henry  Clay,  27th  Mass. 

Pierce,  James  A.,  14th  M:isa. 

Percival,  Erasmus  Wni.,  14th  Mass.;  pro.  to  corp. 

Parmenter,  George  H.,  53d  Mass. 

Rust,  Jacob  L.,  27tli  Mass. 

Roberts,  Albert,  52il  Ma-ss. 

Roberts,  Norman,  52d  Mass. 

Roberts,  George  H.,  .VJd  Mass. 

Rolph,  Edward  M.,  52d  Mass. 

Stanley,  Edward  II.,  lOtli  Mass. ;  pro.  to  corp. 

Scott,  George  W.,  21st  M;iS3. 

Stearns,  A.  Frazier,  1st  lieut.,  21st   Mass.;  acting 

adjt. 
Sloan,  Timothy  W  ,  capt.,  27th  Mass. 
Skinner,  Leander,  l^t  sergt.,  27th  Mass. ;  pro.  to 

2d  lieut.,  Ist  lieut.,  and  capt. 
Skinner,  Linnens  C  ,  musician,  27th  Muf.s. 
Skinner,  Lyniau  W.,  musician,  27tli  Mass. 
Stearns,  John,  27th  Mass. 
Sloan,  George  W.,  4th  corp.,  27th  Mass. 

Saiuis,  Michael,  27lh  Mass. 

Spanlding,  Chai  les  B.,  27th  Mass. 

Sears,  IleTiry,  27th  QIass. 

Storrs,  Charles  L.,  2d  sergt.,  27th  Mass. ;  pro,  to  1st 
sergt.  and  capt. 

Shea,  Patrick,  31st  Mass. 

Smith,  diaries  V.,  coip.,  28th  Mass. ;  pro.  to  lieut. 
and  to  capt. 

Shouls,  John,  27th  Mass. 

Spear,  George  P.,  52d  Mass. 

Spear,  Asa  A<lams,  2d  lieut.,  52d  Mass. 

Stori-3,  Samuel  J.,  capt.,  52d  Mass.;  pro.  to  lieut.- 
col. 

Smith,  Charles  C,  52d  Ma=s. 

Smith,  William  J.,  37tli  M;iss. 

Sanderson,  James  K.,  37th  Miisa. 

Spelmati,  Timothy,  37th  Mass. 

Saudliiig,  John,  37th  Mass. 

Tliayer,  Josiah,  lOtli  Mass. 

Thayt-r,  Lyman  R.,  27th  Mass. 

Tufts,  George  II.,  27th  Mass. 

Tyler,  Mason  W.,  lieut.,  37th  Mass. ;  pro.  to  capt., 
maj.,  Heut.-col.,  and  cul. 

Taft,  Ethan  A.,  37lh  Mass. 

Thayer,  Samuud  M.,  37th  Mass. 

Turner,  Charles  F.,  37tli  Mass. 

Taylor,  Joseph  K.,  37th  Mass. 

Toole,  Patrick  0.,52d  Mass. 

Thompson,  James,  5-4th  Mass. 

Vinton,  Medad,  27th  Mass. 

White,  William  Henry,  21st  Mass. 

Williams,  Siduiuoti  II.,  27th  Mass. 

Welch,  Farrell,  2lst  Mass. 

Woodvorth,  Key.  Clias.  L.,  chaplain,  27th  Mass. 

Williams,  B.  Hartley,  Ist  Mass.  Cav. 

Wilson,  Robert,  52d  Mass. 


Wheelock,  James  H.,  52d  Mass. 
Wheelock,  John  V.  West,  52.i  Mass. 
White,  John,  52d  Mass. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 
Hurton,  We.sley  W.,  1st  Mass.  Art. 
Smith,  Francis  B.,  1st  Mass.  Art. 
Heald,  Charles  A.,  32d  Mass. 
Church,  Spencer,  Jr.,  9th  and  32d  Mass. 
llervey,  Eugene  P.,  27th  Mass. 
Spear,  Jrtmes  W.,  27th  Mass. 
Russell,  Dwight,  27th  Mass. 
Sears,  Arthur,  27th  Mass. 
King,  Warren  F.,  27lh  Mass. 
Mollett,  Charles  D.,  27th  Mass. 
Phelps,  Lyman  D.,  21st  Mass. 
Kelsey,  Ezra,  27th  Mass. 
Connor,  Cornelius  O.,  27th  Ma-'S. 
Connor,  John,  37th  Mass. 
B.'stin,  Dennis,  37th  Mass. 
Dickinson,  Henry  Clay,  29th  H.  A. 
Uftord,  Andrew  J.,  Ist  Mass.  Cav. 
Hobart,  William  E.,  1st  Mass.  Cav. 
Siiattuck,  George  W.,  1st  Mass.  Cav. 
Bolio,  Cephas  B. 

COLORED. 
Freeman,  Samuel,  bugler,  r»tli  Mass.  Cav. 
Jennings,  William.  54th  Mass. 
Jennings,  Francis  N..  54th  Mass. 
Jackson,  Jarvis,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Jackson,  Windsor,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Paxton,  Howard  E.,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Solomon,  Joseph  I.,  5th  Mji-<8.  Cav. 
Sny,lanil,  Lorenzo,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Thompson,  John,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Thompson,  Christopher,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Tlmnijison,  Henry,  5th  Ma-«s.  Cav. 
Thompson,  Charles,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
The  following  enlisted  in  the  Navy.    None  appear 
to  have  been  residents  of  Amherst  except  the 
first  three: 
Cutter,  Wm.  v.,  "  Meirimack." 
Miles,  Wm.B.,  "Bricknell." 
Newt-ll,  Henry  L.,  "Os-^ipee." 
Adams,  Eilward  H.,  "  Wachusett." 

Boinan,  Frank  S. 

Boyrit<Mi,  Cli'irles  P. 

Clialliiier,  William. 

Colter,  JnnH'S  A. 

Doyle,  Miciiael,  Jr.,  "  Rhode  Island." 

Fitzsimmons,  John. 

Gleason,  Thomas. 

Hudson,  John. 

Hay,  Samuel. 

Keel'e,  Thomas,  "John  Adams." 

Lawry,  Uranus,  "Constellation." 

Lear,  John. 

McCallnrn,  Patrick. 

McGiuley,  Cliarles. 

Nelson,  John,  "Sabine." 

Pierce,  James. 

Scott,  Stephen  C,  "Circassian." 

White,  Cornelius. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  non-residents  enlisted  at 
Amherst  in  the  several  legiments  of  infantry  : 

Adams,  Charles  B ,  1st  N.  Y.  Vols. 

Bowman,  Alansford,  20th  ]MasB. 

Bowman,  Truman,  52d  Mass. 

Brown,  Perez  R.,  52d  Hhi-ss. 

Burns,  Joseph,  52d  Mass. 

Couley,  George  B.,  44th  III. 

Cooley,  Henry  M.,  sergt.,  14th  Conn. 

Dyer,  Peter,  27th  Mass. 

Giluian,  Ai,  2d  Mass.  Cav. 

Hanks.  Edward  C,  37th  Mass. 

Hoyt,  Francis  A.,  1st  Mass.  Art. 

Homes,  J.  F.,  27tli  Mass. 

Hitchcock,  Henry,  2d  Mass.  Cav. 

Howe,  Joseph,  2d  Mass.  Cav. 

Johnson,  Martin  Silas,  53d  Mass. 

Kane,  James,  20th  Mass. 

Latham,  Alonzo  W.,  ISIh  Slasa. 

McCloud,  Henry  M.,  12th  Conn. 

Moody,  Lyman  E.,  1st  Mich.  Sharpshooters. 

IMontague,  George  L.,  capt.,  37tli  Mass. ;  pro.  to 
maj.,  and  again  to  lieut.-col. 


i 


'{^^Uc^c^^  .^,^^^^^yt/:.^.^-i!^^^^ 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


261 


Prouty,  Edward  U.,  10th  Muss. 

Rose,  T.  (\,  27lh  Mass. 

Kiissell.  Chas.  F.,  :Jd  III.  Cav. 

AVhitf,  SamiH'I,  f>tli  Wis. 

Jiickson,  Saridtbrd,  54t!i  fliass. 

The  following  were  ohtained  by  payment  of  extra 

boiiiitie:^: 
Kelly,  James,  IGth  Maas.  H.  Art. 
Rush,  John,  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Richards,  Joseph,  2l8t  Mass. 
Allen,  Asa  P.,  4th  Mass.  Cav, 
Casson,  Henry,  4tli  Mas.s.  Cav. 
Flanders,  Mnses  L.,  Slst  Masa. 
McSweony,  Dennis,  4tli  Mass.  Cav. 
Gleason,  Arthur,  4th  Mass.  Cav. 
Kelly,  James,  -Ith  Ma^s.  Cav. 
Henry,  James. 
Rand,  Elienezer,  35th  Mass. 
Riley,  Charles,  2tst  Mass. 
Murphy,  Tliumsia  F.,  2d  Mass.  H.  Art. 
Tierney,  Charles,  2d  Mass.  Cav. 
Kendell,  Henry  C,  21st  Mass. 
■\Velch,  Roilman,  2d  Mass.  H.  Art. 
Williamson,  William,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Richards,  Samuel  W.,  4th  Mass.  Cav. 
Hillis,  John,  2d  Ma^s.  H.  Art. 
Westcott,  Stephen  K.,  11th  Mass. 
Hack,  Robert,  2d  Mass.  H.  Art. 
Hefferan,  William,  35th  Mass. 
Wood,  Fiank,  i:ith  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Moian,  John,  lOIh  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
McGuirck,  Bernard,  i;Jth  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Witheiell,  David,  l:uh  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Matininp:,  John,  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Waters,  Charh-s,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Turner,  Charles,  5th  Mass.  Cav. 
Dow,  Charles,  2d  Mass,  Cav. 
Cannon,  Owen,  19th  Mass. 
Burke,  Samuel  H.,  Cav.  Bat. 
Wilson,  Joseph,  4lh  Mass.  Cav. 
Smith,  Charles,  4th  Mass.  Cav. 
Kennedy,  John,  13th  Mass.  Bat. 
Stankoff,  Nichtdas,  liith  Mass.  Bat. 
Bryant,  James  W.,  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Scott,  Munrue. 
Spealock,  Charles. 
Allen,  George. 


Drowns,  Henry. 

GouKh,  Caleb. 

Powell,  James. 

Taylor,  John. 

Pierce,  Edwin  H.,  Ist  Mass,  Cav. 

Tauman,  John,  l'.)Ih  Mass. 

Schatz,  Frederick,  19th  Ma^s. 

Russell,  Tliomas,  sub. 

Lyons,  Edward,  sub. 

Haggeity,  William,  sub. 

Mead,  Charles,  sub. 

Cooper,  James,  sub. 

Quiner,  Peter,  sub. 

Tyler,  Jcdin,  19th  Mass.,  sub. 

Carr,  John,  snh. 

Perkins,  William,  suli. 

Martin,  Frank,  sub. 

Moore,  James,  sub. 

Sherburne,  Samuel,  sub. 

Moran,  Thomas,  20th  JIjiss.,  sub. 

Slocum,  Robert,  19th  Maas.,  sub. 

Lyons,  Edward,  sub. 

Jones,  GeorjTP,  sub. 

Pierce,  Charles,  19th  Mass.,  sub. 

Johnson,  Peter,  sub. 

Burns,  William,  sub. 

Cbamplin,  Jason,  54th  Mass.,  sub. 

Total  of  enlistments  irr  the  Army 352 

Total  of  enlistments  in  the  Navy 22 

374 
Of  these  11  were  killed,  15  died  of  wounds,  and 
32  died  uf  disease;  35  others  were  wounded. 
Totiil,  'J3. 

NRCROLOGY. 

The  following  siddiers  were  mortally  wounded  or 
killed  in  the  service:  Hei'ry  C.  Ball,  Austin 
Burton,  Levi  M.  Bolio,  Cliaries  K.  Baker, 
Henry  Bowman,  Henry  C.  Bnyntoii,  Ptolemy 
P.  Cutter,  George  E.  Cooke,  Francis  H.  Dick- 
inson, David  L.  Dickinson,  George  A.  Draper, 
Levi  Edson,  Martin  S.  Johnson,  William  W, 
Latham,  George  Putnam,  Edward  T  Prouty, 
George  W.  Scott,  Frazier  A.  Stearns,  Charles 
V.  Smith,  James  K.  Sanderson,  Josah  Tbayer, 
Ji.seph  K.  Taylor-,  James  W.  Spear,  Charles  D. 
MoUett,  Jason  ClrumpUn,  Samuel  C.  White. 


The  following  died  of  disease  contracted  in  ser- 
vice: Charles  B,  Adams,  Sylvester  H.  Adams, 
IJeiijamiri  P.  Allen,  Mor'rison  Barton,  Milo  A. 
Bartlftt,  George  Dickinson,  Jtdwi  W.  Dickin- 
son, Jo.-etih  Grover,  Murray  B.  Lovctt.  Abmzo 
W.  Latham,  Reuben  Miles,  Edward  W.  Manley, 
Marcus  T.  C.  Miles,  Henry  Plumli,  Norman 
Roberts,  Edward  H.  Stanley,  Lyman  W.  Skin- 
ner, George  W.Sloan,  Charles  C.  Sniirh,  Ethan 
A.  Taft,  Robert  Wilson,  John  P.  W.  Wheelock, 
John  Thompson,  Jarvis  Jackstui,  Spencer 
Church,  Eugene  P.  Hovey,  Arthur  Sear-.-,  L>- 
man  D.  Phelps,  Ezra  Kelsey,  Cejihas  B.  Uolio, 
Sanford  Jackson,  Henry  Thompson. 

WOUNDED. 

The  following  were  wounded  while  in  service; 
Charles  H.  Barton,  Nelson  K.  Ball,  Edmund 
Bultwood,  James  Bowman,  John  Beston,  Pat- 
rick Beslon,  Frederick  R.  Bell,  John  E.  Crrsh- 
nian  (lost  an  arm},  Henry  Coy,  George  B. 
Cooley,  Chester  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Baxter  E.  Dick- 
iirson,  Johir  A.  Glazier,  Henry  E.  Hawh-y, 
William  J.  Hopkins,  Ebenezer  M.  Johnson, 
Charles  F.  Kellogg,  Rufus  P.  Lincoln,  James 
A  Pr'estorr,  Simon  E.  Preston,  .lames  A.  Pierce, 
Jacob  L.  Rirst,  Charles  B.  Spauidirig,  Henry 
Sears,  John  Sholea  (lost  a  leg),  William  J. 
Smith,  John  Sandling,  Timothy  Spellman, 
Mason  W.  Tyler,  Charles  T.  Turner,  Medad 
Vinton,  Solonron  H.  Williams,  Dwight  Russell» 
Lewis  R.  Haskell,  Henry  Wm.  White. 

MIIJTABY  EXPENSES. 

Expenses  of  the  town  in  1861  $535.17 

Expenses  of  individuals,  1861 56t>.50 

Expenses  ot  the  town.  1862 8,;^5(;.IJ0 

Expenses  of  Wm.  A.  Stearns,  Esij 875.t)() 

Expenses  of  the  town  in  1863 tU.25 

Expenses  of  drafted  nren  for  substitutes 

in  1863-64 14,275  00 

Expenses  of  the  town  in  1864 11,738.85 

Expenses  of  individirals,  1864 , 8,1163.00 

Expenses  of  the  town  in  1865 406.00 

Interest  on  the  "State  Aid" 1,360.50 

HG,237.27 
Deduct  amount  received  from  State  to 

eijrralize  bounties 1,641.27 

$44,596  00 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


HON.  EDWARD  DICKINSON,  LL.D., 
wai?  born  in  Amherst,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass.,  Jan.  1,  1803. 
His  ancestors  lived  in  Hadley  (of  wliich  Amiierst  was  formerly 
a  part)  as  early  as  16.57,  the  year  in  whieli  Hadley  was  settled. 
His  father  was  Hon.  Samuel  Fowler  Dielcinson,  one  of  the  con- 
spicuous founders  of  Amherst  College,  and  a  leading  lawyer 
of  his  day  and  locality.  Preparing  for  college  at  home,  he 
entered  Amherst  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  wliere  he  remained  one 
year.  The  three  last  years  of  his  college  course  were  spent  at 
Yale,  when  he  graduated,  among  the  first  of  his  class,  in  1823. 
For  the  two  succeeding  years  he  read  law  with  his  father,  and 
then  spent  a  year  in  the  then  famous  Northampton  law-school, 
under  Profs.  E.  H.  Mills,  Judge  Samuel  Howe,  and  J.  H. 
Ashmun.  In  1826  he  opened  a  law-office  at  Amherst,  and 
continued  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  from  that  time  till 
his  death,  nearly  half  a  century. 

The  first  public  position  which  he  filled  was  treasurer  of 
Amherst  College,  to  which  responsible  office  he  was  elected  in 
183o,  and  which  he  held  from  that  time  till  1874,  when  he  re- 
signed, and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  W.  A.  Dickinson,  its 
present  incumbent.  He  entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  office 
at  a  time  when  the  college  was  comparatively  weak  and  its 
financial  resources  much  embarrassed,  and  even  its  perpetuity 
a  matter  of  uncertainty.  The  fact  that,  during  his  adminis- 
tration, the  property  of  the  college  grew  from  something  like 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  over  a  million,  abundantly 


attests  the  financial  ability  and  skill  with  which  it  was 
handled. 

The  Springfield  RepiMienn,  in  an  obituary  notice,  says  of 
him,  "  No  man  ever  watched  or  tended  his  own  child  or  his 
own  property  with  more  anxious,  personal,  jealous  care  than 
he  did  the  institution  he  has  so  long  and  so  ably  served." 

In  1838  and  1839,  and  again  in  1874,  his  town  chose  him  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  1842  and  1843 
his  county  sent  him  to  the  Senate ;  in  1845-46,  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Governor's  council,  Gov.  Briggs  being  the  chief 
magistrate  ;  and  in  the  years  18-53  and  1855  he  was  member 
of  Congress  from  the  district  then  made  up  chiefly  of 
Hampshire  and  Hampden  Counties,  nominated  and  elected  by 
the  Whig  party.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  keenly  alive  to  everything 
which  looked  to  the  prosperity  of  his  native  town. 

Of  his  part  in  securing  for  Amherst  her  first  railroad,  the 
New  London  and  Northern,  the  Amherst  Recordsays :  "  Every- 
thing that  talent,  vigor,  and  indomitable  perseverance  could 
do  he  did,  and  it  is  no  reflection  upon  his  co-laborers  to  say 
that  to  his  influence,  tact,  and  energy  are  we  mainly  indebted 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  work." 

From  the  close  of  his  term  in  Congress,  Mr.  Dickinson  re- 
tired from  public  life,  except  in  the  instance  of  his  hist  elec- 
tion to  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1874,  and  it  was  owing 
to  the  deep  interest  he  took  in  securing  to  his  town  all  the 
advantages  of  the  construction  of  the  Massachusetts  Central 


262 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Railroad  that  he  consented  to  serve  it  again  in  the  Legislature. 
On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  June,  1874,  he  made  a  speech 
in  the  House  on  a  bill  appropriating  three  niillion  dollars  for 
perfecting  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  line  of  road,  the  main  pur- 
pose of  which  was  to  guard  the  interests  of  the  Massachusetts 
Central.  Soon  after,  feeling  a  premonition  of  illness,  he  re- 
tired to  his  rooms  at  the  Tremont  Hotel,  where  about  one 
o'clock  he  was  stricken  with  apoplexy,  and  died  in  a  few 
hours.  In  the  death  of  Mr.  Dickinson  the  town  of  Amherst 
and  her  college  lost  emphatically  one  of  their  best  and  most 
devoted  friends.  Of  his  character,  to  quote  again  from  the 
Springfield  Republican :  "  In  his  State,  and  particularly  in  its 
western  section,  he  has  long  ranked  among  the  few  '  first 
citizens,'  honored  for  his  years  and  public  services,  respected 
for  his  sterling  good  sense  and  independence  of  character,  re- 
vered for  his  spotless  integrity  and  patriotic  self-sacrifice  to 
public  duty,  beloved  even  by  all  who  came  near  to  him  for 
the  simple  truthfulness  and  chivalric  tenderness  that  lay  deep 
and  broad  in  the  base  of  his  nature.  He  has  left  an  example 
of  service  as  a  public-spirited  citizen  and  faithful  oflScial  that 
both  in  quality  and  quantity  should  alone  make  him  an  his- 
toric character  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  indeed  a  New  Eng- 
land Chevalier  Bayard,  without  fear  and  without  reproach. 
He  possessed  and  exhibited  that  rarest  and  yet  most  needed 
of  all  qualities  in  these  days  of  cowardly  conformity  and  base 
complaisance, — t/ie  courage  of  his  convictions.  This  was  the 
essence  of  his  life.  This  is  his  noblest  bequest  to  his  com- 
munity and  his  State." 

In  18G3,  Amherst  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  title  of 
LL.D.  For  many  years  he  was  an  active  member  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  of  Amherst. 

The  surviving  members  of  his  family  are  an  aged  wife,  a 
sister  of  Mr.  Albert  Norcross,  of  Monson,  and  the  late  Lorin 
M.  Norcross,  of  Boston ;  a  son,  W.  A.  Dickinson,  a  lawyer, 
and,  as  before  mentioned,  the  successor  of  his  father  as  treas- 
urer of  Amherst  College;  two  daughters ;  a  brother,  Williaru, 
who  resides  in  Worcester,  and  is  engaged  in  the  banking  busi- 
ness ;  and  a  sister,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Asa  Bullard,  Secretary 
of  the  Congregational  Publication  Society,  and  a  resident  of 
Cambridgeport. 


WAITSTILL   DICKINSON 

was  born  in  Amherst,  Hampshire  Co.,  March  19,  1814.  His 
grandfather,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  settled  at  an  early  day  in 
South  Amherst,  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  George  Shaw, 
and  here  both  his  father  and  Waitstill  Dickinson  were  born. 
His  father,  Oliver  Dickinson,  was  thrice  married.  By  his  first 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth,  he  had  six  children, 
viz.,  Mary,  Waitstill,  Moses,  Josiah,  William,  and  Elizabeth. 
By  his  second  wife  he  had  nine  children,  as  follows:  Clarissa, 
Martha,  George,  Lucretia,  Mary,  Emily,  Webster,  Clarissa 
(2d),  and  Charles.  By  his  third  wife  he  had  no  children.  All 
but  Josiah  and  Charles  were  married  and  raised  families. 
Mary,  Moses,  Elizabeth,  George,  Charles,  and  Lucretia  are 
deceased.  Waitstill,  Josiah,  Emily,  and  Martha,  widow  of 
Charles  Haywood,  are  residents  of  Amherst.  Prom  the  time 
he  was  old  enough  to  work  Waitstill  Dickinson  was  em- 
ployed on  his  father's  farm,  receiving  only  a  common-school 
education.  When  fourteen  years  old  he  drove  a  four-horse 
team  to  Boston,  and  followed  the  business  of  teaming  for  the 
most  part  till  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

He  was    married,   April  20,  1837,  to  Mercy  J.   Dickinson, 
daughter  of  Enos  and  Joanna  Dickinson,  of  Amherst.     Mrs. 


Dickinson  was  born  in  Amherst,  April  7,  1816.     They  have 
eleven  children,  as  follows  : 

Lyman  Enos,  born  Aug.  9,  1839.  Died  March  26,  1848. 
Joanna  Thankful,  born  Feb.  17,  1841.  An  invalid  for  fourteen 
years,  occasioned  by  being  thrown  from  a  wagon.  Living  at 
home.  Henry  Clay,  born  Feb.  14, 1843.  A  soldier  in  the  late 
war.  Married  Nellie  Andrews.  Three  children,  viz.,  Stella 
F.,  Isadore  L.,  and  Katie  I.  Employed  in  the  store  with  his 
father.  Julia  L.,  born  May  3,  1844.  Died  Aug.  29,  1808. 
Dwight  E.,  born  Jan.  21,  1846.     Married  Henrietta  Bolter. 


One  child, — Walter.  A  filmier  in  Amherst.  Lucy  M.,  born 
Oct.  22,  1847.  Living  at  home.  Edward  M.,  born  Oct.  14, 
1849.  Married  Bell  Schoficld.  One  child,— Grace  E.  Clerk 
in  grocery-store  in  Hartford,  Conn.  Daniel  Webster,  born 
Dec.  6,  1851.  Married  Jennie  Prince.  Employed  in  a  store 
at  Rocky  Hill,  Conn.  George  Washington,  born  July  IG, 
1854.  Married  Ella  Shumway.  A  farmer  in  Sunderland. 
Sidney  Oliver,  born  Sept.  19,  1858.  Clerk  in  post-office  at 
Amherst.  Robert  Martin,  born  July  12,  1860.  Living  at 
home. 

Mr.  Dickinson  followed  teaming  four  years  after  marriage. 
In  1842  commenced  merchandising  on  a  small  .scale  in  South 
Amherst,  and  continued  in  that  business  for  six  years.  He 
carried  on  a  farm  the  next  seven  years.  From  that  time  to 
the  present  he  has  kept  a  grocery-store  in  South  Amherst,  oc- 
cupying his  present  "  red-brick"  store  since  1863. 

Mr.  Dickinson  has  served  as  selectman  and  overseer  of  the 
poor  seven  years,  and  assessor  five  years  ;  also  school  director 
for  a  number  of  years.  Postmaster  at  South  Amherst  six 
years  from  1844,  and  from  1866  to  the  present  time.  Elected 
a  Representative  to  the  Legislature  in  1849.  In  politics  he  is 
Republican.  Though  not  a  member  of  any  church,  a  regular 
attendant  upon,  and  contributor  to,  the  support  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  of  South  Amherst. 


Wi^iy-c^    «>>>-i-«>-7-«,i^*-^i. 


Ezra  Ingram  was  born  in  Amherst,  Hampshire  Co.,  Mass., 
Sept.  1,  1799.  The  family  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  1st, 
John  Ingram,  who  was  born  in  England  about  1642;  emi- 
grated to  this  countrj',  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
the  town  of  Hadley.  He  died  June  22,  1722.  2d.  John 
Ingram,  who  married  Mehitable,  daughter  of  John  Dickin- 
son, by  whom  he  raised  a  family  of  eleven  children.  When 
advanced  in  j'earshe  removed  to  North  Amherst,  where  hedicd. 
3d.  John  Ingram,  married  Lydia,  daughter  of  Samuel  Bolt- 
wood,  by  whom  he  bad  six  children.  Died  in  Amherst,  Nov. 
11,  1737.  4th.  John  Ingram,  married,  Feb.  9,  1758,  Thankful 
Eose,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children.  Died  Aug.  30,  1809. 
5th.  Ebenezer  Ingram,  born  July  8,  1760,  in  Amherst;  mar- 
ried. May  20,  1789,  Esther  Rood,  by  whom  he  had  nine 
children,  as  follows,  in  the  order  of  their  birth  :  Deiicey,  Peter, 
Abigail,  Esther,  Ezra,  Naomi,  Lucj-,  Ellen  A.,  and  John  P., 
— three  sons  and  si.\  daughters. 

Peter  was  for  many  years  a  cloth-manufacturer  at  North 
Amherst.  After  being  burned  out  he  moved  to  Fond  du  Lac, 
Wis.,  where  he  died.     He  left  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

John  P.  also  moved  to  Fond  du  Lac  and  died  there,  leaving 
one  son  and  two  daughters. 

Four  of  the  six  daughters  married  and  settled  in  Western 
New  York.  Naomi  married  M.  C.  Darling,  who  was  the 
founder  of  Fond  du  Lac.  Ellen  A.  married  Col.  Josiah 
Tryon,  both  of  whom  died  in  Fond  du  Lac.  Ebenezer  In- 
gram, the  father,  died  in  Amherst,  Nov.  30,  1819.  His  wife 
died  in  Fond  du  Lac  while  on  a  visit  to  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Tryon. 

Ezra  Ingram  being  the  only  son  living  at  home  at  the  time 
of  the  death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  when  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age,  the  care  and  responsibility  of  the  family  devolved 
largely  on  him.  Up  to  that  time  he  had  been  employed  on  the 
farm  and  assisting  in  the  grist-,  carding-,  and  cloth-mills, 
which  were  owned  and  run  by  his  father.  His  education  was 
confined  to  the  district  school  of  the  neighborhood.  By  the 
terms  of  his  father's  will  he  became  the  owner  of  the  home- 
stead farm,  and  a  half  interest  with  his  brother  Peter  in  the 
mills,  they  to  pay  a  stipulated  amount  to  the  younger  brother 
and  sisters.     He  gave  his  personal  attention  to  the  farm,  and 


his  brother  ran  the  mills.  Eventually  he  sold  his  interest  in 
the  mills  to  his  brother. 

He  was  married,  Nov.  24,  1824,  to  Susan  E.  Roberts, 
daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Jerusha  Roberts,  of  East  Hartford, 
Conn.  By  her  he  had  children  as  follows:  Francis  H.,  born 
Dec.  13,  1825,  who  went  South  as  a  teacher,  which  occupation 
he  followed  a  number  of  years.  He  was  book-keeper  in  a 
wholesale  hardware  store  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  Nov.  9,  1862. 

Lucy  M.,  born  Dec.  8,  1828;  married,  Sept.  2,  1862,  to 
Bela  U.  Dickinson,  a  retired  farmer,  living  in  Amherst.  They 
have  one  son,  John  Francis. 

Ebenezer  M.,  born  June  24,  1831  ;  in  the  employ  of  Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Wells  Woodbridge,  born  Aug.  27,  1833  ;  killed  by  the  kick 
of  a  horse,  Aug.  22,  1842. 

Mr.  Ingram  remained  on  the  homestead  farm  till  the  spring 
of  1843,  at  which  time  he  sold  it  to  Ephraim  Cushman.  In 
1847  he  purchased  what  is  known  as  the  Eastman  farm,  about 
one  mile  north  of  the  village  of  Amherst,  where  he  remained 
ten  j'ears.  He  then  bought  the  Dr.  Gridley  place  in  Amherst, 
where  he  remained  also  ten  years.  He  then  purchased  the 
Dr.  Smith  place,  next  to  Gunn's  Hotel,  where  he  still  resides. 
His  wife  died  Jan.  24,  1835.  He  married,  May  25,  1838,  Mrs. 
Nancy  Judd  Edwards,  widow  of  David  Edwards,  of  North- 
ampton, and  daughter  of  Frederick  and  Nancy  Judd,  of  South- 
ampton, with  whom  he  lived  over  forty  years.  He  had  no 
children  by  his  second  wife.    Mrs.  Ingram  died  March  21, 1879. 

Mr.  Ingram  has  filled  various  offices  of  public  trust.  Was 
selectman  and  overseer  of  the  poor  eighteen  years,  and  town 
assessor  four  years  ;  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature  in  1842.  Is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has 
missed  but  one  gubernatorial  election  in  fifty-seven  years. 
Though  not  a  member  of  any  church,  he  has  been  a  regular 
attendant  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Amherst.  Honest 
and  honorable  in  all  his  dealings,  whether  of  a  private  or 
public  character,  temperate  in  his  habits,  of  a  genial,  social 
disposition,  an  obliging  neighbor,  and  a  steadfast  friend,  Mr. 
Ingram  well  deserves  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  has  always 
been  held  in  the  community  in  which  he  has  lived. 


f  'Tin  ^^Ti 


Simeon  Clark  was  born  in  Amherst,  Hampsliire  Co.,  Oct. 
l.'i,  1807.  The  ancestor  of  this  branch  of  the  Clark  family,  who 
came  to  this  country  from  England,  was  William  Clark.  He 
sailed  from  Plymouth,  England,  in  theship  "  Mary  and  John," 
March  30,  1630,  and  was  among  the  first  settlers  of  Dorchester, 
near  Boston.  He  moved  his  i^amily  to  Northampton  in  16.59. 
His  wife  rode  on  horseback,  with  two  baskets,  called  panniers, 
slung  across  the  horse,  carrying  one  boy  in  each  basket  and  one 
in  her  lap,  her  husband  on  foot.  In  1 601,  with  others,  he  formed 
the  fir.st  church  in  Northampton,  and  was  chosen  lieutenant  of 
the  train-band,— an  important  office  at  that  time.  He  died 
July  18,  1690.  He  had  four  sons,— William,  John,  Samuel, 
and  Nathaniel.  His  son  John,  Simeon's  ancestor,  married  his 
second  wife,  Mary  Strong,  March  16,  1679,  by  whom  he  bad 
eleven  children, — six  sons  and  five  daughters.  The  names  of 
the  sons  were  John,  Nathaniel,  Ebenezer,  Increase,  Noah, 
and  Josiah.  These  brothers  all  lived  near  each  other  in 
Northampton,  had  large  families,  lived  with  their  wives  more 
than  fifty  years  and  survived  them,  and  all  of  them  were  living 
when  the  "youngest  child  was  seventy  years  old  ;  and  all  of  the 
children  lived  over  eighty  years, — one  ninety-nine  and  three 
over  ninety  years.  When  the  youngest,  Josiah,  died,  in  1789, 
aged  ninety-two  years,  he  was  the  last  of  the  six  sons  and  five 
daughtcrs,"and  at  the  lime  of  his  death  there  were  known  to 
have  been  descendants  of  the  six  brothers  only  to  the  number 
of  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-eight  children,  grandchildren,  and 
great-grandchildren,  of  whom  more  than  nine  hundred  and 
twenty-five  were  living.  Increase,  the  fourth  son  of  John,  above 
mentioned,  died  Aug.'  27,  177.5,  the  father  of  eight  children. 

The  fifth  child,  Simeon,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  Oct.  20,  1720;  married  Rebecca  Strong,  Nov. 
2,  1749.  They  were  married  by  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards. 
He  moved  from  Northampton  to  Amherst  in  1750,  where  his 
twelve  children  were  born,  and  located  on  a  farm  at  the 
centre  of  Amherst,  the  homestead  being  still  held  by  the 
Clark  family.  He  was  one  of  the  first  deacons  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Amherst. 

Simeon,  the  second  child  of  the  twelve  children,  was  born 
June  25,  17.52;  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  Lucy 
Hubbard,  he  had  three  children, — viz.:  Elijah,  Eunice,  and 
Philiimela, — each  of  whom  raised  largo  families,  their  children 
numbering  thirty-one.  His  second  wife  was  Irene  Lewis,  to 
whom  he  was  married  April  23,  1795.  Their  children  were 
Lucy,  Lucy  (2d),  Asahel,  and  Simeon.  Lucy  and  Asahel 
both  died  young.  Lucy  (2d)  married,  Dec.  3,  1817,  Fred- 
erick A.  Palmer,  by  whom  she  had  one  son,  Albert  II.  Palmer, 
who  was  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  and  became  an  emi- 
nent lawyer  in  Racine,  Wis.,  and  died  there.  Simeon,  the 
father,  di'ed  May  8,  1831  ;  the  mother.  May  11,  1855. 

Simeon  Clark  married.  May  21,  1829,  Myra  Cowles, 
daughter  of  Silas  and  Zilpha  Cowles.  She  was  born  Oct.  31, 
1806.     By  this  union  there  were  nine  children :  Juliette,  born 


Photo,  liy  J.  L.  Lovell,  Amlierbt. 


July  30,  I860;  married,  Nov.  26,  18-56,  George  H.  Estabrook, 
of  Worcester,  Mass.,  by  whom  she  had  four  children,  all 
deceased.  Asahel  Lewis,  born  July  25,  1832;  graduate  of 
Amherst,  class  of  1857 ;  married  Phrebe  P.  Gooch,  Sept.  1 9, 1860 ; 
four  children,  three  living;  studied  theology  at  Union  Semi- 
nary, New  York  City,  and  is  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Florida,  Orange  Co.,  N.  Y.  Roval  Washburn,  born  April 
28,  1834  ;  a  graduate  of  Amherst,  class  of  1858 ;  studied  the- 
ology at  Union  Seminary;  from  loss  of  eyesight  and  health 
was  prevented  from  entering  his  chosen  profession  or  any 
active  occupation  ;  died  March  28,  1879.  Zilpha  Gilbert,  born 
Jan.  21,  1836;  married  Theodore  J.  Briggs  ;  four  children, 
three  living  ;  a  graduate  of  Amherst,  class  of  1857  ;  ft  teacher 
in  San  Antonio,  Texas. 

Edwin  Warren,  born  Sept.  21,  1837;  died  May  5,  1838. 
Emily  Maria,  born  Mav  28,  1839;  died  Sept.  15,  1839.  Emily 
Adelia,  born  Juno  28,  1840;  married.  May  24,  1866,  Francis 
H.  Boynton,  a  graduate  of  Amherst,  class  of  1861 ;  pastor  of 
Congregational  Church  at  Baynham,  Mass.  ;  three  children, 
two  living. 

Edwin  Warren,  born  Dec.  2,  1842;  married,  Dec.  1,  1868, 
Louise  M.  Kellogg,  who  died  July  18,  1809.  He  was  again 
married,  Feb.  28,  1872,  to  Lizzie  L.  Henry,  daughter  of  John 
P.  and  Laura  Henry,  of  Chesterfield,  N.  H.  They  have  had 
two  children,  viz.:  Walter  Edwin,  born  April  13,  1874; 
died  July  18,  1875.  Howard  E.,  born  Nov.  17,  1876.  Edwin 
AV.  lives  at  the  homestead  and  carries  on  the  farm. 

Albert  Simeon,  born  May  14,  1848  ;  died  Sept.  18,  1848. 

Mr.  Clark  received  a  common-school  education,  supple- 
mented by  attendance  at  Amherst  Academy  nearly  two  years. 
He  has  always  lived  in  the  house  where  he  was  born,  which  was 
built  by  his  father  in  1780,  situated  at  Mill  Valley,  one  mile 
south  of  Amherst  village.  His  occupation  has  been  princi- 
pally farming,  though  he  studied  field-surveying,  and  followed 
it,  more  or  less,  for  forty  years.  His  services  have  been  often 
demanded  as  administrator  of  estates.  He  has  been  justice 
of  the  peace  thirty  years,  selectman,  assessor,  and  overseer  of 
the  poor  for  man}'  years;  was  captain  of  a  militia  company 
of  the  State  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Amherst  since  1831, 
and  a  deacon  in  the  church  sixteen  years.  In  politics  he  has 
been  identified  with  the  Whig  and  Republican  parties. 

His  wife,  with  whom  he  had  lived  nearly  half  a  century, 
died  June  8,  1871.  A  resident  of  Amherst  for  a  period  beyond 
the  allotted  time  of  man,  always  taking  a  lively  interest  in  the 
growth  and  upbuilding  of  her  institutions,  he  has  lived  to  see 
the  church  of  which  his  grandfather  was  one  of  the  founders 
become  a  rich  and  prosperous  society  and  a  powerful  factor 
in  shaping  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  community,  and  the 
college,  for  the  first  building  of  which  he  helped  to  draw 
the  bricks  and  sand,  grown  to  rank  among  the  foremost  institu- 
tions of  the  land. 


EASTHAMPTON. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Easthampton  may  be  properly  termed  one  of  the  river- 
towns,  though  its  territory  borders  the  Connectieut  for  only  a 
short  distance  south  of  the  "Oxbow."  At  that  point  East- 
hampton  divides  Northampton,  so  that  the  latter  is  not  made 
up  of  contiguous  territory  ;  Northampton  has  a  sort  of  out- 
lying province,  consisting  of  Mount  Tom  and  a  section  of 
narrow  river  vallej'.  This  separates  Easthampton  from  what 
would  seem  to  be  its  natural  eastern  boundary,  the  Connec- 
ticut. 

Easthampton  is  bounded  north  by  Northampton,  east  by 
Northampton  and  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  south  by  Hampden 
County  and  vSouthampton,  west  by  Southampton  and  West- 
hampton. 

It  is  the  smallest  town  in  the  county,  having  an  area  of 
G613  acres,  as  reported  in  the  census  of  1875. 

Easthampton  is  a  portion  of  the  original  purchase  from  the 
Indians  by  the  proprietors  of  Northampton,  and  the  title  to 
the  soil  is,  therefore,  traced  back  directly  to  the  treaty  by 
which  the  tract  was*btainecl. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

This  town  in  its  topography  dift'ers  from  all  the  other  towns 
of  this  county  west  of  the  river.  There  are  few  elevations 
suifieient  to  be  called  bills  in  the  entire  town. 

It  is  walled  in  on  the  southeast  by  the  precipitous  heights 
of  the  Mount  Tom  range,  but  hiis  no  jurisdiction  over  them. 

At  the  northwest  the  town  line  just  clears  the  southern  spurs 
of  the  Mineral  Hill  group.  At  the  southeast  corner  it  cleaves 
a  slice  from  one  of  the  lower  declivities  of  Mount  Tom. 

The  two  branches  of  the  Manhan  River,  one  flowing  south 
from  Westhampton,  the  other  north  from  Southampton,  unite 
upon  the  western  border  and  flow  eastward  through  the  centre 
of  Easthampton  to  the  Connecticut,  joining  the  latter  at  the 
south  part  of  the  Oxbow.  The  tributaries  of  the  Manhan 
from  the  north  are  Pomeroy  Brook,  Saw-Mill  Brook,  and 
several  smaller  rivulets.  It  has  one  tributary  from  the  south, 
of  considerable  importance,  named  Broad  Brook.  This  fur- 
nishes the  water-power  for  most  of  the  great  manufacturing 
enterprises,  rather  than  the  Manhan.  Broad  Brook  itself  has 
a  small  tributary  in  the  south  part,  bearing  the  suspicious 
name  Rum  Brook. 

The  town  has  many  landscapes  of  quiet  beauty,  and  all 
around  it,  within  easy  drive,  is  some  of  nature's  grandest 
scenery.  It  is  a  charming  place  for  the  summer  tourist  who 
may  desire  to  retain  his  connection  with  modern  civilization, 
newspapers,  and  all  the  pleasures  of  a  cultured  town,  and 
yet  enjoy  nature  in  her  loveliest  forms.  A  recent  author  writes 
with  enthusiasm  of  his  native  town  : 

"  It  is  sucli  a  spot  a.s  a  lover  of  nature  might  select  for  a  residence.  Its  streams 
flowing  down  from  tlie  mountains  wliicli  encircle  it,  bearing  fertility  on  their 
bosoms;  the  mountains  themselves  standing  like  watch-towers  guarding  it;  its 
variation  of  hill  and  dale  and  plain;  its  beautiful  trees  and  streets;  all  combine 
to  render  it  a  delightful  retreat  from  the  cares  and  turmoils  of  city  life." 

EARLY   SETTLEMENT — SUBSEQUENT   GROWTH. 

John  Webb  was  undoubtedly  the  first  settler  upon  the  pres- 
ent territory  of  Easthampton.     In  the  town-records  of  North- 
ampton, under  date  of  Dee.  1.3,  1064,  it  is  stated  that  the  town     , 
granted  John  Webb  a  piece  of  land  at  Pascomnuick  to  build     j 


a  house  upon.  In  February  of  the  same  year  the  following 
language  appears  in  a  legal  document:  "  I,  John  Webb,  Sr., 
of  Pasr.ommuck,  do  engage,"  etc.  This  would  indicate  that 
he  was  already  located  out  there  at  the  time  the  town  con- 
firmed his  title.  It  is  known  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  North- 
ampton as  early  as  1G57,  as  his  name  appears  in  a  transaction 
with  certain  sachems  for  the  purchase  of  land.  As  this  was 
only  three  years  after  the  settlement  of  Northampton,  it  might 
be  inferred  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  proprietors,  and  that  he 
might  have  settled  at  the  Oxbow  upon  his  arrival.  In  1663 
or  1664  it  was  recorded  that  John  Webb  brought  in  several 
wolves'  heads,  probably  to  secure  the  colonial  bounty  offered. 

In  Lyman's  History  and  in  his  Centennial  address  there  are 
given  the  facts  above  stated,  but  his  conclusion  does  not  locate 
Webb  at  Nashawannuck  until  the  .spring  of  1665,  though  the 
legal  document  above  quoted  by  Mr.  Lyman  expressly  de- 
scribes him  as  "  of  Pascommuck,"  February,  1664.  The  house 
of  Mr.  Webb  was  near  the  present  residence  of  Henry  Clajip 
(late  of  Augustus  Clapp).  Its  precise  location  is  said  to  have 
been  on  a  little  rise  of  ground  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  at 
the  westernmost  bend  of  the  "  old  bed,"  at  that  time  the  only 
channel.  Here,  then,  was  the  pioneer  opening  in  the  forests  of 
Easthampton,  nearly  two  and  a  quarter  centuries  ago.  It  is 
said  that  Mr.  Webb  died  in  1670,  though  some  authorities 
regard  the  date  as  uncertain. 

Bobert  Danks,  of  Northampton,  married  his  widow,  and, 
with  two  sons  of  Webb,  resided  at  Nashawannuck  many 
years,  and  the  descendants  of  Mr.  Webb  were  at  the  same 
place  seventy-five  j'ears  or  more. 

The  next  place  of  settlement  was  prohabl}'  on  Saw-mill 
Brook,  north  side  of  the  Manhan  and  near  the  present  Bassett 
place. 

Permission  to  erect  a  saw-mill  was  given  in  1674  to  David 
Wilton,  Medad  Pomeroy,  and  Joseph  Taylor.  There  seems  to 
be  no  evidence  showing  whether  the  mill  was  built  about  that 
time,  or,  if  it  was,  whether  a  dwelling-house  for  any  of  the 
parties  was  erected  near  it. 

The  same  uncertainty  appears  to  exist  with  reference  to  the 
grist-mill,  the  privilege  of  building  which  was  granted  twelve 
years  later  to  Samuel  Bartlett,  at  the  falls  of  the  Manhan. 
It  is  generally  understood  that  both  of  these  mills  were  built 
soon  after  their  respective  grants  were  made ;  but  tradition 
locates  Jo.scph  Bartlett  as  the  fir.st  settler  there,  some  thirty- 
eight  years  later,  and  states  that  he  opened  a  tavern.  It  must 
be  supposed,  then,  that  these  mills  were  not  built  at  the  time 
the  grants  were  voted,  or  that  they  were  run  by  non-residents 
for  forty  or  fifty  years,  with  nobody  living  anywhere  in  that 
neighborhood,  nor  even  in  Southampton, — all  of  which  seems 
decidedly  imjjrobable.  Even  the  Pascommuck  settlement  was 
twenty  to  twenty-five  years  later,  and,  judging  by  reliable 
records,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  that  there  were  any  settlers  at 
the  time  these  mills  are  said  to  have  been  built  in  Westhamp- 
ton, Huntington,  Southampton,  and  Easthampton,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  Webbs  or  Danks  at  Nashawannuck. 

Neither  tradition  nor  documentary  evidence  locates  the 
Pomeroys  at  the  mountain  until  fifty  years  later  than  the 
date  of  the  mills,  and  Sergt.  Ebenezer  Corse  was  not  "  on  the 
plain"  until  near  1730.  Yet  these  mills,  only  distant  from 
Northampton  four  or  five  miles,  may  have  been  carried  on  ex- 

2G3 


264 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


actly  as  it  has  been  supposed  ;  but  the  grinding  and  the  saw- 
ing must  have  been  wholly  for  Northampton,  or  nearly  so, 
for  fifty  years.  This  unsettled  problem  we  respectfully  refer 
to  the  antiquarians  of  Easthampton. 

If  we  accept  the  usual  account,  the  next  settlement  in  point 
of  time  was  that  of  Pascommuck.  In  1699  the  town  of  North- 
ampton granted  lots  to  five  families  at  Pascommuck.  The 
five  were  Moses  Hutchinson,  John  Searl,  Benoni  Jones,  Samuel 
Janes,  and  Benjamin  Janes.  It  is  understood  they  removed 
there  in  1700.  The  settlement  was  about  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Manhan,  on  the  present  farms  of  L.  W.  Parsons,  Jo- 
seph Parsons,  and  Gilbert  A.  Clark.  After  the  fearful  slaugh- 
ter which  broke  up  the  settlement  in  1704,  some  ten  years 
elajised  before  the  place  was  again  occupied. 

"  Tlie  new  settlers  were  Nathaniel  Alexander,  who  married  the  widow  of  John 
Searl  (the  latter  one  of  the  slain)  and  lived  several  years  on  the  place.  Samnel 
Janes  took  the  place  of  his  father.  In  1720,  John  Lanktou  bonght  the  place 
formerly  owned  by  Benoni  Jones.  He  lived,  however,  only  nine  years  to  enjoy 
it.  His  widow  married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Wharton,  but  for  some  cause  he 
soon  after  left  her,  and  she  waa  known  for  many  years  aj*  Widow  Wharton.  Her 
son,  John  Lanktou,  afterward  removed  to  West  Springfield.  His  father  owned 
a  slave  while  he  lived  in  Pascommuck,  who  was  valued  at  £tjO  in  his  iTiventm-y. 
It  appears  also  that  Joseph  Bartlett  wa^  also  a  slaveholder,  from  the  fact  that 
he  set  free  two  slaves  by  his  will.  There  is  also  a  slave  mentioned  in  the  list  of 
Major  Clapp's  estate,  but  whether  it  was  one  he  purchased,  or  one  of  those  set 
free  by  his  Uncle  Joseph  Bartlett,  is  not  certain. 

"  The  place  of  John  Searl  was  occupied  by  his  son  Elisha,  after  the  latter  re- 
turned from  captivity.  Ebenezer  Ferry,  from  Springfield,  at  a  later  period, 
bought  the  Hutchinson  place,  and  lived  on  it  twenty-five  years  or  more." 

The  notes  given  elsewhere  from  the  Northampton  town- 
records  indicate  pretty  nearly  the  precise  location  of  the  five 
families  who  settled  in  1700. 

Keturning  to  the  fiills  of  the  Manhun  "  at  the  old  cartway," 
we  find  that  Samuel  Bartlett,  in  170o,  gave  the  mill  and  land 
about  it  to  his  son  Joseph  Bartlett,  and  that  the  latter  finally 
built  a  dwelling-house  and  settled  there  about  1720  or  172-5. 
It  is  not  related  that  he  had  any  children,  and  when  he  died 
most  of  his  property  was  left  to  his  nephew,  Jonathan  Chipp, 
who  lived  with  him. 

As  early  as  this  it  is  probable  some  expectation  was  felt  that 
a  town  and  village  would  grow  up  around  this  point,  as  he  left 
some  property  to  his  brothers  on  condition  that  they  should 
give  £100,  old  tenor,  to  the  first  church  of  Christ  that  should 
be  erected  and  celebrate  divine  ordinances  within  hnl.f  a  mile 
of  his  house.     This  condition  was  afterward  complied  with. 

About  the  same  time  that  Joseph  Bartlett  built  his  house, 
his  brother,  David  Bartlett,  built  and  settled  about  forty  rods 
west  of  where  Julius  Poraeroy  now  resides,  and  his  son  fol- 
lowed him  upon  the  same  place  nearly  to  the  time  of  the  Rev- 
olution. To  this  house  during  the  war  were  brought  persons 
afflicted  with  the  smallpox.  Col.  Hosford,  of  Northampton, 
died  there,  and  also  Eev.  John  Hooker,  the  successor  of  Rev. 
Jonathan  Edwards.  The  first  was  buried  in  the  field  a  little 
way  from  the  house,  and  Mr.  Hooker  in  the  Northampton 
cemetery. 

Not  far  from  the  same  time,  172(3-28,  four  brothers  by  the 
name  of  Wait  settled  between  these  Bartlett  brothers,  not  far 
from  where  R.  C.  Dresser  now  lives. 

Next  perhaps  in  order  of  time  were  the  Pomeroys,  Eldad  and 
Samuel,  who  are  counted  as  pioneers  of  both  Southampton  and 
Easthampton.  Prof.  Edwards'  Centennial  address  upon  South- 
ampton infers  that  they  were  located  as  earl}'  as  172-5.  Other 
writers  make  the  date  1 732.  The  earlier  is  probably  correct. 
In  the  division  of  Southampton  land,  June  8,  1730,  the  Pom- 
eroys were  permitted  to  locate  their  share  "  near  their  mea- 
dows." This  proves  their  possession  and  cultivation  at  that 
date,  though  not  positively  their  residence. 

The  first  settlement  "  on  the  Plain"  was  made  by  Sergt. 
Ebenezer  Corse.  This  was  probably  about  1728.  He  built 
the  house  where  Spencer  Clapp  formerly  lived,  now  owned  by 
Thcron  Pomeroy.  To  him  the  town  is  indebted  for  one  of  its 
finest  streets,  he  having  cut  away  the  wi«ids  and  opened  what 


is  now  Main  Street,  straight  for  more  than  a  mile  from  the 
centre  of  his  house.  Tradition  relates  that  he  was  a  bold  and 
fearless  man  and  declined  to  move  into  the  fort  at  the  time 
other  citizens  did.  When,  however,  he  discovered  traces  of 
an  ambush  actually  laid  for  him,  he  prudently  allowed  "dis- 
cretion to  be  the  better  part  of  valor,"  and  came  in. 

Ebenezer  Corse  is  mentioned  in  the  records  of  Southamiiton. 
At  the  drawing  of  lots,  June  8,  1730,  it  was  voted  that  Ebene- 
zer Corse  should  have  his  share  "near  his  house."  This 
indicates  that  he  was  then  settled  there.  It  thus  appears  that  a 
settlement  of  considerable  importance  was  fairly  begun  172-5 
to  1730.  The  early  annals  are  silent  as  to  other  names  for 
nearly  fifteen  years,  but  it  is  hardly  probable  that  this  length 
of  time  intervened  without  any  addition  to  the  settlement. 
There  were  doubtless  others  whose  names  have  not  come  down 
to  the  present, — families  who  perhaps  remained  a  short  time, 
and,  moving  away,  left  no  line  descending  to  preserve  the  tra- 
ditions of  settlement.  This  is  indicated,  though  not  proved,  by 
the  fact  that  previous  to  1745  the  town  of  Northampton  leased 
the  school  lands  to  various  individuals.  In  that  year  the  town 
sold  the  school  meadow  of  eighty  acres  above  the  grist-mill 
to  Deacon  Stephen  Wright  and  Benjamin  Lyman. 

The  former  settled  where  Samuel  Hurlburt  now  lives,  and 
the  latter  near  Joel  Bassett's  present  house.  Benjamin  Lyman, 
Jr.,  and  Stephen  Wright,  Jr.,  both  settled  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Ebenezer  Corse,  but  not  "soon  after"  Corse,  as  one  writer 
states,  for  Benjamin  Lyman,  Jr.,  was  not  born  until  1727,  a 
year  or  two  before  Corse's  settlement.  It  may  be  inferred 
that,  as  young  men  of  twenty  to  twenty-five  years,  they  may 
have  located  there  in  1749  or  1750, — that  is,  "  soon  after"  their 
fathers  did  on  the  school  lands.  % 

Benjamin  Clapp  and  Aaron  Clapp  also  probably  moved 
there  about  the  same  time.  The  descendants  of  each  of  these 
four  families  occupy  their  respective  ancestral  homesteads, 
viz.,  Ansel  B.  Lyman,  James  H.  Lyman  (through  his  wife), 
John  and  Luther  L.  Wright,  and  William  N.  Clapp  and  son. 

In  1750,  Joseph  Wright  and  Titus  Wright  were  established 
in  the  north  part  of  Easthampton. 

About  this  time  also — 17-50 — Josiah  Phelps  settled  on  Park 
Hill,  upon  the  place  long  occupied  in  later  times  by  J.  Rock- 
well Wright.  Mr.  Phelps  had  no  children,  and  at  his  death 
his  farm  passed  into  the  hands  of  Jonathan  Bartlett.  Park 
Hill  is  said  to  derive  its  name  from  an  inclosure  built  to 
capture  deer. 

About  1760,  John  Hannum  and  Eleazer  Hannum  settled 
upon  the  place  now  occupied  by  J.  M.  and  Edwin  Hannum. 

Israel  Hendrick  came  from  Connecticut  about  1774,  and 
settled  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town,  where  there  have 
been  so  many  of  the  same  name  in  modern  times.  His  first 
log  house  stood  on  the  east  side  of  Broad  Brook,  where  in  late 
years  Pearson  Hendrick  lived. 

Other  families  in  this  neighborhood,  probably  before  the 
Revolution,  were  Joel  Robbins,  Benjamin  Stephens,  and  Ben- 
jamin Strong. 

With  the  thirty  families  thus  mentioned,  from  John  Webb 
down  for  a  hundred  years,  there  were  undoubtedly  others 
whose  names  are  not  preserved. 

Perhaps  the  true  pioneer  period  of  a  town  may  be  said  to  be 
the  time  of  settlement  preceding  civil  organization.  In  the 
case  of  Easthampton  this  is  longer  than  usual,  owing  to  the 
territory  remaining  for  many  years,  both  ecclesiastically  and 
civilly,  a  part  of  Northampton. 

No  early  assessment-roll  of  polls  and  estates  seems  to  be 
preserved  in  the  town-clerk's  office  of  Easthampton,  and  a 
complete  list  of  settlers  at  the  time  of  incorporation  cannot 
be  easily  made. 

The  names  appearing  in  the  proceedings  of  the  early  town- 
meetings  are  mentioned  in  the  following  list,  with  their  loca- 
tion in  town,  as  far  as  can  be  readily  stated  after  the  lapse  of 
nearly  one  hundred  years: 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


265 


Elidia  Alvord,  Pascommuck,  homestead  where  Edward 
Clark  now  lives,  the  late  Luther  Clark  place ;  he  had  one 
son,  Elisha.  Bildad  Brewer,  homestead  where  Joseph  Bos- 
worth  now  resides.  John  Brown,  homestead  prohahly  in 
the  Pascommuck  neighborhood,  near  East  Street  school- 
house.  Aaron  Clapp,  Sr.,  lived  on  James  H.  Lyman's 
present  phice;  and  Aaron  Clapp,  Jr.,  where  Martin  Wood 
now  lives;  Levi  Clapp  was  a  brother  of  Aaron,  Jr.  Jona- 
than Clapp,  homestead  the  present  Fargo  place.  John  Clapp, 
homestead  in  the  west  district,  buildings  gone ;  they  stood 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  a  little  southeast  of  where  Mirick 
Clapp  now  lives.  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp,  homestead  the  old 
iiotel  on  the  place  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  Lucas  W. 
Hannum. 

Benjamin  Clapp,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Z.  A. 
Thayer,  and  the  present  place  of  Wm.  N.  Clapp,  is  a  part  of 
the  old  farm;  children,  Eachel  (Mrs.  Nathaniel  Edwards), 
Northampton,  died  a  little  over  one  hundred  years  old;  Ocran, 
Easthanipton,  on  a  farm  given  by  his  grandfather,  Jonathan; 
Anna  (Mrs.  Mcdad  Lyman),  Easthampton,  then  Vermont; 
Clarissa  (Mrs.  Jonathan  Lyman),  Vermont;  Sophia  (Mrs. 
Kev.  Gad  Newell),  New  Hampshire;  Dr.  Benjamin  Clapp, 
South  Carolina;  Solomon  (father  of  Wm.  N.),  Easthampton, 
on  the  old  place;  Sally  (Mrs.  Daniel  Lyman),  Easthampton; 
Spencer  Clapp,  Easthampton,  on  a  part  of  the  Corse  place; 
Phebe  (Mrs.  Levi  Clapp),  Easthampton  ;  Fanny  (Mrs.  Jared 
Clark),  Easthampton,  afterward  Ohio;  Caroline  (Mrs.  Mil- 
ton Knight),  of  Huntington. 

Philip  Clark,  homestead  near  the  Mount  Tom  Station,  where 
Uriel  Clark  now  lives.  Obadiah  Clark,  homestead  the  present 
place  of  Lewis  S.  Clark.  Asahel  Clark,  homestead  near  the 
]ire.sent  Williston  Mills,  opposite  the  office,  still  standing. 
Uriel  Clark,  an  old  name,  probably  same  homestead  as  given 
for  Philip  above.  Phineas  Clark,  homestead  on  East  Street, 
half-mile  south  of  the  Philip  Clapp  place.  Job  Clark, 
h(ftnestead  where  Henry  Clark  now  resides.  Oliver  Clark, 
homestead  on  Park  Hill,  west  part  of  town.  David  Cha])- 
man,  Jr.,  a  son  of  David,  mentioned  below.  David  Chap- 
man, blacksmith,  homestead  just  beyond  the  covered  bridge; 
the  "old  cartway"  was  close  by  his  blacksmith-shop.  Zadoc 
Danks,  homestead  the  place  recently  bought  by  Mr.  Hen- 
drick,  on  Pleasant  Street.  Ephraim  Danks ;  he  lived  in 
Nashawannuck ;  descendant  of  the  early  Danks.  Solomon 
Ferry,  homestead  where  Deacon  Edward  Clark  now  lives 
(probably).  Eleazar  Hannum,  homestead  where  Deacon 
Eleazar  Hannum  now  lives.  Joel  Hannum,  homestead  the 
same.  John  Hannum,  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Jonathan 
Janes.  Edwin  S.  Janes  lives  on  the  old  Janes  homestead,  in 
Pleasant  Street.  Benjamin  Lj'man,  homestead  where  Ansel 
B.  Lyman  now  lives.  David  Lyman,  homestead  on  West 
Street,  where  Samuel  M.  Lyman  now  lives.  Ezra  Ludden, 
homestead  the  well-known  place  of  Ebenezer  Wood  on  Park 
Street.  Solomon  Ponieroy,  homestead  where  Mirick  Clapp 
now  lives.  William  Phelps,  homestead  the  present  Julius 
Pomeroj'  place.  Elisha  Searl ;  he  was  a  builder.  Stephen 
Wright,  homestead  where  John  Wright  now  lives.  Elijah 
Wright,  homestead  present  place  of  Samuel  Hurlburt. 

These  are  the  men  who  held  the  town  offices,  were  appointed 
on  committees,  and  transacted  all  the  public  business  for  the 
years  1785  and  1786,  or  were  named  on  the  first  jury  list. 

The  following  summary  of  votes  relating  to  the  present 
territory  of  Easthampton  (and  perhaps  a  portion  of  South- 
ampton) is  taken  from  the  records  in  the  office  of  the  town 
clerk  of  Northampton.  lb  gives  the  dates  of  some  incidents 
alreadj-  mentioned  in  this  sketch  and  many  others  that  do  not 
appear  t(i  have  been  previously  published. 

The  grant  pomiittiug  tlio  Iiiiliaus  tu  build  u  fort  wiis  votod  April  13,  1004. 
Two  of  the  couditioofi  were,  thut  "  they  shall  not  Pow-wow  ou  that  place,  nor 
anywhere  else  among  us ;  that  they  shall  not  get  liquors  or  eider  and  drink  them- 
selves drunk  as  to  kill  one  another  as  they  have  done." 

34 


.John  Webb  killed  two  wolves  and  received  1  pound,  1067. 

Nov.  4, 1074. — The  town  granted  to  David  ^Viltt.>n,  Jletliul  Pomeroy,  and  .Tohn 
Taylor  liberty  to  set  up  a  saw-mill,  and  also  granted  them  the  liberty  of  the 
commons  to  fall  timber;  the  place  they  granted  them  "is  on  the  brook  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  cartway  going  over  Manhan  River,  ou  this  side,  that  runs 
into  the  river,  and  whilst  the  mill  is  iu  use  they  have  granted  them  ten  or  twelve 
acres  of  land  for  a  piV^ture." 

March  S,  1078.— The  t<iwn  granted  to  John  Webb,  Nathaniel  Alexander,  and 
Richard  Webb  a  parcel  of  laud  over  Manhan  River,  under  the  hill,  that  the  In- 
liian  fort  stands  upon,  and  they  are  to  have  six  acres  ai)iece,  or  to  the  broad  brook 
that  comes  into  Manhan,  which  corner  along  beside  the  mountain. 

Jan.  4, 108-5.— Voted  to  Joseph  P,arson8,  and  such  others  as  should  join  with 
him,  liberty  to  make  a  cart-bridge  over  the  mouth  of  the  Mauiiau  River,  pro- 
vided they  damnify  no  man's  property. 

Jau.  3, 1086. — At  a  legal  town-meeting,  Jan.  3,  ICSC,  the  town  considering  of  a 
motion  of  Mr.  Samuel  Bartlett  to  set  up  a  eorn-ndll  upon  Manhan  River,  below 
the  cartway  on  the  falls,  and  ou  his  desire  the  town  granted  to  him  the  place  ho 
desired,  and  the  privilege  of  the  stream  for  two  miles,  not  to  be  interrupted  by 
any  person  or  persons,  but  siiid  Bjirtlett  have  the  free  if^  of  the  place,  and  lib- 
erty to  be  to  him  and  to  his  heirs  forever;  that  is  to  say,  so  long  as  he  or  they 
keep  a  corn-mill  there,  and  maintiiin  it  fit  for  service. 

April  9, 1688.— A  tract  of  3(J  acres  was  granted  him  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Manhan,  on  the  consideration  of  his  building  a  mill  there,  to  be  laid  out  next 
to  Mr.  Hawley's  land. 

Aiiril  9, 1088,  Toted  Mr.  Joseph  Hawley  fortj-  acres  of  laml  in  the  meadow  ou 
south  side  of  Manhan  River,  in  the  meadow  commonly  called  "Lieut.  Wilton's 
mea<iow."  This  was  in  consideration  of  his  services  in  getting  the  Town  Bounds 
settled. 

April  24, 1001.— In  a  general  grant  of  home-lots  the  name  of  John  Webb  still 
appears, — perhaps  nnoiher  John  Webb  than  the  pioneer  of  1064  ;  under  the  same 
date,  Caleb  Pomeroy  bird  two  home-lots  granted,  "joining  to  his  meadow  up 
Manhan  River."  This  shows  very  early  possession  by  the  Pomeroys  on  the 
mountain  and  the  meadow  still  bearing  their  name. 

March  6, 1693.— The  value  of  "the  Pascommuck  farm,"  in  making  out  rates, 
was  to  be  decided  by  a  committee,- two  by  the  town  and  two  by  the  owners; 
the  two  latter  were  Isaac  Sheldon,  Sen.,  and  William  lloltou. 

Sept.  10,  1098. — The  t*twn  granted  four  iicres  apiece  of  land  for  home-lots, 
over  Manhan  River  near  Piiscommuck,  to  .accommodate  them,  they  having  pur- 
chased land  at  P:isconuuuck,— the  men  are  Samuel  Janes,  Benjamin  Janes, 
Benoni  Jones,  and  John  Searl, — on  condition  that  they  make  a  good  fence  to  se- 
cure themselves  from  the  town  cattle,  which  fence  is  to  be  four  feet  eight  inches 
in  height.    They  must  live  on  the  land  four  years  before  their  title  is  perfect. 

Dec.  28,  1099.— Moses  Hutchinson  hatl  a  home-lot  grantej  Ui  him  at  P.iscom- 
muck  on  the  same  condition  the  persons  aforesaid  had  their  home-lots  granted. 

April  8, 1702.— Voted  that  all  the  common  land  lying  on  the  north  side  of  the 
school  land,  betwixt  Sanuicl  Pomeroy's  home-lot  and  the  saw-mill,  should  be 
added  to  the  school  land  and  be  for  tlie  use  of  the  school,— only  reserving  liberty 
of  an  highway  six  rods  wide  up  to  Samuel  Ponu-rv)y's  laud  lying  by  the  side  of 
the  school  laud. 

At  the  same  time,  voted  that  all  the  low  land  below  Samuel  Bartlett's  ccun- 
mill,  down  as  far  as  Robert  Danks'  farm,  should  be  laid  out  for  the  school's  use 
forever;  hounded  on  Manhan  River  southerly,  and  the  br.nv  of  the  hill  north- 
erly. 

May  20, 1702.— From  the  report  of  a  committee  upon  fencing  at  "  Hog's  Blad- 
der," it  appears  that  ,Iohn  Searl,  Jun.,  was  "to  make  a  good  and  sufficient  gate 
at  the  landing-place  on  the  south  side  of  Manhan  River,  near  the  mouth  of  it 
as  we  go  to  Pascommuck,  for  which  he  is  to  have  three  acres  of  land  on  the 
westerly  side  of  his  home-lot  there  on  Pascommuck  side." 

2.  We  agreed  with  said  Searl  that  he  was  to  make  a  good  and  sufBcient 
fence  from  siiid  gate  down  the  Great  River  unto  Samuel  Janes'  lot. 

We  agreed  with  Moses  Hutchinson  to  make  and  maintain  a  good  and  suffi- 
cient fence  from  the  uppermost  post  of  said  gate  up  the  river  the  whole  breadth 
of  his  lot,  which  is  fcmr  acres.  We  agreed  with  John  Clark  to  make  and  nuiin- 
tain  a  good  &  sufficient  fence  from  Moses  Hutchinson's  lot  up  the  river  unto  the 
ben.Jing  of  the  river  nntji  a  red  or  black  tree  marked  upon  the  brow  next  the 
river;  and  he  was  to  have  four  acres  of  land,  forty  and  two  rods  along  the  river, 
east  side  12  rods,  west  side,  twenty  rods.  At  the  south  side  of  said  lot  is  a  high- 
way of  six  rods  in  breadth. 

Feb.  11,  1703.— The  town  took  action  with  reference  to  the  division  of  land 
on  the  south  side  of  Manhan  River;  that  on  the  west  side  of  the  county  road. 
The  town  measurers,  John  Clark  and  Samuel  Wright,  were  directed  to  measure 
the  length  of  the  land  from  Manhan  to  Webb's  rock,  which  is  our  south  bounds. 

The  "  additional  grant"  was  obtained  by  an  order  in  council,  June  4,  1701. 

March  1,  1703.— Capt.  John  Taylor  was  granted  80  .acres  of  land  to  be  taken  up 
aljout  Whiteloaf  brook,  somewhere  in  that  half  mile  square  which  lieth  near 
Springfield  bounds;  to  lie  together  on  one  side  of  that  half  mile  which  Spring- 
field men  claim  ;  this  80  acres  to  be  to  Capt.  Job  n  Taylor  during  his  life-time,  and 
after  him  to  be  his  tw.i  sous,  Thomas  and  Samuel,  and  their  heirs  forever. 

May  21, 1716.— firantc<l  to  Ebenezer  Pomeroy  the  remainder  of  the  half  mile 
square  not  before  granted  to  Capt.  Taylor  and  his  sons,  bounded  northerly  by 
the  line  between  Nortbami>ton  and  Springfield  from  the  Great  River  over  the 
mountain  extended  to  the  county  road  to  Westfield.  'SVesteriy  by  the  county 
road,  and  southeriy  and  easterly  by  the  line  between  Springfield  and  Northamp- 
ton. 

A  road  to  "Hog's  Bladder"  was  laid  out  March  7,  1715.  The  committee  that 
lai.l  it  were  Timothy  Baker,  Samuel  Wright,  and  Thom.ts  Sheldon,  and  the 
parties  through  whose  lands  it  appeal's  to  have  been  laid  were  Preserved  Clapp, 
Thomas  Sheldon,  Benjamin  Edwards,  Jr. 


266 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  following  notes  are  of  very  early  date : 

John  Webb  signs  the  planters'  agreement,  Oct.  3, 1653. 

June  9,  1686,  is  found  an  order  with  reference  to  the  road  through  the 
meadows  to  "  Hog's  Bladder." 

Dec.  1, 1657,  2)^  acres  granted  to  John  Webb  in  great  rainbow. 

Feb.  9, 1658,  John  Webb  was  to  have  12  acres  in  Ulanhan. 

Dec.  16, 1659,  exchanging  of  lands  noticed  with  John  Webb. 

July  25, 1G60,  John  Webb's  tools  that  Medad  Pumeroy  sliall  have  on  Terms: 
a  pair  of  Bellows,  an  Anvil,  a  hand  hammer,  3  pairs  of  tongs,  &c.,  &c. 

This  shows  that  John  Webb  was  a  blacksmith  as  well  as  "  a 
mighty  hunter." 

May  15, 1662,  John  Webb  brought  in  a  wolfs-head  &  skin. 

June  8, 1663,  another,  and  Sept.  7,  another.     In  the  year  1664,  four  more. 

The  meadows  of  the  Manhan  were  worked  as  early  as  1662,  as  appears  by  reg- 
ulations concerning  roads. 

Dec.  1, 1729. — Voted  to  Give  Klisha  Searl  six  acres  of  land  on  the  Fort  Plain, 
beyond  Pascomniuck,  between  the  fii-st  lot  in  the  mountain  Division  and  the 
land  belonging  to  Jeremiah  Webb  and  Robert  Danks.  Committee  Dea.  John 
Clark. 

Jan.  25, 1731. — Granted  Benjamin  Stebbins  four  acres  of  land  upon  the  Fort 
Plain,  near  Mt.  Tom,  to  be  laid  out  adjoining  to  Elisha  Searl's  land. 

The  following  are  taken  from  old  files  of  the  Hampshire 
Gazette  : 

August  5, 1789. — Silas  Brown,  David  Lyman,  and  Silas  Brown,  Jr.,  gave  notice 
that  they  shall  open  a  publick  house  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  at- 
tending tlie  ordination  August  13t'i. 

July  2, 1792. — Joseph  Clapp,  Jr.,  merchant,  offers  what  seems  now  a  sufficiently 
varied  assortment  of  goods: 

"Calico&s,  chintzes,  West  India  Kum,  Cross-Cut  Saws,  Steal  plate.  Also  in  a 
few  days  will  have  N.  E.  Rum,  Wine,  Brandy,  Fi'ying-paus,  AHum,  Coperas,  Rice, 
Hasins^  &c." 

Dec.  10, 1794.— Joseph  Clapp,  Jr.,  advertises  powder,  shott,  Coniac  brandy,  sugar, 
Malaga  wine,  Ciiiutzes,  Lutestrings,  &c. 

Feb.  19,  1798. — Jonathan  Lyman  and  Obadiah  Jane«  give  notice  that  they 
have  formed  a  partnership  as  merchants,  &  offer  a  varied  assortment  of  goods. 

Feb.  27,  1798. — Lyman  &  Janes  announce  the  dissolution  t»f  their  i>aitnership, 
Obadiah  Janes  to  adjust  the  accounts  and  continue  the  business,  as  appears  by  a 
subsequent  advertisement. 

June  9, 1800. — Benajah  Brewer  announces  that  nails  are  cut  by  him,  which  he 
will  sell  cheap  at  tlie  retail  price. 

Eastiiampton,  July  4,  ISIH. — Celebration  here  was  opened  by  a  national  salute 
at  sunrise.  At  11  o'clock  a  procession  moved  from  Mr.  J.  Clapp's  to  tlie  meeting- 
house. An  addi-ess  was  made  to  the  throne  of  Grace  by  Rev.  Mr.  Williston,  and 
he  also  delivered  an  elegant  and  patriotic  oration.  The  dinner  was  at  3Ir.  liUther 
Clapp's,  and  toasts  were  drank,  accompanied  with  discharges  of  Capt.  Brewer's 
artillery.  Toasts;  among  others,  "The  Ljiited  St;ites,  may  they  realize  tliat 
united  we  live,  divided  we  die!" 

ORGANIZATION. 

Just  before  the  Revolutionary  war  some  steps  were  taken  to 
establish  a  separate  town.  The  people  upon  the  territory  now 
included  in  Eastiiampton  expressed  their  views  by  petitions 
to  Northampton  and  Southampton  in  1773.  In  the  former 
town  a  committee  reported  favorably,  and  the  report  was 
adopted.  Southampton  opposed  the  proposition,  and  the 
troubles  of  the  Revolutionary  period  delayed  any  further 
action  until  1781-82.  The  project  was  then  revived,  but  it 
required  several  years  of  eftbrt  to  secure  the  act  of  incorpora- 
tion, which  was  passed  by  the  General  Court  in  the  summer 
of  1785. 

Robert  Breck,  Esq.,  of  Northampton,  issued  a  warrant  for 
the  first  meeting.  It  was  directed  to  Benjamin  Lyman,  and 
the  people  met  accordingly  at  the  house  of  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp. 
The  territory  was  set  off  as  a  district^  having  all  the  rights  of 
a  town  except  that  of  representation  in  the  General  Court. 
This  district  feature  was  a  remnant  of  colonial  policy,  intended 
to  retain  power  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  authorities,  by  not 
allowing  a  rapid  increase  of  the  people's  representatives  in  tlie 
Legislature.  The  policy  survived  the  Revolution,  districts 
continuing  to  be  incorporated  for  a  few  years. 

The  name  East-Hampton  was  rather  appropriate,  not  so 
much  from  its  location,  as  from  the  fact  that  the  three  other 
Hamptons  were  already  named,  and  it  needed  this  to  com- 
plete the  natural  series.  And,  though  almost  inclosed  by 
the  others,  tliis  town  extends  at  one  point  to  the  east  line  of 
the  original  tract,  and  has  so  far  a  right  to  be  called  East- 
hampton. 


The  act  incorporating  Easthampton  as  a  district  was  ap- 
proved by  Governor  Bowdoin,  June  17,  1785.  The  warrant 
was  issued  June  29,  1785.  It  was  directed  to  Benjamin  Lyman, 
who  "truly  and  faithfully  notified  and  warned  the  inhabi- 
tants."    The  record  of  the  first  meeting  is  as  follows  : 

Hampshire  Co.,  ss.  : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  District  of  East- 
iiampton, in  said  county,  on  Monday,  the  4th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1785,  Robert  Breck,  Moderator,  the  following  Distiict  officers  were  chosen, 
viz.:  David  Lyman.  District  Clerk;  Aaron  Clapp,  Jr.,  Constable;  Jonathan 
Clapp,  Capt.  Philip  Clark,  Enos  Pomeroy,  Surveyors  of  Ways  ;  Stephen  Wright, 
Capt.  Philii)  Clark,  Eleazer  Haunum,  Selectmen  and  Assessors;  Joel  Parsons, 
Benjamin  Lyman,  Tythingnien ;  OUidiah  Clark,  Lemuel  Lyman,  Sabbath-war- 
dens; Daniel  Alexander,  Surveyor  of  Shingles  and  Lumber;  Solomon  Ferry, 
Elijah  Wright,  Fence-viewers;  John  Brown,  Joel  Hannum,  Howards;  John 
Clapp,  David  Chapman,  Jr.,  Elisha  Alvord,  Hog-reeves;  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp,  Dis 
tiict  Treasurer;  David  Chapman,  Clerk  of  the  Market;  Zadoc  Danks,  Sealer  of 
Leather;  Benjamin  Clapp,  Packer. 

The  foregoing  officers  being  all  sworn,  the  meeting  was  dissolved. 

Attest :  Robert  Breck,  Moderator. 

The  newly-elected  Selectmen  called  a  District  meeting  for  the  13th  of  July, 
at  which  action  was  taken  upon  various  subjects. 

Stephen  Wright,  Philip  Clark,  Olwidiah  Janes,  John  Hannum,  Capt.  Joseph 
Clapp,  Benjamin  Lyman,  Lieut.  Joel  Pareons  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
look  into  the  cost  of  getting  set  off,  and  also  the  wist  of  the  meetiug-house. 

Voted,  to  keep  the  road  in  repair  from  the  meeting-house  to  Pascomniuck. 

Nov.  16, 1785. — Voted,  a  committee  Ui  look  into  the  state  of  the  highways,  and 
report, — Capt.  Philip  Clark,  Eleazer  Hannum,  Elijah  Wright. 

Voted,  a  committee  to  see  what  land  the  District  own  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Manhan,  and  to  sell  tlie  same, — John  Hannum,  Asahel  Chirk,  Philip  Clark. 

Voted,  tliat  the  constables  might  warn  common  ordinary  town-meetings  "by 
an  outciy  on  a  public  day." 

Jan.  11, 178(5. — Voted,  a  committee  to  view  the  ground  from  Broad  Brook  to 
Piistomniufk  and  report  wliat  alteration  ought  to  he  made, — Benjamin  Clapp, 
Eleazer  Hannum,  Stephen  Wright,  S<ilomon  Ferry,  Elijah  Wright. 

Voted,  the  Selectmen  should  lay  a  road  "  where  they  now  travel  across  Daniel 
Alexander's  land,  and  allow  said  Daniel  Alexander  twelve  shillings  liamage." 

Voted,  a  committee  to  inspect  the  bridge  near  Capt.  Clapp's,  and  provide  tim- 
ber for  the  repair  of  the  same, — Joseph  Clapp,  Elijah  Wright,  and  Lieut.  Asahel 
Clark. 

Committee  on  Pascommuck  Bridge, — Joel  Parsons,  Solomon  Ferrj',  Jonathan 
Janes. 

Committee  "  to  sell  three  pieces  of  land  near  the  river  called  Manhan," — .xAin 
Hannum.  Epbraim  Danks,  Benjamin  Lyman. 

Voted  to  allow  Mr.  Aaron  Clapp  five  shillings  for  the  loss  of  an  a.xe  at  the 
raising  of  the  meeting-house. 

The  selectmen  were  directed  to  make  an  assessment  to  pay  the  district  debts. 

At  the  fii-st  regular  March  meeting,  held  March  22,  1786,  there  were  chosen: 
Benjamin  Lyman,  Moderator;  David  Lyman,  District  Clerk ;  Joseph  Clapp,  Dis- 
trict Treiisurer;  Stephen  Wright,  Philip  Clark,  Eleazer  Hannum,  Selectmen  and 
Assessors;  Joel  Pareons,  Joseph  Clapp,  Wardens;  Eleazer  Hannum,  Solomon 
Ferry,  Aaron  Clapp,  Jun.,  Surveyors  of  Highways;  Solomon  Pomeroy,  Uriel 
Clark,  Field-drivei-s  ;  Jonathan  Clapp,  Noah  Janes,  Tythingmen  ;  Elijah  Wright, 
Obadiah  Clark,  Fence-viewers;  David  Chapman,  Clerk  of  the  Market;  Enos 
Janes,  Elijah  Wright,  Jun.,  Elisha  Searl,  Seth  Hannum,  Phineas  Clark,  Hog- 
reeves;  Daniel  Alexander,  Snr\'eyor of  Shingles;  Zadoc  Danks,  Sealer  of  Leather; 
Benjamin  Clapp,  Packer;  Benjamin  Clapp,  Ci>nstable. 

Committee  to  view  a  way  to  Park  Hill, — Eleazer  Hannum,  Obadiah  Janes, 
Elijah  Wright,  Bildad  Brewer,  Philip  Clark. 

Jurymen  designated  were  Philip  Clark,  Asahel  Clark,  Daniel  Alexander,  John 
Brown,  Joel  Parsons,  Solomon  Ferry,  Joel  Hannum,  Epln-aim  Danks,  Job  Clark, 
Obadiah  Clark,  David  Chapman,  Ezra  Ludden,  Aaron  Clapp,  Jun.,  Joseph  Clapp, 
Jonathan  Clapp,  William  Phelps,  Elijah  Wright,  David  Lyman,  Eleazer  Han- 
num, Enos  Pomeroy,  Solomon  Pomeroy,  John  Haunum,  Benjamin  Clapp,  Oliver 
Clark. 

April  3, 1786. — Obafliah  Clark  waJ3  allowed  a  premium  for  a  wolf-head  equal 
to  one-seventh  of  what  Northampton  allowed  hist  year  for  three  wolf-heads. 

April  27, 1786.— Chose  Capt.  Philip  Clark  t-.>  attend  the  Hatfield  Convention, 
with  instnictious  "to  use  bis  influence  not  to  have  the  County  split." 

June  22,  1786.— Voted,  that  Noah  Janes  be  collector,  and  have  32  shillings 
on  the  hundred  pounds  for  his  sendees. 

Aug.  21,  1786. — Chose  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp  to  attend  a  convention,  called  at 
the  request  of  several  towns,  to  meet  at  HatfiLdd.  This  was  tuie  of  the  "Shaya 
Conventions." 

Place  of  the  Dhtrict-  and  Toum-MrrJhif/s. — The  first  meetinsj 
was  held  "at  the  dwelling-house  of  Capt.  Jo.seph  Clapp." 
This  house  is  still  standing,  and  is  now  owned  by  heirs  of  Lu- 
cas W.  Hannum,  occupied  as  a  tenant-house.  It  was  the  well- 
known  tavern  of  Deacon  Thaddeus  Clapp  for  many  years.  The 
next  nu't'tini^,  July  13,  1785,  was  called  "  at  the  meetinij-house 
frame."  This  must  have  evidently  had  a  superior  system  of 
ventilation, — a  qualification  much  studied  for  modern  puhlic 
halls. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


267 


In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  meetings  were  called  "  at  the 

meeting-house,"  and  there  they  continued   to  be  held  for  a 
period  of  forty-eight  years, — the  last  one  Aug.  8,  1833. 

The  first  regularly  called  meeting  "in  the  town-hall"  was 
held  Nov.  11,  1833.  This  hall  was  huilt  in  pursuance  of  the 
following  action : 

Nov.  12, 1832. — Voted,  to  raise  a  suitable  sum  of  money  for  the  erection  of  a 
town-house,  iirovided  the  four  classes  unite  in  Imildiug  a  grammar-school  house. 
Voted,  t<i  leave  witli  the  committee  chosen  at  a  previous  meeting,  Luther  Chirk, 
chairman,  the  making  of  a  draft  and  estimates  of  the  expense. 

Mr.  Pomeroy  is  alluded  to  as  contractor  in  some  of  the  rec- 
ords, and  the  full  committee,  appointed  some  years  before  the 
work  was  really  completed,  were  Luther  Clark,  Ahira  Lyman, 
John  Phelps,  Joel  Parsons,  and  John  Ludden.  This  joint 
school  and  town  building  is  now  a  dwelling-house  on  Pleasant 
Street,  occupied  by  C.  S.  Rust,  owned  by  Theodore  Clapp, 
moved  there  from  the  old  site  occupied  by  the  present  town- 
hall. 

The  movement  for  the  second  town-hall  began  some  time 
before  the  town  finally  authorized  the  building.  March  8, 
1841,  the  warrant  contained  a  clause  relating  to  a  new  town- 
hall,  but  no  action  was  taken  in  relation  to  it.  At  an  ad- 
journed meeting,  the  first  Monday  of  April,  a  committee  were 
appointed,  consisting  of  Samuel  Williston,  Augustus  Clapp, 
Thomas  J.  Pomeroy.  They  made  a  report  favorable  to  the 
enterprise,  and  the  report  was  accepted.  They  were  continued 
as  a  building  committee.  They  appointed  an  additional  com- 
mittee '*  to  see  if  the  house  is  built  according  to  contract," — 
John  Ludden,  Jason  Clark,  and  John  Hannum.  Voted  to 
convey  to  Samuel  Williston  the  old  town-house  for  the  sum  of 
$200,  the  sum  to  be  applied  toward  the  building  of  the  new. 

March  14,  1842,  committee  reported  by  their  chairman, 
Samuel  Williston,  that  the  new  town-house  was  nearly  fin- 
ished, and  the  town  voted  to  accept  the  job  if  approved  by  the 
committee  previously  appointed. 

This  town-hall  began  to  be  used  for  town-meetings  about 
this  time,  and  they  were  continued  there  for  nearly  thirty 
years.  The  building  then  became  the  property  of  the  First 
Church,  and  it  was  moved  to  a  site  adjacent  to  their  house  of 
worship,  remodeled  into  a  chapel,  and  is  so  used  at  the  present 
time.  The  third  town-hall  is  the  new  and  spacious  editice  now 
in  use. 


TOWN-HALL,  EASTHAMPTON. 

"  Its  erection  was  voted  in  the  fall  of  18G7.  The  buildiug  committee  consisted 
of  Seth  Warner,  K.  H.  Sawyei",  H.  G.  Knight,  L.  W.  Hannum,  E.  R.  Bosworth, 
and  L,  D.  Lyman.  The  foundation  was  begun  in  April,  1868.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  July  4, 1868.    The  building  was  ready  for  occupation  by  June,  1869. 


"  One  of  the  most  notable  days  in  the  history  of  the  town  was  that  of  its 
dedication,  Tuesday,  June  29, 1869.  A  large  procession,  led  by  the  Haydenville 
Band,  and  under  t!ie  chief  direction  of  Capt.  F.  A.  Rust,  moved  through  the 
principal  streets,  and  escorted  the  orator  and  distinguished  guests  to  the  Hall. 
The  soldiers  of  the  war,  under  command  of  Capt.  J.  A.  Loomis  and  Lieuta.  J.  H. 
Judd  and  H.  H.  Strong,  were  in  attendance.  The  exercises  at  the  Hall  were  in 
the  following  order  :  After  an  overture  by  the  Gerniania  Band,  Hon.  H.  G. 
Knigbt,  of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  introduced  Hon.  Samuel  Williston, 
president  of  the  day,  who  made  a  few  remarks,  after  which  a  prayer  of  dedica- 
tion w;is  offered  by  Rev.  A.  M.  Colton.  The  keys  were  presented  by  Seth  War- 
ner, in  behalf  of  the  buihiing  committee,  to  L,  D.  Lyman,  of  the  committee  to 
be  in  charge  of  the  Hall.  The  principal  feature  of  the  occasion  was  the  ailmira- 
ble  address  by  Hon.  Ensign  H.  Kellogg,  of  Pittsfield,  Brief  remarks  by  Lieut.- 
Gov.  Tucker  dosed  the  dedicatory  services.  The  day  was  one  of  the  finest,  and 
an  immense  assemblage  participated  in  the  exercises.  A  concert  was  given  In 
the  evening  by  Miss  Adelaide  Phillips,  of  Boston,  and  eighteen  members  of  the 
Germania  Band.  It  was  a  rare  musical  treat,  and  was  enjoyed  by  fully  1100 
people.     A  promenade  concert  was  also  held  on  the  following  evening. 

"The  Hall  is  in  the  Lombard  style  of  architecture,  is  of  brick  laid  in  blac^k 
mortjir,  and  its  height  is  relieved  by  bands  of  Portland  stone.  The  front  is  es- 
pecially ornate.  It  is  verj'  handsomely  finished,  both  without  and  within.  Its 
ground  dimensions  are  104  by  60  feet,  exclusive  of  the  towers.  At  the  north 
corner  is  a  t<.)wer7-'j  feet  in  height;  and  at  the  south  corner  the  Memorial  Tower, 
12  feet  square  and  133  feet  high,  wliich  has  near  its  summit  an  ornamental  pro- 
jecting balcony,  affording  a  fine  outlook.  Upon  its  front,  near  the  base,  it  sup- 
jKirts  a  memorial  tablet  of  white  Itiilian  marlile,  12  fcrt  in  height,  decorated  on 
either  side  with  columns  of  black  marble.  It  ends  at  tlie  t^ip  in  a  triangular 
block,  sumiountt.-d  by  a  cross.  It  bears  upon  its  face  the  inscription:  'East- 
liami)ton  erects  this  tower,  a  memorial  to  these  her  sons,  who  died  for  their 
country,  during  tlie  great  Rebellion.'  Then  follow  the  names  of  the  honored 
dciul. 

"  The  first  story  of  the  building  contains  a  small  hall  and  rooms  for  the  town 
officers  and  for  the  public  library,  with  ample  corridors  and  stairways  leading  to 
the  spiRious  upper  hall.  This  is  capable  of  seating  1100.  The  entire  cost  of  the 
stmcture  w;is  ?<J5,00i.>.  The  tablet  cost  S2(XX).  The  architect  was  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Parker,  of  Boston,  and  t!ie  builder  E.  R.  Bosworth.  The  masonry  was  super- 
vised by  George  P.  Shoales,  and  the  paiiiting  by  F.  J.  Gould.  The  elaborate 
frescoing  was  done  by  William  Carl,  of  Boston." 

SELECTMEN  FROM  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  DISTRICT,   1785. 

1785-86.— Stephen  Wright,  Capt.  P.  Clark.  Eleazer  Hannum. 
1787. — Benjamin  Lyman,  Elijah  Wiight.  Eleazer  Hannum. 
1788-89.— Philip  Clark,  Elijah  Wiiglit,  Eleazer  Hannum. 
179(>'91. — Lemuel  Lyman,  Joel  Parsons,  Noah  Janes. 
1792. — Lemuel  Lyman,  .loel  Parsons.  Aaron  Clapp,  Jr. 
1793. — Lemuel  Lyman,  Joel  Parsons,  Oliver  Clark. 
1794. — Eleazer  Hannum.  Noah  Janes,  Oliver  Clark. 
1795. — Elijah  Wright,  Lemuel  Lyman,  Joel  Pai-sons. 
1796. — Eleazer  Wiight,  Noah  Janes,  Oliver  Clark. 
1797. — Elijah  Wright,  Lemuel  Lyman,  Joseph  Clapp,  Jr. 
1798. — Noah  Janes.  Lemuel  Lyman,  Joel  Parsons. 
1799. — David  Lyman,  Lrvi  Cbipp,  .Joel  Parsons. 
1800. — Oliver  Clark,  Levi  Clapp,  Solomon  Lyman. 
1801. — Oliver  Clark,  Joel  Pareons,  Sidomon  Lyman. 
1802-3.— Oliver  Clark,  Uriel  Clark,  Levi  Clapp. 
1804. — Oliver  Clark,  Solomon  Lyman,  Justus  Lyman. 
1805. — Oliver  Clark,  Solomon  Lyman,  Jonathan  Janes,  Jr. 
IJ^OG. — Thaddeus  Chipp,  S<)lomon  Lyman,  Jonathan  Janes,  Jr. 
1807. — Thaddeus  Clapp,  Oliver  Clark,  Justus  Lyman. 
l^OS. — Jonatiian  Janes,  Jr.,  Oliver  (.'lark,  Justus  Lyman. 
1^09. — John  Hannum,  Thaddeus  Parsons,  Justus  Lyman. 
ISIO. — John  Hannum,  Jonathan  Janes,  Jr.,  Justus  Lyman. 
1811. — John  Hannum,  Tliaddeus  Parsons,  Justus  Lyman. 
1812. — John  Hannum,  Tliaddeus  Clapp,  Justus  Lyman. 
1813. — Solomon  Lyman,  Thaddeus  Parsons,  Justus  Lyman. 
1814-16. — Jolin  Hannum,  Solomon  Ferry,  Justus  Lynum. 
1817-21. — John  Hannum,  John  Ludden,  Seth  Janes. 
1^22-2-3.— John  Ludden,  Ocran  Clapp,  Julius  Clark. 
1824-26.— John  Ludden,  .bdin  Hannum,  Luther  Clark. 
1827-29. — Levi  Clapp,  John  Hannum,  Luther  Clark. 
1830. — John  Ludden,  John  Hannum,  Luke  Janes. 
1831-xt2. — John  Ludden,  Daniel  Lyman,  Luke  Janes. 
IS33. — John  Hannum,  Levi  Clapp,  Luke  .lanes. 
ie.34.— Luther  Chirk,  Levi  Clapp,  John  Ludden. 
IS35-37.— Luther  Claik,  Jason  Janes,  John  Ludden, 
1838. — Luke  Janes,  E  W.  Hannum,  John  Ludden. 
ls:iO-40.— L.  P.  Lyman,  E.  W.  Hannum,  Luther  Clark. 
lf^41. — E.  W.  Hannum,  Augustus  Clapp,  Lorenzo  t'lapp. 
1842-44. — E.  W.  Hannum,  Zenas  Clark,  Sulomon  Alvord. 
1845.— E.  W.  Hannum,  Luther  Clark,  Theodore  Cla|)p. 
1846-47.- E.  W.  Hannum,  Luther  Clark,  Solomon  Alvord. 
1848-49.— Lemuel  P.  Lyman,  Luther  Ljtiuiti,  Solomon  Alvord. 
1850. — E.  Ferry,  Luke  Janes,  Solomon  Alvord. 
1851.- E.  Ferry,  Luke  Janes,  H.  G.  Knight. 
18.52.— E.  W.  Hannum,  Luke  Janes,  H.  G.  Kuigbt. 
1853.— E.  \V.  Hannum,  E.  Ferry,  Luther  Clark. 
1854.— J.  H.  Lyman,  E.  Ferry,  Luke  Janes. 


268 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1855. — L.  F.  Clapp,  Q.  P.  Lyman,  Eansloe  Daniels. 

1866.— L.  r.  Clapp,  Joseph  Parsons,  Solomon  Alvord. 

1857. — K.  W.  Hannnni,  Joseph  Pareons,  L.  P.  Lyman. 

1868.— .\lanson  Clark,  L.  F.  Clapp,  E.  11.  Sawyer. 

1859-60.— Alanson  Clark,  L.  F.  Clapp,  Levi  Parsons. 

1861.— Alanson  Clark,  Lewis  S.  Clark,  Levi  Parsons. 

1862.— Lewis  S.  Clark,  Alauaon  Clark,  Scth  Warner,  Lauren  D.  Lyman,  Lewis 

Clapp. 
1863.— Lauren  D.  Lyman,  Seth  Warner,  E.  S.  Janes. 
1864.— Lauren  D.  Lyman,  E.  S.  Janes,  E.  A.  Hubbard. 
1865.— Edwin  S.  Janes,  Lewis  S.  Clark,  Joel  Bassctt. 
1866.— Joel  L.  Bassett,  Ansel  B.  Lyman,  Lewis  S.  Clark. 
1807-09.— S.  Alvord,  Q.  P.  Lyman,  L.  W.  Haunum. 
1870.— S.  Alvord,  Theodore  Clark,  A.  S.  Luddcn. 
1871.— G.  L.  Manchester,  Theodore  Clark,  A.  S.  Ludden, 
1872-76.— A.  S.  Ludden,  J.  W.  Wilson,  II.  T.  Ilanuum. 
1877.— H.  J.  Bly,  A.  S.  Ludden,  A.  P.  Clark. 
1878.— A.  S.  Ludden,  H.  J.  Bly,  Austin  P.  Clark,  E.  K.  Bosworth,  elected  at  a 

special  meeting  in  the  place  of  H.  J.  Bly,  resigned. 
1879.— A.  S.  Ludden,  E.  II.  Bosworth,  L.  B.  Searl. 

TOWN    CLKRKS. 

David  Lyman,  1785-87;  Jonathan  Cl.app,  1788-89;  Joseph  Cl.app,  Jr.,  1790-96; 
Hophni  Clapp,  1797-1802;  Ohadiah  Janes  (2d),  1X03;  .Tosoph  Clapp,  1804-7; 
OhaJiah  Janes  (2d),  1818-20;  Levi  White,  1811-12;  Obadiali  Janes  (2d),  18l:i-15; 
Isaac  Clapp,  1816;  Zalmon  Malleiy,  1817-20;  Isaac  Chipii,  1821-22 ;  Zalinoii  Mal- 
lery,  1823-28;  Samuel  Wright,  1829-33;  Ebenezer  Ferry,  1834-40;  Edwin  Han- 
num.  l)-'41-42;  Ehenezer  Feriy,  l>-'43-.>4;  Lucius  Preston,  1855-63;  George  S. 
Clark,  1864;  Cbas.  B.  Johnson,  1805-60;  Watson  II.  Wright,  1807;  Charles  B. 
Johnson,  1868-69 ;  Lafayette  Clapp,  1870-70 ;  Lafayette  Clapp,  Jr.,  1877-80. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

The  district  became  a  town  and  entitled  to  representation  in 
1807. 

Dea.  Thaddeus  Clapp,  1810-12;  P.  Nichols,  1813-14;  Capt.  L.  Lym.-in,  1815-16; 
John  Hannum,  1817-18;  Ahira  Lyman,  1819;  Dea.  Thaddeus  Clapp,  1820-24; 
Ahira  Lyman,  182.5 ;  .John  Ludden,  1820-29;  (Jcran  Claiip,1830;  Luther  Clark, 
1831;  John  Ludden,  18;!2;  Jiison  Janes,  18:i3-34;  Luther  Clark,  Jr.,  18:i.5-37 ; 
John  Ludden,  1839;  Samuel  W'illiston,  1842;  E.  W.  Hannum,  1843;  E.  M. 
Wright,  1844 ;  Zenas  Clark,  1845  ;  H.  Bartholomew,  1S48 ;  John  Wright  (2d),  1849- 
50;  H.G.Kuigbt,  1851-52;  Lemuel  Lyman,  1853;  Seth  Warner,  18.54 ;  Lafayette 
Clapp,  1859 ;  Eli  A.  Hubbard,  1802;  Edmund  H.  Sawyer,  1805;  Lucas  W.  Hau- 
num, 1870,  died  in  ofBce ;  Wm.  G.  Bassett,  1874  ;  Lafayette  Clapp,  1876-77. 

VILLAGES. 

New  England  villages  are  i^ot  incorporated,  and  have  no 
municipal  government  of  their  own.  To  citizens  of  other 
States  it  appears  strange  to  find  the  people  of  a  rural  district, 
several  miles  away,  paying  equally  with  the  village  residents 
for  costly  water-works,  sidewalks,  and  similar  public  improve- 
ments ;  but  it  seems  to  be  submitted  to  without  a  murmur  in 
these  law-abiding  towns.  Even  a  hapless  non-resident  owner 
of  a  wood-lot  on  the  outskirts  of  a  town  will  not  perhaps 
complain  if  once  in  his  life  he  can  tread  the  pavement,  drink 
of  the  water,  and  study  in  the  library,  for  all  of  which  he  has 
helped  pay,  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  per  cent,  upon  his 
property. 

The  village  of  Easthanipton  is  situated  nearly  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  town,  and  at  the  present  time  e-xtends  over  a  wide 
extent  of  country,  comprising  a  large  number  of  manufac- 
tories and  business  establishments,  pleasant  private  residences, 
and  tine  public  buildings. 

The  beginning  of  the  village  was  coeval  with  the  settlement, 
or  at  least  with  the  incorporation,  of  the  district.  It  grew  up 
near  the  old  mill  of  the  Bartletts,  authorized  by  Northampton 
in  1(j75. 

Whatever  there  was  of  a  village  in  early  times  was  at  the 
falls  of  the  JIanhan,  near  the  "old  cartway."  The  entire 
extent  of  the  present  village,  northeast,  east,  and  southeast 
from  the  covered  bridge,  is  the  growth  of  modern  times. 
There  are  men  living  who  remember  the  erection  of  almost 
every  house  over  all  this  newer  territory,  except  a  few  of  the 
old  pioneer  homesteads.  They  remember  when  in  the  vicinity 
of  Union  Street  were  broad  fields  of  rye ;  when  the  woods 
still  covered  the  present  grounds  of  the  seminary,  and  children 
went  there  Sunday  noon  to  eat  their  dinner,  and  soberly,  as 
became   their   New   England   training,   watch   the  squirrels 


running  from  tree  to  tree ;  and  some  of  these  are  not  i^en/  old 
men,  either.  The  present  village  is  mainly  the  growth  of 
thirty  years. 

Stores. — One  of  the  first  to  open  a  store  was  Joseph  Clapp, 
Jr.  He  commenced  trading  in  1792,  in  his  house,  nearly 
opposite  the  present  store  of  A.  J.  Lyman,  on  Main  Street. 
His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Timothy  Lyman,  of  Chester.  On 
the  day  of  his  marriage  Mr.  Lyman  said  to  him,  "  You  are 
now  going  to  trading.  The  maxim  of  the  world  seems  to  be. 
Trade  so  that  you  can  live  by  it.  My  advice  is.  Trade  so  that 
you  can  die  by  it." 

A  few  years  later  Jlr.  Clapp  erected  a  store  where  the 
hotel  now  stands.  Bohan  Clark  afterward  traded  there  for 
a  time,  but  finally  removed  to  Northampton. 

Eldad  Smith  followed  him  in  the  Clapp  store.  He  sold  out 
about  1821,  and  removed  to  Granby.  After  this  Baxter  Bur- 
nell  and  "William  E.  Gillett  traded  successively  at  the  same 
point.  In  18-11  this  building  was  sold  out,  removed  to  Union 
Street,  and  was  used  as  the  seminary  boarding-house  for  a 
long  time. 

Soon  after  1800,  Asahel  Janes,  and,  later,  Obadiah  Janes, 
kept  store  in  a  house  near  the  hotel,  afterward  the  place  of 
Capt.  Ebenezer  Ferry.  The  latter  himself  opened  a  store  in 
1843,  when  he  received  the  appointment  of  postmaster.  In 
1850  he  removed  to  Knight's  brick  block,  then  just  erected, 
and  continued  there  until  his  retirement,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  F.  H.  Putnam,  who  is  still  in  trade. 

In  ISS.'J,  Mr.  "VVilliston  opened  a  store  near  his  residence, 
particularly  for  the  purpose  of  paying  his  employes,  although 
he  sold  goods  to  other  people.  Here  Horatio  G.  Knight 
became  his  clerk  and  won  the  confidence  of  his  employer,  so 
that  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  intrusted  with  the  purchase 
of  goods,  and  soon  had  the  entire  management  of  a  trade 
amounting  to  140,000  a  year  left  to  him.  In  1842  or  1843 
Mr.  Williston  sold  out  to  the  firm  of  Knight  &  Snow  (E.  L. 
Snow).  The  business  was,  however,  closed  two  years  later. 
The  building  was  used  as  a  warehouse,  and  in  1848  removed 
to  a  location  near  the  factorj'. 

About  this  time  the  firm  of  John  H.  Wells  &  Co.  was 
formed.  This  changed  in  1858  to  Gregory  &  Wells.  Mr. 
Gregory  died,  and  the  firm  was  again  John  H.  Wells  &  Co. 

In  1830,  when  the  Farmington  Canal  was  creating  "great 
expectations"  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  Luther  Clapp  opened 
a  store  on  the  banks  of  the  canal  just  north  of  the  Manhan 
River.  In  1840  he  sold  out  to  Harris  Bartholomew,  who  re- 
mained until  1850. 

In  May,  1855,  John  Mayher  opened  a  tin-shop  in  the  place. 
Miletus  Parsons  somewhat  earlier,  and  also  S.  W.  Lee,  Jr., 
had  commenced  this  line  of  business,  but  continued  it  only  a 
short  time.  Mr.  Mayher  made  the  enterprise  successful,  and 
from  the  small  beginning  of  a  tin-shop  has  developed  a  busi- 
ness of  great  extent  and  variety. 

This  traces  the  mercantile  interest  down  to  a  recent  period. 
Diu-ing  the  last  fifteen  years  there  has  been  with  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  village  a  large  number  of  men  in  trade,  too 
numerous  for  special  notice. 

PUBLIC-HOUSES. 

The  first  tavern  within  the  limits  of  the  town  was  kept  by 
Joseph  Bartlett.  It  stood  where  Deacon  Thaddeus  Clapp 
lived,  a  few  rods  north  of  the  Manhan  River.  He  was  licensed 
in  1727,  and  probably  continued  the  business  for  some  twenty 
years,  though  the  accounts  of  early  settlement  would  imply 
but  few  customers  in  his  immediate  vicinity. 

Maj.  Jonathan  Clapp,  the  nephew  of  Joseph  Bartlett,  as 
elsewhere  mentioned,  commenced  to  keep  tavern  where  R.  S. 
Dresser  now  lives,  about  1750.  He  continued  the  business 
until  his  death,  in  1782. 

It  is  said  thai  the  soldiers  from  Southampton  met  here  when 
they  were  about  to  start  for  Boston  in  the  days  of  the  Revolu- 


HISTOllY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


269 


tion,  and  that  travelers  from  Connecticut  to  Vermont  passed 
over  this  route  in  early  times  and  often  stopped  with  Maj.  Clapp. 

After  his  death,  his  son,  Jonathan  Clapp,  opened  a  tavern 
in  a  house  that  stood  across  the  road  from  his  father's  place ; 
that  was  the  present  Fargo  place.  Tlie  house  was  on  the  site 
of  the  present.  In  1793,  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp,  brother  of  the 
last-raeiitioncd  Jonathan,  opened  a  tavern  at  tlie  old  stand  of 
Landlord  Bartlett,  where  he  continued  until  his  death,  in 
17H7.  His  son,  Luther  Clapp,  succeeded  him  for  fourteen 
years,  and  then  the  brother  of  Luther,  Deacon  Thaddeus 
Clapp,  kept  tlie  same  house  long  enough  to  complete  nearly  a 
hundred  years  of  tavern-keeping  by  the  same  family, — father, 
sons,  and  grandsons.  After  Thaddeus  Clapp  took  down  the 
old  sign  there  was  no  hotel  for  some  years.  But  after  the 
opening  of  Williston  .Seminary  there  arose  a  greater  necessity 
for  the  accommodation  of  travelers,  and  Mr.  Williston  built  the 
one  which,  after  many  subsequent  changes,  is  now  the  3Ian- 
sion  House,  mentioned  below.  Luther  Clapp  was  the  first 
landlord  there.  It  was  afterward  closed  awhile  during  re- 
pairs, but  was  reopened  and  kept  under  tlie  name  of  the  Union 
House,  by  George  M.  Fillibrowne. 

Thi;  Easihampinn  Mansion  House. — This  is  not  much  like 
the  pioneer  "  tavern"  of  Joseph  Bartlett  that  was  opened  in 
the  forest,  near  the  "  cartway  over  the  Manlian,"  probably 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  A  public-house  in  a  rural 
village  always  has  a  variable  historj'.  But  since  1809  East- 
hampton  has  had  a  model  hotel.  William  Hill,  from  the  North- 
ampton Mansion  House,  bought  the  property  at  that  time,  and 
has  proved  what  a  wide-awake  man  of  principle  can  do  in 
keeping  a  temperance  house.  With  him  it  is  not  the  com]iul- 
sion  of  public  sentiment  nor  the  force  of  law,  to  which  an  un- 
willing, reluctant  compliance  is  so  often  given  by  men  who 
Would  sell  liquor  if  i\wy  could.  With  an  enthusiastic  love  of 
temperance  principles,  and  a  natural  hospitality  that  nmkes 
him  the  prince  of  landlords,  he  has  proved  that  the  hotel  of  a 
village  may  rank  with  its  best  institutions,  whether  of  a  busi- 
ness character,  or  social,  moral,  and  religious. 

In  1870  he  added  a  story  to  the  main  building,  in  the  shape 
of  a  mansard  roof,  greatly  improving  its  appearance.  In  1871 
he  built  a  three-story  e.'ctension  in  the  rear,  80  by  40  feet.  He 
can  easily  accommodate  100  guests,  and  has  cared  for  150.  He 
has  doubled  the  capacity  of  the  house  and  more  than  quad- 
rupled its  business,  receiving  much  patronage,  during  the 
summer  season,  from  city  guests.  Much  has  been  said — 
though  not  too  much — in  praise  of  Mr.  Hill's  excellent  man- 
agement. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Dr.  David  Phelps  located  here  about  1780,  and  practiced 
medicine  six  or  eight  years. 

Dr.  Hophni  Clapp,  a  native  of  Southampton,  studied  with 
Dr.  Woodbridge  of  that  town,  and  settled  here  about  1790. 
He  spent  his  life  in  Easthanipton. 

Drs.  Hall,  Munson,  and  Edson  practiced  here  for  a  short 
time. 

Dr.  Salmon  Mallery  settled  in  Easthampton,  not  far  from 
1815.  He  had  a  large  practice,  and  was  exceedingly  popular. 
In  1835  he  removed  to  Michigan. 

Dr.  Atherton  Clark  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine 
here  about  the  time  Mr.  Mallery  left.  He  was  for  many  j'cars 
the  only  physician  in  the  place. 

Other  physicians  have  been  Dr.  Solomon  Chapman,  Dr.  Ad- 
dison S.  Peck,  Dr.  Thomas  Henderson,  and  Dr.  Barber. 

In  recent  jears  the  physicians  have  been  Dr.  F.  C.  Greene, 
Dr.  Winslow,  Dr.  Ward,  and  Dr.  C.  R.  Upson,  a  homeo- 
pathic physician,  residing  near  Mount  Tom  station. 

Various  dentists  have  practiced  here  :  R.  D.  Brown,  Thomas 
Bolton,  A.  E.  Strong,  R.  E.  Strong,  and  H.  S.  Bascom. 

LAWYERS. 
So  much  other  material  of  a  valuable  character  is  crowded 
into  this  sketch  that  we  cannot  enter  upon  a  lengthy  notice 


of  the  legal  profession.     Wm.  G.  Bassett  and  A.  J.  Fargo 
are  the  lawyers  of  recent  years,  and  of  the  present  time. 

THE  POST-OFFICE  OF  EASTHAMPTON 
was  established  in  1821,  and  before  that  the  inhabitants  had 
their  mail  from  the  office  at  Northampton  or  Southampton. 
The  Hampshire  Gazette,  which  they  could  no  more  keep  house 
without  then  than  they  can  now,  was  brought  to  their  doors 
by  post-riders. 

Postmasters  have  been  Baxter  Burnell,  1821-23  ;  Wm.  R. 
Gillett,  1823-28;  Thaddeus  Clapp,  1828^0;  J.  Emerson  Ly- 
man, 1840^1;  Thaddeus  Clapp,  1841-43;  Luther  Clapp, 
1843 ;  Ebenezer  Perry,  1843-61  ;  J.  H.  Bardwell,  1861  to  the 
present  time. 

The  office  was  first  kept  in  a  store  that  stood  where  the  Man- 
sion House  is  now  located.  Dr.  Thaddeus  Clapp  kept  it  in  his 
tavern. 

This  little  office  of  1821,  worth  to  the  postmaster  about  §75 
a  year,  has  changed  into  one  of  the  most  important  offices  in 
the  county.  It  is  estimated  that  150,000  letters  are  yearly 
mailed  here,  and  it  is  a  money-order  office,  both  domestic  and 
foreign. 

THE    FIRE    DEPARTMENT. 

The  town  has  a  regularly-organized  and  thoroughly-equipped 
tire  department,  of  which  E.  T.  Sawyer  is  chief,  and  E.  R.  Bos- 
worth  and  Wm.  Hill  assistants. 

Pipes  have  been  laid  through  the  principal  streets  (in  all, 
6500  feet  of  iron  pipe),  with  hydrants  at  proper  intervals. 
There  are  at  the  upper  mills  no  less  than  five  pumps,  each  con- 
necting with  these  pipes,  and  capable  of  forcing  water  through 
the  village.  One  is  a  bucket-plunger  steam-pump  of  the  largest 
size,  owned  by  the  town.  There  are  two  other  steam-pumps 
and  two  rotary-pumps  run  by  water-power,  which  are  owned 
by  the  corporations.  In  case  of  tire,  force  can  be  instantly 
applied  sufficient  to  lift  a  stream  of  water  over  any  building 
within  reach  of  a  hydrant.  The  Williston  Mills  village  is 
protected  in  the  same  way  by  a  pump  at  each  mill.  Several 
of  the  corporations  have  trained  hose  companies,  and  there  is 
besides  in  the  town  a  hose  company,  a  hook-and-ladder  com- 
pany, and  the  old  Manlian  Engine  Company,  all  of  which 
forces  are  under  the  command  of  the  fire  engineers. 

THE   PRESS. 

A  job  i)rinting-office  was  opened  in  1869  by  F.  A.  Bartlett, 
He  continued  it  about  two  years,  and  then  sold  it  to  H.  C. 
McLaughlin. 

The  latter  sold  it,  March  1,  1873,  to  Mr.  H.  M.  Cimverse, 
who  still  continues  the  business. 

In  the  fall  of  1875,  Mr.  H.  De  Bill  also  started  a  weekly 
news  sheet,  called  the  Easthampton  Leader.  The  first  num- 
ber was  issued  October  14th.  Mr.  De  Bill  enlarged  it  twice,  and 
continued  it  through  thirty-three  numbers.  He  then  sold  out 
to  Mr.  Converse,  of  the  job-office  above  mentioned.  The  new 
proprietor  changed  the  name  to  The  Enteiyrise,  and  still 
continues  the  publication. 

QLENDALE. 

This  place  received  its  name — somewhat  in  a  fanciful  way, 
perhaps — from  the  natural  features  in  the  vicinity.  It  began 
to  be  so  designated  at  the  time  the  Elastic  Fabrics  Company 
established  their  works  at  that  point.  When  they  went  to 
the  centre  village  they  retained  the  name  and  "moved''  it 
with  their  machinery. 

To  avoid  a  conflict  of  names,  the  present  silk-works  at  this 
point  are  known  as  Glenwood  Mills. 

Besides  the  mills  there  are  the  boarding-house,  the  schooU 
house,  and  a  few  private  residences. 

MOUNT   TOM   STATION. 

This  place  is  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Mount  Tom  Rail- 
road, and  both  are  rightly  named,  in  view  of  their  proximity 


270 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


to  the  mountain.  The  station  huilding  is  neat  and  conve- 
niently arranged.  There  are  three  or  four  residences  near. 
In  front  and  a  few  rods  distant  is  the  Holyoke  steamboat- 
landing.     A  little  north  is  the  famous  "Ox-Bow." 

Altogether,  the  place  is  somewhat  romantically  situated,  be- 
ing in  the  "gateway  of  the  mountains,"  at  the  foot  of  the 
hold  northern  peak  of  the  Mount  Tom  range,  and  spread  out 
before  it,  north  and  east,  there  is  a  combination  of  valley, 
plain,  and  stream,  bordered  in  the  distance  by  Northampton 
and  Hockanum. 

A  little  north,  across  the  southern  part  of  the  Ox-Bow  and 
just  within  the  town  of  Northampton,  is  the  extensive  lumber- 
mill  of  the  Mclndoes. 

A  movement  has  been  made  recently  to  establish  a  school 
in  this  neighborhood. 

THE    MOUNT    TOM    RAILROAD.  " 

This  is  entirely  an  Eastbamjiton  institution  as  far  as  its  lo- 
cation is  concerned,  beginning  and  ending  within  the  limits 
of  the  town.  It  belongs  to  the  Connecticut  Vallfey  Railroad 
Company,  though  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  a  separate  charter 
and  build  it  by  a  separate  company  at  tirst. 

The  first  train  of  cars  was  run  over  tlie  road  Thanksgiving- 
day,  1871.  It  is  three  and  one-half  miles  long.  It  accom- 
modates travel  very  much,  especially  as  it  has  sic  staiiofts, 
counting  the  termini. 

SCHOOLS. 

"The  first  school  which  wiis  taiiglit  in  town  of  which  we  have  any  reliable 
record  was  at  Pasconimuck,  in  the  year  l":Jii.  At  that  time  Noithanipton  ap- 
propiiated  a  sum  of  niom-y  fur  a  school  theie.  There  is  no  account  of  any  fur- 
ther appropriation  until  1748.  In  this  year  and  nearly  every  subsequent  year 
they  gave  money  for  schooling  at  BartIf--ttV  Slill  and  at  Pasconimuck.  The 
wages  of  teachers  in  those  times  appear  small  in  comparison  with  what  teachera 
now  receive.  Six  shillings  a  week  were  paid  to  Obadiah  Janes,  Pliilip  Clark, 
Joel  Parsons,  and  others  for  keeping;  scliool  in  tlieir  own  districts  when  they 
boarded  themselves.  If  the  teacher  lived  out  of  the  district,  more  Wiis  sometimes 
jtaid." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  of  Easthampton  soon  after 
its  incorjjoration  £15  were  raised  for  the  use  of  schools,  of 
which  at  that  time  there  were  probably  but  three.  The  same 
sum  was  annually  appropriated  until  1793,  when  it  was  in- 
creased to  £20. 

The  appropriations  at  various  times  have  been  as  follows: 
1807,  S200;  1820,  ^220;  1830,  $300;  1840,  §3G0;  1850,  $G00; 
1800,  $1200;  1805,  §2200;  186U,  $3500.  In  this  last  year 
$3800  was  also  appropriated  for  building  new  school-houses. 

Nov.  24,  1788. — Voted  £15  fur  schooling,  and  appointed  a 
committee, — Philip  Clark,  Eleazer  Hannum,  and  Elijah 
Wright.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  first  school  commit- 
tee in  town. 

The  town  was  divided  into  four  school  districts  in  1797. 
Nashawannuck  District  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  Manhan 
lliver,  and  west  by  SaAv-mill  Brook.  The  west  district  was 
bounded  on  the  south  by  Manhan  River,  and  east  by  Saw-mill 
Brook.  Pascommuck  District  was  hounded  on  the  north  by 
Manhan  Kiver,  and  on  the  west  by  Broad  Brook.  The  Centre 
District  comprised  the  remaining  portions  of  the  town,  but  a 
few  in  the  southeast  were  not  included  in  any  district.  At 
first  the  management  of  each  school  was  left  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  district,  the  oioney  raised  by  the  town  being 
equitably  apportioned  to  the  several  districts,  and  by  them 
spent  according  to  their  discretion.  Later,  however,  a  general 
committee  was  appointed,  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  teach- 
ers and  visit  the  schools  to  inquire  into  their  progress.  The 
hiring  of  teachers,  the  disbursement  of  the  money,  and  the 
ownership  of  the  school-houses  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
districts.  In  1864  the  disti'icts  were  abolished,  and  the  town 
committee  have  full  control. 

The  Central  High  School  was  established  in  1804  by  a  vote 
of  this  town.  A  year  passed  in  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
building,  at  a  cost  of  $15,000.  The  house  was  dedicated  Aug. 
29,  1805.     It  will  accommodate  212  scholars. 


In  earlier  times — 1833  to  1843 — there  was  a  grammar 
school,  the  tirst  town-house  being  built  partly  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

WILLISTON    SEMINARY.* 

This  celebrated  institution  was  founded  by  Hon.  Samuel  Williston.  It  wae 
opened  to  students  Dec.  2,  1841.  The  first  building,  which  was  of  wood,  was 
burned  March  4,  lli-uT,  and  its  place  was  BUp])lied  by  a  laige  brick  building, 
completed  near  the  close  of  the  same  year  at  an  expense  of  about  820,000.  A 
second  building  bad  already  been  erected  at  this  tiuu%  comprising  a  chemicul 
and  jihilowiphical  department,  a  large  school-room  witli  an  upper  story,  aud 
wing  for  htudent-roouiB.  In  1803-G4-C5  a  gymnasium  was  built, — one  of  the 
tine^t  and  most  complete  in  the  United  States.  This  cost  over  $20,0()tl.  A  new 
dormitory  of  brick,  four  stories  in  height,  was  erected  in  18(J6,  at  a  cost  of  nearly 
S50,0U0.  Subsequently  an  astronomical  obsenatory  was  built.  These  costly 
buildings  were  all  erected  by  the  donations  of  the  founder.  These,  witli  the 
grounds  and  api)aratuB,  were  estimated  in  1873  at  $270,000.  By  liis  will  Mr.  Wil- 
liston  lias  left  the  institution  a  large  endowment.  Upon  the  settU-nient  of  the 
estate,  the  seminary  is  to  receive  8200,(XX},  and  ultimately  $300,000  more.  The 
homestead,  given  to  Mrs.  Williston  and  valued  at  ^0,OCK),  has  been  given  by  her 
to  the  senunary  after  her  decease,  provided  at  least  one  of  the  permanent  build- 
ings is  i)ljiced  upon  the  grounds,  and  the  whole  kept  for  the  use  of  the  seminary. 
The  school  has  $10,000  invested  iu  apparatus  aud  appliances  for  illustration  in 
history,  nuithematics,  the  sciences,  and  classics.  Among  these  are  a  tboroughly- 
furnished  pliilosophiciil  lecture-room;  a  chemical  laboratory;  an  aistnummiial 
(iljseiviitocy  ;  tbiplirjite  set«  of  surveying  and  engineering  instruments;  prepaia- 
tions  for  illustiatinn  in  anatomy  and  physiology;  nmdels  and  det-igns  for  the 
drawing-room;  geological,  mineralogical,  and  botanical  collections;  maps,  plio- 
tographs,  and  plaster  casts.  The  school  is  believed  to  have  the  most  complete 
faeilities  for  instruction  of  any  school  of  its  grade  in  the  United  States. 

The  first  principal  was  Kev.  Luther  Wright.  He  wa-s  born  iu  Eiwthampton, 
and  had  great  influence  in  securing  the  location  of  the  scluiol  in  his  native  town. 
He  was  succec^ied  in  1849  by  Rev.  Josiah  Clark,  whose  resignation  tcMik  place  in 
18(i:i,  when  Kev.  Marshall  Heoshaw  was  elected  piincipal.  He  resigned  in  187G, 
and  Kev.  .lames  M.  W'liiton  Wiis  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy.  His  services  closed 
at  the  end  of  the  spiing  tei  m  of  1S78.  Prof.  .1.  W.  Fairbanks,  who  succeeded 
liim,  is  the  present  piincipal  (January,  187tt), — the  fiist  alumnus  of  the  scliool  to 
occupy  the  principal's  chair.  One  hundred  different  teachers  have  given  in- 
struction in  the  school  duiing  its  history,  many  of  whom  are  now  occupying 
positions  of  great  influence  in  the  pulpit,  at  the  Bar,  in  the  professor's  chair,  or 
other  iirofe8sii)ns.  For  some  years  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  trastees  to  have 
the  te;u:hei-ship8  permanent  positions,  thus  securing  greater  efficiency  in  the 
board  of  instruction. 

Tlie  seminary  opened  with  a  male  and  a  female  depaitmcnt.  The  latter  was 
.suspended  in  lMi4.  The  hirgest  number  of  ladies  in  attendance  during  any  year 
wiis  187,  and  the  smallest  44.  There  were  54  names  of  ladies  in  the  catalogue 
of  1804.  Tlie  first  catalogue  contains  191  names, — two-thirds  of  these  in  the 
English  course.  The  total  rose  rapidly  until,  in  11^40,  it  stood  at  J42.  After  that 
it  declined,  and  the  yearly  aggregate  stood  between  300  and  400  until  the  discon- 
tinuance of  the  ladies'  <iei)artment.  The  average  tcnn  attendance  since  the  war 
has  stood  at  175.  During  the  first  five  years  of  the  seminary's  existence  95  per 
cent,  of  the  pupils  were  from  New  England, — GO  per  cent,  from  Hampshire 
County  and  30  per  cent,  from  Eiusthamptou.  As  higli  schools  were  developed  iu 
the  neighbjiing  t)wns  this  local  patronage  fell  off,  and  the  growth  of  South 
Hmlley  Seminary  affected  the  number  of  ladies.  Duiing  the  second  five  yeais 
the  percentage  from  New  England  had  dropped  to  90  and  the  percenuige  fi*oni 
Hampshire  County  to  33.  For  the  next  ten  years  the  New  England  pei'centage 
stood  at  85  and  the  Hauipsbire  County  percentage  continued  at  33.  With  the 
increased  cost  of  board,  and  the  continued  development  of  liume-schoids,  these 
percentages  contiiuied  to  decline,  until,  at  present,  that  from  New  England  is  50 
and  from  liampsliire  County  10,  half  of  whom  are  from  Easthampton.  This 
indicatt!S  tluit  the  seminary  began  as  a  local  school  and  served  the  purpose  of  a 
high  school  for  many  neighboring  towns.  It  has  ceased  to  be  local,  and  baa 
become  national. 

From  its  beginning  the  school  has  been  divided  into  two  departments, — a 
classical  and  an  English  or,  as  recently  named,  a  scientific, — existitig  on  a 
paiity  and  having  i)arallel  courses  of  study. 

The  fii-st  catalogues  simply  give  &  list  of  studies  which  were  pursued  in  the 
two  departments.  Tliere  was  no  term  arrangement  of  studies  and  no  chissifica- 
tion  of  students.  Since  then  the  courses  of  study  have  continually  grown  more 
definite,  and  the  sclmul  is  nt>w  strictly  graded.  While  students  are  allowed  to 
select  their  course,  most  of  them  are  pursuing  a  regular  course. 

The  school  gives  thorough  preparation  for  the  best  colleges  and  scientific 
schools.  Its  scientific  department  also  ofiei-s  a  complete  counse  of  study  for  those 
whose  time  and  money  will  not  permit  a  more  extended  course.  The  coui-se  of 
study  in  each  department  occupies  four  years,  but  mature  students  are  advanced 
as  rapidly  as  they  can  be  with  profit  to  themselves.  Special  students  are  received 
at  any  time,  aud  pennitted  to  join  the  classes  for  which  they  are  qualified. 

The  purpose  of  the  founder  was  to  establish  a  school  of  the  highest  order, 
partly  self-supporting  because  of  the  income  from  invested  fuiuis  and  generous 
provision  in  otlier  ways,  and  therefore  open  t».)  those  of  limited  means.  This 
purpose  is  always  kejjt  in  view.  Tuition  is  free  to  those  who  need  such  help, 
and  board  is  kept  at  S3  per  week  at  the  seminary  boarding-house.  All  young 
men  of  energy  and  poraeverance  are  thereby  able  to  avail  themselves  of  tlie  iul- 
vantiiges  of  the  school. 

*  By  Prof.  Sawyer. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


271 


Tho  eeminiiry  is  under  religious  but  uot  sectarian  influence.  From  one-fourth 
to  oue-tliin!  of  tlie  stmlents  from  term  to  term,  are  profes-siuf;  Cliristians. 

A  notalilo  event  in  the  history  of  the  seminary  wiia  tho  celebration  of  the 
Quarter  Centennial,  which  wa**  heM  annivci-sary  week,  July  2, 1SG7. 

There  was  u  large  attendance  of  graduates  and  former  pupils.  Rev.  R.  S. 
Storre,  of  Brooklyn,  was  president  of  the  day.  Prof.  Woi.  S.  Tyler,  the  adviser 
and  trusted  friend  of  the  founder,  delivered  an  hist-uical  address.  Rev.  N. 
Adams,  of  Boston,  in  prayer,  dediaited  the  completed  buildings  to  the  promotion 
of  learning  and  religion.  Prof.  Cyrus  Northrop,  of  Yale  College,  pronounced 
an  onition.    There  was  also  a  pi)em  by  C.  H.  Sweetzer,  of  the  Hound  Table,  N.  Y. 

This  gathering  of  Alumni  left,  as  its  legacy,  an  incipient  Alumni  Association, 
which  still  lives  and  grows.  It  hiis  done  something  toward  the  cultivation  of 
an  e^rU  dit  corps  among  graduates.  It  has  meetings  each  annivereary  week, 
with  a  public  address  from  some  distinguished  alumnus.  Addresses  have  beeu 
delivercil  by  Rev.  H.  Clay  Trumbull,  Prof.  Judson  Smith,  Rev.  H.  M.  Parsons,  C. 
D.  Adams,  Esq.,  Judge  William  S.  ShurtlefT,  Col.  M;ison  W.  Tyler,  Rev.  Charles 
M.  Lamson,  and  Rev.  Augustus  F.  Beard,  D.D.  On  one  occasion  a  poem  was 
delivered  by  Rev.  Albert  Bryant,  and  on  anotlier  by  Juilge  Shnrtleff'. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  results  of  this  organization  hius  been  the  publication 
of  an  Alumni  record.  This  society  urged  the  matter  upon  the  trustees,  who 
readily  favored  the  project,  appointed  a  co-operatiug  committee,  and  voted  to 
defray  the  expense.  The  matter  was  finally  put  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  Joseph 
H.  Sawyer,  for  several  years  a  teacher  in  the  seminary.  Witli  jiainstaking  and 
great  labor,  and  with  the  co-operation  of  various  class  secretaries,  he  succeeded, 
at  length,  itj  bringing  out  a  most  satisfactory  record.  It  gives  the  addresses,  and, 
in  most  cases,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life,  of  trustees  and  teachers,  and  of  1-1.^ 
male  students;  an  index  of  the  full  number;  the  Roll  of  Honor;  and  a  list  of 
female  teachers  and  students,  with  their  present  address  and  name.  From  this 
record  it  appt-ars  that,  at  the  time  of  publication  in  lH7o,  there  liad  been  c<m- 
nected  with  the  seminary  51GG  male  and  1077  female  students ;  total,  6243.  Of 
these,  the  whole  number  reckoned  alumni  is  1117.  Mr.  Sawyer  was  able  to  report 
more  or  less  fully  concerning  2494  peraons.  Of  these,  512  had  already  received 
a  college  education,~20.5  at  Yale,  102  at  Amherst,  and  7s  at  Williams.  Seventy- 
two  were  then  in  college.  Eighty-eight  more  had  gradnat^jd  at  professional  or 
scientific  schools.  Of  these,  167  had  chosen  the  clerical,  174  the  legal,  and  Srt  tlie 
medical  professions;  while  77  were  teachers,  15  journalists,  and  25  civil  engi- 
neei-s.  The  R<dl  of  Honor  shows  9  generals,  16  colonels,  14  majois,  13  chaplains, 
27  surgeons,  'M\  capfcxins,  41  lieutenants,  and  %iO  uon-commissicnied  officers  and 
privates.  Of  these,  49  died  in  battle  or  from  exposure.  Adding  those  who  have 
attended  the  school  since  the  Alumni  records  were  published,  we  have  a  grand 
total  of  6750  students  since  the  opening  of  the  school ;  12.')0  graduates  of  Wil- 
Uston  Seminary,  of  whom  700  have  completed  a  collegiate  or  professional  course 
of  study. 

The  first  board  of  instruction.  1S41,  consisted  of  Rev.  Luther  Wright,  Prin- 
cipal, and  teacher  of  Latin  and  Greek  ;  David  M.  Kimball,  M.A.,  Mathematics, 
Natural  Philosophy,  and  Astronomy;  Richard  S.  Sti»rrs,  Jr.,  M.A.,  Jlental  and 
Moral  Philosophy,  Rhetoric,  and  Chemistry;  Miss  Clarissa  L.  Wright,  French, 
English  Grammar,  and  Geography;  Col.  Asa  Barr,  Music  ;  and  Horatio  Brown, 
Penmanship. 

The  firet  board  of  trustees  were :  Hon.  Samuel  Williston,  President ;  Rev. 
Heman  Humphrey,  D.D.,  Rev.  Emerson  Davis,  Rev.  John  ]\Iitchell,  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Bement,  Secretary';  Rev. Lutlier  Wright,  Treasurer;  Deacon  J.  P.  M'illiston, 
Hon.  William  Bowdoin,  Rev.  JIark  Hopkins,  D.D.,  Prof.  William  S.  Tyler. 

Present  ti-ustees  and  officers :  Hon.  Horatio  G.  Knight,  Ea-^tbampton,  President; 
Prof.  William  8.  Tyler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Amherst;  Rev.  L.  G.  Buckingham,  D.D., 
Springfield;  Rev.  John  H.  Bisbee,  Westfield;  Rev.  Neheniiah  Adams,  D.D., 
Bostun ;  Rev.  Aaron  M.  Colton,  Eiisthampton ;  Rev.  Gordon  Hull,  D.D.,  Noi  th- 
ampt^jn;  Col.  William  I.  Clark,  LL.D.,  Amherst;  Rev.  Samuel  T.  Seelye,  D.D, 
Easthamptt>n ;  Hon.  Edmund  H.  Sawyer,  Easthampton,  Treasurer;  M.  F.  Dick- 
inson, Jr.,  Esq.,  Boston;  A.  Lyman  Williston,  Esq.,  Florence;  Joseph  W.  Fair- 
banks, M.A.,  Easthampton. 

The  present  faculty  (January,  1879)  includes  the  following :  Joseph  Whitconib 
Fairbanks,  M.A.,  Principal,  and  instructor  in  Latin  ;  Joseph  Henry  Sawyer, 
.  M.A.,  instructor  in  Mental  Science  and  English  Literature ;  Robeit  Porter  Keep, 
Ph.D.,  instructor  in  Greek;  Roswell  Parish,  M.A.,  instructor  in  Mathematics 
and  Physics;  Russell  M,  Wright,  M.A.,  instructor  in  Natural  History  and 
Geometry  ;  Henry  Elijah  Alvord,  C.E.,  instructt^ir  in  Drawing  and  Gymnastics  ; 
Erastus  G.  Smith,  B.A.,  instrucbir  in  Chemistry  and  Elocution;  Charles  A. 
Biitfum,  M.A.,  instructor  iu  Latin  and  History. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  college  graduates  natives  of  East- 
hampton : 

Azariah  Clark,  1805,  Williams  College,  ministry. 
Job  Clark,  1811,  Williams  College,  medicine. 
Elam  C.  Clark,  1812,  Williams  College,  ministry. 
Theodore  Clapp,  18U,  Yale  College,  ministry. 
Solomon  Lyman,  1822,  Yale  College,  ministry. 
Sumner  G.  Clapp,  1822,  Yale  College,  ministry. 
Luther  Wright,  1822,  Yale  College,  teaching. 
Sylvester  Clapp,  1823,  Vn'um  College,  ministry. 
Silas  C.  15rowix,  1828,  Union  College,  ministry. 
Tlieodore  L.  Wright,  1820,  Yale  College,  teaching. 
Samuel  Matthews,  182'J,  Amherst  College,  teaching. 
Francis  Janes,  1830,  Williams  College,  ministry. 


Thornton  W.  Clapp,  1835,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Edmund  Wright,  1830,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Josiah  Lyman,  1830,  Williams  College,  teaching. 

Alender  O.  Clapp,  1837,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

Addison  Lyman,  1839,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Jabez  B.  Lyman,  1841,  Amherst  College,  surgery. 

Russell  M.  Wright,  1841,  Williams  College,  teaching. 

Horace  Lyman,  1842,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Elijah  H.  Wright,  1842,  Amherst  College,  medicine. 

William  S.  Clark,  1848,  Amherst  College,  teaching. 

Lyman  R.  Williston,  1850,  Amherst  College,  teaching. 

Edson  L.  Clark,  1853,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

Francis  H.  Hannum,  1805,  Amherst  College. 

James  T.  Graves,  1800,  Yale  College. 

Payson  W.  Lyman,  1867,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

Henry  H.  Saw3'er,  1871,  Amherst  College,  business. 

Charles  H.  Knight,  1871,  Williams  College,  medicine. 

Alvin  E.  Todd,  1871,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

Frank  Warner,  two  years  at  Williams  College,  music  ;  then 
music  a  year  at  Leipsic,  Germany. 

Frank  E.  Sawyer,  1872,  United  States  Naval  Academy, 
navy. 

George  H.  Baker,  1874,  Amherst  College,  history,    • 

William  B.  Sawyer,  1875,  Amherst  College,  medicine. 

Fred.  M.  Leonard,  Harvard  College. 

Arthur  Wainwright,  Amherst  College. 

School  Siatistlcs. 

January,  1S37. — Si.\  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  IGl;  average,  123; 
winter,  175;  average,  139;  in  town  between  4  and  IG,  197;  summer  schools,  26 
nuujthe;  winter,  17  months;  summer  teachers,  fi  females  ;  winter,  4  males,  2  fe- 
males; average  wages  of  male  teachere  per  month,  S22;  female  teachers,  810.02. 

Januaiy,  li*47. — Si.v  schools;  attonding  in  the  summer,  IfiO;  avenige,  12f}; 
winter,  LSfj;  Tiverage,  13,1 ;  in  town  between  4  and  1(1,215;  attonding  under  4, 
10;  over  IC,  6;  summer  schools,  22  months;  wiiiter,  1!>  nioutiis;  tital,  41 ;  sum- 
mer teachers,  6  females;  winter,  4  nuiles,  2  females;  male  teiichera,  avenigo 
wages  per  month,  $22.50 ;  female,  S14.16. 

January,  1857. — Seven  schools;  attending  in  summer,  161;  avei-age,  136;  win- 
ter, 215 ;  average,  155 ;  attending  under  5,  6 ;  over  16,  H ;  in  town  between  5  and 
15,  236 ;  summer  teachers,  7  females ;  winter,  1  male,  7  females ;  summer  schools, 
32  mouths,  10  days;  winter,  22  mouths,  15  days;  total,  55  months,  5  days;  wages 
of  male  teachers,  average  per  month,  S25;  female,  Sl2. 

Januarj',  1867. — Thirteen  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  452;  aversigo 
374;  winter,  513;  average,  398;  attending  under  5,  8;  over  15,59;  in  town  be- 
tween 5  and  15,  542;  summer  teachers,  12  females;  winter,  13  females;  summer 
schools,  39  months,  15  days ;  winter,  42  mouths,  15  days ;  average  wages  of  female 
teachers,  528  per  month. 

January,  1878.— Sixteen  schools;  repairs,  S529.03;  attending,  631;  average, 
513 ;  under  5,  5 ;  over  15,  72 ;  in  town  between  5  and  15,  037  ;  teachers,  females, 
21 ;  from  Normal,  5 ;  school,  142  months  ;  average  wages  per  mouth,  $42.46 ;  tax- 
ation, $7000 ;  expense  of  superintendence,  $200 ;  vested  funds,  3143,01X),  yielding 
an  income  of  $8000;  from  other  local  funds  and  dog  tax,  $151.99;  1  high  .school, 
1  teacher,  81  scholars;  suppoited  by  taxation,  9  months  and  5  days;  principars 
salary,  $900;  1  incorporated  academy ;  225  scholars ;  tuition,  $13,000 ;  town  share 
of  SUite  fund,  $282.67. 

CHURCHES. 

The  desire  of  the  people  for  a  separate  civil  organization 
was  intimately  connected  with  their  plans  for  a  separate 
church.  In  all  tlieir  movements  for  a  new  town,  it  was  as- 
signed as  a  special  reason  "  that  with  greater  profit  to  them- 
selves and  their  families,  they  might  attend  on  public  worship 
and  on  the  ordinances  of  God's  sanctuary." 

Accordingly,  before  the  civil  organization  was  secured,  cer- 
tain individuals  made  preparation  to  build  a  meeting-house, 
and  a  frame  was  erected  in  the  spring  of  1785. 

The  following  notes  from  the  town  records  show  the  early 
action  down  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Williston's  ordination  : 

July  13, 1785. — Chose  a  committee  to  make  an  inquiry  for  a  preacher,  and  re- 
port at  some  future  meeting,— David  Lyman,  Philip  Clark,  Jonathan  Clapp, 
Joseph  Clapp,  David  Chaimian. 

Voted,  to  make  this  nu^eting-house  (already  partly  built)  the  place  of  public 
worship. 

Voted,  to  purchase  the  house  of  the  individuals  who  had  been  at  the  expense 
of  erecting  it.  Voted  a  conunittec  to  cover  the  house.— Jonathan  Clapp,  Philip 
i'hirk,  Joseph  Clapp,  Obadiah  Janes,  Benjamin  Clapp,  David  Chapman,  Bonjar 
min  Lyman. 

Nov.  16, 17S5.— Voted,  "to  hire  preaching,"  and  chose  a  committee  for  that 
purpose,— Stephen  Wright,  Benjamin  Lyman,  and  Philip  Clark. 


272 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


March  22,  17?6. — Committee  on  prenehing  iustnieted  to  continue  their  ser- 
vices, aiiti  tlieir  previotis  action  ratified. 

April  3,  17^0. — Voteii,  "  to  secure  tlie  windows  of  tlie  meeting-house,"  and  ap- 
Jiointcd  a  committee  for  tiiat  purpose, — Af-ahel  Clark,  Jouathan  Clapp,  and 
Ziuloc  Dauks. 

.Inne  22,  1786. — Voted,  to  levy  a  ta.\  of  30  itounds  upon  the  polls  and  estates 
to  liay  for  preaching. 

Oct.  26,  17^6.— Voted,  that  the  committee  on  preaching  hire  M.  Wtiolworth 
another  teim  on  conditirui  that  they  can  agree  with  him. 

Nov.  22,  1786. — Voterl,  t^i  raise  forty  pounds  for  the  support  of  the  gospel. 

Vote<l,  that  the  committee  "  board  the  ministers  at  the  cheajiest  jdiice  they  can, 
if  it  he  a  good  place." 

Jan.  18, 1787. — Voted,  to  concur  with  the  church  in  inviting  Mr.  Aaron  AVool- 
worth  to  settle  with  us  in  the  work  of  the  niinistty,  and  ottered  him  a  settlement 
of  2(Hl  {Hiunds,  to  Le  paid  .''lO  [lounds  a  year;  and  a  salary  of  75  pounds  a  year  for 
the  first  five  years,  afterward  >0  pounds  yearly,  and  sevent,v  loads  of  woi>d  a  year 
for  his  own  fires.  Committee  to  wait  uisin  BIr.  Woolwoith,  Stephen  Wright, 
Philip  Clark,  Benjamin  Lyman,  Joseph  Clapp,  Asahel  Clark. 

Itut  Mr.  AVwdworth  was  not  settled. 

April  10,  17S7. — Committee  upon  the  underianning  of  the  meeting-house, 
Jonathan  Clapp,  John  Ilannum,  Lemuel  Lyman. 

Here  is  also  a  glimpse  at  the  carpenter  work,  Mr.  Jonathan  Clapp  being  voted 
twelve  shillings  for  making  pins  for  the  meeting-house. 

May  '2s,  17S7. — Conmiittee  on  preaching  dismissed  at  their  request,  and  the 
following  appointed:  Stephen  Wright,  Benjamin  Lyman,  Asahel  Clark,  Philip 
Clark,  David  Lyman. 

The  coinniittee  were  instructed  to  apply  to  Rev.  BIr.  Holt  and  to  others  in  their 
di-scretion. 

Aug.  20.  1787. — Voted,  the  committee  should  employ  Mr.  Holt  another  term. 

Nov.  26, 1787. — Voted,  to  allow  Stephen  Wright  one  sliilling  an<I  sixpence  per 
day  for  riding  after  a  preju-her,  calling  his  time  two  days  and  a  half. 

Voted.  t4»  raise 40  jiounds  for  prejiching. 

Nov.  24,  1788. — Voted  fifty  {lounds  for  the  support  of  preaching,  and  voted 
to  finish  the  meeling-housc,  and  a  committee  were  appointed  to  make  a  distri- 
liiition  of  the  tax  in  timber. 

Voted,  to  allow  Daviil  Lyman  the  same  Mr.  Joseph  Clapp  had  for  Kiarding  the 
minister.  We  conclude  Mr.  LymanV  was  the  cheapest  place  to  be  obtained, 
lu'cording  to  a  previous  vot^f,  but  wc  also  conclude  that  it  was  "  a  good  jdace." 

Murili  2:!,  1789.— To  prevent  disorder  upon  the  Sabbath,  voteil  that  the  tytli- 
ingmen  do  their  duty  faithfully.  •• 

In  178(j,  Benjamin  Lyman,  Stephen  Wriijht,  and  Philip 
Clark  were  appointed  a  committee  to  collect  a  donation  made 
by  Josepli  Bartlett  many  years  before  to  the  first  church  of 
Christ  which  should  organize  and  hold  divine  service  within 
half  a  mile  of  his  house.  It  amounted,  with  interest,  to  £14 
l.v.  and  Sd.,  and  was  expended  for  a  communion  service. 

The  pioneer  state  of  organization  and  preparation  was  at 
length  passed,  and  a  changing  pastorate  gave  way  to  a  regular 
settlement,  uncertainty  to  steady  permanent  work.  A  call 
was  voted  to  Rev.  Payson  Williston,  April  6,  1789.  It  was 
accepted,  and  he  was  ordained  Aug.  13,  1789. 

The  terms  of  the  engagement  were  £180  settlement  fund  and 
a  salary  of  £65  the  first  year,  to  be  increased  £1  a  year  until 
it  amounted  to  £70,  besides  35  cords  of  wood  per  year  if  he 
"  shall  need  so  much  for  his  own  consumption." 

ilr.  Williston's  pastorate  lasted  until  18:>8,  when  he  re- 
signed, but  continued  to  reside  in  this  place,  loved  and  vener- 
ated by  the  people  to  whom  lie  had  preached  the  words  of 
eternal  life  for  so  long  a  period.  The  correspondence  between 
I)astor  and  people  at  the  time  of  the  resignation  is  honorable 
to  both.  His  life  was  prolonged  for  twenty-three  years  after 
the  close  of  his  ministerial  services.  At  the  age  of  ninety- 
two,  Jan.  30,  1856,  he  was  called  by  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  come  up  higher. 

ORQANIZATIOX   OF    THE   CHURCH. 

During  the  period  of  early  settlement  a  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants living  U])on  the  territory  now  constituting  Eastbampton 
retained  connection  with  the  church  of  Northampton,  and 
others  with  that  of  Southampton.  It  was  not  until  the  dis- 
trict was  incorporated  that  a  movement  for  a  new  organiza- 
tion was  successful.  Nov.  13,  1785,  fort}--six  persons  were 
dismissed  from  the  Northampton  church,  and  about  the  same 
time  fifteen  families,  embracing  twenty-six  persons,  from  the 
church  at  Southampton,  to  constitute  a  new  church.  The 
organization  took  place  at  the  house  of  Joseph  Clapp,  Nov. 
17,  1785. 

Stephen   Wright  was   the   mudcratur   of  the   meeting,  and 


Capt.  Philip  Clark  was  clerk.  Ministers  present  were  Rev. 
Solomon  Williams,  of  Northampton  ;  Rev.  Jonathan  Judd, 
of  Southampton ;  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  of  Westhampton ;  and 
Rev.  Joseph  Strong,  of  Williamsburg.  The  first  deacons 
chosen  were  Philip  Clark  and  Benjamin  Lyman.  The  former 
declined,  and  two  years  later  Obadiali  Janes  was  chosen  in  his 
place.  As  already  shown,  the  new  church  was  without  a 
settled  pastor  for  over  three  years. 

The  present  church  edifice  was  built  in  1836  and  1837  from  a 
plan  drawn  by  William  F.  Pratt,  of  Northampton.  Mr.  Pratt 
and  Jason  Clark  were  the  contractors.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  June  9,  1836,  and  the  house  was  dedicated  March  16, 
1837.  The  structure  is  80  by  00  feet,  and  its  original  cost  was 
less  than  §6000.  In  1844  the  church  was  enlarged  by  building 
more  capacious  galleries.  Mr.  Samuel  Williston  at  his  own 
expense  had  the  spire  remodeled  and  an  organ  and  a  clock 
introduced.  In  1865  it  was  removed  a  short  distance,  to  its 
present  location,  and  thoroughly  remodeled  at  an  expense  of 
55000. 

The  site  where  the  old  meeting-house  of  1785  stood  is  now 
a  beautiful  park,  adding  much  to  the  attractions  of  the  village. 
Afine  elm,  growing  near  the  centre  of  the  park,  is  known  as 
the  "pulpit  elm,"  and  is  said  to  mark  the  spot  over  which 
stood  the  pulpit  in  the  first  meeting-house, — a  splendid  living 
memorial,  marking  a  place  historic  in  the  annals  of  East- 
bampton. 

The  First  Church  have  a  largo  and  convenient  chapel  near 
their  hou.se  of  worship.  In  1846  a  commodious  brick  parson- 
age was  erected  on  one  of  the  pleasantest  sites  in  the  town  at 
an  expense  of  §3000,  the  greater  portion  of  which  was  donated 
by  Mr.  Samuel  Williston,  though  the  socic^ty  relinquished  to 
him  the  old  parsonage.  A  Sabbath-school  was  instituted  in 
1818,  meeting  at  first  with  some  opposition.  It  was  held  in 
the  district  school-bouse  that  stood  at  what  is  now  the  corner 
of  Park  and  Main  Streets.  It  has  been  continued  from  that 
time  to  the  present  as  one  of  the  cherished  institutions  of  the 
church. 

The  communion-service  in  use  was  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Tirzah 
Clapp,  widow  of  Luther  Clapp;  she  died  Aug.  13,  1811.  In 
her  will  she  bequeathed  .?300  to  the  church  and  town,  $35  of 
which,  according  to  her  direction,  was  expended  for  a  pall- 
cloth,  and  the  balance  fell  to  the  church. 

MhiistcrinI  Hecon/.^lft.  Rev.  Payson  Williston,  installed 
Aug.  13,  1789;  resigned  and  dismi.ssed  by  council  Oct.  16, 
1833  ;  died  Jan.  30,  1856,  aged  ninety-two.  2d.  Rev.  William 
Bement,  ordained  Oct.  16,  1833  ;  dismissed  April  9,  1850.  3d. 
Rev.  Rollin  S.  Stone,  installed  Oct.  8,  1850 ;  dismissed  July 
26,  1852.  4th.  Rev.  A.  M.  Colton,  installed  March  2,  1853, 
and  now  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  his  pastorate. 

A  ver\'  pleasant  event  in  the  history  of  the  church  was  the 
quarter-century  celebration  of  Mr.  Colton's  psistorate.  It 
was  held  on  Friday,  March  1,  1878.  The  addresses,  the  gifts, 
the  .social  entertainments,  the  music,  all  were  of  a  rich  and 
varied  character,  recalling  tender  reminiscences,  and  exhibit- 
ing the  love  and  esteem  which  existed  in  the  whole  commu- 
nity for  the  faithful  pastor. 

At  the  meeting  to  make  arrangements  Mr.  Edw^n  S.  Janes 
presided,  and  Mr.  AVatson  H.  Wright  was  secretary.  The 
general  committee  appointed  were  Deacons  Lauren  D.  Ly- 
man, William  Hill,  Martin  L.  Gaylord,  Watson  H.  AVright, 
Lucius  E.  Parsons,  Mrs.  Lafayette  Clap]),  Mrs.  Gilbert  A. 
Clark,  Miss  Sarah  E.  Wright,  Miss  Emma  A.  Clark.  The 
principal  gift  in  which  the  oflerings  of  the  people  were  em- 
bodied was  a  costly  and  beautiful  silver  service,  engraved 
with  the  pastor's  name. 

For  the  second  piece  sung  ujhim  this  occasion  tliirtcen  mem- 
bers of  the  church  choir  of  twenty-five  years  ago  took  the 
"singers'  scats."  These  were  also  present  in  the  choir  of 
eighty  who  sang  at  the  installation  of  Mr.  Colton.  The 
thirteen  now  sang  the  same  tunc,  and  froiu  tlic  same  book, — 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


273 


"One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord."  As  the  modern 
choir  retired  to  give  pUice  to  the  tliirteen  Mr.  Edwin  S. 
Janes,  tlie  leader,  alone  remained, — the  sole  link  between  the 
old  and  the  new,  his  services  in  the  choir  extending  over  a 
longer  period  than  those  of  the  pastor  in  the  pulpit. 

Record  of  Deacons  Chosen. — Philip  Clark,  Jan.  18,  178G; 
declined;  died  May  26,  1818.  Stephen  Wright,  Jan.  18, 
178G ;  died  June  3,  1809.  Benjamin  Lyman,  June  21,  178G. 
Abadiah  Janes,  1788;  died  Feb.  1,  1817.  Joel  Parsons,  1798. 
Solomon  Lyman,  1807;  resigned  1833  (probably).  Thaddeus 
Clapp,  1808;  died  April  12,  18G1.  Sylvester  Lyman,  1813; 
resigned  in  1833.  Julius  Hannum,  Jan.  2,  1825.  Ithamar 
Clark,  Nov.  29,  1832 ;  died  April  3,  1857.  Eleazer  W.  Han- 
num, 1833;  still  in  office  after  forty-six  years  of  service. 
Samuel  Williston,  Sept.  2,  1841 ;  dismissed  to  the  Payson 
Church,  Oct.  8,  1850.  Luther  Wright,  May  14,  1857 ;  died 
Sept.  5,  1870.  E.  Alonzo  Clark,  May  14,  1857 ;  one  of  the 
present  deacons  (January,  1879).  Lauren  D.  Lyman,  Feb. 
3,  1870;  one  of  the  [iresent  deacons  (.January,  1879). 

THE    PATSON    CHURCU    OF    EASTHAMPTON. 

This  was  one  of  the  developments  caused  by  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  population  consequent  upon  the  removal  of  the 
button-works  from  Haydenville  to  Easthampton  and  the 
general  enlargement  of  business  enterprises.  The  first  meeting 
for  the  organization  of  a  second  church  was  held  July  8,  1852. 

The  church,  consisting  of  100  members,  was  formed  De- 
cember 29th  of  the  same  year,  and  the  church  edifice  that  had 
been  already  built  was  dedicated  in  the  evening  of  that  day. 
The  Rev.  R.  S.  Stone  became  the  first  pastor,  and  was  in- 
stalled at  the  same  time  with  the  services  of  organization  and 
dedication.  The  first  deacons  were  Hon.  Samuel  Williston 
qnd  Dr.  Atherton  Clark.  The  first  clerk  was  E.  A.  Hubbard, 
who  served  until  1855,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  C.  B.  John- 
son, Esq.,  who  has  been  continued  in  that  office  to  the  present 
time. 

The  church  was  very  unfortunate  for  several  years  in  re- 
spect to  their  house  of  worship.  The  first  house,  erected  in 
1852,  was  burned  Jan.  29,  1854,  with  no  insurance  upon  it. 
In  the  following  spring  the  erection  of  another  house  was 
commenced,  and,  when  partially  finished,  that  was  destroyed 
by  fire  Sept.  1,  1854.  The  walls  and  foundation  were  par- 
tially saved ;  a  third  building  was  commenced  almost  immedi- 
ately, which  was  completed  the  next  year,  and  dedicated  Sept. 
6,  185.5.  This  rapidity  of  work  and  steady  perseverance  in 
the  face  of  disaster  could  have  hardly  succeeded  except  through 
the  munificence  of  Hon.  Samuel  Williston,  who  paid  almost 
entirely  for  the  erection  of  the  last  house, — about  5>14,000.  The 
first  parsonage  was  destroyed  at  the  same  time  with  the  second 
church.  In  connection  with  the  building  of  the  third  edifice 
a  new  parsonage  was  erected,  at  an  expense  of  $4000. 

But  the  list  of  disasters  was  not  yet  complete.  Jan.  2,  18G2, 
the  tall  spire  of  the  church  was  blown  down  by  the  severe 
gale  of  that  morning.  It  fell  across  the  roof,  ruining  a  large 
portion  of  the  building.  The  organ,  the  desk,  and  the  vestry, 
however,  escaped  injury.  At  the  time  of  repairing  this  damage 
an  addition  was  made  to  the  building,  and  the  present  struc- 
ture is  89  by  50;  spire,  1G3  feet  in  height;  organ  recess,  27  by 
19;  audience-room,  75  by  48  below  and  87  by  48  above.  The 
total  expense  of  building  and  rebuilding  cannot  hav«  been  less 
than  §.50,000.  The  ordinary  seating  capacity  may  be  stated 
at  600,  in  case  of  necessity  reaching  800. 

Present  Orgatiization  (January,  1879). — Rev.  A.  R.  Mer- 
riam.  Pastor ;  C.  B.  Johnson,  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  Horatio 
G.  Knight,  Rev.  J.  H.  Sawyer,  Deacons  and  Church  Com- 
mittee ;  E.  Thomas  Sawyer,  Joseph  H.  Wilson,  Jairus  Burt, 
Parish  Committee ;  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Sawyer,  Superintendent 
of  Sunday-school ;  communicants,  about  450;  congregation, 
including  seminary  students,  GOO  to  700 ;  Sunday-school  at- 
tendance about  320;  having  an  excellent  litrary. 
S5 


Ministerial  Record. — 1st.  Rev.  R.  S.  Stone,  installed  Dec. 
28,  1852;  dismissed  Jan.  21,  18G3.  2d.  Rev.  S.  T.  Seelye, 
D.D.,  installed  Oct.  14,  18G3;  resigned  and  dismissed  by 
council  Jan.  8,  1877.  3d.  Rev.  A.  R.  Merriam,  ordained  and 
installed  Oct.  31,  1877 ;  and  the  present  pastor  of  the  church. 

Record  of  Deacons  (elected  for  a  term  of  two  years). — Dr. 
Atherton  Clark,  chosen  Nov.  14,  1852,  left  town  in  1863; 
Samuel  Williston,  chosen  Nov.  14,  1852,  died  July  19,  1874; 
Charles  B.  Johnson,  chosen  Aug.  29,  1801,  still  in  office;  An- 
sel B.  Lyman,  chosen  Aug.  29,  1861,  served  one  term;  Seth 
Warner,  chosen  June  2,  1804,  removed  to  Haywood,  Cal.  ; 
E,  A.  Hubbard,  chosen  June  2,  1864,  served  until  March  1, 
1800;  E.  H.  Sawyer,  chosen  March  1,  1806,  present  deacon ; 
M.  H.  Leonard,  chosen  Jan.  1,  1874,  resigned  Feb.  20,  1879; 
Alpheus  J.  Lyman,  chosen  Dec.  4,  1873,  served  to  Jan.  4, 
1877 ;  J.  H.  Sawyer,  chosen  Jan.  4,  1877,  present  deacon  ;  H. 
G.  Knight,  chosen  to  succeed  M.  H.  Leonard,  1879. 

METHODIST    EPI.SCOPAL   CHURCH. 

In  the  fall  of  1802,  Mr.  Thomas  Turner  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Martin,  who  had  recently  removed  from  England  to  this  place, 
feeling  the  want  of  religious  observances,  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed,  instituted  family  prayer-meetings.  At  the 
first  these  were  strictly  of  a  private  character.  These  two 
pious  families  were  thus  unconsciously  to  themselves  laying 
the  foundation  of  an  important  religious  work.  Tenderly 
cherishing  the  sacred  flame  of  devotion  in  their  own  house- 
holds, they  soon  took  an  advance  step  by  inviting  Mr.  F.  H. 
Putnam,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  of 
Northampton,  to  meet  with  them.  He  did  so,  and  a  few 
others  were  invited.  The  private  character  of  the  meetings, 
under  the  impulse  of  increasing  interest,  was  soon  changed  to 
public  gatherings,  and  the  community  at  large  were  invited 
to  attend.  The  result  of  these  unofficial  prayer-meetings  was 
a  revival  work  of  deep  interest.  Mr.  Albert  Hopkins,  men- 
tioned as  the  first  convert,  is  still  an  active  member  of  the 
church. 

The  assistance  of  tlie  minister  of  the  Methodist  Chujch  at 
Northampton  was  solicited,  and  he  promptly  came  over  and 
preached  as  his  other  engagements  would  permit.  The  chief 
labor  was,  however,  still  done  by  the  faithful  brothers  who  had 
commenced  the  meetings.  As  a  result  of  this  movement,  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  two  or  three  months,  a  class  was 
formed,  consisting  of  17  members,  with  William  Bryant  as 
leader. 

The  meetings  were  removed  to  Bosworth's  Hall,  on  the 
second  floor  of  his  present  carpenter  shop,  though  the  whole 
building  has  been  moved  a  short  distance  from  its  original  site. 
The  families  of  Martin  and  Turner  were  Baptists  in  England, 
but  they  had  been  accustomed  to  carrying  on  meetings  very 
similar  to  the  usual  forms  of  the  Methodist  Chureh.  They 
united  heartily  in  laying  the  basis  of  a  Methodist  church  or- 
ganization, though  they  did  not  remain  long  in  Easthampton 
to  witness  the  success  of  the  movement  commenced  by  them- 
selves. Mr.  Turner  went  back  to  England,  and  Mr.  Martin 
removed  to  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

The  next  stejj  was  a  request  to  the  district  meeting  at  North- 
ampton for  a  minister,  and  temporary  arrangements  for  a  few 
Sabbaths.  The  large  audiences  and  the  interest  shown  proved 
the  success  of  the  enterprise.  A  formal  application  to  Confer- 
ence in  the  spring  of  1803  was  responded  to  by  appointing 
Rev.  S.  Jackson  to  supply  this  appointment  regularly. 

The  church  was  organized  by  him  in  April,  1863.  The  class- 
leaders  were  William  Bryant  and  Oscar  H.  Hill.  The  stewards 
were  Thomas  Turner,  Tliomas  Martin,  F.  H.  Putnam,  Francis 
Newton,  Wm.  Martin,  Alfred  Hopkins,  James  Swindell. 

A  Sunday-school  was  begun  about  the  same  time,  with  F. 
H.  Putnam  superintendent,  a  position  which  he  has  filled  a 
large  part  of  the  time  since.  The  use  of  the  town-hall  was 
obtained  for  Sabbath-day  .services,  but,  that  being  used  by  the 


274 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


First  Congregational  Church  in  the  evening,  the  Methodists 
met  in  Bosworth's  Hall. 

In  the  fall  of  1803  the  question  was  agitated  of  securing  a 
place  upon  which  a  house  of  worship  might  be  built  at  some 
future  time.  E.  H.  Sawyer  and  H.  G.  Knight  offered  to  sell 
the  society  a  lot,  but  kindly  suggested  that  the  town  might 
vote  the  church  a  site,  and  oflered  themselves  to  bring  the 
matter  up  at  the  ne.\t  town-meeting.  This  was  done,  and,  with 
a  liberality  the  Methodist  society  heartily  appreciated,  a  lot  of 
sixty-five  feet  front  was  donated  by  the  town,  ujion  which  the 
church  edifice  now  stands  ;  and  a  year  later,  1865,  the  town 
voted  the  church  a  handsome  addition  as  a  site  for  a  chapel. 
The  effort  to  build  followed  immediately  upon  the  gift  of  a  site, 
ground  was  broken  in  18U-3,  and  by  the  a.ssistance  of  the  church 
and  society  it  was  so  far  inclosed  and  completed  that  a  festival 
was  held  in  it  before  winter  set  in.  The  finishing  was  pushed 
during  the  next  year,  and  the  house  dedicated  Dec.  12,  1866. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Wm.  K.  Clark,  of  Spring- 
field, from  the  te.xt,  "  Out  of  Zion,  the  perfection  of  beauty, 
God  hath  shined." 

The  pastorate  of  Mr.  Jackson  had  closed  the  spring  before, 
and  his  three  years  had  been  full  of  work,  both  material  and 
spiritual.  There  had  been  over  three  hundred  conversions, 
half  or  more  uniting  with  this  church.  Between  |7000  and 
§8000  had  been  raised  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  and  for 
building.     Rev.  Franklin  Furher  succeeded  Mr.  Jackson. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  house  of  worship,  with  fixtures  and 
furniture,  was  $16,396.36.  A  heavy  debt  had  been  incurred, 
which  it  has  required  patience,  perseverance,  and  liberal  giving 
to  bring  within  safe  limits.  Meanwhile,  a  pleasant  parsonage 
on  Prospect  Street  has  been  secured,  at  an  expense  of  about 
$3000.  All  this  has  been  done  while  reducing  a  debt  of  §5000 
left  at  the  building  of  the  church.  The  society  now  have  their 
fine  house  of  worship  and  their  parsonage.  The  debt  is  reduced 
to  about  §3000,  and  pledges  to  meet  a  large  portion  of  this  are 
available. 

Ministerial  Record. — Rev.  S.  Jackson,  1863-00 ;  Rev.  Frank- 
lin Furber,  1866-08;  Rev.  Chas.  T.  Johnson,  1868-70;  Rev. 
"William  W.  Colburn,  1870,  appointed  chaplain  of  the  State- 
prison ;  Rev.  William  G.  Leonard  filled  out  the  year;  Rev. 
H.  A.  Hall,  1871-73;  Rev.  S.  0.  Dj  er,  1873-74;  Rev.  L.  A. 
Bosworth,  1874-76;  Rev.  E.  R.  Thorndike,  1876-78;  Rev.  C. 
A.  Merrill,  1878. 

Among  the  various  revival  occasions,  the  Conference  year, 
1860-67,  is  recalled  as  one  of  great  interest  to  the  church,  the 
interest  continuing  throughout  the  entire  year. 

In  the  summer  of  1868  the  society  erected  a  tent  upon  the 
camp-ground,  at  an  expense  of  Jil50. 

Present  Organization  (January,  1879). — Rev.  C.  A.  Merrill, 
Pastor;  F.  H.  Putnam,  John  McCandless,  O.  H.  Hill,  Class- 
Leaders  ;  Medad  L.  Pomeroy,  Oscar  H.  Hill,  Austin  Fairchild, 
Joshua  A.  Loomis,  Christian  Kaplinger,  Alfred  Hopkins,  H. 
R.  Dickieson,  Frank  Kellogg,  Henry  A.  Langdon,  Stewards; 
F.  Putnam,  Superintentendent  of  Sunday-school. 

The  church  has  had  a  large  percentage  of  changes  by  re- 
movals from  town,  often  reducing  its  membership.  There  are 
now  about  150  communicants. 

It  perhaps  should  be  added  that  some  twelve  years  before 
the  prayer-meetings  of  Thomas  Turner  and  Thomas  Martin 
there  was  Methodist  preaching  in  the  town-hall  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Potter.  This  was  in  1850  or  '51.  The  enterprise,  however, 
did  not  meet  with  sufficient  success  to  warrant  the  formation 
of  a  society,  and  after  a  time  it  was  abandoned,  and  some  in- 
terested in  that  work  entered  into  the  movement  to  found  the 
Payson  Church,  which  followed  soon  after. 

PROTESTANT    EPLSCOPAI.    CHURCH    OF    EASTHAMPTON,    KNOWN 
AS   ST.    PHILIP'S    PARISH. 

This  society  was  organized  April  10,  1871.  Services  had 
previously  been  held  by  Rev.  B.  F.  Cooley,  and  he  became 


the  first  pastor,  continuing  as  such  until  March,  1872,  when 
he  resigned,  and  was  soon  after  succeeded  by  Rev.  Lewis 
Green.  At  that  time  the  society  consisted  of  50  families,  49 
communicants,  and  a  congregation  of  80  to  100.  Mr.  Green 
resigned  in  the  spring  of  1873,  and  services  were  suspended 
until  autumn.  Then  the  work  of  the  parish  was  resumed  by 
Rev.  J.  Sturgis  Pierce,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  North- 
ampton. Services  are  held  in  the  lower  town-hall.  The 
society  has  secured  a  desirable  site,  and  they  hope  to  make 
arrangements  for  building  a  house  of  worship  in  a  year  or 
two.  The  wardens  are  N.  W.  Farrar  and  James  Butterworth  ; 
the  former  is  also  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school.  Major 
H.  E.  Alvord  is  parish  clerk.  The  Sunday-school  numbers 
from  40  to  50.  The  vestrymen  of  the  church  are  Thomas 
Major,  Robert  Oliver,  Clarence  E.  Ware,  Joseph  Bassett, 
Henry  E.  Alvord.     .Toseph  Bassett  is  also  treasurer. 

THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH    OF    EASTHAMPTON. 

This  society  is  located  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  village, 
on  A  Street,  near  the  corner  of  Liberty.  The  church  stands 
upon  rising  ground,  a  location  possessing  many  advantages. 
In  the  rapid  business  growth  of  Easthampton  there  came  in 
quite  a  large  population  of  Catholic  sentiments,  and  efforts 
were  made  to  provide  themselves  with  religious  services  after 
their  own  faith.  They  were  aided  in  this  by  the  leading  bus- 
iness-men of  the  town,  even  by  those  who  cherished  the  New 
England  Protestant  faith  as  tenaciou.sly  as  Catholics  cherish 
theirs.  The  first  house  of  worship  was  of  wood,  and  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  The  present  church  is  of  brick,  large  and 
convenient.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Father  Walsh,  who 
resides  on  Pleasant  Street,  and  is  evidently  wielding  a  strong 
influence  in  his  congregation.  His  predecessor  was  Rev. 
Father  Callery,  who  is  now  at  Florence. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

The  earliest  burying-gi-ound  was  at  Nashawannuck,  and  it 
is  supposed  that  a  large  number  were  buried  there.  So 
neglected  and  forgotten  had  this  been  for  many  years  that  the 
site  was  regarded  as  unknown.  Lyman's  history,  however, 
identifies  the  place  as  being  "on  an  elevation,  in  a  field  be- 
longing to  the  Augustus  Clapp  farm,  and  about  fifteen  rods 
southwest  from  his  house."  The  field  spoken  of  is  a  cultivated 
one,  and  all  traces  of  graves  are  obliterated.  Yet  here  un- 
doubtedly moulder  the  remains  of  several  of  the  early  settlers. 
Very  likely  the  remains  of  those  killed  at  Paseommuek  or  at 
the  bloody  field  upon  the  Wait  farm  ma\-  have  been-'.^thered 
up  and  brought  to  Nashawannuck.  None  of  the  published 
accounts  of  that  aft'air  seem  to  speak  of  the  burial. 

The  present  East  Street  or  Paseommuek  Cemetery,  while  it 
is  quite  ancient,  does  not  date  to  1704.  Indeed,  Lyman's  his- 
tory makes  the  opening  of  the  latter  as  late  as  the  time  of  the 
Revolution.  But  there  is  a  period  of  seventy-five  years  pre- 
ceding that  in  the  history  of  the  territory  now  constituting 
Easthampton.  Where  were  the  dead  of  that  period  buried 
if  not  at  Nashawannuck? 

The  Paseommuek  Burial-Ground. — There  may  be  some 
question  whether  this  is  the  next  in  order  of  time.  The  votes 
at  the  district  meetings  in  1787  seem  to  impl}' that  the  old 
centre  burial-ground  was  then  first  laid  out;  still,  there  may 
have  been  burials  there  earlier  than  that.  The  Paseommuek 
ground  was  given  by  Eliakim  Clark,  and  the  first  person 
buried  there  was  a  child  of  .Jonathan  Janes,  in  the  year  1775. 

This  cemetery  is  still  in  use  to  some  extent.  It  is  in  a  fair 
state  of  preservation,  and  the  town  usually  votes  a  small  sum 
for  it  at  the  annua!  meetings. 

The  Old  Centre  Burying-G round . — This  was  opposite  the 
grounds  of  the  present  seminary,  on  the  location  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Methodist  Church,  the  new  town-hall,  and  other 
buildings.  The  place  was  obtained  of  Benjamin  Lyman,  son 
of  one  of  the  original  purchasers  of  the  school  lands.     The 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


275 


following  items  with  reference  to  it  appear  in  the  town  records, 
though  they  do  not  leave  it  clear  whether  burials  had  already 
taken  place  there. 

April  16,  1787. — Voted  a  committee  of  three  to  look  into 
the  circumstances  of  our  biirying-place,  and  make  report  at 
some  future  meeting, —  Stephen  Wright,  Solomon  Ferry, 
David  Lyman.  This  action  was  in  respect  to  a  clause  in  the 
warrant,  which  proposed  to  .see  what  the  district  would  direct 
with  reference  to  an  exchange  of  lands  with  Mr.  Benjamin 
Lyman  for  a  burying-place. 

Committee  reported  Nov.  2.5,  1787,  and  a  new  committee 
appointed  to  see  how  much  land  is  reipiired, — Philip  Clark, 
John  Ilannum,  Joseph  Clapp. 

In  1812  ji  committee  were  paid  for  having  fenced  "the 
Middle  District  Burying-Ground," — John  Ludden,  Jr.,  $12; 
Ahira  Lyman,  §2.50;  Deacon  Solomon  Lyman,  90  cents;  and 
Obadiah  Janes  was  to  pay  $1  for  the  old  fence. 

It  is  said  that  a  child  of  Benjamin  Lyman,  Jr.,  the  proprietor 
of  the  farm,  was  the  first  one  buried  in  that  ground.  The 
school  lands  were  bought  in  174.j,  and  Benjamin  Lj'man,  Jr., 
alluded  to,  was  then  eighteen  years  of  age. 

This  ground,  full  of  sacred  memories,  where  the  dead  of 
sixty  years  or  more  had  been  gathered,  was  finally  given  up 
before  the  demands  of  business  and  public  improvement.  It 
cost  something  of  a  struggle,  as  such  changes  always  do,  and 
it  seems  yet  to  many  that  the  ground  ought  to  have  been  fenced 
and  retained,  even  if  burials  there  ceased.  But  a  vote  of  the 
town  authorizing  the  removal  of  the  remains  was  finally  ob- 
tained. It  was  done  as  tenderly  as  it  is  possible  to  do  such 
work, — tlie  stones  and  memorials  carefully  preserved.  The 
old  centre  burial-ground  became  only  a  memory, — only  an 
item  of  history. 

The  Nero  Cemetery  at  the  Centre. — The  action  of  the  town 
to  open  this  appears  in  the  records  as  follows : 

March  10,  184.5,  appointed  a  committee  to  procure  land  for  a 
new  burying-place, — Samuel  Williston,  John  Ludden,  Luther 
Clapp.  The}'  were  instructed  to  buy  not  less  than  two  nor 
more  than  three  acres. 

June  2, 1845,  committee  reported  that  it  was  best  to  purchase 
three  acres  of  land  of  Widow  Orpha  L3'man,  to  be  laid  out 
into  lots.  The  report  was  accepted.  Eventually,  however, 
four  and  a  half  acres  were  bought.  The  first  person  buried 
in  this  ground  was  Mrs.  Eunice  S.  Lyman,  wife  of  Daniel  F. 
Lyman.  The  cemetery  was  subsequently  enlarged,  and  is 
sure  of  preservation  and  careful  attention  in  the  future. 

Among  the  bequests  of  Hon.  Samuel  Williston  were  54000 
to  construct  the  beautiful  iron  fence  which  now  incloses  the 
grounds,  and  §0500  as  a  permanent  fund,  the  interest  of  which 
is  to  be  annually  expended  in  the  care  and  adornment  of  the 
cemetery. 

In  this  yard,  upon  the  Williston  family  lot,  stands  a  fine 
granite  monument,  erected  at  an  expense  of  i5!4000. 

Brookside  Cemetery. 

"  As  early  as  1870,  the  cemetery  committee  called  the  attention  of  the  town  to 
the  fact  that,  though  there  were  frequent  calls  for  bnrial-lots,  no  more  were 
available.  The  matter  was  not  taken  in  hand  till  the  following  year,  and,  tliough 
a  committee  examined  locations  and  prices,  consulted  as  to  plaus,  and  reported 
progress  from  time  to  time,  no  full  and  definite  recommendations  came  before 
the  town  from  then  till  June  0, 1873.  At  that  time  they  reported  a  preliminary 
survey  of  land  bordering  the  pond  at  the  upper  village  on  its  west  side,  and 
owned  by  Mrs.  "Willistfln,  J.  D.  Ludden,  J.  P.  Sear!,  Edson  "White,  and  the  heirs 
of  Daniel  Rust  ('2d),  and  recommended  the  purchase  of  a  suitable  amount  of 
land,  the  building  of  a  bridge  across  the  pond,  near  tlie  Nashawannuck  office, 
and  the  construction  of  a  road.  The  town  voted  to  adopt  the  plan  recommended, 
and  provided  a  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose.  Ernest  W.  Bowdich,  of  Boston, 
a  civil  and  topographical  engineer,  made  the  final  survey,  beginning  his  work 
Oct.  27, 1873.  This  gentleman,  with  extensive  acquaintance,  declares  that  he 
knows  no  more  finely-located  cemetery  in  Western  Massachusetts  than  this  is. 
It  has  been  named  Brookside  Cemetery,  from  its  proximity  to  the  water,  which 
adds  greatly  to  its  beauty.  To  interest  the  people  in  the  enterprise,  and  to 
familiarize  them  with  the  location,  a  general  invitation  was  given  them  to  come 
together  Nov.  5, 1873,  and  constnict  an  avenue  upon  it.  About  150  responded 
to  the  call.    The  cemetery,  exclusive  of  the  inclosing  avenue,  contains  nearly 


29  acres.  The  whole  number  of  lots  laid  out  is  807,  of  which  57  have  been  sold. 
There  is  ample  room  to  increase  the  unmber  of  lots  to  1000  if  desirable,  and  still 
leave  spaces  for  decorative  purposes.  The  prices  range  from  %  to  $50  per  lot. 
It  is  now  in  charge  of  a  comnuttee, — E.  II.  Sawyer,  Chairman  ;  Lafayette  Clapp, 
Secretary  and  Treasurer;  and  E.  S.  Janes,  Supeiintendent, — wiUi  whom  were 
associated  in  the  early  history  of  the  enterprise  A.  L.  Clark,  L.  D.  Lyman,  Wm. 
N.  Clapp,  and  R.  C.  Di-esser.    The  whole  cost  up  to  date  is  not  far  from  39800." 

The  plans  of  the  civil  engineer  were  executed  by  the  super- 
intendent, E.  S.  Janes,  with  care  and  fidelity.  Avenues  have 
been  graded,  lots  improved,  and  the  cemetery  is  to  be  in  future 
years  a  lovely  and  beautiful  resting-place  of  the  dead.  Year 
by  year  nature,  art,  and  culture  will  combine  to  adorn  its 
winding  walks,  its  reserved  squares,  and  its  burial-lots. 
Along  these  silent  streets  shall  be  laid,  for  a  century  to  come, 
old  age  in  its  glory,  manhood  in  its  prime,  youth  in  its 
strength,  and  childhood  in  its  innocence.  Here  Christian  faith 
will  inspire  the  hearts  of  mourning  circles  with  golden  hopes 
of  immortality,  and  point  the  living  to  the  better  land  of  the 
departed.  And  to  those  who  tread  these  carefully-cherished 
grounds,  and  remember,  perhaps,  that  their  dead  are  in  the  un- 
known and  lost  burial-grounds  of  the  past,  will  come  the  sweet 
consolation  that  our  Heavenly  Father  knoweth  where  his 
children  sleep,  and  needs  no  marble  shaft  to  mark  their  rest- 
ing-place. 

There  were  some  burials  on  the  Pearson  Hendrick  farm. 

BANKS. 

THE    FIRST   NATIONAL   BANK. 

This  was  organized  in  1864,  with  a  capital  of  .51.50,000, 
which  was  afterward  increased  to  §200,000.  Hon.  H.  G. 
Knight  is  the  president,  and  A.  D.  Sanders  cashier.  Rev. 
S.  T.  Seelye  is  the  vice-president. 

An  efficient  board  of  directors  co-operate  in  the  manage- 
ment. Dividends  formerly  averaged  9  per  cent,  annually, 
somewhat  less  in  these  later  years  of  "hard  times."  A  sur- 
plus of  §40,000  has  accumulated. 

A  handsome  bank  building,  with  a  solidly-built  vault,  was 
erected  in  1871,  at  a  cost  of  §20,000.  It  is  said  to  be  a  model 
structure  for  a  countr}'  bank. 

THE   EASTHAMPTON   SAVINOS-BANK. 

This  was  organized  June  7,  1870,  and  is  located  in  the  same 
building  as  the  National  Bank.  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer  is  presi- 
dent, and  Rev.  S.  T.  Seelye  treasurer. 

It  has  a  deposit  account  of  §225,000,  three-quarters  of  which 
belongs  to  the  people  of  this  town. 

PUBLIC    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION. 

"  Wliile  the  town-hall  was  in  process  of  erection,  a  Public  Library  Association 
was  organized  with  corporate  powei"s,  lion.  E.  II.  Sawyer,  its  earnest  advocate, 
securing  the  charter.  The  towu  appropriated  two  large  rooms  in  the  hall  for  its 
use,  and  has  made  it  an  annual  grant  of  $500.  Private  donations  have  also  been 
made,  the  chief  of  which  have  been  $1000  each  from  Mr.  Williston  and  Mr.  Saw 
yer,  and  $500  each  from  Christopher  Meyer,  John  R.  Ford,  and  James  Suther- 
land. Thirty-five  pei-sons  have  made  themselves  life-members  by  the  payment 
of  $50  each.  Any  citizen  of  the  town  can  consult  the  books  freely  at  the  library, 
and  can  withdraw  them  on  payment  of  $1  per  year.  There  are  at  present  320 
subscriljers,  besides  the  life-members.  The  whole  number  of  Iwoks  is  4995. 
Miss  Dora  C.  Miller  has  been  the  librarian  from  the  outset,  and  her  services  have 
been  invaluable.  The  present  officei-s  are  E.  H.  Sawyer,  President ;  H.  G.  Knight, 
Vice-President ;  W.  G.  Bassett,  Secretary ;  C.  E.  Williams,  Treasurer ;  Rev.  S.  T. 
Seelye,  Rev.  A.  M.  Colton,  Lafayette  Clapp,  and  E.  T.  Sawyer,  Directors. 

"  The  laws  of  the  State  empower  Library  Associations,  if  they  so  choose,  to  es- 
tablish and  maintain  museums.  Our  Association  undertook  the  enterprise  early 
in  1872,  putting  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  C.  B.  Johnson,  H.  N.  Rust,  and 
Lafayette  Clapp,  who  soon  had  it  in  successful  progress.  The  two  former  have 
made  extensive  private  collections,  and  on  that  account  were  especially  well  fitted 
for  the  duty  assigned  them.  The  committee,  to  which  L.  D.  Lyman  was  .idded 
on  the  departure  of  Mr.  Rust,  have  worked  with  enthusiasm,  and,  with  the  co- 
operation of  othere,  have  been  able  to  make  a  most  valuable  collection.  The 
articles  are  displayed  in  the  library  reception-room,  and  constitute  a  feature  of 
decided  interest,  both  to  citizens  and  strangers.  Many  relics  of  the  late  war, 
and  other  rare  and  curious  articles,  have  been  collected.  Some  of  these  are  illus- 
trative of  local  historj-,  others  of  antique  customs,  or  of  the  habits  of  uncivilized 
people.  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer  has  been  a  steadfast  friend  of  the  work,  giving  to  it 
some  $300  at  the  start.  He,  with  Mr.  Rust  of  the  committee.  Dr.  Seelye,  and 
George  S.  Clark,  have  been  the  most  extensive  depositors.  Space  and  time  are 
wanting  to  mention  the  articles  in  detail.    There  are  muskets,  swords,  knives, 


276 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


and  other  relics  of  the  war,  as,  e.j/,,  a  piece  of  rail  from  the  field  of  Antietam, 
liddled  with  bullets;  a  bust  of  John  Brown,  and  one  of  his  pikes;  a  ease  of 
stuffed  birds,  the  win-k  of  David  31.  Sti-angford;  a  collection  of  sea-shells;  curi- 
osities from  the  South  Sea  Islands ;  and  other  articles.  Some  of  the  articles  have 
a  local  association,  such  as  a  set  of  table-glasses,  used  about  1740,  by  JIaj.  Jona- 
than Clapp ;  the  bullet-pouch  that  saved  the  life  of  Lemuel  Lyman,  at  Lake  George, 
Sept.  8, 1755;  the  deed  of  School  Meadow,  executed  in  1745,  by  the  agents  of  the 
town  of  Northampton,  to  Dea.  Stephen  Wright  and  Benjamin  Lyman,  ancestors 
of  the  Wrights  and  Lymans  of  the  town  ;  a  musket  made  by  Closes  Chapman  and 
carried  by  Nathaniel  White  in  the  Revolution;  Rev.  Mr.  AVillLston's  license  to 
preach,  signed  by  Jonathan  Edwards;  his  corner-::lock,  and  an  oil-paiuting  of 
him,  presented  by  Mi-s.  Emily  G.  Williston;  also  an  oil-portrait  of  Rev.  Wm. 
Bement,  painted  by  Sylvester  S.  Lyman,  of  Hartford  (a  native  of  the  town),  and 
iu  part  donated  l>y  him.  Besides  the  portraits,  the  walls  are  adorned  by  several 
fine  engravings." 

It  should  be  added  that  there  was  an  early  library  association 
organized  in  1792,  and  composed  of  about  thirty  persons  at 
first,  who  paid  two  dollars  each  and  a  small  annual  sum.  In 
the  progress  of  years  quite  a  library  was  collected,  and  Kev. 
Payson  "Williston  officiated  as  librarian  for  thirty-five  years. 
In  1842  it  was  united  with  the  Youths'  Library  Association, 
an  organization  formed  for  literary  improvement,  in  1828.  Its 
members  paid  one  dollar  as  a  membership  fee,  and  an  annual 
tax  of  twenty-five  cents.  After  the  union  the  name  was 
changed  to  the  Easthampton  Social  Library  Association. 
The  librarj'  was  removed  to  the  town-hall,  and  though  there 
was  at  times  little  interest  in  the  matter,  yet  it  continued  down 
to  nearly  the  date  of  the  formation  of  the  corporate  society 
above  noticed,  and  was  really  a  praiseworthy  affair,  having  an 
existence,  in  one  form  or  another,  seventy  years  or  more. 

It  contained  some  valuable  works, — Rollin's  History,  Jose- 
phus'  History.  A  library  meeting  was  held  once  in  three 
months.  When  several  wanted  the  same  book  they  used  to 
bid  for  it. 

THE    FARMERS'    CLUB   OF    EASTHAMPTON. 

This  was  organized  in  18.58  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
farming  community  by  the  holding  of  meetings  and  inter- 
change of  views  and  experiences.  The  society  has  kept  up 
its  operations  nearly  every  year  since  it  began.  Several  ex- 
hibitions of  fruit,  vegetables,  and  stock  have  been  held  which 
were  very  successful  and  reflected  great  credit  upon  the  mem- 
bers. Many  professional  and  business-men  not  engaged  in 
farming  have  found  the  meetings  and  social  gatherings  a 
pleasant  place  of  resort,  and  have  contributed  much  to  their 
success.  Professors  in  the  seminary,  pastors  of  the  churches, 
merchants,  and  factory-men  are  often  "  farmers"  for  the  time 
being. 

The  officers  for  the  present  winter  (1878-79)  are  Major  H. 
E.  Alvord,  President;  Lewis  E.  Janes,  Secretary. 

There  are  many  other  organizations  of  a  social,  benevolent, 
or  educational  character  existing  in  Easthampton.  Among 
these,  including  some  that  have  dissolved  and  others  that  are 
maintained  somewhat  irregularly,  may  be  mentioned  the 
Easthampton  Mutual  Relief  Society,  organized  to  do  a  life 
insurance  business  ;  the  Ionic  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  associated  with  it  the  Doric  Chapter  of  the  order 
of  the  Eastern  Star,  to  which  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and 
daughters  of  Masons  are  admitted  ;  the  Humboldt  Lodge, 
T>.  O.  H.,  No.  97, — a  mutual  German  relief  society;  the 
Caledonian  Thistle  Club,  for  similar  purposes  among  the 
Scotch  residents ;  the  St.  Patrick's  Mutual  Benevolent  So- 
ciety, with  a  similar  object  among  the  Irish  citizens;  a 
Grange  of  the  Order  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry ;  the  Young 
People's  Literary  Society ;  a  Lyceum ;  a  Young  People's 
Temperance  organization,  and  other  societies  of  a  like  char- 
acter. Easthampton  shares  largely  in  all  these  elements  of 
modern  progress  and  mutual  aid. 

PLACES   OF   HISTORIC   INTEREST. 

These  appear  very  clearly  in  the  sketches  of  early  settle- 
ment and  in  the  militarj'  notes. 
The  scene  of  the  Pascommuck  massacre  was  just  south  of 


the  Manhan,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  upon  a  beautiful 
plateau  overlooking  the  meadows  and  Northampton  beyond. 
The  centre  of  the  little  settlement  is  stated  as  the  point  where 
the  road  now  leading  up  the  mountain  diverges  from  the  pub- 
lic highwa}'.  Standing  here,  the  imagination  can  but  faintly 
picture  the  scenes  of  that  fearful  morning, — the  surprise,  the 
slaughter,  the  burning,  and  the  leading  away  of  the  few  cap- 
tives. Not  far  oft"  is  the  ravine  down  which  Benjamin  Janes, 
eluding  the  vigilance  of  his  captors,  dashed  with  the  energy 
of  desperation,  seized  a  canoe,  and  rowed  to  Northampton. 
The  war-whoop  of  the  Indian  has  given  way  to  the  shriek 
of  the  locomotive  ;  the  wilderness  of  the  savage  to  the  culture 
of  civilization.  The  Manhan  still  flows  onward  to  the  Con- 
necticut, and  Mount  Tom  still  lifts  its  bold  summit  above  the 
site  of  the  ancient  hamlet,  but  all  else  have  changed. 

Port  Plain,  so  called,  in  the  rear  of  East  Street  school- 
house,  is  understood  to  derive  its  name  from  the  location 
there  of  the  Indian  fort  of  1GC4.  This  was  one  of  the  abiding- 
places,  or  headquarters,  of  the  remnant  of  the  Non-o-tucks 
who  remained  in  this  vicinity  for  some  years  after  the  sale  of 
their  lands.  The  opening  troubles  of  King  Philip's  war  ex- 
cited the  old  feelings  of  hostility,  and,  expecting  to  be  disarmed 
or  captured  by  the  whites,  these  few  Indians  retired  up  the 
valley,  and  never  returned.  This  was  their  last  residence 
within  the  limits  of  Easthampton.  From  this  "plain"  they 
took  up  their  northward  march,  leaving  forever  the  fields  of 
their  fathers  and  the  streams  and  hunting-grounds  of  their 
ancestral  Non-o-tuck. 

The  company  of  troops  from  Northampton  that  pursued 
the  Indians  after  the  Pascommuck  slaughter  overtook  them 
on  the  well-known  Wait  farm.  The  exact  field  of  the  skir- 
mish is  not  known,  but  in  this  iiumediate  vicinity  Capt.  John 
Taylor  was  killed,  and  here  the  Indians  massacred  the  little 
boys,  sparing  only  Elisha  Searl,  who  made  signs  that  he 
would  go  with  them  willingly. 

Samuel  Janes,  one  of  the  boys  whom  the  Indians  had 
tomahawked  and  left  for  dead,  however,  recovered,  and  lived 
to  a  good  old  age.  He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  present  fami- 
lies of  that  name  in  town. 

The  other  points  of  considerable  historic  interest — the  loca- 
tion of  the  first  settler,  John  Webb,  the  first  mills,  the  place 
of  the  first  district-meeting,  and  other  similar  points — are 
fully  noted  elsewhere. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

It  may  have  been  proper  to  say  before  1847  that  agriculture 
was  the  principal  occupation  of  the  people  of  Easthampton. 
It  could  hardly  be  true  at  any  time  since.  Considerable  wheat 
was  raised  in  the  early  times,  while  the  soil  still  abounded  in 
the  elements  of  fertility  ;  flax  was  also  an  object  of  culture  ; 
bub  both  of  these  ceased  to  be  remunerative,  and  were  mostly 
abandoned  years  ago.  Kye,  corn,  oats,  and  potatoes  soon  be- 
came the  staple  crops,  and  have  been  for  many  years. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  large  quantities  of  tobacco 
have  been  grown,  and  the  business  was  exceedinglj'  profitable 
for  a  portion  of  the  time.  It  is  yet  grown  extensivel.y,  though 
like  other  agricultural  pro'ducts  it  is  greatly  reduced  in  price. 
The  extent  of  the  manufactures  of  the  town  compels  this 
notice  of  the  farming  interests  to  be  condensed  into  a  brief 
allusion. 

Mills,  Factories,  etc. — Upon  the  small  tributaries  of  the 
Manhan  flowing  from  the  north  there  seem  to  have  been  no 
mill  privileges  improved  except  upon  the  one  known  as  Saw- 
mill Brook.  Upon  this,  near  the  Northampton  line,  was  a, 
saw-mill,  dating  back  to  1803.  It  was  owned  at  various  times 
by  Capt.  John  Phelps;  by  Elisha  C.  and  Asa  Strong  with 
other  proprietors  ;  by  E.  W.  Lyman ;  by  Jonathan  and  Cal- 
vin Strong,  of  Northampton  ;  and  probably  there  were  others 
who  at  times  owned  shares.  The  mill  was  destroyed  in  the 
freshet  of  1854,  and  there  are  now  no  buildings  near  the  old  site. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


277 


Lyman's  history  gives  the  original  founders  as  Jonathan 
Strong  and  brother,  Joiiathan  Bartlett,  John  Phelps,  and 
Simeon  Clark. 

On  the  northern  branch  of  the  3Ianhan,  south  of  Loudville, 
and  just  within  the  limits  of  Easthampton,  is  the  grist-mill 
of  Franklin  Strong.  This  is  not  one  of  the  very  old  mills, 
but  has  been  in  existence  perhaps  thirty-five  years,  and  widely 
known  as  Strong's  grist-mill. 

Caleb  Loud,  of  Loudville,  also  had  a  saw-mill  near  the 
Strong  mill, — continued  for  some  years. 

The  Strong  grist-mill  was  first  built  as  a  carding-machine. 
Below,  at  Glendale,  there  was  a  saw-mill  owned  at  one  time 
by  H.  Bartholomew.  It  went  down  many  years  ago,  and  the 
present  Glenwood  Mills  occupy  nearly  the  same  location. 

Descending  the  ilanhan  to  the  mouth  of  Saw-mill  Brook, 
we  reach  the  vicinity  of  the  earliest  improvement  of  the  water- 
power  of  the  town. 

In  16V4,  Northampton  gave  "Pavid  Wilton,  Medad  Pom- 
croy,  and  Joseph  Taylor  liberty  to  erect  a  saw-mill  on  the 
brook  on  the  right  hand  of  the  cart-way  going  over  Manhan 
Kiver. "  Here  we  have  a  glimpse  of  this  place  two  hundred  and 
five  years  ago, — a  single  road  winding  through  the  unbroken 
forest  to  the  south,  crossing  just  above  the  present  covered 
bridge  at  the  foot  of  what  a  hundred  years  later  was  known  as 
Meeting-house  Hill. 

Above  on  the  little  brook  was  the  saw-mill  privilege  granted 
by  Northampton,  near  the  present  residence  of  Joel  Bassett. 
Little  is  known  of  the  duration  of  this  mill  or  its  subsequent 
owners,  and  it  probably  lasted  but  a  short  time. 

In  1686-87  the  town  of  Northampton  voted  Samuel  Bartlett 
liberty  "  to  set  up  a  corn-mill  on  the  falls  below  the  cart-way 
on  the  river."  The  building  of  this  mill  it  is  supposed  fol- 
lowed soon  after  the  grant.  With  Joseph  Bartlett,  who  suc- 
ceeded Samuel,  lived  Jonathan  Clapp,  a  nephew  of  Joseph, 
and  the  mill  passed  to  him.  From  that  time  to  this  the  Clapp 
family  have  retained  an  interest  in  the  property, — one-quarter 
being  now  owned  by  Edward  Clapp,  a  descendant,  and  three- 
quarters  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Thayer. 

About  1780,  Jonathan  Clapp  commenced  the  business  of 
fulling  cloth.  He  occupied  a  portion  of  the  grist-mill,  where 
for  a  number  of  years  he  carried  on  the  business,  receiving 
the  cloth  which  had  been  woven  in  the  various  families  of  the 
surrounding  town  and  "  fulling"  it,  as  it  was  called.  The  cus- 
tomary charge  was  three  cents  a  yard.  After  "fulling,"  it 
was  "dressed,"  and  thus  rendered  fit  for  clothing.  This  en- 
terprise subsequently  became  connected  with  another.  Not 
long  after  the  opening  of  Jonathan  Clapp's  fulling  business, 
Capt.  Joseph  Clapp  built  another  clothing-mill  on  Broad 
Brook,  a  short  distance  below  the  present  button-  and  suspen- 
der-factories.    There  he  carried  on  a  flourishing  business. 

Thaddcus  Clapp,  son  of  Joseph,  about  1792  or  1793  em- 
barked in  the  same  business  at  Worthington,  but  soon  re- 
turned and  entered  into  copartnership  with  his  father. 

At  the  death  of  Joseph  Clapp,  in  1797,  the  works  were  re- 
moved to  Manhan  River,  near  the  grist-mill  above  mentioned. 
After  the  business  was  given  up  by  Mr.  Clapp  it  was  conducted 
successively  by  Roswell  Knight ;  by  Lowell  E.  and  Jason  Janes ; 
then  by  Janes  &  Alvord  ;  and  lastly  by  Janes  &  Ferry.  This 
last-named  firm  in  1835  erected  a  new  building  (the  one  after- 
ward occupied  by  H.  B.  Shoals  as  a  tannery),  and  went  into 
the  manufacture  of  satinet.  The  "hard  times"  of  1837,  when 
cloth  was  sold  for  less  than  the  first  cost  of  the  wool,  brought 
this  enterprise  to  an  end.  The  first  power-loom  ever  run  in 
this  town  was  started  in  that  mill. 

The  tannery  business  at  this  point  was  continued  for  several 
years. 

The  present  grist-mill  building  is  itself  an  old  affair,  as  its 
heavy  timbers  indicate,  but  it  is  not  the  one  erected  by  Samuel 
Bartlett  one  hundred  and  ninety  years  ago.  It  has  been 
rebuilt  twice. 


At  the  south  side  of  the  Manhan  at  this  point  was  a  saw- 
mill, owned  for  many  years  by  L.  P.  Lyman,  but  not  dating 
back  like  the  grist-mill  to  the  earliest  settlement.  Mr.  Lyman 
did  a  large  lumber  business  for  many  years.  This  mill  was 
built  by  several  parties  ;  among  them  Benjamin  Clapp  owned 
one-fourth,  and  others  of  the  Clapp  family. 

Below,  along  the  Manhan  to  its  mouth  at  the  "Ox-Bow," 
there  is  not  fall  enough  for  any  mill  privileges.  The  state- 
ment of  "  Nason's  Gazetteer"  that  there  was  a  mill  at  Nash- 
awannuck  must  refer  to  the  Bartlett  Jlills  or  to  the  one  on 
Saw-mill  Brook. 

On  Broad  Brook,  just  above  its  junction  with  the  Manhan, 
was  the  old  saw-mill  of  Capt.  Lemuel  Lyman  and  Luther 
Clark,  built  no  doubt  before  1800.  About  1845  it  was  bought 
by  Spencer  Janes  and  Alanson  Clark,  and  it  is  stated  that 
Horace  and  Henry  Clark  were  also  part  owners.  The  mill 
was  then  rebuilt.  Mr.  Edwin  S.  Janes  states  that  it  was  said 
by  the  older  people  that  there  had  been  a  mill  there  for  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  years,  which  would  carry  the  date  of  its  first 
erection  back  to  1770  or  1775.  The  new  mill  was  subsequently 
owned  by  Zenas  Clark,  Obadiah  Clark,  and  Edwin  Janes  (not 
Edwin  S.  above  mentioned).  Spencer  Janes  finally  became 
the  sole  owner.  It  passed  at  his  death  to  his  son,  Edwin  S. 
Janes,  who  sold  the  privilege  in  1858  to  Samuel  Williston. 

A  previous  writer  gives  the  builder  of  the  first  saw-mill 
at  this  point  as  Bohan  Clark,  1797,  but  the  evidence  indicates 
an  earlier  date.  The  sons  of  Asahel  Clark  owned  the  mill  at 
one  time. 

Just  above,  on  Broad  Brook,  is  the  site  of  an  old  carding- 
machine,  now  within  the  limits  of  the  pond.  The  present 
lane  upon  the  farm  of  Edwin  S.  Janes  is  the  veritable  old 
"  Carding-Machine  Lane"  of  seventy-five  years  ago.  This 
carding-machine  is  understood  to  have  been  built  by  Lieut. 
Jonathan  Janes,  and  seems  to  have  been  a  distinct  affair  from 
the  Clapp  mill  already  mentioned,  which  stood  farther  up, 
near  the  present  button-works. 

Tracing  Broad  Brook  southward  from  the  present  village, 
the  only  water-privileges  of  early  times  improved  were  the 
following :  Tlie  saw-mill  of  Stephen  Hendriek,  which  stood 
near  the  present  residence  of  George  Hendriek.  Traces  of  the 
mill  all  gone  ;  no  mill  there  for  forty  years.  The  saw-mill  of 
Benjamin  Strong  was  near  the  present  residence  of  Calvin 
Strong;  buildings  still  standing,  but  unused.  The  saw-mill 
of  Alva  Coleman  was  on  Williston's  Brook.  It  was  estab- 
lished for  sash  and  blinds,  but  the  water-power  was  not  enough, 
and  it  was  not  used  much  and  is  now  taken  down. 

This  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  mills  down  to  the  year  1847. 
At  that  time  the  town  entered  upon  a  new  era. 

Modern  Easthampton  dates  from  the  establishment  of  the 
button  business.  True,  Mr.  Williston,  in  his  growing  wealth 
and  with  his  liberal  plans  of  benevolence,  had  already  founded 
the  seminary  and  done  much  for  other  public  improvements; 
but  the  removal  of  the  button-machinery  from  Haydcnville 
and  the  erection  of  the  first  large  building,  97  feet  by  45,  and 
three  stories  in  height,  was  the  beginning  of  a  material  develop- 
ment and  a  rapidity  of  growth  which  have  transformed  a  small 
rural  hamlet  into  a  large  and  thriving  village  "  with  all  the 
modern  improvements." 

The  National  Button  Company.— In  1847-48,  Mr.  Williston 
entered  into  partnership  with  Horatio  G.  Knight,  and  the  firm 
was  known  as  Samuel  Williston  &  Co.  Somewhat  later  Seth 
Warner  was  admitted,  and  the  firm-name  was  Williston, 
Knight  &  Co.  The  business  was  carried  on  by  this  firm  until 
Dec.  1,  1865,  when  the  partnership  expired,  and  the  stock 
company  now  carrying  on  the  business  was  formed.  Mr. 
Williston  was  president  during  his  life.  The  present  officers 
are  Horatio  G.  Knight,  President;  H.  G.  Knight,  H.  W. 
Knight,  H.  J.  Bly,  W.  H.  Chapman,  and  M.  F.  Dickinson, 
Jr.,  Directors;  Joseph  H.Wilson,  Superintendent;  Horace 
L.  Clark,  Clerk  and  Treasurer. 


278 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  number  of  hands  now  employed  is  about  175,  and  the 
line  of  work  is  limited  exclusively  to  the  manufacture  of  cov- 
ered buttons.  The  present  building  was  erected  in  1861,  and 
is  100  feet  by  30,  with  a  wing  40  by  60.  At  that  time  the  first 
building  was  leased  to  the  Goodyear  Elastic  Fabric  Company. 

The  Nashawannuck  Manufacturing  Company. — In  1848  and 
1849,  Mr.  Williston  erected  a  brick  building  by  the  side  of 
his  button-factory,  to  be  occupied  in  the  manufacture  of  sus- 
pender webbing,  which  business  he  continued  in  his  own 
name  until  1852,  when  he  sold  out  to  the  joint-stock  com- 
pany above  named.  Mr.  Williston  remained,  however,  until 
his  death  a  stockholder,  and  was  president.  The  present  oifi- 
cers  are  Christopher  Meyer,  President ;  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer, 
Treasurer ;  G.  H.  Leonard,  Resident  Agent.  The  capital  of 
the  company  was  at  first  51100,000.  It  was  increased  at  various 
times  until  it  reached  §300,000,  and  tlie  charter  empowered 
them  to  increase  to  $500,000.  The  treasurer,  Hon.  E.  H. 
Sawyer,  has  been  connected  with  the  company  in  that  capacity 
from  the  organization,  now  more  than  twenty-five  years.  As- 
sisted by  the  board  of  directors,  he  has  the  chief  management. 
The  amount  of  business  was  largely  increased  by  the  purchase 
in  1853  of  the  right  to  use  Goodyear's  patent  vulcanized  rub- 
ber in  the  manufacture  of  elastic  fabrics.  They  were  the  first 
in  this  country  to  successfully  introduce  the  combination  of 
threads  of  vulcanized  rubber  with  fibrous  material  in  the  pro- 
duction of  woven  goods,  and  their  example  had  the  effect  of 
stimulating  others  in  the  same  direction.  For  some  years 
they  made  their  own  rubber  thread  and  all  the  yarns  used  in 
their  mills.  They  have  allowed  this  business  to  pass  into  the 
hands  of  other  concerns  growing  out  of  the  parent  company. 
The  work  is  divided  into  two  departments,  the  weaving  and 
the  tinishing.  In  the  latter  the  company  use  great  quantities 
of  leather  for  ends.  Their  present  building  is  over  three  hun- 
dred feet  long  and  forty  wide.  The  machinery  has  a  capacity 
of  4000  dozen  pairs  of  suspenders  a  week,  and  over  300  hands 
are  employed. 

Condensed  statements  give  some  idea  of  the  marvelous 
magnitude  of  their  operations.  They  have  made  in  one 
year  7,000,000  yards  of  suspender  goods,  equaling  170,000 
dozen  i)airs  of  suspenders ;  and  also  2,500,000  yards  of  webs 
and  frills,  using  2-50,000  pounds  of  yarn  and  60,000  pounds 
of  rubber.  The  New  York  oflSce  of  the  company  is  Nos.  74 
and  76  Worth  Street. 

The  Goodyear  Elastic  Fabric  Company  first  commenced 
operations  in  1801,  making  elastic  cloths  to  be  used  in  shoes. 
They  leased  the  button-mill  first  built  by  Mr.  Williston.  In 
June,  1865,  they  sold  to  the  Glendale  Company. 

The  Glendale  Elastic  Fabrics  Company. — -In  1882  a  com- 
pany, consisting  of  H.  G.  Knight  and  E.  H.  Sawj'er,  of  East- 
hampton,  and  William  and  C.  G.  Judson,  of  New  York,  was 
organized  under  the  title  of  the  Glendale  Vulcanized  Rubber 
Company,  with  a  capital  of  §50,000.  Their  business  was  the 
manufacture  of  clastic  cords,  frills,  and  other  similar  goods. 
They  located  at  the  place  now  known  as  Glendale,  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  town.  They  enlarged  and  occupied  a 
building  that  had  been  occupied  as  a  manufactory  of  twine  and 
batting  by  Gregory  &  Wells.  In  1864  they  rented  the  two 
upper  stories  of  the  large  brick  factory  erected  by  the  Rubber 
Thread  Company,  near  the  Easthampton  depot.  Their  op- 
erations were  transferred  to  the  village.  They  bought  out  the 
Goodyear  Company  in  June,  1805,  and  their  business  rapidly 
increased  until  they  occupied  four  mills. 

In  1807  something  of  a  reorganization  took  place,  and  the 
name  was  changed  to  its  present  form.  The  machinery  was 
brought  from  England  by  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer  as  an  agent  for 
certain  New  York  capitalists. 

At  about  the  same  time  the  company  bought  the  elastic 
cord  and  braid  business,  originally  started  by  Lieut-Gov. 
Knight,  and  they  have  since  successfully  connected  both  the 
goring  and  braided  goods,  together  with  the  weaving  of  nar- 


row-loom or  fine  garter- web,  and  have  brought  the  standard  of 
their  productions  up  to  that  of  the  best  goods  made  in  Europe. 
The  line  of  work  embraces  a  wide  variety. 

They  are  almost  the  only  manufacturers  in  the  United 
States  of  elastic  goring  for  congi-ess  gaiters  and  shoes,  and 
produce  as  handsome  and  serviceable  goods  as  are  made  any- 
where in  the  world.  The  goods  are  made  in  all  qualities,  in- 
cluding silk,  worsted,  and  cotton,  ribbed  and  plain.  An 
article  of  especial  value  is  their  worsted  goring.  Elastic 
braided  cords  and  flat  braids  are  made  in  great  variety, — in  plain 
and  polished  cotton,  in  black,  white,  and  fancj'  colors  of  silks 
and  worsted.  There  are  also  made  silk  and  cotton  narrow- 
loom  webs  for  arm  elastics,  pocket-book  straps,  and  scores  of 
other  uses,  and  these  form  a  special  branch  of  their  business. 
They  make  webs  for  suspenders,  and  keep  in  stock  or  make 
to  order  almost  every  conceivable  kind  of  woven  and  braided 
elastic  goods.  About  two  hundred  hands  are  employed.  In 
recent  years  the  company  have  competitors,  but  they  are 
still  leaders  in  the  business.  The  president  is  Hon.  E.  H. 
Sawyer. 

Easthampton  Rubber  Thread  Company. — Manufacturers  of 
rubber  thread  of  all  sizes  from  fine  Para  rubber.  This  company 
was  formed  in  November,  1863,  with  a  capital  of  §100,000, 
and  immediately  began  active  operations.  The  nianagers  had 
had  previous  experience  in  the  business,  and  were  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  needs  of  the  elastic  fabric  manufacturing 
business,  and  were  determined  to  supply  them.  With  this 
end  in  view,  they  employed  the  latest  and  best  mechanical 
aids  and  gathered  a  corps  of  skilled  workmen.  Their  produc- 
tions were  at  once  received  with  great  favor,  and  gave  such 
satisfaction  as  to  call  for  increased  facilities.  In  1869  the 
capital  was  increased  to  §150,000,  and  their  business  greatly 
extended.  Their  line  of  work  is  confined  exclusively  to  the 
manufacture  of  rubber  thread.  They  buy  only  the  best 
quality  of  rubber,  the  ."biscuits"  being  expressly  selected  for 
this  company  in  Brazil.  Every  step  of  the  conversion  from 
"biscuits"  to  thread  is  taken  within  the  company's  works. 
The  last  processes  are  rolling  the  rubber  into  sheets  of  such 
thickness  as  may  be  necessary  to  make  the  size  required,  and 
then  cutting  the  sheets  into  strips  whose  width  equals  the 
thickness. 

They  make  thread  of  all  required  sizes,  from  ^'jth  to  i^jth 
of  an  inch  square.  All  the  principal  manufacturers  of  elastic 
goods  in  the  United  States  obtain  their  supplies  from  this 
establishment. 

Their  business  has  supplanted  the  foreign  trade  and  almost 
stopped  the  importation.  The  works  have  a  capacity  of  mak- 
ing 40,000  pounds  of  thread  a  month.  It  is  stated  that  the 
company  make  seven-eighths  of  the  rubber  thread  used  in  the 
United  States.  The  company  met  with  a  severe  repulse  in 
the  burning  of  their  building,  July  12,  1869,  causing  a  loss  of 
§135,000,  with  only  §70,000  insurance,  but  with  characteristic 
energy  they  had  a  new  mill  ready  for  use  in  five  months. 
Nearly  250,000  pounds  of  pure  rubber  are  used  each  year,  and 
they  do  an  annual  business  of  §200,000  to  §250,000.  The 
present  officers  are  Hon.  H.  G.  Knight,  President,  E.  T.  Saw- 
yer, Secretarj'  and  Treasurer. 

The  Easthampton  Gas  Company. — This  was  organized  Sept. 
7,  1804,  with  a  capital  of '§20,000.  It  was  increased  April  23, 
1866,  to  §30,000.  Ebenezer  Ferry  was  the  first  president,  and 
Horace  L.  Clark  treasurer.  The  company  make  2,500,000 
cubic  feet  of  gas  yearly.  The  present  officers  are  E.  T.  Saw- 
yer, President,  H.  L.  Clark,  Treasurer,  and  C.  B.  Johnson, 
Clerk.  Previous  to  the  formation  of  this  company,  as  early 
as  1858  or  1859,  the  manufacturing  corporations  had  made,  in 
a  limited  way,  illuminating  gas  from  rosin.  It  was  extended 
somewhat  by  a  desire  to  light  the  Payson  church  for  a  course 
of  lectures,  there  not  then  being  a  town-hall  of  sufficient  capa- 
city to  accommodate  the  audiences.  A  pipe  was  extended  to 
that  point,  and  the  lighting  for  the  lectures  was  successful. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


279 


After  that  John  Mayhor,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  these 
facts,  extended  the  pipe  across  the  street  to  his  hardware-store, 
and  Mr.  Ebenezer  Ferry  also  lit  up  his  store,  adjoining.  This 
led  to  the  formation  of  the  regular  company  to  manufsicture 
coal  gas. 

The  Mount  Tom  Thread  Company. — In  November,  1866, 
J.  L.  Bassett  bought  the  saw-mill  property,  near  the  covered 
bridge,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Manhan,  and  began  the  manu- 
facture of  spools  and  bobbins,  supplying  the  Williston  ilills 
with  these  articles.  After  being  burned  out  in  1868,  he  re- 
built, and  then  went  into  the  manufacture  of  thread,  which 
he  has  ever  since  continued.  The  business  is  conducted  by  a 
corporation  entitled  as  above,  organized  September,  187.3, 
with  a  capital  of  §55,000.  J.  L.  Bassett  is  president,  and  J.  I. 
Bassett  secretary  and  treasurer.  About  30  hands  are  em- 
ployed and  a  business  done  yearly  of  $75,000  to  §100,000. 
They  buy  yarn,  which  is  mostly  imported,  and  dye,  twist,  and 
spool  it.  It  is  an  excellent  thread,  mostly  for  machine  use, 
put  up  in  two-ounce  spools,  and  it  goes  chiefly  to  the  clothing 
and  shoe  trade. 

The  Valley  Machine  Company. — In  1808,  Mr.  Williston, 
James  Sutherland,  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Winslow  formed  the  East- 
hampton  Steam-Pump  and  Engine  Company.  The  company 
sold  out  in  1870  to  the  Valley  Company,  then  formed  for  that 
purpose.  The  new  company  purchased  the  machinery  busi- 
ness which  the  Nashawannuck  Company  had  been  carrying 
on  in  the  way  of  repairs.  A  new  pump  was  also  taken  up, 
which  has  proved  a  great  success.  It  is  known  as  "  Wright's 
Bucket-Plunger,"  patented  by  William  Wright,  of  New 
York.  It  has  been  greatly  improved  by  the  Valley  Company, 
who  claim  that  it  is  now  "the  most  simple,  compact,  and  re- 
liable steam-pump  ever  offered  to  the  public."  The  company 
at  first  received  a  charter,  but  surrendered  it  in  1873,  and 
organized  on  a  partnership  basis,  with  John  Mayher  as  treas- 
urer and  general  manager.  About  30  hands  are  employed. 
A  foundry  was  erected  and  put  into  operation  June,  1877. 
The  company  make  also  the  "  Acme  Steam-Pump,"  Mayher's 
patent.  Several  handsome  testimonials  adorn  the  office. 
Their  pumps  have  been  sent  to  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  an 
Egyptian  commissioner  to  the  Centennial  of  1876  was  so 
pleased  that  he  shipped  one  home  to  use  in  his  house  in  that 
land  of  ancient  civilization. 

The  Williston  Mills. — The  name  of  Williston  is  so  inti- 
mately associated  with  all  the  leading  enterprises  of  East- 
hampton  that  the  above  title  would  hardly  designate  any 
particular  business  without  explanation. 

In  the  spring  of  1809,  Mr.  Williston  commenced  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton-yarn,  partly 
for  the  supply  of  the  Nashawannuck  Company.  He  purchased 
of  Edwin  S.  Janes  the  old  saw-mill  privilege  at  the  foot  of 
Pleasant  Street.  The  ground  was  rough  and  uneven,  and  a 
large  amount  of  grading  was  required  to  be  done  before  the 
foundation  could  be  laid.  When  this  had  been  partiallj-  done, 
and  work  upon  the  foundation  was  progressing,  an  unexpected 
obstacle  presented  itself  in  the  shape  of  a  spring  of  water 
bursting  out  with  great  force.  It  seemed  for  a  time  to  defy 
all  the  elTorts  of  the  workmen.  But  the  difficulty  was  ap- 
parently overcome,  and  work  on  the  building  went  forward. 
In  about  a  year  from  its  beginning  it  was  finished  and  put  in 
operation.  But  the  spring  and  the  quicksand  around  it  were 
destined  to  cause  still  more  trouble.  The  dam  was  under- 
mined and  carried  oft",  with  a  part  of  the  factory. 

A  heavy  loss  was  incurred,  and  the  mill  was  delayed  for 
several  months. 

Mr.  Williston,  however,  set  to  work  with  his  usual  energy 
to  repair  the  break,  which  he  completed  by  winter.  This 
time  no  attempt  was  made  to  build  a  dam  in  the  old  place, 
but  it  was  constructed  a  short  distance  farther  up  the  stream, 
and  the  water  brought  to  the  mill  in  a  canal.  But  the  list  of 
disasters  was  not  yet  complete.     In  March,  1863,  the  water 


burst  through  the  bank  of  the  canal,  near  the  trunk  which 
conveyed  the  water  to  the  wheel.  The  delay  was  only  for  a 
few  days;  steam,  which  had  been  introduced,  furnished  the 
motive-power.  Eepairs  on  the  dam,  which  at  this  time  was 
rebuilt  in  the  original  place,  required  four  or  five  months. 
By  this  time  upward  of  §100,000  had  been  expended.  The 
capacity  of  the  mill  was  afterward  increased  by  large  addi- 
tions. The  spindles  number  11,000,  giving  employment  to 
nearly  200  hands,  and  consuming  550,000  pounds  of  cotton  a 
year. 

The  yarn  spun  is  of  the  finest  quality,  equal  to  the  best 
English.  It  is  twisted  under  water.  The  machinery  is  of 
the  best  description. 

Quite  a  village  sprang  up  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mill.  The 
company,  consisting  then  of  Mr.  Williston,  J.  Sutherland,  and 
M.  H.  Leonai'd,  soon  had  fifty  or  more  tenements  erected  for 
employes.  The  increasing  business  demanded  greater  facili- 
ties, and  preparation  for  the  erection  of  a  new  factory  com- 
menced in  the  summer  of  1865.  On  the  15th  of  August  the 
first  stone  of  the  foundation  was  laid,  and  in  four  months  the 
walls  were  up  and  the  building  covered. 

"  Mr.  Willistun  liad  now  undertaken  the  greatest  business  enterprise  of  his 
life.  The  manufacture  of  cotton  yarns  had  resulted  so  favorably  as  to  encourage 
a  great  enlargement  of  the  business,  and  he  was  at  that  time  vigorously  push- 
ing to  completion  a  mill  with  a  capacity  of  20,000  spindles, — twice  that  of  the 
fii-st  mill.  It  was  to  be  run  by  steam, — a  Corliss  engine  of  240-hoi-se  power.  A 
corporation  was  formed,  with  the  title  '  The  Williston  Mills,'  which  had  a  paid- 
up  capital  of  ^00,000.  For  a  time,  at  least,  it  employed  from  400  to  500  pei-sons, 
with  a  pay-roll  of  JOOOO  and  a  sales  account  of  550,000  to  $C0,0O0  per  mouth,  and 
owned  a  village  of  160  tenements  (mostly  only  two  under  one  roof),  a  store,  and 
a  large  boarding-house.  To  this  enterprise  Mr.  Williston,  who  was  the  principal 
owner,  gave  the  last  years  of  his  life,  relinciuishing  to  the  hands  of  othei-s  the 
management  of  the  industries  of  the  upper  village,  in  which  he  still  retained  his 
interest.  His  attempt  in  the  new  factory  was  to  establish  the  manufacture  of  all 
grades  of  spool  cotton  for  hand  and  machine  sewing.  With  great  energy  and 
will  he  persevered  in  his  undertaking,  and  for  several  years  turned  out  thread  in 
large  quantities.  But  the  competition  Wits  so  sharp,  and  the  dilticulties  and  em- 
barrassments of  the  work  and  of  the  times  were  so  great,  that  the  enterprise 
failed  to  be  remunerative,  and,  indeed,  was  prosecuted  at  so  heavy  a  loss  as 
greatly  to  cripple  Mr.  Williston,  and  sadly  to  disappoint  his  hopes  as  to  the 
amount  of  money  he  was  able  to  leave  beliind  him  for  educational  purposes, 
although,  as  it  wiis,  his  bequests  were  princely. 

"At  last  lie  abandoned  the  manufacture  of  thread,  and  confined  his  cffoits  to 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  yarns.  In  this  there  has  been  better  success.  On 
account  of  the  shrinkage  of  values  and  the  ill  success  of  the  undertaking,  the 
capital  of  the  corporation  was  reduced  to  SioO,000,  where  it  now  staiuls." 

If  these  mills  were  not  as  successful  as  he  had  hoped,  yet 
they  stand  as  the  final  enterprise  of  this  distinguished  man, 
a  monument  reared  by  himself,  indicating  his  business  pur- 
suits in  life,  as  Williston  Seminary  and  the  Payson  church  do 
his  educational  and  religious  aspirations.  To  these  mills  he 
devoted  the  last  years  of  his  life,  driving  every  day  as  long  as 
health  permitted  to  the  office,  and  displaying  his  wonted  judg- 
ment and  foresight  in  the  management  of  his  business.  But 
the  time  came  when  all  these  enterprises  passed  into  other 
hands.  He  died  July  18,  1874.  Over  his  grave  may  well  rise 
the  shaft  of  enduring  granite,  but  he  has  a  better  memorial 
than  that:  modern  Easthampton  is  his  monument. 

MILITARY. 
A  settlement  having  been  made  at  Pascommuck  about  1700, 
consisting  of  the  five  families  already  mentioned,  that  place 
became  the  scene  of  a  fearful  slaughter  by  the  Indians  in  1701. 
The  following  account  is  taken  from  a  historical  discourse  de- 
livered many  years  ago  by  the  Eev.  Mr.  W^illiams,  of  North- 
ampton : 

On  the  13tll  of  May,  1701,  old  style,  the  Indians  attacked  the  village  of  I'iis- 
commuck.  The  inhabitants  had  been  settled  there  only  two  or  three  years,  the 
town  having  granted  them  tlieir  home-lots  in  1G99.  The  Indians  had  been  to 
Merrimack  River,  but  met  with  no  success ;  they  then  directed  their  course 
toward  Westfield,  but  Wcstficld  River  was  so  high  they  could  not  pass  it.  Some 
of  the  Indians  had  been  at  Northampton  in  a  friendly  manner  the  year  before, 
and  now  informed  their  companions  that  there  was  a  small  village  at  Pascom- 
muck where  they  might  get  provisions,  for  they  were  almost  famished,  and  in- 
tended, as  they  afterward  declared,  to  resign  themselves  up  if  they  could  obtain 
no  food  otherwise. 

In  the  evening  before  the  13th  of  May,  the  Indians  went  upon  Mount  Tom 


280 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


and  observed  the  sittiation  of  the  place.  As  the  meadow  was  then  covered  by 
water,  they  supposed  tlie  village  could  be  taken,  and  that  no  aid  could  come 
seasonably  from  the  town  on  account  of  the  inter^'ening  flood.  The  villiige  con- 
sisted of  only  five  families, — Samuel  Janes,  Deacon  Benjamin  Janes,  John 
Searls,  Moses  Hutchinson,  and  Bcnoni  Jones. 

A  little  before  daylight  tlie  Indians  attacked  the  village.  Benoni  Jones'  house, 
which  stood  on  the  lot  where  Nathaniel  Kentfield  afterward  lived,  was  encom- 
passed with  pickets.  The  Indians  procured  flax  and  other  combustibles  and  set 
them  on  fire,  which  was  communicated  to  the  house.  A  young  woman  named 
Patience  Webb  was  awaked,  and,  looking  out  of  tiie  window,  was  shot  through 
the  head.  The  people  surrendered,  and  all  of  the  above  families  were  killed  or 
taken  piisoners.  Some  of  the  prisoners  were  afterward  rescued  by  tlie  people 
from  the  town.  These,  commanded  by  Capt.  Taylor,  went  round  by  Pomroy's 
meadow  and  met  the  Indians  near  Mount  Tom,  when  a  skirmish  ensued,  in 
which  Capt.  Taylor  was  killed. 

The  wife  of  Benjamin  Janes  was  taken  to  the  top  of  Pomeroy's  Mountain, 
knocked  on  the  head,  and  scalped.  Our  people  found  her  in  that  situation,  and, 
perceiving  that  she  was  still  alive,  brought  her  home,  and  she  recovered  and 
lived  till  she  was  more  than  eighty  years  of  age.  The  wife  of  Bloses  Hutchinson 
was  taken  prisoner,  but  soon  made  her  escape.  John  Searls'  wife  was  also  taken 
and  severely  wounded,  but  was  afterward  rescued  from  the  Indians. 

Benoni  Jones'  wife,  and  Elisha,  the  son  of  John  Searls,  were  taken  piisonere  to 
Canada. 

No  other  lives  were  known  to  liave  been  taken  by  the  In- 
dians till  1724,  when  Nathaniel  Edwards  (2d)  was  shot  a  few 
rods  south  of  the  present  residence  of  Samuel  Phelps.  It  was 
supposed  that  he,  in  company  with  other  men  from  Northamp- 
ton, had  come  out  to  gather  their  crops  from  the  Manhan 
meadows.  Returning  he  was  delayed,  fell  behind  the  others, 
and  was  shot  and  scalped.  A  negro  lying  close  on  the  top  of 
the  load  is  said  to  have  escaped,  as  the  savages  seem  to  have 
made  no  effort  to  take  the  team,  and  it  traveled  on  after  .he 
killing  of  Mr.  Edwards.  At  the  top  of  the  hill  the  negro  un- 
harnessed a  horse  and  rode  forward  with  the  news. 

From  the  present  territory  of  Easthumpton  several  volun- 
teers joined  in  the  old  French  war,  so  called,  and  were  at  the 
battle  of  Lake  Geerge,  Sept.  8,  1755.  Eliakim  "Wright,  son  of 
Stephen  Wright,  was  among  the  killed.  Lemuel  Lyman,  son 
of  Benjamin  Lyman,  was  saved  from  death  bj'  his  bullet-pouch 
checking  a  ball  that  struck  him.  The  pouch  is  now  in  the 
museum  connected  with  the  public  library. 

During  the  period  of  danger  preceding  the  war  of  175G  sev- 
eral houses  in  Easthampton  were  fortified  in  anticipation  of  a 
possible  attack  from  the  Indians,  or  from  an  attempt  by  the 
French  to  renew  their  old  campaigns  down  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  The  house  of  Joseph  Bartlett,  at  the  mills,  Maj.  Jo- 
nathan Clapp,  on  the  Northam]iton  Eoad,  and  Samuel  Janes, 
at  Paseommuck,  were  all  fortified,  but  the  strength  of  the  forti- 
fications was  never  tried.  There  was  no  attack  made.  Sergt. 
Corse  refused  to  move  into  the  fortified  houses  or  go  back  to 
Northampton,  declaring  "he  wasn't  afraid  of  Indians  or  any- 
thing else."  He  barred  up  his  own  doors,  and  had  a  large  dog 
with  him .  But  one  night  some  eight  or  ten  savages  surrounded 
the  house ;  one  of  them  thrust  a  gun  through  the  door,  which 
Corse  seized  and  pulled  away  from  him.  He  let  out  his  dog  ; 
the  Indians  ran  ;  but  after  this  Corse  went  into  Northampton 
each  night,  like  the  rest  of  the  people. 

There  is  no  complete  record  of  the  names  of  Easthampton 
men  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  following  are 
mentioned  :  Capt.  Joseph  Clapp,  Quar.-Mast.  Benjamin  Clapp, 
Dr.  Stephen  "Wood,  and  his  sons  Daniel  and  David,  John 
Clapp,  Benjamin  Lyman,  Jr.,  Stephen  Wright,  Jr.,  David 
Clapp,  Levi  Clapp,  Eliakim  Clark,  Barzillai  Brewer,  and 
Willet  Chapman. 

Dr.  Wood  died  in  service  at  West  Point.  David  Clapp  did 
not  return  from  the  war,  and  his  fate  seems  to  have  been  un- 
known. Messrs.  Brewer  and  Chapman  both  died  in  the  army. 
Moses  Goueh,  from  this  town,  also  served  through  the  war  and 
returned.  From  the  facts  given  in  Lyman's  centennial  ad- 
dress, it  appears  proper  to  add  Capt.  David  Lyman,  Jonathan 
Janes,  Samuel  Judd,  David  Chapman  and  Joel  Parsons, 
Phinehas  Clark,  Zadoc  Danks,  Stephen  Wright,  the  father  of 
Samuel  Brooks,  and  Daniel  Braman. 

Jonathan  Clapp,  Jr.,  though  not  belonging  to  the  army,  is 


said  to  have  locked  his  mill  and  hastened  to  Bennington  when 
the  approach  of  the  British  was  made  known  through  the 
Connecticut  Valley,  but  he  was  too  late  for  the  battle.  Maj. 
Jonathan  Clapp  was  in  command  of  the  Western  Massachu- 
setts regiment,  and  was  sick  in  Pittsfield  at  the  time  of  the 
battle.  Quar.-Mast.  Benjamin  was  with  him,  and  both  chafed 
under  their  detention  within  sound  of  the  guns. 

Shays'  Rebellion. — It  is  said  that  there  were  ver}'  few  in 
Easthampton  who  sympathized  in  this  affair.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  company  was  sent  to  Springfield  to  assist  the  State 
forces.  The  officers  were  David  Lyman,  Captain,  and  Noah- 
Janes,  Lieutenant. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  following  list  comprises  nearly  all 
the  others  that  went :  Lemuel  Lyman,  Elijah  Wright,  Gideon 
Wright,  Stephen  Wright,  Levi  Clapp,  Thaddeus  Clapp,  Elca- 
zer  Hannum,  Justice  Lyman,  Eliakim  Clark,  Eleazer  Clark, 
Enos  Janes,  Silas  Brown,  Arad  Brown,  Job  Strong,  Israel 
Phelps,  and  Zadoc  Danks. 

WAR  OF   1812. 

The  warrant  for  a  meeting  July  6,  1812,  contained  tlie  clause,  "to  see  if  the 
town  will  adopt  any  measures  relating  to  a  war  with  Great  Britain." 

Dea.  Thaddeus  Clapp  was  chosen  moderator.  Voted,  to  oppose  a  war  witli 
England. 

Voted,  the  selectmen  be  a  committee  to  send  a  memorial  to  Congress. 

Voted,  to  send  Dea.  Thaddeus  Clapp  to  the  County  Convention  to  be  held  at 
Northampton  on  the  14th  of  this  month. 

A'oted,  to  delay  the  matter  of  paying  the  militia  soldiers  any  money,  or  raising 
any  until  they  are  called  for. 

This  seems  to  have  been  the  only  "  war"  meeting  held 
during  that  struggle  with  England.  But  when  Boston  was 
supposed  to  be  in  danger,  and  a  large  force  was  called  out  for 
its  defense,  the  following  persons  from  Easthampton  went  and 
served  in  that  bloodless  campaign  :  John  Alpress,  Elisha  Al- 
vord,  Worcester  Avery,  Levi  Brown,  George  Clapp,  James 
Clapp,  Philip  Clark,  Gershom  Danks,  Stephen  Hendrick,  Mo- 
ses Gouch,  Luther  Pomeroy,  Spencer  Pomeroy,  Jesse  King, 
Harris  Wight,  Collins  Wood,  Ebenezer  Wood,  Thaddeus 
Parsons,  Jesse  Coats. 

Official  Aciioti  by  ihc  Town  diu-ing  the  Ciril  War,  1861-65. 
— In  18C1  the  startling  events  at  the  South  evoked  an  imme- 
diate response  in  Easthampton.  At  a  town-meeting  held 
April  30lh,  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  were 
adopted ': 

Whereas,  a  large  portion  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  are  in  open  re- 
bellion against  the  Government  of  the  same,  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  by  proclamation  called  for  a  large  force  of  volunteer  soldiers  to  defend 
and  vindicate  the  Government,  and  there  is  a  strong  probability  of  a  still  larger 
force  being  soon  called  for;  and  as  we  deem  it  to  be  the  privilege  as  well  as  the 
duty  of  every  good  citizen  and  lover  of  his  country  to  contribute  in  some  way 
toward  supporting  the  government  from  which  he  receives  protection ;  there- 
fore, in  order  to  encourage  the  citizens  of  this  town  to  volunteer  their  sen-ices 
in  defense  of  our  general  government,  le  it 

Eesolvtd,  That  this  town  appropriate  five  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose  of 
equipping  such  volunteers  as  may  be  called  into  service,  and  for  the  relief  of 
families  and  relatives  dependent  upon  them  for  support. 

This  meeting  was  only  tvm  weeks  after  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Sumter,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  the  earliest  official  ac- 
tion in  this  part  of  the  State. 

November  5th. — The  town  voted  to  pay  State  aid  to  the 
families  of  volunteers,  as  provided  by  law.  The  list  shows 
that  many  volunteers  went  into  the  service  during  this  year. 

Aug.  11, 1862.— The  town  voted  to  pay  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  each  of  the  twenty -one  volunteei-s  wlio  have  enlisted  under  the 
last  call  of  the  President.  Voted,  fifty  dollai-s  each  to  nine  months'  volunteers, 
to  be  increased  by  seventy-five  dollars  in  case  of  enlistment  for  three  years  at 
the  close  of  the  nine  months'  sen-ice.  August  2Yth,it  w-as  voted  to  add  seventy- 
five  dollars  to  the  first  fifty  in  the  case  of  nine  months'  men. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  the  formation  of  the  52d  Regiment  drew  from  this 
town  a  large  number  of  citizens  engaged  in  active  business,  descendants  of  the 
ancestral  families  of  early  times. 

Aug.  17, 1863. — Voted,  that  the  families  of  drafted  men  be  put  on  the  same 
footing  as  those  of  volunteers,  with  reference  to  State  aid. 

The  contest  still  lingered  with  all  its  horrors,  but  every 
needed  sacrifice  was  promptly  and  bravely  made.     The  dead 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


281 


were  brouglit.  home  for  burial,  and  new  men  stepped  forward 
to  fill  their  places.  Aug.  '20,  18(i4,  it  was  voted  to  raise  and 
appropriate  ?125  each  for  34  men  to  complete  the  town's 
quota,  and  that  it  be  paid  in  gold  or  its  equivalent.  This  was 
in  the  dark  days  when  Grant  was  delayed  at  Petersburg  and 
Sherman  at  Atlanta. 

It  is  stated  in  Schouler's  history  that  Easthanipton  fur- 
ni.shcd  200  men  for  the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  18  over 
and  above  all  demands  ;  5  were  commissioned  officers.  The 
whole  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was  ^30,367. 
The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  in  1800  was  §924, .507,  and 
the  population  1910.  Amount  of  aid  to  families  afterward 
refunded  by  the  State,  1801,  §250.40;  1802,  §1000.05;  1803, 
$1847.34;  1864,11601.24;  1865,  $1400;  total,  §0705.03. 

The  spontaneous,  unofficial  action  is  worthy  of  honorable 
mention.  Individuals,  neighborhoods,  sewing  societies,  town 
societies,  one  and  all  were  at  work  for  the  absent.  The  chil- 
dren in  the  Sunday-schools  gave  liberally  for  the  same  purpose. 

"The  Society  to  Aid  Sick  and  Wounded  Soldiers"  early  in 
1801  sent  a  bo.\  of  supplies  worth  §150  to  the  sutfering  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  In  1803  the  same  societj'  sent  two  barrels  of 
clothing  to  the  "contrabands,"  a  name  Gen.  Butler  has  the 
credit  of  originating.  Contributions  were  taken  up  in  the 
churches,  and  the  "fiictory-girls"  gave  §200,  all  of  which  was 


used  to  purchase  materials  to  make  into  clothing,  filling  four 
large  boxes.  The  barrels  and  boxes  were  estimated  to  be 
worth  §600.  In  1864  the  same  society  sent  through  the  Chris- 
tian Commission  nine  boxes  filled  with  under-garments  and 
other  contributions.  One  large  box  was  also  sent  to  the 
freedmen,  and  one  to  the  Union  refugees  in  Cairo,  111.  The 
value  of  these  eleven  boxes  was  at  least  §1000.  In  1865  two 
boxes  containing  contributions  valued  at  §200  were  sent  to 
the  front  early  in  the  spring.  Other  contributions  were  taken 
up  in  churches  and  Sunday-schools,  the  amounts  not  recorded, 
but  all  of  which  was  given  freely  for  this  noble  work.  The 
Sabbath-school  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  gave  dur- 
ing the  war  in  cash  and  books  probably  §150.  Perhaps  others 
did  equally  well  in  proportion  to  ability. 

The  following  list  is  prepared  from  the  adjutant-general's 
reports,  from  "Lyman's  History  of  Easthampton,"  aided  by 
further  inquiry  among  the  veterans  themselves  now  living 
in  Easthampton.  It  is  designed  to  include  every  man  who 
was  a  resident  of  Easthampton  and  went  into  the  army,  to- 
gether with  a  few  others  who  may  be>properly  mentioned  in 
recounting  the  military  services  of  Easthampton.  Mere  re- 
cruits hired  abroad,  in  Boston  or  elsewhere,  are  not  intended  to 
be  given,  except  as  they  may  have  lost  their  lives  in  the  service 
of  the  town.     The  list  has  been  revised  by  Lafayette  Clapp. 


SOLDIEliS'  RECORD,  WAR  OF  1801-05. 

Calvin  L.  Strong,  enl.  Oct.  1.5,  1802,  4Glli  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  B  ;  trans,  to  52cl,  Nov.  5, 1802  ;  ilisrh.  Aug. 
14.  180:l. 

Kreilcnck  C.  (^)lton,  enl.  Oct.  2,  18C2,62il  M.V.M., 
Co.  C;  diBch.  Ang.  14,1803. 

James  T.  Graves,  enl.  Oct.  2,  1802, 62d  M.V.  N.,Co. 
C;  disih.  Ang.  14,1803. 

Bonjiimin  M.  Smith,  enl.  Oct,  2,  1802,52il  M.V.  M., 
Co.  C  ;  discli.  Ang.  14, 1803 ;  clerk  in  Q.M.  De|)t. 
for  a  time. 

Whitney  F.  Alvonl,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,52(1  JI.V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  ilisch.  Ang.  14,  1803. 

Lyman  1£.  Biirtlelt,  enl.  Oct.  11,1802,  ,52d  M.V.M., 
Co.  K;  discli.  Ang.  14,  1803. 

Charles  L.  Doelim,  enl.  Nov.  18, 1802,  52d  M.V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  disch.  Ang  14,  1803. 

Frank  L.  B.)ehm,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  U.  V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1803. 

George  M.  Clapp,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 

Wm.  E.  Clapp,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  .liiCh.  Ang.  14,  ISO.i. 

Lewis  Cliipp,  1st  liont.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  IS02,52d  M.V. 
M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1S03. 

Charles  L.  Webster,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d 
M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  :  died  July  IS),  1803,  at  Baton 
Rouge,  La.  A  march  of  lifty-Ihree  miles  in 
twenty-four  consecutive  hours  had  just  been 
made,  which  cau.sed  his  sickness. 

Newton  Wood,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802, 52d  M.V.  M., 
Co.  K;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1803. 

John  W.  Lymun,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,  .52d  M.V. 
M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Ang.  14, 1803. 

Clinton  Bates,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,  52d  M.V.  M., 
Co.  K;  died  in  the  service.  He  had  carried 
his  own  and  a  sick  comrade's  knapsack — a 
double  lead — for  a  long,  weary  march,  com- 
mencing March  13,  1803. 

Stephen  W.  Pierce,  musician,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,  52d 
M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 

James  H.  Clark,  enl.  May  25,  1801,  2d  Inf.,  Co.  G; 
disch.  Aug.  14,  1803,  for  disability,  .as  given  in 
the  adjt-generars  reports.  He  died  of  fever 
in  the  hospital  at  Alexandria,  Aug.  14,  1864, 
and  his  remains  were  brought  home  for  burial. 
He  was  ill  the  Shenandoah  campaign  under 
Banks  ;  Antietam,  under  McClellan  ;  Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville,  and  Gettysburg. 
He  and  Roland  S.  Willistou  were  the  first  men 
who  volunteered  from  Easthampton. 

Oran  D.  Saxton,  May  26, 1801, 2d  Inf.  ,Co.  K  ;  discli. 
April  24,  1802,  for  disability. 

Wm.  O.  Taylor,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co. 
K  ;  discli.  Ang.  14,  1803. 

Loreuao  D.  Tnisk,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 

3G 


Lewis  P.  Wait,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.M.,  Co 

K  ;  died  Nov.  2,  1802,  at  Easthami)ton,  Mass.; 
having  been  in  camp  but  fifteen  days  and  re- 
turning home  njion  a  furlough,  he  was  taken 

sick  and  died. 
Enoch  E.  Wood,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 52d  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Samuel  K.  Matthews,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  62d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Lucius  E.  Parsons,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1803. 
Herbert  W.  Pomoroy,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Ct>.  K  ;  died  .Tan.  28,  1863,  at  Plaquemine, 

La.,  of  typhoid  fever. 
Wm.  W.  Poole,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  .52d  M.  V.M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1803. 
Alfred  S.  Shaw,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802, 52d  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

K;  disch.  April  29,  1803,  for  disability. 
George  W.  Shaw,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1SG2,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1803. 
Edwin  E.  Janes,  enl.  Oct.ll,  1802,  52d  M.V.M.,C<). 

K;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1S03. 
Charles  W.  Jolinson,enl.  Oct.ll, 1862, 62d  M.V.M. 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
JohnG.  Keppel,  enl.  Oct.ll,1862,62d  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

K;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Albert  A.  Lyman,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14, 180.3. 
Charles  H.  Lyman,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802, 52d  M.  V.M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1863. 
Daniel  W.  Lyman,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  killed  June  14,  1863,  at  Port  Hndsiin, 

La.,  in  the  attack  on  the  fort ;  body  not  brought 

away,  but  buried  where  he  fell. 
Edmund  W.  Clark,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  .52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Lewis  S.  Clark,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,52d  M.  V.M.,Co. 

K;  disch.  Aug.  14,1803. 
Charles  W.  Dawes,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Edward  M.  Ferry,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1S02,  52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
S.  Williston  Graves,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802, 62d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14,1803. 
Joseph  K.  Hull,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.V.M.,  Co. 

K  :  disch.  Ang.  14, 1803. 
Justus  Lyman,  1st  sergt..  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th 

Inf.,  Co.  A ;  re-enl.  Dec.  23,  1803 ;  pro.  to  2d 

lieut.  Feb.  17,  1804;  to  1st  lient.  June  6,  1804; 

to    capt.    May   15,  1805;    taken    prisoner    at 

Dniry's  Bluff,  May  10,  '04 ;  disch.  June  20,  '65. 
John  H.  Judd,  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  A;  pro.  to  2d  lieut.  Jan.  2,  ISO!;  lo  1st 

lieut.  May  17,1804;  must,  out  March  21,1805; 

tiiken  at  Drury's  Bluff,  May  10,  1864,  and  was 

a  prisoner  for  nine  months;  then  osciiped  from 

Charlotte,  N.  C. 


George  P.Clark,  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  ISOI,  27th 
Inf.,  Co.  A  ;  disch.  Sept.  7, 1804. 

Wm.  F.  BIy,  enl.  Jan.  2,  1804,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ; 
disch.  June  26, 1805  ;  Bly  was  first  counted  on 
the  quota  of  Springfield;  enl.  Ang.  II,  1862; 
disch.  to  re-enl.  Jan.  1,  1804;  must.  .Ian.  2, 
1864,  on  the  quota  of  Easthampton. 

Thomas  Bolton,  enl.  Sejit.  20,  1861,  27tli  Inf.,  Co. 
A  ;  taken  prisoner  at  Drury's  BInlV;  disch. 
Sept.  27,  1864. 

Henry  Braman,eul.  Aug. 6, 1802,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A; 
tak'U  prisoner  at  Drury's  Blnff;  disch.  May 
22,  1805. 

Alvan  W.  Clark,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
A;  disch.  to  re-enl.  Doc.  23,  1863;  ttkeu  pris- 
oner at  Drury's  Bhiff;  died  at  Andei-souville. 

Oliver  A.  Clark,  eid.  July  21,  1862,  27th  luf,  Co. 
A;  taken  prisoner  at  Drury's  Bluff;  died  Jtine 
27,  1864,  at  Andersonville,  Ga. 

Lafayette  Clapp,  enl.  Sept. '27,  1801, '27th  Inf ,  Co. 
A;  most  of  the  time  in  hospital  service;  at 
Foster  General  Hospital,  Newbern,  N.  C,  from 
May  21, 1S03,  to  Aug.  8, 1864 ;  then  detailed  as 
clerk  in  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  White 
Refugees,  Dept.  of  N.  C,  until  disch.,  Sept.  27, 
1804,  and  afterward  as  civilian  in  same  ca- 
pacity until  May  "25,  1805. 

Wm.  P.  Derby,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ; 
disch.  Sept.  27, 1804;  had  held  an  appointment 
in  the  post-office  at  Newbern,  N.  C,  during 
his  term  of  enlistment. 

Edward  Merrigan,  enl.  Feb.  3, 1804,  27th  Inf,  C.i. 
A;  taken  prisoner  at  Drury's  Bluff;  disch. 
June?,  1865. 

Charles  Morganweek,  enl.  Feb.  4,  1864,  27th  Inf., 
Co.  A  ;  disch.  July  7,  1865. 

Patrick  Murphy,  enl.  July  21. 1862,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
A;  taken  prisoner  at  Drury's  Bluff;  disch. 
May  22,  1805. 

Ezra  0.  Spooner,  enl.  Ang.  5,  1862,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
A;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  18ii4;  taken  prisoner  at 
Drury's  Bluff;  died  Aug. 4, 1804, at  Anderson- 
ville, Ga. 

Frederick  P.  Stone,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf., 
Co.  A;  taken  prisoner  at  Drnry's  Bluff;  died 
Jan.  9,  1805,  at  Andersonville,  Ga. 

Spencer  C.  Wood,  enl.  July  21, 1862,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
A;  unaccounted  for  in  adjt. -general's  report  of 
volunteers,  1808,  vol.  ii.  page  527;  Spencer  C. 
Wood  never  had  a  discharge;  has  tried  to  get 
one  since  the  close  of  the  war,  but  never  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  attention  his  case  de- 
served from  the  War  Department;  there  vins 
no  slain  upon  his  record  as  a  soldier. 

TIn.mas  Barbour,  enl.  Dec.  2-2,  186:1,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
B ;  taken  prisoner  at  Southwest  Creek ;  pa- 
roled May  26,  1865;  disch.  June  20,  I860. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Charles  Walker,  enl.  Dec.  14, 1863,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

C;  disch.  June  26,1865. 
Cbarles  C.  Hemirick,  enl.  Oct.  1,  1861,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Jan.,  18G2,  fur  disahility. 
Chmies  D.  Fish,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27tb  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  re-enl.  Dec.  24, 1863;  diech.  June  26, 1865. 
George  A.  Hill,  enl.  Aug.  5,  1862,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ; 

re-enl.  Jan.  2, 1804;  disch.  June  26, 1865. 
Sylvester  S.  Hooper,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th 

Inf.,  Co.  A;  diBCh.  to  re-enl.  Dec.  23,  1863;  a 

prii<oner  for  several  months  at  Andersonville, 

having  bi-en   taken  at  Drury's  Bluff;   disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Lyman   A.  Howard,  enl.  July  21, 1862,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  A  ;  taken  prisoner  at  Drury's  Bluff;  disch. 

April  10,  1865. 
Elisha  C.  Lyman,  enl.  July  26, 1862,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  died  Dec.  26,  1802,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. ;  his 

remains  were  brought  home  for  burial. 
Thaiideus  A.  Lynmn,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf, 

Co.  A  ;  disch.  Oct.  17,  1862,  for  disability. 
Fordyce  A.  Rust,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1801,  3lBt 

Inf.,  Co.  B;  pro.  to  Isl  lient.  Feb.  20,  1802; 

disch.  Noy.  18,  1864. 
Charles  S.  Rust,  enl.  Nov.  9, 1861,  3l8t  Inf. ;  must. 

as  q.m. -sergt.  Feb.  14,  1862  ;  pro.  to  2d  lieut. 

April  1,  1803;  to  1st  lieut.  Feb.  3,  1804;  re- 
enl.  April  12,  1864;  acting  brigade  quarter- 
ma  >i«t  of  cavalry  under  Gen.  Lucas  fora  time; 

diecli.  Sept.  9, 1865. 
John  L.  Boss,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  B. 
Amawa  Branian,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,31st  Inf.,Co.B; 

disch.  March  21,  1803,  f..r  disability;  he  also 

had  three  sons  in  the  army, — a  patriotic  record. 
Joseph  U.  Braman,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1801,3lHt  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  disch.  Nov.  19, 1864. 
Leonard  Braman,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B  ;  disch.  Nov.  19, 1864. 
Kgbert  J.  Clapp,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B;   re-enl.  Feb.  15,  1864;    pro.  to  q.m.-sergt. 

June  18, 1864;  to  2d  iieut.  June7,1865;  disch. 

Sept.  9, 1865  ;  he  was  in  the  battles  of  the  Red 

River  ainipaign,  and    the  campaign   against 

Mobile. 
Albert  H.  Ford,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1801,  31st  Inf,  Co.  B: 

re-enl.   Feb.   15,   1864;    disch.   Sept.   0,   1865, 

serving  nearly  four  yeitrs. 
Martin  S.  Dodge,  must,  as  Corp.,  Nov.  20,1801,  31st 

Inf.,  Co.  B;  re-enl.  and  pio.  to  sergt.,  March 

27,  1864;  disch.  Sept.  26,  1865. 
John  Lcavitt,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  3]9t  Inf.,  Co.  B; 

re-eul.  and  pro.  to  sergt.,  Feb.  15,  1SG4;  disch. 

Sept.  9,  fsoS. 
■William  Newton,  enl.  Nov.  22, 1861,  Slst  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  re-enl.  and   pro.  to  Corp.,  Feb.  17,  1864; 

disch.  Sept.  9,  1865. 
James  F.  Mahar,  musician,  enl.  Feb.  16, 1862,  Slat 

Inf.,  Co.  B;  disch.  Feb.  14,  1804,  to  re-enl,  and 

served  through  till  Sept.  9,  1805. 
Theodore  Bartlett,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1801,  Slat  Inf..  Co. 

B  ;  disch.  June  22, 1862,  for  disability. 
Samuel  D.  Gould,  enl.  Feb.  15,  1864,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  ho  had  re-eul.  at  the  end  of  his  first  term; 

wounded  at  I'leasaut  Hill ;  he  served  nearly 

four  years  in  all ;  disch.  Sept.  9, 1865. 
William  Ilickey,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  killed  April  13, 1863,  at  the  battle  of  Camp 

Bislaiid,  La. 
Almon  S.  Ludden,  enl.  Nov.  20,1861,  3lBt  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  disch.  June  1, 1802,  for  disability. 
Ansel  Tackard,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,31«t  Inf,  Co.  B; 

diflcli.  to  re-enl.,  Feb.  14, 1864. 
Wilbur  H.  Purdy,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B  ;  diMch.  April  9,  1862,  for  disability. 
Henry  V.  Rich,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,31st  Inf.,  Co.  B; 

di>ch.  June  18,  1862,  for  disability. 
Allen  Wright,  enl.  Oct.  12, 18G1,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  B  ; 

disch.  Dec.  21,  1861,  for  disability. 
Richard  Wright,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  3l8t  Inf.,  Ca*. 

B;  disch.  Feb.  19,  1862,  for  disability. 
Daniel  Franzer,  enl.  Nov.  26,1861,  3l8t  Inf.,  Co.  G; 

disch.  to  re-enl.,  Feb.  15, 1804  (Northamptttn). 
Diiniel  Granger,  enl.  Nov.  26,1861,31st  Inf.,  Co. 

G  ;  UTiaccotiuted  lor  in  adjt.-geuerars  report  of 

volutitoprs,  vol.  ii.  page  6.50. 
Willium  S.  Ilryant,  enl.  Jan.  16, 1862,3l8t  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  re-enl.  Feb.  17, 1864;  disch.  Sept.  9, 1805. 


Chauncey  K.  Hendrick,  enl.  Jan. 2,1862,  3l8t  Inf., 

Co.  H  ;  disch.  June  30, 1862,  for  disability,  and 

died  Sept.  11,  1862. 
Charles  A.  Branian,  enl.  July  31,1862,  34th  Inf., 

Co.  D  ;  disch.  Jan.  10, 1865,  for  disab. ;  wounded 

in  Louisiana. 
Andrew  J.  Ferrell,  Ist  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862, 

37th  Inf.,  Co.  H  ;  disch.  June  21, 1865. 
Alpheus  W.  Parsons,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862, 37th 

Inf,  Co.  H  ;  disch.  April  14,  1863,  for  disab. 
Andrew  J.  Hill,  corp  .  enl.  Aug.  30, 1802,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  H;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Marshall  BIythe,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

H;  disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Henry  B.  Chapman,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37ih  Inf, 

Co.  H;  disch.  Feb.  7,  1863,  for  disab.;  died  at 

Easthampton,  Sept.  29, 1864. 
Charles  H.  Clark,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  tmns.  April  15,  1864,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
David  Fahey,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1802,  37th  Inf,  Co.  H; 

disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Henry  Graves,  Jr.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1802,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  H  ;  disch.  June  2i,  1865. 
Daniel  W.  Kane,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

H;  died  Dec.  16,  1862.  Stafford  Court-House, 

Va.,  of  typhoid  fever,  and  was  buried  there. 
Gilbert  Sandy,  enl.  Feb.  18, 1864,  57th  Inf.,  Co.  C; 

disch.  Aug.  7, 1865,  by  order  of  War  Depnrt- 

ment ;  a  prisoner  at  Ander.sonville  nine  or  ten 

months;  a  hired  recruit;  name  given  becanse 

he  suffered  at  Andersonville. 
Henry  Shattuck,  enl.  Aug.  25,  1803,  2>d  Inf.,  Co. 

H ;  killed  June  18, 1864,  at  Petersburg,  Va. 
Robert  Risk,  enl.  Sept.  7,  1861,  24th  Inf.,  Co.  C  ; 

disch.  Sept.  0,  1864. 
Frank  Lamar,  enl.  May  13,  1864,  19tb  Inf.;  unas- 

signed  recruit,  and  unaccounted  fur  in  adjt.- 

geueral's  report  of  volunteers,  1808,  vol.  ii.  page 

329. 
John  O'Brien,  enl.  Aug.  12, 1862, 11th  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

disch.  July  14,1865. 
Henry  L.  Ferry,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  10th  Inf,  Co. 

I;  disch.  Nov.  14,  1862,  for  disab.;  re-enl.  in 

31st  and  served  through  the  time  of  the  regt. 
Edwin  Fahey,  enl.  Ang.  12,  1862,  1st  Cav.,  Co.  B; 

missed  in  action,  May  10,  1864;  prisoner  nine 

months  at  Andersonville. 
John  Kinloch,  enl.  Aug.  12,  1862,  1st  Cav.,  Co.  F; 

disch.  to  re-enl.,  Feb.  17, 1804;  taken  prisoner 

twice,  confined  six  months  at  Salisbury ;  disch. 

June  17, 1865. 
Asa  D.  Strong,  enl.  Sept.  19, 1861,  1st  Cav.,  Co.  F  ; 

trans.,  Feb.  18, 1864,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
John  White,  enl.  July  28,  1863,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  A  ; 

died  of  yellow  IVver,  Oct.  23, 1864,  at  Newbern, 

N.  C. 
Luther  L.  Wright,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  5ed  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K ;  disch.  April  30, 1863,  for  disab. 
Patrick  McNamee,  enl.  Feb.  18, 1864,57th  Inf., Co. 

E ;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Elmer  J.  Hardy,  enl.  March  10, 1864,  57th  Inf.,  Co. 

I;  died  of  wounds  May  7, 1804;  a  recruit  from 

abroad ;  lost  his  life  in  service  for  the  town. 
Wm.  H.  Turner  (Lyman's  History). 
Ralph  Burnett  {Lyman's  History). 
James  S.  Tencelleut,  lOth  Conn. 
John  Reagan,  farrier,  enl.  Co.  B,  3d  N.  Y.  Cav.; 

disch.  for  disab.  Iirought  on  by  severe  expos* 

ure,  Sept.  30,  1862. 
Augustus  M.  Clapp,  enl.  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years 

and  ten  months  in  Co.  K,  85th  Ohio  Cav.,  for 

three  months;  was  also  in  Co.  C,  88th  Ohio; 

was  engaged  in  the  pureuit  of  Morgan's  guer- 
rillas and  in  guarding  rebel  prisoners;  re-enl. 

in  3d  Ohio  Cav.     He  was  in  one  engagement 

where,  tbongh  unknown  to  him  at  tin*  time, 

his  oldest  brother  was  among  the  rebel  forces. 

He   died   in   hospital  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  of 

typhoid  fever,  March  9, 1863. 
Dr.  F.  C.  Greene,  served  with    McClellan  in   the 

Peninsular  campaign,  and  suffered  severely  in 

the  swamps  of  Chickahomiuy. 
JohnG.  Ilennessy,  enl.  1804,  5th  N.  II. 
Justin  W.  Chapin,  belonged  to  a  New  York  regt.; 

captured  and  <(.iifined  at  Andersonville  seven 

months. 
Thomas   Connolly,  enl.  Aug.  27,  1862,  Navy;  afi- 


Bigned  to  the  "  Monongahcla,"  and  served  un- 
der Farragut. 

John  Quinn,  enl.  Aug.  27, 1862,  Navy ;  assigned  to 
the  "  Tennessee." 

John  Donovan,  enl.  Aug.  27, 1862,  Navy;  assigned 
to  the  *'  Patapsco." 

Salmon  H.  Lyman,  enl.  1861,  Anderson  Zouaves, 
N.  Y.,  Co.  A;  was  in  the  battle  of  Williams- 
burg; soon  after  was  taken  sick,  removed  to 
New  York,  and  died  at  Davis  Island  Hospital, 
Aug.  25,  1862.  His  remains  were  buried  in 
Easthampton  with  military  honors,  Sept.  IS, 
1862. 

Roland  S.  Williston,  sergt.,  enl.  May  25, 1861,  2d 
Mass.,  Co.  G  ;  died  from  wounds  received  at 
Cedar  Mountain. 

Charles  Tencellent,  enl.  1861,  7th  Conn.;  died  of 
wounds  received  at  Olustee,  Fla. 

Henry  Lyman,  enl.  Aug.  1, 1802,  27th  Regt.,  Co. 
A  ;  died  Ang.  5, 1803  ;  remains  brought  home 
fur  burial. 

Gu  stavus  W.  Peabody,  enl.  10th  Regt,  Co.  I,  June 
21,1801;  served  through  his  term;  wounded 
at  Salem  Heights;  trans.  March  15,  1864,  to 
Vet.  Res.  Corps. 

Edward  H.  Graves,  enl.  10th  Regt.,  June  21, 1861 ; 
probably  served  out  his  term;  pro.  to  q.m.- 
sergt.,  Oct.,  1801. 

Rufus  Burl. 

Daniel  Giillagher,  enl.  in  9th  Conn. 

Patrick  Ryan,  enl.  in  9th  Conn. 

Alvan  W.  Clark,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1801, 1st  Wis.  Bat.  L. 
Art.;  disch.  Msiroh  10, 1863. 

Charles  M.  Rensselaer,  enl.  54th  Regt.,  Co.  C; 
wounded  in  battle;  taken  prisoner;  died  at 
Andersonville,  June  8, 1804.  The  only  colored 
niMU  who  enlisted  from  Easthampton  ;  be  de- 
sired to  enlist  at  first,  but  was  not  allowed  to; 
joined  the  army  as  soon  as  the  government 
received  colored  men  ;  was  a  native  of  East- 
hampton. 

Michael  Fitzgerald,  enl.  1864,  82d  N.Y. ;  wounded 
at  Deep  Bottom,  Aug.  14,  1864;  disch.  Juno 
15,  1865. 

HugoOberempt,enl.  Junes,  1801, 5th  Conn.  Regt.; 
tiiken  prisoner,  confined  a  month  at  Belle  Isle, 
exchanged,  and  had  a  long  after-service  under 
Banks,  Hooker,  and  Sherman  ;  was  wouuded 
at  Peach-Tree  Creek;  disch.  June,  1805.  One 
of  "Sherman's  Bummers." 

Franklin  R.  Hoyt,  enl.  Oct.  10, 1861, 1st  Mass.  Cav., 
Co.F;  disch.  Oct.  10,1864. 

James  H.  Newton,  enl.  Aug.  6, 1862, 1st  Mass.  Cav., 
Co.  G  ;  wjus  in  the  service  about  two  yeai*8. 

Alonzo  S.  King,  enl.  fall  of  1802,  Navy;  assigned 
to  the  *'  Henry  Hudson,"  and  served  one  year 
upon  the  coast  of  Florida. 

Wm.  A.  Bartlett,  enl.  Co.  D,  37th  Regt.,  Aug.  30, 
1802  (Westhampton);  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps, 
Dec.  15,  1803. 

Albert  S.  Gove,  enl.  spring  of  1861,  Anderson  Zou- 
aves, N.  Y.;  served  full  term  ;  disch. 

Richaid  Goodsell,  enl.  spring  of  1861,  Antlersoa 
Zouaves,  N.  Y.;  served  through;  disch. 

John  Tencellent,  enl.  in  55th  Mass. and  7th  Conn. 

Frank  Thornton,  enl.  in  55th  Mass. 

John  Howard,  enl.  in  55ih  Mass. 

Robert  Fale,  enl.  in  15th  Bat. 

Morey. 

To  this  record  may  properly  be  added  the  follow- 
ing names,  not  belonging  directly  to  Easthampton, 
— three   sons  of  Josepli  A 1  void,  who  removed  to 
Bement,  III.,  before  the  war; 
Joseph  C.  Alvord,  lieut.,  enl.  1861,  2lBt  111. ;  killed 

at  the  battle  of  Mvirfreesboro',  Dec.  30, 1862, 
Oscar  L.  Alvord,  enl.  54th  III. ;  taken  sick  in  camp 

of  typhoid  fever;  returned  home,  but  died  in 

a  few  days. 
Harrison  M.  Alvord,  enl.  73d  III.;  served  through 

the  war. 

Henry  H.  Smith,  s-m  of  Rev.  Ilervey  Smith,  of 
Eii-sthampton  ;  in  a  printing-office  in  Georgia 
when  the  war  broke  out.  When  ordered  to 
leave  the  State  or  join  the  army,  he  went  to 
North  Carolina.  Altfinpting  to  come  North 
at  a  later  period,  he  was   captured,   robbed, 


^i^^'^.'^^ 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


283 


kept  at  Bicbniond  and  Andersonville  twenty 
months  or  more,  fin.'illy  exclningotl,  and  c;iiiie 
liorae  ;  received  an  appointment  in  the  provost 
marshal's  office,  New  York ;  afterward  eu- 
listuJ:  drilled  five  months  or  more;  thrown 
from  his  horse;  injured;  discharged.  A  career 
of  patriotic  suffering. 


Gen.  George  C.  Strong.  He  passed  his  eail^-  years 
with  liis  uncle,  A.  L.  Strong,  of  Easthampton ; 
was  educated  at  W'iHistori  Seminary,  admitted 
to  West  Point,  and  graduated  there  with  high 
honors  in  1S57,  taking  the  rank  of  commander 
of  the  battalion  of  cadets.  His  services  in  the 
war  which  followed  so  soon  after  his  gradu- 


ation were  of  a  long  and  distinguished  char- 
acter. Having  passed  through  many  dangers, 
heon  promoted  repeatedly,  and  Iionored  with 
appointnieuie  of  great  responsibility,  he  fttll 
at  the  head  of  his  column  mortally  wounded 
in  the  attack  upon  Fort  Wagner,  aud  died 
July  30, 18G3. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


HON.  EDMUND  HOUGHTON  SAWYER, 
son  of  Ezra  Sawyer  and  Eliza  Houghton,  was  born  in  New- 
ton, Mas.s.,  Nov.  16,  1821.  His  father  was  born  in  Sterling, 
Mass.,  July  22,  1794,  and  bis  mother  in  Lancaster,  Mass., 
May  22,  1794.  The  rudiments  of  bis  education  were  obtained 
at  the  common  schools  in  Lancaster,  where  his  boyhood  was 
passed,  and  be  subsequently  attended  the  Derby  Academy  at 
Hingham.  His  father  discovered  in  young  Sawyer  those  ele- 
ments which,  if  properly  developed,  would  result  in  rendering 
bim  a  thorough  business-man,  and  in  1830  arranged  for  liini  to 
enter  the  large  mercantile  establishment  of  Abraham  Holman, 
in  Bolton,  Mass.,  as  a  clerk.  Here  he  remained  five  years, 
and  rose  step  by  step  from  "  boy-of-all-work"  to  the  position 
of  chief  clerk  of  the  establishment.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he 
left  Bolton,  and,  after  spending  a  few  months  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  went  to  Brattleboro',  Vt.,  and  engaged  with  Wil- 
liston  &  Tyler  in  the  wholesale  hardware,  drug,  and  grocery 
business,  which  he  pursued  with  success  for  a  period  of  eight 
years,  when  he  was  induced  by  the  late  Samuel  Williston  to 
join  him  in  the  manufacture  and  .sale  of  woven  elastic  rubber 
goods  in  Easthampton. 

In  18.30  the  Nashawannuck  Manufacturing  Company  was  in- 
corporated for  the  manufacture  of  elastic  fabrics,  with  a  cap- 
ital of  §100,000,  since  increased  to  §300,000,  and  Mr.  Sawyer 
has  been  a  director,  the  treasurer,  and  general  agent  from  its 
organization  to  the  present  time.  These  positions  require  his 
attention  as  superintendent  of  the  manufacturing  department 
in  Easthampton  and  the  selling  department,  with  a  store,  in 
New  York  City. 

In  addition  to  his  active  management  of  the  business  of 
the  Nashawannuck  Companj-,  he  has  been  called  to  assist 
in  various  enterprises  in  and  out  of  Easthampton,  always 
discharging  the  duties  of  the  various  positions  with  great 
credit  to  himself  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  those  in- 
terested. He  is  director  in  the  Easthampton  Rubber  Thread 
Company;  the  Gas  Company ;  director,  president,  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Glendale  Elastic  Fabrics  Company ;  director  in 
the  Williston  Mills.  In  the  latter  company  he  was  director, 
treasurer,  aiid  general  agent  from  1871  to  187-5.  He  was  called 
to  these  positions  by  Mr.  Williston,  who  found  that  these 
mills,  through  the  advice  and  management  of  others,  were 
rapidly  losing  money,  and  in  two  years  after  Mr.  Sawyer  as- 
sumed the  management  they  were  rescued  from  disaster  and 
placed  upon  a  sound  foundation. 

At  the  death  of  Mr.  Williston  the  will  made  Mr.  Sawyer 
one  of  the  e.\ecutors,  and  being  the  only  resident  executor, 
except  Mrs.  Williston,  whose  age  prevented  her  fi'om  active 
service,  the  labor  of  settling  this  vast  estate  of  over  §1,000,000 
devolved  mainl}'  upon  Jlr.  Sawyer,  through  whose  manage- 
ment, aided  by  the  wise  counsel  and  sympathy  of  his  other 
co-executors,  M.  F.  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  and  A. 
L.  Williston,  Esq.,  of  Northampton,  the  legacies  and  debts, 
save  one,  have  been  paid,  and  a  handsome  gain  realized  on  the 
inventory  as  taken  soon  after  bis  death. 

Mr.  Sawyer  was  prominent  and  active  in  the  organization  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Easthampton,  and  has  been  a 
director  since  its  organization.  He  has  also  for  many  years 
been  a  director  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Northampton, 
and  president  and  trustee  of  the  Easthampton  Savings-Bank. 


He  has  been  appointed  and  elected  to,  and  now  holds,  positions 
as  follows :  trustee  of  Northampton  Lunatic  Hospital  since 
1864;  trustee  of  Mount  Holyoke  Female  Seminary  since  1878  ; 
trustee  of  Williston  Seminary  since  1867;  and  is  now  treasuer 
of  the  same. 

Mr.  Sawyer  has  ever  manifested  a  decided  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  Easthampton,  and  was  the  original  mover  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Public  Library  Association,  and  has 
contributed  more  time  and  money  to  its  maintenance  than 
any  other  one  person.  He  has  always  commanded  the  respect 
and  esteem  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  for  which  be  has  done 
so  much,  and  has  officiated  as  justice  of  the  peace  a  long  time, 
and  notary  public  since  1804.  In  addition  to  the  various 
town  offices  held  by  Mr.  Sawyer,  he  was  elected  Representa- 
tive to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  in  1866  from  the  First 
Hampshire  District,  and  Senator  from  Hampshire  County  in 
1867  and  1868. 

Politicall)',  he  is  a  Republican,  and  has  been  since  the 
organization  of  that  party, — never,  however,  a  partisan, 
caring  more  for  the  triumph  of  right  principles  and  the  elec- 
tion of  good  men  than  for  party  or  personal  gain.  He  was 
active  during  the  Rebellion,  and  gave  largely  in  time  and 
money  toward  the  preservation  of  our  free  institutions.  He 
was  also  one  of  the  originators  of  and  active  in  the  movement 
that  sent  Hon.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  now  president  of  Amherst 
College,  to  Congress. 

The  same  activity  manifests  itself  with  Mr.  Sawyer  in  re- 
ligious matters  as  in  the  management  of  his  multifarious 
secular  duties.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Payson  Ortho- 
dox Congregational  Church  since  its  organization,  and  for 
the  same  time  member  of  the  choir,  of  which,  a  portion  of  the 
time,  he  has  had  charge.  He  has  been  deacon  of  the  church  a 
number  of  years,  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school,  etc. 
Amherst  College,  in  1878,  bestowed  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  (A.M.).  His  business  relations  have  been  of 
an  extensive  character,  and  he  has  twice  visited  Europe  on 
business, — once  in  18-59,  and  again  in  1861. 

Mr.  Sawyer  has  been  twice  married, — first  to  Mary  A. 
Farnsworth,  of  Brattleboro',  Oct.  4,  1848.  She  died  May  3, 
18-51,  leaving  one  son,  Henry  Hovey,  born  Sept.  11,  1849. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  Williston  Seminary  and  Amherst  Col 
lege,  and  is  now  in  business  with  bis  father,  as  secretary  of 
the  Nashawannuck  Manufacturing  Company.  Mr.  Sawyer's 
second  marriage  occurred  May  4,  18-53,  to  Sarah  J.  Hinckley, 
of  Norwich,  N.  Y.  Their  family  consists  of  three  children, 
viz.,  William  Brewster,  born  Nov.  22,  1854;  he  is  a  graduate 
of  Williston  Seminary,  Amherst  College,  and  Harvard  Medi- 
cal School ;  Edward  H.  Hinckley,  born  Nov.  17,  1862,  is  now 
a  student  in  Williston  Seminary;  Mary,  born  Jan.  28,  1866, 
now  attending  the  village  school. 

Mr.  Sawyer  is  essentially  a  self-made  man,  and  his  life  has 
been  one  of  steady  and  active  devotion  to  business.  His  great 
success  has  been  the  natural  result  of  his  ability  to  examinp 
and  readily  comprehend  any  subject  presented  to  him,  po^Ye^ 
to  decide  promptly,  and  courage  to  act  with  vigor  and  perr 
sistently  in  accordance  with  his  convictions. 


'  Houur  and  fouie  from  no  cquditj^u  rjse ; 
Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies.'? 


284 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


SAMUEL  WILLISTON 
was  born  in  Easthampton,  Jun«  17,  1795.  He  was  the  son  of 
Rev.  Payson  Williston,  of  Easthampton,  who  was  the  son  of 
Bev.  Noah  Williston,  of  West  .Haven,  Conn.,  who  had  four 
children, — two  sons,  both  of  whom  were  ministers,  and  two 
daughters,  both  of  whom  were  ministers'  wives.  On  his 
father's  side  he  was  own  cousin  to  Eev.  Richard  Salter  Storrs, 
CD.,  of  Braintree,  and  so  akin,  not  only  to  the  Willistons 
and  Storrses,  but  to  the  Paysons,  the  Strongs,  the  Elys,  and 
the  other  illustrious  clergymen  whose  names  Prof.  Park  has 
recently  woven  like  a  garland  about  the  brow  of  the  Brain- 
tree  pastor.  His  mother,  Mrs.  Sarah  Birdseye  Williston,  was 
also  the  daughter  of  a  Connecticut  clergyman,  Eev.  Nathan 
Birdseye,  of  Stratford. 

His  parents  and  grandparents  were  all  remarkable  for  their 
longevity.  His  father  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-three,  and 
/lis  father  to  the  age  of  seventy-seven  ;  his  mother  to  the  age 
of  eighty-two,  and  her  father  to  his  one  hundred  and  third 
year. 

His  father's  family  consisted  of  six  children,  five  of  whom 
arrived  at  adult  ages.  Of  his  two  brothers,  one  was  Deacon 
J.  P.  Williston,  of  Northampton,  the  reformer  and  philan- 
thropist, whose  humane  and  Christian  charities,  beginning  at 
home,  compa.ssed  the  globe,  dropping  like  the  rain  and  distill- 
ing like  the  dew  on  the  dry  and  thirsty  land.  The  other. 
Deacon  N.  B.  Williston,  president  of  a  bank  in  Brattleboro', 
Vt.,  a  man  of  like  spirit  with  his  brothers,  is  the  only  surviv- 
ing member  of  the  tiimily.  Of  his  two  sisters,  one  was  the 
wife  of  J.  D.  Whitney,  Esq.,  of  Northampton,  and  the  mother 
of  the  distinguished  professor  of  that  name  ;  the  other  was  the 
mother  of  the  late  Mrs.  Dr.  Adams,  of  Boston. 

Samuel,  though  the  third  child  that  was  born  to  his  parents, 
was  the  oldest  son  that  grew  U])  to  manhood.  The  trials  and 
triumphs  of  his  education  and  his  early  business,  and  the  story 
of  his  marriage,  constitute  a  romance  in  real  life  of  rare  in- 
terest and  pathos.  He  began  to  go  to  school  very  young,  and 
attended  the  district  school  in  his  native  place,  summer  and 
winter,  till  he  was  ten  years  old  ;  then  in  the  winter  only  till 
he  was  sixteen,  at  which  age  his  schooling,  as  it  was  called, — 
that  is,  his  instruction  in  the  common  school,  which  then 
scarcely  extended  beyond  reading,  writing,  and  the  rudiments 
of  arithmetic, — ceased  altogether.  He  began  to  work  on  a  tarm 
at  the  early  age  of  ten,  in  the  absence  of  his  father  on  a  mis- 
sionary tour  of  three  months  in  the  State  of  New  York.  This 
first  work  was  done  on  the  farm,  and  under  the  direction  of  a 
good  deacon  in  his  father's  church.  Deacon  Solomon  Lyman, 
whose  memory  he  always  held  in  high  esteem  and  veneration. 
After  this  he  worked  on  a  farm  every  summer  till  he  was  six- 
teen, sometimes  on  his  father's,  sometimes  for  some  of  his 
parishioners,  and  the  last  of  these  summers  out  of  town  in 
Westhampton,  where  his  wages  were  seven  dollars  a  month. 

After  he  ceased  going  to  school,  he  studied  to  some  extent 
privately  with  his  father,  though  only  in  the  winter,  for  he 
was  obliged  to  work  in  the  summer.  He  loved  study  and 
longed  for  a  liberal  education.  But  he  saw  no  way  in  which 
he  could  obtain  the  requisite  means.  He  therefore  wont  into 
a  clothier's  shop  belonging  to  a  brother-in-law  in  Kochester, 
Vt.,  where  he  labored  the  greater  part  of  two  winters,  till  he 
became  master  of  the  art  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  in- 
trusted with  the  charge  of  the  sliop.  Meanwhile,  he  lost  no 
time,  spent  his  evenings  in  reading,  and  made  the  most  of  all 
the  means  of  self-education  within  his  reach.  His  desire  for  a 
bettor  education  being  thus  increased,  on  his  return  from 
Vermont,  late  in  the  winter  of  1813-14,  he  entered  Westfield 
Academy.  But  his  funds  were  exhausted  before  he  had  com- 
pleted a  single  term,  and  he  came  home  again  to  study  with 
his  father.  Still  encouraged  by  his  teachers  and  his  parents, 
that  where  there  was  a  will  there  was  a  way,  and  that  some 
way  would  be  found  for  him  yet  to  go  through  college,  he  now 
began  to  study  Latin,  which  he  pursued  first  with  his  father 


and  then  with  Kev.  Mr.  Gould,  of  Southampton.  In  the 
summer  of  1814,  learning  that  there  were  funds  at  Andover 
for  the  aid  of  indigent  students,  and  attracted  by  the  excellence 
of  the  institution,  he  went  to  Phillips  Academy,  then  under 
the  principal  charge  of  Rev.  John  Adams,  and  enjoying  the 
instructions  also  of  Mr.  Hawes,  afterward  Dr.  Hawes,  of  the 
Centre  Church  in  Hartford,  Conn.  He  excelled  in  his  studies. 
He  went  up  at  a  step  from  the  "Epitome  of  Sacred  History," 
over  the  class  in  "  Viri  Romie,"  to  the  class  in  "  Selectse  a  Sacris 
et  Profanis,"  and  on  examination  at  the  close  of  his  first  term  he 
was  placed  upon  the  foundation  as  a  charity  scholar.  Now  he 
had  reached  a  point  from  which  he  thought  he  could  see  the 
goal  of  his  ambition,  a  college  education.  Now  he  was  satis- 
fied, and  regarded  his  fortune  as  made,  or  at  least  quite  secure. 
But  severer  trials  awaited  him.  He  had  not  been  there  a  year 
when  his  e^yesight  failed  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave. 
For  two  years  now,  from  the  spring  of  181-5  to  that  of  1817, 
he  vibrated  between  labor  on  the  farm  and  a  clerkship  in  a 
store,  passing  the  larger  part  of  the  time  in  the  store,  but  with 
intervals  of  two  or  three  months  on  the  farm,  suffering  all  the 
while  from  weakness,  inflammation,  and  incessant  pain  in  the 
eyes,  till  at  length  be  gave  up  all  hope  of  being  or  doing  any- 
thing that  could  satisfy  his  ambition.  He  made  up  his  mind 
— this  is  the  way  in  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of 
it — that  he  must  be  a  farmer,  and  a  poor  man  at  that.  These 
years,  however,  were  by  no  means  lost  to  him.  In  the  store 
of  Justin  Ely,  of  West  Springfield,  and  still  more  in  the  large 
wholesale  establishment  of  Francis  Child,  of  New  York  City, 
with  whom  he  spent  a  year,  he  was  acquiring  that  knowledge 
of  men  and  things,  and  forming  those  ideas  and  habits  of 
business,  which  were  afterward  to  be  of  such  essential  service 
to  him  in  the  management  of  his  own  affairs.  Moreover,  it 
was  during  this  period,  under  the  discipline  of  repeated  dis- 
appointments and  sore  trials,  accompanied  by  the  eflectual 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  began  life  anew  as  a 
Christian,  and  after  a  severe  inward  struggle,  which  began 
soon  after  leaving  Andover,  and  ended  in  submission  and  peace 
just  before  going  to  New  York,  he  consecrated  himself  publicly 
to  the  service  of  God  as  a  member  of  the  Presb3'terian  church 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Spring. 

In  the  spring  of  1817,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  came 
back  to  his  father  and  proposed  to  him  to  go  into  the  farming 
business;  the  father  to  furnish  the  farm  and  the  capital,  and 
the  son  to  manage  it  and  do  the  work.  The  father  reluctantly 
consented,  invested  some  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  from  his 
father's  estate  in  the  purchase  of  land,  taking  the  deed  of  it 
in  his  own  name,  and  then  borrowed  money  for  the  purchase 
of  more  land  and  implements  of  husbandrj'.  Thus  unpromis- 
ing was  the  commencement  of  Mr.  Williston's  business  life, 
without  capital,  almost  without  an3'thing  that  he  could  call 
his  own,  and  having  run  his  father  in  debt  for  the  very  tools 
with  which  he  was  to  do  his  work.  He  continued  to  follow 
farming  as  his  business  four  years,  enlarging  the  farm  and 
extending  the  business,  varying  it  also  by  raising  sheep  and 
growing  fine  wool,  till  he  became,  for  that  place  and  those 
times,  quite  a  large  farmer  and  wool-grower.  He  worked  on 
the  farm  himself,  however,  only  in  the  summer.  In  the  win- 
ter he  betook  himself  to  that  unfailing  resource  of  intelligent 
and  aspiring  youth  of  both  sexes  in  Yankee  land,  teaching 
school. 

In  the  s])ring  of  1822  (May  27th)  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Emily  Graves,  daughter  of  Elnatlian  Graves,  a  respectable 
farmer  in  moderate  circumstances,  in  the  neighboring  town 
of  Williamsburg. 

He  still  taught  one  year,  after  being  married,  in  the  central 
district  school  in  Easthampton,  thus  making  five  winters  in 
all,  besides  the  entire  year  of  his  teaching  in  Springfield. 
Meanwhile,  the  farming  business  went  on,  enlarging,  as  we 
have  said,  and  on  the  whole  prospering.  But  he  was  obliged 
to  run  in  debt  at  the  outset.     This  debt  was  still  further  in- 


^^ 


'^'<l^ 


,^.^7^Mt^^. 


^, 


't:>^?^^f^^€>    J^^-2 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


285 


creased  for  the  sake  of  enlarging;  the  business.  He  had  invested 
in  land  and  shoep  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  most  of  which 
was  borrowed  capital.  His  first  crop  of  wool  was  lost  through 
the  failure  of  the  purchaser.  Two  or  three  huTidred  dollars  a 
year  was  all  that  could  be  saved  for  repairing  this  loss  and 
reducing  this  burden  of  indebtedness.  Mrs.  Williston  has 
remarked  that  at  this  time  it  was  a  daily  subject  of  prayer  at 
the  domestic  altar  that  God  would  open  to  him  ways  and 
means  by  which  he  might  obtain  a  competence  for  himself 
and  family.  And  now,  at  length, — doubtless  in  answer  to 
those  very  prayers,  and  as  the  result,  too,  of  the  severe  disci- 
pline to  which  he  had  been  subjected, — the  way  was  to  be 
opened.  And  the  relief  was  to  come  through  the  wife  whom 
God  had  given  him  to  be  not  only  his  companion  and  help- 
meet in  general,  but  his  wise  counselor  and  his  good  genius 
in  that  very  thing  which  he  had  so  often  made  a  subject  of 
special  prayer.  Mrs.  Williston  had  never  felt  able  to  keep 
the  help  she  needed  in  housekeeping,  nor  to  give  what  she 
wished  in  aid  of  charitable  objects.  While  looking  about  for 
relief  and  enlargciuent  in  these  particulars,  she  found  that  her 
mother  had  been  in  the  habit  of  making  covered  buttons  for 
her  own  family,  and  a  small  surplus  for  sale  to  others.  She 
took  up  the  business  at  once  on  a  somewhat  larger  scale.  The 
first  package  of  buttons  which  she  made  she  took  to  Mr. 
David  Whitney,  of  Northampton  (long  the  treasurer  of  the 
Hampshire  County  Missionary  Society),  as  a  contribution  of 
the  first-fruits  to  the  cause  of  missions  ;  and  President  Hum- 
phrey, happening  in  about  that  time,  became  the  first  pur- 
chaser. Little  did  he  or  she  think  that  there  was  the  germ 
of  Williston  Seminary  and  Williston  College. 

The  second  package  was  sent  to  Arthur  Tappan,  of  New 
York,  who  immediately  contracted  for  twenty-five  gross  at 
two  dollars  a  gross.  Fifty  dollars !  Never  in  all  their  sub- 
sequent wealth  did  they  feel  so  rich  as  when  they  received 
that  order  from  the  firm  of  Arthur  Tappan.  The  first  buttons 
Mrs.  Williston  made  with  hor  own  hands.  Then  she  employed 
other  hands  to  work  for  her  in  the  house.  Next  she  began  to 
give  out  buttons  to  be  made  in  neighboring  families.  Mr. 
Williston  soon  perceived  that  here  was  a  field  of  enterprise 
wider  and  more  promising  than  farming,,>n>djthat  ins^d  of, 
making  her  time  and  toil  merely  subsidiary  to  his  work,  he 
might  better  make  his  minister  to  hers.  It  was  in  1826,  when 
he  was  already  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  that  the  begin- 
ning was  made  of  this  new  undertaking.  In  1827  he  went  to 
New  York,  found  customers,  received  orders,  and  went  back 
to  extend  his  business.  Soon  he  went  in  like  manner  to  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  and  Boston,  and  established  agencies  in 
all  the  princijial  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  business 
grew  rapidly,  and  it  was  only  a  short  time  before  he  had  more 
than  a  thousand  families  at  work  making  buttons  for  him, 
through  all  that  circle  of  towns,  thirty  or  forty  miles  in 
diameter,  of  which  Easthampton  was  the  centre.  Auxiliary  to 
the  button  business,  he  opened  a  store,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  carried  on  quite  a  large  business,  for  the  country,  in  the 
sale  of  dry  goods,  his  first  clerk  being  Mr.  Knight,  and  Mrs. 
Williston  his  first  bookkeeper. 

The  manufacture  went  on  in  this  way  by  hand,  employing 
thousands  of  busy  and  skillful  fingers  in  a  constantly-e-\tend- 
ing  circle  of  private  families,  and  rewarding  their  industry 
with  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  comforts  and  elegances 
of  life,  for  ten  or  a  dozen  years,  when  Providence  opened  the 
way  for  a  still  greater  improvement  and  enlargement.  In  one 
of  his  visits  to  New  York,  Mr.  Williston  found  there  some 
buttons  of  English  manufacture,  made  without  thread,  witli- 
out  needle,  and,  I  had  almost  said,  without  fingers, — in  short, 
manifestly  made  by  machinery.  He  took  these  buttons  to  the 
Messrs.  Joel  and  Josiah  Hayden,  who  were  then  just  begin- 
ning to  be  known  as  ingenious  and  enterprising  mechanics  in 
Williamsburg,  and  proposed  to  furnish  the  capital,  sell  the 
goods,  and  divide  the  profits  equally  if  they  would  discover 


the  process,  get  up  the  machinery,  and  manufacture  the  but- 
tons. They  entered  with  characteristic  zeal  and  energy  upon 
the  experiment,  and  worked  on  patiently  with  hands  and 
brains  for  years  before  their  labors  were  crowned  with  com- 
plete success.  It  was  a  full  year  before  they  could  make  a 
button.  When  they  had  succeeded  to  some  extent,  they  de- 
rived great  assistance  from  a  colored  man  who  had  been  an 
employe  in  an  English  factory  and  knew  tlie  macliinery  and 
the  process. 

The  perfecting  of  this  machinery,  and  the  successful  carry- 
ing on  of  the  manufacture,  made  the  fortunes  of  both  parties. 
It  was  the  making — it  was  at  least  the  beginning — of  Hayden- 
ville.     It  has  since  done  the  same  service  for  Easthampton. 

It  was  when  he  was  a  little  over  forty  that  Mr.  Williston 
began  to  lay  "foundations"  and  build  not  only  for  himself, 
but  for  his  native  town,  and  for  the  larger  public.  In  1837 
he  bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  erection  of  the  house  of  wor- 
ship now  occupied  by  the  First  Church  in  Easthampton.  In 
1841  he  established  Williston  Seminary.  In  1843  he  built 
his  own  house.  Early  in  184i3  he  founded  the  Williston 
]]rofessorship  of  rhetoric  and  oratory  in  Amherst  College. 
Later  in  the  same  year  he  .spent  six  months  in  traveling 
in  Europe.  In  the  winter  of  1846-47  he  founded  the  Graves 
professorship — now  the  Williston  professorship — of  Greek,  and 
one-half  of  the  Hitchcock  professorship  of  natural  theology 
and  geology  in  Amherst  College,  thus  making  in  all  the  sum 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  he  had  already  given  for  per- 
manent foundations  in  that  institution. 

It  was  in  1847  that  he  removed  his  business  from  Hayden- 
ville  to  Easthampton. 

Mr.  Williston  has  filled  not  a  few  posts  of  honor  and  trust. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Lower  House  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  in  1841,  and  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1842  and 
1843.  He  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  as  an  anti-slavery 
Whig,  and  might  doubtless  have  continued  to  occupy  and 
adorn  public  life  if  he  had  not,  after  three  years'  legislative 
service,  declined  a  re-election.  In  politics  he  has  always  been 
known  as  belonging  to  the  school  of  progress  and  reform. 

While  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  in  1841,  he  was  chosen 
by-fliat  body  it  trustee  of  Amherst  College.  For  thirty-three 
years,  and  throughout  one  entire  generation,  he  has  not  only 
been  a  member  of  the  corporation,  but  during  the  larger  part 
of  the.se  years  a  member  also  of  the  Prudential  Committee, 
and  often  of  special  conunittees  on  buildings  and  business 
matters  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  until  the  recent  failure 
of  his  health  he  was  from  principle  an  unfailing  attendant  of 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  meetings  of  the  board,  and  un- 
sparing not  only  of  his  money,  of  which  he  gave  during  his 
life  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  from  time  to  time 
as  it  was  wanted,  and  would  do  the  most  good,  but  also  of  his 
time,  which,  for  a  man  of  business  and  wealth,  it  is  often  far 
more  difficult  to  give  than  money.  For  the  same  number  of 
years  he  has  been  not  only  trustee,  but  president  of  the  trustees, 
of  Williston  Seminar_v,  and  with  only  two  exceptions — the  one 
occasioned  by  sickness,  and  the  other  by  absence  from  the 
country — he  has  presided  in  all  the  meetings.  He  has  been 
the  acting  treasurer  also  of  the  seminary,  and  has  watched 
over  all  its  external  and  internal  affairs  with  the  same  wise 
and  careful  personal  supervision  which  he  has  given  to  his 
business.  Appointed  by  the  Governor  and  Council  one  of  the 
first  trustees  of  the  State  Reform  School,  when  that  office  was 
no  sinecure,  he  was  of  great  service  in  erecting  buildings,  im- 
proving the  farm,  and  inaugurating  the  institution.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  trustees  of  Slount  Holyoke  Seminary,  of  which 
he  helped  to  lay  the  foundations,  and  in  which  he  ever  felt  a 
lively  interest.  He  was  a  corporate  member  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  for  many 
years  as  constant  in  attendance  on  its  meetings  as  he  was  in 
contributions  to  its  funds. 

The  business  corporations,  manufacturing  companies,  banks, 


286 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. - 


railways,  gas  and  water-power  companies  in  Easthampton, 
Northampton,  Holyoke,  and  elsewhere,  in  which  he  was  a 
leading  corporator,  and  usually  president,  are  too  numerous 
to  mention. 

Mr.  Willistou's  domestic  life  was  marked  by  great  trials  as 
well  as  great  blessings,  and  had  a  most  important  bearing  on 
his  character  and  history.  For  four  j-ears  after  their  mar- 
riage Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williston  lived  without  children.  In 
1831  they  lost  two  children,  then  three  and  a  half  and  one 
and  a  half  years  old,  by  scarlet  fever.  In  1837  they  were 
called  to  experience  the  same  deep  affliction  again  in  the  loss, 
and  by  the  same  disease,  of  two  children  who  had  reached  the 
age  respectively  of  five  and  a  half  and  three  and  a  half. 

With  his  high  intellectual  endowments  he  united  that  in- 
tegrity and  fidelity  to  all  his  engagements  which  alone  can 
inspire  confidence,  and  therefore  which  alone  can  insure  last- 
ing prosperity. 

Mr.  Williston  died  July,  1874. 

The  aggregate  of  his  charities  in  his  lifetime  must  have 
exceeded  a  million  of  dollars.  His  will  provides  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  from  one-half  to  three-quarters  of  a  million  more. 
Considerably  more  than  half  of  this  magnificent  sum  he  gave 
to  two  institutions. 


HORATIO   GATES   KNIGHT, 

.son  of  Sylvester  and  Rachel  Lyman  Knight,  was  born  in 
Easthampton,  Mass.,  March  24,  1819.  His  boyhood  was 
passed  in  his  native  town,  where  he  was  educated  at  the 
common  and  select  schools.  In  1841  he  commenced  business 
as  a  partner  of  the  late  Samuel  Williston  in  Easthampton, 
and  continued  in  business  with  him  more  than  thirty  years. 
During  this  time  Mr.  Knight  resided  at  Easthampton,  although 
having  a  mercantile  house  in  New  York  City. 

In  political  matters  he  has  affiliated  with  the  Whig  and 
Republican  parties.  He  has  ever  manifested  a  decided  interest 
in  the  political  issues  of  the  day,  and  has  held  many  offices 
within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-citizens.  In  addition  to  holding 
various  town  offices,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
House  of  Representatives  in  1852-53,  Massachusetts  Senate  in 
1858-.59,  Massachiisetts  Executive  Council  in  1808-69,  and  was 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts  in  the  years  1875,  1876, 
1877,  and  1878. 

He  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the  convention  that  first 
nominated  President  Lincoln  at  Chicago,  and  to  the  conven- 
tion that  nominated  President  Grant  the  second  time  at  Phil- 
adelphia. He  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Andrew  in  1802  "com- 
missioner to  superintend  the  drafting  of  militia;"  by  Gov. 
Washburn  in  1873  as  "  Massachusetts  commissioner  to  the 
Vienna  Exposition;"  and  by  Gov.  Talbot  in  1879  as  "mem- 
ber of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education." 

He  is  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Easthampton  ; 
president  of  the  National  Button  Company  of  Easthampton ; 
president  of  the  India-Rubber  Tliread  Company  of  Easthamp- 
ton ;  president  of  the  Northampton  Institution  for  Savings  ; 
director  or  trustee  of  various  other  corporations  or  institu- 
tions in  Easthampton  and  Northampton;  trustee  of  Williams 
College,  Williamstown ;  and  trustee  of  Williston  Seminary, 
Easthampton. 

He  was  married  in  New  York  City,  Sept.  28,  1841,  to  Mary 
Ann  Huntoon.  Their  children  have  been  as  follows  :  Alice, 
Lucy,  Mary,  Horatio  Williston,  Charles  Huntoon,  Russell 
Wright,  and  Frederick  Allen. 

During  the  rebellion  Gov.  Kniglit  was  very  acti\^  in  pro- 
moting enlistment,  and  spent  much  time  and  money  in  filling 
the  quotas  of  this  section  and  aiding  soldiers'  families.  He 
has  ever  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  his  native 


town,  and  every  movement  looking   toward  the  welfare  of 
town,  county,  or  State  has  received  his  earnest  support. 


EDWIN   R.   BOSWORTH 

was  born  March  16,  1826,  in  Rehoboth,  Bristol  Co.,  Mass. 
In  the  same  town  his  grandfather,  Peleg  Bosworth,  lived 
and  died.  His  father,  Peleg  Bosworth,  a  prominent  con- 
tractor and  builder,  was  born  in  the  same  town  in  1778,  and 
died  in  1829.  His  mother  was  Susanna,  daughter  of  Chase 
Rounds,  cif  Rehoboth.  Edwin  R.  was  the  youngest  of  twelve 
children,  and  passed  his  boyhood  at  home  on  the  farm,  attend- 
ing the  district  school  during  the  winter.  When  he  was  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  in  1843,  he  left  home  and  went  to  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  where  for  two  years  he  worked,  learning  the 
business  of  a  carpenter  and  joiner.  In  1845  went  to  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  and  remained  there  one  year.  In  1846  he  re- 
moved to  Palmer,  Mass.,  and  worked  as  a  journeyman  until 
1850,  when  he  commenced  business  for  himself  as  a  carpenter 
and  builder.  During  this  period,  witli  others,  he  built  the 
Baptist  church  and  the  New  London  and  Northern  Railroad 
depot.  In  1854  he  discontinued  business  in  Palmer,  and  spent 
a  portion  of  that  year  in  travel,  looking  over  the  West,  with  the 
intention  of  finding  a  suitable  place  for  his  business.  Failing 
in  this,  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1855  was  in  Amherst  superintending  tlie  erection  of  the  fine 
Appleton  Cabinet  building,  and  at  that  time  the  elegant  resi- 
dence of  Prof.  Tuckerman,  of  Amherst  College.  In  1855  he 
removed  to  Easthampton,  where  he  still  resides,  and  has  wit- 
nessed the  remarkable  growth  of  that  town.  At  the  time  of 
his  arrival  this  had  just  begun,  and  he  was  soon  recognized 
as  an  honest  and  thorough  builder.  Important  contracts  were 
given  him,  and  from  that  day  he  has  been  prominently  iden- 
tified with  the  building  interests  of  this  and  other  towns ; 
was  superintendent,  builder,  and  assistant  architect  of  the 
town-hall  of  Easthampton  ;  builder  of  the  Methodist  church, 
the  gymnasium,  and  North  Hall  of  Williston  Seminary ;  archi- 
tect and  builder  of  the  First  National  Bank  building,  the  high- 
school  building,  many  of  the  large  mills,  business  blocks, 
and  private  residences,  among  which  are  the  residences  of  E. 
T.  Sawyer,  E.  H.  Gale,  H.  L.  Clark,  J.  E.  Clark,  and  P.  J. 
Gould  ;  also  built  the  fine  residence,  on  Park  Street,  of  Hon.  E. 
H.  Sawyer.  In  Northampton  he  built  the  First  National  Bank 
building  and  the  residence  of  William  B.  Hale,  its  president. 

To  his  original  business  as  architect,  builder,  and  dealer  in 
lumber  he  has  added  civil  engineering,  and  from  1873  to 
1870,  while  still  conducting  his  business  in  Easthampton,  was 
connected  with  C.  W.  Richards  in  the  lumber  business  in 
Springfield. 

Mr.  Bosworth  married.  May  20,  1849,  Hannah  E.,  daughter 
of  Nathan  Barron,  of  Lyndon,  Vt.  Bj'  this  union  he  has 
had  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  living, — Frank  E.,  born 
Aug.  4,  1853,  in  Palmer,  and  Susie  B.,  born  April  6,  1860, 
in  Easthampton.  His  son,  Frank  E.,  is  now  on  the  editorial 
stall'  of  the  Boston  Globe. 

Mr.  Bosworth  is  a  self-made  man.  Prompt  and  ener- 
getic in  all  contracts  intrusted  to  him,  he  has  won  a  repu- 
tation as  a  contractor  and  builder  second  to  none  in  this  sec- 
tion. Although  his  business  afl'airs  have  been  of  an  onerous 
nature,  be  has  found  time  to  assist  in  all  measures  tending  to 
the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  Easthampton,  and  is  at 
present  a  selectman,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  director  of  the 
National  Bank  of  Easthampton,  and  a  trustee  and  member  of 
the  finance  committee  of  the  savings-bank.  His  political  sen- 
timents are  Rejuiblican,  and  he  lias  always  acted  with  that 
party. 


y 


L/L  yy^  o-y -^'^  c^-^  ^  n 


WILLIAM    N.  CLAPP. 


William  N.  Clapp  is  the  descendant  in  the  seventh  generation  of 
Roger  Clapp,  who  came  to  this  country  from  England  in  1630,  settling 
in  Dorchester,  Mass.  There  he  married  Miss  Joanna  Ford,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Ford,  of  Dorchester,  England,  who,  with  her  parents,  came 
over  in  the  same  ship  with  himself. 

Roger  Clapp  was  appointed  by  the  General  Court,  in  August,  1665, 
captain  of  the  Castle  (the  principal  fortress  in  the  province),  which 
position  he  held  for  twenty  years,  and  was  universally  respected  and 
honored.  He  also  held  various  other  offices,  both  civil  and  military. 
In  1686  he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  died  in  1691,  in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  His  wife  died  in  1695,  in  her  seventy-eighth 
year.  By  this  union  there  were  fourteen  children,  one  of  whom  was 
Preserved,  born  Nov.  23,  1643,  who  married  Sarah  Newberry,  of  Wind- 
sor, and  settled  in  Northampton.  He  was  a  captain  of  the  town,  a  rep- 
resentative in  the  General  Court,  and  ruling  elder  in  the  church,  and 
died  from  the  effects  of  a  gunshot  wound  received  from  an  Indian. 
He  had  seven  children,  one  of  whom,  Roger,  was  the  father  of  Maj. 
Jonathan,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Easthampton,  who  removed  to 
that  town  about  1730.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  and  was  very 
prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  town.  He  had  three  sons  and 
eight  daughters.  The  youngest  son,  Quartermaster  Benjamin  Clapp, 
%vas  born  in  1738,  and  married  Phebo  Boynton.  of  Coventry,  Conn. 


He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  died  in  1815,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven.  His  wife  died  in  December,  18-t7,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety-seven  years.  She  retained  her  activity,  both  of 
body  and  mind,  till  the  last  year  of  her  life.  There  were  born  to 
them  fifteen  children.  The  eighth  was  Solomon,  the  father  of  AVil- 
liam  N.  Clapp,  who  was  born  in  Easthampton,  Sept.  2,  1782,  and 
died  Nov.  25,  1827.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  lived  on  the  place  occu- 
pied by  his  father.  He  married  Paulina  Avery,  daughter  of  Abner 
Avery,  of  Northampton,  who  was  a  native  of  Wallingford,  Conn. ;  was 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  holding  the  rank  of  lieutenant;  removed 
to  Northampton  in  middle  life ;  lived  there  a  number  of  years,  and 
removed  to  Easthampton,  living  the  last  years  of  his  Ufa  with  a  son, 
and  died  in  1S36,  aged  eighty-eight. 

There  were  ten  children  by  this  marriage,  of  whom  William  N. 
Clapp  is  the  second  sou.    He  was  born  in  Easthampton,  Nov.  3,  1810. 

Mr.  Clapp  spent  his  boyhood  at  home,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  public  schools,  and  attending  one  term  at  the  Hopkins  Academy, 
in  Hadley,  Mass.  In  his  seventeenth  year  his  father  apprenticed  him 
to  a  jeweler  and  watch-maker,  in  which  position  he  remained  but  a 
few  months,  when  he  returned  home  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
his  father. 

In  the  winter  of  1829,  beginning  in  December,  Mr.  Clapp  taught 


W^. 


Pliuto.  by  Hardie  k  Schariee. 


a  district  school  in  South  Amherst,  Mass.,  and  again,  in  1830,  in  West- 
hampton,  Mass.,  and,  in  1831,  in  Grafton,  Worcester  Co.,  Mass.  He 
then  chose  the  calling  of  a  farmer,  which  he  has  steadily  and  success- 
fully followed  to  this  time,  1879. 

Mr.  Clapp  is  a  member  of  the  Payson  Congregational  Church  of 
Easthampton.  He  is  a  firm  supporter  of  the  public-school  system, 
and  is  warmly  interested  in  all  educational  matters. 

Politically  he  was  first  a  Whig,  afterward  a  Republican,  and  at 
present  is  independent,  supporting  such  men  and  measures  as  best 
meet  his  views.  He  is  not  an  office-seeker,  and  is  represented  by 
those  who  know  him  well  as  being  an  inveterate  hater  of  rings  or 
combinations,  and  as  having  the  courage  to  support  such  measures 
as  he  deems  for  the  best  good  of  the  community  ;  advocating  retrench- 
ment and  economy,  and  being  a  positive  man,  he  adheres  somewhat 
tenaciously  to  this  line,  regardless  of  the  effect  upon  his  popularity, 
but  is  ever  deferential  and  courteous. 

Mr.  Clapp  has  held  various  offices.  Was  a  justice  of  the  peace  for 
twenty-one  years,  declining  a  renewal  of  his  commission  ;  was  col- 
lector and  treasurer  of  the  town  from  1839  to  1851.  He  was  col- 
lector and  treasurer  of  the  first  parish  from  1839  to  1853,  ceasing  to 
act  in  that  capacity  upon  the  formation  of  the  P.ayson  Society  t= 
a  trustee  of  the  Easthampton  Savings  Bank. 

Mr.  Clapp  has  been  married  three  times.     His  first  wife  was  Try 


Is 


phena  Janes,  second  daughter  of  Parsons  Janes,  of  Easthampton. 
Her  grandfather  was  Jonathan  Janes,  a  soldier  in  the  French-and- 
Indian  wars,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Louisburg,  July  26, 
1758.  Mrs.  Clapp  died  July  29,  1847.  Their  children  were  four  in 
number:  Sarah  Eugenia,  was  educated  at  Williston  and  South  Had- 
ley Seminaries,  and  for  ten  years  has  been  a  successful  teacher  in  the 
public  schools  of  Ohio  and  Massachusetts.  William  Edgar,  served 
during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  in  the  52d  Regiment  Massachusetts 
Volunteers  ;  was  at  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson,  and  has  a  good 
army  record.  Solomon  Parsons,  was  a  farmer,  and  died  in  1872, 
leaving  a  widow  and  two  children.  Eliza  Tryphena,  became  the 
wife  of  George  W.  Guilford,  and  died  Feb.  18,  1879,  leaving  one 
daughter. 

Mr.  Clapp  married  (second)  Emily  Janes,  sister  of  his  first  wife, 
Jan.  4,  1848.  There  were  by  this  union  two  children, — Emily  Maria 
and  Harriet  Ellen, — both  of  whom  are  at  present  attending  the  Mount 
Holyoke  Seminary,  South  Hadley,  Mass.  Mrs.  Clapp  died  Nov.  8, 
1861. 

His  present  wife  was  Prudence  T.  Wait,  daughter  of  Charles  Wait, 
of  Easthampton,  and  formerly  of  Williamsburg,  whom  he  married 
Oct.  1,  1862.  Her  grandfather  was  Joseph  Wait,  of  Williamsburg, 
Mass.,  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  By  this  marriage  there  have  been 
born  to  them  two  children,  both  of  whom  are  dead. 


JOSEPH    W. 

This  gentleman  is  of  Puritan  descent,  and  traces 
liiri  ancestry  far  back  into  England  to  Edward 
Winslow,  of  Droitwich,  England.  From  an  old 
record  the  writer  finds  the  following  ancestral  line: 
"  Kenelin,  a  younger  brother  of  Gov.  Edward  Wins- 
low,  who  landed  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  from  the  ship 
'  Fortune,'  in  1621,  was  his  first  American  ancestor. 
2d,  Lieut.  Job.  3d,  Dr.  Richard  W.  4th,  Capt. 
Hezekiah  W.  5th,  Ezra  Winslow,  married  the 
sister  of  Alden  Spooner,  printer  of  the  first  news- 
paper in  Vermont.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity, and  strictly  religious.      He  was  a  staunch 


WINSLOW,  M.D. 

royalist,  hence  the  name  of  George  Rex,  his  son," 
father  of  Dr.  Joseph  W.  Winslow. 

Joseph  W.  Winslow,  son  of  George  Rex  Winslow 
and  Lucy  Clark  Winslow,  was  born  in  Barnard,  Vt., 
March  8,  1820.  Here  he  remained  until  seventeen 
years  of  age,  attending  the  village  school  and  the 
high  school  at  Rochester,  Vt.  His  father,  in  the 
mean  time,  had  removed  to  Ware,  Mass.,  whither 
young  Winslow  subsequently  followed,  and  attended 
the  high  school  at  that  place. 

He  decided  upon  the  medical  profession  as  his 
life-work,  and  spent  four  years  in  the  study  of  mcdi- 


o .  ^^\  ^  v\x  -a  c-rv  >VL  5nh » 


cine,  principally  under  the  preceptorship  of  Prof. 
Oilman  Kimball,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  the  last  being 
as  demonstrator  of  anatomy  for  him ;  and  at  the 
United  States  Marine  Hospital  at  Chelsea ;  and  in 
1845  graduated  at  the  Berkshire  Medical  College 
with  honor.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  chosen  pro- 
fession at  Enfield,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  about 
twelve  years,  and  then  removed  to  Easthanipton, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  active  practice. 

He  was  coroner  in  Eastiiampton  when  the  office 
was  abolished,  and  was  subsequently  appointed  by 
the  governor  medical  examiner  for  Hampshire  Co. 

May  13,  1857,  he  united  in  marriage  with  Emily 
B.,  daughter   of  Dr.    Jared    Bement,  and   adopted 


daughter  of  her  uncle,  Edward  Smith,  of  Enfield. 
They  have  two  children, — Susie  E.  and  Edward  S. 

Dr.  Daniel  Thompson,  of  Northampton,  speaking 
of  Dr.  Winslow,  says :  "  He  is  considered  by  his 
professional  brethren  as  a  true  man,  whose  integrity 
could  not  be  questioned.  Professionally,  he  is  of 
quick  perception,  sound  j  udgment,  and  has  more  than 
ordinary  attainments  in  both  the  practice  of  medicine 
and  surgery,  and  his  professional  application  of  means 
to  ends  have  uniformly  been  judicious." 

Dr.  Winslow  enjoys  the  confidence  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  in  a  remarkable  degree,  and  has  a  large  and 
remunerative  practice.  Politically  he  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  religiously  a  Congregational  Trinitarian. 


WESTHAMPTOJSr. 


GEOGRArHICAL. 

Westhampton  lies  principally  west  of  the  town  of  North- 
ampton, and  centrally  distant  from  the  court-house  about 
seven  miles.  Its  figure  is  more  regular  than  that  of  any  other 
town  in  the  county,  the  outlines  forming  a  slightly  oblique 
parallelogram.  It  is  bounded  north  by  Chesterfield  and  Wil- 
liamsburg, east  by  Northampton  and  Eastbampton,  south 
by  Sovithampton,  west  by  Huntington  and  Chesterfield.  The 
farm  acreage  reported  in  the  census  of  1875  is  15,817  acres, 
or  nearly  twenty-five  square  miles.  The  town  is  a  part  of  the 
original  Northampton  tract,  and  the  title  is  traced  back  to  the 
treaty  conveying  the  land  from  the  Indians  to  the  first  propri- 
etors. The  following  vote  upon  the  records  of  Northampton 
appears  to  indicate  an  early  division  of  a  large  part  of  what 
is  now  "Westhampton  among  the  proprietors  their  heirs,  or 
assigns : 

"Jan.  20,  1714,  voted  to  throw  up  three  miles  of  the  west 
end  of  the  westwardly  division  of  commons,  and  to  lay  said 
three  miles  into  two  ranges;  and  each  proprietor  shall  draw 
again  for  the  said  three  miles,  and  to  draw  by  the  same  rule  as 
before,  except  some  persons  who  were  left  out,  who  are  then 
to  have  a  draught." 

This  tract  was  known  as  Long  Division.  This  was  nearly 
fifty  years  before  there  was  any  attempt  at  settlement.  The 
Northampton  records  are  lost  for  a  period  of  twenty-two  years, 
covering  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of  the  Long  Division. 

Many  facts  of  interest  were  doubtless  recorded  at  that  time 
which  are  not  now  obtainable. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  town  is  drained  to  the  southeast  in  a  general  sense, 
and  mostly  by  tributaries  that  unite  to  form  the  north  branch 
of  the  Manhan  Kiver.  These  are  Turkey  Brook,  Sodom 
Brook,  and  other  streams.  In  the  southwest  part  of  the 
town,  however,  are  found  some  small  rivulets  that,  with 
others  flowing  from  Huntington,  form  the  south  branch  of 
the  Manhan.  In  the  northeast  there  are  also  found  the 
head-waters  of  Roberts  Meadow  Brook,  a  stream  that  finally 
unites  with  Mill  River  at  Leeds,  in  the  town  of  Northampton. 

The  east  branch  of  the  Westfield  River  touches  the  north- 
west corner  of  Westhampton.  In  the  north  part  of  West- 
hampton, then,  these  three  river-systems — the  Manhan,  the 
Westfield,  and  the  Mill  River — have  some  of  their  sources 
very  near  each  other,  the  high  hills  along  the  Chesterfield 
Hue  forming  the  water-shed  of  the  three  valleys.  West- 
hampton may  fairly  be  called  a  mountainous  town.  There 
are  several  distinct  elevations  with  special  names.  Along  the 
western  side  are  Canada  Hill,  Spruce  Hill,  Gob  Hill,  Break- 
neck Mountain,  and  Red-Oak  Hill.  In  the  centre,  north  of 
the  village,  is  Tob  Hill.  Southeast  of  the  reservoir  is  the 
eminence  known  as  Hanging  Mountain,  and  near  the  middle 
of  the  east  side  of  the  town  is  Turkey  Hill.  The  names  of  two 
of  these  are  evidently  derived  from  the  timber  upon  them,  and 
a  third  from  the  number  of  wild  turkeys  found  there  origi- 
nally, and  even  within  the  memory  of  some  now  living  in 
town. 

There  is  a  story  that  some  cattle  were  once  killed  by  falling 
over  a  precipice  on  the  hill  known  as  Breakneck.  The  names 
of  the  others  are  more  obscure,  though  vague  tradition  assigns 
Tob  and  Gobto  certain  reminiscences  of  Indian  location. 


EARLY   SETTLEMENT. 

The  territory  now  included  in  the  town  of  Westhampton, 
though  only  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  Connecticut  Kiver, 
and  though  it  was  an  actual  part  of  the  town  of  Northamp- 
ton, remained  unsettled  for  more  than  one  hundred  years 
after  the  commencement  of  the  settlements  at  Northampton, 
Hatfield,  and  Hadley.  Early  pioneers  pushed  out  into  East- 
bampton and  Southampton  forty,  fifty,  and  sixty  years  before 
any  one  ventured  to  seek  a  home  amid  the  hills  of  the  Long 
Division.  Chesterfield,  to  the  northwest,  was  in  vigorous 
progress  of  settlement  for  several  years  earlier  than  West- 
hampton. Perhaps  Huntington  and  Williamsburg  did  not 
much  antedate  Westhampton,  yet  practically  the  latter  was 
the  latest  settled  of  any  of  these  towns.  The  commencement 
of  its  history  is  nearer  to  the  people  of  the  present  generation 
than  any  other  in  this  section,  and  therefore  it  is  better  jire- 
served. 

To  the  care  with  which  the  town  records  and  those  of  the 
church  were  written  up,  and  to  the  indefatigable  researches 
of  the  well-known  historian,  Sylvester  Judd,  are  the  people 
of  this  town  greatly  indebted,  both  for  the  fullness  and  for 
the  accuracy  of  their  annals,  offering  as  they  do  to  the  writer 
of  the  present  day  a  wealth  of  material  difficult  to  select  from, 
on  account  of  the  worth  of  the  whole,  and  difficult  to  com- 
press into  the  limits  of  a  single  chapter  in  a  work  devoted  to 
the  three  valley-counties. 

From  the  historical  address  of  C.  Parkman  Judd,  delivered 
at  the  Westhampton  reunion,  Sept.  5,  1866,  we  take  the  fol- 
lowing passages  as  the  best  summary  statements  of  early  set- 
tlement : 

"  The  first  settlement  in  Westhampton  was  made  in  tlie  southwesterly  part  of 
the  town,  near  the  present  highway  which  runs  from  Kingsley's  mill  hy  Nor- 
ton's tavern  to  Norwich.  Before  the  town  of  Norwich  was  incoi-porated,  in  1773, 
that  town,  with  Chester,  was  called  Murrayfield,  in  honor  of  Col.  John  Murray, 
of  Rutland  ;  and  tiiat  part  of  Murrayfield  which  joined  Northampton  was  called 
Shirkshire  and  New  Plantation. 

"  People  had  moved  into  Murrayfield  in  1760,  and  Northampton  wished  to  open 
some  communication  with  the  new  plantation.  For  this  purpose,  in  1762,  the 
town  of  Northampton  laid  out  a  road  to  the  Ixmndary-line  between  Northamp- 
ton and  Murrayfield  or  Shii'kshire,  and  this  wa^  called  the  Shirkshire  roarl.  This 
road  probably  followed  the  old  road  from  Northampton  village  by  Park  llill  and 
King's  saw-mill  on  the  Manhan  or  King's  River  to  the  present  line  of  Westhamp- 
ton, and  thence  through  Westhampton,  on  to  Muri-ayfield,  substantially  where 
the  present  road  goes  from  .Strong  Kingsley's  mill-site  to  the  boundary  of  Hun- 
tington. But  this  road  was  simply  a  line  run  in  the  smoothest  places  through 
the  woods,  whose  direction  was  indicated  by  some  blaze-marks  upon  the  trees.  It 
was  laid  out  very  wide  so  that  travelers  on  horseback  could  wind  their  way,  dodg- 
ing the  rocks  and  trees. 

"  It  was  some  time  after  this  before  the  road  became  well  trodden  into  a  mere 
horse-path.  We  must  not  be  misled  by  the  term  road.  Indeed,  the  great  route 
to  the  West  through  Blandford,  which  had  been  used  more  than  sixty  years,  was 
in  the  time  of  the  Revolution  so  bad  and  rough  that  it  is  said  to  have  taken  20 
yoke  of  oxen  and  80  men  to  convey  a  mortar  over  the  hills  to  the  encampment 
at  West  Point. 

"  Abner  Smith  was  the  person  who  made  the  first  permanent  settlement  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  town  of  W'esthampton.  He  is  supposed  to  have  come 
from  Connecticut  to  Chester  or  Murrayfield,  where  he  remained  a  short  time, 
and  removed  from  thence  to  Westhampton  in  1762.  It  is  certain  that  a  poll-tax 
was  levied  upon  him  for  the  first  time  that  year.  He  first  cleared  up  some  land 
not  far  from  the  spot  where  Deacon  Enoch  Lyman  used  to  live.  Here  he  built  a 
log  house,  supposed  to  be  just  over  the  brook  where  the  blacksmith-shop  after- 
ward stood.  Here  on  the  banks  of  the  Manhan  tJie  fii-st  settlement  began ; 
here  the  first  opening  was  made  in  the  wilderness.  He  remained  here  a  year  or 
two,  and  then  built  a  log  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  old  Shirkshire  road,  and 
sold  the  place  to  Jonathan  Fisher  in  1770.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Fisher 
place.    The  second  settler  was  Ebenezer  French,  who  is  supposed  to  have  come 

287 


288 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


from  Southampton  some  time  in  1763.  He  was  concerned  in  King's  saw-mill, 
anil  finally  became  the  owner  of  two-thirds  of  it. 

"This  mill  brought  him  to  the  wilds  of  Wcsthampton,  where  he  selected  a 
spot  for  his  habitation  as  near  to  his  mill  as  he  could  find  on  the  Shirkshire  road. 
He  made  a  clearing  and  built  a  log  house  very  near  the  old  tavern-stand  of  Land- 
lord Wright,  recently  occupied  by  Martin  Wright.  Both  Smith  and  French  were 
taxed  by  the  town  of  Northampton  in  1763  and  1764.  In  the  latter  year  Smith 
was  taxed  for  7  acres  of  land,  2  horses,  1  yoke  of  oxen,  2  cows,  and  3  hogs.  French 
was  taxed  for  20  acres  of  land,  1  horse,  1  yoke  of  oxen,  1  cow,  and  1  hog.  The 
two  families  in  all  numbered  19  pereons,— 10  in  Smith's  family,  and  9  in  French's. 
„,»«»««*** 

"In  1765  the  names  of  Smith  and  French  still  appear  upon  the  tax-roll,  and 
no  others. 

"In  1766,  Abner  Smith's  name  alone  appears  for  that  portion  of  Northampton 
within  the  present  limits  of  Westhampton.  French  had  sold  out  and  left.  Before 
the  preparation  of  the  tax-roll  of  1767  two  other  settlers  had  come  in,  making, 
with  Smith,  three.  Timothy  Pomeroy  came  from  Southampton,  and  purchased 
the  place  begun  by  French.  He  soon  opened  a  tavern,  which  was  greatly  patron- 
ized by  the  hands  working  at  the  lead  mine.  Old  Nathaniel  Strong,  of  North- 
ampton, owned  a  large  tract  of  land  situated  between  the  Shirkshire  rojid  and 
the  northerly  line  of  Soutbamptt^n,  and  embraxiing  the  spot  occupied  in  later 
years  by  Wm.  .1.  Lyman.  This  laud  had  a  great  orchard  of  sugar-maples  upon 
it,  and  his  boys  came  out  here  to  make  sugar  in  the  spring.  In  this  way  the 
land  was  explored,  and  his  grandson,  Noah  Strong,  .Jr.,  was  induced  to  commence 
a  plantation  near  the  orchard.  In  1767  he  put  up  a  house  on  the  westerly  side 
of  the  Southampton  road,  and  about  half-way  between  the  residence,  in  biter 
years,  of  Wm.  J.  Lyman  and  the  Huntington  road.  His  family  consisted  of  his 
wife  and  two  children,  and  late  in  the  fall  a  third  child,  Lemuel,  was  born,  and 
that  wiis  the  first  birth  in  the  town  of  Westhampton. 

*****  *  ***** 

"In  176.5,  Samuel  Kingsley, of  Southampton,  ileeded  to  his  son  Samuel  40 
acres,  and  to  his  son  .Joseph  Kingsley  50  acres,  in  Long  Division,  on  Shirkshire 
road.  In  176»,  William  Bartlett  moved  his  family  int.r  town,  and  settled  upon 
the  same  spot,  or  near  the  residence  of  Jared  Bartlett,  and  in  the  same  year 
Samuel  Kingsley,  Jr.,  began  to  build  on  the  south  side  of  the  Norwich  road,  very 
near  the  house  where  he  lived  for  so  many  years. 

"Martin  Clark  and  John  Smith  moved  into  town  in  1769.  Clark  first  built 
ujion  tlie  north  side  of  the  Norwich  road,  nearly  opposite  the  new  house  of  Mr. 
Ludden.  Soon  after  this  he  built  another  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  roiul, 
and  lived  there  until  his  death. 

"  John  Smith  was  a  brother  of  the  first  pioneer,  Abner." 

Ten  more  persons  settled  in  town  in  1770,  so  that  at  tliis 
time  there  were  about  sixteen  families  in  town.  And  by  this 
time  the  small  openings  in  the  forest  were  found  at  various 
points  throU!;hout  Long  Division, — the}'  were  no  longer  con- 
flned  to  the  old  "  Shirkshire"  road. 

By  referring  to  the  Northampton  tax-list  of  1771  and  look- 
ing for  the  names  in  the  Long  Division,  it  will  be  found  that 
there  are  21 ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  statistics  then 
given.  There  were  eight  houses :  probably  this  includes  only  the 
frame  houses.  There  were  13  horses  over  three  years  old,  lOi 
yoke  of  oxen,  16  swine,  20  sheep  over  one  year  old.  There 
were  2li.l  acres  in  mowing,  40J  acres  tillage,  and  28J  acres 
pasturing.  The  whole  valuation  was  JE259  18.5.  Wm.  Bart- 
lett seems  to  have  been  the  millionaire,  having  nearly  one- 
fourth  of  the  valuation, — £62  14.s. 

In  1772  there  were  only  five  names  more  tlian  those  of  the 
previous  year.  The  stock  and  the  valuation  were  only  slightly 
increased.  The  six  largest  tax-payers  were  the  following,  in 
the  order  named  :  William  Bartlett,  Martin  Clark,  Samuel 
Kingsley,  Timothy  Pomeroy,  John  Smith,  and  Noah  Strong, 
Jr.    Two  persons  were  rated  as  havingonc-thirdof  abarn  each. 

A  great  amount  of  attention  was  given  about  this  time  to 
the  mines.  They  had  been  thought  to  be  of  considerable 
value  a  hundred  years  before,  as  shown  in  the  records  given 
elsewhere.  About  ten  years  before  the  Revolutionary  war, 
the  well-known  Ethan  Allen  and  a  few  other  persons  came  to 
the  mines,  purcluised  large  tracts  of  Iniul  in  the  vicinity,  and 
began  an  excavation  for  lead. 

After  sinking  some  thousands  of  dollars  rather  deeper, 
probably,  than  they  sunk  the  shaft,  they  sold  out  to  William 
Bowdoin,  brother  of  Uov.  Bowdoin,  and  others.  These  took 
hold  of  the  work  in  great  earnest,  and  employed  many  hands. 
They  were  led  on  by  the  common  opinion  that  there  was  sil- 
ver as  well  as  lead  in  the  mine.  They  excavated  to  the  depth 
of  60  or  70  feet  into  the  rock,  and  to  remove  tlie  water  wliich 
flowed  into  the  pit  they  put  in  a  pump,  which  was  kept  in 
motion  by  a  stream  of  water  brought  more  than  two  miles, 


from  Sodom  Brook,  in  the  southerly  part  of  Westhampton. 
From  this  brook  the  water  was  carried  into  a  swamp  a  little 
south  of  the  former  residence  of  Sylvester  Judd,  Sr.  It  then 
followed  the  course  of  a  sm^ll  stream  which  issued  from  the 
easterly  part  of  this  swamp,  and  then  a  trench  more  than  a 
mile  long  was  dug  to  the  mine.  This  trench  could  be  seen  in 
some  places  down  to  a  late  period  of  time,  and  probably  some 
traces  of  it  may  be  yet  seen.  This  mining  excitement  along 
the  south  line  of  the  town  no  doubt  had  some  eflect  in  in- 
ducing early  settlement. 

It  is  well  known  that  Ethan  Allen  was  somewhat  rough 
and  profane.  He  is  said  to  have  neither  feared  God  nor  re- 
garded man.  He  was  met  at  the  mine  on  one  occasion  by 
Kev.  Jonathan  Judd,  who  took  occasion  to  gently  rebuke 
Allen  for  his  profanity.  The  latter  put  in  a  plea  of  defense 
on  the  ground  of  the  depravity  of  human  nature  in  general ; 
but  the  minister's  words  had  an  effect  upon  him,  and  he  was 
not  heard  to  swear  for  several  days  afterward. 

The  population  increased  rapidly  during  the  six  years  pre- 
ceding the  incorporation  of  the  town.  The  land  was  cheap, 
the  soil  was  productive,  yielded  fair  returns  for  labor,  and 
settlers  found  it  better  than  they  had  expected.  The  peo]ile 
worked  upon  the  roads.  Ditlerent  parts  of  the  town  began 
to  have  easy  communication  with  each  other. 

Eleven  years  before  incorporation,  tlic  town  of  Northampton 
voted  to  build  a  bridge  over  the  Manlian  at  King's  saw-mill, 
and  in  the  next  year,  1768,  voted  to  build  a  bridge  over  Sodom 
Brook.  The  latter  was  the  first  bridge  built  in  Westhampton. 
The  streams  were  forded  previous  to  that  date. 

In  1771  it  was  voted  to  build  a  bridge  beyond  Samuel  Kings- 
ley's. 

Thus  little  by  little  the  early  steps  of  settlement  took  place. 
Small  neighborhoods  gradually  increased. 

Meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the  town.  Occa- 
sionally a  school  was  opened  for  a  few  weeks  at  a  time. 

The  "Long  Division"  began  to  put  on  the  appearance  of  a 
settled  community. 

"  When  Abner  Smith  came  into  town  in  1762,  this  part  of  Northampton  was  a 
wilderness,  covered  with  an  unbroken  forest.  In  every  direction  were  woods, 
underbrush,  and  mountain  elevations.  No  habitation  was  to  be  seen;  no  l)ioneer 
hiul  put  up  his  log  abode;  the  woodman's  axe  wjis  not  heard,  and  the  entire  re- 
gion was  as  silent  as  the  grave,  save  when  interrupted  by  the  sighing  of  t!ie 
wiud  or  the  gambol  of  wild  animals. 

"  Even  as  late  as  1800,  one  standing  upon  the  top  of  Tob  or  Mineral  Hill,  or 
the  hill  near  Noiton's  old  tavern,  which  at  this  day  ojien  to  the  eye  such  beau- 
tiful prospects  and  scenes  of  surpassing  loveliness,  looked  down  upon  hardly  a 
mark  of  civilization  save  the  curling  smoke  altove  the  tall  trees  rising  from  the 
scattered  habitations.  And  there  were  just  the  same  wildness  and  boundless 
forests  stretching  over  the  northerly  portion  of  the  town.  Old  Mrs.  Sybil  Bridg- 
man,  wife  of  Elieha  Biidgman,  said  she  could  see  nothing  but  woods  and  forests 
from  her  husband's  house,  on  Hanging  Mountain,  in  17S6." 

Besides,  Long  Division  was  the  despised  part  of  the  old 
plantation  laid  out  in  1654  on  the  west  side  of  Connecticut 
River.  It  had  no  meadows  stretching  far  and  wide  ocean-like ; 
it  had  no  interval  land  resting  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains 
and  treasuring  up  the  riches  of  untold  ages ;  and  it  had  no 
rivers  to  open  up  a  highway  for  enterprise  and  adventure. 
For  a  long  time  after  tlie  settlement  of  Northampton  memiow 
was  the  only  land  which  had  more  than  a  nominal  value ; 
other  land  was  not  prized,  nor  had  it  any  temptation  to  the 
pioneer. 

The  early  settlers  were  men  of  small  means,  but  they  were 
industrious,  stout-hearted,  and  willing  to  meet  dangers  and 
difficulties. 

They  were  the  genuine  working  men  and  women.  There 
were  no  ten  hours'  men  in  those  days.  They  toiled  through 
fourteen,  and  sometimes  sixteen,  hours  of  the  twenty-four. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  picture  of  the  early  dress  and  the 
home-life  of  the  pioiieor.s  of  these  liill  towns  than  the  following, 
written  of  Westhampton,  but  applicable  to  numy  others  : 

"  Their  dress  was  strong  but  simple.  Pantaloons  were  not  known  in  this  part 
of  the  State  ninety  years  ago.    The  men,  both  old  and  young,  wore  checkered 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY". 


289 


shirts,  and  a  sort  of  brown  tow  or  woolen  trousers,  or  short  breeches,  known  then 
as  '  kilt^'  or  *skiUs.'  These  only  reached  just  below  the  knees,  generally  loose 
and  open  at  the  bottom,  but  sometimes  fjistened  with  a  buckle.  They  had  no 
braces  or  gallows,  but  were  buttoned  tight  around  the  hips  in  sailor  fashion. 
Boots  were  rarely  seen  ;  they  wore  shoes  and  leggins  over  their  legs  in  winter ; 
but  all  the  summer  and  fall  work  was  done  at  home  and  in  the  meadows  by 
tlicm  barelegged  and  barefooted.  The  liead  was  covered  with  a  cap  made  of  the 
skin  of  some  wild  animal,  and  if  perchance  any  of  the  men  were  able  to  wear  a 
felt  hat,  it  was  kept  fur  Sunday- go- to-meeting,  and  lasted  a  lifetime. 

"Their  diet  was  simple,  but  it  was  hearty,  and  contained  the  very  marrow  of 
life.  Seventy  years  ago  bread  and  milk  were  the  common  food  of  New  England 
children  for  breakfiist  and  supper,  except  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  when  they 
made  their  sui)per  and  breakfast  of  hasty-pudding  and  milk;  but  at  times  in 
the  winter,  when  milk  was  scarce,  a  little  water  and  apple-molasses  were  put 
into  a  dish  of  cider  and  the  whole  warmed,  then  toasted  bread  was  crumbed  into 
it,  and  this  mixture  of  bread  and  cider  constituted  the  meal, — and  down  to  the 
nineteenth  century  the  adults  and  children  made  their  muriung  and  their  even- 
■  ing  meals  of  this  same  bread  and  milk  or  bread  and  eider. 

"  This  was  good  eating.  The  Indian-bread  of  our  foremothers  bore  no  resem- 
blance to  the  fcisteless  stuff  which  goes  by  that  name  to-day,  and  it  was  far  more 
nutritious  and  wholesome  than  the  sour,  soggy  bread,  streaked  with  sala^ratus, 
which  is  brought  upon  the  table  by  our  domestics. 

"  The  dinner  was  then  the  great  meal,  as  it  is  now.  The  children  then  were 
allowed  to  come  ti)  the  table.  The  dinner  consisted  of  corned  beef  and  pork, — 
boiled  often  with  iMjtatoes,  turnips,  and  cabbage,  commonly  called  '  pot-luck ;'  to 
this  was  added,  once  a  week,  a  boiled  Indian-pudding;  and  during  the  must 
laborious  seasons  of  the  year  they  made  their  suppers  of  this  pot-luck,  brought 
on  to  the  table  in  the  shape  of  cold  victuals.  They  had  no  butcher-carts. 
Water  or  cider  was  the  common  drink,  save  on  Sundays  or  festive  occasions,  and 
rarely  on  waabing-days,  when  a  little  bohea  tea  was  steeped  and  resteeped  as 
long  as  it  would  color  or  give  any  taste  to  the  water.  At  a  much  later  day  cider- 
brandy  or  pupelo  came  into  use. 

"  But  the  grandmothers, — and  their  loving  daughtei-s  too, — they  contributed 
too  largely  to  the  succe.'o  of  the  young  town  to  be  forgotten.  They  bore  their  full 
share  of  the  toils  and  hardships  of  pioneer  life.  They  were  the  spinners,  the 
weavere,  tailore,  nurses,  and  doctors  of  the  town.  They  were  the  dairy-maids  and 
cooks,  as  well  as  the  friends,  sweetheaits,  and  housewives  of  the  fathei-s, 

"They  were  really  the  helps  meet  for  their  husbands.  They  were  always  at 
work.  The  morning  began  with  work,  work,  work,  kept  on  all  through  the 
day,  and  late  intj  the  night  by  the  light  of  the  pitch-jnue  fagot.  They  brouglit 
up  the  cows  from  the  pasture  and  milked  them;  they  fed  the  calves,  nursed  the 
sickly  lambs,  fed  the  pigs,  raised  the  chickens  and  the  goslings,  and  took  care  of 
the  garden.  These,  however,  were  the  daily  chores.  They  often  raked  and 
spread  hay.  Tliey  pulled  and  spread  flax.  Mr.  Sylvester  Judd's  manuscripts  give 
an  instance  of  a  mother  and  daughter  tfuU  cUd  aU  the  cooking,  washingy  and  mend- 
ing/or twelve  laborers,  and  at  the  same  time  took  care  of  the  milk  of  thirti)  cows!" 

Note. — The  compiler  follows  the  orator  in  repeating  this 
story,  but  will  suggest  that  to  modern  readers  it  may  throw 
some  doubt  upon  Mr.  Sylvester  Jiidd'a  veracity  or  accuracy, 
or  both !  ! 

"  Then  again,  almost  all  the  clothing  was  made  fmm  flax  and  wool  raised  in 
the  family.  We  stop  not  here  to  speak  of  their  skill  in  making  r^'e-bread,  or  rye- 
and-Indian,  when  we  are  all  of  us  beginning  to  abandon  our  cream-of-tartar  bis- 
cuits and  salieratus  bread  made  ovit  of  the  choicest  brand  of  Genesee  or  St.  Louis 
flour,  and  trying  to  substitute  in  the  place  thereof  the  sweet,  nutritious  rye-  and 
Indian-bread  of  our  grandmothers.  True  it  is  that  these  good  old  dames  some- 
times of  a  Monday,  after  a  hard  day's  work  at  washing,  would  sit  down  and  si^ 
a  little  bohea  tea,  and  that  now  and  then  several  wumen  of  a  neighborhood 
would  get  together  and  talk  gossip ;  but  then  no  time  was  lost,  for  the  knitting- 
needle  or  the  darning-needle  moved  more  rapidly  than  their  tongues.  Aud  this 
toil  aud  stniggle  followed  day  after  day,  and  continued  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  year;  there  were  no  holiday's  then:  picnics  and  barbacucs  had 
not  then  been  heard  of. 

"Almost  the  only  interruptions  were  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  Sabbath, 
that  were  sacredly  kept,  and  the  occasional  calls  for  e.xtra  meetings  on  week- 
days, when  unusual  attention  was  given  to  religion.  And  yet  they  grew  up 
hearty,  stalwart  men  and  genuine  women,  and  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.  Sickness 
rarely  came  into  the  household,  the  doctor  was  seldom  called  in,  they  never 
bought  any  patent  medicine,  and  it  was  not  often  that  any  illness  afflicted  them 
which  a  little  '  pennyrial'  or  *  thoroughwort'  tea,  or  '  Picra'  would  not  cure. 

"  The  dress  of  the  women  was  as  simjile  as  that  of  the  men.  Most  of  their 
clothing  consisted  of  wool,  flax,  aud  cotton  made  by  their  own  hands.  The  ma- 
terials were  colored  in  the  dye-tub,  which  used  to  stand  near  the  great  kitchen 
fire-place,  or  by  the  aid  of  butternut-bark.  Generally  they  wore  a  black  or 
striped  petticoat  with  a  white  linen  gown,  which  extended  down  a  little  below 
the  waist,  and  a  long  checked  apron  in  front.  When  at  work  out-of-doors  they 
were  sometimes  bareheaded,  but  more  commonly  wore  a  rush  hat  or  a  pasteboard 
bonnet  bound  with  a  cape  to  protect  the  neck.  Perhaps  some  of  the  older  people 
of  the  present  time  can  even  yet  remember  the  butternut-colored  petticoats  worn 
by  the  school-girls,  and  the  flannel  gowns  of  a  purple  color  worn  by  adults. 
These  were  made  ui)  loose,  adapted  to  the  action  of  the  body,  and  not  fitted  to 
sweep  the  streets ;  cut  short  so  that  the  feet  could  move  freely,  and  drawn  up  by 
a  string  in  a  few  folds  about  the  waist  so  loose  that  the  lungs  could  perform  all 
their  duties. 

"So  dressed, the  boys  had  hard  work  to  catch  the  girls  in  the  race  at  tag.  For 
winter  the  hood  was  the  bonnet,  a  Vandyke  was  worn  over  the  shoulders,  a 

37 


flannel  gown  protected  the  chest,  and  thick  woolen  mittens  covered  the  hands. 
This  wiia  tlie  guidon  age  of  lioincsi)un.  ^ 

"  It  is  no  wonder  tlint  before  the  energy  of  such  men  and  women  the  forest 
disappeared  and  the  wilderness  blossomed  as  the  rose.  The  families  of  our  fore- 
fathere  were  large.  Four  or  five  children  were  a  small  number;  seven  and  eight 
were  the  more  common  numbers ;  often  there  were  ten  or  twelve  robust  chil- 
dren in  the  family,  and  sometimes  sixteen.  The  children  were  born  healthy, 
they  were  fed  uixm  plain,  simi)le  food,  they  grew  up  stout  and  healthy,  and  the 
dwellings  of  the  parents  were  filled  and  made  vocal  with  the  merry  clatter  of 
buxom  girls  and  ruddy  boys." 

It  may  be  thought  that  in  this  hing  quotatiun  we  are  allow- 
ing the  orator  to  wander  at  his  own  sweet  will  over  the  fields 
of  his  boyhood  and  revel  in  the  Arcadian  simplicity  of  those 
patriarchal  times. 

He  gives  .so  ro.sj'  and  charming  a  picture  of  tho.se  pioneer 
homes  that  we  are  tempted  to  reverse  Solomon's  opinion  and 
say  "  that  the  former  times  were  better  than  these."  The  gen- 
eral picture  is  no  doubt  correct;  there  were  rugged  physical 
frames  ;  there  were  stalwart  men  and  strong  women  skilled  in 
every  known  industry  of  the  household  ;  there  were  hounding 
pulses,  and  health  and  joyous  laughter  in  the  homes ;  but  still 
the  fact  remains  that  gravc-ynrds  were  necessary  in  those  days, 
and  the  student  of  pioneer  history  wandering  through  them 
will  find  they  contain  others  besides  the  old  men  of  a  hundred 
years.  It  may  be  doubted,  if  not  denied,  that  families  were 
healthier  then  than  now.  Eead  the  moss-covered  records  on 
the  tow,  small  grave-stones,  trac'e  the  death-notices  in  the  early 
files  of  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  and  we  venture  the  assertion 
that  the  deaths  in  childhood,  youth,  and  middle  age  will  bear 
as  large  a  proportion  to  the  whole  numl)er  as  they  have  at 
any  period  since. 

In  these  large,  old  families  of  ten,  twelve,  and  even  sixteen, 
the  compiler  of  family  notices  will  find  himself  compelled  to 
write  "died  in  infancy,"  "died  in  childhood,"  "died  young," 
against  one,  two,  three,  or  more  of  the  names.  It  will  sur- 
pri.se  any  one  to  read  the  columns  of  death-notices  and  see  how 
many  young  people  died  in  the  very  bloom  of  youth  and  open- 
ing promise:  as  Grace  Fisher,  only  daughter  of  Aaron  Fisher, 
Sr.,  and  Hophni  Judd,  the  talented  young  lawyer. 

Canker  rash,  black  tongue,  scarlet  fever,  and  dysentery- 
raged  among  the  children,  and  desolated  liomes  then  as  the  same 
or  other  diseases  do  now.  Exposure,  hardships,  weak  constitu- 
tions inherited,  brought  death  to  youth  and  middle  age.  Doc- 
tors could  live  well  in  these  hill-towns  then, — they  are  steadily 
starved  out  now. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  children  which  survived  were 
rugged.  They  must  have  been !  It  may  not  be  possible  to 
compare  the  past  with  the  present  accurately,  but  the  number 
of  very  old  people  now  living  in  these  New  England  towns 
bears  significant  testimony  that  modern  forms  of  living  are  no 
more  enervating  and  destructive  than  the  old  ;  and  if  the  fami- 
lies of  a  hundred  years  ago  had  drank  less  cider  and  eaten  less 
pork,  it  is  possible  the  roll  of  octogenarians  in  1879  might 
have  been  longer  than  it  is.  It  is  not  clear  that  Westhampton 
has  deteriorated  as  to  the  health  of  the  people.  If  we  look  at 
the  faith,  the  virtues,  the  economy,  of  the  old  times,  it  is  per- 
haps possible  to  reach  a  difl'erent  conclusion.  And  yet  the  gos- 
pel with  its  sweet  words  of  hope  is  still  dear  to  warm,  loving 
hearts,  and  yearly  the  old  and  the  young  are  lying  down  to  their 
last  sleep  "soothed  and  sustained"  by  its  unfaltering  trust. 

There  are  not  so  many  natives  of  the  town  graduating  from 
college  as  once  there  were,  but  there  are  not  so  many  people,  by 
nearly  one-half,  to  furnish  the  students.  Besides,  the  extrava- 
gance of  modern  educational  courses  has  practically  barred  the 
doors  of  all  higher  education  except  to  the  wealthy.  Restore 
academic  and  college  life  to  what  it  was  when  Justin  Edwards 
completed  a  full  course  for  less  than  .^400,  and  there  may  be 
many  to  avail  themselves  of  their  advantages. 

PHYSiriAN.S    OF     EARLY    TIMES. 

The  first  and  only  physician  for  a  long  series  of  years  was 
Dr.  William  Hooker.     He  was  the  son  of  Kev.  John  Hooker, 


2yo 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


of  Northampton,  and  was  born  in  November,  176(3.  He 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Ebenezer  Hunt,  of  Northampton. 
He  settled  in  Westhampton  in  1788.  His  homestead  and 
office  were  at  the  present  place  of  George  Burt.  He  continued 
in  practice  for  forty-six  years,  retiring  from  active  work  in 
1834.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-four,  dying  Feb.  27,  1861. 
Like  the  pastor  of  the  church,  Dr.  Hooker  became  known  to 
every  one  in  Westhampton.  Skillful  in  his  profession,  a  sincere, 
devoted  Christian,  he  followed  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  Him 
who  went  about  doing  good.  Of  a  cheerful  temperament,  ho 
carried  sunshine  into  the  chamber  of  the  sick.  His  religious 
convictions  were  strong  and  fervent,  rendering  his  declining 
years  peaceful,  hopeful,  and  happy  to  the  last. 

Dr.  Orcutt  was  a  noted  physician  in  more  modern  times. 

LAWYERS. 

It  is  not  proper  perhaps  to  count  any  lawj-ers  as  actual  resi- 
dents of  Westhampton.  Several  going  out  from  their  native 
town  became  distinguished  in  the  legal  profession  elsewhere  : 
their  names  appear  in  the  list  of  graduates.  Among  tho.se 
who  have  drawn  legal  papers,  settled  estates,  and  transacted 
much  general  business  that  sometimes  falls  within  the  province 
of  the  legal  profession,  may  be  particularly  mentioned  John 
A.  Judd,  long  a  magistrate,  and  consulted  for  many  years  on 
questions  of  law,  as  well  as  on  public  business. 

Thomas  C.  Davenport  at  the  present  time  does  a  variety  of 
legal  writing. 

MERCHANTS. 

Elijah  Norton  was  trading  at  an  early  date,  his  advertise- 
ments appearing  in  1794.  His  store  was  just  south  of  the 
present  town-hall.  Others  trading  at  that  point  were  Israel 
Wright,  Wm.  Pease,  and  John  A.  Judd. 

Wm.  Hooker  &  Co.  were  in  trade  at  about  tlie  same  time  as 
Mr.  Norton.  Their  store  was  on  the  corner  where  E.  B.  Pratt 
now  trades.  Sylvester  Judd,  Jr.,  succeeded  Hooker  &  Co. 
Others  in  trade  at  that  store  have  been  Mr.  Baldwin,  Jona- 
than Judd,  John  A.  Judd,  and  Anson  Chapman.  E.  B.  Pratt 
is  the  present  proprietor. 

The  present  Davenport  building  was  the  old  town-hall  and 
centre  school-house.  In  late  years  a  store  has  been  kept  in 
it  most  of  the  time.  F.  H.  Judd  has  been  in  trade  there  the 
last  few  years. 

PUBLIC-HOUSE.S. 

The  earliest  tavern  must  have  been  that  of  Timothy  Pome- 
roy,  which,  it  is  supposed,  he  opened  1768  or  1769.  This  was 
when  the  mines  in  Southampton,  near  by,  were  being  worked, 
and  his  house  is  said  to  have  been  patronized  by  the  miners 
largely.  The  tavern  of  Landlord  Wright  is  alluded  to  very 
often  in  connection  with  the  early  annals  of  the  time.  It  was 
one  of  the  prominent  features  of  the  old  Shirkshire  road.  The 
tavern  of  Elijah  Norton  was  also  a  noted  stopping-place  of 
early  times  in  Westhampton.  He  bought  out  Seth  Burk  in 
1785.  Elijah  Norton  also  kept  tavern  at  the  centre,  not  far 
from  the  present  town-hall. 

CATALOGUE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

Jehial  Alvord,  1777-78,  homestead  "  Shack  Street,"  on  land 
of  Joseph  Hathaway  ;  house  still  standing.  Jonathan  Alvord, 
Sr.,  1777-78,  homestead  the  present  house  of  Joseph  Hatha- 
way. William  Atwater,  1774-75,  probably  removed  from 
town  at  an  early  day.  Thomas  Alvord  and  Eliab  Alvord  both 
lived  on  the  present  Wm.  Edwards  place.  Wm.  Bartlett, 
1768,  settled  near  the  present  residence  of  Samuel  Williams ; 
descendants  are  still  in  town.  The  first  frame  house  built  in 
town- was  erected  by  Mr.  Bartlett.  John  Baker,  1774,  home- 
stead where  Ezra  Howard  now  lives.  John  Bullard,  1771  or  '7'2, 
settled  on  a  place  now  owned  by  Deacon  A.  D.  Montague, 
known  in  late  years  as  the  Davis  place,  on  Hanging  Mountain  ; 
buildings  gone.  Seth  Burke,  1770,  from  Goshen;  homestead 
the  present  place  of  the  widow  of  Moses  Ludden.    Joel  Bartlett, 


homestead  where  Patrick  Lawlor  now  owns  ;  house  unoccupied 
at  the  present  time.  Elisha  Boyden,  homestead  near  the  res- 
ervoir ;  place  now  owned  by  George  Evans  ;  old  buildings 
standing  yet.  Elihu  Bartlett,  homestead  the  Christopher 
Bartlett  place.  Noah  Bartlett,  homestead  now  owned  by 
Patrick  Lawlor.  Cornelius  Bartlett,  homestead  the  old  place 
of  Oliver  Norton.  Phineas  Bartlett,  homestead  the  old  James 
Lyman  place.  Nathan  Brewster,  homestead  where  Deacon 
A.  D.  Montague  now  lives ;  left  town  not  long  after  1800. 
Elisha  Bridgman,  homestead  where  Franklin  A.  Bridgman 
now  lives.  The  property  has  remained  in  the  family  from  the 
first  settlement  to  the  present  time.  Israel  Bridgman,  home- 
stead where  Abner  P.  Bridgman  now  lives,  and  this  has  al- 
ways been  in  the  family.  Isaac  Bullard,  perhaps  on  the  Lester 
Langdon  farm,  near  the  reservoir ;  buildings  gone.  Elijah 
Boyden,  1777-78,  on  the  Langdon  place.  Gideon  Clark,  Jr., 
1771  or  '72,  homestead  the  present  Widow  Bush  place.  This 
was  the  long-time  town  clerk.  His  father  came  and  had  a 
place  near  the  Bush  place,  known  as  the  James  Hurlburt 
place.  Abner  Claflin,  1773.  He  warned  the  first  town-meet- 
ing, but  elderly  people  do  not  readily  identify  his  homestead. 
Joshua  Clatiin,  1770,  homestead  at  Turkey  Hill,  on  the  lot 
where  Capt.  Henry  Hooker  lived ;  buildings  gone.  Zachariah 
Curtis,  1777-78.  He  bought  the  place  first  settled  by  Ephraim 
Sandford,  on  the  Roberts  Meadow  road,  beyond  Turkey  Hill 
school-house,  now  occupied  by  Jerome  Stevenson.  James 
Cowen,  1770.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  John  Smith,  and 
Cowen  settled  near  him  ;  left  town,  however,  at  an  early  day. 
Martin  Clark,  1769,  settled  north  side  of  the  Norwich  road, 
nearly  opposite  the  present  residence  of  George  Tower.  Later 
he  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  where  Horace  Clapp  now 
lives.  The  parade-ground  of  the  first  military  company  was  in 
that  door-yard,  on  the  north  side  of  the  road.  Nathan  Clark, 
1774,  the  present  Orcutt  place,  on  what  was  known  as  "  Clark 
Hill"  in  the  old  times.  Ebenezer  Clark,  1775,  homestead  the 
present  place  of  Medad  King.  Jonathan  Clark,  1774,  homestead 
west  of  the  meeting-house,  on  land  now  owned  by  Wm.  E.  Ly- 
man; buildings  gone.  Dorus  Clarke.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev. 
Dorus  Clarke  and  Rev.  Tertius  Clarke.  Epaphras  Clark,  1775. 
He  was  a  brother  of  Gideon  Clark,  and  lived  on  the  James  Hurl- 
burt place.  He  died  early.  Elihu  Chilson,  1774,  homestead 
in  the  northwest  (lart  of  the  town  ;  moved  away  early.  A  son, 
Spencer,  afterward  bought  the  saw-mill  known  as  the  "Clark 
Mill."  Joseph  Chilson,  1777-78,  homestead  northwest  part  of 
the  town.  Benjamin  Clark  lived  in  the  northwest  part  of  the 
town ;  went  to  Northampton  at  an  early  day.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Benoni.  Solomon  Clark,  homestead  part  of  the 
present  Henry  Parsons  farm ;  cellar-place  still  visible  at  the 
foot  of  Mineral  Hill,  near  the  brook ;  removed  to  Dalton. 
Darius  Clark,  for  a  long  time  an  editor  at  Bennington,  was  a 
son.  Paul  Clark,  homestead  near  Jerome  Chapman's,  on  the 
Horace  C.  Bartlett  place.  He  was  a  brother  of  Benoni  Clark. 
Matthew  Clark,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Irene  Clark. 
Two  sons,  Harvey  and  Eli,  went  to  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y.  Lewis 
H.  Clark,  the  author  of  several  town  histories  in  this  volume, 
is  a  grandson  of  Matthew.  Titus  Clark,  homestead  where 
David  Montague  now  lives.  Thomas  Clapp,  homestead  on 
the  road  near  the  reservoir ;  buildings  gone.  Reuben  Coats 
lived  near  the  meeting-house  for  a  time.  Giles  Clark,  perhaps 
where  Horace  C.  Bartlett  now  lives.  Seth  Clark.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Gideon,  Jr.  Kenaz  Clark.  He  was  a  brother  of 
Gideon  Clark,  Jr.  Oliver  Clapp,  homestead  on  Chesterfield 
road,  northwest  part  of  town,  known  as  the  Charles  C.  Clapp 
place.  Jacob  Clark,  the  present  Horace  Rhodes  place ;  first 
house  stood  back  in  the  lot.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  Orange 
Clark  and  Rev.  Jacob  L.  Clark.  Noah  Cook,  from  North- 
ampton, homestead  the  present  place  of  Miss  Sarah  C.  Cook. 
Children:  Nancy,— Mrs.  Enos  Clark,— Chesterfield;  Pliny, 
who  went  to  Ohio;  Hannah,— Mrs.  Joseph  Graves,— Niagara, 
N.Y. ;  Noah,  Williamstown  ;   Julius,  Westhampton;  Edwin, 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


291 


Niagara,  N.  Y.  ;  Ira,  Illinois  ;  Joel,  "Westbampton,  on  the  old 
homestead  ;  father  of  Miss  Sarah.  The  latter  is  in  possession 
of  various  military  commissions  given  to  her  grandfatlier,  and 
signed  by  Gov.  John  Hancock  and  Gov.  Samuel  Adams. 
David  Dewey,  homestead  a  mile  or  more  southwest  of  the 
church.  Nathan  Damon,  homestead  northwest  part  of  the 
town ;  last  house  in  Westbampton  on  that  road.  Asahel 
Danks,  homestead  on  Turkey  Hill ;  now  owned  by  Sylvester 
King.  Nathaniel  Elliot,  1771-72,  near  the  Southampton  line, 
not  far  from  the  mines.  Thomas  Elwell,  177o,  homestead  on 
the  present  place  of  bis  great-grandson  Tlieodiire  Elwell. 
Timothy  Edwards,  1775,  homestead  the  buildings  occupied  by 
Alvin  Kingsley,  north  of  the  late  Deacon  .loel  Cook's  place. 
Noah  Edwards,  1777-78,  homestead  opposite  the  present  place 
of  Francis  Edwards.  Justin  Edwards,  homestead  present 
place  of  Francis  Edwards.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  Justin 
Edwards,  the  great  advocate  of  temperance,  and  author  of  the 
total  abstinence  pledge.  Other  children :  Dotia,  died  un- 
married ;  Jesse,  settled  in  Westbampton ;  Mary, — Mrs.  David 
Haskell, — Northampton ;  William,  who  settled  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  father  of  Francis  Edwards.  Ebenezer  French, 
1763,  from  Southampton,  built  near  the  old  stand  of  Landlord 
Wright.  He  left  town  about  1705,  perhaps  returning  to  South- 
ampton. A  few  years  later,  however,  he  was  living  in  the 
northwest  part  of  Westbampton.  Aaron  Fisher.  He  was  the 
son  of  Jonathan  Fisher,  Sr.,  and  a  brother  of  the  Jonathan 
who  died  in  the  army.  Aaron  Fisher  and  his  son,  Aaron,  .Jr., 
were  prominent  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  town.  Jonathan 
Fisher,  homestead  present  Fisher  place  on  the  old  Nor^vich 
road.  He  died  Oct.  3,  1796,  aged  eighty-four.  A  son,  Jona- 
than, Jr.,  died  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution  at  Morristown, 
N.  J.,  1777.  Jonathan  Fisher,  Sr.,  was  married  twice,  and 
had  thirteen  children.  Skilton  Felton,  1773.  Abiather  French ; 
lived  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town.  Jonathan  Frost, 
1775.  Samuel  French.  Stephen  Fisher;  it  is  not  clear  from 
the  record  what  family  Stephen  was  from.  The  Stephen  in  the 
family  of  Jonathan,  Sr.,  died  in  infancy.  John  Fisher.  He 
was  a  son  of  Jonathan  Fisher,  Sr.,  and  brother  of  Aaron,  Sr. 
Jonathan  French.  He  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer  mentioned  above. 
Ebenezer  Gee,  homestead  last  house  on  the  Southampton 
road.  Isaac  GoodoU,  homestead  where  Thomas  Clapp  lived, 
on  the  Reservoir  road.  Elijah  Gardner.  Rufus  Heminway. 
Jared  Hunt,  homestead  where  Henry  W.  Montague  lives. 
Moses  Hatch.  D.  F.  Harwood.  Ebenezer  Higgins.  William 
Hooker,  the  well-known  physician  mentioned  elsewhere.  Ezra 
Hickson,  1770,  settled  on  the  East  road,  near  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Francis  Edwards.  Probably  did  not  remain  in  town 
but  a  few  years.  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  settled  on  the  lot  voted 
him  by  the  town,  probably  in  the  summer  of  1779,  as  soon  as 
the  house  was  inclosed  sufficient  to  live  in.  Sons,  Nathan, 
Enoch,  Richard  ;  daughters,  Mrs.  Elisha  Clapp,  Mrs.  William 
Hooker,  Mrs.  McCall,  Mrs.  Levi  Burt,  Mrs.  Richardson  Hall. 
Sylvester  Judd,  from  Southampton,  in  1774.  He  was  a  son 
of  the  Southampton  minister,  Rev.  Jonathan  Judd.  The 
Judd  homestead,  in  Westbampton,  was  the  present  Elihu  P. 
Bartlett  place.  Solomon  Judd,  brother  of  Sylvester  Judd,  .Sr., 
and  lived  on  the  William  Reed  place.  Joseph  Kingsley,  1770, 
from  Southampton,  settled  near  his  brother  Samuel.  He  was 
the  father  of  the  well-known  Strong  Kingsley,  who  died  a  few 
years  since.  Samuel  Kingsley,  Jr.,  1768,  from  Southampton, 
south  side  of  the  Norwich  road,  very  near  where  he  after- 
ward erected  another  house,  and  where  he  lived  for  many 
years, — the  present  Lester  T.  Langdon  place.  Thaddeus  King, 
frdm  Northampton,  1787-88,  homestead  place  now  owned  by 
L.Warner  King.  Children:  Elijah,  who  settled  in  West- 
bampton; Thaddeus,  who  died  young;  Rebecca, — Mrs.  Zadoc 
L.  Wright, — of  Westbampton  ;  Luther,  of  Westbampton 
(father  of  L.  Warner) ;  both  father  and  son  bprn  on  the  place, 
which  has  always  remained  in  the  family.  Medad  King,  from 
Northampton,  1796.      Homestead   was   bought  of  Ebenezer 


Clark.  Children;  Vester,  died  young;  Elisha,  Westbamp- 
ton; Simeon,  died  young;  Susan  and  Dorcas,  died  young; 
Medad,  now  living  on  the  old  homestead  ;  Susan  (2d), — Mrs. 
George  Day, — Northampton;  .Gains,  New  York,  Reynolds' 
Basin,  west  of  Rochester.  Azariah  Lyman,  homestead  the 
farm  of  his  grandson,  W.  E.  Lyman.  The  old  house  opposite 
the  residence  was  built  by  Azariah  Lyman  in  1774.  Children  : 
Azariah,  Jr.,  went  West ;  Jesse,  settled  on  the  old  homestead  ; 
Elihu,  Westbampton  ;  Mrs.  Jonathan  Clark  ;  Mrs.  Hastings. 
Rufus  Lyman,  homestead  where  E.  P.  Lyman  now  lives. 
Jonah  Mallory,  1770.  Perhaps  the  name  should  be  John. 
He  and  .lacob  Mallory  are  said  to  have  been  brothers-in-law 
of  John  Smith,  their  wives  being  sisters  of  Smith.  They 
lived  near  him,  and  left  town  at  an  early  da}'.  Peter  Mon- 
tague, 1777-78,  lived  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  ;  buildings 
nearly  gone.  His  grandsons  now  live  in  town  and  own  the 
same  land.  Elijah  Norton,  1785,  bought  the  place  already 
.settled  by  Seth  Burke.  Two  sons  were  Elijah  and  Joseph. 
Elijah  opened  a  tavern  where  Christopher  C.  Bartlett  now 
lives,  and  also  at  the  Centre.  Timothy  Pomeroy,  1767,  from 
Southampton,  homestead  the  place  of  Ebenezer  French,  al- 
readj-  mentioned,  very  near  the  present  place  of  Edmund  Slat- 
terly.  John  Parsons,  1775,  homestead  on  Turkey  Hill.  David 
Parsons,  1775,  homestead  on  Turkey  Brook.  Noah  Parsons, 
1777-78,  homestead  where  Henry  M.  Parsons,  a  grandson, 
now  lives.  Timothy  Phelps  lived  near  where  Joseph  Whalen 
now  lives.  Two  sons  were  Luke  and  Timoth)-.  Levi  Post 
lived  beyond  the  Fishers,  on  the  Norwich  road;  place  owned 
by  Stephen  Searl.  Oliver  Post,  1774,  lived  beyond  the  Fish- 
ers, on  the  Norwich  road ;  place  owned  by  Stephen  Searl.  Israel 
Parsons,  homestead  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Capt. 
Burt  place.  Cadwell  Pbeliis.  Pliny  Pomeroy,  homestead 
on  or  near  the  place  formerly  owned  bj'  Capt.  Henry  Hooker. 
Bela  Parsons,  homestead  near  the  Oliver  Clapp  place,  on  the 
road  to  Chesterfield,  where  Otis  Witherell  now  lives.  Israel 
Pittsinger,  homestead  where  Henry  Hathaway  now  lives.  He 
was  one  of  the  Hessian  soldiers  in  Burgoyne's  army,  and 
chose  to  settle  here.  Medad  Parsons  lived  on  the  road  to 
Chesterfield,  near  the  reservoir.  Ebenezer  Paine,  homestead 
on  the  road  to  Chesterfield,  above  the  Ralph  Clapp  place. 
Nathaniel  Rogers,  1777-78.  Zebulon  Rust.  Elijah  Rust 
lived  where  Patrick  McCarty  now  lives.  Joel  Rust,  home- 
stead where  Edward  Clapp  now  lives.  Barnabas  Rich.  Eze- 
kiel  Snow,  1771-72,  settled  near  the  line  of  Southampton,  not 
far  from  the  mines.  Ebenezer  Stearns,  1771-72,  settled  south- 
east, near  where  Joseph  Whalen  now  lives.  John  Strong 
(3d),  1771-72,  first  built  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Jared 
Bartlett ;  he  afterward  lived  opposite  Gee's  house.  Jonathan 
Stearns  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer.  Levi  Smith,  homestead  prob- 
ably on  the  Enoch  Lyman  place.  Abner  Smith,  the  first  set- 
tler of  the  town,  came  in  1762.  His  homestead  at  first  and 
his  subsequent  change  have  been  mentioned.  He  sold  out  to 
Jonathan  Fisher  in  1770,  and  is  supposed  to  have  left  town  at 
that  time  or  soon  after.  John  Smith  was  a  brother  of  Abner, 
coming  in  about  1769.  He  lived  in  several  different  places; 
finally  built  the  house  in  which  Enoch  Lyman  used  to  live, — 
the  present  place  of  Leander  Rhodes.  Noah  Strong,  Jr.,  1767; 
his  son  Lemuel  was  the  first  child  born  in  Westbampton.  He 
lived  on  the  road  leading  south  from  the  Huntington  road, 
and  not  far  from  the  present  place  of  Wm.  J.  Lyman.  Amasa 
Strong  lived  west  of  the  church,  near  the  old  Montague  place. 
Ephraim  Sanford,  1770,  settled  on  the  well-known  Bridges 
place,  east  of  Turkey  Hill  school-house.  He  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier;  left  town  in  a  few  years,  selling  out  to  Zach- 
ariah  Curtis.  Elijah  Tyler,  1777-78,  lived  where  Jerome 
Stevenson  now  lives.  John  F.  Tucker,  1771-72,  built  a  log 
house  on  the  Nathaniel  Edwards  farm,  east  of  Joel  Cook's 
place  (within  the  line  of  Northampton).  Asa  Thayer  lived 
where  David  Montague  now  lives  ;  earlier  than  that,  opposite 
Joseph  Whalen's  place.     He  left  the  "  Thayer  Fund"  to  the 


292 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


town.  Timothy  Thayer,  1771,  built  the  old  Alvord  house, 
so  called,  over  the  brook,  where  Wm.  Edwards  now  lives.  He 
was  a  brother  of  Asa.  Elias  Thayer  was  also  a  brother  of 
Asa;  left  town  early.  Ephraim  Wright,  1773,  homestead 
where  Edmund  Slattory  now  lives,— that  was  the  old  Wright 
tavern-stand.  Jonathan  Wales,  1771,  lived  above  the  place 
of  Mrs.  Bush.  Simeon  Ward,  1770,  homestead  near  the  pres- 
ent house  of  Henry  Parsons,  but  probably  left  town  in  a  few 
years.  Reuben  Wright,  1774,  lived  on  Bascom's  Hill,  where 
E.  W.  Clapp  now  lives.  At  the  foot  of  that  hill  the  stage 
was  overturned  once  and  one  or  more  lives  lost.  Daniel 
Winters,  177-5.  Oliver  Waters,  1777-78.  Phineas  Wright, 
the  present  place  of  Charles  W.  Niles.  Oliver  Wright,  home- 
stead the  present  place  of  Christopher  C.  Bartlett. 

The  following  are  from  old  files  of  the  Hampshv-e  Gazette: 

July  21,  1704.— Elij.ih  Xnrtoii,  mcirhnnt,  advciti-ses  that  he  has  just  received 
"  a  handsome  assortment  of  West  India  and  Dry  Goods." 

March  4,  179.').— Solomon  Clark  offers  for  sale,  cheap,  a  farm  of  CO  or  80  acres, 
30  under  improvement,  with  a  house  and  harn,  situated  2  miles  east  of  the  meet- 
ing-house, and  on  the  County  road  to  Northampton.  A  good  place  for  a  trades- 
man ;  especially  a  shoemaker  is  very  much  wanted.  Also  one-eighth  of  a  saw- 
mill, within  half  a  mile  of  said  farm. 

Thursday,  Jan.  19, 1817.— The  new  meeting-house  dedicated.  Prayer  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Gould,  of  Southampton.  Sermon  hy  the  Kev.  Enoch  Hale,— Ex.,  chap.  3, 
verse  5.  Concluding  prayer  by  Kev.  Mr.  Waters,  of  Chesterfield.  The  services 
were  accompanied  with  good  vocal  and  instrumont.il  music.  The  building  was 
planned  and  built  by  that  correct  architect,  Capt.  Isaac  Damon,  of  Northampton. 

"CARD. 

"  Enoch  and  Richard  Hale,  having,  with  their  families,  commenced  living  in 
their  new  dwelling,  erected  principally  by  the  liberality  of  their  friends,  beg 
leave  publicly  to  express  their  gratitude  for  the  truly  Christian  munificence 
which  they  have  experienced  U  a  very  large  extent.  May  the  all-gracious  God 
be  pleased  to  repay  earthly  favors  with  spiritual  blessings,  and  cause  that  they 
who  water  be  also  watered  themselves ! 
"Westiiampton,  Feb.  12,  1S17." 

ORQANIZATION.  • 

In  the  period  of  pioneer  settlement,  extending  from  1762  to 
1778,  a  population  of  sufficient  numbers  had  been  secured  to 
warrant  a  separate  town  organization,  and  the  necessary  steps 
were  taken  to  procure  the  assent  of  the  General  Court.  The 
name  of  Westhampton  seems  to  have  been  adopted  by  common 
consent,  and  was  an  appropriate  name,  as  the  territory  to 
which  it  applied  had  been  the  west  part  of  Northampton. 
The  act  of  incorporation  was  passed  Sept.  29,  1778. 

The  records  of  the  town  have  been  kept  in  a  clear  and  accu- 
rate manner  from  the  fii'st  year  of  the  town  organization. 
They  are  in  excellent  preservation,  reflecting  the  highest 
credit  upon  the  care,  competency,  and  fidelity  of  the  various 
town  clerks  through  a  period  of  one  hundred  years.  They 
embody  a  large  amount  of  valuable  historical  material.  The 
first  volume  opens  with  the  act  of  incorporation,  approved  by 
the  Governor  of  the  commonwealth,  Sept.  29,  1778. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  there  follows  the  warrant  for  the 
first  town-meeting,  signed  by  Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  of  North- 
ampton, requiring  Abner  Claflin,  "one  of  the  principal  in- 
habitants of  the  town  of  Westhampton,"  to  notify  and  warn 
the  freeholders  to  attend  the  first  town-meeting,  to  be  held  at 
the  house  of  Nathan  Clark,  on  Thursday,  the  19th  day  of 
November,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  to  choose  town  offi- 
cers, and  also  to  determine  whether  the  said  town  will  request 
Mr.  Hale  to  continue  to  preach  in  said  town. 

The  following  is  the  record  of  the  first  town-meeting  : 

At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  Westhampton, 
on  the  nineteenth  day  of  Novenil>er,  I77H,  in  the  first  ]dace  Caleb  Strong,  Esq., 
wiis  chosen  moderator.  The  town  then  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  town  officers 
for  the  remainder  of  the  present  year,  when  the  following  persons  wei-e  chosen 
to  the  offices  annexed  to  their  names  respectively :  Sylvester  Judd,  Clerk ;  Deacon 
Martin  Clark,  Treasurer;  Mr.  John  Smith.  Capt.  AVilliam  B.artlett,  John  Baker, 
Selectmen;  John  Parsons,  Ephraim  Wiigbt,  Surveyors  of  Highways;  .\zariah 
Lyman,  Tythingman  ;  John  Smith,  Warden  ;  Abner  ('hitlin,  Constable. 

The  town  then  proceeded  to  consider  tlie  clause  in  the  warrant,  whether  the 
town  will  request  Mr.  Hale  to  continue  to  preach  in  said  town,  upon  which  the 
town  voted  to  choose  a  committee  of  three  persons  to  procure  Mr.  Hale  or  some 
other  person  to  preach  in  the  said  town  four  Sabbaths  after  the  term  is  expired 


for  which  Mr.  Hale  is  engaged.  The  town  then  chose  Messrs.  Martin  Clark, 
Azariah  Lyman,  and  Sylvester  Judd  to  be  the  said  committee ;  also  voted  that 
the  said  committee  be  desired  to  request  the  gentlemen  whom  they  shall  obtain 
to  preach  tlie  four  Sabbaths  above  mentioned  to  preach  two  of  the  Sabbaths  at 
the  house  of  Nathan  Clark,  and  the  other  two  at  the  house  of  Azariah  Lyman. 
Attest ;  Caleb  Strong,  3Ioderator, 

A  second  meeting  followed  In  a  few  days,  pursuant  to  a 
warrant  issued  by  the  newly-chosen  selectmen,  of  which  the 
following  is  the  record  : 

At  a  legal  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Azariah  Lyman,  on  the  24tli  of  No- 
vember, 1778,  in  the  fii-st  place  chose  John  Smith  moderator.  The  town  then 
voted  to  allow  the  surveyor's  accounts  in  the  manner  following:  for  a  man  and 
team,  four  dollars  a  day ;  for  a  man,  two  doUai-s  a  day  ;  for  cart  or  plow,  half  a 
dollar  a  day  for  summer  work,  and  nine  shillings  per  day  for  a  man  for  fall  work  ; 
and  other  work  in  proportion.  Also  voted  that  the  surveyors  proportion  the  team 
work  according  to  the  goodness  thereof;  also  voted  to  allow  twenty  shillings  a 
hundred  for  good  plank. 

Voted  that  the  town  treasurer  and  town  clerk  procure  wluit  books  are  neces- 
sary for  their  respective  offices. 

Voted  to  raise  four  hundred  pounds  to  defray  the  present  debt  and  to  defray 
the  town  expenses  for  the  ensuing  year. 

After  long  debate  as  to  whether  the  meeting-house,  to  be  hereafter  erected, 
should  be  located  at  the  centre  of  the  township,  or  as  near  as  the  nature  of  the 
land  would  permit,  a  vote  was  passed  to  that  effect. 

A  vote  to  reconsider  Wiis,  however,  passed,  and  then  it  was  decided  to  appoint 
a  committee  from  neighboring  towns  to  propose  a  site  for  the  meeting-house,  and 
Col.  Bonney,  of  Chesterfield,  Deacon  Nash,  of  South  Hadley,  and  Col.  Day,  of 
Springfield,  were  requested  to  act.  A  committee  to  provide  for  and  attend  this 
"  outfiule'^  committee  was  named,  consisting  of  Jonathan  Wales,  Zachariah 
Curtis,  and  Sylvester  Judd.  Voted  to  request  the  gentlemen  from  abroad  to 
attend  to  this  nuitter  as  soon  as  possible. 

Attest:  JoH.v  Smith,  il/o<^T((fw. 

At  another  meeting,  November  30th,  the  action  of  the  24th 
was  reconsidered.  This  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Nathan  Clark,  but  "removed''  during  its  session  to  "Mr. 
T^yler's  stock-yard."  Voted  that  the  "centre  of  the  land" 
should  be  considered  as  the  place  for  a  meeting-house,  or  as 
nbar  as  the  same  will  admit.  And  a  committee,  consisting  of 
John  Smith,  John  Baker,  Ebenezer  Clark,  Noah  Strong, 
John  Bullard,  and  Elijah  Tyler,  were  instructed  to  report  a 
place  for  the  meeting-house,  but  were  required  to  conform  to 
the  vote  in  favor  of  the  centre.  Keally,  they  were  to  find  the 
centre  of  the  town.  These  votes  show  the  opening  of  the 
controversy,  the  settlement  of  which  appears  in  the  sketch 
of  the  church. 

At  the  regular  town-meeting,  March  8,  1779,  besides  the 
officers  given  elsewhere,  there  were  chosen  Azariah  Lyman 
and  John  Baker,  Constables  ;  Nathan  Clark  and  Joseph  Kings- 
ley,  Tythingmen  ;  Elijah  Tyler,  Ebenezer  French,  Wardens; 
David  Parsons,  Jonathan  Clark,  Epaphras  Clark,  John  Eliot, 
Hog-reeves ;  Zachariah  Curtis,  Amasa  Strong,  Aaron  Fisher, 
Seth  Burk,  Surveyors  of  Highways ;  Noah  Edwards,  Levi  ■ 
Post,  Fence-viewers. 

A  town-meeting  was  held  June  25,  1779,  at  the  house  of 
Elisha  Chilson. 

The  warrant  for  a  town-meeting,  to  be  held  Sept.  25,  1786, 
contained  the  following  clause:  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  con- 
sider the  distressing  calamities  of  public  afi'airs,  and  direct 
their  representative  to  attend  the  General  Court."  This  was 
during  the  pressure  of  the  "hard  times"  that  were  the  pretext 
for  the  "Shays  rebellion,"  .so  called,  in  which,  however,  West- 
hampton did  not  share. 

The  town  voted  upon  this  clause  that  Azariah  Lyman,  John 
Smith,  Ebenezer  Clark,  Jonathan  Wales,  Noah  Cook,  Noah 
Edwards,  Ephraim  Wright,  Rufus  Lyman,  and  Samuel  Ed- 
wards be  a  committee  to  instruct  their  representative,  and 
agree  with  him  concerning  his  wages. 

April,  1790,  voted  that  "  the  care  of  the  meeting-house  be 
committed  to  Mr.  Samuel  French,  to  sweep  once  a  fortnight, 
furnish  water  for  baptizing  the  children,  also  to  lock  and  un- 
lock said  house  on  all  public  days  reasonably  ;  for  which  the 
town  are  to  give  him  fifteen  shillings  a  year." 

Place  of  Town-Meetings. — The  earlier  meetings  are  desig- 
nated in  the  records,  and  the  place  will  be  clearly  known  from 
the  record  of  family  location  already  given.     As  soon  as  the 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


293 


meeting-house  was  sufficiently  finislicd,  town-meetings  were 
held  there,  us  in  other  New  England  towns,  until  the  erection 
in  later  years  of  the  town-hall. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  selectmen  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  town  : 

1778.— Julin  Smitli,  Willirim  B.aitlett,  Julm  Biikcr. 

1779,_Williaiu  Biutlitt,  AIjiiit  Claflin,  Zachiiiiah  Curtiss. 

17S0. — .luhu  Smith,  Eiihraiiii  Wright,  Gideon  Claliv. 

1781-82.— Kphiaim  Wtiglit,  Gideon  Clark,  Rufns  Lyman. 

1783-85.— Ejihraim  Wright,  Ehcnezcr  Claik,  Gideon  Clark. 

1786.— Gideon  Clark,  Jr.,  Sylvester  Judd,  Asa  Thayer. 

1787. — .\aron  Fisher,  Noah  Cook,  Ebenezer  Clark. 

1788. — Asa  Tliayer,  Sylvester  Judd,  Elijah  Unst. 

1789. — Asa  Thayer,  Sylvester  Judd,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr. 

1790.— Aaron  Fisher,  Sylvester  Judd,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr. 

1701. — Aaron  Fisher,  Martin  Clark,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr. 

1792. — Aaron  Fisher,  Asa  Thayer,  Noah  Cook. 

1793. — Aaron  Fisher,  Samuel  Edwards,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr. 

1794.— Sylvester  Judd,  ,\sa  Thayer,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr. 

1795. — Samuel  Edwards,  Eidiraini  Wright,  Willard  Smith. 

1796. — Sylvester  Judd,  Timothy  Edwards,  Noah  Parsons,  Gideon  Clark,  Jr.,  Peter 

Montague. 
1797. — Asa  Thayer,  Timothy  Edwards,  Sylvester  Judd. 
1708.— Samuel  Edwards,  Jonathan  Wales,  Titus  Clark. 
1799.— Samuel  Edwards,  Jonathan  Wales,  Timothy  Edwards. 
1800-1.— Sylvester  Judd,  Asa  Thayer,  Timothy  Edwards. 
1802-3.— Aaron  Fisher,  Asa  Thayer,  Noah  Cook. 
1804.— Asa  Thayer,  Samuel  Edwards,  Willanl  Smith. 
1805. — Asa  Thayer,  Sanuiel  Edwards,  Sylvanus  Clapp. 
1806. — Sylvanus  Clapp,  Sylvester  Judd,  Israel  Parsons. 
1807. — Sylvester  Jndd,  Sylvanus  Clapp,  Asa  Thayer. 
1808. — Sylvester  Judd,  Aaron  Fisher,  Asa  Thayer. 
1800.— Sylvester  Judd,  Aaron  Fisher,  Timothy  Phelps,  Jr. 
ISIO.— Sylvester  Judd,  Willard  Smith,  Timothy  Phelps,  Jr. 
1811.— Sylvester  Judd,  Willard  Smith,  Benoni  Clark. 
1812. — Aaron  Fisher,  Benoni  Clark,  Jonathan  Clark. 
1813. — Aaron  Fisher,  Jonathan  Clark,  Benoni  Clark. 
1814. — .\aron  Fisher,  Benoni  Clark,  John  Bates. 
1815. — John  Bates,  Benoni  Clark,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr. 
1816. — W'illard  Smith,  Benoni  Clark,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr. 
1817. — Ajiron  Fisher,  Sylvanus  Clapp,  Joseph  Kingsley,  Jr. 
1818-19. — Sylvanus  Clapp,  Benoni  Clark,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr. 
1820.— Sylvanus  Clapp,  Elijah  Rust,  Jesse  Lyman. 
1821. — Elijah  Rust,  Sylvanus  Clapp,  Jesse  Lyman. 
1822. — Sylvanus  Clapp,  Jesse  Lyman,  Benoni  Clark. 
1823. — Samuel  Edwards,  Jr.,  Benoni  Clark,  Richard  Clapp. 
1824. — John  Bates,  Richard  Clapp,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr. 
1825. — John  Bates,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr.,  Jesse  Lyman. 
1826. — Timothy  Phelps,  Jesse  Lyman,  Bela  P.  Clapp. 
1827.- Timothy  Phelps,  Bela  P.  Clapp,  John  A.  Judd. 
1828-29. — Bela  P.  Clapp,  John  A.  Judd,  Ezra  Kingsley. 
1830-31. — Bela  P.  Clapp,  Jesse  Lyman,  Richard  Hale. 
1832.— Bela  P.  Clapp,  Richard  Hale,  Jared  Bartlett. 
1833.— Jared  Bartlett,  Elcazer  Judd,  Joel  Cook. 
1834. — Joel  Cook,  Jared  Bartlett,  Francis  Loud. 
1835. — Joel  Cook,  Jared  Bartlett,  Eleazer  Judd. 
1836. — Joel  Cook,  Roswell  Dickinson,  Richard  Hale. 
1837. — Almon  B.  Ludden,  Jesse  Lyman,  Ralpli  Clapp. 
1838. — Almon  B.  Ludden,  Jonathan  W.  Bartlett,  RsBwell  Dickinson. 
1839. — Roswell  Dickinson,  Medad  King,  Jr.,  Levi  Burt. 
1840. — Levi  Burt,  Medail  King,  Jr.,  Almon  B.  Ludden. 
1841. — Almon  B.  Ludden,  Levi  Burt,  Linus  Chapman. 
1842. — Linus  Chapman,  Clark  Bridgman,  Jared  Bartlett. 
1843. — Jared  Bartlett,  Linus  Chapman,  Clark  Bridgman. 
1844. — Jared  Bartlett,  Joel  Cook,  Asa  Parsons. 
1845-46. — Joel  Cook,  Asa  Parsons,  Matthias  Rice. 
1847. — Joel  Cook,  Matthias  Rice,  Festus  Hooker. 
1848. — Festus  Hooker,  Joel  Cook,  Almon  B.  Ludden. 
1849. — Almon  B.  Ludden,  Festus  Hooker,  Joel  Cook. 
1850. — .\lmon  B.  Ludden,  Medad  King,  Festus  Hooker. 
1851. — Medad  King,  Enoch  H.  Lyman,  Jared  Bartlett. 
1852. — Jared  Bartlett,  Enoch  H.  Lyman,  George  N.  King. 
1853. — Enoch  H.  Lyman.  George  N.  King,  Augustus  E.  Hale. 
1854. — Levi  Burt,  Linns  Chapman,  E[ioch  H.  Lyman. 
1855. — Joel  Cook,  Linus  Chapman,  Levi  Burt. 
1856.— Joel  Cook,  Festus  Hooker,  Jared  0.  Bartlett. 
1857. — Joel  Cook,  Festus  Hooker,  Reuhen  \V.  Clapp. 
1858. — Jared  Bartlett,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Reuben  W.  Clapp. 
1859. — Jared  Bartlett,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Anson  Chapman. 
1860. — Medad  King,  Anson  Chapman,  John  Bates. 
1861.— Medad  King,  John  Bates,  Enoch  H.  Ludden. 
1862. — Medad  King,  Enoch  H.  Lyman,  Henry  3L  Parsons. 
1863-64. — Enoch  11,  Lyman,  Henry  M.  Parsons,  Elbert  Langdon. 
1865-00.— Elbert  Langdon,  Albert  G.  Jewett,  Henry  W.  Montague. 
1667.— Albert  G.  Jewett,  H.  W.  Montiigiic,  Wm.  J.  Lyman. 
1808-69.— Joel  Burt,  Theophilus  Edwards,  Elbert  Langdon. 


1870.- Elbert  Langdon,  C.  C.  Bartlett,  Cluules  N,  L.>ud. 
1871-72.— A.  G.  Jewett,  C.  C.  Bartlett,  Chailes  Clark, 
1873,— A.  G,  Jewett,  Charles  Clark,  R.  W,  Clapp, 
1874-70,— A,  G,  Jewett,  Franklin  Strong,  R.  W.  Clapp. 
1870.-%.  G.  Jewett,  Franklin  Strong,  George  Burt. 
1877.- .\.  G.  Jewett,  George  Burt,  E.  P.  Lyman. 
1878. — George  Burt,  John  Watson,  E.  Payson  Lyman. 
1870,— A.  G,  Jewett,  George  Burt,  John  Watson. 

TOWN    CLERK.S. 

Sylvester  Judd,  1778  ;  Gideon  Clark,  Jr.,  1770-1813 ;  Sylvester  Judd,  Jr.,  1814- 
15;  Luke  Phelps,  1810-20 ;  John  A,  Judd,  1830-30;  Francis  Loud,  1837 ;  Johu 
A,  Judd,  1838-64;  Daniel  W.  Clark,  1855-00 ;  Charles  N.  Loud,  1867-00  ;  Thomas 
C.  Davenport,  1870;  F.  H.  Judd,  1871-80. 

REPRESENTATIVES    TO    THE    GENERAL    COURT. 

John  Smith,  1781;  Sylvester  Judd,  1787-88;  Gideon  Clark,  1793;  Sylvester 
Judd,  1706;  Sylvester  Judd,  1798;  Aaron  Fisher,  1801;  Sylvester  Judd,  1804; 
Sylvester  Judd,  UOo-6;  Sylvester  Judd,  lSOS-10  ;  Timothy  Edwards,  1811 ;  Syl- 
vester Judd,  1812;  Sylvester  Judd,  1813;  Sylvester  Judd,  1814-15;  Aaron  Fisher, 
1816;  Sylvester  Judd,  1817;  Joseph  Kingsley,  Jr.,  1818;  Willard  Smith,  1819; 
Aaron  Fisher,  1822 ;  Joseph  Kingsley,  Jr.,  1823 ;  Joseph  Kingsley,  Jr.,  1827 ; 
Samuel  Edwards,  Jr.,  1828 ;  Bela  P.  Clapp,  1829-30;  Sanmel  Edwards,  Jr.,  1832 ; 
John  A.  Judd,  1833 ;  Jesse  Lyman,  1834 ;  Eleazer  Judd,  1835 ;  Jesse  Lyman,  1836 ; 
John  A.  Judd,  1837;  Jared  Bartlett,  1840;  Joel  Cook,  1841 ;  Almon  B.  Ludden, 
1842;  John  A.  Judd,  1843;  Asa  Parsons,  1847 ;  Levi  Buit,  1849;  Daniel  W.  Clark, 
1851;  Medad  King,  1852;  Festus  Hooker,  1853 ;  Joel  Cook,  1858 ;  Matthias  Rice, 
1862 ;  Wm.  J.  Edwards,  1869. 

VILLAGES. 
This  suhject  is  easily  disposed  of.  The  Centre,  so-called, 
first  derived  its  importance  from  the  location  of  the  meeting- 
house. A  small  stream  tumbling  down  from  the  western  hills 
furnishes  water-power,  which  has  generally  been  improved.  A 
country  store  has  usually  been  maintained,  and  at  the  present 
time  there  are  two,  one  kept  by  F.  A.  Judd,  in  the  building 
of  T.  C.  Davenport,  the  other  by  E.  D.  Pratt,  on  the  southeast 
corner.  The  watch-repairing  business,  by  T.  C.  Davenport, 
has  for  many  years  been  a  feature  of  Westhampton  Centre, 
rivaling,  if  not  excelling,  that  of  more  showy  establishments  in 
larger  villages.  He  is  also  postmaster  and  justice  of  the  peace. 
In  and  near  the  Centre  are  quite  a  number  of  the  large,  roomy, 
hospitable-looking  dwellings  of  olden  time. 

George  Burt  is  the  present  owner  of  the  Dr.  Hooker  home- 
stead, a  place  associated  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  citizens 
with  "turnkeys"  and  pills,  as  well  as  the  kindly  sympathy  of 
"the  beloved  physician."  Nathan  Burt  has  the  Hale  home- 
stead. The  Chapman  family  the  Sylvester  Judd  mansion. 
The  Dr.  Orcutt  place,  still  owned  by  the  family,  was  the  old 
Nathan  Clark  homestead.  David  Montague  owns  the  Benoni 
Clark  place,  and  A.  G.  Jewett  that  of  Theodore  Clark.  If 
the  "  Centre"  can  scarcely  be  called  a  village,  yet  there  is  a 
history  clustering  around  it  which  renders  it  a  cherished  spot 
to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Westhampton.  However  far 
they  may  have  wandered,  "their  hearts  untraveled"  fondly 
turn  to  the  picturesque  hillsides  and  the  secluded  dells  of  this 
rural  hamlet.     Some  special  names  may  be  noticed. 

Shack  Street  seems  to  be  applied  to  the  northwest  part  of 
the  town  from  the  custom  in  early  times  of  sending  the  swine 
up  into  those  woods  to  fatten  upon  the  falling  nuts  of  the  forest. 

Babcock's  Corner,  on  the  Huntington  road,  is  so  called 
from  a  family  of  that  name  once  residing  there. 

LouDViLLE  owns  a  divided  tillegiance  to  Northampton  and 
Westhampton.  Its  mills  and  stores  and  shops,  excepting  the 
wood-turning  business  of  Francis  Norton,  are  all  in  the  for- 
mer town,  and  also  the  school-house.  But  the  residences  of 
the  citizens  situated  upon  the  west  side  of  the  principal  street 
are  in  Westhampton,  and  the  Loudville  people  seem  to  be 
closely  connected  to  Westhampton  in  church,  social,  and  busi- 
ness aflairs. 

The  tirst  postmaster  at  Westhampton  Centre  was  Jonathan 
Judd.  His  successors  have  been  John  A.  Judd,  Anson  Chap- 
man, John  A.  Judd  a  second  time,  F.  H.  Judd,  and  T.  C.  Da- 
venport. The  last  named  was  appointed  in  18G5,  and  has  kept 
the  office  to  the  present  time. 


294 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


SCHOOLS. 

The  first  settlers  of  Westliampton  took  early  measures  to 
provide  education  for  their  children.  They  petitioned  the 
town  of  Northampton  to  allow  the  people  of  the  Long  Division 
something  for  schooling.  In  1776,  as  noted  elsewhere,  they 
succeeded  in  ohtaining  an  appropriation  of  JCO  for  preaching 
and  schooling.  Some  children  were  sent  to  Northampton,  and 
some  to  Southampton. 

In  the  winter  of  1781-82,  the  people  of  the  south  part  raised 
a  fund  by  private  contribution  and  opened  a  school.  This 
was  probably  the  first  school  kept  in  the  town.  The  teacher 
was  Deacon  Samuel  Edwards,  and  he  taught  in  a  room  of 
Azariah  Lyman's  house.  This  was  kept  about  three  months. 
Tradition  states  that  he  was  an  excellent  teacher,  and  was  en- 
gaged for  several  winters.  He  taught  reading,  writing,  arith- 
metic, and  spelling. 

The  first  school-hou.se  was  built  by  private  means,  in  1782, 
near  Babcock's  Corner.  Kev.  Enoch  Hale  took  much  interest 
in  starting  the  .schools,  and  urged  the  town  to  make  suitable 
provision  for  the  education  of  youth.  He  encouraged  young 
men  to  go  on  in  their  studies ;  he  assisted  them,  and  invited 
them  to  come  to  his  house  for  instruction;  and  it  was  through 
his  advice  that  so  many  young  men  in  the  early  years  of  the  town 
fitted  themselves  to  enter  college.  These  students  had  very 
small  means  to  aid  them  in  their  studies,  and  the  kind  assistance 
of  their  pastor  saved  their  funds  from  exhaustion  and  quick- 
ened their  zeal.  Rev.  Justin  Edwards  pursued  his  preparatury 
studies  with  Mr.  Hale,  and  entered  the  sophomore  class,  and 
yet  his  whole  expenses  were  only  $38.  These  lessons  of 
economy  ought  not  to  be  lost  upon  the  present  age,  when  the 
middle  and  poorer  classes  of  the  communit}'  are  well-nigh  denied 
the  advantages  of  higher  education  in  consequence  of  the  ex- 
pense with  which  modern  extrav.igance  has  surrounded  the 
pathway  of  the  student  even  at  heavily-endowed  institutions. 

"Williams  was  the  tixvorite  college  for  the  Westhampton 
boys.  Justin  Edwards  several  times  walked  to  and  from  Wil- 
liamstown, — a  distance  of  40  miles.  But  the  early  collegians 
used  to  generally  ride  to  and  from  college  on  horseback. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  term  a  number  from  this  and  the 
adjoining  towns  would  go  up  together,  taking  one  person  along 
with  them  on  a  spare  horse.  The  latter  would  go  to  the  college 
in  one  da}',  pass  the  night,  and  on  the  following  day  lead  back 
the  horses  with  empt}'  saddles,  and  at  the  end  of  the  term 
some  one  go  to  Williamstown  for  them  in  a  similar  wa}-. 

M<arch  22, 1779. — The  fii-st  official  action  witli  reference  to  schools  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  negative,  as  an  item  in  the  warrant  to  see  whether  the  town 
would  raise  any  money  to  enconrage  schooling  was  voted  down. 

Schools  were  evidently  sustained  by  private  enterprise 
several  years. 

March  13, 1786. — A  committee  was  appointed  to  divide  the  town  into  a  con- 
venient number  of  districts,  in  order  to  receive  tlie  benefit  of  schooling, — Messi-s. 
Israel  Parsons,  Ebenezer  Clark,  JIartin  Clark,  Peter  Montague,  Aaron  Fisher, 
John  Baker,  Azariah  Lyman,  Jomithan  Wales,  Noah  Edwards,  Timothy  Ed- 
Wiirds,  and  Rufus  Lyman. 

May  29, 178G. — Voted,  to  raise  the  sum  of  tweuty-five  pounds  to  be  expended 
in  schooling  during  the  term  of  one  year  from  this  time. 

June  20, 178G.— Committee  on  school  districts  discharged  and  the  town  divided 
into  si-x  districts  by  a  vote  then  and  tliorc, — certainly  a  prompt,  summary 
method,  if  not  the  most  accurate  and  complete.  District  No.  1  at  the  corner  by 
Ebenezer  French's  house;  2d  at  Oliver  Post's;  3d  at  Cornelius  Bartlett's;  4th  at 
or  near  the  crotch  of  the  road  at  Wright's  field,  so  called ;  6th  at  Elijah  Boyden's ; 
6th  at  John  Baker's. 

Also  voted,  that  each  district  board  their  own  master  or  mistress.  Also  voted, 
that  each  man's  money  be  expended  at  tliat  school  to  which  he  is  the  nearest, 
measuring  on  the  road,  except  John  Bollard,  John  Pittsinger,  Jonathan  Alvord, 
and  Jehial  Alvord,  who  shall  be  allowed  to  lay  out  their  money  at  Elijah  Boy- 
den's, if  thej'  shall  think  fit. 

March  12,  1787.— Voted,  to  raise  twenty-five  pounds  for  schooling,  to  be 
divided  as  last  year,  except  the  six  families  that  live  the  southeast  side  of  Tur- 
key Hill,  who  are  to  lay  out  their  proportion  in  schooling  where  they  please; 
and  each  district  to  act  their  pleasure  concerning  the  boarding  of  their  ma.sters 
or  mistresses. 

March  10, 17S8.— Voted,  30  pounds  for  schooling,  and  appointed  Israel  Par- 


sons, Samuel  Edwards,  Sylvester  Judd,  Justin  Edwards,  John  Smith  a  committee 
to  determine  from  time  to  time  upon  the  propriety  of  each  school  district  send- 
ing their  children  to  other  districts,  if  any  complaint  be  made. 

March  2. 1789. — Voted,  30  pounds  for  schooling.  Those  persons  near  the  cen- 
tre of  the  town  about  to  build  a  school-house  allowed  to  expend  their  money  at 
the  new  house,  in  case  it  should  be  built. 

In  a  meeting  held  at  Northampton,  Oct.  22,  1818,  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  college 
in  Hampshire  County,  at  which  the  Hon.  John  Hooker,  of 
Springfield,  was  chosen  chairman,  and  Kev.  Isaac  Knapp,  of 
Westfield,  secretary,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  see  about 
the  removal  of  Williams  College  to  this  county.  On  that 
committee  were  Eev.  Dr.  Lyman,  of  Hatfield  ;  Kev.  Mr.  Wil- 
liston,  of  Easthampton ;  Eev.  Mr.  Hale,  of  Westhampton ; 
Kev.  Mr.  Gould,  of  Southampton;  Sylvester  Judd,  Esq.,  of 
Westhampton  ;  Hon.  Ezra  Starkweather,  of  Worthington. 
The  little  town  of  Westhampton,  it  appears,  had  two  members 
of  this  important  committee, — a  compliment  to  its  educational 
standing  and  to  the  distinguished  men  residing  there. 

The  modern  school  system  of  the  town,  founded  by  these  vig- 
orous labors  of  the  fathers,  is  in  steady  and  successful  opera- 
tion, and  liberal  appropriations  are  made  from  year  to  year. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  graduates  of  colleges,  natives  of 
W^esthampton  : 

Tcrtius  Strong,  1790,  Williams  College,  law. 

Levi  Parsons,  1801,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Nathan  Hale,  LL.D.,  1804,  Williams  College,  journalism. 

William  Fisher,  180.5,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Justus  Kingsley,  1809,  Williams  College. 

Justin  Edwards,  D.D.,  1810,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Hophni  Judd,  1812,  Williams  College,  law. 

Ebenezer  B.  Wright,  1814,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Calvin  Montague,  1814,  Williams  College,  medicine. 

Epaphras  Clark,  1815,  Williams  College,  law. 

Dorus  Clarke,  1817,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Anson  Hooker,  1819,  Williams  College,  medicine. 

Edward  Hooker,  18'20,  Williams  College,  law. 

Joel  Burt,  1821,  Union  College,  medicine. 

Tertius  S.  Clarke,  D.D.,  1824,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

George  Burt,  1825,  Amherst  College,  business. 

Levi  F.  Claflin,  182G,  Williams  College,  business. 

Orange  Clark,  D.D.,  1828,  Columbia  College,  ministry. 

Jacob  L.  Clark,  D.D.,  1831,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

Calvin  Clark,  1832,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Sylvester  Judd  (3d),  1836,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

George  Lyman,  1837,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

Zenas  M.  Phelps,  1839,  Williams  College,  teaching. 

Jonathan  S.  Judd,  1839,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Dexter  Clapp,  1839,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

Chauncey  P.  Judd,  1840,  Yale  College,  law. 

Melzar  Montague,  1841,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Enos  J.  Montague,  1841,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Luther  Clapp,  1841,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Saniucl  W.  Fisher,  1841,  Williams  College,  business. 

James  Brewer,  1842,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Anson  Clark,  1845,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Charles  H.  Norton,  1847,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

Justin  W.  Parsons,  1849,  Williams  College,  foreign  mis- 
sions. 

Chester  Bridgman,  1856,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

Henry  M.  Bridgman,  1857,  Amherst  College,  foreign  mis- 
sions. 

Francis  Burt,  1857,  Amherst  College,  teaching. 

With  reference  to  Samuel  Fisher,  usually  included  in  the 
above  catalogue,  the  editor  of  the  "  Reunion  Pamphlet"  adds 
a  statement  to  show  that  he  was  undoubtedly  a  native  of  the 
town.  The  explanation  needs  explaining.  The  Jonathan 
Fisher  who  died  in  the  army  was  only  thirty-four  years  of 
age,  and  was  the  sun  of  the  Jonathan  that  bought  the  Abner 
Smith  place  in  1770.     That  the  younger  Jonathan  lived  in 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


295 


Westhampton  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  general  under- 
standing that  he  represented  the  town  in  the  Continental 
army,  but  it  could  only  have  been  for  a  period  of  five  years, 
or  at  most  seven.  Samuel  Fisher  was  the  youngest  son,  and 
a  posthumous  child,  born  in  Sunderland,  June  30,  1777,- his 
father,  the  lieutenant,  having  died  in  the  month  of  March 
before.  The  widow  of  the  lieutenant  evidently  returned  to 
Dedham  soon  after,  as  Samuel  lived  with  his  mother  there 
until  he  was  five  years  of  age,  and  after  that  with  his  uncle. 
Dr.  Sanmel  Ware,  of  Conway. 

As  this  disposes  of  the  name  of  Samuel,  it  is  proper  to  add 
that  the  date  of  William  Fisher's  birth,  in  177tj,  leaves  it 
pretty  certain  that  he  was  born  in  Westhampton.  Jonathan, 
who  graduated  at  Harvard  and  became  the  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Blue  Hill,  Me.,  and  was  the  author  of  several  works, 
was  probably  born  in  Dedham  before  the  removal  to  West- 
hampton, as  he  died  at  quite  an  advanced  age  in  184-5. 

Besides  the  list  of  graduates,  there  are  others  who  entered 
various  professions  without  completing  a  full  college  course. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Enoch  Hale,  of  Gardi- 
ner, Maine,  and  afterward  Boston ;  Dr.  Sylvanus  Clapp,  of 
Pawtucket,  R.  I.  ;  Dr.  Oliver  D.  Norton,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio; 
Dr.  Watson  Loud,  Dr.  Philo  Clark,  Dr.  Henry  Cook,  Dr. 
Mendal  Jewett,  Kev.  Christopher  Clapp,  Rev.  Henry  Loud, 
Eev.  Joseph  Stearns,  Rev.  Anson  Stearns. 

There  are  others  who  took  a  classical  course  of  studies, 
without,  however,  graduating,  and  went  into  business  instead 
of  professional  life,  as  John  A.  Judd,  Edwin  Cook,  Zenas 
Kingslej',  Alvin  Clark. 

Joseph  Alvord  was  connected  with  the  Wheeler  &  Wilson 
sewing-machine  works,  and  was  a  noted  business-man.  He 
died  witliin  n  few  years. 

LITERATURE. 

The  Rev.  Enoch  Hale  prepared  a  spelling-book  about  the 
beginning  of  this  century.  He  was  far  in  advance  of  his  age. 
That  book  is  now  something  of  a  literary  curiosity, — a  rare 
prize  for  the  nntiqunrian.  It  contained  lessons  and  stories  for 
children,  written  in  a  style  adapted  to  their  understanding. 
It  is  said  the  book  suited  the  children,  but  not  the  adults. 
The  latter  supposed  that  abstract  doctrines  of  theology  were 
the  right  and  proper  material  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
children,  even  to  learn  to  read.  Mr.  Hale's  method  became 
popular  thirty  years  later,  and  tlie  bright,  cheerful  literature 
of  modern  school-books  is  but  the  development  of  his  idea. 

Sylvester  Judd,  Jr.,  was  not  only  editor  and  historian,  but 
an  author  of  several  books,  as  "  Margaret,"  and  other  works 
of  fiction.  His  name  fs  still  standard  authority  upon  the  early 
annals  of  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

His  published  history  of  Hadley  is  a  specimen  of  the  dili- 
gence with  which  he  labored,  and  the  fullness  and  accuracy  of 
his  writings. 

The  "Reunion"  of  1866  was  a  noteworthy  occasion  in  the 
history  of  the  town.  It  was  similar  to  a  centennial  celebra- 
tion, and  its  proceedings  are  appropriately  preserved  in  a  pam- 
phlet full  of  valuable  historic  material. 

To  have  the  gathering  twelve  years  before  the  completion  of 
a  century  had  the  advantage  of  securing  the  attendance  of 
many  aged  people,  natives  of  the  town,  then  living,  but  who 
soon  after  passed  away, — among  them  Jesse  Lyman,  Asa  Par- 
sons, Mr.  Burt,  Eli  Clark,  and  doubtless  many  others. 

School  Statistics. 

January,  1837. — Nine  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  lUS;  average  not 
stated ;  winter,  269 ;  average,  233 ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  259 ;  summer 
schools,  32  months;  winter,  22  months  and  7  days;  summer  teachers,  8  females; 
winter,  7  males,  3  females ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S19.43 ; 
female  teachers,  89.73. 

January,  1S47. — Eight  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  163 ;  average,  123 ;  winter, 
175 ;  average,  132 ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  200 ;  attending  under  4, 11 ;  over 
16,14;  summer  schools,  28  months  and  21  days;  winter,  23  months;  total,  51 
months,  21  days;  summer  teachers,  8  females;  winter,  5  males, 3  females;  aver- 
age wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S18.80 ;  female,  $11.45. 


January,  1857. — Seven  schools;  attending  in  summei*,  83;  average,  66;  winter, 
100;  .average, 86;  attending  under  5,8;  overl5,ll;  in  town  between  5  and  15, 
110;  summer  teachers,  7  females;  winter,  7  females;  summer  schools,  21  months 
and  5  days;  winter,  22  months,  5  days;  total,  43  mouths,  10  days;  average  wages 
female  teachers  per  month,  $12.57. 

January,  1867. — Si.v  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  86 ;  average,  70 ;  winter, 
120 ;  average,  102  ;  attending  uuder  5,  7 ;  over  15,  14 ;  in  town  between  5  and  15. 
147  ;  sunmler  teachers,  7  females;  winter,  2  males,  3  females;  summer  schools, 
26  months;  winter,  16  months  and  5  days;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per 
month,  $53.06;  female  teachers,  830.80. 

January,  1878. — Five  schools ;  $18.37  for  repairs ;  scholars  attending  during 
the  year,  114 ;  averiige,  70 ;  1  under  5 ;  21  over  15 ;  number  between  5  and  15  in 
town,  127 ;  teachers,  3  males,  7  females;  schools  kept  38  months,  15  days;  wages 
of  male  teachers  per  month,  $20  ;  female,  $24  per  month  ;  taxation,  $1000 ;  super- 
intendence, $45 ;  income  of  vested  funds  and  dog  t.ax,  $35.90 :  1  private  school, 
10  scholars;  tuition,  $127.50;  town  share  of  State  school  fund,  $224.57. 

CHURCHES. 

As  in  most  other  New  England  towns,  so  especially  in 
Westhampton,  the  convenience  of  public  worship  was  a  matter 
considered  at  the  time  of  the  incorporation,  and  as  one  of  the 
reasons  for  it.  In  the  memorial  to  the  General  Court  asking 
for  an  act  to  organize  a  new  town,  it  is  expressly  stated  "that 
your  petitioners,  being  now  increased  to  a  considerable  num- 
ber, are  of  the  opinion  that  we  can  support  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  among  ourselves."  But  there  are  earlier  records  than 
this,  showing  their  earnestness  in  this  matter.  At  the  town- 
meeting  of  Northampton,  March,  1772,  the  inhabitants  of 
Long  Division  petitioned  the  town  to  return  to  them  their 
minister  and  school-rates,  in  order  to  pay  for  preaching. 
This  request  was  granted,  and  in  August  of  that  year  an 
order  was  drawn  in  favor  of  Samuel  Kingsley,  representing 
Long  Division,  for  £7  lO.s.  At  the  December  meeting  of  the 
same  year  Northampton  voted  £8  to  Long  Division  for  preach- 
ing. A  year  later,  November,  1774,  the  town  voted  £9  to  Long 
Division  for  preaching  and  schooling,  and  in  November,  1777, 
Northampton  voted  Long  Division  £15  for  the  support  of 
jireaching.  These  appropriations  by  Northampton  were  ren- 
dered effective  by  the  vigorous  efforts  and  the  zealous  sacri- 
fices of  the  people  themselves  ;  ministers  were  procured,  some- 
times for  single  Sabbaths,  again  for  several  weeks  at  a  time, 
and  so  public  worship  was  quite  steadily  maintained  as  early 
as  the  summer  of  1772.  It  is  stated  that  Noah  Coolv,  of  Had- 
ley, preached  that  year  a  few  Sundays,  services  being  held  at 
the  house  of  Samuel  Kingsley,  and  also  at  the  house  of  Tim- 
othy Thayer. 

The  house  of  Samuel  Kingsley  was  not  far  from  Babcock's 
Corners,  where  a  few  years  later  it  was  proposed  to  locate  the 
meeting-house.  The  house  of  Timothy  Thayer  was  over  the 
brook,  near  the  residence  in  later  years  of  William  Edwards, 
and  to  accommodate  some  of  the  foot-people  logs  were  placed 
across  the  stream  ;  sometimes  botli  boys  and  girls  waded 
through  the  water. 

Mr.  Cook  was  a  lame  man  and  walked  with  a  crutch,  so 
that  he  was  sometimes  called  the  "three-legged  minister." 
The  next  winter  one  Mr.  Gould  preached  a  few  times.  In  the 
winter  of  1773-74,  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Northampton,  held  service 
and  baptized  three  children,  whose  names  were  Noah  Kings- 
ley,  Justice  Burk,  and  Rebecca  Fisher,  and  it  is  supposed  these 
were  the  first  baptisms  in  Westhampton. 

There  was  preaching  in  1774  or  1775  in  the  northerly  part 
of  the  town,  at  the  house  of  Jonathan  Wales,  by  a  3Ir.  Taft, 
brother  of  Mrs.  Wales.  These  were  the  times  that  "  tried 
men's  souls."  Mr.  Taft  was  a  zealous  Whig,  talked  Revolu- 
tionary politics  during  the  week,  and  preached  and  prayed  for 
liberty  on  Sunday.  He  believed  in  the  non-intercourse  policy, 
and  refused  to  drink  any  tea  when  England  was  endeavoring 
to  force  Americans  to  pay  a  ta.x  upon  it. 

Rev.  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Northampton,  and  Mr.  Judd,  of 
Southampton,  occasionally  came  and  gave  lectures  on  week- 
days. As  places  of  meeting  the  barns  of  Joseph  or  Samuel 
Kingsley  and  of  Nathan  Clark  were  alternately  used. 

A  Mr.  Hofchkiss  preached  a  few  time?  in  Westhampton  and 


296 


HISTORY   OF  THP]   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Norwich.  In  the  spring  of  1778,  .John  Eliot  preached  four 
Sabbaths.  Jonathan  Smith,  of  Hadley,  and  David  Parsons, 
of  Amherst,  preached  during  the  same  year. 

And  old  man,  known  as  Father  Sa.xton,  who  lived  in  Long 
Division,  near  the  old  house  of  Solomon  Judd,  preached  all 
one  summer  in  177G  or  1777. 

But  these  preliminary  and  somewhat  irregular  services 
soon  gave  way  to  something  more  permanent  and  orderly. 
Previous  to  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  Eev.  Enoch  Hale 
had  preached  one  or  more  Sabbaths,  and  at  the  first  meeting, 
Nov.  19,  1778,  about  the  only  business  done,  except  to  elect 
town  officers,  was  the  appointing  of  Martin  Clark,  Azariah 
Lyman,  and  Sylvester  Judd  a  committee  to  engage  his  further 
service  ;  the  preaching  one-half  of  the  time  to  be  at  the  house 
of  Nathan  Clark,  the  other  half  at  the  house  of  Azariah 
Lyman.  The  settlement  of  a  minister  in  those  daj'S  was  an 
aifair  of  deliberation, — slow,  but  very  certain  to  be  wise  and 
judicious.  It  was  not  until  nearly  a  year  later,  August,  1779, 
that  a  regular  call  was  extended  3Ir.  Hale  to  become  the 
settled  pastor.  It  was  accepted.  The  terms  of  settlement 
consisted  of  man}-  items,  substantially  the  following :  A  lot 
of  land  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town, — 15  acres  from 
Nathan  Clark's  farm,  5  acres  from  Elihu  Chilson's  home- 
stead,— a  parsonage  to  be  built,  32  by  30,  or  the  value  of  such 
a  house  paid  to  Mr.  Hale  in  mone}'.  The  annual  salary  was 
to  be  the  first  year  £40,  and  to  rise  by  adding  £3  a  year  until 
it  reached  £70,  this  sum  to  be  perpetual.  To  this  was  added 
the  finding  of  the  minister's  firewood  annually  after  the  first 
six  years  ;  and  also  the  promise  to  make  further  provisions  for 
his  support  if  those  stipulations  proved  to  be  insufficient. 

The  ordination  took  place  Sept.  20,  1779,  in  a  barn  on  the 
old  Norwich  road,  standing  a  little  east  of  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  W.  E.  Lyman.  It  was  an  occasion  of  great 
interest,  long  remembered  by  those  who  were  present,  and 
often  described  by  them  to  the  children  of  later  years.  The 
ordaining  council  consisted  of  Eev.  Jonathan  Judd,  Kev. 
Solomon  Williams,  Kev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  Kev.  Joseph 
Huntington,  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  Kev.  Aaron  Basconi,  Rev. 
Gersbom  C.  Lyman,  and  Mr.  Joel  Hayes,  a  delegate. 

The  church  was  organized  Sept.  1,  1779,  Kev.  Jonathan 
Judd,  of  Southampton,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Northamp- 
ton, present  and  assisting.  The  first  deacons  chosen  were  Mar- 
tin Clark  and  Reuben  Wright.  The  exact  list  of  members  at 
the  date  of  organization  is  not  preserved,  but  the  following 
names  appear  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  and  by 
him  are  described  as  being  members  "  soon  after  the  formation 
of  the  church:"  Jonathan  Alvord,  "William  Bartlett,  Joel 
Bartlett,  Elijah  Boyden,  John  Bullard,  Jonathan  Clark,  Na- 
than Clark,  Ebenezer  Clark,  Gideon  Clark,  Noah  Edwards, 
Jonathan  Fisher,  Ebenezer  French,  Samuel  Hubbard,  Saml. 
Kingsley,  Joseph  Kingsley,  Sylvester  Judd,  Azariah  Lyman, 
Kufus  Lyman,  Peter  Montague,  John  Parsons,  David  Parsons, 
Oliver  Post,  John  Smith,  Noah  Strong,  Amasa  Strong,  Elijah 
Tyler,  Mary  Bartlett,  Ruth  Boyden,  Joanna  Bullard,  Sarah 
Clark,  Eunice  Clark  (wife  of  Nathan),  Eunice  Clark  (wife  of 
Ebenezer),  Esther  Clark,  Jerusha  Edwards,  Mary  Elwell, 
Rachel  French,  Beriah  French,  Jerusha  Hubbard,  Hannah 
Judd,  Isabel  Kingsley,  Martha  Lj'man,  Mary  Montague, 
Lydia  Parsons,  Irene  Parsons,  Mary  Phelps,  Mrs.  Strong 
(wife  of  Noah),  Thankful  Strong,  Sarah  Strong,  Ruth  Tyler, 
Abigail  Wright. 

The  erection  of  a  meeting-house  was  considerably  delayed  by 
the  discussion  over  the  site.  The  story  is  too  long  for  our 
limits  ;  we  can  only  state  the  successive  steps.  May  21,  1779, 
a  site  was  selected  by  the  town  and  a  house  voted  to  be  built 
40  by  50.  This  site  was  very  near  the  present  location,  as  ap- 
pears from  subsequent  statements  in  the  town  records,  but  it 
was  unsatisfactory.  The  south  part  of  the  town  desired  to  have 
it  on  the  old  historic  Norwich  road,  where  the  first  settlement 
had  been  made,  and  where  the  miijority  of  the  people  then 


lived,  and  they  suggested  what  has  been  known  in  late  years 
as  Babcock's  Corners.  The  northern  portion  insisted  on  the 
"square"  in  front  of  Nathan  Clark's,  now  the  rock-covered 
triangle  near  the  centre  school-house.  The  dissension  was  se- 
vere and  threatening.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Hale's  house  was 
erected,  the  present  place  of  Nathan  Burt,  and  meetings  were 
held  in  that,  his  house,  perhaps,  as  well  as  himself,  thus  proving 
a  peacemaker  ;  but  the  town  returned  the  meetings  to  Nathan 
Clark's  the  ne.xt  spring.  The  geographical  centre,  near  the  top 
of  Tob's  Hill,  was  gravely  proposed.  Then  a  committee  from 
abroad,  consisting  of  Col.  Chapin,  of  Hatfield,  Deacon  White, 
of  Springfield,  and  Deacon  White,  of  Whately,  were  invited 
to  decide  the  location.  They  reported  a  site  which  the  town 
accepted,  but  which  was  not  really  satisfactory  to  either  party, 
and  this  was  abandoned.  Five  weary  years  were  thus  passed, 
when,  with  considerable  unanimity,  the  town  came  back 
nearly  to  a  previous  selection,  and  the  house  was  at  last  lo- 
cated and  built  where  the  present  one  stands.  It  was  in  the 
woods,  the  primeval  timber  being  cut  away  to  make  room  for 
it,  the  log  hut  of  Samuel  Hering  and  the  hou.se  of  Mr.  Hale, 
now  the  place  of  Nathan  Burt,  being  the  only  habitations  near 
the  meeting-house ;  but  the  struggle  was  ended,  and  ended  for 
all  succeeding  years. 

EXTRACT.S    FROM   THE   CUURr'H    RECORDS. 

In  1789,  large  additions  were  made  to  the  church,  mo&tly  young  people. 

Dec.  20, 1781. — The  pastor,  with  Deacon  Martin  Clark,  delegate,  attended  a 
council  at  \\'illiamsbnrg,  to  install  Kev.  Joseph  Strong. 

September  30  and  Oct.  1,  1782. — The  l)astor,  witli  Deacon  "Wright,  delegate, 
attended  a  council  at  Anihei-st. 

Sept.  "29, 1^01. — The  pastor,  with  Samuel  Kingsley,  delegate,  attended  a  con- 
vention at  Xorthamptun,  to  form  a  missionary  society.  This  shows  that  some  of 
the  earliest  movements  in  behalf  of  Christian  work  for  the  heathen  began  in 
these  towns  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  ;  this  date  being  some  years  earlier  than 
the  historic  prayer-meeting  by  the  hay-stack,  in  VViUiamstown. 

180G. — Forty-eight  were  added  to  the  church  that  year. 

Oct.  21, 1819. — Pjistor,  with  Solomon  Judd,  delegate,  attended  a  convention  at 
Hadley,  which  recommended  unanimously  certain  articles  respecting  church 
union  and  government.  Subsequently,  May  1, 1820,  the  church  of  W'esthampton, 
after  heating  the  report  of  a  committee  on  said  articles,  refused  to  .approve  them, 
and  also  declined  to  send  delegates  to  another  convention  to  meet  at  Hatfield. 
The  committee  above  mentioned  were  Deacon  Martin  Clark,  Deacon  Samuel 
Edwards,  Sylvester  Judd,  Esq.,  Capt.  Azariah  Lyman,  Deacon  Pliny  Sykes,  MaJ. 
Aaron  Fisher,  Solomon  Judd,  Dr.  Wm.  Hooker,  and  "Willard  Smith. 

This  transaction  shows  very  clearly  the  dignity  and  careful- 
ness with  which  the  local  church  guarded  their  independence, 
and  how  steadily  they  declined  to  yield  their  own  convictions 
of  truth  and  duty  even  to  unanimous  recommendations  from 
conventions  and  councils. 

May  1, 1818. — The  church  chose  a  committee  ''to.^uperintend  Sabbath-schools 
in  this  town,  and  to  apply  if  necessarj'  to  the  town  for  this  purpose," — Benoni 
Clark,  Levi  Post,  Jr..  Noah  Kingsley,  Luke  Phelps,  and  Richard  Clapp. 

Oct.  30,  1818.— The  church  voted  their  thanks  to  the  alwve  conmiittee  for 
"  their  benevolence,  diligence,  and  fidelity  in  conducting  the  Sabhath-schools." 
This  appears  to  have  been  the  opening  of  the  modern  Sabbath-school  work  in 
this  town, — a  work  which  for  sLxty  yeiu-s  h.as  been  steadily  cherished  by  the 
church  as  one  of  its  most  important  departments. 

April  6, 1820.— At  the  meeting  which  appointed  the  annual  Sabbath-school 
committee,  they  were  instructed  "  to  see  what  can  be  done  in  regard  to  our  com- 
mon schools  for  the  promotion  of  religion  among  the  children,"  and  .\pril  10th 
the  committee  reported  that  "  the  Bilde  be  read  with  solemnity  every  half-day 
in  the  public  schools  in  connection  with  prayer,  if  prayer  be  attended." 

April  5,  1821.— Benevolent  work  was  provided  for  by  the  appointment  of  Jo- 
seph Kingsley,  Dr.  William  Hooker,  Deacon  Pliny  Sykes,  Joel  Bust,  and  Willard 
Smith  a  conmiittee  *'  to  encourage  and  receive  charitable  donations  and  deliver 
them  to  their  uses." 

May  3,  1822,  the  standing  committee  of  the  church  in  their 
annual  report  have  the  following  reference  to  a  subject  that 
has  not  yet  disappeared  from  the  field  of  public  discussion : 

"  During  the  past  year  they  have  unhappily  found  occasion  in  several  instances 
to  pay  attention  to  brethren  who  were  thought  to  be  injuring,  if  not  destroying, 
themselves  by  drinking  intemperately  into-xicating  liquors.  Their  exertions  to 
recKaira  from  that  vice,  if  not  so  completely  successful  as  they  ardently  dcsiredi 
they  allow  themselves  to  hope  have  not  been  wholly  without  success.  But 
further  endeavors  they  are  sensible  will  be  necessary  to  effect  (if  by  the  gr.ace  of 
God  it  be  possible)  a  thorough  reformation  in  all  who  have  deviated  from  the 
way  of  the  gospel." 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


297 


It  appears  from  the  records  that  the  evil  of  intemperance 
cost  the  cluirch  much  trouble,  resulting  in  many  un|jleasant 
trials,  and  in  some  instances  actual  excomnuinication. 

We  copy  one  sentence  as  a  specimen  of  the  solemnity  and 
almost  judicial  formality  attending  ancient  church  discipline: 

'  Mr. ,  listen  to  your  sentence.    To  the  grief  of  God's  children  you  have 


a  number  of  years  been  intemperate,  in  drinking  to  drunkenness.  This  church 
lias  labored  to  reform  you,  without  success.  You  refuse  to  be  reformed :  therefore 
hear:   the  church  of  Christ  in  Westhampton  sentences  and  pronounces  you, 

Mr. ,  to  be  exconmiunicnted,  and  does  by  this  sentence  excommunicate 

you  from  the  fellowship  of  Christ's  church." 

To  the  radical  temperance  men  of  the  present  time  it  will 
seem  strange  that  the  crime  specified  in  the  above  sentence 
was  not  "drinking"  intoxicating  liquors,  but  "drinking  to 
drunkenness,"  and  doubtless  the  culprit  was  tried,  the  deci- 
sion made,  and  the  sentence  pronounced  by  men  who  saw 
no  harm  in  moderate  drinking,  and  no  doubt  practiced  it. 
Doubtless  their  own  cellars  were  stored  with  cider, — an  agent 
that  has  probably  wrought  more  ruin  in  rural  towns  than  any 
other  intoxicating  liquor.  But  the  men  of  that  time  had  not 
learned,  what  is  now  so  clear,  that  church  members,  to  save 
their  own  sons  and  their  neighbors'  sous,  must  close  their  lips 
against  even  cider,  and  banish  it  as  a  beverage  from  their 
households. 

Miiiisfcrial  Record. — 1st.   Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  ordained  Sept. 

20,  1779;  died  Jan.  14,  1837,  in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  his 
pastorate  and  the  eighty-fourth  j-ear  of  his  age.  2d.  Rev. 
Horace  B.  Chapin,  installed  as  colleague  to  Mr.  Hale  July  8, 
1829;  continued  only  a  short  time  after  Mr.  Hale's  death, 
being  dismissed,  at  his  own  request,  in  May,  1837 ;  he  died  at 
Lewiston  Falls,  Me.,  October,  1840.  3d.  Kev.  Amos  Drury, 
installed  June  28,  1837 ;  he  died  while  still  pastor,  July  22, 
1841,  at  Pittsford,  Vt.,  being  on  a  visit  to  friends  in  that 
place.  4th.  Kev.  David  Coggin,  ordained  May  11,  1842; 
died  of  consumption  while  still  pastor,  April  28,  18.J2,  aged 
thirty-five  years.  5th.  Kev.  Andrew  Bigelow,  installed  March 
2,  1854;  dismissed  April  18,  1855.  6th.  Kev.  Roswell  Foster, 
installed  Nov.  20,  1856 ;  dismissed  Dec.  28,  1868.  7th.  Kev. 
Edward  C.  Bissell,  ordained  Sept.  22,  1859;  3Ir.  Bissell  en- 
listed in  the  army  for  the  suppression  of  the  Kebellion,  and 
was  chosen  a  captain ;  he  was  dismissed  from  the  pastorale 
May  10,   18C4.     8th.  Rev.  Thomas  Allender,  installed  June 

21,  1860;  died  Sept.  17,  1869.  9th.  Pliny  F.  Barnard,  in- 
stalled June  30,  1870;  dismissed  July  1,  1873.  10th.  Rev. 
Joseph  Lanman,  installed  June  3,  1874;  dismissed  Sept.  11, 
1876.  11th.  Rev.  Edward  S.  Palmer,  installed  Dec.  7,  1876, 
and  present  pastor  of  the  church  (November,  1878). 

Record  of  Deacons. — Keuben  Wright,  chosen  Oct.  13,  1779; 
died  May  6,  1798.  Martin  Clark,  chosen  Oct.  13,  1779 ;  died 
May  24,  1823.  Samuel  Edwards,  chosen  Jan.  31,  1786;  died 
Aug.  12,  1842.  Pliny  Sykes,  chosen  June  5,  1811  ;  died  Nov. 
12,  1833.  Elisha  King,  chosen  May  19,  1824;  died  June  29, 
1852.  Eleazer  Judd,  chosen  Jan.  5,  1834;  died  June,  1863. 
Zenas  S.  Clark,  chosen  Dec.  16,  1852;  present  deacon,  but  not 
acting.  Joel  Cook,  chosen  July  5,  1855;  died  1878.  Wm. 
P.  Edwards,  chosen  Feb.  27,  1862;  present  deacon  officiating. 
Alfred  D.Montague,  chosen  Dec.  30,  1875  ;  present  deacon  of- 
ficiating. 

THE    UNION    CHURCH    OF    WESTHAMPTON 

was  formed  Sept.  30,  1829.  It  consisted  of  41  members  who 
had  withdrawn  from  the  fellowship  of  the  old  church.  The 
movement  was  the  result  of  differences  of  views  and  feelings, 
not  really  of  doctrine, — such  a  movement  as  may  often  be  ex- 
pected to  occur  where  men  of  equal  rectitude,  equal  faith,  and 
equal  piety,  exercising  the  liberty  of  thought  common  to 
this  free  country,  arrive  at  exactly  opposite  conclusions  as  to 
^uty  and  policy.  The  Kev.  John  Truair  was  pastor  of  this 
church  for  eight  years,  but  after  his  removal  meetings  were 
not  regularly  continued.  There  were  no  sufficient  reasons  for 
a  separate  society,  and  the  church  was  formally  dissolved 
38 


Aug.  17,  1850.  The  members  returned  to  the  old  church,  and 
few  traces  of  the  division  exist  either  in  policy  or  sentiment 
at  the  present  time.  The  Kev.  Mr.  Truair  is  spoken  of  by 
some  writers  as  an  impulsive  agitator,  a  disturbing  force,  and 
doubtless  he  may  have  somewhat  roughly  broken  in  upon  the 
ancient  set  forms  and  possibly  the  prosaic  sermonizing  of  the 
times.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  1825  to  1835  was  the 
great  period  when  modern  methods  of  revival  work  were  to  a 
certain  extent  inaugurated,  new  measures  introduced,  and  new 
styles  of  thought  and  speech  became  prominent  throughout 
this  and  other  States  in  the  pulpit  and  the  prayer-meeting. 
The  children  of  the  families  who  adhered  to  Mr.  Truair,  now 
in  advanced  life,  speak  yet  with  some  feeling  of  his  energy, 
his  enthusiasm,  but  they  heartily  join  with  the  children  of  the 
other  families  in  throwing  the  kindly  veil  of  charity  over  all 
the  proceedings  of  that  period,  and  forgetting  both  conserva- 
tism and  radicalism  in  united,  harmonious  work  in  the  old 
paths  and  for  the  old  faith. 

BURI.VL-GROUNDS. 

The  burials  in  this  town  seem  to  have  very  early  been  made 
in  just  three  places, — not  scattered  over  the  farms  and  in  the 
neighborhood,  as  in  the  case  of  some  pioneer  settlements.  The 
action  of  the  town  in  1779  implies  that  one  had  been  in  use  in 
the  south  for  some  years  previously.  This  was  located  a  little 
west  of  Babcock's  Corners,  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  and 
in  later  years  the  remains  have  been  removed  and  the  ground 
given  up.     The  first  burial  here  is  not  certainly  known. 

The  action  of  the  town  alluded  to  was  the  following: 
March  8,  1779. — Voted,  that  the  town  will  procure  two  acres  of  land — the  one 
in  the  north,  the  other  in  the  south  part  of  the  town — for  the  purpose  of  bury- 
ing-places.  Voted,  that  the  pbace  that  /«w  lieeu  used  in  the  south  part  of  the  town 
be  continued  for  that  purpose.  Voted,  that  Capt.  William  Burtlett,  .louathan 
Clark,  Seth  Burk,  Zachariah  Curtis,  and  Aaron  Thayer  be  a  committee  to  pro- 
cure tlie  }daces  above  mentioned. 

The  one  north  of  the  centre,  near  the  present  residence  of 
Sylvester  King,  was  laid  out  pursuant  to  the  above  .tction, 
and  is  therefore  nearly  one  hundred  years  old. 

The  cemetery  at  the  centre  was  authorized  by  the  following 
action : 

Dec.  6,  1790. — Voted,  that  the  committee  heretofore  chosen  t^i  seek  a  place  for 
a  burying-ground  be  directed  and  empowered  to  purchase  a  Jiiece  of  ground  of 
the  Key.  Enoch  Hale  and  Mr.  Jared  Hunt  for  the  purpose  above  mentioned,  and 
to  take  deed  for  the  same  in  behalf  of  the  town. 

Bi>unds  of  the  new  buryiog-gound  in  Westhampton,  lying  on  the  east  side  of 
the  highway  that  leads  from  Mr.  Hale's  to  Mr.  Samuel  Kingsley's.  about  30  rods 
south  of  5Ir.  Hale's  dwelling-house:  one-half  said  burying-ground,  lying  lui  the 
south  side  of  the  dividing-line  between  Mr.  Hale  and  Mr.  .Tared  Hunt,  tjtken  out 
of  Mr,  Hule's  land,  and  the  other  half,  on  tlie  north  side  of  said  line,  out  of 
Mr.  Huut's  land, — being  16  rods  in  length  on  the  above  said  highway,  and  15 
rods  to  the  east  parallel  to  the  above  said  line,  and  containing  in  the  whole  one 
acre  and  a  half. 

This  ground  is  the  principal  cemetery  of  the  town.  The 
dates  extend  back  about  eighty  years,  but  there  were  much 
earlier  burials.  Near  the  front  entrance  stands  a  fine  soldiers' 
monument,  erected,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  to  the 
memory  of  those  who  fell  in  that  struggle.  It  bears  the 
inscription, — 

'  "  Erected  l>y  the  Town  of  Westhmnpion  in  grateful  remenv- 
brance  of  her  brave  and  patriotic  soldiers  who  sacrificed  their 
lives  in  defense  of  liberty  and  union  during  the  great  rebellion." 

This  cemetery  is  in  good  condition  ;  excellently  cared  for  ; 
containing  some  fine  monuments  of  later  years  standing  ami4 
the  low,  moss-covered  stones  of  the  earlier  times.  Upon  this 
death-crowned  summit,  and  along  its  beautiful  eastern  slope, 
are  gathered  the  dead  of  a  hundred  years. 

The  Damon  family  have  a  private  burial-place  near  the  o)d 
homestead,  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town. 

Some  members  of  the  Hayden  family  were  buried  originally 
upon  their  farm,  the  place  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Stanton. 
The  remains  were,  however,  removed  to  Chesterfield  many 
years  ago. 

In  the  "  Reunion  Address"  of  1866  it  is  stated  that  the  wife 


298 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


and  child  of  John  F.  Tucker  were  buried  in  Nathaniel  Ed- 
wards' pasture,  east  of  Joel  Cook's. 

TOWN   SOCIETIES,  LIBRARIES,  ETC. 

There  have  existed  here  the  usual  variety  of  religious,  be- 
nevolent, and  temperance  organizations  common  at  the  present 
time  and  for  the  last  half-century.  None  of  them  were  of 
sufficient  permanence  to  furnish  materials  to  any  extent  for  a 
historical  sketch. 

The  old  parish  or  town  library  of  early  times  seems  to  have 
been  a  valuable  means  of  instruction.  It,  however,  disap- 
peared, the  books  being  scattered  and  lost. 

In  later  years,  and  particularly  at  the  time  of  the  Reunion 
Festival  of  18613,  efforts  were  made  to  establish  a  new  and  more 
permanent  one,  especial  attention  being  given  to  a  pastor's 
library. 

At  that  time  Kev.  Dorus  Clarke  made  a  donation  to  the 
town  of  §100,  the  interest  of  which  should  be  given  as  a 
prize  annually  to  the  best  reader  and  speller  in  the  centre 
school. 

PLACES   or    HISTORIC    INTEREST   OR   OF   SPECIAL   NOTE. 

These  are  mentioned  in  the  general  narrative,  and  need 
little  additional  notice.  The  place  of  the  first  settlement  on 
the  banks  of  the  Manhan,  by  Abner  Smith,  in  1762,  is  inter- 
esting in  its  pioneer  reminiscences.  It  was  on  the  soidliern 
branch  of  the  Manhan,  and  just  where  the  present  Hunting- 
ton road  crosses  the  stream  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town. 
The  place  of  the  first  town-meeting  at  the  present  Orcutt 
place  recalls  the  early  eflbrts  at  civil  organization.  Here  came 
that  distinguished  man,  (Jovernor  Caleb  Strong,  to  preside  at 
this  formation  of  a  new  town,  organized  in  the  midst  of  the 
Revolution. 

These  and  similar  places  will  readily  occur  to  all  who  read 
the  interesting  annals  of  other  days. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

The  people  of  Westhampton  have  always  been  mostly  en- 
gaged in  farming.  In  former  times  considerable  attention  was 
given  to  selling  firewood  and  lumber.  Indeed,  much  of  the 
actual  money  received  by  the  earlier  settlers  and  down  to 
thirty  years  ago  was  for  firewood  drawn  to  Northampton. 
Firewood  gradually  rose  in  value,  as  well  as  lumber  in  various 
forms. 

The  last  ten  years  have  witnessed  a  great  change  in  this  form 
of  industry.  Firewood  has  declined  nearly  one-half  in  value, 
owing  to  the  introduction  of  coal  in  dwellings,  stores,  and 
business-places,  as  well  as  upon  the  railroads.  Another  reason 
of  the  decline  was  the  establishment  of  the  steam-mills  at 
Mount  Tom.  These  keep  continually  for  sale  (more,  in  fact, 
than  they  can  dispose  of  promptly)  large  quantities  of  slab- 
firewood,  which  supplants  soft  wood  in  the  market  to  a  great 
extent.  The  business  prosperity  of  Westhampton  has  been 
largely  injured  by  these  causes.  In  the  earlier  times  many 
cattle  were  fattened  for  beef  in  the  pastures  of  this  town,  and 
the  products  of  the  dairy  were  of  much  importance.  The 
sharp  competition  of  Western  beef.  Western  butter,  and  West- 
ern cheese  in  the  market  towns  of  New  England  has  largely 
destroyed  the  profit  formerly  made  from  these  sources. 

Westhampton,  too,  has  been  one  of  the  most  prolific  of  New 
England  towns  in  furnishing  emigrants  to  settle  the  broad  and 
fertile  States  of  the  Centre  and  the  West.  Her  sons  have 
sought  more  genial  climes  and  easier-tilled  lands.  The 
houses  have  disappeared  from  large  sections  of  the  town. 
Pastures  and  fields,  formerly  plowed,  have  grown  up  to  wood- 
land. Some  of  her  own  distinguished  sons  have  intimated  in 
public  addresses  that  the  town  will,  after  a  time,  disappear  as  a 
civil  organization;  that  it  will  become  a  wood-lot  of  North- 
ampton again  ;  that  the  wild  animals  may  once  more  live  in 
the  ancient  haunts,  wolves  howl  upon  the  slopes  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  bears  prowl  along   the  banks   of  Turkey   Brook, 


Sodom  Brook,  and  the  Manhan  River.  The  reduction  is  not 
ra]jid,  however,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  no  such  result 
need  be  expected.  The  great  period  of  reduction  was  from 
1830  to  1850. 

The  later  decrease  is  at  a  much  slower  rate.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  infer  that  Westhampton  must  live  in  future  his- 
tory solely  upon  her  past  fame.  Were  it  so,  were  the  volume 
of  Westhampton  records  to  be  closed  now,  there  would  remain 
in  the  annals  of  the  commonwealth  enduring  memorials  of  the 
labors  of  her  distinguished  sons.  It  would  be  a  history  in 
which  any  town  might  feel  a  just  pride.  But  we  prefer  to 
believe  that  some  of  the  sons  of  Westhampton  will  abide  in 
the  old  ways  and  restore  the  old  homesteads ;  that  the  rose 
shall  not  give  place  to  the  ivy,  and  the  fruitful  field  to  the 
untrodden  wilderness  ;  that  material  prosperity,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  some  new  revival  of  business,  will  again  visit  these 
rugged  liillsides  ;  that  religion  and  education  shall  still  display 
here  their  signal  worth,  as  they  have  in  the  past;  and  that 
other  generations  shall  arise  here  to  bless  the  fathers  of  to-day 
as  these  now  bless  the  fathers  of  a  century  ago. 

Mills,  Factories,  etc. — In  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  on 
the  Roberts  Meadow  Brook,  is  the  Bridgman  saw-mill.  It 
was  a  very  early  affair,  built  about  the  time  the  country  was 
settled.  It  has  been  kept  up  ever  since  by  the  family  of 
Bridgmans.  It  is  now  owned  by  Lucas  Bridgman.  The 
Westfleld  River  touches  the  northwest  corner  of  the  town, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  water-power  was  improved 
within  the  limits  of  Westhampton.  On  the  head-waters  of 
the  Manhan,  just  below  the  reservoir,  was  a  saw-mill,  known 
as  Langdon's,  built  thirty  years  ago  or  more.  It  is  now  aban- 
doned. Farther  south,  just  below  the  junction  of  a  western 
branch,  was  formerly  the  Chilson  grist-mill.  It  dated  back 
probably  to  about  the  time  of  the  first  settlement.  It  was 
burnt  and  not  rebuilt  many  years  ago.  In  the  same  building 
at  one  time  was  a  bras.s-foundry,  Bruce  &  Armitage.  They 
made  harness  trimmings.  The  enterprise  was  continued  for  a 
few  years.  At  this  same  point  was  the  Chilson  saw-mill,  built 
probablj'  by  Mr.  White  at  an  early  day.  This  was  also 
abandoned. 

Farther  down  the  stream  are  the  wood-turning  works,  for- 
merly run  by  Gere  and  T.  K.  Wright,  now  occupied  by  E.  P. 
Torrey.  Next  below  was  the  Thayer  grist-mill,  an  institution 
entirely  unknown  to  the  young  people  of  the  present  time,  or 
even  some  of  older  years.  It  was  built  by  Deacon  Timothy 
Thayer,  and  stood  near  where  Deacon  Wm.  I.  Edwards  now 
lives.  It  is  thought  that  this  was  given  up  as  early  as  1800. 
Next  below  is  the  saw-mill  of  Henry  Parsons.  This  was  built 
by  Mr.  Solomon  L.  Warner,  thirty  or  thirtj'-five  years  ago. 
A  curious  feature  of  this  water  privilege  is  that  to  a  stranger 
standing  on  Parsons  Bridge  and  looking  northwest  toward 
the  meeting-house  there  is  a  strong  temptation  to  believe  the 
stream  runs  up  hill,  and  that  when  the  next  bridge  is  reached, 
still  farther  toward  the  centre,  and  one  looks  back,  the  same 
impression  remains. 

The  "  natives"  familiar  with  the  topography  and  with  the 
actual  levels  do  not  seem  to  thinlc  there  is  any  difficulty  in 
understanding  it  at  all,  and  perhaps  there  is  not.  It  is  all  in 
the  visitor's  "eye."  Beyond  the  Parsons  mill  this  stream 
soon  enters  the  town  of  Northampton.  Commencing  on 
Sodom  Brook,  near  the  Southampton  line,  and  coming  north, 
there  was  formerly  the  distillery  of  Josejih  Kingsley.  It  stood 
near  the  present  place  of  Lester  T.  Langdon.  Next  below  is 
the  tannery-yard  of  Matthias  Rice  &  Sons  ;  this  is  still  in  opera- 
tion. Near  this  place  in  former  years  were  also  the  tan-works 
of  Samuel  Giddings,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Huntington  road. 
Near  Babcock's  Corner  also  chairs  were  manufactured  at  one 
time.  On  this  stream  below  is  the  saw-mill  of  W.  E.  Lyman. 
This  was  built  by  the  late  Jesse  Lyman.  It  is  still  in  opera- 
tion. At  the  site  of  Loud's  Mills  there  was  formerly  a  fulling- 
mill.     It  was  run  at  one  time  by  Strong  Alvord,  also  by  Saral. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


299 


Ormsby.  Not  far  below  Loud's  Mills  this  brook  unites  with 
the  Manhan. 

Ill  going  west  from  Babcot'k's  Corners  the  dividing-ridge 
between  the  northern  and  southern  branches  of  the  Manhan 
is  crossed,  and  on  the  latter  various  mill  privileges  have  been 
improved.  There  was  the  distillery  in  old  times  of  Enoch 
Lyman.  Below  was  a  tannery,  run,  perhaps,  by  Samuel  Gid- 
dings.  Then  Enoch  Lyman  had  a  saw-mill  on  the  place  now 
owned  by  Leander  Rhodes.  Below  that  was  the  Fisher  saw- 
mill, and  farther  south  was  the  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  of 
Elihu  Bartlett.  This  was  an  important  place  of  business  for 
many  years.  At  Loudville,  within  the  town  of  Westhamp- 
ton,  is  located  the  wood-turning  establishment  of  Francis 
Norton. 

Various  other  enterprises,  as  distilleries,  potash-works,  and 
wood-turning  works,  have  existed  from  time  to  time  in  dift'erent 
parts  of  the  town.  At  the  present  place  of  the  Loud  Mills 
was  an  old  saw-mill,  owned  at  various  times  by  Ludden,  Niles, 
Drake,  Edgerton,  and  others.  Charles  W.  Niles  also  had  a 
wood-turning  shop.  On  the  little  stream  in  the  village  was 
the  turning-shop  of  Francis  Loud,  now  owned  by  Charles  N. 
Lovid ;  not  operated  to  any  great  extent.  A  little  above,  Austin 
Loud  had  a  turning-shop  and  also  a  saw-mill. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  for  the  year 
ending  May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values 
stated:  Butter,  ^12,991 ;  firewood,  §13,925;  hay,  121,851 ;  po- 
tatoes, $4671 ;  tobacco,  |3727 ;  apples,  §5803 ;  beef,  §7263 ; 
pork,  §3591 ;  cider,  |2947  ;  corn,  §2194. 

MILITARY. 

"Westhampton  was  settled  just  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
and  during  its  progress,  being  incorporated  in  1778  ;  hence  it 
naturally  had  little  Revolutionary  history,  except  as  a  part  of 
Northampton.  In  the  sketches  of  the  latter  town  relating  to 
the  war  of  Independence  may  be  found  names  that  properly 
belong  to  the  present  territory  of  Westhampton. 

Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  the  first  pastor,  was  of  a  patriotic  family, 
his  brother  being  Nathan  Hale,  who  was  executed  as  a  spy  in 
the  British  camp,  and  whose  fame  has  been  celebrated  in  ora- 
tory and  song.  The  minister  had  also  seen  actual  service  in 
the  field  during  the  opening  years  of  the  struggle,  previous 
to  his  settlement  as  the  pastor  of  the  Westhampton  church. 

The  following  official  action,  found  in  the  town  books,  forms 
an  honorable  record  for  a  town  not  organized  until  three  years 
after  the  war  of  the  Revolution  commenced  : 

Aug.  5, 1779. — At  a  town-meeting,  voted,  that  "  the  town  would  provide  such 
tilings  for  those  men  that  went  from  us  into  tlie  Continental  army  as  the  town 
of  Northampton  desired  of  us. 

Aug.  11,1779. — In  the  midst  of  Revolutionary  difficulties,  Massachusetts  having 
proceeded  to  call  a  State  convention  to  fonn  a  constitution,  Westhampton  elected 
Sylvester  Judd  as  a  Delegate. 

Oct.  18,  1779. — The  town  voted  to  hire  the  three  men  required  for  the  Conti- 
nental army.  Gideon  Clark,  .lohn  Smith,  and  Sheldon  Felton  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  assist  the  militiii  officers  in  hiring  the  men. 

Voted,  that  the  selectmen  collect  the  clothing  required  of  Westhampton  for 
the  use  of  the  army,  deliver  the  same  in  Northampton,  and  take  a  proper  receipt 
therefor. 

Voted,  that  the  men  that  went  the  month's  campaign  into  Connecticut  be  paid 
the  same  as  those  that  went  in  June  last,  in  proportion  to  their  service.  Nathan 
Clark,  Aaron  Fisher,  and  Sylvester  Judd  were  appointed  a  committee  to  attend 
to  this. 

July  2.3, 1781. — Voted,  to  hire  the  three  men  now  required  of  us  for  the  army, 
and  that  Capt.  Azariah  Lyman,  Lieut.  Aaron  Fisher,  and  Lieut.  Noah  Edwards  be 
a  committee  to  hire  said  men,  expense  to  be  assessed  upon  said  town,  and  paid 
within  one  month. 

Sept.  18, 1781. — Voted,  that  the  men  that  now  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
join  the  army  at  the  shortest  notice  shall  be  paid  2  pounds  lOshillings  per  month 
for  each  month  they  shall  be  in  a<:tual  service,  twenty  shillings  to  be  paid  in 
advance  when  called  upi>n  to  march. 

May  1, 1782. — Voted,  that  Mr.  Sylvester  Judd  be  a  committee  to  hire  one  man 
for  the  Continental  .army. 

Perhaps  this  was  not  accomplished,  for  a  similar  vote  .seems 
to  have  been  taken  September  10th  of  the  same  year ;  also, 
October  28th ;  also,  December  4th ;  and,  after  all,  it  does  not 
appear  whether  the  man  was  obtained. 


The  votes  thus  given  show  the  official  action  of  the  town. 
From  other  sources  the  following  general  facts  are  obtained : 

Training-bands  were  formed  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  1774.  The  first  training  in  Westhampton  is  said  to 
have  been  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  A  company  consisting  of 
30  or  40  persons  held  a  parade  in  the  door-yard  of  Deacon 
Martin  Clark.  There  is  probably  no  muster-roll  of  this  im- 
promptu company.  The  people  had  refused  to  train  the  year 
before  under  certain  officers  appointed  by  Gov.  Hutchinson, 
but  now,  under  the  impulse  of  the  coming  danger,  they  met 
voluntarily  to  prepare  not  for  simply  a  holiday  parade,  but 
for  actual  war,  which  it  was  seen  could  not  long  be  delayed. 

William  Bartlett  was  elected  captain,  Noah  Strong  lieu- 
tenant, and  Jonathan  Fisher  ensign. 

The  company  had  a  small  drum  and  no  fifer.  That  same 
year  the  company  of  Minute-Men  formed  in  Northampton 
included  several  from  the  Long  Division.  Captain  Noah 
Cook,  afterward  of  Westhampton,  was  a  member  of  this  band. 
When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  North- 
ampton on  the  morning  of  April  21,  1775,  the  bells  were  rving 
and  the  drum  beat  to  arms  in  the  streets.  A  cannon  appears 
to  have  been  discharged,  as  stories  coming  down  in  South- 
ampton families  tell  of  the  signal-gun  that  summoned  them 
to  the  post  of  duty.  Noah  Cook  was  in  the  meadows  harrow- 
ing in  oats.  Like  others,  he  abandoned  the  work  on  the  in- 
stant. In  a  short  time  the  Minute-Men  came  in  from  all  parts 
of  the  old  town  of  Northampton;  they  paraded  in  front  of 
the  meeting-house,  occupying  the  present  street  before  "Shop 
Row."  They  were  armed  and  equipped.  Rev.  Mr.  Hooker 
made  "  a  stirring  prayer."  Col.  Seth  Pomeroy  made  a  patri- 
otic speech  and  encouraged  them  in  the  good  cause.  That 
same  afternoon,  with  three  or  four  days'  rations,  they  started 
for  Concord,  which  they  reached  on  the  24th.  Another  com- 
pany of  Minute-Men  was  formed  from  the  territory  of  South- 
ampton, Norwich,  and  Westhampton.  Jonathan  Wales, 
Ebenezer  French,  Jr.,  and  Ebenezer  Gee  marched  with  this 
company  to  Concord  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lexington. 
They  remained  near  Boston  several  months.  In  September, 
1775,  Gee  enlisted  in  Arnold's  expedition  against  Canada,  and 
went  as  far  as  Dead  River.  In  February,  1776,  Noah  Cook 
and  Abiather  French  marched  with  the  second  expedition  to 
Canada  by  way  of  Ticonderoga,  arrived  at  Quebec  in  April., 
where,  instead  of  taking  the  fortress,  they  took  the  smallpox,, 
and  the  only  ammunition  they  had  adapted  to  that  was  but- 
ternut-bark pills.  At  Dorchester,  Ebenezer  French  joined  su 
force  sent  on  for  the  defense  of  New  York. 

In  December,  1776,  a  company  was  formed  under  Jonathan! 
Wales,  captain,  and  Noah  Strong,  lieutenant.  From  West- 
hampton this  company  had  also  Seth  Burk,  Jonathan  Fisher,. 
Levi  Post,  Timothy  Phelps,  Asa  Thayer,  and  Sylvester  Judd, 
Jonathan  Fisher  died  in  March,  1777,  at  Morristown,  N.  J., 
whither  the  company  had  marched  after  remaining  at  Peekskill 
a  short  time.  Jonathan  Fisher  is  spoken  of  as  a  fair-looking, 
well-built  man,  with  gentlemanly  manners.  He  was  a  zealous 
patriot,  and  did  much  to  aid  the  enlisting  of  soldiers.  He  was 
brave,  courageous,  and  a  true  soldier.  The  Bible  he  carried 
into  camp  with  him  is  in  the  posse.ssion  of  his  great-grand- 
daughter, Mrs.  Lewis  H.  Clark,  of  Sodus,  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y. 

In  the  crisis  of  the  Burgoyne  campaign,  September,  1777, 
when  reinforcements  were  ordered,  eight  men  from  West- 
hampton went  to  join  the  army  of  Gen.  Gates.  The  names 
do  not  seem  to  be  preserved.  It  is  apparent  that  from  the 
Lexington  alarm,  in  1775,  all  through  the  weary  years  of 
the  war,  there  were  several  in  the  army  all  the  time  from  this 
town. 

In  1780,  June  5th,  there  came  the  order  of  the  General  Court 
ioT  every  cixt/i  >iian  to  march  to  reinforce  the  Continental  army. 
This  must  have  taken  ten  or  twclne,  but  we  have  no  record  of 
the  names.  They  were  ready  by  the  28th,  and  marched,  but 
to  what  part  of  the  army  is  not  stated  in  the  chronicles  of  the 


300 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


times.  But  not  yet  were  the  calls  finished.  In  the  fall  of 
1781,  a  company  raised  from  the  three  Hamptons  marched  to 
Saratoga,  to  prevent  any  possibility  of  renewing  the  Burgoyne 
campain  of  four  years  before.  Tliis  was  during  the  southern 
campaign  against  Cornwallis.  It  is  no  doubt  the  case  that 
during  the  remaining  two  years  of  the  struggle  that  culmin- 
ated in  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  Westhamp- 
ton  was  still  represented.  And  .so  through  this  whole  contest 
the  people  responded  to  every  call  for  men. 

Though  the  calls  followed  each  other  very  closely,  in  one 
in.stance  less  than  a  month  intervening,  3'et  it  does  not  appear 
that  a  draft  was  made.  The  men  were  procured  by  volun- 
teering, or  perhaps  in  a  few  instances  by  hiring,  to  fill  the 
quota.  Orders  came  from  time  to  time  to  the  towns  to  pro- 
vide supplies  for  the  army, — that  is,  so  many  pounds  of  beef,  so 
many  blankets,  shoes,  and  stockings.  Committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  visit  every  house  ;  they  decided  whether  the  house 
should  furnish  one,  two,  or  more  blankets,  or  so  much  beef,  etc. 
There  could  be  little  delay  :  the  owner  immediatel}'  produced 
them,  and  took  his  pay  in  Continental  paper;  or,  if  the  owner 
preferred,  he  could  pay  so  nuich  money  and  save  his  property. 
The  town  was  to  provide  each  soldier  with  a  firearm  and 
bayonet, — or  instead  of  a  bayonet,  a  tomahawk  or  hatchet, — a 
cartouch-box,  knapsack,  and  blanket.  Tories  were  not  found 
in  AVesthampton,  except,  it  is  said,  in  a  single  instance,  and  the 
place  was  speedily  made  too  hot  for  him. 

SHATS'    REBELLION. 

Westhampton  seems  to  have  been  more  free  from  the  in- 
fluences attending  that  outbreak  than  any  of  the  surrounding 
towns. 

If  the  people  felt  the  pressure  of  the  hard  times,  as  they 
must  have  done,  they  yet  deemed  that  the  only  safe  way  for  a 
redress  of  grievances  and  for  relief  was  by  peaceful  means.  It 
is  not  known  that  any  of  the  citizens  of  this  town  shared  in  the 
insurgent  movements  or  were  favorable  to  them.  So  noted 
was  the  town  at  that  time  in  this  respect  that  when  the  Shays' 
men  seized  that  staunch  old  patriot  and  firm  "government 
man,"  Ca|)t.  Kirkland,  of  Norwich,  they  were  afraid  to  take 
him  through  Westhampton  for  fear  he  would  be  rescued  by 
the  citizens. 


The  State  convention  which  ratified  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion of  1788  was  an  important  body,  and  the  debates  were 
able  and  earnest.  The  Constitution  had  strong  opposition. 
The  delegate  from  Westhampton,  Major  Aaron  Fisher,  was 
one  of  its  friends,  and  it  was  approved  by  19  majority.  As 
long  as  he  lived  Mr.  Fisher  enjoyed  the  proud  satisfaction  of 
having  voted  in  the  atfirmative. 

OFFICIAL   ACTION    DUKING   THE   CIVIL   WAR,    1861-6.5. 

18fil. — There  was  no  artion  by  the  town  in  its  coiiiorate  capacity  during  this 
year. 

18G2. — The  first  meeting  to  consider  war  matters  was  Iield  August  1st,  at  which 
it  was  voted  to  pay  a  liounty  of  seventy-five  dollai-s  eacli  for  nine  moutlis'  volun- 
teers. October  4th,  ttie  treasurer  was  directed  "  to  pay  baclt  to  the  several  collec- 
tors all  moneys  paid  in  by  them  as  Ixmnty -money  for  the  town's  first  quota  of 
the  tliree  hundred  thousand  men,  and  tliat  tlie  town  treasurer  be  directed  to 
borrow  si.\  humhed  dollai-s  to  pay  equally  to  eacli  of  the  sL\  volunteers. 

April  25,  1S63. — The  town  voted  to  rafse  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
for  the  payment  of  bounties  to  volunteers. 

July  2-2,  ISG4. — It  was  voted  to  refund  to  each  man  who  liaa  paid  commutation 
or  furnislied  a  substitute,  or  wlio  may  i)ay  it  under  the  last  two  calls  of  the  Presi- 
dent for  men,  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  It  was  further  voted  to  provide 
for  the  future  by  borrowing  §1500  "  t«.>  aid,  when  needed,  to  procure  volunteers  to 
fill  the  quota  of  tlie  town  under  any  future  call  of  the  President  by  paying  a 
bounty  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  the  same  amount  to  be  paid  to 
eiU'h  person  who  pays  commutation  or  provides  a  substitute." 

May  9,  I8G0. — Voted,  to  pay  three  hundred  dollars  to  each  drafted  man  who  in 
18G4  paid  commutation-money  or  furnished  a  sul)stitute;  also  to  assess  this  year 
S12tlO,  and  the  remainder  in  the  two  su(-ceeding  years,  t*)  pay  money  borrowed  on 
account  of  the  war.  The  treasurer  was  authorized  to  Iwrrow  money  in  advance 
of  the  levy  by  tax. 

Westhampton  furnished  08  men  for  the  war,  which  was  a 
surplus  of  four  over  and  above  all  demands.  One  was  a  com- 
missioned otficer.  The  whole  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by 
the  town  was  .$9454.50.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town 
in  1860  was  $298,404,  and  the  population  of  the  town  008. 
Aid  to  families  under  the  provision  of  the  State  law  1801, 
$81.00;  1802,  $561.63;  1803,  $912.93;  1804,  $514.75;  1805, 
$270.92.     Total,  $2341.99. 

The  soldiers'  list  hereto  annexed  is  presumed  to  include  the 
name  of  every  resident  of  the  town  who  entered  the  army. 
Substitutes  and  recruits  hired  abroad  are  omitted.  The  list 
is  based  upon  the  reports  of  the  adjutant-general  and  the 
records  in  the  town  clerk's  oflSce. 


Edwin  0.  Bissell,  capt.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  62d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1SC3. 
CharlesS.  Marsh,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802, 52dM.V. 

M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug,  14,  1863. 
Horace  C.  Bartlett,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,  62d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Abner  P.  Bridgman,  enl.  Oct.  11,1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K ;  disch.  Feb.  20,  1863,  for  disability,  st 

Baton  Rouge. 
George  Burt,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
George  A.  Chilson,  enl.  Feb.  29, 1864,37tll  Inf.,  Co. 

A;  disch.  July  18,  186.5. 
Frederick  F.  Jessimine,  enl.  Sept.  27,  1861,  27th 

Inf.,  Co.  A;   disch.  to    re-enl.  Dec.  22,  186:i; 

wounded  at  Cold  Harbor,  June  3,  1864;  died 

the  0th  ;  buried  there. 
Nelson  T.  Knight,  enl.  Sept.  27,  1801,  27th  Inf., 

Co.   A ;    died    Oct.    3,   1802,   at    Washington, 

N.  C. 
Hugh  B  Laidley,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Hiram  J.  Von  Steenbnrgh,  enl.  Sept.  27, 1861,  27th 

Inf,  Co.  A  ;  re-enl.  Dec.  22, 1863  ;  diach.  Juno 

27, 1865. 
Wm.  A.  Bartlett,  enl.  Aug.  8,  1802,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  trans.    Dec.  15,  186:i,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps; 

disih.  April  15,  1864,  for  disability. 
Justin  E.  Janoa,  enl.  Ang.  8, 1802,  37th  Inf,  Co.  D ; 

disch.  March  29,  1803,  for  disability. 
Sumni'r  L.  Niles,  enl.  Aug.  8,1862,37th  luf,  Co. 

D  ;  disch.  Juno  21, 1865,  for  wounds. 


Jonathan  M.  Phelps,  enl.  Feb.  29, 1864,  37th  Inf., 

Co.   D;   died   April    3,   1804,  at   Washington, 

D.  C,  of  measles;  buried  in  Westhampton. 
Francis  H.Wright,  enl.  Aug.  8, 1802,37th  Inf,  Co. 

A;  died  Feb.  19,  1803,  at   Falmouth,  Va.,  of 

typhoid  fever;  buried  there. 
Anthony  F.  Tufts,  enl.  Jan.  30,  1862,  15lh  Inf., 

Co.  F  ;  disch.  March  19,  1863,  for  disal.ility. 
John  P.  Conway,  enl.  Aug.  19,  1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 

C;  disch.  Aug.  30, 1804. 
Andrew   J.  Shaw,  Corp.,  eid.  Sept.  27,  1861,  27th 

Inf.,  Co.  A  ;  disch.  April  13,  1803,  for  disa- 
bility; had  been  a  rebel  prisoner;  well-nigh 

starved  to  death  at  .\nder8onvine. 
Horace  F.  Clapp,  enl,  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M,  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 186.3. 
Michael  Connery,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862, 52d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Sylvester  Davis,  enl.  Oct.  11,1862,  52d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14.  1863. 
Wm.  I.  Edwards,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
George  W.  Snyder,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.V,  M., 

Co.  K  ;  died  May  9, 1863,  at  Berwick  City,  La., 

of  fever. 
Henry  Sullivan,  enl,  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  18r,.3. 
Wm,  H.  Tufts,  enl.  Aug.  26,1861,  20th  Inf.,  Co.  D; 

disch.  f.>r  disab.,  March  31, 1863. 
Samuel  P.  Janes,  enl,  Sept.  27,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  disch,  Oct.  S,  1864  ;  was  in  the  signal  corps 

a  portion  of  the  time. 


Daniel  F.  Knight,  enl,  Sept.  27,1801,  27th  Inf., 
Co.  D;  disch.  June  27,  1805,  having  re-en- 
listed. 

Edward  Reed,  enl.  Selit.  27,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co.  A  ; 
re-enlisted  ;  disch.  June  27,  1805. 

Henry  H.  Clark,  enl.  Ang.  19,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 
A  ;  lost  in  thebattleof  the  Wilderness;  known 
to  have  been  wounded ;  undoubtedly  died  on 
the  battle-field. 

Caleb  F,  Tufts,  enl,  Jan,  21,  1862,  31st  Inf,,  Co.  H ; 
disch.  June  IS,  1862,  for  disability, 

Wm.  J.  Pittsinger,  enl.  ¥eh.  4,  1862,  31st  Inf,  Co. 
I;  disch,  June  20, 1802,  for  disability  ;  died  on 
the  road  home  at  New  York,  Sept,  9,  1862; 
buried  in  Westhampton. 

Edward  W,  Hooker,  sergt.,  enl.  Ang.  8, 1862,  37th 
Inf.,  Co.  C;  pro.  to  2d  lieut.  May  24,  1865; 
disch.  June  21, 1865. 

Augustine  O.  Janes,  enl.  Aug,  10, 1862,  37th  Inf., 
Co.  A;  disch,  March  10,  1803,  for  disability; 
died  at  Philadelphia  on  Ibe  way  home;  body 
brought  to  Westhampton  for  burial. 

Oliver  K.  Hooker,  enl.  Aug.  18,  1802,37th  Inf,, Co. 
A;  killed  May  12, 1864,  in  Virginia. 

Charles  Loud,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M,, 
O,  K  ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1863. 

Henry  Strong,  enl,  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co,  A  ; 
died  in  the  service,  and  brought  to  Westhamp- 
ton for  burial. 

Wm,  M.  Kingsley,  enl.  37th  Inf.;  killed  in  battle. 

Charles  L.  Wright,  enl.  Oct.  2,  1802,  62d  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  C;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 


IMiuto.  by  Hardie  A  >chaiiee. 


kJ^^^^ 


Ansel  Clapp  is  a  direct  descendant  of  Roger  Clapp,  who 
was  born  in  Devonshire,  England,  April  6, 1609;  and,  coming 
to  this  country,  landed  at  Nantucket  Beach,  May  30,  1630. 
Four  years  later  he  married  Joanna  Ford,  who  arrived  in  this 
country  in  the  same  ship,  the  "  Mary  and  John." 

Ansel  Clapp  is  the  sixth  generation  from  Eoger  ;  Preserved 
was  of  the  second,  Samuel  of  the  third,  Seth  of  the  fourth, 
and  Seth  of  the  fifth.  Ansel  was  born  in  Northampton, 
Mass.,  Feb.  13,  1788.  Opportunities  for  education  in  those 
days  were  meagre,  but  he  made  good  use  of  his  time  in  attend- 
ing the  common  schools. 

In  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age  he  married  Eunice,  the 
only  daughter  of  Reuben  Wright,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
to  erect  the  standard  of  home  in  the  wilds  of  Northampton. 
During  the  same  year  Reuben  Wright's  son,  Burt,  having 
entered  the  ministry,  Ansel  Clapp  removed  to  his  father-in- 
law's  premises  in  Westhampton,  and  succeeded  in  the  active 
management  of  the  farm  upon  which  he  passed  the  balance 
of  his  life.  His  life  was  not  an  eventful  one  as  the  world 
counts  it.  He  was  first  a  Democrat,  subsequently  an  Abo- 
litionist, and  later  a  Republican.  He  was  a  pronounced 
Abolitionist,  and  lived  to  see  the  institution  of  American 
slavery  destroyed. 

He  became  an  advocate  of  temperance  principles  quite  early 
in  life.  When  he  was  but  eight  years  old  he  attended  the 
raising  of  a  barn,  and,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  the 
flip-iron  was  kept  in  pretty  constant  use  in  the  mixture  of  hot 
toddy,  which  was  thought  to  be  necessary  upon  such  occa- 
sions. The  boys  drained  the  sweet  from  the  bottom  of  the  cup. 
Ansel  loved  it  so  well  that  he  became  somewhat  intoxicated, 
and  on  the  following  day  was  so  chagrined  that  he  resolved 
to  never  again  touch  the  intoxicating  cup  ;  a  resolution  that 
he  strictly  adhered  to  throughout  his  life.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Westhampton. 

He  delighted  to  be  much  in  society.     He  always  looked 


upon  the  bright  side,  and  would  extract  a  large  amount  of 
sweet  where  another  would  only  find  bitter.  He  loved  to 
make  others  happy.  He  was  benevolent,  and,  being  economi- 
cal, frugal,  and  industrious,  always  had  something  to  spare 
for  those  in  need.  In  temperance,  politics,  and  religion  Mrs. 
Clapp  was  a  true  wife  and  helpmeet ;  she  kept  herself  well 
informed  upon  all  subjects  before  the  public,  and  always  in- 
terested herself  in  forwarding  the  objects  she  thought  were 
for  the  best  good  of  all. 

Mr.  Clapp  enjoyed  good  health  during  his  life,  and  his 
death,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  Sept.  11,  1866,  was  the 
result  of  an  injury  received  in  the  harvest  field  a  few  weeks 
before.  His  wife  survived  him  ten  years,  dying  Sept.  30,  1876, 
aged  seventy-nine. 

They  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  first  son, 
Luther,  entered  the  ministry  and  became  the  pastor  of  a 
Congregational  Church  in  Wannatosa,  Wis.  He  married 
Harriet  Priscilla  Stedman,  of  Chicopee.  Their  children  are 
five  daughters  and  one  son, —  Harriet,  Priscilla,  Emma 
Louisa,  Mary  Stedman,  Wardlow  Ansel,  and  Grace  Dan- 
forth  Wright. 

The  second  son,  Reuben  Wright  Clapp,  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, Dec.  23,  1852,  to  Susan  T.,  daughter  of  Levi  Burt,  of 
Westhampton,  and  granddaughter  of  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  the 
first  minister  of  Westhampton.  To  them  were  born  eight 
children,— Ellen  Louise,  Laura  Hale,  George  Burt,  Lyman 
Wright,  Martha  Prances,  Edwin  Bissell,  Susan  Maria,  and 
Mary  Anna. 

The  first  daughter,  Harriet  Frances  Clapp,  is  unmarried. 
The  second  daughter,  Sophia,  is  the  wife  of  Alfred  D.  Mon- 
tague, who  was  the  son  of  David  Montague,  of  Westhampton, 
and  grandson  of  Peter  Montague,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  in  the  west  part  of  the  town.  Their  children  are 
Francis  Clapp,  Edward  Hooker,  Lovisa  Janes,  Alfred  Dwight, 
and  Harriet  Prances. 


Plioto.  by  Hardie  &  Schadee. 


Richard  Lyman,  the  ancestor  of  Jesse,  was  born, 
in  1580,  in  High  Ongar,  England.  He  emigrated 
to  this  country  in  1631,  and  settled  in  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  where  he  was  a  member  of  the  church  of 
Rev.  John  Eliot.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Osborue. 
In  1635  he  removed  through  the  woods  with  others 
to  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  his  name,  with  ninety-nine 
other  first  settlers  of  Hartford,  is  inscribed  on  a 
monument  in  an  ancient  cemetery  in  that  place. 
He  died  in  1640. 

Lieut.  John  Lyman,  son  of  Richard,  was  born 
in  England,  in  September,  1623,  and  died  Aug.  20, 
1690. 

He  was  in  command  of  the  Northampton  sol- 
diers in  the  famous  Falls  fight,  above  Deerfield, 
May  18,  1676.  His  wife  was  Dorcas  Plum,  of 
Branford,  Conn.  Their  oldest  son,  Lieut.  John 
Lyman,  was  born  in  1661 ;  married  Mindwell  Pom- 
eroy  in  1687,  and  died  in  1740.  Their  first  son 
was  Lieut.  John  Lyman,  who  married  Abigail 
Mosely.  Their  first  son  was  Zadoc  Lyman,  who 
married  Sarah  Clark.  They  lived  at  South  Farms, 
in  Northampton,  afterward  Hockauum,  Hadley. 
Their  second  son  was  Capt.  Azariah  liynian,  who 
married  Jemima  Kingsley,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Kingsley,  of  Southampton.  In  the  year  1774 
they  removed  to  Westhampton,  where  their  fourth 
son,  Jesse  Lyman,  whose  portrait  appeal's  with  this 


sketch,  was  born,  Marcli  9,  1789,  he  being  of  the 
seventh  generation. 

Jesse  Lyman  was  essentially  a  self-made  man. 
His  education  for  his  day  was  advanced.  He  pos- 
sessed excellent  judgment,  and  was  well  versed  in 
matters  pertaining  to  the  law,  and  frequently  acted 
as  referee  in  the  settlement  of  disputes  in  his  own 
and  neighboring  towns.  He  thus  became  well 
known,  and  made  many  friends.  He  was  prompt 
in  his  dealings  with  men.  His  word  was  always 
strictly  kept;  in  this  respect  he  was  scrupulously 
particular.  When  he  was  twenty-one  years  old  he 
was  selected  to  fill  public  positions,  being  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and  twice  elected  to 
the  Legislature,  in  1834  and  1836. 

Mr.  Lyman  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Westhampton,  but  did  not  profess  to  be 
a  Ciiristian  until  in  after  life.  He  died  Feb.  9, 1874. 
Politically  he  was  first  a  Whig,  and  for  a  time  a 
Democrat,  but  upon  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  joined  its  ranks. 

Jesse  Lyman  married  Lucy  Kingsley.  Their 
surviving  son  is  William  Eustis  Lyman,  who  now 
lives  on  the  old  homestead  where  his  father  was  born 
and  died.  William  E.  Lyman  married  Mary  E. 
Orcutt,  daughter  of  Dr.  Orcutt,  of  Westhampton, 
and  their  surviving  children  are  Myra  Elma,  Annie 
Field,  and  William  Hervey  Lyman. 


SOUTHAMPTO  N^. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Southampton  is  situated  southwest  of  tlie  county-seat,  and 
distant  from  it  about  eiglit  miles.  It  is  bounded  north  by 
Westhampton  and  Easthampton,  east  by  Easthampton  and 
Hamjiden  Count}-,  south  by  Hampden  County,  west  by  Hamp- 
den County  and  Huntington. 

In  the  petition  of  the  settlers  for  incorporation,  under  date 
of  July  8,  1741,  the  territory  is  spoken  of  as  consisting  of 
14,000  acres.  In  the  tables  published  with  the  census  of  1875 
the  farm  acreage  is  stated  at  17,128  acres. 

The  territory  of  Southampton  is  a  part  of  the  original  pur- 
chase from  the  Non-o-htck  Indians,  and  the  title  is  traced  back 
direct  to  that  treaty.  The  town  also  includes  the  "Additional 
Grant,"  so  called,  which  was  south  of  tlie  original  Northamp- 
ton tract.  The  first  proprietors  of  Nortliampton  owned  the 
lands  now  included  in  Southampton.  It  was  their  heirs  or 
assigns  who  constituted  the  body  of  proprietors  that,  in  1730, 
proceeded  to  divide  up  and  settle  the  "  new  precinct." 

NATURAL     FEATURES. 

Southampton  is  fully  embraced  within  the  system  of  the 
Manhan  I'iver  and  its  tributaries.  The  southwestern  branch, 
rising  in  Huntington  and  Westhampton,  flows  southerly 
through  the  western  part  of  Southampton,  receiving  several 
tributaries;  then,  extending  into  Hampden  County,  it  makes 
a  sharp  angle  in  its  course  and  ilows  northeasterly  through 
Southampton,  a  little  east  of  the  centre,  to  the  Easthampton 
line.  There  it  forms  the  boundary  line  for  a  short  distance, 
and  then  unites  with  the  north  branch,  that,  rising  in  West- 
hampton, sweeps  across  the  corner  of  Northampton  at  Loud- 
ville,  and  is  also  the  boundary  line  for  some  distance  between 
Southampton  and  Easthampton. 

Among  the  smaller  streams  may  be  mentioned  Alder 
Meadow  Brook,  Red  Brook,  Moore  Brook,  Triple  Brook. 

The  town  has  considerable  variety  in  its  surface,  including 
hilly  and  even  mountainous  tracts,  as  well  as  a  large  area  of 
rolling  country  and  rich  alluvial  lands.  It  is  one  of  the  finest 
agricultural  towns  in  the  county,  comprising  a  large  propor- 
tion of  tillable  land. 

Geologically,  the  town  has  some  interesting  features.  The 
lead-bearing  strata  in  the  north  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  miners  and  capitalists  at  various  times  for  200  years. 
Geologists  have  been  much  interested  in  the  Southampton 
"  Adit."  This  is  an  artificial  excavation  of  900  feet  in  length, 
perforating  the  solid  rock,  and  large  enough  to  admit  a  boat 
with  several  persons.  There  are  several  considerable  eleva- 
tions in  the  town ;  the  most  important  is  Pomeroy 's  Mountain. 
In  the  southwest  is  Wolf  Hill,  and  in  the  southeast  is  White- 
loofe  Hill. 

The  view  from  some  points  in  the  town  is  very  fine.  From 
the  higher  lands  above  the  village  the  west  front  of  Mount  Tom 
and  the  adjacent  country  form  a  landscape  of  great  attraction 

EARLY   SETTLEMENT   AND   SUBSEQUENT   GROWTH. 
The  early  settlement  of  Southampton  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  old  proprietors'  book,  still  preserved 
in  the  otfice  of  the  town  clerk.     It  opens  with  the  following 
entry  : 

At  a  legal  Proprietors'  meeting,  the  second  Monday  in  March,  the  tenth  day 
.\nno  Domini  1730,  and  continued  by  adjournment  from  the  19th  day  of  January 


last  past,  a  motion  was  made  for  the  dividing  the  land  over  Blanhan,  upon  the 
west  side  of  the  County  road.  Tlieu  the  question  was  put  wliether  the  propri- 
etors would  divide  the  land,  liegiuniug  up  the  hill  over  Manhan,  upon  the  west 
side  of  the  County  road,  and  so  extend  heyond  "  Whiteloofe  brook"  so  far  ae  our 
old  boundaries,  in  such  form  and  manner  as  to  be  suitable,  together  with  the  addi- 
tional grant  that  now  belongs  to  the  town,  to  make  a  precinct  or  tjwn ;  and  the 
division  to  be  made  tj  and  amongst  the  original  or  ancient  proprietors,  their 
heirs  or  a-ssigns,  or  any  that  hold  by  purchase  under  the  ancient  or  original  pro- 
prietors or  their  heirs.    Voted  affirmatively. 

Then  a  motion  was  made  to  make  choice  of  a  committee  to  form  the  matter 
for  the  proprietors,  and  then  the  proprietors  made  choice  of  Col.  John  Stoddard, 
Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Deacon  John  Clark,  Mr.  Joseph  Hawley,  and  Ensign  Ebene- 
zer  Parsons  to  be  a  committee  to  project  the  manner  and  form  of  the  Division  of 
said  land  in  the  best  manner,  as  they  should  think  most  likely  to  bring  forward 
a  speedy  settlement ;  and  they  to  make  report  of  their  doings  to  the  next  propri- 
etoi-s'  meeting,  in  order  U*  their  allowance  or  approbation.    Voted  affirmatively. 

Then  Ebenezer  Pomeroy  was  chosen  Proprietors'  Clerk.  Then  the  manner  of 
calling  another  proprietors'  meeting  Wiia  voted  jis  fcdloweth,  viz.,  that  when  the 
aforesairl  Committee  have  prepared  the  projection  with  respect  to  the  division  of 
the  land,  as  aforesaid,  that  they  give  notice  unto  the  Proprietors'  Clerk  that  he 
should  post  up  a  notification  in  a  public  place,  seven  days  before  said  meeting, 
setting  forth  the  articles  thereof;  he  doing  the  same,  that  should  be  a  sufficient 
warning  or  notification  for  said  proprietors'  meeting.    Voted  affirmatively. 

Then  the  proprietors  did  desire  of  the  selectmen  that  there  be  a  town-meeting 
at  the  same  time  with  the  proprietore'  meeting,  to  act  their  pleasure  upon  and 
with  respect  to  that  land  on  this  side  Webb's  Rock,  adjoining  t^i  the  aforesaid 
land.  Then  the  proprietors  (hd  a*ljourn  the  said  meeting  until  2  o'clock  this 
day  afternoon. 

Attest:       Ebenezee  Pomeroy,  Moderator. 

Afternoon :  then  a  motion  was  iuade,  agreeable  to  thjvt  which  was  in  the  war- 
rant, viz.,  whether  the  proprietors  would  vote  a  confirmation  of  those  three 
divisions  heretofore  made  by  the  Proprietors,  and  recorded  in  the  town-book  of 
records, — and  it  passed  in  the  negative. 

Attest:        Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  J/orfern/o)-. 

At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Common  and  undivided  land 
within  the  township  of  Northampton,  May  25,  1730,  Committee  reported  "that 
there  shall  be  laid  out  to  thirty  of  the  proprietors  who  shall  undertake  to  bring 
forward  a  speedy  settlement  on  s.aid  laud  ninety  acres  each,  at  the  pljice  hereafter 
mentioned,  as  part  of  their  proportion  of  said  land,  provided  that  ninety  acres 
does  not  exceed  any  of  said  thirty's  part ;  and  in  case  any  one  should  not  be  en- 
titled to  as  much  jis  that,  then  to  lay  out  to  such  pereon  the  whole  of  the  amount 
due  to  such  pi-oprietor." 

The  general  method  of  laying  out  the  land  was  to  give  to 
each  man  a  house-lot  of  20  acres  either  on  Pomeroy's  little 
mountain  or  on  town-plot  hill,  10  acres  of  Pine  Plain  either 
in  Davises  Plain  or  in  the  adjoining  Plain  which  lieth  south- 
wardly of  Pomeroy's  little  mountain,  and  60  acres  more  to 
each  to  complete  his  90  acres  in  the  best  of  the  land  either  on 
Pomeroy's  little  mountain,  town-plot  hill,  or  wolf  hill,  or  in 
the  land  adjoining  said  hills  ;  and  for  a  minister  the  same 
quantity  was  to  be  set  apart  in  each  of  the  divisions  stated  as 
to  each  of  the  30  settlers.  At  the  same  meeting  it  was  voted 
that  Ebenezer  Corse  might  have  his  share  laid  out  near  to  his 
house;  and  that  Samuel  Pomeroy  and  Eldad  Pomeroy  may 
have  their  rights  as  near  to  their  meadows  as  may  conveniently 
be. 

M.ay  25,  1730.— At  a  proprietors'  meeting  it  was  voted :  Ist.  That  each  settler 
glKMild  be  required  to  till  .and  fence  five  acres  before  next  fall  twelve  months, 

2d.  Each  settler  was  to  build  and  cover  a  house  of  at  least  one  room,  within 
two  years  from  the  .above  date,  either  on  Pomeroy's  Mouutain  or  on  the  town- 
plot  hill,  so  called. 

3d.  That  each  settler  should  remove  there  with  his  family  within  two  years, 
.and  live  there  at  least  two  years. 

4th.  That  each  settler  does  so  manage  and  improve  his  land  tbjit  the  Commit- 
tee shall  be  satisfied  he  will  fulfill  the  conditions  in  good  faith. 

The  surveying  was  done  in  the  months  of  May  and  June, 
1730,  by  Capt.  Dwight,  John  Alvord,  Ebenezer  Kingsley, 
Jonathan   Strong,  and   Stephen   Wright.     The   proprietors' 

301 


302 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


clerk  in  the  record  says,  "  June  2d,  Lieut.  Hawley  and  myself 
went  out  to  them  in  the  woods  to  give  directions." 

"June  5th,  Col.  Stoddard  and  Deacon  Clark  went  out  in  the 
same  desire;"  and  "June  8th  all  the  committee  went  out  to 
read  conditions  and  to  admit  each  to  draught." 

The  drawing  took  place  on  this  last  day  named,  June  8, 
1730. 

The  names  of  30  proprietors  seem  to  have  heen  placed  in  one 
box,  and  30  numbers  of  home-lots  in  another,  and  30  numbers 
of  10-acre  lots  in  a  third.  A  name  was  drawn,  and  a  number 
from  each  division  of  lots.  In  two  or  three  instances  it  is 
somewhat  uncertain  from  the  record  what  number  should 
stand  against  a  particular  name.  There  seem  to  have  been 
31  numbered  lots  in  each  division,  and  this  ought  to  be  so  if 
they  laid  out  30  for  the  proprietors  and  1  for  the  minister ;  but 
the  ministerial  lot  is  not  stated  in  the  following  list,  which  we 
copy  from  the  old  proprietors'  book  : 

Drawing  Home-lots,  June  8,  1730. 
Names.  Home-lots.  Teu-(M;re  lots. 

1.  .Tudivli  Hntcliinson 27  9 

2    EI..'iMZ.M  MilliM-. 28  22 

3.  Tli"iii;i,s  l>,.itii- 9  12 

4.  Niitliiuii.l  S.'iul 2  3 

,5.  N.iali  Sh.liliiii 29  27 

6.  .T..liatliiiii  I!;i«'iim 22  1.5 

7.  .Tusiah  til  Nflicmiah  Struiif? 21  14 

8.  Nathan  Lyman 12  26 

9.  Stephen  Root 31  4 

10.  ElLifi  Root 3                      5 

11.  Noah  Strong 16                      8 

12.  Noah  Clark 25                    1 

13.  Eleazer  Hannnm 1                      2 

14.  Gideon  Pai-sons 5  17 

15.  Ebenezer  Kingsley 8  IS 

16.  John  Alvord 6  II 

17.  Phincas  King 4  29 

18.  David  Bartlctt 3  24 

19.  Joii.ithan  Strong 10  2.5 

20.  .JoMph  Wii;;ht 23  31 

21.  St.]ilirM  Wiiglit 20  3(1* 

22.  Buljert  Daiiks 14                      6 

23.  Dca.  Clark 24  28 

24.  Ebenezer  Sheldon 15  23 

25.  Waitstill  Strong 19  21 

26.  Jonath.  Parsons 13  10 

27.  Preserved  Wright 26  20 

28.  Aaron  Clark. 11  13 

29.  Jonathan  Strong 17  19 

30.  Jonathan  Miller 18  16 

March  12, 1731.— The  Committee,  viz.,  Col.  Stoddard,  Dea.  Clark,  and  Elienezer 
Pomeroy,  took  into  consideration  the  fact  that  David  Bartlett  and  Jonathan 
Miller  would  not  go ;  also  Ebenezer  Miller,  Noah  Strong,  Noah  Clark,  and  Jon- 
athan Parsons.  They  admitted  the  following  in  their  places :  Nathaniel  Clark, 
Joseph  Clark,  John  Wait.  Roger  Clapp,  Nathaniel  Phelps,  Jonathan  Phelps. 

March  15,  1732. — Liberty  wa^  given  to  four  men,  viz.,  Dea.  Clark,  Joseph 
Wright,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  and  Jonathan  Strong,  to  set  up  a  saw-mill,  either  upon 
the  great  brook  at  the  Falls,  or  below  it,  npon  Manhan  River,  at  their  election, 
upon  condition  they  shall  prepare  said  mill  for  sawing  before  next  winter.  And 
the  Committee  did  also  agree  anil  consider  to  let  them  have  snch  a  quantity  of 
land  as  they  should  judge  convenient,  at  the  pl,ace  of  and  about  said  mill,  as  a 
part  of  their  said  proportion  in  said  land. 

Twenty  j'ears  later,  Oct.  10,  1752,  another  drawing  took 
place  of  lots  in  the  "  additional  grant."  At  this  time  the  pro- 
prietors appointed  three  assessors  :  Deacon  Cook,  Noah  Clark, 
and  Capt.  John  Hunt ;  Noah  Clark,  Collector,  and  John 
Hunt,  Treasurer. 

The  arrangements  for  settling  the  south  part  of  Northamp- 
ton were  thus  made  in  1730.  The  date  of  actual  settlement  is 
next  to  be  considered.  In  the  proprietors'  proceedings,  quoted 
above,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  share  of  Ebenezer  Corse  was 
permitted  to  be  laid  out  near  his  house.  This  would  indicate 
that  he  was  already  settled  May  25,  1730.  His  home  was  the 
present  Theron  Pomeroy  place,  Easthampton.  It  was  further 
voted  that  Samuel  Pomeroy  and  Eldad  Pomeroy  might  have 
their  shares  laid  out  as  near  to  their  meadows  as  might  con- 
veniently be.  This  shows  that  they  were  already  settled. 
This  is  further  sustained  by  tradition,  and  their  ownership  for 
many  years  before  is  proved  by  a  petition  which  they  made 
in  1742  to  the  General  Court,  desiring  to  be  exempted  from 
taxation  for  the  support  of  the  new  precinct  lately  formed  by 
"  about  thirty  families  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  town 
bounds."     The  Pomeroys  belonged  to  the  old  town  as  they 

*  Probably. 


considered,  and  did  not  desire  to  be  a  part  of  the  new.  They 
state  that  they  had  improved  their  lands  and  paid  taxes  for 
them  forty  or  fifty  j'ears.  This  would  indicate  the  cultivation 
of  "  Pomeroy's  meadows"  as  early  as  1700.  The}'  were  evi- 
dently the  first  pioneers  upon  the  territory  of  Southampton, 
though  not  a  part  of  the  company  of  proprietors  who  made 
the  general  settlement.  As  the  descendants  or  representa- 
tives of  the  original  proprietors  of  Northampton  they  were 
entitled  to  share  in  the  newly-divided  territory,  and  their 
rights  were  accorded  by  the  vote  above  mentioned,  but  neither 
they  nor  Ebenezer  Corse  participated  in  the  drawing  of  home- 
lots  or  Pine  Plain  lots. 

After  the  drawing  of  June  8,  1730,  several  of  the  proprie- 
tors came  out  to  their  lots,  made  some  improvements,  and 
cleared  small  tracts  of  land,  leaving  their  families,  however, 
in  Northampton.  This  was  probably  about  all  that  was  done 
in  1730  and  1731.  Ebenezer  Corse  and  the  Pomeroys  are 
counted  as  among  the  first  settlers  of  Easthampton. 

"  In  1732,  Judah  Hutchinson  and  Thomas  Porter  came  to  the  precinct  and 
erected  houses.  In  May,  1733,  fourteen  settlers  joined  them.  These  were  Dea- 
c<m  John  Clark,  Joseph  Clark,  Samuel  Dauks,Phineas  King,  Ebenezer  Kingsley, 
Nathan  Lyman,  Ellas  Root,  Stephen  Root,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Ezra  Strong,  Icha- 
l«id  Strong,  Deaiam  Waitstill  Strong,  John  Wait,  Moses  Wright. 

"  During  three  or  four  of  the  succeeding  years  fourteen  additional  settlers 
united  with  the  little  plantation.  Their  names  were  .lonathan  Biiscora,  Samuel 
Burt,  Roger  Clajip,  Aaron  Clark,  Elislia  Clark,  Jonathan  Clark,  Ebenezer 
French,  Eleazar  Hannum,  Elias  Lyman,  John  Miller,  Noah  Pixlcy,  Israel 
Sheldon,  Noah  Sheldon,  and  Stephen  Sheldon." 

The  town  of  Northampton  voted,  Dec.  22,  1732,  "to  lay 
out  a  highway  over  the  branch  of  Manhan  River  at  or  near 
Pomeroy's  meadow,  or  some  other  suitable  and  convenient 
place,  so  as  to  accommodate  the  new  settlement,"  and  ap- 
pointed Ensign  John  Baker  and  Moses  Lyman  a  committee 
for  that  purpose.  Among  the  petitioners  for  incorjioration 
as  a  precinct,  July  8,  1741,  were  some  names  not  mentioned 
above:  Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Joseph  King,  Selah  Clark,  Aaron 
Root,  Elias  Lyman,  Jonathan  Miller,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr., 
Charles  Phelps. 

The  above  statement  as  to  the  order  of  time  in  which  the 
early  families  actually  located  here  is  the  traditional  one. 
But  there  seems  to  be  no  proof,  either  in  the  old  proprietors' 
hook  or  other  documents  of  the  town  clerk's  otfice,  that 
Thomas  Porter  and  Judah  Hutchinson  were  actually  the  first. 
Tliere  is  another  theory,  which  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to  some 
consideration.  In  the  cemetery  may  be  seen  a  stone,  in  good 
preservation,  standing  on  the  left  of  the  main  avenue,  and 
only  a  short  distance  west  of  the  soldiers'  monument,  upon 
which  is  the  following  inscription : 

"In  memory  of  Ensign  Ebenezer  Jvingsley  and  Mrs.  Mary,  his  wife. 
"  Ensign  Ebenezer  died  March  21st,  1783,  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age.    Mra. 
Mary  Kingsley  died  Feb.  8th,  1781,  in  tlie  74th  year  of  her  age. 

"THEY    WERE   THE   FIRST   SETTLERS   IN   SOUTHAMPTON." 

The  style  of  the  inscription,  the  kind  of  stone,  and  its 
general  appearance,  indicate  that  it  was  erected  not  long  after 
the  latest  death,  1783.  This  testinumy  is  therefore  itself 
ninety-six  years  old,  or  nearly  that,  and  was  recorded  when 
the  town  was  only  fifty  years  old,  and  when  the  facts  of  settle- 
ment must  have  been  known.  The  family  would  not  have 
permitted  that  inscription  if  they  had  not  supposed  it  to  be 
true ;  and  if  it  were  not  true,  so  much  public  conversation 
would  have  arisen  over  it  that  some  traces  of  that  would  have 
almost  necessarily  come  down  to  the  present  time  in  family 
traditions. 

Ebenezer  Kingsley's  "  house"  is  mentioned  as  early  as  Feb. 
25,  1734, — the  first  time  the  word  house  is  used  in  the  pro- 
prietors' records.  He  was  then  undoubtedly  here  the  year 
before,  1733.  Then,  in  "  summing  up,"  we  need  to  rely  upon 
this  gravestone  testimony  only  to  carry  the  date  of  his  settle- 
ment twelve  or  fifteen  months  still  farther  back,  and  the 
"direct  examination"  is  closed.  Wo  leave  this  venerable 
monumental  witness  to  be  "cross-examined"  by  those  who 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


303 


suppose  Porter  and  Hutchinson  were  the  first  settlers.  The 
record  of  births,  not  usually  stating  the  place,  is  not  conclu- 
sive, but  we  add  that  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  Jr.,  was  born  Feb. 
28,  1728,  and  Chloe  Aug.  17,  1731,  and  John  June  30,  1734; 
and  these  births  are  entered  in  the  Southampton  records. 

We  add  a  few  remarks  upon  the  pioneer  families,  necessarily 
brief  for  want  of  space  in  a  volume  devoted  to  three  counties. 

Location  of  the  Early  Settlers,  1732  to  1735, /rom  North- 
ampton.— Jonathan  Bascom's  homestead  was  the  present  place 
of  Elam  Hitchcock,  south  of  the  Methodist  church,  where  he 
built  a  log  cabin.  Mr.  Bascom's  house  was  surrounded  with 
palisades  for  defense  during  some  of  the  Indian  alarms.  He 
died  April  20,  1780,  aged  seventy-four.  His  wife  died  April 
4,  1789,  aged  eighty-nine.  His  children  were  Jonathan, 
Elisha,  and  Rachel.  Elisha  was  a  lieutenant  of  the  militia  ; 
he  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  lost  his  life  at  Fort 
Ticonderoga.  The  Sheldon  K.  Bascom  house  is  one  of  the 
three  oldest  houses  in  town,  and  is  now  standing  between  the 
village  and  the  depot.  The  latter  may  have  been  the  fortified 
house. 

Judah  Hutchinson  was  a  tailor,  and  his  house  stood  a  few 
rods  east  from  that  now  owned  bj-  Joel  T.  Clapp.  It  is  said 
that  his  house  and  that  of  Thomas  Porter  were  the  first  erected 
in  town. 

Thomas  Porter.  A  part  of  the  house  which  he  erected  is 
the  southwest  corner  room  of  the  present  house  of  George  K. 
Edwards.  His  homestead  was  bought  by  Deacon  Samuel 
Edwards,  Sr.,  and  Mr.  Porter  removed  to  a  place  a  little  .south 
of  the  old  Pomeroy  tavern,  on  the  road  from  Northampton  to 
Westfield.  Jehial  Porter,  of  somewhat  later  years,  was  a  son 
of  this  pioneer.  The  widow  of  the  late  Col.  Elisha  Edwards 
now  resides  in  this  ancient  dwelling-house.  From  her  many 
valuable  items  have  been  obtained  for  this  history.  Five  gen- 
erations of  the  Edwards  families  have  been  born  in  the  house. 

Deacon  Samuel  Edwards,  homestead  as  above  stated,  came 
to  Southampton  in  1753.  Children:  Hannah  (Mrs.  Stephen 
Lyman),  Southampton  ;  Catherine  (Mrs.  Lemuel  Coleman), 
Southampton  ;  Samuel,  who  settled  in  Westhampton ;  Luther 
and  Elisha,  in  Southampton  :  Mercy  and  Asenath,  died  young. 
In  this  old  homestead  are  some  venerable  relics, — a  rifle  carried 
by  Deacon  Samuel  in  the  old  French  war,  by  Deacon  Elisha  in 
the  Revolution,  and  by  Col.  Elisha  in  1812  ;  the  teacher's  chair 
of  Deacon  Samuel,  and  in  which  his  son.  Deacon  Elisha,  died, 
and  his  grandson,  Col.  Elisha. 

Eldad  Pomeroy.  "  Lyman's  History  of  Easthampton,"  in 
1866,  states  "that  Eldad  Pomeroy  and  Samuel  established 
themselves  about  1732  near  where  Deacon  Eleazer  W.  Han- 
num  now  resides."  Other  writers,  however,  make  their  settle- 
ment nearly  ten  years  earlier. 

Samuel  Coleman,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was  at  the  battle 
of  Ticonderoga.  His  homestead  was  the  present  place  of,  and 
the  first  house  was  very  near  to  the  present  house  of,  Zeno  E. 
Coleman, his  grandson.  Children:  Sarah  (Mrs.  Clark  Searl), 
Southampton ;  Zeno,  Southampton ;  Thaddeus,  Southampton ; 
Eliphalet,  Chester;  Eleazer,  Southampton;  Catherine  (Mrs. 
Ira  Searl),  Southampton;  Phcebe  (Mrs.  Quartus  Hannum, 
and  after  his  death  Mrs.  Josiah  Pomeroy) ;  Benoni,  South- 
ampton ;  and  Mercy,  who  died  young. 

Nathaniel  Searl,  from  Northampton,  homestead  a  number 
of  rods  north  of  the  present  house  of  George  W.  Foley,  on 
the  same  side  of  the  road.  His  house  was  the  place  of  board 
for  the  ministers  who  preached  on  probation,  and  he  also  en- 
tertained the  council  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Judd's  ordination. 
He  had  more  conveniences  for  such  purposes  than  other  settlers, 
having  a  house  with  two  rooms  and  only  nine  sons.  The  cellar 
is  still  visible.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  richest  man  in 
Southampton. 

Israel  Sheldon,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where  Abner 
Sheldon  now  resides.  Two  sons,  Paul  and  Silas,  settled  in 
Southampton ;    Daughters :    Naomi    (Mrs.  Deacon  Nash,  of 


Williamsburg),  Eglah  (Mrs.  Jonathan  Warner,  Williams- 
burg), Lucy  (Mrs.  Jonathan  Bascom,  Southampton).  Chil- 
dren by  second  marriage:  Israel,  Southampton  ;  Abner,  South- 
ampton ;  Pliny,  Southampton  ;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Luther  Edwards, 
Sr.). 

Noah  Sheldon,  brother  of  Israel,  homestead  thirty  or  forty 
rods  north  of  that  of  the  former  Ralph  Edwards;  buildings 
gone.     They  were- near  the  present  residence  of  Albert  Root. 

Stephen  Sheldon,  brother  of  Israel  and  Noah,  homestead 
where  his  grandson  Rodolphus  Sheldon  afterward  lived,  and 
where  Augustine  Munson  now  resides.  Ezra  Strong,  from 
Northampton,  homestead  near  the  place  afterward  owned  by 
Israel  Sheldon,  and  nearly  opposite  to  the  present  house  of  B. 
F.  Williams ;  he  died  in  1748,  and  his  widow  with  the  chil- 
dren removed  back  to  Northampton ;  his  widow  was  after- 
ward the  second  wife  of  Israel  Sheldon.  Ichabod  Strong, 
from  Northampton ;  homestead  was  nearly  half  a  mile  south 
of  the  present  house  of  Charles  B.  Lyman.  Deacon  Wait- 
still  Strong,  from  Northampton,  homestead  a  few  rods  east  of 
the  house  of  the  former  Jonathan  Judd,  Esq.,  which  is  the 
present  place  of  Harris  Nimocks,  east  of  the  village ;  he  was 
a  grandson  of  Elder  John  Strong,  of  Northampton.  Nathan 
Lyman,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where  Lucius  Hayden 
now  resides;  John  Lyman,  a  nephew,  came  from  Northfield 
and  lived  with  him ;  John  Lyman's  children  were  Mrs.  Capt. 
Joel  Burt,  Westhampton  ;  Mrs.  Stephen  Wright,  Easthamp- 
ton ;  Achsah,  unmarried.  Sons:  Nathan,  died  young  from  an 
injurj' ;  John,  of  Southampton,  father  of  Mrs.  Elisha  Ed- 
wards ;  Asa,  Southampton,  on  the  old  homestead.  Samuel 
Burt,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where  Stephen  E.  Searl 
now  lives  ;  Deacon  Samuel  Burt  was  the  father  of  the  three 
ministers  found  in  the  list  of  graduates  of  the  Burt  family. 

Roger  Clapp,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where  Nathan 
H.  Lyman  now  resides.  Aaron  Clark,  from  Northampton, 
homestead  where  George  Hyde  now  resides.  Elisha  Clark, 
from  Northampton,  homestead  a  few  rods  west  of  the  house 
where  Martin  P.  Clapp  now  lives ;  the  barn  in  which  Elisha 
Clark  was  killed  by  the  Indians  stood  near ;  the  chimney  that 
marked  this  old  home  of  Mr.  Clark  was  standing  till  within 
a  few  years. 

Deacon  John  Clark,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where 
Arthur  W.  Lyman  now  lives  ;  Deacon  John  was  a  brother  of 
Aaron  and  Elisha  above  mentioned  ;  the  father  of  Deacon 
John  (Deacon  John,  of  Northampton)  gave  to  the  Southamp- 
ton church  a  silver  goblet,  which  (unfortunately  remodeled 
into  modern  style)  is  now  in  use  in  the  communion  service. 

Jonathan  Clark,  from  Northampton,  homestead  opposite  to 
the  present  place  of  Solomon  A.  Wolcott..  Joseph  Clark, 
from  Northampton,  homestead  on  Rattle  Hill,  where  Samuel 
Pinch  afterward  lived  ;  his  wife  dying  .soon  after  he  came 
here,  he  returned  to  Northampton. 

Selah  Clark,  from  Northampton,  succeeded  to  the  place  of 
Joseph  Clark ;  Jonathan,  Joseph,  and  Selah  were  brothers, 
and  cousins  of  the  first  three  Clarks  mentioned.  Samuel 
Danks,  from  Northampton,  homestead  where  Moses  Danks 
afterward  lived,  and  later  Simeon  Lyman;  the  present  place 
of  Thomas  Bailey.  Ebenezer  French,  from  Northampton  ; 
house  stood  thirty  or  forty  rods  north  of  the  house  where 
Roswell  W.  Marshall  now  lives.  Eleazer  Hannum,  from 
Northampton,  homestead  where  Gilbert  Bascom  now  lives. 
Phineas  King,  from  Northampton,  resided  in  a  house  which 
stood  between  the  street  and  the  house  built  by  Lemon  Grid- 
ley,  afterward  owned  by  Heman  Searl ;  the  present  place 
of  Noah  H.  Clark  was  the  Phineas  King  house.  Ebenezer 
Kingsley,  from  Northampton,  resided  near  the  house  which 
was  occupied  for  many  years  by  Rev.  Mr.  Gould.  The  place 
is  opposite  the  burying-ground,  and  now  owned  by  Charles 
H.  Frary.  As  shown  elsewhere,  this  is  very  probably  the 
point  of  first  settlement  by  the  colony  formed  among  the 
proprietors. 


304 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Elias  Lyman,  from  Northampton,  lived  where  his  grand- 
sons, Joel  and  Isaac,  afterward  resided,  a  mile  and  a  half 
west  of  the  village.  John  Miller,  from  Northampton  ;  house 
was  near  where  Koyal  Burt  afterward  lived.  Noah  Pixley, 
from  Northampton,  lived  where  Rainsford  Root  afterward 
did.  The  place  where  he  was  killed  by  the  Indians  is  else- 
where identified.  He  was  some  distance  from  the  homestead 
here  stated.  Elias  Root,  from  Northampton ;  homestead  was 
opposite  the  present  place  of  Lyman  C.  Tiftany.  Stephen 
Root  was  a  brother,  and  resided  with  Elias,  returning  soon  to 
Northampton.  John  Wait,  from  Northampton  ;  homestead 
known  for  so  many  years  afterward  as  the  Wait  farm.  Moses 
Wright,  from  Nortliampton,  homestead  a  few  rods  south  of 
where  Whitney  Loorais  now  lives  ;  he  died  unmarried  in  1748. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Judd.  Children:  Silence  (Mrs.  Samuel 
Edwards,  Westhampton) ;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Timothy  Clark, 
Southampton);  Clarissa  (Mrs.  Luther  Edwards,  Southamp- 
ton) ;  Jonathan,  who  settled  in  Southampton,  and  was  the 
long-time  merchant;  Sylvester,  who  settled  in  Westhampton, 
and  was  the  father  of  the  well-known  historian  of  the  same 
name.  Jonathan  Judd  was  a  graduate,  a  "  gentleman  of  the 
old  school,"  and  known  as  Sir  Judd;  never  married.  He 
opened  a  store  in  his  father's  house,  the  present  residence  of 
Col.  E.  A.  Edwards. 

PHYSICIANS — LAW  VERS. 

Dr.  Woodbridgo  was  the  first  physician,  and  came  here  by 
formal  invitation  of  the  town  in  1775.  He  was  equal  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  him  ;  was  a  skillful  and  conscientious  practi- 
tioner. His  wife  was  Mindwell  Strong,  of  Northampton.  His 
children  were  Mrs.  Gould,  Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodbridge,  and 
Rev.  Sylvester  Woodbridge.  Dr.  Woodbridge  spent  a  long 
life  in  Southampton,  and  accumulated  a  handsome  property 
as  the  result  of  his  busy  life-work.  Indeed,  all  the  physicians 
who  remained  any  length  of  time  in  Southampton  are  said  to 
have  been  pecuniarily  successful. 

When  Dr.  Woodbridge  was  advanced  in  years,  Dr.  Blair 
came  to  the  town  and  commenced  practice.  He  was  the  first 
to  practice  inoculation,  and  met  with  much  opposition. 
Esquire  Birge  was  the  first  person  operated  upon.  Dr.  Blair 
remained  but  three  or  four  years.  W^hen  he  left  he  introduced 
Bela  P.  Jones  as  the  next  physician.  This  was  about  1809. 
He  practiced  about  thirty  years.  He  died  in  Hudson,  Mich., 
in  1865. 

During  Dr.  Jones'  practice  Dr.  Jehial  Abbott  was  in  South- 
ampton for  two  or  three  years.  He  wivs  considered  a  superior 
physician.  He  removed  to  Westfield,  and  remained  there  till 
he  died  in  a  good  old  age.  Dr.  Jones  sold  out  in  1838  to  Dr. 
Artemas  Bell,  who  did  good  service  for  thirty  years.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Dr.  S.  E.  Thayer,  who,  after  seven  years,  sold 
out  to  Dr.  George  W.  Wood.  The  latter  was  a  promising 
young  physician,  and  devoted  himself  with  zeal  to  his  pro- 
fession. He  died  in  five  months  of  diphtheria,  a  martyr  to 
his  professional  zeal  and  to  his  devoted  care  of  a  family  he 
was  attending  in  that  fearful  disease.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Dr.  H.  P.  Atherton,  the  present  physician. 

To  this  notice  should  be  added  the  name  of  Dr.  Josiah  H. 
Gridley,  a  native  of  the  town,  who  lived  and  died  here,  and  had 
quite  an  extensive  practice  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  He  was 
of  the  botanic  or  eclectic  school,  and  practiced  thirty-five  years. 

As  to  lawyers,  though  Southampton  has  furnished  many  for 
other  places,  few  have  made  any  attempt  to  practice  at  home. 
Charles  Bates  practiced  for  a  time,  but  found  so  little  litiga- 
tion that  he  resorted  to  other  labors.  Several  citizens  not 
educated  directly  for  the  legal  profession  have  given  attention 
to  matters  before  the  courts  from  time  to  time. 

MERCHANTS. 
Jonathan  Judd  first  commenced  trade  at  his  father's  house, 
just  how  early  is  not  ascertained.    He  then  established  himself 


where  Orrin  Moore  now  lives,  and  continued  until  1810  or 
1818.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Asa  Judd,  who 
traded  there  perhaps  thirty  years.  He  died  in  1848,  and  was 
succeeded  hy  Jonathan  Judd  for  nineteen  years.  He  built  the 
corner  store,  and  was  followed  in  1862  by  A.  G.  Judd,  the 
present  proprietor.  This  store  is,  therefore,  the  regular  suc- 
cessor of  the  little  store  first  opened  more  than  a  hundred 
years  ago  in  a  small  room  of  the  present  Col.  Edwards'  house. 
It  was  the  "Judd  store"  then;  it  has  been  the  "Judd  store" 
ever  since  ;  it  is  still  the  "  Judd  store." 

James  K.  Sheldon,  at  present  retired  from  business,  kept 
store  fifty-two  years  where  he  now  lives.  He  came  from  Suf- 
field  and  opened  about  1818.  E.  H.  Bell  succeeded  for  six  or 
seven  years,  and  the  present  proprietor  is  A.  R.  Clark. 

TAVERNS. 

The  old  tavern  of  Peres  Clapp  was  the  present  Hitchcock 
place,  south  of  the  Methodist  meeting-house.  A  tavern  was 
kept  a  few  years  in  the  present  house  of  Noah  Clark.  The 
Gamaliel  Poraeroy  tavern  was  in  the  east  part  of  the  town, 
and  it  was  known  as  the  Pomeroy  Tavern  for  a  long  series  of 
years. 

The  following  are  from  old  files  of  the  Hampshire  Qazette  : 

March  9,  1787,  Lemuel  Pomeroy  advertises  for  the  recovery 
of  two  mares  belonging  to  him  "  taken  by  the  rebels  from  Elias 
Lyman's  tavern  29th  of  January  last."  This  is  an  incident 
of  the  Shays  rebellion. 

July  1,  1793,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  merchant,  advertises 
an  extensive  assortment  of  goods,  "Satin,  Tittanies,  West 
India  rum,  Jesuits'  Bark,  Salt  Petre,  Snake  Balls,  etc."  He 
closes  with  the  following:  "Incited  by  motives  of  Benevo- 
lence, he  invites  all  those  indebted  to  him  by  book  or  note  to 
make  immediate  payment,  as  the  day  of  patience  with  them 
will  soon  expire,  when  the  law  will  bite — and — sting." 

April  21,  1793,  David  Chapman  informs  those  indebted  to 
him  that  they  must  pay  up  without  further  notice :  "  that  old 
excuse — produce  is  low — is  no  excuse  now  ;  everything  bears 
a  high  price  and  demands  the  cash." 

Nov.  18,  1794,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  besides  offering  his 
usual  variety  of  goods,  calls  on  those  indebted  to  pay  up,  and, 
"  with  regret,  informs  such  as  neglect  this  call  that  one  more 
alarming  and  expensive  awaits  them,  which,  he  thinks,  it  re- 
quires no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  foresee  will  issue  in  unfeigned 
repentance." 

Nov.  21,  1798,  Sylvester  Woodbridge  advertises  a  large 
number  of  apple-trees  "  inoculated  with  particular  fruit." 

Oct.  6,  1800,  Gashum  Pomeroy  asks  for  the  arrest  of  a 
thief  who  stole  from  him  fifteen  yards  check  linen,  one  fur 
hat,  almost  new,  one  pair  of  striped  linen  overalls,  one  pair  of 
small  knee-buckles,  and  a  Raizor. 

Aug.  26,  1801,  Rev.  Mr.  Gould  was  ordained  colleague 
pastor  to  Rev.  Mr.  Judd. 

The  several  parts  were  conducted  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Atwater, 
Backus,  Lyman,  Smith,  Williams,  and  Hale.  "  The  audience 
behaved  with  uimsiial propriety  through  the  whole  exercise." 

ORGANIZATION. 

From  the  records  in  the  office  of  the  town  clerk  of  North- 
ampton the  following  items  are  taken,  as  throwing  light  upon 
a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years  preceding  the  first  civil  or- 
ganization of  any  kind  for  the  present  territory  of  South- 
ampton : 

At  a  legal  tfiwn-moeting  .Inly  27,  1679,  upon  the  consiiiemtion  of  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Hezckiuh  Usher  and  Mr.  AVharton  recommendiug  Ensign  and  Robert  Ly- 
man to  onr  town  iihoiU  a  lead  mine  within  the  bounds  of  our  loicn^  the  letter  being 
read,  ami  after  mni-h  diseoul-se  and  agitation  the  town  did  then  p;iss  the  follow- 
ing vote,  vi/.,  thatlloltert  Lyman  and  any  other  of  tlieinhabitjmts  of  this  town, 
and  having  eommon  rights!  in  the  town,  shall  have  liberty  to  try  and  open  any 
jilaee  within  our  bounds,  and  to  make  use  of  any  sort  of  mines  or  niinenils, 
provitled  they  atteml  law. 

Oct.  IG,  167'J,  the  town  gave  up  all  their  right  '*  in  that  mine  lying  nhoni  ttix  miles 
off  on  the  west  side  of  the  town  to  a  company,  who  chose  to  nndertjike  the  work, 
viz.,  Wm.  Clark,  Sr.,  .lohn  Strong,  Samuel  Davis,  Israel  Rust,  Joseph  Parsons, 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUiNTY. 


305 


Sr.,  Robert  Lyn»aii,  Jjsei)h  Iluwley,  .Inlin  King,  Joseph  Parsuus,  Jr.,  Preservoti 
Ciiipp,  John  Lyman,  Sr.,  Maityn  Smith,  Samuel  Buitlutt,  Richard  Lyman, 
Medad  Ponieroy.* 

Jan.  2, 1G81,  the  town  granted  them  100  acres  of  land,  provideil  they  went 
fonvard  with  the  enterpiise. 

Jledad  Punieroy  wiis  gi-antcd  the  right  tj  erect  a  fulling-mill,  April  14,  1082. 

Jan.  2,  ItJsT,  Caleb  Pomeroy  ;isked  fur  a  piece  of  land  between  the  branches 
of  the  Manlian.  Samnel  Baitlett  and  James  Wiight  appointed  a  committee  tj 
view  what  he  desires,  and  repoit. 

May  10, 1731. — Granted  to  Joseph  Wait  five  acres  of  land  ou  the  Southwardly 
branch  of  the  Manhan,  ta  be  laid  out  so  as  to  avoid  incommoding  Samuel  and 
Eldad  Pomeroy  as  much  as  the  committee  conveniently  can. 

Dec.  11, 1732.-7Vuted  Ensign  John  Baker  &  Moses  Lyman  a  committee  to  lay 
out  a  highway  over  the  Brancli  of  tlie  Slauhan  River,  at  or  near  Pumeroy's 
Meadow,  or  some  other  suitable  and  convenient  place,  so  as  to  accommodate  tlio 
new  settlement. 

May,  1737. — The  selectmen  of  Nortliampton  laid  out  a  road;  they  began  at 
Eldad  Pomeroy's  path  that  goeth  Southerly  to  Samuel  &  Eldad  Pomeroy's bound 
tree,  so  called,  and  then  tliey  turned  westwardly  on  the  said  hill  till  they  come 
to  Samuel  Pomeroy's  path  going  down  tlie  hill  from  his  house  ;  and  then  going 
over  the  brook,  and  so  up  the  Iiill  along  near  Caleb  Pomeroy's  house,  still  west- 
wardly, till  they  come  to  the  top  of  the  bill;  then,  turning  something  southwardly, 
down  tlie  hill,  all  in  Samuel  l*omeroy's  land;  and  then  over  Slanhan  River,  over 
the  bridge  that  is  now  over  the  river,  erected  by  tlie  new  town  people,  from  the 
foot  of  the  hill  to  the  bridge  in  Eldad  Pomeroy's  land,  so  along  where  the  path 
now  goeth  ;  all  to  be  two  rods  wide. 

The  young  surveyors  now  in  the  schools  can  retrace  this 
road  for  a  practical  example. 

Feb.  10, 1742. — Voted  a  bridge  over  the  Manhan,  near  Bartlett's  mill,  and  the 
town  appointed  Waitstill  Strong  and  Joseph  Wright,  Jr.,  Capt.  Parsons,  Com. 

March  7,  1743. — 500  acres  of  land  granted  the  new  precinct  "  on  the  back  side 
of  White  Loaf  Hill,"  300  of  it  for  the  support  of  the  gospel. 

May  7, 17o0. — Northampton  voted  a  schoolmaster  to  the  second  precinct. 

The  new  settlement  was  a  part  of  Northampton  for  several 
years.  It  became  known  and  distinguished  as  the  "Second 
Precinct."  In  the  warrant  for  the  Northampton  town-meet- 
ing of  Sept.  14,  1739,  the  clause  was  inserted : 

"  To  see  whether  the  tjwn  would  consent  to  setting  oflF  the  new  town,  so-called, 
by  the  bounds  following,  ^iz. :  beginning  on  the  south  side  of  Manhan  River  a 
little  above  Bartlett's  house,  and  so  bounded  easterly  upon  the  county  road  till 
it  e.\tends  southwardly  unto  the  dividing-line  between  Northampton  and  West- 
field,  and  then  bounded  westwardly  upon  land  belonging  to  the  province,  and 
bounded  uorthwardty  upon  the  Long  or  West  Division,  so-called,"  and  the 
record  of  the  meeting  held  states  the  action  thereon  as  follows:  "All  which 
land,  and  the  inhabitants  as  before  described,  the  town  voted  should  be  set  otT  a 
distinct  and  separate  precinct,  that  so  by  the  consent  of  the  General  Court  they 
might  be  under  a  capacity  tj  carry  on  the  worship  of  God  among  themselves." 

The  authority  of  the  General  Court  w:is  not,  however,  sought  until  nearly  two 
years  later. 

The  petition  under  date  of  July  8, 1741,  states  "  that  yourpetitioners  dwell  on 
a  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  in  the  township  of  Northampton,  in  the  county 
of  IIamp.sliire,  intended  for  a  precinct,  the  centre  of  which  is  about  eight 
miles  from  Northampton  meeting-house;"  that  "the  town  have  given  their  con- 
sent ;"  tliat  "  the  proprietors  are  willing  that  a  tax  of  sixpence  iier  acre  should 
be  laid  on  the  whole  of  their  tract  (being  about  1400  acres)  to  enable  us  to  defray 
some  necessary  public  charges  that  may  arise  among  us." 

The  petitioners  close  with  this  clause  : 

"  We  therefore  most  humbly  move  that  your  Excellency  and  honours  would  bo 
pleased  to  set  us  off  to  be  a  Precinct  with  the  usual  privileges,  and  order  the 
aforesaid  tax  t  j  be  levied,  that  we  may  be  enabled  tj  build  a  meeting-house,  settle 
a  minister,  and  have  the  worship  of  Gjd  among  oui'selves;  and  your  petitioners, 
as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray." 

It  will  be  noticed  how  clearly  the  groat  object  was  "  to  settle 
.  a  minister  and  have  the  worship  of  God"  established  among 
them.  All  questions  of  civil  polity,  all  business  interests,  were 
subordinate  to  this.  The  necessary  act  was  passed  July  17, 
17-11,  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  attested  by  J. 
Hobson,  speaker.  It  was. concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  July 
18th,  and  signed  by  I.  Willard,  secretary.  It  received  the 
executive  approval  July  23d.  This  latter  date  is  regarded  as 
the  birthday  of  the  town  of  Southampton,  and  its  hundredth 
anniversary,  July  23,  1841,  was  celebrated  with  great  enthu- 
siasm. An  address  was  delivered  by  Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards,  of 
Andover  Seminary,  a  native  of  the  town.  The  committee  of 
arrangements  consisted  of  Rev.  Morris  E.  White,  Elisha  Ed- 
wards, Asahel  Birge,  Asahel  Chapman,  and  Stephen  Strong. 

The  44tli  Psalm  was  sung  to  the  tune  of  Mear.  Mrs.  L. 
H.  Sigourney  contributed  a  poem,  and  Daniel  W.  Chapman, 
of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  also  sent  an  ode. 


39 


*  These  were  the  miners  of  two  hundred  years  ago. 


At  the  ample  entertainment  which  followed,  every  article  of 
food  is  .said  to  have  been  the  product  of  the  town  itself. 

Thirty-eight  years  of  a  second  century  have  passedaway,  and 
some  of  the  children  now  living  in  Southampton  may  very 
likely  share  in  the  second  centennial,  1941. 

We  make  the  following  extracts  from  the  early  precinct 
records  : 

Precinct  Proceedings. 

September  21,  Anno  Domini  1741.— At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Freeholders 
and  other  inhabitants  qualified,  according  to  law,  to  vote  in  precinct  affairs, 
assembled  at  the  house  of  Phineas  King,  in  the  second  Precinct,  in  Ntnthamp- 
ton,  to  choose  Precinct  officei-s, 

Voted  that  Ebenezer  Kingsley  should  be  the  moderator  of  said  meeting. 
Voted  that  Phineas  King  should  be  the  precinct  clerk. 

Voted  that  Waitstill  Strong,  Ebenezer  French,  and  Aaron  Clark  should  be 
assessoi-s  for  the  present  year.  Voted  that  Steplien  Sheldon  should  be  collector, 
for  the  ensuing  year.  Voted  that  Nathaniel  Searl,  John  Wait,  and  Phineas  King 
should  be  a  committee  to  appoint  meetings  for  the  year  ensuing.  Voted  that 
John  Clark,  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  &  Phineas  King  shi:>uld  be  a  committee  to  seek 
out  some  meet  person  to  preach  the  gospel  to  us. 

Phine,vs  King,  Precinct  Clei-h: 

The  above  votes  have  been  examined,  and  are  found  to  be  a  time  record  by  me. 

Ebexezeb  Kingsley,  Moderator. 

April  13,  1843. — Nathaniel  Searl,  Moderator.  Voted  to  give  Mr.  Jonathan 
Judd  a  call  to  settle  with  us,  in  the  second  Precinct  of  Noithsmipton,  ia  the  work 
of  the  gospel  ministry.  The  settlement  and  salary  elsewhere  stated  were  then 
voted.  Committee  to  treat  with  Mr.  Judd  were  Natlianiel  Searl,  John  Wait, 
Ebenezer  Kingsley,  John  Clark,  &  Ebenezer  French.  Voted  tj  make  a  pulpit 
in  the  meeting-house  the  year  ensuing. 

May  20,  1743. — .John  Wait,  moderator.  Voted  Mr.  Jonathan  Judd's  wood  to 
him,  iu  addition  to  tlie  settlement  and  salary  already  voted.  Voted  that  June  S, 
1743,  as  the  day  for  the  ordination  of  3Ir.  Judd  as  "  Put-tor  and  Teacher."^  Voted 
to  invite  to  the  council  Mr.  Hopkins,  of  West  Springfield,  John  Woodbridge,  of 
South  Hadley,  Mr.  Parsms,  of  East  Hadley,  and  Mr.  Woodbridge,  of  Hatfield, 
and  Mr.  Williams,  of  Iladley,  and  Mr.  Ballantine,  of  Westfield.  Voted  June  2d 
be  appointed  as  a  day  of  solemn  fasting  and  prayer.  Mr.  Nathaniel  Searl  was 
appointed  to  provide  for  the  ministers  and  messengers  who  may  come  tj  the 
ordination. 

Mr.  Judd's  answer  conchules,  "  I  do  now,  as  I  hope  under  some  suitable  appre- 
hension of  my  own  nothingness,  and  also  my  insufficiency  to  eugiige  in  such  a 
great  work,  accept  of  their  call,  begging  their  prayer  for  lue,  that  I  may  ba 
enabled  t  j  be  faitliful  and  successful  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  unto  them,  and 
save  my  own  soul  and  theii-s, 

Jan.  12, 1749. — Voted  to  accept  of  the  ofi'er  of  the  town  of  Noitliamjiton  to 
give  us  five  hundred  acres  of  land  as  an  equivalent  for  our  right  in  the  land 
lying  in  the  great  meadow,  or  common  field,  tliat  was  sequestered  for  the  use  of 
the  ministry,  provided  they  will  permit  us  to  sell  the  whole  land,  and  put  the 
money  at  interest  for  the  use  of  the  miuistry  charges  of  said  jirecinct. 

March  20, 1749. — A  committee  Uy  dispose  of  the  above  land  was  appointed, — 
Ebenezer  Kingsley,  Waitstill  Strong,  Samuel  Burt,  Eleazer  Hannum. 

March  10,  1752. — Waitstill  Strong,  Jloderator;  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  Precinct, 
Clerk  (and  he  appeai-s  to  have  served  from  the  first,  except  Mr.  Phineas  King; 
the  one  year  1741) ;  Samuel  Burt,  Precinct  Treasurer;  Amos  Looniis,  Collector- 
Aaron  Clark,  Esq.,  Steplien  Sheldon,  and  EUas  Lyman,  Assessors, 

Voted,  a  committee  on  furnishing  the  meeting-house, — Stephen  Sheldon, 
Eleazer  llannum,  and  Samuel  Burt.  Thomas  Porter  was  voted  fifty  shillings, 
old  tenor,  for  sweeping  the  meeting-house. 

Voted,  Jonathan  Clark,  Nathan  Lyman,  and  Ebenezer  French  to  examine  the 
votes  that  are  in  loose  papere,  and  determine  what  part  of  them  slionld  be  en- 
tered in  tlie  records, 

March  4, 1752. — Voted,  a  committee  see  that  every  man  has  liberty  to  do  his 
part  in  labor  toward  Mr.  Judd's  salary, — Selali  Clark,  Ichabod  Strong,  Elias 
Lyman,  Timothy  Clark,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jonathan  Clark,  and  SamUel  IVmieroy. 

Jan.  18, 1753. — Voted,  as  to  the  price  of  materials  to  be  allowed  upon  the  min- 
ister's salary, — money  counted  as  "old  tenor,"  viz.:  good  pine  Iwards,  eleven 
1     pounds;  a  thousand  slit-work,  twentj'-four  shillings  a  hundi'ed.    Voted  to  give 
eight  shillings  a  load  for  carting  from  Looniis'  mill  to  the  meeting-house. 

Voted,  to  give  Stephen  Sheldon,  for  his  slit-work  for  the  galleries,  twenty  shil-' 
lings;  Jonathan  Bascom,  for  setting  some  squares  of  glass  and  stacking  up  two 
stacks  of  boards,  twelve  shillings 

Voted,  to  give  Stephen  Sheldon  for  some  nails,  and  bringing  them  ujt  fnon 
Westfield,  three  pounds,  old  tenor. 

Voted,  Ebenezer  French  for  thick  timber,  twcnty-^ix  shillings  per  bundled. 

Voted,  Ebenezer  Kingsley  and  Nathan  Lyman  for  carting  a  load  of  boards, 
from  Clark's  mill  to  the  meeting-house,  twelve  shillings. 

Voted,  that  Stephen  Sheldon  and  company  should  have  libeity  to  "set  up  a/ 
horse-house  in  some  convenient  place  near  the  meeting-house,''  , 

Committee  to  seat  the  meeting-house, — Elias  Lyman,  Aaron  Clark,  Stephen, 
Wright. 

One  year  in  age  shall  be  esteemed  as  good  as  one  pound  in  the  valuation.  To 
"dignify"  the  seats  a  separate  committee  was  voted,— Samuel  Burt,  Jonathan 
Clark,  Stephen  Sheldon. 

During  the  separate  precinct  organization  thi.'  territory  was 
really  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Northampton. 


306 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


March  2,  1752,  the  town  of  Northampton  by  vote  decUired 
their  willingness  that  the  Second  Precinct  should  be  erected 
into  a  separate  district  if  the  General  Court  should  see  fit. 
During  the  following  }-ear  the  necessary  act  of  the  Legislature 
was  obtained,  and  the  new  district  commenced  its  independent 
existence  in  1753.  The  first  district-meeting  was  held  March 
19,  1753.  The  name  Southampton  was  first  used  oflScially 
about  this  time,  though  it  had  probably  been  coming  into  use 
gradually  for  some  years.  As  the  territory  was  the  southwest 
part  of  the  original  Hampton  tract,  together  with  the  additional 
grant,  lying  still  farther  south,  it  is  evident  that  the  name  was 
an  appropriate  one.  The  following  list  of  officers  was  chosen 
at  the  first  meeting. 

The  fii-st  and  legal  niL-eting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  District  of  Southamiitnn, 
met  at  their  meeting-house  on  Monday,  March  19, 1753,  chose  Deacon  AVaitstill 
Strong,  Moderator ;  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  District  Clerk  ;  Waitstill  Strong,  Stephen 
Sheldon,  Ebcnezer  Kingsley,  Selectmen  and  Assessors ;  Samuel  Burt,  Treasurer  ; 
Timothy  Clark,  Constiiblc;  Ebenezer  French,  Nathan  Lyman,  Stephen  Sbelden, 
Tythingmen ;  Samuel  Danks,  Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  John  Wait,  Fence-Viewers ; 
Ehenezei"  Pomeroy,  Roger  Clapp,  Amos  Loomis,  John  Wait,  Jr.,  Samuel  Clapp, 
Lemuel  Bui-t,  Phinehas  King,  Stephen  Wright,  Jr.,  Highway  Sur^'eyors  ;  Wait- 
still  Strong,  Clerk  of  the  Market. 

The  notes  we  have  given  already  cover  the  first  twelve  years 
of  civil  history,  though  the  town  was  not  independent  of 
Northampton  until  the  district  organization  took  place.  Fur- 
ther extracts  from  the  valuable  records  occur  under  the  ditler- 
ent  heads  of  this  sketch. 

On  Jan.  3,  1774,  the  town  voted  in  the  negative  upon  a 
proposition  to  allow  certain  inhabitants  to  unite  with  some  of 
Northampton  to  form  a  new  district  or  town.  (This  was  the 
Easthampton  project.) 

At  the  meeting  in  March  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
draw  up  and  present  the  objections  of  the  town,  viz.,  Jonathan 
Judd,  Aaron  Clark,  and  Elias  Lyman. 

Place  of  Town-Mcctiiiijs. — The  first  precinct-meeting  was 
"  at  the  house  of  Phincas  King."  The  records  do  not  show 
where  the  others  were  held  until  the  one  called  for  March  16, 
17-52,  which  was  held  "at  the  meeting-house,"  and  there  they 
continued  to  be  held  until  March  10,  1840,  a  period  of  eighty- 
eight  years.  They  were  then  changed  to  "  the  upper  room  in 
the  centre  school-house,"  or  a  ditlerent  expression  for  the  same 
place  was  "at  the  town  room  in  the  centre  school-house." 
This  was  only  for  a  year.  The  first  meeting  in  "the  new 
town-house  was  held  Nov.  8,  1841."  This  was  built  by  Seth 
Bartlett,  contractor. 

The  old  school-house  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  public  square, 
— streets  all  around  it.  This  venerable  building,  with  all  its 
educational  memories,  is  still  standing,  the  residence  of 
Charles  H.  Frary  having  been  removed  to  that  place  about 
1805. 

It  was  succeeded  about  that  time  by  the  two-story  school- 
building,  the  upper  room  of  which  belonged  to  the  town. 
This  stood  on  the  present  school-house  lot  near  the  street,  and 
was  taken  down  and  the  present  brick  school-house  built  about 
1803  or  1804. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  selectmen  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  town  : 

175.1. — Waitstill  Strong.  Stephen  Sheldon,  Ebenezer  Kingsley. 

1754. — Siimuel  Bnrt,  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  .\aron  Clark. 

1755. — Samuel  Edwards,  Sannud  Hurt,  Jonathan  Clark. 

175G. — Et)enezer  Kingsley,  Samuel  Edwards,  Samuel  Clapp. 

1757. — Aaron  Clark,  Siimuel  Burt,  Ebenezer  Pomeroy. 

1758. — Samuel  Edwards,  Aaron  Clark,  S.anniel  Burt, 

1759. — Samuel  Edwards,  Jonathan  Clark,  Stephen  Sheldon. 

1760. — Aaron  Clark,  Sjunuel  Edwards,  Eli,as  Lyman. 

1761. — Samuel  Burt,  Samuel  Edwards,  Aaron  Clark. 

1702. — John  Lyman,  Roger  CUipp,  Aaron  Clark. 

1763. — Nathaniel  Searl,  Eliai!  Lynum,  Stephen  Wright. 

1764.— Waitstill  Strong,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr.,  Samnel  Burt. 

1765.— Waitstill  Strong,  Aarcui  (Mark,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr. 

1766.— Sanuiel  Burt,  Roger  Clapp,  Saiuind  Edwards. 

1767. — .\aron  Clark,  Elijis  Lyman,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr. 

176S.— Elias  Lyman,  Aaron  Clark,  Sanniel  Burt. 

1709. — Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr.,  Waitstill  Strong,  Aaron  Clark. 


1770. — Waitstill  Strong,  John  Lyman,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr. 
1771. — Aaron  Clark,  Waitstill  Strong,  Jonathan  Judd,  Jr. 
1772. — Jonathan  Judd,  Jr.,  Samuel  Edwards,  Nathaniel  Searl. 
1773, — .\aron  Clark,  Elias  Lyman,  John  Lyman. 
1774-75. — Elijis  Lyman,  John  Lyman,  .\aron  Clark. 
1770. — Timothy  Clark,  Elias  Lyman,  .\aron  Clark. 
177". — John  Lyman,  Timothy  Clark,  Douglass  King. 
177S, — John  Lyman,  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Dr.  Sylvester  Woodbridge. 
1779. — Djugh^s  King,  Timothy  Clark,  Sylvester  Woodbridge. 
1780. — .lonathau  Judd,  Jr..  Benjamin  Lyman,  Doughiss  King. 
1781. — John  Lyman,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  .\bner  Pomeroy. 
1782. — .John  Lyman,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  Lemuel  Pomeroy. 
178:J. — Douglass  King,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  Lemuel  Pomeroy. 
17S4. — .John  Lyman,  Timothy  Pomeroy,  Silas  Sheldon. 
1785-80. — John  Lyman,  Timothy  Pomeroy,  Lemuel  Pomeroy. 
1787. — Moses  Clark,  John  Lyman,  Timothy  Pomeroy. 
1788-89. — John  Lyman,  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Moses  Clark. 
1790. — Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Moses  Clark,  Peres  Clapp. 
1791. — Lemuel  Pomeroy,  John  Lyman,  Isiuvc  Parsons. 
1792.^Ehenezer  Pomeroy,  Peres  Clapp,  John  Lyman. 
1793. — Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Peres  Clapp,  Ebenezer  Pomeroy. 
1794. — Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  S.amuel  Burt. 
1795. — Lemuel  Pomeroy,  S.amuel  Bnrt,  Peres  Clapp. 
1796. — Samuel  Coleman,  Peres  Clapp,  Siimuel  Buit. 
1797. — Ist-uic  Parsons,  Samnel  Coleman,  John  Lyman. 
1798. — John  Lyman,  Isaac  Parsons,  Samuel  Coleman. 
1799-1801.— Peres  Clapp,  Roswell  Strong,  Timothy  Clapp. 
180i4.— Silas  Sheldon,  Luther  Edwards,  Roswell  Strong. 
1805. — Luther  Edwards,  John  Lyman,  Jr.,  Silas  Sheldon. 
1806. — Luther  Edwards,  Jidin  Lyman,  Jr.,  Frederick  Judd. 
1807. — Frederick  Judd,  John  Lyman,  Jr.,  Samuel  C.-deman. 
18(t8. — Noah  Chu-k,  .\sahel  Chapman,  Roswell  Strong. 
1809-11.- Roswell  Strong,  Noah  Clark,  Asahel  Chapman. 
1812-13. — .lohn  Lyman,  Roswell  Strong,  Luther  Edwards. 
1814-15. — John  Lyman,  .\bncr  Sheldon,  Jr.,  Asaliel  Chapman. 
1816-18. — Abner  Sheldon,  Jr.,  Gains  Lyman,  Stephen  Strong. 
1819. — Abner  Sheldon,  Jr.,  John  Lyman,  Stephen  Strong. 
1820. — Asahel  Cliapman,  Stephen  Strong,  Abner  Sheldon,  Jr. 
1821. — Stephen  Strong,  John  Lyman,  Thaddeus  Clark. 
1822-23.— John  Lyman,  Asaliel  Birge,  Thaddeus  Clark. 
1824.— jVsahel  Birge,  Th.addeus  Clark,  Timothy  Clark. 
1825.— Timothy  Clark,  Joseph  Ranger,  Wm.  S.  Rogers. 
1820.— Joseph  Ranger,  Timothy  Clark,  Wm.  S.  Rogers. 
1827. — Asahel  Birge,  Joseph  R-angcr,  Wm.  S.  Rogers. 
1828.— Wm.  S.  lingers,  Siliis  Sheldon  (2d),  Joseph  Ranger. 
1829. — Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Thaddeus  Clark,  Asiihel  Birge. 
1830-31.— Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Tliaddcus  Claik,  Timothy  Clark. 
1832.— Thaddeus  Clark,  Luther  Edwards,  Jr.,  Wm.  S.  Rogers. 
1833-34.— Eliaha  Eilw.ards,  Theodore  Strong,  Strong  Clark. 
18:)J-36.— Elisha  Edwards,  Tlieodore  Strong,  Wm.  S.  Rogers. 
1837. — Stephen  Strong,  Wra.  S.  Rogers,  Theodore  Strong. 
1838-39. — Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Stephen  Strong,  Linns  Bates. 
lS4Ct.— Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Stephen  Strong,  Orange  Strong. 
1841-42. — Orange  Strong,  Asahel  Pomeroy,  Jr.,  Elisha  Edwards. 
1S4.3.— Elisha  Edwards,  Chauncey  Clapp,  Asahel  Chapman,  Jr. 
1844-1.5.— Asahel  Chapnmn,  Jr.,  Chauncey  Clapp,  Samuel  Lyman. 
1846. — Asahel  Chapman,  Thaddeus  Clark,  Chauncey  Clapp. 
1847. — Elisha  Edwards,  Orange  Strong,  S;imuel  C.  Pomeroy. 
1848.- Elisha  Edwards,  Strong  Clark,  Samuel  C.  Pomeroy. 
1849-50.— Elisha  Edw.ards,  Timothy  P.  Bates,  Zono  E.  Coleman. 
1851.— Wm.  S.  Rigers,  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  Timothy  P.  Bates. 
1852.— Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  Isaac  Parsons. 
1853.— Wni.  S.  Rogers,  Oliver  N.  Clark,  Isa.ac  Pai-sons. 
1854.- Joseph  Ranger,  Thaddeus  Clark,  Joseph  S.  Clark. 
1855. — Wm.  S.  Rogers,  .Joseph  Kanger,  Joseph  S.  Clark. 
1850.- Isaac  Parsons,  Joseph  S.  Clark,  Eds.ui  Hannum. 
1857-.58. — Isaac  Parsons,  Edson  Hannum,  Orrin  R.  Moore. 
1859.- Isaac  Pai-sons,  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  Harris  Nimocks. 
1860. — Isaac  Parsons,  Harris  Nimocks,  Jonathan  N.  Judd. 
1861. — Isaac  Parsons,  Jonathan  N.  Judd,  .\rtemas  Barnes. 
18G2. — IsjLac  Pai^.;ins,  EJson  Hannum,  .\rtem;is  Barnes. 
1803-65.- Zeno  E.  Coleman,  Henry  S.  Slieldon,  Lynmn  C.  Tiffany. 
1860.- Zeno  E.  Colennvn,  Timothy  P.  Bates,  Jairus  E.  Clark. 
1867-08. — Timothy  P.  Bates,  Jairus  E.  Clark,  Lewis  Hannum. 
"  1869. — Isaac  Pai-sons,  Henry  S.  Sheldon,  .\lbert  S.  .\tkins. 
1870-71.— Timothy  P.  Bates,  Heni-y  S.  Sheldon,  Albert  S.  Atkins. 
1872-74.— Henry  S.  Sheldon,  Edson  Hannum,  George  W.  Edwards. 
1875.— Henry  S.  Sheldon,  George  W.  Edwards,  Lyman  C.  Tiffany. 
1876-78.— Henry  S.  Sheldon,  Lyman  C.  Tiffany,  George  D.  Hannum. 

TOWN   CLERKS. 

Ebcnczi-r  Kingsley,  1753-50;  Timothy  Clark,  1757-01;  Ebenezer  Kingsley, 
1702-76;  Jonathan  Judd,  Jr.,  1777-86;  Perez  Clapp,  1787-1801  ;  Asahel  Birge, 
Jr.,  1802-27  ;  Wm.  S.  Rogei-s,  182.8-29  ;  As.lhel  Birge,  1830-31 ;  Timothy  Clark, 
1832-.35;  Elisha  Edwards,  1836-43;  .Jonathan  N.  Judd,  1844-48 ;  Elisha  A.  Ed- 
wards, 1849-.50 ;  Jonathan  N.  Judd,  1851-61 ;  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  1802;  Lyman 
C.  Tiffany,  1803-00;  Elisha  A.  Edwards,  1807-70  ;  F.  E.  Judd,  1877-79. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


307 


REPRESENTATIVES  TO  THE  GENERAL  COURT.* 
Joseph  Hawley,  1754-55  ;  Gideon  Lyman,  1756-57  ;  Timothy  Dwight,  1758-61  ; 
Timothy  Dwight,  1762-<3 ;  Joseph  llawley,  1704 ;  Timothy  Dwight,  1765 ;  Joseph 
Hiiwley,  1706-73  ;  Ehas  Lyman,  1774  ;  Samuel  Burt,  1775  ;  Timothy  Clark,  1779; 
Lemuel  Pomeroy,  1781;  Jona.  Clark,  1784;  Lemuel  Pomeroj-,  1785;  Lemuel 
Pomeroy,  1787-89  ;  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  1790 ;  Isa.ac  Parsons,  1798 ;  Lemuel  Pome- 
roy, 1800-1;  Samuel  Pomeroy,  1802;  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  1803-0;  Frederick 
Judd,  1807 ;  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  1808-0  ;  Frederick  Judd,  1810 ;  Luther  Edwards, 
1811-13;  .\8ahel  Birge,  1814;  Asahcl  Birge,  Jr.,  1815;  Asaliel  Birge,  1810-18; 
Asahel  Chapman,  1819 ;  A.«ahel  Charm."iu  ;  1822 ;  John  Lyman,  182.5-26 ;  Luther 
Edwards,  Jr.,  1827 ;  Timothy  Clark,  1828;  Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  1829;  Timothy 
Clark,  1831;  Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  1832;  Timothy  Clark,  18,33;  Elisha  Edwards, 
1834;  Wm.  S.  Itogers,  1835-30;  Elisha  Edwards,  1837-38;  Wm.  S.  Rogers,  1839; 
Elisha  Edwards,  1841;  Strong  Clark,  1846-17;  Noah  L.  Strong,  1848;  Samuel  C. 
Pomeroy,  1852;  Stephen  Lyman,  1855;  Lysander  B.  Bates,  1856;  Almon  B. 
Clapp,  1857;  Orrin  R.  Moore,  1858;  Lyman  C.  Tiffany,  1861 ;  Edson  Hannum, 
18M  ;  Samuel  B.  (Juigley,  1871-72;  Henry  Sheldon,  1879. 

VILLAGES. 
SOUTHAMPTON   CENTRE 

was  the  first  point  of  settlement  by  the  colony  of  thirty ; 
Thomas  Porter  and  Judah  Hutchinson  being  the  first  to  erect 
houses,  according  to  the  account  already  given.  If  Ebenezer 
Kingsley  was  earlier,  his  house  was  north  of  the  present  vil- 
lage. 

The  villiige  is  pleasantly  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  fine 
farming  country.  It  includes  the  Congregational  church, 
the  Methodist  church,  Sheldon  Academy,  a  handsome  brick 
school-house,  a  town-hall,  two  stores,  post-otfice,  and  several 
shops.  Here  is  located  also  the  whip  manufactory  of  Mr. 
Quigley,  who  removed  to  this  town  for  business  purposes  and 
for  a  pleasant  home,  after  an  active  engagement  of  many 
years  upon  the  New  Vork  Independent  and  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune. There  are  quite  a  number  of  new,  elegant,  private 
dwellings,  as  well  as  many  others  of  a  substantial  and  per- 
manent character, — the  homes  of  the  "solid"  men  of  olden 
times,  around  which  cluster  many  family  traditions.  The 
railroad  station  is  a  short  distance  east,  and  with  several  trains 
a  day,  both  north  and  south,  there  are  afforded  excellent 
facilities  for  business  or  travel.  On  the  whole,  it  is  one  of 
those  charming  New  England  villages  in  which  the  virtues  of 
the  earlier  times  are  united  to  the  progress  and  the  culture  of 
the  present. 

RussELLViLLE,  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town,  is  fre- 
quently spoken  of  as  "  the  village."  It  is  a  small  hamlet 
which  has  grown  up  in  modern  times  around  the  business  of 
the  Kussells, — father  and  sons, — and  from  them  derives  its 
name. 

Like  other  towns,  Southampton  has  some  odd  local  names, 
as  "Foggintown"  and  "  Bedlam,"  and  divides,  perhaps,  with 
Easthampton  the  traditions  of  "  Pogue's  Hole"  (Glendale). 

The  postmasters  of  Southampton  have  been  James  K.  Shel- 
don, Gad  C.  Lyman,  0.  N.  Cowles,  E.  A.  Edwards,  Harvey 
Dada;  J.  N.  Judd,  twenty-one  years,  1840  to  1861;  A.  G. 
Judd,  from  1861  to  the  present  time. 

SCHOOLS. 

While  the  new  precinct  was  still  a  part  of  Northampton, 
that  town  made  some  provision  for  schools.  In  1748,  North- 
ampton voted  to  have  schools  in  the  "  distant  parts  of  the  town 
to  instruct  in  reading  and  writing,  viz.,  on  the  plain,  over 
Mill  River,  Pascommuck,  Bartlett's  Mills,  midi  new  precinct.^' 
In  17.50  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  provide  a  school- 
master for  the  second  precinct. 

In  1751,  Northampton  appointed  Eleazer  Hannum,  "Wait- 
still  Strong,  Jr.,  and  Stephen  Sheldon  a  committee  to  have 
the  oversight  of  building  a  school-house  in  the  second  pre- 
cinct. 

Deacon  Samuel  Edwards,  who  moved  to  Southampton  in 
1753,  was  a  teacher  for  a  long  time.  He  is  said  to  have,  been 
engaged  ioT  forty  winters. 

•  Northampton  and  Southampton  were  united  in  sending  representatives  from 
1755  to  1773,  inclusive. 


A  few  extracts  from  the  town  records  are  of  educational 
interest : 

April  2,  1753. — Voted  to  have  a  school  set  up  at  the  school-house  the  hegiuning 
of  Octoher  next,  and  that  the  selectmen  provide  a  schoolmaster. 

Fehruary  1, 1754.— Voted  Waitstill  Strong  and  Ebenezer  Kingsley  ten  shillings 
a  day  for  two  days'  work  upon  the  school-house. 

Occasionally  the  town-meeting  w.la  adjourned  from  the  meeting-house  to  the 
school-house.     The  latter  could  he  warmed,  while  the  foiTuer  could  not. 

Nov.  10,  1706. — Samuel  Edwards,  .\aron  Clark,  Elias  Lyman,  Samuel  Clapp, 
Jonathan  Clark  were  appointed  a  committee  for  the  business  of  the  school.  This 
was  probably  the  first  school  coumiittee,  the  selectmen  having  had  charge  of  any 
business  of  that  kind  before.  That  year  fifteen  pounds  were  voted  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  schools,  the  extreme  parts  of  the  town  to  have  their  equal  part  of 
the  school.  From  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  some  other  school-houses  were 
by  this  time  erected  besides  the  one  at  the  Centre,  though  the  other  schools  may 
have  been  held  in  private  houses. 

Nov,  3, 1767. — Voted  to  raise  fifteen  pounds  for  the  use  of  the  school. 

March  20, 1769. — Voted  th.at  the  present  selectmen  shall  keep  the  school  as  long 
as  they  think  proper  this  spring,  and  to  set  it  up  ug.aiu  when  they  think  best. 

Dec.  4,  1709. — Voted  fifteen  pounds  for  schooling. 

"  Ebenezer  Kingsley  was  an  early  teacher.  After  the  Revo- 
lution four  classes  were  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  town 
and  small  houses  built.  Mrs.  Deacon  Elisha  Edwards  was  the 
first  female  teacher  in  town  (Miss  Anna  Bates),  in  the  summer 
of  1785." 

In  1791,  voted,  a  third  part  of  £50  for  support  of  a  woman's 
school.     This  was  after  considerable  opposition. 

The  school-house  was  used  for  warming,  on  Sunday,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  inspect  the 
school-house  on  the  Sabbath,  and  to  keep  order,  "  and  if  they 
cannot  keep  order  to  lock  up  the  school-house."  Voted,  that 
Obadiah  Frary  and  Stephen  Wright  shall  have  charge  of 
the  school-house. 

School  Statistics  at  intervals  of  about  Ten  Years. 

January,  1837. — Seven  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  258;  average,  22.5; 
winter,  324;  average,  284;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  357  ;  summer  schools,  29 
months,  15  days;  winter,  22  months;  summer  teachers,  8  females;  winter,  4 
males,  4  females ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  §20.25 ;  female 
teiichers,  S11.43. 

January,  1847. — Eiglitschools;  attendingin summer, 204;  average,  156;  winter, 
278 ;  average,  173 ;  in  town  between  4  and  10,  290 ;  summer  schools,  34  months ; 
winter,  25  months  and  21  daj's;  tot.al,  59  months,  21  days;  summer  teachers,  8 
females ;  winter,  4  males,  4  females  ;  average  wages  male  teachers  per  month, 
S21.25 ;  females,  JU.Oo. 

January,  1857. — Eight  schools;  .attending  in  summer,  185;  average,  138; 
winter,  242 ;  average,  186 ;  atteuding  under  5,  20  ;  over  15,  26  ;  in  town  between 
5  and  15,  2-39 ;  summer  teachei^,  7  females ;  winter,  2  males,  6  females  ;  summer 
schools,  23  months,  18  days ;  winter,  24  months,  18  diiys ;  total,  48  months,  16 
days;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  ?24;  female,  814.41. 

January,  1867. — Seven  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  200 ;  average,  159 ; 
■winter,  217;  average,  173;  attending  under  5, 10;  over  15,  26;  in  town  between 
5  and  15.  266 ;  summer  teachers,  7  females ;  winter,  1  male,  6  females ;  summer 
schools,  24  mouths ;  winter  schools,  21  months  ;  average  wages  of  female  teachers 
per  month,  823.08. 

January,  1878. — Eiglitschools;  203  attending  during  the  year;  average,  133  ; 
4  under  5 ;  18  over  15 ;  whole  number  in  town  between  5  and  15,  190 ;  tea^-hers, 
12  females;  from  normal  school,  2 ;  school  kept  59  months,  3  days;  average  wages 
of  female  teachers,  828.04;  taxation,  81450;  expense  of  superintendence,  843; 
printing,  810;  vested  funds,  81860;  income  from  local  funds,  8129.60;  other  in- 
come and  dog  tax,  808.48 ;  1  high  school,  1  teacher,  20  scholars ;  by  taxation,  5 
months,  15  dafys ;  principal's  salary*,  8225  ;  town  share  of  school  fund,  8227.49. 

To  this  notice  of  the  schools  we  add  the  following  list  of 
graduates  from  this  town : 

Jonathan  Judd,  1765,  Yale  College,  business. 
David  Searl,  1784,  Dartmouth,  went  South. 
Ashbel  Strong,  1801,  Williams,  ministry. 
Lyman  Strong,  1802,  Williams,  ministry. 
Sylvester  Burt,  1804,  Williams,  ministry. 
John  Woodbridge,  1804,  Williams,  ministry. 
Martin  L.  Hurlburt,  1804,  Harvard,  ministry. 
Saul  Clark,  1805,  Williams,  ministry. 
Theodore  Pomeroy,  1808,  Tale,  medicine. 
Samuel  Ware,  1808,  Williams,  ministry. 
Rufus  Pomeroy,  1808,  Williams,  ministry. 
Thaddeus  Pomeroy,  1810,  Williams,  ministry. 
Isaac  Parsons,  1811,  Yale,  ministry. 
William  Strong,  1811,  Williams,  ministry. 


308 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Federal  Burt,  1812,  Williams,  ministry. 

Sylvester  "Woodbriilge,  181.3,  "Williams,  ministry. 

Eiifus  Hurlburt,  1813,  Harvard,  ministry. 

Noble  D.  Strong,  1813,  Middlebury,  ministry. 

Aretas  Loomis,  1815,  Williams,  ministry. 

Justin,  W.  Clark,  181G,  Harvard,  law. 

Medad  Pomeroy,  1817,  Williams,  ministry. 

Chandler  Bates,  1818,  Williams,  ministry. 

Lemuel  P.  Bates,  1818,  Williams,  ministry. 

Philetus  Clark,  1818,  Middlebury,  ministry. 

Erastus  Clapp,  1822,  Union,  ministry. 

Jairus  Burt,  1824,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Bela  B.  Edwards,  1824,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Abner  P.  Clark,  1825,  Yale,  ministry. 

Kalph  Clapp,  1825,  Amherst,  ministry-. 

Joseph  B.  Clapp,  1820,  Amherst,  law. 

Jeremiah  Pomeroy,  1829,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Alvan  W.  Chapman,  1830,  Amherst,  medicine. 

Gideon  Searl,  1830,  Union. 

Jesse  L.  Frary,  1831,  xVmherst,  ministry. 

Edward  K.  Thorp,  1831,  Hamilton. 

Israel  W.  Searl,  1832,  Amherst,  missionary  to  Africa. 

Mahlon  P.  Chapman,  1832,  Amherst,  died  before  graduation, 
at  Andover. 

Philander  Bates,  1833,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Eufus  C.  Clapp,  1833,  Amherst,  ministry. 

David  Gould,  1834,  Amherst,  law. 

Sereno  D.  Clark,  1835,  Amherst,  ministrj'. 

Justus  L.  Janes,  1835,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Lemuel  Pomeroy,  1835,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Alexander  H.  Strong,  1835,  Williams,  business. 

Lewis  F.  Clark,  1837,  Amherst,  ministry. 

Wm.  H.  Sheldon,  1887,  Yale,  ministry. 

Spencer  S.  Clark,  1839,  Amherst,  ministry. 

The  above  was  prepared  for  the  centennial  anniversary  of 
1841,  and  there  may  now  be  added  the  following: 

Julius  C.  Searl,  graduated  at  Amherst  in  1842;  studied 
theology  at  Princeton  and  East  Windsor ;  settled  in  the  min- 
istry at  Unionville ;  deceased. 

Henry  L.  Edwards,  Amherst  College,  1847  ;  studied  theology 
at  Andover ;  now  residing  in  Northampton. 

Austin  Weeks,  Antioch  College,  Ohio,  in  18.58.. 

Henry  Jones,  Amherst  College,  1857 ;  studied  theology  at 
East  Windsor ;  now  pastor  in  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 

J.  B.  Finck,  at  Amherst  College  for  a  time;  graduated  at 
Columbia ;  studied  theology  at  Union  Seminary,  New  York 
City  ;   now  residing  on  Long  Lsland. 

Andrew  J.  Clapp,  Amherst  College,  1857  ;  studied  theology 
at  Andover,  1861 ;  died  at  Shutesbury,  Mass.,  1863. 

Julius  D.  Phelps,  Amherst,  1874. 

S.  C.  Pomeroy,  Noah  L.  Strong,  and  Charles  Bissel  took  a 
partial  course  at  Amherst. 

PHYSICIANS   AND    DENTISTS    NOT    INCLUDED    IN    THE   ABOVE 
LIST. 

Jesse  Searl,  M.D.  ;*  Ashbel  Searl,  M.D.  ;*  Noah  Bartlett, 
M.D.  ;*  Ichabod  Searl,  M.D.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. ;  Oscar  F.  Searl, 

M.D.,  Kansas  ;   Searl,   Springfield,    Mass.  ;   Josiah   A. 

Gridley,  M.D. ;"  Elias  Strong  ;*  A.  E.  Strong  ;*  E.  R.  Strong, 
New  York  City ;  Artemus  Clapp,  New  Y'ork  City ;  Dwight 
Clapp,  Boston,  Mass.  ;  John  P.  P.  White,  M.D.,  New  York 
City ;  Horatio  Clapp,  Westfield,  Mass.  ;  Horace  S.  Bascom, 
New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  Edward  F.  Barnes. 

A  few  prominent  men,  natives  or  descendants  of  natives, 
may  properly  be  added :  Hon.  S.  C.  Pomeroy,  ex-U.  S.  Sena- 
tor, Kansas ;  Hon.  Theodore  M.  Pomeroj-,  New  Y'ork  State 
Senate;  Eev.  Noble  Strong,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Texas;  Rev.  Henry 
M.  Parsons,  D.D.,  Boston  and  Buflalo ;  Rev.  Washington 
Gladden,   Springfield,   Mass.;    Prof  Edward   Birge,  Ph.D., 


Professor  of  Zoology,  Madison,  N.  Y. ;  Alvin  Searl,  Judge 
in  San  Francisco ;  Cornelius  S.  Hurlburt,  Professor  of  Dental 
Surgery,  Springfield  ;  Jairus  S.  Hurlburt,  Dentist ;  Parmcnas 
B.  Strong,  Teacher,  Springfield,  deceased  ;  Alvin  B.  Clapp, 
Teacher,  Westfield  State  Normal  School. 

Southampton  has  also  been  quite  noted  for  the  number  of 
ministers'  wives :  Mindwell  Woodridge  married  Kev.  Vinson 
Gould ;  Asenath  Edwards  married  Rev.  Rufus  Pomeroy ; 
Anna  Hatch  married  Rev.  Sylvester  Burt ;  Armena  Bascom 
married  Rev.  Abner  Clark,  and  for  a  second  husband  Rev. 
Lemuel  Dada ;  Eunice  Edwards  married  Rev.  L.  P.  Bates ; 
Pamelia  Strong  married  Rev.  Sumner  Clapp ;  Mary  Strong 
married  Rev.  Thomas  Hall ;  Marj-  Gould  married  Rev.  A.  W. 
McClure,  D.D. ;  Mindwell  Gould  married  Rev.  John  Patten  ; 
Abigail  Ely  married  Rev.  Justus  L.  Janes  ;  Aurelia  R.  Wood- 
bury married  Eev.  Samuel  Clark ;  Hannah  Wolcott  married 
Rev.  Lemuel  Pomeroy ;  Lucy  Parsons  married  Rev.  Samuel 
Ware ;  Ruth  Pomeroy  married  Rev.  Flavel  Bascom  ;  Nancy 
Sheldon  married  Rev.  Lewis  F.  Clark  ;  Martha  Rogers  mar- 
ried Rev.  John  W.  Dadman  ;  Abbie  Parsons  married  Rev. 
Jason  Morse ;  Sophia  Parsons,  second  wife  of  Rev.  Jason 
Morse  ;  Julia  A.  Edwards  married  Rev.  C.  H.  Taylor  ;  Ame- 
lia Jones  married  Rev.  Mr.  White  ;  Mary  Searl  married  Rev. 
Lyman  Johnson  ;  Ophelia  A.  Searl  married  Rev.  Andrew  J. 
Clapp ;  Josephine  Eldridge  married  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis  ;  Harriet 
G.  Lyman  married  Rev.  William  B.  Stocking;  Ruth  Searl 
married  Rev.  Joseph  J.  Candlin. 

FOREIGN    MISSIONAKIES. 

Israel  Watson  Searl  to  Liberia,  Harriet  Lyman  Stocking 
to  Persia.     Both  died  in  the  field. 

The  following  teachers  of  note  may  be  mentioned,  all  of 
them  of  great  usefulness,  and  several  of  them  authors  of 
celebrity :  Mrs.  Mindwell  W.  Gould,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  S.  Clark, 
Miss  Eunice  L.  Strong,  Mrs.  Anna  B.  Gleason,  Mrs.  Ruth  P. 
Bascom,  Mrs.  Mindwell  G.  Patten,  Miss  Rachel  Gould,  Mrs. 
Margaret  G.  Dorman,  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Thayer,  Miss  Annis  C. 
Bates,  Miss  Mary  Searl,  Mrs.  Mary  Birge  Gardner,  of  Gard- 
ner Institute. 

For  these  additions  to  the  list  of  Prof  Edwards  of  1841, 
we  are  indebted  to  Miss  Carrie  Edwards,  of  Southampton. 

SHELDON  ENGLISH  AND  CLASSICAL  SCHOOL  IN  SOUTHAMPTON. 
The  founding  of  this  institution  is  best  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing records,  taken  from  the  trustees'  book  : 

At  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  the  inbaliit,ints  of  the  town  of  Southampton, 
convened  at  the  central  scliool-honse,  Sept.  11,  182S,  for  the  pui-pose  of  consider- 
ing the  expediency  of  raising  a  permanent  fund  for  a  scliool  in  wliicli  the  higher 
brancliesof  literature  may  be  taught, — Asahel  Chapman,  Esi].,  Cluiirman  ;  James 
K.  Sheldon,  Clerk,— 

Voted,  that  this  meeting  deem  it  expedient  to  attempt  raising  a  permanent 
fund  for  a  public  school  in  this  town. 

Voted,  that  a  conmiitteo  be  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  or  basis  on  which 
the  school  shall  be  founded,  and  to  solicit  subscriptions  to  the  fund  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  same. 

Voted,  that  Rev.  Vinson  Gould,  Elisha  Edwards,  Cornelius  Searl,  Theodore 
Stearns,  Chauncey  Clapp,  Henian  Searl,  and  Theodore  Strong  he  said  conmiittee. 

Voted,  to  adjourn  to  Thursday,  the  ISth  day  of  Sept..  inst.,  at  G  o'clock  p.m. 

Thursday,  the  ISth. — Voted,  that  this  meeting  upon  reHection  consider  the 
olyect  of  founding  a  public  school  in  this  town  as  worthy  of  increased  exertions 
for  its  attainment. 

Voted,  that  one  person  in  each  school  district  be  added  to  the  committee  for 
soliciting  subscriptions  and  donations. 

Voted,  that  Phinehas  Strong,  Abner  Sheldon,  Jr..  Warham  Scar!,  Theodore 
Parsons,  Oliver  Clark,  Jr.,  and  Thomas  Johnson  be  added  to  the  committee  afore- 
said.   Adjourned  to  October  15th. 

Voted,  that  James  K.  Sheldon,  Luther  Edwards,  Jr.,  and  Deacon  Ansel  Clark 
be  a  committee  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Silaa  Sheldon  and  present  to  him  a  statementof 
the  existing  state  of  tilings  with  regard  to  the  prospects  of  the  proposed  school, 
and  confer  with  him  in  regard  to  future  progress. 

October  3Uth. — Voted,  a  committee  be  appointed  to  present  at  a  future  meet- 
ing a  draft  of  a  set  of  rules  by  which  we  shall  be  governed  in  our  future  opera- 
tions, 

A'utcd,  that  Kev.  Vinson  Gould,  James  K.  Sheldon,  and  Tlieodore  Strong  be 
said  committee. 
■  November  13th. — Voted,  to  add  to  tlic  committee  on  rules  Elislui  Edwards  and 
Timothy  Clarke. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


309 


December  3d. — Voted,  that  the  triistcos  wlio  may  hereafter  be  chosen  from  the 
neighboring  towns,  wlieii  aiipniiitcd.sluill  fix  on  a  snitabb"  plaeefor  the  b»eation 
of  n  buiUllng  for  the  school,  if  the  tnistees  to  be  eU'cted  in  tliis  town  do  not  agree 
upon  the  location. 

The  constiJution  was  adopted  Dec.  lu,  1S2S.  Tlie  preanibU'  is  as  follows :  "  We, 
the  subscribei-s,  inhabitants  of  the  t.nvn  of  Southampton,  taking  into  serious  con- 
sideration tlio  importance  of  training  up  youth  with  better  advantages  for  an 
education  than  can  be  found  in  the  common  elementary  schools,  and  being  de- 
sirous that  they  should  be  instructed  in  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion  and 
of  correct  morals,  have  scijuestered  a  portion  of  our  prupeity  for  the  cstjiblish- 
ment  of  a  J>ermancut  school  in  this  tnwu,  of  an  elevated  character,  in  which 
youth  may  be  taught  English  and  classical  literature  anil  the  great  end  and 
purposes  of  liviug;  imploring  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  upon  nur  attempt 
to  found  such  an  institution  for  his  Gloi'y  and  the  greater  usefulness  of  the  youth 
of  the  present  and  of  succeeding  generations,  do  adopt  the  following  piinciples." 

The  board  of  trustees  was  required  to  consist  of  not  less  than  eleven  nor  more 
than  seventeen,  the  first  board  to  be  chosen  by  the  donoi-s,  and  all  vacancies  in 
the  future  to  be  filled  by  the  board. 

The  foundei-s  of  the  institution  were  the  following;  Silas  Sheldon,  Vinson 
Gould,  Elisha  Edwards,  Lnther  Edwards,  Pliinehas  Strong,  Asaliel  ('hapman, 
Sheldon  K.  Ba^coni,  Johu  Lyman,  Luther  Edwards,  Jr.,  Gains  Lyman,  Eliphalet 
Hatch,  Jr.,  Theo<lore  Stearns,  Aaron  Strong  (2d),  Hemau  Searl,  Timothy  Clark, 
Bela  B.  Jones,  Thaddeus  Clark,  Theodore  Strong,  Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  Asa  Ly- 
man, James  K.  Sheldim,  Gad  C.  Lyman,  Rufus  S.  Clark,  Josiah  A.  Gridley,  Scth 
Bartlett,  Elihu  Brown,  Johu  Strong,  Ansel  Clai'k,  Asahel  Ch.apmau,  Jr.,  Stephen 
Wolcott,  Sardis  Chal)mau,  Oliver  Clark,  Jr.,  Gains  Searl,  Simeon  Sheldon,  Muses 
Searl,  Cornelius  Se.arl,  Wm.  S.  Rogers,  Thomas  Johnson,  Jesse  Searl,  Theodore 
Parsons. 

The  trustees  chosen  were  as  follows :  President,  Rev.  Vinson  Gould ;  Vice- 
President,  James  K.  Sheldon;  Secretiiry,  Elisha  Edwards,  Jr. ;  Trejisurer,  Timo- 
thy Clark ;  Luther  Edwards,  Jr.,  Silas  Sheldon,  Hemau  Searl,  Theodore  Pareuns, 
Theodore  Strong,  Rev.  Ichabod  Spinner,  Sylvester  Judd,  Jr.,  Rev.  Payson  Willis- 
ton,  Samuel  Edwards,  Jr.,  George  Dunlap,  Col.  Samuel  Lyman,  Asahel  Ch.apmau. 

The  Legislature  was  petitioned  to  incorporate  the  new  institution,  and  an  act 
for  that  purpose  was  approved  Jan.  27,  1829. 

The  building  committee  were  James  K.  Sheldon,  Lnther  Edwards,  Jr.,  and 
Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  and  the  .academy  was  erected  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1P29. 

The  school  opened  Dec.  1, 1.S29.  Rev.  I.  S.  Spencer  delivered  an  address,  for 
which  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  trustees. 

The  year  was  divided  into  four  terms  of  eleven  weeks  each, — tuition,  $J  a 
terra ;  languages,  $1.50. 

Charles  X,  Dewey  and  Stephen  Wolcott  were  elected  tnistees  Oct.  27, 1S2!). 

The  tuition  the  first  quarter  amounted  to  ©1.S1.12.  Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  be- 
came president  of  the  boaril  in  1832 ;  Rev.  5L  E.  AVhite  in  1834 ;  Luther  Ed- 
Wiirds  in  1853;  Rev.  Stephen  C.  Strong,  1854;  Luther  Edwards,  1859;  Rev. 
Joseph  E.  Sw>allow,  18C0 ;  Luther  Edwards,  1802 ;  Eev.  B.  A.  Smith,  1865 ;  Samuel 
Lyman,  1SC8;  Eev.  Rufus  P.  Wells,  18C9;  Isaac  Parsons,  1874,  and  to  the  present 
time. 

Elisha  Edwards,  Jr.,  was  vice-president,  secretjiry,  or  treasurer  from  the  organi- 
zation down  to  the  time  of  his  death.  His  son.  Col.  E.  A.  Edwards,  has  occujued 
the  position  of  trc;isurer  for  many  years,  and  is  the  present  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. 

The  school  had  a  very  successful  career  for  twenty  years  or  more,  but  after  it 
was  subjected  to  the  competition  of  Williston  Seminary,  Easthamiiton,  and  other 
institutions  not  far  distant,  the  number  of  scholars  from  abroad  was  considerably 
reduced.  The  corporation  has,  however,  been  maintained ;  and  wdien  a  full 
corps  of  academic  teachers  were  no  longer  maintained,  a  select  school — at  least 
one  term  in  the  year — has  been  secured,  and  in  later  years,  by  an  arrangement 
with  the  tnistees,  the  town  sustains  a  high  school.  This  is  taught  the  present 
year  by  Miss  Orcutt,  of  Westhampbjn. 

The  institution  was  of  immense  benefit  to  the  town,  and  a  large  number  of 
youth  secured  there  the  advantages  of  a  higher  education. 

The  first  principals  of  the  academy  were  Wm.  Bradley  and  Samuel  Hunt,  with 
five  assistants.  Mahlon  P.  Chapman  also  taught  in  the  institution,  and  Jonathan 
S.  Fancher. 

CUURCHES. 
At  the  first  precinct-meeting,  Sept.  21, 1741,  the  proprietors 
appointed  a  committee  to  obtain  a  preacher  of  the  go.5pel.  The 
committee  were  John  Clark,  Ebenezer  Kingsley,  and  Phineas 
King.  Earlier  than  this,  however,  the  settlers,  without  wait- 
ing for  official  action,  had  secured,  in  1737,  occasional  preach- 
ing by  Rev.  David  Parsons,  afterward  the  first  minister  of 
Amherst,  and  by  Mr.  John  Woodbridge,  soon  after  installed 
at  South  Hadley,  and  these  ministers  with  others  were  the 
temporary  supplies  until  the  installation  of  the  first  pastor, 
Kev.  Jonathan  Judd.  This  event  tooli  place  June  8,  1743. 
This  was  the  .same  day  of  the  organization  of  the  church, 
and  Mr.  Judd  had  prob.ibly  preached  some  time  on  probation. 
Northampton,  in  1737,  voted  that  a  part  of  the  town  tax 
that  was  levied  upon  this  new  settlement  should  be  applied 
toward  building  a  meeting-house.  It  was  not,  however, 
completed  until  1752.  When  it  was  finished,  the  old  custom 
was  followed  of  appointing   a   committee  to  "dignify"  the 


seats  and  pews, — dignity  being  in  "the  compound  ratio  of 
age  and  property."  The  committee's  word  was  law,  and  this 
man  sat  here  and  another  there,  as  lie  was  directed  to.  It  is 
thought  that,  besides  age  and  property,  perhaps  culture,  ijual- 
Uy,  or  a  trace  of  aristocracy  may  have  helped  compound  the 
ratio  for  seating. 

The  first  house  of  worship  was  torn  down  in  1788,  and  the 
present  one  erected  upon  its  site  the  same  year. 

This  second  house  was  extensively  repaired  and  remodeled 
in  1840,  and  assumed  at  that  time  very  much  of  its  present 
shape.  It  is  still  a  handsome  and  substantial  structure,  and 
one  that  in  these  later  days  of  retrenchment  and  economy 
may  well  be  retained  for  manj'  years.  It  has  a  beautiful 
location,  and  with  the  modern  adornment  of  the  grounds  is 
worthy  of  the  children  of  the  pioneers.  Around  this  spot 
cluster  the  memories  of  five  generations,  and  the  children  of 
the  sixth  now  gather  upon  the  same  sacred  heights.  Here  for 
sixty  years  came  the  first  pastor  of  the  church,  his  people  rev- 
erently following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  man  of  God.  He 
settled  with  them  in  this  wilderness ;  he  shared  the  dangers 
of  Indian  warfare ;  their  sons  went  forth  with  his  blessing  in 
17.56  to  win  an  empire  from  France;  and  in  the  stormy  times 
of  the  Revolution  his  patriotic  words  nerved  the  departing 
soldiers  to  deeds  of  valor.  He  saw  the  sacrifices  made  for  the 
grand  old  principles  of  human  freedom.  He  walked  before 
this  people  through  his  long  pastorate,  bringing  the  strong 
consolations  of  the  gospel  to  the  sorrowing  and  the  desolate, 
and  pointing  all  to  the  brighter  land, — "  the  shining  shore  of 
the  Christian's  hope."  His  faith  and  the  faith  of  the  fathers 
still  live  amid  these  hills  and  lovelj*  valleys;  the  generations 
have  come  and  gone,  but  the  gospel,  surviving  all,  illuminat- 
ing all,  lives  in  the  hearts  of  the  children  as  it  lived  in  the 
hearts  of  the  fathers. 

The  position  of  the  Southampton  meeting-house  has  been 
determined  at  some  of  the  various  State  surveys.  It  is  situ- 
ated in  latitude  42°  14'  4.5"  and  in  longitude  72°  4.5'  54". 

Mr.  Judd,  the  first  minister,  had  for  settlement  200  acres  of 
land,  £100,  "  old  tenor,"  in  monej',  and  £125  in  work  ;  for  sal- 
ary, £130  in  money  (probably  old  tenor,  worth  only  about  one- 
third  gold  basis)  for  three  successive  years,  and  then  to  be 
increased  £5  a  year  until  it  amounted  to  £170. 

The  record  of  Mr.  Judd's  ministry  is  seldom  equaled,  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  sixty  j'cars  from  his  ordination  to  his 
death,  July  28,  1803,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  successful  in  the  ministry,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  his  church  built  up  and  strengthened  from  year  to  year 
and  occasionally  refreshed  by  marked  revivals.  The  whole 
number  that  joined  the  church  during  his  active  service  was 
442;  the  number  of  baptisms,  1034.  The  number  of  deaths  in 
that  time  was  440;  births  about  1550. 

The  first  p.ige  of  the  venerable  church-book  contains  the 
following  entry  : 

"  A  record  of  the  CJmrch  of  Christ  in  SoitUiampton. 

"  A  church  was  organized  in  this  town  a.d.  1743,  June  8tli,  when  Mr.  Jon- 
athan Judd,  A.M.,  was  ordained  the  first  minister.  Ho  preached  nearly  56  years. 
Rev.  Vinson  Gould  was  ordained  August  26th,  A.n.  1801,  as  colleague  Pastor 
with  Rev.  Jonathan  Judd.  The  Reverend  and  venerated  Jonathan  Judd  de- 
parted this  life  July  28,  1803,  after  having  sustained  the  pastoral  office  a  few 
weeks  more  than  si.\ty  years." 

The  records  open  with  the  proceedings  of  the  council,  June 
8,1743.  It  consisted  of  the  following  ministers  :  Revs.  Samuel 
Hopkins,  Springfield ;  Jonathan  Edwards,  Northampton ; 
John  Woodbridge,  David  Parsons,  Hadley  ;  John  Ballantine, 
Westfield  ;  with  the  messengers  of  the  churches  to  which  they 
respectively  belonged.  A  sermon  w-as  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Edwards. 

The  covenant  was  signed  by  the  following  persons  :  Jona- 
than Judd,  Nathaniel  Searl,  John  Wait,  Phineas  King, 
Nathan  Lyman,  Stephen  Sheldon,  Israel  Sheldon,  John  Wait, 
Jr.,  Ebenezer  French,  Noah  Sheldon,  Thomas  Porter,  Jon- 


310 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


athan  Bascom,  Waitstill  Strong,  Stephen  Root,  Ichabod 
Strong,  Moses  Wright,  John  Chirk,  Eleazer  Hannum,  Sehah 
Chirk,  Elias  Lyman,  Nathaniel  Phelps,  Ebenezer  Kingsle3', 
Aaron  Clark,  Elisha  Clark,  John  Miller,  Jonathan  Clark, 
Ezra  Strong,  Samuel  Burt,  Aaron  Eoot,  Roger  Clapp,  Eben- 
ezer Pomeroy,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Jr. 

The  following  were  soon  after  admitted  "  upon  owning  the 
confession  of  faith  and  entering  into  covenant,"  and  were  con- 
sidered as  enrolled  among  the  founders  of  the  church  :  Samuel 
Pomeroy,  Noah  Pixley,  Priscilla  Searl,  Esther  Wait,  Mary 
Kingsley,  Anna  King,  Esther  Strong,  Sarah  Lyman,  Mind- 
well  Bascom,  Sarah  Porter,  Miriam  Strong,  Rachel  Pomeroy, 
Mary  Searl,  Eunice  Clark,  Abigail  Pixley,  Submit  Clark, 
Mary  Strong,  Ann  Lyman,  Mary  Sheldon,  Thankful  Sheldon, 
Mary  French,  Thankful  Clark,  Hannah  Burt,  Eunice  Wait, 
Naomi  Sheldon,  Hannah  Clark,  Elizabeth  Clark,  Priscilla 
Searl,  Jr.,  Mary  Searl,  Marj-  Kentfiekl,  Ann  Clapp. 

The  catalogue  has  so  much  of  family  history  indicated  that 
we  add  the  following  names, — all  of  them  probably  admitted 
before  1755  :  Dorothy  Hannum,  Dinah  Corse,  Elizabeth  Corse, 
Reuben  Corse,  Eliphaz  Searl,  Joshua  Pomeroy,  Abigail  Searl, 
Silence  Judd,  Lois  Pomeroy,  John  Hannum,  Amos  Loomis 
and  wife  Hannah,  Timothy  Clark  and  wife  Freedom,  Elisha 
Pomeroy,  Aaron  Searl,  Moses  Searl,  Samuel  Pomeroy,  Jr., 
Ebenezer  Kingsley,  Jr.,  Eleazer  Hannum,  Jr.,  Joseph  Torre}', 
Ebenezer  French,  Jr.,  John  Hannum,  Jr.,  John  Lyman, 
Gideon  Searl,  Thomas  Pixley,  Mary  French,  Hannah  Pome- 
roy, Sarah  Barker,  Silence  Torrey,  Chloe  Kingsley,  Abigail 
Pomeroy,  Deacon  Stephen  Wright  and  Esther,  his  wife,  Oba- 
diah  Frary  and  Eunice,  his  wife,  Stephen  W'right,  Jr.,  Samuel 
Clapp  and  Mindwell,  his  wife,  Zebediah  Miller  and  Rebecca, 
his  wife,  Mar_y  Strong,  wife  of  Deacon  Strong,  Eunice,  wife  of 
Ichabod  Strong,  Elizabeth  Searl,  Elijah  Wright,  Elijah  Pom- 
eroy, Douglass  King,  Noah  Burt,  Nathaniel  Loomis,  Abner 
Pomeroy,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  Catharine  Wright,  Chloe  Clark, 
Sarah  King,  Miriam  Strong,  Submit  Clark,  Jr.,  Sarah  Strong, 
Mary  Barker,  Mindwell  Porter,  Clarinda  King,  Mary  Han- 
num, Sarah  Porter. 

The  following  were  some  of  the  earliest  baptisms  : 

Sarah,  daughter  of  Gains  Burt,  July  10, 174.3. 
Naomi,  daugliter  of  Israel  Sheklon,  Sept.  9,  174.3. 
Levi,  son  of  Nathaniel  Searl,  Nov.  G,  1743. 
Preserved,  son  of  Elisha  Chirk,  Feb.  5,  1744. 
Elisha,  son  of  Waitstill  Strong,  Aug.  12, 1744. 
Rachel,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  Aug.  26, 1744. 
Dorothy,  daughter  of  Eleazer  Hannum,  Aug.  19,  1744. 
Jonathan,  son  of  Jonathan  Judd,  Oct.  7,  1744. 
Experience,  daughter  of  Aaron  Clark,  Dec.  2,  1744. 
Tamar,  daughter  of  Ezra  Strong,  Dec.  10, 1744. 

The  record  of  baptisms  is  very  full  and  carefully  written 
up,  and  is  exceeding  valuable  in  these  days  when  genealogical 
information  is  so  eagerly  sought  for  by  the  descendants  of  the 
old  New  England  families. 

Koies from  the  Church  Records. 

August,  1750. — The  church  voted  to  choose  the  following  brethren  to  assist 
the  Pastor,  viz..  Deacon  'NVaitstill  Strong,  Deacon  John  Clark,  John  Hannum,  and 
Nathaniel  Searl.  For  the  .=anie  purjiose,  there  were  appointed  in  subsequent 
years,  as  occasion  required,  the  following:  Capt.  Stephen  Wright,  John  "Waite, 
Samuel  Burt,  Deacon  Elias  Lyman,  Deacon  Sanmel  Edwards,  Capt.  Lemuel 
Pomeroy,  Lieut.  John  Lyman,  Deacon  Douglass  King. 

The  early  church-bonk  contains  but  few  records  of  meetings  for  tifty  or  sixty 
years.  From  the  church  manual  and  from  the  number  of  additions  at  various 
times,  the  following  special  seasons  of  religious  interest  may  be  mentioned: 

In  1761-62  there  was  an  extensive  revival  pervading  all  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  30  were  received  into  the  church  within  a  few  months. 

The  years  1706  and  1770  are  also  noticed.  In  the  former,  19  members  were 
added,  and  in  the  latter,  23. 

In  1784-85  a  great  revival  is  spokou  of  in  the  manual,  and  it  appears  that  25 
to  30  were  received  about  that  time. 

During  the  year  1797,  21  united  with  the  church.  In  1?02, 17  made  a  profes- 
sion of  religion.  In  1806  there  must  have  been  a  continued  state  of  revival  for 
many  months,  as  seveniij-fice  united  during  that  year  or  soon  after;  22,  at  the 
communion  of  January  4th ;  21,  May  4th  ;  and  large  numbcre  at  other  dates. 

1809  and  1811  were  also  noted  years.  In  1816,  45  were  received.  1823  was 
especially  marked  as  a  year  of  great  religious  interest ;  one  hundred  and  ticeiUy 


members  were  added,  30  of  them  at  the  communion  March  2d,  and  40  at  the 
communion  of  May  4th. 

In  1S28,  27  were  received;  in  1831,  20;  in  1832,  27;  in  1833,  30;  in  1838,  27; 
in  1841,  88,-01  at  the  May  communion,  and  21  at  that  of  July ;  1850,  07  ;  1851, 21. 

Feb.  fl,  1829,  the  church  passed  the  following  resolutions : 

1st.  That  it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  all  the  members  of  the  church  to  use  their 
united  influence  in  every  judicious  way  to  prevent  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

2d.  That  it  be  recommended  to  ask  the  members  of  this  church  to  abstain  from 
personally  using  ardent  spirits,  excepting  for  medicinal  purposes,  and  that  they 
use  none  in  their  families  or  as  a  part  of  hospitality. 

3d.  That  the  constitution  of  the  temperance  society,  or  some  similar  p.aper  re- 
quiring entire  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  he  submitted  to  each 
member  of  the  church  for  his  or  her  signature, — and  it  shall  be  left  to  the  con- 
science of  each  individual  to  sign  or  not, — in  the  hope  that,  after  mature  and 
prayerful  deliberation,  each  person  in  the  church  will  take  decided  and  open 
ground  in  favor  of  total  abstinence. 

4th.  That  if  any  member  of  the  church  who  has  been  reported  intemperate, 
and  who  has  been  expostulated  with  on  the  subject,  refuses  to  promise  total  ab- 
stinence, such  member  be  summoned  to  appear  before  the  church,  to  show  cause 
why  he  or  she  shall  not  be  excluded  from  the  visible  church  of  God. 

These  resolutions  are  fully  \ip  to  the  standard  of  modern 
temperance  work,  except  that  the  term  "ardent  spirits"  was 
used  instead  of  "all  intoxicating  drinks,"  but  the  pressing 
home  upon  every  member  the  duty  of  an  individual  pledge 
had  a  decisive  emphasis  that  could  not  well  be  disregarded. 
Perhaps  these  resolutions  were  called  out  by  cases  of  discipline 
which  had  arisen  from  intemperance. 

We  add  the  following  action  upon  the  seating,  just  a  speci- 
men of  the  interesting  material  that  might  fill  a  volume  from 
the  town  records : 

April  2, 1753. — Voted,  that  the  widow  Pixley  should  have  liberty  tJ  sit  in  the 
body  of  the  meeting-house,  in  the  second  seat.  Voted,  that  Ebenezer  Kingsly, 
Pliineas  King,  Samuel  Danks,  and  their  wives,  together  with  Deacon  Strong's 
wife,  should  sit  in  the  corner  pew  on  the  north  side  of  the  meeting-house;  that 
Aaron  Clark,  Israel  Sheldon,  and  their  wives  should  sit  in  the  front  pew,  together 
with  Jonathan  Clark ;  that  Elias  Lyman  and  wife  should  sit  in  the  body  of  the 
meeting-house,  cither  in  the  second  seat  or  the  fourth  seat;  that  Deacon  Clark's 
wife  should  sit  in  the  corner  pew  on  the  south  side  of  the  meeting-house;  that  the 
widow  Sheldon  should  sit  in  the  front  pew,  together  with  Esquire  Stephen  Shel- 
don ;  that  John  Wait,  Jr.,  and  Zebediah  Miller  and  their  wives  should  sit  in  the 
pew  next  the  deacons'  seat. 

Ministerial  Record. — 1st.  Rev.  Jonathan  Judd,  ordained 
June  8,  1743  ;  died  July  28,  1803,  aged  eighty-four  years,— a 
pastorate  of  sixty  years.  2d.  Rev.  Vinson  Gould,  settled  as 
colleague  to  Mr.  Judd,  Aug.  26,  1801,  and  succeeded  him  in 
the  pastorate ;  his  services  were  also  continued  for  many  years, 
being  dismissed  Jan.  o,  1832.  3d.  Rev.  Morris  E.  White, 
ordained  June  20,  1832;  remained  twenty  years;  dismissed 
Jan.  1,  1853.  4th.  Rev.  Stephen  C.  Strong,  ordained  April 
12,  1854 ;  dismissed  Feb.  10,  1859.  5th.  Rev.  Joseph  E.  Swal- 
low, installed  Oct.  5,  1859 ;  dismissed  Oct.  6,  1862.  6th.  Rev. 
Alexander  D.  Stowell,  labors  commenced  May  1,  1863  ;  closed 
Nov.  1,  1864.  7th.  Rev.  Burritt  A.  Smith,  ordained  March 
15,  1865;  dismissed  May  11,  1868.  8th.  Rev.  Rufus  P.  Wells, 
installed  Jan.  5,  1869;  dismissed  Jan.  27,  1874.  9th.  Rev. 
Edward  S.  Fitz,  ordained  May  20,  1874 ;  dismissed  June  2, 
1876.  10th.  Rev.  E.  L.  Clark,  labors  commenced  in  Sept.  1, 
1877 ;  and  he  continues  the  present  acting  pastor  of  the  church 
(January,  1879). 

Record  of  the  Deacons  since  the  Organization  of  the  Church. — 
Waitstill  Strong,  chosen  1743 ;  died  Oct.  9,  1792.  John  Clark, 
chosen  1743;  remained  in  the  office  until  his  death.  Elias 
Lyman,  chosen  1766;  died  Feb.  18,  1803,  aged  eighty-seven. 
Samuel  Edwards,  chosen  1766  ;  died  in  1789-90.  Abner  Pom- 
eroy, chosen  1780.  John  Lyman,  chosen  1786;  died  Oct.  28, 
1811,  aged  seventy-eight.  Douglass  King,  chosen  1790 ;  re- 
signed in  1801.  Elisha  Edwards,  chosen  1790;  died  Nov.  17, 
1832,  aged  seventy-four.  Samuel  Burt,  chosen  Dec.  24,  1801 ; 
died  June  7,  1822,  aged  sixty-three.  Roswell  Strong,  chosen 
Dec.  24,  1801 ;  died  March  22,  1837,  aged  seventy-six.  Ansel 
Clark,  chosen  1824;  resigned  May  1,  1835,  and  removed  to 
Ohio.  Walter  Bates,  chosen  1832 ;  died  Oct.  14,  18-59,  aged 
seventy-five.  Theodore  Strong,  chosen  1833 ;  died  March  3, 
1842,   aged  fifty.     Theodore  Stearns,  chosen  1836;  resigned 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIllE   COUNTY. 


311 


May,  1857,  and  removed  to  Easthampton.  Samuel  L\-man, 
chosen  1842;  died  Dec.  8,  1870,  aged  eighty-nine.  Timothy 
P.  Bates,*  chosen  1858.  David  B.  Phelps,*  chosen  185'J. 
Stephen  Lyman,*  chosen  1873. 

Registr.r  of  Church  Committee. 

1700-1832,  Deacon  Elisha  Edwards ;  1801-37,  Deacon  Roswell  Strong ;  lS24-3ri, 
Deacon  Ansel  Clark  ;  1832-59,  Deacon  Walter  Bates ;  1842,  John  Lyman,  Gains 
Lyman,  Israel  Burt,  Deacon  Theodore  Strong ;  1833-G3,  Luther  Edwards ;  1836- 
57,  Theodore  Stearns ;  1842-70,  Deacon  Samuel  Lyman ;  1842,  Deacon  John  B. 
Lyman  ;  1842-71,  Thaddeus Clark ;  1842-70,  Strong  Clark;  1859,  Deacon  Timothy 
P.  Bates,  Deacon  David  B.  Phelps ;  18S9-0o,  Elisha  A.  Edwards;  1804,  Isaac  Par- 
Bous;  1872,  Justin  "W.  Clark  ;  1873,  Deacon  Stephen  Lyman  ;  1805-75,  Benjamin 
Norton;  1870,  Wm.  D.  Boyd;  1877-78,  Isaac  Pai-sons,  J.  W.  Clark,  Lyman  W. 
Soar],  Wm.  V.  Strong. 

THE    METHODl.ST    EPISCOPAL    CUURCH    OF   SOUTHAMPTOX. 

Simeon  Sheldon  and  wife,  having  attended  Methodist  meet- 
ing at  Holyoke,  invited  Rev.  Eufus  Baker,  a  local  minister, 
to  preach  in  their  neighborhood.  He  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  established  meetings  in  the  school-house  at  "  Foggin- 
town."  Rev.  Messrs.  Douglass,  Gross,  Hayden,  and  Hastings 
continued  the  efforts.  Rev.  H.  Battin  succeeded,  and  took 
charge  of  the  meetings  in  1840  and  1841.  Previously,  how- 
ever, a  class  had  been  organized,  which  held  its  relation  to 
the  church  at  Westfield.  The  members  of  this  class  were  as 
follows:  Simeon  Sheldon,  Naomi  Sheldon,  E.  Almira  Shel- 
don, Lucrctia  Clapp,  and  Ira  Searl. 

Rev.  H.  Battin  succeeded  in  ]irocuring  the  organization  of 
a  church  in  May,  1842.  The  same  spring  Conference  sent 
Rev.  Thomas  Marcy,  the  first  regular  Conference  preacher. 

The  original  members  were  Henry  Battin,  Fanny  Battin, 
Simeon  Sheldon,  Naomi  Sheldon,f  Harris  Nimocks,f  Lucy  B. 
Nimocks,  Charles  C.  Gillette,  Merrick  Scarl,  Lucy  B.  Searl, 
Silence  Williams,  Sarah  M.  Chapman,  Lorenzo  Clark,  Betsey 
Clark,  Chiloe  Burt,  Royal  Burt,  Luther  Morgan,  Thomas 
Howard,  Cordelia  F.  Moore,  Eliza  Strong,  Alpheus  Strong, 
Elam  A.  Hitchcock, f  Lovina  Burt,  Rhoda  Clapp,  Thaddeus 
Clapp,  Amelia  A.  Luddington,f  and  Amos  B.  Luddington.f 

The  succession  of  pastors  has  been:  Thomas  Marcy,  1842; 
J.  W.  Dadman,  1843-44;  F.  A.  Griswold,  184.5;  Freeman 
Nutting,  1840 ;  H.  M.  Nichols,  1847 ;  Ephraim  Scott,  1848 ; 
George  E.  Chapman,  1849;  Wm.  Pentecost,  1850-51  ;  Frank- 
lin Fisk,  18-52-53;  Judah  Crosby,  1854-.55 ;  David  Kilbourn, 
1856-58;  William  G.  Leonard,  1859-00;  L.  R.  Brewster, 
1862-63;  N.  Fellows,  1864-65;  G.  R.  Bent,  1806-67;  L. 
AVhite,  1868-69;  J.  W.  Merrill,  1869-70;  B.  T.  Johnson, 
1871-72;  Joseph  Candlin,  1872-75;  H.  Matthews,  1875-70; 
A.  Webster  Mills,  1877,  and  present  pastor  (January,  1879). 

The  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1844  at  a  cost  of  about 
$2700,  and  was  dedicated  in  November  of  that  year.  The 
sermon  upon  that  occasion  was  preached  by  Rev.  Mark  Traf- 
ton.  To  erect  the  house  of  worship  required  much  effort  and 
great  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  this  congregation.  They  incurred 
at  the  outset  considerable  of  a  debt,  which  was  not  liquidated 
until  1848. 

The  first  business  or  parish  meeting  was  held  at  the  town- 
house,  Feb.  21,  1844.  It  was  called  on  the  petition  of  32  citi- 
zens. The  warrant  was  issued  by  Elisha  Edwards,  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  directed  to  Artemas  Barnes,  who  notified  the 
meeting.  Elisha  Edwards  called  to  order.  Orange  Strong, 
Clerk  ;  Artemas  Barnes,  Moderator ;  Artemas  Barnes  and 
Chauncey  Clapp,  Assessors;  Elisha  Warner,  Treasurer;  Sime- 
on Sheldon,  Collector ;  John  W.  Dadman,  Chauncey  Clapp,  and 
Simeon  Sheldon,  Committee  on  By-Laws;  Chauncey  Clapp, 
John  W.  Dadman,  Harris  Nimocks,  Simeon  Sheldon,  Artemas 
Barnes,  Rufus  Strong,  and  Morris  Searl,  Building  Committee. 

The  building  committee  reported,  Feb.  28,  1844,  the  dimen- 
sions to  be  60  by  42,  with  a  basement ;  expense  estimated  at 

*  Present  deacon  of  the  church  (January,  1879). 
t  Still  living  and  membe:-s  (1879). 


§2000 ;    §1000  then   raised,  and  a  loan  could  be  obtained  of 
SIOOO  ;   voted  to  proceed. 

April  16,  1844. — Deed  read  ;  voted  to  settle  title  in  a  board 
of  five  trustees,  and  chose  Simeon  Sheldon,  Chauncej-  Clapp, 
Harris  Nimocks,  3Ierrick  Searl,  and  Artemas  Barnes.  Re- 
port of  committee  after  building  was  .§2431  ;  other  expenses 
followed. 

The  records  of  the  Quarterly  Conference,  Jan.  20,  1845, 
soon  after  the  building  of  the  house,  show  the  following  offi- 
cial members  :  Simeon  Sheldon,  Harris  Nimocks,  H.  Battin, 
and  M.  Searl.  The  house  was  remodeled,  enl.arged,  and  fnr- 
nished  with  a  pipe-organ  in  1877.  Tliere  has  been  a  Sunday- 
school  from  the  first. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

The  first  death  in  town  is  said  to  have  been  that  of  Simeon 
Wait.  This  was  in  1738.  His  death  was  occasioned  by  drink- 
ing cold  water.  His  remains  were  buried  in  the  present  Cen- 
tral Cemetery.  This  dates  back,  therefore,  one  hundred  and 
fort3--one  years.  It  is  situated  a  little  north  of  the  village, 
has  been  kept  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  and  is  cared  for 
at  the  present  time  as  so  venerable  and  sacred  a  place  ought  to 
be.  In  the  west  part  of  the  town  is  another  burial-place,  not 
so  old  as  the  one  at  the  centre,  yet  of  considerable  antiquity. 
It  is  still  in  use.  It  is  not  known  that  there  are  more  than 
one  or  two  places  of  private  burial  in  town.  The  early  estab- 
lishment of  the  ground  at  the  centre  prevented  burial  on  in- 
dividual farms. 

Southampton,  too,  has  been  spared  the  unpleasant  experience 
of  having  an  old  burial-place  given  up,  destroyed,  and  the  re- 
mains of  the  dead  rudely  disturbed  by  the  encroachment  of 
business.  A  handsome  soldiers'  monument  is  placed  near  the 
front  entrance  to  the  cemetery  at  the  village,  bearing  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  : 

"Erected  by  the  Town  of  Southampton  and  Hon.  S.  C.  Pomeroy,  in  grateful 
remembrance  of  the  patriotic  and  brave  volunteers  of  Southampton  whose  lives 
were  sacrificed  in  defence  of  liberty  and  union  during  the  great  Rebellion." 

TOWN   SOCIETIES. 

One  of  unusual  note  was  the  "  Southampton  Association  of 
Ministers,"  formed  August,  1820,  composed  of  natives  of  the 
town  who  had  entered  the  ministry.  It  numbered  variously 
from  thirteen  to  thirty.  Few  rural  towns  could  ever  have 
organized  such  an  association  so  numerous  from  their  own 
citizens.  Their  names  appear  elsewhere  in  these  sketches. 
They  had  triennial  gatherings,  and  their  meetings  were  of 
great  interest,  combining  religious,  literary,  and  social  fea- 
tures. Death  thinned  their  ranks,  removal  to  distant  States 
scattered  the  survivors,  young  graduates  entering  the  ministry 
were  less  in  number  than  formerly,  and  the  society  ceased  to 
exist.  Its  history  is  one  of  the  pleasant  reminiscences  of  the 
older  people  of  the  present  time.  A  large  number  of  literary, 
benevolent,  religious,  and  temperance  associations  have  existed 
from  time  to  time,  but  of  too  ephemeral  a  character  to  offer 
much  material  to  the  historian. 

PLACES   OF   HISTORIC   INTEREST. 

The  present  residence  of  Col.  E.  A.  Edwards  is  the  principal 
one  to  be  mentioned.  Entering  that  building,  venerable  with 
age,  yet  well  preserved,  the  mind  easily  pictures  the  scenes  of 
the  olden  time.  It  was  the  residence  of  the  first  minister,  Rev. 
Jonathan  Judd,  and  was  fortified  for  defense.  Two  ancient 
chestnut-trees  standing  near  are  relics  of  Indian  times.  From 
the  higher  land  above  the  enemy  could  toss  stones  upon  its  roof, 
and  at  the  west  side  was  the  watch-tower.  In  these  now  pleasant 
rooms,  where  Col.  Edwards  and  family  receive  their  guests  to 
the  enjoyment  of  genial  hospitality  and  literary  culture,  there 
were  gathered  often  the  trembling  fugitives  (forty  families,  it 
is  said)  listening  for  the  war-whoop  of  the  savage,  looking  for 
their  approach  over  the  western  hills,  and  dreading  the  torch 
or  the  tomahawk.     Here,  too,  those  of  stouter  heart,  disguising 


312 


HISTOEY   OF  THE   COMiSIECTICUT   VALLEY. 


their  own  fears,  placed  the  loaded  guns  ready  for  instant  use 
and  spoke  bi-ave  words  of  comfort  to  the  fearful  and  despair- 
ing. The  pastor's  voice  rose  in  prayer  for  his  people  as  they 
gathered  within  a  parsonage  fortified  for  battle.  Around  this 
fireside  a  few  years  later  was  discussed  the  news  from  Quebec 
and  Montreal  as  it  slowly  reached  the  Connecticut  Valley, — the 
death  of  Wolfe,  the  surrender  of  the  province,  and  similar 
events.  Later  yet  the  minister,  leading  his  people  in  patriot- 
ism as  in  prayer,  wrote  here  his  communication  oflering,  in 
case  of  revolution,  to  reduce  his  salary  and  share  with  his 
people  the  hardships  of  the  period.  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  no  doubt  read  in  those  rooms  to  a  group  of 
neighbors  who  came  to  hear  the  news. 

The  house  has  stood  under  three  national  governments, — 
the  monarchy,  the  confederation,  the  constitution.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  built  "the  year  the  French  war  began."  The 
marks  of  burnt  floors,  where  the  fugitives  boiled  their  pots,  are 
still  visible  in  dift'erent  parts  of  the  house. 

Near  the  present  residence  of  Martin  P.  Clapp  must  have 
stood  the  barn  of  Elisha  Clark,  where  he  was  killed  by  the 
Indians, — the  scene  of  one  of  those  numerous  tragedies  wliich 
"  reddened  all  this  fair  land." 

A  part  of  the  present  Elam  Hitchcock  house  was  the  old 
fortified  Bascom  house. 

The  scene  of  Pixley 's  death  is  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  other 
similar  places  of  special  historic  note  appear  under  various 
heads  in  this  sketch. 

The  "  top  of  Pomeroy's  Mountain"  is  involved  in  the  story 
of  the  Pascommuck  massacre.  Benjamin  Janes  had  escaj-ed 
and  gone  for  aid  to  Northampton,  but  his  wife  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  savages.  On  this  mountain  they  knocked  her  on 
the  head,  scalped  her,  and  left  her  for  dead.  The  flight  of  the 
Indians  was  a  hurried  one,  pursuit  was  prompt,  and  Mrs.  Janes 
was  taken  up  alive  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  There  can  be 
nothing  in  modern  "  blood-and-thunder  romances"  more  won- 
derful than  these  incidents  grouped  together, — the  Janes  chil- 
dren knocked  on  the  head  at  the  Wait  farm  and  one  of  them 
recovering  to  become  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of  succeeding 
families,  and  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Janes,  in  a  similar  way, 
almost  rising  from  the  dead  on  Pomeroy's  Mountain,  where 
she  had  been  sacrificed. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

The  business  interests  of  Southampton  are  mostly  agricul- 
tural. There  is  a  large  area  of  tillable  land  divided  into  valu- 
able farms,  while  portions  of  the  rougher  tracts  afford  excel- 
lent pasturage.  The  principal  crops  raised  are  Indian  corn, 
rye,  oats,  potatoes,  and  tobacco, — the  latter  in  immense  quan- 
tities. A  large  amount  of  the  best  quality  of  English  hay  is 
cut.  Much  attention  is  given  to  the  products  of  the  dairy ; 
considerable  stock  of  good  blood  is  kept,  and  the  town  makes 
a  fine  display  of  working-cattle  at  the  annual  fairs. 

The  farms  and  homesteads  generally  give  evidence  of  the 
care  which  has  been  devoted  to  them,  indicating  the  taste  and 
thrift  of  their  owners.  In  quite  a  number  of  instances  they 
belong  to  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  settled  them  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  The  old 
ancestral  names  of  1730  are  still  prominent  upon  the  records 
of  the  town  and  in  public  life. 

In  earlier  j-ears  the  extensive  forests  furnished  a  large 
amount  of  lumber,  and  the  saw-mills  existing  at  one  time  in 
town  are  said  to  have  turned  out  300,000  feet  in  a  year.  With 
the  clearing  up  of  the  farms,  this  business  has  been  largely  re- 
duced in  later  years. 

Mills,  Factories,  etc. — In  the  northwest  part  of  the  town,  on 
the  west  branch  of  the  Manhan,  was  the  Isaac  Parsons  saw- 
mill (originally  Theodore  Parsons),  dating  back  perhaps  to 
nearly  the  first  settlement.  There  are  buildings  yet  standing 
at  this  place,  but  the  business  is  mostly  given  up. 

On  the  east  branch  of  the  Manhan  was  the. Clapp  saw-mill. 


not  so  early  as  the  other,  continued  for  many  years,  but  now 
abandoned. 

On  another  small  brook,  a  tributary  of  East  Branch,  was 
the  bark-mill  of  Israel  Searl.  It  was  in  this  that  a  fearful  ac- 
cident occurred,  his  son,  Lyman  Searl,  being  caught  in  the 
machinery  and  killed. 

Below,  on  the  main  stream,  is  the  well-known  Bartlett 
mill,  dating  back  to  18'2.5  or  1830  ;  burnt  out  a  few  years  since, 
but  rebuilt  and  now  in  use.  Present  proprietor,  Allen  C. 
Bartlett.  It  was  formerly  owned  by  Stephen  E.  Searl,  and 
built  by  one  of  the  Lymans. 

Farther  south  on  the  Manhan  was  the  old  Sheldon  grist- 
mill, built  perhaps  as  early  as  1790,  or  even  earlier.  Pliny 
Sheldon  was  the  proprietor  for  many  years,  and  built  it.  The 
mill  was  burned  1860  to  1803,  and  not  rebuilt. 

At  this  same  point  was  the  old  Clover  mill,  built  perhaps 
as  early  as  1818,  and  run  for  twenty  or  thirty  years.  Zaavan 
Moore  was  the  proprietor  for  a  large  portion  of  the  time. 

In  later  years  was  a  saw-mill  in  connection  with  this  water 
privilege  by  Joseph  S.  Clark  and  Wm.  Jliller. 

The  buildings  have  all  been  abandoned  for  many  years,  and 
the  water-power  is  now  unimproved. 

A  short  distance  below  was  the  site  of  a  very  early  saw- 
mill, one  of  the  oldest  built  in  town  ;  also  a  grist-mill,  carried 
on  by  Oren  Root,  and  afterward  by  Silas  Sheldon. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  a  saw-mill  owned  by  Mather 
Eoot ;  something  of  the  whip  business  is  also  carried  on  there. 

A  few  rods  south  were  the  old  clothier-works  of  Joseph  Rus- 
sell, built  in  the  early  part  of  this  century.  The  business 
carried  on  by  him,  and  by  his  sons  after  him,  has  given  the 
name  of  Russellville  to  this  place. 

The  old  buildings  were  burned.  Upon  the  same  sile  the 
Russells  erected,  twenty  years  ago  or  more,  now  buildings,  and 
established  the  whip  business,  which  they  have  carried  on  to 
the  present  time. 

Near  the  old  clothing-mill  of  Joseph  Russell  was  the  black- 
smith-shop erected  by  Mr.  Churchill  1800  to  1810,  and  after- 
ward owned  by  Parsons  Clark,  and  later  by  Moses  Searl.  A 
trip-hammer  was  in  use  at  this  shop,  and  a  large  business  was 
done.     The  hammer  and  bellow  were  run  by  water-power. 

At  Russellville  axe-helves  were  made  at  one  time  by  Mr. 
Leland,  turned  by  water-power. 

On  a  branch  known  as  Roaring  Brook,  flowing  into  this 
town  from  Montgomery,  the  upper  mill-site  improved,  was 
for  a  saw-mill  twenty  years  ago  or  more, — now  abandoned. 

Below  is  the  whip-factory  of  Charles  D.  Russell. 

Tracing  the  Manhan  northward  as  it  returns  from  the 
southern  bend  in  Westfield,  there  is  a  tributary  known  as  the 
Groat  Mountain  Brook.  Upon  the  upper  waters  of  this  was 
the  saw-mill  of  Elisha  Searl,  afterward  owned  by  Woloott 
and  later  by  Stearns, — buildings  gone.  Below  was  a  bark- 
mill,  an  old  aftair. 

Next  below,  the  manufacture  of  chairs  was  carried  on  for  a 
time. 

On  this  stream  were  the  old  and  well-known  clothier-works 
of  Zophar  Searl,  succeeded  by  a  woolen-mill,  a  saw-mill,  and 
a  shingle-mill.  There  was  also  here  a  cotton-batting  mill,  run 
by  Mr.  Simmons.  "  Railroad  waste"  was  also  cleaned  here. 
There  was  also  a  saw-mill  built  by  S.  C.  Burt,  and  a  shingle- 
mill. 

Upon  the  Manhan  the  water  privilege  of  Elijah  Lyon  &  Sou 
is  the  site  of  the  most  ancient  mills  in-all  this  section. 

March  15,  1732,  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  it  was  voted 
that  liberty  be  given  to  four  men — viz..  Deacon  Clark,  Joseph 
Wright,  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  and  Jonathan  Strong— to  set  up  a 
saw-mill  either  upon  the  great  brook  at  the  Falls,  or  below  it 
upon  Manhan  River,  at  their  election,  upon  condition  they 
shall  prepare  said  mill  for  sawing  before  next  winter  ;  and  the 
committe(^  did  also  agree  and  consider  to  let  them  have  such  a 
quantity  of  lanl  ai  they  should  judge  convenient  at  the  place 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


313 


of  and  about  said  mill  as  a  part  of  their  said  proportion  in  said 
land. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  wlietlier  this  mill  was  actually 
huilt  at  that  time,  though  it  is  probable  that  it  was.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  grist-mill  at  an  early  day,  and  they  were  known  as 
Strong's  mills  in  the  ehildhood  of  the  oldest  citizens  now  living. 
Phineas  Strong  was  connected  with  them  for  many  j^ears. 

The  mills  passed  from  the  Strongs  to  Holly  &  Root  twenty 
years  ago  or  more,  and  then  to  Mr.  Stimson,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  ]n'esent  proprietors.  The  Messrs.  Lyon  have 
met  with  severe  los.ses  by  fire  and  flood  within  a  year  past; 
but  it  is  understood  that  they  intend  to  rebuild,  and  re-estab- 
lish their  business  upon  this  historic  old  site. 

Mr.  Stimson  was  engaged  for  a  time  in  the  manufacture  of 
piano-legs  at  this  place.  Mr.  Quigley,  now  of  Southampton 
village,  first  manufactured  whips  for  a  time  at  these  mills. 

Two  miles  below,  nearEasthampton,  is  the  Maj.  Lyman  saw- 
mill. This  was  built  by  Lieut.  Samuel  Coleman,  Gains  Searl, 
Maj.  John  Lyman,  and  Jesse  Mary.  It  passed  to  Maj.  Ly- 
man, and  was  known  by  his  name.  The  present  mills  were 
built  by  the  Lyman  family. 

At  Southampton  village  on  the  little  brook  was  an  ashory, 
an  old  affair.  There  was  also  at  one  time  a  large  tannery  and 
a  bark-mill  run  by  water-power.  The  tannery  was  built,  or 
at  least  owned  very  early,  by  Paul  Chapman.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Mr.  Chapin,  and  the  latter  by  Mr.  Bliss.  Later  still 
Mr.  Bagg  owned  the  place.  The  business  was  given  up  per- 
haps thirty  years  ago.  Distilleries  were  dotted  all  over  the 
town,  it  is  said,  in  the  old  times,  when  New  England  rum  and 
cider-brandy  were  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  necessaries  of 
life. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  were  as  follows, 
with  their  several  values  stated,  for  the  year  ending  May  1, 
1875:  butter,  $27,838;  tobacco,  5il2,749  ;  milk,  ?27,077 ;  ma- 
nure, $12,406;  hay,  1-37,103;  firewood,  $11,12.5;  iiotatoes, 
111,177  ;  pork,  $7949;  corn,  $0916  ;  apples,  $0021. 

There  were  also  reported :  charcoal,  $1098  ;  cider,  $2870 ; 
railroad  ties,  $2058  ;  beef,  $2403  ;  eggs,  $2075  ;  rye,  $3521 ; 
straw,  $2825  ;  veal,  $1051. 

MILITARY. 

At  the  time  the  settlement  of  Southampton  commenced 
there  was  a  state  of  comparative  peace.  The  bloody  tragedies 
of  Deerfield  and  Pascommuck  had  occurred  thirty  years 
before,  or  nearly  that,  and  something  of  security  had  begun 
to  be  felt  by  the  settlers  in  the  Connecticut  Valley.  From 
1730  to  1742  the  new  precinct  of  Southampton  was  exempt 
from  feai's  of  Indian  massacre. 

Its  settlement  had  been  made  during  a  lull  in  the  tempest 
of  war  and  fire  that  had  raged  so  long.  But  there  followed  a 
period  of  danger, — a  period  when  every  home  was  to  be 
guarded  by  the  rifle,  when  crops  were  to  be  sowed  and  har- 
vests reaped  at  the  risk  of  life  and  the  price  of  blood.  During 
the  year  1743  incessant  vigilance  became  necessary. 

A  species  of  fortification  or  palisade  of  stakes  was  built 
around  Mr.  Judd's  house.  Also  a  watch-tower  or  mount  at 
the  west  side  of  the  house,  communicating  with  it  by  a 
window. 

The  inhabitants  removed  thither  for  a  short  time  in  the 
height  of  the  alarm.  Some  of  those  who  went  into  the  fields 
to  perform  their  agricultural  labor  took  their  place  as  senti- 
nels to  prevent  surprise.  When  they  walked  in  the  woods  or 
in  the  roads  in  search  of  cattle,  or  for  any  other  purposes, 
every  man  carried  his  weapon  with  him.  The  people  of  the 
neighboring  towns  sometimes  marched  hither  on  an  alarm, 
and  scoured  the  woods.  The  danger  for  the  time  being  seemed 
to  pass  away,  and  the  families  gradually  removed  out  of  the 
fortified  houses  to  their  own  dwellings  again. 

In  the  year  1745,  Cape  Breton  was  captured  by  the  New 
England  forces  under  Gen.  Pepperell.  Several  men  joined 
40 


that  expedition  from  Northampton.  Among  these  was  Dea- 
con Samuel  Edwards,  Sr.,  who  liad  not  then  moved  to  South- 
auipton.  Elias  Lyman  was,  perhaps,  the  only  soldier  that 
went  directly  from  Southampton.  No  Indians  were  seen  in 
the  town  that  year. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1746  an  expedition  was  proposed 
against  the  French  and  Indians  in  Canada,  and  several  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Southampton  enlisted.  The  project  was,  how- 
ever, abandoned.  On  the  2-5th  of  August,  1740,  the  houses  of 
Aanm  and  Elisha  Clark,  which  had  been  deserted  by  the 
families,  were  plundered  by  the  Indians;  beds  were  torn  in 
pieces,  clothing  and  provisions  seized,  and  other  violence  was 
committed. 

The  Indians,  supposing  themselves  discovered,  fled  to  Pome- 
roy's  Mountain,  and  on  the  west  side  of  it  killed  six  horned 
cattle  and  one  horse,  and  wounded  others.  '--' 

About  Sept.  10,  1746,  the  Indians  placed  an  ambush  be- 
tween the  houses  of  Ezra  Strong  and  John  Wait,  near  the 
bars  leading  to  a  field  where  cows  were  pastured.  The  Indians 
drove  the  cows  to  the  back  part  of  the  pasture  in  order  that 
the  individual  who  should  be  sent  to  drive  them  home  at 
night  might  fall  into  the  ambush.  But  the  cows  as  usual, 
toward  night,  gradually  approached  the  bars.  The  Indians 
then  sent  one  of  their  number  to  drive  them  to  a  distant  part 
of  the  inclosure  and  keep  them  there.  Samuel  Danks,  who 
went  to  drive  the  cows  home,  did  not  pass  through  the  bars  as 
was  expected,  but  took  a  nearer  course.  When  he  came  in 
sight  of  the  cows  he  perceived  them  to  be  very  restless.  He 
then  stopped  a  moment,  and  discovered  the  Indians  trying  to 
prevent  them  from  going  toward  the  bars.  Danks  instantly 
ran  and  gave  the  alarm.  The  Indians  fied,  and  were  seen  no 
more  during  the  year. 

The  next  year  there  was  trouble  again.  On  the  27th  of 
August,  1747,  about  five  o'clock  p.m.,  Elisha  Clark  was  killed 
by  the  Indians  as  he  was  thrashing  grain  in  his  barn.  His 
body  was  pierced  by  seven  bullets,  and  when  found  it  was 
covered  with  straw.  Until  this  time  the  Indians  had  not  been 
heard  of  in  the  vicinity  during  the  summer.  The  sorrowful 
event  surprised  the  inhabitants  in  all  directions.  Soldiers 
from  the  adjoining  towns  assembled  for  the  defense  of  the 
place  and  for  the  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  The  foe  had,  how- 
ever, fled,  destroying  as  they  went  several  head  of  cattle. 
They  encamped  the  first  night  after  the  attack  in  Westhamp- 
ton,  near  the  spot  where,  in  after-years,  stood  the  house  of 
Mr.  Noah  Strong.  Sixteen  poles  which  they  set  up  there 
were  supposed  to  indicate  the  number  of  the  party. 

On  May  9,  1748,  about  noon,  Noah  Pixley  was  returning 
from  a  pasture,  whither  he  had  driven  his  cows,  and  had 
reached  a  spot  a  little  south  of  the  highway,  a  short  distance 
beyond  the  house  where  in  later  years  Zophar  Searl  resided, 
when  he  was  shot  by  a  party  of  Indians.  First  one  gun  was 
heard  by  the  people  in  the  centre  of  the  town ;  then  three 
guns  were  discharged  in  the  manner  of  an  alarm,  which  were 
followed  by  three  or  four  others  in  quick  succession.  Still, 
Pixley  was  only  wounded  in  the  arm.  He  then  ran  five  or 
six  rods,  when  the  Indians  overtook  him,  tomahawked  and 
scalped  him.  In  their  haste  to  flee,  they  cut  off  a  part  of  his 
skull.  The  inhabitants  immediately  rallifed  and  pursued  the 
Indians,  who  fled  up  a  path  leading  to  Samuel  Burt's  resi- 
dence. At  his  house  they  stopped  a  short  time ;  but,  as  the 
family  had  left  it,  they  did  but  trifling  injury.  The  people 
were  now  in  the  utmost  consternation.  Every  heart  beat  with 
terror.  There  was  no  safety  by  night  or  by  day,  in  the  field, 
in  the  road,  or  the  house.  They  immediately  withdrew  from 
their  homes  and  forts,  and  left  the  settlement  desolate.  Most 
of  them  retired  to  Northampton.  Mr.  Judd  and  his  family 
went  to  SufReld.  On  the  19th  of  July  following,  seven  fami- 
lies ventured  back,  and  kept  a  sort  of  garrison  the  remainder 
of  the  summer.  In  the  autumn  most  of  the  people  returned, 
— Mr.  Judd,  the  minister,  somewhat  laier  in  the  season. 


314 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


This  year  was  remarkable  for  a  combination  of  three  dread 
scourges  of  humanity, — war,  pestilence,  and  famine.  Three 
of  the  pioneers — men  of  mark  in  this  community — died^  Noah 
Sheldon,  Ezra  Strong,  and  Moses  Wright.  The  retreat  of  the 
inhabitants  left  not  only  the  winter  grain  to  be  destroyed,  but 
the  Indian  corn  and  other  crops  of  the  spring  uncultivated 
and  lost. 

No  one  was  willing  to  labor  in  the  iield  unless  surrounded 
by  guards.  The  settlers  were  obliged  to  be  assisted  from 
abroad.  Provisions  were  brought  from  neighboring  towns. 
Hay  was  carried  in  bundles  upon  the  hacks  of  horses.  The 
year  1749  was  marked  by  the  establishment  of  peace  between 
England  and  Prance,  and  between  Canada  and  the  colonies. 
To  Southampton  this  was  a  welcome  relief;  but  the  year  was 
one  of  severe  drought.  The  first  mowing  was  a  failure,  but 
a  rich  and  luxuriant  after-growth  was  developed  by  the 
abundant  late  rains. 

These  Indian  attacks  were  the  last  that  occurred  ;  but  the 
alarm  of  war,  calling  men  to  suffer  and  die,  was  still  heard 
for  many  years.  In  1754,  during  the  preliminary  irritation 
of  the  approaching  "  French  war,"  the  whole  territory  along 
the  Connecticut  River  was  once  more  alarmed.  The  old 
fortification  around  the  minister's  house,  in  this  town,  was 
repaired,  and  the  watch-tower  again  built.  It  was  expected 
that  the  former  tactics  of  the  French-and-Indian  allies  might 
be  repeated,  and  that  slaughter  and  desolation  might  burst 
upon  these  towns  as  in  the  days  of  the  fathers  of  Deerfield, 
Northampton,  and  Hadley.  But  the  time  had  come  when 
French  domination  was  to  cease  on  the  northern  line.  French 
armies  could  find  no  chance  to  descend  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut and  hurl  their  savage  legions  upon  the  sleeping  vil- 
lages. They  were  forced  to  fight — and  fight  in  vain — for  the 
soil  of  Canada  itself.  British  and  colonial  troops  penetrated 
their  strongholds  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  flag  of 
England  floated  in  triumph  over  a  provincial  empire  lost  and 
won. 

To  recruit  the  forces  for  these  campaigns,  men  enlisted 
freely  from  New  England  towns.  In  the  army  raised  to  seize 
Crown  Point,  there  are  said  to  have  been  ten  Southampton 
soldiers.  Two  of  them,  Eliakim  Wright  and  Ebenezer  Kings- 
ley,  Jr.,  were  killed  in  battle.  Eight  survivors  returned  to 
their  homes.  The  documents  from  which  these  items  are 
gathered  fail  to  give  their  names. 

During  the  year  1756  a  number  of  soldiers  were  in  the 
service  from  Southampton,  but  their  names  do  not  appear  in 
the  town  records  or  other  authorities,  except  that  Elisha  Bas- 
com  is  named  as  having  served  longer  than  others. 

In  the  terrible  tragedy  at  Fort  William  Henry,  in  1757, 
when  the  prisoners  were  ruthlessly  butchered  after  surrender, 
two  from  Southampton — Nathaniel  Loomis  and  Joel  Clapp — 
were  stripped  and  plundered,  and  escaped  only  with  life  after 
a  hot  pursuit  and  passing  through  the  woods  fourteen  miles. 
The  annals  of  the  period  also  indicate  that  Southamjiton  men 
were  in  the  battles  at  Fort  Ticonderoga,  1758.  Doubtless, 
too,  some  of  these  men  remained  in  the  service,  and  were  with 
the  victorious  army  that  captured  Quebec  and  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  general  peace  that  followed. 

Southampton  evidently  bore  its  share  in  the  "old  French 
war,"  and  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  a  complete  list  of  the 
heroes  of  that  struggle  has  not  been  preserved. 

In  the  thickening  troubles  that  preceded  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  even  as  early  as  1768,  the  men  of  Southampton  were 
already  intently  studying  the  great  questions  at  issue. 

In  that  year.  Rev.  Mr.  Judd  proposed  that  if  the  struggle 
did  come  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother-country,  his 
salary  should  be  reduced  to  as  low  a  point  as  could  be  reason- 
ably thought  proper.  Samuel  Burt  and  Aaron  Clark  were 
delegates  to  the  Northampton  Convention,  and  Deacon  Elias 
Lyman  to  the  Provincial  Congress  that  met  at  Concord,  Oct. 
11,  1768.     The  town  committee  of  correspondence  consisted 


of  Jonathan  Judd,  Samuel  Burt,  Elias  Lyman,  Aaron 
Clark,  Samuel  Pomeroy,  Samuel  Clapp,  and  Israel 
Sheldon.  A  company  of  Minute-Men  was  raised,  and  the 
town  voted  to  hire  a  competent  instructor  for  them  in  the 
military  art,  and  to  pay  the  men  for  their  time  while  engaged 
in  drilling. 

The  historians  speak  of  Noah  Burt  as  particularly  active. 
On  the  receipt  of  the  news  from  Le.xington,  he  took  one  horse 
from  the  team  with  which  he  was  plowing,  left  the  other  to  a 
hoy  to  take  care  of,  and  went  his  way  to  the  post  of  danger. 
His  wife  and  daughters  took  care  of  the  farm,  entering  the 
fields  sickles  in  hand  and  securing  the  grain. 

One  of  these  daughters  married  Mr.  Cook,  of  Norwich,  and 
was  the  mother  of  John  Cook,  now  living  at  Huntington 
village.  He  relates  many  incidents  that  his  mother  used  to 
tell  in  his  childhood  about  the  old  times  of  the  Revolution. 
Her  father  was  enrolled  as  a  Minute-Man.  His  knapsack  was 
ready  packed,  and  gun  loaded,  waiting  for  any  call  that  might 
come.  The  battle  of  Lexington  had  occurred,  but  the  news 
had  not  reached  Southampton.  Noah  Burt  was  plowing,  as 
stated,  when  a  single  report  of  cannon  at  Northampton  (the 
signal  agreed  upon  for  alarm)  told  the  story  of  danger. 
Riding  one  of  the  horses  to  the  house,  the  wife  handed  him 
tlie  gun  and  the  knapsack,  and  he  went  his  way  to  join  the 
soldiers  that  were  gathering  at  the  sound  of  that  signal-gun. 

Mr.  Cook  also  gives  a  family  story,  illustrating  the  hard- 
ships of  that  time,  and  the  rough  work  which  the  women  did. 
Out  of  fodder  for  the  cattle,  Mrs.  Burt  managed  to  harness 
an  unbroken  colt  with  an  older  horse,  and  went  some  distance 
for  a  load  of  straw.  Returning,  the  team  ran,  the  load  was 
lost  otf  all  along  the  road,  but  the  intrepid  woman  herself 
stayed  on  the  wagon,  and  the  team,  by  the  aid  of  a  neighbor, 
was  finally  secured  ;  and  the  writer  infers  she  drove  back  and 
loaded  up  the  straw. 

Nine  days  after  the  battle  of  Lexington  this  district  voted 
to  pay  for  two-thirds  of  the  provisions  for  Capt.  Lemuel 
Pomeroy 's  company,  and  a  committee  of  nine  was  appointed 
to  collect  the  provisions  and  send  them  on  by  team. 

The  town  records  show  many  votes  taken  upon  Revolution- 
ary matters.  In  1781  the  town  voted  to  raise  £200  in  silver 
or  gold,  and  £4000  in  Continental  money,  toward  "raising 
our  quota  of  soldiers."  In  raising  the  -5000  men  called  for  by 
the  General  Court,  June  25,  1776,  the  quota  of  Southampton 
was  17  men.  Previous  to  that,  in  January,  1776,  the  quota 
of  blankets  called  for  from  Southampton  was  6.  At  the  Lex- 
ington alarm,  46  men  went  from  Southampton,  under  com- 
mand of  Capt.  Lemuel  Pomeroy. 

Prom  the  treasurer's  book  we  take  these  Revolutionary  items : 

Received  a  receipt  from  tlio  Belectmen,  Elias  Lyniau  aud  St«pheu  Wriglit, 
which  Bheweth  that  Nathaniel  Sear],  Jr.,  has  received  seven  pounds  and  four 
sliillings,  iive  pence,  and  three  farthings,  in  order  to  upliold  the  district  stock  of 
amnumition.     Tlie  above  entered  by  Samuel  Edwards,  Treasurer. 

Southampt*m,  Aug.  (i,  1777,  received  order  from  the  selectmen  to  discharge 
En.sign  Nathaniel  Searl  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  that  lie  received  of  the  town 
to  ujdiold  the  town  stock  of  ammunition. 

The  above  entered  by  Saumel  Edwards,  Treasurer. 

Dec.  12, 1774.—"  Order  the  5th  from  the  selectmen  for  what  the  Treasurer  let 
Deacon  Lyman  have  for  his  chai'ges  in  going  to  the  first  Congress,  2  pounds,  8 
shillings,  9  pence." 

The  following  records  in  the  town  books,  including  the  ox- 
tract  from  Mr.  Judd's  letter,  give  a  clear  view  of  the  prompt 
and  decisive  way  in  which  the  fathers  met  the  troubles  of  the 
Revolutionary  period  : 

From  Rev.  Mr.  Judd's  letter  of  April  7,  1766 : 

"  Further,  I  would  say  that  your  committee  seemed  to  think  that  from  the 
Stamp  Act,  or  from  some  other  appai-ent  difficulties,  people  might  be  greatly  re- 
duced and  brought  into  distress ;  that  it  might  be  difficult  to  Jiay  the  above-men- 
tioned salary.  I  therefore  said  to  them,  and  now  say  to  you,  that  if  such  a  day 
of  distress  and  dUnc\ilty  should  come,  I  will  join  with  a  committee  of  yours,  and 
they  and  I  will  reduce  the  salary  as  low  as  it  can  be  reivsouably  thought  proper ; 
aud  I  hope  this  will  satisfy  you  .as  fully  as  it  did  your  whole  committee." 

Oct.  .3, 1774.— At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  of  Southampton 
to  see  what  measures  they  shall  think  proper  to  do  in  this  critical  day,  voted. 


HISTORy   OF    HAMPSHIllE    COUNTY. 


:ii5 


that  Sevgt.  Aamu  Clark  should  he  the  moderator  of  said  meeting.  Voted,  to  in- 
demnify the  selectmen  for  issuing  out  a  waiTant  for  tliis  present  meeting,  and 
so  for  issuing  out  other  warrants  for  other  meetings  if  there  should  be  need  of 
other  meetings.  Voted,  to  eond  one  or  more  persons  to  meet  the  Congress  at 
Northampton,  Voted,  that  Samuel  Burt  and  Sergt.  Aaron  Clark  should  bo  a 
committee  or  delegates  to  meet  the  committees  or  delegates  of  other  towns  in 
the  county  of  Northampton  to  consult  what  measures  is  best  to  be  taken  by  the 
county  at  this  present  day.  Voted,  to  choose  a  committee  of  correspondence  for 
Southampton.  Voted,  that  the  committee  consist  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Judd,  Samuel 
Burt,  Beacon  Elias  Lyman,  Sergt.  Aaron  Clark,  Jonathan  Clark,  Timothy  Clark, 
Lieut.  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Samuel  Clapp,  Israel  Sheldon.  Adjourned  to  Monday 
next.  Voted,  to  choose  one  agent  or  delegate  to  go  to  the  Provincial  Congress  to 
be  held  at  Concord,  Tuesday,  Oct.  11th,  and  Deacon  Elias  Lyman  was  chosen. 
Voted,  to  draw  money  out  of  the  distiict  treasury  to  pay  said  delegate's  expenses. 
Samuel  Burt  and  Aaron  Clark  appointed  a  conmiittee  to  get  the  money. 

Nov.  28, 1774. — Vuted  Aaron  Clark  five  shillings  for  going  to  Hadley  to  the 
congress.  Vutod,  U}  adopt  the  resolves  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Voted,  to 
aasist  the  many  distresses  in  the  gathering  of  rates  if  there  should  be  any  occa- 
sion. Voted,  that  the  conshibles  collect  the  province  tjix  committed  to  them 
immediately,  and  pay  it  to  Henry  Gardiner,  E.sq.,  according  to  the  direction  of 
the  Provincial  Congress.  Voted,  to  indemnify  the  above  constables  upon  their 
producing  a  receipt  from  said  Gardiner,  as  fully  and  safely  as  if  they  had  paid 
the  same  to  the  Honorable  Harrison  Gray,  Esq.  This  was  the  overt  act  of  rebel- 
lion that  withheld  the  taxes  from  the  colonial  authorities. 

Dec.  12, 1774. — Chose  a  committee  to  see  what  could  be  obtained  by  subscrip- 
tion for  the  poor  of  Boston, — Deacon  Lyman,  Timothy  Clark,  Lieut.  Slieldon, 
Aaron  Clark,  Israel  Sheldon,  Aaron  Clapp,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Capt.  Judd,  and 
Aaron  Strong.  Voted  Deacon  Lyman  twenty  shillings  expenses  attending  the 
Provincial  Congress.  Voted  Aaron  Clark  and  Samuel  Burt  three  shillings  each, 
expenses  attending  the  County  Congi'ess.  Voted,  to  raise  some  money  to  instruct 
the  Minute-Men  in  learning  the  art  of  military.  Voted  three  pounds  to  some 
person  to  instnict  them  in  the  use  of  the  firelock. 

Jan.  13, 1775. — Voted  Mr.  Elias  Lyman  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
to  meet  at  Cambridge,  in  February  next.  Voted,  to  give  the  IVIiiuite-Men  nine 
pence  a  time  for  twelve  half-days'  drill.  Voted,  to  concur  with  the  Coutinentiil 
Congress  na  to  buying  any  goods  that  were  imported  since  the  first  day  uf  Decem- 
ber last.  Lieut.  Stephen  Sheldon,  Timothy  Clark,  and  John  Lyman  were  named 
as  a  committee  to  see  that  no  such  goods  arc  brought  into  this  town,  aud  to  see 
that  no  tradere  take  any  ailvantage  in  selling  their  goods  contrary  to  the  advice 
of  the  Continental  Congress. 

March  10, 1775. — Voted,  to  add  twelve  men  to  the  committee  of  inspection, — 
Deacon  Samuel  Edwards,  Samuel  Clapp,  Aaron  Clapp,  Sanuiel  Burt,  Capt.  Lem- 
uel Pomeroy,  Elias  Lyman,  Jonathan  Clark,  Capt.  Jonathan  Judd,  Sylvester 
Wright,  Sergt.  Aaron  Clark,  Lieut.  Abner  Pomeroy,  Sergt.  Nathaniel  Searl. 

April  2H,  177o. — Voted,  to  pay  for  two-thirds  of  the  i)rovision  for  Capt.  Lemuel 
Pomeroy's  company.  Committee  on  provisions,  Aaron  Clark,  Deacon  Edwards, 
EJeazer  Hannum,  Nathaniel  Searl,  Douglass  King,  Sanmel  Burt,  Israel  Shel- 
don, Elijah  Clajtj),  and  Aaron  Clapp. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  was  nine  days  after  the  battle  of 
Lexington. 

Voted,  to  choose  a  committee  to  treat  with  some  likely  man  to  come  and  settle 
with  us  as  a  doctor, — Capt.  Judd,  Ensign  King,  Elijah  Clapp. 

March  11, 1770. — Committee  of  correspondence,  Deacon  Elias  Lyman,  Lieut. 
John  Lyman,  Timothy  Clark,  Sergt.  Aaron  Chirk,  Cai)t.  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Capt. 
Abner  Pomeroy,  Jonathan  Chirk,  Aaron  Clapp,  Stephen  Wright,  Lieut.  Stephen 
Sheldon.  Eleazer  Hannum,  Israel  Sheldon,  Josiah  Searl. 

The  last  town-meeting  called  "in  his  Majesty's  name"  was 
on  Oct.  26,  1775.  They  are  then  called  sini]ily  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  selectmen,  Oct.  10,  1776,  "in  the  name  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  Bay." 

March  17, 1777. — Conmiittee  of  safety,  Elias  Lyman,  Deacon  Samuel  Edwards, 
Timothy  Clark,  Juhn  Lyman,  Lemuel  Pomeroy,  Douglass  King,  Abner  Pomeroj-, 
Stephen  Wright,  Jonathan  Clark.  Voted  a  committee  to  look  into  the  state  of 
the  town  and  average  what  each  man  has  done  in  the  present  war.  Voted  a 
bounty  of  twenty  pounds  to  each  man  who  shall  enlist  for  three  years. 

Mai-cli  23, 1778. — Voted,  to  grant  Israel  Sheldon  the  stream  where  his  mill  now 
stands,  upon  Wolf  Hill  Falls,  while  he  keeps  his  mill  in  repair.  Votfid,  that  the 
soldiers  that  went  to  Quebec  in  the  year  1770  should  be  reimbursed  their  taxes 
for  that  year.  Voted,  to  comply  with  the  order  of  the  General  Court  witli  refer- 
ence to  articles  of  clothing  for  the  army ;  to  raise  money  for  that  purpose  by  sui> 
scription,  if  possible ;  if  not,  to  charge  it  to  the  town. 

June  l.'i,  1778. — Voted  a  committee  to  attend  to  the  supplying  of  the  families 
of  our  Continental  soldiers,  viz.,  Jonathan  Clark,  Samuel  Burt,  Lieut.  Lemuel 
Bust,  Lieut.  Asahel  Birge,  Deacon  Samuel  Edwards. 

May  n,  1779. — Committee  to  attend  to  the  families  of  the  soldiers  absent  in  the 
war,  Lieut.  Elijah  Clapp,  John  Hannum,  Elijah  Wright. 

July  7, 1779. — Chose  Jonathan  Clark  to  meet  \rith  t!ie  committees  of  corre- 
spondence at  Concord.  Voted  money  for  Mr.  Clark's  expenses,  aud  appointed 
his  son  Abner  a  committee  to  raise  it. 

March  18, 1780. — Committee,  Lieut.  John  Lyman,  Lieut.  Elijah  Clapp,  Capt. 
L.  Pomeroy,  Ensign  Nathaniel  Searl,  Stephen  Wright.  The  sum  of  8000  pounds 
was  vuted  to  be  assessed  upon  the  people. 

June  30, 1780.— Voted,  that  the  town  will  give  the  soldiers  for  three  months 
five  hundred  dollars'  bounty,  and  three  pounds  in  hard  money  per  month  for  the 


time  of  service.  Voted,  to  add  five  bushels  of  Indian  corn  to  what  has  been 
alieady  voted  to  the  nulitiamen  now  going  into  the  war. 

July  14, 1780. — Voted,  to  furnish  four  horses  ami  an  ox-team  &  driver,  accord- 
ing to  the  reriuisition  of  court,  for  the  anuy, — Ensign  Nathaniel  Searl  and  En- 
sign Douglass  King,  committee.  Committee  on  clothing  also  apjiointed, — Capt. 
Samuel  Burt,  Capt.  Thomas  Clark,  Ensign  Nathaniel  Searl,  John  Hannum, 
Lieut.  Elijah  Clapp. 

Dec.  19, 1780. — A  committee  to  hire  soldiers  required, — Abner  Pomeroy,  Abner 
Clark,  Elijali  Clajip,  Timothy  Clark,  Joel  Clapp,  Peres  Clapp,  Asahel  Birge, 
Nathaniel  Searl,  John  Lyman. 

Jan.  1, 17S1. — Voteil  a  committee  to  purchase  ihe  beef  required  for  the  Conti- 
nental Army,  viz.,  Nathaniel  Searl,  John  Hannum,  John  Lyman. 

Jan.  31,  1781. — Voted  200  jiounds  hard  money,  silver  or  gold  coin,  and  4000 
pounds  in  Continental  money. 

The  following  note,  from  the  appendix  to  the  centennial 
address  of  Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards,  gives  about  all  the  informa- 
tion that  can  be  obtained  as  to  those  from  Southampton  who 
were  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution  : 

"  Among  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  eight  months'  service  at  Cambridge, 
in  1775,  were  Capt.  Abner  Pomeroy,  Sergt.  Lemuel  Rust,  Sergt.  Gerehom  Pome- 
roy, Corp.  Stephen  Clapp,  Corp.  Samuel  Edwards,  and  Corp.  Ezekiel  Wood, 
together  with  fourteen  privates.  Stephen  Clapp  (Iwrn  1749,  and  a  brother  of 
I^.|ger  Clapp)  died  of  a  fever  near  Boston,  August,  1775.  Ebeuezer  Gee,  one  of  the 
privates,  went  on  the  tiuebec  expedition.  Obadiah  Frary,  of  Southampton,  was 
killed  and  scalped  by  the  Indians,  August,  1777,  on  a  retreat  to  Stillwater  from 
Moses  Creek,  near  Fort  Edward.  Elisha  Edwards  was  in  his  company.  Stephen 
Slieldon,  brother  of  Simeon,  died  in  a  wagon  in  Gates'  anny.  Deacon  Koswell 
Strong  was  with  him.  Darius  Searl  died  in  the  scn'ice,  probably  on  Long  Island, 
Aaron  Strong  was  killed  by  a  cannon-ball  in  an  iutrenchment  at  Saratoga. 
Oliver  Pomeroy,  a  son  of  Capt.  Abner  Pomeroy,  died  in  the  senico  near  the 
close  of  the  war.  It  is  believed  that  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Hall,  a  son 
of  Juhn  Hall,  also  died  in  the  army. 

"  In  June,  1779,  the  General  Court  ordered  a  reinforcement  for  the  Continenta> 
army.    The  proportion  of  Southampton  was  six. 

"  At  another  time  the  following  soldiei's  from  Southampton  were  engaged  in 
the  service :  Sergt.  Jacob  Pomeroy,  Joseph  Bartlett,  Elisha  Bundy,  Sanmel  Cole- 
man, Silas  Pomeroy,  Gad  Pomeroy,  Noble  Squires,  and  Phine;is  Searl.  The  liist 
named  was  in  Capt.  John  Carpenter's  company.  The  others  were  in  (.'apt.  Eben- 
ezer  Pomeroy's  company." 

To  this  should  be  added  the  name  of  Lemuel  Bates,  who 
shared  in  the  hardshi])S  of  Arnold's  march  througli  the  woods 
of  Maine,  and  in  the  subsequent  attack  upon  Quebec. 

It  is  evident  that  nearly  all  the  men  capable  of  bearing 
arms  were  in  the  Revolutionary  service  at  one  time  and  another. 

Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards  adds : 

*'  The  peoples  of  SimthaDipton  were  not  at  all  behind  their  neigliboi'S.  They 
were  ready  to  contribute  and  sutfer  at  any  moment.  The  young  men  marched 
t<i  the  scenes  of  conflict,  while  the  elders,  the  anxious  mothers  and  sisters,  were 
offering  intercession  to  Him  whose  hand  alone  could  turn  aside  the  unerring  rifle,- 
or  stay  the  pestilence  that  delighteth  especially  to  walk  in  the  camp  of  the  sol- 
dier. The  old  people  have  t<jld  us  that  at  some  periods  during  the  war  hardly  a 
young  man  was  present  in  the  religious  assemblies.  The  various  burdens  inci-" 
dent  to  these  times  were  shared  b.v  all  with  aftecting  unanimity.  Those  who 
could  not  fight  could  load  a  w.agon  with  provisions  or  drive  it  to  the  encampment 
of  their  brothers  and  fellow-townsmen.  Such  as  were  too  infinn  to  bear  a  nmsket 
themselves  gladly  joined  together  and  gathered  the  harvest  of  those  who  were 
hemming  the  British  in  at  Boston,  or  who,  with  Col.  Broolcs,-  were  storming 
the  redoubt  at  Saratoga." 

The  c;eneral  accounts  of  Shuj's'  rebellion  do  not  show  that 
Southampton  had  much  share  in  it.  Probably  some  of  her 
citizens  were,  however,  among  the  disaffected,  but  their  names 
and  deeds  have  not  been  preserved. 

In  1812,  Luther  Edwards  and  John  Lyman  were  the  dele- 
gates of  Southampton  in  the  anti-war  convention  at  North- 
ampton, July  14th.  What  other  part  was  taken  by  South- 
ampton in  that  struggle  with  England  does  not  appear. 

WAR  OF  1861-65. 
The  first  legal  meeting  to  consider  war  matters  in  the  event- 
ful year  of  1801  was  held  October  14th.  It  was  voted  to  pay 
to  each  wife,  and  to  each  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
to  each  parent,  brother,  or  sister  of  those  who  have  volunteered 
or  who  may  hereafter  volunteer  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  are  dependent  upon  them  for  support,  the  sum  of 
$1  a  week  "when  found  necessary,"  and  the  treasurer  was 
authorized  to  borrow  |500  for  that  purjiose.  The  records  show 
that  many  enlistments  had  taken  place  without  waiting  for 
town  action.     Men  from  Southampton  were  in  some  of  the 


316 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


earliest  regiments  that  marched  soon  after  the  surrender  of 
Port  Sumter.  March  17,  1802,  the  selectmen  were  instructed 
to  borrow  whatever  sum  of  money  might  be  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  the  law  with  reference  to  State  aid  to 
families  of  volunteers.  September  2d,  voted  to  pay  a  bounty 
of  1100  to  each  volunteer  for  nine  months.  No  otBcial  action 
was  taken  during  1863,  but  the  patriotic  work  went  on;  men 
continued  to  enlist,  and  much  labor  was  performed  in  the 
way  of  sending  supplies  for  the  suftering  and  destitute,  the 
sick  and  the  wounded.  It  was  voted  in  1864  to  pay  a  bounty 
of  §125  each  for  volunteers  for  three  years,  and  to  veterans 
re-enlisting  §25  additional ;  §1950  was  appropriated  for  this 
purpose.  This  bounty  was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  war, 
and  the  quotas  required  of  the  town  were  promptly  filled  either 
by  enlistment  of  citizens  or  hiring  of  recruits.  May  22, 
1865,  the  treasurer  was  authorized  to  borrow  |3266  to  reim- 
burse individuals  who  had  advanced  money  to  encourage  re- 


cruiting during  the  year  1864.  The  long  agony  was  over, 
peace  had  come,  and  the  town  faithfully  met  its  obligations 
to  citizens  who  had  advanced  money  in  the  dark  days  of  the 
previous  year. 

Schouler's  history  states  that  Southampton  furnished  127 
men  for  the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  16  over  and  above 
all  demands;  5  were  commissioned  oiBcers.  The  whole  amount 
of  aid  paid  by  the  town  was  §10,808.12.  The  assessed  valua- 
tion of  the  town  in  1860  was  §496,462,  and  the  population  was 
1130. 

Aid  to  families  reimbursed  by  the  State  :  1861,  §92.28  ;  1862, 
§1181.80;  1863,12013.61;  1864,  §1602.21  ;  1805,  §1000;  total, 
§.5899.96. 

The  following  list,  prepared  from  the  military  reports  of  the 
State,  from  the  record  in  the  town  clerk's  office,  and  b_y  inquiry, 
is  supposed  to  contain  the  name  of  every  citizen  of  Southainj)- 
ton  who  served  in  the  army  of  1861-65  : 


Marshall  D.  Strong,  enl.  Oct.  15, 1802, 4Cth  M.  V.  M  , 

Co.  B  ;  trans,  to  52(1,  Nov,  6,  1SC2,  and  placed 

upon  the  quota  of  Kiisthampton. 
Gideon  D.  Tower,  Bergt.,  enl.  Oct.  15,  ISC2,  40th 

M.  y.  M.,  Co.  E  ;  diach.  .Tuly  29, 1803. 
Samuel  F.  Edwards,  2d  lieut.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 

52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  C;  pro.  to  1st  lieut.,  Nov. 

13, 1S62;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Daniel  0.  Bates,  Corp.,  enl.   Sept.  20,  ISGl,  27th 

Inf.,  Co.  F;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1804. 
Vernon  D.  Austin,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27lh  Inf., 

Co.  F;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1804;  was  wounded  in 

the  side  at  the  battle  of  Newhern,  N.  0. 
William  E.  Austin,  enl.  Scjit.  20,1801,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  F;    trans.   Aug.  14,  1863,  to  Vet.   Kes. 

Corps. 
Orson  R.  Childs,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27lh  Inf.,  Co. 

F  ;  trans.  Dec.  31, 1863,  to  Vet.  Ues.  C<jrps. 
Erastus  L.  Cools,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  271h  Inf.,  Co. 

F  ;  died  Feb.  17, 1862,  on  gunboat  "  Kangor  ;"  a 

hired  recruit  from  abroad,  but  died  in  service 

for  Southampton. 
Alouzo  F.  Bartlett,  enl.  Aug.  18,  1804,  31st  Inf., 

Co.  A;  diach.  Aug.  17, 1SC5. 
David  Duggan,  enl.  Sept.  1,  1804,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  A; 

disch.  July  31, 1865,  by  order  of  War  Dcpart- 

uient. 
David  Maxwell,  enl.  Sept.  1,  1804,  Slst  Inf.,  Co. 

A ;  disch.  July  31,  1865,  by  order  of  War  De- 
partment. 
KusscU  S.  Root,  enl.  Sept.  1,  1801,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

A ;  disch.  July  31,  1805,  by  order  of  War  De- 
partment. 
George  K.  Edwards,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861, 

31st  Inf.,  Co.  B;  disch.  July  T,  1SG2,  for  disa- 
bility ;  re-enl.  March  2, 1803,  2d  Inf.,  Co.  A. 
Lewis  O.  Fniry,  sergt.,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1801,  31st  Inf., 

Co.  B;  discll.  Nov.  19,  1864. 
Amos  B.  Pomeroy,  enl.  Nov.  24,  1863,  27lh  Inf., 

Co.  F;  disch.  June  26,  1866. 
Charles  H.  Searle,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf, 

Co.  F;  killed  May  12,  1804,  at  Drury's  Blnff, 

Va. 
Hiram  Spoonor,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

F;  re-enl.  Dec.  24,  1863;  killed  June  2,  1864, 

at  Cold  Harbor,  Va. 
Elisha  A.  Edwanls,  capt  ,  enl.  Feb.  20,  1S02,  Slst 

Inf.;  resigned  Sejtt.  5,  1802,  for  disability. 
Horace  F.  Morse,  Ist  lieut.,  enl.  Fob.  20,  1802,  Slst 

Inf.;  pro.  to  capt.,  Aug.  17,  1863;  disch.  Nov. 

18, 1804. 
Henry  Hilton,  enl.  Dec.  30, 1864, 19th  Inf.,  Co.  B  ; 

died  of  wounds,  April  26,  1865,  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 
Albert  Allison,  enl.  May  12, 1864,  26th  Kegt. ;  un- 

assigncd  recruit,  and  unaccounted  for  in  the 

adjt.-general's  relHjrt  of  voluuteein,  1868,  vol. 

ii.  page  522. 
Matthew  0.  Clair,  enl.  Dec.  24,  1803,  27th  Inf.,  Co, 

A;  disch.  June  26, 1805. 
Bufus  W.  Uubinson,  enl.  Fob.  24, 1804,  27th  Inf,, 

Co.  A  ;  died  July  23,  '04,  at  Andorsonville,  Ga. 
John  Quinn,  enl.  Sept.  24,1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  C; 

re-eid.  Dec.  24,  1863  ;  died  of  wounds,  Jul.v  4, 

1864,  at  Point  Lookout,  Md. 


George  W.  Coleman,  enl.  Sept,  24,  1861,  27th   Inf,, 

Co.  D;  re-enl.  Dec.  24,  1SG3;  disch.  Juno  15, 

1865,  by  order  of  War  Department. 
Dwight  a.  Bartlett,  enl.  Nov,  20,  1801,  31st  Inf., 

Co,  B;  died  Dec,  30,  1801,  at  Windsor,  Mass. 
Henry  Brant,  enl,  Aug,  20,  1864,  Slst  Inf,,  Co.  B, 
Gardner  Fowles.enl.  Nov.  20,1861,31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B  ;  disch,  Nov.  10,  1S64. 
Nathan  L.  Frary,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  Slst  Inf.,  Co. 

B ;  disch.  Oct.  15,  1862,  for  disiibility. 
Gideon  B.  Searle,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1801,  Slst  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  disch.  Nov,  27,  1862,  for  disability. 
Almon  A.  Spooner,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  Slst  Inf,, 

Co.  B;  disch.  Nov.  19,  1801. 
Charles  E.  Bartlett,  enl,  Oct.  11,  1802, 62d  M.  V.  M., 

Co,  K  ;  disch,  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Gilbert  M.  Hall,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  62d  M.  V.  M  , 

Co,  K;  disch,  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Jeremiali  M.  Johnson,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M. 

V.  M,,  Co.  K;  died  March  8,  1863,  at  Baton 

Bonge,  La. 
Henry  L.  Moore,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  Feb.  23,  1863,  for  disability. 
Wm.  J.  Losey,  enl,  Jan.  2S,  1862,  Slst  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

pro.  to  sergt.,  Feb.  14,  1864 ;  disch.  Sept,  19, 

1865;  re-enl.  Feb,  23,  1864,  Slst  Regt.,  Co,  H. 
Lucius  Wright,  enl,  Nov.,  1801,  Slst  Inf,,  Co,  I; 

disch.  to  re-enl,,  Feb.  15, 1864. 
Charles  L.  Edwards,  1st  lieut.,  enl.  Aug.  27, 1862, 

37th  Inf.,  Co.  D;  pro.  to  capt,,  April  5, 1804; 

major,  Juno  26, 1865,  five  days  after  expiration 

of  service  as  capt,;  must,  out  with  regt,,  June 

21, 1865. 
Flavel  K.  Sheldon,  enl,  Aug.  8,  1802;  must.  Aug. 

30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  D;   pro.  to  sergt.;  2d 

lieut,,  June  27,1864;  1st  lieut,.  May  4,  1865; 

he  was  wounded,  April  2,  1805,  before  Peters- 
burg, through    the   hand  and  in   the  chest; 

mustered  out  June  17,  1865, 
Wm,  M,  Kingsley,  Corp.,  enl.  Aug,  30,  1862,  37lh 

Inf,,  Co,  D ;  killed  May  12,  1864,  at  Spottsyl- 

vauia,  Va, ;  buried  on  the  b.attle-field, 
Augustus  B.  Bates,  enl,  Aug,  30,  1862,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  D;  disch.  Juno  21, 1865. 
George  0.  Clark,  enl,  Aug,  SO,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;   killed  May  6,  1804,  at   Wilderness,  Va. ; 

body  never  recovered. 
Frederick    M.  Hannum,  enl.  Aug,  30,  1802,  37lh 

Inf,,  Co,  D;  disch,  June  21,  1805, 
John  S.  Hyde,  enl,  Aug  SO,  1802,  S7th  Inf,,  Co.  D; 

killed  May  6,  1864,  at  Wilderness,  Va.;  body 

never  recovered, 
Henry  A,  Searle,  enl.  Aug,  30, 1802,  37th  Inf,,  Co. 

D;  trans.  Sept.  10,  1803,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps ; 

disch.  July  7, 1805. 
Reuben  S.  Searle,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1803,  :i7th  Inf,  Co. 

D;  disch.  Juno  21,  1805. 
Richard   Leverton,  enl.  May  2,  1804,  2d  Cav.,  Co. 

K  ;  died  Aug,  9, 1864,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
Michael  Delhanty,  enl.  Jan,  27,  18GJ,  4th  Cav  ,  Cfl. 

G  ;  disch,  Nov.  14, 1865. 
Robert  Popper,  enl.  Jan.  3,  1865,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  M  ; 

disch.  Nov.  14, 1865. 
George  H.  A.  Brown,  enl.  July  28,  1802,  2d  Inf., 

Co.  C;  died  at  Washington,  D.C,,Fob.  3, 1863; 


a  hired  recruit  from  abroad,  but  name  given 

because  he  died  in  service  for  Southampton. 
Hiram  A.  Eaton,  enl.  May  25, 1801,  2d  Inf,,  Co.  G  ; 

died  July  20,  1S62,  at  Frederick,  Mil, ;  a  hired 

recruit  from  abroad,  but  name  given  because 

he  died  in  service  for  the  town, 
Wm.  H,  Lane,  enl.  Sept.  0,  1804,  2d  H,  Art,,  Co.  F: 

trans.  Jan.  17,  1805,  to  17th  Inf,  Co,  B ;  disch. 

July  11,  1805. 
Charles  Holmaii,  Corp.,  enl,  Jan,  3, 1805, 13th  Batt. 

L,  Art, ;  disch.  July  28,  1805. 
Charles  Baker,  enl.  Dec.  8,  1804, 15th  Batt,  L,  Art. 
James  Harvey,  enl.  Dec.  8,  1804,  15th  Batt.  L.  Art. 
John  S,  O'Brien,  enl,  Dec.  8,  1864,  loth  Batt.  L. 

Art. 
Robert  B.  Coleman,  enl.  July  29,  1S03,  2d  H.  Art., 

Co.  B;  disch.  May  24, 1865. 
Wm.  G,  Elkins  (2d),  enl,  March  10,  t804,57lli  Inf,, 

Co,  I ;  discll,  July  SO,  1805, 
Marshall  G,  Hardy,  enl,  March  10, 1864,  57lh  Inf,, 

Co,  I ;  disch.  July  30,  1865. 
John  H,  Dustin,  enl.  Sept.  0, 1864,  Vet,  Res.  Corps  ; 

disch,  not  given. 
Henry  C.  Fargo,  enl.  Dec.  7,  1804,  Vet.  Res.  Corps  ; 

disch.  not  given. 
Patrick  Flanuagan,  enl.  Sept.  8,  1861,  Vet,  Res. 

Corps;  disch.  not  given. 
George  S.  Meacham,  enl.  Dec.  20,  1863,  1st  Cav,, 

Co,  E ;  trans,  Sept.  14,  1804,  to  Vet.  Ues.  Conis, 
Edwin  0.  Hyde,  sergt,,  enl.  Sept.  14, 1801, 1st  Cuv., 

Co.  F  ;  pro.  to  com.-sergt.  Doc.  20, 1863 ;  disch. 

June  20,  1865. 
.lohu  Woodruff,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  Slst  Inf.,  Co.  B. 

disch.  June  12, 1862,  for  disability  ;  re-enl,  Feb. 

3,1864, 1st  Cav.;  uuitssigned,  and  discll.  us  re- 
jected, March  2, 1864  ;  again  enl.  April  0, 1864, 

Co.  K,  57th  Inf.;  disch.  Juno  27,  1S05;  lost 

one  leg  in  the  service. 
John   Dafney,  enl.  April  26,  1804,  2d  Cav.,  Co.  G  ; 

disch.  July  -20,  1805, 
David  B,  Phelps,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch,  Aug,  14, 1803. 
Lysander  B,  Bates,  corp,,  enl,  Oct.  11,  1862,  5'2d  M. 

V.  M.,  Co,  K  ;  disch,  Aug,  14,  1863. 
Watson   Boot,  corp,,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V. 

M,,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Anson  B,  Norton,  corp,,  enl,  Oct,  11,  1802,  52d  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  died  April   19,  1863,  at  Baton 

Rouge,  La. 
Robert  Baldwin,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M,  V.  M,, 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Alonzo  F.  Bartlett,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug,  14,  1863 ;  re-enl.  Aug.  18, 

1864,  Slst,  Co.  A  ;  disch.  Aug.  17,  1805. 
Edwin  C.  Parsons,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  K  ;  died  July  5, 1803,  at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Jonathan  E,  Pomeroy,  enl,  Oct,  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  Aug,  14,  1803. 
Morris  W.  Searle,  enl.  Oct,  II,  1802,  52d  M,  V.  JL, 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug,  14,  1803. 
Albert  H.  Strong,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  f,2d  M,  V,  M,, 

Co.  K;  died  April  17,  '03,  at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Wm.  Cruise,  onl.  Jan.  1,  1804,  2d  llatt.  L,  Art, ; 

disch.Aug.il,  1805;  previously  served  nine 

mouths  in  the  52d  Kegt. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


317 


Edwiiril  B.  Duggaii,  ciil.  Jan.  1,  1864,  2d  Batt.  L. 

Art.-,  discli.  Aug.  11,  1SC5. 
Frcili'lick  Dwiglit  Simpson,  enl.  Aug. 30, 1862, 37tll 

Inf.,  Co.  D;  died  Juno  22,  18C4,  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C;  buried  there. 
Paul  Trolier,  enl.  Aug.  3U,  1S62,  371h  Inf.,  Co.  D; 

wouniled   in   a   skirmish   before  Petersburg; 

disch.  May  26,  1S06,  for  disab. 
George  M.  Wolcott,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37tli  Iiif , 

Co.  D ;  killed    May  6.  1864,  Wilderness,  Va. ; 

body  never  recovered. 
George  K.  Ober,  scrgt.,  enl.  Marcli  10,  1864,  rjTth 

Inf,  Co.I;  disch.  .Inly  30, 1865;  hadrreviously 

served  nine  months  in  the  62d  and  the  46lh. 
Albert  E.  Ilriell,  enl.  March  10,  1864,  57lh  Inf,  Co. 

I ;  disch.  Dec.  17,  1864,  for  disability. 
Eufus  A.  Street,   enl.  Dec.  4,  1861,  31st  Inf,  Co. 

B  ;  died  Aug.  3,  1862,  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  of 

typhoid  fever. 
George  D.  Vares,  enl.  Nov.  20, 1861,  31st  Inf,  Co- 

li;  disch.  Nov.  19, 1864. 
James  M.  Williams,  enl.  Nov.  25,  1861,  31st  Inf, 

Co.  B;  disch.  to  re-enl.  Feb.  18,  1S64  (West- 
field);  final  disch.  Sept.  9,  1865. 
Henry  C.  Loomis,  enl.  Nov.  23, 1661,  3lBt  Inf,  Co 

G;  disch.  July  17,  1862,  for  disab.;  ro-enl. 

Sept.  5, 1864,  Vet.  Bos.  Corps. 
Daniel  McCune,  enl.  Dec.  22, 1861, 3l6t  Inf.,  Co.  G  '• 

disch.  March  23, 1863,  fur  disab. 


Frank  H.  Kellogg,  enl.  Sept.  6,  1804,  Vet.  Res. 
Corps  ;  had  previously  served  nine  months  in 
Co.  H,  37th  Bcgt.,  and  disch.  for  disab.,  May 
25,  18G3. 

Emerson  J.  Walcott,  enl.  Sept.  6,  1864,  Vet.  Res. 
Corps;  disch.  Jan.  21, 1865;  had  previously  enl. 
in  a  Connecticut  regt.,  and  disch.  for  disab. 

Perry  M.  Coleniiin,  cnl.  .\pril  25,  1801,  lOlh  Rest., 
Co.  C;  killed  in  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  May 
31,  1862;  first  man  to  enlist,  and  first  man 
broilglit  home  for  burial. 

Harrison  Fuller,  enl.  May  11, 1861,  2d  Cav.,  Co.  C; 
tmns.  to  5lh  Cav.,  Co.  I. 

Victor  Visette,  enl.  in  regular  army. 

Oscar  F.  Searle,  enl.  Sept.,  1862,  hosjiital  service; 
disch.  April,  1863. 

George  E.  Rowley,  enl.  Nov.  25, 1S63,  27tli  llegt., 
Co.  F. 

Wm.  McDonald,  enl.  in  4th  Cav. 

George  Roy,  enl.  49th  U.  S.  Col'd  (representative 
recruit,  paid  for  by  Mary  S.  Rogers,  of  South 
ampton,  as  certified  to  by  Gov.  John  A.  An- 
drew. Not.  22,  1864). 

Samuel  W.  Lane  (representative  recruit,  paid  for 
by  Gilbert  Bascom). 

Lewis  F.  Swint,  3d  asst.  eng., enl.  July,  18f2,  Navy 
in  service  to  Aspinwall  supply  and  convoy 
ships  ;  died  at  Southampton,  July  22,  1863,  of 
fever  contracted  la  the  service. 


Joseph  W.  Powers,  cnl.  Oct.  4,1861,.3lBtEcgt.,  Co. 

B;  di.sch.  Juno  12,  1862,  for  disab. 
Cbauncey  Hondrick,  enl.  Dec.  20,  1861,  3l8t  Uegt., 

Co.  H  ;  disch.  .\ug.,  1862,  and  died  three  days 

after  he  returned  home. 
Wm.  W.  Thomas,  enl.  in  31st  Regt.,  Co.  B. 
Timothy  Hoag,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37tli  Regt.,  Co. 

D;  disch. 
Henry  G.  Chapin,  enl.  Sept.  6, 1862, 37th  Regt.,  Co. 

D  ;  disch. 
George  D.  Strong,  enl.  Aug.  10,  1802,  37th  Regt., 

Co.  A  ;  disch.  May  16,  1805,  for  disab. 
Luther  Aicher,  discli.  before  regt.  left  the  State. 
Augustine  B.irron,  enl.  April,  1861,  6th  Regt. ;  was 

with  the  regt.  when  attacked  by  the  mob  in 

Baltimore;  re-enl.  in  22d. 
Henry  Griffin,  enl.  Aug.  19,  1802,  25th  Conn.,  Co. 

E;  discli.  Aug.  26, 1803. 
George  Foley,  enl.  in  10th  Conn. 
Charles  W.  Emerson,  enl.  April  20,  1863, 1st  Batt. 

H.  Art.,  Co.  D  ;  disch. 
George  Maxwell,  enl.  Aug.  25, 1862,46th  Regt.,  Co. 

C;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Edward  F.  Barnes,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1862,  4eth  Regt., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  July  29,  1803. 
Wm.  D.  Emerson,  enl.  April  20, 1803,  1st  Batt.  H. 

Art.,  Co.  D  ;  disch. 
Henry  H.  Parker,  enl.  Feb.  24, 1864. 


H  A  D  L  E  Y. 


The  town  of  Hudley  occupies  the  northwest  corner  of  that 
portion  of  the  county  of  Hampshire  which  lies  east  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  and  is  bounded  nortli  by  Sunderland,  Frank- 
lin Co.,  and  a  portion  of  the  town  of  Amherst,  east  by  Amherst, 
south  by  South  Hadley  and  the  Holyoke  range,  and  west  by 
the  Connecticut  River.  It  contains  nearly  or  quite  17,000 
acres,  and  has  a  population,  by  the  census  of  1875,  of  2125.* 
By  the  United  States  census  of  1865  the  population  was  2246. 
The  surface  along  the  river  is  nearly  level,  and  at  the  village 
of  Hadley  spreads  to  the  westward,  forming  an  extensive 
peninsula,  inclosed  by  the  Connecticut  on  the  north,  west, 
and  south.  South  and  east  of  Fort  River  is  a  considerable 
table-land,  called  "Lawrence  Plain,"  whose  general  surftice 
is  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  above  the  river-bottoms,  and  ex- 
tends southward  and  eastward  to  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain 
range.  Most  of  the  eastern-central  portion  of  the  town  con- 
sists of  a  rolling  upland,  whose  connection  with  the  lower  sur- 
face to  the  westward  is,  for  some  distance,  sharply  defined  by 
a  low  terrace  or  blutt",  suggesting  the  shore  of  a  former  sea. 

Mount  Warner  rises  immediately  south  of  Mill  River,  a 
little  west  of  the  centre  of  the  northern  half  of  the  town, 
and  is  separated  from  the  Connecticut  by  high  blufl's  and  nar- 
row reaches  of  bottom-laud.  North  of  Mill  River  the  surface 
forms  a  low,  undulating  plain,  except  in  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  town,  where  are  still  lower  lands  called  the  "Great 
Swamp."  Another,  not  extensive,  tract  of  low  land  lies  east 
of  Mount  Warner,  near  the  Amherst  line,  and  is  called  "  Par- 
trigg  Swamp." 

STREAMS. 

The  principal  streams  are  Fort  and  Mill  Eivers.  The 
former  rises  in  Pelham,  traverses  the  town  of  Amherst,  and, 
entering  Hadley  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  southern 
boundary,  passes  in  a  general  southwesterly  direction  to  the 
Connecticut ;  the  latter  rises  in  Shutesbury,  traverses  Am- 

*  Occupations,  males,  1875 :  Clergymen,  4;  clerks,  5;  merchants  and  traders, 
14 ;  farmers,  279  ;  farm  lalxa'cre,  219 ;  blacksmiths,  4 ;  broom-mjikcrs,  GO ;  brush- 
makere,  4 ;  carpenters,  9 ;  paintei-s,  6 ;  laborers,  14 ;  total,  618.  Feuiales :  Teach- 
ers, 21;  housewives,  475 ;  housekeepers,  20;  domestics,  36;  other  help,  30;  total, 
582.    All  occupations,  1267. 


herst,  and  enters  Hadley  from  the  northward,  nearly  two 
miles  from  the  northern  boundary,  and  flows  southward  one 
mile,  and  thence  westerly  to  the  Connecticut,  at  the  village  of 
North  Hadley.  On  each  of  these  streams  are  several  im- 
proved mill-sites. 

The  soil  of  the  river-flats  is  a  sandy  alluvium,  easily  tilled, 
and  yielding  ample  returns  for  liberal  culture.  The  uplands 
are  principallj'  of  loam  with  more  or  less  of  sand,  the  last 
occasionally  occurring  in  separate,  extensive  beds.  Intervals, 
composed  chiefly  of  a  light  clay,  are  also  found  in  situations 
indicating  denudation,  or  a  removal  of  the  lighter  materials. 
These,  however,  are  not  refractory,  and  respond  well  to  intel- 
ligent tillage.  The  town  of  Hadley  probably  contains  a  larger 
area  of  good,  workable  land  than  any  other  town  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley. 

FIRST    SETTLEMENT. 

Hadleyt  owes  her  early  settlement  to  certain  troubles  exist- 
ing in  the  churches  of  Hartford  and  Wethersfield,  which, 
from  time  to  time,  broke  forth  afresh,  notwithstanding  the 
repeated  efforts  of  sundry  councils  and  the  General  Court  to 
compose  them,  made  between  the  years  1647  and  1659. 

Among  the  more  fruitful  sources  of  discord  appear  to  have 
been  questions  concerning  "baptism,"  "church  membership," 
and  what  was  called  "  rights  of  the  brotherhood."  The  dis- 
senting minority  of  the  church  at  Hartford  seem  to  have  been 
the  most  conservative  part  of  that  body,  and  opposed  to  liber- 
alizing the  conditions  relating  to  baptism  and  membership, 
and  quite  as  much  opposed  to  clerical  assumptions  of  power. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  church  at  Wethersfield  were 
similarly  afffected,  and  were  sustained  by  the  minister,  ^Mr. 
John  Rus.sell.  All  hope  of  a  permanent  reconciliatioii  be- 
tween the  factions  having  died  away,  the  following  applica- 
tion, in  behalf  of  the  withdrawing  church  members,  was  made 
to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  : 

"  Whereas,  your  most  humble  servants,  the  subscribers,  with  several  others  of 
the  colony  of  Connecticut,  do  conceive  that  it  may  ho  most  for  the  comfort  of 


t  Named  from  Hadley,  or  Hadleigh,  a  town  in  England,  in  the  county  of  Suf- 
folk, some  of  whose  people  settled  at  Hartford.  The  Saxon  spelling  was  Head- 
lego. 


318 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


them  and  theirs  to  remove  themselves  and  families  from  thence,  and  to  come 
under  your  pious  and  goodly  government,  if  tho  Lord  shall  please  so  to  order  it, 
and  youreelves  to  accept  it, — we  do  presume  to  present  this  our  humble  motion 
to  your  wisdom's  consideration,  wliether  we  may,  without  offense,  view  any  tract 
of  land  unpossessed  within  your  colony,  in  order  to  such  an  end  ;  and  in  case  we 
can  present  anything  tliat  may  be  to  the  encouraging  of  a  considerable  company 
to  take  up  a  plantation  at  Nonotiick  or  elsewhere,  we  may  have  your  gracious 
allowance  to  dispose  ourselves  there ;  or  in  case  that  be  not,  then  within  any  of 
your  settled  plantations,  as  tlie  wise  God  shall  direct  us  and  show  unto  us ;  we 
being  first  of  you,  presume  t<.i  tender  ounselves  first  to  you,  which  if  you  sliall 
plciLse  to  grant,  we  hope,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  our  conversations  among 
you  shall  without  offense ;  so  committing  you  and  iUl  your  weighty  affairs  to 
the  guidance  and  blessing  of  tlie  Lord,  we  rest, 

"  Yours,  in  all  due  observance, 

"  John  Cullick, 
"Boston,  May  20, 1658.  "Will  Goodwin." 

The  court  granted  the  petition  May  25,  1658,  as  follows : 

"In  answer  to  the  petition  of  Capt.  Cullick  and  Mr.  Wra.  Goodwin,  in  behalf 
of  tlieniselves  and  others,  the  court  judgcth  meet  to  grant  their  request,  in  refer- 
ence to  lands  not  already  gi'anted,  and  furtlier  gives  them  liberty  to  inhabit  in 
any  part  of  our  jurisdiction  already  planted,  provided  they  submit  themselves  to 
a  due  and  orderly  hearing  of  the  differences  between  themselves  and  their 
brethren." 

In  October,  1658,  the  inhabitants  of  Northampton  voted,  in 
response  to  an  application  from  some  of  the  withdrawers,  to 
"  give  away"  Capawonk,*  a  meadow  lying  in  the  present  town 
uf  Hatfield,  south  of  Mill  lliver,  on  condition  that  the  appli- 
cants sliould  settle  a  plantation  on  each  side  of  the  Connecticut, 
maintain  fences  against  hogs  and  cattle,  pay  £10  in  wheat 
and  peas,  and  inhabit  by  the  succeeding  May. 

These  preliminaries  having  been  effected,  the  persons  who 
contemplated  removal  entered  into  an  agreement,  of  which 
the  following  record  appears  : 

"  At  a  meeting  at  Goodman  Ward's  house,  in  Hartford,  April  18, 16.59,  the  com- 
pany there  met  engaged  themselves  under  their  own  hands,  or  by  their  deputies, 
whom  they  had  chosen,  to  remove  themselves  and  their  families  out  of  the  juris- 
diction of  Connecticut  into  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachxisetts,  as  may  appear  in  a 
paper  dated  the  day  and  year  abovesaid.  The  names  of  the  engagers  arc  tliese : 
John  Webster,  William  Goodwin,  John  Crow,  Natlianiel  Ward,  John  ^liite,  Jolin 
Barnard,  Andrew  Bacon,  WilHam  Lewis,  William  Wostwood,  Wilhani  Goodman, 
Jolm  Arnold,!  William  Partrigg,  Gregory  Wilterton.f  Thomas  Standley,  Sanmel 
Porter,  Richard  Church,  Ozias  Goodwin,  f  Francis  Barnard,  James  Ensign,!  George 
Steele,!  John  Marsh,  Robert  Webster,!  William  Lewis,  Jr.,!  Nathaniel  Standley, 
Samuel  Church,  William  Markham,  Samuel  Moody,  Zechariah  Field,  Widow 
Westley,!  Widow  Watson,!  Andrew  Warner,  Mr.  John  Russell,  Jr.,  Nathaniel 
Dickinson,  Samuel  Smith,  Thomas  Coleman,  John  Russell,  Sr.,  John  Dickinson, 
Philip  Smith,  John  Coleman,  Thomas  Wells,  James  Northam.  Samuel  Gardner, 
Thomas  Edwards,!  John  Hubbard,  Thomas  Dickinson,  R^ibert  Boltwood,  Samuel 
Smith,  Jr.,!  William  Gull,  Luke  Hitchcock,!  Rii^hard  Montague,  John  Latimer,! 
Peter  Tilton,  John  Hawkes,  Richard  Billings,  Benj.  Harbert,!  Edward  Benton,! 
Jolin  Catling,!  ^I'"-  Sanmel  Hooker,!  ^'ipt.  John  CuUick,!  not  fully  engaged, 
Daniel  Warner. 

"  1st.  We  whose  names  are  almve  written  do  engage  ourselves  mutually  one  to 
another  that  we  will,  if  Gud  permit,  transplant  ourselves  and  families  to  the 
plantation  purchased  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  of  Connecticut,  beside  North- 
ampton, therein  to  inhabit  and  dwell,  by  the  29th  of  September  come  twelve- 
months, which  will  be  in  the  year  1000  [meaning  Sept.  29,  1G60]. 

"  2il.  That  each  of  us  shall  pay  the  charges  of  the  land  purchased  according  to 
his  proportion,  as  also  for  the  purchase  of  Hockanum. 

"  3d.  That  we  will  riuse  all  common  charges,  of  what  sort  soever,  for  the  pres- 
ent, upon  the  land  that  men  take  up :  mow-,  plow-land,  and  house-lot,  according 
to  the  proportion  of  land  that  each  man  takes  of  all  sorts;  and  all  charges  sliall 
be  paid  as  they  shall  arise  and  be  due  from  the  date  hereof. 

"4th.  That  if  any  pereons  so  engiiging  l>e  not  inhabiting  there  by  the  time 
aforesaid,  then,  notwithstanding  their  payment  of  charges,  tbeir  lands  and  what 
is  laid  out  in  rates  shall  return  to  the  town;  and  yet  this  article  doth  not  free 
men  from  their  promise  of  going  and  inhabiting* 

"5th.  That  no  man  shall  have  liberty  to  sell  any  of  his  land  till  he  shall  in- 
habit and  dwell  in  the  town  three  years ;  and  also  to  sell  it  to  no  pereon  but  such 
as  the  town  shall  approve  on. 

"  Agreed  that  all  those  persons  that  will  go  up  within  three  weeks  shall  give 
in  their  names  by  this  day  fortnight,  and  then  those  that  are  so  agreed  shall  take 
up  a  quarter  together,  and  so  those  that  follow  shall  take  up  another  quarter,  so 
they  do  it  together,  or  so  far  ius  tlieir  nnndiei-s  run. 

"  Agreed,  also,  that  no  person  shall  fell  any  trees  upon  any  lot  of  ground  lot- 
ted out,  or  to  be  lotted  out,  but  upon  his  own  ground  or  lot,  or  against  his  own 


*  Capawonk  meadow  was  purchased  of  the  Indians  by  the  settlers  at  North- 
ampton in  1G57,  three  years  after  their  Jirst  "  planting."  Twenty  of  the  signera 
of  the  agreement,  from  John  Russell,  Jr.,  to  Jolin  Latimer,  inclusive,  were  of 
Wethersfield;  Tilton  and  Hawkes,  anil,  |H'ssibly,  Sanmel  Porter,  were  of  Windsor; 
and  all  the  remainder,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  of  Hartford. 

!  Did  not  remove  to  Hadley,  or  for  a  short  time  only. 


lot  within  ten  rods  of  the  same  in  the  highway.    The  land  to  bo  lotted  in  either 
what  is  for  the  homo-lots,  or  between  the  home-lots  and  the  meadow." 

It  was  also  agreed,  on  the  25th  of  April,  that  the  company 
should  purchase,  if  possible,  "  the  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the 
great  river,  above  Napanset."  At  this  meeting  William 
Westwood,  llicbard  Goodman,  William  Lewis,  John  White, 
and  Nathaniel  Dickinson  were  chosen  to  lay  out  the  lots  in  a 
new  plantation  on  the  east  side  of  Northampton,  to  the  number 
of  59  home-lots  of  8  acres  each,  and  "  to  leave  a  street  twenty 
rods  broad  betwixt  the  two  westernmost  rows  of  home-lots;  and 
to  divide  the  said  rows  of  home-lots  into  quarters  by  highways. " 
The  same  record  further  says  that,  "the  plantation  being  begun 
by  them  and  some  other  of  the  engagers,  the  rest  of  the  en- 
gagers that  remained  at  Hartford  and  Wethersfield,  with  those 
that  were  come  up  to  inhabit  at  the  said  plantation,  did  upon 
the  9th  of  November  (1659),  at  Hartford,  and  about  the  same 
time  at  Wethersfield,  and  at  the  same  plantation,  choose  by 
vote  William  Westwood,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Samuel  Smith, 
Thomas  Standley,  John  White,  Richard  Goodman,  and  Na- 
thaniel Ward,  to  order  all  public  occasions  that  concern  the 
^good  of  that  plantation  for  the  year  ensuing. 

*'  The  said  townsmen  made  a  rate  upon  the  22d  of  Novem- 
ber, 1659,  for  the  paying  of  the  purchase  of  the  said  plantation 
and  for  the  minister's  maintenance,  levying  it  at  50s.  the  £100, 
which  in  the  whole  sum  came  to  £180 ;  for  the  speedy  gather- 
ing of  this  rate  we  sent  the  rate  down  to  the  two  towns,  Hart- 
ford and  Wethersfield,  that  the  charges  might  be  truly  paid  and 
satisfied  by  every  man  according  to  his  engagement,  as  is  visible 
in  the  engagement  itself,  that  is  dated  the  18th  of  iVprJl,  1659." 

On  the  28th  of  May,  in  that  year,  the  General  Court  made 
the  following  provision  for  laying  out  the  boundaries  of  a  town 
for  the  settlers,  in  accordance  with  the  grant  of  May  25,  1658  : 

"  Whereas  it  hath  appeared  to  this  Court  that,  according  to  a  former  graunt  to 
Capt.  John  Cullicke  and  Mr.  Willjam  Goodwyu,  in  behalfe  of  themselves  and 
ftViends  that  desired  to  remove  into  our  colony,  they  have  bcgunne  to  remove 
to  Norwottucke  with  sencrall  familjes,  and  made  some  begiuing  on  the  east  side 
the  riuer,  in  order  to  a  plantation,  and  that  there  are  many  desirable  persons, 
hauing  a  pastor  \vith  his  church,  engaged  to  goe  along  with  them,  with  another,! 
who  may  in  tjme  be  joyned  to  that  church  for  theire  further  helpe  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  whereby  they  are  enabled  not  only  to  carry  on  a  tonne,  but 
church  work  also.  This  Court  being  willing  to  remoove  all  obstacles  out  of  theire 
way,  and  finding  the  people  so  many  and  considerable  that  bane  engaged,  with 
seuerall  othei-s  that  would  engage  if  there  might  be  encouragement  found  there 
fur  them,  do  order  that  these  persons  ffollowing,  viz.,  Capt.  Pinchou,  Left.  Hol- 
yoke,  Deacon  Chapin,  Willjam  Holton,  and  Richai-d  Lyman,  shall  Ite  a  committee 
fully  impowered  by  this  Court  to  lay  out  the  hounds  of  the  toune  at  Norwottocke, 
on  either  or  botli  sides  the  riuer,  as  they  shall  see  cause,  so  as  shall  be  most  suit- 
able for  the  cohabitation  and  full  supply  of  those  people,  that  this  wildernes 
may  be  populated,  and  the  majne  ends  of  our  coming  into  these  paits  may  be 
promoted.     Voted  by  the  whole  Court  mett  together.     28,  3,  1669," 

In  the  ensuing  September,  the  committee  named  in  above 
order  made  the  following  report: 

"In  obedience  to  an  order  of  the  much  Honored  General  Court,  in  May  litst, 
appointing  us  whose  names  are  subscribed  to  lay  out  the  bounds  of  the  new 
Iilantation  at  Norwottuck,  on  the  river  Connecticutt,  for  the  supply  of  thoso 
peoide  that  are  to  settle  there  ;  considering  what  people  are  to  remove  thither, 
and  the  quality  of  the  lands  tlierealtouts,  we  liave  thought  good  to  lay  out 
tlieir  bounds  on  both  sides  of  said  River,  viz.,  on  the  East  side  of  Said  river 
their  southerly  bounds  to  be  from  the  head  of  the  Falls  alxive  Springfield, 
and  so  Ui  run  east  and  by  north  tlie  length  of  nine  miles  from  the  said  river; 
And  their  northerly  bounds  to  be  a  little  brook,  called  by  the  Indians  Nepa- 
soaneague,  up  to  a  mountjun  called  Quunkwattchu,  and  so  running  eastwanl 
from  the  river  the  same  length  of  nine  miles;  from  their  southerly  bounds 
to  the  northerly  bounds  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  is  abont  11  or  12  milce. 
And  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  their  hounds  on  the  south  are  Ui  join  or 
meet  with  Northampton  bounds  (which  said  bounds  of  Northamjiton  come 
to  a  little  riverett  runiung  betwixt  two  pieces  of  land,  called  Capawonk 
and  Wcqiiittayyagg).  And  on  the  north  their  bounds  to  be  a  great  mountain, 
called  Wctiuomps;  and  the  North  and  South  bounds  are  to  run  west  two  miles 
fnuu  the  great  river;  And  from  Nortii  to  South  on  that  side  the  river  is  about  fi 
or  7  miles. 

"John  Pynciion, 

"  Kl,I7,rK   HcM.YoKE, 

"Samuel  Ch.\1'I.n, 
" Sept.  30, 1G59.  "Richard  Lyman. 

t  Mr.  Samuel  Hooker,  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Hartford.  He  was  then 
preaching  in  Springfield.     See  Jndd's  History. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


319 


"  A  Postscript. — Wlioresis  it's  said  above  that  their  north  and  sontli  bonnds 
are  to  rnn  two  miles  west  from  the  great  river;  it  is  intended  tliat  the  soutli 
bonnds  are  tlie  riverett  above  mentioned,  upon  what  Jioint  soever  it  rnn,  and  the 
two  miles  west  respects  tlie  straight  line." 

The  return  was  approved  by  the  deputies,  but  was  "  respited 
till  next  court"  by  the  magistrates,  some  of  whom  had  re- 
ceived grants  of  land  within  the  territory  then  laid  out.  Modi- 
fications were  made  in  the  boundaries  subsequently,  which  are 
fully  set  forth  in  the  chapter  on  the  "  organization  of  the 
town."  The  extent  of  nine  miles  east  and  west  was  never 
confirmed. 

As  the  order  of  the  General  Court  of  May  28,  16-59,  intimates 
that  several  families  had  then  "bcgunne  to  rcmoove  to  Nor- 
wottucke,"  it  is  safe  to  a,ssume  the  committee  of  five,  previously 
chosen,  had  at  once  proceeded  to  lay  out  the  home-lots  as 
directed,  so  far  as  the  work  was  practicable.  Several  of  the 
signers  doubtless  had  been  deterred  from  making  immediate 
settlement  by  reason  of  prior  grants  of  land,  which  seem  to 
have  been  unwittingly  made  by  the  General  Court  to  Simeon 
Bradstreet  and  others,  within  the  limits  of  the  new  plantation.* 

The  interesting  documents  which  perpetuate  the  details  of 
the  five  years'  struggle  of  the  inhabitants  to  obtain  the  lands 
they  had  purchased,  and  which  record  the  final  unjust  decision 
of  the  General  Court  in  favor  of  tlie  claims  of  Mr.  Bradstreet, 
relate  chiefly  to  that  part  of  old  Hadley  which  is  now  Hat- 
field, and  will  be  omitted  in  this  history  of  the  present  town 
of  Hadley. 

That  some  of  the  original  59  who  had  committed  themselves 
by  the  agreement  to  remove  went  to  the  new  town  to  reside 
some  time  before  December,  16.59,  is  probable ;  and  Mr.  Judd 
says  that  the  seven  who  were  chosen  in  November  to  "  order 
all  public  occasions,"  or  a  majority  of  the  seven,  probably 
wintered  there,  with  others,  and  that  Thomas  Stanley  made 
his  will  Jan.  29,  1659-00,  in  which  he  disposed  of  his  house 
and  land,  "  that  are  here  at  the  new  plantation." 

The  first  subsequent  action  of  the  inhabitants  of  which  a 
record  exists  was  on  Oct.  8,  1660,  when,  at  a  town-meeting, 
held  at  Andrew  Warner's,  it  was  voted  that  no  person  should 
be  owned  for  an  inhabitant,  or  vote  or  act  in  town  aft'airs, 
until  he  should  be  legally  received  as  an  inhabitant ;  and  that 
those  who  settled  on  the  west  side  should  be  in  all  respects 
equal  to,  or  one  with,  those  on  the  east  side  by  paying  their 
proper  share  of  all  charges,  under  the  agreement ;  but  were 
required  "  to  be  inhabiting  there  in  houses  of  their  own  by 
Michaelmas  next," — Sept.  29,  1661.  The  following  persons, 
28  in  number,  signed  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting:  John 
Webster,  William  Goodwin,  John  Crow,  Nathaniel  Ward, 
John  White,  Andrew  Bacon,  William  Lewis,  William  West- 
wood,  Kichard  Goodman,  Thomas  Standley,  Samuel  Porter, 
Ozias  Goodwin,!  John  Marsh,  William  Markum,  Samuel 
Moody,  Zechariah  Field, f  Andrew  Warner,  Mr.  John  Kus- 

*  By  the  grant  to  Bradstreet,  he  was  permitted  to  take  up  700  acres  east  of  tlio 
Connecticut,  near  Nortliampton.  Maj.  Daniel  Denisou  had  a  grant  of  500  acres, 
and  Samuel  Symonds  one  of  300  acres,  near  Mr.  Bradstreet,  and  Gen.  Humphrey 
Atherton  one  of  500  acres,  "  at  Nonotucke,  beyond  Springfield." 

The  General  Court,  to  secure  the  release  of  the  lands  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  from  the  operation  of  these  grants,  in  November,  lGo9,  increased  the  grant 
to  Maj.  Athertim  by  200  acres;  that  to  Mr.  Bradstreet,  May  31,  ICGO,  by  300 
acres  ;  that  to  Mr.  Symonds  by  lOO  acres ;  and  that  to  Gen.  Dcuison  by  300  acres. 
They  were  permitted  to  take  up  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  "  provided  it 
be  full  sue  miles  from  the  place  now  intended  for  Northampton  meeting-house." 
Regardless  of  this  limitation,  Mr.  Bradstreet,  who  evidently  coveted  the  rich  in- 
tervals on  the  west  side,  persisted  in  locating  one-half  of  his  KXM)  acres  within 
the  six  miles.  This  action  materially  interfered  with  the  west-side  settlement, 
and  though  the  people  of  Hadley,  backed  by  those  of  Northampton,  protested 
against  it,  Mr.  Bradstreet's  location  was  finally  confimied  in  10fi2. 

In  April,  113G4,  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  for  the  town  of  Hadley,  purchased  the 
500  acres  from  Mr.  Bradstreet  for  £21X)  and  a  grant  of  1000  acres  of  land  else- 
where on  the  Connecticut.  The  court  made  the  grant  of  1000  acres  for  the  pur- 
pose in  May,  1G04.  This  land  is  now  in  Whately.  The  north  line  of  the  500 
acres  so  purchased  was  then  considered  the  north  line  of  Hadley,  west  of  the 
river. 

f  Three  who  voted  at  this  meeting, — Ozias  Goodwin,  Zechariah  Field,  and 
Richard  Billing, — with  twenty-two  othei-s,  whose  names  follow,  signified,  prior 


sell,  Jr.,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Samuel  Smith,  Thomas  Cole- 
man, John  Dickinson,  Philip  Smith,  Tlionia,s  Wells,  Thomas 
Dickinson,   Kichard   Montague,   Peter  Tilton,   ilichard   ISill- 

The  first  distributions  of  land  in  Hadley  were  made  without 
exclusive  regard  to  the  wealth  or  influence  of  the  recipients. 
Each  of  the  planters  was  allowed  8  acres  for  a  home-lot,  or 
enough  land  elsewhere  to  make  that  amount  if  the  home-lot 
contained  less. 

The  home-lots  which  were  to  constitute  the  village  proper 
were  laid  out,  at  least  in  part,  in  1659  on  either  side  of  a  wide 
street,  which  ran  north  and  south  across  the  neck  of  the 
peni  nsula  formed  by  the  "  great  river"  Con  necticut.  The  course 
of  the  river  permitted  a  greater  length  to  the  east  than  to  the 
west  line  of  the  street,  the  latter  being  about  one  mile.  Cross- 
highways  divided  the  row  of  lots  on  each  side  of  the  wide 
street  into  two  unequal  sections. 

The  following,  as  given  by  Mr.  Judd,  is  the  plan  of  the 
village  as  it  aiipeared  in  1663.     Several  new  names,  not  at- 


JtCeetrlour- 


P/.nc7t. 


Jlf^h'TS^fr.^, 


T'rantt'lSownar^. 


.TfA-  /fa^^J- 


.£Vf.uM  Cni'rvi. 


S7r}\f>^Tkrry. 


Jii„-WfStTcr, 


t^^rA'ilATarc? 


J^A^/^S„,/7i. 


^itH'i  if&ntngut. 


j:<X,^:Die*'i't^n. 


TX^,;Mt-^^'tlt. 


^'^-jrull^. 


iJtr  JH^Jt^,.ttr.-7?, 


Aj^arj^-t  STn'^tfK 


./a--,...  St«^l.^ 


JCA.vVtr?i,2e. 


T^T.r  T.tU^ 


HADLEY   IN    1663. 


to  March  25, 1661,  their  desire  to  settle  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  in  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Hatfield:  Aaron  Cook,  Thomas  Meekins,  William  Allis,  Nathaniel 
Dickinson,  Jr.,  John  Coleman,  Isaac  Graves  (with  his  father,  ThonuLS  Graves), 
John  Graves,  Samuel  Belding,  Stephen  Taylor,  John  White,  Jr.,  Daniel  Warner, 
Kichard  Fellows,  Edward  Benton,  Mr.  Kitchell  (with  his  son),  Lieut.  Thonuis 
Bull,  Gregory  Wilterton,  Natlianiel  Porter,  Daniel  White,  William  Pitkin,  John 
Cole,  Samuel  Church,  Sanmel  Dickinson. 

Cook  and  Church  did  not  remove  to  the  west  side;  Goodwin,  Bull,  Wilterton, 
and  Pitkin  continued  at  Hartford;  Nathaniel  Porter  at  Windsor;  Eitchell  and 
Benton  at  Wethersfleld.  Sixteen  were  permanent  residents  on  the  west  side.— 
Vide  Judd's  Hist.,  page  23. 


320 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


tadied  to  the  agreement  made  at  Hartford  and  Wetherfield, 
will  be  noticed.  "  The  flgures  denote  the  number  of  acres  in 
each  lot.  A  full  lot  of  8  acres  wa.s  16  rods  wide.  There  was 
a  broad  space  between  the  small  lots  at  the  north  end  and  the 
river,  and  several  years  later  several  small  house-lots  were 
granted  next  to  the  river,  and  men  built  houses  on  these  lots 
and  lived  there  many  years.  M  in  the  street  is  the  place 
where  the  first  meeting-house  stood.  It  was  built  after 
1663.^'* 

SUBSEQUENT    DISTRIBUTIONS   OK    LAND. 

The  old  township  of  Hadley,  east  of  the  Connecticut,  was 
estimated  to  contain  57,000  acres,  of  which  about  30,000  acres 
were  north  of  Mount  Holyoke.  That  part  of  the  township 
lying  west  of  the  great  river  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town  liy 
the  name  of  Hatfield,  May  31,  1070.  An  agreement  had  been 
concluded,  on  the  22d  of  December  next  preceding,  by  which 
Hadley  retained  "  forever  the  free  and  full  disposal  of  all  the 
land  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  for  the  maintaining  of  all 
common  charges  respecting  things  ecclesiastical  or  civil,"  and 
a  similar  jurisdiction  over  all  lands  below  or  southwest  from 
a  specified  division  line,  excepting  certain  lands  therein  "al- 
ready either  given  or  sold  to  inhabitants  on  the  west  side."f 
It  was  also  "covenanted  that  the  society  or  town  of  Hadley, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  have  liberty  to  get  fencing  stuft' 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  for  their  land  lying  on  that  side 
of  the  river,  both  now  and  from  time  to  time  always,  as  also 
to  get  timber  if  any  see  cause  to  build  a  barn  or  shelter  for 
securing  his  fruits  raised  there."  This  agreement  further 
provided  that  the  inhabitants  on  the  west  side  should  pay  to 
those  on  the  east  side  "  £0,  as  the  remainder  of  what  is  due 
for  purchase-money."  The  signers  to  these  articles  of  separa- 
tion were,  on  the  part  of  the  old  town,  Henry  Clarke,  John 
Russel,  Jr.,  Samuel  Smith,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  and 
Peter  Tillton  ;  on  the  part  of  the  "west  inhabitants,"  Tho. 
Meekins,  Sr.,  William  Allice,  John  Conle,  Sr.,  Isaak  Graves, 
and  Samuel  Belden. 

The  land  reserved  to  Hadley  by  the  above  agreement  in  the 
course  of  years  became  in  large  proportion  the  property  of 
actual  residents  of  Hatfield,  though  still  a  part  of  the  former 
town  and  taxed  for  its  benefit.  In  December,  1707,  Hatfield 
took  steps  toward  securing  a  jurisdiction  over  this  reserved 
territory,  and  in  May,  1709,  petitioned  the  General  Court  to 
declare  the  Connecticut  River  to  be  thereafter  the  boundary 
between  the  towns.  Hadley  opposed  the  change,  and  asserted 
that  the  agreement  of  1609  "ought  to  be  binding  upon  the 
consciences  of  all  good  people."  The  General  Court  dismissed 
the  first  petition  of  Hatfield,  but  recommended  that  "  the 
selectmen  and  inhabitants  of  Hadley  accommodate  their  neigh- 
bors of  Hatfield,  on  consideration  of  the  many  advantages 
Hadley  has  over  and  above  Hatfield."     After  many  subse- 

*  Mr.  Judd  gives  the  following  "  Change  of  Proprietors :  lu  Febmary,  1661, 
there  were  46  east-side  proprietors,  wlien  tlie  Meadow  Plain  was  divided.  Nino 
of  these  ceased  to  be  proprietors  in  1661  and  1662,  viz, :  John  Webster,  died  iu 
1661 ;  Robert  Webster,  lived  at  Hartford ;  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Luke  Hitchcock, 
mai-ried  in  Spiiugfield ;  James  Northam,  died  in  1661 ;  Capt.  CuUick,  removed  to 
Rjston ;  Mr.  Samuel  Hooker  was  ordained  at  Fannington,  1661 ;  Richard  Weller, 
removed  to  Northampton  ;  John  .\rntfhl,  lived  at  Hartford;  John  Kellogg  was, 
perhaps,  a  mistake  for  Joseph  Kellogg;  Jolin  Hawks  died  1662,  left  a  family. 

"  Eleven  new  proprietor  were  adiied  before  March,  16G3,  making  48,  viz. :  tlie 
town,  which  took  Mr.  Hooker's  lots  ;  Wni.  and  Thomas  W'ebster,  as  one ;  Henry 
Clarke,  from  Windsor ;  Josepli  Baldwin,  from  Milford,  who  married  the  widow 
of  James  Northam;  Timothy  Nasli,  from  Hartford;  Chileab  Smith;  Samuel 
Clinrch ;  Joseph  Kellogg,  from  Farmington,  and  last  from  Boston ;  John  In- 
gram, John  Taylor,  W'illiam  I'ixley." 

f  These  excepted  parcels  were  "  the  whole  accommodations  of  Mr.  Terry  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  the  whole  accommodations  of  Nathaniel  Dickin- 
son, Sr.,  and  half  of  Mr.  Webster's  accommodations  there,  and  John  Hawks  his 
whole  accommodations,  and  all  Joseph  Kellogg's,  and  all  Adam  Nicholls',  his, 
and  that  which  was  Samuel  Gardner's  in  Little  I'onsett,  and  Goodman  Ci-ow's 
in  Little  Ponsett,  and  Nathaniel  SUmley's  in  Little  Ponsett,  and  Ricliard  Mon- 
tague's in  Great  Ponsett,  and  Joseph  Baldwin's  whole  accommodations,  and 
.lolm  White's  in  Groat  Ponsett,  and  Jolm  Dickinson's  in  Little  Ponsett,  and  ex- 
cept 12  acres  and  a  half  above  and  besides  all  tliis  when  it  sliall  be  given  or  sold 
to  an  inliabitant  or  inhabitants  on  the  west  side  of  the  river." 


quent  efforts,  all  of  which  Hadley  opposed  with  vigor,  Hatfield 
gained  the  end  sought,  and  the  river  was  made  the  boundary 
by  act  of  Nov.  2,  1733. 

The  lands  south  of  Slount  Holj'oke  were  set  apart  for  dis- 
tribution in  1720,  "according  to  the  list  of  estates  and  polls," 
as  taken  in  Januarj-  of  that  year.  The  total  valuation  of 
estates  and  polls  was  then  £0003  8s.,  and  the  number  of  per- 
sons entitled  to  share  in  the  division  was  117,  including  22 
residents  of  Hatfield.  J  The  town  was  allowed  a  share  on  the 
basis  of  an  estate  of  £150,  and  Kev.  Lsaac  Chauncey  on  a  basis 
fixed  at  £92  10.5. 

South  Hadley  was  made  a  "precinct"  in  1732-33,  and  a 
"district"  in  April,  1753,  with  the  consent  of  the  mother- 
town. 

About  10,900  acres  of  land,  now  in  the  town  of  Amherst, 
were  distributed  in  1703. g  These  were  all  north  of  the  Bay 
road.  The  lands  south  of  that  road  were  apportioned  in  1742, 
of  which  the  larger  part  was  also  in  territory  since  named 
Amherst.  That  part  of  Amherst  north  of  the  Boston  road 
was  made  a  separate  precinct  Dec.  31,  1734,  and  constituted  a 
district  Feb.  13,  1759. 

Ninety-seven  persons  participated  in  the  principal  divisions 
of  the  east  precinct  (Amherst)  lands,  of  whom  10  resided  in 
Hatfield,  but  owned  land  in  Hadley  meadows,  on  either  the 
east  or  west  side  of  the  river.  || 

The  remaining  lands,  or  those  embraced  within  the  bounds 
of  the  present  town  of  Hadley,  were  most  of  them  distributed 
prior  to  1754.  Four  of  the  more  valuable  pieces  of  meadow  or 
interval  lands  were  allotted  in  the  years  1061-62  and  '03,  and 
were  called  "  Forty-Acre  Meadow,"  "  Great  Meadow,"  "  Fort 
Meadow,"  and  "  Hockanum  Meadow."  These  contained  about 
1200  acres. 

Forty-Acre  Meadow  was  north  of  the  village,  toward  Mill 
Kiver,  and  contained,  notwithstanding  its  title,  considerably 
more  than  67  acres. ^  This  meadow  and  a  piece  called  tho 
Forlorn,  with  other  lands  in  the  Great  Meadow,  were  assigned 
to  "those  who  lived  in  the  north  half  of  the  village,"  as  an 
equivalent  for  Fort  Meadow,  which  was  turned  over  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  south  half  of  the  village. 

The  Great  Meadow  "  included  all  the  land  upon  the  penin- 
sula west  and  south  of  the  home-lots,"  and  was  about  two 
miles  in  extent  east  and  west.  The  northwestern  portion  bore 
the  name  of  Forlorn,**  or  Honeypot.  The  Great  Meadow 
contained  710  acres,  and  was  divided  into  177  parcels.  The 
whole  was  arranged  in  three  divisions,  of  which  that  nearest 
the  home-lots  was  called  Meadow  Plain,  and  was  distributed 
in  February,  1001.  A  tract  in  the  Great  Meadow,  south  of 
the  south  highway,  was  called  Aquavits,  and  still  bears  the 
name. 

Fort  Meadow,  south  of  the  village  and  chiefly  north  and 
west  of  Fort  Eiver,  contained  about  147  acres.  A  portion  was 
south  of  the  river.  The  tract  contained  some  low,  marshy 
ground.  Upon  the  division  of  this  meadow  among  the  south 
inhabitants,  each  person  received  5  acres  for  each  £100  of  his 
estimated  estate. 

Hockanum  Meadow  was  south  of  the  preceding,  and  orig- 
inally contained  near  293  acres.     It  formed  a  long  point  or 

X  Inclusive  of  the  estate  of  Thomas  Dickinson,  whose  heirs  were  in  Con- 
necticut. 

g  "  Tliose  who  intended  to  remove  to  Hadley  had  put  iu  a  sum  '  to  take  up  lands 
by'  in  April,  1659.  Wlien  the  lands  were  dirided,  each  proprietor  received  allot- 
ments according  to  a  sum  annexed  to  his  name,  called  es/ate.  These  sums  varied 
from  50  to  2(K)  pounds,  and  must  have  been  the  result  of  frieuilly  ct)nsultation 
and  agreement.  How  persoits  and  property  were  considered  cannot  be  known. 
Some  of  the  engagere  were  worth  three  times  the  sum  set  against  their  Uiunes, 
and  some  were  worth  less  than  the  sum  so  affixed.  Hartford  had  divided  lands 
according  to  sums  set  against  the  names  of  proprietors." 

II  Viiie  "  Amheret,"  in  this  history. 

U  If  Mr.  Judd  states  correctly,  at  page  200  of  his  history,  "  Forty  Acres"  actu- 
ally contained  nearly  130  acres. 

**  A  muno  given  to  parcels  of  land  used  for  making  up  deficiencies.  A  tract  in 
Northampton  was  so  named. 


HISTOKY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


321 


neck  of  land  whose  extent  east  and  west  was  nearly  a  mile  and 
a  half,  with  a  width  varying  from  80  to  140  rods.  The  width 
was  in  time  much  reduced  by  the  actioii  of  the  river,  which  in 
February,  1840,  cut  a  new  channel  through  the  peninsula." 
Since  lti(i3  the  width  at  that  pi>int  had  been  reduced  from  100 
rods  to  less  than  30.  The  meadow  was  divided  into  lots  and 
apportioned  to  the  48  proprietors  of  KiliS,  in  March  of  that 
year.  The  total  valuation  of  the  estates  at  the  time  was 
£6145. 

The  lands  known  as  Inner  or  Inward  Commons  were  di- 
vided at  several  periods  from  1742  to  1764.  On  the  4th  of 
March,  in  the  year  1700,  the  town  voted  that  all  the  land  from 
Mount  Holyoke  to  Mill  River,  west  of  a  line  three  and  a 
quarter  miles  eastward  from  the  meeting-house,  should  "  lye 
as  common  land  forever."  It  was  .supposed  that  this  line  would 
run  eastward  of  the  "  New  Swamp." 

The  proprietors  determined  in  1733  that  the  chief  value  of 
the  Inner  Commons  was  in  the  "growth  of  fire-wood  and 
timber,"  and  ordered  that  walnut-  and  oak-trees  less  than 
twelve  inches  in  diameter  should  be  cut  only  for  timber,  and 
a  few  years  later  gave  each  proprietor  permission  to  take  one 
pine-tree  for  boards  to  every  £lo  of  his  estate. 

The  division  of  the  Inner  Commons  was  made  according  to 
the  real  estate  of  each  proprietor,  as  indicated  by  the  list  of 
1731,  "  with  the  addition  of  three  jiounds  for  each  poll  and 
servant."! 

Four  divisions  were  laid  out  and  allotted  in  1742,  and,  "ex- 
cepting the  Pine  Plain  west  of  Spruce  Swamp,  comprehended 
the  commons  in  Hadley,  from  near  the  foot  of  Holyoke  to 
Sunderland  line,  and  includeil  the  land  north  of  Mill  River, 
which  is  now — 1858 — in  Amherst.  Mount  Warner  was  in 
tracts  3  and  4,  in  the  first  division." 

A  fifth  division  was  made  in  1743,  embracing  lands  ex- 
tending from  what  is  now  Belchertown  westward,  a  dis- 
tance of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  rods,  including  the 
northern  slope  of  Holyoke,  and  bounded  north  by  the  Bay 
road.  Most  of  this  division  was  in  the  east  precinct,  now 
Amherst. 

In  1754  the  land  on  tlie  north  side  of  Mount  Holyoke, 
which  had  been  coied  a  sheep  pasture  in  1725,  and  wliich  lay 
immediately  west  of  the  fifth  division,  was  distributed  as  the 
sixth  division,  and  the  same  year  "lots  were  drawn  in  the 
seventh  division,  which  was  on  the  Pine  Plain,  east  of  the 
home-lots  and  others  granted  on  that  plain,  and  west  of  Fort 
River  Swamp  and  Spruce  Swamp.  This  narrow,  irregular 
division  stretched  northward  from  the  highway  by  Fort 
Meadow  fence,  above  two  miles,  to  near  the  Stone  Bridge,  so 
called.     The  portions  of  poor  men  were  small." 

In  the.se  later  divisions  of  lands,  the  old-time  liberality  of 
the  more  wealthy  pro)irietors  is  not  so  apparent  as  when  the 
home-lots  were  laid  out  in  1659,  and  the  years  succeeding. 
Mr.  Judd  says  "that  the  proportion  of  land  received  by  those 
in  moderate  circumstances  became  less  and  less  in  the  subse- 
quent divisions."  And  further,  that  "the  division  of  1731 
must  have  been  contrived  by  the  large  land-holders,  and  aided 
by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  middling  class.  Their  rule 
was,  '  Whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given.'  The  wealthy 
man  received  as  much  land  on  account  of  his  slave  as  the  poor 
man  on  his  own  account." 

These  seven  divisions  were  surveyed  and  platted  by  Na- 
thaniel Kellogg,  and  contained  13,303  acres  and  122  rods,  as 
follows:  the  1st,  4233  acres,  84  rods;  2d,  2086  acres,  118 
rods;  3d,  1677  acres,  84  rods;  4th,  1835  acres,  44  rods;  5th, 
2660  acres,  4  rods ;  6th  and  7th,  each  405  acres,  54  rods. 

*  The  peninsula  cut  off  bv  the  river  in  1840,  and  callfed  the  "0.x -Bow,"  was 
annexed  to  Northamptuu  in  1850. 

t  "  The  resilience  of  the  147  persons  in  the  list  of  17.31  was  as  follows :  90  in 
the  old  town,  2  near  School  Bleadow,  39  in  the  second  precinct,  south  of  Holyoke, 
and  IS  in  what  was  afterwanl  the  third  precinct  and  Amherst." — JutUTs  HiM., 
p.  2SI.     The  total  valuation  in  1731  was  £3603. 

41 


The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  distributions  of  land  in 

Old  Hadley,  east  of  the  river  and  north  of  Mount  Holyoke: 

Acres. 

Distributions  before  1703 3,.500 

Divisions  in  Aniliei-st  in  1703 10,000 

Flat  Mills  and  lands  ailjoining 900 

Seven  divisions,  1742  to  1754 13,.30O 

27,700 
Highways,  streams,  and  waste 2,300 

30,000 

Some  additional  lands  were  allowed  the  proprietors  of  Forty 
Acres,  Hockanum  Meadow,  and  Fort  Meadow,  under  the 
general  designation  "skirts,"  in  and  after  1675;  the  first 
receiving  about  225,  the  second  140,  and  the  last  110  acres, 
besides  a  tract  called  Fort  River  pastures,  which  extended 
"  up  the  river  from  Fort  Meadow  fence"  toward  Spruce  Hill. 
These  pastures  were  "  laid  out  to  22  persons  in  the  year  1699." 

FIRST    THINGS. 

The  first  school-house  was  previously  the  dwelling  of  Na- 
thaniel Ward,  who  gave  it  with  a  portion  of  his  home-lot  for 
school  purposes,  and  it  was  so  used  for  many  years.  Mr.  Ward 
died  in  1664.  The  house  was  "ready  to  fall  down"  in  1710, 
and  two  years  later  the  property  was  leased  to  Dr.  John  Bar- 
nard for  ninety-seven  years,  at  eighteen  shillings  per  year. 
The  first  building  erected  as  a  school-house  was  built  in  1796, 
in  the  broad  street  "  in  the  middle  of  the  town,"  and  was  25 
by  18  feet  in  size,  with  7  feet  between  joints. 

The  first  meeting-house  stood  in  the  wide  street,  opposite 
Richard  Montague's ;  was  framed  in  1665,  but  not  finished 
until  Jan.  12,  1670.  A  house  for  meetings  was  hired  in  1663 
and  1664. 

The  first  inn  or  ordinary  was  kept  by  Richard  Goodman  in 
1667,  in  which  year  it  is  probable  the  first  general  training 
occurred,  Mr.  Goodman  entertaining  the  officers. 

The  first  marriage  in  Hadley  was  that  of  Aaron  Cooke,  Jr., 
and  Sarah  Westwood,  daughter  of  William  Westwood,  magis- 
trate, May  30,  1661.  The  ages  of  bride  and  groom  were  re- 
spectively seventeen  and  twenty-one  years.  She  died  March 
24,  1730,  aged  eighty-six.  He  died  Sept.  16,  1716,  aged  sev- 
enty-six. The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Sarah,  who 
married  Thomas  Hovey  ;  Aaron,  of  Hartford  ;  Joannah,  born 
1605,  married,  1683,  Samuel  Porter,  Jr.,  and  died  1713  ;  West- 
wood,  born  1670  or  '71 ;  Samuel,  born  1672 ;  Moses,  born 
1675;  Elizabeth,  born  1677,  married,  1698,  Ichabod  Smith; 
Bridget,  born  1683,  married  first,  1701,  John  Barnard,  second. 
Deacon  Samuel  Dickinson. 

The  first,  and,  it  is  believed,  the  07ily,  couple  belonging  to 
Hadley  who  were  ever  divorced  were  negroes.  Ralph  Way 
obtained,  in  January,  1752,  a  divorce  from  his  wife,  Lois,  on 
the  ground  of  adultery  with  a  negro  named  Boston. 

Illegitimacy  was  equally  rare,  only  a  single  case  occurring 
before  1700,  and  that  in  1690.  The  parties  involved  were 
married  soon  after. 

The  first  male  child  born  was  Samuel  Porter,  son  of  Samuel, 
one  of  the  first  settlers.     He  died  July  29,  1722. 

The  first  death  was  that  of  an  infant  without  name,  child  of 
Philip  Smith,  which  was  buried  in  Hadley  Cemetery,  Jan.  22, 
1661.  John  Webster,  who  died  April  5th  the  same  year,  an 
ancestor  of  Noah  Webster,  was  the  second  person  buried 
there. 

The  first  minister  was  Mr.  John  Russell,  Jr.,  an  English- 
man by  birth,  who  came  with  the  first  planters  to  Hadley  and 
remained  until  his  death,  1692. 

Dr.  John  WestcarrJ  was  the  first  physician  resident  in  Had- 

J  In  1660,  Dr.  Westcarr  Wiis  examined  before  Capt.  John  Pynchon,  ujwn  a 
charge  of  selling  liquor  to  the  Indians.  The  Indians  were  the  complainants. 
The  doctor  confessed  that  he  had  tivo  barrels  of  liquor  in  the  spring,  and  that 
he  used  four  or  five  gallons  at  a  time  in  preparing  medicines.  Tlie  Indians'  tes- 
timony showed  a  different  disposition  of  at  leiist  a  part  of  it.  "  Tackquellawant 
testified  that  John  Westcarr  sells  liquore  to  the  Indians;  'and  about  a  month 
ago  I  had  four  quarts  of  him,  and  paid  him  a  beaver-skin.    This  is  truth,  and 


322 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


ley.  He  came  m  1666,  and  was  the  first  Indian  trader. 
Rirhard  Montague,  baker ;  Asahel  Wright,  butcher;  Oliver 
Warner,  hatter;  Timothy  Nash,  blacksmith;  John  Russell, 
Sr.,  glazier;  William  Partrigg,  cooper  ;  Samuel  Gaylord,  Jr., 
and  Jonathan  Smith,  weavers  ;  Hezekiah  Porter,  and  possibly 
his  father,  Samuel,  carpenters.  John  Barnard  had  a  malt- 
house  in  Hadley  prior  to  1664.  Elijah  Yeomans,  goldsmith, 
was  in  Hadley  from  1771  for  twelve  years,  and  made  clocks 
and  articles  of  jewelry.  Samuel  Porter,  who  died  in  17:22, 
was  probably  the  first  merchant. 

GROWTH    OF   THE   TOWN. 

The  unsettled  condition  of  the  colonies  from  167-5  to  HI.', 
during  which  period  the  wars  of  "  Philip,"  "  King  William," 
and  "  Queen  Anne"  brought  desolation  to  some  of  the  plan- 
tations in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and  suffering  and  disturb- 
ance to  all,  prevented  in  Hadley  any  considerable  growth 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  original  home-lots.  A  few  persons 
were  granted  portions  of  land,  as  hereafter  noted,  but  most  of 
them  were  in  or  near  the  wide  street. 

Joseph  Warriner,  in  106;),  was  permitted  to  build  "in  the 
middle  of  the  street,"  near  the  north  end.  He  there  built  a 
house  and  barn,  which  he  sold  to  Eleazar  Warner,  after  about 
twenty-one  years'  occupancy,  and  removed  to  Enfield.  Be- 
tween the  north  "highway  to  the  woods"  and  the  river,  the 
following  house-lots  were  granted,  beginning  with  the  one 
farthest  west:  John  Preston,  1  acre,  1679;  Joseph  Barnard 
and  Dr.  John  Westcarr,  each  2  acres,  1673 ;  Isaac  Harrison 
and  William  Gaylord,  each  2  acres,  1672;  Peter  Montague,  2 
acres,  1673 ;  Henry  White,  3  acres,  1680 ;  Isaac  Warner,  a 
quantity  in  1081,  "extending  up  the  river  to  Coleman's 
Brook,  west  of  the  highway  to  Forty  Acres."  Only  one  or 
two  houses  were  erected  on  these  lots  before  the  first  Indian 
war.  The  palisade,  built  about  the  settlement  in  1675-76,  did 
not  include  the  houses — five  in  number — on  the  north  high- 
way. The  lots  on  both  sides  of  this  highway  have  been 
washed  away  by  the  river. 

In  1679,  Thomas  Webster,  who  had  been  obliged  to  abandon 
his  property  at  Northfield  four  years  previous,  was  supplied 
with  a  house  at  the  expense  of  the  town,  in  the  middle  high- 
way "into  the  meadow,"  not  far  from  William  Webster's.* 
Small  parcels  were  also  granted  to  John  Preston,  John  In- 
gram, and  Edward  Scott,  in  1677,  '78,  '79. 

A  lot  3  rods  by  40  in  size  was  set  off  to  Mark  Warner 
"  from  the  middle  highway,  next  to  Mr.  Russell's  house-lot," 
in  1680.  Although  he  did  not  build  as  contemplated,  he  did 
not  fail  to  claim  the  land.  This  resulted  in  a  controversy 
lasting  many  years. 

Additional  House-Lots. — The  land  east  of  the  old  home-lots, 
being  farther  from  the  river,  was  lower  than  those  which  were 
first  occupied.  This  land  in  what  was  called  the  Pine  Plain 
was  finally  taken  in,  after  1675,  by  the  extension  of  all  the 
home-lots  on  the  east  side  of  the  wide  street,  except  5.  Land 
in  the  rear  of  the  5  lots — those  of  John  Barnard,  Andrew 
Bacon,  Nathaniel  Stanley,  Thomas  Stanley,  and  John  White 
— was  sold,  in  February,  1675,  by  the  town  to  Dr.  John  West- 
carr, for  the  sum  of  ,£10.  This  land  had  a  frontage  on  the 
middle  highway  of  16  rods,  and  was  about  66  rods  in  depth. 

In  1684,   February  r2th,  the  town  voted  that  other  lots 

Chabbatan  and  WottelloBin  know  it,  and  saw  it.'  Cliabbatan  appeared,  and  said 
Tackquellawnnt  bad  four  qjiarts,  as  be  testified,  of  J.  W.  *  I  was  with  him,  and 
saw  it,  and  saw  him  pay  a  bcaver-skin  for  it.'  Nuxco  testilied ; '  I  fetched  liqnore 
from  John  Westcarr  when  tile  Indians  were  drunken,  and  my  wigwam  was 
broken  and  spoiled  by  the  dninken  Indians  this  summer.  I  was  before  the 
Northampton  commissioners  al^out  it.  I  liad  six-and-a-lialf  fjuarts  of  liijuor  of 
J.  W,,  and  paid  him  a  great  beavei'-skiu  of  my  wife's.  I  also  fetched  three 
quarts  more,  and  paid  him  six  fadom  of  wanipiim.'  Niixeo  says  it  is  a  known 
trade  among  the  Indians,  that  it's  two  fadom  of  wampum  for  a  quart." 

*  "Two  sons  of  Governor  Webster  lived  some  years  in  this  higliw.iy,  near  the 
east  end,  in  small  houses  built  by  the  town.  The  pound  was  near  them.  One  of 
the  buildings  long  remained  for  a  poor  family  t>  live  in,  and  was  called  the  town- 
house." — JudtVe  Hist.^  p.  197. 


should  be  laid  out  upon  the  Pine  Plain,  and  appropriated 
"  twenty  rods  in  breadth  for  a  highway  at  the  rear  of  the  old 
home-lots,  to  run  from_  the  north  end  of  the  town  to  Fort 
Meadow,  and  eastward  of  said  way,  the  lots  aforesaid  to  be  laid 
out  to  begin  at  Joseph  Smith's  lot  at  the  north  end,  and  run 
as  far  as  there  is  common  land  to  the  Fort  Meadow,  leaving 
highways  into  the  woods."  The  lots  were  each  to  contain 
8  acres  and  have  a  frontage  of  16  rods. 

Although  attempts  were  made  toward  a  settlement  in  the 
new  street  at  several  earlier  periods,  it  was  not  until  1699,  at 
the  end  of  the  King  William  war,  that  many  lots  were  taken 
in  that  quarter.  Twentj'-six  lots  were  then  taken,  and  a  few 
frames  for  houses  put  up  ;  but  another  war  caused  further  de- 
lay, and  nothing  of  permanence  was  accomplished  until  the 
final  peace  in  1713.  Fifteen  families  resided  on  the  new  street 
in  1720. 

The  following  constituted  the  twenty-six  lot-owners  on  the 
new  middle  street  in  1699,  arranged  in  order  from  the  most 
northerly  :  Luke  Smith,  Samuel  Smith,  Samuel  Porter, 
George  Stillman,  Joseph  Smith,  William  Rookcr,  Samuel 
Partrigg,  Peter  Montague,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Nathaniel  War- 
ner; then  a  highway  8  rods  wide,  south  of  which  was  a 
vacant  lot,  subsequently  (1713)  given  to  John  Montague,  Jr., 
Samuel  Ingram,  Samuel  Boltwood,  Widow  Hannah  Porter, 
Timothy  Nash  (two  lots) ;  and  then  a  highway  ten  rods  wide,  a 
continuation  of  the  "middle  highway  to  woods."  Southof  this 
highway  were  Daniel  Marsh,  Experience  Porter,  Thomas  Sel- 
den,  John  Taylor,  a  highway  three  and  a  half  rods,  John 
Smith,  Nathaniel  White,  Thomas  Hovey,  Capt.  Aaron  Cook, 
John  Kellogg,  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  who  was  next  north  of 
the  old  Bay  Road. 

Mr.  Judd  says  of  Hadley,  as  it  was  in  1770:  "  The  prog- 
ress of  the  town  was  slow.  There  may  have  been  in  1770 
about  108  or  110  families,  and  600  inhabitants.  Only  a  small 
portion  of  the  13,000  acres  of  Inner  Commons,  distributed  long 
before,  had  been  cleared,  and  not  more  than  six  or  eight  houses 
had  been  built  on  the  Commons.  Some  of  these  were  at  North 
Hadley.  A  few  men  began  to  build  on  the  Boston  Road  about 
this  time.  There  were  no  inhabitants  at  Plainville,  ncir  farther 
south  in  the  eastern  part  of  Hadlej',  nor  on  the  Sunderland 
road  north  of  Caleb  Bartlett,  nor  between  Charles  Phelps  and 
the  back  street.  Samuel  Wright  had  settled  in  the  northeast- 
ern part  of  Hadley,  where  his  son  Silas  and  his  grandson  Silas, 
the  late  Senator  and  Governor  of  New  York,  were  born."  He 
also  says,  in  a  note,  "  Lieut.  Enos  Smith  erected  the  house  in 
which  his  son  Deacon  Sylvester  Smith  now  lives,  and  finished 
one  room  in  1770.  .  .  .  Gideon  Smith  had  a  house  northeast 
of  him,  Stephen  Goodman  had  built  a  house  beyond  the  mill, 
and  Nathaniel  White  farther  east,  where  he  long  kept  a  tavern. 
There  was  a  house  near  the  mill  for  the  miller." 

The  wide  street  was  much  improved  in  the  course  of  time, 
and  some  ponds,  especially  one  near  the  meeting-house,  dis- 
appeared with  other  unsightly  objects.  Flocks  of  geese  had 
long  enjoyed  the  pools,  and  at  times  congregated  beneath  the 
meeting-house,  even  on  the  Lord's  day,  and,  abusing  their 
privileges  as  lay  members,  disturbed  the  services  with  their 
incoherent  gabble. f  The  street  was  reduced  prior  to  1791  to 
an  average  width  of  sixteen  rods  and  a  half  or  thereabouts. 
By  the  many  floods  in  the  river  the  street  and  some  of  the 
old  home-lots  at  the  north  end  have  been  washed  away. 
Nearly  all  the  land  north  of  the  lots  of  Chileab  Smith  and 
Thomas  Coleman,  as  originally  laid  out,  has  disappeared, 
with  a  large  part  of  the  Smith  lot,  and  some  of  the  west  end  of 

t  Tlie  meeting-house  and  school-house  were  both  in  the  wide  street,  while  the 
geese  were  most  numerous.  Mr.  Judd  applies  to  the  situation  the  lines  of  Gold- 
smith : 

"  The  noisy  geese  that  gabbled  o'er  the  pool. 
The  playful  children,  just  let  loose  from  school." 
But  the  geese  did  not  long  survive  the  establishment  of  Hopkins  .\cademy, 
whose  students  waged  against  them  a  war  of  extermination. 


HISTOKY   OF    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


323 


the  Coleiiiiin  lot.  There  has  been  large  gain  in  the  meadow 
at  the  south  end  of  the  street.  Middle  Street  was  narrowed 
to  its  present  width  in  1773. 

AFFAIRS — PBNAL,    SQCIAL,    DOMESTIC,    AND    REGULATIVE. 

In  the  early  rude,  as  in  the  later  cultured,  age,  there  was 
an  equilibrium  of  forces,  a  law  of  compensation.  The  present 
might  not  wish  to  exchange  its  gas  and  kerosene  and  electricity, 
as  means  for  making  day  of  night,  for  the  fatty  candle-wood 
and  tallow-dips  of  the  pa.st,  but  would  welcome  a  return  of 
that  social  condition  which  enabled  Richard  Fellows,  in  1UU2, 
to  get  redress  in  10s.  damages  against  Judith  Varlete  for 
"  defamation,"  and  gave  Goodwife  Hawk  £.3  judgment  against 
Benjamin  Wait  for  a  "libelous  writing.''  No  less  would  it 
welcome  more  extended  use  of  the  methods  by  which,  in 
1665,  Andrew  Warner  and  the  heirs  of  John  Barnard  com- 
posed their  difficulties  concerning  a  malt-house  by  arbitration. 
Hadley,  since  that  day,  has  had  little  need  of  a  resident  law- 
yer, and  for  many  j'ears  has  had  none.  Justice  was  well  pro- 
portioned when,  in  1670,  one  John  Garrett  was  visited  with 
twenty-four  stripes  and  a  fine  of  £7  lO.f.  for  the  paternity  of 
a  child  born  out  of  wedlock  to  a  negro  servant  of  Mr.  Russell, 
while  the  mother  received  fifteen  stripes.  The  fine  was  paya- 
ble to  Mr.  Russell  ;  but  seven  years  later  he  parted  with  33s. 
6d.,  upon  the  judgment  of  a  Springfield  court,  for  saying  that 
Daniel  Hovey  was  a  "  man  of  scandalous  life."  There  seems 
to  have  been  no  partiality  shown  in  the  court  decisions,  for  it 
is  recorded  that  Thomas  Beanian,  having  received  judgment 
against  John  Fisher  to  the  amount  of  40.s.  for  saying  that 
"  Seaman's  mother  was  a  witch,  and  that  he  looked  like  one,'' 
was  himself  obliged  to  pay  10.5.  to  his  reviler,  whom  "  he  had 
fallen  upon  and  beaten."  But  of  all  the  ott'enders  in  Hadley, 
one  Joseph  Selding  appears  to  have  been  the  most  incorrigible, 
and  particularly  distinguished  for  his  defiance  of  lawful  au- 
thority. He  was  one  of  nine  young  men  who  were  variously 
disciplined  for  riotous  conduct  in  February,  1676,  in  "stop- 
ping and  hindering  the  execution  of  a  sentence  which  was 
ordered  by  authority."  This  was  in  the  troublous  time  of 
Philip's  war,  and  was  no  doubt  an  outgrowth  of  the  disturbed 
condition  of  affairs  and  the  presence  of  many  soldiers.  Seld- 
ing's  after-life  was  creditable,  but  he  did  not  remain  in  Had- 
ley after  1700. 

Less  creditable  to  our  forefathers,  perhaps,  was  their  attitude 
toward  the  matrons  and  maids — their  wives  and  daughters — 
who  disregarded  the  distinctions  created  by  the  sumptuary  laws 
and  persisted  in  wearing  silks  and  "excess  of  apparel,"  and 
even  dared  to  wear  them  "  flauntingly."  A  glorious  liberty 
was  won  for  their  posterity  by  the  martyrdoms  sufl'ered  in 
Hadley,  in  the  persons  of  Hannah  (Barnard),  wife  of  Dr.  John 
Westcarr;  Sarah  (Strong),  wife  of  Joseph  Barnard,  afterward 
Mrs.  Jonathan  Wells;  Hannah  (Wakefield),  wife  of  Edward 
Grannis ;  Abigail  (Montague),  wife  of  Mark  Warner;  Hep- 
zibah  (Buell),  wife  of  Thomas  Wells,  Jr.;  Felix  (Lewis), 
wife  of  Thomas  Selding,  whose  son  Thomas  was  slain  at  Deer- 
field,  in  1704;  and  maids  Mary  Broughton,  Sarah  Barnard, 
sister  of  Joseph  ;  Ruth  AV'arner,  daughter  of  Andrew  ;  Mercy 
Hubbard,  daughter  of  John,  and  also  the  wife  of  Joseph  Gay- 
lord  ;  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Baldwin,  Jr.  This  battle  was 
fought  between  the  years  1673  and  1677,  and  no  body  of  select- 
men thereafter,  though  urged  by  the  court,  dared  trespass  upon 
the  rights  of  the  sisterhood.  Perchance  the  courage  imparted 
by  flip,  punch,  and  tobacco  to  the  inner  man  was  more  than 
balanced  by  the  outward  weaknesses  in  attire, — knee-breeches, 
silk  stockings,  and  royal  wigs.  "Perhaps,"  says  Dr.  Hunt- 
ington, "there  was  finally  a  compromise  between  the  side- 
board and  the  toilet-table." 

The  housewives  of  that  day,  notwithstanding  their  love  for 
silks,  did  not  spurn  the  busy  wheel  wherewith  was  made  the 
yarns  of  flax  and  wool  and  cotton,  nor  the  loom  in  which 
these  were  woven  into  fabrics  for  their  families.     The  dlstatf 


and  spindle  were  theirs  by  divine  right,  and  j^rouder  they  doubt- 
less were  of  their  home-made  fabrics  than  of  the  silks  of  the 
Indies.  Some  of  t\te  cloths  produced  in  Hadley  between  174.5 
and  1772  were  the  following:  tow,  tow  and  linen,  cotton*  and 
linen,  sacking,  linsey-woolsey,  plain  and  fine  woolen,  checked 
linen,  checked  woolen,  fine  check,  checked  cotton,*  bed-tick, 
diaper,  diamond  table-linen,  bird's-eye,  fine  wale,  striped  or 
streaked  cloth,  crape,  blanketing,  fine  crash,  and  coverlets. f 

Housekeepers  of  the  present  time  would  envy  those  of 
ancient  Hadley  the  nearness  and  cheapness  as  well  as  richness 
of  the  shad  and  salmon.  Since  a  century  ago  shad  and  pork 
have  changed  places,  the  latter  losing  its  aristocratic  pre-emi- 
nence. Near  the  south  end  of  West  Street,  in  Hadley,  was  a 
famous  salmon  ground,  prior  to  179.5.  Forty  salmon  have 
there  been  caught  in  a  single  daj",  some  of  which  weighed 
thirty  pounds,  and  even  reaching  forty  in  rare  ca.ses.J 

An  act  "to  prevent  monopoly  and  oppression  was  passed  by 
the  'State  of  Massachusetts  Bay,'"  in  1777,  fixing  the  maxi- 
mum prices  at  which  the  several  articles  therein  enumerated 
should  be  sold,  and  authorizing  the  selectmen  and  committees 
of  the  various  towns  to  adopt  corresponding  or  proportionate 
rates  within  their  fixed  limits.  The  following  action  was  taken 
by  the  officials  of  Hadley  : 

"The  Selectmen  and  Committee  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  by  the  authority 
given  them  by  the  late  act  of  this  State  for  preventiu":  Monopoly  and  Oppression 
do  atfix  the  prices  of  the  goods  and  articles  in  this  list  enumerated  a3  they  are 
to  be  sold  in  the  town  of  Hadley :  the  price  of  a  day's  labor,  mowi  ng,  reaping, 
and  l)ulling  flax,  shall  not  exceed  0.  3s.  0;  and  other  farming  labor  in  the 
.sunnner  se;uion  shall  not  exceed  2s.  Sd.  by  the  day  ;  and  from  the  fi  i-st  of  Novem- 
ber to  the  first  of  JIarch,  2k.  a  day.  And  that  the  labor  of  tnuiesmen  and  me- 
chanics and  other  labor  be  in  the  same  proportion,  according  to  former  customs 
and  nsages.  The  highest  price  for  good  wheat  (except  seed-wheat)  shall  be  Cs. 
pr.  bush.;  good  merchantable  rye,  4*.  do.;  Indian  corn,  '.is.  do. ;  barley  or  malt, 
"t-s.  do. ;  oats,  2s.  do. ;  pease  and  lieans,  each  Gs.  do. ;  flour  manufactured  in  this 
st.ite,  ISs.  pr.  cwt. ;  sheep's  wool,  good,  at  2s.  pr,  pound ;  jtork,  the  best  sort,  fresh, 
at  iJ.  pr.  lb. :  salt  pork,  clear  of  hone,  8</. ;  beef,  best  grass-feil,  at  2J^  d.  (other 
in  proportion) ;  best  stall-fed  beef,  at  id. ;  raw-hides,  3d. ;  calfe-skins,  at  6rf. ;  salt, 
at  208.  pr.  bush. ;  chocolate,  at  2*.  pr.  lb. ;  clieese,  Gd. ;  butter,  at  Hd. ;  men's 
stockings,  good,  Gs.  a  pair;  men's  shoes,  made  of  neat's  leather,  of  the  best  com- 
mon sort,  at  8s.  a  pair,  and  othei's  in  that  proportion,  according  to  their  size  and 
quality;  cotton  wool,  at  3s.  10,/.  pr.  lb. ;  flax,  well  dressed  and  good.  Is. ;  colfee  , 
at  Is.  Sd. ;  tried  tallow,  Sd. ;  rough  do.,  5d. ;  good  tow  cloth,  yard  wide,  2s.  3(/.  pr. 
yd.;  other  coarse  linen  in  the  sanie  propoition  aecording  to  their  widths  and 
qualities ;  flannel,  yard  wide,  checked  or  striped,  38.  Gd.,  and  others  in  the  same 
proi)ortion  ;  good  oak  wood  at  Ts.  pr.  curd  (in  ordinary  seasons)  ;  thinned  hides, 
nuvnnfactured  in  Hadley,  Is.  3d.  pr.  lb.,  and  curried  leather  in  the  usual  propor- 
tion to  it;  veal  and  grass-fed  mutton,  2)2''.;  stall-fed  mutton,  3d.;  turkeys,  fowls, 
and  ducks,  at  4,/.;  English  hay,  good,  at  '2s.  pr.  cwt.,  and  otlier  bay  in  propor- 
tion ;  hoi-se-keeping,  a  night  or  24  hours,  Is.;  keeping  a  .Yoke  of  oxen,  a  night 
or  24  houi-8,  Is.  M. ;  for  a  nnlg  of  Flip,  made  of  West  India  rum.  Is.;  do.  of  N. 
England  rum,  lOd. ;  a  common  meal  of  victuals,  U)d. ;  if  a  roast**  dish  be  added, 
Is.;  white-pine  boards,  of  best  kind,  408.  ui. ;  yellow-pine,  do.,  30s.  ni. ;  sawing 
do.,  lu.s.  ni.  Hadley,  Feb.  24,  1777.  Signed  by  order  of  the  selectmen  and  Com- 
mittee. Eleaz^  Porter,  CiutiniimC^ 

SLAVES. 

The  first  three  ministers  of  Hadley  owned  slaves,  as  did 
others  of  her  worthy  people.  Mr.  Russell  had  a  servant, 
Margaret  (who  fell  from  grace),  and  perhaps  owned  others.^ 
Mr.  Chauncey  owned  Arthur  Prutt  and  his  wife,  Joan,  to 
whom  were  born  seven  children.  Mr.  Williams  disposed  of 
a  negro  woman,  Phillis,  by  will,  in  1753,  who  was  probably 
the  "  Phillis  Smith"  who  married  Ralph  Way,  Jr.,  in  1765, 
and  had  four  children. 

Joshua  Boston,  son  of  "Boston,"  was  a  noted  negro  in 
Hadley.  Both  father  and  son  were  the  property  of  Col. 
Eleazer  Porter,  who  died  in  1757.     Joshua  was  a  negro  of 

*  This  is  certainly  an  error,  for  cotton  was  not  cultivated  in  the  United  States 
until  about  178.">,  and  the  cotton-gin  was  not  invented  until  1702. 

I  Much  of  the  weaving  Wiw  done  l»y  professional  weavere. 

X  At  one  time,  in  the  last  century,  it  was  disreimtable,  because  an  indication 
of  poverty,  to  eiit  shad.  But  anecdotes  are  told  of  persons  of  wealth  who  sur- 
reptitiously paitook  of  that  dainty,  though  tabooed,  article  of  diet.  Dr.  Hun- 
tington tells  a  family  anecdote  of  one  of  the  Portei-s,  who  ordered  his  negi-o  to 
wat4-h  his  opportunity  on  the  river-bank,  and  steal  tluly  slip  a  shad  under  his  frock. 

g  The  inventory  of  his  estate  included  "  tliree  negroes, — a  man,  woman,  and 
chilli." 


324 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


striking  figure,  dignified,  and  withal  a  true  gentleman,  and 
was  even  said  to  "  bear  a  resemblance  to  Gen.  Washington.  " 
He  could  read  and  write,  was  a  member  of  the  church,  and 
had  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Kevolution.  His  death  occurred 
in  December,  1819,  at  or  about  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

The  returns  state  that  there  were  18  slaves  in  Hadley  over 
sixteen  years  of  age,  in  1755,  and  20  ten  years  later.  In  1771 
there  were  4  between  fourteen  and  forty-five  who  were  slaves 
for  life,  one  each  owned  by  Charles  Phelps,  Jonathan  Warner, 
Dr.  Kellogg,  and  Oliver  Warner,  and  others  under  fourteen 
and  over  forty-five. 

Among  the  last  of  the  slaves  owned  in  the  town  was  "  Jim,' 
the  property  of  Gen.  Moses  Porter.  He  lived  to  an  extreme 
old  age,  was  finally  freed,  but  chose  to  remain  with  the  family  of 
his  former  master.     He  was  tenderly  cared  for  in  liis  old  age. 

THE    IIADLEY    WITCH. 

Mary  Reeve,  in  1670,  became  the  wife  of  William  Webster, 
of  Hadley.  For  a  time  they  lived  in  reduced  circumstances 
on  the  middle  highway  leading  to  the  burying-ground,  occu- 
pying a  part  of  the  present  lot  of  Mr.  John  S.  Bell.  Poverty 
did  not  sweeten  her  native  bitterness  of  temper,  the  free  exer- 
cise of  which,  aided  by  the  credulity  and  infatuation  of  her 
accusers,  brought  upon  her  the  charge  of  witchcraft.  Tradi- 
tion alleges  that  she  performed  astounding  feats, — bewitched 
cattle  and  horses,  regardless  of  the  chastisements  inflicted 
therefor  by  their  drivers,  upset  loads  of  hay,  and  then  reversed 
the  operation,  raised  an  infant  from  its  cradle  to  the  ceiling 
sundry  times  without  touching  it,  and  did  other  and  divers 
evil  things  that  only  a  witch  could  do. 

She  was  tried  before  the  worshipful  Mr.  Tilton,  of  Hadley, 
and  bound  to  appear  at  the  court  at  Northampton,  whose 
grave  assemblage  of  judges  ordered  her  case,  "with  all  the 
evidences,"  to  be  presented  to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  at 
Boston,  and  poor  Molly's  person  consigned  to  Boston  jail. 
The  following  is  the  record  of  the  latter  court  for  Mav  22, 
1683,  when  Governor  Bradstreet,  Deputy-Governor  Danforth, 
and  nine  assistants  were  present : 

"  Mary  Webster,  wife  to  William  Webster,  of  Hiulley,  being  sent  dcuvn  uix>n 
suspicion  of  witchcraft,and  committed  to  prison,  in  onierto  her  trial,  was  brought 
to  the  bar-.  The  grand-jury  licing  impannelled,  tliey,  on  penisal  of  the  eridence, 
returned  that  they  did  indict  Mary  Webster,  wife  to  William  Webster,  of  Hadley, 
for  that  she,  in»t  having  the  fear  of  God  before  her  eyes,  and  being  instigated  by 
the  devil,  hath  entered  into  covenant  and  had  familiarity  with  him  in  the  shape 
of  a  worraneage,*  and  had  his  imps  sucking  her,  and  teats  or  nuuks  found  on 
her,  as  in  and  by  several  testimonies  may  appear,  contrary  to  the  peace  of  our 
sovereign  lord,  the  king,  his  crown  and  dignity,  the  laws  of  God  and  of  this 
jurisdiction.  The  court,  on  their  serious  consideration  of  the  testimonies,  did 
leave  her  to  further  trial." 

At  this  further  trial,  September  4th,  tlie  sensible  jury  found 
her  "  not  guilty." 

She  was  subsequently  charged  with  occasioning  the  death 
of  Mr.  Philip  Smith,  a  man  of  virtue  and  renown  in  Hadley, 
who,  Mather  says,  was  "murdered  with  an  hideous  witch- 
craft." It  seems  her  baneful  influence  was  e.xerted  while 
receiving  charity  at  his  hands.  He  began,  in  January,  1684, 
to  be  very  "  valetudinarious,"  and  showed  "  weanedness  from 
and  weariness  of  the  world."  E.xistence  was  impossible  with 
such  an  array  of  disorders,  and  yet  3Iolly  would  not  let  him 
die  in  peace ;  caused  his  medicines  to  be  emptied,  his  bed  to 
shake,  flame  to  appear  in  it,  and  invisible  moving  animals, 
and  gave  him  a  lively  countenance  after  he  was  pronounced 
dead.  At  last,  however,  Philip  succeeded  in  his  eft'ort  to  de- 
part, but  probably  n(jt  before  .«onie  "  brisk  lads"  had  dispelled 
the  enchantment  by  taking  forcible  possession  of  Molly  and 
administering  summary  punishment.  They  "drao-o-ed  her 
out  of  her  house,  hung  her  up  until  she  was  near  dead,  let  her 
down,  rolled  her  some  time  in  the  snow,  and  at  last  buried 
her  in  it,  and  there  left  her."     She  survived  the  rough  treat- 


*  Corruption  of  an  Indian  word  signifying  a  wild  black  cat  or  a  black  wild- 
cat. 


ment,  lived  eleven  years  longer  in  comparative  peace,  she  and 
Hadley  witchcraft  dying  together  in  1096. 

MURDER   OF   RICHARD   CHURCH. 

Only  one  murder  has  ever  occurred  in  Hadley  of  which  any 
account  survives,  and  that  was  perpetrated  by  Indians.  The 
victim  was  Richard  Church,  a  tailor,  residing  in  Hadley,  who 
had  gone  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Warner  with  Sam- 
uel Barnard  and  Ebenczer  Smith,  from  whom  he  became  sepa- 
rated. His  companions  heard  two  shots  fired,  followed  by  a 
shfuit.  Search  was  made  by  large  parties  of  the  inhabitants 
in  various  directions,  and  the  body  of  Church  found  robbed  of 
his  clothes  and  gun,  scalped,  and  with  an  arrow  in  his  side 
and  a  bullet-shot  in  his  head. 

The  guilty  parties  were  four  "  Albany  Indians"  from  Hat- 
field, where  a  number  of  families  of  that  tribe  resided.  They 
had  been  ordered  not  to  hunt  east  of  the  river,  and  from  re- 
venge or  fear  of  exposure  made  way  with  Church.  Mowe- 
nas  and  Moquolas  were  convicted  as  principals  in  the  murder, 
and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  They  were  executed  at  Northamp- 
ton, Oct.  23,  1696,  eighteen  days  after  the  murder.  Wenepuck 
and  Pameconeset  were  indicted  as  accessories,  but  were  not 
sentenced.  Samuel  Porter  was  then  sheriii"  of  Hampshire 
County.  The  murdered  man  was  a  son  of  Samuel  Church, 
and  a  grandson  of  Richard  Church,  one  of  the  first  settlers. 

BI-CENTENNI.\I.    CELEBRATION. 

The  two-hundreth  anniversarj'  of  the  settlement  of  Hadley 
was  celebrated  with  fitting  ceremonies  on  the  8th  day  of  June, 
1859.  On  that  occasion  an  address  was  delivered  by  Prof. 
Frederick  D.  Huntington,  D.D.,  of  Cambridge,  and  a  poem 
read  by  Edward  Clarke  Porter.  Both  orator  and  poet  were 
natives  of  Hadley.  The  latter,  a  son  of  Mr.  James  B.  Porter, 
had  then  recentlj'  graduated  from  Yale  College,  bearing  fresh 
laurels  as  poet  of  his  chvss  (1858).  He  became  a  clergyman 
of  the  Broad  Church  (Protestant  Episcopal),  and  before  the  first 
congress  of  that  denomination,  at  Chicago,  delivered  the  ad- 
dress, October,  1874.  He  died  in  January,  1876,  honored  and 
beloved.  Sweetly  did  he  welcome  Hadley's  wandering  chil- 
dren to  their  glad  reunion,  and  quite  as  sweetly  does  his 
memory  linger  among  them  amid  the  scenes  he  loved  and  of 
which  he  sung  : 

"  And  thus  the  peaceful  Valley  lay, 

.\nd  watched  the  River's  ceaseless  flow, 
All  blooming  with  the  showers  of  May, 
Or  decked  with  Autumn's  garlands  gay, 
Two  hundred  years  ago. 

***** 
"  An<i  thus  the  noble  Kiver  flowed, 

.\nd  watched  the  Summer  come  and  go, 
As  on  the  mossy  banks  she  strewed 
Her  flowers  and  garlands  through  the  wood, 
Two  htmdred  ycare  ago." 

PROMINENT    MEN. 

Among  the  sons  of  Hadley  are  many  who  have  held  promi- 
nent positions.  Charles  P.  Phelps,  graduate  of  Harvard, 
1791,  Giles  C.  Kellogg,  and  Moses  Porter  each  served  several 
years  in  the  Legislature.  Mr.  Kellogg,  a  graduate  of  Yale, 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1804,  was  instructor  in  Hopkins 
Academy  a  number  of  years,  and  became  register  of  deeds  for 
Hampshire  County  in  1833,  and  remained  in  office  twelve  or 
thirteen  years.  John  Porter,  son  of  William,  graduate  of 
Williams  College,  1810,  has  served  in  both  branches  of  the 
New  York  Legislature,  and  has  held  the  office  of  surrogate. 
Joseph  Smith  was  Senator,  1853-64.  Worthington  Smith, 
D.D.,  late  president  of  Burlingtim  University,  who  died  Feb, 
30,  1856  ;  Parsons  Cooke,  D.D.,  graduate  of  Williams  College, 
1822,  founder  of  the  Neio  Englund  Puriian  ;  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Porter;  Gen.  Joseph  Hooker,  distinguished  in  the  Mexican 
war  and  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion  ;  William  Porter ; 
Charles  P.  Huntington;  and   Rev.   Frederick   Dan  Hunting- 


HISTORY   OF  HAiMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


325 


ton,  sons  of  Kev.  Dnn  Huntington, — all,  many  years  since, 
went  forth  from  Iladley,  tlifir  native  town,  and  have  not 
failed  to  do  her  honor. 

The  old  home-lot  of  Samuel  Porter  yet  remains  the  property 
of  his  descendants,  many  of  whom  reside  in  Hadley.  The 
line  of  descent  to  these  contains  many  names  of  distinction, 
and  is  as  follows  : 

Samuel  Porter  (l),*one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Hadley,  mar- 
ried Hannah  Stanley,  of  Hartford,  and  had  eleven  children, 
of  whom  Hon.  Sanuiel  (2),  the  first  male  child  born  in  Hadley, 
April  0,  ll'jliO,  became  judge  of  Hampshire  County,  and  died 
in  1722,  "  leavinj;  an  immense  estate  of  over  £10,000."  He 
married  twice;  by  his  first  wife,  Joanna,  daughter  of  Capt. 
Aaron  Cooke,  having  fourteen  children,  of  whom  Eleazar  (3) 
married  Sarah  Pitkin,  was  long  in  a  judicial  position,  and  died 
1757.  He  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  Eleazar  and  Elisha 
(4)  have  descendants  in  Hadley  at  the  present  time  (1879). 

Hon.  Eleazar  (4),  born  June  27,  1728,  graduated  at  Yale, 
1748;  was  justice  of  the  peace  and  judge  of  Probate;  died  1797. 
He  married,  first,  his  cousin,  Anne  Pitkin,  and  had  three 
daughters  ;  second,  Susanna,  daughter  of  Eev.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, of  Northampton,  and  had  six  children,  of  whom  Wil- 
liam (5),  a  physician,  died  1847.  He  married,  first,  Lois  East- 
man, and  had  three  children  ;  second,  Charlotte  Williams,  and 
had  seven  children,  of  whom  one,  James  Bayard  (6),  resides 
in  Hadley. 

Moses  (o),  another  son  of  Hon.  lileazar  (4),  married,  August, 
1791,  Amy,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Colt,  of  Hadley,  and  had 
thirteen  children,  of  whom  one,  Eleazar  ((i),  resides  in  Hadley. 

Col.  Elisha  (4),  born  January,  1742,  brother  of  Hon.  Elea- 
zar (4),  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1701 ;  became  sherifl'  of 
Hampshire  County ;  was  appointed  captain  of  foot  in  Col. 
Israel  Williams'  regiment  of  militia,  Jan.  18,  1773,  and  Jan. 
22,  1776,  received  a  commission  as  "colonel  of  a  regiment 
ordered  to  be  raised  to  join  the  American  forces  now  acting  in 
Canada,  under  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Schuyler,"  and  July 
1,  1781,  received  a  commission  as  colonel  of  the  4th  Hamp- 
shire Regiment.  He  married,  first,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Rev. 
David  Jewett,  of  Rowley,  and  had  si.'c  children  ;  second, 
Abigail,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Phillips,  of  Boston.  Of  his 
children,  Gen.  Samuel  (5),  born  April  1.5,  1765,  held  suc- 
cessively the  military  positions  of  cornet  of  horse,  1787 ;  cap- 
tain of  cavalry  in  4th  Division  of  militia,  1790 ;  major  in  1st 
Battalion  of  cavalry  in  4th  Division,  1792;  lieutenant-colonel 
of  cavalry,  same  division,  1793;  and  general  of  militia  still 
later.  He  was  State  Senator,  1817,  was  Representative  fifteen 
years,  and  long  held  the  position  of  justice  of  the  peace.  He 
married,  October,  1780,  Lucy  Hubbard,  and  had  six  children, 
— Margaret,  Abigail,  Lucy,  Elisha,  Polly,  and  Pamelia.  Mar- 
garet (6)  married,  1810,  Rev.  Seth  Smith,  of  Genoa,  N.  Y., 
and  had  nine  children,  of  whom  one,  Abigail  (7),  resides  in 
Hadley;  Pamelia  (6)  married  Dudley  Smith,  and  had  nine 
children,  of  whom  four,  Sarah  Hillhouse,  Abby  Phillips, 
Lucy  and  Samuel  Dudley  (7),  are  residents  of  Hadle}' ;  Cla- 
rissa married Cooley,  of  Hartford. 

Stephen  Terry,  an  original  settler,  had  a  daughter  Mary, 
who  married,  1659,  Richard  Goodman,  also  an  original  settler, 
and  had  Thomas,  1673,  who  married  Grace,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Marsh,  of  Hatfield,  and  had  Nathan,  1713,  and  Eunice 
(5),  who  married  Joseph  Smith,  and  died  in  1838.  He  died  in 
1830.  Their  son,  Joseph  Smith  (0),  born  1796,  State  Senator, 
1853-54,  owns  and  occupies  a  major  part  of  the  home-lot  of 
his  ancestor,  Mr'  Terry. 

NOTED    LANDMARK.S. 

Besides  the  residences  of  the  early  ministers,  Mr.  Russell  and 
Dr.  Hopkins,  referred  to  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the 
First  Church,  are  others  worthy  of  mention.     One  of  these,  on 

*  Numbers  in  parentheses  indiente  the  generations. 


the  east  side  of  the  broad  street,  was  erected  in  1714,  by  Eleazar 
Porter,  grandson  of  Samuel,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  is  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  his  descendants  of  the  fifth  generation. 
The  house  is  double,  with  an  entrance  of  double-doors,  and 
with  steep  roof,  sloping  toward  the  street.  The  southwest  cor- 
ner room — where  Gen.  Burgoyne  was  entertained  after  his  sur- 
render, and  where  his  sword,  together  with  interesting  family 
relics  of  the  olden  time,  is  studiou.sly  preserved — remains  as 
in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  From  the  broad  porch  on  the 
south  side,  the  venerable  minister.  Dr.  Hopkins,  one  time  ad- 
dressed a  motley  and  excited  assembly  during  the  Shays 
rebellion. 

Another  house,  next  north  of  the  one  described,  is  similar 
in  style,  is  one  year  older,  and  was  built,  probably,  by  Eleazar, 
a  son  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Porter,  and  great-grandfather  of 
James  B.  Porter,  a  resident  of  Hadley.  The  two  houses  are 
on  the  old  home-lot  of  the  first  Samuel  Porter. 

Opposite,  and  a  little  north  from  the  last-described  mansion, 
is  a  modest  dwelling,  low  and  weather-worn,  with  semi- 
octagonal  roof,  but  renowned  as  the  place  of  birth  of  Maj.- 
Gen.  Joseph  Hooker,  in  1815.  It  seems  not  to  be  known 
by  whom  the  house  was  erected,  though  it  doubtless  stood  in 
the  days  of  the  Revolution  ;  an  elm  of  near  a  century's  growth 
guards  the  entrance.  Joseph  Hooker,  the  father  of  Gen. 
Hooker,  removed  from  Hadley  with  his  family  to  Watertown, 
N.  Y.  E.  and  C.  M.  Thayer,  brothers,  are  the  present  owners  ' 
of  the  property. 

On  the  old  home-lot  of  Stephen  Terry  stands  a  liouse  erected 
in  1802  by  Joseph  Smith,  who  married  a  great-granddaughter 
of  Mr.  Terry.  Mr.  Smith's  son  Joseph,  now  eighty-three 
years  of  age,  owns  and  occupies  the  homestead. 

Jonathan  White,  a  descendant  of  John,  a  first  settler,  occu- 
pies the  original  home-lot  of  the  latter,  and  descendants  of 
Richard  Montague  now  own,  and  recently  occupied,  their 
ancestors'  home-lot. 

INDIAN    LAND-TITLES. 

That  portion  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  lying  on  either  side 
of  Mount  Holyoke  for  a  considerable  distance  was  known  to 
the  Indians  and  early  settlers  as  Nolwotogg,  or  Nonotuck, — 
the  name  having  many  orthographies. f 

In  1654,  John  Pynchon,  Elizur  Holyoke,  and  Samuel 
Chapin,  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  laid  out  one  plantation  west  of  the  river  for  the 
colony  at  Northampton,  extending  "  from  the  little  meadow 
called  Capawonk  or  Mattaomet,  down  to  the  head  of  the  falls," 
and  reserved  the  lands  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  for  another 
plantation. 

The  Indian  titles  to  Nolwotogg  were  extinguished  at  difter- 
ent  periods,  from  1653  to  1662,  by  John  Pynchon,  who  pur- 
chased the  lands  for  the  benefit  of  the  "  planters,"  as  the  early 
settlers  were  termed.  The  territory  which  now  constitutes 
the  town  of  Hadley  is  embraced  in  two  deeds,  which  include 
also  lands  now  in  Amherst,  South  Hadley,  Granby,  and  other 
towns  eastward. 

The  following  deed  embraces  the  land  from  the  mouth  of 
Fort  River  and  Mount  Holyoke,  on  the  south,  to  the  mouth 
of  Mohawk  Brook  and  the  southern  part  of  Mount  Toby,  on 
the  north,  extending  easterly  nine  miles  into  the  woods  : 

"  Hero  foUuwetli  a  cupy  of  a  deed  or  writing  wliereby  the  Indians  of  Nolwo- 
togg, upon  the  liver  Qnienecticott  made  (.ale  of  certain  lands  unto  Maj.  John 
Pynchon,  of  Springfield,  together  with  the  copy  of  the  said  Maj.  John  Pynclion, 

t  Mr.  Judd  gives  the  following  as  the  prevailing  orthography  at  the  several 
dates;  "  Nawattocke,  1C37;  Nowottok  and  Nawottock,  164();  Nauwotak,  1648; 
Noatucke,  1654;  Nanotuck,  1653;  Nonotuke,  16.53,  1655,  1658;  Nonvotake,  Nor- 
wootuck,  and  Norwuttuck,  1657;  Northwottock,  1656,  1661;  Norwottock,  1659, 
1660;  Norwootucke,  1659;  Norwotuck,  1661.  John  Pynchon  has  in  his  accounts 
Nalwotogg,  Nolwotugg,  and  Noi-wotog,  and  in  his  deeds  Nolwotogg."  Norwot- 
tuck  was  most  used  hy  the  English.  The  signification  seems  to  have  been  "in 
the  midst  of  the  river,"  having  reference  to  the  peninsulas  at  Hadley,  Hocka- 
num,  Northampton,  Hatfield,  etc. 


326 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY". 


his  assignment  of  the  said  deed  for  the  use  and  hehuuf  of  the  iuhabitauts  of 
Hadley,  and  his  acknowledgment  thereof. 

"  Be  it  known  to  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  Chickwollop,  alUts  Wahillowa, 
Umpanchella,  alius  Womscom,  and  Quonqnont,  alUis  AVompshaw,  the  Siuhems 
of  Nolwotogg,  and  the  sole  and  proper  owuere  of  all  the  land  on  the  east  side  of 
Quonicticot  River,  from  the  hills  called  Petowamachu,  and  from  the  mouth  of 
the  brook  or  river  called  Town  nek  f-ett,  and  so  all  along  by  the  great  river  up- 
ward or  northward  tu  the  bnmk  called  Nepassooenegg,  and  from  hither  part 
or  south  end  of  the  great  liills  called  Kunckquachu  {being  guessed  at  near 
about  nine  miles  in  length),  by  tlie  river  Queneeticott, — We  the  aforenamed 
Chickwallop,  alias  Wahi llowa,  Umpauchala,  alias  Womscom,  and  Quuuquont,  alias 
Wompshaw,  of  Nolwotogg,  on  the  one  party,  do  give,  grant,  bargain,  and  sell 
unto  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield,  on  tho  other  party,  to  him,  his  assigns,  and 
Buccessore,  forever,  all  the  grounds,  woods,  ponds,  watei-s,  meadows,  trees,  stones, 
Ac,  lying  on  the  east  side  of  Quenicticot  River,  within  the  compass  aforesaid, — 
from  the  mouth  of  tlie  little  RiverettTowenucksett,  and  the  hills  Petowoinuchu 
northward  up  the  great  rivL-r  of  Queuucticut  to  the  Brouk  Nepowssuoenegg,  and 
from  the  south  end  of  the  hills  Quaquachu,  being  near  about  nine  miles  in 
length  from  the  south  part  to  the  north  part,  and  all  within  the  compass  from 
Quenecticot  River  nine  miles  out  into  the  woods,  all  the  aforesaid  tract  of 
ground  called  Towunucksett,  Sunniuckquommuck,  Suchaw,  Noycoy,  Gasseck, 
Pomptuckset,  Mattabaget,  Wnnnaqviickset,  Kunckkiunck-qualluck,  Neposeo- 
neag,  and  to  the  south  end  of  the  great  hill  called  Kunckquachu,  and  for  nine 
or  ten  miles  eastward  from  the  great  liverout  into  the  woods  eastward, — We 
the  said  Chickwallop,  Umpanchella,  and  Quonqnont,  do  for  and  in  consideration 
of  two  hundi  ed  fatlium  nf  wami>uni,*  and  twenty  fathom  and  one  large  coat  at 
eight  fathom,  which  Cliicwallop  sets  ort\  of  trusts,  besides  several  small  gifts, 
and  for  other  good  causes  and  considerations,  do  sell,  give,  grant,  and  have 
given,  granted,  bargained,  and  sold  to  John  Pynchon,  of  Spiiugfield,  and  to  his 
assigns  and  successoi-s,  all  and  singular,  the  aforenamed  land,  or  by  whatever 
other  name  it  is  or  may  he  called,  ipiietly  to  possess,  have,  and  enjoy  the  afore- 
said tract  of  ground,  free  from  all  molestations  or  incundirances  of  Indians,  and 
that  forever, — only  the  Indians  aforenamed,  and  in  particular  Quonquont,  doth 
reserve  and  keep  one  corn-field, — almut  twelve,  sixteen,  or  twenty  acres  of 
ground, — a  little  above  Slattabaget,  by  tlie  brouk  called  Wunnaquickset,  lying 
on  the  south  side  of  the  said  brook,  and  compassed  in  by  a  swamp  from  that 
brook  to  the  great  river;  and  also  they  reserve  liberty  to  hunt  deer,  fowl,  &c., 
and  to  take  fish,  beaver,  or  otter,  &c. ;  but  otherwise  all  the  aforesaid  premises 
the  said  John  Pynchon,  his  assigns  and  successors  and  their  heii-s,  shall  forever 
enjoy  absolutely  and  clearly,  free  from  all  incumbrances  of  any  Indians  or  their 
corn-fields  forever,  except  as  before  excepted.  And  in  witness  herei>f,  we,  the 
said  Indians,  do  subscribe  our  mai-ks  this  present  twenty-fifth  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1G58.  It  is  the  only  corn-field  on  this  or  suuth  side  of  the  brouk  called 
Wunnuckeckset,  and  the  little  bit  of  ground  liy  it,  within  the  swamp  and  be- 
twixt the  swamp  and  the  great  river,  which  the  Indians  do  reserve,  and  are  to 
enjoy.  But  the  little  corn-field  on  the  other  wifle,  or  fuither  side,  or  noith  side 
of  Wunnaquickset,  and  all  the  other  corn-fields  within  tlie  compass  of  ground 
aforenamed,  the  Indians  are  to  leave  and  yield  up,  as  witness  their  hands. 
"The  mark  —  of  tTMi'ANCHLA,  alias  Womscom, 
"  The  mark  —  of  Quonquont,  alituf  M'ompshaw, 
"  The  mark  —  of  Chickwalop,  alias  Wawahillowa. 
"  Witnesses  to  the  purchase,  and  that  the  Indians  do  fully  sell  all  the  lands 
aforementioned  to  Mr.  Pynchon,  and  that  the  marks  were  subscribed  by  the 
Indians  themselves: 

"Joseph  Parsons,  Edw.  Klmore, 

"Joseph  Fitch,  Samuel  Wrigut, 

"Arthvh  Williams.'" 

The  mark  R.  T.,  of  Rowland  Thomas,  who  was  priv}'  to 
the  whole  discourse  and  conclusion  of  the  purchase,  and 
Joseph  Parsons,  who  was  present  and  acquainted  with  the  whole 
agreement.  The  other  witnesses  came  in  to  testify  to  the  sub- 
scribing, and  that  the  Indians  owned  all  as  it  was  read  to 
them. 

The  Indians  desired  that  they  might  set  their  wigwams  at 
some  times  within  the  tract  of  ground  they  sold  without 
offense,  and  that  the  Knglish  would  be  kind  and  neighborly 
to  them  in  not  prohibiting  them  firewood  out  of  the  woods, 
etc.,  which  was  promised  them. 

Mr.  Pynchon,  on  Oct.  28,  1003,  assigned  the  deed  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Hadley  for  whom  he  had  made  the  purchase. 
The  corn-field  reserved  in  the  deed  was  a  part  of  the  land  since 
known  as  the  upper  School  Meadow,  and  was  subsequently 
purchased  by  Hadley  from  the  Indian  owners. 

*  Wampum  was  the  piincipal  medium  of  exchange  in  dealings  with  the  In- 
dians. This  currency  coiisisted  of  sea-shells  strung  in  the  shape  nf  heads,  and 
dealt  out  in  "  hands"  or  "  fathoms."  Nor  was  it  exemi)t  from  depreciation  by 
over-issue.  Tho  beads  wore  of  several  colors,  white  being  the  most  plentiful. 
At  first,  six  of  the  white  or  three  of  the  black,  blue,  or  purple  beads  were  valued 
at  one  penny.  They  depreciated,  as  early  as  llj7.'»,  to  one-quarter  that  value,  or 
twenty-four  wlute  beads  for  a  penny.  The  word  wampum  signifying  white,  the 
term  "black  wampum" — often  used  by  the  English— is  about  as  admissible  as 
'■  white  blackberry." 


By  the  other  deed — Aug.  8,  1662 — Wequagon  (formerly 
called  Wulluthearne)  and  his  wife,  Awonusk,  and  Squomp, 
their  son,  sold  to  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield,  the  terri- 
tory from  the  mouth  of  Fort  River  and  Mount  Holyoke,  on 
the  north,  to  Stony  Brook,  in  South  Hadley,  on  the  south,  ex- 
tending easterly  ten  miles,  or  to  three  ponds.  The  Indians, 
in  the  language  of  the  deed,  conveyed — 

"  All  the  grounds,  woods,  trees,  ponds,  waters,  st.mes,  meadows,  and  uplauds, 
Ac,  lying  and  being  at  Nolwotogg,  on  the  east  side  of  Quinecticott  River,  from 
the  hill  called  Petawamuchu,  and  the  brook  or  little  riverett  called  Towunnckset, 
which  formerly  Umpanchala  and  Wowwhillowa  sold  to  the  Engiisb,  wlicn  they 
sold  them  Sunnuckquuinmuck  and  bounded  it  by  the  inoutli  of  the  brouk  Towu- 
nnckset and  the  hill  Petowomachu.  Now,  from  tlie  said  hill  and  brook  down 
Quinecticott  River  southward  to  a  brook  or  riverett  called  Chusick,  where  the  cart- 
way goes  over  it,  but  at  the  mouth  it  is  called  Cowase,  and  all  within  the  compass 
from  the  great  river  Quenicticott  eastward  into  the  woods  about  ten  nules,  viz. : 
to  the  three  ponds  called  Paquonckqnamog,  Scontticks,  Paskisiuiuoiioh.  The 
aforesaid  tract  of  lauil  called  Petowanmchu,  Suchow,  the  greut  neck  or  meadow 
which  the  English  call  Hoccanum,  together  with  the  uplands  adjoining,  and  the 
brook  or  riverett  called  Cowachuck  alias  Quaquoonuntuck,  at  the  mouth  of  it, 
and  so  south  to  the  riverett  ('husuck  alijis  Cowase,  at  the  mouth  <d'  it,  and  east- 
ward to  the  three  ponds  before  named," 

The  consideration  for  this  land  was  "  150  fathom  of  wam- 
pum with  ten  coats  and  more,  two  yards  of  cloth  over  in  the 
largeness  of  their  breeches,  and  several  other  small  gifts,  con- 
siderable all  of  them." 

There  was  reserved  and  exempted  from  thi.s  sale  fifty  or 
sixty  acres  at  Hoccanum,  which  had  been  mortgaged  to  Joseph 
Parsons,!  of  Northampton,  by  Wequogon  and  Awonusk. 
The  Indians  were  not,  however,  to  be  excluded  from  hunting 
deer,  beaver,  and  other  wild  creatures,  nor  from  fishing  and 
the  use  of  fire-wood. 

The  Indian  names  of  places  often  did  not  preserve  their 
orthography  throughout  the  same  document,  and  even  the 
names  of  the  chiefs  seem  to  have  been  cai)i'icinusly  spelled. 
The  lust-named  deed  was  assigned  to  the  inhabitants  of  Had- 
ley, Feb.  0,  1671. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    TOWN. 

The  planters  at  Norwottuck, — as  appears  from  the  subse- 
quent action  of  the  General  Court, — at  a  meeting  held  at  the 
house  of  Goodman  Lewis,  on  the  Monday  succeeding  May  11, 
1661,  took  steps  to  secure  formal  recognition  as  a  town,  with 
definite  powers.  The  order  of  the  General  Court  above  re- 
ferred to  was  passed  May  22,  1661,  and  reads  as  follows  : 

.  "  On  the  motion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  new  plantation  nere  Northampton, 
relating  to  sundry  particculars,  it  is  ordered  by  this  Court  that  the  said  tonne 
shall  be  called  Hadley,^  and  that  for  the  better  gouernmont  of  the  people,  & 
suppressing  of  sinus  there,  some  meete  persons,  annually  pi'esented  by  the  free- 
men vnto  this,  shall  be  commissioned  and  empowred  to  act  in  seueraH  services 
as  fulloweth :  first,  the  said  commissioners,  together  with  the  commissioners  of 
Springfeihl  and  Noi  thampton,  or  the  greater  part  of  them,  shall  haue  the  liberty 
&  be  impowred  to  keepe  ye  Courts  ajtpoiutcd  at  Springfeild  &  Northampton; 
secondly,  that  the  said  commissioners  for  Hadley  shall  &  are  hereby  empowred, 
witliont  a  jury,  to  heare  &  determine  all  ciuil  actions  not  exceeding  fine 
pounds  ;  3dly,  tlmt  the  sajd  commission  el's  for  Hadley  sliall  and  are  hereby  em- 
powred to  deale  in  all  criminall  cases  according  to  lane,  where  the  penalty  shall 
not  exceed  tenu  stiipes  for  one  offence;  provided  that  it  shall  be  lawfull  for  any 
jierson  sentenced  by  tlie  said  cimimissioners,  either  in  civil  or  ci  iniiuall  cases,  to 
appeah-  to  tho  Couit  at  Springfeild  or  Northampton;  fourthly,  that  the  pereons 
fur  the  yeai'c  ensuing,  &,  till  others  he  nominated  and  chosen  for  the  tonne  of 
H.adley,  appointed  and  authorized  as  aforesajd,  are  Andrew  Bacon,  Mr.  Sanniell 
Snuth,  <Si  Mr.  Win.  Westwood ;  5thly,  that  the  comuiissionei-s  hereby  appointetl 
shall  tiike  their  oatlios  before  Capt.  Pinchon  for  the  faitbfuU  discharge  of  their 
duty  therein,  who  is  hereby  authorized  to  administer  the  same  vnto  them.  It 
is  also  orilereil  by  this  Court  that  tlie  jnrj'inen  freemen  for  trialls  at  Spiingfeild 
&,  Northampton  Couits  shall  take  information  &  make  pre.sentments  to  ye 
Court  of  nusdemeanors,  as  grand  jurymen  vsually  doe,  or  ought  to  doe,  and 
that  the  darke  of  the  Ct.uirt  at  Siuingfeild  &  Noi  thampton  send  ftuth  warrants 
to  the  three  tounes  for  jui-ymen,  witli  respect  to  the  ease  o^travill  to  each  Court, 
&  yt  Mr.  John  Russell,  Sen.,  be  Clarke  of  ye  writts  for  Hadley^  and  yt  Mr.  Wetit- 

f  Wequagon  and  his  family  owed  Mr,  Pareons  eighty  beaver-skins  for  coats, 
warnpuni,  and  other  things,  and  gave  him  a  mortgage  May  2S,  lGti2.  The  land 
was  forfeited  to  Mr.  Parsons,  who  sold  it  to  the  town,  and  gave  a  deed  theiefor 
March  29, 10S3. 

X  Hadley,  Hadleigh,  or,  more  ancient,  Headlege,  is  a  town  in  England,  county 
of  Suffolk,  on  the  liver  Bortoii.  The  name  was  probably  atlopted  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  some  of  the  early  settlei-s  of  Hartford,  who  were  from  that  vicinity. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


327 


wood,  or,  in  his  absence,  one  of  tlie  otlier  eomniissionei-s,  are  liereby  anthorized 
to  joyne  persons  in  niariia^e  at  Hadley."* 

The  limits  of  the  old  town  of  Hadley  were  somewhat  indef- 
inite, and  have  been  substantially  described  in  the  chapter 
devoted  to  the  early  settlement.  On  the  east  side  of  the  river 
the  bounds  extended  eleven  or  twelve  miles  north  "from  the 
head  of  the  falls  above  Springfield,"  with  a  width,  east  and 
west,  of  nine  miles;  on  the  west  side,  from  the  north  bounds 
of  Northampton  up  the  river  six  or  seven  miles,  with  a  width 
of  two  miles. 

By  subsequent  action  of  the  General  Court,  October,  1663, 
the  town  east  of  the  river  was  limited  to  "five  miles  from 
their  meeting-house  place  up  the  river,  tive  miles  down  the 
river,  and  four  miles  east  from  the  most  eastern  part  of  the 
river."  In  May,  1673,  upon  the  petition  of  38  of  the  inhab- 
itants, the  east  line  was  fixed  a  distance  of  "six  miles  from 
the  meeting-house  eastward,"  making  the  bounds  six  by  ten 
miles. f 

A  survey  was  made  by  Oliver  Partridge,  of  Hatfield,  in 
1739,  in  accordance  with  the  grant  of  1673.  He  fixed  the 
east  line  of  the  grant  at  six  miles  due  "east  of  the  meeting- 
house," and  measured  five  miles  each  way — north  and  south — 
from  the  due-east  point.  From  the  extremities  of  this  east 
line  he  surveyed  due  west  to  the  Connecticut.  The  length  of 
the  north  line  was  1422  rods;  of  the  south  line,  2334  rods. 
The  north  line  was  farther  north,  by  an  average  of  .')2.i  rods, 
than  the  one  previously  assumed  to  be  the  true  line  between 
Hadley  and  Sunderland,  which  ran  due  east  from  the  mouth 
of  Mohawk  Brook.  Sunderland  therefore  possessed  457  acres, 
for  which  that  town  gave  to  Hadley  an  equivalent  in  land  at 
Dcerfield  Falls.     This  tract  was  sold  by  Hadley  in  174n.J 

In  May,  1683,  upon  the  petition  of  the  selectmen,  who, 
among  other  considerations,  set  forth  the  appalling  fact  that 
"  the  inhabitants  are  shut  up  on  the  cast  and  north  by  a  deso- 
late, barren  desert,"  the  General  Court  granted  an  addition  to 
the  southern  portion  of  the  town  of  four  miles  .square.|  In 
November,  1727,  a  tract  was  added  east  of  that  last  named, 
and  extending  to  the  equivalent  lands,  now  Bclchertown. 
This  addition  was  about  four  miles  in  length,  north  and 
south,  and  two  miles  in  width. 

At  this  period  the  town  of  Hadley  had  attained  its  greatest 
proportions,  containing  by  estimate  eighty-nine  square  miles, 
or  56,960  acres,  cast  of  the  Connecticut,  beside  a  portion  west 
of  the  river  which  was  reserved  in  1670,  when  Hatfield  was 
incorporated.  Within  the  ensuing  thirty-two  years,  this 
"mother  of  towns"  had  richly  endowed  two  other  healthy 
offspring  with  landed  estates, — South  Hadley  became  a  dis- 
trict in  1753,  and  Amherst  a  district  in  1759.  Hatfield  ab- 
sorbed the  "  reservation"  in  1733.  Amherst  took  that  portion 
of  her  territory  south  of  the  Bay  road  in  1812,  about  700  or 
800  acres  more  from  the  northeast  part  of  Hadley  in  1814, 
and  later,  a  small  piece  near  the  "  Northampton  road." 

The  peninsula  cut  off  by  the  new  channel  of  the  river,  at 
Hockanum,  in  1840,  as  described  in  another  place  in  this  his- 
tory, was  annexed  to  Northampton  in  1850,  and  bears  the 
name  "  Ox-Bow." 

No  exact  survey  of  the  present  town  of  Hadley,  which 
would  enable  a  plot  thereof  to  be  made,  has  ever  been  com- 
pleted. The  lines  are,  however,  perambulated,  as  the  law  re- 
quires, at  regular  intervals,  and  trees  and  monuments  upon 

*  This  was,  and  still  is,  called  the  act  of  incorporation  for  Hadley. 

t  A  part  of  this  petition  reads:  '*The  common  feeding-place  of  onr  working 
cattle,  whereby  we  carrj'  on  our  husbandry,  is  withoutour  town  bounds,  and  our 
want  of  haj'-ground  is  such  as  necessitates  ns  to  seek  out  some  remote,  boggy 
meadow,  either  to  take  hay  from  or  carry  our  cattle  to,  that  we  may  keep  tliem 
alive  ;  our  interval  land,  by  reason  of  the  high  situation  of  it,  being  seldom  flooded, 
and  so  not  continuing  to  yield  grass  a-s  in  the  plantations  lower  down  the  river, 
and  as  here  formerly." 

X  VUIe  Judd's  Hist.,  p.  196. 

§  Surveyed  by  John  Chandler,  Jr.,  of  Woodstock,  in  October,  171i).  (See  history 
of  South  Hadley  in  this  volume.) 


the  lines  noted  in  the  official  reports.  In  general,  the  irreg- 
ular line  of  the  mountain  ridge,  upon  the  south,  is  the  limit 
in  that  direction ;  the  west  bounds  of  Amherst,  as  described 
in  the  history  of  that  town,  the  limit  on  the  east;  and  the  line 
fixed  by  Mr.  Partridge,  in  1739,  between  Hadley  and  Sunder- 
land, the  limit  northward.  (See  previous  note.)  The  Con- 
necticut is  the  boundary  on  the  west. 

The  first  townsmen — "  to  order  all  public  occasions" — chosen 
by  the  planters  in  November,  1659,  have  already  been  named 
in  the  account  of  the  first  settlement. 

By  the  regulations  passed  in  1662,  each  inhabitant  was  to 
receive  a  notice  before  any  town-meeting,  be  fined  6d.  if  tardy 
one-half  hour,  or  12rf.  if  tardy  one  hour.  If  a  majority  did 
not  appear,  those  present  might  "  go  away  and  attend  to  their 
own  occasions."  It  was  also  provided  that  "the  townsmen, 
before  every  town-meeting,  shall  choose  one  of  themselves  to 
be  moderator,  who  shall  have  the  ordering  of  the  meeting,  of 
speech  and  silence  therein."  A  person  departing  without 
leave  of  the  moderator  should  be  fined  6rf.,  and  be  "ac- 
counted as  one  who  gives  an  evil  example  of  disorder  to 
others." 

Townsmen  were  to  he  chosen  yearly,  in  January,  and  have 
power  in  all  matters  except  "admitting  inhabitants,  giving  of 
land,  laying  out  highways,  alienating  fences  and  properties, 
erecting  common  buildings,  as  houses,  mills,  bridges,  etc.,  of 
considerable  value,  levying  of  rates,"  etc. 

Offices  were  multiplied  or  diminished  as  occasion  required. 
The  first  townsmen — selectmen — chosen  at  a  regular  town- 
meeting  in  Hadley,  Dec.  14,  1660,  were  Andrew  Bacon,  An- 
drew Warner,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Samuel  Smith,  and  Wil- 
liam Lewis.  Other  officers  were  chosen  as  follows:  Nathaniel 
Dickinson,  Kecorder  of  Orders  or  Town  Clerk,  Dec.  17,  1660; 
he  was  succeeded  by  Peter  Tilton,  Sept.  4,  1661,  who  was 
made  also  "to  record  lands,"  Feb.  9,  1663,  and  who  served 
more  than  thirty-one  years;  Samuel  Barnard,  who  followed 
in  1693,  was  "  Clerk  ;"  Samuel  Smith  and  Peter  Tilton,  Meas- 
urers of  land,  1660  ;  Stephen  Terry,  Constable,  March,  1662  ; 
Mr.  William  Westwood  and  Brother  Standley,  Fence- View- 
ers, "to  view  the  meadow  fences,"  April  24,  1661;  Goodman 
Richard  Montague,  Hayward  or  Field-Driver,  May  11,  1661  ; 
Edward  Church  and  Chileab  Smith,  east  side  of  the  river,  and 
Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  west  side,  Surveyors  of  Highways, 
Jan.  27,  1663;  John  Barnard,  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Meas- 
ures, 1663;  Richard  Montague,  Grave-Digger,  March,  1663; 
Timothy  Nash,  Samuel  Moody,  Samuel  Church,  Chileab 
Smith,  Tithingmen,  appointed  by  the  Selectmen,  1678; 
Samuel  Partrigg,  Packer  of  Meat  and  Fish,  1679.  Hog- 
reeves,  hog-ringers,  cow-keepers,  shepherds  were  chosen  at 
times  in  the  early  days. 

Regulations,  passed  in  1693,  provided  that  10  men,  including 
a  majority  of  the  selectmen,  at  any  legally-warned  meeting 
could  proceed  with  the  town  business;  that  fences  should  be 
properly  maintained,  "every  man  to  have  a  stake  12  inches 
high  at  the  end  of  his  fence,  with  the  two  first  letters  of  his 
name  facing  the  way  the  fence  runs;"  imposed  penalties  for 
trespass  by  persons  or  animals  on  a  "  neighbor's  land,"  or  on 
"common  land,"  and  arranged  for  the  "pounding"  of  stray 
farm  stock,  and  for  labor  on  the  highways  and  commons. 

PRESENT   TOWN    OFFICERS. 

William  S.  Shipman,  Town  Clerk  and  Treasurer;  Francis 
Edson,  Charles  Cook,  G.  Myron  Smith,  Selectmen ;  Enos  E. 
Cook,  Collector ;  .John  S.  Bell,  Alphonso  Dickinson,  Royal 
M.  Montague,  Assessors  ;  Merritt  S.  Ferguson,  Enos  E.  Cook, 
William  Perkins,  Constables ;  Rowland  Ayres,  John  W. 
Lane,  George  Dickinson,  School  Committee;  Ithamar  C. 
Kellogg,  Elector  under  Oliver  Smith's  will. 

FINANCIAL. 

Received  by  town  treasurer,  from  all  sources,  for  year  end- 
ing Feb.   12,   1879,  $22,972.77;    disbursed  for  same  period. 


328 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


121,460.21,  inclusive  of  12850.88  for  schools,  and  |2129.51 
for  the  town  poor.  Total  town  indebtedness,  |103,236.71 ;  re- 
sources, 112,548.75. 

TOWNSMEN    OR    SELECTMEN.* 
1660. — Andrew  Bacon,  Andrew  Wsirner,  Niitli'l  Dickinson,  Samuel  Smith,  Wm. 

Lewis. 
1662.— Thomas  Meekins,  AVilliam  Allis,  Nath'l  Ward,  Richard  Goodman,  John 

White,  Sr. 
1663.— William  Westwood,  Thomas  Meekins,  Tliomas  Wells,  Philip  Smith,  John 

White. 
1664.— Gregory-  Winterton,  John  Dickinson,  John  Hubbard,  William  AlUs,  Na- 
thaniel Dickinson,  Jr. 
1665.— John  White,  Sr.,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Nathaniel  Standley,  Thomas  Meekins, 

Isaac  Gravels. 
1666.— Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  John  Crow,  Aaron  Cooke,  Zacliary  Field,  John 

Coleman. 
1667. — Thomas  Coleman,  Stephen  Terry,  Samuel    Porter,  John  Cole,  Samuel 

Warner. 
1668.— Lieut.  Samuel   Smith,  William    Partrigg,  Andrew   Warner,    Nathaniel 

Dickinson,  Jr.,  Samuel  Belding. 
1669.— William   Lewis,  Fraucis   Barnard,  J..Iin   Dickinson,  Thomas   Meekins, 

William  AlUs. 
1670.— Henry  Clarke,  John  Russell,  Sr.,  Peter  Tillton,  Isaac   Graves,  Daniel 

White. 
1671.— Philip  Smith,  Aaron  Cooke,  Edward  Church,  Juhn  Crow,  Richard  Mon- 
tague. 
1672.— Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Samuel  Porter,  Samuel  Partrigg,  Samuel  Church, 

Samuel  Moody. 
1673.— Richard  Goodman,  Timothy  Nash,  John  Dickinson,  Francis  Barnard, 

Thomas  Dickinson. 
1674.— Andrew   Warner,   Peter  Tillton,   Ens.   Aaron   Cooke,  Joseph   Kellogg, 

Noah  Coleman. 
1675.__Nehemiah  Dickinson,  John  Marsh,  Daniel  Hovey,  Philip  Smith,  Chileab 

Smith. 
1676. — Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Ens.  Aaron  Cooke,  John  Hubbard,  Sergt.  John  Dick- 
inson, Francis  Barnard. 
1677, — Philip  Smith,  Richard  Montague,  Samuel  Porter,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Peter 

Tillton. 
1678. — Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Aaron  Cooke,  John  Hubbard,  Samuel  Partrigg, 

Thomas  Dickinson. 
1679.— Lieut.   Philip  Smith,  Peter  Tillton,  Timothy  Nash,  Richard  Montague, 

Ensign  Joseph  Kellogg. 
1680. — Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Neheniiah  Dickinson,  Samuel 

Partrigg,  Joseph  Baldwin,  Sr. 
1681. — Deacon  Philip  Smith,  Lieut.  Joseph  Kellogg,  Ens.  Timothy  Nash,  Chileab 

Smith,  Thomas  Hovey. 
1682. — Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Samuel  Partrigg,  John  Hubbard,  Peter  Montague, 

Daniel  Marsh. 
1683._Deacon  Philip  Smith,  Ensign  Timothy  Nash,  Samuel  Porter,  Francis 

Barnard,  Neheniiah  Dickinson. 
1684. — Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Samuel  Partrigg,  Jonathan  Marsh,  Thomas  Hovey, 

Nathaniel  White. 
1685.— Ensign  Timothy  Nash,  Chileab  Smith,  Lieut.  Joseph  Kellogg,  Neheniiah 

Dickinson,  Daniel  Mai-sh. 
1686. — Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Samuel  Partrigg,  Francis  Barnard,  Thomas  Hovey, 

Samuel  Barnard. 
1687, — Ensign  Timothy  Na.sh,  Daniel  Mai-sh,  Neheniiah  Dickinson,  Peter  Mon- 
tague, Peter  Tillton. 
1688. — Francis    Barnard,   Jonathan    Mai-sh,   Thomas    Hovey,   Samuel    Moody, 

Thomas  Selden. 
1689.— Ensign  Timothy  Nash,  Samuel   Porter,  Sr.,  Peter  Montague,  Neheniiah 

Dickinson,  Lieut.  Jonatlian  Marsh. 
1690. — Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Thomas  Hovey,  Chileab  Smith,  Nathaniel  Wliite, 

Thomas  Selden. 
1691.— Neheniiah  Dickinson,   Ens.  Timothy    Nash,   Samuel  Porter,  Jonathan 

Marsh,  Corp.  Samuel  Smith. 
1692. — Capt.  Aaron  Cooke,  Lieut.  Joseph  Kellogg,  Samuel  Barnartl,  George  Still- 
man,  Daniel  Marsh. 
1693. — None  recorded. 
1694. — Neheniiah    Dickinson,    Jonathan    Marsh,   Peter   Montague,   Nathaniel 

W^iite,  Samuel  Smith,  son  of  Chileab. 
1695. — Lieut.  Timothy   Nash,  Daniel   Marsh,   Thomas   Hovey,  John   Kellogg, 

Samuel  Barnard, 
1696. — George  Stillman,  Ensign  Chileab  Smith,  Nathaniel  White,  Joseph  Smith, 

Daniel  Hubbard. 
1697. — Jonathan   Marsh,  Samuel  Porter,  Nathaniel  Warner,  John  Montague, 

Timothy  Eastman. 
1698. — None  recorded. 
1609. — Thomas  Selding,  Daniel  Mai-sh,  Sergt.  Samuel   Smith,  John   Kellogg, 

Corp,  Samuel  Smith. 
1700, — Samuel  Porter,  Cornet  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Mareh,  Samuel 

Boltwood,  John  Nash. 
1701. — Samuel  Marsh,  Deacon   N.  White,  Peter  Montague,  Hezckiah   Porter, 
Samuel  Partrigg. 

*  Usually  called  townnmen  until  167.'i. 


1702. — Cornet  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Marsh,  Thomas  Selding,  John 

Smith,  tailor,  John  Smith,  orphan. 
1703. — Samuel  Porter,  Sergt.  Daniel  Mareh,  Corp.  Peter  M')ntague,  John  Nash, 

Samuel  Barnard. 
1704.— Cornet  Nelieiniah   Dickinson,  Jonathan   Marsh,  Sergt.  Samuel   Smith, 

Deacon  Natlianiel  White,  Hezekiah  Porter. 
1705. — Thomas  Selding,  Lieut,  Thomas  Hovey,  Q.-M.  Peter  Montague,  John  Smith , 

tailor,  Samuel  Cooke. 
1706. — Samuel  Porter,  Jonathan  Marsh,  Daniel  Mai"sh,  Westwood  Cook,  Samuel 

Barnard. 
1707. — Sergts.  Joseph  Smith,  Samuel  Smith,  and  John  Nash,  Deacon  Nathaniel 

Wliite,  Luke  Smith. 
1708. — Q.-M.  Peter  Montague,  Thomas  Selding,  John  Kellogg,  Samuel  Barnard, 

Moses  Cook. 
1709. — Jonathan  Marsh,  Sergts.  Daniel  Marsh  and  Samuel  Smith,  John  Smith, 

orphan,  Experience  Porter. 
1710.— Samuel  Poiter,  Deacons  Nathaniel  White  and  John  Smith,  Samuel  Par- 
trigg, Sergt.  Josepli  Smith. 
1711.— Lieut.  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  Peter  Montague,  Daniel  Marsh,  Sergt.  Samuel 

Smith,  Samuel  Barnard. 
1712, — Samuel  Porter,  Jonathan  Marsh,   Lieut.  Thomas  Hovey,  Deacon  John 

Smith,  Experience  Poii«r, 
1713.— Samuel  Porter,  Luke  Smith,  Sergt.  Samuel  Smith.  Westwood  Cook,  Sergt . 

Daniel  Jlarsh, 
1714.— Jonathan   Marsh,  Deacon  John   Smith,  Sergt,  John   Nash,  Experience 

Porter,  Lieut.  Nehemiah  Dickinson. 
171.'i. — Daniel  Marsh,  Sergt.  Samuel  Smith,  Peter  Montigue,  Deacon  Nathaniel 

White,  John  Smith,  orphan. 
1716. — No  record,  a  leaf  being  gone. 
1717. — Nathaniel    Kellogg,  Lieut.  Westwood   Cook,  Experience   Porter,  John 

Smith,  son  of  Chileab,  Luke  Smith. 
1718.— Peter  Moiitiigue,  John  Nash,  Deacon  John  Smith,  Sergts.  Samuel  Smith 

and  John  Marsh. 
1719.— Samuel  Porter,  Experience  Porter,  William  Iiirkiuson,  Samuel  Partrigg, 

Samuel  Barnard. 
1720. — Deacon  John  Smith,  John  Smith,  orphan,  John  Niush,  Sergts.  Samuel 

Smith  and  Samuel  Moody. 
1721.— Samuel  Porter,  Luke  Smith, Nathaniel  Kellogg, Experience  Porter,  Lieut. 

Samuel  Cook. 
1722. — Sergts.  John  Nash  and  Samuel  Smith,  Lieut.  John  Smith,  Samuel  Bar- 
nard, Moses  C'ook. 
1723,— Deacon  John  Smith,  Experience  Porter,  Luke  Smith,  John  Smith,  orphan, 

Sergt.  William  Dickinson. 
1724,— John  Niish,  Moses  Cook,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Dr,  John  Barnard,  Sergt. 

John  Marsh. 
1725.— Deacon  John  Smitli,  Eleazar  Porter,  Samuel  Partridge,  Samuel  Moody, 

Sergt.  William  Dickinson. 
1726. — John  Nash,  Luke  Smith,  Sergt.  Samuel  Ditkirisun,  Ens.  Moses   C-ook, 

Samuel  Porter. 
1727.— Eleazar  Porter,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Samuel  Mtody,  Sergt.  William  Dick- 
inson, Joseph  Eastman. 
1728.— John  Niish,  Lieut.  Samuel  Cook,  Samuel   Porter,  Luke    Smith,  Sergt. 

Chileab  Smith. 
1729.— Eleazar  Porter,  Lieuts,  John  Smith  and  Moses  Cook,  Ens.  William  Dick- 
inson, Job  Mar-sh. 
17;i0. — John  Nash,  Capt.  Luke  Smith,  Lieut.  Samuel  Cook,  Deacon  Samuel  Dick- 
inson, Joseph  Eiistman. 
1731.— Eleazar  Porter,  Esq,,  Lieuts.  John  Smith  and  Moses  Cook,  Ens.  William 

Dickinson,  Ichabod  Smith. 
1732.— Lieut.  Westwood  Cook,  Tlionias  Goodman,  Sanuiel  Moody,  Joseph  East- 
man, Samuel  Barnard. 
17;J3.— Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Capt.  Luke  Smith,  Lieuts.  John  Nash  and  Samuel 

Cook,  Deacon  Samuel  Dickinson. 
17;j4, — Lieuts.  Moses  Cook  and  John  Smith,  Deacon  Joseph  Eastman,  Samuel 

Moody. 
1735. — Samuel  Porter,  Eleazar  Porter,  Ebenezer  Marsh,  Joseph  Smith,  Nathaniel 

Kellogg,  Jr. 
17;jC, — Moses  Cook,  Ens.  William  Dickinson,  Deacons  Samuel  Dickinson  and 

Joseph  Eastman,  Chileab  Smith,  Ebenezer  Moody,  Samuel  Boltwood. 
1737. — Samuel  Porter,  Eleazar  Porter,  Joseph  Smith,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Noah 

Cook. 
1738.— Lieut.  Moses  Cook,  Ens.  William  Dickinson,  Deacons  Joseph  Eastman 

and  John  Smith,  Chileab  Smith,  John  Nash,  Jr.,  Job  Mai-sh. 
1739.— Col.  Porter,  Samuel  C«ok,  Dr.  Crouch,  Deacon  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Kel- 
logg, Jr.,  Ephmini  Nash,  Jonathan  Smith. 
1740,— Capt,  Moses  Cook,  Lieut.  Dickinson,  Ichubod  Smith,  Nathaniel  White, 

Pelatiah  Smith,  Samuel  Poiifir,  Deacon  J.  Eastman, 
1741.— Col.  Porter,  Capt.  Luke  Smith,  Deacon  Samuel  Dickinson,  Lieut.  Chileab 

Smith,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Samuel  Smith,  John  Nash. 
1742.— Capt.  Moses  Cook,  Lieut.  Dickinson,  Samuel  Porter,  Ichabod  Smith,  Ben- 

jandn  Church,  William  Montague,  Ebenezer  Kellogg. 
174:i.— ( 'ol.  E.  Porter,  Deacon  Eastman,  Richard  Church,  Natlianiel  Smith,  Lieut. 

Chileab  Smith,  Edmund  Hubbard,  James  Kellogg. 
1744.— Capt.  Moses  Co<ik,  Deacon  Ichabod    Smith,  Samuel    I'orter,  Nathaniel 
Kidlogg,  Jonathan  Smith,  Deacon  Eleazar  Mattoou,  Sergt.  John  Smith. 
1745.— Col.  Porter,  Chileab  Smith,  Joseph  Eiistman,  Edmund  Hubbard,  James 
Kellogg,  Luke  Montague,  Deacon  Ebenezer  Eiistman. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


329 


1746. — Capt.  Moses  Cook,  Deacons  Icliiibod  Smith  nnd  John  Nash,  Samuel  Poi-ter, 
Noah  Cook,  Lieut.  Chik-ab  Smith,  Siminel  Moody. 

1747. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Deacon  Joseph  Eastnian,  James  Kellogg,  Edmund 
Hubbard,  David  Sniitli,  Cliileab  Smith,  Lieut.  Jonathan  Smith. 

1748. — Capt.  Moses  Cook,  Lieut.  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Deacons  John  Nash  and 
Enos  Nash,  William  Smith,  Jolin  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Smith,  Jr. 

1749. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Jonatiiau  Smith,  Joseph  White,  James  Kel- 
logg, Edmund  Hubbard,  David  Smith,  Deacon  Nathaniel  Montague. 

17.iO. — Capt.  Moses  Cook,  Lieuts.  Niithauiel  Kellogg  and  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  Jim- 
athan  Smith  (3d),  William  White,  Hezekiah  Smith,  Deacon  Enos  Nash. 

1751. — Deacon  John  Smith,  Ens.  William  Montague,  Samuel  Smith,  Thomas 
Goodman,  Solomon  Roltwnorl. 

1752. — Eleazar  Portei-,  Er<q.,  David  Smith,  John  Smith,  Jr.,  John  Nash,  Ebenezer 
Kellogg,  Edmund  Hubbard,  Daniel  Nash,  Moseys  Porter,  Enos  Nash. 

lTo3. — Jonathan  Smith  (,2d),  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Moses  Mai-sh,  John  Dickinson, 
Jr.,  Thomas  Goodman,  Samuel  Smith,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Samuel 
Marsh. 

1754. — Hon.  Eleazar  Porter,  John  Nash,  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  Enos  Nash,  Sanmel 
Smith. 

1755. — Capt.  Jonathan  Smith,  Jonathan  Smith  (2d),  James  Kellogg,  Josiah 
Chauncey,  Joseph  Hubbard. 

1750. — Capt.  John  Lj-man,  David  Smith,  Enos  Niish,  Eleazer  Porter,  Jr.,  Jona- 
than Cooke,  John  Dickinson,  Joseph  Eiistman,  Jr. 

1757. — Jonathan  Smith,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Joseph  Hubbard,  Cliarles  Phelps, 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  Josiah  Chauncey,  Jonathan  Moody. 

1758.— Da\id  Smith,  Eleazar  Porter,  Giles  C.  Kellogg,  Joseph  Eastman,  Jr.,  Peter 
Smith,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh,  Edmund  Hubbard. 

1759. — Nathaniel  Kellogg.  Enos  Nash,  Jonathan  Smith,  Samuel  Gaylord,  Jona- 
than Cook. 

1760. — David  Smith,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh,  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Warner, 
John  Eastman. 

1761. — Enos  Nash,  Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Edmund  Hubbard,  Noah  Smith,  Samuel 
Gaylord. 

1762. — Jonathan  Smith,  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh,  Capt.  John 
Lyman,  Noah  Cook. 

1763. — Giles  C.  Kellogg,  Enos  Nash,  John  Eastman,  Jonathan  Warner,  David 
Smith. 

1764. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Jonatiiau  Smith,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh,  Jonathan  Cook, 
Oliver  Warner. 

1765. — Deacons  Enos  Nash  and  David  Smith,  Edmund  Hubbard,  John  EiustiiuiTi, 
Jonathan  Warner. 

1766. — Jonathan  Smitli,  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Oliver  Warner,  Nehemiah  Gaylord, 
Capt.  Moses  Marsh, 

1767. — Enos  Nash,  Samuel  Gaylord,  John  Eastman,  Oliver  Smith,  John  Kellogg. 

1768. — Jonathan  Smith,  Eleazer  Porter,  Esq.,  Noah  Cooke,  Nehemiah  Gaylord, 
Elisha  Porter. 

1769, — David  Smith,  Jonathan  Cooke,  Oliver  Warner,  Josiah  Peirce,  Pbinehas 
Lyman. 

1770. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  John  Eastman,  Elisha  Porter,  Ednmnd  Hubbard, 
Capt.  Moses  Marsh. 

1771. — Jonathan  Cooke,  Jonathan  Warner,  Nehemiah  Gaylord,  Jonathan  Smith, 
Benjamin  Colt. 

1772. — Elisha  Porter,  Esq.,  John  Eastman,  Warham  Smith,  Oliver  Warner,  Oliver 
Smith. 

1773. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Warner,  John  C.  Williams,  Capt.  Moses 
Marsh,  Jonathan  Cooke. 

1774. — Oliver  Smith,  Charles  Phelps,  Phinehas  Lyman,  Warham  Smith,  Eliakim 
Smith. 

1775. — John  Eastman,  Nehemiah  Gaylord,  Stephen  Goodman,  Moses  Kellogg, 
OUver  Smith. 

1776. — Maj.  Eleazar  Porter,  Caleb  Lyman,  Capt,  Moses  Mai*sh,  Josiah  Peirce, 
John  C.  Williams. 

1777. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Capt.  Oliver  Smith,  Lieut.  Moses  Kellogg,  Caleb  Ly- 
man, Nehemiah  Gaylord. 

1778. — Charles  Phelps,  Phinehas  Lyman,  Enos  Smith,  Enos  Nash,  John  Cooke. 

1779. — Capt.  Oliver  Smith,  Lieut.  Daniel  White,  Thomas  Smith,  Phinehas  Lyman, 
Ebenezer  Marsh. 

1780.— Col.  Elisha  Porter,  John  C.  Williams,  Esq.,  Ens.  Edmund  Hubbard, 
Warham  Smith,  Daniel  White. 

1781. — Enos  Nash,  Stephen  Goodman,  Enos  Smith,  Noah  Smith,  Nathl.  Mon- 
tague. 

1782. — Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Charles  Phelps,  Oliver  Smith,  Caleb  Lyman,  Ednuind 
Hubbard. 

1783. — Charles  Phelps,  Timothy  Eastman,  Warham  Smith,  Samuel  Gaylord,  Jr., 
Capt.  D.  White. 

1784. — Nathaniel  White,  Azariah  Dickinson,  Lemuel  Warner,  Stephen  Goodman, 
Lieut.  Enos  Smith. 

1785. — Warham  Smith,  Samuel  Gaylord,  Seth  Smith.  Daniel  White,  Enos  Nasli. 

1786. — Warham  Smith,  Enos  Nash,  Caleb  Lyman,  Daniel  White,  Steplien  Good- 
man. 

1787. — John  Cook,  Warham  Snnth,  Lieuts.  Enos  Nash  and  Enos  Smith,  Elisha 
Dickinson. 

1788. — Ens.  Edmund  Hubhard,  Capt.  Charles  Phel]is,  Lieuts.  Enos  Smith  and 
Enos  Nash,  Ens.  John  Montague. 

1789. — Capt.  Charles  Phelps,  Lieuts.  Enos  Nash,  Enos  Smith,  and  Elisha  Dickin- 
son, Samuel  Gaylord. 

1790. — Capts.  Charles  Phelps  and  Elisha  Dickinson,  Ens.  Caleb  Lyman,  Seth 
Smith,  Maj.  John  Smith. 

42 


1791.— Oliver  Smith,  Warham  Smith,  Charles  Phelps,  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  Wil- 

lard  Smith. 
1792. — Warham  Smith,  Ehsha  Dickinson,  Enos  Nash,  Seth  Smith,  Eleazar  Por- 
ter, Jr. 
1703.— Charles  Phelps,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Enos  Nash,  John  Smith  (3d),  Chileab 

Smith. 
1794. — Enos  Nash,  Enos  Smith,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Samuel  Porter,  Daniel  AVliite. 
1795. — Elisha  Dickinson,  Warham  Smith,  Charles  Phelps,  Enos  Smith,  Eleazar 

Porter,  Jr. 
1796. — Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Eleazar  Porter,  Jr.,  Seth  Smith, 

Samuel  Porter. 
1797. — Enos  Smith,  Seth  Smith,  Samuel  Porter,  Eleazar  Porter,  Jr.,  William 

Dickinson. 
1798.— Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  Col.  Sanmel  Porter,  Capt.  Elisha  Dickinson,  Lieut. 

Enos  Smith,  Elihu  Smith  (2d). 
1799. — Capt.  Daniel  Whit^,  Lieut.  Enos  Smitli,  M;ij.  Eleazer  Porter,  William 

Dickinson,  Col.  Samuel  Porter. 
1800. — Capt.  Elisha  Dickinson,  Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  Col.  Samuel  Porter,  Lieut. 

Enos  Smith,  Ensign  Caleb  Smith. 
1801. — Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  Col.  Samuel  P  irter,  Miij,  Eleazer  Porter,  Capt.  Elisha 

Dickinson,  David  Stockbridge. 
1802, — Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  Deacon  Seth  Smith,  Capt.  Elisha  Dickinson,  Col. 

Samuel  Porter,  David  Stockbridge. 
1803. — Enos  Smith,  Samuel  Porter,  Elisha  Dickinson,  David  Stockbridge,  John 

Hopkins. 
1804.— Lieut.  Enos   Smith,  Col.  Samuel   Porter,  Charles   Phelps,  Esq.,  Lieut. 

Windsor  Smith,  Timothy  Hopkins. 
1805. — Samuel  Porter,  Charles  Phelps,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Windsor  Smith,  Wil- 
liam Dickinson  (2d). 
1806.— Cliarles  Phelps,  Esq.,  Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  Windsor 

Smith,  Oliver  Smith,  Jr. 
1807. — Capt.  Elisha  Dickinson,  Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  Chai"les  Phelps,  Esq.,  Lieut. 

Windsor  Smith,  Samuel  Porter,  Esq. 
1808. — Capt.  Elisha  Dickinson,  Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  Charles  Phelps,  Sanmel  Por- 
ter, Esq.,  Capt.  Caleb  Smith. 
1809. — Charles  Phelps,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Enos  Smith,  Windsor  Smith,  Stephen 

Johnson. 
1810.— Charles   Phelps,  Esq.,  Enos  Smith,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Windsor  Smith, 

Samuel  Porter,  Esq. 
1811. — Deacon  William  Dickinson,  Timothy  Hopkins,  Stephen  Jolinson,  Capt. 

Caleb  Smith,  Giles  C.  Kellogg. 
1812. — Deacon  William  Dickinson,  Lieut.   Enos   Smith,  Samuel   Porter,  Esq., 

Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Windsor  Smith. 
1813. — Deacon  William  Dickinson,  Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  Charles  Phelps,  Esq., 

Jacob  Smith,  Windsor  Smith. 
1814. — Deacon  M'illiam  Dickinson,  John  Hodge,  Capt.  Eli  Smith. 
1815. — Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Sylvester  Goodman,  Chester  Hawley. 
1816. — Gen.  Samuel  Porter,  Deacon  William  Dickinson,  Moses  Porter,  Esq.,  John 

Hodge,  Lieut.  Sylvester  Goodman. 
1817.— Dr.  Reuben  Bell,  Ens.  William  Smith,  Capt.  Ephraim  Smith. 
1818. — Dr.  Beuben  Bell,  Lieut.  William  Smith,  Capt.  Ephraim  Smith. 
1819. — Hon.  Samuel  Porter,  Capt.  Ephraim  Smith,  Lieut.  Sylvester  Smith. 
1820.— Hon.  Samuel  Porter,  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Esq.,  Capt.  Eli  Smith. 
1821.— Hon.  Samuel  Porter,  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Esq.,  Capt.  Eli  Smith. 
1822. — Charles  P.  Phelps,  Col.  Sylvester  Goodman,  Moses  Porter. 
1823. — Charles  P.  Phelps,  Deacon  Wm.  Dickinson,  Capt.  Eli  Smith. 
1824. — William  Dickinson,  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Capt.  Eh  Dickinson. 
1825. — Charles  P.  Phelps,  Samuel  Porter,  Capt.  Amos  Pasco. 
1826-27. — William  Dickiuson,  Joseph  Marsh,  Moses  Porter. 
182S. — John  Hibbard,  Zadock  Lyman,  Sylvanus  Dickinson. 
1829. — Ephraim  Smith,  Zadock  Lyman,  John  Hibbard. 
1830.— Hon.  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Amos  Pasco,  Dr.  Reuben  Bell. 
1831-32. — Hon.  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Simeon  Dickinson,  Oliver  Bonney. 
1833-34. — Jason  Stockbridge,  Col.  Ephraim  Smith,  John  Shipman. 
1835. — Simeon  Dickinson,  Cotton  Smith,  Elijah  Smith. 
1836. — Walter  Newton,  Simeon  Dickinson,  Joseph  Smith. 
1837. — Simeon  Dickinson,  E.  W.  Skerry,  William  Smith. 
1838. — Sylvester  Smith,  Levi  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Cotton  Smith. 
1839.— John  Shipman,  Charles  P.  Phelps,  William  Smith,  Esq. 
1840. — Simeon  Dickinson,  Hiram  Thayer,  Erastus  Smith,  Jr. 
1841. — Sereno  Smith,  Hiram  Thayer,  Nathan  Clark. 
1S42. — Sereno  Smith,  Nathan  Clark,  Parsons  West. 
1843-44. — ^Hiram  Thayer,  Zcnas  Cook,  Horace  Smith. 
1S45-46.— Leicester  W.  Porter,  William  S.  Shipman,  Calvin  Russell. 
1847.— Caleb  D.  Dickinson,  Wyman  Smith,  Joseph  Smith,  Esq. 
1848. — Oliver  Bonney,  John  A.  Morton,  Isaiu;  Hawley. 
1849-50.- William  S.  Sliipman,  Alfred  H.  Cook,  Thaddeus  Smith. 
1851-52. — Lorenzo  W.  Granger,  Rodney  Smith,  Martin  F.  C^ok. 
1853. — Charles  P.  Hitchcock,  Linus  Green,  Perez  S.  Williams. 
1854. — Charles  P.  Hitchcock,  Linus  Green,  Levi  Stockbri<lge. 
1855.— H.  C.  Hurd,  John  S.  Boll,  Perez  S.  Williams. 
1856.— John  S.  Bell,  H.  C.  Hurd,  Jeriah  S.  Smith. 
1857.— William  P.  Dickinson,  Jeriah  S.  Smith,  David  S.  Cowles. 
1858. — William  P.  Dickinson,  David  S.  Cowles,  Enos  E.  Cook. 
1859. — Thaddeus  Smitli,  Samuel  Boll,  George  Shipman. 
1860. — R.  M.  Montague,  Samuel  Bell,  George  Shipman. 
1861. — B.  M.  Montague,  Enos  E.  Cook,  Thomas  Reynolds. 
1862-63.— John  S.  Bell,  Lorenzo  N.  Granger,  Jeriah  S.  Smith. 


330 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1SG4. — Francis  Edsou,  Lorenzo  N.  danger,  Horace  Cook. 
1865-69. — Francis  Edson,  Horace  Cook,  George  C.  Smith. 
ISTO.— John  S.  Bell,  Horace  Cook,  Horatio  C.  Hard. 
1871-73.— John  S.  Bell,  Jason  W.  Newton,  Horatio  C.  Hurd. 
1874. — Francis  Edson,  Holjice  Cook,  Horatio  C.  Hurd. 
1875. — Francis  Edson,  Horace  Cook,  H.  C.  Russell. 
1876.— Francis  Edson,  George  B.  Smith,  II.  C.  Kussell. 
1877. — Fiancis  Edson,  Horatio  C.  Hurd,  Charles  Cook. 
1878. — Francis  Edson,  Samuel  F.  C'oole>',  Charles  Cook. 
1879.— Francis  Edson,  Charles  Cook,  G.  Myron  Smith. 

KECORDERS  OR  TOWN  CLERKS. 
16C0-G1,  Kathaniel  Dickinson  ;  1661-93,  Peter  Tilton ;  1693-1727,  Sanmcl  Bar- 
nard; 1727-47,  Joh  Marsh;  1747-81,  Josiah  Peirce;  1781-90,  Eleazer  Porter; 
1700-90,  Enos  Ka-sli;  1796-07,  Elisha  Hubbard;  1707-1802,  John  Hopkins; 
1802-3,  William  Porter;  1803-6,  Seth  Herbert  Kogers;  1806-34,  Giles  Crouch 
Kellogg ;  1834-41,  Dudley  Smith  ;  1841-54,  Orlando  Smith  ;*  1854^-79,  William  S. 
Shipman. 

CIVIL  LIST. 

COUNCILORS. 

1757-58,  Eleazar  Porter ;  1821-23,  Samuel  Porter. 

STATE    SENATORS. 

1817,  Sam\lel  Porter;  1826-27,  Charles  Porter  Phelps;  1853-64,  Joseph  Smith. 

DEPUTIES   AND    REPRESENTATIVES.! 

1661,  Samuel  Smith;  1062,  William  Lewis;  1603,  .Samuel  Smith,  William 
Lewis;  1664,  Samuel  Smith,  John  White;  1065,  Samuel  Smith,  Peter  TiUton; 
1066,  Peter  TiUton;  1667,  Sauniel  Smith;  1668,  Sauniel  Smith,  Peter  TiUtou; 
1600,  William  Holton,  John  White ;  1670,  Henry  Bridgliam,  Peter  Tillton  ;  1071, 
Samuel  Smith,  Peter  TiUton  ;  1672,  Henry  Phillips,  Peter  Tillton;  May,  1073, 
Samuel  Smith,  Peter  TiUton ;  September,  1673,  Peter  Tillton,  Henry  Phillips ; 
1074,  Peter  Tillton ;  1675,  John  Richards,  Peter  Tillton ;  1070,  Peter  Tillton ;  1677, 
PhiUp  Smith,  Peter  Tillton  ;  1678-70,  Peter  Tillton  ;  1680-84,  Philip  SmiUi ;  1685, 
Samuel  Partrigg ;  1686,  Samuel  Pai  trigg,  Thomas  AVest ;  1750-57,  Josiah  Pierce ; 
1758,  Eleazar  Porter;  1759,  Closes  M.arsh  ;  1760,  Josiah  Chauucey,|  of  Amherst; 
1761,  Eleazar  Poiter ;  1762,  .Josiah  Cliauncey ;  1763,  Eleazar  Porter ;  1764-65, 
Daniel  Nash,  of  South  Iladley ;  1706,  Enos  Nash  ;  1767,  Simeon  Strong,  of  Am- 
herst ;  1708,  Enos  Nash  ;  1709,  Simeon  Strong,  Elisha  Porter ;  1770,  Elisha  Porter ; 
1771,  Josiah  Pierce;  1772,  Josiah  Pierce,  Eleazer  Porter;  1773,  Josiah  Pierce; 
1774,  Josiah  Pierce,  delegate  to  Provincial  Congress  at  Concord ;  1775,  January, 
Josiali  Pierce,  delegate  to  Provincial  Congi'ess  at  Cambridge ;  1776,  John  Chester 
Williams ;  177T,  May  28th,  Elisha  Porter,  Jonathan  Smith  ;  1778,  Elisha  Porter, 
Jonathan  Smith  ;  1770,  Phinehaa  Lyman  ;  1780,  Jonathan  Smith;  1781,  Pliinehas 
Lyman;  1782-88,  Oliver  Smith;  1780-00,  none ;  1791-93,  Charles  Phelps;  1704, 
Jonathan  Poiter;  1795-90,  Chai  lea  Phelps;  1707,  Jonathan  E.Porter;  1708-90, 
Charles  Phelps ;  1800-6,  Sanmel  Porter ;  1807-8,  Charles  Phelps ;  1809-10,  Giles  C. 
Kellogg ;  1811-13,  Samuel  Porter ;  1814,  Giles  C.  Kellogg ;  1815-10,  Samuel  Porter ; 
1817,  Giles  C.  Kellogg ;  1818-19,  Samuel  Porter ;  1820,  Charles  P.  Phelps  ;  1820, 
Samuel  Porter,  Moses  Porter,  Esq.,  membereof  Constitutional  Convention ;  1821-22, 
Charles  P.  Phelps ;  1823,  Moses  Porter ;  1824,  Charles  P.  Phelps ;  1825,  none ;  1826, 
Moses  Porter ;  1827,  Giles  C.  Kellogg;  1828,  Nathaniel  Cooledge,  Jr. ;  1820,  Giles 
C.  Kellogg,  Charles  P.  Phelps ;  1830-31,  Moses  Porter ;  1832,  Charles  P.  Phelps ; 
1833,  Oliver  Bonney,  Simeon  Dickinson ;  1834,  Oliver  Bouuey,  Ephraim  Smith  ; 
1835-30,  William  Smith,  Jason  Stockbridge;  1837,  Walter  Newton,  Parsons 
West;  1838,  Charles  P.  Phelps;  1830,  Charles  P.  Phelps,  William  Smith;  1840, 
Charles  P.  Phelps,  John  Shipman  ;  1841,  Charles  P.  Phelps ;  1842,  Joseph  Smith 
(2d) ;  1843-44,  Samuel  Nash  ;  1845-40,  John  A.  Morton ;  1847^9,  Giles  C.  Kel- 
logg ;  1850-51,  Dudley  Smith  ;  1852,  Lorenzo  N.  Granger;  1853,  Giles  C.  Kellogg, 
also  member  of  Constitutional  Convention ;  1854,  John  Smith  Bell ;  1855,  Levi 
Stockbridge ;  1860,  Perez  S.  WilUams;  1857,  Theodore  Clark ;  1858,g  Leicester  W. 
Porter;  1859,  Peregrine  Waters,  South  Hadley;  1860,  Thaddeus  Smith;  1861, 
Thomas  M.  Nash,  South  Iladley;  1802,  Horace  Cook;  1803,  Stephen  C.  Weld, 
South  Hadley  ;  1S64,  Horace  S.  Dickinson ;  1865,  Eliot  Montague,  South  Hadley ; 
1806,  Andrew  T.  Judd,  South  Hadley;  1867,  Levi  Stockbiidge;  1808,  Henry  S. 
Poller,  Hatfield;  1869,  Stephen  M.  Crosby,  Williamsburg;  1870,  Francis  Edson  ; 
1871,  Elisha  Hubliard,  Hatlield;  1872,  Francis  M.  Carter,  Williamsburg;  1873, 
Franklin  Bonney;  1874,  Samuel  P.  Billings,  Hatfield;  1875,  Henry  L.  James, 
Williamsburg;  1870,  Horace  Cook,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Hatfield;  1877,  Aaron  R. 
Morse,  Williamsburg;  Daniel  W.  Wells,  Hatfield  ;  1878,  George  C.  Smith,  Joseph 
Billings;  1870,  Royal  M.  Montilgue,  George  M.  Smith. 

VILLAGES. 
The  town  of  Hadley  contains  two  villages,  both  unincorpo- 
rated. 

*  Simeon  Dickenson,  elected  in  1841,  did  not  serve. 

f  This  list,  down  to  1863,  is  from  the  "  History  of  Hadley,"  by  Sylvester  Judd, 
■who  has  this  note :  "  The  town  records,  prior  to  1800,  seldom  giving  the  name  of 
the  Deputy  or  Representative,  this  imperfect  record,  obtained  from  the  State 
records  at  Boston,  is  inserted." 

I  From  1759,  when  Amherst  became  a  district,  up  t«  1774,  the  towns  of  Hadley, 
South  Hadley,  Amherst,  and  Granhy  united  in  the  choice  of  i-epresontatives. 

g  From  18.68  until  I860,  Hadley  and  South  Hadley  fonued  the  4th  Representa- 
tive District;  Iladley,  Hatfield,  an«l  Williamsburg,  until  1875,  the  3d  District; 
and  the  same,  with  Westlmmpton,  until  the  present  time  (1879),  the  5th  District. 


HADLEY, 

the  largest,  settled  in  1659,  is  situated  chiefly  upon  the  neck 
of  the  large  peninsula  which  projects  westward — within  a  large 
bend  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver — from  the  western  border  of 
the  town,  and  is  somewhat  south  of  the  town's  central  line  of 
latitude.  It  contains  upward  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dwel- 
lings, a  post-office,  town-hall,  two  church  edifices,  and  a  high- 
school  building,  besides  four  others  for  the  minor  schools  ;  also 
a  grist-  and  saw-mill.  The  ancient  cemetery  lies  immediately 
west  of  the  village. 

"West"  and  Middle  Streets,  running  north  and  south,  con- 
tain the  major  portion  of  the  dwellings,  and  are  bordered  with 
elms  and  maples  of  magnificent  growth  and  graceful  propor- 
tions, some  of  which  have  braved  a  century's  storms.  West 
Street,  with  its  generous  breadth  of  near  three  hundred  feet, 
its  marginal  elms  and  intervening  meadow,  fronted  sparsely  by 
dwellings,  some  quaint  and  olden,  its  charming  vista  south- 
ward, enriched,  though  interrupted,  by  stately  Holyoke,  has 
not  a  peer  in  all  New  England. 

Russell  Street,  lying  east  and  west, — the  old  "middle  high- 
way to  the  woods," — is  handsomely  lined  with  forest-trees, 
chiefly  maples. 

NORTH    HADLEY 

is  a  small  village  on  Mill  River,  between  two  and  three  miles 
north  of  Hadley,  and  near  the  Connecticut.  It  contains  from 
sixty  to  eighty  dwellings,  a  post-office,  a  public  hall,  connected 
with  a  grammar-school  building,  one  meeting-house,  a  grist- 
and  plaster-mill,  a  saw-mill,  and  a  few  other  manufactu- 
ring establishments.  The  village  has  also  a  small  park  and 
a  cemetery. 

Pive  other  thickly-settled  neighborhoods  are  called,  respec- 
tively, Eussellville,  Plainville,  Fort  Eiver,  Hart's  Brook,  and 
Hockanum. 

HOCKANUM. 

A  settlement  was  made  at  Hockanum,  the  most  southern 
portion  of  Hadlej',  between  Mount  Holj'oke  and  the  Connec- 
ticut, by  Capt.  John  Lyman  and  his  son  Zadok,  near  the  year 
1744.  They  were  from  Northampton.  There  came,  later, 
Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  son-in-law  of  Capt.  Lyman,  Stephen 
Pomeroy,  Gideon  Lyman  and  his  sons,  Gideon,  Jr.,  and  Elijah, 
Caleb  Lyman,  youngest  son  of  John,  Israel  Lyman,  oldest 
son  of  Zadok,  and  Ethan  Pomeroy,  son  of  Ebenezer. 

A  small  island  in  the  river,  below  the  meadow  at  Hockanum, 
was  sold  by  Elias  Lyman,  of  Northampton,  to  Zadok  Lyman, 
in  1750,  and  has  now  become  a  part  of  the  mainland. 

Zadok  Lyman  opened  a  hotel  in  the  settlement  in  1746. 

EDUCATIONAL. 
HOPKINS   SCHOOL. 

A  benevolent  merchant-prince  of  London,  Edward  Hop- 
kins, Esq.,  came  to  New  England  in  1(337,  became  Governor 
of  the  Connecticut  Colony,  and  subsequently  returned  to 
England,  where  he  died  in  March,  1657.  By  his  will,  a  por- 
tion of  his  estate  was  bequeathed  to  four  trustees,  who  were  to 
dispose  of  the  same,  "to  give  some  encouragement  in  those 
foreign  plantations  for  the  breeding  of  hopeful  youths  in  a 
way  of  learning,  both  at  the  grammar  school  and  college,  for 
the  public  service  of  the  country  in  future  times." 

The  surviving  trustees.  Rev.  John  Davenport,  of  New  Ha- 
ven, and  Mr.  William  Goodwin,  of  Hadley,  made  a  distribu- 
tion of  the  fund  thus  created,  in  16G4,  the  town  of  Hadley 
eventually  receiving  £308  out  of  a  total  of  £V220. 

As  an  addition  to  the  fund,  the  town  of  Hadley  made  the 
following  grant  of  land,  Jan.  14,  1667  : 

'■  The  town  have  granted  to  and  for  the  use  of  aGrammar  School,  in  this  town 
of  Iladley,  and  to  be  and  remain  perpetually  to  and  for  the  use  of  the  said 
school,  the  two  little  meadows  next  beyond  the  brook,  commonly  called  the  Mill 
brook,  and  as  much  upland  to  he  laid  to  the  same  as  the  committee,  chosen  by 
the  town,  shall  in  their  discretion  see  meet  and  needful ;  i)rovided,  withal,  that 
it  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  said  committee  that  so  much  of  the  second  meadow 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


s.u 


shall  be  excepted  from  the  said  grant  as  that  there  may  be  a  feasible  and  conve- 
nient passage  fur  cattle  to  their  feed."  * 

This  grant,  which  included  the  old  Indian  reservation,  with 
its  fort  and  burying-ground,  was  estimated  to  contain,  in  all, 
about  sixty  acres.  By  the  subsequent  action  of  the  river,  the 
area  has  been  more  than  doubled.  These  lands  are  still  called 
the  "  School  Meadows." 

According  to  a  proposition  of  Mr.  Goodwin,  the  town  ap- 
pointed two  persons,  who,  with  three  others  appointed  by  Mr. 
Goodwin,  were  made  (with  himself  as  a  life-member)  a  gov- 
erning board,  with  fiill  power  to  manage  and  control  the 
school  fund  and  estate  then  possessed,  and  any  other  funds 
which  should  afterward  be  given  to  the  town  for  the  "  promo- 
tion of  literature  and  learning."  This  board  was  empowered 
to  fill  vacancies  within  itself,  provided  those  appointed  .should 
be  "known,  discreet,  pious,  faithful  persons."  The  persons 
chosen  by  Mr.  Goodwin  were  Mr.  John  Russell,  Jr.,  Lieut. 
Samuel  Smith,  and  Aaron  Cooke  ;  by  the  town,  Nathaniel 
Dickinson,  Sr.,  and  Peter  Tilton. 

The  trustees  consenting,  Mr.  Goodwin  built,  with  means 
from  the  Hopkins  gift,  a  grist-mill  upon  Mill  River, — the  first 
grist-mill  within  the  town.  The  mill,  it  was  thought,  would 
yield  a  good  income  for  the  school.  It  was  garrisoned  during 
the  Indian  war,  and  escaped  injury  until  September,  1607, 
when  it  was  burned  by  the  savages.  The  trustees  declined  to 
rebuild,  and  sold  the  school's  interest  to  the  town  for  £10, 
Mr.  Russell  dissenting.  The  sale  was  decided  by  the  court, 
in  l(i80,  to  be  illegal;  and  after  much  parleying,  Mr.  Bolt- 
wood,  who  had  come  into  possession  of  the  old  mill-site  and 
made  improvements,  was  to  be  indemnified  by  the  payment,  on 
the  part  of  the  school  committee,  of  £138  "  in  grain  and  pork." 
The  trustees  regained  possession,  Nov.  1,  1683  ;  but  the  town 
had  not  passed  the  title,  and  yet  claimed  a  part  of  the  land  and 
water-power.  The  matter  was  referred  to  John  Pynchon  and 
John  Allis,  who  decided  adverse  to  the  school  in  March,  1085, 
and  the  mill  was  surrendered  to  Samuel  Boltwood,  his  father, 
Robert,  having  died  in  April,  1684. 

Thus  the  donation  of  Mr.  Hopkins  had  been  nearly  ex- 
lutusted,  and  the  small  remaining  fundf  became  a  source  ot 
lively  controversy.  In  spite  of  the  vote  of  1669,  the  town 
sought  to  get  control  of  certain  legacies  made  to  the  town  for 
school  purposes  by  Nathaniel  Ward,  John  Barnard,  and 
Henry  Clark,  and  appointed  a  committee,  Aug.  23,  1080,  to 
demand  from  the  school  trustees  the  surrender  of  all  such 
funds  and  estates,  the  object  being  to  organize  and  conduct 
an  English  school. 

Tlie  majority  of  the  voters  favored  such  diversion  of  the 
funds,  and  had  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Peter  Tilton,  a  former 
member  of  the  school  board,  and  Samuel  Partrigg,  an  acting 
member.  An  appeal  to  the  County  Court,  at  Springfield,  of 
which  Mr.  Tilton  was  one  of  the  judges,  resulted  in  the  defeat 
of  the  measure,  and  Mr.  Russell  and  his  few  supporters]:  were 
triumphant. 

The  decision  of  the  court  was  commended  by  President 
Dudley.  §     An  examination  of  the  affairs  of  the  school  was 


*  The  committee  were  Mr,  Clark,  Lieut.  Smith,  Wm.  Allis,  Nathaniel  Dickin- 
son, Sr.,  and  Andrew  Warner.  A  note  made  by  Mr.  Tilton  on  the  record  says, 
"  These  two  meadows  are,  one,  the  round  neck  of  laud,  and  the  little  long  meadow 
that  was  reserved  by  the  Indians  in  the  first  sale,  and  afterward  purchased  by 
itself." 

f  This  consisted  of  the  grant  from  the  town,— about  60  acres,— the  house  and 
lot  given  by  Nathaniel  Ward,  with  14  acres  of  meadow,  John  Barnard's  gift  of 
12  acres,  Henry  Clarke's  gift  of  li;-^  acres,  and  the  mill.  Tlic  latter  hiul  been 
rebuilt. 

X  Mr.  Eussell  was  sustained  by  a  small  minority,  viz. ;  Samuid  Ganliioi-,  .lohn 

Ingram,  Chiloab  Smith,  John  Preston,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Samuel ,  Samuel 

Porter,  Sr.,  Aaron  Cooke,  William  Markhani,  Hezekiah  Porter,  and  Widow  Mary 
Goodman. 

g  Tlie  letter  of  President  Dudley  begins  as  follows :  "  I  lately  received  your 
very  solicitous  letter  referring  to  your  free  school  in  Hadley,  and  am  very  sorry 
that,  while  your  inclinatiou  and  opinion  is  so  good  and  well  resolved,  you  should 
seem  to  stand,  like  Athanasius,  contra  totum  ?«aurfitm.    But  right  is  too  strong 


ordered  by  the  president  and  council,  and  a  visit  by  Mr. 
Pynchon  for  such  purpose  was  made  Nov.  18,  1686. 

At  a  meeting  which  had  been  ordered  for  November  19th, 
"at  sun  a  quarter  of  an  hour  high,"  a  hearing  of  the  case 
was  had,  Capt.  Aaron  Cooke  and  Mr.  Joseph  Hawley  also 
being  present. 

The  reasons  given  by  the  opposing  parties  at  this  meeting 
in  support  of  their  respective  positions  are  voluminous.  The 
following  is  the  concluding  language  of  Mr.  Partrigg  in  the 
document  presented  by  him:  "  Tlie  greater  part  of  the  chil- 
dren are  such  poor  men's  that  they  cannot  pay  anything 
towards  schooling  the  children,  much  less  to  bring  them  up 
to  Grammar  learning,  so  that  there  is  not  one,  that  I  know  of 
now,  that  pretend  to  Grammar  learning,  except  two  that  are 
brought  up  at  their  parents'  particular  charge  ;  the  school 
having  been  so  uncertain  as  (it)  is  we  know,  Grammar-school 
masters  so  hard  to  settle,  that  as  soon  as  ever  one  is  settled, 
one  place  or  other  calls  them  ofi";  and  so  it  hath  been  ever 
since  the  first,  except  with  Mr.  Watson,  who,  I  understand, 
went  away  upon  some  difference  betwixt  him  and  our  pastor. 
.  .  .  I  cannot  see  thedift'erence  as  to  the  end  (if  that  be,  viz., 
English  learning  and  writing),  but  this, — he  that  can  teach 
grammar  is  surely  better  fitted  to  teach  English  than  he  that 
hath  no  grammar  in  him. 

"But  the  ground  of  all  this  is:  if  no  grammar,  such  poor 
helps  as  we  have,  when  better  cannot  be  obtained  ;  that  we 
(have)  not  half  year's  and  whole  year's  vacancies  under  pre- 
tence of  grammar  schooling,  and  so  schooling  fail  in  a  great 
measure.  For  I  suppose  it  will  be  granted  that  the  learning 
of  any  trade  or  science  is  best  insinuated  by  constancy  in  at- 
tendance to  it. 

"If  we  cannot  have  polishers  for  the  stone,  let  the  rufi'- 
hewers  set  to  it  to  prepare  while  i)olishers  come." 

Mr.  Pynchon's  report,  signed  also  by  Aaron  Cooke  and 
Joseph  Hawley,  requested  that  some  action  be  taken  "  for 
quieting  the  hot  and  raised  spirit  of  the  people  of  Hadley," 
and  elicited  an  order  early  in  December,  which  was  signed  by 
Edward  Randolph  as  secretary,  and  required  the  dismissal  of 
Mr.  Partrigg  from  the  school  board,  confirmed  the  power  of 
the  trustees  as  "foeffers  of  the  grammar  school,"  authorized 
the  Hampshire  County  Court  "to  supply  the  place  of  Mr. 
Partrigg  with  some  other  meet  person  in  Hadley,"  and  "to 
find  out  and  order  some  method  for  the  payment  of  Mr.  Bolt- 
wood's  expenses  upon  the  mill,  that  the  mill,  form,  and  other 
lands  given  to  the  school  may  return  to  that  public  use.  The 
President  and  Council  hereby  declaring  it  to  be  beyond  the 
power  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  or  any  other  whatsoever,  to 
divert  any  of  the  lands  or  estate  of  the  said  mill-stream,  and 
the  privileges  thereof  (which  are  legally  determined  to  the 
said  Grammar  School),  to  any  other  use  whatsoever.  The 
President  and  Council  judging  the  particular  gifts  in  the  town 
a  good  foundation  for  a  Grammar  School,  both  for  themselves 
and  the  whole  country,  and  that  the  Grammar  School  can  be 
no  otherwise  interrupted,  but  to  be  a  school  holden  by  a 
master  capable  to  instruct  children  and  fit  them  for  the  uni- 
versity." 

At  a  hearing  before  a  court  appointed  at  Northampton,  that 
court  ordered  "those  persons  in  Hadley  who  had  taken  the 
school  estate  into  their  hands  for  an  English  school  to  return 
it  speedily  to  the  former  committee,  the  feoffers  of  the  gram- 
mar school,  viz.,  Mr.  John  Russell,  Aaron  Cooke,  Joseph 
Kellogg,  and  Samuel  Porter."  Chileab  Smith  was  substituted 
for  Mr.  Partrigg. 

The  town  in  a  qualified  manner,  by  a  vote  taken  Aug.  29, 
1687,  submitted  to  the  result,  because  of  "  their  vote  Aug.  23, 
1686,  wanting  that  formality  in  the  seizure  as  might  have 


to  suffer  any  compulsion  or  force  long;  it  will  break  loose  and  prevail.  In 
the  moan  time  I  am  deeply  sorry  that  the  pious  and  charitable  device  of  Mr. 
Hopkins  should  be  in  any  manner  prevented  or  allayed,  or  the  occasion  of  a 
difference  or  misunderstanding  in  that  good  place." 


332 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


been,"  referring  to  the  mill.  The  oourt  at  Springfield  replied, 
through  the  selectmen  of  Hadley ,  reprimanding  the  inhabitants 
for  the  tone  of  their  vote,  and  saying  :  "  Such  a  spirit  we  see 
breathing  forth  from  you  as  will  necessarily  call  for  some  fur- 
ther animadverting  thereon  if  you  do  not  retract  some  of  your 
actings,  which  we  earnestly  desire  you  to  overlook  and  rectify.'' 

A  settlement  was  effected  with  Mr.  Boltwood  by  arbitration, 
April  26,  1688,  and  it  was  not  long  before  a  goodly  peace  set- 
tled upon  the  Hadley  peninsula. 

In  the  notice  of  "  iirst  things"  in  Hadley  mention  has  been 
made  of  a  private  house  used  for  school  purposes  in  1664  and 
of  the  first  school-house  erected,  1696.  No  record  of  any  vote 
concerning  educational  matters  in  the  town  exists  prior  to 
April  2-5, 1665.  There  was  then  appropriated  "  £20  per  annum 
for  three  years  toward  the  maintenance  of  a  schoolmaster  to 
teach  the  children  and  to  be  a  help  to  Mr.  Russell,  as  occasion 
may  require."  The  schools  were  not  made  free  until  1697, 
and  even  then  continued  such  only  about  two  years,  when, 
March  30,  1699,  the  town  voted  that  one-half  the  expenses 
over  and  above  what  was  paid  by  the  "  school  estate"  should 
be  paid  by  scholars.     This  was  to  be  the  rule  for  twenty  years. 

"The  Hopkins  School,"  says  Mr.  Judd,  "was  apparently 
the  only  public  school  in  the  old  parish  of  Hadley  for  more 
than  a  century,  except  a  school  for  boys  and  girls  voted  in 
1760  for  that  year.     It  was  the  common  town  school."* 

The  following  have  been  the  teachers  of  Hadley  Grammar — 
Hopkins — School  so  far  as  known  :f  Caleb  Watson,  1666-73,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1661.  He  removed  from  Had- 
ley to  Hartford;  John  Younglove,  from  Ipswich,  1674-80; 
Samuel  Russell,  H.  C,  son  of  Rev.  John,  1682-83;  Samuel 
Partrigg,  of  Hadley,  three  months,  1685 ;  Warham  Mather, 
H.  C,  son  of  Rev.  Eleazar,  of  Northampton,  1686-87;  John 
Younglove,  six  months,  1688-89;  Thomas  Swan,  H.  C,  six 
months,  1689-90;  John  Morse,  H.  C,  1693-94;  Salmon  Treat, 
H.  C,  1694-95;  Joseph  Smith,  H.  C,  son  of  Lieut.  Philip 
Smith,  of  Hadley,  three  quarters,  1695-96;  John  Hubbard, 
H.  C,  1696-97;  Joseph  Smith,  1698-99;  Samuel  Meylen, 
H.  C,  1700-1  ;  Mr.  Ephraim  (or  Samuel)  Woodbridge,  H.  C, 
1701-2;  Nathaniel  Chauncey,  Tale,  three  months,  1702-3; 
Samuel  Ruggles,  H.  C,  1702,  eight  months,  1703-4;  Samuel 
Mighill,  H.  C,  1705-6 ;  Jonathan  Marsh,  H.  C,  1706-7  ;  John 
Partridge,  H.  C,  1707-8  ;  Aaron  Porter,  H.  C,  son  of  Samuel, 
of  Hadley,  six  months,  1708-9  ;  Daniel  Boardman,  Yale,  eight 
months,  1709-10 ;  John  James,  native  of  England,  H.  C.,  hon- 
orary degree,  six  months,  1710-11;  Elisha  Williams,  H.  C, 
son  of  Rev.  William,  of  Hatfield,  eleven  months,  1711-12; 
Thos.  Berry,  H.  C,  six  months,  1712-13;  Stephen  Williams, 
H.  C,  son  of  Rev.  John,  of  Deerfield,  1713-14  ;  Ebenezer  Gay, 
H.  C,  nine  months,  1714-15;  Nathaniel  Mather,  Yale,  four 
months,  1715-16;  "Mr.  Chauncey's  son,"  probably  son  of 
Rev.  Isaac,  1716-18 ;  Stephen  Steel,  Yale,  1718-19 ;  Solomon 
Williams,  H.  C,  son  of  Rev.  William,  of  Hatfield,  1719-20; 
Hezekiah  Kilburn,  Yale,  1720-21  ;  Daniel  Dwight,  Yale,  son 
of  Nathaniel,  of  Northampton,  1721-23  ;  Benjamin  Dickin- 
son, H.  C,  son  of  Nathaniel,  of  Hatfield,  lived  in  Hadley, 
1723-24;  Israel  Chauncey,  H.  C,  son  of  Rev.  Isaac,  1724-25, 
burnt  to  death  November,  1736;  Josiah  Pierce,  H.  C,  a  na- 
tive of  AVoburn,  taught  from  March,  1743-55,  and  from  17l!0- 
66 ;  taught  English  branches,  Latin,  and  Greek  ;  was  paid  a 
salary  of  5«91,  and  had  the  use  of  25  acres  of  meadow-landj. 

*  Deacon  Eleazar  Porter  relates  that  during  the  girlhood  of  his  mother — 
Amy  Colt — few,  if  any,  femalos  attended  the  town  Bchool,  and  that  the  only 
school  she  attended  was  held  in  the  oi»'n  air  under  a  sycamore-tree,  standing 
near  the  street,  in  the  home-lot  of  Dr.  Hopkins.  This  tree  was  cut  down  by  Mr. 
Porter,  about  the  year  1869.  In  the  body  of  it  many  nails  were  found,  covered 
by  a  gro^rth  of  twelve  inches'  thickness.  Upon  these,  doubtless,  were  hung  the 
bonnets  and  other  "  toggei*y." 

f  As  given  by  Mr.  Judd. 

I  The  yearly  pay  of  the  teachei-s  until  172.T  did  not  exceed  £40,  and  prior  to 
1709  was  payable  in  produce,  at  the  usual  prices.  Board  was  paid  from  their 
small  siilaries  at  the  rate  of  48.  8rf.  to  5».  per  week. 


The  names  of  those  who  taught  subsequent  to  the  date  last 
named,  and  prior  to  the  incorporation  of  the  academy  in  1816, 
could  not  be  obtained. 

The  old  school  in  the  street  was  probably  the  only  one  sus- 
tained within  the  town  until  after  the  Revolution,  aside  from 
such  private  schools  as  may  have  then  existed,  taught  by 
"school-dames"  and  possibly  by  others.  Jan.  7,  1788,  £10 
were  appropriated  "for  schooling  in  those  parts  of  the  town 
which  cannot  be  benefited  by  the  school  in  the  town  street." 

What  was  probably  the  second  school-house  erected  in  Had- 
ley was  built  in  accordance  with  the  following :  April  15, 
1788,  "  voted  to  build  a  school-house  38  feet  long,  19  feet  wide, 
and  10  feet  in  height ;  to  build  a  chimney  at  each  end ;  to  build 
it  as  near  the  present  school-house  as  conveniently  may  be,  in 
the  discretion  of  the  committee."  £80  were  appropriated  for 
the  building. 

August  13th,  it  was  determined  that  the  old  house,  "  after 
taking  out  the  brick  and  stones,"  should  be  removed  to  the 
middle  lane,  east  of  the  pound ;  and  on  September  12th  de- 
cided that  it  should  be  sold.  The  new  edifice  was  probably 
occupied,  if  not  dedicated  with  a  modern  "  flourish  of  trum- 
pets," before  Jan.  15,  1789,  for  on  that  day  it  was  voted  "  that 
the  schoolmaster  be  directed  to  divide  his  .scholars  into  two 
classes,  mixing  the  great  and  small  ones,  and  direct  each  class 
to  attend  the  school  every  other  day  alternately,  and  in  case 
one  of  a  family  did  not  attend  on  his  day  the  other  might 
come  in  his  stead." 

The  first  school  committee  consisted  of  Mr.  John  Russell, 
Jr.,  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Aaron  Cooke,  Jr.,  Nathaniel  Dick- 
inson, Peter  Tilton.  The  following  were  chosen  as  vacancies 
occurred:  Philip  Smith,  1680;  Samuel  Partrigg,  1682;  Saml. 
Porter,  1685;  Joseph  Kellogg,  1686;  Chileab  Smith,  1687. 
Thomas  Hovey,  Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  Sergt.  Joseph  Smith, 
Deacon  John  Smith,  and  Chileab  Smith  were  the  committee 
ill  1720. 

THE    HOPKINS   ACADEMY 

was  established  Eeb.  14,  1816.  The  following  is  a  portion  of 
the  act  of  incorporation : 

"  MTiereas,  it  appears  by  the  petition  of  Seth  Smith  and  others,  the  committee 
of  the  Donation  School  in  the  t<:)wn  of  Hadley.  that  a  fund  heretofore  given  for 
the  support  of  said  school  by  the  Hon.  Edward  Hopkins  may  he  more  conveni- 
ently and  advantageously  directed  to  the  furtherance  of  the  benevolent  objects 
of  the  donor  l>y  establishing  a  body  politic  for  the  management  of  the  same ; 
therefore, 

"Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  sauie.  That  there  be  and  hereby  is 
established  an  academy  in  the  town  of  Hadley,  and  county  of  Hampshire,  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  Hopkins  Donation  School,  to  be  known  and  called  here- 
after by  the  name  of  Hopkins  Academy,  and  that  Seth  Smith,  William  Porter, 
William  Dickinson,  Jacob  Smith,  and  Moses  Porter,  the  committee  of  the  Dona- 
tion School  aforesiiid,  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  incorporated  into  a  body  politic 
by  the  name  of  the  Trustees  of  Hopkins  Academy ;  and  they  and  their  successors 
shall  be  and  continue  a  body  politic  by  the  same  name  forever." 

Two  additional  trustees  were  chosen  by  the  corporators  June 
4,  1817,  and  two  others  on  the  6th.  The  four  were  Rev.  Dan 
Huntington,  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Lyman, 
D.D.,  of  Hatfield,  and  Isaac  Bates,  of  Northampton.  There 
were  then  nine  trustees. J 

June  11,  1817,  the  board  of  trustees  organized  by  choosing 
Dr.  Joseph  Lyman,  President;  Rev.  Dan  Huntington,  Secre- 
tary ;  and  Dr.  W^illiam  Porter,  Treasurer. 

An  academy  building,  which  was  probably  erected  during 
1816-17,  was  formally  dedicated  Dec.  9,  1817  ;  on  which  occa- 
sion a  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  John  Woodbridge  from 
Deut.  vi.  7  :  "  And  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 
children."  This  building  was  of  brick;  faced  the  south  on 
Russell  Street,  about  fifty  rods  east  of  West  Street,  occupying 
a  portion  of  the  old  home-lot  of  Hadley's  first  pastor,  Mr. 
Russell.     The  total  cost  of  the  structure,  as  reported  Nov.  29, 

g  By  act  of  June  9, 1821,  the  charter  was  amended,  limiting  the  number  of 
tmstees  to  "  not  more  than  iifteen,  nor  less  than  five,  at  any  time." 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


333 


1817,  was  $4954.90,  a  part  of  which  was  paid  by  subscriptions.* 
It  stood  with  its  length  east  and  west,  its  roof  sloping  to  the 
southward,  and  sustained  a  central  bell-tower  of  modest  pro- 
portions. 

June  30,  1817,  a  code  of  by-laws  was  adopted,  containing 
the  following  among  other  provisions  : 

"  The  instnictors  shall  be  persons  of  good  moral  character,  of  competent 
leariiiugand  abilitie.'J,  firmly  established  in  the  faith  of  the  Christian  Religion, 
the  doctrines  and  duties  of  which  they  shall  inculcate  as  well  by  example  as 
precejit. 

"  Youth  of  both  sexes  who  can  read  decently  in  a  common  English  book  with- 
out spelling,  and  write  a  joined  hand,  and  are  of  good  moral  character,  shall  be 
entitled  to  admission.  Males  studying  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  are  exempt 
from  tuition." 

At  the  same  date  a  prudential  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Deacons  Jacob  Smith  and  William  Dickinson, 
and  Moses  Porter,  Esq. 

Kev.  Dan  Huntingtonf  and  Miss  S.  Williston,  of  Eastharap- 
ton,  were  the  first  instructors,  appointed  Nov.  29,  1817.  The 
following  as  principals,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained  from  the 
records,  have  succeeded  Mr.  Huntington.  The  dates  of  appoint- 
ment are  approximate:  Worthington  Smith,  1820;  John  A. 

Nash,  May,  1826;  George  Nichols,  November,  1827;  Mr. 

Russell,  about  November,,  1830;   Lewis  Sabin,  August,  1831; 

Mr. Stearns,  1837  or  1838;  Theodore  L.  Wright,  probably 

January,  1840;  Henry  K.  Edson,  1844;  Marshall  Henshaw, 
1849 ;  Lucius  D.  Chapin,  February  (?),  1851  ;  Charles  V.  Spear, 

in  1851-52;  Mr. Buck,  May,  1852;  Keuben  Benjamin, 

November,  1852,  two  years;  Jesse  R.  Davenport,  November, 
1854,  to  May,  18(J7 ;  Charles  H.  Chandler,  1867,  two  years ; 
Herbert  Cook,  ftill  of  1869  ;  George  H.  White,  1870  to  1873 ; 
W.  G.  Mitchell,  1873  ;  W.  W.  Mitchell,  1874  to  1878  ;  Edward 
Ayres,  1878,  and  now  serving  (March,  1879). 

The  ofBce  of  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  has  been 
filled  by  the  following  persons:  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  D.D., 
1817-27;  Rev.  Nathan  Perkins,  Jr.,  1828-34;  Rev.  John 
Brown,  D.D.,  1835-38;  Rev.  David  L.  Hunn,  1839-40;  Rev. 
Joseph  D.  Condit,  1841 ;  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  1842-58  ; 
Rev.  Warren  H.  Beaman,  1859-64;  Rev.  Rowland  Ayres, 
1865,  who  is  still  in  office. 

By  the  report  of  Dec.  4,  1878,  the  amount  of  the  school- 
fund  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  was  $30,630.28,  of  which 
$19,650  was  in  real  estate,  consisting  chiefly  of  meadow-lands. 

The  academy  building+  was  burned  in  1860,  but  was  not  re- 
placed. The  town,  after  the  introduction  of  the  system  of 
graded  schools,  erected  in  1865  the  present  high-school  build- 
ing, in  which  the  trustees  of  the  Hopkins  fund  maintain  an 
advanced  or  high-school  department,  the  court  having  granted 
permission.  The  present  building,  a  modern  structure,  stands 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  Russell  and  Central  Streets. 

PRESENT   SCHOOLS. 

The  town  is  divided  into  ten  school  districts,  containing 
eleven  school  buildings,  in  which  thirteen  schools  are  con- 
ducted. These  are  distributed  as  follows  :  at  Hadley  village, 
one  high  school  building,  in  which,  besides  the  higher  branches 
supported  by  the  Hopkins  fund,  are  taught  one  intermediate 
and  one  grammar-school ;  and  two  brick  and  two  wooden 
structures,  each  of  which  contains  a  primary  department ;  at 
North  Hadley  a  large  school-house,  erected  in  1863  or  '64, 

*  By  act  of  June  12, 1820,  the  State  granted  to  the  institution  half  a  township 
of  land  in  Maine,  on  condition  that  ten  families  should  be  settled  thereon  within 
five  years.    The  cost  of  the  building  was  in  part  paid  from  this  source. 

t  Dec.  8, 1818,  Mr.  Huntington  was  continued  at  $500  per  annum,  salary ;  Giles 
C. Kellogg, assistant,  atS20  per  month, and  board;  Miss  Sophia  Mosely, assistant, 
at  $12  per  month,  and  board. 

X  This  building  wa«  three  stories  high,  and  by  a  recent  local  authority  is  thus 
further  described  :  ''  The  lower  floor  was  divided  by  a  spacious  hall  into  two  large 
rooms  for  the  separate  use  of  males  and  females,  and  the  two  departments  were 
under  the  care  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  respectively.  The  second  floor  contained 
four  rooms  for  chemical  experimentd,  recitations,  etc.  The  third  floor  was  a  hall 
of  the  size  of  the  building,  a  stage  at  one  end,  with  the  appurtenances  for  exhi- 
bitions. Here,  also,  were  the  examinations  at  the  end  of  the  term,  and  the 
weekly  declamations,  reading  of  compositions,  etc." 


containing  a  primarj',  an  intermediate,  and  a  grammar  de- 
partment ;  at  Hockanum,  Port  River,  Hart's  Brook,  Plain- 
ville,  and  Russellville,  buildings,  one  in  each  hamlet,  each 
containing  one  primary  or  mixed  school.  The  school-house 
at  Russellville  was  burned  during  the  winter  of  1877-78,  but 
is  to  be  replaced.  Those  at  Hockanum  and  Fort  River  are  of 
brick,  and  the  one  at  Plainville  has  two  stories. 

The  number  of  children  in  the  town  between  the  ages  of 
five  and  fifteen  May  1,  1878,  was  450 ;  average  attendance  for 
the  year  1878-79,  about  370.  Number  of  teachers,  13.  Re- 
ceived for  same  school  year  from  town,  $2750;  State  school 
fund,  $198.21.  Total,  $2948.21.  Expended  for  instruction, 
$2602;  janitors  and  fuel,  $248.88  Total,  $2850.88.  School 
committee  for  1878-79,  Rev.  Rowland  Ayres,  George  Dickin- 
son, C.  E.  Lamson.  Present  committee.  Rev.  Rowland  Ayres, 
Rev.  John  W.  Lane,  George  Dickinson. 

ECCLESIASTICAL. 
FIRST   CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  "planting"  of  the  town 
of  Hadley,  and  the  plan  of  its  organization  and  government, 
warrant  the  atfirmation  that  the  town  itself  practically  consti- 
tuted the  first  church,  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  were  mem- 
bers thereof.  All  lived  and  moved  under  the  fostering  care 
and  mysterious  protection  of  the  sanctuary,  and  died  and 
were  buried  beneath  the  shadow  of  its  altar  in  the  wilderness. 
There  must  have  been  some  formal  gathering  of  members 
who  constituted  the  church  proper ;  and  there  were  probably 
articles  of  faith  and  covenant  subscribed,  and  a  church  policy 
instituted.  Of  these  no  record  remains.  The  church  organi- 
zation was  undoubtedly  the  second  in  the  old  county  of  Hamp- 
shire, and  formed  a  year  or  more  earlier  than  the  church  at 
Northampton,  or  about  1660. 

Where  to  live  and  how  to  live  were  questions  hardly  sepa- 
rable in  the  minds  of  the  grave  worthies  of  ancient  Hadley, 
who  so  soon  after  their  arrival  set  about  providing  "a  place 
of  public  worship." 

The  church  records  were  burned  in  1766,  but  those  of  the 
town  disclose  that  on  the  12th  of  December,  1661,  the  follow- 
ing action  was  taken : 

"  The  town  have  ordered  that  they  will  build  and  erect  a  meeting-house,  to  be 
a  place  of  public  woi-ship,  whose  figure  is  (in  length  and  breadth)  4.5  feet  in 
length,  and  24  feet  in  breadth,  with  Leantors  on  both  sides,  which  shall  enlarge 
the  whole  to  .36  in  breadth. 

"The  town  have  ordered  that  the  meeting-house  abovcsaid,  when  prepared, 
shall  be  situated  and  set  up  in  the  common  street,  betwixt  Mr.  Terry's  house  and 
Richard  Montague's,  in  the  most  convenient  place,  as  the  committee  chosen  by 
the  town  shall  determine. 

"  The  town  having  ordered  Mr.  Russell,  Mr.  Goodwin,  Goodman  Lewis,  Good- 
man Warner,  Goodman  Dickinson,  Goodman  Mcekins,  and  Goodman  AUis  a 
committee  for  the  aforesaid  occasions." 

For  some  reason,  not  much  progress  was  made  in  building 
the  edifice.  It  seems  to  have  been  framed  in  1665,  and  com- 
pleted Jan.  12,  1670.§  Seats  were  voted  in  1668.  The  place 
chosen  as  a  site,  near  the  north  end  of  the  street,  was  possibly 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  west  of  the  river.  These 
experienced  much  difficulty  in  attending  the  services  on  the 
east  side,  and  their  application  to  be  made  a  separate  society, 
with  a  minister  of  their  own,  may  have  been  the  prime  cause 
of  the  delay  in  building. 

Those  east  of  the  river  opposed  the  severance  of  the  religious 
bonds,  whereupon  the  "  west  inhabitants"  appealed  to  the 
General  Court,  May  3,  1667,  stating,  among  other  things,— 

"  First,  your  petitioners,  together  with  their  families,  within  the  bounds  of 
Hadley  town,  upon  the  west  side  of  the  river,  commonly  called  by  the  name  of 
Connecticut  river,  where  we  for  the  most  part  have  lived  about  6  yeai-s,  have  at- 
tended on  God's  ordinances  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  at  the  appointed  sea- 
sons that  we  could  or  dui-st  pass  over  the  river,  the  passing  being  very  diflicult 
and  dangerous,  both  in  summer  and  winter,  which  thing  hath  proved,  and  is  an 
oppressive  burden  for  us  to  bear,  which,  if  by  any  lawful  means  it  may  be  avoided. 


2  At  this  date  the  two  deacons,  the  two  eldei-s,  and  Mr.  Henry  Clarke,  were 
chosen  to  order  the  "seating"  of  the  congregation.  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  adults  paid  each  3«.  3d.  toward  the  cost  of  making  the  seats. 


334 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


we  should  be  glatl  and  thankful  to  this  honored  court  to  ease  us  therein,  con- 
ceiving it  to  be  a  palpable  broach  of  the  Sabbath  ;  although  it  be  a  maxim  in 
law  :  nemo  debet  esse  Judex  in  propria  atnsa^  yet  by  the  Word  of  God  to  us,  it  is 
evidently  plain  to  be  a  breach  of  the  Sabbath:  Ex.  xxxv.  2;  LeWt.  xxiii.  3; 
yet  many  times  we  are  forced  to  it,  for  we  must  come  at  the  instant  of  time,  be 
the  season  how  it  will.  Sometimes  we  come  in  considerable  numbers  in  rainy 
weather,  and  are  forced  to  stay  till  we  can  empty  our  canoes,  that  arc  half  full 
of  wat«r,  and  before  we  can  get  to  the  meeting-house*  are  wet  to  the  skin.  At 
other  times,  in  winter  seasons,  we  are  forced  to  cut  and  work  them  out  of  the 
ice,  till  our  shirts  be  wet  upon  our  backs.  At  other  times,  the  winds  are  high 
and  w.aters  rough,  the  current  strong,  and  the  waves  ready  to  swallow  us ;  our 
vessels  tossed  up  and  down  so  that  our  women  and  children  do  screech,  and  are 
so  affrighted  that  they  are  made  unfit  for  ordinances,  and  cannot  hear  so  as  to 
profit  by  them,  by  reason  of  their  anguish  of  spirit ;  and  when  they  return,  some 
of  them  are  more  fit  for  their  beds  than  for  family  duties  and  God's  services, 
which  they  ought  to  attend. 

"  In  brevity  and  verity-,  our  difficulties  and  dangers  that  we  undergo  are  to  us 
extreme  and  intolerable ;  oftentimes  some  of  us  have  fallen  into  the  r?ver 
through  the  ice,  and  had  they  not  had  better  help  than  themselves,  they  had 
been  drowned.  Sometimes  we  have  been  obliged  to  carry  others  when  they 
have  broken  in  to  the  knees,  as  they  have  carried  them  out;  and  that  none 
hitherto  hath  been  lost,  their  lives  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  care  and  mercy  of 
God.  .  .  .  Further,  when  we  do  go  over  the  river,  we  leave  our  relatives  and 
estates  lying  on  the  outside  of  the  Colony,  joining  to  the  wilderness,  to  be  a  prey 
to  tlic  heathen,  when  they  see  their  opportunity."  f 

The  meeting-house,  as  constructed,  did  not  conform  to  the 
proportions  named  in  the  original  vote,  but  was  fashioned  ac- 
cording as  the  new  commi.tee  thought  proper.  Just  what  it 
was,  in  size  and  shape,  is  not  known  ;  but  Mr.  Judd  says, 
"  They  appear  to  have  rejected  the  leantos  and  to  have  made 
the  upper  part  as  wide  as  the  lower.  There  was  doubtless  a 
turret,  or  place  for  a  bell,  ri.sing  from  the  centre  of  the  roof, 
as  in  most  early  New  England  meeting-houses.  Galleries  on 
the  north  and  south  sides  were  voted  Jan.  9,  1(399,  and  a  gal- 
lery, whicli  must  have  been  on  one  end,  is  referred  to  as  partly 
built.  This  vote  shows  that  the  ends  of  the  house  were  east 
and  west,  and  that  the  pulpit  was  at  one  end,  apparently  at 
the  west  end.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  length 
exceeded  the  breadth.  Some  seats  had  to  be  altered  to  make 
a  '  more  commodious  pa.ssage  up  into  the  galleries.'  The  seats 
were  probably  long  seats,  like  others  of  that  age,  holding  live 
or  si.x  persons  each.  They  were  to  be  built  '  with  boards  and 
rails.'  " 

The  first  bell  was  purchased  in  1670.  It  was  "brought  up  by 
Lieut.  Smith  and  others,"  and  cost  £7  10s.,  in  winter  wheat, 
at  3s.  per  bushel.  This  bell  was  small ;  but  in  1675  Henry 
Clarke  bequeathed  to  the  church  40.s.,  besides  40s.  formerly 
given  for  a  bigger  bell  that  may  be  heard  generally  by  the 
inhabitants."  It  is  conjectured  that  the  bell-rope  hung  down 
in  llie  centre  of  the  churcli.| 

It  was  a  common  provision  in  the  early  churches  tliat  sticks 
should  be  "set  up  in  the  meeting-house"  with  fit  persons  by 
them,  "to  use  them  as  occasion  shall  require,  to  keep  the 
youth  from  disorder."  Such  were  provided  for  this  meeting- 
house in  January,  1672. 

Mr.  John  Eussell,  Jr.,  the  first  minister,  was  an  English- 
man by  birth,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  104.5.  He  began 
his  ministry  at  Wethersfield,  about  the  year  1649,  and  came 
with  his  devoted  followers  to  Hadley  in  1659  or  1660.  He  served 
his  flock  faithfully  until  his  death,  Dec.  10,  1692,  in  his  sixty- 
sixth  year.  Mr.  Ru.s.sell,  tliough  helpful  to  others,  received 
little  from  his  people  except  his  small,  but  suflicient,  salary. 
Even  the  firewood,?  so  bountifully  supplied  in  some  cases. 


*  This  expression  would  indicate  that  the  meeting-house  was  used  as  early  as 
the  date  of  the  petition,  Sl.-iy  3, 1667.  Meetings  bad  been  hold  in  a  house  hired 
for  the  purpose.  Dec.  10,  lUli3,  Mr.  Goodwin  and  John  Barnard  were  chosen  to 
seat  persons  in  it  "in  a  more  comely  order,"  and  it  was  also  voted  to  hire  tlie 
house  another  year. 

t  The  east  side  answered,  in  April,  1668,  in  part,  "  The  meeting-house  was  to 
be  set  wlicre  it  is,  for  their  sakcs,  to  our  great  inconvenience."  The  west  side 
rei)lied,  in  Jlay,  "  When  the  meeting-house  was  put  wliore  it  is,  we  declared  that 
it  should  be  no  engagement  to  us,  and  desiiecl  them  to  sot  it  where  they  pleased." 

J  Uec.  21,  1076,  the  people  vot«l  "  that  the  bell  in  the  meeting-house  shall  be 
rung  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  tlirougbout  llio  year,  winter  and  summer." 

g  The  wood  fnrniBlied  by  the  parishionoi-s  of  Kev.  Mr.  Pai-sons,  of  Amhoret, 
ranged  from  60  loails  in  1742  to  1(X)  good  loads  in  1751,  and,  twelve  years  later,  to 
120  ordiiianj  lot-uls. 


was  not  furnished  in  his.  He  was  hopeful,  faithful,  and  brave, 
and  entertained  a  noble  scorn  of  all  oppression.  His  chival- 
rous protection,  through  long  and  trying  years,  of  the  fugitive 
judges,  Gofle  and  Whalley,  has  immortalized  his  name,  and 
made  the  old  home-lot  where  he  resided,  and  the  town  itself, 
famous  in  history.  The  impress  of  his  hand  is  seen  in  the 
records  of  the  period,  and  these  evince  his  activity  and  zeal 
in  behalf  of  his  country  and  his  people.  Mr.  Kussell  was 
thrice  married.  || 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Eussell,  the  church  was  served  for  a 
portion  of  the  years  1693  and  1694  by  Mr.  Samuel  Moody, 
who  was  compensated  by  a  grant  of  wheat,  peas,  and  corn, 
valued  at  £35.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet, 
temporarily,  in  1695.  About  July  of  that  year,  Mr.  Isaac 
Chauncey  began  to  preach  in  Hadley,  and  in  October  was  in- 
vited to  settle,  the  people  ottering  the  "  home-lot  of  10  acres, 
and  buildings,  that  belonged  to  their  former  pastor,  Mr.  Bus- 
sell,  and  20  acres  of  meadow-land,  to  be  to  him  and  his  heirs 
forever,  and  a  salary  of  £70  for  three  years,  in  jirovision-pay , 
and  after  that  £80  per  year."  He  was  subsequently  allowed 
a  supply  of  firewood.  The  conditions  appear  to  have  been  at 
once  accepted.  He  was  ordained  over  the  church  Sept.  9, 
1690.  Some  modifications  were  ma^e  in  the  amount  of  salary 
and  manner  of  payment,  and  occasional  extra  amounts  given 
"  in  consideration  of  the  diflBcult  circumstances  in  his  family."^ 

Mr.  Chauncey  was  born  Oct.  5,  1670,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1693,  and  died  May  2,  1745.  He  was  assisted  in 
his  duties  as  minister  in  the  last  six  or  seven  years  of  his  life. 

He  was  twice  married  :  first,  Sarah ,  who  died  in  1720; 

second,  Abiel,  widow  of  Kev.  Joseph  Metcalf,  of  Falmouth. 
He  had  ten  children, — four  sons  and  six  daughters, — all  by 
the  first  marriage.     Four  of  the  daughters  married  ministers. 

Mr.  Chauncey's  incumbency  was  not  marked  by  events  of 
a  stirring  character,  such  as  distinguished  that  of  his  prede- 
cessor, Mr.  Kussell,  but  rather  by  a  pastoral  peace  and  quiet, 
as  down  the  vale  of  life,  amid  his  flock,  he 

"  Pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way." 

The  ministers  who  were  called  at  times  to  aid  Mr.  Chauncey 
were  Messrs.  Edward  Billings,  Hobart  Estabrook,  Daniel 
Buckingham,  Benjamin  Dickinson,  of  Hadley,  Noah  Merrick, 
and  John  Woodbridge. 

Chester  Williams,  of  Pomfret,  was  ordained  Jan.  21, 1741.** 
He  had  accepted  a  call  to  Hadley  on  Dec.  5,  1740,  and  had 
occupied  the  desk  since  the  previous  September.  A  precinct, 
meeting  of  Nov.  3,  1740,  had  oft'ercd  as  a  settlement  the 
"town  home-lot  of  10  acres,  and  £300  in  money,  and  dur- 
ing Mr.  Chauncey's  life  an  annual  .salary  of  £140,  and  the 
the  use  of  the  town  land,  or  instead  thereof  £30,  as  he  shall 
choose;  and  after  Mr.  Chauncey's  decease,  £180  in  money," 


I  He  married,  first,  Mary  Talcott,  June  28,  1649 ;  second,  Rebecca,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Newbury,  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  who  died  Nov.  21, 1C88,  aged  fifty-six ; 
third,  Pbebe  Gregson,  who  died  Sept.  19, 1730.  Says  Dr.  F.  D.  Huntington,  "I 
take  the  liberty  to  say — here  among  neighboi-s — that  1  count  it  among  my  best 
ancestral  honors  to  be  descended,  through  my  mother,  from  Mr.  Russell's  third 
wife,  Phebe  Gregson, — Phebe  Whiting  by  her  first  marriage, — ;iskiug  no  other 
warrant  for  her  goodness  than  that  she  was  the  chosen  companion  of  two  good 
divines ;  nor  for  her  tiilents  and  those  of  her  two  predecessoi-s  as  housewives, 
than  the  fact  that  on  a  salary  ranging  from  £80  to  £90  a  year,  paid  mostly  in 
produce,  her  husband,  besides  supporting  bis  family,  educating  two  sons,  dis- 
charging all  debts,  providing  for  funeral  charges  and  tombstones,  and  delivering 
to  his  wife,  Phebe,  aUnit  one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  which  was  more  than  she 
brought  him,  left  to  his  children  £830.  Th"e  only  items  I  could  wish  out  of  the 
inventory  of  the  estate  are  three  negroes, — a  man,  woman,  and  child." — Bi- 
centennial Address  at  JJadtetj,  June  8, 1859. 

If  Israel,  a  son  of  BIr.  Chauncey,  and  a  graduate  of  Har\-ard  in  1724,  became 
deranged,  probably  about  1720.  He  was  burned,  in  a  small  building  in  which  he 
was  necessarily  confined,  some  time  in  November,  1736.  A  contemporary  account 
says,  "  He  used  frequently  to  cry  *  fire,'  in  the  night,  and  for  this  reason  his  cry 
now  wjis  not  heeded  till  loo  late."  In  1731  mention  is  made  of  "  two  indigent 
persons  in  Mr.  Chauncey's  fiunily."  Isi-ael  Chauncey  had  taught  the  grammar 
school  in  Hadley.  Mr.  Chauncey  hiul  slaves  as  family  servants, — Artlim-  Pnitt 
and  his  wife  Joan. 

=*=*  "  At  the  ordination,"  says  Mr.  Judd,  "  106  pounds  of  beef,  pork,  and  veal 
were  provided  for  the  dinner." 


HISTOllY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


335 


ami  the  tnwn  laml,  or  equivalent.  A  sufficioney  of  firewood 
was  also  voted. 

Mr.  Williams  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  in  1735,  and 
remained  in  the  ministry  at  Hadley  until  his  death,  Oct.  13, 
1753,  aged  thirty-five.  He  left  a  wife,  two  sons,  and  three 
daughters.  His  wife  was  Sarah,  daughter  of  Hon.  Eleazer 
Porter,  of  Hadley,  and  sister  of  Col.  Elisha  Porter,  of  Revo- 
lutionary fame.* 

The  interval  between  the  death  of  Mr.  Williams  and  the 
settlement  of  his  successor  was  filled,  in  part,  by  Mr.  Josiah 
Pierce,  Mr. Mills,  and  Mr.  Abel  Newell. 

Samuel  Hopkins,  the  third  minister,  was  ordained  over  this 
church  Feb.  2(5,  1755,  his  father,  Kev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  and 
Eev.  Stephen  Williams  officiating.  He  was  allowed  £200  as 
a  settlement,  a  salary  fixed  at  £00, — which  it  was  ingeniously 
arranged  should  fluctuate  with  the  market  price  of  certain 
commodities, — the  use  of  all  the  precinct  land,  and  a  supply 
of  fuel. 

Mr.  Hopkins  adapted  himself  to  the  situation  by  marrying 
the  widow  of  his  predecessor,  and  occupying  her  house.  This 
house  was  burned  in  17(iO,  March  21,  and  another  immediately 
erected  over  its  ashes.f  Mr.  Hopkins — afterward  Dr. — re- 
tained the  relation  of  pastor  to  this  people,  and  continued  to 
preach  until  stricken  with  paralysis,  in  February,  1809.  His 
death  occurred  March  8,  1811,  in  his  eighty-second  year. 

Dr.  Hopkins  was  not  of  the  most  rigid  type  of  Calvinists ; 
he  had  a  fund  of  humor,  and  yet  a  becoming  dignity  which 
enforced  respect,  and  was  watchful  against  interloping  sects..]: 

After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Feb.  15,  1774,  he  married, 
October,  1770,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Rev.  Sampson  Stoddard, 
of  Chelmsford.  Of  his  nine  children — all  by  his  first  mar- 
riage— six  were  daughters,  of  whom  four  married  ministers, 
one  married  Benjamin  Colt,  another,  Moses  Hubbard. 

The  fifth  pastor,  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  D.D.,  born  Dec. 
2,  1784,  a  native  of  Southampton,  and  a  graduate  of  Williams 
College  in  1804,  was  ordained  as  colleague  of  Dr.  Hopkins 
June  20,  1810,  and  remained  pastor  of  the  church  until  Sept. 
15,  1830,  when  he  was  dismissed  to  take  charge  of  the  Bowery 
Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City.  During  Dr.  Wood- 
bridge's  ministry  the  church  enjoy^  several  revivals.  The 
most  remarkable  occurred  in  1816.  It  is  still  spoken  of  as 
"the  great  revival."  During  that  year  187  persons  were  re- 
ceived into  the  church. 

Rev.  John  D.  Brown,  the  sixth  pastor,  was  born  in  178(3, 
in  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1809, 
and  before  coming  to  Hadley  was  settled  first  at  Cazenovia, 
N.  Y.,  and  then  over  the  Pine  Street  Church  in  Boston.  He 
was  installed  over  this  church  March  2,  1831,  and  retained  the 
pastoral  relation  until  his  death,  March  22,  1839. 

Rev.  Francis  Danforth,  the  seventh  pastor,  was  born  in 
1793,  at  Hillsborough,  N.  H.,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  1819,  and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1822. 
He  was  installed  over  this  church  Dec.  11,  1839,  dismissed 
Feb.  2,  1842,  and  died  at  Clarence,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  29,  1844. 

Kev.  Benjamin  Nicholas  Martin,  a  graduate  of  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1837,  succeeded  Mr.  Danforth,  as  the  eighth  pastor. 

*  Mrs.  ■\Villianis  had  received  from  her  father,  who  was  the  "most  wealthy 
man  in  Hadley"  in  that  day,  a  considerahle  portion.  Mr.  Judd  says  that  Mr. 
Williams  rode  a  horse  valued  at  £20,  and  that  his  wardrohe  contained  leather 
breeches  and  waistcoat,  four  wigs,  silk  stockings,  silver  shoe-,  knee-,  and  stock- 
huckles,  two  gold  rings,  and  a  tobacco-box  and  a  snuff-box  ;  also  asilver  tankard, 
valued  at  £22,  a  cane  with  a  gold  fenile,  and  one  with  a  white  head.  He  left  to 
his  wife,  in  the  language  of  his  will,  "  my  negro  woman,  Phillis,  my  cows  and 
sheep." 

t  Aug.  10, 1768,  Mr.  Hopkins  purchased  the  lot  and  buildings  for  f  2(iG  13«.  id. 
Mrs.  Hopkins  previously  had  a  right  to  the  use  of  one-third.  The  town  added 
half  an  acre  in  1773.  In  1814,  John  Hopkins,  his  son,  sold  this  homestead  to 
Kev.  John  Woodbridge  for  $3100,  reserving  his  shop  on  the  southwest  corner. 
This  house,  now— 1879— 112  years  old,  is  occupied  by  Mr.  Horace  Richardson. 

X  The  characteristics  of  Dr.  Hopkins  are  clearly  shown  in  Dr.  Sprague's  "An- 
nals of  the  American  Pulpit,"  in  a  contribution  by  Rev.  Pai-sons  Cook,  a  native 
of  Hadley,  dated  Oct.  29, 1854. 


Ho  was  ordained  at  Hadley,  Jan.  19,  1843,  and  dismissed  June 
9,  1847.  His  successor.  Rev.  Rowland  Ayres,  the  present 
pastor,  is  a  native  of  Granb\',  graduated  at  Amherst  College 
in  1841,  and  was  ordained  Jan.  12,  1848. 

The  second  meeting-house  was  erected  during  the  long  pas- 
torate of  Rev.  Mr.  Chauncey,  in  1713,  in  the  middle  of  the 
broad  street,  opposite  the  "town  lot,"  where  stands  the  ven- 
erable "Hopkins  house,"  occupied  by  Horace  Richardson. 
It  stood  ninety-five  years,  until  near  the  close  of  the  ministry 
of  Dr.  Hopkins. 

From  the  several  votes  of  the  town  it  is  apparent  that  this 
structure,  which  was  .50  by  40  feet  in  size,  had  tower  and 
belfry,  was  plastered,  "both  the  walls  and  overhead,"  had 
twelve  windows  below  and  thirteen  above,  some  or  all  of 
which  were  "joiner's  windows," — diamond-shaped  panes,  set 
in  lead  frames, — and  was  furnished  with  galleries.  The  or- 
dinary-seats or  benches,  which  it  first  contained,  were  slowly 
supplanted  by  the  high-backed  box-pews,  between  the  years 
1719  and  1783.  The  people  generally  were  opposed,  and 
rightfully,  to  making  invidious  distinctions  within  the  church, 
and  would  not  provide  ])ews  for  the  principal  families  alone. 
Men  and  women  sat  apart  in  the  church  as  late  as  1762. 
Husbands  and  wives,  "  whom  God  had  joined  together,"  were 
in  his  house  "put. asunder." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  rule  observed  in  allotting  the 
seats,  the  "sealers"  had  a  difficult  task,  and  often  new  com- 
mittees were  chosen  for  "  reseating  the  house." 

The  steeple, §  above  the  belfry,  was  added  after  1753.  The 
belfry  itself  was  round,  "with  eight  pillars  and  some  orna- 
mental work." 

Mr.  Eleazer  Porter  built  and  gave  to  this  church  a  hand- 
some pulpit  with  a  sounding-board, — the  latter  inscribed 
"M.  R.  H.,  1739." 

A  horse-block  was  provided  in  1762.  The  tower,  at  the 
north  end,  contained  an  entrance,  and  was  built  up  from  the 
ground,  separately, — not  within  the  body  of  the  church. 
There  were  two  other  entrances, — central  on  the  east  side  and 
south  end. 

The  present  house  was  erected  in  1808,  and  removed  to  the 
position  it  now  occupies,  on  the  east  side  of  Middle,  south  of 
Russel  Street,  in  1841. || 

THE   SECOND   CONQREGATIOjrAL  SOCIETY,    NORTH   HADLEY, 

was  organized  Oct.  26,  1831,  with  24  members.  Its  house  of 
worship,  dedicated  in  1834,  is  located  between  three  and  four 
miles  from  that  of  the  First  Church,  to  which  its  members  had 
previously  belonged.  Rev.  Samuel  M.  Worcester,  D.D.,  of 
Salem, — then  of  Amherst  College, — was  instrumental  in  or- 
ganizing the  society,  became  the  first  supply,  and  preached 
in  a  hall  fitted  up  for  that  purpose.  He  commenced  his  labors 
in  April,  1830,  and  served  three  years.  Rev.  Philip  Payson 
succeeded  Dr.  Worcester,  and  preached  about  three  years. 
The  first  settled  pastor,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Brown,  a  native  of 
Brimfield,  and  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  1813,  was  installed 
April  8,  1835,  and  remained  until  June,  1838.  The  succeed- 
ing two  years  Rev.  David  L.  Hunn  served  as  a  supply,  and  May 
10,  1840,  Rev.  Warren  H.  Beaman— a  graduate  of  Amherst 
College  in  1837 — began  to  serve  the  society,  but  was  not 
formally  settled  until  Sept.  15,  1841.  He  was  dismissed  July 
8,  1872.  Rev.  James  M.  Bell  served  from  October,  1872,  was 
installed  May,  1873,  and  dismissed  April  20,  1876.     His  suc- 


g  The  cock,  which  still  surmounts  the  steeple  of  the  third  meeting-house,  is 
believed  to  have  been  put  up  when  the  spire  of  tlie  second  house  was  added,  not 
Ion"-  after  1753.  ...  He  was  removed  from  the  west  to  the  middle  street  on  the 
steeple  in  1841."  Zebulou  Pnitt,  a  slave  of  Oliver  Warner's,  climbed  the  steeple, 
sat  on  the  "  copper  bird,"  and  crowed.  He  was  then  22  years  old.  Roguish  fel- 
lows removed  the  gallinaceous  vane  in  1808,  but  were  made  to  replace  it. 

II  William  Goodwin  was  the  first  ruling  elder  of  the  church,  and  had  no  suc- 
cessor, as  appears  by  the  records.  Nathaniel  Dickinson  and  Peter  Tilton  were 
the  first  deacons. 


336 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


cossor,  Rov.  John  W.  Liuie,  tlie  present  pastor,  was  installed 
May  1,  1878,  having  supplied  from  the  preceding  November. 

In  1854  a  spire  was  added  to  the  meeting-house,  its  pulpit 
remodeled,  walls  frescoed,  and  the  building  repainted.  In 
1866  an  addition  was  made  in  the  rear,  to  admit  a  pipe-organ 
and  to  accommodate  the  choir,  behind  the  pulpit. 

The  present  officers  are  Deacon  Francis  S.  Russell  and  Dea- 
con Baxter  E.  Bardwell,  who  is  also  clerk.  The  number  of 
resident  members  is  now  (March,  1879)  124. 

THE    RUSSELL    CONGllEGATION AL   SOCIETY* 

was  organized  in  1841,  with  about  90  members,  who  withdrew 
from  the  First  Church  to  constitute  a  new  parish,  upon  the 
removal  of  their  former  church  edifice  from  its  previous  posi- 
tion on  West  Street  to  its  present  location  on  Middle  Street, 
and  took  its  name  from  the  first  pastor  of  the  original  church, 
Mr.  John  Russell. 

Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  D.D.,  was  installed  as  the  first  pas- 
tor, Feb.  16,  1842,  and  dismissed  July  15,  1857.  His  successor, 
Rev.  Franklin  Tuxbury,  was  ordained  over  the  church  at  the 
last-named  date,  and  continued  until  Oct.  23,  1862.  The  pres- 
ent pastor.  Rev.  Edward  S.  Dwight,  D.D.,  assumed  the  charge 
of  the  pastorate  in  June,  1864,  and  was  installed  in  the  follow- 
ing September.  The  present  deacons  of  the  church  are  Eleazer 
Porter  and  George  Dickinson. 

The  church  edifice  of  this  society  occupies  a  part  of  the  front 
of  the  home-lot  upon  which  Mr.  Russell  so  long  resided,  and 
fronts  west  on  West  Street.     It  was  erected  in  1842. 

CEMETERIES. 

The  burying-ground  at  Hadley,  the  oldest  in  the  town,  was 
reserved  for  the  purpose  in  1661,  in  the  great  meadow,  and 
was  in  size  Wh  rods  east  and  west  by  20  rods  north  and  south, 
and  adjoined  the  west  end  of  the  home-lot  of  Edward  Churchf 
for  16  rods,  and  projected  into  the  middle  highway,  from  the 
north  side  thereof,  4  rods.  A  strip  6  or  7  rods  wide  was  added 
to  the  east  side  in  1792,  and  another,  16  or  17  rods  wide,  in 
1828.     The  grounds  now  contain  a  little  more  than  4  acres. 

The  first  burial  in  this  cemetery  was  that  of  an  unnamed 
infant,  son  or  daughter  of  Philip  Smith,  Jan.  22,  1661.  The 
first  adult  buried  was  John  Webster, — an  ancestor  of  Noah 
Webster, — who  died  April  5th,  in  the  same  year.  Tablets, 
erected  in  1693,  rest  above  the  remains  of  Rev.  John  Russell 
and  his  wife  Rebekah.  Mr.  Judd,  who  wrote  in  1858,  says, 
"  There  are  only  ten  stones  in  the  yard  with  dates  earlier  than 
1720, — only  ten  when  the  town  had  been  settled  sixty  years!" 

The  early  monumental  slabs  were  heavy  and  of  rude  work- 
manship, and  all  of  sandstone. 

In  this  old   burying-ground,  resting  from   the  labors,  the 

trials,  the  dangers,  that  beset  them,  many  of  the  accomplished, 

many  of 

"  The  rude  forefather  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 

One  of  the  honored  sons  of  this  venerable  hamlet  has  said 
but  recently  J  concerning  this  cherished  spot,  "  Here  are  an- 
cestral memorials,  rekindling  in  us  and  our  children  the  holy- 
courage  of  those  who  have  won  incorruptible  crowns.  Scatter 
along  those  ridges  the  seeds  of  fragrant  blossoms  that  shall 
breathe  their  perfume  of  benediction  over  the  green  sods. 
Twine  there  the  delicate  graces  of  the  sweet-brier,  the  wood- 
bine, the  ivy,  the  clematis,  and  the  rose.  Multiply,  by  every 
avenue  and  pathway,  the  voiceless  preachers  of  hope, — 

"  '  Floral  apostles  that,  with  dewy  splendor, 

Weep  without  woe  and  blush  without  a  crime.'  " 

There  are  four  other  cemeteries  in  the  town  :  one,  at  North 
Hadley,   containing   about  an   acre  and   a   half  of  land,  is 

*  A  portion  of  this  account  of  the  churches  of  Hadley  iB  from  the  appendix 
to  Mr.  Judd's  history. 
f  Now  owned  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Bell  and  the  Richardson  brothers, 
t  Dr.  V.  D.  Huntington's  Bi-Centenniul  address,  .Tune  8,  1859. 


situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  village  ;  one  near  the 
Sunderland  line,  at  "  Russellville  ;"  one  at  "  Plainville  ;"  and 
one  at  Hockanum,  in  the  extreme  southern  portion  of  the 
town,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Holyoke. 


Richard  Goodman  kept  the  first  house  of  public  entertain- 
ment in  Hadley,  for  which  he  received  a  license  in  1667.  In 
1675,  and  perhaps  earlier,  Joseph  Kellogg,  ferryman,  was 
permitted  to  entertain  travelers.  The  bar  or  bottle  was  quite 
as  essential  an  adjunct  of  inns  and  ordinaries  two  centuries  ago 
as  of  hotels  and  taverns  now,  but  was  perhaps  under  a  sharper 
surveillance. I  Other  inn-keepers  of  that  period  were  Heze- 
kiah  Dickinson,  1692-93;  Joseph  Smith,  1696;  Luke  Smith, 
1700-1  and  1711-31;  Westwood  Cooke,  1704-7.  Nathaniel 
White,  near  Mill  River,  at  North  Hadley,  for  some  time  kept 
a  tavern,  from  a  period  anterior  to  1770 ;  probably  the  same 
which  until  a  recent  period  was  kept  by  Thaddeus  Smith,  who 
succeeded  John  Hibbard. 

Inns  have  been  kept  also  in  the  following  places  :  on  the 
west  side  of  West  Street,  north  end,  on  the  lot  occupied 
by  the  residence  of  D.  S.  Baker,  by  Solomon  Cooke,  and 
afterward  by  Esek  Baker  down  to  1864.  At  the  south 
end,  on  the  "  Goodman  place,"  or  "Ferry  lot,"  an  inn  was 
probably  kept  many  years.  Stephen  Goodman  married  a 
daughter  of  the  third  ferryman,  James  Kellogg,  whose  grand- 
father there  "entertained  travelers."  Joanna  Kellogg  may 
have  become  a  landlady.  Nearly  opposite,  on  the  east  side,  on 
the  lot  occupied  by  Mrs.  W.  P.  Warner,  there  was  once  an 
inn ;  another,  on  the  same  side,  south  of  Russell  Street ;  and 
three  others  at  the  north  end,  east  side, — one  on  the  river-bank, 
near  where  David  Fole\'  resides  (1879),  one  on  the  corner  south, 
now  occupied  by  Thomas  McGraff,  and  a  third  on  the  lot  next 
south  of  the  last  named,  where  Thomas  Reynolds  resides. 

Not  many  years  since,  an  inn  occupied  the  corner  north  of 
the  Bay  road,  on  the  east  side  of  Middle  Street,  where  Mrs. 
George  Allen  now  resides,  and  was  kept  successively  by  Maj. 
John  Smith,  Benjamin  Smith,  and  Augustus  Smith. 

Zadock  Lyman  opened  a  public-house  at  Hockanum  in 
1746,  which  at  his  death,  seven  years  afterward,  was  continued 
by  his  widow.  The  hoJse  stood  a  short  distance  north  of  the 
present  cemetery,  and  was  kept  and  known  as  the  "  Lyman 
House"  until  1869. 

Farther  north,  a  short  distance,  an  inn  was  established  by 
Ebenezer  Pomeroy,  brother-in-law  of  Zadock  Lyman.  In 
front  tlaunted  "  the  sign  of  the  White  Horse." 

The  only  hotel  in  the  town  at  the  present  time — March, 
1879 — is  the  "  Elmwood  House,",  a  title  apt  as  regards  its 
situation  among  the  beautiful  elms  of  West  Street,  but  which 
does  not  recall  the  memorable  incidents  of  its  previous  his- 
tory. Situated  on  the  old  home-lot  of  Mr.  Russell,  the  first 
minister  of  Hadley,  it  still  retains,  despite  the  changes,  some 
portions  of  the  old  house  he  occupied,  and  in  which  the  judges 
were  so  long  concealed.  || 

The  Russell  House,  and  12  acres  of  land  attached,  were  sold 
to  the  town  of  Hadley  in  1694,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Russell,  third 
son  of  the  first  owner.  The  town  gave  10  acres  and  the  build- 
ings to  Mr.  Isaac  Chauncej',  the  second  minister,  in  1696,  as 
a  settlement.  Josiah  Chauncey,  the  youngest  of  Mr.  Chaun- 
cey's  children,  sold  the  property  in  November,  1749,  to  Samuel 
Gaylord,  from  whom  it  passed  to  his  son,  Samuel.  Chester 
Gaylord,  a  son  of  the  last  named,  succeeded  to  the  west  half 
of  the  property,  including  the  dwelling,  the  kitchen  part  of 

g  The  quality  of  beer  was  defined  by  the  law,  and  a  penalty  attached  to  the 
sole  of  any  inferior  article.  The  lawful  beer  of  1674  required  four  bushels  of 
barley  malt  to  each  sixty-three  gallons. 

II  So  suggestive  is  the  situation  of  the  present  "  Judges'  Chamber,"  in  which 
this  history  is  written,  that  the  occupant  readily  imagines  that  the  white-haired 
fugitives — Goffe  and  Whalley — have  but  just  retired  to  the  "dark  closet"  behind 
liim  to  escape  the  spying  intrusion ;  but  Edward  Kandolph,  long  ere  this,  has  fol- 
lowed, perchance  discovered,  them. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


337 


which  his  father  had  rebuilt  previous  to  1782,  and  the  main 
part,  on  Russell  Street,  in  1795.*  The  house  and  4  acres 
passed  to  the  possession  of  George  H.  Gaylord,  son  of  Chester, 
thence  to  Horace  Cook,  who  sold  to  Edward  Kingsley,  the 
present  owner,  in  the  spring  of  1878.  The  house,  in  Jlr.  Kings- 
ley's  hands,  has  hcen  much  enlarged  and  improved,  and 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  a  hotel. 

MOUNT  nOLYOKE  AXD  THE  MOUNTAIN  HOU.SE. 

This  elevation  of  greenstone  forms  the  division  between 
Hadley  and  South  Hadley,  and  yields  from  its  summit  exten- 
sive views  of  rare  majesty  and  beautj'.  There  were  occasional 
visits  to  the  summit  by  travelers  during  the  last  century,  but 
the  spot  was  not  improved  for  the  accommodation  of  sight- 
seers until  1821.  A  building  was  erected  in  June  of  that 
year,  by  individuals  from  Northampton  and  Hadley,  and 
dedicated  in  an  address  delivered  bj'  Mr.  E.  H.  Mills.  The 
approach  from  the  northwest  side  was  made  a  short  time 
afterward.  Mr.  John  W.  French  built  another  house  on  the 
summit  in  1851,  and  has  since  constructed  a  railway,  by  which 
ascents  and  descents  are  made  with  ease  and  safety.  This 
house  is  partly  in  Hadley  and  partly  in  Smith  Hadley. 

TOWN    POOR. 

The  town  had  few  dependents  upon  its  charity  in  the  earlier 
years.  William  Webster  and  his  wife  Mary,  the  reputed  witch, 
were  given  assistance,  and  lived  in  a  house  called  the  "  town- 
house,"  in  the  middle  highwaj',  and  cast  of  the  cemetery. 
Some  of  the  poor  were  "boarded  round;"  one  is  named,  a 
widow,  who  was  "  to  go  from  Samuel  Porter's,  Sr.,  southward, 
and  round  the  town."  Thomas  Elgarr,  a  soldier  in  the  In- 
dian war,  was  assisted;  John  Ilillier  (Hilliard?)  was  to  be  pro- 
vided with  "  a  small  log  house,"  in  1718.  Ten  j'ears  afterward 
£10  were  appropriated  for  the  poor.  In  1793,  8  paupers  were 
sold  to  Maj.  John  Smith  for  £11  each, — he  receiving  instead  of 
paying  the  amount,  however, — among  wliom  was  Kebckah 
(Crow)  Noble,  onee  fair  and  quite  a  belle  in  Hadley.  She 
had  been  wooed  and  won  ;  but,  having  dismissed  her  lover  in 
a  fit  of  jealousy,  her  after-life  was  embittered  by  regret  and 
sorrow.  She  died  in  1802,  a  pauper,  at  the  age  of  ninety 
years. 

The  present  poor-farm  of  25  acres  was  jiurchascd  in  1807 
for  |i2000,  and  the  buildings  then  standing  have  been  im]iroved 
at  a  cost  of  $1200.  Tliere  are  but  9  inmates  at  the  present 
time  (March,  1879).  Net  cost  of  support  of  poor  in  poor-house, 
1878-79,  5i724.79;  outside  poor,  $779.12;  total,  §1.503.91. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Mills. — The  iirst  mill  erected  in  the  present  town  of  Hadley 
was  for  the  manufacture  of  lumber.  It  was  situated  on  Mill 
River,  or  the  stream  ever  after  so  called,  and  was  put  up  by 
Thomas  Meekins  and  Robert  Boltwood  in  or  near  the  year 
1664.  Until  this  time  the  inhabitants  used  riven  boards,f  or 
those  made  with  pit-saws.  The  mill  of  Meekins  &  Boltwood 
was  continued  by  them  until  1674. 

Grist-Mills. — No  grist-  or  corn-mill  was  erected  in  Hadley, 
east  of  the  river,  until  the  year  1670.  Thomas  Meekins  had 
put  up  a  mill  on  Mill  River,  in  what  is  now  Hatfield,  in  1601, 
and  was,  by  vote,  to  have  all  the  town  patronage,  "provided 
he  make  good  meal.'  Thomas  W'ells  and  John  Hubbard  were 
employed  by  the  east-side  residents  to  carry  gridn  to  mill  and 
return  with  the  meal  at  regular  times.  This  method  of  sup- 
plying ^;-iS#.5  ceased  when  the  Hopkins  school-mill  was  erected 


*  It  was  at  the  time  of  tliis  leljuilding  that  the  liones  of  Gen.  Whalley  were 
discovered. 

f  Riven  or  chivon  hoards,  iience,  clove-hoards,  clohoards,  clahoards,  chiphoards. 
The  town  voted,  Dec.  17,  IBtiO,  '*  that  if  any  men  fell  any  rift  timber,  and  do  not 
rive  it  out  into  bolts,  pales,  tails,  claphoards,  or  shingles  within  six  weeks,  any 
inhabitant  may  fetch  it  away  for  his  own  use  ;  and  if  any  man  fell  any  pine  tim- 
ber and  cart  it  not  away  in  three  months,  any  man  may  make  use  of  it." 

43 


in  1670.  A  lot  near  by  was  provided  for  the  miller  in  October, 
1671.  The  mill  was  guarded  by  a  small  garrison  during  the 
Indian  war,  and  remained  intact  through  the  period  of  great- 
est uprising,  but  was  burned  by  a  roving  band  of  redskins  in 
September,  1677.  The  mill  at  Hatfield  was  then  for  a  time 
resorted  to,  until  the  one  on  the  east  side  was  rebuilt  by  Robert 
Boltwood,  a  period  of  one  or  two  years.  The  town,  in  a  con- 
troversy with  the  trustees  of  the  Hopkins  grammar  school, J 
twice  obtained  possession  of  the  mill-property,  but  delivered 
it  finally  to  the  latter  in  1687.  Five  years  later  it  was  dam- 
aged and  destroyed  by  a  flood  and  was  again  rebuilt,  and  was 
renewed  in  1706  and  in  1721. 

John  Clary  was  the  miller  in  1683.  In  November,  1687, 
Joseph  Smith, ^  a  cooper,  was  engaged,  and  remained  many 
years,— 

"  Tending  tlie  mill  in  its  clattering  round. 
Till  his  hair  was  as  white  as  the  flour  he  ground." 

None  of  these  early  mills  seem  to  have  been  provided  with 
facilities  for  bolting  the  products.  The  bolting  or  sifting  was 
a  domestic  operation,  and  several  small  "bolting-mills"  were 
owned  by  families  in  Hadley. ||  Some  flour  was  barreled  and 
sent  to  market  down  the  river. 

A  grist-mill  has  been  kept  at  or  near  the  site  occupied  by 
the  first  mill  most  of  the  time  since  1670 ;  part,  if  not  most,  of 
the  time  in  connection  with  a  saw-mill.  A  grist-mill  and  a 
saw-mill  were  in  operation  on  Fort  River,  near  Hadley  village, 
in  1771. 

Other  Manufactures. — For  a  time  a  carding-mill  was  at- 
tached to  the  gri.st-mill, — probably  in  1775, — and  was  con- 
tinued to  near  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and 
subsequently  an  establishment  for  drawing  wire  was  con- 
ducted successively  by  Nathan  Clark  and  Horace  Lamb. 
Cattle  and  wool  cards  made  there  at  one  time  by  John  Clark. 

A  mill  privilege  farther  up  the  river,  at  Plainville,  was 
improved  at  a  later  date  for  the  manufacture  of  wagon.4  and 
other  wood-work. 

The  manufacture  of  brooms,  which  is  now  a  principal  in- 
dustry in  the  town,  is  the  joint  product  of  her  fertile  soil  and 
the  no  less  fertile  genius  of  her  adopted  son,  Levi  Dickinson,  a 
native  of  Wethersfield,  Conn.  He  planted  the  first  broom-corn 
in  Hadley  in  1797,  and  the  year  following  raised  "  the  first 
half-acre  cultivated  for  brooms  in  America."  His  brooms  met 
with  good  sale,  and  in  spite  of  ridicule  he  persisted  in  pro- 
ducing them,  and  gradually  improved  the  processes  for  man- 
ufacture. His  devotion  did  not  appear  so  visionary  to  the 
people  of  Hadley  when,  in  1850,  that  town  was  credited  in 
the  census  with  the  production  of  769,700  brooms,  valued  at 
§118,478,  and  76,000  brushes,  valued  at  .?5970. 

Certain  of  his  neighbors,  .scenting  success  from  afar,  began 
the  culture  of  broom-corn  about  the  first  year  of  this  century, 
among  whom  are  mentioned  William  Shipman,  Solomon 
Cook,  Levi  Gale,  and  a  negro  named  Cato.  The  manufacture 
became  of  national  importance  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Dick- 
inson.    He  died  in  1843,  aged  eighty-eight. 

.Present  Manufactures. — There  are  at  present  within  the 
town  a  grist,-  saw,-  and  planing-mill,  owned  by  Rodney 
Smith ;  a  grist-  and  saw-mill,  owned  by  George  E.  Smith ; 
and  a  saw-mill,  owned  by  Samuel  Dickinson. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  first  plowing  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Hadley  was 
done  for  the  Indians  by  the  settlers  at  Northampton  in  16.54, 
the  year  that  town  was  settled. 

Wheat  grew  readily  with  rich  soil,  and  was  raised  in  con- 

I  See  account  of  the  Hopkins  school  in  this  volume. 

g  He  received  for  his  labor  one-half  the  toll,  the  use  of  a  house  and  land.  His 
part  of  the  toll  for  several  years  was  but  £13  per  year.  "  He  was  the  first  per- 
manent resident  on  Mill  Kiver."— FMc  Judd's  Hist. 

II  Richard  Montague,  a  baker,  had  a  mill  valued  at  60  shillings  in  1680.  "  His 
wirlow  sometimes  bolted  flour  for  others  by  the  barrel." 


338 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


siderable  quantity  before  the  eighteenth  century,  and  much 
was  shipped  to  Boston.  The  other  cereals  were  also  grown, 
with  the  exception  of  buckwheat,  which  seems  to  have  been 
unknown  or  disregarded  until  after  the  Revolution.  Beans 
and  peas  flourished  from  the  beginning. 

Indian  corn  was  always  an  important  crop,  increasing  in 
acreage  and  yield  per  acre  as  the  manner  of  cultivating  was 
improved  and  a  just  system  of  returns  to  the  soil,  by  way  of 
fertilizers,  was  begun  and  followed.  In  the  earlier  years  but 
a  small  number  of  domestic  animals  was  kept,  and  the  nearest 
lots  alone  were  fertilized.  In  IS-j-j  the  corn  on  1142  acres  was 
estimated  at  37  bushels  per  acre, — nearly  double  the  yield  a 
century  ago. 

Potatoes  were  introduced  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury,— probably  from  I'elham, — and  are  now  a  staple  crop. 
The  quantity  has  increased  and  the  quality  improved. 

Flax,  which  entered  so  largely  into  the  manufactures  of  the 
early  days  of  Hadlcy,  was  grown  extensively  as  a  necessity. 
Hemp  became  a  product  in  the  later  years,  and  for  a  time 
yielded  handsome  returns. 

Large  areas  of  the  rich  lowlands — some  of  which  were 
periodically  overflowed  and  received  silt  from  the  river — have 
been  kept  as  meadow-lands.  Many  pieces  have  never  been 
plowed,  or  but  rarely.  The  yield  of  hay  from  these  lands — 
of  a  quality  more  or  less  desirable — has  been,  and  still  is,  large. 
Hay  is  now  (1879)  an  important  crop  with  Hadley  farmers. 
Fruit  has  been  produced  in  limited  quantity,  and,  in  later 
years,  of  fair  quality.  Few  apple-trees  were  grown  for  a  long 
time  after  the  first  settlement,  and,  until  after  the  Kevolutiou, 
were  grown  for  making  cider,  which  had  begun  to  take  the 
place  of  other  things  potable.  Hadley  is  recorded  as  one  of 
four  towns  whose  cider  product,  in  1771,  averaged  more  than 
four  barrels  to  a  house.  Grafted  fruit  has  been  introduced 
since  1800. 

Tobacco  culture  was  commenced  by  the  farmers  of  Hadley 
about  the  year  1840,  and  the  encouraging  success  at  first  at- 
tained— financially — led  to  the  displacement  of  other  leading 
crops,  whose  production  had  become  unprofitable  or  impossi- 
ble in  competition  with  the  "West.  A  local  writer  intimates 
that  the  moral  aspects  of  this  industry  were  counter  to  the 
sentiments  of  right  and  justice  which  actuated  the  faithful 
"planters"  of  Hadley,  as  though  the  fumes  of  the  Indian 
weed  had  dulled  and  stupefied  the  once  alert  consciences  of  the 
inhabitants.  However  this  may  be,  Hadley  was  not  alone  in 
feeling  the  reaction  which  in  1875  followed  a  high  tide  of 
seeming  prosperity.  She  is  yet  rich  in  her  meadows  and  up- 
lands, and  the  farmers  are  already  responding  to  the  demand 
for  a  new  and  less  exhaustive  industry. 

Hadley  claims  to  antedate  all  other  towns  in  the  use  of  the 
revolving  horse-rake.  It  was  first  used  on  the  farm  of  the 
late  Rev.  D.  Huntington.  It  is  doubtless  also  true  that  the 
"  first  scythe  made  in  America  was  made  in  Hadley  by  Ben- 
jamin Colt,"  who  also  introduced  the  use  of  sleds.  Improved 
breeds  of  cattle  were  introduced  about  1839. 

MEANS   OF   COMMUNICATIOSf. 

Highways. — After  laying  out  the  highways  of  the  village 
proper  in  16-59-60  others  were  laid  in  the  meadows  near  by, 
making  the  whole  number,  as  recorded  in  1665,  eleven.  A 
"  passable  cart-way"  was  ordered  in  1667,  extending  over  the 
Forty-Acre  Meadow  to  Mill  Brook.  Before  16.59  the  settlers 
at  Northampton  had  a  road  to  .Springfield  by  way  of  Hocka- 
num,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  With  this  early  connec- 
tion was  made  by  the  people  of  Hadley.  The  original  road, 
which  was  used  nearly  a  century,  was  "  below  the  steep  part 
of  the  acclivity,"  some  distance  above  the  present  road.  In 
1664  roads  "sufficient  for  travell  with  carts"  were  laid  out 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  between  Hadley  and  Windsor, 
Conn.  The  road  on  the  east  side  crossed  the  Chicopee  River 
at  Chicopee  Falls  ;  but  eight  years  later  one  was  laid  to  cross 


"  at  the  islands,  near  Japhet  Chapin's,"  now  Chicopee  Centre. 
Over  the  latter  produce  could  be  taken  directly  to  the  head  of 
navigation,  below  Willimansett. 

The  earliest  way  or  path  to  Boston  was  north  of  Fort  River 
and  called  "  Nashaway  Path,"  and  was  probably  laid  out  in 
1662.  In  1674  the  "  Bay  road"  crossed  that  river  near  the 
south  end  of  Spruce  Hill,  and  in  1688  was  changed  to  its 
present  route,  but  would  allow  the  passage  of  vehicles.  Such 
a  broad  road  was  pronounced  not  feasible  in  1692.  The  wide 
roads  were  constructed  later. 

Ferries. — A  ferrj-  was  kept  up  between  the  south  end  of 
the  wide  street  in  Hadley  and  Northampton  b3'  Joseph  Kel- 
logg and  his  descendants  for  nearly  one  hundred  years,  or 
from  1661  to  1758.  Mr.  Kellogg  built  a  house  on  the  lot 
which  had  been  reserved  for  ferry  purposes,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  "  south  highway  to  the  meadow."  He  was  to  provide, 
by  arrangement  with  the  town  in  1675,  "a  boat  for  horses 
and  a  canoe  for  persons,  and  receive  for  man  and  horse  eight 
pence  in  wheat  or  other  pay,  or  sixpence  in  monej-,  for  single 
persons  threepence,  or,  when  more  than  one,  twopence  each." 
Night  and  storm-bound  travelers  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
ferryman,  and  were  obliged  to  negotiate  terms  with  him. 
The  ferrymen  were,  successively,  Joseph  Kellogg,  his  sou 
John  Kellogg,  and  his  grandson  Joseph  Kellogg,  and,  after 
1758,  Stephen  Goodman,  who  married  a  daughter  of  James 
Kellogg.  The  ferry  was  named  "Goodman's  Ferry,"  from 
the  last  proprietor. 

In  1692  and  subsequently  a  similar  ferry  was  operated  be- 
tween Hadley  and  Hatfield,  from  the  north  end  of  the  street, 
whose  first  Charon  was  John  Ingram,  the  second  John  Pres- 
ton. A  bridge  connecting  Hadley  and  Hatfield  was  burned 
many  years  ago,  since  which  several  ferries  have  been  opened, 
but  only  one  of  these  is  now  operated,  viz.,  between  North 
lladley  and  Hatfield.  One,  operated  from  the  north  end  of 
West  Street,  Hadley,  and  another,  called  "Hunter's  Ferry," 
some  distance  above,  were  abandoned  before  1855.  A  ferry  is 
now  run  between  Hockanum  and  Northampton. 

Bridges.* — A  bridge  was  built  over  Fort  River  "  for  horses, 
oxen,  and  carts"  in  1661,  on  the  road  to  Springfield  ;  and  an- 
other, lower  on  the  stream,  in  1667 ;  and  a  third,  still  farther 
down,  in  1681.  The  cost  of  the  last  was  £44  15s.  Zd.  The 
first  bridge  on  the  Bay  road  was  one  for  carts,  in  1675 ;  was 
"near  the  south  end  of  Spruce  Hill,  and  much  used  by  the 
troops  in  Philip's  war." 

A  bridge  was  built  over  Mill  River,  "  at  the  mill,"  in  1684. 
In  the  absence  of  other  means  for  crossing  streams,  trees  were 
often  felled  to  form  foot-bridges. 

The  first  bridge  over  the  Connecticut  at  Hadley  was  au- 
thorized March  8,  1803,  and  connected  that  town  with  Hat- 
field. Lemuel  Dickinson  and  seventy-four  others  were  the 
incorporators.  This  bridge  long  since  ceased  to  be  main- 
tained.! 

The  first  bridge  between  Hadley  and  Northampton  was  con- 
structed under  an  act  passed  March  2,  1803.  The  present  iron 
bridge,  erected  in  1877,  is  the  successor  of  a  covered  wooden 
structure,  which  was  destroyed  by  a  hurricane  in  June,  1877. 
At  this  casualty  several  persons  were  injured,  and  others  mi- 
raculously escaped. 

INDIAN   OCCUPANCY   AND    WARS. 

Several  Indian  forts  were  in  Hadley.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant was  on  Fort  River,  and  "had  the  almost  perpendicular 
bank,  rising  forty  or  fifty  feet  above  Fort  River,  on  the  south 
and  west  sides,  while  the  river  flowed  at  the  bottom  of  this 
bank  on  the  west  side.  Lawrence's  Plain,  a  high,  pleasant  tract 
of  land,  extended  easterly."  The  site  could  be,  within  a  few 
years,  easily  identified.     Another   fort  was  north  of  North 

*  The  Connecticut  bridges  are  described  more  at  length  elsewhere  in  this 
volume, 
t  It  was  a  toll-bridge,  as  were  all  the  early  ones  on  the  Connecticut  Kiver. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


339 


Hadley,  on  a  ridge  between  the  upper  and  lower  School  Mead- 
ows. This  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  abode  of  Quonquont 
and  his  dusky  followers.  His  deed  to  Mr.  Pynehon,  in  IfioS. 
mentions  "the  brook  AVunnaquickset,"  which  runs  through 
the  upper  School  Meadow,  north  and  east  of  the  fort.  Many 
bones  of  Indians  have  been  found  in  the  vicinity,  more  than 
in  any  other  place  in  Hadley.  All  the  forts  in  Hadley  east  of 
the  river  were  abandoned  .'iome  years  previous  to  the  opening 
of  hostilities  with  the  whites  in  1675. 

The  Mo/iawks*  made  occasional  predatory  and  warlike  in- 
cursions from  the  westward,  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  the 
river-towns  suifered  considerably  from  the  loss  of  hogs  and 
cattle,  which  were  allowed  to  roam  the  woods.  Hadley 
shared  in  these  losses  in  1007.  Other  Indians  were  involved  or 
under  suspicion, — even  the  Aurwutfuc/cs. 

Pliilip's  War. — After  his  manj' disasters  and  losses  in  battle 
and  by  defection,  Philip  moved  with  what  forces  he  could 
muster  upon  the  Hampshire  towns  late  in  the  summer  of 
1675.  It  was  supposed  he  had  proceeded  to  the  vicinity  of 
Paquayag,  now  Athol,  and  troops  under  Capts.  Lothrop,  Beers, 
and  Watts  were  sent  u])  the  river  in  pursuit.  The  latter  re- 
turned to  Hadley  on  or  near  August  22d,  but  proceeded  soon 
after  to  Hartford.  Capts.  Lothrop  and  Beers  entered  Hadley 
with  their  troops  on  the  23d  of  August,  or  about  that  time. 

The  vallej'  Indians  had  shown  signs  of  disaffection  toward 
the  whites,  and  an  effort  to  di.sarm  them  occasioned  open  war- 
fare. The  first  conflict  was  about  ten  miles  above  Hatfield,  at 
a  place  called  "Sugar-Loaf  Hill,"  where  Capts.  Lothrop  and 
Beers  were  both  engaged  with  about  100  of  their  troops  from 
Hadle3'.  Of  the  nine  soldiers  slain  on  that  occasion,  one 
was  a  resident  of  that  town, — Azariah,  son  of  Nathaniel 
Dickinson. 

Deerfield  was  attacked  Sejitember  1st  bj'  tlie  united  hostiles, 
Nnrwottta-k.'i  and  Pocumtucks,  and  18  men  slain  at  Sqnakheag 
— Northfield — on  the  following  day.  On  the  .^d,  "  this  onset 
being  unkmiwn,  Capt.  Beers  set  forth  from  Hadley  with  about 
30  men  and  some  carts  to  fetch  off"  the  garrison  at  Squakhoag, 
and,  coming  within  three  miles  of  the  place  the  next  morning, 
were  set  upon  by  a  great  number  of  Indians  from  the  side  of 
a  swamp,  where  was  a  hot  dispute  for  some  time."f  Capt. 
Beers  and  many  of  his  men  were  slain,  including  William 
Markham,  Jr.,  of  Hadley,  a  teamster.  A  demonstration  was 
made  by  the  Indians  against  Deerfield  on  the  12th,  but  within 
a  few  days  thereafter  the  savages  had  all  disappeared.  A 
body  of  troops,  about  00  in  number,  arrived  at  Hadley  under 
Capt.  Mosley,  September  1-lth,  and  others  were  then  on  their 
way.  There  were  more  or  less  soldiers  in  the  town  from  the 
23d  of  August,  1075,  until  the  close  of  this,  the  first  Indian 
war  in  the  valley. 

The  Nipmucks  and  Wmnpanoar/s  under  Philip,  it  is  prob- 
able, had  not  participated  in  any  of  the  conflicts  w<.'st  of  the 
Connecticut  River  up  to  September  14th.  Mr.  Judd,  who 
apparently  was  guided  by  the  statement  of  Kev.  Increase 
Mather  in  1070,  saj's  these  Indians  "first  showed  them.selves 
upon  the  Connecticut  River  on  the  1st  day  of  September 
(1675),  and  made  an  attack  upon  Hadley." 

The  following  is  Mr.  Mather's  statement  of  the  aff'air: 

*'0u  the  fil"st  of  September,  one  of  the  cliuri-lies  in  Boston  was  seeking  the 
face  of  Guii  hy  fiisting  and  prayer  before  him.  Also,  that  very  day,  the  clmrcli  in 
Hadley  was  before  tlie  Ljrd  in  tlie  same  way,  bnt  were  driven  from  tlie  lioly  ser- 
vice tliey  were  attending  liy  a  most  sudden  and  violent  ii/(o-;/(,  wliich  routed  them 
the  wliole  day  after.'"! 

On  the  18th  of  September,  Capt.   Lothrop  and   "above  70 

*  Part  of  a  band  of  Mofiawhf,  who  had  visited  Boston,  in  1723, "  with  sham  pro- 
posals of  alJianee  against  the  eastern  Indians,"  but  whose  real  object  seems  to 
liave  been  junketing  and  carousal  .at  the  public  e.xpcnse,  were  entertained  by 
Mr.  Luke  Smith,  of  Hadley,  who  had  a  score  therefor  against  the  connnonwealtli. 

■f  For  detail  of  this  conflict,  and  of  others  incidentally  mentioned  in  the  te.xt, 
Bee  chaptere  relating  to  the  towns  where  they  severally  occurred. 

J  For  further  account  of  this  "  aliirm,"  sec  "  Traditi  jn  concerning  Gen.  Goffc," 
in  another  pait  of  this  work. 


men"^  were  sent  to  Deerfield  to  convoy  a  train  of  wagons, 
loaded  with  grain,  from  that  place  to  Hadley.  The  train  and 
guard  were  surprised,  and  there  resulted  the  battle  of  "  Bloody 
Brook,"  or  r.ither  a  massacre  seldom  equaled  in  the  annals  of 
savage  warfare  for  systematic  and  appalling  completeness. 
Seventy-one  were  slain,  including  Capt.  Lothrop.  Among 
the  slaughtered  teamsters  was  John  Barnard,  son  of  Francis 
Barnard,  of  Hadley. 

The  Indians,  having  caused  the  abandonment  of  Northfield 
and  Deerfield,  artfully  dodged  the  other  northern  towns;  then, 
being  strengthened,  they  fell  upon  defenseless  Springfield, 
which  they  burned  and  pillaged  October  5th.  News  of  the 
threatened  assault  reached  Hadley  in  the  night  previous, 
whereupon  Maj.  Pynehon,  then  in  the  town,  with  Capts.  Ap- 
l)leton  and  Sill,  whose  forces  had  been  in  Hadley  but  a  few 
days,  set  out  for  the  beleaguered  village  on  the  very  morning 
of  its  calamity.  It  was  then,  if  at  all  during  the  war,  that 
Hadley  was  left  entirely  ungarrisoned  and  defenseless.  The 
Rev.  John  Russell  wroteon  the  sixth  to  the  Governor — Leverett 
— and  council,  giving  an  account  of  the  destruction  of  Spring- 
field, and  says:  "  Our  town  of  Hadley  is  now  like  to  drink 
next  (if  mercy  prevent  not)  of  this  bitter  cup ;  we  are  but  50 
families,  and  now  left  solitary.  We  desire  to  repose  our  confi- 
dence in  the  eternal  God,  who  is  the  refuge  of  his  people,  and 
to  stand  ready  to  do  and  suffer  his  will  in  all  things.  To  his 
grace  I  commend  you."  The  sturdy  minister  manifestly  had 
a  lurking  faith  in  the  "  strongest  battalions. "|| 

Capt.  Appleton,  who  had  taken  command  of  the  troops,  re- 
turned to  Hadley  October  12th,  whence  he  made  frequent  ex- 
cursions in  quest  of  the  Indians,  but  did  not  encounter  them. 

Hatfield  was  desperately  attacked  by  a  considerable  body  of 
Indians  October  19th,  but  was  relieved  by  troops  from  Hadley, 
under  Capt.  Appleton.  In  this  atfair,  Freegrace  Norton,  a 
sergeant,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  in  Hadley  soon 
after,  at  the  house  of  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith. 

The  continued  elforts  of  the  savages  to  destroy  the  settle- 
ments caused  much  uneasiness,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants 
contemplated  removal  with  their  families  to  safer  situations, 
but  were  prevented  by  a  proclamation  issued  by  Capt.  Apple- 
ton  on  the  12th  of  November.  Soon  after  the  19th  of  the  same 
month  most  of  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  river- 
towns,  a  small  garrison  being  left  in  each.  The  garrison  at 
Hadley,  under  Capt.  Jonathan  Poole,  consisted  of  30  men. 
Hadley,  like  the  other  towns  of  the  valley,  was  without  artifi- 
cial defenses  ;  no  palisades  were  erected  until  the  following 
year. 

The  number  of  whites  slain  in  the  county  of  Hampshire  up 
to  this  time,  according  to  the  return  made  by  minister  Russell, 
was  145. 

The  recent  experience  of  the  inhabitants  admonished  them 
to  take  steps  for  the  better  protection  of  their  settlements. 
The  principal  defenses  were  called  palisades,  and  consisted  of 
stakes  or  pales  set  closely  together,  with  about  two  feet  of 
their  length  in  the  ground  and  eight  above,  forming  a  tight 
fence  about  each  plantation.  These  pales  were  probably  joined 
together  in  some  eft'ectual  manner,  to  prevent  their  removal 
singly.  Simple  as  were  these  structures,  they  afforded  ad- 
equate protection  against  the  Indians,  who  soon  came  to  re- 
gard them  as  traps  to  be  avoided. T[ 


g  lu  Dr.  Holland's  liistory,  the  number  given  is  eighty. 

[I  Mr.  Riissel!  concludes  his  report  with  the  following  exhoitation  from  Joel : 
"  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  sanctify  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly,  gather  the 
people,  sanctify  the  congregation,  assemble  the  elders,  gather  the  children  and 
those  that  suck  at  the  breast.  Let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  weep 
between  the  porch  and  altir,  and  let  them  say,  Sl)are  thy  people,  0  Lord,  and 
give  not  thy  heritage  to  reproach,  that  the  heathen  shall  rule  over  them.  Where- 
fore should  they  say  among  the  people,  Where  is  their  God  ?  Then  will  the  Lord 
be  jealous  for  his  land  and  pity  his  people." 

H  In  Hubbard's  hist.iry  it  is  related  that  "although  they  did  in  the  spring 
(iG7G)  break  through  the  palisades  at  Northampton,  yet  as  soon  as  they  began  to 
be  repulsed  they  saw  themselves,  like  wolves  in  a  pound,  that  they  could  not  fly 


340 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Such  a  palisade  was  constructed  at  Hadlej',  concerning 
which  the  tirst  town  vote  recorded  bears  date  Feb.  11,  1670,* 
and  is  as  follows  : 

"Voted  and  ordered  by  tlio  toiviie  that  the  whole  fui  tification  set  up  for  the 
defence  and  secuiity  of  the  town  on  ea.<t  and  west  side  sliall  he  suffiLieutly  main- 
tained and  kept  up,  and  that  on  tlie  west  side  the  streete  to  defend  the  meadow 
from  spoile  and  damage,  and  to  he  suhjeet  to  tlie  inspection  of  tlie  fence-viewers, 
and  no  man  in  any  part  of  the  fo)  tification  ahove  said  shall  have  or  make  any 
perticuler  outlet!  for  hijnselfc  or  cattcll  into  the  meddow  or  lotts,  under  the  pcn- 
altie  of  five  shillings,  which  shall  be  foithwith  I'.ittrained  by  warrant  from  the 
selectmen  for  the  town's  use." 

Provision  was  also  made  at  the  same  meeting  for  clearing 
the  passage  to  the  corn-mill,  and  cutting  all  bushes  on  the 
home-lots  which  might  harbor  an  enemy. 

The  Indians,  if  many  remained  in  the  vicinity  during  the 
winter  of  1675-70,  made  few  demonstrations,  and  none  of 
magnitude,  against  the  river-towns.  Philip's  M'ampanooiis — 
possibly,  though  not  certainly,  accompanied  by  Philip  him- 
self— had  passed  over  to  thecoiintry  of  the  NarrnganseUa  soon 
after  the  failure  at  Hatfield,  and  doubtless  bore  a  prominent  part 
in  the  bloody  scenes  which  there  signalized  the  winter's  cam- 
paign. Driven  finally  from  the  eastern  settlements,  the  sev- 
eral bands  of  hostile  Indians  concentrated  near  the  Connecti- 
cut Eiver,  and  again  beset  the  towns  upon  its  borders.  A 
large  portion  of  the  Nnrrariansctts  had  escaped  at  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  fort  on  the  Ulth  of  December,  1675,  and  juined 
the  frontier  foray. 

Not  to  be  caught  napping,  tlic  inhabitants  of  lladley  were 
divided  into  several  "squadrons"  for  watch-duty,  and  a  forti- 
fication committee  was  appointed. 

Capt.  William  Turner  entered  Hadley  March  4,  1070,  and 
was  joined  by  a  body  of  dragoons,  under  Maj.  Thomas  Sav- 
age,! on  tlie  8th.  On  the  14th,  Northampton  was  attacked 
by  Indians,  who  came  from  the  northward.  The  following 
portion  of  a  letter  from  minister  Kussoll,  of  Hadley,  to  Gov. 
Leverett,  as  quoted  by  Mr,  Judd,  portrays  the  feeling  inspired 
by  that  occurrence : 

"Bight  Woesiiipful,— .Although  the  Lord  hath  granted  us  an  interval  of 
quietness  this  winter,  yet  since  the  coming  on  of  the  spring  the  war  here  is  re- 
newed. On  the  14th  inst.  the  enenjy,  to  the  number  of  200(Jt  as  judged,  made  a 
most  sudden  and  violent  irruption  upon  Nortliampton,  broke  their  works  in  3 
places,  and  had  in  reason  taken  the  whole  town,  h.ad  not  Providence  graciously 
so  ordered  it  that  Maj.  Treat  was  come  in  with  his  men  the  evening  before ;  yet 
they  burnt  five  houses  and  five  barns, — one  without  the  fortification,— slew  live 
persons,  and  wounded  live.  There  arc  sai.l  to  be  found  slaiu  about  a  dozen  of  the 
enemy.  Above  Beerfield  a  few  miles  is  the  great  jdace  of  their  lishing,  which 
must  be  expected  to  afford  them  their  provisions  fur  the  year.  We  must  look  to 
feel  their  utmost  rage.  3Iy  desire  is  we  may  be  willing  to  do  or  suffer,  to  live 
or  die,  remain  in  or  be  diiven  out  from  our  habitations,  as  the  Lord  our  God 
would  have  us.  Capt.  Poole,  who  luifh  been  left  here  for  the  government  of  the 
soldiei-s,  doth  earnestly  entreat  for  liberty  to  repair  ti  his  own  very  much  suffer- 
ing family,  at  least  for  a  while.  With  prayers  to  the  Ood  of  all  blessing  to  guide 
and  strengthen  and  carry  you  through  this  day  of  temptation,  I  am,  8r,  yr  worp's 

most  obliged  serv't, 

'•  Joiix  ECSSELL. 
"  Hadley,  March  10, 1675-6." 

In  the  latter  days  of  March  much  excitement  was  engen- 
dered among  the  settlers  by  a  proposition  or  quasi  order,  ema- 
nating from  the  Massachusetts  council,  that  all  the  plantations 

away  at  their  pleasure,  so  as  they  never  adventured  to  break  through  afterward 
upon  any  of  the  towns  so  secured." 

The  Hadley  palisade  was  placed  some  distance  in  the  rear  of  the  Iniildings,  on 
lx>th  sides  of  the  street,  and  extended  across  the  street  at  each  end,  inclosing  a 
space  nearly  a  mile  long  and  about  forty  rods  in  width.  Gates  were  made  where 
the  palisade  crossed  each  of  the  lateral  highways,  and  at  the  ends  of  the  piiu- 
cipal  street,  through  which  alone  ingress  and  egress  were  peru-ittcd.  It  was 
ordered  by  the  town  that  all  bushes  whic-h  might  afford  a  lurking-place  for  the 
enemy  should  be  cleared  away  in  the  vicinity  of  the  foi tification. 

*  Dr.  Holland  says,  in  regard  to  the  iialisades,  "  After  the  completion  of  these 
works  the  troops  at  Hadley  were  called  off  to  Connecticut  and  the  East,  a  suffi- 
cient number  being  left  to  garrison  the  several  towns."  (Hist,  of  West.  Mass., 
Vol.  I.  p.  109.)  The  fortification  was  not  complfti'd  when  the  vote  was  taken,  Feb. 
11,  16T6.    The  troops  withdrew  in  November  previous. 

t  Capt.  Turner  proceeded  to  Noithampton.  There  were  then  left  in  Hadley 
one  Connecticut  company,  under  Capt.  Whil)l)le,  and  two  Massachusetts  compa- 
nies, under  Capt.  Oillani,— all  under  Maj.  Savage. 

t  Mr.  Judd  exclaims  at  the  extravagant  figures:  "  iOUU  Indian  warriors! 
Strange  delusion  !    Thei-e  may  have  been  3tHl  or  4t)0." 


except  Springfield  and  Hadley  should  be  abandoned,  and  their 
inhabitants  gathered  into  these  two  towns  for  purposes  of  de- 
fense. The  council  claimed  that  "to  remain  in  such  a  scattered 
state  is  to  expose  lives  and  estates  to  the  merciless  cruelty  of 
the  enemy."  The  appeal  was  futile;  the  faith  and  courage 
which  planted,  if  they  had  before  wavered,  now  arose  firmly 
to  maintain  the  several  towns  in  their  integrity. 

The  later  events  of  tliis  war  now  hurried  on.  About  the 
1st  of  April  a  number  of  the  residents  of  Hadley  proceeded 
to  Hockanum,  with  a  guard  of  soldiers,  to  work  in  the  fields. 
They  were  assailed  from  an  ambush  by  a  party  of  Indians, 
who  killed  Deacon  Richard  Goodman  and  two  of  the  soldiers, 
and  captured  a  third  soldier,  named  Thomas  Reed.?  Those 
killed  and  captured  seem  to  have  gone  apart  from  the  others. 

Near  the  time  of  this  incident — on  the  1st  of  April — most 
of  the  troops  left  Hadley,  under  Maj.  Savage,  who  allowed 
151  soldiers  to  remain  in  charge  of  Capt.  Turner.  Of  these 
51  were  stationed  at  Hadley,  46  at  Northampton,  45  at  Hat- 
field, and  9  at  Springfield.  Some  of  Capt.  Appleton's  troops 
left  the  preceding  November  yet  remained.  These  soldiers 
were  allowed  to  remain,  doubtle.ss,  upon  condition  that  the 
towns  should  support  them,  the  offer  of  Northampton,  "to 
diet  them  freely  and  pay  their  wages,"  having  been  accepted 
by  the  council. 

The  Indians,  having  been  emboldened  by  the  cessation  of 
active  campaigning  against  them,  and  by  the  withdrawal  of 
troops,  again  occupied  the  planting-grounds  at  Deerfield.  Mr. 
Russell  wrote  to  the  council,  May  15th,  concerning  this,  and 
gave  other  information  as  coming  from  Thomas  Reed,  who 
had  efiected  his  escape,  and  adds  : 

"  lie  saith  fui  titer,  that  they  dwell  at  the  falls,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,— are 
a  considerable  number,  yet  most  of  them  old  men  and  old  women.  He  cannot 
judge  that  there  are,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  above  CO  or  70  fighting-men. 
They  are  secure  and  scornful,  boasting  of  great  tilings  they  have  done  and  will 
do,  .  .  .  This  being  the  state  of  things,  we  think  the  Lord  calls  us  to  make  some 
tl  ial  what  may  be  done  against  them  suddenly,  without  further  delay,  and  there- 
fore the  concurring  resolution  of  men  here  seems  to  be  to  go  out  against  them 
to-morrow  night,  so  as  to  be  with  them,  the  Lord  assisting,  before  break  of  day. 
We  need  guidance  and  help  from  heaven." 

He  says,  in  postscript,  sagely  : 

"  .Vltho'  this  man  speaks  of  their  number  as  he  judgeth,  yet  they  may  be  many 
more,  for  we  perceive  their  number  varies,  and  they  are  going  and  coming,  so 
that  there  is  no  trust  to  his  guess." 

The  proposed  expedition  against  the  Indian?  was  under- 
taken on  the  evening  of  the  18th  of  May||  by  a  body  of  about 
100  mounted  men,  from  the  several  towns,  under  Capt. 
Tunii-r.  Tlio  rosuUing  tight  the  following  dtvy,  at  what  is 
now  known  as  Turner's  Falls,  with  its  triumphant  begin- 
ning and,  in  some  respects,  calamitous  ending,  is  described 
elsewliere  in  this  volume.  Capt.  Turner  was  shot  while  cross- 
ing Green  River  upon  the  return  march,  and  38  soldiers 
were  .slain,  all  except  one  after  leaving  the  falls. 

The  following  residents  of  Hadley  were  in  the  "Falls  fight;" 
Sergts.  Joseph  Kellogg  and  John  Dickinson,  Samuel  Bolt- 
wood,  Noah  Coleman,  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  Isaac  Harrison, 
John  Ingram,  John  Smith,  Joseph  Selden,  Joseph  Warriner, 
Tliomas  Wells,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Wells,1f  David  Hoyt,  Samuel 

a  Mrs.  Iljwlandsou,  the  wife  of  the  minister  at  Lanca.'tor,  who  w.as  captured 
at  that  phwe  on  the  lOth  of  February,  1076,  and  who,  at  the  time  of  the  affair  at 
llockanum,  was  with  tlie  Indians  above  Northfielil,  says,  in  her  published  ac- 
ciuint,  "  About  this  time  the  Indians  came  yelping  from  lladley,  having  there 
killed  tliree  Englishmen,  and  brought  one  caittive,  Thomas  lleeJ.  They  all 
gathered  about  thi-  poor  man,  asking  him  many  questions." 

II  Not  the  17tli,  as  often  erroneously  stated.  The  records  of  Northampton  and 
Hatfield,  ils  well  as  the  narratives  of  Hope  .itheiton  and  Jonatliau  Wells,  show 
tliat  tiie  conflict  was  on  the  loth  of  May. 

If  .loiiatlian  Wells,  according  to  Dr.  Holland,  was  a  resident  of  Hatfield ;  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  .ludd,  a  resident  of  Hadley,  and  subsequently  of  Deerfield.  Mr. 
Wells  was  crippled  in  the  fight  by  a  shot  which  fractured  his  thigh,  and,keeping 
his  saddle,  accompanied  as  best  he  could  the  retreating  parties  of  soldiers.  He 
became  bewildered  in  the  woods,  wdiile  in  the  company  of  one  .Jones,  also 
wounded,  and  finally  fell  exhausted  from  his  lioree.  I'sing  his  gun  for  a  sup- 
jwrt,  he  pui-sued  his  painful  journey,  unfortunately  in  the  wrong  direction,  but 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


341 


Crow,  Peter  Montague,  and  Eliczor  Hawks ;  also  Nathaniel 
Sutliffe,  who  had  lived  in  Deerfleld.  John  Preston,  who  had 
enlisted  under  Capt.  Turner,  was  also  from  Hadlej-,  or  after- 
ward settled  there.  Harrison  and  Sutliffe  were  slain,  and 
Jolin  Dickinson  and  Samuel  Crow  prohably. 

The  descendants  of  G8  Hampshire  men  who  participated 
in  this  battle  were  awarded,  in  17315,  as  many  shares  of  land 
in  Falltown,  now  Bernardston  ;  and  fifteen  of  the  shares  fell 
to  representatives  of  the  volunteers  from  Hadley. 

Notwithstanding  the  loss  of  a  large  number  of  their  war- 
riors in  the  fight  of  May  19th,  the  Indians  soon  took  the  of- 
fensive, and  on  the  eleventh  day  thereafter  appeared  at  Hat- 
field, where  they  fired  several  houses  and  barns  "without  the 
fortification,"  and  did  other  damage.  "Twenty-five  active 
and  resolute  men,"  wrote  Mr.  Mather,  "  went  from  Hadley  to 
relieve  their  distressed  brethren.  The  Indians  shot  at  them 
ere  they  could  get  out  of  the  boat,  and  wounded  one  of  them." 
One  of  the  twenty-five  was  slain, — "a  precious  young  man, 
whose  name  was  Smith,*  that  place  (Hadley)  having  lost 
many  in  losing  that  one  man." 

The  forces  in  Hadley  were  augmented  by  the  arrival  there, 
on  the  8th  of  June,  of  Maj.  John  Talcott,  in  command  of  2oO 
mounted  men  and  200  friendly  Indians.  A  part  of  these  forces 
proceeded  to  Northampton.  The  advent  of  these  mounted 
men  and  Indians,  according  to  Mr.  Judd,  created  a  profound 
sensation  in  Hadley.     He  says  : 

" The  ludians  were  Peqitots,  Moliicftnn^  Ni'niticl-K^  Indiane  fruin  IIiu tfuid  Cimiity, 
and  some  from  Fairfield.  They  foruieil  a  motley  a^isemblage ;  their  dress  and 
arms  were  various,  and  their  decorations  diversified  and  iuntastie.  A  collection 
of  200  fi  iendly  Indian  warrijrs  was  a  sight  which  tlie  inhabitants  of  these  towns 
never  saw  before." 

Capt.  Swain,  after  the  death  of  Capt.  Turner,  was  sent  to 
take  the  command  in  Hadley.  Maj.  Talcott  made  his  head- 
quarters at  Northampton. 

At  this  period  the  towns — especially  Northampton  and 
Hadley — possessed  ample  means  of  defense.  Both  towns  had 
palisades,  and  were  strongly  garrisoned  not  only,  but  contained 
surplus  troops,  intended  for  an  active  campaign  against  the 
enemj'. 

The  Indians  were  probably  unaware  of  the  real  state  of 
affairs,  and  on  the  r2th  of  June  appeared  at  Hadley  and  made 
an  attack  upon  the  town.  A  contemporaneous  writer.  Rev. 
Increase  Mather,  gives  the  following  graphic  account : 

*'  June  12th  the  enemy  iissaulted  Hadley.  In  the  morning,  sun  an  hour  high, 
three  soldiens,  going  out  of  the  town  without  their  arms,  were  dissuaded  there- 
fiom  by  a  sergeant  who  stood  at  the  gate,  but  they,  alledging  that  they  intended 
not  to  go  far,  were  suffered  to  pass ;  w  ithin  awhile  the  sergeant  apprehended 
that  he  heard  some  men  running,  and  looking  over  the  tbitificatiou  he  saw 
twenty  Indians  pui-suiug  those  three  men,  who  were  so  teiTifted  ttiat  they  could 
not  cry  out, — two  of  them  were  at  last  killed,  and  the  other  so  mortally  wounded 
that  he  lived  not  above  two  or  three  days, — wherefore  the  sergeant  gave  the 
alarm.  God,  in  great  mercy  to  these  western  plantations,  had  so  ordered  by  his 
providence  that  the  Connecticut  army  was  come  thither  before  this  onset  from  the 
enemy.  Besides  English,  there  were  near  upon  two  hundred  Indians  in  Hadley, 
who  came  to  tight  with  and  for  the  English  against  the  common  enemy,  who 
Was  quickly  driven  off  at  the  south  end  of  the  town.  Whilst  our  men  were 
purauing  of  them  here,  on  a  sudden  a  great  swarm  of  Indians  issued  out  of  the 
bushes  and  made  their  main  assault  at  the  north  end  of  the  town  ;  they  tired  a  barn 
which  was  without  the  fortificati  in,  and  went  into  a  house  where  tlie  inhabitants 
discharged  a  great  gunf  upon  tliem,  whereupon  about  fifty  Indians  were  seen 
running  out  of  the  house  in  great  haste,  being  terribly  flighted  by  the  report 
and  slaughter  made  amongst  them  by  the  great  gun.  Ours  followed  the  enemy 
{whom  they  judged  to  be  about  five  hnndreil.  and,  by  Indian  report  since,  it 
seems  they  were  seven  hundred)  near  upon  two  miles,  aud  would  fain  have  pur- 
sued them  further,  but  they  had  no  orders  bo  to  do.    But  few  of  ours  lost  their 

was  admonished  in  a  sleep  which  came  upon  him  of  his  error,  and  changed 
his  course.  His  after-experience,  fraught  with  hair-breadth  escapes,  would  form 
alone  an  interesting  chapter. — T'lt/e  Dr.  Holland's  West.  Mass.,  Vol.  I.  p.  124. 

*  ".John  Smith,  of  Hadley,  so  highly  praised  by  Mather,  was  in  the  Falls  fight 
a  few  days  before.  He  was  a  son  of  Lieut.  Samuel  Smitli,  and  an  ancestor  of  the 
Hatfield  Smiths.  The  late  Oliver  Smith,  of  Hatfield,  the  most  wealthy  man  in 
Hampshire,  was  one  of  his  descendants." — Mi'.  Judd's  Hist.,  p.  17G,  note. 

t  Mr.  Judd,  commenting  upon  some  points  of  this  letter,  says,  "It  is  not 
known  when  and  where  Hadley  obtained  tins  'great  gun,'  which  was  only  a 
small  cannon;"  and  respecting  the  number  of  Indians,  "There  were  not  at  that 
time  seven  hundred  hostile  In  lian  warriors  in  Massachusetts.*' 


lives  in  this  skirmish,  nor  is  it  yet  known  how  many  the  enemy  lost  in  this 
fight.  The  English  could  find  but  three  dead  Indians,  yet  some  of  them  who 
have  been  informed  by  Indians,  that  while  the  Indian  men  were  thus  fighting 
against  Hadley  the  MoliaicJx  came  upon  their  headqujirters  and  smote  their 
women  and  children  with  a  great  slaughter,  and  then  returned  with  much 
I)luuder." 

According  to  this  account,  the  struggle  appears  to  have  been 
entirely  outside  the  palisades.  It  will  be  remembered  that  a 
niiinber  of  houses  at  the  north  end  were  not  inclosed  by  the 
fortification.  These  were  probably  the  ones  to  receive  the 
assault.     Says  Mr.  Judd: 

"  The  object  of  the  Indians  seems  to  have  been  to  plunder  and  destroy  with- 
out the  fortification,  as  at  Hatfield.  It  may  be  conjectured  that  a  part  of  them 
designed  to  cut  ofl'  those  that  went  down  to  work  in  Fort  and  Hockanum  mea- 
dows in  the  morning.  There  may  have  been  2oO  Indians  engaged  in  this  enter- 
prise.   They  were  our  river  Indians  and  other  Nijnnucks,  with  some  Narragansetis.^^ 

With  the  e.xception  of  an  attack  on  Hatfield  and  Deerfield, 
on  the  19th  of  September  in  the  succeeding  year,  1G77,  when 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  towns  were  killed  and 
others  taken  prisoners,  and  that  of  the  burning  of  the  Hadley 
grist-mill,  situated  on  Mill  River,  in  the  ensuing  October,  no 
further  events  of  moment  occurred  in  these  northern  towns 
during  this  war.  Nearly  all  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from 
Hadley  by  the  end  of  June,  1676,  only  a  small  garrison,  under 
Capt.  Swain,  retuaining.     These  also  left  before  September. 

The  cultivation  of  the  outlying  lands  during  the  war  was 
attended  with  danger,  and  those  most  remote  from  the  defenses 
were  not  tilled  in  1670. 

The  following  vote  of  the  town,  in  July  of  that  year,  suf- 
ficiently illustrates  the  situation.  Swords,  if  not  then  plow- 
shares, at  least  accompanied  the  implements  of  husbandry  : 

"Ordered,  that  during  the  time  of  cutting  and  inning  of  cornj  and-  grass  in 
Hockanum  and  Fort  Meadow,  there  shall  be  not  less  than  the  whole  number  of 
garrison  soldiers,  and  two  out  of  each  squadron,  or  eight  inhabitants,  left  to 
secure  the  town  as  a  garrison  every  day,  the  ordering  of  the  gari  ison  aforesaid 
to  be  under  the  inspection  of  the  captain  of  the  gal'lison  soldiers  and  Lieut. 
Smith.  Ordered,  that  no  less  than  forty  nor  more  than  fifty  men  presume  to  go 
to  labor  in  Hockanum  or  Fort  Meadow,  as  to  harvest-work  ;  .and  this  number  they 
shall  dispose  of  in  the  best  manner  for  their  security  and  safety;  and  on  those 
days  when  such  a  part  are  working,  either  in  Hockanum  or  Fort  Meadow, 
no  person  shall  then  be  w'orking  in  the  Great  Meadow,  but  the  rest  are  to  abide 
in  the  town  as  a  security,  under  a  penalty  of  three  shillings.  To-morrow,  July 
loth,  shall  be  the  day  for  going  to  Hockanum,  the  20th  into  the  Great  Meadow, 
the  21st  into  Hockanum,  and  so  the  week  following." 

During  the  winter  of  1675-7G,  and  until  the  following  May, 
the  northern  towns  paid  their  own  soldiers  who  were  engaged 
in  garrison  duty,  and  their  maintenance  was  no  light  burden. g 
Eev.  Mr.  Eussell  entertained  the  chief  officers  at  his  own 
house,  and,  after  two  petitions  in  his  behalf, — one  of  which 
Wits  signed  by  his  wife,  Rebecca  Russell, — was  partly,  if  not 
wholly,  reimbursed  for  his  outlay,  amounting  to  £18  13s.  8d. 
The  keeping  of  these  officers  "  called  for  provisions  answerable, 
and  was  of  the  best  to  be  had  ;''  and,  say  the  petitioners,  he 
had  "  to  draw  divers  barrels  of  beer,  and  much  wine  and  fruit 
suitable  to  the  company ;  and  had  no  more  credit  for  such 
company  by  the  week  or  meal  than  other  men  for  ordinary 
entertainment,"  and  caused  "  great  cumber,  trouble,  and  bur- 
den upon  his  wife." 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  judges,  Whalley  and 
Gofte,  who  had  so  long  been  harbored  by  Mr.  Russell,  were 
not  among  the  number  of  his  guests  at  this  period. || 

TRADITION     CONCEKXtNG      OENER.^L      GOFFE,     THE     "  HADLEY 
ANGEL." 

Local  traditions  concerning  alleged  local  events,  whether 
or  not  sustained  by  known  facts  of  history,  are  believed  to 

I  Wheat  is  meant. 

g  "  Samuel  Porter  took  care  of  most  of  the  wounded  soldiei-s  at  Hadley,  and 
laid  out  much  for  their  provision  and  comfort.  So  says  the  record  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  September,  107G.  There  was  due  him,  for  what  he  bad  expended  on 
the  country's  account,  about  £200.  Eichard  Montague  baked  for  the  soldiers, 
aud  Timothy  Nash  repaired  their  arms."— Mr.  Judd's  Hist.,  p.  102. 

I]  Mr.  Judd  says  the  judges  "  were  undoubtedly  at  Peter  Tilton's  and  Lieut. 
Samuel  Smith's  during  the  war.  They  could  not  have  been  concealed  at  Mr. 
RusseU's." 


342 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


have  some  occasion  for  their  origin  outside  the  mere  imagin- 
ings of  men,  and  are  entitled  to  a  place  in  the  annals  of  the 
historian.  Such  a  tradition,  claiming  that,  on  a  given  occa- 
sion when  Hadley  was  beset  by  the  savages,  a  mysterious 
stranger  appeared,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  defense  of  the 
town,  and  suddenly  disappeared,  and  that  the  people  believed 
an  angel  had  been  sent  for  their  deliverance,  in  the  person  of 
that  stranger,  has  been  variously  nari-ated  by  writers  of  New 
England  history. 

It  was  nearly  one  hundred  years  after  the  affair  that  it  is 
supposed  gave  rise  to  this  tradition  before  the  name  of  Gen. 
Goife  was  connected  with  it  in  any  published  document.  To 
this  phase  of  the  story  special  interest  attaches. 

Referring  to  the  preceding  pages,  it  will  be  observed  that 
Rev.  Increase  Mather  says  of  the  affair  at  Hadley,  on  Sept.  1, 
1773,  the  people  "  were  driven  from  the  holy  service  they  were 
attending  by  a  violent  alurm,  which  routed  them  the  whole 
day  after." 

Gov.  Hutchinson,  in  his  "History  of  Massachusetts,"  pub- 
lished in  1764,  gives  the  following,  in  a  note,  and  says  it  is  an 
anecdote  handed  down  in  Gov.  Leverett's  family  : 

"  The  town  of  Hadley  was  alarmed  by  the  Indians  in  1G75,* 
in  the  time  of  public  worship,  and  the  people  were  in  the 
utmost  confusion.  Suddenly  a  grave,  elderly  person  appeared 
in  the  midst  of  them.  In  his  mien  and  dress  he  dift'ered  from 
the  rest  of  the  people.  He  not  only  encouraged  them  to 
defend  themselves,  but  put  himself  at  their  head,  rallied,  in- 
structed, and  led  them  on  to  encounter  the  enemy,  who  by 
this  means  were  repulsed.  As  suddenly  the  deliverer  of  Had- 
ley disappeared.  The  people  were  left  in  consternation,  utterly 
unable  to  account  for  this  strange  phenomenon.  It  is  not 
probable  that  they  were  ever  able  to  explain  it.  If  Goffe  had 
been  then  discovered,  it  must  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
those  persons  who  declare  by  their  letters  that  they  never 
knew  what  became  of  him." 

Next  in  order  is  the  version  of  the  angel  story  as  related  by 
President  Stiles  in  his  "History  of  the  Three  Judges,"  pub- 
lished in  1794 : 

"  Though  tijld  with  some  v;ui;itiun  in  difft-nent  parts  of  New  Englaud,  tlie  true 
story  of  the  angel  is  this :  That  pious  congregation  were  obsening  a  fa.st  at  Had- 
ley, on  occasion  of  the  war,  and  heing  at  public  worship  in  the  meeting-house 
there,  on  a  fast-d.iy,  Sept.  1, 1075,  were  suddenly  surrounded  and  surprised  by  a 
body  of  Indians.f  It  w.ts  the  usage  in  tlic  frontier  towns,  and  even  at  New 
Haven,  in  those  Indian  wars,  forasclect  number  of  tliecougreg.ation  to  go  armed 
to  public  woi-sliip.  It  was  so  at  Hadley  at  this  time.  The  people  immediately 
tjok  to  tlieir  arms,  but  were  thrown  iuto  great  consternation  and  confusion. 
Had  Hadley  been  taken,  the  discovery  of  tlie  judges  had  been  iuevit.able.  Sutl- 
deijly,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  peojde,  there  appeared  a  man  of  a  very  venerable 
aspect,  and  diO'erent  from  the  inhabitants  in  his  apparel,  who  took  the  command, 
arranged  and  ordered  them  in  the  best  military  manner,  and  under  his  direc- 
tion they  repelled  and  i-outed  the  Indians,  and  the  town  was  saved.  He  imme- 
diately vanished,  and  the  inhabitants  could  not  account  for  the  phenomenon  but 
by  considering  th.at  person  as  an  angel  sent  of  God  upon  that  special  occasion  for 
their  deliverance,  and  for  some  time  after  said  and  believed  fhat  they  had  been 
delivered  and  saved  by  an  angel.  Nor  did  they  know  or  conceive  otherwise  till 
tifteen  or  twenty  years  after,  when  it  at  length  became  known  at  Hadley  that 
the  two  judges  had  been  secreted  there,  which,  probably,  they  did  not  know  till 
after  Mr.  RusselPs  death,  in  1092.  This  story,  however,  of  the  angel  at  Hadley, 
was  before  this  univei-sally  diffused  through  New  England  by  means  of  the  mem- 
orable Indian  war  of  lG"o.  The  mystery  was  unriddled  after  the  Bevolution,t 
when  it  became  not  so  very  dangerous  to  have  it  known  that  the  judges  had 
received  an  asylum  here,  and  that  Goffe  w.as  actually  in  Hadley  at  that  time. 
The  angel  was  certainly  Gen.  Goffe,  for  Whalley  was  superannuated  in  1075." 

By  the  pens  of  later  writers  the  story  has  been  considerablv 
amiiHHed  and  embellished,  attaining  its  maximum  of  romantic 
detail  in  "  Palfrey's  History  of  New  England,"  1865.  An  in- 
teresting modification  is  introduced  by  John  Farmer,  secre- 
tary of  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  who  spices  his 
sketch  with  the  statement  that  Gen.  Goffe,  who  saw  the 
enemy  approaching  the  meeting-house,  "  knowing  the  peril  of 


*  Governor  Hutchinson  gives  the  precise  date  as  Sept.  1,  IC75. 
fMr.  Judd  says,  "  President  Stiles  errs  in  supposing  the  meeting-house  was 
!?urrounded  by  Indians." 
\  Itevolution  in  Englauil. 


the  congregation,  felt  constrained  to  give  them  notice,  although 
it  might  lead  to  the  discovery  of  his  character  and  his  place  of 
concealment.  He  went  in  haste  to  the  house  of  God,  apprised 
the  assembly  that  the  enemy  were  near,  and  that  preparation 
must  immediately  be  made  for  defense." 

Other  accounts  of  this  transaction  have  been  given  by  the 
following:  Gen.  Epaphras  Hoyt,  of  Deeriield,  1824,  in  "Anti- 
quarian Researches  ;"  Holmes,  in  "Annals  of  America;"  Dr. 
J.  G.  Holland,  in  "  History  of  Western  Massachusetts,"  185-5; 
Rev.  Dr.  Huntington,  in  his  address  at  Hadley's  Bi-Centen- 
nial  Celebration,  June  8,  1859;  Sylvester  Judd,  in  "History 
of  Hadley,"  published  in  1863.  Two  of  these,  Gen.  Hoyt 
and  Dr.  Holland,  connect  the  tradition  with  the  attack  on 
Hadley  by  the  Indians,  June  12,  1676,  thus  dift'ering  from 
other  writers. 

He  would  seem  a  bold  innovator  indeed  who,  after  the  lapse 
of  more  than  two  centuries,  ventured  to  question  the  verity  of 
any  alleged  fact  of  history  which  had  met  with  such  nearly  uni- 
versal acceptance,  and  been  sustained  by  so  formidable  an  array 
of  historians.  So  bold  a  writer  has  come  forth,  in  the  person 
of  Hon.  George  Sheldon,  of  Deerfield,  who,  in  May,  1874,  in  a 
paper  read  before  the  Pocumtuck  Valley  Memorial  Associa- 
tion, entered  upon  a  sharp  analysis  of  the  original  and  suc- 
ceeding accounts,  as  noted  above,  and  ventured  the  opinion 
that  not  only  was  the  a.sserted  defense  by  Goffe  a  myth,  but 
that  there  was  no  attack  on  Hadley  Sept.  1,  1075. 

Mr.  Sheldon  says,  in  substance,  respecting  the  attack,  that 
it  has  no  verification  in  contemporaneous  history  ;  that  Hutch- 
inson, notwithstanding  his  possession  of  Goffe's  diary, |  gives 
the  story  as  an  "anecdote  handed  down  in  Gov.  Leverett's 
family;"  and  that  all  the  later  accounts  are  traceable  ton 
common  source, — the  "alarm"  as  recorded  bj'  Mather.  Re- 
specting the  account  given  by  Hadley's  able  historian,  Mr. 
Sheldon  says  : 

"  Sylvester  Judd,  the  most  noted  antiquary  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  writing 
one  hundred  yeai"s  later  than  Hutchinson,  criticises  sharply  the  account  by 
Stiles,  tiiiuks  Hoyt  mistook  the  date  of  the  occurrence,  aud  says  :  'The  attack 
wjis  undoubtedly  upon  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  probably  at  the  north  end. 
The  approach  of  the  Indians  may  have  been  observed  by  Goffe  from  Iiischamber, 
which  had  a  window  toward  the  east.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  there  was 
a  large  body  of  Indians,  but  the  people,  being  unaccustomed  t  j  war,  needed  Goffe 
to  arrange  and  order  them.  The  Indians  appear  to  have  fled  after  a  short  skir- 
mish.' Thus  the  proportions  of  the  story  are  reduced  by  Judd.  Tlic  meeting- 
house was  not  surrounded,  the  attack  was  at  the  noitli  end  of  the  town,  and 
there  was  but  a  slight  skirmish,  after  all !"  Mr.  Sheldon  concludes  that  the 
alarm  of  Septenrber  proceeded  from  an  attack  on  Deerfield,  which  occurred  on 
tlnit  day  ;  that  in  the  real  attack,  June  12,  1070,  there  was  no  need  of  angelic 
interposition,  as  Hadley  was  then  provided  with  ample  means  of  defense;  and 
that  "Gen.  Goffe  knew  that  Hadley  was  in  no  danger  of  capture,  and  tli.at  there 
was  no  occasion  for  leaving  his  hiding-place,  thereby  exposing  himself,  his  com- 
panion in  e.\ile,  and  his  generous  protector's  to  certain  destruction." 

Mr.  Sheldon  also  notes  the  absence  of  any  "anecdote"  or 
tradition  in  the  families  of  those  who  were  present  and  eye- 
witnesses of  the  events  of  the  time. 

This  view  of  the  subject  would  appear  to  be  strengthened 
by  the  fact  that  the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  in  his  communi- 
cation to  Mr.  Mather,  Sept.  15,  1676,  given  minute  detail  of 
the  events  which  occurred  in  the  valley,  inclusive  of  those  at 
Hadley,  from  August  24th  preceding  to  the  date  of  his  letter, 
yet  mentions  no  attack  upon  that  town.  The  claim  by  Mr. 
Judd  respecting  the  affair  of  September  1st — that  Mather  dare 
not  publish  more  in  1G76,  and  that  Hubbard,  who  "did  not 
mention  the  fight,"  was  silent  for  prudential  reasons— is  some- 
what gratuitous  in  the  light  of  Mr.  Mather's  unreserved  ac- 
count of  the  assault  of  June  12th ;  for  history  seems  equally 
divided  as  to  the  date  of  the  angel's  advent.  Goffe's  exposure 
at  either  time  was  equally  dangerous.  Moreover,  Mr.  Judd 
overlooked  the  fact  that  the  "window  toward  the  east,"  at 
Mr.  Russell's,  could  not  aid  the  judges'  vision  while  residing 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Tilton  or  Lieut.  Smith.  Mr.  Judd  him- 
self had  said  that  during  the  war  the  judges  "  could  not  have 


§  VitU  chapter  on  the  "  Regicides." 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


343 


been  concealed  at  Mr.  Russell's."  It  is  noticeable  that  none 
of  the  accounts  respecting  the  "  fight''  of  September  1st  men- 
tion the  firing  of  a  single  gun,  or  the  wounding  or  killing  of 
any  soldiers  or  savages.  There  is  a  masterly  marching  to  and 
fro,  but  no  slaughter. 

Granting  the  exigence,  either  on  September  1st  or  June 
12th,*  it  might  readily  be  admitted  that  Gott'e — brave,  deter- 
mined, and  noble — would  have  become  the  angel  of  Hadley, 
as  he  was  its  most  noted  guest  save  one.  Such  a  crisis  would 
be  a  reasonable  basis  fur  the  tradition,  but  the  latter  may  not 
be  used  to  prove  the  existence  of  the  former.  May  not  the 
absorbing  legend  be  referable  to  some  other  origin  ? 

King  William'ti  War. — The  Prench-and-Indian  or  King 
William's  war,  1688  to  1698,  did  not  materially  affect  the 
inhabitants  of  Hadley.  They  had  repaired  their  fortifica- 
tions, and  were  not  molested  by  the  marauding  bands  of  In- 
dians.f  These  again  caused  the  abandonment  of  Northfield 
in  the  spring  of  1690,  when  Hadley  became  once  more  the 
frontier  town  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut.  While 
themselves  exempt  from  assault,  the  good  people  of  Hadley 
did  not  withhold  the  helping  hand  from  their  sufl'ering  neigh- 
bors at  Northfield,  Deerfield,  Hatfield,  and  Brookfield.  .John 
Lawrence,  of  Brookfield,  after  the  serious  affair  at  that  place, 
July  27,  1693,  in  which  several  were  killed  and  others,  includ- 
ing his  brother  Thomas  and  the  wife  of  Joseph  Mason,  taken 
captive,  hastened  to  Springfield  for  assistance.  A  company, 
in  which  were  Hadley  men,  at  once  set  out  in  pursuit  of  the 
Indians,  and  succeeded  in  rescuing  the  prisoners.  They  also 
"brought  away  9  guns,  20  hatchets,  4  cutlasses,  16  or  18 
horns  of  powder,  and  2  barks  full  of  powder,  neatly  covered." 
John  Lawrence  had  previously  resided  in  Hadley,  and  from 
him  "Lawrence's  Bridge"  and  "Lawrence's  Plain"  were 
named. 

Queen  Anne's  IlVr,  1703  to  1713,  is  memorable  for  the 
attack  on  the  unhappy  village  of  Deerfield,  on  the  29th  of 
Februarj',  1701,  by  a  large  body  of  French  and  Indians  under 
Maj.  Hertel  de  Kouville.  The  town  was  nearly  destroyed. 
Fire  and  sword  and  tomahawk  achieved  a  melancholy  suc- 
cess. The  news  quickly  spread,  and  a  force  was  rallied  for 
the  pursuit,  resulting  in  a  sharp  skirmish  at  a  place  called 
Petty 's  Plain.  Fourteen  residents  of  Hadley  were  in  this 
fight,  as  follows :  Sergt.  Saml.  Boltwood  and  his  son  Kobert,]: 
Jonathan  Ingram  and  Nathaniel  AVarner,  Jr.,  all  killed; 
Samuel  Boltwood,  Jr.,  wounded  in  the  arm;  Bcnj.  Church, 
wounded  in  the  foot;  .John  Montague,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  Selden, 
Nathaniel  White,  Jr.,  Thomas  Hovey,  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
Samuel  Crowfoot,  John  Marsh.  Besides  these  were  Thomas 
Selden,  who  was  slain  in  the  town,  and  Joseph  Eastman,  who 
was  made  prisoner,  both  of  Hadley. 

After  this  calamity  a  strong  force  was  sent  to  the  river- 
towns,  including  Hadley,  provided  with  snow-shoes  for  a 
winter  campaign. 

The  Northern  Camjiaigns  were  strongly  supported  by  the 
people  of  Hampshire,  1754  to  1760,  and  the  town  of  Hadley 
furnished  many  soldiers  during  their  continuance. 

In  the  Crown  Point  expedition  of  1755,  among  the  officei's 
under  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  was  Capt.  Moses  Porter,^  of 

*  The  event  upon  which  the  whole  story  is  founded  is  explicitly  stated  by  Gov. 
Hutchinson  to  be  that  of  Sept.  1, 1675.  It  is  difficult  to  see  by  what  authority 
subsequent  writers  have  adopted  a  different  date  in  order  to  secure  a  sufficient 
baaia  for  the  story  they  had  to  tell, — viz.,  the  attack  of  June  12th. 

t  The  east  palisade  was  replaced  in  1690.  In  March,  1691,  the  inhabitants 
voted  to  "  repair  the  "old  gariison-htmses  and  the  east  foitification,  and  to  con- 
tinue scouting  in  the  woods." 

X  Mr.  Judd  gives  the  names  of  William  Boltwood,  son  of  Sergt.  Samuel  Bidt- 
wood,  of  Hadley,  among  those  who  had  been  in  Canada  during  this  war.  He 
"  died  below  Quebec,  Aug.  27, 1714,  on  his  return.  He  had  been  a  captive,  or  per- 
haps an  aid  in  recovering  captives." 

g  Mr.  Judd  makes  the  following  note:  "The  late  Lieut.  Enos  Smith,  of  Had- 
ley, iuformed  me  that  he  saw  Capt.  Porter  when  he  left  Hadley  for  Albany,  iu 
the  spring  of  1755.  His  militarj'  dress  appeared  to  Smith,  then  nine  or  ten 
years  old,  very  rich  and  showy.    Capt.  Porter  was  slain  by  the  Indians,  and  his 


Hadley,  great-grandson  of  Samuel  Porter,  a  first  settler.  On 
the  8th  of  September,  when  the  English  army,  under  Gen. 
Johnson,  had  reached  Lake  George,  that  oflicer,  wishing  to 
intercept  the  French  and  Indians,  who  had  threatened  Fort 
Edward,  despatched  Col.  Williams,  with  1000  men  and  200 
Mohawk  Indians,  for  the  purpose.  Instead  of  attacking  the 
fort,  the  forces  of  Dieskau  had  marched  on  to  meet  the  Eng- 
lish, under  Johnson,  and  were  but  a  few  miles  distant.  Col. 
Williams'  movement  had  been  discovered,  and  an  ambuscade 
prepared,  into  which  he  unwittingly  marched  his  troops.  In 
the  bloody  conflict  that  ensued  the  English  loss  was  severe, 
and  among  those  who  fell  were  Capt.  Porter,  Ensign  Wait, 
and  Henry  Bartlett,  of  Hadley. 

The  following  were  in  the  service  from  Hadley,  at  or  near 
the  times  indicated :  Capt.  Moses  Porter,  1755,  slain  Septem- 
ber 8th  ;  Ensign  Joshua  Ballard,  1755,  lieutenant,  1759;  pri- 
vates, 1755,  John  Clark  and  William  Clark, — sons  of  John, 
Sr., — Hezekiah  Hubbard,  Eliakim  Smith,  Benjamin  Knights, 
Joseph  Alexander,  Henry  Bartlett,  .slain,  Nathaniel  Church, 
Jr.,  John  Eastman;  1756,  William  White,  Elisha  Smith, 
Joseph  Wright,  Jabez  Cook,  John  Clark,  Sr.,  Azariah  Selden, 
Samuel  McNeill,  Josiah  Smith;  1757,  John  White,  Jr., 
Matthias  Kelsey,  John  Brooks ;  1758,  Aaron  Cook,  John 
Bartlett,  died,  David  Crosby,  died,  Edmund  Hubbard,  Eben- 
ezer Stearnes,  died,  Daniel  White,  Stephen  Coats,  Timothy 
Nash,  Thomas  Selden;  1759,  Eobert  Emmons,  James  Mea- 
cham,  Samuel  Catliii,  Jr.,  John  Mills,  Samuel  Cook,  Caleb 
Lyman,  Benjamin  Smith  (2d),  Elisha  Smith  (2d),  Timothy 
Church,  Kichard  Church,  Jr. ;  1760,  Cotton  Gaylord,  Oliver 
Bartlett,  Nathaniel  Fox,  Warham  Smith,  Jonathan  Jones, 
died,  Oliver  Thomas  ;  1761,  Ephraim  Wheeler,  Aaron  Cleave- 
land  ;  1762,  William  Farrand. 

The  alarm  occasioned  by  the  massacre  at  Fort  William 
Henry,  in  August,  1757,  and  by  other  causes,  aroused  the 
militia  of  the  colony,  and  among  those  who  marched  forth 
from  Hadle)-,  to  do  service  to  the  westward,  were  Capt.  Moses 
Mar.sh,  Ensign  Eleazer  Porter,  Sergts.  Elisha  Cook,  Jonathan 
Cook,  and  Josiah  Dickinson,  one  corporal,  and  thirty-eight 
privates.     Thev  were  out  twelve  days. 

MILITIA. 

The  militia  of  Hadley  were  organized  about  the  year  1661. 
In  May  of  that  year  steps  were  taken  to  secure  a  drum  and 
a  stand  of  colois,  and  for  holding  a  "training  on  the  16th 
inst."  The  olficers  of  the  train-band,  in  1663,  were  Samuel 
Smith,  Lieutenant;  John  Kussell,  Sr.,  Clerk;  Kichard  Good- 
man, John  Dickinson,  and  Joseph  Kellogg,  Sergeants  ;  Aaron 
Cooke,  Jr.,  Ensign-bearer.  Smith  and  Cooke  served  in  their 
respective  positions  about  fifteen  years,  when  the  former,  at 
eighty  years  of  age,  was  relieved.  The  band  was  reorganized 
with  Aaron  Cooke,  Jr.,  as  Captain ;  Philip  Smith,  Lieutenant ; 
and  Joseph  Kellogg,  Ensign.  Cooke  served  as  captain  for 
thirty-five  years,  to  the  age  of  seventy-three.  Kellogg  became 
lieutenant,  and  Timothy  Na.sh  ensign,  in  1679,  and  the 
latter  lieutenant,  with  Chileab  Smith  for  ensign,  in  1692,  or 
near  that  time.  The  colors,  with  staft',  tassel,  and  top,  were 
purchased  of  Mr.  Pynchon,  and  cost  X5. 

Horsemen. — The  "troope"  of  cavalry  for  Hampshire  was 

dress  became  their  prey.  He  left  a  wife,  a  daughter  (who  married  Charles 
Phelps,  Esq.),  and  a  good  estate.  He  had  recently  erected  a  handsome  house, 
about  two  miles  noith  of  the  village,  on  'Forty  Acres,'  so  called,  and  he  owned 
aboutSOO  acres  in  and  near  Forty-Acre  Field  and  on  Mount  Warner.  His  house 
and  barn  were  raised  May  27,  1762,  and  he  and  his  family  removed  to  (his  place 
Dec.  5,  1752.  This  house,  built  one  hunib-od  and  seven  years  since,  is  occupied 
by  Rev.  Ban  HuntingtoD,  who  married  the  daughter  of  Charles  Phelps,  and  it  is 
still  a  convenient  mansion  of  respectable  appearance.  Chailes  put  on  the  pres- 
ent mansard  or  gambrel  roof,  and  made  other  alterations.  He  added  to  Capt. 
Porter's  farm  until  lie  had  alxiut  COO  acres.  This  farm  was  noticed  by  President 
Dwiglit,  and  he  declared  this  estate  to  be  'the  most  desirable  possession  of  the 
same  kind  and  extent  within  my  knowledge."  Mr.  Phelps  gave  it  to  his  son, 
the  late  Charles  P.  Phelps,  Esq.,  and  to  bis  daughtiT,  the  late  Elizabeth  W. 
Huntington." 


344 


HISTORY  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


formed  in  March,  1663,  with  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield, 
as  Captain;  David  Wilton,  of  Northampton,  Lieutenant ;  "Wil- 
liam Allis,  of  Hadley,  Cornet ;  and  Henry  Woodward,  of 
Northampton,  and  George  Colton,  of  Springfield,  Quarter- 
masters. The  Hadley  troopers  were  Mr.  Henry  Clark,  Wil- 
liam Lewis,  Thomas  Coleman,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr., 
Thomas  Dickinson,  Philip  Smith,  Andrew  Warner,  Samuel 
Billing,  John  Coleman,  William  Allis ;  the  last  three  from 
the  west  of  the  river.  This  numhcr,  10,  increased  to  14  in 
1669,  but  dwindled  to  7  in  1674.  Philip  Smith  became  Lieu- 
tenant in  1678;  Samuel  Partrigg,  Quartermaster,  in  1683; 
and  Nehemiah  Dickinson,  Cornet,  in  168-5.* 

Militia,  in  1775. — The  following  contains  the  "  names  of 
effective  men  in  the  militia  :'  Elisha  Porter,  Captain  ;  Oliver 
Smith,  First  Lieutenant;  Eliakim  Smith,  Second  Lieutenant ; 
Caleb  Lyman,  Ensign;  Francis  Newton,  Warham  Smith, 
Isaac  Winter,  James  Meacham,  Robert  Crawford,  .John  Mon- 
tague, Maj.  E.  Porter,  Ens.  E.  Hubbard,  Mr.  Moses  Hubbard, 
Obed  Thurston,  John  Elwell,  Mr.  Hopkins,  Samuel  Gaylord, 
Jr.,  Elihu  Dickinson,  Ens.  E.  Cooke,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh, 
Daniel  Marsh,  William  Marsh,  Daniel  Marsh,  Jr.,  Ebenezer 
White,  Deacon  Eastman,  Joseph  Peek,  Mr.  Phineas  Lyman, 
Lieut.  Jonathan  Cooke,  Edward  Gay,  Mr.  Jonathan  Warner, 
Adjt.  Noadiah  Warner,  Peter  Montague,  Thomas  Gaylord, 
Stephen  Goodman,  Lieut.  Joshua  Ballard,  John  Davis,  Maj. 
I.  C.  Williams,  Timothy  Eastman,  Elisha  Dickinson,  Lemuel 
Warner,  John  Smith,  Mr.  Jonathan  Smith,  Seth  Smith,  Perez 
Smith,  Ebenezer  Marsh,  Mr.  Oliver  W^arner,  Mr.  Paul  Whit- 
ney, William  Jones,  Orange  W^arner,  Elihu  Warner,  Aaron 
Cooke,  Jabez  Cooke,  John  Cooke,  Joel  Kellogg,  Oliver  Shed, 
Jonathan  Ingram,  Elijah  Zebman  (or  Goodman),  Noah  Smith, 
David  Smith,  Moses  Cooke,  Giles  White,  Noah  Cooke,  Wind- 
sor Smith,  Thomas  Smith,  Nehemiah  Gaylord,  Gardner  Kel- 
logg, Benjamin  Bukman,  Whiting  Kellogg,  Dr.  Giles  C. 
Kellogg,  Robert  Cooke,  Josiah  Peirce,  Jr.,  Samuel  Peirce, 
Benjamin  Eddy,  Oliver  White,  Gideon  Warner,  John  Dick- 
inson, Dan  West,  John  Smith  (2d),  Enos  Smith,  Gideon 
Smith,  Timothy  Stockwell,  Joseph  Wright,  Nathaniel  White, 
Daniel  Worthington,  Nathaniel  Herriman,  Reuben  Coates, 
Charles  Coates,  Ebenezer  Pomroy,  Jr.,  Israel  Lyman,  David 
Wells,  Joseph  Alexander,  Jr.,  Mr.  Charles  Phelps,  Samuel 
Snell,  Benjamin  Smith  (lid),  Joshua  Burt,  Samuel  Dean,  Ne- 
hemiah Gaylord,  Jr.,  Simeon  Elwell,  Josiah  Nash,  Nicholas 
Bartlett,  Seth  Cooke,  John  Clarke,  Joseph  Blanchard,  Wind- 
sor Smith,  Jr.,  Oliver  Hastings,  Josiah  Cooke,  Azariah  Dick- 
inson, Silas  Farr,  privates, — making  108  of  the  militia. 

Minute-Men. — The  following  marched  on  the  Lexington 
alarm  in  the  compan}'  of  Capt.  Hezekiah  Hubbard. f  The 
command  of  the  companj'  within  a  short  time  devolved  upon 
Capt.  Eliakim  Smith,  who  was  promoted  from  a  second  lieuten- 
ancy in  the  Hadley  militia :  Hezekiah  Hubbard,  Captain ;  Moses 
Kellogg,  Lieutenant;  Enos  Nash,  Sergeant;  Perez  Cooke, 
Daniel  Dickinson,  Josiah  Goodrich,  Nathaniel  Montague, 
Stoughton  Dickinson,  Westward  C.  Wright,  Carmi  Wright, 
Elisha  Cooke,  Jr.,  Waitstill  Cooke,  Joseph  Marsh,  Samuel 
Marsh,  Anderson   Minor,  Isaac  Ely,  Phineas   Lyman,  Jr., 

*  "  "When  this  company  met  in  one  of  our  villages  for  e.\ercise  it  was  a  day  of 
excitement  for  the  young,  who  heard  the  shrill  trumpet,  and  admired  the  proud 
banner,  the  prancing  steeds,  and  the  gay  appearance  and  quick  motions  of  the 
men." — JndtVs  HUt.  p.  'I'll. 

t  Capt.  Hubbard  was  taken  sick  with  fever  before  the  company  marched,  and, 
after  an  illne.ss  of  about  a  week,  died  May  1, 1775.  Ilis  .successor,  Capt.  Smith, 
died  of  a  similar  fever  at  Watertowu,  in  the  following  August.  Capt.  Ilubbard 
was  married  in  17G0  t^i  Mabel,  daughter  of  Kdmund  Hubbard,  and  had  several 
children,  of  whom  I.nciiida,  the  eldest,  married  William  Jones,  in  17S0.  Their 
Hon,  John  Hubbard  Jones,  mjirried  Hannah  Warner,  and  had  children,  of  whom 
George  N.  enlisted  from  Hadley,  at  tlio  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  37th 
Regiment.  His  nephew,  John  Howard  Jewelt,  enlisted  in  the  lutli  Kcgimeut. 
These  two  were  the  only  male  descendants  of  Capt.  Hubbai'd,  then  in  H;ulley, 
who  were  capable  of  bearing  arms.  Through  the  courtesy  of  Miss  Sarah  L. 
Jones,  a  sister  of  George  X.,  these  lists  are  given.  The  originals,  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Col.  Elisha  Porter,  are  in  her  possession. 


Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  Joseph  Church,  William  Cooke,  Samuel 
Cooke,  Timothy  Cooke,  Chileab  Smith,  John  Montague,  Jr., 
Francis  Trayner,  Daniel  Bartlett,  Daniel  White,  Samuel 
Sheldon,  Oliver  Bartlett,  Timothy  Hammond,  Simon  Baker, 
Colman  Cooke,  Caleb  Williston,  privates.  This  list  is  entitled 
"  number  and  names  of  effective  men  of  the  Minute-Men." 

The  following  were  the  effective  men  "  in  the  artillery  com- 
pany :"  Thomas  Waite  Foster,  Captain  ;  Samuel  Cooke,  Tim- 
othy Marsh,  Moses  Clark,  David  White,  David  Peirce,  Wm. 
Peirce,  Simeon  Rood,  Oliver  White,  Jr.,  Oliver  Smith,  John 
Brooks,  Ethan  Pomroy,  Jabez  Elwell,  privates. 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  a  letter  from  Rev.  Samuel 
Hopkins,  D.D.,  to  Col.  Elisha  Porter,  then  with  the  forces  at 
Cambridge,  dated  May  14,  1775,  soon  after  the  death  of  Capt. 
Hubbard: 

*'  May  you  (according  to  your  desire)  have  wisdom  to  know  your  duty  and  bo 
enjibled  to  perform  it,  and  be  yourself  an  e-\ample  for  others  as  a  soldier  and  a 
Christian !  I  yet  hope  in  a  good  God  th.at  a  settled  civil  war  may  he  averted. 
May  the  country  omit  ncthing  that  may  and  ought  yet  to  be  done  to  prevent  so 
dreadful  a  scene,  of  no  benetit  to  us  or  the  present  state,  but  full  of  evil,  and  may 
be  of  y«  most  fatal  aiul  ruinous  consequence  to  both  !  'Tis  an'evil  and  Judgment 
wi»  may  continue  still  (and  shall  as  long  as  I  can  have  any  hope)  most  earnestly 
to  deprecate.  May  God  preserve  you  and  others,  paiticularly  those  that  went 
from  this  town,  my  neighbors,  and  of  the  flock  of  my  charge,  in  whatever  dan- 
ger you  are  or  may  be  in  !  They  and  you  have  my  prayers  to  God  for  this  if  it 
may  consist  with  his  will,  otherwise  to  be  prepared  for  whatever  is  before  you. 
You  and  they  can't  be  too  sensible  of  your  dependence  on  the  Lord  of  Life  and 
Great  preserver  of  men,  or  too  careful  to  be  in  his  fear  and  to  please  God,  and  that 
you  do  not  sin  against  him.  Capt.  Hubbard,  you've  heard,  is  gone.  We  ai'e  not 
secure  from  ye  arrest  of  Death  at  home." 

ANTE-KEVOLUTIOHAKV    MEASURES. 

The  inhabitants  of  Hadley  were  no  less  sensitive  than  their 
neighbors  of  the  lower  towns  to  the  interference  of  the  crown 
in  the  aflTairs  of  the  colonies, — no  less  sensitive  were  they  in 
regard  to  their  civil  than  in  what  concerned  their  religious 
rights.  All  were  ranged  on  the  side  of  freedom  as  opposed  to 
prerogative.  The  sending  of  commissioners  by  Charles  II.  to 
manage  or  "regulate"  affairs  in  New  England,  1664,  resulted 
in  a  conflict  of  jurisdiction  between  the  king's  representatives 
and  those  of  the  people.  The  latter  were  sustained  by  their 
constituents  at  Hadley  in  a  long  address  or  petition  drawn  up 
by  Mr.  Russell,  wherein,  amidst  voluminous  and  involved  ex- 
pressions evincing  much  faith  in  heavenly  aid  and  final  de- 
liverance, are  the  following  significant  words  :  "  The  King  of 
Heaven  will  give  his  poorest  subject  on  earth  leave  to  challenge 
resolutely  his  right,  and  not  to  let  it  go  for  frowns  or  threats. 
And  why  should  we  think  that  a  just  and  gracious  king  on 
earth  will  not  do  in  like  manner?  We  have  right  from  God 
and  man  to  choose  ou7-  own  goternors,  make  and  live  under  our 
own  law.i.  Our  liberty  and  privileges  herein  as  men  we  prize 
and  would  hold  as  our  lives ;  this  makes  us  freemen  and  not 
slaves.  .  .  .  Nor  is  it  our  own  portion  only  that  we  trade  with 
in  this  case,  but  our  children's  stock  also,  even  their  advantages 
as  men  and  Christians  to  serve  the  Lord  and  be  accounted  to 
him  for  a  generation  forevermore.  .  .  .  We  with  our  prayers 
and  endeavors,  heads  and  hearts,  and  lands  and  estates  and 
lives,  will  be  with  you  and  subject  unto  you."  This  petition  is 
dated  Hadley,  April  25,  1665,3;  *"''  ^**  signed  by  01  persons, 
of  whom  28  lived  west  of  the  river. 

A  petition,  in  February,  1669,  addressed  to  the  General 
Court  of  JIassachusetts,  and  signed  by  92  persons,  protested 
against  the  threatened  enforcement  of  a  recent  order  imposing 
duties  on  goods  and  merchandise,  and  on  "  horses,  cattle,  and 
grain  imported  after  March,  1669."  It  was  feared  that  the  re- 
sult would  be  disastrous  to  the  trade  of  Hadley  with  Connecti- 
cut, which  colonj'  it  was  thought  would,  in  retaliation,  place  a 
tax  upon  all  produce  sent  down  the  river.  In  this  petition  the 
yearning  for  liberty  again  finds  opportunity  for  expression ; 
"  Libertj',  liberty   of  the   subject  and   commons,  being  the 

X  The  fugitive  judges  had  then  been  guests  of  Mr.  Russell  more  than  six 
mouths,  and  their  presence  mjxy  have  inspired  the  pen  of  the  minister  with  a 
trifle  more  than  its  wonted  vigor  in  its  opposition  to  the  king. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


345 


grea-t  thine;  we  have  made  (and  we  trust  in  sincerity)  profes- 
sion of,  the  clogging  and  loading  of  trade,  the  freedom  where- 
of is  the  advance  of  a  people,  will  it  not  administer  matter  of 
discouragement,  sinking  discouragement,  to  our  own  people 
and  be  occasion  of  evil  report  among  others,  that  we  who  have 
been  an  example  of  seeking  liberty  should  become  an  example 
of  taking  it  away  from  ourselves  and  others  ?" 

The  same  spirit,  much  intensified,  was  manifested  amidst 
the  excitements  which  jireceded  and  accompanied  the  Revo- 
lution. May  29,  1772,  the  inhabitants  of  Hadley  voted  "that 
the  representatives  of  this  town  be  instructed,  and  they  are 
herebj'  instructed,  to  use  their  utmost  influence  and  power  in 
the  next  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  our  grievances 
may  be  made  known  to  his  Majesty,  that  the  same  may  be 
redressed." 

REVOLUTION. 

The  people  of  Hadley,  so  sensitive  concerning  their  rights 
and  jealous  of  their  liberties,  were  not  slow  to  act  in  any  given 
emergency.  The  phrases  of  their  patriotic  resolves  seem  to 
have  anticipated  those  of  the  "  Immortal  Declaration."  The 
first  important  action  of  the  town  concerning  the  existing  state 
of  all'airs  is  embodied  in  the  following  resolutions,*  passed 
Jan.  3,  1774,  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  school-house  : 

"  Resoli-ed,  That  it  is  tiie  opiiiitjii  tif  tliis  town  that  the  grievances  we  labor 
under  are  owing  in  a  great  ineaaure  to  nietlioils  taken  by  jiernons  among  us,  of 
an  arbitrary  turn  of  mind,  to  set  tlie  temper  ami  behavior  of  tlie  jieopleof  this 
province  in  an  unfavorable  light  at  Great  Britain,  and  insinuating  that  there 
must  be  an  abridgment  of  what  are  calleil  English  Liberties. 

"  Hesolfetl,  That  this  town  will  use  all  such  measures  as  shall  appear  to  them 
consistent  with  their  duty  in  order  to  obtain  a  redress  of  the  grievances  we  feel, 
and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  any  further  vicdations  of  onr  iiatitnU  and  constitu- 
tional rights,  that  onr  invaluable  liberties, civil  and  religious,  may  bo  eiyoyed  by 
us,  and  transmitted  to  posterity  inviolate ;  always  hoping,  in  the  goodness  of 
Divine  Providence,  that  the  machinations  of  designing  persons  to  efiect  a  change 
in  our  happy  constitution  will  be  rendered  abortive  from  time  to  time  to  the 
latest  generations. 

"  HfsoUeil^  That  a  standing  committee  of  correspondence  be  apjwinted,  con- 
sisting of  five  inhabit^iuts  of  this  town,  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a  correspond 
ence  with  the  committees  of  corresliondence  in  other  towns  within  this  province 
respecting  this  important  concern." 

Dr.  Giles  Crouch  Kellogg,  Phineas  Lyman,  Oliver  Smith, 
Josiah  Peirce,  and  Jonathan  Warner  were  made  a  committee 
of  correspondence,  to  which  were  afterward  added  Ebenezer 
Marsh,  Capt.  Moses  Marsh,  John  Cooke,  Benjamin  Colt, 
Eliakim  Smith,  Edmund  Hubbard,  Warhaiu  Smith,  and 
Noah  Cooke. 

Oct.  3,  1774,  Josiah  Peirce  was  chosen  delegate  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  at  Concord  "  to  concert  such  measures  as 
may  be  adopted  and  executed  by  the  whole  people  in  this 
time  of  distress  and  danger." 

At  the  same  meeting  it  was  "  voted,  that  there  shall  be  a 
powder-house  built  for  the  use  of  the  town  ;  to  be  made  of 
brick,  plastered  within  and  without,  round  in  compass,  equal 
to  eight  feet  square  ;  to  be  erected  in  the  middle  lane  leading 
into  the  Great  Meadow."  Four  half-barrels  of  powder  were 
ordered  then,  and  two  more  January  4th  following. 

The  selectmen  were  "  directed  to  make  inquiry  whether  the 
great  gtm  which  did  ft)rmerly  belong  to  this  town  is  the  prop- 
erty of  the  town  now,"  and  4s.  per  hundred  weight  were  ajjpro- 
priated  to  "bring  the  cannonj-  from  Williamstown  to  Hadley." 

The  following-named  persons  were  made  a  committee  of 
inspection  :  John  Eastman,  Oliver  Smith,  John  Cooke,  Charles 
Phelps,  Noah  Cooke,  Caleb  Lyman,  Hezekiah  Hubbard. 

Jan.  30,  1776,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  provide  for  the 
manutiicture  of  "Salt  Peter,"  and  May  30th  the  same  year 
gave  birth  to  the  following  : 

"Voted,  if  the  American  Congress  should,  for  the  safety  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies, declare  them  independent  of  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  we,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  said  Hadley,  will  engage,  wiUi  our  Lives  and  Forttiiten,  to  support  them  in 
the  measure." 

*  Reported  by  a  committee,  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting,  consisting  of 
Josiah  Peirce,  Moses  Marsh,  John  Chester  Williams,  Jonathan  Cooke,  Jonathan 
Warner,  John  Eastman,  and  Phineas  Lyman. 

t  Jan.  5, 17S0,  they  "  voted  to  sell  the  cannon." 

i4 


Assured  that  such  decisive  action  on  the  part  of  Congress 
would  precipitate  the  conflict,  the  sturdy  inhabitants,  on  the 
17th  of  June,  voted  for  more  gunpowder. 

The  town  records  and  papers  contain  no  list  from  which 
the  names  of  Hadley's  Revolutionary  heroes  can  be  obtained. 
The  numerous  votes  indicate  generous  contributions  of  men 
and  means.  The  following  are  examples:  May  13,  1778, 
"voted,  that  the  six  men  now  required  of  this  town,  and 
those  w/io  /larc  and  those  who  shall  engage  for  the  Conti- 
nental army,  be  allowed  £40.  June  15tb,  "voted,  that  the 
militiamen  who  marcdied  upon  the  alarms  in  July,  August, 
and  September,  1777,  shall  have  credit  at  the  rate  of  three 
months  for  one."  June  16th,  "that  those  who  went  to  Ticon- 
deroga  in  1777  have  credit  at  the  rate  of  three  months  for 
two,"  and  that  "  ten  men  who  v.ere  raised  last  fall  (1777)  and 
marched  to  the  northward  under  Capt.  Samuel  Cooke,  and 
were  in  the  service  three  months,  shall  have  credit  at  the  rate 
of  four  months  for  three."  July  20,  1779,  Capt.  Oliver  Smith, 
Cai)t.  Moses  Marsh,  Nehemiah  Gaylord,  Nehemiah  Gaylord, 
Jr.,  Josiah  Nash,  and  Daniel  Bartlett  were  allowed  for  one 
week  each  on  the  war  service  list.  May  11,  1780,  a  committee 
reported  as  still  due  the  nine  months'  men  £4356  over  and 
above  what  had  been  paid.  July  3d,  to  secure  sixteen  three 
months'  men  a  previous  bounty  of  £50  was  increased  to 
£150,  besides  a  monthly  ])ay  of  £3,  "  in  silver  or  gold,  or  40s. 
per  month  in  grane."J  July  10th  it  was  voted  to  purchase 
five  horses  for  the  army. 

Jan.  9,  1781,  they  voted  £60  hard  money  should  be  given 
for  three  years'  service,— £20  annually,— and  that  1000  paper 
dollars  should  be  paid  to  each  man,  on  his  passing  muster,  to 
be  reckoned  at  one  penny  each,  as  part  of  the  first  year's  pay- 
ment. Twelve  men  were  then  required,  and  §12,300  Conti- 
nental paper  money  were  levied  to  pay  bounties  and  mileage ; 
£120  for  each  hundredweight  of  beef  required  of  the  town 
were  assessed  "  immediately  in  a  separate  rate." 

There  were  a  few  persons  who  certainly  were  not  of  "  re- 
bellious minds,  and  who  did  not  zealously  aid  and  abet"  the 
Revolution.  Of  such  the  patriots  were  not  unmindful,  as  the 
following  vote  of  Sept.  12,  1780,  sufficiently  testifies : 

"  Voted,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  this  town,  it  is  not  consistent  \vith  the  safety 
of  the  people  that  Simeon  Strong,  Es<i.,g  considering  his  general  unfriendly 
conduct  to  these  Unitc-d  States,  shonld  be  allowed  to  plea<l  as  an  attorney  at  the 
bar  to  explain  the  law;  that,  ih  the  opinion  of  this  town,  he  shouhl  luit  be  al- 
lowed to  plead  in  this  town  in  any  case  whatsoever." 

ACKNOWLEDaMENT.S. 

The  valuable  "  History  of  Hadley,"  by  Mr.  Sylvester  Judd, 
published  in  1863,  and  the  "History  of  Western  Massachu- 
setts," by  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  1855,  are  among  the  principal 
works  consulted  by  the  com[)iler  of  the  foregoing  pages.  To 
Dr.  Franklin  Bonney,||  of  Hadley,  is  he  especially  indebted 
for  much  important  information,  hearty  co-operation,  and  a 
multitude  of  favors,  including  the  loan  of  books  and  docu- 
ments. Also  to  Mr.  William  S.  Shipman,  town  clerk,— dur- 
ing whose  long  and  faithful  administration  of  that  office  the 
qimint  old  records  of  Hadley  have  been  handsomely  tran- 
scribed,—for  cheerful  aid,  official  and  otherwise;  and  to 
Rev.  Rowland  Ayres,  D.D.,  Rev.  Edward  S.  Dwight,  D.D., 
Deacon  Eleazar  Porter,  Mr.  Edward  Kingsley,  Mr.  Francis 
Edson,  and  others,  for  needed  information,  and  for  assistance 

in  various  ways. 

REBELLION    RECORD. 
TENTH   MASSACHUSETTS  INKANTKY. 
John  C.  Clark,  Houry  A.  Dunakin,  Alfred  Van  Horn,  Howard  Jewett,  Francis 
White. 


X  Soldiers  sometimes  chose  to  take  their  pay  in  grain.  It  was  voteil  at  the 
meeting  of  Juue  15, 17S0,  that"  Indian  Coru  be  accounted  $20  per  bushel." 

?  Afterward  Judge  Strong.    He  was  a  resident  of  Amheret. 

II  A  sad  closing  incident  in  connection  with  this  history  of  Hadley  was  the 
complete  destrucUon  of  the  barn  and  residence  of  I>r.  Bonney,  by  an  incendiary 
Are,  on  the  morning  of  March  27,  1S70.  The  embei-s  yet  smoulder  as  tJiese  ac: 
knowledgments  are  being  written. 


346 


HISTORY  OF   THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


TWENTY-SECOND  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

Hiiam  Shumway. 

THIRTY-FIRST  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

Avery  A.  Ward,  James  W.  Smith,  Joseph  Neddeau. 

SECOND  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 
George  Webber,  John  Vaile. 

TWENTY-FOURTH  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 
John  Haggerty,  Jr. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

Daniel  Howard,  Henry  Howard,  Frederick  S.  Prior,  John  F.  Russell,  WiUard 
Russell,  Silas  Cowles,  Willard  Hibbard,  Theodore  S  Billings,  George  A. 
Boice,  Jay  E.  Nash,  Henry  Potter,  Lucius  D.  Smith,  William  R.  Mon- 
tague (sergeant),  Frederick  H.  Smith,  Lewis  W.  West,  Rufus  Cook  (cor- 
poral), Charles  Elwell,  Charles  A.  Lyman,  Herbei  t  Johnson,  Irving  R. 
Clark,  Clarence  P.  Hewott,  Edwin  B.  Smith,  Franklin  Elwell,  Joseph 
Label),  Rollins  Cowles,  Simeon  Preston,  Liiman  HibLard,  Sydney  Davis, 
Dwight  Barrett,  Madison  Old=,  Elijah  Carter,  Cliarlea  G.  Howard,  Fred- 
erick B.  Kentfield,  Marshall  Cowles. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

William  C.  Morrell,  Edwin  D.  Beaman,  John  C.  Beals,  William  A.  Chauipney, 
Henry  V.  Fales,  Charles  D.  Hodge,  Samuel  Hodge,  Geurge  N.  Jones, 
William  F.  Leggett,  Warren  I.  Lyman,  John  D.  Miller,  George  W.  Nash, 
H.  Clement  Ru^selI,  Joseph  F.  Smith,  Samuel  D.  Smith,  Charles  O. 
Squires,  Francis  I.  Stockbridge,  Sylvester  L.  Stockbridge,  Moses  Thessier, 
Francis  P.  Wheeler. 

FIFTY-SECOND  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 

William  Perkins  (captain),  Daniel  H.  Bartlett,  Charles  0.  Beals,  Charles  L. 
Brown,  Lyman  P.  Ballard,  Cliarles  W.  Clark,  Henry  C.  Comins,  Alfred 
L.  Cook,  Eleazer  Cook,  S.  Parsons  Cook,  George  Crablree,  George  M. 
Crafts  (corporal),  Charles  F.  Dickinson,  Augustus  E.  Dickinson,  John  B. 
Dunbar,  Charles  S.  Enderton  (corporal),  James  Forsyth,  Edwin  C.  Gray, 
William  H.  Hayward,  Henry  H.  Hemmingway,  Ll-wIs  It.  Houker,  William 
H.  Hodge,  S.  Dwight  Kellogg,  Benjamin  Lombard,  Jr.,  Truman  Meekins, 
Harvey  L.  Rhood,  George  M.  Smith,  Joseph  O.  Spear,  Charles  H.  Wilber, 
Rodney  D.  Doolittle,  Hiiam  M.  Bolton,  Oscar  R.  Hubbard,  Luther  W. 
Dickinson,  Thomas  Nugent,  Charles  H.  White. 

FIFTY-FOURTH  MASSACHUSETTS  INFANTRY. 
Charles  A.  Story. 

MASSACHUSETTS   CAVALRY. 

George  Williams,  Frederick  Russell,  James  Hayden. 

FIRST  MASSACHUSETTS  CAVALRY. 

John  Sullivan,  William  Baldwin,  John  F.Hodge,  John  Fisher  (sergeant),  Ed- 
ward Crabtree. 

KANSAS  CAVALRY. 

Edward  Johnson. 

SECOND  MASSACHUSETTS  BATTERY. 

Silas  Febo,  Francis  Mosson,  Abraham  Janette,  Rul'us  D.  Marsh,  Rufus  P.  Scott, 

John  W.  Beaman,  Daniel  O.  Dickinson,  Francis  Pilkey,  Lewis  Lancour, 

Nona  Renjia,  Leander  Bushman,  Jacob  Laravie,  Joseph  Bravo. 

REGIMENT  NOT  GIVEN. 

Benjamin  Till,  Samuel  C.  Till. 

NECROLOGY. 

Frederick  S.  Pryor,  27th  Muss.  Inf.;  killed  in  Iiattle  before  Petersburg,  June 

18, 1864. 
John  F.  Rnssell,  '.iTth  Mass.  Inf.;  killed  in  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  June  2, 1864. 
Silas  Cowles,  '.i7th  Mass.  Inf.;  wounded  near  Petersburg,  Va.,  June  15, 1864; 

died  June  16,  1864. 
George  A.  Boice,  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  died  at  Andersonville,  Sept.  8, 1864. 
Henry  Putter,  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  killed  in  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  June  3, 1864. 
Rutus  Cook,  27th  aiass.  Inf. ;  died  iu  hosp.  at  Newborn,  N.  C,  Feb.  25,  1863. 
Henry  Dunakin  (2d),  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  killed  in  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  June 

2, 1864. 
Rollins  Cowles,  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  killed  in  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  June  2, 1864. 
Dwight  Barrett,  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  killed  in  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  June  2, 1864. 
John  C.  Beals,  37th  Mass.  Inf. ;  died  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

Henry  V.  Fales,  37th  Mass.  Inf. ;  died  in  hosp.  at  Falmouth,  Va.,  Apiil  1, 1863. 
William  F.  Leggett,  37th  Mass.  Inf, ;  killed  at  Wilson's  Creek,  April,  1865. 
Charles  W.  Clark,  52d  Mass.  Inf. ;  ilicd  in  hospital  at  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  April 

20, 1863. 
Augustus  E.  Dickinson,  52d  Mass.  Inf.;  taken  prisoner  near  Baton  Rouge; 

probably  died  in  Libhy  Prison. 
George  M.  Smith,  52d  Mass.  Inf.;  died  at  Mound  City  HospiUil,  HI.,  Aug.  14, 
18(;3. 


Joseph  0.  Spear,  52d  Mass.  Inf. ;  died  at  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  July  17, 1863. 

Hiram  M.  Bolton,  52d  Mfiss.  Inf.;  died  at  Cairo,  III.,  Aug.  1863. 

Charles  G.  Howard,  27th  Mass.  Inf.;  died  in  Andersonville  Prison,  Ga.,  Sept. 
12, 1864. 

Nona  Renjia,  2d  Mass.  Bat. ;  died  in  New  Orleans,  April  IS.  1864. 

Leander  Bushman,  2d  Mass.  Bat. ;  drowned  from  steamer  "  North  America," 
April  18, 1864. 

Frederick  Russell,  Mass.  Cav.;  wounded  at  Chantilly,  Sept.  1, 1862;  died 

in  Douglas  Hospital,  Washington,  D.  C,  Oct.  2, 1862. 

Hiram  Shumway,  22d  Mass.  Inf. ;  wounded  SLiy  30, 1864 ;  died  in  Emory  Hos- 
pital, Washington,  D.  C,  June  28, 1864. 

Marshall  Cowles,  27th  Mass.  Inf. ;  died  at  Newbern,  N.  C,  Aug-  1865. 

WOUNDED. 

Frederick  H.  Smith,  27th  Mass.  Inf. ;  wounded  at  C<ild  Harbor,  Va.,  June  2,  'G4. 
Clement  Russell,  37th  Mass.  Inf. ;  wounded  in  battle  of  Wilderness,  Va,,  May 

5,  1864. 
Joseph  F.  Smith,  37th  Mass.  Inf.;  wounded  in  arm  in  battle  of  Wilderness, 
Va.,  May  6, 1864. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


TEANKLIN  BONNET,  M.D., 
was  born  in  Hiidley,  Mass.,  Feb.  2,  1822.  Ho  is  the  son  of  the 
late  Oliver  Bonnej',  who  was  born  in  Hanover,  Mass.,  in  1790, 
sixth  in  descent  from  Thomas  Bouney,  the  first  of  the  family 
in  this  country,  who  came  from  Sandwich,  in  Kent,  England, 
in  the  ship  "  Hercules,"  in  1634-35,  and  settled  in  Du.\bury, 
Mass.  His  mother  was  Betsy  F.  Hayward,  the  daughter  of 
Elijah  Hayward,  of  West  Bridgewater,  Mass. 

He  was  educated  at  Hopkins  Academy,  and  afterward 
studied  his  profession  at  the  Dartmouth  Medical  School,  at- 
tending in  the  mean  time  a  course  of  lectures  at  Brunswick, 
Me.  He  graduated  at  the  former  school  in  the  spring  of  1847, 
and  immediately  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  his 
native  town,  which  he  has  continued  up  to  this  time.  In 
1850  he  became  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Soci- 
ety, and  also  of  the  Hampshire  District  Medical  Society. 
During  this  period  he  has  held  the  positions  of  president  and 
vice-president  of  the  local  society,  each  for  three  years.  He 
has  also  been  councilor  and  censor  of  the  same  body,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  health  department  of  the  American  Social 
Science  Societj'.  In  1869,  Amherst  College  conferred  upon 
him  the  honorary  degree  of  A.M.  He  represented  his  district 
in  the  Legislature  in  1873.  During  the  war  of  the  Kebel- 
lion  he  was  surgeon  for  making  preliminary  examinations 
of  recruits  for  the  army,  and  also  served  for  a  time  as  volun- 
teer surgeon  at  City  Point,  Va.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Central  Kailroad  and  trustee  and  secretary  of  the 
Hopkins  Academy.  In  addition  to  his  ordinary  professional 
labors,  he  has  prepared  and  read  several  addresses  before  the 
district  medical  society,  has  occasionally  prepared  papers  for 
the  medical  journals,  and  has  made  frequent  contributions  to 
agricultural  and  other  journals. 

In  1847  he  was  married  to  Pri.scilla  P.  "Whipple,  of  Han- 
over, N.  H.,  daughter  of  Hon.  Thomas  Whipple,  M.D.,  of 
Wentworth,  N.  H.  B}'  this  union  there  were  four  children, — 
two  sons  and  two  daughters, — of  whom  three  are  still  living. 
Mrs.  Bonney  died  in  1869,  and  in  1874  the  doctor  was  married 
to  Emma  W. ,  daughter  of  the  late  Sherman  Peck,  of  Honolulu, 
Sandwich  Islands.     By  this  second  union  there  are  two  sons. 

In  early  life  the  doctor  was  identified  with  the  Whig  party, 
and  is  now  a  Republican.  As  a  physician  Dr.  Bonney  ranks 
among  the  first.  He  is  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  enjoys 
the  esteem  of  all  who  know  liiin. 


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qJ,      /c^/J^-it.-t'<-<^^,       •>!_ 


Photo,  by  Hardie  &  Schadee. 


^S/lji^  o^-J^^r^'2^' 


Deacon  Eleazar  Porter  is  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
families  of  New  EnglauJ. 

Samuel  Porter,  who  came  to  Hadley  with  the  first  settlers  in  1659, 
was  one  of  the  king's  justices.  His  son  Samuel  was  the  first  male 
child  born  in  Hadlej,  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  was 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1711,  and  was  a  large  land- 
holder and  of  other  estates.  His  son  Eleazar  was  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pieas  from 
1727  to  1757. 

Eleazar,  son  of  the  latter,  was  born  Jan,  27,  1728,  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  1748,  and  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  1779.  He  was 
judge  of  Probate  in  same  year,  and  one  of  the  judges  of  the  first  court 
after  the  Revolution,  which  consisted  of  himself,  Timothy  Donaldson, 
of  Brimfield,  John  Bliss,  of  Wilbraham,  and  Samuel  Mather,  of  West- 
field.  He  was  commissioned  in  1777.  His  second  wife,  whom  he 
married  Sept.  17,  17fil,  was  Susanna,  daughter  of  Rev.  Jonathan 
Edwards,  of  Northampton.  Their  son,  the  late  Col.  Moses  Porter, 
was  born  Sept.  19,  1768.  He  married,  Aug.  30,  1791,  Amy,  daughter 
of  Benjamin  Colt,  of  Hadley,  who  made  the  first  scythe  in  Hamp- 
shire County,  if  not  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  the  grandfather  of 
the  late  Col.  Samuel  Colt,  the  inventor  of  Colt's  revolver. 

Eleazar  Porter,  whose  portrait  is  given  with  this  sketch,  was  the 
fourth  son  and  seventh  child  of  the  thirteen  children  of  Moses  and 
Amy  Colt  Porter,  born  Jan.  21,  1806.  He  was  educated  at  Hopkins 
Academy  and  on  the  farm,  under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  John  Wood- 
bridge  and  the  Westminster  Catechism,  until  his  twenty-third  year. 

During  this  period,  in  the  winter  of  1821-22,  he  taught  school  in 
the  centre  district  of  Easthampton.  In  the  spring  of  1829  he  went 
to  Ware,  Mass.,  engaged  in  business  with  the  late  C.  P.  Hitchcock, 
removed  in  18.33  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  in  that  year  opened  a 
temperance  house,  about  the  first  hotel  of  that  class  in  Massachu- 
setts. 

In  1840,  on  account  of  impaired  health,  he  discontinued  business, 
and  in  1841  traveled  South  and  West;  returned  to  Worcester,  engaged 
in  business  again,  and  soon  after  had  a  return  of  his  illness,  which 
caused  him  to  retire  from  active  business  life.  In  1855  he  removed  to 
Ware,  Mass.,  and  remained  there  on  a. farm  until  185S,  when  he  came 
to  Hadley,  where  he  has  since  enjoyed  comfortable  health.  In  1832 
Mr.  Porter  married  Mary  Augusta,  daughter  of  Alpheus  Demond,  of 
Ware,  Mass.  In  connection  with  Col.  Thomas  Denny,  of  Leicester, 
Mass.,  Mr.  Demond  was  the  first  to  engage  in  cotton  manufacturing 
in  Ware,  sixty-five  years  ago. 

Mr.  Porter  has  held  many  offices  of  public  and  private  trust.  July 
23,  1830,  he  received  the  appointment  of  adjutant  in  the  5th  Regi- 
ment of  Infantry,  1st  Brigade  and  4th  Division  of  the  State  Mi- 
litia, which  office  he  held  until  the  regiment  was  disbanded. 

In  January,  1852,  he  was  commissioned  a  justice  of  the  peace  for 


the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  was  reappointed  to  the  same  office  in 
February,  1859,  in  1866,  in  April,  1868,  and  in  March,  1875. 

In  May,  1854,  he  was  commissioned  a  coroner,  and  recommissioned 
in  1863  and  1870,  holding  the  office  until  it  was  abolished,  in  1877. 
He  is  one  of  the  inspectors  of  the  State  Almshouse  at  Monson ;  was 
first  commissioned  in  February,  1866,  subsequently  in  February,  1869, 
and  in  February,  1872. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Porter  was  first  a  Whig,  and  is  now  a 
Republican.  During  the  late  war  he  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the 
Union  cause.  He  and  his  wife  have  both  been  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  for  over  forty  years,  and  he  is  a  deacon  in  the  church. 
He  has  given  freely  of  his  time  and  money  to  promote  charity  and 
religion;  is  now  a  member  of  the  Russell  Congregational  Society, 
and  has  been  its  clerk  and  treasurer  for  twenty-one  years.  Has  been 
treasurer  of  the  Hopkins  Academy  for  twelve  years;  was  made  a  life 
member  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  in  1855 ;  was  elected  a  corporate  mem- 
ber of  the  same  board,  Oct.  8,  1870  ;  was  made  a  life  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Home  Missionary  Society,  Feb.  7,  1846;  of  the  Ameri- 
ican  Bible  Society,  May  28,  1856;  of  the  American  and  Foreign 
Christian  Union,  Aug.  1,  1867;  and  of  the  American  Home  Mission 
Society,  1855. 

Being  a  practical  abstainer  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  and  realiz- 
ing the  advantages  of  abstinence,  he  is  necessarily  more  or  less  identi- 
fied with  the  temperance  movements  of  the  day,  and  was  one  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Temperance  Alliance  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Northampton  Bridge  Corpo- 
ration, succeeding  Hon.  EIi])helet  Williams  as  president.  For  twenty- 
five  years  he  has  been  annually  elected  a  director  of  the  Northampton 
National  Bank  ;  for  eighteen  years  a  trustee,  and  the  last  two  years 
the  vice-president  of  the  Northampton  Institution  for  Savings. 

In  a  communication  to  the  writer,  the  officers  of  these  institutions 
bear  willing  testimony  to  the  traits  of  his  character  that  have  rendered 
his  life  a  *'  useful  and  beneficent  one/'  in  the  following  words: 

*'  In  his  fidelity  to  public  trusts  confided  to  him,  in  his  punctuality 
in  meeting  his  public  and  private  engagements,  in  fact,  in  all  the  walks 
of  life,  he  has  enjoyed  an  unblemished  reputation  and  kept  himself 
unspotted  from  the  world." 

Mr.  Porter  has  ever  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  educational  mat- 
ters, and  in  Dr.  W.  S.  Tyler's  History  of  Amherst  College  we  notice 
this  record :  "  Eleazar  Porter  has  the  honor  of  establishing  the  first 
scholarship  in  Amherst  College;"  and  after  naming  the  commissioners 
of  the  Amherst  College  Fund,  continues:  "  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  the 
founder  of  the  Porter  prize  and  the  Porter  scholarship,  whose  pru- 
dence and  thrift  as  a  man  of  business  are  so  evenly  and  so  beautifully 
balanced  by  his  intelligent  and  Christian  liberality.  In  the  hands 
of  such  men  the  charity  fund  will  be  safely  kept  and  wisely  adminis- 
tered." 


Photo,  by  Hardie  A  Schadee. 


Y>^/   ^^//^^^^ 


Lorenzo  Noble  Granger  was  a  grandsou  of 
Captain  Caleb  Smith,  who  was  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Hadley,  and  lived  on  the  place  now  occupied  by 
Mrs.  Granger.  His  father  was  Enoch  M.  Granger, 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Wasliington,  Berkshire 
Co.,  Mass.,  Jan.  23,  1778,  but  who  in  early  life  re- 
moved to  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where,  June  30, 1811, 
Lorenzo  N.  Granger  was  born.  When  seven  years 
old  he  removed  with  his  grandparents,  Capt.  Caleb 
Smith  and  wife,  to  the  town  of  Hadley,  and  s.ettled 
on  the  place  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Granger,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his 
death,  March  27,  1876. 

March  26,  1 846,  Mr.  Granger  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Mrs.  Sophronia  Smith,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Cummings,  of  the  town  of  Ware,  Hampshire  Co., 
Mass.  INIr.  Granger  was  essentially  a  self-made 
man,  his  educational  facilities  being  limited  to  the 
district  school  of  his  own  town.  His  life,  althoudi 
not  eventful,  was  remarkable  for  strict  integrity  and 
unswerving  devotion  to  princijile.  In  early  life  he 
engaged  in  the  lumber  and  milling  business  in  con- 
nection with  two  uncles.  Cotton  Smith  and  John 
Smith.  Cotton  Smith's  interest  afterward  passed 
into  the  hands  of  his  son,  George  C.  Smith,  who  sold 
the  entire  interest  to  Mr.  Granger.  He  also  con- 
ducted a  large  farm.  He  was  a  man  who  did  not 
aspire  to  political  honors,  but  was  once,  in  1852, 
elected  to  represent  his  people  in  the  State  Legislu- 
tiu-e. 

During  the  war  of  the  Eebellion  lie  held  the  office 


of  selectman.  He  was  also  one  of  the  trustees  of 
the  Hopkins  Academy.  We  clip  from  an  article  in 
the  Hampshire  Gazette,  written  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  Granger's  funeral,  the  following:  "  His  numer- 
ous employes,  together  with  all  the  workingmen  of 
the  community,  were  present  in  a  body,  and  none 
seemed  to  be  more  deeply  moved  by  the  loss  than 
they.  Mr.  Granger  was  the  workingman's  friend. 
The  funeral  was  the  most  imposing  one  that  has  ever 
occurred  in  North  Hadley,  and  the  fact  is  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  deep  personal  interest  which  all  had 
in  him  as  their  friend.  His  death  is  the  greatest  loss 
this  community  has  ever  sustained.  For  business  ca- 
pacity, energy,  promjitness,  and  success  he  has  long 
towered  over  all  others  in  this  vicinity;  for  strict 
integrity  in  all  his  dealings  he  remains  unimpeach- 
able. For  kindness  to  the  poor,  for  his  liberal  and 
constant  gifts  to  the  church  and  benevolent  causes, 
for  his  general  moral  influence  and  public  spirit,  he 
has  long  stood  forth  among  his  fellow-citizens  a 
pillar.  For  childlike  simplicity,  with  his  sturdy, 
manly  qualities,  for  greatness  of  heart  and  native 
nobility  of  soul,  he  died  without  a  peer.  A  man  of 
few  words,  he  will  be  remembered  and  revered  most 
for  his  deeds.  ...  At  a  time  when  we  needed  him 
most  he  is  taken  away.  But,  like  his  own  massive 
monument,  he  has  left  behind  him  a  character  which, 
in  spite  of  its  minor  failings,  will  be  long  remem- 
bered by  those  who  knew  him  best  as  one  of  the 
purest  and  strongest  that  has  ever  appeared  among 
the  people  of  his  town." 


^^/^t^^^  --e:^^^'^^ 


Photo,  by  Ilardie  &  Scbadee, 


From  the  records  we  learn  that,  about  the  year 
1G80,  Sergt.  Josepli  Smith,  son  of  Josepli  Smith,  of 
Hartford,  removed  to  Hadley,  and  from  liim  the 
subject  of  this  notice  is  descended,  being  the  fifth 
generation. 

Hon.  Joseph  Smith  was  born  in  Hadley,  Feb.  12, 
1796.  He  was  educated  at  the  high  school  of  his 
native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  taught 
sciiool  in  Amherst,  and  again,  in  iiis  twenty-first  year, 
in  North  Hadley. 

He  has  always  taken  a  lively  interest  in  public 
affairs.  In  1834  lie  was  commissioned  an  officer  in 
the  3d  Regiment,  1st  Brigade  and  4th  Division,  of 
the  militia  of  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

In  1842  he  received  his  first  appointment  as  a 
justice  of  the  peace  from  Gov.  John  Davis,  and  held 
the  position  three  terms.  Has  been  foreman  of  a 
jury  more  frequently,  perhaps,  than  any  other  citizen 
in  Hampshire  County. 

In  1842  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and 
during  tiie  .session  was  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  State  charities.  He  was  county  commissioner 
in  1844,  1845, and  1846. 


In  1853  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and 
during  that  period  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
on  Maine  lands,  and  was  again  chairman  of  one  of 
the  most  important  committees — that  of  State  char- 
ities. His  course  in  the  House  and  Senate  was  ex- 
ceedingly satisfactory  to  his  constituents,  by  whom 
he  is  held  in  the  hisrhest  regard. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Russell  Congregational 
Church. 

Jan.  28,  1818,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Sophia,  daughter  of  Caleb  Smith,  of  Hadley,  by 
whom  he  had  eleven  children,  five  of  whom  are 
deceased. 

The  writer  of  this  sketch  visited  this  venerable 
couple  on  the  anniversary  of  their  sixty-first  wed- 
ding-day, and  altliough  both  are  on  the  down  hill 
of  life,  having  jiassed  the  scriptural  age  of  three- 
score and  ten,  he  found  them  still  in  the  full  pos- 
session of  their  mental  faculties,  retaining  much  of 
the  vigor  and  elasticity  of  youth. 

Mr.  Smith  still  resides  upon  the  old  farm,  which 
has  been  in  the  possession  of  his  family  from  the 
earliest  settlement  of  the  town. 


(2^y^  f/f  fj/f^  ^'xJ'^'jif  7^ 


Major  Sylvester  Smith  was  the  sixth  in 
descent  from  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  who  came  from 
England,  with  his  wife  Elizabeth  and  four  children, 
in  1634,  in  the  ship  Elizabeth,  of  Ipswich,  and  set- 
tled in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  where  he  became  a  lead- 
ing citizen. 

In  1659,  Samuel  removed  to  Hadley  with  the 
first  settlers  of  that  town,  and  was  prominent  in 
its  affairs,  holding  important  ofiBces  both  in  Church 
and  State.     He  died  about  1680. 

Chileab,  son  of  Lieut.  Samuel,  was  born  in  1635, 
was  a  freeman  in  Hadley,  and  died  March  7, 1731. 

Luke,  son  of  Chileab,  was  born  in  Hadley,  was 
a  captain,  and  died  in  1748.  The  remaining  an- 
cestors, in  a  direct  line  of  the  present  family,  were 
as  follows:  Deacon  Jonathan  Smith,  son  of  Luke, 
born  in  Hadley,  March  4,  1702,  and  died  April 
4,  1774;  Enos  Smith,  son  of  Deacon  Jonathan, 
horn  in  Hadley,  Nov.  19,  1734,  and  died  March 
14,  1836. 

Major  Smith  was  the  eighth  child  of  the  ten 
children  of  Enos  Smith,  and  was  born  in  Hadley, 
April  15,  1789.  His  education  was  received  in 
the   public  schools,  and  his  life  was  passed  in  his 


native  town  until  his  death,  July  15,  1876,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-seven.  He  was  a  farmer, 
a  thorough  business-man,  and  had  many  friends. 

Major  Smith  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife 
was  Polly,  daughter  of  Lemuel  Warner,  and  his 
second,  Elizabeth  Edwards,  daughter  of  John  Smith. 
By  the  first  union  three  children  were  born  to 
them. 

The  following  obituary  notice  is  from  the  Hamp- 
shire Gazette:  "Hadley  suffers  a  great  loss  in  the 
death  of  Major  Sylvester  Smith,  aged  eighty-seven, 
and  one  of  her  oldest  inhabitants.  He  had  always 
lived  at  Hadley,  and  was  identified  with  its  history, 
both  by  participation  and  knowledge,  beyond  any 
other  man.  Prominent  in  the  town,  a  deacon  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  he  induced  the  late  Syl- 
vester Judd,  ex-editor  of  the  Northampton  Gazette, 
to  begin  his  valuable  history  of  Hadley,  in  the 
prosecution  of  which  Mr.  Smith  gave  tenfold 
more  information  than  any  one  else. 

"His  knowledge  of  the  family  histories  of  the 
town  was  marvelously  complete,  and  he  was  able 
to  supply  information  oftentimes  nowhere  else  to 
be  found." 


SOUTH     HADLEY. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

South  Hadley  is  the  southwest  town  of  that  part  of 
Hampshire  County  which  lies  east  of  the  Connecticut  Riyei-, 
and  is  bounded  north  by  the  towns  of  Hadley  and  Amherst, 
being  separated  from  them  by  tlie  Holyoke  range,  east  by 
Granby,  south  by  Chioopee,  in  Hampden  County,  and  west 
by  the  irregular  line  of  the  Connecticut  River.  It  contains 
between  9000  and  10,000  acres,  and  has  a  population,  by  the 
census  of  1875,  of  3370,  of  whom  1910  are  females.  The  town 
was  set  off  as  a  precinct  of  Hadley  in  1732,  and  was  incorpo- 
ratedas  a  district  in  April,  1753.  Granby  was  set  off  June 
11,  1768.  The  town  united  with  Hadley  and  Amherst  in  the 
choice  of  representatives  until  1775. 

Bachelor's  Brook  and  Stony  Brook  are  the  principal  streams, 
upon  each  of  which  are  several  mill-seats.  The  former  enters 
the  town  from  Granby,  and  passes  in  a  general  course  west- 
ward to  the  Connecticut.  Nearly  or  quite  one-third  of  the 
town  lies  north  of  this  stream.  Stony  Brook  likewise  enters 
from  Granby,  and  passes  in  a  zigzag  course  near  the  centre 
of  the  town,  and  finally  northwesterly,  emptying  into  the  Con- 
necticut a  half-mile  south  of  the  mouth  of  Bachelor's  Brook. 

South  Hadley  and  South  Hadley  Palls  are  the  principal 
villages.  Other  considerable  settlements  are  called  "  Pearl 
City"  and  "  Moody  Corners." 

FIRST   SETTLEMENT. 

A  few  grants  of  land  south  of  Holyoke  were  made  by  Had- 
ley in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  first  of  which  was  to 
Thomas  Selden,  in  1675.  This  grant  comprised  6  acres  at  the 
mouth  of  Drj'  Brook,  adjoining  the  Connecticut.  Seven  years 
later  Timothy  Nash  acquired  a  quantity  of  land  between 
Bachelor's  Brook  and  Stony  Brook,  on  the  Connecticut  River, 
which  land  was  recently  owned  by  Emerson  Bates  and  H. 
Moody.  In  1684,  four  persons  were  allowed  to  erect  a  saw- 
mill on  Stony  Brook  or  Bachelor's  Brook,  and  to  cut  timber  ; 
and  four  others,  five  years  later,  had  like  permission.  These 
mills  seem  to  have  answered  a  temporary  purpose,  and  only 
one  remained  in  1720. 

The  lands  south  of  Mount  Holyoke  were  distributed  among 
the  proprietors  of  Hadley  in  accordance  with  a  vote  taken 
Jan.  25,  1720.  These  projirietors  were  117  in  number,  and 
represented  estates  valued  at  £6063  8s. 

Falls  Woods  Field  was  the  first  land  actually  laid  out  by 
authority  of  a  vote  taken  March  14,  1720.  This  field  con- 
tained 1775  acres,  and  was  bounded  west  by  the  great  river, 
south  by  500  acres  owned  by  Mr.  Pynchon,*  north  by  Stony 
Brook,  and  east  by  a  north  and  south  line,  361  rods  and  9 
links  east  from  the  great  river,  as  measured  on  Mr.  Pynchon's 
north  line.  The  lots  into  which  this  field  was  divided  ran 
east  and  west,  but  were  fenced  as  a  common  field,  each  pro- 
prietor building  his  proportion. 

Home-lots  were  voted  at  the  meeting  of  March  14th,  com- 
prehending 1000  acres  of  the  land  most  suitable  for  the  purpose, 
and  wore  laid  out  soon  after. 

Meadow-land_to  the  amount  of  500  acres  was  laid  out  in 

*  Mr.  Pynchon  Lad  .500  at-res  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  a<ldition  made  to 
Hadley  in  1083.  Ab  sun-eyed  by  John  Chandler,  Jr.,  in  171.5,  the  bounds  ran 
east  from  the  Connecticut  along  the  north  line  of  -Siiringfield  ISO  rods ;  theuco 
northerly  240  rods  ;  thence  west  to  the  Connecticut  4G0  rods.  The  river  was  the 
western  boundary. 


1722  in  seven  parcels,  named  Stony  Brook,  Chapin's,  Great, 
Little,  Long,  Taylor's  Brook,  and  Pichawamiche  Meadows, 
most  of  which  were  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Granby. 

Five  distributions,  amounting  to  16,500  acres,  were  made 
between  1722  and  1772,  in  which  each  proprietor  in  his  order, 
as  determined  by  chance,  selected  his  portion  from  the  lands 
remaining  unappropriated.  The  whole  amount  drawn  in  the 
eight  divisions  for  each  pound  of  estate  was  in  excess  of  three 
and  a  quarter  acres. 

Accounts  differ  respecting  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of  the 
town.f  A  burial-place  was  laid  out  by  the  proprietors  March  26, 
1728,  and  the  settlement  doubtless  began  some  time  before  No- 
vember, 1727.  At  the  last  date  a  petition  to  the  General  Court 
was  made  by  21  persons,  who  represented  that  they  were  "  resi- 
dents on  a  designed  precinct  in  Hadley,  south  of  Mount  Hol- 
yoke," were  distant  from  the  place  of  worship,  and  that  the 
intervening  way  was  mountainous  and  bad.  They  asked  to 
be  made  a  separate  precinct.  The  following  are  the  names  of 
the  petitioners:  Daniel  Nash  (2d),  Richard  Church,  Samuel 
Taylor,  Samuel  Smith,  Samuel  Kellogg,  John  Smith,  John 
Preston,  Nathaniel  White,  Thomas  Goodman,  Jr.,  John  Tay- 
lor, Joshua  Taylor,  Joseph  Kellogg,  William  Smith,  Jonathan 
Smith,  Luke  Montague,  Joseph  White,  Ebenezer  Smith. 
The  other  four — Ebenezer  Taylor,  Jolm  Smith,  Ephraim 
Nash,  and  John  Lane — settled  in  what  is  now  Granby. 

Of  the  seventeen,  John  Preston  died  March  4,  1728,  leaving 
heirs,  and  Ebenezer  Smith  was  accidentally  killed  in  1729,  and 
left  a  son  John,  who  was  po-ssibly  the  one  above  named. 

Additions  before  1731:  Wm.  Gaylord,  Nathaniel  Ingram, 
Jr.,  Samuel  Rugg,  Samuel  Taylor,  Jr.,  Moses  Taylor,  Joseph 
Taylor,  Daniel  Nash  (1st),  William  Montague,  Ebenezer 
Moody,  Ebenezer  Moody,  Jr.,  Peter  Montague,  Chileab 
Smith  (2d),  Timothy  Hillycr  ;  1731  to  1740,  John  Smith,  Palls 
Woods,  Rev.  Grindall  Raw.son,  Benjamin  Church,  Jr.,  Moses 
White,  John  Alvord,{  John  Alvord,  Jr.,  Joseph  Moody, 
Josiah  Snow,  Eleazar  Goudman,  Jabez  Bellows,  James  Ball ; 
1740  to  1750,  Jonathan  White,  John  Gaylord,  Gad  Alvord, 
Daniel  Crowfoot,  Josiah  Moiidy,  Joseph  White,  Jr.,  Ebenezer 
Kellogg,  Jesse  Bellows,  Reuben  Smith,  Moses  Montague,, 
John  Stanley,  Hugh  Queen,  Jonathan  Preston,  Josiah  White, 
Joseph  Cook,  Daniel  Moody,  Thomas  Judd,J  Rev.  John. 
Woodbridge,  Silas  Smith,  Philip  Smith,  John  Smith  (4th), 
Thomas  White,  Nathaniel '  White,  Jr.,  Ephraim  Smith, 
Aaron  Taylor,  Samuel  Preston,  Elijnh  Alvord,  John  Hillyer, 
Timothy  Hillyer,  Jr.;  1750  to  1763,  Phinheas  Smith  (2d), 
David  Nash,  Noah  Goodman,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Jr.,  Titus 
Pomeroy,J  Josiah  Smith,  John  Rugg,  Asahel  Judd.J  Reuben 
Judd,]:  Martin  Wait,  Josiah  Snow,  Jr.,  Gideon  Alvord,  John 
Woodbridge,  Jr.,  William  Wait,  Jabez  Kellogg,  David  Eaton, 
Israel  Smith,  John  Chandler,  Moses  Alvord,  Ebenezer  Snow, 
Joseph  Nash,  John  French,  Benoni  Preston,  James  Henry,  Na- 
than Alvord,  John  Marshall,  Elisha  Church,  Nathaniel  Bart- 
lett,J  Benjamin  Pierce,  Josiah  Smith  (2dj,  William  Taylor, 
Elisha  Taylor,  Job  Alvord,  William  Brace,  Reuben  Taylor.g 


t  Dr.  Holland  states  that  a  few'fanulies  settled  the  next  year  after  the  first 
distribution,  or  in  1721.— TFesf  Mass.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  2G9.  Mr.  Judd  says  a  few  may  have 
settled  " iis  oaily  as  1725."— ifisl. of  Hadlen,  p.  385. 

X  From  Northampton. 

g  Mr.  Judd,  who  gives  the  names  of  the  early  settlers,  says,  "  The  lists  are  not 
perfect ;  some  may  have  lived  in  present  Granby." 

347 


348 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Other  petitions  to  the  General  Court  had  been  made,  in  July, 
1728,  and  June,  1732,  in  the  former  of  which  it  was  desired 
that  a  precinct  should  be  established  embracing  the  territory 
between  Mount  Holyoke  and  the  Springfield  bounds,  and  ex- 
tending from  the  Connecticut  Eiver  eastward  to  the  "  equiva- 
lent lands."  Failure  to  settle  a  minister  within  the  jieriod 
limited  by  the  court  had  each  time  defeated  the  forming  of  the 
jirecinct.  July  4,  1732,  an  additional  two  years  were  given 
for  procuring  a  minister,  and  this  appears  to  have  been  eft'ected 
before  the  ensuing  March,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Grindall 
Rawson,  whose  name  appears  in  the  foregoing  list. 

FIRST   THINGS. 

The  first  settlement  in  South  Hadley  was  made  in  172.5-20  ; 
first  meeting-house  erected  in  1733-34;  first  minister  settled 
in  1733;  first  school-house  built  in  1738;  first  marriage  reg- 
istered, tliat  of  Lieut.  Job  Alvord,  of  Springfield,  and  Kebekah 
Smith,  of  South  Hadley,  Jan.  5,  1762;  first  death,  that  of 
John  Preston,  March  4,  1728  ;  first  regular  ferry  established 
in  1770,  Elias  Lj'man  being  ferryman  ;  first  innkeeper,  Samuel 
Smith,  1729;  iirst  music-teacher,  John  Stickney,  about  1765; 
first  resident  physician,  probably  Dr.  Samuel  Vinton,  1784  to 
1801 ;  among  the  first  traders.  Dr.  Buggies  "Woodbridge  and 
John  Marshall,  1771. 

MISCELLANY. 

The  ways  of  the  early  settlers  of  Soutli  Hadley  and  their 
modes  of  life  did  not  differ,  probably,  in  any  material  degree, 
from  those  of  the  people  of  the  mother-town.  Many  of  them 
were  sons  and  daughters  from  the  households  in  Hadley,  who 
had  tearfully  separated  therefrom  to  seek  homes  in  the 
then  distant  wilds  beyond  Mount  Holyoke.  Fortunately, 
led  by  what  they  e-steemed  a  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
united  doubtless  with  filial  promptings,  they  were  impelled 
to  frequent  reunions  at  the  old  church  in  Hadley's  broad 
and  hospitable  street.  The  journey  of  six  miles  and  re- 
turn was  an  undertaking  of  no  small  magnitude.  For 
the  table,  were  served,  in  savory  form,  wild  turkeys  from 
the  rugged  slopes  of  Holyoke  as  late  as  1825  ;  while  from 
the  famous  fishing-places  in  the  river,  between  Bachelor's 
and  Stony  Brook,  were  obtained  untold  quantities  of  shad 
and  salmon,  if  perchance  the  former  were  not  in  disrepute. 
The  noisy  congregations  of  fishermen  near  the  falls  soon  after 
the  Kevolution, — overflowing  the  spacious  inns  of  Daniel 
Lamb  and  Widow  Mary  Pomeroy, — who  returned  to  their 
homes  over  hill  and  dale  and  through  wood  and  fen,  in  all 
directions,  with  bags  and  cart-loads  of  the  plump  .shad  of  the 
Connecticut,  were  evidence  that  appetite  had  by  that  time 
gotten  tlie  better  of  pnjudioe  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  shad- 
eating. 

Wolves,  once  plenty,  ceased  to  annoy  the  inhabitants  after 
1705,  and  deer  ceased  to  be  numerous  before  1800.  It  may 
be  inferred  that  there  was  little  "  courtin' "  by  young  men 
clad  in  deer-skin  breeches  after  that  date. 

Domestic  Imusehold  manufactures  were  stinuilated  by  the 
needs  of  the  time,  the  raw  material  for  which  was  obtained 
for  many  years  by  means  of  a  traffic  with  Newport,  R.  I.  Those 
who  went  to  the  "Island"  were  commissioned  to  trade  for 
others,  and  sometimes  represented  twenty  or  more  families, 
whose  tow-cloth  and  other  fabrics  tliey  took  with  them  and 
exchanged  for  "wool,  molasses,  sugar,  indigo,  tea,"  and  other 
articles,  the  heaviest  of  which  were  brought  up  the  river  by 
the  way  of  Hartford.  Jonathan  Preston,  in  1758,  and  Reuben 
Smith,  in  1795,  made  such  trips  to  Newport.  It  is  possible 
the  latter  is  chargeable  with  having  first  introduced  cigars 
within  the  town,  as  it  is  recorded  that  "a  South  Hadley 
trader  bought  two  hundred  in  1795.'' 

In  1771,  South  Hadley  produced  two  more  barrels  of  cider 
than  tlie  mother-town;  had  only  nine  less  dwellings,  79;  had 
as  many  grist-mills,   2  ;   two  more  saw-mills,  4 ;   two  more 


oxen,  126  ;  and  in  1776  had  only  ninety-seven  less  white  pop- 
ulation, 584. 

One  slave,  at  least,  was  owned  in  the  town,  and  bore  the 
name  of  Caesar  Cambridge.  He  purchased  his  own  freedom, 
March  6,  1778,  paying  his  owner,  David  Mitchell,  the  equiv- 
alent of  100  silver  dollars. 

The  first  public  conveyance,  provided  in  1789,  was  at  once 
primitive  and  royal,  though  unseemly  for  a  queen.  This 
vehicle  was  a  rail,  its  passenger  John  Queen,  son  of  Hugh, 
and  the  transportation  company  under  whose  auspices  the 
JDurney  was  accomplished  composed  of  10  men  of  South 
Hadley,  who  were  required  to  pay  a  part  of  the  exnenses; 
8  paid  20s.  each,  and  2  paid  10s.  each,  and  £8  12s.,  costs. 
Rather  dear  ft>r  a  trip  from  South  Hadley  to  Granby  I  Why 
Queen  was  treated  to  the  ride  is  not  known.  Twenty-six  years 
before  this  event,  the  town  voted  money  "  to  defend  against 
Hugh  Queen's  being  cast  upon  us  to  maintain."  Hugh  was 
killed  by  .lightning  about  the  year  1759.  His  home  was  near 
Elmer's  Brook. 

In  1769  a  committee  was  chosen  "to  see  where  'tis  best  to 
make  a  rode  for  Ji>nathan  White  to  git  to  meeting."  No 
(■i>nveyance  was  provided  in  his  case.         * 

ORGANIZATION. 

South  Hadley  became  the  second  precinct  of  Hadley  in 
1732,  and  was  incorporated  as  a  district  April  12,  1753. 

The  precinct,  and  afterward  the  district,  contained  all  that 
portion  of  the  mother-town  of  Hadley  lying  south  of  the 
summit  of  Mount  Holyoke,  or  about  25,000  acres. 

The  second  or  eastern  parish  of  South  Hadley  was  formed 
Feb.  18,  1702,  and  was  incorporated  as  a  town  by  the  name  of 
Granby,  June  11,  1708. 

The  original  line  between  the  two  parishes  was  unsatisfac- 
tory, and  was  several  times  altered  after  1708.  A  straight 
line,  called  the  "Goodman  line,"  was  run  in  1781,  and  gave 
Granby  14,043  acres,  and  South  Hadley  9363  acres.  This  line 
was  confirmed  in  1824.  In  January,  1820,  the  present  bound- 
ary was  established  in  accordance  with  the  report  of  a  legisla- 
tive committee,  consisting  of  George  Grinnell,  Jr.,  of  Green- 
field ;  Mieah  31.  Rutter,  of  Middlesex  County ;  Nathaniel  P. 
Denny,  of  Leicester ;  William  Perry,  of  Leominster ;  and 
William  B.  Calhoun,  of  Springfield.  This  line  is  on  the 
Connecticut  River,  0  miles  and  290  rods  ;  on  Hadley,  3  miles 
and  202  rods;  on  Amherst,  170  rods;  on  Granby,  0  miles  and 
239  rods  ;  and  on  Chicopee,  2  miles  and  150  rods. 

The  first  officers  chosen  were  those  of  the  precinct,  ilarch 
12,  1733,  when  Ebenezer  Moody  acted  as  moderator,  and 
Daniel  Nash  (2d)  as  clerk  of  the  meeting.  John  Taylor, 
John  Alvord,  and  Samuel  Smith  were  made  assessors  and 
committee  ;  and  John  Smith,  son  of  Ebenezer,  collector.  The 
administration  of  the  afl'airs  of  the  precinct  were  confined 
chiefly  to  matters  of  an  ecclesiastical  nature,  the  civil  connec- 
tion with  Hadley  not  having  been  severed.  The  erection  of 
the  district  in  1753  gave  South  Hadley  all  the  powers  of  a 
town,  save  that  of  sending  a  representative  to  the  General 
Court.  For  such  purpose  the  town  united  with  Hadley  and 
Amherst  until  1775. 

The  first  district  officers  were  chosen  April  30,  1753,  at  a 
meeting  warned  by  Eleazar  Porter,  Esq.,  of  Hadley,  and  were 
as  follows :  Deacon  John  Smith,  Moderator ;  Daniel  Nash, 
Clerk ;  Samuel  Smith,  Thos.  Goodman,  Deacon  John  Smith, 
Deacon  John  Smith,  Jr.,  Luke  Montague,  Selectmen;  Saml. 
Smith,  Deacon  John  Smith,  Jr.,  Luke  Montague,  Assessors; 
Moses  Montague,  Asahel  Judd,  Constables;  Deacon  John 
Smith,  Sr.,  Treasurer;  Josiah  Moody,  Experience  Smith, 
Joseph  Cook,  Hog-reeves;  Reuben  Smith,  Clt'rk  of  the  Mar- 
ket, Sealer,  Packer,  and  Ganger  ;  Thomas  Goodman,  Job  Al- 
vord, Fence-viewers;  Stephen  Warner,  Jr.,  Josiali  White, 
Surveyors  of  Highways.  Tythingmen,  haywards,  wardens, 
and  deer-reeves  were  chosen  in  later  years. 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


349 


I'rexcnt  Tuivn  Officers. — Josciili  Subanek,  Clerk;  S.  G. 
Giiylord,  Treasurer;  Elliot  Mimtague,  C.  N.  Webster,  Otis 
A.  Judd,  Selectmen  ;  Gardner  Cox,  Luther  A.  Arnold,  Wni. 
Hollister,  School  Committee ;  Harvey  Carey,  E.  H.  Judd,  J. 
P.  Taylor,  E.  Spooner,  Charles  H.  White,  Patrick  U'Gara, 
Pbilili  Hyde,  Arthur  N.  Chapin,  Constables. 

CIVIL  LIST. 

SELECTMEN. 

1753.— Samuel  Smith,  Tliomas  Goodmau,  Deacon  John  Smith,  Deacim  John 

Smith,  Jr.,  Lnlte  Montague. 
1754. — John  Moody,  I>ariicl  Nash,  Joseph  Moody,  Jolin  Preston,  Daniel  Bloody. 
1755.— 'William  Montague,  Kezekiah  Smith,  Samuel  Moody,  Jonathan  Smith, 

Philip'Smith. 
1756.— Luke  Montague,  Joseph  Moody,  William  Eastman,  Nathaniel  White, 
.-<^  Ephraim  Smith. 

1757.— Thomas  Goodman,  John  Moody,  Daniel  Nash,  Samuel  Moody,  Jolin  Gay- 
lord. 
1758._Luke  Montague,  Deacon  Smith,  Jr.,  Capt.  Smith,  David  Nash,  Phinehas 

Smith.  • 

1759. — Ens.  Daniel  Nash,  Thomas  Goodman,  William  Eastman,  Samuel  Preston, 

Eleazar  Nash. 
1760.— William  Montague,  William  Smith,  Joseph  Moody,  Ephraim  Smith,  Capt. 

Smith. 
1761. — Luke  Montague,  Daniel  Nash,  Thomas  Goodman,  Nathan  White,  Elijah 

Alvord. 
1762.— Capt.  Samuel  Smith,  William  Montague,  William  Smith,  Ephraim  Smith, 

Josiah  White. 
17ti3. — Deacon  John  Smith,  Luke  Montague,  John  Moody,  Joseph  Moody,  John 

Gaylord. 
17G4. — Daniel  Nash,  Moses  Montague,  Joseph  White,  Jr.,  Benjamin  Eastman, 

Experience  Smith. 
1765. — John  Moody,  Luke  Montague,  Ephraim  Smith,  Aaron  Nash,  John  Clark. 
1766. — Phinehas  Smith,  Nathan  Smith,  Philip  Smith,  Deacon  David  Nash,  Josiah 

Moody. 
1767. — Luke  Blontague,  Daniel  Nash,  Deacon  John  Moody,  Israel  Smith,  Joseph 

Cook. 
176S. — ^Phinehas  Smith,  Joseph  Moody,  Nathan  Smith,  John  Gaylord,  Reuben 

Smith. 
1709. — Nathaniel  Ingram,  Dr.  Woodbridge,  Ens.  Nash,  Epiiraim  Smitli,  Josiah 

White. 
1770. — Deacon  David  Nash,  Joseph  Moody,  John  Gaylord,  Joseph  Kellogg,  John 

Chandler. 
1771. — Jonathan  ^V^ute,  Noah  Goodman,  .Tonathan  Preston,  Josiah  Moody,  Josiah 

Smith. 
1772. — Joseph  Moody,  Luke  Montjigue,  Josiah  Wllite,  Silas  Smith,  John  Gaylord. 
1773. — Luke  Montjigne,  Josiah  Moody,  Deacon  David  Nash,  Thomas  Judd,  Gad 

Alvord. 
1774. — .lohn  Gaylord,  Joseph  Moody,  Capt.  Josiah  White,  Daniel  Nash,  Ebenezer 

Kellogg. 
1775. — Josiah  Moody,  Joseph  Kcdlogg,  Nt>ah  Goodman,  Nathaniel  Wliite,  Joseph 

Nash. 
1776.— Daniel  Moody,  Benj.  R.  Woodbridge,  Maj.  Joseph  White,  Ezra  Day,  Wil- 
liam Taylor. 
1777. — Ephriiim  Smith,  Enoch  White,  Jost^ph  Moody,  .Tosiah  Smith,  John  Stickney. 
1778. — Josiah  Bloody,  Josiah  White,  John  Gaylord,  Jonathan  Preston,  Thomas 

Judd. 
1779. — Capt.  Moses  Montague,  Noah  Goodman,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Enoch  White,  Aza- 

riah  Alvord,  Reuben  Judd. 
1780. — Darius  Smith,  Joel  Church,  William  Wait,  Nathaniel  White. 
1781. — Ephraim  Smith,  Josiah  Moody,  Josiah  White,  Joseph  Kellogg,  Thomas 

Judd. 
1782. — Gardner  Preston,  Enoch  White,  Moses  Montague,  Nathaniel  Goodman, 

John  Stickney. 
1783. — Maj.  Josiah  White,  David  Nash,  John  Gaylord,  Azariah  Alvord,  Joseph 

Kellogg. 
1784.— Israel  Clark,  David  Mitchell,  Ezra  Day,  Ephraim  Smith,  Dr.  Samuel 

Vinton. 
1785. — Daniel  Lamb,  Ebenezer  Moody,  Blaj.  Josiah  ^\Tiite,  Gardner  Preston,  Capt. 

Azariah.  Alvord. 
1786. — Deacon  David  Nash,  Enoch  Wliite,  Moses  Montague,  Jahleel  Woodbridge, 

Samuel  Alvord. 
1787. — Ruggles  Woodbridge,  David  Blitchcll,  Ephraim  Smith,  .John  Mandevillc, 

Ezra  Day. 
1788. — Josiah  Wliite,  Gardner  Prest(.>n,  Darius  Smith,  Martin  Wait,  Levi  Smith. 
1789. — Noah  Goo<bnau,  Eplirain*  Smith,  Col.  Ruggles  Woodbridge,  David  Nash, 

Jr.,  Ezra  Day. 
1790. — Enoch  White,  Gardner  Preston,  Josiah  Wliite,  John   Stickney,  I>aniel 

Moody. 
1701. — Seth  Moody,  Jahleel  Woodbridge,  Samuel  .\lvord,  Darius   Smith,  Amos 

Kellogg. 
1792. — Deat^on  Silas  Smith,  Capt.  Azariah  Alvord,  Capt.  Elizur  Goodman,  Eben- 
ezer Bloody,  Gardner  Preston. 
1793. — Daniel  Moody,  Enoch  White,  Perez  Smith,  Nathaniel   Ingram,  Josiah 
White,  Jr. 


1794.— John  Church,  Samuel  Preston,  Jr.,  Ephraim  Smith,  Soth  Moody,  Joseph 
Wliite. 

1795. David  Smith,  Gardner  Preston,  Daniel  Moody,  Azariah  Alvord,  Darius 

Smith. 
1790.— John  Stickney,  Jasiah  Church,  Ezra  Day,  Seth  Moody,  Dr.  Daniel  Steb- 
•    bins. 

1797. Gardner  Preston,  Daniel  Bloody,  David  Smitli,  Azariah  Alvord,  Ephraim 

Smith. 
1798._Capt.  Daniel  Moody,  Gardner  Preston,  Ephraim  Smith,  Azariah  Alvord, 

Dr.  Daniel  Stebbins. 
1799._Ephraim  Smith,  Daniel  Bloody,  Gardner  Preston,  Azariah  Alvord,  Dr. 

Daniel  Stebbins. 
1800.— Enoch  Wliite,  Daniel  Bloody,  Dr.  Daniel  Stebbins,  Asa  Nash,  Gardner 

Preston. 
1801.— Capt.  Daniel  Moody,  Asa  Nash,  Enoch  White,  Lieut.  Gardner  Preston, 

Ephraim  Smith. 
1802.- Asa  Nash,  Ephraim  Smith,  Samuel  Preston,  .John  Church,  Seth  Moody. 
1803.— Asa  Nash,  Levi  Judd,  Eldad  "Wliite,  Seth  Bloody,  Gardner  Preston. 
1804.— Asa  Nash,  Levi  Judd,  Eldad  White,  Gardner  Preston,  Seth  Bloody. 
1805.- Gardner   Preston,   Asa  Nash,   Eldad  Wliite,   Ephraim    Smith,  Eliphaz 

Bloody. 
1800.— iVsa  Nash,  JIaj.  Eliphaz  Moody,  Eldad  \Miite,  Gardner  Preston,  Ephr.aim 

Smith. 
1807.— Eliphaz  Bloody,  Asa  Nash,  Eldad  White,  Gardner  Preston,  Levi  Judd. 
1808.— Eldad  Wliite,  Daniel  Moody,  Calvin  Goodman,  Sherebiah  Butts,  Selah 

Smith. 
1809.— Daniel  Bloody,  Eldad  Wliite,  Calvin  Goodman,  Sherebiah  6utts,  Selah 

Smith. 
1810.— Daniel  Bloody,  Eldad  Wliite,  Selah  Smith,  Sherebiah  Butts,  Calvin  Good- 
man. 
1811.— Eldad  Wliite,  Gardner  Preston,  Levi  Judd,  Peter  Allen,  Asa  Nasli. 
1S12.— Gardner  Preston,  Peter  Allen,  Asa  Nash,  Levi  Judd,  Elilad  Wliite. 
1813.— Asa  Nash,  Levi  Judd,  Daniel  Lamb,  Jr.,  Bezaleel  Alvord,  .Tosiah  Snow. 
1814.— Asa  Nash,  Levi  Judd,  Josiah  Snow,  Daniel  Lamb,  Col.  Eliphaz  Bloody. 
1815.— Levi  Judd,  Eliphaz  Bloody,  Josiah  Snow,  Asa  Clark,  Ephraim  Smith,  Jr. 
1810.— Levi  Judd,  Josiah  Snow,  Eliphaz  Moody,  Selah  Smith,  Moses  Gaylord. 
1817.— Selah  Smith,  Josiah  Snow,  Daniel  Moody,  Daniel  Warner,  Bloses  Gaylord. 
1818.- D.aniel  Bloody,  Moses  Gaylord,  Eli  Stearns,  Daniel  Warner,  Pcttr  Allen. 
1819.— Josiah  Snow,  Eli  Stearns,  Daniel  Gillett,  Josiah  Wliite,  Allen  Smith. 
1820.- Moses  Gaylord,  Daniel  Warner,  Josiah  White,  Eli  Stearns,  Allen  Smitli. 
1821.— Eliphaz  Moody,  Bloses  Gaylord,  Allen  Smith,  Daniel  Warner,  Eli  Stearns. 
1822.— Dauiel  Warner,  Daniel  Gillett,  Jr.,  Eli  Stearns,  Hiram  Smith,  Spencer 

Bloody. 
1823.— Eliphaz  Bloody,  Bloses  Gaylord,  Josiah  Snow,  Samuel  Preston,  William 

Bowdoin,  Jr.,  Esq. 
1824.— Spencer  Moody,  Eli  Stearns,  Samuel  Preston,  Ephraim  Smith,  Enoch 

Chapiu. 
1825.— Enoch  Cliapin,  Josiah  White,  Hiram  Smith,  Ephraim  Smith,  Spencer 

Bloody. 
1826.— Titus  Clark,    Eldad    Smith,  Enoch  Chapiu,  Bloses  Montague,  Daniel 
Warner. 

1827. Hiram  Smith,  .Mpliens  Ingraham,  Enoch  Chapiu,  William  Bowdoin,  Jr., 

Josiah  Bardwell. 
1828.- Moses  Blontague,  Eli  Stearns,  Eldad  Smith,  Josiah  Church,  Otis  Good- 
man. 
1829.— Otis  Goodman,  Joseph  Clark,  Cyras  Alvord,  William  Lyman,  Josiah 

Cliurch. 
18.30.— Alonzo  Bardwell,  Eldad  Smith,  Gardner  Preston,  Jr.,  William  Lyman, 

Spencer  Bloody. 
1831.— Joseph  Clark,  Josiah  Church,  Daniel  Warner,  Cyras  Alvord,  Otis  Good- 
man. 
1832,— Spencer  Bloody,  Daniel  H.  Lamb,  Joseph  Bardwell,  Jr.,  Gardner  Preston, 

Jr.,  Eldad  Smith. 
1833.— Joseph  Bardwell,  Jr.,  Alonzo  Lamb,  Hiram  Smith,  Spencer  Moody, 

Alpheus  Ingram. 
1834.— Spencer  Bloody,  Daniel  H.  Lamb,  Ephraim  Smith,  Alonzo  Bardwell,  John 

Kellogg. 
1835. Spencer  Moody,  Titus  Clark,  Alonzo  Bardwell,  Zebina  Judd,  John  Kel- 
logg. 
1836.— Alpheus  Ingram,  Alfred  Judd,  Titus  Clark,  Alonzo  Lamb,  Zebina  Judd. 
1837.— Titus  Clark,  Edward  Southworth,  Josiah  Church,  Spepcer  Moody,  Lorenzo 

Gaylord. 
1838.- Spencer  Bloody,  Samuel  Judd,  Paoli  Lathrop,  Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Josiah 

Church. 
1839.— Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Lewis  Ingraham,  Moses  Montague,  Paoli  Lathrop,  Sam- 
uel Judd. 
1840.— Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Samuel  Judd,  Lewis  B.  Ingraham,  Joseph  Carew,  Jr., 

Sedgwick  White. 
1811.— Lorenzo  Caylord,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Shubael  Cook,  Marcellus  Clark, 

Paoli  Lathrop. 
1842.- Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Blarcellus  Clark,  Shnbael  Cook,  Alonzo  Bardwell,  Dex- 
ter Ingraham. 
1843.— Spencer  Bloody,  Alfred  Judd,  Josiah  Churcli,  Robert  Brainard,  Josiah  W. 

Goodman. 
1844.— Lewis  B.  Ingrah.am,  Jotliani  Graves,  Joseph  Carew,  Edmund  Smith,  Lu- 
ther .\lvord. 
1845.— Alonzo  Bardwell,  Ira  Hyde,  Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Thomas  BI.  Nash,  William 
Bowdoin. 


350 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1S46. — Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Dextor  lugraham,  Thomas  M.  Nash,  Almerin  D.  Miller, 

Beiyaiiiio  C.  Brjunard. 
1847. — Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Paoli  Lathrop,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Sedgmick  White, 

Samuel  Judd. 
1848.— Paoli  Lathrop,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Josiah  Gaylord,  Alfred  Judd,  Spencer 

Moody. 
1840.— Paoli  Lathrop,  Josiah  Gaylord,  Alfred  Jndd,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Spencer 

Moody. 
1850.— Spencer  Moody,  Alonzo  Bardwell,  Broughton  Alvord,  Gardner  Preston, 

Erastus  T.  Smith. 
1851. — Dr.  Edward  G.  Ufford,  Alonzo  Baidwell,  Spencer  Moody. 
1852. — Paoli  Lathrop,  Gardner  Preston,  Levi  AV.  Allen. 
1853. — Dexter  Ingraham,  Titus  Clark,  Sedgwick  White. 
1854.— Titus  Clark,  Sedgwick  Whit«,  Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Enoch 

C.  Chapin. 
1855. — Thomas  M.  Nash,  Oliver  Pease,  Daniel  Alden,  Benjamin  Congdon,  Asel 

L.  Clark. 
1856. — Broughton  Alvord,  Byron  Smith,  Beiyamin  C.  Brainard,  John  Gaylord, 

Norman  Preston. 
1857. — Marcellus  Clark,  Dexter  Ingraham,  Broughton  Alvord,  Paoli  Lathrop, 

Alonzo  Bardwell. 
1858.— Broughton  Alvord,  Harvey  Judd,  Hiram  Smith,  Jr.,  Thomas  M.  Nash, 

Amos  Kellogg. 
1859.— Hiram  Smith,  Jr.,  Broughton  Alvord,  Thomas  M.  Nash,  Andrew  T.  Judd, 

Levi  W.  Allen. 
1860-63.— Hi i-am  Smith,  Jr.,  Broughton  Alvord,  Thomas  M.  Nash. 
1863-66. — Hiram  Smith,  Jr.,  Broughton  Alvord,  Byron  Smith. 
1867. — Andrew  T.  Judd,  Langdon  Ayres,  Thomas  M.  Nash. 
1868. — Andrew  T.  Judd,  Langdon  Ayres,  Harvey  Judd. 
1869.— Lorenzo  Gaylord,  MancUus  Clark,  II.  Ogden  Dwight. 
1870. — Byron  Smith,  George  E.  Lamb,  Marcellus  Clark. 
1871-72. — Broughton  Alvord,  Hiram  Smitli,  Jr.,  Martin  W.  Burnett. 
1873-74. — Martin  W.  Burnett,  Lorenzo  Gaylord,  Joseph  Bardwell. 
1875-77. — Martin  W.  Burnett;  John  H.  Preston,  Newton  Smith. 
1878-79.— Elliot  Montague,  Otis  A.  Jndd,  Charles  N.  Webster. 

CLERKS. 
1753-65,  Daniel  Nash  ;  1756-74,  Daniel  Moody  ;  1775-81,  David  Nash ;  1782-84, 
Buggies  Woodbridgc;  1785-86,  John  Stickney  ;  1787-90,  Jahleel  Woodbridge; 
1791-94,  David  Smith ;  1795-1818,  Josiah  White,  Jr. ;  1819-24,  Joseph  Strong ; 
1825,  Maltby  Strong  ;  1826,  Joel  Hayes ;  1827,  Otis  Gooihnan ;  1828-29,  Edwin 
Hooker ;  1829-31,  Joel  Hayes ;  1832,  William  Lyman  ;  1833,  Otis  Goodman  ; 
1834-35,  Joel  Hayes ;  1836,  Otis  Goodman ;  1S37,  Joel  Hayes ;  1838-40,  Titus 
Clark  ;  1841,  Daniel  Paine  ;  1842-64,  David  Turner ;  1865-69,  Joseph  Bardwell ; 
1870-78,  Ira  B.  Wright ;  1879,  Joseph  Suhanok. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

From  1769  to  1774  the  towns  of  Hadley,  South  Hadlej-,  Am- 
herst, and  Granby  united  in  choosing  representatives  to  the 
General  Court.  Daniel  Nash,  of  South  Hadley,  was  chosen  in 
1764-65.  From  1776  to  1787,  Ens.  Noah  Goodman  was  the 
representative  from  South  Hadley  whenever  a  choice  was  made. 
No  choice  is  recorded  for  the  years  1790-91,  '96. 

In  the  years  1792-94,  1819-22,  '45  the  people  voted  "  not  to 
send  a  representative." 

The  following  were  representatives  in  the  j^ears  named  re- 
spectivel}' : 

Lieut,  Enoch  Wllito,  17S8 ;  Noah  Goodman,  1789  and  1795 ;  Col.  Buggies  Wood-_ 
bridge,  1797-1812,  though  no  record  is  made  for  the  years  1801-3-6 ;  Peter  Allen, 
1813;  Dr.  Elihu  Dwight,  1814-15;  Peter  Allen,  1816-18;  Joseph  Strong,  Jr., 
1821 ;  Josiah  Bardwell,  l.S2:S ;  Joel  Hayes,  Jr.,  1824-28 ;  Daniel  Warner,  1829-30 ; 
Joel  Hayes,  1831 ;  Hiram  Smith,  1832 ;  William  Lyman,  1834;*  Ephraim  Smith, 
1836;  William  Bowdoin,  1836 ;  Daniel  Paine,  1837;  Joel  Miller,  1838;  Spencer 
Moody,  1839-10 ;  Paoli  Lathrop,  1S4(M1 ;  Simeon  Nash,  1843  ;  Erastus  T.  Smith, 
1844;  Calvin  Goodman,  1845;  Joseph  Carow,  1847;  Titus  Clark,  1848;  Daniel 
Paine,  1S49 ;  Paoli  Lathrop,  1S50 ;  Lorenzo  Gaylord,  1851 ;  Charles  Peck,  1852 ; 
Marx:ellus  Clark,  1^63  ;  Willard  Judd,  1854 ;  Warren  L.  Waterman,  1855 ;  Dexter 
Ingraham,  1856  ;  Gilbert  A.  Smitli,  1857  ;  Peregrine  Waters,  1859  ;t  Thomas  M. 
Nash,  1861 ;  Stcphon'C.  Wold,  1863 ;  Elliot  Montague,  1865 ;  Andrew  T.  Judd,  1866 ; 
Elliot  Montivgue,  1869;  Ira  B.  Wright,  1872;  James  W.  Gaylord,  1875  ;  Newton 
Smith,  1870  ;  Martin  W.  Burnett,  1878.  Edward  P.  CrowcU,  of  Amherst,  is  the 
present  representative,  1879. 

VILLAGES. 

SOUTH   HADLEV, 

a  post-village,  occupies  a  charming  situation  near  the  geo- 
graphical centre  of  the  town,  and  north  and  west  of  Stony 
Brook.    The  village  contsiins  not  far  from  one  hundred  dwell- 

*  Elections  changed  in  18.13  from  May  to  November. 

f  Representatives  for  yeaiis  18.^»9-65,  inclusive,  wunr  chosen  by  Hadley  and  South 
Hadley  as  one  (hstiict;  since  1K65  Simlli  Hadley  and  Amherst  have  formed  one 
district.  No.  4.  (See  Hadley  and  Amherst  for  representatives  in  years  not  given 
in  text.] 


ings,  a  high-school  building,  one  church  edifice,  and  a  num- 
ber of  stores  and  mills.  It  also  contains  two  cemeteries  and 
a  small  park.  By  far  the  most  important  feature  of  this  rural 
village  is  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  with  its  ample  grounds 
and  attractive  and  substantial  structures. 

SOUTH   HADLET   FALLS 

occupies  a  position  on  the  Connecticut,  at  the  extreme  south- 
ern portion  of  the  town,  a  number  of  its  dwellings  and  streets 
being  south  of  the  town  line,  in  Chicopee.  This  village,  for- 
merly known  as  the  "  canal  village,"  is  on  the  five  hundred 
acres  which  were  reserved  for  "Major  Pynchon"  in  1683.  In 
1726  the  most  or  all  of  the  tract  was  sold  by  William  Pyn- 
chon, of  Springfield,  to  John  Taylor,  of  Hadley,  for  about  a 
dollar  and  one-third  per  acre.  The  Taylors,  and  probably 
others,  occupied  the  tract  for  half  a  century.  The  village 
now  contains  several  hundred  dwellings,  a  high-school  build- 
ing, four  church  edifices, — one  of  which  is  unoccupied, — a 
number  of  stores  and  mills,  and  two  cemeteries.  Since  the 
building  of  the  great  dam  across  the  Connecticut,  from  the 
head  of  the  old  canal  to  the  opposite  shore,  the  village  has 
largely  increased  its  manufltcturing  enterprises,  and  now 
(1879)  may  be  considered  as  in  some  sense  complemental  to 
its  remarkable  neighbor  opposite,  the  thriving  city  of  Holyoke. 
A  free  bridge  connects  the  two  places.  The  village  has  water- 
works connected  with  Buttery  Brook. 

Pearl  City  and  Moody  Corners,  two  thickly-settled  locali- 
ties, are  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  on  Bachelor's  Brook. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

For  a  number  of  j-ears  after  the  settlement  of  Soutli  Had- 
ley no  public  provision  was  made  for  the  maintenance  of 
schools.  The  rudiments  of  learning  were  doubtless  taught  in 
a  private  way,  or  wholly  within  the  Itousehold. 

Feb.  2,  1738,  it  was  voted  to  build  a  school-house  "  23  foots 
long  &  18  foots  broad  and  7  foots  between  joints."  Deacon 
Joseph  White,  Deacon  John  Smith,  and  Samuel  Smith  were 
appointed  "to  see  to  y'  building  the  iScool-House,''  and  to 
"  discourse  with  the  Committee  of  y''  Scool  in  y'  first  Precinct 
of  this  town  &  desire  their  help  about  seting  up  a  scool  in  this 
Precinct." 

March  12,  1739,  the  people  "voted  that  the  Scool-House 
shall  be  set  in  the  most  convenient  place  between  y"  meeting- 
House  &  y'  house  that  Moses  White  now  lives  in."  Jan.  12, 
1747,  <£8  were  voted  to  finish  the  school-house,  and  Ensign 
William  Montague,  Richard  Church,  and  Daniel  Nash  made 
a  committee  to  finish  the  building  and  provide  a  schoolmaster. 
The  school-house  was  not  finished  until  after  March,  1754. 
In  that  year  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  hire  what 
schooling  they  thought  proper  for  the  summer.  January  13th, 
following,  j£50,  old  tenor,  equal  to  j£6f  lawful, J  or  §22.22, 
were  appropriated  for  schooling,  at  the  school-house  first,  at 
Deacon  John  Smith's  next,  and  at  Palls  Woods  next,  two 
months  in  each  place.  The  people  living  up  Bachelor's 
Brook  were  allowed  a  portion  of  the  £50  for  schooling.  Of 
£13  (is.  8d.  voted  June  21,  1756,  £2  13s.  id.  were  for  Palls 
Woods,  £5  6s.  Sd.  to  be  spent  at  the  school-house,  and  the 
rest  "  in  the  North  and  East  extreams"  of  the  district. 

A  committee  was  chosen,  March  9,  1761,  "  to  represent  and 
to  defend  the  district  respecting  a  gramar  school  which  the 
district  is  sumoned  to  answer  at  the  next  Sessions  of  the  Peas. ' ' 

A  school-house  was  ordered  to  be  built  at  Falls  Woods  in 
1769,  and  was  undoubtedly  finished  before  Nov.  28,  1775, 
when  two  committees  were  chosen,  "one  for  the  old  .school- 
house,  so  called,  and  one  for  the  Falls  Woods  school."  In 
1794,  £150  were  appropriated  for  erecting  "  a  school-house  or 
houses,"  but  the  record  does  not  disclose  where  they  were  to 
be  located. 

The  following  sums  were  appropriated  for  schooling  in  the 

X  A  pound  lawful  was  equal  to  $3.33)^. 


MOTIHTP  KOETOKE    SIKMIKAElK. 

SOUTH  HADLEY,  MASS. 


MOUNT HOLYDKE  SlMtNARY-  SOUTH  HADUY,  MASS. 

(rOR  SCIENCE  AUD  ART.) 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


351 


years  named:  1754,  in  lawful  monc}',  £S;  1758,  ^£20,  exclu- 
sive of  teachers'  board;  17C4,  £30,  "including  the  boarding 
the  school-masters  ;"  1775,  £20;  1787,  £30;  1795,  £50;  1805, 
$300;  1815,  $700;  1824,1500. 

The  town  gave  to  promote  singing,  in  1792,  §13.33 ;  1796, 
$20;  1799,^50;  1805,  §.50;  1807,  $80. 

The  system  of  graded  schools  was  introduced  in  1868,  and 
first  applied  to  the  schools  at  the  Falls  village,  by  Kufus  C. 
Hitchcock,  now  of  Thompsonville,  Conn.  It  was  chiefly,  if 
not  wholly,  through  his  intelligent  and  persevering  etforts 
that  this  salutary  change  was  otiected. 

There  are  now — 1879 — two  principal  school  buildings,  of 
brick,  in  which  nearly  all  the  scholars  are  concentrated,  and 
in  each  of  which  the  several  grades  are  taught.  The  oldest 
of  these  buildings  is. at  the  Falls  village,  and  was  erected  about 
1845,  and  enlarged  in  later  years ;  the  other  is  at  the  centre 
village,  and  was  built  in  1868  or  1869.  A  small  brick  school- 
house  stands  at  Falls  Woods,  another  at  "  Pearl  City,"  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  town,  and  one  of  wood  at  the  Falls 
village. 

There  are  practically  seventeen  different  schools,  conducted 
by  as  many  teachers,  four  of  whom  are  males.  A  teacher  of 
music  is  also  employed. 

In -1868  the  population  was  20flS ;  valuation,  $1,103,491; 
greatest  luimber  of  scholars  enrolled,  in  summer,  488  ;  great- 
est average  attendance,  summer,  393.  In  1877  the  population 
was  3370;  valuation,  $1,630,899;  scholars  between  live  and 
fifteen  years,  579 ;  greatest  average  attendance,  522 ;  number 
of  diflerent  scholars  enrolled,  732.  Amount  applied  to  schools 
in  1877,  $8,500.  The  estimated  population  in  report  for  year 
ending  March  1,  1879,  is  3500;  greatest  enrollment  of  pupils, 
summer  term,  622  ;  greatest  average  attendance,  summer,. 510 ; 
expenditure,  $8512.53. 

A  private  school  for  young  ladies  was  taught  a  number  of 
years,  commencing  in  or  near  the  year  1802,  by  Miss  Abby 
Wright,  and  was  "in  good  repute."  Other  private  schools 
were  doubtless  conducted  from  time  to  time  until  the  adoption 
of  the  district  system,  soon  after  1812. 

John  Judd  was  the  first  teacher  in  District  No.  4,  at  what 
is  now  "  Pearl  City." 

MOUNT  HOLYOKE  SEMINARY. 

Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  chief  among  the  institutions  of 
the  old  Bay  vState  devoted  to  the  education  of  young  women, 
occupies  a  charming  situation  on  the  east  side  of  the  main 
street  in  the  village  of  South  Hadley.  Two  miles  westward 
the  Connecticut  trails  its  winding  thread  of  silver  through  the 
meadows,  while  nearer,  on  every  side,  appear  in  great  variety 
the  pastures  green  and  undulating  fields  of  a  broken  upland. 
As  a  majestic  border  to  the  picture,  upon  the  west  and  north 
rise  the  stern  and  rugged  ranges  of  Mounts  Tom  and  Holyoke. 
Here,  as  everywhere  in  this  lovely  valley,  the  graceful  elm 
abounds. 

Mary  Lyon,  the  founder  of  the  seminary,  was  born  in 
Buckland,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass.,  Feb.  28,  1797.  She  was 
generously  endowed,  physically  and  intellectually;  but  to 
her  narrow  circumstances,  and  consequent  struggles  to  obtain 
an  education,  more  than  to  any  other  cause,  it  is  probable  the 
seminary  owes  its  existence.  Self-sacrificing  and  zealous,  she 
undertook  the  arduous  task  of  providing  an  institution  of 
learning  which  should  be  self-sustaining,  and  yet  "  where  ex- 
penses should  be  so  moderate  as  not  to  debar  those  of  limited 
means  and  advantages  so  great  that  the  wealthy  could  find 
none  superior  elsewhere."  Such  was  her  devotion  to  this 
noble  purpose  that  she  could  write,  "  Had  I  a  thousand  lives, 
I  could  sacrifice  them  all  in  suffering  and  hardship  for  its  sake. 
Did  I  possess  the  greatest  fortune,  I  could  readily  relinquish 
it  all  and  become  poor,  and  more  than  poor,  if  its  prosperity 
should  demand  it." 

Some  years  of  her  life,  before  setting  about  her  great  work. 


were  spent  in  teaching,  her  first  essay  being  in  a  school  near 
Shelburne  Falls,  at  a  salary  of  75  cents  per  week  and  board. 
After  other  experiences  in  a  small  way,  in  sundry  schools 
of  her  native  county,  she  united  with  Miss  Z.  Grant  in 
the  management  successively  of  the  Adams  Female  Acad- 
emy, at  Derry,  N.  H.,  and  the  female  seminary  at  Ipswich, 
Mass.  She  remained  with  Miss  Grant  ten  years,  and  it  was 
during  this  period  that  the  plans  for  the  new  institution  were 
gradually  and  patiently  matured.  Upon  leaving  Ipswich,  in 
1834,  she  called  to  her  aid  a  number  of  able,  earnest,  and  will- 
ing friends,  whom  she  had  inspired  with  much  of  her  own 
zeal  and  self-denial. 

The  seminary  was  incorporated  Feb.  11, 1836,  and  the  corner- 
stone of  the  first  building — which  was  of  brick  and  94  feet 
by  50  in  size — laid  (.)ctober  3d,  following.  This  building,  of 
four  stories  and  ba.sement,  had  a  capacity  to  accommodate  80 
pupils,  and  was  opened  Nov.  8,  1837.  Its  length  has  been  ex- 
tended to  166  feet,  and  a  wing  122  feet  by  40  projected  east- 
ward from  each  end,  at  right  angles  to  the  main  structure.  A 
gymnasium  connecting  the  extremities  of  the  wings  completes 
the  quadrangle. 

The  library,  erected  in  1870,  at  a  cost  of  $18,000,  is  con- 
nected with  the  main  building,  45  feet  southward,  by  a  corri- 
dor 11  feet  in  width.  It  is  handsomely  fitted  for  its  uses,  and 
finished  in  native  woods.  The  furniture  and  cases  are  of 
black-walnut.     The  library  contains  about  10,000  volumes. 

Williston  Hall,  the  handsomest  structure  of  the  group,  finely 
situated  in  the  rear  and  somewhat  north  of  the  main  edifice, 
is  of  brick,  has  four  stories  and  a  gabled  roof,  and  an  inner 
finish  of  ash,  attractive  and  durable.  Its  cost,  complete,  was 
$50,017.74,  of  which  sum  Mr.  A.  Lyman  Williston,  of  North- 
ampton, whose  name  it  bears,  gave  $10,000.  The  building  is 
dedicated  to  science  and  art,  and  contains  already  many  fine 
collections  in  the  various  departments.  Rooms  for  the  cabi- 
nets of  ichnology,  geology,  mineralogy,  zoology,  and  botany 
are  provided  ;  also  a  laboratory,  and  physiological  and  other 
recitation-rooms.  The  upper  floor  is  devoted  to  the  art-gallery. 
Upon  one  wall  of  the  geological  lecture-room  appears  in  fresco 
a  geological  map,  15  by  22  feet  in  size,  projected  by  Prof.  C. 
H.  Hitchcock,  the  original  of  which  was  awarded  the  prize  at 
Philadelphia,  in  1876. 

The  cabinets  include  an  entire  set  of  the  Ward  casts,  a  bonn- 
Jide  skeleton  of  the  extinct  New.  Zealand  bird  Pal(iptci\i/.c  cle- 
jihmiiopus,  a  rare  collection  of  corals,  and  a  fine  collection  of 
fossil  bird-tracks,  while  the  art-gallery  contains,  among  other 
works  of  art,  a  large  painting  by  Albert  Bierstadt  of  a  scene 
in  the  Hetch  Hetchie  Caiion,  California.  For  this  picture  the 
gallery  is  indebted  to  Mrs.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Williston, 
and  to  the  artist  himself,  who  contributed  a  part  of  the  price. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  Williston 
Hall,  June  1,  1875,  appropriate  exercises  were  held,  including 
a  statement  and  narrative  by  one  of  the  young  ladies  of  the 
seminary.  The  hall  was  dedicated  with  interesting  ceremonies 
Nov.  15,  1876,  Prof.  W.  S.  Tyler,  of  Amherst  College,  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  trustees,  delivering  an  address. 

In  the  affairs  of  the  seminary  no  domestic?  are- employed. 
The.  members  constitute  one  family,  and  by  a  proper  division 
of  labor,  requiring  a  service  from  each  of  but  one  hour  a  day, 
perform  all  the  needed  household  duties.  While,  regarded  as 
no  part  of  the  instruction  proper,  this  daily  service  proves  salu- 
tary as  a  means  of  promoting  health  and  stimulating  to  sys- 
tem, order,  and  mutual  helpfulness. 

"The  grand  features  of  this  institution,"  wrote  Miss  Lyon 
before  its  opening,  "  are  to  be  an  elevated  standard  of  science, 
literature,  and  refinement, .  and  a  moderate  standard  of  ex- 
pense ;  all  to  be  guided  and  modified  by  the  spirit  of  the  gos- 
pel." The  actual  work  of  the  seminary  has  been  in  perfect 
accord  with  this  intelligent  forecast  from  the  day  of  its  open- 
ing until  the  present  time.  In  the  later  years  changes  have 
been  made  by  which  the  standard  for  admission  has  been 


352 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


raised  and  the  curriculum  proportionately  broadened.  The 
present  regular  course  covers  four  years,  of  three  terms  each, 
and  includes  the  higher  English  branches,  mathematics,  end- 
ing with  astronomy  in  the  third  year ;  the  physical  sciences, 
French,  or  German,  in  the  second  year,  and  natural  theology. 
Separate  courses  in  Greek,  Trench,  and  German  are  made  op- 
tional, but  may  not  be  substituted  for  the  regular  curriculum. 
Instruction  is  given  in  vocal  music,  reading,  penmanship, 
gymnastics,  crayon  and  pencil  drawing,  and  painting  in  water- 
colors. 

This  institution  has  received  considerable  aid  from  private 
sources,  but  never  was  endowed.  With  the  exception  of 
!ti-tO,000  received  from  the  State,  in  1807,  the  principal  gifts 
have  been, — from  Mrs.  Henry  F.  Durant,  of  Boston,  §10,000 
for  the  purchase  of  books  ;  a  legacy  from  the  late  Miss  Phcbe 
Huzeltine,  of  Boscawen,  N.  H.  ($15,000),  as  a  fund  whose  in- 
come should  be  used  to  assist  deserving  pupils,  making  the 
total  fund  for  that  purpose  §20,000;  from  Mr.  Kendall,  of 
Leominster,  Mass.,  by  will,  $.5000;  from  the  late  Mrs.  Julia 
M.  Tolman,  of  West  lio.xbury,  Mass., — once  associate  princi- 
pal,— a  bequest  of  $3000,  as  the  nucleus  for  a  fund  whose  in- 
come might  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  teachers. 

Besides  the  single  gift  of  §10,000,  by  Mr.  Williston,  for  the 
hall  of  .Science  and  Art,  numerous  other  donations  were  made 
for  the  same  purpose,  amounting  to  §20,1114.22. 

Principal  among  Miss  Lyon's  coadjutors  were  Rev.  Eoswoll 
Hawks,  of  Cummingt(m,  Mass. ;  Hon.  Daniel  Safford,  of 
Boston;  and  Andrew  W.  Porter,  Esq.,  of  Munson,  Mass. 
Each  was  afterward  numbered  among  the  first  trustees  of  the 
seminary,  Mr.  Hawks  holding  for  many  years  the  presidency  of 
the  board.  Mr.  Hawks  was  distinguished  for  his  successful 
hibors  in  raising  the  needed  funds,  which  in  sums  large  and 
sums  diminutive — equally  the  outpouring  of  large  hearts — 
within  two  years  became  sufficient  to  warrant  the  erection  of 
ft  building.  Mr.  Haftbrd  and  his  honored  wife  gave  of  their 
wealth — treasures  of  sympathy  and  treasures  of  gold — with 
unflagging  and  unsparing  generosity.  Mr.  Safibrd  said,  in 
after-life,  "No  money,  time,  or  eti'ort  which  I  have  bestowed 
on  any  object  aft'ords  me  more  satisfaction  in  the  review  than 
what  1  have  given  to  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary." 

In  March,  1830,  Deaccjn  Andrew  W.  Porter  was  made  a 
trustee.  Next  to  its  founder,  he  became  more  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  institution,  its  material  and  educational  advance- 
ment, in  all  phases  of  its  early  struggling  life  and  later  pros- 
perous existence,  than  any  other  person.  The  first  building 
was  put  up,  and  nearly  all  succeeding  improvements  made, 
under  his  intelligent  supervision,  freely  given.  This  was 
but  the  beginning  of  his  life  of  devotion  to  the  seminary, — 
the  child  of  his  adoption.  "For  forty  years,  without  any 
pecuniary  reward  or  emolument,  he  gave  time,  thought, 
money,  and  personal  services  unsparingly  to  the  institution 
which  he  adopted,  loved,  and  cared  for  as  a  child."  In  all  he 
did  for  the  institution,  he  had  the  hearty  co-operation  and 
sympathy  of  his  loving  wife.  When  in  his  last  hours  he  could 
not  speak  h*  wrote,  with  hand  that  fal'tered,  "  Give  my  love 
to  the  teachers,  the  daughters,  and  all  the  pupils  of  the  semi- 
nary." When  the  end  came,  and  before  the  funeral,  the 
)irincipal  of  the  seminary  wrote,  "The  seminary  is  rich  in 
friends,  but  we  have  no  other  Deacon  Porter.  He  was  more 
than  a  friend, — he  was  a  father  ;  and  the  '  seminary  daughters,' 
whom  he  remembered  to  the  last,  must  mourn  for  him.  No 
human  being,  except  Mary  Lyon,  has  done  as  much  for  the 
institution  as  he.  Next  to  Mrs.  Porter,  Mount  Holyoke  Semi- 
miry  is  chief  mourner."     Deacon  Porter  died  March  4,  1877. 

Miss  Lyon  performed  the  duties  of  principal  of  the  seminary 
from  the  day  of  its  opening  until  the  period  of  her  death,  in 
March,  184!*.*     The  successors  of  Mi.ss  Lyon  have  been  Misses 


*  TboBc  desiring  fuller  accounts  of  Miss  Lyon  and  her  colaburors  are  referred 
to  the  following  works  :  Life  of  Mury  Lyon,  AnuMiean  Tract  Society,  New  York  ; 


Mary  W.  Chapin,  1851  to  1867 ;  Helen  M.  Trench,   1807  to 
1872  ;  and  Julia  E.  Ward,  the  present  preceptress. 

The  whole  number  of  graduates,  including  the  class  of  1878, 
is  1640.  Four-fifths — as  shown  by  the  attendance  from  1838 
to  1876,  inclusive — were  from  the  five  States,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont,  the 
percentage  of  the  whole  number  being  for  each,  respectively, 
35,  151,  15,  7i,  and  7.  The  attendance  for  the  years  1878-79 
is  273,  distributed  in  the  four  classes  as  follows  :  Senior,  31  ; 
senior  middle,  38;  junior  middle,  86;  junior,  118. 

Lectures  for  the  current  year  (1878-79):  Rev.  Edward  D. 
Lawrence,  of  Marblehead,  subject,  "Philosophy  of  Travel;" 
Prof.  Charles  A.  Young,  of  Princeton  College,  "Astronomy 
and  Physics;"  Prof  Charles  H.  Hitchcock,  of  Dartmouth 
College,  "Geology;"  Prof.  Charles  U.  Thompson,  of  Worces- 
ter Free  Institute,  "Chemistry;"  Rev.  Selah  Merrill,  D.D., 
of  Andover,  "Recent  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands." 

Tcaclicrs. — Miss  Julia  E.  Ward,  Principal ;  Miss  Elizabeth 
Blanchard,  Miss  Anna  C.  Edwards,  Associate  Principals ; 
Miss  Lydia  W.  Shattuck,|  Miss  Harriet  E.  Sessions,  Miss 
Hannah  Noble,  Miss  Lucy  J.  Holmes,  Miss  Ellen  P.  Bowers, 
Mrs.  Sarah  D.  Stow,t  Miss  Frances  M.  Hazen,  Miss  Elizabeth 
B.  Prentiss,  Miss  Mary  C.  Townsend,  Miss  .Sarah  H.  Melvin, 
Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Bard.well,  Miss  Louise  F.  Cowles,  Miss 
Adeline  E.  Green,  Miss  Cornelia  M.  Clapp,  Miss  Mary  E. 
Blodgett,-)-  Miss  Anna  A.  Parsons,  Miss  Clara  W.  Wood, 
Miss  Etta  E.  Hooker,  Miss  Abbie  L.  Sweetser,  Miss  Isabella 
G.  Mack,  Miss  Persis  D.  Hewitt.  Adelaide  A.  Richardson, 
M.D.,  Physician  and  Teacher  of  Physiology  ;  Miss  Mary  O. 
Nutting,  Librarian ;  Miss  Margarethe  Vitzthum  von  Eckstadt, 
Teacher  of  French  and  German;  Miss  Ada  J.  MacVicar, 
Teacher  of  Jlusic ;  Miss  Lillie  L.  Sherman,  Assistant  Pupil- 
teacher  of  Drawing  ;  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Foster,  Mrs.  Harriet  G. 
Dutton,  Superintendents  of  Domestic  Department. 

Trustees. — Rev.  William  S.  Tyler,  D.D.,  of  Amherst,  Presi- 
dent;  Abner  Kingman,  Esq.,  of  Boston;  Austin  Rice,  Esq., 
of  Conway;  Sidney  E.  Bridgman,  Esq.,  of  Northampton; 
Henry  F.  Durant,  Esq.,  of  Boston  ;  A.  Lyman  Williston,  Esq., 
of  Northampton;  Rev.  N.  G.  Clark,  D.ii.,  Hon.  William 
Claflin,  of  Boston;  Edward  Hitchcock,  M.D.,  Rev.  Julius  H. 
Seelye,  D.D.,  of  Amherst ;  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  of  Eastliamp- 
ton ;  Rev.  J.  R.  Herrick,  D.D.,  of  West  Hartford,  Conn.; 
Francis  A.  Walker,  Ph.D.,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  Edward 
Hitchcock,  M.D.,  Secretary;  A.  Lyman  Williston,  Esq., 
Treasurer. 

ECCLESIASTICAL. 

The  General  Court  made  it  a  prerequisite  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  separate  precinct  south  of  Mount  Holyoke  that  a 
minister  should  be  settled,  and  that  he  should  be  "learned" 
and  "orthodox."  Five  or  six  years  elapsed  before  this  condi- 
tion was  fully  met,  and  the  result  showed  that  the  minister 
finally  secured  was  sufSciently  firm,  if  not  orthodox. 

Mr.  Grindall  Rawson  was  engaged  Aug.  10,  1733,  and  or- 
dained the  3d  of  October  following.  He  was  allowed  fire-wood, 
and  a  house  was  built  for  him  in  the  ensuing  year.J  There 
remains  no  record  of  the  amount  of  his  salary  and  settlement, 
no  evidence  of  a  formal  church  organization. 

A  meeting-house,  40  feet  by  30  in  size,  was  in  process  of 
building  in  March  preceding  the  engagement  of  Mr.  Rawson, 
and  on  the  12th  of  that  month  it  was  voted  to  "  build  a  pulpit, 

Daniel  Safford,  Congregational  Publishing  Society,  Boston.  BocoUections  of 
Mary  Lyon,  by  Fidelia  Fiske,  American  Ti-act  Society,  Boston.  Memorial  vol- 
ume of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  published  in  1862.  Life  of  Edward  Norris 
Kirk,  It.D.,  Lockwood,  Brooks  &  Co.,  Boston. 

■f  Absent  a  part  of  the  year. 

X  The  residence  of  Mr.  Kawson,  with  the  home-lot,  was  purchased  by  Moses 
Wlute,  and  subsequently  by  Maj.  John  Woodbriilge,  who  lived  there  until  his 
death,  in  17S2.  A  large  houso  was  erected  on  tlie  property  a  few  years  later,  a 
few  rods  south  of  the  site  of  Mr.  Eawson's  dwelling,  by  Col.  Woodbridge,  the 
year  17»8.  "  After  the  raising,"  siiys  Mr.  Judd,  "  there  was  a  great  wrestliug- 
match."    This  houso  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Deacon  Moses  Moutiiguc. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRP]   COUNTY. 


353 


and  to  ceil  and  plaster  the  house  up  to  the  plates."  The  prog- 
ress of  the  work  was  slow,  and  the  subject  of  numerous  votes 
before  the  house  was  finished,  in  1737.  A  gallery  with  pews 
was  finished  seven  years  later.  The  seating,  which  was  ac- 
cording to  ratable  estate,  and  the  age  and  ability  of  individuals, 
was  eftected  in  1784.  The  scaters  were  directed,  in  January, 
1739,  to  make  room  for  Madam  Kawson.*  The  pews  were  of 
various  sizes,  holding  from  five  to  ten  persons. 
'The  parish  and  Mr.  Eawson  in  a  short  time  came  to  dis- 
agreement, of  which  the  first  evidence  in  the  church  records 
appears  under  date  of  Feb.  2-5,  1740.  It  was  then  "voted, 
that  it  is  the  desire  of  this  precinct  that  Rev.  Mr.  Rawson  bo 
dismissed  from  and  lay  down  the  work  of  the  ministry  among 
us  ;"  and  subsequently,  March  23,  1741,  "  voted,  that  whereas 
ye  Rev.  Grindall  Eawson  hath,  in  a  public  manner,  withdrawn 
from  33  of  the  brethren  of  this  church,  whereby  he  hath  not 
only  gone  contrary  to  the  minds  of  a  greater  part  of  the 
church,  but  hath  virtually  withdrawn  from  a  major  part  of 
the  precinct,  it  is  the  mind  of  the  precinct  that  Mr.  Rawson 
is  no  longer  our  minister,  and  that  Ephraim  Nash,  John 
Nash,  and  Sarg't  John  Smith  be  a  committee  to  acquaint  him 
that  we  have  no  further  service  for  him  in  the  office  of  a  gos- 
pel minister,  and  that  we  expect  he  will  refrain  from  any 
public  acts  in  that  office  in  future. "f 

A  council,  which  met  in  May,  1741,  advised  a  separation, 
yet,  regardless  of  this,  and  the  reiterated  protests  of  the  jico- 
ple,  Mr.  Rawson  continued  t^  officiate,  and  thus  grievously 
oft'cnd,  when  he  could  get  possession  of  the  pulpit. 

Driven  to  extreme  measures,  the  parish  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  15,J  Oct.  30,  1741,  who  were  enjoined  "to  prevent 
Mr.  Eawson  from  entering  the  meeting-house  on  the  Sabbath 
by  such  means  as  they  shall  think  best,  except  he  shall  promise 
not  to  officiate  or  perform  service  as  a  minister ;  and  if  Mr.  Eaw- 
son shall  ofler  to  perform  services  as  a  minister,  the  committee 
shall  put  him  forth  out  of  the  meeting-house."  Within  a 
short  time  he  again  otfended  by  entering  the  pulpit  and  com- 
mencing prayer.  He  was  at  once  seized  by  a  number  of  the 
committee,  or  at  their  bidding,  and  ejected  from  the  house. 
Tradition  says  his  mouth  was  stopped  with  a  handkerchief, 
because  he  continued  to  pray.  The  parish  was  indebted  to 
their  minister  "for  salary  and  wood,"  and  tradition  again 
comes  in  to  say  that  Mr.  Rawson  claimed  the  right  to  officiate 
until  the  debt  was  paid.     He  did  not  again  attempt  to  serve. 

Mr.  Eawson  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Rev.  Isaac 
Chauncey,  of  Hadley,  May  19,  1738.  One  son,  Grindall, 
became  a  preacher  ;  another,  Charles,  a  physician. 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Eawson,  Eev.  John  Woodbridge,  of 
Suffield,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  1732,  was  installed  April 
21,  1742,  and  continued  pastor  of  the  church  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  Sept.  10,  1783.  He  had  a  settle- 
ment of  £300,  in  land  and  buildings,  and  a  salary  of  £150, 
which,  after  four  years,  was  increased  to  £160,  payable  in 
bills  "equal  to  old  tenor."  Reduced  to  silver  equivalent,  the 
salary  was  not  more  than  £40.  It  was  increased  from  time  to 
time  until  it  reached  £66  13s.  4d.,  in  1761.  A  part  of  the 
salary  was  sometimes  paid  in  grain.  Wood  was  also  provided, 
and  rose  from  50  loads  per  year  to  70. 

Mr.  Joel  Hayes  was  settled  as  the  colleague  of  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  in  1781-82,  and  ordained  October  23d,  in  the  latter 
year.    He  had  £275,  hard  money,  as  a  settlement ;  £90  salary 

*  Marcli  14, 1743,  the  paristi  vuted  *'  that  William  Montague  sit  in  the  high 
or  tji-yt  Pew  witli  the  men,  and  liis  wife  in  the  liigliest  Pew  witli  the  women. 
The  wife  of  Deacon  John  Smith  the  2d,  and  Luke  Montague  with  his  wife,  sit  in 
tlie  Pew  on  tliG  north  side  of  y«  east  door;  Madam  Woodbridge  in  the  Pew  De.\t 
tliu  Pulpit,  and  the  Widow  Kellogg  in  the  fire-Beat  or  3d  Pew,  either  iw  she  shall 
chuse." 

f  There  were  fifteen  who  voted  against  this  measure. 

X  Hezekiah  Smith,  Stephen  Warner,  William  Gaylurd,  Ephraim  Nash,  William, 
Smith,  Samuel  Preston,  Sergt.  John  Smith,  Chileab  Smith,  John  Alvord,  Peter 
Montjigue,  Corp.  John  Smith,  Moses  Taylor,  Samuel  Smith,  Jonathan  Smith,  and 
John  Preston  were  the  committee. 

45 


and  firewood.     After  forty  years'  ministry  he  was  dismissed  in 
1823,  and  died  July  29,  1827,  aged  seventy-four. 

As  the  inhabitants  increased  a  larger  meeting-house  became 
a  necessity.  The  new  building  was  easily  voted,  March  2, 
1751,  but  the  question  of  its  location  became  a  serious  matter 
of  controversy.  The  original  determination  was  to  "set  it 
near  the  old  one,"  next  "in  the  centre  of  travel,"  and  after 
four  years'  indecision  voted  to  build  "  if  they  could  agree  on  a 
place  to  set  it;"  and  three  years  later,  January,  1758,  again 
voted  to  build  a  house  of  worship  00  feet  long  and  45  feet 
wide,  and  to  set  it  where  it  would  best  suit  the  inhixbitants. 
But  there  were  too  many  minds,  and  a  curious  period  of  vacil- 
lation and  counter-voting  followed,  in  which  they  voted  to 
abide,  and  again  not  to  abide,  by  the  decision  of  a  committee 
of  non-residents.  Jan.  14,  1760,  five  different  places  were 
designated  ;  and  so  the  projected  sanctuary  seems  to  have  been 
on  wheels,  journeying  through  the  town.  A  committee  sent 
by  the  General  Court  made  a  report,  determined  by  lot,  which 
was  not  satisfactory  to  dwellers  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
district.  They  argued,  January,  1761,  that  "owing  to  the 
soil  the  eastern  parts  of  the  district  are  likely  to  be  much  sooner 
filled  with  inhabitants  than  the  western  part ;  we  think  a  large 
portion  of  the  land  in  the  western  part  is  so  poor  it  will  never 
be  inhabited,"  and  desired  to  be  separated  from  that  part  of 
the  district  if  the  committee's  decision  were  confirmed.  A 
second  committee  decided  that  the  building  should  stand  "at 
the  head  of  the  lane  on  Cold  Hill." 

The  western  inhabitants  opposed  the  division  of  the  district, 
but  proceeded  to  build  where  the  first  committee  had  decided, 
near  the  old  meeting-house.  In  this  they  were  molested  by 
their  opponents,  some  of  whom  "drew  away  three  posts  and 
hid  them  in  Pichawaniche  Swamp,"  and  in  October,  1761,  after 
the  frame  was  raised,  appeared  with  augmented  force  and  cut 
off  and  pushed  over  the  southern  portion.  The  builders  called 
a  committee  of  ministers  to  judge  of  the  validity  of  the  decision 
"by  lot."  Four  appeared  in  March  following,  and  decided 
that  the  lot  was  "  of  a  sacred  nature,"  and  that  they  "did  not 
see  how  it  could  he  departed  from,  according  to  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments." 

The  vexed  question  was  settled  by  the  erection  of  the  second 
parish,  Feb.  18, 1762,  and  the  payment  by  the  first  parish  of  all 
taxes  collected  in  the  second  for  the  building,  less  the  damage 
to  the  frame.  The  amount  determined  by  arbitrators — Wra. 
Pitkin,  Jr.,  of  Hartford,  Ebenezer  Hunt,  of  Northampton, 
and  William  Wolcott,  of  Windsor— was  £70  14s.  Id.  The 
damage  was  repaired  and  the  new  house  finished  in  1763  and 
1704,  and  "seated"  in  the  latter  year.  Galleries  were  added 
in  the  ensuing  seven  years. ^  A  steeple  and  belfry  were  erected 
in  1791,  and  a  bell  furnished  by  Col.  Buggies  Woodbridge. 

A  third  church  edifice  was  erected  in  or  near  1844,  and  was 
burned  in  January,  1875.  A  fourth,  the  present  church,  was 
completed  in  1876,  and  dedicated  February  23d  in  that  year. 
It  cost,  with  furniture  and  organ  complete,  not  far  from  §28,000. 

The  following  have  followed  Mr.  Hayes  in  the  pastorate : 
Artemus  Boies,  of  Blandford,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College 
in  1810,  served  from  Feb.  24,  1824,  until  Nov.  18,  1834;  Jos. 
D.  Condit,  of  Hanover,  N.  J.,  graduate  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  in  1826,  served  from  July  8,  1835,  until  the  time 
of  his  death,  Sept.  19,  1847  ;  Thomas  Laurie,  settled  in  June, 
1848,  remained  a  short  time  ;  Eliphalet  Y.  Swift,  1850-57  (?) ; 
Hiram  Mead,  Sept.  29,  1858,  to  November,  1867 ;  John  M. 
Green,  Feb.  26,  1868,  to  May  25,  1870 ;  James  H.  Bliss,  Jan- 
uary, 1871,  to  May  1,  1873  ;  John  R.  Herrick,  D.D.,  April  10, 
1874,  to  April  10,  1878.  The  society  is  at  present  without  a 
pastor  (April  12,  1879).     Number  of  members,  325. 

I  The  first  moetiug-house  stood  north  and  west  of  the  second,  with  the  prin- 
cipal entrance  on  the  east  side,  and  ttie  pulpit  opposite.  It  was  removed,  and 
became  a  dwelling  ;  was  sold  to  John  Chandler  near  the  year  1704,  and  was  sub- 
sequently occupied  by  the  Goodmans,  and  recently  by  Alfred  Judd  and  the 
widow  of  Salalhiel  Judd. 


354 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Present  Officers. — Ansel  L.  Clark,  Samuel  Smith,  Calvin 
Preston,  Deacons ;  Elliot  Montague,  Clerk  of  the  Church  ;  Levi 
B.  Allen,  Clerk  of  the  Parish,  whose  father,  Levi  W.  Allen, 
had  previously  tilled  that  office  during  twenty  years. 

THE   CONGKEQATIONAI,   CHURCH,  SOUTH    HADLET    FALLS, 

was  formally  organized  with  nineteen  members  Aug.  12, 1824. 
The  members  were  Joseph  Bardwell,  Sybil  Bardwell,  Enoch 
Chapin,  Lydia  Chapin,  Rhoda  Moody,  Eleazer  Owen,  Jr., 
Earl  Bishop,  Philip  Smith,  Jr.,  Huldah  Smith,  Wm.  Clough, 
Sewall  "Chapin,  Asa  Nash,  Deborah  Day,  Pamelia  Atkins, 
Alonzo  Bardwell,  Sybil  Abbee,  Sabra  Childs,  Jennette  Carpen- 
ter, Edith  Gillett.  The  movement  which  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  society  originated  at  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
south  part  of  the  town,  held  at  the  school-house  in  the  "Canal 
district,"  February  28th  in  the  year  named.  The  first  services 
were  held  in  a.  building  standing  north  of  the  later  church 
edifice,  and  which  yet  is  called  the  "Brick  Chapel."  The 
present  house  of  worship  was  erected  probably  in  1835,  on  land 
purchased  of  David  Ames,  Jr.,  and  John  Ames,  of  Springfield. 
The  "chapel"  was  used  until  the  church  building  was  read}-. 
In  ilarch,  1870,  an  expenditure  of  §3000  was  made  necessary 
to  repair  damages  occasioned  by  a  recent  fire. 

The  church  remained  as  one  body  until  1860,  when,  because 
of  certain  ditterenees,  a  part  of  the  members  withdrew  and 
maintained  for  eighteen  years  a  separate  existence,  claiming 
the  name  of  the  original  organization.  The  parts  were  made 
one  again  in  1878. 

The  following  have  served  as  pastors  of  this  society  :  John 
F.  Griswold,  from  Dec.  3,  1828,  until  Aug.  2,  1831 ;  William 
Tyler,  from  Aug.  10,  1832,  until  Dec.  4,  1843;  William  W. 
Thayer,  from  Dec.  4,  1839,  until  March  29,  1842;  Leander 
Thompson,  fr.mi  Dec.  13,  1843,  until  Aug.  28,  1850;  Porter 
H.  Snow,  from  Feb.  4,  1852,  until  Dec.  15,  1854;  Richard 
Knight,  Sept.  10,  1856,  until  April  30,  1860 ;  S.  J.  M.  Mer- 
win,  from  Dec.  4,  1860,  until  July  10,  1867;  Geo.  E.  Fisher,* 
installed  Oct.  2,  1867,  who  was  succeeded  by  Winfield  S. 
Hawkes,  the  present  pastor,  installed  Nov.  12,  1878.  Number 
of  members  Oct.  1,  1878,  3.J0. 

Present  Officers. — John  Gaylord,  Joseph  Carew,  Langdon 
Ay  res,  William  B.  Wilder,  Deacons  ;  Stephen  C.  Weld,  Clerk 
and  Treasurer. 

A    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH 

was  organized  at  the  village  of  South  Hadlej'  Falls  in  the  fall 
of  1827,  and  a  house  of  worship  provided  five  years  afterward. 
The  original  members  numbered  15  or  20,  but  because  of  the 
loss  of  the  church  records,  at  the  burning  of  the  shop  of  Mr. 
Benjamin  C.  Brainard  many  years  ago,  the  names  of  all  can- 
not be  given.  A  few  are  remembered:  Benjamin  C.  Brainard, 
Eunice  P.  A.shley,  afterward  Mrs.  Brainard,  Maria  Gaj'lord, 
afterward  Mrs.  Aldrich,  Julia  Gaylord,  Elniira  Griswold. 

The  first  class  was  organized  by  Dr.  Fisk,  who  occupied  the 
small  building  known  as  the  "Brick  Chapel,"  whose  use  for 
religious  purposes  was  granted  by  Capt.  Ariel  Cooley.  Dr. 
Fisk  continuecl  to  serve  the  class  for  two  or  three  years,  and 
was  followed  by  Joel  Knight,  then  a  student  at  Wilbraham, 
who  preached  for  a  number  of  months,  chiefly  in  a  small 
school-house.  The  church  organization  was  the  result  of  a 
revival  held  during  his  ministry.  He  was  followed  by  a  Mr. 
Davis,  from  Wilbraham,  who  was  occasionally  assisted  by 
Abel  Stevens.  At  the  times  when  Mr.  Stevens  attended  the 
audiences  became  so  large  that  the  school-house  was  found 
insufijcient,  whereupon  a  larger  room  was  procured  in  the 
paper-mill  of  Mr.  Lathrop.  The  society  has  been  served  by 
many  pastors,  whose  terms  of  service  have  usually  been  from 
one  to  three  years  each,  according  to  customs  of  this  denomi- 
nation.    The  present  minister  is  Rev.  John  Galbraith. 


*  Tlio  churi'b  society  celebrated  its  flftieth  anniversary  Aug.  9, 1874,  the  pas- 
tor, Rev.  George  E.  Fisher,  giving  an  liistoi-ical  address. 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC. 

The  people  of  this  denomination  were  for  many  years 
served  by  non-resident  priests.  No  regular  society  was  formed 
until  within  a  short  period,  their  church  edifice  dating  from 
1877-78.  This  edifice  was  built  under  the  auspices  of  Father 
Harkins,  the  first  pastor,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Holyoke. 

CEMETERIES. 

South  Hadley  has  four  cemeteries.  The  old  cemetery,  at 
the  centre  village,  was  laid  out  by  the  proprietors,  March  26, 
1728,  upon  ground  known  as  the  "Sandy  Hill,"  on  the  west 
side  of  the  main  highway,  or  country  road,  being  in  size 
twenty-eight  rods  along  the  road,  and  twelve  rods  in  width. 
It  has  since  been  enlarged.  It  was  voted  in  March,  1754,  to 
fence  the  burying-yard  with  stone. 

The  first  person  buried  in  this  ground  was  John  Preston, 
who  died  March  4,  1728. 

Another  place  of  burial  has  been  provided,  a  little  north 
and  west  of  the  preceding,  containing  about  ten  acres  of  land, 
and  threaded  near  its  eastern  border  by  a  small  brook.  A 
dam  near  the  south  line  forms  a  considerable  pond  witjiin  the 
grounds. 

The  third  cemetery  is  at  the  Falls  village,  a  few  rods  from 
the  south  line  of  the  town,  and  overlooks  the  Connecticut 
River,  from  which  it  is  but  a  short  distance  removed.  It  con- 
tains five  or  six  acres,  and  is  under  the  control  of  ii  regular 
cemetery  organization. 

The  Catholics  have  a  small  burial-ground  near  the  north 
end  of  High  Street,  at  the  Falls  village. 


The  shad  fisheries,  and  the  business  of  transporting  produce 
by  the  "  falls,"  made  the  "  wayside  inn"  more  of  a  necessity 
in  the  earlier  days  of  the  town's  history  than  do  the  fisheries 
and  other  industries  of  the  present  day. 

The  first  inn  was  opened  by  Samuel  Smith,  in  1729,  and 
kept  until  1731 ;  the  next  by  Samuel  Kellogg,  1733  to  1740; 
and  next,  probably  by  William  Eastman,  after  1750,  and 
John  Smith,  from  1759  to  1771.  All  these  were  on  the 
Springfield  road,  north  of  the  present  Falls  village. 

The  first  innkeeper  at  "Falls  Woods"  was  Elijah  Alvord, 
in  1755,  a  man  of  trade,  with  a  warehouse  at  the  mouth  of 
Stony  Brook,  at  that  time,  or  a  few  years  later.  Noah  Good- 
man succeeded  him  as  host.  Two  years  after  the  road  was  laid 
by  the  falls,  a  public-house  was  opened  by  Titus  Pomeroy,  on 
the  old  Pynchon  grant, — known  since  as  "  Taylor's  field," — in 
1767,  and  for  some  years  after  his  death  was  kept  by  his 
widow.  Daniel  Lamb  established  an  inn  in  the  vicinity,  in 
1782. 

Not  far  from  the  year  1759,  a  house  was  erected  by  John 
Smith,  father  of  Maj.  John,  of  Hadley,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  present  road  from  Smith's  Ferry  to  the  village  of  South 
Hadley.  This  was  enlarged,  and  in  1773  converted  into  a 
hotel  by  John  Stickney.  The  throngs  of  fishermen  made  this 
step  necessary.  The  house  is  now,  or  was  a  few  years  since, 
owned  by  Mr.  Emerson  Bates. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  common  at  South  Hadley  an  inn 
was  put  up  by  Joseph  White,  and  a  part  of  it  was  afterward 
incorporated  into  the  public-house  recently  kept  by  Mr.  Geo. 
L.  Smith. 

Elias  Lyman  the  elder,  who  conducted  the  first  ferry,  had 
a  public-house  near  the  present  ferry-landing,  in  1770. 

What  was  known  as  the  "  Canal  Hotel,"  a  brick  structure, 
which  still  stands  facing  the  north  end  of  Front  Street,  at  the 
Falls  village,  was  built  by  Ariel  Cooley,  not  far  from  the  year 
181.5.  The  mason  employed  was  Deacon  Enoch  Chapin.  It 
was  principally  for  the  accommodation  of  river-men  and  fisher- 
men. The  aged  Lydia  Day,  now  a  resident  of  the  village,  was 
employed  at  this  hotel,  about  the  year  1820,  and  says  that 
meals  for  a  hundred  or  more  fishermen  were  there  served  in  a 


DffAWN    BT  H  HOCERS, 


CAREW   PAPER   Co..  SOUTH    f4ADLEY    FALLS,  ^lASS. 


RESIDENCE  OF  JOSEPH   C/^REW, 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


355 


single  day.  Orilinary  wayfarers  were  seldom  among  the 
guests.  In  that  day  the  extension  in  the  rear  of  the  main 
part  did  not  exist.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  Ariel  Cooley 
are  now  residents  of  the  Falls  village, — 1879. 

The  present  house,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Front  and 
Main  Streets,  was  kept  as  a  hotel  about  the  same  period,  1820, 
by  a  Mr.  Bishop,  and  subsequently  became  the  dwelling  of 
Josiah  IJardwell. 

TOWN-POOR. 

Samuel  Mighill,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  whose  name  ap- 
pears among  the  early  instructors  of  the  Hopkins  school,  in 
Hadley,  170-5,  petitioned  for  town  aid  in  1759.  He  was  sup- 
ported at  public  charge  until  his  death,  April  11,  1769,  and 
was  the  first  person  thus  supported  by  the  town. 

Comfort  Domo,  daughter  of  the  eccentric  Peter, — who  was 
long  a  dweller  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountain,  in  Hadley,* 
— experienced  much  discomfort  in  her  later  days.  Becoming 
a  town  charge,  she  was  warned  from  South  Hadley  in  1790, 
and  later  was  the  occasion  of  controversy  between  that  town 
and  Granby.  Each  claimed  the  other  should  support  her. 
She  died  in  the  latter  town  in  1798. 

In  Hadley,  a  family  of  French  neutrals  were  supported 
by  the  town  at  one  period,  in  and  before  the  year  17G2. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  farming-lands  of  the  town  are  chiefly  devoted  to  the 
production  of  hay  and  grass,  and  their  resultants, — milk  and 
butter.  The  yield  of  milk  is  large,  for  which  a  near  home- 
market  is  found  in  the  manufacturing  districts. 

WATER-WORKS. 

A  system  of  water-works  was  introduced  at  the  Falls  village, 
in  1872-73,  which  derives  its  supply  of  water  from  a  reservoir 
constructed  on  Buttery  Brook,  at  a  point  east  of  the  village. 
The  main  pipes  are  from  eight  to  twelve  inches  in  diameter, 
and  supply  nearly  fifty  hydrants,  w'hich  are  used  for  fire  and 
other  purposes.  The  cost  of  construction,  as  reported  March 
1,  1875,  was  ^55,716.65.  The  governing  body  is  denominated 
the  "  Board  of  Water  Commissioners  for  Fire  District  No.  1, 
of  the  town  of  South  Hadley." 

The  pre-sent  water  commissioners  are  Benjamin  Aldrioh, 
President;  Benjamin  C.  Brainard,  Treasurer;  C.  A.  Bard- 
well,  J.  Suhanek,  H.  E.  Gaylord,  William  T.  Hollister. 
Austin  S.  Day  is  superintendent. 

MASONIC. 

Mount  Holyoke  Lodge  was  formed  in  1870  witli  about  20 
members.  The  first  otficers  were  Rev.  George  E.  Fisher, 
Master  ;  Emerson  R.  Judd,  Senior  Warden  ;  W.  M.  Harris, 
Junior  Warden ;  Benjamin  C.  Brainard,  Treas.  ;  R.  O. 
Dwight,  Sec. 

The  meetings  of  the  lodge  were  first  held  in  a  building 
owned  by  the  Glasgow  Company,  on  School  Street,  from 
which,  in  the  year  1874,  or  early  in  1875,  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  suitable  rooms  in  a  new  brick  edifice  on  Front 
Street. 

Present  officers:  James  0.  Walker,  Master;  William  N. 
Price,  Senior  Warden  ;  P.  August  Moos,  Junior  Warden  ; 
Campbell  Cliapin,  Sec.  ;  Serbertram  E.  Bliss,  Treas. 

A  chapter  of  the  order  known  as  the  "  Knights  of  Pythias" 
was  formed  a  few  years  since,  at  the  village  of  South  Hadley 
Falls.     It  is  composed  of  Germans. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Besides  the  earlier  mills  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 

first  settlement  and  concerning  which  nothing  more  is  known, 

there  were  others  at  a  later  day,  which  in  turn  have  passed 

away.     Three  saw-mills  were  operated  in  1771,  all  connected 

*  Peter  clicd,  anri  wjis  turned  in  the  South  Hadley  burying-gnmud,  iu  1702, 
and  a  head-stone  still  marks  the  spot. 


with  the  falls,  owned  respectively,  from  above  downward,  by 
Noah  Goodman  (suppo.sed),  William  Taylor,  and  Titus  Pom- 
eroy.  One  was  owned  in  another  quarter  of  the  town  by  Dr. 
Ruggles  Woodbridge.  In  the  same  j-ear  a  grist-mill  on  Stony 
Brook  was  owned  by  Samuel  Preston,  and  one  on  Bachelor's 
Brook  by  Josiah  Moody. 

Asheries,  for  the  manufacture  of  potash,  were  conducted 
simultaneously  with  the  above,  by  Dr.  Woodbridge  and  by 
John  Marshall,  but  their  sites  are  not  known.  Joseph  White 
made  potash  many  years  afterward,  in  a  building  situated 
west  of  the  inn  then  occupied  by  him  between  the  park  and 
cemetery. 

Distilleries  were  common  at  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
and  South  Hadley  was  the  possessor  of  two,  whose  history  is 
little  known.  Their  products  did  not  promote  their  own  lon- 
gevity, whatever  the  influence  upon  their  patrons. 

Caleb  Ely  had  a  fulling-mill  in  1771,  whose  exact  location 
is  not  known. 

Forty  or  fifty  years  ago — now  1879 — the  Moodys  established 
a  forge  on  Bachelor's  Brook,  and  many  years  afterward,  about 
1850,  a  stock  company  started  a  paper-mill  near  the  site  of  the 
Moody  grist-mill  previously  mentioned.  Farther  down  the 
stream  Ezra  Allen  put  up  a  paper-mill,  in  or  near  the  year 
1859.  A  button-factory  was  at  one  time  in  operation  at  what 
is  now  "  Pearl  City,"  whence  the  name  of  that  inconsiderable 
hamlet. 

The  manufacturing  enterprises  on  Stony  Brook  have  been 
a  cotton-factory,  which  was  burned  in  1824  or  about  that 
time,  and  succeeded  by  the  present  paper-mill  of  Judd  & 
Brothers  ;  a  grist-mill  lower  on  the  stream,  built  twenty-five 
or  thirty  years  ago  by  Erastus  T.  Smith,  its  recent  owner ; 
and  a  woolen-mill  still  farther  down,  built  nearly  a  half-cen- 
tury ago,  by  Stephen  White,  and  now  owned  by  L.  H.  Ar- 
nold. The  last  is  near  the  site  of  one  of  the  old  distilleries, 
and  is  not  at  present  in  operation.  The  lowest  site  on  this 
stream  is  occupied  by  a  sash-and-blind  factory,  established  by 
John  H.  Hastings  in  18.30-35,  and  recently  owned  by  Howard, 
Gaylord  &  Co.  Nash  &  Josselyn  made  cotton-mops,  wicking, 
and  batting  in  1855  and  subsequently. 

A  steam  saw-mill,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  above  the 
canal,  has  been  in  operation  for  many  years,  and  is  now  con- 
ducted by  B.  Congdon  &  Co. 

The  "Morgan  Nail-Works"  were  in  operation  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  old  canal  in  1812-15;  Enoch  Chapin  had  an  oil- 
mill  as  early  as  1820  to  '25 ;  Bardwell  &  Bishop  a  saw-  and 
grist-mill  in  1825;  Charles  Howard  and  Wells  Lathrop  a 
paper-mill  in  1824 ;  and  D.  &  J.  Ames  a  paper-mill  about 
1828.  Most  of  these  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  Glasgow 
mill,  or  that  vicinity.  The  Ames  mill  was  burned  in  May, 
1844  or  '46,  and  it  is  said  the  others  were  also  destroyed  by 
fire  at  that  time  or  earlier.  A  dyeing  establishment  was  oper- 
ated by  Eleazer  Owens  in  or  near  the  year  1820,  in  the  same 
neighborhood. 

The  enterprise  of  grinding  .salt  was  conducted  at  the  falls 
in  1824,  and  possibly  at  an  earlier  date.  The  salt  came  from 
Nantucket.  In  1844,  Carew  &  Damon  began  to  put  up  fine 
salt  in  bags,  and  were  the  first,  it  is  claimed,  in  that  branch 
of  the  business. 

Present  Manufactures. — The  canal  around  the  falls  at  South 
Hadley  was  begun  and  completed  during  the  last  eight  years 
of  the  last  century,  and  was  long  used  for  purposes  of  navi- 
gation by  boats  and  other  craft  ascending  and  descending.  Its 
later  use,  however,  and  that  which  has  stimulated  the  growth 
of  the  little  village  of  South  Hadley  Falls,  has  been  to  supply 
water  from  the  Connecticut  for  manufacturing  uses. 

There  are  at  present  three  mills  su|iplied  with  power  through 
the  canal.  The  upper  mill  is  that  of  the  Carew  Manufac- 
turing Company,  established  in  1848,  with  a  capital  of  $35,000. 
The  main  building  was  burned  and  rebuilt  in  1873.  This 
company  employs  80  operatives,  and  turns  out  3000  pounds 


356 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


of  fine  writing-paper  each  twenty-four  hours.  Power  is 
transmitted  through  a  large  turbine- wheel.  Officers :  Chas. 
H.  Smith,  President ;  Joseph  Carew,  Treasurer  and  Agent. 

The  middle  site  is  occupied  by  the  mill  of  the  Hampshire 
Paper  Company,  chartered  May  19,  1866,  for  the  "  manufac- 


HAMr.SUIUE    I'ArER    I 


,  SiiUTU     IIAliLKV,   MAS 


turc  (if  paper,  and  fabrics  of  which  paper  is  the  principal  ma- 
terial," with  a  capital  of  §200,000.  The  incorporators  were 
Wells  Southworth,  Edward  Southworth,  J.  H.  Southworth, 
Erastus  Hopkins,  Alonzo  Bardwell,  J.  L.  King,  Theodore  W. 
Ellis,  and  George  M.  Atwater. 

The  building  occupied  by  the  company  was  erected  in  1860 
by  the  Glasgow  Mills  Company.  The  products  are  fine 
writing-paper  and  bristol-board,  of  which  last  a  specialty  is 
made,  the  company  claiming  to  be  the  first  successful  manu- 
facturers of  that  article  in  this  country.  The  maximum 
number  of  operatives  employed  is  17-5.  A  turbine-wheel  is 
used. 

Present  officers:  J.  H.  Southworth,  President;  C.  H.  South- 
worth,  Treasurer. 

The  lower  site  is  occupied  by  the  Glasgow  Mills,  a  corpora- 
tion created  Feb.  16,  1848,  by  an  act  incorporating  "William 
Bowdoin,  Charles  Peck,  George  M.  Atwater,  and  their  asso- 
ciates, under  the  name  of  the  "Glasgow  Company,"  for  the 
purpose  of  manufacturing  cotton,  woolen,  worsted,  or  silk 
goods,  severally  or  unitedly.  The  capital  stock  has  been  in- 
creased from  §300,000  to  the  present  figiu-c,  §350,000.  George 
M.  Atwater  was  the  fir.st  president,  and  William  K.  Gould, 
Jr.,  first  clerk  and  treasurer. 

This  company  has  one  large  brick  structure,  200  by  50  feet 
in  size,  and  six  stories  high,  in  which  are  389  looms.  Work 
is  furnished  to,400  operatives,  producing  chieHy  fancy  dress- 
goods  and  ginghams,  at  the  rate  of  70,000  yards  per  week,  and 
the  yarns  used  in  their  manufacture.  Power  is  derived  from 
a  Boyden  turbine-wheel  6-1  inches  in  diameter,  under  30  feet 
head. 

Present  trustees,  George  M.  Atwater,  John  H.  Southworth, 
J.  C.  Atwater,  Martin  W.  Burnett,  Oscar  Edwards,  Henry 
Hinckley,  Howard  Poote ;  President,  John  H.  Southworth; 
Treasurer,  George  M.  Atwater  ;  Agent,  Benjamin  C.  Brainard. 

MEANS   or   COMMUNICATION. 

Roads. — The  early  settlers  were  liberal  in  Ihcir  Judications 
of  land  for  higliway  purposes.  The  old  road  or  cartway  to 
Springfield,  through  what  is  now  South  Hadley,  laid  in  1664, 
was  "in  breadth  twenty  rods,"  but  narrowed  in  1710  to  ten 
rods.     Before  the  latter  date  two  roads  were  established,  but 


it  is  not  known  which  was  the  first  laid.  These  roads  united 
"a  little  north  of  the  seminary,"  and  with  some  changes  are 
still  maintained.  The  most  westerly  road  passed  over  the 
dingle  called  "  Lubber's  Hole,"  and  west  of  the  buildings 
now  west  of  the  park. 

In  April,  1765,  a  road  called  the  "  Lumber  road"  was 
opened  from  the  head  of  the  present  canal  to  a  point  on  the 
river  two  or  three  miles  below,  to  facilitate  the  carriage  of 
lumber  and  produce  by  the  falls.  The  floating  argosies  of 
commerce — comprised  of  lumber;  shingles,  logs,  and  other 
products  of  the  forest,  in  shape  of  rafts — gave  to  the  broad 
river  above  the  falls  a  show  of  life  in  that  day  which  it  does 
not  now  possess. 

A  way  across  Mount  Holyoke,  at  a  low  place  called  the 
"  Crack,"  had  been  in  use  a  long  time  prior  to  1762 ;  but  in 
that  year  a  country  road  was  laid  at  that  point,  extending 
from  the  Bay  road,  in  Amherst,  to  the  meeting-house  in 
South  Hadley,  and  four  years  later  was  extended  "to  the 
Springfield  road,  near  Moses  Taylor's." 

Ferries. — The  first  licensed  ferryman  between  South  Hadley 
and  Northampton  was  Elias  Lyman,  who  established  a  ferry, 
at  what  is  now  Smith's  Ferry,  in  1770.  This  had  long  been  a 
crossing-place.  The  fare  was  3J  pence  for  man  and  horse,  for 
three  summer  months,  and  fourpence  the  remainder  of  the 
year ;   for  a  man,  twopence  the  year  round. 

Gideon  Alvord,  of  South  Hadley,  was  afterward  the  ferry- 
man, and  is  said  to  have  possessed  as  much  i«quisitiveness  as 
acquisitiveness. 

Bridges. — The  town  voted,  June  12,  1756,  to  build  a  bridge 
over  "  Bachelor's  Brooke,"  in  the  public  road  leading  from  the 
meeting-house  to  Cold  Spring.  The  present  bridge,  connect- 
ing the  village  of  South  Hadley  Falls  with  Holyoke,  is  1500 
feet  long,  and  was  erected  as  a  free  bridge  in  1870-71,  taking 
the  place  of  a  swing-ferry. 

WARS. 
FRENCH-AND-INDIAN    WAR. 

South  Hadley  participated  to  some  extent  in  the  later  wars 
with  the  Indians  and  French,  but  met  with  little  of  disaster. 

In  the  company  of  Maj.  Seth  Pomeroy,  of  Northampton, 
at  the  siege  of  Loui-sburg,  in  1745,  were  two  men  from  South 
Hadley.  Phinheas  Smith,  under  Col.  William  Williams,  and 
Joseph  Cook,  whose  company  is  not  given,  were  also  partici- 
]iants  in  the  siege.  Samuel  Goodman  was  taken  prisoner  at 
Fort  Massachusetts  in  the  following  year,  and  carried  to 
Canada,  where  he  died  March  21,  1747.  The  names  of  the 
six  brave  soldiers  from  South  Hadley  and  Amherst,  who 
aided  in  the  defense  of  Fort  No.  4,  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  are 
given  in  the  history  of  the  town  of  Amherst,  in  this  volume. 

Job  Alvord  was  ensign  under  Capt.  John  Burk,  in  1757, 
and  was  present  at  the  capitulation  of  Fort  William  Henry. 
Ho  was  made  lieutenant  in  1759,  or  previously.  John  Wood- 
bridge,  Jr.,  was  lieutenant  in  1760,  and  had  been  previously 
commissioned.  He  was  reputed  to  have  been  present  at  the 
taking  of  Quebec.  Asahel  Judd  was  an  ensign  in  service  in 
Nova  Scotia,  where  he  died  in  1756. 

The  following  served  as  privates  in  the  years  named,  respec- 
tively :  1755,  Titus  Smith,  Noah  Goodman,  Daniel  Crowfoot, 
Josiah  Snow,  John  Church,  John  Hillyer;  17.56,  Samuel 
Henry,    Elisha   Taylor,    Eleazar    Loveland,    Moses    Taylor ; 

1757,  John  French,  Jesse  Bellows,  Obed   Severence   (died); 

1758,  Oliver  Taylor,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Asa  Goodman,  Seth 
Smith,  Josiah  Henry,  William  Gaylord,  Jr.,  Benjamin 
Church,  Philip  Smith,  James  Patrick,  John  Marshall,  Sanuiel 
Rugg,  Joseph  Hillyer,  Thomas  Fairfield,  Joel  White,  Eben- 
ezer  Stoddard,  James  Ball  (aged  forty-four) ;  1759,  Simeon 
Goodman,  William  Taylor,  Jabez  Kellogg,  Titus  Pomeroy, 
Martin  Wait,  Nathaniel  Bartlett,  Timothy  Hillyer,  Jr.,  Joel 
Church,  Silas  Smith,  Epbraim  Smith,  Samuel  Wheeler, 
Joshua  Taylor  (aged  fifty-three) ;    1760,  Samuel  Ball,  Na- 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


;^57 


thaniol  Grtvlord,  John  Camp,  Jr.,  Thomas  Rockwood,  Azariah 
Alvord,  .labez  Snow,  Thomas  Stanley  (died),  Avtemas  New- 
ton (died);  17G1,  Daniel  Taylor  (died),  Eliphalet  Gaylord, 
Eleazur  Olmstcad  ;  1762,  Simeon  Church,  Gershom  Barton. 

WAR  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 
Though  territorially  .separated  from  the  mother-town  many 
years  previous  to  the  Kevolution,  South  Hadlcy  was  still 
united  to  it  in  sympathy  concerning  the  vital  questions  which 
affected  the  public  weal.  The  inhabitants  of  both  were  alike 
tenacious  of  their  rights,  and  in  their  own  way  gave  voice  to 
their  feelings  in  opposition  to  the  usurpations  of  the  king. 
They  shut  out  from  their  households  the  obnoxious  tea  and 
British  merchandise,  and  appointed  the  usual  committees  of 
"  correspondence,"  "safety,"  and  the  like,  between  the  years 

1774  and  1778.  Names  conspicuous  on  these  committees  in 
South  Hadley  were  Ens.  Daniel  Nash,  Lieut.  Luke  Montague, 
Deacon  David  Nash,  Maj.  Josiah  White,  John  Gaylord, 
Philip  Smith,  Ens.  Noah  Goodman,  Capt.  Moses  Montague, 
Joseph  Cook,  Jonathan  White,  Jonathan  Preston,  Reuben 
Judd,  Nathan  Alvord,  Joseph  Moody,  Silas  Smith,  Nathaniel 
White,  Joseph  Kellogg,  John  Chandler,  Enoch  White,  David 
Mitcliell,  Josiah  Moody,  Charles  Chapin,  Deacon  Daniel 
Moody,  and  Ezra  Day. 

South  Hadley  was  represented  at  the  convention  at  North- 
ampton in  September,  1774,  to  consult  concerning  the  general 
distress  occasioned  by  the  attacks  of  Parliament  upon  the  con- 
stitution of  the  province,  and  in  the  several  provincial  Con- 
gresses at  Concord,  Cambridge,  and  Watertown,*  in  1774  and 

1775  ;  and  meantime  took  steps  to  secure  peace  and  good  order 
at  home,  and  aid  the  sutfering  poor  of  Boston. f 

The  most  notable  document,  illustrative  of  the  troubles  of 
the  period  and  of  the  way  in  which  they  were  met,  was  incu- 
bated some  time  prior  to  the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities,  and 
should  have  created,  if  it  did  not,  a  sensation.  The  following 
is  that  document,  unmutilated: 

"To  tlie  Committeo  of  Correspondence  at  Boston,  Gent'm :  Your  Pamphlet 
being  Kead  in  a  rigilar  Meeting  of  tiie  Inhabitants  of  South  Iladley,  the  Meet- 
ing toolc  tlie  contents  into  Consideration,  and  appointed  a  Committee  of  seven 
men  to  consult  and  report  to  the  Meeting  at  a  proposed  adjournment  wliat  is 
proper  for  tliis  District  t4>  do  Respecting  tlie  premises  ;  at  a  Legal  Meeting  of  the 
freeholdci-s  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  District  of  South  Hadley,  held  by  ad- 
journment on  the  ISth  day  of  J.anuary,  1773,  the  above-said  Oimmittee  Reported 
an  answer  to  the  Town  of  Bost<ui,  touching  the  mattere  in  which  they  Invited 
the  sevei'al  towns  to  shew  their  Sentiments.    Said  report  is  as  follows : 

"  Gent'm,  the  proceedings  of  the  Town  of  Boston  under  the  Present  Exigencies 
we  Esteem  very  Laudable,  and  worthy  of  a  Metropolis;  we  Concur  in  general 
with  your  Sentiments  in  Stateiug  the  rights  of  the  Collonists  &  Provinces  and 
of  the  Infringements  of  those  Rights;  we  hold  fast  our  Loyalty  to  our  Sovereign, 
yet  we  grone  under  our  burdens,  but  do  not  Dispair  of  Redress  ;  if  the  importu- 
nity of  a  poor  Widow  may  move  an  unjust  Judge  to  avenge  her,  how  much  more 
may  we  hope  for  redress  by  frequent  application  to  a  Gra<:ious  King?  The 
Wheel  of  Providence  often  Crashes  oppressor,  and  they  are  made  to  fall  into 
the  Pit  which  they  diged  for  others.  For  Freeborn  Loyal  Subjects,  intending 
and  Really  accomplishing  the  Design  of  Enlarging  their  King's  Dominions,  to 
bo  kept  under  a  MILITARY  GUARD  will  naturally  and  unavoid.ibly  Create 
Such  Resentments  and  Indignation  in  the  minds  of  the  Subjects  as  is  no  ways 
Consistent  with  the  Honour  of  a  Prince  Governing  a  free  people..  Indignity  Cast 
on  a  Peraon  or  a  people  creates  great  resentments  in  the  SufTerer.  Prohibiting 
Sliting-mills  is  Simelar  to  the  Philistians  Prohibiting  Smiths  in  Israel  when  they 
had  subdued  them,  and  Shews  that  we  are  Esteemed  by  our  Brethren  in  Grate 
Briton  as  a  sort  of  Vassals  to  them.  What  if  some  impudencies  have  hapned 
in  time  past  and  Some  E-xceptionable  proceedings  have  been  perpetrated  when 
we  were  almost  Desperate  and  Ruine  at  the  Door?  "WTiat  man  will  not  Sudenly 
throw  out  his  arme  to  prevent  his  Neighborfrom  thrusting  his  Finger  in  his  eye, 
even  although  his  arme  might  hapen  to  strike  the  face  of  his  Superior?  Must 
we  be  therefore  alwais  after  Stigmatized  as  traitors  on  that  account?  Not  to  be 
tedious.  We  Esteem  our  Selves  embarked  in  the  same  Botom  with  the  rest  of  our 
Neighbol'S,  and  we  are  willing  to  have  it  Known  and  Transmited  to  Postarity 
that  we  Esteem  our  Selves  Burdened  and  are  willing  to  join  in  all  proper  Con- 
stitutionel  measures  to  obtain  Relief.  Our  Representative  being  Elected  by  Joint 
Ballot  by  several  other  Towns  with  us,  we  Canot  with  Good  propriety  give  him 

*  The  representatives  from  South  Iladley  and  Granby  to  the  Congress  at  Water- 
town,  in  1775, — Phineas  Smith  and  Noah  Goodman — were  lUrected  to  carry  with 
them  their  firearais  .and  ammunition. 

f  The  committee  appointed  to  collect  donations  for  the  Boston  sufferere  con- 
sisted of  Mi-s.  Josiah  Moody,  Joel  Church,  Reuben  Smith,  John  Gaylord,  Abra- 
ham Day,  and  John  Chandler. 


instruction  without  consulting  with  the  other  Electors,  which  we  have  not  yet 
had  opportunity  to  do;  we  are  willing  this  letter  may  bo  communicated  to  him, 
whereby  he  may  be  acqu.ainted  with  our  Sentiments. 

"  The  question  being  put  whetlier  the  foregoing  report  be  accepted,  it  unani- 
mously passed  in  the  atfirmative ;  and  thereupon  it  w.as  ordered  that  the  Same  be 
Entered  in  the  District  Book,  and  that  the  Town  Clerk  Transmit  a  Coppy  thereof. 
Signed  by  him,  to  the  Ctjmmittee  of  Corispondance  in  Boston. 

"  SILUS  SMITH,  Moderulm." 

Plain,  and  plain-spoken  indeed,  was  this,  and  the  logical 
forerunner  of  the  subsequent  determination  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, June  20,  1776,  that  it  was  their  mind  "that  Indepen- 
dence should  be  declared. ' ' 

The  following  action  was  taken  Nov.  7,  1774 :  "  Voted,  that 
we  allow  at  the  rate  of  two  shillings  a  day  for  the  time  spent 
in  training  the  men  that  List  to  go  at  a  minit's  warning  on  anj' 
sudden  emargancy.  Voted,  to  chuse  four  men  to  Inspect  the 
District  about  Drinking  East  india  tee;"  and  on  March  G, 
1775,  it  was  voted,  "  that  the  minit-men  train  one-half  day  in 
a  week  six  weeks  from  this  time,  at  one  shilling  each  a  time, 
and  that  the  Committe  of  Corospond  be  a  Committy  to  form 
sum  mathud  for  the  District  to  Cumin  to  for  the  preventing 
unnessisary  Disorders  arising."     It  was  also  at  the  same  time 

"  Itesoh-ed,  Th.at  a  Comniite  of  sober,  Discreet  pei-sons  be  apointed,  whose  busi- 
ness shall  be  to  promote  Peace,  Amity,  &  good  order,  and  to  quiet  all  disterb- 
ances  that  may  arise  between  Neighbour  and  Neighbour,  and  to  prevent  or 
supress  all  uprising,  tumults,  nuts,  or  mobs  among  our  Inhabitants  or  in  our 
Neighbouring  Tounds  (if  their  assistance  shall  be  askt),  and  that  if  any  Pei-son 
or  pel-sons  of  this  District  shall  be  movcing,  stiring  up,  or  assisting  any  Tumult- 
nous,  Bioutous,  or  Mobish  Company  or  assembly  wiHiout  first  informing  such 
committe  and  obtaining  their  aprobation  (which  is  not  to  be  granted  but  in  case 
of  extreme  necessity),  such  pereon  or  persons  shall  be  deemed  as  high  offenders 
against  the  comniou  Bight  and  Liberties  of  Englishmen,  and  shall  themselves 
Fortit  and  be  excluded  from  the  Protechin  or  assistance  of  their  Neighbonre  in 
case  they  shall  need  the  same  in  their  own  defence,  and  .shall  for  the  future  be 
deemed  unworthy  of  any  Post,  oflis,  or  trust  in  this  District." 

The  recorded  action  of  the  inhabitants,  in  the  following 
year,  concerning  the  pending  issue,  is  in  no  sense  ambiguous : 

"June  20,  1776.— At  a  meeting  of  Inhabitants  of  South  Hadley,  held  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  at  the  Meeting-Uouse,  then  met  and  made  choice  of 
Jabez  Kellogg,  Moderator  to  regulate  the  business  of  said  meeting;  and  it  ware 
put  to  vote  whather  it  ware  their  minds  to  Declare  ludipendencc,  and  it  Pjist  in 
the  affaimative  by  a  Grate  majoriti.  Jadez  Kellogg,  Jlfocfeniter." 

Prominent  among  the  officers  of  the  Revolution  was  Ben- 
jamin Rtiggles  Woodbridge,  son  of  Rev.  John  Woodbridge, 
the  second  pastor  of  the  church  at  South  Hadley.  He  was 
born  Oct.  16,  1733;  became  a  man  of  distinguished  wealth 
and  influence,  and  as  a  colonel  in  command  of  a  regiment 
was  early  in  the  field,  after  the  atiair  at  Lexington,  at  the 
head  of  his  Minute-Men.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six, 
March- 8,  1819. 

The  town,  through  its  delegate,  Noah  Goodman,  at  the  con- 
vention held  in  Boston,  Jan.  9,  1788,  voted  for  the  adoption 
of  the  proposed  United  States  Constitution,  and  in  this  diftered 
from  the  neighboring  towns  of  Amherst  and  Grauby,  and 
others  in  the  county  of  Hampshire. 

REBELLION    RECORD. 
The  following  enlisted  from  South  Iladley  in  the  infantry  of  Massachusetts: 

SECOND  REGIMENT. 
Charles  E.  Dix,  Robert  Goodbeer,  Reuben  Miles,  Frank  Otto,  Warren  A.  Root, 
Abraham  Akers,  Oloff  Benson,  John  Crosby,  William  Jones,  John  Land 
(or  Lard),  Thomas  Morris,  John  McGuire,  Thomas  Moran,  Patrick  Mark, 
John  O'Niel,  Patrick  O'Brien,  George  W.  Pierce,  William  Ryan,  George 
Spear,  Francis  Smith,  Charles  Van  Meter,  Louis  Williams,  Harris  Wilton, 
Charies  Hix. 

FIFTH   REGIMENT. 

Edward  Smith,  William  Manly. 

TENTH   REGIMENT. 
Morris  Brick,  Edwiird  Brick,  James  Hayes,  John  H.  Halstoad,  Oscar  Hosmer, 
Luther  Hitchcock,  Oliver  Mather  Keyos,  George  Porter,  Neville  Powers, 
John  E.  Sqiiieis  (sergt.),  John  Elliot  Snow,  Alfred  H.  Tinckham  (corp.), 
Alberts.  Withelell,  Michael  Brew. 

ELEVENTH   REGIMENT. 
Thomas  Ingram.  gj,,,j,NTEENTH   REGIMENT. 

Charles  Miller. 


358 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


NINETEENTH    REGIMENT. 


ratriik  Cronin, 


TWENTY-FIRST    REGIMENT. 

James  liuinliam,  Hiram  W.  Furbes, 

TWENTY-SIXTH    REGIMENT. 
Jolni  Henry,  John  Kanferban. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 
Horace  Akers,  Flavins  A.  Post  (corp.),  Albert  T.  Cliapin  (corp.),  Melanctbon  H. 
Day,  Francis  D.  Gleasun,  Lewis  Gleason,  Charles  R.  Hatlb*y  (t-orp.),  Carl 
Lippman,  Patrick  Murray,  William  H.  Moody,  Edwin  G.  Pierce,  R.  <'. 
Thorp,  William  Wardwell,  Dexter  Burnett,  Edwin  G.  Pierce,  Hiram 
Altlrich,  Lyman  B.  Abbott,  Edgar  C.  Brewster,  Henry  Smith. 

THIRTY-FIRST    REGIMENT. 
Timothy   Garvey,   Theodore   Sedgwick    Haven,   Jerry    Mahoney,    Charles    L, 
Moody  (sergt.),  Harlow  Newton,  Charles  H.  Parker,  Bwight  B.  T;iyloi', 
Angustus  Oakley  (corp.),  William  Ayrea. 

THIRTY-FOURTH  REGIMENT. 
Peter  B;iuni,  Joseph  N.  Clark  (5th  scrgt.),  George  M.  Coombs,  Richard  Clark, 
George  D.  Haven,  Michael  Kenncy,  James  Kenuey,  John  Kirkpatrick, 
William  Marshall,  Edward  Murphy,  Charles  M.  Stebbins,  Tracy  T.  Shum- 
way,  David  B.  West,  Charles  H.  West,  John  Wagner,  John  W.  Renway. 
John  Foley,  Michael  Kennedy,  Patrick  Moriarty,  Peter  Armstrong,  Jas. 
Cosgrove,  George  B.  Gillingham,  Thomas  Leach,  Austin  J.  Lyman  (2(1 
licut.),  George  McCoombs,  Charles  Deland. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 
W.  T.  Abbott  (corp.),  Charles  Bishop,  William  H.  Cook,  T.  A.  Chnrch  (corp  ), 
Henry  Doebrek,  George  T.  Enderton,  Edwin  C.  Hanks,  George  L.  Mon- 
tague, Lncien  Moody,  Williaui  W.  Meservey,  Neville  Preston,  Edmund 
R.  Pearson,  Nathan  C.  Snow,  Davis  L.  Wetmore,  Helier  Black,  John 
Lashawny. 

FORTY-FOURTH    REGIMENT. 
Henry  A.  Claik,  Nathaniel  H.  Ingraham,  Willijuu  F.  Ingrahani,  Josiah  Moody, 
Charles  S.  Moody,  Thomas  Wiiite. 

FORTY-SIXTH    REGIMENT. 

Joseph  Miller,  Robert  Dillon,  James  W.  McFurlane. 

FIFTY-SECOND  REGIMENT. 

John  P.  Beckwith,  Charles  E.  Benway,  Henry  M.  Blackmer,  Edwin  W.  Ben- 
nett, Henry  E.Bates  (corp.),  Charles  H.  Church,  William  E.  Congdon, 
Eugene  M.  Clapp,  Lowell  31.  Chandler,  Gotlieb  Feustel,  Philip  Gunder- 
raau,  Cliristopher  Gunderman,  George  W,  Gordon,  Peter  Gilligan,  War- 
ren A.  Graves,  Henry  A.  Graves,  Luther  A.  Harmon,  Wilder  F.  Haskell 
(sergt.),  John  Holihau,  Albert  D.  Judd,  Burritt  Judd,  Thomas  Kenney, 
Thomas  Kilmurry,  Henry  W.  Lamb,  George  V.  Nash,  Henry  Oakley, 
Halsey  B.  Philbiick  (corp.),  Conrad  Rising,  Cliarlee  C.  Smith,  Charles  E. 
Smith,  Daniel  Sullivan,  Henry  W,  Smith,  Joseph  Suhanek,  Edward 
Suhanek,  Henry  B.  Thayer,  Seth  A.  Williams  (lieut.). 

FIFTY-FOURTH    REGIMENT. 

John  Pindee. 

FIFTY-SIXTH    REGIMENT. 

Lauren  Pierce,  Edwin  G.  Price. 

FIFTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 

James  Bonner,  Victor  Piezette. 

REGIMENT    NOT   GIVEN. 
Albert  W.  Ingraham,  Elijah  Lyman  Moody,  Edwin  G.  Carley  (also  4th  Art.), 

James  Mason,  Terence  L.  Fox,  Henry  E.  Ballon,  Willard  Fitch,  Lauren 

Pierce,  John  Smith. 

FIRST    HEAVY   ARTILLERY. 

Dennis  Curran,  Edmund  C.  Chapin  (also  3d  Batt.  and  let  Cav.),  John  S.  Moul- 
ton,  Jolin  Moriarty. 

SECOND   HEAVY   ARTILLERY. 
James  Boyle. 

HEAVY   ARTILLERY. 

Thomas  Darey,  George  Colo. 

FOURTH    ARTILLERY, 

Edwin  G.  Carley. 

FIRST   CAVALRY. 
Henry  M.  Goddard,  James  Kinuie,  Henry  W.  Smith  (Uout.),  George  Baker, 
Louis  Lafontiiine,  John  Williams. 

THIRD   CAVALRY. 
George  Brown. 

FOURTH   CAVALRY. 
JaDies  R.  Crittenden,  Tertius  Cooloy,  George  A.  Hinks,  Andrew   McEIwain, 
Charles  Alphoase,  Charles  Clark,  Jonas  Marvin. 

TWELFTH   CAVALRY. 

John  C.  Fremont,  William  H.  Lambert,  Fwnk  White, 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

NINTH   CONNECTICUT  INFANTRY. 

James  Edwards, 

ELEVENTH    CONNECTICUT   INFANTRY. 

Henry  Bischoff,  Bernhardt  Herfer,  William  Holdfuss. 

SEVENTH    MAINE   INFANTRY. 

Emery  D.  Ingrnham  (master  of  band),  William  Su.ilh  (band). 

EIGHTY-SECOND    PENNSYLVANIA   INFANTRY. 
John  L.  Blatthcws. 

NINTH    NEW  YORK    BATTERY. 

Albert  E.  Porter. 


Ileinian   i'oppe. 
George  C.  Duvell. 


NEW   YORK   ARTILLERY. 

U.  S.  ARTILLERY. 

U.  S.  REGULAR  ARMY. 


John  Ashbnrn,  John  Cara,  David  Degrand,  Hugh  Murphy,  Jnlm  Riley,  Hcniy 
Rooney,  Thomas  Riley,  Thomas  Smith,  William  Schofield. 

NECROLOGY. 
John  Prentiss  Beckwith,  died  on  steamer  "  Illinois,"  in  New  Yoik  harbur,  Dec. 

2,  1862. 
Henry  E.  Bates,  died  in  mai-ine  liosiiital,  New  Orleans,  Aug.  16, 1S03. 
Warren  A.  Graves,  died  on  board  boat,  July  27,  1863. 
William  F.  Ingraham,  died  in  hospital  at  Newbern,  N.  C,  Jan.  24,  1863. 
Josiah  Moody,  died  at  Newbern,  N.  C,  Jan.  14,  1803. 
Jerry  Mahoney,  killed  in  battle  at  Port  Hudson. 
George  Varunm  N:isli,  died  at  New  Orleans,  April  2;>,  1803, 
Henry  Oakley,  died  at  Mound  City,  111.,  Aug.  0,  iSOa. 
Neville  Prehton,  wounded  at  Spolt^ylvauia  Court-House ;  died  at  Sickles'  lios- 

I)ital,  May  30,  1864. 
Charles  C.  Smith,  died  at  home,  from  Iiardships  of  aimy  life,  Sept.  4, 1803. 
Coniad  Rising,  died  ;  place  not  stated. 
R.  C.  Thorp,  died;  place  not  stated. 
Edwin  G.  Carley,  died  ;  place  not  stated. 
Joseph  Miller, taken  prisoner;  died  at  Andersonville,  Ga.,  about  Sept.  1,  IS04. 

WOUNDED. 

Michiiel  Brew,  at  Fair  Oaks,  in  head  and  arm. 
T.  A.  Churcli,  at  Potoisburg,  in  head. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


JOSEPH  CAKEW 

was  born  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  Sept.  5,  1807.  His  father  was 
Joseph  Carew  ofWest  Springfield  (head  of  Main  Street),  born 
in  1773,  where  he  owned  and  carried  on  a  large  farm  and  tan- 
nery. Mr.  Carew's  mother  was  Laura,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Laura  Bugbee.  She  was  born  in  Brimfiekl,  Mass.,  July 
19,  1786.  Joseph  was  one  of  six  children, — Frances  M.,  Lu- 
cius M.,  Joseph,  Caroline,  Laura,  and  Hannah  S.  He  received 
an  academic  education  at  the  S])ringtield  and  Monson  Acad- 
emies, being  two  years  at  the  latter.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, in  the  autumn  of  1824,  he  entered  the  dry-goods 
house  of  Howard  &  Lathrop,  then  the  leading  dealers  in 
Springfield. 

Howard  &  Lathrop  during  that  year  built  a  small  mill 
at  South  Hadley  Palls,  Mass.,  for  the  purpose  of  manufac- 
turing book-,  new.s-,  and  writing-pa]ior.  They  also  had  a 
general  store  connected  with  this  mill,  and,  early  in  1825, 
Mr.  Carew  was  transferred  to  this  store,  where  he  remained 
until  1830.  During  that  year  he  was  sent  on  a  collecting 
tour  South,  and  was  some  six  months  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
where  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the  celebrated  "  DufF 
Green,'-  publisher  of  The  Olnbe,  by  whom  he  was  introduced 
to  many  of  the  notables  of  the  day  in  Washington.  The 
Glohe  was  printed  on  paper  made  by  his  employers.  U|ii>n 
his  return  to  South  Hadley  Falls  in  July  of  the  same  year, 
he  took  entire  charge  of  Howard  &  Lathrop's  mill,  and  con- 


MARTIN   WAIT   BURNETT, 


one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  was 
born  on  the  10th  day  of  September,  1814,  and  is  de- 
scended, in  the  fourth  generation,  from  David  Burnett, 
who  removed  from  England  to  America  about  the  year 
1700,  and  settled  at  Easthampton,  Long  Island,  N.  Y. 
Stephen,  his  son,  was  a  farmer. 

Jonathan,  son  of  Stephen,  about  the  year  1760,  changed 
his  place  of  residence  to  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  settling  in 
Pitchwam,  now  a  part  of  Granby.  He  had  a  family  of 
seven  children,  viz. :  Mehitabel,  who  married  Samuel  Smith, 
Esq.,  of  Granby  ;  Bela,  who  resided  in  Granby,  also  ;  Enoch, 
whose  residence  was  in  Bclchertown  ;  and  Arza,  Stephen, 


Jonathan,  and  Ruth  (who  married  Nathaniel  Ingraham), 
all  residents  of  South  Hadley. 

Jonathan  (2d),  son  of  Jonathan,  married  Salome  Wait, 
daughter  of  Martin  Wait,  Nov.  26,  1805.  They  had  a 
family  of  nine  children, — David,  born  Sept.  14,  1807, 
died  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  June  26,  1875 ;  Sarah,  born 
Dec.  17,  1809,  married  Erastus  Taylor;  Jonathan,  born 
March  3,  1812,  died  April  15,  1816;  Martin  Wait  (the 
immediate  subject  of  this  notice),  born  Sept.  10,  1814; 
Anna,  born  Feb.  10,  1817,  married  Albert  Walker,  died  at 
Utica,  N.  Y. ;  Jonathan,  born  March  20,  1819  ;  Jane,  born 
March  22,  1821,  married  Emerson  Gaylord,  of  Chicopee; 


Photo.  Ii.v  T.  K.  Lewis. 


jK.Mf&^^f^^^^^ 


Theodore,  born  June  10, 1823  (deceased)  ;  and  Clara,  born 
April  15,  1828,  wife  of  C.  H.  Goodman,  of  Springfield. 

Martin  W.  was  married,  Sept.  16,  1841,  to  Lavinia, 
daughter  of  Eldad  Smith,  and  granddaughter  of  Ephraim 
Smith  and  Samuel  Alvord. 

Mr.  Burnett  has  had  a  family  of  six  children, — Sarah 
Lavinia,  born  Sept.  3,  1844,  died  Sept.  23d,  of  same  year; 
Charles  Martin,  born  April  21,  1846,  married  Alice  Gil- 
more,  of  Springfield,  and  has  one  son,  Charles  Martin,  born 
June  24,  1873 ;  Eldad  Smith,  born  May  20,  1848,  died 
Aug.  4,  1849;  Austin  Walde,  born  March  24,  1852; 
Adelia  Smith,  born  June  20, 1855,  married  Joseph  Edward 
Miller,  and  has  one  son,  Henry  Burnett,  born  Jan.  7, 1879  ; 


and  Annie  Jane,  born  March  11,  1862.  Mr.  Burnett,  in 
early  life,  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  but  engaged  in  the 
sash,  door,  and  blind  business,  for  J.  N.  Hastings,  in  1835. 
In  1867  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Howard  & 
Gaylord,  and  is  interested  to  some  extent  in  several  of  the 
manufactories  of  Holyoke  and  South  Hadley  Falls.  He 
has  been  largely  connected  with  town  affairs,  having  been 
an  oflBcer  the  most  of  the  time  for  sixteen  years.  He  is 
also  much  interested  in  parish  matters,  and  has  been  an 
officer  of  the  Evergreen  Cemetery  As.sociation  since  its  or- 
ganization, in  1868.  He  represented  the  Fourth  Hampshire 
District  in  the  Legislature  of  1878.  His  record  has  been 
that  of  an  upright  and  useful  citizen. 


CAPTAIN  BROUGHTON  ALVORD. 


Alexander  Alvord  was  born  in  Somerset  Co., 
England,  probably  abont  1620.  He  was  an  early 
resident  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  and  moved  to  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  about  the  year  1661,  where  he  died, 
Oct.  3,  1683;  he  married  Mary  Voar,  at  Windsor, 
Conn.,  Oct.  29,  1646. 

Thomas  Alvord,  son  of  Alexander,  was  born  in 
Windsor,  Conn. ;  married  Joanna  Taylor,  at  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  March  22,  1681. 

John  Alvord,  son  of  Thomas,  was  born  in  North- 
ampton, Oct.  19,  1685;  died  at  South  Hadley, 
Aug.  10,  1733.  He  resided  at  Northampton  and 
South  Hadley;  married  Dorcas  Lyman,  March  12, 
1733.      - 

Gad  Alvord,  son  of  John  and  Dorcas,  was  born 
in  1729;  died  in  Wilmington,  Vt. ;  married  Lydia 
Smith,  Nov.  17,  1750. 

Samuel  Alvord,  son  of  Gad  and  Lydia,  was  born 


in  South  Hadley,  Nov.  27,  1751 ;  died  in  South 
Hadley,  July  9,  1814,  aged  sixty-three;  married 
Miriam  White. 

Calvin  Alvord,  son  of  Samuel  and  Miriam,  was 
born  Aug.  3,  1779 ;  married  Mary  Brewster,  daugh- 
ter of  Jesse  Brewster;  died  Nov.  18,  1857. 

Broughton  Alvord,  son  of  Calvin  and  Mary,  and 
whose  portrait  appears  upon  this  page,  was  born 
Jan.  14,  1802,  and  iiad  two  brothers  and  two  sisters, 
• — Calvin,  Jesse,  Ruby,  and  Mary  Ann,  all  being 
dead  except  Mary  Ann,  who  lives  with  him,  neither 
of  the  two  sisters  having  married. 

Gad,  Samuel,  Calvin,  and  Broughton  were  all  born 
on  the  old  home  farm  of  John  Alvord,  in  South 
Hadley. 

Mr.  Alvord  received  his  early  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  South  Hadley,  and  commenced 
his  business  life  as  a  boatman  on  the  Connecticut 


Photo,  by  T.  R.  Lewis. 


/cJ-r-UL-'^.-t^/CXv-yy^    ^C-V-O^'iX 


River,  in  1826;  afterward  was  captain  of  a  boat; 
after  that  became  agent  and  part  owner  in  the  trans- 
portation company,  with  his  headquarters  at  Hart- 
ford during  the  season,  pa.ssing  the  winters  at  home, 
in  South  Hadley.  In  1846  the  company  sold 
their  business  to  the  Connecticut  River  Railroad. 
Mr.  Alvord  is  the  only  one  of  the  company  living 
at  the  present  time.  He  M'as  one  of  the  projectors 
of  the  Parsons'  Paper  Company,  organized  in  1853; 
one  of  the  directors  from  its  organization,  and  a 
stockholder  in  the  Holyoke  Paper  Company  since 
1864.  He  has  been  the  president  of  the  Valley 
Paper  Company  since  its  organization,  in  1866.  He 
is  a  stockholder  in  the  Third  National  Bank  of 
Springfield ;  the  Agawam  National  Bank ;  the  First 


National  Bank  of  Chicopee ;  one  of  the  directors  in 
the  Hadley  Falls  National  Bank,  and  also  in  various 
other  corporations.  Capt.  Alvord  is  a  thorough 
Democrat,  voting  first  for  Gen.  Jackson  at  the  time 
of  his  election. 

He  has  served  the  town  as  one  of  the  selectmen 
for  fifteen  years,  and  during  the  whole  time  of  our 
civil  war  was  one  of  the  foremost  to  uphold  the 
government  by  his  position  and  means.  He  is  held 
in  high  esteem  by  men  of  all  parties  for  his  strict 
integrity  and  sound  judgment ;  and  all  have  united 
to  induce  him  to  take  a  seat  in  the  Legislature,  but 
to  no  purpose,  as  he  would  not  consent  to  the  use  of 
his  name,  preferring  the  quiet  of  home  to  the  excite- 
ment of  political  life. 


rhoto.  by  T.  B.  Lewis. 


j/.^S^  y//^yxU^^^^< 


Deacon  Moses  Montague,  of  South  Hadley,  is  of  a  dis- 
tinguished English  famil}',  which  traces  itself  back  to  the  time 
of  William  the  Conqueror.  The  ancestor  of  the  American 
branch  was  Richard  Montague,  of  Bourney,  England,  who 
emigrated  to  America  about  1645.  Settled  first  at  Wells,  in 
Maine;  thence  removed,  in  1646,  to  Boston  ;  thence,  in  1651,  to 
Wethersfield,  Conn. ;  and  thence,  in  1609,  to  Hadley,  where 
he  died,  Dec.  14,  1681,  aged  fifty-seven.  He  was  married  in 
England,  in  1640,  to  Abigail  Downing,  of  Norwich,  England, 
by  whom  he  had  five  children,  one  of  whom,  John,  was  born 
in  1655,  and  died  in  Hadley,  in  1732.  John  married,  in  1681, 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Chileab  Smith,  of  Hadley,  by  whom  he 
had  nine  children,  the  fourth  of  whom,  Peter,  was  born  in 
1690,  and  married,  Dec.  15,  1715,  Mary  Hubbard.  He  settled 
in  South  Hadley,  in  May,  1719. 

In  Januarjr,  1720,  there  were  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
names  on  the  list  of  those  who  took  up  their  land  in  South 
Hadley,  and  according  to  that  valuation  Peter  Montague  stood 
third  in  amount  of  property,  the  value  of  his  land  being  £151 
14s.  This  land  has  never  been  out  of  the. Montague  family. 
Peter  had  nine  children,  the  fifth  of  whom,  Moses,  was  born 
Nov.  17,  1724,  and  died  Dec.  18,  1792.  He  gained  the  rank  of 
captain  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  In  1748  he  married 
Sarah  Graves,  of  Sunderland,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children, 
the  tenth  of  whom,  Elijah,  was  born  April  21,  1770,  and  died 
Feb.  22, 1843.  In  1794  he  married  Rachel  Lyman,  of  Hadley, 
by  whom  he  had  four  children,  the  second  of  whom  was 
Moses,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  born  Sept.  8,  1797,  and 
being,  as  will  be  observed,  the  sixth  generation  of  the  family 
living  in  America.  In  October,  1820,  he  married  Harriet 
Smith,  a  woman  highly  esteemed  in  the  community  for  her 
unobtrusive  goodness  and  moral  worth,  and  most  loved  by 
those  who  knew  her  best.  She  died  Nov.  1,  1876.  Nine  years 
ago  they  celebrated  their  "golden  wedding,"  at  which  were 
present  a  great  number  of  friends  to  extend  their  congratula- 
tions, and  to  express  by  words  and  acts  their  appreciation 
and  approbation  of  their  honorable,  useful,  and  Christian 
lives. 

There  are  now  living  five  of  the  ten  children  born  to  them, 


and  thirteen  grandchildren.  One  of  the  sons,  Elliot  Mon- 
tague, has  twice  represented  his  district  in  the  General  Court, 
and  now  holds  responsible  otfices  in  the  town  and  parish. 
Another,  Col.  George  L.  Montague,  received  the  commissions 
of  first  lieutenant,  captain,  major,  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
colonel  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion;  was  brevetted  col- 
onel for  "distinguished  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Spottsylvania 
Court-House,  Va.,"  and  was  commander  of  the  37th  Massa- 
chusetts Infantry  during  some  of  the  severest  campaigns  and 
battles  of  the  "Army  of  the  Potomac." 

While  Moses  Montague  was  still  a  youth  he  became  con- 
vinced of  the  curse  of  dram-drinking,  which  was  then  the  in- 
variable practice,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  stoutly  protest 
against  it  by  word  and  example.  Uninfluenced  by  persuasion, 
and  undeterred  by  threats,  he  maintained  his  aggressive  attitude 
against  the  evil,  and  for  many  years  waged  an  unequal  war- 
fare, with  few  friends  or  supporters.  But  again  was  proved 
the  truth  of  the  saying,  that  "one  with  God  is  a  majority," 
and  at  last  came  the  great  temperance  revival  which  crowned 
his  hopes  with  success.  He  became  a  member  of  the  church 
in  1819,  was  appointed  deacon  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and 
has  been  connected  with  the  Sabbath-school  as  superintendent 
or  teacher  till  the  present  time.  Ho  has  always  been  promi- 
nent in  town  and  church  matters,  liberal  in  his  subscriptions 
for  good  causes,  a  zealous  advocate  for  good  schools  and  good 
preaching,  and,  like  the  representative  Puritan  descendant 
that  he  is,  always  aggressive  for  the  right.  Of  positive  and 
independent  habits  of  thought,  he  could  maintain  with  good 
reasons  his  opinions  once  formed,  and  the  direct  and  indirect 
influence  he  has  exerted  upon  the  community  is  one  not  easily 
measured. 

In  person,  Deacon  Montague  is  about  six  feet  four  inches  in 
height,  and  weighs  two  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds;  and  it 
is  noteworthy,  as  showing  the  rugged  stock  from  which  he 
sprung,  and  the  result  of  his  own  simple,  temperate  habits  of 
life,  that  he  has  never  been  confined  to  his  bed  from  sickness 
a  single  day  of  his  life,  and  now,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  he 
is  in  possession  of  all  his  faculties,  and  is  remarkable  for  his 
physical  and  mental  vigor. 


t—i 
CO  g 


^^ 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


359 


tinued  in  this  position  until  the  spring  of  1847,  when  this 
mill  and  that  of  D.  &  J.  Ames,  adjoining  (the  first  paper- 
makers  in  this  part  of  New  England),  were  burned.  How- 
ard &  Lathrop  sustained  such  severe  loss  as  to  cause  their 
failure,  and  terminate  their  business  at  South  Hadley  Falls. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Carew  and  others  organized  the  Carew  Manu- 
facturing Company,  the  number  of  stockholders  being  twenty- 
five.  Since  then  they  have  been  reduced  to  seven,  Mr. 
Carew  having  a  controlling  interest.  He  was  elected  agent 
and  treasurer,  and  as  such  has  remained  since.  The  mill 
was  burned  in  1873,  but  immediately  replaced  by  a  much 
more  costly  structure  of  brick,  150  by  40  feet,  with  marble 
facings  and  trimmings,  three  stories  high,  with  a  two-.story 
wing  50  by  20  feet.  The  machinery  includes  five  five-hun- 
dred pound  engines,  one  eightj^-inch  Fourdrinier  machine, 
and  two  artesian  wells  with  a  capacity  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  gallons  per  minute,  being  the  first  artesian  wells  used 
for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Carew  was  also  one  of  the  first 
stockholders  and  directors  of  the  Third  National  Bank  of 
Springfield. 

In  18fj4  he  built  and  presented  to  the  Church  Society  the 
Congregational  Church  at  South  Hadley  Falls,  upon  which 
he  expended  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  In  1870  he  gave 
a  scholarship  to  Amherst  College,  and  in  1873  presented  five 
thousand  dollars  for  a  lectureship  in  the  Tlieological  Seminary 
at  Hartford,  Conn. 

Mr.  Carew's  son  Frank  was  associated  with  him  in  busine.ss 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  Aug.  1,  1877. 
Frank  was  married,  Oct.  22,  1863,  to  Josephine  F.,  daughter 
of  Abram  Hawkins,  Esq.,  and  left  three  children, — Mary  F., 
born  June  12,  18Gfi,  in  Paris,  France ;  George  and  Frank 
(twins),  born  in  South  Hadley  Falls,  Mass.,  Jan.  7,  1870. 
These  three  grandchildren  are  all  of  Mr.  Carew's  family  left 
toliira,  their  mother  having  died  Jan.  7,  1870. 

Mr.  Carew  was  married,  Sept.  24,  1833,  to  Miss  Eliza  Ran- 
dall, daughter  of  Josiah  Randall,  Esq.,  and  had  only  two 
children, — George  Bishop,  who  was  born  June  17,  1836,  and 
died  June  23d  of  same  year,  and  Frank,  born  April  15,  1838. 
Mrs.  Carew  died  May  7,  1874. 

Mr.  Carew  is  still  an  active  and  enterprising  business-man. 


although  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  always  ready  to  assist 
every  worth}'  enterprise. 


HIRAM  SMITH,* 

son  of  Deacon  Silas  Smith,  born  Sept.  23,  1793.  His  mother 
was  Mary,  daughter  of  Eliphaz  Moody,  of  South  Hadley 
Falls,  Mass.,  born  Aug.  13,  179G,  whom  his  father  married 
June  2,  1817.  Hiram  Smith  early  turned  his  attention  to 
navigation  on  the  Connecticut  River,  and  by  his  energy  and 
business  ability  probably  did  more  than  any  other  person  to 
open  up  the  commerce  of  the  Upper  Connecticut.  This  was 
before  the  days  of  railroads,  when  the  river  was  the  great 
highway  of  commerce  in  Western  Massachusetts.  Indeed, 
so  great  was  his  influence  at  one  time,  and  so  far  reaching  his 
ideas  and  plans,  that  he  was  universally  known  on  the  river 
as  "King  Hiram."  He  was  a  valuable  and  useful  citizen, 
and  served  his  town  in  various  oiBces  for  many  years.  He 
represented  South  Hadley  in  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  frequently  called  upon  to  set  oft"  widows'  dowers, 
and  to  administer  on  the  estates  of  deceased  friends,  as  well 
as  attend  to  other  kinds  of  public  services,  being  known  far  and 
wide  as  a  man  of  most  excellent  judgment  and  of  strict  in- 
tegrity. In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  in 
farming. 

HIRAM  SMITH, 
son  of  the  above,  was  born  July  24,  1824,  and  like  his  father 
has  taken  a  prominent  place  as  a  citizen  and  business-man  in 
the  old  town  where  so  many  of  his  ancestors  have  resided  be- 
fore him.  Jan.  19,  1848,  he  married  Harriet  S.  Coney,  niece 
of  Capt.  Broughton  Alvord,  and  has  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  viz.,  Ellis  Dwight,  born  July  10,  1849,  died  April 
22,  1851  ;  Hattie  V.  A.,  born  July  11,  18.50,  died  Oct.  10,  1852 ; 
J.  Belle,  born  Nov.  22,  1858 ;  and  Fred  Merwin,  born  Sept. 
18,  1862. 

Mr.  Smith  for  several  years  past  has  been  postmaster  at 
South  Hadley  Falls,  and  is  engaged  in  general  mercantile 
business  at  the  same  place.  He  has  always  taken  an  active 
interest  in  town  and  church  matters,  being  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  South  Hadley  Falls. 


EJiRATUM. 

In  the  biography  of  Jos.  Carew,  where  mention  is  made  of  his  marria°-e  the 
name  Miss  Eliza  Randall,  should  read  it/m  EHza  BardweU,  daughter  of  Jasiah 
Bardwell. 


of  Hampshire,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  b_v  the  town  of 
Enfield,  in  the  same  county,  and  by  the  town  of  Hardwick, 
in  Worcester  County;  on  the  south  by  the  town  of  Palmer, 
in  Hampden  County ;  on  the  east  by  the  towns  of  New  Brain- 
tree  and  West  Brookfleld,  in  Worcester  County  ;  and  on  the 
west  by  the  town  of  Belchertown,  in  Hampshire  County.  It 
is  about  four  and  a  half  by  sis  miles  in  extent,  and  has  an 
area  of  about  18,000  acres,  and  is  the  second  town  in  point  of 
population  and  manufacturing  importance  in  the  county. 

NATUKAL    FEATURES. 

The  town  is  pleasantly  situated  and  well  watered.  The 
Ware  Kiver  originates  in  the  western  part  of  Worcester 
County,  draining  most  of  the  country  west  of  the  Wachu- 
sett,  and  is  supplied  partly  from  ponds,  which,  with  the  great 
extent  of  open  country  drained  by  it,  gives  it  a  character  of 
stability  not  gained  by  mountain  streams.  It  enters  Ware 
at  the  northeast  corner,  and  goes  out  near  the  southwest, 
keeping  near  the  eastern  and  southern  boundary.    This  stream 


been  fully  utilized,  and  is 
ial  prosperity.  The  Swift 
Kiver  forms  tne  western  Dounuary.  Tliree  distinct  ranges  of 
hills  traverse  the  town  north  and  south,  between  which  exist 
intervales  of  fair  productive  character,  and  each  of  which  is 
watered  by  a  brook  of  some  consequence.  Commencijig  at  the 
east,  these  are  named  respectively  Muddy,  Flat,  and  Beaver 
Brooks,  all  afiluents  of  the  Ware  River.  The  highest  eleva- 
tion in  the  town  is  Coy's  Hill,  on  the  eastern  border,  which 
attains  an  altitude  of  500  feet  above  the  river. 

The  soil  of  the  town  is  of  a  somewhat  inferior  quality,  save 
in  the  valleys,  where  it  is  capable  of  successful  cultivation. 
Its  appearancehas  frequently  excited  the  comments  of  strangers 
and  others,  which  the  residents  now  repeat  with  some  relish, 
since,  in  spite  of  adverse  conditions,  they  have  outstripped 
their  neighbors  in  cultivated  crops.  Dr.  Dwight  passed 
through  a  corner  of  the  town  in  1810,  and  in  his  "Travels" 
makes  the  following  remark  : 

"  Ware  borders  on  Belchei'town,  southeastward.  Its  soil  is  generally  of  a  very 
inferior  quality.    A  traveler  formerly  passing  through  this  town  observed  thaf 

*  Deceased. 


H 
02 


►J 

pi 


1 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


359 


tinued  in  this  position  until  the  spring  of  1847,  when  tins 
mill  and  that  of  D.  &  J.  Ames,  adjoining  (the  first  paper- 
makers  in  this  part  of  New  England),  were  burned.  How- 
ard &  Lathrop  sustained  such  severe  loss  as  to  cause  their 
failure,  and  terminate  their  business  at  South  Hadley  Falls. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Carew  and  others  organized  the  Carew  Manu- 
facturing Company,  the  number  of  stockholders  being  twenty- 
five.  Since  then  they  have  been  reduced  to  seven,  Mr. 
Carew  having  a  controlling  interest.  He  was  elected  agent 
and  treasurer,  and  as  such  has  remained  since.  The  mill 
was  burned  in  1873,  but  immediately  replaced  by  a  much 
more  costly  structure  of  brick,  150  by  40  feet,  with  marble 
facings  and  trimmings,  three  stories  high,  with  a  two-story 
wing  50  by  20  feet.  The  machinery  includes  five  five-hun- 
dred pound  engines,  one  eighty-inch  Fourdrinier  machine, 
and  two  artesian  wells  with  a  capacity  of  two  liundred  and 
forty  gallons  per  minute,  being  the  first  artesian  wells  used 
for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Carew  was  also  one  of  the  first 
stockholders  and  directors  of  the  Third  National  Bank  of 
Springfield. 

In  1804  he  built  and  presented  to  the  Church  Society  the 
Congregational  Church  at  South  Hadley  Falls,  upon  which 
he  expended  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  In  1870  he  gave 
a  scholarship  to  Amherst  College,  and  in  1873  presented  five 
thousand  dollars  for  a  lectureship  in  tlie  Tlieological  Seminary 
at  Hartford,  Conn. 

Mr.  Carew's  son  Frank  was  associated  with  liim  in  liusine.ss 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  Aug.  1,  1877. 
Frank  was  married,  Oct.  22,  1863,  to  Josephine  F.,  daughter 
of  Abram  Hawkins,  Esq.,  and  left  three  children, — Mary  F., 
born  June  12,  1806,  in  Paris,  France ;  George  and  Frank 
(twins),  born  in  South  Hadley  Falls,  Mass.,  Jan.  7,  1870. 
The.se  three  grandchildren  arc  all  of  Mr.  Carew's  family  left 
to  him,  their  mother  having  died  Jan.  7,  1870. 

Mr.  Carew  was  married,  Sept.  24,  1833,  to  Miss  Eliza  Ran- 
dall, daughter  of  Josiah  Randall,  Esq.,  and  had  only  two 
children, — George  Bishop,  who  was  born  June  17,  1836,  and 
died  June  23d  of  same  year,  and  Frank,  born  April  15,  1838. 
Mrs.  Carew  died  May  7,  1874. 

Mr.  Carew  is  still  an  active  and  enterprising  business-man. 


although  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  always  ready  to  assist 
every  worthy  enterprise. 


HIRAM  SMITH,* 
son  of  Deacon  Silas  Smith,  born  Sept.  23,  1793.  His  mother 
was  Mary,  daughter  of  Eliphaz  Moody,  of  South  Hadley 
Falls,  Mass.,  born  Aug.  13,  1790,  whom  his  father  married 
June  2,  1817.  Hiram  Smith  early  turned  his  attention  to 
navigation  on  the  Connecticut  River,  and  by  his  energy  and 
business  ability  probably  did  more  than  any  other  person  to 
open  up  the  commerce  of  the  Upper  Connecticut.  This  was 
before  the  days  of  railroads,  when  the  river  was  the  great 
highway  of  commerce  in  Western  Massachusetts.  Indeed, 
so  great  was  his  influence  at  one  time,  and  so  far  reaching  his 
ideas  and  plans,  that  he  was  universally  known  on  the  river 
as  "King  Hiram."  He  was  a  valuable  and  useful  citizen, 
and  served  his  town  in  various  offices  for  many  years.  He 
represented  South  Hadley  in  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  frequently  called  upon  to  set  ofl'  widows'  dowers, 
and  to  administer  on  the  estates  of  deceased  friends,  as  well 
as  attend  to  other  kinds  of  public  services,  being  known  far  and 
wide  as  a  man  of  most  excellent  judgment  and  of  strict  in- 
tegrity. In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  in 
farming. 

HIRAM  SMITH, 
son  of  the  above,  was  born  July  24,  1824,  and  like  his  father 
has  taken  a  prominent  place  as  a  citizen  and  business-man  in 
the  old  town  where  so  many  of  his  ancestors  have  resided  be- 
fore him.  Jan.  19,  1848,  he  married  Harriet  S.  Coney,  niece 
of  Capt.  Broughton  Alvord,  and  has  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  viz.,  Ellis  Dwight,  born  July  10,  1849,  died  April 
22,  1851 ;  Hattie  V.  A.,  born  July  11,  18.50,  died  Oct.  10,  1852; 
J.  Belle,  born  Nov.  22,  1858 ;  and  Fred  Merwin,  born  Sept. 
18,  1802. 

Mr.  Smith  for  several  years  past  has  been  postmaster  at 
South  Hadley  Falls,  and  is  engaged  in  general  mercantile 
business  at  the  same  place.  He  has  always  taken  an  active 
interest  in  town  and  church  matters,  being  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  South  Hadley  Falls. 


WARE. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

The  town  of  Ware  lies  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  countj' 
of  Ham)ishire,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  bj'  the  town  of 
Enfield,  in  the  same  county,  and  by  the  town  of  Hardwick, 
in  Worcester  County ;  on  the  south  by  the  town  of  Palmer, 
in  Hampden  County;  on  the  east  by  the  towns  of  New  Brain- 
tree  and  West  Brookfield,  in  Worcester  County ;  and  on  the 
west  by  the  town  of  Belchertown,  in  Hampshire  County.  It 
is  about  four  and  a  half  by  six  miles  in  extent,  and  has  an 
area  of  about  18,000  acres,  and  is  the  second  town  in  point  of 
population  and  manufacturing  importance  in  the  county. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  town  is  pleasantly  situated  and  well  watered.  The 
Ware  River  originates  in  the  western  part  of  Worcester 
County,  draining  most  of  the  country  west  of  the  Wachu- 
sett,  and  is  supplied  partly  from  ponds,  which,  with  the  great 
extent  of  open  country  drained  by  it,  gives  it  a  character  of 
stability  n(jt  gained  by  mountain  streams.  It  enters  Ware 
at  the  northeast  corner,  and  goes  out  near  the  southwest, 
keeping  near  the  eastern  and  southern  boundary.    This  stream 


affords  fine  water-power,  which  has  been  fully  utilized,  and  is 
the  foundation  of  the  town's  material  prosperity.  The  Swift 
River  forms  the  western  boundary.  Three  distinct  ranges  of 
hills  traverse  the  town  north  and  south,  between  which  exist 
intervales  of  fair  productive  character,  and  each  of  which  is 
watered  by  a  brook  of  some  consequence.  Commencing  at  the 
east,  these  are  named  respectively  Muddy,  Flat,  and  Beaver 
Brooks,  all  affluents  of  the  Ware  River.  The  highest  eleva- 
tion in  the  town  is  Coy's  Hill,  on  the  eastern  border,  which 
attains  an  altitude  of  500  feet  above  the  river. 

The  soil  of  the  town  is  of  a  somewhat  inferior  quality,  save 
in  the  valleys,  where  it  is  capable  of  successful  cultivation. 
Its  appearance  has  frequently  excited  the  comments  of  strangers 
and  others,  which  the  residents  now  repeat  with  some  relish, 
since,  in  spite  of  adverse  conditions,  they  have  outstripped 
their  neighbors  in  cultivated  crops.  Dr.  Dwight  passed 
through  a  corner  of  the  town  in  1810,  and  in  his  "Travels" 
makes  the  following  remark  : 

"  Ware  borders  on  Bek-hertown,  southeastward.  Its  soil  is  generally  of  a  very 
inferior  quality.    A  traveler  formerly  passing  through  this  town  observed  thaf 


*  Deceased. 


360 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


he  thought  the  land  wiis  like  self-righteousness,  for  tlie  more  he  had  of  it  the 
poorer  he  would  be." 

Some  ingenious  rhynister  has  iilso  prMcliuT^d  tliu  following 
stanzii  in  regard  to  the  town  : 

"  Danie  Nature  once,  when  making  land, 

Had  refuse  left  of  stone  and  sand. 

She  viewed  it  well,  and  threw  it  down 

Bet^veen  Coy's  Hill  and  Belchertown, 

And  saj-s,  'You  paltrj-  stuft",  lie  there. 

And  make  a  town  and  call  it  Ware  V  " 

RAILROADS. 

The  Ware  Kiver  Railroad,  now  under  lease  to  the  Boston 
and  Albany  Kailroad  for  the  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  years,  traverses  the  town  diagonally,  following  the  course 
of  "Ware  Kiver.  The  company  was  incorporated  May  24, 
1851,  and  the  section  was  built  from  Palmer  to  Gilbertville 
(Hardwick)  in  1870  at  a  cost  of  ©'250,000,  and  at  an  expense 
to  the  town  of  Ware  of  ^50,000.  The  original  company  be- 
coming eml>arrassed,  a  new  corporation  was  formed  in  June, 
1873,  retaining  the  name.  The  road  is  fifty-two  miles  long, 
and  has  a  station  at  Ware  village. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The  Village  Gazette  was  the  first  newspaper  started  in  AVuru. 
The  first  number  was  issued  July  7,  1847,  by  Hemenway  *fc 
Fisk,  and  was  neutral  in  politics.  On  March  15,  1848,  Mr. 
risk  disposed  of  his  interest  to  Mr.  Hemenway,  but  continued 
its  editor  until  Jan.  1,  1849.  During  the  same  month  Mr. 
Jiemenway  sold  out  the  establishment  to  Mandell  &  Hatha- 
way, who  continued  it,  with  an  alteration  of  its  title  to  The 
Ware  Gazette^  until  the  summer  of  1850,  when  the  subscrip- 
tion list  was  purchased  by  J.  F.  Downing.  Mr.  Downing 
founded  upon  this  list  the  Wai^e  American^  and  by  the  aid  of 
an  association  of  gentlemen  was  enabled  to  enlarge  his  paper, 
and  to  continue  its  issue  until  the  following  autumn,  when  he 
disposed  of  his  list  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Springjield  Re- 
jyubllcan. 

The  Wa.re  Offering,  a  monthly  publication,  designed  for 
factory  operatives,  was  started  in  January,  1848,  by  S.  F. 
Pepper,  but  only  reached  three  or  four  numbers.  The  Ware 
Weekly  Courier  was  commenced  Jan.  1,  1848,  by  C.  H.  &  W. 
F.  Brown.  The  paper  was  a  sort  of  reprint  of  the  Wo7-cesier 
JEgi-'i^  having  a  Ware  heading  and  special  local  items.  But 
three  numbers  were  published.  Two  newspapers  are  now  dis- 
tributed in  the  town,  made  up  on  the  same  plan  as  the  ^SV/i.s-, 
and  are  entitled  the  Ware  Standard  and  Ware  Gazette.  The 
former  is  issued  by  the  Pahyier  Journal,  of  which  it  is  a  par- 
tial reprint,  and  is  under  the  local  management  of  Marvin  L. 
Snow  ;  the  latter  is  a  similar  otl'shoot  from  the  Barrc  Gazette, 
and  is  locally  represented  by  R.  L.  Hathaway.  Each  has  a 
Ware  heading,  and  contains  Ware  local  items, 

SETTLEMENT. 

Two  difterent  versions  of  the  circumstances  that  preceded 
and  attended  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  have  been  given  : 

"  The  story  in  Burher's '  Iliriit^irical  Collections  of  Massachusetts'  is,  that  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  Waro  was  a  tract  of  10,0<HJ  acres,  granted  to  the  soldiers  in  the  A'or- 
rfigametl  war, — that  they  viewed  the  lands  as  of  little  valne,  and  afterward  sold 
them  to  John  Head,  Ey*].,  of  Uonton,  for  two  coppei-s  per  acre.*  The  true  history 
of  the  1U,U00  acre  tract  is  this.    The  tirst  settlenienta  in  the  western  part  of  Mas- 

*  "There  is  a  deed  on  record  at  Sprintifiehl,  dated  Sept.  10, 1740,  from  John 
Read  to  Thomas  Kead,  of  'one  fnll  lialf  right  or  share  in  a  tiiwnship  lately 
granted  hy  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  the  Province  to  the  officere  and  sol- 
diers which  wjia  fonuerly  in  ye  fight  with  the  Indian  Enemy  at  the  falls  ou  Con- 
necticut River,  commonly  called  the  Falls  Fight,  which  township  lyeth  near  or 
adjoining  to  Deci-field,  in  ye  county  of  Hampshire,  of  which  fight  my  honored 
Father,  Thomas  Read,  deceased,  was  then  and  there  one  of  the  soldiei-s.'  The 
township  here  referred  to  is  Bernardsh)n,  and  the  fight  the  battle  at  Turner's 
Falls,  during  Philip's  war,  in  1GT6.  It  may  have  been  confounded  with  the 
tiact  in  Ware  owned  by  Mr.  Read,  who  was  a  lawyer  of  some  eminence  in  Boston, 
and  owned  other  largo  tracts  of  land.  Another  deed  is  on  record  at  Spiingfield, 
of  23,040  acres,  on  the  southerly  side  of  Deeilield,  made  by  agents  of  the  town 
of  Boston  to  him.    Templetou  and  Westminster  were  Narragansett  towns." 


sachnsetts  were  made  at  Springfield,  in  1636,  which  in  process  of  time  embraced 
Sufheld,  Enfield,  and  Somere  within  its  Iwnnds.  Those  towns,  as  well  as  Wood- 
stock, were  settled  from  Miussachu setts,  and  were  under  her  jurisdiction.  The 
charter  of  Connecticut,  granted  by  Robert,  earl  of  Waiwick,  in  the  reign  of 
King  Charles,  in  1031,  conveyed  '  all  that  part  of  New  England,  in  America, 
which  lies  and  extends  Itself  from  a  river  there  called  the  Narragansett  River, 
the  space  of  forty  leagnes  upon  a  straight  line  near  the  sea-shore  towards  the 
southwest,  west  and  by  south  or  west,  as  the  coast  lieth  towards  Virginia,  all  the 
breadth  aforesaid,  throughout  the  main  lands  there,  from  the  Western  Ocean  to 
the  South  Sea.'  Wlien  the  line  was  run  by  Connecticut,  it  took  in  the  towns 
above  named.  Massachusetts  declined  giving  them  up.  A  long  controversy  en- 
sued, which  lasted  sixty-six  years.  In  1713  an  agreement  was  made  betweeu  the 
colonies  that  the  line  should  be  i-un  according  to  the  charter.  Massachusetts 
should  letrtin  jurisdiction  over  the  towns  settled  by  her,  and  should  gi*ant  as  an 
equivalent  as  nniny  acres  of  unimproved  land  to  Ctmiiecticut. 

"  On  running  the  line,  it  was  found  at  Connecticut  River  to  run  ninety  rods 
nui  th  .if  the  uortlieast  bounds  of  Suffield,  and  that  Massachusetts  had  enci\)ached 
upun  Connecticut  107,793  acres.  She  made  a  grant  of  that  quantity  of  land  U) 
Connecticut,  which  was  accepted  as  an  equivalent.  This  tract  included  Belcher- 
town, Pelham,  part  of  Enfield,  and  the  10,000  acres  in  Ware.  The  whole  was 
sold  soon  after,  in  171G,  in  sixteen  shai-es,  for  the  sum  of  £083,  New  England 
currency,  which  was  a  little  more  than  a  farthing  per  acre.  The  money  went 
iiiti.)  the  funds  of  Yale  College. 

"The  towns  of  Suffield,  Enfield,  Somers,  and  Woodstock  continued  in  Massa- 
chusetts till  1747,  when  they  were  taken  into  Connecticut. 

"  Among  the  purcha-sei-s  of  the  equivalent  lands  were  Gov.  Belcher  and  John 
Read,  Esq.,  uf  Boston,  Nathan  Gould,  Esq.,  the  deputy-governor  of  Connecticut, 
and  Peter  Burr,  Esq.,  one  of  the  assistant  judges. 

"  The  records  of  Springfield  contain  a  deed  of  mortgage  from  John  Read,  Pec. 
12,  1722.  *  Of  all  that  my  Ten  Tliousand  acres  of  land,  being  near  Bruokfield,  in 
the  Province  of  the  Massailuisetts  Bay,  being  that  twosixteenth  parts  of  the 
lands  commonly  called  the  Equivalent  Lands,  which  in  the  late  division  of  the 
Equivalent  Lands  fell  to  the  Hon.  Nathan  Gould  and  Peter  Burr,  Esq.,  and  tr) 
the  siiid  John  Read.'  It  was  known  afterward  as  'the  Manor  of  Peace,'  as 
being  a  peace-offeiing  to  Connecticut. 

"  The  southciist  corner  of  the  Read  tract  was  near  where  the  barn  of  George 
Gould  now  shmds ;  thence  the  line  run  due  north  to  Hardwick  line,  pjissing  west 
of  Muddy  Bixjok,  and  near  George  Osborn's  Land ;  thence  west  to  Swift  River,  and 
south  by  the  river  to  Palmer,  or  the '  Elbows,'  as  it  was  then  called,  from  the  angles 
made  by  the  branches  of  the  Chicopee  River.  The  south  line  was  a  continua- 
tion of  the  south  line  of  Belchertown,  bearing  E.  by  N.  This  tract  covered  all 
the  western  portion  of  the  town.  The  tract  west  of  Swift  River  was  called  e<ild 
Spring,  and  went  into  the  hands  of  Gov.  Belcher,  and,  when  incorporated,  was 
called  Belchertown. 

"  The  eastern  part  of  the  town  was  included  in  a  purchase  made  of  the  In- 
dian proprietoi-s  Dec.  27,  1680.  *  John  Magus,  Lawrence  Nassowauno,  attorneys 
to  Anogumok,  Sachem  of  the  tract  of  land  called  Wombemesisecook,  James  and 
Simon,  sous  and  heire  of  Black  James,  Sachem  of  the  Nipmug  counti-j',  for  divers 
good  causes  and  considerations,  especially  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  twenty  iwunds  current  money  of  New  England,'  conveyed  to  Joshua  Lamb, 
Nathaniel  Paige,  Andrew  Gardner,  Benjamin  Gambin,  Benjamin  Tucker,  John 
Curtis,  Richard  Draper,  and  Samuel  Rnggles,  of  Boxbury,  Mass., '  a  certiun  tract 
or  parcel  of  land,  containing  by  estimation  twelve  ndles  long,  north  and  soutii, 
and  eight  miles  wide,  east  and  west,  situate,  lying,  and  being  near  (juabaug,  com- 
monly known  by  the  name  of  Wombemesisecook,  being  butted  and  bounded  south- 
erly upon  the  land  that  Josepli  Dudley,  Esq.,  lately  purchased  of  the  Indians,  East- 
erly the  southernmost  corner  upon  a  pond  called  Sasagookapangh,  and  so  by  a 
brook  that  runneth  into  said  Pond,  and  so  up  Northerly  unto  a  jdaco  called 
Ueques,  and  so  still  northerly  until  it  meets  with  a  River  called  Nenameseck, 
and  Westerly  by  the  River  until  it  comes  agaiust  Quaboge  bounils,  and  joins  unto 
their  bounds,  or  however  otherwise  butted  and  l)ounded.' 

"  It  wuuhl  be  difficult  now  to  trace  these  lines,  except  the  one  formed  by  Ware 
River,  which  it  appears  was  called  by  the  Indians  'Nenameseck.'  It  appears 
from  tlie  projjrietors'  records,  where  the  deed  is  recorded,  that  they  claimed  the 
land  from  Rutland,  now  Barre,  on  the  north,  to  the  Quabaug  River,  in  Warreu, 
covering  Hardwick,  paiis  of  Ware,  Palmer,  and  Brooktield,  and  that  part  of 
Warreu  north  of  the  liver.  South  of  the  Qnabang  belonged  to  Brimfield. 
The  same  proprietoi-s  bought  about  the  same  time,  of  the  Indians,  the  tract  now 
fonning  the  towns  of  Leicester  and  Spencer. 

"Thefii-st  attempts  made  to  survey  and  layout  the  lands  was  in  1727  at  which 
time  only  two  of  the  original  proprietors  were  living,  when  they  petitioned  the 
Legi^latuie  to  confirm  tbe  territory  to  tiiem,  which  was  refused.  In  172S  a 
committee,  one  of  whom  was  the  Rev.  Timothy  Rnggles,  of  Rochester,  son  of 
one  of  the  i)urchasei"s,  and  father  of  the  afterward  famous  Brigadier  Ruggles, 
was  chosen  to  lay  out  a  town  six  miles  square  within  their  idaim ;  but  it  was  not 
until  17^2  that  the  Legislature  confirmed  to  Joshua  Lamb  and  othere  tlie  tnict 
of  six  miles  square,  then  called  Lambstown,  and  which  wa.s  afterward  incor- 
porated as  the  town  of  Ilai-dwick.'l- 

The  southern  part  of  the  town,  and  all  east  of  the  Kead 
manor,  as  far  north  as  Brookfield  line  extends,  was  included 
in  what  was  then  called  the  "Elbows,"  for  tbe  facts  relating 
to  the  grant  and  early  settlement  of  which  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  history  of  the  town  of  Palmer,  in  this  volume. 

The  most  ancient  document  relating  to  the  history  of  Ware 
is  the  following  petition,  dated  in  1(173,  thirteen  years  before 


HISTORY   OF   IIAMPSHIRK   COUNTY. 


361 


the  Indian  deed  to  the  proprietors  of  Hardwick,  wliich  is  copied 
from  the  original  in  the  archives  of  the  commonwealth;  and 
■with  the  i!;rant,  and  the  deed  following  it,  the  title  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Wiire  village  can  be  easily  traced  to  the  present  pro- 
prietors : 

"To  the  IIonounMl  Governour,  Depiitie  Govprnoiir,  M.ijiistiates,  and  I)(!ii\ities 
now  assoniMe*!  iiiul  hi»I(iiny  GciicniU  Cimrt  in  Boston. 

"The  liumMe  petition  of  Richard  HoUinwortli,  of  Sal'-m,  most  humbly 
eheweth : 

"That  yowr  humble  petitioner's  ffather  came  into  this  country  about  ftnty 
yeares  since,  and  brouglit  a  gi-eat  ffaniily  with  him,  and  a  good  estate.  And 
being  tlic  first  tmilder  of  vessells,  being  a  -sliip-carpenter,  was  a  great  benefit  to 
this  countrey,  anil  as  great  or  greater  than  any  one  in  the  infancie  of  the  coun- 
trie  of  a  private  man,  as  it  is  fully  kiiowne,  yctt  gained  not  liiniselfe  an  estate, 
but  spent  his  own  that  he  brought ;  and  notwithstanding  all  his  service  and  tlie 
largeness  of  his  family,  being  twelve  in  number,  he  never  hail  more  granted 
him  by  the  countiie  hut  f«irtie-one  acres  of  uplanil,  and  not  one  acre  of  meadow, 
and  the  land  lying  soo  remote  from  the  towne  of  Salem  it  proved  little  woitli  to 
liim  or  his,  and  none  of  his  children  have  never  had  anything,  but  liave  lived  by 
their  lalwur  with  God's  blessing;  and  your  petitioner  bath  used  maretan  em- 
ployment, and  through  nuiny  dangers  and  with  much  difflcultie  gotten  a  lively- 
hood  for  himselfe  and  his  family,  and,  being  brought  very  low  Ity  his  loss  by  the 
Dutch  takeing  all  from  him,  is  constrained  to  apply  himself  unto  yourselves 
whom  God  hath  sett  as  ffathers  of  this  Commonwealth. 

"  And  iloth  must  humbly  beseech  you  seriously  to  consider  the  premises,  and 
if  it  may  stand  with  your  good  likeing  and  charitie  to  grant  unto  him  a  enmpe- 
tent  purcell  of  land  that  he  may  sitt  downe  upon  with  his  family,  viz.,  his  wife 
and  six  chillren,  for  he  would  leave  the  seas  had  he  competencie  of  land 
whereby,  with  his  own  industry  and  God's  blessing,  he  might  nuiinetaine  his 
family.  And  he  shall  take  it  as  a  great  favour.  And,  as  in  duty  bnnnd,  shall 
ever  pray,  &c." 

"In  answer  to  this  petition,  the  Deputys  judge  meet  to  grannt  the  petitioner 
five  hundred  acres  of  land  wliere  he  can  find  it  free  frum  any  former  graunt,  ye 
Honorable  Magistrates  consenting  hereto. 

"8,11,1073. 

"William  TimitEv,  ChdiniKin. 

"Consented  to  by  the  Magistrates. 

"Edward  Rawson,  .Sec')-;/," 

"  Hollingsworth  never  located  the  land  granted  by  the  General  Court  to  him. 
His  heim  afterward  snld  the  grant  to  Samuel  Prince,  of  Rochester.  June  14, 
1715,  it  appears  by  the  records  of  the  council, '  a  plot  of  500  acres  was  presented 
by  Samuel  Princf.  lying  on  Ware  River,  surveyed  by  William  Ward,  being  a 
grant  of  that  ipiatitity  ti>  Riihard  Il.dlingswoith  in  Hil-i:  '  It  was  ordered,  that 
the  plat  be  confirmed  as  IloUingsworth's  grant,  if  that  grant  ha^  not  been  laid 
out  before.' 

"  The  plat  and  the  order  indoreed  on  the  back  of  it  cannot  be  found.  *Very 
few  papers  ut  that  kind  between  1710  and  1730  are  among  the  archives  of  the 
comniunwealth,  and  it  is  supposed  they  were  destroyed  when  the  State-House 
was  burned  in  1741. 

"  Tradition  has  always  connected  with  this  grant  an  obligation  t^»  maintain 
mills  at  tlie  falls,  but  the  recoriis  disclose  no  such  condition.  Tlie  following  deed, 
copied  from  the  .Springfield  Records,  will  throw  light  on  the  earlie&t  conveyances : 

"'  To  all  People  unto  whom  this  Present  Deed  of  sale  shall  come,  Jonas  Clarke, 
of  Boston,  within  the  County  of  Suflolk  in  New  England,  Masiier,  Sendeth 
Greeting. 

"  '  Know  Ye,  that  I,  the  said  Jonas  Clarke,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  Four  hundred  pounds  tt>  me  in  hand  at  and  before  the  ensealing  and  delivery 
hereof  well  and  truly  Pai<l  by  Jabez  Olmsted,  of  Brookfield  in  the  County  of 
Hampsliire,*  in  New  Enghtml  aforesaid,  Husbandman,  the  Rec't  whereof  I  do 
hereby  acknowledge,  have  given,  granted,  bargained,  sold,  conveyed,  and  con- 
firmed, and  by  these  Presents  do  give,  grant,  bargain,  sell,  convey,  and  confirm 
unto  the  said  Jabez  Olmsted,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  that  my  certain 
tract  or  iiarcel  of  land  situate,  lying,  and  being  w  itliin  the  Province  of  the  Mjis- 
sachusetts  bay,  in  the  Road  from  Bruokfield  to  Hadley,  Containing  by  estimation 
five  hundred  acres,  more  or  less,  as  the  same  is  delineated  and  decyphered  in  a 
Plan  thereof  on  file  among  the  Records  of  the  General  Court  or  Assembly  of  this 
Province,  which  said  land,  upon  Wednesday,  twenty-filth  day  of  May,  was  al- 
lowed and  confirmed  us  the  Five  hundred  acres  of  land  granted  unto  Richard 
Hollingsworth,  Anno  107-,  by  the  said  General  C^urt,  and  is  the  same  land 
which  the  said  HoUingsworth's  heirs  sold  lately  unto  Samuel  Piince,  late  of 
Rochester,  Yeoman,  who  sold  the  same  to  Thomas  Clarke,  of  Boston,  aforesaid, 
Merchant,  of  whom  I  purchased  the  same  land,  together  with  all  and  eingular 
the  trees,  woods,  underwoods,  profit's,  privileges,  and  appuitenances,  to  the  said 
granted  land  belonging  or  in  anywise  appertaining,  and  the  Reversion  and  re- 
mainders thereof.'  [Here /olhw  the  vsiuil  covenants  of  imrranti/.]  'To  Have 
and  to  Hold  the  said  given  and  granted  land  and  premises  with  the  ajipuiten- 
ances,  untt)  the  said  Jabez  Olmsted,  his  heii«  and  assigns  forever,  to  his  and  their 
only  proper  use,  benefit  and  behoof  from  henceforth  and  forever. 

"  '  In  witness  whereof,  I,  the  said  Jonas  Clarke,  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
seal  the  second  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-nine,  and  in  the  second  year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  George 
the  Second,  King  over  Great  Britain,  &c. 

"'Signed, sealed, and  delivered  in  presence  of  ) 
Moses  Rice.     Benjamin  Rolfe.  > 


Jonas  Clarke  and  seal. 


*  Worcester  County  was  not  established  till  1731. 


"'  Received  the  day  and  year  above  wiilten,  off  the  within-named  Jabez  Olm- 
sted, the  sum  of  four  hundred  pounds,  being  the  consideration-money  within 
expressed. 

"  'Jonas  Clarke. 

"  '  Suffolk,  us.  Boston,  April  2, 1729.  The  aliove-nnmed  Jonas  Clarke  person- 
ally appealing,  acknowledged  the  abovc-wiitton  instnmient  to  be  his  act  and 
Deed. 

" '  Before  me,  Samuel  Sewall,  Just.  Peace. 

"  '  Received  Apiil  24, 1732,  and  recorded  from  the  Oiiginal.' 

"  The  southeast  corner  of  this  tract  was  near  the  noith  line  of  Hon.  Joseph 
Cummings'  farm,  on  the  side-hill,  above  J.  H.  Cummings'.  Thence  the  line 
ran  north,  taking  in  the  lower  falls,  and  extending  to  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Mi-s.  Miner.  Thence  it  ran  west  to  the  Bead  manor,  and  south,  on  its  east  line, 
to  the  southwest  corner  on  the  plain  west  of  Muddy  Brook,  between  land  of 
John  Gould,  and  the  farm  formerly  owned  by  Deacon  Enos  Davis,  covering 
nearly  the  whole  tenitory  of  what  is  now  this  village.f 

"Upon  this  tract  tlie  finst  settlements  in  the  town  were  made.  Capt.  Jabez 
Olmstead  came  from  Brookfield  i)robably  in  1720,  and  built  mills  upon  the  falls. 
He  erected  a  house  east  of  the  Bank.  Tlie  well  now  used  for  the  hotel  next  the 
Bank  was  dug  for  his  house,  which  afterward  was  a  tavern.  It  was  a  large 
two-story  house,  called  '  the  Great  House,'  and  was  standing  when  the  firet  move- 
ments were  made  to  erect  factories  here  in  1813.  Alphous  Demond  occupied  it 
for  a  year  or  more,  and  it  stood  till  1S21. 

"Jacob  Cummings  came  very  soon  after,  from  Killingly,  Conn.,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  establishment  of  a  Church  and  Society.  He 
located  upon  the  faim  now  owned  by  Jonah  Beaman,and  owned  that  and  the  one 
owned  by  his  great -great-grandson,  Joseph  A.  Cummings.  This  tract  was  first 
laid  out  to  Stewait  Southgate,  clerk  of  the  jjroprietors  of  the  Elbows. 

"  What  is  now  the  southeast  corner  of  tlie  town  was  first  settled  by  Isaac  Ma- 
goon.  He  and  his  son  Isaac,  Jr.,  owned  the  farms  now  owned  by  George  Gould, 
George  C.  Boyle,  and  Josephus  Lanibeiton, — about  7U0  acres.  These  lands  then 
belonged  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Elbows,  now  Palmer.  Their  grant  covered  all 
the  lands  not  included  in  the  10,(XK)  acres  and  the  TiOCt  acres,  except  1443  acres 
in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town,  and  some  small  portions  since  added  to  this 
ttiwn  from  Brookfield. 

"  The  first  settlers  on  this  tract  were  wliat  would  be  called  in  these  days  aQuat- 
ters.  Judah  Mareh  came  from  Hatfield  or  Hadley  about  1730,  and  settled  near 
Marsh's  mills.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Jabez  Olmstead,  and  his  de- 
scendants now  occupy  some  portions  of  the  land  granted  to  him  and  his  brothers. 
The  petition  and  grant  may  interest  the  descendants.  They  are  copied  from  the 
originals  in  the  Secretary's  office  at  Boston; 

" '  To  his  Excellency  Jonathan  Belcher,  Eafi.,  Captain-General  and  Commander- 
in-chief  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  the  Jhissachnsetts  Bay,  in  New  England, 
&c..  The  Honorable  His  Majesty's  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  in  Gen- 
eral Court  assembled  at  Boston,  Oct.  3, 1733. 

"'The  Petition  of  us,  the  subscribers,  Hunddy  sheweth.  That  your  Petitioners 
are  now  actually  dwelling  on  a  tract  of  the  unappropriated  lands  of  this  Prov- 
ince, in  the  county  of  Ilampt^hire,  bounded  south  partly  by  that  tract  of  land 
called  the  Elbows  and  partly  by  Brookfield  township.  East  by  Ware  River,  North 
by  land  lately  granted  to  Col.  Lamb  and  Co.,  and  west  by  tliat  part  of  the  Equiv- 
alent lands  belonging  to  John  Read,  of  Boston,  Esq.,  contaiidng  fourteen  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  acres,  as  per  a  plat  of  said  land  herewith  presented  more 
particularly  appears,  and  on  said  tract  of  lands  we  have  lived,  some  of  ns,  three 
yeare,  where  we  have  spent  the  most  of  that  little  substance  we  have;  and  we 
assure  your  Honoui-s  it  was  not  the  extraordinary  goodness  or  quality  of  the 
lands  that  induced  us  to  go  upon  it,  for  a  considerable  part  of  said  tract  is  Ledges 
of  Rocks  and  voi-y  Rjckey,  so  as  to  render  it  unprofitable  and  almost  useless  (as 
those  that  are  acquainted  with  it  can  Testifie),  but  that  which  induced  us  to  set- 
tle on  it  was  our  necessity;  our  piinciple  dependance  for  the  support  of  our- 
selves is  husbandrj',  and  we  had  not  a  foot  of  land  to  iniploy  ourselves  and*fami- 
lies  upon,  were  exposed  to  idleness  and  pinching  want,  and  being  then  unsensible 
how  highly  the  court  resented  such  a  way  of  settling,  and  apprehending  that 
the  pi iiuiple  thing  insisted  on  was  that  there  should  be  no  trading  or  stock-job- 
bing, but  an  actual  settlement  and  improvement  in  husbandry  by  the  grantees 
themselves,  with  which  we  were  ready  to  comply. 

" '  Wlierefore,  being  thus  unhappily  intangled  on  said  Land,  with  great  sub- 
mission we  most  humbly  move  that  this  great  and  Honorable  Assembly  would 
condescend  to  exercise  their  charity  and  Pitty  towards  us  in  granting  us  (out  of 
said  land,  including  the  spots  we  have  already  begun  on)  so  much  Land  as  may 
be  a  competency  for  us  to  improve  for  a  livelyhood  for  ourselves  and  children  ; 
we  have  no  tho't  of  any  other,  but  with  submission  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
our  lives  and  substances  on  the  spot,  are  content  and  ready  to  submit  to  any  in- 
junctions or  Limitations  within  our  reach,  tliis  Great  and  Honorable  Court  shall 
think  meet  to  lay  upon  us,  who,  as  in  Duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray, 
his 

"'John    X     Clemens. 
mark. 

" '  Thomas  Marsh. 
.  "  '■  William  Clemmens. 
his 

" '  Jonathan     X     Rood. 
mark. 

"'Judah  Marsh. 


f  It  appears  by  the  Palmer  records  that  100  acres  adjoining  Jabez  Olmstead's 
farm  was  granted  to  his  eldest  son. 


46 


362 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


"  '  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Oct.  29, 1733.  Read  and  ordered  that  the 
prayer  of  the  Petition  as  partJL-ularly  sot  forth  in  the  vote  on  the  plat  of  the 
lands  hereto  annexed. 

*' '  Sent  up  for  concuiTence, 

"  '  J.  QuiNCY,  Speal-ei'. 

*' '  In  Council,  Oot.  29, 17:J3.  Non-concurred,  and  ordered  that  a  coniniittee  be 
appointed  to  view  the  lands  and  report. 

"  '  The  House  non-concurred  in  this  vote,  and  the  petition  was  not  called  up 
again  until  1737.' 

"  Here  follow  the  plat  of  the  survey,  with  the  oaths  a«lministered  hy  Timothy 
Dwight,  Esti-,  of  Bekhertown,  to  NathuiU(--l  Dwight,  the  surveyor,  and  to  Wil- 
liam Clements  and  Jonathan  Uuod,  the  chain-men. 

"  '  In  th^  House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  3,  1737. 

"  '  Read  and  ordered  that  tlie  petition  he  revived,  and  that  the  plat  be  accepted, 
and  that  the  hinds  therein  ilelineatod  and  described  be  and  hereby  are  contirmed 
to  the  said  Thoniiis  Mai-sh,  William  Clements,  John  Clements,  Jonathan  Rood, 
Judah  Mai-sh,  and  Samuel  Marsh,  their  heirs  and  assigns  respectively,  provided 
each  of  the  grantees  do  within  the  space  of  five  years  from  this  date  have  six 
acres  of  the  granted  premises  brought  to  Knglish  grjiss,  or  broken  up  by  plow- 
ing, and  each  of  them  have  a  good  dwelling-house  thereon  of  eighteen  feet 
square,  and  seven  feet  stud  at  tlio  least,  and  each  a  family  dwellijig  therein  that 
they  actually  biing  to  the  settlement  of  said  Lands  by  themselve-s,  or  their  chil- 
dren as  above  laid  ;  provided,  also,  the  plat  exceeds  nut  the  quantity  of  fourteen 
hundred  and  forty-three  acres,  and  does  not  interfere  with  any  former  grant, 
and  also  that  the  grantees  do,  within  twelve  months,  pay  to  the  Province  Treas- 
ury five  pounds  each  for  the  use  of  this  province. 

"  '  Sent  up  for  concurrence, 

"  '  J.  QuiscY,  Sjf&ikm: 

"  '  In  Council,  Jan.  4,  1737.     Read  and  concurred. 

*' '  Simon  Frost,  Deputy  Sf^vy, 

"' Consented  to.    J.  Belch  kr.' 

"  It  appeal's  to  have  been  the  custom  of  the  Indians  to  burn  over  the  ten  itury 
of  Ware,  to  aid  them  in  secui  ing  game.  The  practice  has  destroyed  the  forests, 
to  a  great  extent,  and  doubtless  injured  the  soil.  Brookfield  was  settled  as 
early  a^  1G73,  and  the  inhabitHuts  used  these  lands  for  pastuiing,  and  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  burning  t »  improve  the  feed.  Brookfield  pastures  was 
their  common  name.  So  bare  of  timber  was  the  country  that  the  early  settlers 
of  Warren,  on  coming  to  the  top  of  Coy's  hill,  could  discern  a  stray  beast  any- 
where in  this  whole  valley. 

"The  town  does  not  appear  to  have  been  settled  very  rapidly.  The  soil  was 
poor,  and  we  cannot  appreciate  the  hardsliips  the  early  settlers  encountered.  In 
1742,  when,  by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Read,  they  petitioned  to  be  incorporated  as  a  town, 
it  seems  there  were  hut  thirty-three  families  in  the  town. 

"The  Read  Manor  was  the  first  located  in  1713. 

"The  HoUingsworth  grant,  taking  in  the  tract  now  occupied  by  the  village 
and  the  water-power,  1715.  The  EUx»w  tract  was  laid  out  in  1732.  And  the 
Mareh  and  Clements  grant  in  173;J." 

The  petition  of  the  settlers  to  be  incorporated  as  a  town, 
above  referred  to,  was  as  follows : 

"To  his  Excellency  William  Shirley,  Esq.,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  ' 
Chief,  the  honorable  the  Council  and  Representatives  in  General  Court  assem- 
bled 2Gth  May,  1742.  The  petitinu  of  Thomas  Marsh  and  others,  to  the  number 
of  thirty-three  house-hulders.  about  and  between  Wear  River  and  Swift  River, 
near  Brookfield,  humbly  Sheweth  :  Tliat  your  Petitioners  are  settled  on  a  tract  of 
laud  bounded,  beginning  at  the  Southwest  Corner  of  the  ten  thousand  acres  of 
Eijuivalent  land  at  Swift  River,  thence  running  due  east  to  Brookfield  Bounds, 
thence  on  Brookfield  to  Ware  River,  thence  on  Ware  River  to  Hardwick,  thence 
on  Hardwick  to  the  ten  thousand  acres  of  Equivalent  lands  aforesaid,  and  thence 
on  the  Bounds  of  the  said  ten  thousand  acres,  including  the  same  unto  the  first- 
mentioned  Boundiugs.  Thoy  dwell  at  a  great  distance  frum  any  place  of  public 
worship,  most  of  them  six  or  seven  miles,  and  therefore  cannut  enjuy  that  privi- 
lege in  their  present  condition,  but  as  their  Hearts  are  sincerely  desirous  of  the 
Public  Worship  of  God,  they  pereuade  themselves  they  shall  be  able  chearfnily 
to  bear  the  Charge  that  will  attend  it.  But  as  some  of  them  belong  to  the  town 
at  the  Elbows,  some  to  Brookfield,  and  the  rest  of  them  live  on  faimsot  the 
Province  Grants,  they  cannot  properly  and  hiwfully  Proceed  to  erect  and  main- 
tiun  the  Puldic  Woreliip  of  God  among  tliem  withnut  the  aid  of  this  Court,  and 
therefore  Pray  this  honorable  Court,  by  a  suitable  Committee  of  this  Court,  to 
inquire  into  their  state  and  circumstances,  and  make  them  a  separate  and  <listinct 
Township  or  Parish,  and  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  hound,  shall  ever  pray,  vtc. 

"John  RK.^n,  for  the  petitioners, 
"Jabez  Olmstead.  Pail  TmnsTON.  Joseph  Marks,  Sen. 

Jerm.  Olmstead.  Edm'd.  Ayues.  Joseph  Mabks. 

Israel  Olmstead.  Isaac  Maooon,  Ji'n.  Joseph  Brooks. 

Jacob  Cvmshngs,  Jun.  Wm.  PArrERSON.  Benj'.  Shiple. 

Nahim  Davis.  Joseph  Siuons.  John  Anderson. 

James  Cimmings.  Job  Cobley.  Tho's.  Chapin. 

Jos.  Marsh.  Sam'l  Marsh.  Daniel  Thurston. 

Rich'd  Rogers.  Jtuah  Marsh.  Isaac  Magoon. 

Jacob  Cummings.  Eimi'si.  Marsh.  John  Post. 

Sam'l  Allen.  Thomas  Marsh.  Sasi'l.  Davis. 

"  In  tlie  House  of  Representatives,  June  2, 1742.  Read  and  ordered  that  Capt. 
Partridge  and  Capt.  Convei-se,  with  such  ;ia  the  honorable  Board  Shall  joine,  be 
a  Committee  to  view  the  State  and  Circumstances  of  the  Petitionere.  They 
giving  seasonable  Notice  to  the  Inhabitants  or  Proprietors  of  Brookfield  and  the 


Elbows  (so  called),  and  the  Inhal  litants  of  Western,  who  may  be  affected  thereby, 
that  they  may  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  said  Coniunttee  if  they  see  Cause. 
The  Committee  to  report  as  soon  as  may  be  what  they  judge  proper  for  the 
Cmiit  to  do  in  answer  to  this  Petition.  Sent  up  for  concurrence.  T.  Gushing, 
Spk'r.  In  Council  June  8, 1742.  Read  and  Concurred,  and  Joseph  Wilder,  Esq., 
is  jidned  in  the  affair. 

"J.  WiLLARD,  Sect. 
"Consented  to,  W.  Shirley. 
"Copy  examined  by  J.  Willard,  Sect. 

"  The  Committee  appointed  on  the  Petition  of  Thomas  Marsh  and  othei-s,  living 
near  Ware  River,  in  the  County  of  Hampshire,  have  attended  on  said  service, 
been  upon  the  Spot,  viewed  the  Lands  Prayed  for  to  be  erected  into  a  township, 
inquired  into  the  Circumstances  of  the  petitioners,  and  heard  the  objections  of 
some  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Kingstown,*  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  Petitioners 
at  present  are  not  suflicient  in  order  to  erect  a  Town,  with  privileges,  &c.  But 
inasmuch  as  they  Live  at  a  weary  great  distance  from  any  place  of  public  wor- 
ship, and  meet  with  great  difficulty  thereby,  we  are  further  of  opinion  that  the 
Petitioners  living  Northward  of  a  Line  Run  due  eastf  from  tlie  Southwest  Corner 
of  the  land  Belonging  to  Juhn  Read,  Esq.,  to  Western  Line,  be  freed  from  all 
Taxes  to  any  other  place  or  Town  duiing  the  Pleasure  of  the  General  Court,  so 
that  they  may  he  able  to  Provide  Preaching  among  themselves,  which  is  sub- 
mitted in  the  name  and  liy  order  of  the  Committee. 

"Dec.  4, 1742.  "Joseph  Wilder. 

"In  council  Read  and  ordered  that  this  Report  be  accepted,  and  als«j  that  the 
Lands  within  tlie  limits  al»ove  mentioned,  and  the  Inhabit;ints  thereon,  be  erected 
intu  u  Precinct,  and  that  the  said  Inhabitants  have  the  Powei-s  and  Piivileges 
which  other  Precincts  do,  or  by  Law  ought  to  enjoy,  and  that  they  be  and  hereby 
are  obliged  to  maintain  the  Public  worship  of  God  among  them  in  the  Suppoit 
of  a  learned  orthodox  mini:^ter.    Sent  down  for  Concurrence. 

"  J.  Will.\rd,  Sect. 
"  In  the  house  of  Representatives,  Dec.  7, 1742.    Read  and  C^uicurred. 

"  Attest,  Roland  Cotton,  Clerk,  Dom.  Rep. 
"  Consented  to,  W.  Shirley. 

"  Copy  examined  per  J.  Willard,  Sect. 
"  The  following  deed  from  Mr.  Read  will  show  that  he  tjok  some  iiiterest  in 
establishing  religious  institutions  here: 

"'To  all  People  to  whom  this  writing  shall  come,  I,  John  Read,  of  Boston,  in 
the  County  of  Suffolk,  Send  Greeting.  Know  Ye,  that  for  the  founding  and  In- 
dowment  of  a  Parish  Church  on  the  Ten  Thousand  acres  of  Equivalent  lands, 
lying  on  the  East  side  of  Swift  River,  upon  the  Road  from  Brookfield  to  Hadley, 
and  now  called  the  maunor  of  Peace,  I  do  hereby  give,  grant,  convey,  and  con- 
firm unto  Jabez  Olmstead,  Gent.,  and  Isaac  Blagoon,  Yeoman,  living  near  the 
said  niannor,  and  William  Blackmer,  John  Davis,  and  Benjamin  Lull,  of  the 
saiil  niannor,  Yeomen,  the  Sixth  lott  of  land  from  the  North  of  the  fourth  Tier 
o/Wo««  from  the  East  in  the  mannor  of  Peace,  Extending  South  on  a  four-rod 
highway  a  hundred  roil  wide,  and  from  thence  West  and  by  South  half  a  mile 
long.  Also,  part  of  tlie  fifth  lot  near  against  the  middle  of  tliat  extending  west 
and  by  south  on  the  Slain  road  twenty  rod  wide,  and  from  thence  North  twenty- 
fuur  rod  long,  with  the  appurtenances.  To  Have  and  to  Hold  the  Sixth  lot  and 
part  of  the  fifth  lot  afores;ud,  with  the  appurtenances  to  them,  the  said  Jabez 
Olmstead,  Isaac  Magoon,  William  Blackmer,  Juhn  Davis,  and  Benjamin  Lull, 
and  their  hell's  forever,  in  special  Trust  and  confidence  for  the  only  uses,  intents, 
and  punioses  hereafter  exprest,  viz.,  for  the  use  of  the  first  minister  of  God's 
Holy  word  and  Sacraments,  who  shall  be  freely  chosen  by  the  Inhabitants,  free- 
holders of  the  said  mannor,and  such  others  as  the  laws  of  the  Government  shall 
joyn  in  one  Parish  with  them,  or  by  the  major  part  of  them,  and  thereuiwu  be 
lawfully  Instituted  and  Ordained  to  that  holy  office  there,  and  such  his  successors 
forever,  in  pure  and  jH-rpetnal  .\lmes,  and  for  these  special  puriioses,  viz.,  the 
three  acres,  part  of  the  fifth  lot  aforesaid,  for  the  founding  and  continuance  of  a 
Parish  Church  and  Chiisiian  Burying-place  forever:  and  the  Sixth  lot  for  a  Glebe 
thereunto  annexed  for  the  improvement  of  such  Minister  and  his  Successors  at 
their  discretion  towards  their  maintenance  and  supjiort  forever.  In  witness 
whereof,  I  hereunto  i)ut  my  hand  and  seal  this  nineteenth  day  of  September, 
Anno  Dom.  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-eight. 
" '  Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  in  presence  of  l 
"  'Joseph  Avres,  Lemiel  Blackmer.  j 
" '  Hampshire,  8g.  At  an  Inferior  Court  of  Common  pleas,  held  at  Northampton 
by  aiijouniment  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  March,  Anno  Dom.  1757.  Thf  n  L<-muel 
Blackmer,  one  of  the  Witnesses  to  ye  within  written  Instrument,  appearing, 
made  solemn  Oath  tliat  he  saw  John  Read,  Esq.,  now  deceased,  in  his  litelime, 
sign, seal, and  Execate  the  within  instrument  as  his  act  and  deed;  that  he  signed 
as  a  Witness  to  the  same,  and  saw  Joseph  Ayres  sign  as  a  Witness  also,  at  ye 
same  lime. 

"'  Attest,  J.  Williams,  Clerk. 
'"Rec'd  March  24th,  17^7,  and  Recorded  from  the  Original. 
"'Edw'd  Pynchon,  Reg'r.' 
"  The  warniiit  fi>r  tlu-  fij"st  meeting  of  the  precinct  was  issued  Feb.  IS,  1742-43, 
by  William  Pynchon,  Esij.,  of  Springfield.    It  will  be  remembered  that  the  change 
from  the  old  style  to  the  new  was  not  recognized  in  this  country  until  17o2. 
Previous  to  wIul-Ii  the  year  commenced  on  the  2.')th  of  3Iarch,and  the  dates  upon 
our  records,  between  the  Ist  of  January  and  that  lime  are  double.     The  first 
meeting  was  March  lo,  1742-43,  at  the  house  of  Jabez  Olmsteml,  near  where  the 

*  Now  Palmer. ' 

f  The  south   line  of  the  Equivalent  ran  east  by  north.     The  bt.ip  between 
these  lines  was  called  "The  Garter." 


'  Jno.  Read,  and  Seal 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIKE  COUNTY. 


363 


Bank  now  is,  wliere  they  met  for  some  years.  Ja?ob  Ciininiing^s  w.-is  the  Moder- 
ator of  the  first  meeting,  and  he  with  Edward  Ayres  and  .Tnseph  Simons  were 
chiJsen  Precinct  Comnnttco,  John  Post,  clerk.  The  uhjec-t  of  this  meeting,  afii-r 
choosing  Precin.'t  officers,  was  to  rai-se  money  to  defray  the  ('X|iense.sof  the  actof 
incori>oratiou,  and  for  preaching  the  Gospel.'  It  was  voted  toraise  ten  pounds  and 
six  sliillings,  old  tenor,  to  jiay  the  charge  of  the  committee,  snrveyor,  and  chain- 
men,  and  to  raise  forty  pounds,  old  tenor,  to  hire  preaching  with.  In  conseqiience 
of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency  at  that  time,  two  shillings  and  eightpence, 
sterling,  was  the  value  of  twenty  shillings,  old  tenor." 

The  measures  adopted  by  the  precinct  for  the  establishment 
of  religious  worship,  or  for  the  regulation  of  pari.sh  affairs, 
are  considered  In  the  '^  Religious  History"  of  the  town. 

THE    FIRST    SETTLERS. 

"  Capt.  Jahez  Olnistead  is  supposed  to  have  come  from  Brookfield,  and  to  have 
made  the  firet  permanent  settlement  in  1729.  Of  his  former  liistury  l)ut  little 
can  l>e  learned.  He  nmst  have  been  a  man  of  property,  jis  he  i)aid  £4(H1  f(tr  the 
tract  he  purchased  here,  m  appears  hy  the  rleed.  He  is  descrilied  iu^  'of  IJrook- 
field,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire.'  AVhen  ttiat  town  was  incorporated,  in  1718, 
it  was  'agreed  the  said  town  to  lye  to  the  county  of  Hampshire,"  where  it  con- 
tinued to  belong  till  Worcester  county  was  establislied,  in  17:11.  Tradition  rep- 
resents Capt.  Olnistead  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  shrewdne.ss  ami  energy,  and 
that  Indian  blood  ran  in  his  veins.  He  was  a  mighty  hunter,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  an  officer  in  the  expedition  against  Louisbuurg,  upon  the  island  of  Cape 
Breton,  in  174'>.  The  following  anecdote  is  related  of  him.  On  the  return  of 
the  army  to  Boston  from  Louisbourg,  he  was  invited  with  the  officers  to  dine 
with  Governor  Shirley.  The  pudding  he  found  to  be  too  hot,  and  takiuf^it  from 
his  mouth,  and  laying  it  upon  the  side  of  his  plate,  he  .saiil  he  wuiiM  keep  it  to 
light  his  pipe  with. 

"  He  had  two  sons,  Israel  and  Jeremiah.  To  the  oldest  1(H)  acres  of  the  Elbow 
tract  was  granted,  adjoining  his  fami.  They  both  married  and  hail  children.  He 
had  one  daughter,  Hannah,  who  manied  Judah  Marsh.  He  does  not  appear  to 
have  taken  a  very  active  part  in  town  affairs. 

"John  Post,  the  first  precinct  clerk,  was  a  relative  of  Olmstead,  and  lived  upon 
the  Lothrop  farm,  which  was  part  of  Olmstead's  purchase.  His  wife's  death  is 
recorded  March  21),  174o. 

"  Isaac  Magoon  came  from  Iieland  with  the  colony  that  settled  in  rainier  in 
1727.  The  farm  allotted  to  him  by  the  committee  of  the  legislature  was  at  tlui 
southeast  corner  of  the  Read  Manor.  He  liuilt  where  Christopher  Boyle  now 
lives.  Isaac,  Jr.,  lived  where  Josephus  Lamberton  now  lives.  They  owned  a 
large  tract — about  700  acres — in  tlie  strip  of  land  between  the  south  line  of  the 
manor  and  the  south  line  of  tlie  town,  Isaac  Magoon,  Jr.,  afterward  bought  of 
Capt.  Olmstead's  heirs  the  mills  and  the  tract  of  land  in  the  village,  about  (500 
acres.  He  had  two  sons,  Alexander,  who  lived  at  the  mills,  and  Isaac,  who  lived 
where  Christopher  Boyle  now  lives.  Isaac  married  Lucretia,  daught^a'  of  Jolin 
Downing,  and  had  thirteen  children.  One  son,  Dr.  Isaac  Magoon,  went  to  Mich- 
igan. One  daughter  married  Eliphalet  Marsh.  Allen  Grover's  fii-st  wife  was 
another  daughter.  Alexander  had  two  sons,  Isaac,  who  died  on  the  Red  River, 
September,  1808,  and  Alexander,  who  died  in  Salem,  N.  Y.  Isaac's  son  James 
married  Meliitabel  Ellis,  a  daughter  of  Elenezer  Gould,  in  1810.  There  are  no 
descendants  left  in  town  of  a  family  as  numerous  as  any  other,  i>robably,  one 
hundred  years  ago,  and  possessing  about  14'X)  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the  town. 

"  Jacob  Cummings  came  from  Killingly,  Conn.,  soon  after  the  first  settlements 
were  made,  and  was  the  most  prominent  man  in  t!ie  precinct  and  town  for  many 
yeare.  He  was  one  of  the  fii"st  deacons  in  the  church,  acted  as  moderator  of  the 
first  meeting  of  the  parish,  wjps  one  of  the  precinct  committee,  and  when  the 
town  was  incoi'porated  in  1762,  one  of  the  first  board  of  selectmen  and  town 
treasurer.  He  bought — probably  of  Stewart  Southgate — the  farm  now  owned  by 
Josiah  Beaman,  and  tlie  one  owned  by  his  great-great-grandson,  Joseph  A.  Cum- 
mings. He  had  five  sons,  Jacob,  Benjamin,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Solomon.  Jacob 
had  no  sons  that  lived  to  have  a  fannly.  Abraham's  daughter  Hannah  married 
Thomas  McClintock,  the  fulher  of  Benjamin  and  Levans  McCUiitock.  Jerusha, 
another  daughter,  manied  Thonnis  Biuun,  in  1780. 

"  Benjamin  had  three  sons,  Daniel,  Simeon,  and  Joseph.  Daniel  died  young. 
Simeon  had  two  sons,  Simeon  and  Nichols ;  the  latter  went  into  the  SUito  of  New 
York.  Simeon  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  Lewis  G.,  William,  Simeon,  and 
Nichols,  and  the  wife  of  Daniel  Dunbar  (2d). 

"  Joseph  manied  Temperance  Nye,  in  1775;  had  seven  sons  and  four  daughters. 
One  son  died  young.  Benjannn  lived  in  Noith  Brookfield.  Simoi)n  died  in  town. 
Bniddish  lives  in  lUiuois,  and  Estes  in  W'orcester.  Jacob  Cummings  died  Feb. 
27, 1770,  aged  eighty-three.  His  ifosterity  still  live  in  the  town.  Benjamin,  his 
son,  died  Dec.  1-t,  1>0j,  aged  eighty-seven.  Joseph,  son  of  Benjamin,  died  June 
30, 1820,  aged  seventy-three. 

John  Davis  came,  sis  is  supposed,  from  Oxford,  before  1750,  and  settled  where 
Samuel  M.  Lemmon  afterward  lived.  He  was  chosen  deacon  when  the  church 
was  fomied  in  17ol,  and  was  one  of  the  firet  board  of  selectmen.  He  had  four 
sous,  Nathan,  David,  Josiah,  and  Abijah.  Nathan  married  a  daughter  of  Jona- 
than Rogers,  who  kept  a  tavern  where  Robeit  Tucker  now  lives.  He  had  sons, 
Nathan,  Elihu,  Enos  the  deacon,  Pliny,  Rodney,  and  Leonard. 

"Enos  married  Submit  Bush,  daughter  of  S^.domon  Bush,  in  1797,  and  had 
sons,  Rev.  Emerson  Davis,  of  Westfield,  and  SLdnmon  B. 

*'  William  Brakeni  idge,  who  was  tlie  prominent  man  here  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  one  of  the  first  board  of  selectmen,  and  the  first  representative  to  the 
Provincial  Congress,  and  town  clerk  for  eighteen  years,  came  to  this  country 
from  Ireland,  in  1727,  when  four  years  of  age,  with  his  father  James,  a  native  of 
Scotland,  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Elbow  tract.     There  is  in  the 


Brakenridge  family  an  ancient  manuscript  music-book,  upon  the  fly-leaf  of 
which  is  written,  ^Mr.  Jacobus  BreakenrUlife,  llii*  Music  Book,  mttde  and  tmnjhl  per 
me,  Ilnbt.  Cairnen^  at  Gleiirearoll,  ^V;)^  l71o.'  Besides  the  scale  and  rudiments  of 
music,  it  coutains  the  date  of  his  marriage,  1720,  and  the  births  of  his  children, 
giving  the  day,  the  hour,  and  the  time  in  the  moon,  with  other  memoranda.  On 
one  page  is  written,  '  We  departed  from  Ireland,  Jidij  IG,  1727,  and  nnj  chill  died  on 
the  19/ft  of  AiigJ'  Another  son  was  liorn  in  Novemlier  following,  to  whom  the 
same  name  was  given.  His  sons  were  James,  wlio  settled  in  Ware,  afterward 
removed  to  Bennington,  Vt.,  and  went  as  minister  to  England;  William,  horn 
Sept.  19, 1723,  who  settled  in  Ware  in  174G;  Francis  and  George,  who  remained 
in  Palmer. 

"William  married  Agnes  Sinclair,  who  came  with  her  parents  in  flie  same 
vessel  with  him  from  Ireland,  and  liad  four  sons,  William,  James,  George,  and 
Francis.  He  took  up  about  lOOO  acres  of  land  on  the  north  part  of  the  Elbow 
grant,  built  a  house  in  the  centre,  where  Francis  Homer  Brakenridge  now  lives, 
and  planted  his  four  sons  around  liiiii.  His  education  was  imperfect,  hut  his  na- 
tive good  sense  and  sound  judgment  gave  Idm  a  leading  influence  in  the  town. 

"  William  manied  Thankful,  a  liaugiiter  of  Judah  Marsh  ;  had  two  sons,  Wil- 
liam Sinclair,  who  is  dead,  and  Judah  Slarsh,  whose  son,  Josepli  C,  now  lives 
where  his  father  did. 

"  James  manied  a  daughter  of  William  Coney,  and  had  four  sons,  James,  who 
is  dead;  All ender,  Reuben  Moss,  and  William,  all  deceased.  William's  son, 
Jaines,  still  lives  in  town. 

"  George  manied  Persis  Joslyn,  of  New  Braintree,  and  had  six  sons. 
"  Francis  married  Lydia  Pepper,  and  had  one  son,  Francis,  who  is  dead.     His 
son,  Francis  Homer,  is  now  living  in  town. 

"  William  Brakenridge  died  Feb.  10, 18(t7,  aged  eighty-four. 
"Judah  Marsh  came  from  Hatfield  or  Hadley,  in  1730,  and  settled  near  the 
mills  built  by  him,  and  afterward  known  as  Mai-sh's  Blills.  Thomas,  Ephraim, 
Samuel,  and  Joseph,  who  were  in  town  in  1742,  were  probably  his  brothers.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Jabez  Olmstead,  and  had  sons,  Elijah,  Joel,  Thomas, 
Jonathan,  Judah,  and  a  second  Joel. 

"Thomas  !iad  four  sons,  none  of  whom  are  in  town.  Jonathan  had  four  sons, 
among  whom  were  Jjicob  and  Foster.  Jacob's  son,  John  P.,  living  here.  Dwight 
Foster,  living  here,  son  of  Foster.  Judah  had  five  sons.  James  Sullivan  is  now 
living  in  town.  Joel's  son,  Joel  S.,  is  now  living  in  Springfield.  Judah  Marsh 
lUed  May  7.  1801,  aged  eighty-nine. 

"Samuel  Shenuan,  one  of  the  first  board  of  selectmen,  came  from  Rochester, 
and  settled  at  first  upon  the  farm  now  owned  by  Anson  Biussett;  he  afterward 
lived  south  of  Asa  Brak  en  ridge's.  He  married,  for  a  second  wife,  Jerusha  Davis, 
by  whom  he  inherited  the  farm  now  owned  by  Samuel  Morse.  He  had  by  his 
first  wife  two  sons,  Thomas  and  Prince,  and  by  his  second,  Reuben,  Samuel,  and 
Ebenezer.    Reuben  is  dead,  but  has  a  grandson,  Thomas  F.,  living  in  town. 

"  Ebenezer  died  in  Ohio ;  had  two  daughters,  who  became  the  wives  of  Down- 
ing Gould  and  Edward  Pope, 
"  Sanmel  Sherman  died  Feb.  5,  ISll,  aged  eighty-eight. 

"Deacon  Thomas  Jenkins  lived  where  Charles  Howe  now  lives.  He  was  a 
deacon  indeed  it  seems,  for  the  mild  and  serious  rebuke  he  gave  to  the  son  of  a 
neighbor  who  incautiously  said  '  /  coir,'  in  his  presence,  was  never  forgotten. 
He  was  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Provincial  Congress  with  Capt.  Brakenridge. 
He  has  no  descendants  in  town. 

"  Deacon  Maverick  Smith  lived  where  Andrew  Harwood  now  lives.  He  has 
no  descendants  in  town. 

"Joseph  Foster  lived  between  the  village  and  Joseph  A.  Cummings'.  He  had 
a  family  of  eight  children,  and  was  a  man  of  character  and  influence,  and  one 
of  the  fii-st  delegates  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  in  1775.  No  descendants  of  bis 
live  in  town. 

"  Samuel  Dnnsmore  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  settled  where  Edwin  Barlow 
now  lives.  His  daughter  Miriam  manied  James  Lamberton,  and  was  the 
mother  of  Samuel  D.  Lamberton,  of  Brookfield,  and  of  Rufus  Thrasher's  wife, 
both  of  whom  are  dead. 

"James  Lemtnon  came  from  Ireland  when  four  years  of  age,  and  settled  on 
the  farm  afterward  owned  by  his  grandson,  Sanmel  Lemmon,  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  town.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of  James  Brakenridge,  who  settled 
in  Palmer.  His  son  James  lived  where  Miriam  Lemmon  afterward  resided. 
He  was  the  only  Irishman,  it  seems,  that  settled  upon  the  manor.  They  usually 
sought  the  low  meadow-lands. 

"John  Downing  came  from  Springfield,  btnight  of  Timothy  Brown  in  1752, 
and  kept  a  tavern  on  the  old  road,  west  of  Muddy  brook,  on  land  now  owned  by 
Wallace  C.  Sheldon.  He  had  one  son  who  was  drowned  June  10, 1771,  while 
attempting  to  rescue  Reuben  Davis,  who  was  also  drowned.  One  daughter  mar- 
ried Isaac  Magoon,  another  David  Gould. 

"Deacon  Daniel  GouM  came  from  Sharon  in  1773,  and  settled  on  the  Miner 
&  Yale  farai.  He  was  the  first  representative  elected  under  the  Constitution,  and 
had  much  to  do  with  town  business.  He  had  sons,  Daniel,  Lewis,  Aaron,  and 
Seth.     He  died  July  10,  1834. 

"  David  and  Ebenezer,  his  brothers,  came  soon  after.  David  manied  Lovisa, 
daughter  of  John  Downing,  in  1780,  and  lived  near  where  Joseph  A.  Cummings 
now  lives.  He  has  grandsons,  George,  John,  and  James,  now  living  in  town. 
His  daughtei-s  became  the  wives  of  Thomas  Sherman,  Joel  Rice,  and  William 
S.  Brakenridge.     He  died  August  22,  1817,  aged  sixty-seven. 

"Ebenezer  Gould,  married  Mille,  daughter  of  William  Coney,  in  1782,  and 
had  sons,  Leonard,  who  is  dead,  and  Ebenezer,  who  lives  in  Illinois.  Wm.  O 
Gould,  his  son,  is  the  only  descendant  of  the  family  in  town. 

"  Deacon  William  Paige  came  from  Hardwick  in  1777,  and  lived  where  Ste- 
phen Bonney  now  lives,  formeriy  occupied  by  Rev.  Ezra  Thayer.  He  had  a  son 
William,  who  died  without  issue,  and  eight  daughters.    One  married  Dr.  Rnfua 


364 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


King;  one  Benjamin  Cummings ;  one  Simeon  Cummings;  and  one  Azel  "Wash- 
Imrn.     Ho  died  June  23,  1826. 

"  Phille  Blorse  came  fi'om  Sharon  Boon  after  the  town  was  incorporated.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  William  Coney,  and  lived  upon  the  farm  now  owned  by 
his  grandson  Samuel.  Another  son,  Braddish,  died  young.  A  daughter  mar- 
ried Prince  Andrews ;  one,  Calvin  Ward  ;*  and  the  youngest,  David  Lewis. 

"  William  Coney  came  from  Sharon  during  the  Revolution,  and  built  his  habi- 
tation among  the  rocks,  as  coneys  are  wont  to  do,  and  where  his  grandson,  Thos. 
A.,  now  lives.  It  was  then  in  Brookfleld ;  being  colliers,  they  seem  to  have 
sought  the  wood  rather  than  the  laud.  His  sou,  Capt.  Oliver  Cjney,  came  earlier, 
and  owned  tlie  farm  where  the  widow  of  George  Rich  now  lives.  He  died  Dec. 
13,  1830,  aged  eighty-one. 

"  Jeremiah  Anderson  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  came  here  soon  after  the 
Precinct  was  established,  lived  where  Ebenezer  Barlow  afterward  lived,  in  the 
N.  E.  corner  of  the  town,  and  had  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His  son  William 
was  born  Aug.  18,  1749,  and  lived  near  the  centre  of  the  t<^wu. 

"William's  son,  Aniasa,  was  born  November  6,1776,  and  married  Thankful 
Brakenridge  in  1802.  Nathaniel  was  born  June  15,  1783,  and  married  Salome 
Snell,  in  1813,  l>oth  of  whom  have  descendants  living  in  town.  Samuel  D.  was 
another  son,  who  inherited  Samuel  Dunsmore's  farm  for  his  name. 

" Thom.os  Andrews  was  here  quite  early.  John  Aaron  and  Prince  were  his 
sons,  .and  have  descendants  in  town.  Aaron  married  Betsey,  daughter  of  Simeon 
Cummings.    Prince  married  Clarissa  Morse. 

"James  Lamberton  was  one  of  the  original  settlers  in  Palmer.  He  came 
from  Ireland,  and  lived  where  Charles  R.  Sliaw  afterward  did.  He  had  sons, 
John,  who  was  a  bachelor,  like  his  uncle  John  before  him,  James,  Seth,  and 
David.  James  m.arried  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Dunsmore  for  his  tirst  wife,  and 
lived  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  B.  McClintock.  He  afterward  lived  where 
Alfred  and  Gideon  do.  who  are  his  sons  by  a  second  wife. 

"Seth  married  Elizabeth  Eddy,  of  Brookiield,  and  lived  where  his  son  Jose- 
plius  recently  did. 

"  Dr.  Edward  Demond  came  here  from  Reading,  and  was,  probably,  the  first 
physii-ian  here.  The  record  of  the  births  of  his  children  begins  in  1735,  Iiut 
some  of  them  were  probably  Inirn  liefore  he  came  to  this  town.  He  lived  where 
Geo.  W.  Wetherell  recently  did,  and  h.ad  sons,  Edward,  Thomas,  Abraham,  and 
Stephen,  and  five  daughters.  A  daughter  married  Elijah,  son  of  Judah  Mai-sh, 
in  1759. 

"William  Bowdoin,  Esq.,  came  here  in  infancy,  about  1762.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  been  a  natural  son  of  a  brother  of  Governor  Bowdoin,  whose  name  he 
bore.  He  was  raised  in  the  family  of  Solomon  Bush,  near  Marsh's  Mills,  re- 
ceived his  education  in  the  common  schools,  and,  having  a  taste  for  reatUng  and 
a  tact  for  business,  he  acquired  a  character  and  influence  no  other  man  ever 
gained  in  this  town.  He  was  chosen  town  clerk  in  1789,  and  held  the  othce  for 
twenty-two  years  in  succession.  He  was  again  elected  in  1830,  and  held  the 
office  until  his  death,  Sept.  2;i,  1831.  He  represented  the  town  eleven  years  in 
the  Legislature,  being  the  only  one  chosen  from  1795  to  1812,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  for  revising  the  eonslitution  in  1820.  In  1801  he  was  elected 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  antl  did  most  of  the  business  of  that  nature  in  this  town 
for  nearly  thirty  years.  Ho  wrote  a  very  plain,  legible  hand,  and  the  perfect 
state  of  the  town  records  is  owing  very  much  to  his  care.  He  transcribed  the 
records  of  the  births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  by  vote  of  the  town,  in  1789, 
which  are  very  complete  of  some  of  the  earlier  families.  He  was  twice  married, 
and  had  fourteen  chiMren.  His  son,  Hon.  William  Bowdoin,  of  South  Hadley, 
became  a  member  of  the  Senate  from  Hampshire  County;  James  w.as  a  repre- 
sentative from  New  Braintree;  John,  from  Ware;  and  Walter  H.,  from  Spring- 
fiel>l. 

"  Jahez  E.  Bowdoin,  a  grandson,  lives  in  town,  and  is  the  only  descendant  here." 

TAVERNS. 

It  is  probable  thiit  houses  of  public  resort  have  been  kept  in 
the  town  since  the  earliest  time. 

The  first  regular  tavern  was  kept  by  John  Downing,  on  the 
old  road  west  of  Muddy  Brook,  on  land  now  owned  by  Wallace 
C.  Sheldon,  as  early  as  the  year  17o2.  The  first  tavern  kept 
in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town  was  by  Timothy  Babcock, 
about  the  year  1815.  Another  was  kept  near  the  same  period 
at  AVare  Centre.  In  1814,  Alpheus  Demond  built  the  "old 
yellow  tavern-house,"  next  to  Dr.  Yale's  drug-store,  and  it 
was  kept  as  a  public-house  for  many  years.  The  Ware  Hotel 
was  built  in  1825,  and  was  a  handsome  structure  for  the 
period.  It  was  kept  for  many  years  by  various  proprietors, 
and  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  December,  1864. 

The  Hampshire  House  was  erected  by  Capt.  Joseph  Hart- 
well,  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Kebellion.  It  was  first 
kept  by  Sawyer  &  Rodman,  followed  by  P.  C.  Sawyer,  George 
Osgood,  Mills  &  Crosby,  Mills  &  Barber,  then  the  latter  alono, 
and  since  April  1,  1872,  by  Keubcn  Snow. 

The  Delavan  House,  standing  on  the  site  of  the  Ware  Ho- 
tel, has  been  kept  by  a  number  of  persons.  The  present 
proprietor  is  E.  N.  Adams. 

*  Calvin  Ward  died  a  few  years  ago  in  St.  Charles,  Illinois. 


STOKES. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  traded  at  the  towns  of  New 
Braintree  and  West  Brookfield  for  a  long  time,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  regular  home  enterprises  of  a  mercantile  charac- 
ter was  of  a  comparatively  recent  date.  Small  stores  were  first 
kept  in  the  West  Parish  by  different  persons.  Lot  Dean  prob- 
ably had  the  first,  about  a  mile  west  of  the  present  village, 
prior  to  the  year  1820.  Eli  Snow  had  one  about  the  same 
period,  near  the  church,  at  Ware  Centre. 

The  principal  stores  of  the  town  were  established  after  the 
growth  of  Ware  village  began,  in  the  year  1824.  The  first 
was  kept  by  the  Ware  Manufacturing  Company.  It  stood 
on  the  corner  near  Dr.  Miner's  drug-store.  The  same  com- 
pany built  a  brick  store,  now  occupied  by  the  counting-room 
of  the  Otis  Company,  and  kept  it  as  a  store  and  counting-room 
for  a  long  time.  The  first  post-oflice  was  also  kept  there. 
Joel  Kice  &  Co.  succeeded  in  the  proprietorship  of  this  store, 
and  George  W.  Porter  became  the  proprietor  of  the  one  first 
erected.  Mays  &  Freeman  had  a  store  about  the  same  time, 
where  Calvin  Hitchcock  now  trades. 

Some  time  after,  Azon  Maynor  erected  a  store  where  Dr. 
Miner's  drug-store  is,  and  John  L.  Gallond  traded  soon  after 
where  Dr.  Yale  now  has  a  drug-store. 

There  are  now  twenty  stores  in  W^are  village,  besides  two 
drug-stores.  Most  of  these  have  sprung  up  since  1839,  at 
which  date  the  south  side  of  Main  Street,  now  occupied  by  a 
row  of  stores,  was  an  open  common.  Those  who  have  been 
longest  in  trade  are  Addison  Sandford,  since  1844,  and  Calvin 
Hitchcock,  who  came  in  the  spring  of  18.58.  They  have  also 
been  the  largest  dealers  in  town.  Joseph  E.  Lawton  has  been 
in  the  clothing  trade  for  upward  of  twenty  years. 

PHYSICIANS. 

There  have  been  a  large  number  of  physicians  who  prac- 
ticed in  Ware.  Dr.  Edward  Demond  is  mentioned  in  the 
town-records  in  IVOO,  and  Shubal  Winslow  in  177G.  Dr.  Bil- 
lings practiced  in  1779.  Dr.  Elias  Bolton  came  from  Mendon 
about  1780.  After  him  was  Dr.  Walker,  who  came  from 
Windham,  Scotland  Parish,  Conn.  He  lived  near  the  old 
Durant  place,  and  remained  about  six  years.  Dr.  Lethridge 
is  mentioned  in  the  town-records  in  1785,  and  Dr.  Howe  the 
year  following.  Dr.  Rufus  King  came  from  Brookfleld  in 
1789,  and  practiced  for  a  great  many  years,  dying  in  the  town 
at  an  advanced  age.     His  son  Jonathan  still  lives  in  town. 

Drs.  Horace  Goodrich  and  Anson  Mood\',  natives  of  South 
Hadley  and  college  classmates,  both  settled  about  1826, 
and  engaged  in  prai^tice  at  first  in  partnership.  Dr.  Moody 
removed  to  North  Haven  afterward,  and  died  there.  Dr. 
Goodrich  remained  until  about  1853,  when  he  removed  to 
East  Windsor,  Conn. 

In  1843,  Dr.  EbenezerC.  Richardson  came  from  Watertown, 
where  his  father  was  a  physician,  and  established  himself  in 
Ware,  and  is  now  the  oldest  physician  in  the  town. 

Dr.  David  W.  Miner  studied  with  Dr.  T.  H.  Brown,  of 
Wortbington,  and  Drs.  J.  M.  Brewster  and  H.  H.  Child,  of 
Pittsficld,  and  located  in  Ware  in  the  year  1845.  He  prac- 
ticed for  a  number  of  years  with  Dr.  Goodrich,  then  succeeded 
him,  and  has  been  in  regular  practice  since. 

Dr.  John  Yale  studied  with  Dr.  Goodrich,  and  engaged  in 
practice  at  New  Hartford,  his  native  place.  He  returned  in 
1846,  and  has  been  regularly  in  practice  since. 

LAWYERS. 

The  first  lawyer  of  note  in  Ware  was  Homer  Bartlett,  who 
came  from  Willianistown  in  1825,  and  remained  until  1832, 
being  also  cashier  of  the  bank.  In  1832  he  became  the  agent 
of  the  Hampshire  Manufacturing  Company,  and  continued 
for  a  number  of  years.  In  1841  he  removed  to  Lowell,  and 
passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  Boston,  where  he  died 
recently  at  an  advanced  age. 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY". 


365 


Henry  Starkweather  came  from  Williamstown  about  1828, 
and  studied  with  his  brother-in-htw,  Homer  Bartlett.  After 
his  admission  he  practiced  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Bartlett, 
and  was  also  cashier  of  the  bank.  He  removed  to  New  York 
in  1834. 

Hon.  Reuben  A.  Chapman*  removed  from  Monson  to  "Ware 
in  1832,  and  after  two  years  formed  a  copartnership  with  Hon. 
George  Ashniun,  of  Springfield,  in  1834,  and  removed  to  that 
city. 

In  1831,  Barlow  Freeman  settled  in  Ware,  and  remained 
until  183.5,  when  he  removed  to  Jacksonville,  111.,  and  soon 
after  died  there. 

Francis  P.  Stebbins  came  from  Brimiield  in  1835,  practiced 
about  two  years,  and  removed  to  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
died  in  1845. 

Samuel  T.  Spaulding  came  in  1846,  and  after  practicing  for 
a  number  of  years  removed  in  the  year  18-58  to  Northampton. 
He  was  judge  of  Probate,  and  died  recently  while  an  incum- 
bent of  that  office. 

Arthur  L.  Dcvens,  brother  of  the  United  States  Attorney- 
General  Chas.  Devens,  came  from  Northfield  in  1846,  and  en- 
gaged in  practice  in  Ware.  He  subsequentlj'  became  agent 
for  the  Otis  Company,  and  served  in  that  capacity  from  1852 
to  18-59.     He  closed  his  life  in  the  city  of  Boston. 

W.  S.  B.  Hopkins  came  from  Northampton  about  1860,  and 
engaged  in  practice  in  Ware.  He  served  in  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  as  colonel,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  practiced  law 
first  at  Greenfield,  and  since  at  Worcester.! 

William  P.  Strickland  came  from  Sandisfield  about  1862, 
and  removed  to  Northampton  in  1865.  He  is  now  clerk  of 
courts  of  Hampshire  County. 

The  only  attorneys  now  in  practice  in  Ware  are  Franklin 
D.  Richards,  who  came  from  Belchertown  about  1862,  and 
Henry  C.  Pavis,  a  native  of  the  town,  who  has  been  in  prac- 
tice for  a  number  of  years. 

STAGE-ROUTES,  ROADS,  BRIDGES,  AND   POST-OFFICES. 

When  stages  first  passed  through  Ware  from  Brookfield  to 
Northampton  they  passed  along  the  southern  border  of  the 
town,  crossing  the  river  near  Gideon  Lamberton's. 

"No  roads  appear  to  have  been  laid  out  previous  to  tlie  ineoritoratiim  of  tiie 
town.  Tlie  iuhahitjints  made  use  of  such  as  nature  had  provided,  wittl  very 
sniall  improvements.  It  appears  tluat  the  road  from  Brookfield  to  Ila^Iley  passed 
through  this  town  over  the  summit  of  Coy's  liill  (a  liigh  bridge  between  this 
town  and  Brookfield  and  Warren),  down  by  the  Coneys,  and  crossed  the  river  at 
the  old  bridge  place,  nearly  a  mile  above  the  village,  passing  down  the  west  side 
of  the  pond  near  the  village,  crossing  Muddy  Brook  at  the  present  bridge  between 
the  parishes,  then  by  the  old  Downing  place,  on  Wallace  C.  Sheldon's  land,  and 
nearly  by  the  present  road  to  tlie  Swift  River  bridge,  and  the  old  Babcock  tavern. 
This  was  probably  used  in  IGGO,  when  the  firet  settlements  were  made  at  IJrook- 
field." 

The  road  from  Swift  River  to  New  Braintreo  was  the  im- 
portant road,  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  town,  and 
over  the  hill  by  the  old  Durant  place,  crossing  Muddy  Brook 
at  the  present  bridge,  between  the  parishes,  and  passing  north 
of  the  Lothrop  farm.     A  portion  of  it  has  been  discontinued. 

The  first  bridge  across  the  river  in  the  village  was  nearly 
opposite  the  large  stone  factory.  Timbers  were  laid  across 
the  rocks  near  the  upper  stone  bridge  for  foot  passengers,  but 
no  permanent  bridge  was  erected  there  until  after  the  factories 
were  built.  At  that  time  the  only  road  to  Brookfield  was 
over  the  Coney  Hill.  It  cost  §20  per  ton  for  transportation 
of  goods  from  Boston,  and  it  was  a  hard  week's  work  for  a 
conveyance  to  go  and  return. 

rCST-OFFICES. 

The  first  post-office  was  established  in  1815,  at  the  house 
now  occupied  by  Daniel  Gritfin.  Timothy  Babcock  was  the 
first  postmaster.  In  1824  the  oifice  was  removed  to  the  vil- 
lage, and  Joseph  Cummings  was  appointed  postmaster.     He 


*  See  chapter  on  the  Biir. 

t  See  historj'  of  31st  Massachusetts  Infantry. 


was  succeeded  by  Joel  Rice  in  1832.  In  1840,  Lewis  Babcock 
was  appointed,  and  was  succeeded  by  Ansel  Phelps,  Jr.,  in 
1843.  Addison  Sandford  was  appointed  in  1845,  and  filled  the 
office  for  twenty-one  years.  John  W.  Cummings,  the  present 
incumbent,  was  appointed  Feb.  15,  1866. 

The  first  pound  was  built  in  1762;  was  of  stone,  round  in 
form,  three  rods  in  diameter,  and  stood  near  the  meeting-house. 
Joseph  Foster  built  it  at  a  cost  of  £3  10.5.  In  1747,  Isaac 
Magoon's  barn  served  as  a  pound.  The  second  pound  was 
erected  in  1788,  by  Abraham  Joslyn,  for  £5  10«.  ;  was  36  feet 
square,  and  stood  on  the  site  of  the  old  one. 

PROMINENT    MEN. 

Deacon  Joseph  Cummings  was  born  in  Ware,  March  5, 
1784,  and  always  occupied  the  farm  which  was  the  possession 
of  his  great-grandfather,  Jacob  Cummings,  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  the  town,  in  17-30-  Jacob  Cummings  was  the  most 
active  man  in  the  establishment  of  religious  worship,  the  erec- 
tion of  a  meeting-house,  and  the  organization  of  a  church, 
and  was  the  first  deacon  of  the  church  organized  m  1751.  Joseph 
Cummings,  with  only  the  advantages  of  the  common  schools, 
acquired  a  good  education,  and  was  employed  as  a  teacher  for 
many  years,  having  taught  seven  winters  in  New  Braintree, 
at  wages  much  above  the  ordinary  standard  of  those  days. 
He  was  a  skillful  surveyor,  and  for  many  years  did  the  most  of 
that  business  as  well  a?  that  of  conveyancing  in  the  town  and 
vicinity.  A  man  of  excellent  judgment,  and  modest  and 
winning  manners,  he  gained  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  was  always  the  man  for  counsel.  He 
represented  the  town  in  the  Legislatures  of  1816,  1817,  and 
1822,  and  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  1853.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate  in  1831  and  1832.  In  1835  he  was 
elected  a  commissioner  for  Hampshire  County,  and  held  that 
office  for  eighteen  years. 

When  quite  young  he  united  with  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  and  was  chosen  a  deacon  in  1815,  when  thirty  years 
of  age.  He  held  that  office  until  the  organization  of  the 
church  at  the  village,  in  1826,  when  he  was  elected  first  dea- 
con, and  stood  as  a  pillar  of  that  church  until  he  was  seventy. 
He  died  April  3,  1860,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six. 

Alpheus  Demond  was  born  in  Paxton,  Worcester  Co.,  Mass., 
Aug.  15,  1779.  In  early  life  he  was  a  successful  merchant  in 
Spencer.  In  April,  1813,  in  connection  with  Col.  Thomas 
Denny,  of  Leicester,  he  located  in  Ware,  and  began  the  manu- 
facturing enterprises  that  are  elsewhere  referred  to.  The  death 
of  his  partner.  Col.  Denny,  in  December,  1814,  and  the  close 
of  the  war  with  Great  Britain  arrested  their  manufacturing 
enterprise  for  a  time;  but  when  it  was  revived  by  other  parties 
in  1821,  Mr.  Demond  was  employed  to  superintend  much  of 
the  work,  and  was  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  place 
until  increase  of  years  compelled  him  to  retire  from  active 
business.  He  was  the  patriarch  of  the  village,  and  a  pioneer 
of  manufacturing  in  that  part  of  the  State.  He  filled  many 
town  offices  with  great  acceptance,  and  represented  the  town 
in  the  Legislatures  of  1826  and  1833. 

Soon  after  he  came  to  Ware  he  united  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  by  profession,  and 
became  one  of  its  active  and  efficient  members.  In  1826  he 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church,  and  was  an  active  and  earnest  member  until 
his  death,  Aug.  27,  1859,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  He  left  behind 
him  a  widow  and  seven  children. 

Hon.  Orrin  Sage  was  the  youngest  son  of  William  and 
Bathsheba  (Hollister)  Sage,  born  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  Jan. 
17,  1791.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  seven  mimths  old. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  went  into  the  family  of  an  older 
brother,  a  merchant  iji  Middletown,  and  obtained  his  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools  and  in  the  store  of  his  brother. 
In  1811  he  commenced  trade  in  the  town  of  Blandford,  Hamp- 
den Co.,  and  remained  there  until  1848.     He  represented  the 


366 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


town  of  Blandford  in  the  Legislatures  of  1831,  '32,  and  'U, 
and  was  Senator  from  Hampden  County  in  1836-37.  Mr. 
Sage  removed  to  Ware  in  1818,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  a  long,  honorable,  and  useful  life.  He  was  president  of 
the  bank,  and  held  the  office  until  it  became  a  national  insti- 
tution in  1865,  and  was  a  director  and  vice-president  until  his 
death.  He  united  with  the  Congregational  Church  in  Bland- 
ford  in  1822,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  erection  of  a  new 
church  building,  the  support  of  the  gospel,  and  in  various 
benevolent  objects.  When  he  left  Blandford  he  gave  a  fund 
of  §1000  to  the  church,  and  afterward  presented  them  a  par- 
sonage. He  also  presented  the  town  of  Ware  a  beautiful  lot 
of  25  acres  for  a  cemetery,  in  which  his  remains  now  rest. 
To  Williams  College  he  gave  a  scholarship  of  §1000,  and 
more  recently  endowed  the  professorship  of  history  and  politi- 
cal economy  with  a  fund  of  §30,000.  To  the  town  of  Osage, 
the  county-seat  of  Mitchell  Co.,  Iowa,  of  which  he  was  one 
of  the  founders,  and  which  was  named  for  him,  he  gave  nearly 
700  acres  of  land  to  establish  a  public  library,  and  erected  a 
handsome  brick  building  for  its  use.  His  other  donations  and 
charitable  enterprises  have  been  numerous. 

He  was  twice  married.  One  of  his  daughters  is  the  wife  of 
Hon.  William  Hyde,  President  of  the  Ware  National  Bank. 
Mr.  Sage  died  at  Ware,  June  23,  1875,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four.  By  his  last  will  he  made  the  following  bequests :  To 
the  Congregational  Society  of  Blandford,  Mass.,  for  minis- 
terial fund,  g.jOOO;  to  the  town  of  Ware  for  care  of  cemetery, 
§3000;  to  the  East  Congregational  Society  of  Ware,  for  par- 
sonage, §5000 ;  to  Foreign  Missions,  §10,000  ;  to  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,  §5000;  to  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  §.5000;  to  Hampton  Institute,  §1000;  to  Mount 
Holyoke  Female  Seminary,  §1000;  and  to  Williams  College, 
$20,000,  making  his  gifts  to  the  college  §51,000,  the  largest 
donor  it  has  had. 

Hon.  George  H.  Gilbert  came  from  North  Andover,  in  the 
year  18-11,  and  established  himself  in  the  manufacturing  busi- 
ness in  Ware,  the  particulars  of  which  are  elsewhere  noticed. 
His  business-life  was  remarkably  successful.  He  was  a  man  of 
strict  integrity,  self-reliance,  and  perseverance.  He  established 
the  now  flourishing  village  of  Gilbertville,  in  the  town  of 
Hardwick.  He  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  gave  liberally  and  without  ostentation  to  various 
benevolent  enterprises,  and  served  two  terms  in  the  State 
Senate,  acting  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  manufactures. 
He  died  May  6,  1869,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  leaving 
an  ample  fortune  and  a  flourishing  business. 

Hon.  Charles  A.  Stevens  came  to  Ware  from  North  An- 
dover, Mass.,  with  Mr.  Gilbert,  and  has  been  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacturing  business.  He  was  a  member  of 
Governor  Bullock's  council  in  1866  and  1867,  and  a  represen- 
tative in  the  National  Congress  in  1875,  being  elected  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term  of  Hon.  Alvah  Crocker,  of  Fitchburg. 

Joel  Kice  came  very  early  from  Spencer,  and  passed  his  life 
in  Ware — a  prominent  business-man,  and  enjoying  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people  to  a  remarkable  extent. 

Emerson  Davis,  D.D.,  was  a  sim  of  Deacon  Enos  Davis, 
and  a  native  of  Ware.  He  graduated  at  Williams  College  in 
1821,  was  a  teacher  in  Westfield  Academy,  a  tutor  in  Williams 
College,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Westfield  for  upward  of  thirty 
years,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Board 
of  Education.  He  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  from  Williams 
College,  and  was  a  trustee  and  vice-president  of  that  institu- 
tion for  many  years. 

Hon.  William  Bowdoin,1ate  of  South  Hadley,  was  a  native 
of  Ware,  and  a  son  of  Wm.  Bowdoin,  Esq.  He  practiced  the 
profession  of  the  law  for  many  years  in  South  Hadley,  and 
represented  the  county  of  Hampshire  in  the  State  Senate  in 
1840  and  1841.  The  honorary  degree  of  A.M.  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  Williams  College  in  1832. 

Hon.  James  Brakenridge  was  a  son  of  Wm.  Brakenridge, 


and  was  born  in  Ware.  He  afterward  removed  to  Benning- 
ton, Vt.,  and  went  as  minister  to  England.  His  grand-nephew, 
Wm.  S.  Brakenridge,  was  born  in  AVare,  and  has  served  two 
terms  in  the  State  Senate. 

Kev.  Loranus  Crowell,  also  a  native  of  the  town,  gradu- 
ated at  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  1840,  has  been  a  presiding  elder 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  is  now  preaching  at  Lynn, 
Mass. 

Other  men  of  prominence  have  been  Hon.  William  Hyde, 
the  president  of  the  Ware  National  Bank,  who,  besides  filling 
various  offices  of  responsibility  in  church  and  town,  served  in 
the  State  Senate  in  1851 ;  Hon.  Francis  De  Witt,  for  one 
year  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  Secretary  of  State 
for  two  years ;  and  Lewis  N.  Gilbert,  nephew  of  George  H. 
Gilbert,  who  has  served  two  years  in  the  State  Senate. 

CIVIL   OEQANIZATION. 

Ware  w-as  incorporated  as  a  town  Nov.  25,  1761.  The  first 
warrant  for  a  town-meeting  was  issued  by  Eleazar  Porter, 
Esq.,  of  Hadley,  Feb.  23,  1762,  and  the  meeting  held  March  9th. 
William  Brakenridge  was  chosen  clerk.  He  had  been  clerk 
of  the  precinct  from  1757,  and  held  the  office  until  1777. 
The  first  boaj-d  of  selectmen  were  Samuel  Sherman,  William 
Brakenridge,  John  Davis,  Jacob  Cummings,  and  Judah 
Marsh,  who  were  also  assessors;  Jacob  Cummings,  treas- 
urer. The  first  town-meetings  were  called  in  his  Majesty's 
name,  which  continued  till  1776.  Then  they  were  called  "in 
the  name  of  Massachusetts  and  the  people,"  or  "the  govern- 
ment and  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England," 
till  the  adoption  of  the  State  Constitution,  in  1780,  when  the 
present  style  was  adopted,  "in  the  name  of  the  commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts." 

The  town  derived  its  name  from  the  river  which  passes 
through  it,  which  bears  the  same  name  from  the  sources  to  its 
junction  with  the  Chicopee,  of  which  it  is  the  middle  and 
longest  branch.  It  abounded  with  fish,  the  falls  being  a 
famous  place  for  taking  salmon.  Weirs  or  wears  were  con- 
structed to  aid  in  taking  them,  and  hence  the  name  of  Wear 
River,  which  was  afterward  spelled  Ware. 

The  Indian  name  of  the  river,  "  Nenameseck,"  probably 
means  a  fishing-basket,  or  a  place  where  fish  were  taken  in 
baskets,  being  compounded  of  "  Nama,"  a  fish,  and  "  Man- 
seek,"  a  basket. 

The  following  persons  have  filled  the  principal  town  and 
precinct  offices  since  the  incorporation,  and  served  as  repre- 
sentatives from  Ware: 

COMMITTEE   OF   THE   PRECINCT. 

1743. — Jacob  Cummings,  Edward  Ayres,  and  Joseph  Simonds. 

1744. — Jabez  Ooistead,  Jacob  Ciimaiings,  Edward  Ayi-es. 

174.^. — Thomas  Marsh,  Jacob  Cunmiings,  "Wm.  Blackmcr. 

174(3. — Jacob  Cummings,  Samuel  Huggiiis,  Wm.  Blackmcr. 

1747. — Jacob  Cummings,  Judah  Marsh,  Moses  Allen. 

1749. — John  Djivis,  Jjicob  Cummings,  Joseph  Simonds. 

1750. — Jacob  Cummings,  Timothy  Brown,  Jolin  Davis,  Joseph  Scott,  and  Edward 

Demond. 
1751. — John  Davis,  John  Cummings,  Timothy  Brown,  Joseph  Soott,  and  Joseph 

Wright. 
1752. — Jacob  Cummings,  Bamiam  Lull,  Jndah  Marsh,  Samuel  Davis,  John  Davis. 
1753. — Wm.  Biacknier,  Wm.  Brakenridge,  John  Dowening. 
1754. — Jacob  Cummings,  Edward  Demond,  Israel  Omstcd. 
1755-50. — Samuel  S.  Hermon,  Wm.  Brakenridge,  Jacob  Cummings. 
17.57-58. — Wm.  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Shennan,  Jonathan  Rogers. 
1759. — Wm.  Brakenridge,  Edward  Ayres,  Joseph  Foster. 
17G0. — Jacob  Cummings,  John  Davis,  John  Downiug. 
1701. — Jacol'  Cummings,  Wm.  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Shennan. 

SELECTMEN. 
176*2. — Samuel    Sherman,   Wm.  Brakenridge,  John  Davis,  Jacoli  Cumnungs, 

Judah  Marsh. 
17G3. — Wm.  Brakenridge,  Jacob  Cummings,  John  Davis. 
1764. — Wm.  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Sherman,  John  Downing. 
1765.— Samue!  Sherman.  Maverick  Smith,  Isaac  Magoon. 
1766. — Wm.  Bell,  Isaac  Magoon,  Abraham  Cnnmiings. 
1768. — John  Downing,  Jonathan  Rogers,  Isaac  Cumming. 
1769. — Jonathan  Rogers,  Joseph  Foster,  Benjamin  Cummings. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


367 


I 


1770-71. — Benjaniin  Cumniings,  Samuel  Blackmer,  Samuel  Diusmore, 

1772.— Isaac  Magoon,  Samuel  Diusmore,  Abraham  Ciiiiimings. 

1773, — Samuel  Dinsniore,  Jusepli  Gray,  Joseph  Foster. 

1774. — Samuel  Dinsmore,  Benjamin  Cummings,  Joseph  Foster. 

1775, — Joseph  Foster,  Maverick  Smith,  Samuel  Diusmore,  James  Lamon,  Samuel 

Blackmer. 
1776, — Samuel  Diusmore,  Joseph  Foster,  Benjamin  Cummings,  John  Downing, 

James  Lamon. 
1777._Samuel  Dinsmore,  Joseph  Foster,  Maverick  Smith,  David  Brown,  Daniel 

GouM. 
177g. — Joseph  Patei-son,  Alexander  Magoon,  Oliver  Coney. 
1779, — Samuel  Dinsmore,  Oliver  Coney,  Alexander  Magoon,   Joseph   Foster, 

James  Lamon. 
1780. — Win.  Brakenridge,  Abraham  Cummings,  John  Bullen,  Thomas  Jenkins, 

Edmond  Capon. 
1781, — Capt.  Brakenridge,  Lieut.  Cummings,  John  Bullen,  Deacon  Jenkins,  Lieut. 

Tuflfs. 
1782. — Wm.Pai2;e,  Alexander  Magoon,  SethSliaw,  Jonathan  Fot^ter,  John  Bullen. 
1783,_Samuel  Dinsmore,  John  Adams,  Wm.  Page,  Jonathan  Foster,  Seth  Shaw. 
1784. — Samuel  Dinsmore,  Capt.  Brakenridge,  John  Adams,  Lieut.  Cummings, 

Wm.  Paige. 
1785, — Capt.  Brakenridge,  Lieut.  Quintin,  John  Adams,  Samuel  Dinsmore,  Isaac 

Pepper. 
1786. — Capt.  Brakenridge,  Moses  Brown,  Isaac  Pepper,  Simeon  Cummings,  Daniel 

Gould. 
1787, — Capt.  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Dinsmore,  John  Quintin,  Daniel  Gould,  Jacob 

Pepper. 
1788-89. — Capt.  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Dinsmore,  John   Quintin,  Daniel  Gould, 

Jacob  Pepper. 
1790.— Samuel  Dinsmore,  John  Quintin,  David  Brown,  Wm.  Brakenridge,  Wm. 

Paige. 
1701.— Samuel  Dinsmore,  John  Quintin,  David  Brown,  William  Paige,  William 

Anderson, 
1792. — Samuel  Dinsmore,  John  Quintin,  David  Brown,  George  Brakeni  idge,  Sim- 
eon Cummings. 
1793._David  Brown, Simeon  Cummings.  Judah  SlarsTi,  Isaac  Pepper,  Wm.  Paige. 
1794,_David  Brown,  Simeon  Cummings,  Isuuic  Pepper,  Judali  Marsh,  George 

Brakenridge. 
1795,_Simeon  Cummings,  Judah  Marsh,  Daniel  Gould,  Isaac   Pepper,  David 

Brown. 
1796.— Daniel  Gould,  Isaac  Pepper,  Thomas  Quintin,  Joseph  Cummings,  Jona- 

tlian  Marsh. 
1797._Isaac  Pepper,  Jonathan  Marsh,  George  Brakenridge,  Joseph  Cummings, 

Wm.  Paige, 
lYgg.—George  Thrasher,  Isaac  Magoon  (2d),  Joseph  Cummings,  Stephen  Pepper, 

James  Brakenridge. 
1799.^onathan  Marsh,  George  Thrasher,  Isaac  Magoon  (2d),  George  Braken- 
ridge, Seth  Lamberton. 
1800.— George  Brakenridge,  Isaac  Magoon  (2d),  Jarae^  Brakenridge,  Isaac  Pep- 
per. David  Bmwn. 
1801.— David  Brown,  Isaac  Magoon  (2d),  Francis  Brakenridge. 
1802.— Joseph  Cummings,  John  Andrews,  Francis  Brakenridge,  Samuel  Brown, 

John  Shaw. 
1803.— Getirge  Brakenridge,  John  Andrews,  Samuel   Brown,  John  Shaw  (2d), 
Ebenezer  Sherman.  ^ 


c-y^ 


1823. — "Warner  Brown,  Aaron  Gould,  William  S.  Brakenridge,  Horace  Goodrich, 

Leonard  Gould. 
1824. — Leonard  Gould,  Alpheus  Demond,  Warner  Brown,  William  S.  Braken- 
ridge, Horace  Goodrich. 
1825.— Alpheus  Demond,  Foster  Marsh,  Alexander  Brakenridge,  William  Paige, 

Jr.,  John  Pepper. 
1826. — Aaron  Gould,  Samuel  Gould,  Lee  Sprague. 
1827.— Stephen  Witherell,  Benjamin  Wilder,  William  Brakenridge. 
1S28.— Benjamin   Paige,  Alfred   Lamberton,  Thomas  Wilder,  Samuel   Phelps, 

I»arius  Eat^in,  Jr. 
1829.— William    Bowdoin,  Thomas  Wilder,  William  S.  Brakenridge,  Darius 

Eaton,  William  Lazell. 
1830.— Thomas  Wilder,  Thomas  Snell,  Jr.,  Joel  Rice,  Darius  Euton,  Reuben  La- 
zell. 
1S31.— Aaron  Gould,  Joel  Rice,  Thomas  Snell,  Jr.,  Royal  Bosworth,  Reuben  La- 
zell. 
1832.— Joseph  Cummings,  Thonuis  Snell,  Royal  Bosworth,  Alexander  Braken- 
ridge, Edmund  Freeman. 
1833. — Aaron  Gould,  Alpheus  Demond,  Alexander  Brakenridge,  Edmund  Free- 
man, Alfred  Lamberton. 
1834. — Foster  5Iarsh,  Aaron  Gould.  Jason  Gorham. 
183.5.— Jiison  Gorham,  Judah  M.  Brakenridge,  Enos  Davis. 
1830.— Joseph  Cummings,  Thomas  Snell.  Joel  Rice. 
lg37._Alexander  Brakenridge,  Wni.  Woolworth,  Ebenezer  Gould. 
1838.— Horace  Bartlett,  Jesse  B.  Wcthcrbee,  .\lpheus  Demond. 
1839. — Jesse  B.  Wetherbee,  Jason  Gorham,  Gideon  Lamberton. 
1840.— Joseph  Hartwell,  Avery  Clark,  John  Bowdoin. 
1841.— Levans  JlcClinbick,  Lewis  G.  Cummings,  Haskell  Cummings. 
1842.— Thomas  Snell,  Darius  E.aton,  Freeman  Pepper,  Jr. 
1843. — Freeman  Pepper,  Jr.,*  Franklin  Brakenridge,  John  Bowdoin. 
1)^44. — John  Bowdoin,  John  Tolman,  Darius  Eaton. 
1845. — Joseph  Eaton,  Thomas  Snell,  John  Gai-dner. 
1846. — Wm.  Hyde,  John  Gardner,  Joseph  Hartwell. 
1847.— Wm.  Hyde,  Chas.  .\.  Stevens,  Ebenezer  Gould. 
1848.— Wm.  Hyde,  Cbas.  A.  Stevens,  Seth  Gould. 
1840 —Seth  Pierce,  Elbridge  G.  White,  Lewis  Demond. 
1850.— Lewis  Demond,  Seth  Pierce,  Ambrose  Blair. 
1861. — Samuel  T.  Spabiing,  Robert  Tucker,  Hariison  French. 
1852.— Samuel  T.  Spabiing,  Robert  Tucker,  Addison  Sandford. 
1853.— .\ddison  Sandford,  Geo.  H.  Gilbert,  Haskell  Cummings. 
1854. — A.  Sandford,  Lorenzo  Demond,  Wm.  S.  Bassett. 
18,55. — Wm.  S.  Brakcnlidge,  Joseph  Hartwell,  Ward  Davis,  Jr. 
1856. — Charles  A.  Stevens,  Addison  Sandford,  Nathaniel  H.  Anderson. 
1857. — Otis  Lane,  Lorenzo  Demond,  N.  H.  Andereou. 
1858.— Otis  Lane,  Ambrose  Blair,  George  Ricli. 
1850. — Otis  Lane,  George  Rich,  Samuel  H.  Phelps. 
1860.- S.  n.  Phelps,  G.  H.  Gilbert,  Lucas  Gibbs. 
1861.- S.  H.  Phelps,  Lucas  Gibbs,  Wm.  A.  Boot. 
1802.- Otis  Lane,  W.  A.  Root,  J.  H.  Pepper. 
1863.- Otis  Lane,  John  H.  Pepper,  Darius  Eaton. 
1864.— Otis  Lane,  Wm.  E.  Biissett,  .^.ndrew  J.  Hanvood. 
1865.— Barnabas  Snow,  David  P.  Billings,  Otis  Lane. 
1S66.— Otis  Lane,  Chas.  A.  Stevens,  A.  J.  Harwood. 
1867.— Otis  Lane,  Charles  A.  Stevens,  Andrew  J.  Ilarwood. 

_1S£,8-TL tL  A  fii-" — -    *    »  " '  S.  H.  Phelps. 

.ert,  Olney  GofT. 
■iid,  Francis  Blair. 
^yy^    .      ;  J.  Tyler  Stevens. 

hon,  William  B.  Lawton. 
rson,  Patlick  McMahon, 
ihon,  Calvin  Hitchcock, 
er,  James  W.  Brakemidge. 


^       ^     ^"^ 

^^^j:^l 


i^^zr^^  7^  ^--^^-^  /^*7-  "^7^ 


1815.- 
1816.- 

1817.- 

1818.- 

1819.- 

1820.- 

1821 
1822. 


Morse. 
William  Bowdoin,  Thomas  Snell,  Thomas  Patlick,  Calvin  Morae,  Amasa 

Anderson. 
•Enos  Davis,  Jesse  Lewis,  Alpheus  Demond,  Calvin  Morse,  Thos.  Patrick. 
-Enos  Davis,  Alpheus  Demond,  Daniel  Gould,  Jr.,  Abuor  Lewis,  Amasa 

Anderson. 
-Benjamin  Paige,  Alpheus  Demonil,  Amasa  Anderson,  Abner  Lewis,  John 

Gardner. 
-Enos  Davis,  Richard  Lewis,  Aaron  Gould,  Joseph  Cummings,  Jr.,  Benja- 
min Paige. 
-Joseph  Cummings,  Jr.,  Aaron  Gould,  William  Coney,  Alpheus  Demond, 

William  Paige,  Jr. 
-William  Bowdoin,  John  Brakenridge,  Benjamin  Paige,  Foster  Marsh, 

Simeon  Cummings. 
.—Foster  Marsh,  John  Brakenridge,  Joel  Rice. 
.—Foster  Marsh,  John  Brakenridge,  Wiuner  Brown. 


TOWN   CLERKS. 

ings,  1744;  John  Davis,  1748;  Timothy 
iVilliam  Brakenridge,  1757;  Maverick 
12;  Abraham  Cummings,  1777;  David 
il  Brown,  1780;  William  Paige,  1787; 
1811 ;  Joel  Bice,  1825;  Leonard  Gonid, 
W ;  William  Bowdoin.f  1830 ;  Leonard 

uouiu.iooi;  ueorge  w.forter,lS32;  Jason  Gorham,  1837;  Lewis  Demond,  1839 ; 

Francis  De  Witt,  1S50;  William  H.  Willard,  1853;  E.  L.  Brainerd,  1855;  R.  L. 

Hathaway,  1856  (September  27th) ;  Stephen  B.  Witherell,  1858  (November  4th) ; 

Francis  De  Witt,  1801;  S.  B.  Witherell,  1803;  George  K.  Cutler,  1800 ;  Lewis  P. 

Edwards,  1868 ;  Hubert  JI.  Coney,  1872 ;  Aimer  F.  Richardson,  1870. 

REPRESENTATIVES   FROM    WARE. J 
William  Brakenridge,  Joseph  Foster,  and  Thomas  Jenkins  to  Provicicial  Con- 
gress in  1775. 

VnAerOie  OiKWu/ioii.—DanicI  Gould,  1787;  Isaac  Pepper,  1788,  1795;  William 
Bowdoin,  1798, 1801-4,  1806-12;  Enos  Davis,  1813-14;  William  Paige,  Jr.,  1815; 
Joseph  Cummings,  1810-17,  1822;  Aaron  Gould,  1824-25;  William  Paige,  Jr., 
Alpheus  Demond,  1820;  Aaron  Gould,  1827-29 ;  SiiUiuel  Phelps,  1829;  Joel  Rice, 


«  Died  in  ofBce,  and  was  succeeded  by  John  Tolman. 

\  Died  in  ofBce. 

}  In  the  years  not  named  the  town  was  not  represented. 


368 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1830 ;  Aaron  Gould,  Joel  Elce,  1831 ;  Allender  Brakonridge,  Homer  Bartlett, 
1832 ;  Alpheus  Demolid,  Euos  Davis,  1833 ;  Calvin  Morse,  Bonjamiu  Wilder,  18.34 ; 
Thomas  Wiliier,  John  Osborne,  Jr.,  1835;  Thomas  Wilder,  Beuljen  Lazell,  1836; 
Edmund  Freeman,  Keuljen  Lazell,  1837;  Tlionias  Snell,  Bojal  Bosworth,  1838; 
Thomas  Snell,  Jason  Gorham,  1839;  John  Bowdoiu,  Nelson  Palmer,  1840;  Joel 
Bii'e,  1841;  Ebenezer  Gould,  1842;  Horace  Goodrich,  1843  ;  Jonathan  Harvvood, 
1844;  Ansel  Phelps,  Jr.,  1843;  Samuel  M.  Lemmon,  1846;  Avery  Chirk,  1847; 
Ira  P.  Gould,  18.51 ;  Harrison  French,  1852;  Charles  A.  Stevens,  1853;  William 
E.  Ba.s80tt,  1854  ;  Freeman  W.  Dickinson,  1855 ;  Samuel  H.  Phelps,  1856 ;  George 
H.  Gilbert,  18.57;  Benjamin  Davis,  Jr.,  1858;  Lewis  Dcmond,  1860;  Samuel 
Moi«e,  1861;  Joseph  Hartwell,  1863 ;  Luther  Chapin,  Jr.,  1864;  William  E.  Lewis 
1866;  Henry  Bassett,lS6S;  Benjamin  F.  Angell,  1870 ;  John  W.  Robinson,  1872; 
Hcnrj-  C.  Davis,  1874 ;  Addison  Sandford,  1876 ;  Frederick  N.  Hosmer,  1879. 

VILLAGES    AND    HAMLETS. 
WARE   VILLAGE, 

situated  on  "Ware  Eiver,  is  a  thriving  manufacturing  place.  It 
sprang  up  about  the  year  1824,  when  the  manufacturing  enter- 
prises of  the  town  tirst  began  to  assume  importance,  and  has 
steadily  increased.  Prior  to  that  time  the  business  of  the  town 
had  been  principally  transacted  at  the  centre,  and  it  was  not 
until  1847  that  the  place  for  holding  town-meetings  was 
transferred  to  the  village. 

The  latter  comprises  a  population  of  about  3000,  nearly 
three-fourths  of  the  population  of  the  town,  and  is  regularly 
and  uniformly  laid  out  and  lighted  with  gas.  It  contains 
two  hotels,  five  churches,  five  factories,  a  large  number  of 
stores,  and  many  handsome  dwelling-houses,  and  is  the  place 
of  residence  of  a  large  number  of  persons  of  wealth,  refine- 
ment, and  culture. 

Several  serious  conflagrations  have  occurred  in  the  village 
since  its  existence.  The  first  of  these  was  the  burning  of  the 
large  brick  factory  of  the  Otis  Company  in  184.").  The  block 
on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  opposite  the  Hampshire 
House,  was  burned  in  1848  or  '49 ;  the  Ware  Hotel  in  Decem- 
ber, 18G4.  Sauford's  store  was  burned  in  March,  1866  or  '67. 
The  town-hall  and  Unitarian  Church  Nov.  6,  1867,  and  the 
Baptist  Church  in  1860. 

WARE    CENTRE 

is  situated  about  two  miles  west  of  the  village.  Here  the 
first  meeting-house  of  the  town  was  erected  and  the  earliest 
meetings  of  the  settlers  held,  and  for  many  years  the  inhabi- 
tants "went  up"  there  "to  worship  God."  Flat  Brook, 
coming  down  from  the  north,  passes  through  the  village,  and 
its  power  has  been  utilized  from  the  earliest  day  by  various 
small  industrial  enterprises. 

The  hamlet  contains  a  Congregational  Church,  a  saw-mill, 
a  shoe-factory,  a  blacksmith-shop,  and  a  number  of  pleasant 
dwelling-houses.  It  was  here  that  the  celebrated  "Snell's 
augers"  were  first  made. 

EDUCATIONAL    INTERESTS. 

The  first  action  of  the  town  upon  the  subject  of  schools,  as 
appears  by  the  records,  was  in  January,  17.57,  when  it  was 

"Voted  to  Devid  ye  Peraish  into  two  parts  for  a  scool,  and  flat  Brook  to  be  ye 
dcviding  Line." 

"  Voted  Joseph  Scott  to  take  care  of  the  West  part.  Voted  William  Bracken- 
ridge  to  take  care  of  tlie  East  Part." 

At  this  time  no  money  was  raised  for  schools,  nor  does  any 
appear  to  have  been  raised  for  any  other  purpose  than  for 
preaching  until  after  the  incorporation  of  the  town  in  1762. 
At  the  first  town-meeting  it  was  voted  to  divide  the  town 
into  four  quarters,  by  a  line  running  east  and  west  by  the 
meeting-house,  and  by  Flat  Br()r>k  north  and  south.  At  the 
same  meeting  it  was 

"  Vot^id,  to  raise  £12  for  Skoliug,"  and  that  "  Eatch  Quarter  shall  Skool  out 
there  part  within  the  year  or  Le  forftt." 

The  same  sum  was  granted  the  year  following  and  in  1766. 
In  1771  only  £4  was  raised ;  in  1772,  £14 ;  and  in  1774,  £15. 

For  several  years  thereafter  no  money  was  raised  for  schools. 
The  town-meetings  were  mostly  occupied  in  providing  sol- 
diers for  the  Kcvolutionary  army,  and  in  paying  them  and 
providing  for  their  families. 


In  1782,  £20  were  appropriated  for  schools,  the  districts  re- 
maining as  formerly.  In  1785  it  was  voted  to  divide  the 
town  into  six  districts,  and  the  location  of  school-houses  was 
then  first  determined  as  follows  : 

"  One  school-house  to  be  neiir  Mr.  Joseph  Chandler's  house,  one  by  the  pound, 
one  by  Mr.  James  Lamon's,  one  by  Phinehas  Converse's,  one  by  Moses  Davis's, 
and  one  by  John  Gilmore's." 

The  year  following  £72  were  raised  to  erect  these  houses. 
In  1787,  £3:3  more  were  raised,  and,  in  1791,  £12  were  raised 
to  build  a  school-house  in  the  middle  of  the  town. 

In  1794,  £48  were  granted  for  schools.  This  was  during 
the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Reuben  Moss,  who  did  much  to  raise 
the  character  of  the  schools.  For  nearly  twenty  years  not  a 
teacher  was  employed  from  out  of  town,  while  all  the  neigh- 
boring towns  sought  teachers  in  Ware.  Hon.  Joseph  Cum- 
mings  taught  seven  winters  in  New  Braintree,  receiving  §20 
per  month,  being  much  more  than  was  usually  paid  in  those 
times.  Another  early  teacher  was  Samuel  Clerk,  for  whose 
benefit  the  following  vote  was  passed  in  1783  : 

''  Voted,  to  allow  Mr.  Samuel  Clerk  an  order  for  £1  17s,  6d.  for  his  keeping 
school,  and  also  Interest  for  Two  orders  from  the  time  they  became  dew." 

In  1797  the  town  voted  to  divide  the  school  money  into 
eight  parts,  £10  to  each  district.  The  appropriation  for 
schools  in  that  year  was  §266.67,  and  this  amount  was  regu- 
larly increased  at  intervals,  until  in  1840  it  had  reached  §1250. 
The  appropriation  in  1878  was  $6800. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  19  schools  in  the  town, — one 
high  school,  in  which  the  higher  branches  of  education  are 
taught  and  preparation  made  for  college,  a  high  and  grammar 
school,  and  grammar,  intermediate,  primary,  mixed,  and  dis- 
trict schools.  The  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  upon  all 
the  schools  of  the  town  on  March  1,  1878,  was  856,  of  whom 
690  attended  the  village  schools.  The  whole  are  under  the 
control  of  a  board  of  six,  two  of  whom  are  chosen  annually 
for  three  years. 

RELIGIOUS. 

FIRST   C0NC4REGATI0NAL   CHURCH. 

"  Up  to  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  East  Congregational  Society,  in 
1826,  there  was  but  one  religious  society  in  town.  All  the  business  relating  to 
the  settlement  and  support  of  ministers  was  transacted  in  town-meeting.  On 
May  5,  1743,  the  Precinct  *  voted  to  hire  Mr.  Dickin.son  to  preach  among  us  until 
the  foity  pounds  we  granted  is  spent.'  In  March,  1744,  sixty  pounds  were  raised 
for  the  support  of  the  gospel,  and  several  candidates  employed.  In  November, 
1745,  Mr.  Henry  Carey  w;rs  invited  to  settle  as  their  minister,  but  declined. 

"Soon  after  the  incorporation  of  the  precinct  efforts  were  made  to  build  a 
house  of  worship,  hut  they  could  not  agree  upon  the  spot.  Nathaniel  Dwight, 
of  Belchcrtown,  was  employed  to  find  the  geographical  centre  of  the  town,  which 
is  a  few  rods  north  of  the  meeting-house  now  standing  in  the  west  parish.  In 
1748  it  was  voted  'to  build  a  house  40  by  35, 18  feet  posts,  to  pay  twelve  shillings, 
old  tenor,  for  common  laborers,  eighteen  shillings  for  team  and  cart.'  But 
nothing  efficient  was  done  until  September,  1750,  when  it  was  voted  to  build  a 
house  30  by  25,  15  feet  posts.  *  Voted,  to  niise  the  sum  of  thirty  pounds  thirteen 
shillings  and  four  pence,  lawful  money,  to  defray  the  charges  of  building  and 
covering  the  meetiug-honse.  £20  13/t.  4d.  to  be  paid  in  labor  and  covering  and 
elitwork,  provided  that  every  freeholder  will  pay  to  the  committee  or  collector 
the  labor  or  materials  his  due  proiKjrtion ;  that  he  shall  be  assessed  upon  suitable 
notice,  and  four  pounds  for  to  procure  nails  for  the  meeting-house.  Voted,  that 
labor  shall  be  set  at  the  value  of  eighteen  shillings  per  day,  and  team  work  an- 
swerable, and  Ixiards  at  nine  pounds,  eijual  to  old  tenor,  and  shingles  at  four 
pounds  ten  shillings,  old  tenor.'  Jacob  Cummings,  Joseph  Sjott,  Edward  Ayres, 
Sanniel  Allen,  and  John  Taplin  were  chosen  building  committee.  It  was  some 
yeai-s  before  the  house  was  completed,  if  it  was  ever  entirely  done.  '  Sept.  4, 
1700,  it  was  voted  to  have  an  alley  tiiree  feet  wide  between  the  men's  and 
women's  seats.'  In  June,  1762, '  voted  to  allow  Thomas  .\ndrews  si.v  pounds  to 
plaister  the  meeting-house  over  head.'  Sept.  24,  1700,  *  Voted,  that  Thomas  An- 
drews shall  halve  the  Iwards  overhead  in  the  meeting-honse,  and  is  to  have  what 
the  workmen  judge  it  wortli  for  said  halving.'  It  was  used  as  a  place  of  wol-ship 
until  the  year  ISOti,  when  the  house  that  has  been  recently  remodeled  in  the 
west  p,a:  ish  was  built. 

"  March,  1750-51, '  it  w.as  voted  to  ordain  the  worthy  Mr.  Orindall  Eawson  in 
this  precinct,  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  May  ue.\t.' 

"  5Ir.  Rawson's  salarj-  for  the  first  two  years  was  to  be  £45,  the  tliird  year  three 
pounds  to  be  added,  and  four  pounds  annually  afterward  till  it  shoulJ  be  sixty 
pounds,  and  £100  settlement.     He  Wivs  ordained  May  8,  1751.*    The  same  day  a 

*  The  council  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Rawson  were 
Kev.  .lohn  Campbell,  of  Oxford. 
"    Grindall  Rawson,  of  Hailvme,  Conn. 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


•M9 


church  was  organized,  but  it  is  not  known  of  how  many  mumbera  it  consisted. 
It  must  have  been  small,  as  the  whole  number  which  had  been  admitted  at  the 
time  of  Mr.  Rawson's  dismission,  Jan.  10,  17o4,  was  but  43.  But  little  is  known 
of  Mr.  Rawson's  history  or  character.  Trathtioual  accounts  represent  him  as  a 
man  of  little  seriousness,  comeliness,  or  refinement.  Some  disaffection  seems 
to  have  shown  itself  soon  after  his  settlement,  fur  May  12, 1752,  it  was  voted  '  to 
reconsider  the  vote  giving  Mr.  Rawson  a  call,  and  for  paying  the  salary  and 
settlement.'  The  collectors  neglected  or  refused  to  collect  the  taxes  for  his 
salary,  and  a  petition  was  sent  to  his  Majesty'.-*  council  and  Ilouse  of  Represent- 
atives, asking  power  to  excuse  the  collectors,  and  choose  others  in  their  stead, 
which  was  gi-anted. 

"It  does  not  ajipear  that  any  council  was  called  to  dissolve  the  connection. 
Mr.  liawsou  was  afterwanl  settled  in  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  in  1755,  where  he  re- 
mained but  a  few  years.  He  is  believed  to  have  been  a  chaplain  iu  the  Revolu- 
tion.* 

"  After  Mr.  Rawson's  dismission,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  regular 
preaching  for  some  time.  The  poverty  of  the  people  rendered  it  exceeding  dilH- 
cult  to  collect  tlie  taxes.  It  appears  the  precinct  '  voted,  Jan.  1, 1755,  that  the 
collector  of  Ware  River  Parish  that  are  behind  in  their  ccUcctions,  pay  in  and 
make  up  their  collection  to  the  Parish  Committee,  excepting  so  much  as  the 
cniirt  itssigned  to  Mr.  Rawson,  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Edward  Ayres,  for  this  reason, 
that  the  Paiish  Treasurer  is  reduced  to  such  low  circumstances  that  the  parish 
arc  not  willing  to  trust  any  more  in  his  hands.' 

"  In  the  fall  of  1758  the  church  andPrecinct  called  Mr.  Ezra  Thayer  to  become 
tlieir  minister,  and  he  was  ordained  Jan.  10, 1759.  His  salary  waa  to  he  £40  for 
three  years,  then  £3  to  be  added  yearly  till  it  became  £-55,  and  as  settlement 
£100.  A  deed  of  the  parsonage  land  is  acknowledged  by  him  as  part  of  the 
settlement,  £fi6  13s,  4(i.  He  lived  where  Stephen  Bonoay  now  lives.  To  this 
time  the  church  had  no  confession  of  faith,  and  one  wjis  proposed  hy  the  ordain- 
ing council  and  adopted.  The  iialf-way  covenant  plan  prevailed  to  considerable 
extent,  and  injured  tlie  prosperity  of  the  church.  Mr.  Thayer  continued  to  bo 
minister  till  his  death,  Feb.  12, 1775.  Seventy-nine  were  received  into  the  church 
in  full  cimimunion  during  his  ministrj*. 

"  Mr.  Thayer  was  a  native  of  Mendon,  graduated  at  Har\'ard  College,  175G. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  a  plain  man,  of  pleasing  adilress,  and  t*)  have  secured  the 
confidence  of  the  people.  The  town  erected  a  tombstone  to  mark  the  place  of 
his  burial,  as  a  token  of  their  respect. 

"In  17S0,  Mr,  Winslow  Packard  was  incited  to  become  the  minister,  but  de- 
clined this,  as  well  as  a  renewal  of  the  call.  In  1785,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Hallock 
jireached  as  a  candidate,  and  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  miido  to  settle  him. 
While  he  was  preaching  in  town,  an  unusual  interest  was  manifested  in  religion. 
He  was  afterward  an  eminent  minister  at  Canton,  (.'onii.,  and  an  interesting 
memoir  of  him  was  compiled  by  Rev.  Cyrus  Yale,  of  Now  Hartford,  Conn. 


the  people.  Twice  during  his  ministry  he  was  afflicted  with  derangement,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty.f 

"July  9, 1810,  Rev.  Samuel  Ware  was  invited  to  settle  as  minister,  and  was 
ordained  October  31st.  Salai-y,  $400,  and  a  settlement  of  S500,  if  he  should  re- 
main fifteen  years.  He  was  a  useful  minister,  and  was  much  blessed  iu  his 
labors  for  more  than  fifteen  yeai-s,  and  gathered  197  into  the  church — 177  by 
profession,  and  20  by  letter  from  other  churches.  He  was  dismissed  in  conse- 
quence of  ill  health,  in  1820,  and  the  following  vote,  passed  by  the  town  July  3d, 
will  show  the  esteem  in  which  ho  was  held:  'Voted  unauimoualy,  that,  agi-ee- 
ably  to  his  request,  we  dismiss  and  cordially  recommend  the  Rev.  Samviel  Ware 
as  an  exemplary  Christian,  and  an  able,  judicious,  and  faithful  minister  of  the 
gospel.' 

"July  19, 1826,  Rev.  Augustus  B.  Reed,  a  native  of  Rehoboth,  and  graduate 
of  Brown  University  in  1821,  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  church  and  people. 
The  same  council  dismissed  Mr.  Ware.  To  this  time  all  business  pertaining  to 
the  affairs  of  the  parish  had  been  done  in  town-meeting.  Mr.  Reed  continued 
the  minister  of  the  first  parish  until  June  5, 1838,  when  he  was  dismissed  on  ac- 
count of  feeble  health.     He  died  in  town,  Sept.  30, 1838,  aged  nearly  forty. 

"Rev.  Her^ey  Smith,  his  successor,  was  installed  Sept.  19, 1838,  and  dismissed 
in  1840. 

"Rev.  William  E.  Dixon,  of  Enfield,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College, 
was  ordained  Jan.  14, 1841,  and  dismissed  May  26, 1842. 

"Rev.  DaWd  N.  Coburn,  from  Thompson,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, was  ordained  Sept.  21, 1842,  and  was  dismissed  April  17, 1854." 

Rev.  Seth  "W.  Banister,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Coburn,  was 
installed  May  23,  1855,  and  dismissed  June  1,  1857.  Rev. 
Ariel  P.  Chute,  tlie  next  pastor,  was  installed  Sept.  22,  1857, 
and  dismissed  May  21,  1861. 

Rev.  William  G.  Tuttlc,  the  present  pastor  of  the  church, 
is  a  native  of  Littleton,  Mass.,  j^raduated  at  Amherst  College 
in  1846,  and  at  Andover  Theological  vSeminary  in  1849.  He 
was  for  over  nine  years  pastor  of  tlie  Congregational  Church 
at  Harrisville,  N.  H.,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Ware  Oct.  10,  1861.  During  his  ministry  127  persons 
have  been  added  to  his  church,  and  several  remarkable  seasons 
of  revival  have  occurred,  notably  in  1805,  1868,  1871,  1872, 
1874,  and  1876. 

The  deacons  of  the  church  since  its  establishment  have  been 
Jacob  Cummings,  chosen   1751,  resigned  1768;  John  Davis, 

Maverick  Smith,  chosen  1768, 
ins,  chosen  1768,  resigned  1789; 
resigned  1815;  Daniel  Gould, 
Joseph  Cummings,  chosen  1815, 
en  1815,  resigned  1835;  Warner 
1830;  Enos  Davis,  chosen  1830, 
»,  chosen  1835,  resigned  1851  ; 
resigned  1853 ;  Milton  Lewis, 
nderson,  chosen  1853.     The  last 


e,  erected  in  the  centre  of  the 
ktions,  until  the  year  1800,  when 

used  until  1843,  when  it  was 
'ing  used  for  the  new  structure, 
isent  house  of  worship.  It  has, 
ible  alterations  and  repairs. 

132, — 45  males  and  87  females, 
bath-school  comprises  122  mem- 
idance  of  76.  Superintendt-nt, 
■ian,  Wm.  Marsh.     Number  of 


Each  with  his  delegate. 

*  There  have  been  three  ministcns  of  the  same  name, — Grindall  Rawson,  who 
griuluateii  at  HarA-ard  College,  1678,  settled  iu  Mendon,  1680,  where  he  died,  1715. 

Anuther  Grindall  Rawson  graduated  ^t  Harvard  College,  1728;  was  settled  as 
the  firet  minister  in  South  Hadley,  173;j,  where  he  is  spoken  of  by  President 
Edwards  as  a  successful  minister.  He  was  afterward  settled  at  Hadlyme,  Conn., 
1745,  where  he  died,  in  1777.  Grindall  Rjtwson,  the  firet  minister  iu  Ware, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1741,  and  died  in  1794,  aged  seventy -three.  The 
firet  was  probably  the  grandfather,  the  second  an  uncle,  of  the  latter. 

47 


.TIONAL   CHURCH. 

ease  of  population  in  Ware  vil- 
e  to  establish  a  Congregational 
ingly,  in  the  month  of  April, 
and  on  April  12th  a  church  was 
the  house  of  worship  now  occu- 
pied  by  the   society  was   erected.      It  has   been   remodeled 
several  times,  is  a  comely  and  substantial  structure,  and  con- 
tains a  handsome  organ.     The  society  also  has  a  neat  chapel 
on  Water  Street,  which  was  erected  in  1857,  at  a  cost  of 
§•5000. 

+  Mr.  Mobs  married  Mre.  Hadasaali  eheeBobrough,  of  Stoningtoii,  Conu., 
where  some  of  his  doscondauts  now  live,  lie  hiiilt  the  house  now  owned  hy 
Charles  Hathaway.    It  was  afterward  owned  hy  Rov.  Mr.  Ware. 


368 


HISTOEY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1830;  Aaron  GouU^  Joel  Rice,  1831;  Allender  Brakenridge,  Homer  Bartlett, 
1832 ;  Alpheus  Demond,  Enos  Davis,  1833 ;  Calvin  Morse,  Benj.imiu  Wilder,  1834 ; 
Thomas  Wilder,  John  Osborne,  Jr.,  183o;  Thomas  Wilder,  Keulien  Lazell,  1836; 
Ednitind  Fieeman,  Reuben  Lazell,  1837;  Thomas  Snell,  Royal  Bosworth,  1838; 
Tliomas  Suell,  Jason  Gorham,  1839 ;  John  Bowdoin,  Nelson  Palmer,  1840 ;  Joel 
Bii-e,  1841;  Ebenezer  Gould,  1842;  Horace  Goodrich,  1843  ;  Jonathan  Uarwood, 
1844;  Ansel  Phelps,  Jr.,  1845;  Samuel  M.  Lemnion,  1846;  Avery  Clark,  1847; 
Ira  P.  Gould,  18.51 ;  Harrison  French,  1832;  Charles  A.  Stevens,  1853 ;  William 
E.  B,xssett,  1854 ;  rrooman  W.  Dickinson,  1855;  Samuel  H.  Phelps,  185G ;  George 
H.  Gilbert,  1857;  Benjamin  Davis,  Jr.,  1858;  Lewis  Demond,  1860;  Samuel 
Morse,  1861;  Joseph  Uartwell,  1863 ;  Luther  Chapin,  Jr.,  1864 ;  William  E.Lewis 
1866;  Henrj' Bassett,  1868 ;  Beiyamin  F.  Angcll,lS70;  John  W.  Robinson,  1872; 
Henry  C.  Davis,  1874 ;  Addison  Saudford,  1876 ;  Frederick  N.  Hosmer,  1879. 

VILLAGES    AND    HAMLETS. 
WARE    VILLAGE, 

situated  on  Ware  Ei%'er,  is  a  thriving;  manufacturing  place.  It 
sprang  up  about  the  year  1824,  when  the  manufacturing  enter- 
prises of  the  town  first  began  to  assume  importance,  and  has 
steadily  increased.  Prior  to  that  time  the  business  of  the  town 
had  been  principally  transacted  at  the  centre,  and  it  was  not 
until  1847  that  the  place  for  holding  town-meetings  was 
transferred  to  the  village. 

The  latter  comprises  a  population  of  about  3000,  nearly 
three-fourths  of  the  population  of  the  town,  and  is  regularly 
and  uniformly  laid  out  and  lighted  with  gas.  It  contains 
two  hotels,  five  churches,  five  factories,  a  large  number  of 
stores,  and  many  handsome  dwelling-houses,  and  is  the  place 
of  residence  of  a  large  number  of  persons  of  wealth,  refine- 
ment, and  culture. 

Several  serious  conflagrations  have  occurred  in  the  village 
since  its  existence.  The  first  of  these  was  the  burning  of  the 
large  brick  factory  of  the  Otis  Company  in  1845.  The  block 
on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  opposite  the  Hampshire 
House,  was  burned  in  1848  or  '49 ;  the  Ware  Hotel  in  Decem- 
ber, 1804.  Sanford's  store  was  burned  in  March,  1866  or  '67. 
The  town-hall  and  Unitarian  Church  Nov.  0,  1867,  and  the 
Baptist  Church  in  1860. 

WARE 

is  situated  about  two  miles 
first  meeting-house  of  the  toi 
meetings  of  the  settlers  held, 
tants  "went  up"  there  "to 
coming  down  from  the  north, 
its  power  has  been  utilized  f 
small  industrial  enterprises. 

The  hamlet  contains  a  Con; 
a  shoe-factory,  a  blacksmith-s 
dwelling-houses.  It  was  hei 
augers"  were  first  made. 

EDUCATIONS 

The  first  action  of  the  town 
appears  by  the  records,  was  in 

"Voted  to  Devid  ye  Peraish  into  two 
deviding  Line." 

"  Voted  Joseph  Scott  to  take  care  of 
ridge  to  tike  care  of  the  East  Part." 

At  this  time  no  money  was 
appear  to  have  been  rai.sed  1 
jjreaching  until  after  the  inco 
At  the  first  town-meeting  it 
into  four  quarters,  by  a  line 
meeting-house,  and  by  Flat  B 
same  meeting  it  was 

"Voted,  to  raise  £12  for  Skoling,"  and  tliat  "  Eatcli  Quarter  shall  Skool  out 
tliere  part  within  the  year  or  be  forfit." 

The  same  sum  was  granted  the  year  following  and  in  170G. 
In  1771  only  £4  was  raised;   in  1772,  £14;  and  in  1774,  £1.5. 

For  several  years  thereafter  no  money  was  raised  for  schools. 
The  town-meetings  were  mostly  occupied  in  providing  sol- 
diers for  the  Kevolutionary  army,  and  in  paying  them  and 
]iroviding  for  their  families. 


In  1782,  £20  were  appropriated  for  schools,  the  districts  re- 
maining as  formerly.  In  1785  it  was  voted  to  divide  the 
town  into  six  districts,  and  the  location  of  school-houses  was 
then  first  detennined  as  follows  : 

"  One  school-house  to  be  near  Mr.  Joseph  Chandler's  house,  one  by  the  pound, 
one  by  Mr.  James  Lamon's,  one  by  Pliinehiis  Converse's,  one  by  Moses  Davis's, 
and  one  by  John  Gilmore's." 

The  year  following  £72  were  raised  to  erect  these  houses. 
In  1787,  £30  more  were  raised,  and,  in  1791,  £12  were  raised 
to  build  a  school-house  in  the  middle  of  the  town. 

In  1794,  £48  were  granted  for  schools.  This  was  during 
the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Reuben  Mo.ss,  who  did  much  to  raise 
the  character  of  the  schools.  For  nearly  twenty  years  not  a 
teacher  was  employed  from  out  of  town,  while  all  the  neigh- 
boring towns  sought  teachers  in  Ware.  Hon.  Joseph  Cum- 
mings  taught  seven  winters  in  New  Braintree,  receiving  $20 
per  month,  being  much  more  than  was  usually  paid  in  those 
times.  Another  early  teacher  was  Samuel  Clerk,  for  whose 
benefit  the  following  vote  was  passed  in  1783  : 

"  Voted,  to  allow  Mr.  Samuel  Clerk  an  order  for  £1  17s.  (id.  for  his  keeping 
school,  and  also  Interest  for  Two  orders  from  the  time  they  became  dew." 

In  1797  the  town  voted  to  divide  the  school  money  into 
eight  parts,  £10  to  each  district.  The  appropriation  for 
schools  in  that  year  was  §266.67,  and  this  amount  was  regu- 
larly increased  at  intervals,  until  in  1840  it  had  reached  |1250. 
The  appropriation  in  1878  was  $6800. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  19  schools  in  the  town, — one 
high  school,  in  which  the  higher  branches  of  education  are 
taught  and  preparation  made  for  college,  a  high  and  grammar 
school,  and  grammar,  intermediate,  primary,  mixed,  and  dis- 
trict schools.  The  number  of  jiupils  in  attendance  upon  all 
the  schools  of  the  town  on  March  1,  1878,  was  856,  of  whom 
690  attended  the  village  schools.  The  whole  are  under  the 
control  of  a  board  of  six,  two  of  whom  are  chosen  annually 
for  three  years. 


j:^^:::::r^ 


^s^Jt-*-*-*-^ 


/  «-f  0/ 


CriyiyU      /  ^/ 


wetst  parish  wjis  built, 

"  Marcli,  1700-51, '  it  was  voted  to  onlain  the  worthy  Mr.  tJi  iuJall  Rawsuii  in 
this  preciiK-t,  on  the  secoiul  Wednesday  in  May  next.' 

"  Sir.  Rawson's  salary  fur  the  first  two  yeare  was  to  be  £45,  tlie  third  year  three 
pounds  to  be  added,  and  four  pounds  annually  afterward  till  it  shouli  be  sixty 
pounds,  and  £100  settlement.    He  Wiis  ordained  May  8, 1751.*    Ti»e  same  day  a 


*  The  council  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Raw8on  were 
Rev.  John  Campbell,  of  Oxford. 
"     Grindall  Rawson,  of  Hailvme,  Conn. 


] 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


31)9 


church  was  organizerl,  but  it  is  not  known  of  how  many  members  it  consisted. 
It  rauet  have  been  small,  as  the  whole  number  which  had  been  admitted  at  the 
time  of  Mr.  Rawsun's  dismission,  Jan.  19,  1754,  was  but  43.  But  little  is  known 
of  Mr.  Ilawson's  history  or  character.  Traditumal  accounts  represent  him  as  a 
man  of  Uttle  seriousness,  comeliness,  or  refinement.  Some  disaflfection  seems 
to  have  shown  itself  soon  after  his  settlement,  fur  May  12, 1752,  it  Wiis  voted  '  to 
reconsider  the  vote  giving  Mr,  Rawson  a  call,  and  for  i^aying  the  salary  and 
settlement.'  The  collectors  neglected  or  refused  to  collect  the  taxes  for  his 
salary,  and  a  petition  was  sent  to  his  Majesty's  council  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives, asking  power  to  excuse  the  cuUectoi-s,  and  choose  others  in  their  stead, 
which  was  granted. 

"  It  does  not  appear  that  any  couucil  was  called  to  dissolve  the  connection. 
Mr.  Rawson  wjis  afterward  settled  in  Yai-mouth,  3Iass.,  in  1755,  where  he  re- 
mained but  a  few  years.  He  is  believed  to  have  been  a  chaplain  iu  the  Revolu- 
tion.* 

"  After  Mr.  Kawson's  dismission,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  regular 
preaching  for  some  time.  The  poverty  of  the  peoide  rendered  it  exceeding  dilfi- 
cult  to  collect  the  ta.xes.  It  appears  the  preciuct  'voted,  Jan.  1, 1755,  that  the 
collectors  of  Ware  River  Parish  that  are  behind  in  their  ccllections,  pay  in  and 
make  up  their  collection  to  the  Parish  Committee,  excepting  so  much  as  tho 
court  assigned  to  Mr.  Rawson,  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Edward  Ayres,  for  this  reason, 
that  the  Parish  Treasurer  is  reduced  to  such  low  circumstances  that  the  parish 
are  not  willing  to  trust  any  more  in  liLs  hands.' 

"  In  the  fall  of  1758  the  church  and  Precinct  called  Mr.  Ezra  Thayer  to  become 
their  minister,  and  he  was  ordained  Jan.  10, 1759.  His  salary  was  to  bo  £40  for 
three  years,  then  £3  to  be  added  yearly  till  it  became  £^35,  and  as  settlement 
£100.  A  deed  of  the  parsonage  lanrl  is  acknowledged  by  liim  as  part  of  the 
settlement,  £(JG  13s.  4d,  He  lived  whore  Stephen  Bonoay  now  lives.  To  this 
time  tho  church  had  no  confession  of  faith,  and  one  was  proposed  by  the  ordain- 
ing council  and  iidopted.  Tiie  half-way  covenant  plan  prevailed  to  considerable 
extent,  and  injured  the  prospciity  of  tho  church.  BIr.  Thayer  contiinied  to  bo 
minister  till  his  death,  Feb.  12, 1775.  Seventy-nine  were  received  into  the  church 
in  full  communion  rluring  !iis  ministry. 

"  Mr.  Thayer  was  a  native  of  Mendon,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1756. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  a  plain  man,  of  pleasing  address,  and  to  have  secured  the 
confidence  ttf  the  people.  The  town  erected  a  tombstone  to  mark  the  place  of 
his  burial,  as  a  token  of  their  respect. 

"In  17S0,  Mr.  Winelow  Packard  was  invited  to  become  the  minister,  but  de- 
clined this,  as  well  as  a  renewal  of  the  call.  In  1785,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Hallock 
preached  as  a  candidate,  and  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  hi  settle  him. 
While  he  was  i)reacliing  in  town,  an  unusual  interest  was  uuiiiifested  in  religion. 
He  was  afterward  an  eminent  minister  at  Canton,  Conn.,  and  an  interesting 
memoir  of  him  was  compiled  by  Rev.  Cynis  Tale,  of  New  Hartfnd,  Conn. 

"In  July,  1785,  Mr.  Benjamin  Judd  was  invited  to  settle  as  a  minister,  and 
was  ordained  Oct.  12.  He  probaldy  came  from  the  county  of  Berkshire,  as  his 
ordination  sennon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Daniel  Collins,  of  Lanesboro'.  Dr. 
West,  of  Stockbridge,  Rev,  Mr.  Perry,  of  Richmond,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Muuson,  of 
Lenox,  were  mombei-s  of  the  council.  Tlie  people  were  not  united  in  calling 
Mr.  Judd,  and  unliappily  dithculties  soon  arose,  which  resulted  in  his  dismis- 
sion, Sept.  28,  17K7,  and  no  minister  was  settled  for  five  years. 

"  In  March,  1792,  the  church  and  town  gave  an  unanimous  invitation  to  Mr. 
Reuben  Moss  to  become  their  minister,  and  he  wtis  ordained  June  21st.  He  was 
a  native  of  Cheshire,  Conn.,  graduated  at  Yale  College,  1787,  and  studied  theol- 
ogy wkh  Rev.  Dr.  TnimbuU,  of  Xew  Haven.  He  received  £80  salary,  and  £150 
settlement. 

"  Mr.  Moss  continued  in  the  ministry  in  Ware  until  his  death,  Feb.  17, 1809, — 
more  than  sixteen  years.  He  was  a  very  successful  and  devoted  minister. 
During  his  labors,  50  were  added  to  the  church, — 42  by  profession,  and  8  by 
recommendation  from  other  churches.  He  was  a  man  of  ardent  piety,  of  refined 
feelings,  and  somewhat  distinguished  an  a  Biblical  scludar.  As  a  in'eacher,  ho 
was  plain  aud  pmctical,  and  enforced  his  instructions  by  a  blameless  example. 
Many  now  remember  him  as  the  faithful  and  afiectionate  friend  of  the  young. 
He  was  particular  in  his  attention  to  the  district  schools.  At  the  time  of  his 
settlement  they  were  iu  a  low  and  disorderly  stivte,  but  they  very  soon  became 
very  much  improved  through  his  attention  and  influence.  By  his  effort  in  this 
department  of  his  labors,  he  was  instrumental  in  preparing  a  large  number  of 
young  men  to  engage  in  the  instruction  of  schools  in  this  and  neighboring 
towns.  No  town  in  this  vicinity,  it  is  said,  furnished  so  many  teachere.  The 
toDO  of  moral  feeling  aud  the  standard  of  education  were  greatly  raised  among 

Rev,  Robert  Breck,  1st  Church,  of  Springfield. 
"    Caleb  Rice,  of  Sturbridge.  . 
"    David  Wliite,  of  Hardwick. 

"     Noah  Mirick,  of  4th  Church,  Springfield  (now  Wilbrahaui). 
"     Thomas  Skinner,  of  Westchester,  in  Colchester,  Conn. 
"     Benjamin  Bowers,  of  Miildle  Haddam,  Conn. 
"    Isaac  Jones,  of  Western  (now  Warren). 
"    Pelatiah  Webster,  of  Quabbin  (now  Greenwich). 
Each  with  bis  delegate. 
*  There  have  been  three  ministei-s  of  the  same  name, — Grindall  Rawson,  wlio 
graduated  at  Hanard  College,  1678,  settled  in  Meudon,1680,  where  he  dic<i,  1715. 
Another  Grindall  Rawson  graduated  ijt  Harvard  College,  1728  ;  was  settled  as 
the  first  minister  in  South  Hadley,  1733,  where  he  is  spoken  of  by  President 
Edwards  as  a  successful  minister.     He  was  afterward  settled  at  Hadlyme,  Conn., 
1745,  where  he  died,  in   1777.     Grindall  Riiwson,  tho  fii-st  minister  in  Ware, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1741,  and  died  in  1704,  aged  seventy -three.    The 
firet  was  probably  the  giuudfather,  the  second  an  nude,  of  the  latter. 

47 


the  people.  Twice  during  his  ministry  he  was  afflicted  with  derangement,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty.f 

"July  9, 1810,  Eov.  Samuel  Ware  wiis  invited  to  settle  as  minister,  and  was 
ord;uncd  Octoher  31st.  Salary,  $400,  and  a  settlement  of  $500,  if  he  should  re- 
main fifteen  years.  He  was  a  useful  minister,  and  was  much  blessed  in  Ills 
labors  for  more  than  fifteen  years,  and  gathered  197  into  tho  church — 177  by 
profession,  and  20  by  letter  from  other  churches.  He  was  dismissed  in  conse- 
quence of  ill  health,  in  1826,  and  the  following  vote,  passed  by  the  town  .July  3d, 
will  show  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held :  '  Voted  unanimously,  that,  agree- 
ably to  his  request,  we  dismiss  and  cordially  recommend  the  Rev.  Sanuiel  Ware 
as  an  exemplary  Cliristian,  and  an  able,  judicious,  and  faithful  minister  of  the 
gospel.' 

"July  19,  1826,  Rev.  Augustus  B.  Reed,  a  native  of  Eeholwtli,  and  graduate 
of  Brown  University  in  1821,  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  church  and  peol)Io. 
The  same  council  dismissed  Mr.  Ware.  To  this  time  all  business  pertaining  to 
the  affairs  of  the  parish  had  been  done  in  town-meeting.  Mr.  Reed  continued 
the  minister  of  the  first  parish  until  June  5,  1838,  when  he  was  dismisseil  on  ac- 
count of  feeble  health.     He  died  in  town,  Sept.  .30,  1838,  aged  nearly  forty. 

"  Rev.  Hervey  Smith,  his  successor,  was  installed  Sept.  19, 1838,  and  dismissed 
in  1840. 

"Rev.  William  E.  Di.\on,  of  Enfield,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  WilliamB  College, 
was  ordained  Jan.  14,  1841,  and  dismissed  May  26,  1842. 

"  Rev.  DaWd  N.  Coburn,  from  Thompson,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, was  ordained  Sept.  21, 1842,  and  was  dismissed  April  17, 1854." 

Rev.  Seth  W.  Banister,  the  succe.ssor  of  Mr.  Coburn,  was 
installed  May  23,  185-5,  and  dismissed  June  1,  1857.  Kev. 
Ariel  P.  Chute,  the  next  pastor,  was  installed  Sept.  22,  1857, 
and  dismissed  May  21,  1861. 

Kev.  William  G.  Tuttle,  the  present  pastor  of  the  church, 
is  a  native  of  Littleton,  Mas.s.,  !>;raduated  at  Amherst  College 
in  1846,  and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1849.  He 
was  for  over  nine  years  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
at  Harrisville,  N.  H.,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Ware  Oct.  10,  1861.  During  his  ministry  127  per.stms 
have  been  added  to  his  church,  and  several  remarkable  sca.sons 
of  revival  have  occurred,  notably  in  18G5,  1868,  1871,  1872, 
1874,  and  187G. 

The  deacons  of  the  church  since  its  establishment  have  been 
Jacob  Cummings,  chosen  1751,  resigned  1768;  John  Davis, 
chosen  1751,  resigned  1768  ;  Maverick  Smith,  chosen  1768, 
deceased  1789;  Thomas  Jenkins,  chosen  1768,  resigned  1789; 
William  Paige,  chosen  1789,  resigned  1815;  Daniel  Gould, 
chosen  1789,  resigned  1815 ;  Joseph  Cummings,  chosen  1815, 
resigned  1826  ;  Eli  Snow,  chosen  1815,  resigned  1835;  Warner 
Brown,  chosen  1826,  deposed  1830;  Enos  Davis,  chosen  1830, 
deceased  1837 ;  Abner  Lewis,  chosen  1835,  resigned  1851  ; 
Thomas  Snell,  chosen  1837,  resigned  1853;  Milton  Lewis, 
chosen  1851 ;  Nathaniel  H.  Anderson,  chosen  1853.  The  last 
two  are  the  acting  deacons. 

The  original  meeting-house,  erected  in  the  centre  of  the 
town,  was  used,  with  modifications,  until  the  year  1800,  when 
another  was  built.  This  was  used  until  1843,  when  it  was 
remodeled,  its  frame-work  being  used  for  the  new  structure, 
which  is  substantially  the  present  house  of  worship.  It  has, 
however,  undergone  considerable  alterations  and  repairs. 

The  present  membership  is  132, — 45  males  and  87  females, 
— and  34  absentees.  The  Sabbath-school  comprises  122  mem- 
bers, with  an  average  attendance  of  76.  Superintendent, 
W.  L.  Brakenridge.  Librarian,  Wm.  Marsh.  Number  of 
volumes  in  the  library,  150. 

BAST   CONOKEGATIONAL   CHTJKCH. 

In  1825,  owing  to  the  increase  of  population  in  Ware  vil- 
lage, it  was  deemed  advisable  to  establish  a  Congregational 
society  at  that  place.  Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  April, 
1826,  a  society  was  organized,  and  on  April  12th  a  church  was 
constituted.  The  same  year  the  house  of  worship  now  occu- 
pied by  the  society  was  erected.  It  lias  been  remodeled 
several  times,  is  a  comely  and  substantial  structure,  and  con- 
tains a  handsome  organ.  The  society  also  has  a  neat  chapel 
on   Water  Street,   which   was   erected   in   1857,  at  a  cost  of 

§5000. 

+  Mr.  Moss  married  Mrs.  Hadassah  CbecBObrough,  of  StoningtoD,  Conu., 
where  some  of  his  descenrlauts  uow  live.  He  built  the  house  now  owned  by 
Charles  Hathaway.    It  was  afterward  owned  by  Kev.  Mr.  Ware. 


370 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


The  first  pastor  was  Eev.  Parsons  Cook,  ordained  June  21, 
1826,  and  dismissed  April  13,  1835.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Eev.  Cyrus  Yale,  of  New  Hartford,  Conn.,  who  was  installed 
June  11,  183.5,  and  dismissed,  to  return  to  his  former  field, 
Aug.  3,  18-37.  Kev.  Jonathan  Edwards  Woodbridge,  a  native 
of  Worthington,  Mass.,  and  a  college  classmate  of  Kev.  Mr. 
Cook,  was  installed  May  2,  1838,  and  dismissed  Dec.  28,  1840, 
to  become  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Nrw  Evijland  Puritan,  in 
connection  with  Mr.  Cook.  Kev.  Nahum  Gale,  a  native  of 
Auburn,  Mass.,  and  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College  in  1837, 
was  the  next  pastor,  ordained  June  22,  1842,  and  dismissed  in 
June,  1851.  He  was  succeeded  by  Kev.  Theron  G.  Colton,  who 
was  installed  Sept.  2,  1851,  and  dismissed  March  26,  1855. 

Kev.  A.  E.  P.  Perkins,  D.D.,  the  present  pastor,  is  a  native 
of  Koyalston,  Mass.,  who  graduated  at  Amherst  College  in 
1840.  He  was  for  eleven  years  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Phillipston,  in  Worcester  County,  and  was  installed 
over  his  present  charge  Dec.  5,  1855.  The  degree  of  D.D.  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Williams  College. 

The  deacons  of  the  church  have  been  Joseph  Cummings, 
chosen  in  1820 ;  resigned  1853.  Luther  Brown,  chosen  in  1826 ; 
resigned  1841.  Thomas  Thwing,  chosen  in  1820;  resigned 
1837.  John  Tolman,  chosen  in  1837 ;  resigned  1853.  Wm. 
Hyde,  chosen  in  1837.  Lewis  Demond,  chosen  in  1844 ;  re- 
signed 1807.  Francis  De  Witt,  chosen  in  18-54  ;  resigned  1863. 
W.  S.  Brakenridge,  chosen  in  1854;  resigned  1860.  Otis 
Lane,  chosen  in  1801.  Henry  Ives,  chosen  in  1804;  resigned 
1867.  John  W.  Cummings,  chosen  in  1867.  Lewis  N.  Gil- 
bert, chosen  in  1869. 

The  present  membership  is  3-50 ;  of  Sabbath-school,  250 ; 
average  attendance  on  Sabbath-school,  200 ;  volumes  in  li- 
brary, several  hundred ;  superintendent  of  Sabbath-school, 
George  G.  Hall. 

METHODIST    EPKCOPAL.* 

The  Methodist  Church  in  AVare  was  organized  about  the 
year  1820,  probably  by  Joshua  Crowell,  a  Methodist  local  el- 
der, residing  at  the  centre,  and  Luther  Payne,  a  local  preacher 
and  class-leader,  residing  at  the  village.  The  earlier  meet- 
ings were  held  at  private  houses,  often  at  Mr.  Payne  s, 
sometimes  in  an  unoccupied  portion  of  the  mill,  and  in  the 
school-houses  on  North  Street  and  in  the  south  part  of  the  vil- 
lage. Meetings  were  also  held  for  a  time  in  an  upper  room  in 
a  house  opposite  to  where  the  church  now  stands.  A  meet- 
ing-bouse was  erected  in  1844,  under  the  pastorate  of  Eev.  D. 
Sherman,  D.D.,  for  many  years  a  presiding  elder  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Conference.  The  church  was  raised  and  en- 
larged by  the  addition  of  vestries,  a  vestibule,  and  tower  in 
1848,  under  the  pastorate  of  Kev.  C.  L.  Eastman,  now  pastor 
of  the  "Seaman's  Bethel,"  Boston. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  society  they  were  supplied  with 
preaching  frequently  by  local  preachers  in  the  vicinity,  Mr. 
Crowell  and  Mr.  Payne  often  performing  this  service.  The 
first  regularly-appointed  preacher  from  the  Conference  was 
Rev.  William  P.  White,  stationed  here  in  1833.  Mr.  White's 
successors  have  been  somewhat  numerous,  as  until  recently,  by 
a  law  of  the  church,  no  minister  could  remain  a  pastor  of  the 
same  church  more  than  two  successive  years,  and  later  only 
three  years.  Prominent  among  the  early  preachers  were  W. 
P.  White,  Samuel  Palmer,  James  0.  Deane,  Thomas  Marcy, 
David  Sherman,  Ichabod  Marcy,  C.  L.  Eastman,  and  J.  W. 
Dadiiiun. 

Among  those  who  have  served  more  recently  ajipear  the 
names  of  N.  H.  Martin,  William  Gordon,  Linus  Fish,  Geo. 
F.  Eaton,  William  M.  Ayers.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  J. 
Peterson,  who  has  been  here  two  years.  The  present  mem- 
licrshiii  is  100;  Sunday-school  membership,  170;  volumes  in 
Sujiday-school  library,  3.50;  Sunday-school  Superintendent, 
David  L.  Barluw ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  John  T.  Wins- 


*  Contributed  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  John  Peterson. 


low;  Librarian,  Arthur  Strahan ;  Chairman  of  Board  of 
Trustees,  Benjamin  Davis  ;  Treasurer,  Henry  C.  Davis,  Esq. ; 
Secretary,  J.  P.  Crowell.  There  are  also  nine  stewards,  of 
whom  R.  N.  Roberts  is  Recording  Steward,  D.  C.  Gates,  Dis- 
trict Steward,  and  S.  F.  Gates,  Treasurer. 

BAPTISTS. 

This  denomination  existed  for  many  years  in  the  west  part 
of  the  town  of  Hardwick,  at  first  as  the  Hardwick  Bajitist 
Church,  and  then  as  the  Hardwick  and  Ware  Baptist  Church. 
In  1840  the  society  removed  from  Hardwick  to  Ware,  and 
became  established  at  the  village  under  the  name  of  the  W^are 
Baptist  Church. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Amory  Gale,  a  graduate  of  Brown 
University,  who  was  ordained  November  11th  of  that  year. 
He  was  dismissed  in  18-50,  and  was  succeeded  on  August  22d 
of  that  year  by  Rev.  J.  A.  BuUard,  of  Middletown,  0.,  who  was 
dismi.ssed  to  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  April,  1853.  Kev.  George  E.  Fuller 
became  the  next  pastor  soon  after  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Bul- 
lard,  and  died  while  discharging  his  duties  on  June  6, 18-56.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Wiggins,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  who 
was  ordained  Feb.  10, 1857,  and  dismissed  to  South  Chelmsford, 
Mass.,  Sept.  10,  1858.  Rev.  J.  F.  Jones  was  the  next  pastor, 
and  was  installed  Jan.  1,  1850,  and  remained  in  that  relation 
until  October,  1800,  when  the  house  of  worship,  which  had 
been  dedicated  in  the  fall  of  1847,  was  destroyed  by  fire.  After 
this  disaster  but  a  few  meetings  were  held ;  the  society  vir- 
tually dissolved,  and  now  has  no  active  existence. 

FIRST    UNITARIAN. 

This  society  was  organized  Oct.  7,  1846.  Prior  to  its  estab- 
lishment several  liberal  movements  had  been  undertaken  in 
the  town  without  success.  In  the  autumn  of  1845  the  nucleus 
of  the  present  society  was  formed,  and  met  in  the  cast  brick 
mill,  now  owned  by  the  Otis  Company.  Rev.  George  Chan- 
ning  preached  the  first  sermon,  and  regular  services  were  held 
by  him.  Rev.  Mr.  Alden,  and  others  until  the  approach  of 
winter.  Meetings  were  then  held  in  the  Water  Street  chapel 
of  the  East  Congregational  Church.  In  the  spring  of  1840  a 
house  of  worship  was  begun  on  the  spot  where  the  church 
now  stands,  and  on  the  24th  of  January  the  basement  was 
consecrated  and  occupied  by  the  vestry.  Here  the  society 
worshiped  until  the  completion  of  the  church  iii  the  following 
summer. 

In  1848  the  society  received  from  the  church  in  Bolton, 
Mass.,  the  gift  of  a  complete  and  beautiful  communion  service, 
which  is  still  in  use.  The  pulpit  Bible  was  presented  by  the 
ladies  of  the  Springfield  Society,  and  the  bell  by  Thomas 
Cordis,  of  Boston. 

The  first  regular  pastor  was  Rev.  George  S.  Ball,  who  was 
ordained  Oct.  13,  1847,  and  resigned,  because  of  ill  health, 
July  6,  1849.  The  next  was  Kev.  George  T.  Hill,  of  Hub- 
bardton,  who  was  installed  Sept.  22,  18-52.  Rev.  S.  F.  Clarke, 
of  Athol,  was  installed  Dec.  24,  1856,  and  died  in  the  pastoral 
otBce  March  27,  1861. 

From  the  time  of  Mr.  Clarke's  death  until  xVpril,  1802,  the 
church  was  closed,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  weeks  when 
it  was  occupied  by  the  East  Congregational  Society.  Rev. 
John  W.  Hudson  then  supplied  the  church  for  a  time,  and 
was  regularly  ordained  pastor  May  6,  1863,  and  resigned  Feb. 
24,  1805.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  William  G.  Newell,  of 
Rockland,  111.,  who  was  installed  May  10,  1806,  and  resigned 
June  18,  1867. 

Nov.  6,  1867,  the  town-hall  was  burned,  and  the  church 
which  stood  near  it  was  also  destroyed,  including  a  fine  or- 
gan, put  in  but  a  few  weeks  before.  Services  were  then  held 
in  the  chapel  of  the  East  Congregational  Society  and  in  Music 
Hall. 

The  next  regular  pastor  was  Kev.  Thonuis  Timmins,  who 
was  installed  June  i9,  1872,  and  resigned  Oct.  18,  1873.     He 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


371 


was  followed  by  Rev.  John  L.  Lyon,  who  was  installed  Oct. 
28,  1874,  and  resigned  June  5,  1875 ;  and  he  by  Rev.  John  L. 
Marsh,  the  present  pastor,  who  was  ordained  Dec.  Ifi,  187'i. 

The  present  house  of  worship  was  dedicated  Sept.  14,  1809. 
The  number  of  families  connected  with  the  parish  is  60 ; 
members  of  Sabbath-school,  about  60;  number  of  volumes  in 
the  library,  about  -500;  Superintendent  of  Sabbath-school, 
Rev.  John  L.  Marsh ;  Assistant  Superintendent,  Charles 
Sibley  ;   Librarian,  Worthington  Gates. 

ST.    WILLIAM'S    CHUKCH    (ROMAN    CATHOLIC). 

The  Catholics  established  themselves  in  Ware  about  18.50, 
and  in  18-55  erected  a  large  church  edifice,  which  is  still  stand- 
ing. The  movement  was  at  first  a  missionary  enterprise,  and 
was  connected  with  the  church  at  Chicopee  Falls  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  It  became  a  separate  parish  about  the  year 
1860;  and  Rev.  P.  Haley  was  the  first  pastor,  and  remained 
four  years.  He  was  succeeded,  Aug.  15,  1864,  by  the  present 
pastor.  Rev.  William  Moran.  The  parish  is  a  large  one, 
comprising  about  1100  people.  The  church  also  contains  a 
tine  organ. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  MOUNT  CARMEL  (RO.MAN 
CATHOLIC). 

July  9,  1871,  the  French  Catholics  of  Ware,  feeling  the 
need  of  church  services  in  their  own  language,  undertook  the 
establishment  of  a  separate  parish.  Ninety-nine  families, 
comprising  697  persons,  44.3  of  whom  were  communicants, 
united  and  formed  the  parish. 

The  first  services  were  held  in  Music  Hall,  and  the  first 
mass  was  celebrated  July  16,  1871,  being  the  feast  of  Our 
Lady  of  Mount  Carmel. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  L.  G.  Gaganier,  who  withdrew  in 
March,  1873,  and  was  immediately  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  Boucher,  the  present  pastor,  who  was  transferred 
from  the  parish  of  St.  Hilaire,  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada. 

The  first  collection  was  taken  July  31,  1871.  The  prop- 
erty on  which  the  edifice  was  erected  was  purchased  Novem- 
ber 7th  of  the  same  year,  and  with  the  parsonage  adjoining 
the  church,  at  a  cost  of  $4000.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
May  20,  1872,  and  the  church  dedicated  Nov.  17,  1872.  It  is 
a  handsome  brick  structure,  located  on  Bank  Street,  and  has 
been  thoroughly  finished  and  tastefully  embellished  in  the 
interior,  under  the  supervision  of  Rev.  Father  Boucher.  The 
cost  was  about  §12,000. 

The  parish  is  now  in  a  prosperous  condition,  comprises  130 
families,  700  persons,  and  596  communicants,  and  has  already 
organized  a  flourishing  mission  at  Gilbertville,  in  the  town  of 
Hardwick,  where  a  large  church  has  been  erected. 
-  Other  religious  movements,  mostly  of  a  missionary  and  ten- 
tative character,  have  taken  place  in  the  town,  but  attained 
no  special  strength  or  prominence. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

There  are  six  burial-places.  Of  these  the  oldest  is  what  is 
known  as  the  "  old  burying-ground,"  which  is  situated  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  village,  on  the  Palmer  road.  It  was 
probably  first  occupied  soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  town. 
No  burials  have  taken  place  in  it  since  1826.  It  is  now  cov- 
ered by  a  forest  of  small  pine-trees,  but  is  kept  in  good  con- 
dition. Most  of  its  graves  have  sunk  out  of  sight,  and  are 
not  marked  by  tombstones.  Of  these  but  eight  are  standing, 
the  oldest  being  that  of  Miss  Sally,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Anna  Dinsmure,  who  died  Feb.  13,  1786,  in  her  eighteenth 
year. 

The  next  burial-places  in  point  of  age  are  those  at  Ware 
Centre, — one  standing  near  the  church,  and  the  other  a  few 
rods  farther  oft'.  The  first  was  laid  out  soon  after  the  incor- 
poration of  the  town,  and  has  been  in  use  ever  since.  Among 
its  ancient  tombstones  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  interesting 
bears  the  following  inscription  : 


"  In  memory  of  Rev.  Ezra  Thayer,  the  Learned,  Pious,  Faithful,  &  Deservedly 
esteemed  Pastor  of  the  Churcli  of  Christ  in  this  town,  who  died  Feb.  12th,  1775, 
in  the  4.3d  year  of  Iiis  age,  &  16th  of  his  ministry. 

**Go,  Reader,  Mind 

The  better  part ; 
Believe  the  Gospel, 

Mend  thy  tieart. 
Go  leorn  to  live 

And  learn  to  die ; 
For  die  you  must 

.\.,i  well  as  I." 

The  other  yard,  at  the  centre,  was  presented  to  the  town  by 
Isaac  Pepper,  Oct.  19,  1795,  on  condition  that  the  town  should 
fence  it  with  a  convenient  wall,  and  originally  comprised  145 
rods.  It  was  laid  out  soon  after,  and  in  April,  1809,  was  en- 
larged to  one  acre.  It  contains  a  large  number  of  graves. 
Among  the  oldest  tombstones,  and  those  which  contain  the 
most  unique  inscriptions,  which  abound  in  the  yard,  are  the 
following : 

"This  stone  is  erected  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Comings,  who  died 
Feb^  29th,  1805,  in  His  38th  year. 

"  My  soul  doth  leap  to  think  how  deep 

My  Saviour's  love  hath  been  ; 
I  am  carr'd  out  in  thought  devout 

On  things  that  are  unseen. 
This  real  view  appears  most  true, — 

That  -Jesus  was  the  3Iau 
That  did  agree  with  God  for  me 

Before  the  "World  began. 
Lord,  when  shall  we  like  angels  be. 

And  ti-avel  through  the  air; 
And  all  Thy  Host  travel  that  course. 

And  meet  to-gether  their." 

"In  memory  of  William  Coney,  of  Brookfield,  who  died  Nov.  1st,  1805,  in  his 
79th  year. 

"  A  Husband  kind  and  good,  a  parent  dear. 
To  all  obliging,  and  to  all  sincere; 
True  to  his  God,  the  orphan's  friend  and  guide, 
He  liv'd  beloved,  and  lamented  di'd." 

A  cemetery  near  the  East  Congregational  Church  has  been 
occupied  since  1826,  where  some  families  having  lots  still  bury 
their  dead. 

The  Aspen  Grove  Cemetery  is  one  of  the  largest  and  hand- 
somest places  of  burial  in  Western  Massachusetts.  It  com- 
prises 25  acres  of  land,  situated  in  the  northwest  part  of  Ware 
village,  and  was  presented  to  the  town  in  the  year  1853,  by 
Hon.  Orrin  Sage,  the  donation  being  acknowledged  by  the 
town  in  the  passage  of  ai)propriate  resolutions,  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  town  records.  At  the  time  of  his  decease,  on 
June  23,  1875,  Mr.  Sage  left  a  bequest  of  §-3000  in  his  will,  to 
constitute  a  fund  for  keeping  the  cemetery  in  permanent  re- 
pair. It  is  fenced  with  a  substantial  stone  wall,  is  beautifully 
laid  out  in  walks  and  drives,  and  contains  many  handsome 
lots  and  monuments.  Near  the  main  entrance  stands  the  sol- 
diers' monument,  which  was  erected  by  the  town  in  1867. 
Some  of  the  lots  are  free  to  the  residents  of  the  town  ;  others 
are  sold  at  a  moderate  price,  and  the  actual  burial  expenses 
of  each  deceased  resident  are  defrayed  b}'  the  town. 

The  sixth  is  the  Catholic  cemetery,  which  adjoins  St.  Wil- 
liam's Catholic  Church  and  contains  a  great  many  graves.  It 
was  laid  out  in  the  year  1850. 

NOTES   FROM   THE    RECORDS. 

A  few  notes  from  the  records  will  best  illustrate  the  usages 
and  customs  of  the  past  and  the  manner  of  conducting  town 
business.  In  Ware,  as  in  many  other  towns  in  the  common- 
wealth, it  was  the  custom,  instead  of  hailing  all  new-comers 
as  welcome  accessions  to  the  strength  of  the  community,  to 
warn  them  to  depart,  lest  they  should  become  a  charge  to  the 
town.  In  March,  1765,  the  town  allowed  William  Bell  12 
shillings  for  warning  out  several  and  carrying  out  some.  In 
1790  the  constable  was  directed  to  warn  51  persons,  whosp 
names  were  given,  to  depart  from  the  limits  of  the  town,  with 
their  children,  and  all  under  them,  within  fifteen  days. 


372 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


April  19,1757. — "Voted  to  liire  preaching  for  the  summer.  Voted  to  raise 
upon  the  polls  and  estates  the  sum  of  £13  G*!.  6rf.,  for  preaching  and  tioarding  of 
ministers,  and  going  after  ministers.  A'ntefl  Joseph  Foster  to  go  after  ministers. 
Voted  John  Downing  to  provide  a  Law-Bonk." 

Sept.  24, 17GG. — *'  Voted  to  allow  William  Bell  four  shillings  for  the  milch  of  a 
cow  one  month  to  Uriah  Bush." 

May  9, 17G8. — "  Voted  to  raise  two  pounds  to  provide  Eumh  for  the  raising  the 
Bridge  over  "Ware  river." 

M  arch,  1784. — "  Voted  to  pay  James  Lemmon  for  six  journeys  to  Belchertown 
and  two  quaits  of  Rum,  thirteen  shillings  and  six  pence." 

Oct.  22, 17S7. — "  Voted  to  allow  William  Paige  for  keeping  the  Eccleeiastical 
Council,  which  is  a.s  follows,  viz., — seven  pence  per  meal,  212  meals;  t\vo  pence 
a  lodging,  G}<  ludgings;  four  imnce  for  keeping  a  horse  24  hours,  7(1  horses;  four 
gallons  and  a  half  of  new  mm,  three  shillings  per  gallon ;  two  gallons  of  old 
rum,  five  shillings  per  gallon." 

Nov.  2, 1801. — "  Vuted  that  the  selectmen  give  a  general  invitation  to  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  "Ware  to  work  on  the  road  one  or  more  days,  leading 
from  Swift  Kivpr  to  the  line  of  New  Braintree  free  tjralis,  said  selectmen  to  find 
them  what  spirits  they  shall  think  necessarj'." 

Feb.  9, 1782, — "  Voted  to  allow  Joseph  Patei-son  6  shillings  for  one  pair  of  shoes 
he  let  Thomas  Steel,  a  soldier,  have." 

May,  1782, — "Voted  that  ('apt.  Brakenridge  as  a  committee  agree  with  Rev. 
Mr.  Tuttle  to  supply  the  puljat  for  one  year,  on  condition  that  if  the  town  can 
get  a  young  man  upon  prubation,  Mr.  Tuttle  to  give  way." 

March  1, 1784. — "Voted  to  allow  Mr.  Andrew  HarwotHl  eight  dollai-s,  it  being 
a  counterfeit  bill,  New  Emission." 

March,  1784. — "Voted  to  employ  Mr.  Tuttle  one  year,  or  until  a  young  man 
can  be  employed  in  the  town." 

Mai-ch,  1785. — The  town  voted  "  to  adopt  Dr.  Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns  to  be 
sung  in  this  congregation.*     Voted  that  they  begin  next  Sabbath." 

Previous  to  this,  Tate  and  Brady  or  Sternhold  and  Hoiduns  liad  been  used,  and 
the  change  was  made  while  Rev.  Jeremiah  HaUock  was  preaching  here,  and 
probably  through  his  influence.  The  chorister  was  chosen  by  the  town,  and  the 
custom  was  for  the  whole  congregation  to  join  in  singing,  the  deacon  resuling 
one  line  at  a  time. 

Sept.  1, 178G. — "Voted  that  the  selectmen  shall  take  Ruth  Hinds  and  put  ht-r 
to  any  person  that  will  take  her." 

Sept.  8, 1788. — "  Voted  to  vandue  Rebekah  Allen  to  the  Lowest  bider."  These 
votes  refer  to  the  custom  of  putting  the  poor  out  for  support,  which  was  common 
in  all  the  towns. 

1790. — "Voted  to  allow  a  bountj- on  crows' heads."  "Voted  to  allow  8(i.  per 
head  for  all  that  is  kild  in  this  town  within  sLx  months  from  the  date." 

In  1800  the  meeting-house  was  built  in  the  middle  of  the  town.  In  April, 
1801,  "chose  Capt.  Wm.  Doane  to  see  that  the  deck  of  the  cupola  is  corked  and 
made  tight,  so  as  to  prevent  the  water  from  penetrating  through,  and  also  to 
finish  glazing  said  cupola  and  other  panes  of  glass  which  are  broken  in  the 
meeting-house,  and  fasten  the  upper  casements  of  the  windows  so  as  to  prevent 
them  frum  making  an  interruption  in  time  of  public  worship." 

Nov.  2, 1801.— "Voted  that  the  front  door  of  the  meeting-house  be  bolted  as 
soon  as  the  speaker  hath  entered." 

May,  1810. — "Voted  to  raise  fifty  dollare,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  instruction 
of  singers,  and  that  those  who  belong  to  Mr.  Burt's  society  receive  their  prupor- 
tion  of  said  fifty  dollars." 

In  September,  W07.— "  Voted  that  there  may  be  a  Boll  placed  upon  the  deck  of 
the  cupola  in  this  town  upon  some  conditions." 

"  Voted  not  U^  choose  a  committee  to  receive  subscriptions.  Voted  that  Isaac 
Pepper,  Rufus  King,  Beujiunin  Paige,  Ebenezer  Titus,  Benjamin  Davis,  Nathaniel 
R.  Anderson,  Gould  Parsons,  Isaac  Pepper,  Jr.,  Samuel  Conkey,  Willianx  Paige, 
Jr.,  Thomas  Patrick,  and  Waters  Allen,  together  with  such  as  shall  hereafter  be- 
come subscribers,  have  liberty  to  hang  a  bell  upon  the  deck  of  the  cupola  iu  this 
town,  provided  the  bell  be  purchased  and  hung  upon  said  deck  free  from  any 
cost  or  o.\pense  upon  said  town  either  by  tax  or  otherwise." 

No  bell  was  placed  upon  the  church  until  after  Mr.  Reed's  settlement,  in  182G. 

Dec.  15, 1828.— "  Voted  to  give  leave  to  have  stoves  erected  in  the  meeting- 
house in  the  centre  of  the  town,  if  it  bo  done  without  expense  ti  the  town." 

After  the  factories  were  built,  an  attempt  was  made  to  change  the  name  of  the 
town.  In  January,  1825,  "Voted  to  petition  to  have  the  name  of  the  Uiwu 
changed  to  Waterlbrd."  It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  prosecuted.  In  May, 
1827,  "  Vuteil  t^)  niise  a  committee  of  five  to  petition  the  Legislature  to  survey  a 
Rail  Roiul  from  Boston  to  the  Ilurlson  River  inihe  state  of  New  York.  Chose 
Alphous  Denumd,  Homer  Bartlett,  William  Bow<ktin,  Thonuis  Snell,  and  Benja- 
min Paige."  About  this  time  there  w;ui  some  difficulty  between  the  village  and 
the  old  parish.  An  attempt  was  muck-  by  tlie  village  to  be  incoii'orated  as  a  town, 
which  w;is  oppuHcd.  At  the  election  uf  representatives,  in  1828,  the  closest  con- 
test was  had  that  ever  existed  in  tiie  town,  which  seems  to  have  been  hinged 
npon  this  controversy.  Aaron  Gould  had  170  votes,  Foster  Marsh,  170,  Joseph 
Cummings,  1.  Whereupon  the  town  voted  not  to  send  that  year.  The  matter 
was  adjusted  by  defining  the  lines  between  the  parishes,  and  the  vilhige  was  in- 
corporated asthe  KaKt  Congregational  Society.  Tlie  parish  linos  began  at  Samuel 
G<iuldV  Hnuthe)u»t  corner,  by  Palnn-r  line,  and  on  his  lim-  tt>  Wart-  River,  thence 
up  the  river  t^i  Muddy  Brook,  up  Muddy  Bruuk  to  the  ohl  nnul  to  New  Braintree, 
north  of  J.  Hai-twcll's  farm,  thence  on  that  road  to  the  turn  east  of  Nathan 
Coney*8,  thence  to  Darius  Eaton's  nortli  line,  and  on  that  to  Brookfield. 


*  The  nil  icle  in  the  warrant  waa, "  To  see  if  the  Congregation  will  concur  with 
the  Cliurch  in  lulopting  Docter  Watts'  avn-fivn  of  Psalms  and  Hymns,  to  be  sung 
in  public  worship," 


The  alteration  of  the  constitution,  making  the  supjwrt  of  religion  a  voluntary 
thing,  in  1833,  rendered  parish  lines  of  no  value. 

SOCIETIES  AND   CORPORATIONS. 
WARE    NATIONAL   BANK. 

The  Ware  National  Bank  was  incorporated  as  the  Hamp- 
shire Manufacturers'  Bank,  Feb.  26,  1825,  with  a  capital  of 
§100,000.  In  1836,  1848,  and  18o3,  $50,000  was  adAd  each 
year  to  the  capital,  and,  in  1857,  §100,000.  In  December,  1864, 
the  bank  was  changed  to  a  national  corporation,  under  the 
name  of  the  Ware  National  Bank.  In  1869  the  capital  was 
increased  to  |400,000.  While  a  State  bank  the  corporation 
paid  in  dividends  $.52O,.50O;  since  it  became  a  national  bank, 
and  up  to  October,  1878,  the  amount  of  dividends  paid  was 
.?514,800. 

The  presidents  of  the  bank  have  been  Elnathan  .lones,  of 
Enfield,  from  1825  to  1827 ;  Joseph  Bowman,  of  New  Brain- 
tree, from  1827  to  1848;  Orrin  Sage,  of  Ware,  from  1848  to 
1865.  William  Hyde,  the  present  president,  then  succeeded. 
The  cashiers  have  been  Homer  Bartlett,  of  Ware,  from  1825 
to  1832;  Henry  Starkweather,  of  Ware,  from  1832  to  1834; 
William  Hyde,  of  Ware,  from  1834  to  1865;  Henry  Ives,  of 
Ware,  from  1865  to  1867,  when  William  S.  Hyde,  the  present 
cashier,  was  elected.  The  directors  of  the  bank  are  William 
Hyde,  William  S.  Hyde,  Otis  Lane,  and  Addison  Sandford, 
of  Ware;  William  Mixter,  of  Boston;  Nathan  Kichardson, 
of  Warren  ;  and  Emmons  Twitchell,  of  Brookfield. 

THE   WARE    SAVINGS   BANK 

was  incorporated  in  1850.  Joel  Rice  was  treasurer  until  1857, 
when  Otis  Lane,  the  present  treasurer,  succeeded.  The  pres- 
ent officers  are  Hon.  William  Hyde,  President;  Hon.  C.  A. 
Stevens,  Hon.  L.  N.  Gilbert,  and  Joseph  Hartwell,  Esq.,  Vice- 
Presidents  ;  Otis  Lane,  Treasurer ;  F.  D.  Gilmore,  Assistant 
Treasurer.  Hon.  William  Mister,  of  Boston ;  Nathan  Rich- 
ardson, of  Warren ;  Addison  Sandford,  David  P.  Billinijs, 
Calvin  Hitchcock,  and  Charles  D.  Gilbert,  who  together  con- 
stitute the  Board  of  Trustees. 

The  last  statement  of  the  bank,  published  Jan.  1,  1879,  was 
as  follows : 

Deposits Sl,oC5,872.59 

Prnflt  ami  loss 39,03r>.ill 

Guarantee  fuuil '  9,8S1.0i) 

Bauk  stock $290,.MO.OO 

I'ul.lii.-  funds :WO,IX10.00 

Railroad  bonds 23»,(KX».00 

Loans  to  towns 58..5OO.0O 

Loans  on  real 474,1)06.22 

Loans  ou  personal 184,086.17 

Loans  on  public  funds 1,050.00 

Loans  on  bank  stock 11,300.00 

Loans  on  railroad  stock 3,000.00 

Cash 23,087.20 

$1,014,789.59   ?1,G14,7S9.59 

Surplus,  January  1, 1S79 $24,407.76 

Guarantee  fund 11,838.42 

S3G,246.18 
EDEN  LODGE,  A.  F.  AND  A.  M., 
was  chartered  June  8,  1864,  with  the  following  charter-mem- 
bers :  George  Robinson,  Samuel  H.  Phelps,  Franklin  D.  Rich- 
ards, E.  D.  Winslow,  W.  C.  Sheldon,  H.  S.  Parsons,  and  D. 
W.  Miner.  The  sessions  of  the  lodge  are  held  at  Masonic  Hall, 
in  Sandford's  building.  Ware  village.  The  present  officers  of 
the  lodge  are  George  S.  Mar.sh,  W.  M. ;  Charles  S.  Robinson, 
S.  W. ;  George  E.  Fairbank,  J."  W. ;  Addison  Sandford,  Treas. ; 
Levi  W.  Robinson,  Sec.  ;  John  W.  Robinson,  Marshal;  Jas- 
per L.  Fairbank,  S.  D. ;  Henry  Connell,  J.  D. ;  Thomas  Ren- 
nison,  S.  S. ;  Walter  P.  Sutclitl'e,  J.  S.  ;  Rev.  John  L.  Marsh, 
Chaplain  ;  George  G.  Hall,  Organist;  George  E.  Ballard,  I.  S. ; 
Lyman  Taylor,  Tyler. 

The  Past  Masters  of  the  lodge  have  been  George  Robinson, 
J.  W.  Robinson,  William  O.  Gould,  and  H.  F.  Barnes. 

KINO   SOLOMON   CHAPTER,  R.  A.  M., 

was  chartered  June  12,  1860,  with  the  following  charter-mem- 
bers :  Stephen  Douglas,  John  T.  Jordan,  David  Allen,  John 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


373 


Warner,  Elias  Smith,  Julin  Crosby,  Henry  Fobes,  Thomas 
Smith,  Simeon  Pepper,  all  resident  in  or  near  the  town  of 
Enfield,  Mass.  The  present  officers  of  the  chapter  are  Elgin 
E.  Foster,  M.  E.  H.  P.;  William  T.  D.  French,  E.  K.  ;  S.vl- 
vester  W.  Bangs,  E.  S. ;  Aram  Warburton,  C.  H. ;  Walter 
P.  Sutclifle,  P.  S.  ;  Thomas  P.ennison,  E.  A.  C.  ;  Joseph  L. 
Cowles,  Treas.  ;  John  T.  Winslow,  Sec. ;  Henry  O.  Caryl, 
M.  3d  V. ;  John  H.  Chaffee,  M.  2d  V. ;  Daniel  W.  Ainsworth, 
M.  1st  V.  ;  Eev.  John  L.  Marsh,  Chaplain ;  Wales  H.  New- 
land,  S.  S. ;  William  Kennedy,  J.  S.  ;  Lyman  Taylor,  Tyler. 
The  Past  High-Priests  of  the  order  have  been  George  J. 
Sanger,  D.  B.  Gillett,  George  Eobinson,  F.  A.  Spear,  A-. 
Sandford,  and  J.  Gates. 

WASHINGTON   COUNCIL,    R.    AND   S.    M., 

was  chartered  June  11,  1873,  with  the  following  charter-mem- 
bers :  John  T.  Jordan,  Elias  Smith,  George  Eobinson,  Edward 
P.  Howard,  Horace  Hunt,  Charles  D.  Johnson,  Henry  Fobes, 
John  F.  Phelps,  Marshal  Fox,  Hubert  M.  Coney.  The  pres- 
ent officers  of  the  council  are  James  Kiplej',  T.  I.  M.  ;  Aram 
Warburton,  D.  M. ;  Charles  S.  Eobinson,  P.  C.  of  W. ;  John 
W.  Eobinson,  Eecorder;  Addison  Sandford,  Treas.;  Walter 
P.  Sutcliffe,  C.  of  G. ;  Thomsui  Eennison,  C.  of  C. ;  John  H. 
Chaffee,  S.  ;  Daniel  C.  Gates,  Chaplain ;  Lyman  Taylor,  Sen- 
tinel. The  past  T.  I.  Masters  have  been  J.  F.  Phelps  and 
H.  M.  Coney. 

THE   YOUNG   MEN'S    LIBRARY   ASSOCIATION 

is  a  direct  descendant  of  the  Ware  Literary  As.sociation,  a 
society  which  formerly  existed  in  the  town,  and  whose  object 
was  the  encouragement  and  development  of  literary  tastes 
among  its  members.  Differences  arising  in  that  association 
regarding  the  policy  and  expediency  of  admitting  ladies  to  its 
membership,  certain  of  its  members  withdrew  from  the  society 
March  30,  1871,  and,  with  others,  formed  another  association, 
known  as  the  Young  Men's  Debating  Society.  This  associa- 
tion established  a  reading-room,  and  also  a  library,  the  nucleus 
of  the  latter  being  the  circulating  library  of  the  Ware  Me- 
chanics' and  Manufacturers'  Association,  an  old  and  defunct  or- 
ganization. The  former  was  incorporated  as  the  Young  Men's 
Library  Association,  under  the  general  laws  of  the  State,  in 
1873,  and  since  then  has  received  assistance  from  the  town. 

The  association  is  distinct  from  the  town,  yet  receives  reg- 
ular support  from  it,  the  amount  of  the  last  appropriation 
being  S892.18.  The  librar}-  is  open  to  all  the  citizens  of  the 
town,  and  comprises  3490  carefully-selected  volumes,  classified 
upon  the  Dewey  system.  About  1000  persons  draw  books  from 
the  library,  the  weekly  circulation  being  nearly  400  volumes. 
The  influence  of  the  institution  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  the 
works  of  fiction  now  drawn  from  the  library  are  but  60  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  number  withdrawn,  against  83  per  cent, 
the  first  year,  and  75  per  cent,  in  1875  and  187tj. 

The  officers  of  the  association  are:  President,  J.  H.  G.  Gil- 
bert ;  Vice-President,  W.  C.  Eaton ;  Clerk,  M.  L.  Snow ; 
Assistant  Clerk,  E.  C.  Merriam  ;  Treas.,  D.  F.  Marsh;  Au- 
ditor, Geo.  S.  Snow.  The  directors  are  J.  H.  G.  Gilbert,  W. 
C.  Eaton,  W.  H.  Cutler,  C.  C.  Hitchcock,  and  P.  D.  Gilmore. 

ENCAMPMENT   J.    W.    LAWTON,    POST   NO.    85,    G.    A.    R., 

was  organized  May  12,  1869,  and  meets  the  second  and  fourth 
Thursdays  of  each  month  in  G.  A.  E.  Hall,  Sandford's  block. 
The  present  officers  are  G.  E.  Fairbank,  P.  C. ;  H.  Connell, 
S.  V.  C. ;  John  Lashua,  J.  V.  C.  ;  E.  E.  Eichardson,  Adj't; 
G.  S.  Marsh,  Q.  S. ;  Dr.  E.  C.  Eichardson,  S.  ;  D.  C.  Spear, 
Chap. ;  M.  G.  Miller,  0.  D.  ;  S.  Grendell,  O.  G.  ;  M.  Keefe, 
S.  M.  ;  W.  McMahon,  Q.  M.  S.  The  Past  Post  Commanders 
have  been  S.  B.  Bond,  Win.  E.  Lewis,  George  S.  Marsh, 
H.  M.  Coney,  Chas.  S.  Eobinson,  Aram  Warburton. 

THE   ST.    JEAN   BAPTISTE   SOCIETY 

was  organized  about  1873,  and  meets  the  first  Sunday  of 
every  month  in  Guild's  Block,  Main  Street.      The  present 


officers  are:  President,  J.  H.  Allard ;  Vice-President,  E. 
Chapdelaine  ;  Secretary,  Joseph  Eichardson  ;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Joseph  Deslauriers  ;  Treasurer,  Moses  Deslauriers  ; 
Assistant  Treasurer,  Joseph  Allard.  The  objects  of  the  asso- 
ciation are  mutual  help  and  fraternal  co-operation. 

THE    ANCIENT    ORDER    OF    HIBERNIANS 

meets  semi-weekly  at  Hibernian  Hall,  in  Guild's  Block.  The 
present  officers  are:  Pres.,  P.  H.  Monahan ;  V.  P.,  Wm.  J. 
Canavan;  F.  S.,  John  Shay;  E.  S.,  E.  A.  Mooney ;  Treas. 
John  Kelly. 

Besides  these  organizations  there  are  others,  such  as  the  Ee- 
form  Club,  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  Young 
People's  Temperance  Society,  which  are  doing  a  good  work  in 
the  town,  and  other  benevolent  and  social  organizations. 

THE   WARE    FIRE   DEPARTMENT 

was  organized  in  1845.  The  present  officers  of  fire  district 
No.  1  of  the  town  of  Ware  are :  Clerk,  C.  E.  Blood  ;  Treas- 
urer, A.  Sandford  ;  Prudential  Committee,  George  C.  Holden, 
F.  P.  Clark,  George  Gould ;  Chief  Engineer,  S.  D.  Marsh  ;  First 
Assistant,  George  E.  Fairbank  ;  Second  Assistant,  N.  J.  Dil- 
lon ;  Third  Assistant,  Owen  McArdell ;  Fourth  Assistant,  W. 
C.  Sheldon. 

Oregon  Engine  Company,  No.  3,  was  organized  in  July,  1877. 
The  present  officers  are:  Foreman,  Henrj'  Caryl;  First  Assist- 
ant, Henry  Connell :  Clerk,  M.  F.  French  ;  Treasurer,  C.  E. 
Blood;  Steward,  Luther  Fairbank.  The  company  has  an  ex- 
cellent hand-engine  in  use,  and  a  second,  which  was  run  by 
the  extinct  Columbia  Company,  is  also  in  the  village. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

The  falls  at  the  village  aftbrd  a  fine  power,  the  river  falling 
more  than  70  feet  in  less  than  that  number  of  rods.  As  early 
as  1730,  Capt.  Jabez  Olmstead  came  from  Brookfield,  and, 
purchasing  land  near  the  river,  built  two  mills  upon  the  falls. 
His  heirs  sold  the  mills,  with  about  600  acres  of  land,  cover- 
ing the  whole  territory  of  the  village,  as  far  west  as  Muddy 
Brook,  to  Isaac  Magoon ;  from  him,  in  1765,  the  property 
passed  to  his  son  Alexander.  At  this  time  the  mills  consisted 
of  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill,  which  were  widely  known  as 
Magoon's  Mills. 

In  April,  1813,  Alpheus  Demond  and  Col.  Thomas  Denney 
purchased  of  James  Magoon,  a  grandson  of  Alexander,  the 
mills,  with  about  400  acres  of  land,  for  §4500.  They  built  a 
new  dam  on  the  middle  falls,  repaired  the  saw-mill  and  grist- 
mill, started  two  carding-machines,  and  began  the  manufacture 
of  machinery.  In  1814  a  cotton-mill  was  built  on  the  middle 
falls,  where  the  new  mill  now  stands.  At  this  time  there 
were  no  mills  in  this  part  of  the  State,  except  a  small  one  at 
AVorcester,  and  one  at  Monson.  The  power-loom  was  un- 
known, the  intention,  being  to  make  yarn  to  be  put  out  to 
and  woven  in  hand-looms.  The  death  of  Col.  Denney,  at 
Leicester,  in  December,  1814,  seems  to  have  thrown  a  dark 
cloud  over  the  manufacturing  prospects  here.  Mr.  Demond, 
either  from  the  want  of  capital  or  from  some  other  cause, 
being  unable  to  carry  on  the  business,  the  mills  stood  still 
until  1821. 

Ware  Company. — In  April,  1821,  the  property,  including 
mills,  machinery,  and  land,  was  sold  to  Messrs.  Holbrook  & 
Dexter,  of  Boston,  for  §15,000  (a  loss  to  the  former  owners  of 
nearly  $12,000).  A  company  was  soon  formed,  including  a 
number  of  Boston  capitalists,  and  in  1823  the  Ware  Company 
was  incorporated,  with  a  capital  of  $600,000.  They  built  the 
same  year  a  woolen-mill  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  oppo- 
site the  cotton-mill,  taking  their  power  from  the  river  at 
the  middle  falls.  This  is  the  only  mill  that  was  built  prior 
to  1845  that  is  still  standing,  and  even  this  has  been  greatly 
enlarged  and  improved,  being  now  nearly  four  times  as 
large  as  formerly.  In  1824  this  company  built  a  large  mill, 
271  feet  long  and  one  story  high,  taking  water  from  the  upper 


374 


HISTORY   OP   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


falls.  It  was  built  on  the  spot  where  the  upper  brick  mill 
now  stands,  and  to  put  in  the  foundation,  and  build  the  canal, 
wheel-pits,  and  raceways,  was  a  very  expensive  undertaking, 
much  of  the  work  being  rock  excavation.  The  plans  were  on 
a  large  scale,  but  caused  the  death  of  the  company  without 
its  making  a  dividend. 

Hampshire  Manufacturing  Company. — In  1829  the  Hamp- 
shire Manufacturing  Company  was  incorporated,  with  a  capi- 
tal of  $400,000,  and  purchased  all  of  the  property  of  the  Ware 
Con\pany.  In  1830  they  enlarged  the  woolen-mill  and  fur- 
nished it  with  7  sets  of  new  machinery.  In  the  great  financial 
crash  of  1837  the  Hampshire  Company  failed,  a  dividend  never 
liaving  been  declared  frimi  either  the  earnings  or  the  capital. 

Otis  Company. — In  1830  the  Otis  Company  was  organized, 
with  a  capital  of  §350,000.  They  purchased  all  the  property 
of  the  Hampshire  Manufacturing  Company  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river,  and  increased  their  capital  to  .?.j00,000.  In  June, 
184.5,  the  mill  built  by  the  Ware  Company  in  1824  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  The  company  immediately  began  the  erection 
of  a  new  brick  mill  on  the  same  site,  200  feet  long  by  50  feet 
wide,  and  five  stories  high.  They  also  built  one  the  same  year, 
of  stone,  of  the  same  size,  on  the  fall  below.  In  1856  and  1857 
the  (dd  mills  on  the  middle  fiills  were  taken  down,  and  a  new 
mill  was  erected,  200  feet  long  by  53  feet  wide,  and  six  stories 
high.  In  1869  an  addition  of  50  feet  in  length  was  made  to 
this  mill,  making  it  250  feet  long  by  .53  feet  wide.  The  mill 
is  built  of  brick,  and  is  to-day  as  handsome  a  factory  as  can 
be  found  in  Western  Massachusetts.  In  1801  the  Otis  Com- 
pany, in  connection  with  Mr.  Stevens,  built  a  new  dam  of 
granite,  quarried  in  the  western  part  of  this  town,  at  the 
middle  falls.  In  18G4  they  removed  the  looms  from  the  new 
mill,  and,  replacing  them  with  knitting-machines,  began  the 
manufacture  of  hosiery.  This  branch  of  their  business  pro- 
ving successful,  they  have  constantly  added  new  machines, 
not  only  for  the  manufacture  of  hosiery,  but  also  for  making 
gentlemen's  underwear.  The  knitting-machines  are  all  of  the 
best  English  workmanship,  and  were  imported  by  the  com- 
pany direct  from  England. 

The  company  are  now  running  in  their  three  mills  26, .568 
spindles,  70  looms,  and  about  75  knitting-machines,  which 
produce  annually  214,000  dozen  of  hose  and  gentlemen's  un- 
derwear, and  6,000,000  yards  of  denims,  stripes,  tickings,  and 
fan<'y  duckings.  The  value  of  these  goods  is  upward  of 
$1,200,000,  and  2,500,000  pounds  of  raw  cotton  are  consumed 
in  their  manufacture.  The  monthly  pay-roll  amounts  to  over 
§25,000,  and  the  company  employs  1100  persons.  The  com- 
pany also  have  a  large  mill  at  Palmer,  Mass.,  which  is  treated 
of  in  the  history  of  that  town.  The  agents  of  the  company, 
since  its  organization,  have  been:  from  1839  to  1852,  Henry 
Lyon  ;  from  18-52  to  18.50,  Arthur  L.  Devens  ;  from  1859  to 
1806,  S.  J.  Wethrell  ;  from  1806  to  1867,  J.  H.  Sawyer;  from 
1807  to  1870,  S.  J.  Wethrell;  from  1870  to  1871,  S.  B.  Bond; 
from  1877  to  date,  E.  H.  Baker. 

Gilbert  ^  Stevens. — In  1841,  Messrs.  George  H.  Gilbert  and 
Charles  A.  Stevens  came  from  North  Andover,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State,  and  purchased  of  the  assignees  of  the  Hamp- 
shire Company  all  the  property  belonging  to  them  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  including  the  water-power,  land, 
woolen-mill,  and  machinery.  These  gentlemen  formed  a  eo- 
partnershij]  under  the  name  of  Gilbert  &  Stevens,  and  began 
the  manufacture  of  broadcloth.  In  1840  they  built  a  new  mill 
on  the  fall  below  the  one  they  then  occupied,  and  put  in  four 
sets  of  woolen  machinery.  The  mill  was  five  stories  high, 
and  80  feet  Iqng  by  50  feet  wide,  and  was  built  of  granite 
taken  from  a  quarry  on  the  road  to  Warren.  In  1844  this 
firm  turned  their  attention  to  the  nuuuifacture  of  fine  flannels, 
and  so  great  was  their  success  that  their  goods  not  only  took 
the  front  rank  in  this  country,  but  at  the  "  World's  Fair" 
lield  in  London,  in  1851,  they  were  awarded  the  highest  prize 
(a  gold  medal)  over  all  the  competitors  of  the  Old  World.      In 


1851  the  firm  of  Gilbert  &  Stevens  W!is  dissolved,  and  a  divis- 
ion of  the  property  was  made,  Mr.  Gilbert  taking  the  new  mill, 
or,  as  it  was  called,  the  "Granite  Mill,"  and  Mr.  Stevens  re- 
ceiving the  old,  or  "  Ware  Woolen-Mill," 

George  H.  Oilbert  Manufacturing  Company. — Mr.  Gilbert 
continued  the  manufacture  of  white  flannels,  and  in  1857  be- 
gan the  production  of  opera  flannels.  In  1860  he  purchased 
the  property  in  Hardwick  known  as  the  "Old  Paper-Mill." 
Removing  the  old  mill,  he  erected  a  large  brick  factory  130 
feet  long  by  .55  feet  wide,  and  four  stories  high.  He  also  built 
many  other  buildings  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  village, 
which  has  since  received  the  name  of  Gilbertville,  in  honor 
of  its  founder.  About  this  time  the  firm  of  George  H.  Gilbert 
&  Co.  was  formed,  Mr.  Lewis  N.  Gilbert  being  admitted  as 
the  junior  partner.  In  1862  this  company  added  to  their 
other  business  the  manufacture  of  balmoral  skirts.  So  popular 
did  these  goods  prove  that  for  several  years  the  company 
was  unable  to  supply  the  demand,  though  they  kept  a  large 
part  of  their  works  running  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  In 
1867  they  built  another  large  mill  at  Gilbertville,  230  feet  long, 
68  feet  wide,  and  five  stories  high.  In  1869  the  firm  of  George 
H.  Gilbert  &  Co.  was  dissolved,  and  the  George  H.  Gilbert 
Manufacturing  Company  was  incorporated,  with  a  capital  of 
$350,000.  Mr.  George  H.  Gilbert  was  the  president  and  Mr. 
Lewis  N.  Gilbert  the  treasurer  of  the  corporation.  Mr.  George 
H.  Gilbert  died  May  6,  1869,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years. 
At  his  death,  Mr.  Lewis  N.  Gilbert  was  chosen  president 
and  Mr.  Charles  D.  Gilbert  treasurer  of  the  corporation. 
J.  H.  G.  Gilbert  is  secretary.  They  are  now  running  in 
their  mills  at  Gilbertville  28  set  of  cards  and  271  looms.  In 
their  mill  in  Ware  they  have  7  set  of  cards  and  80  looms, 
besides  the  machinery  necessary  for  finishing  all  the  goods 
manufactured  by  them  at  Gilbertville.  They  em]doy  upward 
of  700hands  in  all  their  mills.  This  company  produces  annually 
over  3, .500, 000  yards  of  various  grades  and  styles  of  fine  flan- 
nels, consuming  about  2,000,000  pounds  of  wool  per  year. 
Their  monthly  pay-roll  for  all  of  their  mills  is  about  $14,000. 

Ware  Woolen-Mills,  Charles  A.  Stevens  &  Co. — Mr.  Stevens, 
since  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Gilbert  &  Stevens,  in  1851, 
has  continued  the  manufacture  of  fine  white  flannels,  and 
within  the  last  few  years  has  been  extensively  engaged  in  the 
production  of  opera  flannels.  He  has  enlarged  the  old  mill 
built  by  the  Ware  Company  in  1825,  by  the  addition  of 
another  story,  and  about  60  feet  to  its  length.  In  1870  he  built 
a  new  building  just  east  of  the  old  mill,  which  is  known  as 
the  "Ware  Opera-House,"  not  on  account  of  its  musical  ca- 
pacities, but  because  it  is  used  almost  entirely  for  the  produc- 
tion and  finishing  of  opera  fiannels.  Mr.  Stevens  has  admitted 
his  son,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Stevens,  into  partnership,  and  the  firm 
is  known  as  Charles  A.  Stevens  &  Co.  When  running  full 
the  firm  produces  about  600,000  yards  of  fine  opera  flannels 
annually,  using  about  32.5,000  pounds  of  wool,  and  employing 
about  175  persons. 

Other  industries  have  existed  at  various  times.  The  princi- 
pal of  these  has  been  the  manufacture  of  straw  goods,  which 
was  commenced  in  Ware  in  1832  by  John  B.  Fairbank,  and 
afterward  pursued  by  Avery  Clark,  Lorenzo  Dcmond,  C.  E.  & 
H.  S.  Blood,  and  others.  The  manufacture  of  wagons,  boots 
and  shoes,  and  other  small  industries  is  still  carried  on  to  some 
extent  in  the  town. 

THK    OTIS    company's   GAS-WORKS 

are  located  on  Monroe  Street,  in  the  south  end  of  the  village. 
They  were  first  owned  by  the  Ware  Gas-Light  Company,  or- 
ganized in  1854,  and  consisting  of  the  Otis  Company  and 
Charles  A.  Stevens.  The  company  dissolved  in  1802,  when 
the  Otis  Company  became  sole  proprietors.  The  works  supply 
gas  through  the  village,  and  manufacture  about  2,000,000  feet 
annually.  William  Metcalf  has  been  the  superintendent  of 
the  works  for  the  past  twenty-two  years. 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


375 


MILITARY. 

The  military  record  of  Ware  is  highly  creditable.  To  the 
earlier  wars  the  town  sent  a  number  of  her  citizens  whose 
names  it  is  impossible  now  to  give.  During  the  war  of  the 
Kevolution,  when  money  was  scarce,  the  inhabitants,  being 
poor,  sufl'ered  great  hardships.  They  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  destitute  of  patriotism,  for  the  records  show  that  they 
made  great  effijrts  to  comply  with  the  requisitions  for  men  and 
supplies.  On  Aug.  29,  1774,  fifty  pounds  of  powder  and  two 
hundred  pounds  of  lead  were  provided  by  the  town,  and  a 
committee  of  correspondence,  consisting  of  John  Downing, 
Wm.  Brakenridge,  Joseph  Foster,  Maverick  Smith,  Benj. 
Cummings,  Samuel  Dinsmore,  Lemuel  Bhickemer,  Abraham 
Cummings,  and  Thomas  Jenkins,  was  chosen.  On  December 
2Gth,  of  the  same  year,  James  Lemmon,  Jonathan  Rogers, 
Daniel  Gould,  and  Joseph  Patterson  were  added  to  the  com- 
mittee. 

In  1777  the  town  "voted  to  raise  eight  men  for  the  Conti- 
nental army,  and  to  give  each  man  ,£20  as  a  bounty  from  the 
town."  In  1778,  "voted  to  raise  the  clothing  for  the  soldiers, 
to  allow  $6  a  pair  for  shoes,  |4  a  pair  for  stockings,  10  shillings 
a  yard  for  cloth  a  yard  wide.  Edward  Demond,  Jr.,  to  provide 
21  yards."  These  prices  were  in  consequence  of  the  deprecia- 
tion of  the  Continental  money. 

"  lu  August,  178(1,  the  rebelliun  bt-gaii  to  make  truiililt!  in  Western  Mitssachu- 
eetts,  and  a  town-meeting  was  calleil  on  the  18tli  ttp  'wee  if  the  town  will  uliooso 
a  delegate  or  delegates  to  attend  at  a  connty  convention  that  is  appointed  to  bo 
liolden  at  Hatfield,  on  Tnesday,  the  22d  of  Augnst  iiiMt.,  at  10  a.m.,  at  the  Imnso 
of  Col.  Seth  Blurray,  to  see  if  a  constitntional  way  of  relief  or  some  legal  method 
cannot  be  proposed  for  the  security  and  safety  of  the  good  people  of  thia  com- 
monwealth, against  the  burdens  and  distresses  that  prevail  at  the  present  day.' 
(_'apt.  Bullon  was  chosen  to  go  to  t!ie  convention.  David  Brown,  Isaac  Pepper, 
and  Daniel  Gould  wore  chosen  a  committee  to  give  directions  to  Capt.  Biillfii. 
In  November,  lajtac  Pepper  WiW  chosen  delegate  t*.)  a  convention  at  Iladley,  anil 
in  Jan.,  17S7,  to  another  at  Hatfield. 

"  Voted  to  send  a  petition  to  the  fteueral  Court  for  a  Redress  of  Grievances, 
chose  a  committee  of  five  men  to  make  a  draft  of  a  Petition,  chose  Isaac  Pepper, 
Lieut.  Cummings,  TVIr.  Samuel  Dinsmore,  Capt.  Brakenridge,  and  Mr.  William 
Paige." 

"  Feb.  1, 1787,  voted  to  send  three  men  aa  a  comaiiittee  to  General  Lincoln  and 
Cai't.  Shays  to  consult  on  some  measures  for  jteace ;  chose  Capt.  Brakenridge,  Mr. 
Parker,  and  THosea  Brown. 

"  Voted  tliat  this  town  Do  not  allow  of  any  property  being  brought  and  kept 
in  this  town  as  prizes,  except  the  person  bring  a  receipt,  that  possesses  said  prop- 
erty, from  the  commander  of  the  department  from  whence  such  pn>iierty  is 
brought,  that  they  have  a  wright  Ut  the  same." 

"  VotM  that  this  Town,  as  a  t^iwn,  Do  not  allow  of  any  sleighs,  horses,  or  per- 
sons being  wtopt  on  the  Public  R<-)ads  by  any  Persons." 

"After  the  di8turl)ancc8  growing  out  of  the  Shays  war  were  passed,  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  government  was  required  to  be  taken  by  town  officers,  and 
for  several  years  it  was  copied  into  the  records  and  signed  by  those  of  wliom  it 
was  required." 

.Ian.  If),  1787, "  voted  to  rea<l  a  copy  of  a  Pertition  Drawn  up  by  the  Convention. 
Voted  that  the  people  are  Dissatisfied  with  Grievances  tin<ler  the  Present  mode 
of  Government.  Voted  the  12  articles  of  Grievances  ad(q)tod  by  tlio  (_'onven- 
tions." 

The  feelings  of  the  town  with  reference  to  the  rebellion  of 
Shays  were  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  though  the 
names  of  the  soldiers  who  served  in  the  insurrection,  if  any, 
are  not  known. 

With  the  war  of  1812  the  town  did  not  sympathize,  although 
a  number  of  citizens  were  drafted  and  marched  to  Boston. 
Among  these  were  Capt.  Scott  and  Allender  Brakenridge. 
The  story  is  told  of  the  latter,  that  upon  being  asked  tlie  date 
of  Capt.  Scott's  commission  (with  a  view  of  fixing  his  seni- 
ority), he  replied  "  that  he  was  unable  to  say,  but  had  heard 
that  Capt.  Scott  was  Orderly  Serf/emit  under  Pontius  Pllafr." 

WAR    OF    THE    RKBELLION. 

The  record  of  few  towns  was  more  patriotic  in  the  late  Ke- 
bellion  than  that  of  Ware.  As  early  as  May,  1861,  meetings 
began  to  be  held  in  the  town,  and  were  continued  during  the 
war.  The  resolutions  adopted  evince  the  most  patriotic  spirit 
and  the  most  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  Union  cause,  and 
the  quota  of  volunteers  for  the  supj)ression  of  the  KebcUion 
was  promptly  furnished. 


MILITARY    RECORD. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  soldiers  who  served  in  the  army 
during  the  Rebellion,  as  compiled  from  the  town  records: 

Isaac  Alexander,  Julius  G.  Barnes,  William  II.  Bacon,  .lohn  Buckley,  Luke  II. 
Bhickmer,  Marble  F.  Bacon,  Perez  Blackmer,  Almus Bliss,  Thonuis  Biash- 
nahan,  Nelson  F.  Bond,  Wyatt  M.  Bassett,  IMHtthcw  Bannister, George  F. 
Barr,  Albert  Bennett,  Henry  P.  Brainard,  Sylvester  B.  Bond,  Martin  L. 
Barnes,  Newell  A.  Bacon,  Frank  Baker,  Charles  II.  U.  Ball,  Daniel  Buck- 
ley, William  A.  Barton,  K.  A.  Bassett,  William  Biirtlett,  Joseph  Balislo, 
Daniel  \V.  Barton,  Henry  S.  Blood,  Lucius  H  Cliilsou,  Edwin  II.  Coney, 
Charles  Oonverso,  Julius  A.  Cushman,  Thos.  Cavonaiigh,  Daniel  Coombs, 
Hugh  Costello,  George  S.  Canterbury,  Henry  (».  Caryl,  George  Caslndl, 
Hubert  M.  Coney,  Frederick  Corbit,  Marcus  W.  Cowles,  James  Oaven, 
James  Corinell,  Otis  Cummings,  Charles  Crocker,  Jiimes  Dompsey,  Thos. 
Donnovan,  Edward  Dowd,  Alexander  Dick,  George  H.  Demond,  James 
Davis,  Jr.,  John  W.  Dunbar,  Lawrence  Dunbar,  Francis  Denney,  Alpheiia 
Demond,  Frank  H.  Eastwood,  Luther  Fairbank,  Alfred  Fisherdick,  Jiis. 
S.  Fisherdick,  Eugene  Fletcher,  Elmer  II.  French,  George  E.  Fairliank, 
Joseph  Foster,  Charles  Fletcher,  SebastiaTi  Grundell,  J.  Duff  Green,  J. 
GfHham,  Walter  F.  Gardner,  John  M.  Gibbs,  John  Glinn,  Michael  Good- 
win, H.  v.  B.  Grout,  John  W.  Gage,  Joseph  D.  Green,  Thomas  H.  Gaynor 
Luther  Gilbert,  Orran  H.  Howard,  Warren  V.  Howard,  William  F.  Hat- 
statt,  Daniel  Hampton,  Edward  A.  Howhuid,  Henry  C.  HasUnys,  Harri- 
son Hill,  Patrick  Hayes,  W.  S.  B.  Hopkins,  Newton  F.  Hitchcock,  Wm. 
A.  Howard,  Otis  Ilolden,  Daniel  Holdeti,  Charles  Uannum,  John  C. 
Johnston,  J.  Edwaid  JenningH,  Emery  W.  Johnson,  Charles  A.  Johnston, 
James  Kcnney,  John  .S.  Kilmer,  Hansom  Kendall,  David  Kennedy,  Jos. 
W.  Lawton,  Charles  T.  Lamberton,  John  Lasliua,  David  P.  Lamb,  Wm. 
E.  Lewis,  Henry  G.  Lamberton,  E.  F.  Mudgett,  Wm.  McMahan,  Alexan- 
der Murdock,  Richard  McNaney,  Patrick  McMahan,  Itobert  h.  Mahon, 
George  L.  Marsh,  John  F.  Mutt,  John  McKellup,  Michael  Mclvinney, 
Patrick  Maloney,  Michael  O'Brien,  James  W.  Oliiey,  Thomas  O'SuUlvan, 
Clark  J.  Osborn,  Lewis  C.  Olds,  Daniel  L.  Osborne,  Henry  S.  0«borne, 
Charles  Piirmcnter,  Emereon  0.  Puffer,  John  F.  Phelps,  Joseph  Quirillian, 
Thomas  Ronan,  Thomas  E.  Raymond,  Henry  M,  Robbins,  Jos.  D.  Rogers, 
Joseph  .Stone,  Charles  Snow,  Samuel  H.  Sawin,  Royal  A.  Smith,  James 
O.  Seaniens,  Charles  Searncns.  Milton  Sagendorph,  Edward  Sagendorph, 
Sihis  A.  Spoonor,  Charles  F.  Stearns,  Frank  D.  Stearns,  Robert  C.  Sally, 
Francis  N.  Simonds,  George  W.  Snow,  George  W.  Stevens,  William  D. 
Shell,  Theodore  D.  Shaw,  Michael  Thoi  ntoii,  Dennis  Towne,  Ilollis  Tur- 
ner, Dwight  A.  Taylor,  Daniel  Tierney,  Frank  E.  Tledale,  James  W.Tis- 
dale,  Charles  E.  Tisdale,  Alonzo  White,  Henry  Walker,  Ezm  P.  Warbur- 
ton,  Hiram  A.  Wilcox,  Jr.,  J.  H.  Wilcox,  Chauncey  Wilcox,  William 
Wilherow,  Chailes  E.  Woodward,  Jolin  Woodis,  Hiram  Warburion, 
Wales  J.  Wilder,  William  H,  Washburn,  Asa  Breckinridge,  ('hauncey 
Converse,  Hiram  Cowles,  George  P.  Davis,  Alpheus  Demond,  William  B. 

Gould,  John  R.  Groenleaf,   Samuel  A.  Hall,  Haskell,    William  F. 

Howard,  Jcdin  W.  Howe,  J.  Gilbert  Hill,  Charles  S.  Knight,  Stillman  C. 
Lond,  John  W.  Robinson,  W.  E.  Wright,  J.  W.  Hastings,  Patrick  Hoylc, 
John  Boyle,  U<^iry  Burton,  Silas  A.  Barton,  Horace  Cowles,  James  L. 
Dunbar,  George  -F.  Dunbar,  Edward  L.  Foster,  William  H.  (Jibbs,  Sidney 
Hewitt,  William  Hasting,  Alva  A.  Knights,  Timothy  Lond,  George  S. 
Marsh,  David  Rogers,  William  Towne. 

On  -March  4,  1807,  the  town,  in  recognition  of  the  patriotic 
services  of  her  soldiers  who  fell  in  the  war,  appropriated  the 
sum  of  $r200  to  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  their  memory. 
It  stands  in  Aspen  Grove  Cemetery,  near  the  principal  en- 
trance, and  presents  a  beautiful  and  imposing  appearance. 
The  inscription  on  the  face  is  : 

"OCR   PATRIOT   SOLDIERS,  IMCT). 
"N.  C.  Andrews,  G.    F.  Barr,  J.  Buckley,  O.  Cummings,  J.  M.  Dunbar,  A, 
Fisherdick,  J.  M.  Gage,  J.  Glynn,  W.  Hastings,  J.  C.  Johnston,  R.  McNaiiry,  A. 

B.  Murdock,  J.  J.  Rogers,  F.  H.  Saunders,  G.  W.  Snow,  J.  W.  Tisdale,  J.  Woodis, 

C.  II.  R.  Ball,  E.  A.  Barr,  H.  A.  Crocker,  G.  F.  Dunbar,  F.  H.  Eastwood,  J.  S. 
Fisherdick,  W.  F.  Gardner,  H.  V.  B.  Grout,  W.  F.  Howard,  J.  W.  Lawt^m,  M. 
McNancy,  L.  C.  Olds,  T.  Ronan,  W.  D.  Snell,  J.  Stone,  W.  Witherow,  W.  E. 

Wright. 

"  1867." 

On  the  right  side  are  the  names  of  P.  Malony,  P.  Denny,  T. 
Stafford,  W.  F.  Hastat,  H.  A.  Wilcox,  G.  Gashell,  1).  Comb.K, 
N.  A.  Graw. 

For  assistance  rendtTcd  in  the  conipilation  of  ihis  history, 
the  writer  is  chiefly  indebted  to  the  Hon.  William  llyde^ 
whose  excellent  address,  delivered  at  the  o])ening  of  tiie  new 
town-hall,  March  31,  1847,  supplemented  by  his  personal  co- 
operation, has  been  of  great  value.  Thanks  are  also  due  to 
Otis  Lane,  Esq.,  Hon,  Chas.  A.  Stevens,  Benj.  Bond,  the 
town  clerk,  pastors,  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  other  citi- 
zens, who  have  cordially  assisted  in  the  work. 


376 


HISTORY  OP  THE   COxVNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

HON.  CHARLES  A.  STEVENS 
was  born  at  North  Andover,  Essex  Co.,  Mass.,  Aug.  9,  1816. 
His  father,  Nathaniel  Stevens,  was  one  of  the  earliest  woolen 
manufacturers  in  this  country,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  war 
of  1812.  His  grandfather  served  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  was  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  His  great-grandfother 
was  killed  at  Lake  George  during  the  French-and-Indian  war. 
Their  record  was  one  of  brave  and  faithful  service. 

Mr.  Stevens  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools, 
and  at  the  Franklin  Academy,  in  Andover,  Mass.  He  then 
spent  a  year  in  travel  and  study  abroad,  returning  to  this 
country  in  August,  1841,  when  he  commenced  business  as  a 
manufacturer  of  woolen  goods,  at  Ware,  Mass.,  in  company 
with  the  late  Hon.  George  H.  Gilbert,  under  the  firm-name  of 
Gilbert  &  Stevens.  The  firm  wa.s  dissolved  in  1851,  Mr.  Ste- 
vens taking  the  old  mill,  where  he  continued  in  the  same  busi- 
ness. In  1872  he  formed  a  copartnership  with  his  eldest  son, 
Charles  E.  Stevens,  under  the  firm-name  of  Charles  A.  Ste- 
vens &  Co. ;  which  business  relations  still  exist. 


Mr.  Stevens  commenced  his  political  life  as  a  Democrat,  but 
he  would  not  follow  his  party  when  to  follow  it  wils  to  sustain 
slavery,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  the  anti-slavery 
ranks.  It  meant  something  and  cost  something  in  those  days 
to  take  this  position.  He  remained  a  leader  and  earnest 
worker  in  the  Free-Soil  party,  and  has  ever  been  on  the  side 
of  freedom  and  equal  rights  for  all. 

He  has  held  many  offices  in  the  town,  and  trusts  of  a  public 
nature.  Mr.  Stevens  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
House  of  Representatives  in  18-53,  and  was  on  the  committee 
on  banks  and  banking,  and  he  took  an  active  part  in  shaping 
the  legislation  on  this  subject.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Republican  Convention  which  nominated  Lincoln  in  1860,  and 
also  to  the  convention  which  nominated  Grant  in  1868.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  in  1866  and  1867. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  43d  Congress  from  the  10th  Massa- 
chusetts District,  filling  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Hon.  Alvah  Crocker. 

Mr.  Stevens  married,  in  1842,  Maria  Tyler,  daughter  of  the 
late  Jonathan  Tyler,  of  Lowell,  Mass.  He  has  two  sons  and 
one  daughter. 


ENFIELD. 


OKOfiUArilK'AL. 

The  town  of  Enfield  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county  of  Hampshire,  and  is  bounded  on  tlie  north  by  Pres- 
cott  and  Pelham,  on  the  south  by  Ware,  on  the  east  by  Green- 
wich and  Hardwick,  and  on  the  west  by  Belchertown,  in  the 
same  county.  It  occupies  a  territory  about  five  and  a  quarter 
miles  long  and  three  and  a  half  wide,  comprising  about  twelve 
thousand  acres  of  land.  The  eastern  and  western  lines  of  the 
town  are  quite  irregular  ;  the  northern  and  southern  are  nearly 
east-and-west  lines. 

NATURAL    FEATURES.       , 

The  town  is  neither  mountainous  nor  very -level  ;  the  surface 
is  interspersed  with  hills  of  respectable  proportions.  Great 
Quabbin  Mount  lies  south  of  the  village,  and  attains  an  eleva- 
tion of  about  500  feet  above  Swift  River.  Mount  Ram,  north 
and  west  of  the  main  village,  rises  to  an  altitude  of  300  feet, 
while  Little  Quahbiii,  which  lies  north  and  east  of  the  village, 
is  somewhat  smaller.  The  view  from  the  summits  of  these 
mountains  is  truly  picturesque,  overlooking  a  wide  range  of 
country.     Smaller  hills  exist  in  difterent  parts  of  the  town. 

The  town  is  well  watered  by  the  east  and  west  branches  of 
Swift  River,  the  latter  partly  separating  Enfield  from  Belcher- 
town. The  east  branch  furnishes  several  fine  water-privileges, 
which  have  been  utilized  by  the  manufacturing  enterprises  of 
the  town  from  an  early  day.  Cadwell  Creek,  an  affluent  of 
the  west  branch,  waters  the  western  section,  while  several 
small  brooks  exist  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 

Trane  and  Morton  ponds  are  small  bodies  of  water  in  the 
southeastern  jiart  of  the  town. 

The  soil  of  Enfield  is  productive,  though  not  of  the  richest 
character,  producing  the  cereals,  with  the  exception  of  wheat, 
in  fair  abundance.  The  best  laud  lies  in  the  valley,  through 
which  flows  the  east  branch  of  the  river. 

Indian  arrow-heads,  and  other  Indian  relics,  that  are  occa- 
sionally found  in  the  neighborhood  of  Little  Qimbbi?i,  evince 
the  former  occupation  of  the  soil  by  the  red  man. 

RAILROADS. 

The  Springfield,  Athol,  and  Northwestern  Kailroad  tra- 
verses the  town  north  and  south.     U  was  first  located  in  the 


fall  of  1872,  and  has  two  stations  in  the  town, — one  at  the 
lower  village  and  another  at  the  upper  village,  which  latter  is 
designated  as  "Smith's  Station."  Another  railroad,  known 
as  the  Massachusetts  Central,  has  been  located  and  i)artly 
finished,  but  has  not  yet  been  put  in  working  order. 

SETTLEMENT. 

Of  the  condition  and  character  of  the  territory  of  Enfield 
prior  to  its  first  settlement  by  the  whites  but  little  information 
can  be  given.  The  Indians  left  the  neighborhood  some  time 
before  the  settlement,  and  lying,  as  it  did,  between  the  two 
routes  of  travel  from  Boston  westward,  its  loeatioii  was 
mostly  unknown.  Tradition  says  that  the  soil  was  considered 
very  good,  and  that  it  was  covered  with  a  forest  of  very  heavy 
timber.  The  land  on  the  hills  is  said  to  have  been  very  fer- 
tile, not  only  producing  large  trees,  but  grass  in  abundance. 
Great  (luabbin  was  thought  by  the  early  inhabitants  to  con- 
tain valuable  ores ;  noises  and  explosions  were  frequently 
heard  in  the  hill  by  people  living  on  the  east  side,  and  the 
quaking  is  said  to  have  been  so  heavy  at  times  as  to  rattle  the 
dishes  on  the  shelves  in  the  houses. 

The  territory  of  Enfield  was  originally  included  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Greenwich,  being  known  before  the  in- 
corporation of  the  latter  town  by  the  general  name  of  (^uabbin. 
Part  of  the  town  was  also  comprised  in  the  "  Equivalent 
lands"  referred  to  in  the  history  of  Ware. 

The  exact  date  of  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  cannot  be 
given.  The  first  grant  of  the  land  was  made  by  the  General 
Court  on  Jan.  14,  1736,  to  whom  and  under  what  conditions  a 
reference  to  the  history  of  the  town  of  Greenwich  will  fully  dis- 
close. It  is  probable  that  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  com- 
menced about  that  date.  David  Patterson,  the  "  first  native  of 
the  town,"  was  born  in  the  year  1735,  and  was  a  son  of  John 
Patterson,  whose  name  is  mentioned  in  the  original  grant, 
and  who  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  first  white  settler  of 
Enfield.  He  located  about  a  mile  south  of  the  village,  and 
built  his  first  rude  dwelling  near  a  high  rock,  that  stood  on 
the  Josiah  W.  Flint  farm.  He  brought  with  him  two  sons, 
William  and  James.  They  settled  on  the  present  McMillin 
farm,  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  soon  after  their  father 
located. 


Res.ofHENRY    FOBES,  Emfield.Mass. 


Res  of  J.  J  HOWE,  Enfield,  Mass. 


Res. OF  DAVID   BLODGETT.  EnreldMass. 


IIISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


377 


.Tolm  Patlorsoii,  with  the  Stevensons  (of  whom  David  was 
one)  and  lIcMillins,  who  settled  in  the  town  soon  after  Patter- 
son, about  the  year  1742,  were  Presbyterians,  from  the  North 
of  Irehind.  The  young  Pattersons  were  "mighty  hunters" 
and  expert  wrestlers.  David  Patterson  had  three  sons, — 
Robert,  Oliver,  and  John.  He  was  a  superior  wrestler,  and 
it  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  a  messenger  came  down  from 
New  Salem  for  him  at  midnight  to  visit  the  latter  place  to 
wrestle  with  a  man  who  had  overthrown  all  competitors.  He 
responded  to  the  call,  laid  the  champion  on  his  back,  and  re- 
turned the  same  day.  Of  the  Stevensons  there  were  four 
brothers.  Edward  and  Isaac  were  hatters,  and  lived  and  worked 
in  the  Hooker  house ;  their  shop  for  felting  and  dyeing  hats 
was  on  the  bank  of  the  river  below  the  house.  John  lived  on 
the  farm  situated  on  the  hill  north  of  the  Lamson  place. 

Another  early  settler  of  the  town  was  John  Kca,  W'ho  re- 
sided, in  17(54,  south  of  the  village,  near  the  IJondsville  road. 
Several  brothers  lived  in  town  about  the  same  time.  Thej' 
were  large  land-owners,  and  built  several  houses.  Some  of 
them  subsequently  removed  to  Pittsford,  N.  Y. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Carver  settled  early  in  the  town,  and 
owned  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  Swift 
River,  including  the  farms  of  S.  Boynton  and  S.  S.  Pope,  and 
a  wide  strip  of  land  on  that  side  down  to  the  Cabot  place. 

Other  families  who  settled  early  in  the  town,  all  of  them 
prior  to  17II3,  were  Sylvanus  Howe,  son  of  Lieut.  Howe,  who 
preceded  him,  and  who  lived  on  the  road  to  Belchertown, 
about  two  miles  from  the  village  of  Entield,  where  his  son, 
Joseph  J.  Howe,  now  resides ;  Daniel  Howard,  who  located 
on  the  "  old  Howard  place,"  where  his  father  had  preceded 
him,  and  where  his  descendants,  the  Crosbys,  still  reside ; 
David  Newcomb,  who  lived  in  the  east  part  of  the  town ; 
Capt.  Joseph  Hooker  (grandfather  of  Gen.  Joseph  Hooker, 
prominent  in  the  late  war),  who  was  a  large  tract-owner  in 
the  town,  owning  most  of  the  land  between  the  two  villages, 
and  who  lived  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  residence  of 
Edward  P.  Smith;  Robert  Field,  also  a  large  tract-owner, 
and  a  man  of  enterprise,  public  spirit,  and  great  personal 
popularity,  and  who  lived  opposite  the  present  residence  of 
Chas.  Richards,  Esq. ;  Benjamin  Harwood,  who  early  left 
Hardwick,  where  he  was  born,  settling  first  in  Greenwich, 
where  he  married  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Robert  Cutler,  the  first 
minister  of  that  town,  and  who  settled  finally  at  the  upper 
village  of  Enfield,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life; 
Nathan  Hunting,  who  settled  on  the  Cabot  place,  and  early- 
engaged  in  the  business  of  a  miller  ;  Caleb  Keith,  who  settled 
in  the  west  part  of  the  town  ;  William  Stone,  who  located 
where  Ezra  Cary  now  lives ;  Ebenezer  Daggett,  who  located 
where  Warren  Sadler  now  resides,  and  who.  had  a  blacksmith- 
shop  near  his  house  ;  James  Richards,  who  was  horn  Dec.  13, 
17(J6,  and  who  finally  settled  in  the  east  ])art  of  the  town, 
where  Sidney  R.  Richards  now  resides,  passing  an  honorable 
and  useful  life,  and  leaving  a  posterity  that  have  been  an 
honor  to  his  name  and  to  the  town  in  which  they  were  born ; 
Joseph  Ruggles,  who  lived  about  four  miles  south  of  the  vil- 
lage ;  Abner  Eddy,  who  resided  where  W'ashington  Aldrich 
now  lives;  Ebenezer  and  Barnabus  Rich,  the  first  of  whom 
owned  an  early  grist-mill  in  the  town,  and  lived  where  Benj. 
Harwood  now  resides,  and  the  latter  of  whom  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  war ;  Joseph  Pobes,  who  lived  in  the  south 
part  of  the  town  ;  William  Jlorton,  who  lived  on  the  old 
Monson  turnpike,  where  L.  M.  Morton  now  lives,  and 
Nathaniel  Lane,  who  lived  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the 
village,  where  Geo.  L.  Richards  now  lives. 

Other  early  families  were  those  of  Oliver  Kinsley,  who  lived 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  near  where  John  Rohan  now 
lives  ;  Phineas  Howe,  who  lived  on  the  place  now  occupied  by 
C.  M.  Howe  ;  John  Rich,  father  of  William,  who  lived  where 
the  Thurston  famih-  now  resides  ;  Moses  Colton,  who  occupied 
the  house  now  the  Swift  River  Hotel;  Simeon  Stone,  who 
48 


lived  in  the  old  "  Flemming  house;"  Paul  Paine,  who  re- 
sided on  the  old  Monson  turnpike,  near  the  Richards  place, 
and  who  was  a  sea-captain  ;  Rufus  Powers,  who  resided  at 
the  upper  village,  where  Mr.  Bliss  now  lives;  Ichabod  Ran- 
dall, who  came  from  Bridgewater,  and  settled,  as  early  as 
1775,  in  Enfield,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  on  the  place 
now  occupied  by  Alvin  Randall,  and  whose  descendants  still 
live  in  town;  and  Simeon  Waters,  who  settled  early  in  the 
town,  and  was  a  cloth-dres.ser  and  wool-carder  by  trade,  and 
who  removed  to  Millburj-  about  1830. 

Other  early  names  are  those  of  Rider,  Cadwell,  Clitford, 
Colburn,  Drake,  Collins,  Wheeler,  Mitchell,  Lathrop,  Rug- 
gles, Swetland,  Pratt,  Underwood,  Wiuslow,  Bailey,  Rice, 
Briggs,  Gross,  Gibbs,  Clark,  Torrance,  Lyman,  Osborne,  For- 
bush,  Messinger,  Woodward,  Mcintosh,  Adams,  Chickering, 
Bartlett,  Shearer,  Newell,  Gilbert,  Hanks,  Barton,  Lamson, 
Kenttield,  Weeks,  Cary,  Snow,  Pope,  Smith,  Hawes,  AVoods, 
and  Jones. 

All  traces  of  most  of  these  earliest  families  have  entirely 
di-sappeared  from  the  town,  and  concerning  those  that  are  still 
nearly  or  remotely  represented  in  the  town  but  little  reliable 
information  can  be  obtained.  Mention  may  be  made  of  a 
few. 

The  Woods  family  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  those  now  rep- 
resented, and  has  probably  contributed  more  than  any  other 
to  the  industrial,  educational,  and  moral  development  of  the 
community. 

Aaron  Woods  came  from  New  Braintree,  at  the  age  of 
twentj',  and  settled  in  Enfield  about  the  year  1780.  He  es- 
tub'isi  ed  himself  south  of  the  village,  purchasing  Great  Quab- 
bin  Mountain  and  the  adjoining  land.  On  that  mountain  he 
erected  his  first  dwelling-house,  which  finally  gave  way  to  a 
second.  This  house  was  afterward  removed  and  remodeled, 
and  is  now  the  farm-house  of  Capt.  William  B.  Kimball. 
Mr.  W^oods  had  a  family  of  ten  children, — five  sons  and  five 
daughters.  The  names  of  these  children  were  Aaron,  Moses, 
Leonard,  Sally,  Josiah  B.,  Catharine,  Serena,  Patty,  Jon- 
athan E.,  and  Anna.     Anna  died  quite  young. 

Aaron,  the  eldest,  left  home  at  an  early  age  and  learned 
the  trade  of  nail-making,  removed  to  Canada  and  taught 
school  during  the  war  of  1812,  and,  having  married,  returned 
to  Enfield  about  182-5  or  1826.  He  located  where  his  widow, 
Mrs.  Caroline  Woods,  now  resides,  and  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  hand-cards  and  card-clothing.  His  children  now 
living  are  Leonard,  who  resides  in  Boston  and  is  a  broker  by 
profession ;  J.  Edwards,  who  keeps  a  store  in  Enfield  and  is 
postmaster  of  that  town;  Josiah  B.,  residing  in  Enfield; 
Caroline  M.,  also  living  in  Enfield;  Harriet  D.,  formerly  a 
teacher  in  the  State  Primar}'  School  at  Monson,  but  now  re- 
siding in  Enfield  ;  and  Catharine,  who  married  John  N.  Lacy, 
of  Palmer,  Mass. 

Moses,  the  next  child,  left  town  early,  and  learned  the  trade 
of  a  wool-carder  and  cloth-dresser,  and,  after  living  at  South 
Hadley  Falls  and  Montague,  married  and  returned  to  Enfield 
about  1824  or  1825.  He  built  the  house  where  J.  Scott  Wil- 
der now  lives,  and  after  residing  there  for  a  time  removed  to 
a  farm  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  now  occupied  by  Henry 
Webster,  and  there  died,  in  1845. 

Leonard,  the  third  child,  was  born  May  7,  1792,  and  early 
in  life  located  near  the  present  site  of  the  Minot  Manufac- 
turing Company's  mill.  The  house  which  he  first  occupied 
stands  near  the  residence  of  Augustus  Moody.  He  afterward 
resided  where  Mrs.  Martha  S.  Howe  now  lives.  He  was 
largely  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  cards  and  woolen 
cloth  in  Enfield.  His  children  were  Anna,  the  wife  of  Ariel 
Parrish,  superintendent  of  public  schools  in  the  city  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.  ;  Rufus  D.,  residing  in  Enfield  ;  Persis  C,  the 
wife  of  Rev.  George  C.  Curtis,  D.D.,  of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. ; 
Charlotte,  deceased,  wife  of  Daniel  B.  Gillett,  of  Enfield ; 
Amanda  M.  and  Susan  H.,  both  deceased;  Leonard  A.,  who 


378 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


died  young;  Elizabeth  E.,  wife  of  Eev.  Benj.  Labaree,  a 
missionary  in  Persia;  and  Ellen,  who  died  young.  Sally 
and  Catharine  Woods  lived  in  Enfield  until  their  decease. 

Josiah  B.  first  located  in  the  village,  but  finally  erected  the 
building  and  lived  where  Capt.  Wni.  B.  Kimball  now  resides. 
He  was  long  and  successfully  identified  with  the  manufactur- 
ing enterprises  of  the  town.  He  had  children :  Henry,  who 
died  young;  Josiah  B.,  Jr.,  who  also  died  young;  Charlotte 
J.,  the  wife  of  Edward  P.  Smith,  of  Enfield  ;  Fanny,  wife  of 
Capt.  Wm.  B.  Kimball,  of  Enfield  ;  Anna  and  Elizabeth,  who 
died  young;  Mary,  wife  of  W.  E.  Chandler,  of  New  Haven  ; 
and  Robert  M.,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Hat- 
field, JIass. 

Patty  became  the  first  wife  of  Ichabod  Pope,  of  Enfield, 
and  died  without  children ;  Serena  became  the  second  wife 
of  Mr.  Pope,  and  had  three  children,  all  of  whom  are  now 
living  in  Providence,  R.  I. 

Jonathan  E.  settled  in  Enfield,  and  married  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  Gen.  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  of  Amherst.  He  had  one  child, 
who  died  young  and  was  buried  with  its  father,  the  wife  fol- 
lowing soon  after. 

Freeman  Pope  came  from  Bridgewater,  and  settled  in  1799 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town  of  Enfield,  on  the  farm  now  oc- 
cupied by  Lyman  D.  Potter.  His  son  Ichabod  was  born  in 
Bridgewater  in  1790,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  early  resi- 
dents of  the  town  now  living.  Solon  S.  Pope  was  born  Oct. 
28,  180.3,  in  Enfield,  and  is  still  living  in  the  town.  Wm.  R. 
Pope,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  born  in  Enfield  in  1803,  and 
passed  a  large  portion  of  his  life  in  the  town.  Melenette,  a 
daughter  of  Freeman  Pope,  was  born  in  1800,  and  is  also  re- 
siding in  Providence.  The  remainder  of  his  eleven  children 
are  deceased. 

Jesse  Fobes  came  from  Bridgewater  in  1796,  and  settled  in 
an  old  house  that  stood  on  the  Fobes  farm,  about  thirty  or 
forty  rods  from  the  present  residence  of  Deacon  Henry  Fobes, 
who  was  four  years  of  age  when  his  father  came  to  town. 
Judge  Charles  Forbes,*  of  Northampton, judgeof  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  a  son  of  Jesse  Fobes  and  half-brother 
of  Henry,  was  born  in  the  town,  and  removed  to  Northamp- 
ton in  1818. 

The  Jones  brothers,  who  afterward  became  prominentl}' 
identified  with  the  business  interests  of  Enfield,  came  to  town 
with  their  mother,  who  became  the  wife  of  Robert  Field,  Esq. ,  in 
the  first  part  of  the  present  century.  Their  names,  in  the  order 
of  age,  were  Elnathan,  Marshall,  Thomas,  and  Samuel,  and 
the  impress  of  their  energy  and  business  qualifications  is  still 
felt  in  the  town,  where  some  of  their  descendants  reside. 

Elihu  Lyman,  Esq.,  located  in  Enfield  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Field,  Esq.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  lawyers  who  practiced  in  town,  built  and  re- 
sided in  the  present  Congregational  parsonage  building,  and 
died  there. 

Ephraim  Richards  came  from  South  Deerficld  to  Enfield, 
in  IKll,  having  formerly  resided  at  Ashford,  Conn.,  Holden, 
Mass.,  and  Montague,  Mass.  He  was  a  merchant  and  manu- 
facturer in  Enfield,  and  a  man  of  prominence  until  his  death. 
He  was  a  representative  to  the  General  Court  several  terms, 
the  first  treasurer  of  Enfield,  and  a  member  of  the  last  Con- 
stitutional Convention.  His  sons,  Chas.  Richards,  Esq.,  trial- 
justice,  and  George  L.  Richards,  still  reside  in  the  town. 

Hartford  Hawes  came  from  Rentum  bj'  way  of  Bclcher- 
town,  where  lie  tarried  for  a  time,  and  settled  in  Enfield  in 
1811,  in  a  house  that  stood  about  where  George  L.  Richards' 
orchard  now  is.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  His  sons, 
Lewis  and  John  H.,  still  reside  in  the  town,  the  former  having 
pursued  the  occujiatiun  of  a  shoenialier  fur  the  last  twenty- 
seven  years. 

David   and  Alvin   Smitli   came   from   Granby  about    1820, 


*  Name  changod  by  act  of  General  Court. 


and  located  at  the  upper  village,  where  they  carried  on 
the  manufacture  of  satinet  warps  until  the  formation  of  the 
Swift  River  Company,  in  18.52.  They  were  then  joined  by 
their  brother  Edward,  who,  with  his  sons,  Edward  P.  and 
Henry  M.,  still  conduct  the  manufacturing  enterprises  of  the 
upper  village,  which  is  denominated  "Smith's"  by  the  rail- 
road company.  To  the  energy  and  business  ability  of  this 
family  the  upper  village  is  indebted  for  its  present  importance. 

David  Smith  had,  for  children,  Cornelia,  who  married  Seth 
Richards,  a  native  of  Enfield,  and  a  wealthy  resident  of  San 
Franci.sco,  Cal.  ;  Edwin,  who  died  in  Boston  ;  Edwin  W.,  con- 
nected with  Smith's  American  Organ  Company,  in  Boston; 
David,  Jr.,  who  graduated  at  Williams  College,  now  deceased; 
and  Henry  W.,  connected  with  Smith's  American  Organ 
Company,  in  Boston. 

Alvin  had  children:  Frank,  deceased  ;  Jane,  still  residing 
in  Enfield  ;  Isabella,  wife  of  Hon.  Rufus  D.  Woods,  of  En- 
field ;  Samuel  D.,  who  is  at  the  head  of  Smith's  American 
Organ  Company,  Boston  ;  and  Richard  B.,  a  former  merchant 
of  Boston,  now  deceased. 

Capt.  Benjamin  F.  Potter  settled  in  Enfield  about  1825, 
and  was  a  mason  by  trade,  as  well  as  a  farmer.  He  lo- 
cated where  his  son,  Lyman  D.  Potter,  now  resides.  An- 
other son,  Nathan  D.  Potter,  also  resides  in  town,  and  is  the 
agent  of  the  Springfield,  Athol,  and  Northeastern  Railroad 
Company.  A  third  son,  H.  M.  Potter,  is  one  of  the  deputy 
sheriflfs  of  the  county,  at  Northampton. 

The  early  inhabitants  of  the  town  came  mostlv  from  Bridge- 
water  and  Easton.  They  liked  the  hills;  and,  as  they  rode 
mostly  on  liorseback,  they  did  not  need  good  roads.  There 
were  formerly  at  least  ten  inhabited  houses  on  Great  Quabbin 
Mountain  ;  now  there  are  none.  Game  was  very  plenty  in  those 
days.  Wolves  were  frequently  heard  howling  in  the  night, 
and  bears  were  quite  numerous.  Benjamin  Cooley,  who  lived 
on  the  Hale  farm,  now  in  Greenwich,  is  said  in  one  fall  to 
have  caught  bears  enough  to  buy  a  yoke  of  oxen  that  cost  $40. 
A  man  named  Weeks  is  said  to  have  caught  salmon  in  the 
west  branch  of  Swift  River  at  an  early  day. 

Ephraim  Woodward,  another  early  inhabitant,  went  to 
Northampton  with  an  ox-cart,  and,  being  late  at  night  in  re- 
turning home,  was  attacked  by  a  pack  of  wolves.  He  jumped 
into  his  cart,  and  with  an  axe  kept  them  at  bay  until  he 
reached  a  settlement.  On  the  westerly  point  of  Great  Quab- 
bin Mountain  is  a  pinnacle  which  was  called  the  "  Telegraph." 
In  Revolutionary  times  a  man  named  Grant  began  to  arrange 
there  a  point  for  telegraph  signals.  The  first  station  east  was 
in  New  Braintree,  and  west  was  Mount  Holyoke.  Before  the 
work  was  completed  the  war  closed,  and  it  was  abandoned. 

TAVKKNS. 

It  is  impossible  to  name  with  certainty  the  first  house  of 
public  entertainment  in  Enfield.  Tradition  says  that  early 
taverns  were  kept  where  Lyman  D.  Potter's  barn  now  stands, 
and  another  w'here  Daniel  B.  Gillett  resides.  One  of  the 
earliest  known  inns  was  kept  by  Robert  Field,  Esq.,  in  the  old 
Field  residence.  Another  early  tavern  stood  about  wheve 
Charles  Richards'  residence  now  stands,  first  by  Peleg  Canedj', 
and  after  him  by  Ebenezer  Heald  and  Samuel  Kenned}'. 
What  is  known  as  the  "Old  Tavern  Stand,"  opposite  the 
Congregational  Church,  was  erected  by  Simon  Stone,  and  kept 
after  him  by  Luke  Stone  for  a  long  time,  and  still  later  by 
Nichols  Varney,  Jonah  Gross,  Joab  Bartlett,  and  Charles 
Scott,  who  closed  it  and  removed  to  Ambrose  Packard's  tavern, 
the  present  Swift  River  Hotel. 

This  building  was  formerlj'  the  residence  of  Reuben  Cooley, 
an  early  settler  of  the  town.  It  was  remodeled  and  repaired 
by  Ambrose  Packard  about  1825  or  182(5,  and  kept  by  him- 
self and  various  persons,  including  Patterson,  Charles  Scott, 
Church  &  Moody,  L.  V.  B.  Cook,  Daniel  Downing,  in  18.52; 
Rufus  Church,  a  man  named  Gates,  Henry  Frink,  Ruddock 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


379 


&  Bliss,  Col.  Wilson  Andrews ;  then  a  man  named  Estcy, 
John  G.  Merriam,  and  Chester  S.  Hastings,  in  tnrn  ;  and 
finally,  April  1,  18(i(i,  or  18G7,  by  A.  M.  Howard.  Edmund 
G.  Wells,  the  present  proprietor,  took  it  from  Howard,  June 
22,  1872.  About  the  year  1807,  Joseph  E.  AVoods  kept  a 
tavern  for  a  short  time  in  the  old  Hooker  house. 

STORES. 

One  of  the  iirst  stores  was  by  Field  &  Canedy,  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century,  where  the  Congregational  parsonage 
now  stands.  It  was  afterward  kept  by  Field  &  Dickinson, 
John  Boyden,  Ebenezer  Heald,  Marshall  S.  and  ^Thomas 
Jones,  and  Jones,  Woods  &  Co. 

In  the  year  180-j  or  180C,  Alfred  Arnold  opened  a  store  in  a 
building  standing  where  Haskell's  store  now  is,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Francis  Howe. 

Joseph  Jones  kept  a  store  at  an  early  day  in  the  batting-  and 
wicking-mill  that  stood  near  the  site  of  the  present  grist-mill 
of  the  Minot  Manufacturing  Company.  Jones  &  Belcher 
also  kept  store  there  for  a  short  time. 

The  store  at  present  occupied  by  J.  E.  Woods  was  built, 
about  the  year  1830,  by  Jones  &  Cutler,  who  traded  there  for 
several  years.  It  has  since  been  kept  by  Jones  &  Saxton, 
Saxton  &  Field,  S.  F.  Howe,  Ephraim  and  Charles  Richards, 
and  Oliver  Bryant,  about  the  year  1841 ;  Oliver  Bryant  alone, 
Cyrus  F.  Woods,  Woods  &  Hale,  George  L.  Wilson,  George 
E.  Walker,  and  finally  by  J.  E.  Woods,  who  took  it  Sept.  1, 
1872. 

The  building  in  which  Ira  Haskell  does  business  was  erected 
about  the  year  1825,  and  was  first  occupied  for  trading  pur- 
poses by  Brown  &  Andrews,  and  afterward  by  Oliver  Bryant 
&  Co.,  E.  Kiehards  &  Co.,  Ezra  Cary,  Warner  &  Leland, 
Leland  &  Gillett,  Johnson  &  Morton,  Johnson  &  Daniels, 
Haskell  &  Towne,  and  Ira  Haskell  for  the  last  decade. 

In  March,  1828,  J.  M.  Crosby,  a  grandson  of  the  first  min- 
ister of  the  town,  settled  in  Enfield,  and  engaged  in  tailoring 
over  the  store  now  occupied  by  J.  E.  Woods.  Several  years 
after  he  removed  to  the  corner  now  occupied  b}-  Gould's  tin- 
shop,  and  traded  in  ready-made  clothing,  boots,  and  shoes,  and 
carried  on  a  general  business.  In  the  year  1861  he  changed 
the  character  of  the  enterprise  to  that  of  a  general  dry-goods 
and  grocery  business,  in  which  he  remained  until  November, 
1876,  when  a  fire  destroyed  not  only  his  store,  but  all  the  build- 
ings up  to  and  including  the  residence  of  Charles  Richards, 
Esq. 

J.  M.  Crosby,  Jr.,  a  son  of  Mr.  Crosby,  then  opened  a  gen- 
eral store  in  the  old  town-hall,  and  continued  in  business  there 
until  his  death,  in  June,  1878.  J.  M.  Crosby  is  now  running 
the  store  at  that  place,  closing  up  his  son's  estate  and  pursu- 
ing at  the  same  time  the  tailoring  business. 

Tucker  &  Northam  had  a  store  for  a  time  opposite  the  pres- 
ent post-oifice.  E.  P.  Tucker  followed  alone,  and  then  Joseph 
Jones  for  a  short  period. 

The  store  at  the  upper  village  was  opened  by  E.  P.  Smith 
in  1854,  and  has  been  kept  continuously  since  by  him. 

Horace  Hunt  came  from  Prescott,  and  in  1872  erected  a  store 
east  of  the  railroad.  He  traded  there  for  about  six  years,  and 
then  sold  to  William  F.  Howe,  in  May,  1878,  who  now  trades 
at  that  point. 

Several  smaller  establishments  of  various  kinds  exist  in  the 
town,  among  which  the  most  prominent  are  the  meat-markets 
of  L.  S.  Boynton  and  Benjamin  J.  Harwood. 

PHYSICIANS. 

The  first  practitioner  of  medicine  who  resided  in  the  town 
was  Dr.  William  Stone,  who  lived  where  Ezra  Cary  now  re- 
sides, and  practiced  in  the  first  part  of  the  present  century.  The 
next  was  Dr.  Rice,  who  was  accidentally  shot  at  a  regimental 
muster  in  Hadley.  Dr.  Rufus  Stone  engaged  in  practice  some 
time  after,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  Greenwich  records  as  early 


as  1818.  Other  physicians  have  been  Drs.  Alvord,  Brigham 
(afterwai'd  superintendent  of  the  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Insane  Asy- 
lum), Cleveland,  who  built  the  house  back  of  the  hotel, 
practiced  for  a  number  of  years,  and  then  removed  to  Spring- 
field ;  J.  N.  Hastings,  a  contemporary  of  Cleveland,  and  who 
subsequently  removed  to  South  Hadley ;  Claggett,  who  died 
in  town ;  Gray,  Church,  McGregor,  Wright,  Beamis,  Smith, 
E.  H.  Rockwood,  who  came  from  Longmeadow  and  practiced 
a  great  many  years  ;  Joseph  Hastings,  who  came  from  Palmer, 
and  a  nephew  of  Dr.  J.  N.  Hastings;  Perkins,  a  contempo- 
rary of  Hastings  ;  Ward,  Joseph  Winslow,  a  physician  of 
great  popularit}-,  and  at  one  time  a  partner  of  Dr.  Pei'kins ; 
Norman  A.  Smith,  Knights,  Edwin  A.  Kemp,  who  removed  to 
Great  Barrington  in  1876,  and  Solomon  R.  Towne,  who  settled 
in  town  June  10, 1876,  and  is  still  in  practice.  John  Northam 
practiced  dental  surgery  in  tlie  town  for  a  long  time.  John 
N.  Felton,  D.D.S.,  settled  in  the  town  in  October,  1875,  and 
now  practices  that  profession. 

LAWYERS. 

The  town  has  had  a  goodly  array  of  lawyers.  The  first  was 
Joshua  N.  Upham,  who  came  from  Brookfield  early  in  the 
history  of  the  town,  and  married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Field,  Esq.  He  was  an  active  man,  and  it  is  said  he  could 
jump  over  a  span  of  horses  standing  side  by  side.  He  lived 
but  a  few  jears.  The  next  was  Elijah  Alvord,  who  came 
from  Greenfield ;  Warren  A.  Field  followed  for  a  short  time; 
Elihu  Lyman  came  soon  after,  and  was  followed  by  Epaphras 
Clark,  who  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1819,  practiced  first  in 
Granby,  and,  removing  to  Enfield,  practiced  for  a  long  time. 
He  is  credited  with  the  delivery  of  one  of  the  briefest  and 
most  pointed  legal  arguments  on  record.  The  next  was  Hon. 
George  Ashmun  ;  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1830,  and 
immediately  settled  at  Enfield  ;  in  a  few  years  he  removed  to 
Springfield  and  formed  a  copartnership,  which  lasted  for  many 
years,  with  Hon.  Reuben  A.  Chapman.  He  was  subsequently 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  of  the  National  House  of 
Representatives,  and  its  speaker  in  1840,  and  was  in  practice 
many  years  in  the  city  of  Washington.*  William  M.  Lathrop 
followed  next,  and  Epaphras  Clark  was  the  last  regular  prac- 
titioner in  the  town. 

ROADS    AND   STAGE-ROUTES. 

The  first  record  of  a  public  highway  through  Enfield  was 
one  from  Pelham  line  to  Chicopee  in  1754 ;  the  second,  from 
Palmer  to  Greenwich  in  1761;  the  third,  from  Belchertown 
to  Hardwick  in  1763.  Between  the  last  date  and  1794,  the 
majority  of  the  public  highways  now  in  use  were  laid  out, 
although  many  of  them  have  been  altered  since.  In  1801  a 
turnpike-road  was  granted  from  Belchertown  through  Enfield 
to  Hardwick  line,  and  the  Monson  turnpike  was  run  through 
the  east  part  of  the  town  in  1803.  One  or  more  proprietary 
roads  were  laid  in  the  territory  of  Enfield  as  early  as  1740. 

The  principal  stage-route  in  early  days  was  the  Northamp- 
ton, Worcester  and  Boston  line,  whose  stages  arrived  in  the 
town  ever}'  other  day,  their  arrival  causing  great  excitement 
and  interest. 

OLD    HOUSES. 

Among  the  oldest  houses  now  standing,  mention  may  be 
made  of  the  Reuben  Fleming  house,  near  Hunt's  store ;  the 
John  Crosby  house,  one  mile  south  of  the  village;  the  Widow 
Aaron  Wood's  house  ;  and  the  one  where  Deacon  Moore  lives, 
which  was  early  occupied  bj'  a  Mr.  Messinger. 

MEN   OF   SPECIAL   NOTE. 

Among  the  men  of  special  note  that  Enfield  has  produced 
or  fostered  may  be  mentioned  Elihu  Lyman,  Esq.,  who  was  a 
lawyer  of  reputation,  and  the  first  State  Senator  from  the 

*  See  history  of  the  Bar,  general  chapters. 


380 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


town.  He  died  at  an  early  age,  while  in  the  diseharge  of  the 
duties  of  that  office,  in  1826. 

Hon.  Josiah  B.  Woods,  a  native  old  resident  of  the  town, 
now  deceased,  was  State  Senator  in  1845,  a  member  of  the  last 
State  Constitutional  Convention,  and  a  husiness-man  of  supe- 
rior ability  and  integrity.  ' 

Hon.  Daniel  B.  Gillett  was  State  Senator  in  1806,  and  is 
now  the  treasurer  of  the  Minot  JIanufacturing  Company. 

Hon.  Kufus  D.  Woods,  a  native  and  present  resident  of  the 
town,  was  State  Senator  in  1872,  and  has  filled  other  offices 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  being  at  one  time  president  of  the 
South  Hadley  Falls  Bank. 

Robert  Field,  Esq.,  was  also  a  prominent  citizen  of  the 
town  in  its  early  history,  was  noted  for  his  breadth  of  thought, 
liberality,  high  Christian  character,  and  business  qualifica- 
tions, and  in  recognition  of  whose  worth  the  town  was 
named. 

Judge  Charles  E.  Forbes,  of  Northampton,  an  eminent 
lawyer  and  learned  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
was  also  a  native  of  Enfield.  He  was  appointed  justice  of  the 
Court  of  Ccmimon  Pleas  in  1847,  and  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  1848. 

Other  citizens  of  note  have  been  Solomon  Howe,  who  was  a 
printer,  musician,  and  singing-master,  and  published  singing- 
books,  spelling-books,  almanacs,  and  hymn-books. 

Sylvanus  Lathrop  was  a  skillful  draughtsman  and  architect ; 
designed  and  built  the  present  graceful  steeple  on  the  Congre- 
gational meeting-house,  when  only  twenty  j'ears  of  age,  and 
in  1816  removed  to  Pittsford,  N.  Y.,  took  a  section  of  the 
Western  Canal  to  build,  and  made  money;  then  removed  to 
Pittsburg,  Pa.,  built  a  bridge  over  the  Allegheny  Eiver,  and 
was  appointed  the  head  of  a  committee  to  clear  the  snags  and 
obstructions  which  hindered  navigation. 

David  Smith,  J.  B.  Woods,  Frederick  Downing,  Benjamin 
Harwood,  and  others,  were  skillful  mechanics,  and  the  latter 
had  several  sons  who  were  very  ingenious  men. 

Timothy  and  Lemuel  Gilbert,  the  celebrated  piano-makers 
of  Boston,  were  natives  of  Enfield  ;  and  the  Smiths,  of  organ- 
making  fame,  in  the  same  city.  Other  citizens  have  graduated 
at  various  colleges,  entered  the  professions,  and  become  useful 
and  respected  in  their  chosen  callings. 

CIVIL    ORGANIZATION. 

The  territory  at  present  comprising  the  town  of  Enfield  was 
originally  the  south  parish  of  the  town  of  Greenwich,  which 
was  incorporated  June  20,  1787,  and  embraced  all  of  the  south 
part  of  Greenwich  and  parts  of  Belchertown  and  Ware.  The 
town  of  Enfield  was  duly  incorporated  Feb.  15,  1816,  the  fol- 
lowing being  the  words  of  the  act  referring  to  its  territorial 
limits : 

"Tli,at  all  the  liiiids  in  Uie  towns  of  Greenwich  and  Belchertown  which  are 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  Snnth  Painsh,  of  the  town  of  Greenwich,  as 
they  are  now  settled  and  established  according  to  the  provisions  of  an  act  enti- 
tled '  An  act  to  divide  the  town  of  Greenwich  into  two  parishes,  and  for  including 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  of  Belchertown  in  the  South  Parish,' passed  on 
the  twi-ntioth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eiKhly-seven;  an  Act  in  addition  thereto  passed  on  the  twenty-seconil  day  of 
February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-two, 
together  with  the  farm  of  liobert,  Hathaway,  in  said  Greenwich,  with  all  the  in- 
habitants ilwelling  thereon,  be,  and  hereby  are,  incoi-porated  into  a  town  by  the 
name  of  Enfield,  and  vested  with  all  the  powers,  privileges,  rights,  and  immuni- 
ties, and  sillijcct  to  all  tlie  duties  and  reipiirenients,  of  other  towns  of  this  com- 
monwealth." 

The  town  derived  its  name  from  Kobert  Field,  one  of  its 
early  .settlers. 

The  first  town-meeting  was  held  on  Monday,  March  4, 1816, 
at  the  meeting-house,  by  virtue  of  a  warrant  issued  by  Elihu 
Lyman,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  directed  to  Ebenezer  Wins- 
low,  one  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  town.  Benjamin 
Harwood  officiated  as  moderator,  and  among  the  officers  chosen 
were  Simeon  Waters,  Clerk  ;  James  Kichards,  Benjamin  Har- 
wood, and  Jesse  Fobes,  Selectmen;  Ephraiiu  Richards,  Treas- 


urer ;  and  Capt.  Sylvanus  Howe,  Alden  Lathrop,  and  Oliver 
Patterson,  Assessors.  Minor  officers  were  also  chosen,  such  as 
a  constable,  a  collector,  surveyors  of  highways,  tithingmen, 
hog-reeves,  surveyors  of  lumber,  and  a  school  committee. 

Other  matters  relating  to  the  organization  of  the  town  are 
elsewhere  presented.  The  town  appropriations  for  the  year 
1878  were:  contingencies,  §1000;  highways  and  bridges, 
82400;  schools,  ^1;M0;  paupers,  $600 ;   interest,  311.50. 

The  following  persons  have  filled  the  principal  town  otfices, 
and  served  as  representatives  to  the  General  Court,  viz. : 

SELECTMEN. 

ISIfi, — James  Richards,  Benjamin  H.arwood,  Jesse  Fobes. 

1S17. — Benjamin  Harwood,  Jesse  Fobes,  Sylvanus  Howe. 

1818. — Jesse  Fobes.  Sylvanus  Howe,  Simeon  Waters. 

1810. — Jesse  Fobes,  Ephraim  Richards,  Thomas  Car.v. 

1820. — Ephraim  Richards,  Thomas  Cary,  Sylvanus  Howe. 

1821. — Ephraim  Richards,  Elihu  Lyman,  Thomas  Cary. 

1822. — Elihu  Lyman,  Benjamin  Ruggles,  Sylvanus  How'e. 

1823. — Benjamin  Ituggles,  Packiird  Funl,  Rufus  Powers. 

1824. — Packard  Ford,  Rufus  Powers,  Simeon  Waters. 

182.1. — Thomas  Cary,  Micah  Gross,  Henry  Fobes. 

182G. — Thomas  Cary,  Henry  Fobes,  Daniel  Ford. 

1827. — Thomas  Cary,  Kaniel  Ford,  Beiyamin  Ruggles. 

1828. — Thomas  Caiy,  Benjamin  Ruggles,  Ambrose  Packard. 

1829-3U. — Jesse  Fobes,  Rufus  Pow  ers,  Sylvanus  Powers. 

18.31, — James  Richards,  .Sylvanus  Howe,  Daniel  Ford. 

1832. — James  Richards,  Sylvanus  Howe,  David  Smith,  Jr. 

183;!. — David  Smith,  Freeman  Pope,  Jesse  Fobes. 

18.34-3.'>.— James  Richards,  Epaphras  Clark,  Alden  Mitchell. 

183G. — Sylvanus  Howe,  .\lden  Mitchell,  Benjamin  F.  Potter. 

1837.— Alden  Mitchell,  Asa  Shaw,  Daniel  Ford. 

1838-39.— Asa  Shaw,  Thomas  Cary,  Henry  Fobes. 

1840-41. — Asa  Shaw,  Heniy  Fobes,  Timothj'  Bniinard. 

1S42. — Henry  Folics,  Timothy  Brainard,  Levi  W.  Lomliard. 

1843— to. — Levi  \V.  Lombard,  Epaphras  Clark,  Ransom  Wood. 

1846. — Ransom  Wood,  Henry  Foiies,  Edward  Cary. 

1847. — Edward  Cary,  Ransom  Wood,  Solon  S.  Pope. 

1848. — Edward  Cary,  Solon  S.  Pope,  Alvan  E^iliduU. 

1S49. — Edward  Cary,  Henry  Fobes,  Alvan  Randall. 

1850-51. — Daniel  Ford,  Joseph  Root,  Ransom  Wood. 

1852. — Alvin  Smith,  Ezra  Carey,  Asa  Shaw. 

1853.— Ezra  Cary,  Daniel  Trask,  David  Blodgett. 

1854.— Barnabas  Blair,  Daniel  T.  Trask,  Solon  S.  Pope. 

1855. — Barnabas  Blair,  .Shubal  Kentlield,  George  L.  Shaw. 

185G. — Barnabas  Blair,  Shubal  Kenttield,  Jr.,  George  L.  Shaw. 

1857. — Ezra  Cary,  Augustus  Moiidy,  Barnab,as  Blair. 

1.S5S. — Augustus  3Ioody,  John  L.  AVilsoii,  N.  W.  Aldiich. 

1859.- John  L.  Wilson,  Gideon  P.  Baitlett,  Joseph  Root. 

I860.— Micah  11.  Gross,  Gideon  P.  Bartlett,  Davenport  .\llen. 

18G1.— Micah  II.  Gross,  Davenport  Allen,  Henry  M.  Potter. 

1862-03.- Ezra  Carj-,  D.  B.  Gillett,  Edward  Ciuy. 

1864. — Same  three  up  to  June  11th,  and  then  Cyrus  F.  Woods,  Micah  H.  Gross, 

and  Henry  BI.  Smith  were  chosen. 
l.SGo. — Cyrus  F.  Woods,  M.  H.  Gross,  Lyman  P.  Potter. 
1SG6.— Micah  H.  Gross,  Edward  P.  Snnth,  Ira  D.  Ha-skell. 
1.'67.— Joseph  Root,  Santford  B.  Collins,  Elblidge  E.  Cabot. 
180S.— Elbridge  E.  Cabot,  Joseph  Boot,  William  B.  Kimball. 
1SC9.— Henry  M.  Potter,  Albeit  B.  House,  Ira  D.  Haskell. 
1870.— Ira  D.  Hiiskell,  E.  E.  Cabot,  J.  L.  Wilson. 
1871-73.— Ira  D.  Haskell,  Elliiidge  E.  Cabot,  Horace  Hunt. 
1.874.— E.  E.  Cabot,  K.  D.  Potter,  John  Eddy. 
1875-76,— Ira  D.  Haskell,  L.  D.  Potter,  A.  J.  N.  Ward. 
1877.— L.  D.  Potter,  E.  E.  Cabot,  Ira  D.  Haskell. 
1878.— R.  D.  Woods,  L.  D.  Potter,  B.  F.  Davis. 

TOWN   CLERKS. 

1816,  Simeon  Waters;  1817-28,  Freeman  Pope;  1S28-31,  Eliphaz  Jones;  1,831- 
42.  Alfred  Arnold ;  1.-42-50,  Luther  Chapin,  Jr. ;  1850,  Norman  .\.  Smith  ;  1851- 
54,  Oliver  Bryant;  1854-56,  Luther  Chapin,  Jr.;  1856-66,  Joseph  S.  Jones;  1866- 
78,  Augustus  Moody ;  1878,  William  B.  Kimball. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

1816-20,  Benjamin  Harwood ;  1820-22,  Jesse  Fobes ;  1S23,  Ephraim  Richards ; 
1826-27,  Ephraim  Richards;  182S-30,  Rev.  Joshua  Crosby;  1831-32,  Thomas 
Cary:  1833-36,  Epaphras  Clark;  1837-3.8,  Daniel  Ford;  1839-40,  Ichabod  Pope ; 
1842,  Ephraim  Richards  ;  1843,  Luther  Chapin,  Jr. ;  184o-4n,  .\lvin  Smith ;  1850, 
Henry  Fobes;  1851;  Timothy  Braiuard;  1852,  David  Cutting;  1.S55,  George  L. 
Shaw ;  1857,  Rufus  D.  Woods ;  1861,  Augustus  Moody ;  1865,  .loseph  Root ;  ISGS^ 
Edward  Smith  ;  1874,  Benjamin  F.  Davis ;  1876,  Wm.  B.  Kimball. 

VILLAGES. 

The  town  virtually  ccmtains  but  one  village,  which  is  situ- 
ated near  the  geographical  centre.     For  the  sake  of  conve- 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


381 


nience  its  northern  extremity  is  kncnvn  as  the  "  upper  vil- 
hii^e,"  and  is  about  a  mile  from  the  larger  and  more  central 
portion  of  the  village.  At  the  lower  or  larger  part  of  the 
village  are  located  the  Congregational  church  and  chapel,  the 
Methodist  church,  the  town-hall,  Masonic  building,  Swift 
Kiver  Hotel,  the  depot,  a  grist-mill,  blacksmith-shop,  several 
stores,  the  mills  of  the  Minot  Woolen  Company,  the  old 
cemetery,  and  many  private  residences,  some  of  which  are  of 
the  latest  style  of  architecture,  and  present  a  tasteful  and 
home-like  appearance. 

The  "  upper  village"  contains  the  mills  of  the  Swift  Eiver 
Companj',  a  saw-mill,  store,  railroad  depot,  and  a  number  of 
residences,  of  which  some  are  not  inferior  in  architectural 
beauty  to  those  at  the  lower  village. 

These  villages  arc  pleasantly  located  in  the  valley  through 
which  flows  the  east  branch  of  Swift  River.  The  inhabitants 
are  noted  for  their  wealth,  refinement,  culture,  and  for  their 
hearty  support  of  church  institutions. 

The  post-office  in  Enfield  was  established  about  the  year 
1820,  and  the  first  postmaster  was  Elihu  Lyman.  Prior  to 
that  date  it  was  carried  from  Belchertown  by  a  post-rider, 
Capt.  Joseph  Hooker  filling  that  position  for  a  long  time. 
The  second  postmaster  was  Eliphaz  Jones,  and  since  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  office  it  has  been  filled  by  Oliver  Bry- 
ant, Daniel  B.  Gillett,  James  Leiand,  Lyman  Morton,  C.  F. 
Woods,  John  G.  Merriam,  Erskine  E.  Butler,  John  L.  Wil- 
son, George  E.  Walker,  and  the  present  incumbent,  J.  E. 
AVoods,  who  was  appointed  in  the  fall  of  1872. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS 
of  the  town  received  early  attention.  In  January,  1759,  a 
committee  of  three  was  appointed  by  the  town  of  Greenwich 
to  divide  the  town  into  three  parts  for  the  establishment  of 
schools.  All  south  of  Wm.  Fisk's  and  Benjamin  Cooley's 
(now  the  Hale  farm)  was  to  constitute  the  south  district,  now 
Enfield. 

In  the  month  of  November,  17(3-5,  a  committee  that  had 
been  appointed  to  locate  school-houses  fixed  the  one  in  the 
"  south  quarter  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  by  a  little  brook 
to  the  west  of  John  Rea's,"  and  that  became  the  first  school- 
house  built  in  the  town,  and  stood  near  the  present  road  lead- 
ing from  Enfield  to  Bond's  village.  (Fuller  information  in 
regard  to  the  early  schools  of  this  section  will  bo  found  in  the 
history  of  Greenwich.) 

An  old  resident  of  the  town  furnishes  the  following  inter- 
esting facts  concerning  the  schools  of  his  day  ; 

"The  firat  scliool  tiiat  I  roiu(;inl)er  was  kept  in  1800  and  1801  by  a  Mi33  Ellis 
or  Alice  Alden,  in  a  corn-honse  belonging  to  Joseph  Riiggle-s,  on  the  farm  where 
Watson  Hanks  now  lives.  Soon  after,  a  school-honse  wjis  built  near  the  same 
farm,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  The  house  was  built  IS  feet  square,  and 
for  a  long  time  remained  unlinishcd.  Tlie  firet  teaeher  there  was,  I  believe, 
Daniel  Lamson,  probably  about  tlie  year  1801-2;  the  next,  Thomas  Gary;  and 
after  him  Willard  and  Leonard  Gould,  Town,  Blellen,  McClintock,  Newell, 
Bniinard,  Pepper,  and  uthei-s  whom  I  do  not  recollect.  A  Miss  Abigail  Gould 
taught  in  the  summer.  Somo  of  these  were  very  good  teachers  for  those  times, 
but  many  of  them  tiiught  only  the  three  K's.  They  generally  boarded  around 
in  families  who  sent  children,  according  to  the  number  sent;  green  wood, 
mostly  8  feet  long,  was  furnished  in  the  same  way.  Those  who  flogged  the  most 
were  considered  the  best  teachei's,  as  they  were  supposed  to  keep  good  order.  In 
this  house,  about  the  year  1812,  were  packed  about  liO  scholai-s,  and,  what  with 
flogging  and  smoke,  there  was  frequently  not  much  studying  until  afternoon. 
We  usually  had  about  two  months'  schooling  a  winter.  Here,  after  I  Wfis  twelve 
years  old,  I  attended  three  winters,  and  graduated.  Since  that  time  I  iiave  not 
had  much  leisure  for  study  or  reflection.  This  was  in  the  South  District.  I 
cannot  remember  much  about  the  school  in  the  Centre  District.  I  know  the 
South  was  thought  the  best  school.  I  believe  there  were  but  two  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  place  at  this  time." 

The  town  has  now  eight  district  schools,  with  an  attendance 
of  181  pupils,  and  an  average  attendance  of  H'2.  The  whole 
are  under  the  nominal  control  of  a  board  of  nine  committee- 
men, three  of  whom  are  elected  annually  for  three  years.  A 
special  board  has  the  direct  supervision  of  the  schools,  consist- 
ing at  present  of  W.  B.  Downing,  Nathan  D.  Potter,  Wm. 


B.  Kimball,  and  H.  E.  Brown.  The  amount  of  the  last  ap- 
propriation for  schooling  purposes  was  $1300,  other  funds  rais- 
ing the  sum  to  .SlfiL'1.32. 

A  number  of  excellent  private  schools  formerly  existed  in 
the  town. 

RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

CONGREGATIONAL. 

The  south  parish  of  Greenwich  was  incorporated  June  20, 
1787,  the  principal  cause  of  the  division  into  parishes  being 
the  great  inconvenience  experienced  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
south  part  of  the  town  in  attending  worship  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance as  Greenwich  Plains.  The  Congregational  form  of 
worship  was  the  one  that  received  earliest  support.  A  meet- 
ing-house, on  land  presented  by  Capt.  Joseph  Hooker,  was 
built  in  the  parish  in  the  years  1780  and  '87,  and  accepted  Oct. 
15,  1787.  Movable  benches  were  first  placed  in  this  church. 
Pews  were  substituted  in  1793.  In  1814  a  belfry  was  erected, 
and  a  bell,  the  gift  of  Joseph  Keith,  afterward  placed  therein. 
In  the  year  1835  (he  pews  were  displaced  by  slips,  and  other 
alterations  and  improvements  made.  The  house  was  repaired 
about  1855  and  an  organ  added.  In  1873  it  was  again  repaired 
and  a  considerable  addition  was  made  to  the  rear  of  the  church, 
and  an  elegant  organ  took  the  place  of  the  old  one,  at  a  cost 
of  about  $2500.  The  edifice  now  presents  an  attractive  appear- 
ance, the  steeple,  being  graceful  and  unique  in  design,  and 
containing  a  costly  town-clock.  The  interior  of  the  church  is 
neat  and  appropriately  embellished,  and  its  acoustic  properties 
are  excellent. 

The  first  regular  pastor  of  the  church  was  Rev.  Joshua 
Crosby,  who  was  called  May  12,  1789,  and  installed  December 
2d  following.  He  was  furnished  with  a  farm  bought  of  Bar- 
nabas Fay  as  settlement,  and  had  a  salary  of  £70  a  year,  his 
firewood  being  also  furnished  by  the  parish. 

Mr.  Crosby  came  from  the  Cape,  and  served  as  a  chaplain  in 
the  Revolutionary  war.  He  entered  Brown  University,  but, 
being  unable  to  meet  his  expenses,  left  after  a  year  or  two,  and 
studied  for  the  ministry  with  a  Mr.  Forster,  of  New  Brain- 
tree.  He  was  noted'for  superiority  in  athletic  sports,  was  one 
of  the  first  trustees  of  Amherst  College,  and  after  the  death  of 
the  first  president  of  that  institution  tilled  that  ofllce  pro  te7n- 
pore  until  another  was  chosen.  He  was  a  vigorous  and  earnest 
sermonizer,  his  discourses  being  more  remarkable  for  their 
vigor  and  force  than  for  superior  literary  merit.  He  continued 
his  pastoral  relations  to  the  church  until  his  death,  Sept.  24, 
1838. 

Rev.  Sumner  G.  Clapp  was  settled  as  colleague  of  Mr. 
Crosby  Jan.  9,  1828,  and  dismissed  March  28,  183'7.  His  suc- 
cessor was  Rev.  John  Whiton,  who  was  settled  Sept.  13,  1837, 
and  dismis.sed  Sept.  29,  1841.  On  the  16th  of  February,  1842, 
Rev.  Robert  McEwen  was  settled  as  pastor.  He  was  of  Scotch 
descent,  and  some  of  his  ancestors  were  in  the  battle  of  Cullo- 
den.  He  was  a  good  and  talented  man,  but  was  compelled  to 
give  up  his  charge  because  of  ill  health,  and,  much  to  the  re- 
gret of  his  parishioners,  was  dismissed  by  council  Dec.  10, 1861. 

His  successor  was  Rev.  John  A.  Seymour,  who  was  installed 
April  17,  1862.  Having  been  appointed  district  secretary  of 
the  American  Tract  Society,  for  the  States  of  Ohio  and  In- 
diana, he  preached  his  farewell  sermon  Feb.  3,  1867,  and  was 
dismissed  by  council  July  29th  of  the  same  year. 

Rev.  Edward  C.  Ewing,  the  present  pastor,  was  called  Aug. 
28,  1867,  and  installed  Oct.  9th,  following.  Mr.  Ewing  at  the 
time  of  the  call  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Ashfield,  Mass.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1859  of  Am- 
herst College,  and  has  filled  his  present  pastoral  office  with 
great  acceptance. 

The  names  of  the  first  purchasers  of  pews  in  the  meeting- 
house, in  1793,  were  Calvin  Kinsley,  Sylvanus  Howe,  Daniel 
Hayward,  Simon  Stone,  David  Newcomb,  Joseph  Hooker, 
Robert   Field,  John   Sawin,  Benjamin   Harwood,  Benjamin 


382 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Kider,  Nathan  Hunting,  Caleb  Keith,  William  Stone,  Joseph 
Kuggles,  Abner  EdJy,  Ebenezer  Kich,  Keuben  Colton,  Bar- 
nabas Rich,  Nathaniel  Buker,  Joseph  Fobes,  David  Shetland, 
"William  Morton,  John  Eaton,  Moses  Colton,  Jonathan  Hunt- 
ing, Nathaniel  Lane,  Jolin  Bailey,  "William  Patterson,  John 
Mcintosh,  and  William  Mcintosh. 

Parochial  aiFairs  were  conducted  by  parish  officers  from 
1787  until  1816,  when  the  town  was  incorporated  ;  by  the  town 
from  that  date  until  1831,  when  the  parish  was  reorganized 
and  still  continues.  The  present  deacons  are  Henry  Fobcs, 
W.  S.  Moore,  and  Augustus  Moody. 

The  church  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  comprising  a  mem- 
bership of  265  persons;  of  Sabbath-school,  27-J;  number  of 
volumes  in  the  library,  675;  Superintendent,  A.  J.  N.  Ward. 

METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHUKCH. 

This  church  grew  out  of  certain  internal  troubles  that  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Kev.  J. 
Knight,  who  was  stationed  at  Greenwich  and  Ware,  preached 
the  tirst  Methodist  sermon  in  Enfield,  in  the  "old  tavern 
stand"  building,  now  standing  opposite  the  Congregational 
church.  In  1835,  Kev.  Messrs.  Philetus  Green  and  Philo 
Hawks  were  stationed  at  Greenwich.  They  held  meetings  in 
Enfield  at  the  old  brick  school-house,  over  the  river,  and  a 
class  was  formed,  of  which  Brother  Kitchen  was  made  leader. 

After  a  brief  interval,  work  was  again  resumed  in  1842  by 
Brothers  H.  Morgan  and  J.  Lewis,  of  Greenwich,  and  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  town-hall.  It  was  during  that  year  that 
the  first  services  of  the  denomination  were  held  in  the  day- 
time. In  the  same  year,  Eev.  Samuel  Tupper,  a  young  man 
from  Nova  Scotia,  arrived  in  Boston  in  search  of  work.  The 
opportunity  to  labor  in  Enfield  was  otl'ered  him.  He  accepted 
it  Oct.  4,  1843.  The  Methodist  Society  was  organized  on  the 
15th  of  the  same  month,  with  16  members. 

Rev.  Mr.  Tupper  remained  in  charge  of  the  society  until 
the  spring  of  1844.  Since  that  time  the  several  pastors  have 
been  as  follows:  1846,  Moses  Palmer;  1847-48,  John  W. 
Dadman;  1841),  Edward  A.  Manning;  1850,  John  Paulson; 
1851,  Daniel  Ames;  1852-55,  David  Kil-burn ;  185G-58,  Na- 
thaniel J.  Merrill;  18-59-61,  WilUam  M.  Hubbard;  1862, 
John  Capsen ;  1803-64,  Gilbert  K.  Bent ;  1864-65,  David  K. 
Bannister;  1866,  J.  W.  Bassett ;  1867,  James  W.  Eenn ; 
1868-69,  John  W.  Lee  ;  1870,  N.  M.  Granger  ;  1871-72,  George 
Hewes  ;  1873,  Nathaniel  F.  Stevens  ;  1874-76,  William  Wig- 
nail.  The  pi-esent  pastor  is  Rev.  J.  Alphonzo  Day,  who  is 
now  (1879)  in  his  second  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1847  a  contract  was  entered  into  for  the 
erection  of  a  church  edifice  at  a  cost  of  !?1700,  and  it  was  dedi- 
cated Jan.  19,  1848.  In  the  following  spring  ground  was 
broken  for  a  parsonage,  and  it  was  finished  the  same  year. 
During  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wignall  the  church  was 
frescoed  inside,  painted  outside,  carpeted  throughout,  and 
furnished  with  a  new  pulpit-set. 

The  active  membership  of  the  church  comprises  25 ;  average 
attendance  upon  Sabbath-school,  35;  volumes  in  library,  236; 
Superintendent  of  Sabbath-school,  Dwight  Parker. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 
The  town  of  Enfield  has  two.  The  principal  of  these  is 
situated  back  of  the  Congregational  meeting-house,  on  the 
hill,  in  a  picturesque  and  peaceful  spot.  It  was  laid  out  in 
1788,  in  accordance  with  a  vote  of  the  parish,  passed  March 
29th  of  that  year,  as  follows  : 

"  Vulcd,  to  give  Ciipt.  IlmikiT  thrco  lionnrta  ton  sliilliiifcs  f.ir  a  corfain  tract  of 
livnd  for  a  buryilig-yanl." 

•    The  area  of  the  original  ground  was  one  acre  and  a  half 

In  this  ground  repose  the  remains  of  many  of  the  earliest 
and  most  honored  citizens  of  the  town.  The  oldest  stone  now 
standing  is  that  of  Miss  Mary  Patterson,  who  died  Nov.  10 
1790,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  her  age.     Otiier  earlv  ones  are 


those  of  Daniel  Howard,  who  died  May  11,  1793,  in  his  fifty- 
second  year,  and  Deacon  Ebenezer  Rich,  who  died  Dec.  3, 
1811,  in  his  eighty-first  year. 

Another  stone  furnishes  the  following  information:  "Mr. 
David  Patterson,  died  April  19th,  1814,  in  his  79th  year. 

"  Here  lies  entomlj'd  beneath  ttie  ground 
The  first  man  born  within  this  town ; 
F.iith  in  his  Saviour  he  professed, 
We  trust  with  him  he's  now  at  rest." 

The  other  burial-place  is  at  Packardsville,  just  within  the 
borders  of  Enfield.  It  is  a  small  plat,  containing  but  few 
stones,  and  has  been  in  use  for  upward  of  one  hundred  years. 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  peruse  a 
few 

KOTES    FROM    THE   TOWN    KECORDS. 

One  of  the  first  subjects  to  receive  the  attention  of  the  new 
town  (a  church  being  already  established)  was  that  of  educa- 
tion, and  April  1,  1816,  |300  was  appropriated  for  schools. 
On  the  same  date  provision  was  made  for  the  ringing  of  the 
meeting-house  bell  at  stated  hours  in  the  day.     It  was  also 

"Voted,  tliat  Ebenezer  Winslow  sweep  the  meeting-house  for  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  per  year,  to  sweep  it  six  times  per  year  and  after  every  town-meeting." 

The  amount  of  money  voted  for  the  year  1816  was  $1166.67. 

April  7,  1817,  Hosea  Hooker  was  allowed  §2  for  the  use  of 
his  yard  for  a  pound,  and  he  continued  to  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  pound-master  for  many  years  thereafter. 

April  3,  1820,  Lieut.  Joseph  Keith  presented  a  bell  to  the 
town,  on  condition  that  it  should  be  forever  kept  and  used  for  ' 
the  accommodation  of  the  town,  and  preserved  in  good  repair 
and  condition. 

Oct.  16,  1820,  Benjamin  Harwood  was  chosen  to  represent 
the  town  in  the  Constitutional  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Bos- 
ton, Nov.  3, 1820.  In  April,  1822,  the  sura  of  §50  was  appro- 
priated to  support  church  music.  On  Dec.  11,  1826,  |!75  was 
appropriated  to  support  a  singing-school  the  ensuing  winter. 
In  the  month  of  March,  1827,  a  committee  was  chosen  to 
dispose  of  the  old  bell  and  buy  a  new  one.  In  the  following 
year  the  town  was  divided  into  eleven  highway  districts.  In 
1832  measures  were  taken  to  build  a  new  bridge  over  the  river 
on  the  road  to  Ware;  and  in  the  following  year  like  action 
was  taken  toward  building  a  bridge  over  the  west  branch  of 
the  river,  on  the  road  leading  to  Amherst.  In  1844  a  com- 
mittee purchased  in  behalf  of  the  town  the  farm  of  Ezekiel 
Keith,  called  the  "Dale  farm,"  for  the  sum  of  §1900,  to  be 
used  as  a  "  poor-farm." 

INCIDENTS. 

About  the  year  1819  a  great  flood  occurred  in  both  branches 
of  the  Swift  River.  The  waters  carried  away  both  the  bridges 
at  the  villages  and  Hunting's  bridge,  besides  doing  great  gen- 
eral damage.  None  so  serious  has  occurred  since.  The  lower 
village  has  provided  for  such  a  contingency  by  the  erection,  in 
1878,  of  an  elegant  and  substantial  iron  bridge  over  the  river 
at  a  cost  of  §1650,  exclusive  of  the  cost  of  the  piers  and  abut- 
ments. 

There  was  formerly  a  great  amount  of  musical  talent  in  En- 
field that  was  at  one  time  well  developed  under  the  instruction 
and  direction  of  Benjamin  Harwood,  Esq.,  who  was  not  only 
a  teacher  but  a  composer  of  music.  Still  later  there  was  a 
musical  society  formed,  Col.  Barr,  of  New  Braintree,  a  noted 
teacher,  being  president.  Under  his  instruction  the  society 
attained  great  perfection,  and  the  church  music  was  of  a  high 
order. 

SOCIETIES. 

BETHEL    LODGE,    F.  AND   A.    M. 

The  charter  for  this  lodge  was  granted  Sept.  14,  1825,  to  the 

■following  members:   Prince  Ford,  William  Stone,  Jonathan 

Russell,  Aldeii  Lothrop,  Eliphaz  Jones,  Emory  Fisk,  Abner 

Pepper,  and  Nathan  Weeks.     It  flourished  for  a  considerable 

time,  comprising  in  its  membership  some  of  the  leading  citi- 


Res.OF  LYMAN   D    POTTER,  Enfield, Mass. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


383 


zens  of  the  town,  but  during  the  turbulent  scenes  that  attended 
wliat  is  Icnown  as  the  "  anti-SIasonic  period"  the  lodge  sus- 
pended, and  surrendered  its  charter. 

On  Jan.  22,  1858,  the  charter  was  restored  to  the  following 
petitioners ;  Aaron  Woods,  Henry  Fobes,  Nathan  Weeks,  J. 
B.  Woods,  John  Crosby,  Ichabod  Pope,  and  Daniel  Ford. 
Since  that  time  it  has  had  a  prosperous  career  and  is  in  a  sub- 
stantial condition,  comprising  a  membership  of  52,  otficered 
b}'  the  following  persons:  John  W.  Feltou,  W.  M.  ;  Willard 
E.  John.son,  S.  AV.  ;  Luman  P.  Pcirce,  J.  W.  ;  James  G. 
Ford,  Treas.  ;  Robert  D.  Bussey,  Sec;  William  B.  Kimball, 
Chaplain ;  Waldo  H.  Pcirce,  S.  D. ;  Henry  E.  Keopke,  J.  D.  ; 
Samuel  L.  Howe,  S.  S.  ;  A.  W.  Peirce,  J.  S. ;  William  S. 
Douglass,  Marshal ;  Thomas  H.  Gates,  Tyler. 

The  first  sessions  of  the  lodge  were  held  in  the  "  old  tavern 
stand,"  opposite  the  Congregational  Church,  but  in  the  year 
1826  the  lodge  erected  the  building  now  occupied  by  them, 
and  the  first  meeting  was  held  therein  September  19th  of 
that  year.  Previous  to  the  granting  of  the  charter  the  lodge 
worked  under  a  dispensation.  It  is  the  mother  of  Eden 
Lodge,  of  Ware,  and  Ternon  Lodge,  of  Belchertown. 

The  Past  Masters  of  the  lodge  have  been  as  follows  :  1825-29, 
Henry  Fobes  ;  1829-33,  Aaron  Woods,  Jr.  ;  1838,  Josiah  B. 
Woods;  1859,  John  Crosby;  1864,  Cyrus  F.  Woods;  1867, 
William  S.  Douglas;  1868,  George  S.  Dixon;  1870,  Henry  E. 
Brown;  1871,  William  S.  Douglas;  1873,  Wm.  B.  Kimball; 
1876,  James  G.  Ford  ;  1878,  John  W.  Felton. 

SWIFT   RIVER   GRANGE,  NO.   61,  PATROXS   OF    HUSBAXDRY, 

was  organized  in  1874,  being  designed  to  encourage  improve- 
ment in  agricultural  affairs,  and  to  disseminate  useful  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  that  pursuit.  The  society  is  in  a  prosperous 
state,  meets  monthly,  and  is  officered  by  Wm.  B.  Kimball, 
Master;  H.  E.  Brown,  Overseer;  Lyman  D.  Potter,  Treas. ; 
and  B.  F.  Davis,  Sec. 

THE   MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRIES 

of  the  town  have  been  varied  and  diverse  in  character.  The 
east  side  of  Great  Quabbin  Mountain  is  covered  with  a  fine- 
grained sandstone  formation,  which  was  early  made  into  whet- 
stones of  an  excellent  quality,  and  which  derived  their  name 
from  the  mountain  on  which  they  were  found.  The  manufac- 
ture and  export  of  these  stones  at  one  time  constituted  a  prin- 
cipal branch  of  industry  in  the  town,  and  was  pursued  by 
various  persons,  including  Wm.  Hutchinson  and  Titus  and 
Ichabod  Pvandall. 

Tlie  industries  of  a  minor  character  that  have  existed  in  the 
town  have  been  numerous.  Kingley  Underwood  bad  a  black- 
smith-shop very  early  in  the  history  of  the  town,  that  stood 
about  where  the  machine-shop  now  stands  at  the  mill  privi- 
lege. Ephraim  Eichards  made  potash,  and  had  a  distillery  for 
making  cider  brandy  back  of  the  present  residence  of  Chas. 
Richards,  Esq.,  about  1815.  Thomas  Cary  bad  a  tannery  half 
a  mile  below  the  village,  on  the  Belchertown  road,  about  the 
year  1800.  Tertius  Walker  also  had  a  tannery  at  the  village, 
in  the  "old  tannery  building,"  at  an  early  dav. 

The  dam  at  the  lower  village  of  Enfield  wa.s  built  about  fifty 
feet  above  its  present  location,  prior  to  the  j'car  1770,  by  Eph- 
raim Woodward,  who  erected  a  saw-mill  thereon.  He  sold  to 
Ebenezer  Rich,  who  built  a  grist-mill,  and  Robert  Field  about 
the  year  1773  put  up  a  clothier's  shop.  A  blacksmith-shop, 
with  a  tilt-hammer,  was  soon  after  erected  by  Robert  Field 
and  others,  who  also  operated  an  oil-mill.  Reuben  Colton  had 
a  fulling-mill  and  cloth-dressing  shop  just  below  Haskell's 
store.  There  were  also  other  improvements  at  this  point. 
Calvin  and  Charles  Lawsou  made  cut  nails  from  plates  by 
means  of  a  machine,  and  beaded  them  by  hand.  Under  the 
bridge  was  a  mill-stone  for  grinding  whetstones,  and,  about 
1804,  James  Harrison,  an  Englishman,  set  up  a  carding-ma- 
ehine  for  making  rolls  from  wool,  it  being  the  first  of  its  kind 
in  that  part  of  the  country. 


The  dam  at  the  upper  village  was  erected  in  1812,  and  a 
cotton-yarn  factory  was  built  the  year  following  by  a  com- 
pany of  neighbors,  of  which  John  Allen  was  superintendent 
and  agent.  It  ran  for  a  few  3'ears,  when  larger  mills  were 
erected,  that  made  not  only  yarn,  but  wove  it  into  cloth,  which 
put  a  stop  to  domestic  weaving.  There  were  also  a  saw-mill, 
blacksmith-shop,  shingle-mill,  and  other  works  erected  on  this 
privilege  at  an  early  day. 

Some  time  about  the  year  181G,  Wyatt  Barlow  built  a  dam 
half  a  mile  down  the  river,  where  he  manufactured  satinets. 
The  mill  was  soon  after  burned,  and  the  site  abandoned.  A 
large  business  was  also  carried  on  in  other  branches  of  industry 
at  early  dates,  such  as  hat-making,  cloth-dressing,  scythe-,  hoe-, 
ax-,  plow-,  saddle-,  and  harness-making.  Robert  Field  made 
potash,  the  Joneses  had  a  distillery  below  Haskell's  store,  where 
they  made  whisky,  and  Arnold  &  Colton  before  them  distilled 
potatoes.  Hosea  Hooker  had  a  saw-mill  at  an  early  day  at  the 
west  end  of  the  village.     It  was  afterward  destroyed  by  fire. 

T/ie  Sivift  River  Company  dates  its  origin  back  to  the  small 
beginnings  which  were  made  in  cotton  manufacturing  by 
the  old  firm  of  D.  &  A.  Smith,  composed  of  Alfred,  David, 
and  Alvin  Smith,  who  succeeded  to  the  control  and  man- 
agement of  the  industries  that  already  existed  there,  and 
which  have  been  already  referred  to,  in  the  year  1821.  The 
factory  was  burned  in  1836,  but  immediately  rebuilt.  They 
carried  on  the  enterprise  until  the  year  1852,  when  they  were 
joined  by  Edward  Smith.  The  Swift  River  Company  was 
then  formed,  and  consisted  of  Alfred,  David,  Alvin,  and  Ed- 
ward Smith.  The  new  company  started  the  mill  on  satinets, 
and  also  continued  making  cotton-warps.  They  added  several 
sets  of  satinet-machinery,  and  made  other  improvements. 
They  ran  that  way  until  the  year  1863,  when  the  capacity  of 
the  mill  was  more  than  doubled,  the  cotton-warp-machinery 
was  thrown  out,  the  old  mill  was  thoroughly  remodeled,  and 
eight  sets  of  machinery  were  started  on  all-wool  fancy  cassi- 
meres,  and  are  still  engaged  in  that  manufacture.  The  num- 
ber of  hands  employed  by  the  company  is  about  100.  The 
amount  of  stock  annually  used  up  is  from  300,000  to  400,000 
pounds,  and  the  average  annual  production  is  about  300,000 
yards.  The  quarterly  pay-roll  of  the  company  is  about  S8000. 
The  original  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  §40,000,  and 
the  amount  has  never  been  changed.  The  present  stock- 
holders of  the  company  are  Edward  P.  and  Henry  M.  Smith, 
of  whom  Edward  Smith  is  president  and  treasurer. 

In  addition  to  the  woolen  business  conducted  by  the  com- 
pany, they  have  also  a  saw-  and  grist-mill,  planing-mill,  and 
machine  repair-shop. 

The  Minot  Mnnufacturhuj  Cutnjyanyhas  a  less  remote  origin. 
The  first  mill  for  making  cloth  at  the  lower  dam  was  built  by 
Elihu  Lyman  and  Ichabod  Pope  about  the  year  1825.  It  was 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  satinets,  and  was  run  by  Elihu 
Lyman,  Ichabod  Pope,  Abner  Hale,  and  Moses  Woods. 
The  enterprise  was  not  a  profitable  one,  and  was  succeeded 
by  the  Swift  River  Manufacturing  Company,  which  was  or- 
ganized bv  Marshall  and  Thomas  Jones,  Leonard  and  Josiah 
B.  Woods,  Ephraim  Richards,  George  Howe,  and  a  few  others. 
This  company  not  only  manufactured  satinets,  but  also  carried 
on  the  carding  business,  which  Leonard  Woods  had  established 
about  1820.  Their  factory  was  burned  in  1830.  A  stone  mill 
was  then  erected,  but  the  inside,  with  all  its  machinery,  was 
burnt  out  in  1848.  The  walls  were  not  injured,  and  the  fac- 
tory was  again  rebuilt  and  is  still  standing. 

The  Swift  River  Manufacturing  Company  was  short-lived. 
The  business  was  divided  up.  M.  S.  &  T.  Jones  continued  the 
manufacture  of  satinet,  and  the  Woods,  with  Marshall  Jones, 
carried  on  the  carding  business,  under  the  name  and  style  of 
Jones,  Woods  &  Co.  In  1837,  M.  S.  &  T.  Jones  failed,  and 
the  Minot*  Manufacturing   Company  was   incorporated,  on 


*  The  maiden  name  of  Robert  Field's  wife,  the  mutlier  of  the  Jones  brothei-s. 


384 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


April  7th  of  that  year,  having  as  incorporators  Marshall 
Jones,  Leonard  Woods,  and  Alvin  Smith,  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $75,000.  The  company,  with  an  occasional  change  of 
owners,  has  been  running  ever  since,  at  first  manufacturing 
satinets,  but  now  Shaker  flannels  and  light-weight  cassimeres. 
The  present  company  consists  of  the  George  H.  Gilbert  Manu- 
facturing Company,  of  Ware,  Edward  B.  &  D.  B.  Gillett. 
They  have  two  mills,  with  five  sets  of  machinery,  employ 
about  50  persons,  manufacture  about  300,000  yards  annually, 
and  pay  out  to  employes  about  .?1200  a  month.  The  company 
also  owns  the  grist-mill  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  near 
the  bridge,  and  the  present  oflScers  are  E.  B.  Gillett,  Presi- 
dent ;  Charles  D.  Gilbert,  Secretary  ;  and  D.  B.  Gillett,  Treas- 
urer. 

After  the  failure  of  M.  S.  &  T.  Jones,  and  the  formation  of 
the  Minot  Manufacturing  Company,  Leonard  and  Josiah 
B.  Woods  carried  on  the  carding  business  with  great  success 
until  the  year  1850.  They  were  then  succeeded  by  Rufus  D. 
Woods  and  D.  B.  Gillett,  under  the  name  of  Woods  &  Bro. 
In  1852  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  Kufus  D.  Woods 
erected  a  mill  at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  and  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  card-clothing  until  the  year  1857,  when  he  re-estab- 
lished the  carding  business  in  Enfield  for  two  years.  He  then 
sold  the  machinery  to  Stedraan  &  Fuller,  of  Lawrence,  Mass., 
who,  after  continuing  the  business  for  one  year  in  Enfield,  re- 
moved the  machinerv  to  the  former  place. 

Alvin  Smith,  Orapiel  Walker,  and  Albert  Warren  com- 
menced the  manufacture  of  card-clothing  in  the  year  1847, 
and  about  1850  removed  the  business  to  Lawrence,  Mass. 

Anson  M.  Howard,  formerly  proprietor  of  the  Swift  Kiver 
Hotel,  has  been  engaged  since  the  summer  of  1876  in  manu- 
facturing steel  type,  for  use  in  type-writing,  and  other  goods. 
His  shop  is  on  the  east  bank  of  Swift  Kiver,  between  the 
upper  and  lower  villages.  Mr.  Howard  is  a  skillful  me- 
chanic, and  has  taken  out  several  valuable  patents  for  useful 
inventions  made  by  him  in  the  manufacture  of  type,  and 
machines  for  making  them. 

THE    MILITARY    KECORD 

is  necessarily  brief,  as  the  town  was  not  incorporated  until 
after  the  termination  of  all  the  earlier  wars,  and  its  history 
during  those  periods  is  identified  with  that  of  the  town  of 
Greenwich. 

Those  citizens  of  the  town  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
war,  scime  of  them  from  other  towns,  were  Joshua  Crosby, 

Benjamin  Rider,  Giles  Rider,  Barnabas  Rich, Pratt, 

Newcoinb,  and  John  Stevens.  The  latter  was  present  at  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill^,  and  only  escaped  being  killed,  by  the 
thrust  of  a  British  bayonet  as  he  was  leaving  the  fortifications, 
by  having  in  his  knapsack  a  loaf  of  bread  that  had  been  left  in 
the  oven  too  long  before  he  left  home,  and  had  grown  very 
hard.     This  checked  the  bayonet  and  saved  his  life. 

In  Shays'  rebellion  there  were  many  active  partisans  in  the 
town,  but  the  only  citizens  who  are  known  to  have  taken  part 
were  Benjamin  Uarwood,  Joseph  Fobes,  Jr.,  and  John  Kea. 

In  the  war  of  1812,  Icbabod  Pope,  Daniel  Ford,  Roswell 
Underwood,  Henry  Fobes,  Joshua  Crosby,  Samuel  Rich,  Rug- 
gles  Harwood,  Samuel  Barton,  Packard  Ford,  Daniel  Eddy, 
and  Kingsley  Underwood  represented  the  town. 

The  record  of  the  town  in  the  late  Rebellion  is  of  the  most 
honorable  character.  Money  and  men  were  promptly  supplied 
to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  army  and  answer  the  demands  of  the 
war.  The  following  is  the  list  of  soldiers  who  served  in  the 
army : 

Willhim  M.  Ayors,  .lolin  L.  lUiton,  Dexter  Bart.ni,  Chmlos  L.  Burton,  Frau- 
ds L.  Bentcr,  Ulwi,  N.  I!  ■sti.r,  Uivight  Clark,  Bc-iijaniin  K.  Conkey.  ae,.rge  .S. 
Corkiriu,  Ira  t'uriie,  Aiul-rosi'  B.  Cuwiin,  Julius  0.  Davis,  Charloa  M.  C'arli-r, 
Thomas  UovIi,<.,  Patrick  Do.vln,  l„.wi»  II.  Doiiijing,  Tlionms  Dwyer,  Joseph  Ca- 
.lluiix,  Freilerick  C.  Eager,  Walter  U.  Gariluer,  .lohi,  It.  Greonleaf,  Jr.,  Mi,-hael 
Gleasoii,  Gcorgf  L.  OU.bs,  Oscar  S.  Griswol.I,  Mieliael  Hughes,  Colman  Hanks, 
Irii  L.  Jones,  .Maitin  L.  Jonot,  Clmrlcs  F.  Jones,  Aiulrcw  J.  Jono.'s,  Albert  K. 


Johnson,  John  \V.  Keith,  Peter  King,  Jr.,  Justin  Knight.  Edmund  Sliller.  John 
Merriam,  Clark  Lilaliridge,  Josluia  G.  lazelle,  Alexamler  McCIellan,  William 
Mahony,  William  W.  Morse,  Michael  McMillan,  Charles  McClnre,  Alfred  E. 
Mauley,  Anthony  McGowan,  Edwin  II.  Moore,  William  Newlmry,  John  II. 
Newcomh,  Calvin  I>.  Newell,  Charh  s  W.  Newell,  Orin  A.  Powell,  George  W. 
Porter,  Hars'ey  Packard,  George  A.  Pierce,  Lafayette  Smith,  Henry  D.  Suutli- 
wick,  Lyman  F.  Shearer,  JIarshal  Riiler,  Edward  0.  Randall,  Henry  A.  Randall, 
Bri^ham  I).  Sprout,  .lolin  Sullivan,  John  W.  Sa<ller,  Warren  M.  Sadler,  Charles 
Trumbull,  Charles  Underwood,  Edwin  F.  Ward,  Edwanl  Wilder,  Aaron  Woods, 
James  E.  Woods,  Willard  A.  Wilherell,  Daniel  Welch. 

In  the  compilation  of  the  history  of  this  town,  generous  as- 
sistance has  been  rendered  by  a  large  number  of  its  citizens,  to 
whom  thanks  are  due,  and  especially  by  Icbabod  Pope,  Hon. 
Rufus  D.  Woods,  Charles  Richards,  Esq.,  William  B.  Kim- 
ball, Henry  Fobes,  Horace  Hunt,  and  the  pastors  and  manu- 
facturers of  the  town. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


EPAPHRAS   CLARK 

was  the  son  of  Kenaz  and  Abigail  Clark,  and  was  born  in 
Westhampton,  Mass.,  where  his  boyhood  was  passed,  June  28, 
1790.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the  common  .schools 
of  his  native  town.  He  had  a  strong  desire  for  a  collegiate 
education,  and  in  his  twenty-first  year  begart  to  study  under 
the  care  of  the  Rev.  Enoch  Hale,  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Westhampton,  and  in  nine  months  he  was 
prepared  to  enter  the  Sophomore  class  of  Williams  College, 
where  he  graduated,  in  1815,  with  high  honors,  being  the  vale- 
dictorian of  his  class.  His  father  aided  him  in  his  collegiate 
course  by  removing  with  his  family  to  Williamstown.  Soon 
after  his  graduation  he  was  offered  a  tutorship  in  the  college, 
but  declined  on  account  of  failing  health.  He  studied  law  with 
Mr.  Lathrop,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  at  West  Springfield,  and 
began  the  practice  of  law  in  Granby,  Mass.,  where  he  mar- 
ried Ruth  M.  Smith,  daughter  of  Levi  Smith  of  that  town. 
He  soon  removed  to  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  where  he  remained 
five  years,  continuing  the  practice  of  his  profession.  From 
there  he  removed  to  Enfield,  Mass.,  where  he  resided  for  up- 
ward of  thirty  years,  being  the  only  lawyer  in  the  town.  He 
generall3'  held  some  important  town  office,  was  a  trial-justice, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  for  five  successive 
terms.  He  was,  politicallj',  first  a  Whig,  and  subsequently  a 
Republican. 

During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  strongly  interested 
in  the  success  of  the  Union  cause.  Too  advanced  in  life  to 
enter  the  service,  he  did  much  toward  stimulating  others  in  the 
patriotic  work  of  the  hour.  He  eagerly  read  the  news  from 
the  seat  of  war  almost  to  the  day  of  his  death,  April  30,  1804. 
He  was,  with  one  exception,  the  oldest  member  of  the  Hamp- 
shire Bar,  the  one  older  being  Dyer  Bancroft,  Esq.,  of  Ches- 
terfield, Mass.  Mr.  Clark  was  familiar  with  the  literature  of 
his  day,  had  a  remarkably  retentive  memory,  and  could  repeat 
page  after  page  of  the  poets  Young,  Milton,  Cowper,  etc. 
He  possessed  a  fund  of  anecdotes,  was  quick  at  repartee,  hav- 
ing that  rare  wit  which  amuses  and  cheers,  but  never  wounds. 
He  was  a  genial  companion,  having  a  kindly  interest  in  all 
whom  he  knew.  He  united  with  the  Congregational  Chiuvh 
in  Enfield  in  1848,  and  was  a  consistent  Christian. 

The  following,  from  an  obituary  notice  which  appeared  in 
the  Hampshire  Gazette,  was  suggested  to  the  editor  by  the  late 
Judge  Spalding,  of  Northampton :  "  Epaphras  Clark  was  a 
man  of  sound  morals,  strict  integrity,  and  tine  literary  culture; 
distinguished  for  his  modest,  quiet,  and  unassuming  bearing. 
As  a  lawyer  he  was  safe  in  counsel,  clear  in  argument,  and 
was  always  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  public." 


vo^t^ 


-r^i^ 


Pli.ito.  l.j'  Moffitt. 


/o 


l^^^y-/^/^^     ^/^Jiite-y't^^'i^-^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


385 


KINGSLEY  UNDERWOOD. 
Kingsley  Underwood,  son  of  Daniel  Underwood  and  Ex- 
jierience  Kingsley,  was  born  in  Woodstock,  Conn.,  March 
2,  1770.  His  grandfather  was  one  of  the  original  settlers 
of  the  town,  and  died  in  1772  upon  the  farm  which  he  had 
cleared  from  forest.  His  father  met  with  an  accident,  from 
the  effects  of  which  a  lingering  illness  ensued,  and  he  died 
in  October,  1779.  There  was  no  one  in  the  family,  there- 
fore, of  an  age  to  serve  in  the  Revolutionary  army  but  the 
boy.  Kingsley  well  remembered  the  time  when  the  Minute- 
Men  set  out  for  Roxbury  and  Cambridge,  and  he  retained 
through  life  a  most  vivid  recollection  of  the  events  of  the 
war.  In  the  absence  of  so  many  men,  the  women  and  chil- 
dren suffered  great  hardships,  especially  in  collecting  wood 
for  fuel.  Kingsley,  when  only  nine  years  old,  aided  by  his 
younger  brother,  had  to  go  into  the  woods  with  a  hatchet  and 
cut  down  such  trees  as  he  could  manage,  and  drag  home  the 
limbs  in  a  hand-cart.  His  first  schooling  was  for  a  few  days 
in  the  winter  of  1779-80.  The  school  was  two  and  a  half 
miles  distant,  and,  as  the  snow  was  deep  and  the  roads  were 
not  broken  out,  the  boy  went  on  snow-shoes.  He  made  good 
use  of  his  time,  however,  and  in  those  few  days  learned  to 
read.  When  he  was  about  thirteen,  and  his  mother  had  mar- 
ried again,  Kingsley  was  befriended  by  a  kind  neighbor,  'Squire 
Fox,  who  sent  him  to  school  about  six  months,  and  this  was 
the  sum-total  of  his  education,  except  what  he  gained  unaided, 
yet  he  read  the  Bible  through  eight  times  before  he  was  six- 
teen. Later  in  life  he  read  many  books,  especially  after  he 
was  forty,  in  which  period  he  was  a  diligent  student,  and  he 
came  to  be  as  well  informed  as  most  professional  men.  He 
served  an  apprenticeship  to  a  blacksmith  in  Sturbridge,  Mass., 


and  afterward,  in  that  town,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Allen,  daughter  of  John  Allen,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Rev.  James  Allen,  who  came  from  England 
and  settled  in  Dedham  in  1629.  A  year  later  he  removed 
to  Enfield,  Mass.,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  set  up  a  triphammer-shop,  and  toiled  strenuously  at  his 
trade ;  but  while  still  in  middle  life  he  was  compelled  to  give 
up  business  on  account  of  incurable  lameness.  But  the  events 
of  his  life  were  neither  striking  nor  important;  it  is  with  the 
character  of  the  man  that  we  have  to  do.  That  a  man  born 
in  penury,  inured  to  hardship  from  tender  years,  and  furnished 
with  less  than  seven  months'  schooling  should  become  a  credita- 
ble scholar  and  a  forcible  writer,  and,  guided  solely  by  native 
taste,  should  become  familiar  with  the  rarest  stores  of  English 
poetry,  is  a  triumph  worth  holding  up  for  emulation.  He  was 
afflicted  with  an  obstinate  habit  of  stammering,  and  his  ordi- 
nary speech  was  painful  to  hear;  but  in  singing  or  reading 
poetry,  the  nervous  tremors  ceased  and  the  metre  of  the  verse 
flowed  in  an  unruflled  current.  His  descendants  well  remem- 
ber his  rapt  look  and  his  beaming  but  misty  eyes  when  re- 
peating some  grand  Miltonian  line.  The  great  Puritan  bard 
was  his  idol,  and,  as  he  read,  the  majesty  of  his  verse  seemed 
moving  to  solemn  music  in  his  brain.  He  was  an  Abolitionist 
from  the  first,  and  devoted  most  of  his  time  to  the  work.  For 
many  years  he  cast  the  single  anti-slavery  vote  in  his  town, 
and  cheerfully  bore  the  jeers  of  the  shorter-sighted,  confident 
of  the  coming  justice  of  time.  He  had  a  ready  wit  and  a 
talent  for  off-hand  rhymes  which  made  him  a  favorite  in  all 
companies.  He  died  Nov.  2,  1849,  in  his  eightieth  year.  His 
descendants  are  widely  scattered,  and  at  this  date,  April,  1879, 
only  one  son  survives. 


HATFIELD. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Hatfield  is  the  northernmost  of  the  towns  of  Hampshire 
County  which  lie  upon  the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut 
River.  It  is  bounded  north  by  Franklin  County,  east  by 
Hadley,  south  by  Hadley  and  Northampton,  west  by  North- 
ampton and  Williamsburg.  It  is  finely  situated  above  the 
great  bend  of  the  river,  comprising  a  large  extent  of  rich 
alluvial  plains.  The  farm  acreage  is  8339  acres,  according  to 
the  census  of  1875. 

The  title  to  the  soil  of  Hatfield  was  derived  direct  from  the 
Indians,  with  the  approval  of  the  provincial  authorities.  The 
first  purchase  by  the  Hadley  proprietors  was  Dec.  2.5,  1658, 
and  comprised  a  large  extent  of  territory  upon  the  east  side  of 
the  Connecticut  River.  No  part  of  this  became  the  property 
of  Hatfield.  The  second  purchase  was  made  July  10,  1660, 
and  comprised  the  "  lands  on  the  west  side  from  Capawong 
Brook  (now  Mill  River)  on  the  south  to  the  brook  called 
Wunckcompss,  which  comes  out  of  the  great  pond,  and  over 
the  brook  to  the  upper  side  of  the  meadow  called  Mincom- 
muck  on  the  north,  and  extending  westerly  nine  miles  into 
the  woods."  This  was  the  beginning  of  what  afterward  con- 
stituted the  town  of  Hatfield.  The  price  \md  was  300  fathoms 
of  wampum  and  sundry  gifts.  The  deed  was  signed  by 
Umpanchala,  and  approved  by  his  brother  Etowomq.  The 
"  Chickens,"  or  planting-field,  was  reserved,  and  also  the  lib- 
erty to  hunt  deer  and  other  wild  animals,  to  take  fish,  to  set 
wigwams  on  the  commons,  and  to  cut  wood  and  trees  for  use. 

The  third  purchase  was  the  meadow  called  Capawonk,  lying 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  and  this  came  under  the  juris- 
diction of  Hatfield  at  the  time  that  town  was  incorporated. 

49 


The  deed  for  this  is  dated  Jan.  22,  1063.  It  was  sold  to  Had- 
ley by  the  Northampton  planters  for  ,£30.  They  had  bought 
it  of  the  Indians  in  1657  for  50s. 

Oct.  19,  1672,  the  town  of  Hatfield  purchased  a  tract  to  the 
north,  comprising  what  is  now  the  town  of  Whately,  and  a 
portion  of  the  north  part  of  Hatfield.  This  was  the  land  of 
the  Indian  chief  Quonquont,  and  the  deed  was  signed  by  his 
widow,  Sarah  Quonquont,  his  son,  Pocunohouse,  his  daughter, 
Majesset,  and  two  others.  The  price  paid  was  50  fathoms  of 
' '  wampumpeag. "  The  south  line  was  from  a  walnut-tree  stand- 
ing by  the  river,  in  Mincommuck  Meadow,  westerly  out  into 
the  woods.  It  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  Weekiannuck 
Brook,  where  the  Pocumtuck  path  crosses  it,  the  line  running 
east  to  the  great  river  and  west  six  miles  into  the  woods. 

Of  these  four  purchases,  the  last  three  cover  the  present 
territory  of  Hatfield.  Every  man's  deed  is  really  based  on 
these,  and  we  must  suppose  the  lands  subject  to  the  original 
reservations,  and  that  the  descendants  of  Umpanchala  and 
Quonquont  have  still  a  right  to  hunt  and  fish  along  these 
streams,  and  plant  their  wigwams  on  the  common. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

A  large  portion  of  this  town  consists  of  the  valuable  mead- 
ows bordering  the  Connecticut  River.  Mill  River  (not  of 
Williamsburg)  enters  the  town  from  Franklin  County  about 
the  middle  point  of  the  north  line,  flows  due  south  until  it 
receives  an  important  tributary  from  the  west,  where  it  de- 
flects sharply  to  the  east,  and  by  an  irregular  route,  almost 
doubling  upon  itself,  finally  enters  the  Connecticut  on  the 
north  side  of  the  great  Hadley  curve.     The  western  branch 


386 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


above  described  is  formed  of  Broad  Brook  and  Eunning 
Gutter.  The  southern  part  of  the  town  within  the  bend  of 
the  Connecticut  and  along  the  lower  portion  of  Mill  Kiver  is 
swampy.  The  only  hills  are  in  the  west  part  of  the  towUv — 
two  ranges,  one  just  west  of  Mill  Kiver,  known  as  "The 
Kocks,"  the  other  parallel  to  it  and  on  the  west  line  of  the 
town,  known  as  Horse  Mountain.  Great  Pond  lies  north  of 
the  centre,  on  the  east  side  and  not  far  from  the  Connecticut. 
In  the  variety  of  rocks  and  minerals  the  hill-towns  west  far 
exceed  Hatfield  in  richness  and  beauty.  But  along  the  out- 
lines of  Hatfield  and  in  its  general  formation  there  is  much 
to  be  studied  of  the  great  truths  of  creation,  written  upon  the 
rocks  and  the  soils  and  the  river-beds.  The  sweep  and  power 
of  currents,  the  abrasion  of  banks,  the  cutting  of  new  chan- 
nels, and  the  creation  of  new  meadow-lands  may  all  be 
studied  here ;  and  while  the  student  of  nature  traces  this 
wonderful  story  beneath  his  feet  and  along  the  broad  Con- 
necticut, he  may  lift  his  eye  and  read  the  grander  lessons  of 
the  mountains  that  are  outlined  against  the  sky  and  bound  this 
alluvial  plain. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENT — .SUBSEQUENT    GROWTH. 

Hatfield  was  settled  at  the  same  time  as  Hadley,  1059  to 
1061.  Together  the  two  towns  became  the  property  of  a 
colony  from  Wetber.sfield  and  Hartford,  Conn. 

Differences  with  reference  to  church  organization  led  to  the 
removal.  The  faith  and  firmness  of  the  fathers  are  thus 
clearly  indicated.  So  conscientiously  and  tenaciously  did 
they  cling  to  what  they  deemed  to  be  right  that  they  were 
ready  at  any  time  to  abandon  home  and  lands  and  found  new 
settlements,  facing  for  this  purpose  not  only  the  hardships  of 
the  forest,  but  the  dangers  of  a  savage  foe. 

*'  These  settlers  were  men  of  wealth  and  high  social  position,  and  were  re- 
garded by  Massachusetts  authorities  as  a  most  desirable  addition  to  her  popula- 
tion. They  had,  as  their  subsequent  history  proved,  the  self-reliance  and  earn- 
estness and  coura-^e  which  usually  attach  to  men  who  strike  out  a  new  path  for 
conscience'  sake.'' 

It  is  thought  that  a  few  families  spent  the  winter  of  1659 
and  1660  in  the  new  colony  at  the  present  site  of  Hadley 
village.  The  following  summer,  1660,  it  is  understood  that 
six  families  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  now  Hatfield, 
though  the  land  was  not  divided  until  a  year  later. 

Among  these  six  Richard  Fellows  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first,  and  he  established  himself  at  the  south  end  of  the  pres- 
ent village,  just  below  the  intersection  of  the  Northampton 
road,  as  appears  by  a  list  hereafter  given.  The  other  five 
families  were  Kichard  Billings,  Zechariah  Field,  John  Cole, 
John  White,  Jr.,  and  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.  It  is  not 
certain  that  either  Fellows  or  the  others  located  on  the  lots 
they  afterward  received  at  the  regular  division.  They  would, 
however,  very  likely  be  permitted  to  keep  what  they  had 
really  occupied. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  town  of  Hatfield  nearly  two 
and  a  quarter  centuries  ago :  six  families,  separated  from  their 
companions  on  the  other  side,  grouped  in  the  forest  at  the 
south  end  of  the  present  street,  the  new  settlement  of  North- 
ampton, their  nearest  neighbors,  on  the  south,  and  all  around 
the  unbroken  forest. 

The  records  of  the  various  proceedings  show  more  in  detail 
the  steps  taken  for  settlement. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENT. 

The  first  town-meeting  in  Hadley — which  then  included 
Hatfield — was  held  at  the  house  of  Andrew  Warner,  Oct.  8, 
1660. 

Voted  that  all  who  sit  down  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  (HatfieUi)  shall  be 
one  with  those  on  the  oitst  side  in  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil  mattera  that  are 
common  to  the  whole,  they  p,aying  all  charges  fiom  their  engagement  and  all 
purchase  charges  from  the  begiiming.  Those  admitted  for  inhabitants  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river  are  to  be  inhabiting  there  in  houses  of  their  own  by  ne.\t 
Michaelmas  (Sept.  29, 1601),  anil  to  sign  an  engagement  by  themselves  or  some 
others  for  them. 


Most  of  those  who  wished  to  settle  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river  signed  an  engagement  for  themselves  or  their  friends  to 
be  dwellers  there  before  Sept.  29,  1661. 

Some  signed  at  the  meeting  October  8th,  others  November 
1st,  and  some  in  January,  February,  or  March,  1661.  Twenty- 
five  persons  "  manifested  an  intention"  before  March  25, 1661,  to 
establish  themselves  on  that  side  of  the  river  in  the  new  town, 
viz.,  Aaron  Cook,  Thos.  Meekins,  Wm.'  Allis,  Nathaniel  Dick- 
inson, Jr.,  John  Coleman,  Isaac  Graves  (with  his  father,  Thos. 
Graves),  John  Graves,  Samuel  Belden,  Stephen  Taylor,  John 
White,  Jr.,  Daniel  Warner,  Kichard  Fellows,  Kichard  Bil- 
lings, Edward  Benton,  Mr.  Kitehell  (with  his  son),  Ozias  Good- 
win, Zechariah  Field,  Lieut.  Thomas  Bull,  Gregory  Wilterton, 
Nathaniel  Porter,  Daniel  White,  William  Pitkin,  John  Cole, 
Samuel  Church,  Samuel  Dickinson. 

Of  these  27  persons,  Aaron  Cook  and  Samuel  Church  did 
not  remove  to  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Ozias  Goodwin, 
Lieut.  Bull,  Gregory  Wilterton,  and  William  Pitkin  con- 
tinued to  reside  at  Hartford ;  Nathaniel  Porter  at  Windsor ; 
Mr.  Eichell  (and  son)  and  Edward  Benton  at  Wethersfield. 
Seventeen  appear  to  have  become  permanent  residents  on  the 
west  side,  and  thus  constituted  the  first  settlers  of  Hatfield. 
They  were  from  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield,  Conn., 
except  Thomas  Meekins  and  William  Allis,  who  belonged  to 
Braiutree,  Mass. 

Several  families  whose  names  were  afterward  very  prom- 
inent in  all  the  public  business  of  Hatfield,  its  Hastings,  Par- 
tridge, Williams,  Smith,  and  others,  settled  a  few  years  later. 

The  home-lots  in  Hatfield  village  were  assigned  so  that  they  were  owned  from 
1668  to  1672  about  as  follows,  commencing  at  the  north  end,  east  side  of  the 
street,  at  the  old  highway  to  the  river  (present  Bliss  Hotel  corner) ;  Thomas 
Bracy  ;  Hezekiah  Dickinson,  20  rods  wide ;  William  Scott,  20  rods  wide ;  Daniel 
Belden,  16  rods  wide;  Siuuuel  Allis,.  16  rods  wide;  Samuel  Mareh,  16  rods 
wide  ;  Nathaniel  Foote,  16  rods  wide  ;  a  space  left  for  a  street ;  Pbilili  Ivussell,  4 
acres;  Samuel  Gillett,  4  jicrps;  John  W'ells,  4^  acres;  John  Coleman,  16  rods 
wide;  Samuel  Belden,  8  acres;  William  Gull,  8  acres;  Samuel  Dickinson,  8 
acres;  Edwai-d  Benton,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  6  acies;  John  White,  Jr., 
Nicholas  Worthingtou,  8  acres ;  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  8  acres ;  liicbard  Bil- 
lings, Samuel  Billings,  8  acres ;  Daniel  Warner,  8  acres ;  Thomas  Bull,  by  the 
town  to  Mr.  Athei-ton,  8  acres. 

Keturning  to  the  north  end,  and  beginning  on  the  west  side 
of  the  street,  opposite  the  Bliss  Hotel,  the  proprietors  were 

"William  King,  afterwai'd  .Samuel  Field,  16  rods  wide;  Benjamin  W'ait,  16  rods 
wide ;  John  Graves,  Jr.,  16  rods  wide ;  Samuel  Foote,  16  rods  wide  ;  Kobert  Danks, 
16  rods  wide  ;  space  for  Deerfield  lane ;  Isaac  Graves,  Jr.,  16  rods  wide ;  Samuel 
Northam,  16  rods  wide ;  Kichard  Moiton,  20  rods  wide ;  a  towu-lot,  10  rods 
wide;  space  reserved  for  street;  John  Hawks,  4  .acres;  Mill  lane;  Samuel  Kel- 
logg, 4  acres;  Obadiah  Dickinson,  4  acres;  John  Allis,  8  acres;  Daniel  White, 
8  acres;  Wm.  Allis,  8  acres;  Thomas  Meekins,  Thomas  Meekins,  Jr.,  8  acres; 
Eleazer  Frai-j',  8  acres;  John  Graves,  8  acres;  Isaiu:  Graves,  8  acres;  Stephen 
Taylor,  Barnabas  Hinsdale,  8  acres ;  Ozeas  Goodwin,  Mr.  Hope  Athei'ton,  8  acres ; 
Zechariah  Field,  John  Field,  8  acres ;  highways  to  Nortliampton  ;  John  Cowles 
&  Son,  8  acres  ;  Kichard  Fellows,  W'idow  Fellows,  8  acres. 

This  plat  or  survey  seems  to  have  been  made  as  early  as 
1661,  for  in  the  Hadley  records  it  appears  that  a  committee 
was  appointed  for  that  purpose  January  21st  of  that  year. 

The  Hill,  so  called,  west  of  Mill  Kiver  was  not  settled  until 
after  King  Philip's  war.  But  the  mill  is  of  very  early  date, 
and  by  the  time  the  oath  of  aUegiance  was  administered, 
1678,  there  were  doubtless  some  living  out  there. 

Upon  the  settlement  of  Hatfield  Street,  as  given  above,  Syl- 
vester Judd,  in  his  valuable  history  of  Hadley,  makes  the 
following  general  remarks : 

"The  home-lots  of  John  Hawks  and  Philip  Kussell,  and  all  south  of  tbem» 
were  gi-anted  by  Hadley.  Those  above  or  noi  th  of  them  were  granted  by  Hat- 
field, of  which  some  were  forfeited  and  given  to  itthers. 

"Hatfield  regrauted  the  lots  of  Goodwin,  Benton,  and  Bull.  BIr.  .^thert^m, 
the  first  minister,  lived  on  the  Goodwin  lot,  as  did  his  successor,  Mr.  Uhauncey. 
Barnabas  Hinsdale  married  the  widow  of  Stephen  T.iylor  and  lived  in  her 
house.    Thomas  Meekins,  Sr.,  removed  from  the  street  and  lived  near  his  null. 

"  Jolin  Colem.an,  about  1678,  changed  his  residence  and  lived  on  the  Benton 
lot,  and  Samuel  Belden  resided  on  Coleman's  first  lot.  No  one  lived  on  the  lot 
assigned  to  Thomas  Bull  for  many  yeai^. 

"  The  greater  part  of  the  lots  were  of  8  acres;  some  were  only  4.  Those  on 
the  east  side  were  short  in  the  upi>er  part,  the  4-acre  lots  being  16  rods  wide. 
The  length  of  the  street  on  the  west  side  was  340  rods,  estimated  from  the  inter- 


HISTORY  OP   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


387 


section  of  the  liighwaj'  to  Noi-tliaraptou  to  the  north  end.  The  street  formerly 
extended  farther  south  than  now,  sigainst  the  home-lots  of  Cowles  and  Fellows. 

"The  owning  of  meadow-lands  in  small  parcels  rendered  the  fencing  of  the 
whole  in  one  enclosure  a  matter  of  importance,  and  the  town  of  Hadley,  as  af- 
terward that  of  Hatfield,  early  made  it  a  matter  of  official  care. 

"  Great  I'ansett  and  Little  Pausett  were  fenced  in  1662,  from  the  Connecticut 
at  the  lower  end  round  to  the  Connecticut  east  of  the  village. 

"  In  1GG9  the  fence  of  Little  Pausett  was  ordered  to  be  made  with  ditch,  posts, 
and  tAVO  or  three  rails  on  the  same. 

"  Numerous  provisions  appear  in  the  town  records  of  Hatfield  with  regard  to 
fencing,  as  well  as  the  time  when  cattle  could  he  turned  in  to  feed  in  common 
after  gathering  crops." 

In  1669  the  citizens  of  Hadley  presented  to  the  General 
Court  a  protest  against  imports  or  customs  duties.  This  was 
signed  by  twenty-eight  from  the  west  side,  including  most  of 
the  names  alread_y  mentioned  among  the  early  proprietors. 
This  being  eight  years  after  the  first  settlement  shows  that 
the  number  had  not  increased  verj'  rapidly. 

In  the  original  distribution  of  lands,  the  meadows  on  the 
west  side  (Hatfield)  are  thus  described  : 

1st.  The  "Great  North"  or  "Upper"  Meadow,  including 
a  swamp  adjoining,  was  separated  into  six  divisions,  and  each 
west-side  proprietor  had  a  lot  in  each  division,  and  some  lots 
were  reserved. 

This  is  still  known  as  North  Meadow,  and  occupies  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  town,  next  the  Connecticut  River  and 
the  Whately  line,  bounded  partly  on  the  west  by  Great  Pond, 
containing  about  1000  acres. 

2d.  "  Little  Meadow"  was  situated  at  the  north  end  of  the 
street,  and  part  of  it  east  of  North  Meadow.  It  was  in  two 
divisions.  This  meadow  is  still  known  by  the  same  name. 
It  lies  just  north  of  the  Bliss  Hotel  corner,  but  is  really  a  part 
of  the  meadow  already  described. 

3d.  The  South  Meadow,  or  "the  meadow  adjoining  the 
street"  at  the  south  end,  was  called  Wequettayag  by  the  In- 
dians, and  commonly  Great  Pansett  in  the  records. 

It  contained  about  430  acres,  with  little  or  no  waste  land. 
The  proprietors  of  Hadley  (east  side)  had  the  west  part,  called 
205  acres,  and  the  proprietors  of  Hatfield  (west  side)  had  the 
east  part,  about  225  acres,  including  Indian  Bottom.  This 
last  name  was  given  to  a  tract  of  land  adjoining  the  Con- 
necticut, on  the  South  Meadow,  north  of  Hadley  village. 
When  the  Indian  chief  Umpanchala  sold  this  meadow  and 
other  lands,  June  10,  1660,  he  reserved  the  Indian  planting- 
ground.  He  sold  a  part  of  this  soon  after,  and  the  whole  in  a 
few  years.  From  this  reservation  of  Indian  planting-ground, 
the  whole  has  been  called  Indian  Bottom,  or  Indian  Hollow. 
Most  of  it  is  productive  and  valuable  mowing-ground.  The 
area  of  this  has  been  considerably  increased  by  deposits  of 
alluvial  matter  through  the  action  of  the  river  for  two  hun- 
dred years,  Hadley  losing,  Hatfield  gaining. 

Daniel  Dickinson,  who  died  in  1825,  told  Elijah  Bardwell 
that  he  once  had  a  3-acre  lot  in  Indian  Hollow,  which  grew 
into  4J  acres  in  about  fifty  years.  The  whole  width  of  the 
river  has  been  changed  at  that  point,  Hadley  losing,  Hatfield 
gaining. 

4th.  The  Southwest  Meadow,  which  Hadley  obtained  of 
Northampton,  was  called  Capawonk  in  old  times,  and  after- 
ward Amponchus,  Little  Pansett,  Little  Pontius,  etc.  It  is 
separated  from  Great  Pansett  by  Mill  River. 

The  west-side  inhabitants  (Hatfield)  had  the  upper  part, 
denominated  the  Plain,  at  two  acres  for  one.  The  east  side 
(Hadley)  had  all  Capawonk  except  the  plain.  After  being 
equalized,  and  ponds  and  worthless  swamps  rejected,  the 
number  of  acres  was  about  157.  This  is  still  known  as  little 
Pan.sett. 

The  number  of  west-side  proprietors  who  drew  lots  in  the 
South  Meadow  was  22,  and  the  amount  of  estates  £2500. 
Twenty-three  proprietors  had  lots  in  the  North  Meadow,  and 
some  were  reserved. 

After  the  township  was  divided,  it  was  estimated  that  Had- 
ley had  two-thirds  of  the  improvable  or  interval  land,  and 


Hatfield  one-third, — Hadley  about  lijOO  acres  ;  Hatfield  about 
800. 

'*  So  tlley  made  an  end  of  dividing  the  country,  as  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  The 
important  business  wa-s  peiformed  harmoniously.  No  man  claimed  or  received 
a  great  estate.  No  one  had  over  50}^  acres  of  interval  land.  The  vast  extent  of 
upland  was  open  to  all  equally  for  wood,  timber,  and  pasturage." 

This  division  evidently  took  place  from  1661  to  1663. 

From  the  town  records  we  take  the  following  valuable  doc- 
ument : 

"  The  oath  of  allegiance,  which  by  order  from  our  Honored  General  Court  was 
tt^  be  t,aken  respectively  in  each  town  of  this  County,  and  was  administered  by 
the  "Worshipful  Major  Pynchon  tt  the  several  iuhabitjinfe  and  pei-sous  within  the 
township  of  Hatfield,  being  convened  together  in  Hiitfield,  Feb.  S,  1G78. 

"Rev.  John  Wise  (perhaps),  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  John  Coleman,  Philip  Kus- 
sell,  John  Field,  Obadiah  Dickinson,  Nicholas  Worthiugton,  Jloses  Craft,  Samuel 
Marsh,  Samuel  Kellogg,  Benjamin  Wait,  James  Brown,  Samuel  Graves,  Sr., 
Daniel  Belding,  Peter  Plympton,  Benjamin  Barrett,  John  Evans,  Stephen  Beld- 
ing,  Simon  Williams,  "Wm.  Kings,  Thomas  Meekins,  Sr.,  Samuel  Belding,  Sr., 
Daniel  "NATiite,  Eleazer  Frary,  John  Loomis,  "John  Cowles,  Thomas  Hastings, 
Wm.  Bartholomew,  Samuel  Belding,  Jr.,  John  Claiy,  Joseph  Thomas,  Samuel 
Field,  Wm.  Sccjtt,  Robert  Bardwell,  Samuel  Foote,  Ephraim  Hinsdale,  Wm. 
Anues,  Samuel  Graves,  Jr.,  John  Wells,  Jr.,  Joseph  Field,  Wm.  Gull,  Edward 
Church,  Daniel  Warner,  John  Wells,  John  Allis,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Samuel 
AUis,  Quintan  Stockwell,  Walter  Ilickson,  John  Downing,  Sampson  Frary, 
Isaac  Graves,  Benjamin  Hastings,  Stephen  Gennings,  Jacob  Gardner,  John 
Graves,  Thomas  Braiye,  Samuel  Harrington,  Benjamin  Downing,  Robert  Poick. 

"  The  above-named  pereons,  their  names  were  here  entered  this  Feb.  23d,  1678, 
by  me. 

"Samuel  P-\rtrigg,  Recorder.'''' 

The  above  shows  probably  the  names  of  all  the  male  in- 
habitants twenty-seven  years  after  the  settlement.  The  early 
permanent  settlers  are  thus  all  named,  though  doubtless  others 
came  and  went,  remaining  for  short  periods.  The  family 
names  given  above  are  still  very  largely  found  in  Hatfield  at 
the  present  time, — as  Billings,  Graves,  Wells,  Dickinson, 
Evans,  Bardwell,  Coleman,  and  others. 

The  statement  of  the  home-lots  on  Hatfield  Street  aflTords 
the  means  of  tracing  at  the  present  time  very  nearly  the  an- 
cient landmarks,  and  locating  the  settlers  as  they  lived  in  the 
old  days  when  the  Indians  were  thick  in  the  forests  around, 
and  when  unslumbering  vigilance  alone  could  save  life  and* 
home  and  family. 

PHYSICIANS. 

In  April,  1679,  Thomas  Hastings,  of  Hatfield,  petitioned  for 
licen.se  to  practice  physic  and  chirurgery.  The  subject  was 
referred  to  the  next  court.  No  license  is  found  on  record,  but 
he  undoubtedly  was  authorized  to  practice  the  next  year.  For 
many  years  he  was  the  physician  and  surgeon  for  Hatfield, 
Hadley,  Decrfield,  and  other  towns.  Sometimes  his  ride  ex- 
tended to  Springfield,  Sutfield,  Westfield,  Enfield,  and  Brook- 
field.  Yet  his  time  was  but  partiallj'  occupied  with  his  pro- 
fessional business.  His  bills  were  small,  and  his  income  could 
not  have  been  great.  He  kept  the  town  school  several  years. 
At  his  death,  in  1712,  the  amount  due  to  his  estate  was  only 
£39,  and  the  whole  was  estimated  at  but  £22.5. 

His  son,  Thomas  Hastings,  Jr.,  was  a  man  of  very  similar 
employment, — practicing  medicine  and  teaching, — his  ride  ex- 
tending over  the  surrounding  country,  like  his  father's.  He 
died  in  1728. 

The  large  amount  of  other  valuable  material  embodied  in 
this  sketch  compels  the  omission  of  any  extended  notice  of  the 
phy.sicians  of  the  town.  In  the  chapter  upon  the  medical 
societies  of  the  counties  they  will  appear  to  some  extent. 

Dr.  Daniel  White  was  a  noted  physician  of  the  present 
century. 

MERCHANTS,  STORES. 

Zachariah  Field  was  a  trader  in  the  early  years.  His  opera- 
tions were  extended  to  buying  furs  of  the  Indians.  He  prob- 
ably kept  only  a  few  goods  to  exchange  with  the  Indians  and 
supply  some  of  the  simplest  wants  of  the  settlers.  He  imitated 
the  fashions  of  modern  times  by  failing  in  1664. 

During  the  succeeding  hundred  years  there  is  very  little 
to  be  obtained  concerning  the  stores.  The  Partridges,  Dick- 
insons, Smiths,  and  Allises  being  merchants  in  part,  at  least, 


388 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


it  is  understood  tlie  earlier  members  of  those  families  were 
also.  Samuel  Partridge's  store  of  1790,  and  for  twenty  or 
thirty  years,  stood  where  John  A.  Billings  now  resides. 

The  old  Dickinson  store  was  on  or  near  the  site  of  the 
present  residence  of  W.  H.  Dickinson. 

Nathaniel  Dickinson  was  the  first  to  bring  in  modern 
crockery,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago.  Trench- 
ers for  plates  had  been  used  before  that  time.  Mrs.  Bardwell 
having  bought  a  set  of  the  new  plates,  her  husband,  not  ap- 
proving of  the  extravagance,  and  having  a  chance  to  set  the 
table  for  the  slaves  without  the  assistance  of  his  better  half, 
took  down  those  choice  new  plates  and  had  the  slaves  eat  from 
them  first,  as  a  practical  joke  at  the  expense  of  his  good  W"ife. 

"  Landlord  Allis"  had  a  store  probablj-  in  the  Eevolution 
and  later  at  the  place  next  north  of  the  present  residence  of 
W.  H.  Dickinson.  The  store  was  managed  largely  by  one  of 
the  Waits. 

Eurotas  Hastings  was  a  merchant  for  a  series  of  years. 
Elijah  Bardwell,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  these 
items,  relates  an  anecdote  showing  the  use  of  liquors  in  olden 
times,  troods  were  largely  brought  by  the  river  from  Hart- 
ford. Of  course,  navigation  closed  at  the  setting  in  of  winter, 
and  merchants  intended  to  have  full  supplies  in  store  by  that 
time.  In  March,  1821,  or  1822,  Mr.  Bardwell  was  in  the  store, 
and  Mr.  Hastings  inquired  about  teams  to  go  to  Hartford  for 
goods,  saying  he  had  seven  hogsheads  of  rum  when  the  winter 
set  in,  but  it  was  all  gone! 

John  Hart's  store  was  at  the  south  end  of  the  village. 

TAVERN.S. 

In  the  times  of  the  Revolution  and  for  some  years  after,  the 
public-house  of  "Landlord  Allis,"  alluded  to  in  connection 
with  his  store,  was  a  noted  resort  and  a  favorite  with  the  trav- 
eling public.  A  cousin  of  the  proprietor  (perhaps  he  was), 
coming  there  one  day  pretty  full  of  New  England  rum  or 
^something  stronger,  and  hearing  of  a  rather  pleasant  room 
given  to  a  negro,  and  somewhat  disgusted  at  such  practical 
evidence  of  equality,  is  said  to  have  actually  led  his  horse  up 
the  stairs  to  see  the  room.  The  horse  walked  up,  but  wouldn't 
walk  down,  and  it  was  necessary  to  throw  the  animal  and  drag 
him  down. 

There  was  a  tavern,  between  the  Kevolutiou  and  1800,  where 
David  Billings  now  lives. 

Ebenezer  White  kept  tavern,  and  his  father  before  him. 
This  was  at  the  site  of  the  present  place  of  John  T.  Fitch. 
It  was  continued  by  the  widow  of  Ebenezer  for  a  short  time. 

At  this  old  tavern  there  was  a  famous  celebration  upon  the 
receipt  of  the  news  of  peace,  in  1816. 

Ebenezer  Dwight  had  a  tavern  for  a  few  years  (1815  to  1820, 
perhaps)  where  Alfred  Graves  now  lives. 

Dr.  White  kept  a  public-house  thirty-five  or  forty  years 
where  Daniel  W.  Wells  now  resides,  commencing  1800  or 
earlier  ;  the  present  building  is  the  same. 

John  B.  Morton  kept  a  tavern,  1820  to  1830,  in  what  is  now 
a  tenement-house,  next  south  of  the  residence  of  W.  H.  Dick- 
inson. Aaron  Dickinson  had  a  public-house  for  many  years 
at  North  Hatfield ;  continued  until  business  was  destroyed 
by  the  opening  of  the  railroads. 

MISCELLAXEOUS    ITEMS. 

Hatfield  may  have  had  30  families  in  1670.  The  persons 
taxed  in  1678,  after  the  Indian  war,  were  48,  and  in  1682,  57. 
The  number  of  families  in  1682  may  have  been  48  or  50. 
They  had  five  selectmen  and  other  town-officers  as  in  Hadley. 
The  herdmen  and  shej)herds  were  employed,  and  also  men  to 
burn  the  woods  in  the  spring. 

In  ll)il2,  Hatfield  began  a  contest  with  Hadley,  demanding 
that  the  river  should  be  the  boundary  between  them,  and 
attained  her  object  in  1733. 

The  attempt  of  Hatfield  to  carry  her  south  line  into  territory 


long  in  the  possession  of  Northampton  failed,  in  1720,  after  a 
dispute  of  twenty-six  years. 

Col.  Samuel  Partrigg,  or  Partridge,  was  powerful  in  Hat- 
field, and  was  for  manj'  years  a  verj'  prominent  man  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley. 

Landlord  Allis  is  said  to  have  had  the  first  carpeted  room  in 
town. 

It  is  a  traditional  anecdote  that  Roger  Dickinson,  who  had 
a  family  of  girls  and  desired  to  have  them  educated,  in  the 
early  days  when  there  were  no  "Smith's  Female  Colleges," 
went  to  Elijah  Dickinson  to  secure  his  assistance  in  urging 
the  matter  before  the  town.  The  latter  himself  approved  of 
educating  the  girls,  but  was  doubtful  of  success  in  securing 
an  appropriation.  Said  he,  "  Roger,  it  is  all  right,  but  do  you 
suppose  they  will  vote  any  money  to  teach  the  shes?" 

The  Bliss  fulling-mill  was  at  the  site  of  the  pistol-factory, 
in  a  room  under  the  old  grist-mill. 

There  were  several  families  at  North  Farms  in  early  times, 
where  there  are  now  no  buildings,  but  the  plowshare  often 
turns  up  bricks  and  other  relics  of  settlement.  Here  were  the 
Fields,  Bardwells,  Gulls,  Arms,  and  others.  Elijah  Bard- 
well, to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  these  items,  sup- 
poses that  the  buildings  burnt  by  the  Indians  "  outside  the 
fortifications"  were  located  there. 

There  were  Indian  burials  near  North  Farms,  and  the  bones 
coming  to  the  surface  in  cultivating  the  ground  have  often 
been  taken  away  as  relics. 

An  elm  of  immense  proportions  stood  till  within  a  few  years 
in  front  of  the  present  church.  It  was  a  monarch  of  the  an- 
cient forest.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  who  often  admired  it, 
pronounced  it  the  largest  tree  in  New  England,  and  the 
"autocrat  of  the  breakfast-table"  is  good  authority.  It  was 
broken  badly  by  the  wind  a  few  years  ago,  and  safety  com- 
pelled its  removal. 

A  peculiar  family  item  appears  in  the  lists  of  early  settlers, 
— that  middle  names  were  very  rare  until  quite  a  recent  period. 
A  petition  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  with  40  or  50  signers, 
shows  no  middle  names.  A  list  of  voters  of  1825  has  only  7 
such,  and  very  many  old  people  now  living  have  only  one 
prefix  to  the  family  surname.  Junior  and  senior  were  more 
frequent  in  old  times  than  now. 

The  barn  of  Elijah  Bardwell  is  the  old  meeting-house  of 
1750,  and  the  sills  are  still  sound.  In  this  building  are  tim- 
bers taken  to  build  this  from  the  house  of  1668,  and  Mr. 
Bardwell  has  two  timbers  from  that  earliest  house  in  his  well- 
room. 

The  old  ditficulties  of  "seating  the  meeting-house"  are 
alluded  to  elsewhere.  On  one  occasion,  when  there  was  con- 
siderable dissatisfaction,  and  some  audible  expression  of  it, 
Thomas  Banks,  who  had  been  assigned  what  was  deemed  the 
poorest  seat  in  the  house,  rose  amid  the  other  speech-makers 
and  said,  "  I  am  thankful  for  a  seat  anywhere  in  the  house 
of  God." 

The  old  Murray  place  was  the  present  place  of  Samuel  F. 
Billings.  A  daughter  of  Mr.  Murray  was  the  wife  of  Brig.- 
Gen.  JIaltby,  who  commanded  the  Hampshire  County  men 
in  the  campaign  for  the  defense  of  Boston,  war  of  1812. 

The  first  school-house,  and  the  place  of  all  the  schools  for  a 
hundred  years,  or  most  of  them,  stood  in  the  street  a  short 
distance  south  of  the  meeting-house.  The  second  school- 
house,  mentioned  often  in  the  records  as  the  place  of  town- 
meetings,  was  built  of  brick,  much  or  all  of  the  material 
being  taken  from  the  old  fortified  houses  of  the  early  settle- 
ment. It  appears  that  palisades  were  not  the  only  protection 
resorted  to.  Some  of  these  fortified  houses  had  brick  walls 
a  foot  or  more  in  thickness,  and  perhaps  that  accounts  for 
the  ill  success  of  the  Indians  in  some  of  their  attempts  at 
slaughter. 

The  list  of  lot-owners  and  their  location,  already  given,  sug- 
gests many  interesting  facts  of  the  early  times.     The  house 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


389 


of  Benjamin  Wait  stood  on  the  present  place  of  J.  Morton, 
west  side,  near  the  north  end  of  the  street.  From  there  were 
taken  the  wife  and  the  children,  to  rescue  whom  he  made  the 
trip  to  Canada. 

Rev.  Hope  Atherton,  the  first  minister,  lived  on  the  present 
place  of  Erastiis  Billings. 

Elijah  Bardwell  gives  the  tradition  that  one  man,  wounded 
almost  to  death  at  Bloody  Brook,  actually  worked  his  way  on 
his  hands  and  knees  to  Hatfield,  reaching  there  some  days 
after  the  battle,  was  taken  in,  cared  for,  and  his  life  saved. 

The  names  of  the  prominent  public  men  of  the  town  in 
early  times  are  very  largely  shown  in  the  lists  of  public  offi- 
cers and  representatives  to  the  General  Court,  and  many  others 
are  mentioned  in  lists  of  committees  upon  churches,  schools, 
and  burial-places. 

Eminent  men,  natives  of  this  town,  are  numerous,  but  it 
seems  difficult  to  procure  a  full  list.  There  may  be  mentioned, 
Jonathan  Dickinson  (1688  to  1747);  was  an  able  clergyman 
and  author;  Elisha  Williams  (1694  to  1755),  president  of 
Yale  College  from  1726  to  1739;  Oliver  Partridge  (1712  to 
1792),  often  a  member  of  public  bodies  ;  Oliver  Smith,  founder 
of  the  famous  Smith  charities ;  and  still  others. 

Mr.  S.  G.  Hubbard  states  that  the  Meekins  House,  now 
owned  by  H.  S.  Hubbard,  and  known  as  the  Roswell  Hubbard 
place,  was  fortified  in  the  old  times.  The  building  is  very 
likely  the  oldest  in  town.  It  is  stated  that  the  chimney  was 
laid  up  with  clay  mortar. 

The  earliest  three  marriages  recorded  appear  to  be  Daniel 
Belding  to  Elizabeth  Foote,  Nov.  10,  1670 ;  Joseph  Leonard 
to  Mary  Fellows,  March  24,  1672;  John  Graves  to  Mary 
Brunson,  July  20,  1671. 

The  earliest  three  births  recorded  are  Hannah,  daughter  of 
John  and  Deborah  Cowles,  born  Nov.  24,  1668;  John,  sim  of 
Richard  and  Ruth  Morton,  born  Jan.  21,  1670;  Jonathan, 
son  of  John  and  Deborah  Cowles,  born  Jan.  26,  1670. 

The  earliest  three  deaths :  Hannah,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Hannah  Gillet,  "sorely  burnt,"  and  died  February,  1670; 
John,  son  of  Rachel  and  Ruth  Morton,  April  26,  1670;  John, 
son  of  John  and  Martha  Hawkes,  July  6,  1671. 

REMINISCENCES    OF    MR.    MOSES    MORTON. 

He  was  born  in  1790.  His  father  was  Josiah.  His  grand- 
father, Moses.  His  great-grandfather,  Abraham,  and  Abra- 
ham was  the  son  of  Richard,  the  pioneer.  The  children  of 
Josiah,  besides  Moses,  were  Rodolphus,  Leander,  and  two 
daughters,  Abigail  and  Sally.  Josiah  was  in  the  Revolution- 
ary war,  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Saratoga.  Moses 
was  one  of  the  defenders  of  Boston,  in  1814.  He  relates  with 
much  glee  what  a  pleasant  time  they  had  down  there  ;  never 
enjoyed  himself  better  in  all  his  life.  He  says:  "  For  those 
valiant  services  they  gave  me  two  land-warrants,  and  at  last  a 
pension ;  curious  idea,  wa'n't  it,  after  seventy  years  to  give  me 
a  pension  for  just  that  nice  little  parade  down  to  Boston?  I 
was  a  quartermaster  under  Col.  Voluntine.  I  was  a  sergeant 
in  the  home  company.  They  called  on  Hatfield  for  a  detail  of 
fourteen  men,  among  them  a  captain  and  a  lieutenant ;  but 
they  two  whined  and  took  on  so  dreadfully  the  officers  let 
them  ofi"  and  took  two  sergeants,  Jonathan  Porter  and  me. 
That  is  the  way  I  got  into  the  cro/mion." 

Mr.  Morton  married  into  the  Dr.  Lyman  family.  He  has 
used  tobacco  all  his  life,  and  relates  how  Rev.  Dr.  Trask,  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Atiti-Tobacco  movement,  came  to  expostu- 
late with  him,  and  if  possible  convert  him.  "  Tobacco  will 
hurt  you, — shorten  your  life,"  said  Trask.  "  Will  it  ?"  replied 
Mr.  Morton.  "Now,  look  here,  Trask!  I  married  into  a  min- 
ister's family,  and  I  have  seen  lots  of  ministers'  meetings  at 
the  old  Lyman  homestead,  and  they  all  smoked,  and  I  can 
give  you  the  names  of  twelve  that  lived  to  a  green  old  age 
and  almost  died  in  their  pulpits."  Mr.  Trask  gave  him  up  as 
a  hard  case. 


Mr.  Morton  says  the  old  militia-trainings  were  great  affairs 
when  he  was  a  boy.  The  troops  used  to  parade  in  the  Main 
Street,  in  front  of  Dr.  White's  tavern,  and  also  deploy  and  go 
through  their  drill  on  the  wide  common  in  front  of  the  present 
post-office. 

Jonathan  Lj'man,  who  studied  law  and  settled  in  Hatfield, 
procured  the  establishment  of  the  post-office,  and  Dr.  Daniel 
White  was  the  first  postmaster.  Dr.  White  kept  it  at  his 
tavern,  where  Elisha  Wells  now  lives.  Dr.  Lyman's  home- 
stead was  on  a  lot  now  owned  by  Marcus  Morton  ;  the  build- 
ings gone. 

The  old  church  stood  opposite  in  the  street. 

The  school-house  was  farther  south,  opposite  Dr.  White's 
tavern.  Dr.  John  Hastings,  like  his  ancestors,  was  a  teacher 
for  some  years.  Mr.  Morton  well  remembers  when  he  was 
promoted  up-stairs  to  the  higher  school.  He  recalls  other 
teachers  as  Ephraim  Hastings,  Levi  Field,  and  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington. 

Mr.  Morton  says  when  he  was  ten  years  old  there  was  not  a 
buggy  nor  a  cutter  in  town.  There  were  no  draw-chains  for 
horses,  and  no  leather  tugs.  The  tugs  were  ropes,  the  lines 
were  ropes.  The  people  had  double  sleighs,  and  rode  to  meet- 
ing in  them  during  the  winter  ;   in  the  summer  went  on  foot. 

The  first  chaise  in  town  was  assessed  for  taxation  at  $60,  but 
by  accident  was  written  down  ?600,  and  the  owner  paid  the 
tax  all  the  same  without  grumbling.  He  says  he  used  to  read 
Addison  and  Goldsmith  when  young,  and  not  such  trash  as 
the  young  people  have  at  the  present  time. 

From  old  files  of  the  Hampshire  Gnzeffc: 

"  I,  Curson,  Teacher  of  the  Proprietors'  School,  Northampton,  hega  leave  to 
inform  the  public  that  he  intends  to  open  a  Subscription  School  at  Hatfield  the 
let  day  of  January  next,  where  youths  will  be  carefully  and  expeditiously  in- 
structed in  various  branches  of  useful  Literature.  For  terms  and  other  particu 
lars  gentlemen  are  desired  to  apply  to  Col.  Chapin,  of  Hatfield. 

"  Dec.  IC,  1786." 

Nov.  27, 1792. — "  Oliver  Smith  advertises  a  brown  Heifer,  two  years  old  past 
with  a  bob-tail,  lost  in  the  Hatfield  woods.  Note. — This  Heifer  was  a  part  of  the 
wealth  now  blessing  so  many  through  the  '  Smith  charities.' " 

1792. — "Benjamin  Smith  and  Oliver  Smith  dissolve  partnership  by  mutual 
consent." 

The  Smith  store  was  on  the  ground  of  the  present  church. 
Trades'  unions  were  not  unknown  eighty  years  ago.     An 
adjourned  meeting  of  house-joiners   and   cabinet-makers  of 
Hampshire  County  was  held  at  the  house  of  Landlord  Billings, 
in  Hatfield,  the  first  Wednesday  of  March,  1796. 

June  25, 1804. — "  Saddles  exchangeil  at  an  ortUnation.  Adna  Smith  complains 
that  he  lost  *  an  almost  new  sa<ldle,  seat  of  neat's  leather,  round  tuft  nails,  and 
pad  faced  with  red  plush,'  was  taken,  and  one  '  poorer,  much  poorer,'  left  in  its 
place." 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  inhabitants  of  Hadley  who  settled  upon  the  west  side 
of  the  Connecticut  suftered  so  many  inconveniences  by  reason 
of  the  broad  stream  which  separated  them  from  those  upon 
the  east  that  they  were  obliged  immediately  to  have  some- 
thing of  a  separate  organization.  Accordingly,  "  west-side 
meetings"  were  held  the  very  first  year  of  settlement;  and 
there  is  still  preserved  in  the  town-clerk's  office  of  Hatfield 
an  early  book  of  records  dating  back  to  1660, — a  venerable  relic 
which  the  town-fathers  might  well  order  printed  entire  at  the 
public  expense.  They  were  perhaps  first  kept  on  loose  sheets 
of  paper,  and  afterward  written  out  in  their  present  form  by 
the  first  town-clerk,  John  Allis,  about  1670.  This,  with  the 
two  small  volumes  of  town-records  that  follow,  constitutes 
some  of  the  earliest  and  most  valuable  manuscripts  extant  in 
this  valley.  Northampton  was  only  settled  seven  years  before 
these  records  commence.  Indeed,  the  earliest  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages  of  Northampton  are  in  this  old  Hatfield  office, 
dating  back  to  1655. 

These  "  west-side  meetings''  transacted  a  variety  of  business 
with  reference  to  divisions  of  lands,  laying  out  roads,  building 
fences  in  common,  making  police  regulations,  and  establishing 
public  worship.     Mr.  Hope  Atherton,  the  first  minister,  was 


390 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


procured  through  the  action  of  these  meetings.  All  this  was 
permitted  by  the  town  of  Hadlcy,  but  this  qi)iixi  civil  organ- 
ization could  not  meet  tlie  wants  of  the  case. 

A  striking  description  of  the  difficulties  of  the  crossing  of 
the  river  will  be  found  under  the  head  of  churches.  A  defi- 
nite application  was  made  to  the  General  Court  for  incorpora- 
tion. If  there  was  any  reluctance  upon  the  part  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  east  side,  it  was  soon  removed.  The  General  Court 
received  the  petition  favorably,  the  consent  of  Hadley  was 
obtained,  an  act  of  incorporation  was  pa.ssed,  and  "  Hadley 
west  side"  gave  way   to   its  successor,  the  tviuii  of  Hatfield. 

"In  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hiidley,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  that  they  may  be  allowed  to  be  a  town  of  themselves  distinct  from 
Hadley  on  the  east  side,  the  Deputy  of  Hadley  certifying  that  that  town  hath 
consented  to  release  them  if  this  Court  do  approve  thereof,  &c.,  this  Court  do 
therefore  allow  them  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  to  be  a  township  distinct  from 
them  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  do  grant  them  a  tract  of  land  westward 
six  miles  back  into  the  woods  from  the  Great  Kiver;  their  southerly  bounds  to 
be  Northampton  northerly  bounds,  and  the  land  which  Hadley  reserves  to  them- 
selves, and  from  their  sjiid  southerly  lino  to  run  up  the  river  northerly  upon  the 
square  six  miles ;  their  northerly  bounds  likewise  to  mn  back  from  the  Great 
River  six  miles  westward,  as  before,  resei^ng  proprieties  formerly  granted  to 
any  person,  and  that  this  town  be  called  '  Hattiields.' " 

The  name  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  one  of  the  Hat- 
fields  in  England,  perhaps  from  Hatfield  Broad  Oak,  in  the 
county  of  Essex,  so  named  from  a  splendid  specimen  of  the 
oaks  of  that  section. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  act  the  new  town  was  fully  or- 
ganized by  the  election  of  the  usual  town-officers,  and  the  adop- 
tion of  all  needful  measures  with  reference  to  roads,  bridges, 
and  common  fences.  The  early  volumes  of  the  town-records 
form  a  mine  of  quaint  and  curious  information, — all  of  it  so 
valuable  in  an  antiquarian  sense  that  it  is  difficult  to  choose 
what  to  take  and  what  to  leave,  and  so  extensive  as  to  render  it 
impossible  to  quote  a  tithe  of  it  for  this  chapter.  The  most  im- 
portant .school,  church,  and  military  matters  appear  elsewhere. 

May  21, 1G88. — "Voted  as  to  the  poor,  those  who  want  maintenance,  the  Se- 
lectmen, every  one  of  them  as  appertaincth  to  them  as  agents,  shall  have  inspec- 
tion over  them,  their  occupation  and  their  children,  that  their  things  and  their 
labor  be  put  to  the  best  advantage." 

Also  voted,  "  ^\^icreaa  Capt.  Allisey  h.ath  procured  standard  weights  and  de- 
livered them  to  the  Selectmen  for  keeping  to  order,  the  Selectmen  have  com- 
mitted them  to  the  custody  of  Samuel  fielding,  Sen.,  to  be  put  into  a  bag  and 
secured  for  the  sealer's  use  annually." 

Who  has  the  bag  now  ?  Will  some  delver  in  old  garrets 
and  chests  bring  them  out  and  try  the  merchants'  scales  by 
them  now  after  nearly  two  hundred  years? 

The  taxes  levied  by  the  General  Court  upon  the  town  were 
for  some  of  the  early  years  the  following :  June  25,  1710,  £63 
10s.  6d. ;  July  5,  1718,  £41  2s.  9d. ;  June  30,  1719,  £18  14s. 
4d.  ;  July  23,  1720,  £28  Is.  Gd. ;  June  17,  1796,  £42. 

In  1735,  John  Eitch  built  an  oil-mill  in  Hatfield. 

It  appears  from  some  items  in  the  records  that  cattle  were 
fatted  for  market  in  Hatfield  as  early  as  1096,  and  that  it  was 
not  then  a  new  business. 

From  1783  to  1780  the  town  of  Hatfield  strenuously  opposed 
a  division  of  the  county. 

At  this  time,  too,  many  votes  were  passed  in  favor  of  re- 
trenchment, the  lowering  of  official  salaries,  and  various  other 
reforms,  and  precise  instructions  were  often  voted  to  the  rep- 
resentative at  the  Great  and  General  Court. 

The  danger  of  a  war  in  1797  called  out  the  following  vote : 

"  To  give  those  men  who  shall  turn  out  voluntarily  as  soldiers,  which  are  re- 
quired of  this  tuwn,  agreeably  to  a  resolve  of  Congress  in  June  Inst,  nine  shillings, 
as  a  bounty  to  each  one,  and  if  they  actually  march,  8  dollars  a  month." 

May  15,  1780,  voted  that  the  town  are  desirous  that  Dr. 
Joseph  O.  Cone  settle  in  tlie  town  as  a  physician,  and  he  was 
ottered  the  opjjortunity  of  teaching  school. 

An  early  lightning-rod,— town  voted  one  for  the  meeting- 
house Uct.  17,  1775. 

There  was  a  cider-mill  in  front  of  the  Widow  Hastin"-s' 
house  in  1736,  as  permission  was  then  voted  to  remove  it  to 
some  other  locality. 


May  23,  1770,  a  vote  was  passed  consenting  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  northern  portion  of  this  town  into  a  separate 
district.     This  was  the  origin  of  the  town  of  Whately. 

At  the  same  meeting  consent  was  voted  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  western  portion  of  this  town  to  form  a  separate  district, 
and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  town  of  Williamsburg. 

Place  of  the  Town-Meeiings. — This  is  not  always  noted  in 
the  records.  As  there  was  a  meeting-house  when  the  town 
was  organized,  they  were  doubtless  held  there,  as  was  the 
citstom  in  New  England  towns.  They  were  sometimes  called 
"  at  the  brick  school-house,'' and  were  probably  held  in  one 
or  the  other  of  those  buildings  until  the  erection  of  the  town- 
house. 

While  the  "  west  side"  was  a  part  of  Hadley,  the  following 
selectmen  of  the  latter  town  appear  to  have  lived  in  what  is 
now  Hatfield :  1060,  Nathaniel  Dickinson  (perhaps) ;  1002, 
Thomas  Meekins,  Wm.  Allis ;  1003,  Thomas  Meekins,  John 
White;  1664,  Wm.  Allis,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.;  106.5, 
Thomas  Meekins,  Isaac  Graves;  1666,  Nathaniel  Dickinson, 
Jr.,  John  Coleman;  1667,  John  Cole,  Daniel  Warner;  1068, 
Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Samuel  Belding ;  1609,  Thomirs 
Meekins,  William  Allis. 

SELECTMEN. 

1670-71,  January. — Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  William  Allis,  John  Cowles,  Sr., 
Isaac  Graves,  John  Coleman. 

1672-76. — Records  lost  for  these  five  years. 

1677,  January. — Thomas  Meekins,  Lieut.  Allis,  Edwiird  Church,  Samuel  Belden, 
Daniel  White. 

1678. — Thomas  Meekins,  Daniel  Warner,  John  Ct>lemau,  Philip  Russell,  Daniel 
White. 

1679,  January. — Thomas  Meekins,  Edward  Church,  John  Allis,  Samuel  Belden, 
Sr.,  Eleazer  Erary. 

1080. — Tliouias  Meekins,  Daniel  Warner,  Philip  Russell,  John  Allis,  Samuel 
Dickinson,  Sr. 

1681. — Edward  Church,  Thomas  Meekins,  Eleazer  Frary,  John  Allis,  Mr.  Nich- 
olas Worthington. 

IGS2. — Thomas  Meekins,  John  Allis,  Daniel  Warner,  John  Coleman,  John  Cowles. 

1683. — Thomas  Meekins,  Samuel  Belden,  Sr.,  Samuel  Dickinson,  .Tohn  .\llis,  Ed- 
ward Church. 

1684. — Thomas  Meekins,  John  Allis,  John  Coleman,  Joseph  Belknapp,  Joh  n 
Hubbard. 

1685. — Thomas  Meekins,  John  Allis,  Daniel  Warner,  Edward  Church,  John 
Hubbard. 

1686. — Thomas  Meekins,  Philip  Russell,  John  Coleman,  Daniel  White,  Eleazer 
Frary. 

1687-88. — John  Hubbard,  Edward  Church,  Samuel  Belden,  Sr.,  Samuel  Partrigg, 
Eleazer  Frary,  Samuel  Marsh. 

1689. — Capt.  Allis,  Daniel  White,  Samuel  Dickinson,  John  Cowles,  John  White. 

1690. — John  Hubbard,  Sr.,  Samuel  Belden,  Sr.,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  Richard 
Morton,  Sr.,  Samuel  Partrigg. 

1691,  December  7th. — Deacon  Church,  Deacon  Coleman,  John  Wells,  Sr.,  Samuel 

Belding,  Jr.,  Samuel  Partrigg. 

1692,  December. — Samuel  Belding,  Sr.,  Samuel  White,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Saml. 

Marsh,  Samuel  Partrigg. 

1693,  March. — Samuel  Partrigg,  Sr.,  Samuel  Belding,  Sr.,  Samuel  Dickinson, 

Lieut.  White,  Sanuiel  Marsh. 
1694. — Deacon  Church,  Deacon  Coleman,   Ensign  Frary,  Benjamin  Hastings, 

Samuel  Partrigg. 
1695. — Samuel  Partrigg,  Deacon  Coleman,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Sr.,  Sanniel  Marsh, 

John  White. 
1696. — Samuel  Partrigg,  Samuel  Belding,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Ensign  Frary, 

Mr.  Joseph  Belknapp. 
1697. — S.  Partrigg,  D.  Coleman,  S.  Marsh,  Samuel  Belding,  Jr.,  Bei^amin  Hast- 
ings. 
1G98. — Samuel  Partrigg,  Lieut.  Wliite,  Ens.  Frary,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Jolin 

White. 
1699.— Samuel  Partrigg,  Deaeon  Church,  Deacon  Coleman,  John  Graves,  Sr.,  Isaac 

Hubbard. 
1700.— Samuel  Partrigg,  Samuel  Belding,  Sr;,  Samuel  Marsh,  Sr.,  Ens.  Frary,  John 

■Hliite. 
1701. — Samuel  Partrigg,  Deacon  Church,  Daniel  Warner,  Samuel  Billings,  John 

Dickinson. 
1702.— Samuel  Partrigg,  Deacon  Coleman,  Samuel  Belding,  Sr.,  Samuel  Marsh, 

John  White. 
1703. — Col.  Samuel  Partrigg,  Deacon  Church,  Deacon  Coleman,  Samuel  Marsh , 

Sr,  John  Wliite. 
1701. — Deacon  Coleman,  Samuel  Marsh,  Jr.,  John  \\niite,  Jonathan  Graves,  Sr., 

Thonuis  Hastings,  Jr. 
1705.— Ens.   Frary,   Dr.   Hustings,   Samuel    Mai-sh,    Jr.,   John    White,   Daniel 

Warner. 
170G. — Deacon  Marsh,  Dr.  Hastings,  Sergt.  AVliite,  Samuel  Gunn,  Jonathan 

Smith. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


391 


17(i7._Eiis.   Wliite,   Daniel   Warner,   Thnmas   Nash,   Isaac    Ilnblianl,   Thomas 
llastiugB. 

1708.— Deacon  Mareh,  Kns.  AVTiite,  Isaac  Graves,  Jonathan  Sniitli,  Thomas  Hast- 
ings, Jr. 

1709.— Deacon  Maish,  Ensign  White,  John  Dickinson,  Samuel  Billings,  Thomas 
Hastings,  Jr. 

1710. — Thomas  Kash,  Daniel  'Wamer,  Isaac  Hubbard,  Henry  Dwight,  Thomas 
Hastings,  Jr. 

1711. — Deacon  Marsh,  Ens.  White,  Samuel  Billings,  Ichabod  Allis,  Thomas  Hast- 
ings, Jr. 

1712.— Ens.  White,  Isaac  Graves,  Isaac  Hubbard,  Henry  Dwight,  Thomas  Hast- 
ings, Jr. 

1713.— Deacon  Marsh,  Deacon  White,  Daniel  Warner,  Isaac  Hubbard,  Thomas 
Hastings. 

1714.— John  Graves,  Sr.,  John  Dickinson,  Henry  Dwight,  Samuel  Gunn,  Thomas 
Hastings. 

1715. — Deacon   White,  Henry  Dwight,  Isaac   Hubbard,  Ichabod   Allis,  Thomas 
Hastings. 

1716. — Col.  Partridge,  John  Dickinson,  Daniel  Warner,  Eicbard  Billings,  Joseph 
Smith. 

1717.— Col.  Partridge,  Deacon  John  White,  Lieut.  Henry  Dwight, Samuel  Billings, 
Thomas  Hastings. 

1718.— Sergt.  John  Dickinson,  John  Wells,  Joseph  Smith,  Nathaniel  Coleman, 
Thomas  Hastings. 

1719. — Col.  Partridge,  Daniel  Warner,  Thomas  Nash,  Samuel  Billinga,  John 
Field. 

1720. — Capt.  Henry  Dwight,  John  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Smith,  Nathaniel  Dick- 
inson, Thomas  Hastings. 

1721. — Col.  Partiidge,  Deacon  John  White,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Bichard  Billings, 
Thomas  Hastings. 

1722.— Col.  Samuel   Partridge,  Dr.  Thomas  Hastings,  John   Dickinson,  Joseph 
Smith,  Joseph  Kellogg. 

1723. — Deacon  John  Wliite,  Samuel  Billings,  John  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Dick- 
inson, Thomas  Hastings. 

1724. — Col.  Partridge,  Col.  Henry  Dwight,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Cole- 
man, John  ^Vhite. 

1725. — Daniel   Warner,  John   Dickinson,  Dr.  Hastings,  Ichabod   Allis,   Hem-y 
Dwight. 

172G. — John  Dickinson,  Deacon  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  Rich- 
ai'd  Church,  Jonathan  Coles. 

1727.— Capt.  Dwight,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Deacon  White,  Joseph  Smith,  Ichabod 
Allis. 

1728.— Samuel  Partridge,  Esq.,  John  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Graves,  Richard  Bil- 
lings, Jonathan  Morton. 

1729. — Capt.  Dwight,  Jonathan   Morton,  Deacon  Dickinson,  John   Dickinson, 
Samuel  Billings. 

1730. — John  Dickinson,  Richard  Church,  John  Smith,  John  Hubbard,  Daniel 
White. 

1731. — Capt.  Dwight,  John  Dickinson,  Jonathan  Morton,  Ens.  Billings,  Richard 
Billings. 

1732. — Deacon   Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  Mr.  Israel   Williams,  Thomas 
Nash,  Samuel  Bodraan. 

1733. — John    Dickinson,  Capt.    Coleman,   Capt.  Partridge,   Jonathan    Morton, 
Nathaniel  Gunn. 

1734. — Capt.  Coleman,  Capt.  Williams,  Richard  Billings,  Deacon  Dickinson,  Oliver 
Partridge. 

1735. — Capt.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Jonathan   Morton,  Nathaniel  Gunn, 
Samuel  Bodman. 

173G. — Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Williams,  Jonathan  Morton,  Deacon  Dickinson, 
Richard  Church. 

1737. — Joliu  Dickinson,  Ichabod  Allis,  Richard  Billings,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt. 
Williams. 

1738. — Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Williams,  John  Dickinson,  John  Hubbard,  Rich- 
ard Billings. 

1739. — Capt.  Coleman,  Oliver  Partridge,  Maj.  Williams,  John  Dickinson,  Deacon 
Bodman. 

1740, — Juhn  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  Oliver  Partridge,  Abraham  Morton, 
Richard  Billings. 

1741. — John  Dickinson,  Nathaniel  O^leman,  John    Belding,  Joseph  Billings, 
Ebcnezer  Morton. 

1742. — Oliver  Partridge,  John  Hubbard,  Maj.  Williams,  Ens.  Dwight,  Obadiah 
Dickinson. 

1743.— Mnj.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Daniel   White,  Seth   Dwight,  Thomas 
Nash. 

1744. — Israel  Williams,  Oliver   Partridge,  Daniel  White,  Nathaniel   Coleman, 
Joseph  Billings. 

1745. — Israel  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  John  Hubbard,  Daniel  White,  Seth 
Dwight. 

1746. — Capt.  Coleman,  Oliver  Partridge,  John  Hubbard,  Deacon  Bodman,  Lieut. 

Billings. 
1747. — Maj.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Ebenezer  Morton,  Daniel  Wliitc,  Deacon 
Bodman. 

1748.— Maj.  Israel  Williams,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Coleman,  Ebenezer  Morton,  John 

Hubbard,  Samuel  Bodman. 
1749.— Col.  Williams,  Capt.  White,  Dciicon  Bodman,  Sergt.  Thomiia  Niusli,  Oliver 

Partridge. 
1750. — Col.  Williams,  Deacon  Hubbard,  Deacon  Bodman,  Oliver  Partridge,  John 
Dickinson,  Jr. 


1751.— Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Wliito,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Dick- 
inson. 
1752. — Col.  Williams,  Capt.  Wliite,  Deacon  Bodman,  Lieut.  Dickinson,  Oliver 

Partridge. 
1753, — Col.  Williams,  Capt.  White,  Oliver  Partridge,  Lieut.  Billings,  John  Dick- 
inson, Jr. 
1754.— Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Billings,  John  Dickin- 
son, Jr. 
1755._Col.  Williams,  Deacon  Hubbard,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Joseph  Billings, 

John  Dickinson,  Jr. 
1756.- Capt.  White,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Billings,  Lieut.  Dick- 
inson. 
1757._01iver  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Joseph  Billings, 

Lieut.  Oliver  Dickinson. 
1758.- Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Oliver 

Dickinson. 
1759._Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partiidge,  Deacon  Bodman,  Capt.  White,  Elisha 

Hubbard. 
17()0. — Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Pai-tridge,  Capt.  White,  Deacon  Bodman,  Lieut. 

Dickinson. 
1761.— Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  Capt.  Dwight,  Deacon  Bod- 
man. 
1762.— Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Oliver 

Dickinson. 
1763.— Col.  Williams,  Capt.  White,  John  Dickinson,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Elijah 

Morton. 
17G4.— Capt.  Seth  Dwight,  Lieut.  Joseph  Billings,  John  Dickinson,  Elijah  Mor- 
ton, Elisha  Hubbard. 
1765. — Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Seth  Dwight,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Wm,  Williams, 

John  Dickinson. 
1766. — John   Dickinson,  Elisha  HuVtbard,  Ensign  Allis,  Perez  Graves,  Lieut. 

Samuel  Smith. 
1767-68.— Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Seth  Dwight,  Lieut.  Joseph  Billings,  Lieut. 

Oliver  Dickinson,  Wm.  Williams,  Esq. 
1709. — John  Dickinson,  Perez  Graves,  John  Hastings,  Elijah  Morton,  Ehen.  Cole. 
1770. — Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Dwight,  Lieut.  Dickinson,  WiUiam  Williams,  Esq., 

Elijah  Morton. 
1771._John  Dickinson,  Elijah  Morton,  Perez  Graves,  John  Hastings,  Elihu 

Wliite. 
1772. — Wm.  Williams,  Elijah   Morton,  Oliver  Partridge,  John  Hastings,  David 

Billings. 
1773,_01iver  Partridge,  Elijah  Morton,  David  Billings,  John  Hastings,  Perez 

Graves. 
1774. — Dr.  Elijah  Morton,  John  Dickinson,  Perez  Graves,  John  Hastings,  Oliver 

Partridge. 
1775._john   Dickinson,  Elijah  Morton,  Phinehas  Frary,  Perez  Graves,  John 

Hastings. 
1776. — John  Dickinson,  John  Hastings,  Elijah  Morton,  Perez  Graves. 
1777.— John  Dickinson,  John  Hastings,  Perez  Graves,  Elijah  Morton,  Jonathan 

Allis. 
177S.— Col.  Dickinson,  Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  John  Hastings,  Esq.,  David  3Ior- 

ton,  Elihu  White. 
1779._Col.   Dickinson,   Deacon   Elijah   Morton,  John   Hastings,  Lieut.   Elihu 

White,  Jonathan  Allis. 
1780.— Deacon  Elijah  Moii-ni,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Perez  Graves,  Phinehas 

Frary,  Benjamin  Wells. 
1781. — Oliver  Partridge,  Deacon  Elijah  Moiton,  Capt.  Perez  Graves,  John  Hast- 
ings, Esq.,  Benjamin  Wells. 
1782-83.— John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  Jonathan  Allis,  Elihu 

White,  Col.  Seth  Murray. 
1784.— Elija,h  Morton,  John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Allis,  Lieut.  Elihu  White, 

Col.  Seth  Murray. 
1785.— Elijah  Moiton,  John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Lieut.  David  Billings,  Benjamin 

Smith,  Capt.  Silas  Billings. 
1786.— John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Lieut.  David  Billings,  Capt.  Silas  Billings,  Elijah 

Morton,  Benjamin  Smith. 
1787._Lieut.  David  Billings,  Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Capt. 

Silas  Billings,  Benjamin  Smith. 
1788.— Hon.  John  Hastings,  Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  Lieut,  David  Billings,  Capt. 

Silas  Billings,  Lieut.  Lemuel  Dickinson. 
1789._Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Da\id  Billinga,  Capt. 

Silas  Billings,  Lieut.  Lemuel  Dickinson. 
1790.— Capt.  Silas  Billings,  Lieut.  Elihu  White,  Lieut.  Samuel  Partridge,  Benja- 
min Smith,  Silas  Graves. 
1791.— Lieut.  David  Billings,  Lieut.  Samuel  Partridge,  Capt.  Silaa  Billings,  Ben- 
jamin Smith,  John  Hastings,  Esq. 
1792.— Lieut.  Samuel  Partridge,  Silas  Graves,  Deacon  Elijah  Morton,  Ensign 

Elijah  Smith,  Seth  Bardwell. 
1793._john  Hastings,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Samuel  Partridge,  Capt.  Silas  Billings,  Ben- 
jamin Smith,  Esq.,  Capt.  Jonathan  Porter. 
l794._john  Hastings,  Benjamin  Smith,  Lemuel  Dickinson,  Elijah  Morton,  Jona- 
than Porter. 
1795._john  Hastings,  Capt.  Porter,  Samuel  Partridge,  Benjamin  Smith,  Esq., 

Capt.  Billings. 
179G.— John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Samuel  Partridge,  Benjamin  Smith,  Jonathan  Porter, 

Lieut.  Elijah  Smith. 
1797._johu  Hastings,  Esq.,  Benjamin  Smith,  Jonathan  Porter,   Lieut.  Elijah 
Smith,  Benjamin  Wait,  Jr. 


392 


UISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1708.— Benjamin  Smitti,  C'upt.  KIlJiili  Smith,  Capt.  Jon»than  Porter,  Lieut.  David 
nilliiiKs,  Mr.  iMiiiin  JliilMi,v. 

1709. .loliii  llii»tin(;ii,  I.icul.  Hiivid  Billingn,  Capt.  Jonathan  Porter,  Benjamin 

Smith,  Eyq.,  Ciipt.  JOIijiih  Sniitli. 
1800.— .lolin  lliustinga,  Lieut.  Daviil  Billings,  Benjamin  Sniitli,  Capt.  Jonathan 
Porter,  ('apt.  Klijah  Smith. 

IWll, — luhii  llastingB,  Hejijaniin  Smith,  Klijah  Smith.  Jonathan  Porter,  Lieut. 
Cotton  Partlid^e. 

1802. — John  Ilastinipi,  Itenjaniin  Smith,  Jonathan  I'orter,  Elijah  Smith,  Perez 
Morton. 

ISai.— John  Hastings,  Esq.,  Benjamin  Smith,  Jonatlian  I'orter,  Elijah  Sniitli, 
Perez  Mtirton. 

1804-6.— -lohn  Hastings,  llenjamin  Smith,  Silas  Hillings,  Jonathan  I'orter,  Ben- 
jamin Morton  (liil). 
1806.— John  nastingw,  Silas  Killings,  Jonathan  Purter,  Benjamin  5Iorton  (2d) 
Lieut.  Bufns  Smith. 

1807-9 John  Hastings,  .lonatlmn  Porter,  Deacon  Benjamin  Morton,  Capt.  Cot^ 

ton  Partridge,  Joseph  Billings. 

1810-11.— John  Hastings,  Jonathan  Porter,  Rufus  Smith,  Cotton  Partridge,  Jo- 
seph Billings. 

1812.— Cotton  I'artiiilge,  Rufns  Smith,  Elijah  Diekinson,  Jr.,  Caleb  DickiuBon, 
Joseph  Billings. 

1813.— Elijah  Dickinson,  liul'iis  Smith,  Cotton  Partridge,  Caleb  Diekinson,  Jo- 
seph Billings. 

1814._Bll,iah  Diekinson,  Huliis  Smith,  Ci.lton  I'aitridge,  Isaac  Malthy,  Caleb 
Dickinson. 

1816.— Elijah  Diekinson,  Cotton  Partridge,  Isiuic  Maltb.v,  Joseph  Billings,  Solo- 
mon Graves. 

181G.— Benjamin  Smith,  Samuel   Hastings,  Enistus  Billings,  Daniel  Diekinson, 
Jr.,  Solomon  (iraves. 

1817.— Benjamin  Smith,  Ebenezer  White,  Ccitlnii   Partridge,  .Samuel  Hustings, 
Erastns  Billings. 

1818. — Cotton  Partridge,  Ebenezer  White,  Sulomon  Gmves,  Erastus  Billings, 
Israel  Itillings. 

1819. — Ebenezer  White,  Elijah   Bardwell,  Daniel  Diekinson,  Jr.,  Capt.  Chester 
Hastings,  Itosswell  Hubbard. 

1820-21. — Kbenezer  White,  Elijah    Bardwell,  Daniel   Dickinson,  Jr.,   William 
Dickinson,  Ilnsw.'ll  llobbnid. 

1822.— Elijah    Bardwell,   lliiniel    Dickiiis..ii,  Ji.,  William   Dickinson,   Roswell 
Hubbard,  Jeremy  Morton. 

1823. — Elijah  Barilwell,  Daniel  Dickinsnn,  Jr.,  William  Dickinson,  Silas  Graves, 
Itoswell  Hubbard. 

1824. — Levi  Gmves,  Daniel  Dickinson,  Ji.,  ^\'illillnl   Dickinson,  Erastns  Smith, 
Koswell  Hidibard. 

1825. — Levi  Graves,   Daniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Erastns  Smith,  Iloswell  Hubbard, 
Luniurn  Pease. 

1820. — M(y.  Samuel  Partridge,  Silas  Bardwidl,  Isi-ael   Dickinson,  Jonathan  Por- 
ter, Henry  Hitchcock. 

1827. — Samuel  Partridge,  Silas  Bardwell,  Rufns  Cowles,  Pliinny  Day,  Elijah 
Ilulibard. 

1828. — Levi  Graves,  Caleb  Dickinson,  Enustus  Smith.  .Salmon  D,  Bardwell,  Elijah 
Hubbard. 

1829. — Remembrance    Bardwidl,   Jonathan    Porter,   Koswell    Hubbard,   Justin 
Wait,  Kbenezer  Graves. 

1830. — Kli.jah  Bardwell.  Daniel  Wait,  Jonathan  Porter,  Jr.,  Moses  Warner,  Ash- 
ley P.  Graves. 

1831.— dipt.  John  W'hite,  Itoswell  Hubbard,  Henry  Wilkee,  George  Wait,  John 
Fitch. 

18.32. — Rnflis  Cowles,  John  White,  Solomon  Graves,  Jr.,  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  Justin 
Wait. 

1H3.'1. — .Mpheiis  Longley,  Ileniy  AN'ilkee,  Aaron  Dickinson. 

1834. — Alpheus  Longley,  Henry  Wilkee,  tieorge  Walt. 

1836. — Alpheus  Longley,  George  Wait,  John  A.  Billings. 

1830. — lohn  A.  Billings,  Eli,iah  Bardwell,  Moses  Mort(Ui  (2d). 

1837.— Elijah  Bardwell.  Alplieiis  Longley,  Israel  Morton. 

1838. — .Mpheus  Longley,  Harvey  tiraves,  (Jeorge  Wait. 

1839. — George  Wait,  Harvey  Graves,  Solomon  Graves,  Jr. 

1840. — Aretas  Scott,  Josiah  Brown,  Samuel  D.  Partriilge. 

1841.— Samuel  D.  Partridge,  .\retas  Scott,  Alpheus  Longley. 

1842. — Alpheus  Longley,  Arehis  Scott,  Saniiud  P.  Billings. 

184;!. — Alpheus  Longley,  Austin  Smith,  Samuel  P.  Billings. 

1844. — George  Wait,  Alpheus  Longley,  Leander  Cooley. 

1845.— Elijah  Hubbard,  John  A.  Billings,  Elijah  llardwell,  Jr., 

184r.-47.— KUJah  Hubbard.  Klijah  llardwell,  Jr.,  John  A.  Billings. 

1H48. — .huties  W.  Warner,  Samuel  P.  Billings,  Lorenzo  Cutter. 

1849.— Iloswell  HnbbanI,  Wni.  C.  Bliss,  Horace  W.  Field. 

1880.— Wm.  C.  Bliss,  Horace  W.  Kield,  Rnl'iis  Cowles. 

1861.— Wm.  C.  Bliss,  Rufus  Cowles,  Horace  W.  Field. 

1862-.14.— George  W.  Hubbard,  Win.  Henry  Dickinson,  Reuben  II.  Bcldcn. 

186.').— Horace  W.  Field,  Silas  G.  Hubbard,  Alviii  Sandei-son. 

186(1.— Horme  W.  Field,  Henry  S,  Porter,  John  D.  Ill-own. 

1867.— Henry  S.  Porter,  John  T.  Fitch,  Franklin  Field. 

1858.— John  D.  Bmwn,  Horace  W.  Field.  Henry  S.  Porter. 

1859-00.— GeiU'ge  W.  Ilnbbard,  James  Siott,  Klislia  Hubbard. 

1801.— Roswell  Hubbard,  Moses  M.utoii,  Lemuel  Cooley. 

1802.— K.  H.  Bel.len,  Wm.  II.  Dickinson.  .1.  T.  Fileh. 

180.3-68.— Wm.  H.  Dickinson,  K.  H.  Belden,  J.  T.  Fitch. 

1809-70.- F.  I).  Billings,  Lucius  G.  Curtis,  H.  W.  Field. 


1871.— H.  W.  Field,  J.  D.  Porter,  Daniel  W.  Wells. 

1872. — Elisha  Hubbard,  L.  G.  Curtis,  Joseph  Billings. 

1873.— Joseph  Billings,  L.  G.  Curtis,  A.  E.  Strong. 

1874-75. — Joseph  Billings,  A.  K.  Strong,  Charles  L.  Warner. 

l.S7e. — .losoph  Billings,  A.  E.  Strong,  Henry  G.  Moore. 

1877. — Moses  E.  Warner,  Henry  S.  Hubbard,  Henry  G.  Moore. 

1.178.— Henry  S.  Hubbard,  Otis  C.  Wells,  Henry  G.  Moore. 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

It  iippear.s  that  .lohn  Allis  was  the  first  town  clerk.  A 
bhirrod  signature,  but  evidently  his,  seems  to  prove  that  he 
wrote  u])  the  "west-side"  records  when  he  went  into  otRce  in 
1070.  Indeed,  he  might  very  po.ssibly  have  kept  them  from 
KidO  to  11)69.  He  evidently  kept  the  town  records  from  1670 
to  about  1087.  The  handwriting  indicates  that  Samuel  Par- 
tridge W!is  then  town  clerk  to  March  17,  1701,  when  it  is 
recorded  that  Thomas  Hastings,  Jr.,  was  chosen.  Judging 
from  the  handwriting,  as  tlie  fact  of  election  is  only  occasion- 
ally recorded,  it  is  presumed  that  he  reniaiiied  in  office  until 
1728,  the  year  of  his  death. 

The  list  is  then  complete  to  the  present  time. 

Oliver  Partridge,  1731,  yearly  to  1784;  Samuel  Partridge  (2cl),  1785-1803  ;  Jos. 
Billings,  1804-13;  Israel  Billings,  1K14  ;  Joseph  Billings,  1815-18  ;  Remembrance 
Bardwell,  1819-:S3 ;  Josiah  Brown,  1834;  Israel  Morton,  1835-40;  Rodolphus 
Morton,  1841;  Israel  Morton,  1842-44;  Samuel  D.  Partridge,  1845 ;  George  W. 
Ilulibard, ISIO;  Israel  Morton,  1H47;  EphrainiL.  Hastings,  1848-54;  Wm.P.AIlis 
1855-57  ;  Wm.  D.  Billings,  IS-W-"!!. 

UKPBESENTATIVBS   TO   THE   QENKRAL    COURT. 

It  is  difficult  to  prepare  a  complete  list.  They  were  gen- 
erallv  elected  at  a  special  tow^n-meeting  in  May,  and  these 
meetings  were  not  always  recorded,  unless  it  may  be  proper  to 
infer  (and  very  likely  it  is)  that  when  there  is  no  record,  there 
was  no  meeting,  and  no  representative  chosen.  Undoubtedly 
the  first  was  Samuel  Partridge,  or  Partrigg,  as  it  was  then 
written.  He  was  chosen  April  8,  1680,  as  an  attorney  to 
transact  various  general  business  for  the  town  and  to  attend 
upon  the  Onieral.  Court.  It  is  presumed  that  he  had  been 
thus  employed  at  an  earlier  date.  The  fact  of  his  election  is 
mentioned  again  May  "J,  1089.  Ens.  Frary  (probably  Kleazer) 
is  recorded  as  having  been  chosen  Msiy  2,  1093.  The  next 
year,  April  14,  1694,  Samuel  Partridge  was  again  chosen,  and 
May  29,  1095,  Kns.  Frary  was  again  elected.  After  that  date 
there  is  considerable  regularity  until  the  time  of  the  Kevolu- 
tion. 

.Sinnuel  Partridge,  1007,  yearly  to  1700;  John  White  1701  ;  Eleazer  Frary, 
1702-3  ;  Samuel  JIai-sh,  Sr.,  ITO.'i-O ;  Ele.izer  Fmry,  1707-9  ;  John  Dickinson, 
1710-12;  Henry  Dwight,  1713;  John  Partridge,  1714-10  ;  John  Dickinson,  1717, 
yearly  to  1721 ;  Henry  Dwight,  1722;  Thomaji  Hastings,  1723  ;  John  Dickinson, 
1724  ;  Henry  Dwight,  1725  ;  John  Dickinson,  1726-28;  Henry  Dwight,  1731. 

The  town,  in  1732,  took  into  consideration  the  notice  from 
the  General  Court,  and  decided  "  they  were  not  so  qualified  as 
to  be  obliged  to  send." 

Capt.  Sammd  Williams,  1733;*  Col.  Israel  Williams,  1737  ;  Oliver  Partridge, 
1741,  and  yearly  to  1747  ;  C*il.  Israel  Williams,  1748^9,  and  perhai«  for  several 
years  following,  when  no  record  appears ;  Israel  Williams,  1757  ;  Israel  Williams, 
1700;  Oliver  Partridge,  1701 :  William  Williams,  170;!;  Oliver  Partridge,  1765- 
07;  Israel  Williams,  1708;  John  Dickinson,  17T0 ;  Israel  Williams,  1771-72; 
John  Dickinson,  1773. 

Colonial  representatives  were  probably  no  longer  chosen. 

John  Dickinson  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Pi-ovincial  C^mgrcss  called  to 
moot  nt  Concord,  Oct.  0, 1774.  John  Dickinson  and  Perez  Graves  were  chosen, 
Jan.  9, 1775,  to  the  Provincial  CVmgre.ss  called  to  meet  at  Cambridge.  John 
Dickinson,  John  Hastings,  and  Elihu  White  were  chosen  May  22,  1775,  to  the 
Provincial  Congress  called  to  meet  at  Watertown,  their  term  of  service  to  be  six 
months,  but  only  one  to  be  paid  for  attendance  at  the  same  time.  John  Hast- 
ings was  chosen  a  representiitive  to  the  Provincial  Legislature,  May  19,  1777. 

Under  the  State  government  the  following  constitute  the 

list: 

John  Hastings,  1779,  yearly  U)  17S0 ;  Benjamin  Smith,  1787  ;  John  Hastings, 
1788,  ami  yearly  to  1791;  Benjamin  Smith,  1792;  John  Hustings,  1793,  ond 
yeariy  hi  1.SI17  ;  Isaac  Miiltby.  lsOS-9 ;  Samuel  Paiiridge  (2d),  1810,  yearly  to 
1814;  Israel  Billings,  1815;  Isaac  Moltby,  1810. 

"Voted  not  to  send  from  1817  to  1822  inclusive."      The 


*  There  seems  to  be  an  omission  of  four  yours. 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


393 


(own  WHS  tlii-ii  liiipd  by  the  General  C'imrt  fur  I'liilinj;-  tu  be 
represented.  It  was  voted  to  ]iiiy  tlie  tine,  but  tlicy  do  not 
seem  to  have  elected  in  18i?3. 

Levi  Graves,  1S24;  Israel  Billings,  1820;  Oliver  Smith,  1K27-2S;  Israel  Dil- 
liiigs,  1S2!!;  Kememliraiice  liimlwell,  ls;)2-:!:!i  Klijiili  IlnMinnl,  IKk'i ;  Sciloiium 
timve.1,  Jr.,  IKiG  ;  Austin  Smith,  1838 ;  .Instill  Wiiit,  1839-40  ;  Ituswell  Ilulilnml, 
1841;  Silninel  D.  Piiltriilge,  1842;  .TDseph  Smith,  1.S4;t;  .Tosiiih  Ilrown,  18411; 
Klisliu  Wells,  1848;  Eli.iiih  liiudwoll,  .Tr.,  18.'.2;  Win.  II.  Ili<kin.«m,  18.-):!;  Kos- 
w.U  Unhhald,  1854;  Renljeil  11.  liiMen,  1.8.50;  .silii.s  U.  llnl.l.iuil,  18-)7  ;  Win. 
11.  Diekiiison,  1859;  John  T.  Titch,  1802;  Joseph  1).  Billings,  180,1;  Henry  S. 
I'ortvr,  1808  ;  Elisha  HubbarJ,  1871 ;  Samuel  P.  Billings,  1874 ;  .loseph  Billings, 
1878. 

VILLAtJES. 

"  Hatfield  Street"  of  old  times  is  tlic  village  of  to-day. 
Its  early  sc^ttlement  was  the  settlement  of  the  town  itself,  as 
alreiuly  shown.  The  street  is  still  a  broad  and  beautiful 
avenue,  laid  out  with  regard  to  convenience  and  not  with  any 
deference  to  the  narrow  business  views  of  modern  times.  On 
either  side  of  it  were  the  dwellings  of  the  first  settlers  of  llitil , 
as  there  are  now  located  the  citizens  of  the  present  time.  It 
is  emphatically  a  street  of  the  fathers,  full  of  old  historic  as- 
sociations, wild  stories  of  danger  as  well  as  the  gentler  memo- 
ries of  long  j'ears  of  peace,  contentment,  and  prosperity. 

Uere  successive  generations  of  the  same  families  have  come 
and  gone, — "their  name  and  memory  liveth  still.' 

Here  are  yet  left  some  of  the  aged  elms  beneath  whose 
branches  the  children  of  other  days  played  as  the  children  of 
the  present  do.  Mingled  with  them  are  the  graceful  maples 
of  later  years,  together  adorning  the  ample  grounds  around  the 
dwellings  and  the  broad  street  between. 

In  the  buildings  all  the  ages  of  settlement  and  growth  arc 
represented,  except  the  log  houses  of  the  first  and  the  fc)ililir<l 
buildings  of  the  few  succeeding  years. 

Abandoned,  doorless,  windowless,  are  some  of  the  old  houses, 
around  whose  ample  firesides  the  stories  of  the  French  war 
must  have  been  told  as  the  fresh  news  of  to-day. 

And  some  still  in  use  have  a  substantial  appearance,  as  if 
their  foundations  were  laid  and  their  superstructure  erected 
when  the  men  of  the  Continental  Congress,  encouraged  by  tin' 
resolutions  from  these  New  England  towns,  were  laying  tln' 
strong  foundations  of  the  national  government  and  building 
wide  and  high  the  edifice  of  constitutional  liberty. 

Then  there  are  the  dwellings  of  the  intervening  years,  and 
finally  the  elegant  residences  of  the  modern  era, — since  the  war 
of  1801-65. 

The  business  of  the  village  is  given  with  the  sketches  of  the 
town. 

The  post-office  in  Hatfield  village  was  probably  established 
early  in  this  century.  Before  that  the  town  received  its  mail 
from  Nortlianijiton,  while  newspapers  were  delivered  by  jiost- 
riders. 

Dr.  Daniel  White  was  appointed  postmaster  about  1800. 
He  retained  the  oiBce  until  1831,  when  John  Hastings,  Jr. , 
was  appointed.  His  successors  have  been  the  following: 
Alpheus  Longley,  Dr.  Stacy,  S.  G.  Hubbard,  Josiah  Brown, 
Krastus  Billings,  Josiah  Wells,  and  the  present  incumbent, 
Mrs.  Edwin  Graves.  She  was  appointed  in  1809,  the  office 
being  gracefully  conceded  to  her  as  the  widow  of  a  soldier  who 
lost  his  life  in  the  defense  of  his  country. 

NoKTU  HATi'lELl)  is  a  Station  upon  the  Connecticut  \'allry 
Kailroad,  near  the  north  line  of  the  town.  It  has  a  few  pri- 
vate dwellings,  a  store,  a  school-house  and  post-office,  the 
husk-factory  of  the  Dickinson  Brothers,  and  a  saw-mill  of 
considerable  age.  A  grist-mill  is  located  just  over  the  Wbately 
line.  The  station  forms  a  convenient  point  of  business  for  a 
neighborhood  of  some  extent,  both  in  Hatfield  and  Wliatcly. 
The  post-office  at  this  village  was  established  in  1808.  Ki'ubcri 
II.  Belden  was  appointed  postmaster,  and  still  retains  tlie 
office. 

Hatfield  Station  is  near  the  south  line  of  the  town,  some 
two  miles  from  the  centre  of  Hatfield  village,  and  the  business 
50 


of  the  village  is  accommodated  at  that  point.  There  are  three 
or  four  private  dwellings  near,  and  the  camp-meeting  ground 
of  the  Jlethodist  Conference  is  a  little  to  the  south,  within  the 
town  of  Northam]iton. 

SCHOOLS. 
Hatfield  usually  had  a  school  after  1G78  and  probably  be- 
fore, and  a  school-house  was  built  in  1081.  Dr.  Thos.  Hast- 
ings was  one  of  the  teachers,  but  most  of  them  were  educated 
at  Harvard  College.  They  received  from  £30  to  £35  a  year  in 
grain  at  tlie  usual  prices,  and  boarded  themselves  previous  to 
1 700.  A  few  girls  attended  the  school,  or  might  attend  if  they 
]i;ud  the  same  as  the  boys.  The  scholars  paid  about  two-tliirds 
of  the  salary,  and  the  town  one-third.  '  The  schools  became 
free  in  172"2.  These  facts  are  shown  by  the  town  records,  from 
wliicli  we  make  a  few  extracts: 

Slav  21,  1088,— "Vote<l  tlmt  the  Kev.  I'nslor  of  Ihe  ehnreh  he  ilesiieil  lo  see 
out  for  a  seIiiH)lma8tei'  Bilitahle  to  he  discliargeii  iiml  liliiintained ;  one-third  part 
of  the  charge  hy  the  town  in  general,  by  rate  or  otherwise,  and  two-thirds  by 
tile  Bi:hool.s,  vi/..,  male  eliildreii  fiimi  six  yeara  old  to  twelve  years  of  age,  except- 
ing poor  men  that  have  man.v  sons  to  be  educated,  as  the  selectmen  shall  judgo 
meet;  the  stun  in  all  to  be  3(1  itouiids." 

The  year  before,  in  August,  it  is  recorded  that  the 

"Town  liath  agreed  that  the  Selectmen  shall  hire  a  good  ahle-lwidied  school- 
master, and  to  allow  him  'M)  jhiunds  a  year;  and  that  all  the  boys  in  town  that 
jire  jtbove  six  yeam  of  age  and  under  ten  shall  also  pay  to  the  schoolmaster  12 
shillings  a  year,  whether  tlioy  go  to  his  school  or  not;  and  that  all  that  are 
iintler  or  above  that  age,  whether  boys  or  girls,  shall  also  jiay  12  sliillings  a 
year  for  the  time  tln-y  go  to  school,  and  this  not  to  be  uiider8to<)d  of  such  lut 
come  to  write;  hut  as  f«)r  such  as  come  to  write  they  shall  allow  10  shillings 
per  year,  and  w  hat  the  rate  shall  fall  short  upon  the  whole  of  the  Bum  shall  ho 
paid  iiy  tlie  town  as  other  sillns  are  paid." 

For  a  long  period  there  was  only  one  school  in  town, — prob- 
ably for  the  first  hundred  years.  But  the  fostering  care  of  the 
town  was  steadily  given  to  see  that  the  boys  were  all  taught 
to  read  and  write.  The  girls  were  not  supposed  to  require 
these  advantages,  although  Hatfield  broke  over  the  old  tradi- 
tion against  the  education  of  girls  quite  early. 

Aug.  27,  1088.— "  Voted,  Whereas  in  the  month  of  .luiie  it  was  refeneil  to  51r. 
Williams,  the  pastor,  to  get  a  schoidlnaster,  which  he  liatli  lioiie,  and  itrociiretl 
!Mr.  Stephens.  Now  he  being  present,  the  selectmen  have  agreed  with  him  that 
hi'  keeping  school  and  schooling  all  children  sent  to  him  between  six  yeai-s  and 
twelve  years  of  age  that  have  lirst  been  entered  in  spelling  and  reading,  and  all 
those  that  are  writing  to  la-  learned  to  write  (though  snch  tut  exceed  that  age  he 
is  to  educate,  as  aforesaid,  to  their  best  advantage  as  mueli  an  in  him  lyes) ;  for 
which  tile  said  Mr.  Stephens  is  to  receive  from  the  selectiiien  the  full  and  just 
sum  of  ;tll  pounds  for  oni-  year,  or  iiroiMU-tioiiate  of  that  suiii  if  he  should  teach 
but  half  a  year  or  three-<plarters  of  a  year." 

Town-meeting.  Itec.  7,  17(12. — "Voted  to  hire  Thomas  Hastings,  Jr.,  to  ki-ep 
the  scluicd  in  llatlleld  for  the  year  ensuing;  for  whi.h  to  pay  him  :Vt  pounds  in 
such  pay  as  they  pay  tlieir  other  town  debts;  and  which  year  is  gone  on  s«»  far 
as  fnun  the  2d  of  November  to  the  date  hereof." 

Pec.  1,  178:i. — The  town  voted  they  would  build  a  new  school-house,  and  that 
it  shall  be  of  brick,  and  that  It  be  made  2.'i  feet  long  and  20  feet  broiul,  and  that 
Col.  Cliapin,  Samue:  Dickinson  (2d),  Jolin  Allis,  Lieut,  Samuel  Partridge,  and 
Capt.  I'ere/.  (Iraves  be  a  coininittee  to  luiild  the  same. 

.\pril  4,  1791. — On  a  inotioii  whether  tlie  town  would  drop  the  schoolmaster 
and  set  up  three  schoolmlstreeses  in  his  room,  It  wod  voted  in  the  negative. 

Fifty  pounds  was  a  customary  approjiriation  for  schools, 
17'.)0  to  1800. 

Aiu-il  4,  1790.— Voted  to  set  up  additional  schools,  and  ap|ioiiitod  a  conimittoo 
for  that  purpose, — lohn  Ilantings,  Samuel  llickiiison,  Benjamin  Smith,  Isaac 
IMaltliy,  Perez  Graves. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  the  town  voted  to  set  up  two  schools  for  the  schooling 
of  girls  ill  the  town  four  months  in  the  year. 

Dec.  7, 1812.— Voted  to  district  the  town  for  schools,  and  appointed  a  committee 
for  that  purpose,  viz.:  Joseph  Sinltli,  Daniel  Wait,  Perez  Morton,  Kbcliczcr 
White,  Benjamin  Smith;  anil  the  appropriation  that  year  for  schools  was  $5.W. 

W'c   add    the    following    interesting   extract   from   ancient 

records  : 

An  account  of  the  boys  that  came  to  school  in  the  year  l(;9'.i,  from  the  lOtli  of 
March  to  the  l&th  of  Se|itemher: 

Writei>i :  Ebenezer  Marsh,  Samuel  Wells,  Joselih  Walk',  Jiio.  White.  Eeadore : 
Thomas  Graves,  Ebenezer  Field,  Ji's.,  son,  Samuel  Dickinson,  Win.  Cliambcrlin, 
.lonathali  Frary,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  Daniel  Smith,  Natlmniid  Warner,  Isaac 
Graves,  Stei>heii  Belding,  Daniel  Warner,  Abnim  Charles,  Klislia  Williams,  Sani- 
10  I  Hillings,  Abram  Graves,  Daniel  Dickinsioi,  Jno.  Brooks,  Maiioah  Hodman, 
Thomas  Naiih,  .hiseph  K.dlogg,  John  Hubbard,  Isiuic  Hubbard,  Thomas  Graves, 
Josiah  Field,  .loslina  Field,  Kbenezer  Billings,  .lereiniah  Alvord,  John  Belding, 
John  White,  Ebenezer  Wells.     Dated  Jan.  9,  1099-1700. 


394 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  sum  assessed,  £15,  is  to  be  "  payed"  to  Doct<ir  Hastings  for  Lis  son's  school- 
ing* "  tlie  above  s"*  tyme  of  half  a  year,  &c." 

Jiinathan  Curson,  the  noted  teacher,  -was  a  foreigner.  In 
the  old  town  records  of  Northampton  there  is  this  entrj- : 

Jonathan  Curson  was  born  in  Dumfries,  in  North  Britain, 
in  175.5,  March  4th,  landed  at  Philadelphia  Aug.  4,  1784,  and 
arrived  at  Northampton  the  8th  of  September  following. 

Like  other  towns,  Hatfield  organized  under  the  law  of  1826 
by  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  examine  teachers. 

The  progress  of  the  schools  since  that  time  is  shown  clearly 
by  the  statistics  herewith  given,  taken  at  intervals  of  about  ten 
years  each  from  the  reports  of  the  secretary  of  the  board  of 
education  in  the  State. 

There  are  now  some  fine  school  buildings  in  town.  Besides 
the  Smith  Academy,  there  is  a  handsome  public  school-house 


in  Northampton.  Miss  Smith  died  in  1870,  founding  and 
endowing  the  academy  with  the  sum  of  $75,000.  In  her  will 
the  following  gentlemen  of  Hatfield  were  named  as  trustees : 
Joseph  D.  Billings,  George  W.  Hubbard,  Jonathan  S.  Graves, 
Alpheus  Cowles,  Silas  G.  Hubbard,  Frederick  D.  Billings, 
William  H.  Dickinson,  and  Daniel  W.  Wells,  their  otEce  to 
continue  during  life,  and  vacancies  to  be  filled  by  the  board. 
George  W.  Hubbard,  removing  from  the  town,  resigned,  and 
Cbas.  K.  Morton,  of  Hatfield,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy. 
The  board  of  trustees  was  incorporated  by  act  of  Legislature^ 
in  1871,  and  organized  with  the  following  officers:  Joseph  D. 
Billings,  President;  William  H.  Dickinson,  Vice-President ; 
and  Silas  G.  Hubbard,  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  To  the 
trustees  is  committed  the  entire  oversight  of  the  academy, 
and  the  care  and  management  of  its  funds. 


SMITH   ACADEMY,    HATFIELD,    MASS. 


near  it,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  town  good  schools  exist  in 
buildings  of  fair  size  and  convenience. 

From  Hatfield  has  gone  out  the  educational  influence  and 
the  wealth  tliat  has  founded  Smith  College,  intended  to  be  the 
most  advanced  school  for  the  education  of  girls  in  the  Union 
or  the  wiirld. 

SMITH    .VJAUKMY.-|- 

Tlie  Smiths,  of  Hatfield,  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  the 
early  settlement  of  the  town.  Amongst  the  many  members 
of  the  family  distinguished  for  thrift  and  enterprise,  two, 
Oliver  and  his  nephew  Austin,  amassed  princely  fortunes,  and 
the  wealth  of  both  was  bequeathed  to  the  public  good, — that 
of  the  former  to  the  founding  of  "the  Smith  Charities"  in 
Northampton  ;  that  of  the  latter,  falling  to  his  sister.  Miss 
Sophia  Smith,  of  Hatfield,  was  by  her  devised  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  Smith  Academy,  in  Hatfield,  and  Smith  College, 


*  Sou's  schooliug"  lueaus  sou's  leuching. 
t  By  Prof.  W.  B.  Harding. 


The  foundress'  wishes  as  to  the  charac^ter  of  the  school  are 
expressed  in  her  will.  It  is  to  consist  of  an  English  and  a 
classical  department,  but  other  branches  of  learning  maj'  be 
taught  in  subordination  to  the  above  departments.  True  to 
the  instincts  of  her  sex  and  her  enlightened  sentiments.  Miss 
Smith  insists  on  both  sexes  having  equal  advantages  in  the 
school,  and  expresses  it  as  her  opinion  that,  in  order  that  these 
may  be  secured,  the  number  of  female  teachers  should  equal 
or  nearly  equal  that  of  the  males,  and  that  the  female  teachers 
should  have  a  voice  in  the  management  of  the  institution. 

Of  the  funds,  §20,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purchasing 
of  ground  and  erection  of  a  building  ;  $30,000  for  a  fund  the 
income  of  which  is  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  school ; 
§15,000  for  the  erection  of  additional  buildings  when  needed  ; 
510,000  for  a  fund  the  income  of  which  is  to  be  used  to  pay 
the  tuition  and  board  of  indigent  students. 

Upon  their  organization  the  trustees  proceeded  to  execute 
their  trust.     A  central  and  beautiful  location  on  the  corner  of 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


395 


Main  and  School  Streets  was  selected,  and  a  building  of  brick, 
fine  in  architectural  design  and  well  adapted  to  its  purpose, 
was  erected.  The  basement  story  contains  the  laboratory,  a 
room  now  occupied  by  the  town  library,  and  two  large  rooms 
for  aiymnasia.  In  the  second  story  are  the  cabinets,  the 
library,  two  large  rooms  devoted  to  school  purposes,  various 
recitation-  and  dressing-rooms. 

In  the  third  story  is  the  hall,  capable  of  seating  400,  finished 
in  Gothic  style  and  finely  frescoed,  also  ante-rooms,  etc.  The 
building  is  capped  by  a  steeple,  containing  a  bell  weighing 
800  pounds.  The  building  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1872. 
Wilder  B.  Harding,  A.M.,  was  chosen  principal.  Mr. 
Harding  was  born  in  Putney,  Vt.,  in  1830;  graduated  at  the 
State  Noi'mal  School,  in  Westfleld,  Mass. ;  fitted  for  college  at 
Williston  Seminary;  and  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1867. 
Subsequently  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  but  his  tastes  led  to 
his  discarding  law  for  the  vocation  of  teaching.  At  the  time 
of  his  election  to  the  principalship  of  the  academy,  Mr.  Hard- 
ing was  associate  principal  of  Stamford  Military  Institute,  at 
Stamford,  Conn.  Mrs.  "W.  B.  Harding  was  chosen  pre- 
ceptress; William  B.  Eussell,  of  Hatfield,  instructor  in  vocal 
and  instrumental  music  ;  and  Miss  Louisa  M.  Graves,  of  Hat- 
field, instructor  in  French  and  drawing. 

The  school  was  opened  Dec.  4,  1872,  with  an  attendance  of 
32  boys  and  25  girls.  In  July,  1878,  Mrs.  Harding  resigned 
her  position,  and  Miss  Mary  E.  Houghton,  of  Putney,  Vt., 
a  graduate  of  the  normal  school,  in  Westfleld,  was  chosen 
her  successor. 

The  classical  and  English  courses  are  wholly  separate,  and 
each  is  four  years  in  length.  In  their  scope,  and  the  culture 
imparted,  they  resemble  closely  like  departments  in  the  best 
schools  of  New  England.  Boys  and  girls  are  thoroughly 
fitted  for  college,  business,  or  teaching.  Culture  in  orthoepj', 
elocution,  reading,  and  in  the  various  rhetorical  exercises  is 
made  an  object  of  special  attention.  The  sentiment  of  the 
trustees,  its  teachers,  and  its  friends  has  ever  been  that  the 
forces  of  the  school  should  be  devoted  to  solid  attainments, 
rather  than  mere  efteet. 

The  institution  graduated  its  first  class  of  five  members  in 
June,  1876, — Carrie  E.  Graves,  Charles  A.  Wight,  M.  An- 
toinette Morton,  Emma  E.  Porter,  all  of  Hatfield,  and  Fannie 
E.  Woodard,  of  Halifax,  Vt. 

The  library,  cabinets,  and  laboratory  are  not  yet  extensive, 
but  they  are  sufficiently  full,  and  are  well  adapted  to  meet  the 
present  wants  of  the  school.  The  town  library,  numbering 
upward  of  2500  volumes,  is  accessible  to  the  students. 

Upon  the  basis  indicated  by  its  founders,  the  academy  will 
develop  its  strength  and  influence.  In  a  sense,  its  coming 
history  is  not  problematical.  Both  sexes  will  always  assemble 
beneath  its  roof,  and  its  course  will  always  flow  hard  by  the 
time-honored  landmarks  of  learning.  Possessed  of  a  solid 
financial  basis,  and  situated  in  the  garden  of  the  Connecticut 
Kiver  Valley,  amidst  a  population  enterprising  and  refined. 
Smith  Academy  is  destined  to  occupy  a  prominent  place 
among  the  foremost  educational  institutions  of  the  State. 

To  this  notice  of  the  schools  of  Hatfield  we  add  the  follow- 
ing list  of  graduates,  natives  of  Hatfield,  prepared  for  this 
work  by  Samuel  D.  Partridge,  of  Orange,  New  Jersey  : 

Rev.  Samuel  Allis,  Harvard  College,  1724;  Edward  Billings,  Harvard  College, 
1731  ;  Joseph  Billings,  Tale  College,  1797  ;  Edward  C.  Billings,  Yale  College, 
1863;  Charles  SI.  Billings,  Amherat  College,  1863 ;  Arthur  \V  Billings,  Scientific 
Course,  Yale  College  ;  Nathaniel  Chauncey,  Yale  College,  170'2  (the  first  graduate 
of  Yale  College) ;  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Yale  College,  1706  (the  first  president  of 
New  Jersey  College)  ;  Moses  Dickinson,  Y^ale  College,  1717  ;  Benjamin  Dickin- 
son, Hai-vard  College,  1723 ;  Azariah  Dickinson,  Yale  College,  1730 ;  Josiah 
Dwight,  Yale  College,  1715;  Joseph  Dwight,  Harvard  College,  1722;  "William 
Graves,  Yale  College,  1785;  Thaddeus  Graves,  Amherst  College,  ISoG;  Jonathan 
Iluhbard,  Yale  College,  1724;  John  Hubbard,  Y' ale  College,  1747 ;  John  Hast- 
ings, Yale  College,  1815;  Jonathan  II.  Lyman,  Yale  College,  1802 ;  Joseph  L. 
Moi-tou,  Yale  College,  1857 ;  John  Partridge,  Harvard  College,  1705  ;  Oliver  Par- 
tridge, Yale  College,  1730;  Samuel  Partridge,  Yale  College,  1707;  Samuel  D. 
Partridge,  Amherst  College,  1827  ;  Joseph  L.  Parti'idge,  Williams  Ccdlege,  1828; 
George  C.  Partridge,  Amherst  College,  1833;  Charles  Smith,  Amhei-st  College, 


1841 ;  William  Williams,  Harvard  College,  1705;  Elisha  Williams,  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1711  (the  third  president  of  Y'ale  College);  Solomon  Williams,  Harvard 
College,  1719 ;  John  Williams,  Harvard  f 'oUege,  1751 ;  Israel  Williams,  Yale  Col- 
lege, 1762;  George  W.  Waite,  Amheret  College,  1861. 

SCHOOL    STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Six  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  196;  average,  171; 
winter,  303;  average,  282;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  300;  summer  schools,  22 
months;  winter,  18  months;  summer  teachers,  7  females;  winter,  3  males,  6 
females;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $26;  female,  S11.71. 

January,  1847. — Eight  schools;  attending  in  summer,  131 ;  average,  118;  win- 
ter, 197  ;  average,  160 ;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  241 ;  attending  under  4,  6  ; 
over  16,  29 ;  summer  schools,  27  months ;  winter,  29 ;  total,  56 ;  summer  teachers, 
7  females;  winter,  4  males,  4  females;  average  wiiges  of  male  teachers  per 
month,  S22.75 ;  female,  $13. 

.Tanuai-y,  1857. — Seven  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  175 ;  average,  133 ;  win- 
ter, 221 ;  average,  181 ;  attending  under  5, 17  ;  over  15,  26 ;  in  town,  between  5 
and  15, 191 ;  summer  teachei-s,  6  females ;  winter  teacheis,  1  male,  6  females ; 
summer  schools,  27  months,  11  days ;  winter,  26  months ;  total,  53  months,  11 
days  ;  average  wages  of  male  teaebere  per  month,  S.37.50  ;  female,  $19.90. 

January,  1867. — Eight  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  243 ;  average,  188  ; 
winter,  298  ;  average,  251 ;  attending  under  5,  6;  over  15,  26  ;  in  town,  between 
5  and  15,  289;  summer  teachers,  8  females;  winter,  9  females;  summer  schools, 
23  months,  15  days ;  winter  schocds,  25  months,  5  days ;  average  wages  of  female 
teachers  per  month,  827. 

January,  1878.— Seven  schools;  roiiairs,  810;  attending,  314;  average,  205; 
under  5,  5;  over  15,  14;  in  town,  between  5  and  15,313;  teachers,  12  females; 
school,  61  months,  5  days ;  average  wages  of  teaehere  per  month,  $30..50 ;  taxa- 
tion, 82000;  expense  of  superintendence,  $30;  printing,  $15;  vested  funds, 
$56,000,  yielding  an  income  of  $i500;  income  of  local  funds  and  dog  tax,  $86.70; 
1  incori>orated  academy;  60  scholars;  tuition,  $400.44;  town  share  of  State 
fund,  $216.50. 

CHURCHES. 

In  the  movements  for  a  separate  town,  convenience  of  divine 
worship  and  attendance  on  ordinances  were  made  the  princi- 
pal reasons.  The  crossing  of  the  river  and  its  dangers  are 
graphically  depicted  in  the  petition  to  the  General  Court.* 

Without  waiting  for  the  formal  action  of  the  General  Court, 
the  people  determined  to  provide  themselves  with  preaching. 
In  a  west-side  meeting,  held  Nov.  6,  16G8,  a  committee  was 
chosen  to  provide  a  boarding-place  for  a  minister  during  the 
winter,  and  to  arrange  for  his  comfortable  maintenance.  On 
the  same  day  a  committee  was  named  to  draw  up  a  list  of  all 
the  timber  suitable  for  building  a  meeting-house  30  feet  square, 
to  proportion  out  the  work  to  each  man,  and  to  call  on  men  to 
fell  timber  or  do  other  work  in  connection  with  the  project. 

On  the  21st  of  November  they  chose  Thomas  Meekins,  Sr., 
William  Allis,  and  Isaac  Graves  a  committee  to  procure  a 
minister.  A  call  was  extended  to  Eev.  Hope  Atherton,  May 
17,  1669,  at  a  salary  of  £50. 

The  next  year  separate  action  by  the  "  west-side"  people  as 
a  part  of  Hadley  came  to  an  end,  and  the  "  town  of  Hatfield," 
Nov.  25,  1670,  voted  to  Mr.  Atherton  the  ministerial  allot- 
ment in  the  meadows  and  a  home-lot  of  8  acres,  and  voted  to 
build  for  him  a  sufficient  dwelling-house  and  to  allow  him 
£60  a  year  salary,  two-thirds  to  be  paid  in  good  merchantable 
wheat  and  one-third  in  pork.  This  additional  provision  was 
mentioned :  "  If  our  crops  fall  so  short  that  we  cannot  pay  in 
kind,  then  we  are  to  pay  him  in  the  next  best  way  we  have." 

The  date  of  the  formation  of  the  church  is  not  known.  It 
has  been  stated  at  1670.  Records  show  that  a  ftist  was  held  on 
the  21st  of  January,  1671,  in  view  of  the  great  work  of  "set- 
ting up  the  ordinances;",  also,  that  on  the  26th  of  the  same 
month  the  town  voted  that  all  the  members  of  other  churches 
in  the  town  should  be  those  "  to  begin  in  gathering  the 
church,"  and  that  they  should  have  power  to  choose  threeper- 
sons  to  make  up  nine  to  join  in  the  work.  All  this  shows  that 
the  organization  of  the  church  followed  the  fast  rather  than 
preceded  it,  making  the  organization  to  date  somewhere  near 
the  1st  of  February,  1671.  The  historian  of  Whately  states 
the  organization  as  about  April  1,  1671.    . 

Mr.  Atherton  died  comparatively  young.  He  never  recov- 
ered from  the  hardships  suffered  in  the  Turner's  Falls  fight 
and  the  retreat.  May  17,  1676.     He  died  in  June,  1679. 

The  first  meeting-house,  mentioned  above  as  having  been 


*  See  page  333  of  this  work. 


396 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


commenced  November,  1668,  was  soon  after  completed, — at 
least,  sufficient  for  public  worship.  It  was  improved  about 
twenty  years  later.  The  early  records  include  a  great  variety 
of  town  votes  witli  reference  to  the  meeting-house,  provisions 
for  sweeping,  bills  for  shingling,  and  all  the  details  of  work. 
Very  little  discretion  was  left  in  these  early  times  to  a  building 
committee.  They  were  instructed  very  precisely  when,  where, 
and  liow.  At  the  time  of  the  repairs,  in  1688,  the  vote  of 
this  town  was  not  so  minute  as  on  some  other  occasions  : 
"  Voted,  as  to  repairs  upon  the  meeting-house,  that  Deacon 
Church  and  Goodman  Belden,  Sr.,  hire  workmen  and  get  it 
forthwith  done  on  the  town's  charge."  The  location  of  this 
first  house  was  probably  not  far  from  the  site  afterward  occu- 
pied by  the  second. 

BUILDING    OF   THE    SECOND    MEETING-HOU.SE. 

March  6, 174.S. — Voted  to  build  a  new  meeting-house,  58  feet  in  length  and  4.5 
in  width,  the  height  to  be  left  to  the  advice  of  the  carpenters  employed  to 
buUd. 

Building  committee,  Col.  Williams,  Oliver  Partridge,  Capt.  Coleman,  Capt. 
Dwight,  Capt.  White,  Eus.  Dickinson,  and  Deacon  Hubbard. 

Dec.  4, 1749. — Voted  an  appropriation  of  4000  pounds,  old  tenor,  for  the  new 
house. 

March  5,  1740. — Voted  by  the  town  tliat  the  sum  granted  in  December  last  to 
be  employed  for  building  a  new  meeting-house  shall,  by  the  assessors, be  reduced 
to  lawful  money,  and  the  rates  be  made  by  them  accordingly  ;  yet,  notwithstand- 
ing, the  several  persons  that  shall  be  contained  in  said  bills  of  .assessment  shall 
have  liberty  to  discharge  the  respective  sums  assessed,  iu  bills  of  credit  of  this 
province,  at  the  rate  set  or  fixed  by  law. 

June  8, 1750. — Voter!,  that  they  will  speedily  pull  down  the  meeting-bouse  now 
standing  in  the  town,  in  order  to  employ  such  of  the  timbers  as  are  suitable  in 
building  the  new  house. 

Dec.  3, 1750. — One  hundred  and  si.\ty  pounds  more  were  voted  to  finish  the 
house. 

The  house  was  probably  finished  during  the  next  year, 
but  the  whole  business  was  not  adjusted  until  175.5,  when  the 
committee  to  settle  with  the  building  committee  reported  that 
there  was  left  of  the  sum  granted  by  the  town  "  £45  13s.  5(/. 
and  1/.,"  and  that  the  accounts  of  the  committee  were  "  right 
cast  and  well  vouched." 

At  the  same  meeting,  voted  that  suitable  ornamental  step- 
stones  be  provided  for  the  meeting-house,  and  that  the  casings 
of  the  timber  in  the  meeting-house  "  be  decently  colored." 

The  building  of  this  house  was  followed  by  numerous 
records  about  the  "seating."  To  the  people  of  the  present 
time  many  of  these  seem  ludicrous  in  the  e.vtreme.  Human 
nature  then  was  no  doubt  very  similar  to  that  same  trouble- 
some article  of  the  present  time,  and  great  dissatisfaction 
often  occurred.  Votes  were  reconsidered  ;  parties  once  seated 
were  permitted  to  exchange  with  each  other ;  new  committees 
upon  seating  were  appointed  ;  and  the  struggle  recorded  upon 
the  books  only  faintly  pictures  the  talk,  the  murmurs,  the 
gossip,  that  must  have  existed  among  the  congregation.  It 
required  strong  faith,  patience,  and  piety  to  surmount  all 
this,  preserve  the  worship  of  God  nobly  and  steadily,  and 
hand  down  to  modern  times  inviolate  the  traditions  and  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel. 

The  third  and  present  meeting-house  is  comparatively  mod- 
ern, the  corner-stone  having  been  laid  May  23,  1749.  It  is  a 
handsome  edifice,  standing  upon  the'west  side  of  the  street. 

The  second  house,  removed  at  the  erection  of  the  third, 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  broad  street,  a  little  south  of  the 
present  location.  It  was  sold  and  remodeled  into  a  barn  upon 
the  Bardwell  place,  where  it  still  stands,  showing  even  yet,  in 
its  steep  roof,  its  outer  finish,  and  its  clapboarding,  something 
of  its  antique  and  venerable  character.  The  beams  were 
largely  what  builders  know  as  heart-timber. 

Record  of  the  Pastors. — 1st.  Kev.  Hope  Atherton,  supposed 
to  ha-^e  begun  preaching  for  the  west  side  1668  or  1669  ;  died 
June  8,  1677.  2d.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Chauncey,  installed  in  1683. 
He  died  while  in  the  pastorate,  Nov.  4,  1685.  3d.  Rev.  Wm. 
Williams  was  ordained  in  1686  ;  he  preached  for  fifty-five 
years,  and  died  in  the  pastorate  Aug.  31,  1741.     4th.  Rev. 


Timothy  "Woodbridge  was  ordained  Nov.  14,  1739,  as  col- 
league of  Mr.  Williams,  and  was  his  successor.  He  too  died 
in  the  midst  of  his  pastoral  work,  June  3,  1770,  aged  fifty- 
eight.  5th.  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  ordained  March  4,  1772. 
He  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  his  name  is  very  prominent  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Revolution,  then  commencing.  His  pastor- 
ate extended  over  a  long  period  of  years,  down  to  1828,  his 
death  occurring  March  27th  of  that  year.  6th.  Rev.  Jared 
B.  Waterbury,  installed  as  colleague  of  Mr.  Lyman,  Jan.  10, 
1827;  dismissed  Feb.  24,  1829.  7th.  Rev.  Levi  Pratt,  or- 
dained June  23,  1830 ;  dismissed  May  9, 1835.  8th.  Rev.  Henry 
Neill,  ordained  April  16,  1840;  dismissed  April  15,  1846;  he 
was  the  father  of  Prof.  Neill,  now  of  Amherst  College.  9th. 
Rev.  Jared  O.  Knapp,  installed  Dec.  11,  1850;  dismissed  April 
10,  1855.  10th.  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  ordained  Oct.  20,  1857; 
dismissed  Feb.  17,  1868.  11th.  Rev.  Wm.  L.  Bray,  installed 
Jan.  12,  1869;  dismissed  Nov.  22,  1869.  12th.  Rev.  John  P. 
Skeele,  installed  May  4,  1870;  dismissed  April  29,  1873.  43th. 
Rev.  Robert  M.  Woods,  ordained  Nov.  21,  1877.  Rev.  Wm. 
Greenwood,  as  stated  supply,  preached  for  nearly  two  years 
previous  to  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Woods. 

Record  of  Deacons. — The  church  has  no  separate  record  of 
its  existence  prior  to  1772,  and  the  names  of  those  who  filled 
the  office  of  deacon  before  that  time  are  gathered  from  the 
town  records  where  they  incidentally  occur:  Edward  Church, 
supposed  to  have  been  elected  in  1670.  John  Coleman,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  elected  1670;  died  Jan.  22,  1712.  Samuel 
Marsh,  probably  chosen  1706;  died  Sept.  7,  1728.  John 
White,  probably  chosen  1712.  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  prob- 
ably chosen  1726.  Nathaniel  White,  probably  chosen  1735. 
Samuel  Bodman,  probably  chosen  1735.  John  Hubbard, 
probably  chosen  1746;  died  Sept.  14,  1778,  aged  eighty-six. 
John  Belding,  probably  chosen  1746.  John  Smith,  prob- 
bly  chosen  1750.  Simeon  Wait,  probably  chosen  1764. 
Elijah  Morton,  elected  Nov.  2.5,  1772;  died  Oct.  5,  1798,  aged 
eighty.  William  Williams,  elected  Nov.  25,  1772.  Obadiah 
Dickinson,  elected  April  8,  1773;  died  June  24,  1788,  aged 
eighty-four.  Jonathan  Porter,  elected  May  23,  1785 ;  died 
A])ril  25,  1838,  aged  eighty-one.  Lemuel  Dickinson,  elected 
May  23,  1785.  Cotton  Partridge,  elected  Feb.  28,  1799;  died 
Nov.  13,  1846,  aged  eightj'-one.  Benjamin  Morton,  elected 
Jan.  7,  1807;  died  Feb.  4,  1810,  aged  fifty.  Moses  Warner, 
elected  March  1,  1810;  died  Aug.  1,  1828,  aged  seventy-four. 
Joseph  Billings,  elected  Oct.  30,  1817  ;  died  May  23,  1850,  aged 
seventy-four.  Rufus  Cowles,  elected  Aug.  81,  1827;  died  Feb. 
6,  1840,  aged  fifty-seven.  George  W.  Hubbard,  elected  July 
10,  1849 ;  resigned  Aug.  30,  1870,  removed  to  Northampton. 
Erastus  Cowles,  elected  Aug.  28,  1850;  resigned  Sept.  11,  1861. 
James  Porter,  chosen  Sept.  11,  1861.  Alpheus  Cowles,  chosen 
Oct.  21, 1869.  Caleb  Dickinson,  chosen  Oct.  21,  1869  ;  resigned 
April  8,  1875.  Jonathan  S.  Graves,  chosen  April  1,  1875. 
Daniel  W.  Wells,  cho.sen  April  8,  1875. 

April  8,  1875,  the  system  of  choosing  for  a  term  of  four 
years  was  adopted,  one  to  be  elected  each  year. 

Additional  Hems. — The  meeting-house  of  1668  had  galleries, 
a  turret,  and  a  bell.  The  bell  was  to  be  rung  at  nine  o'clock. 
The  building  stood  with  the  ends  east  and  west,  the  pulpit  at 
the  west  end,  a  door  at  the  east,  with  a  broad  centre  aisle  lead- 
ing up  to  the  pulpit.  It  was  voted  in  1699  to  build  a  new 
house,  but  the  old  edifice  survived  that  vote  nearly  or  quite 
fifty  years.  The  town  built  a  house  for  Mr.  Atherton,  40 
feet  long,  20  feet  wide,  double  story. 

As  in  other  towns,  there  are  numerous  traditions  of  the 
convivial  habits  of  the  early  ministers,  so  different  from  the 
present  time.  In  their  associations  and  councils  they  usually 
remained  over-night,  and  had  their  flip  regularly  in  the  morn- 
ing. It  was  the  custom  to  drink  it  before  washing  for  break- 
fast. If  a  man  overslept,  he  was  condemned  to  lose  his  flip 
unless  he  made  up  on  the  spot  a  verse  of  original  poetry.  On 
one  occasion  a  victim  is  said  to  have  perpetrated  the  following  : 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


397 


"  They  say  our  forefathei-s,  like  goats, 
First  washed  their  eyes,  and  then  their  throats ; 
But  wo,  their  sous,  grown  more  wise, 
First  wash  our  throats,  tlieu  our  eyes." 

He  probably  received  his  flip. 

Present  Orgmiizafwn  (March,  1879). — Pastor,  Rev.  Robert 
M.  Woods ;  James  Porter,  Alpheus  Cowles,  Jonathan  S. 
Graves,  Daniel  W.  Wells,  Deacons  ;  the  deacons  and  two 
others,  Henry  S.  Hubbard,  Oscar  Belden,  Church  Committee  ; 
James  Porter,  Clerk  of  Church  ;  George  A.  Billings,  Clerk  of 
Parish ;  Joseph  S.  Wells,  Superintendent  of  Sunday-school ; 
communicants,  2C2  ;  congregation,  not  far  from  the  same  ;  at- 
tendance at  Sunday-school,  175  to  200.  A  branch  school  is 
maintained  at  North  Hatfield  in  the  school-house,  occasion- 
ally at  West  Hatfield  also. 

This  is  the  only  church  in  town.  Methodist  meetings  were 
held  for  a  time,  1844  to  1846,  in  the  town-hall,  but  no  society 
was  formed. 

BITRIAL-GROtJNDS. 

There  is  a  tradition  of  early  times,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Elijah 
Bardwell,  that  a  few  early  burials  took  place  upon  the  bank 
of  the  Connecticut  River,  in  nearly  an  east  direction  from  the 
meeting-house.  This  theory  has  some  force  from  certain  items 
in  the  records  ;  these  imply  the  opening  of  the  cemetery  upon 
the  hill  as  being  some  twenty  years  after  the  settlement.  If 
there  were  burials  at  the  point  mentioned,  all  trace  of  them 
was  long  ago  lost,  the  field  being  entirely  a  cultivated  one, 
with  neither  stone  nor  memorial. 

The  "  old  cemetery,"  so  called,  upon  the  hill  was  the  prin- 
cipal place  of  burial  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  years.  There 
the  generations  one  after  another  have  been  gathered  to  their 
long  sleep.  The  ground  is  in  very  fair  preservation  consider- 
ing its  age.  It  is  properly  fenced,  and  small  appropriations 
are  usually  voted  by  the  town  for  its  care  each  year.  Some 
years  ago  the  graves  were  leveled  and  the  ground  put  in  con- 
dition to  be  neatly  mowed.  There  are  many  dates  upon  these 
old  stones  that  form  a  valuable  key  to  unlock  much  of  the 
family  history  of  Hie  olden  time.  Genealogical  students  of 
the  early  names  will  find  here  ample  materials.  These  in- 
scriptions, together  with  the  births,  deaths,  and  marriage 
records  of  the  town  clerk's  otiice,  are  ample  to  enable  many 
families  to  write  their  own  domestic  history  with  great  fullness 
and  accuracy. 

There  are  thought  to  be  few  or  no  places  of  private  burial 
upon  the  farms  and  homesteads  of  Hatfield.  In  1849  three 
new  burial-places  were  established  by  vote  of  the  town.  The 
central  one  is  west  from  the  public  buildings,  and  has  a  hand- 
some location.  Thirty  years  has  sufficed  to  bring  to  its  sacred 
inclosure  a  large  number  of  the  dead.  Mrs.  Remembrance 
Bardwell  was  the  first  person  buried  there.  The  ground  has 
been  appropriately  laid  out,  considerable  done  in  the  way  of 
ornament,  and  many  fine  monuments  erected.  There  is 
another  cemetery  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  near  tlie 
residence  of  Mr.  Amariah  Strong,  another  east  of  North  Hat- 
field, near  the  residence  of  Oscar  Belden,  and  still  another  in 
the  northwest  part  of  the  town. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  town  records : 

Oct.  17, 1783. — "  Voted  tliat  the  town  ivill  cause  the  burj'ing-ground  in  said 
town  to  be  decently  fenced  i  that  Capt.  Graves,  Samuel  Church,  and  Deacon 
Morton  be  appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose ;  that  the  committee  endeavor 
to  lease  the  feetling  of  the  bnryiug-ground  for  sheep,  horses,  or  calves  to  any  one 
who  will  fence  the  same:  if  no  one  accepts,  then  tiie  tnwu  will  jiay  foi-  the 
fencing." 

TOWN    SOCIETIES,    LIBRARIES,    ETC. 

The  Hatfield  Social  Library  was  an  old  organization  with 
quite  a  valuable  collection  of  books.  Supplemented  by  the 
liberality  of  Miss  Smith,  the  founder  of  Smith  Female  College, 
it  has  become  a  valuable  town  library,  and  is  kept  at  the 
academy. 

There  is  a  grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  located  in 
Hatfield,  having  an  active  existence.      Various  temperance 


associations  and  societies  for  benevolent  and  religious  work 
have  existed  from  time  to  time,  and  several  such  are  in  exist- 
ence now. 

PLACES   OF    HISTORIC    INTEREST. 

1st.  Just  south  of  the  intersection  of  the  Northampton  road 
with  Hatfield  Street  is  the  point  of  first  settlement,  according  to 
tradition, — the  Fellows  homestead,  the  present  place  of  Saml. 
F.  Billings.  All  that  is  known  seems  to  be  that  he  was  that 
one  of  the  six  who  built  the  first  house  and  began  to  live  here 
a  little  in  advance  of  the  others,  possibly  onlj'  a  few  days,  or 
at  most  a  few  weeks. 

2d.  The  battle-ground  of  Oct.  19,  1677,  is  not  closely  de- 
scribed by  any  of  the  historians.  "  The  town"  of  that  period 
was  the  present  village,  or  rather  the  one  main  street.  Meek- 
ins'  grist-mill  probably  being  the  only  building  west.  If  the 
place  was  protected  then  by  a  line  of  palisades  nearly  parallel 
with  Main  Street  and  thirty  or  forty  rods  we.st  of  it,  and  per- 
haps with  flanking-lines  at  the  north  and  south  ends,  the  line 
of  battle  formed  by  the  whites  can  hardly  be  understood  and 
have  it  correspond  with  the  earlier  descriptions  of  the  fight. 

Supposing  the  fortifications  were  not  then  erected,  or  that 
they  were  so  incomplete  or  weak  that  the  Indians  easily  pene- 
trated them,  then  the  attack  of  the  Indians  would  naturally 
be  from  the  north  and  west ;  the  attack  would  be  repelled  from 
the  east ;  Capt.  Appleton  would  be  at  the  lower  end  of  the  vil- 
lage ;  Capt.  Mosely  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  church;  and 
Capt.  Poole  north,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Bliss  Hotel.  The  fight 
would  be  mostly  along  the  line  of  the  present  street,  or  rather 
west  of  it,  as  the  Indians  do  not  seem  to  have  succeeded  in 
burning  any  buildings  in  the  village,  unless  at  the  north  end. 
The  retreat  of  the  Indians  would  naturally  be,  as  the  writers 
have  described,  over  Mill  River,  to  the  west.  Precise  location 
is  undoubtedly  difficult.  The  "  engineers"  of  the  whites,  if 
they  had  any,  have  left  no  maps  for  our  study.  Antiquarians 
can  safely  locate  the  fighting  and  the  "  lines"  almost  any- 
where in  or  on  either  side  of  the  main  street. 

3d.  The  "  Indian  Bottom,"  the  reserved  planting-ground  of 
Vmpnnchala,  is  rich  in  the  eloquent  associations  of  antiquity, 
but  it  loses  something  of  its  romance  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  manly  Indians  left  their  squaws  to  do  the  digging 
and  raise  the  corn,  while  they  "loafed"  at  Umpanchala' s  fort 
and  planned  blood-and-thunder  campaigns  against  each  other, 
or  against  the  whites. 

4th.  The  Indian  fort  itself,  near  Halfway  Brook  (perhaps 
within  the  town  of  Northampton),  is  a  place  worthy  of  study, 
as  that  was  the  last  fortified  point  held  by  the  Indians  in  the 
fair  Nonotuck  valley.  Prom  here  they  moved  northward,  re- 
turning in  after-years  only  for  pillage  and  slaughter,  as  they 
were  incited  by  the  French  leaders  from  Montreal  and  Quebec. 
The  spring  of  water  from  which  the  Indians  drank  still  bubbles 
from  the  ground,  but  the  war-whoop  has  died  away,  its  near- 
est representative  being  the  whistle  of  the  locomotive  as  it 
nears  the  Hatfield  Station,— a  place  that  ought  to  be  called 
Umpanchala,  in  memory  of  that  proud  chieftain  of  the  forest. 
5th.  There  is  a  curious  hill  or  mound  not  far  distant  from 
the  mouth  of  Halfway  Brook.  It  is  on  the  farm  of  Henry  S. 
Hubbard.  A  heavy  gro^vlh  of  pine-trees  has  recently  been 
cut  off.  It  is  nearly  circular,  with  an  area  of  perhaps  half  an 
acre,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  swamp.  The  location  is  such  as 
Indians  were  accustomed  to  choose  for  a  strong  fortified  post. 
Its  more  precise  situation  may  be  stated  as  being  in  the  east- 
ern angle  between  the  Northampton  road  and  the  one  run- 
ning southeast  from  the  railroad  station,  and  not  far  from 
the  intersection  of  the  roads.  Mr.  S.  G.  Hubbard  states  that 
this  has  been  overlooked  by  antiquarians.  Umpanchala' s  fort 
may  have  been  on  this  hill ;  or,  if  the  fort  was  at  the  mouth 
of  Halfway  Brook,  then  this  may  have  been  a  fortified  out- 
post. 

6th.  Among  the  places  of  historic  note  there  must  also  be 
mentioned  the  Hubbard  mansion,  on  Hill  Street,  and  next  to 


398 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  old  cemetery.  This  was  the  famous  tavern  of  the  Reyolu- 
tionary  era.  It  was  opened  by  Elisha  Hubbard  about  1760. 
He  died  in  a  few  years,  and  before  the  war  commenced.  Hub- 
bard had  also  kept  a  store.  After  his  death  his  widow  con- 
tinued the  public-house.  There  were  eight  children,  six  of 
them  daughters.  One  of  the  sons  was  the  grandfather  of 
H.  8.  and  S.  G.  Hubbard.  At  this  tavern  Epaphroditus 
Champion,  quartermaster  upon  Gen.  Washington's  staff,  made 
his  headquarters  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War.  The  beef  purchased  for  the  supply  of  the  Continental 
army  was  largely  obtained  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  ;  and 
even  in  those  days  Hatfield  was  a  noted  point  for  fat  cattle. 
Here,  too,  were  quartered  during  one  winter  the  staff-officers 
of  a  French  regiment,  part  of  Count  Rochambeau's  army. 
They  amused  themselves  during  these  months  between  the 
summer  campaigns  in  various  ways.  The  old  windows  in  the 
house,  before  it  was  repaired  some  years  ago,  were  marked  with 
various  mottoes  and  epigrammatic  sentences,  written  with  a 
diamond  by  these  learned  Frenchmen.  It  is  characteristic  of 
that  era  of  French  belief  that  there  was  not  found  a  quota- 
tion from  the  Bible  among  them,  but  they  were  drawn  from  a 
wide  variety  of  classical  authors.  In  this  old  house  there  was 
at  one  time  a  large  amount  of  books'in  the  low  rooms  of  the 
rear  chambers  ;  those  were  mostly  destroyed  in  various  ways. 
In  the  front  attic  there  were  others,  still  preserved,  heavy  old 
Latin  folios.  Mi.ss  Louisa  Hubbard,  who  is  excellent  authority 
upon  family  traditions  and  early  town  annals,  supposes  the.se 
to  have  been  left  here  either  by  teachers  or  students  in  Master 
Curson's  old  classical  school  of  nearly  one  hundred  years  ago. 
However,  as  there  are  said  to  have  been  many  theological 
works  among  the  lost  portion,  it  is  possible  they  are  the  re- 
mains of  the  library  of  some  of  the  earlier  ministers.  It 
.should  be  added  that  Gen.  Champion's  stay  may  have  been 
prolonged  at  Hatfield  by  the  charming  society  in  which  he 
found  himself  placed,  as  well  as  by  his  patriotic  desire  to 
secure  good  beef  for  the  army.  If  here  was  the  romance  of 
war  and  love,  the  course  of  the  latter  evidently  ran  smoothl}', 
for  he  married  one  of  the  daughters  of  Mrs.  Hubbard,  proving 
himself  no  doubt  a  gallant  champion  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war. 
The  tavern  was  closed  perhaps  about  1800,  hut  Mrs.  Hub- 
bard lived  until  the  year  181(5.  Miss  Louisa  Hubbard,  spoken 
of  above,  had  the  particular  care  of  her  during  the  last  ten 
years  of  her  life,  and  the  former  is,  therefore,  an  important 
link  between  the  Revolutionary  age  and  the  present.  Mr. 
S.  G.  Hubbard  remembers  to  have  seen  in  his  boyhood  the 
quartermaster,  Gen.  Champion,  and  describes  him  as  a  man 
of  splendid  personal  appearance,  "six  feet  six"  in  height,  and 
well  proportioned. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUIT,S. 

The  soil  of  Hatfield  is  fertile,  affording  productive  and  re- 
munerative results  in  return  for  the  labor  of  the  agriculturist. 
The  rich  alluvial  fields  have  advantages  unsurpassed  in  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut.  Large  crops  of  rye,  Indian  corn, 
broom  corn,  and  tobacco  are  produced.  The  three  great  lead- 
ing staples  have  been  in  succession,  and  to  some  extent  at  the 
same  time,  fat  cattle,  broom  corn,  and  tobacco. 

For  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  the  fatting  of  beef  was 
a  business  in  which  the  farmers  took  a  laudable  pride,  and  for 
which  this  town  became  famous.  In  the  earlier  times,  and 
down  to  a  comparatively  late  period,  it  was  a  great  financial 
success.  Fortunes  were  made  by  means  of  it.  The  sharp 
competition  from  the  Western  States  has  largely  diminished 
this  business  in  the  last  few  years. 

Very  early  the  broom  corn  business  was  undertaken.  The 
acreage  planted,  the  amount  raised,  and  the  brooms  made  were 
all  on  a  scale  of  considerable  magnitude. 

At  the  decline  of  this,  the  tobacco  business  followed,  and 
during  the  greater  portion  of  the  last  twenty-five  years  has 
been  very  successful.     In  the  years  of  expansion,  18G3  to  1874, 


the  price  was  high,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  develop  large 
crops  and  to  raise  the  most  valuable  kinds.  Everywhere  the 
large  tobacco  barns  form  a  distinguishing  feature  among  the 
buildings  of  the  town.  Some  of  them  are  of  handsome  con- 
struction, with  ventilating-doors  and  the  best  conveniences 
for  hanging,  drying,  stripping,  packing,  etc. 

In  the  recent  reduction  of  prices  the  business  has  of  course 
declined,  and,  as  in  most  other  branches  of  industry,  embar- 
rassment has  followed,  and  considerable  financial  disaster. 
Still,  the  town  is  so  thoroughly  engaged  in  the  culture  of  to- 
bacco it  will  not  be  easily  relinquished.  A  handsome  brick 
building  was  erected  as  a  tobacco  warehouse  a  few  years  since, 
which  an  innocent  stranger  might  easilj'  mistake  for  a  public- 
.school  building  or  the  rooms  of  a  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. 

Broom  corn  has  been  reintroduced  during  the  last  five  j'ears, 
and  there  is  again  quite  a  quantity  raised  in  town. 

As  to  the  manufacture  of  brooms  during  the  palmj'  days  of 
the  business,  it  was  carried  on  mostly  by  individuals,  a  large 
number  of  the  farmers  making  up  their  own  brush. 

Mills,  Manufactures,  etc. — The  water-privilege  at  the  pres- 
ent pistol-factory  was  improved  in  1661,  one  of  the  earliest 
grist-mills  in  Western  Massachusetts  having  been  erected 
there  by  Thomas  Meekins.  The  town  of  Hadley  granted  him 
the  site,  and  officially  promised  him  all  their  grinding,  pro- 
vided he  lived  up  to  the  contract  and  "made  good  meale." 
The  difficulty  of  crossing  the  river  from  Hadley  was  so  great 
that  the  town  employed  two  grist-carriers,  who  called  upon 
the  people  regularly  every  Tuesdaj'  and  Saturday,  took  their 
grists  over  to  Meekins'  mill,  and  returned  them  when  ground. 
They  were  paid  'id.  per  bushel  for  carrying.  Mr.  Meekins 
did  not,  however,  hold  this  east-side  business  for  more  than 
five  or  six  years,  a  mill  being  erected  at  North  Hadley  in 
1667.  It  is  understood  that  this  first  mill  was  a  little  above 
the  pistol-factory.  Either  there  or  at  the  present  site  on  the 
other  side  of  the  stream  there  has  thus  been  grinding  done  for 
two  hundred  and  eighteen  years.  At  first  the  mill  was  out 
there  in  the  woods,  with  no  other  buildings.  It  was  liable  to 
constant  danger  from  the  Indians. 

Thomas  Meekins  (either  father  or  son)  was  killed  in  the 
skirmish  in  the  meadows,  mentioned  elsewhere,  and,  at  the 
mill  itself,  one  or  more  persons  were  killed.  But  the  records 
do  not  indicate  that  the  mill  was  ever  burned  by  the  enemy. 
It  was  probably  closely  watched,  and  great  care  taken  to  save 
it.  The  present  proprietor  is  Richard  T.  Smith,  the  legitimate 
successor  of  Thomas  Meekins  in  running  the  "  old  corn-mill" 
of  1661. 

Besides  the  corn-mill,  Thomas  Meekins  and  Robert  Bolt- 
wood  were  authorized,  Jan.  27,  1662,  to  set  up  a  saw-mill  on 
the  east  side  of  Mill  River  ;  and  they  might  fell  oak-  or  pine- 
trees — except  rift  timber — in  the  great  swamp  beyond  Mill 
River,  and  within  eighty  rods  of  the  mill  on  this  side.  The 
mill  seems  to  have  been  built  in  1664  or  1665,  and,  when  com- 
pleted, it  probablj'  put  an  end  in  this  vicinity  to  the  old, 
slow,  and  laborious  process  of  "  pit-sawing."  Thomas  Meek- 
ins is  also  said  to  have  had  a  saw-mill,  on  the  west  side  near 
his  grist-mill,  in  1669. 

A  little  below,  on  Mill  River,  Seth  Kingsley  improves  a 
water-privilege  with  a  low  dam,  securing  power  enough  to 
run  a  cider-mill,  a  circular-saw,  and  wood-turning  works. 

Opposite  the  present  grist-mill  are  the  pistol-works.  They 
were  established  about  187-3,  by  Prescott  &  Porter.  They 
were  succeeded  by  Henry  Dickinson,  and  he  by  the  present 
proprietors,  Hyde  &  Shattuck.  They  make  pistols,  revolvers, 
and  breech-loading  shot-guns. 

On  the  Running  Gutter  branch  of  Mill  River  is  the  Fitch 
saw-mill,  rather  a  modern  affair,  still  in  operation.  No  other 
water-privileges  on  these  streams  are  improved  except  iit  North 
Hatfield. 

At  the  pistol-factory  buildings  there  was   for  a   time  an 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


399 


establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  buttons  from  vegetable 
ivory,  by  Harvey  Moore. 

The  first  distillery  in  Western  Massachusetts  is  said  to  have 
been  erected  in  178.5,  at  the  place  of  the  present  husk-factory, 
North  Hatfield.  Eye  was  then  drawn  very  largely  to  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island,  and  Gen.  Murray,  Gen.  Dickinson,  and 
Seth  Bardwell  formed  the  plan  of  having  it  distilled  at  home 
instead  of  drawing  away.  They  secured  one  Mr.  Harding  as 
the  superintendent  of  the  distillery.  His  son  became  the  dis- 
tinguished portrait-painter  of  that  name  in  after-years. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war.  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman  and 
Samuel  Smith  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  saltpetre,  the 
business  being  stimulated  by  the  bounty  offered  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress.  The  saltpetre  was  obtained  largely  from 
the  earth  taken  from  under  the  church  and  other  old  buildings. 

There  have  been  several  tanneries  in  town  at  various  times. 
One  by  Ziba  Allen  stood  near  the  present  residence  of  Alfred 
Graves,  1812  to  1820,  or  about  that  time.  Mr.  Allen  was 
familiarly  known  as  "  Ziba  the  tanner."  The  Partridges  had 
a  tannery  on  the  present  place  of  John  A.  Billings.  Silas 
Porter  &  Son  opened  a  tannery  and  carried  on  the  business 
for  several  years  at  the  present  place  of  John  H.  Sanderson. 
This  was  abandoned  about  thirty  years  ago.  Another  tannery 
was  run  by  Quartus  Knight,  near  the  present  pistol-factory. 

Quartus  Kingsley,  Samuel  Hastings,  and  Remembrance 
Bardwell  ran  a  distillery  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  for 
some  years. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  produce  for  the  year  ending 
May  1,  187.5,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values: 
Butter,  $29,484 ;  firewood,  $7446  ;  tobacco,  $1.55,248  ;  hay, 
|65,18fl ;  milk,  |.33,375  ;  manure,  |35,270 ;  corn,  $18,390 ;  beef, 
$10,200  ;  pork,  $13,473  ;  potatoes,  $8488. 

MILITARY. 

Hatfield,  having  been  settled  during  the  last  few  years  pre- 
ceding the  King  Philip  war  of  1675,  shared  in  the  e.\;citemcnt 
of  that  struggle.  Homes  were  guarded  with  ceaseless  vigi- 
lance ;  crops  raised  and  harvested  in  peril  of  life  ;  the  fear  of 
the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  was  felt  in  every  dwelling. 
Troops  were  stationed  at  Northampton,  at  Hadley,  Hatfield, 
and  other  places,  but  no  amount  of  preparation  was  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  the  stealthy  attack  of  the  cunning  foe.  The 
fearful  tragedy  at  Bloody  Brook  occurred  Sept.  18,  1675, 
barely  fifteen  miles  from  Hatfield.  During  the  weeks  that 
followed,  Capt.  Mosely's  command,  which,  marching  out  from 
Deerfield,  had  severely  avenged  the  slauglitcr  at  Bloody 
Brook,  was  a  part  of  the  time  stationed  at  Hatfield,  and  also 
Capt.  Poole's  company. 

Oct.  17,  1075,  the  Indians  were  reported  in  force  at  Deer- 
field,  and  in  the  evening  only  a  mile  from  Hatfield.  Troops 
from  Hadley  were  brought  across  the  river,  but  wearied  them- 
selves by  a  night's  march  without  finding  the  enemy.  The 
18th  passed  in  liasty  preparation  for  the  attack  e.\pected  every 
hour.  Northampton  was  asking  for  troops,  but  none  could 
be  spared.  The  event  proved  the  wisdom  of  remaining  to 
defend  Hatfield,  for  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  19th  suddenly 
the  war-whoop  was  heard,  and  a  force  of  700  or  800  Indians 
burst  upon  the  town.  In  spite  of  the  preparations  and  the 
long  watching,  the  attack  was  even  then  something  of  a  sur- 
prise. 

The  engagement  that  followed  was  a  battle  of  some  magni- 
tude, not  a  mere  skirmish.  Capt.  Appleton's  comjiany,  from 
Hadley,  held  the  left,  Capt.  Mosely  the  centre,  and  Capt. 
Poole  the  right.  The  Indians  were  repulsed  at  every  point. 
Arms  and  discipline  proved  too  much  for  numbers.  The 
■  Indians,  in  retreating,  burned  a  few  barns,  and  drove  off  a 
number  of  cattle.  They  were,  however,  encumbered  with 
the  dead  which  they  carried  from  the  field,  and  in  crossing 
Mill  River  lost  many  of  their  guns.  The  whites  killed  were 
Thomas  Meekins,  Nathaniel  Collins,  Richard  Stone,  Samuel 


Clarke,  John  Pocock,  Thomas  Warner,  Abram  Quiddington, 

William  Olverton,  and  John  Petts,  mostly  from  Hadley. 

In  the  spring  of  1670,  Capt.  Mosely  was  again  stationed  at 
Hatfield.  Immediately  following  the  attack  of  March  14th, 
upon  Northampton,  the  Indians  approached  Hatfield,  but  the 
troops  there,  with  others  from  Hadley,  presented  too  strong  a 
force,  and  the  Indians  retreated. 

The  great  battle  of  Turner's  Falls,  May  19,  1676,  was  par- 
ticipated in  by  Hatfield  men.  In  returning,  the  Indians  ral- 
lied and  harassed  the  wearied  army.  Turner  himself  fell  near 
Green  River,  and  the  army  arrived  at  Hatfield  with  a  loss  of 
38  men,  all  but  one  killed  on  the  return. 

There  is  a  story  of  wonderful  endurance  connected  with 
this  affair.  Jonathan  Wells,  of  Hatfield,  was  wounded,  es- 
caped, and  lost  his  way ;  fell  from  his  horse  in  the  present 
town  of  Greenfield,  and,  after  hair-breadth  escapes  from  In- 
dians, obeyed  a  dream  as  to  his  right  course,  reached  Hatfield, 
recovered,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 

William  Allis,  son  of  Sergt.  William  Allis,  was  killed  at 
"the  Falls  fight,"  as  recorded  in  the  town  book.  Samuel 
Gillit  and  John  Church,  Sr.,  are  recorded  as  "  lost  in  the  Falls 
fight." 

Rev.  Hope  Atherton,  the  Hatfield  minister,  who  had  been 
with  the  army  in  the  Falls  fight,  also  lost  his  way  ;  actually 
endeavored  to  deliver  himself  up  to  a  company  of  Indians, 
but  they,  afraid  of  his  sacred  character  as  a  minister,  which 
they  in  some  way  understood,  refused  to  touch  him,  and  he 
finally  reached  home  after  many  days'  suftering. 

The  severe  blow  to  the  projects  of  King  Philip  given  at 
Turner's  Falls  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  dangers  of  war.  May 
30,  1076,  only  twelve  days  after  that  battle,  000  to  700  Indians 
again  attacked  Hatfield,  and  this  time  succeeded  in  eftecting 
the  destruction  of  many  buildings.  Their  first  work  was  to 
set  on  fire  twelve  buildings  without  the  fortifications.  Most 
of  the  men  were  at  work  in  the  meadows.  The  palisaded 
houses  were  attacked  at  every  point.  They  were  defended 
bravely  by  the  few  men  that  were  not  in  the  meadows,  aided 
by  the  women.  A  part  of  the  savages  were  busy  killing  or 
driving  off  cattle,  and  a  company  of  150  pushed  out  for  the 
meadows  to  engage  the  planters.  The  flames  of  the  burning 
buildings  were  seen  at  Hadley,  and  twenty-five  young  men 
crossed  the  river  to  aid  in  defense.  Boldly  rushing  upon  the 
savage  host  just  as  the  planters  were  likely  to  be  overwhelmed, 
they  killed  five  or  six  at  the  first  discharge,  then  drove  them 
back  to  the  town,  infiicting  terrible  slaughter,  and  losing  five 
of  their  own  number.  The  Indians  were  then  driven  out  of 
the  village.  The  records  do  not  show  that  they  had  captured 
any  prisoners,  nor  does  it  appear  that  any  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Hatfield  were  killed.  Of  the  five  that  were  killed,  John 
Smith  was  from  Hadley,  two  others  were  from  Connecticut, 
and  two  from  the  garrison  at  Hadley. 

The  close  of  the  King  Philip's  war,  by  the  death  of  the 
great  chief  in  the  fall  of  1076,  put  an  end  to  the  most  serious 
dangers.  Still  the  settlements  were  not  even  then  safe.  French 
policy  was  evidently  at  work  instigating  Indian  attacks.  Sept. 
19,  1677,  a  party  Of  about  50  Indians  fell  upon  Hatfield,  shot 
three  men  outside  of  the  fortifications,  and,  breaking  through, 
inflicted  terrible  slaughter  upon  men,  women,  and  children, 
captured  and  carried  away  a  large  number.  The  attack  was 
at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  while  the  principal  part 
of  the  men  were  at  work  in  the  meadows.  The  killed  were 
Isaac  Graves,  Sr.,  and  John  Graves,  Sr.,  John  Atchison,  John 
Cooper,  Elizabeth,  the  wife,  and  Stephen,  son,  of  Philip  Rus- 
sell, Hannah,  the  wife,  and  Bethia,  daughter,  of  John  Cole- 
man, Sarah,  the  wife  of  Samuel  Kellogg,  and  their  son,  Jo- 
seph Kellogg,  Mary,  the  wife  of  Samuel  Belding,  Elizabeth, 
a  daughter  of  John  Wells,  and  Thomas  Meekins,— 13  in  all. 
The  captives  were  two  children  of  John  Coleman,  Goodwife 
Waite  and  three  children,  Mrs.  Foote  and  two  children,  Mrs. 
Jennino-s  and  two  children,  Obadiah  Dickinson  and  one  child, 


400 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


a  child  of  Samuel  Kellogg,  a  child  of  Wm.  Bartholomew, 
and  a  child  of  John  Allis, — 17  in  all.  Six  or  seven  others  were 
wounded  and  not  carried  off  by  the  Indians.  One  of  Mrs. 
Foote's  children  was  killed  by  the  Indians  afterward,  and  one 
of  Mrs.  Jennings'.  A  child  was  born  to  Mrs.  Waite  in  Canada. 
The  prisoners,  with  others  from  Wachuset,  were  all  taken,  a 
sad  and  weary  company,  to  Sorel,  Canada.  Efforts  to  rescue 
them  were  immediately  made.  Benjamin  Waite  and  Stephen 
Jennings  obtaining  a  commission  from  the  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, proceeded  by  way  of  Albany,  the  Hudson  Eiver, 
and  Lake  Champlain  to  Chamblee,  in  Canada,  arriving  there 
late  in  December.  The  negotiation  was  long  and  tedious  ;  by 
the  aid  of  the  French  authorities  and  the  payment  of  £200 
ransom,  the  captives  that  survived  were  finally  gathered.  The 
homeward  route  could  not  be  taken  till  spring  ;  the  captives 
were  at  Albany  May  22d.  The  almost  triumphal  procession 
home,  the  reuniting  of  families,  the  tearful  memories  of  the 
dead  mingling  with  the  joy  of  the  saved, — all  this  must  be  left 
for  the  imagination  to  paint. 

With  reference  to  the  battle  of  Sept.  19,  1677,  and  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  fortifications,  Samuel  D.  Partridge,  of  Orange, 
N.  J.,  a  descendant  of  the  early  pioneer,  and  himself  a  careful 
student  of  early  times,  writes  : 

*'  The  attack  seems  to  have  been  a  complete  surprise,  and  the  first  thought  of 
evei-y  one  was  probably  to  take  refuge  iu  the  fort,  and  whatever  fighting  was 
done  must  have  taken  place  around  the  palisades,  and  I  have  good  re:lson  for  be- 
lieving that  those  were  at  the  south  cud  of  the  street.  I  learned  from  my  grand- 
mother, who  was  born  in  1732,  that  the  place  on  which  she  and  myself  wei'e  born 
(the  homestead  now  owned  by  John  .\.  Billings)  was  within  the  fort.  Between 
forty  and  fifty  year's  ago,  the  late  Sylvester  Judd,  of  Northampton,  and  I,  made 
an  examination,  and  were  able  to  trace  the  line  of  palisjules  from  the  lot  now  oc- 
cupied by  Erastus  Billings  through  that  of  David  Billings  and  that  of  .John  \. 
Billings,  and  through  several  lots  above  his.  I  do  not  remember  the  precise  point 
at  which  our  examination  ended,  but  an  impression  was  made  on  my  miud  that 
the  pahsades  extended  well  up  towaril  '  Middle  lane.'  The  hue  w'as  so  well  de- 
fined that  it  was  then  easy  to  trace  it  thrpugh  the  lots  mentioned,  being,  accord- 
ing to  my  recollections,  some  two  or  three  hundred  feet  west  of  the  street.  This 
location  of  the  stockade  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  the  women  and  children 
killed  and  the  houses  burned  were  in  the  northern  part  of  the  village  and  outside 
the  fort. 

"  In  the  attack  of  May  3U,  1070,  the  fighting  began  near  the  river,  opposite  the 
north  end  of  Hadley  Street,  and  contiimed  all  the  way  up  to  the  town." 

The  peace  that  followed  was  interrupted  at  last  by  the 
"Queen  Anne's  war"  of  1702,  which  once  more  involved  the 
colonies. 

In  this  Hatfield  seems  to  have  escaped  attack.  The  fury  of 
the  Indians  and  their  savage  leaders,  the  French,  was  poured 
upon  the  doomed  town  of  Deerfield,  Feb.  29,  1704.  Before 
that  fearful  slaughter  was  fairly  over  with,  men  from  Hatfield 
were  rushing  to  the  rescue,  aroused  by  two  fugitives  fleeing 
breathless  and  exhausted  to  that  town, — Capt.  Stoddard  and 
a  son  of  Capt.  John  Sheldon.  The  Hatfield  men,  with  some 
not  captured  at  Deerfield,  pursued  and  attacked  the  Indians, 
but  were  compelled  to  retire  from  the  unequal  contest,  losing 
nine  of  their  number, — Sergt.  Boltwood,  Samuel  Allis,  Robert 
Boltwood,  Joseph  Catlin,  Samuel  Foot,  David  Hoyt,  Jr.,  Jona- 
than Ingram,  Sergt.  Benjamin  Waite,  and  Nathaniel  Warner. 

This  closed  the  share  of  Hatfield  in  the  Indian  wars.  The 
French  war  of  1700-64  brought  terror  to  the  Connecticut  Val- 
ley, and  revived  the  fears  of  Indian  massacre,  but  no  actual 
invasion  of  the  towns  occurred, — the  scenes  of  1704  were  not 
repeated.  This  town  furnished  several  soldiers  for  this  "  French 
war,"  as  did  the  whole  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Samuel 
Partridge,  of  Orange,  N.  J.,  has  a  muster-roll  of  seven  com- 
panies in  the  regiment,  commanded  in  this  war  by  Col.  Oliver 
Partridge,  his  ancestor.  The  residence  of  the  soldiers  is  not 
given  in  the  paper. 

MisccUajieous  Hems  of  Indian  Warfare. — After  the  Deer- 
field  massacre,  Feb.  29,  1704,  the  company  that  gathered  from 
below  to  rescue  the  captives,  and  who  engaged  in  what' is 
called  "  the  fight  in  the  Deerfield  Meadow,"  included  22 
from  Hatfield. 

In  1690  palisades  were  erected  for  defense  in  llutfiild.    The 


space  inclosed  was  229  rods  on  one  side  and  246  on  the  other, 
besides  the  ends.  The  line  could  still  be  traced  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago.  This  indicates  that  the  fort  or  palisaded  inclosure 
of  fifteen  and  twenty  years  before  had  been  allowed  to  fall 
into  decay,  and  was  rebuilt. 

In  1690,  Major  Pynchon  estimated  the  number  of  soldiers 
in  Hatfield  at  80. 

Richard  Fellows,  Jr.,  of  Hatfield,  was  killed  in  the  battle 
for  the  capture  of  the  Indian  fort  that  was  half-way  between 
Hatfield  and  Northampton,  not  far  from  the  westerly  bend  of 
the  Connecticut,  in  the  summer  of  1675.  Samuel  Gillet,  John 
Church,  and  William  Allis,  Jr.,  of  Hatfield,  were  killed  in 
the  battle  on  the  return  from  the  Turner's  Falls  fight.  Samuel 
Belden,  of  Hatfield,  who  was  in  the  Turner's  Falls  fight,  lived 
for  more  than  sixty  years  after  that  event.  A  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Waite,  born  in  Canada  during  the  captivity,  and 
named  Canada  from  that  fact,  became  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Smith,  of  Hadley.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Smith,  who  was 
one  of  the  25  men  that  went  over  to  the  defense  of  Hatfield, 
and  was  killed  near  the  village.  Canada  Waite  was  the  grand- 
mother of  the  late  Oliver  Smith,  whose  name  will  ever  remain 
in  honorable  remembrance  in  connection  with  the  noble  "  char- 
ities" provided  by  his  will. 

Indian  Slaughters. — The  following  records  are  found  in  the 
town-books  of  Hatfield,  evidently  written  in  the  form  of  a 
diary  at  the  time  the  events  occurred.  As  original  authority 
they  are  of  great  value,  though  they  relate,  in  several  instances, 
to  matters  beyond  the  limits  of  Hatfield,  and  may  repeat  an 
incident  or  two  already  mentioned. 

-In  Accomtt  of  tlie  DaoUtion  of  Deerfield,  the  last  Day  of  Fehrnarij,  1704.— Four 
hundred  of  French  au<l  Indians  (as  is  thought)  assaulted  the  fort,  took  it,  and 
killed  and  captured  IG'2  of  the  inhabitants,  and  consumed  nujst  of  tlieir  estates 
into  flames. 

Slain  in  the  foi-t,  John  Catlin  and  his  son  Jonathan,  John  French,  Samson 
Fjary,  Mercy  Rood,  Jonathan  Kellogg,  Philip  Metoon  and  his  wife  and  child, 
Henry  Nynis,  Mary  Mercy  and  Mehitable  Nyms,  Alice  Hawks,  John  Hawks, 
Mary  and  William  Brooks,  Samuel  Smoud  and  wife  and  two  children,  Sergt. 
Bencun  Stebbins,  Deacon  Sheldon's  wife  and  her  daughter  Mercy,  Samuel  Hins- 
dell,  Mary  and  Thom.as  Carter,  Joseph  lugingson,  Thomas  Selden,  Goody  Sniood, 
Andrew  Steven.«,  David  Alexander,  Mi-s.  Williams,  Jerusha  and  John,  her  chil- 
dren, Sarah  Field,  Martin  Smith,  Sarah  Price. 

Slain  in  the  fight  in  Deei-fleld  Meadow:  of  Deerfield,  David  Iloyt,  Jr.,  and 
Joseph  Catlin;  of  Hatfield,  Sergt.  Benjamin  Waite,  Samuel  Allis,  Samuel  Foot; 
of  Hadley,  Sergt.  Boltwood,  his  son  Robert,  Jonathan  Ingram,  and  Nathaniel 
Warner,  Jr. 

Women  and  children  slain  in  the  journey  to  Canada,  20  persons,  viz.,  Lieut. 
Hoyt,  Jacob  Uickson,  Goodwife  Brooks,  Goodwifc  Belden,  Goodwifc  Carter, 
Goodwifc  Nyms,  Goodwife  Frary,  Goodwife  Flench,  Goodwife  Warner,  Widow 
Coss,  Goodwife  Pumry,  Elizabeth  Hawks,  and  six  more  children,  and  Frank,  the 
negro.  (The  list  only  counts  19.)  Died  at  Canada,  in  1705,  Zebedec  Williams, 
Goodwife  Jones,  and  Abigail  Furbit. 

May  10,  1704.— John  Allen  and  his  wife  slain  by  Indians  at  Deerfield. 

May  12,  1704.— Pascomnmck  Fort  taken  by  the  French  and  Indians,  being 
about  72.  They  took  and  captured  tlie  whole  garrisou,  being  about  37  persons. 
The  English  pursuing  of  them  caused  them  to  knock  ilU  tlic  captives  on  the 
head,  save  five  or  six.  These  they  carried  to  Canada  with  them.  The  others 
escaped,  and  about  seven  of  those  knockeil  on  the  head  recovered,  the  rest  died. 
Capt.  John  T.aylor  was  killed  in  the  flght,  and  Samuel  Bartlett  wounded. 

July  20, 1704.— Thonnus  Bettys  slain  by  the  Indians  coming  post  from  Boston. 

July  the  last,  1704.— One  Benton,  and  William  Olmstcad,  soldiers,  slain 
the  Indians,  and  two  of  the  enemy  slain. 

July,  170G.— Judah  Trumbull  and  Widow  Gash  (perhaps)  slain  by  the  Indians. 

July,  1707.— Edward  Bancroft  shaiu  at  Westfield. 

1704.— Some  time  in  July  (19th),  Thomas  Russell,  at  Deerfield,  and  one,  Kind- 
ney,  an  Iitdian,  at  Hatfield  Mill,  slain  by  the  Indians. 

July  fl,  170S. — Sanmel  Pei-sons,  of  Nortluuupton,  slain  by  the  Indians,  and  his 
bi-other  Joseph  slain  or  captured  ;  found  killed  and  scalped. 

July,  1708. — A  fort  taken  at  Skipmuck,  where  were  killed  Aaron  Pel-sous,  Wm. 
Hubbard's  son,  and  three  more,  and  one  taken  and  two  wounded. 

Oct.  13,  1708.— Abijah  BarHett,  of  Brookfleld,  Wiis  killed,  and  John  Green,  Jo- 
seph Giunings,  and  Benjamin  Ginnings  wounded,  and  a  boy  of  John  Woolcot's 
captured. 

Oct.  26, 1708.— Brother  Ebenezer  Field  was  slaiu  by  the  enemy  in  going  to 
Deerfield,  near  the  Muddy  Brook. 

August,  1708.— One  Barber,  of  Wiudsor,  was  slain  a  hundred  miles  up  the 
Great  River,  and  Martin  Kellogg,  Jr.,  taken,  and  one  of  the  enemy  slain  and 
another  wounded. 

May,  1709.— John  Wells,  of  Deerfield,  slain  by  the  enemy  near  the  Lake,  and 
John  Burt  killed  or  taken  or  lost  at  the  same  time ;  and  in  that  expedition  about 
eight  of  the  enemy  slain. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


401 


April,  1709. — Melmmaue  Hinsdale  taken  captive. 

June  23, 1709. — Joseph  Clesson  and  John  Arma  taken  captive. 

.Iiuie  24, 1709. — Joseph  Williams  slain,  and  Matthew  Clesson  and  Isaac  Metuiie 
wounded, — said  Clesson  died  four  days  after  uf  his  wound. 

Aug.  8, 1709. — John  Clary  and  llobert  Granger  slain  at  Brookfleld. 

July  22, 1710. — John  CJrovenor,  Ebeuezer  Howard,  John  White,  Benjamin  and 
Stephen  Ginnings,  and  Joseph  Kellogg  were  slain  at  BrookfieUl. 

Aug.  10, 1711. — Samuel  Strong  captured  and  his  son  slain  by  the  enemy  at 
Northampton  agoing  into  their  south  meadow  gate  in  the  morning. 

Aug.  22, 1711. — Benjamin  Wright  wounded. 

July  29, 1712. — Joseph  Wilght's  son,  of  Springfield,  taken  captive. 

July  :iO,  1712. — Samuel  Andross  killed  upon  the  scout  above  Deerfield,  and 
Jonathan  Barrett  and  William  Sandford  taken  captive. 

In  August,  1723,  the  enemy  killed  Thomas  Holtou  and  Theophilus  Merrinian 
at  Northfield.  Two  days  following,  they  killed  Rev.  Joseph  Willard.and  two 
sons  of  Kns.  Stevens,  of  Rutland,  and  carried  captive  two  other  of  his  sons. 

Oct.  11,  1723. — The  enemy  iissiiiled  Northfield,  killed  Ebenezer  Sevorns,  and 
wounded  Enoch  Hall  and  Her  Stratton,  and  Samuel  Dickinson  was  captured. 

June  18, 1724. — The  enemy  killed  Benjamin  Smith,  and  took  Joseph  AUis  and 
Aaron  Wells  captives.    AUis  was  killed  the  next  day. 

June  27, 1724.— Tlie  enemy  killed  Ebenezer  Sheldon,  Thomas  Oolton,  and  .lohn 
English,  an  Indian,  above  Deerfield. 

July  10th,  Sanniel  Allen  and  Timothy  Childs  wounded  at  Deerfield.  August 
following,  Nathaniel  Edwiirds  slain,  and  Abram  Miller  wounded  at  Northamp- 
ton.    The  next  day  Nathaniel  Bancroft  wounded  at  Westfield. 

The  enemy  wounded  Deacon  Samuel  Field,  of  Deerfield,  Aug.  25,  1725,  a  ball 
passing  through  the  right  hypochondria,  cutting  off  three  plaits  of  the  "me^ien- 
teria,  which  hung  out  of  the  wound  in  length  almost  two  inches,  which  was  cut 
off  even  with  the  body,  the  bullet  passing  between  the  lowest  and  the  next  lib, 
cutting,  at  its  going  forth,  part  of  the  lowest  rib ;  his  hand  being  close  to  hia 
body  when  the  ball  came  forth,  it  entered  at  the  root  of  the  ball  of  the  thumb, 
cutting  the  bone  of  the  forefinger,  passed  between  the  fore  and  the  second  finger, 
was  cut  out,  and  all  of  the  wounds  cured  in  less  than  five  weeks  by  Dr.  Thorruis  Hast- 
ings. 

Sept.  11,  172(). — Tlie  enemy  came  upon  Fort  Dumnier  scouts  and  killed  one 
Jnhn  Pease,  of  Enfield,  one  Bedortha,  of  Springfield;  took  Nathaniel  Chamber- 
lain ami  one  Farragli  and  one  Baker  captives,  and  carried  them  to  Canada;  one 
Steel  escapetl. 

July  5, 1745. — The  enemy  took  one  Phipps  as  he  was  hoeing  corn  at  the  place 
called  the  Great  Meadow,  above  Fort  Dummer,  carried  him  about  half  a  mile, 
then  killed  him  and  mangled  his  body  in  a  most  inhuman  manner. 

On  July  10, 1745,  the  enemy  killed  Deacon  Fisher  at  Upper  Ashuelot,  within 
about  sixty  rods  of  the  garrison. 

Oct.  11, 1745. — About  fiiurscore  French  and  Indians  assaulted  the  Fort  at  the 
Great  Meadow,  and  took  captive  Nehemiah  Stow  and  killed  David  Kugg  coming 
down  the  river  in  a  canoe. 

Aiuil  19, 174G.~The  Indian  enemy  captivated  Capt.  Spafford,  Stephen  Farns- 
worth,  ami  one  Parker,  Tliey  were  taken  between  the  fort  at  No.  4,  above  the 
Great  Fall  and  the  mill,  in  that  township,  and  on  Monday  following  Moses  Har- 
vey was  shot  upon  by  tlie  enemy  in  the  road  between  Deerfield  and  Northfield, 
who  fired  upon  the  enemy  and  escaped. 

April  23, 1746. — The  enemy  assaulted  the  upper  Ashuelot,  killed  one  Bullard 
and  an  aged  woman  named  Keny,  and  took  one  Blake  captive  and  burned  a 
number  of  buildings  in  that  place. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1746,  one  Holton,  of  Northfield,  went  over  to  Lunen- 
burgh,  and  on  his  return  was  killed  by  the  enemy. 

May  5, 1740. — At  the  township  called  No.  4,  one  Putnam  was  slain  by  the  In- 
dian enemy,  as  he,  with  othei-s,  was  going  from  the  fort  to  a  barn. 

May  6, 174G.— Deacon  Timothy  Brown  and  one  Mottett,  a  soldier,  were  capti- 
vated at  the  lower  Ashuelot. 

May  9, 174G. — About  fifty  of  the  enemy  assaulted  Deacon  Sheldon's  fort  at  Fall 
Tttwn  and  wounded  John  Burk. 

May  10,  1746. — The  enemy  fired  upon  Sergt.  John  Hawks  and  one  Miles  near 
the  province  fort  at  Honsick,  and  wounded  them  both.  On  the  same  day  the 
enemy  killed  Matthew  Clark,  of  Colerain,  and  wounded  his  wife  and  daughter. 

REVOLUTIONARY    WAR. 

At  a  full  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Hat- 
field, Sept.  22,  17(j8,  Oliver  Partridge  was  chosen  moderator; 
the  letter  from  the  selectmen  of  Boston  was  read,  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  reply  on  behalf  of  the  town  of  Hatfield, 
viz.,  Col.  Williams,  Col.  Partridge,  Capt.  White,  William 
Williams,  and  O.  C.  Dickinson. 

Adjourned  to  the  next  da}',  and  the  committee  reported  a 
lengthy  paper.  They  doubted  the  dangers  inferred  by  the 
Boston  people  from  the  troops  about  to  be  sent  from  England  ; 
they  considered  the  language  of  the  last  General  Court  un- 
necessarily harsh  toward  the  king,  and  the  fears  of  the  people 
about  the  coming  troops  needless  : 

"To  suppose  what  you  surmise  they  may  be  intended  for  is  to  mistrust  the 
king's  paternal  care  and  goodness. 

"  If  by  any  sudden  excuraions  or  insurrections  of  some  inconsiderate  people 
the  king  has  been  induced  to  think  the  troops  a  necessary  check  upon  you,  we 

51 


hope  you  will  by  your  loyalty  and  quiet  behavior  soon  convince  his  majesty  and 
the  world  tliey  are  no  longer  necessary  for  that  purpose. 

"  Suffer  us  to  observe  that  in  our  opinion  the  meiisures  the  town  of  Boston  are 
pursuing  and  proposing  unto  us  and  the  people  of  this  province  to  unite  in,  are  . 
unconstitutional,  illegal,  and  wholly  unjustifiable,  and  what  will  give  the  ene- 
mies of  your  Constitution  the  greatest  joy  subversive  of  government  and  de- 
structive of  the  peace  and  good  order  which  is  the  cement  of  society. 

"  Thus  we  have  freely  expressed  our  sentiments,  having  an  equal  right  with 
othei-s,  though  a  lesser  part  of  the  community,  and  take  this  first  opportunity  to 
protest  against  tlie  proposed  Conventi(in,and  hereby  declare  our  loyalty  to  the 
king,  and  fidelity  to  our  country,  and  that  it  is  our  firm  resolution  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power  to  maintain  and  defend  our  rights  in  every  prudent  and  reasonable 
way,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  our  duty  to  God  and  the  king." 

This  paper  was  unanimousibj  adopted  by  the  town. 

It  is  evident  that  at  this  time  the  friends  of  the  king,  tlie 
adherents  of  royal  authority,  were  in  full  power  in  Hatfield, 
and  controlled  public  sentiment.  But  a  comparison  of  the 
committees  appointed  and  the  town  ofiieers  chosen  at  this 
period,  as  elsewhere  given,  shows  that  the  royalists  in  Hatfield 
soon  lost  power,  and  were  not  entrusted  with  public  offices  to 
any  extent,  until  some  years  after  the  Revolution  had  been 
accomplished.  Another  class  of  men — Whigs,  friends  of 
the  colonies,  friends  of  independence — came  to  the  front  und 
moulded  the  popular  will. 

July  8, 1774. — At  a  legal  meeting  took  into  consideration  what  might  be  proper 
for  the  town  to  do  with  regard  to  their  entering  into  a  covenant  to  withdraw  jill 
commercial  intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  by  a  disuse  of  their  manufactures 
until  such  time  as  the  general  interestsof  the  colonies  are  settled,  and  our  charter 
rights  restoied,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  other  committees  about 
that  matter,  viz.:  John  Dickinson,  Elihu  White,  Perez  Graves,  John  Hastings, 
Elijah  Morton.  The  expenses  of  the  committee  were  also  voted,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings directed  to  be  recorded  iu  the  town  book.  Ehjah  Morton  was  moderator 
of  this  meeting. 

The  names  ditier  very  much  from  the  committees  of  six 
years  before. 

July  29th.— The  matter  was  further  considered,  and  it  was  voted  that  the  com- 
mittee should  write  to  the  provincial  committee,  expressing  the  fact  that  the 
town  is  highly  pleased  with  the  appointment  of  said  cunmiittee  to  sit  in  Geneml 
Congress  with  the  committees  from  other  colonies,  and  are  entirely  willing  tn 
come  into  any  measure  that  the  General  Congress  shall  agree  and  determine  upon 
that  may  have  a  tendency  to  remove  our  grievances.  Action  upon  the  non-im- 
portation covenant  was  deferred  until  after  the  Congress  should  have  met, 

Aug.  24, 1774.— John  Dickinson,  Elijah  Morton,  Perez  Graves,  were  appointed 
delegates  to  a  County  Congress  to  meet  at  Hadlcy  Aug.  26th,  to  determine  what 
measures  are  most  advisable  for  the  towns  to  come  into  with  regard  to  the  late 
acts  of  Parliament  superseding  the  charter  of  the  province,  and  vacating  some 
of  the  inalienable  rights  and  privilege's  therein  contained. 

Sept.  21, 1774. — Appointed  John  Dickinson,  Ehhu  White,  and  John  Hastings, 
to  attend  a  County  Congress  at  Northampton  on  the  26th  instant.  At  the  same 
meeting  a  committee  of  con-espondence  was  appointed,  viz.:  John  Dickinson, 
Elijah  Morton,  Remembrance  Bardwell,  PhinkiiasFrary,  Jon.^than  Allis, 
David  Wait.  Perez  Graves,  Elihu  White,  John  Hastings. 

Voted  that  the  selectmen  be  directed  to  jnocure  forthwith  a  sufficient  stock  uf 
powder,  lead,  and  flints,  for  the  use  of  tlie  town. 

The  royalist  sentiment  of  1768  was  no  longer  ])opular. 

Oct.  6, 1774. — Appointed  John  Dickinson  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
to  meet  at  Concord  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  this  month. 

Dec.  5,  1774.— Voted  the  constables  shtnild  pay  over  the  provincial  tax  to 
Heni-y  Gardner,  of  St(.)W,  the  receiver-general  appointed  by  the  Provincial  C'on- 
giegs,— and  the  town  would  discharge  said  constables  upon  their  exhibiting  a 
receipt  from  said  Gardner.  A  like  vote  was  passed  with  reference  to  any  prov- 
ince moneys  in  the  hands  of  under  sheriffs. 

This  was  decisive  revolution, — transferring  the  taxes  to  the 
new  provincial  authority. 

Jan.  9, 1775. — John  Dicliiusou  and  Perez  Graves  were  appointed  delegates  to 
the  Provincial  Congress  called  to  meet  at  Cambridge  Feb.  1st.  David  Wait, 
Eleazer  Allis,  Daniel  White,  Jr.,  Seth  Murray,  and  James  Porter,  appniuted  a 
committee  to  receive  and  convey  any  donations  to  the  poor  of  Boston  wlio  are 
now  suffering  iu  the  common  cause.  Committee  of  Inspection  directed  to  en- 
force the  recommendations  of  the  Provincial  Congress, — John  Dickinson,  Eli- 
jah Morton,  Elihu  White,  John  Hastings,  Jonathan  Allis,  Phinehas 
Frary,  Benjamin  Wells,  Silas  Graves,  and  Seth  Murray. 

Voted  to  the  Minute-Men  as  compensation  for  time  spent  in 
learning  the  military  art.  Is.  each  for  the  three  half-days 
already  spent,  and  a  like  sum  for  three  half-days  more. 
Higher  sums  were  voted  the  officers. 

The  thanks  of  the  town  were  voted  to  Rev.  Mr.  Lyman  for 
his  sermon  last  Thanksgiving,  and  a  copy  desired  that  it  might 
be  printed.     It  is  presumed  it  was  a  "  sermon  on  the  times." 


402 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


John  Hastings,  Elijah  Morton,  and  John  Allis  were  named 
as  a  committee  for  the  above  purpose. 

June  12,  1775. — Elijah  Morton,  moderator ;  the  committee 
of  inspection  reported  with  reference  to  their  proceedings  in 
the  case  of  persons  suspected  of  being  inimical  to  the  cause  of 
the  colonies  ;  and  the  town  approved  the  following  declaration 
as  proper  to  be  required  to  be  signed  by  all  such  persons  : 

"  We  do  liei-eby  freely  and  voluntaiily  make  the  following  declarations,  viz. ; 
That  we  do  wholly  and  entirely  renounce  Gen.  Gage  as  a  Governor  of  this  prov- 
ince, and  will  pay  no  regard  to  his  proclamations,  or  any  other  of  his  acts  or 
doings,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  ought  to  be  considered  and  guarded  against 
as  an  unnatural  and  inveterate  enemy  to  the  country  by  every  pel-son  that  is  a 
true  friend  to  his  country ;  and  also  we  do  hereby  engage  that  we  will  join  our 
countrymen  upon  all  occasions  in  defense  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  America ; 
especially  we  will  use  our  influence  in  order  to  prevent  the  late  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment with  regard  to  this  province  being  put  into  e.\ecutiou,  and  will  bear  our 
full  proportion  of  men  and  money  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  as  occasion  may 
call  for  the  same." 

It  was  voted  if  any  such  suspected  persons  should  neglect 
or  refuse  to  sign  such  declaration  they  should  be  proceeded 
against  as  provided  by  the  Provincial  Congress. 

July  12,  1776.— Voted  the  sum  of  £85  10s.  be  paid  to  15 
effective  men  that  may  appear  in  behalf  of  the  town  of 
Hatfield,  to  go  and  join  the  northern  army.  John  Dickin- 
son, John  Hastings,  and  Perez  Graves  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  attend  to  that  business  and  see  that  the  men  pass 
muster  and  enlist. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1770  it  was  voted  by  the  town  to  in- 
struct their  representative  at  the  present  General  Assembly  to 
use  his  endeavors  that  the  delegates  of  the  colony  at  the  Con- 
gress be  advised  that,  in  case  the  Congress  should  think  it 
necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  american  united 
Colonies  to  declare  them  independent  of  Great 
Britain,  the  inhauitants  of  the  town  of  Hatfield 
with  their  lives  and  fortunes  will  solemnly  engage 
to  support  them  in  the  measure. 

March  10,  1777. — Voted  that  the  militia  officers,  selectmen,  and  committee  of 
correspondence  be  directed  to  obtain,  if  possible,  by  subscription  a  sum  sufficient 
to  encourage  Hatfield  proportion  of  men  U)  enlist  into  the  war  for  three  years. 

May  19,  1777. — Altpointed  John  Hastings  a  representative,  and  a  committee  to 
draw  up  iustnictious  for  him,  viz. :  John  Dickinson,  El^ah  Moi-ton,  Phinehas 
Frary,  Jonathan  Allis,  Elihu  White. 

May  8,177S. — Voted  a  committee  to  ailjust  the  past  services  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  town,  and  report  what  each  man  hatii  lione  in  the  present  war. 

May  II,  1778. — Voted  to  raise  180  pounds  to  procure  men  for  the  army. 

Oct.  30,  1778. — Voted  100  pounds  to  procure  powder,  lead,  and  steel.  Voted 
140  l)ounds  to  obtain  clothing  for  Hatfield  Continental  soldiers. 

M.ay  20,  1779. — Passed  in  the  affirmative,  that  the  town  desired  to  have  a  new 
foiTU  of  government  or  constitution,  though  01  voted  in  the  negative. 

June  21,  June  29,  July  1,  and  July  8, 1779,  several  votes  were  passed  to  encour- 
age men  to  join  the  Continental  army. 

Aug.  12, 1779. — Deacon  Elijah  Morton  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  convention  to 
form  a  new  constitution. 

Sept.  0, 1779. — Chose  Maj.  Seth  Murray  and  Col.  James  Chapin  delegates  to 
attend  a  county  convention,  to  be  held  at  Northampton,  to  consider  the  propriety 
of  fixing  the  price  of  things. 

Sept.  24,  1779. — The  recommendations  of  the  Northampton  Convention  were 
not  approved. 

Several  subsequent  votes  are  recorded  with  reference  to  en- 
listing soldiers,  raising  money  for  bounties,  or  for  clothing 
and  provisions.  Unfortunately  the  names  of  those  going  into 
tlie  army  are  not  given,  and  no  list  of  Kevolutionary  soldiers 
can  be  made  from  the  town  books.  The  votes  we  have  given 
show  the  opening  of  the  contest,  the  determination  of  the 
people,  and  the  progress  of  the  struggle. 

SIIAYS'    REHKLL10N. 

Oct.  17,  1783,  the  town  appointed  Deacon  Elijah  Morton 
and  Col.  Israel  Chapin  delegates  to  appear  at  a  convention 
ajipointod  to  be  held  at  Col.  Seth  Marsh's,  in  Hatfield,  on  the 
20tl)  instant.  Voted  that  the  said  delegates  do  not  sit  with 
the  convention  unless  there  ajipear  delegates  from  a  major 
part  of  the  towns  in  the  county  of  Hampshire.  Delegates 
are  recorded  as  elected  to  other  conventions  of  the  county, 
but  they  appear  to  have  been  held  to  deliberate  on  the  pro- 
posed division  of  the  county,  on  the  time  and  place  for  hold- 


ing the  courts,  and  not  directly  in  the  interest  of  the  Shays 
rebellion. 

Hatfield  was  the  place  of  Shays'  conventions,  and  therefore 
appears  as  an  active  participator  in  them,  according  to  the 
general  histories  of  that  period,  and  perhaps  justly  so.  The 
first  large  gathering  of  insurgents  occurred  in  this  town 
April,  1782,  when  300  persons  made  this  a  rallying  point, 
and,  marching  upon  Northampton  under  Capt.  Reuben  Dick- 
inson, demanded  and  secured  the  release  of  three  prisoners 
confined  in  the  jail. 

The  convention  of  Aug.  22,  1786,  held  at  Hatfield,  was 
rather -of  a  formidable  affair.  Fifty  towns  were  represented. 
The  assemblage  continued  for  three  days.  Here  was  drawn 
up  the  famous  list  of  grievances  given  in  the  general  history, — 
a  list  which,  sent  into  the  surrounding  towns,  had  a  decided 
influence  in  leading  many  to  adopt  the  views  of  the  insur- 
gents. At  one  time  the  State  forces  were  quartered  at  the 
present  place  of  John  D.  Brown's  residence,  while  the  Shays 
forces  were  at  the  lower  end  of  the  street.  There  were  seven 
sons  of  one  man  by  the  name  of  Ransom,  of  Coleraine,  here 
at  that  time.  Some  man  relating  the  occurrence  said  Cole- 
raine had  sent  forty-two  feet  of  Ransom,  the  sons  averaging 
six  feet  in  height. 

As  one  of  the  sad  incidents  of  that  dangerous  period  we 
give  the  following  inscription  : 

"  To  the  memory  of  James  Walker,  who,  respected  by  the  biuve,  beloved  by 
his  country's  friends,  dear  to  his  relatives,  while  manfully  defending  the  laws 
and  liberties  of  his  country,  nobly  fell  by  the  impious  hand  of  treiison  and  re- 
bellion on  the  17th  of  February,  1787,  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  his  age. 
Citizen,  passing,  drop  a  tear,  and  learn  to  imitate  the  brave!" 

WAR  OP   1812. 

Approaching  this  stormy  political  period  of  New  England 
history,  we  find  the  following  in  Hatfield  records: 

April  4,  1808,  town  cordially  approved  of  the  address  of  the 
selectmen  of  the  town  of  Northampton;  express  gloomy  ap- 
prehensions of  an  unnecessary  war,  but  intimate  their  readi- 
ness to  co-operate  with  the  government  in  defending  our 
national  honor. 

Feb.  8,  1809,  a  town-meeting  was  called  to  consider  the 
alarming  state  of  public  affairs,  and  voted  to  concur  with  the 
two  branches  of  the  Legislature  in  recommending  "  a  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,"  viz.,  Thursday  the  10th 
instant.     And  the  following  resolutions  were  voted  : 

"  U7KTe«#,  the  people  have  a  right  in  a  peaceable  manner  to  request  tlie 
Legislature,  by  way  of  addresses  and  petitions  or  remonstrances,  for  a  redress 
of  grievances  they  suffer ;  and  whereas,  the  aspect  of  our  public  affairs  is  alarm- 
ing almost  beyond  a  precedent, — our  citizens  suffering  (as  we  think)  needless 
and  most  extraordinary  privations,  public  confidence  t*_)ttering  to  its  base,  and 
government  endeavoring  to  palm  upon  us  laws  in  our  opinion  nnconstitutional, 
arbitrary,  and  oppressive ;  and  wliereus,  during  the  administration  of  Washington 
and  Adams,  when  our  counti-y  was  emerging  from  the  horroi-s  of  a  cniel  and  re- 
lentless war,  when  a  form  of  government  was  to  be  established  embracing  the 
union  of  these  States,  when  the  hatchet  of  war  with  the  savages  upon  our  fron- 
tier was  to  he  buried,  when  wjiys  and  means  were  to  be  devised  to  cancel  our 
national  debt,  when  commercial  treaties  with  European  nations  were  to  bo 
established,  our  country  rose  to  wealth  and  greatness  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  world  ;  therefore, 

"  liesoh-ed,  That  it  is  a  departure  from  their  policy  and  measures  that  has 
produced  these  evils  and  brought  the  nation  to  the  brink  of  wretchedness  and 
ruin. 

"  nesiiheit.  That  the  embargo  is  unnecessary  and  opja-essive. 

"  /I'c.-'o/rcf/,  That  we  view  the  Ijite  law  for  enforcing  tlie  embargo  as  a  death- 
blow to  oil  r  civil  liberties ;  as  by  it  the  sanctuary  of  our  dwellings  is  made  liable 
to  search  and  our  property  to  seizure  upon  the  suspicion  only  of  the  mere  crea- 
tures of  the  President ;  as  by  it  the  breath  of  the  Executive  may  constitute  the 
law  of  the  land  ;  and,  above  all,  that  tlie  civil  is  made  subservient  to  the  military 
power. 

^*  Itesoh'ed,  That  we  view  with  anxiety  and  concern  the  late  extraordinary 
augmentation  of  military  power,  without  so  much  as  an  intimation  from  our 
government  of  their  object  and  design. 

"  Itesiitred,  That  the  President  ought  to  distrust,  and  that  we  hold  in  contempt 
the  opinion  of,  those  who  would  treat  us  as  rebels  and  temi  us  the  most  worth- 
less part  of  community,  because  we  do  not  hold  out  our  hands  to  the  chains  and 
tiimely  submit  to  arbitrary  power. 

"  He^ftlred,  That  we  have  ever  viewed  the  returning  ot  the  British  treaty  by 
the  President  without  submitting  it  to  the  Senate  as  an  impolitic  measure,  and 


JOSEPH  SMITH, 

of  Hatfield,  son  of  Joseph  and  Lois 
(White)  Smith,  was  born  April  1, 
17n2.  He  was  a  descendant,  in  the 
sixth  generation,  of  Lieut.  Samuel 
Smith,  who  emigrated  from  England 
to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1634,  resided 
some  years  in  Wethersfield,  Conn., 
and  removed  to  Hadley,  Mass.,  in 
1659. 

His  ancestor  of  the  next  generation, 
John  Smith,  was  killed  by  the  Indi- 
ans, in  Hatfield  Meadows,  in  1676. 

His  grandfather,  Samuel  Smith, 
was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  by 
Gov.  Phipps,  Sept.  10,  1755. 

His  father  and  two  uncles  were 
soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
one  of  them  holding  a  lieutenant's 
commission. 

His  great-grandmother,  Canada 
Waite,  was  born  in  Canada  while 
her  mother  was  a  prisoner,  having 
been  captured  by  the  Indians  at  Hat- 
field a  short  time  previous. 

She  was  named  in  commemoration 
of  that  captivity. 


Joseph  Smith  was  commissioned  a 
lieutenant  in  the  militia  in  1815  ;  a 
justice  of  the  peace  in  1843 ;  repre- 
sented his  town  (elected  by  the  Demo- 
cratic party)  in  the  General  Court 
the  same  3'ear ;  and  held  various 
other  offices  in  the  gift  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  He  was  a  firm  supporter  of 
the  church  and  parisli  of  his  native 
town. 

He  married,  Jan.  28, 1823,  Hannah 
White,  daughter  of  Amasa  and  Eu- 
nice White  Wells. 

He  was  a  nephew  of  Oliver  Smith, 
Esq.,  founder  of  the  "Smith  Chari- 
ties," and  a  brother  of  Miss  Sophia 
Smith,  founder  of  Smith  College,  of 
Northampton,  and  Smith  Academy, 
of  Hatfield.     He  died  Oct.  20,  1861. 

Joseph,  an  infant  son,  died  May 
28,  1836. 

Mrs.  Smith  was  born  Aug.  26, 
1795,  and  died  March  10,  1879. 

With  the  exception,  perhaps,  of 
one  year,  she  visited  Saratoga  every 
summer,  beginning  with  the  year  of 
her  marriage,  a  period  of  fifty-five 
years. 


5=5??^E^5Si^ 


fen 


,^3^.4t»*»a=. 


RESIDENCE  OF  JOS  S  WELLS,  LATE  Residence:  of   MRS  J  W  SMITH  .Deceaseo,  Hatfield, Mass 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


403 


iu  mir  opinion  it  is  tlirough  the  means  and  measures  of  our  Administration  that 
all  essential  differences  with  Great  Britain  have  not  long  since  been  amicably 
and  honorably  adjusted. 

"  Itesolred,  That  we  esteem  our  national  Constitution  as  an  invaluable  legacy 
from  our  political  fathers,  and  if  necessary  will  yield  our  lives  and  fortunes  a 
cheerful  sacrifice  to  defend  it,  and  we  do  hereby  exhort  our  fellow-citizens  to 
rally  around  it  as  the  standai'd  of  political  safety,  and  to  esteem  no  sacrifices  too 
great  to  presen'e  it.  And  as  we  have  heretofore  petitioned  the  President  and 
Otrngress  in  vain,  therefore, 

"  Resolfed,  Tliat  tlie  selectmen  he  a  committee  to  prepare  a  respectful  petition 
to  our  Legislature,  praying  that  honorable  body  to  use  all  constitutional  means 
in  their  power  to  procure  our  enlargement,  that  so  agriiTulture  .and  commerce 
may  again  receive  the  rewards  of  industry  and  enterprise." 

It  does  not  appear  who  drafted  the  above  resohitions,  but 
they  certainly  form  an  able  and  eloquent  State  paper,  however 
much  the  principles  involved  may  seem  to  us  of  the  present 
time  as  equaling  the  States'  rights  assumptions  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  the  other  States  of  the  late  Confederation. 

OFFICIAL   ACTION    IN    THE    CIVIL    WAR. 

Hatfield,  like  its  sister  towns  of  the  valley,  was  prompt  in 
patriotic  work  when  the  storm  of  civil  war  burst  upon  the 
country. 

1861. — A  town-meeting  was  held  May  6th,  at  which  Moses 
Morton,  Wm.  H.  Dickinson,  George  Waite,  J.  D.  Billings, 
George  W.  Hubbard,  Elijah  Bard  well,  and  Erastus  Cowles  were 
authorized  to  borrow  on  behalf  of  the  town  the  sum  of  §5000, 
to  be  expended  by  them  as  they  might  deem  expedient,  on  such 
soldiers  from  this  town  and  their  families  as  shall  be  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service  during  the  continuance  of  the 
present  war. 

It  was  also  voted  to  furnish  each  volunteer  with  a  uniform, 
if  needed,  and  a  sutficient  amount  of  money  to  make  his 
monthly  pay  §26. 

Voted,  that  the  town  will  provide  liberally  for  the  families 
of  the  volunteers  ;  then,  giving  three  cheers  for  the  Star-Span- 
gled  Banner,  they  adjourned  for  two  weeks. 

May  20th,  it  was  voted  to  pay  each  volunteer  in  the  10th 
Kegiment  for  time  spent  in  drilling  as  the  committee  shall 
deem  just. 

All  this  was  a  liberality  scarcely  equaled  by  towns  at  that 
early  date. 

1862,  April  7th. — The  treasurer  was  fully  authorized  to  bor- 
row money  for  State  aid  to  soldiers'  families  in  accordance 
with  the  law  upon  that  subject. 

July  18th. — It  was  voted  to  pay  a  bounty  of  $100  each  for 
volunteers,  and,  in  case  of  the  death  or  disability  of  any  one, 
aid  was  promised  to  his  family  until  it  was  able  to  support 
itself. 

The  assessors  were  directed  to  abate  the  taxes  of  volunteers. 

August  2.5th. — The  bounty  of  §100  e.ich  was  extended  to  nine 
months'  men  equally  with  those  enlisting  for  three  years. 

These  votes  were  so  full,  and  the  authority  given  to  the 
excellent  war  committee  and  to  the  selectmen  so  unlimited, 
that  no  town  action  was  taken  in  1863. 

1864,  April  4th. — A  bounty  of  §125  each  was  voted  to  fill 
the  quota  of  the  town  under  the  calls  of  October,  1863,  and 
those  of  February  and  March,  1864. 

Individuals  had  advanced  money  for  recruiting  purposes, 
and  this  was  refunded  by  vote  of  the  town. 

To  avoid  any  delay,  the  treasurer  was  authorized  to  borrow 
money  to  anticipate  the  collection  of  taxes. 

1865,  May  23d.— A  tax  of  §3755.50  was  voted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  refunding  sums  advanced  by  individuals,  to  be  paid  in 
two  equal  instalments, — 1866  and  1867. 

The  assessors  were  also  requested  to  assess  "  upon  the  polls 
and  estates"  a  sum  suflicient  to  pay  each  drafted  man  who  fur- 
nished an  accepted  substitute  an  amount  of  not  more  than 
§•300, — the  tax  list  to  be  delivered  to  the  collector  without  a 
warrant. 

Hatfield  furnished  146  men  for  the  war,  and  this  was  a  sur- 
plus of  seven  above  all  demands.     Two  were  commissioned 


otficers.  The  whole  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was 
§14,994.71.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  in  1860  was 
§1,071,747,  and  the  population  1337.  Aid  tosoldiers'  families, 
afterward  paid  back  by  the  State,  was,  in  1861,  §1-54.55  ;  1862, 
§1291;  1863,  §2406.07;  1864,  §2026.82;  1865,  §800;  total, 
§6678.64. 

Private  liberality  was  abundant. 

The  ladies  sent  to  the  soldiers  and  to  the  hospitals  during 
the  war  contributions  of  money  and  supplies  to  the  amount  of 
§3000,  and  §1000  was  sent  by  citizens  generally  through  the 
Christian  Commission. 

Of  the  soldiers  furnished,  a  large  number  were  citizens  of 
the  town,  and  their  names  are  appended  to  this  sketch.  Twenty 
lost  their  lives.  The  recruits  hired  elsewhere  make  up  the  146 
credited  to  Hatfield  in  Col.  Schooler's  history. 


Dwight  Morton,  enl.  June  21,  ISGI,  lllth  Iiif,  Co.  C;  disch.  Feb.  28,  186.J,  for 

disability. 
Jonathan  D.  Warner,  enl.  June  21,  ISfil,  10th  Inf.,  Co.  C;  app.  hospital  steward, 

Oct  18f.2  ;  trans,  to  37th  Inf ,  June  20,  1864. 
Dwight  S.  Strong,  musician,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.;  disch.  Sept.  3,  1863, 

by  order  of  War  Department. 
Lyman  B.  Abbott,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ;  re-enl.  March  3(1, 1861, 

to  the  credit  of  South  Hadley  ;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Kichard  B.  Abbott,  enl.  Sept.  21,  1861,  27tli  Inf.,  Co.  A ;  disch.  April  10,  1865. 
Henry  M.  Hitchcock,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co.  A ;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  1804  ; 

app.  Feb.  20,  1804,  hospital  steward. 
Frederick  Klistener,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A;  reported  missing  in 

adjt.-generars  report  of  volunteers,  vol.  ii.  page  527;  was  a  prisoner. 
Simon  Schaefer,  enl.  Sept.  1, 1864, 27th  Inf.,  Co.  A;  taken  prisoner;  disch.  June 

26, 1865. 
Cordean  Sweet,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ;  disch.  for  disability,  Jan. 

1, 1863  ;  re-enl.  Jan.  5,  1804;  disch.  Nov.  7,  1864,  for  disability. 
John  Richards,  enl.  April  15,  1862,  27th  Inf,  Co.  C;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  1864;  died 

of  wounds,  June  9,  1864,  at  Cold  Harbor,  Va. 
Calvin  L.  Coville,  enl.  Aug.  .30, 18G2,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F  ;  disch.  June  21, 1865. 
Elihu  Coville,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  F;  died  of  wounds,  July  22, 

1863,  at  Gettysburg,  Pa. 
David  B.  Curtis,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  F;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Charles  E.  Hubbard,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1802,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F  ;  disch.  April  18,  1863, 

for  disability. 
Jerome  E.  King,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  F;  disch.  June  21, 1865. 
Lorens  Sietz,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F  ;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
John  H.  Vining,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F;  died  of  wounds,  June  12, 

1864,  at  Cold  Harbor,  Va. 
Oliver  S.  Vining,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F;  disch.  April  16,  1863,  for 

disability. 
Charles  L.  Waite,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F ;  died   Feb.  13,  1863,  at 

White  Oak  Church,  Va. 
Oliver  Warner,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  F;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Henry  H.  Field,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  H;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
J.  D.  Warner,  hospital  stewaril,  enl.  Dec.  21,  1803,  37th  Inf  ;  unaccounted  for 

in  ailjt.-general's  relK>rt  of  volunteers,  1868,  page  776,  vol.  ii. 
Edwin  Graves,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1802,  37tU  Inf,  Co.  F;  died  of  wounds, 

May  21,  1864,  at  Wilderness,  Va. 
Emerson    L.  Coville,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.   30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F;   wounded; 

disch.  Jan.  7,  186.5,  for  disability. 
John  W.  Field,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37tli  Inf,  Co.  F;  killed  M.ay  6,  1864, 

at  Wilderness,  Va. 
Wm.  A.  Champney,  enl.  Aug.  1,  1802,  37th  Inf,  Co.  F;  app.  hospital  steward, 

Oct.  27,  1862;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Joseph    Richards,  enl.   Dec.  30,  1864,  27th   Inf,  Co.  C ;  died  July  11,  lSi;4,  at 

Andersonville,  Ga. 
Wells  Clark,  enl.  Dec.  26,  1861,  Slst  Inf.,  Co.  G  ;  re-enl.  Feb.  17,  1864;  died  of 

wounds.  May  23, 1864,  at  New  Orleans,  La. 
Dwight  D.  Graves,  sergt.,  enl.  Nov.  23, 1861,  32d  Inf,  Co.  B  ;  pro.  to  Ist  sergt. 

at  re-en.,  Jan.  5,  1864 ;  2d  lieut.,  April  1,  1865  ;  disch.  June  29, 1865. 
Wm.  R.  Waite,  enl.  Nov.  27,  1861,  32d  Inf,  Co.  B;  disch.  to  re-enl.  Jan.  4,  1864. 
Jo^iah  H.  Potter,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Henry  P.  Billings,  2d  lieut.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug. 

14,  1863. 
Fernando  B.  Bennett,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  died  June 

22,  1863,  at  Port  Hudson,  La. 
John  E.  Doane,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.V.M.,Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14, '63. 
Charles  K.  Morton,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  Aug. 

14,  1863. 
Alvin  D.  Dinsmore,  musician,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch. 

Aug.  14,  1863. 
Dwight  G.  Abells,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Ebenezer  C.  Anderson,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  died  July  1,  1863, 

at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Henry  F.  Anderson,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862, 52d  M.  V.  M.,Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '63. 
John  Beck,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 


404 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Lamliert  J.  Bvistol,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  ,V2il  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '63. 
Jeremiah  Brown,  enl.  Oct.  11,  186J,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disih.  Aur.  14, 1863. 
George  Clwndler,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1SG2,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  di^ch.  Anj:.  14,  1803. 
Myron  D.  Coolej,  enl.  Oct.  11,  18G2,  62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Whitney  F.  Cooley,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '63. 
Augustus  D.  Cowles,  enl.  Oct.  11,  '62,  .lid  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '6.3. 
Henry  A.  Diclsinson,  enl.  Oct.  U,  18C2,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  died  March  22, 

1863,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Lucius  Field,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862.  52d  M.  V.  M.,  C...  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803;  died 

sonn  after  his  return,  from  disease  conti'acted  in  the  service. 
Alonzo  Haliett,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Selh  W.  Kingsley,  enl.  Nov.  18,  1802,  62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '63. 
George  L.  Marsh,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  '63. 
Josiah  L.  Morton,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1082,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Alvin  L.  Strong,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
John  E.  Waite,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Daniel  W.  Wells,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  186.3. 
Judson  W.  Harris,  Corp.,  enl.  June  21,1861,lUth  Inf.,  Co.  C;  disch.  July  1,1864; 

died  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  Sept.  12,  1 804. 
James  H.  Ahhott,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  10th  Inf.,  Co.  C;  killed  May  12,  1864,  at 

Spottsylvania,  ya., 
Charles  L.  Bardwell,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  Kith  Inf.,  Co.  C  ;  disch.  Aug.  16, 1862, 

for  disah.;  re-enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  Regt.,  Co.  K;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Charles  W.  Evans,  enl.  Jan.  21,  1804,  lOlh  Inf.,  Co.  C;  trans.  June  21,  1864,  to 

37th  Inf.;  disch.  July  16,  ISO,?. 
Philetus  Averill,  Berdan's  Sharpshooters. 

Joseph  Billings,  enl.  Sept.  W,  1803,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  F  ;.discli.  Sept.  3,  1865;  pre- 
viously served  a  short  tiute  in  the  2.'>th  Inf. 
Charles  S.  Bahcock,  enl.  March  12,1862,  21st  Inf. ;  wounded  Dec.  13,  1802;  also 

May  10  and  Sept.  30,  1864;  re-enl.  March  IS,  1804;  pro.  to  2d  lieut.  Nov. 

29, 1864  ;  trans,  to  36th  ;  disch.  June  8,  1865. 
Henry  F.  Bardwell,  enl.  Sept.  18, 1861,  25fh  Inf.,  Co.  K  ;  re-enl.  Jan.  18, 1864. 
Michael  Burke,  enl.  Aug.  9,  1864,  30th  Inf. 
Anthony  Bolilck,  enl.  Nov.  15,  1801,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  B;  died  June  20,  1863,  at 

Brasher  City,  La. 
Caleb  D.  Bardwell,  enl.  Sept.  8, 1862,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
George  W.  Bliss,  regular  army. 
Elbridge  G.  Clifford,  enl.  July  19, 1801,  21st  Inf.,  Co.  I ;  died  of  wounds,  Oct.  10, 

1862. 


Edward  C.  Cowles,  enl.  Sept.  21,  1861,  25th  Inf.,  Co.  K ;  re-enl.  Jan  18, 1864 ; 
disch.  June  29, 1805. 

Peter  Carter,  enl.  in  2d  Regt. 

Lysander  Chaffin,  enl.  in  37lh  Regt. 

Alonzo  Dennis,  enl.  Nov.  18,  1861,31st  Inf.,  Co.  B;  died  Dec.  12, 180'2,  .at  Fort 
Jackson,  La. 

Davis,  enl.  in  21st  Regt.  (not  Hatfield), probably. 

Frederick  Evans,  enl.  Sept.  22,  1863,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  E ;  disch.  Sept.  3,  1865. 

Thomas  Frary,  enl.  Oct.  10, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  D  ;  died  Nov.  6, 1864,  at  More- 
head  City,  N.  C. 

James  McCue,  enl.  July  29, 1863,22d  Inf.,  Co.  H;  wounded  May  5,  1864;  trans, 
to  32d  Inf. ;  died  April  25, 1865,  at  Baltimore. 

Patrick  Blorrissey,  enl.  Jan.  10, 1865,  24th  Inf.,  Co.  K  :  disch.  Jan.  30,  1806. 

Thoma.s  Puffer,  enl.  Aug.  15,  1801,  21st  Inf ,  Co.  B  ;  disch.  March  13,  1862,  for 
disability. 

Christopher  D.  Hooker,  enl.  Dec.  31,  1863,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  G;  wounded  at  Wil- 
liamsburg; disch.  May  26,  1865. 

William  H.  Hooker,  enl.  Dec.  31, 1863,4th  Cav.,  Co.  G;  disch.  Nov.  14, 1865. 

Lorenzo  L.  Hawkins,  enl.  Aug.  5, 1861,  2l6t  Inf.,  Co.  B ;  wounded  and  missing 
since  Dec.  13,  1862. 

Michael  Henncsy,  enl.  July  19, 1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co.  K  ;  trans,  to  4th  U.  S.  Art., 
Oct.  25,  1862  ;  died  in  the  service. 

James  Hoaro,  enl.  Aug.  25, 1863,  22d  Inf.,  Co.  B  ;  died  of  wounds,  Aug.  2, 1864, 
at  Ale.\aiulria,  Va. 

Liberty  Holmes,  enl.  Jan.  4, 1864;  rejected  Jan.  9th. 

Alpheus  H.  Hathaway,  enl.  Oct.  10,  1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  C;  died  May  16, 1864,  at 
New  Orleans. 

James  Halligan,  enl.  in  27th  Regt. 

Raymond  E.  Rogers,  enl.  Aug.  15,  1864,  2d  Cav. ;  disch.  July  20, 1865. 

Jeremiah  O'Sullivan,  enl.  Aug.  15,1804,  2d  H.  Art.;  disch.  Sept.  3,  1865. 

Alvah  A.  Sutton,  enl.  Jan.  4,  1804,  4th  Cav  ,  Co.  E;  disch.  Nov.  14,  1805. 

Ebenezer  F.  Stone,  enl.  jVug.  12,  1864,  27th  Inf.;  unassigned;  disch.  Sept.  1, 
lst'4,  for  disability. 

Obadiah  Smith,  enl.  Dec.  26,  1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co.  G;  disch.  Nov.  27,  1802,  for 
disability. 

James  Shea,  enl.  Jan.  4,  1864,  in  navy  ;  di«ch.  July  30, 1865;  absent,  sick. 

Lewis  Sikes,  enl.  in  Ist  Conn.  Batt. 

Luke  Zebo,  enl.  Jan.  4,  1864,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  E ;  disch.  June  9,  1865. 

Francis  Wemit,  enl.  Jan.  4,  1804,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  E. 


WILLIAMSBURG. 


OKOORAPHICAL. 

Williamsburg  lies  northwest  from  the  county-seat,  and 
distant  about  eight  miles.  It  is  bounded  north  by  Goshen  and 
Franklin  County;  e.ast  by  Franklin  County  and  Hatfield; 
south  by  Northampton  and  Westhampton  ;  west  by  Chester- 
field and  Goshen.  It  has  a  farm  acreage  of  15,092  acres.  This 
town  is  the  "Hatfield  addition,"  sometimes  called  "Hatfield 
three-mile  grant,"  and  "  Hatfield  woods."  This  was  a  tract 
six  miles  long  and  three  miles  wide,  granted  by  the  General 
Court  to  Hatfield  in  Ifi95-9G.  It  therefore  became  the  absolute 
property  of  that  town,  and  was  divided  up  among  the  people. 
The  present  boundary  lines  of  Williamsburg  are  very  nearly 
identical  with  those  of  the  "grant,"  though  not  entirely  so. 
The  title  to  the  soil  of  Williainsburg  is  thus  traceable  back  to 
the  direct  grant  from  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  town  is  beautifully  situated  upon  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  Green  Mountain  range.  The  climate  is  mild  and  healthy. 
The  surface  of  the  town  is  diversified,  forming  in  inany  places 
landscapes  of  great  beauty,  rising  at  some  points  into  grandeur 
and  sublimity.  Here  are  cataracts  tumbling  through  deep 
glens;  hills  interspersed  with  jileasant  valleys;  towering 
heights,  with  wild  ravines,  all  combining  to  delight  the  eye 
and  kindle  the  enthusiasm  of  a  lover  of  nature.  The  general 
slope  of  tlie  surface  is  south  and  west,  and  the  whole  town  is 
drained  by  Mill  liiver  and  its  tributaries. 

The  main  valley  lies  nearly  in  the  centre  of  tln^  town  from 
the  north  line  to  the  village  of  Williamsburg.  It  then  deflects 
to  the  east,  entering  the  town  of  Northampton  below  Hayden- 


ville.  From  the  west  five  branches  flow  through  transverse 
valleys,  dividing  that  portion  of  the  town  into  separate  parts, 
some  of  them  tracts  of  lofty  altitude,  and  others  of  lower  ele- 
vation with  broken  surfaces.  Three  of  these  branches  have 
special  names, — Mill  Brook,  Meekins'  Brook,  and  Unquomonk 
Brook.  From  the  east  there  is  one  tributary  of  Mill  Kiver, 
formed  of  Potash  Brook  and  "  Joe  Wright's"  Brook.  This 
flows  nearly  south,  uniting  with  the  main  stream  beyond  its 
eastern  bend.  There  is  another  branch  of  Mill  River,  known 
as  Beaver  Brook,  rising  in  the  east  part  of  this  town,  and  en- 
tering the  territory  of  Northampton  before  uniting  with  the 
main  stream.  This  system  of  streams  renders  the  town  noted 
for  its  valuable  water-power;  particularly  was  it  so  in  the 
early  years,  when  the  streams  were  of  greater  volume  than 
they  are  since  the  forests  have  been  cleared. 

A  large  number  of  separate  elevations  abound,  and  several 
of  them  have  local  names,  as  High  Ridge  and  Walnut  Hill  in 
the  northeast;  Davis  Hill,  Shingle  Hill,  and  Horse  Mountain 
in  the  southeast;  Merritt's  Hill,  Walnut  Hill  No,  2,  Walcott 
Hill  along  the  western  boundary ;  Scott's  Hill,  Petticoat  Hill, 
Unquomunk  Hill,  and  Miller's  Hill  in  the  south. 

Mill  River,  rising  north  and  west  in  Go.shen,  Conway,  and 
Ashfield,  collects  the  waters  of  an  extensive  region,  and  fur- 
nishes a  chain  of  water-power  more  than  twelve  miles  long. 
The  land  was  originally  covered  with  a  forest  of  heavy  tim- 
ber,— chestnut,  hickory,  walnut,  oak,  pine,  maple,  beech, 
cherry,  and  sycamore.  There  were  also  wild  plums  and 
grapes  in  considerable  abundance. 

The  peak  of  the  High  Ridge  has  an  altitude  of  1480  feet, 
and  was  made  a  signal-station  in  the  trigonometrical  survey 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


405 


of  the  State.  From  the  heights  in  the  north  nearly  the 
whole  valley  of  the  Connecticut  in  Massachusetts  may  ho 
seen,  including  Mount  Tom,  Mount  llolyoke,  and  a  wide 
range  of  other  hills  and  mountain-slopes, — a  view  of  more 
than  seventy  miles  in  extent. 

From  the  old  Johnson  homestead,  on  Walnut  Hill,  more 
than  twenty  churches  are  visible,  and  the  general  scene  is  one 
of  surpassing  beauty. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  settlement  of  Williamsburg  was  made  by  John 
Miller,  of  Northampton,  about  the  year  1735.  A  log  house 
was  built  on  the  hill  northwest  of  the  present  village  of  Hay- 
denville.  It  stood  very  near  the  present  residence  of  John 
Miller,  a  grandson  of  the  pioneer.  He  had  become  acquainted 
with  this  country  in  the  hunting  excursions  for  which  he  was 
famous.  He  had  trapped  heaver  along  the  creek  which  bears 
that  name.  He  purchased  a  tract  of  900  acres  at  $1  per  acre. 
This  land  extended  south  to  the  Northampton  line,  north  to 
Skinnerville,  west  to  South  Street,  and  east  far  enough  to 
embrace  nearly  the  present  village  of  Haydenville.  The  tract 
was  heavily  timbered.  Mr.  Miller  was  a  powerful  man  ph\'si- 
cally,  capable  of  severe  toil  and  great  endurance.  Out  there 
in  the  forest  he  must  have  been  able  for  many  years  to  join 
with  Alexander  Selkirk  in  singing,  "  I  am  monarch  of  all  I 
survey."  According  to  previous  writers,  it  was  seventeen 
years  before  his  tirst  neighbor,  Capt.  Samuel  Fairfield,  moved 
in  and  settled  upon  the  present  Delevan  place.  With  his 
habits  as  a  hunter,  Mr.  Miller  must  have  enjoyed  the  location, 
unle.ss  perchance  the  danger  from  the  Indians,  who  were  a 
continual  source  of  alarm  through  all  these  towns  for  twenty 
years  later,  may  have  occasionally  disturbed  him.  Game  was 
all  around  him,  and  in  great  variety.  Deer,  bears,  wolves, 
catamounts,  and  wild  turkeys  roamed  the  forest  in  abundance. 
The  smaller  tribes  of  wild  game  also  abounded,  and  the  streams 
are  said  to  have  been  literally  alive  with  the  luscious  trout 
waiting  to  furnish  a  dinner  for  the  daintiest  epicure.  Numer- 
ous exploits  of  Mr.  Miller  in  hunting  are  related.  On  one 
occasion  he  proposed  to  a  Mr.  Day,  who  was  burning  a  coal- 
pit near  him,  to  go  out  hunting.  Mr.  Day  declined,  and  Mr. 
Miller  went  alone.  He  soon  found  a  splendid  buck,  and  shot 
him.  Going  up  to  secure  his  prize  he  found  another  buck 
caught,  by  his  horns  being  entangled  with  those  of  the  one 
shot.  Taking  out  their  hearts,  he  carried  them  back  and 
exhibited  them  to  the  astonished  coal-burner.  Mr.  Day  ex- 
claimed, "  The  old  boy !     I  am  sorry  you  got  either  one." 

Mr.  Miller  kept  from  nine  to  twelve  traps  set  for  wild 
animals.  At  one  time  he  had  several  about  the  carcass  of  a 
horse,  near  the  residence  now  of  Robert  Damon,  on  South 
Street.  Several  traps  were  carried  away  by  the  animals,  and, 
following  their  trail,  he  found  a  large  catamount  perched  on  a 
tree,  with  two  of  the  missing  traps  attached  to  his  legs,  and 
also  another  catamount  with  one  of  its  feet  in  another  of  the 
traps.  He  shot  them,  securing  both  the  game  and  the  traps. 
.There  was  then  a  bounty  of  5>7  a  head  on  these  animals. 

About  1745-50,  perhaps  earlier,  there  was  opened  from 
Northampton  to  Pittsfield  the  old  road,  alluded  to  in  other 
town  histories,  passing  through  Williamsburg.  This  road 
was  the  stage  route  of  later  years,  though  that  finally  went  by 
way  of  Roberts  Meadow  to  Chesterfield. 

In  1752,  Samuel  Fairfield  moved  out  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Mr.  Miller  and  opened  a  tavern ;  this  was  to  accommodate 
the  travelers  that  were  beginning  to  go  over  this  route.  We 
are  obliged  to  suppose  so,  for  with  only  Fairfield  and  Miller 
there  would  be  no  pressing  neighborhood  necessity  for  a  tavern. 

This  account  locates  Fairfield  in  Williamsburg  nearly  twenty 
years  before  the  town  was  incorporated.  He  was  a  nephew  of 
John  Miller,  and  is  supposed  to  have  lived  in  the  family  of 
the  latter  for  some  years  prior  to  1752. 

Capt.  Fairfield  was  prominent  in  all  the  early  town  att'airs. 


moderator  of  the  first  town-meeting,  and  cho-sen  to  many  im- 
portant offices.  His  advice  was  relied  upon  largely  by  the  in- 
coming settlers.  His  farm  was  a  part  of  the  original  Miller 
tract. 

Descendants  of  both  these  pioneer  families  are  still  residing 
in  town  and  upon  the  land  of  their  ancestors, — five  generations 
upon  the  same  soil.  The  John  Miller  farm  of  1870  was  the 
John  Miller  farm  of  1735,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  years 
ago,  and  is  still  one  of  the  best  in  town. 

It  is  not  easy  to  trace  the  other  early  settlers  in  exact  chro- 
nological order.  It  is  claimed  by  citizens  residing  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town  that  there  were  locations  in  that  section  some 
years  previous  to  these  dates,  hut  considerable  inquiry  has 
failed  to  verify  this  conclusion  to  any  great  extent.  The 
general  theory  is  that  the  danger  of  Indian  attack  was  too 
great  to  render  settlement  safe  anywhere  in  these  "  far-away" 
places  until  the  surrender  of  Quebec,  in  1759. 

Admitting  the  above  account  of  Miller  and  Fairfield,  it  is 
evident  they  risked  the  dangers  and  were  not  molested,  and  so 
it  may  be  possible  others  did  somewhere  upon  the  present  ter- 
ritory of  Williamsburg. 

The  following  is  the  usual  story  of  early  settlement : 

Williamsburg  being  nearly  the  same  as  the  "addition" 
which  was  obtained  of  the  General  Court  by  the  town  of  Hat- 
field, in  1695,  its  general  settlement  was  first  made  from  that 
town.  Persons  owning  land  in  the  "  addition"  began  to  clear 
up  the  forest,  commencing  labor  without  moving,  and  then  in 
a  few  years  located  with  their  families. 

Other  settlers  were  from  Northampton,  only  eight  miles  dis- 
tant. Still  others  were  from  Braintree  and  Martha's  Vine- 
yard ;  others  were  from  Sunderland  and  from  Hadley. 

In  the  earliest  attempts  of  the  Hatfield  men  to  settle  the 
"addition,"  they  were  compelled  to  go  in  parties  of  five  to 
fifteen  or  twenty  armed  for  defense.  Few  ventured  to  settle 
there  permanently  until  after  peace  was  secured  by  the  sur- 
render of  Quebec,  in  1759 ;  and  even  then  broken  bands  of 
Indians  still  roamed  up  and  down  the  Connecticut  Valley, 
rendering  lonely,  isolated  settlements  unsafe.  For  six  years  or 
more  after  the  general  occupation  of  Williamsburg,  most  of 
the  men  returned  every  night  to  their  families. 

The  following  statement  gives  the  places  from  which  the 
various  faniilies  came  to  Williamsburg: 

From  Northampton  were  the  Pomeroys,  Dwights,  Fairfields, 
Millers,  Clevelands,  and  Clarks.  From  Belcherto<vn  the  Han- 
nums.  From  Martha's  Vineyard,  theCleghorns,  the  Mayhews, 
Stewards,  Bartletts,  and  many  others.  From  Braintree  and  the 
old  Plymouth  colony,  the  Haydens,  the  Thayers  and  Bradfords. 
From  Hatfield,  the  Williams  family,  the  Hubbards,  the  Bod- 
mans,  the  Warners,  the  Graves,  the  Hills.  From  southeastern 
Massachusetts  and  eastern,  the  Hydes,  the  Cofiins,  the  Aliens, 
the  Butlers,  the  Washburns.  From  London,  or  Lancaster, 
the  Nash  family.  From  Sunderland,  a  portion  of  the  Hub- 
bards. From  Sunsbury,  Conn.,  the  Littles,  and  Joseph 
Strong.  From  Rehoboth,  the  Suddens,  and  Simeon  Strong. 
From  New  Hampshire,  the  Starks.  From  Wellington,  Conn., 
the  Johnson  family.  The  general  period  of  settlement  w's 
from  1760  to  1771,  the  district  being  incorporated  at  the  latter 
date. 

The  early  settlers  of  Williamsburg  located  on  the  higher 
points  of  land.  Thus  the  population  first  centred  on  Meeting- 
House  Hill  and  Petticoat  Hill.  At  one  time  the  school  dis- 
trict which  comprised  the  latter  place  was  the  most  populous  of 
any  in  town,  and  the  idea  was  seriously  entertained  of  locating 
the  meeting-house  there.  Both  of  these  localities,  early  rivals, 
are  now  the  most  sparsely  settled  of  any  in  town.  The  eftects 
of  trade  and  manufactures  have  wholly  reversed  the  original 
tide  of  settlement.  The  site  of  the  present  central  village  was 
fornierly  a  swamp,  covered  with  hemlock-trees  and  alder- 
bushes.  When  a  settlement  sprang  up  at  this  point,  it  was 
at  first  known,  somewhat  in  derision,  as  the  "city." 


406 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  story  of  early  settlement  is  intensely  interesting,  but  its 
minute  details  of  privation  and  sutlering  can  only  appear  in  a 
brief  form  in  this  printed  volume.  There  is  everywhere  in 
this  valley  a  vast  amount  of  traditional  family  history.  The 
descendants  are  still  here  of  the  men  who  conquered  not  only 
the  hardships  of  the  forest,  but  the  dangers  of  a  wily  Indian 
foe  ;  who  at  Louisburg  and  Quebec  wrested  from  France  the 
empire  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  transferred  it  to  the  English 
crown ;  who,  later  still,  calmly  threw  off  the  yoke  of  British 
dominion  and  established  the  free  commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  following  catalogue  of  early  settlers  is  based  upon  the 
assessment- roll  of  1772,  but  includes  a  few  other  names,  and  in 
some  instances  those  of  later  settlements:  John  Burroughs, 
homestead  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  James  Bangs, 
homestead  the  present  place  owned  by  Wm.  Skinner  at  what 
was  the  village  of  Skinnerville;  he  was  a  carpenter.  Silas 
Billings,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Prescott  Williams. 
Simeon  Burroughs,  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  Thomas 
Beebe,  homestead  half  a  mile  north  of  Prescott  Williams,  on 
AValnut  Hill.  Samuel  Bagley,  homestead  the  present  place 
of  Richard  Cahill.  Abner  Cole,  homestead  probably  the 
present  place  of  Cyrus  Miller,  half  a  mile  east  of  Haydenville. 

Nehemiah  Cleveland,  homestead  on  Petticoat  Hill  next 
above  the  Washburn  Hill;  sons,  Koswell,  Nehemiah,  Amasa, 
Uriah.  Edward  Curtis,  homestead  on  the  hill,  a  little  below 
the  old  meeting-house.  Josiah  Dwight,  place  identified  else- 
where. Samuel  Day,  homestead  two  and  a  half  miles  north- 
west of  Haydenville.  William  Fenton,  homestead  on  "the 
Hill,"  and  moved  to  Goshen  in  early  times.  Samuel  French, 
north  part  of  the  town.  Nathan  Frost,  homestead  the  pres- 
ent Bartlett  place,  on  Meeting-House  Hill;  John  Frost  kept 
a  tavern  there. 

Samuel  Fairfield,  the  second  pioneer,  known  as  Capt.  Sam- 
uel, and  very  prominent  in  all  early  public  affairs,  homestead 
the  present  Delevan  place ;  children  by  first  marriage :  Ira 
N.,  settled  on  the  present  place  of  Royal  C.  Fairfield;  Mrs. 
Elias  Root  and  Mrs.  Simeon  Parsons ;  by  second  marriage  : 
Martha  and  Phebe,  who  died  unmarried,  and  Samuel,  the 
youngest,  who  married  Elizabeth  Miller  (the  "  Aunt  Betsey" 
of  the  present  time). 

Andrew  Gates,  homestead  a  mile  above  Haydenville.  Wm. 
Guilford,  homestead  on  Petticoat  Hill ;  one  son,  John,  went 
west ;  Ebenezer  remained  in  Williamsburg.  Josiah  Hadlock, 
homestead  north  part  of  the  town.  Amasa  Frost  was  a  man 
of  considerable  prominence  and  lived  on  Meeting-House  Hill. 

Perez  Graves,  homestead  on  the  mountain,  a  little  south  of 
Unquomonk  Ridge,  known  afterward  as  the  "Guilford  farm;" 
children :  De.\ter,  Williamsburg ;  Israel,  Northampton  ;  Perez, 
Jr.,  Chesterfield  ;  Eli,  Easthampton ;  Lyman,  Williamsburg; 
Elijah,  Southampton;  Eunice,  Mrs.  Melzar  Warner,  Wil- 
liamsburg ;  Anna,  Mrs.  Zenas  Wright,  Northampton ;  Susan, 
Mrs.  Herman  Smith,  Northampton. 

Samuel  Graves,  homestead  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
below  Unquomonk  Ridge;  children:  Samuel,  settled  west; 
Joseph  also ;  Martha,  died  young ;  Sally,  became  Mrs.  Hub- 
bard, of  Sunderland. 

Elnathan  Graves,  homestead  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
below  Unquomonk  Ridge  ;  children  :  Chester,  died  in  infancy ; 
Elnathan,  settled  on  the  old  homestead;  Fidelia  (Mrs.  Henry 
Lord),  Williamsburg;  Lydia  (Mrs.  Joel  Hayden),  Williams- 
burg ;  Emily  ( Mrs.  Samuel  Williston),  Easthampton ;  Minerva 
(Mrs.  Eleazer  Coleman),  Easthampton;  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  Eli 
Graves),  Easthampton. 

Elisha  Graves,  homestead  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
below  Unquomonk  Kidge;  children:  Josiah,  Edward,  and 
Elisha,  who  settled  in  this  or  neighboring  towns,  and  two 
daughters,  Abigail  and  Polly. 

Thomas  Howe  was  here  very  early ;  homestead  the  present 
place  of  Wm.  Leonard.     Prescott  Williams  states  the  tradi- 


tion that  some  supernatural  powers  were  charged  on  "  old 
Mrs.  Howe"  at  one  time, — really,  the  fearful  imputation  of 
witchcraft.  To  te^t  the  question,  she  was  once  induced  to 
come  into  the  present  house  of  Prescott  Williams  and  pass 
through  a  door  over  which  was  nailed  a  horse-shoe.  As  no 
witch  could  do  that,  and  as  Mrs.  Howe  did,  she  was  entirely 
cleared  in  public  estimation.  Her  innocence  was  afiirmatively 
established. 

Sampson  Hill,  homestead  at  Williamsburg  village,  used  to 
tend  one  of  the  early  mills.  Benjamin  Hadlock,  a  joiner  and 
carpenter,  known  as  "  Master  Hadlock,"  homestead  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town. 

John  Miller,  the  first  settler,  elsewhere  mentioned.  His 
children  were  three  sons — Stephen,  Cyrus,  John — and  one 
daughter, — Mrs.  Asahel  Wright,  of  Northampton. 

Aaron  Miller  was  a  brother  of  John  Miller.  Alexander 
Miller  lived  in  the  north  part  of  the  town. 

John  Nash,  homestead  the  place  in  later  years  of  William 
A.  Nash.  Children:  Moses,  died  in  infancy;  Judith  (Mrs. 
David  Phinney),  Hatfield ;  Moses  (2d),  John,  Samuel,  Thomas, 
all  settled  in  Williamsburg;  William  became  a  minister;  and 
Elijah  settled  in  Conway. 

Elisha  Nash,  homestead  the  place  in  later  years  of  Oliver 
Nash.  Children:  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Nehemiah  Frost),  Hins- 
dale; Rebecca  (Mrs.  Amasa  Frost),  Hinsdale;  Hannah  (Mrs. 
Seth  Paine),  Ohio;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Joseph  Meekins),  Williams- 
burg; Martha  (Mrs.  James  Bangs),  Canada;  Persia  (Mrs. 
Reuben  Saxon),  Vermont;  Elisha,  Williamsburg;  Catharine 
(Mrs.  Phineas  Hubbard),  Canada;  Submit  died  in  infancy. 

Asa  Luddcn,  homestead  on  Petticoat  Hill,  and  perhaps 
Ezra,  Joseph,  Lucy,  James,  Seth,  and  Levi  in  the  same  vi- 
cinity. Daniel  May,  probably  on  Nash  Street.  James  Porter, 
homestead  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  Samuel  Partridge, 
homestead  a  portion  of  the  present  farm  of  Erastus  Graves. 
Ebenezer  Paine,  homestead  a  part  of  the  present  farm  of  Pres- 
cott Williams. 

Isaac  Phinney,  homestead  near  Chesterfield  line;  buildings 
gone.  Children:  David,  Isaac,  Nathan,  Zenas,  Mrs.  Roswell 
Cleveland,  Mrs.  Cyrus  Miller,  Mrs.  Elisha  Graves. 

Eleazer  Root,  north  of  Haydenville  ;  was  a  brother  of  Elias 
Root,  who  was  a  son-in-law  of  Samuel  Fairfield.  James 
Smith,  on  Walnut  Hill ;  a  daughter  was  Mrs.  Wm.  Bodman. 
Ezra  Strong,  on  Petticoat  Hill.  Thomas  Spafford  lived  at 
Haydenville  ;  went  West  at  an  early  day.  Wm.  Stephenson, 
on  Petticoat  Hill.  Seth  Tubbs,  on  Walnut  Hill.  Joshua 
Thayer,  homestead  on  Meeting-house  Hill.  Abel  Thayer,  on 
the  Gere  place.  Amos  Truesdell,  north  part  of  the  town ; 
never  married ;  known  as  Uncle  Amos.  William  Wales. 
The  Wales  fixmily  lived  near  the  Phinney  place,  on  the  old 
Chesterfield  road. 

Noah  Washburn,  homestead  where  Lauriston  Washburn 
lived  in  later  years.  He  had  one  son,  Stephen.  The  children 
of  Stephen  were  Amos,  who  settled  in  this  town  ;  Polly  (Mrs. 
Gross  Williams) ;  Sally  (Mrs.  Eleazer  Hillman,  and  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  she  married  Seth  Johnson,  of  Dana) ; 
Ruth,  the  wife  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon,  the  distinguished  Uni- 
versalist  minister. 

John  Williams,  1773,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Pres- 
cott Williams.  Children:  John  and  Jonah,  Goshen,  Gross, 
Joseph  (father  of  Pr&scott),  Abner,  Williamsburg;  Mrs.  Na- 
than Starks,  Mrs.  Stearns,  and  Abisha,  who  died  young. 

Mather  Warren,  on  Mountain  Street;  and  probably  Joseph, 
also  Thomas,  Warren.  Aunt  Betsey  Fairfield  says  that  a 
daughter  in  one  of  the  Warren  families  was  the  first  child 
born  in  town.  John  Wait,  on  Mountain  Street ;  and  prob- 
ably Elijah  also.  Jonathan  Walcott,  Jr.,  near  the  Chester- 
field line.  Samuel  Bradford  was  known  as  Dr.  Bradford,  and 
was  a  man  of  education  and  ability;  his  descendants  are  still 
in  town. 

Joseph  Bodman,  177.5,  from  Hatfield,  homestead  the  place 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


407 


ever  since  owned  by  the  Bodmans,  in  Williamsburg  village. 
He  lived  to  be  about  one  hundred  years  of  age.  Children  : 
Manoali,  Williamsburg  ;  Martha  (Mrs.  John  Hillman),  Wil- 
liamsburg; and  after  Mr.  Hilhnan's  death,  3Irs.  Nathaniel 
Frary,  Hatfield;  Samuel,  who  died  young;  Joseph,  Jr.,  who 
settled  in  Williamsburg  ;  Naomi ;  Luther. 

Samuel  Bodman,  1774,  brother  of  Joseph,  homestead  where 
the  public-school  building  now  stands. 

William  Bodman,  a  third  brother,  1770,  homestead  the 
present  place  of  Dennis  O'Brien.  The  present  house  is  said  to 
have  been  built  in  170-5.  Children  were  William,  Polly, 
Hepzibah,  Artemas,  Sylvester,  Alfred,  Solomon,  Annie, 
Theiijihilus,  and  Pamelia. 

John  Graves,  homestead  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  the  meet- 
ing-house, on  the  Hatfield  road.  Children  :  Samuel  Dwight, 
Deacon  Erastus,  Mrs.  John  Montague,  Sunderland ;  Mrs. 
David  Miller,  Williamsburg ;  Mrs.  Elam  Graves,  Williams- 
burg. 

Ebenezer  Hill,  178.5  to  1790,  from  Petersham,  homestead  on 
the  Conway  road,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  village. 
Children:  Joseph,  Whately  ;  Sampson,  on  the  old  homestead. 
The  latter  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  for  a  short  time.  De- 
scendants are  still  in  town. 

Thomas  Meekins,  1761,  from  Hatfield,  homestead  the  pres- 
ent place  of  Christopher  Meekins.  The  first  log  house  was  near 
the  present  house.  One  son  died  young.  Joseph  and  Stephen 
settled  in  Williamsburg.  The  latter  was  the  father  of  the 
present  Dr.  Thomas  Meekins. 

Dr.  Elijah  Paine,  1772,  homestead  at  first  the  old  Sketf 
house  on  the  hill,  afterward  on  the  farm  where  he  spent  his 
life,  a  mile  north  of  the  old  church.  Children  :  Electa  (Mrs. 
Frost),  Geneseo,  N.  Y.  ;  Elijah,  Ashfield  ;  Seth,  Brecksville, 
Ohio ;  John,  Pembroke,  N.  Y. 

James  Claghorn,  1772,  from  Martha's  Vineyard,  was  mar- 
ried three  times.  By  the  first  marriage  he  had  eight  children; 
by  the  second,  six  ;  and  by  the  third,  four.  William,  the 
oldest,  settled  in  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y.  Three  daughters  mar- 
ried and  went  to  Ontario  Co.,  N.  Y.  ;  two  to  Cummington. 
Other  children  went  to  various  parts  of  Ohio  and  New  York  ; 
one  to  Middlefluld.     Benjamin  settled  in  Williamsburg. 

Capt.  Jonathan  Warner,  homestead  on  Mountain  Street, 
was  a  builder,  and  erected  many  of  the  old-time  meeting- 
houses. He  was  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  His  commis- 
sions, signed  by  John  Hancock,  are  preserved  by  his  descend- 
ants. He  was  wounded  in  the  slioulder, — probabl}'  at  Sara- 
toga,— and  it  troubled  him  through  life.  Children  :  Paulina, 
who  died  in  infancy  ;  Mrs.  John  Wells,  Matthew,  Mrs.  Elisha 
Nash  Conway,  Mrs.  Thomas  Nash,  Ebenezer,  Silas,  Jona- 
than, Job,  Melzar,  Mrs.  Joseph  W^arner,  Mrs.  Elisha  Graves. 

The  names  of  Joshua  Warner,  Joel  Warner,  Paul  Warner, 
and  Downing  Warner,  Jr.,  also  appear  on  the  roll  of  1772. 

Obadiah  Warner,  homestead  on  Mountain  Street,  was  a 
noted  dealer  in  horses.  One  son  went  South  and  attained 
high  distinction  in  public  life. 

Caleb  Johnson,  1789,  from  Willington,  Conn.,  homestead 
on  W^alnut  Hill ;  buildings  gone  ;  were  on  the  present  farm  of 
William  A.  Nash.  Children  :  Sally  (Mrs.  Zephaniah  Alden, 
and  after  Mr.  Alden's  death  she  married  Bela  Burnett)  ;  Wil- 
liam, Isaac,  who  died  in  infancy  ;  Benjamin  (father  of  B.  S. 
and  C.  B.  Johnson,  the  latter  of  Easthampton) ;  Caleb,  Polly, 
who  died  unmarried  ;  Isaac. 

Rufus  Hyde,  1774,  from  Norwich,  Conn.  ;  a  blacksmith  ;  he 
worked  near  the  place  in  later  years  of  Eleazer  Hyde.  About 
1795  he  opened  a  shop  with  a  trip-liammer  at  what  is  now 
Searsville.  Children  :  Eleazer,  Rufus,  Stephen,  Mary,  Josiah. 
Benjamin  Pomeroy,  1780,  from  Northampton,  homestead 
the  place  in  later  years  of  Deacon  William  Pomeroy,  in  the 
south  part  of  the  town.  Children:  Samuel,  Montreal;  Lydia 
(Mrs.  Elnalhan  Graves,  and  the  originator  of  the  sewed- 
button  business) ;  Selah,  Josiah,  Esther  (Mrs.  Gains  Searle), 


Southampton;  Lucy  (Mrs.  Phineas  Graves),  Hatfield;  Wil- 
liam, Polly  (Mrs.  Moses  Montague),  Sunderland. 

The  names  of  Seth  Pomeroy  and  Josiah  are  upon  the 
assessment-roll  of  1772. 

Ichabod  Hemenway,  1770,  from  Framingham,  homestead 
the  place  in  later  years  of  James  and  Obed  Hemenway. 
Children:  Elizabeth,  Lucretia,  Lovina,  Asa,  Elijah,  Aaron, 
and  James. 

Deacon  Joseph  Carey,  from  Mansfield,  Conn.,  about  17.55, 
homestead  the  place  in  later  years  of  John  C.  Williams, 
There  were,  in  1800,  nine  families  living  directly  north  of 
Deacon  Carey's.  All  disappeared.  Deacon  Carey's  widow 
lived  to  be  ninety-four  years  old.*  John  Starks  was  a  son-in- 
law  of  Deacon  Carey.    A  son  of  Starks  lived  to  be  eighty-two. 

Jesse  Wilde,  homestead  on  the  Hill,  near  the  new  cemetery. 
It  is  related  of  his  wife  that  she  carried  a  half-bushel  of  corn 
to  Hatfield  mill  on  her  back,  and  brought  back  the  meal  in  the 
same  way. 

Elisha  Allis  is  said  to  have  built  the  first  house  on  the  Hill, 
the  one  owned  in  later  years  by  Leonard  Strong.  Simeon 
White,  homestead  near  the  Whately  line ;  went  to  Jefferson 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  at  an  early  day.  Asa  White,  on  the  Hill.  Chil- 
dren:  Asa,  Jr.,  settled  in  New  York  ;  Mrs.  Phineas  Hubbard, 
Stanstead,  Conn. 

The  following  names  are  also  found  on  the  roll  of  1772,  but 
their  locations  are  not  easily  determined  at  the  present  time  : 
George  Andrews,  Benjamin  Blanchard,  Samuel  Barber,  Asa 
Brown,  Moses  Carley,  Richard  Church,  Caleb  Conant,  Anson 
Cheeseman,  Gaius  Crafts,  William  Dunton,  George  Dunn, 
Thomas  Fenton,  Thomas  Flow,  Thomas  Fance,  Thomas 
French,  Samuel  Hontanton,  Lucy  Hubbard,  Abijah  Hunt, 
Seth  Hastings,  Daniel  Hollis,  Joseph  Janes,  James  Janes, 
Russell  Kellogg,  Smith  Kennett,  Thomas  Lothing,  John 
Meekins,  William  Reed,  Hezekiah  Reed,  Benjamin  Reed, 
Enoch  Thayer,  Asa  Thayer,  Joseph  Torrey,  Asaph  Wales. 

REMINISCENCES    OF    MRS.    FAIRFIELD. 

She  was  born  July  5,  1785,  and  is  therefore  several  years 
older  than  the  Federal  Constitution.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Cyrus  Miller,  and  a  granddaughter  of  the  earliest  pioneer, 
John  Miller.  She  was  seven  years  old  when  he  died.  She 
remembers  hearing  the  wolves  howl,  a  sound  not  familiar  to 
the  ears  of  any  other  living  person  now  in  Williamsburg. 
She  gives  vivid  accounts  of  the  home  industries  of  the  old 
time.  She  learned  to  spin  when  she  was  five  years  old,  stand- 
ing tip-toe  to  reach  the  thread  when  others  had  left  the  wheel 
for  a  few  minutes.  Then  her  parents  had  a  liUle  wheel  made 
to  fit  the  liMe  girl's  height,  and  she  soon  was  able  to  spin  a 
usual  day's  work.  She  recalls  the  da3-s  of  tallow  candles  made 
with  tow  wicks,  the  latter  spun  at  home ;  the  whole  a  home- 
made affair,  as  was  nearly  everything  else  of  olden  time.  She 
remembers  going  up  in  childhood  to  the  Williams'  store,  that 
stood  in  the  present  burnt  district  of  Williamsburg.  She  says, 
"  I  first  went  to  school  at  Samuel  Fairfield's  house  ;  once,  cross- 
ing the  river  with  my  older  sisters  (they  were  ahead  of  me), 
on  the  last  inclined  plank  I  slipped,  fell  in,  and  was  drowned, 
—fact.  They  brought  me  to,  I  suppose,  somehow.  Then  I 
fell  out  of  a  little  chair  into  the  fire  and  nearly  burned  to 
death.  I  have  been  through  fire  and  flood,  but  somehow  I 
have  outlived  a  good  many  others.  I  am  contented  and 
happy,  have  everything  I  need  for  my  comfort,  and  am  thank- 
ful for  that  while  so  many  are  '  failing  up.'"  She  said  the 
catechism  in  her  childhood  to  Rev.  Joseph  Strong.  One  of 
her  early  teachers  at  the  little  school  was  Patty  Russell,  of 
Northampton. 

Mrs.  Hayden  (grandmother  of  Lieut.-Gov.  Hay  den),  like  oth- 
ers mentioned,  went  to  mill  at  Hatfield  sometimes  with  a  grist 
of  corn,  a  small  one  probably,  on  her  back,  walking  there  and 


*  See  Hampshire  Gazelle,  1822. 


408 


HISTORY   OP   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


back,  sixteen  miles.  Aunt  Betsey  says  "  Uncle  Amos  Trues- 
dell"  used  to  tell  her  those  stories  when  she  was  a  little  girl. 

John  Miller  set  out  the  first  orchard  in  town,  and  sometimes 
made  a  hundred  barrels  of  cider  a  year.  In  those  times  they 
obtained  sweet  apples  by  sending  to  Connecticut  very  partic- 
ularly for  seed. 

And  so  "Aunt  Betsey  Fairfield,"  a  genuine  historic  link 
between  the  past  and  present,  survives  to  tell  to  the  present 
generation  the  stories  of  the  early  labors,  the  early  economies, 
and  the  early  industries  of  Williamsburg.  "With  the  calmness 
of  Christian  faith  she  "waits  all  her  appointed  time"  till  her 
change  shall  come. 

The  first  milling,  as  shown  above,  was  at  Hatfield.  A  Mr. 
"VVilkie,  one  of  Burguyne's  Hessians,  settled  near  the  Whately 
line.  His  wife  took  a  grist,  horseback,  over  there  once,  and  re- 
turned late,  in  the  dark.  So  doubtful  was  the  road,  she  finally 
encamped  ovei'-night  only  half  a  mile  from  home. 

THE    BL'TTON    BUSINESS. 

In  the  history  of  the  Graves  family  occurs  one  of  the  most 
noted  instances  in  the  world  of  a  small  beginning  developing 
into  a  great  enterprise, — that  of  the  sewed-button  business. 
This  was  the  foundation  alike  of  the  fortunes  of  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Williston,  and  the  prosperit}'  of  Easthampton,  with 
all  the  incidental  consequences — educational,  benevolent,  and 
literary — that  have  resulted  from  Mr.  Williston's  numerous 
benefactions. 

Of  Mrs.  Elnathan  Graves  the  senior,  Henry  S.  Gere,  in  his 
sketches  of  Williamsburg,  wrote  : 

"  A  buttuu  on  her  husband's  coat  was  worn  through  ;  she  took  it  off,  examined 
it,  covered  it  over,  and  sewed  it  on  to  the  coat  again,  asking, '  Why  may  not  tliese 
buttons  be  made  at  home  T  instead  of  being  imjiorted,  as  all  the  sewed  buttons 
were  at  that  time.  Acting  upon  this  inquiry,  she  made  a  few  for  a  sample,  and 
carried  them  to  Shepard  &  Pomeroy,  an  old  mercantile  fii-m  in  Northampton, 
one  of  the  partners  being  a  relative  of  hera.  They  were  pleased  with  the  sug- 
gestion, and  pleased  with  the  buttons,  saying  to  her, '  Try  the  experiment,  Mrs. 
Graves ;  we  will  assist  you.' 

"  The  first  material  she  used  for  covering  was  English  lasting,  which  made  a 
beautiful  button.  In  about  two  weeks  she  had  finished  seven  gross,  for  which 
they  paid  her  fourteen  dollai-s,  the  mateiials  costing  not  far  from  fifty  cents  a 
gross.  These  buttons  were  favorably  received  in  New  York,  and  sold  for  an  ad- 
vanced price.  All  the  buttons  she  ever  made  were  disposed  of  to  this  one  firm. 
IJut  the  great  obstacle  in  the  way  was  the  want  of  molds ;  there  were  none  to  be 
found  save  here  and  there  a  string  of  dingy  bone  molds  of  foreign  make,  which 
had  seemed  tv>  huve  always  been  where  they  were  found — no  call  for  them  before. 

"  At  length  she  apphed  to  Mr,  Jewett,  on  Elm  Street,  in  Northampton,  a  man 
who  could  do  anything  and  everything.  Nothing  doubting,  he  undertook  to 
supply  tlie  need,  and  turned  for  her  with  a  foot-lathe  twenty  gross  of  hard-wood 
button-molds,  for  which  she  paid  33J^  cents  a  gross— a  price  less  than  he  cai-ed 
to  make  them  for,  and  more  than  she  cared  to  give ;  heuce  he  turned  no  more. 
I'ersevcringly  she  worked  on,  getting  the  molds  as  best  she  could,  employing  a 
few  hands,  the  demand  for  the  buttons  constantly  increasing,  when  sickness  and 
change  in  the  family  inclined  her  to  give  up  the  business,  having  tried  the  ex- 
l>eriment  something  more  than  two  years. 

"  Mr.  Williston,  her  son-in-law,  taking  from  her  the  design,  cai-ried  forward 
the  busiuess  with  great  advantage,  impoititig  the  materials  forcovering,  turning 
tlie  molds  by  water-power  in  immense  quantities  for  a  cent  or  two  a  gross,  em- 
ploying hundreds  of  hands  for  many  years  until  the  button  machinery  was  in- 
vented. Then  with  a  click  on  went  the  cones  ;  chck  again,  and  out  rolled  the 
Jiexibte  slutnk  hatCoiis.    And  here  endeth  the  sewed  button  business." 

Elnathan  Graves,  the  son  of  Mrs.  Graves,  and  the  present 
county  commissioner,  is  able  to  give  many  interesting  inci- 
dents of  this  aflair.  As  a  boy,  in  the  year  1820,  he  went  with 
his  mother  in  her  search  after  button-molds,  and  also  in  her 
efl'orts  to  procure  materials  and  in  selling  the  buttons.  He 
well  remembers  the  call  upon  the  Elm  Street  wood-turner  and 
the  incidents  of  the  conversation.  Mr.  Jewett,  though  some- 
what astonished  at  the  proposed  attempt,  was  satisfied  it  could 
be  done,  and  soon  agreed  to  make  the  effort.  When,  a  few 
months  later,  she  was  one  day  cutting  out  by  hand  the  square 
pieces  for  the  covers  and  trimming  them  at  considerable  waste 
of  time  and  material,  she  suddenly  said,  "  Why  can't  I  have 
a  round  chisel  made  to  cut  these  out?"  Young  Graves,  who 
by  til  is  time  had  unlimited  confidence  in  his  mother's  abilities, 
said  lie  would  go  and  see  what  could   be  done  at  Mr.  Hitch- 


cock's tool-works.  Mr.  Hitchcock  laughed  at  the  boy's  earn- 
estness and  his  explanation  of  what  his  mother  wanted.  "  A 
round  chisel!  Why,  boy,  who  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing!" 
"  Well,  my  mother  says  she  believes  one  can  be  made." 
"Your  mother  says  so!"  "Yes,  sir;  and  I  tell  you  she 
knows."  Mr.  Hitchcock  soon  yielded  to  this  woman's  idea 
and  to  the  zeal  of  her  young  advocate.  He  agreed  to  try  to 
make  one,  and  succeeded;  and  so  "the  round  chisel"  for 
cutting  button-covers,  invented  by  Mrs.  Graves,  took  its  place 
among  the  other  notable  inventions  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Graves  relates  the  story  (perhaps  told  in  print  before) 
that  Mr.  Samuel  Williston,  at  this  time  without  means  and 
somewhat  despondent  over  the  failure  of  his  business  plans, 
came  out  one  day  to  Williamsburg  and  said,  "  Mother  Graves, 
if  you  will  put  in  ^2.5  and  lend  nic  §25,  I  will  go  to  New 
York  and  see  what  can  be  done  about  this  button  business." 
Mrs.  Graves  declined  to  invest  in  the  traveling  expenses  of 
her  son-in-law,  but  he  borrowed  the  §50  of  some  one  else 
and  made  the  trip.  As  the  world  knows,  he  was  able  after- 
ward to  repay  the  §50  and  donate  something  besides  to  Am- 
herst College  and  other  institutions. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Dr.  Carey  was  the  first  physician,  but  there  is  little  or  no 
record  of  his  labors.  Dr.  Francis  Manter  was  perhaps  the 
next,  and  he  died  in  the  house  occupied  in  later  years  by  Lewis 
Bodman.  Dr.  Daniel  Collins  was  a  phj'sician  of  great  promi- 
nence (see  his  biography).  Dr.  Thomas  Meekins,  educated 
partly  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Collins,  became  to  some  extent  his 
associate  and  successor  (see  sketch  elsewhere).  Dr.  Sumner 
Nash  became  prominent  and  successful  on  the  Thompsonian 
system,  dying,  however,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  just  as 
he  was  entering  upon  a  large  practice.  Dr.  J.  Dunham 
Greene  practiced  in  Williamsburg  in  1857  and  for  a  few  years 
after,  removing  finally  to  Rutland,  Vt.  At  Haydenville  was 
located  Dr.  Isaac  Johnson,  who  studied  with  Dr.  Collins.  He 
died  soon  after  commencing  practice  in  1818.  Dr.  Washington 
Shaw,  a  native  of  Plainfield  and  a  graduate  of  the  Berkshire 
Medical  Institute,  commenced  practice  in  Haydenville  in  1841, 
continuing  until  his  death,  Aug.  22,  18-54.  Dr.  W.  M.  Trow 
commenced  practice  in  Haydenville  as  Dr.  Shaw's  successor 
Aug.  24,  1854,  and  remained  for  several  years,  leaving  in 
June,  1877.  Eoswell  S.  Hillman,  a  botanic  physician,  com- 
menced practice  in  1853,  and  secured  in  a  short  time  a  nu- 
merous class  of  patrons,  scattered  over  a  wide  range  of  coun- 
try. From  1800  to  1805,  Dr.  Titus  practiced  in  Williamsburg. 
His  business  declined  under  the  sharp  competition  that  ensued 
after  Dr.  Collins  settled  in  town,  and  he  finally  removed  else- 
where. At  Haydenville,  Dr.  Greenleaf,  the  present  physician 
(March,  1879),  came  soon  after  Dr.  Trow  left.  Dr.  Palmer 
settled  in  Williamsburg  village  in  1874,  and  he  is  also  the 
present  physician  at  that  point.  He  succeeded  Dr.  Johnson, 
who  was  lost  in  the  flood.  Dr.  Johnson  had  been  in  active 
practice  for  twelve  years. 

LAWYERS. 
Elisha  Hubbard  was  a  noted  member  of  the  legal  profession. 
He  practiced  law  from  about  1815  until  his  death,  in  1853,  almost 
forty  years.  Addison  U.  White  was  educated  as  a  lawyer, 
and  after  practicing  a  few  years  at  Covington,  Ky.,  returned 
to  Williamsburg  somewhat  out  of  health.  He  did  law  busi- 
ness after  that  for  some  years  in  his  native  town.  We  may 
add,  however,  the  name  of  Manoah  Bodman,  who  was  the 
predecessor  of  Hubbard, — a  peculiar  and  well-known  char- 
acter. 

PUBLIC-HOUSES. 

Capt.  Samuel  Fairfield  opened  the  first  tavern  soon  after  his 

settlement  here.     Tradition  ditters  somewhat  as  to  the  date, 

but  the  investigations  of  B.  S.  Johnson,  Esq.,  are  excellent  au- 

tliority,  and  conclusively  show  that  it  was  as  early  as  1752.     In 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE    COUNTY. 


409 


support  of  this  is  the  well-understood  fact  that  when  he  first 
oponed  this  public-house  it  was  the  only  one  between  North- 
ampton and  Pittsfield.  His  building  was  tlie  first  frame  house 
erected  in  the  town  of  Williamsburg,  and  was  at  first  so  small 
an  affair  that  it  was  known  somewhat  derisively  as  "  Fair- 
field's Shelter."  This  old  tavern-stand  was  the  present  Dela- 
van  place,  in  Haydenville.  Near  it  stood  a  large  oak-tree, 
under  which  tables  were  often  set.  This  was  full-grown  when 
Capt.  Fairfield  settled  here.     It  was  blown  down  in  18.5.3. 

This  old  tavern  of  Capt.  Fairfield  was  a  noted  resort  in  the 
times  of  the  Revolution.  Burgoyne's  army,  while  on  their 
way  as  prisoners  to  Boston  in  the  fall  of  1777,  are  said  to  have 
encamped  here  and  eaten  one  meal  under  and  around  the  old 
oak. 

Earlier  in  the  same  year  Capt.  Fairfield  himself  gathered 
the  company  raised  for  the  valley  of  the  upper  Hudson  around 
this  same  old  oak,  and  had  a  dinner  of  venison  before  beginning 
their  perilous  march.  A  company  of  Indians  once  encamped 
here,  and  amused  themselves  throwing  their  tomahawks  at 
the  tree.  The  tavern  was  discontinued  at  the  death  of  Capt. 
Fairfield  (1803). 

Joshua  Warner,  on  Mountain  Street,  probably  opened  a 
tavern  as  early  as  1772,  at  the  place  in  later  years  of  Jonathan 
Dickinson.     It  was  continued  some  twelve  years  or  more. 

Josiah  D wight  kept  tavern  as  early  as  1774, — very  likely 
several  years  earlier  than  that,  as  the  first  town-meeting  (1771 ) 
was  held  there,  though  he  is  not  spoken  of  as  an  innholder. 
It  was  on  Meeting-House  Hill,  the  Holgate  place  of  later 
times. 

Ezra  Clark  opened  a  tavern  in  1783  in  what  is  now  Hayden- 
ville, the  Dexter  Tower  place  of  later  times.  He  continued  it 
until  his  death,  in  1800,  or  about  that  time.  His  son,  James 
Clark,  succeeded  him.  In  1813  he  sold  to  Caleb  Johnson  & 
Son,  who  kept  it  until  1821,  when  it  was  closed.  During  the 
war  of  1812  this  was  a  noted  stopping-place  for  the  soldiers, 
and  no  doubt  it  was  the  scene  of  many  sharp  bar-room  dis- 
cussions over  that  war,  which  was  so  unpopular  in  this  section. 
Tills  historic  old  building  was  burned  April  10,  18G0.* 

Elijah  Wait  opened  a  tavern  about  1784  on  the  farm  next 
east  of  the  Jonathan  Warner  place,  mentioned  above.  This 
was  upon  the  Hatfield  road,  and  there  was  considerable  travel 
along  the  route.  This  was  afterward  known  as  the  Cleveland 
Tavern. 

In  1781,  Joshua  Thayer  opened  a  tavern  a  short  distance 
from  the  old  meeting-house  on  "the  Hill."  His  successors 
were  Nathan  Phinney,  Josiah  Hannum,  Obed  Smith,  Deacon 
Partridge,  Obadiah  Skiff,  A.  W.  Fox,  and  Jeremiali  Hubbard. 
The  latter  closed  the  house  as  a  tavern  in  1831.  It  had  been 
a  favorite  resort  for  fifty  years.  Near  this  tavern  was  the 
parade-ground  in  the  old  training-times. 

Dr.  Elijah  Paine  kept  a  tavern  in  1779,  and  for  a  few  years 
after  that,  at  the  place  now  occupied  by  Samuel  G.  Bagg. 

John  Frost  kept  a  public-house  in  1794  on  the  place  now 
owned  by  Francis  Porter.  He  was  followed  for  a  few  years  by 
Simeon  Bartlett. 

Elisha  Hibbard  came  from  Hatfield  in  1788,  and  settled  on 
the  farm  now  owned  by  Robert  P.  Loud.  In  1796  he  moved 
into  the  village  and  opened  a  store,  but  in  1800  he  established 
a  hotel,  which  continued  in  the  Hubbard  family  until  18-51. 
After  that  it  was  continued  by  Edward  Bridgman,  D.  H. 
Giles,  Henry  Wells,  Roswell  Hubbard,  Samuel  B.  Wood,  and 
is  the  present  well-known  Hampshire  Hou.se. 

Nearly  opposite  this,  on  or  near  the  present  "  burnt  district," 
was  the  hotel,  for  thirty  years  or  more,  of  Gross  Williams. 
The  present  Orcutt  House  is  a  modern  enterprise,  having  been 
opened  in  1873. 

At  Haydenville,  after  the  close  of  the  Ezra  Clark  tavern, 
in  1821,  there  was  no  public-house  until  1844.     In  the  fall  of 


*  GazeUe,  April  17, 1866. 


that  year  a  hotel  was  erected  by  Spencer  Root,  and  opened  for 
business  by  E.  G.  Brown.  Successive  proprietors  were  Hiram 
Bagg,  E.  G.  Brown  again,  Shaw  &  Belcher.  They  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Luther  Loomis  &  Son.  The  Haj-denville  House  at 
the  present  time  is  kept  by  the  Loomises,  father  and  son,  who 
have  been  in  the  livery  business  for  many  years,  and  are 
closely  identified  with  the  general  interests  of  Haydenville 
since  1837. 

A  tavern  was  built  by  James  Bangs,  about  1800,  in  Hay- 
denville, and  known  in  late  years  as  the  Sherwood  place. 
The  landlord  was  Nathan  Phinney,  but  the  tavern  was  only 
kept  two  or  three  years. 

MERCHANTS. 

At  Williamsburg  village,  Abner  Williams  commenced 
trade  (1802,  1803)  in  a  building  southwest  of  the  bridge  near 
the  Goshen  branch.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and  at  first  only 
kept  a  few  goods  in  a  small  room  off  of  the  shop.  The  busi- 
ness grew  upon  him.  He  abandoned  blacksmithing,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  trade.  About  1810  he  sold  out  to  his  son, 
Phineas  Williams,  who  associated  with  hini.self  Southworth 
Jenkins.  They  continued  for  a  few  years,  and  then  sold  to 
Gross  Williams,  a  brother  of  Abner. 

Earlier  than  this  enterprise  was  the  store  of  Zabdiel  Tha3'er, 
on  the  site  of  the  present  store  of  T.  M.  Carter.  Gross 
Williams  succeeded  him,  and  then,  as  above  stated,  he  bought 
out  the  other  store,  and  continued  in  trade  there  until  1840. 
He  did  a  large  and  important  business.  He  owned  400  acres 
of  land,  covering  a  large  portion  of  modern  William.sburg. 

Thomas  Mayhew  was  an  early  merchant  on  the  Hill,  and  the 
first  postmaster  of  the  town. 

Isaac  Gere  removed  from  Northampton  to  Williamsburg 
about  1825.  He  opened  a  store  at  the  place  where  Lewis 
Bodman  afterward  traded.  He  also  engaged  in  manufactur- 
ing in  a  building  upon  the  site  where  Thayer's  factory  was 
subsequently  located. 

Russell  Hill  and  Clement  Coffin  opened  a  store  about  1824 
on  the  site  of  Henry  Stearns'  residence  in  later  times.  The 
next  year  they  sold  to  Enoch  James.  Lewis  L.  James  was 
afterward  a  partner  in  the  same  Vjusiness,  the  firm-name  being 
E.  &  L.  L.  James.  In  1846,  Lewis  James  went  to  New  York, 
and  Enoch  James  continued  the  store  until  1853,  when  he 
sold  to  his  son,  Henry  L.  James,  who  continued  the  business, 
and  the  store  has  remained  in  the  same  family  and  at  the  same 
place  to  tli£  present  time  (March,  1879). 

The  first  store  in  town  was  opened  by  Asa  White,  on 
the  Hill.  It  took  about  ten  days  then  to  go  to  Boston  for 
goods  and  return.  He  continued  until  1812,  when  he  removed 
to  Chesterfield.  He  was  one  of  the  three  said  to  have  wielded 
almost  unlimited  influence  in  Williamsburg,  the  other  two 
being  William  Bodman  and  Deacon  Nash. 

At  Haydenville,  in  1838,  Joel  and  Josiah  Hayden  erected  a 
building  for  a  store,  and  in  November  of  that  year  open«d  a 
general  trade.  Before  this  they  had  sold  goods  considerably 
to  their  workmen,  using  a  room  in  the  factory  building. 

They  continued  in  trade  five  years,  doing  a  business  of 
125,000  yearly.  Hayden,  AVells  &  Co.  succeeded  them,  the 
partners  being  Josiah  Hayden,  Samuel  S.  Wells,  and  Dorman 
T.  Warren.  In  1848  the  firm  was  changed  to  Wells,  Hyde 
&  Co.,  consisting  of  S.  S.  Wells,  E.  H.  Hyde,  D.  T.  Warren, 
and  Rollin  L.  Dawson.  In  1851,  S.  S.  Wells  retired,  and  the 
firm-name  was  changed  to  Hyde,  Warren  &  Co.  Hayden  & 
Kingslej'  succeeded  (Josiali  Hayden  and  Sereno  Kingsley) ; 
Josiah  Hayden  followed  for  two  years ;  Shaw  &  White 
(James  B.  Shaw  and  Stephen  D.  White)  next  traded  there 
for  four  years.  In  May,  1859,  Tileston  &  Smith  (Henry  L. 
Tileston  and  Warner  S.  Smith)  follovifed  in  trade  at  the  same 
store,  and  then  the  firm  in  a  few  months  again  changed  to 
W.  S.  Smith  &  Co.  (O.  Connor  entering  in  the  place  of  Tiles- 
ton). It  passed  again  to  Tileston  &  Smith,  and  Smith  retired. 
The  store  burned  in  1865,  and  was  not  rebuilt. 


52 


410 


HISTORY   OF   THK   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


The  Waite  store  was  first  estublislicd  in  1853,  by  D.  G. 
Littlefield  and  D.  F.  Morton,  who  commenced  trade  in  April, 

1854.  Mr.  Littlefield  retired  from  the  business  in  January, 

1855,  and  Mr.  Morton  continued  it  alone  until  the  partnership 
of  Morton  &  AVaite  was  formed  a  few  months  later.  In  18G5 
sold  to  C.  D.  Waite,  the  partnership  proprietor  mentioned, 
and  he  has  continued  it  to  the  present  time  {1879). 

In  1850,  Shaw  *fc  Gardner  (Henry  Shaw  and  Wm.  W. 
Gardner)  ojjened  a  store  in  the  building  afterward  occupied 
by  Boland  &  Graves.  This  was  the  second  store  in  Hayden- 
ville.  This  was  sold  to  Mr.  Littlefield  and  two  of  his  brothers, 
who  conducted  the  business  until  about  1853.  They  were 
succeeded  by  Morton  &  Waite,  as  stated  above,  who  soon  after 
built  the  present  Waite  store.  The  Littlefield  building  was 
occupied  as  a  store  by  Boland  &  Graves,  and  later  by  Henry 
L.  Tileston.  In  1867  he  was  succeeded  by  Amos  G.  Ballon, 
who  sold  in  1868  to  Smith  &  Fay,  the  present  proprietors. 

The  following  notices  are  from  old  files  of  the  Hampshire 
Gazette  : 

Feb.  20, 17113.— Partnership  between  Joseph  Bodnian,  Jr.,  and  Caleb  May  dis- 
solved,— tannera,  Williamsburg. 

Jfov.  21,  1793. — Partnerehip  between  Stewart  &  Jackson,  blacksmiths,  dis- 
Bolved. — Northwest  of  Searsville. 

Edward  Wright,  postrider  fi-oni  Northampton  to  Williamsburg,  calls  for  his 
pay.— Jan.  20,  1794. 

Jan.  28, 1795. — Samuel  Poraeroy  calls  upon  his  customers  to  settle  "  or  they 
may  expect  to  read  that  melancholy  nuran  to  the  danuigo  of  the  said  Samuel,  as 
ho  saith  the  sum  of,  Ac." 

Dec.  2, 179i. — Abner  Williams  calls  for  money,  so  that  he  can  buy  "goods  as 
usual  and  more." 

Feb.  5, 1790. — Seth  Dwight,  being  about  to  remove  from  the  State,  calls  upon 
those  indebted  to  pay  up,  assuring  tbem  that  1000  sixpences  make  50  pounds. 

Oliver  Thayer,  of  AVilliauisburg,  who  came  from  Bniintree  in  1783,  and  set- 
tled, was  the  first  that  bought  and  slaughtered  animals  for  the  fresh-meat 
market.  He  commenced  about  1787,  and  for  many  years  brought  bis  meat  to 
Northampt<-)n  in  pauniei-s  or  bsiskets,  one  on  each  side  of  his  boree.  He  came 
once  or  twice  a  week  duiing  about  four  mouths,  beginning  in  June.  For  four  or 
five  yeai's  he  sold  veal,  lamb,  and  mutton,  at  twttpence,  twopence  halfjienny 
per  pound,  and  rarely  at  three.  He  did  not  bring  beef.  He  sold  butter  at  six- 
pence. 

OROANIZATION. 

For  some  years  after  the  settlement  this  territory  remained 
a  part  of  Hatfield.  It  became  a  thriving  and  grawing  place. 
A  school-house  was  built,  other  improvements  made,  and  the 
need  of  a  separate  organization  was  soon  apparent.  The  town 
of  Hatfield  consented  by  a  vote  in  1770,  and  on  the  same  day 
also  authorized  the  formation  of  the  town  of  Whately.  The 
General  Court  passed  an  act  of  incorporation  ApriU24,  1771. 

"Williamsburg  was  organized  "  6y  authority  of  his  Mftjcsti/^'^ 
but  it  soon  passed  in  the  rapid  progress  of  events  under  the 
authority  of  the  ^^ State  of  Massachusetts  Bay.^^ 

BOUNDARIES    NAMED    IN    THE    ACT. 

"  South  on  Northampton,  west  on  Chesterfield,  north  on  Conway,  and  east  by 
a  lino  parallel  to  and  at  the  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  the  east  line  of  the 
'  three  miles  additional  grant,'  so  called,  in  Hatfield ;  and  that  Samuel  Fairfield 
and  Anchew  Gates  and  the  lands  and  farms  they  respectively  now  own,  not  in- 
cluded within  the  bounds  aforesaid ;  and  also  that  part  of  the  farms  John  Nash 
and  John  Meekins  now  own,  not  included  within  the  siud  bounds;  also  Russell 
Kellogg,  .Jolin  Wait,  Elijah  Wait,  Joshua  Warner,  Jonathan  Warner,  Downing 
Warner,  Thonuis  Warren,  William  Warren,  Mathew  Warren,  and  the  Widow 
Warren,  mother  of  the  Warrens  above  named,  with  the  lands  they  now  respect- 
ively own  there,  which  lie  ea.st  of  the  aforesaid  east  boundary  line  of  the  said 
district,  and  westward  of  a  lino  running  from  the  north  line  of  Northampton  to 
the  south  line  of  Conway,  parallel  to  the  east  line  of  the  said  three  miles  ad- 
dition, and  striking  the  most  cai^terly  part  of  the  farm  of  the  sjud  Warrens  on 
llorae  Mountiin,  so  called,  together  with  the  lands  of  John  Wilier,  of  North- 
ampton, whicli  lie  west  of  the  top  of  the  aforesaid  mountain,  shall  be  and  hereby 
are  annexed  t»»  the  said  di.*itrict  m  fur  as  to  do  duty  and  receive  privileges  as 
fully  in  every  respect  iis  if  they  and  their  said  lands  were  included  within  the 
bounds  (.if  the  said  district." 

The  first  district-meeting  was  notified  by  John  Nash,  pur- 
'  suant  to  the  warrant  of  William  AVilliams,  Esq.,  of  Hatfield. 
It  met  at  the  house  of  Josiah  Dwight,  May  (>,  1771.  The 
proceedings  are  shown  in  the  records,  as  herewith  given  from 
the  town  book.-^.  The  name  Williamsburg  was  probably  given 
in  honor  of  the  AVilliams  families  of  Hatfield,  some  of  whom 


may  have  specially  assisted  the  people  of  this  district  in  pro- 
curing incorporation  or  favored  the  new  settlement  in  other 
ways. 

At  the  first  legal  district-meeting  in  Williamsburg,  on  May  G,  1771,  Samuel 
Fairfield  was  chosen  Moderator.  Voted  to  adjourn  the  meeting  over  to  the  school- 
house;  John  Nash  was  chosen  District  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  and  sworn;  Amasa 
Frost  and  Thitmas  Warren  chosen  Constables,  and  sworn ;  Joshua  Warren,  Joslali 
Dwight,  John  Nash,  chosen  Selectmen  and  Assessors,  and  sworn ;  Joshua  Thayer, 
Jonathan  Warner,  chosen  Wardens,  and  sworn;  Abel  Thayer,  Abijali  Hunt, 
Mather  Warren,  Elisha  Nash,  chosen  Surveyors  of  Highways,  and  sworn ;  Kichard 
Church  and  Russel  Kellogg,  chosen  Tythingnien,  and  sworn;  Jes^se  Wild,  Joseph 
Carey,  chosen  Fence-Viewers,  and  sworn ;  Jonathan  Warner,  chosen  Clerk  of 
the  Market,  and  sworn ;  Andrew  Gates,  Downer  Warner,  chosen  Deer-Reeves, 
and  sworn ;  Joshua  Thayer  and  J  o  seph  Torrey ,  chosen  Hog-Reeves,  and  sworn ; 
Josiali  Hayden  and  Amasa  Graves,*  chosen  Field-Drivers  and  sworn  ;  Levi  Ludden, 
chosen  SuiTeyor  of  Clapboards  and  Shingles,  and  s\voin.  Voted,  that  the  Select- 
men be  Assessors. 

The  following  additional   notes  are  taken  from  the  records  : 

May  13, 1771. — Voted,  that  Jonathan  W'aruer,  Josiah  Dwight,  and  John  Nash 
he  a  committee  to  petition  for  a  land  tax,  said  affairs  to  be  conducted  according 
to  the  direction  of  said  committee.  Voted,  that  the  Selectmen  lay  town  ways 
where  they  are  needed.  Voted,  that  the  Selectmen  purchase  a  town  hook. 
Voted,  that  Amasa  Frost,  Josiah  Hayden,  and  Abel  Brown  be  a  committee  to 
erect  a  pound.  Voted,  that  higliway  work  to  tlie  firet  of  October  be  two  siiillings 
eight  pence  per  day;  after  that,  one  sliilling  and  nine  pence;  and  that  a  team 
at  highway  work  to  the  first  of  October  be  three  shillings  per  day ;  after  that, 
one  shilling  and  ten  pence,  and  that  the  surveyors  shall,  if  any  men  or  teams 
fall  short  of  full  days'  works,  return  their  work  as  so  much  short  of  the  aliovc- 
meutioned  price  as  in  their  judgment  they  fall  short  of  full  day's  work.  Voted, 
to  raise  twenty-five  pounds  for  the  repair  of  highways.  Voted,  that  each  of  the 
constables  be  paid  by  the  district  twenty  shillings  for  their  ser^'ice  this  year. 

May  20, 1771. — At  a  legal  district-meeting,  John  Nash  was  ciiosen  Moderator. 
Toted,  that  Amasa  Frost,  Joseph  Carey,  and  John  Nash  t>e  a  committee  to  settle 
our  proportion  of  the  province  tax  with  tiie  t4.'wns  of  Hatfield  and  Whately. 
Voted,  that  eveiy  man  keep  his  swine  within  his  own  inclosure. 

Dec.  2, 1771.— Bills  allowed  :  To  Ebenezer  Fitch,  of  Hatfield,  3  days  laying 
town  ways,  18  shillings.  To  John  Nixsh,  for  cash  he  paid  at  court  when  he  went 
as  agent  for  the  town,  3  shillings  4  pence.  To  Mr.  Elijah  Pareons,  forprejiching 
26  Sabbaths,  26  pounds. 

Other  extracts  from  the  town  records  appear  under  the  head 
of  schools,  churches,  etc. 

SELECTMEN    FROM    THE    ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    DISTRICT. 

1771. — Joshua  Warner,  Josiah  Dwight,  John  Nash. 

1772. — Samuel  Fairfield,  Josiah  Dwight,  John  Nash. 

1773.— Samuel  Fairfield,  Josiah  Dwight,  Abel  Thayei'. 

1774. — Saiunel  Fairfield,  Josiah  Dwight,  Samuel  Bodman. 

1775. — Siunuel  Fairfield,  Abel  Thayer,  Jonathan  M'^arner. 

1776. — Samuel  Fairfield,  Elijah  Paine,  Russell  Kellogg. 

1777,_WilIiam  Bodman,  Josiah  Dwight,  Samuel  Day,  Abel  Thayer,  Elijah  Paine. 

1778. — Elijah  Paine,  Josiah  Dwight,  Samuel  Bodman. 

1779. — Samuel  Day,  Josiah  Dwight,  Abel  Thayer. 

1780.— Samuel  Fairfield,  .Josiah  Dwight,  Abel  Thayer. 

1781. — Sanmel  Day,  Josiah  Dwight,  Joseph  Bodnum. 

1782. — Elijah  Paine,  Josiah  Dwight,  Abel  Thayer. 

1783. — Samuel  Fairfield,  Josiah  Dwight,  Abel  Thayer. 

17S4. — Elisha  Allis,  Josiah  Dwight,  Jonathan  Warner. 

1785. — Elisha  Allis,  ElijaJi  Paine,  Benjamin  Pomeroy. 

1786.— Elisha  Allis,  Abel  Thayer,  Josiah  Dwight. 

1787. — Samuel  Graves,  Abel  Thayer,  Josiah  Dwight. 

1788.— Elisha  Allis,  Abel  Thayer,  Josiah  Dwight. 

1789. — Samuel  Graves,  Josiah  Dwight,  Elisha  Allis. 

1790. — Samuel  Graves,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Abel  Thayer. 

1791.— Sanmel  Graves,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Elisha  Wells. 

1792. — Elisha  Nash,  Elisha  Hubbard,  Benjamin  Pomeroy. 

1793-95. — Elisha  Hubbard,  Samuel  Graves,  Asa  Ludden. 

1796-98.— Asa  Ludden,  Elisha  Wells,  Elkauah  Thayer. 

1799-1802.— Asa  Ludden,  Samuel  Graves,  John  Wells. 

1803-5.— Abel  Thayer,  Moses  Nash.  John  Wells. 

1800-7 .—Elisha  Wells,  Moses  Niusli,  John  Wells. 

1808-10.- Elisha  Wells,  John  Wells,  Asa  Ludden. 

1811.— Elislia  Wells,  John  Wells,  Joseph  Bodman,  Jr. 

181-2-13.— Elisha  Wells,  John  Nash,  Joseph  Bodman. 

1814. — John  Wells,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Joseph  Bodman. 

1815. — Eli-dia  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Sylvan\is  Hubbard,  Joseph  Bodman. 

1816. — Thomas  Nash,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Joseph  Bodman. 

1817-18.— Josiah  Dwight,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Matthew  Coffin. 

1819-22. — Josiah  Dwight,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Samuel  Graves,  Jr. 

1823-2G. — Josiah  Dwight,  Josiah  liannum,  Samuel  Graves. 

1827. — Samuel  Graves,  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  Levi  Hitchcock. 

1828. — Samuel  Graves,  Cornelius  Tileston,  Jr.,  Levi  Hitchcock. 

1820. — Elisha  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Cornelius  Tileston,  Jr.,  Levi  Hitchcock. 

1830. — Samuel  Graves,  Thomas  Mayhow,  Levi  Hitchcock. 

1831.— Samuel  Gmves,  Edward  Gere,  Levi  Hitchcock. 


HrSTORY   OF   HAMPSHIKE   COUNTY. 


411 


1832. — Thomaa  Mayhew,  Edward  Gere,  James  Mayhew. 
1833.— Elislia  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Sylvauiis  Hubbard,  Samuel  Oravos. 
1831.— Elisba  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Enoch  Jaines,  Jason  Miller. 
1835.— Elisha  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Isaac  Gere,  Leonard  Dwight. 
1830.— Melzar  Wiu'ner,  Isjuic  Gere,  Leonard  Dwight. 
1837. — John  Wells,  Salmon  H.  Cl.ipp.  Leonard  Dwight. 
1S3S.— Heury  Mcrritt,  SiOmon  H.  Clapp,  Spencer  Root. 
1839^0. — Leonard  Dwight,  Hiram  Xash,  Speucer  Root. 
1841-42. — Leonard  Dwight,  Hiram  Xash,  Joel  Hayden. 
1843.— William  A.  Nash,  Hiram  Xash,  Joel  Hayden. 
1844.— WilUam  A.  Xasli,  Lewis  Bodman,  Butler  Jlerritt. 
1845-40.- William  A.  Xash,  Lewis  Bodman,  Stephen  Meekins. 
1847. — Edwin  Everett,  Hiram  Xash,  Erastus  Graves. 
1848.— Heni-y  Merritt,  Hiram  Nash,  K.  H.  Fairchild. 
1849-50.— Lewis  Bodman,  Elustus  Graves,  R.  H.  Faircliild. 
1851-52. — Elnathan  Graves,  Hiram  Nash,  Samuel  S.  Wells. 
1853. — Elnathan  Graves,  Lewis  Bodman,  Samuel  S.  Wells. 
1854.— Elnathan  (iraves,  William  A.  Xash,  Francis  S.  Warner. 
1855.— WilUam  -V.  N:ish,  Francis  S.  Warner,  Thomas  H.  Ives. 
18,5(;._\Villiam  A.  Niish,  Otis  G.  Hill,  Royal  C.  Fairfield. 
1857.— Edwin  Everett,  B.  F.  Sears,  Royal  C.  Fairfield. 
1858. — Hiram  Xash,  D.  F.  Morton,  Elnathan  Graves. 
1859.— Hiram  Niish,  D.  F.  Morton,  Joseph  T.  Thayer. 
1860.— William  A.  Nash,  D.  F.  Morton,  William  E.  Thayer. 
1801.— William  A.  Nash,  William  E.  Thayer,  Nathan  C.  Wrisley. 
1862-65.— Thomas  Nash,  Elnathan  Graves.  Nathan  0.  Wrisley. 
1860. — Thomas  Nash,  Elnathan  Graves,  OUver  Nash. 
1807.— Thomas  Nash,  Elnathan  Graves,  Nathan  C.  Wrisley. 
1808-00.- Thomas  Nash,  Elnathan  Graves,  Thomas  S.  Hayden. 
1870.- William  E.  Thayer,  Elnathan  Graves,  C.  D.  Wait. 
1871.— WUliam  E.  Thayer,  E.  W.  Merritt,  C.  D.  Wait. 
1S72-73. — Thomas  Nash,  E.  W.  Merritt,  Benson  Munyan. 
1874. — B.  S.  Johnson,  John  O'Neil,  Beuson  Stunyan. 
1875-70.— Aaron  E.  Moree,  John  O'Neil,  T.  M.  Carter. 
1877-78.— Thoma'i  S.  Hayden,  John  O'Neil,  T.  M.  Carter. 
1879. — Thomas  Na.sh,  John  O'Neil,  Benson  Munyan. 

A  noted  instance  of  long  service  among  town  otiicers  i.s  that 
of  B.  S.  Johnson,  who  has  been  elected  assessor  twenty-eight 
years, — first  in  1851 ;  then  from  1856  to  1864  inclusive;  ne.\t 
from  1807  to  1874  inclusive;  and  again  commenced  a  new 
term  of  service  in  1878. 

TOWN    CLERK.S. 

.lohn  Nash,  1771 ;  Simeon  Wliite,  1772-73  ;  Elijah  Paine,1774-"6  ;  Elisha  Nash, 
1777-78;  Joaiah  Dwight,  1779-89;  Asa  White,  1790-93;  Seth  Dwight,  1794; 
Elisha  Hubbard,  1795-1805;  Ob,adiah  Skiff,  1806-19  ;  Elisha  Hubbard,  Jr.,  1820- 
24;  Hervey  ('.  Thayer,  1825-27;  Isaac  Gere,  1828-31;  Elislia  Hubbard,  1832; 
Thomas  Meekins,  lS3^i-;J4;  Ambrose  Stone,  Jr.,  1835-40;  Wm.  Stearns,  1841; 
Otis  G.  Hill,  1.S42-44 ;  Wm.  Stearns,  1845  ;  Otis  G.  Hill,  1840-54  ;  Hem-y  Stearns, 
18.55;  Otis  G.  Hill,  1850  ;  John  B.  Gleason,  1858-60;  T.  M.  Carter,  1861-80. 

DELEGATES    TO    THE    PROVINCIAL    CONGRESS    AND    TO    CON.STI- 
TUTIONAL    CONVENTIONS. 

March  13, 1775. — Russell  Kellogg  chosen  to  attend  the  Provincial  Congress  at 
Concord,  "  he  to  find  horse,  and  give  his  time  by  agreement,  the  town  to  bear  his 
charges  or  expenses." 

1820. — John  Wells  chosen  to  Constitutional  Convention. 

1853. — Hiram  Nash  chosen  to  Constitutional  Convention. 

Wm.  Bodman  represented  the  town  in  the  State  Convention 
that  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  1788. 

REPRESENTATIVES    TO    GENERAL    COURT. 

Josiah  Dwight,  1778 ;  Joshua  Johnston,  1779  ;  Josiah  Dwight,  1780-82  ;  Wm. 
Bodman,  1783-90;  Elisha  Hubbard,  1800-1 ;  Wm.  Bothiian,  1805-0;  Capt.  John 
Wells,  1808-12;  Thomas  JIayhew,  1813-16;  Joseph  Bodman,  1819;  John  Wells, 
1821-24 ;  Elisha  Hubbard,  Jr.,  1826-31 ;  Samuel  Graves,  1832-33  ;  Dr.  Thomas 
Meekins,  18:i4-35 ;  Isaac  Gere,  1830-37;  Elisha  Tileston,  1839-10;  Ambrose 
Stone,  Jr.,  1841-42;  Joel  Hayden,  1844-45;  Erastus  Bodman,  1846-47;  Hiram 
Na.sh,  1849-50 ;  Hiram  Hill,  1861-52;  Siimuel  S.  Wells,  1852 ;  Joseph  Bodman, 
1853;  Eriistus  Graves,  1855;  Dr.  Thomas  Meekins,  1856;  Otis  G.  Hill,  1,S57  ; 
Albert  D.  Handel's,  1859 ;  Elnathan  Graves,  18.59,  extra  session  ;  Hiram  Nash, 
1800-01 ;  Daniel  F.  Morton,  1803;  Thomas  Nash,  1800;  Stephen  M.  Crosby,  1869; 
Thomas  M.  Carter,  1872  ;  Henry  L.  James,  1875  ;  Aaron  R.  Morse,  1877. 

VILLAGES. 
WILLIAMSBURG  VILLAGE 
was  settled  later  than  other  parts  of  the  town.  Between  the 
location  of  Fairfield  and  Miller  at  the  site  of  Haydenville,  and 
the  Dwights  and  Mayers  on  "  Meeting-house  Hill,"  was  a 
distance  of  tliree  miles.  In  early  times  the  road  was  a  sort  of 
bridle-path,  marked  out  by  blazed  trees. 


The  jivosent  place  of  Williamsburg  village  was  low  ground, 
covered  with  hemlocks  and  alder-bushes.  The  village  grew  up 
by  reason  of  the  development  of  the  water-privilege  at  the 
junction  of  Mill  Brook  with  Mill  Kiver.  Its  early  settlement 
and  general  business  are  shown  elsewhere. 

Before  the  damage  done  by  the  flood  of  1874,  it  was  a  large 
and  thriving  village.  The  houses  then  destroyed  have  not 
been  rebuilt  to  any  extent,  and  there  is  yet  to  be  seen  evidence 
of  the  ruin  then  wrought. 

In  the  village  are  the  Congregational  and  Jlethodlst 
churches,  the  sch(jol  building,  and  the  town-hall.  There  are 
some  pleasant  homesteads  and  fine  private  residences,  espe- 
cially on  South  Street  and  on  North  Main  Street. 

The  buildings  along  South  Main  Street  were  mostly  de- 
stroyed by  the  i-eservoir  disaste;-.  The  station  upon  the  rail- 
road is  half  a  mile  or  more  from  the  centre  of  the  village. 

Williamsburg  is  an  important  point  of  stage  communication 
with  several  western  towns.  Stages  leave  every  day  for  Ches- 
terfield and  Worthington  by  one  line,  and  for  Goshen  and 
Curamington  by  another.  Prom  Worthington  and  Cum- 
mington,  lines  daily  connect  with  Hinsdale  on  the  Boston  and 
Albany  Railroad.  Williamsburg  is  thus  the  point  of  railroad 
business  for  a  large  extent  of  country  in  Western  Hampshire 
County,  said  to  be  the  focal  point  of  seven  towns. 

Its  present  business  (March,  1879)  may  be  .stated  as  follows  : 
The  stores  of  E.  M.  Carter,  L.  D.  James,  Wm.  E.  Thayer,  S.  . 
K.  Wait ;  H.  L.  James,  woolen-factory  ;  W.  E.  Thayer,  hard- 
ware-factory ;  H.  G.  Hill,  buttons,  button-molds;  H.  W.  & 
J.  W.  Hill,  tassel-molds  and  other  varieties  of  wood-work ; 
Woodward  and  Lyman,  buttons,  button-molds;  Hill  &  War- 
ner, grist-mill;  hotels,  Hampshire  House  and  the  Orcutt 
House;  shops  of  various  kinds;  Smith's  Insurance  Agency. 

The  post-office  was  the  only  one  in  town  for  many  years. 

ADDITIONAL    ITEMS. 

From  1816  to  1860  there  was  a  store  kept  on  the  lot  next 
east  of  Lewis  Bodman's  residence.  The  first  building  used 
was  moved  away  and  became  a  store-house  for  A.  E.  Lyman's 
rake-factory.  This  was  erected  in  1816,  by  Erastus  Hubbard 
and  Augustine  W.  Fox.  They  traded  for  three  or  four 
years,  and  sold  to  Abner  Williams,  who  traded  there  for  a 
time.  His  successors  were  D.  W.  Graves,  Isaac,  Edward,  and 
Frederic  Gere ;  D.  W.  and  Ebenezer  Graves,  Alvali  Miller, 
and  W.  F.  Bodman  (the  latter  from  February,  1837,  to  1858), 
then  a  Union  Company,  and  lastly  T.  M.  Carter  andWm.  B.- 
Avery. Lewis  Bodman  about  1837  moved  the  old  Mayhew 
store  from  the  Hill  to  the  village.     This  was  burned  in  1860. 

In  July,  1831,  Ezra,  Willison,  and  Sears,  sons  of  Eliphalet 
Thayer,  purcha.sed  of  Edmund  Taylor  a  valuable  property 
along  Mill  Brook,  including  an  old  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill. 
Sears  Thayer  sold  out  in  a  short  time.  The  others  erected  a 
store,  and,  besides  ordinary  mercantile  business,  they  carried  on 
an  extensive  trade  in  clocks.  They  made  the  cases  in  the  old 
mill  buildings,  and  brought  the  running  parts  from  Connecti- 
cut. They  employed  six  or  eight  peddlers.  They  dissolved. 
Ezra  continued  business  for  a  time,  met  with  large  losses,  and 
finally  removed  to  Cayuga  Co.,  N.  Y.  Willison  Thayer  gave 
his  exclusive  attention  to  clocks  for  a  time,  but  gradually 
changed  to  other  articles,  including  hardware  and  furniture. 
In  1848  he  erected  the  three-story  factory  of  granite  and  wood 
at  a  cost  of  $5000.  Soon  after,  W.  E.  Thayer  became  associ- 
ated with  him,  and  the  firm  added  the  making  of  wooden  but., 
tons,  the  first  made  in  this  ctmntry.  William  Thayer  died  ii\ 
1859,  and  W.  E.  Thayer  continued  the  business.  He  soon 
after  erected  a  new  factory  near  the  fork  of  the  Goshen  and 
Chesterfield  roads. 

Isaac  Gere  and  Edward  Gere,  whose  names  became  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  in- 
terests of  Williamsburg,  were  sons  of  Isaac  Gere,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Northampton  in  the  olden  times.    They  removed  to 


412 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Williamsburg  after  graduating  from  college,  and  went  into 
business  there.     Edward  after%vard  removed  to  New  York. 

Tanning  was  carried  on  for  many  years  by  Graves  &  Lamb, 
and  by  Joseph  Bodman  and  Stephen  Hopkins. 

Earlier  than  this,  tanning  was  done  in  the  building  opposite 
the  old  Deacon  Bodman  homestead,  by  Samuel  Bodman. 
Horse-power  was  used  in  grinding  the  bark.  In  this  building 
was  a  printing-otBce  for  a  short  time,  and  here  was  published 
a  book  known  as  "  Bodman's  Orations." 

While  Bodman  &  Hopkins  were  associated  in  tanning, 
they  added  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes.  This  was 
continued  afterward  by  Luther  &  Walker  Kice. 

WiUiumsbury  Posf-OJfice. — This  w-as  established  about  1814 
or  181-5.  Previously,  Williamsburg  had  been  supplied  from 
the  Northampton  office.  Thomas  JIayhew  was  the  first  post- 
master, and  he  kept  the  oiBce  on  the  hill  until  1824,  when  it 
was  removed  to  the  village,  and  kept  in  the  store  of  the  Messrs. 
Thayer.  Mr.  Mayhew  remained  postmaster  until  1839,  but 
after  the  removal  to  the  village  Wm.  E.  Thayer  was  deputy. 
Lewis  Bodman  was  appointed  in  1839,  Mr.  Metcalf  in  1848, 
Lewis  Bodman  again  in  18-52,  followed  by  the  present  incum- 
bent, H.  L.  James. 

In  1812,  Prince  and  Pbineas  Williams  built  and  operated  a 
cotton-factory  on  Mil)  Brook,  at  the  site  of  Mr.  Thayer's  fac- 
tory in  later  years.  The  firm  suffered  a  severe  loss  at  the  con- 
clusion of  peace  in  1816,  and  the  business  closed. 

Joseph  and  Southworth  Jenkins  devoted  the  building  to 
a  grocery-store  for  a  time,  and  then  Isaac  Gere  began  to 
manufacture  broadcloth  there.  His  successors  (though  in  a 
great  variety  of  businesses)  have  been  Edward  &  Charles 
Talbot,  Mason  &  Moffit,  J.  Pierson,  Charles  Gloyd,  Ezra 
Thayer,  Marcus  &  Henry  Way,  D.  W.  Graves,  O.  G.  Spell- 
man,  and  Wm.  E.  Thayer. 

A  second  cotton-mill  was  erected  by  Erastus  Hubbard  and 
Edmund  Taylor.  This  flourished  only  during  the  war  with 
England. 

In  1806,  and  for  several  years,  a  fulling-,  dyeing-,  and  dress- 
ing-mill was  operated  bj'  Sylvester,  Artemas,  and  Theophilus 
Bodman,  sons  of  William  Bodman. 

SEAR.SVILLE 

is  on  Mill  Brook,  northwest  of  Williamsburg  village.  It 
takes  its  name  from  Nathaniel  Sears,  who  carried  on  manu- 
facturing operations  there  for  many  years.  The  water-privi- 
lege at  this  point  is  valuable,  and  has  been  improved  from 
early  times  down  to  the  present. 

Searsville  was  happily  exempt  from  the  disaster  of  1874. 
It  is,  however,  situated  upon  the  stream  at  the  head-waters  of 
which  are  the  great  Goshen  reservoirs.  There  is  felt  here  by 
some  persons  a  nameless  dread  of  a  possible  similar  catastrophe 
from  them. 

The  danger  is  doubtless  somewhat  imaginary.  The  dams  of 
the  Goshen  reservoirs  are  very  solid  structures ;  they  have 
been  carefully  examined,  as  the  whole  system  of  reservoirs  is 
and  will  be,  and  a  close  supervision  is  kept  of  them.  It  is  be- 
lieved the  damage  by  the  flood  of  Dec.  10,  1878,  was  less  in  all 
this  valley  by  reason  of  the  Goshen  reservoirs.  They  held 
back  a  large  amount  of  water  at  the  time,  and  prevented  the 
quantity  coming  down  from  being  of  as  great  volume  as  it 
otherwise  would  have  been. 

Searsville  has  now  but  little  business.  The  saw-mill  of  G. 
M.  Bradford  is  used,  and  a  blacksmith-shop  has  a  good  busi- 
ness. The  old  woolen-mills  stand  idle,  as  such  machinery 
does  at  so  many  other  points  in  these  "  hard  times"  of  1879. 

William  E.  Thayer's  present  business  of  making  hardware 
at  Williamsburg  commenced  at  the  site  of  the  old  cotton-spin- 
ning-works of  Capt.  Southworth  Jenkins  of  1812.  After 
Jenkins,  Isaac  Gere,  1822  or  so,  opened  a  woolen-factory  in 
the  same  building  and  used  the  same  wheel.  He  sold  to  David 
Mason,  who,  associated  with  Mr.  Mofl'utt,  continued  the  fac- 


tory. Ezra  Thayer  and  Mr.  Gloyd  succeeded  them.  Next 
was  the  firm  composed  of  Mason  and  two  Talbots,  brothers  of 
the  Governor.  The  latter  spent  some  months  in  Williamsburg 
at  one  time.  Finally,  William  E.  Thayer  took  the  property 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  by  prudent,  quiet  industry 
has  developed  a  safe  and  successful  business. 

About  the  year  1806,  Stephen  Graves  started  a  mill  for  full- 
ing, dyeing,  and  dressing  cloth.  He  continued  for  a  few  j'ears 
at  Searsville. 

Versel  Abell  manufactured  woolen  yarn,  flannel,  and  fulled 
cloth.  His  mill  stood  south  of  the  river  and  a  few  rods  north 
of  the  Sears  factory. 

In  1819,  Nathaniel  Sears  came  to  this  point  with  a  capital, 
it  is  said,  of  only  §50.  He  obtained  a  right  in  the  old  water- 
privilege  of  Stephen  Hyde,  put  up  a  small  building,  and  com- 
menced cloth-dressing.  In  1828  he  enlarged  his  building,  put 
in  machinery  for  manufacturing,  but  continued  the  custom 
dressing- work.  In  1837  and  '38  he  built  his  main  factory, 
the  old  one  burning  after  he  commenced  the  new.  In  1853 
he  devoted  his  mill  exclusively  to  the  manufacture  of  white 
flannel. 

Josiah  Hannum  was  one  of  the  most  successful  mechanics  in 
AVilliamsburg.  For  thirty-five  years  he  made  axes.  He  oc- 
cupied for  fifteen  years  the  house  that  stood  opposite  the  old 
meeting-house.  His  .shop  was  up  the  road,  on  the  east  side, 
about  twenty-five  rods  above  the  meeting-house. 

He  worked  at  this  place  until  1811 ;  then  he  bought  the  old 
Seth  Paine  fiirm.  He  built  a  shop  west  of  the  road  leading  to 
Goshen.  During  the  war  with  Great  Britain  steel  rose  to  one 
dollar  a  pound.  At  that  time  Mr.  Hannum  bought  a  quantity 
of  steel  and  iron  in  Montreal.  He  got  it  home  to  Williams- 
burg by  sleighing.  He  had  a  large  market  West.  His  make 
amounted  sometimes  to  one  hundred  and  ten  axes  a  week, 
mostly  ground  and  ready  for  use. 

He  died  about  1836.  The  Hannums  and  the  Hydes  (the 
latter  having  a  trip-hammer)  became  known  far  and  wide  as 
axe-makers,  and  the  latter  as  scythe-makers  also. 

Levi  Hitchcock  built  below  Sears'  mill  about  1831  and  made 
axes,  and  Benjamin  K.  Baker  about  1835. 

SKINNERVILLE 

was  on  Mill  Kiver,  below  Williamsburg,  below  the  mouth  of 
Unquomonk  Creek.  It  is  spoken  of  under  the  head  of  "  Fac- 
tories," and  in  the  account  of  the  disaster  of  1874. 

HAYDKNVILLE. 

This  was  the  earliest  settled  point  in  Williamsburg,  but  the 
village  is  mainly  the  growth  of  the  last  thirty-five  years.  It 
is  situated  near  the  south  line  of  the  town.  The  village  de- 
rived its  name  from  the  Haydens,  who  were  so  largely  instru- 
mental in  developing  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  place. 
Other -public-spirited  citizens  were  associated  with  them,  but 
the  Haydens  were  cordially  recognized  as  the  leaders  in  every 
important  business.  The  public  buildings  of  the  place  are  the 
Congregati(mal  church,  the  Catholic  church,  and  the  school 
building.     There  are  many  substantial  private  dwellings. 

The  Posi-Office  was  established  in  1839,  with  a  daily  mail 
to  and  from  Northampton  and  Williamsburg.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  railroad,  the  service  was  increased  to  twice  each 
day,  and  later  to  three  times.  Josiah  Hayden  was  the  first 
postmaster.  His  successors  have  been  Ellsworth  H.  Hyde, 
3Iaj.  Lewis  Warner,  Stephen  W.  White,  Spencer  Root,  Fred- 
erick L.  Hayden,  and  Joel  Hayden,  Jr.,  who  is  the  present 
incumbent  of  the  office. 

Tlic  Fire-Engine  Company  was  organized  in  1848.  An  en- 
gine was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  §-500  (the  town  paying  |2-50 
and  individuals  the  remainder).  Samuel  S.  Wells  was  chosen 
Foreman  ;  J.  A.  Root,  Assistant  Foreman  ;  Clerk,  H.  L.  Tiles- 
ton  ;  Second  Assistant  Foreman,  J.  B.  Hayden.  The  com- 
pany was  disbanded  after  a  few  3'ears. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


413 


The  Haydenville  Gas-  Works  were  wholly  a  private  matter, 
and  belonged  to  the  Hayden  Manufacturing  Company.  A 
few  private  houses  were  lighted,  and  the  streets  and  the  mills. 
The  works  were  not  rebuilt  after  the  flood  of  1874. 

Business  of  Haydenville  (1879). — The  Hayden  Company 
manufacture  brass  goods.  William  B.  Hale  operates  the  old 
cotton-factory.  There  are  a  variety  of  mechanic  shops.  The 
hotel  and  livery  business  of  Luther  Loomis  &  Son,  who  are 
also  extensive  farmers,  and  do  a  large  firewood  business. 
The  merchants  are  noted  elsewhere. 

SCHOOLS. 

A  school-house  had  been  built  before  the  town  was  organ- 
ized. It  was  a  substantial  structure  of  hewn  logs,  used  sev- 
eral years  for  town-meetings  and  for  religious  worship  as  well 
as  for  education. 

It  stood  on  the  hill.  The  first  town-meeting  was  called  at 
the  house  of  Josiah  Dwight,  but,  after  organizing,  an  adjourn- 
ment was  made  to  the  school-house. 

Dr.  Meekins  locates  Josiah  Dwight  at  the  forks  of  the  Ash- 
field  and  Chesterfield  roads,  and  infers  that  the  pioneer  school- 
house  was  near  the  present  place  of  Wm.  Leonard. 

The  votes  passed  at  various  meetings  of  the  town  show  the 
steps  taken  to  found  the  system  of  public  schools. 

May  13, 1771. — Voted  to  give  the  proprietoi's  of  the  school-house  two-thirds  of 
tlie  cost  that  they  were  at  for  the  building  thereof,  and  that  each  proprietor's 
hill  of  cost  be  accepted  by  a  committee  chosen  for  that  purpose.  Voted  that  the 
committee  consist  of  Joshua  Warner,  Jonathan  Thayer,  Abel  Thayer.  Voted 
that  Amasa  Frost,  Joshua  "Warner,  Jonathan  Warner  be  a  committee  to  rep.iir 
the  Bchttol-house  in  such  a  manner  that  it  shall  be  fit  to  meet  in  for  public  wor- 
ship according  to  their  best  discretion.  Voted  to  raise  ten  pounds  to  repair  the 
school-house. 

March  18, 1777. — Voted  that  there  be  five  women  schools  kept  up  from  the 
1st  of  May  till  the  1st  of  October.  Voted  to  have  two  men's  schools  three  months 
in  the  winter  season. 

Dec.  3, 1777. — Voted  to  have  a  woman  school  four  months  in  the  summer 
season  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  as  many  more  women's  schools  in  the 
remote  parts  of  the  town  as  may  be  necessary  to  accommodate  the  whole.  Voted 
to  hire  a  school  four  months  in  the  winter  season  in  the  centre  of  the  town. 
Voted  to  raise  money  sufficient  tt)  pay  all  the  charges.  Voted  that  James  Bangs, 
Lieut.  Joshua  Warner,  Elisha  AUis,  Abijah  Hunt,  and  Klisha  Nash  be  a  com- 
mittee for  the  schools  to  provide  the  tutiire,  and  appoint  the  places  for  the  schools 
to  be  kept. 

The  appropriations  of  early  times  seem  small  in  amount 
compared  with  those  of  later  years,  but  for  the  times  they 
were  no  doubt  equally  liberal. 

The  school  district  at  Haydenville  was  formed  Dec.  3, 
1810,  consisting  of  James  Clark,  Ira  N.  Fairfield,  .Tosiah 
Hayden,  Daniel  Haj'den,  Aaron  Hemenway,  Jesse  Wilde, 
Beriah  Shepherd,  Samuel  Wales,  Joshua  Thayer,  Jr.,  Lieut. 
Joshua  Thayer,  Daniel  Truesdell,  Pliny  Kiugsley,  Cyrus  Mil- 
ler, Simeon  Guilford,  and  the  Widow  Parsons. 

Samuel  Fairfield  and  Elias  Boot  declined  to  be  set  off  from 
the  central  district  at  that  time,  though  living  adjoining  the 
others. 

The  first  school-house  was  erected  in  1811,  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  dugway.  There  had,  however,  been  a  school  at 
this  point  as  early  as  1790,  kept  in  the  house  of  Samuel  Fair- 
field. 

Eunice  Mather  is  remembered  as  an  early  teacher.  The 
brick  school-house  that  used  to  stand  near  the  old  Fairfield 
homestead  (the  Delevan  place)  was  built  in  1839. 

Twenty  years  later  the  fine  building  now  standing  next 
west  of  the  meeting-house  was  erected  for  a  school  building 
and  a  public  hall.  Its  cost  was  §5500,  of  which  the  district 
paid  12500,  and  individuals  the  remainder.  Wm.  K.  Searles, 
of  Easthampton,  was  the  builder,  and  W.  F.  Pratt,  of  North- 
ampton, the  architect.  Four  teachers  are  employed  at  the 
present  time  (1879). 

At  Williamsburg  village  the  public  school,  though  not  a 
high-school,  has  a  good  building,  and  there  are  usually  em- 
ployed three  teachers. 

Dr.  Meekins  recalls  a  few  names  of  early  teachers, — Seth 


Warner,  Mr.  Cooley,  Dr.  Smith,  Salmon  H.  Clapp,  Mr.  Lud- 
den,  from  Southampton,  and  Erastus  Hubbard.  Rev.  Mr. 
Strong  had  a  few  students  at  various  times,  assisting  them  in 
preparing  for  college. 

To  the  notice  of  the  schools  we  add  a  list  of  natives  of 
Williamsburg  who  were  college  graduates  : 

Ansel  Nash,  Williams  College,  ministry. 

John  White,  Williams  College,  law. 

Chester  White,  Tale  College. 

Addison  H.  White,  Yale  College,  law. 

Elisha  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Yale  College,  law. 

Wale*  Tileston,  Yale  College,  ministry. 

Bainbridge  Rice,  Y'ale  College,  teaching. 

Chester  Lord,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

John  B.  Miller,  Union  College,  ministry. 

Charles  Lord,  Amherst  College,  ministry. 

William  Ludden,  Yale  College,  teaching. 

William  H.  Hayden,  Yale  College,  business. 

Henry  Warren,  Wesleyan  College,  ministry. 

William  Warren,  Wesleyan  College,  ministry. 

Davis  H.  Mayhew,  Williams  College,  teaching. 

Other  professional  men  who  did  not  graduate  from  college 

were  Alanson  Nash,   Hiram   Nash,    Manoah    Bodman,  and 

Hiram  Warner,  lawyers ;  Thomas  Meekins,  Thomas  Meekins 

(2d),  Isaac  Johnson,  Roswell  S.   Hillman,   Morris  Dwight, 

Edwin  Bartlett,  Sumner  Nash,  physicians;  William  Nash,  a 

minister. 

SCHOOL    STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Eight  schools  ;  attending  in  the  summer,  343 ;  average,  251 ; 
winter,  343 ;  average,  220 ;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  343 ;  summer  schools,  33 
months,  7  days ;  winter,  20  months ;  summer  teachers,  9  females ;  winter,  5 
males,  3  females;  average  wages  of  male  teachere  per  month,  S1G.50;  female^ 
$11.42. 

January,  1847. — Nine  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  259  ;  average,  207  ;  win- 
ter, 312 ;  average,  208  ;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  374 ;  attending  under  4, 10 ; 
over  16,  14 ;  summer  schools,  27  months,  21  days  ;  winter  schools,  20  months,  14 
days  ;  total,  48  months,  7  days ;  summer  teachers,  9  females ;  winter,  5  males,  4 
females;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S20.60;  female,  S10.04. 

January,  1857. — Twelve  schools;  attending  in  summer,  275;  average,  221; 
winter,  205 ;  average,  164 ;  attending  under  5,  12 ;  over  15,  4 ;  in  town,  between 
5  and  15,  305 ;  summer  teachers,  1  male,  10  females ;  winter,  3  males,  7  females ; 
summer  schools,  35  months,  14  days;  winter,  29  months;  total,  64  months,  14 
days ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S35.75 ;  female,  $16.27. 

January,  1867. — Thirteen  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  412;  average, 
325;  winter,  412;*average,  329;  under  5,13;  over  15,89;  in  town,  between  5 
and  15,  469 ;  summer  teachers,  2  males,  11  females ;  winter,  3  males,  10  females ; 
suimner  school,  59  months,  10  days ;  winter,  35  months ;  average  wages  of  male 
teachers  per  month,  $52.75 ;  female,  $24.87. 

January,  1878.— Thirteen  schools;  repairs,  $12;  children  attending,  460; 
average,  284 ;  under  5,  1 ;  over  15,  35 ;  in  town,  between  5  and  16,  464 ;  teachere ; 
3  males,  16  females,  2  of  them  norma! ;  school,  100  months,  2  days ;  average 
wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $57.11 ;  female,  $32.28 ;  taxation,  $2800  ;  ex- 
pense of  superintendence,  $50 ;  printing,  $18 ;  vested  funds,  $16,4.85 ;  income, 
$1157 ;  other  income  and  dog  tax,  $116.69 ;  2  high  schools ;  3  tea<;here  ;  90  schol- 
ars ;  supported  by  taxation ;  9  months,  15  days ;  salary  of  principals,  $610  and 
$394 ;  town  share  of  State  funds,  $229.70. 

CHURCHES. 

The  first  thought  in  early  New  England  settlements  may 
have  been  to  secure  a  home  for  themselves  and  families,  but 
the  next  was  to  make  arrangements  for  public  worship.  And 
so  we  infer  that  meetings  were  held  during  the  few  years  of 
settlement  preceding  civil  organization.  The  pioneers  were 
between  two  old  towns,  Hatfield  and  Northampton,  and  had 
assistance  from  the  ministers  of  both  places. 

When  the  first  town-meeting  was  fairly  over  and  the  civil 
officers  installed  in  their  places,  a  second  meeting  was  held 
May  13,  1771,  only  a  week  later  than  the  first. 

The  business  at  this  was  to  provide  for  religious  services,  as 
the  following  proceedings  show  : 

May  13, 1771.— At  a  legal  district-meeting  Simeon  White  was  chosen  modera- 
tor. Voted  to  raise  £20  to  be  laid  out  in  preaching  before  next  March  meeting. 
Voted  that  Samuel  Fairfield,  Jonah  Dwight,  and  John  Nash  be  a  committee  to 
lay  out  the  money  voted  for  preaching,  according  to  their  best  discretion.  Voted 
that  public  worship  on  Lord's  day  from  the  first  of  May  to  the  first  of  October 
begin  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  two  of  the  clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  from  the  first  of  October  to  the  first  of  May  to  begin  half  an  hour 


414 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


lifter  tcu  iu  the  moruiiig  and  iitoue  in  the  afteruoou.  Voted  that  the  eelectmou 
provide  a  signal  to  notify  the  time  when  t<)  begin  public  woreliip.  Voted  that 
Joshua  Thayer  have  fifteen  sliillings  for  blowing  the  conk  shell  and  keeping  the 
school-house  fit  for  public  worship  this  year.  And  further  action  was  had  at 
subsequent  meetings. 

Oct.,  1771.— Voted  that  Deacon  Amasa  Frost,  Deacon  Carey,  Samuel  Fairfield, 
Josiah  Dwight,  and  John  Nasli  be  a  comnlittee  to  wait  on  Mr.  EUjah  Parsons, 
and  give  bim  a  call  to  como  and  preiu:h  here  si.x  Sabbaths  on  probation,  in  order 
to  his  settling  in  the  ministry  in  this  place. 

This  movement  wa.s  still  further  prosecuted. 

Febraary,  1772.— A  committee  was  chosen  '■  to  give  Mr.  Elijah  Parsons  a  call 
to  come  and  settle  in  the  ministry  in  this  place,  and  that  Siiid  committee  offer 
Mr.  Parsons  One  Hundred  Pound  settlement,  and  the  fli-st  year  after  his  settle- 
ment here  to  offer  him  Si.\ty  Pound  salaiy,  to  rise  two  Pound  each  year  until 
it  come  to  eighty  pound  a  year ;  also  that  after  Mr.  Parsons  is  settled  in  a  family 
of  his  own,  they  will  give  him  six  Pounds  annually  to  be  paid  in  wood  or  labor, 
which  he  chooses." 

March  23,  1772.— Voted  "  Tliat  the  monies  that  may  arise  from  the  sale  of  dis- 
continued town  ways  shall  be  appropriated  to  encourage  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
to  settle  in  Williamsburg,"  etc. 

Aug.  10, 1772. — A  committee  was  chosen  to  ''  make  further  trial  to  get  Mr. 
Parsons  to  settle  iu  the  ministry." 

They  were  not  successful,  but  July  14,  1773,  llev.  Amos 
Butler  was  settled  on  the  same  salary  ottered  to  Mr.  Parsons. 
Under  the  care  of  Mr.  Butler  the  church  made  some  advances, 
and  the  discipline  of  it  with  respect  to  a  strict  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  was  peculiarly  marked.  He  died  in  the  thirtieth 
year  of  his  age. 

June  5,  1778,  the  town  "  voted  to  build  a  meeting-house, 
and  cover  the  outside  by  a  town  rate."  A  committee  of  nine 
were  chosen  "to  proportion  to  each  inhabitant  of  the  town 
what  material  to  find  toward  the  meeting-hou.se."  "Voted 
that  the  pews  be  sold  according  to  wheat  at  is.  per  bushel,  and 
rye  at  3s.,  and  Indian  corn  at  2s.  per  bushel."  The  meeting- 
house, 60  feet  by  45  feet,  was  raised  the  following  year  on  the 
summit  of  Village  Hill.  It  was  dedicated  in  October,  1787, 
but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  entirely  finished  until  1790. 
March  13,  1780. — It  was  "  voted  to  raise  £1500  to  be  layed 
out  in  preaching."  December  11. — "£3000  laid  out  in  preach- 
ing." These  sums  were  of  course  in  the  depreciated  Conti- 
nental currency.  The  salary  of  Mr.  Strong,  second  minister, 
was  fixed  by  the  town  at  "  £70,  one-half  to  be  paid  in  silver 
money"  (not  Continental  currency),  "and  the  other  half  in 
the  produce  of  the  earth,  and  to  find  him  his  firewood  as  long 
as  he  is  our  minister."  "  The  produce  of  the  earth"  given  to 
Mr.  Strong  was  annually  25  bushels  of  wheat ;  20  of  rye  ;  33 
of  Indian  corn  ;  pork,  5  cwt. ;  butter,  55  pounds  ;  cheese,  100 
pounds;  flax,  120  pounds;  sheep's  wool,  50  pounds. 

The  increase  of  the  church  in  numbers  was  rapid.  Previous 
to  Mr.  Strong's  settlement  53  had  been  added  to  the  original 
21  members,  making  74  in  all.  In  May,  1789,  the  number  of 
actual  members  was  199,  and  in  March,  1794,  316.  In  1789 
there  were  added  above  70  to  the  church.  This  was  called, 
by  way  of  eminence,  the  great  reformation.  It  is  said  that 
two  or  three  brethren  had  especially  prayed  for  such  a  work 
for  nearly  twenty  years.  Mr.  Strong  died  Jan.  1,  1803,  aged 
seventy-four.  During  his  jiastorate  of  nearly  twenty-two 
years,  239  persons  united  with  the  church  by  profession. 
Seven  children,  all  professedly  piou.s,  survived  him.  One  of 
tliem,  Joseph,  entered  the  ministry. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Lord,  the  third  minister,  was  ordained  June 
20,  1804.  An  ordination  in  those  days,  when  ministers  were 
really  settled  for  life,  was  a  great  occasion.  It  was  prepared 
for  by  a  solemn  fast,  and  people  came  to  attend  it  from  far  and 
near. 

Mr.  Strong  was  a  veteran,  his  successor  was  a  youth  ;  but 
his  ministry  was  almost  equally  blessed  with  revivals  of  re- 
ligion, those  of  1816,  1819,  and  1831  being  the  most  general. 

In  1814  the  church  formed  itself  into  a  religious  tract 
society,  allowing  others  to  meet  and  act  with  them,  and  per- 
sons were  appointed  in  every  district  to  "solicit  and  collect 
monies." 

April  U,  1820. — It  was  "  voted  that  Deacon  Hubbard,  Dea- 


con Mayhew,  Deacon  Bodraan,  Capt.  Nash,  Willard  Starks, 
and  Uev.  Henry  Lord  be  committee  to  make  arrangements  for 
Sabbath-school,  and  superintend  the  same  the  ensuing  season." 
This  is  the  earliest  notice  the  records  aftord  of  a  Sabbath- 
school.  Before  that  the  children  were  called  out  into  the 
aisles  once  a  month,  long  rows  of  them,  to  recite  the  Assem- 
bly's Catechism  to  the  minister.  For  a  long  time  after  Sab- 
bath-schools were  commenced  they  were  for  children  only, 
and  the  principal  exercise  was  reciting  of  Scripture,  the 
catechism,  and  after  a  while  of  hymns.  One  girl  became  able 
to  repeat  the  whole  book  of  John. 

In  tho.se  days  Sabbath-evening  meetings  were  held  in  the 
school-house,  which  stood  nearly  opposite  the  parsonage.  It 
was  not  customary  for  the  minister  to  attend.  One  of  the 
deacons  opened  the  meeting,  and  called  upon  a  brotlier  deacon 
or  leading  member  to  lead  in  prayer.  This  brother  perhaps 
excused  himself,  saying,  "It  isn't  my  turn;  I  ])rayed  the  la.<it 
Sunday  night,"  and  desired  to  join  with  Brother  So-and-so. 
When  the  proper  person  had  been  found  to  perform  this  ser- 
vice and  the  prayer  was  ended,  a  sermon  would  be  read. 
Young  Christians  were  not  encouraged  to  take  a  part,  but 
were  expected  to  sit  in  silence  and  listen.  In  Nash  Street 
similar  meetings  were  held,  but  some  ardent  converts,  not 
unencouraged  by  Mr.  Lord,  determined  to  break  through  the 
barriers  of  formality  and  custom,  and  speak  and  pray  as  the 
Spirit  should  give  them  utterance,  and  they  effected  a  change. 
During  Mr.  Lord's  pastorate  of  thirty  years,  243  persons 
luiitcd  by  profession.  He  was  cut  ott'  bj'  typhus  fever  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three.  Mr.  Butler,  Mr.  Strong,  and  Mr.  Lord 
were  all  buried  in  the  old  cemetery. 

The  fourth  pastor  was  Rev.  William  Lusk,  and  his  four 
years'  pastorate  was  an  eventful  one.  The  parish,  now  dis- 
tinct from  the  town,  undertook  the  building  of  a  new  meeting- 
house. The  ground  was  purchased  in  November,  1835,  for 
§700,  and  the  house  erected  the  following  season,  at  an  expense 
of  about  .'?4500.  Thus  the  place  of  worship  followed  the 
movement  of  population  from  the  hill  to  the  valley. 

A  revival  occurred  in  1837  and  1838.  Adults  were  now  first 
brought  into  the  Sabbath-school,  which  rose  iu  numbers  to 
over  300.  Old  and  young  were  encouraged  to  exercise  greater 
activity  and  freedom  in  conference  meetings.  A  new  era 
seemed  opening,  but  Mr.  Lusk  asked  a  dismission.  Admis- 
sions by  profession  during  this  pastorate,  139.     Salary,  $600. 

The  Rev.  David  E.  Goodwin  ministered  to  this  church  about 
fifteen  months,  and  admitted  to  the  communion  six  persons. 
Young,  devoted,  and  well  beloved,  disease  cut  him  down,  and 
he  sleeps  beside  the  first  three. 

Rev.  M.  G.  Wheeler's  ministry  of  three  and  a  half  years 
was  marked  by  a  revival  and  the  addition  of  55  persons. 

Rev.  S.  C.  Wilcox  was  here  two  years  and  nine  months. 
Admitted  13  members.     Salary,  $650. 

The  pastorate  of  Pvev.  E.  W.  Root  lasted  five  and  a  half 
years.  Three  interesting  events  marked  the  first  year  of  his 
ministry, — a  spiritual  refreshing;  the  building  of  the  parsonage, 
costing  with  the  land  §2300;  and  the  dismission  of  17  mem- 
bers, March  2,  1851,  to  assist  in  foundling  the  Union  Church, 
Haydenville.  He  admitted  30  members.  Salary,  paid  semi- 
annually, $650,  until  1854,  when  it  was  changed  to  §600  and 
use  of  parsonage. 

Rev.  F.  T.  Perkins'  ministry  of  three  and  one-fourth  years 
covered  that  year  of  revivals,  1858,  in  which  this  church  fully 
shared.  A  large  number  of  the  present  members  united  July 
4th  and  September  5th,  of  that  year.  In  1859  the  church 
edifice  was  raised  up,  and  a  vestry  built  beneath  it.  The  cost 
of  the  vestry  and  of  some  repairs  was  $3300.  Mr.  Perkins 
welcomed  to  fellowship  80  persons.  Salary,  $750,  at  first, 
paid  quarterly,  and  use  of  parsonage;  afterward  increased  to 
$800. 

Durifig  the  next  two  years,  Rev.  James  M.  Phillips  was 
acting  pastor. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


415 


The  Rev.  E.  Y.  Swift's  piisUn'ate  oommonoed  June  26,  1862, 
and  lasted  six  and  one-fourth  years,  or  longer  than  any  other 
sinee  -Mr.  Lord's. 

There  was  another  revival  in  1864,  and  the  same  year  Mr. 
Swift  raised  §1500  among  his  people  for  the  purchase  of  an 
organ.  He  admitted  40  members.  Salary,  §800,  paid  quar- 
terly, with  parsonage;  increased  to  $1000  in  1863. 

Summary  Statement  of  Pastors. — Kev.  Amos  Butler,  or- 
dained July  14,  1773;  died  Oct.  18,  1777.  Kev.  Joseph 
Strong,  installed  Dec.  26,  1781;  died  Jan.  1,  1803.  Rev. 
Henry  Lord,  ordained  June  20,  1804;  died  Nov.  22,  1834. 
Kev.  William  Lusk,  installed  Jan.  20,  1836  ;  dismissed  Feb. 
7,  1840.  Kev.  David  E.  Goodwin,  ordained  Jan.  13,  1841 ; 
died  May  2,  1842.  Kev.  Melancthon  G.  Wheeler,  installed 
Oct.  18,  1842;  dismissed  March  1,  1846.  Kev.  Samuel  C. 
Wilcox,  installed  Feb.  10,  1847;  dismissed  Nov.  14,  1849. 
Rev.  Edward  W.  Boot,  ordained  Oct.  23,  1850;  dismissed 
May  15,  1856.  Rev.  Frederick  T.  Perkins,  installed  Feb.  3, 
1857  ;  dismissed  May  7,  1860.  Rev.  James  M.  Phillips,  acting 
pastor  summer  of  1860  to  April  1,  1862.  Rev.  E.  Y.  Swift, 
installed  June  26,  1862  ;  dismissed  Sept.  25,  1868.  Kev.  Wm. 
W.  Parker,  installed  Feb.  24,  1869 ;  dismissed  Jan.  7,  1873. 
Rev.  John  F.  Gleason,  ordained  Jan.  7,  1873  ;  dismissed  Dee. 
14,  1875.  Rev.  S.  O.  Kendall,  stated  supply  from  February, 
1876,  to  May,  1878.  Prof.  Tyler,  of  the  Female  College,  sup- 
plies at  the  present  time  (March,  1879). 

Record  of  the  Deacons. — Araasa  Frost,  elected  1771;  died 
Jan.  6,  1795.  Joseph  Carey,  elected  1771 ;  died  May  30,  1803. 
Elisha  Allis,  elected  June  13,  1785.  Nehemiah  Cleveland, 
elected  June  13,  1785.  Elisha  Nash,  elected  May  27,  1790; 
died  Sept.  15,  1827.  Asa  Ludden,  elected  May  27,  1790;  died 
April  8,  1825.  Samuel  Graves,  elected  Aug.  16,  1804 ;  died 
Aug.  21,  1821.  Zechariah  Mayhew,- elected  Aug.  12,  1813; 
died  May  29,  1830.  Sylvanus  Hubbard,  elected  Dec.  16,  1813 ; 
resigned  May  6,  1847.  Joseph  Bodman,  elected  May  29,  1817; 
died  March  2,  1847.  Joseph  Ludden,  elected  Feb.  2,  1832; 
died  May  12,  1836.  Gershom  Rogers,  elected  Oct.  4,  1832; 
resigned  March  4,  1840.  William  Pomero}',  elected  Nov.  23, 
1838  ;  resigned  March  1,  1866.  Washington  Shaw,  elected 
May  6, 1847 ;  resigned  March  2, 1851.  Erastus  Graves,*  elected 
May  6, 1847.  Jonathan  W.  Nash,  elected  Jan.  2, 1852.  Henry 
Steajrns,  elected  Sept.  2,  18-52  ;  resigned  Dec.  3,  1868.  William 
A.  Hawks,*  elected  March  1,  1866.  E.  M.  Johnson,  elected 
Nov.  12,  1869  ;  lost  in  the  flood  May  16,  1874.  H.  H.  Miller, 
chosen  Jan.  7,  1875 ;  died  Oct.  7,  1875.  Lewis  H.  Porter,* 
chosen  Jan.  6,  1876.  Elnathan  Graves,*  chosen  March  3, 
1877. 

Additional  Items. — The  lirst  members  of  the  church  whose 
signatures  wore  attached  to  the  covenant,  and  may  still  be 
seen  in  the  early  book,  were  Thomas  Nash,  Thomas  Warren, 
John  Nash,  Jonathan  Warner  and  wife,  Amasa  Frost  and 
wife,  Joseph  Gary  and  wife,  Richard  Church,  Jesse  Wild  and 
wife,  Elisha  Nash  and  wife,  Samuel  Fairiield  and  wife,  Josiah 
Dwight  and  wife,  Joshua  Warner  and  wife,  and  Hezekiah 
Reed, — twenty-oBe  in  all.  The  date  of  organization  was  July 
3,  1771.  The  master-builder  of  the  tirst  meeting-house  was 
Oapt.  Jonathan  Warner.  It  had  all  the  distinctive  features 
of  the  old  New  England  meeting-bouses  so  often  described, — 
square  pews,  high  pulpit,  with  sounding-board  over  it,  dea- 
cons' seat  almost  under  the  pulpit,  the  tall  spire  of  one  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  feet  pointing  heavenward.  The  first  meet- 
ing-house stood  on  what  has  been  known  as  the  Leonard 
Strong  farm,  now  owned  by  E.  A.  Porter.  It  was  north- 
westerlj-  from  Porter's  house,  on  the  same  side  of  the  road, 
and  nearly  opposite  the  present  house  of  L.  H.  Porter.  Some 
traces  of  the  foundation  yet  remain.  The  old  school-house  of 
hewn  logs  was  a  little  farther  north,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
road. 

*  Present  deacous  (March,  187!)). 


Present  Organization  (March,  1879). — Church  Committee 
consists  of  the  deacons,  and  Phineas  Nash  and  Henry  W.  Hill  ; 
Church  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  W.  A.  Hawks;  Parish  Clerk, 
Henry  W.  Hill;  Superintendent  of  Sunday-school,  Henry  M. 
Porter.  Communicants,  214  ;  congregation,  about  the  same  ; 
attendance  on  Sunday-school,  125  to  150;  Sunday-school 
library,  450  volumes.  The  church  voted  to  elect  deaconesses 
at  the  same  meeting  that  they  adopted  the  stated  terms  of 
service  for  deacons  :  Mrs.  William  A.  Nash,  Mrs.  Henry  H. 
Tilton,  Mrs.  John  W.  Woodard,  and  Mrs.  R.  Baxter  Rice, 
now  in  office. 

METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH. 

For  several  years  previous  to  1832  preaching  had  been  main- 
tained by  this  denomination  in  Williamsburg.  Kev.  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain was  here  as  early  as  1826-27.  Meetings  were  held  in 
Haydenville  at  the  button-factory.  Earlier  than  this,  the  first 
beginnings  of  Methodist  work  for  this  section  were  at  Leeds, 
within  the  town  of  Northampton.  An  early  local  minister 
was  Orrin  Munyan,  living  at  Leeds.  Thomas  Musgrave,  of 
Leeds,  was  a  leading  man  in  the  work.  Josiah  Hayden  was 
a  local  preacher,  and  the  entire  family  of  the  Haydens  were 
either  Methodists  or  inclined  to  that  denomination.  The 
meetings  were  changed  from  Haydenville  to  W^illiamsburg 
village,  probably  just  after  the  burning  of  the  cotton-factory 
in  1832.  A  favorite  place  of  early  meetings  at  Williamsburg 
was  at  "  Mother  Hannum's,"  now  a  tenant-house  owned  by 
Hiram  Hill ;  also  the  brick  school-house,  at  Searsville,  and 
the  present  house  of  Prescott  Williams.  Ephraim  Scott  and 
Kev.  J.  D.  Bridge  were  early  preachers  at  this  point.  A 
church  was  organized  in  1832,  but  the  books  of  the  society 
that  are  now  preserved  give  no  record  of  the  tirst  members. 
The  meeting-house  was  erected  the  same  year,  largely  by  the 
liberality  of  Joel  and  Josiah  Hayden.  It  has  been  remodeled 
and  improved  one  or  more  times,  the  last  being  the  same  year 
of  the  great  disaster,  1874. 

The  church  has  had  a  varied  history.  During  the  years 
that  the  great  anti-slavery  excitement  pervaded  the  churches 
so  extensively  this  society  became  Wesleyan,  probably  under 
the  lead  of  Rev.  Orange  Scott,  who  held  a  camp-meeting  here 
near  the  present  residence  of  Calvin  Hill.  The  church,  how- 
ever, in  a  few  years  again  became  "Methodist  Episcopal,"  and 
has  continued  so  to  the  present  time. 

Early  Methodist  families — 1830  to  1835,  or  about  that  period 
— were  Ludo  Thayer,  Prescott  Williams,  Butler  Merritt,  John 
Williams,  William  Lewis,  Elisha  Nash,  Hiram  Nash,  Mather 
Warren,  Pliny  Warren,  James  Nichols,  Andrus  Gillett,  Willis 
Thayer,  Jlrs.  Otis  Hill,  Edward  Gere,  Joseph  Lewis,  Mrs. 
Gere  (now  Mrs.  Vining),  mother  of  H.  S.  Gere,  editor  of  the 
Hampshire  Gazette,  Stephen  Meekins,  and  Chester  Upton. 
Josiah  Hayden  was  class-leader. 

Other  early  names  of  either  members  or  friends  who  paid 
to  build  the  meeting-house  and  found  the  society  may  be 
mentioned  :  Pardon,  Edwin,  and  John  Bradford,  Justin  Hill- 
man,  Cyrus  Miller,  John  Miller,  William  and  Joseph  Loomis, 
Robert  Fairfield,  Andrus  Gillett,  Henry  Little,  and  Persis 
Lyon. 

Ministerial  Record.— D.  Leslie,  1833  ;  E.  M.  Beebe,  1834- 
35;  Wm.  Smith,  1836-37  ;  George  May,  1838-39  ;  J.  A.  Mer- 
rill, 1840;  I.  Marcy,  1841;  Mosely  Dwight,  1842^3;  F.  P. 
Tracy,  1844-45;  John  H.  Twombly,  1846;  E.  S.  Potter, 
1847^9;  William  Butler,  18.50;  H.  M.  Nichols,  1851-52; 
H.  M.  Bridge,  1853 ;  A.  S.  Flagg,  1854-55 ;  Lorenzo  White, 
1856-57;  Mr.  Eastwood,  1858.  The  records  are  lost,  and  the 
present  officers  do  not  recall  the  names  of  any  minister  for 
1859-60.  N.  J.  Merrill,  1861  ;  John  Peterson,  1862-63  ;  A. 
Sanderson,  1864-66;  W.  I.  Pomfret,  1867-69;  J.  W.  Fenn, 
1870-71  ;  E.  R.  Thorndike,  1872-74  ;  I.  Candlin,  1875;  C.  H. 
Vinton,  1876;  H.  Matthews,  1877;  and  present  pastor  (March, 
1879). 


416 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


THE   CONGKEOATIONAL   CHURCH   OF    HAYDENVILLE. 

The  increase  in  the  population  of  the  village  that  followed 
the  modern  development  of  manufacturing  interests  very  soon 
led  to  a  movement  for  a  church  organization.  Several  pre- 
liminary meetings  were  held  during  the  winter  of  1848-49. 
March  19th  a  society  was  formed  under  legal  warrant,  and  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  erecting  a  house  of  worship.  The 
building  committee  were  Joel  Hayden,  R.  H.  Fairfield,  and 
Spencer  Root.  The  Longley  place  was  purchased  for  a  site  ; 
the  building  was  raised  May  13,  1850,  and  in  February,  18.51, 
the  edifice  was  completed.  It  is  76  feet  long  by  48  wide.  It 
has  a  handsome  spire  150  feet  in  height.  The  cost  of  this  was 
about  $12,000  ;  two-thirds  of  this  was  given  by  Joel  Hayden; 
others  contributed  probably  with  equal  liberality  in  propor- 
tion to  their  financial  ability. 

The  church  was  organized  March  4,  1851.  The  original 
members  were  Joel  Hayden,  Braddock  Davol,  Silas  Warner, 
Albert  D.  Sanders,  Thomas  H,  Ives,  Quartus  L.  Dickinson, 
E.  H.  Fairfield,  Washington  Shaw,  Elam  Graves,  Quartus 
Kingsley,  John  Miller,  Spencer  Root,  Jonathan  Dickinson, 
Elisha  Tileston,  Samuel  S.  Wells,  Isabella  Hayden,  Harriet 
C.  Graves,  Caroline  Fairfield,  Jane  Sanders,  Relief  S.  Ives, 
Mary  F.  Johnson,  Emily  Fairfield,  Patty  Graves,  Eunice  B. 
Graves,  Polley  Kingsley,  Sarah  Miller,  Sally  Root,  Lucretia 
Dickinson,  Sabrah  Tileston. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  the  house  was  dedicated. 
The  next  day,  March  5th,  Rev.  Edward  Sweet  was  ordained  as 
the  first  pastor. 

The  first  parish  assessors  were  Messrs.  Shaw,  Sanders,  and 
Ives. 

The  organization  of  the  church  was  effected  with  great  har- 
mony, notwithstanding  the  people  of  Haydenville  were  nearly 
equally  divided  between  those  of  Methodist  views  and  those 
of  Congregational  preferences. 

A  Sunday-school  was  immediately  instituted,  and  has  been 
steadily  maintained  with  a  good  average  attendance. 

Ministerial  Record.  —  1st.  Rev.  Edward  Sweet,  ordained 
March  5,  1851  ;  dismissed  March  7,  1854.  2d.  Rev.  E.  W. 
Cook,  installed  June  14, 1854  ;  dismissed  to  accept  a  call  to  the 
church  in  Townsend,  April  1,  18.58.  3d.  Rev.  Cyrus  Brewster, 
installed  Aug.  18,  18.58;  dismissed  Deo.  18,  1863.  4th.  Rev. 
George  W.  Phillips,  ordained  September,  1864 ;  dismissed 
April,  1868.  .5th.  Rev,  M.  B.  Ainger,  installed  Dec.  31, 
1868;  dismissed  in  June,  1870.  fith.  Rev.  James  P.  Kimball, 
installed  November,  1871 ;  dismissed  May,  1876.  7th.  Stated 
supply,  Rev.  W.  S.  Hawks,  from  Oct.  26,  1876,  to  July, 
1878,  followed  by  other  temporary  supplies.  8th.  Rev.  Dr. 
Marsh,  present  acting  pastor  (1879). 

Record  of  Deacons. — A.  D.  Sanders,  chosen  March  4,  1851, 
declined  to  serve;  R.  H.  Fairfield,  chosen  March  4,  1851,  de- 
clined to  serve  ;  Elam  Graves,  chosen  in  place  of  Sanders,  and 
now  in  office  ;  Thomas  H.  Ives,  chosen  in  place  of  Fairfield, 
died  in  1870;  Dr.  Wm.  Trow,  chosen  in  place  of  Ives,  1871, 
removed  from  town ;  Otis  W.  Lawrence,  chosen  1877,  and 
now  in  office. 

CATHOLIC   CHURCH   OF   HAYDENVILLE. 

The  establishment  of  this  church  was  due  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  Catholics  that  came  to  Haydenville  as  operatives  in  the 
factories.  They  not  only  sought  for  the  forms  of  religious 
worship  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  but  the  leading 
citizens  of  the  place,  with  wise  liberality,  favored  the  enter- 
prise, believing  that  its  iutiuencu  would  be  for  good  over  that 
portion  of  the  population  inclined  to  Catholic  usages.  These 
citizens  have  not  seen  any  cause  to  regret  their  action. 

The  house  of  worship  was  built  in  1864,  at  an  expense  of 
about  $1200.  It  is  a  fine  edifice,  and  occupies  a  handsome 
site,  which  was  donated  by  Hon.  Joel  Hayden. 

Father  Morse  was  the  first  pastor,  and  to  his  vigorous  ad- 
ministration—his wise  and  conciliatory  course — the  congre- 


gation are  greatly  indebted  for  the  substantial  church  and 
fiourishing  society. 

The  edifice  hius  a  seating  capacity  of  about  500  persons,  and 
the  services  are  largely  attended. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 
Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  town  the  following  action 
was  taken  : 

Voted  to  piirch:ise  land  at  or  near  the  southeast  corner  of  Jesse  Wild's  farm  he 
lives  upon  to  add  to  the  land  left  for  a  town  way  at  the  east  end  of  said  Wild's 
farm,  enough  to  lay  out  one  a/zve  and  a  half  in  a  form  suitable  for  a  burying- 
place. 

Voted  that  Simeon  ^\niite,  Samuel  Fairfield,  and  John  Nash  be  a  committee 
to  lay  out  the  land  for  the  burying-place  and  to  get  the  land  cleared,  fenced,  and 
rented  out,  all  to  the  beat  profit  of  the  district. 

That  is  now  known  as  the  old  burial-ground,  northwest  of 
Williamsburg  village.  It  is  still  in  use  to  some  extent,  and 
is  in  fair  preservation. 

There  is  a  burial-place  on  Mountain  Street,  dating  back  to 
early  times.  It  is  still  used  for  occasional  burials,  and  is 
fenced  and  cared  for  by  the  town. 

Burials  have  seldom  taken  place  on  private  lands. 

Upon  the  farm  of  Levi  B.  Nash  there  were  buried  some 
members  of  the  Green  family. 

The  graves  have  no  monuments  with  inscriptions. 

One  other  place  of  private  burial  is  mentioned,  but  the 
remains  were  removed. 

At  Williamsburg  village  is  the  new  cemetery,  having  a  fine 
location  and  ample  grounds.  It  is  on  the  Hill,  a  little  farther 
out  than  the  old,  and  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 

HAYDENVILLE   CEMETERY'. 

The  land  occupied  by  the  cemetery  was  conveyed  to  the 
town  by  Joel  and  Josiah  Hayden,  May  2,  1853,  and  transferred 
to  the  incorporated  association  March  22,  18-59.  The  first 
work  was  done  by  a  committee  of  the  town.  The  Haydenville 
Cemetery  Association  was  formed  Nov.  3,  1858.  At  the  first 
meeting  the  following  officers  were  chosen  :  Moderator,  L.  K. 
Baker;  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  Albert  D.  Sanders;  Directors, 
Joel  Hayden,  Sereno  Kingsley,  B.  S.  Johnson.  The  first 
person  buried  in  the  grounds  was  Josiah  Hayden,  father  of 
Joel  and  Josiah,  who  died  July  26,  1847,  aged  seventy-nine. 

Present  Officers. — Clerk  and  Treasurer,  Joel  Hayden ;  Di- 
rectors, Sereno  Kingsley,  B.  S.  Johnson. 

B.  S.  Johnson  Jias  been  superintendent  from  the  formation 
of  the  association  to  the  present  time. 

SOCIETIES,  BANKS,  Etc. 
A  Masonic  lodge  has  existed  for  some  years  in  Haydenville. 
Before  the  disaster  of  1874  it  had  a  fine  lodge-room  over  the 
savings-bank  in  the  extension  of  the  brass-factory.  Since 
then  and  now  it  has  a  lodge-room  in  the  second  story  of  Miller's 
Block. 

A   Y-OUNQ   men's    INSTITUTE 

was  organized  in  January,  1860,  as  follows:  President,  Albert 
D.  Sanders;  Vice-Presidents,  Daniel  F.  Morton,  Chauncey 
Rice  ;  Secretary,  Britton  Richardson ;  Treasurer,  Joel  Hay- 
den, Jr. ;  Directors,  Stephen  Crosby,  L.  K.  Baker,  M.  P. 
Burley,  Calvin  Fisher,  Wm.  O'Brien,  Philip  Ryan.  The  ob- 
jects of  the  institute  were  the  moral  and  intellectual  culture  of 
the  members.  The  members  above  sixteen  years  of  age  paid 
$2  per  annum,  those  under  sixteen  $1.  It  numbered  at  one 
time  fifty  or  more  members,  and  had  a  career  of  usefulness  for 
some  years. 

THE    HAY'DENVILLE   CORNET   BAND 

was  organized  in  1857,  under  the  lead  of  A.  V.  Shannon.  It 
was  composed  of  sixteen  members.  E.  D.  Ingraham  succeeded 
Mr.  Shannon  as  leader,  and  remained  in  that  position  two  and 
a  half  years,  being  succeeded  in  1856  by  Thomas  Gill,  from 
Worcester.  Charles  Horford,  Wm.  O'Brien,  and  James  H. 
Chamberlain  held  official  positions  for  many  years.    The  band 


HISTORY   OP  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


417 


is  in  great  favov  on  public  occasions,  and  its  services  are  called 
for  at  celebrations  and  at  political  gatherings. 

THK  UAYDKXVILLE  SAVIXGS-BAXK 
was  incorporated  March  17,  18li9.  An  organization  under  the 
charter  was  eilected  in  December,  1870,  and  business  was  com- 
menced Jan.  2,  1871.  The  tirst  officers  were  Lieut.-Gov.  Joel 
Hayden,  President;  Eichmond  Kingman,  Wm.  M.  Trow, 
Wm.  Skinner,  Joel  Ilaydcn,  Jr.,  Henry  L.  James,  Vice-Presi- 
dents ;  Stephen  M.  Cro.sby,  Secretary;  B.  S.  Johnson,  Treas. 
In  the  disaster  of  1874,  when  the  building  in  which  it  was 
located  was  destroyed,  the  bank-safe  was  carried  down  stream 
some  thirty  rods,  and  remained  in  the  mud  and  water  three 
days.  The  contents  were  practically  uninjured.  After  drying 
and  cleaning  them  of  mud  the  documents  were  legible  and  the 
securities  in  good  order.  The  actual  loss  to  the  bank  bj'  the 
flood  was  less  than  .?100. 

WILLIAMSBURG    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION 

was  organized  Dec.  21,  1876,  each  member  paying  an  admis- 
sion fee  of  S2,  and  annual  dues  §1.  Gifts  have  been  received 
as  follows:  E.  C.  Rodman,  of  Toledo,  52.J0  ;  Luther  James, 
Ann  Arbor,  |200;  Mrs.  Samuel  Williston,  Easthampton,  .5100. 
The  present  board  of  directors  are  L.  D.  James,  President ; 
James  M.  Foster,  Vice-President;  John  W.  Hill,  Secretary; 
Wm.  A.  Hawks,  Librarian  and  Treasurer  ;  Charles  Short, 
Mrs.  L.  D.  James,  Miss  Minnie  Bodman.  Number  of  vol- 
umes, 100  of  history  ;  79  of  biograjihy  ;  55  of  travel ;  49  of 
science  and  art ;  222  Action  ;  32  poetry  and  the  drama ;  52 
miscellaneous,  with  a  collection  of  public  documents.  It  is  an 
enterprise  of  great  merit. 

PLACES  OP  HISTORIC  INTEREST  OR  OF  SPECIAL  NOTE. 
Several  of  these  appear  in  the  general  narrative,  and  need 
no  further  description.  The  site  of  the  first  meeting-house, 
with  all  of  its  sacred  associations,  and  the  story  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  meeting  held  there,  when  the  messenger  with 
the  news  of  Burgoyne's  advancing  forces  burst  in  upon  the 
morning  sermon,  forms  a  point  worthy  of  note.  The  location 
of  John  Miller's  first  log  cabin,  where  he  settled  all  alone  in 
the  forest,  daring  all  the  risks  of  savage  attack  and  welcoming 
the  howl  of  wild  animals,  will  always  have  a  special  interest  to 
the  student  of  pioneer  life.  The  Delevan  place,  Capt.  Fair- 
field's ancient  tavern,  and  the  place  of  the  old  historic  oak 
must  enter  into  this  catalogue  ;  and  many  other  places  with 
similar  associations  will  occur  to  those  who  read  the  annals  of 
the  town.  Finally,  the  broken  reservoir  and  the  scarred 
channel  below  will,  for  generations  to  come,  be  pointed  out  as 
the  scene  of  the  most  terrific  disaster  of  modern  times. 

INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS. 
The  occupation  of  early  times  was  chiefly  agriculture.  The 
extensive  and  valuable  forests  gave  rise  to  a  large  amount  of 
wood  and  lumber  business.  Charcoal  was  burned  to  some  ex- 
tent for  market.  All  the  crops  usual  to  these  hill  towns  were 
raised.  The  soil  was  productive,  and  yielded  fair  returns  for 
the  labor  of  the  pioneers.  The  mountain  slopes  aflorded  ex- 
cellent pasturage  for  the  fattening  of  beef  and  the  success  of 
the  dairy.  In  later  times,  of  course,  the  mills  and  factories 
absorbed  general  attention.  When  the  business  of  manufac- 
turing prospered,  the  farmers  prospered  ;  meciiaiiics  had  abun- 
dant employment,  and  merchants  made  quick  and  profitable 
sales.  When  manufactures  diminished,  all  other  departments 
of  business  were  embarrassed.  Hence  the  disaster  of  1874 
was  a  blow  to  all.  In  the  place  of  wealth  there  came  to  many 
poverty.  In  the  place  of  business  activity  came  stagnation, 
paralysis.  In  the  place  of  abundant  facilities,  demolished 
factories,  ruined  machinery,  and  crippled  resources.  The 
danger  of  living  near  the  banks  of  the  streams,  together  with 
the  hard  times,  reduced  the  value  of  homesteads.  There  were 
many  to  sell  and  few  to  buy.  With  a  third  of  the  business 
53 


and  wealth  of  the  town  swept  away,  and  nuich  of  it  irrecover- 
ably lost,  merchants  could  no  longer  make  extensive  sales. 
Men  of  abundant  means  who  seemed  to  stand  the  first  shock 
of  the  disaster  proved  to  be  more  embarrassed  than  was  ex- 
pected, and  some  went  down  in  the  storm  of  commercial  dis- 
tress that  followed  the  flood. 

For  five  weary  years  Williamsburg  has  not  only  mourned 
over  the  dead,  over  pleasant  homes  desolated  and  destroyed, 
but  over  the  ruins  of  business  life.  Yet  heart  and  hope  re- 
main. The  courage  of  brave  men  to  face  business  disaster  has 
been  sorely  tested.  There  is  a  native  strength  of  character,  a 
heroic  firmness,  that  comes  out  clearly  in  this  time  of  trouble. 
A  portion  of  the  factories  were  rebuilt  soon  after  the  flood. 
With  the  revival  of  business  throughout  the  country  there 
will  no  doubt  come  to  Williamsburg  a  reasonable  share  ;  and 
though  many  j'ears  must  elapse  before  the  wealth  of  former 
times  will  again  exist  in  this  valley,  yet  a  fair  degree  of  suc- 
cess will  no  doubt  reward  the  patience  and  perseverance  of 
those  who  abide  by  the  old  homesteads,  walk  in  the  old  ways, 
and  practice  the  old  virtues  of  the  fathers, — honest}',  industry, 
economy. 

Among  other  varied  productions  of  agriculture,  it  ought  to 
be  noted  that  this  town  produces  large  quantities  of  apples 
now,  as  it  did  in  former  j-ears.  One  of  the  finest  orchards  in 
Massachusetts  is  that  of  Prescott  WiUiams.  He  has  20  acres 
of  young,  thrifty  trees,  constituting  an  orchard  that  resembles 
those  of  the  best  fruit-growing  districts  in  Western  New  York. 

MILLS,    FACTORIES,  ETC. 

HayilcnviUc. — The  earliest  improvement  of  the  water-privi- 
lege at  the  present  site  of  Haydenville  was  the  erection  of  a 
saw-mill  in  1785,  by  Samuel  Fairfield  and  John  Miller,  upon 
the  place  where  the  pen-factory  afterward  stood.  The  old 
saw-mill  was  still  standing  there  in  1824,  but  was  soon  after 
removed. 

A  grist-mill,  the  first  and  only  one  ever  operated  in  Hayden- 
ville, was  erected  about  1800,  by  Lieut.  Joshua  Thayer,  and 
stood  near  the  old  Cornelius  Tileston  place.  Soon  after  this 
mill  was  built,  a  freshet  swept  away  the  dam  and  turned  the 
mill  partly  over. 

The  current  of  the  river  was  turned  into  the  highway,  and 
completely  took  po.ssession  of  it  as  far  down  as  the  dugway  hill. 
A  large  hole  was  made  in  the  road,  in  front  of  the  mill,  and 
the  public  travel  was  compelled  to  pass  around  it  for  several 
years.  The  hole  was  finally  filled,  but  it  was  distinguishable 
for  many  years.  The  dam  was  never  rebuilt ;  all  traces  of  the 
mill  were  swept  away,  and  thus  ended  the  brief  history  of  the 
grist-mill  of  Haydenville. 

In  1837,  Esdras  F.  Fairfield  and  Cyrus  Miller  built  a  saw- 
mill nearly  opposite  the  thread-factory  of  later  years.  Its 
water-power  was  lost  by  the  construction  of  the  dam  for  the 
cotton-factory,  and  the  mill  itself  was  burned  in  1847. 

The  foundry  was  probably  established  as  early  as  1824. 
David  Hyde,  George  W.  Holmes,  Wm.  Lewis,  Lyman  Litch- 
field, Josiah  Hayden,  and  John  A.  Root  were  proprietors  at 
various  times.  The  latter  commenced  about  1839,  in  the 
building  used  by  his  predecessors,  where  the  pen-factory  of 
later  years  stood.  In  1844  he  erected  the  large  buildings  east 
of  the  hotel,  and  the  business  afterward  passed  to  Boland  & 
Graves,  who  continued  it  for  many  years. 

The  business  was  not  resumed  after  the  flood.  The  brass 
business  was  carried  on  there  for  a  time.  The  business  was  run 
by  the  Hayden  Foundry  Company  for  several  years. 

The  erection  of  the  first  mill  for  manufacturing  purposes  in 
Haydenville  was  commenced  in  1809,  by  Daniel  and  David 
Hayden  (uncles  of  Joel  and  Josiah),  Seth  Thompson,  and 
Melitier  Everett,  of  Foxboro'.  This  mill  was  of  wood,  two 
stories  high  and  31  feet  square.  The  building  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  present  brass-works.  The  proprietors  put  in  128  spindles, 
and  commenced  manufacturing  cotton  yarn.     The  mill  was 


418 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


run  from  1812  to  1818.  At  the  time  the  mill  was  opened 
cotton  yarn  was  selling  at  one  dollar  a  pound  for  No.  16. 
Durinj;  the  war  with  Great  Britain  the  business  was  very 
flourishing,  but  on  the  conolusion  of  peace  it  gradually  failed, 
and  was  closed.  Prom  1818  to  1822  the  building  stood  unused. 
At  the  latter  date  Joel  Hayden  and  James  Congdon  purchased 
the  property,  rebuilt  the  dam,  made  a  new  canal,  repaired  the 
building,  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of  power-looms 
for  weaving  broadcloth.  They  continued  that  business  until 
1828.     The  firm-name  was  Congdon  &  Hayden. 

In  182.J,  Guy  Trumbull  was  admitted,  and  the  style  of  the 
firm  became  Congdon,  Hayden  &  Co.  Mr.  Congdon  with- 
drew in  1827.  Josiah  Hayden,  Jr.,  came  into  the  partnership, 
and  the  name  was  changed  to  Hayden,  Trumbull  &  Co.  The 
mill  was  enlarged  in  1825  to  twice  its  original  size,  and  various 
kinds  of  machinery  were  manufactured.  Mr.  Trumbull  died 
in  1828.  In  18.31,  Joel  and  Josiah  Hayden,  who  now  consti- 
tuted the  firm,  commenced  the  manufacture  of  japanned  but- 
tons, tin  buttons,  button-molds,  and  metal-shanked  lasting 
buttons,  having  previously  manufactured  door-locks  and  har- 
ness-trimmings. Early  on  Sunday  morning,  Nov.  -1,  1832,  the 
mill  was  entirely  destroyed  by  tire.  It  was  insured  for  §2-500. 
In  the  spring  of  1833  the  work  of  rebuilding  was  commenced, 
and  the  building  then  erected  was  the  main  portion  of  the  one 
that  was  destroyed  in  the  disaster  of  187-1.  It  was  64  by  32 
feet,  and  three  stories  in  height.  Two  wings,  two  stories  high, 
were  afterward  added,  making  the  length  104  feet  in  all.  On 
opening  the  new  factory  the  Messrs.  Hayden  separated  their 
business,  both  continuing.  The  making  of  machinery  was 
given  up,  and  the  button  business  continued. 

Joel  Hayden  commenced  experimenting  with  pruncl  or 
lasting  buttons  by  machinery,  the  same  buttons  that  were 
afterward  de.scribed  as  "flexible-shanked  lasting  buttons." 
The  first  of  these  buttons  made  in  this  country  were  made  at 
this  factory.  The  flexible  buttons  took  the  place  of  the  sewed 
buttons  then  made  by  Mr.  Williston,  of  Easthampton,  and 
Messrs.  Hayden  and  Williston  entered  into  a  joint  arrange- 
ment for  the  manufacture  of  these  buttons.  They  employed 
about  200  hands,  mostly  females.  In  1848,  Mr.  Williston 
bought  out  Mr.  Haydcn's  interest  and  removed  the  business  to 
Easthampton. 

In  August,  1846,  Joel  Hayden  and  A.  D.  Sanders  com- 
menced erecting  a  stone  dam  near  the  old  saw-mill  dam,  about 
a  third  of  a  mile  below  the  one  at  the  button-factory,  and  in 
1847  erected  the  cotton-factory.  This  mill  was  fitted  up  with 
4000  spindles, — the  building  being  132  feet  long,  46  wide,  and 
4  stories  in  height.  Its  capacity  was  equal  to  18,000  to  20,000 
yards  of  sheeting  per  week.  Seventy  or  eighty  hands  were 
employed.  A.  D.  Sanders  was  the  first  general  manager,  and 
later  Stephen  M.  Crosby  became  superintendent.  In  1857 
the  partnership  of  Hayden  &  Sanders  was  superseded  bj'  an 
incorporated  association,  known  as  the  Hayden  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  The  entire  stock  was,  however,  held  by  the 
Haydens  and  by  Sanders.  The  goods  of  this  mill  immedi- 
ately attained  a  high  rank  in  the  market.  The  same  mill  is 
still  in  operation.  The  dam  was  destroyed  and  the  buildings 
somewhat  damaged,  but  not  destroyed,  in  1874.  In  1858  the 
saw-mill  erected  by  Messrs.  Hayden  &  Sanders  was  con- 
verted into  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  glazed  thread. 
This  business  passed  to  the  Hayden  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  Britton  Richardson  was  the  superintendent  of  that  de- 
partment. This  was  discontinued  after  a  few  years  ;  build- 
ing afterward  used  for  the  manufacture  of  tobacco. 

After  the  button  business  was  removed,  in  1848,  locks  and 
other  varieties  of  hardware  goods  were  made  by  Hayden  & 
Sanders,  and  in  January,  1851,  Hayden  &  Sanders  com- 
menced the  manufacture  of  plumbers'  goods  on  a  small  scale, 
occupying  the  button-factory,  which  had  stood  unused  after 
the  removal  of  the  button  business.  One  hundred  hands  were 
soon  employed.     Besides  Hayden  &  Sanders,  Sereno  Kings- 


ley  and  Edward  W.  Gere  were  members  of  the  firm,  under 
the  name  of  Hayden,  Sanders  &  Co.  Mr.  Gere  was  at  the 
head  of  the  New  York  house  that  was  established  in  connec- 
tion with  the  business.  The  men  engaged  in  it  were  all 
practically  fitted  by  their  previous  training  and  experience  to 
successfully  carry  on  the  business.  This  afterward  was  better 
known  as  Hayden,  Gere  &  Co.'s  Brass-Works.  After  the 
flood  the  buildings  were  replaced,  and  the  business  is  still  car- 
ried on,  about  200  hands  being  employed. 

In  1833,  on  the  erection  of  the  brick  building,  Josiah  Hay- 
den, as  already  stated,  commenced  business  alone,  manufac- 
turing japanned  buttons  and  button-molds,  using  a  part  of 
this  factory,  and  employing  8  to  12  hands.  He  continued 
this  branch  of  business  for  sixteen  years,  or  until  184!t.  Ten 
years  before,  he  began  to  make  steel  pens  with  Andrew  Ad- 
ams, of  Middletown,  Conn.,  as  foreman.  He  returned  to 
Connecticut  after  three  years'  service,  and  Mr.  Burke  became 
foreman.  In  1845,  Mr.  Hayden  sold  out  his  interest  in  this 
business  to  Williston  and  William  E.  Thayer,  who  removed 
the  manufacture  to  Williamsburg  village. 

In  the  autumn  of  1845,  Josiah  Hayden  associated  with  him- 
self Rollin  Dawson,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  gold  pens,  and  continued  the  business  until 
March,  1848.  Dawson,  Warren  &  Hjde  succeeded  to  the 
business,  to  which  they  afterward  added  the  manufacture  of 
fine  jewelry.  Mr.  AVarren  conducted  the  business  in  New 
York. 

In  1844,  Josiah  Hayden  began  to  manufacture  horn  buttons, 
erecting  for  that  purpose  the  building  afterward  known  as 
the  pen-factory.  Mr.  Hayden  visited  Europe  to  acquire  in- 
formation on  this  business,  and  brought  back  with  him  a 
number  of  skilled  operatives, — among  them  A.  P.  Critchlow, 
John  Tonniclift",  and  Joseph  B.  Whitehouse  (afterward  well 
known  in  these  manufacturing  villages).  The  business  was 
not,  however,  very  remunerative.  Mr.  Hayden  removed  to 
South  Boston,  and  his  business  operations  were  not  resumed 
in  Haydenvillc. 

In  April,  1846,  William  I.  Johnson  commenced  manufac- 
turing machinery  in  the  old  foundry  building,  and  in  No- 
vember of  that  year  formed  a  copartnership  with  Charles  B. 
Johnson,  under  the  firm-name  W.  I.  Johnson  &  Co.  In 
January,  1848,  Mr.  C.  B.  Johnson  retired  on  account  of  fail- 
ing health.  W.  I.  Johnson  conducted  the  business  alone  for 
a  few  months,  and  then  relinquished  it  to  John  A.  Root,  the 
proprietor  of  the  foundry.  This  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Boland  &  Graves. 

Skinncz-fillc. — The  foundation  of  that  village,  of  which 
scarcely  anything  now  remains  except  the  site, — and  that  torn 
to  pieces  by  the  great  flood, — was  begun  in  1832,  by  Joseph  I. 
Lewis  and  J.  J.  Goodell.  They  built  a  small  ftxctory  and 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  bits  and  stocks.  Mr.  Goodell 
remained  about  two  years,  and  after  his  removal  Mr.  Lewis 
made  britannia  spoons,  harness-trimmings,  and  faucets.  In 
1842  he  moved  to  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
partnership  of  Simeon  P.  Graves  and  Charles  Hayden.  In 
1845  the  business  passed  to  Col.  Reed,  who  proceeded  to  man- 
ufactui-e  tacks ;  Mr.  Josiah  Hayden  was  also  interested  in  the 
enterprise.  Samuel  S.  Wells  was  the  next  proprietor,  taking 
possession  in  1851.  In  18-53  he  .sold  out  the  property  to  Mr. 
AV'm.  Skinner,  of  Northampton,  and  removed  to  South  Bos- 
ton. Mr.  Skinner,  taking  possession  in  March,  18-54,  entered 
with  great  energy  upon  the  manufacture  of  sewing-silks  and 
twists.  His  success  soon  required  increased  facilities.  In 
1857  he  erected  a  foctory  80  feet  long  and  30  wide  and  three 
stories  high.  His  business  steadily  increased.  His  silks  were 
noted  for  their  excellence,  and  found  a  quick  demand  in  mar- 
ket. The  thrift  and  energy  displayed  by  Mr.  Skinner  soon 
created  a  neat  village,  which  clustered  around  the  factory 
where  the  numerous  operatives  lived.  The  business  was  con- 
tinued, greater  facilities  were  secured,  more  hands  employed. 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


419 


and  the  pUice  iip|iropriately  became  known  as  SkiriiicrriUc. 
His  works  were  culled  the  Unciuomonk  Mills.  This  business 
continued  in  active  operation  down  to  May  10,  1874.  The 
great  flood  of  thut  morning  destroyed  the  mills  and  the  village. 
Mr.  Skinner,  after  some  hesitation,  decided  not  to  rebuild 
either  upon  that  site  or  anywhere  upon  Mill  River.  This 
was  a  matter  of  serious  regret  to  the  citizens  of  Williams- 
burg, and  Mr.  Skinner  was  probably  loath  to  leave  the  place 
associated  with  nearly  eighteen  years  of  his  active  life.  But 
business  considerations  prevailed.  He  located  at  Holyoke, 
and  Skinnerville  c.\ists  only  upon  the  maps  published  before 
1874. 

Water-Poiver  improved  in  the  Town  generaUy. — On  Beaver 
Brook,  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town,  was  the  earliest  saw- 
mill erected  in  Williamsburg,  and  probably  the  first  improve- 
ment of  a  Avater-privilege  for  any  purpose.  It  stood  a  short 
distance  above  the  Mather  Warren  saw-mill  of  later  years, 
and  was  erected,  it  is  supposed,  in  1770.  It  is  further  stated 
of  it  that  it  was  once  burnt  by  the  Indians,  and  also  that 
lumber  for  the  meeting-house  in  Hatfield  was  sawed  there. 
The  date  given  does  not  accord  with  cither  of  these  incidents. 
Indians  are  not  generally  understood  to  have  done  any  work 
of  destruction  here  as  late  as  1770,  and  there  was  no  meeting- 
house built  in  Hatfield  between  1750  and  1849.  The  state- 
ment might,  however,  apply  to  lumber  for  repairs  that  were 
made  at  various  times.  On  the  whole,  the  date  of  the  erection 
of  the  mill  is  very  "clearly"  in  doubt.  The  Mather  Warren 
mill  below  was  built  in  1822.  This  was  abandoned  some 
years  since. 

On  Beaver  Brook  also  was  a  wood-turning  establishment, 
sometimes  locally  called  the  "  fiddle-shop."  It  was  near  the 
present  place  of  Francis  Loomis.  - 

On  Joe  Wright's  Brook  was  an  early  saw-mill,  owned  by 
the  Warrens  (Seth  and  Aaron).  This  dated  back  probably 
to  the  first  settlement  of  the  town.  On  the  same  site  was 
afterward  a  saw-mill,  and  also  a  "  ginilet-mill,"  so  called. 
The  buildings  are  still  standing,  but  no  business  is  carried  on 
there. 

In  the  south  part  of  the  town,  on  Unquomonk  Brook,  was 
a  saw-mill  in  early  times.  It  was  built  near  the  present 
house  of  Almon  Warner,  and  was  established  by  his  father. 

Farther  north,  on  Moekins'  Brook,  was  an  early  grist-mill, 
near  the  present  place  of  Christopher  Meekins  and  M.  Guil- 
ford. The  dam  was  some  distance  above,  and  the  water  was 
brought  to  the  mill  in  a  ditch.  It  is  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Meekins  that  this  was  built  as  early  as  1770,  which  is  the 
same  date  mentioned  above  for  the  saw-mill  on  Beaver  Brook. 
This  grist-mill  was  tended  by  Amasa  Graves. 

On  the  main  stream  of  Mill  River,  above  Williamsburg 
village,  was  a  saw-mill  in  early  times,  a  half-mile  or  more 
below  the  reservoir.  This  was  so  old  an  affair  as  to  be  nearly 
forgotten  by  many  citizens.  Some  of  the  foundation  timbers 
were  uncovered  by  the  great  flood  of  1874. 

On  the  northwestern  branch,  uniting  somewhat  south  of  the 
reservoir,  was  another  saw-mill,  known  as  Merritt's;  this 
was  abandoned  twenty  years  ago  or  more.  On  the  main 
stream,  above  Williamsburg  village  a  mile  or  so,  was  a  saw- 
mill, built  by  Leonard  Dwight.  It  was  at  the  place  where 
Robert  Dorsey  now  has  a  quarry.  At  the  west  side  of  the 
town,  on  Mill  Brook,  flowing  down  from  Goshen,  were  the 
mills  of  Asa  White, — wood-turning  shops.  These  were  very 
near  the  town  line.  At  the  place  now  called  Searsville  was  a 
saw-mill  as  early  as  1810,  run  by  Eleazcr  Hyde  for  several 
years. 

The  pioneer  at  this  point  was  Rufus  Hyde,  who  was  a  black- 
smith, and  came  to  Williamsburg  in  1774.  He  worked  at  his 
trade  in  an  ordinary  shop  for  several  years.  In  1795  he  built 
a  larger  .shop,  with  a  trip-hammer.  This  was  continued  for 
nearly  or  quite  forty  years  by  Mr.  Hyde,  and  by  his  sons  suc- 
ceeding him.     The  Hydes  were   "skilled  in  all  manner"  of 


iron-work  ;  axes,  scythes,  and  other  tools  were  made  here, 
and  went  far  and  wide  through  the  country.  Thea.xe-making 
works  of  the  llannums  were  on  the  hill  back  from  the  stream. 

Abell's  clothing-works  were  established  quite  early  at  this 
jilace,  followed  by  a  woolen-mill  on  a  large  scale. 

Stark's  cotton-mill  was  also  located  at  Searsville.  There 
were  also  wood-turning  works. 

When  the  earlier  woolen-mill  went  down  it  was  rebuilt  by 
Nathaniel  Sears.  Between  Searsville  and  Williamsburg  was 
a  grist-mill  of  later  date. 

The  old  tannery  at  Williamsburg  was  established  by  Deacon 
Jo.seph  Bodman,  probably  about  1820.  He  carried  it  on  dur- 
ing his  life,  and  his  son,  Erastus  Bodman,  succeeded  him  for 
a  time.  After  him  there  was  a  firm.  Graves  &  Lamb,  who 
ran  it  for  a  time.  The  buildings  had  been  appropriated  to 
manufacturing  purposes  before  the  flood  of  1874.  Since  that 
event  the  buildings  have  stood  unused. 

At  William.sburg,  Hill's  grist-mill  was  erected  pretty  early, 
near  the  bridge  at  Hiram  Hill's  present  place.  The  mill  was 
built  by  his  grandfather.  It  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the 
stream.     There  was  a  saw-mill  upon  the  east  side,  opposite. 

Edmund  Taylor  had  a  grist-mill,  probably  from  1820  to 
18:iO,  on  Mill  Brook,  at  or  near  the  site  of  H.  G.  Hill's  wood- 
turning  works. 

William  Wing  had  a  fulling-mill  at  Searsville  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century. 

There  was  also  a  clothier-shop  at  Williamsburg  village,  at 
the  same  water-power  that  is  now  employed  by  W^oodward  & 
Lyman  for  making  buttons.  The  cloth-dressing  was  by 
Abisha  Stearns. 

Nearly  o])positc  Carter's  store,  south  side  of  the  bridge,  was 
Alfred  Boduuin's  clothier  establishment. 

Ambi'ose  Stone,  from  Goshen,  came  to  William.sburg  and 
established  a  woolen-factory,  on  a  small  .scale  at  first,  on  the 
site  of  the  present  James  Factory.  After  a  few  years  the 
property  passed  to  Lewis  Bodman  and  W.  S.  Pierce.  At  the 
death  of  Mr.  Pierce  it  was  sold  to  E.  L.  James,  and  has  been 
known  as  the  "James  Factory"  ever  since.  It  is  still  in 
operation. 

Gross  Williams  had  a  noted  cider-mill,  at  the  site  of  Wood- 
ward &  Lyman's  works.  A  distillery  was  connected  with  it. 
Williams  also  had  potash-works  near  where  Roj'al  Rice  now 
lives. 

Henry  James,  with  the  same  power,  ran  plane-making  ma- 
chinerj'  until  he  was  burned  out. 

Lewis  Bodman  had  a  woolen-yarn  factory  at  Searsville  for 
many  j'cars. 

At  the  present  time  (1879)  there  is  in  operation  at  W^illiams- 
burg  a  grist-mill  with  a  single  run  of  stones,  operated  by  H. 
G.  Hill,  and  doing  a  good  business.  There  is  a  saw-mill  above 
toward  Searsville,  operated  by  the  Bradford  Brothers. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  for  the  year 
ending  May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values 
as  stated : 

Butter,  $13,320;  beef,  $17,832;  hay,  $29,127;  manure, 
$7775;  potatoes,  $5063;  tobacco,  $5540;  milk,  $4784;  pork, 
$3860;  firewood,  $8379;  apples,  $2350. 

THE  MILL  RIVER  DISASTER  OF  1874. 

A  notice  of  this  fearful  event  must  necessarily  have  a  place 
in  these  sketches,  difficult  as  it  is  to  secure  accuracy  of  state- 
ment in  a  case  where  the  ruin  was  so  quickly  wrought  and 
estimates  of  time  by  eye-witnesses  differ  so  much. 

THK    RESERVOIR. 

This  was  situated  on  the  east  branch  of  Mill  River,  about 
three  miles  from  the  village  of  Williamsburg,  and  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  town.  The  stream  which  supplied  it  has 
its  rise  only  a  short  distance  above.  At  the  village  of  Wil- 
liamsburg this  east  branch  unites  with  the  west  branch,  and 


420 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


forms  Mill  Kivcr  proper,  wliich  flows  through  Havdcnvillc  and 
Florence,  and  empties  into  the  Connecticut  at  Northampton. 

The  reservoir  was  constructed  in  1865,  and  finished  the 
middle  of  December,  though  it  was  not  filled  until  the  following 
spring. 

The  contractors  were  Emorj'  B.  Wells,  of  Northampton, 
and  Joel  Bassett,  of  Easthampton.  The  price  paid  them  was 
$3-5,000.  The  stipulations  in  substance  required  the  dam  to  be 
a  stone  wall  resting  on  solid  rock  or  hard  pan  8  feet  wide  at 
the  bottom,  and  sloping  so  as  to  be  2  feet  in  width  at  the  top. 
It  was  to  be  42  feet  in  height  above  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
This  wall  was  to  be  laid  in  the  best  known  cement,  so  that,  as 
the  projectors  claimed,  it  would  be  like  a  single  shaft  of  granite. 
This  wall  was  to  be  enveloped  by  a  mass  of  earth  rising  2  feet 
higher  than  the  wall  and  covering  it,  as  a  protection  from  frost. 
This  mass  of  earth  was  to  be  10  feet  or  more  in  width  on  the 
top.  From  the  top  the  earth  was  to  slope  downward  on  the 
upper  side  at  an  angle  of  30  degrees  ;  on  the  lower  side  at  an 
angle  of  45  degrees.  This  was  to  give  an  entire  thickness  at 
the  bottom  of  120  feet ;  the  greater  mass  of  which  was  to  be 
on  the  upper  side  of  the  stone  wall.  For  regulating  the  flow 
of  water  there  was  to  be  an  iron  tube  2  feet  in  diameter,  in- 
closed in  masonry,  e.\tending  through  the  dam,  nearly  in  the 
centre  and  projecting  a  few  feet  beyond  the  earthen  wall  above 
and  below  ;  the  tube  to  be  opened  and  closed  by  gates.  The 
dam  was  completed.  The  public  generally  gave  little  atten- 
tion to  the  work  while  it  was  in  progress.  No  suspicion  of  any 
real  danger  seems  to  have  arisen,  or,  if  there  did,  no  public 
expression  was  given  to  the  fear. 

It  was  supposed  that  the  clear-headed  capitalists  who  had 
made  this  valley  to  resound  with  the  busy  hum  of  industrv, 
who  had  built  such  a  magnificent  chain  of  mills  and  factories, 
thoroughly  understood  their  own  business.  The  people  saw 
only  a  gigantic  enterprise  of  capital,  which  would  make  the 
power  that  gave  life  to  their  villages  only  more  permanent, 
and  their  own  means  of  prosperity  only  more  certain. 

The  dam  was  high  enough  to  raise  a  pond  covering  111 
acres,  and  averaging  24  feet  in  depth.  The  water  never  rose 
quite  to  the  crest  of  the  dam,  being  kc])t  about  two  feet  below 
bj'  a  waste-weir. 

Thus  was  this  vast  volume  of  water  gathered  as  a  magazine 
of  power  above  the  villages  of  the  valley  ;  containing,  when 
full,  the  enormous  amount  of  110,043,840  cubic  feet. 

The  reservoir  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  watchman,  who  \vas 
paid  .5200  a  year  to  open  and  shut  the  gates  and  keep  an  over- 
sight of  the  works.  No  system  of  signaling  down  the  valley 
was  provided.  The  watchman  was  George  Cheney,  who  lived 
in  a  small  house  near  by.  Mr.  O.  G.  Spellman  was  Mr. 
Cheney's  superior  oiBcer,  having  the  general  oversight  of  the 
reservoir,  and  resided  at  "Williamsburg  village.  The  reser- 
voir was  built  and  owned  by  the  associated  mill  proprietors, 
under  the  name  of  "  The  Mill  Kiver  and  Williamsburg  Keser- 
voir  Company." 

THE    SITUATION. 

The  reservoir  had  been  in  use  eight  years.  Holding  ready 
such  a  volume  of  water,  the  mills  had  been  enabled  to  run 
steadily  through  the  dry  season  without  interruption  or  any 
great  diminution  of  power.  Along  the  river  below  were  the 
villages  of  Williamsburg,  Skinnerville,  Haydenville,  Leeds, 
Florence,  and  Northampton.  At  all  these  there  were  many 
dwelling-houses  standing  near  the  river.  In  a  mountainous 
region  freshets  were  of  course  e.xpected,  but  previous  to  the 
reservoir  system  the  danger  had  never  been  sufficient  to  deter 
the  people  from  building  convenient  to  the  mills  or  upon  the 
pleasant  meadows  that  lay  along  the  stream.  To  seek  the 
high  ground  for  their  homes  had  never  seemed  necessary. 
Little  loss  of  life  had  ever  occurred  in  New  England  by 
freshets ;  damage  to  property  was  to  be  endured  as  one  of  the 
incidental  expenses  in  carrying  on  business  along  these  rapid 
streams. 


Besides  the  dwellings,  there  were  the  factories  that  had 
created  as  it  were  three  of  these  villages  and  enriched  them 
all. 

At  Williamsburg,  Skinnerville,  Haydenville,  were  the  busi- 
ness enterprises  mentioned  elsewhere.  For  the  mills  at  Leeds 
and  Florence  reference  is  made  to  the  history  of  Northamp- 
ton. 

Thus  in  the  month  of  May,  1874,  there  was  standing  all 
along  this  valley  a  costly  array  of  mills,  factories,  shops,  of- 
fices, and  banks.  Nearly  all  were  in  operation.  The  finan- 
cial crash  of  the  previous  year,  while  it  had  diminished  the 
amount  of  business,  had  not  wrought  the  ruin  it  afterward 
caused  in  closed  mills,  silent  factories,  and  paralyzed  trade. 
Especially  had  its  iron  pressure  not  been  severe  in  this  valley, 
full  of  wealth,  energy,  and  activity.  This  was  the  situation 
May  15,  1874.  The  stream  was  low;  families  retired  to  rest 
with  no  thought  of  impending  danger;  mill-owners,  bankers, 
capitalists  were  engrossed  in  their  schemes  for  the  future ;  all 
was  peace,  prosperity,  comfort,  and  domestic  happiness.  The 
morning  of  the  10th  dawned, — the  fatal  day  had  come. 

THE   ALARM. 

The  reservoir  was  full.  George  Cheney  was  at  his  post  of 
duty.  It  was  his  work  to  inspect  the  dam  every  morning. 
That  morning  about  six  o'clock  he  looked  over  the  condition 
of  afi'airs,  and  found  them  satisfactory.  The  gate  was  closed, 
as  it  had  been  for  several  days.  The  water  was  flowing  over 
the  waste-weir  at  the  west  end.  He  returned  to  the  house, 
and  the  family  sat  down  to  breakfast.  As  they  were  finishing 
the  meal  a  great  noise  was  heard,  and  Cheney's  father,  who 
was  standing  by  the  window,  exclaimed,  "  For  God's  sake, 
George,  look  there!"  About  40  feet  in  length  of  the  earthy 
portion  of  the  dam  upon  the  lower  side  beyond  the  gate  was 
giving  out,  shooting  down  stream.  Cheney  took  in  the  situ- 
ation at  a  glance.  Instantly  he  dashed  down  the  bank  and 
opened  the  gate  full  width,  hoping  to  relieve  the  immense 
pressure.  Pausing  an  instant,  he  saw  portions  of  the  exposed 
wall  falling  and  streams  of  water  forcing  their  way  through. 
He  was  convinced  the  whole  would  give  way  soon.  Hurrying 
to  the  barn,  he  threw  a  bridle  upon  his  horse,  and,  springing 
upon  the  unsaddled  animal,  he  began  that  wild  ride  which 
has  passed  into  history.  Da.shing  along  the  road  that  skirted 
the  bank  of  the  stream,-and  directly  in  the  track  of  the  coming 
flood,  but  fifteen  minutes  are  said  to  have  elapsed  when  he 
had  passed  over  the  three  miles  and  reined  up  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Spellman.  Cheney  said  to  him,  "  The  reservoir  is  going." 
Spellman,  who  had  seen  it  the  night  before  and  considered  it 
safe,  could  not  believe  the  frightened  messenger,  and  replied, 
"No  ;  it  can't  be  possible."  A  few  minutes  here  lost  by  in- 
decision were  full  of  peril ;  but,  soon  convinced  that  the  dan- 
ger was  real,  he  sent  Cheney  to  Belcher's  for  a  fresh  horse  to 
ride  down  and  give  the  alarm.  Collins  Graves,  on  his  morning 
ride  delivering  milk,  saw  Cheney  and  Belcher,  heard  the  frag- 
mentary story  the  former  was  telling,  and  replied,  "  If  the  dam 
is  breaking,  the  folks  below  must  know  it,"  and  drove  out  for 
Haydenville.  The  Williamsburg  bells  were  rung  at  a  quarter 
before  eight  o'clock.  About  fifteen  minutes,  it  is  supposed, 
elapsed  between  the  time  Cheney  reached  Spellman's  and  the 
time  when  Graves  started. 

Graves  made  directly  for  the  manufactories,  supposing  others 
would  easily  hear  the  warning,  but  the  operatives  would  be 
prevented  by  the  noise  of  the  machinery.  At  Skinnerville  he 
was  but  a  short  time  ahead  of  the  fiood,  though  he  himself 
was  not  aware  of  that  fact.  At  Haydenville  there  was  less 
time,  but  it  sufficed  to  save  many  lives  that  must  have  other- 
wise perished.  Here,  Myron  Day,  seated  in  a  light  wagon, 
catching  the  word  from  Collins  Graves  or  others,  and  seeing 
the  flood  itself  above  the  brass-works,  started  on  the  instant 
fnr  Leeds.  Lashing  his  horse  into  a  foam,  he  barely  kept 
ahead  of  the  seething  waves,  until,  dashing  into  the  defile 


Cyrus  Miller  is  a  grandson  of  John  Miller,  the  first 
settler  of  Williamsburt;.  The  history  of  the  latter  is  very 
fully  given  in  coiinootion  with  the  general  sketch  of  the 
town.  John  Miller  had  three  sons,  Stephen,  Cyrus,  John, 
and  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Asa  Wright,  of  Northampton. 

This  early  pioneer  lived  for  a  year  or  two  in  the  log 
house  fir.st  erected  by  him,  and  then  built  a  larger  one.  In 
the  year  1735  he  erected  the  house  that  until  recently 
stood  upon  the  old  farm,  and  this  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  frame  house  in  town.  John  Miller  died  Sept.  7, 
1792,  aged  eighty  years.  His  wife,  Martha,  died  Nov.  24, 
1805,  aged  eighty  seven  years.  Their  son  Cyrus  suc- 
ceeded them  on  the  old  farm,  and  died  June  17,  1825, 
aged  sixty-eight  years.  He  married,  in  1781,  Sarah  Phin- 
ney,  who  survived  him  many  years,  and  died  March  24, 
1859,  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight  years  and  four  months. 

Her  father,  Isaac  Phinney,  was  from  Cape  Cod.  He  first 
removed  to  Hardwick,  and  then  to  Williamsburg,  in  1772. 
He  bought  a  tract  of  land  east  of  the  present  church  at 
Haydenville,  containing  sixty  acres,  and  gave  in  exchange 
for  it  a  siile-siulJ/e. 

The  children  of  Cyrus  Miller,  Sr.,  were  twelve  in  number, 
six  boys  and  six  girls,  four  of  whom  are  now  living :  Cyrus 
(the  subject  of  this  sketch),  aged  eighty-two;  John,  aged 
seventy-nine;  Mrs.  Betsey  Fairfield  (a  notice  of  whom  ap- 
pears in  the  general  history),  aged  ninety-four;  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Graves,  of  Sunderland,  aged  ninety-two;  their  united 
ages  being  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  years. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Miller,  wife  of  Cyrus,  Sr.,  was  thirteen  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  famous  Boston  Tea- Party,  Dec.  16, 
1773,  having  been  born  the  same  year  that  the  French  power 
upon  this  continent  was  annihilated  by  the  fall  of  Quebec. 


She  united  with  the  church  of  Williamsburg  when  Rev. 
Joseph  Strong  was  pastor,  and  on  the  formation  of  the 
Haydenville  Church,  in  1851,  she  united  with  that,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-one. 

Cyrus  Miller,  the  younger,'  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  town,  attending  at  Williamsburg, 
two  miles  distant.  He  has  passed  a  long  and  useful  life ; 
a  man  of  strong,  practical  common  sense,  of  excellent  judg- 
ment, a  safe  counselor,  and  a  reliable  friend.  He  married, 
first,  Harriet  Kingman  Hannum,  and  second,  Philena  Ford, 
who  had  one  son,  Galusha  F.,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage 
with  Mr.  Miller.  The  children  of  Mr.  Miller  by  his  second 
wife  were  Edwin  F.,  Arthur  T.,  and  Lewis  C. 

Cyrus  Miller's  business  has  been  that  of  fanning,  having 
through  life  tilled  the  fields  of  his  ancestors.  In  politics 
he  was  formerly  a  Whig,  and  afterward  a  Republican, 
but  has  never  been  willing  to  share  in  the  excitements  of 
political  life.  He  was  a  Methodist  in  his  religious  senti- 
ments, and  assisted  liberally  in  establishing  and  sustaining 
the  Methodist  Church  of  Williamsburg. 

At  the  formation  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Hay- 
denville, which  was  very  much  of  a  union  non-sectarian 
organization,  he  united  with  that,  and  has  been  a  useful, 
consistent  member  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Miller  was  a  severe  sufferer  by  the  flood  of  May  16, 
1874.  The  water,  coming  with  mighty  force  and  breast 
high,  poured  into  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  the  family 
barely  escaping  with  their  lives  by  fleeing  to  the  high 
grounds. 

Mr.  Miller  is  now  pa.ssing  a  serene  old  age,  surrounded 
by  his  family  and  friends,  and  esteemed  by  the  community 
in  which  he  has  lived  from  his  childhood. 


^^^yy^A^z-i^^  '%o~iXjy^ 


Id 


Dr.  Daniel  Collins,  a  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  Collins,  a 
Congregational  clergyman,  of  Lanesboro',  was  born  in  that 
place,  Oct.  2,  1780;  graduated  at  Williams  College,  in  the 
class^of  1800,  and  settled  in  Williamsburg,  in  1804,  for  the 
practice  of  medicine.  For  forty  years  he  was  the  principal 
physician  in  the  place,  and  was  constantly  occupied  in  a  large 
and  laborious  practice.  His  business  was  not  limited  to  this 
town,  but  a  large  share  of  it  was  done  in  the  neighboring 
counties.  As  a  physician.  Dr.  Collins  occupied  a  commanding 
position.  He  was  sliillful  in  the  diagnosis  of  disease,  and  this 
was  peculiarly  his/o;-^«.  He  was  araan  of  excellent  judgment, 
and  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  always  acted  promptly 
and  energetically  in  accordance  with  his  own  convictions. 
He  was  a  man  of  liberal  feelings,  whose  breast  was  always 
open  to  the  relief  of  suft'ering  and  want,  and  whose  gener- 
osity, though  unostentatious,  knew  no  reserve.  Dr.  Collins, 
in  his  younger  days,  had  in  charge  a  large  number  of  young 
men  who  were  in  the  pursuit  of  a  classical  or  scientific  educa- 
tion. At  his  death,  in  November,  1857,  he  bequeathed  to  the 
town  the  sum  of  $12,000  for  the  support  of  schools. 

He  was  never  married,  and  left  the  remainder  of  his  prop- 
erty, about  $1200,  to  various  benevolent  societies.  Dr.  Col- 
lins was  an  earnest  and  active  politician  ;  at  first  a  Feder- 
alist, then  joining  and  leading  the  anti-Masonic  party,  and 
in  his  later  years  an  unflinching  Democrat.  The  latter  party, 
under  his  leadership,  increased  largely  in  point  of  numbers. 
He  always  refused  political  distinction,  and  at  one  time, 
when  supported  for  the  Legislature,  declined  in  favor  of  Dr. 
Meekins.  Some  peculiarities  further  illustrative  of  his  char- 
acter may  be  of  interest.  In  personal  bearing,  Dr.  Collins 
was  reserved  and  dignified  ;  in  form,  tall  and  slim.  His 
language  was  given  with  scrupulous  regard  to  grammati- 
cal accuracy.  He  seldom  attended  church,  save  in  the  early 
years  of  his  practice,  but  was  always  present  at  the  funerals 
of  his  old  friends  and  patrons. 

In  business  atiairs  he  was  ever  reliable.  His  word  was 
regarded  as  good  as  his  note.  He  paid  his  indebtedness  with 
remarkable  ])unctuality,  and  with  strict  regard  to  justice.  It 
was  a  common  thing  for  him  to  pay  more  than  was  demanded 
of  him.  He  would  often  say,  in  his  emphatic  tone,  "  That 
isn't  enough, — you  can't  live  so." 

These  generous  qualities  gave  him  great  influence  with  all 
classes,  and  over  some  minds  he  exercised  almost  complete  sway. 
He  always  responded  promptly  to  the  call  of  his  |)atienls,  and 
his  singular  appearance  as  he  rode  along  on  horseback — al- 
ways at  a  moderate  gait,  however  urgent  the  demand — will 
long  be  remembered.  Mo  man  who  ever  lived  in  the  town 
was  capable  of  using  more  severe  and  cutting  sarcasm  than 


Dr.  Collins,  but  underneath  a  rough  and  sometimes  repulsive 
exterior  beat  a  warm  and  generous  heart. 

The  beautiful  marble  monument  erected  over  his  grave 
bears  the  following  inscription:  "Daniel  Collins,  M.D.,  born 
in  Lanesboro',  Oct.  2,  1780;  located  in  Williamsburg  in  1804; 
was  the  principal  phj'sician  in  the  town  for  forty  years.  Died 
Nov.  6,  1857,  aged  seventy-seven  years.  Punctuality,  activity, 
energy,  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  marked  his 
character. 

"Tlie  brittle  tlire.id  of  life  is  broken. 
The  body  lies  in  its  kindred  dust; 
The  spirit  dwells  with  God." 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Perkins,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
delivered  an  eloquent  discourse  on  the  day  of  his  funeral,  from 
which  the  following  paragraph  is  extracted  : 

"  You  now  part  with  one  who  has  been  with  you  from  his 
early  manhood — for  the  period  of  fifty  years  ;  one,  as  I  judge, 
naturally  of  a  noble  nature,  keen  perceptions,  kind  feelings  ; 
however  affected  by  his  single  life,  or  unfavorably  manifested 
in  sudden  expressions,  still  kind,  as  many  a  house  of  sickness 
and  heart  of  sorrow  has  testified,  and  as  a  loving,  feeble,  long- 
bedridden  sister  has  often  borne  witness,  in  grateful  acknowl- 
edgments, for  pecuniar}' aid.  A  man  independent  in  his  pur- 
poses and  judgments  ;  far  as  the  east  from  west  from  cringing 
subserviency  and  fawning  sj'cophancy ;  quick  in  thought  and 
expression,  able  to  see  through  men  at  a  glance  ;  hence  tossing 
them  into  the  scales  as  readily  as  a  drug  for  weight ,  and  out  again 
as  unhesitatingly;  of  strictest  integrity,  that  made  him  impa- 
tient of  all  unfairness  ;  with  a  high  sense  of  honor  that  flashed 
and  burned  at  wrong,  no  matter  against  whom  committed, 
himself  or  a  stranger.  A  man  with  a  high  idea  of  what  a 
man  should  be,  and  with  feelings  outraged  by  immorality, 
which  burst  forth  in  language  not  justified.  A  man  with 
traits  nobler,  if  sharper,  than  common. 

"You  part  not  only  with  an  old  citizen,  but  with  an  old 
family  physician.  The  full  measure  of  this  in  the  case  of 
one  who  has  been  your  physician  more  than  half  a  century,  no 
language  can  express.  In  how  many  touching  .scenes  has  he 
shared  I  By  howmany  tendersj'inpathieshas  he  been  connected 
with  your  "families  I  His  feet  have  pressed  every  inch  of  your 
streets.  He  made  every  object  a  witness  to  his  professional 
faithfulness,  in  season  and  out  of  season.  All  your  homes 
have  been  familiar  with  hisofootsteps.  Your  doors  have 
sladly  opened  at  his  coming.  Your  families  have  experienced 
his  tender  care  and  warm  sympathies.  To  a  great  congrega- 
tion now  gone  he  has  ministered.  You  do  well  to  remember 
him  kindly,  and  to  bury  his  faults  willingly." 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


421 


near  Leeds,  a  glance  backward  showed  the  torrent  just  above. 
Shouting  the  aUirm  with  all  his  might,  he  escaped  by  turning 
sharply  up  the  hill  to  the  left, — the  rider,  the  warning,  the 
flood,  all  reaching  the  doomed  village  of  Leeds  at  nearly  the 
same  time.  On  first  entering  Haydenville,  Graves  gave  notice 
at  the  brass-works,  and  then  rode  to  Hart's  barber-shop  and 
to  Elam  Graves'  store,  then  turned  around  to  ride  back,  not 
knowing  even  yet  how  fearful  was  the  coming  danger.  En- 
tering the  dugway  northward,  he  met  Jerome  Hillman  riding 
down  from  Skinnerville,  who  shouted,  "Turn  around  I  the 
reservoir  is  right  here."  The  action  of  these  three 'men — 
Cheney,  Graves,  and  Day — saved  many  lives,  though  Day 
more  fully  than  the  others  understood  the  coming  peril,  and 
appreciated  its  rapidity  and  its  destructiveness.  He  rode 
knowing  it  was  just  behind  him,  for  he  had  seen  it. 

As  in  all  similar  cases,  it  is  easy  to  see  afterward  what  might 
hare  been  done.  Had  Cheney  burst  into  the  streets  of  Wil- 
liamsburg with  a  loud  cry  of  alarm,  and  not  consulted  Spell- 
man,  ten  minutes — perhaps  fifteen — would  have  been  saved. 
Had  Spellman,  himself,  really  felt  the  truth  of  Cheney's 
words,  quicker  movements  would  have  followed.  If  Graves 
had  time  to  ride  into  Ha3'denvillo,  give  an  alarm,  call  at  two 
places,  try  to  ride  back,  then  turn  around  and  still  alarm 
others,  it  seems  as  if  there  was  time  for  all  to  have  escaped  in 
that  village,  had  the  alarm  first  brought  been  caught  up  and 
given  with  a  loud  cry  on  the  instant.  Yet  honor  is  justly  due 
to  these  men  who  made  the  wild  valley  ride,  for  their  services 
in  saving  life.  Their  names  have  gone  into  poetry  and  history 
with  the  long  list  of  men,  in  all  climes  and  ages,  who  have 
risked  their  lives  to  save  others. 

The  cry  given  by  them  was  caught  up,  and  scores  of  brave 
men  performed  deeds  of  heroism, — in  many  cases  dying  in  the 
attempt  to  save  their  families  or  their  neighbors. 

Jerome  Hillman,  above  alluded  to,  had  ridden  from  Skin- 
nerville to  Haydenville  for  the  morning's  mail,  and  started 
home,  when  he  saw  the  flood  coming,  and  was  obliged  to  turn 
and  go  back  to  Haydenville,  meeting  Collins  Graves,  as  stated. 
His  own  wife  had  perished  as  the  wave  rolled  over  Skinnerville. 
Two  other  names  should  at  least  be  added  to  the  number  of 
those  who  carried  the  fearful  news  of  the  coming  flood.  Rob- 
ert P.  Loud,  living  in  sight  of  the  reservoir,  happening  to  step 
to  his  door,  saw  the  dam  when  it  gave  way.  Instantly  com- 
prehending the  danger,  he  started  on  a  run  for  Williamsburg. 
He  made  the  two  and  a  half  miles'  distance  in  an  incredibly  short 
space  of  time.  On  foot,  panting,  almost  breathless,  he  urged 
some  other  person,  at  one  point,  to  go  the  rest  of  the  way  ; 
the  other  not  believing  in  the  necessity,  Loud  rallied  again, 
and  ran  on.  He  was  just  in  time  ;  hurried  down  the  street  to 
Adams'  saw-mill  ;  could  not  make  Mr.  Tilton,  who  was  at 
work  there,  hear,  but  threw  a  stick  at  him,  and  pointed  up 
stream. 

It  is  a  question  whether  it  was  not  Loud  that  reality  started 
whatever  public  cry  there  was  at  Williamsburg.  All  the  de- 
scriptions written,  and  all  that  can  now  be  told  by  eye-wit- 
nesses, indicate  that  the  coming  of  Cheney,  the  talk  at  Spell- 
man's,  the  getting  of  a  horse  at  Belcher's,  and  the  starting  oflT 
of  Graves,  was  all  a  sort  of  a  silent  affair, — no  public  outcry 
until  Loud's  alarm  was  emphasized  by  the  sight  of  the  flood 
itself.  Loud  was  seriouslj-  injured  by  his  exhausting  run. 
There  is  still  another  link  in  the  transmission  of  the  alarm. 
Thomas  Kyan  worked  in  the  Haydenville  mill.  His  family 
lived  just  below  Williamsburg.  One  of  his  sons  was  at 
Williamsburg,  and  heard  the  talk  between  Belcher  and  Che- 
ney. The  boy  had  an  old  horse,  but  he  drove  out  at  once  ; 
alarmed  his  mother,  so  that  the  family  escaped.  His  mother 
sent  him  on  to  Haydenville  to  tell  his  father.  He  rode  down, 
following  Graves,  a  few  minSes  later.  He  was  with  Hillman 
when  Graves  met  the  latter,  and  rode  into  Haydenville  with 
them.  He  went  to  the  mill  and  told  his  father.  It  helped 
confirm  the  news  brought  by  the  others.    From  the  testimony. 


it  appears  there  was  not  much  public  outcry  until  Craves 
entered  the  village  a  second  time  with  Jerome  Hillman.  It 
was  then  that  the  shout  arose,  "  The  reservoir  is  right  here!" 
Myron  Day  fully  understood  the  danger,  and  is  said  to  have 
shouted  all  along  the  road  to  Leeds.  Thus  was  the  alarm 
given  from  the  reservoir  above  to  the  villages  below. 

THE   FLOOD. 

Not  manj'  minutes  had  passed  after  George  Cheney  started 
before  the  dam  began  to  crumble  more  and  more  ;  great  masses 
of  earth  slipped  away  from  before  the  wall.  The  wall  itself 
fell  away  faster  and  faster,  and  soon,  with  a  sudden  roar,  the 
great  mass  was  carried  ovit  at  once.  The  imprisoned  waters, 
pouring  through  with  indescribable  fur}',  began  their  terrible 
work  of  destruction.  For  three  miles  they  had  only  the  channel 
and  the  original  banks  of  the  stream  to  spend  their  force  upon. 
Neither  dwelling  nor  mill  was  in  their  way,  nor  was  human 
life  exposed  until  the  village  of  Williamsburg  was  reached. 
But  in  all  this  upper  channel  the  flood  left  a  wondrous  story  of 
power  clearly  written  in  the  uncovered  primeval  rocks,  the 
torn  hill-sides,  the  upturned  trees,  and  the  bowlders  tossed  like 
bubbles  upon  the  wild  current.  The  approach  of  the  flood 
upon  the  settled  portions  of  the  vallej-  is  variously  described 
by  ej'e-witnesses. 

"  To  one  the  tliick^;oming  mass  of  water  seemed  lilve  the  heaviest  ocean  waves ; 
to  another  the  sound  was  lilie  tlie  tearing  of  shingles  from  many  buildings;  to 
a  third  it  sounded  as  the  Iieavy  snlten  tliunder  that  succeeds  the  summer  stonu. 
It  waa  preceded  aud  surrounded  by  a  dense  spray  or  fog  thick  as  the  lieaviest 
smoke." 

At  Skinnerville,  Williamsburg  seemed  enveloped  in  smoke, 
and  one  remarked  to  another  as  the  bell  rang,  "TAei/  are  all 
burning  out  u]>  there."  The  height  of  the  flood-wave  cannot  be 
accuratelj-  stated.  It  varied  of  course  with  the  nature  of  the 
valley,  widening  out  and  lowering  upon  the  alluvial  meadows, 
and  rising  higher  in  the  narrow  portions  between  the  hills.  It 
is  usually  spoken  of  as  20  feet  high,  but  its  spray  was  thrown 
40  feet  in  height  at  some  places.  It  struck  Williamsburg  very 
soon  after  Graves  left.  Cheney  undertook  to  follow  Graves, 
but  was  cut  off  within  two  hundred  yards  and  obliged  to  re- 
turn. The  intervening  minutes  had  been  a  wild  scene  of  hur- 
rying to  and  fro,  rapid  flight,  and  fearful  struggles  to  alarm 
and  save  the  people,  and  yet  many  of  the  lost,  it  is  supposed, 
had  not  heard  the  alarm  or  understood  it,  and  were  carried 
away  to  certain  death  with  never  a  word  of  warning. 

"  The  waters  came  down  tlie  reservoir  stream  witli  awful  force,  and.  ignoring 
the  old  channel  to  the  ea-st,  surged  against  the  buildings  on  the  street  leading  to 
the  depot,  taking  off  all  the  houses  on  the  back  street  fi-om  .\dams'  mill  to  Dr. 
E.  M.  Johnson's,  thus  marking  out  a  new  channel  almost  directly  south,  until  it 
struck  the  hill,  which  stemmed  the  cun'ent  again  to  the  east.  In  a  bn'ef  time — 
scarcely  fifteen  minutes — the  water  had  passed  so  that  its  path  could  lie  traeed. 
The  channel  was  obliterated  its  it  had  been  known,  and  in  its  place  was  the 
jagged,  scarred  bed  of  the  destroying  stream." 

The  flood  having  passed  Williamsburg  and  the  wider  flats 
between  there  and  the  railroad  station,  at  the  latter  point  it" 
was  crowded  back  by  the  form  of  the  hills  to  the  original 
channel,  and  roared  by  "  with  all  of  its  burden  of  crushed 
houses,  barns,  trees,  logs,  stones,  cattle,  and  human  beings."  It 
poured  itself  over  the  pleasant  meadows  above  the  village  of 
Skinnerville.  The  operatives  in  the  great  mill,  7.5  to  80  in 
number,  had  escaped,  owing  their  lives  wholly  to  the  warning 
of  Collins  Graves  and  their  own  prompt  action.  Barely  reach- 
ing the  railroad  embankment,  they  turned  and  saw  the  "  im- 
mense wave  fold  in  its  tremendous  clashing  arms  of  timber 
the  solid  brick  factory,"  and,  crushing  it  like  an  egg-shell,  the 
whole  was  borne  down  in  the  overwhelming  current.  As  at 
Williatnsburg,  stores  and  dwelling-houses  were  torn  from  their 
foundations  and  swept  away, — a  whole  village  destroyed  by 
water  as  completely  as  Herculaneum  or  Pompeii  of  old  by  lava. 
The  stream,  with  all  these  accumulated  materials  borne  upon 
its  surface,  or  swept  along  by  its  resistless  power,  flowed  on- 
ward through  the  narrow   defile   of   the  hills,    lifting  itself 


422 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


to  its  full  height  above  the  village  of  Haydenville.  There 
was  no  pause  in  its  onward  course  to  save  the  wealth  of  capital, 
or  the  greater  wealth  of  human  life,  in  that  beautiful  and 
thrifty  place. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty  men  were  at  work  in  the  factory, 
and  all  save  one  escaped.  He  lost  his  life  trying  to  return  for 
a  pair  of  boots,  against  the  warning  of  his  companions.  These 
men  owe  their  escape  to  the  alarm  brought  by  Ryan,  Graves, 
and  Hillnian,  for  with  the  noise  of  the  machinery  around 
them  they  would  hardly  have  noticed  the  flood  in  time  to 
seek  safety  in  flight ;  and  whether  these  three  knew  the  real 
danger  or  not,  whether  they  rode  or  drove  to  Haydenville,  it 
is  certain  they  carried  the  news  there  somehow,  and  did  it 
before  the  flood  struck  the  place. 

The  old  foundry  was  struck  by  a  floating  house  and  demol- 
ished, and  then  the  waters  hurled  the  same  building  like  a 
battering-ram  against  the  side  of  the  great  factory  ;  a  breach 
was  made,  the  centre  fell  in,  the  ends  folded  together,  and 
"  the  solid  structure  melted  away  as  if  it  had  been  snow." 

*'  An  instant  sufficed  fur  tlie  deetructiun  of  everything  tonclied  by  the  moun- 
tainous flood,  wliich  rolled  on  in  its  appalling  force  for  a  briefer  time  than  many 
a  dream,  speedily  became  exhausted,  and  in  an  hour  the  river  had  nearly  sub- 
sided to  its  wonted  bed;  the  citizens  walketl  the  streets  once  more  and  began 
the  dread  search  for  the  dead.  The  river-tlats  and  all  the  banks  were  crammed 
with  the  debris.  Great  drives  of  timber;  trees  intermingled  in  the  strangest, 
most  shocking  way  with  women's  clothing, — less  often  with  men's;  with  mat- 
tresses, quilts,  and  sheets ;  with  belting  and  machinery  from  the  mills ;  ,with 
fragments  of  bills  and  letters;  with  soap  and  potatoes  and  stove-wood ^with 
rocks  and  stone  steps ;  with  fragments  of  chairs  and  tables,  and  now  and  then  a 
piece  of  a  piano  or  a  cabinet-organ;  with  little  children's  hats  and  tiny  shoes; 
with  household  utensils  and  all  the  fragments  of  manufacture  and  of  domestic 
lite|  these  with  now  and  then  a  poor  horse  with  agonized  mouth  and  staring 
eyes,  or  a  faithful  ox  or  cow;  and  then,  most  hoiTible  and  soul-harrowing,  the 
bruised,  disfigured,  and  sometimes  maimed  bodies  of  human  beings  which  an 
hour  before  had  been  in  the  full  flush  of  life, — these  were  the  ever-recuning 
pictures." 

Such  was  the  flood.  A  simple  test  of  its  power  is  afforded 
by  the  statement  that  two  mill-stones  weighing  a  ton  are  said 
to  have  been  carried  from  near  the  store  of  Mr.  Ross  to  the 
button-factory,  a  distance  of  half  a  mile. 

THE    LO.SS    OF    LIFE. 

This  is  the  most  appalling  part  of  the  destruction,  and  was 
perhaps  never  paralleled  by  any  similar  disaster  from  a  similar 
cause.  It  required  heroic  hearts  to  commence  in  a  business- 
like way  the  work  of  gathering  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  To 
think  over  the  afi'ecting  incidents  that  were  crowded  into  that 
brief  hour  would  have  unmanned  the  firmest.  Emotion  had 
to  give  way  to  earnest  labor.  The  largest  proportion  of  the 
bodies  were  obtained  in  a  short  time.  All  day  long,  Saturday 
and  Sundaj',  the  sad  work  went  on.  At  William.sburg  the 
dead  were  gathered  in  the  town-hall.  They  were  of  all  ages 
and  conditions ;  the  gray-haired  grandsire,  the  aged  mother, 
manhood  in  its  prime,  youth  in  its  strength,  childhood  in  its 
innocence,  were  all  there. 

Quite  a  number  of  bodies  were  so  deeply  buried  amid  the 
ruins  all  along  the  valley  that  they  were  only  found  after 
many  days. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  lost  in  the  flood 
of  May  16,  1874,  with  their  ages : 

Wiltirimsbiirff. — Mrs.  Susan  M.  Lamb,  fifty-four,  wife  of 
George  S.  Lamb;  George  Ashley,  sixteen;  E.  C.  Hubbard, 
fifty-six;  Emma  C.  Wood,  twenty-five,  of  Chicopee,  and  her 
son,  Harold  H.  Wood,  one  ;  Dr.  Elbridge  M.  Johnson,  thirty- 
six  ;  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Johnson;  Edward  M.  Johnson,  eight; 
Mary  H.  Johnson,  six  ;  Charlotte  Johnson,  four;  Mrs.  John- 
son, sixty-nine,  mother  of  Dr.  Johnson;  Theodore  J.  Hitch- 
cock, thirty-four;  William  H.  Adams,  fifty-one;  Archie 
Lancour,  twenty-one;  Mrs.  E.  M.  Chandler,  thirty-nine, 
Mary  Chandler,  nine,  wife  and  daughter  of  Conductor  Chand- 
ler, of  the  New  Haven  and  Northampton  Railroad.  Mr. 
Chandler  left  his  wife  and  daughter  in  bed  to  take  his  train 
about  six  a.m.     He  first  heard  of  the  loss  of  his  family  on  the 


arrival  of  his  train  in  the  depot  at  New  Haven,  less  than  four 
hours  after  leaving  home.  The  bodies  of  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter were  in  their  night-clothes,  and  probably  they  were  in  bed 
when  the  house  was  carried  ofi".  Mary  Scully,  twenty-six; 
John  Scully,  three;  Elizabeth  Scully,  eight  months;  Mary 
Brennan,  sixty-two;  Michael  Burke,  sixty-one;  Michael 
Burke,  nine ;  Jennie  Burke,  eight  ;  Annie  Burke,  five ; 
Frederic  Burr;  James  Stevens,  fiftj'-four ;  Mary  J.  Adams, 
thirty-six;  William  Adams,  seven;  Henry  Birmingham, 
forty-eight ;  Laura  Birmingham,  forty-four ;  Mary  Bir- 
mingham, twenty;  Lillie  D.  Birmingham,  sixteen;  Carrie 
Birmingham,  eight.  Mr.  Birmingham  was  superintendent 
of  James  Mill.  The  entire  family  were  lost.  Elizabeth  W. 
Kingsley,  sixty;  Annie  R.  Kingsley,  twenty-five  (wife  of 
E.  D.  Kingsley) ;  Nellie  J.  Kingsley,  three ;  Lyman  Kings- 
ley,  one ;  Mrs.  Sarah  S.  Bartlett,  twenty-five ;  Viola  B. 
Colyer,  four ;  Mary  Carter,  twenty-eight ;  Alexander  Rob- 
erts, forty-two ;  Carrie  H.  Roberts,  thirty-seven  ;  Nellie 
Roberts,  seven ;  Olive  F.  Roberts,  two.  Mr.  Roberts  was 
engineer  of  the  train  leaving  Williamsburg  at  about  eleven 
A.M.  His  entire  family,  except  a  son  of  sixteen  _years,  were 
lost.  The  son  was  taken  from  the  fiood  while  clinging  to  the 
limb  of  a  tree,  unconscious,  and  almost  in  the  throes  of  death. 
John  Atkinson,  forty-eight ;  Mary  Ann  McGee,  fourteen ; 
Jeremiah  Ward,  seventy-one  ;  Electa  Knight,  eighty  ;  Spen- 
cer Bartlett,  seventy-five ;  Soloma  Bartlett,  fifty-five ;  Mrs. 
Sarah  Snow,  seventy-eight;  Willie  H.  Tilton,  four;  Eliza 
Downey,  twenty-eight ;  Edmund  Downey,  two ;  Johanna 
Downey,  fifty-four;  Frank  Murray,  twenty-five;  Mary  Mur- 
ray, twelve. 

Ilaydenv'dle  and  SklnncrvlUe. — Mrs.  Sarah  Hillman,  thirty- 
eight  ;  Mrs.  Christiana  Hills,  forty-six ;  Eli  Bryant,  seventy- 
three ;  Robert  Hayden,  five;  Mrs.  Mary  Morris,  fifty-six; 
Johanna  Williams,  twenty-two ;  Francis  Brodem,  twenty ; 
Grace  Thayer,  five ;  Freddie  Thayer,  eight  months  ;  John  L. 
Kaplinger,  seventy-six;  Mrs.  Mary  Hogan,  fifty;  Edward 
Moakler,  sixty;  Agnes  Miller,  ten;  George  Miller,  eight; 
Willie  Miller,  one;  Mrs.  Margaret  Wilson,  forty-four;  Ma- 
tilda Wilson,  eleven  ;  Rosa  Wilson,  seven  ;  Margaret  Wilson, 
four ;  Mrs.  Theresa  Posie,  forty-five ;  Isabella  Posie,  twenty- 
two  ;  Georgiana  Posie,  fourteen ;  Nazarene  Posie,  eleven ; 
Mrs.  Margaret  Macey,  fifty-two ;  Mrs.  Rosa  Bessonette, 
twenty-two;  Joseph  Bessonette,  nine  months;  Stephen  Kel- 
ley,  fifty-six ;  Mrs.  Mary  Kelley,  fifty-nine. 

Leeds  (in  the  town  of  Northampton). — Mrs.  Edward  Han- 
nan,  twenty-eight ;  Bridget  Hannan,  seven  ;  Edward  Hannan, 
four;  John  Hannan,  two;  Michael  Hannan,  five  months, — all 
of  one  family ;  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Ryan,  twenty-two ;  Charlie 
Ryan,  four;  Mrs.  James  Fennessy,  thirty-eight;  John  E. 
Fennessy,  six  ;  Catherine  A.  Fennessy,  two ;  Andrew  Fen- 
nessy, thirty-seven ;  Ellen  Fennessy,  eighty  (mother  of  An- 
drew Fennessy) ;  Ellen  Fennessy,  forty  (wife  of  Andrew 
Fennessy);  Nellie  Fennessy,  eleven;  Mrs.  Dunlea,  seventj'- 
five  ;  Mrs.  Robert  Fitzgerald,  forty-five  ;  Charles  Fitzgerald, 
twenty  ;  Annie  Fitzgerald,  seven  ;  and  Mrs.  Robert  Fitzgerald's 
children, — Lottie,  three.  Tommy,  nine.  Bertha,  two;  Jlrs.  J. 
P.  Cogan,  forty-five  ;  Anna  J.  Cogan,  twenty-two  ;  Grace  Co- 
gaii,  eighteen;  Carrie  Bonney,  seventeen;  Samuel  Davis, 
thirty-six  ;  Patrick  O'Neill,  thirty-five  ;  Mrs.  Louis  Bronlctte 
and  four  children,  ages  and  names  unknown ;  Alexander 
Laney,  forty;  Mrs.  Patrick,  sixty-two,  and  her  children, — 
Charles,  twenty-four,  Mary,  twenty-two,  and  Julia,  seven- 
teen ;  Mary  Rouse,  thirteen  ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Shaughnessy,  thirty- 
nine  ;  Mary  E.  Woodward,  twenty  ;  Lizzie  Carpenter,  sixteen  ; 
Capt.  T.  F.  Vaughn,  fifty-two,  station  agent  at  Leeds;  Amos 
Dunning,  seventy-seven;  Mrs.  Mary  Bagalcy,  of  Fitchburg; 
Mrs.  Kate  Hurley,  sixty  ;  Evelina  Sherwood,  eighteen  ;  Ralph 
Isham,  thirty-one,  bookkeeper  in  Warner's  button-factory ; 
Arthur  Sharp,  sixteen  ;  Terry  Dundan,  nine  ;  George  Clancy, 
three  ;  Clara  Clancv,  two. 


Photo,  by  Hardie  &  Scbadoe. 


HON.   HIRAM   NASH. 

With  the  first  settlers  of  Now  Haven  the  records  disclose 
the  name  of  Thomas  Nash,  who  came  to  this  country  with  his 
family  from  London,  England,  landing  July  26,  1037,  at  Bos- 
ton, Mass.  From  there  the  following  year  he  removed  with 
the  new  colony  to  New  Haven.  He  was  a  gunsmith  by  trade, 
and  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  a  high  order  of  intellect, 
and  had  charge  of  the  armory  at  New  Haven,  and  manufac- 
tured and  repaired  arms  for  the  colony.  He  died  about  the 
year  1658.  He  had  five  children.  The  youngest,  Lieut.  Timo- 
thy Nash,  was  born  in  Leyden,  Holland,  in  1620,  and  came 
with  his  father  to  Boston  as  given  above.  He  married  Rebekah 
Stone,  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
in  February,  1600.  He  lived  in  Hartford,  but  in  the  year 
1064  removed  to  Hadley,  Mass.,  where  he  was  a  man  of  in- 
fluence, having  represented  his  town  in  the  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1090,  1691,  and  1695.  Ho  died  Marcli  13,  1099, 
in  his  seventy-third  year.  His  children  were  twelve  in  num- 
ber. Thomas  Nash,  the  eldest  son,  was  born  in  Hartford,  Conn., 
in  1661.  He  married,  August,  1083,  Hannah  Coleman,  daughter 
-of  Deacon  John  Coleman,  of  Hatfield,  Mass.  In  1688  he  re- 
moved from  Hadley  to  Hatfield  with  his  family.  He  died 
Jan.  18,1727.  He  had  a  family  of  five  children.  The  second 
son,  Thomas,  was  born  Feb.  26,  1692,  and  settled  in  Hatfield. 
On  the  8th  of  June,  1727,  he  married  Martha  Smith,  daughter 
of  Joseph  Smith  and  Canada  Waite,  his  wife;  her  mother 
derived  the  name  of  Canada  from  the  fact  that  .she  was  born 
in  Canada  while  her  grandmother  was  a  captive  of  the  Indians. 
Thomas  Nash  lived  in  Hatfield  the  most  of  his  life,  but  near 
its  close,  or  about  1706,  he  removed  with  his  two  sons,  John 
and  Elisha,  to  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  where  he  died,  March  12, 
1783,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  Thomas  Nash  was 
one  of  the  thirty  members  who  constituted  the  church  in 
Williamsburg,  July  3,  1771. 

Deacon  Elisha  Nash,  his  youngest  son,  was  born  Oct.   1, 


1744,  in  Hatfield.  He  married,  Aug.  13,  1707,  Elizabeth 
Smitli,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Hannah  Smith,  of  Amherst, 
Mass. 

Deacon  Nash  was  married  four  times,  but  his  ten  children 
were  all  by  Elizabeth  Smith,  his  first  wife.  He  was  held 
in  high  estimation  for  promptness,  honesty,  foresight,  and 
prudence,  and  was  ever  a  prominent  man  in  the  town.  He 
died  Sept.  15,  1827.  His  son  Elisha,  and  the  father  of  Hon. 
Hiram  Nash,  whoso  portrait  is  given  with  this  sketch,  was 
born  March  24,  1778,  and  married  Experience  Cleghorn,  Nov. 
25,  1799.  He  lived  in  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  and  died  May 
14,  1846,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

There  were  eleven  children.  Hiram  Nash  was  born  Feb. 
13,  1809.  His  education  was  received  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town,  and  his  occupation  has  always  been  that 
of  a  farmer.  He  has  held  many  offices  in  his  day,  is  a  man 
of  sound  judgment,  and  has  a  wide  acquaintance.  In  1848  he 
was  in  the  Legislature,  and  again  in  1849,  and  was  chairman 
of  the  joint  standing  committee  on  agriculture.  Was  a  State 
Senator  in  1858  and  1859. 

A  fellow-townsman  thus  speaks  of  him: 

"  As  a  legislative  oiBcer,  Mr.  Nash  has  always  given  excel- 
lent satisfaction  to  his  constituents  by  the  judicious  discharge 
of  his  duties  and  by  his  genial  temperament  and  courteous 
address."  Was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1853. 

In  1862  was  appointed  United  States  assistant  assessor  of 
internal  revenue. 

Mr.  Nash  is  independent  in  politics,  with  anti-slavery  and 
Democratic  tendencies.  He  married  Lucinda  Hitchcock, 
daughter  of  Levi  Hitchcock,  of  Williamsburg,  Sept.  12,  1832, 
and  by  this  union  there  were  born  to  him  two  children, — Elnor 
L.  and  Sophia  L.,  both  of  whom  were  married  to  Lester  W. 
Carr,  of  Williamsburg,  the  former  being  deceased. 

Mr.  Nash  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  which  was  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  father  and  grandfather  before  him. 


ELNATHAN  GRAVES. 


Deacon  Elnathan  Graves  was  born  in  Williams- 
burg, May  20,  1813.  His  father  was  Elnathan 
Graves,  and  between  him  and  his  paternal  Amer-, 
ican  ancestor  there  are  the  following  generations: 
Perez,  Elnathan,  John,  and  Isaac.  Thomas  Graves 
came  to  this  country  from  Scotland  in  1640,  set- 
tling in  Stratford,  Conn.  From  there  he  removed 
to  Hatfield,  Mass.  in  1645,  and  died  in  1662. 
Dea.  Graves'  grandfather,  Perez  Graves,  was  an 
officer  in   the    Revolutionary   war,   and   furnished 


the  government  with  large  quantities  of  salt- 
petre. 

Deacon  Graves  has  held  many  offices,  having  been 
selectman  and  assessor  for  fourteen  years ;  was  in  the 
Legislature  one  year ;  two  years  president  of  the 
Hampshire,  Franklin,  and  Hampden  Agricultural 
Society ;  chosen  by  the  same  society,  for  a  term  of 
three  years,  a  delegate  to  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

In  1868  was  elected  special  county  commis- 
sioner, and  again  in   1871.     In  1874  was  elected 


^  .^^ffflip^^jp^rt^ 


county  commissioner,  and  now  holds  the  office, 
having  been  re-elected  in  1877.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Williams- 
burg, and  in  1876  was  elected  deacon. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  Haydenville  Sav- 
ings-Bank,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  trustees; 
was  elected  president  of  the  same  institution  in 
1878,  and  again  in  1879. 

Deacon  Graves  has  followed  farming  as  a  busi- 
ness.    Was  educated  in  the  common  schools.     He 


Photo,  by  Hardie  &  Schadoe. 

married,  in  1834,  Mary  Sanderson,  daughter  of 
Elijah  Sanderson,  of  Whately.  By  this  union 
he  had  three  children, — Henry  Lord,  Collins, 
and  Nathan  Sanderson, — all  living  in  Williams- 
burg. Mrs.  Graves  died  in  March,  1846.  In 
1847  he  married  his  second  wife,  Mary  P. 
Clapp,  daughter  of  Bella  P.  Clapp,  of  Williams- 
burg, and  two  children  were  born  to  them, — Emily 
Williston,  who  died  December,  1877,  and  Freddie 
who  died  in  March,  1857. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


423 


Rerapitulation.—Vf ilViamsbuTg,  57;  Skinnerville,  4;  Hay- 

dfiuillu,  24;  Leeds,  51  ;  total,  130. 

THE    LOSS    OF   PROPERTY. 

The  value  of  the  property  swept  away  from  the  Williams- 
buvg  street  was  estimated  at  the  time  at  9100,000,  not  in- 
cluding the  damage  to  the  meadow-land  or  to  the  water- 
privilege.  There  were  25  houses  carried  away  between  the 
upper  part  of  the  village  and  the  depot,  together  with  the 
Spellinan  button-factory  and  the  Adams  flouring-niill. 

At  Skinnerville  the  silk-factory  and  the  tenement-houses, 
with  nearly  all  that  constituted  the  village,  were  gone;  at 
Haydenville  the  great  brass-works  factory  and  many  build- 
ings besides,  together  with  dwelling-houses.  Tlie  entire  dam- 
age is  difficult  to  estimate.  It  has  been  described  as  destroy- 
ing "  a  third  of  the  town,"  and  perhaps  correctly. 

THE  INVESTIGATION. 
The  result  of  the  coroner's  inquest  may  be  said  to  have 
fixed  tlie  responsibility,  not  upon  any  one  party,  but  upon 
several.  1st.  The  Legislature  should  never  have  permitted  the 
creation  of  reservoirs  in  the  State  without  more  rigid  restric- 
tions. 2d.  The  mill-owners  attempted  too  much  economy  in 
the  execution  of  the  work, — thej'  wanted  a  safe  dam,  but  they 
desired  to  have  it  built  for  as  small  a  sum  of  money  as  possible, 
— and  the  superintendence  during  the  building  was  not  close 
enough.  There  was  no  one  man  who  was  solely  responsible 
for  a  steady  and  persistent  oversight  of  the  construction  and 
firmness  to  compel  contractors  to  do  the  work  well.  Several 
officers  seem  to  have  been  in  charge,  and  each  supposed  the 
other  was  attending  to  it,  while  none  of  them  really  were 
exercising  the  vigilance  required.  3d.  The  contractors  un- 
doubtedly did  faulty  work.  The  ground  was  not  properly 
■  cleared ;  the  best  cement  was  not  used ;  stones  of  the  proper 
size  were  not  put  in  ;  and  public  sentiment  evidently  settled 
its  severest  censure  upon  them.  Finally,  the  dam  was  not 
thoroughly  built ;  but  it  is  believed  by  many  that  it  would 
never  have  given  waj',  had  it  not  been  for  two  special  reasons. 
One  citizen  living  near,  who  saw  the  progress  of  the  work 
very  often,  states  that  a  spring  of  water  was  ftjund,  which  was 
not  properly  guarded  against  in  the  subsequent  construction. 
The  workmen  placed  a  barrel  there,  and  let  it  fill  for  use. 
When  the  dam  was  carried  up  higher,  this  was  simply  covered 
up  and  left.  It  is  stated  that  the  barrel  may  be  seen  in  the 
ruins  at  the  present  time.  This  spring  was  the  point  of  satu- 
ration that  damaged  all  the  eastern  part  of  the  lower  earth- 
bank,  and  the  point  at  which  the  mass  that  Cheney  saw  move 
out  became  loosened  on  the  morning  of  May  IGth. 

Again,  the  waste-weir  was  intended  to  keep  the  water  about 
two  feet  below  the  crest  of  the  dam,  so  that  the  earth-cover- 
ing of  the  wall  would  not  be  saturated.  It  is  a  common 
remark  in  Williamsburg  that  Gov.  Hayden  was  always  fear- 
ful as  to  the  safety  of  the  reservoir,  that  he  visited  it  often, 
and  while  he  lived  insisted  that  the  gates  must  be  opened 
sufficiently  to  keep  the  water  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  waste- 
weir, — that  water  should  not  be  allowed  to  flow  over  that  to 
any  extent. 

At  the  time  of  the  disaster  (some  witnesses  state  it  at  two  or 
three  days  previous)  the  gates  had  been  closed,  and  the  water 
was  flowing  over  the  waste-weir  between  one  and  two  feet 

DEEP. 

The  State  assisted  the  town  in  repairing  roads  and  bridges 
by  a  liberal  appropriation  of  §100,000.  It  relieved  the  bur- 
den that  would  otherwise  have  been  almost  impossible  for  the 
people  to  bear. 

MILtTAKY. 

Williamsburg  was  not  settled  early  enough  to  share  very 
much  in  the  alarms  of  Indian  wars.  But  the  people  found 
themselves  compelled  to  meet  at  once  the  questions  involved 
ill  the  (ipening  Kevolution.      How  well   they  met  the  crisis, 


how  promptly  they  acted,  and  how  bravely  men  went  forward 
to  the  post  of  duty  and  of  danger,  appear  from  the  following 
records : 

Sept.  20,  1774.— Voted  that  Samuel  Fairfield,  Elisha  Nash, 
and  Russell  Kellogg  be  a  committee  to  meet  delegates  from 
other  towns  at  Northampton. 

Oct.  3,  1774.— Voted  to  send  Kussell  Kellogg  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  at  Concord.  But  there  was  some  hesitation, 
for  October  7th  it  was  voted  not  to  send  Kussell  Kellogg  to 
Concord. 

REVOLUTIONARY    WAR. 

Another  meeting,  October  24th,  probably  upon  the  same 
subject,  was  dissolved  without  action. 

Doc.  2G,  1774.— A  committee  of  inspection  was,  however,  appointeJ,  accoriling 
to  the  advice  of  the  Continental  Congress:  Elisha  Nash,  Jcsiah  IIayden,  Cafi'. 
Samuel  Fairfikld,  Evssell  Kellouu,  Samcel  Day,  Abel  Tuaver,  \Vm.  Bon- 

MAN,  JOSIAH  DWIGHT,  JONATHAN  WaRNER. 

Marcli  13,  1775.— Voted  to  send  Russell  Kellogg  to  the  Provincial  Congress  at 
Concord.  Voted  to  raise  minute-men,  to  he  reiidy  to  march  attho  tap  of  the 
drum,  without  further  notice,  for  the  military  service  of  the  colony. 

March  13,  1775.— Voted  to  give  minute-men  8  pence  per  day,  and  officers  1 
shilling  4  pence,  and  a  sergeant  to  have  1  shilling  per  day  for  exercising  tliem- 
selves  in  training  till  the  13th  day  of  March,  1775,  and  after  that,  till  the  middle 
of  May,  a  soldier  is  to  have  0  pence  per  day,  and  an  officer  to  have  1  ehilling  G 
pence  per  day ;  a  fifcr,  drummer,  and  a  sergeant  to  have  1  shilling  a  day  all  the 
time. 

There  seems  to  have  been  some  personal  feeling,  for  at  one 
time  they  voted  that  no  delegate  should  go  to  the  Provincial 
Congress,  and  further  voted  that  "  Samuel  Fairfield  should 
carry  the  r&solves  against  Mr.  Josiah  Dwight  being  a  delegate 
to  the  Provincial  Congress." 

July  15,  1776.— Voted  to  raise  money  to  give  the  nine 
soldiers  an  encouragement  to  join  the  Continental  army  in 
Canada,— namely,  £.6  to  each.  The  selectmen  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  pay  them. 

Previous  to  this,  in  March,  1776,  ninesoldiers  had  been 
furnished  to  the  Continental  army.  Thirteen  soldiers  from 
this  town  were  in  the  Northern  campaign  of  1777. 

In  the  Burgoyne  campaign,  after  the  British  captured  Fort 
Tieonderoga,  a  messenger  with  the  news  reached  Williams- 
burg Sunday  morning.  He  reined  up  at  the  church  door  in 
the  midst  of  the  sermon,  and  jiroclaimed  his  message  of  alarm. 
Church  services  gave  way  to  a  war-meeting  on  the  spot. 
Capt.  Fairfield  called  for  men  and  arms,  and  fifty  volunteers 
were  obtained  before  night.  The  names  of  a  part  enrolled  at 
that  time  are  preserved  as  follows  : 

Thomas  Vinton,  Eleazer  Hill,  Amasa  Frost,  John  Miller, 
John  Wait,  Jonathan  Wolcott,  Samson  Hill,  Jacob  Robinson, 
Thomas  Thatcher,  Thomas  Howe,  Downing  Warner,  Samuel 
French,  Andrew  Gates,  Josiah  Dwight,  Samuel  Bradford, 
Elisha  Nash,  Jesse  Wild,  Bethuel  Smith,  Isaac  Finney, 
Daniel  Fuller,  John  Bagley,  Ezra  Strong,  John  Williams, 
Amasa  Graves,  Simeon  Barrows,  Rufus  Hyde,  Richard  Church, 
Ichabod  Hemmenway,  Samuel  Fairfield,  Abel  Thayer,  Jona- 
than Warner,  Elisha  Graves,  Nehemiah  Washburn.  Some 
of  these  men  hired  substitutes,  but  the  majority  went  into  the 
service. 

May  Ifl,  1777.— Money  was  raised  hy  snhscrilition  to  hire  soldiers : 

i  8. 

Amasa  Graves 1[^  '"* 

Simon  Burroughs -  "* 

Bufus  Hyde 2  10 

ISiehard  Church lU  * 

Ichabod  Hemingway ^  1" 

Samuel  Fairfield »  00 

Abel  Thayer %  '« 

Jonathan  Warner -  ^\' 


Elihu  Graves 


2    111 


Nehemiah  Washburn '^    tO 

£45    00 
June  4,  1777,  it  is  recorded  that  Jonathan  Warner  procured 

a  soldier  for  the  town  by  the  name  of  Joel  Wiles,  and  he  was 

paid  £56  10s.  as  bounty. 

Capt.  Warner  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga  while 

making  a  charge  with  the  bayonet ;  a  ball  struck  him  in  the 

shoulder. 


424 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Francis  Warner,  a  grandson  of  Capt.  Jonatlian,  resides  at 
Haydenville. 

Oct.  1.3,  1780,  it  was  voted  to  procure  the  beef  for  tlie  army 
assessed  upon  the  town,  and  Joseph  Carey,  Elisha  Nash,  and 
Asa  Ludden  were  appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose.  It 
was  voted  to  pay  £170  Continental  currency  -per  hundredweight. 
This  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  fate  of  inflated  paper-money. 

The  above  minutes  from  the  town  records  clearly  indicate 
the  spirit  of  the  people. 

At  the  time  of  the  Lexington  alarm  10  men  left  Williams- 
burg under  Capt.  Abel  Thayer,  "too  impatient,"  one  writer 
says,  "  to  wait  for  21  more,  who  soon  followed  them." 

John  Starks  was  in  the  battle  at  Saratoga  and  also  on  Long 
Island,  and  was  also  stationed  at  Great  Jones  Street,  New 
York,  when  the  British  came  over  from  Newtown  and  landed 
at  Kipsey's  Bay.  John  Allen  was  in  the  hottest  of  the  fight 
at  Bunker  Hill  and  also  at  Bemis  Heights,  Saratoga,  where 
Gen.  Frazer  was  killed. 

Starks  was  in  the  campaign  of  1776,  and  was  sent  with  the 
Bangers  to  protect  the  frontiers  along  the  western  line  of 
Lake  Champlain  to  Canada.  So  were  Amasa  Frost  and 
Nehemiah  Frost. 

This  town  passed  a  resolution  favoring  national  independ- 
ence some  weeks  before  the  Declaration  was  pronounced  by 
the  Continental  Congre.ss,  as  did  other  towns  in  the  vicinity. 

SH.\YS'    REBELLION. 

The  name  of  this  town  does  not  appear  with  any  promi- 
nence in  the  published  accounts  of  Shays'  rebellion,  and  yet 
it  is  well  known  that  the  citizens  of  this  town  were  many  of 
them  favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  insurgents. 

The  town  was  represented  in  tlie  various  county  conven- 
tions called  to  consider  the  public  distress ;  but  many  attended 
these  and  sought  redress  of  grievances  who  never  approved 
the  subsequent  movements  of  the  Shays  men,  and  did  not 
share  in  them. 

WAR  OF   1812. 

In  1812,  Williamsburg  was  represented  by  the  following 
delegates  in  the  count}'  convention  held  to  express  opposition 
to  the  war,  viz.,  William  Bodman  and  John  Wells. 

William  Bodman  was  appointed  a  delegate  from  Hampshire 
County  to  tlie  subsequent  State  convention. 

July  C,  1812,  the  following  record  appears  : 

"  At  a  legal  meeting  voted  unanimously  that  a  war  with  Great  Biitain,  at  a 
time  wiien  to  eay  tlie  least  we  have  iis  good  a  cause  for  a  war  with  France,  is 
totally  inexpedient  and  imjiolilic,  and  we  have  reasoti  to  fear  will  lead  to  an 
alliance  trilh  that  tuition  trltoi^f  /rieiitlslitp  is  certain  rw/ji." 

It  will  be  easily,  inferred  that  this  town  had  no  soldiers  in 
the  regular  army  during  this  war,  which  bore  so  heavily  upon 
the  commercial  interests  of  New  England  and  awoke  such 
strong  opposition.  When  Governor  Strong  called  out  the 
militia  for  the  defense  of  Boston,  this  town  like  others  fur- 
nished its  quota.  It  is  understood  the  following  went :  Jona- 
than A.  Gillctt,  Wm.  Hemenway,  Capt.  Southworth  Jenkins, 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  Jason  Hemenway,  James  Hemenway, 
Benjamin  Claghorn,  Benjamin  Dole.  Capt.  Jenkins  was  in 
command,  and  8  or  10  men  constituted  the  Williamsburg 
quota. 

MEXICAN    WAR. 

Charles  Hopkins,  son  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  was  in  the  Mexi- 
can war,  and  was  killed. 


CIVIL  WAR,  18G1-6.5. 
The  first  legal   town-meeting  to  consider  war  matters  was 
held  on  the  2d  of  May,  1861.     The  committee  on  resolutions, 
consisting  of  H.  H.  White,  D.  F.  Morton,  and  Wm.  A.  Nash, 
reported  the  following : 

"  Wtiereas^  a  crisis  has  arrived  in  the  history  of  our  general  government  which 
calls  for  every  one,  whether  in  his  national,  state,  county,  town,  or  individual 
capacity,  to  speak  out  his  sentiments  and  use  prompt  and  energetic  action  ill 
HUstaining'the  government  against  the  rebellion  that  is  now  aiming  to  underuiiito 
its  foundations ;  therefore, 

"  Jtesoh-ed,  By  tlie  inhabitants  of  Williamsburg  now  in  town-meeting  assem- 
bled, that  we  tender  to  it  all  the  men  and  means  we  possess  in  proportion  to 
our  ability,  and  that  we  raise  the  sum  of  §2000,  to  be  jdaeed  in  the  hands  of  a 
committee  to  be  expended  in  wliule  or  iu  part  as  necessity  m.ay  require,  under 
the  direction  of  the  town,  for  the  benefit  of  such  persons  a>*  have  volunteered 
or  Diay  volunteer  as  soldiers  from  the  town  and  for  the  use  of  their  families. 

'^  Itesoh-ed,  That  it  is  not  only  one  of  the  legitimate,  but  imperative,  duties  of 
the  general  government  to  enforce  its  laws  in  every  one  of  the  States  of  the 
Union,  whether  it  has  seceded  or  not ;  and  that  it  has  a  perfect  right  to  call  out 
troops  for  th.at  purpose  whenever  it  may  deem  it  wise  and  judicious  so  to  do ;  and 
that  there  is  no  alternative  for  patriotic  citizens  but  to  aid  them  to  the  extent  of 
their  power." 

The  resolutions  were  adopted.  Lewis  Bodman  and  D.  F, 
Morton,  with  the  selectmen,  were  made  a  committee  to  dis- 
burse "  the  money  raised  for  volunteers  and  their  families." 
They  were  instructed  to  furnish  equipments  for  volunteers, 
and  to  pay  to  each  §10  a  month  while  in  service. 

June  17th,  this  vote  was  reconsidered,  and  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to 
boiTow  31100  to  fulfill  contracts  already  made,  and  to  cai-ry  out  the  provisions  of 
the  law  for  State  aid  for  families. 

Sept.  1, 18G2. — It  was  voted  to  raise  by  taxation  3G100,  to  pay  bounties  to  vol_ 
unteere  who  enlist  to  the  credit  of  the  town. 

November  17tli. — The  treasurer  was  fully  authorized  to  borrow  money  to  pay 
State  aid  to  families  "until  the  1st  day  of  March  next." 

Other  meetings  were  held  in  the  years  18G3,  1864,  and  1865, 
at  which  all  necessary  steps  were  taken  to  fill  the  several 
quotas  called  for  from  time  to  time,  paying  such  bounties  as 
seemed  necessary. 

Williamsburg  furnished  250  men  for  the  war,  which  was  a 
surplus  of  29  above  all  demands.  Four  were  commissioned 
officers.  This  statement  is  from  Schouler's  "  History  of  Mas- 
sachusetts in  the  War." 

The  whole  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was  $20,000. 
The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  in  1860  was  §906,206,  and 
the  population  2095.  Aid  to  families  reimbursed  by  the  State, 
1861,  3;i3.5.36;  1862,  §9.32.37  ;  1863,  §2053.01;  1864,  .§.589.79 ; 
1865,  §687.89;  total,  §4398.42. 

The  village  of  Haydenville  and  its  immediate  vicinit}'  fur- 
nished 100  of  their  own  citizens. 

Contributions  by  ladies  and  by  citizens  generally  were 
prompt  and  liberal,  and  were  sent  through  the  various  chan- 
nels of  benevolence  during  all  the  war. 

The  following  list  is  designed  to  include  the  name  of  every 
resident  of  Williamsburg  who  served  in  the  army,  but  to  ex- 
clude the  names  of  recruits  hired  abroad,  in  Boston  or  else- 
where. It  will  be  noticed  by  the  statistics  given  above  that 
the  number  of  soldiers  furnished  by  AVilliamsburg  was  equal 
to  one-eighth  of  the  whole  populution,  and  the  war-expenses 
equal  to  about  nine  and  a  half  dollars  each  for  the  whole  people, 
— men,  women,  and  children.  Such  records  need  no  comment. 
They  prove  that  the  heroism  of  the  fathers  survives  in  their 
children. 


SOLDIERS'  LIST. 

Jerome  E.  Ilillniali,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  It,  18C2,  52d 
M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  180-1 ;  re-eiil. 
Dec.  1.'.,  18ll:l,  37th  Inf,  Co.  II  ;  tnina.,  June 
21,  1SI'.,%  to  20lli;  di»ch.  July  10,  l.Si;.5. 

Otis  II.  Poller,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  02d  M.  V. 
M.,  Co.  1  ;  died  April  15, 180.!, at  li.ilon  Rouge, 
I*a.,  and  buried  tlieie.  One  of  the  town's  liuiat 
promising  young  men;  a  good  speaker;  en- 
listed hiiiiself  and  inspired  others. 

Henry  D.  Chlghorn,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1SC2,  52J  M. 
V.  M.,  Co.  I  ;  died  180:1,  at  Wound  City,  III. 


Newman  W.  liarllett,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct,  II,  ISC2,  .Wd 

JI.  V.   M.,  Co.   I  ;  di.sch.   March  0,  I80-),   for 

disab. 
Willard  Thayer  Wagoner,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  52d 

M.V.  M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863 ;  died  soon 

after  return. 
Wm.  D.  Adams,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802, 52d  M.V.  M.,Co 

I;  disch.  Aug.  14, 18C:l. 
Oliver  Ame.?,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  f>2  1  M.V.  M,  Co.  I; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Jaroil  L.  Bardwell,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1801. 


George  0.  Banlett,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1802,  52d  M.V.M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  ISOi. 
Henry  A.  Bisbee,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  62d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Edmund  Black,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  o2d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.    Aug.  14,  1803;   re-eiil.  Dec.  15, 

18(13,  37lli  Begt.,  but  rejected  Jan.  5,  1804,  on 

exaiiiinati^tn. 
.■Andrew  Breckenbridge,  enl.  Oct.  II,  ISC'2,  52d  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Patrick  McGee,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1802, 40th  M.V.  M.,  Co. 
K  ;  disch.  July  i9, 1803. 


riioto.  Iiy  Hardic  &  Scliadee. 


Qj'^fi-e^-yi/K^  <^    /^^--^-^ '<-iz<2^ 


During  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  more  than  twenty  tiiousand  Puritans 
were  driven  from  England  to  the  New  World  by  the  political  and 
eeclesiastieal  tyranny  of  Earl  Strafford  and  Archbisho])  Laud.  Among 
the  number  were  Thomas,  Thomas,  Jr.,  and  Helon  Meekins,  who 
landed  in  Boston,  in  1630,  where  they  took  the  oath  of  freemen. 
Helon  was  drowned  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  Thomas,  Sr.,  soon  returned 
to  England;  Thomas,  Jr.,  removed  to  Braintree,  where  he  remained 
until  1661,  when,  with  his  son  Thomas,  born  in  1643,  he  joined  a 
eolony  from  Hartford,  who  established  themselves  on  both  sides  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  at  Hadley.  They  soon  became  |irominent  in  local 
affairs,  Thomas,  Sr.,  being  the  first  signer  of  the  west  side  petition  to 
the  (ieneral  Court,  May  3,  1667,  '*  to  vouchsafe  your  poor  petitioners 
that  favor  as  to  be  a  society  of  ourselves,  and  have  liberty  to  settle  a 
minister  to  dispense  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  unto  us.'* 

This  movement  resulted  in  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Hat- 
field, May  31,  1670.  The  elder  Thomas  was  a  millwright.  He  built 
and  owned  the  first  grist-mill  in  Hatfield,  in  1661,  and,  with  others, 
saw-mills  in  Hadley  and  Northampton.  Thomas,  Jr.,  and  his  servant, 
Nathaniel  Collins,  were  slain  by  the  Indians,  Get.  19,  1675,  while  on 
a  scouting  party  in  King  Philip's  war.  The  following  letter,  written 
the  ne,xt  year,  and  now  in  possession  of  Dr.  T.  W.  Meekins,  of  North- 
ampton, gives  a  good  idea  of  the  every-day  life  of  the  settlers  at  that 
time.  It  is  directed  :  "  This  for  loving  Master  Thomas  Meekings, 
living  at  hatfield,  this  deliver." 

*'  Loving  and  much  respected  master,  my  saving  remembrance  unto 
you  and  my  dame,  hoping  you  are  well  as  I  am  at  the  riting  hearof, 
blessed  be  god  for  it.  My  wiff  desiars  to  be  remembered  to  you  and 
my  dame,  and  wee  are  yet  in  oure  habitation  thro  god's  marsi,  but  we 
are  in  expectation  of  the  enimi  everi  day.  If  god  be  not  the  more 
marsifull  unto  us.  I  have  been  out  7  weeks  myself,  and  if  provision 
had  not  grown  short  wee  had  folerd  the  enimi  into  youre  borders, 
and  then  I  wolld  have  given  j'ou  a  visit  If  it  had  been  posibel :  for  I 
went  out  a  volintere  under  Ca.  wardsworth,  of  Milton,  but  he  is  caled 
hom  to  scout  about  there  oune  toun,  and  so  I  left  off  the  desine  at 
present. 

"  there  is  many  of  oure  freods  are  taken  from  us.  Ca.  Jonson,  of 
Roxberi,  was  slaine  at  naragansit,  and  will  lincorn  died  before  his 
wounds  was  cured;  and  fila]i  Curtis  was  slaine  .at  a  wigwame,  about 
mendham,  but  we  have  lost  but  one  man  with  us  these  wares.  My 
mother  vose  Is  ded,  and  my  sister  swift.  I  pray  remember  my  love 
to  John  elis  and  his  wiff  and  the  Rest  of  oure  frends;  and  however  it 
is  like  to  fare  with  us  god  knows,  and  wee  desiar  to  Comit  all  oure 
afairs  into  his  hands.  So  having  nothing  els,  desiring  youre  praiars 
for  us,  I  rest  your  servant,  "  John  Sharpe. 

"  Madrinieu,  8  of  the  1st  mo.,  1676." 

Thomas,  son  of  Thomas,  Jr.,  born  Nov.  8, 1673,  settled  in  Hartford, 
and  afterward  went  South.  John,  boi-n  Jan.  12,  1672,  remained  in 
Hatfield.  He  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  as  were  all  the  sons  for  several 
generations.  His  son  Thomas,  born  October,  1718,  was  succeeded  in 
the  next  generation  by  another  of  the  same  name,  born  in  1743,  who 


removed  to  the  northwestern  part  of  Williamsburg,  in  1764.  His  sons 
were  Thom.as,  Stephen,  and  Joseph.  Thom.as  died  young.  The  sons 
of  Stephen  were  Thomas,  Stephen,  and  Christopher.  Thomas,  the 
eldest,  was  born  Dec.  1,  17SI6.  Of  a  not  robust  constitution,  and  un- 
able to  perform  hard  work,  he  early  resolved  to  obtain  what  was  then 
considered  an  education,  and,  notwithstanding  some  discouragement 
by  his  family,  he  found  time  to  acquire  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  Latin 
aiid  Greek,  in  a<ldition  to  the  usual  English  branches,  to  fit  himself 
for  a  teacher.  His  tutors  were  Rev.  Henry  Lord  and  Elisha  Hub- 
bard, Esq. 

In  1818,  after  a  year  or  two  in  the  village  schools,  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  North  Carolina  as  assistant  in  an  academy,  of  which 
Davis  H.  Mayhew,  formerly  of  Williamsburg,  was  principal.  At  the 
end  of  three  years  he  returned  to  his  native  place,  and  in  1824  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Daniel  Collins,  and  graduated 
at  Berkshire  Medical  College,  after  three  years  of  ofiBce-work  and  two 
full  courses  of  medical  lectures.  He  iit  once  commenced  practice  in 
Cummington  ;  but,  a  more  promising  field  i>resenling  itself  in  Worth- 
ington.  he  soon  removed  to  the  latter  place,  where  he  remained  until 
invited  to  return  to  Williamsburg  by  many  of  the  prominent  citizens, 
including  his  former  preceptor.  Dr.  Collins,  between  whom  and  himself 
there  existed  a  warm  friendship  until  the  death  of  the  former,  in  1857. 

The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  in  August,  1828,  he  was  settled 
as  a  physician  in  Williamsburg,  where  he  still  resides.  In  the  fall  of 
the  same  yeiir  he  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  Isaac  Little,  Esq.,  by 
whom  hehad  two  children, — Thomas  W.,  born  June  16,  1830,  and 
Caroline  A.,  born  March  18,  1833.  His  wife  died  Dec.  12,  1844,  and 
their  daughter,  Caroline,  Feb.  16,  1846.  He  was  married,  again,  to 
Maria  S.,  daughter  of  Spencer  Goodman,  Sept.  19,  1845. 

Dr.  Meekins  has  always  been  one  of  the  leading  men  in  town  affairs, 
naturally  taking  much  interest  in  the  schools  in  his  younger  days. 
He  was  three  times  elected  to  the  General  Court,  in  1834  and  1835  as 
a  representative  of  anti-Masonic  sentiment  at  the  time  of  the  Morgan 
excitement,  and  again,  in  1854,  as  a  mark  of  the  respect  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  irrespective  of  party.  In  polities  he  has  been  conservative. 
A  Whig  from  the  birth  to  the  death  of  the  party,  a  firm  adherent  of 
Clay  and  Webster,  and  no  sympathizer  with  the  earlier  abolitionists, 
be  "went,  with  many  conservative  Whigs,  to  the  Democratic  party, 
with  whom  he  has  since  acted. 

Thomas  W.,  his  son,  received  an  academic  education  at  Willislon 
Seminary,  Easthampton,  remaining  there  from  the  spring  of  1842 
until  the  fall  of  184B.  The  following  Mav  he  commenced  a  two  years' 
course  of  study  in  dentistry  with  Dr.  J.  W.  Smith,  of  Northampton, 
which  was  supplemented  by  a  three  years'  course  in  the  Berkshire 
Medical  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  November,  1852.  He 
succeeded  to  the  practice  of  Dr.  Smith,  May  1,  1853,  and  has  con- 
tinued it  to  the  present  time.  Jan.  23, 1857,  he  married  Harrieltc  B., 
daughter  of  Benjamin  M.  Hill,  D.D.,  of  New  York.  Their  sons  are 
Thom.as  Hill,  born  Dec.  25,  1857,  and  Edward  Monro,  born  Deo.  30, 
1860. 


Benjamin  Sidney  Johnson  was  born  in  Williamsburg,  Hamp- 
shire Co.,  Mass.,  Oct.  24,  1S13.  The  branch  of  the  family  to  which 
he  belongs  is  of  English  origin  and  of  Puritan  antecedents,  but  the 
time  of  their  emigration  to  this  country  is  not  at  present  definitely 
known.  Caleb  Johnson,  the  earliest  progenitor  of  whom  there  is  certain 
knowledge,  and  of  whom  B.  S.  Johnson  is  a  descendant  in  the  fifth 
generation,  is  known  to  have  been  a  resident  of  WilHcgton,  Conn. 

His  grandson,  Caleb  Johnson,  was  born  there,  March  0,  1757.  The 
latter  removed  to  Hadley,  Mass.,  in  178o,  where  his  son  Benjamin 
(the  father  of  our  subject) -was  born  the  same  year;  and  in  1789, 
Caleb  removed  to  Williamsburg,  being  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
that  town.  His  farm  was  situated  on  what  is  known  as  Walnut  Hill, 
and  there  Benjamin  S.  was  born.  At  the  age  of  three  years  his 
father  removed  from  Walnut  Hill  to  that  part  of  the  town  now  known 
as  Haydenville,  and  in  1S22  to  Northampton,  where  he  lived  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  Sept.  29,  1855,  occupying  a  farm  about  equi- 
distant between  the  village  of  Haydenville  on  the  one  side,  and  of 
Leeds,  in  Northampton,  on  the  other.  On  this  farm  Benjamin  S. 
Johnson  lived  until  1871,  when  he  removed  to  Haydenville,  where  he 
now  resides,  having  the  previous  year  been  chosen  treasurer  of  the 
Haydenville  Savings-Bank. 

His  early  education  was  such  as  could  be  obtained  in  the  common 
schools  of  that  day.  Some  years  before  leaving  the  farm  he  com- 
menced doing  business  as  an  insurance  agent,  the  making  of  deeds, 
and  the  various  other  duties  usually  required  of  a  justice  of  the  peace 
in  a  community  where  there  was  no  regular  justice  in  active  business. 
He  discharged  the  duties  thus  entrusted  to  him  in  so  satisfactory  a 
manner  that  they  increased  from  year  to  year,  and  he  found  but  little 
time  for  farming  operations.  He  early  became  interested  in  the  tem- 
jterance  cause,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  has  been  a  thoroughgoing 
and  consistent  temperance  man. 

Karly  in  life  he  showed  a  fondness  for  politics,  and  much  earlier  than 
most  boys  began  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  questionsof  that  nature,  and 
for  several  years  before  he  could  vote  was  an  active  political  worker. 
He  was  connected  successively  with  the  National  Republican  and  Whig 
parties;  and  in  1840,  upon  the  formation  of  the  Liberty  party,  he  be- 
came an  influential  member  of  that  organization.  When  the  Liberty 
party  became  merged  in  the  Free-Soil  party,  in  1818,  he  gave  it  his 
hoariy  support,  and  was  chairman  of  the  county  committee.  In  1854 
ho  identified  himself  with  the  Republican  party,  and  was  for  years 
one  of  the  members  of  the  county  committee.  Taking  a  deep  interest 
in  everything  that  relates  to  the  early  history  of  the  section  of  country 
where  he  resides,  he  has  spent  much  time  and  given  valuable  assist- 
ance to  persons  who  have  written  its  history.  He  has  a  remarkable 
faculty  for  remembering  historical  and  political  dates  and  events. 


Though  not  a  church  member,  he  has  been  a  constant  supporter  of 
the  religious  interests  of  his  neighborhood,  and  soon  after  the  formation 
of  the  Haydenville  parish  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  assessors,  and  has 
served  in  that  capacity  twenty-one  years.  He  was  one  of  the  earliet^t 
directors  of  the  Haydenville  Cemetery  Association,  and  has  been  its 
superintendent  since  its  organization. 

In  1S51  he  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  Hampshire 
County,  and  subsequently  a  justice  of  the  Quorum  throughout  the 
State,  which  ofiice  he  now  holds.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  notary 
public  for  Hampshire  County,  and  his  commission  was  renewed  in 
1878.  In  1871  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  commissioners  of  insolvency 
for  his  county,  and  re-elected  in  1874,  but  declined  further  service 
in  1877.  He  has  served  his  native  town  of  Williamsburg  as  selectman, 
assessor,  and  overseer  of  the  poor,  besides  holding  other  offices  of  trust 
in  the  gift  of  the  people.  He  commenced  the  insurance  business  in 
1860,  which  he  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  and  during  that 
period  has  held  the  agency  of  large  and  important  companies,  and 
transacted  quite  an  extensive  business  in  that  line.  He  has  acted  as 
conveyancer  for  many  years,  and  at  present  is  probably  more  familiar 
with  the  titles  to  real  estate  than  any  one  in  town.  For  years  the  draw- 
ing of  wills  anil  the  settlement  of  estates  has  been  an  important  branch 
of  his  business,  and  the  satisfaction  so  frequently  expressed  by  the 
heirs  at  the  manner  in  which  these  responsible  and  often  delicate  duties 
have  been  performed  is  an  evidence  of  the  justice  he  has  endeavored  to 
mete  out  to  all  parties.  That  he  has  established  a  character  of  fairness 
and  impartiality  in  his  dealings  will  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he 
is  often  called  upon  to  act  as  a  referee  in  the  settlement  of  disputes 
which  arise,  and  it  is  unquestionably  true  that  many  expensive  law- 
suits, with  their  attendant  neighborhood  quarrels,  he  has  helped  to 
settle  in  this  way. 

On  March  7, 1839,  he  married  Mary  F.  Abercrombie,  granddaughter 
of  the  Rev.  Robert  Abercrombie,  of  Pelham.  She  was  a  native  of 
Amherst,  though  a  resident  of  Pelham  at  the  time.  She  died  March 
4,  1871.  Their  children  were  Horace  W.,  Mary  Ellen,  who  died  Oct. 
27,  1855,  Clarissa,  or  Clara  Lueiuda,  Alice  A.,  and  Sarah  A. 

Inheriting  in  a  large  measure  the  characteristics  of  his  maternal 
ancestors,  Mr.  Johnson  possesses  great  activity,  energy,  and  a  de- 
termined will,  which  enables  him  to  overcome  difficulties  that  would 
discourage  many  men,  and  few  among  those  who  started  in  life  with 
him  have  accomplished  more  in  their  generation.  Especially  is  this 
true  considering  the  limiteil  advantages  of  his  early  years.  His  life 
adds  another  illustration  of  what,  under  our  institutions,  may  be  done 
by  a  man  who  uses  well  the  powers  with  which  he  has  been  endowed, 
and  strives  to  make  the  most  of  his  opportunities  in  the  community 
in  which  his  lot  is  cast. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


425 


Joseph  W.  Strong,  sergt.,  enl.Oct.  2, 1862, 52d  M.V. 

M.,  Co.  C;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863;  died  in  Now 

York  on  the  w-iy  home;  hiu-ieJ  in  Williams- 

huig. 
Frank  0.  Clapp,  onl.  Oct.  2,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  St.,  Co. 

C;  disch.  Aug.  14,1863. 
Charles  B.  Tileston,  capt,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  o2d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I;  discli.  Aug.  U,  1863. 
Calvin  C.  Walhiidge,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d 

M.V.  M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Francis  II.  Holmes,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I;  diach.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
E.lmuii.l   Duggan,   enl.   D.c.  17,  1861,   37th  Inf., 

Co.  K;  trans.  June  21, 1865,  to  20th  Inf. ;  di.sch. 

Jnuo  24,  1865. 
Edwar.l  Ryan,  onl.  Dec.  29,  1S63,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  II ; 

disch.  Dec.  29,  1864,  for  disab. 
John  Reynolds,  onl.  Dec.  17,  1S63,  37th   Inf.;  nii- 

assigned  recruit;  died  Jan.  17,  1864. 
Wra.  S.  Pllilips,  Corp.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862, 37th  Inf., 

Co.  H;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Myron  Ames,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37tli  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

trans..  Feb.  11,  1864,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Lyman  C.  Bartlett,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37tli   Int., 

Co.  II;  killed  May  12,  1864,  at  Spottsylvauia, 

Va. 
Thomas  Brazel,  enl.  Nov.  30, 1863,  .37lli  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

trans.  Dec.  30,  1863,  to  20th  Inf. ;  disch.  June 

21,1865;  .absent;  wounded. 
Wm.  H.  Cook,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

died  Sept.  2,  1864,  at  Andersonville,  Ga. ;  sub- 
stitute ;  name  retained  because  he  died  in  the 

service  for  the  town. 
Emery  E.  Cowan,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf ,  Co. 

H  ;  trans.  July  2,  1863,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Gilbert  W.  Thomas,  enl.  Aug.  31,  1804,  2d  II.  Art, 

Co.  G;  disch.  June  26,  18G5;  had  previously 

served  in  the  lOtli ;  also  nine  months  in  the 

62d. 
Wm.   F.  Kniipp,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1864,   2d  H.  Art.; 

disch.  Sept.  7,  1864,  rejected  recruit. 
John  W.  Miller,  enl.  Aug.  20,  1864,  17th  Inf,  Co. 

F;  disch.  July  27,  1865,  order  of  War  Depart- 
ment (probably  from  Goshen). 
Marlin  Cahill,  Corp.,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  lOlh  Inf, 

Co.  I;  disch.  July  1,  1864. 
John  Moore,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  12,  1863,  11th  Inf., 

Co.  H;  killed  Oct. 27, 1864,  at  Petersburg,  Va.; 

perhaps  a  sub.;  name  retained  because  he  lost 

his  life  in  service  for  the  town. 
Samuel  \V.  Hayden,  Nov.  19,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863;  re-enl.  Aug.  26, 

1864,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  G  ;  disch.  June  26, 1865. 
Charles  G.  Hillman,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  died  March  3,  1863,  at  Baton  Rouge, 

La. 
Medad  C.  Hill,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Ang.  14,  1863. 
Jonathan  O.  Howard,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Henry  S.  Leonard,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  62d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Henry  D.  Miller,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,1863. 
Charles  B.  Kaplinger,  enl.  Aug.  26,  1864,  2d  H. 

Art.,  Co.  G;  trans.  Jan.  17, 1865,  to  17th  Inf  ; 

disch.  June  30, 1865,  by  order  of  War  Depart- 
ment. 
George  Stevens,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27tli  Inf,  Co. 

A;    reported  missing;    probably  died  in  the 

service  ;  his  widow  dj-aws  a  pension. 
Caleb  F.  Tufts,  enl.  Dec.  IS,  1863,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A  ; 

disch.  June  26,  1865;    probably  from    VVest- 

hanipton. 
Williiim  Sheridan,  enl.  Oct.  1,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  died  Nov.  11, 1862,  at  Annapolis,  Md. 
Robert  Elder,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  K  ; 

killed  Juno  5,  1864,  at  Cold  Harbor,  Va. 
Thomas  Ellsworth,  enl.  Aug.  30,1862,37th   Inf., 

Co.  H;  unaccounted  for  in  adjt.-general's  re- 
port of  volunteei-s,  vol.  ii.  page  789. 
James  W.  Ililhuan,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1802,  37th   Inf., 

Co.  H  ;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
George  L.  French,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Martin   Hathaway,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  A;  died  April  24,  1862,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. 

54 


Luther  Loomis,  Jr.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  A  ;  died  Juno  1, 1862,  at  Newliern,  N.  C. 
John  McCaffery,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co. 

A;  re-eul.  Dec.  24,  1863;  died  Sept.  4,  1«64, 

at  Andersonville,  Ga. 
Charles  Morganweek,  enl.  Sept.  20,1801,27th  Inf., 

Co.  A;  disch.  to  re-eul.  Dec.  23,  1864  (East- 

hanipton). 
Charles  H.  Otto,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  disch.  Jau  1, 1S63,  for  disability. 
Calvin  Johnson,  enl.  May  25,  1861,  2d  Inf,  Co.  I ; 

trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
John  Elder,  enl.  May  25,  1861,  2d  Inf.,  Co.  K  ;  re- 
enl.  Dec.  30,  1863;  disch.  July  14,  1865. 
James  K.  Londergon,  enl.  May  25,  1861,  2d  Inf., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  Oct.  16, 1801,  for  disability. 
Edwin  Whitney,  1st  lieut.,  enl.  Nov.  26,  1862,  lOtli 

Inf.;  disch.  July  1,1864. 
George  F.  Policy,  sergt.-maj.,  enl.  June  21,  1861, 

loth  Inf.;   re-enl.  same  rank,  Dec.  21,  1863; 

pro.  to  1st  lieut.,  Mity  6,  1864;  killed  June  20, 

1SG4,  at  Petel-sbnrg,  Va. 
Hugh  McGee,  enl.  June  21, 1861,  10th  Inf,  Co.  A  ; 

re-enl.  Feb.  21,  1864;  trans.  June  20,  1804,  to 

37th    Inf.;    itijured  in  the   hand,  and   disch. 

Feb.  14,  1865. 
Jacob  Herman,  enl.  Sept.  3, 1864,  2d  Oav.,  Co.  D; 

disch.  .lune  26, 1805. 
John  Burke,  enl.  Feb.  8, 1865, 2d  Cav.,  Co.  G  ;  disch . 

July  20,  1805. 
Thomas  Ryan,  enl.  Aug.  30,1862,  37th  Inf,  Co.  H. 
Rodolphus  Vining,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1863,  37lh   Inf., 

Co.  H;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
James  P.  Warner,  enl.  Dec.  16,  1863,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  trans.  June  21,  1865,  to  20th  Inf. ;  disch. 

July  16, 1805. 
Stephen  G.  Warner,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1802,  37tli  Inf., 

Co.    H;  killed  Dec.  13,  1862,  at   Fredericks- 
burg, Va. 
Samuel  W.  Williara-i,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  H;  disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Albert  F.  Damon,  enl.  Feb.  19,  1S61,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 

I ;  ti-.ma.  Oct.  23,  1862,  to  U.  S.  Cav. 
Almeron  Damon,  enl.  Feb.  27,  1864,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 

I ;  trans,  to  3Glh  Inf. ;  discli.  July  12,  1S65. 
Thomas  Sexton,  enl.  Aug.  19, 1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co.  I ; 

trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Benson  Mnnyan,  musician,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861, 27th 

Inf;  disch.  Aug.  30,  1862,  by  order  of  War 

Department. 
Frank    Kinslow,  corp.,  enl.  Sept.   20,   1861,  27tli 

Kegt.,  Co.  A  ;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Wm.  W.  Newman,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th 

Regt.,  Co.  \;  died  Nov.  IS,  1862,  at  Newbern, 

N.  C. 
Tliomas  J.  Partridge,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862, 

37th  Inf,  Co.  H;  killed  April  12,1865,  before 

Richmond. 
Patrick  Donivan,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug. 30, 1862,  37th 

Inf,  Co.  H  ;  disch.  June  15, 1865,  for  disab. 
David  B.  Miller,  seigt.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th 

Inf,  Co.  II ;  killed  April   6,  1865,  at    Sailors' 

Creek,  Va. ;  was  at  home  at  town-meeting  just 

about  a  month  before  his  death. 
Richard  M.  Porter,  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37tli 

Inf.,  Co.  H;  died  Aug.  29,  1864,  at  Alexandria, 

Va. 
Moses  S.  Ames,  Corp.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37th  Inf, 

Co.  H;   killed  Sept.  19,  1864,  at  Winchester, 

Va. 
Edward   McCaffery,  Corp.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th 

Inf,  Co.  H ;  disch.  June  9,  1865,  by  order  of 

the  War  Department. 
William  Wright,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co. 

H ;  trans.  Dec.  19, 1864,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Wm.  Hamilton,  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  4, 1802,  37tb  Inf, 

Co.  K;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Samuel  W.  Cowb-s,  enl.Oct.  11,1862,  52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  died  Feb.  6,  1863,  at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Charles  M.  Gillett,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Nathan  S.  Graves,  onl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Chauncey  Guilf.>rd,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 62d  M.  V.M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Ira  N.  Guillo,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 


Willis  Guilford,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1862,  52d  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Francis  W.  Moore,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Monroe  M.  Morton,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I;  died  Feb.  26, 1863, at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Azro  B.  Niles,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,Co. 

I;  died  June  20,  1863,  at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Edward  S.  Perkins,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 52d  M.V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Joseph  T.  Thayer,  Jr.,  enl.Oct.  11,  1862,  o2d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
.lanu's  Adams,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1801, 27th  Inf,  Co.  A  ; 

re-enl.  Dec.  24,  1863  ;  disch.  June  7,  1865. 
Wm.  II.  Bartlett,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co. 

A;  re-enl.  Doc.  24, 1863;  disch.  June  7,  1805. 
Wm.  S.  Brown,  enl.  Sept.  11, 1801,  27tli  Inf.,  Co.  A ; 

disch.  .Sept.  27,  1804;  re-enl.  Dec.  28,  1864,  U. 

S.  V.  V. 
J.din  Buchanan,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1S61,  27th  Inf.,  Co  . 

A ;  re-enl.  Dec.  24,  1863 ;  died  Sept.  4,  1864, 

at  Andersonville,  G,a. 
Thomas  Donley,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1S64. 
John  D.movan,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  A ; 

disch.  to  re-enl.  Doc.  23,  1863. 
Lewis  T.  Black,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  10th  Inf,  Co. 

E  ;  pro.  to  sergt.,  June  22, 1863,  in  the  20th, 

and   trans.  June  19,  1804,  to  37th  Inf. ;  disch. 

July  10,  1865. 
Levi  Bla.k,  sergt.,  onl.  June  21,1861,10th  Inf.,  Co. 

E  ;  disch.  July  1,  1864. 
Charles  E.  Adams,  enl.  June  21, 1861, 10th  Inf.,  Co. 

E ;  disch.  to  re-onl.  Dec.  21,  1863. 
Samuel  C.  Bodman,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  loth   Inf, 

Co.  E;  disch.  July  1,  1864. 
Albert  E.  Pelton,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  loth  Inf,  Co. 

E  ;  re-enl   Dec.  21,  1803  ;  trans.  June  19,  1SC4, 

t.)  37th  Inf. 
William  11.  Hemis,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  lOth    Inf., 

Co.  H;  disch.  May  29,  1865. 
John  S.  Kaplinger,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862, 37th  Inf,  Co. 

U;  disch.  June  21, 1865. 
Michael   Londergon,  enl.  Dec.  17, 1863,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  H. 
William  Madden,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf,  Co. 

II ;  disch.  Feb.  19,  1864,  for  disab. 
Arthur  T.  Merritt,  enl.  Aug.  3(1,  1862,  37th  Inf, 

f;o.  II ;  killed  May  6, 1864,  at  Wilderness,  Va. 
Clark  G.  Rice,  enl.  Aug.  30. 1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Michael  Rowe,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1862,37th  Inf.,  Co.  H; 

unaccounted  for  in  adjt.-gonerars  report   of 

Tolunteers,  1808,  vol.  ii.,  page  789. 
J.  P.  Coburn,  enl.  10th  Inf.,  Co.  C. 
George  Hathaway. 

P.  W.  Kingsley,  enl.  10th  Regt.,  Co.  C. 
Henry  C.  Burby,  enl.  loth  Begt.,  Co.  C. 
Henry  Giiyer,  enl.  10th  Regt.,  Co.  0. 
Frederick  Goodrich,  enl.  10th  Begt.,  Co.  C. 
John  Atwood,  enl.  lOtli  Begt.,  Co.  B. 
James  Welsh,  enl.  10th  Begt.,  Co.  K. 
Newell  Rico,  enl.  10th  Begt.,  Co.  C. 
Henry  A.  Ives,  enl.  10th  Regt.,  Co.  C. 
Joshua  A.  Loomis,  capt.,  enl.  10th    Regt.,  Co.  C; 

wounded. 
Frederick  O.  Hillman,  onl.  10th  Regt.,  Co.  C. 
Levant  French,  enl.  27th  Regt.,  Co.  A. 
Henry  C.  French,  enl.  10th  Begt.,  Co.  E;  died  in 

the  Peninsula  campaign. 
J.  H.  Oberempt,  enl.  27th  Begt.,  Co.  A. 
Albert  Fry,  enl.  27th  Regt.,  Co.  A. 
Albert  Myers,  enl.  27th  Regt.,  Co.  A. 
Emerson  Torrey,  enl.  27th  Regt.,  Co.  A. 
Joseph  L.  Haydeo,  capt.,  enl.  37th  Regt.,  Co.  H; 

wounded. 
Charles  N.  Clark,  enl.  37th  Regt.,  Co.  H. 
Edward  P.  Nichols,  enl.  37th  Begt.,  Co.  H. 
Henry  H.  Field,  onl.  37th  Regt.,  Co.  H. 
Thomas  Whalen,  enl.  37th  Begt.,  Co.  H. 
Francis  G.  Bardwell,  enl.  52d  Begt.,  Co.  I. 
Wm.  Cowles,  enl.  52d  Regt.,  Co.  I. 
Serene  Clapp,  enl.  31st  Regt. ;  died  soon  after  return. 
Charles  B.  Newton,  eld.  52d  Regt.,  Co.  I. 
George  Mentor,  enl.  21st  Regt. 
Thomas  Stephens,  enl.  2Ist  Regt. 
Whitney  L.  Williams,  enl.  1st  Cav. 


PLAINFIELD. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Plainfielu  occupies  the  northwest  corner  of  Hampshire 
County,  and  is  centrally  distant  from  Northampton  nineteen 
miles,  air-line  measurement.  It  is  bounded  north  by  Frank- 
lin County,  east  by  Franklin  County,  south  by  Cumming- 
ton,  and  west  by  Berkshire  County.  The  reason  why  it  is 
a  part  of  Hampshire  County  may  simply  be  that  at  the 
time  of  the  division  of  old  Hampshire  the  people  desired  to 
have  it  so.  Perhaps  the  arrangement  cannot  be  improved 
even  now,  though  direct  stage  communication  is  eastward  and 
northward  into  Franklin  County  rather  than  southward.  The 
farm  acreage  is  11,901  acres.  A  large  portion  of  the  town  was 
originally  included  in  Cummington,  and  was  a  part  of  Town- 
ship No.  .5,  the  title  being  direct  from  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  To  this  was  added,  Feb.  4,  1794,  a  portion  of 
Ashiield,  with  the  families  of  Joseph  Clarke  and  Joseph  Beals, 
and  June  21,  1803,  one  mile  in  width  from  the  southerly  por- 
tion of  the  town  of  Hawley.  This  was  a  part  of  certain  equiv- 
alent lands  originally  granted  to  the  town  of  Hatfield  and 
located  in  Hawley.  This  introduced  into  deeds  the  term 
"  Hatfield  Equivalents." 

Jason  Richards  states  that  the  northeast  part  of  this  town, 
comprising  600  acres,  was  a  tract  granted  to  Mr.  Mayhew  for 
missionary  and  perhaps  legal  services  among  the  Indians  ; 
that  it  was  transferred  soon  after  to  one  Wainwright,  and  was 
known  by  his  name.  James  Richards  originallj'  lived  on  the 
south  boundary  of  this  estate,  and  was  appointed  an  agent  to 
have  the  care  of  it. 

Plainfield  was  made  an  important  point  in  the  trigonomet- 
rical surveys  of  the  State,  and  the  exact  position  of  the  meet- 
ing-house was  given  as  latitude  42°  30'  50";  longitude  72° 
57'  47". 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  surface  of  the  town  is  rough  and  mountainous.  Ranges 
of  hills  extend  from  northeast  to  southwest  through  the  east- 
ern portion.  Separate  elevations  are  found  in  the  west. 
Several  such  also  occur  among  the  ranges  of  the  east.  These 
have  only  local  names.  One  on  the  south  boundary  west 
of  the  centre  is  named  Beer  Hill.  This  is  a  beautiful,  .sym- 
metrically-shaped elevation,  attracting  much  attention  from 
tourists. 
,  The  town  is  situated  just  south  of  the  dividing  ridges  be- 
]  twcen  the  waters  of  the  Deerfield  River  and  those  of  the  West- 
^  field.  Several  rivulets  that  flow  down  these  valleys  rise  not  far 
from  the  northern  boundary.  But  the  town  is  drained  south- 
wardly b}'  three  tributaries  of  the  Middle  Branch  of  the  West- 
field  River.  The  central  one  is  known  as  Mill  Brook.  This 
affords  water-power  of  considerable  value.  From  the  slopes 
of  the  hills  in  the  west  there  are  a  number  of  small  streams 
tliat,  flowing  into  Berkshire  County,  form  another  tributary 
of  the  Middle  Branch. 

In  the  east  there  are  several  streams  that  unite  farther  south 
than  Plainfield,  under  the  name  of  Swift  River,  and  this  be- 
comes still  another  tributary  of  the  same  Middle  Branch  of 
the  Westfield.  Meadow  Brook  and  Still  Brook  are  among 
these.  North  Pond  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  dotted  with 
islands,  lying  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town.  Crooked 
Pond  is  also  in  the  same  vicinity. 

With  all  this  combination  of  hill,  valley,  and  stream,  Plain- 

426 


field  has  romantic  and  picturesque  scenery.  Geologicall}', 
Plainfield  possesses  many  interesting  features  in  common  with 
the  other  towns  lying  along  this  mountainous  range. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT. 

Plainfield  was  settled  from  1770  to  1780.  Mr.  Mclntyre 
was  probably  the  first  pioneer  to  penetrate  the  forests  and  cs- 
•  tabli.sh  a  home  for  his  family.  His  precise  location  is  not  de- 
termined. From  the  early  records  of  Cummington  we  obtain 
the  names  of  others  who  came  to  Plainfield  about  the  time  of 
the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  name  of  Dr.  Fay  appears  in  1774  as  one  permitted,  with 
Dr.  Bradish,  to  open  a  hospital  for  inoculation.  If  this  is  the 
Nathan  Fay  whose  homestead  Deacon  Hamlin  supposes  to 
have  been  on  West  Hill,  in  Plainfield,  it  would  indicate  his 
settlement,  and  that  of  others,  at  or  before  that  date.  We  ob- 
tain no  further  names  from  the  records  until  five  years  later. 

At  the  first  town-meeting  in  Cummington  (1779),  Lieut. 
Joshua  vShaw  was  chosen  one  of  the  selectmen.  Andrew  Cook 
and  Isaac  Joy  were  named  among  the  surveyors  of  highwa3'S. 
Caleb  White  was  chosen  a  deer-reeve.  Lieut.  Colson  was 
chosen  upon  the  committee  of  correspondence.  These  five 
families  were  undoubtedly  settled  here  between  1774  and  1779. 
It  is  not  probable  that  all  the  settlers  were  appointed  to  office, 
and  hence  there  must  have  been  a  few  other  families  that  came 
in  during  that  period  of  five  years. 

In  March,  1780,  at  the  town-meeting  of  Cummington,  Lieut. 
Samuel  Noyes  apparently  took  the  place  of  Lieut.  Colson 
upon  the  committee  of  correspondence,  indicating  his  settle- 
ment here  that  year  or  earlier.  At  this  same  date,  1780,  there 
occurs  also  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  and  this  agrees  with 
the  statements  of  his  son.  Abraham  Beals  and  John  Streeter 
were  appointed  surveyors  of  highways  in  Cummington,  1780. 
The  same  year  we  also  find  the  names  of  Wm.  Robbins  and 
Jonathan  Munroe,  also  Noah  Packard.  We  thus  determine 
seven  more  families,  giving  twelve  names,  in  all,  of  those  ap- 
pointed to  office.  This  statement  indicates  the  settlement  of 
twenty  to  twenty-five  families  in  Plainfield  by  1780.  This 
applies  to  only  that  part  of  Plainfield  taken  from  Cummington. 
The  section  afterward  annexed  from  Ashfield  may  have  also 
had  one  or  more  settlers  by  1780,  as  well  as  the  two  tiers  of 
lots  taken  from  Hawley. 

Plainfield  was  thus  settled  during  the  Revolutionary  war. 
Notwithstanding  the  civil  commotions,  hardy  pioneers  were 
continually  pushing  westward  from  the  towns  of  Abingdon 
and  Bridgewater,  which,  with  others,  seem  at  that  time  to  have 
constituted  a  human  hive,  teeming  with  inhabitants,  and  send- 
ing out  swarms  to  settle  Western  Hampshire.  Under  their 
eflbrts,  "  the  wilderness  blossomed  as  the  rose,  and  the  desert 
became  a  fruitful  field."  In  their  system  of  town-meetings 
they  brought  with  them  the  great  principles  of  local  home 
rule,  the  very  sources  of  constitutional  liberty  throughout  the 
world.  In  their  religious  institutions  they  kept  unbroken  the 
faith  of  their  fathers,  kindling  its  altar-fires  upon  every  hill- 
top, and  sending  forth  streams  of  light  and  truth  to  illuminate 
the  dark  places  of  the  earth. 

SPECIAL    FAMILY   NOTES. 

Isaac  Joy,  Sr.  Warrant  for  first  town-meeting  issued  to 
him  ;   homestead  was   in   the  south   part  of  the  town,   now 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE    COUNTY. 


427 


owned  by  Nelson  Shaw ;  buildings  gone.  Among  his  chil- 
dren were  Isaac,  Jr.,  Plainfleld ;  Joseph,  Plainfield  (father  of 
Leonard  Joy,  now  living  in  town) ;  Hannah  (Mrs.  Taylor, 
Hawley).  The  children  of  Isaac,  Jr.,  were  Lucinda  (Mrs.  Tay- 
lor, Hawley)  ;  Mrs.  James  Cook,  Plainfleld;  Mrs.  Abisha 
Nash,  Plainfipld ;  Alonzo,  Plainfleld;  Zenas,  Northampton; 
William,  Stamford,  Vt. ;  Isaac,  went  from  town  early.  The 
children  of  Joseph  were  Leonard,  Plainfleld  ;  James,  Plain- 
field ;  Polly  (Mrs.  Beres  Patrick),  Plainfield,  moved  to  Ash- 
field;  Merila  (Mrs.  Dura  Torrey);  Electa  (Mrs.  Levi  Clark) ; 
Clarissa  (Mrs.  Levi  Campbell). 

Mr.  Mclntyre.  Supposed  to  be  the  first  settler ;  homestead 
probably  near  where  Mrs.  Mary  Dunning  now  lives.  The 
marriage  of  two  who  were  probably  his  daughters  is  given 
elsewhere;  and  there  is  also  recorded  the  death  of  Widow 
Mclntyre  (1802),  aged  eighty-three,  who  was  very  probably 
the  wife  of  this  first  pioneer. 

Simon  Burroughs.  There  was  one  son,  Simon,  Jr. ;  the  fam- 
il}'  went  West  at  an  early  day.  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson,  home- 
stead a  little  .southeast  of  the  village,  now  owned  by  O.  C. 
Shumway.  The  family  removed  to  Hamilton,  N.  Y.  Their 
children  were  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  Josiah,  Russell,  Lyman,  Allen, 
and  Bonaparte. 

Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  first  town-clerk  ;  one  of  the  first  select- 
men of  Cummington  (1779);  homestead  on  the  present  farm 
of  O.  C.  Shumway  ;  one  son,  Thomas,  afterward  town-clerk. 

Lieut.  John  Packard  was  here  several  years  before  the  town 
was  organized,  as  his  name  is  among  the  town  officers  of  Cvmi- 
mington  (1779).  Children:  John,  Plainfield,  later  to  Ohio, 
and  Mrs.  Eldridge,  who  also  went  West,  to  Ohio. 

Lieut.  John  Cunningham  (1783-84),  homestead  on  the  so- 
called  Strong  place,  now  owned  by  Lewis  Shaw.  Of  the 
children,  there  were  John,  Jr.,  Ohio;  Jones,  Ohio;  James 
T.,  Artemas,  Amos,  and  Cyrus.  Two  daughters;  they  went 
West  at  an  early  day. 

Josiah  Torrey,  homestead  on  West  Hill.  Of  the  children, 
John  settled  in  Cummington  ;  Josiah  in  Plainfield  ;  Mrs.  John 
Pord,  Cummington  ;   Mrs.  Ebenezer  Shaw,  Cummington. 

Solomon  Nash,  homestead  where  Oren  Tirrill,  Jr.,  now 
lives  ;  family  went  West  at  an  early  day  ;  one  son  was  Eeuel. 
Nathan  Fay,  homestead  on  West  Hill ;  probably  was  the  owner 
of  a  tract  now  the  farm  of  Oren  Tirrill.  William  Daniels. — 
A  blacksmith  at  the  centre,  of  that  name,  worked  opposite  the 
present  house  of  Charles  N.  Dyer.  The  Daniels  homestead 
was  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town.  Jacob  Clark,  home- 
stead southeast  part  of  the  town,  residence  of  Seth  W.  Clark. 
Children:  Jacob,  Jr.,  Mrs.  James  Jewell,  Mrs.  Daniel  Coe, 
Sally  (died  unmarried),  Lucy,  Hannah,  Nancy,  Levi,  David, 
Chester,  and  Alanson. 

Abijah  Pool,  homestead  a  mile  east  of  the  centre  ;  buildings 
gone.  Of  the  children,  Jephthah  entered  the  ministry  ;  Abijah, 
Ohio;  Mrs.  Jessie  Dyer,  Ashfield.  Jonathan  Muni-oe,  home- 
stead south  of  the  centre,  the  farm  now  owned  by  Lewis 
Shaw ;  formerly  known  as  the  Caleb  Beals  place.  Daniel 
Streeter,  homestead  where  Lorenzo  Joy  now  lives  perhaps, 
or  near  there.  Of  his  children,  Ozias  settled  in  Adams ; 
Salem,  Daniel,  Levi,  Matilda,  Chester,  in  Plainfleld. 

Lieut.  Samuel  Noyes,  first  surveyor  of  lumber,  was  here 
very  early.  Jonathan  Noyes,  perhaps  a  son,  was  a  resident 
of  Plainfleld  very  early.  Homestead  where  Edwin  Kinney 
now  lives.  Children :  Jonathan,  Susannah,  Vesta,  Ira,  Cephas, 
Sally,  Samuel,  Jason,  Niles,  Webster. 

Azariah  Beals,  homestead  on  West  Hill,  the  George  Vining 
place ;  buildings  gone.  Samuel  Streeter,  homestead  present 
place  of  Joseph  Sears,  north  of  the  church.  Children  :  Han- 
nah, Joanna,  died  young;  Jacob,  went  West;  Susannah, 
Anselm,  went  West;  Lueena,  Arnold,  Plainfield;  Truman, 
went  West ;  Samuel,  Jr.,  went  West ;  Nahum.  John  Streeter 
is  also  mentioned  among  the  early  pioneers. 

Caleb  White,  a  town  officer  of  Cummington,  177'J.     Home- 


stead south  of  the  centre,  near  where  Orson  S.  White  now 
lives ;  the  house  gone  ;  an  old  well  marks  the  spot.  Children : 
Ziba,  Plainfield;  Samuel,  Plainfleld  (father  of  Orson  S. 
White). 

Josiah  Shaw,  homestead  where  Freeman  Shaw  recently 
lived.  Among  the  children  were  Josiah,  Jr.,  Plainfield ; 
Samuel,  the  well-known  physician ;  Dana,  also  physician ; 
Elvira,  who  died  unmarried  at  an  advanced  age;  Nancy 
(Mrs.  Edmund  Campbell) ;  Freeman,  who  lived  and  died  on 
the  old  homestead. 

Elisha  Bisbee.  He  was  a  brother  of  Ebenezer.  His  home 
was  near  Henry  Packard's  place, — a  part  of  Ebenezer's  farm. 
He  moved  to  Meredith.  He  is  said  to  have  had  nineteen 
children.  Benjamin  Bullen,  homestead  was  on  a  part  of  the 
farm  o.wned  by  John  Hamlin.  Asa  Streeter  lived  over  the 
line,  in  Cummington,  as  now  understood;  grandfather  of 
several  now  living  in  Cummington.  Solomon  Pratt,  home- 
stead in  the  east  part  of  the  town.  Abraham  Clark  was 
another  of  the  brothers  of  Jacob  Clark.  Homestead,  Lyman 
Thayer's  place.  Children:  James,  Elijah,  Samuel,  Betsey, 
Lydia. 

Joseph  Cook,  homestead  perhaps  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Andrew  Cook  ;  among  his  children  were  Levi,  Jason,  Laura, 
Clarissa,  Electa.  Jacob  Joy,  homestead  where  Edwin  Dyer 
now  lives.  Children  :  Cyrus,  Plainfield  ;  Nathan,  New  York 
City;  Lucy,  Lurinda;  Ira,  living  in  Hawley;  Sally,  Orse- 
mus,  who  went  West,  supposed  still  living ;  Horatio  N. 
Jeremiah  Robinson,  homestead  where  Osman  Thayer  now 
lives.  Children:  Mrs.  Isaac  Bi.sbee ;  Clara,  died  young;  Mrs. 
Ezra  Williams,  Joshua,  William,  Seth.  Andrew  Cook, 
appointed  a  town  officer  of  Cummington,  1779;  homestead 
southeast  part  of  the  town.  Children:  Hannah  and  John, 
and  perhaps  others. 

John  Jones,  homestead  east  of  the  centre ;  he  had  a  son, 
Jacob.  John  Shaw,  homestead  present  place  of  Samuel  Loud. 
Of  the  children  were  Mrs.  Samuel  Loud,  and  Oakes  Shaw, 
who  went  West.  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  homestead  the  present 
place  of  Henry  Packard,  southwest  part  of  the  town.  Chil- 
dren:  Isaac,  Barton,  James,  John,  Nabby,  Jennette ;  Arza, 
died  young. 

James  Richards,  homestead  the  present  Ansel  Cole  place. 
He  came  from  Abingdon  1787  or  1788.  Children :  James,  one 
of  the  founders  of  American  missions ;  William,  also  a  for- 
eign missionary ;  Austin,  who  entered  the  ministry ;  Jason 
(2d),  still  living  at  Plainfield  Centre;  Nancy,  Jason  (1st),  and 
another  died  in  infancy;  Joseph,  who  became  a  physician; 
Lydia  (Mrs.  Ebenezer  Snell),  Cummington;  and  Sally  (Mrs. 
John  Mack),  Plainfield. 

John  Hamlin,  of  Bridgewater,  came  to  Cummington  with 
his  mother,  a  widow,  when  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  in  the 
year  1776.  He  used  to  say  he  remembered  hearing  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  talked  of  as 
something  ju.st  done  when  they  came  through  Northampton. 
He  married  Sally  Town,  and  settled  in  Plainfield  in  1790; 
homestead  the  present  place  of  James  Warner.  Children  : 
John,  died  young;  Oren,  died  young;  Reuben,  settled  in 
Plainfield;  Mrs.  Otis  Pratt,  Plainfield;  Mrs.  John  Ford, 
Cummington ;  Lyman,  Western  New  York  and  Michigan ; 
Freeman,  Plainfield,  still  living;  Mrs.  Mason  Ames,  Chester; 
Horace,  now  living,  Granville,  Ohio  ;  John  (2d),  died  young. 

Andrew  Ford,  homestead  south  of  the  Cudworth  place.  Of 
his  children  were  Elias,  Levi,  Andrew,  Jr.,  Ebenezer,  Polly, 
Elizabeth,  Matilda,  and  another.  Perliaps  the  Andrew  Ford 
of  the  early  records  was  the  father  of  the  one  here  mentioned. 

Elijah  Ford  and  Solomon  were  brothers  of  Andrew,  Sr. 
The  latter  died  Oct.  16,  1790.  Caleb  Beals,  homestead  where 
Lewis  Shaw  now  lives.  Among  the  children  were  Jacob, 
Plainfield  ;  Comfort,  Plainfield  ;  David,  Plainfield ;  Nancy, 
died  unmarried;  Betsey  (Mrs.  Ira  Hamlin);  Eben,  Plain- 
field  ;  Elijah,  Plainfield. 


42g 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Abijah  Snow,  homestead  on  the  West  Hill ;  a  man  of  con- 
siderable note.  Joseph  Clark,  a  brother  of  Jacob  Clark. 
Jacob  Hawes,  homestead  where  Albert  Gurney  now  lives ; 
family  went  West  fifty  years  ago  or  more.  Ephraim  Lloyd, 
homestead  where  William  Jones  now  resides.  Of  his  children 
were  Charles,  who  settled  in  Cummington,  and  Huldah. 
Benjamin  Dyer,  homestead  present  place  of  Samuel  Bartlett, 
Ashfield,  near  the  Plainfield  line.  Children:  Benjamin,  Jr., 
Plainfield;  Jacob,  Ashfleld ;  Anson,  entered  the  ministry  at 
the  West,  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  ;  Mrs.  Hiram  Beales, 
Ashfield;  Christopher,  Ashfield  ;  Alvin,  now  living  near  the 
old  homestead  ;   Kandall,  Ohio. 

Kev.  Moses  Hallock,  homestead  present  Spearman  place, 
Plainfield  Centre.  Children  :  William  A.  Hallock,  the  well- 
known  agent,  for  so  many  J'ears,  of  the  American  Tract  So- 
ciety; Gerard  Hallock,  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce; 
Martha,  who  died  unmarried;  Leavitt,  Plainfield;  Homaii, 
the  type-manufacturer.  He  first  was  a  missionary  in  Smyrna, 
and  returned  to  make  type. 

Abel  Warner,  homestead  where  Francis  Joy  now  lives. 
Of  his  children  were  Ira,  Lorenzo,  Polly  (Mrs.  Leonard  Joy), 
Theodore,  Sj'lvanus,  Justus  Warner  (father  of  the  author, 
Charles  Dudley  Warner),  Sally  (Mrs.  Taylor),  Fanny  (Mrs. 
Reuben  Hamlin),  Rosamond  (Mrs.  Townsley). 

Elijah  Warner,  homestead  south  part  of  the  town.  Chil- 
dren:  Betsey  (Mrs.  Simeon  Streeter),  James,  Melancey  (Mrs. 
Howlet),  Gushing,  William,  Elijah,  Jr.,  Wells,  Roswell, 
Jennette.  Gushing,  Wells,  and  Jennette — all  unmarried — 
reside  on  the  old  homestead. 

Barnabas  Packard  (son  of  Barnabas  of  Cummington)  was 
an  early  settler  of  Plainfield.  His  homestead  was  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  town.  Of  his  children,  Barnabas  set- 
tled in  Plainfield ;  Norton,  Pittsfield ;  Milton,  Missouri ; 
Roswell,  Racine,  Wis.  ;  Achsah  (Mrs.  Hiram  Upham)  ;  Patty 
(Mrs.  Nathan  Beales).     Sally  and  Ruby  died  unmarried. 

Asa  Joy  came  to  Plainfield  very  early ;  he  had  two  sons, 
John  and  Walter,  and  one  daughter,  Ruth,  who  died  unmar- 
ried. Stephen  Uayward,  appointed  on  a  committee  to  lay  out 
roads  in  No.  .5,  Sept.  26,  176-t.  He  was  very  probably  a  brother 
of  Joseph  Hayward,  the  grandfather  of  Stephen  Hayward, 
now  living  in  Plainfield  ;  but,  according  to  the  family  tradi- 
tion as  stated  by  the  latter,,  they  did  not  settle  here,  nor  in 
Cummington,  though  they  were  proprietors, — the  Haywards 
of  Cummington  being  more  distant  connections,  if  related  at 
all.  To  throw  more  light  on  this  point,  however,  we  add  the 
statement  (as  furnished  by  Stephen)  of  his  grandfather's  family 
of  Concord,  Joseph  Hayward.  Children  :  James,  of  Plainfield, 
as  elsewhere  stated  ;  John,  Concord  ;  Simeon,  Phillipstown  ; 
Stephen,  who  went  West ;  Joseph,  New  Hampshire  ;  Asa,  died 
young.     There  were  also  six  daughters. 

Noah  Packard,  homestead  present  Roswell  Davison  place. 
Children:  Mrs.  James  Bisbee  ;  Irani,  who  went  to  Ohio; 
Mrs.  Jacob  Porter,  Cummington  ;  Olive,  who  died  unmar- 
ried;  Noah,  who  went  through  to  Ohio  on  foot,  starting  the 
day  after  he  was  twenty-one;  David,  who  later  in  life  went 
to  Ohio. 

Joseph  Heals  came  in  1779  and  settled  opposite  the  pre-scnt 
residence  of  Albert  Dyer,  in  a  small  house  afterward  burned, 
as  stated  in  the  tract  "  Mountain  Miller."  He  then  built  on 
the  other  side  a  house  which  is  a  part  of  the  present  dwelling, 
the  kitchen  being  the  identical  room  where  his  conversion  took 
place,  as  stated  in  the  tract.  He  afterward  removed  to  where 
Nelson  Ctiok  now  lives.  Children:  Samuel,  Plainfield;  Jo- 
seph, who  succeeded  liis  father  for  many  years  in  the  mill  ■ 
Robert  (father  of  Mrs.  Albert  Dyer)  ;  Lydia,  died  young  (the 
first  death  described  in  the  tract)  ;  Polly  (the  other  death 
mentioned  in  the  tract) ;  and  Airs.  William  Keed,  Albany. 

Gideon  Clark,  spoken  of  in  Cummington  afiairs  as  early  as 
1772.  James  Porter  came  about  1780;  among  the  children 
were  Polly,  Abigail,  Hannah,  and  James.    Jacob  Nash,  about 


1780-83,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier;  homestead  the  present 
place  of  Stephen  Parsons.  Children  :  Arvin,  Plainfield  (father 
of  James  A.,  t£e  present  proprietor  of  the  grist-mill);  Rox- 
ana  and  S^'bil,  who  died  unmarried;  Mrs.  Jacob  Pratt,  Mrs. 
David  Crittenden.  Peter  B.  Beals,  whose  family  went  West  ■ 
at  an  early  daj'.     Eli  and  Peter  were  two  of  the  children. 

James  Hayward  came  in  1793  and  settled  where  his  son 
Stephen  is  now  living,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one. 
Children :  Stephen,  on  the  old  homestead ;  James,  the  pro- 
fessor in  Harvard  University ;  Joseph,  a  bridge-builder  of 
Tro}-,  died  in  South  America  ;  Tilly,  entered  the  ministry  of 
the  Swedenborgian  Church,  died  the  present  year  (1878). 
Two  children  died  in  infancy.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Elisha 
Mack,  of  Albany.  Stephen  says  there  were  five  brothers  came 
to  this  country  originally,  and  all  spelled  their  name  ditferently. 

Levi  Stetson,  homestead  west  part  of  the  town.  Children : 
Levi,  Whiteomb,  Judson,  all  of  Plainfield ;  Mrs.  Levi  Cook,  , 
Mrs.  Philip  Packard.  Jesse  Dyer  came  about  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  and  settled  in  Ashfield,  near  Plainfield,  on  the 
present  farm  of  Alvin  Dyer  Children:  Jarcd,  Plainfield; 
Oakes,  Plainfield;  Bela,  Plainfield,  moved  to  Ohio  late  in 
life  ;  Albert,  Plainfield  ;  Samuel,  Plainfield  ;  Mrs.  Ebenezer 
Crosby,  Wisconsin  ;  Newell  Dyer  (father  of  Charles  N.  Dyer, 
present  town  clerk),  Plainfield. 

David  Whiting,  came  from  Abingdon  in  1790  or  1791  ; 
homestead  in  Cummington  ;  then  to  Plainfield  on  the  farm 
now  owned  by  Deacon  Clark  ;  buildings  gone.  Children  : 
Addison,  died  young;  Mrs.  James  Joy,  Mrs.  James  Warner, 
Plainfield;  Mrs.  Dr.  Dana  Shaw,  moved  West;  Mrs.  Freeman 
Shaw,  Mrs.  Freeman  Hamlin,  Plainfield;  Randall,  Plainfield, 
mc.ived  to  New  York ;  Theodore,  New  York  State ;  Mrs. 
Royal  Hibbard,  New  York;  Chandler,  Plainfield;  Lewis, 
Saratoga.  Oliver  Tirrell,  homestead  east  part  of  the  town. 
Children:  Mehitable  (Mrs.  Apollos  Gardner);  Ezra,  Jason, 
Jeremiah,  Joshua,  Plainfield ;  Silence  (Mrs.  Wm.  Winslow), 
Salome,  Marila  (Mrs.  Daniels).  Benjamin  Town,  homestead 
where  Russell  Tirrell  now  lives.  Among  the  children  were 
Candace  (Mrs.  Steele);  Benjamin,  Plainfield;  Chloe,  died 
unmarried  ;  Younglove,  Plainfield  ;  John,  died  young. 

Ebenezer  Dickinson,  homestead  on  land  owned  in  Hawley  ; 
buildings  gone.  Among  the  childi-en  were  Abner,  died  young ; 
Anna;  Roxana,  unmarried;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Codding);  Eben- 
ezer, Jr.,  Hawley;  Abner  (2d),  died  young;  Apphia  (Mrs. 
Crowell  Hawley);  Hannah  (Mrs.  Hunt);  Mary  (Mrs. 
Noyes) ;  John  B.,  Plainfield;  Erastus,  a  minister. 

Samuel  Stoddard,  homestead  southeast  part  of  the  town; 
buildings  gone.  Among  the  children  were  Malinda  (Mrs. 
Lincoln),  Sally  (Mrs.  Whitman),  Sukey  (Mrs.  Philo  Pack- 
ard), Electa  (Mrs.  Oakes  Dyer),  Laura  (Mrs.  Packard),  Mrs. 
Willard  Beals,  Mrs.  Wm.  Packard,  Cummington.  Giles 
Atkins,  homestead  extreme  northwest  part.  Among  the 
children  were  Elisha,  Plainfield ;  Freeman,  Isaac,  Hawley  ; 
Sarah  (Mrs.  Jordan).  Benjamin  Gardner,  east  part  of  the 
town.  Among  the  children  were  Benjamin,  Jr.,  Rachel, 
Warren,  William,  Gideon.  Jacob  Gardner,  east  part  of  the 
town.     Among  the  children  were  Jacob,  Jr.,  Apollos. 

George  Vining,  Abingdon,  1785-90;  homestead  west  part 
of  the  town  ;  buildings  gone.  Children  :  Melvin,  who  went 
West;  Freeman,  Derby,  Vt.  ;  George,  Plainfield ;  Scott,  Sand 
Lake,  N.  Y. ;  Marcus  Cullen,  Cummington ;  Mrs.  Thomas 
Kingman,  Mrs.  Robert  Beals,  Mrs.  Hunter  Chester,  Mrs. 
Jacob  Stetson,  Mrs.  Joseph  Woods,  Springfield.  Tract  No. 
354,  American  Tract  Society,  relates  to  a  member  of  this 
family. 

Jacob  Allen,  homestead  on  West  Hill,  where  Jlr.  Brown 
now  lives.  Among  the  children  were  Mehitable  (Mrs.  Dr. 
Richards),  31olly  (Mrs.  John  Packard,  Jr. ),  Celia  (Mrs.  Daniel 
Richards),  Jacob,  Jr.,  Ward,  Susannah,  Pbilena,  Timothy, 
Almon,  Aldcn,  Miranda.  Family  all  removed  from  town  at 
an  early  day. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


429 


Ebenezer  Nasli,  homestead  half  a  mile  north  of  the  church  ; 
buiklin!>;s  gone.  Among  the  children  were  Electa  (Mrs.  Amos 
Tirrell,  Jr.) ;  Polly  (Mrs.  Josiah  Torrey,  Jr.) ;  Vinson,  Ohio  ; 
Sally,  died  unmarried  ;  Diadama  (Mrs.  Sadler),  Abisha,  Plain- 
field. 

Amos  Tirrell,  homestead  where  Merritt  Torrey  now  lives, 
west  part  of  the  town.     Among  the  children  were  Hannah 
■"         (Mrs.  Samuel  Thayer),  Isaac,  Amos,  Jr.,  Oren,  Arza,  Abra- 
ham S.,  Plainfield  ;  Clarissa,  died  young  ;  James,  Plainfield. 

Joseph  Gloyd,  homestead  southeast  part  of  the  town.  Among 
the  children  were  Levi,  Joseph,  Jr.,  Bethuel,  and  several 
daughters.  David  Stowell,  homestead  east  part  of  the  town  ; 
buildings  gone  ;  land  owned  by  William  Jones.  Among  his 
children  were  Nahum,  Sally  (Mrs.  Caleb  Packard),  David, 
William,  Mehitable  (Mrs.  William  Torrey),  Hannah,  Clar- 
issa. Jeremiah  Stockwell,  homestead  where  James  A.  Wins- 
low  now  lives.  Among  the  children  were  Hannah,  Jonathan, 
Plainfield;  Jeremiah,  Consider,  Plainfield;  Parley,  Plainfield; 
Hannah,  Matilda,  Sallj'.  Caleb  Joy,  homestead  where  Char- 
lotte Lincoln  now  lives.  Among  the  children  were  John, 
settled  on  the  homestead;  Sally  (Mrs.  Noah  Pixley). 

John  Campbell  came  very  early  ;  homestead  where  Levi  N. 
Campbell  now  lives ;  house  near  the  present.  Children : 
Ebenezer,  Northampton  ;  Levi  (father  of  Levi  N.,  now  living 
at  the  old  place) ;  Edmund,  Plainfield;  Sally,  Amasa,  Plain- 
/'  field,  Vt. ;  Betsey  (Mrs.  Pool).  Whitcomb  Pratt,  homestead 
west  part  of  the  town ;  came  from  Weymouth.  Among  his 
children  were  Jacob,  Plainfield;  Otis,  Plainfield;  Austin, 
Cummington ;  Mrs.  Pool,  Mrs.  Charles  Gloyd  ;  two  daughters 
were  married  abroad.  Daniel  L.  Pratt,  brother  of  the  above, 
homestead  in  what  is  popularly  known  as  "  Shoe-String  Hol- 
low." Among  his  children  were  Harvey,  who  went  West; 
AVilliam,  Plainfield,  then  to  Ohio  with  his  father  and  the 
family.  Amos  Crittenden  (his  father  probably  came  into  town 
with  him),  homestead  near  where  Mark  Howes  now  lives. 
Among  the  children  were  Amos,  Jr.,  Plainfield;  Matthias, 
Plainfield ;  Azriel,  Plainfield. 

Benjamin  Carr,  homestead  near  where  Deacon  Barber  now 
lives.  Among  his  children  were  Oliver,  Plainfield;  Benja- 
min, Plainfield ;  John,  Plainfield,  afterward  to  Buckland ; 
Lucinda,  died  unmarried;  Dolly,  died  unmarried;  Candace 
(Mrs.  Howard,  of  Hawley) ;  Sally,  married  in  Buckland. 
Philip  Packard,  homestead  northwest  part  of  the  town  ;  build- 
ings gone  down ;  land  owned  by  Joseph  Sears.  Among  the 
children  were  Amasa,  Ohio ;  Philip,  Ohio ;  Nabby,  Patty, 
Jane,  Josiah.  Benjamin  Gloyd,  homestead  where  Charles  C. 
Gloyd,  a  grandson,  now  lives.  Among  his  children  were 
/T^  Stephen,  Plainfield;  Philena  (Mrs.  Consider  Stockwell), 
Plainfield;  James,  Plainfield;  Benjamin,  Plainfield;  Sarah, 
married  in  Hawley.  Elijah  Gloyd,  homestead  north  part  of 
the  town  ;  buildings  gone.     Elijah,  Harvey,  James,  Almira. 

REMINISCENCES   OF   JOHN   BISBEE. 

There  is  now  living  at  Plainfield  Centre,  Dec.  26,  1878,  one 
who  was  nearly  four  years  old  when  Gen.  Washington  took 
the  oath  as  President  of  the  United  States,  in  1789.  John 
Bisbee  is  a  venerable  relic  of  a  past  age.  He  was  born  July 
3,  1785,  and  is  therefore  twenty-two  days  older  than  the  dis- 
trict of  Plainfield.  His  father,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  was  in  the 
Revolutionary  army  during  the  first  three  years  or  a  part  of 
that  time.  Of  his  wages  he  saved  §20  Continental  money, 
and  depreciated  at  that.  Coming  to  Cummington  in  1779 
with  the  ^20,  he  bought  twenty  acres  of  land  where  Henry 
Packard  now  lives,  paying  out  all  of  his  money,  but  having 
left  a  robust  constitution  and  an  iron  will  to  carve  out  a  home 
for  himself  and  his  family.  John  Bisbee  was  born  at  the 
homestead,  and  has  lived  at  Plainfield  all  his  life  except  seven 
years  .spent  in  Cummington.  He  said  to  the  writer  that  he 
had  often  been  to  the  grist-mill  of  Joseph  Beals  when  young; 
that  Mr.  Beals  always  reached  out  his  hand  quick  to  greet 


any  one  coming  in.  When  asked  if  Mr.  Beals  ever  told  him 
he  must  be  a  good  boy  and  become  a  Christian,  he  replied  in 
substance,  "  His  talk  always  looked  that  way." 

Mr.  Bisbee  resides  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Campbell,  and 
is  calmly  waiting  the  end  of  life,  every  night  at  a  stated  hour  of 
prayer  committing  himself  to  the  arms  of  his  heavenly  Father 
with  a  childlike  trust  that  all  is  well,  whether  the  morning 
dawn  upon  him  here  or  in  the  better  land  beyond.* 

The  first  marriage  notice  upon  the  books  of  the  town  is  the 
following : 

"  A  pui-pose  of  marriage  made  public  Aug.  11, 1785,  between  Elijah  Ford  aud 
Aniia  Cook."    Same  date,  "  lietweeu  Joseph  Easton  and  Mary  "Wood." 

It  is  ditficult  to  give  from  the  record  the  first  birth  in  town, 
as  the  jilacc  is  not  usually  mentioned,  and  children  born  in 
families  before  removing  to  town  are  often  recorded  afterward. 
The  first  may  be  the  following  : 

"  Isaac  Bisbee,  eon  of  Ebenezer,  born  April  2, 1779." 

The  following  early  marriages  appear  : 

^tarried  in  Ashfield,  by  Rev.  Jacob  Sherwin,  Jan.  2.3, 1777,  Amos  Crittenden, 
of  Ashfield,  Ui  Pliebe  Mclntyre,  of  ^^  Hatfield  EijuivaUnty 

Stephen  Smith  and  Hannah  Mclntyre,  both  of  "  Hatfield  Equivalent,''  July  17, 
1777. 

.Simon  Burroughs,  of  '*  Ha{luM  Equivalent"  and  Hannah  Noyes,  of  Cumming- 
ton, Aug.  20, 1782. 

MERCHANTS. 

Jonathan  Perkins  was  an  early  merchant.  His  advertise- 
ments appear  in  the  Hampshire  Oazeite  of  1794.  Jason  Rich- 
ards supposes  Perkins  did  not  trade  after  1803  or  'i.  He  was 
very  likely  the  first  merchant.  Perhaps  down  to  his  time  the 
Lazell  store  in  Cummington  may  have  been  the  principal 
point  of  trade  for  this  section,  as  that  was  probably  opened 
during  the  Revolutionary  war.  John  Mack  was  also  an  early 
merchant,  commencing  1803  or  '4.  His  store  was  in  a  building 
south  of  and  near  to  the  main  building  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Smith.  About  1821  he  built  the  store  now  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Packard.  There  he  continued  in  trade  until  his  death,  about 
1833.  He  had  for  a  time  associated  with  himself  his  son 
John,  Jr.  The  store  was  then  run  by  John  and  Elisha  Mack. 
Later  were  Whitney  Hitchcock,  Aaron  Sawyer,  Alden  Clark, 
Eugene  Shaw,  Wanton  Gilbert,  Charles  Mack,  and  others 
down  to  Charles  Burt,  who  sold  to  the  present  proprietor. 
Mr.  Pool  was  an  early  merchant  at  the  east  corners. 

The  store  of  Iram  Packard,  now  the  dwelling-house  of  Levi 
Clark,  opposite  the  meeting-house,  was  established  about  1830. 
After  Packard,  Aaron  Sawyer  was  in  trade  there  for  some 
years.  He  sold  to  Jacob  Clark  &  Brother.  They  traded  till 
1858  or  about  that  time,  and  then  closed  their  business. 
- .  The  present  store  of  Leonard  Campbell  succeeded  the  hat 
business  carried  on  by  Ira  Hamlin.  Mr.  Campbell  opened  in 
trade  about  1852,  and  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 
About  1825,  and  for  a  few  years  later,  a  store  was  occupied  by 
Isaac  K.  Lincoln,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  opposite 
where  Newton  Lincoln  now  lives.  He  was  followed  for  a 
short  time  by  Guruey  &  Brother,  after  which  the  store  was 
closed. 

Abner  Gurney  traded  at  the  centre  for  a  time  in  the 
Moses  Hallock  building.  Miss  Hotehkin  carried  on  the  busi- 
ness of  making  palm-leaf  hats  for  several  years,  putting  out 
the  braiding  to  families  in  the  vicinity.  George  Vining  kept 
store  where  Wesley  Beals  now  lives, — not  continued  long. 
He  also  opened  a  tavern  for  a  short  time. 

TAVERNS. 

>    On  the  Joseph  Sears  place  was  a  tavern  probably  before 

1800,  kept  by  Samuel  Streeter.     The  present  house  is  partly 

the  same  building,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  buildings  in  town. 

:■  The  tavern  of  Salem  Streeter  was  on  the  site  of  the  present 

^  house  of  Lorenzo  W.  Joy.     The  Mack  tavern  was  opened  a 

few  years  later  than  his  store.     The  old  house  was  on  the  site 

«  John  Bisbee  died  two  weeks  after  the  interview  above  given. 


430 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


of  the  house  at  the  East  Corners  now  owned  by  Clark  Smith. 
Dr.  Torrey's  tavern  was  at  the  Kast  Corners,  opposite  the  house 
of  Clark  Smith,  at  the  corner,  on  what  is  now  the  place  of  Rev. 
Solomon  Clark.  It  was  afterward  the  residence  of  Dr.  Porter. 
Later  the  huildings  were  removed.  Abel  Warner  kept  a  tav- 
ern at  the  present  place  of  Francis  W.  Joy.  The  change  in 
the  travel  caused  this  to  be  discontinued.  On  the  present 
Orange  Stetson  place  was  a  tavern  kept  by  Mr.  Kobbins. 
After  Kobbins  it  was  kept  by  Adin  Ruggles. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Dr.  Solomon  Bond  was  probably  the  earliest  physician  in 
Plainfield.  He  was  here  in  1794,  and  no  doubt  for  some  years 
before  that  time  lived  at  the  village.  Dr.  Barney  Torrey  is 
given  in  Porter's  history  as  the  next.  He  resided  on  the  south- 
east corner,  at  the  east  end  of  the  village.  Practiced  many  years. 
Dr.  Jacob  Porter  followed  him,  and  had  the  same  residence. 
Dr.  Porter  gave  much  attention  to  scientific  subjects,  and  did 
not  continue  an  active  medical  practice.  He  died  about  1846 
-47.  Dr.  Samuel  Shaw  resided  at  the  east  end  of  the  village, 
on  the  northwest  corner.  Practiced  from  1824  to  1854;  was 
widely  consulted,  and  had  an  extensive  practice  in  this  and 
other  towns.  He  was  a  fellow  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society.  He  was  disabled  ly  being  thrown  from  his  buggj^,  in 
1854.  Since  that  time  have  been  Dr.  Charles  Booker,  about  one 
year ;  Dr.  John  Eaton,  about  three  years ;  Dr.  G.  H.  Taylor,  ten 
or  twelve  years  ;  Dr.  Lamb,  one  year  ;  Dr.  Daniel  Thayer,  two 
years  ;  and  the  present  physician.  Dr.  G.  R.  Fessenden,  who 
came  to  the  place  and  comiiienced  practice  in  August,  1878. 

Lawyers  have  never  found  Plainfield  a  profitable  place  to 
practice  their  profession. 

It  is  said  that  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  during  the  few  years 
that  he  devoted  to  that  profession,  located  in  Plainfield  for  a 
short  time.  Porter's  history  says  several  practiced  for  a  short 
time  each,  but  no  one  permanently.  Legal  papers  were  drawn 
in  early  times  largely  by  James  Richards,  and  afterward  by  his 
son,  Col.  Jason  Richards. 

The  four  items  below  are  from  the  old  files  of  the  Hamjy^hire 
Gazette : 

Sept.  14, 1794. — Jonathan  Perkins,  merchant,  a^lvertises  that  all  indebted  mnst 
settle  up  by  making  immediate  payment  to  Dr.  Solomon  Bond,  and  offei-s  to  take 
butter,  cheese,  flax,  tow-cloth,  and  wheat. 

Sept.  9, 1800.— The  sale  of  patent  rij;;ht*  and  territory  for  the  same  is  not  a  de- 
vice of  modern  times.  Samuel  Davison  offers  tlie  Rev.  Ezra  Wells'  patent  wash- 
ing-machine and  territorial  rights  in  Hamiishire  and  Berkshire  Counties, 

Sept.  9, 1812.— A  pattern  for  yonng  ladies.  Miss  Dana  Smith,  aged  sixteen, 
living  in  Plainfield,  spun  and  reeled  133  knots  and  17  threads  of  good  woolen 
yarn  from  one  spindle  in  one  day  while  the  sun  was  up.  A  month  later  it  is  an- 
nounced that  Miss  Dydia  Ford,  of  Plainfield,  on  the  29th  of  August  last,  spun 
and  reeled  from  one  spindle  142  knots. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  inconvenience  of  attending  church  in  Cummington, 
and  of  going  to  the  centre  of  that  town  for  public  business, 
soon  led  to  a  proposition  for  a  separate  town.  The  act  of  in- 
corporation was  passed  March  16,  1785.  The  Revolution  was 
complete,  but  the  old  practice  of  the  colonial  Legislature  to  in- 
corporate districts  rather  than  towns  was  still  adhered  to  in 
this  case,  and  a  few  others.  The  district  became  a  town  June 
15,  1807. 

The  following  records  from  the  books  show  more  fullj^  the 
several  steps  of  the  organization,  the  names  of  the  men  chosen 
to  office,  and  the  business  transacted: 

WARRANT  FOR  THE  FIRST  TOWN-MKETING. 
llAMrsHiRE  Co.,  •«.— To  Isiwc  Joy,  of  Phiiiifield,  in  the  County  nf  Hampshire, 
greeting.  Pursuant  t«  an  act  of  this  Commonwealth  for  erecting  the  Northerly 
part  of  Cummington,  in  the  County  of  Uampehirc,  into  a  District  by  the  name 
tif  Plainfield,  and  investing  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  District  with  all  the 
privileges  and  immunitios  that  other  towns  or  districts  within  this  Common- 
wealth do  etyoy  ;  also,  cnipoworing  Nahnm  Eager,  Esq.,  to  issue  his  warrant  di- 
rected to  some  principal  inhabitant  of  said  dijitrict,  requiring  him  to  call  a 
meeting  of  said  inhabitiints  in  order  to  choose  town  officers,  as  by  law  towns  or 
Districts  are  empowered  to  choose  in  the  month  of  March  annually. 


These  are,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to 
require  you,  the  said  Isaac  Joy,  to  notify  and  warn  the  inhabifcmts  of  said  dis- 
trict of  Plainfield  that  they  assemble  themselves  together  at  the  dwelling-houae 
of  Mr.  Simon  Burroughs,  in  said  Plainfield,  on  Monday,  the  2oth  day  of  July, 
instant,  at  one  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  then  and  there  to  choose  all  such 
officers  as  towns  within  this  Commonwealth  are  empowered  to  choose  in  the 
montti  of  March  annually.  Hereof,  you  nor  they  may  not  fail.  Given  under 
my  hand  and  seal,  at  Worthington,  this  4th  day  of  July,  1785. 

Nahum  Eager,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

FROM    THE    TOWN    RECORDS. 

Fimt  Ditttrict-Meetinff. — At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  District  of 
Plainfield,  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Simon  Burroughs,  in  said  District,  on 
Monday,  the  2ath  day  of  July,  a.d.  1785,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson  was  chosen 
Moderator  ;  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  District  Clerk  ;  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson,  Lieut. 
John  Packard,  and  Lieut.  John  Cunningham,  Selectmen  ;  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw, 
District  Treasurer;  Simon  Burrouglis,  Constable;  Isaac  Joy  and  Lieut.  John 
Packard,  Tythingmen;  Josiah  Torry,  Solomon  Nash,  Nathan  Fay,  William  Dan- 
iels, Jacob  Clark,  Abijah  Pool,  Jonathan  Munroe,  David  White,  and  Daniel 
Streeter,  Surveyors  of  Highways;  Lieut.  Samuel  Noyes,  Surveyor  of  Lumber; 
Daniel  Streeter,  Sealer  of  Leather ;  John  Streeter,  Fence-Viewer  ;  Asa  Joy  and 
Azariah  Beals,  Hog-Reeves;  David  White,  Field-Driver;  John  Streeter,  Deer- 
Reeve.     The  meeting  dissolved. 

At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  District  of  Plainfield  at  Mr.  Jon- 
athan Munroe's,  in  said  district,  on  Thursday,  the  11th  day  of  August,  17S.J,  made 
choice  of  Lieut.  John  Packard,  Moderator.  Voted  to  raise  £14  to  hire  preaching 
the  present  year.  Voted  that  Isaac  Joy,  Lieut.  John  Packard,  and  Lieut.  John 
Cunningham  hire  a  gospel  minister  to  preach  for  us  the  present  year.  Voted 
that  three  days  upon  the  poll  at  four  siiiliings  per  day  each  hand,  and  upon  the 
estates  in  proportion  to  our  other  tax,  be  raised  to  repair  the  highways  the  present 
year.  Voted  that  Joshua  Shaw,  Simon  Burroughs,  and  Noah  Packard  be  a  cimi- 
mittee  to  request  of  the  town  of  Cummington  a  division  of  the  line  and  a  settle- 
ment between  the  town  and  the  district  of  Plainfield.  Voted  that  Jonathan 
Munroe's  dwelling-house,  in  Siud  Plainfield,  be  the  place  to  hold  town-meetings, 
and  also  meetings  on  the  Lord's  Day  for  the  future. 

At  a  legal  meeting,  Sept.  5, 1785,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson,  Moderator,  Voted 
not  to  accept  of  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  settle  the  line  between 
Cummington  and  Plainfield.  Voted  that  the  West-side-brook  inhabitants  should 
have  their  proportionable  share  of  the  preaching  on  that  side  of  the  brook. 
Voted  tliat  the  above  committee,  in  conjuaction  with  a  committee  of  Cumming- 
ton, shall  measure  the  south  line  of  Cummington  from  the  northwest  corner  of 
Worthington,  according  to  the  bill  of  incorporation  of  said  town,  and  also  make 
a  line  upon  the  east  side  of  Cummington  and  Plainfield,  and  settle  the  line  be- 
twixt Cummington  and  Plainfield  according  to  the  bill  of  incorporation.  The 
meeting  dissolved. 

Jan.  23, 178G. — At  a  legal  meeting,  Lieut.  Colson,  Moderator,  voted  that  a  di- 
vision of  the  county  should  not  take  place,  but  that  the  courts  should  be  held  in 
the  centre  of  said  county.  A  clause  in  the  warrant  in  relation  to  paper  mrrency 
was  i)assed  over,  the  town  fathers  not  cai'ing,  perhaps,  to  discuss  the  great  finan- 
cial questions  involved  in  the  bard  times  of  that  period,  as  they  are  in  those  of 
the  present. 

Monilay,  March  13, 1786. — Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson,  Moderator.  Chose  Lieut. 
Joshua  Shaw  District  Clerk.  Chose  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson,  Caleb  White,  and 
David  White,  Selectmen;  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  Treasurer;  Lieut.  John  Cunning- 
ham, Constjible ;  Joseph  Cook,  Josiah  Shaw,  Stephen  Walker,  Elisha  Bisbee, 
Azariah  Beals,  Benjamin  Biillin,  Asa  Streeter,  Jared  Jay,  Jr.,  Sun'eyore  of  High- 
ways ;  Solomon  Pratt,  Surveyor  of  Lumber  ;  Daniel  Streeter,  Sealer  of  Leather; 
Joseph  Beals,  Tythingman;  Abraham  Clark  and  Joseph  Cook,  Hog-Beeves; 
Isaac  Joy,  Fence-Viewer;  Lieut.  John  Pat'kard  and  Jacob  Joy,  Wardens;  Asa 
Dunbar,  Deer-Reef.  Voted  to  raise  twenty  pounds  to  hire  preaching  the  present 
year.  Voted  not  to  raise  any  money  for  to  support  a  school.  Voted  that  the 
meeting  shall  be  holdeu  at  Mr.  Jonathan  Munroe's  the  ensuing  year.  Voted 
to  raise  forty  shillings  to  defi'ay  district  charges.  Voted  that  Andrew  Cook,  Abi- 
jah Pool,  Lieut.  John  Packard,  be  a  committee  to  hire  a  gospel  minister  to  preach 
with  us  the  ensuing  year.  Voted  that  Andrew  Cook,  Noah  Packard,  and  Caleb 
White  be  a  committee  to  settle  the  line  between  Cummington  and  Plainfield, 
according  to  the  Bill  of  incorporation.  Voted  twelve  shillings  upon  the  Poll  to 
repair  the  Highways,  and  upon  the  estates  in  the  same  propoi-tion  as  other  taxes. 
Voted  that  the  surveyors  shall  prosecute  those  pereons  who  shall  refuse  or  ne- 
glect to  work  out  what  is  set  to  them  in  the  highway  rate  by  the  first  day  of  No- 
vember next.  Voted  that  a  road  be  allowed  from  Noah  Packard's  running  west- 
erly between  Nathan  Fay  and  Josiah  Torrey,  two  rods  in  width,  one-half  on  said 
Fay's  land,  and  the  other  on  Josiah  Torrey's  land  until  it  strikes  the  road  on  the 
west  endof  their  land,  said  land  to  be  given  or  receipted.  Voted  a  road  from  John 
Jones  Ui  the  turn  of  tlio  road  between  James  Porter  and  Abraham  Clark.  Voted 
a  road  beginning  four  rods  south  of  James  Poi-ter'e  land,  and  running  easterly 
hetween  Josiah  Shaw's  House  and  bam ;  fi-om  thence  to  the  south  side  of  John 
Shaw's  dwelling-house,  as  it  is  fenced  to  the  east  line  of  old  No.  5. 

Town-meetings  were  held  "at  the  house  of  Simon  Bur- 
roughs ;"  '*  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Munroe  ;"  *'  at  Mr. 
Samuel  Streeter's  barn  ;"  "  at  Capt.  John  Cunningham's  new 
barn;"  "at  the  dwelling-house  of  Lieut.  Duvid  White;"  "at 
Mr.  Samuel  Streeter's  dwelling-house."  The  first  town- 
meeting  "at  the  meeting-house"  was  held  Aug.  22,  1792,  and 
they  were  held  there  continuously  until  March  2,  1846.     July 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


431 


4,  184G,  a  town-iiK'oting  was  held  at  Salem  Streetcr's  Hall, 
and  after  that  to  Nov.  8,  1847,  inclusive.  This  was  in  the 
present  house  of  Lorenzo  W.  Joy.  Feb.  7,  1848,  they  met 
"  at  the  town-hall  in  said  town,"  evidently  for  the  first  time. 

The  town-hall  and  school-house,  combined,  was  finished  the 
summer  before.  The  proceedings  to  secure  the  erection  of  the 
building  began  two  years  earlier  than  this,  and  were  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Marcli  4, 184r). — Voted  to  clioose  .a  romniittee  of  three  to  consult,  examine, 
iriqiure,  find  aiicertain  how,  where,  and  on  what  terms  and  conditions,  and  at 
wiiat  expense,  tlie  town  can  hest  build  a  town-house,  and  to  report  at  a  future 
town-meeting." 

Capt.  James  Cook,  Josiah  F.  Rude,  Freeman  Shaw,  were 
said  committee.  The  committee  reported  July  4,  1846,  that 
an  arrangement  had  been  entered  into  with  a  committee  of 
the  centre  school  district  to  jointly  erect  a  building  for  town 
and  school  purposes,  the  district  to  furnish  the  ground,  and 
pay  four-ninths  of  the  cost  of  erection,  exclusive  of  the  settees 
for  the  hall ;  the  building  to  be  32  by  46,  according  to  the  plan 
drawn.  The  committee  estimated  the  expense  at  ^900.  The 
report  was  approved  by  the  town,  and  the  building  committee 
on  the  part  of  the  town  were  Josiah  F.  Rude,  William  War- 
ner, and  Jacob  Pratt.  Before  this  union  with  the  school 
district,  a  similar  movement  was  contemplated  with  the  artil- 
lery company  in  the  erection  of  an  armory,  or  "gun-house," 
as  it  is  known  by  the  citizens.  The  plan  was  not,  however, 
adopted. 

SELECTMEN    FROM   THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE   TOWN. 

1785. — El)enezer  Colson,  Jolin  Pacliard,  John  Cunningliani. 
1786.— Caleb  White,  David  White,  Ebenezer  Colson. 
1787. — Ebenezer  Colson,  John  Packard,  John  Cunningham. 
1788. — Isaac  Joy,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  James  Porter. 
1789. — John  Packard,  John  Cunuingham,  Isaac  Joy. 
1790. — James  Kichards,  Caleb  White,  Ebenezer  Bisbee. 
1891. — Jeremiah  Robinson,  John  Cunningham,  James  Richards. 
1792-94. — John  Cunningham,  El^enezer  Bisbee,  James  Richards. 
179.5. — Joseph  Reals,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  James  Richards. 
1796. — Caleb  Wliite,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  James  Richards. 
1797. — John  Cunningham,  Caleb  White,  Ebenezer  Bisbee. 
1798. — Thomas  Shaw,  James  Hayward,  Ebenezer  Bisliee. 
1799. — Elfenezer  Cd)lson,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  Thomas  Shaw. 
1800. — John  H.anilin,  Thomas  Shaw,  Ebenezer  Colson,  Jr. 
1801. — James  Hayward,  Ebenezer  Colson,  Jr.,  John  Handin. 
1802. — Ebenezer  Bisbee,  Ebenezer  Colson,  Jr.,  John  Hamlin. 
1803. — Peter  B.  Beats,  James  Richards,  Ebenezer  Colson,  Jr. 
1804. — Amos  Crittenden,  Elijah  Warner,  Ebenezer  Bisbee. 
1805-7. — John  Cunningham,  James  Richards,  Ebenezer  Bisbee. 

1808. — Nebemiah  Joy,  James  Richards,  Ebenezer  Colson,  ,Tr. 

1809-13. — James  Richards,  John  Hamlin,  Elijah  Warner. 

1814. — John  Hamlin,  Nehemiah  Joy,  Jacob  Joy. 

181.5-18. — James  Richards,  John  Hamlin,  Elijah  Warner. 

1819. — Robert  Beals,  John  Handin,  Elijah  Warner. 

1820, — John  Hamlin,  Elijah  Warner,  Robert  Beals. 

1821. — John  Hanrlin,  Elijah  Warner,  Irani  Packard. 

1822. — Elijah  Warner,  Irani  Packard,  John  Packard. 

1823. — John  Hamlin,  Elijah  Wai'uer,  Iram  Packard. 

1824.— John  Hamlin,  EUjah  Warner,  John  Mack. 

1825. — Justus  Warner,  John  Packard,  John  Mack. 

1826. — Samuel  Shaw,  John  Packard,  Justus  Warner. 

1827. — John  Packard,  John  Mack,  Samuel  Shaw. 

1828. — Erastus  Bates,  John  Packard,  Samuel  Shaw. 

1829. — Iram  P.ackard,  Samuel  Shaw,  Erastus  Bates. 

1830. — John  Hamlin,  Elijtlh  Warner,  Samuel  Shaw. 

1831.— Jacob  Pratt,  Elijah  Warner,  Robert  Beals. 

1832. — Isaac  K.  Lincoln,  Samuel  Shaw,  Erastus  Bates. 

1833. — John  Carr,  Samuel  Shaw,  Isaac  K.  Lincoln. 

18.34. — Samuel  White,  Samuel  Shaw,  John  Cai-r. 

1835.— Stephen  Gloyd,  John  Carr,  S.imuel  White. 

1836. — William  Robinson,  Samuel  White,  Stephen  Gloyd. 

1887. — JeiTJah  Barber,  Robert  Beals,  Stephen  Gloyd. 

1838-39. — Stephen  Gloyd,  William  Robinson,  Jerijah  Barber. 

1840.— Albeit  Dyer,  Samuel  White,  Stephen  Gloyd. 

1841. — Stephen  Gloyd,  Jerijah  Barber,  Albert  Dyer. 

1842.— William  N.  Ford,  Stephen  Gloyd,  Jerijah  Barber. 

1843. — Elias  Giddings,  Stephen  Gloyd,  Jerijah  Barber. 

1844. — Stephen  Gloyd,  William  Robinson,  Albert  Dyer. 

1845. — Stephen  Hayward,  Stephen  Gloyd,  Jerijah  Barber. 

1846. — Freeman  Hamlin,  Stephen  Gloyd,  Stephen  Hayward. 
1847. — Jai^ob  Pratt,  Stephen  Hayward,  Freeman  Hamlin. 
1848. — Wm.  A.  Hawley,  Stephen  Hayward,  Freeman  Hamlin. 


1849.— Levi  N.  Campbell,  Freeman  Hamlin,  Wm.  A.  Hawley. 
1860. — Jacob  Pratt,  Stephen  Hayward,  Levi  N.  Campbell. 
1851-52. — Wm.  N.  Ford,  Freem.au  Hamlin,  Levi  N.  Campbell. 
1853. — Albert  Dyer,  Wm.  N.  Ford,  Levi  N.  Campbell. 
1854.— Wanton  C.  Gilbert,  Lewis  Shaw,  Levi  N.  Campbell. 
1865.— Samuel  W.  Lincoln,  Samuel  Dyer,  Lewis  Shaw. 
1856.— Stephen  Hayward,  Levi  N.  Campbell,  Samuel  W.  Lincoln. 
1857.— Joseph  Sears,  Levi  N.  Campbell,  Samuel  W.  Lincoln. 
1858.— Fordyce  Whitmarsh,  Levi  N.  Campbell,  Samuel  W.  Lincoln. 
1869.— Levi  N.  Campbell,  Samuel  W.  Lincoln,  Fordyce  \Vliitmarsh. 
1860-62.— Levi  N.  Campbell,  Samuel  W.  Lincoln,  Merritt  Torrcy. 
1863.— Levi  N.  Campbell,  Merritt  Torrey,  Merritt  Jones. 
1864-66.- Levi  N.  Campbell,  Joseph  Scare,  Merritt  Torrey. 
1867-69.— Levi  N.  Campbell,  Lewis  Shaw,  Jacob  W.  Pratt. 
1870. — Lewis  Shaw,  Joseph  Seai-s,  Jacob  W.  Pratt. 
1871.— Lewis  Shaw,  Jacob  W.  Pratt,  Homer  Cook. 
1872. — Levi  N.  Campbell,  Homer  Cook,  Stephen  Hayward. 
1873.— Lewis  Shaw,  Joseph  Seai-s,  Seth  W.  Clark. 
1874-75.— Lewis  Shaw,  Seth  W.  Clark,  James  A.  Nash. 
1876-77. — Lewis  Shaw,  James  A.  Winslow,  James  A.  Nash. 
1878.— Lewis  Shaw,  James  A.  Nash,  E.  A.  Atkins. 
1879.— L.  N.  Campbell,  James  A.  Nash,  E.  A.  Atkins. 

TOWN  CLERKS.* 
Joshua  Shaw,  1785-94;  John  Cunningham,  1795-90;  James  Richards,  1797- 
1800 ;  Thomas  Shaw,  1801-14 ;  John  Slack,  181.5-17 ;  Cyrus  Joy,  1818-20  ;  Robert 
Beals,  1821-27;  Justus  Warner,  1828;  Leavitt  HiUlock,  1829-30;  Erastus  Bates, 
1831;  John  Mack,  Jr.,  1832;  Jasiin  Richards,  183;!-40;  Jacob  Clark,  1841-43; 
Jason  Richards,  1844-47;  Levi  Black,  1848-52;  Freeman  Hamlin,  1853-75; 
Charles  N.  Dyer,  1876-80. 

REPRESENTATIVES   TO   THE   GENERAL    COURT. 

From  1786  to  1807,  inclusive,  Plainfield  was  simply  a  Dis- 
irict  of  Cummington  for  the  purpose  of  representation.  Dur- 
ing that  period  the  representatives  to  the  Legislature  were  as 
follows : 

William  Ward  (Cummington),  1780-91,  inclusive;  James  Richards,  1793;  Wil- 
liam Ward,  1796-97 ;  James  Richards,  1798 ;  Ebenezer  Snell  (Cummington),  180O ; 
James  Richards,  1801;  Ebenezer  Snell,  1802;  James  Richards,  1803 ;  Ebenezer 
Snell,  1804;  James  Richards,  1805 ;  Peter  Bryant  and  Adam  Packard  (Cumming- 
ton), 1806. 

From  Plainfield  ^toiie.— John  Cunningham,  1808,  annually,  to  1810,  inclusive; 
James  Richards,  1811-12;  John  Hamlin,  1813-15;  James  Richards,  1816;  Cyrus 
Joy,  1819;  Elijah  Warner,  1821;  John  Hamlin,  1823-26 ;  Elijah  Warner,  1827 ; 
John  Mack,  1828-30;  Erastus  Bates,  183I-,34  ;  Elijah  Clark,  1835-36  ;  John  Carr, 
1837  ;•  Stephen  Gloyd,  ia39-40 ;  Jason  Richards,  1841-42 ;  Jerijah  Barber,  1840  ; 
Leavitt  Hallock,  1849;  Freeman  Hamlin,  1850-51 ;  Wanton  C.  Gilbert,  1852-53; 
Levi  N.  Campbell,  1854. 

Under  the  DistrUl  .S;/s/cro.— Samuel  W.  Lincoln,  1860;  Levi  N.  Campbell,  1865  ; 
Stephen  Hayward,  Jr.,  1871 ;  Merritt  Torrey,  1877. 

The  only  village  in  town  is  the  one  at  the  centre.  It  con- 
sists principally  of  one  street,  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
long,  and  extending  east  and  west.  This  is  intersected  by  the 
two  roads  from  the  south,  which  unite  in  one,  north  of  the  vil- 
lage, at  the  cemetery. 

The  principal  public  buildings — the  meeting-house,  the 
school-house,  one  store,  and  the  former  hotel— are  at  the  West 
Corners.  One  store  is  at  the  East  Corners.  Along  this  one 
street  are  principally  situated  the  private  residences.  Rev. 
Solomon  Clark,  the  present  pastor,  resides  at  the  East  Corners, 
having  a  residence  with  ample  and  convenient  grounds  at- 
tached. On  the  north  side  of  the  street,  not  far  from  the 
East  Corners,  is  the  old  dwelling-house  of  Rev.  Moses  Hal- 
lock.  On  the  whole,  the  village  is  a  fair  specimen  of  a 
secluded  New  England  town,  distant  from  railroads,  having 
but  little  trade  or  business,  yet  with  many  things  to  attract  a 
visitor,  in  the  culture  and  refinement  of  the  people,  the  pure 
mountain  air,  and  the  delightful  scenery. 

The  post-office  here  was  established  about  1810.  The  first 
postmaster  was  John  Mack.  He  was  succeeded  by  John 
Mack,  Jr.,  by  Abner  Gurney,  by  Jacob  Clark,  by  Levi  Clark, 
and  by  Leonard  Campbell,  the  present  incumbent. 

SCHOOLS. 
The   subject  of  education   received   early   attention.     For 
twelve  years  or  so  after  the  first  settlement,  the  appropriations 


*  In  this  town  the  clerk  has  invariably  been  also  treasurer. 


432 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


made  by  Cumraington  applied  to  a  portion  of  the  present 
town  of  Plaiutield.  But  the  population  was  scattering,  and 
there  were  probably  few  schools  attempted.  After  the  town 
had  been  organized  a  year  or  two,  small  regular  appropria- 
tions were  made  each  year.  Jacob  Porter  states  that  the 
average  sum  appropriated  fifty  years  ago  was  §350.  In  later 
years  this  has  been  increased  considerably.  The  statistics 
herewith  given  show  that  there  has  been  quite  a  change  at 
times  in  the  number  and  arrangement  of  the  districts, — in- 
creased to  ten  at  one  time,  and  reduced  now  to  six.  The  loss 
of  population  has  rendered  this  reduction  necessary. 

Plainfield  was  noted  in  early  times  for  the  private  school  of 
Eev.  Moses  Hallock.  Settled  here  as  a  pastor  in  1792,  he  im- 
mediately commenced  his  labors  as  an  educator.  More  than 
300  students  received  the  benefit  of  his  training.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly due  largely  to  his  personal  intiuenee  that  so  many 
young  men  from  these  hill-towns  sought  and  obtained  a 
classical  education.  This  school  was  a  principal  feeder  of 
"Williams  College  in  early  years.  Poets,  statesmen,  editors, 
divines,  and  devoted  missionaries  were  the  graduates  of  Moses 
Hallock's  school.  Here  in  this  quiet  street  is  still  seen  the 
house  where  he  lived,  taught,  and  died.  "When  the  far-reach- 
ing results  of  his  life  and  labors  are  considered,  may  we  not  pro- 
nounce this  place  almost  sacred  for  its  religious  and  classical 
memories  ?  Among  those  students  that  have  risen  to  distinc- 
tion may  be  appropriately  mentioned  the  names  of  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  James  Kichards,  Jonas  King,  Pliny  Fisk, 
Levi  Parsons,  "William  Kichards,  "W'illiam  Hale  Maynard, 
Jeremiah  H.  Hallock,  James  Hayward,  Sylvester  Hovey, 
Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards,  Kev.  Jonathan  "Woodbridge,  Dr.  Aus- 
tin Kichards,  "William  Carmichael,  M.D.,  and  Rev.  Dudley 
Phelps. 

In  later  years,  besides  the  excellent  system  of  district 
schools,  there  have  frequently  been  private  schools,  con- 
tinuing for  eleven  weeks  each,  usually  in  the  autumn  months. 
These  have  aft'orded  opportunities  to  the  young  people  for  the 
study  of  the  lan'guages  and  other  branches  of  higher  educa- 
tion. At  present  the  schools  are  maintained  for  about  six 
months  in  the  year  in  each  district, — divided  into  two  terms, 
one  in  the  spring  and  early  summer,  the  other  in  the  fall.  In 
the  winter  one  school  only  is  maintained,  and  that  at  the  cen- 
tre. This  is  taught  (1878-79)  by  Miss  Tileston,  and,  though 
consisting  of  but  a  small  number  of  pupils,  oilers  the  opportu- 
nity of  a  more  advanced  education  than  the  district  schools 
usually  afford. 

This  school  is  in  the  town-hall  building,  and  has  a  con- 
venient room.  The  other  district  school  buildings  are  in  a 
fair  condition.  In  some  of  the  neighborhoods  are  district 
libraries. 

SCHOOL   STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Seven  schools ;  attending  in  tlie  summer,  187 ;  average,  149  ; 
winter,  246 ;  average,  190 ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  255  ;  summer  schools,  27 
mouths ;  winter,  19  mouths,  21  days ;  summer  teachere,  7  females ;  winter,  6 
males,  2  females ;  average  wages  of  male  teachei-s  per  month,  S20.83 ;  female 
teachers,  $10.50. 

January,  1847. — Nine  schools;  atteniUng  iu  the  summer,  229;  average,  165; 
winter,  292 ;  average,  231 ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  277  ;  .attending  under  4, 
5  ;  over  16,  41 ;  summer  schools,  24  months,  14  days ;  winter,  27  months,  14  days ; 
total,  52  mouths ;  summer  teachere,  8  females ;  winter,  8  males,  2  females ;  aver- 
age wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  820.23 ;  females,  S10.50. 

January,  1857. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  130 ;  average,  97 ;  winter- 
167  ;  average,  116  ;  attending  under  5,  21 ;  over  15,  37  ;  in  town  between  5  and 
15, 124 ;  summer  teachei-s,  10  fenuilcs ;  winter,  6  males,  and  4  females ;  summer 
schools,  2s  mouths,  11  days;  winter,  29  mouths,  16  days;  total,  58  months,  7  days; 
average  wages  of  male  teachers  i)er  month,  S20.25 ;  female,  §13.08. 

Jainniry,  1867. — Ten  schools ;  attcndiug  in  the  summer,  121 ;  average,  108 ; 
winter,  169 ;  average,  148  ;  attemling  under  5,  13 ;  over  15,  18  ;  in  town  between 
5  ami  15, 104 ;  summer  teachei-y,  10  females  ;  winter,  2  males,  8  females ;  summer 
schools,  26  moutlis;  winter,  22  mouths,  5  days;  average  wages  of  male  teachera 
pel-  month,  $24 ;  female,  S16.70. 

January,  1878.— Six  schools ;  attending,  108 ;  average,  69 ;  under  5,  2 ;  over  15, 
19  ;  in  town  between  5  anil  16,  73  ;  teachers,  2  males,  8  females ;  1  from  normal ; 
school,  36  months;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $22;  female, 
$20.;J4;  taxation,  $.'(00 ;  expense  of  superintendence,  $47;  pilutiug,  $7;  income 
of  local  funds  and  dog  tax,  $26, 


COLLEGE   GRADUATES. 

The  following  article,  written  by  Rev.  Sol<mion  Clark,  con- 
denses into  a  brief  space  much  valuable  information  upon  this 
subject.  Mr.  Clark  adds  to  the  duties  of  his  pastorate  much 
careful  historical  research  that  amply  qualifies  him  to  do  jus- 
tice to  Plainfield,  as  well  as  to  other  towns  in  "Western  Massa- 
chusetts. His  contributions  to  the  journals  of  the  day  are  of 
standard  authority  ujion  these  and  similar  topics.  The  first 
series  embraces  those  who  entered  and  graduated  at  Williams 
College,  the  figures  referring  to  the  year  of  graduation  :  James 
Richards,  class  of  1809  ;  Cyrus  Joy,  1811  ;  William  A.  Hal- 
lock, 1819;  Gerard  Hallock,  1819;  William  Richards,  1819; 
Alden  B.  A'ining,  1843;  Martin  S.  Pixley,  1844;  David  Rood, 
1844;  Isaac  Newton  Lincoln,  1847;  Alden  Porter  Beals,  1849; 
Stephen  C.  Pixley,  18-52 ;  Ephraim  L.  Lincoln,  185.5 ;  Samuel 
F.  Shaw,  1855;  Charles  L.Shaw,  1864;  Fordyce  A.  Dyer, 
1865. 

At  Harvard  University :  James  Hayward,  class  of  1819  ; 
Tilly  Brown  Hayward,  1820. 

At  Amherst  College:  Austin  Richards,  class  of  1824;  Eras- 
tus  Dickinson,  1832;  William  A.  Hallock,  about  a858;  Wm. 
A.  Richards,  1861 ;  Leavitt  Hallock,  1863. 

The  whole  number  22;  15  graduating  at  Williams,  2  at 
Harvard,  5  at  Amherst. 

Homan  Hallock  entered  Amherst  College,  but  ill  health 
compelled  him  to  leave.  He  afterward  became  a  missionary 
printer  on  the  Mediterranean.  Foster  W.  Gilbert  entered  with 
the  class  of  1877,  but  failure  of  health  prevented  his  gradu- 
ating. The  list  of  22  comprises  six  pairs  of  brothers.  It  also 
contains  the  names  of  three  sons  of  Deacon  James  Richards. 
Of  the  22,  9  entered  the  ministry ;  3  became  lawyers  ;  1  was 
professor  of  Latin  in  Williams;  1  was  professor  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy  in  Harvard ;  1  has  long  and  very  hon- 
orably been  associated  with  the  American  Tract  Society  as 
corresponding  secretary  ;  1  founded  the  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce,  and  was  its  editor  and  proprietor  for  many  years  ; 
1  died  in  the  army;  4  devoted  themselves  to  foreign  missions  ; 
1  is  a  surgeon  in  the  navy ;  5  are  teachers.  Two  of  the  4  for- 
eign missionaries  are  still  living  in  South  Africa.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  Mrs.  Byington,  of  Constantinople,  and  Mrs. 
David  Rood,  of  South  Africa,  went  from  Plainfield.  To  the 
foregoing  may  be  added  the  following  professional  men  not 
graduates  of  college:  Lewis  Whiting,  M.D.,  Saratoga,  N.  Y. ; 
Emerson  Warner,  M.D.,  Virginia;  Daniel  Thayer,  M.D., 
Plainfield;  Almon  Warner,  Esq.,  a  lawyer  of  Cincinnati, 
Ohio  ;  Rev.  Spencer  Dyer,  Francis  Torrey,  superintendent  of 
schools,  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  Kev.  Jejihthah  Pool,  many  years  ago 
a  pastor  in  W^indsor,  Berk'shire,  Co.  ;  Dr.  Shepherd  L.  Ham- 
lin, an  eminent  dentist,  Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  Dr.  Joseph  Beals, 
dentist,  Greenfield. 

The  following  names  of  professional  men,  mostly  physicians, 
not  graduates,  and  mostly  natives  of  this  town,  are  also  added : 
Dr.  Torrey,  one  of  the  earliest  physicians  that  settled  in  this 
place.  Samuel  Shaw,  M.D.  ;  he  first  became  associated  with 
his  father-in-law.  Dr.  Peter  Bryant,  of  Cummington,  but  in 
1824,  at  the  earnest  invitation  of  the  people,  he  removed  to 
this  his  native  town,  and  had  an  extensive  ride  for  thirty  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  physical  endurance.  The  snows  and 
blows  and  drifted  roads  of  winter  did  not  deter  him  from  any 
professional  service.  He  is  said  to  have  never  lost  a  meal 
through  sickness  for  forty-seven  years.  Dana  Shaw,  M.D.,  a 
brother  of  the  foregoing,  for  over  twenty-five  years  was  a 
physician  of  Barre,  N.  H. 

Jacob  Porter,  author  of  a  historical  sketch  of  Plainfield, 
full  of  valuable  information.  Dr.  Porter's  forte  lay  not  in 
medical  practice,  but  in  some  of  the  natural  sciences, — botany, 
mineralogy,  and  the  like.  His  contributions  to  several  Euro- 
pean societies  won  him  considerable  reputation.  Joseph  Rich- 
ards, a  brother  of  the  missionaries,  was  a  physician  in  Hills- 
dale, N.  Y.    G.  Washington  Shaw,  M.D.,  settled  in  Williams- 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


433 


burg;  highly  esteemed  as  a  physician  and  a  citizen.  Chilioii 
Packard,  M.D.,  in  early  life  went  South.  Seth  H.  Pratt, 
M.D.,  went  West  many  years  ago.  Newell  White,  M.D.,  is 
still  living  in  Pennsylvania.  James  F.  Kiehards,  il.D.,  prac- 
ticed ten  years  at  Campello,  in  North  Bridgewater,  then  went 
abroad  for  study,  spending  one  or  two  years  in  London, 
Berlin,  and  Vienna.  He  now  resides  in  Andover.  Royal 
Joy  studied  with  Dr.  Shaw,  and  settled  in  Cummington. 

Elisha  Bassett  studied  law,  and  was  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  office  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 
Boston. 

Elder  James  Clark  and  Elder  Thomas  Thayer  were  both 
ministers  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  The  former  preached 
in  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  in  the  West.  In  all,  22  graduates, 
23  professional  men  not  graduates,  and  3  who  entered  college 
without  graduating;  also,  Mrs.  Byington,  of  Constantinople, 
and  Mrs.  Kood,  of  South  Africa,  making  the  round  number 
of  50. 

To  this  may  be  added  others  of  prominence.  Ilosea  F. 
Stockwell,  a  lawyer  of  ability,  having  an  extensive  practice 
in  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio.  Away  thirty-si.v  years,  he  has 
only  visited  Plainfield  twice, — once  in  1850,  and  again  re- 
cently. Horace  Hamlin,  brother  of  Deacon  Hamlin,  went  to 
Ohio  with  others  of  this  town  forty-seven  years  ago,  and  has 
been  for  many  years  distinguished  as  a  teacher  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  music.  Charles  Whittier  spent  his  early  daj's  in 
Plainfield,  took  his  first  lessons  on  the  piano  here,  and  has 
since  attained  to  distinction,  being  a  professor  in  the  Boston 
Conservator}'  of  Music. 

Mrs.  Fidelia  Cook,  daughter  of  Stephen  Ilayward,  Esq.,  a 
lady  of  much  intellectual  culture,  superintended  for  a  time 
the  literary  department  of  the  Springfield  Kepublicaii.  Lat- 
terly deprived  almost  wholly  of  the  use  of  her  eyes,  she  has 
been  obliged  to  seclude  herself  from  the  world  of  letters. 
Hon.  Daniel  Pratt  was  a  lawyer,  and  is  now  a  judge  in  Michi- 
gan. Francis  Pratt,  M.D.,  is  a  physician  in  Ohio.  Newton 
Robinson,  M.D.,  is  a  physician  in  Ohio.  His  father,  Seth  R., 
was  a  brother  of  William  Robinson.  John  Packard  was  county 
recorder,  and  many  years  a  clerk  in  the  office  (Cleveland,  O.). 
Charles  Dudley  Warner,  the  well-known  author,  was  a  native 
of  this  town  ;  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College,  class  of  1851. 
Kirkland  Uayward,  a  son  of  Stephen  Hayward,  became  a 
distinguished  engineer  and  president  of  a  Western  railroad;  a 
man  of  great  energ}'  and  executive  ability.  Erastus  N.  Bates 
is  a  prominent  man  in  one  of  the  Western  States.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  has  filled  numerous  posi- 
tions of  responsibility  in  connection  with  the  State  govern- 
ment. Samuel  Hallock  resides  at  Beyroot,  S3'ria.  He  suc- 
ceeded his  father  (Homanj  in  the  difficult  task  of  preparing 
molds  for  the  printing  of  the  Arabian  Bible.  When  the 
American  Bible  Society  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
Arabic  Bible  in  the  city  of  New  York,  it  is  stated  that  only 
two  persons  in  the  world  understood  this  particular  business, — 
an  aged  German  and  Mr.  Homan  Hallock.  When,  after  a 
few  years,  they  transferred  the  work  to  Beyroot  to  save  ex- 
pense, Mr.  Samuel  Hallock,  inheriting  his  father's  skill,  took 
the  position  his  father  had  occupied,  and  has  filled  it  ever 
since  with  much  ability. 

In  this  unequaled  list  of  distinguished  men  we  see  clearly 
that  this  quiet  tovyn  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Hampshire 
County,  not  rich  as  judged  by  a  material  standard,  possesses, 
nevertheless,  a  kind  of  wealth  more  ennobling  and  enduring, 
for  which  she  may  well  be  grateful. 

CIUIRCHES. 

Previous  to  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  the  inhabitants 
attended  church  at  Cummington.  But  prompt  measures  were 
taken  to  set  up  public  worsliip  in  the  district.  Sums  of  money 
were  voted  to  secure  preaching,  and  it  is  understood  that  vari- 
ous ministers  from  the  neighboring  towns  preached  in  Plain- 

55 


field  during  the  year  1785.  An  effort  was  made  to  settle  Rev. 
James  Thompson,  who  undoubtedly  preached  here  in  1786-87. 
This  appears  by  the  action  taken  as  in  other  towns  at  the  reg- 
ular meetings.  To  support  the  gospel,  to  hire  ministers,  to 
provide  for  religious  worship  generally,  was  a  part  of  the  busi- 
ness for  which  districts  and  towns  were  organized,  and  it  was 
attended  to  as  regularly  as  any  other  town  business,  with  or 
without  a  church. 

July  24,  178G. — Voted,  to  agree  with  Mr.  James  Thompson  to  preach  with  us 
four  Saht'atlis  upon  prtibation. 

Oc-t.  2, 1786. — Voteil,  to  give  Mr.  James  Thomiwon  a  call  to  settle  in  the  work  of 
the  miiiistiy  in  Plainiielfl.  Cflnnnittee  to  draft  proposals,  Deacon  Samuel  Pool, 
Lieut.  Eljenezer  Colson,  Lieut.  John  Packard,  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  Capt.  John 
Cunningham.  They  reported  it  was  nut  expedient  to  make  any  proposals  *'  until 
such  time  as  it  may  be  known  whether  the  Equivalent  would  be  set  to  Plain- 
field  or  not,"  and  further  advised  that  a  committee  be  chosen  to  acquaint  Mr. 
Thompson  with  the  above  votes,  and  to  agree  with  him  to  preach  with  us  until 
such  time  as  the  matter  may  be  properly  at^justed.  Lieut.  John  Packard,  Capt. 
John  <!'unningli:uu,  and  Is.aac  Joy  be  a  committee  to  treat  with  Mr.  Thompson. 

This  action  ripened  into  a  fortual  call  May  14,  1787,  with 
an  ofler  of  a  yearly  salary  of  £00.  The  invitation  was  de- 
clined. But  other  arrangements  to  found  the  institutions  of 
religion  went  steadily  forward.  Aug.  Ki,  1787,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  find  the  centre  of  Plainfield,  and  to  agree 
upon  a  place  which  they  shall  think  most  proper  for  erecting 
a  meeting-liouse.  May  23,  1791,  a  spot  was  agreed  upon,  and 
October  27th  it  was  voted  to  build  a  house  55.}  feet  by  42J. 
November  23d  a  eoipmittee,  consisting  of  Caleb  W  bite,  Capt. 
John  Cunningham,  Capt.  James  Richards,  Andrew  Cook,  and 
John  Hamlin,  was  appointed  to  procure  materials  and  carry 
on  the  building  of  said  meeting-house  in  such  a  manner  as 
shall  be  most  advantageous  to  the  district  according  to  their 
best  discretion.  April  23d  voted  that  the  owners  of  pews  in 
the  meeting-house  procure  rum  io  raise  said  building.  The 
meeting-house  was  raised  soon  after,  but,  owing  to  the  limited 
resources  of  the  district  at  that  time,  it  was  not  completed  till 
1797.  It  was  then  dedicated  on  the  15th  of  June,  two  sermons 
being  preached  on  the  occasion, — one  by  Rev.  Aaron  Bascom, 
of  Chester;  the  other  by  Rev.  John  Leland,  of  Peru. 

Meanwhile,  the  church  had  been  organized  Aug.  31,  1786. 
The  members  admitted  that  day  were  Andrew  Ford,  Sarah 
Ford,  John  Packard,  Hannah  Packard,  Andrew  Ford,  Jr., 
Sarah  Ford,  Solomon  Nash,  Martha  Nash,  Elijah  Ford,  Solo- 
mon Ford,  Amy  White,  Martha  Town,  Martha  Robinson, 
Molly  Packard,  Samuel  Pool,  Rebekah  Pool,  Moses  Curtis, 
John  Jones,  Ruth  Jones.  Admitted  in  1790,  were  Abijah 
Snow,  Sarah  Snow,  James  Richards,  Lydia  Richards.  In 
1791,  Rebekah  Walker,  Betsey  Burroughs,  Lydia  Campbell, 
Joseph  Clark,  Alice  Clark,  Hannah  Colson.  In  1792,  Jacob 
Hawes,  Betsey  Hawes,  Shubael  Fuller,  Solomon  Pratt,  Re- 
member Pratt,  Jacob  Clark,  Susanna  Clark,  Ephraim  Gloyd, 
Hannah  Gloyd,  Abijah  Pool,  Sarah  Pool,  Silence  Hammond, 
Joseph  Reals,  Jephthah  Pool,  Benjamin  Dyer,  Abigail  Smith, 
Polly  Streeter,  Phebe  White,  Mehitable  Walker,  Hannah 
Joy,  Caleb  Joy,  Sarah  Joy,.  Priscilla  Snow,  Patty  Packard, 
Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  Margaret  Hallock,  Bethia  Hosford.  In 
1793,  Anna  Ford,  Sarah  Burroughs,  Alpheus  Parse,  Mary 
Parse.  In  1794,  Hannah  Barton,  Mary  Bates,  Polly  Easton, 
David  Whiting,  Sally  Warner,  Miriam  Colson.  In  1796, 
James  Hayward,  Elizabeth  Hayward,  Hannah  Stowell. 

The  first  deacons  were  Messrs.  John  Packard  and  James 
Richards. 

March  3,  1791,  the  church  voted  to  give  Mr.  Moses  Hallock 
a  call  to  settle  with  them  in  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry. 
March  14th  the  district  concurred  with  the  church,  and  offered 
him  X90  setilcment  and  £45  a  year  salary  for  the  first  two 
years,  then  to  increase  £5  a  year  until  it  amounts  to  £60.  Mr. 
Hallock  first  declined,  on  account  of  ill  health ;  but  a  year 
later  the  call  was  renewed,  and  his  ordination  took  place  July 
11,  1792.  The  sermon  was  by  Rev.  Samuel  Whitman,  of 
Goshen  ;  text,  "  And  they  shall  teach  my  people  the  difference 


434 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


between  the  holy  and  the  profane,  and  cause  them  to  discern 
between  the  unclean  and  the  clean."  This  was  published  in 
pamphlet  form,  and  is  said  to  be  now  very  scarce. 

For  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Hallock,  the  town  voted  that  an 
invitation  be  extended  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  candidates 
for  the  ministry,  students  in  colleges,  together  with  the  parents, 
brothers,  and  sisters  of  Kev.  Moses  Hallock,  and  such  others 
as  he  shall  see  fit  to  invite  to  an  entertainment  with  the  coun- 
cil, at  such  place  as  shall  hereafter  be  appointed. 

Voted  that  Capt.  John  Cunningham  make  the  above  enter- 
tainment in  a  decent  and  handsome  manner,  and  lay  his  "  ac- 
oompts"  before  the  district  for  allowance. 

The  ordination  having  taken  place  July  11,  1792,  Capt. 
John  Cunningham  was  allowed  £3  9s.  Gd.  for  boarding  Mr. 
Hallock  and  keeping  his  horse  eleven  weeks,  and  the  sum  of 
£S  10s.  3d.  for  making  the  entertainment ;  from  which  we 
may  infer  that  it  was,  after  all,  a  frugal  atjair,  economically 
arranged. 

At  this  time  they  voted  to  paint  the  meeting-house.  A 
question  of  church  architecture  must  have  arisen,  as  they 
voted  that  t/ic  windoiv  frames  be  let  in  between  the  studs. 

Jan.  13,  1794,  voted  to  receive  two  tiers  of  lots  off  of  the 
southerly  part  of  Hawley,  with  the  inhabitants  thereon  to  enjoy 
ministerial  privileges  with  us,  upon  condition  of  their  obligating 
themselves  to  bear  their  proportion  with  us  in  supporting  the 
gospel.  Voted  that  the  selectmen  tnkc  an  obligation  of  the  afore- 
said inhabitants  agreeable  to  the  above  vote.  This  "bond,"  if 
in  existence,  must  be  a  document  of  considerable  interest,  and 
one  which  the  church  officers  could  occasionally  read  to  the 
present  inhabitants  of  "  the  two  tiers  of  lots"  taken  from 
Hawley  if  they  fail  to  pay  their  fair  share  of  church  expenses ; 
for  they  must  be  held  not  only  in  the  "bonds  of  the  gospel," 
but  under  "legal  bonds"  to  the  church  of  Plainfield.  This 
appears  to  be  seven  years  before  the  annexation  took  place. 

During  Mr.  Hallock's  ministry  the  church  prospered,  and 
many  times  of  special  revival  occurred.  A  writer  notes  one 
of  1790  (showing  Mr.  Hallock  must  have  preached  here  con- 
siderably before  his  ordination):  17  joined  the  church  in  one 
day.  In  1797  there  was  a  general  awakening  in  every  part  of 
the  town,  and  31  persons  joined  the  church  that  year. 

"  July  1,  1798,  24  persons  adorned  the  aisle  at  one  time,  and 
appeared  to  rejoice  at  an  opportunity  to  confess  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

In  ISOO  an  excellent  bell  was  procured,  partly  at  the  expense 
of  the  district  and  partly  by  subscription.  It  was  cast  at  New 
Haven,  by  Fenton  &  Cochran,  and  weighed  about  GOO  pounds. 
A  belfry,  to  which  was  attached  a  lightning-rod,  was  erected 
at  the  same  time.     The  same  bell  is  still  in  use. 

In  1808  a  revival  occurred,  and  34  were  admitted  to  the 
church  on  the  1st  of  May,  and  26  on  the  3d  of  July.  In  1830 
the  Unitarian  controversy  agitated  the  church,  and  one  brother 
was  finally  excommunicated  for  publich'  dissenting  from  the 
creed  and  expressing  his  disbelief  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
and  the  supreme  deity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

A  Sunday-school,  consisting  of  103  scholars,  was  established 
in  May,  1819.     This  has  ever  since  been  continued. 

In  1822  two  stoves  for  warming  the  meeting-house  were 
procured  and  placed  near  the  pulpit.  In  1823  an  elegant  copy 
of  "Gurney's  Family  Bible,"  published  in  1816,  and  embel- 
lished with  a  series  of  engravings  by  the  first  artists,  was  pre- 
sented for  the  pulpit  by  James  Hayward,  tutor  in  Harvard 
College. 

Jacob  Porter  says,  "  The  practice  of  reading  the  Scriptures 
publicly  on  the  Lord's  day  had  been  introduced  some  vears 
before  ;"  from  which  we  infer  they  had  not  been  so  read  in  the 
earlier  years.  Jan.  5,  1823,  10  persons  were  admitted.  Nov. 
24,  1827,  29  persons  were  admitted. 

June  3,  1829,  the  Eev.  John  H.  Kuss  was  ordained  here 
as  an  evangelist  by  the  Mountain  Association;  .sermon  by 
the  Kev.  "William  A.  Hawley,  of  Hinsdale.     Aug.  29,  1830, 


the  church  chose  a  committee  to  superintend  tract  distribu- 
tion. 

In  the  spring  of  1829,  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  mindful  of  the 
growing  infirmities  of  age,  and  with  tender  solicitude  for  the 
people  over  whom  he  had  ministered  nearly  forty  years,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  them  suggesting  the  appointment  of  a  suc- 
cessor.    The  letter  contained  this  beautiful  passage : 

"  I  have  entered  my  seventieth  year,  and  know  not  the  day  of  my  death. 
^^'lle^  a  parent  is  about  tf)  die,  lie  endeavoi-s  to  set  his  honse  in  order  that  it  may 
be  well  with  his  family  after  his  deeea.se.  With  e\\ua\  ardor  I  desire  that  you, 
SIS  a  religious  community,  may  have  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  when  my 
lips  shall  be  unable  to  keep  knowledge.  Before  I  die  I  wish  to  see  my  pulpit 
occupied  by  such  a  minister." 

The  reply  of  the  committee  advising  the  church  and  town 
to  accede  to  his  suggestions  displays  equal  feeling.     They  say  : 

"  He  hereby  evinces  that  he  seeks  not  ours,  but  us,— that  he  still  retains  an 
affectionate  regard  for  the  dear  people  over  which  the  Holy  Spiiit  bath  so  long 
made  bini  ovei-seer.  And  his  solicitude  for  us  extends  beyond  the  time  when  he 
shall  have  ceased  to  be  our  miuister,  or  shall  have  closed  bis  eyes  in  death." 

These  proceedings  resulted  in  the  installation  of  Rev.  David 
Kimball,  March  2,  1831,  as  a  colleague;  but  Mr.  Hallock  re- 
mained as  senior  pastor,  and  lived  beyond  the  close  of  Mr. 
Kimball's  ministry.  On  the  17th  of  July,  1837,  he  was  dis- 
missed by  a  higher  than  earthly  authority  from  the  scenes  of 
his  life-long  labors.  The  pastorate  of  Kev.  Moses  Hallock 
psissed  into  history.  His  life  and  labors  were  a  legacy  of  price- 
less value  to  Plainfield,  and  the  town  stands  forever  honored 
by  the  ministry  of  this  noble  man,  this  beloved  pastor,  this 
distinguished  teacher. 

In  1829  the  meeting-house  was  painted  anew,  and  Jacob 
Porter,  writing  in  1834,  rather  revels  in  a  luxurious  descrip- 
tion : 

"The  outsiile  white ;  the  inside,  except  the  pews,  a  beautiful  cream  color. 
The  pulpit  was  rebuilt  in  the  modern  style.  Cui  tains  of  bombazet  were  fur- 
nished for  the  window,  and  the  pulpit  dressed  with  damask  fiinged  with  rich 
and  elegant  drapery,  all  of  red,  by  John  Mack,  Esq.  The  house  now  makes  a 
handsome  appearance;  indcetl,  it  is  believed  that  few  churches  erected  forty 
years  since  discover  so  good  a  taste,  or  are  in  all  respects  so  convenient." 

This  house  was  taken  down  in  1846,  and  the  present  one 
,, (erected  on  the  same  site.  The  new  church  was  erected  under 
the  direction  of  a  building  committee  consisting  of  Cyrus 
Joslyn,  James  Cook,  Josiah  F.  Rood.  The  house  cost  §2100, 
and  was  built  by  voluntary'  subscriptions,  a  large  number  of 
which  were  §100  each,  and  others  §50.  The  pews  were  after- 
ward sold  and  the  amount  refunded  to  the  subscribers.  The 
pews  sold  for  ^'200  more  than  the  cost  of  the  house,  and  that 
went  into  the  treasury  of  the  parish. 

The  prudential  committees  are  usuallj*  changed  from  j'ear 
to  year.  James  Winslow  is  clerk  of  the  parish,  and  has  been 
for  several  years.  Deacon  Hamlin  is  clerk  of  the  church,  and 
is  also  treasurer  of  the  parish,  which  office  he  has  filled  for 
twenty-three  years  in  all.  The  communicants  number  100  to 
110;  congregation,  150  to  200;  superintendent  of  Sunday- 
school,  Seth  W.  Clark.  Charles  N.  Dyer  is  leader  of  the 
choir.  The  music  is  still  assisted  occasionally  by  the  double- 
bass  viol,  as  in  olden  times. 

In  1838,  during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Goodsell,  a  revival 
occurred,  and  about  75  were  added  either  by  letter  or  profes- 
sion. In  1848  occurred  another  revival,  under  Kev.  Mr. 
Gaylord,  in  which  30  or  more  united  with  the  church.  In 
1858,  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  labors  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Clarke,  a  general  awakening  took  place,  and  during  that  year 
and  the  following  about  40  members  were  added.  In  1866,  42 
united.  In  1876  a  special  work  took  place,  as  the  result  of 
which  14  were  added. 

Ministerial  Record — 1st.  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  ordained  July 
14, 1792;  died  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  while  still  theirpastor, 
July  17,  1837.  2d.  Kev.  David  Kimball  was  installed  as  col- 
league to  Mr.  Hallock  in  1831,  and  labored  in  that  capacity  four 
years,  his  services  closing  in  1835,  though  his  formal  dismission 
did  not  take  place  until  Sept.  27, 1837  ;  died  in  1876,  in  Illinois. 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


435 


3d.  Rev.  Dana  Giiodsell,  installed  Sept.  27,  1837;  dismissed 
Sept.  2-3,  18:«l ;  died  Feb.  Ifl,  1870,  in  Philiulelpliia.  4th.  Rev. 
Wm.  A.  Hawley,  installed  July  21,  1841  ;  services  ended 
July  1,  1847;  formally  dismissed  Oct.  G,  1847;  died  in  Sun- 
derland, in  18-54.  5th.  Rev.  H.  J.  Gaylord,  installed  Oct.  6, 
1847 ;  at  the  same  time  and  place  there  was  also  ordained  Rev. 
Daniel  Rood  as  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  ;  Mr. 
Gaylord  was  dismissed  Oct.  6, 18-31  ;  remained  in  the  ministry, 
and  is  now  in  Delaware.  Gth.  Rev.  David  15.  HradforJ,  in- 
stalled June  10,  18-32;  dismissed  in  May,  18-34.  7th.  Rev.  D. 
B.  Bradford,  installed  pastor  June  10,  1832;  dismissed  May 
17,  18-34.  Mr.  Baldwin  and  others  officiated  as  temporary 
supply  from  time  to  time.  8th.  Rev.  Solomon  Clark;  he 
commenced  his  labors  in  January,  1858,  and  ha^  continued 
until  the  present  time,  being  now  in  the  twenty-first  year  of 
his  pastorate. 

Record  of  Deacons. — John  Packard,  chosen  Nov.  15,  1792; 
died  Dec.  28,  1807.  James  Richards,  chosen  Nov.  1.5,  1792; 
Joseph  Beals  (The  Mountain  Miller),  chosen  April  29,  180:i ; 
died  July  20,  1813.  Robert  Beals,  chosen  Seiit.  23,  1813; 
died  July,  1844.  Erastus  Bates,  chosen  June  27,  1828;  died 
March  13,  1836.  John  Carr,  chosen  Sept.  G,  1834 ;  removed  to 
Biickland ;  died,  1851.  Wm.  N.  Ford,  chosen  Nov.  11,  1841 ; 
removed  to  Grinnell,  Iowa.  Freeman  Hamlin,*  chosen  Aug. 
30,  1844.  Jerijah  Barber,*  chosen  May  5,  185.5.  William  A. 
Bates,  chosen  Nov.  IG,  1867;  removed  to  Windsor  in  a  year 
or  two.  Seth  W.  Clark,*  chosen  March  3,  1877.  James  A. 
Winslow,*  chosen  March  3,  1877. 

BAPTIST   CHURCH    OF    PL.VINFIELD. 

This  society  wa.s  formed  Feb.  25,  1833,  the  meeting  for  or- 
ganization having  been  called  by  Asa  Thayer,  pursuant  to  a 
warrant  drawn  by  Neheniiah  Richards,  Esq.,  of  Cumming- 
ton.  The  full  church  organization  took  place  June  18th,  of 
the  same  year.  Elder  David  Wright  was  the  moderator  of 
the  council  that  constituted  the  church.  The  families  inter- 
ested specially  in  the  formation  of  this  church  were  those  of 
Mr.  Stockwcll,  Thayer  (Asa  and  Kingman),  Jones,  Daniels, 
IJezar  Reed,  two  or  three  families  of  the  Packards,  Silas  Shaw, 
Jo.seph  Yining,  the  Gardner  families,  and  several  from  Ash- 
field. 

The  society  e.xisted  mostly  in  the  east  part  of  the  town,  and 
has  been  extinct  for  some  years. 
,i',|  The  meeting-house  was  built  1840  to  1842,  and  stood  east  of 
iHhe  place  where  Ansil  Cole  now  lives  some  fifty  rods.  After 
the  dissolution  of  the  society  the  building  was  taken  down  and 
sold,  18G6-67.  The  building  was  a  plain,  comfortable  chapel, 
not  very  large. 

Ministerial  Record. — 1st.  Rev.  Alden  B.  Eggleston.  Ilis 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  Asa  Thayer.  2d.  Rev.  Nathaniel 
McCullock.  ;3d.  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Kingsley.  4th.  Rev.  Wil- 
liam A.  Pease.  5th.  Rev.  A.  H.  Sweet.  Gth.  Rev.  James 
Clark.  There  were  several  others  who  preached  for  short 
periods  in  the  few  years  preceding  the  dissolution  of  the 
society.  Early  deacons  chosen  were  Asa  Thayer  and  Jere- 
miah Stockwell,  Jr.,  1833,  and,  later,  Jacob  Jones. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

The  burial-grounds  in  this  town  are  the  following :  At  the 
centre  is  the  principal  one,  situated  north  of  the  village.  This 
was  established  in  1808.  Lieut.  Solomon  Shaw  was  the  first 
person  buried  here,  though  two  of  his  grandchildren,  who  bad 
died  earlier,  were  afterward  taken  up  and  buried  near  him. 
This  ground  is  well  cared  for.  There  is  another,  southeast  of 
the  village,  in  the  Dyer  neighborhood  or  School  District  No. 
2.  It  is  located  in  a  picturesque  spot  not  far  from  Meadow 
Brook.  East  from  the  centre,  beyond  the  Winslow  farm,  is 
another  place  of  burial.     This  is  mostly  a  private  yard,  con- 

*  Tresent  deacons  (1879). 


taining  the  remains  of  members  of  the  Stockwell  family. 
Not  far  from  the  Tirrell  farm  is  yet  another  cemetery,  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  town,  on  the  south  part  of  West  Hill, 
so  called.  This  dates  back  to  1800,  probably.  Another,  near 
the  Philip  Packard  place,  perhaps  dates  back  to  1810  or  181-5, 
in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town.  The  road  is  now  dis- 
continued at  this  point  and  the  yard  unused.  In  the  south- 
west part  of  the  town,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dexter  Dyer,  is 
a  small  cemetery  still  in  use  to  some  extent.  On  the  present 
Elijah  Warner  farm  was  a  place  of  burial  almost  lost  sight 
of;  few  traces  of  it  remain,  and  no  inscriptions, — a  few  old 
field-stones.  This  is  thought  to  be  as  early  as  any  in  town. 
There  is  also  another,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  near  the 
Cummingt.on  line,  on  land  now  owned  by  Henry  Streeter  ;  the 
place  has  not  been  used  for  sixty  years  or  more,  and  only  a 
few  were  buried  there.  On  the  farm  of  Lorenzo  Joy,  at  the 
centre,  is  the  principal  old  place,  being  used  until  the  open- 
ing, in  1808,  of  the  one  at  the  north. 

TOWN    SOCIETIE.'S,    LIBRARIES,    Etc. 

There  have,  at  times,  been  various  societies  for  missionary 
and  religious  work.  Many  of  them  have  only  had  a  brief 
existence.  In  later  years  contributions  are  taken  and  for- 
warded more  directly  by  the  pastor  and  the  church  officers 
than  formerly,  a  less  number  of  local  societies  and  a  less 
number  of  soliciting  agents  being  employed.  Such  societies 
were  the  Plainfield  Tract  Society,  1832  ;  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Association  of  Plaintield,  formed  in  1824;  and  the  Bible 
Association  of  Plaintield,  auxiliary,  182G.  In  the  eflbrt  to 
supply  the  United  States  with  Bibles  about  1830,  this  society 
paid  more  than  a  hundred  dollars.  The  Temperance  Associa- 
tion of  Plainfield,  auxiliary  to  the  Hampshire  County  Tem- 
perance Society,  was  formed  Juno  27,  1828,  and  had  a  fiourish- 
ing  existence,  having,  in  1834,  about  500  members,  none  being 
admitted  under  twelve  years  of  age.  Jacob  Porter  wrote  of 
the  movement : 

"  The  iiiliabitunts  have  great  reasou  to  felicitate  themselves  on  the  progress  of 
the  temperance  cause  among  them.  Tliongli  this  was  never  considered  an  in- 
temperate place  when  compared  with  itd  i.i&ter-towns,  yet  a  few  years  since  there 
were  si.v  licensed  tavci-ns,  and  at  the  piincipal  store  there  were  sold  12  hogs- 
heads of  ardent  spirits  in  a  year.  Now  tliere  are  hut  two  licensed  houses,  and 
at  the  same  store  there  is  sold  about  a  barrel  in  the  same  period  of  time.  The 
number  of  intemperate  persons  is  greatly  diminished,  and  there  is  an  improve- 
ment in  the  manners  and  mjrals  of  the  pcjple  which  is  truly  gratifying." 

Other  societies  were  The  Home  Missionary  Association  of 
Plainfield,  1831  ;  The  Female  Benevolent  Society,  1833;  The 
Matern.il  Association  of  Plainfield,  1834.  All  these  societies 
were. the  outgrowth  of  that  active  period  of  revival  and  mis- 
sionary work.  The  interest  shown  by  the  people  of  Plainfield 
at  that  time  appears  by  the  fact  that,  in  1834,  there  were  two 
life  directors  and  one  life  member  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  residing  here  ;  two  life  members  of  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society ;  one  life  member  of  the  society  for 
Ameliorating  the  Condition  of  the  Jews ;  a  life  director  and 
eight  life  members  of  the  American  Tract  Society  at  New 
York. 

In  the  last  forty  years  various  similar  organizations  have 
existed  for  brief  periods.  Temperance  societies  developing 
and  strengthening  public  sentiment  arise  from  time  to  time  and 
give  way  to  others.  There  are  now  no  licensed  sales  of  intox- 
icating liquors,  and  very  little  intemperance  exists.  Lyceums 
or  literary  associations  for  mutual  improvement  and  mutual 
enjoyment  have  been  occasional!}'  formed.  A  small  circulating 
library  was  established  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town  in 
1832,  and  lasted  for  a  few  years.  A  flourishing  artillery  com- 
pany existed  here  at  one  time,  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  State, 
they  built  an  armor}'  across  the  road  from  the  residence  of  Col. 
Jason  Richards.  It  was  given  up,  and  the  building  removed 
to  the  east  end  of  the  village  ;  now  the  dwelling-house  of  Mrs. 
Frances  Clark. 


436 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


PLACES  OF   HISTJRtC   INTEREST   OR   OF  SPECfAL  NOTE. 

Plainlield  h:i.*,  1st,  the  "  Mountain  Miller's  Home,"  the 
story  of  whose  pious  life,  written  by  William  A.  Hallock,  has 
been  read  in  many  languages  and  stirred  the  Christian  zeal 
of  thousands  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  No  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  thousand  copies  were  i.ssued  the  first  year  of 
its  publication,  in  1881,  and  two  years  later  a  revised  edition 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  copies  was  printed. 

He  bought  the  mill  in  1798,  having  removed  to  this  town, 
however,  in  1779.  The  mill  and  the  dwelling-house,  and  the 
grounds  around  them,  are  sacred  spots  yet  in  the  memory  of 
some  still  living  who  knew  the  "Mountain  Miller."  Wil- 
liam A.  Hallock,  in  the  tract  (No.  2.54,  American  Tract  So- 
ciety, 1-30  Nassau  Street,  New  York),  writes: 

"  Thf  sjiot  whpre  sj  Diany  thus  Diet  tlio  pious  milliT,  am]  wliere  liis  devunt 
aspiratii-His  so  ofteu  ascended  to  God,  jind  even  the  pure  perennial  spring  of  wiiter 
by  the  rondside  where  he  usetl  to  diink,  bnrs'.iog  from  the  rocks  in  a  Inisin  three 
or  four  feet  from  tile  t^'ound,  as  it  liewn  by  God  fur  tlie  purpose,  and  shadeil  by 
two  be.^utiful  sugai--maples,  have  still  a  Silcredness  around  them  which  will 
remain  till  all  who  knew  him  and  feel  the  value  of  religion  shall  have  followed 
him  to  eternity." 

The  two  beautiful  sug:ir-ma]iles  are  still  flourishing  as  when 
William  A.  Hallock  wrote  of  them  nearly  fifty  years  ago, 
and  the  spring  still  bubbles  from  the  rocks.  Here  is  still  the 
road  winding  up  the  valley  along  which  the  pious  miller  so 
often  went  to  the  house  of  God,  that  to  him  was  none  other 
than  the  gate  of  heaven.  These  lovely  hillsides  and  the  deep 
valley  between  must  have  been  fair  and  beautiful  when  cov- 
ered with  the  primeval  forests,  robed  in  the  verdure  of  sum- 
mer, the  gorgeous  colors  of  autumn,  or  the  solemn  drapery  of 
winter.  Yet  all  this  earthly  beauty  was  to  the  eye  of  faith 
but  a  faint  image  of  the  heavenly  land.  It  only  reminded 
Joseph  Bcals,  the  "Mountain  Miller,"  that 

"  Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  Hood 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green." 

The  dwelling-house  near  the  present  mill  is  not  the  old 
home  of  the  "Mountain  Miller,"  though  some  reverent  vis- 
itors have  persisted  in  thinking  so,  and  in  going  through  the 
rooms  in  a  dreamy,  historic  way.  The  dwelling-house  of  Mr. 
Beals  was  the  present  residence  of  James  Cook  and  son,  on 
the  we.st  side  of  the  road,  farther  north  ;  thus  the  miller  would 
pass  the  spring  in  going  from  the  house  to  his  work.  In  the 
yard  at  Mr.  Cook's  was  the  funeral  scene  mentioned  in  the 
tract,  when  around  the  open  coffin  of  his  beloved  daughter  the 
miller  talked  to  his  neighbors  ujion  the  great  themes  of  life, 
death,  and  eternity. 

2d.  The  old  residence  of  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  where  he 
settled  in  the  ministry,  and  where  he  received  his  students,  is 
a  place  of  deep  interest  yet  to  the  few  venerable  men  who  still 
live  to  recall  the  instructions  received  in  this  beautiful  moun- 
tain village,  and  at  the  fireside  of  that  devout  and  holy  man. 
Their  own  names  may  be  written  high  upon  the  scroll  of  fame, 
and  the  wreath  of  civic  honors  may  have  gracefullv  rested 
upon  their  brows,  but  the  name  of  their  teacher,  Kev.  Moses 
Hallock,  may  well  be  written  in  close  and  tender  association 
with  their  own.  The  house  is  a  low,  old-fashioned,  one-story 
building,  but  of  ample  width,  securing  a  large  amount  of 
room  upon  the  lower  floor  and  a  spacious  chamber  above. 

It  is  a  village  tradition  that  at  times  Mr.  Hallock's  family 
consisted  of  nine,  and  that  these,  with  seventeen  students,  all 
boarded  and  slept  in  the  house  at  once.  While  Mr.  Hallock 
lived,  the  house  was  unpainted.  After  his  death  the  place 
passed  into  the  ownership  of  the  Widow  Mack.  The  house 
was  then  painted.  It  was  sold  afterward  to  the  brothers 
Spierman,  who  now  reside  there.  They  are  blacksmiths,  and 
have  for  many  years  carried  on  their  business  in  a  shop 
erected  east  of  the  house,  and  next  to  the  street.  There  are  a 
few  maple-trees,  of  considerable  age,  planted,  it  is  said,  by  one 
of  the  sons  of  Mr.  Hallock.  The  paint  having  nearly  disap- 
peared, the  house  in  its  outer  look  must  be  returned  to  nearly 


its  former  state,  as  occupied  by  Mr.  Hallock.  A  few  apple- 
trees  near  suggest  the  days  when  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant  and 
other  "boys"  like  modern  students  may  have  helped  gather 
the  fruit  earlier  than  the  ordinary  season.  Standing  in  front 
of  the  venerable  building,  it  needs  but  a  little  effort  of  the 
imagination  to  people  those  old  rooms,  the  spacious  yard,  and 
the  street  near,  with  the  living  forms  of  active  youth ;  with 
distinguished  men  who  in  after-years  left  their  impress  upon 
law  and  literature,  upon  science  and  metaphysics,  upon  poli- 
tics and  religion. 

-■  3d.  T/,c  Point  of  the  First  Sctttcmrnf.—Ho\]und'>i  history, 
and  other  works,  state  that  Mr.  Melntyre  made  the  first 
settlement  of  Plainfleld  in  1770.  Jacob  Porter  says  that  he 
was  a  Scotchman,  and,  in  the  true  spirit  of  Scotch  hospitalitj", 
used  to  prepare  a  haggis  at  each  of  his  daughters'  weddings. 
That  he  lived  somewhere  on  what  was  known  as  the  "Hat- 
field Equivalent"  is  probable  from  the  two  marriages  recorded. 
-.But  the  exact  site  of  his  house  is  not  known. 

4th.  The  meeting  for  the  first  civil  organization  determines 
another  spot  as  one  for  which  the  antiquaiian  will  naturally 
seek.  In  Plainfield,  this  was  held  at  the  house  of  Simon 
Burroughs,  July  25,  1785.  It  stood  a  few  rods  north  of  the 
present  residence  of  Charles  N.  Dyer,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
road.  There  are  now  no  buildings  at  that  point,  and  only  a 
slight  depression  in  the  ground,  with  some  other  indications 
to  identify  the  spot.  This  will  be  the  place  to  unfurl  the  flag 
at  the  centennial  celebration  of  July  25,  1885.  Perhaps  before 
that  time  some  antiquarian  may  have  discovered  the  old  cellar 
of  the  Melntyre  homestead,  and  another  flag  may  wave  from 
that. 

INDUSTRIAL    PURSUITS. 

The  leading  business  of  the  town  is  agriculture.  The  cut- 
ting of  firewood  and  lumbering  were  formerly  important  items 
of  business,  but  at  the  present  time  are  carried  on  only  to  a 
limited  extent.  The  productions  of  the  dairy,  the  sale  of  beef, 
the  raising  of  sheep,  and  a  variety  of  mi.xed  farming  employ- 
ments constitute  agricultural  interest.  Maple-sugar  is  some- 
times produced  in  large  quantities,  reaching  26,000  pounds  a 
year.  The  manufacturing  interests  were  never  very  extensive, 
though  the  production  of  broom-handles  and  other  small  arti- 
cles of  wood-work  has  been  at  times  an  important  element  of 
prosperity.  The  various  mills  and  water-privileges  are  stated 
in  the  following  more  particular  account.  Upon  this  general 
subject  Jacob  Porter,  forty-four  years  ago,  wrote  as  follows : 

"  The  njitive  timber  of  our  forests  consists  principally  of  maple  (four  species), 
beech,  birch,  hemlock,  spnico,  tir,  and  cherry.  From  the  maple  large  quantities 
of  sugar  are  nianuf;u'tnred.  A  variety  called  the  bird's-eye  maple  is  highly 
esteemed  for  cabinet-work.  Cherry  is  also  much  used  for  the  siinie  pm^iose. 
Our  boards  and  shingles  are  generally  made  of  hemlock  and  spruce.  Largo 
quantities  of  hemlock  bark  are  used  for  tanning  leather.  It  sells  at  about  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  cord.  The  price  of  wood  for  fuel  standing  is  about 
twenty  cents  a  cord ;  delivered  at  one's  door,  from  one  dollar  to  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents. 

"As  there  is  very  httle  underbrush  in  our  woods,  our  farmei-s  are  not  troubled 
with  bushes.  Fields  once  deareil  remain  free  from  these  intrudei-s,  so  trouble- 
some in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 

"This  township  has  a  good  stroug  soil  very  well  ailupted  for  grass.  Indian 
corn,  wheat,  and  rye  are  raised  without  ditficulty,  but  not  in  sutfieient  quantities 
for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants.  Potatoes  and  oats  of  excellent  qvuility  are  very 
easily  raised.  MujUt  not  moUisnes  be  pyojitubli/  moHH/otiiirt'iJ  hrre  from  pottiUKU  t 
The  ajiple  thrives  well,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  plum,  peach,  cherry,  and  giupe 
might  be  cultivat(nl  with  proper  care.  Our  wild  fruits,  such  iis  the  strawberry 
and  the  thinibleberry,  might  doubtless  be  greatly  improved  by  transplanting 
tlicni  into  our  gardens.  Horticulture  has  not  hitherto  received  that  attention 
among  us  which  it  so  justly  merits.  Labor  is  from  tifty  cents  to  one  dollar 
a  day." 

How  far  this  reflects  the  present  time  (1879)  and  how  much 
it  diflers  from  the  present  will  be  readily  seen.  Jason  Richards 
says  that  his  father  used  to  raise  what  wheat  he  needed  for  his 
own  family.  His  stalwart  missionary  sons,  however,  grew  up 
largely  upon  the  "  rye  and  Indian"  of  those  "  good  old  times.'' 
The  living  was  frugal.  It  is  a  local  tradition  that  once  a  doting 
father  brought  his  son  to  Moses  Hallock's  school,  and  asked 
that  the  boy  might  have  gingerbread.     "  Certainly,"  said  the 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


437 


vciu'riil)le  tuacher,  and  immediately  requested  Mrs.  Ilallock  to 
sj>riiikle  a  little  fjingi'r  into  the  Indian  bread. 

V    MILLS,    FACTORIES,    KTC. 

On  the  brook  rising  northeast  of  the  eentre  and  flowing  to 
the  south,  the  upper  water-privilege  improved  was  that  of 
Thomas  Shaw's  grist-mill.  This  dates  back  very  early,  per- 
haps before  1800,  as  Stephen  Hay  ward,  who  was  seven  years 
old  when  his  father  came  here,  in  1793,  states  that  he  went  to 
mill  there  in  his  early  boyhood.  The  mill  was  given  up  about 
]82o  or  182(1,  and  the  privilege  has  not  been  used  since. 

Ne.xt  below  was  the.factory  of  Warner,  Whiting  &  Co.,  built 
about  1820  to  182-5.  The  firm  consisted  of  Kandall  Whiting, 
James  Warner,  and  Jacob  Clark.  Their  principal  line  of 
work  was  tlie  manufacture  of  satinets.  They  also  did  custom- 
work  as  aclothing  establishment.  They  operated  several  looms, 
employing  ten  or  twelve  hands.  The  business  was  conducted 
by  them  twelve  or  thirteen  years.  It  was  continued  for  a 
short  time  by  James  Warner,  alone,  and  was  also  operated  by 
Gurnej'.  The  business  was  abandoned,  and,  later, — 1855  to 
18tiO, — the  buildings  were  taken  down.  Traces  of  the  old 
dam  and  raceway  remain. 

Much  earlier  than  the  operations  of  the  firm  above  men- 
tioned wa.^  the  clothing-mill  of  Jacob  Clark,  upon  the  same 
site. 

On  the  same  stream,  below,  were  the  broom-handle  works  es- 
tablished by  John  White  about  1836.  The  business  was  car- 
ried on  eight  or  ten  years  only,  when  it  was  given  up  and  the 
buildings  removed.  There  was  a  saw-mill  continued  some- 
what later.  A  little  below  was  the  old  saw-mill  of  Ziba 
White.  This  was  an  ancient  affair,  dating  back  to  1800,  or 
perhaps  earlier.  The  works  were  allowed  to  go  down  forty 
j'ears  ago  or  more,  and  were  not  rebuilt.  There  is  yet  another 
mill  privilege  below,  improved  by  Warner  &  Lloyd,  about 
1845.  They  built  a  saw-mill,  and  operated  it  for  several  years. 
It  was  then  converted  into  a  cider-mill,  and  that  has  since 
been  abandoned.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  little  stream  was 
for  a  time  made  to  do  a  large  amount  of  work. 

Tracing  the  tributaries  of  Mill  I5rook  and  the  stream  itself, 
there  may  be  noticed  in  the  village  the  little  brook  flowing 
down  near  the  town-house  and  by  Campbell's  store.  A  little 
south  was  an  old  tannery  dating  back  toward  the  first  settle- 
ment. It  was  carried  on  by  Dorn  &  Remington.  Traces  of 
the  old  dam  and  works  remain. 

About  the  same  time,  or  somewhat  later,  a  little  above  were 
potash-works,  carried  on  by  Iram  Packard. 

Dorn  &  Kemington  built  with  the  intention  of  doing  a  large 
business.  They  had  a  building  of  considerable  size,  and  an 
overshot  wheel  of  eighteen  feet  diameter.  Their  plans  were 
not  fully  carried  out.  They  moved  down  into  the  valley  on 
Mill  Brook. 

Some  two  miles  west,  on  another  branch  of  Jlill  Brook,  was 
a  saw-mill  built  by  Wm.  Shattuck,  about  1852.  He  operated 
it  five  or  six  years,  and  sold  it  to  Morgan  Cleveland,  who  car- 
ried on  the  business  for  a  few  years,  but  finally  discontinued 
it.     It  failed  for  want  of  sufficient  water  at  that  point. 

At  the  ]ilace  now  owned  by  Philander  Packard,  <in  Mill 
Brook,  was  the  type-foundry  of  Homan  Hallock.  There  he 
made  the  types  for  printing  the  Bible  in  Arabic.  The  building 
afterward  was  removed  to  Cummington.  His  work  was  of 
great  value,  requiring  classical  taste,  inventive  genius,  and 
rare  mechanical  skill, — a  work  of  unique  celebrity  for  a  re- 
tired mountain  town.  Homan  Hallock,  of  whom  the  world 
has  heard  but  little,  is  entitled,  by  his  manufacture  of  the  type 
that  has  given  the  Bible  to  1-50,000,000  of  jieople,  to  rank  with 
the  better  known  brothers  Gerard  and  William. 

Next  below  is  the  saw-mill  of  George  W.  King.  This  was 
established  from  1815  to  1820  by  Josiah  Stetson,  and  is  one  of 
the  few  mill-sites  in  Plainfield  that  have  not  been  abandoned. 
After  Mr.  Stetson  it  was  owned  by  various  proprietors,  until 


it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  King,  about  twenty-four  years 
ago,  and  is  run  by  him  at  the  present  time. 

Farther  down  was  Streeter's  factory,  built  by  Arnold 
Streeter,  perhaps  sixty  years  ago.  The  line  of  work  was  the 
manufacture  of  satinets  and  broadcloths,  including  the  doing 
of  custom-work.  The  mills  were  burned  about  182G.  They 
were  rebuilt,  and  the  business  continued  by  the  Streeters, 
father  and  son,  until  the  buildings  were  again  burned,  in  1876. 
They  have  not  been  rebuilt.  Before  the  Streeters  began,  there 
was  an  old  clothing-mill  at  this  point  operated  by  Daniel 
Kichards,  by  Mr.  Gleason,  Mr.  Shattuck,  and  perhaps  others. 
An  old  saw-mill  of  the  first  settlement  was  also  located  here. 
The  tannery  removed  from  the  village  brook,  as  before  stated, 
was  rebuilt  by  Dorn  &  Remington  in  18-30,  on  Mill  Brook. 
They  did  a  large  business,  having  a  building  100  feet  by  30, 
with  80  vats.  It  was  carried  on  by  them  for  several  years. 
Dorn  sold  out  to  Parsons,  and  the  firm  afterward  sold  to 
Giddings  &  Latham.  The  latter  carried  on  the  business  alone 
for  a  short  time.  It  was  discontinued  at  Latham's  death, 
1851. 

Below,  on  the  main  road,  is  the  factory  built  by  Pratt  & 
Hamlin  (Reuben  Hamlin  and  Otis  Pratt),  sixty  to  seventy 
years  ago,  for  the  manufacture  of  satinets,  broadcloth,  custom- 
work,  etc.  Mr.  Erastus  Bates  bought  out  Pratt.  After  the 
removal  of  Mr.  Bates  west,  Reuben  Hamlin  carried  it  on  a 
short  time  alone.  After  this  the  building  stood  unused  for  a 
few  years.  Mr.  Jason  Noyes  opened  a  chair-factory  there  a 
short  time.  A  few  years  later  the  business  was  changed  by 
William  Wilcutt,  the  present  proprietor,  to  the  making  of 
broom-handles  and  baskets,  and  is  continued  by  him — includ- 
ing saw-rnill — to  the  present  time. 

Earlier  than  this  factory,  back  to  1810  or  nearl}',  was  a  flax- 
dressing-mill,  owned  by  Noah  and  Iram  Packard, — father 
and  son. 

Next,  down  the  stream,  is  the  grist-mill,  occupying  the  site 
of  the  one  owned  by  "the  Mountain  Miller."  Joseph  Beals 
bought  the  property  in  1798.  The  mill  was  built  several  years 
before  that,  and  was  carried  on  by  Jeremiah  Robinson.  It  does 
not  appear  to  be  known  whether  there  was  a  still  earlier  pro- 
prietor. After  Joseph  Beals 'death,  in  1813,  the  mill  was  carried 
on  some  years  by  Joseph  Beals,  Jr.  The  property  was  owned 
at  one  time  by  John  Clarke,  of  Northampton.  It  then  passed 
to  Deacon  Jared  Bisbee,  who  owned  it  for  several  years.  After 
him  Joel  Lyon  was  proprietor,  and  then  Loreii  White.  It 
was  then  run  for  a  few  years  by  Edwin  Torrey.  In  1861  his 
son-in-law,  James  A.  Nash,  succeeded  to  the  mill,  and  has 
carried  it  on  from  that  time  to  the  present.  The  water-privi- 
lege is  one  of  considerable  value.  The  mill  has  a  large  "run 
of  custom,"  and  is  doing  an  active  and  prosperous  business. 
It  is  a  tradition  that  the  Cooks  preceded  Robinson  in  the  early 
mill,  and  perhaps  built  it. 

On  the  rivulets  in  the  northwest,  in  the  vicinity  of  North 
Pond,  there  were  few  water-privileges  of  sufficient  advantage 
to  tempt  any  one  to  improve  them,  even  in  the  earlier  years, 
when  these  mountain  streams  were  of  far  greater  volume  than 
at  present.  On  the  Hallock  Pond  outlet  was  a  grist-mill , 
known  as  Rice's.  This  was  very  early,  as  it  was  given  up  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago.  On  the  same  site  was  a  tannery,  built  by 
Leavitt  Hallock,  1840  to  1845  ;  it  was  burned,  rebuilt  but  not 
used  again,  and  is  still  standing.  This  is  a  few  rods  over  the 
line,  in  Hawley. 

On  the  outlet  of  Crooked  Pond  is  a  saw-mill,  now  owned  by- 
Joseph  Harlow, — pretty  old, — dating  back  to  1812,  and  owned 
since  by  several  different  proprietors. 

In  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town,  and  just  upon  the  line 
of  Ashfield,  there  is  the  Campbell  saw-mill,  the  power  for 
which  is  supplied  by  a  small  stream  flowing  easterly.  The 
proprietor  is  Levi  N.  Campbell,  and  the  property  has  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  family  for  many  years,  having  been  estab- 
lished by  Levi  Campbell,  father  of  the  present  proprietor. 


438 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


There  were  several  distilleries  in  early  times  for  the  manu- 
facture of  cider-brandy  ;  one  iu  the  east  part  of  the  town  by 
Deacon  Stockwell  sixty  years  ago  or  more,  continued  but  a  few 
years.  In  the  west  part  of  the  town  were  distilleries  for  manu- 
facturing spruce-tar  ;  these  were  built  and  managed  by  Shat- 
tuck  &  Pratt,  iifteen  to  eighteen  years  ago.  There  were  still 
others,  and  one  is  run  at  the  present  time  by  Ezra  Mason. 
The  raining  of  manganese,  begun  to  some  extent  many  years 
ago,  was  never  a  success,  and  has  not  been  attempted  in  modern 
times.  Bricks  wore  made  at  one  time  by  Thomas  Shaw,  not 
far  from  his  grist-mill,  mentioned  above. 

J       BLACKSMITH-SHOPS. 

There  was  one  near  Lincoln's  store,  run  by  Rufus  Buntz. 
There  was  another  at  the  centre,  east  of  the  brick  store,  by 
Cook  &  Daniels.  This  was  an  old  stand,  dating  back  nearly 
to  1800.  Another,  of  later  date,  stood  north  of  the  brick  store, 
where  Elmer  worked,  and  also  Milton  Sawyer  and  Clark 
Smith  ;  taken  down  a  few  mouths  ago,  and  rebuilt  by  Mr. 
Smith  near  his  present  barn.  Another  shop,  near  the  present 
residence  of  Joseph  Sears,  was  carried  on  by  H.  V.  Curtis. 
The  Spiermans  worked  there  several  years  before  they  pur- 
chased the  Hallock  place.  A  small  blacksniithing  business  is 
also  done  by  Francis  Joy. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  for  the  year  end- 
ing May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values 
stated:  butter,  $101. 98;  firewood,  iJoS-jS  ;  hay,  §22,645;  milk, 
$7080;  potatoes,  $2942;  beef,  5>4730 ;  manure,  §3352;  pork, 
$2942  ;  maple-sugar,  §3465  ;  eggs,  ^1872. 

MIMIARY. 

The  territory  of  Plaintield  was  settled  to  some  extent  as  a 
part  of  Cummiiigton,  and  there  were  several  soldiers  of  the 
Kevolution  who  went  from  within  its  limits  or  settled  there 
and  became  citizens  of  the  town.  The  pensioners  in  1834 
were  Lemuel  Allis,  Joseph  Barnard,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  John 
Campbell,  Vinson  Curtis,  Ebenezer  Dickinson,  James  Dyer, 
Joseph  Gloyd,  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  Jacob  Nash,  Philip  Pack- 
ard, Whitcomb  Pratt,  James  Richards,  Josiah  Shaw,  Samuel 
Streeter,  Josiah  Torrey,  and  Caleb  White. 

Jacob  Porter's  history  of  1834  mentions  the  above  as  living 
at  that  time,  but  apparently  gives  no  full  list  of  the  citizens 
of  Plaintield  who  had  been  in  the  Revolutionary  service. 
There  must  have  been  quite  a  number  who  had  died  before 
1834  or  moved  away. 

Plainfleld  shared  to  some  extent  in  the  Shays  rebellion. 
There  was  only  a  small  population  at  that  time  and  the  town 
organization  was  scarcely  made,  yet  the  people,  suffering  from 
the  depreciated  currency  and  from  the  other  difficulties  that 
followed  immediately  upon  the  Revolution,  undoubtedly  gave 
some  encouragement  to  the  cause  of  the  insurgents. 


The  following  persons  arc  recorded  as  having  taken  and 
subscribed  the  oath  of  allegiance  before  Samuel  Mather,  Esq., 
January,  1787,  viz.  :  Moses  Curtis,  Stephen  Steth,  Isaac  Joy, 
Solomon  Nash,  Tobias  Green,  Salmon  Fay. 

In  the  exciting  period  of  1812  to  1815,  Plainiield  was  repre- 
sented in  the  Anti-War  Convention  at  Northampton  by  Ne- 
hemiah  Joy,  Esq. 

For  the  defense  of  Boston,  September,  1814,  under  the  call  of 
Gov.  Strong,  a  few  went  and  shared  in  the  labors  of  that  brief 
campaign.  The  town  the  next  spring  voted  each  man  $2.08 
for  [)rovisions  found  and  for  powder  and  balls.  The  following 
went:  Bolter  Colson,  Samuel  Thayer,  Samuel  Streeter,  Jr., 
Stephen  Ilollis,  Oren  Tirrell,  John  Ford,  Lazarus  Bartlett, 
Jacob  Dj'cr,  Caleb  Stowell,  and  perhaps  others. 

■WAR  or  1861-05. 

There  appear  to  have  been  no  regular  meetings  for  official 
action  in  1861.  Two  meetings  were  held  in  1862,  in  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  at  which  a  bounty  of  §100  was 
offered  to  each  volunteer  who  would  enlist  to  fill  the  quota  of 
the  town.     The  efiect  of  this  was  that  21  immediately  enlisted. 

The  official  reports  show  that  Plainfleld  furnished  61  men 
for  the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  seven  over  and  above  all 
demands.     Three  were  commissioned  officers. 

The  list  herewith  appended  is  intended  to  include  the  names 
of  citizens  only,  omitting  substitutes,  yet  one  or  two  of  the 
latter  are  probably  mentioned.  The  military  record  in  the 
office  of  the  town  clerk  is  very  full,  and  will  grow  more  valu- 
able as  years  roll  away  and  the  story  of  the  fearful  days  of 
1801-65  shall  be  eagerly  sought  and  studied  by  the  descend- 
ants of  the  brave  men  of  that  era.  The  town  is  indebted  to 
Deacon  Hamlin,  who  was  then  town  clerk,  for  this  accurate 
and  faithful  record. 

The  population  in  1860  was  639.  The  number  of  men  fur- 
nished was  equal  to  about  one-tenth  of  the  whole  population, 
and  the  expenses  to  §13  per  head,  men,  women,  and  children. 
Assuming  that  the  "men  capable  of  bearing  arms"  are  not 
over  one-seventh  of  the  population,  being  91  at  that  time,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  number  furni.shed  WitS  equal  to  two-thirds 
of  that.  But  not  alone  in  this  way  are  the  patriotic  services 
of  (hat  period  to  be  estimated.  The  women  of  Plainfleld  not 
only  saw  their  loved  ones  depart  for  the  battle-field,  virtually 
saying  to  each,  "  Return  with  your  shield  or  upon  it,"  but  they 
followed  the  whole  armj'  with  their  love  and  their  prayers. 
By  the  supplies  furnished  through  the  Christian  Commission 
and  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  through  other  channels  of 
patriotic  benevolence,  they  contributed  largely  to  relieve  the 
suffering  soldiers.  As  we  now  eagerly  seek  for  every  incident 
of  the  Revolutionary  times  a  hundred  years  ago,  so  will  the 
people  of  future  ages  linger  with  astonishment  and  admiration 
ujion  the  story  of  1861  and  '65. 


SOLDIEUS'  LIST,  lSOt-05. 

Cliiiuncoy  C.  Sli:iw,  eiil.  Soiit.  9,  IKCl,  'iVlh  liogt., 
Co.  U;  discli.  March  31,  1803,  for  di^ibilitj' ; 
lie  wa.s  tlie  tii-st  lu  enlist  from  IMuinfii-ld,  a  fuct 
worthy  of  liotife,  :is  no  houiitifs  wlto  offL-rod 
at  that  time.  A  purse  of  a  few  tlollai-s  was 
limile  up  for  his  betu-tit  a  few  Sabbaths  pre- 
vious to  bis  leaving  for  thn  seat  of  war. 

Sherloek  II.  Linioln,  eTil.  Dec.  0,  1801,  lat  Cav., 
Co.  K;  disch.  Nov.  14,  180-J,  lor  disability,  oc- 
casioned by  the  kick  of  a  horse. 

Ilosoa  L.  Thayer,  must.  Dec.  Ifl,  1801,  Ist  C«v.,  Co. 
K;  ili-cb.  to  re-cul.,  Dec.  28,  1803;  rc-cni.  Dec. 
'JD,  1«g:1,  8;ime  regiment  luid  company  ;  discli. 
July  21.  ]80."i,  with  regiment. 

Henry  Y.  Town,  enl.  Oct.  18,  1801,  4th  N.  Y.  Ind. 
Uatt.,  Co.  C;  disch.  Oct.  17,  1804. 

Wesley  Woodward,  enl.  Oct.  1,  1801,  27lh  Itegt., 
Co.  C;  disch.  Oct.  1802. 

James  Wetherbee,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  llltli  Kegt., 
Co.  C ;  disch.  Dec.  21,  1803,  to  re-enl.;  subse- 
quent history  not  known. 


George  W.  King,  enl.  Sept.  20, 18C2,  40tli  M.  V.M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1803. 
Josiah  Rood,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1802,  4Clh  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

K;  died  July  10,  18G3,  on  voyage  home  between 

Newbern  and  Boston;  his  renmins  brought  to 

Plaintield  for  burial. 
Theodore  W.  Shaw,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1802,  40th  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  F  ;  discli.  July  29,  180 1. 
Charles  S.  Stetson,  enl    Sept.  2G,  1802,  40lh  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  18G3. 
Wm.  E.  Warner,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1802,  4Clh  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F  ;  died  June  28,  1803,  at  Newbern,  N.  C, 

of  typhoid  fever;  buried  at  Newbern. 
Henry  A.  Vinitig,  enl.  Dec.  5,  1803,  Ist  Cuv.,  Co.  I ; 

disch.  June  29,  18G5. 
Itoherl  Lond,  enl.  Sept.  20, 18G2,  4Gth  Rogt.,  Co.  F ; 

roenl.  May  28,  1803,  2d  II,  A.,  Co.  A;  disch. 

Sept.   3,   18Go,   by    general    order  disbanding 

troops. 
Willi.im  A.  Hallock,  enl.  Aug.  4,  1802,  23d  Regtr, 

Co.  K  ;  re-enl.  Dec.  1,  1803. 
Allen  Smith,  enlisted  Sept.  2C,  1802,  4Clli  Regt., 


Co.  F  ;  re-enl.  Juno  4, 1803,  2d  H.  A. ;  disch. 
Sept.  3,  1805,  by  genera!  oriler  disbanding 
troops. 

William  J.  Nash,  enl.  March  1,  1S04,  n4lh  Regt., 
Co.  D. 

Maurice  Bishop,  eiil.  Feb.  13,  1804,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 
K;  died  June  IS,  1804,  at  Fortress  Monroe;  a 
substitnto;  lost  h  B  life  iu  the  serv.ce  for 
Plainti.ld. 

John  C.  Dean,  eul.  Aug.  25,  1804,  2d  H.  A.,  Co.  F; 
disch.  June  20, 1805,  by  general  order  disband- 
ing troops. 

Arthur  W.  Robinson,  eul.  Aug.  25, 1804,  2d  II.  A., 
Co.  F  ;  disch.  June  20,  1805,  by  general  order 
disbanding  troops. 

Wiiithrop  B.  llobinson,  enl.  Aug.  25,  1804,  2d  11. 
A.,  Co.  F;  disch.  June  20,  1805,  l.y  general 
order  disbanding  troops. 

William  L.  Lucas,  eul.  Aug.  25, 1804,  2d.  11.  A.,  Co. 
F  ;  diich.  June  20,  1805,  by  general  older  dis- 
banding troops. 

John  T.  Stewart,  eul.  Aug.  25,  1604,  2d  II.  A.,  Co. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


439 


F;  disch.  June  2G,  18(i5.  by  gonoral  order  dis- 
banding troops, 

Alfred  Videtio,  enl.Sopt.  1,  18G4,  rogt.not  known; 
Mupiiosed  iliscli.  lit  cxp.  of  service. 

Goodloe  II.  Taylor,  enl.  Sept.  1,  1804,  2d  II.  A.  ; 
discli.  May  2:1,  l8Go,  by  general  order  disband- 
ing troops. 

AInion  M.  Warner,  1st.  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30,1862, 
;i7tli  Inf.,  Co.  H;  pro.  to  2d  lient.,  June  7, 
18Co;  was  snfTering  from  wounds  reeeived  iu 
Virginia,  April  0,  18Uo;  disch.  June  21,  18G5. 

Lorenzo  Slreetei-,  Corp.,  enl.  .\ug.  15,  1802,  :i7lh 
Inf.,  Co.  II;  discli.  Nov.  21, 180:),  for  disability, 
occasioned  by  long  niarclie^  and  sulTeriiigs  in 
tlie  battle  of  Fredericksburg. 

Nelson  Jl.  Cook,  enl.  Aug.  15,  1802,  .'57111  Inf.,  Co. 
II ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  180:1,  for  disabilily,— bleed- 
ing at  tlie  lungs, 

Wiliiani  \V.  Van  Alstyne,  enl.  Dec.  7,  1863,  64tli 
Inf.,  Co.  B;  massing  in  action,  Feb.  2li,  1804; 
town  record  makes  it  2d  II.  A.,  and  .'■tales  that 
lie  died  in  the  service;  probably  one  of  the 
unknown  dead  on  the  tlelds  of  Virginia,  or  in 
the  Southern  piisous. 


Oliver  C.  Burr,  enl.  Oct.  15,  1802,  46tli  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  E;  disch.  July  29,180.3. 

Fordyce  A.  Dyer,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802, 
40th  M.  V.  M.,  Co.  F;  pro.  to  2d  Meut.,  Jan. 
28,  1803 ;  1st  lieut.,  June  8,  1803,  in  Heavy 
Artillery  ;  died  of  yellow  fever,  Oct.  26,  1804, 
at  Newbern,  N.  C. ;  body  brought  home  for 
burial;  he  had  been  detailed  as  city  inspector 
during  the  yellow  fever  in  Newbern,  and  fell, 
a. brave  man,  at  his  post  of  duly  and  of  danger. 

Clilford  Packard,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept,  20, 1862,  46tli  M. 
V.  JI.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  180:i. 

Ira  W.  Iliinilin,  corp.,  enl.  Sept.  2.=i,  1802,  40th  M. 
V.  M.,  Co  F;  disch.  July  20, 180:). 

Franklin  Cook,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1802,  40lh  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  F ;  died  June  211,  1863,  at  Beaufort,  N.  C, 
and  buried  at  that  place. 

Aldeu  II.  Dyer,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1862,  4Gtli  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  F;  diol  A]uil  111,  1803,  at  Newbern,  N.  C, 
of  typhoid  iever;  remains  brought  to  Plain- 
field  for  burial. 

Newcoinb  Dyer,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1862,  40th  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  F  ;  disch.  July  29,  1803. 

Charles  C.  Gloyd.enl.  Sept.  25,1802,46th  M.V.M., 


Co.  F;  disch.  to  re-enl.  May  27, 1863;  must,  in 
again,  May  28,  1803,  2d  II.  A.,  Co.  A  ;  disch. 
Sept.  3,  1805,  by  general  order  disbanding 
troops. 

J.  Wesley  Gurney,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1862,  40tli  M.  V. 
M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  to  re-enl.  June  4, 1803;  must, 
in  again  June  5,  1803,  2tl  Kegt.  II.  A.;  as  a 
minor,  his  parents  endeavored  to  detain  him 
home,  and  he  was  arresteil  as  a  deserter;  but 
after  .serving  one  mouth  was  honorably  disch. 
Dec.  30,  18e:i. 

Stephen  Hayward.  enl.  Sept.  20,  1862,  40lh  M.  V. 
M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1801. 

Samuel  W.  Jones,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1802,  46th  M.  V. 
M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  180:1. 

Newell  Dyer  (2d),  enl.  Nov.  2U,  1861,  .31st  Inf.,  Co. 
C;  disch.  April  11,  1802,  for  di-sab. ;  re-enl. 
July  12. 1803;  rejected  by  examining  surgeon  ; 
drafted  same  day;  supposed  it  not  necessary 
to  report;  arrested  as  a  deserter;  served  in 
12th  Regt.,  Co.  C,  5  months;  honorably  disch. 
for  disability,  Dec.  12, 1863. 

Harrison  D.  Gloyd,  enl.  Feb.  1,  1802,  31st  luf ,  Co. 
C;  disch.  Jan.  31, 1865. 


CUMMINGTON. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Cdmmington  is  one  of  the  western  tier  of  towns  in  the 
peculiarly-shaped  county  of  Iliinipshirc,  and  is  sixteen  miles 
from  Norlhaiiipton,  the  county-.seat,  air-line  measurement. 
It  is  bdUiided  mirth  by  Plainlield  and  Franklin  County,  east 
hy  Goshen,  .south  by  Chesterfield  and  Worthington,  west  by 
Berkshire  County.  It  contains  13,711  acres,  as  stated  in  the 
census  of  1875.  The  title  is  direct  from  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  the  township  having  been  bought  by  Col.  John 
Cummings,  June  2,  1762,  for  i;i800.  The  proprietors  for 
whom  he  acted  lived  at  Concord  or  near  there.  Systematic 
arrangements  for  settlement  were  made  by  them,  committees 
being  appointed  upon  roads,  upon  public  worship,  and  other 
important  matters.  The  town  was  laid  out  in  three  divis- 
ions, and  the  proprietors  drew  for  their  several  shares  in  each 
divibion. 

NATURAL   FEATURES. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  diversified.  Ranges  of  hills 
and  separate  elevations  abound,  leaving,  however,  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  tillable  land  than  in  some  of  the  neighboring  towns. 
Remington  Hill,  standing  alone,  with  an  extensive  area  of 
productive  land  around  it,  is  the  only  hill  of  sutiicient  import- 
ance to  have  a  name  attached  to  it  upon  modern  maps.  There 
are  many  other  heights  interspersed  with  valleys,  forming  de- 
lightful scenery,  charming  alike  the  poet,  the  painter,  and  the 
naturalist.  Nearly  every  part  of  the  town  is  drained  by  the 
streams  which  form  the  river  system  of  the  Westfield  Valley. 
The  local  names  of  these  streams  are  Swift  Eiver,  north 
branch  of  S%vift  River,  Shaw  Brook,  Roaring  Brook,  Childs 
Brook,  Kearney  Brook,  and  Whitniarsh  Brook. 

The  winding  course  of  the  Westfield  Eiver  through  the 
town  secures  a  large  number  of  valuable  sites  for  mills  and 
manufactories.  Onlj-  a  small  portion  of  the  available  water- 
power  has  been  improved,  however,  few  enterprises  of  magni- 
tude having  been  undertaken.  By  this  same  river  the  town 
is  divided  into  the  "north  side"  and  the  "south  side,"  and 
in  the  early  times  considerable  discussion  occurred  as  to  the 
location  of  public  buildings  and  the  holding  of  public  meet- 
ings. In  later  years  this  question  seldom  appears  in  the  public 
records,  but  the  town  may  still  be  said  to  lack  a  common  cen- 
tral point  to  which  all  sections  consent,  and  which  is  equally  ac- 


cessible for  all.  The  natural  features  of  old  Township  Ko.  5  are 
unfavorable  to  a  hearty  unanimity  upon  a  central  church  or  a 
central  villtige. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT. 

There  is  no  clearer  way  of  showing  the  early  settlement  of 
this  town  than  by  quoting  liberally  from  the  proceedings  of 
the  proprietors  as  they  are  preserved  in  the  oldest  book  in  the 
custody  of  the  town  clerk.  The  settlement  was  different  from 
that  of  some  other  towns.  It  was  not  so  much  by  individuals 
penetrating  the  forest  and  erecting  their  cabins  singly  and 
alone  that  the  wilds  of  Cummington  were  opened  up.  Or- 
ganization was  before  settlement.  There  was  an  association 
of  proprietors  to  sustain  and  assist  each  pioneer ;  plans  were 
made  ;  committees  laid  out  roads  ;  encouragement  was  voted 
to  erect  mills  ;  and  lots  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  and  the 
support  of  schools  were  set  apart.  Men  first  came  to  settle 
No.  5  as  committees,  surveyors,  road-makers,  mill-builders — 
at  least,  it  seems  proper  to  infer  that  from  the  records.  "Who 
built  the  first  house  within  the  present  limits  of  Cummington 
is  unsettled  citlier  in  tradition  or  history.  One  writer  has 
ventured  to  say  that  Samuel  Brewer  ('.s  supposed  to  have  set- 
tled here  in  1701.  Another  authority,  many  years  earlier, 
pronounces  one  Mclntyre  to  have  been  the  first  settler,  and 
the  date  1770.  A  recent  writer,  who  evidently  failed  to  ex- 
amine the  old  proprietors'  book,  repeats  the  Mclntyre  story, 
as  if  this  was  the  best  that  could  be  ascertained. 

The  variety  of  statement  is  accounted  for  to  some  extent  by 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Mclntyre  was  probably  an  early,  if  not  the 
first,  settler  of  Plainfield, — a  large  portion  of  which  town  was 
a  part  of  old  No.  5. 

NO.  5  proprietors'  book,  17G2. 

CoNcoRP,  Dec.  21, 17li2. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Township  called  by  the  name  of  No.  5 
(legally  assembled),  purchased  of  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New 
England,  by  John  Cummings,  Esq.,  of  Siud  Concord,  on  the  2d  day  of  June  last 
past,  it  was  voted  at  said  meeting  that  Charles  Prescott,  Esq.,  be  raodeiator  of 
said  Propriety.  2d.  Voted  that  Isaiah  Barrett  be  Clerk  of  said  Propriety.  3d. 
Voted  that  there  be  a  standing  committee  chosen  to  call  meetings  for  the  future, 
and  to  act  in  other  matters  and  things  as  shall  seem  best  for  the  Proprietors. 
4th.  Voted  that  Messrs.  Samuel  Fariar,  Col.  .lohn  Cummings,  and  Col.  Charles 
Prescott  be  the  committee  as  above  mentioned.  5th.  Voted  that  Capt.  James 
Haywood  be  Treasurer  of  said  proprietors.  Gth.  Voted  that  Lient.  Joseph  Hay- 
ward  be  Collector  for  said  propriety.     7th.  Voted  that  Messrs.  Lieut.  Samuel 


440 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Farrar,  Col.  John  Gumming,  and  Col.  Charles  Prescott  he  assessors  of  the  Pro- 
prietors. 8th.  Voted  that  we,  the  Proprietors,  hear  the  report  of  a  numher  of 
the  Proprietors  who  have  viewed  said  township  No.  5.  9th.  Voted  that  the 
minister's  and  the  school  lot  in  the  first  division  of  lots  he  laid  where  the  Com- 
mittee for  laying  out  the  lots  shall  think  most  convenient,  and  are  not  to  be 
drawn  for  by  the  Proprietors.  The  minister's  lot  is  No.  25,  and  the  school  lot  is 
No.  26,  laid  out  by  said  connnittee.  10th.  Voted  that  the  Proprietors  will  receive 
the  report  of  the  Committee,  and  we  do  receive  it  accordingly,  which  is  as  fol- 
lowetli,  viz. :  "  Whereas,  we,  the  subscribers,  being  chose  by  the  Proprietora  of 
the  within-named  townsliip  to  go  to  said  township  and  lay  out  63  one-hundred- 
acre  lots,  accordingly  have  been  and  laid  out  60  lots  iu  form  as  follows,  viz.,  160 
rods  in  length  and  102  rods  in  width.  The  contents  in  each  lot  is  10*2  acres,  the 
2  acres  in  each  lot  being  laid  in  order  to  make  roads  as  shall  hereafter  he  thonght 
proper.  We  laid  the  overplus  lots  iu  order  to  pick  them  out  and  not  have  them 
drawed.  We  also  have  taken  out  the  numbers  following,  viz.,  65,  22, 15,  not  to 
he  drawed. 

(Signed)  "Samuel  Brewek. 

''Thomas  Barreit. 

*'  Tilly  BIerick." 

After  auditing  the  accounts  of  the  committee  and  of  the 
surveyor,  the  proprietors  adjourned. 

This  committee  must  have  spent  some  time  in  No.  5  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1762  preceding  this  meeting,  and  one  of 
them  may  have  had  his  family  with  him,  and  made  a  begin- 
ning ;  and  further,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  Mr.  Brewer 
may  have  penetrated  here,  as  one  writer  states,  in  1761,  made 
a  settlement,  and  then  interested  Col.  Cummings  and  induced 
him  to  bid  the  township  oft'  at  the  public  sale,  June  2,  1762. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  first  drawing  of  lots  took  place  at  the 
next  meeting,  Dec.  29,  1762  ;  and  these  three  members  of  the 
committee  appear  to  have  been  present,  and  it  hardly  seems 
probable  that  their  families  were  left  in  Cummington. 

Pec.  29, 1702, — Proprietors  met  in  Concord,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Munn. 
Adjourned  to  the  house  of  Jonathan  Heywood.  Voted  a  committee  to  prepare 
the  lots  for  drawing, — Capt.  James  Barrett,  Mr.  Thomas  Barrett,  and  Mr.  Jason 
Barrett.  Voted  that  any  proprietors  who  ma.vbe  dissiitisfied  with  the  lot  drawn 
shall  have  the  liberty  of  pitching  up  in  an  »ther  1  >t  inthe  same  township,  to  be  laid 
out  in  the  same  town,  and  ailjoining  to  the  lots  already  laid  out.  Voted  tliat 
John  Cummings  dispose  of  four  sixty-third  parts  of  the  township  No,  5  to 
James  McCannon,  James  Berry,  William  Park,  and  Samuel  Hayward.  Voted 
that  the  claims  of  the  Proprietors  be  examined  and  received,  and  the  name  of 
each  proprietor  he  set  down  against  the  number  eacli  pixjprietor  shall  draw. 

DRAWING    OF    LOTS. 

Joseph  Bridge,  Nos.  54,  55 ;  Charles  Prescott,  45,  49 ;  Thomas  Jones,  2Z,  30 ; 
John  Camming,  50,  68;  Thomas  Barrett,  53,  40;  Tilly  Merick,l,71,29,  47;  Isjuah 
Barrett,  3,  70;  Samuel  Brewer,  03,  22;  Asji  Doughiss,  67,  55;  Jonas  Heywood,  19, 
8;  James  Barrett,  4:i,  5;  John  Jones,  Jr.,  00;  Edmund  Munro,  40,  59;  David 
Brown,  48,  41 ;  Joseph  Hayward,  0, 18,  12 ;  Samuel  Farrar,  7, 34 ;  Charles  Barrett, 
51,  2;  James  Chandler,  42,  38;  Beacon  Samuel  >Iinott,  14.  10;  Asa  Douglass,  six 
rights,  04,  06,  27,  21,  24, 17 ;  Jo.>seph  Wright,  twu  rights,  44,  57 ;  William  Park,  one 
right,  56 ;  Samuel  Hayward,  .'>8 ;  James  McCannon,  4, 31 ;  James  Beny,  32 ;  Robert 
Cnnningham,  02;  Nathan  Harwood,  0;  John  Cunningham,  09, 

Further  arrangements  continued  to  be  made  at  various 
meetings  held  in  Concord.  One  item  Avas  an  application  to 
the  General  Court,  that  "  the  township  No.  5  may  be  made 
complete."  The  drawing  of  the  second  division  of  lots  took 
place  at  Concord,  Sept.  26,  1764.  Committee:  Isaiah  Bar- 
rett, Jonathan  Heywood,  and  Tilly  MerJck.  No.  46,  second 
division,  was  set  apart  as  a  minister's  lot.  Oliver  Conant  was 
voted  a  proprietor,  having  bought  one  right  of  Mr.  James 
Barrett, — No.  43,  first  division.  Voted  that  the  clerk  should 
draw  three  lots, — two  for  David  Brown  and  one  for  John 
Jones,  Jr.,  or  whoever  he  may  sell  to. 

DRAWING — SECOND    DIVISION. 

Sanmel  Brewer,  33,  40,  17,  21 ;  Charles  Prescott,  42,  14 ;  Thomas  Jones,  40, 18 ; 
John  Cummings,  32, 34;  Thomas  Barrett,  23, 9 ;  Tilly  Merick,  24, 15, 1st  division, 
38,  47  ;  Isaiah  Barrett,  33,  20,  buth  Ut  divisiun  ;  Asa  Douglass,  8, 10,  1st  division  ; 
Jonas  Heywood,  37, 11 ;  James  Barrett,  2.3 ;  John  Junes,  .1  r.,  44 ;  Eihnund  Munro, 
20;  David  Brown,  19,  29;  Joseph  Hayward,  :i5,  28,  3;  Samuel  farrar,  35,  1st 
division,  45  ;  Charles  Barrett,  50,  30, 1st  division;  James  Chandler,  5,12;  Samuel 
Miuott,  2,  43;  Asa  Douglas,  22.  4,  51,  31,  30,  39;  Joseph  Wright,  20 ;  William 
Park,  05,  1st  divisi  ju  ;  Samuel  Hayward,  41 ;  James  McCannon,  37, 1st  division, 
10  f  James  Berry,  52 ;  Robert  Cunningham,  10 ;  Nathan  Harwood,  1 ;  John  Cun- 
ningham, 0;  Oliver  Couant,  7  ;  Stephen  Farr,  28,  l«t  division  ;  Stephen  Hayward, 
30;  the  Committee,  27,  13, 15,  48. 

Sept.  26, 1764. — Vutcd  that  one  dollar  he  assessed  on  each  single  right  to  make 
a  convenient  road,  and  tliat  Samuel  Brewer  and  Stephen  Hayward  Ijc  a  com- 
mittee tu  lay  out  saiil  roads.     Voted  tliat  there  be  two  saw-mills  set  up  in  the 


township  No.  5,  one  at  the  east  end  and  one  at  the  west  end,  with  this  encour- 
agement: one  hundred  acres  of  land  voted  as  an  encouragement  to  each  of 
those  who  would  undertake  to  build  these  mills.  One  hundred  acres  were  voted 
^J  John  Cummings  for  this  purpose,  and  he  was  to  have  a  saw-mill  ready  to  work 
July  1st  next  ensuing.  One  liundred  acres  were  voted  to  Charles  Prescott  to 
build  a  saw-null  at  the  east  en<l  of  the  town  within  twelve  months. 

May  15, 1705. — At  Concord  voted  Jared  Snath  a  proprietor.  Voted  a  committee 
to  choose  a  site  for  a  meeting-house, — Charles  Prescott,  Samuel  Brewer,  Stephen 
Hayward.  Voted  Joseph  Farr,  Daniel  Wheeler,  Ephraim  Powers,  Kphraim 
Keys,  Capt.  William  Barron  he  proprietors. 

Charles  Prescott  seems,  from  the  record,  to  have  built,  in  the 
summer  of  1766,  the  saw-mill  which  John  Cummings  was  to 
have  built,  and  had  the  land  voted  for  that  purpose  ;  but  this 
is  not  sustained  by  tradition. 

May  20,  1767. — Voted  to  hire  a  regular  learned  gospel  minister  to  preach  four 
Sabbaths  next  summer.  Voted  to  raise  four  guineas  to  defray  the  expenfes  of 
preaclung. 

Kev.  John  Hooker,  of  Northampton,  was  requested  to  supply 
the  township  with  a  preacher  four  days. 

The  first  tneeting  within  the  town  was  called  by  Charles 
Prescott  and  John  Cummings,  committee,  to  meet  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Stephen  "Warner  on  AVednesday,  the  19th  of  June, 
1771. 

Levi  Kingman  states  that  the  house  of  Stephen  AVarner  was 
near  the  present  sheep-barn  of  Andrew  Brewster,  southwest 
of  Fordyce  Packard's. 

June  19,  1771,  the  first  proprietors'  meeting  was  held  in 
Cummington. 

Chose  Daniel  Reed  Moderator ;  William  Ward,  Proprietors'  Clerk ;  Mr.  Peter 
Harwood,  Timotliy  Moore,  William  Ward,  Assessors  ;  John  Holbrook,  Collector ; 
Peter  Harwood,  Treasurer;  Committee  to  lay  out  Undivided  Land,  Peter  Har- 
wood, William  Ward,  Timothy  Moore,  Nathan  Harwood,  and  Jacob  Melvin. 
Voted  six  shillings  upon  aaxXx  right,  to  pay  for  preaching.  Committee  to  pitch 
upon  a  meeting-house  spot,  Daniel  Reed,  Stephen  Farr,  and  William  Ward. 

July  19,  1771. — Proprietois'  meeting  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Fan-,  inn- 
holder,  in  said  Townsl)ii>  No.5,  Mr.Stephen  Farr,  moderator.  Voted  that  Deacon 
Barrett  shall  have  the  ])rivilege  to  lay  his  undivided  land  adjoining  to  his  num- 
ber 20,  in  the  second  division,  if  he  will  build  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill  within 
six  months. 

Aug.  21, 1771. — Mr.  John  Holbrook  was  appointed  a  committee  to  hire  preach- 
ing as  he  shall  receive  instnictions  from  time  to  time.  Voted  to  accept  of  com- 
mittee's report  upon  this  site  for  a  meeting-house,  viz.:  on  tlie  Widow  Merick's 
lot,  No.  71.     Ciipt.  Joseph  Warren  w;is  moderator. 

Aug.  21,  1771.— Pioiirietors  voted  that  Justus  Dwight  be  a  surveyor  to  lay  out 
undivided  land. 

Sept.  28,  1772. — Mr.  John  Reed,  Moderator.  Capt.  Dwight,  Deacon  Tiipper, 
Gideon  Clark  were  appointed  to  pitch  upon  a  site  for  the  meeting-house.  Joseph 
Ford,  Timothy  Moore,  Isaac  Benjamin  appointed  a  committee  to  pitch  upon  the 
public  tots. 

Oct.  20, 1772.— Voted  to  ordain  Mr.  Jesse  Reed,  Nov.  25th,  at  the  dwelling- 
house  of  Mr.  Tirujthy  Mjore.  Voted  that  Wm.  Want  shall  make  prejiaratiou 
for  the  council. 

Nov.  19,  1773. — Voted  to  petition  the  General  Court  for  incorporation. 

May  2.'i,  1774. — Propriet<ii-s  met  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Mttore.  Voted 
that  Doctors  Fay,  Mick,  and  Bradish  have  the  privilege  of  setting  up  a  hospital 
in  said  township,  for  the  inoculation  of  the  small-pox,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Lieut.  Joseph  Warner's  lot,  for  the  space  of  one  year  from  the  date  hereof. 

This  was  on  the  present  farm  of  Franklin  AVarner,  accord- 
ing to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Joy. 

Proprietors'  meetings  sometimes  assembled  at  the  house  of 
Ensign  Harwood. 

Ebenezer  Snell  and  Asa  Hatch  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  get  the  town  incorporated.  A  proposition  to  set  off  the  west 
part  of  the  town  to  Gageborough  was  favorably  acted  upon 
Sept.  3,  1778.  A'oted  Sept.  14,  1778,  that  Lieut.  Jared  Smith 
go  to  the  General  Court  to  get  the  town  incorporated. 

It  is  evident  that  the  town  was  largely  settled  between  1762 
and  1771.  The  order  in  which  each  family  moved  cannot  l)e 
determined.  The  men  appointed  on  committee  by  the  propri- 
etors' meetings  at  Concord  may  very  likely  have  been  the 
first  settlers.  It  is  said  that  Jacob  Melvin  became  a  settler  in 
1766,  and  that  there  were  then  but  seven  families  in  town; 
that  all  the  men  from  these  seven  families  assembled,  cleared 
a  house-spot,  and  erected  a  log  house  for  Mr.  Melvin,  and  that 
he  moved  into  it  the  same  day.  It  is  probable  that  Stephen 
Farr,  Joseph  Farr,  Samuel  Brewer,  Thomas  Barrett,  Tilly 
Merick,  Stephen  Hayward,  Charles  Prescott  were  these  .seven 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


441 


f;imilies  ;  that  Daniel  Reed,  William  AVard,  Peter  Harwdud, 
Timothy  Moore,  Nathan  Harwciod,  with  others,  located  during 
the  next  three  or  four  years.  The  majority  of  the  proprietors 
were  evidently  in  Concord,  or  that  vicinity,  until  1770  or  about 
that  time;  but  in  the  spring  of  1771  they  were  so  largely 
settled  here  that  future  meetings  of  the  proprietors  were  held 
within  the  township. 

As  another  theory  of  first  settlement  we  add  that  a  recent 
writer  in  the  Gazette,  in  an  article  upon  the  late  Ebenezer 
Shaw,  claims  that  his  old  place  was  the  site  of  the  first  settle- 
ment,— the  Deacon  Bigelow  farm. 

The  tirst  frame  building  is  said  to  have  been  erected  on  the 
present  place  of  Alanson  Keed,  by  John  Tower.  It  had  no 
floor. 

PHYSICIANS. 

In  1774,  as  noted  elsewhere,  Dr.  Bradisli,  Dr.  Mick,  and  Dr. 
Fay  were  autliorized  to  open  a  small-po.x  hospital.  Of  these 
the  name  of  Dr.  Bradish  is  familiar  in  all  the  early  annals  of 
Cummington.  He  practiced  for  many  years,  leaving  town, 
however,  before  he  died.  Dr.  Peter  Bryant  came  to  this  town 
considerably  later  than  Dr.  Bradish,  and  entered  upon  an  ex- 
tensive practice.  He  was  widely  consulted  in  other  towns. 
Several  students  for  the  same  profession  studied  in  his  office, 
and  became  distinguished  practitioners.  In  the  Hampshire 
Gazette  appears  the  following:  "Sept.  12,  1794. — Dr.  Peter 
Bryant  advertises  that  having  provided  a  hospital  and  other 
suitable  accommodations  for  inoculation,  any  person  wishing 
to  take  the  sinalt-pox  will  he  attended  to."  Dr.  Shaw  was  in 
partnership  with  Dr.  Brj'ant,  and  afterward  moved  to  Plain- 
field.  Dr.  Howland  Dawes  was  contemporary  with  Dr.  Bry- 
ant, beginning  to  practice  perhaps  as  early  as  1780,  and  con- 
tinuing through  life  in  this  town.  Dr.  Kobert  Robinson 
practiced  from  181o,  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  moved  to  North 
Adams.  Dr.  Clark  succeeded  Robinson,  and  practiced  for 
several  years,  down  to  18.34,  then  sold  his  place  and  practice 
to  Dr.  Royal  Joy.  Dr.  Joy  was  born  in  this  town  ;  studied 
with  Dr.  Peter  Bryant,  who  was  then  in  partnership  with 
Dr.  Shaw.  When  the  partnership  was  dissolved  and  Dr. 
Shaw  removed  to  Plainfield,  Mr.  .Joy  studied  with  him  at 
his  office  in  that  town;  received  his  diploma  in  1822;  prac- 
ticed in  Phiinfield  four  years.  West  Cummington  eight  years, 
before  settling  at  Cummington  village.  He  is  still  living, 
and  has  furnished  many  items  of  valuable  information  for 
this  work.  At  West  Cummizigton  was  Dr.  Tobey,  1840 
to  1845;  Dr.  Richards  also  at  West  Cummington  and  at 
Cummington  village,  removing  later  in  life  to  Bridgewater. 
Dr.  Barton  was  also  at  West  Cummington  three  or  four 
years,  afterward  of  Worthington,  and  later  of  Hatfield.  Dr. 
Stedman  was  in  town  a  few  years,  1850  to  1860.  1800  to 
1865  Dr.  Bemus  was  also  here,  and  removed  to  Iowa.  The 
present  physician  is  Dr.  Kimball,  who  has  been  in  prac- 
tice here  but  a  short  time,  and  is  now  the  sole  physician  of 
Cummington.  Dr.  .Joy  remarks  that  at  times  Cummington 
hivs  been  "  crowded  with  doctors,"  three  or  four  attempting 
to  do  business  at  the  same  time.  Dr.  Thomas  Giltillan  was 
the  practicing  pliysician  here  from  1856  or  about  that  time 
down  to  1874-75.  With  his  brother,  James  Gilfillan,  now  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  Washington,  D.  C,  he  had  fought  his 
way  up  from  the  ranks  almost  of  poverty  to  a  thorough  edu- 
cation and  to  distinguished  prominence. 

LAWYERS. 

Cummington  has  never  been  a  favorite  place  for  lawyers 
to  .settle  in.  Lawyer  Cushman  is  spoken  of  as  having  resided 
on  "the  Hill,"  in  a  house  still  standing,  and  as  having  quite 
an  extensive  legal  practice. 

TAVERN.S. 

A  very  early  tavern  was  the  one  opened  by  Wm.  Mitchell 
on  the  present   place  of  Charles   Streeter.      Town-meetings 
56 


wen'  held  there  a  part  of  the  time  until  the  meeting-house  of 
1781  was  finished  enough  for  that  purpose.  The  tavern  of 
Adam  Packard,  on  the  present  Mason  place  in  the  Bryant 
neighborhood,  was  opened  in  1785.  The  sign  was  a  handsome 
alfair  in  its  day,  swung  in  a  neat  frame,  with  the  picture  of  a 
vessel  in  full  sail,  bearing  the  words  "  Entertainment  by  A. 
Packard,  1785."  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  granddaugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Pcttengill,  of  the  Esist  village.  Earlier  than  either 
of  these  was  the  tavern  of  Joseph  Farr,  who  is  described  as  an 
innholder  July  19,  1771,  located  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
town,  probably  the  tirst  inn,  and  very  likely  the  tirst  house. 
On  the  main  road,  through  the  north  part  of  the  town,  were 
two  other  taverns  besides  that  of  Wm.  Mitchell.  The  second 
one  from  the  east  was  kept  by  Asa  Streeter,  on  the  present 
place  of  H.  S.  Streeter.  Then  there  was  the  Lazell  tavern, 
on  what  is  still  known  as  the  Lazell  farm.  These  were  all 
very  early  houses  of  entertainment.     Others  followed. 

The  more  modern  taverns  are  the  following :  A  tavern  was 
kept  by  Seth  Williams  at  the  lower  end  of  the  village  near 
the  present  Bobbins  place.  This  was  1812  to  1815.  It  was 
continued  by  Sawyer,  and  was  afterward  burned  with  the  store. 
Levi  Kingman,  in  1817,  came  to  Cummington.  In  1821  he 
opened  a  tavern  nearly  opposite  the  place  where  he  now  lives. 
The  large  building  erected  by  him,  with  the  elm-tree  near  it, 
was  a  familiar  place  to  citizens  and  travelers  for  a  dozen  years 
or  more.  The  Union  House,  now  kept  by  Charles  M.  Bab- 
bitt, was  erected  in  1846  by  Wm.  White,  and  used  as  a  dwell- 
ing-house for  several  years;  afterward  opened  as  a  tavern,  and 
been  continued  by  various  proprietors  to  the  present  time. 
John  Ford  kept  a  tavern  at  "Lightning-Bug."  At  West 
Cummington  the  tavern  now  kei)t  hy  Ebenezer  Hunt  was 
opened  in  1840  by  Elisha  Mitchell  and  Wm.  Hubbard.  Mr. 
Albro  also  kept  tavern  there. 

STORES. 

Jo.seph  Lazell  was  an  eai-ly  merchant,  1770  to  1800.  His 
store  was  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  The  place  is  now 
owned  by  Clark  Streeter,  and  occupied  by  a  tenant.  Allen 
Miner  succeeded  him.  Otis  &  Fobes  had  a  store  near  Lazell. 
Mr.  Otis  also  had  a  distillery,  for  the  manufacture  of  whisky 
from  potatoes,  a  mile  or  so  from  the  store  near  the  river.  A 
bridge  is  still  known  by  his  name  at  that  place.  The  Lazell 
neighborhood  lost  its  business  partly  by  the  setting  oti'  of 
Plaintield  and  the  tendency  of  trade  to  seek  the  centre  of  a 
township.  On  "Cummington  Hill,"  opposite  the  old  meet- 
ing-house, Roswell  Hubbiird  was  the  first  merchant,  perhaps 
before  1800.  The  cellar  of  this  early  store  is  still  visible,  and 
the  present  quie.tude  of  the  place  presents  a  strong  contrast 
with  the  busy  times  of  old,  when  the  town  came  up  to  these 
heights  not  only  for  their  theologj',  but  for  their  dry-goods, 
groceries,  rum,  and  codfish.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  followed  by 
Elisha  Mitchell,  by  Col.  Swan,  and  by  Robert  Dawes.  Elisha 
Mitchell  went  to  West  Cummington,  1822  or  1823,  and  opened 
a  store  there;  established  a  large  and  profitable  trade,  continu- 
ing business  for  many  years.  At  the  East  village  was  the 
early  store  of  Robert  Dawes  &  Co.  Levi  Kingman  soon  after 
came  there,  and  succeeded  to  the  business.  Oak  Shaw  opened 
a  store  in  connection  with  his  shoe  business  where  the  present 
post-office  is  kept.  Francis  Bates  followed  him.  John  Albro, 
Luther  M.  Packard,  and  Franklin  R.  Joy  have  been  subse- 
quent proprietors.  From  the  latter  it  passed  to  the  present 
merchant,  D.  W.  Lovell.  N.  F.  Orcutt  commenced  trading 
in  1844,  opening  first  in  the  building  of  Levi  Kingman.  In 
1846,  Mr.  Orcutt  erected  his  present  buildings  and  moved  his 
goods  to  them.  He  has  been  in  business  there  ever  since, — 
nearly  thirty-five  years  in  all.  During  the  war  L.  J.  Orcutt 
opened  a  store  across  the  river,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  village. 
Darwin  Lyman  succeeded  him,  and  is  the  present  merchant  at 
that  point.  In  this  village  is  the  fur  business  of  Austin  Shaw, 
— gloves,  caps,  robes,  etc. 


442 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


FAMILY    NOTES. 
A  few  notes  upon  the  families  of  the  pioneers  are  added. 
Many  names  have  so  entirely  disappeared  from  the  town  that 
little  or  nothing  can  be  obtained  in  Cummington  concerning 
them. 

Wm.  Mitchell  came  from  Bridgewater.  He  settled  on 
what  is  now  the  place  of  Charles  C.  Streeter.  He  kept  a 
public-house,  and  some  of  the  early  town-meetings  were  held 
there.  Of  his  children,  Gushing  went  to  sea,  and  afterward 
lived  in  Dalton.  Pyam  settled  in  Cummington,  and  later  in 
life  moved  to  Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y.  William,  Chester,  Elisha, 
and  Bela  settled  in  Cummington,  the  latter  on  the  old  home- 
stead. Daughters  were  Mrs.  Elisha  Warner,  Mrs.  Seth  Porter, 
Mrs.  Stephen  Warner,  Mrs.  Tileston,  Boston ;  Mrs.  Ro.swell 
Hubbard,  Mrs.  Chester  Gaylord,  Hadley. 

liieut.  Nathan  Orcutt  was  from  Bridgewater.  His  home- 
stead here  was  the  place  now  owned  by  a  grandson,  Wm.  W. 
Orcutt.  Of  his  children,  Sally  became  Mrs.  Pyam  Mitchell  ; 
Joseph,  Nathan,  and  John  settled  in  Cummington  ;  Eunice 
became  Mrs.  Darius  Ford  ;  Huldah,  Mrs.  James  Dawes.  These 
two  moved  to  Ohio. 

Solomon  Shaw,  from  Abingdon,  settled  on  the  place  now 
owned  by  his  grandson,  Wm.  H.  Shaw  (the  latter  being  one 
of  ten  sons,  three  of  whom  were  in  the  Union  army  during 
the  late  war).  Of  the  children  of  Solomon  Shaw,  John  set- 
tled in  Worthington,  Nathan  in  Stockbridge,  Solomon  on  the 
old  homestead.  Daughters  were  Mrs.  James  W.  Briggs,  Mrs. 
Seth  Reed,  Mrs.  Jason  Burnell,  and  Mrs,  Nathan  Orcutt. 

William  Ward,  first  proprietors'  clerk  in  the  township,  was 
from  Worcester  County.  His  pioneer  home  was  on  the  farm 
well  known  in  late  years  as  the  Porter  place.  Of  his  children, 
Trowbridge  settled  in  Worthington;  Levi,  a  physician,  in 
New  York  City ;  William,  in  Worthington,  a  long-time 
merchant  and  prominent  in  county  atl'airs ;  Artemas  went 
West ;  Elizabeth  became  Mrs.  Wm.  Mitchell.  A  grandson, 
Daniel  Ward,  resides  in  Worthington. 

Jacob  Jlelvin's  homestead  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
present  place  of  Hiram  Steele.  His  sons  went  to  New  York 
City.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Knapp,  of  Cummington.  Fordyce 
Knapp,  a  grandson  of  Mr.  Melvin,  resides  in  town. 

Ens.  Abel  Packard  came  from  Bridgewater,  1774.  His 
homestead  was  near  the  present  Cummington  village,  on  the 
way  up  the  "Hill,"  where  a  butternut-tree  is  now  growing 
from  the  old  cellar.  Of  his  children,  Eliphalet  settled  in 
Cummington,  well  known  for  a  long  series  of  years  as  a 
magistrate,  a  pension  agent,  and  in  similar  capacities.  The- 
ophilus  and  Chester  first  settled  in  Cummington,  and  later  in 
life  went  West.  One  daughter  was  Mrs.  Nehemiah  Richards. 
Nehemiah  Richards  settled  where  Francis  Ford  now  lives. 
Of  his  children,  Daniel  was  a  noted  teacher ;  Nehemiah, 
Rectus,  Dares,  Orestes  settled  in  Cummington ;  Solon  went 
West ;  Lysander  to  Quincy,  Mass.  Daughters  were  Mrs. 
Grimes,  Mrs.  Chester  Mitchell,  Mrs.  John  Orcutt.  A  brother 
of  Nehemiah,  Sr.,  settled  in  Plainfield. 

Ebenezer  Snell.  His  homestead  was  what  is  known  as  the 
Upper  Bryant  place.  The  site  of  the  first  log  house  is  pointed 
out  not  far  from  the  present  barns.  Of  his  children,  Ebenezer, 
Jr.,  settled  in  Cummington.  Thomas  was  the  distinguished 
divine,  and  Sarah,  Mrs.  Peter  Bryant. 

Samuel  Thompson  was  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  State ; 
settled  in  Cummington  on  the  well-known  Thompson  farm, 
west  part  of  the  town.  He  had  been  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, a  prisoner  in  the  old  receiving-hulk  at  Boston,  where  so 
many  suffocated  or  starved  to  death.  He  barely  escaped  with 
his  life.  Of  his  children,  William  settled  on  the  old  home- 
stead,— father  of  Airs.  Babbitt,  of  Cummington  village  ;  Jacob 
settled  in  Windsor,  Samuel  in  Savoy,  Joseph  in  Boston.  One 
daughter,  Mrs.  Je.sse  Mason,  of  Cummington. 

Adam  Packard  came  with  his  brother  Abel  in  1774,  and 
opened  a  public-house  on  the  present  Mason  place  in  1785. 


Of  his  children,  William  settled  on  the  old  homestead ;  town 
treasurer  forty-four  years.  Philo  also  on  the  old  place.  Abel 
went  to  Connecticut.  Daughters  were  Mrs.  Jacob  Whit- 
marsh,  Mrs.  Huntington  Porter,  and  Ruby,  died  unmarried. 
The  children  of  Mr.  Otis,  the  early  merchant,  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town,  went  West.  Augustus  became  a  prominent 
merchant  of  Cleveland,  O.  ;  Chandler,  a  lawyer  of  the  same 
city  ;  Francis,  a  physician  at  the  West ;  Harrison  and  Lennius 
also  went  West. 

Dr.  Peter  Bryant  came  to  Cummington,  and  settled  after 
two  or  three  years  on  what  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the 
Bryant  place,  now  the  residence  of  Francis  Dawes.  Of  his 
children,  Austin  settled  in  Princeton,  111.  ;  Wm.  CuUen  was 
the  distinguished  editor  and  poet ;  Cyrus  settled  in  Princeton  ; 
Arthur  in  Princeton ;  and  John,  after  residing  many  years 
on  the  old  homestead,  also  removed  to  Princeton.  Of  the 
daughters,  Sarah  married  Dr.  Samuel  Shaw,  and  Louisa  mar- 
ried at  the  West. 

Tilly  Merick  was  one  of  the  original  committee  to  lay  out 
lots,  in  1762.  It  is  believed  that  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  to 
settle  in  town.  He  drew  lot  No.  71.  He  died  in  a  few  years,— 
at  least,  this  is  inferred  from  a  proposition  made  in  the  meeting 
of  July  19,  1771,  to  set  the  meeting-house  on  "  the  widow  Mer- 
ick's  lot,  No.  71." 

Adam  Porter,  the  first  town  treasurer,  1779.  His  home- 
stead was  west  of  Packard's,  between  that  and  the  Bryant 
place.  He  had  one  son,  Gannett  Porter,  named  from  his  wife's 
family. 

Samuel  Dawes  was  from  Abingdon.  His  pioneer  homestead 
was  the  present  Hiram  Knapp  place.  Of  his  children,  Eben- 
ezer was  a  minister,  preached  in  Scituate ;  Samuel  and  John 
settled  in  Windsor ;  Daniel  and  Mitchell  in  Cummington ; 
Howland  was  the  noted  physician.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Hatch 
Noyes.  Hon.  Henry  L.  Dawes,  Senator,  is  a  son  of  Mitchell. 
Nehemiah  Joy  was  from  Weymouth  ;  had  been  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolution  five  years.  Soon  after  the  war  came  to  Cum- 
mington ;  settled  on  a  farm  now  the  property  of  L.  J.  Orcutt. 
The  old  dwelling  is  now  a  tenant  house.  Of  his  children, 
Lovina  became  Mrs.  Israel  Williams,  of  Ashfield ;  Noah 
settled  in  Ashfield;  Royal,  a  physician,  settled  in  Cum- 
mington. 

Stephen  Warner  was  an  early  pioneer.  The  first  proprietors' 
meeting  in  this  town  was  held  at  his  place,  1771,  June  19th. 
This  was  on  the  old  road  from  Fordyce  Packard's  to  Hiram 
Steele's.  He  had  several  children,  and  the  whole  family  re- 
moved to  Ohio  about  1830. 

Isaac  Kingman,  of  Bridgewater,  came  to  Goshen,  near  the 
Cummington  line,  soon  after  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and 
settled  on  what  is  well  known  as  the  Shaw  place.  Of  his  chil- 
dren, Jemima  married  Asa  Bates,  Cummington  ;  Isaac  settled 
in  Cummington  ;  Parthena  married  Seth  Ford,  of  Cumming- 
ton ;  Reuben  settled  on  the  old  homestead ;  another  daughter 
was  Mrs.  Lewis  Thayer,  who  moved  to  Ohio  ;  Levi  Kingman 
is  another  son,  now  living  in  Cummington,  where  for  many 
years  he  was  widely  known  as  a  merchant,  tavern-keeper,  and 
in  general  business.  His  sight  failing,  he  retired  several  years 
since.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for  many  valuable  facts  con- 
cerning the  town  and  the  village. 

Samuel  Brewer  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  first 
settler.  He  drew  No.  63  and  No.  22.  He  also  bought  of 
Joseph  Bridge,  apparently  after  the  drawing,  No.  55.  This 
may  indicate  that  he  had  previously  settled,  as  some  suppose, 
and  bought  another  man's  drawn  lot  to  secure  a  homestead  he 
hud  already  entered  upon.  His  actual  settlement,  as  to  both 
time  and  place,  is  involved  in  some  uncertainty,  for  he  had  in 
his  possession  three  different  lots,  as  shown  by  the  drawing. 

Deacon  Barnabas  Packard,  moderator  of  the  first  town- 
meeting,  Dec.  20,  1779,  settled  on  the  homestead  now  occupied 
by  his  grandson,  Fordyce  Packard.  Of  his  sons,  Barnabas 
settled  in  Plainfield,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  Wm.  Henry 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


443 


Packard,  clerk  of  West  Cummington  Church  ;  Philander  was 
the  father  o{  Fordyce  Packard.  There  was  another  son,  Car- 
pus, and  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Gloyd. 

Peter  Tower  was  from  Hingham,  and  settled  first  at  the  Four 
Corners,  east  of  the  Bryant  place,  and,  later,  farther  west.  He 
had  been  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  was  engaged  in  guard- 
ing the  military  stores  at  Boston  during  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  Mrs.  Tower  used  to  relate  to  some  still  living  the  stories 
of  early  settlement,  its  dangers  and  hardships ;  that  she  used 
to  carry  lighted  brands  to  frighten  away  bears  in  going  to  a 
neighbor's  in  the  evening.  Of  the  children  of  Peter  Tower, 
Nathaniel  settled  in  Cummington,  on  the  present  place  of 
Kuny  Bartlett ;  Peter  died  young  ;  Ambrose  settled  in  Cum- 
mington (grandfather  of  Mrs.  Wm.  Henry  Packard,  of  West 
Cummington);  Warren  died  in  Cummington.  Daughters 
were  Mrs.  Jonathan  Miner,  of  Windsor  ;  Mrs.  Seth  Torrey,  of 
Cummington  ;  Mrs.  Stephen  Bartlett,  of  Worthington. 

Edward  Bartlett  settled  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  town ; 
house  gone  ;  place  now  owned  by  Luther  Tower.  Of  his 
children,  Edward  settled  in  Worthington  ;  Ephraim,  in  Cum- 
mington ;  Stephen,  in  Worthington  ;  Luther,  in  Cummington  ; 
and  Calvin  in  Ohio.  Daughters  were  Mrs.  Ames,  Easton ; 
Mrs.  Bird,  Stoughton  ;  Mrs.  Stephen  Tower,  Cummington  ; 
Mrs.  Edward  Tillson,  Worthington  ;  Mrs.  Peter  Bates,  Ohio  ; 
Mrs.  Ambrose  Tower,  Mrs.  Morse,  of  Ohio,  whose  first  hus- 
band was  Peter  Tower.  Kuny  Bartlett,  now  living  in  town, 
is  a  son  of  Edward,  Jr. 

Nathaniel  Tower  was  an  early  settler  of  Goshen  ;  had  been 
in  tlie  Kovolutionary  war.  His  wife,  Leah,  lived  to  be  one 
hundred  and  one  years  old,  and  used  to  relate  that  she  carried 
water  for  soldiers  to  drink  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Of 
the  children  of  Nathaniel,  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  settled  in  Goshen; 
Warren,  in  Cummington  (father  of  Lorenzo  N.  Tower,  of  the 
Bryant  Library) ;  Amanda  became  Mrs.  Runy  Bartlett. 

Jacob  Allen  came  to  Cummington  in  1784,  from  Bridge- 
water.     Jacob  Gannett,  1785  to  1790,  from  Bridgewater. 

Dr.  James  Bradish,  physician.  His  homestead  was  the 
present  place  of  Otis  Bartlett.  One  of  the  sons  of  Dr. 
Bradish  wivs  Luther,  afterward  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York. 

Col.  John  Bradish.  His  homestead  the  present  farm  of 
Edwin  Knapp.  Mr.  Stevens  was  an  early  settler,  and  it  was 
voted  to  hold  meetings  at  his  house  in  1773. 

Charles  Prescott.  His  name  is  frequent  in  the  early  ar- 
rangements of  the  proprietors,  and  it  seems  probable  from  the 
records  that  he  built  one  or  two  mills ;  but  his  name  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  records  of  the  proprietors  or  those  of  the 
town  later  than  1771,  and  very  likely  he  removed  frorii  town 
early,  even  if  he  came  here.  The  family  name  is  not  among 
the  traditions  of  the  old  people  now  living. 

Asa  Hatch  was  on  the  committee  to  secure  incorporation, 
1778,  and  was  an  early  settler.  Peter  Harwood  and  Nathan 
Harwood  were  both  appointed  to  offices  and  on  committees, 
1771,  and  afterward.  It  is  concluded,  from  the  present  resi- 
dence of  families  of  the  same  name,  that  these  pioneers  resided 
within  the  limits  of  what  is  now  Windsor. 

Timothy  Moore  was  chosen  assessor  at  the  first  meeting  of 
the  proprietors  in  town,  and  meetings  were  sometimes  held  at 
his  house.  William  W.  Mitchell  states  that,  on  examination 
of  the  old  Hampshire  records  at  Springfield,  relating  to  real 
estate  in  No.  5,  he  found  the  earliest  deed  to  be  from  Barnabas 
Packard  to  Timothy  Moore,  Aug.  30,  1774,  lots  Nos.  41  and 
44,  price  $'iOO. 

Rev.  James  Briggs  resided  at  the  present  place  of  Daniel 
Dawes.  Of  his  children,  James  W.  settled  in  Cummington, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  deacons  of  the  West  Cunuiiington 
Church  ;  Clara  died  unmarried  ;  and  one  daughter  married 
and  moved  away. 

Lieut.  Jared  Smith  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  General 
Court  Sept.  14,  1778,  to  secure  the  incorporation.     He  was  a 


man  of  influence,  and  enjoyed  the  public  confidence.  Stephen 
Shaw  was  a  town  otficer  at  the  first  town-meeting.  Isaac 
Lazell,  Edmund  Lazell,  Joseph  Lazell.  The  first  was  the 
father,  who  only  came  to  Cummington  in  his  old  age,  and 
died  among  his  children.  Capt.  Edmund  had  two  sons, — one 
Edmund,  Jr.,  the  other,  Martin,  a  college  graduate.  Joseph 
Lazell,  the  early  merchant,  and  Isaac,  were  probably  brothers 
of  Edmund,  Sr.,  though  the  name  of  Joseph  does  not  appear 
to  be  so  included  in  the  Family  Register  given  in  the  History 
of  Bridgewater. 

Seth  Porter,  south  part  of  the  town.  A  son  was  Jacob 
Porter,  the  well-known  physician  and  historian  of  Plainfield. 
Daniel  Reed  was  an  early  and  prominent  settler,  as  shown  by 
the  records.  Moderator  of  the  first  proprietors'  meeting,  1771. 
His  homestead  is  supposed  to  be  the  present  Clark  Reed  place. 

Obed  Shaw,  homestead  the  present  place  of  L.  J.  Orcutt, 
where  he  kept  tavern  at  a  very  early  day,  many  years  anterior 
to  Seth  Williams.  He  had  one  son,  Leonard  Shaw,  who  set- 
tled near  him.  John  Holbrook,  chosen  collector  at  first  pro- 
prietors' meeting,  1771.  Capt.  Joseph  Warner,  moderator  of 
proprietors'  meeting,  July  19,  1771  ;  homestead  on  the  present 
place  of  Franklin  Warner,  his  grandson.  Beriah  Shaw, 
brother  of  Obed  Abingdon  ;  homestead  the  present  place  of 
Marshall  Jenkins.  Children :  Beriah,  Jr.,  father  of  Austin 
Shaw,  of  Cummington  village,  and  Mrs.  Joshua  Hamlin ; 
others  died  young. 

Joseph  Farr  was  an  innholder  in  1771,  being,  most  probably, 
the  first  landlord  in  town.  It  was  the  place  of  John  Fergu- 
son, now  occupied  by  John  Sylvester.  Stephen  Farr  was  also 
in  town  at  the  same  date.  lu  the  western  part  of  the  town 
Mrs.  Mason  recalls  the  name  of  Jacob  Farr.  He  had  a  son, 
Ansil,  and  two  sons  of  the  latter  were  Benjamin  and  Eldredge, 
both  of  whom  went  West. 

The  inn  of  Joseph  Farr  (1771)  was  situated  on  an  old 
through  route,  of  one  hundred  years  ago  or  more,  from  North- 
ampton to  Berkshire  County,  winding  into  this  town  for  only 
a  mile  or  two.  This  gives  more  force  to  the  suggestion  that 
the  Farrs  were  the  first  settlers.  It  is  a  theory  worthy  of 
credit  that  the  first  access  to  this  town  was  over  this  old  road, 
and  that  Farr's  inn,  a  stopping-place  on  this  road,  was  the 
first  house  built  in  Cummington.  As  to  other  names  among 
the  first  settlers,  considerable  inquiry  fails  to  ascertain  much 
of  Joseph  Ford  (1772),  Isaac  Benjamin  (1772),  Thomas  Bar- 
rett (1762),  David  Leonard  (1779),  Deacon  Tupper  (1772), 
Mr.  Gannett,  Nathan  Snow,  from  Abingdon,  and  some  others. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  "government  of  the  proprietors"  had  evidently  suc- 
ceeded very  well  in  settling  the  township  and  in  providing 
for  many  of  the  exigencies  of  frontier  life.  There  had  prob- 
ably been  little  or  no  necessity  for  criminal  law,  and  such 
disputes  as  may  have  arisen  between  neighbors  had  doubtless 
been  settled  by  the  friendly  assistance  of  impartial  friends. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Township  No.  5  was  under  any  local 
civil  jurisdiction  from  its  settlement  to  1779.  No  writers 
speak  of  it  as  a  part  of  any  other  town,  nor  is  there  a  hint  of 
it  in  the  proprietors'  proceedings.  The  town  of  Cummington 
included  Plainfield  when  the  former  was  incorporated,  but 
was  not  apparently  itself  included  in  any  other  during  the 
pioneer  period,  1762  to  1779.  The  act  of  incorporation  is 
dated  June  23,  1779.  The  name  taken  at  its  organization — 
Cummington — was,  of  course,  given  in  honor  of  the  enter- 
prising proprietor.  Col.  John  Cummings,  who  was  evidently 
the  founder  of  the  town,  and  deserved  this  recognition  of  his 
services.  It  does  not  appear  tliat  he  removed  to  this  town 
himself.  His  name  is  appended  to  the  call  for  the  first  pro- 
prietors' meeting  in  the  township,  but  does  not  occur  in  the 
subsequent  proceedings.  We  give  the  warrant  and  the  action 
of  the  several  town-meetings  of  the  first  year  from  the  records ; 


444 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


HAniPSHiBE  Co.,  88.: 

To  Elieiiezer  Suell,  of  Cuniinington,  in  said  county,  greeting:  This  is  to  re- 
quire you,  in  the  name  of  the  government  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  forthwith  to  warn  and  give  notice  to  all  the  male  inhabitants  up- 
ward of  twenty-one  years  of  age  inliabiting  said  town  to  meet  together  at  the 
dwelling-h«iso  of  Ensign  Packard,  in  said  town,  on  Monday,  the  20th  day  of 
Decemher,  iust.,  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  forenoon,  tlien  and  there  to  act  on  the 
following  articles  or  not,  as  fliey  shall  think  proper  : 

1st.  To  clioose  a  moderator. 

2d.  To  choose  a  town  clerk,  t-iwii  treasurer,  and  all  such  town  officers  as  towns 
by  law  arc  directed  to  choose  in  tlie  month  of  March  anniuilly. 

Hereof  fail  not  to  make  return  of  this  warrant  to  the  moderator  of  said  meet- 
ing, that  the  clerk  of  the  town,  when  choseH,  may  put  the  same  on  record,  to- 
gether with  the  doings  thereon,  as  you  would  answer  your  neglect  at  the  peril 
of  the  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Chesterfield,  this  ir»th  day  of  December, 
A.D.  1779. 

Benjamin  Mills,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

A  true  copy. 

Attest:  Wm.Ward,  Toii'h  Clrrk. 

At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Cummington  of  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upward  assembled  at  Ensign  Pack- 
ard, in  said  township,  on  Monday,  the  20th  day  of  December,  1779,  at  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  chose  Deacon  Barnalias  Packard,  Moderator;  Deacon  Barnaluis 
Packard,  Town  Clerk;  Mr.  Adam  Poi-ter,  Town  Treasurer;  Capt.  Wm.  Ward, 
Deat;on  Ebenezxr  Snell,  and  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  Selectmen ;  3Ir.  David  Leonard 
and  Mr.  Eiimomi  Lazell,  Constables  and  Collectore;  Capt.  Daniel  Reid,  Lieut. 
John  Packard,  Lieut.  Wm.  Mitchell,  Samuel  Dawes,  Andrew  Cook,  Isaac  Joy, 
Isaac  Lazell,  John  Bradisli,  Ji.,  Surveyors  of  Highways;  Jacob  Melvin  and 
Caleb  White,  Deer-Reeves;  Lieut.  Packard  and  Lieut.  Warner,  Tythingmen; 
Stephen  Sluiw,  Sealer  of  Weights;  William  Mitchell,  Scaler  of  Leather;  Lieut. 
Colsou,  Sealer  of  Lumber;  Lieut.  Colson,  Lieut.  Packard,  Lieut.  Warner, 
Committee  of  Correspondence. 

Attest:        Wm.  Ward,  Town  Clerl: 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Freelioldere  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Cum- 
mington, legally  assembled  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Ensign  Packard,  the  fjth 
ilay  of  January,  17S0:  1st.  Voted  that  \Vm.  Ward  be  moderator  of  said  meeting. 
2d.  Voted  to  atljourn  this  meeting  till  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  at  ten  of  the 
clock  in  the  forenoon,  at  Ensign  Packard's. 

Januarj'  17th. — IMet  upon  adjournment  at  the  time  and  place.  2d.  A'otcrl  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Briggs  to  be  town's  minister,  3d.  Voted  that  Deacon  Snell,  Lieut. 
Warner,  and  Eheuezer  Dawes  be  a  committee  for  running  the  line  between 
Cummington  and  Windsor.  4th.  Voted  to  allow  Mr.  Jacob  Melvin  eighteen 
pounds  for  building  a  pound.  Also  voted  to  allow  Deacon  Snell  sixty  pounds 
for  entertaining  tiie  Council  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs.  oth. 
Voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  or  as  near  as  any 
convenient  place  may  be  found.  Oth.  Further  saith  not.  7th.  Voted  not  to 
choose  a  committee. 

A  tnie  copy.  Attest:        AVm.  Ward,  Tou-n  Ch-rk. 

The  first  regular  "March  meeting"  assembled  at  the  house 
of  Ens.  Abel  Packard  on  the  6th  day  of  the  month,  1780: 

1st.  Voted  that  Wm.  Ward  be  moderator  of  said  meeting.  2d.  Voted  that 
Wm.  Ward  I>e  Town  Clerk.  Voted  that  Lieut.  Joshua  Shaw,  Deacon  Barnabas 
P;ickard,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Colson  be  Selectmen.  Voted  Mr.  Adam  Porter  be 
Town  Tre;u<urer.  Voted  Lient.  Sanuiel  Noyes,  Lieut.  John  Packard,  and  Mr. 
John  BradLsh,  Jan.,  be  a  Committee  of  Correspondence.  Voted  Tythingmen, 
Lieut.  Stephen  Warner  and  Mr.  Caleb  White.  Voted  John  Bradish,  Jun.,  Ct)n- 
stable;  Highway  Surveyors,  Samuel  Dawes,  Asa  Joy,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  David 
Ceonard,  Ijieut.  Stephen  Wai'ner,  Noah  Rust  (probably),  Abraham  Beals,  John 
Streeter,  and  Andrew  Cook  ;  Surveyoi-s  of  Lumber,  Lieut.  Warner,  Lieut.  Colson ; 
Hog-Uceves,  Wm.  Robbing,  Ensign  Packard,  Ebenezer  Bisbee,  Jr.,  Joshua  Rem- 
ington, Jonathan  Munroe,  George  Acres;  Fence-Viewers,  Deacon  Snell,  Daniel 
Hill ;  Deer-Reeves,  Asa  Dunbar,  Xoah  Packard.  4th.  Voted  to  hire  collectors  to 
gather  taxes.  5th.  Voted  to  notify  town-meetings  for  the  future  by  setting  up 
notifications  at  a  Public-House  on  each  side  of  the  river.  Gth.  Voted  to  mend 
Highways  by  a  rate;  also  voted  to  lay  out  nine  thousand  pounds  this  year  upon 
the  Highways.  Voted  that  the  selectmen  be  a  committee  to  fix  the  price  of  work 
on  the  Highways.  7th.  Voted  that  Hogs  shall  not  go  at  large  the  year  ensuing. 
Votcil  that  .lacob  Gannet  be  Cidlector  for  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  have 
twenty  shillings  upon  the  hundred  pounds  for  collecting ;  Isaac  Joy,  Collector 
for  the  north  side,  and  have  the  same  compensation. 

A  true  copy.  Attest:        Wm.  Ward,  Toini  Clerk. 

At  a  town-mooting  licld  at  {\w.  house  of  Wm.  Miteholl, 
April  20,  1780: 

Voted  that  Deacon  Barnabius  P;ickard  be  moderat^u'  of  said  meeting.  Voted 
to  build  a  meeting-house  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  or  the  nearest  convenient 
jdace  thereto.  Voted  not  to  raise  any  money  to  build  said  house.  Voted  to  di- 
vide the  tjwn  into  two  precincts.  Also  voted  that  this  bo  an  article  iu  the  next 
wairaut,  to  divide  by  the  river  if  they  see  fit.  Voted  five  town-meetings  on  tlie 
south  side  of  the  river,  to  four  on  the  north.  Voted  to  choose  a  committee  to 
settle  with  Mr.  Briggs  for  his  last  year's  salary.  Committee :  Wm.  Ward,  Lieut. 
Shaw,  and  Lieut  Packard.  Voted  the  selectmen  be  a  committee  to  settle  the 
boundary  of  the  ^(wn  agreeably  to  the  order  <if  the  court  in  our  incorporation. 

April  2:t,  17H0. — A  purpose  of  nuirriage  between  Mr.  Noah  Benson  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Murray,  maile  public,  aa  the  law  directs. 


At  a  town-meeting,  May  22, 1780,  at  the  house  of  Ens.  Abel  Packard.  Voted 
tliat  Wm.  Ward  represent  said  town  in  the  Great  and  General  Court,  to  be  begun 
and  held  at  Boston  the  31st  day  of  May,  1780. 

Two  o'clock  P.M.,  same  day,  Deacon  Ebenezer  Snell.  moderator.  Voted  to 
choose  a  amimittee  to  make  remarks  upon  the  Constitution.  Capt.  Warner, 
Jr.,  Wm.  Ward,  Lieut.  Colson,  Lieut.  Shaw,  Ens.  Packard,  Deacon  Snell,  were 
chosen. 

The  record  does  not  .show  whether  they  did  '•  make  remark.s" 
or  not. 

Voted  that  Westfield  River  be  a  division  line  between  Parishes  in  Cumming- 
ton. Voted  that  Benjamin  Briggs'  salary  for  the  first  year  begin  Feb.  15, 1779. 
Voted  that  the  preaching  this  summer  be  five  Sabbaths  on  the  south  to  four  on 
the  north  side  of  the  river,  beginning  on  the  north  next  Sabbath  day. 

At  a  legiil  meeting  held  to  receive  votes  for  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Counselloi-s,  and  Senators,  Sept.  4,  1780,  at  the  house  of  Ens.  Abel  Packard,  for 
Gtjvernor,  John  Hancock  had  43  votes;  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  Artemas  Ward 
had  27  votes,  James  Bowdoin  had  6  votes ;  no  votes  for  the  other  officers. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Wm.  Mitchell,  Oct.  16,  1780,  voted  that 
Wm.  Ward  represent  said  town  in  the  Great  and  General  Court  the  year  ensuing. 

March  2.3, 1781. — Voted  tliat  Lieut.  Stephen  Warner  attend  a  convention  to  be 
holden  at  Hatfield  the  27th  of  this  month. 

One  item  of  the  warrant  for  the  March  meeting  of  1784  was, 
''To  see  if  the  town  will  build  a  bridge  over   the  Westfield 
■\i  River  near  the  forge."     The   town,  however,  refused  at  that 
^  time.     Shaw's  mill  is  mentioned  in  describing  roads,  March 
1  9,  1789;  also  Keed's  asherv  is  mentioned  about  the  same  time. 
V  Robert  Dawes'  mill  is  mentioned  under  date  of  March  7,  179f>. 
As  late  as  1840  it  was  deemed  necessary  "  to  make  provision 
for  inoculating  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  with  the  cow-pox." 
The   first   town-meeting   (Dec.   20,   1779)   was  held  at  the 
dwelling-house  of  Ens.   Packard.      April  20,    1780,   a   meet- 
ing was  held  at  the  house  of  William  Mitchell.     On  the  com- 
pletion of  the  meeting-house,  in  the  fall  of  1782,  town-meet- 
ings  were  held  there  and   in  its   successor  down  to  1840,  or 
later.    They  were  then  held  a  few  years  at  the  Academy  Hall. 
June  2G,  1848,  the  town-meeting  was  held  at  the  Baptist  meet- 
ing-bouse, and  they  were  continued  there  until  1873,  when 
they  were  changed  to  the  hall  of  the  new  school-building,  and 
are  now  held  there. 

SELECTMEN. 

1771*. — William  Ward,  Joshua  Shaw,  Ebenezer  Snell. 
1780. — Joshua  Shaw,  Barnabas  Pacdiard,  Ebenezer  Colson. 
1781. — Joshua  Shaw,  Bai-nabas  Packard,  Ebenezer  Colson. 
1782. — William  Ward,  Joseph  Shaw,  Benjamin  Packard. 
1783. — Ebenezer  Colson,  William  Ward,  Benjamin  Packard. 
1784. — Joshua  Shaw,  Adam  Porter,  Ebenezer  Snell. 
1785. — Barnabas  Packard,  Stephen  Wai'uer,  Abi.iah  Whittcui. 
178tj. — John  Bradish,  Abel  Packard,  Jr.,  Edmond  Lazell. 
1787.— John  Bnulish.  William  Jlitchell.  Abel  Packard,  Jr. 
1788-92.— William  Ward,  John  Bnidish,  Abel  Packard,  Jr. 
1793. — Abel  Packard,  Jr.,  Robert  Dawes,  Stephen  Shaw. 
1794. — Abel  Packard,  Jr.,  Stephen  Shaw,  Nehemiah  Richards. 
179.^. — Stephen  Shaw,  Adam  Packard,  Jacob  Whitmarsh. 
170(j.— W'illiam  Ward,  John  Bradish,  Willi;im  Mitchell. 
1797. — Stephen  Shaw,  William  Ward,  John  Bradish. 
1798. — Stephen  Shaw,  William  Ward.  Adam  Packard. 
1799. — William  Ward,  Stephen  Shaw,  Jacob  Mliitmarsh. 
1800-1. — Stephen  Shaw,  Jiicob  Whitmai-sh,  Clai'k  Robinson. 
1802-3. — Adam  Packard,  Nehemiah  Richards,  Capt.  Robinson. 
1804. — Adam  I'aekard,  Clark  Robinson,  James  Shaw. 
18a5. — Adam  Packard,  Clark  Robinson,  Nehemiah  Richards. 
180&-7. — Adam  Packai-d,  Nehemiah  Hichards,  Jacob  ^^^iitmal•sh. 
1808-10. — Adam  Pat:kard,  Jacob  Whitmarsh,  James  Shaw. 
1811.— Jacob  Whitmarsh,  Janu's  Shaw,  James  W.  Briggs. 
1S12-13. — .lames  Shaw,  James  W.  Briggs,  Robert  Dawes. 
1814. — Robert  Dawes,  James  W.  Briggs,  Roswell  Hubbard. 
lS15,_li,,hert  Dawes,  Roswell  Hubbard,  Philander  Packard. 
1816.— Philander  Packard,  Rtibert  Dawes.  Aaron  Bigelow. 
1817.— James  Shaw,  Aai'on  Bigelow,  Jacob  Whitmarsh. 
1818.— Aaron  Bigelow,  Nathan  Orcutt,  Jr.,  Eliphalet  Packanl. 
1819.— Eliphalet  Packard,  Nathan  Ortnitt,  Jr.,  Daniel  Richards. 
1820. — Ebenezer  Snell,  Nicholas  Cottrell,  James  W.  Briggs. 
1S21.— Ebenezer  Snell,  James  W.  Briggs.  Robert  DaMCS. 
1822.— Eliphalet  Packard,  Seth  Porter,  James  W.  Briggs. 
1823.— Eliphalet  Packard,  Amos  Cobb,  Seth  Porter,  Jr. 
1824.— Eliphalet  Packard,  Anuis  Cobb,  James  Everett. 
1825.— R«»bert  Dawes,  James  Everett.  Aaron  Bigelow. 
lS'2G-27.— Robert  Dawes,  Aiistin  Brvant.  Daniel  Richards. 
18-28.— Eliphalet  Packaifl,  Austin  Bryant,  Elias  Cobb. 
1829.— Eliphalet  Packard,  Elias  Cobb,  Philander  Packanl. 
1830.— Austin  liryant,  Danus  Ford,  Philander  Packard. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


445 


1831.— Austin  Bryant,  Duriiis  Fonl,  Ncmh  T.  Piickard. 

1832. — Darius  Ford.  Alexis  Painter,  Eliplialet  Packard. 

18.33-;U. — Eliphalet  Packard,  Alexis  Painter,  -Tames  Itawes. 

18.35. — James  \V.  ilriggs,  Elisha  Carpenter,  James  BobinBon. 

18.36. — Nathan  Orcntt,  James  "W.  Briggs,  Klisha  Carpenter. 

1837. — Natliau  Orcntt,  Elias  Coltb,  Elislja  Carpenter. 

1838.— Natlian  Orcntt,  Eliphalet  Packard,  Royal  S.  Packard. 

1839. — Natlian  Orcntt,  William  0.  Hubbard,  .lames  Robinson. 

1840. — Eliphalet  Packard,  Lewis  Ford,  Charles  0.  Fanning. 

1841. — Eliphalet  Packard,  Lewis  Ford,  Elisha  Gardner. 

1842. — Lewis  Ford,  Royal  L.  Packard,  Charles  Shaw. 

1843.— Nathan  Orcntt,  Royal  L.  Packard,  Lewis  Tucker. 

1844.— N.athan  Orcutt,  Elisha  Mitchell,  R.  L.  Packard,  Charles  Shaw. 

lS4o. — Nathan  Orcntt,  Royal  L.  Packard,  Lewis  Tucker. 

1846. — Nathan  Orcntt,  Royal  L.  Packard,  Elisha  Gardner. 

1847. — Nathan  Orcutt,  Royal  L.  Packard,  Spencer  Shaw. 

1.S48. — Nathan  Orcutt,  Robert  Dawes,  Jr.,  Spencer  Shaw. 

1840. — Eliphalet  Packard,  Spencer  Shaw,  Lewis  T.  Cobb. 

1850.— Robert  Dawes,  Jr.,  C.  W.  Mitchell,  N.  F.  Orcutt. 

ISol.— Eliphalet  Packard,  C.  W.  SlitcheU,  Lewis  T.  Cobb. 

1832. — Fiuukliu  R.  Joy,  Jesse  Reed,  .Tacob  Bates. 

1853. — Josiah  Barber,  Lewis  T.  Coblt,  Elisha  Gardner. 

1854-56.— Nathan  Orcutt,  Franklin  R.  Joy,  Josiab  D.  Nelson. 

1857. — Nathan  Orcutt,  William  H.  Guilf(U-il,  Elisba  Gardner. 

1858. — Nathan  Orcntt,  William  H.  Guilfoni,  Lucius  C.  Robinson. 

1859.— Nathan  Orcutt,  John  C.  Reed,  Noah  L.  Gloyd. 

I860.— Nathan  Orcutt,  \\illiam  W.  Mitchell,  Noah  L.  Gloyd. 

1861.— Nathan  Orcntt,  William  W.  Mitchell,  Charles  Harlow. 

1862-*!.- Nathan  Orcutt,  John  C.  Reed,  Charles  Harlow. 

1865.— L.  J.  Orcutt,  L.  E.  Dawes,  Cynis  M.  Tillson. 

1866.— N.  F.  Orcutt,  Henry  S.  Elder,  Austin  M.  Shaw. 

1867.— N.  F.  Orcutt,  F.  D.  Streetcr,  H.  S.  Elder. 

1868-69.— N.  F.  Orcutt,  Charles  Harlow,  F.  D.  Streeter. 

1870.— N.  F.  Orcntt,  T.  H.  Whitmarsh,  L.  H.  Tower. 

1871-72.- N.  F.  Orcutt,  Charles  Harlow,  Alexis  Wells. 

1873.- N.  F.  Orcutt,  E.  G.  .\llen,  Alexis  Wells. 

1874.— N.  F.  Orcutt,  E.  G.  Allen,  Jason  Willcutt. 

1875.— N.  F.  Orcutt,  E.  G.  Allen,  C.  W.  Streeter. 

1876. — N.  S.  Stevens,  C.  M.  Babbitt,  Fordyce  Packard. 

1877-78. — N.  F.  Orcutt,  Abraham  Osborne,  Lorenzo  Shaw. 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

Barnabas  Packard,  1779;  Wm.  Ward,  1780-85;  Adam  PorU-r,  1786-92:  Wni. 
Ward,  1793-95;  Abel  Packard,  Jr.,  1796-1816;  Philander  Piukard,  1817-24;  N.a- 
than  Orcntt,  1825-,3o ;  James  W.  Briggs,  1836 ;  Eliphalet  Packard,  1837-38 ;  Na- 
than Orcntt,  1.839 ;  Royal  L.  Packard,  1840-41 ;  Lewis  Tucker,  1842  ;  Luther  M. 
Packard,  1843-52  ;  Lyman  E.  Dawes,  1853-54 ;  Almon  Mitchell,  1855-79. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

William  Ward,  1786-91  ;  James  Richarils,  1793 ;  William  Ward,  1796-97  ;  James 
Richards,  1798  ;  Ebenezcr  Snell,  1800 ;  James  Richards,  1801 ;  Ebeuezer  Snell, 
1802 :  .Tames  Richards,  180:i  ;  Ebenezer  Snell,  ISO! ;  James  Richards,  1805 ;  Peter 
Bryant,  1806  ;  Adam  Packard,  1806;  Peter  Bry.ant,  1808-9  ;  Abel  Packard,  1810; 
Peter  Bryant,  1811-13  ;  Robert  Dawes,  lsl.5-16 ;  Robert  D,awes,  1818-19 ;  Robert 
Dawes,  1822 ;  Eliphalet  Packard,  182.5-26 ;  Amos  Cobb,  1827  ;  Wm.  Swan,  1829- 
30 ;  Jonathan  Dawes,  1831-:i3 ;  Alexis  Painter,  1834 ;  James  W.  Briggs,  1835 ; 
Nathan  Orcutt,  1836-37  ;  Philander  Packard,  1838-39;  Joseph  Orcntt,  1840-41 ; 
Royal  L.  Packard,  1842-43 ;  Robert  Dawes,  Jr.,  1844-45 ;  Hiram  Steele,  1840-47  ; 
Dr.  Royal  Joy,  1848-49;  John  Ford,  1850;  Charles  Shaw,  1851;  N.  F.  Orcntt, 
185'i-53 ;  Ebenezer  Shaw,  1854 ;  Spencer  Shaw,  1859 ;  Almon  Alitchell,  1863  ; 
Richmond  Kingman,  1868  ;  Lysauder  J.  Orcutt,  1874. 

VILLAGES. 
CUMMINQTON    VILLAGE 

is  handsomely  located  in  n  narrow  valley  lying  along  the 
Westfield  River.  It  is  surrounded  with  a  series  of  romantic 
and  picturesque  hills.  Some  of  these  are  bold,  rocky  eleva- 
tions ;  others  are  of  more  graceful  curves  and  crowned  with 
forests  ;.  mingling  with  these  are  the  cultivated  slopes  of  the 
open  farming-lands  and  the  meadows  around  the  river;  the 
whole  forming  a  landscape  of  mingled  beauty  and  grandeur. 

Thomas  Tirrell,  a  farmer,  was  an  early,  if  not  the  first,  set- 
tler at  this  point.  His  place  was  where  the  Widow  Bradley 
now  lives.  The  store  of  Seth  Williams  and  his  tavern  were 
very  early,  dating  nearly,  if  not  quite,  back  to  1800. 

Levi  Kingman  gives  the  following  description  of  the  vil- 
lage as  it  was  in  1817 :  Below  the  bridge  at  the  east  was  the 
house  of  Ubed  Shaw,  and  a  little  farther  down  the  place  of 
his  son,  Leonard  Shaw.  West  of  the  bridge,  tracing  up  the 
street,  on  the  north  side,  were  the  store  and  tavern  of  Seth 
Williams,  nearly  at  the  present  Robbins  place.  Next  was  the 
house  of  James  Shaw,  the  present  place  of  A.  F.  Pettengill. 


Next,  a  house  built  several  years  before  by  one  Miller,  a  shoe- 
maker, and  probably  the  oldest  house  in  the  village.  Mr. 
Kingman  went  there  for  a  pair  of  boots  in  1808.  Miller  was 
a  brother-in-law  of  >Seth  Williams.  Next  was  the  house  of 
Asa  Pettengill,  the  present  place  of  Austin  Shaw.  Then 
above  was  the  house  of  Oak  Shaw,  built  in  1816,  now  the 
place  of  Richmond  Kingman.  Next  was  Lewis  Thayer's 
house,  who  removed  not  many  years  later  to  Ohio.  It  was 
built  by  Josiah  Hayden,  and  is  now  the  place  of  Charles  Bart- 
lett.  Beyond,  on  the  corner  opposite  Lovell's  store,  was  the 
old  place  of  Squire  Eliphalet  Packard,  between  the  blacksmith- 
shop  and  the  main  road,  about  the  present  place  of  E.  B. 
Bruce.  Returning  to  the  east  end  of  the  village,  and  tracing 
the  south  side  of  the  street,  the  first  house  was  that  of  Thos. 
Tirrell ;  then  a  long  space  with  no  buildings  as  far  as  the 
present  house  of  Austin  Cowing.  Levi  Kingman  moved  to 
that  place  in  1817.  Hatch  Noyce  had  built  the  house.  It 
was  enlarged  and  improved  by  Mr.  Kingman.  Next  was  an 
old  house,  about  in  Prof.  Mitchell's  present  garden,  and  a 
blacksmith-shop  near.  The  old  school-house  was  a  little  out 
of  the  village,  on  the  south  road,  where  the  ruins  and  the 
brick  remaining  identify  the  spot.  Some  14  houses,  all  told, 
comprised  the  village  of  sixty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Kingman,  in  1818,  took  an  interest  in  the  store  of 
Dawes  &  Co.,  and  soon  after  bought  the  entire  business.  In 
1820  he  united  the  store  to  his  dwelling,  enlarged  the  build- 
ings, and  opened  a  tavern ;  carried  on  both  store  and  tavern 
for  some  twelve  years,  when  he  retired  to  enter  upon  the  busi- 
ness of  farming  with  his  family  of  growing  sons. 

The  tavern  of  Seth  Williams,  and  afterward  of  Mr.  Sawyer, 
was  the  sole  tavern  for  a  time.  This  was  closed  out  by  tire 
about  1845.  Other  taverns  have  been  that  of  Alonzo  Gurney, 
for  three  or  four  years,  on  the  present  place  of  Francis  Rich- 
ards. Dr.  Benius,  just  opposite,  also  kept  public-house  a  while. 
William  White  built  the  present  Union  House,  1846  to  1848, 
and  it  has  been  continued  by  various  proprietors  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  E.  B.  Bruce  kept  the  house  1871  to  the  spring  of 
1878.  It  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  its  present  proprietor, 
Charles  M.  Babbitt.  It  is  now  an  excellent  house,  with 
abundant  entertainment  and  polite  attention.  With  the  sur- 
rounding scenery  and  the  fine  opportunity  for  charming  drives 
in  so  many  directions,  there  are  many  things  here  to  tempt 
the  tourist  and  the  summer  visitor. 

The  present  village,  with  its  churches,  school-building, 
stores,  business-places,  and  pleasant  private  residences,  differs 
very  much  from  that  of  1817. 

A  post-office  was  first  established  at  Cummington  village  in 
1816,  or  about  that  time.  Previous  to  that  date  the  mails  had 
come  to  Worthington  and  newspapers  were  delivered  by  post- 
riders.  The  first  postmaster  was  Maj.  Robert  Dawes.  His 
successors  have  been  James  Dawes,  John  Albro,  Francis 
Bates,  Col.  William  Swan,  and  the  present  incumbent,  D.  W. 
Lovell. 

WEST   CUMMINQTON 

is  a  pleasant  village  finely  situated  at  the  foot  of  Deer  Hill, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Westfield,  with  wild  and  rocky  hills 
rising  beyond.  The  place  was  largely  founded  by  two  men, 
Wm.  Hubbard,  who  established  his  tannery  in  180-5,  nearly 
upon  the  site  of  the  L.  L.  Brown  paper-mills,  and  Elisha 
Mitchell,  who  came  here  as  a  merchant  in  182.3,  and  entered 
upon  his  long  and  prosperous  career.  The  Hubbard  tannery 
did  a  large  business,  employing  many  men,  and  stimulating 
the  whole  town  into  a  greater  degree  of  activity  than  at  any 
time  before,  or  perhaps  since. 

Mr.  Mitchell  had  a  large  country  trade.  The  two  men  co- 
operated in  many  useful  enterprises  for  the  benefit  of  the 
place. 

On  the  site  of  the  Hubbard  tannery,  Jonah  Beals'  tannery 
had  done  a  limited  business,  extending  back  earlier  than  1700. 
There  was  also  a  very  early  saw-mill  here. 


446 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


A  post-ofEce  was  established  at  West  Cummington  about 
1823  or  '24.  Elisha  Mitchell  was  the  first  postmaster.  His 
successors  have  been  Jo.siah  D.  Nelson,  Henry  Howes,  Albert 
Winslow,  Ethan  Clark,  Charles  Harlow,  and  the  present 
officer,  L.  E.  Bicknell. 

The  village  at  the  present  time  comprises  quite  a  number  of 
private  residences,  the  store  of.  L.  E.  Bicknell,  the  store  of 
Joseph  Tirrell,  at  the  old  Mitchell  stand,  the  grocery-stores  of 

E.  G.  Allen  and  H.  A.  Mason,  the  hotel  by  Ebenezer  Hunt, 
two  churches,  the  saw-mill  and  turning-shop  of  Charles  Har- 
low, the  shop  of  Wm.  G.  Atkins,  several  mechanic  shops,  the 
clock-repairing  establishment  of  Amos  Eddy,  the  pen-holder 
factory  by  Henry  Elder  &  Son,  and  the  lower  paper-mill  of 

F.  A.  Bates,  employing  ten  or  twelve  hands,  and  making 
manilla  paper. 

West  Cummington  owes  its  present  business  prosperity  very 
largely  to  the  excellent  paper-mills  located  just  above.  The 
buildings  were  erected  in  the  summer  of  1856,  being  raised 
June  26th  of  that  year.  Nelson  Shaw  &  Co.  were  the  pro- 
prietors. After  two  years  they  retired,  and  the  mills  stood 
unused  for  nearly  the  same  length  of  time.  They  were  then 
bought  by  Amos  Eddy  and  Mr.  Crombie,  of  New  York. 
Eddy  removed  to  this  place  and  experimented  in  the  manu- 
facture of  photograph  paper.  After  running  about  two  years 
the  property  passed  to  the  Hollister  Paper  Co.,  L.  L.  Brown, 
President;  Stephen  D.  Hollister,  Agent;  Calvin  Whiting, 
Superintendent  and  Treasurer.  In  April,  1870,  the  firm  was 
changed  to  L.  L.  Brown  &  Co.  In  1872  the  "  L.  L.  Brown 
Paper  Company  of  Adams"  was  formed,  and  these  mills  be- 
came a  part  of  their  property,  and  remain  in  that  ownership 
to  the  present  time.  Abram  Osborn  is  the  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  company,  and  his  son,  Abram  Osborn,  Jr., 
agent  and  resident  superintendent  of  these  mills. 

The  buildings  are  in  fine  condition,  having  been  recently 
repaired  and  improved,  at  an  expense  of  nearly  $5000.  The 
amount  of  paper  made  in  1877  was  225,155  pounds.  The 
number  of  hands  employed  is  about  30.  The  line  of  work 
consists  of  fine  writings,  linens,  bond,  and  fancy,  of  all  colors. 
The  company  have  a  boarding-house  (the  old  Wm.  Hubbard 
dwelling-house)  and  a  farm  of  400  acres  connected  with  the 
property.  The  paper  is  finished  in  Adams.  The  company  do 
their  own  teaming, — all  westward  to  Adams,  fourteen  miles. 
George  West,  the  Ballston  Spa  manufacturer,  superintended 
the.se  mills  just  before  going  to  Saratoga  County  and  com- 
mencing his  career  of  unequaled  success. 

SWIFT    RIVER    VILLAGE, 

locally  known  as  "  Babylon,"  is  situated  in  the  southeast  part 
of  the  town,  at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  Swift 
River.  It  comprises  a  few  dwelling-houses,  a  post-office 
(established  in  1869,  with  William  H.  Guilford  postmaster; 
he  was  succeeded  by  John  Hussey),  the  wood-turning  shops 
of  M.  B.  Crosby,  J.  Lovell's  plane  establishment,  and  the 
Guilford  works,  including  saw-,  planing-,  turning-,  and  pen- 
holder-mill. The  scenery  in  the  vicinity  is  romantic,  the 
hills  steep,  the  streams  rapid,  and  the  place  is  subject  to 
frequent  damage  by  freshets. 

CUMMINGTON    HILL. 

This  well-known  name  designates  an  extensive  place.  Eirst 
settlers  are  spoken  of  as  living  on  "the  Hill,"  and  yet  from 
one  to  two  miles  apart.  The  centre,  or  business  point,  was  at 
the  location  of  the  meeting-house,  above  the  pound.  The 
store  of  Hubbard  was  located  there.  The  old  sexton,  Heze- 
kiah  Ford,  lived  there.  In  front  of  the  church  site,  at  the  in- 
tersection of  the  roads,  is  still  an  o]ien  space,  constituting  the 
common  of  old  times.  Intensely  quiet  now,  it  yet  has  many 
interesting  reminiscences  to  the  older  people  of  this  town  and 
those  who  went  out  from  here  to  settle  the  towns  of  the  fertile 
West. 


SCHOOLS. 

The  records  of  the  proprietors'  meetings  contain  no  pro- 
visions for  schools  except  the  setting  apart  of  certain  lots  for 
their  future  benefit.  After  the  town  was  incorporated,  the 
subject  came  up  at  the  early  meetings,  but  no  definite  action 
was  taken  for  a  year  or  two.  March  5,  1781,  a  proposition 
to  raise  a  sum  of  money  for  the  support  of  schools  was  voted 
down.  A  year  later.  May  2,  1782,  a  more  liberal  view  was 
taken,  and  £20  were  appropriated.  In  1783  and  1784  the 
same  sura  was  voted.  In  1785  thej'  appropriated  £oO,  but 
returned,  in  1786,  to  £20.  In  1787  the  town  was  divided  into 
six  school  districts,  or  "ricks,"  as  they  are  described  in  the 
records . 

The  names  of  a  few  early  teachers  are  gathered  from  an  old 
order-book  of  the  selectmen  :  Chloe  Bradish,  1793  ;  Amariah 
Robbins,  1795;  Lieut.  Nehemiah  Joy,  1797;  Hatch  Noyes, 
1794;  Amos  Cobb,  1797;  Ebenezer  Snell,  Jr.,  1795:  Nabby 
Dawes,  1796;  John  Bradish,  1798;  Clark  Robinson,  1796; 
Miss  Nancy  Warner,  1799  ;  also  Leah  Beals,  Col.  Bradley, 
Deborah  Porter,  Susannah  Shaw,  David  Bigelow,  1800 ; 
Elizabeth  Robbins,  Betsey  Holbrook,  1801  ;  Nabby  Reed, 
Hannah  Williams,  1803;  Seth  Reed,  Jr.,  J.  Wiswell  Briggs, 
Nicholas  Cottrell,  Jonathan  Dawes,  Rosy  Warner,  1804 ; 
Philena  Davison,  1805;  Daniel  Richards,  Mehitable  Allen, 
1806.  Nehemiah  Joy  taught  thirty-five  winter  terms  in  suc- 
cession, and  afterward  two  more. 

The  school  known  as  "the  Academy,"  though  it  was  not 
an  incorporated  institution,  was  established  by  a  few  citizens 
about  the  year  1830,  and  was  a  valuable  addition  to  the  educa- 
tional facilities  of  the  town.  A  large  number  of  young  people 
secured  there  the  elements  of  a  higher  education. 

Various  teachers,  some  of  noted  prominence  in  later  years, 
were  employed.  The  names  of  Rawson  and  Brown  are  re- 
called by  the  people,  Zalmon  Richards  and  Eli  Hubbard. 
The  movement  for  an  academy  was  led  by  Rev.  Roswell 
Hawks,  who  had  the  ability  to  inspire  other  men  with  his  own 
enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  who  a.ssisted  Mi.ss 
Mary  Lyon  in  founding  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.  A  con- 
venient building  was  erected  upon  the  west  side  of  the  street 
in  Cummington  village. 

The  school  was  continued  for  only  ten  or  twelve  years. 
The  building  is  now  a  dwelling-house. 

Other  private  schools  have  also  been  maintained  at  times  in 
the  town.  One,  rather  noted  for  two  or  three  terms,  was 
taught  by  students  from  Amherst  College.  It  was  held 
in  a  hall  over  the  old  Roswell  Hubbard  store  on  the  Hill. 
Six  young  men  of  the  town,  who  afterward  entered  college 
and  graduated,  studied  there  at  the  same  time, — Wm.  W. 
Mitchell,  Henry  L.  Dawes,  Joseph  Porter,  Horatio  Porter, 
Charles  Packard,  Cullen  Packard. 

From  this  part  of  old  Township  No.  5,  the  far-famed  "  Cum- 
mington Hill,"  there  went  out  five  distinguished  men,  all 
within  a  mile  of  each  other,  all  in  the  Bryant  School  District : 
Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  Hon.  Luther  BradLsh,  Rev.  Thomas 
Snell,  Dr.  Theophilus  Packard,  Hon.  Henry  L.  Dawes. 

The  appropriations  by  the  town  from  1805  to  1828  were 
usually  ^300  annually.  Two  or  three  years  of  the  time  they 
increased  to  §400,  and  once  to  $4-50.  In  1827  the  town  organ- 
ized the  schools  under  the  new  act  by  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Roswell  Hawks,  Daniel  Richards,  and  Nathan  Orcutt  as  school 
committee.  Increased  attention  to  education  seems  to  have 
been  awakened  at  that  time.  More  money  was  appropriated. 
In  1838,  $500  was  voted ;  in  1839,  $500,  and  also  "  the  income 
of  the  surplus  revenue  and  the  sum  received  from  the  State." 
In  1848,  and  for  four  years  following,  there  was  annually 
voted  $700  for  schools. 

The  school-houses  of  the  town  are  in  good  condition.  At 
Cummington  village  is  a  large  building,  with  rooms  conve- 
niently arranged  for  two  teachers.     The  Bryant  District  has 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


447 


a  very  fine  building.  William  Cullen  Bryant  made  a  hand- 
some donation  toward  its  erection. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  college  graduates  natives  of  Cura- 
mington :  Jacob  Porter, 'Nathan  Straw,  Abel  Packard  (2d), 
Joseph  Porter,  Cullen  Packard,  Charles  Packard,  Ambrose 
Tillson,  Eoyal  Reed,  Noah  Thomas,  Jr.,  Calvin  Briggs,  C. 
M.  Briggs,  Edward  Hawkes,  Martin  Lazell,  Eoyal  Joy,  E. 
H.  Porter,  Alfred  Gilbert,  E.  N.  Bates,  Zalmon  Richards, 
Francis  J.  Warner,  and  Walter  G.  Mitchell. 

Besides  these  should  be  mentioned  others,  who,  though  not 
graduates,  yet  have  in  many  instances  a  national  reputation  : 
Theophilus  Packard,  D.D.,  Thomas  Snell,  D.D.,  Hon.  Luther 
Bradish,  Hon.  Joel  Hayden,  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  Henry  L. 
Dawes,  Wm.  C.  Otis,  Eli  A.  Hubbard,  Shepherd  Knapp. 

SCHOOL    STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Ten  schools;  attending  in  tlie  summer,  251;  average,  203; 
winter,  278 ;  average,  230 ;  in  towu,  between  4  and  16,  35G  ;  summer  schouls,  34 
months ;  winter,  25  months,  21  days ;  summer  teachei-s,  1  male,  9  females ;  win- 
ter, 9  males ;  average  wages  of  male  teachei-s  per  month,  ^7.33 ;  female  teach- 
ers, $11. 

January,  1K47. — Nuuiberof  schools,  10;  attending  in  the  summer,  292;  average, 
219 ;  winter,  355  ;  average,  279  ;  number  in  town  between  4  and  Iti,  349 ;  attend- 
ing under  4,  10 ;  over  16,  35 ;  summer  schools,  33  months,  7  days ;  winter,  34 
months,  21  days ;  total,  68  months ;  summer  teachers,  9  females ;  winter  teachers, 
6  males,  5  females ;  male  teachers'  average  wages  per  month,  $21.80 ;  female, 
$11.69. 

January,  1857. — Ten  schools  ;  attending  in  summer,  187  ;  average,  154  ;  win- 
ter, 202  ;  average,  206 ;  attendiug  under  5,  26 ;  over  15,  52 ;  in  town,  between  5 
and  15, 196 ;  summer  teachers,  10  females ;  winter,  4  males,  G  females  ;  summer 
schools,  29  months,  G  days ;  winter,  28  months ;  total,  57  months,  G  days ;  av- 
erage wages  male  teachers  per  month,  $18.75 ;  female,  $13.66. 

January,  1867. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  228  ;  average,  176 ;  win- 
ter, 251 ;  average,  202  ;  under  5,  12  ;  over  15,  23 ;  in  t«:)wn,  between  5  and  15,  222 ; 
summer  teacheis,  10  females ;  winter  teachers,  10  females ;  summer  schools,  32 
months ;  winter,  34  months ;  average  wages  of  female  teachere  per  month, 
$20.80. 

January,  1878. — Ten  schools ;  attending,  202 ;  average,  152  ;  under  5,  7 ;  over 
15,  49 ;  in  town,  between  5  and  16, 156  ;  teachers,  1  male,  12  females ;  two  from 
normal ;  school  61  mouths,  10  days  ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  mouth, 
$44;  female,  $20.67 ;  ta-\ation,  $1200;  expense  of  superintendence,  $09.75;  print- 
ing, $22  ;  income  of  local  funds  and  dog  ta.\,  $33.91 ;  town  share  of  State  fund, 
$225.18. 

CHURCHES. 
Action  to  secure  public  worship  was  taken  at  the  very  outset 
of  the  settlement.  There  were  only  ten  or  twelve  families  in 
the  town  when  the  first  vote  was  taken  to  procure  a  minister 
"four  Sabbaths  next  summer."  The  location  of  the  first 
meeting-house  seems  to  have  required  a  long  discussion  in 
nearly  every  town.  As  it  was  the  most  important  building  to 
be  erected,  and  public  worship  the  most  important  thing  to  be 
established,  they  evidently  gave  to  them  their  most  careful 
thought,  and  quite  probably  exercised  something  of  the  iron 
will  which  a  hundred  years  before  had  made  Puritans  such 
invincible  soldiers  under  Cromwell. 

Cummington  was  not  an  exception,  and  the  first  committee 
"to  pitch  upon  a  site"  was  succeeded  by  many  others  before 
the  place  was  really  chosen  and  the  house  built.  The  fol- 
lowing further  minutes  are  taken  from  the  records  of  the 
proprietors  and  of  the  town : 

Dec.  28, 1772. — Voted  to  clear  three  acres  for  a  meeting-house,  spot.  Voted  to 
have  two  Sabbaths'  preaching  more. 

Feb.  3,  1773. — Voted  to  appoint  Mr.  Stephen  Farr,  Capt.  Joseph  Warner,  and 
William  Ward  a  committee  to  supply  the  township  with  preaching.  Voted  not 
to  send  for  Mr.  Reed  to  preach  on  probation,  nor  to  renew  the  former  call. 

From  which  it  appears  that  the  project  of  ordaining  Mr. 
Reed  failed  at  the  time  before  appointed,  and  a  month  later 
the  town  again  refused  to  send  for  him. 

April  13,  1773. — Voted  to  meet  for  public  worship  at  Mr.  Packard's,  in  the  east 
part  of  the  town,  and  at  Mr.  .Stevens',  in  the  west  part. 

Nov.  19, 1773.— Voted  that  the  committee  agree  with  Mr.  Porter  to  preach 
longer.    Voted  not  to  build  a  meeting-house. 

March  21,  1774. — Voted  to  settle  Mr.  Porter  as  their  minister  in  said  township, 
and  offered  him  forty  pounds  sal.ary  the  first  year,  and  raise  five  pounds  a  year 
until  it  amounts  to  sixty,  and  then  stand  at  that;  also  voted  him  a  settlement, — 
lOO  acres  of  land,  £26  13».  id. 

Security  was,  however,  to  be  taken  of  him  for  the  two  lots 


granted  to  the  first  settled  minister ;  which  means,  we  suppose, 
that  if  he  took  the  100  acres  now  offered,  he  must  not  also 
claim  the  two  lots  originally  set  apart  for  the  support  of  the 
gospel. 

April  11, 1774. — Voted  that  the  8th  day  of  June  next  be  the  day  to  install  Rev. 
Mr.  Porter.  Messrs.  Bjxrnabas  Packard  and  Timothy  Moore  be  a  committee  to 
provide  entertainment  for  the  council. 

This  must  have  failed  also,  for  July  18,  1774,  they  voted 
Abraham  Beal,  Ebenezer  Snell,  and  Ensign  Abel  Packard  a 
committee  to  hire  preaching,  and  not  to  hire  more  than  four 
weeks  at  a  time  without  orders  from  the  town. 

Dec.  12,  1774. — Voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  45  by  35.  Appointed  David 
Leonard,  Ebenezer  Snell,  and  Stephen  Warner  a  committee  to  build  the  house. 
Voted  to  hear  Mr.  Billings  preach  a  few  Sabbaths  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 

Nov.  28, 1775. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Hotchldss  to  prejich  four  Sabbaths  upon  pro- 
bation. 

Dec.  12, 1775,  the  people  were  in  a  decidedly  negative  state  of 
mind.  They  voted  not  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  the  centre 
of  said  township,  and  voted  not  to  choose  a  committee  to  hire 
preaching.  Dec.  27th,  they  were  more  atBrmative  again.  They 
voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  un  Lot  No.  71,  in  the  first  di- 
vision. Negotiations  to  secure  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs  seem  to  have 
begun  in  1778,  November  23d. 

Feb.  15, 1779. — Voted  a  call  to  Mr.  Briggs,  offering  him  200  acres  of  land  and 
$200  as  settlement,  the  money  estimated  according  to  rye  at  3«.  id.  per  bushel,  and 
a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  the  first  year,  adding  five  pounds  a  year  until  it  amounts 
to  £60. 

This  was  accepted.  The  ordination  was  appointed  for 
July  7,  1779,  and  Capt.  Reed,  Ebenezer  Snell,  and  John 
Bradish,  appointed  a  committee  to  provide  a  place  for  the 
council. 

The  record  of  the  council  is  found  in  full  in  the  old  Proprie- 
tors' Book.  John  Porter  was  moderator,  and  Rev.  Thomas 
Allen  scribe  ;  and  thus  Plantation  No.  5  had  at  last  a  settled 
minister  five  and  a  half  months  before  the  town  of  Cum- 
mington was  organized. 

The  first  baptism  occurred  July  18, 1779, — Abigail,  daughter 
of  Abel  and  Esther  Packard ;  the  second,  Aug.  29,  1779, — 
Bethiah,  daughter  of  Edmund  and  Mary  Lazell. 

The  ordination  of  Mr.  Briggs  is  stated  by  Mrs.  Deacon 
Rogers  to  have  taken  place  in  the  open  air,  under  some  trees 
not  far  from  tlie  site  of  the  last  meeting-house  on  the  Hill. 
This  account  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  general  belief  that 
the  meeting-house  at  that  time  was  a  mile  or  two  farther  west ; 
and  still  it  may  be  correct. 

Oct.  30, 1780.— Voted  to  raise  55  pounds  for  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs'  salary  the  present 
year,  rated  at  rye  %  per  bushel.  Voted  that  Capt.  Reed,  Deacon  Snell,  and  Lieut. 
Colson  be  a  committee  to  lay  out  the  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs'  lot  of  land  voted  him  by 
the  town. 

The  meeting-house  "  on  the  south  side"  was  built  so  as  to 
meet  in  it  some  time  in  1781,  for  Oct.  4,  1781,  the  town  voted 
to  warn  town-meetings  in  the  future  on  the  south  side  at  the 
meeting-house,  and  on  the  north  side  "where  they  meet  for 
public  worship."  Propositions  to  remove  the  meeting-house 
appear  in  the  records  for  1790. 

In  1791  they  voted  to  finish  the  old  one  where  it  stands,  and 
not  remove  it.  But  Nov.  28,  1791,  they  voted  to  build  a 
meeting-house  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  by  Mr.  Hezekiah 
Ford's  house  ;  voted  to  move  the  old  house  to  this  place,  and 
make  a  porch  in  front  of  it.  This  seems  to  have  been  done, 
for  further  arrangements  about  pews  are  soon  after  made,  and 
this  was  the  house  that  stood  so  long  above  the  pound. 

A  few  later  notes  from  the  town  records  are  added : 

April  1, 1805. — Voted  Hezekiah  Ford  Jr.,  to  take  careof  the  meeting-house,— to 
wash  it  twice,  and  sweep  it  once  a  month,  and  sweep  the  alleys  once  a  week,  for 
$5. 

April  7,  1S06.— Voted  to  paint  the  meeting-house  anew,  and  to  paint  it  white. 
Committee,  Abel  Packard,  Stephen  Warner,  Nehemiah  Richards.  At  the  same 
meeting  let  the  care  of  the  meeting-house  to  James  Loud,  at  $4.75.  Voted  for  the 
Rev.  James  Briggs'  salary,  $200. 

This  same  year  votes  were  passed  to  provide  a  belfry.  A 
pew   was   bought   of    Mr.    Asa   Gurney   to   make   room   for 


448 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONiNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


an  entninoe  Iroin  the  belfry  to  the  floor  of  the  meeting- 
house. Gallery-pews  were  also  sold,  showing  that  the  house 
was  undergoing  changes  and  repairs  at  this  time.  Before  this 
subject  was  disposed  of  they  voted  not  to  open  a  door  on  the 
lower  floor,  nor  to  allow  Mr.  Gurney  any  damages  for  cover- 
ing his  window.  The  belfry  was  erected  on  condition  that  a 
bell  should  be  placed  in  it  by  subscription,  and  there  is  the  fol- 
lowing entry  in  relation  to  it  the  next  year:  "  Voted  to  accept 
of  the  bell,  and  send  the  tongue  to  Mr.  Holbrook  and  have 
one  bigger,  or  as  big  a.s-  he  will  warrant  the  bell  with."  In 
1818  it  was  voted  to  unite  with  the  church  in  requesting 
neighboring  ministers  to  supply  the  pulpit  while  Mr.  Briggs 
is  unable.  Voted  to  pay  Rev.  Mr.  Chaddock  seven  dollars  a 
Sabbath. 

As  late  as  1833  church  business  was  still  done  at  town- 
meeting,  §450  being  voted  that  year  for  the  supply  of  the 
pulpit;  but  that  seems  to  have  been  the  date  wlien  cliurcli 
business  ceased  to  be  done  by  the  town. 

The  organization  of  the  church  is  supposed  to  have  been 
July  7,  1779,  the  same  day  of  Mr.  Briggs'  ordination.  The 
actual  date  is  not  given,  but  the  account  of  the  church  being 
"embodied"  follows  that  of  the  ordination  so  closely  as  to  jus- 
tify the  above  conclusion.  The  names  of  the  male  members 
only  are  given  in  the  church  book :  Joseph  Farr,  Stephen 
Farr,  Barnabas  Packard,  Ebcnezer  Snell,  Ebenezer  Beals, 
Stephen  Warner,  Timothy  Moore,  and  John  Keed.  Undoubt- 
edly there  were  at  least  as  many  females  who  joined  from 
these  or  other  families. 

From  the  few  records  in  possession  of  Deacon  Kogers  we 
add  the  following  notes: 

July  22, 1779. — Voted  that  the  sacrjitnent  of  the  Lord's  Supper  be  administered 
iumiediately  after  divijie  senice,  in  the  former  part  of  tlie  dav. 

July  29th.— Toted  to  admit  to  baptism  the  children  of  those  who  belonged  to 
other  churches,  or  had  owned  the  covenant. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  much  additional  history  of  this  vener- 
able church, — the  church  of  the  pioneers,  the  church  of  the 
fathers.  The  choice  of  site,  whether  wise  or  not,  was  generallv 
acquiesced  in  for  fifty  years  or  more,  and  up  to  this  "  Mount 
Zion"  two  successive  generations  came  regularly  to  worship, 
those  from  the  nf)rth  side  descending  to  the  valley  of  the 
Westtield,  and  then  climbing  the  heights  beyond;  those  from 
the  southwest  coming  up  to  meet  them.  This  could  not  con- 
tinue, in  the  nature  of  things.  Business,  which,  like  the  pio- 
neers themselves,  first  located  on  the  hills,  began  to  open  up 
along  the  stream  below.  Cummington  village  grew  up. 
Those  living  there,  as  well  as  those  northeast,  east,  and  south- 
east, desired  to  have  the  meeting-house  removed  to  the  village, 
while  those  beyond  the  liills  to  the  west  naturally  objected. 
After  considerable  negotiation  it  was  decided  by  a  council, 
and  consented  to  by  this  church,  that  a  new  one  should  be 
formed  at  the  village.  A  few  years  later  one  was  formed  at 
West  Cummington.  The  friends  of  the  church  upon  the  old 
historic  "Hill"  still  persisted,  and  erected  a  new  house  of 
worship,  about  1840,  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  near  Deacon 
Kogers',  and  a  little  north  of  his  residence.  The  churcli  or- 
ganization was  continued.  Pastors  succeeded  pastors,  but  the 
number  of  families  interested  in  that  point  was  too  few  for 
strength  and  efficiency,  and  the  church  gradually,  if  not  for- 
mally, dissolved.  The  last  item  of  business  upon  the  book  is 
under  date  of  June  17,  1809.  Not  long  after,  the  meeting- 
house itself  was  sold,  taken  down,  and  the  timbers  used  in  the 
erection  of  a  building  for  numufacturing  purposes  at  Swift 
River  Village. 

Mininterial  Record. — 1st.  Rev.  James  Briggs,  ordained  July 
7,  1779;  died  Dec.  7,  1825;  a  long  and  faithful  pastorate  of 
forty-six  years.  2d.  Rev.  Koswell  Uawkes,  settled  as  col- 
league to  Mr.  Briggs,  April  20,  1825,  and  after  the  latter's 
death  continued  as  pastor  ;  dismissed  July  1,  1839.  3d.  Rev. 
S.  D.  Darling,  ordained  Feb.  17,  1841,  and  services  continued 
until  Aug.  14,  lb43.     4th.   Rev.  James  D.  Chapman,  installed 


June  12,  1844.  His  services  were  continued  a  little  more  than 
ten  years  ;  died  in  town  Dec.  21,  1854.  5th.  Rev.  Nelson 
Barbour  appears  a  delegate  to  councils  in  1856,  and  preached 
probably  a  year  or  two. 

The  early  deacons  were  Ebenezer  Snell,  Barnabas  Packard, 
chosen  in  1799;  Abel  Packard,  Jr.,  Benoni  Pratt,  in  1798; 
Jacob  Whitmarsh,  in  1822,  resigned;  James  W.  Briggs,  in 
1822 ;  Amos  Cobb,  in  1822,  resigned  1828  ;  Enos  Porter,  in 
1828.     This  was  the  last  down  to  the  division  of  the  church. 

BAPTIST   CHURCH    IN   CUMMINGTON. 

This  society  was  organized  in  1821  with  14  members,  viz.  : 
Samuel  Whitman,  Freedom  Whitman,  Nehemiah  Richards, 
Polly  Sprague,  James  Snow,  Pamelia  Spraguo,  Elias  S|)rague, 
Susannah  Thayer,  Amos  Tirrell,  Polly  Whitman,  Philanthro- 
pus  Hayden,  Joseph  Gloyd,  Josiah  Hayden,  Asa  Thayer. 

During  the  first  ten  years  this  church  received,  besides  these 
14,  103  members.  The  whole  number  of  names  upon  the 
church-record  is  300.  The  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1823, 
in  the  village  of  Cummington,  at  the  cost  of  about  §3000.  It 
was  dedicated  Feb.  5,  1824. 

LUt  of  Pnafors. — Rev.  Asa  Todd  and  Rev.  J.  Grant  served 
the  church  from  their  organization,  1821,  until  the  dedication 
of  their  house,  1824.  From  Feb.  24,  1824,  until  June,  1820, 
Rev.  Hosea  Trumbull  was  pastor.  From  1826  to  1834,  Rev. 
David  Wright  pastor.  From  1834  to  1839,  Rev.  Edwin  San- 
dys. From  1839  until  1844,  Gardner  C.  Tripp.  In  1844 
George  M.  Willard  was  ordained,  and  continued  his  labors 
until  1848,  after  which  the  church  had  no  stated  preaching 
until  September,  1877,  when  Rev.  H.  C.  Coombs  commenced 
labor,  and  is  their  present  pastor. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  clerks  from  the  formation  to 
the  present  time:  Nehemiah  Richards,  1821  to  1834;  John 
Hubbard,  1834  to  1838;  Alonzo  Gurney,  1838  to  1842;  Hiram 
Beals;  Nehemiah  Bates,  1842  to  1849. 

Deacons. — Sept.  5,  1821,  chose  Freedom  Whitman,  who 
served  thirteen  years ;  1834,  Calvin  Alexander,  eleven  years  ; 
1845,  Aaron  Bigelow,  who  served  until  his  death,  Oct.  7, 
1854. 

The  church  did  some  earnest  Sabbath-school  work  for  sev- 
eral years;  Zalmon  Richards,  now  of  Washington,  D.  C,  was 
engaged  in  it  actively. 

From  1849  till  1875  the  society  met  only  occasionally,  and 
seemed  likely  to  rank  among  the  things  that  were.  The  once 
numerous  and  prosperous  church  was  reduced  to  even  two  or 
three  in  number,  and  the  meeting-house  used  for  other  purposes 
than  a  temple  of  the  living  God.  They  met  at  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Deacon  Bigelow,  July  21,  1875,  and  received  additions 
increasing  the  number  to  seven,  and  in  September,  1875,  chose 
Lanman  Snow  church  clerk,  and  Dec.  20,  1875,  appointed 
L.  Snow  deacon.  In  1876  commenced  repairs  upon  the 
church  edifice.  Sept.  1,  1877,  called  H.  C.  Coombs  as  pastor. 
Since  then  additions  have  been  made  to  the  church,  and  the 
society  too,  and  the  house  has  been  repaired. 

The  meeting-house  of  the  Baptist  Church  was  built  in  1823. 
Levi  Kingman  was  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  managed 
the  business.  He  states  that  it  was  built  very  cheap.  Large 
amounts  of  material  were  given,  and  considerable  labor.  In 
accordance  with  the  usual  custom  of  those  times,  he  rolled  out 
a  barrel  of  rum  upon  the  grass  for  the  entertainment  of  the  peo- 
ple at  the  raising.  The  clerk  of  the  society  is  Joseph  Macomber. 
As  stated  above,  the  church  was  at  one  time  reduced  to  two 
communicants, — Mrs.  Crosby  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Willcutt. 
Two  were  added  by  baptism  from  the  same  families,  and  Mrs. 
Bigelow  joined  by  letter,  from  Northampton.  The  persever- 
ance of  these  Jive  saved  and  perpetuated  the  church. 

VILLAGE   CHURCH   IN    CUMMINGTON. 
The  reasons  that  led  to  the  formation  of  this  society  and  the 
successive  steps  taken  are  briefly  these,  as  appears  from  the 
records : 


IIISTORr  OF  IIAMPSIIIllE   COUNTY. 


449 


Tile  old  meeting-house  on  the  "Hill"  was  in  a  dilapiiUited 
condition  lor  some  years  prior  to  1830,  and  considerable  dis- 
cussion ensued  upon  the  subject  of  rebuilding.  Quite  a  por- 
tion of  the  congregation  desired  to  build  in  the  village,  but 
could  not  secure  a  vote  of  the  church  to  do  so.  They  were 
themselves  unwilling  to  contribute  toward  rebuilding  upon 
the  Hill.  After  two  or  three  unsuccessful  attempts  to  bring 
about  a  harmonious  result,  those  in  favor  of  the  village  loca- 
tion took  steps  to  build  a  meeting-house  there,  without  waiting 
for  any  further  action,  hoping  perhaps  to  induce  the  church 
to  remove  the  services  there  if  a  house  was  once  built  and 
olfered  for  the  purpose;  or  more  likely  they  foresaw  that,  with 
the  gr(jwing  village  and  the  unwillingness  of  the  people  of  the 
oast  to  climb  the  hill,  a  new  society  would  be  formed,  and  it 
was  wise  to  have  a  meeting-house  built,  ready. 

June  0,  1836,  a  meeting  was  held  to  forward  this  object. 
The  land  now  occupied  by  the  Union  Hotel  was  bargained 
for,  but  not  finally  secured,  and  the  site  of  the  present  house 
was  purchased  of  Mr.  Harvey  Tirrell,  for  the  sum  of  §100. 
The  place  was  a  fine  gravelly  knoll,  nearly  as  high  as  the 
caves  of  the  present  church,  and  was  of  such  peculiar  symme- 
trical shape  that  older  citizens  still  regret  its  removal,  think- 
ing it  was  a  landmark  worth  retaining.  The  hill  was  leveled 
to  its  present  form  and  the  house  built.  The  building  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Jonathan  Dawes,  Seth  Ford,  and  John 
Orcutt;  about  |2(X)0  were  subscribed  and  paid,  the  house 
raised  July  16,  1838,  finished  during  the  year  following,  and 
dedicated  Sept.  11,  1839.  All  this  was  done  by  individuals, 
without  any  parish  organization.  Various  negotiations  had 
preceded  this,  councils  were  summoned,  and  on  the  1st  of 
Jul}',  1839,  a  new  church  was  constituted,  consisting  of  forty- 
seven  members.  Hiram  Brown  was  elected  the  first  clerk  ; 
Enos  Bates,  Joseph  Warner,  and  Francis  Bates,  the  first 
standing  committee.  A  call  was  extended  to  Eev.  Royal 
Reed,  July  6,  1839.  It  was  accepted,  and  he  was  installed  as 
the  first  pastor  of  the  church  the  same  day  that  the  house  was 
dedicated,  Sept.  11,  1839.  Enos  Porter  and  Hiram  Brown 
were  cho.sen  the  first  deacons,  and  Francis  Bates  treasurer. 

Minlsferial  Record. — 1st.  Rev.  Royal  Reed,  ordained  Sept.  11, 
1839;  dismissed  Dec.  8,  1841.  2d.  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Clark,  or- 
dained Oct.  11,  1842;  dismissed  May  2i),  18-32;  but,  neverthe- 
less, supplied  the  pulpit  for  several  years  longer,  closing  his 
labors  April  10, 1859.  Thepulpit  was  then  supplied  temporarily 
by  Rev.  Edward  Clarke,  Rev.  John  C.  Hutchinson,  Rev.  Mr. 
Hatch,  Rev.  Mr.  Lord.  3d.  Rev.  J.  C.  Thompson,  the  last 
stated  supply  of  the  First  Church,  preached  for  this  church 
for  two-thirds  of  the  time,  from  Nov.  1,  18-59,  to  April,  18G0, 
then  gave  his  whole  time  to  this  church.  At  the  same  time 
an  invitation  was  extended  to  the  members  of  the  First 
Church  to  attend  public  worship  with  the  village  church, 
and  it  was  very  largely  accepted.  Mr.  Thompson's  labors 
closed  May  1,  1861.  Various  temporary  supplies  were  ob- 
tained. 4th.  Rev.  J.  Jay  Dana  was  employed  regularly 
from  the  second  Sabbath  of  June,  1861.  His  labors  closed 
Oct.  29,  186-5.  5th.  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Felteh  was  installed 
June  19,  1867.  His  pastorate  terminated  by  his  death,  Jan. 
19,  1869.  6th.  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Gay.  His  labors  commenced 
April  12,  1870,  closed  Dec.  29,  1872.  Temporary  supplies  fol- 
lowed. 7th.  Rev.  Mr.  Alvord  commenced  his  pastoral  labor 
May  1,  1873;  closed  April  30,  1874.  Temporary  supplies  for 
a  year.  8th.  Rev.  Henry  A.  Ottman  began  his  labors  Uct.  1, 
1875,  and  closed  in  the  fall  of  1877.  9th.  Rev.  0.  S.  Morris, 
of  the  West  Curnmington  Church,  divides  his  services  with 
the  village  church,  preaching  for  the  latter  in  the  forenoon, 
and  is  the  present  acting  pastor. 

Record  of  DeaconH. — Enos  Porter,  chosen  July  27,  1839, 
died  Jan.  14,  1867;  Hiram  Brown,  chosen  July  27,  1839, 
moved  to  Illinois;  Ephraim  Ford,  chosen  March  2,  1844, 
died  Nov.  1,  18-54;  Elias  Beals,  chosen  Jan.  6,  1855,  still 
living  in  town,  but  not  acting.  William  H.  White,  chosen 
57 


Jan.  1,  1876,  Henry  M.  Dyer,  chosen  Jan.  1,  1870,  present 
deacons. 

Almon  Mitchell  was  fur  seventeen  years  treasurer,  collector, 
and  clerk  of  the  parish.  He  is  still  serving  in  the  latter  oflice. 
The  present  clerk  of  the  church  is  Deacon  Wm.  H.  White. 

THE    METHODI.ST    CUUKCH    OF    CUMMINOTOX 

was  established  under  the  labors  of  Rev.  Wm.  Willcut,  1838- 
40.  Meetings  were  held  to  some  extent  in  private  houses,  and 
then  in  the  old  factory,  that  became  known  as  "the  chapel." 
An  amusing  anecdote  is  related  that  one  meeting  was  pretty 
much  silenced  by  the  noise  of  the  water  roaring  through  the 
old  works,  the  gate  having  been  raised  above  by  some  prac- 
tical joker,  who  succeeded  in  getting  into  the  house  and  se- 
curing a  quiet  seat  before  the  noise  of  the  stream  fairly  began. 
The  meeting-house  was  built  about  1840,  and  was  a  building 
of  fair  size  and  convenient  arrangement.  It  stood  near  the 
forge  bridge,  not  far  from  the  present  residence  of  Stephen 
Benjamin.  The  land  was  given  by  a  former  proprietor, 
James  W.  Briggs. 

Among  the  men  specially  interested  and  active  in  establish- 
ing the  church  were  David  Tower,  John  Ford,  and  Nathaniel 
Bartlett.  Cyrus  AV'arner  erected  the  house.  Successive  minis- 
ters were  Revs.  Willcut,  Todd,  Cushman,  Green,  Strong,  and 
Gage.  After  the  society  declined,  and  the  Methodists  ceased 
to  use  the  building,  it  was  occupied  to  some  extent  by  Congre- 
gational ministers  for  neighborhood  services.  These  finallj- 
were  given  up,  the  pews  and  furniture  were  taken  out,  and  the 
building  converted  into  a  sugar-house,  which  it  still  remains. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHUBCU  OF  WEST  CUMMINGTON 
originated  as  follows:  The  old  society  on  Curnmington  Hill 
being  seriously  divided,  a  new  house  erected  at  the  East  vil- 
lage, and  a  general  disintegration  taking  place,  Elisha  Mitchell 
and  Wm.  Hubbard,  the  real  founders  of  West  Curnmington 
village,  took  the  decisive  step  of  erecting  a  meeting-house  in 
1839.  It  was  built  in  about  three  months,  by  Mr.  Crandall, 
of  Adams,  contractor,  and  dedicated  in  August.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1840  meetings  were  held,  and  in  November  of  that 
year  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Baldwin  commenced  his  regular  pastoral 
service.  Meanwhile,  the  Second  AVindsor  Congregational 
Church,  with  something  of  an  ancient  history,  and  located  in 
a  neighborhood  known  as  "the  Bush,"  not  for  from  West 
Curnmington,  were  looking  toward  this  latter  place  as  a  favor- 
able point  to  unite  in  a  stronger  church  movement.  This  was 
hastened  by  the  actual  removal  of  some  of  the  members  to 
this  neighborhood.  This  tendency  culminated  in  a  formal 
vote,  Sept.  20,  1841,  when  11  male  members  and  21  females 
changed  their  relations  and  founded  this  church.  The  male 
members  were  Jacob  Snow,  Jacob  Whitmarsh,  Samuel  Dawes, 
Amos  Ford,  Isaiah  Whitman,  Cyrus  Latham,  Lyman  Bird, 
James  Whitman,  Wm.  Payson,  Josiah  Allen,  John  Dawes. 

The  pastoral  record  maj'  be  briefly  expressed  as  follows:  1st. 
Rev.  Joseph  B.  Baldwin,  installed  Sept.  1,  1841,  and  continued 
sixteen  and  a  half  years.  2d.  Rev.  Josiah  Pomeroy,  sixteen 
months.  3d.  Rev.  Sardis  B.  Morley,  three  months.  4th.  Rev. 
Mr.  Brown,  one  3'ear.  5th.  Rev.  David  Rood,  a  returned  mis- 
sionary, about  six  months.  6th.  Rev.  Henry  Matson,  a  year 
and  a  half  7th.  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Baldwin,  four  years.  8th. 
Rev.  Charles  Scott,  a  year  and  a  half.  9th.  Rev.  Robert 
Samuel,  a  year  and  a  half  10th.  Rev.  J.  U.  Parsons,  one 
year.  11th.  Rev.  0.  S.  Morris,  the  present  pa*tor,  who  com- 
menced his  labors  among  this  people  May  1,  1873,  and  is  now 
in  the  sixth  year  of  his  pastorate.  Between  these  stated 
periods  of  service  there  were  vacancies,  when  the  pulpit  was 
filled  by  temporary  supplies,  or  services  were  occasionally 
suspended. 

Record  of  Deacons.Sohn  W.  Bisbee,  still  living  in  Plain- 
field ;  James  W.  Briggs,  died  in  Lanesboro' ;  Jared  Bisbee, 
moved  West;  Jo.seph  Allen,  died,  1873;  Darius  Bird,  present 


450 


HISTOIIY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


acting  deacon;  Samuel  Rice,  moved  away;  Wm.  H.  Packard, 
present  acting  deacon. 

The  clerks  have  been  Rev.  Joseph  Baldwin,  Deacon  Joseph 
C.  Allen,  "William  Henry  Packard.  The  present  number  of 
communicants,  46 ;  congregation,  100  to  150.  The  Sunday- 
school  averages  90,  with  a  library  of  200  volumes.  Superin- 
tendent of  Sunday-school,  Mr.  Corscr. 

The  society  have  a  good  parsonage.  The  house  of  worship 
has  been  recently  repaired,  and  is  really  a  neat  and  handsome 
edifice.  It  has  a  fine  situation,  just  in  the  rear  of  the  village, 
with  the  beautiful  slopes  of  Deer  Hill  rising  to  lofty  heights 
beyond.  The  poet  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant  often  worshiped  with 
this  rural  congregation.  His  religious  belief  was  here  ex- 
pressed by  partaking  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
with  this  church,  thus  .showing  that  with  him  the  closing  pa.s- 
sage  of  "  Thanatopsis"  rested,  as  it  must  rest,  upon  the  solid  and 
everlasting  foundations  of  Christian  faith.  Near  the  close  of 
his  residence  here  in  the  summer  of  1877,  and  on  the  last  Sab- 
bath ho  ever  spent  in  Cummington,  he  came  to  this  church 
with  his  daughter.  The  pastor  was  absent,  and  no  supply  for 
the  pulpit  arranged.  After  waiting  some  time,  Mr.  Bryant 
arose  and  said  that  it  was  evident  they  were  to  have  no  min- 
ister ;  that  if  the  people  wished  he  would  read  selections  from 
the  Bible.  Then,  going  to  the  desk,  he  opened  the  sacred  vol- 
ume and  read  for  some  time  in  his  own  inimitable  manner. 
Then,  in  devout,  childlike  simplicity,  he  closed  by  reciting  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  To  many  of  that  audience  this  is  the  last 
personal  reminiscence  of  the  great  poet,  as  he  soon  after  left 
town  never  to  return  ;  for  in  the  opening  months  of  the  next 
summer,  amid  the  roses  of  June  he  loved  so  well,  he  passed 
awaj'  "like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch  about 
him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

THE    U.N'IVERSALIST    CHUIirH    OF    CU.MMINGTON. 

Before  the  organization  of  a  society,  and  perhaps  as  early 
as  18.3.5,  occasional  meetings  were  held,  and  Rev.  William 
Wilcox,  a  minister  of  this  denomination,  preached  in  the 
school-house  at  West  Cummington.  Receiving  considerable 
encouragement,  a  society  was  formed  and  regular  services  es- 
tablished. A  council  of  the  Uuiversalist  churches  was  held 
here  in  1839,  and  is  remembered  by  many  as  an  occasion  of 
great  interest.  The  house  of  worship  was  built  in  1845  or 
184(;,  by  Zebedee  Randall,  contractor ;  probably  cost  about 
$2000.  The  land  for  the  site  was  given  by  Charles  Shaw. 
The  house  is  conveniently  situated  on  the  main  street,  and 
bus  one  of  the  old-time  spires,  which  have  scarcely  been  suc- 
ceeded by  anything  more  appropriate  in  modern  church  archi- 
tecture. It  needs  some  repairs  and  improvements  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  but  is  otherwise  a  handsome  edifice.  Services  were 
maintained  with  considerable  regularity  for  twenty  years  or 
more.  The  ministers  were  Rev.  Almond  Mason,  Rev.  Earl 
Guilford,  Rev.  Moses  Stoddard,  Rev.  Mr.  Gilford,  Rev.  Mr. 
Plumb,  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes,  Rev.  Mr.  Mandel,  Rev.  L.  W. 
Brigham,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Trask.  The  latter  was  the  last  reg- 
ular minister.  Since  he  closed  his  labors  there  have  been  only 
occasional  speakers. 

Those  most  active  in  establishing  this  church  were  Eben- 
ezerShaw,  Brackley  Shaw,  Spencer  Shaw,  Charles  Shaw,  Jacob 
Bates,  William  Thompson,  and  Andrew  Babbitt.  The  society 
still  retains  its  legal  organization  and  its  property.  The 
present  clerk  is  Horatio  Jordan,  and  the  trustees  are  Almon 
Pcarse,  Charles  Harlow,  and  Lorenzo  Tower. 

BUKIAL-PLACES. 

At  a  proprietors'  meeting,  Aug.  21,  1771,  John  Holbrook, 
Joseph  Farr,  and  Timothy  Moore  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  lay  out  a  burying-place.  Oct.  30,  1771,  voted  to  accept  of 
the  burying-place  laid  out  by  the  committee  on  lot  No.  71. 
Dec.  28,  1772,  voted  to  clear  one  acre  for  a  burying-place. 

This,  though  not  very  clear  in  description,  is  supposed  to 


refer  to  the  one  a  short  distance  west  of  Bryant's  summer  res- 
idence. The  lot  No.  71  is  the  same  as  was  voted  by  one  of  the 
early  town-meetings  for  the  location  of  the  meeting  house, 
which  fact  may  throw  some  light  upon  the  location  of  the 
latter. 

The  small-pox  hospital  of  1774  may  have  been  on  the  pres- 
ent farm  of  Milton  Porter.  There  is  a  grave  at  one  point  and 
evidence  of  a  building,  though  some  suppose  it  was  on  the 
Warner  farm,  as  stated  elsewhere. 

Besides  this  pioneer  burial-place,  there  is  the  old  one  on 
Cummington  Hill,  which  dates  back  at  least  to  the  location  of 
the  meeting-house  near  it.  There  is  another  on  Thomas'  Hill, 
in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town.  This  is  in  general  use  by 
the  people  of  that  section.  The  cemetery  at  the  Baptist 
Church,  Cummington  village,  is  in  very  good  preservation, 
with  a  portion  of  the  lots  neatly  terraced,  showing  evidence 
of  loving  care.  There  is  another  small,  but  still  a  public, 
burial-place  near  Francis  Streeter's.  At  West  Cummington  is 
a  cemetery  in  which  general  burial  occurs  for  that  place  and 
vicinity.  Besides  these  public  grounds,  there  are  private  fam- 
ily burial-places  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  upon  the  farm 
of  Ebenezer  Shaw,  of  E.  W.  Tillson,  of  Widow  Cobb,  of 
Milton  Porter,  of  Deacon  Rogers,  and  on  the  old  farm  of 
Domer  Guilbert. 

TOWN    SOCIETIES,    LIBRARIES. 

A  Masonic  lodge  existed  in  this  town,  according  to  the 
recollections  of  Levi  Kingman,  for  probably  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  before  the  Morgan  excitement,  when  it  died  out.  It 
was  known  as  Orion  Lodge.  The  place  of  meeting  was  in  the 
hall  over  the  old  store  bought  by  Mr.  Kingman,  1818.  When 
the  lodge  dissolved  he  was  appointed  to  wind  up  the  affairs. 
The  property  was  sold,  dues  collected  as  far  as  possible,  debts 
paid,  and  a  small  balance  given  to  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety through  William  Packard.  The  lodge  celebrated  St. 
.John's  Day  in  1823 ;  Cyrus  Ford,  chaimiian  of  committee. 

Temperance  societies  and  several  benevolent  or  literary  as- 
sociations have  existed  from  time  to  time,  but  quickly  dis- 
solved. There  was  an  early  temperance  movement  about 
1830.  Lawyer  Holland,  of  Belchertown,  came  out  and  deliv- 
ered an  address  in  the  old  church  on  the  Hill,  and  a  society 
was  formed.  The  hall  overMr.  Kingman's  store  was  exten- 
sively used  from  1820  to  1835.  Singing-schools  met  there, 
courts  and  arbitrations,  religious  meetings,  and  miscellaneous 
gatherings. 

The  Bryant  Library  was  founded  b}-  the  poet  for  the  benefit 
of  his  native  town  in  1872.  He  devoted  something  like  §20,000 
to  this  purpose,  about  half  of  which  is  invested  in  buildings 
and  grounds,  comprising  the  library  itself  and  a  dwelling- 
house  for  the  librarian  and  his  family.  The  collection  of 
books  is  very  valuable,  embracing  a  great  variety  of  subjects, 
and  particularly  rich  in  the  historical  department.  It  is  open 
for  consultation  and  circulation.  Mr.  Lorenzo  N.  Tower  is 
the  present  librarian  (1878).  The  town  is  required,  by  the 
conditions  of  the  gift,  to  make  a  small  annual  appropriation 
for  the  benefit  of  the  library. 

PLACES  OF  HISTORIC  INTEREST  OR  OF  SPECIAL  NOTE. 

It  may  be  proper  to  mention  as  one  the  house  of  Stephen 
Warner,  where  the  proprietors,  in  1771,  held  theirfirst  meeting 
in  town,  and  transacted  business  in  due  form.  To  reach  this 
spot  they  had  come  down  from  the  hills  of  Plainfield,  from 
the  "  north  side"  of  the  river,  from  the  extreme  west  and  the 
extreme  east,  a  few  scattered  pioneers, — bold  spirits, — contend- 
ing with  the  forces  of  nature,  and  equally  ready  to  face  the 
questions  of  national  peril  involved  in  the  imiiending  revo- 
lution. 

Then  there  is  the  place  of  the  first  town-meeting.  It  was 
held  "at  the  house  of  Ens.  Packard,  Dec.  20,  1779."  The 
second,  January  5th,  and,  by  adjournment,  January  17th,  was 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


451 


also  assembled  at  the  house  of  Ens.  Packard.  The  third, 
March  6,  1780,  was  held  at  the  house  of  Ens.  Abel  Packard. 
It  only  seems  a  fair  inference  that  these  three  were  all  at  the 
same  place,  and,  as  there  is  no  dispute  that  the  house  of  Abel 
Packard  was  at  the  cellar  with  the  butternnt-trce  growing 
out  of  it,  it  is  a  reasonable  conclusion  tliat  that  was  the  place 
of  the  first  town-meeting.  This  view  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  the  inn  of  Adam  Packard  was  not  opened  until  six 
years  later,  1785.  Adam  Packard  was  a  white-haired  boy  of 
sixteen  when  he  came  to  town  with  his  older  brother,  Abel. 

The  locations  of  the  several  pioneer  meeting-houses  naturally 
liave  considerable  historic  interest  connected  witli  them.  The 
first,  a  log  building,  said  to  have  been  not  far  from  the  present 
house  of  David  Tirrell ;  the  second,  supposed  to  have  stood  at 
the  Four  Corners,  east  of  the  present  residence  of  Francis 
Dawes ;  and  the  third,  known  to  have  been  on  the  "hill  above 
the  pound,"  west  of  the  high  ledge.  Around  the  doors  of  the 
first,  the  old  pioneers,  before  and  after  divine  service,  must 
have  talked  over  the  opening  events  of  the  Revolution,  the 
stirring  news  from  Boston  Harbor,  from  Lexington,  from 
Bunker  Hill,  and  from  the  Continental  Congress.  Around 
the  second  they  conversed  of  the  events  of  1781  and  1782,  the 
campaigns  of  the  Carolinas,  the  treason  of  Arnold,  the  sur- 
render at  Yorktown,  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  Fetleral  Constitution.  The  third  was  scarcely  eight  years 
finished  when  it  was  in  mourning  for  the  death  of  George 
"Washington;  and  then,  as  forty  years  went  by,  how  many 
solemn  scenes  the  venerable  hou.se  witnessed  !  There  the  chil- 
dren were  baptized.  With  the  blessing  of  the  white-haired 
old  minister  the  vows  of  marriage  were  pronounced,  and 
around  the  open  graves  in  the  old  cemetery,  not  far  away, 
there  fell  upon  bushed  and  mourning  souls  the  blessed  words 
of  Cliristian  hope. 

Tliese  places  are  local  in  their  associations,  but  there  is 
another, — the  birth-place  of  Willinm  Cidlen  Bryant, — which 
has  a  national,  a  world-wide,  interest.  This  spot,  sacred  in  the 
annals  of  American  poetry,  was  on  Cummington  Hill.  The 
house  stood  in  the  corner  of  Mr.  Tower's  orchard,  and  nearly 
opposite  the  old  cemetery.  Then  the  Bryant  farm  itself, 
wliere  be  passed  his  childhood,  where  he  wrote  "  Thanatopsis," 
where  are  the  streams  and  the  forests  whose  melodj'  breatlied 
in  the  poems  of  his  youth  and  inspired  the  songs  of  his  ad- 
vancing years.  Here  are  the  retreats  of  classic  taste,  where 
he  loved  to  gather  around  him  poets  and  statesmen,  and  with 
them  seek  relief  from  the  engrossing  cares  of  public  life  in 
"sweet  communion  with  Nature  in  all  her  varied  forms." 

INDUSTRI.\L    PURSUITS. 

Generally  speaking,  agriculture  is  the  leading  business  of 
Cummington.  It  is,  however,  intermingled  witli  various 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  employments.  In  early  times 
considerable  lumbering  was  done.  Firewood  was  cut  for 
market  to  some  extent.  A  number  of  tanneries  were  estab- 
lished, and  did  a  profitable  business.  A  large  amount  of 
scythe-stones  were  made  at  one  period. 

A  writer  twenty  years  ago  said  of  some  industries  : 

*' The  cotton-factories  liave  become  extinct.  Two  small  woolen-factories  re- 
main in  operation,  which  get  off  annually  aliont  40,IXX)  yards  of  coaree  satinets. 
Fimr  tanneiies  make  250  tons  of  sole-leather  annually.  Four  scythe-stone 
manufactoiies  send  to  market  45(J0  gross  of  that  artiile  yearly.  There  are  also 
several  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  clothes-frames  and  other  wooden- 
wares,  six  saw-mills,  to  two  of  which  is  attached  broom-handle  machinery  that 
turns  out  annually  50,LIOO  broom-handles." 

MILLS,  MANUFACTURES. 

On  Swift  Kiver,  near  the  Goshen  line,  was  a  grist-mill  in 
early  times.  The  site  is  pointed  out  on  the  Shaw  farm.  At 
Swift  River  village,  where  the  two  branches  of  Swift  River 
unite,  and  a  little  below  join  the  Westfield,  there  are  located 
the  works  of  N.  B.  Crosby.  To  secure  ample  water-power,  he 
constructed  some  vears  ago  a  reservoir  on  the  north  branch  of 


Swift  River,  not  far  from  the  school-house  in  District  No.  3. 
Mr.  Guilford  made  scythe-stone.s  for  a  long  time.  A  son  still 
carries  on  varicms  mechanical  works  at  this  point.  Above 
Swift  River  village,  on  the  Westfield  River,  was  a  grist-mill, 
and  also  a  saw-mill,  owned  in  early  times  by  Moses  Warner. 
The  buildings  became  dilapidated,  and  the  works  were  all 
swept  away  by  various  freshets  forty  years  ago  or  more.  Dr. 
Joy  states  that  his  father,  Nehemiah  Joy,  with  Asa  Gurney 
and  Stephen  Shaw,  built  these  mills  about  1797,  and  that  they 
pas.sed  to  Warner  next.  This  makes  them  of  later  date  than 
indicated  above. 

Coming  up  the  Westfield  River,  no  other  sites  of  ancient  or 
present  mills  are  found  until  the  lower  end  of  Cummington 
village  is  reached.  There,  in  early  times,  was  a  grist-mill, 
owned  by  James  Shaw.  It  was  afterward  changed  to  clothier- 
works.  Considerable  manufacturing  was  undertaken  by  a 
company,  but  the  enterprise  failed  to  be  remunerative,  and 
was  abandoned.  A  tannery  was  carried  on  for  several  years 
at  that  point. 

The  large  building  standing  in  later  years  has  been  occupied 
with  a  variety  of  works.  At  the  present  time  (1878)  A.  C. 
Parsons  is  making  plane-  and  saw-handles  to  a  limited  extent. 
In  the  above  building  is  also  Bradley's  machine-shop  and  the 
painting-rooms  of  C.  J.  Spring. 

Tracing  up  the  Orcutt  Brook,  a  tributary  of  the  Westfield 
emptying  in  tit  the  village,  the  site  of  an  early  saw-mill  may 
be  noticed.  It  wtis  owned  at  one  time  by  Thomas  Tirrell,  and 
was  near  the  bridge  at  Mr.  Almon  Mitchell's.  A  blacksmith- 
shop  was  also  there.  On  the  same  brook,  farther  up  in  the 
wtxxls,  was  also  a  saw-mill,  known  familiarly  as  "Uncle 
Zeke's,  '  the  proprietor  being  Ezekiel  Reed.  Lower  down  on 
the  brook,  nearer  the  Westfield,  is  the  present  establishment 
of  the  Bradley  Brothers  for  the  manufacture  of  various  kinds 
of  wood-work.     They  also  have  a  cider-mill. 

Returning  to  the  channel  of  the  Westfield,  farther  up  to- 
ward the  bridge,  is  the  building  known  as  the  old  cotton-ftic- 
tory.  Mr.  Kingman  states  that  it  was  erected  about  1812. 
Josiah  Hayden,  Asa  Gurney,  and  James  Dawes  were  the 
principal  men  concerned  in  it,  though  a  few  shares  were  per- 
haps owned  by  other  citizens.  The  enterprise  was  not  very 
successful,  and  was  continued  only  a  few  years.  Josiah  Hay- 
den was  the  father  of  the  Haydens  who  were  afterward  so 
prominent  in  manufacturing  enterprises  in  Williamsburg. 
Asa  Gurney,  Maj.  Dawes,  and  his  son  carried  on  the  business 
for  a  short  time  after  Mr.  Htvyden  left.  The  building  stood 
unoccupied  for  several  years,  except  as  it  was  temporarily 
used  for  various  works.  John  Staflxird  made  whetstones  there 
thirty  years  ago  or  more,  and  down  to  1808.  Penholders  and 
other  varieties  of  small  wood-work  have  been  made  in  that 
building,  and  it  Ls  still  occupied  for  similar  purposes. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  river,  above  the  bridge,  was  a  fac- 
tory for  the  manufacture  of  scythe-snaths,  run  for  some  years 
by  Jordan  &  Rhodes.  A  dwelling-house  now  occupies  the 
site.  Above  this  was  a  factory  built  by  the  sons  of  Deacon 
Abel  Packard,— Chester  and  Theophilus.  It  was  upon  their 
father's  old  farm.  It  was  founded  as  a  woolen-factory,  1820 
to  182-5,  but  was  continued  by  them  only  a  few  years.  They 
finally  went  West.  The  enterprise  was  continued  by  Seth 
Williams.  He  afterward  closed  out  this  and  his  other  busi- 
ness, and  moved  away.  The  building  is  now  an  establishment 
for  the  manufacture  of  pen-sticks  and  towel-racks.  Hylas 
Bradley  is  the  proprietor,  and  has  a  saw-mill   in  connection 

with  it. 

On  Shaw  Brook,  which  empties  into  the  Westfield  above 
the  Bryant  Library,  was  a  large  tannery,  founded,  perhaps, 
before  1800.  It  was  near  the  north  line  of  the  town,  and  was 
carried  on  by  Mitchell,  Mason  &  Richards.  Above,  on  Shaw 
Brook,  was  a  grist-mill,— an  old  affair,— abandoned  many 
years  ago,  known  as  the  Baker  Mill,  and  thought  by  some  to 
have  been  the  first  grist-mill  in  town. 


452 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Eeturning  to  the  valley  of  the  Westfield,  and  reaching  the 
neighborhood  locally  known  by  the  singular  name  of"  Light- 
ning-Bug,"  the  old  clothier-works  of  Charles  Gloyd  will  be 
easily  recalled  by  the  people  of  Cummington,  as  Mr.  Gloyd  is 
said  to  have  been  found  at  his  post,  year  in  and  year  out,  for 
nearly  (ifty  years.  Mr.  Grimes  and  Daniel  Kichards  are 
understood  to  have  been  the  early  proprietors,  and  Mr.  Levi 
Kingman  supposes  the  works  were  in  operation  before  1800. 
There  was  another  clothing-mill  by  Ford  at  this  place,  and  it 
developed  into  a  woolen-factory.  In  this  same  vicinity  was 
the  old  forge  of  1780,  or  earlier,  and  it  was  continued  to  some 
extent  in  later  years.  In  this  locality,  too,  was  a  grist-mill, 
and  afterward  it  was  changed  to  a  clover-seed  mill.  Stephen 
Warner  and  Asa  Streeter  were  proprietors  of  the  latter. 

On  one  of  the  small  streams  Howing  in  from  Plainfield  was 
a  blacksmith-shop  with  a  trip-hammer.  It  was  a  noi-sy  aflair, 
being  heard  three  miles  or  more.  It  was  run  by  Whitman, 
and  afterward  by  Asahel  Bartlett.  A  little  above,  on  the 
Westfield,  was  Brown's  saw-mill,  originally  built  by  Mr. 
Bisbee,  still  running  ;  broom-handles  are  made  there.  Next, 
up  the  valley  of  the  Westfield,  is  the  new  paper-mill,  built  a 
few  years  since  by  Manshall  Bates  ;  wrapping-paper  is  the  line 
of  work  done.  Still  above  is  an  an  old  grist-mill  site,  verv 
ancient,  dating  back  to  the  early  settlement  of  the  town,  per- 
haps the  first  grist-mill  in  the  west  part.  William  Hubbard 
is  said  to  have  ground  bark  for  his  tannery  at  this  place.  The 
buildings  were  swept  away  many  years  ago,  and  not  rebuilt. 
Next  in  order  may  be  mentioned  the  saw-mill  and  bedstead- 
manufactory  of  Henry  Elder.  On  this  site  was  an  old  saw- 
mill prior  to  these  modern  works.  The  bedstead  business  has 
latel}^  been  given  up  for  that  of  pen-holders.  Harlow's  works 
are  next  above,  comprising  a  saw-mill  and  an  establishment 
for  the  manufacture  of  various  articles  of  wood-work.  A 
cotton-factory  once  occupied  this  site.  It  was  built  in  1827, 
by  John  Dawes  &  Sons.  Elisha  Carpenter  and  Aaron  Sawyer 
put  in  the  machinery.  It  was  burned  in  a  few  years,  and  not 
rebuilt.  The  next  important  point  on  the  river  is  the  jilace  of 
the  present  paper-mills  of  the  L.  L.  Brown  Company.  In 
old  times  Hubbard's  tannery  was  established  at  this  place. 
On  a  branch  of  the  Westfield  is  the  saw-mill  of  the  Torrey 
Brothers,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  near  the  Windsor  line, 
a  place  sometimes  called  East  Windsor,  and  also  "  Jordan- 
ville."  In  this  account  no  attempt  is  made  to  actually  deter- 
mine the  site  of  the  first  saw-mill  or  the  first  grist-mill. 
Judging  from  the  town  records,  and  from  the  traditions 
among  the  people  at  the  present  time,  it  will  be  found  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  between  three  of  the  most  ancient  sites, 
and  it  is  very  likely  true  that  they  were  all  occupied  about 
the  same  time,' — from  1705  to  1770. 

Of  early  blacksmiths  in  town  tlicre  may  be  named  Nathan 
Snow,  Solomon  Shaw,  Eliphalet  Packard,  and  Capt.  Whit- 
man. Early  shoemakers  mentioned  are  Ebenezer  Hunt, 
Alonzo  Gurney,  and,  later,  Mr.  Parks. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  production  for  the  year  ending 
May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values: 
Butter,  ?1 1,397;  firewood,  §.5618  ;  maple  sugar,  §4989  ;  beef, 
$7102;  apples,  $2672;  hay,  |29,869 ;  milk,  §1.3,389;  pork, 
§3660;  potatoes,  §7053;  manure,  §7107.  There  were  also 
reported,  eggs,  §1786;  corn,  §1758  r  oats,  §1.304. 

MILITARY. 

In  the  old  volume  of  proprietors'  records  appears  the  fol- 
lowing official  action  : 

Si-|)t.  29, 1774.— Voted  tliat  Capt.  T)anii>l  Recil,  Ens.  Piter  Harwood,  and  Capt. 
■Joseph  Warner  Ite  a  eonimittee  of  corresi»ondence.  Voted  to  piirtinme  one 
li»rrcl  of  powder,  lialf  a  hundred  of  hsul,  for  a  town  store  of  auiniunitiou. 
Ens.  Packard  and  William  Ward  appointed  to  get  the  snpplius  and  keep  the 
same. 

Oct.  31,  1770.— Voted  that  Mr.  Sncll  and  Lieut.  Harwood  be  added  to  the 
committee  on  correspondenee. 

March  4, 1777.— Chose  a  new  committee  on  correspondence,— Ebenezer  Sncll, 


Jonathan  Ripley,  \Vm.  Ward,  Lieut.  Colson,  Eds.  Packard,  Capt.  Keed,  and 
Stephen  Warner. 

These  proceedings  w^ere  taken  before  the  town  was  incorpo- 
rated, while  it  was  yet  simply  Township  No.  5,  but  the  meetings 
of  the  proprietors  were  being  held  in  due  form,  and  very  many 
of  the  votes  and  doings  were  similar  to  those  of  a  full3'  organ- 
ized town.  It  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  any  list  preserved 
of  those  who  enlisted  at  this  time  in  the  Continental  army; 
but  such  names  are  hereafter  mentioned  as  the  recollection  of 
families  and  citizens  can  supply. 

After  the  formation  of  the  town  we  find  the  following  ac- 
tion : 

At  a  legal  meeting  held  at  the  "Alarm  Post,"  June  15, 
1780,— 

Voted  H  siiffiL-ient  sum  of  money  to  hire  four  suldiors,  Yoted  to  choose  a 
committee  to  Iiiie  said  men,  and  tliut  Lieut.  Stephen  Warner,  Eus.  Abel  Pack- 
ard, Capt.  Nathan  Snow,  and  Mr.  Edmond  L;izell  be  the  said  committee. 

At  a  meeting,  July  4,  1780,  hekl  at  the  "  Alarm  Post," — ■ 
Vote;.!  to  hire  five  militiamen  by  a  committee,  and  that  said  committee  con- 
tinue to  hire  soldiers,  if  needed,  until  further  order;  that  Serg:t.  John  Bradish, 
Lieut,  .lolin  Pai'kard,  Lieut.  Colson,  Deacon  Packard  be  said  committee, 

At  a  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Wm.  Mitchell,  Aug.  10, 

1780  — 

Voted  1 1  raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  p.iy  the  hire  of  five  Ojntinental 
S')Miers ;  also  tlie  hire  of  five  militiamen  obtained  by  tlie  war  committee.  Voted 
to  raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  procure  the  articles  of  clothing  retjuircd  of 
tlie  town  by  the  General  Court  for  soldiers. 

Oct.  30,  1780,  voted  to  raise  £500  to  purchase  beef  for  the 
army,  2590  pounds'  weight  being  required  of  the  town, .which 
shows  the  depreciation  of  the  currency  very  clearly. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  the  hou.se  of  Lieut.  Mitchell,  Dec.  21, 
1780,— 

Voted  tliat  Mr.  David  Leonard,  Mr.  Robert  Rddlison,  and  Sir.  Edmond  La- 
zell  be  a  committee  to  hire  five  Continental  soldiers  for  three  years,  or  during 
the  Will-,  agreeable  to  the  order  of  the  General  Ocuirt. 

March  5,  1781. — Voted  to  accept  the  accounts  of  the  former  selectmen  up  to 
this  day,  and  raise  asum  of  money  sufficient  to  pnrcJiase  the  last  re(i^iisitii>n  of  beef. 

July  31,  1781. — Voted  to  raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  purchase  2057 
pounds  of  beef  for  the  army.  Voted  to  raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  pur- 
chiise  shirts,  shoes,  stockings,  and  Idaiikets  for  the  use  of  the  army. 

Aug.  3,  1781.— Met  at  the  house  of  Hezekiah  Ford.  Voted  to  hire  four  sol- 
diers fin-  three  months,  and  I>r.  James  Bradish,  Capt.  Nathan  Snow,  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Ford  were  nametl  as  committee  for  that  purpose. 

These  votes  show  that  the  town  furnished  its  quota  of  men 
and  its  proportion  of  supplies  for  the  Continental  service. 
Quite  a  number  of  Kevolutionary  pensioners  lived  down  =  to 
near  the  middle  of  this  century.  Daniel  Timothy,  familiarly 
known  as  Teague,  passed  his  hundredth  birthda}'. 

The  following  names  have  been  obtained  of  persons  who 
either  went  into  the  Kevolutionary  service  from  this  town,  or 
who  resided  here  afterward  :  Samuel  Thompson,  Nehemiah 
Joy,  Isaac  Kingman,  Peter  Tower,  Nathaniel  Tower,  Caleb 
Packard  (perhaps  over  the  line  in  Goshen). 

John  Packard's  hill  of  12s.  for  two  blankets  furnished  the 
Continental  army  was  paid  by  the  town.  May  1,  1786. 

Clark  Robinson,  the  early  settler,  had  three  brothers  killed 
in  the  Kevolutionary  war, — James,  Bartlett,  and  Abner.  Dr. 
Gain  Kobinson,  of  Cummington,  was  a  brother  in  the  same 
family. 

The  histories  of  Shaj's'  rebellion  do  not  show  that  Cumming- 
ton shared  to  any  extent  in  the  active  movements  of  the  insur- 
gents. The  people  were  suffering  from  the  "hard  times,"  like 
those  of  other  towns,  and  sent  delegates  to  some  of  the  conven- 
tions, but  do  not  seem  to  have  taken  up  arms  to  assist  Shays. 

Cummington  was  represented  in  the  Northampton  Conven- 
tion of  July  14,  1812,  held  to  express  the  views  of  this  por- 
tion of  Massachusetts  against  the  war.  The  public  sentiment 
of  the  town  is  shown  by  the  following  article  from  the  Hamp- 
shire. Gazette,  then,  as  now,  the  leading  newspaper  of  the 
county  : 

July  ir>,  1812. — "  Want  of  room  obliged  us  last  week  to  delay  the  publication 
of  the  following  elegant  and  patriotic  ode,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  W.  C.  Bryant, 
son  of  Doctor  Ilryant,  of  Cummington  : 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


453 


AN  ODE  FOR  THE  4th  op  jvLY,  1812. 

Tune. — "  Ye  Gentlemen  o/  Englund. 
"  The  Iiirtliday  of  our  nation 

Once  more  we  greet  with  smiles  ; 
Nor  falls  as  yet  our  hapless  land 

\  prey  to  foreign  wiles. 
Yet  still-increasing  dangers  wake 

The  statesman's  pious  fear ; 
The  whirling  vortex  of  our  fate 

Sweeps  near,  and  still  more  near ; 
The  dreadful  warning,  whispered  long, 
lu  louder  tones  we  hear." 

There  are  seven  other  verses.  It  was  evidently  a  good,  strong 
Federal  ode. 

Tlie  young  poet  survived  the  fall  of  the  Federal  party,  and 
lived  to  write  the  songs  of  his  countrymen  in  the  crisis  of  1861. 
It  wa.s  not  long  necessary  to  explain  that  he  was  "  the  son  of 
Dr.  Bryant,  of  Cumniington,"  to  designate  the  individual  re- 
ferred to. 

Of  the  men  who  went  to  Boston  at  the  call  of  Governor 
Strong,  the  following  are  recalled  by  citizens,  or  are  known 
from  pension  certificates :  Capt.  Whitman,  Leonard  Shaw, 
Harvey  Tirrell,  Thomas  Tirrell,  Capt.  Claggard,  Sulomou 
Shaw,  Mr.  Bates,  Sylvanus  Shaw,  Nathan  Mason  ;  and  there 
were  probably  others. 


Sylvanus  Shaw,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Shaw  (recently  deceased), 
lost  his  life  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  it  is  said  that  Joshua 
Hathaway,  of  this  town,  was  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  that  he 
also  fought  in  the  late  civil  war,  though  beyond  the  legal  age. 

OFFICIAL    ACTION    OF   THE   TOWN. 

There  was  a  town-meeting  held,  Aug.  31,  1861,  which  voted 
to  raise  §500  "in  aid  of  families  of  such  citizens  as  had  or 
might  hereafter  volunteer  in  the  United  States  service." 

A  meeting  was  held,  July  28,  1862,  at  which  it  was  voted  to 
pay  a  bounty  of  $100  to  each  volunteer  to  fill  the  quota  of  the 
town,  the  number  required  being  then  fourteen. 

According  to  Schouler's  "History,"  Cumniington  furnished 
105  men  for  the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  8  over  all  de- 
mands. Five  were  commissioned  otficers.  A  number  of  the 
men  were  substitutes,  hired  in  Boston  or  elsewhere. 

The  following  list  is  intended  to  include  only  actual  citi- 
zens of  Cumniington. 

The  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was  510,589..3-J. 
The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  in  1860  was  §415,746,  and 
the  population  1085.  Amount  raised  for  aid  to  soldiers'  fami- 
lies, afterward  refunded  by  the  State,  was:  1802,  §777.95; 
1803,  §2019.77;  1864,  §1034.95;  1865,  §1000;  total,  §48.32.07. 


SOLDIERS'  LIST,  WAR  OF  1801-05. 
Nathaniel  Hunt,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1802,  37tli  Inf.,  Co. 

A;  disch.  June  9,  1865. 
Timiithy  D.  Richardson,  enl.  Sept.  2.1S02,.'i71h  Inf., 

Co.  A  ;  wounded  severely  at  tattle  of  Spotts^l- 

vania;  disch.  May  18,  1805,  for  disahiiity. 
Wm.  A.  Williams,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1802,  :i7lh  Inf.,  Co. 

A  J  died  Feb.  12,  180:1,  at  Fiilmouth,  Va. 
James  Dorgan,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1SC2,  .37lh  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  died  June  18,  1804,  at  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Darwin  C.  Ruhbins,  enl.  Aug.  3(l,  1802,  :i71h  Inf., 

Co.  D  ;  disch.  Feb.  3,  1803,  for  disability. 
Alnion  N.  Bradley,  enl. Oct.  19,  ISOl,  27lh  Inf.,  Co. 

It;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  18G4;  died  Sept.  6,  1864,  at 

Point  of  Rocks,  Md. 
Wm.  11.  Shaw,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1S02,  37th 

Inf,Co.  D;  pro.  to  2d  lient.,  March  4,1805; 

di.sch.  June  21,  1865.     He  was  one  of  the  first 

three  months'  volunteers,  and  was  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Bull  Run. 
Samuel  J.  Ilillman,  enl.  Sept.  2, 1SG2, 37th  Inr,Co. 

A  ;  died  Sept.  4,  1802,  at  Stafford  Court-IIouse, 

Va.,  of  brain  fever. 
JosUUi  T.Hunt,  eiil.  Sept.  2, 1802,  37th  Inf,Co.  A; 

disch.  Aug.  12,  1804,  for  disability,  resulting 

from  injuries  in  tlie  service. 
Wm.  L.  Reed,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Charles  Kinney,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11,1802,  52d  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  1 ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Luther  E.  Bnrtlett,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  1803;  died  at  Brattle- 

boro',  Vt.,  1803,  of  camii-fever. 
William  0.  Bartlett,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1862,  52.1  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803;  re-enl.  Aug. 

18, 1804,  4th  U.  Art.,  (3o.  K;  disch.  June  17, 

1865. 
Cecil  E.  IJiirtlett,  enl.  Aug.  18,  1864,  4th  H.  \rt., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  17, 1S65. 
Josiah  D.  Benjamin,  enl.  .\ug.  18, 18C4,  4th  U.  Art., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  17,  I860. 
Calvin  Cook,  enl.  Aug.  18,1804,4th  H.Art,  Co.  K; 

disch.  June  17, 1805. 
Edgar  W.  Crane,  enl.  Aug.  18, 1804,  4th  U.  Art., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  17, 1865. 


Harlan  P.  P.irter,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863 ;  re-enl.  in  4th  II. 

Art.;  di-ch.  June  17,  1865. 
Myron  \V.  Reeil,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Nathan  A.  Spooner,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Daniel  Taylor,  enl   Oct.  II,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

I  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Cyrus  M.  Tilson,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  St., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,186.3. 
Harrison   F.  Newell,  enl.   Aug.  18,  180t,  4th  H. 

Art.,  Co.  K  ;  di.sch.  June  17,  1865. 
Charles  A.  Parker,  enl.  Aug.  18, 1804,  4th  U.  Art., 

Co.  K;    disch.  June   17,  1805.     Had  before 

served  in  52d  Inf,  Co.  I,  nine  months. 
Harlan  P.  Porter,  enl.  Aug.  18,  1864,  4lh  H.  Art., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  17,  1805. 
Edward  Labarn,  enl.  Dec.  21,  1863,  2Ist  Kegt.,  Co. 

E;  died  March  20,  1804,  at  Camp  Nelson,  Ky.; 

probably  a  substitute  ;  name  retained  because 

he  lost  liis  life  in  the  service  f  >r  Cumniington. 
Orrin   S.  Bradley,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  10th  Inf., 

Co.  D;  disch.  July  I,  18M. 
John  Donovan,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  10th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  killed  May  3,  1803,  at  Salem  Heights,  Va. 
Edward   P.  Nally,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  10th  Regt., 

Co.  C. 
Robert  Shea,  eiil.  June  21,  1801,  lOlli  Regt.,  Co.  C. 
Thomas  Giinilan,  asst.  surg.,  enl.  Dec.  12,  1863, 

69th  Regt. ;  resigned  Sept.  14,  1864. 
James  Cahill,  enl.  June  21, 1861,  lOlli  Regt.,  Co.  C. 
Harlan  W.  Torrey,  enl.  Sept. '20,  1861,  27th  Regt., 

Co.  A  ;  di-ch.  Nov.  15,  1861,  for  disability;  re- 
enl.  Aug.  12,  1802,  34th  Regt.,  Co.  B;  disch. 

Dec.  17,  180t. 
Samuel  J.  Dunning,  enl.  .Inly  27,1861,  27lh  Itegt., 

Co.  A  ;  killed  at  the  battle  of  Newbern,  March 

14,  1862. 
Martin  L.  Cook,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1862, 62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

I;  disch.  Aug.  14,186.!. 
Michael  Cunningham, eid.  Oct.  II,  1862, 52d  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803  ;  died  Aug.  21, 

1863,  of  fever,  at  Cummington,  seven  days 

after  his  return. 


Edward  C.  Jenkins,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803;  re-enl.  Aug.  18, 

1804,  4th  H.  Art.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  17, 1805. 
Martin  F.  Jostling,  enl.  Oct.  II,  I8G2,52d  M.  V.M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  180:1. 
Henry  N.  Noyce,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  di-ch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Wm.  W.  Robbins,  enl.  Aug.  30,  1802,  37lh  Inf,  Co. 

D  ;  trans.  Aug.  10,  1804,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Charles  W.  Guruey,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1802,  37lh  Inf., 

Co.  E;  wounded  July  3,  1803,  at  Gettysburg, 

Pa.,  and  died  July  10, 1803. 
James  Meacham,  enl.  Sept.2, 18C2,37lh  Inf.,  Co.  E. 
John  Doraey,  eul.  Aug.  .30,  1802,  37th  Inf.,  Co.  H  ; 

disch.  June  21,  1805. 
Charles  H.  Shaw,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  loth  Regt., 

Co.  D ;  severely  wounded  in  the  AVildernea^, 

Mays,  1804;  disch.  July  1,  1804. 
Henry  II.  Hitchcock,  eul.  Aug.  30,  1862,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  H;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
Stephen  Bartlett  was  from  Cummington,  and  went 

into  a  Connecticut  regiment. 
Charles  Dawes  was  from  Cummington,  living  in 

Eastliampton,  enl.  in  the  52d  Regt.  from  that 

town. 
William  Nolan  was  from  Cummington,  enl.  from 

some  other  town,  Aug.  1:1,  1862,  34th  Regt., 

Co.  D;  disch.  with  regiment. 
Calvin  C.  Hosfoid,  enl.  Jan.  2,  1864,  27lh  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  re-enl.  Dec.  31, 1863  ;  a  prisoner  at  Auder- 

sonville  five  months;  disch.  July  7,  1865. 
Charles  W.  Conn,  enl.  37lh  Regt.,  1862;    disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
Onslow  Taylor,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  Regt.,  Co.  I; 

disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Levi  Prutt,  enl.  Oit.  1802;  died  Aug.  14,  1803,  on 

board  a  steamer  on  the   Missisftijtpi  while  re- 
turning home. 
Edward  C.  Thayer,   enl.   Oct.  1S02,   49th   Regt. ; 

disch.  Aug.  1803. 
Samuel  L.  Thompson,  enl.  Nov.  1803,  1st  H.  Art. ; 

died  Feb.  17,1864,  in  the  hospital  at  Arling- 

ttm. 
Ozro  M.  Bird,  enl.  Aug.  8, 1862,  371h  Regt.,  Co.  D; 

disch.  June  21, 1865. 


WORTHINGTOI^. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

WoRTHi-N'GTON  lios  upon  the  western  border  of  the  cjunty, 
nearly  west  from  the  countj'-seat,  and  distant  from  it  six- 
teen and  a  half  miles,  by  air-line  measurement.  It  is  bounded 
north  by  Cummington,  east  by  Chesterfield,  south  by  Chester- 
field, Hampden  County,  and  Middlefield,  west  by  Middlefield 
and  Berkshire  County.  The  area  of  the  town  is  19,637  acres 
by  the  census  of  1875. 

The  title  to  the  soil  is  derived  direct  from  the  province  of 
Ma.ssachusetts  Bay,  this  being  one  of  the  ten  towns  sold  June  2, 
1762.  The  purchaser  at  the  sale  was  Aaron  Willard.  Not  long 
after  he  transferred  the  same  to  Maj.  Barnard,  of  Deerfield, 
and  Col.  John  Worthington,  of  Springfield.  The  time 
when  this  was  done  is  not  determined,  nor  the  consideration. 
There  is  no  account  of  any  drawing  of  lots,  and  it  is  inferred 
that  the  territory  of  No.  3  was  surveyed  and  mapped  under 
the  direction  of  the  proprietors,  and  settlers  purchased  from 
them  such  lots  as  they  chose.  The  original  price  of  the  town- 
ship is  said  to  have  been  £1860. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  middle  branch  of  the  Westfleld  River  flows  nearly  north 
and  south  through  the  northwestern  part  of  the  town,  and 
then  forms  the  boundary  line  between  Worthington  and  Mid- 
dlefield, liirther  south.  The  northeast  part  of  the  town  is 
drained  by  Stevens  Brook,  which  enters  Chesterfield  and  flows 
some  distance  before  eft'ecting  a  junction  with  the  Westfield. 
The  southeast  part  is  drained  by  Little  lliver,  which,  uniting 
with  other  streams,  finally  becomes  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
Westfield.  An  elevated  range  known  as  West  Hill  lies  east  of 
the  middle  branch,  and  nearly  parallel  to  it.  A  few  separate 
elevations  are  of  some  note,  as  Parsons  Hill,  Bashan  Hill, 
Knowles  Hill  in  the  north,  and  White  Rock  in  the  south. 

The  scenery  is  of  a  varied  character.  Large  and  well-cul- 
tivated farms  abound,  while  there  are  also  mountain  slopes 
still  covered  with  forests,  and  beautiful,  deep  valleys,  through 
which  the  streams  flow  southward  with  rapid  current.  The 
middle  branch  has  a  tributary  from  the  east  and  one  from  the 
west,  the  former  flowing  in  at  the  corner  of  Middlefield,  the 
other  at  the  school-house,  farther  north.  In  the  south  part  of 
the  town,  midway  between  the  middle  branch  and  Little 
River,  is  the  valley  of  the  Kinney  Brook. 

EARLY    SETTLE.MENT    AND    SUBSEQUENT    GROWTH. 

The  first  settlement  was  in  1763  or  1764,  though  no  previous 
writer  designates  the  exact  date  or  determines  positively  the 
name  of  the  first  settler.  Quite  a  number  came  to  the  "  Plan- 
tation" about  the  same  time.  The  openings  along  the  old  road 
from  Northampton  to  Berkshire  County  were  the  first  in  town. 
There  seems  to  be  reason  for  assigning  an  early  date  to  this 
road ;  possiblj'  it  was  opened  before  the  French  war  of 
1756,  and  supplies  and  troops  moved  over  it  to  reach  Fort 
Massachusetts,  located  near  Williamstown,  which  was  the 
scene  of  much  military  activity.  This  road,  entering  the 
to.wn  at  the  Partridge  Place,  passed,  in  a  northwest  direction, 
by  the  Eager  homestead,  to  Drury's  Corners,  and  by  what  is 
now  Worthington  Corners  to  the  present  place  of  Alonzo 
Belden  ;  then  directly  north  to  the  Tillson  Bartlott  place,  then 
northwest  into  the  town  of  Cummington,  and  so  westward. 
On  this  road,  at  the  Belden  ])lace,  Alexander  Miller  was  keep- 

454 


ing  tavern  in  17G8,  and  Joseph  Farr  was  also  a  tavern-keeper, 
in  1771,  in  Cummington,  where  Charles  Sylvester  now  lives. 
Both  of  these  men  may  have  been  there  for  several  years  pre- 
vious. If  this  theory  is  correct  as  to  the  early  opening  of  the 
road,  men  who  pushed  out  and  opened  taverns  between  North- 
ampton and  Pittsfleld  undoubtedly  made  the  first  opening  in 
the  forest. 

Nathaniel  Daniels  was  settled  quite  early  at  the  Tillson 
Bartlett  place.  The  first  night  this  family  spent  in  town  they 
are  said  to  have  encamped  in  the  woods  on  the  easterly  slope 
of  the  hill,  not  far  from  the  residence  of  Mirick  Cole,  and 
that  mosquitoes  were  very  prompt  in  their  attentions  to  the 
new  settlers.  It  is  stated  in  Rice's  history  that  early  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  the  people  laid  out  the  road  curving  to  the 
right  from  the  corners  to  the  Tillson  Bartlett  place,  so  as  to 
give  Nathaniel  Daniels  the  benefit  of  the  travel  and  take  it 
away  from  Miller,  the  latter  being  a  loyalist  and  the  former 
a  Whig.  This  is  sustained  by  tradition,  though  a  town  in 
which  Dr.  Morse,  the  well-known  Tory,  had  so  much  influence 
as  to  remain  on  committees  of  importance  during  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  war,  must  have  out-voted  him  pretty  decidedly 
when  they  made  such  a  change.  Along  this  old  road  Nahum 
Eager  was  located  very  early,  and  also  Lieut.  Timothy 
Meech. 

From  the  names  appearing  in  the  town  records,  1768  to 
1772,  and  from  the  inquiries  made  by  Mr.  Rice  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  his  work  twenty-five  years  ago,  it  is  evident  the 
following  list  comprises  the  pioneers  before  the  Revolution. 
Several  of  the  prominent  public  men  of  Worthington  came 
in,  however,  a  few  years  later,  as  Starkweather,  Brewster, 
Parish,  Ward,  and  others. 

EAKLY    PIONEERS. 

Nathan  Leonard,  homestead  where  his  grandson,  Alanson 
Leonard,  now  lives.  Samuel  Clapp ;  his  first  log  house  was 
near  the  house  now  owned  by  Dwight  Stone.  Nathaniel 
Daniels  built  the  first  frame  house  in  town,  nearly  opposite  to 
the  present  dwelling  of  Levi  Blacknian.  Nahum  Eager  rep- 
resented the  town  in  the  Provincial  Congress  at  Cambridge  ; 
his  pioneer  home  wiis  on  the  place  where  Jonathan  II.  Eager 
now  lives,  a  great-grandson  ;  his  sons  were  William  and  Na- 
thaniel, of  Worthington,  the  latter  father  of  Jonathan  H. 
Dr.  Moses  Morse,  the  earliest  physician  ;  his  house  was  be- 
tween the  dwellings  of  Mr.  Heman  Burr  and  Abner  Witt ; 
the  site  now  marked  by  a  butternut-tree.  John  Kinne,  home- 
stead the  place  lately  owned  by  Dr.  Phelps,  of  Adams,  at 
Worthington  Corners.  Ebenezer  Leonard,  homestead  the 
place  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Heman  Burr.  Thomas  Clem- 
mons,  homestead  the  present  place  of  John  Campbell.  Ben- 
jamin Biglow  ;  he  settled  northeast  of  what  is  now  the  Dan 
Pease  farm.  Thomas  Kinne,  homestead  the  present  Dan 
Pease  farm.  John  Watt,  homestead  a  few  rods  east  of  the 
site  of  the  first  meeting-house ;  Lyman  Granger  now  lives 
there ;  he  had  one  son,  John.  Ephraim  Wheeler,  homestead 
near  the  house  known  as  the  Harvey  place.  Mr.  Collamore 
settled  opposite  Ephraim  Wheeler.  Alexander  Miller  settled 
on  the  well-known  "  Buflington"  place,  and  was  the  first  to 
open  a  tavern  in  town  ;  his  farm  was  the  present  Alonzo  Bel- 
den place,  and  the  house  was  opposite  Alonzo  Belden 's;  the 
well  is  still  there,  one  pear-tree,  and  a  few  apple-trees. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY". 


455 


Joseph  Marsh,  homestead  the  place  now  owned  by  Clement 
Burr.  Amos  Frink,  homestead  on  "  Cold  Street ;"  house  near 
the  grove;  known  now  as  Frink  Woods.  Abner  Dwelly 
settled  at  Worthingtou  Corners,  on  the  present  farm  of  Hor- 
ace Cole.  Jeremiah  Kinne,  homestead  where  Mr.  Calvin 
Tower  now  lives.  Stephen  Converse,  homestead  on  the 
present  Wm.  C.  Higgins  place.  Davis  Converse,  homestead 
same  as  that  of  Stephen  Converse.  Phinehas  Herrick,  home- 
stead on  the  Warren  Cushing  lot ;  house  gone.  Gershom 
Kandall ;  he  settled  on  the  present  place  of  the  widow  of 
Jonathan  Prentice.  Asa  Cottrcll,  homestead  present  place  of 
Albert  Randall.  Asa  Burton,  homestead  present  place  of 
Dwight  Perry.  Zephaniah  Hatch,  homestead  present  place  of 
Elihu  Squires.  Nathan  Branch,  homestead  present  place  of 
Morgan  Hall;  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  town.  John  Buck, 
homestead  on  ground  now  occupied  by  Billings  Higgins,  or 
near  by.  Timothy  Meech,  homestead  the  present  place  of 
John  K.  Strong;  was  an  old  tavern,  east  of  the  corners  a 
mile.  Samuel  Crosby,  pioneer ;  home  where  Col.  Oren  Stone 
now  lives.  Daniel  Morse,  homestead  on  the  present  Henry 
Bates  place.  John  Skitf,  homestead  on  the  place  now  owned 
by  Horace  Cole.  James  Benjamin,  homestead  the  present 
farm  of  Ira  Johnson.  Beriah  Curtis,  homestead  near  the 
present  house  of  Alden  Curtis.  Jonathan  Prentice,  home- 
stead the  "  Cushman"  place,  now  owned  by  William  John- 
son ;  the  house  burned  a  few  years  since.  Samuel  Morse, 
homestead  near  the  present  house  of  Webb  Alderman. 

James  Wybourn,  homestead  near  the  plat  of  ground  known  as 
the  "  Vineyard,"  on  the  Hollis  farm.  Israel  Houghton,  home- 
stead nearly  opposite  that  of  James  Wybourn.  Col.  Ebene- 
zer  Webber,  homestead  now  the  place  of  Charles  Parsons. 
Samuel  Day,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Abel  Drury. 
Robert  Day,  homestead  same  farm  as  that  of  Samuel.  Amos 
Day,  homestead  same  farm  as  that  of  Samuel  Day.  Joseph 
Follett,  homestead  present  farm  of  W.  and  M.  A.  Drake. 
Isaac  Follett,  homestead  the  same  as  that  of  Joseph.  Stephen 
Fitch,  homestead  the  present  house  of  Franklin  Robinson. 
Ezra  Cleaveland,  homestead  a  little  north  of  the  present  house 
of  George  Pease.  Samuel  Buck,  homestead  the  present  resi- 
dence of  David  D.  Powers,  and  the  house  is  said  to  have  been 
erected  in  1780.  Edmund  Pettengill,  homestead  present  place 
of  David  Scott.  James  Kelly,  homestead  the  present  place 
of  Ransom  Scott.  John  Kelly,  homestead  same  as  that  of 
James..  Isaac  Herrick,  homestead  south  of  the  school-house 
in  the  Alden  Curtis  District ;  buildings  gone.  Joseph  Pren- 
tice, homestead  the  present  place  of  Thonuis  Hunt.  John 
Partridge,  homestead  about  one  hundred  rods  north  of  the 
present  place  of  William  Leonard.  Seth  Sylvester,  home- 
stead a  little  south  of  the  house  owned  by  Capt.  Edwin  Dodge ; 
house  in  the  "Mills  Pasture."  Amos  Leonard,  homestead 
present  place  of  Dwight  Prentice.  Elijah  Gardner,  home- 
stead nearly  west  of  Ring's  Factory;  present  land  of  George 
Pease. 

Joseph  Dewey,  homestead  nearly  west  of  the  "  Buffington 
Grove,"  on  land  now  owned  by  Horace  Cole.  Luke  Bonney, 
homestead  in  the  present  pasture  of  Ira  Jones.  David  Brun- 
son,  homestead  same  as  that  of  Luke  Bonney  ;  the}'  were  the 
first  millers  in  town.  Asa  Spaulding,  homestead  the  present 
place  of  David  Reese,  of  Greenfield.  Hezekiah  Maheuren, 
homestead  east  of  the  grove  now  owned  by  Selden  Blackman. 
John  Howard,  homestead  present  place  of  Mirick  Cole. 
Thomas  Hall,  homestead  farm  now  owned  by  Col.  Oren  Stone ; 
Ijuildings  gone.  Joseph  Gardner,  homestead  opposite  the  pres- 
ent place  of  Royal  Cushing.  Miner  Oliver,  homestead  where 
Russell  Tower  now  lives.  Capt.  Constant  Webster,  homestead 
the  present  F.  J.  Robinson  place.  Joseph  Geer,  homestead 
where  Osman  Watt  now  lives.  Samuel  Tower,  homestead 
a  few  rods  west  of  the  old  church,  near  Mr.  Watt's  place. 
Nathaniel  Collins,  homestead  south  of  that  stated  as  the  pion- 
eer home  of  Ephraim  Henick.     Reuben   Adams,  homestead 


Ringville;  the  owner  of  the  second  saw-mill  and  the  second 
grist-mill  built  in  town.  These  mills  were  on  the  site  of  Cole 
&  Hayden.  John  Drury,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Abel 
Drury.  Matthew  Finton,  homestead  on  the  present  form  of 
Gordyce  Bates.  James  Bemis,  homestead  the  place  where 
Abram  Granger  now  lives.  Thomas  Buck,  homestead  the 
present  place  of  Simeon  Merritt.  Moses  Buck,  homestead 
same  as  that  of  John  Buck,  already  mentioned.  Samuel 
Pettengill,  homestead  where  David  Scott  now  owns.  Noah 
Morse,  homestead  the  present  farm  of  Lewis  Adams ;  build- 
ings gone.  Nehemiah  Proughty,  homestead  present  place  of 
Henry  Tower.  Seth  Porter,  homestead  present  place  of 
Widow  Smith.  Stephen  Howard,  homestead  present  place  or 
near  that  of  Ira  Jones.  Mr.  Hickbej',  homestead  south  part 
of  the  town,  near  the  Methodist  church.  Elihu  Tinker,  home- 
stead the  residence  now  of  Nathan  Johnson. 

John  Parish,  homestead  on  Snake  Hill,  on  land  now  owned 
by  Milton  Parish.  Children:  Roswell  and  Truman,  went  west; 
Oliver,  Hartford,  Conn.  ;  Consider,  Mississippi,  still  living  ; 
Justice,  Hinsdale  ;  Spencer  was  the  father  of  M.  J.  Parish  and 
O.  B.  Parish,  now  of  West  Worthington. 

Of  other  early  settlers,  concerning  whom  but  little  positive 
information  is  now  obtainable,  Rice's  history  mentions  Wil- 
liam Burr,  Jonas  Bellows,  Jonathan  Eames,  Mr.  Wilkins, 
Thomas  Butler,  Simeon  Lee,  Samuel  Taj'lor,  Samuel  Clay, 
Mr.  Rice,  Mr.  Ford,  Samuel  Wilcox,  Rufus  Stone,  Moses 
Ashley,  Jo.seph  French,  Samuel  Converse,  Nathan  Morgan, 
Lewis  Church,  John  Ross,  James  Tomson,  Lewis  Porter, 
Moses  Porter,  Joseph  Lee,  Alexander  Chillson. 

The  followi-ng  settlers  were  somewhat  later  :  Dr.  Ezra  Stark- 
weather, from  Stonington,  Conn.,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
and  four  of  his  brothers  lost  their  lives  in  that  struggle.  He 
settled  in  Worthington  in  178-5. 

Jonathan  Brewster,  from  Preston,  Conn.,  settled  in  Wor- 
thington in  1777;  homestead  present  place  of  Daniel  Pease. 
Children:  Jonathan,  Jr.,  Worthington;  Josiah,  on  the  old 
homestead  ;  Elisha,  Worthington;  Moses,  a  physician,  settled 
at  the  centre  and  died  there  ;  Mrs.  Ezra  Starkweather,  Mrs. 
Joseph  Marsh,  Worthington. 

Deacon  Jonathan  Brewster,  of  the  present  time,  is  a  great- 
grandson  of  the  pioneer.  E.  H.  Brewster  was  the  son  of 
Elisha  Brewster.  Azariah  Parsons,  from  Northampton, 
settled  here  in  1782;  noted  for  his  abundant  charity  to  the 
poor.  William  Ward,  from  Cummington,  came  to  Worthing- 
ton a  young  man,  in  1795,  as  a  clerk  in  Mr.  Gove's  store  ; 
homestead  afterward  at  the  Corners  ;  he  had  one  son,  Daniel, 
and  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Chauncey  B.  Rising.  Another 
daughter  died  young. 

There  are  some  facts  about  early  roads  of  considerable  in- 
terest. The  selectmen  describe  the  first  "as  the  direct  road 
through  Worthington  to  Boston."  This  road  joined  the  Ches- 
terfield road  at  "  the  gate,"  and  ran  northwest  by  the  farms 
owned  at  one  time  by  Mr.  Harrington  and  by  Mr.  Drury, 
till  it  reached  the  Buffington  place,  where  stood  at  that  time 
the  inn  of  Alexander  Miller. 

From  this  place  it  was  laid  out  directly  north  till  it  passed 
the  Tilson  Bartlett  place,  and  then  it  was  continued  north  and 
west,  passing  through  a  part  of  Peru  and  Windsor,  till  it  inter- 
sected with  a  road  which  led  more  directly  to  Pittsfield. 

In  later  years — to  make  the  road  "more  straight  and  direct," 
as  the  town  fathers  expressed  it — this  road  was  laid  out  over 
Snake  Hill.  Another  important  road  laid  out  was  from  Cum- 
mington to  Chester.  This  road  passed  through  Cole  Street, 
so  called,  and  passed  the  inn  of  Capt.  Daniels  and  the  BuflSng- 
ton  place,  till  it  intersected  a  road  near  where  Mr.  Alden  Cur- 
tis lived  in  after-years.  From  there  it  crossed  directly  to 
Middle  River,  where  it  continued  on  the  banks  of  that  stream 
until  it  reached  Chester. 

During  the  years  1708  and  1769-70  great  activity  in  road- 
making  prevailed,  and  twelve  cross-roads  were  surveyed  and 


456 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


partially  opened,  all  of  which  except  two  were  afterward 
abandoned.  On  the  17th  of  April,  1770,  the  town  voted  to 
raise  £45  for  repairing  the  highways;  3s.  a  day  was  allowed 
for  men's  work  ;  for  the  work  of  a  yoke  of  oxen,  Is.  Gd.  ;  and 
for  the  use  of  a  plow,  8d.  Previous  to  1868  there  could  scarcely 
be  said  to  be  a  road  in  town,  bridle-paths,  trails,  and  routes 
marked  by  blazed  trees  being  the  only  highways. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Dr.  Morse  was  the  earliest  physician  here,  and  evidently  a 
man  of  ability,  having  much  public  business  assigned  him, 
notwithstanding  his  Tory  principles.  Dr.  Starkweather  came 
in  178o,  practiced  many  years,  and  was  almost  continually  in 
public  life.  He  died  July  27,  1834.  Subseciuent  physicians 
have  been  Dr.  Marsh,  Dr.  Brewster,  Dr.  Porter,  Dr.  Richards, 
Dr.  Dwight,  Dr.  Spear,  Dr.  Kodgers,  Dr.  Case,  Dr.  Peirce, 
Dr.  Meekins,  Dr.  Holland,  Dr.  D.  Pierce,  Dr.  H.  Stark- 
weather, Dr.  Wheeler,  Dr.  Bois,  Dr.  Coit,  Dr.  Brown,  Dr. 
Prevost,  Dr.  Lyman,  Dr.  Knowlton,  Dr.  Freeland,  Dr.  Smith, 
Dr.  A.  Pierce. 

LAWYERS. 

Joseph  Lyman,  Samuel  Howe,  Daniel  Pari.sh,  Jonathan 
"Woodbridge,  Elisha  Mack,  Chauncey  B.  Rising.  All  of  these 
practiced  at  various  periods  in  the  town,  and  several  rose  to 
distinction  and  eminence  here  or  elsewhere. 

TAVERNS. 

The  taverns  of  Revolutionary  times  or  earlier  were  those  of 
Alexander  Miller,  of  Nathaniel  Daniels,  and  of  Lieut.  Meech, 
already  mentioned.  Very  early,  too,  on  the  same  general  route, 
was  a  tavern  opposite  the  present  school-house,  north  of  the 
Eager  place ;  also  on  the  town-line  at  the  Partridge  place  ;  the 
Isaiah  Kingman  House,  at  the  present  E.  H.  Brewster  place; 
the  Pear.se  House,  at  Worthingtou  Corners,  now  kept  by  Mr. 
Winslow,  is  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  town.  The  Daniels 
Tavern  passed  to  the  son,  Capt.  Dan  Daniels.  The  latter  and 
Mr.  Kingman  had  each  lost  a  leg.  A  traveler,  meeting  them 
both  within  a  short  distance  of  each  other,  somewhat  aston- 
ished, asked  if  it  was  the  custom  in  "Worthington  to  take  off 
one  leg.  "  No,"  said  Mr.  Daniels,  "  but  when  they  find  a  man 
peculiarly  honest  they  mark  him."  There  was  also  a  tavern 
for  some  years  at  West  Worthington,  on  the  site  where  Mrs. 
Adams  now  lives,  opened  by  William  Williams.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Capt.  Lindsay.  It  was  closed  at  his  death.  The 
present  Bartlett  House,  at  Worthington  Corners,  has  been 
established  only  a  few  years.  A  part  of  it  was  originally  a 
wool  warehouse,  used  by  Horace  Cole.  Mr.  Bartlett  has  re- 
cently enlarged  it  extensively,  providing  accommodations  for 
summer  boarders. 

STORES. 

The  old  store  of  William  Ward  was  at  Worthington  Cor- 
ners. E.  C.  Porter  followed  Mr.  Ward,  and  continued  until 
about  1860.  The  present  store  of  Samuel  Cole  (formerly 
Horace  Cole  &  Son)  was  built  in  1860,  the  previous  build- 
ings having  been  burned.  Isaac  T.  Thrasher  traded  a  few 
years  at  South  Worthington.  At  West  Worthington  Mr. 
Medberry  traded  for  some  years  ;  Russell  Bartlett,  also,  from 
1830  to  1840.  In  1820  the  Ward  store  was  carried  on  by  the 
firm  of  William  &  Trowbridge  AVard.  The  building  is  the 
present  basket-shop  of  Horace  Bartlett.  White  &  Daniels 
were  proprietors,  before  1820,  of  the  old  Gove  store,  on  the 
stage-road. 

The  following  are  from  old  files  of  the  Hampshire  Oazeite  : 

March  19, 1700. — Jnhn  Ciinningluim  wiiiits  a  lK>y  alxtut  fourteen  years  of  ago 
m  all  "appi-eiiUcu  to  tlu-  tuylnrs'  busiueas." 

Nov.  10,  1791. — .luniL'ri  BliiL-kmar  gives  notice  tJiat  lie  lias  completed  upon  the 
most  approved  liioilerii  phm  a  linseeil-lnill,  on  the  stream  near  Iiis  dwelling- 
house,  in  the  southeasterly  pait  of  Woithingt.in.  He  otfere  four  shillings  a 
bushel  for  flaxseed. 

Aug.  8,  1792.— Spencer  Whiting,  merchant,  calls  on  those  indebted  to  setHe  up, 
offering  t*>  take  beef,  |tork,  flax,  fla.\seed,  butter,  cheese,  salts  of  lye,  and  ashes, 
and  oflers  a  general  assortment  of  West  India  and  English  goods. 


March  28, 1793. — "Inoculation  for  the  small-pox  is  carrjing  on  in  M'orthiiig- 
ton  by  the  subsciibers  agreeable  to  the  latest  and  most  approved  method. 

"Job  Marsh, 
J.\MES  Bradish." 

July  6,  ISOl. — The  4th  of  July  was  celebrated  here  by  a  large  concourse  of 
people  from  Worthington,  Che-stei-field,  Goshen,  Cummington,  and  Plainfield. 
Kev.  Thomas  Allen  offered  a  devout  and  fervent  address  to  the  Author  of  all 
blessings.  Jonathan  Woodbridge,  Esq.,  delivered  an  ingenious,  elegant,  and 
well-adapted  oration.  Mr.  Briggs  made  the  concluding  prayer.  Toasts  were 
drank,  interspersed  with  appropriate  music. 

"We  give  two :  "The  Commonwealth  of  Massaehufietts, — a  lonrj  totijh  link  in  the 
Feih-ntl  chttin.'* 

"  The  American  Fair.  She  will  do  us  good,  and  not  evil,  all  the  days  »»f  her 
life." 

ORG.'iNIZATIOX. 
The  incorporation  of  the  town  followed  more  closely  upon 
the  first  settlement  than  in  the  case  of  certain  other  towns, 
because  the  pioneers  moved  in  nearly  at  the  same  time.  The 
township  was  purchased  June  2,  1762,  but  it  was  probably 
two  or  three  j'ears  later  that  the  actual  settlement  began  ;  and 
then  in  four  years  there  was  sufficient  population  to  justify 
incorporation.  That  it  was  incorporated  as  a  town,  and  not 
a  district,  indicates  a  "plantation"  of  considerable  numbers 
and  importance.  The  act  of  incorporation  was  passed  June 
80,  1768.  The  town  was  called  Worlhimjtoyi  in  honor  of  Col. 
John  W^orthington,  of  Springfield,  one  of  the  proprietors. 
Col.  Worthington  erected  a  grist-mill  and  a  meeting-house  at 
his  own  expense,  and  donated  1200  acres  of  land  for  minis- 
terial and  school  purposes.  He  lived  for  many  years  to  wit- 
ness the  prosperity  of  the  town  he  had  founded. 

The  territory  of  the  town  as  incorporated  was  considerably 
greater  than  at  present.  It  extended  from  Cummington,  on 
the  north,  to  Chester,  on  the  south,  and  from  Peru,  on  the 
west,  to  the  north  branch  of  the  Wcstfield  River.  This  em- 
braced a  portion  of  what  is  now  Chesterfield,  and  also  a  por- 
tion of  Middlefield.  The  place  of  the  first  town-meeting  was 
at  the  inn  of  Alexaiider  Miller.  This  was  opposite  the  pres- 
ent house  of  Alonzo  Belden.  The  place  is  identified  by  tradi- 
tion. The  old  well  is  still  to  be  seen.  There  is  a  singlv  pear- 
tree  and  a  few  apple-trees  remaining  of  the  primeval  orchard. 
.  We  add  a  copy  of  the  warrant  and  extracts  from  the  early 
records,  showing  the  oflScers  chosen  and  the  proceedings  of 
the  first  year : 

Hampshire  County,  ss.; 

To  Nathan  Leonard,  of  Worthington,  in  the  county  of  Hampsliire  aforesjiid, 
yeoman. — Pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  province  for  erecting  the  new  plantation, 
called  No.  .3,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  into  a  town  by  tlie  name  of  Worth- 
ington, and  investing  the  inhabitants  of  s.aid  town  with  all  the  powei-s,  privileges, 
and  immunities  that  other  towns  within  this  province  enjoy,  .and  ilnlJowering 
Israel  Williams.  Esq.,  to  issue  his  warrant  directed  to  some  principal  inhabitant 
of  said  town,  requiring  him  to  will  a  meeting  of  said  iuhabitants  iu  order  to 
cht.>ose  such  officers  as  towns  by  law  are  imixtwered  to  choose  in  the  month  of 
Blarch  annually;  these  are,  therefore,  in  his  Majesty's  name  to  require  you,  the 
siiid  Nathan,  to  notify  and  w.arn  the  inhabitants  of  Worthington  to  assemble 
together  iit  the  house  of  Alexander  Miller,  innholder  in  said  town,  on  the  first 
Monday  in  August  next,  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  forenoon,  then  and  there  in 
said  meeting  to  choose  all  such  officers  as  towns  within  this  province  are  impow- 
ered  and  enabled  by  law  to  choose  in  the  month  of  March  annually  ;  hereof  you 
nor  they  may  not  fail. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Hatfield,  in  said  county,  the  11th  day  of 
July,  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  Majesty's  reign,  .\nno  Domini  1708. 

Israel  Williams,  Justke  of  the  Peace. 

AVoRTHiNGTtiN,  in  HAMPSHIRE  CouxTV,  July  10, 1708. 
By  virtue  of  the  within  warrant,  I  notified  the  inhabitants  of  said  town  b.v 
putting  up  a  notification  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  .Alexander  Miller,  inn- 
holder,  to  appear  at  the  time  and  place  within  mentioned  to  choose  town  officers 

as  the  law  directs. 

Nathan  Leonard. 

FIRST    TOWN-MEKTING. 

.\t  a  legal  meeting  of  the  freeholdel-s  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Wcn-thington  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Alexander  Miller,  innholder  in  Siiid 
town,  on  Monday,  the  1st  day  of  .\ugust,  1708,  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  fore- 
nixMi.  pursuant  to  warrant.     1st.  Chose  Capt.  Nathan  Leonard  moderator. 

.\ud  then  the  town  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  other  town  officers:  Nahum 
Eager,  Town  Clerk;  Capt.  Nathan  Leonard,  Capt  Nathaniel  Daniels,  Mr.  John 
Kinne,  Selectmen.  Mr.  Thomas  Clenimons  took  the  oath  of  constable  and 
leather-sealer.  Mr.  Samuel  Clapp  Umk  the  oath  relating  to  a  surveyor.  Mr. 
Benjamin  Bigelow  took  the  oath  relating  to  wai'Jens.     Mr.  Kphniiin  AVhceler 


HON.  ELISHA   H.  BREWSTEH. 


Deacon  Jonathan  Brewster,  from  Preston,  Conn.,  settled  in  Worthington 
in  1777.  His  son,  Capt.  Elisha  Brewster,  was  born  in  Preston  in  1755. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  the  Kevolutionary  war,  having  early  enlisted 
in  a  regiment  of  light  dragoons  for  and  during  the  war,  and  served  as 
an  officer  of  the  same  to  its  close,  completing  a  period  of  seven  years  and 
six  months.  His  regiment  was  exercised  in  cavalry  tactics  by  Count  Pu- 
laski, the  distinguished  Polish  disciplinarian. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  served  *as  captain  of  cavalry  and  brigade 
quartermaster.  At  the  time  of  Shays'  rebellion  he  volunteered  his 
services  to  Gen.  Shcpard,  and  was  one  of  his  aids  in  that  memorable 
insurrection. 

He  married,  April  24, 1788,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Hunting- 
ton. Their  children  were  twelve  in  number.  The  youngest  son,  and  last 
survivor,  was  Hon.  Elisha  H.  Brewster,  whose  portrait  appears  upon  this 
page,  who  was  born  in  Worthington,  Aug.  5,  1809.  He  wa-s  educated  in 
the  common  schools  and  at  Hopkins  Academy.  He  married,  June  S,  1831, 
Sophronia  Martha,  daughter  of  Isaiah  Kingman,  of  Worthington.  Their 
children  were  two  sons  and  five  daughters,  two  of  whom  survive, — C,  K. 
Brewster,  of  Worthington,  and  Mrs, 
George  M.  Green,  of  Danbury,  Conn. 

He    remained    for    several    years  —  — 

upon  his  father's  farm,  and  in  1842 
removed  to  the  centre  village,  and 
located  a  little  south  of  the  church 
and  town-house,  where  he  com- 
menced the  mercantile  business  in 
company  with  his  cousin,  Mr.  Sidney 
Brewster,  under  the  firm-name  of  S. 
&  E.  H.  Brewster.  That  copartner- 
ship continued  ten  years,  when  it 
was  dissolved,  Mr.  E.  H.  Brewster 
retiring  to  attend  to  his  increasing 
public  duties.  In  1848  he  was  chosen 
as  a  Whig  to  represent  his  town  in 
the  Legislature,  and  again,  in  1853, 
he  was  chosen  to  the  same  ofiice.  In 
1852  he  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner, and  held  that  office  sixteen 
years.  For  fifteen  years  he  was 
chairman  of  the  board,  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  excellent 
judgment  and  the  aptness  and  faith- 
fulness with  which  he  discharged 
the  difficult  and  often  perplexing 
duties  of  the  position.  At  the  end 
of  his  sixtieth  year  (in  1S68),  when 
at  the  height  of  his  popularity  and 
usefulness,  he  voluntarily  withdrew 
from  that  office,  declining  the  offer 
of  a  certain  re-election,  much  to  the 
regret  of  the  people  of  the  county. 
In  1871  he  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  State  Senate,  to  represent  the 
Berkshire  and  Hampshire  district. 
In    1873    he  was  chosen  a  member  *^ 

of  the  governor's  council  for  Hampshire,  Hampden,  and  Berkshire  Counties, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1874.     This  closed  his  public  life. 

In  his  earlier  business  years  he  was  often  called  to  fill  various  town 
offices,  and  served  in  almost  every  capacity,  from  constable  to  selectman. 
He  could  have  served  oftener  if  he  had  wished,  for  his  townsmen  were 
always  willing  to  elect  him.  He  was  also  the  leading  justice  of  the  peace  in 
his  region,  and  was  appointed  one  of  the  first  trial-justices  under  the  new 
law,  holding  the  office  and  discharging  its  duties  with  marked  ability 
and  dignity  until  he  resigned  it  several  years  ago.  He  was  often  called  as 
a  referee  to  settle  disputed  questions,  both  at  home  and  abroad;  and, 
after  his  retirement  from  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  his  services 
were  frequently  sought  as  counsel  in  important  road  cases.  He  was 
the  principal  legal  adviser  of  the  people  in  his  section,  wrote  numerous 
wills,  and  settled  many  estates  in  the  probate  and  insolvency  courts, 
— doing  more  of  that  business,  probably,  than  any  other  man  in  the 
county. 

While  a  member  of  the  governor's  council,  he  was  one  of  a  committee 
to  receive  General  Grant,  who,  as  President,  came  on  an  official  visit  to 
the  State.     He  was  active  in  the  formation  of  the  Worthington  Agricul- 


W^/^^Ae- 


tural  Society  over  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  was  its  first  president.  He 
was  long  connected  with  the  old  Northampton  Institution  for  Savings  as 
one  of  its  trustees,  and  for  twenty  years  (1848  to  1868)  was  one  of  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Hampshire  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  exerting  in 
their  behalf  an  active  and  valuable  influence.  Ten  years  ago,  his  son, 
Charles  K.  Brewster,  having  become  of  age,  the  two  formed  a  copartnership, 
and  bought  out  the  mercantile  business  of  S.  Brewster  &  Son,  and  that 
business  was  continued  until  his  death,  under  the  firm-name  of  E.  H. 
Brewster  &  Son. 

Mr.  Brewster  was  first  a  Whig  and  then  a  Republican.  Though  a  strong 
party  man,  he  never  allowed  his  party  ties  to  prevent  him  from  remaining 
true  to  his  friends.  These  incidents  of  his  political  life  are  worthy  of  men- 
tion :  in  1856,  after  he  had  served  four  years  as  county  commissioner,  the 
machinery  of  the  party  was  turned  against  him,  and  he  was  refused  a  re- 
nomination.  The  people,  however,  almost  against  his  wishes,  insisted  upon 
voting  for  him  as  an  independent  candidate,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  hand- 
some majority.  At  the  close  of  his  service  as  commissioner  he  was  ten- 
dered a  supper  at  the  old  Mansion  House,  in  Northampton,  as  a  testimonial 

to  his  long  and  faithful  official  work, 
at  which  an  elegant  gold-headed 
cane  was  presented  him  by  the 
county  officials.  The  supper  was 
attended  by  about  eighty  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  county.  In  the 
presentation  speech  on  that  occasion, 
the  hope  was  expressed  that  the 
cane,  after  being  a  support  to  the 
recipient  in  his  declining  years, 
might  be  left  as  an  heir-loom  to  his 
children.  This  wish  he  was  careful 
to  observe.  The  cane — ever  highly 
prized  by  him — he  left  to  his  son,  Mr. 
C.  K.  Brewster,  with  the  request  that 
he  bequeath  it  to  the  grandson  of  the 
deceased,  now  a  lad  of  six  years,  who 
bears  his  name. 

He  was  a  regular  attendant  upon 
divine  worship,  and  a  firm  supporter 
of  the  services  of  the  sanctuary. 
For  thirty  years  he  was  a  member  of 
the  choir,  and  occasionally  acted  as 
chorister.  During  the  long  pastorate 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Bisbee, — twenty-eight 
years, — Mr.  Brewster  was  his  warm 
friend  and  supporter,  and  his  fre- 
quent adviser.  He  never  formally 
united  with  the  church,  but  he  had 
an  abiding  faith  in  its  underlying 
principles,  and  his  old  pastor  bore 
heartfelt  testimony  at  the  funeral  to 
his  Christian  character,  as  exem- 
plified in  his  pure  and  consistent 
life  and  his  peaceful  death. 

In  all  of  the  many  offices  of  trust 
and  responsibility  which  he  filled, 
covering  a  period  of  nearly  forty  years,  he  manifested  a  conspicuous 
capacity  for  public  work.  He  was  accurate,  methodical,  and  painstaking 
in  all  that  he  did.  His  judgment  was  unsurpassed.  He  saw  the  vital 
points  of  questions  with  surprising  quickness,  and  his  peculiar  aptness  in 
adjusting  affairs  rendered  his  services  invaluable  in  unraveling  difficulties 
and  smoothing  the  rough  places  among  men.  He  was  affable,  courteous, 
and  dignified,— so  much  so  as  to  be  a  marked  man  wherever  he  gathered 
with  other  men.  His  fine  physical  presence  and  genial,  sympathetic  nature 
were  also  conspicuous.  He  was  an  excellent  presiding  officer,  and  in  that 
capacity  his  rare  urbanity,  strong  common  sense,  and  courteous  bearing 
were  most  advantageously  displayed.  He  was  a  man  of  marked  firmness 
of  character,  yet  modest,  unassuming,  and  retiring.  He  had  friends,  many 
of  them,  and  good  ones,  too.  His  attachments  were  strong,  his  friendship 
true  and  constant.  He  was  no  fair-weather  friend.  He  never  deserted 
nor  wavered.  When  once  his  confidence  and  friendship  were  gained,  they 
could  be  relied  upon.  Alike  in  sunshine  and  in  storm,  he  remained  the 
same.  He  seemed  to  think  little  of  himself.  This  was  natural,  for  he  was 
not  a  selfish  man,  hut  self-forgetful,  warm-hearted,  tender,  and  true.  Mr. 
Brewster  died  Nov.  27,  1878,  aged  seventy  years. 


Mr.  Cole's  ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Chesterfield, 
His  father,  Consider  Cole,  was  born  in  Plymnuth,  Mass.,  in  1762,  and 
came  to  Chesterfield  in  his  boyhood.  A  few  years  later  he  bought  one 
hundred  acres  of  unimproved  land,  cleared  up  the  farm,  and  established 
a  home  for  himself  and  family,  having  married  about  that  time.  He 
was  also  a  blacksmith,  and  had  a  shop  in  connection  with  his  farm, 
making  blacksmithing  his  principal  business.  In  his  family  there 
were  eleven  children,  four  of  whom  died  young,  and  the  remaining 
seven  are  now  all  dead  except  Horace  Cole,  whose  portrait  appears 
upon  this  page.  The  wife  of  Consider  Cole  died  September,  1819, 
aged  fifty-five. 

Horace  Cole  was  born  in  Chesterfield,  June  10,  1799.  He  passed 
his  boyhood  at  home,  working  in  the  shop  and  on  the  farm,  until  he 
was  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  His  father  having  died  not  long 
before,  he,  with  others  from  that  neighborhood,  walked  to  New  York 
to  seek  employment. 

Going  out  upon  Long  Island  he  engaged  in  building  stone  wall,  and 
was  also  employed  u])on  the  stone  duck  at  Williamsburg  ferry,  opjiosite 
the  city  of  New  York,  that  being  the  first  dock  built  at  that  place. 

He  then  returned  to  Chesterfield,  worked  a  few  months  upon  a  farm, 
and,  on  the  ISth  of  March,  181S,  he  again  went  to  New  York  with 
several  other  young  men,  walking,  as  before,  the  entire  distance.  They 
expected  to  find  employment  with  a  company  that  was  grading  the 
city  between  Harlem  and  the  Bowery.  About  the  time  of  their  ar- 
rival the  company  failed,  and  they  were  disappointed  in  their  plans. 
Being  short  of  funds,  and  feeling  the  necessity  of  obtaining  imme- 
diate employment,  they  went  one  day's  journey  into  New  Jersey  in 
search  of  work.  Entirely  failing  to  secure  situations,  they  were  quite 
discouraged.  Mr.  Cole,  having  a  cane  in  his  hand,  placed  it  perpen- 
dicularly on  the  ground  and  said  to  his  companions,  "  Whichever  way 
this  cane  falls,  I  am  going."  The  cane  fell  toward  New  York  City, 
and  Mr.  Cole,  with  earnest  resolution,  separated  himself  from  the 
others,  and  wearily  plodded  his  way  back.  He  crossed  the  ferry  from 
New  Jersey,  and  landed  in  the  metropolis  with  just  three  cents  in  his 
pocket.  This  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  resolute 
young  Yankee  from  the  hills  of  Chesterfield  had  yet  to  find  a  place 
for  the  night  in  a  city  of  strangers.  He  found  his  way  down  into 
what  was  then  known  as  "the  swamp,"  among  the  heaVy  leather- 
dealers  of  the  city.  This  was  a  busy  place.  He  called  upon  a  Quaker, 
one  of, the  principal  business-men  of  the  street,  an  extensive  dealer 
in  leather  and  hides,  and  a  man  of  wealth. 

The  merchant  closely  interrogated  the  young  man  as  to  his  habits, 
and,  being  satisfied  upon  this  point,  engaged  him  for  one  year  as  a 
porter  and  man-of-all-work,  agreeing  to  pay  him  $1  a  day,  Mr.  Cole 
to  board  himself.  With  prompt  kindness  the  merchant  sent  his  son 
to  fin<l  a  suitiilde  boarding  place  not  far  from  the  store. 

Mr.  Cole  improvcil  his  opportunity  by  industry  and  by  unflinching 
regularity  in  the  performance  of  all  his  duties,  and  secured  the  con- 
fidence of  bis  employer.  He  lost  no  time,  and,  just  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year,  ho  was  promoted  from  the  position  of  n  laborer  to 
that  of  salesman.  The  merchant  re-engaged  him  at  the  close  of  the 
year  for  six  months,  agreeing  to  pay  him  one  dollar  a  week  in  addition 
to  his  former  wages.  During  his  first  year  ho  saved  ?13U,  and  in  tho 
six  months'  term  following  ho  made  S7o  by  buying  sheep-  and  calf- 
skins, the  merchant  having  allowed  his  son  and  Mr.  Cole  to  speculate 
a  little  on  their  own  account.  Tho  truckman  in  the  employ  of  this 
house  desired  to  sell  out,  and  Mr.  Cole,  with  the  permission  of  his 


employer,  bought  the  horse  and  dray,  paying  for  them  $200,  He  was 
still  under  age,  and  had  to  procure  a  license  to  enable  him  to  do  this. 

He  now  entered  upon  a  course  of  still  harder  work.  Doing  all  the 
carting  for  the  house,  he  also  bought  hides  of  the  farmers  and  butchers, 
rented  a  building  near,  cured  the  hides,  and  sold  them  to  the  country 
tanners.  This  was  done  early  in  the  morning  before  the  carting  would 
be  required.  In  this  way  a  large  business  gradually  fell  into  his  hands. 
At  the  end  of  three  years,  having  made  sufllicient  money  to  enable  him 
to  enter  into  a  still  larger  business,  he  formed  a  copartnership  with 
Matthew  Carroll,  under  the  name  of  Carroll  tfe  Cole,  removing  from 
Jacob  Street  to  more  commodious  quarters  in  Ferry  Street.  Mr.  Car- 
roll had  charge  of  the  finances,  and  Mr.  Cole  did  the  buying  and 
selling.  They  employed  a  large  number  of  men,  and  the  business 
rapidly  increased.  After  two  years,  Mr.  Carroll's  health  failing,  Mr. 
Cole's  labors  were  largely  added  to. 

The  time  of  the  partnership  was  four  years,  and  when  it  expired,  at 
Mr.  Carroll's  earnest  request,  it  was  continued  one  year  longer.  In 
the  midst  of  this  successful  career  Mr.  Cole's  own  health  failed,  and, 
acting  upon  the  imperative  advice  of  his  physician,  he  disposed  of  his 
business  and  returned  to  his  native  town,  arriving  there  in  December, 
1828.  There  he  bought  a  large  farm,  kee])ing  a  dairy  of  thirty  cows, 
and  shearing  sometimes  sixteen  hundred  sheep  in  a  year.  He  also 
bought  wool  for  the  Northampton  Woolen  Company,  and  for  Plattner  »fe 
Smith,  of  Lee,  Mass.  In  1S45  hemoved  to  Worthington,  and  engaged 
in  general  merchandising  with  Simeon  Clapp.  They  continued  to- 
gether four  years.  After  that,  Mr.  Cole  and  C.  C.  Parrish  were  the 
firm  for  six  years  and  a  half.  Mr.  Parrish  retiring,  his  son,  Samuel 
Cole,  went  into  the  partnership,  and  the  firm-name  was  II.  Cole  &  Son 
until  1875,  when  the  son  succeeded  to  the  entire  business,  and  con- 
tinues the  same  in  Worthington.  Besides  his  mercantile  work,  Mr.  Cole 
has  engaged  in  various  other  enterprises,  especially  the  manufacturing 
of  boots  and  shoes  on  a  large  scale.  In  1859  his  buildings — store  and 
dwelling-house — were  destroyed  by  fire.  He  promptly  rebuilt  them. 
In  1875  he  erected  a  cheese-factory,  having  facilities  for  using  the  milk 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  cows  or  more.  This  factor^'  he  has  recently 
sold  to  an  association  of  farmers.  Politically,  Mr.  Cole  was  a  Whig,  and 
in  later  years  a  Republican.  He  has  held  the  position  of  selectman,  both 
in  Chesterfield  and  Worthington,  and  has  been  postmaster  for  many 
years.    He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Worthington. 

He  marrieil,  May  9,  1821,  in  New  York,  Sarah  King,  of  that  city. 
She  died  in  June,  1855.  Their  children  were  eleven  in  number,  all  of 
whom  died  in  childhood  except  the  son,  Samuel.  Mr.  Cole  married 
(second),  Oct.  14,  1857,  Maria,  daughter  of  Elijah  Cole,  of  Worthing- 
ton. She  was  the  widow  of  John  Kinne,  of  Chesterfield.  She  died 
Feb.  7,  1873,  and  Mr.  Cole  married  (third),  June  28,  1874,  Almira, 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  Hull,  of  Stonington,  Conn.  She  was  the  widow 
of  Calvin  Gunn,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.  Her  grandfather  was  Judge  Hull, 
a  prominent  lawyer,  of  Stonington,  Conn. 

Mr.  Cole  has  been  remarkably  successful  in  business,  and  this  is 
attributed  to  the  close  personal  attention  he  has  always  given  to  his 
various  undertakings.  His  education  was  only  that  obtained  in  the 
common  schools,  but  he  possessed  great  natural  ability.  He  has  been 
very  generous  in  contributing  to  all  matters  affecting  the  public  wel- 
fare of  his  native  town.  He  has  a  large  number  of  friends,  who  es- 
teem him  for  his  sterling  integrity  and  strict  honesty,  A  prominent 
hanker  of  Northampton  said  to  the  writer,  "  Mr.  Cole  is  the  soul  of 
honor,  and  his  word  has  always  been  as  good  as  his  bond." 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


457 


nnd  Mr.  Nahum  Etiger  took  the  oath  relating  to  fence-viewci-s.  Dr.  Moses  Morse 
took  the  outh  of  a  surveyor. 

Oct.  14, 17fi,S. — The  towu  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Alexaader  Miller,  iu  Worth- 
ington  aforeaai'i,  aud  then  tlie  town  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  Nathan  Leonard 
deer-reeve,  and  he  was  sworn  into  the  office ;  and  then  the  town  voted  to  juljourn 
this  meeting  to  no  day.    Mr.  John  Watt  took  the  oath  of  a  tythingman. 

October  2"2d. — Mr.  Thomas  Kinne  took  tlie  oath  of  warden. 

Oct.  11, 17GS. — At  a  legal  town-meeting  held  at  Mr.  Alexander  Miller's,  Dr. 
Moses  Morse  was  chosen  moderator;  and  then  the  town  voted  to  lay  out  roads 
in  the  following  places:  1st.  To  begin  at  Murrayfield  line,  nesir  Mr.  Thomas 
Kinne's,  rnnning  northerly,  hearing  to  the  east,  to  the  dwelling-hntise  of  Mr. 
Benjamin  Bigelow,  and  from  there  to  the  grist-mill  in  said  Worthington ;  and 
then  a  road  from  Murrayfield  line  to  No.  5  line  in  the  most  convenient  place; 
and  then  a  road  from  No.  5  line,  on  the  west  end  of  Mr.  Whipple's  lot  and  Mr. 
Ford's  and  Mr.  Kice's,  out  to  the  other  road;  and  then  to  lay  out  a  road  in  the 

most  convenient  place  from  the  grist-mill  to  lead  up  to  Mr.  Daniel 

into  the  north  and  south  road ;  and  then  a  road  from  Capt.  Nathan 

saw-mill  in  the  most  convenient  place into  the  county  road 

between  Mr.  Ephmim lot  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Eames'  lot.     And  then 

the  town  voted  to  recommend  the  other  roads  to  be  laid  out  by  the  selectmen 
where  they  may  think  the  most  convenient  place.* 

The  first  regular  March  meeting  was  held  on  the  21st  day 
of  the  month,  1769,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Alexander  Miller,  inn- 
holder. 

Mr.  Thomas  Kinne  was  chosen  Moderator,  Nahum  Eager,  Town  Clerk  and 
Town  Treasurer;  Thoma.s  Kinne,  Moses  Morse,  Samuel  Clapp,  Selectmen  ;  Tim- 
othy Meech,  Constable;  Samuel  Wilcox,  Benjamin  Bigelow,  Nathan  Leonard, 
Surveyoi-s  of  Highways;  Samuel  Crosby,  Tythingman;  Daniel  Moree,  Riifus 
St<tne,Fence-Viewer8;  John  Skiff,  Leather-Sealer;  James  Benjamin,  Deer-Reeve; 
Moses  Ashley,  Nathan  Leonard,  Wardens.  The  town  voted  to  accept  of  sundry 
roads — perhaps  the  same  as  already  mentioned — one  "from  Murray viUe  to  No. 
5  line ;"  one  "  from  grist-mill  to  Capt.  Daniels' ;"  one  "  from  the  grist-mill  to  Mr. 
Biglow's." 

Nov,  12, 1770. — Dr.  Moses  Morse  and  Mr.  Alexander  Miller  chosen  agents  to 
represent  the  town  at  the  county  court,  in  relation  to  county  roads. 

March  19, 1771. — Voted  sixty  pounds  to  mend  the  highways,  men's  labor  to  be 
counted  3s.  per  day ;  yoke  of  oxen,  Is.  6d. ;  use  of  plow,  8d. 

Dec.  23, 1772. — Voted  Nahum  Eager,  Jeremiah  Kiune,  Nathaniel  Daniels  a 
committee  to  petition  to  have  the  provincial  tax  taken  off. 

April  2, 1778.— Voted  not  "  to  set  up  enoculation"  at  all  this  time. 

Other  extracts  from  town  records  are  given  in  connection 
with  churches,  schools,  etc. 

SELECTMEN,    FROM    THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    TOWN. 

1768. — Nathan  Leonard,  Nathaniel  Daniels,  John  Kinne. 

1769. — Thomas  Kinne,  Moses  Morse,  Samuel  Clapp. 

1770. — Nathan  Leonard,  Nathaniel  Daniels,  Nahnm  Eager. 

1771. — Joseph  Marsh,  John  Kinne,  Alexander  Miller. 

1772. — Ebenezer  Leonard,  Alexander  Miller,  Joseph  Marsh. 

1773. — Natlianiel  Daniels,  Nahum  Eager,  Thomas  Kinne. 

1774. — Nahum  Eager,  Nathaniel  Daniels,  John  Kinne. 

1775. — Nathaniel  Daniels,  Jonathan  Prentice,  Jeremiah  Kinne. 

1776. — Ebenezer  Leonard,  Thomas  Kinne,  Moses  Morse. 

1777. — Nathan  Leonard,  Thomas  Kinne,  Joseph  Marsh. 

1778. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Timothy  Meech,  John  Skiff. 

1779. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Moses  Poi-ter,  William  Burr. 

1780. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Mosea  Porter,  Joshua  Phillips,  Nathaniel   Daniels, 

Zephaniah  Hatch. 
1781. — Nahum  Eager,  John  Kinne,  Jonathan  Prentice. 
1782. — Stephen  Fitch,  Nahum  Eager,  Samuel  Woods. 
1783.— John  Watts,  Stephen  Fitch,  Samuel  Woods. 
17S4. — Nahum  Eager,  Jonathan  Brewster,  John  Kinne. 
1785. — Nahum  Eager,  Jonathan  Brewster,  Job  Marsh. 
1786. — Nahum  Eager,  Jonathan  Brewster,  John  Kinne. 
1787. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Nathan  Branch,  Ezra  Leonard. 
1788. — Jonathan  Brewster,  John  Kinne,  Ezra  Leonard. 
1789-90.— Jonathan  Brewster,  Matthew  Warner,  Thatldeus  Chapiu. 
1791-92. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Matthew  Warner,  Nathan  Branch. 
1793. — Jonathan  Woodbridge,  Rufas  Marsh,  Israel  Burr. 
1794. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Nahnm  Eager,  Matthew  Warner. 
1795. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Matthew  Warner,  Jonathan  Woodbridge. 
1796. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Rufus  Marsh,  Nathan  Branch. 
1797-98.— Rufus  Marsh,  Elisha  Brewster,  Samuel  Cook. 
1799. — Elisha  Brewster,  Samuel  Cook,  Ezra  Leonard. 
1800. — Ezra  Leonard,  Samuel  Cook,  Joseph  Marsh. 
1801. — Samuel  Cook,  Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  Eliashib  Adams?,  Jr. 
1802. — Samuel  Cook,  Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Woodbridge. 
1803. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Woodbridge,  Nathan  Hazen. 
1804. — Jonathan  Woodbridge,  Roger  Benjamin,  Elijah  Curtis. 
1805. — Roger  Benjamin,  Elijah  Curtis,  Azariah  Parsons. 
1806.— Ezra  Leonard,  Trowbridge  Ward,  Cyrus  Stowell. 
1807. — Ezra  Leonard,  Trowbridge  Ward,  John  Stone. 


*  The  omitted  words  above  are  missinj 
page  being  torn  away. 

58 


■  from  the  town  records,  a  corner  of  tho 


180S. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  Trowbridge  Ward,  John  Stone. 

1809-10. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  John  Stone,  .Tosiah  Mills. 

1811-13. — Jonathan  Brewster,  .Ir.,  Josiah  Mills,  Roger  Benjamin. 

1814-17. — Ezra  Starkweather,  Azariah  Parsons,  Epliraim  Parish. 

1818. — Trowbridge  Ward,  Joseph  Marsh,  Jaine,s  Kelley. 

1819-20. — Jonah  Brewster,  Josiah  Mills,  Itttger  Benjamin. 

1821-22. — Jonah  Brewster,  Trowbridge  Ward,  William  Eager. 

1823. — Jonah  Brewster,  William  Eager,  John  Stone,  Jr. 

1824-25. — Jonah  Brewster,  John  Stone,  Jr.,  Timothy  Austin. 

182G. — Jonak  Brewster,  John  Stone,  Jr.,  Joseph  Bardwell. 

1827-28. — Jonah  Brewster,  John  Stone,  Jr.,  Gorham  Cottrell. 

1829. — William  Coit,  Ansel  Burr,  Lathrop  Reed. 

1830-31. — Jonah  Brewster,  Ansel  Bin-r,  Jeremiah  Phillips. 

1832-:i3. — Clement  Burr,  Jeremiah  Phillips,  Luther  Granger. 

1834.— Ransloe  Daniels,  Ames  Burr.  Oren  Stone. 

183.7-30. — James  Benton,  Elkanah  Ring,  Jr.,  Azariah  Parsons. 

1837. — Chauncey  B.  Rising,  Jeremiah  Phillips,  Ames  Burr. 

1838. — Bansloe  Daniels,  Ames  Burr,  Elkanah  Ring,  Jr. 

1839. — Norman  Allen,  Luther  Granger,  James  Bishee. 

1840.— Kansloe  Daniels,  Elkanah  Ring,  Jr.,  Russell  Bartlett. 

1841-42. — Ransloe  Daniels,  Ames  Burr,  Russell  Bartlett. 

1843.— Ransloe  Daniels,  Elkanah  Ring,  Jr.,  Russell  Bartlett. 

1844. — Russell  Bartlett,  John  Adams,  Elbridge  Hazen. 

1845. — John  Adams,  Elbridge  Hazen,  Oren  Stone. 

1846. — John  Adams,  Elbridge  Hazen,  Tillson  Bartlett. 

1847.— Elbridge  Hazen,  Azariah  Paraons,  Oren  Stone. 

1848. — Elbridge  Hazen,  Oren  Stone,  Azaiiah  Pai-sons. 

1849-51. — Russell  Bartlett,  Milton  Brewster,  Ethan  Barnes. 

1852. — Elisha  H.  Brewster,  Jotham  Clarke,  James  Bishee. 

1853. — Jotham  Clarke,  James  Bishee,  William  H.  Bates. 

1854.— Jotham  Clarke  (died),  William  H.  Bates,  Ethan  C.  Ring,  James  Bishee. 

1855. — William  H.  Bates,  William  Cole,  John  N.  Benton. 

1856.— William  Cole,  John  N.  Benton,  Edward  C.  Porter. 

1857.— John  N.  Benton,  John  Adams,  William  A.  Bates. 

1858-59. — A.  Dwight  Perry,  Alden  B.  Curtis,  William  Starkweather. 

1860-61. — Horace  Coe,  William  A.  Bates,  Russell  Bartlett. 

1862. — John  Adams,  Charles  F.  Cole,  Aaron  Stevens. 

18(53-64. — John  Adams,  Oren  Stone,  Alden  B.  Curtis. 

1865-66. — John  Adams,  Oren  Stone,  Marcus  A.  Bates. 

1867. — John  Adams,  Franklin  J.  Robinson,  Marcus  A.  Bates. 

1808-69.- William  Cole,  Franklin  J.  Robinson,  E.  0.  Porter. 

1870-71.— William  Cole,  Edwin  S.  Burr,  Alfred  Kilbourne. 

1872-73. — A.  Dwight  Perry,  Marcus  A.  Bates,  Jonathan  Brewster. 

1874-75.— Jonathan  Brewster,  Gordyce  Bates,  Jonathan  H.  Eager. 

1876. — Jonathan  Brewster,  Gordyce  Bates,  Charles  K.  Brewster. 

1877-78.— Jonathan  Brewster,  Gordyce  Bates,  Daniel  R.  Poi-ter. 

1879. — A.  J.  Randall,  Henry  Benton,  James  Pease. 

TOWN-CLERKS. 
Nahum  Eager,  1768  to  1776;  John  Watt,  1777;  Ebenezer  Leonard,  1778  to  1781 
James  Thompson,  1782, 1783 ;  Jonathan  Brewster,  1784, 1785 ;  Ezra  Starkweather 
1786  to  1813 ;  Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  1814  to  1824 ;  William  Ward,  182.3  to  1830 
Chauncey  B.  Rising,  1831  to  1834 ;   Ransloe  Daniels,  1835  to  1837 ;  Elisha  H. 
Brewster,  1838  to  1841 ;  Simeon  Clapp,  1842  to  1848 ;  John  Adams,  1849  to  1855 
C.  C.  Parish,  1856;  Edward  C.  Porter,  1857  to  1867;  Samuel  Cole,  1868, 1869;  C. 
K.  Brewster,  1870  to  1874;  Samncl  Cole,  1875  to  1880. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  representatives  from  Worthington 
in  the  Provincial  Congress  or  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State : 

Moses  Morse,  .\gent  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  1773;  also  Representative  to 
the  General  Court,  1777;  Nahum  Eager,  Representative  to  Provincial  Congress  , 
1774,  and  to  the  General  Court,  1781, 1783, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792,  1794,  1796, 1797 ; 
Nathan  Leonard,  Representative  to  the  General  Court,  1775 ;  Deacon  .Jonathan 
Brewster,  1778,  1779,  1782,  1784,  178.5, 1786, 1787,  179  i,  1795;  Hon.  Ezra  Stark- 
weather, 1788,  1798,  1800,  1801,  1802,  1803 ;  Matthew  Warner,  Representative  to 
the  General  Court,  1799 ;  Jonathan  Woodbridge,  1804, 1805, 1807 ;  Elisha  Brewster, 
1806;  Jonathan  Brewster,  Jr.,  1808,  1809,  1810,  1811,  1813,  1819,  1831 ;  Samuel 
Howe,  1812;  Josiah  Mills,  1814,  1815, 1822,  1829,  1830,  1835 ;  Hon.  Wm.  Ward, 
1816, 1817, 1831,  1834, 1851.  Died  before  taking  his  seat  at  the  last  election . 
Trowbridge  Ward,  1820,  1821 ;  .Jonah  Brewster,  1823,  1832,  1833 ;  Elisha  Mack , 
1826;  Ransloe  Daniels,  1836, 1845;  Chauncey  B.  Rising,  1838, 1839, 1840;  James 
Benton,  1840;  Ames  Burr,  1841,1842;  Ethan  C.  Ring,  1843,  1844 ;  Elisha  H. 
Brewster,  1847, 1852 ;  Elbridge  Hazen,  1848 ;  Ethan  Barnes,  1849,  1850 ;  Abner 
M.  Smith,  1853;  G.  B.  Hall,  1854;  John  Adams,  1856;  Wm.  H.  Bates,  1857;  John 
H.  Bisbee,  1864 ;  Marcus  A.  Bates,  1869 ;  Lafayette  Stevens,  1875. 

The  place  of  the  town-meetings  has  been  as  follows:  1768, 
"at  the  house  of  Alexander  Miller,  innholder,"  and  to  1770, 
inclusive.  1770,  November  12th,  "  at  the  meeting-house  in 
said  town,"  and  down  to  Oct.  10,  1825.  1826,  March  13th, 
"at  the  old  meeting-house,"  and  to  May  14,  1827,  inclusive. 

1827,  July  2d,  "  at  Isaiah  Kingman's,"  and  through  that  year. 

1828,  March  12th,  "at  the  town-house  in  said  town,"  and  to 
Nov.  12,  1849,  inclusive.  1850,  March  4th,  "  at  the  town- 
hall  in  said  town,"  and  down  to  the  present  time. 


458 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


VILLAGES. 


WORTHINQTON    CENTRE. 


This  village  is  so  named  from  its  geogniphical  position. 
The  town-hall  is  located  just  north  of  the  place,  and  also  the 
Congregational  Church.  In  the  sharp  contest  over  the  site  of 
the  latter,  1824  and  182.5,  it  is  said  to  have  heen  determined 
that  "  Watts'  Pond,"  just  over  the  hill  to  the  west,  was  the 
centre  of  the  town,  with  respect  to  territory,  population,  val- 
uation, and  travel.  The  earliest  clothier-works  in  the  town 
were  located  here,  upon  the  present  place  of  C.  P.  Hewitt,  and 
some  of  the  timbers  have  heen  uncovered  in  recent  years. 
While  the  old  Albany  stage-route  was  in  its  prosperous  days 
it  was  supposed  that  a  village  would  growaip  at  the  next  four 
corners  east.  But  the  location  of  the  meeting-house  and  the 
early  clothier-works  drew  business  to  the  centre.  When  the 
railroad  was  opened  the  old  historic  line  of  stages  was  aban- 
doned. Worthiiigton  became  "an  inland  town,"  and  the 
growth  of  "the  centre"  was  more  decided.  The  stores  and 
taverns  along  the  line  of  the  old  road  disappeared,  except  as 
they  were  sustained  for  other  reasons.  A  very  early  store  at 
the  centre  was  kept  by  Francis  Benjamin,  on  the  site  of  Elisha 
Brewster's  present  residence.  In  1837,  D.  T.  Hewitt  opened 
a  store  on  the  present  place  of  his  son,  C.  P.  Hewitt,  and  con- 
tinued in  trade  for  a  few  years.  Somewhat  later  the  store  of 
Sidney  and  Elisha  Brewster  was  established.  Later,  the  firm 
was  Sidney  Brewster  &  Son.  They  closed  out,  and  the  store 
was  opened  by  E.  H.  Brewster  &  Son,  and  has  been  continued 
to  the  present  time. 

WORTHINGTON    CORNERS    POST-OFFICE. 

is  on  the  old  stage-road,  a  mile  north  of  "  the  centre."  It  is 
a  pleasant  rural  village,  containing  a  number  of  substantial 
and  elegant  private  residences  ;  the  Worthington  House,  now 
kept  by  Mr.  Winslow  ;  the  Bartlett  Hotel ;  the  store  of  Sam- 
uel Cole ;  a  cheese-factory  ;  a  basket-factory ;  and  several  me- 
chanic-shops. From  this  village  there  are  three  stage-lines, — 
one  to  Williamsburg  and  one  to  Hinsdale,  both  daily,  and 
one  three  times  a  week  to  Huntington. 

In  the  tendency  of  summer  travel  to  these  mountain  towns 
Worthington  Corners  is  receiving  considerable  attention  of 
late  ;  quite  a  number  of  boarders  are  wont  to  locate  here. 
Several  private  dwellings  are  owned  abroad,  and  opened  as 
summer  residences  during  the  hot  months  of  the  year.  Sev- 
eral places  of  romantic  beauty  are  within  easy  drive,  and 
there  is  much  to  attract  in  all  parts  of  the  town. 

WEST    WORTHINGTON 

is  located  above  the  Falls  in  the  Wcstiield  River.  It  includes 
a  few  private  residences,  the  mills  mentioned  elsewhere,  a 
post-office,  school-house,  several  mechanic-shops,  and  the 
Methodist  church.  It  is  on  the  present  stage-road  from 
Worthington  Corners  to  Hinsdale.  The  post-office  was  estab- 
lished December,  1849.  Russell  Bartlett  was  the  first  post- 
master, and  retained  the  office  until  Jan.  1,  1874.  David 
Jones  took  the  office  at  that  time,  and  is  the  present  postmaster 
(March,  1879). 

RINOVII.I.E 

derives  its  name  from  the  men  who  established  the  most  im- 
portant business  there.  It  is  a  small  hamlet,  rather  pictur- 
esquely situated  at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  Little 
Kiver.  Besides  the  mills,  it  has  a  post-office,  school-house, 
shops,  and  a  few  private  dwellings.  The  place  is  south  of 
Worthington  Centre,  on  the  stage-road  to  Huntington. 

SOUTH    WORTHINGTON    POST-OFFICE. 

This  place  is  below  Ringville,  in  tin:  valley  of  Little  River, 
and  in  the  extreme  southeast  part  of  the  town.  The  stage- 
route  from  Worthington  Corners  to  Huntington  passes 
through  it.  The  village  grew  up  mostly  thnnigh  the  energy, 
business  enterprise,  and  public  spirit  of  Horace  Cole,  who  is 


mentioned  in  connection  with  the  mills.  He  was  the  liberal 
benefactor  of  the  Methodist  Church,  its  real  founder  and 
generous  supporter.  The  place  now  includes  private  resi- 
dences, the  Methodist  Church,  a  school-house,  shops,  and  a 
post-office.  The  latter  was  established  August,  1867.  The 
first  postmaster  was  E.  R.  Converse.  The  second,  and  present, 
incumbent  is  Isaac  D.  Thrasher. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  school-house  "  was  built  in  1773,  near  the  ground 
occupied  by  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  John  Adams."  Schools 
were  at  first  supported  largely  hj  subscription.  Appropria- 
tions in  the  early  years  were  very  limited  in  amount.  The 
struggle  to  live  in  those  pioneer  times  did  not,  however,  absorb 
the  whole  attention.  Education  and  religious  worship  were 
early  cared  for.     The  same  writer  before  quoted  says  ; 

"  When  we  remember  that  for  the  first  four  years  the  expenses  of  the  town, 
though  .imounting  to  only  forty  pounds,  were  obliged  to  be  defrayed  with  bor- 
rowed money ;  when  we  consider  tliat  the  State  taxes,  from  the  want  of  liard 
money,  were  obliged  to  be  paid  in  produce ;  when  we  contemphate  the  extreme 
low  price  of  all  kinds  of  labor, — we  are  rather  surprised  at  what  the  town  voted 
for  the  support  of  common  schools  than  at  what  in  their  necessity  they  were 
prevented  from  doing." 

No  action  by  the  town  is  recorded  for  three  years ;  after  that 
annual  appropriations  were  generally  made. 

March  19, 1771. — Voted  to  raise  ten  pounds  for  schooling  for  the  year  ensuing. 

Nov.  13, 1772. — Voted  a  committee  to  divide  the  town  into  districts, — Moses 
Morse,  Nathaniel  Daniel,  Benjamin  Biglow,  Thomas  Kinne,  John  Watts. 

Dec.  4, 1772.— Committee  repoi-ted  five  districts. 

March  5,  1784. — Voted  twenty  pounds  for  schooling. 

March  27,  1785. — Voted  thirty  [mnnds  for  schooling. 

March  16, 1795. — Voted  forty  pounds  for  schooling.- 

Before  the  close  of  the  last  century  the  appropriations 
amounted  to  JEOO  annually.  In  1833  a  general  rearrangement 
of  the  school  districts  took  place. 

THE    MOUNTAIN   SEMINARY, 

an  incorporated  institution,  was  established  in  1837,  on  the 
common  near  the  present  store  of  Samuel  Cole,  at  Worthing- 
ton Corners.  The  school  was  continued  for  several  years, 
supported  by  tuition  fees  alone.  But  other  seminaries,  heavily 
endowed,  were  soon  after  founded,  and  the  competition  was 
too  strong  for  this  village  academy.  The  enterprise  lasted 
only  a  few  years,  but  it  aided  many  young  people  to  obtain 
the  elements  of  a  higher  education ;  it  secured  improved 
methods  in  the  common  schools,  and  gave  to  the  town  an  edu- 
cational impulse  that  has  ever  since  been  felt. 

The  first  teachers  were  Alender  0.  Clapp  and  Mary  Strong. 
Afterward  T.  A.  Hall,  E.  A.  Hubbard,  and  J.  H.  Temple 
were  employed. 

The  building  was  a  convenient  one,  comprising  two  school- 
rooms on  the  lower  floor,  and  a  recitation-room  connected  with 
each.  On  the  second  floor  was  a  large  public  hall,  and  con- 
siderably for  other  than  school  business.  The  institution  was 
built  by  a  company  of  shareholders,  including  among  others 
Capt.  Kelly,  Azariah  Parsons,  Mr.  Randall,  Col.  Ward,  Col. 
Rice,  C.  B.  Rising,  and  others.  The  building  was  sold  finally 
for  a  turning-shop  at  West  Chesterfield. 

To  this  notice  of  the  schools  it  is  proper  to  add  a  list  of  the 
natives  of  Worthington  who  received  a  collegiate  education  : 

Azariah  Clark,  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  180.5;  en- 
tered the  ministry.  Benjamin  Mills,  graduated  at  Williams 
College  in  1814;  settled  in  Illinois  as  a  lawyer;  returned  to 
Massachusetts  ;  died  in  Pittsfield.  Henry  Wilbur,  privately 
educated;  not  a  graduate;  was  a  minister  of  Wendell  from  1817 
to  1822  ;  also  an  author  and  lecturer  on  astronomy.  Joseph  M. 
Brewster,  Yale  College,  1822;  entered  the  ministry;  died  in 
Peru,  1833.  Daniel  Parish,  Williams  College,  1822;  studied 
law  ;  practiced  in  Worthington  and  elsewhere.  Joivithan  E. 
Woodbridgc,  Williams  College,  1822;  appointed  a  tutor;  en- 
tered the  ministry  ;  was  a  teacher  many  years  at  Auburndale. 
George  Woodbridge,  graduated   at  West   Point;    afterward 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


459 


entered  the  ministry,  and  preached  at  Richmond,  Va.  John 
Starkweather,  Yale  College,  1825;  entered  the  ministr}'.  Or- 
samus  Tinker,  Williams  College,  1827;  entered  the  ministry; 
died  at  Ashbj',  Mass.,  in  1838.  Consider  Parish,  Williams 
College,  1828  ;  both  taught  and  preached  at  the  South.  Alonzo 
Clark,  Williams  College,  1828;  studied  medicine;  appointed 
professor  of  pathology  in  the  Medical  College  of  New  York 
City.  J.  H.  Bisbee,  Union  College,  1831 ;  entered  the  min- 
istry. Daniel  Branch,  Union  College,  1832;  a  teacher  in 
Ohio  I  school  commissioner  in  Illinois.  A.  Huntington  Clapp, 
Yale  College  ;  appointed  secretary  of  Home  Missionar}'  So- 
ciety, New  York.  Franklin  T>.  Austin,  Union  College,  1845; 
entered  the  ministry.  Henry  A.  Austin  and  Samuel  J.  Aus- 
tin, Union  College,  1847  ;  both  entered  the  ministry.  Corj'don 
Higgins,  Williams  College,  1849;  entered  the  ministry.  Chas. 
H.  Gardner,  Williams  College;  entered  the  ministry,  preach- 
ing and  teaching  in  New  York.  James  K.  Mills,  Williams 
College ;  entered  the  profession  of  law.  W.  Harmon  Niles, 
educated  under  Prof.  Agassiz,  Cambridge.  James  C.  Rice, 
Yale  College,  1854  ;  studied  law  ;  settled  in  New  York  City  ; 
entered  the  Union  army,  as  elsewhere  stated.  Henry  E.  Dan- 
iels, Williams  College ;  studied  law ;  died  young.  Other 
professional  men  educated  at  various  institutions,  Ira  Daniels, 
Ebenezor  Daniels,  Dr.  Tinker,  Franklin  Everett,  Hon.  Saml. 
A.  Kingman,  judge  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kansas,  A.  D. 
Kingman,  the  brothers  Marble,  who  went  to  Kentucky. 

There  have  also  gone  out  from  Worthington  many  distin- 
guished business-men  who  have  risen  to  positions  of  public 
trust  or  been  signally  successful  in  their  respective  callings. 
Among  these  may  be  named  Aaron  Clark,  Gideon  Lee,  A.  P. 
Stone,  F.  Kellogg. 

The  life  of  Gideon  Lee  has  the  elements  almost  of  a  romance. 
Originally  a  shoemaker  in  the  shop  at  Clark  &  Bardwell's 
tannery,  he  is  said  to  have  one  day  thrown  otf  bis  apron  and 
declared  he  would  do  such  small  business  no  longer.  His 
after-career  in  New  York  as  a  leather-dealer  is  simply  marvel- 
ous. He  rose  to  wealth  and  municipal  honors,  being  chosen 
mayor  of  the  city.  When  he  retired  from  business  he  met 
John  Jacob  Astor  in  the  street.  Mr.  As'tor  said,  "  I  hear  you 
have  retired,  Mr.  Lee;  how  much  do  you  save?"  "About 
$300,000,"  replied  Mr.  Lee.  "  Well,  well!"  said  Mr.  Astor. 
"  That  is  just  as  well  as  if  you  were  rich." 

SCHOOI.    STATI.STICS. 

January,  1837. — Eleven  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  247  ;  average,  213 ; 
winter,  326;  average,  2i)8;  in  town,  between  4  antl  16,  340;  summer  schools,  48 
months,  15  days ;  winter,  33  months,  15  days ;  summer  teachers,  11  females ;  win- 
ter, 11  males ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S13.4o  ;  female  teaeh- 
ere,  $4.G5 ;  does  not  seem  possible  this  last  could  include  board,  but  so  stated  iu 
Report,  Legislative  Documents,  1838,  page  148. 

January,  1847. — Eleven  schools;  attending  in  summer,  278;  average,  191; 
winter,  304 ;  average,  221 ;  in  town,  between  4  and  IG,  356 ;  attending  under  4, 
19 ;  over  16,  32 ;  summer  schools,  55  months,  14  days ;  winter,  37  months,  14 
days ;  total,  93  months ;  summer  teachei-s,  11  females ;  winter,  9  males,  2  fe- 
males ;  average  wages,  male  teachers  per  month,  $21.17  ;  female,  312.61. 

January,  1857. — Twelve  schools;  attending  in  summer,  270;  average,  211; 
winter,  297 ;  average,  243 ;  attending  under  5,  27 ;  over  15,  44 ;  in  town,  between 
5  and  15,  267  ;  summer  teachers,  13  females;  winter,  10  males,  2  females;  sum- 
mer schools,  44  months;  winter,  35  months,  6  days;  total,  79  months,  G  days; 
average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  326 ;  female,  S15.50. 

January,  1867. — Twelve  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  200 ;  average,  160 ; 
winter,  225;  average,  186;  attending  under  5,  9;  over  15,  52;  in  town,  between 
5  and  15, 198 ;  summer  teachers,  12  females;  winter,  6  males,  6  females;  sum- 
mer schools,  37  mouths ;  winter,  41  months,  15  days ;  average  wages  of  male 
teachers,  $33.33  per  month ;  female  teachers,  $23.14. 

January,  1878. — Eleveu  schools ;  169  attending ;  average,  124;  under  5,  G;  over 
5,31;  in  town,  between  5  and  16,146;  teachers,  2  males,  13  fenuiles, — 1  from 
normal;  school,  71  months;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $35; 
female,  $27.65 ;  taxation,  $800 ;  voluntarily  given,  board  and  fuel,  $8G0;  expense 
of  superintendence,  $G4.55;  printing,  $6;  vested  funds,  $1961.67;  income, 
$143.20;  local  funds  and  dog  tax,  $228.42;  town  share  of  State  fund,  $223.18. 

CHURCHES. 
Some  preparation   for  public  worship  was   made   the  same 
year  the  settlement  began.     Lots  for  ministerial  support  were 
set  apart,  and  the  proprietors  erected  the  first  meeting-house 


in  1764.  Some  of  the  traditions  ascribe  this  work  wholly  to 
Col.  Worthington,  but  others  include  Maj.  Barnard  as  one 
of  the  donors.  It  is  not  very  clear  that  the  above  date  is 
correct,  though  given  by  previous  writers.  When  the  town 
was  organized,  in  1768,  they  met  at  the  iavern  of  Alexander 
Miller,  and  no  town-meetings  were  called  "at  the  meeting- 
house" until  Nov.  12,  1770.  This  is  a  clear  indication  that  a 
houKe  was  built  the  summer  before,  and  that  there  was  no 
other  in  existence  sufficient  to  meet  in,  for  these  New  England 
towns  generally  met  "  at  the  meeting-house"  when  they  could. 
This  conclusion  is  further  sustained  by  the  fact  that  March  5, 
1770,  a  road  was  accepted  extending  "from  the  Murrayfleld 
line  to  the  mrciinri-housc  spot."  This  house  stood  a  few  rods 
west  of  the  present  residence  of  Lyman  Granger. 

The  house  remained  in  a  half-fini.shed  state  for  several  j'ears. 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  and  at  one  time  it  was  agreed 
"  that  every  male  inhabitant  in  the  plantation  of  sixteen  years 
and  upward  shouldspend  one  day  in  cutting  and  clearing  away 
the  forest  about  the  meeting-house."  There  was  no  pulpit  at 
first,  only  a  temporary  stage,  and  rude  benches  for  seats. 
The  older  people  sometimes  brought  chairs.  Mai-eh  29,  1780, 
the  town  voted  certain  improvements, — "a  pulpit,  two  deacons' 
seats,  four  seats  on  each  side  of  the  broad  aisle,  and  also  to  lay 
the  gallery  floor  and  stairs."  Locations  for  other  pews  were 
drawn  by  lot,  to  be  built  by  individuals  on  condition  "that 
each  should  finish  the  back  up  to  the  gallery  girt."  Still  a 
large  part  of  the  house  was  unfinished.  In  1791  the  people 
aroused  themselves,  and  voted  "that  the  meeting-house  be 
taken  down,  moved,  erected,  and  every  way  finished  by  the 
1st  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1792,  and  that  the  whole 
expense  accruing  therefrom  shall  be  paid  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  by  the  1st  day  of  December,  aforesaid,  in  the  fol- 
lowing articles,  viz. :  one-fourth  part  to  be  paid  in  cash,  and 
the  remainder  to  be  paid  in  good  nea>  cattle,  or  Indian  corn, 
or  rye,  or  flax,  or  beef,  or  pork."  This  vote  was  carried  out. 
The  town  subsequently  voted  "to  have  all  the  pews  sold  at 
auction  to  the  highest  bidder."  The  amount  thus  obtained 
was  £601  8s.  This  meeting-house  was  at  "  the  centre,"  and 
occupied  part  of  the  ground  now  lying  between  the  store  of 
C.  K.  Brewster  and  the  dwelling-hnuse  of  Mr.  George  W. 
Noble.  It  was  voted  that  "  Nahum  Eager,  John  Watts,  and 
others  have  liberty  to  set  up  a  steeple  on  the  meeting-house," 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  availed  themselves  of  this 
permission. 

This  continued  for  some  thirty  years  to  be  the  only  place  of 
worship  in  town.  In  1825,  after  a  long  and  unpleasant  contest, 
it  was  abandoned,  and  the  present  edifice  erected.  During 
the  year  1870  the  interior  of  this  house  was  thoroughly  recon- 
structed, at  an  expense  of  several  thousand  dollars.  A  re- 
dedication  took  place  August  3d  of  that  year,  and  was  an 
occasion  of  great  interest.  As  something  unusual,  we  add  that 
the  business  of  the  Congregational  Society  was  transacted 
under  the  town  warrant  until  the  year  1865,  as  in  the  days  of 
the  fathers.  In  most  other  towns  the  connection  between 
"church  and  state"  gradually  dissolved  from  1825  to  1835. 
In  Worthington  the  parish  as  distinct  from  the  town  was 
organized  in  1865,  under  the  Revised  Statutes. 

FORMATION    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

The  early  action  of  the  town  with  reference  to  preaching 
was  somewhat  negative,  as  it  first  appears  on  the  records,  May 
10,  1769,  that  they  "voted  to  have  preaching,"  which  was 
affirmative  enough,  but  that  they  "voted  not  to  grant  any 
money  for  preaching,"  "voted  not  to  choose  a  committee 
to  see  about  preaching,"  and-"  voted  not  to  clear  any  on  the 
meeting-house  lot."  But  this  soon  changed  to  more  positive 
action,  as  shown  with  reference  to  the  building  of  a  meeting- 
house. 

April  3,  1771. — Voted  to  have  Mr.  Jonathan  Huntington,  of  Windham,  for 
their  minister.    Voted  to  maintain  Mr.  Huntington  by  a  rate.    Voted. to  give 


460 


HISTOllY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


him  40  pounds  salary  for  tlie  first  j'ear,  and  to  raise  four  pounds  a  year  until  it 
amounts  to  60  pounds,  and  tlicn  to  remain  at  that  yearly. 

March  11,  1773,  a  salary  of  £-14  was  voted  to  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton, which  was  probably  carrying  out  the  original  agreement 
for  the  second  year. 

The  church  was  organized  April  1,  1771,  with  the  following 
members :  Thomas  Kiniie,  Ebenezer  Leonard,  Nathaniel 
Daniels,  Thomas  demons,  Ephraim  Wheeler,  Grace  Buck, 
Sarah  Pettengill,  Sybil  Holton,  Meribah  Converse,  Sarah 
Huntington,  Jonathan  Huntington,  Hannah  Kinne,  Lydia 
Marsh,  Nathan  Leonard,  Benjamin  Bigelow,  Moses  Soule, 
Samuel  Converse,  Edmund  Pettengill,  Priscilla  Benjamin, 
Anna  Williams,  Mr.  Bigelow,  Eunice  Mor.se,  Joseph  Marsh, 
Israel  Holton,  David  Jewett,  James  Bemrs,  Elizabeth  Bemis, 
Eleanor  Soule,  Dorothy  Daniels,  Abigail  Maheurin. 

Like  most  other  churches,  this  ancient  society  has  had  its 
times  of  abundant  prosperity,  to  be  followed  by  seasons  of  de- 
pression. There  have  been  some  noted  years  when  large  num- 
bers were  added  to  the  church.  In  1780,  tlie  last  year  of  Mr. 
Huntington's  life,  53  united.  In  1798,  54  were  added.  In 
1808  there  was  a  large  accession.  Mr.  Pomeroy  that  year 
made  the  following  entry  : 

"  Be  it  forever  remembered,  to  the  glory  of  all-conquering  grace,  that  after  a 
long,  (kirh,Qitd  slvpid  time,  tliirty-six  persons,  having  before  made  a  public  relation 
of  their  religious  experience  in  the  meeting-house,  iniited  with  this  church  on 
the  first  day  of  May,  1808." 

This  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  work,  however,  as  113 
were  received  that  year.  In  1819,  100  persons  were  added.  In 
1827,  32  united.  In  1842,  48  were  received.  In  1850,  49. 
During  many  other  portions  of  its  history  there  has  also  been 
a  steady,  healthy  growth. 

Ministerial  Record. — l.st.  Rev.  Jonathan  Huntington,  or- 
dained June  26,  1771.  He  died  while  yet  pastor,  March  11, 
1781,  aged  48,  and  the  pulpit  was  then  supplied  for  some  years 
by  various  preachers  tenlporarily  employed.  2d.  Rev.  Josiah 
Spalding,  installed  Aug.  21,  1788.  His  services  ended  in  1794. 
3d.  Rev.  Jonathan  S.  Pomeroy,  settled  Nov.  26,  1794.  His 
pastorate  continued  for  nearly  forty  years,  closing  in  1832. 
He  died  at  Feeding  Hills,  June  4,  1836.  4th.  Rev.  Henry 
Adams,  settled  Dec.  25,  1833;  dismissed  by  reason  of  ill  health 
in  1838.  He  was  a  native  of  Worthington.  5th.  Rev.  John 
H.  Bisbeo,  settled  December,  1838.  He  was  a  native  of  Ches- 
terfield, but  his  parents  belonged  to  the  church  of  Worthing- 
ton. Dismissed  March  13,  1867,  to  accept  a  call  to  the  church 
of  Huntington.  6th.  Rev.  David  S.  Morgan,  installed  June 
26,  1867.  His  services  closed  May  26,  1869.  7th.  Rev.  Joseph 
F.  Gaylord  ;  labors  here  commenced  in  the  summer  of  1869. 
Installed  Aug.  3,  1870.  His  labors  here  closed  April  1,  1873. 
8th.  Rev.  Daniel  Powers,  commenced  his  labors  in  the  spring 
of  1874 ;  closed  in  the  spring  of  1876.  9th.  Rev.  H.  M.  Stone, 
commenced  his  labors  in  June,  1876,  and  closed  October,  1877. 
10th.  A  call  now  pending  to  Rev.  Wm.  E.  Bassett  (1878),  who 
has  preached  for  some  months  past. 

List  of  Deacons. — Joseph  Marsh,  Nathan  Leonard,  1771  ; 
Joshua  Philips,*  1783-90 ;  Jonathan  Brewster,f  1789-1800; 
Rufus  Marsh,*  1789-1802;  Ezra  Leonard,  1800;  Ebenezer 
Niles,t  1801 ;  A.sahel  Prentice,!  1801-6  ;  Charles  Stark- 
weather,* 1806 ;  Azariali  Parsons,!  1811-46  ;  Daniel  Pierce,* 
1828-38  ;  Asa  Marble,*  1829-37  ;  Norman  Allen.f  1836-78  ; 
Lyman  White,*  1838-46;  Schuyler  R.  Wilbur,!  1847-67; 
Jonathan  Brewster,  1867  ;  La  Fayette  Stevens,  1870.  The 
last  Jonathan  Brewster  is  great-grandson  of  the  first. 

As  already  stated,  during  the  year  1870  the  inside  of  the 
church  edifice  was  taken  out  and  entirely  remodeled,  at  an 
expense  of  $4000.  The  church  at  first  was  built  by  the  sale  of 
the  pews,  and  they  were  owned  by  individuals.  When  it  was 
remodeled  the  money  was  raised  in  the  same  way,  the  society 
at  first  paying  individuals  for  their  property  in  the  house.  To 
show  tlic  harmony  and  energy  with  which  the  people  took  hold 


*  Dismissed  to  other  churches. 


!Died. 


of  the  matter,  it  ma_v  be  stated  that  after  the  house  was  com- 
pleted notice  was  given  of  the  time  the  pews  would  be  sold  at 
auction  ;  the  people  met,  and  in  one  half-day  they  were  all 
sold  for  enough  to  pay  all  expenses  and  $500  over  and  above 
all,  so  that  the  church  or  society  have  no  debt,  nor  ever  had 
one. 

Present  membership,  106  ;  congregation,  about  200  ;  attend- 
ance at  Sunday-school,  about  75  ;  library,  150  volumes  ;  A.  J. 
Randall,  superintendent;  Jonathan  Brewster,  clerk  of  the 
church. 

METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH,    WEST   WORTHINGTON. 

This  society  was  formed  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  its  con- 
gregation is  drawn  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  around 
it  and  from  portions  of  Peru.  Soon  after  its  formation  a  neat 
and  convenient  chapel  was  erected  upon  a  pleasant  site  in  the 
village  of  West  Worthington. 

METHODIST    CHURCH,    SOUTH    -WORTHINGTON. 

This  society  was  formed  in  1828,  and  the  congregation  was 
gathered,  to  some  extent,  from  the  neighboring  towns  of 
Chesterfield,  Norwich,  and  Chester.  A  small  chapel  of  one 
and  a  half  stories  was  built  about  1829-30,  costing  ?400.  The 
same  building  is  now  used  as  a  store  at  South  Worthington. 
Previous  to  the  erection  of  this  house  the  meetings  were  held 
in  private  dwellings,  in  barns,  and,  in  pleasant  weather,  under 
a  maple-tree  still  standing  there.  Horace  Cole  states  that  he 
with  six  others  joined  the  church  under  this  tree.  From 
D.  P.  Hewitt  and  other  older  citizens  we  learn  that  Mr.  Cole 
was  the  chief  promoter  of  the  enterprise ;  that  his  house  was 
open  for  ministers,  and  his  barns  for  ministers'  horses;  that  he 
was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  church-work  done  at  that  point. 

Early  ministers  were  Rev.  John  Luckey,  Rev.  Mr.  White, 
Rev.  Mr.  Scott.  Elijah  Cole  was  the  first  class-leader. 
Horace  Cole,  steward.  A  new  meeting-house  was  built  in 
1847,  at  an  expense  of  §2000.  It  has  been  recently  repaired 
and  remodeled,  and  is  now  a  handsome,  neat  country  church. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 
The  following  votes  appear  in  the  records  : 

May  10, 1769. — Voted  to  have  a  burying-place  upon  Mr.  Alexander  Miller's 
land,  as  much  as  shall  be  thought  convenient.  Voted  to  have  a  burying-place 
upon  Lot  No.  35,  where  it  shall  be  thought  most  convenient.  Voted  to  have  a 
burying-place  upon  Lot  No.  50. 

These  three  were  therefore  the  old  burying-grounds  of  the 
town.  There  are  now  five  under  the  care  of  the  town :  the 
Centre  Cemetery,  in  charge  of  C.  K.  Brewster ;  the  Corners 
Cemetery,  in  charge  of  C.  B.  Towers ;  the  Ringville  Cemetery, 
in  charge  of  William  Cole;  the  cemetery  west  of  Ringville, 
in  charge  of  G.  W.  Blackman ;  and  the  cemetery  near  the 
house  of  Lincoln  Stewart,  of  which  he  has  charge. 

Private  burials  have  taken  place  near  where  Emerson 
Friselle  now  lives,  but  the  bodies  were  afterward  removed. 
The  Converse  family  and  others  were  buried  near  the  present 
place  of  Charles  W.  Smith.  There  is  said  to  have  been  one 
burial  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Lorenzo  Edwards.  It  is 
said  that  an  Indian  was  buried  half  a  mile  north  of  the  turn- 
pike, about  on  the  line  between  Hampshire  County  and  Berk- 
shire. 

TOWN  SOCIETIES. 

There  have  been  many  organizations  for  religious  work 
during  the  history  of  the  town,  especially  in  the  early  mission- 
ary period,  when  whatever  was  done  locally  was  usually  by 
means  of  a  "society."  These  disappeared  under  the  modern 
methods  of  acting  through  the  pastor  of  the  church,  with  less 
agents  and  less  "  local  machinery."  Temperance  organiza- 
tions have  also  existed  from  time  to  time,  and  though  each 
lasted  for  only  a  brief  period,  yet  they  preserved,  intensified, 
and  perpetuated  their  principles,  and  secured  for  Worthington 
its  present  high  character  as  a  temperance  town.  Lyceums 
and  other  means  of  literary  improvement  have  sometimes  had 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


461 


a  brief  existence,  calling  out  and  cultivating  talent  for  public 
spealcing  which  might  otherwise  never  have  been  known. 
All  these  organizations  have  left  their  impress  for  good  in  the 
improved  morals  of  society,  and  have  secured  a  higher  ad- 
vancement in  refinement  and  culture. 

PLACES  OF  HISTORIC  INTEREST  OR  OF    SPECIAL   NOTE. 

The  West  Wortbington  Falls  are  worth  a  visit  by  the 
tourist  and  the  lover  of  nature.  A  cataract  seventy-five  feet 
in  depth,  the  gorge  below  bordered  by  rocky  precipices,  and 
these  surrounded  by  wild  and  romantic  scenery,  form  a  pic- 
ture of  perpetual  beauty  and  sublimity.  In  the  summer  the 
stream  diminishes  in  magnitude  until  it  is  a  mere  sparkling 
rivulet  of  silver  leaping  over  the  rocks  and  into  the  chasm 
below.  In  the  winter  the  current  is  broader  and  stronger, 
and  in  seasons  of  freshet  this  stream,  so  full  of  beauty  in  the 
quiet  summer,  now  roars  and  rushes  with  a  force  that  dashes 
aside  every  opposing  obstacle,  and  plunges  madly  into  the 
gulf  below.  The  entire  fall  equals  200  feet  in  the  distance  of 
half  a  mile. 

Knowles  Hill,  a  mile  or  more  north  of  Wortbington  Cor- 
ners, is  an  elevation  from  which  many  charming  views  may 
be  obtained.  It  is  easy  of  ascent,  and  it  is  proposed  to  erect 
a  tower  there  for  the  accommodation  of  visitors. 

Parsons'  Hill  is  a  high  elevation  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
town,  and  worthy  of  a  visit.  Bashan  Hill  occupies  the  north- 
western angle  of  the  town,  above  West  Wortbington,  and  has 
many  attractive  features.  White  Rock  in  the  south,  with  its 
curious  geological  formation,  is  worthy  of  note. 

The  old  stage-route  has  considerable  interest  clustering 
around  it,  for  it  was  a  line  of  travel  in  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, long  before  the  establishment  of  the  regular  stages. 
Troops  passed  over  it  from  the  Connecticut  Valley  to  Albany. 
There  were  then  the  tavern  of  Alexander  Miller,  at  the  Buf- 
fington  place;  of  Lieut.  Meech,  and  that  of  Nathaniel  Daniels, 
at  the  Tillson  Bartlett  place.  At  the  last  two  officers  were 
entertained,  but  probably  not  at  the  first,  if  he  was  an  inveter- 
ate Tory,  as  stated  in  Rice's  history. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

The  principal  business  is  that  of  agriculture.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  town  possesses  a  fertile  soil,  free  of  rocks  sufficient 
for  tillage.  Other  portions  are  excellent  for  grazing.  In  early 
times  considerable  lumber  was  made  from  the  forests  that 
covered  the  town,  and  in  later  years  there  is  still  something  of 
this  business  done,  while  there  are  various  forms  of  wood- 
work manufactured. 

The  town  was  noted  for  the  number  and  quality  of  sheep 
for  many  years.  The  people  shared  largely  in  the  fiie-wool 
furor  that  swept  over  this  county.  And  there  are  many  of 
the  present  citizens  who  were  obliged  to  sit  up  more  nights  in 
trying  to  save  the  lives  of  lambs  than  of  their  children, — lambs, 
as  one  man  expresses  it,  which  no  one  ought  to  have  tried  to 
raise  north  of  Florida !  This  business,  however,  rapidly  de- 
clined, and  now  there  are  thirteen  articles  of  production  that 
exceed  in  amount  that  of  wool.  The  dairy  business  was  also  a 
source  of  former  prosperity,  and  is  considerably  revived  in 
recent  years,  a  new  impulse  having  been  given  to  it  by  the 
establishment  of  a  cheese-factory.  This  was  built  by  Horace 
Cole,  at  the  corners,  in  the  winter  of  1874-75.  There  is  about 
$3000  worth  of  cheese  made  annually. 

The  exports  from  this  town,  like  those  of  other  similar 
mountain  towns,  are  so  numerous  and  of  such  variety  as  to 
defy  classification. 

MILLS,  FACTORIES,  ETC. 
Commencing  upon  Stevens'  Brook,  at  the  east  line  of  the 
town,  there  is  located  the  grist-mill,  saw-mill,  and  turning- 
works  of  Aaron  and  Lafayette  Stevens  ;  sieve-rims  and  other 
varieties  of  wood-work  are  made  there.  Their  saw-mill  is 
said  to  be  upon  the  site  of  the  old  Col.  Wortbington  grist-. 


mill  given  for  the  use  of  the  town.  Their  water-privilege  has 
thus  been  improved  from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  him- 
dred  and  fifteen  years.  The  first  millers  lived  not  far  from 
bere, — Luke  Bonney  and  David  Bronson.  The  property  has 
been  in  the  Stevens  family  over  sixty  years.  Next  above  on 
this  brook  is  the  site  of  the  old  saw-mill  of  Ezekiel  Tower, 
built  forty  years  ago  or  more;  abandoned  perhaps  in  18G0; 
property  passed  into  the  hands  of  Horace  Cole.  Farther  up, 
in  the  woods  of  E.  S.  Squires,  is  the  site  of  a  former  grist- 
mill,— an  old  affair, — perhaps  not  in  use  since  1800.  The  father 
of  Noah  Hatch  used  to  tend  that  mill.  Above,  on  Bronson 's 
Brook,  a  tributary  of  Stevens',  were  the  wood-manufacturing 
works  of  M.  A.  «&  G.  Bates, — shovel-handles  and  similar 
articles.  They  were  burned  in  1858  or  1859,  having  run  per- 
haps ten  or  twelve  years.  Near  this  place  is  the  Sampson 
saw-mill,  and  also  grist-mill,  founded  not  far  from  1830,  con- 
tinued to  the  present  time  in  the  same  family  ;  now  owned  by 
Wm.  Sampson. ^  The  grandfather  of  the  present  Wm.  Samp- 
son is  said  to  have  had  a  clothing-mill  very  early.  Above  the 
Sampsons  a  mile  or  so  is  the  site  of  a  saw-mill  abandoned 
perhaps  fifty  years  ago.  It  was  owned  by  Edmund  Tillson. 
Farther  south,  and  west  from  the  junction  of  Bronson's  and 
Stevens'  Brooks,  is  E.  C.  Brown's  cider-mill  of  the  present 
time,  run  by  water-power. 

On  the  Ringville  stream,  known  as  "  Little  River,"  at  the 
southeast,  and  just  at  the  town-line  of  Huntington,  were  for- 
merly located  the  works  of  Mr.  Weeks  for  the  manufacture 
of  children's  sleds  and  wagons, — abandoned  some  years  ago. 
Next  above  is  the  water-privilege  at  South  Wortbington,  near 
the  Methodist  Church.  Here  was  an  ancient  saw-mill,  dating 
back  to  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  perhaps.  It  was 
burned,  and  Samuel  Cole  rebuilt  it,  and  also  a  grist-mill,  about 
1829.  He  retained  it  but  a  short  time,  when  the  property 
passed  to  Horace  Cole,  who  retained  it  some  twelve  years ; 
since  that  it  has  been  in  the  hands  of  various  owners.  The 
grist-mill  was  given  up  in  1842  or  1843.  Charles  Smith  com- 
menced making  various  kinds  of  wood-work.  At  his  death, 
four  years  ago,  the  work  stopped,  and  the  buildings  are  un- 
used. It  is  an  excellent  water-privilege.  There  was  a  grist- 
mill with  the  old  saw-mill  before  1820,  as  D.  P.  Hewitt  states. 
About  a  mile  above,  on  the  site  of  Higgins'  works,  was  also  a 
saw-mill  of  early  times.  Lyman  G.  Higgins  now  has  a  basket 
manufactory  and  a  saw-mill.  Next  above  is  Ringville  water- 
privilege.  This  was  improved  by  the  sons  of  the  pioneer 
Ring  many  years  ago, — Elkanah  Ring  and  Thomas  Ring. 
First  there  was  a  grist-mill  older  than  1820  probably.  This 
was  changed  into  a  manufactory  of  window-curtains  made  of 
wooden  strips,  and  then  to  that  of  children's  carriages.  The 
property  is  now  owned  by  Cole  &  Hayden,  and  their  line  of 
work  is  that  of  children's  sleds  and  wagons. 

At  Ringville,  also,  on  Watt's  stream,  a  tributary  flowing  in 
at  that  point,  was  the  site  of  a  saw-mill ;  building  still  there, 
but  dilapidated  and  unused.  Farther  up  on  Watt's  stream 
was  an  old  saw-mill,  on  the  present  Winslow  property  ;  went 
down  perhaps  thirty-five  years  ago.  On  the  other  branch  of 
Little  River,  known  on  the  maps  as  Ward's  Creek,  below  Mr. 
Eager's  meadow,  was  the  earliest  saw-mill  in  town,  according 
to  Bisbee's  historical  address, — a  water-privilege  that  must  have 
been  improved  one  hundred  and  twelve  or  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  years  ago,  but  of  which  scarcely  a  trace  remains  at 
the  present  time. 

On  the  middle  branch  of  the  Westfleld,  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  town,  is  the  saw-mill  and  turning-shop  of  George 
Miller.  These  are  upon  the  site  of  a  still  older  saw-mill, 
dating  back  many  years.  The  Miller  buildings  were  damaged 
by  the  freshet  of  December,  1878.  Mr.  Miller,  though  in 
Wortbington,  is  so  shut  in  by  the  hills  to  the  east  that  his 
route  of  business  is  the  other  way,  mostly  into  Middlefield 
and  Chester.  On  the  tributary  of  the  middle  branch  flowing 
in  from  the  northeast,  at  the  corner  of  Middlefield,  there  are 


462 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


not  known  to  have  been  any  mill  privileges  improved.  On 
Fuller's  Brook  from  the  northwest,  linwing  in  near  the  school- 
house,  is  the  site  of  an  abandoned  saw-mill — not  used  for  thirty 
or  forty  years — owned  by  one  Smith.  On  the  middle  branch, 
above  the  school-house,  is  the  steam  saw-mill  of  F.  M.  Knapp, 
built  within  two  or  three  years. 

At  West  Worthington  Falls  was  formerly  an  ancient  saw- 
mill on  the  ea.st  side.  This  was  bought  some  years  ago  by  O. 
B.  Parish,  and  afterward  abandoned.  He  then  built  on  the 
west  side,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  and  opened  a  manufactory 
of  picker-sticks  and  loom-fixtures  generally.  These  works 
are  still  run  by  Mr.  Parish. 

At  West  Worthington  Falls  was  an  ancient  grist-mill, — gone 
before  1820, — owned  by  the  grandfather  of  O.  B.  Parish  ;  old 
mill-stones  still  there.  At  that  point  was  the  Watson  tannery 
in  1820,  doing  a  large  business  ;  lasted  for  many  years,  but  was 
finally  abandoned.  It  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  stream.  A 
short  distance  above  is  the  bedstead-factory  established  by 
Bartlett  &  Jones,  perhaps  thirty-two  years  ago,  now  owned 
and  run  by  David  Jones  &  Son.  Above,  north  of  the  village, 
is  the  saw-mill,  and  also  the  grist-mill,  owned  by  J.  N.  <&  H. 
Benton.  These  were  owned  by  Spencer  Parish,  1820  and 
earlier.  He  sold  to  Capt.  Gaylord ;  Gaylord  to  Adams ; 
Adams  to  the  Bentons.  Spencer  Parish  built  them.  On  the 
same  site  was  a  saw-mill  once  owned  by  John  Parish. 

East  of  Bentons'  mills,  on  the  old  stage-road,  was  the 
extensive  tannery  of  Clark  &  Bardwell,  located  in  the  "  Hol- 
low," so  called.  This  was  1820  to  1830.  This  was  not  a 
financial  success,  and  Clark  afterward  established  another  on 
or  near_the  site  of  the  mills  of  Jones  &  Son.  The  Andrew 
B.  Medberry  tannery  was  also  noted  at  an  early  day.  It  was 
opposite  the  present  works  of  O.  B.  Parish.  Near  Worthing- 
ton Corners,  in  the  valley,  was  an  old  tannery.  Extensive 
potash-works  were  carried  on  at  that  point  by  Col.  Ward. 
Earlier  than  that  Mills  &  Wetmore  were  in  business  at  that 
point;  no  buildings  there  now.  A  brick-yard  was  formerly 
run  (1800  to  1820)  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  near  where 
Mr.  Simeon  Merritt  now  lives. 

More  blacksmith-shops  were  maintained  at  an  early  day 
than  now.  In  1820  five  were  doing  a  good  business, — Jonah 
Brewster,  William  Rice,  Mr.  Cleveland,  Mr.  Drake,  and 
Deacon  Todd.     In  1878  there  were  barely  two. 

Distilleries  were  common  in  early  times.  In  1820  there 
were  three  in  town, — thoseof  Jonah  Brewster,  John  Stone,  Jr., 
aud  Elijah  Drury. 

For  these  facts  concerning  the  mills  and  general  business 
we  are  indebted  to  Horace  Cole,  Col.  Oren  Stone,  and  D.  P. 
Hewitt.  The  latter,  coming  to  Worthington  in  1820,  has  been 
closely  identified  with  the  business  of  the  town,  and  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  public  affairs.  For  many  years  he 
was  deputy-sheriff,  and  it  is  said  a  criminal  seldom  or  never 
escaped  when  Hewitt  once  had  a  warrant  for  him. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  for  the  year 
ending  May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values 
stated:  Butter,  $17,974;  hay,  $3i;,928;  manure,  17820;  fire- 
wood, .$(JG09;  maple-sugar,  §7GG9;  milk,  $41,976;  beef,  §8546; 
potatoes,  $8213  ;  pork,  $4607  ;  apples,  $2874. 

MILITARY. 

Worthington  was  not  settled  early  enough  to  be  included 
in  the  era  of  Indian  warfare.  The  scenes  of  savage  slaughter, 
and  the  ever-brooding  fear  of  sudden  attack  tliat  hung  like  a 
cloud  over  the  earlier  towns  had  all  passed  away  before  the 
first  hardy  adventurers  settled  upon  the  hills  of  Worthington. 
They,  liowever,  were  immediately  called  to  face  the  questions 
involved  in  the  ojicning  troubles  of  the  Revolution,  as  shown 
in  the  following  extracts  from  the  records ; 

June  28, 1774.— At  a  towii-mceting  called  for  the  purpose  of  "considering  the 
alarnihig  circunistauccs  of  the  times,"  Capt.  Ebenezer  Leonard  was  chosen 
raoderatur.     Deacon  Nathan  Leonard,  Dr.  Moses  Morse,  Nahum  Eager,  Capt. 


Nathaniel  Daniels,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Kinne  were  appointed  a  committee  of  corre- 
spondence. Then  voted  to  adjourn  three  week.s,  but  no  meeting  at  that  time  is 
recorded. 

Sept.  20,  1774. — Voted  to  raise  fifteen  pounds  for  a  town  stock  of  ammunition, 
"such  as  powder,  flints,  and  balls." 

Sept.  27,  1774. — Voted  to  liave  the  7th  aud  8th  articles  of  the  Hampshire 
County  Congress  to  be  the  rule  of  our  conduct. 

Nov.  15,  1774. — Votecl  to  ilissolve  the  former  covenant  relating  to  the  non-im- 
portation agreement,  to  have  it  null  and  void.  Voted  a  committee  of  inspection 
tc»  put  in  force  the  resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  October  21.  Com- 
mittee, Mo.?es  Morse,  Thomas  Kinne,  Nathaniel  Daniels.  Voted  to  pay  the 
Province  money  into  the  hands  of  Henry  Gardner,  of  Stowe,  and  the  collector 
was  promised  indemnity  in  case  of  any  trouble  arising  therefrom. 

Nov.  15,  1774. — Chose  Nahum  Eager  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress  to 
meet  Nov.  22,  1774. 

In  the  warrant  for  a  meeting  dated  Jan.  23,  177.'>,  are  these  clauses :  "To  see 
if  the  town  will  accept  of  and  enforce  the  execution  of  the  By-Laws  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress ;"  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  send  one  or  more  delegates  to  the 
Provincial  Congress  to  meet  at  Cambridge,  Feb.  1,  1775  ;"  "  To  see  if  the  town 
will  do  anything  to  encourage  the  learning  of  militai-y  discipline  for  the  number 
of  men  recommended  by  the  Provincial  Congress ;"  "  To  see  how  much  money 
the  town  will  vote  for  each  day  and  each  half  day  for  those  who  instruct  them- 
selves in  the  military  art;"  "To  see  if  the  town  will  choose  a  comnnttee  to  re- 
ceive donations  for  the  poor  of  Boston,  as  is  recommendeil  by  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress."   All  these  seem  to  have  been  passed  by  or  voted  down. 

The  town  fathers  evidently  moved  cautiously,  but  still  were 
ready  for  every  necessary  patriotic  work,  as  the  event  fully 
proved. 

The  last  town-meeting  called  "  in  his  Majesty's  name" 
seems  to  have  been  Jan.  23,  1775.  They  are  then  called  sim- 
ply by  the  selectmen.  "  The  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay"  is 
recognized  first  in  the  town  records  Feb.  25,  1777,  when  the 
committee  of  inspection  fixed  the  price  of  labor  and  grain,  and 
provisions  generally. 

April  2,  1778. — Voted  unanimously  by  111  votes  to  disapprove  the  constitution 
agreed  upon  by  tlie  General  Court. 

May  11, 1778. — Voted  to  raise  £120  to  purchase  clothiug  for  the  army. 

July  8, 1779. — Doctor  Moses  Moi-se  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  attend  the  con- 
ventiou  called  at  Concord  for  July  14th.  Dr.  Moses  Morse,  Capt.  Nathaniel 
Daniel,  Stephen  Fitch,  John  Skiff,  Seth  Sylvester,  were  chosen  as  committee  of 
correspondence  and  safety. 

Aug.  17, 1779. — Voted  two  delegates  to  Cambridge, — Dr.  Moses  Morse  and  Seth 
Sylvester. 

Aug.  31, 1779. — Voted  but  one  delegate, — Seth  Sylvester.  Was  this  a  round- 
about process  by  which  they  set  aside  Dr.  Morse  and  substituted  Mr.  Sylvester? 

Nov.  3, 1779.— Voted  to  raise  600  pounds  as  a  ta.\,  to  pay  for  12  blankets,  and 
pay  mileage  and  twunties  for  ye  soldiel-s  last  raised,  and  other  necessary  charges. 

June  22,  1780. — Voted  to  raise  200  pounds  Continental  money  as  a  bounty  to 
each  soldier,  and  make  them  up  three  pounds  a  month,  including  their  Conti- 
nental pay,  estimating  wheat  at  5  shillings  per  bushel,  rye  at  3  shillings,  and 
Indian  corn  at  two  shillings  6  pence. 

July  17, 1780. — Voted  that  the  two  last  soldiers  for  six  months  for  this  town 
have  the  same  bounty  that  the  first  nine  had,  and  that  600  pounds  be  raised  for 
that  purpose.  Voted  that  each  of  the  soldiei-s  raised  for  three  months  have  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  as  Ixiunty,  to  be  paid  to  them  in  two  months  from  the 
date  hereof.  Voted  that  the  Selectmen  be  empowered  to  pnrchiise  the  Horses 
sent  fur  by  the  Court  to  this  town,  by  giving  their  security  in  behalf  of  the  town, 
if  they  may  not  be  had  on  the  terms  ordered  by  the  Court,  June  2;J,  1780. 

Jan.  2, 1781.— Voted  to  pay  the  soldiers  raised  in  July  last,  for  the  time  they 
serve,  three  pounds  a  month,  including  their  Continental  pay. 

Jan.  31, 1781. — Voted  to  raise  8  men  to  serve  in  the  t'ontinental  army  three 
years,— Nahum  Eager,  Capt  Ebenezer  Webber,  John  SkilT,  Lieut.  Constant  Web- 
ster, Seth  Sylvester,  Lieut.  Timothy  Meech,  Ensign  John  Kinne,  and  Robert 
Day. 

The  committee  could  themselves  have  just  filled  the  order. 
Depreciated  currency  troubled  the  town  fathers  at  that  time, 

as  appears : 

July  30, 1781.- Voted  that  the  Town  treasurer  should  pay  the  Constables  the 
whole  or  part  of  the  old  Continental  money  now  in  the  Treasurj',  and  take  a  re- 
ceipt for  the  same  obliging  the  repayment  in  the  new  emission  .at  the  nilf  of  forty 
for  one^ — provided  it  shall  answer  at  the  State  Treasurer's  office,  and  if  other- 
wise, to  return  it. 

It  is  thus  shown  that  earnest  co-operation  was  given  to  the 
efforts  of  the  committee  of  safety  in  Boston.  The  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms — as  shown  from  other  sources  than  the  records 
— were  directed  to  meet  for  the  choice  of  military  officers,  and 
were  encouraged  to  study  the  military  art.  Immediately 
after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  71  men  from  Worthington  and 
Ashfield  marched  to  Cambridge.  Ebenezer  Webber,  of 
Worthington,  was  captain  of  the  company,  while  the  lieuten- 
ants, Samuel  Allen  and  Samuel  Bartlett,  were  from  Ashfield. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


463 


From  this  time,  through  all  the  war,  no  town  in  this  sec- 
tion of  country  was  more  thoroughly  drained  of  men,  money, 
and  material  than  Worthington.  In  1780,  as  seen  in  the 
records  given,  when  there  came  a  requisition  for  horses,  which 
actually  could  not  be  supplied,  because  they  did  not  have 
them,  the  people  then  voted  to  give  the  security  of  the  town 
for  the  price  of  the  horses,  if  they  could  be  found  elsewhere. 
In  some  of  the  later  years  of  the  war  (1779-82),  such  was  the 
number  of  men  absent  in  the  army  that  there  were  not  more 
than  10  or  12  men  to  attend  church  on  the  Sabbath  from  some 
70  families. 

It  is  not  probable  that  a  perfect  list  can  now  be  made  of 
those  who  served  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  from  this  town. 
The  following'  names  are  preserved :  Samuel  Dewey,  Bar- 
nabas Clapp,  Lemuel  Clapp,  Isaac  Clapp,  Stephen  Clapp, 
Gershom  Kandall,  Samuel  BufEiigton,  Nathaniel  Daniels, 
Jr.,  John  Daniels,  Samuel  Daniels,  Dan  Daniels,  Jeremiah 
Kinne,  Samuel  Cole,  Daniel  Goodman,  Gershom  Brown, 
John  Howard,  David  Woods,  Samuel  Follett,  Jonas  Leonard, 
Asa  Cottrell,  Nicholas  Cottrell,  Samuel  Pettengill,  Elisha 
Brewster,  Kichard  Briggs,  Israel  Burr,  Roger  Benjamin, 
Thomas  Buck,  Asa  Jackson,  Sylvanus  Parsons,  Moses  Buck, 
Samuel  Kingman,  Alexander  Kingman,  Ephraim  Parish, 
Timothy  Meech,  Asa  Benjamin,  John  Stone,  Nahum  Eager, 
Lott  Drake,  Jonathan  Ring,  Rufus  Marsh,  Joseph  Marsh, 
Jr.,  .loshua  Morse.  James  C.  Rice,  in  his  history  of  Worth- 
ington, says  of  this  period,  when  the  men  were  so  largely  in 
the  army : 

"The  females  of  many  families  worked  on  the  fanns  of  their  husbands  and 
brothers  during  the  greater  part  of  their  absence  in  the  war.  Many  plowed 
their  own  lands,  sowed  their  grain,  and  planted  and  hoed  their  corn  during  the 
spring  ;  in  the  summer  and  fall,  gathered  the  hay  and  the  harvests  ;  in  the  winter 
months,  fed  and  took  cjire  of  the  cattle  in  the  barns,  drove  them  to  the  brooks 
for  water,  and  oftentimes  yoked  their  oxen  and  went  to  the  woods  to  cut  the  fuel 
necessary  for  their  use." 

The  stud}'  of  these  noble  sacrifices  by  the  people  of  his 
native  town  no  doubt  inspired  this  heroic  man,  a  few  years 
later,  to  lay  his  own  life — a  rich  and  costly  gift — upon  the 
altar  of  union  and  freedom. 

The  people  of  Worthington  shared  to  some  extent  in  the 
disafl'ection  existing  at  the  time  of  the  Shays  rebellion,  though 
there  seems  to  be  no  evidence  as  to  the  number  that  actually 
joined  "Shays'  army."  The  insurgents,  in  making  arrange- 
ments for  raising  troops,  appointed  at  one  time  a  large  com- 
mittee, of  which  Mr.  Samuel  Morse,  of  Worthington,  was 
one.  Tlie  town  also  sent  to  the  celebrated  Hatlield  conven- 
tion, under  date  of  August  17,  1786,  Lieut.  Seth  Sylvester 
and  Lieut.  Stephen  Pitch.  A  committee  to  "  instruct"  them 
was  also  appointed, — Samuel  Clapp,  Constant  Webster,  Na- 
than Leonard,  Ebenezer  Webber,  Samuel  Buck,  and  Thomas 
Burch. 

In  1812,  Worthington  was  represented  in  the  anti-war  con- 
vention held  at  Northampton,  July  14th,  by  Ezra  Stark- 
weather and  Jonathan  Brewster.  The  former  was  a  member 
of  the  committee  appointed  to  report  in  regard  to  the  proper 
action  of  the  convention. 

A  meeting  was  held  at  Northampton,  Nov.  16,  1814,  to  con- 
sider the  disastrous  effect  of  the  war,  and  to  express  an  opinion 
upon  the  subject  of  a  draft  which  it  was  supposed  Congress 
was  about  to  order.  It  resolved  "  that  we  view  with  indigna- 
tion and  unqualified  disgust  the  project  boldly  avowed  of  in- 
troducing a  military  conscription, — a  measure  unauthorized 
by  the  Constitution,  hostile  to  the  existence  of  our  liberties, 
and  one  to  which  we  dare  not  submit,  and  will  never  yield 
obedience."  And,  as  in  the  old  Revolutionary  times,  a:  com- 
mittee of  safety  was  appointed,  of  which  Hon.  Ezra  Stark- 
weather of  this  town  was  a  member,  as  he  was  also  chairman 
of  the  convention.  In  the  resolutions  above  mentioned  the 
draft  principle  was  declared  "to  be  utterly  subversive  of  the 
rights  of  the  people  and  the  distinct  sovereignty  of  the  States." 

Were  State  rights  over  more  clearlv  avowed  in  South  Caro- 


lina? With  a  public  sentiment  thus  strong  and  uncompro- 
mising against  the  war  policj'  of  the  administration  enlistments 
did  not  occur  in  Worthington,  and  it  is  not  known  that  any 
one  from  this  town  was  in  the  regular  army.  Upon  the  call  of 
Gov.  Strong,  however,  for  the  defense  of  Boston,  the  following 
citizens  of  the  town  shared  in  that  forty  days'  campaign: 
commissioned  officers,  William  Ward,  Wm.  Rice ;  non-com- 
missioned otlicers  and  privates,  Thomas  Hall,  .loseph  Stark- 
weather, Nehemiah  Tinker,  Alfred  Brown,  John  Gushing, 
Henry  Warner,  Timothy  Parsons  (still  living,  1878),  David 
Parsons,  Luther  Bartlett,  Ezekiel  Tower,  Daniel  Parish, 
James  Hatch,  Barnabas  Anable,  Perkins  Pitch,  Milton  Brew- 
ster, William  Brewster,  Rufus  Taylor,  Obadiah  Tower,  Elijah 
Burr,  Richard  Briggs,  Joseph  Daily,  Harvey  Metcalf. 

OFFICIAL   ACTION    DURING    THE    CIVIL   WAR,    1861-65. 

The  first  formal  action  by  the  town  was  taken  May  20, 
1861,  when  it  was  voted  "  to  authorize  the  selectmen  to 
borrow  such  sums  of  money  as  may  be  necessary  to  assist 
volunteers  and  their  families  when  it  is  wanted  to  any  amount 
not  exceeding  ?2000. " 

Aug.  4,  1862. — Voted  "to  raise  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  be  paid  to 
the  ten  volunteers  called  for  from  this  town,  being  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars  each." 

Aug.  2S,  1862. — Voted  "  to  raise  by  tax  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  nine  months' 
volunteers  one  hundred  dollars  each." 

Sept.  1,  1862. — Voted  "  that  the  treasurer  be  authorized  to  borrow  a  sufficient 
sum  to  pay  each  of  the  nine  months'  volunteers  one  hundred  doUare  until  such 
time  as  the  tax  money  be  collected." 

Sept.  29,  1862. — Voted  "  to  authorize  the  treasurer  to  borrow  one  thousand  dol- 
lars to  pay  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  to  each  of  the  three  yeai-s'  volun- 
teers." 

Sept.  28,  1863. — Voted  "  to  pay  the  town's  proportion  of  the  tax  apportioned 
and  assessed  to  reimburse  sums  paid  as  bounties  to  volunteers,  agreeable  t^t  the 
9th  Seytion  of  the  218th  Chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Legislature." 

Sept.  12, 1864. — Voted  "  to  raise  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  as  b4>unty 
for  each  volunteer  to  be  obtJiiued  on  the  quota  of  the  town  under  the  last  call 
of  the  President." 

May  22, 1S65. — Voted  "that  the  Treasurer  be  authorized  and  directed  to  bor- 
row on  the  credit  of  the  town  the  sum  of  S65li3  for  the  purpose  of  refunding  the 
several  sums  contributed  by  individuals,  or  sums  that  were  obtained  in  any  other 
way,  which  have  been  paid  and  applied  for  the  purpose  of  filling  the  several 
quotas  of  the  town  of  Worthington,  agreeable  to  an  act  of  the  Legislature  ap- 
proved April  25,  1865." 

This  official  record  gives  the  facts,  but  only  partially  indi- 
cates the  enthusiasm  and  the  patriotic  spirit  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  Brave  sons  of  Revolutionary  sires  went  forth  to 
battle  and  to  die  for  the  flag  of  their  fathers.  Brave  mothers 
and  sisters  and  wives  parted  from  their  loved  ones,  bidding 
them  God-speed  in  their  heroic  work.  Worthington,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  made  by  the  selectmen  in  1866,  furnished  86 
men  for  the  war,  but  Schouler's  history  states  that  the  town 
filled  all  of  the  several  quotas  required,  and  had  a  surplus  of 
nine  over  and  above  all  demands,  and  must  therefore  have 
sent  in  all  about  102  men.  The  list  herewith  added  is  given 
as  corrected  in  Brewster's  edition  of  Rice's  history,  and  still 
further  carefully  examined  at  the  present  time,  omitting  sub- 
stitutes hired  abroad. 

The  amount  of  aid,  paid  solely  by  the  town,  was  §4462. 
The  assessed  valuation  in  1860  was  §4.30,94.3,  and  the  popula- 
tion of  the  town  1041.  Aid  to  families  afterward  refunded 
by  the  State,  18G1,  §135.36;  1862,  §932.37 ;  1863,  §20-53.01  ; 
1864,  §589.79  ;  1865,  §687.89  ;  total,  §4398.42. 

Liberal  private  contributions  were  made  by  the  ladies  and 
by  citizens  generally,  which  during  all  the  years  of  the  war 
were  sent  forward  by  various  channels  of  benevolence  to  the 
aid  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers. 

The  army-list  of  the  town  may  well  be  prefaced  with  the 
name  of  Gen.  James  C.  Rice,  a  native  of  Worthington,  the 
son  of  William  Rice,  and  the  author  of  a  history  of  the  town. 
A  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  1854,  he  studied  law  and  settled 
in  New  York  City.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  immediately 
entered  t^ie  army.  He  was  commissioned  second  lieutenant, 
and  appointed   adjutant  of  the  39th   New  York   Regiment, 


464 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


known  as  the  "Garibaldi  Guards."  He  was  early  promoted 
captain  for  meritorious  service;  was  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run 
in  1861  ;  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  44th  New  York 
Kegiment,  the  "Ellsworth  Regiment;"  he  was  promoted 
colonel,  and  was  actively  engaged  through  all  the  seven  days' 
battles  before  Richmond.  In  command  of  a  brigade  at  Gettys- 
burg, he  soon  after  received  a  commission  as  brigadier-general, 
for  gallant  and  skillful  conduct  of  the  forces  under  him.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  in  twenty  battles,  and  was  killed  at  Spot- 
sylvania, at  the  close  of  a  day  of  desperate  fighting.  Well 
might   his  friend  and  townsman,  C.  K.  Brewster,  Esq.,  the 


author  of  a  revised  edition  of  Rice's  history,  say  of  him  : 
"  New  York  proudly  claims  him  among  her  honored  dead. 
We,  too,  claim  him  with  a  just  pride;  here  lie  buried  his  an- 
cestors ;  here  he  was  born  and  reared ;  here  is  the  work  of  his 
hand,  telling  the  history  of  our  fathers  ;  but  his  greatest  work 
was  his  country's ;  his  death,  a  nation's  loss  ;  his  march  was 
the  march  of  a  hero ;  he  has  halted  to  rest  and  bivouacked  for 

eternity. 

"  *  Soldier,  rest  I  tby  warfare  o'er, 

Sleep  the  sleep  that  knows  not  breaking ; 
Dream  of  battle-fielils  no  more, 
Days  of  danger,  nights  of  waking.'  " 


SOLDIERS'  KECORD,  WAR  OF  1861-65. 

John  J.  Bisbee,  enl.  July  16,  1864, 42d  M.V.M.,Co. 

H;  died  Oct.  30,  1864,  at  Alexandria, Va.    Tlie 

only  one  of  his  company  who  did  nut  survive 

his  entistnient. 
Eussell  H.  Cunwell,  capt.,  enl.  Oct.  16,  1862,  46th 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1863;  re-enl.; 

app.  capt.  2d  Regt.,  H.  Art. 
William  C.  Higgiiis,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1862,  46th 

M.  V.  M.,  Cu.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Daniel  N.  Cole,  enl.  Sept.  25, 1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  to  re-enl.  May  30,  1863, 2d  Regt., 

H.  Art. ;  died  July  29, 1865, at  SmithvlUe,  N.  C. 
Seth  Cole,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1862,  46tli  M.V.  M.,  Co.  F; 

disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Charles  U.  Conwell,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862, 46th  M  V.  M., 

Co.  F  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Charles  Adams,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  10th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  was  a  prisoner;  disch.  March  26,  1863,  for 

disab. ;  re-enl.  4th  Cav.;  served  to  the  end  of 

the  war. 
Edmund  T.  Drake,  corp.,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th 

Inf ,  Co.  A  ;  re-enl.  Dec.  24, 1863 ;  pro.  2d  lieut,. 

May  15,  1865 ;  disch.  June  26,  1865  ;  robbed  of 

$400  in  Springfield  on  his  return  ;  miide  up  in 

part  by  citizens. 
Abel  C.  Kenney,  sergt.,  enl.  Dec.  24, 1863, 27th  Inf, 

Co.  A ;  died  a  prisoner  in  Blackshire.  Ga. 
Win.  W.  Ward,  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27tb  Inf, 

Co.  A  ;  disch.  Sept.  G,  1862,  for  disab.;  re-eul. 

eergt.  in  52d  Regt.,  Co.  C,  and  served  lull  term. 
Isaac  C.  Drake,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  died  June27,  186:i,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. 
Jotham  Drake,  enl.  Sept.  26,  18G2,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  died  June  10,  1863,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. 
Edwin  Dodge,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Jonathan  S.  Higgins,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  186.1. 
Elisha  C.  Tower,  1st  lieut.,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Charles  D.  Hollis,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863;  severely 

wounded ;  re-eol. 
Cyrus  M.  Parsons,  sergt.,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1662,  46th 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Alfred  Kilbourn,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Castanus  Brown,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Edwin  N.  Carr,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.V. 

M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  to  re-enl.  May  30,  1863  ;  enl. 

2d  U.  Art.,  Co.  A ;  disch.  July  6, 1865  ;  died  in 

a  few  years  of  cunsumption. 
Davis  Bartlett,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K ;  disch.  July  29, 1863.  • 


Henry  Benton,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  461h  M.V.  M,  Co. 

K;  disch.July  29, 1863. 
Levi  Blackman,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Ezra  M.  Brackelt,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Uriah  Brown,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46tli  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

K;  disch.  July  29,1863. 
Henry  W.  Burke,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Rnsiell  Bartlett,  enl.  July  31,  1862,  34th  Inf,  Co. 

I;  was   wounded;   taken    prisoner;   escaped; 

disch.  June  16,  1866. 
Sereno  G.  Gloyd,  enl.  July  31, 1862,  34th  Inf,  Co. 

K  ;  died  Oct.  5,  1864,  at  Winchi-ster,  Va. 
Ezra  P.  Cowlcs,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  .37th 

Inf.,  Co.  D;  died  of  wounds,  April  9,  1865,  at 

Sailors'  Creek,  Va. 
Dorns  Collier,  enl.  Aug.  30, 1862,  37tli  Inf,  Co.  D; 

died  Oct.  21,  1862,  at  Downesville,  Md. 
Danford  Burleigh,  enl.  Jan   25,  1864,  57th  Inf,  Co. 

E;  trans.  Sept.  30,  1864,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps; 

shot  through  the  arm. 
James  K.  Burr,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  4Btli  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  died  March  15,  1863,  at  Newbern,  N.  C, 

of  typhoid  fever. 
William  Cody,*enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46lh  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch,  July  29, 1861. 
Emerson  B.  Cushman,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M. 

V.  M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  23,  1863,  for  disab. 
Timothy  Donohue,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862, 46th  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  29,  1863. 
Frank  Quiun,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept.  12,  1861,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  A;  drowned  Jan.  1, 1862, at  Newbern, N.C. 
Edgar  C.  Brewster,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27tli   Inf, 

Co.  A;  disch.  to  re-enl.  March  29,  1864. 
Robert  Canfleld,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co. 

A;  died  Oct.  23,  1863,  at  Washington,  D.  0. 
Matthew  C.  Clair,  enl.  Sept.  20,    1801,  27th   Inf, 

Co.  A;  disch,  to  re-enl.  Dec.  23, 1863. 
Samuel  J.  Dunning,   enl.   Sept.   20,  1861,  Co.  A; 

killed  Mar.  14,  1862,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. ;  shot 

through  the  head. 
0.  S.  Pomeroy,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27  th  Inf,  Co.  A  ; 

disch.  Feb.  2, 1863,  for  disability. 
John  M.  Kelley,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  May  30,  1863,  for  disability. 
John  D.  Pease,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  4eth  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Dwight  L.  Prentiss,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 1863. 
Charles  L.  Randall,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V. 

M  ,  Co.  K ;  died  June  23,  1863,  at  Newbern, 

N.  C,  of  typhoid  fever. 
Hiram  Russell,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 
Co.  K  ;  died  June  30, 1863,  at  Beaufort,  N.  C, 
of  typhoid  fever. 


Jerome  Smith,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862, 46th  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  June  23,  1863,  for  disability. 
James  Starkweather,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29, 186:s. 
Anson  F.  Stevens,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863;    was   afterward 

commissioned  in  State  militia  as  1st  lieut., and 

promoted  to  a  captaincy. 
George  Thayer,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M,  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Lyman  J.  Tower,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  46th  M.V.  M., 

Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  1, 1863,  to  re-enl.  in  2d  H. 

Art. 
John  Wright,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1862,  46th  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  disch.  July  29,  1863. 
Isaac  L.  Percival,  enl,  July  20,  1863,  32d  Inf,  Co. 

F;  disch.  June  29,1865.  The  only  man  drafted 

from  Worthington  that  entered  the  army  ;  he 

served  his  full  tenn. 
Levi  J.  Olds,  sergt.,  enl.  May  30, 1863,  2d  H.  Art.; 

disch.  Sept.  3, 1865 ;  had  previously  sei'ved  full 

term  in  46th. 
Edward  Meacbam,  Corp.,  enl.  Ang.  1,  1862,  34th 

Inf.,  Co.  B;  disch.  June  19,  1866. 
Franklin  Myers,  enl.  Jan.  2,1864,34th  Inf,  Co.  D; 

died  Feb.  28,  1865,  at  Annapolis,  Md. 
George  A.  Robinson,  sergt.,  enl.  July  31, 1862,34th 

Inf,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  June  16;  1865. 
Brainard  E.  Taylor,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf, 

Co.  A;  re-enl.  Dec.  24,  1863;   died  April   17, 

1865,  at  Andersonville,  Ga. 
James  F.  Thayer,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  died  July  23,  1864,  at  Andersonville,  Ga. 
Wm.  B.  Walts,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Cu.  A  ; 

disch.  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Ansel  Adams,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1861,  27th  Inf,  Co.  K; 

disch.  April  5,  1862,  for  disab.;  re-enl.  Oct.  22, 

1862,  46th  Regt.,  Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  1863; 

killed  at  home  two  or  three  years  later  by  the 

fall  of  a  tree. 
Edward  P.  Meacham,  enl.  Sept.  25, 1861,  27th  Inf, 

Co.   K;  re-enl.   Dec.  24,   1863;   died   Oct.  20, 

1864,  of  consumption,  at  home. 
MiUs  G.  Smith,  enl.  Oct.  1, 1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co.  K ; 

disch.  May  3,  1862,  for  disability. 
Martin  Sherman,  enl.  15th  Regt.,  Co.  D. 
Clarence  P.  Hewitt,  enl.  27tli  Regt.,  Co.  H ;  died 

July  22,  1865,  of  disease  contracted  in  the 

army,  having  served  full  term  of  enlistment. 
John  C.  Adams,  q.m.-sergt.,  enl.  86th  Illinois;  died 

at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Feb.  19,  1863. 
Wm.  W.  Adams,  enl.  6l8t  Regt.,  Co.  I,  N.  Y.  Vol.; 

died  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  Deo.  26,  1861. 
John  Q.  Ring,  enl.  2d  Regt.,  Mass.  H.  Art.;  died 

March  13, 1864,  at  Beaufort,  N.  C. 
James  Meacham  was  in  the  army ;  pro.  to  a  cap- 
taincy, and  was  killed  in  South  Carolina. 


MIDDLEFIELD. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

By  what  law  of  association  Middlefield  was  made  a  part  of 
the  present  county  of  Hampshire  is  a  problem  requiring  some 
thought.  And  yet  in  the  old  times,  before  the  era  of  railroads, 
the  people  of  Middlefield  traveled  north  to  the  Albany  stage- 
route  and  then  to  Northampton  as  easily  as  to  any  other  county- 
seat,  and  now  by  means  of  the  railroads  they  reach  Northamp- 
ton conveniently.  Middlefield  is  bounded  north  by  Berkshire 
County  and  Worthington;  east  by  Worthington  and  Hamp- 
den County ;  south  by  Hampden  County  and  Berkshire  County ; 
west  by  Berkshire  County.  It  is  thus  wellnigh  surrounded 
by  portions  of  counties  other  than  the  one  to  which  it  belongs. 
The  town  has  a  farm  acreage  of  13,436  acres,  as  stated  by  the 
census  of  1875. 

Middlefield  was  formed  from  portions  of  Worthington, 
Chester,  Becket,  Wa.shington,  Peru ;  to  thi.s  was  added  the 
tract  known  as  Prescott's  Grant,  not  previou.sly  included,  as  it 
appears,  within  the  limits  of  an  organized  town.  Middlefield 
was  therefore  the  result  of  a  rearrangement  of  older  towns, 
the  earliest  centres  of  town  business  not  accommodating  the 
settlers  upon  this  territory.  As  a  compromise  they  organized 
a  new  town  upon  this  middle  ground,  and  perhaps  it  thus 
received  its  name.  The  title,  generally  speaking,  is  of  course 
traced  to  the  same  source  as  the  towns  from  which  the  jjortions 
were  taken.  Prescott's  Grant,  from  the  language  of  the  act 
of  incorporation,  must  have  touched  the  west  border  of  the 
town  and  extended  eastward.  Mr.  Alexander  Ingham  sup- 
poses it  to  have  been  a  triangle  of  800  or  1000  acres,  the  base 
at  the  west  and  the  sharp  angle  extending  to  the  east  and  just 
including  the  place  of  Mr.  Charles  Wright,  north  of  the  cen- 
tre. Middlefield  is  twenty-four  miles  from  Northampton,  the 
county-seat. 

NATURAL  FEATURE!?. 

Middlefield  is  a  mountainous  town,  for  the  term  "hilly"  fails 
to  express  the  facts  of  the  surface.  There  are  three,  and  it  may 
be  thought  correct  to  say  four,  ranges,  nearly  parallel,  extend- 
ing through  the  town  from  northwest  to  southeast,  and  about 
an  equal  number  of  streams  may  be  noted  threading  their  way 
through  the  valleys.  The  west  branch  of  the  Westfield  Kiver, 
along  which  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad  makes  its  way 
through  the  mountains,  forms  the  south  line  of  the  town  for 
some  distance,  t'actory  Brook  makes  a  junction  at  the  railroad 
station;  Cole's  Brook,  some  distance  to  the  west.  The  middle 
branch  of  the  Westfield  River,  flowing  from  the  distant  north- 
ern towns  of  the  county,  forms  the  eastern  line  of  Middlefield, 
receiving  from  the  town  three  tributaries,  two  of  them  named 
upon  the  maps,  Tuttle's  Brook  and  Den  Stream.  Flowing 
from  the  slopes  of  the  central  range  of  hills  is  one  small  brook, 
known  by  the  people  as  "Tan-House  Stream." 

The  geological  formation  is  especially  interesting.  The 
serpentine  deposit  on  the  borders  of  Chester  and  Middlefield  is 
one  of  the  most  noted  in  the  State. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT,  SUBSEQUENT  GROWTH. 
Upon  the  territory  now  constituting  Middlefield,  the  first 
settlers  are  said  to  have  been  Mr.  Rhodes  and  John  Taggart. 
The  former  established  his  pioneer  home  where  Clark  B. 
Wright  now  resides.  It  is  understood  that  this  was  in  the 
year  1773,  and  that  he  built  a  grist-mill  not  long  after,  the 
59 


first  in  the  town.  Mrs.  Root  states  that  her  father,  David 
Mack,  soon  after  coming  here,  worked  for  Mr.  Rhodes.  The 
Rhodes  family  probably  moved  from  town  in  a  few  years,  and 
the  place  was  sold  to  James  Nooney  (or  Noney),  and  by  him 
to  the  ancestor  of  the  present  Wright  family.  The  same  year, 
1773,  is  mentioned  as  the  date  of  John  Taggart's  settlement. 
He  located  some  distance  from  Rhodes,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Factory  stream,  and  on  the  alluvial  flats  now  covered  by  the 
reservoir.  There  is  but  little  known  concerning  him.  It  is 
presumed  he  died  at  an  early  day.  In  the  formation  of  one 
school  district  Taggart's  Brook  is  mentioned,  which  was  no 
doubt  the  old  name  for  Factory  stream. 

This  same  year,  1773,  is  given,  in  the  published  history  of 
Col.  Mack,  as  the  date  when  he  purchased  his  land  in  this 
place.  It  is  further  stated  that  he  came  here  in  1774,  cleared 
two  acres  of  land,  and  built  a  log  house;  removed  the  next  year, 
and  harvested  a  bountiful  crop  of  grain  from  his  two  acres 
sowed  the  fall  before.  Mrs.  Root,  a  daughter  of  David  Mack, 
still  living  at  the  centre,  says  there  were  eight  families  here 
when  her  father  settled.  This  refers  probably  to  1775.  Be- 
sides Taggart  and  Rhodes,  Samuel  Taylor  was  probably  here, 
and  Josiah  Leonard.  The  others  were,  perhaps,  Timothy 
McElwain,  Solomon  Ingham,  Joseph  Blish,  and  Matthew 
Smith,  and  yet  there  may  have  been  twenty  others  from 
whom  a  part  of  the  eight  should  be  selected. 

The  earl}'  town-meetings  of  Worthington,  from  1768  to 
1783,  give  little  or  no  clue  to  names  upon  the  present  terri- 
tory of  Middlefield.  This  southwest  corner  was  to  the  people 
of  the  centre  of  Worthington  pretty  much  an  unknown  land. 
After  the  settlement  of  David  Mack,  1775,  others  came  in 
rapidly,  and  most  of  them  from  Connecticut.  There  are  said 
to  have  been  sixty-eight  families  when  the  town  was  organ- 
ized, eight  years  later. 

With  so  many  to  assist  each  other,  the  worst  hardships  of 
frontier  life  were  soon  mitigated  ;  yet  it  cost  labor  and  courage 
and  perseverance  to  carve  out  homes  for  their  families  upon 
the  hills  and  in  the  valleys.  The  howl  of  wild  animals  was 
still  in  these  woods  ;  provisions  were  scarce;  there  was  little  to 
sell  and  few  to  buy.  Yet  these  hardy  men  of  old  successfully 
met  all  these  diflSculties,  cleared  their  farms,  educated  their  chil- 
dren, founded  the  institutions  of  religion,  and  transmitted  to 
the  present  age  an  inheritance  of  Christian  integrity  solid  as  the 
everlasting  rocks  upon  which  their  farms  rested.  This  town, 
like  others  upon  these  mountain  slopes,  became  a  nursery 
where  were  trained  strong  men  and  women,  who  in  due  time 
moved  on,  like  their  fathers  before  them,  to  settle  newer  and 
still  newer  lands ;  carrying  with  them  the  church,  the  school- 
house,  and  the  principles  enshrined  therein,  and  planting 
them  all  along  the  great  highway  of  advancing  civilization 
from  the  East  to  the  West, — from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

Some  of  the  families  remained  here  only  a  short  time,  and 
of  their  settleTuent  but  little  is  now  known.  Others  abided 
in  the  homes  they  had  made  in  the  wilderness,  their  children 
succeeded  them  in  the  afi'airs  of  the  church  and  of  the  town, 
and  those  of  the  third  generation  are  now  training  their 
children,  in  some  cases  upon  the  same  farms  and  in  the  same 
dwellings.  Happy  will  they  be  who  are  now  in  the  school 
or  at  the  fireside  of  the  ancestral  home,  if  they  drink  in  the 
brave,  heroic  spirit  of  these  early  pioneers,  their  earnest  pur- 

465 


466 


HISTORY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


pose  and  their  Christian  faith.     Then   will   they  know  the 
sublime  truth, — 

"  That  life  is  earnest,  life  is  real, 
And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal." 

NOTES  UPON  THE  FAMILIES  OP  THE  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

Mr.  Khodes.  Holland's  "History"  mentions  him  as  one  of 
the  fir.st  two  settlers,  and  gives  the  date  as  about  1773;  home- 
stead in  the  "  Den,"  where  C.  B.  Wright  now  lives.  He  sold 
out  at  an  early  day  ;  little  is  known  in  Middlefield  concern- 
ing him.  John  Taggart  was  the  other  settler  mentioned  as 
coming  at  the  same  date  as  Mr.  Rhodes,  in  1773.  His  home- 
stead was  in  the  valley,  above  the  factories.  John  Ford  is 
said  to  have  built  the  first  saw-mill,  in  1780;  homestead 
below  the  factories  a  mile,  where  Leach's  mill  stood  in  later 
years,  until  swept  away  by  the  freshet  of  1874.  Malachi 
Loveland,  homestead  two  miles  south  of  the  village,  on  land 
now  owned  by  Orrin  Pease;  buildings  gone.  Among  his 
children  were  Andrus,  Payne,  Malachi,  Mrs.  William  Taylor, 
Mrs.  Campbell  Chester,  Mrs.  Partridge  Worthington.  Araasa 
Graves,  homestead  south,  now  owned  by  Dwight  Graves,  a 
grandson.  Children:  Mrs.  Williams,  Mrs.  Timothy  Graves, 
Erastus,  who  went  West ;  Nathan,  to  New  York ;  Amasa,  to 
Middlelield ;  Stephen,  on  the  homestead  ;  Mrs.  Payne  Love- 
land.  Thomas  Blossom,  homestead  on  land  now  owned  by 
Matthew  Smith,  east  of  the  village.  House  moved,  and 
now  the  dwelling  of  John  L.  Bell.  Among  his  children 
were  Thomas,  Middlefield  ;  Rowland,  Middlelield ;  William, 
Canandaigua,  N.  Y.  ;  one  daughter,  Mercy.  Enos  Blossom. 
His  family  removed  from  town  in  a  few  years.  He  opened 
the  first  tavern  on  the  Arnold  Pease  place,  when  he  soon  after 
exchanged  places  with  Ephraim  Sheldon.  Mrs.  Root  states 
that  Sheldon  came  from  Feeding  Hills,  and  that  Mr.  Blossom 
went  there. 

Solomon  Ingham,  from  Hebron,  the  first  town  clerk  ;  home- 
stead on  land  now  owned  by  Milton  Smith  ;  buildings  aban- 
doned. Children  :  Sohmion,  Jr.,  Indiana  ;  P0II3'  (Mrs.  Andrus 
Loveland),  New  York;  Daniel,  New  York,  afterward  Mich- 
igan; Mehitable  (Mrs.  Abner  Wing),  Hinsdale;  Tryphcna 
(Mrs.  Zera  Wing),  Hinsdale  ;  Alexander,  still  living,  eighty- 
two  years  of  age,  and  acting  postmaster  at  the  centre.  To  the 
latter  we  are  indebted  for  much  valuable  information  embodied 
in  this  sketch  of  the  town. 

Thomas  Bolton  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  church,  in 
1783,  but  must  have  removed  at  an  early  day.  James  Dickson, 
homestead  half  a  mile  north  of  the  centre,  where  Orrin  Pease 
now  lives.  Ofhis  children,  John  settled  in  Middlefield;  Joseph, 
in  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.  ;  James,  in  Middlefield;  Alex- 
ander, in  Middlefield;  Mrs.  Russell  Gillett,  Mrs.  Eggleston, 
Mrs.  Uriah  Church,  Mrs.  Wm.  Church,  Mrs.  Isaac  Gleasonj 
Mrs.  Comstock.  Eliakim  Wardwell,  homestead  where  Lewis 
Carroll  now  resides.  There  was  one  son,  Dennis  Wardwell. 
James  Noney  bought  the  farm  of  the  first  settler,  Rhodes, 
but  sold  out  to  Nathan  Wright  and  went  to  Chester.  Samuel 
Jones,  one  of  the  first  selectmen  ;  homestead  present  place  of 
George  Bell.  John  Jones,  perhaps  a  brother  of  Samuel,  above 
mentioned.  He  lived  at  the  gambrel-roofcd  house,  afterward 
Dr.  Coleman's  residence.  John  Newton,  homestead  present 
place  of  Henry  Sternagle.  Of  his  children,  William  settled  in 
Albany  ;  Amasa  went  West ;  Milton,  to  Albany  ;  Ambrose, 
Middlefield  ;  Asa,  a  physician  of  Illinois  ;  a  daughter,  Lucy, 
died  young.  Daniel  Chapman,  the  first  town  treasurer ; 
homestead  i)resent  place  of  Charles  Wright.  Family  removed 
to  Pittsfield  at  an  early  day.  Job  Bobbins,  one  of  the  first 
selectmen ;  from  Attleboro\igh  ;  homestead  two  miles  east  of 
the  present  place  of  Jacob  Robbins,  a  grandson.  The  father 
of  Jacob  was  Job,  Jr. 

Benjamin  Eggleston.  He  notified  the  first  town-meeting, 
1783 ;  homestead  two  miles  west,  .on  land  now  owned  by 
Henry  Ferris,  where  there  are  the  ruins  of  a  brick  house. 


Among  the  children  were  Martin,  Joseph,  Bet.sey,  Susanna, 
Chaunoey,  Achsah,  Harriet;  all  went  to  Ohio  soon  after  1800. 
Anson  Cheeseman  and  Abel  Cheeseman  were  two  brothers. 
They  removed  at  an  early  day  ;  are  thought  to  have  been  na- 
tives of  Hinsdale.  Benajah  Jones,  homestead  two  miles  south 
from  the  centre,  where  James  Granger  now  lives.  There 
was  one  son  of  the  same  name.  The  family  left  town  at  an 
early  day. 

Timothy  McElwain,  from  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  homestead 
present  residence  of  Jonathan  McElwain.  Children :  Tim- 
othy, settled  in  Hinsdale;  Anna  (Mrs.  John  Shapley),  New 
York  ;  Jane,  died  young  ;  Alexander,  settled  in  New  York  ; 
James,  Ohio;  George  W.,  Middlefield;  Sally  (Mrs.  Solomon 
Hatch),  New  York;  Betsey  (Mrs.  John  Hatch),  New  York; 
David,  settled  in  Becket ;  Jennette  (Mrs.  Lewis  Taylor), 
Middlefield ;  Jonathan,  on  the  old  homestead  (father  of  the 
present  Jonathan) ;  Laura  (Mrs.  Reuben  Smith).  The  family 
have  some  papers  which  indicate  that  their  ancestors  came  in 
1771,  which  would  be  earlier  than  the  date  assigned  to  Rhodes 
and  Taggart  by  two  years.  The  papers  do  not,  however,  de- 
cide the  date  uf  settlement  clearly. 

Benjamin  Blish,  homestead  northeast  part  of  the  town. 
Joseph  Blish,  homestead  at  the  centre,  where  the  Widow 
Newton  now  lives  Children:  Oliver,  settled  in  Middlefield, 
on  the  old  homestead,  and  was  the  well-known  tavern-keeper ; 
Joseph,  in  Bennington,  Vt.  ;  Amasa  (father  of  William  D., 
recently  decea.sed),  Middlefield  ;  Mrs.  John  Smith,  of  Middle- 
field  ;  Mrs.  Little,  of  Peru.  According  to  the  usage  of  the 
younger  families,  this  name  is  now  written  Blush,  but  the 
other  is  no  doubt  the  family  name  of  ancient  times. 

David  Carrier,  homestead  two  and  a  half  miles  south  ;  fam- 
ily left  town  at  an  early  day.  Israel  Bissell,  homestead  a 
mile  or  more  east  of  the  centre ;  removed  to  Hinsdale  in  a  few 
years.  Justice  Bissell,  homestead  half  a  mile  west  of  the  Ford 
mill;  buildings  gone;  land  now  owned  by  Hiram  Taylor. 
Among  the  children  were  Justice,  Blodgett,  Horace,  Barber, 
Roxy,  Eunice,  and  Mrs.  Isaiah  Leach.  Deacon  Ingham 
states  that  Justice  Bissell,  Sr.,  was  a  carpenter,  and  framed  the 
barn  upon  the  old  Solomon  Ingham  place. 

Matthew  Smith,  in  town  very  early  ;  homestead  now  owned 
by  M.  J.  Smith.  Children:  Azariah,  Manlius,  N.  Y. ; 
Matthew,  Jr.  (father  of  Mrs.  Charles  Wright),  Middlefield; 
John,  died  young ;  Samuel  (father  of  four  sons,  who  graduated 
at  college,  and  two  daughters,  at  Mount  Holyoke),  Middlefield  ; 
Joseph,  Manlius,  N.  Y.  ;  Anna  (Mrs.  Clark  Martin),  Wash- 
ington :  Mr.  Martin  dying,  she  afterward  became  Mrs.  Daniel 
Root,  Middlefield;  Asenath,  died  young. 

Timothy  Allen,  from  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  homestead 
where  Henry  Raymond  lives,  near  the  cemetery.  Children  : 
Noadiah,  Hosea,  Spencer,  and  David ;  family  went  to  West- 
field.  Erastus  Ingham,  came  in  1779,  was  a  brother  of  Solo- 
mon Ingham,  from  Hebron,  Conn.;  homestead  where  his 
grandson  James  Ingham  now  lives.  Children':  Erastus  John 
(father  of  E.  J.),  Middlefield;  Samuel  and  William,  twins, 
the  former  settling  in  New  York,  the  latter  in  Middlefield, 
and  afterward  West ;  Mrs.  Amos  Mack,  Middlefield ;  Mrs. 
Reuben  Blossom. 

Bissell  Phelps,  homestead  east  of  the  centre.  John  Spen- 
cer, homestead  west,  on  the  present  Ferris  farm.  Children : 
John,  of  Middlefield ;  Samuel,  went  West;  Selden,  Hin.sdale; 
Brainard,  went  West;  Susan  (Mrs.  Little),  Ohio;  and  another 
daughter,  Sally.  (A  daughter  of  John,  Jr.,  is  Mrs.  John  L. 
Bell.)  In  the  family  of  John,  Sr.,  there  were  other  children, 
Oliver,  George,  Anna. 

Ebenezer  Emmons,  homestead  where  Milton  Smith  now 
resides.  Children :  Ebenezer,  the  distinguished  naturalist ; 
Polly  (Mrs.  Justice  Browning),  Lenox;  Amanda  (Mrs.  Tim- 
othy Root) ;  Mrs.  Hamilton,  of  Hartford ;  and  Mrs.  S.  U. 
Church.  Josiah  Leonard,  h<miestead  where  the  old  parsonage 
stood  before  it  was  removed  to  the  village ;  the  family  went 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


4U7 


West  at  an  early  day.  Nathan  Wright,  from  Chester,  1798, 
homestead  where  C.  B.  Wright  now  resides  (a  grandson). 
Children:  Nathan,  Jr.,  who  settled  on  the  old  homestead; 
Amos,  who  died  young ;  Jesse,  who  settled  on  the  present 
place  of  Mr.  Howe,  in  the  same  neighborhood ;  Mrs.  Dan 
Pea.se,  Middlefield ;  Mrs.  Job  Bobbins,  Middlefield ;  Mrs. 
Thomas  Durant,  Pittsfield ;  Mrs.  Milton  Johnson,  Becket. 
Dr.  William  Coleman,  homestead  given  elsewhere.  Children: 
William,  Lyman,  the  well-known  minister  and  author  of 
religious  works;  Sarah,  married  in  Ohio;  and  one  daughter 
unmarried. 

Samuel  Taylor,  a  very  early  resident,  coming  from  Pitts- 
field,  among  probably  the  first  three  or  four  settlers;  home- 
stead on  lands  now  owned  by  Byron  Haskell;  buildings  gone. 
Children  :  Lewis,  seven  years  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution  ; 
William,  who  settled  two  miles  west  of  the  centre  and  after- 
ward went  to  Ohio;  Samuel;   Mrs.  Malachi  Loveland. 

Thomas  Durant,  from  Boston,  settled  where  Harry  Meacham 
now  resides.  Children:  Nancy  (Mrs.  Amasa  Blush),  3Iiddle- 
field ;  William,  settled  in  Albany;  Edward,  in  New  York; 
Polly  (Mrs.  Wheeler),  New  York;  Sally  (Mrs.  William 
Newton),  Albany;  Betsey  (Mrs.  "Walter  Tracy),  Pittsfield; 
Thomas,  Pittsfield;  Clark,  Albany  and  New  York  City. 
The  wife  of  Thomas  Durant,  Sr.,  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and 
one  years  and  six  months  ;  she  used  to  tell  her  children  and 
grandcliildren  about  hearing  the  cannon  at  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill;  her  husband  was  in  the  army  of  the  Bevolu- 
tion. 

Uriah  Church,  homestead  a  mile  north  of  the  centre,  where 
Edward  Graves  now  resides.  Children:  Uriah,  Jr.  (father  of 
the  five  brothers,  Sumner  U.,  James  T.,  Lyman,  William  F., 
and  Oliver) ;  Jaraes,  who  settled  on  the  homestead  (father  of 
Tallmadge  B.,  Dr.  James  U.);  Mrs.  Munyan,  Northampton; 
Mrs.  John  Ward,  of  Middlefield ;  William  L.,  of  Peru ;  Henry 
C,  of  Middlefield. 

William  Church;  a  brother  of  the  pioneer  Uriah,  homestead 
a  half  mile  west  of  the  centre,  on  land  now  owned  by  Henrj' 
Hawes;  buildings  abandoned.  Children  :  Green,  settled  on  the 
homestead;  William  and  Warren,  both  in  Middlefield;  one 
daughter,  Mrs.  Horace  Bissell. 

Elisha  Mack  was  the  father  of  Col.  David  Mack ;  he  came 
here  some  eight  or  ten  years  after  his  son  ;  his  homestead  was 
where  Charles  Combs  now  lives  ;  of  his  children,  besides  "  the 
faithful  steward,"  ma}'  be  mentioned  Capt.  Elisha,  who  set- 
tled on  present  place  of  Mr.  Ferguson,  and  moved  away  at 
an  early  day  ;  Mrs.  Oliver  Blush,  Mrs.  Abel  Cheeseman,  and 
John,  the  long-time  merchant  of  Plainfield. 

David  Mack,  the  well-known  merchant  of  whonr  the  tract 
was  written  entitled  "  The  Faithful  Steward."  Homestead 
the  present  place  of  Byron  Haskell.  His  first  log  cabin,  erected 
in  1774,  stood  at  the  north  end  of  the  old  garden,  north  of  the 
present  house.  His  frame  dwelling  was  erected  six  years  later. 
His  wife  was  Mary  Talcott,  of  Hebron,  Conn.  Children  : 
Mary  (Mrs.  Ebenczer  Emmons),  Middlefield;  Lois  (Mrs. 
Jacob  Bobbins),  Warren,  N.  Y. ;  David  (known  as  Gen. 
Mack),  Middlefield  and  Amherst;  Mindwell  (Mrs.  Ichabod 
Emmons),  Hinsdale;  John  Talcott,  Hinsdale;  Elisha,  lawyer 
and  judge,  Salem,  Mass.  ;  Anna  (Mrs.  Isaac  Clark),  Becket; 
Phebe  (Mrs.  Uriah  Church,  Jr.),  Middlefield;  Zilpha  (Mrs. 
Azariah  Smith),  Manlius,  N.  Y. ;  Lucy  (Mrs.  Selden  Spencer), 
Hinsdale;  Hannah  (Mrs.  George  McElwain),  Middlefield; 
Abigail  (Mrs.  Wm.  Elder),  Homer,  N.  Y.  ;  Laura  (Mrs.  Sol- 
omon Boot),  Middlefield.  The  latter  is  still  living  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four,  with  intellect  undimmed,  a  rare  specimen  of 
active,  vigorous  old  age.  To  her  we  are  indebted  for  many 
particulars  respecting  the  history  of  Middlefield.  She  states 
that  her  father's  family  were  probably  never  all  at  home  to- 
gether. She  remembers  the  ten  daughters  being  at  home  once, 
and  all  attended  meeting  together. 

Dan  Pease,  homestead  present  place  of  John  Williams.    His 


father's  name  was  Israel.  The  children  of  Dan  were  Dan 
Pease,  Jr.,  of  Worthington ;  Sally  ( Mrs.  Harvey  Boot) ;  Mary, 
died  unmarried;  Walter,  Stcphentown;  Sybil  (Mrs.  Ebenezer 
Smith),  Middlefield;  Eldredge,  Middlefield;  Morgan,  Mid- 
dlefield; Amanda  (Mrs.  George  Crane),  Washington;  Arnold, 
Middlefield;  Harriet  (Mrs.  Hezekiah  Taylor),  Westfield; 
Laura  A.  (Mrs.  Wm.  Stevens),  Chester. 

Sergeant  Thomas  Boot,  from  Somers,  Conn.  ;  homestead 
the  present  place  of  Wm.  Alderman.  Only  a  part  of  the  chil- 
dren came  to  Middlefield.  Solomon,  homestead  where  Daniel 
Alderman  now  lives.  Capt.  Daniel  Boot,  on  his  father's  place. 
Mrs.  Green  Church,  Middlefield  ;  Mrs.  John  Metcalf,  Middle- 
field  ;  Mrs.  John  Spencer,  Middlefield  ;  Mrs.  Nial  Little,  of 
Becket.  The  sons  of  Solomon  were  Solomon,  Jr.,  Harvey, 
and  Selden,  Middlefield;  Nathan,  of  Chester,  and  Timothy. 
Daughters,  Mrs.  Dan  Pease,  Worthington ;  Mrs.  Elder,  of 
Ohio.  The  sons  of  Capt.  Daniel  Boot  were  Daniel  andSylve.s- 
ter,  of  Pennsylvania;  Justin,  Greenfield;  Eliakim,  of  Mid- 
dlefield. Daughters,  Mrs.  Asa  Smith,  Middlefield,  and  Mrs. 
Oliver  Smith  ;  Mrs.  Daniel  Alderman  and  Mrs.  Collins,  Mid- 
dlefield ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Fay,  Chester. 

Mr.  Churchill"  was  an  early  pioneer;  homestead  in  the 
Wright  neighborhood.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and 
left  two  sons,  Giles  and  Charles,  and  one  died  young.  The 
family  name  has  been  identified  with  that  section  of  the  town 
to  the  present  time. 

Calvin  Smith  came  in  1788,  from  East  Haddam,  Conn.  ;  set- 
tled on  the  present  Thompson  place,  so  called.  He  bought  a 
tract  of  400  acres,  and  subsequently  increased  it  to  1.500. 
Children:  Temperance,  died  young  ;  Asa,  settled  in  Middle- 
field;  Hannah  (Mrs.  Daniel  Ingham),  Michigan;  Orrin,  Mid- 
dlefield ;  Oliver,  still  living,  aged  eighty-five,  in  Middlefield 
(father  of  Clarkson  Smith) ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Ingham,  Cato,  N.  Y. ; 
Obadiah,  Middlefield  ;  Ambrose,  on  the  homestead;  Ebenezer, 
Middlefield.     One  daughter  died  young. 

The  pioneers,  Calvin  and  Matthew,  were  brothers. 

Intentions  of  marriage, — the  first  according  to  the  order  in 
which  they  are  recorded  in  the  town  book : 

Sept.  10, 1783. — These  may  cei-tify  all  whom  it  doth  or  may  concern  that  John 
Crane,  of  Beckett,  and  Hannah  Bissell,  of  Middlefield,  have  been  published 
according  t*)  law. 

By  ine,  Solomon  Ingham,  Town  Clerk. 

May  24, 17S4. — Then  the  intention.s  of  marriage  between  Moses  Eggleston 
and  Mary  Dickson  have  been  published  according  to  law,  both  of  Middlefield. 
Attest,  .Solomon  Ingh.\m,  Town  Clerk. 

June  6,  1784. — Then  the  intention  of  marriage  between  "William  Taylor  and 
Piiscilla  Loveland,  both  of  Middlefield,  were  published  according  to  law,  by 

Solomon  Ingham,  Town  Clerk. 

The  first  deaths,  in  the  order  they  are  recorded  in  the  town 
book,  are  the  following  : 

May  24, 1783. — Died,  Ens.  Elisha  Mack,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
April  12, 1784. — Died,  a  child  of  Ephraim  Sheldon  and  Miiiam  his  wife,  being 
about  one  day  old. 

Jan.  8,  1785. — Daniel  Ingham,  son  of  .Solomon  Ingham  and  Mary  his  wife,  died. 

April  1,  178.5. — Samuel  Rolibins,  son  of  Job  Robbins  and  Cynthia  his  wife,  died. 

July  19, 1778. — James  Bates,  sou  of  Oliver  Bates  and  Rachel  his  wife. 

John  Taylor  died  July  16,  1786. 

Ann  Jones,  wife  of  Samuel  Jones,  died  May  14, 1788. 

Elizabeth,  wife  of  Benjamin  Thomas,  died  Nov.  15, 1790. 

MERCHANTS. 

David  Mack  was  the  first  merchant  in  the  town.  It  sounds 
a  little  humorous  in  these  times  of  quick  transit  to  New  York 
and  Boston  to  read  in  the  old  accounts  of  Mr.  Mack  that  he 
went  twice  a  year  to  Westfield  to  purchase  his  assortment  of 
goods,  and  that  they  were  mostly  transported  on  horseback. 
He  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  unusual  force  of  character,  un- 
questioned integrity,  and  devoted  piety.  His  early  education 
was  so  limited  that  he  attended  school  with  his  own  children, 
spelled  in  the  class  with  his  six-year-old  son,  who  was  once 
very  proud  of  getting  above  his  father.  He  began  life  not 
only  ignorant,  but  poor,  yet  by  prudence,  steady  toil,  and 


468 


HISTORY  OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


economy  he  amassed  wealth,  and  expended  it  largely  for  the 
purposes  of  Christian  benevolence.  He  wielded  much  influ- 
ence, filled  many  public  offices,  and  died  at  last,  full  of  years 
and  honors,  at  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-fuur.  His  history  was 
many  years  ago  written  in  the  form  of  a  tract,  and  has  been 
scattered  widely  over  the  world  by  the  American  Tract 
Society. 

Mr.  Macli  began  in  a  small  way  at  first,  keeping  a  few  goods 
for  sale  in  the  chamber  of  his  dwelling-house.  The  statement 
in  the  tract  quoted  above,  ihat  he  brought  his  goods  twice  a  year 
from  Westfeld,  must  refer  only  to  this  commencement.  Mrs. 
Boot  says  that  the  goods  were  brought  generally  from  Hart- 
ford. Mr.  Mack  built  an  addition  to  his  dwelling-house,  and 
this  was  his  place  of  trade  for  many  years.  His  wealth  was 
acquired  not  wholly  by  this  one  store,  but  by  "branching 
out,"  establishing  stores  in  other  towns,  and  doing  a  very 
large  business. 

A  new  store  was  built  near  his  dwelling,  where  his  son, 
Gen.  David  Mack,  traded  for  some  years,  and  perhaps  David 
Mack,  Sr.,  was  in  partnership  for  a  time.  This  building  was 
afterward  removed  to  the  corner  at  the  village,  and  Gen.  Mack 
traded  there  until  his  removal  to  Amherst.  Solomon  Root 
and  his  son,  Solomon  F.,  also  traded  in  that  building,  and 
several  others.  In  later  years  Matthew  Smith  was  the  mer- 
chant at  the  corner.  The  store  is  now  kept  by  Joseph  Ingham, 
grandson  of  the  early  pioneer,  Solomon  Ingham,  and  it  is  the 
regular  successor  of  the  David  Mack  store,  first  opened  ninety 
to  ninety-five  years  ago,  up-stairs,  at  the  present  house  of  By- 
ron Haskell.  Besides  this  store  there  was  the  old  company 
store,  at  the  place  where  Mrs.  Root  now  lives  in  the  village. 
This  was  established  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  and  was  not 
very  successful.  It  was  then  run  for  a  few  years  by  Oren 
Smith,  a  son  of  one  of  the  company.  Solomon  Root  bought 
this  and  carried  on  the  mercantile  business  there  for  some 
years,  his  son,  Solomon  F.  (better  known  as  Francis),  being 
associated  with  him.  Mrs.  Root,  who  is  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  trade  of  Middlefield  both  through  her  father  and  her 
husband  as  well  as  her  son,  gives  a  glowing  description  of  the 
old  times  before  the  opening  of  railroads.  Then  this  now 
quiet  village  was  lively  with  the  stir  of  trade  and  business : 
teams  coming  and  going,  farmers  from  Middlefield  and  from 
adjacent  towns  making  all  their  purchases  here,  and  selling 
large  quantities  of  produce  to  the  local  merchants. 

There  was  also  opened  some  years  ago  the  Church  store,  so 
called,  at  the  centre,  where  Mr.  Geer  now  lives.  This  was 
afterward  changed  to  the  Factory  village,  and  is  now  carried 
on  by  John  W.  Crane. 

TAVERN.S. 

The  first  tavern  was  that  of  Enos  Blossom,  or  if  not  the  first 
it  was  very  early,  as  a  town-meeting  was  called  at  the  "house 
of  Enos  Blossom,  innholder,  in  1784;"  while  "  the  house  of 
David  Mack,  innholder,"  is  not  mentioned  until  1786,  al- 
though the  dwelling-house,  of  Mr.  Mack  is  spoken  of  earlier 
than  that  of  Blossom.  The  Blossom  Tavern  was  where  Ar- 
nold Pease  now  lives.  David  Mack  built  his  frame  house 
about  six  years  after  he  came  here, — that  is,  about  1781.  A 
few  years  later  he  opened  it  for  a  tavern,  and  after  it  was  re- 
paired and  improved  by  the  addition  of  a  piazza  it  was  a 
handsome  house  for  the  old  times.  The  well-known  tavern 
at  the  centre,  kept  so  long  by  Oliver  Blush,  was  the  present 
residence  of  Mrs.  Newton.  This  was  a  favorite  place  with 
the  public  in  the  days  of  travel  by  stage  and  private  convey- 
ance, before  the  opening  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad. 
In  the  north  part  of  the  town  was  the  tavern  of  Alexander 
Dickson,  on  the  present  Lyman  Meacham  place.  There  was 
also  a  tavern  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  kept  by  Asa 
Smith.  It  was  on  a  new  stage-route,  opened  because  of  the 
destruction  of  tlie  old  by  the  work  on  the  railroad,  and  which 
was  abandoned  after  a  short  time,  and  the  tavern  closed. 
There  has  been  no  lavern  in  town  for  several  years. 


PHYSICIANS. 

Dr.  Wright  was  the  earliest  one  to  settle  in  Middlefield.  He 
was  a  brother  of  the  pioneer  Nathan  Wright.  It  is  stated 
that  the  doctor  lived  where  Arnold  Pease  does  at  the  present 
time.  He  did  not  remain  in  town  many  years.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Coleman  was  the  successor  of  Dr.  Wright.  He  first 
lived  in  the  gambrel-roofed  house  east  of  the  village,  and 
there  his  son  was  born,  afterward  the  distinguished  Rev. 
Lyman  Coleman.  Dr.  Coleman  afterward  lived  at  the  pres- 
ent place  of  Arnold  Pease.  This  may  indicate  that  he  was 
here  before  the  departure  of  Dr.  Wright,  and  when  the  latter 
left  Dr.  Coleman  bought  his  homestead.  Dr.  Coleman  mar- 
ried after  he  came  here,  and  practiced  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years;  removed  to  Hartford,  afterward  to  Pittsfield,  and  died 
there.  Dr.  Joseph  Warren  was  for  a  long  time  the  only  phy- 
sician in  Middlefield.  He  spent  his  professional  life,  extend- 
ing to  thirty-five  or  forty  years,  and  then  returned  in  old 
age  to  his  native  town,  Ashfield.  Dr.  James  Church  (grand- 
son of  the  pioneer  Uriah  and  son  of  James)  practiced  for 
several  years  here  in  his  native  town.  He  had  an  extensive 
ride,  was  popular  and  successful.  His  useful  and  active  life 
came  to  an  end  by  accident.  Riding  down  one  of  the  steep 
hills  of  Peru,  the  harness  broke ;  he  was  thrown  from  his 
wagon,  his  limbs  broken,  and  so  badly  injured  otherwise  that 
he  died  in  a  short  time. 

Dr.  Edwin  Bidwell  was  a  native  of  Monterey,  Berkshire 
Co.,  and  was  a  man  of  extensive  education  ;  went  West,  was 
actively  engaged  in  Iowa,  assisted  largely  in  organizing  and 
developing  the  school  system  of  that  State.  Returning  to 
Ma.ssachusetts,  he  practiced  medicine  in  Middlefield,  and 
when  the  late  war  broke  out  entered  the  army  as  a.ssistant 
surgeon,  was  promoted,  and  served  with  distinction.  After 
the  war  he  practiced  here  for  a  time  and  then  went  to  Vine- 
land,  N.  J.  Dr.  Underwood  is  spoken  of  as  having  been  a 
physician  here,  for  a  time,  of  the  school  known  as  "  Thom- 
sonian  ;"  was  popular  among  the  families  that  employed  him, 
and  went  from  here  to  Boston.  Since  the  departure  of  Dr. 
Bidwell  there  has  been  no  settled  physician  here,  except  that 
Dr.  Wheeler,  retiring  from  his  former  practice  in  other  towns 
and  locating  here,  occasionally  practices. 

These  two  notices  are  taken  from  old  files  oi  iiii  Hampshire 
Gazette  : 

October  28,  1800,  Titus  Pomeroy,  post-rider  from  North- 
ampton to  Middlefield,  calls  upon  all  to  pay  up,  as  he  intends 
to  discontinue  his  labors  in  this  direction,  another  rider  having 
established  a  route  from  Springfield  to  Middlefield. 

David  Mack,  Jan.  25,  1798,  calls  upon  all  indebted  to  him 
to  settle  up,  or  the  next  call  will  be  attended  with  cost.  This 
is  the  "  faithful  steward"  of  the  well-known  religious  tract. 

ORfiANIZATION. 

As  already  shown,  this  town  was  constructed  by  uniting 
several  portions  of  other  towns.  Middlefield  became  a  neces- 
sity as  the  settlement  of  the  country  increased.  In  that  por- 
tion taken  from  Worthington,  the  settlers  were  obliged  to 
travel  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Middle  Branch,  and  out  of 
it,  climbing  a  series  of  hills  to  reach  the  place  of  worship  or 
the  place  of  business  in  that  town.  On  the  portion  taken  from 
Chester  the  people  were  suffering  equal  inconvenience ;  and 
so  of  the  other  portions.  The  movement  to  organize  was 
evidently  led  by  David  Mack,  whose  enterprise  and  activity 
were  contributing  largely  to  settle  this  territory.  He  oftered 
to  undertake  the  work  of  a  survey  and  an  application  to  the 
General  Court,  his  expenses  to  be  refunded  if  he  succeeded  ;  if 
not,  he  was  to  pay  them.  The  application  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  opposed  ;  and  the  following  records  show  the  steps 
at  the  formation  of  the  town.  The  full  text  of  the  law  is 
given,  as  the  boundaries  and  other  matters  stated  are  of  con- 
siderable interest; 


HISTOKY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


469 


An  act  for  erecting  ceitain  lands,  hereafter  described,  into  a  town  I'y  the  name 
of  Bliddlefield,  and  annexing  the  whole  to  the  county  uf  Ilanipghiie. 

Whaeits,  tlie  inhabitants  of  tlie  southwest  corner  of  Worthiugton,  in  the 
county  of  Hampshire,  and  the  northwest  corner  of  Murrayfield  (now  Chester), 
in  the  said  county,  and  the  northeast  coiner  of  Becket,  the  south  side  of  Par- 
tridgefield,  a  part  of  Washington,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Trescott's  grant  (so 
called),  all  in  the  county  of  Berkshire,  have  represented  to  this  court  the  great 
difficulties  and  inconveniences  they  labor  under  in  their  present  situation,  and 
have  requested  that  they  may  be  incorporated  into  a  town.  Be  it  therefore 
enacted  by  the  i^enate  and  House  of  Repieeentalives,  in  general  couit  assembled, 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  the  said  southwest  corner  of  Woithington, 
in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  northwest  corner  of  Chester,  in  the  same  county, 
and  the  northeast  corner  of  Becket,  the  south  side  of  Part ridgefi eld,  a  pait  of 
Washington,  and  the  land  called  Prescott's  grant,  all  in  the  county  of  Berkshire, 
and  hounded  as  follows,  viz. :  Beginning  at  an  hemkick-tree  standing  on  tlie  river 
in  Becket,  directly  south  from  the  southwest  corner  of  the  said  Prescott's  grant, 
thence  running  north  one  thousand  rods  to  a  beech-tree,  then  north  t^velve  de. 
greea  east,  to  the  north  side  of  the  first  square  in  Partridgeiiekl,  to  a  stake  and 
stones;  thence  south  seventy  degrees  east,  nine  hundred  rods  to  a  stake  and 
stones ;  thence  nortli  one  hundied  and  forty  rods  ;  thence  east  six  hundred  rods 
to  the  river  at  an  hemlock-tree,  a  west  point  from  Worthington  meeting-house; 
thence  down  the  said  river  to  the  place  where  tlie  same  crosses  Worthington  soutli 
line  at  an  heart  beam-tree ;  thence  west,  thirty-five  degrees  south,  nine  hundred 
and  forty  rods,  to  the  place  where  the  said  river  crosses  Becket  eiist  line ;  thence 
up  the  said  river  to  the  first-mentioned  bounds ;  with  the  inhabitants  thereon,  be, 
and  hereby  are,  incorporated  into  a  town  by  the  name  of  Middlefield,  and  that 
the  said  town  be,  and  hereby  is,  vested  with  all  the  powers,  privileges,  and  immu- 
nities which  the  towns  in  this  commonwealth  do  or  may  enjoy  by  the  cun&titu- 
tion  and  laws  of  the  same ;  and  the  whole  of  the  said  town  of  Middlefield  shall 
forever  hereafter  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  county  of  Hampshire;  and  be  it 
further  enacted,  that  John  Kirkland,  Esq.,  be,  and  he  is,  hereby  empowered  to 
issue  his  warrant  to  some  principal  inhabitant  within  the  said  town  of  Bliddle- 
field,  requiring  him  U^>  warn  the  inhabitants  of  said  town,  qualified  to  vote  in 
town  affairs,  to  assemble  at  some  suitable  time  and  place  within  tiie  said  town, 
for  the  purpose  of  choosing  such  officers  as  are  necessary  to  manage  the  afi'airs 
of  the  said  town  ;  provided,  nevertheless,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town 
of  Middlefield  shall  pay  their  proportionable  share  of  such  town,  county,  estate, 
and  other  taxes,  as  are  already  assessed  on  thein  by  the  respective  towns  to 
which  they  have  belonged,  and  all  public  debts  and  duties  which  may  be  due  and 
owing  from  the  said  town,  until  a  tax  shall  be  laid  by  the  General  Court  upon 
the  said  town  hereby  incorporated. 
This  act  passed  March  12, 1783. 

WARRANT    FOR    THE    FIRST    TOWN-MEETING. 

To  Mr.  Benjamin  Eggleston,  of  Middlefield,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  yeo- 
man, greeting.  In  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  you  are 
required  to  warn  all  the  froeholdei-g  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  said  town  of 
Middlefield  qualified  to  vote  in  town  affairs,  to  assemble  and  meet  at  the  dwelling- 
house  of  Mr.  David  Mack,  in  said  town,  on  Thureday,  the  10th  day  of  April,  instant, 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  in  order  to  choose  all  the  officers  necessary  to 
manage  the  afTaire  of  said  town,  agreeably  to  an  act  of  the  General  Court  of  said 
Commonwealth,  passed  the  12th  day  of  March  last.  Hereof,  fail  not,  and  make 
return  of  this  warrant  with  your  doings  thereon  to  myself  before  said  meeting. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  this  first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three,  and  in  the  seventh  year  of  the 
Independence  of  America. 

John  Kiuklanp,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

MINUTES    OF    THE    FIRST    T0WN-MP:KTING. 

Agreeable  to  the  above  warrant,  the  inhabitants  of  said  town  of  Middlefield 
met  on  the  day  above,  said  John  Kirkland,  Esq.,  presiding  as  Moderator  in  said 
meeting.  The  following  officers  were  chosen :  Solomon  Ingham,  Town  Clerk; 
Samuel  Jones,  David  Black,  Job  Roltbins,  Selectmen  and  Assessors ;  Daniel 
Chapman,  Town  Treasurer;  David  Taylor,  Constable;  James  Nony,  William 
Church,  Wardens;  Anson  Cheeseman,  Amasa  Graves,  Tythingmen ;  Benajah 
Jones,  Timothy  McElwain.  James  Dickson,  John  Jones,  Surveyors  of  Highways; 
Benjamin  Blush,  Enos  Blossom,  Fence-Viewers;  William  Church,  Sealer  of 
Weights  and  Measures;  John  Jones,  Sealer  of  Leather ;  Thomas  Blossom,  Pound- 
Keeper;  Elnathan  Taylor,  Samuel  Gould,  Hog-Reeves. 

April  24, 1783. — Voted  that  the  town  will  raise  a  sum  of  money  to  mend  the 
highways.  Voted  that  two  days'  work  be  done  by  each  person  on  the  roads, 
and  an  equal  proportion  on  the  estates,  the  year  ensuing.  Voted  to  allow  those 
pereons  who  have  no  roads  to  work  where  they  expect  to  have  roads  under  the 
direction  of  the  suiTeyore.  Voted  that  the  money  paid  by  men  to  get  the  town 
incorporated  be  refunded  them  on  their  exhibiting  their  accounts. 

May  28, 1783. — Voted  that  the  iiouud  for  this  town  be  David  Mack's  yard,  near 
hid  barn. 

At  a  meeting  first  Monday  in  October,  1783,  voted  to  accoi>t  grain  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  town  rate,  allowing  i-j'e  at  3s.  per  bushel,  Indian  corn  at  2s.  Gd. 
Voted  David  Mack,  Samuel  Jones,  and  Daniel  Chapman  bo  a  committee  to  re- 
ceive said  gi'ain,  and  the  collectors  to  receive  from  taxpayers  receipts  from  the 
above  committee.  • 

At  the  fii-st  regular  "  March  meeting,"  held  on  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
1784,  chose  Mr.  David  Mack,  Moderator ;  Solomon  Ingham,  Town  Clerk  ;  Samuel 
Jones,  David  Mack,  Job  Robbins,  Selectmen  and  Assessors;  Daniel  Chapman, 
Town  Treasurer ;  Anson  Cheeseman,  Constable  ;    John  Jones,  Joseph  Blush, 


Wardens;  David  Carrier,  Timothy  McElwain,  Tythingmen;  Uriah  Church,  John 
Dickson,  James  Nony,  Amasa  Graves,  Surveyors  of  Highways ;  William  Church, 
Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures;  James  Nony,  Sealer  of  Leather;  Israel  Bis- 
sell,  Benjamin  Eggleston,  Fence-Viewers ;  Justice  Bissell,  Enos  Blossom,  Hog- 
Reefs;  Thomas  Blo&eom,  Pound-Keeper.  Voted  that  a  pound  be  built  near  Mr. 
Thomas  Blossom's,  Voted  that  in  future,  roads  laid  out  by  the  selectmen  shall 
he  three  rods  wide,  except  the  road  from  Daniel' Chapman's  to  Partridgefield, 
which  is  established  to  be  four  rods  wide.  Voted  that  the  road  between  Warren 
Mack's  and  Sergeant  Root's  be  discontinued.  Voted  three  pounds  bounty  to  any 
one  who  shall  kill  a  full-grown  wolf  in  this  town,  and  one  pound  ten  shillings 
for  killing  "  a  young  or  whelp  wolf." 

Twelve  roads  were  approved  at  this  town-meeting  as  laid 
out  by  the  selectmen. 

June  5,  1784,  the  selectmen  called  a  meeting  to  consider  the 
highway  work,  *'  as  the  rate  laid  is  found  to  be  so  much  that 
the  town  are  not  able  to  pay  the  work  and  carry  on  their 
farms  besides."  The  subject  of  taxation  and  the  inequality  of 
valuation  caused  considerable  discussion,  and  the  selectmen 
were  empowered,  Dec.  27,  1784,  "to  fee  a  representative  to 
represent  our  cause  at  the  General  Court  with  respect  to  a 
new  valuation." 

March  14, 1785.— Voted  that  the  town  will  be  at  the  expense  of  procuring  a 
plan  of  the  town  to  aid  in  the  making  of  future  valuations. 

Other  extracts  from  the  records  occur  in  the  notice  of 
churches,  schools,  and  military. 

Town-meetings  were  held  as  follows :  "  at  the  dwelling- 
house  of  David  Mack  ;"  "  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Enos  Blossom, 
innhulder"  (July  20,  1784) ;  "  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Lieut. 
Blossom;"  "at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Blush;" 
"at  the  house  of  Capt.  David  Mack,  innholder"  (Nov.  2, 
1786),  and  were  continued  there  down  to  the  time  of  the 
meeting-house,  March  26,  1791;  then  they  were  called  "at 
the  meeting-house,"  for  many  years,  and  the  expression  was 
changed  to  "at  the  centre  meeting-house"  April  3,  1820, 
showing  another  house  erected  by  that  time. 

May  11,  1846,  they  met  "at  the  centre  school-house,"  and 
after  that,  for  a  few  months,  sometimes  "  at  the  lower  room  of 
the  centre  school-house."  Nov.  8,  1847,  "at  the  town-hall," 
and  have  been  so  held  to  the  present  time.  The  first  town- 
hall  was  a  low,  one-story  building,  26  by  36,  erected  during 
the  summer  of  1847,  standing  beween  the  present  hall  and  the 
chapel  of  the  Congregational  Church.  The  present  building, 
combining  both  the  school-house  of  the  centre  district  and 
the  town-hall,  was  erected  in  1872,  and  is  a  neat  and  substan- 
tial building. 

SELECTMEN. 

1783-84.— Samuel  Jones,  David  Mack,  Job  Robbins. 

171S5.— Malachi  Loveland,  Timothy  McElwain,  Solomon  Ingham. 

1780.- Lieut.  Malachi  Loveland,  Timothy  McElwain,  William  Church. 

1787-88.— Capt.  David  Mack,  Matthew  Smith,  Bissell  Phillips. 

1789. — Samuel  Jones,  James  Dickinson,  Daniel  Chapman. 

1790. — Daniel  Chapman,  Malachi  Loveland,  Amasa  Graves. 

1791.— Malachi  Loveland,  Matthew  Smith,  Amasa  Graves. 

1792. — Matthew  Smith,  Samuel  Woods,  Elisha  Mack. 

1793-95.— Matthew  Smith.  Erastus  Ingliam,  Elisha  Mack. 

1796-98.— Erastu 3  Ingham,  Elisha  Mack,  Thomas  Durant. 

1799-1800.— Matthew  Smith,  Uriah  Church,  Solomon  Ingham. 

1801-3.— Matthew  Smith,  Solomon  Ingham,  Erastus  Ingham. 

Ig04_5. — Solomon  Ingham,  Erastus  Ingham,  John  Smith. 

l)^Q6._Matthew  Smith,  John  Dickson,  Ebenezer  Emmons.  , 

1807-10.— Uriah  Church,  John  Dickson,  Ebenezer  Emmons. 

1811-14.— Erastus  Ingham,  John  Dickson,  Capt.  Daniel  Root. 

1815-16.— John  Dickson,  Daniel  Root,  John  Metcalf. 

1817.— Solomon  Ingham,  Daniel  Root,  Cyrus  Cone. 

1818.- Daniel  Root,  Cyrus  Cone,  Ale.xander  Dickson. 

1819-20.— Cynis  Cone,  Alexander  Dickson,  Green  H.  Church. 

1821-23.— Jolin  Dickson,  Daniel  Root,  Matthew  Smith,  Jr. 

1824.— Daniel  Root,  Matthew  Smith,  Jr.,  Solomon  Root,  Jr. 

1825-27.— Matthew  Smith,  Jr.,  Solomon  Root,  Jr.,  Giiston  Dickson. 

1828-29.— Solomon  Root,  Jr.,  Gaston  Dickson,  Samuel  Smith. 

1830.— Solomon  Root,  Samuel  Smith,  James  Church. 

1831.— Samuel  Smith,  Erastus  J.  Ingham,  Ambrose  Smith. 

1832. — Erastus  J.  Ingham,  Ambrose  Smith,  Solomon  Root. 

1833,_Auibrose  Smith,  Solomon  Root,  James  Cross. 

1834.— Solomon  Root,  James  Cross,  Jonathan  McElwain. 

1835.— Erastus  J.  Ingham,  Samuel  Smith,  Oliver  Smith. 

183G-37.— Oliver  Smith,  Jesse  Wright,  Ambrose  Newton. 

1838.— Samuel  Smith,  Ambrose  Newton,  Oliver  Smith  (2d). 


470 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


1839-40. — Samuel  Smith,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Amasa  G.  Loveland. 
1S41. — James  Chnirh,  Daniel  Pease,  Jr.,  Horace  Pease. 
1842. — Daniel  Pease,  Jr.,  Ambrose  Newton,  Henry  Hawes. 
1843. — Daniel  Pease,  Jr.,  Samuel  Lovelami,  Harry  Meacham. 
1844. — Samuel  Smith,  Timothy  Root,  Samuel  lugham. 
1845. — James  Church,  Jouathan  McElwain,  Ambrose  Newton. 
1846. — James  Church,  Ambrose  Newton,  Samuel  Ingham. 
1847. — Ambrose  Newton,  Samuel  Ingham,  Samuel  Lovelaud. 
1848.— Samuel  Ingham,  Joliu  L.  Bell,  Harry  Meacham. 
1849.— Johu  L.  Bell,  Henry  Hawes,  Jonathan  McElwain. 
1850. — Henry  Hawes,  Jonathan  McElw.ain,  Matthew  Smith,  Jr. 
1851. — James  Church,  Samuel  Ingham,  Slilton  ('ombs. 
1852-53.— Henry  Hawes,  Jonathan  McElWidn,  Oliver  Smith  (2d). 
1854. — Ebenezer  Smith,  Amasa  Graves,  Amos  W.  Cross. 
1855. — Amasa  Graves,  Jr.,  Amos  W.  Cross,  Daniel  Alderman. 
1856. — Daniel  Alderman,  Matthew  Smith,  Ambrose  Robbins. 
1857. — Matthew  Smith,  Ambrose  Robbins,  Morgan  Pease. 
1858. — John  L.  Bell,  Ambrose  Robbins,  Morgan  Pease. 
1859-62. — John  L.  Bell.  Morgan  Pease,  Jacob  Robbins. 
1863.— Matthew  Smith,  .Tohn  W.  ('ross,  Samuel  Smith,  Jr. 
1864-66.- John  L.  Bell,  Morgan  Pease,  John  W.  Cross. 
1867-68.— John  L.  Bell,  Morgan  Peiise,  Hiram  Taylor. 
1869. — John  L.  Bell,  Hiram  Taylor,  Henry  Hawes. 
1870.— Hiram  Taylor,  Arnold  Pease,  Metcalf  J.  Smith. 
1871-72.— Hiram  Taylor,  Jolin  L.  Bell,  M.  J.  Smith. 
1873.— Hiram  TayU>r,  Morgan  Pease,  George  \V.  Cottrell. 
1874.— Hiram  Taylor,  M.  J.  Smith,  George  W.  Cottrell. 
1875. — Metcalf  J.  Smith,  E.  James  Ingham,  Howard  Smith. 
1876.— Metcalf  J.  Suiitli,  John  L.  Bell,  Howard  Smith. 
1877-78. — Metcalf  J.  Smith,  E.  James  Ingham,  Howard  Smith. 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

Solomon  Inghiun,  1783-84  ;  Timothy  Alleu,  1786  ;  Solomon  Ingham,  1786-88  ; 
John  Dickinson,  1789-95  ;  Solomon  Ingham,  1796-1807  :  David  Mack,  Jr.,  1808- 
31;  Matthew  Smith,  Jr.,  1832-43;  George  W.  Lyman,  1844-48;  John  Smith, 
1849-53 ;  Jonathan  McElwain,  1854 ;  Solomon  F.  Root,  1855  ;  Jonathan  McEl- 
wain, 1856-79. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

Uriali  Church,  1808 ;  Erastus  Ingham,  1809-10  ;  David  Mack,  1811-12 ;  John 
Dickson,  1813-15;  Daniel  Boot,  1816-17;  Ebenezer  Emmons,  1819-20;  David 
Mack,  Jr.,  1821-24 ;  George  W.  McElwain,  1829-31 ;  Matthew  Smith,  Jr.,  1832- 
33  ;  Solomon  Boot,  1S34;  Daniel  Boot,  1835;  Green  H.  Church,  1837-38;  Samuel 
Smith,  1839  ;  Oliver  .Smith,  1840  ;  James  Church,  1841 ;  Ambrose  Newton,  1842 ; 
Alexander  Ingham,  184.3  ;  Matthew  Smith,  1844 ;  Uriali  Church,  1845 ;  Jonathan 
McElwain,  1846 ;  Amos  Cone,  1847 ;  Harry  Meacham,  1849 ;  Almon  Barnes, 
1850;  Eliakim  Boot,  1852;  Oliver  Smith  (2d),  1853;  Milton  Combs,  1855;  Wm. 
L.  Church,  1861 ;  Arnold  Pease,  1806  ;  Matthew  Smith,  1878. 

VILLAGES. 

MIDDLEFIELD    CENTRE 

is  at  the  original  point  selected  a  few  years  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  town  for  the  location  of  the  meeting-house.  It 
was  then  decided  to  be  the  geographical  centre  of  the  town. 
The  earl}'  Mack  store  was  only  a  short  distance  south,  and  the 
meeting-house  being  built  here  eighty-six  years  ago,  and  the 
town-meetings  held  here  continually,  made  it  the  business 
centre  as  well  as  the  geographical.  It  is  now  one  of  the  finest 
rural  villages  among  the  mountain  towns  of  Hampshire 
County.  Located  on  a  commanding  eminence,  the  view  em- 
braces a  wide  extent  of  surrounding  country,  hills  and  valleys 
stretching  away,  a  mingled  and  varying  landscape  of  rocky 
heights  and  gentle  slopes,  steep  declivities  and  smiling 
meadows,  cultivated  fields  and  wood-crowned  summits, 
while  beyond  all,  and  partially  encircling  all,  is  the  blue 
line  of  the  distant  mountains.  The  public  buildings  are  in 
good  repair,  and  the  private  residences  mostly  have  a  neat, 
freshly-painted  appearance,  indicating  that  they  are  cared  for 
by  men  of  thrift  and  energy.  The  post-otiice  was  established 
about  1811.  Postmasters  have  been  Edmund  Kelso,  Gen'. 
David  Mack,  Solomon  Root,  Bartholomew  Ward,  tmd  Oliver 
Church.  As  deputy  postmaster.  Deacon  Alexander  Ingham 
has  managed  the  ofiice  for  twenty-three  years. 

FACTOR V  VII.I.AOE. 
"This  place  is  .situated  about  a  mile  from  Middlefield  Centre. 
Its  business  interests  were  founded  by  Amasa  lilusli,  who  pur- 
chased the  old  Hcrrick  clothing-mill,  and  by  Uriali  Church, 
Jr.,  who,  a  few  years  later,  also  established  a  clothing-mill. 
These  were  followed  in  cacli  case  by  the  building  of  factories. 


and  the  founders  were  in  each  case  succeeded  by  their  sons. 
The  village  suffered  .severely  in  the  disastrous  flood  of  1874. 
The  chain  of  three  reservoirs  gave  way  (caused  by  the  failure 
of  the  upper  one),  and  the  water  poured  down  through  the 
vallej'  with  immense  force,  demolishing  the  upper  mill  of  the 
Church  Brothers,  the  woolen-mill  of  Oliver  Blush,  the  turn- 
ing-works of  Wm.  D.  Blush,  and  doing  much  other  damage. 
It  has  been  a  hard  struggle  to  recover  from  these  losses,  and 
it  will  require  many  years  to  restore  the  former  prosperity  of 
the  place.  There  are  included  in  the  village  the  handsome 
private  residences  of  Wm.  D.  Blush  and  Sumner  Church, 
also  a  few  others.  There  is  a  school-house,  but  post-oiBce 
facilities  and  places  of  religious  worship  are  at  the  centre 
village  above.     There  is  one  store,  kept  by  John  W.  Crane. 

MIDDLEFIELD    STATION 

is  upon  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  in  the  south  part  of 
the  town.  It  bears  also  the  name  of  Bancroft  Post-Office. 
To  a  traveler  looking  from  the  windows  of  a  passing  train 
there  only  appear  the  small  station-house  and  one  or  two 
other  buildings.  There  is,  however,  located  here  a  large 
paper-mill,  built  by  John  Mann  in  184-5,  for  the  manufacture 
of  wrapping-paper.  In  1851  the  Buckley  Brothers,  of  New 
York  City,  erected  another  mill,  for  the  manufacture  of  wall- 
paper. The  post-office  has  been  kept  by  Mr.  Davison,  Wm. 
S.  Cross,  James  N.  Cross,  Joel  Haskins,  Chester  W.  Merry- 
field,  Edwin  C.  Cheeseman,  and  G.  E.  Manley ;  the  last-named 
is  the  present  incumbent. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  location  of  the  first  school-house  is  not  determined. 
Probably  there  was  but  little  done  upon  this  territory  either 
in  building  school-houses  or  establishing  schools  until  the 
formation  of  Middlefield.  The  account  of  Mr.  David  Mack, 
as  given  in  the  tract  entitled  "The  Faithful  Steward,"  indi- 
cates that  there  were  schools  somewhat  before  that  time.  He 
came  to  Middlefield  in  1775,  and  one  year  after  his  marriage. 
It  is  said  he  learned  to  read  in  the  same  school  with  his  six- 
years-old  son.  Doubtless  there  were  small  family  schools 
opened  by  two  or  three  neighbors  uniting  at  first.  Even  after 
the  erection  of  the  town  the  sums  voted  were  for  several  years 
small.  Individual  exertion  largely  sustained  the  early  school 
system.  But  the  record  then  made  in  training  up  educated 
men  and  women  is  not  one  to  be  ashamed  of,  compared  even 
with  these  days  of  intellectual  progress.  A  town  that  sent 
out  such  men  as  Dr.  Lyman  Coleman  and  the  eminent  geol- 
ogist Ebenezer  Emmons  may  well  have  a  just  pride  in  the 
eftbrts  and  sacrifices  of  the  pioneers  to  lay  broad  and  deep  the 
foundations  of  universal  education. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  records  show  the  action  of 
the  town  during  the  first  two  or  three  years : 

April  24,  1783.— Voted  to  raise  10  pounds  for  the  support  of  schooling  for  the 
year  ensuing.  Voted  that  Joseph  Blush,  Benjamin  Blush,  Timothy  McElwain, 
and  John  Jones  be  a  school  committee.  Voted  that  the  selectmen  be  authorized 
to  divide  the  town  into  school  districts. 

March  1, 17S4.— Voted  to  raise  20  pounds  for  schooling,  and  that  it  may  l>o 
paid  in  rye,  Indian-corn,  flax,  or  oats.  Voted  that  James  Dickson,  Job  Rob- 
bins, Samuel  Jones,  and  Benajah  Jones  be  a  school  committee  for  the  ensuing 
year. 

May  2, 1785.— Voted  to  raise  20  pounds,  lawful  money,  for  the  support  of 
schooling  the  ensuing  year,  said  money  to  be  paid  in  the  articles  of  provision  or 
clothing.  School  Committee,  John  Taggart,  Matthew  Smith,  David  Carrier,  and 
Ephraim  Sheldon. 

The  report  of  the  ft)rmation  of  the  school  districts  is  not  recorded.  One  is 
given  uuder  date  March,  1796,  "that  the  people  living  west  of  Taggart's  Brook, 
from  the  Widow  Goddard's  and  on  to  the  town-line  northward,  except  Daniel 
Spencer,  Mr.  Emmons,  and  Widow  Goddard,  be  a  school  District."  School  dis- 
tricts generally  were  organized  in  1789,  or  perhaps  rearranged. 

The  modern  organization  of  the  school  system  of  the  State 
dates  from  about  1825.  •  That  year  Middlefield  appointed  as 
committee,  under  the  new  law  to  examine  schools  and  teachers, 
Matthew  Smith,  Jr.,  George  W.  McElwain,  and  Alexander 
Ingham.     The  following  spring,  $300  were  appropriated  for 


HISTOKY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


471 


schools.     For  many  years  before  and  after  that  they  averaged 
about  that  sum.     In  later  years  they  have  been  much  higher. 
The  following  statistics  ftimprise  a  large  amount  of  valuable 
information,  comparing  the  past  with  the  present: 

SCHOOL   STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Nine  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  143;  average,  131; 
winter,  156;  average,  144;  in  town  hetween  4  and  IG,  183 ;  summer  schools,  32 
months,  15  days ;  winter,  19  moutlis,  7  days ;  summer  teachers,  8  females ;  winter, 
5  males,  2  females  ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  ^17.^0 ;  female 
teachei-8,  ?11.36. 

January,  1847. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  155 ;  average,  104  ;  winter, 
216 ;  average,  166 ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  193 ;  attending  under  4,  9  ;  over 
16,  2S  ;  summer  schools,  32  months ;  winter,  32  mouths,  4  days ;  total,  64  months, 

4  days;  summer  teachers,  9  females;  winter  teachere,  7  males,  3  females;  aver- 
age Wiiges  of  male  teachei-s  per  month,  3^19.52;  female,  S11.50. 

.Tanuary,  1857. — 11  schools;  attending  in  summer,  90;  average,  71;  winter, 
159 ;  average,  119  ;  attending  under  5, 10 ;  over  15,  23 ;  in  town  between  5  and  15, 
166;  summer  teachers,  7  females,  winter,  6  males,  4  females;  summer  schools, 
22  months;  winter,  29  months,  14  days;  total  51  months,  14  days;  average 
wages  of  male  teaehei-s  per  m^mth,  S21.68 ;  female,  S13.91. 

January,  1867. — Eleven  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  156 ;  average,  124 ; 
winter,  179,  average,  146;  attending  under  5,  14;  over  15,  29;  in  town  between 

5  and  15, 158 ;  summer  teachers,  9  females ;  winter,  3  males,  6  females ;  summer 
schools,  26  months,  5  days;  aveiage  wages,  male  teachers,  per  month,  ^9.33; 
female  teachers,  $19.29. 

Jjinuary,  1878. — Eight  schools ;  for  repairs,  SIO ;  attending,  189 ;  average,  129 ; 
under  5,  6;  over  15,  27;  in  town  between  5  and  16,  143;  teachers,  5  males,  11 
females,  2  of  them  from  normal ;  school  50  months,  5  days ;  average  wages, 
male  teachers,  per  month,  ^21.54;  female,  $22.93;  taxation,  S900;  expense  of 
superintendence,  $55;  printing,  $10  ;  income  of  local  funds  and  dog-tax,  $129  ; 
1  private  school ;  31  scholars;  tuition,  $160 ;  town  share  of  State  funds,  $220.67. 

Besides  the  excellent  system  of  district  schools,  there  has 
usually  been  maintained  at  the  village  a  select  school  during 
the  winter  season.  This  has  offered  superior  advantages  for 
obtaining  a  higher  education.  Languages  and  higher  mathe- 
matics are  taught,  and  young  men  fitted  for  college.  The 
school  the  present  winter  (1878-79)  is  taught  by  Professor  M. 
J.  Smith,  who  has  also  had  charge  of  it  several  previous  terms. 
He  is  a  citizen  of  the  town,  and  htis  taught  considerably  abroad. 
Returning  here,  his  school  has  become  a  favorite  resort  for  the 
young  people  of  the  town,  otlering,  as  it  does,  equal  advantages 
with  those  of  more  elaborate  seminaries  at  only  a  fraction  of 
the  cost. 

Deacon  Ingham  states  that  when  Miss  Mary  Lyon,  with 
the  aid  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hawlis,  was  raising  money  for  the  found- 
ing of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  she  made  her  home  for  a 
time  at  his  residence.  He  speaks  of  her  as  a  woman  of  un- 
common energy  and  devotion  to  her  work.  She  secured 
$1000  in  this  town,— ?500  from  Col.  David  Mack,  and  .?100 
apiece  from  five  other  citizens. 

Deacon  Ingham  furnishes  the  following  list  of  graduates  : 
Elisha  Mack,  a  lawyer,  and  afterward  a  judge  at  Salem. 
Alvin  Nash,  son  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Nash,  minister  and 
teacher  in  Northern  Ohio,  founded  a  school  on  the  Mount 
Holyoke  plan  ;  removed  to  Painesville.  Ebeiiezer  Emmons, 
graduated  at  Williams  College,  studied  and  licensed  as  a 
physician,  but  was  too  much  of  a  naturalist  to  follow  his  pro- 
fession. Dr.  Lyman  Coleman,  the  very  distinguished  minister, 
traveler  in  the  Holy  Land,  author  of  sacred  geography,  etc., 
graduated  at  Amherst.  Azariah  Smith,  educated  at  McGraw- 
ville ;  became  a  distinguished  business-man  in  the  State  of 
New  York  ;  his  son  became  a  missionary  to  Armenia  ;  now  in 
Boston  publishing-house.  General  Mack,  son  of  David  Mack, 
was  a  noted  merchant ;  afterward  Senator  and  councillor. 
William  Church,  one  of  the  five  sons  of  Uriah,  went  to  Cin- 
cinnati ;  was  a  prominent  man  of  Ohio  ;  organized  the  State 
department  of  insurance ;  and  was  commissioner  for  several 
years,  until  removed  by  a  dift'erent  administration.  Judson 
Smith,  a  noted  professor  in  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary  ;  he 
graduated  at  Amherst.  Rev.  Edward  Smith,  graduated  at 
Amherst ;  mostly  engaged  in  Worcester  as  an  educator.  Pro- 
fessor M.  J.  Smith,  now  teaching,  was  educated  at  McGraw- 
ville. 

The  four  Smiths  were  brothers.     Samuel  Ingham,  son   of 


Deacon  Ingham,  graduated  at  Westfield  Normal  School ;  es- 
tablished a  graded  school  at  Norwalk  ;  studied  for  the  minis- 
try and  went  as  a  missionary  to  the  Dncotnhs,  and  died  at  the 
Santee  Agency.  He  had  a  large  church,  and  a  great  work  was 
done  there.  His  wife  was  matron  of  the  home  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Indian  girls.  A  daughter  of  Deacon  Ingham 
graduated  at  Mount  Holyoke,  and  became  the  wife  of  Rev. 
Nathaniel  G.  Bonney.  Two  daughters  of  Samuel  Smith 
graduated  at  Mount  Holyoke.  One  daughter  of  Sumner 
Church  graduated  at  Mount  Holyoke.  The  Durants  and 
Newtons  that  went  to  Albany  were  eminent  business-meiii 
and  various  members  of  the  Eggleston,  Morgan,  and  other 
families  have  also  become  noted  abroad. 

In  the  account  of  the  educational  interests  of  the  town  there 
should  be  included  a  notice  of  the  valuable  work,  under  the 
lead  of  Deacon  Alexander  Ingham,  among  the  Irish  popula- 
tion of  1000  to  1200  that  were  gathered  here  during  the  con- 
struction of  the  railroad  between  1836  and  1840.  Two  school- 
houses  were  opened, — one  in  the  vicinity  of  the  "  shoddy-mill," 
and  one  near  the  present  station.  A  genuine  missionary  work 
was  accomplished.  Children  were  gathered  in  by  the  hun- 
dred, and  taught  to  read  and  write.  The  families  of  the 
laborers  improved  in  habits ;  they  clothed  their  children 
better,  and  the  latter  grew  self-.reliant  and  blessed  in  after- 
years  Deacon  Ingham's  schools.  With  his  heart  full  of  the 
work,  Mr.  Ingham  attended  the  State  Convention,  laid  the 
matter  before  that  body  and  before  Horace  Mann,  then  secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Education.  The  result  was  the  naming 
of  a  committee,  with  Deacon  Ingham  chairman,  to  interest 
other  towns  in  the  matter,  and  thus  the  work  was  extended 
all  along  the  line  between  Springfield  and  "  State  Line."  As 
the  laborers  moved  west  to  work  upon  the  Erie  Canal  in  New 
York,  Deacon  Ingham'  visited  Albany  and  Schenectady,  and 
interested  Gov.  Seward,  School  Superintendent  Spencer, 
Bishop  Potter,  and  others  in  the  same  work.  Legislative 
action  was  had,  and  temporary  instruction  secured  for  the 
children  of  the  laborers. 

CHURCHES. 

As  in  other  New  England  towns,  the  records  in  the  office  of 
the  town  clerk  contain  the  first  account  of  church  work. 

At  the  second  town-meeting,  two  weeks  after  the  organiza- 
tion, April  24,  1783,  called  by  the  newly  chosen  selectmen. 

Voted  that  the  town  will  raise  30  pounds,  money  to  support  the  gospel ;  that 
it  be  paid  in  by  the  first  of  July  next,  and  that  Ens.  Elisha  Mack,  James  Dixon, 
Joseph  Blush  be  a  committee  to  procure  proacliing.  Voted  that  the  committee 
be  paid  for  their  own  and  horse  expenses,  and  for  the  journey  of  said  horses. 
Voted  that  Ens.  Elisha  Mack,  John  Dixon,  Benjamin  Eggleston,  William 
Church,  and  Joseph  Blush  be  a  committee  to  find  the  centre  of  the  town. 

May  28, 1783. — Voted  that  Daniel  Chapman  be  a  committee  to  assist  Ui  pro- 
cure preaching.  Voted  that  Solomon  Ingraham  be  a  committee  to  procure  a 
surveyor  to  find  the  centre  of  the  town.  Voted  that  Benajah  Jones  be  a  com- 
mittee to  assist  in  finding  the  centre. 

Sept.  2,  1783. — Samuel  Jones,  Moderator.  Voted  that  the  town  will  have  Mr. 
Smith  \m  i>reach  with  us  a  certain  number  of  Sabbaths,  provided  he  will  agree 
to  on  reasonable  terms.  Voted  to  give  Mr.  Snnth  twenty  shillings  per  Sabbath. 
Voted  that  the  town  will  not  accept  of  the  place  proposed  by  the  committee  for 
a  centre.  Voted  a  committee  of  seven  to  find  the  most  convenient  and  proper 
place  for  the  meeting-house  to  stand,  viz.:  James  Kelly,  Samuel  Jones,  Benja- 
min Blush,  John  Spencer,  Job  Robbins,  David  Mack,  and  James  Dickson.  On 
the  first  Monday  in  October  the  committee  made  a  report,  which  the  town  ac- 
cepted, fixing  a  site  for  the  meeting-house,  viz. ;  "  to  stand  on  the  main  road,  on 
the  line  between  Mr.  .Toseph  Blush  and  Widow  Ford's." 

Dec.  18,  1783. — Voted  that  the  selectmen  have  power  to  settle  the  accounts  of 
the  committee  appointed  to  provide  preaching. 

March  1,  1784. — Voted  that  the  committee  for  the  procuring  of  preaching  do 
employ  the  Rev.  Mr.  Griswold  to  prea^di  with  us  four  Sabbaths  more.  The  same 
day  they  voted  that  town-meetings  be  held  at  Mr.  Enos  Blossom's,  and  that  the 
selectmen  set  up  benches  for  the  people  to  use  on  the  Sabbath. 

July  2(5, 1754. — Voted  that  the  town  will  raise  30  pounds  to  support  preaching. 
Voted  that  the  town  will  hire  Mr.  Timothy  Woodbridge  tfi  preach  with  us 
twenty  Sabbaths  on  probation.  .Joseph  Blush,  Daniel  Chapman,  and  Capl. 
David  Mack  appointed  committee  on  preaching. 

Dec.  2, 1784. — In  the  warrant  for  a  meeting  was  the  clause :  "  To  see  if  the  town 
will  give  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  a  call  for  a  settlement  in  the  work  of  the  minis- 
try ;"  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  acted  upon. 


472 


HISTORY   OP   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Monday,  May  2, 1785. — Voted  to  raise  20  pounds  lawful  money  for  ttie  sup- 
port of  the  gospel.  David  Ma<:k,  Joseph  Blush,  and  Itaniel  Chapman  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  dispose  of  said  money. 

May  2, 1785. — Voted  David  Mack  3  pounds  for  the  use  of  his  house  for  meet- 
ings on  the  Lord's  day  during  the  present  year. 

Sept.  6, 1786. — Voted  30  pounds  for  the  support  of  the  gospel. 

Oct.  17, 1785. — Voted  to  give  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  a  call  to  settle  in  the 
ministry,  and  offered  him  a  salarj-  of  "50  pounds  a  year,  to  rise  40  shillings  a 
year  till  it  amounts  to  60  pounds  a  year,  and  then  to  stop  rising." 

Thirteen  voters,  however,  filed  a  written  protest  dissenting 
from  the  above  vote,  and  the  call  evidently  failed,  for  Dec.  12, 
1785,  it  was  voted  that  the  committee  apply  "  to  some  candi- 
date to  come  and  preach  for  us  on  three  or  four  Sabbaths,  and, 
if  the  town  likes  him,  to  lay  in  with  him  to  preach  with  us 
next  summer." 

Tlie  protest  mentioned  above  was  in  the  following  words : 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  Middlelield.  in  consequence  of  the  town's 
giving  Mr.  Thoniitson  a  call  to  settle  in  tiie  work  of  the  ministry,  dissenting 
from  the  vote  of  said  town,  enter  this  our  remonstrance  against  the  proceeding 
of  said  town  with  regard  to  the  said  Mr.  Thompson,  and  order  the  town  clerk  to 
enter  this  our  protest  on  record. 

"Samuel  Jones.  Jaues  Taggaet,  Je. 

James  Dickson.  .  John  Dickson. 

Daniel  Babcock.  Timothy  Allen. 

Benjamin  Babcock.  Elnathan  Taylor. 

Joseph  Dickson.  Daniel  Melzer. 

Moses  Eggleston.  John  Pinney. 

"  MiDDLEFIElD,  Oct.  17,  1785." 

May  4, 1786. — A  warrant  for  a  town-meeting  contained  the  clause:  "  To  see  if 
the  town  will  raise  a  sum  of  money  to  provide  materials  to  build  a  meeting- 
house ;"  but  it  seems  to  have  been  passed  over  at  the  meeting. 

Aug.  3, 1786. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Joseph  Strong  four  Sabbaths  more  than  what 
the  committee  have  agreed  with  him  for. 

The  waiTant  for  a  meeting,  Aug.  15, 1786,  contained  the  clause :  "  To  see  if  the 
town  will  agree  upon  any  method  to  settle  the  unhappy  differences  subsisting  in 
said  town,  occasioned  by  different  sentiments  in  religion ;"  but  it  was  not  acted 
upon. 

Sept.  4, 1786. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Joseph  Strong  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the 
town  five  Sabbaths.    He  was  not,  however,  settled. 

Nov.  2, 1786. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Robinson  to  preach  with  us. 

Dec.  21, 1786. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Robinson  eight  Sabbaths  more,  and  voted  30 
pounds  for  preaching,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  treat  with  Mr.  Robinson. 

Jan.  22, 1787. — It  was  voted  to  set  the  meeting-iiouse  on  the  most  convenient 
place,  nearest  the  centre  of  the  town,  on  the  public  or  town  highway 

June  11, 1787. — Voted  to  set  the  meeting-house  on  the  height  of  land  between 
Bjssell  Pliilips  and  Justice  Bissell's. 

Voted  to  build  a  house  52  by  44.  Voted  to  raise  200  pounds  to  provide  mate- 
rials to  build,  and  to  become  due  by  the  1st  of  April  next. 

Committee  appointed :  William  Church,  Malachi  Loveland,  Daniel  Chapman, 
Bissell  Philips,  Matthew  Smith. 

Voted  that  all  proper  materials  for  the  house  shall  be  received  in  payment  of 
the  ta.\. 

But  the  question  where  the  house  .should  stand  was  not  yet 
settled. 

Dec.  6,  1787.— Voted  Deacon  Jonathan  Brewster,  of  Worthington,  Deacon 
Jesse  Johnston,  of  Chester,  and  Lieut.  Scott,  of  Norwich,  to  be  a  committee  to 
repair  to  this  town  and  fix  the  spot  for  the  meetiug-house.  A  committee  to 
notify  and  wait  upon  said  committee  were  Matthew  Smith,  Samuel  Jones,  James 
Dickson,  Malachi  Loveland,  Samuel  Skinner,  and  Job  Robbins. 

Marcli  17, 1788.— The  warrant  called  for  action  on  the  support  of  the  gospel, 
but  none  was  taken  at  the  meeting. 

April  7, 1788.— Ebenezer  Babcock's  minister  rates  were  abated  from  tho  time 
he  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in  Chesterfield,  Sept.  18, 1785. 

At  the  same  meeting  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed  to  procure  a  place  to 
hold  meetings  on  the  Sabbath,— Samuel  .Tones,  Matthew  Smith,  Erastus  Ingham. 

June  6, 1788.— Voted  40  pounds  for  the  support  of  the  gospel,  thirty  pounds  to 
be  paid  in  money,  and  ten  pounds  in  the  produce  of  the  earth. 

June  16,  1788.— Voted  to  give  Mr.  Frederick  Paiker  a  call  to  settle  in  tho 
ministry. 

Aug.  25, 1788.— Voted  to  give  Mr.  Parker  150  pounds  as  a  settlement,  to  be  paid 
in  neat  cattle  at  cash  price,  to  be  paid  within  three  years  from  his  ordination. 
Salary  the  first  three  years  to  be  55  pounds  annually,  and  after  that  75  pounds 
lialf  cash  and  half  in  pork,  beef,  and  grain  at  market  rates. 

Mr.  Parker  seems  to  have  declined  the  call  and  left  town. 
He  had  preached  for  some  time,  as  board  bills  presented  by 
David  Mack  for  17  shillings,  and  by  Oliver  Blush  for  4  pounds 
17  shillings  and  6  pence,  were  allowed.  The  town  made  quite 
an  eflbrt  to  secure  the  return  of  Mr.  Parker,  voting  that  they 
would  settle  him  on  either  Presbyterian  or  Congregational 
principles,  as  he  niiglit  choose,  and  sending  a  committee  to 
desire  him  to  return. 


March  2, 1789. — Voted  a  committee  to  provide  a  place  to  hold  religious  meet- 
ings,— Abner  Clapp,  .Tob  Rubbius,  and  Samuel  Jones. 

April  27, 1789. — Voted  to  annul  the  old  tax  authorized  years  before  for  building 
a  meeting-house.  Voted  to  reconsider  the  vote  fixing  the  site  by  Cyrus  Crane's 
house. 

All  this  was  slow  progress  toward  either  building  a  house 
or  settling  a  minister. 

Aug.  24, 1789. — Voted  300  pounds  in  money  to  build  a  meeting-house.  Chose 
a  committee  "  to  pitch  upon  a  spot"  for  the  meeting-house,  between  Oliver  Blush 
and  Josiah  Leonard's, — Samuel  Jones,  David  Mack,  Erastus  Ingham,  William 
Cliurch,  Benajah  Jones,  John  Newton,  and  Amasa  Graves. 

Report  of  committee  accepted,  viz. ;  "on  the  heightof  land  near  Oliver  Blush's, 
and  west  side  of  the  highway." 

Voted  to  divide  the  town  into  districts,  to  provide  materials  for  the  meeting- 
house. 

Voted  that  the  tax  should  be  paid  by  the  first  of  next  June.  Voted  to  invite 
Rev.  Joseph  Strong  to  preach  as  a  candidate,  and  chose  a  committee  to  treat  with 
him, — James  Dickson,  David  Mack,  and  Bissell  Phillips. 

Sept.  28, 1790. — Voted  to  hire  Mr.  Joseph  Strong  on  probation.  Voted  to  have 
the  assessors  make  the  300  pounds  into  "four  equitable  bills." 

The  question  of  site  was  still  in  dispute,  as  appears  by  the 
meeting  of  November  30th,  when  they  voted  "to  reconsider 
all  previous  votes"  on  the  subject,  and  then  voted  to  "set  it 
on  the  height  of  land  near  Cyrus  Crane's  house."  Meanwhile 
Mr.  Stephen  Williams  seems  to  have  been  preaching  for  them 
during  the  following  winter  and  spring,  for  March  11,  1790, 
they  voted  money  for  his  support,  to  be  due  December  1st ; 
and  this  season  the  building  of  the  meeting-house  went  on ; 
but  the  site  last  mentioned  above  was  not  yet  definitely  selected. 
Six  shillings  a  day  was  voted  to  the  master  workman,  Williahi 
Church,  and  five  shillings  a  day  to  other  workmen. 

The  warrant  for  a  meeting  June  30,  1790,  contained  the 
clause  :  "To  see  which  of  the  two  places  the  committee  should 
set  the  house,  at  the  beach  staddle,  as  hath  been  voted,  or  on 
the  rocks,  as  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  once 
decided."  And  it  was  voted  "  to  set  the  house  on  the  ledge 
south  of  Oliver  Blush's."  Voted  "  to  raise  the  meeting-house 
by  a  general  invitation,  and  that  the  master  workman  have 
the  liberty  to  pick  the  hands  that  are  to  go  on  the  frame  and 
do  the  work  aloft."  The  house  was  raised  soon  after,  as  the 
next  votes  are  with  reference  to  covering  it.  Difficulty  oc- 
curred about  collecting  the  church  tax  of  the  Baptists  for  this 
Congregational  meeting-house.  And  it  does  not  appear  just 
how  it  was  settled,  though  the  records  indicate  that  all  were 
taxed  according  to  the  old  custom.  The  finishing  cost  much 
time ;  but  it  was  so  far  finished  in  the  fall  of  1791  that  the 
seating  was  provided  for,  being  "dignified"  according  to  the 
age  and  valuation  of  the  persons  to  be  seated.  The  house  had, 
however,  been  in  use  for  some  months  before,  the  town-meet- 
ings being  called  there  from  and  after  March  20,  1791,  and 
the  meetings  on  the  Lord's  day  no  doubt  began  there  about 
the  same  time. 

June  7,  1792,  it  was  voted  to  hire  Mr.  Jonathan  Nash  to 
preach  six  Sabbaths  longer  than  the  committee  had  agreed 
with  him  for,  on  probation.  A  call  was  voted  to  him  Aug. 
2,  1792 ;  £100  settlement ;  salary  £60  the  first  year,  to  be  paid 
in  lawful  silver  money,  £65  the  second  year,  £70  the  third, 
£75  the  fourth,  and  this  last  to  continue  as  the  annual  salary. 
This  account  of  the  pioneer  church  work  brings  us  to  the 
completion  of  the  meeting-house  and  the  settlement  of  the  first 
pastor. 

The  church  was  constituted  Nov.  16,  1783,  and  consisted  of 
the  following  members  :  Sarah  Taylor,  Mary  Mack,  Elizabeth 
Brown,  Lucy  Chapman,  Mary  Mann,  Job  Bobbins,  Elizabeth 
Blush,  David  Bolton,  Asa  Brown,  Anson  Cheesenian,  Daniel 
Chapman,  Oliver  Bates,  David  Mack,  Berzela  Wright,  Joseph 
Blish,  John  Taylor.  The  various  places  where  meetings  were 
held  at  first  are  shown  in  the  extracts  from  the  town  records. 
They  were  very  largely  at  the  house,  and  often  in  the  barn, 
of  David  Mack,  at  the  present  Haskell  place.  The  meeting- 
house, built  in  1791,  then  became  the  place  of  meetings;  and 
there  they  have  remained  ever  since.  The  first  house,  re- 
paired, improved,   and   considerably  remodeled,  is  still  the 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


473 


house  of  worship  for  this  congregation.  Around  its  portuls 
cluster  many  sacreU  memories.  From  its  pnlpit  year  after 
year  have  been  heard  the  words  of  solemn  warning  and  the 
loving  invitations  of  the  gospel.  Hither  have  the  reverent 
foosteps  of  the  fathers  tended,  and  here  the  third  and  fourth 
generations  now  worship,  abiding  in  the  same  everlasting 
faith  that  moved  those  noble  men  of  old,  and  that  animated 
them  to  make  heroic  sacrifices  for  the  truth. 

Like  other  churches  this  society  has  had  times  of  depression 
and  difficulty,  to  be  followed  bj'  the  brighter  days  of  revival. 
Several  of  the  latter  appear  in  the  records.  In  1801-2,  during 
a  period  of  about  thirteen  months,  33  were  added  to  the  church. 
The  year  1810  is  spoken  of  as  a  time  of  much  interest,  though 
the  actual  additions  do  not  appear  to  have  been  unusual.  In 
1820-21  there  were  3G  received,  and  during  the  great  revival 
period  throughout  the  Northern  States,  182G  to  1832,  there 
were  7(3  members  received  by  the  church  of  Middlcfield.  In 
1842-43  thei'e  were  3.5  received.  In  1857— 58  about  oO  were 
added  by  profession.  In  18R0,  33  united,  22  of  them  by  pro- 
fession. The  revival  of  1876-77  produced  a  wide  and  powerful 
influence.  Thirt3'-seven  were  received  at  the  samecomnmnion, 
Jan.  21,  1877. 

The  present  ample  and  convenient  parsonage  was  built  in 
tlie  summer  of  18(i5,  the  timbers  from  tlio  old  parsonage  on 
the  Mack  farm  being  used  considerably  in  its  erection.  The 
society  have  a  chapel  for  social  and  conference  meetings.  It 
was  formerly  the  house  of  worship  belonging  to  the  Methodist 
Church  ;  purchased  after  that  society  dissolved,  and  repaired 
about  1870. 

The  present  number  of  communicants  in  this  church  is  127. 
Congregation,  100  to  120.  Superintendent  of  Sundaj'-scbool, 
Jonathrn  McElwain. 

An  address  by  Kev.  Jonathan  Nash,  Oct.  31,  1813,  on  the 
twent3'-tirst  anniversary  of  bis  settlement,  con  fains  the  following 
.statistics:  There  were  about  68  families  settled  when  the  town 
was  organized.  The  meeting-house  was  raised  in  July,  17'.)0. 
During  the  twentv- one  j'ears  the  deaths  were  205,  the  births 
about  710.  Mr.  Nash  during  this  period  married  124  couples; 
baptized  327  persons,  10  of  them  adults;  admitted  122  mem- 
bers, 78  of  them  on  profession  of  faith.  Mr.  Nash  added, 
"Families  are  frequently  changing,  some  moving  into  town 
and  others  out.  Not  less  than  1.50  can  be  recollected  to  have 
removed  from  town  in  a  family  state  during  the  twenty-one 
years." 

Record  of  Mbiisiem. — 1st.  Rev.  Jonathan  Nash,  ordained 
Oct.  31,  1792.  His  pastoral  labors  extended  over  a  long  series 
of  years.  He  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request  by  reason  of 
age  and  infirmities,  July  11,  1832;  died  Aug.  31,  1834,  aged 
seventy-four.  2d.  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  from  Ithaca,  installed 
July  11,  1832;  dismissed  at  his  own  request.  May  23,  1833; 
went  to  Oregon,  exploring  agent  for  Home  Missionary  Society, 
1835  to  1837;  died  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  March  21,  1866,  aged 
eighty-.seven.  3d.  Rev.  John  H.  Bisbee,  ordained  Feb.  20, 
1834;  dismissed  at  his  own  request,  Dee.  3,  1838,  to  accept  a 
call  to  Worthington.  4th.  Rev.  Edward  Clark,  ordained  and 
installed  June  19,  1839;  dismissed  at  his  own  request,  Aug.  10, 
1852.  5th.  Rev.  Moody  Harrington,  installed  June  27,  1854; 
dismissed  May  12,  1857;  labors  continued  to  Nov.  1,  1857. 
6th.  Kev.  Lewis  Bridgman,  date  of  the  call  Aug.  30,  1858; 
installed  May  11,  1859;  dismissed  May  19,  1863.  7th.  Rev. 
John  Dodge,  commenced  his  labors  in  Middlefield  Oct.  22, 
1865 ;  closed  June  24,  1867.  8th.  Rev.  C.  M.  Peirce,  installed 
July  1,  1868,  the  present  pastor,  and  now  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  labors  among  this  people. 

Record  of  Deacons. — Malachi  Loveland,  chosen  (probably) 
Nov.  16,  1783;  died  Oct.  13,  1779.  Daniel  Chapman,  chosen 
(probably)  Nov.  16,  1783;  removed  to  Pittsfield.  David  Mack, 
chosen  Nov.  18,  1783;  died  March  24,  1845.  Job  Robbins, 
chosen  Nov.  18,  1783  ;  died  April  23,  1829.  Zachariah  Field, 
cho.sen  Dec.  16,  1807 ;  removed  May  25,  1823,  to  Peru.    Wil- 

co 


liam  W.  Leonard,  chosen  May  1,  1828;  withdrew  and  united 
with  the  Baptist  Church.  George  W.  McElwain,  cho.sen  May 
1,  1828;  removed  April  23,  1848,  to  Hinsdale.  Abner  Wing, 
chosen  May  1,  1828;  removed  Feb.  26,  1837,  to  Hinsdale. 
Alexander  Ingham,  chosen  June  9,  1837  ;  still  living,  having 
been  in  that  office  nearly  forty-two  years.  Erastus  J.  Ingham, 
chosen  June  2, 1851 ;  died  July  9,  1851.  Amasa  Graves,  chosen 
June  2,  1851 ;  one  of  the  present  deacons.  Ambrose  Meacham, 
chosen  Nov.  1,  1851;  removed  April  1,  1855,  to  Hinsdale. 
Harry  Meacham,  chosen  July  5,  1872;  one  of  the  present 
deacons. 

THE    BAPTI.ST   CHURCH   OF    MIDDLEFIELD. 

There  were  fjimilies  of  Baptist  sentiments  among  the  first 
settlers.  This  appears  to  be  the  fact  at  least  soon  after  the 
organization  of  the  town.  April  7,  1788,  the  minister  rates 
of  Ebenezer  Baboock  were  abated  because  he  had  joined  the 
Baptist  Church  of  Chesterfield  ;  and  at  the  time  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  meeting-house,  in  1790-91,  considerable  discussion 
appears  to  have  been  had  over  the  question  of  taxation,  and 
perhaps  some  of  the  differetices  that  arose  during  the  eight 
years  previous  had  been  due  to  this  cause.  The  thirteen  who 
protested  against  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Thompson  included 
perhaps  these  families.  And  it  is  possible  that  there  was  some 
prospect  that  they  might  be  in  the  majority  and  establish  the 
first  church,  in  wliich  ca-e  the  principle  of  the  then  existing 
laws  would  have  given  them  the  benefit  of  universal  taxation. 
Perhaps  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  this  was  the  case, 
yet  some  statements  in  the  old  records  may  be  explained  upon 
this  theory. 

A  Baptist  Church  having  been  formed  in  1797  in  Hinsdale, 
several  from  Middlefield  united  with  that  society.  The  pastor 
of  the  Hinsdale  Church  included  this  town  within  the  field  of 
his  labors. 

John  Newton,  of  Middlefield,  was  baptized  July  5,  1800, 
and  the  next  year  elected  a  deacon  in  the  Hinsdale  Church. 
Matthew  Smith  was  baptized  September,  1801  ;  Calvin  Smith 
and  Solomon  Root,  April  25,  1802.  At  this  time  the  Hins- 
dale Church  voted  that  meetings  should  be  held  in  Middle- 
field  one-fifth  of  the  time.  Less  than  two  years  later,  it  was 
voted  to  hold  them  one-third  of  the  time  in  Middlefield.  In 
1805  the  same  vote  was  repeated,  Deacon  Newton's  house  be- 
ing mentioned  as  the  place.  The  original  law,  by  which  all, 
of  whatever  sentiment,  were  taxed  to  support  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  "of  the  standing  order,"  was  modified  quite 
early,  so  far  that  those  who  could  produce  certificates  of  actual 
membership  in  another  church,  or  in  a  society  organized  to 
support  a  church,  were  exempted  from  the  tax.  Upon  the 
committee  of  the  Hinsdale  Church,  appointed  to  sign  such 
certificates  in  1803,  Deacon  John  Newton's  name  appears. 

The  meetings  continued  to  be  held  in  Middlefield  one-third 
of  the  time  till  the  erection  of  the  meeting-house  in  Hinsdale, 

1816.  The  completion  of  the  house  of  worship  made  it  proper 
to  concentrate  their  eftbrts  more  completely  at  that  point.  This 
marked  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  Baptist  work  in  these 
towns.  It  led  to  greater  strength  and  success  at  Hinsdale, 
and  to  the  establishment  of  a  church  at  Middlefield.  This 
latter  movement  received  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  Hins- 
dale brethren,  and  the  new  church  was  constituted  July  21, 

1817,  by  a  council  composed  of  delegates  from  the  churches  of 
Chesterfield,  Chester,  and  Hinsdale.  The  council  met  upon 
the  invitation  of  a  committee  consisting  of  Deacon  Newton 
and  Matthew  Smith.  Elder  Asa  Todd,  of  Chesterfield,  was 
moderator  of  the  council,  and  brother  Dan  Daniels  clerk. 

The  names  of  those  received  as  forming  the  church  of  Mid- 
dlefield that  day  were  John  Newton,  Matthew  Smith,  Calvin 
Smith,  Solomon  Root,  Levi  Olds,  Payne  Loveland,  William 
Taylor,  Amariah  Ballon,  David  Ballou,  Clark  Martin,  Asa 
Ackadd,  Asa  Ides,  Martha  Newton,  Asenath  Smith,  Anna 
Smith,  Mary  Root,  Lucy  Olds,  Phebe  Loveland,  Priscilla 
Taylor,  Polly  Ballou,  Mary  Ballou,  Elizabeth  Skinner,  Mary 


474 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Ballon,  Elizabeth  Diirant,  Lucy  Metealf,  Sarah  Johnson, 
Surah  Smith,  Sarah  Allison,  Louis  Freeland, — 29  in  all. 
Thirty  more  joined  during  the  next  two  years,  and  the  society 
thus  commenced  its  existence  with  a  membership  of  consider- 
able numbers  and  strength.  In  1818  a  substantial  house  of 
worship  was  erected.  Calvin  Smith  is  spoken  (>f  as  a  very 
liberal  contributor  to  that  object.  The  first  settled  pastor  was 
Eev.  Isaac  Child,  ordained  June  9,  1818.  At  his  ordination 
the  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Thomas  Rand,  of  West 
Springfield,  under  whose  oversight  and  instruction  Mr.  C'hilds 
had  pursued  his  studies  for  the  ministry. 

The  first  mceting-housc,  mentioned  above,  stood  east  of  the 
centre,  beyond  the  gambrel-roofed  house  where  Dr.  William 
Coleman  formerly  resided.  In  184U  the  present  handsome 
and  neatly-finished  edifice  was  erected  at  the  centre.  The 
dedication  took  place  in  October  of  that  year.  The  sermon 
was  preached  by  Rev.  Robert  Turnbull,  of  Hartford.  The 
parsonage  was  built  in  18.51.  The  present  pastor,  in  a  sketch 
read  before  the  Westfield  Association  ten  years  ago,  said  : 

*'  A  pleasing  feature  of  the  records  traced  liy  tlie  church  in  its  history  of  liulf 
a  ceutiiry  is  the  enligiiteiied  liberality  with  which  it  hlia  ai  led  the  dillereiit  ob- 
jects of  Christian  benevolence. 

"  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  Education,  Bible  Distriluition,  and  the  cau.se  of 
liuman  freeduni,  have  shared  freely  its  symliiithies. 

"  Kever  wealthy,  drawing  its  material  sustenance  mainly  from  a  nigged  soil, 
its  largest  reported  inembershiii  never  having  exceeded  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five,  and  dropldng  often  from  removals  and  changes  to  a  nnich  smaller  number, 
it  has  always  shown  regard  for  the  religions  charities  of  the  diiy,  and  been  ever 
ready  on  occasions  to  utter  a  fiiendly  word  to  its  sister-churches  in  their  time  of 
need, 

*'  Looking  back  over  the  pel  iod  which  ]\!IA  now  passed  in  review,  it  is  pleasant 
to  notice  the  tokens  of  God's  favor  that  have  been  granted  to  this  peojile.  No 
less  than  eight  special  sea.sous  of  reviv.il  have  been  enjoyed.  These  were  in 
1818,  '29,  '31,  '33,  '3S,  '42.  '50,  and  '58, 

"  Many  were  the  sheaves  gathered  at  these  seasons  to  replenish  the  waste  of 
time  and  change,  and  much  the  joy  and  comfort  of  the  saints.  To  some  e.vtent 
the  awakening  and  converting  influences  of  the  Spiiit  have  also  been  manifested 
during  the  inter^'als  between  revival  .seasons.  From  the  organization  of  the 
church  to  the  present  time.  Sept.  22, 1869,  the  whole  number  that  have  been  bap- 
tized is  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  Tliis  with  the  twenty-nine  original  members, 
fifty-seven  received  by  letter,  and  two  by  experience,  make  the  whole  number 
three  hunilred  and  forty-seven.  Diminution  by  death,  eighty-four;  by  dismis- 
sion, one  hundred  and  fifty-three;  by  exclusion,  eighteen;  by  erasure,  seven, 
makes  t1ie  present  number  of  members  eighty-five.  The  number  who  have  gone 
from  the  church  with  letters  of  dismission  is  nearly  one  hundred  larger  than  the 
number  received  on  recommendation  from  other  churches," 

To  the  revivals  mentioned  in  the  above  should  be  added 
that  of  1870-71,  when  the  records  show  that  6  were  received 
by  baptism  January  8t.h,  and  7  on  the  14th  of  Maj'.  In  1870, 
and  extending  into  the  winter  of  1877,  14  united  with  the 
church. 

Record  of  the  Ministers. — 1st,  Rev,  Isaac  Childs  ;  ordained 
June  10,  1818  ;  dismissed  at  his  own  request  in  1828 ;  died 
while  pastor  of  the  Goshen  Church  in  1842,  2d,  Rev,  Erastus 
Andrews  ;  ordained  May  20,  1829,  His  labors  with  this  people 
were  continued  for  two  years,  probably  having  preached  for 
some  months  before  his  ordination.  He  afterward  labored  fur 
many  years  in  connection  with  the  Baptist  Churches  of  Central 
Ma.ssachusetts,  During  the  time  of  the  "American  Party'' 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  A  son  of  Mr,  Andrews  is 
president  of  Dennison  University,  Ohio,  3d,  Rev,  Cullcn 
Townsend  ;  ordained  June  29,  1831,  After  about  two  years 
of  service  here  (commencing  some  months  before  his  ordina- 
tion), he  went  West,  and  soon  after  died.  4th,  Rev.  Henry 
Archibald ;  his  labors  here  commenced  in  1832,  or  early  in 
1833,  and  were  continued  about  three  years.  He  was  born  in 
Scotland  ;  died  at  Mt,  Holly,  Vt,,  Dec,  4,  1859,  aged  seventy- 
three.  5th,  Rev.  Orson  Spencer,  settled  here  in  1836  to  1841. 
He  had  an  after-history  somewhat  peculiar.  Becoming  a  con- 
vert to  Mormonism,  he  returned  to  Middlcfield  and  preached 
the  faith  of  that  people.  He  was  a  man  of  pleasing  address 
and  gentlemanly  manners,  and  was  popular  while  here  as  a 
pastor.  It  is  stated  as  an  interesting  fjtct  that,  notwithstand- 
ing these  winning  qualities,  he  was  not  ivblo  to  induce  a  single 
person  here  to  accept  his  views,     (ith.  Rev,  Foranda  Bestor  ; 


settled  in  November,  1841,  and  closed  his  labors  January, 
1848 ;  he  preached  afterward  for  several  years,  and  later 
joined  a  son  in  business  at  Hartford,  7th,  Rev,  Volney  Church  ; 
settled  here  in  1848 ;  resigned  in  the  spring  of  1849  ;  went 
West;  supposed  to  have  continued  in  the  ministry,  8th,  Rev. 
Orlando  Cunningham;  settled  here  in  July,  18.jO,  and  con- 
tinued until  the  spring  of  18-35;  went  to  Connecticut;  his 
health  failed,  and  he  went  into  the  insurance  business,  9th, 
Rev,  Lewis  Holmes ;  services  commenced  April,  1858,  and 
continued  to  May,  1864;  now  residing  in  Plymouth,  Mass, 
10th,  Rev,  J,  M,  Rockwood,  the  present  minister  ;  commenced 
his  labors  here  in  May,  18G5,  and  is  therefore  now  in  the  four- 
teenth year  of  his  pastorate. 

Record  of  the  Deacons. — John  Newton,  a  deacon  of  the 
Hinsdale  Church,  afterward  of  this  church,  was  chosen  Oct. 
23,  1817;  died  aged  ninety-five.  Clark  Martin,  chosen  July 
1,  1821 ;  died  in  office.  David  Ballon,  chosen  July  1,  1821  ; 
died  in  office.  Moses  Gamwell,  date  not  given  ;  died  in  1865. 
William  W.  Leonard,  chosen  Jan.  25,  1831  ;  removed  to 
Becket.  Solomon  Root,  chosen  Jan.  7,  1835 ;  died  in  otfice. 
Oliver  Smith,  chosen  Jan.  7,  1835;  yet  living;  the  senior 
deacon  of  the  church.  Ebcnezer  Smith,  chosen  April  13, 
18-56  ;  died  in  office.  Eldridgc  Pease,  chosen  Ajiril  13,  18-56  ; 
died  in  office.  Solomon  F.  Root,  date  not  given  ;  removed  to 
Hinsdale.  Morgan  Pease,  chosen  Jan.  6,  1875;  present  dea- 
con (1879).  Harlow  Lovcland,  chosen  Jan,  6,  1875;  present 
deacon  (1879), 

The  clerks  have  been  Matthew  Smith,  1817-30;  Solomon 
Root,  Jr,,  1830-43;  John  Smith,  1843-53;  Solomon  F,  Root, 
1853-55;  Samuel  Smith,  18.58;  Solomon  F,  Root,  1856-60; 
Charles  Wright,  1860  to  the  present  time  (1879), 

Present  church  committee :  M,  J,  Smith,  Morgan  Pease, 
Wallace  Pease  ;  the  last  named  is  treasurer  ;  superintendent 
of  Sunday-school,  Charles  Wright ;  present  number  of  com- 
municants, 92 ;  congregation,  75  to  100, 

It  will  be  of  convenient  reference  to  add  at  this  point  some 
notes  from  an  address  before  the  Baptist  Association,  a  few 
years  since,  giving  dates  and  facts  applicable  generally  to 
western  Hampshire  County  : 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Chesterfield  was  formed  in 
1780;  those  of  Cummington  and  Plainfield,  in  1821 ;  and  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  of  Chesterfield,  in  1824,  Of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Chesterfield,  Ebenezer  Vining  was  an  early- 
pastor.  In  1803,  Rev,  Asa  Todd  became  pastor,  having  left 
Whately  for  that  purpose,  and  he  continued  for  more  than 
fourteen  years.  In  1807-8  there  was  a  wonderful  revival, 
and  nearly  one  hundred  persons  became  members  by  baptism. 
In  1811  the  number  of  members  reported  was  197,  It  is 
spoken  of  in  1844  as  sadly  diminished,  and  needing  a  new 
house  in  a  central  position.  The  Goshen  Baptist  Church 
joined  the  Association  in  1822.  The  Second  Baptist  Church 
of  Chesterfield  became  a  member  of  the  Association  in  1825. 
The  Middlefield  Church  donated  §171.93,  in  1832,  to  the  gen- 
eral work  of  the  church.  McCuUoch,  Kellogg,  Eggleston, 
and  S.  S.  Ivingsley  are  spoken  of  as  having  been  members  of 
the  Plainfield  Church. 

.MKTUODIST    KPI.Sl'OPAL    CHURCH    OF    MIDDLEFIELD, 

About  1810,  or  soon  after,  meetings  of  this  denomination 
were  held  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town.  The  location 
was  in  the  Wright  neighborhood,  familiarly  known  as  "  The 
Den,"  and  the  school-house  was  the  place  of  meeting.  A  class 
was  formed,  and  a  few  years  later  a  church  was  organized  and 
constituted  a  part  of  Pittsfield  Circuit.  Among  early  fami- 
lies that  were  interested  in  sustaining  this  work  were  those  of 
Thomas  Ward,  Jesse  Wright,  Nathan  Wright,  Ambrose 
Smith,  Alexander  Dickson,  Horatio  N.  Dickson,  and  o.thers. 
There  were  several  from  the  neighboring  portions  of  the 
towns  of  Chester  and  Worthington. 

Thomas  War<l  was  very  much  the  leader  of  the  movement. 


HISTOllY  OF  HAMPSIlIllE  COUNTY. 


475 


He  was  known  fur  and  wide  as  "  Father  Ward."  In  the  ab- 
sence of  a  minister  he  conducted  meetings,  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful as  an  active  Christian  worker.  The  church  was  con- 
nected with  the  Dalton  Circuit  a  few  years  later ;  afterward 
it  was  a  part  of  the  Hinsdale  Circuit ;  and  still  later  this,  with 
other  churches,  constituted  the  MiddleBeld  and  Washington 
Circuit.  A  small  but  neat  and  convenient  chapel  was  erected 
about  1827  or  1828.  It  stood  near  the  present  residence  of  G. 
W.  Howe,  formerly  the  Jesse  Wright  place.  About  the  same 
time,  and  for  several  years,  there  was  an  extensive  religious 
interest  in  connection  with  this  church.  Large  audiences  at- 
tended the  little  rural  chapel ;  many  young  men  were  con- 
verted. At  that  period  the  congregation  is  said  to  have  been 
as  large  as  that  of  any  other  society  in  town.  In  18.5.3  or  1854 
the  society  moved  to  the  centre.  The  house  of  worship  was 
taken  down  and  rebuilt  south  of  the  town-house.  Several  of 
the  people  living  in  the  old  neighborhood  regretted  the  change, 
and  perhaps  the  society  lost  something. of  its  former  strength 
by  the  new  departure. 

The  ministers  preaching  in  the  older  times  are  not  easily 
recalled  by  the  families  now  remaining.  The  great  revival 
work  of  1827-30  was  conducted  by  Rev.  Peter  C.  Oakley  and 
Bradley  Selleck.  At  the  centre  the  following  ministers,  and 
perhaps  others,  ofBciated:  Rev.  Messrs.  Shurtleil",  Morgan, 
Boxley,  Cobb,  and  Johns. 

In  1861-02  the  society  was  very  much  weakened  by  a  large 
number  of  deaths  and  removals,  occurring  not  far  from  the 
same  time.  The  number  left  were  too  few  to  continue  the 
services  successfully;  the  societx'  was  dissolved,  and  the  house 
of  worship  sold  to  the  Congregational  Church  for  a  chapel, 
the  families  remaining  finding  in  the  growing  liberality  of 
modern  times  pleasant  association  with  other  churches. 

Among  the  later  officers  of  the  Methodist  Church  were 
George  Spencer,  class-leader,  and  John  L.  Bell  and  Mr. 
Spencer,  stewards.  To  Mr.  Bell  we  are  indebted  for  the  facts 
given  in  this  notice,  as  well  as  for  other  facts  in  the  civil  and 
militarj'  history  of  the  town.  He  also  furnishes  the  following 
facts  relating  to  a  period  still  earlier  than  the  organization  of 
the  church  above  given.  A  class  was  formed  in  1801  or  1802, 
consisting  probably  of  Thomas  Ward  and  wife,  Daniel  Falley 
and  wife,  David  Cross  and  wife,  Samuel  Brown  and  wife, 
Jesse  Brown  and  wife,  also  the  Gilberts,  Rhoades,  Talcotts,  Mrs. 
Elijah  Churchill,  and  others,  Thomas  Ward  being  class-leader. 
They  first  held  meetings  in  a  barn  standing  on  the  east  side 
of  the  brook,  near  the  place  of  George  W.  House ;  afterward 
in  the  school-house,  some  thirty  rods  north. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 
The  first  action  of  the  town  is  the  following  : 

May  28,  1783. — Voted  that  Josiah  Leonani  and  Joseph  Blish,  .Ir.,  he  grave- 
diggers  or  sextons  for  the  ensuing  year. 

March  1,  1784. — Voted  tliat  the  town  will  purchaiie  one-qnarter  of  an  acre  of 
land  for  a  hurying-place  uf  Mr.  Josiah  Leonard.  Voted  to  give  Mr.  Leonard  ten 
shillings  for  fencing  the  said  ground.  Voted  "  if  any  person  will  clear  the  logs 
out  of  the  hnrial-plaee  it  shall  he  reducted  out  of  his  highway  ta.x." 

The  list  of  burial-places  in  town  seems  to  include  the  follow- 
ing: 1st.  The  main  or  central  cemetery,  east  of  the  village. 
This  is  now  a  large  burial-ground,  convenient  of  access,  having 
been  enlarged  from  time  to  time.  It  is  in  good  preservation, 
showing  considerable  taste,  as  well  as  loving  care,  in  the  ar- 
rangement and  beautifying  of  the  lots.  It  is  the  principal 
place  of  burial  in  the  town,  and  has  some  fine  monuments. 
2d.  There  is  a  very  old  burial-place  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town,  near  the  present  residence  of  George  Bell.  3d.  Near  the 
village  is  the  first  burial-place  of  all.  Here  rests  the  "  faithful 
steward,"  Deacon  Mack,  after  his  long  and  useful  life.  This 
place  needs  very  much  to  be  improved  with  new  fences,  and 
by  clearing  out  and  adorning  the  grounds  of  the  beloved  dead 
render  them  a  place  to  be  visited  with  reverent  footsteps,  not 
only  by  the  descendants  of  the  pioneer,  but  by  many  who  have 
been  spirituall3'  blessed  in  reading  the  story  of  his  active  Chris- 


tian life.  4th.  The  Wright  family  burial-place.  This  is  near 
the  present  residence  of  C.  B.  Wright,  at  Glendale  Farm. 
This  dates  back  perhaps  to  1800,  and  includes  a  few  from  other 
families.  It  is  in  good  preservation.  5th.  There  is  the  private 
family  burial-place  of  one  branch  of  the  Church  family,  near 
the  residence  in  former  years  of  Wm.  Church,  and  in  later 
times  of  Green  Church. 

TOWN  SOCIETIES. 

TUB    HIGHLAND   AQRICULTITRAL   SOCIETY.* 

Aug.  28,  18.56,  a  partial  organization  was  made  for  a  "cattle- 
show."  Ambrose  Loveland  was  chosen  President,  and  S.  F. 
Root  Secretary.  The  first  exhibition  was  held  the  17th  of 
September  following.  The  da}'  was  fine,  and  stock  of  various 
kinds  was  on  the  ground  at  an  early  hour,  as  well  as  a  large 
concourse  of  people.  In  the  afternoon  an  address  was  delivered 
in  the  Congregational  Church  by  Rev.  Mood}'  Harrington, 
of  Middlefield.  This  cattle-show  was  so  successful  that  it  was 
determined  to  have  an  organized  society.  Jan.  3,  18-57,  a 
meeting  of  prominent  citizens  from  this  and  diiFerent  towns 
was  held  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  society.  A  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws  were  then  adopted.  Matthew  Smith  was 
chosen  President;  Edwin  McElwain,  Secretary;  and  S.  F. 
Root,  Treasurer.  Those  becoming  members  were  required  t(j 
pay  one  dollar  each  annually,  and  liberal  premiums  were  of- 
fered, with  the  expectation  that  the  society  would  pay  such  a 
proportion  as  its  funds  were  equal  to  after  paying  necessary 
expenses.  A  fine  pole,  eighty  feet  in  length,  and  of  beautiful 
proportions,  was  brought  from  Peru,  and  presented  to  the  so- 
ciety by  Peter  Geer,  of  that  town,  upon  which  was  hoisted  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  a  beautiful  flag  contributed  by  the  ladies. 
The  exhibition  was  held  September  23d,  and,  though  the 
weather  was  unfavorable,  about  400  head  of  cattle  were  on  the 
ground,  besides  a  fine  displaj'  of  horses  and  a  fair  number  of 
sheep  and  swine.  Among  the  horses  were  the  celebrated 
"Lone  Star,"  "Lone  Star,  Jr.,"  "Black  Hawk,"  etc. 
Chester  furnished  65  yokes  of  oxen  and  steers  in  one  string, 
headed  by  a  "sturdy  bull,"  decorated  with  bells  and  ribbons, 
and  ridden  by  a  stout  boy,  all  drawing  a  large  wagon  orna- 
mented with  a  profusion  of  flowers  and  evergreens,  carrying 
the  musicians  of  the  day,  with  the  national  flag  floating  over 
their  heads.  The  address  was  delivered  by  Dr.  T.  K.  De  Wolf. 
The  grounds  on  Agricultural  Hill  were  donated  to  the  society 
by  Matthew  Smith.  Steps  were  then  taken  to  secure  life  mem- 
bers and  become  incorporated.  Much  credit  is  due  Matthew 
Smith,  of  Middlefield,  whose  untiring  energy  did  very  much 
toward  accomplishing  the  desired  object.  An  incorporation 
was  etfected  in  1859,  allowing  the  society  the  territory  of  three 
counties, — Berkshire,  Hampshire,  and  Hampden.  Agricul- 
tural Hall  was  built  at  a  cost  of  9925,  and  the  structure  was 
completed  in  time  for  the  cattle-show,  and  for  the  first  ladies' 
fair,  held  a  few  days  before. 

The  death  of  Dr.  James  IT.  Church,  a  young,  active,  en- 
thusiastic member,  and  president  of  the  society,  cast  a  gloom 
over  the  transactions  of  the  society  that  year,  in  a  measure 
restraining  much  of  the  enthusiasm  which  would  otherwise 
have  been  manifested.  George  H.  Huntington,  of  Becket, 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  On  the  second  day  Hon.  George 
S.  Boutwell  delivered  the  address.  Jan.  9,  1860,  George  H. 
Huntington  was  again  elected  president.  Matthew  Smith 
was  chosen  delegate  to  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  Prof. 
Wm.  S.  Clarke  delivered  the  address  ;  subject,  "  The  Horse." 
In  1861,  Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  of  Salem,  delivered  an  address 
that  greatly  encouraged  the  society,  just  then  meeting  with 
discouragements.  The  society,  subjected  to  a  severe  test,  sur- 
vived its  troubles,  was  prosperous,  and  has  from  year  to  year 
increased  in  numbers.  At  one  time  beef  and  summer  pastur- 
ing threatened  to  undermine  the  society,  and  for  a  little  the 

*  By  Jouathan  McElwaiu. 


476 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


attention  of  the  farmer  seemed  centring  in  that  direction  ;  an 
.eilort  wai?  also  made  to  have  the  societ_y  moved  to  some  place 
more  easy  of  access  on  the  line  of  the  railroad.  After  a  hrief 
struggle,  that  was  abandoned,  and  the  members  now  work 
together  harmoniously.  The  literary  entertainment  on  the 
evening  of  the  tirst  day  of  the  annual  fair  is  an  institution 
peculiarly  our  own.  It  attracts  a  class  of  educated  men  and 
women  of  every  creed,  securing  speeches,  music,  and  a  thorough 
good  time. 

Presidents.— Monroe  F.  Watkins,  1862-63  ;  Charles  O.  Per- 
kins, 1864-65;  Charles  W.  Knox,  1866-67;  Metcalf  J.  Smith, 
1868-69;  Simon  H.  White,  1870-71  ;  Orrin  Millard,  1872-73; 
"William  S.  Bowen,  1874-75;  Charles  Fay,  1876-77. 

Addresses. — Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  1862;  Rev.  John  H. 
Bisbee,  1863;  L.  Witherell,  Esq.,  1864;  Hon.  Joseph  White, 
1865;  Rev.  Wm.  N.  Rice,  1866;  Rev.  James  F.  Clark,  1867; 
Hon.  Charles  L.  Flint,  1868;  Prof.  L.  Stockbridge,  1869; 
Rev.  J.  M.  Rockwood,  1870;  Prof.  John  Tatlock,  1871 ;  Sam- 
uel B.  Quigley,  1872;  Ale.xander  Hyde,  Esq.,  1873;  Dr.  Geo. 

B.  Loring,  1874;  Prof.  Edward  P.  Smith,  1875;  L.  M.  Gam- 
well,  Esq.,  1876;  L.  F.  Mellen,  E,sq.,  1877. 

Delegates  to  State  Board  for  Three  Years. — Matthew  Smith, 
1860-63;  Munroe  F.  Watkins,  1865  ;  Geo.  T.  Plunkett,  1868  ; 
Jonathan  McElwain,  1871;  Metcalf  J.  Smith,  1874;  Abiel 
K.  Abbott. 

LODOB    NO.    68;    I.    O.    O.    T., 

organized  at  Middlefield,  Tuesday  evening,  Aug.  8,  1871. 
The  lodge  was  instituted  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Wait,  of  Westfield, 
and  Mrs.  Lane,  of  the  same  place.  The  number  of  charter 
members  was  15.  The  first  officers  were  S.  F.  Root,  W.  C.  T. ; 
Mrs.  Mary  S.  McElwain,  W.  V.  T. ;  Charles  Wright,  P.  W. 

C.  T. ;  Mrs.  Lydia  J.  Geer,  W.  R.  S. ;  Dwight  Smith,  W.  A. 
R.  S. ;  John  Dickson,  W.  F.  S.  ;  Mrs.  Sarah  S.  Wright,  W. 
T. ;  Milton  Dickson,  W.  M. ;  Miss  Eliza  A.  Smith,  W.  D. 
M.  ;  Royal  D.  Geer,  W.  C.  ;  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Root,  R.  H.  S.  ; 
Miss  Elsie  Wright,  L.  H.  S. ;  John  Metcalf,  W.  I.  G. ;  Jo- 
seph Ingham,  W.  0.  G.  S.  F.  Root  soon  after  was  elected 
lodge  deputy.  The  lodge  met  at  the  .school-house,  also  at 
private  houses,  and,  after  the  town-hall  was  complete,  in  that. 
The  lodge  has  maintained  a  vigorous  existence,  and  now  has 
about  60  members.  Charles  Wright  followed  Mr.  Root  as 
deputy,  and  the  present  deputy  is  M.  J.  Smith.  This  is  the 
only  temperance  organization  in  the  place,  and  the  lodge  has 
wielded  a  strong  temperance  influence. 

Present  Officers  (1870).— Azariah  Root,  W.  C.  T. ;  Mary 
Smith,  R.  H.  S. ;  Vara  Geer,  L.  H.  S.  ;  Alice  Smith,  W.  V. 

T. ;  Lyman,  AV.  C.  ;  Clara  Ferris,  W.  S.  ;   Mrs.  Charles 

Wright,  W.  T. ;  William  S.  Wright,  W.  F.  S.  ;  Willis 
Graves,  W.  M. ;  Emma  Geer,  W.  D.  M.  ;  Phebe  Sims,  W. 
I.  G. ;  Cooley  Graves,  W.  O.  G.  ;  John  Bryan,  P.  W.  C.  T. 

MIDDLEFIELD   GRANGE,    P.    H., 

organized  Feb.  9,  1874.  Deputy  Newton  was  present  as  in- 
stituting officer,  and  26  members  were  admitted.  The  first 
officers  were  Metcalf  J.  Smith,  W.  M.  ;  Solomon  F.  Root, 
W.  S. ;  C.  C.  Thompson,  Overseer;  J.  McElwain,  Lecturer; 
Chas.  Wright,  Steward  ;  Chas.  M.  Combs,  Assistant  Steward  ; 
Hiram  Taylor,  Chaplain;  Harlow  Loveland,  Treas. ;  Ehvin 
W.  Geer,  Gate-keeper ;  Mrs.  C.  M.  Combs,  Lady  Assistant 
Steward ;  Mrs.  Daniel  Alderman,  Flora ;  Mrs.  C.  C.  Thomp- 
son, Ceres ;  Mrs.  Amasa  Graves,  Pomona.  The  grange  met 
at  the  town-hall.  The  meetings  were  very  pleasant  social 
occasions,  and  considerable  business  was  transacted,  but  have 
been  suspended  for  several  months. 

PLACES    OP    SPECIAL    NOTE. 
These  have  been  noted  under  other  heads, — the  jilace  of  the 
first  town-meeting,  at  the  house  of  David  JIack  (the  present 
Haskell  place),  and  the  points  where  the  first  openings  were 
made  in  the  forest  in  1773. 


The  house  of  Samuel  Jones  (the  present  place  of  George 
Bell)  was  the  headquarters  of  the  "Shays  men"  in  this  vicin- 
ity during  that  exciting  period.  The  Shays  leaders  were 
arrested  there  after  Col.  Mack's  visit  to  Springfield.  When 
the  company  of  Shays  men,  80  in  number,  fled  from  Spring- 
field after  their  repulse  before  the  armory,  they  were  undoubt- 
edly gathered  at  Samuel  Jones'  place  when  surrounded  and 
compelled  to  surrender  by  the  State  troops. 

The  falls  upon  the  farm  of  C.  B.  Wright  are  worthy  of 
special  note,  and  will  repay  well  the  traveler  and  the  summer 
tourist  for  a  visit.  A  series  of  rapids  and  successive  cascades, 
extending  for  a  third  of  a  mile  and  descending  over  200  feet, 
form  a  charming  resort  for  the  lover  of  nature.  Were  it  better 
known,  this  wild,  rocky  glen  would  take  rank  with  other  places 
more  famous,  but  not  more  beautiful. 

INDUSTRIAL    PURSUITS. 

The  people  of  Middlefield  are  largely  engaged  in  agricul- 
ture. Lumber  and  firewood  in  carl}'  times  were  articles  of  ex- 
tensive sale.  In  later  years,  after  the  opening  of  the  Boston 
and  Albany  Railroad,  large  tracts  were  cleared  of  timber  for 
wood.  The  introduction  of  coal  upon  the  road  put  an  end 
mostly  to  the  firewood  business.  Considerable  charcoal  was 
burned  in  former  jears  and  marketed.  3Iaple-sugar  has 
always  been  made  in  large  quantities,  and  is  still  an  impor- 
tant item  in  the  business  of  the  town.  Mr.  Clarkson  Smith, 
who  has  a  ver}'  extensive  "sugar  bush,"  sometimes  makes 
6000  or  7000  pounds  a  year.  The  sugar  season  is  one  of  the 
busiest  portions  of  the  year  in  Middlefield,  requiring  close 
attention  and  the  employment  of  extra  hands. 

The  soil  of  MiddleHeld,  though  not  well  adapted  to  tillage, 
is  well  suited  to  grazing.  Much  attention  was  formerly  given 
to  the  raising  of  tine  wool.  Every  efl'ort  was  made  to  perfect 
the  quality  of  the  staple.  Ten  thousand  sheep  were  sometimes 
sheared  in  a  single  year.  This  business  lost  very  much  of  its 
importance  some  years  ago,  and  wool  is  now  the  lowest  of  the 
ten  leading  articles  of  production.  Much  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  rearing  of  fine  cattle.  Purity  of  blood,  beauty  of 
form,  and  color  have  received  much  care,  and  a  writer  twenty 
years  ago  stated  that  such  eflbrts  had  been  given  to  this  de- 
partment of  farm  business  as  to  have  banished  the  old  native 
breed  of  cattle,  and  supplanted  them  with  thoroughbred  stock. 
This  is  still  a  leading  feature  of  the  town.  The  agricultural 
society  located  here,  with  its  annual  fair,  has  had  a  large  in- 
fluence in  promoting  improvement,  and  Middlefield  has  be- 
come justly  celebrated  among  the  neighboring  towns  for  its 
fat  cattle,  its  thoroughbred  cattle,  and  its  working  cattle. 
There  are  a  number  of  fine  farms  in  this  town,  and  many  of 
the  farm  buildings  are  neatly  painted,  giving  evidence  of  thrift 
and  energy. 

Soapstone  exists  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town.  Two 
extensive  quarries  were  opened  about  thirty  years  ago.  Some- 
thing in  the  way  of  quarrying  for  local  use  had  been  done  still 
earlier,  the  stone  having  been  cut  out  for  jambs  to  fireplaces 
and  similar  purposes.  In  1853  "The  Metropolitan  Soapstone 
Company  of  New  York  City"  was  incorporated  with  a  capital 
of  ?200,000,  which  was  afterward  increivsed  to  51300,000.  This 
company  commenced  extensive  operations,  marketing  100  tons 
per  week.  Gen.  Charles  B.  Stuart  was  president  of  the  com- 
pany. The  bed  is  several  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  has  an 
average  width  of  30  feet.  It  is  of  a  gray  color,  although  it  is  in 
some  places  slightly  variegated,  which  is  the  best  and  hand- 
somest quality  for  building  purposes.  The  company  had  two 
mills  at  work  for  sawing  this  stone  and  grinding  a  portion  of  it 
into  powder.  They  had  a  yard — New  York  City,  at  No.  260 
West  13th  Street — occupying  an  acre  of  ground,  with  a  steam- 
engine,  an  iron  building,  and  machinery  for  working  of  the 
stone.  In  Middlefield  they  employed  18  or  20  hands,  and  the 
teaming  from  the  works  to  the  station — four  miles — aft'orded 
considerable  occupation  to  citizens  of  the  town.     The  com- 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


477 


pany,  however,  only  continued  these  operations  for  a  few 
years,  finally  abandoning  the  whole  business,  1800-61.  It  is 
understood  that  the  operations  failed  to  be  as  remunerative 
as  was  expected,  owing  to  the  expenses  of  quarrying,  manu- 
facturing, and  shipment.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  abundance 
and  richness  of  the  deposit  in  Middlefield. 

MILL-SITES,    FACTOKIES,    ETC. 

On  the  Middle  Branch  of  the  Westfield,  forming  the  east 
boundary-line  of  the  town,  the  water-power  has  not  been  im- 
proved by  any  mills  upon  the  Middletield  side  of  the  stream. 
Upon  Tuttle's  Brook,  in  the  northeast  |iart  of  the  town,  were 
the  mills  of  the  Soapstone  Quarry  Company,  above  mentioned. 
Upon  the  site  of  these,  or  near,  was  the  old  factory  of  Addison 
Everett,  for  the  making  of  wooden  bowls.  Mr.  Everett  was 
an  ingenious  man,  and  devised  machinery  for  turning  bowls 
which  almost  revolutionized  the  business  in  this  country, 
making  rapidly  and  skillfully  what  had  before  been  done 
slowly  and  imperfectly.  It  is  said  he  was  ofl'ered  a  great 
price  for  his  invention,  but  declined  to  sell,  and  that  afterward 
the  secret  of  his  methods  was  rather  more  privately  than 
legally  obtained,  and  he  failed  to  realize  any  valuable  result 
for  himself.  Farther  up  the  stream  a  few  rods  was  an  old 
saw-mill,  dating  back  to  the  early  times. 

Tracing  the  brook  known  as  "Den  Stream"  from  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Middle  Branch,  the  first  business  establishment 
was  a  tannery,  run  for  some  years  by  Prentice  &  Bobbins. 
It  was  given  up  probably  18.38  to  1840.  Earlier  than  the 
above  firm  it  had  been  carried  on  by  Rutherford.  Above,  on 
the  Wright  farm,  is  the  site  of  the  old  grist-mill  built  and  run 
by  Mr.  Rhodes,  one  of  the  two  earliest  settlers.  The  property 
next  passed  to  Mr.  Noney  (or  Nooney),  and  then  to  the 
"Wrights.  The  grist-mill  was  giveit  up  sixty  or  seventy  years 
ago.  A  saw-mill  at  the  same  point  was  continued  till  later 
times.  Farther  up  this  stream  were  the  turning-works  of 
Giles  Churchill,  afterward  owned  by  L.  Churchill.  These 
were  abandoned  some  years  ago.  Next  above  was  a  saw-mill, 
built,  it  is  thought,  by  Joseph  Little,  afterward  owned  by  G. 
&  C.  Churchill.  This  was  fifty  years  ago  or  more,  and  the 
mills  were  given  up  soon  after.  Still  above  is  the  saw-mill  of 
Jonathan  McElwain,  built  by  Ithamar  Pelton  fifty  or  sixtj' 
years  ago.  There  was  a  saw-mill  in  very  old  times  near  the 
present  residence  of  M.  J.  Smith,  built  by  his  grandfather, 
Matthew  Smith.  In  the  south,  on  "Tan-House  Brook,"  was 
a  large  tannery  at  one  time ;  John  Metcalf  was  an  early  pro- 
prietor. Later  the  business  was  carried  on  bj'  Mr.  Dickson, 
and  afterward  by  Bobbins  &  Handy.  They  gave  uji  the  busi- 
ness 1840—12,  and  it  has  not  been  renewed  since.  On  this  site, 
or  near,  was  located  the  cheese-factory,  owned  by  a  company, 
and  continued  for  five  years,  from  1871-72  to  1876-77.  The 
building  is  now  used  for  a  dwelling-house.  Above  was  a  cider- 
distillery,  carried  on  first,  it  is  said,  by  Dr.  William  Coleman, 
afterward  bj'  successive  owners,  Holcomb,  Alderman,  Pease. 
On  Cole's  Brook  was  formerly  a  saw-mill,  operated  by  Theo- 
dore Coats.  It  was  very  near  the  town-line.  Factory  Stream, 
so  called,  remains  to  be  traced.  Commencing  at  the  north, 
there  was  once  a  saw-mill,  owned  by  Mr.  Parish,  on  the  pres- 
ent Lyman  Meacham  farm.  This  continued  for  only  a  few 
years. 

At  Factory  village  the  earliest  improvement  of  the  water- 
power  was  probably  by  Mr.  Herrick,  who  erected  a  fulling- 
mill  perhaps  1790  to  1792,  though  it  may  have  been  earlier 
than  that.  This  was  bought  about  1800  by  Aniasa  Blush,  and 
run  by  him  for  a  time.  He  built  a  saw-mill  upon  the  west 
side  of  the  river  about  180.5,  and  also  built  a  new  clothing- 
mill  for  finishing  custom-work.  This  was  opposite  the  resi- 
dence of  the  late  Wra.  D.  Blush.  1815  to  1818  he  followed 
this  with  an  enterprise  of  greater  magnitude,  erecting  a  fac- 
tory a  little  below.  This,  with  the  subsequent  additions  and 
improvements,  was  a  building  .36  feet  by  80,  and  three  stories 


in  height.  In  this  liictory  Oliver  Blush  and  Wm.  D.  Blush 
succeeded  their  father  about  18.30,  and  carried  on  the  business 
together  for  many  years.  The  factory  was  destroyed  by  fire 
about  18.50,  and  rebuilt,  and  the  second  one  was  destroyed  at 
the  time  the  reservoir  gave  way  in  1874,  the  building  becom- 
ing a  complete  wreck  and  broken  into  kindling-wood.  It  was 
owned  by  Oliver  Blush  at  the  time  of  the  flood,  and  has  not 
been  rebuilt.  Some  time  previous  to  1874,  Wm.  D.  Blush, 
retiring  from  the  factory,  established  wood-turning  works  a 
little  below,  and  manufactured  spokes,  shafts,  felloes,  and  other 
parts  of  wagons.  This  building  was  also  destroyed  in  the  dis- 
astrous flood  of  1874,  and  has  not  been  rebuilt. 

At  Factory  village,  Uriah  Church  (son  of  the  early  pioneer 
Uriah)  built  a  clothing-mill  perhaps  as  early  as  1808  or  1810. 
It  stood  just  below  the  present  upper  mill.  He  carried  on  this 
business  until  182.3  or  1824,  when  he  built  a  woolen-factory  on 
the  site  of  the  upper  mill,  and  manufactured  broadcloth.  This 
business  was  continued  steadily.  Mr.  Church  died  in  1851, 
and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  sons, — Sumner  U.,  James  T., 
Lyman,  and  Oliver.  This  factory  was  burned  in  1870.  A 
new  building  was  commenced  upon  the  same  site  in  1873,  but 
work  upon  it  was  delayed  by  the  freshet  of  1874,  and  it  was 
not  finished  until  1875.  It  includes  three  sets  of  machinery, 
and  requires  the  employment  of  about  30  hands.  The  line  ot 
work  made  is  Union  broadcloth. 

In  1848,  L^riah  Church  erected  the  lower  mill,  and  this  has 
been  run  to  the  present  time  except  as  interrupted  by  the  dis- 
aster of  1874  and  other  damages  from  time  to  time.  It  in- 
cludes three  sets  of  machinerj'.  The  four  brothers  succeeded 
their  father  in  this  factory  also,  and  the  two  mills  have  been 
under  their  united  management  since  his  death.  The  finishing 
is  done  at  the  lower  mill,  and  about  50  hands  are  required 
there.  During  the  war  large  quantities  of  army  blankets  were 
made  at  these  mills.  The  goods  of  the  firm  are  sold  in  New 
York,  through  the  house  of  Van  Yalkenburg  &  Leavitt.  To 
obtain  water-power  of  sufficient  volume  and  regularity,  a  large 
reservoir  was  built  just  above  bj'  the  united  mill-owners  of  the 
village. 

This  was  afterward  built  higher.  Two  more  were  added 
above  in  later  years.  The  breaking  away  of  the  upper  one 
caused  the  great  wash-out  of  1874.  The  upper  reservoirs  have 
not  been  rebuilt,  only  the  lower  one  being  retained. 

A  mile  below  Factory  village  is  the  site  of  the  early  saw- 
mill and  the  grist-mill  of  John  Ford.  The  grist-mill  was 
abandoned  a  long  time  ago,  and  the  saw-mill  and  dam  were 
torn  away  by  the  flood  of  1874  and  not  rebuilt.  The  paper- 
mills  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad  station  are  not  in  the  town 
of  Middlefield.  The  "  shoddy-mill,"  so  called,  a  mile  or  more 
below,  was  just  within  the  town.  Its  original  business  was  to 
grind  up  "  waste"  for  use  in  other  mills,  and  its  name  was  ob- 
tained in  that  way.  Manufacturing  was,  however,  afterward 
carried  on.  Badly  damaged  in  the  freshet  of  December,  1878, 
the  proprietors  decided  not  to  rebuild,  and  have  removed  their 
machinery  from  town. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  produce  for  the  year  ending 
May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values  stated: 
Butter,  ?60.34  ;  beef,  §6502;  hay,  §18,018;  milk,  555667  ;  pota- 
toes, §.3749  ;  firewood,  $.5431  ;  manure,  §3540  ;  maple-sugar, 
§3396;  pork,  §1741;  wool,  §1552. 

MILIT.AKY. 
The  town  was  not  organized  until  the  last  year  of  the  Rev- 
olutionarj'  war,  1783,  and  previous  to  that  the  settlers  were 
attached  to  several  other  towns,  and  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the 
connection  which  the  citizens  of  the  present  territory  of  Mid- 
dlefield may  have  had  with  that  struggle  for  national  indepen- 
dence. The  following  citizens  are  understood  to  have  been 
in  the  Revolutionary  army, — whether  before  or  after  the  set- 
tlement in  Middlefield  is  not  determined  :  Timothy  McU- 
wain,  Lewis  Taylor,  John  Smith,  Elijah  Churchill,  Solomon 


478 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Insham,  Erastus  Ingham,  Amasa  Graves,  Sr.,  Thomas  Du- 

rant,  Sr. 

.shays'  rebellion. 

The  difficulties  following  the  Revolution  were  felt  in  this 
town,  and  quite  a  number  of  the  people  favored  the  insurgent 
plans  of  Shays.  A  requisition  was  sent  to  Capt.  David  Mack 
to  appear  at  Springfield  with  a  certain  number  of  his  men  and 
join  the  government  forces.  He  accordingly  drafted  his  men 
and  gave  orders  for  their  appearance  at  his  house  the  ne.^ct 
morning  prepared  to  march,  but  in  the  mean  time  the  company 
appointed  new  officers  and  declared  for  Shays.  Early  on  the 
morning  appointed  they  surrounded  the  house  of  Capt.  Mack, 
declaring  him  a  prisoner.  The  captain,  after  exhorting  to  his 
utmost  the  men  to  abandon  their  disloyal  course,  and  without 
avail,  then  as  a  prisoner  asked  for  a  furlough  of  three  days, 
which  they  granted.  At  their  request  he  wrote  it,  and,  having 
procured  the  signatures  of  the  newly-apppointed  officers,  he 
put  the  interesting  document  in  his  pocket  and  hastened  to 
Springfield.  On  his  arrival  he  immediately  repaired  to  head- 
quarters and  presented  himself  to  Gen.  Shepard,  to  whom  he 
exhibited  his  furlough.  After  examining  it.  Gen.  Shepard 
said,  "Well,  Capt.  Mack,  as  you  have  no  men  to  fight  with, 
you  may  go  home ;  wc  shall  immediately  attend  to  the  men 
who  have  signed  this  paper."  They  were  soon  arrested  and 
placed  in  Northampton  jail. 

The  surrender  of  a  large  company  of  the  insurgents  took 
place  in  the  town  of  Middlefield.  After  the  defeat  at  Spring- 
field, Jan.  2-5,  1787,  one  division,  under  Shays,  fled  to  Pelham, 
another  to  Northampton  under  Luke  Day,  and  a  third,  under 
Capt.  Luddington,  westward.  This  last  consisted  of  some  80 
men  in  10  sleighs.  They  were  pursued  by  50  Brookfield  vol- 
unteers, under  Col.  Baldwin,  and  100  cavalry,  under  Col. 
Crafts.  The  men  showed  signs  of  fight  even  after  their 
leader,  Capt.  Luddington,  had  yielded,  but  resistance  was 
useless ;  they  went  back  from  Middlefield  prisoners  of  war. 

The  following  official  action  by  the  town  appears  in  the 
records  during  this  period  of  excitement. 

A  town-meeting  was  called  Nov.  2,  1786,  with  the  following 
clause  in  the  warrant : 

"  To  choose  a  delegate  or  delegates  to  meet  oilier  delngntes  from  towns  through- 
out the  county,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Elisha  C!ook,  imihi.diler,  iu  lladley,  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  Nov.  next,  at  one  o'clock  P.M.,  for  the  following  very  necessary 
pm-poses,  viz. :  to  ehoo.se  a  committee  to  confer  with  committees  from  otlier 
counties  on  the  present  distressful  situation  of  putdic  affairs.  2ndly.  To  choose 
a  committee  to  prepare  a  '  nervis'  petition  to  the  Honorable  General  Court,  with 
such  justness,  perspicuity,  and  suitable  address  as  may  nut  fail  to  be  etiective  for 
our  public  relief."  Voted  Lieut.  James  Pickson  a  delegate  to  the  Hadley  con- 
vention. 

Aug.  15, 1786. — Chose  Mr.  Samuel  Jones  aud  Lieut.  James  Dickson  delegates 
to  attend  a  Convention  at  Hatfield. 

Jan.  22, 1787. — (Jhose  James  Dickson  a  deleg.-ite  to  a  Convention  to  meet  at 
Hadley.    At  this  time  an  address  from  tlic  General  Court  to  the  peoi)le  of  tliis 


commonwealth  was  read,  and  a  petition  for  redress  of  grievances  to  the  General 
Court  seems  to  have  been  considered,  but  not  acted  upon. 

WAR   OF    1812. 

In  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting  to  be  held  July  13,  1812, 
\v  ere  the  clauses  : 

"  That  the  town  may  have  an  opportunity  in  a  public  manner  to  manifest 
their  opinion  concerning  the  late  declaration  of  war  by  the  government  of  tlie 
United  States  against  Great  Britain,"  and  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  choose  dele- 
gates to  meet  iu  convention  at  Nortliampton  on  the  14th  inst." 

They  voted  the  war  inexpedient,  with  only  seven  dissenting 
voices.  The  well-known  public  sentiment  of  New  England 
could  scarcely  permit  any  other  result ;  but  the  seven  who 
thought  it  right  to  stand  by  the  national  government  and 
patriotically  voted  so  are  worthy  to  be  remembered, — viz., 
M.  Smith,  Esq.,  William  Skinner,  William  Church,  Green 
H.  Church,  Warren  Church,  Lieut.  A.  Dickson,  and  Deacon 
J.  Newton.  Erastus  Ingham  was  chosen  to  the  Northampton 
Convention.  The  only  other  allusion  to  this  matter  in  the 
records  seems  to  be  a  vote  to  pay  the  expense  of  carrying  a 
detachinent  of  men  from  this  town  to  Palmer  in  the  fall  of 
1814,  probably  a  part  of  the  force  that  was  called  out  for  the 
defense  of  Boston.  The  following  went  to  Boston,  and  prob- 
ably others  :  Maj.  David  Mack  (afterward  the  general),  Lieut. 
Matthew  Smith,  Capt.  Solomon  Root,  Abel  Cheeseman,  and 
Abraham  Mofl'ett. 

CIVIL   WAR,  1861-65. 

Several  meetings  were  held,  known  as  "war-meetings," 
during  the  progress  of  the  war.  If  they  were  not  strictly 
official,  their  action  was  afterward  approved  and  acquiesced 
in  with  the  same  patriotic  promptness  as  appeared  in  all  the 
towns  of  this  section.  Bounties  were  voted,  aid  provided  for 
families,  and  the  several- quotas  of  the  town  speedily  filled. 
Prom  40  to  45  citizens  of  the  town  went  into  the  service,  and 
13  lost  their  lives.  Two  substitutes  were  killed,  making  the 
number  of  the  dead  15.  Quite  a  number  of  men  were  hired 
abroad  under  the  direction  of  John  L.  Bell,  chairman  of  the 
town  board  ;  so  that  Middlefield  furnished  80  men  in  all  for 
the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  7  over  and  above  all  de- 
mands. Two  were  commissioned  officers.  The  whole  amount 
of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was  §14,400  ;  the  assessed  valu- 
ation of  the  town  in  1860  was  S'308,332,  and  the  population 
748.  The  war  expenses  paid  were  equal  to  |19  per  head  of  the 
whole  population, — men,  women,  and  children.  Aid  for  fam- 
ilies, afterward  paid  by  the  State,  was  in  1861,  $146.74;  1862, 
?536.62;  1863,8902.80;  1864,  §260;  1865,  ?111;  total,  .?1957.76. 

Generous  contributions  were  privately  made  for  the  various 
departments  of  patriotic  work.  The  ladies  united  in  making 
up  clothing  for  the  soldiers,  and  boxes  of  general  supplies,  of 
considerable  money  value,  were  sent  forward. 


SOLDIERS'  LIST. 
Clarkson  Sniilh,  1st  sergt.,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1SC2,  4Gth 

M.  V.M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  '20,  18Gi. 
Wm.  C.  Blush,  enl.  Sept.  2,i,  18112,  4Gth  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  '29,  1863. 
George  W.  Coltrell,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  4Ctli  M.  V. 

II.,  Co.  F  ;  disch.  July  29,  18(i;i, 
John  Damon,  enl.  Sept.  25,  ISO.',  4Glh  M.  V.  M.,  Co. 

F;  disch.  July  29,  18C:!. 
Henry  Dickson,  enl.  Sept.  25,  18G2,  4Gth  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  died  April  8,  18G:1.  at  Plymouth,  N.  C. ; 

afterward  brought  to  Miildlefield  for  burial. 
Henry  E.  Dimmock,  enl.  Sept.  25,  18G2,  4Gth  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1S61. 
James  Espy,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  4Gtli  M.  V.  M  ,  Co. 

F;  disch.  to  re-enl.  May  ;iO,  1803;  re-enl.  Aug. 

1801,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  D. 
George  Ingham,  enl.  S.'pt.  25,  1802,  40th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  K;  disch.  July  29,  180:!. 
James  Kowen,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  46th  SI.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  ISO);  disableil  by  rheu- 
matism and  helpless. 
Thomas  A.  Willson,  enl.  Sept.  25,  IS02,  4Cth  51.  V. 

M.,Co.  F;  died  May  2,  ISO!,  at  Newbern,  N.  C. 


Edward  L.  Iliggins,  enl.  Oct.  22,  1862,  401h   M.V. 

JI.,  Co.  K  ;  disch.  July  29,  180!. 
Levi  J.  Olds,  enl.  Oct   22,  1802,  4Gth  M.V.  M.,  Co. 

K;  disch.  June  1,  180:),  to  re-enl.  in  H.  Art., 

which  he  joined  in   Aug.  180:i;   died   in  the 

service. 
Kapoleon  F.  Filleo,  enl.  Dec.  18,  1863,  2d  Cav.,  Co. 

D  ;  disch.  July  20,  1865. 
Charles  Kelly,  enl.  Dec.  ;il,  18G4,  2d  Cav  ,  Co.  G; 

disch.  July  2(1, 1805. 
George  K.   Robbins,  Corp.,  enl.  Dec.  31,  1803,  2d 

Inf,  Co.  B;  disch.  July  14,  1805. 
George  Bliss,  eiil.   Dec.  21,  1803,  'id  Inf,  Co.  B; 

disch.  July  14,  180,5. 
Francis  Murray,  enl.  May  2.5,  18G1,  2d  Inf.,  Co.  B : 

disch.  July  20,180;!;  died  soon  alter  his  re- 
turn. 
Charles  W.  BobbilLS,  enl.  Dec.  31,  1803,  2d  Inf,  Co. 

I!;  died  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  before  joining  the 

regiment. 
Robert  Burns,  enl.  June  21, 1801, 10th  Inf.,  Co.  G  ; 

died  of  u'ounds,  May  31. 1802,  at  Fair  Oaks,  Va. 
Urah  F.  Cheeseman,  enl.  June  21,  1861,  Kith  Inf., 

Co.  G;  d:sch.  July  1,  1804. 


Win.  M.  Chnrchill,  enl.  June  21,1801,  lOtli  Inf, 
Co.  G;  disch.  Oct.  29, 1862,  for  disabllily. 

Edwin  D.  Bemis,  enl.  Oct.  14,  1801,  loth  Inf,  Co. 
I;  re-enl.  Feb.  2,  1804;  trans,  July  27,  18C4, 
to  20tli  Inf.;  disch.  July  13, 1865,  for  disability  ; 
wounded  in  the  head. 

Charles  M.  Buck,  enl,  Aug.  23,  1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 
B;  died  March  27,  18G2,  on  steamer  "North- 
erner." 

Edwin  C.  Bidwell,  asst.  surg.,  enl.  Feb.  20,  1802, 
31st  Inf.  ;  pro.  to  surg.,  April  29,  1862;  di^ch. 
Sept.  9,  1865;  was  the  physician  iu  practi.'e  at 
Middlefield  when  tlie  war  broke  out. 

Scth  Wait,eMl.Jan.'28, 1862,  31st  Inf , Co.  I;  disch. 
June  20,  1862,  for  disa  ility,  and  died  from 
effects  of  service. 

Calvin  Noble,  enl.  Aug.  1,  1862,  34th  Inf.,  Co.  B; 
died  Dec.  13,  18G2,  at  Fort  Lyon,  Va. 

Henry  Nolde,  enl.-Aiig.  I,  1802,  34lh  Inf.,  Co.  B; 
died  Dec.  4,  1802,  at  Fort  Lyon,  Va. 

Michael  Stanley,  enl.  March  10,  1S04,  57th  Inf., 
Co.  I ;  killed  May,^6,  1804,  at  Wilderness,  Va. ; 
substitute  who  lost  his  life  for  the  town. 

John  Waters,  enl.  March  10, 1£64,  57th  Inf.,  Co.  I ; 


,.    '-^ 


,  ' 


I'  4  ■  ., 


* 


Photo,  by  Mooie  Biob.,  SpringfieliJ. 


^^      #  ^/CW. 


The  family  of  this  well-known  citizen  was  among  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Middlefield.  His  grandfather,  Joseph 
Blush,  from  Colchester,  Conn.,  located  about  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolutionary  war  at  what  is  now  Middlefield 
Centre. 

Amasa  Blush,  one  of  the  sons  of  Joseph,  was  an  early 
manufacturer  in  Middlefield,  as  shown  in  the  general  notes 
upon  that  town.  His  wife  was  Nancy,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Durant,  of  Middlefield,  formerly  of  Boston. 

William  D.  Blush,  whose  portrait  appears  upon  this  page, 
was  a  son  of  Amasa,  and  passed  his  whole  life  in  Middle- 
field.  He  was  born  Feb.  3, 1809,  in  the  old  family  dwelling, 
which  was  torn  down  some  years  ago  and  replaced  by  the 
fine  residence  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Blush,  his  widow. 

He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  received  a 
careful  business  training,  under  the  supervision  of  his  father, 
acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  manufacturing  in  all  of 
its  departments. 

He  married,  June  13,  1833,  Eliza  Senett,  of  Blandford. 
Their  children  were  five,  of  whom  only  one  survives  at  the 
present  time, — William  C.  Blush,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
Mrs.  Blush  died  Aug.  1,  1844. 

Mr.  Blush  married  (second)  Lucy  Johnson,  of  Chester. 
She  died  May  21,  1847. 

He  married  (third)  Harriet  Stone,  of  Chester,  Mass.  By 
this  marriage  there  were  three  children,  two  of  whom  are 
living, — xVrthur  Blush,  merchant,  of  Monson,  Mass.,  and 
Harriet,  wife  of  George  K.  Brown,  of  Middlefield. 

Mrs.  Blush  died  June  26,  1855,  and  Mr.  Blush  married 
(fourth)  Mary  W.,  daughter  of  Rufus  Prentice,  of  Worth- 
ington,  and  who  was  the  widow  of  George  P.  Pox,  of  Hay- 
denville.     This  fourth  marriage  took  place  Jan.  3,  1856, 


and  there  were  four  children  born  to  them,  all  of  whom  are 
living:  Emma,  born  April  24,  1857,  and  now  the  wife  of 
Frederick  B.  Hatheway,  of  Suffield,  Conn. ;  Edward  Durant, 
born  Dec.  8,  1860  ;  Agnes  Ulin,  born  Sept.  26,  1862  ; 
Martha  Sampson,  born  March  28,  1866. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Blush  was  first  a  Whig  and  then  a  Re- 
publican, but  was  averse  to  holding  office,  and  unwilling  to 
share  in  the  excitement  of  political  campaigns.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Middlefield, 
active  in  its  support,  and  contributed  freely  to  carry  on  its 
various  enterprises. 

Through  his  long  business  career  he  was  known  as  a  man 
of  integrity,  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  those  who  were  asso- 
ciated with  him,  acquired  many  friends,  and  was  esteemed 
by  all  the  community.  He  was  genial  in  his  intercourse 
with  others,  and  his  home  was  a  place  of  hospitality  and 
generous  entertainment.  He  was  interesting  in  conver- 
sation, and  could  relate  numerous  incidents  of  the  olden 
times  prior  to  the  days  of  railroads. 

His  business  life  was  long  and  active,  extending  over  a 
period  of  forty  years,  as  given  in  the  history  of  the  town. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  pushed  his  various  enter- 
prises in  the  face  of  many  opposing  obstacles,  and,  by  his 
diligence  and  industry,  gained  a  handsome  competence. 

When  his  buildings  were  burned,  in  1850,  he  replaced 
them  promptly,  and  continued  in  business.  When  his  factory 
was  swept  away,  in  the  flood  of  1874,  he  was  then  in  ad- 
vanced life,  and  decided  not  to  rebuild.  He  retired  from 
his  life-work  of  manufacturing,  and  engaged  in  farming, 
devoting  his  attention  especially  to  the  raising  of  fine  stock. 
In  these  peaceful  pursuits  he  passed  the  last  years  of  his 
life.    He  died  March  19,  1879,  aged  seventy  years. 


Harvey  Root  traces  his  ancestry  on  his  paternal  side  back  to  John 
Roote.  He  was  believed  to  be  the  son  of  John  Roote,  of  Badby, 
Northamptonshire,  England,  who  married  Mary  Russell  in  1600.  II& 
was  born  in  Badby,  according  to  the  parish  records,  Feb.  26,  1608. 
Emigrated  to  this  country  with  a  company  of  Puritans,  and  settled  at 
Farmington,  in  1640,  being  among  the  first  settlers.  Here  he  was 
a  prominent  citizen.  Soon  after  the  settlement  he  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Frances  Kilbourne.  John  Roote  died  Aug- 
ust, 1684,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  He  had  eight  children,  of  whom 
Thomas  was  the  third  son.  He  was  born  about  1648.  in  Farmington. 
Conn.,  and  removed  with  his  brothers,  John  and  Samuel,  to  Westfield, 
Mass.,  where  he  died  Aug.  16,  1709.  Thomas  Roote  married  three 
times.  His  second  wife  was  Mary  Spencer,  whom  he  married  Oct.  7, 
1675.  By  this  union  they  had  six  children.  Timothy,  his  son,  was 
born  Dec.  3,  1685,  in  Westfield,  Mass.,  and  died  Nov.  2,  1743.  He 
married,  in  1710,  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  Pe;i^e,  of  Enfield,  Conn. 
He  removed  from  Westfield  to  Enfield,  and  from  there  to  Somers, 
Conn.,  about  1713,  where  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  had 
seven  children.  Thomas,  his  second  son,  was  born  in  Somers,  Conn., 
in  1726,  and  married  twice;  his  second  wile  being  Alice,  daughter  of 
Israel  and  Sarah  (Booth)  Pease.  She  died  Dec.  30, 1821,  aged  eighty- 
five.  They  first  settled  in  Enfield,  Conn.,  and  removed  to  Middle- 
field,  Mass.,  in  1783,  where  he  died  March  15,  1821.  By  this  marriage 
there  were  four  children,  of  whom  .Solomon  was  the  eldest.  Born  in 
1765,  in  Enfield,  Conn.,  where  he  married  Mary  Selden,  and  removed 
to  Middlefield,  Mass.,  where  he  died  Aug.  8,  1831,  aged  sixty-six. 
They  had  seven  children, — five  sons  and  two  daughters.  These  chil- 
dren were  Polly,  Julia,  Solomon,  Timothy,  Selden,  Harvey,  and 
Nathan.  Solomon  and  Timothy  were  merchants  in  Middlefield.  The 
former  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  Nathan  is  a  farmer,  and 
lives  in  Chester,  Mass. 

Harvey  Root  was  born  in  Middlefield,  Mass.,  April  20,  1795.  He 
passed  his  boyhood  at  home,  working  for  his  father  on  the  farm,  and 
attending  the  common  schools,  until  about  his  sixteenth  or  seventeenth 
year,  when  he  left  home  for  a  time,  engaging  with  George  Blake,  a 
contractor,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  who  was  deUvoring  the  stone  for  the 
floor  of  the  present  jail  of  the  city,  then  in  process  of  construction. 
He  worked  for  him  two  winters,  returning  home  and  assisting  his 
father  during  the  summers.  He  also  did  other  work  for  Mr.  Blake, 
and,  with  another  young  man,  chopped  from  pine  trees  divested 
of  the  limbs  twenty-two  cords  in  one  day,  the  same  having  been 
measured. 

Mr.  Root  had  about  this  time  obtained  considerable  experience  iu 
laying  stone  walls,  or  "walling,"  as  familiarly  known,  and,  there 
being  a  demand  for  experienced  *'  wallers"  in  Connecticut,  ho  went 
to  Danbury,  and  engaged  with  various  parties  in  this  work.  One 
summer  he  built,  himself,  one  thousand  rods.  We  aro  informed  by  his 
neighbors  that  Mr.  Root  could  build  eight  to  ten  rods  a  day,  and  so 
smoothly  and  perfectly  was  it  done  that  his  services  were  constantly 
in  demand.  This  was  prior  to  his  twenty-first  year,  and  his  earn- 
ings went  to  his  father.  When  he  had  reached  his  majority  he  had 
saved  $40,  nearly  all  in  old  coppers,  which  he  had  earned  by  pick- 
ing the  wool  from  off  sheep-pelts  for  neighbors.    The  pelts  were  given 


him  for  his  labor,  and  he  sold  the  same  for  ninepence  apiece.  This 
amount  he  loaned  to  a  party,  and  it  is  still  on  interest.  He  worked 
one  moonlight  night  at  reaping,  receiving  a  silver  dollar  for  the  same, 
and  took  up  his  next  day's  work  as  usual. 

Mr.  Root,  being  of  age,  made  an  arrangement  with  Martin  Starr, 
of  Middlefield,  and  together  they  went  to  Danbury,  Conn.,  and  in 
six  months  they  had  earned  $700.  They  then  engaged  with  a  Mr. 
Tweedy,  of  Danbury,  to  chop  four  hundred  cords  of  oak  and  chestnut 
wood  from  the  stump,  and  they  averaged  eight  cords  each  working- 
day,  and  walked  a  mile  and  a  h.alf  from  their  stopping-place,  taking 
their  cold  lunch  for  dinner  along  with  them.  This  ended  his  work  in 
Connecticut,  as  shortly  afterward  he  returned  to  Middlefield.  John 
Ferris,  of  Danbury,  for  whom  Mr.  Root  had  worked,  bought  his  oxen, 
and  paid  him  $50  bonus  not  to  return  to  Danbury  to  do  walling.  Mr. 
Root  then  worked  diligently  at  different  places,  saving  his  hard  earn- 
ings; and,  when  he  was  twenty-eight  years  old,  married,  Jan.  24, 
1S22,  Sally,  daughter  of  Daniel  Pease,  of  Middlefield.  She  was  then 
nineteen  years  of  age. 

His  father-in-law  put  Mr.  Root  in  charge  of  his  several  farms,  com- 
prising about  eight  hundred  acres,  in  Middlefield,  ami  for  this  labor 
he  was  to  receive  one-half  the  profits.  He  continued  here  three  years, 
raising  cattle,  keeping  a  dairy,  and  making  a  large  amount  of  cheese 
and  butter. 

In  1825,  Mr.  Root  purchased  a  portion  of  this  land,  and,  with  forty 
acres  of  woodland  given  him  .by  Mr.  Pease,  he  commenced  farming 
for  himself.  He  bought  his  present  home  about  1846,  and  has  resided 
there  since.  He  paid  special  attention  to  the  raising  of  fine  stock, 
receiving  a  premium  from  the  Middlefield  Agricultural  Society  for 
his  cattle,  and  for  a  number  of  years,  with  the  exception  of  two  years, 
he  took  the  premium  for  the  superior  excellence  of  his  swine. 

Mr.  Root,  by  his  industry  and  economy,  has  aceuuiulated  a  com- 
petence, and,  although  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  is  still 
active,  mentally  and  physically. 

He  has  never  sued  any  m.in  lor  a  debt,  nor  has  he  been  sued, — some- 
thing few  men  can  say.  He  is  warm-hearted,  hospitable,  and  his 
motto  has  always  been  "to  live  and  let  live."  In  his  early  years  he 
was  a  member  of  a  militia  comp.any,  commanded  by  his  brother  Solo- 
mon. His  political  sentiments  were  first  those  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  since  of  the  Republican. 

Mrs.  Root  died  Nov.  26,  1871.  By  this  union  there  were  eleven 
children:  Franklin  II.,  born  Nov.  5,  1822;  Solomon,  born  Nov.  6, 
1824;  Sarah  A.  and  Mary  A.,  born  April  5,  1827;  Lester,  born  Sept. 
15,  1829;  Corinth,  born  Feb.  13,  1832;  Amanda,  born  Sept.  15,  1834; 
George,  born  Feb.  26,  1837;  Harriet  N..  born  May  27,  1839;  Judson, 
born  April  8,  1842;  Laura,  born  Jan.  15,  1844.  Lester  and  Laura, 
wife  of  George  Chipman,  reside  in  Middlefield. 

Mr.  Root  married  (second),  May  28,  1873,  Sarah  A.,  daughter  of 
Alpheus  Huzeltou,  of  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y.  She  was  the  widow  of 
Eheuezer  Smith,  deceased,  of  Middlefield,  but  had  been  married  twice, 
her  first  husband  having  been  Jacob  Hawes,  and  by  him  she  had  six 
children,  all  living,  and  by  Mr.  Smith  four  sons,  three  of  whom  are 
living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Root  are  both  members  of  the  Baptist  Church 
of  Middlefield. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


479 


killi'il  Jiini'  17, 1SC4,  iit  Petersbuig,  Va. ;  sulj- 

Hugh  McGee,  enl.  June  2n,  1801,  10th  Regt.,  Co. 

Patiick  McGec,  enl.  40th  Regt.,  Co.  K. 

Btitiitc  who  lost  liis  life  for  the  town. 

A  ;  re-enl.  Feb.  21,  1804;  trans,  (o  :i7th  Eest. ; 

Michael  Nooney,  enl.  4i;th  Regt.,  Co.  K. 

Anthony  KreiU-ric,  ciil.  loth  Rcgt. 

disch.  Feb.  14,  1805,  for  disability. 

Edward  Otis,  enl.  July  14,  1803,  1st  H.  Art. 

Menii:k  Chirk. 

Edward  Tease,  enl.  Conn.  1st  H.  Art. 

James  Wait,  enl.  Dec.  18,  '03,  2d  Mass.  Cav.,  Co. 

John  Donovan.. 

Dennis  Galivan. 

D. 

Jolm  J.  Vitlt-r. 

Jerome  Siiiitli. 

William  Lathrop,  enl.  Dec.  18, 1803,  2d  Mass.  Cav., 

Ilowiiril  Colli.T,  enl.  .\ug.  M,  1S02,  37tli  liegt.,  Co. 

Daniel  Atwood,  enl.  Nov.  21,  ISOI,  3Ist  Regt.,  Co. 

Co.  D. 

D  ;  lost  his  life  in  the  service  ;  diid  at  Brandy 

A  ;  died  Oct.  3,  1802,  at  New  Orleans  ;  credited 

Wesley  Bartlelt,  cnl.  Dec.  21,  1803,  2d  Mass.  Inf. 

Stalion,  Va.,  Feb.  9,  1864  ;  credited  to  Che>ter- 

to  Chester  in  adjt.-genei'al's  report. 

James  Kershaw,  enl.  35th  Regt.,  Co.  C;  died  soon 

fii'id  as  Horace  Collier  in  adjt.-general's  nport. 

Henry  L.  Lines,  enl.  Feb.  in,  1802,  31it  Regt.,  Co. 

after  his  return,  at  Bi-attleboro',  Vt. ;  credited 

John  51orriss-y,  enl.  June  13,  1801,lllh  Regt.,  Co. 

li;  credited  to  Pitt.sfield  in  adjt.-generals  ro- 

to    Boston  in   the    report  of  the   adjt.-gen- 

A  ;  disch.  May  14,  1803. 

Jiort;  reenl.  Feb.  15,  1804;  discli.  Feb.  10,  '05. 

eral. 

G  O  S  H  E  :^. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 
Goshen  is  on  the  northern  border  of  the  county,  northwest 
from  the  oounty-seat,  and  distant  nine  miles.  It  is  bounded 
north  by  Franklin  County;  east  by  Franklin  County  and 
Williamsburg;  south  by  Williamsburg  and  Chesterfield; 
west  by  Chesterfield  and  Cummington.  It  comprises  an  area 
of  (!951  acres,  as  stated  in  the  sum-total  of  the  farm  acreage 
by  the  commissioner  of  the  census  of  1875.  The  title  to  the 
soil  is  deducible  from  the  direct  grant  of  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  As  explained  in  the  sketch  of  Chesterfield, 
these  lands  were  granted  in  the  place  of  a  barren  township 
that  had  been  given  to  soldiers  who  had  served  in  the  war 
against  the  Narragansett  Indians.  Such  townships  were 
cla.ssed  as  SarvagaiincU  Toums,  Nos.  1,  2,  3,4,  etc.  The  portion 
of  Goshen  taken  from  Chesterfield  direct  was  a  part  of  that 
granted  in  lieu  of  No.  4.  The  rest  of  Goshen,  or  "Chester- 
field Gore,"  was  a  second  additional  grant  for  the  same  reasons. 

NATURAL  FEATURES. 
This  irregularly-shaped  town  is,  like  its  neighboring  towns, 
of  very  uneven  surface,  broken  into  hills,  rising  to  mountains 
at  some  points.  Moore's  Hill,  in  the  northeast,  is  the  princi- 
pal elevation,  1713  feet  high.  The  western  and  central  por- 
tions of  the  town  are  drained  by  the  tributaries  of  the  West- 
field  Kiver,  and  these  supply  water-power  of  considerable 
value.  In  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  and  near  the  centre, 
there  are  found  tributaries  of  the  Mill  River,  of  Williams- 
burg. Largo  reservoirs  have  been  built  for  the  benefit  of 
manufacturing  establishments  below.  The  rivulets  that  con- 
tribute to  Mill  Eiver,  and  those  that  flow  to  the  Westfield, 
are  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town,  almost  interlocked  with 
each  other,  the  dividing  ridge  separating  the  two  river-basins 
being  narrow  and  low.  This  feature  was  shown  in  construct- 
ing the  upper  reservoir.  A  dyke  of  considerable  height  had 
to  be  built  to  prevent  the  pond  from  escaping  westward  and 
flowing  to  the  Connecticut  through  the  Westfield,  rather  than 
through  Mill  River. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT. 
The  pioneers  within  the  present  limits  of  the  town  of 
Goshen  were  David  Stearns  and  Abijah  Tucker.  They 
were  from  Dudley,  as  were  many  other  of  the  early  settlers 
upon  the  territory  now  constituting  Goshen  and  Chester- 
field.' They  came  here  in  1701,  leaving  their  families  in 
Northampton.  They  worked  together,  clearing  a  piece  of 
land  and  erecting  a  log  house.  This  locality  is  identified  by 
the  remains  of  the  old  cellar,  thirty  or  forty  rods  north  of  the 
house,  belonging  in  later  years  to  Eleazer  Hawks,  and  near 
the  old  boundary-line  between  Chesterfield  and  the  Gore.  In 
the  fall  they  brought  their  families  and  passed  the  winter. 
Stearns  finally  .settled  upon  what  is  known  as  the  David  Deals 


farm.  These  men,  the  first  winter,  were  often  absent  seeking 
work  in  Northampton,  and  their  families  met  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  settlement  alone  for  several  days  at  a  lime.  It  is 
told  of  them  that  they  had  a  cow  and  a  horse  that  were  pas- 
tured in  the  suiumer  at  the  "Great  Meadow;"  that  in  the 
deep  snow  of  the  following  winter  the  cow  wandered  ofl'  to  the 
same  ground  one  day,  and  night  came  on  before  the  absence 
was  noticed.  Then  neither  of  the  women  could  safely  go 
after  the  cow  alone,  nor  stay  with  the  children  alone,  so  one 
woman  mounted  the  horse  and  took  the  five  children  on  with 
her.  The  other  woman  led  the  horse,  and  so  they  went  after 
the  cow,  two  miles  away  and  back,  through  the  snow. 

In  17G2  these  two  families  were  joined  by  others.  That 
s]iring  Col.  Ezra  May,  with  ten  men  as  hired  laborers,  came 
on  and  began  the  work  of  clearing  what  has  ever  since  been 
known  as  the  Col.  May  farm.  He  brought  with  him  "  Old 
3Ir.  Corbin"  and  wife  to  do  the  house-work  and  the  cooking. 
This  party  must  have  encamped  not  far  from  the  present 
village  of  Goshen.  The  same  year  William  White,  from 
Charlton,  bought  100  acres  of  land  of  Col.  May,  and  two 
half  lots  of  Gad  Lyman,  of  Northampton,  that  being  the 
homestead  that  was  in  possession  of  his  son  Benjamin  White 
at  the  time  of  the  hitter's  death,  one  hundred  and  eleven  years 
afterward,  1873.  Eobert  Webster,  from  Dudley,  and  Lemuel 
Lyon,  also  came  in  17G2. 

During  the  next  five  or  six  years  probably  there  came  in 
the  following  additional  settlers  :  Asa  Grant,  from  Wren- 
tham  ;  John  James,  Jesse  Wilcutt,  and  Zebulon  Wilcutt, 
from  Cohasset  ;  Reuben  Dresser  and  Ebenezer  Putney,  from 
Charlton  ;  Thomas  Brown  and  Daniel  Brown,  from  Brook- 
field  ;  Joshua  Abell,  from  Rehoboth  ;  Joseph  Blake,  of  Brain- 
tree;  Capt.  John  Bigelow,  Isaac  Kingman,  and  Joshua 
Packard,  from  Bridgewater ;  Dr.  Benjamin  Burgess,  from 
Tisbury;  John  Smith,  Timothy  Lyman,  Ebenezer  Parsons, 
Justin  Parsons,  from  Northampton.  Two  prominent  men  in 
public  affairs  came  in  only  just  before  the  incorporation  of  the 
town:  Thomas  Weeks,  from  Greenwich,  in  1778,  and  Am- 
brose Stone,  1780.  A  very  valuable  list,  comprising  no  doubt 
all  the  families  living  in  Goshen  in  1781,  will  be  found  under 
the  subject  of  schools, — seveiity-five  in  all. 

The  first  person  born  within  the  limits  of  this  town  was 
Sally,  daughter  of  Ezra  May,  in  January,  1768.  Samuel, 
son  of  David  Stearns,  the  first  male  child,  was  born  in  March 
following.  It  is  said  the  first  apple-tree  was  set  out  by  the 
wife  of  Capt.  Webster;  that  the  captain  brought  the  sprout 
as  a  riding-stick  from  Northampton,  and  that  with  consider- 
able eft'ort  his  wife  succeeded  in  making  it  grow. 

The  tornado  of  Aug.  19,  1788,  was  exceedingly  violent  and 
destructive  ;  no  lives  seem  to  have  been  lost,  but  there  was  a 
universal  destruction  of  fences ;  crops  were  destroyed,  build- 
ings in  process  of  erection  blown  down,  and  others  damaged. 


480 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Forty-six  years  afterward  occurred  another,  verj'  nearly  in  the 
trade  of  the  former ;  several  barns  were  unroofed,  and  also 
the  meeting-house  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  much 
other  damage  was  done.  Mr.  Cyrus  Stearns  and  his  little 
grandson  were  on  the  way  home  from  Cummington  when 
they  were  overtaken  by  the  tempest.  They  were  on  the  high 
bank  of  the  Swift  River,  and  with  a  portion  of  the  wagon 
were  blown  over  the  precipice,  seventy  feet  high.  Mr.  Stearns 
went  down  onlj'  part  of  the  way,  and  was  saved.  The  little 
boy  went  down  into  the  stream,  was  taken  out  alive,  but  died 
the  next  day. 

EARLY    TAVERNS. 

The  tavern  of  Lemuel  Lyon  is  said  to  have  been  the  present 
house  of  Mr.  Hunt.  There  was  an  older  building  perhaps  on 
the  west  side  of  the  road,  above  Elijah  Billings,  at  present 
marked  by  an  old  cellar,  where  Mr.  Lyon  may  have  lived  and 
kept  a  public-house.  His  widow  certainly  lived  in  the  house 
of  Mr.  Hunt.  John  Williams  kept  a  tavern,  at  which  the 
first  town-meeting  was  held.  It  stood  on  the  hill  above  the 
burying-ground,  and  was  moved  down  to  the  present  Wil- 
liams place  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  and  is  a  part  of  the 
present  residence.  The  Williams  tavern  closed  perhaps  thirty 
years  ago.  Jonah  Williams,  too,  kept  tavern  where  Daniel 
Williams  now  lives,  two  miles  north  on  the  Ashiield  road. 
Col.  Ncheniiah  May  kept  tavern  in  what  is  now  the  Marlon 
Damon  House.  This  was  an  old  and  noted  place.  The 
"great  council"  that  met  to  consider  the  case  of  Kev.  Mr. 
Whitman  was  entertained  there.  The  bill  for  liquors  fur- 
nished the  ministers  was  $27,  as  stated  by  Emmons  Putney, 
who  dealt  out  the  article  for  them.  He  is  also  responsi- 
ble for  the  following  story.  A  horse  for  one  of  the  ministers 
was  brought  up  and  hitched  bj'  passing  the  doubled  end  of 
the  bridle-reins  through  the  hole  and  then  bringing  it  over 
the  post  above.  When  the  minister  came  out,  with  a  step 
unsteady  and  a  flushed  face,  his  eye  caught  the  form  of  that 
doubled  hitch.  He  stopped  in  amazement,  gazed  long  and 
earnestly  at  the  post,  at  the  hole  through  it,  the  bridle-reins, 
and  the  horse.  Stepping  around  to  the  other  side,  he  looked 
at  the  post,  at  the  hole  through  it,  at  the  bridle-reins,  at  the 
horse. 

"  Is  it  possible !  My  horse  has  guiie  through  that  hole  in 
the  jmst !  I  can't  get  him  back.  There  is  only  one  way ;"  and 
he  took  out  his  knife  and  cut  the  bridle-rein,  slung  himself 
into  the  saddle,  and  went  otf. 

May  was  succeeded  by  Jared  Hawks,  and  the  tavern  closed 
a  few  years  later.  Elias  White  kept  a  tavern  on  the  west 
side  of  the  road,  beyond  Mr.  Billings.  The  same  building 
was  in  later  years  purchased  by  Maj.  Hawks  and  is  now  a 
part  of  his  barn.  These  are  the  older  taverns  at  Goshen  Cen- 
tre. There  was  also  an  old  tavern  kept  by  Solomon  Parsons, 
near  the  present  place  of  Deacon  Barrus.  On  the  site  of  ]\[aj. 
Hawks'  Highland  House  Capt.  Keuben  Dresser  built  a  tavern 
about  1823,  and  kept  it  for  a  time.  He  sold  to  D.  W.  Graves, 
who  leased  it  to  others.  It  was  kept  in  subsequent  years  by 
Joseph  White,  Washburn  &  Nobles,  Alfred  Jones,  Wm.  Guil- 
ford, Israel  Thompson,  Edwards  Bridgman,  and  Lysander 
Gurney.  The  property  was  bought  by  Maj.  Hawks  in  185-5. 
The  buildings  were  burned  Oct.  31,  18G7,  and  soon  after  re- 
built as  at  present  in  use. 

The  first  postmaster  of  (Joshen  was  John  Williams,  not  far 
from  the  close  of  the  last  century.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1828, 
by  his  son  Hinckley  Williams.  In  1854,  or  about  that  time, 
he  was  succeeded  by  Jolin  Godfrey  for  a  year  or  two.  In 
1850,  Maj.  Hawks  became  postmaster,  and  retains  the  office 
to  the  present  time. 

KARI.Y    STORKS. 
The  first  store  in  town  was  kc]it  by  John  James  and  John 
Williams,  on  the  well-known  Capt.  James  place.     The  build- 
ing .stood  until  about  1870.     The  next  store  was  perhajis  a 


continuation  of  this,  by  John  Williams,  at  the  present  place 
of  Hinckley  Williams.  Col.  Nehemiah  May  also  had  a  store 
that  stood  just  north  of  the  present  residence  of  Marlon  Da- 
mon. He  died  in  1813.  He  was  succeeded  by  D..W.  Graves. 
A  pretty  early  store  was  kept  by  George  Salmon,  1810-15,  on 
the  hill  above  Elijah  Billings;  same  building  now  the  place 
of  Elias  White.  In  later  times  there  was  a  store  that  stood 
in  Maj.  Hawks'  present  garden,  or  just  south  of  the  hotel. 
This  was  kept  by  Deacon  Ebcnezer  Town,  1830-40;  later  by 
D.  W.  Graves. 

Then  there  was  no  store  kept  for  some  years.  Maj.  Hawks 
put  in  a  stock  of  goods  for  a  short  time.  Albert  Crafts,  of 
Ashfield,  bought  the  Widow  Timothy  Lyman  place,  and 
opened  a  store  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  John  H.  God- 
frey. Crafts  sold  to  Knowlton,  and  the  latter  to  the  present 
proprietor.     It  is  now  the  sole  store  in  the  place. 

PHYSICIANS. 

The  earliest  physician  of  Goshen  was  Dr.  Isaac  Robinson, 
of  Brookfield.  His  home  was  on  the  Orcutt  farm.  He  was 
here  eleven  j-ears.  A  son.  Dr.  Joseph  Robinson,  was  here  for 
a  time  in  1794-95.  Dr.  Job  Ranger  was  here  also  a  short 
time,  1789-90.  But  Dr.  Benjamin  Burgess  was  the  physician 
for  a  long  series  of  years.  He  came  from  Rochester,  Mass., 
about  1781,  and  his  father  had  left  him  a  large  tract  of  land 
in  Chesterfield  and  Goshen.  He  died  in  1807,  aged  seventy. 
Dr.  Ellis  Coney  came  from  Worcester  County,  and  resided 
here  only  a  few  years,  dying  in  1807.  Dr.  Childs  and  Dr. 
B.  C.  Robinson  were  here  in  1812-13.  Dr.  George  Rogers 
followed  for  several  years.  Dr.  Erastus  Hawks  practiced  from 
1817-24.  Dr.  Wm.  C.  Dwight,  of  Northampton,  spent  a 
year  or  two  here.  Dr.  Fuller  was  here  in  1820.  A.  W. 
Rockwell  in  1822.  Dr.  George  Wright  for  five  years,  182G- 
31.  J.  W.  Rockwell,  1833-34.  Dr.  Daniel  Pierce,  from 
Worthington,  practiced  from  183C  until  near  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1857.  No  physician  has  settled  here  regularly 
since.  Goshen  is  too  healthy  a  town  to  support  a  ph3'sician 
steadily. 

FAMILY"    NOTES. 

Nchemiah  May.  His  homestead  was  the  present  place  of 
Mahlon  Damon.  Of  his  children,  Hannah  became  the  wife 
of  Jared  Hawks,  and  Electa  the  wile  of  Cyrus  Kingsbury,  a 
well-known  name  in  missionary  annals. 

John  Williams.  The  first  town-mcetiug  was  held  at  his 
house,  the  present  place  of  Hinckley  Williams.  The  pioneer 
house  was  above  the  burying-ground,  moved  down  perhaps 
seventy  years  ago.  Children  :  Isaac,  John,  of  Ashfield  ;  Scth, 
of  Cummington;  Levi,  of  Northampton;  George  Hinckley, 
still  living  in  Goshen  ;  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Tower,  Mrs.  Freeman 
Cofting,  Mrs.  George  Markham.  John  Williams  was  the 
first  postmaster,  1817-18. 

Thomas  Weeks.  He  was  the  first  town  clerk.  Was  from 
Brookfield.  Came  about  1780.  Settled  northwest,  in  the 
present  Barrus  neighborhood.  Of  his  children,  several  died 
young.  Mercy  was  Mrs.  John  Williams.  Ezra  and  Levi 
settled  in  New  York.  Thomas  Weeks  was  a  surveyor.  His 
old  blaze,  a  crow's  foot,  is  occasionally  found  in  late  years. 

Joshua  Abell.  He  was  the  first  treasurer,  and  lived  a  mile 
or  so  south  of  the  meeting-house, — present  Guilford  place. 
Several  of  his  children  died  young.  Joseph,  Joshua,  Wil- 
liam, and  George  settled  in  Goshen,  the  two  latter  being 
known  as  captains ;  Asa  went  to  Swanton ;  Nathaniel  re- 
mained in  Goshen. 

Capt.  William  White.  He  was  from  Dudley ;  lived  south 
of  Joshua  Abell,  and  his  wife  was  a  sister  of  Reuben  Dresser. 
He  died  in  1821,  aged  eighty-five.  Of  his  children  several 
died  young.  William  died  at  twenty-five,  a  young  physician 
of  great  promise;  Mary  became  Mrs.  Thomas  Adams,  Hins- 
dale ;  Prudence  became  Mrs.  John  Adams,  of  Hinsdale ; 
Hannah  died  unmarried ;   Joseph  and  Benjamin  were  twin 


HISTOKY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


481 


brothers,  and  were  tlie  well-known  town  clerks,  succeeding 
their  father;  Joseph,  later  in  life,  moved  to  Hinsdale. 

Lieut.  Lemuel  Lyon.  His  farm  was  the  northwest  corner, 
opposite  the  present  meeting-house.  The  lieutenant  had  a 
brother,  Sylvanus,  in  town.  Children  of  Lemuel :  Mrs. 
Sylvanus  Stone,  of  Worthington,  and  Silas,  a  graduate  of 
Williams  College.  Col.  Ezra  May's  wife  was  a  sister  of  Lieut. 
Lyon. 

Maj.  Christopher  Bannister,  homestead  a  mile  southwest 
of  the  meeting-house,  on  the  road  to  Chesterfield.  He  had 
four  brothers,  John,  Lemuel,  Barzillai,  and  William,  all 
prominent  in  town  afl'airs.  Thomas  Brown,  homestead  east 
beyond  the  reservoir.  Ebenezer  Parsons  lived  on  the  Molli- 
son  Hill,  above  the  burying-ground.  He  was  an  early  inn- 
keeper. Maj.  Hawks  and  wife,  now  of  the  hotel,  lived  on 
that  farm  nineteen  years.  Farnum  White.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  t3'thingmen.  Homestead  over  the  hill  east, — the 
William  Tilton  farm.  A  son,  Seth  White,  settled  in  Q-oshen. 
Lieut.  Timothy  Lyon,  homestead  on  the  Ashfield  road, 
where  his  grandson,  Timothy  P.,  now  lives.  Children:  John 
C,  Goshen;  William,  Schenectady;  Col.  Timothy,  Capt. 
Francis,  and  Thomas,  Goshen;  Abigail,  Mrs.  Dr.  Daniel 
Pierce. 

John  Smith,  homestead  beyond  the  Mollison  Hill  west. 
House  gone.  Children:  Mrs.  Cogswell,  Chesterfield;  Mrs. 
Ebenezer  Putney,  Ashfield  ;  Mrs.  Whitney,  Ohio  ;  Mrs.  Hurl- 
burt,  Goshen  ;  Mrs.  John  Williams  (known  as  "  Carpenter") ; 
John,  the  missionary  ;  Mrs.  Willard  Packard,  Goshen  ;  Anna, 
died  unmarried ;  Mrs.  Thomas  Lyman.  Samuel  Olds  lived 
beyond  Lily  Pond  ;  Jason  and  Chester  were  sons, — lived  in 
Go.slien.  Daniel  Brown  lived  on  the  Cathcart  place.  David 
Stearns  ;  elsewhere  mentioned.  Children :  David,  Lemuel, 
John,  and  Cyrus,  of  Go.shen  ;  also  Mrs.  Daniel  Beals  ;  Samuel, 
the  first  male  child  born  in  town,  died  young.  The  pioneer's 
wife  was  a  sister  of  Capt.  Joseph  Burnell,  of  Chesterfield. 

Oliver  Taylor,  from  Brookfield,  homestead  the  Webster 
farm.  Children :  Mrs.  Gershom  Cathcart ;  Mrs.  Joseph, 
Putney  ;  Oliver,  Schenectady.  Emmons  Putney  says  Oliver, 
Sr. ,  once  carried  a  barrel  of  pork  from  a  wagon  into  the  house. 

William  Hallock,  fi-om  Long  Island,  homestead  the  pres- 
ent Hosford  place.  Children  were  Mrs.  Stephen  Hosford, 
Mrs.  Daniel  Perkins,  Jeremiah,  Moses,  and  others.  Mrs. 
Hallock,  wife  of  the  pioneer,  is  said  upon  undoubted  au- 
thority, as  stated  by  Mr.  Barrus,  to  have  brought  into  the 
country  the  seeds  of  the  ox-eye  daisy,  to  raise  the  beautiful 
star-like  flowers. 

John  James,  homestead  west  of  the  valley,  present  place 
of  George  Major.  Children  were  Capt.  Malachi,  of  Goshen, 
Moses,  and  several  daughters. 

Gershom  Cathcart,  about  1780,  homestead  the  well-known 
Cathcart  place.  Children:  Oliver  T.,  Goshen;  several  died 
young ;  Wealthy,  died  unmarried ;  Mrs.  William  Tilton, 
Mrs.  George  Abell ;  John  E.,  Minnesota. 

Joshua  Packard,  homestead  northwest  part  of  the  town ; 
he  was  a  soldier  of  the  old  French  war,  and  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Children:  Mrs.  Thwing  ;  Caleb,  of  Plainfield  ;  Joshua, 
Goshen;  Willard,  Goshen  (his  daughter  wife  of  Maj.  Hawks) ; 
Mrs.  Solomon  Parsons,  Mrs.  Ebenezer  Colsou,  Mrs.  Versal 
Bannister.  Calvin  A.  Packard,  a  grandson,  has  an  old  pow- 
der-horn, a  relic  of  the  pioneer's  military  service.  Artemas 
Stone  lived  opposite  the  Cathcart  place ;  one  daughter  was 
Mrs.  Rufus  Cushman. 

Reuben  Dresser,  of  Charlton,  homestead  on  the  hill  east  of 
the  present  mills.  The  mills  and  other  property  remain  in 
the  Dresser  family  to  the  pi'esent  time.  Children  :  Reuben, 
Amos,  Moses,  Aaron,  of  Goshen,  Mrs.  Rev.  Abel  Farley, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Erastus  Hawks,  Mrs,  Eleazer  Hawks.  Amos  was 
the  father  of  the  Amos  Dresser,  well  known  in  Abolition  cir- 
cles, who  was  driven  out  from  the  South  because  he  had  a  copy 
of  the  Emancipator  wrapped  around  the  Bibles  he  was  selling. 
61 


Moses  Dresser,  another  pioneer,  lived  on  the  Cole  place; 
went  back  to  Charlton.  Adam  Beals,  homestead  north  of 
Eleazer  Hawks.  His  children  were  Ezra,  Lydia,  Ruth,  and 
Wheat.  Adam  Beals  was  one  of  the  party  that  helped  throw 
the  tea  overboard  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  Gershom  Collier,  of 
Chesterfield,  was  also  in  that  aflair.  Christopher  Grant,  home- 
stead the  Porter  place.  Children  :  John,  Asa,  Joseph.  Ju.s- 
tin  Parsons,  brother  of  Ebenezer,  homestead  a  mile  north  of 
the  meeting-house.  Sears  place,  formerly  Smith.  Cyrus  Lyon, 
homestead  a  mile  south  of  the  meeting-house, — the  Dr.  Pierce 
place. 

Benjamin  Burgess,  the  long-time  physician,  homestead  pres- 
ent place  of  George  Kellogg.  Children  :  Mrs.  Mitchell  Dawes 
(mother  of  Senator  Dawes),  Cummington  ;  Mrs.  John  C.  Ly- 
man, Mrs.  Seth  Williams,  Cummington ;  Mrs.  Williams,  of 
Goshen,  and,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Williams,  Mrs.  Stephen 
Whitney,  of  Deerfield  ;  Silas,  Goshen  ;  Mrs.  Thomas  Brown  ; 
Jane,  unmarried. 

Col.  Ezra  May,  the  early  proprietor,  at  the  northeast  corner, 
opposite  the  Highland  House.  He  died  early.  His  widow, 
Margaret  May,  is  mentioned  in  the  negotiations  for  a  meeting- 
house site.  Emmons  Putney  understands  that  Col.  Ezra  had 
three  brothers  in  town, — Caleb,  Dexter,  and  Daniel. 

Edward  Orcutt,  homestead  northeast  a  mile  or  so  from  the 
meeting-house.  House  gone.  Children  :  James,  Goshen  ; 
Thomas,  Buckland ;  Origen,  Goshen  ;  Thankful,  an  old-time 
teacher  who  made  the  boys  mind.  It  is  said  of  Edward  Or- 
cutt that  his  wife  asked  him  to  bring  In  an  armful  of  oven- 
wood.  He  went  out,  was  gone  two  years,  and  when  he  returned 
entered  the  house  with  the  oven-wood. 

Capt.  Ambrose  Stone,  better  known  as  major,  homestead 
the  present  place  of  his  grandson,  Amos  Stone.  Children  : 
Col.  Luther,  Goshen ;  Mrs.  David  Carpenter ;  Ambrose, 
Goshen;  Mrs.  Elias  White;  Frederick  P.,  Goshen.  Alvan 
went  West,  and  perhaps  others. 

Capt.  Robert  Webster,  homestead  the  present  Hiram  Bates 
place.  Wm.  H.  Webster,  a  grandson,  now  lives  in  Spring- 
field. Capt.  Robert  was  a  prominent  man,  and  commanded 
the  Chesterfield  company  of  47  that  marched  to  Boston  after 
the  battle  of  Lexington. 

Ebenezer  Amidon,  a  mile  and  a  half  southwest  of  the  cen- 
tre ;  buildings  gone.  Ansel  Amidon,  perhaps  a  son  of  Ebene- 
zer, had  17  children,  all  boys  but  one  ;  all  grew  up,  and  all 
went  to  school  to  Emmons  Putney,  as  the  latter  still  delights 
to  relate. 

Joseph  Blake,  of  Braintree,  east  of  the  old  Putney  farm. 
Children  :  Mrs.  Elijah  Wolcott,  Williamsburg ;  Mrs.  Joseph 
Smith,  Hatfield  ;  Silas,  Goshen  ;  Mrs.  Abner  Bates  ;  Eleazer 
S wanton,  Joseph,  and  Comfort  died  young. 

Abijah  Tucker  was  a  pioneer  with  David  Stearns,  but  of  his 
family  we  have  little  or  no  account.  Isaac  Walker  lived  on 
the  Chesterfield  road ;  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and 
died  in  the  service,  being  left  sick  with  the  small-pox  in  a 
house  that  was  soon  after  captured  and  burnt.  Zebulon  Will- 
cutt.  His  homestead  was  two  miles  away  from  the  centre, 
near  the  Olds  place.  The  family  is  spoken  of  in  the  notes  upon 
Chesterfield.  Samuel  Grimes,  homestead  one  and  a  half  miles 
west  of  the  meeting-house. 

Ebenezer  Putney,  of  Charlton,  homestead  the  place  still 
known  as  the  Putney  farm.  Children :  Joseph,  Goshen ; 
Mrs.  John  Salmon,  Goshen ;  Mrs.  John  Smith,  Goshen ;  Elisha, 
Michigan,  killed  in  the  war  of  1812  ;  Nahum,  drowned  in 
Lake  Erie ;  Moses,  New  York ;  John,  Goshen ;  Amos,  New 
York  ;  Emmons  Putney,  a  son  of  Joseph,  the  only  grandson 
of  the  name  living  in  Goshen. 

Mr.  Barrus,  in  his  sketches,  states  that  Ebenezer  Putney 
was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  a  man  of  great  daring,  and 
Joseph  could  swing  a  barrel  of  rum  with  two  fingers  of  one 
hand.  Mr.  Putney's  second  wife  was  the  Widow  Walkley, 
daughter  of  Dyar  Bancroft,  and  a  cousin  of  President  Hayes. 


482 


HISTOKY   OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Other  pioneers  of  whom  we  have  hut  little  account  were 
Daniel  Wyman  (1770),  Joseph  Maynard  (1770),  Edward 
Wing,  from  "Warren,  William  Header,  from  Nantucket, 
Stephen  Grover,  Jolm  P.  Tucker,  Jacob  Barrett,  and  Seth 
Burk 

Samuel  Narramore,  two  miles  west  of  the  meeting-house. 
Children;  Nathaniel,  Capt.  Joseph,  Thaddeus,  Alpheus,  Mrs. 
Whitcomb,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Kittredge.  Caleb  Cushman.  Chil- 
dren :  Rufus  and  Ralph  became  ministers,  and  Calvin,  the 
well-known  missionary ;  and  there  were  five  daughters, — 
Wealthy,  Theodama,  Minerva,  Vesta,  Polly.  Jared  Hawks 
settled  in  Goshen  soon  after  the  Revolution,  and  married  the 
daughter  of  Col.  Nehemiah  May.  Elijah  Billings,  the  long- 
time blacksmith,  came  from  Belchertown  in  181G.  His  grand- 
father was  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 

William  Hallock,  from  Long  Island,  settled  in  Goshen  in 
17(36.  He  had  nine  children  who  lived  to  grow  up,  seven  of 
them  daughters.  The  two  sons  were  Rev.  Moses  Hallock  and 
Jeremiah  Hallock. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  1806,  was  celebrated  at  Goshen,  Ches- 
terfield and  Cummington  uniting  in  the  affair.  An  oration 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  Samuel  Whitman.  The  dinner  was 
served  at  the  house  of  Maj.  May.  One  of  the  toasts  was, 
"Tlie  Government  of  Massachusetts:  may  the  main  pillar 
continue  to  be  Strong." 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  i)eople  of  the  different  portions  of  the  town  of  Chester- 
field and  of  Chesterfield  Gore  found  it  difiicult  to  harmonize 
upon  a  common  centre  for  either  public  business  or  public 
worship.  The  distance  of  Ireland  Street  from  the  northeast 
portions  was  considerable,  and  the  long  struggle  over  the 
location  of  Chesterfield  meeting-house  is  not  surprising  when 
these  distances  are  considered,  and  when  there  is  also  added 
the  rough  topography  of  the  surface,  rendering  travel  in  some 
directions  vexatious  and  difficult.  These  things  soon  led  to  a 
project  for  a  new  town.  It  was  opposed  for  a  time  by  Chester- 
field, as  is  usually  the  case  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  divide 
an  existing  jurisdiction.  The  opposition  was  not,  however, 
very  strenuous  or  long  continued.  The  people  of  Chesterfield 
felt  as  if  their  meeting-house  had  been  located  to  please  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Gore,  and  that  the  latter  ought  not  to  secede.  But 
the  reasons  offered  were  sufficient  to  influence  the  General 
Court,  and  the  town  of  Goshen  was  therefore  incorporated 
and  organized  as  shown  in  the  following  records: 

ACT    OF    INCORPORATION. 

Couunonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

In  tho  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one. 

An  act  for  the  incorporation  of  tho  Plantation  called  Oiesterflold  Gore  and  the 
Northwi-Bterly  part  of  the  town  of  Chciterfield,  in  the  County  of  Hampshire, 
into  a  town  by  the  name  of  ftishen. 

Whereas,  tho  inhabitants  of  the  plantation  called  Chesterticld  Gore,  formerly 
known  by  the  second  additional  grant  made  to  Narragansett  Township,  No.  4, 
and  those  on  the  Northerly  part  of  the  first  additional  Grant  to  said  Narragan- 
sett Township,  now  included  in  the  town  of  Chesterfield,  aforesaid,  liaTe  re°pre- 
sented  to  this  court  tho  great  difficulties  and  inconveniences  they  Labor  under 
in  their  present  situation,  and  have  earnestly  requested  that  they  be  incorpo- 
rated into  a  t*jwn. 

Do  it  Uierefore  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  the  plantation  called  Ches- 
terfield Gore  and  that  part  of  tho  Hist  additional  Grant  to  Narragansett  Town- 
ship aforesiud,  now  included  in  the  town  of  Chestei-fleld.and  bounded  as  foUuweth, 
viz. :  Beginning  at  the  Southeast  corner  of  the  second  additional  Grant,  or  Ches- 
terfield Gore,  theuro  North,  hounding  Westerly  on  unappropiiat«d  lands  eight 
hundred  an,I  si.vty-four  rods  to  Ashfield  South  line;  thence  east  nineteen  de- 
grees South  on  said  Ashfield  South  line  till  it  comes  to  Conway  west  line ;  thence 
South  nineteen  degrees  west  on  said  Ccuiway  west  line  to  a  bounds  formcily 
known  by  Hatfteld  Northwest  corner;  thence  South  eleven  deg.ees  west  on  Wil- 
liamsbuigb  west  line  to  the  SouUieast  coi-ner  of  tho  firet  ad.litional  grant  to  said 
Narragansett,  Number  4  ;  thence  west  on  the  South  line  .)f  said  grant  six  hun- 
dr.Ml  and  fifty-four  nids,  including  the  whole  of  the  four-tier  of  the  original  lots 
on  the  said  firet  additional  grant;  thence  North  eleven  degrees  east  on  the  west 
line  of  the  aforesaid  four-tier  of  original  hits  four  hun.lred  and  fifty  rods  to  the 
Northwest  corner  of  the  original  Lot  No.  Twenty-nine  ;  thence  west  tlnee  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  rods  to  tlio  Southwest  corner  of  lot  No.  Ninety-four  being 


the  Northwest  corner  of  the  Pine-timber  lot  so  called ;  thence  North  eleven 
degrees  Ei\st  four  hundred  rods  to  the  South  line  of  the  second  additional  grant, 
or  t'hestei-field  Gore  ;  thence  west  to  first-mentioned  bounds,  be,  and  hereby  is, 
incorporated  into  a  separate  town  by  the  name  of  Goshen,  with  all  the  powers, 
privileges,  and  immunities  that  towns  within  this  Commonwealth  have  or  do 
enjoy. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  that  .lacob  Sherwin,  Esq.,  be,  and  hereby  is,  em- 
powered to  issue  his  warrant  to  some  piincipal  inhabitant  of  said  plantation, 
requiring  him  to  call  a  meeting  of  said  inhabitants,  in  order  to  choose  such 
officers  as,  by  law,  towns  are  empowered  to  choose,  in  the  month  of  March 
annually,  provided,  nevertheless,  the  inhabitants  of  tluit  part  of  the  first  addi- 
tional grant,  which  arc  included  in  the  town  of  Chesterfield,  shall  pay  their 
prolwrtionate  part  of  all  such  State  and  county  taxes  and  town  taxes,  so  far  as 
respects  the  raising  of  men  and  supplies  for  the  Continental  army,  as  are  already 
set  upon  them  by  the  town  of  Chesterfield,  in  like  manner  as  though  this  act 
haxl  not  been  made. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  May  14, 1781.  This  Bill,  having  had  three 
several  readings,  passed  to  be  enacted. 

Caleb  Davis,  Speaker. 

In  Senate,  May  14,  1781.  This  bill,  having  had  two  several  readings,  passed 
to  be  enacted. 

Jeremiah  Russell,  PresUlent. 
Approved. 

John  Hancock. 
A  true  copy.  Attest,  John  Aveey,  Secretai-y. 

WARRANT    FOR   THE   FIRST   TOWN-MEETING. 
Hampshire  County,  s8.  ; 

To  Mr.  Nehemiah  Way,  of  Goshen,  in  said  county,  greeting :  Whereas  the 
Great  and  General  Cflurt  of  this  Commonwealth  did,  at  their  session  in  May 
instant,  by  an  act  of  said  Court,  erect  the  Plantation  called  Chesterfield  Gore, 
formerly  known  by  the  second  additional  gi'ant,  made  to  NaiTagansett  township 
No.  4,  and  those  in  the  northwardly  part  of  the  first  additional  grant  to  said 
Narragansett  Township,  in  said  county  aforesaid,  into  a  town  by  the  name  of 
Goshen,  investing  the  inhabitants  thereof  with  all  the  poweiB,  privileges,  and 
immunities  which  the  iuhabitjtnta  of  the  towns  within  this  commonwealth  do 
enjoy,  and  at  the  same  time  empowered  me,  the  subscriber,  one  of  the  justices 
of  the  peace  within  and  for  the  said  county  of  Hampshire,  to  issue  my  warrant 
for  calling  the  first  meeting. 

These  are  therefore  in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  to 
require  you  forthwith  to  notify  and  warn  the  inhabitants  of  Goshen  aforesaid, 
lately  belonging  to  Chesterfield,  qualified  by  law  to  vote  in  town-meetings,  to  as- 
semble themselves  together  and  meet  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  John  Williams, 
in  the  town  of  Goshen  aforesaid,  on  Wednesday,  the  23d  day  of  May  instant,  at 
one  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  then  and  tliere,  after  a  moderator  being  chosen, 
to  choose  all  such  officers  as  ai'e  required  by  law  to  manage  the  affairs  of  said 
town. 

Hereof  fail  not,  but  make  returns  of  this  warrant  with  your  doings  thereupon 
unto  myself  on  or  before  said  day. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Ashfield,  this  19th  day  of  May,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  1781,  and  in  the  fifth  year  of  our  independence. 

Jacob  Sherwin,  Justice  of  Ihe  Peace. 

Another  warrant  was  issued  by  Jacob  Sherwin,  Esq.,  at 
the  time,  and  same  in  substance  with  the  above,  directed  to 
Mr.  Barzillai  Bannister,  to  warn  the  second  additional  grant. 
Attest :         Solomon  Weeks,  Town  Clerk. 

MINUTES   OF   THE   FIRST   TOWN-MEETING. 

At  a  legal  Meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Goshen,  held  at  the  house 
of  John  Williams  in  said  town  on  the  23il  day  of  May,  1781,  Jacob  Shenvin,  Esq., 
Moderator,  said  inhabitants  mjide  choice  of  Thomas  Weeks  for  their  Clerk ;  Mr. 
Joshua  Abell,  Treasurer  for  said  town;  Capt.  Wm.  Wliite,  Lieut.  Lemuel  Lyon, 
and  May.  Christopher  Bannister,  Selectmen  for  said  town.  Voted  that  the  above 
selectmen  be  assessors  for  said  town.  Voted  to  choose  two  constables.  Made 
choice  of  Thomas  Brown  and  Ebenezer  Parsons  for  constables  in  said  town.  Voted 
that  Messre.  Lemuel  Bannister  an<l  Farnum  White  serve  as  Tythingmen.  Voted 
that  Farnum  White,  Lemuel  Bannister,  Ebenezer  Putney,  Lieut.  Timothy  Ly- 
nuiu,  Thomas  Weeks,  and  B-arzillai  Bannister  be  Snrveyoi-s  of  Ways  and  Bridges. 
Voted  that  John  Smith  and  Maj.  Christopher  Bannister  be  Fence-Viewere.  Voted 
that  Sauiuel  Olds  be  Leather-Sealer.  Voted  that  Barzillai  Bannister  be  Deer- 
Reeve.  A'oted  that  John  Williams  be  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures.  Voted 
that  Nehemiah  May,  Daniel  Brown,  Barzillai  Bannister,  and  Lemuel  Bannister 
be  Hog-Reeves.  Voted  that  the  Surveyol-s  of  Ways  and  Bridges  be  CoUectore  of 
Taxes  for  the  same.    Said  meeting  was  then  dissolved. 

The  newly-elected  selectmen  immediately  called  another 
town-meeting,  that  assembled  at  the  house  of  John  W^illiams 
on  Monday,  the  4th  day  of  June,  1781 : 

Capt.  Wm.  Mliite  was  chosen  Moderator.  Voted  to  r.iise  the  sum  of  fifty 
lK)unds,  silver  mtmey,  for  the  use  of  Repairing  the  Highways  in  said  town. 
Voted  that  the  said  sum  of  fifty  pounds  be  laid  out  upon  the  Highways  at  the 
rate  of  3  shillings  per  day  for  a  man,  1  shilling  6  pence  for  a  good  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  one  shilling  for  a  cart  and  the  same  for  a  plough  for  a  day.  On  a  motion 
whether  Hogs  should  run  at  large,  pa.sseil  in  the  negative.  On  a  motion  whether 
the  town  would  raise  a  sum  of  money  for  the  use  of  hiring  preaching,  passed  in 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


483 


the  negative.  Voted  to  raise  the  sum  of  eight  dollars,  silver  money,  for  the  use 
of  purchasing  a  book  for  the  records  of  said  town  and  paper  for  the  said  town. 
On  a  motion  whether  the  town  would  petition  for  a  part  of  the  State's  land  and 
tl»e  Chandlur  grant  lying  wt^^t  nf  said  town,  to  lie  annexed  thereto  as  will  best 
accommodate  said  town,  voted  in  the  affirmative,  but  it  was  afterward  reconsid- 
ered and  no  action  authorized.  Voted  to  give  Mr.  Josepli  Barker  a  call  to  settle 
with  them  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Voted  to  make  proposals  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Mr.  Barker,  and  appointed  Maj.  Bannister,  Thomas  Brown,  Lemuel 
Bannister,  Lieut.  Tinuthy  Lyman,  and  Ebenezer  Putney  a  Committee  to  draw 
up  said  proposals.     Voted  to  adjourn  to  Thursday,  Juno  21st,  at  4  o'clock  p.m. 

June  21, 1781. — Met  according  to  adjournment.  Voted  that  said  town  will 
give  Mr.  Joseph  Barker  the  sum  of  KX)  pounds  as  an  encounigeuient,  provided 
he  should  settle  with  them  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, — the  same  to  be  paid 
at  the  rate  of  rye  3s.  per  busliel  and  Imlian-corii  2k.  per  bushel. 

Voted  that  if  he  should  settle  with  them  his  3;ilary  shall  be  forty  pounds  the 
firet  year,  and  after  that  to  increase  annually  five  pounds  until  it  amounts  to 
sixty-five  poumls,  and  then  to  be  stated  at  the  said  sum  of  sixty-tive  pounds  an- 
nually at  the  rate  above  described. 

Voted  that  Messrs.  Lemuel  Bannister,  David  Stearns,  and  Thomas  Brown  be 
a  committee  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Barker  with  the  proceedings  of  said  town  with 
respect  to  the  offei-s  made  him  above. 

Tuesday,  Aug.  21, 1781. — Voted  to  accept  the  doiugs  of  the  militia  officei-s  and 
selectmon  in  raising  tliree  militia  soldiers  for  three  months. 

Voted  to  raise  the  sum  of  thirty-six  pounds  three  shillings  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  the  bounty  and  wages  of  three  soldiera  for  three  months'  service,  agree- 
ably to  a  Resolve  of  the  General  Court  of  the  3Uth  of  June,  1781. 

Voted  to  procure  five  linen  shirts,  five  pairs  of  stockings,  five  pairs  of  shoes, 
and  two  blankets,  for  the  Continental  array,  agreeable  to  a  resolve  of  the  General 
Court  passed  June  22, 1781. 

Voted  to  procure  this  town's  proportion  of  beef  for  the  array  according  to  the 
act  of  June  22d,  viz., — 2101  pounds  of  beef, — and  to  raise  the  aura  of  thirty-two 
pounds  of  money  for  said  purpuse. 

Voted  that  Ebenezer  Putney,  Lemuel  Banuister,  and  Thcunas  Hamilton  be  a 
committee  to  purchase  said  beef. 

At  a  town  meeting  Oct.  10,  1781,  Capt.  Wm.  White,  Moderator. 

Voted  a  committee  upon  preaching,  viz., — Lemuel  Bannister,  Thomas  Brown, 
Farnuni  White,  Thomas  Weeks,  David  Stearns. 

Voted  to  raise  fifteen  pounds  for  the  above  purpose. 

Voted  a  committee  to  divide  said  town  into  scliool  di.itricts,  viz., — Ebenezer 
Putney,  Timothy  Lyman,  Thomas  Hamilton,  Benjamin  Burger,  Oliver  Taylor, 
Christopher  and  William  Hallock. 

Voted  to  pay  one  pound  to  John  Williams  for  the  use  of  his  house  the  year 
post. 

At  a  town-meeting  Nov,  7, 1781,  Maj.  Christopher  Bannister,  Moderator. 

Chose  a  committee  of  seven  to  set  up  a  stake  in  the  most  convenient  place  to 
set  a  meeting-house  on  the  hill  in  Lieut.  Lyman's  field,  and  another  in  the  most 
convenient  place  for  said  house  south  of  the  buryiug-ground.  Tlie  committee 
were  David  Stoarus,  Lemuel  Lyon,  John  James,  Lemuel  Bannister,  James 
Packard,  Thomas  Hamilton,  Joshua  Abell. 

A(.ljourned  the  meeting  ^/tec«  minutes. 

The  committee  made  prompt  work  driving  those  stakes,  for 
when  the  meeting  assembled  at  the  end  of  the  fifteen  minutes, 
it  was  voted  "  to  set  tlie  meeting-house  south  of  the  burying- 
yard  where  said  committee  had  set  up  a  stake  for  that  purpose." 

Voted  "  to  build  a  meeting-house  50  feet  in  length  and  40  in  width  ;  the  posts 
to  be  two  feet  shnrter  tkati  Chesterfield  meetiiuj-hoiise.''^ 

Voted  to  build  a  poi'ch  in  front  of  said  house  for  the  accommodation  of  gtdng 
up  gallery. 

Voted  a  committee  on  plan  and  on  the  sale  of  pews,  viz.:  John  James,  Bar- 
ziliai  Bannister,  Ebenezer  Putney,  Artemas  Stone,  and  Lemuel  Bannister. 

Tbf  committee  wore  to  lay  out  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  pews  in 
building  the  meeting-house. 

Nov.  15, 1781. — Voted  to  reconsider  the  former  aotion  for  one  porch,  and  voted 
to  have  tico  porches,  one  at  each  etid. 

Voted  to  reserve  the  pew  on  the  right  hand  next  to  the  pulpit  for  the  use  of 
the  town. 

Voted  that  the  pew  ground  on  the  lower  floor  be  divideil  into  thirty-eight  equal 
parts,  as  near  as  may  be. 

Voted  to  raise  the  sum  of  2o  pounds  for  schooling. 

Tuesday,  Dec.  21,  1781. — William  White,  Moderator. 

Voted  that  Mr.  Joshua  Abell  be  tlie  person  to  receive  the  donations  that  may 
be  given  in  this  town  to  the  support  of  the  suflerera  in  the  Southern  States, 
agreeable  to  a  brief  from  his  Excellency,  John  Hancock,  and  pay  the  same  to 
the  gentlemen  said  brief  directs. 

Voted  that  the  committee  to  hire  preaching  are  hereby  instructed  to  hire  Mr. 
Abraham  Fowler  to  preiich  ten  Saltbaths  more  after  the  next  Sabbath. 

Voted  to  choose  a  committee  of  three  to  give  reasons  to  the  General  Court  (in 
behalf  of  suid  town,)  why  a  number  of  inhabitants  of  this  town  should  not  be 
set  oft'  to  Chesterfield  as  best  they  can.  Committee:  Capt.  William  White,  Msy". 
Christopher  Bannister,  and  Barzillai  Bannister. 

Jan.  10, 1782. — Maj.  Christopher  Bannister,  Moderator. 

Voted  that  the  town  will  make  answer  to  a  petition  of  Moses  Dresser  and 
others  why  the  prayer  of  said  petition  should  not  be  granted  at  the  next  sitting 
of  the  General  Court. 

Capt.  William  White,  Maj.  Cliriatopher  Banuister,  LieUt.  Lemuel  Lyon  were 
named  as  a  committee  to  draft  said  answer. 


Voted  that  the  Selectmen  be  instructed  to  make  a  just  representation  to  the 
Geneial  Court  of  the  valuation  to  be  taken  from  Ciiesterfield  and  set  to  this 
town. 

At  the  first  regular  March  meeting,  held  on  the  4th  day  of  the  month,  1782, 
Mr.  John  James  was  chosen  Moderator;  Thomas  Weeks,  Town  Clerk ;  Thomas 
Brown,  Town  Treasurer ;  Capt.  William  White,  Maj.  Christopher  Bannister,  Lieut. 
Oliver  Taylor,  Selectmen;  John  James,  Reuben  Dresser,  Capt.  William  White, 
Assessors;  Barzillai  Bannister,  Nehemiah  May,  Const;ibles ;  Farnum  White,  John 
Smith,  Tythingmen ;  Maj.  Christopher  Bannister,  Farnum  ^Vllite,  Moses  Dresser, 
Barzillai  Bannister,  Artemas  Stone,  Ebenezer  Putney,  Surveyors  of  Ways  and 
Bridges;  James  Packard,  .\dara  Beals,  Fence-Viewers;  Samuel  Olds,  Leather- 
Sealer;  Christopher  Grant,  Deer-Reeve;  John  Williams,  Sealer  ot  Weights  and 
Measures;  Justin  Parsons,  Daniel  Brown,  David  Stfurns,  Capt.  William  White, 
Cyrus  Lyon,  Hog-Reeves.  Voted  to  allow  Thomas  Weeks  the  sum  of  nine  slul- 
lings  for  his  service  surveying  roads  in  said  town.  Voted  that  each  school  district 
draw  their  proportion  of  the  money  granted  by  said  town  for  the  puri)ose  of 
schooling. 

At  another  meeting,  April  1,  1782. — Voted  to  accept  several  roads  laid  out 
during  the  previous  year  by  the  surveyors.  Voted  to  allow  the  Widow  Margaret 
May  the  sum  of  four  pounds  eight  shillings,  for  Ixiarding  Mr.  Barker  four  weeks 
at  6s.,  and  his  horse  do.,  at  2s.,  and  boarding  Mr.  Fowlei-  seven  weeks,  at  6s.,  and 
his  hoi-se  do.,  at  23.     Total  £4  88, 

At  a  town-meeting,  April  a,  1782,  presided  over  by  the  Selectmen,  the  follow- 
ing votes  were  given:  For  Governor,  John  Hancock,  11  votes;  James  Bowdoin, 
5  votes.  Lieutenant-Governor,  Thoma-s  Cuslung,  13  votes.  For  Councillor  and 
Senator,  Noah  Goodman,  14  votes;  John  Bliss,  14  votes;  Samuel  Mather,  14 
vutes ;  David  Smead,  14  votes. 

April  1, 1782. — Wm.  White,  Modeiutor.  Voted  to  raise  65  pounds  for  repairing 
highways.  Voted  to  albtw  Ss.  per  day  for  a  man  to  the  last  day  of  July,  and  2s. 
6il.  from  then  to  the  hist  of  October.  Voted  that  the  town  confirm  what  the 
assessors  have  done  with  respect  to  classing  said  inhabitants  to  i-aise  two  Conti- 
nental soldiere,  agreeable  to  the  resolve  of  the  General  Court.  John  James, 
Oliver  Taylor,  and  Reuben  Dresser  were  appointed  a  committee  to  settle  with 
the  treasurer.  Voted  to  choose  a  delegate  to  send  to  the  Couuty  Convention  at 
Hatfield,  and  elected  Wm.  White  said  delegate.  Voted  to  raise  20  pounds  for  the 
support  of  preaching. 

April  6, 1782. — Voted  to  accept  the  report  of  the  committee  to  settle  with  the 
treasurer. 

May  13, 1782.— Voted  that  the  Ministry  Committee  be  hereby  directed  to  hire 
Mr.  Fish  to  preach  eight  Sabbaths  more  than  he  is  now  engaged  for.  Vnted  Dr. 
Benjamin  Burger  to  be  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  to  meet  at  Hatfield,  May 
14th.  Ebenezer  Putney,  Mr.  Orcutt,  Capt.  White,  Lieut.  Taylor,  and  Reuben 
Dresser  were  appointed  a  committee  to  instruct  said  delegate. 

May  20, 1782, — Capt.  Wm.  White,  Moderator.  Voted  to  centre  said  town  and 
build  a'meeting-house  in  the  centre,  or  the  nearest  convenient  place  thereto. 
Chose  Reuben  Dresser,  Thomas  Hamilton,  Joshua  Abell,  Barzillai  Bannister, 
and  John  James  a  committee  to  find  the  centre  of  the  town.  Voted  that  swine 
run  at  large  the  present  year,  yoked  and  ringed,  as  the  law  directs.  Voted  to 
hear  the  report  of  the  agent  returned  from  the  County  Convention.  Voted  to 
reconsider  the  vote  to  set  the  meeting-house  where  the  timber  now  lies.  Voted 
to  accept  the  report  of  the  committee  upon  the  centre  of  the  town.  Voted  an- 
other committee  to  find  the  nearest  convenient  place  to  the  centre  to  set  the 
meeting-house.  Committee,  Reuben  Dresser,  Thonuis  Hamilton,  Jt>shua  Abell, 
Barzillai  Bannister,  John  Jiunes,  Maj.  Bannister,  Dr.  Burger,  Ebenezer  Putney, 
Ebenezer  Pai-sons,  and  Lemuel  Lyon.  A<ljonrned  for  half  an  hour.  Called  to 
order  again.  Committee  returned,  and  report  accepted,  and,  as  it  appcara,  in 
accordance  therewith,  voted  that  the  town  "  would  set  the  meeting-house  about 
ten  rods  North  of  Lieut.  Lemuel  Lyons'  house,  a  stake  being  set  up  for  the  South- 
east corner  thereof." 

May  21, 1782. — Maj.  Christopher  Banuister,  Moderator.  "Voted  to  clioose  an 
intiiflerent  committee  to  affix  a  place  to  set  the  meeting-house  in  the  centre  of 
the  town  or  the  nearest  most  convenient  place  thereto."  Chose  Deacon  Eben- 
ezer Snell,  of  Cumnnngton,  Capt.  Benjamin  PbilHps,  uf  Ashfield,  Josiah  Dwight, 
of  Williamsburgh,  Voted  to  add  three  to  the  alx)ve  committee,  with  the  pro- 
viso that  the  foniier  or  either  of  them  should  fail  of  attending,  viz.,  William 
Ward,  Jacob  Sherwin,  and  William  Bodman.  Voted  said  committee  he  requested 
to  attend  a  meeting  of  said  town  on  Monday  next,  at  9  o'clock.  Voted  that  the 
committee  be  governed  by  plans  already  drawn  for  finding  the  centre  of  the 
town.  Voted  a  committee  of  five  to  wait  upon  the  committee  from  abroad,  viz., 
Capt.  Wm.  Wlnte,  Joshua  Abell,  Thomas  Hauulton,  Reuben  Dresser,  Barzillai 
Bannister.  Voted  that  any  person  or  pereons  should  lay  any  papers  or  reiiaons 
before  said  committee  for  their  consideration  respecting  setting  or  affixing  a 
place  for  said  house. 

May  30, 1782.— Capt.  William  White,  Moderator.  Voted  to  set  the  meeting- 
house on  the  division  line  between  Lieut.  Lemuel  Lyon  and  the  Widow  Margaret 
May's  lands,  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  leading  from  the  Widow  May's  to  said 
Lyons. 

This  was  the  final  decision. 

One  account  of  the  selection  of  the  name  is  given  by  Mrs. 
William  Tilton.  Her  mother  told  her  she  heard  Oliver  Taylor 
say,  after  returning  from  a  preliminary  meeting  on  the  sub- 
ject of  division,  that  they  were  going  to  call  the  new  town 
Goshen,  because  it  was  the  best  part  of  Chesterfield,  as  ancient 
Goshen  was  the  best  part  of  Egypt. 

Local  home  independence  shows  out  stroi]g  in  the  following : 


484 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Sept.  22, 1783. — Voted  not  iopay  any  CottUnetiltd,  State,  or  Comili/  taxes  mdil  Con- 
gress rescind  Oieir  farmer  note  about  altowituj  fice  years'  pay  to  the  o£kers  of  the  Con- 
tmentiil  army. 

In  the  warriint  for  a  meeting,  Jan.  IR,  1797,  one  article  wa.s 
this: 

"  To  see  if  the  t<iwn  will  agree  to  let  oiuj  person  hare  the  sfuall-itox  in  this  town  hij 
way  of  inoculation  ivhicli  have  not  been  exposed  to  it,  or  what  order  the  town 
•Bill  take  upon  it."  And  accordingly  the  town  appointed  Dr.  Benjamin  Burger, 
Ehenezer  Putney,  Deacon  Oliver  Taylor,  Capt.  Ambrose  Stone,  Lieut.  Nehemiah 
May,  Justin  Parsons,  Deacon  Thoma.s  Brown,  Lieut.  Ebenczer  Parsons,  a  com- 
mittee "to  conduct  the  business  respecting  the  smal!-pox  as  they  shall  see  fit." 

And  thus  we  reach  the  end  of  one  year's  work  by  the  new 
town  of  Goshen,  the  above  account  being  an  almost  ver- 
batim transcript  of  the  entire  records  of  the  year  found  in  the 
office  of  the  town  clerk.  They  show  what  a  variety  of  ques- 
tions the  town  was  compelled  to  consider  at  the  very  outset  of 
its  official  existence.  It  was  yet  unsettled  whether  a  national 
government  was  to  be  established,  or  whether  these  States  were 
again  to  become  provinces  under  the  dominion  of  his  Majesty 
George  III.  Churches,  schools,  roads,  taxes,  the  support  of 
the  poor, — in  short,  all  the  minute  details  of  domestic  neces- 
sities,— were  to  be  adjusted  in  the  very  presence  of  the  over- 
shadowing storm  of  civil  revolution. 

Bravely,  steadily  they  met  all  these  responsibilities.  They 
voted,  sometimes  in  close  connection,  to  furnish  soldiers  for  the 
army,  buy  beef  to  feed  them,  procure  clothing  for  them,  hire 
a  minister,  establish  schools,  open  roads,  permit  hogs  to  run  at 
large  if  properly  yoked,  drive  stakes  to  designate  a  site  for  a 
meeting-house,  send  out  a  committee  to  drive  them  over  again 
in  half  an  hour,  audit  a  bill  for  the  board  of  the  minister,  guard 
the  integrity  of  their  own  territory,  send  agents  to  Boston  to 
resist  applications  for  a  division,  face  the  incipient  troubles  of 
the  hard  times  that  a  little  later  culminated  in  Shays'  rebel- 
lion,— and  all  this  in  the  first  year  of  their  history  I  Surely 
the  men  of  Goshen  were  men  of  whom  any  age  might  be 
proud, — men  worthy  to  be  the  founders  of  a  nation,  as  they 
were  the  organizers  of  a  town. 

At  a  town-meeting,  April  1,  1805,  voted  to  accept  a  grant 
made  to  the  town  in  the  will  of  the  late  John  James,  said 
grant  being  the  sum  of  $100,  to  be  placed  on  interest  and  to 
accumulate  for  one  hundred  years  ;  all  expense  of  the  invest- 
ment to  be  paid  by  the  town,  so  that  the  revenue  frotn  the 
principal  shall  not  be  diminished  at  all  by  the  care  of  the  fund. 
At  the  end  of  one  hundred  years  the  [irincipal  and  the  accu- 
mulated interest  are  to  constitute  a  vested  fund  forever,  the 
interest  of  which  shall  be  annually  used  for  the  support  "of 
a  gospel  minister  in  said  town  of  the  Congregational  standing 
order,  so  called,"  for  the  support  of  schools,  and  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor  in  said  town,  or  for  the  building  and  repairing 
of  public  buildings,  as  the  case  may  be.  There  is  a  good  time 
ahead  for  the  Goshen  taxpayers  of  1905. 

In  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting,  to  he  held  April  4, 1808,  waa  the  following 
clause:  "To  see  if  the  town  will  forward  a  memorial  to  the  Congress  cf  the  United 
States,  prayiiuj  for  aji  esplttiudi^n  of  their  measures  respectimj  the  Embargo  and  re- 
dress of  Grievances,  or  what  order  they  will  take  upon  it."  And  the  town  voted 
a  committee  to  draft  such  a  memorial, — Deacon  Taylor,  William  White,  Deacon 
Parsons,  and  Col.  May. 

Tlio  warrant  for  a  meeting  Aug.  23,  1808,  contains  the  clause:  "To  see  if  the 
town  will  forward  a  petition  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  asking  for  a 
suspension  of  the  Embargo."  This  action  was  taken  in  view  of  a  circular  letter 
from  the  selectmen  of  Boston. 

The  warrant  for  a  meeting  J.an.  31,  1814,  contained  the  clause :  "  To  see  if  the 
town  will  prefer  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  of  this  Commonwealth  relative 
to  an  amendment  to  the  Constituti.in  of  the  United  States,  and  to  attend  to  any 
otlier  matters  the  town  shall  think  proper  relative  to  our  unhappy  situation  as 
tt  nation." 

At  the  meeting  a  long  series  of  resolutions  was  adopted, 
the  first  three  of  which  are  as  follows : 

liesolred.  That  the  present  war  in  which  we  are  involved  is  impolitic,  unneces- 
sary, unjust,  and  consequently  wicked,  and  that  we  will  not  voluntarily  attord 
any  aid,  dii-ectly  or  indirectly,  in  carrying  it  on. 

liesolred.  That  if  the  war  in  which  wo  are  engaged  were  ever  so  just  and  neces- 
sary, yet  the  way  and  manner  in  wliich  it  has  been  carried  on  argues  the  weak- 
ness of  the  present  administration  to  ho  without  a  parallel. 

Itesolved,  That  although  we  utterly  disapprove  of  rising  against  Government, 


yet  the  taxes  that  are  soon  to  be  collected  of  us  that  have  been  laid  by  the  na- 
tional Government  we  shall  pay  with  the  greatest  reluctance. 

These  resolutions  were  accompanied  by  a  memorial  to  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature. 

The  first  intention  of  marriage  on  record  in  the  oldesttown- 
book  is  between  James  Hunter,  of  Pelham,  and  Widow  Sarah 
Nelson,  of  Goshen,  April  21,  1783;  the  next,  between  Justis 
Lewis,  of  New  Hartford,  and  Eleanor  King,  of  Goshen,  June 
30,  1783.  The  first  births  on  record  are  those  of  the  Samuel 
Grimes  family,  commencing  with  the  oldest,  James  Grimes, 
born  Feb.  7,  1769,  at  Brookfield.  Then  follow  the  families 
of  Stephen  Graves,  Joseph  Narramore,  Cyrus  Lyon,  Daniel 
Brown,  Cheney  Taft,  Samuel  Olds,  Lemuel  Lyon,  William 
Bannister,  Abner  Baker,  Caleb  Cushman,  Farnum  White, 
and  many  others.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  family  history 
in  these  volumes,  as  the  custom  of  publishing  intentions  of 
marriage  brought  them  all  to  the  town  clerk  for  record. 
Several  pages,  too,  are  full  of  the  marriages  solemnized  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitman  and  by  Oliver  Taylor,  Esq. 

On  page  73  of  the  second  volume  of  town  records  there  is  a 
report  upon  the  James  fund,  showing  it  to  amount  to  $367.74 
in  the  year  1827. 

Town-meetings  were  held  "at  the  house  of  John  Wil- 
liams," now  the  homestead  of  Hinckley  Williams,  until  the 
meeting-house  was  partially  finished  in  the  winter  of  1782-83, 
and  there  they  continued  for  fifty-one  years.  The  meeting  for 
Nov.  10,  1834,  was  called  at  the  hall  over  the  store  of  Ebenezer 
W.  Town,  and  there  they  continued  for  several  years.  The 
first  meeting  called  at  "  the  town-hall"  was  that  of  Nov.  11, 
1839.  A  meeting  for  Sept.  29,  1842,  was  called  "to  meet  at 
the  Congregational  meeting-house."  After  that  they  met  at 
"  Bridgman's  Hall"  until  the  meeting  of  Nov.  12,  1849,  which 
was  the  first  called  at  the  present  town-hall. 

SELECTMEN. 

1781. — Wm.  White,  Lemuel  Lyon,  Christopher  Bannister. 

1782. — Wm.  White,  Oliver  Taylor,  Christopher  Bannister. 

1783. — Wni.  White,  Reiiben  Dresser,  Lieut.  Oliver  Taylor. 

1784-85. — Wni.  ^Vllite,  Reuben  Dresser,  Ebenezer  Parsons. 

1780, — Dr.  Benjamin  Burger,  Thomas  Brown,  Christopher  Bannister,  Samuel 

Grimes,  Elienezer  Putney. 
1787. — Dr.  Benjamin  Burger,  Deacon  Oliver  Taylor,  Thomas  Brown. 
1788-89. — Wm.  White,  Thomas  Brown,  Oliver  Taylor. 
1790. — Reuben  Dresser,  Oliver  Taylor,  Beujannn  Burger. 
1791. — Reuben  Dresser,  Lemuel  Bannister,  Barzillai  Bannister. 
1792. — Reuben  Dresser,  Benjamin  Burger,  Oliver  Taylor. 
1793. — Oliver  Taylor,  Thonnis  Brown,  Nehemiah  May. 
1794. — Oliver  Taylor,  Ambrose  Stone,  Nehemiah  May. 
1795. — Nehemiah  May,  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Joseph  Narramore. 
179G. — Reuben  Dresser,  Ehenezer  Putney,  Ambrose  Stone. 
1797._Lieut.  Nehemiah  May,  Joshua  Abell,  Jr.,  George  Salmon. 
1798. — Oliver  Taylor,  Ambrose  Stone,  George  Salmon. 
1799.— Oliver  Taylor,  Ambrose  Stone,  Justin  Parsons. 
180O. — Justin  Parsons,  George  Salmon,  Alphens  Narramore. 
1801.— Oliver  Taylor,  George  Salmon,  Alpheus  Narramore. 
1802. — Oliver  Taylor,  John  Williams,  Solomon  Pai-sons. 
1803. — Reuben  Dresser,  John  Williams,  Capt.  Joseph  Narramore. 
1804-5. — Justin  Parsons,  Ambi-ose  Stone,  George  Salmon. 
ISOti. — Reuben  Dresser,  Ellis  Coney,  John  Williams. 
1807. — Reid)en  Dresser,  Ambrose  Stone,  John  Grant. 
ISOS. — John  Grant,  Giles  Lyman,  Gershoni  Cathcart. 
1809.— John  Grant,  Gershoni  Cathcart,  Timothy  Lyman,  Jr. 
1810-11.— John  Grant,  Joshua  Abell,  Jr.,  Timothy  Lyman,  Jr. 
1812. — John  C.  Lym.an,  Joshua  Packard,  Jr.,  Oliver  Taylor. 
1813. — Oliver  Taylor,  Ambrose  Stone,  John  C.  Lyman. 
1814. — Maj.  Stone,  John  C.  Lyntan,  Benjamin  White. 
1815-16. — John  C.  Lyman,  Joshua  Packard,  Jr.,  Benjjiniin  White. 
1817. — Maj.  A.  Stone,  T.  Lyman,  R.  Dresser. 
1818. — Timothy  Lyman,  Benjamin  White,  Joseph  Putney. 
1819. — Timothy  Lyman,  Benjamin  White,  Robert  W^ebster. 
1820-23. — Timothy  Lyman,  Robert  Weiister,  Luther  Stone. 
1.S24. — Benjamin  White,  Capt.  John  Graut,  Joshua  Simmons. 
1825. — Benjaniin  White,  Asahel  Billings,  Francis  Lyman. 
1826. — Benjamin  White,  Luther  Stone,  Josliua  I'ackard. 
1827. — Benjaunn  White,  Joshua  Sinmions,  Asahel  Billings. 
1828. — Timothy  Lyman,  John  Grant,  Samuel  Luce. 
1829-31. — Timothy  Lynnm,  John  Grant,  Luther  Stone. 
1832. — .Tohn  Grant,  Asahel  Billings,  Horace  Packard. 
1^33. — Luther  Stone,  Asahel  Billings,  Horace  Packard. 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


485 


1834.^Luthor  Stone,  Asahel  Billings,  Franklin  Narramore. 
1S3,'>. — Asahel  Billings,  Moses  Dresser,  Hoi-a^e  Packard. 
1836. — Asahel  Billings,  Barney  Prentice,  William  Titson. 
1837. — Emmons  Putney,  Francis  Lyman,  Selah  Bardwell. 
1838. — Lnther  Stone,  Asahel  Billings,  Moses  Dresser. 
1839. — Lnther  Stone,  Moses  Dresser,  W'illiiim  Abell. 
1840. — William  Aliell,  Franklin  Narramore,  Horace  Packard. 
1841. — Luther  Stone,  Asahel  Billings,  Franklin  Narramore. 
1842. — Benjamin  Wliite,  West  Tilson,  Daniel  Williams. 
1843-44. — Franklin  Narramore,  Luther  Stone,  Francis  Dresser. 
184.5. — Franklin  Narramore,  Kalph  Utley,  Freeman  Sears. 
184G. — Anilirose  Stone,  Freeman  Sears,  West  Tilsou. 
1847^9. — Freeman  Sears,  Francis  Dresser,  West  Tilson. 
1850. — Freeman  Sears,  Franklin  Narramore,  West  Tilson. 
1851. — Franklin  Narramore,  Asahel  Billings,  George  Ahell. 
1852.— Asahel  Billings,  George  Abell,  John  M.  Smith. 
1853-54. — Asa  White,  Franklin  Narramore,  Ralph  Utley. 
1855. — Freeman  Sears,  Asahel  Billings,  Keuhen  Gardner. 
1856. — Freeman  Sear.?,  Hiram  Barrus,  Calvin  A.  Packard. 
1857. — Freeman  Sears,  Hiram  Packard,  Henry  White. 
1858-59. — Hiram  Barrus,  Calvin  A.  Packard,  Caleb  C.  Dresser. 
1860. — Freeman  Seai-s,  Hiram  Packard,  Ralph  E.  Smith. 
1861. — Hiram  Barrus,  Calvin  A.  Packard,  Caleb  C.  Dresser. 
1862.— Calvin  A.  Packard,  Caleb  C.  Dresser,  Alonzo  Shaw. 
18G3. — Calvin  A.  Packard,  Caleb  C.  Dresser,  George  Dresser. 
1864. — Calvin  A.  Packard,  Alonzo  Shaw,  George  Dresser. 
1805-66. — Calvin  A.  Packard,  Alvin  Barrus,  Joshua  Knowlton. 
1867-fi8.— Freeman  Sears,  Daniel  Williams,  Timothy  D.  Pierce. 
1869. — Calvin  A.  Packard,  George  Dresser,  Alvin  Barrus. 
1870.— Alvin  Barrus,  T.  P.  Lyman,  John  H.  Godfrey. 
1871-72. — Alvin  Barrus,  John  H.  Godfrey,  Joseph  Beals. 
1873. — William  S.  Packard,  George  Mayor,  Elisha  H.  Hayden. 
1874. — William  S.  Packard,  Elisha  H.  Hayden,  Lorin  Barms. 
1875-76.— William  S.  Packard,  Lorin  Barrus,  John  H.  Godfrey. 
1877-78. — Alvin  Barrus,  Hiram  Packard,  John  H.  Godfrey. 
1879. — Alvin  Barrus,  Hiram  Packard,  Alonzo  Shaw. 

TOWN   CLEKKS. 

Thomas  Weeks,  1781-82;  Wm.  White,  1783-1813;  .Joseph  White,  1814-27; 
Benjamin  White,  1828-42;  Elijah  Billings,  1843^8;  Hattiel  Wiwhliurn,  Jr., 
1S49-51;  Elijah  Billings,  1852;  Beiyamin  White,  18.'i3-61 ;  Alvin  Barrus,  1862; 
Benjamin  White,  1863;  Joshua  Knowlton,  18(H-66;  Elijah  Billings,  1807-8(1. 

REPRESENTATIVES   TO   THE   GENERAL    COURT. 

Justin  Parsons,  1805 ;  NehemLah  May,  1806 ;  Samuel  Wliitman,  1808  ;  William 
White,  1809;  Oliver  Taylor,  1810-12;  Nehemiah  May,  1813;  Oliver  Taylor,  1814; 
Ambrose  Stone,  1815;  Timothy  Lyman,  Jr.,  1810;  Ambrose  Stone,  1827;  Joshua 
Simmons,  1828;  Asahel  Billings,  1834;  Wm.  Hubbard,  1830;  Luther  Stone, 
1837;  Asahel  BilUngs,  1840;  Fred.  P.  Stone,  1841;  Franklin  Narramore,  1842 ; 
Luther  Stone,  1849;  Wm.  Tilton,  1851;  Asahel  Billings,  ISTii;  Franklin  Narra- 
more, 1853;  John  C.  Thompson,  1862;  Calvin  A.  Packard,  1867 ;  Hiram  Packai-d, 
1873;  Alvin  Barrus,  1879. 

VILLAGES— LOCAL    NAMES. 
GOSHEN    CENTRE 

is  the  only  place  that  has  any  claim  to  the  name  of  a  village 
in  town.  This  consists  of  one  street  nearly  a  mile  in  length, 
extending  from  the  cemetery  and  the  residence  of  Hinckley 
"Williams  on  the  north,  to  (perhaps  it  may  be  proper  to  say) 
the  place  of  Emmons  Putney  on  the  south.  It  includes  quite 
a  number  of  substantial  private  residences,  some  of  them  the 
old-time  mansions  of  the  last  century  ;  the  meeting-house  of 
the  Congregational  Church  ;  the  chapel  of  the  Second  Advent 
Society  ;  the  town-hall ;  the  store  of  J.  H.  Godfrey  ;  and  the 
Highland  House.  This  is  a  large  and  convenient  hotel,  kept 
by  the  well-known'Maj.  Hawks,  a  favorite  with  the  traveling 
public,  and  with  those  summer  tourists  who  have  discovered 
bow  charming  a  place  this  mountain  village  is  in  the  hot 
months  of  the  year.  Once  located  here  under  the  care  of  the 
major,  upon  the  highest  land  in  Hampshire  County,  enjoying 
the  purest  air  of  the  Green  Mountain  chain,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  guests  are  loath  to  leave  and  quick  to  come  again.  No- 
where does  day  dawn  over  the  eastern  hills  with  lovelier  tints, 
nor  paint  the  western  sky  with  more  resplendent  colors.  From 
the  wide  and  plea.sant  piazzas  of  the  Highland  House  charm- 
ing views  greet  the  eye  in  every  direction, — landscapes  of  un- 
equaled  beauty,  comprising  mountains  and  valleys,  forests  and 
fields,  rural  homes  and  village  mansions.  But  this  is  not  all. 
Beautiful  and  romantic  drives  are  everywhere  open  to  the 
tourist.     Moore's  Hill  is  but  a  short  distance  away, — a  fine 


rounded  elevation  of  open  fields  and  unobstructed  views,  ris- 
ing six  hundred  feet  above  Mount  Holyoke, — with  a  far  wider 
range  of  vision.  The  whole  town  is  so  elevated  that  to  climb 
the  highest  summit  is  an  easj'  affair,  neither  fatiguing  the 
traveler  nor  requiring  a  peiyendicular  railway.  The  cascade; 
the  Devil's  Den,  and  Lily  Pond  are  worth  many  a  visit,  while 
numerous  unnamed  localities  offer  abundant  attractions.  The 
geologist  may  gather  the  choicest  specimens  known  to  science, 
and  the  botanist  cull  flowers  of  rich  and  rare  beauty. 

SCHOOLS. 

Prior  to  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  schools  were  kept 
mostly  in  private  houses.  The  first  school-house  is  said  to 
have  been  built  near  the  place  owned  in  later  years  by  Charles 
Barrus,  but  the  date  is  uncertain.  James  Kichards,  afterward' 
of  Plainfield,  was  the  first  teacher  in  that  building.  About 
the  same  time  another  school-house  was  built,  near  or  on  what 
has  been  known  as  the  Putney  farm,  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town. 

As  a  part  of  Chesterfield  there  had  already  been  schools 
kept  within  the  present  limits  of  Goshen,  though  we  have 
little  or  no  account  of  them.  During  the  first  six  years  the 
appropriations  were  small,  and  not  regularly  made.  Some 
action  was  taken,  however,  to  encourage  the  inhabitants  to 
establish  schools  for  themselves.  A  committee  was  finally 
appointed  to  divide  the  town  into  definite  districts.  This 
committee  made  a  report,  which  has  a  double  value.  It 
shows  not  only  the  school  districts,  but  the  general  location 
of  the  pioneer  families  ;  and  further,  it  is  proper  to  suppose 
that  it  includes  nil  the  families  of  the  town  at  that  date,  Oc- 
tober, 1781,  and  is  therefore  a  valuable  statement  of  early 
settlement  complete. 

Oct.  23, 1781. — Voted  to  accept  the  report  of  the  Committee  upon  school  Dis- 
tricts, as  follows;  That  Samuel  Olds,  John  Hati-h,  Deborah  Narramore,  James 
Packard,  Isaac  Kingman,  Ezekiel  Thomas,  Wait  Burk,  Samuel  Snell,  Joshua 
Packard,  James  Orr,  John  Jepson,  Bloses  Elwell,  Ambrose  Stone,  .Justin  Paraons, 
Caleb  Cushman,  Barzillai  Bannister,  Sylvanus  Lyon,  Nathan  Bigelow,  and 
Thomas  Hamilton  constitute  District  No.  1.  That  John  James,  Oliver  Taylor, 
Lemuel  Bannister,  Ebenezer  Aniadon,  Joel  Gustin,  Barnabas  Potter,  David 
Stearns,  Cyrel  Leach,  Jesse  Willcutt,  William  Bannister,  Benjamin  Bourn, 
Christopher  Bannister,  Samuel  Grimes,  Isaac  Tower,  Cyrus  Lyon,  and  Thomas 
Weeks  constitute  District  No.  2.  That  John  Smith,  Ebenezer  Parsons,  John 
Williams,  Lemuel  Lyon,  Nehemiah  May,  Benjamin  Burger,  Timothy  Lyman, 
Artemas  Stone,  Widow  Halbert,  Reuben  Lumniis,  Jedediah  Buckingham,  Ste- 
phen Grover,  Thomas  Brown,  Daniel  Brown,  Dexter  May,  Edward  Orcutt, 
Farnum  Wliite,  Christopher  Grant,  Asa  Grant,  Adam  Beal,  William  Hallock, 
Adam  Beal,  Jr.,  William  Meader,  and  Benjamin  Abell  constitute  District  No.  3. 
That  Joshua  Abell,  William  White,  Ebenezer  Putney,  Reuben  Dresser,  Richard 
Tower,  Thomas  Tower,  Moses  Dresser,  John  King,  Daniel  Wyman,  Nathaniel 
Vinton,  James  Lull,  Joseph  Blake,  Ebenezer  Paine,  Ezekiel  White,  Widow 
White,  Noah  White  constitute  District  No.  4. 

Jan.  1,  1787. — Voted  to  raise  150  pounds  to  build  school-houses. 

March  3, 1788. — School-house  committees  were  appointed.  For  the  Southwest 
District,  Lenmel  Bannister,  Cyrus  Lyon.  For  the  Northwest  District,  Capt.  B. 
Bannister  and  Abraham  Stone.  For  the  Northeast  District,  Nathaniel  Abell  and 
Capt.  Jonathan  Snow. 

Dec.  8, 1789. — Voted  to  raise  the  sum  of  30  pounds  for  schooling, 

Oct.  4, 1790. — Voted  to  raise  30  pounds  for  schooling  for  the  present  year. 

From  1790  to  1795  considerable  change  took  place  in  the 
school  districts.  It  seems  to  have  been  difficult  to  make  a 
convenient  arrangement  adapted  to  all,  either  because  of  the 
irregular  figure  of  the  town,  or  the  direction  of  the  roads,  or 
the  face  of  the  country  as  to  hills  and  valleys.  The  four 
original  districts  seem  to  have  been  reduced  to  three,  and  then 
in  later  years  changed  to  four  again.  In  the  earlier  times  ap- 
propriations do  not  appear  to  have  been  made  every  year  for 
the  support  of  the  schools.  The  little  given  by  the  town  was 
supplemented  by  the  citizens  of  each  district.  The  wages  of 
teachers  were  low,  so  that  schools  were  pretty  well  sustained 
for  quite  a  portion  of  each  year. 

April  3, 1797. — Voted  to  raise  S250  for  schooling. 

March  5,  1798. — Voted  to  raise  75  pounds  for  schooling. 

March  11,  1799. — Voted  to  raise  250  dollare  for  schooling,  and  William  White 
Reuben  Hawes,  Justin  Parsons,  Ambrose  Stone,  and  Moses  James  were  appointed 
school  Committee. 


486 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


April  1,  1800,  the  dog  tax  was  appropriated  to  the  support 
of  schools,  and  this  year  there  were  tive  districts  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  for  each.  In  1802  a  general  school  commit- 
tee was  appointed, — Deacon  Parsons,  Deacon  Taylor,  Na- 
thaniel Abt'll,  .Joshua  Abell,  and  Cyrus  Stearns.  Each  one 
of  these  probably  had  special  oversight  of  a  particular  district. 
In  180.3  it  was  voted  to  raise  §300  for  schooling;  1804,  5200; 
180-5,  $300.  The  school  committee  of  1809  were  Reuben 
Dresser,  John  V.  Hunt,  John  Cargil,  Jared  Hawks,  Green- 
wood Brown.  In  1812,  §.300  were  voted  for  schooling,  and 
this  was  the  usual  sum  for  many  years. 

Under  the  act  of  the  General  Court,  "Further  to  provide 
for  the  instruction  of  youths,"  the  town  chose,  April  3,  1826, 
the  following  school  committee:  Rev.  Mr.  Wright,  Joseph 
White,  Capt.  Grant,  Dr.  G.  Wright,  David  Carpenter,  Jared 
Hawks,  Jr.,  Emmons  Putney.  This  was  the  commencement 
of  the  modern  management  of  the  schools,  succeeded  a  few 
years  later  by  the  appointment  of  a  State  secretary  of  educa- 
tion. 

Select  schools  were  frequently  taught  in  this  town  in  former 
j'cars,  and  have  flourished  to  some  extent  in  later  years,  af- 
fording to  many  young  people  a  better  opportunity  of  educa- 
tion than  the  district  schools  afforded.  Mr.  Bradford  taught 
one  in  1824.  E.  W.  B.  Canning,  afterward  a  poet  of  con- 
siderable renown,  conducted  one  in  1830;  Alfred  Longley  in 
1832 ;  Frederick  Vinton  in  183« ;  Mr.  Partridge  in  1837 ; 
L.  F.  Clark  in  1839-11 ;  W.  H.  Sheldon,  1840;  R.  C.  Allison, 
1848  ;  Hiram  Barrus,  18.52-58  ;  Miss  Myra  Holman,  1862. 

In  this  connection  we  give  a  list  of  graduates  and  distin- 
guished men  and  women  natives  of  Goshen.  The  facts  are 
derived  from  Barrus'  sketches  of  Goshen  : 

Rev.  Wm.  Hallock — not  exactly  a  native,  but  coming  here 
in  1766,  six  years  old — became  the  well-known  minister  for 
forty  years  at  Canton,  Conn.  He  was  a  brother  of  the  cele- 
brated minister  and  educator.  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  of  Plain- 
fleld. 

Ralph  Cushman  graduated  at  Williams  College,  became  a 
minister  in  Kentucky.  His  brother,  Rufus  Cushman,  became 
a  minister,  and  preached  at  Fairhaven,  Vt. 

Levi  Parsons  graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  1814,  An- 
dover,  1817 ;  sailed  for  Palestine  as  a  missionary,  Nov.  3, 
1819;  reached  Jerusalem,  Feb.  17,  1821,  and  was  engaged  for 
a  time  in  Bible  and  tract  distribution.  His  health  failed,  and 
he  died  at  Alexandria,  Feb.  10,  1822. 

Horatio  Bardwell  spent  most  of  his  boyhood  in  Goshen, 
though  not  born  here ;  graduated  at  Dartmouth,  1814 ;  or- 
dained a  missionary,  Oct.  23,  181.5  ;  arrived  .at  Bombay,  Nov. 
1,  1816.  His  health  failed,  and  he  returned  to  this  country 
after  a  few  years. 

Jason  Olds  became  a  minister,  and  settled  in  Ohio.  Justice 
Parsons  became  a  minister  late  in  life,  and  preached  in  Ver- 
mont, at  Whiting.  Erastus  Parsons  entered  the  ministry  and 
settled  in  Vermont.  Silas  also  entered  the  same  profession. 
Benjamin  Parsons,  at  first  a  lawyer  at  Chesterfield,  afterward 
entered  the  ministry.  Preston  Taylor,  like  Justice  Parsons, 
left  his  farm  in  middle  life  to  preach  the  gospel.  William 
Williams  graduated  at  Amherst,  a  classmate  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  became  a  professor  in  Lagrange  College,  Alabama. 
Benjamin  F.  Brown  graduated  at  Amherst,  became  a  minister, 
and  went  to  Virginia.  Ezekiel  Cheever  Whitman  graduated 
at  Williams,  became  a  minister  and  author.  E.  Putney  Sal- 
mon entered  the  ministry,  and  settled  in  Ohio. 

Alvan  Stone  commenced  a  course  at  Amherst,  but  left  be- 
fore graduating,  to  enter  upon  an  active  career  of  religious 
work  in  Illinois,  where  he  died  at  twenty-five  in  1833. 

Frederick  W.  Burgess  studied  at  Williams,  graduated  at 
Union,  died  in  1838,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven.  B^ 
Franklin  Parsons  graduated  at  Williams,  became  a  noted 
teacher,  also  entered  the  ministry. 

A  very  noted  event  in  missionary  history  is  the  departure 


from  Goshen,  Sept.  13,  1820,  of  John  Smith,  Elijah  Bardwell, 
Calvin  Cushman,  and  their  families,  as  mi.'fsionaries  and 
teachers  for  the  Chociaws  in  Mississippi.  Their  voyage  and 
subsequent  eventful  career  may  almost  be  styled  a  missionary 
romance,  proving  that  facts — and  re.ligious  facts,  too — are 
often  stranger  than  fiction. 

Goshen  has  been  rather  famous  in  furnishing  wives  for 
ministers  and  missionaries.  Rhoda  Bardwell  married  Rev. 
Wm.  Fisher  in  1807.  Laura  Bardwell,  Rev.  Calvin  Cush- 
man, missionary  to  the  Choctaws,  and  Sarah  Bardwell,  Rev. 
James  Richards,  missionary  to  Ceylon.  Abigail  Hallock 
married  Rev.  Joel  Chapin.  Esther  Hallock,  Rev.  Josiah 
Hayden.  Hannah  Dresser  married  Rev.  Abel  Farley.  Electa 
May,  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury,  missionary  to  the  C/iociaws. 
Hannah  Putney,  John  Smith,  of  the  Choctaw  Mission.  Pru- 
dence May  married  Rev.  Wm.  Babbitt.  Electa  Hawks,  Rev. 
Wm.  H.  Boardman.  Theodocia  Stowe,  Rev.  Rufus  Cushman. 
Sophia  Dresser,  Rev.  Samuel  Walley.  Ellen  Smith,  Rev. 
Robert  C.  Alison.  Clarinda  B.  Williams,  Rev.  Lucius  M. 
Boltwood.  Martha  Baker  Williams,  Rev.  Wm.  Carruthers. 
Silas  Lyon  entered  the  profession  of  law,  and  Lyman  James  ; 
Silas  A.  Burgess  also.  Wm.  White,  Jr.,  studied  medicine, 
but  died  young.  Araunah  Bardwell  became  a  physician,  and 
George  M.  Burgess.     Alfred  White,  a  journalist. 

.SCHOOL    STATISTICS. 

Janu<iry,  1847. — Number  of  schools,  5;  attending  in  summer,  118;  average, 
86;  muter,  148;  average,  113;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  134;  under  4,  5; 
over  16,  15 ;  summer  schools,  19  months ;  winter,  14  months,  7  days ;  total,  33 
months,  7  days ;  summer  teachers,  5  females ;  winter,  4  males,  2  females ;  male 
teacheiV  .average  wages  per  month,  S1G.67  ;  female,  $10.24, 

January,  1857. — Five  schools;  attending  in  summer,  100;  average,  81  ;  win- 
ter, 107 ;  average,  83 ;  under  5, 17 ;  over  15, 15  ;  in  town,  between  5  and  15,  93  ; 
summer  teachers,  5  females ;  winter,  2  males,  2  females ;  summer  schools,  16 
months,  10  days;  winter,  11  months,  3  days;  total,  27  months,  13  days;  average 
wages  of  male  teachers  per  mouth,  $28 ;  female,  $16.42. 

January,  1867. — Five  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  81;  average,  69; 
winter,  93 ;  average,  75 ;  under  6,  5 ;  over  15,  11 ;  in  town,  between  5  and  15, 82 ; 
summer  teachers,  5  females ;  winter,  1  female,  4  males ;  summer  schools,  13 
months ;  winter,  14  months ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $32 ; 
female  teachere,  $18. 

January,  1878. — Four  schools ;  repairs,  $12.29 ;  attending,  92 ;  average,  56 ; 
under  5,  3 ;  over  15, 18 ;  in  town,  67  between  5  and  15 ;  teachei-s,  2  males,  5  fe- 
males ;  2  from  normal  school ;  25  months,  10  days  of  school ;  share  of  school 
fund,  $210.14 ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers,  $24  per  month  ;  female,  $22 ; 
taxation,  ^0;  Iward,  fuel,  etc.,  voluntarily  given,  $211;  superintendence, 
$30.50;  printing,  $7.00. 

CHURCHES. 

CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH    OF   G0.SHEN. 

Immediately  after  the  civil  organization  of  the  town  the 
selectmen,  as  already  stated,  called  a  special  meeting  to  con- 
sider matters  connected  with  public  worship. 

The  call  then  voted  to  Rev.  Joseph  Barker  did  not  secure 
him  as  a  regular  pastor,  though  he  preached  for  them  some 
time.  Calls  were  extended  to  others  through  several  years, — 
Rev.  Abraham  Fowler,  Rev.  Reuben  Parraalee,  Rev.  Elisha 
Hutchinson,  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hallock,  Rev.  Jesse  Remington, 
and  Rev.  Mase  Shepard.  All  of  these  preached  in  Goshen  for 
longer  or  shorter  periods,  but  no  one  of  them  accepted  the 
relation  of  settled  pastor.  Before  the  incorporation  of  the 
town  the  organization  of  the  church  had  taken  place,  Dec.  21, 
1780.  It  was  constituted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Kilburn,  of  Chester- 
field, as  it  is  stated,  or  perhaps  by  a  council  over  which  he  pre- 
sided. The  confession  of  faith  and  the  covenant  were  only 
signed  at  the  outset  by  Thomas  Weeks  and  wife,  Lemuel  Lyon, 
Thomas  Brown  and  wife,  Daniel  Brown,  John  Smith  and 
wife. 

After  the  long  series  of  unsuccessful  "calls,"  mentioned 
above.  Rev.  Samuel  Whitman,  of  Ashby,  finally  accepted  the 
overtures  of  the  church.  He  was  dismi.ssed  in  1818,  owing, 
it  is  said,  to  some  change  in  his  belief  that  seemed  to  be  a  de- 
parture from  the  established  doctrines  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  desire  for  a  change,  which  in  later  years  has 
made  pastorates  so  much  briefer  than  formerly,  undoubtedly 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


487 


had  some  influence  in  bringing  about  the  termination  of  Mr. 
Wliitman's  labors. 

The  installation  of  Mr.  Whitman  took  place  Jan.  10,  1788, 
and  was  an  occasion  of  much  interest.  The  council  included 
Kev.  Timothy  Allen,  of  Chesterfield ;  Rev.  Joseph  Strong,  of 
Williamsburg  ;  Rev.  Aaron  Bascom,  of  Chester  ;  Rev.  James 
Briggs,  of  Cuniniington.  It  will  be  seen  that  his  pastorate 
lasted  thirty  j-ears,  and  his  name  was  a  household  word  in  all 
the  families  of  the  town.  He  had  buried  the  dead  of  a  gen- 
eration ;  baptized  the  children ;  united  them  in  marriage,  and 
pointed  them  all  to  the  better  life  beyond. 

Meetliig-House. — The  controversy  shown  in  the  town  records 
of  1781-82  over  the  site  of  the  meeting-house  was  evidently 
settled  during  the  summer  of  1782.  Dec.  19,  1782,  it  was 
voted  that  John  James,  Capt.  White,  and  Maj.  Bannister  be  a 
committee  to  agree  with  Mrs.  May  and  Lieut.  Lyon  for  a 
quantity  of  land  to  set  the  meeting-house  upon.  At  the  saine 
meeting  plans  for  galleries  and  pews  were  considered,  and  the 
discussion  over  the  site  seems  to  have  been  ended.  Committee 
on  plan  for  the  galleries  were  Artenias  Stone,  Barzillai  Ban- 
nister, Moses  Hallock,  Capt.  Wm.  White,  Farnum  White. 
20th  of  January,  1783,  chose  the  first  wardens, — William  Hal- 
lock  and  Oliver  Taylor. 

The  first  town-meeting  held  at  the  meeting-house  was  Dec. 
19,  1782.  August  6th  they  had  met  at  the  house  of  John 
Williams,  so  the  house  of  worship  was  probably  completed 
sufficient  for  use  between  those  dates  ;  and  it  was  located  "  on 
the  division-line  between  the  lands  of  Widow  Margaret  May 
and  those  of  Lieut.  Lemuel  Lyon,"  and  must  have  actually 
been  erected  before  any  complete  bargain  was  made  for  the 
land. 

It  was  evidently  expected  that  Rev.  Abraham  Fowler  would 
be  ordained  at  one  time,  as  a  committee  was  chosen  to  make 
arrangements.  He  did  not,  however,  become  the  settled 
pastor. 

Mrs.  May  was  allowed  an  account  for  boarding  Mr.  Elisha 
Fish.     He  was  probably  a  minister. 

Oct.  2,  1784,  Farnum  White  was  allowed  XI  is.  " for  riding 
after  ministers." 

July  2fi,  1786. — Voted  to  raise  the  sum  of  fifteen  pounds  to  build  a  pulpit  in 
the  meeting-house. 

April  1, 1793. — Voted  that  "the  singers  i-m^ove  the  fore  seats  in  the  gallery  in 
the  meeting-house  on  the  Lord's  day." 

Propositions  to  remove  the  meeting-house  began  to  appear 
in  the  town-meetings,  1796  to  1800. 

Joshua  White  was  an  early  singing-master  in  town. 

April  4,  1818,  the  sum  of  |20  was  voted  to  pay  Rev.  Abell 
Farley  for  preaching  the  past  winter. 

April  4, 1826. — Voted  a  Committee  to  procure  a  base  Viol  for  the  church. 

From  1825  to  1830  church  notices  grow  less  upon  the  town- 
books  and  disappear.  The  latest  clauses  in  the  warrants  are 
in  the  following  form  :  "  To  see  if  the  Congregational  Society 
will  raise,"  etc.  The  old  order  of  things  was  passing  away. 
The  union  of  church  and  town  died  out  under  the  increase  of 
difterent  denominations  and  the  impulse  of  modern  views  of 
religious  liberty. 

The  first  meeting-house  of  1782  stood  nearly  opposite  the 
present  one, — on  what  was  then  "the  Common," — partly  in 
the  road  that  opens  to  the  east.  It  had  neither  bell  nor  steeple, 
and  was  probably  never  painted.  In  the  great  tornado  of 
Aug.  14,  1834,  it  was  partially  unroofed,  and  so  much  injured 
generally  that  it  was  then  rebuilt  and  located  upon  the  site  it 
now  occupies.  It  was  then  provided  with  a  bell,  the  gift  of 
Col.  Timothy  Lyman.  It  was  again  remodeled  in  1858,  at  an 
expense  of  nearly  $1000. 

Mr.  Barrus,  in  his  valuable  "History  of  Goshen,"  says  of 
the  singing  : 

"This  received  early  attention.  It  was  voted,  Dec.  28,  1780,  that  Brother 
Thomas  Weeks  read  the  I'salm  in  the  church,  and  Bro.  John  Smith  lend  the 
singing.    During  the  next  year  the  church  appears  to  have  been  disturbed  by 


some  outside  influences  respecting  their  singing  matters,  and  they  vgted  the 
church  ontjM  to  govern  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  that  the  church  shall  govern, 
and  that  we  disapprove  of  the  present  mode  of  singing.  A  committee  was  then 
chosen  to  m.ake  a  selection  of  tunes  to  be  sung  in  public  worship.  It  was  fur- 
ther voted  to  sing  in  the  forenoon  and  the  tirst  time  in  the  afternoon,  reading 
line  by  line. 

"It  was  voted,  in  1784,  that  the  singing  be  perfoi-med  without  reading  as 
often  as  the  guiristers  see  fit.  In  1786,  Ebenezer  Wliite  was  chosen  to  lead ;  in 
1789,  Josiah  ^\^lite ;  in  179.3,  Joshua  Abell,  Jr.,  Alpheus  Narramore,  and  James 
Orcutt.  Josiah  White — known  as  Uncle  'Siah — served  many  years,  and,  like  his 
brother  Ebenezer,  was  an  excellent  musician.  Calvin  Cushman,  Asahel  Bil- 
lings, and  Frederick  P.  Stone  were  also  leadere  for  various  periods.  Maj.  Joseph 
Hawks  was  leader  for  thirty-two  yeara,  and  connected  with  the  choir  more 
than  forty.  Elijah  Billings  was  leader  fifteen  years.  J.  M.  Smith  did  long  and 
faithful  service.  C.  C.  Dresser  for  nearly  thirt.v  year's  was  connected  with  the 
choir,  and  furnished  an  organ  quite  a  portion  of  the  time." 

Among  the  teachers  of  singing  may  be  mentioned  James 
Richards,  in  the  earliest  times ;  Capt.  Anderson,  of  Chester- 
field, 1800;  Capt.  Frary,  1809-10;  Asahel  Birge,  of  South- 
ampton, a  few  years  later ;  Nehemiah  White,  of  Williams- 
burg, 1822-23;  Asa  Barr,  1837-38;  Geo.  W.  Lucas,  1842-43; 
and  in  modern  times.  Prof.  Jenkins. 

Record  of  the  Pastors. — 1st.  Rev.  Samuel  Whitman,  in- 
stalled Jan.  10,  1788;  services  for  the  church  terminated  in 
July,  1818,  by  an  cx-parte  council ;  he  probably  preached  in 
town  for  some  two  or  three  years  longer.  2d.  Rev.  Joel 
Wright,  installed  Sept.  26,  1821 ;  dismissed  September,  1828. 
3d.  Rev.  Henry  B.  Holmes,  settled  Sept.  25,  1830 ;  dismissed 
January,  1833.  4th.  Rev.  Stephen  Mason,  settled  June  22, 
1836 ;  dismissed  April  10,  1837.  5th.  Rev.  John  C.  Thomp- 
son, installed  Oct.  4,  1837;  his  services  closed  by  reason  of 
ill  health  in  1842.  Gth.  Rev.  Koyal  Reed,  installed  Oct.  19, 
1842 ;  dismissed  June  15,  1847.  7th.  Rev.  William  J.  Board- 
man,  stated  supply  ;  services  closed  by  reason  of  ill  health  in 
1849.  8th.  Rev.  Robert  Crosset ;  he  came  soon  after  Mr. 
Boardman  left;  his  labors  closed  in  1853;  one  of  his  sons  is 
now  a  missionary  in  China.  9th.  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Rood, 
labors  commenced  in  1853;  installed  Jan.  31,  1855;  dismissed 
January,  1861.  10th.  Rev.  J.  C.  Thompson,  again  returned 
to  the  pulpit,  but  his  health  failed  in  a  short  time ;  he  removed 
to  Illinois.  11th.  Rev.  Sidney  Holnian,  labors  commenced  in 
the  fall  of  1862 ;  closed  April,  1866.  12th.  Rev.  H.  M.  Rod- 
gers,  preached  during  the  two  years  following  the  departure 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Holman.  13th.  Rev.  Townsend  Walker,  installed 
by  a  council  Sept.  29,  1868;  services  closed  January,  1874. 
14th.  Rev.  George  Juchau,  labors  commenced  Jan.  1,  1875; 
closed  Dec.  31,  1876.  15th.  Rev.  D.  P.  Lord,  the  present 
pastor;  his  labors  in  connection  with  this  church  and  people 
commenced  Jan.  1,  1877. 

Record  of  Denco7is. — Oliver  Taylor,  chosen  in  1787 ;  died 
May,  1826.  Artemas  Stone,  chosen  in  1787;  died  in  1790. 
Thomas  Brown,  chosen  in  1790;  died  in  1801.  Cyrel  Car- 
penter, chosen  in  1809;  removed  to  Enfield,  1819.  Jonathan 
Lyman,  chosen  in  1810;  removed  to  Northampton,  1834. 
Stephen  Parsons,  chosen  in  1822;  removed  to  Buckland,  1838. 
Ebenezer  W.  Town,  chosen  in  1833 ;  removed  to  Enfield, 
1838.  Asahel  Billings,  chosen  in  1837 ;  removed  to  South 
Hadley,  1846.  Marcus  Linsley,  chosen  in  1839 ;  removed  to 
Southwick,  1841.  Benjamin  White,  chosen  in  1845 ;  died 
Jan.  25,  1873,  at  an  advanced  age.  Francis  Lyman,  chosen 
in  1845;  died  July  5,  1851.  Theron  L.  Barrus,  chosen  in 
1858;  present  deacon  (1878).  Henry  H.  Tilton,  chosen  in 
1861 ;  removed  to  Williamsburg,  1865.  Hiram  Packard, 
chosen  June  29,  1871 ;  declined.  Elijah  Billings,  chosen  Jan. 
4,  1872;  present  deacon  (1878). 

THE   BAPTIST   CHURCH    OF   GOSHEN. 

Under  date  of  Dec.  24,  1814,  this  certificate  appears  in  the 
town  records  : 

To  the  Town  clerk  of  Goshen ; — The  following  is  a  list  of  those  who  have  joined 
the  Baptist  Society  of  Goshen;  Ebenezer  White,  Josiah  White,  Jesse  Willcutt, 
Joshua  Packard,  Joshua  Packard,  Jr.,  Caleb  Bryant,  Ansel  Amadou,  Robert 
Webster,  Gershom  Bates,  Enoch  ^Villcntt,  ('ynis  .Stearns,  Ezra  .Stearns,  Pluueas 
Manning,  Nathaniel  Abell,  Alexander  MUler^s  estate^  John  Williams,  John  Wil- 


488 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


A  true  copy. 


liams,  Jr.,  Abner  Damon,  James  Orr,  Levi  Vinton,  Samuel  Luce,  Samuel  Snow, 
Nathaniel  Bates,  Gordon  Williams,  Sanford  Boiea,Zebulon  "Willcutt. 

John  Williams,  ClerJ;. 
Attest :  Joseph  White,  Tuwn  Clerk. 

May  27,  1815,  Eoswell  Eanney  and  Benjamin  Gates,  com- 
mittee of  Ashfleld,  certify  that  Jonah  Williams,  of  Goshen, 
is  a  member  of  the  Second  Baptist  Society  of  Ashfield. 
March  6,  1820,  John  Williams,  Clerk  of  Baptist  Society, 
certifies  that  Isaac  Wing  is  a  member.  Clement  Sliter  is 
also  named  as  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Ashfield. 

As  a  curious  relic  of  the  religious  controversy  of  those  days, 
we  give  the  return  of  Elias  White,  constable,  upon  a  warrant 
he  had  executed : 

"  Goshen.  March  3, 1823. 
"Pursuant  to  the  within  warrant,  on  the  23d  day  of  February  last  I  left  an 
attested  copy  of  sjlid  warrant  to  be  posted  up  at  the  Biqit'ist  yneetbtg-fiouse  in  said 
Goshen,  and  on  the  23d  day  of  Febmary  last  past  posted  Tip  myself  an  attested 
copy  upon  the  Peilo-Bitptift  meetiuij-hoiise  in  said  town.  Therefore  /  conclude  that 
the  legal  voters  of  said  town  qualified  as  within  expressed,  belonging  to  both  Conr 
gi-egulio}iiiy  have  hail  legal  notice  of  tlie  time  and  place  as  therein  expressed  to 
meet  for  the  purposes  within  mentioned. 

"  Elias  White." 

There  are  also  certified  as  members  of  the  Baptist  Society 
of  Goshen,  Lyman  Hunt,  1821  ;  Leonard  Jenkins,  1827 ;  Na- 
thaniel Tower,  Silas  Burgess,  Daniel  Carpenter,  and  Abner 
Damon,  Jr.,  1827;  John  Grant  and  Kufus  Moore,  Samuel 
W.  Hall,  Otis  Ingraham,  Joseph  Bassett,  Roland  Eogers, 
Kobert  Rogers,  Elihu  Hubbard,  Jabez  Bement,  Eleazer 
Hawks,  David  Whitman,  Gordon  Williams,  Jonathan  Vin- 
ton, Moses  Hosford,  Zelotes  Bates,  Asa  Partridge,  1824  to 
1828. 

Lest  the  casual  reader  may  suppose  that  all  these  were  posi- 
tive converts  to  the  faith  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  received 
rite  of  baptism  by  imniersion,  it  may  be  necessary  to  explain 
that,  under  the  ancient  law  of  Massachusetts,  the  whole  peo- 
ple were  required  to  support  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and 
were  taxed  for  that  as  for  any  other  town  business.  Of 
course,  this  made  the  "Regular  Congregational  Church  of 
the  Standing  Order"  a  town  church,  and  everybody  was 
taxed  for  its  support,  whether  he  were  Jew,  pagan,  or  Chris- 
tian, Catholic  or  Protestant. 

This  ancient  rigor  was  relaxed  quite  early  in  this  centurv, 
by  the  passage  of  an  act  enabling  any  one  to  "sign  off"  to 
the  Baptists,  to  the  Methodists,  or  to  any  other  denomination, 
and  then  be  clear  of  taxation  to  support  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  theory  still  was,  every  man  must  belong  some- 
where. If  he  could  not  show  that  he  was  an  actual  member 
of  some  other  religious  society,  the  Congregational  Church 
still  claimed  him.  These  changes  were  required  to  be  actually 
made,  and  were  therefore  a  matter  of  record.  It  is  probable 
that  some  sought  escape  from  what  they  deemed  oppression 
by  joining  a  Baptist  society,  but  not  the  Baptist  Church. 

The  organization  of  the  Baptist  Church  seems  to  have  been 
as  early  as  1814,  and  probably  1806  to  1809.  Elders  Todd,  of 
Chesterfield,  and  Keyes,  of  Conway,  were  early  ministers  of 
this  denomination  in  Goshen  ;  and  tradition  states  that  Elder 
Winans  was  ordained  here  in  1809.  From  1813  to  1819,  El- 
der William  Hubbard  was  pastor,  and  he  was  succeeded  by 
Kev.  David  Woodbury,  1820  to  1823.  Rev.  Orra  Martin  then 
preached  six  years, — half-time  services.  Elder  Hubbard  again 
preached,  from  1831  to  1837.  The  last  regular  pastor  was 
Eev.  Isaac  Childs,  who  died  Dec.  24,  1842.  Preaching  was 
still  continued  by  various  ministers  for  a  few  years  ;  but  the 
church  was  weakened  by  extensive  removals.  The  services 
were  finally  discontinued,  and  the  society  virtually  disbanded. 
They  met  for  several  years  in  Williams'  old  store. 

The  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1822,  and  was  a  com- 
fortable place  of  worship.  It  stood  near  the  present  residence 
of  Hinckley  William.s.  The  last  religious  service  held  in  it 
was  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Mercy  Williams,  relict  of  John  Wil- 
liams. Her  family  had  been  among  the  first  members  and 
the  main  active  supporters  of  the  church.     The  building  was 


sold  in  1862,  remodeled  into  a  barn,  and  burned  on  theground 
where  the  new  barn  now  stands. 

THE   FIRST   CALVINI.STIC   SOCIETY    OF   GOSHEN. 

This  church  originated  to  some  extent — perhaps  wholly — 
from  the  diiBculties  arising  at  the  time  of  the  dismissal  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitman,  in  1818.  Certificates  appear  (1828)  in 
the  town  records  that  Mr.  Benjamin  Tilton,  Mr.  Stephen 
W.  Tilton,  Mr.  Stephen  Hosford,  Mr.  John  Fuller,  and  Mr. 
Holland  Hubbard  are  members  of  "  the  said  first  Calvinistic 
Society  in  Go.shen."  It  is  evident  that  the  unpopular  laws 
with  reference  to  taxation  for  church  purposes  had  some  in- 
fluence in  giving  rise  to  this  new  organization.  This  society 
held  meetings  for  a  while  at  private  houses.  Owing  to  the 
omission  of  certain  formal  legal  steps  by  the  old  society,  there 
was  a  reasonable  opportunity  for  the  new  church  to  claim  to 
be  the  first.  The  new  organization  did  not  continue  for 
many  years,  but  it  undoubtedly  had  an  influence  in  eft'ecting 
a  separation  of  "church  and  town"  and  the  formal  organiza- 
tion of  the  parish  of  the  Congregational  Church,  which  took 
place  in  1828. 

SECOND   ADVENTISTS. 

A  church  of  this  denomination  was  formed  in  the  west  part 
of  the  town  in  March,  1858.  It  included  members  from  Ches- 
terfield and  Cummington.  Jared  Damon  and  Joseph  Crosby 
were  chosen  the  first  deacons  ;  Abner  Damon  and  Andrew 
Baker,  elders.  For  several  years  they  met  at  private  houses, 
with  an  occasional  preacher  from  abroad.  They  have  recently 
removed  their  mee.tings  to  the  village,  and  have  erected  a 
small,  neat,  and  convenient  house  of  worship. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

Some  items  with  reference  to  burying-grounds  appear  in 
the  town  records.  The  action  the  first  year,  1781,  respecting 
the  location  of  the  church,  shows  that  a  burying-place  was 
already  in  use  at  the  centre. 

April  1, 1800. — Voted  to  raise  ten  dollars  "to  purchase  a  burying-cloth." 

The  "improvement"  of  the  burying-ground  by  pasturing 
was  occasionally  struck  oft'  to  the  highest  bidder  at  the  town- 
meetings.  In  1806,  Elijah  Bardwell  gave  $2  for  the  privilege 
of  mowing  it. 

May  G,  ISIG. — Voted  that  the  selectmen  fence  the  burying-ground. 

These  items  refer  to  what  is  still  the  principal  place  of  burial, 
half  a  mile  north  of  Goshen  village.  In  1877,  $100  was  voted 
to  fence  theground.  This  burial-place  is  rather  picturesquely 
situated  on  the  southeastern  slope  of  the  hill,  above  the  resi- 
dence of  Hinckley  Williams.  Attempts  at  modern  improve- 
ment have  been  made,  but  the  ground  is  so  full  of  graves, 
many  of  them  marked  simply  with  common  field-stone,  and  ir- 
regularly placed,  that  little  can  be  done,  except  to  right  up  the 
old  monuments,  smooth  the  turf  tenderly  over  the  sacred  dust 
of  the  olden  times,  and  let  Nature  with  each  returning  spring 
rear  above  the  dead  her  annual  tribute  of  blade  and  leaf  and 
flower,  emblems  of  the  resurrection.  A  large  addition  has 
recently  been  made  to  the  ground,  and  this  can  be  laid  out  in 
any  form  desired.  The  first  burial  here  is  said  to  have  been  a 
member  of  the  Nelson  family. 

Among  the  early  inscriptions  are  the  following : 

Mr.  Samuel  Giimes,  died  Jan.  6, 1789. 
Mre.  Ruth  Abell,  died  Aug.  29, 1777,  aged  48. 
Mrs.  EUzahoth  Abell,  died  Aug.  29, 177i,  aged  40. 
Joshua  Abell,  died  Aug.  29, 1811,  aged  80. 

This  is  a  singular  fact,  if  correctly  engraved  and  correctly 
copied, — three  deaths  the  same  day  of  the  same  month  and  so 
many  years  apart. 

Daniel  Nelson,  died  Sept.  26, 1775. 
Col.  Ezra  May,  died  Jan.  11,  177S,  aged  46. 
Widow  Margaret  May,  died  Jan.  19, 1788,  aged  66. 
Sanuiel  NaiTamore,  Dec.  9, 1777. 

There  may  be  stones  with  earlier  dates,  as  some  are  very 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


489 


difficult  to  read,  and  there  were  no  doubt  burials  still  earlier 
than  these  inscriptions.  We  mention  a  few  others  prominent 
in  history: 

Col.  Nplioniiiih  May,  died  Sept.  10,  1S13,  aged  59. 

Br.  Bi'iijaniin  Burgess,  died  Dec.  13,  1807,  ngcj  70. 

Jlnj.  Ambrose  Stone,  Mnnh  18,  1860,  .iged  03. 

('apt  ThoniM  Weeks,  April  20,  1817,  aged  60. 

Rev.  Isaac  Child,  Pastor  of  the  Baptiit  Church,  Dec.  24,  1842. 

There  are  said  to  have  been  a  few  burials  upon  the  Beals 
farm,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  but  the  remains  were  re- 
moved. In  the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  town,  on  the  road 
to  Williamsburg,  is  another  burying-ground  of  ancient  date, 
where  a  considerable  number  of  persons  were  buried. 

The  fearful  pestilence  of  1777  ought  to  be  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  this  subject.  The  dysentery,  introduced,  it  is 
said,  by  a  sick  soldier,  raged  fearfully.  Husbands  and  sons 
were  absent  to  resist  the  march  of  Burgoyne,  and  the  mothers 
were  left  to  battle  almost  alone  in  the  fearful  struggle.  Some 
lost  all  their  children,  often  burying  two  in  one  grave.  In 
twenty-one  days  there  were  twenty-one  deaths.  Other  sad 
years  of  sorrow  are  mentioned  in  tradition, — the  fever  of  181.3, 
of  1824,  and  also  the  scarlet  fever  of  180.3,  '4,  '31,  '44,  and  'o--'. 

In  the  old  cemetery  is  buried  Mrs.  Elihu  Parsons,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  eminent  theologian,  Jonathan  Edwards;  no  monu- 
ment marks  the  spot.  Four  clergymen  are  buried  there, — Rev. 
Samuel  Whitman,  Elder  Isaac  Child,  Abel  Farley,  Frederick 
W.  Burgess.  Four  physicians, — Benjamin  Burgess,  Ellis 
Coney,  George  M.  Burgess,  Daniel  Pierce.  Four  early  mag- 
istrates,— Wm.  White,  Oliver  Taylor,  John  Williams,  Tim- 
oth_v  L3'man. 

TOWN  SOCIETIES. 

In  Goshen  the  only  societies  were  and  are  now  missionary 
organizations,  sewing-circles,  and  similar  unions  that  cluster 
around  the  church,  and  are  really  an  eft'ective  part  of  its  work. 

PLACES   OF  HISTORIC   INTEREST    OR    OF  SPECI.\L  NOTE. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  town  have  at  times  been  found 
traces  of  Indian  occupancy.  In  1840  a  .itoiie  gouge,  that  had 
evidently  been  used  in  tapping  the  sugar-maple,  was  found 
upon  the  farm  of  Col.  Stone.  Two  miles  north,  the  fragments 
of  a  stone  kettle,  surrounded  by  decayed  fire-brands,  was  found 
several  years  ago,  still  further  indicating  the  manufacture  of 
sugar  by  the  Indians. 

Fragments  of  flint  and  arrow-heads  are  found  in  such  quan- 
tities as  to  show  that  the  Indians  made  their  weapons  in  this 
vicinity. 

It  is  an  old  tradition  that  a  gang  of  counterfeiters  carried 
on  their  operations  in  Goshen.  They  are  said  to  have  had  a 
secret  hiding-place  in  the  forest  that  still  stretches  along  the 
highway  between  the  house  of  Hiram  Packard  and  the  top  of 
the  hill  eastward.  Certainlj-  in  these  rocky  fastnesses  there 
"was  ample  opportunity  for  concealment,  but  there  seems  to  be 
no  record  that  any  counterfeiting  was  ever  really  proved. 

Moore's  Hill,  already  mentioned,  is  a  point  of  great  interest. 
Its  altitude,  1713  feet,  gives  it  a  connnanding  view.  From 
here  the  eye  looks  down  upon  Mount  Holyoke  and  Mount 
Tom;  Mount  Monadnoc  in  New  Hampshire,  and  Mount 
Wachuselt  in  Worcester  County,  are  both  in  sight.  More 
than  thirty  church-spires  can  be  counted  in  a  clear  day.  Am- 
herst College  is  in  full  view.  A  good  road  ought  to  be  opened 
to  the  summit,  so  that  it  might  become  a  popular  resort. 

The  "  Great  Meadow,"  so  called,  in  the  northerly  part  of  the 
town,  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  beaver  pond  at  some  period 
before  the  white  men  settled  here,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the 
first  settlers  of  Goshen  saw  old  logs  constituting  the  dam,  dis- 
tinctly showing  the  marks  of  the  beaver  teeth.  Before  the 
settlement  of  these  western  towns  the  people  of  Hatfield  are 
said  to  have  cut  and  stacked  hay  here  in  large  quantities,  and 
then  sent  their  cattle  to  be  fed  while  the  hay  lasted.  This 
"  Great  Meadow"  is  now  the  basin  of  the  upper  reservoir. 
02 


Lily  Pond  docs  not  seem  to  be  as  poetical  a  place  as  its  name 
would  indicate.  It  is  described  by  a  modern  writer  as  a  natu- 
ral reservoir  of  mire  and  water.  Cattle  cannot  cross  it  in 
safety,  and  the  bridge  which  passes  over  it  is  continually  sink- 
ing, so  as  to  require  repeated  layers  of  logs  and  earth  to  bring 
it  up  to  a  suitable  height  above  the  water  to  make  travel  safe. 
Samuel  Olds  lowered  the  natural  outlet  twenty  feet,  but  failed 
to  drain  the  land  sufficient  for  cultivation,  as  he  expected.  The 
two  reservoir  ponds  add  features  rather  attractive  than  other- 
wise to  the  natural  scenery  of  Goshen. 

The  "  Devil's  Den"  is  a  wild,  rocky  gorge,  through  which 
Mill  Eiver  flows  for  some  distance,  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town.  To  enjoy  it  travelers  should  descend  the  bank  with  a 
guide  ;  travel  down  the  bed  of  the  stream,  between  and  under 
the  overhanging  walls  of  granite;  and  tread  cautiously  along 
the  rocks  carpeted  with  the  beautiful  but  treacherous  moss, 
avoiding  if  possible  an  unexpected  bath  in  some  deep,  dark 
pool. 

The  "  Cascade"  is  a  short  distance  above  the  upper  opening 
of  the  "  Devil's  Den,"  and  at  some  seasons  of  the  year  is  really 
u  waterfall  of  considerable  beauty. 

INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS. 
Agriculture  is  the  principal  business  of  Goshen.  More  or 
less  of  lumber,  in  the  early  times,  and  fire-wood  found  their 
way  to  market,  as  they  do  yet  to  some  extent.  Goshen  has 
some  fine  farms.  Indeed,  if  it  is  not  a  land  "flowing  with 
milk  and  honey,"  and  if  the  sons  of  the  earlj'  settlers  have 
left  their  native  hills  for  the  fertile  fields  of  other  States,  yet 
here  is  still  many  a  pleasant  home  on  the  hill-side  or  in  the 
valley.  There  are  still  many  farms  where  skill,  industry,  and 
economy — those  old-fashioned  virtues — may  yet  secure  a  com- 
fortable living,  a  reasonable  competence. 

MILLS   AND    MANUFACTORIES. 

On  the  Dresser  Brook,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Dead 
Branch,  was  located,  more  than  a  hundred  _years  ago,  the  saw- 
mill of  the  pioneer  Keuben  Dresser.  The  property  has  re- 
mained in  the  family  to  this  day.  The  works  have  always 
comprised  a  saw-mill.  A  broom-handle  factory  was  added 
forty  years  ago  or  more.  In  later  years  the  button-mold 
manufacture  has  been  carried  on,  and  is,  to  some  extent,  at 
the  present  tiine.  The  present  owner  is  C.  C.  Dresser,  son  of 
Aloses  Dresser.  About  two  miles  above  the  Dresser  mills,  on 
the  same  stream,  was  formerly  a  saw-mill,  built  by  Emmons 
Putnej'  about  1835,  and  run  for  twenty  j-ears  or  more,  pass- 
ing meanwhile  into  the  possession  of  William  H.  Webster. 
The  works  were  abandoned  several  years  since. 

On  Swift  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Westfield,  flowing  from 
Goshen  into  Cummington,  was,  in  ancient  times,  a  grist-mill, 
below  what  is  known  as  Shaw's  Bridge,  and  not  far  from  the 
Cummington  line,  probably  built  by  Deacon  Bigelow,  as  early 
as  1800.  Above,  at  the  present  mills  of  Amos  Stone,  was 
originally  located  the  clothing-works,  built  in  1780,  by  Maj. 
Ambrose  Stone.  He  carried  on  the  business  for  many  years 
with  the  aid  of  only  hand-machinery,  and  had  few  or  no  com- 
petitors, even  in  adjoining  towns.  A  saw-mill  was  built  per- 
haps fifty  years  ago ;  the  broom-handle  busiuess  was  also 
added  a  few  years  later.  The  works  at  the  present  time  com- 
prise a  saw-mill  and  a  brush-handle  factory.  They  are  owned 
by  Amos  Stone,  a  grandson  of  the  pioneer,  and  have  always 
been  in  the  family.  A  short  distance  above  the  mills  of  Mr. 
Stone  is  said  to  be  the  site  of  the  first  grist-mill  in  town  ; 
some  traces  of  the  dam  and  the  race  still  remain.  Still  farther 
above  on  the  stream  was  a  saw-mill,  built  perhaps  forty-five 
years  ago,  by  Hiram  Packard.  It  was  run  for  a  few  years 
and  abandoned  ;  no  buildings  now  at  that  point.  On  the  site 
of  the  present  mills  of  Freeman  Sears  was  an  old  saw-mill 
of  early  times,  owned  by  Deacon  Stephen  Parsons.  Near  the 
north  line  of  the  town,  on  what  is  called  the  Williams  Brook, 


490 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


a  branch  of  Swift  River,  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill  were 
erected,  no  doubt  before  1800,  by  Daniel  Williams,  of  Asbiield. 
They  were  continued  in  the  hands  of  various  owners  for  many 
years.  In  later  times  the  grist-mill  was  given  up.  The  pres- 
ent owner,  Mr.  J.  D.  Shipman,  has  an  establishment  for  the 
manufacture  of  children's  wagons,  and  also  continues  a  saw- 
mill. 

Of  Mill  Eivcr,  whose  waters  reach  the  Connecticut  at 
Northampton,  instead  of  through  the  Westfiold,  there  is  one 
tributary  tlowing  down  from  the  vicinity'  of  Jloore's  Hill.  On 
this  was  a  saw-mill,  built  by  Asa  White,  perhaps  fiftj'  years 
ago.  It  was  run  for  a  few  years  and  allowed  to  go  down.  On 
the  main  stream  was  a  .saw-mill,  built  1812  to  1815,  by  Eben- 
czer  White,  Elias  Lyon,  and  another  partner.  It  was  after- 
ward owned  by  Capt.  Horace  Packard.  It  was  abandoned, 
however,  many  years  ago.  A  mile  below,  on  the  same  stream, 
about  on  the  line  of  Williamsburg,  was  an  old  grist-mill, 
built  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  by  Col.  Nehemiah  May. 
It  was  abandoned  lifty  years  ago  perhaps.  The  site  of  a 
dwelling-house,  and  even  the  outlines  of  the  garden,  appear, 
but  no  mills  or  buildings  of  any  kind  are  there,  not  a  vestige 
of  the  old  timbers  remaining.  Maj.  Hawks  remembers  going 
to  mill  there  when  he  was  a  boy.  Farther  up-stream  is  the 
Emmons  Putney  mill-site,  where  he  erected  a  saw-mill  in 
1839.  He  has  continued  business  of  some  kind  there  nearly 
all  the  time  since.  In  later  years  he  has  made  button-molds, 
and  does  so  j'et  to  a  limited  extent.  As  showing  the  per- 
fection of  modern  machinery,  and  the  ease  and  rapidity  with 
which  the  molds  can  be  made,  Mr.  Putney  states  that  he  has 
known  one  girl  at  work  for  him  turn  oft"  in  one  day  1.50  gross, 
or  21,600  molds.  Farther  up  is  found  the  site  of  the  "Su- 
mac Mill,"  established  to  make  ground  sumac,  to  export  to 
Europe  for  tanning  the  best  morocco.  The  mill  was  built  by 
Nehemiah  May  and  Ebenczer  Putney  about  1788,  on  land 
belonging  to  the  former.  It  was  run  only  a  few  years  ;  the 
business  could  not  be  made  profitable,  as  other  materials  were 
discovered  in  Europe  and  brought  into  use  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. There  is  little  now  to  mark  the  place  except  some  re- 
mains of  the  old  dam.  Still  above,  toward  the  reservoir,  is 
the  present  saw-mill  of  Rodney  Hawks.  On  the  site  of  this 
was  formerly  an  old  mill,  built  perhaps  by  Washburn  & 
lluss,  thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago.  Mr.  Hawks  rebuilt  it 
about  1870. 

Coming  up  to  the  road  running  east  from  the  meeting-house, 
there  was  originalh'a  saw-mill,  built  as  early  as,  perhaps  earlier 
than,  the  incorporation  of  the  town, — probably  by  John  AVil- 
liams,  known  as  "  Carpenter  John,"  to  distinguish  him  from 
the  merchant  and  tavern-keeper  at  the  burying-ground.  This 
afterward  passed  into  the  hands  of  Abner  Moore,  who  es- 
tablished a  manufactory  of  broom-handles,  and  afterward  of 
button-molds.  He  added  also  a  small  grist-mill.  The  oldest 
dam  was  somewhat  above  the  present  reservoir-dam,  and  still 
shows  in  low  water.  All  these  works  were  bought  out  and 
given  up  when  the  reservoir  was  established. 

At  the  upper  reservoir,  built  in  1873,  the  dam  is  erected 
upon  the  site  of  the  old  dam  belonging  to  the  Lyman  saw-mill, 
built  by  Francis  and  Thomas  Lyman,  1820  to  1828  ;  continued 
in  the  hands  of  the  Lymans  down  to  the  construction  of  the 
reservoir,  though  the  mills  had  been  out  of  use  for  some  time 
before.  At  Goshen  Centre,  lower  reservoir,  there  were  also 
built,  about  1845,  a  saw-mill  and  plane-making  works.  The 
proprietors  were  Oscar  Washburn  and  Ralph  Utley.  The  en- 
terprise was  abandoned  after  a  few  years.  The  old-time  cider- 
mills  were  those  of  Dresser,  White,  James,  Gloyd,  Lyman 
Parsons,  Packard,  and  Narramore.  Present  cider-mills  are 
run  by  Joseph  Heals  and  by  Edward  C.  Packard. 

Other  business  enterprises  maybe  noted:  Levi  Kingman, 
1812-14,  made  what  was  known  as  Tuscarora  socks, — a  patent 
overshoe.  Solomon  Par.sons  and  John  James  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  potash,  and  continued  for  many  years.     Oliver 


Taylor  had  a  tannery  on  the  William  H,  Webster  farm,  before 
the  Revolution,  and  tanners  were  thought  so  important  to  the 
country  that  when  he  enlisted  the  authorities  sent  him  home 
again  to  make  leather,  rather  than  to  fight.  Benjamin  Tilton 
had  a  tannery  for  some  years.  In  old  times,  Thomas  Weeks, 
Jason  Olds,  Silas  Olds,  and  Levi  Stearns  were  the  principal 
cabinet-makers.  Spinning-wheels  were  made  by  Weeks,  and 
at  a  later  day  by  Reuben  Kingman.  The  blacksmiths  of  Go- 
shen may  be  mentioned  as  John  Williams,  Jonah  Williams, 
Thomas  Brown,  Cyrus  Stearns,  Thomas  W.  Stearns,  Asahel 
Billings,  and  Elijah  Billings.  The  latter  came  here  in  1816, 
and  the  ring  of  his  hammer  upon  the  anvil  has  been  a  familiar 
sound  to  Goshen  for  a  long  series  of  j-ears.  Joshua  Packard, 
Sr.,  was  a  shoemaker  in  the  olden  times.  In  later  years  may 
be  noted  Hattil  Washburn,  Sr.,  John  V.  Hunt,  Lysander  and 
Spencer  Gurney,  and  Lowell  Hunt. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  production  for  the  year  end- 
ing May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values  : 
Butter,  $7529;  fire-wood,  $2243;  maple-sugar,  §2540;  beef, 
§2475;  hay,  •'519,058;  manure,  §5778;  potatoes,  §3689;  pork, 
§1572;  milk,  $15.J0;  eggs,  §1083. 

MILITARY. 
The  action  of  the  town  during  its  first  year,  1781-82,  is 
given  under  the  head  of  organization. 

Aug.  G.  1782. — Voteil  tlmt  8,1111  town  will  pay  tlit-ir  crni.il  prnliortinii  of  procur- 
ing and  mustering  a  man  to  serve  in  the  Continental  army  three  years,  which 
hath  already  been  procured  hythat  partof  Goelien  lately  sjt  off  from  Chesterfield. 
Voted  that  said  town  will  p.iy  their  erjuai  prop  u1ion  of  procuring  and  mustering 
a  man  if  required  of  Chesterfield  Gore.  Voteil  to  raise  the  sum  of  si.xty  pounds, 
to  be  assessed  on  thei;-  p:)lls  and  estates,  for  paying  a  man  already  procured  for 
the  Continental  aimy  for  three  years. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  case  of  a  soldier  who  had  deserted  that 
his  friends  procured  an  able-bodied  man  to  take  his  place,  and 
secured  thereby  the  honorable  discharge  of  the  defaulting  man, 
— signed  by  Moses  Hazen,  brigadier-general,  and  by  Lieut. 
Samuel  Buffinton;  also  receipted  for  by  Seth  Bannister,  cap- 
tain and  commandant  at  Springfield  post;  by  Col.  Benjamin 
Bonney,  Nahum  Eager,  and  William  White.  Certain  ditt'er- 
ences  with  the  town  of  Chesterfield  over  the  furnishing  of  men 
and  supplies  for  the  army  in  1780  to  1781  were  submitted  to 
arbitration. 

To  this  official  action  of  the  town  ought  to  be  added  the  fol- 
lowing notes,  with  reference  to  the  men  who  went  from  this 
part  of  the  town  of  Chesterfield  before  Goshen  was  incorpo- 
rated. Of  the  company  that  marched  from  Chesterfield,  April 
21,  1775,  two  days  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  Capt.  Robert 
Webster  of  this  town  was  in  command,  and  Christo|)her  Ban- 
nister was  one  of  the  lieutenants,  Wm.  White,  first  sergeant, 
Timothy  Lyman,  third  sergeant,  and  Jonathan  Nelson,  cor- 
poral. The  companj'  also  included  the  following  privates  from 
the  present  territory  of  Goshen  :  Tilly  Burk,  Benjamin  Bourn, 
Caleb  Cushman,  Barzillai  Bannister,  Nehemiah  May,  Cyrus 
Lyon,  Oliver  Taylor,  Arlemus  Stone,  Reuben  Dresser,  Samuel 
Thomas,  Ebenezer  Parsons,  Samuel  Olds,  Christopher  Grant, 
Adam  Beals,  and  Wait  Burk.  It  is  uncertain  how  many  of 
these  went  regularly  into  the  Continental  army,  but  many  of 
them  are  known  to  have  done  so,  and  been  engaged  in  long 
and  arduous  service. 

In  the  absence  of  authentic  records,  tradition  supplies  the 
following  notes  with  reference  to  some :  Christopher  Bannis- 
ter became  captain,  and  was  in  service  on  Long  Island.  He 
attained  the  rank  of  major  before  the  clo.se  of  the  war.  Maj. 
Ezra  May  was  also  engaged  upon  Long  Island.  He  also  be- 
longed to  the  Northern  army,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender 
of  Burgoyne,  but  his  health  failed,  and,  returning  home,  he 
died  Jan.  11,  1778. 

Timothy  Lyman  belonged  to  the  army  of  the  North  during 
the  Burgoyne  campaign  ;  was  at  the  battle  of  Bennington, 
and  also  at  the  surrender  of  the  British  army  at  Saratoga.  He 
brought  home  a  musket  of  the  "  Queen's  Arm"  stamp,  taken 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


491 


at  Saratoga.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  tlie  Lyman  family 
of  this  town.  Joshua  Abell  was  also  at  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne.  Before  that,  at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  a  bullet 
struck  his  gun  and  glanced  oft',  leaving  him  unhurt.  The  gun 
is  a  cherished  memorial  in  the  family  of  his  descendants,  and 
shows  clearly  where  it  was  struck.  The  same  gun  was  carried 
in  the  war  of  1812. 

A.sa  Grant  served  for  a  time  in  Connecticut;  William  Hal- 
lock  and  his  son  Moses,  in  New  Jersey  ;  Jeremiah  Hallock,  at 
Ticonderoga.  Isaac  Kingman,  John  Jepson,  and  Joseph  Jep- 
son,  Caleb  Bryant,  David  Stearns,  Jr.,  Lemuel  Stearns,  and 
John  Stearns  were  all  in  the  Revolutionary  service  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent.  Zebulon  Willcutt  was  in  service  nineteen 
months.  Phineas  Manning  served  through  the  whole  war ; 
was  acquainted  with  Gen.  Washington,  and  had  seen  him  ride 
between  the  contending  lines  in  battle.  Manning  suffered 
severely  at  Monmouth  ;  was  at  White  Plains,  at  the  surren- 
der of  Cornwallis,  and  received  from  Gen.  Washington  the 
"  Badge  of  Merit."  The  Mannings  honored  their  patriotic 
name  in  the  civil  war,  as  the  records  abundantly  show.  James 
Orcutt  served  at  West  Point,  and  was  on  duty  in  command  of 
a  company  detailed  to  guard  the  great  chain  the  night  after 
Arnold's  treachery.  The  American  column  sent  forward  for 
the  safety  of  the  fort  and  for  the  arrest  of  Arnold  passed  his 
guard  in  their  ardor  without  replying  to  the  challenge.  Maj. 
Ambrose  Stone  served  under  Gen.  Ward  at  Boston,  and 
under  Arnold  at  ]jake  Champlain.  He  was  in  the  battles  of 
Bemis  Heights,  that  compelled  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  It 
is  said  of  him  that  as  the  smoke  lifted  during  the  battle,  once, 
he  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the  enemy  alone,  his  men 
having  retreated  to  the  cover  of  a  wood.  He  fired  his  musket, 
leaped  a  rail  fence,  and  escaped  unharmed.  He  was  at  Valley 
Forge,  and  shared  in  the  suft'erings  of  that  fearful  winter.  He 
was  the  last  survivor  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  from 
this  town.  He  died  March  18,  1850,  aged  ninety-three.  Thomas 
Weeks,  before  coming  to  Goshen,  had  spent  several  years  in 
the  army.  He  served  as  commissary  and  as  lieutenant,  and 
was  often  clerk  of  courts-martial  and  other  military  gather- 
ings. His  papers,  journals,  and  memorandums  comprised 
much  valuable  history.  He  was  on  Long  Island  in  important 
service  watching  the  enemy. 

Doubtless  many  others  should  be  included  in  this  roll  of 
honor,  but  their  names  have  not  survived  the  lajise  of  years. 
Historj'  states  that  there  were  thirty  men  from  Chesteriield  in 
the  army  of  the  Revolution,  January,  1776.  A  number  of 
these  were  of  course  from  Goshen, — perhaps  the  same  as  those 
mentioned  above.  (See  Webster  papers,  in  chapter  on  Chester- 
field.) 

The  following  is  from  the  Hampshire  Gazette  : 

Goshen,  July  G,  1812. — .\t  a  legal  meeting,  voted  "  unanimously  tliat  it  i:>  the 
sense  anil  full  belief  of  the  inhabitantsof  this  town  that  an  offensive  war  against 
(ireat  Biitain  at  this  lime  is  unnecessary,  perfectly  unjustiliable,  and  to  the  last 
degree  impolitic.  That  it  is  the  unanimous  voice  of  this  town  (one  vote  only  ex- 
cepted) that  we  cannot  voluntarily  engage  nor  as-sist  in  an  offensive  war  against 
Great  Biitain,  but  that  we  stand  ready  at  all  times,  at  the  risk  c»f  our  lives  and 


fortunes,  to  defend  and  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  .States  and  our 
country  against  all  invasion  and  hostile  attempts  of  any  person  or  persons,  nation 
or  nations,  whatsoever,  under  heaven." 

The  above  shows  the  prevalent  feeling  of  1812,  and  probably 
there  was  only  one  regular  soldier  from  Goshen — John  Man- 
ning— in  the  army  during  that  war.  The  following,  however, 
went  to  the  defense  of  Boston:  Capt.  Timothy  Lyman,  Asa- 
hel  Billings,  orderly,  Wm.  Abell,  Wm.  Tilton,  Oliver  T. 
Cathcart,  Enoch  James,  John  Fuller,  Robert  Btirras,  Abisha 
Williams,  Arad  Hosford,  and  probably  Mo.ses  Dresser. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  great  civil  war  of  18G1-<J5  to  wake 
anew  the  patriotism  of  this  people.  Then,  as  elsewhere  at  the 
North,  the  national  colors  flashed  out  over  these  hills  and 
valleys,  the  emblems  of  national  life,  and  with  passionate  love 
of  the  old  flag  of  their  fathers  the  sons  went  forth  to  battle  in 
its  defense. 

OFFICIAL    ACTION    DURING   THE   CIVIL   WAR. 

At  a  town-meeting  May  6,  1861,  it  was  voted  to  appropriate 
S200  to  be  expended  in  recruiting  volunteers.  C.  A.  Packard, 
H.  H.  Tilton,  Hiram  Packard,  Daniel  Williams,  and  Francis 
Jepson  were  appointed  tv  committee  to  attend  to  the  same. 
November  5th  the  provisions  of  the  law  with  reference  to 
State  aid  to  families  of  volunteers  were  accepted,  and  authority 
given  the  selectmen  to  borrow  the  amount  necessary  for  this 
purpose.  Sept.  3,  1862,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  pay 
a  bounty  of  ijilOO  each  either  for  three  3ears'  volunteers  or  for 
those  of  nine  months  only. 

Jan.  10,  18G3. — Voted  to  borrow  S1140  to  pay  bounties  to  volunteers. 
March  2d. — Voted  to  use  3101)0  of  the  "James  Fund"  to  pay  bounties. 
April  6th. — Voted  to  Itorrow  SiOO  to  aid  the  families  of  soldiers. 

April  4,  1864,  a  bounty  of  §125  each  was  offered  for  recruits 
to  fill  the  quota  of  the  town  under  existing  calls,  and  June 
15th  the  vote  was  made  general  to  fill  all  future  calls  to  March 
1,  1865.  May  22,  1865,  it  was  voted  to  pay  by  taxation  one- 
third  of  the  war-bounty  debt  and  borrow  two-thirds. 

Schouler's  "  History"  states  that  Goshen  furnished  47  for  the 
war,  a  surplus  of  6  above  all  demands.  A  part  of  these  were 
recruits  hired  abroad.  Thirty-four  citizens  of  the  town  went, 
of  whom  8  lost  their  lives.     A  list  of  these  is  appended. 

The  whole  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the  town  was 
.93.374..50;  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  in  1860  was 
§157,942,  and  the  population  was  439  ;  amount  of  aid  to  fam- 
ilies, afterward  refunded  by  the  State,  1861,  ?41.92;  1862, 
?573.57;  1863,  $768.60;  1864,  $638.88;  1865,  |155.45 ;  total, 
$2178.42. 

One  family  may  fairly  receive  a  special  mention.  Phineas 
Manning,  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  his  son,  John 
Manning,  in  the  regular  service  during  the  war  of  1812-15, 
have  been  already  mentioned.  The  old  heroic  blood  survived 
the  long  years  of  peace,  and  in  1861-65  four  of  the  Manning 
name,  descendants  of  the  hero  of  White  Plains  and  Yorktown, 
fought  for  the  safety  of  the  Union,  and  two  laid  down  their 
lives  in  its  defense.  The  "  Badge  of  Merit,"  given  by  Wash- 
ington to  the  sire,  has  been  honored  by  the  sons. 


SOLDIERS'  RECORD,  WAR  OF  ISCl-OJ. 
John  II.  Godfrey,  enl.  Oct.  2, 1802,  5-2d  M.V. M.,  Co. 

C;  disch.  Aug.  14,  IS&i. 
Abner  Phelps,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  62d  M.  V.  M.,  Co 

I;  diich.  Aug.  14,  180:i;  died  Sept  1st,  of  dis. 

ease  contracted  in  the  army. 
Anson  W,  Godfrey,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1864,  1st  H.  Art., 

Co.  A ;  killed   in  action,  Oct.  27,  1804,  at  the 

battle  of  Boydton  Plank-BoaJ,  Va. 
Lyman  F.  Rico,  Sept.  2,  1804,  Ist  II,  Art.,  Co.  A; 

was  taken  prisoner  at  Hatcher's  Run;  disch. 

June  4,  1863. 
James  B.  Taylor,  enl.  Sept.  2,  1864,  Ist  H.  Art.,  Co. 

A ;  was    taken    pi'isoner  at   Hatcher's    Run ; 

disch.  June  24,  180o. 
Augustus  A.  Manning,   enl.   June  21,  1801,  10th 

Inf,  Co.  C;  had  been  pro.  to  sergt.,  and  was 

wounded  at  Fair  Oaks;  disch.  July  1,  1864. 


George  T.  Manning,  enl.  Aug.  23,  1801,  21st  Inf., 
Co.  C;  wounded  Feb.  8,  1802,  at  Roanoke 
Island,  N.  C,  and  died  Feb.  16,  1862. 

Jonathan  Burroughs,  enl.  Oct.  15,  1861,  27th  Inf., 
Co.  G  ;  disch.  to  re-eul.  Dec.  %i,  1803  (North- 
ampton). 

Joel  D.  Manning,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 
C;  disch.  July  3,  1862,  for  disability;  re-enl. 
Sept.  2,  1864,  1st  H.  Art.,  Co.  A ;  disch.  with 
the  regiment,  June,  186.5. 

John  H.  Manning,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,31st  Inf., Co. 
C;  died  May  31,  1.802,  at  Ship  Island,  Miss. 

Austin  M.  Rice,  enl.  Feb.  II,  IS61.  3l3t  Inf.,  Co.  C; 
disch.  Sept.  9,  1865. 

Ansel  A.  Roberts,  enl.  Nov.  20,  1861,  31.st  Inf.,  Co. 
C;  disch.  Nov.  ID,  1804. 

George  F.  Tilton,  enl.  Aug.  4, 1802, 1st  Cav.,  Co.  F  ; 
pro.  orderly  to  Gen.Stoneman  in  his  raid  upon 


Richmond;  wounded,  and  died  from  the  effects 

of  the  wound  at  Alexandiia,  Va.,  Dec.  21, '63. 
Lorin  Barrus,  enl.  Aug.  4,  1862,  lot  Cav., Co.  F;  on 

detached  duty  at  Division  Headquarters;  disch. 

at  the  close  of  the  term  of  enlistment. 
Alvin    Barrus,  enl,   Aug.  4,  1802,  l.st  Cav.,  Co.  F; 

detailed  for  hospital  service,  serving  two  years 

or  more;  the  last  two  months  with  b  ;B regiment 

in  the  field  ;  discharged. 
Joseph  Beals,  enl.  Aug.  4, 1862,  1st  Cav.,  Co.  F ;  on 

detached  service ;  disch.  at  the  close  of  the 

term  of  enlistment. 
Henry  Parsons,  enl.  May,  1801, 10th  Kegt.,  Co.  H; 

wounded  at  Fair  Oaks ;  served  through  and 

disch. 
Wm.  Manning,  enl.  in  the  20th  Kegt.;  wounded 

twice  in  the  battles  of  the'ft'ildemess,  losing 

a  leg ;  discharged. 


492 


IIISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Lcroy  Thclpe,  enl.  Dec  180:%  1st  11.  Art.,  Co.  A; 
woiin(k-d  April  1,  1SG4,  itntl  died  April  11th. 

Horace  H.  rackiinl,  eiil.  in  '29tli  Rt'gt.,  Co.  U  ;  de- 
tailed ns  i\  carpeiitei-  fur  a  portion  of  tlie  time 
at  Fortress  Blunroe;  served  Ihrmigli;  tlisch. 
with  tlie  regiment. 

Joseph  H.  Dawos,  enl.  in  100th  N.  Y.;  pro.  ns  or- 
derly to  the  colonel;  served  througli,  and 
disdi.  with  the  regiment. 

John  H.  Bissell,  eiil.  July  2:J,  1SG2,  .'iTth  Regt.,  Co. 
D  ;  twice  woniuled  ;  in  hospital  only  one  wi-ek ; 
served  through,  ami  disih.  with  Ihe  regiment. 

Joel  Wing,  enl.  1SG2,  27th  U-gt.,  Co.  H  ;  killed  in 
the  battle  of  Nowbern,  N   C,  Marcli  U,  '02. 

Uenry  Putney,  enl.  in  the  Navy,  and  served  out 
his  full  term  of  enlistment. 


Charles  H.  Dawes,  enl.  Nov.  21,  IHOl,  32d  Inf.,  Co. 
B;  re-enl.  Jan.  5, 1SG4;  wuunded  before  Rich- 
mond and  Jour  day.s  a  prisdner;  disch.  May 
26,  ISW,  by  i)rd**r  of  War  Department. 

Henry  L.  Narramore,  enl.  Nov.  21,  18G1,  32d  Inf., 
Co.  B;  trnns.June  18, 1SG4,  to  Vet.  Bes.  Corps; 
hiid  been  wounded;  wtu'i  leader  of  a  hospital 
relief-party  for  some  time. 

Timolhy  D.  Pierce,  enl.  Nov.20,18Gl.  32d  Inf.,  Co. 
B;  had  been  detailed  forganison  duty  at  Fort 
"Warren  ;  disch.  Feb.  20,  1862,  for  disability. 

Lyman  W.  Parsons,  eul.  Aug.  30,  18G2,  Mth  Itif., 
Co.  H;  was  detailed  as  teamster  fur  regiment 
and  then  brigade  service;  and  li-'d  charge  of 
personal  supplies  for  Gen.  Wright  and  staff; 
disch.  June  21,  18G5. 


Timothy  P.  Lyman,  enl.  Ang.l8Gl,lst  Cav  ,Co.  E  r 
taken  prisoner  at  Aldi--,  June  17,  18G3  ;  in 
Libhy  prison;  paroled;  declared  exchanged; 
ro-enl.  Feb.  18GI ;  pro.  to  ist  lieut.  and  quar- 
termaster; discharged. 

Levant  Phelps,  enl.  Dec.  1803,  1st  11.  Ait,  Co.  A; 
served  through;  disch.  with  the  regiment. 

Thomas  S.  Holman,  eul. in  18C2,and  was  asst.surg. 
at  Camp  Day,  North  Cambridge,  wustakeuill, 
and  died  at  Goshen,  Dec.  7, 18C2. 

Frederirk  A.Hubbard,  enl.  in  52d  Regt.,  Co.  F; 
served  through,  and  disch. with  ngiment. 

Alexis  R.  Hubbard,  enl.  in  31Ih  Regt.,  Co.  E; 
served  through,  and  di.sfli.  with  regiment. 

Calvin  A.  Hubbard,  enl.  in  6ih  Conn.  Regt.,  Co.  E  ; 
served  through,  and  disch.  with  regiment. 


CHESTERFIELD. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Chesterfield  is  situated  nearly  central  with  reference 
to  that  portion  of  Hampshire  County  west  of  the  Connecticut 
Kiver.  Its  principal  village  is  stated  by  air-line  measurement 
at  eleven  and  a  half  miles  from  the  county-seat. 

Those  who  drive  over  the  road  will  find  it  farther  than  that. 
The  town  is  bounded  north  by  Worthington,  Cummington, 
and  Goshen  ;  east  by  Goshen,  Williamsburg,  and  Westhamp- 
ton ;  south  by  Westhamptou  and  Huntington ;  west  by 
Worthington.  The  area  of  the  original  town  before  Goshen 
was  incorporated  was  29,(i40  acres.  It  is  now  stated  in  the 
reports  of  the  census  of  1875  as  1G,748  acres. 

The  title  to  the  soil  of  this  town  is  traced  back  to  a  direct 
grant  by  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  previous  ex- 
tinction of  the  Indian  title  to  all  this  section  of  country  is 
fully  treated  in  the  general  portion  of  this  history.  To  the 
800  troops  who  assisted  in  subduing  the  Narragansett  Indians 
in  the  King  Philip  war  of  1075  the  State  granted  certain 
townships  of  land.  Some  of  these  being  found  to  be  barren 
and  scarcely  worth  settling,  the  State  granted  certain  compen- 
sation lands,  among  them  the  present  town  of  Chesterfield  ; 
and  72G1  acres  of  the  north  part  were  given  to  the  claimants 
or  their  heirs  under  the  ynrragniixctt  grant.  The  State  also 
secured  to  certain  soldiers  engaged  in  the  Canada  expedition 
of  1C90,  or  to  their  heirs,  lands  in  the  south  part  of  the  town. 
A  special  grant  of  600  acres  to  Mr.  Coleman  in  the  .south  part 
of  the  town  is  supposed  to  have  been  for  services  in  connection 
with  laying  out  this  and  perhaps  other  towhships  for  the  State, 
though  the  reasons  for  this  valuable  grant  are  not  really  known. 

NATURAL  FEATURES. 
The  prominent  feature  of  this  town  is  the  valley  of  the 
Westtield  Kiver,  extending  very  nearly  north  and  south  ' 
through  the  western  part  of  the  town.  On  each  side  of  this 
and  nearly  parallel  are  ranges  of  hills,  mostly  continuous 
through  the  town,  though  ditl'ering  considerablj-  in  elevation 
at  various  points.  Farther  east  is  a  second  valley,  through 
which  flows  the  Dead  Branch,  and  this  is  also  nearly  north 
and  south  in  its  general  direction.  The  extreme  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  town  consists  of  a  rough,  hill_y  tract.  Dead  Pond, 
in  the  cast,  is  the  only  body  of  water  to  be  noted.  Generally 
speaking,  Chesterfield  is  drained  by  the  Westfield  River  and 
its  tributaries. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENT— SUBSEQUENT    GROWTH. 
The  town  of  Chesterfield  was  settled  from   17G0  to  17i!5. 
The  first  actual  pioneer  who  established  himself  and  family 


within  the  limits  of  this  town  and  wintered  here  was  George 
Buck.  He  lived  in  what  is  known  as  Ireland  Street.  It  is 
related  that,  getting  short  of  provisions,  he  started  for  North- 
ampton to  obtain  a  supply.  He  was  delayed  by  a  snow-storm, 
and  his  family  were  compelled  to  kill  and  eat  their  dog  to  save 
their  lives.  We  have  little  account  of  his  family.  Several  of 
the  same  family  name,  presumed  to  be  his  sons,  appear  in  these 
sketches. 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  the  names  of  the  other  early  settlers  in 
chronological  order.  From  the  town  records,  rolls  of  highway 
accounts,  and  other  papers,  it  is  easily  determined  that  the 
following  located  in  this  town,  including  Goshen,  from  1760 
to  1768:  From  Dudlev,  Joseph  Burnell  and  David  Stearns; 
from  Scituate,  Benjamin  Bryant,  Consider  Bryant,  Prince 
Bryant,  Abiel  Stetson,  Abncr  Bates,  Nehemiah  Bates,  Benja- 
min Bates,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Thomas  Pierce,  Jonathan  Pierce, 
Seth  Sylvester,  Nehemiah  Sylvester,  Luke  Sylvester,  Jacob 
Litchfield,  Kobert  Damon,  Amos  Damon,  Joshua  Rogers, 
John  Rogers,  John  Pynchon,  Isaiah  Damon,  and  Joseph 
Bailey;  from  Cohasset,  Ichabod  Damon,  .John  Stephenson, 
and  Zebulon  "Willcutt ;  from  Sutton,  Jeremiah  Stockwell, 
Benjamin  Tupper,  and  Ansel  Tupper ;  from  Pembroke,  Ben- 
jamin Bonney  and  Seth  Taylor;  from  Charlton,  William 
White  and  Ebenezer  Putney;  from  Pelham,  Charles  Kidd, 
Benjamin  Kidd,  and  Robert  Hamilton  ;  from  Connecticut, 
Jeremiah  Spaulding;  from  Bridgewater,  several  families  of 
the  Coles;  from  Northampton,  Elisha  Warner,  Elijah  War- 
ner, Joel  Warner,  Paul  King,  Silas  King,  Justus  Wright,. 
Paul  Clapp,  and  Amasa  Clapp ;  from  Pembroke,  Gideon  Bis- 
bee  and  Jotham  Bisbee ;  from  various  places  not  certain, 
Robert  Webster,  Ezra  May,  George  Buck,  Prince  Cowing, 
Simeon  Higgins,  John  Holbard,  Aaron  Jewell,  Asa  Grant, 
Charles  Beswick,  Everton  Beswick,  Archelaus  Anderson,  and 
Jonathan  Anderson.  The  names  of  still  others  appear  in  the 
records  given.  John  Cowing,  son  of  Prince  Cowing,  is  said 
to  have  been  the  first  white  child  born  in  town.  Jeremiah 
Spaulding  was  the  first  man  who  died  in  town,  and  his  death 
was  caused  by  sticking  a  nail  into  his  foot  at  the  raising  of  a 
house  upon  the  place  owned  in  later  years  by  Bela  Stetson. 

The  first  death  in  town  was,  however,  the  wife  of  Benjamin 
Bonney.  Her  grave,  according  to  the  deed  of  the  yard  at  the 
centre,  should  be  found  near  the  north  line,  a  little  east  of  the 
new  Ru.ssell  tablet. 

FAMILY   NOTES. 

Archelaus  Anderson,  owned  at  the  centre,  the  north  line  of 
the  cemetery  being  his  north  line  ;  his  place  became  soon  after 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


493 


the  property  of  Rev.   Benjamin  Mills.     Jonathan  Anderson 
lived  west  of  the  centre;  sons,  David  and  Alanson. 

Abner  Bates,  homestead  east  part  of  the  town.  Nehemiah 
Bates,  homestead  the  present  place  of  Hudson  Bates.  Chil- 
dren :  Jacob,  Vermont;  Ephraim,  Plainficld ;  Eliab,  New 
York;  Nathaniel,  who  died  at  twenty-one;  Nehemiah,  Asa, 
Levi,  in  Cummington;  Gcrshom,  Goshen;  Solomon,  on  the 
old  homestead;  Ruth,  died  in  infancy;  Mchitable  (Mrs.  Jona- 
than Luce),  Chesterfield.  The  wife  of  Solomon  Bates  lived 
to  the  age  of  ninety-five.  Benjamin  Bates  probablj'  lived 
near  Sugar  Hill. 

Joshua  Bailey,  brother  of  the  next  mentioned.  Joseph 
Bailey,  homestead  the  present  farm  of  Calvin  Damon  ;  Joseph 
Bailey,  who  died  some  fifty  years  ago,  was  probably  a  son, 
and  was  a  merchant  for  many  years,  and  a  hotel-keeper,  also 
a  member  of  the  Legislature ;  kept  what  has  since  been  the 
Clapp  tavern. 

Benjamin  Bonney  settled  about  a  mile  south  of  the  centre. 
He  had  one  son,  David  D.,  who  later  in  life  moved  West ;  two 
other  sons  were  Benjamin,  Jr.,  and  Marshall. 

Gideon  Bisbee,  homestead  on  "  the  mount."  Had  two  sons, 
Gideon,  of  Ohio,  and  John,  Chesterfield;  daughter,  Mrs. 
Rush  Gurney,  Chesterfield. 

Jotham  Bisbee,  homestead  on  the  present  Franklin  Buck 
property.  Children:  Jonathan,  Asahel,  and  Elisha,  Chester- 
field; Jotham,  died  unmarried;  Job,  finally  went  to  New 
York;  Mrs.  Seth  Remington,  of  Chesterfield;  Rebecca,  died 
unmarried;  Mrs.  Luther  Gere,  of  Worthington  ;  Mrs.  Felix 
Stanton,  of  Huntington.  Oren  Bisbee,  of  the  mills,  and  a 
brother,  Osman,  are  grandsons  of  Jotham,  sons  of  Elisha. 

George  Buck  wa.s  the  first  settler,  but  there  is  little  account 
of  liis  family,  though  the  name  is  found  in  town  in  later 
years,  and  in  the  records  of  Worthington. 

Charles  Beswick  ;  none  of  this  family  name  in  town  for  the 
last  thirty  or  forty  years.  Everton  Beswick,  Beswick  Hill. 
The  early  location,  no  doubt,  of  these  families  is  near  the 
Williamsburg  line. 

Col.  Patrick  Bryant,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  settled  be- 
tween West  Chesterfield  and  "  the  mount."  Children:  Zenas, 
Oren,  Martin,  and  Asahel,  of  Chesterfield  ;  John,  New  York  ; 
Nathaniel,  Ohio ;  Mrs.  Asa  Gurne_y,  of  Cummington,  after- 
ward moved  to  Ohio ;  Mrs.  Obadiah  Skiff,  of  Goshen. 

Joseph  Burnell,  homestead  present  place  of  S.  C.  Damon; 
he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  Children  :  John,  Chester- 
field; Mrs.  Reuben  Dresser,  Goshen;  Mrs.  Richard  Sylvester, 
Chesterfield.;  Joseph,  Chesterfield;  Ephraim,  Cummington; 
Manasseh,  St.  Alban's,  Vt.  The  missionaries  Thomas  S.  and 
Kingsley  A.  are  grandsons,  and  sons  of  Rufus. 

Elisha  Baker,  homestead  on  Sugar  Hill,  present  place  of 
Esther  Baker.  Children:  Electa,  died  young;  Elisha,  Ches- 
terfield (father  of  Deacon  Baker) ;  Fanny  (Mrs.  Israel  Graves), 
Williamsburg;  Mrs.  Ralph  Ulley,  Chesterfield;  Andrew, 
Chesterfield  ;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Darius  Stephenson)  ;  Daniel,  Ches- 
terfield ;  John,  Chesterfield;  Alsie,  died  unmarried. 

Benjamin  Bryant,  homestead  where  Frank  H.  Bryant  now 
lives,  who  is  a  great-grandson.  Of  his  sons,  Eli  and  Asahel 
settled  in  Chesterfield.  Eli  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  lived 
at  the  centre,  and  was  an  extensive  landholder.  Consider 
Bryant  was  a  brother  of  Benjamin  ;  homestead  the  jiresent 
place  of  Levi  Bryant.  Prince  Brj'ant  was  another  brother 
of  Benjamin  Bryant. 

Isaac  Buck,  homestead  on  "  the  mount."  Children:  Na- 
than, West ;  Moses,  West,  and  another  brother  also  ;  Jesse, 
Abner,  and  Isaac, Chesterfield  ;  Mrs.  Porter;  Mrs.  Stephenson, 
Connecticut ;  Mrs.  Silas  King. 

Ebenezer  Cole ;  he  had  one  son,  Amasa.  The  Cole  name 
is  prominent  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  and  has  included 
several  public  men  in  years  past  and  at  the  present  time. 

Paul  Clapp  was  one  of  that  family  name  in  town.  Amasa 
Clapp  .settled  on  the  present  Erwin  Rice  farm.     Of  his  chil- 


dren, Ira  settled  in  Chesterfield  (father  of  Ira,  now  living  in 
town),  and  a  daughter  was  Mrs.  Alvin  Rice. 

Prince  Cowing  settled  on  Ireland  Street.  The  following 
were  probably  sons  of  Prince  :  Calvin,  went  West ;  Thompson, 
went  to  Western  New  York;  Samuel,  died  on  Ireland  Street. 

Luther  Curtis,  homestead  probablj'  in  the  east  part  of  the 
town,  now  owned  by  Asa  Curtis,  a  great-grandson.  He  had 
two  sons,  Luther  and  Nathan.  James  Cox  owned  the  mills 
at  Bisbee's,  and  lived  at  the  site  of  an  old  cellar  in  late 
years  on  the  road  west.  Nathaniel  Coleman  lived  on  the 
present  Levi  Witherell  place.     Sons:  Nathaniel,  Noah,  John. 

Ezekiel  Corban,  mechanic,  made  the  old  churn  owned  by 
Joel  Willcutt's  mother. 

Amaziah  Cole,  homestead  on  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Widow  Smith  on  Ireland  Street.  Sons:  Ebenezer,  Joseph, 
Amaziah,  Jr.,  settled  in  Chesterfield.  Ephraim  Cole,  of 
Ireland  Street,  is  a  son  of  Amaziah,  Jr.  Consider  Cole. 
Sons:  Isaac,  went  West;  Daniel,  Seth,  William,  and  Consider, 
Jr.,  settled  in  Chesterfield.  Horace  Cole,  of  Worthington, 
is  a  grandson. 

Amos  Damon  came  to  this  town  in  1762 ;  settled  on  what  is 
now  the  Adelbert  Bisbee  farm.  No  house  there  now.  Of  his 
children,  Amos,  Jr.,  was  in  the  Revolutionary  war  seven  j'ears, 
and  the  gun  he  carried  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Calvin  Da- 
mon ;  David,  settled  in  Chesterfield  ;  Nathan,  in  Westhamp- 
ton ;  James  and  Isaac,  in  Chesterfield.  Calvin,  a  son  of  Isaac, 
lives  on  the  old  tavern-site  of  the  Damons  and  the  Pierces. 
Isaiah  Damon  settled  near  the  present  residence  of  Calvin  Da- 
mon. Children  :  Joseph,  Reuben,  and  Jason.  lehabod  Damon 
lived  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  Robert  Damon,  still 
another  pioneer,  seems  to  have  been  no  relation  to  the  above. 

John  Ewell,  1779,  homestead  a  mile  south  of  the  centre. 
Children:  James,  settled  in  Norwich  ;  Malachi,  Ohio;  Melzar, 
Chesterfield;  Solomon,  Consider,  John,  Ohio;  Sarah,  Mrs. 
David  Anderson;  Rachel,  died  unmarried;  Deborah,  died 
young. 

Oliver  Edwards  came  to  Chesterfield  about  1775  to  1780,  and 
settled  at  Sugar  Hill,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  a  grandson, 
Ebenezer  Edwards.  Of  his  children,  Luther  and  Oliver  settled 
in  town;  Elisha  Edwards,  in  Springfield,  and  was  a  well- 
known,  public  man.  Daughters  were  Mrs.  Wm.  Pomeroy,  of 
Williamsburg  ;  Mrs.  Ambrose  Stone,  of  Williamsburg  ;  Mrs. 
Joshua  Bates,  of  Skaneateles,  N.  Y.  A  grandson,  Oliver,  the 
third  of  the  same  name,  resides  at  the  centre.  Oliver,  the 
second,  was  a  merchant  at  the  centre  from  1811  or  1812  down 
to  186-5 ;  he  died  in  1874. 

Robert  Hamilton  lived  beyond  Calvin  Damon.  Sons : 
Robert,  Jr.,  Levi,  Samuel,  John  K.  Elijah  Higgins  was  a 
citizen  with  a  large  family  of  descendants.  Joshua  Healey ; 
he  lived  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  ;  Parley  Healey  and 
Seth  Healey,  probably  sons,  lived  and  died  in  Chesterfield. 

Timothy  Ingram  moved  from  Williamsburg  to  Chesterfield, 
December,  171-18,  and  lived  on  the  Coleman  tract.  Children; 
Timothy  and  Benjamin,  Westhampton  ;  Joel,  now  living  at 
Chesterfield,  eighty-nine  years  old ;  Nathaniel  and  Porter, 
■  Chesterfield  ;  Otis,  still  living,  Chesterfield  ;  Mrs.  Edwin  Da- 
mon ;  Deborah,  died  unmarried,  ninety-seven  years  old.  Joel, 
Jr.,  son  of  Joel,  is  the  present  postmaster,  and  merchant,  of 
Chesterfield  village. 

Charles  Kidd  ;  homestead  was  the  present  place  of  Ambrose 
Cudworth.  Benjamin  Kidd  lived  farther  east,  now  known  as 
"Kidd's  Lookout,"  from  which  extensive  views  are  obtained. 
Thomas  Kidd  was  a  son  of  Benjamin.  Eleazer  King ;  he  had 
two  sons,  Isaac  and  Eleazer.  The  former  was  a  prominent 
public  man,  and  was  thrown  from  a  carriage  and  killed.  Jacob 
Litchfield,  homestead  on  the  Delbert  Bisbee  farm.  Bezar 
Ludden  ;  he  had  one  son,  Bezar,  who  was  in  the  regular  army, 
war  of  1812. 

Daniel  Littlefield,  homestead  near  the  Gate,  present  place 
of  Horace  Cole.    Children  :  Daniel,  Vermont ;  Josiah,  Walter, 


49i 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Joshua,  New  York  ;  Caleb,  diecl  yoimg ;  Mrs.  Peter  Sliaw, 
Vermont;  Mrs.  David  3Iacomlicr,  Mrs.  Wm.  Higgins,  Mrs. 
McQuivey,  Vermont. 

Eev.  Benjamin  Mills  was  the  first  pastor,  and  died  in  Ches- 
terfield. One  son,  Josiah,  settled  in  "VVorthington,  a  man  of 
considerable  prominence.  A  son  of  Josiah,  James  K.,  was 
prominent  in  the  founding  of  Holyoke  City. 

David  Macomber,  from  Easton,  came  in  about  1770,  and 
settled  on  the  place  on  which  Alvin  Macomber  now  lives.  Of 
his  children,  Daniel,  settled  in  Westford,  Vt. ;  David,  settled  in 
Westford,  Vt. ;  Eunice,  died  young  ;  Jacob,  settled  in  Westford, 
Vt.  ;  Cyrus,  in  Westford,  Vt.  ;  Kebecca  (Mrs.  Moses  Bates), 
settled  in  Westford,  Vt. ;  Edmond,  settled  in  Chesterfield ;  Har- 
vey, in  Westford,  Vt. ;  Hannah,  died  young  ;  Alvin,  now  lives 
on  the  old  homestead  ;  Melzar,  Kingsville,  Ohio  ;  Sophronia 
(Mrs.  Zenas  Gurney),  in  Cummington,  and  then  in  Chester, 
Ohio. 

Jcseph  Nichols  settled,  1793,  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
from  the  centre,  on  property  still  owned  by  his  descendants; 
was  a  soldier  of  the  old  French  war,  and  of  the  Revolution. 
Children :  Mrs.  Wm.  Whittaker,  Vt. ;  Jonathan,  Otisco,  N.  Y. ; 
Joshua,  Chesterfield.  A  son  of  the  latter,  Albert  Nichols, 
lives  at  the  centre,  a  public  officer  of  the  town  for  many  years. 
He  has  the  old  historic  gun  of  his  grandfather. 

Samuel  Luce  came  from  Martha's  Vineyard  to  Williams- 
burg in  1776,  with  five  children, — James,  Elisha,  Harvey, 
Joseph,  and  Jonathan.  He  soon  after  removed  to  Goshen, 
and  he  had  seven  more  children  born  there, — Obed,  Shubael, 
Nathan,  Henry,  Mrs.  Joshua  Porter,  Conway;  Mrs.  Hart- 
land,  Conway;  and  Mrs.  John  Lomond,  Montague.  Jona- 
than Luce  married  Mehitable  Bates,  about  1801,  and  settled 
where  his  son,  Nehemiah,  now  lives,  and  had  a  family  of 
fourteen  children.  Mr.  Bates,  father  of  Mrs.  Luce,  came  from 
Cohasset,  settled  on  the  farm  north,  and  had  ten  children. 

Joshua  Healey  liv'ed  a  little  south  of  Mr.  Luce,  where  he 
was  fired  at  in  bed  during  the  Shays  rebellion.  In  this  neigh- 
borhood Mr.  Truesdell  perished  in  early  times,  having  lost 
his  way  returning  from  Northampton  by  marked  trees.  The 
house  Mr.  Luce  lives  in  was  moved  two  feet  by  the  great 
tornado  of  1780.  Mr.  Luce  has  a  large  collection  of  relics  and 
antique  curiosities. 

Benjamin  Pierce,  homestead  the  present  residence  of  Cal- 
vin Damon.  Children  :  Benjamin,  Chesterfield  ;  Israel,  died 
young;  Mrs.  John  Hatch,  Chesterfield  ;  Mrs.  Sylvanus  Clapp, 
Westhampton  ;  Mrs.  Solomon  Bissell,  Mrs.  Levi  Stebbins, 
Mrs.  Parsons.  Thomas  Pierce  and  Jonathan  Pierce,  two 
other  pioneers,  were  perhaps  brothers.  John  Pynehon,  home- 
stead where  his  grandson,  Wm.  Pynehon,  lives.  Consider 
Pynehon,  a  son  of  John,  died  in  1877,  in  the  same  room  in 
which  he  was  born,  ninety  years  of  age  or  more.  The  Pyn- 
ehon house  is  more  than  a  hundred  years  old.  Ephraim 
Patch  probably  settled  on  Ireland  Street.  Ezra  Philips  south, 
on  the  Coleman  tract.     One  son  was  Ezra,  Jr. 

Samuel  Reed,  homestead  on  "the  mount,"  the  present 
Shaw  place.  Children:  Samuel,  New  York;  Daniel,  New 
York  ;  Mrs.  Jose]ih  Nash,  Simeon,  Chesterfield  ;  Joseph,  New 
York  ;  Oliver,  died  unmarried  ;  Mrs.  Luther  Tower,  Chester- 
field ;  Mrs.  Pettergill,  afterward  Mrs.  Stearns ;  Mrs.  Jacob 
N.  Bates,  city  of  New  York  ;  Alanson  went  as  a  missionary 
to  China. 

Solomon  Russell,  the  blind  merchant  of  Chesterfield,  who 
kept  a  store  at  Utley's  Corners,  had  one  son,  Solomon,  now 
living  (1878)  in  Pittsfield,  and  the  sons  of  the  latter  are  among 
the  wealthy  manufacturers  of  that  place. 

Abiel  Stetson.  Children:  Bela,  Mrs.  Elias  Parsons,  Mrs. 
Nathan  Healey.  John  Stephenson,  homestead  about  two 
miles  north  of  the  centre  ;  had  two  sons, — John  and  Na- 
thaniel; settled  in  Chesterfield;  the  second  went  to  Ohio  af- 
terward. 

Benjamin  Tupper;    homestead  was  the  present  Ira   Clapp 


place ;  went  to  Ohio,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Marietta. 
Ansel  Tupper,  adjutant  of  regiment,  went  to  Ohio.  Seth  Tay- 
lor ;  the  Taylor  homestead  was  about  three  miles  south  of  the 
centre.  Of  his  children,  Seth,  Stephen,  and  another  settled  in 
Chesterfield;  one  daughter  was  Mrs.  Southwick,  of  this  town. 

James  Utley,  homestead  at  the  Utley  Corners.  Sons  :  Fred- 
erick, William,  Chesterfield;  Ralph,  Goshen  ;  Samuel,  a  min- 
ister in  New  York  ;  Mrs.  Gershom  House,  Chesterfield  ;  Mrs. 
KnOwlton,  Chesterfield  ;  and  Sally,  who  died  unmarried. 

Jesse  Willcutt  had  been  a  seafaring  man,  and  bought  a 
tract  of  land  in  No.  5.  He  was  here  at  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  June  17,  1775,  and  by  p\itting  his  ear  to  the 
ground  heard  the  guns.  His  grandson,  Joel,  says  he  can  go 
now  to  the  spot  where  the  old  man  used  to  say  he  stood  then. 
The  children  of  Jesse  were  Jesse,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Gustin  (hers  was 
the  first  death  in  Goshen),  Mrs.  Litchfield,  Cohasset;  another 
Mrs.  Litchfield,  Cohasset ;  Zebnlon,  who  settled  in  Goshen. 
Jesse  Willcutt,  Jr.,  was  himself  a  pioneer  here  probably  as 
early  as  his  father,  having  reached  this  town  April  6,  1772, 
and  settled  at  once  on  the  place  now  owned  by  his  son  Joel. 
Children  :  Mrs.  Asa  Turner,  Ashfield  ;  Enoch,  Goshen  ;  Mrs. 
Luke  Keaith,  Mrs.  Solomon  Bates  (who  died  in  the  fall  of 
1878,  having  sixty-one  actual  descendants),  Mrs.  James  King; 
Jason  and  Warren  Michigan  ;  Alpheus,  Goshen  ;  Mrs.  Elea- 
zer  Hawks;  Mrs.  Aaron  James;  Joel,  now  living  (eighty-two 
years  old  Dec.  23,  1878);  Mrs.  Levi  Bates,  Cummington;  and 
four  died  young.  Joel  relates  the  remarkable  circumstance 
that  his  father,  in  1778,  saw  the  Hudson  River  frozen  at  Al- 
banj',  so  that  soldiers  crossed  (m  the  ice  October  2rl.  Joel  Will 
cutt  states  that  before  the  Revolutionary  war  there  was  some 
attention  to  military  matters,  but  only  three  at  first  had  uni- 
forms,— Capt.  Lemuel  Bannister,  Lieut.  Jesse  Willcutt,  and 
Ensign  Ambrose  Stone.  Having  procured  them  fresh  and 
new  at  the  same  time,  they  agreed  to  go  to  meeting  the  next 
Sunday  with  them  on.  Two  failed  to  come,  and  Jesse  Will- 
cut  found  himself  obliged  to  stand  the  staring  of  the  congre- 
gation alone. 

Elisha  Witherell,  homestead  south  part  of  the  town.  Three 
of  his  sons  were  Elisha,  Jr.,  Nathaniel,  and  Joseph.  Abijah 
Whitton,  homestead  the  present  Randall  place.  An  only  son, 
Abijah,  went  West.  Daughters:  Mrs.  Joshua  Littlefield, 
Mrs.  Ford,  Plainfield;  Mrs.  Alpheus  Ford,  New  York  ;  Mrs. 
Paguenwagh,  New  York;  Mrs.  Wm.  Keene,  New  York; 
Mrs.  Simeon  Reed,  Chesterfield;  Mrs.  Alpheus  Thayer,  Mrs. 
Briggs  Cudworth,  Savoy ;  Mrs.  David  Macomber,  Vermont. 

Nehemiah  Sylvester,  of  Scituate,  homestead  .on  Ireland 
Street.  His  wife  was  a  Damon.  Mr.  Sylvester  bought  his 
land  and  settled  about  17(32.  Sons  were  Seth,  Richard,  Nehe- 
miah, Nathaniel,  Gershom.  A  grandson  of  Seth  is  Rev.  C. 
S.  Sylvester,  of  Feeding  Hills,  Mass.  Dr.  E.  Ware  Sylvester,* 
the  fruit-culturist  of  Lyons,  N.  Y.,  is  also  a  grandson  of  Seth. 
A.  H.  Laughlin,  member  of  Congress  from  the  Herkimer  Dis- 
trict, N.  Y.,  and  naval  officer  of  the  port  of  New  York,  was  also 
a  grandson  of  Seth.  N.  B.  Sylvester,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  author  of 
this  history  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  is  a  grandson  of  Na- 
thaniel. Another  grandson  of  Nathaniel  is  Sidney  Sylvester, 
of  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  who  has  held  the  offices  of  county  clerk, 
member  of  Assembly,  and  county  school  commissioner.  A  son 
of  the  Nathaniel  who  removed  to  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  also  named 
Nathaniel,  is  still  living  there,  in  his  ninetieth  year. 

Of  other  early  pioneers,  there  were  Ebenezer  Lane,  John 
Lyman,  Seth  Sylvester,  Nehemiah  Sylvester,  Jeremiah  Spal- 
ding, Elisha  Spalding,  Roger  Sprague,  Aaron  Jewell,  Levi 
Jillson,  Ebenezer  Truesdell,  Elisha  and  Elijah  AVarner,  Aaron 
Wright,  Daniel  Winter,  Philip  White,  David  and  John  Rus- 
sell, Thomas  Rogers,  Timothy  Rice,  Joshua  and  John  Rogers, 
Jonathan  Russell,  Hezekiah  Reed,  Nathan  Lane,  Zebulon 
Herrick,  Thomas  Halbard,  Richard  Humphries,  John  Wilder, 


'■  Pied  sinre  the  al  ovc  was  ^vTittcn. 


IIISTOllY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


495 


Joel  "Warner,  Justus  Wright,  Josiah  Perry,  Zebulon  Herrick, 
Bezaliel  Moffett,  John,  Elias,  and  Sterling  King.  But  some 
of  these,  probably,  belong  to  Goshen. 

TAVERNS. 
The  first  tavern  in  town  was  opened  by  Benjiimin  Tapper; 
in  17()4,  in  a  house  the  remains  of  which  are  still  visible  just 
east  of  the  house  occupied,  in  late  years,  by  ilr.  Brett.  J. 
Wilder  opened  one  at  a  very  early  date  on  land  owned  in 
later  years  by  John  Khodes.  This  was  probably  on  Sugar 
Hill.  The  William  Baker  house  was  built  by  a  man  named 
Hunt,  for  a  tavern.  His  wife,  somewhat  inclined  to  joke,  is  said 
to  have  told  him  he  would  be  hunted  out  of  town  if  he  built 
such  a  great  shell  of  a  house.  This  is  the  large  brown  house 
standing  on  the  north  side  of  the  main  road  just  before  de- 
scending from  the  east  into  West  Chesterfield.  The  old  house 
on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  William  Bancroft  was 
a  tavern.  Joshua  Bailey  kept  there,  and  also  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street.  Paul  King  kept  a  tavern  opposite  the  well- 
known  Luther  Edwards  place.     This  was  on  Sugar  Hill. 

REMINISCENCES   OK    MRS.    RICHARD   CLARKE. 

Her  maiden  name  was  Olive  Cleveland,  of  Williamsburg. 
She  was  born  September,  1785,  and  is  therefore  ninety-three 
years  old  past.  She  was  married  May  'lo,  1809,  and  witli..ut 
wasting  any  time  or  money  upon  a  wedding  trip  came  to 
Chesterfield  and  settled  upon  the  farm  where  they  ever  since 
resided,  on  "  the  mount."  Mr.  Clarke  died  June  29,  1876,  at 
the  age  of  ninety  years  and  six  months,  their  married  life 
having  extended  seventeen  years  beyond  the  celebration  of 
their  golden  wedding, — sixty-seven  j'cars  in  all. 

The  year  before  her  marriage  she  climbed  Mount  Holyoke 
with  her  future  husband,  going  up  by  a  foot-path.  Few  ever 
visited  the  mountain  then.  When  she  first  came  to  Chester- 
field, Rev.  Isaiah  Waters  was  the  pastor.  Families  went  to 
meeting  horseback,  the  wife  riding  behind  her  husband  and 
carrying  the  baby.  She  says  the  town  was  famous  for  large 
families, — ten  children  to  where  there  is  one  now.  The  school- 
house  was  then  opposite  Mrs.  Clarke's  home,  and  she  recalls 
the  names  of  early  teachers., — her  sister,  Hannah  Cleveland, 
still  living  in  Otis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Ira  Daniels,  and  Horace 
Meech.  Pork  and  flax  and  other  produce  were  taken  to  Bos- 
ton considcrabi}',  Norfhaniiiton  not  being  much  of  a  market. 
People  made  nearly  all  their  cloth  used.  Great  spinners  were 
noted.  A  woman  in  Westhampton  did  all  the  work  of  a  fam- 
ily of  five,  spun  a  day's  work  each  week-day,  except  Monday, 
and  was  paid  half  a  dollar  a  week,  while  calico  was  one  dollar 
a  yard.  One  girl  kept  school  in  Mrs.  Clarke's  district,  who  had 
only  one  dollar  a  week  and  boarded  herself.  There  was  a 
shoeiliaker  at  the  centre, — Gains  Hammond.  Mrs.  Clarke's 
father  moved  to  Skaneateles  in  1817  ;  died  ninety  years  and 
six  months  old,  almost  to  a  day  the  same  as  her  husband's  age. 
Her  mother,  who  was  a  Parsons,  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and 
four  years  and  seven  months,  and  one  sister  ninety-nine.  As  an 
infant  of  a  few  months,  Mrs.  Clarke  was  carried  by  her  parents 
horseback  to  an  ordination  at  Amherst  ninety-three  years  ago. 
Eev.  Edward  Clarke,  her  son,  resides  with  her,  having  re- 
turned from  the  work  of  the  ministry  to  stay  with  his  parents 
in  fheir  old  age. 

Nehemiah  Luce  states  that  the  first  frame  house  in  town  was 
built  on  his  farm,  and  that  the  cellar-place  and  the  old  well 
are  still  to  be  seen.  Just  south  of  Mr.  Luce's  was  the  old 
parade-ground,  familiar  to  those  who  remember  the  old  train- 
ings. 

The  following  are  froni  old  files  of  the  Hampshire  Gazette: 

Aug.  11,  1788. — Solomon  Allen  advertises  various  goods,  at  the  store  lately 
occuiiiufl  l',v  Suutliwoitli  Cole: 

'•  West  India  Kviui  liy  the  hogshead  or  less  quantity,  New  England  Rum,  Mo- 
lasses, Salt,  SutJ:ar,  Brandy,  Gin,  Indigo,  Snuff,  Crockery  Ware,  Felt  hats;  the 
best  of  Bohea  tea  at  Ss.  4(^  per  pound  for  easli,  less  hy  the  hundred  weight. 
Scythes,  si-jkU-s,  Ac. 


"  The  above  articles  will  be  sold  as  cheap  as  any  store  in  the  county.  Almost 
all  kinds  of  produce  will  be  received  in  payment. 

"Said  Allen  wants  to  purchase  20(K)  bushels  of  flaxseed;  one-half  he  will  pay 
in  cash,  the  other  half  in  goods,  and  the  highest  price  given.  Also  wants  to 
purchase  a  number  of  GiUle/ur  barrding  and  ghipphitjy 

Oct.  2, 1793. — Samuel  Huntington  advertises  a  runaway  indented  boy,  William 
Kussell :  "  Whoever  will  take  up  and  return  said  boy  to  his  injured  master  shall 
h.ave  two  Buugtown  Coppers,  and  no  charges  paid." 

June  3, 1793.— The  Blind  Man  of  Chesterfield  having  lately  received  from  New 
York  a  general  assortment  of  goods,  solicits  a  continuance  of  favors,  flattering 
himself  that  their  conimisseration  for  the  singularity  of  his  circumstances,  blind 
for  years  as  well  as  his  fair  dealing,  will  induce  them  to  multiply  their  favors.  * 

Solomon  Rcsskll. 

Dee.  11,  1801. — Benjamin  Parsons,  secretary  of  the  Hamp- 
shire Musical  Society,  announces  the  next  meeting  at  Whately, 
and  gives  the  following  tunes  as  selected  for  the  occasion  : 

"  A  Tribute  to  Washington  ;"  Anthem,  "  I  said  I  will  take 
Heed  to  my  Way;"  "Crucifixion;"  "Devotion;"  "Deer- 
field;"  "59th  Psalm,  Psalm  tune;"  "Friendship;"  "  Jeru- 
salem ;""  Marlborough  ;"  "No.  Five;"  "Norfolk;"  "No. 
Nineteen;"  "  Old  Age;"  "  Oxford;"  "  Redemption  ;"  "Sub- 
mission;" "Sinai;"  "Denmark;"  with  the  supplement; 
"SuflTex;"  and  "Union."  This  is  a  glimpse  at  the  music 
seventy-seven  years  ago. 

ORGANIZATION. 
Incorporation  followed  closely  upon  settlement  in  the  case 
of  Chesterfield.  As  already  shown,  there  seems  to  be  no  cer- 
tain information  as  to  the  exact  date  when  the  first  pioneer 
settled  within  the  present  limits  of  the  town.  Vinton's  his- 
torical address  in  1862  speaks  of  Gideon  Bisbee  as  coming  out 
from  Northampton  in  1755-56  and  clearing  land,  but  return- 
ing every  Saturday  night;  and  the  various  gazetteers  and 
histories  already  written  are  so  silent  upon  this  point  we  con- 
clude that  quite  a  portion  of  the  first  settlers  came  together  in 
something  of  a  colony,— 1760  to  1762,— and  sought  immediate 
incorporation.  It  is  stated  that  the  town  was  named  from  the 
earl  of  Chesterfield,  but  the  writers  above  alluded  to  fail  to 
show  any  incident  that  led  to  this,  and  give  no  indication  with 
reference  to  the  individual  who  named  the  town  in  honor  of 
the  distinguished  earl.  We  suggest  the  following  explanation 
until  further  discoveries  are  made.  Hospitality  is  genuine 
politeness.  Politeness  had  its  most  noted  instance  in  Lord 
Chesterfield.  Hospitality  is  not  only  genuine  but  generous 
in  this  beautiful  town,  therefore  its  appropriate  name  is 
Chesterfield. 

We  quote  from  the  records  the  facts  with  reference  to  the 
town  organization  . 

July  20, 1702.— At  a  legal  town-meeting  in  Chesteifield,  by  virtue  of  a  warrant 
from  one  of  his  majesty's  Justices  of  ye  Peace,  which  warrant  runs  after  ye  fol- 
lowing manner,  viz. : 
Hampshire  Co.,  sk.: 

To  Jeremiah  Stockwell,  one  of  ye  principal  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Ches- 
terflcld,  in  said  county,  Greeting :  Pursuant  lo  an  act  made  and  passed,  ye  Great 
.  and  GLMieral  Court  at  their  session  in  May,  17(B,  impowcring  tlie  subscriber, 
one  of  his  majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peale  for  and  within  said  County  of  Hamp- 
shire, to  issue  a  warrant  to  some  principal  iidiabitant  of  Chesterflehl,  requiring 
him  to  call  a  meeting  of  ye  inhabitants  in  order  to  choose  such  officers  as  by  law 
towns  are  authorized  to  choose  in  ye  month  of  March  annually. 

These  are,  therefore,  in  his  Majesty's  name  to  require  you  to  warn  ami  give 
notice  to  ye  inli.ibitants  of  s'l  Chesterfield  that  they  assemble  themselves  at  the 
dwelling-house  of  Elisha  Warner,  in  s<i  Chesterfield,  on  Wednesday,  ye  20th  day 
of  July,  instant,  at  lu  o'clock  in  ye  forenoon,  then  and  there  to  choose  such 
oflicers  as  by  law  towns  are  empowereil  to  choose  in  the  months  of  March  annu- 
ally ;  hereof  you  are  not  to  fail,  but  make  return  of  this  wairant  to  me  ye  sub- 
scriber before  ye  time  prefixed  for  holding  s'l  meeting,  together  with  your 
doings  therein.  Given  under  my  hand  ,t  seal  this  0th  day  of  July,  in  the  2nd 
year  of  the  reign  of  our  Sovreign  Lord  George  the  3d,  a.d.  1702. 

Samuel  JIather. 
July  20, 1702.— At  a  legal  meeting  in  Chesterfleld  at  ye  house  of  Elisha  War 
ner,  ye  inhabitants  being  assembled,  Eleazer  King  was  chosen  moderator  of  said 
meeting;  tlien  entered  upon  choosing  Town  oflicers,  and  ye  persons  hereafter 
named  were  chosen  &  appointed  to  ye  several  offices  annexed  to  their  respective 
names:  Eleazer  King  was  chosen  Town  Clerk;  Benjamin  Biyant,  Constable; 
Joseph  Burnal,  Benjamin  Bouncy,  Everton  Beswick,  Selectmen ;  Elisha  War- 
ner, Town  Treasurer ;  Seth  Sylvester,  Jeremiah  Stockwell,  Robert  Wei  sli  r,  Sur- 
veyors of  Highways ;  Benjamin  Kidd,  Fence-Viewer ;  Robert  Hamblcton,  Panco 


*  This  store  wr.6  at  I'tley's  Corntrs. 


496 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Cowing,  Soth   Sylvester,  Field-Dilvei-s ;    Everton   Bcswick,  Benjamin  Bunney, 
Assessors ;  John  Halbert,  Jeremiali  Read,  IIog-Reeves. 

No  other  business  is  recorded  at  this  meeting. 

The  house  of  Elisha  Warner  was  on  a  ph\ce  now  owned  by 
Ebenezer  Edwards,  well  known  as  Sugar  Hill, — supposed  to 
be  on  the  site  of  the  present  house  occupied  by  a  tenant, — a 
little  more  than  a  mile  east  of  Chesterfield  village. 

Another  town-meeting,  pursuant  to  a  warrant  of  the  select- 
men, was  held  Oct.  15,  1702,  at  which  Joseph  Burnell  was 
chosen  moderator,  and  it  was  voted  that  each  man  .should  be 
allowed  3s.  4d.  per  day  for  working  on  the  highways,  and  a 
]>roposition  to  build  a  pound  was  voted  down, — "and  so  con- 
cluded." 

No  other  meetings  were  held  during  this  first  partial  year, 
nor  is  there  any  record  of  other  business  until  the  regular 
town-meeting  of  March  7,  1763.  This  was  held  at  the  house 
of  Elisha  Warner,  and  the  following  action  taken: 

1st,  cliose  Ezra  May  Moderator  of  the  meeting;  21,  chose  Joseph  Burnell 
Town  Clerk ;  3il,  chose  Ezra  May  1st  Selectman ;  4tli,  chose  Ahijah  Tucker  2d 
Selectman;  5th,  chose  Beiijamin  Bryant  3d  Selectman;  6th,  chose  Ezra  May 
Constable;  7th,  chose  Benjjiniiu  Bonney  ('onstable;  8th,  chose  Elisha  Warner 
Town  Treiwurer;  9th,  chose  Rohcrt  HamMeton  and  Ezekiel  Corban  Tything- 
men ;  10th,  chose  Jeremiah  Stockwell,  David  Stearns,  Eleazer  King,  Wardens; 
11th,  chose  Hobeit  Webster,  George  Buck,  Samuel  Lyon,  and  Benjamin  Kidd, 
Surveyors  of  Ways;  12th,  chose  Seth  Bnrk  Surveyor  i»f  Shingles,  Hoops,  and 
Clapboards;  13th.  chosg  Elisha  Warner  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Mejlsures;  14th, 
chose  Jeremiah  Stockwell  and  John  Narraniore  Hog-Reeves;  loth,  chose  Heze- 
kiah  Reed,  Ithamar  Amidon,  and  Prince  Cowing,  Fence- Viewers;  IGth,  chose 
Benjamin  Bryant  and  William  White  Deer-Reeves;  17th,  accepted  of  a  town 
road  laid  out  by  the  Selectmen  on  the  18th  of  December,  1702,  beginning  as 
follows:  "At  a  beech-staddle  which  stands  on  the  south  side  of  the  county 
mad,  at  the  cast  end  of  the  west  row  of  lots  in  the  town  of  Chesterfield,  e.'ctend- 
ing  s  uith  from  said  staddle  on  the  line  which  divirles  the  west  row  of  lots  from 
that  which  a'ljoins  it  on  the  eixst,  extending  so  far  south  as  the  lot  No.  8G.  Said 
road  411  feet  wide  till  it  comes  within  20  rods  of  Mr.  George  Buck's  well;  then 
widening  out  until  it  comes  to  be  GO  feet  wide  by  the  well,  then  narrowing  off 
till  it  goes  20  rods  beyond  said  well,  then  holding  its  first  mentioned  width  to 
its  aforesaid  bounds;"  ISth,  accepted  of  an  account  of  labor  done  on  the  high- 
ways, viz.,  29^  days  at  3  shillings  and  4  pence  per  day ;  19th,  accepted  of  au 
account  of  Everton  Beswick  and  Benjamin  Bouncy,  viz.,  of  the  sum  of  2  pounds 
12  shillings  and  3  pence,  lawful  money;  20th,  voted  to  raise  20O  pounds,  lawful 
mom*y,  t*)  build  a  meeting-house,  to  settle  a  minister,  and  for  clearing  and  re- 
pairing roads;  21st,  voted  to  allow  each  man  for  every  faithful  day's  work  on 
the  highways  3  shillings  and  4  pence  per  day ;  22d,  allowed  Jeremiah  Stockwell's 
account  for  warning  a  town-meeting  the  20th  day  of  July,  17G2,  viz.,  the  sum 
of  8  shillings,  lawful  money. 

The  meeting  was  then  dissolved. 

This  meeting  filled  all  the  usual  town  oifices,  and  made  the 
organization  complete. 

Our  limits  permit  only  a  few  brief  extracts  from  the  ample 
materials  contained  in  the  volumes  of  town  records  extending 
over  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years. 

March  11,  17Go.— Allowed  Jeremiah  Spalding's  account  for  20  Lord's-Day 
noons,  10  shillings. 

May  12,  17G0.— Voted  to  meet  at  Mr.  Jeremiah  Spalding's  on  Lord's  Day  for  2 
pounds  a  year. 

May  4,  17G7. — Voted  "  to  choose  a  committee  of  indifferent  men  of  judgment  to 
come  and  view  the  situation  of  the  town,  and  pitch  ui>on  the  most  justest  spot 
to  set  a  meeting-house  uikui." 

Oct.  29,  1707.— Voted  to  meet  on  Lord's  day  at  the  house  of  Lieut.  Abnor 
Brown. 

May  7,  1770.— Voted  that  Mr.  John  Tucker  sweep  the  meeting-house  12  times 
a  year,  anil  lock  it  and  open  it  on  all  suitable  occasions,  and  allow  him  9  shil- 
lings for  this  year. 

March  6,  17li9,  a  road  was  accepted,  described  as  follows : 

"  Beginning  at  a  Hemlock-tree  on  ye  county  road,  about  si.\  rods  east  of  ye 
Rev.  Benjamin  aiills'  house,  and  thence  straight  by  ye  east  end  of  his  barn,  and 
thence  straight  by  ye  ea.st  end  of  ye  burjing-yard,  thence  straight  to  and  between 
.ye  lowermost  rocky  ledge  and  ye  second  ledge  and  Lt.  Abner  Brown's  lot,  and 
thence  between  ye  ledge  t.i  a  convenient  place  to  go  down,  thence  straight  to  ye 
meeting-house,  and  ye  road  is  four  rods  wide." 

June  0,  1769.— Voted  "  t.)  clear  the  new  road  across  Westfield  River." 

This  is  now  the  old  Kiver  Hill  road.  The  date  when  the 
bridge  was  built  is  uncertain,  tliough  probably  about  tliat 
year.  Nearly  thirty  years  later,  when  the  Tliird  Massadiu- 
setts  Turnpike  Corporation  was  established,  this  road  became 
a  part  of  the  turni)ike.  A  toll-gate  was  kept  just  beyond  the 
west  end  of  tlie  bridge,  and  the  old  house  on  the  south  side  of 


the  road  was  erected  for  the  residence  of  the  gate-tender.    The 
neighborhood  is  still  known  to  some  extent  a;!  the  Gate. 

Feb.  12,  1707,  Joshua  Healy,  Robert  Webster,  and  Eleazer 
King  were  appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the  bridge 
built  by  Benjamin  Bonney,  near  John  May's  saw-mill,  March 
loth.  Bonney's  account  was  allowed  to  the  amount  of  £8 
15s.,  and  at  a  later  meeting  Kichard  Sylvester's  bill  for  1388 
feet  of  2-inch  plank  sawed,  £1  Is.  and  lOrf.  It  is  stated  that 
"this  bridge  was  located  on  the  stream  passing  Bisbee's  mills, 
and  about  a  mile  below  them,  near  the  lower  end  of  the  Cole- 
man grant,  and  not  far  from  where  Mr.  Elisha  Witherell,  Sr., 
lived.'' 

Sept.  19,  1774. — Voted  12  p.innds  10  shillings  to  buy  a  b.arrel  of  pjwder,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  money,  if  any  there  be,  in  lead  an!  flints. 

I>ec.  21,1774. — Committee  on  resjives  of  the  Continental  Congres.s, — Maj.Ezra 
May,  Lieut.  R.diert  Webster,  Capt.  Benjamin  Tapper,  Capt.  Benjamin  Bonney, 
Mr.  Ephraim  Patch,  Mr.  .Joseph  Bailey,  Mr.  Eleazer  King.  Voted  that  the  se- 
lectmen call  town-meetings,  and  the  const;ibles  wjirn  them  as  usual. 

Tlie  last  town-meeting  called  "in  his  Majesty's  name"  was 
March  4,  1776.  Of  course  the  phrase  had  been  a  mere  form 
for  the  year  previous.  T"or  a  town-meeting  May  20,  1776,  the 
expression  is  omitted  and  no  other  used.  The  selectmen 
simply  say  to  the  constable,  "  You  are  hereby  required  forth- 
with to  warn  and  give  notice."  This  was  the  "  interregnum," 
when  the  town  of  Chesterfield  called  its  meetings  in  its  oimi 
name,  by  virtue  of  its  own  sovereignty.  And  the  constable 
returns,  "  According  to  the  orders  of  the  selectmen  I  have 
given  notice,"  etc. 

June  19,  1776,  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting  commences 
in  "ihe  name  of  the  thirteen  United  Colonies."  Oct.  7,  1776, 
the  warrant  is  issued  in  "  the  name  of  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay."  The  successive  steps  are  thus  seen  to  be:  1st, 
royal  authority;  2d,  town  authority  (reserved  inherent  home 
rule);  3d,  national  authority;  4th,  and  finally,  the  State. 
This  order  unconsciously  recognizes  that  the  nation  is  supreme, 
and  this  State  exists  under  it,  and  not  above  it. 

At  the  meeting  of  October  7th  the  resolves  of  the  Assembly 
of  the  State  were  considered,  providing  the  steps  to  "  erect 
such  a  constitution  for  this  State  as  shall  be  judged  most  to 
the  safety  of  said  State  in  all  future  generations." 

The  following  are  the  instructions  of  the  town  of  Chester- 
field to  the  representative  of  said  town,  viz.,  Benjamin  Mills, 
Esq.,  May  26,  1776: 

Sir, — Ytin  are  reijuired  and  enjoined  by  your  constituents  to atteml  the  follow- 
ing instructions  relating  to  your  representative  capacity  the  ensuing  year: 

1st.  That  you  give  a  general  attendance  niwn  your  duty  at  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives for  the  year  ensuing,  more  especially  at  the  election,  and  till  the  tax 
bill  is  passed. 

2d.  That  you  use  your  influence  that  as  soon  as  may  be  a  bill  be  passed,  that 
no  act  of  the  General  Court  be  valid  unless  a  majority  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  colony  be  present. 

3d.  That  the  Represental  ives  be  paid  out  of  the  public  treiisury  as  <ither  public 
expenses  are,  and  not  by  the  particular  towns  they  represent. 

4th.  Tliat  the  House  and  Council  act  in  coujunetion,  ami  not  as  two  separate 
bodie.i. 

6th.  That  every  town  have  the  piivilege  of  registering  their  own  deeds. 

Gth.  That  ministei-s  pay  tioces  equally  with  other  people  according  to  their  in- 
terest, and  that  the  grants  to  the  Jiresident  and  other  officers  of  Harvard  College 
be  forever  hereafter  suspended. 

7th.  That  yon  nse  your  influence  that  the  gospel  be  maintained  by  fi-ee  con- 
triliutions,  and  no  other  way. 

8th.  That  every  town  be  empowered  to  settle  their  disputes,  and  choose  a  com- 
mittee to  settle  all  debts  and  controversies  between  man  and  man  whatsoever. 

The  town-meeting  of  June  9,  1776,  was  held  at  the  meeting- 
house. It  was  called  by  the  signatures  of  Benjamin  Bonney 
and  Ezra  May,  selectmen,  and  warned  by  Malachi  Ewell, 
constable.  The  meeting  is  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of 
Chesterfield,  when  the  declaration  of  support  to  the  Continental 
Congress  was  passed,  twenty-three  days  before  the  passage  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  was  a  brave  resolution, 
bravely  passed,  pledging  "their  lives  and  fortunes,"  as  the 
members  of  the  Continental  Congress  pledged  theirs  three 
weeks  later. 

The  committee  of  safety  and  inspection,  1777,  were  Ben- 


HISTORY   OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


497 


jamiii  Mills,  Capt.  Benjamin  Bonney,  John  Stephenson,  Capt. 
Christopher  Bannister,  Ephraim  Patch,  Joseph  Burnell,  John 
Wilder,  Seth  Sylvester,  Eleazer  King,  John  Ewell,  Joshua 
Healey. 

Nov.  16, 1778. — Voted  to  choose  .a  committee  of  3  to  make  furtliei-  provisiou 
for  the  clothing  of  tlle  Coutinental  ineu.  Voted  to  raise  OUO  pounds  for  tliat  pur- 
pose. Voted  to  choose  a  committee  of  three  to  procure  powder  and  other  warlike 
stores.  Committee,  John  James,  Nathan  Lane,  Ephraim  Patch.  Voted  to  raise 
250  iwunds  for  the  purpose. 

Jan.  21, 1779.— Voted  to  build  a  parsonage  38  by  28,  and  a  harti  30  by  .TO,  and 
clear  50  acres  of  the  parsonage  farm. 

June  20,  1779. — Voted  to  raise  720  pounds  as  a  bounty  for  si.x  men,  to  iie  raised 
in  said  town  for  the  Continental  service. 

July  5, 1779. — Voted  to  raise  19  pounds  16  shillings  as  mileage  for  the  soldiers 
going  to  Spnogfield.  Voted  a  committee  to  procure  lirearms, — Capt.  Beujami  n 
Bonney,  Capt.  "William  White,  Nathan  Lane. 

.\ng.  9,  1779.— Voted  tliat  Capt.  William  ^YMte  and  Mr.  Luke  Bonney  be  dele- 
gates to  the  convention  to  meet  at  Cambridge  to  form  a  new  constitution.  Voted 
to  raise  750  dollani  for  the  clothing  of  Continental  soldiere. 

March  G,  1780. — Voted  a  committee  to  care  for  the  fannlies  of  Continental  sol- 
diet^, — Lieut.  Evertou  Beswick,  Lieut.  Daniel  Littlefield,  John  Rogers,  Capt. 
Cole,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Timothy  Bannister. 

Oct.  20,  1783. — Voted  to  send  Charles  Kidd  and  Lieut.  Aaron  Jewell  delegates 
to  the  Hattield  Convention  (Shays  movement). 

The  letter  of  instructions  closes  with  the  following  passage: 

"  Finally,  relying  firmly  on  your  integrity  that  you  will  strictly  adhere  ttp  the 
instructions  of  your  constituents,  and  that  you  will  seek  the  public  good,  our 
hope  is  that  the  county  will  unite  in  measures  salutary  to  the  present  period 
and  productive  of  future  benefit  to  posterity." 

No  treason  about  that  commission,  whatever  the  Shays 
men  may  have  attempted  at  a  later  period. 

The  currency  question  is  not  new  to  1878.  It  is  found  in 
the  hard  times  of  1784,  and  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting 
in  Oct.  25,  1784,  Chesterfield,  contains  the  clause:  "To  see 
if  the  town  will  vote  that  a  paper  currency  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, sufficient  to  defray  our  quota  of  the  debt  contracted  by 
this  commonwealth  in  the  late  war,  and  what  order  the  town 
will  take  upon  it."  The  town  voted  that  it  was  neces.sary,  for- 
eign debts  excepted. 

Jan.  31,  178-5,  a  general  division  into  school  districts  was 
made  ;  six  were  arranged.  Feb.  14, 1786,  the  town  voted  that 
a  new  emission  of  paper  money  ought  to  be  issued  by  the 
General  Court  on  such  principles  as  shall  be  just  and  honor- 
able to  the  inhabitants  of  the  commonwealth.  Oct.  4,  1790, 
seven  school  districts  were  arranged. 

Town-meetings  were  held  as  follows  :  1702,  at  the  house  of 
Elisha  Warner;  17(53,  at  the  house  laf  Benjamin  Tupper  ;  also, 
1703,  at  Mr.  Jonathan  Anderson's  ;  1704,  at  the  house  of  Jere- 
miah Spalding ;  176-5,  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Tupper ;  1766, 
at  the  house  of  Archelaus  Anderson ;  1707,  at  the  house  of 
Jeremiah  Spalding;  1768,  at  the  house  of  Lieut.  Abner  Brown, 
and  also  at  Jeremiah  Spalding's  ;  Aug.  16,  1768,  "  at  the  pub- 
lic meeting-house."  Dec.  11,  1709,  met  at  the  meeting-house, 
but  adjourned  immediately  to  the  Widow  Spalding's.  Was 
the  meeting-house  warm  enough  Sundaj's,  but  too  cold  on 
week-days? 

The  town-meetings  were  held  at  the  meeting-house  for  many 
years.  In  later  times,  commencing  about  1830,  the  people 
met  at  the  old  town-house,  now  the  public-school  building  of 
the  centre  village.  After  the  Methodist  Church  had  ceased  to 
use  its  house  of  worship  that  building  was  purchased,  and 
now  constitutes  a  neat  and  convenient  town-hall,  located  on 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  public  square. 

SELECTMEN    FROM    THE    ORGANIZATION   OF    THE   TOWN. 

1762. — Joseph  Burnell,  Benjamin  Bonney,  Everton  Beswick. 

1763. — Ezra  May,  Abijah  Tucker,  Benjamin  Brj'ant. 

1764. — Ezra  May,  Abijah  Tucker,  Benjamin  Bonney. 

1705. — Joshua  Rogers,  Abijah  Tucker,  Benjamin  Bonney. 

176C-C7. — Ezra  May,  Abijah  Tucker,  Benjamin  Bonney. 

176S. — Joshua  Rogei-s,  Eleazer  King,  Robert  Webster. 

1709. — Ezra  May,  Beujanuii  Boui^ey,  Lieut.  Abner  Brown. 

1770. — Benjamin  Bonney,  Joshua  Abel,  Joshua  Bailey. 

1771-73. — John  Stephenson,  Chiistopher  Bannister,  Benjamin  Bonney. 

1774. — John  Stephenson,  Abijah  Tucker,  Benjamin  Bates. 

1775-76. — Benjamin  Bonney,  Ezra  May,  Joseph  Bailey. 

63 


1777.— Benjamin  Bonney,  Benjamiu  Mills,  Esq.,  E/.ra  May,  Ephraim  Patch,  Jo- 
seph Bailoy. 
17 7S.— Benjamin   Mills,  Benjamin   Bonuey,   IVjger  Spragne,   Ephraim    Patch, 

Robert  Webst<?r. 
1779.— Beujamin  Mills,  William M'liite,  BcMiJaiuiii  PiL^rce,  Reuben  Dresser,  Daniel 

LittletieUl. 
1780.— William  White,  Samuel  Rhoa<les,  Luke  Bonney,  John  Ewell,  Benjamin 

Bonney. 
1781.— Benjamin  Mills,  Esq.,  Samuel  Rhoades,  John  Ewell,  Benjamin  Bnnney, 

Richard  Sylvester. 
1782. — Joseph  Bailey,  Luke  Bonney,  Mr.  John  Russell. 
1783. — Benjamin  Bonney,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Rnssell  Kellogg. 
178-1.— Russell  Kellogg,  Paul  King,  Thonuis  Wright. 
1785. — Benjuniin  Tui>pci',  Benjamin  Bates,  Benjamiu  Bonney. 
1786. — Benjamin  Bates,  Joseph  Bailey,  Thonuis  Wright,  Luke   lijuney,  Peter 

Strong. 
1787. — Benjamin  Bonney,  Benjamin  Bates,  Luke  Bonney,  Peter  Strong,  Charles 

Kidd. 
1788. — Benjamin  Bonney,  Charles  Kidd,  Spencer  Phelps. 
1789.— Benjamiu  Bouuey,  Charles  Kidd,  Luke  Bonney,  Samuel  Rhoades,  Amasa 

Clapp. 
1790-91.— Joseph  Bailoy,  Oliver  Edwards,  Wm.  Bannister. 
1792-94. — Josei»h  Bailey,  Oliver  Edwards,  Spencer  Phelps. 
1795-96. — Benjamin  Bates,  Joseph  Bailey,  David  Macomber. 
1797. — Joseph  Bailey,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Spencer  Phelps. 
1798.— Spencer  Phelps,  Thaddeus  Baker,  Juhn  Burnal. 
1799. — Spencer  Phelps,  Ens.  Thaddeus  Baker,  Joseph  Rhoades. 
18U0. — Spencer  Phelps,  Oliver  Edwards,  Thaddeus  Baker. 
1801-6. — Oliver  Edwards,  Walter  Bonney,  Reuben  Cowing. 
1807-9. — Spencer  Phelps,  Walter  Bonney,  David  Macomber. 
1810. — Walter  Bonney,  Elijis  Parsons,  Thomas  Bush. 
1811. — Walter  Bonney,  Thaddeus  Baker,  Isaac  King. 
1812. — Walter  Bonney,  Tiiaddeus  Baker,  Calvin  Cowing. 
1813.— Isaac  King,  Eliakim  Sylvester,  Calvin  Cowing. 
1814-10.— Isaac  King,  Calvin  Cowing,  Joseph  S.  Bailey. 
1817. — Isaac  King,  Abijah  Whiting,  Capt.  Asahel  Kiugsley. 
1818-20.— Calvin  Cowing,  Joshua  Nichols,  Thaddeus  Baker. 
1821. — Calvin  Cowing,  Joshua  Nichols,  Samuel  Davis. 
1822-25. — Isaac  King,  Calvin  Cowing,  Samuel  Davis, 
1826. — Isaac  King,  Samuel  Davis,  Elkanah  Ring. 
1827. — Isaac  King,  Samuel  Davis,  Gideon  W\>od. 
1828.— Isaac  King,  Ira  Clapp,  Timothy  Phelps. 
1829. — Samuel  Davis,  Luther  Edwards,  Simeon  Reed. 
1830. — Samuel  Davis,  Luther  Edwards,  Isaac  King. 
1831. — Samuel  Davis,  Isaac  King,  Horace  Cole. 
1832. — John  Hatch,  Rufus  Burnell,  Alvan  Macomber. 
1833. — John  Hatch,  Alvan  Macomber,  Ira  Clapp. 
1834. — John  Hatch,  Alvan  Macomber,  David  Tdylor. 
1835. — John  Hatch,  David  Taylor,  Horace  Cole. 
183G. — Jonathan  Ring,  Horace  Cole,  Ralph  Utley. 
1837-38.— Isaac  King,  Horace  C<ole,  Edsel  Witherell. 
1839. — Timothy  A.  Phelps,  Samuel  Daxis,  Hudson  Bates. 
1840-41. — Samuel  Davis,  Alvan  Macomber,  Hudson  Bates. 
1842.— Bela  P.  Clapp,  Alvan  Macomber,  Hudson  Bates. 
1843. — Alvan  Macomber,  Luther  Edwards,  Jonathan  Ring. 
1844.— Alvan  Macomber,  Edsel  Witherell,  William  L.  Stetson. 
1845^6.— Job  Cudwoi-th,  Edsel  Witherell,  William  L.  Stetson. 
1847.— Edsel  Witherell,  Varnum  Nichols,  Thomas  K.  Utley. 
1848. — Edsel  Witherell,  Varnum  Nichols,  Job  Cudwoith. 
1849.— Edsel  Witherell,  Varnum  Nichols,  John  Cole. 
1850.— Edsel  W'itherell,  Charles  Cudworth,  John  Cole. 
1851. — Timotliy  A.  Phelps,  Charles  Cndwortti,  John  Pomeroy. 
1852.— Timothy  A.  Phelps,  Charles  Cudworth,  Paul  H.  Cudworth. 
1853.— Charles  Cudworth,  Samuel  C.  Tinker,  Patrick  Bryant. 
1854.— Edsel  Witherell,  Samuel  C.  Tinker,  Patrick  Bryant. 
1855, — Edsel  Witherell,  Lyman  Rice,  Ebenezer  Edwards. 
1856.— Edsel  Witherell,  Patrick  Bo'ant,  Albert  Nichols. 
1857-58. — Lyman  Rice,  Ephraim  Cole,  Charles  Cudworth. 
1859.— Albert  Nichols,  Ephraim  Cole,  Eli  A.  Sylvester. 
I860.— Ephraim  Cole,  Eli  A.  Sylvester,  Loren  L.  Tower. 
1861-62. — Eli  A.  Sylvester,  Loren  L.  Tower,  Samuel  House. 
1863. — Loren  L.  Tower,  Samuel  House,  Ephraim  Cole. 
1864. — Patrick  Bryant,  Ebenexer  Edwards,  Chauucey  Witherell. 
1865. — Patrick  Bryant,  Samuel  House,  Chauncey  Witherell. 
1866-08.— Ephraim  Cole,  Charles  Cudworth,  Loren  L.  Tower. 
1869. — Ephraim  Cole,  Albert  Nichols,  Spencer  Tower. 
1870.— John  Cole,  Patrick  Bi-yant,  Levi  Baker. 
1871-72. — Ephraim  Cole,  Levi  Baker,  Horatio  Bisbee. 
1873-75.— Ephraim  Cole,  Loren  L.  Tower,  Franklin  H.  Brj'ant. 
1876.- Albert  Nichols,  Washington  I.  Rice,  Eli  A.  Shaw. 
1877.— Ephraim  Cole,  Franklin  H.  Bryant,  Eli  A.  Slia\y. 
1878.— Ephraim  Cole,  EH  A.  Shaw,  Washingt._)n  I.  Rice. 
1879.— Eli  A.  Shaw,  Washington  I.  Rice,  Loren  L.  Tower. 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

Eleazer  King,  1762;  Joseph  Burnell,  1763-67;  Benjamin  Tupper,  1768-71  ; 
John  Stephenson,  1772-82  ;  John  Russell,  1783;  John  Stephenson,  1784-92  ;  John 


498 


HISTORY   OP  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Kussell,  1793-98 ;  Joseph  Merick,  1799-1801 ;  Alanson  Anderson,  1802-4  ;  Thos. 
Mayhew,  180o-« ;  George  H.  Sylvester,  1809-15;  Alvan  Rice,  1816-22;  Oliver 
Edwards,  Jr.,  1823 ;  Alvan  Rice,  1824-33  ;  Timothy  A.  Phelps,  1834 ;  Dyar  Ban- 
croft, 1835 ;  Oliver  Edwards,  1836-45 ;  Qnartus  Ely,  1846-47  ;  Oscar  Edwards, 
184S-49  ;  Quartus  Ely,  1850 ;  Oscar  Edwards,  1851 ;  Talcott  Bancroft,  1852-65  ; 
Edward  Bancroft,  1856-58 ;  Oliver  Edwards,  1859  ;  Albert  Nichols,  1860-76 ;  Or- 
son M.  Pearl,  1877-80. 

REPKESENTATIVES   TO   THE   GENERAL    COURT. 

Benjamin  Mills,  1775-77 ;  Matthew  Buck,  1778 ;  Benjamin  Barney,  1780 ; 
Benjamin  Mills,  1781 ;  Russell  Kellogg,  1782-83  ;  Benjamin  Tupper,  1785 ;  Ben- 
jiuuin  Bonney,  1787-91 ;  Thompson  Maxwell,  1703;  Spencer  Phelps,  1797-1800 , 
Benjamin  Bonney,  1801-2  ;  Alanson  Anderson,  1804;  Benjamin  Parsons,  1805-8 : 
Thomas  Mayhew,  1809 ;  Eliakim  Sylvester,  1810 ;  Oliver  Edwards,  1812 ;  Joseph 
S.Bailey,  1813-16;  Alvan  Rice,  182:i;  Dyar  Bancroft,  1826 ;  Alvan  Rice,  1827; 
Dyar  Bancroft,  1829-30 ;  Siuuuel  Davis,  1831 ;  Dyar  Bancroft,  1832-35 ;  Oliver  Ed- 
wards, 1837  ;  Belah  P.  Clapp,  1838;  Timothy  A.Phelps,  1839;  Samuel  Davis,  1840; 
Timothy  A.  Phelps,  1842;  Alvin  Mac^omher,  1844;  Asahel  Pierce,  1845;  Rufus 
Burnell,  1846;  Hudson  Bates,  1850-51;  Edsel  Witherell,  1852;  Paul  H.  Cud- 
worth,  18.53;  lioriu  L.  Tower,  1855;  Albert  Nichols,  1861-05;  Edward  (larke, 
1870 ;  OiTin  Bryant,  1876. 

VILLAGES. 
CHESTERFIELD    VILLAQE 

is  delightfully  situated,  and  commands  an  extensive  view  of 
the  surrounding  country.  It  contains  a  number  of  fine  pri- 
vate residences ;  the  meeting-house  of  the  Congregational 
Church  ;  a  town-hall,  formerly  the  houseof  worship  belonging 
to  the  Methodist  Church  ;  one  store  ;  the  old  Clapp  tavern,  now 
a  place  of  hospitable  entertainment  under  its  present  proprie- 
tor, Joseph  Kelso ;  several  shops  and  business  places.  The 
village  has  many  attractions.  "No  Mill  River  disaster  can 
ever  happen  there,"  said  a  chance  acquaintance  of  the  writer. 
Swept  by  mountain  breezes,  with  an,  enchanting  prospect 
spread  out  before  the  eye  of  the  traveler,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
the  people  of  Chesterfield  are  enthusiastic  in  their  love  of 
home,  or  that  summer  tourists  linger  here  with  delight. 

This  village  has  always  been  the  business  ])lace  of  the  town, 
merchiints  and  professional  men  carrying  on  their  business 
and  residing  here  more  uniformly  than  at  any  other  point. 
The  extracts  from  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  already  given, 
afford  many  items  of  interest  upon  these  points. 

The  longest-continued  mercantile  enterprise  by  any  one 
citizen  was  that  of  the  late  Oliver  Edwards,  who,  commencing 
in  business  about  1812,  remained  in  trade  until  1865.  Ben- 
jamin Parsons,  the  first  lawyer  of  the  town,  resided  here, 
and  it  appears  that  be  mingled  with  the  hard  and  knotty 
problems  of  the  law  the  softer  notes  of  music,  as  he  held 
for  a  long  time  the  secretaryship  of  the  Hampshire  Musical 
Association.  Dyar  Bancroft  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Ches- 
terfield. He  was  born  in  Torringford,  Conn.  He  studied 
at  Yale  one  year,  then  went  to  Williams  College,  and  grad- 
uated in  the  class  of  1809;  taught  school  in  Brattleboro', 
Vt. ;  studied  law  with  Hon.  Daniel  Dewey,  of  Williamstown, 
and  was  a  tutor  in  Williams  College  a  part  of  the  time.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  at  Lenox,  and  came  to  Chesterfield, 
Feb.  4,  1814.  He  married.  May  2-5,  1815,  Sallie  Hayes,  of 
Brattleboro',  Vt.,  an  aunt  of  President  Hayes.  She  survives 
Mr.  Bancroft,  and  is  now  residing  in  Chesterfield  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  Mr.  Bancroft  had  a  large  and  successful  law- 
practice  ;  was  postmaster  more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  the 
office  was  established  through  his  efforts,  there  being  none  pre- 
viously nearer  than  Worthington.  He  was  often  a  represent- 
ative in  the  Legislature,  and  filled  a  large  number  of  public 
offices.  He  died  Dec.  1.3,  18(16,  aged  eighty  years  and  five 
months.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Putney,  of  Goshen,  died  some 
years  ago.  One  son,  Edward,  died  in  early  life,  and  two  sons, 
William  and  Talcott,  reside  upon  the  old  homestead.  Benja- 
•  min  Parsons  was  the  first  postmaster.  Dyar  Bancroft  was 
succeeded  by  Oscar  Edwards,  by  Oliver  Edwards,  and  by  the 
present  incumbent,  Joel  Engram. 

Dr.  Robert  Starkweather  was  a  practicing  physician  for 
more  than  fifty  years  at  Chesterfield  Centre.  He  was  from 
Stonington,  Conn.,  and  settled  here  in  1790.     His  later  resi- 


dence was  the  present  homestead  of  Oliver  Edwards.  His 
practice  extended  largely  into  other  towns,  and  he  was  often 
consulted  by  the  medical  profession  of  the  county.  Of  his 
children,  Horace  went  to  Michigan  ;  Rodney  remained  in 
town  many  years,  and  late  in  life  removed  to  Ohio.  Daugh- 
ters were  :  Mrs.  Oliver  Edwards  (the  mother  of  the  present 
Oliver),  and  Mrs.  Emmons  Putney,  of  Goshen. 

Other  physicians  succeeding  him  were  Drs.  Ellis,  Wilson, 
Perry,  and  J.  H.  Richardson,  who  remained  ten  or  twelve 
years  ;  now  resides  in  Medfield,  Mass.  The  present  physician. 
Dr.  D.  M.  Streeter,  settled  at  the  centre  in  1866,  and  has  con- 
tinued in  practice  since  that  time. 

The  Oliver  Edwards  store  was  the  present  place  of  Joel 
Ingram,  Jr.,  who  succeeded  to  the  business  of  Oliver  Ed- 
wards &  Son,  and  is  also  postmaster. 

In  early  times  Benj'aniin  Bryant  had  a  store  on  the  site  of 
the  present  town-hall,  and  it  was  known  as  "  the  store  on  the 
rock."  Asa  White  had  a  store  at  the  centre  for  several  years 
before  and  after  1800,  and  his  business  passed  to  Oliver  Ed- 
wards. 

The  Clapp  Tavern,  now  kept  by  Joseph  Kelso,  is  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  years  old  ;  receives  its  name  from  Amasa  Clapp, 
who  kept  it  for  a  long  series  of  years. 

Timothy  A.  Phelps  was  a  noted  magistrate  for  many  years, 
and  often  practiced  law. 

WEST    CHESTERFIELD, 

as  its  name  implies,  is  situated  in  the  west  part  of  the  town, 
about  two  miles  from  the  centre  village,  and  on  the  Westfield 
River.  It  contains  one  store  kept  by  Nelson  A.  Higgins, 
another  by  Henry  Edwards.  Its  mills  are  mentioned  else- 
where. There  is  a  post-office.  Nelson  A.  Higgins  postmaster. 
A  room  is  fitted  up  for  meetings,  the  pastor  of  the  centre 
church  preaching  there  Sunday  evening.  On  the  river  below, 
at  the  "  Gate,"  were  formerly  a  store  and  a  tavern, — the  latter 
kept  by  Zebulon  Robinson,  in  the  old  times  when  the  stage- 
route  flourished,  and  the  former  \>y  his  son,  Asa.  Patrick 
Bryant  speaks  of  the  old  militia-trainiugs  which  took  place 
at  that  point.  The  post-office  of  West  Chesterfield  was  estab- 
lished about  1850.  The  postmasters  have  been  James  M. 
Angell,  Job  Cudworth,  Ansel  Thayer,  Joseph  M.  Tirrell, 
and  the  present  incumbent. 

SUGAR  HILL 
was  the  place  where  Elisha  Warner  lived,  and  where  the  first 
town-meeting  was  held,  the  place  so  long  occupied  in  after- 
years  by  Luther  Edwards.  It  is  said  to  derive  its  name,  not, 
as  one  might  suppose,  from  the  maples  and  the  maple-sugar 
for  which  Chesterfield  is  famous,  but  from  a  circumstance  that 
happened  at  the  tavern  of  Paul  King,  opposite  the  Luther 
Edwards  place.  It  was  in  the  old  days  when  New  England 
rum  was  sold  by  the  hogshead,  and  at  country  stores  a  barrel 
was  easily  used  up  at  the  raising  of  a  single  meeting-house. 
The  landlord  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  little  mellow,  when 
a  thirsty  traveler  called  for  a  drink.  The  liquor  was  poured 
out  and  the  sugar  set  before  the  stranger.  Lifting  in  a  rea- 
sonable quantity,  he  waited  for  it  to  dissolve  as  well-behaved 
sugar  ought  to,  but  it  refused,  and  actually  floated.  The  sugar 
was  only  brown  bread,  hence  the  name. 


is  a  name  applied  to  a  portion  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  town. 
Tradition  gives  the  following  account :  Bofat  is  an  old-fashioned 
word  of  French  origin,  describing  a  cupboard  built  so  as  to 
cut  off  the  corner  of  a  room, — a  sort  of  a  three-sided  affair. 
Benjamin  Bryant,  once  having  collected  a  tax  from  a  citizen 
over  toward  the  Williamburg  line,,  was  asked  how  they  got 
along  over  there.  "  Poor  as  the  devil's  Bofat,"  was  his  reply, 
and  the  name  arose  from  that  circumstance.  "They  say" 
is  our  authority. 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


499 


Ireland  Street  is  the  old  name  of  the  first  road  laid  <mt  by 
town  authority, — already  described  in  another  place, — running 
north  and  south  past  Mr.  George  Buck's  well.  The  road  re- 
tains to  the  present  day  nearly  its  original  course,  and  the  old 
well  is  still  visible  at  the  roadside.  It  was  the  earliest  settled 
portion  of  Chesterfield,  and  some  of  its  first  settlers  were  of 
Irish  nationality,  giving  occasion  for  the  honorable  name  it 
has  borne  so  long. 

What  is  now  known  as  "  Utley's  Corners,"  north  of  the 
centre, — being  the  location  of  the  meeting-house  in  the  old 
times  for  twenty  years, — was  then  likely  to  be  a  place  of  busi- 
ness, but  the  setting  oil' of  Goshen  and  the  consequent  change 
to  the  centre  of  Chesterfield  deprived  this  place  of  its  impor- 
tance. Near  the  Westhampton  line,  on  the  Dead  Branch,  is 
something  of  a  business  point,  containing  a  store  by  .J.  E. 
Witherell,  and  a  basket-factory,  of  which  Mr.  Witherell  is  the 
proprietor.  Near  the  Huntington  line,  on  the  Dead  Branch, 
not  far  from  its  junction  with  the  Westfield,  is  another  point 
of  business.  There  is  a  store  by  H.  K.  Weeks,  and  cutlery- 
works,  of  which  Mr.  Weeks  is  also  the  proprietor.  The  heights 
northwest  of  West  Chesterfield  village  were  called  Mount 
Livermore,  from  the  name  of  the  first  settler.  Afterward  his 
name  was  dropped,  and  the  place  was  known  as  "  the  mount." 
His  son  lived  where  Rev.  Edward  Clarke  now  resides.  A 
curious  dwelling-house,  built  at  the  "  Ledges"  by  either  father 
or  son,  was  called  "  Solomon's  Temple." 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  otficial  action  was  rather  negative.  Dec.  21,  1767, 
the  town  voted  to  have  a  school  or  schools,  but  soon  after 
refused  to  vote  any  money  for  their  support.  Sept.  28,  1768, 
it  was  voted  to  raise  £9  to  be  e.xpended  in  schooling,  and  three 
districts  were  determined  upon.  All  beyond  the-river  consti- 
tuted the  west  district,  and  a  line  from  east  to  west  past  the 
meeting-house  divided  the  north  district  from  the  south.  A 
committee  of  three  was  appointed  for  each  district:  South 
District,  Benjamin  Tupper,  Everton  Beswick,  John  Wilder ; 
North  District,  Ezra  May,  Joseph  Burnell,  Kobert  Webster  f 
West  District,  George  Buck,  Ephraim  Patch,  Seth  Sylvester. 
They  were  empowered  to  hire  "masters  and  dames,"  and  to 
find  places  for  them  "  to  keep  at."  A  memorandum  among 
the  papers  of  Deacon  Oliver  Taylor  shows  that  he  hired  a 
dame  for  fifty  cents  a  week,  and  that  she  boarded  herself. 
May  8,  1709,  it  was  voted  to  raise  £12  for  summer  schools. 
The  town  was  divided  into  five  districts,  and  one  man  ap- 
pointed committee  for  each,  as  follows :  Deacon  May,  Benja- 
min Bonne}',  Jo.seph  Burnell,  Robert  Hamilton,  and  John 
Buck.  Dec.  11,  1769,  they  voted  £18  for  winter  schools,  and 
each  district  was  authorized  to  build  a  school-house. 

Dec.  11,  1769,  four  school  districts  were  arranged  :  1st,  all 
■  west  of  Westfield  River  ;  2d,  all  between  said  river  and  the 
East  Branch,  and  south  of  the  county  road ;  3d,  all  north  of 
and  upon  the  county  road  between  Westfield  River  and  the 
East  Branch,  and  so  to  the  north  line  of  the  town,  and  ex- 
tended east  to  include  Mr.  Healey,  David  Russell,  John  King, 
and  Mr.  Burnell,  Mr.  Barrett,  and  Mr.  Stearns  ;  4th,  all  the 
remainder  in  the  northeast  part.  Dec.  22,  1772,  they  voted 
£24  for  schools,  and  March  7,  1774,  they  appropriated  £30. 
The  progress  and  the  condition  of  the  modern  schools  are 
shown  by  the  following  statistics  from  the  report  of  the  Board 
of  Education  of  this  State,  at  intervals  often  years  each: 

SCHOOL   STATISTICS. 

January,  1837. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  summer,  273 ;  average,  222 ;  winter, 
339 ;  average,  289  ;  in  town  between  4  and  16,  339  ;  summer  schools,  40  months, 
1.T  days;  winter,  33  months,  15  days;  summer  teachei-s,  10  females;  winter,  4 
mjiies,  6  females ;  averaj^o  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  1^12.10  ;  female 
teachers,  ^. 

January,  1847. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  216  ;  average,  172  ; 
winter,  250 ;  average,  197 ;  number  of  children  in  town  between  4  and  16,  297 ; 
attending  under  4,  23;  over  16,  30;  summer  school,  38  mouths;  winter,  28 
months,  21  days ;  tot;il,  66  months,  21  days ;  teachers  in  summer,  10  females ; 


winter,  7  males  and  4  females;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month, 
$20.57;  female,  J11.60. 

January,  1857. — Ten  schools  ;  attending  in  summer,  173  ;  avei-age,  130  ;  win- 
ter, 194  ;  average,  151 ;  attending  under  5,  22 ;  over  15,  29  ;  in  town  between  5 
and  15,  209  ;  summer  teachers,  9  females ;  winter,  6  males,  3  females  ;  summer 
schools,  41  months,  12  days ;  winter,  27  months,  12  days ;  total,  69  months,  4  days ; 
average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  S23 ;  female,  $18.66. 

January,  1867. — Ten  schools ;  attending  in  the  summer,  155 ;  average,  122  ; 
winter,  163;  average,  131 ;  attending  under  5,  8  ;  over  15,  35  ;  in  town  between 
5  and  15,  222;  summer  teachers,  10  females;  winter,  1  male,  8  females;  Bummer 
schools,  36  months,  11  days;  winter,  25  mouths;  average  wages  of  male  teach- 
ers per  month,  §29.41.1;  female  teachers,  S22.60. 

January,  1878. — Nine  schools ;  attending,  141 ;  average,  107  ;  under  5,  7  ;  over 
15,  15 ;  in  t^>wn  between  5  and  15, 147  ;  teachers,  1  male,  14  females ;  school,  57 
months,  5  days  :  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  mouth,  ^0 ;  female,  S23  ;  by 
ta,xation,  gllOO ;  board  and  fuel  voluntai-ily  given,  $500 ;  expenses  of  committee, 
f.50 ;  printiug,  SIO ;  vested  funds,  S600  ;  income  of  fund  and  dog  tax,  S47 ;  1  pri- 
vate school,  20  scholare ;  tuition,  $175 ;  town's  share  of  State  funds,  $224.41. 

No  attempt  to  establish  an  academy  was  ever  made  at  Ches- 
terfield, but  many  select  schools  have  been  maintained.  The 
teachers  have  often  been  students  from  Amherst  College,  and 
many  of  the  present  citizens  enjoyed  in  the  schools  the  means 
of  obtaining  the  elements  of  higher  education.  The  following 
graduates  from  college  were  natives  of  Chesterfield :  Samuel 
Utley,  Union  College ;  George  Waters,  Amherst  College ; 
Edward  Clarke,  Williams  College ;  Merrick  Knight,  Amherst 
College. 

CHURCHES. 

Very  early  arrangements  for  religious  worship  were  made 
by  the  people  of  Chesterfield.  The  next  year  after  the  incor- 
poration of  the  town  the  sum  of  £200  was  voted  "  to  build  a 
meeting-house,  settle  a  minister,  and  repair  the  roads."  This 
may  seem  to  the  people  of  these  modern  times  as  blending 
some  unlike  things  in  one  resolution  ;  but  it  was  one  of  the  most 
important  advantages  of  good  roads  that  people  could  get  to 
meeting  by  mea7i,i  of  them.  In  this  view  the  vote  provided  for 
a  meeting-house,  for  a  minister,  and  for  roads,  so  that  the  people 
eoultl  ffo  to  hear  him,, — propositions  all  germane  to  each  other, 
and  naturally  connected  in  one  vote.  Committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  carry  out  this  vote.  They  were  to  find  the  centre 
of  the  town,  build  a  meeting-house  at  or  near  that  point,  and 
provide  preaching.  It  was  several  years  before  all  this  was 
accomplished,  but  the  preaehing  was  secured  immediately,  and 
meetings  were  held  alternately  at  two  houses  in  ditferent  parts 
of  the  town.  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  afterward  the  well-known 
patriotic  minister  of  Pittsfield,  preached  in  Chesterfield  in  the 
summer  of  1763. 

We  quote  from  the  actual  records  some  account  of  the  trans- 
actions alluded  to  above : 

At  a  town-meeting,  May  9,  1763,  Ezra  May,  Moderator,  among  various  items 
of  business  were  the  following :  "  Chose  Ezra  May,  Daniel  Winter,  Eleazer  King 
a  committee  to  provide  preaching.  Voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  the  centre 
of  the  town  of  Chesterticld  aforesaid,  if  it  be  a  convenient  place,  and  if  not,  tlie 
next  convenient  place  from  it.  Chose  Joseph  Burnell,  Benjamin  Bonney,  Ezra 
May,  Joshua  Healy,  Eveiton  Beswick  a  committee  to  build  said  meeting-house. 
Chose  Benjamin  Bryant,  Joseph  Burnell,  and  Lemuel  Lyon  a  committee  to  find 
the  said  centre  of  Chesterfield.  Voted  to  meet  every  other  Sabbath  at  Mr.  Rob- 
ert Webster's,  and  every  other  Sabbath  at  Mr.  Jeremiah  StockwelPs." 

Robert  Webster's  was  the  present  farm  of  Hiram  Bates,  in 
the  town  of  Goshen,  and  Jeremiah  StockwelPs  was  on  what  is 
called  "the  mount,"  near,  and  a  little  north  of,  the  present 
residence  of  Rev.  Edward  Clark. 

Aug.  8, 1763. — "  Voted  to  cancel  and  disannul  all  the  votes  that  were  passed  at 
the  meeting  of  May  9th,  relating  to  a  proper  spot  to  set  a  meeting-house  upon, 
also  all  the  votes  that  were  passed  relating  to  building  a  meeting-house,  and  also 
for  raising  money  to  build  a  meeting-house." 

Having  thus  swept  away  the  former  action,  they  proceeded  : 

"  Voted  to  build  a  meeting-house.  Put  to  vote  to  see  if  the  town  will  set  the 
meeting-house  on  the  highest  piece  of  land  on  Mr.  Archelaus  Andereon's  wheat- 
field, — decided  in  the  negative.  Then  voted  to  come  into  a  method  to  set  the 
meeting-house  in  tho  centre,  or  the  nearest  place  to  the  centre  that  shall  be 
thought  convenient.  Chose  tivu  men  as  a  committee  for  said  purimse,— Ezra 
May,  Joseph  Beal,  Robert  Hamilton,  Benjamin  Bonney,  Seth  Burk,— and  made 
choice  of  Benjamin  Tupper  for  a  surveyor.  Also  chose  a  committee  to  agree 
with  the  owners  <tf  land  to  set  the  meeting-house  upon,  viz. :  Benjamin  Bonney, 
Seth  Sylvester,  Benjamin  Bryant.  Voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  lifty  feet 
wide  and  sixty  feet  long.    Chose  its  building  committee  Benjamin  Bonney,  Ezra 


500 


HISTORY    OP   THE    CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


May.  Archelaus  Anderson,  Prince  Cowing,  and  Joseph  Burnell.  Yoted  to  hire 
Mr.  Allen  for  a  longer  temi  to  preach  on  prohalion.  Voted  to  meet  one-half  of 
the  time  at  Archelans  Anderson's  and  the  other  half  at  Joseph  Buniell's." 

Oct.  3,  1763. — Committee  npon  place  reported  that,  by  the  aid  of  the  sun'eyor, 
they  had  determined  "  tJie  centre  to  he  about  24  rods  North  of  Ihe  County  Eoad, 
a  little  east  of  the  first  slough  east  of  Archibald  Anderson's  wheat-field ;  and  that 
not  being  a  convenient  place,  the  committee  agreed  to  set  the  meeting-house  16 
rods  Southwest,  on  a  more  convenient  place."  This  report  was  accepted  by  the 
town. 

March 5,  1764.— Voted  to  cancel  the  vote  accepting  the  report  of  Oct.  3d;  and 
voted,  further,  "  that  Ezra  May  and  Jo.seph  Burnell  he  a  committee  to  find  the 
centre  of  the  town  to  build  a  meeting-house  upon  or  the  nearest  convenient  pliice 
to  it,  and  also  have  the  assistance  of  Capt.  Dwight,  of  Cold  Spring,  as  a  Surveyor; 
and  if  it  shall  be  .judged  by  the  aforesaid  Capt.  Dwiglit  that  the  centre  is  where 
the  former  committee  declared  it  to  be,  then  the  abovesaid  Ezra  May  and  Joseph 
Burnell  are  not  to  be  paid  for  their  trouble  ;  but  if  the  centre  sliall  be  judged  to 
be  from  that  place,  then  the  town  will  pay  the  cost  of  finding  it."  Building 
Committee  again  jippointed, — Benjamin  Bonney,  Robert  Webster,  Benjamin  Bry- 
ant, and  Joseph  Burnell.  Voted  the  meeting-house  to  be  45  feet  wide  and  5S 
feet  long.  Voted  a  committee  to  procure  a  minister  to  preach  on  pi"obation, — 
Ezra  May,  Jeremiah  Stockwell,  and  Jeremiah  Spalding. 

M-ay  10, 1764. — Capt.  Dwight  reported  as  follows :  "  I  went  in  company  with 
Mr.  Ezra  May  and  Joseph  Burnell,  in  order  to  find  the  centre  of  the  ti:>wn,  and 
began  at  a  certain  known  boundary  on  the  north  line  of  the  town,  and  run  114 
rods  without  any  allowance,  and  came  out  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  just  over  the 
dead  River.  Then  I  added  38  rods  to  the  measure,  which  carried  us  near  the  top 
of  the  hill,  which  is  the  centre  of  tlie  town;  and  that  not  being  a  convenient 
place  to  set  a  meeting-house,  we  looked  around  and  found  a  convenient  place 
about  20  rods  further  southwestward,  and  we  i-un  to  that,  where  we  marked  a 
beech-staddle  thus,  EM;JB;ND;Jr;*  with  stones  by  it,  which  stiuldle 
stands  124  rods  east  of  Archelaus  Anderson's  fence  the  east  side  of  his  field, 
where  we  marked  a  maple-staddle. 


"  Salmon  KENTFtELD, 
"  JONATH.VN  Foster, 


'  NATHANtEL  DwiGHT. 


Cli'iin-iiteii." 


This  report  was  accepted  by  the  town,  and  we  infer  that 
Ezra  May  and  Joseph  Burnell  were  entitled  to  receive  pay  for 
their  services. 

This  is  a  part  of  the  town  action.  The  whole  is  too  long  for 
this  sketch,  and  we  can  only  give  a  summary  statement  of 
the  final  action.  It  may,  however,  be  an  interesting  study  for 
the  young  surveyors  of  Chesterfield  now  to  determine  the  site 
designated  by  the  first  committee,  and  also  that  of  the  second, 
and  find  the  location  of  the  "beech-staddle"  and  of  the 
"  maple-staddle." 

It  could  easily  be  inferred  from  the  above  record  that  there 
was  no  meeting-house  for  several  years.  The  first  committee 
of  1763,  as  shown  above,  was  succeeded  by  several  others  before 
the  centre  of  the  town  was  found  and  a  house  of  worship 
erected.  The  aid  of  outside  parties  appears  to  have  been  in- 
voked, and  in  June,  1767,  Maj.  Sclah  Barnard,  of  Deerfield, 
and  Col.  Wm.  Williams,  of  Pittsfield,  reported  in  favor  of  a 
site,  and  it  was  accepted  by  the  town.  But  in  March  of  the 
next  year,  in  order  to  better  accommodate  the  people  living  in 
"  Chesterfield  Gore"  (afterward  Goshen),  the  site  was  changed, 
and  the  town  voted  to  remove  the  timber  to  the  new  site,  which 
was  about  a  mile  north  of  the  centre,  at  what  is  now  known 
as  Utley's  Corners,  and  there  it  was  at  last  actually  built,  the 
"  raising"  taking  place  in  July,  1768.  The  house  was  used  as 
soon  as  possible,  while  in  an  unfinished  state,  pews  neither  on 
the  ground  floor  nor  in  the  gallery  being  completed.  It  was 
not  finished  until  .some  twenty  years  later,  and  soon  afterward 
the  necessity  of  accommodating  the  Gore  ceased,  Goshen  having 
been  incorporated  and  a  separate  church  formed.  This  meet- 
ing-house was  accordingly  taken  down  in  1791,  and  the  ma- 
terials used  to  build  another,  on  the  site  ever  since  occupied 
for  that  purpose.  But,  though  the  fathers  contended  earnestly 
for  the  right  place  to  build,  yet  they  were  united  in  providing 
for  religious  worship  somewhere,  and  this  was  not  delayed  by 
the  controversy. 

July  19, 17G4.— Voted  to  give  Mr.  Benjamin  Mills  a  call  to  settle  in  the  miu- 
ietry;  voted  to  ofl'er  him  150  itoiinds  settlement,  lawful  money,  to  be  paid  in 
one  year,  exclusive  of  a  right  of  land  in  said  town,  and  a  salary  of  42  pounds 
the  first  year,  with  5  pounds  to  be  adtlod  yearly,  until  the  sum  should  amount  to 
80  pounds,  and  that  to  be  the  fi.xed  salary.  Chose  a  committee  to  lay  those  votes 
before  Mr.  Mills,  viz.:  Eleiizer  King,  Joshua  Ilealcy,  Benjamin  Tupper,  Ezra 
May,  Seth  Sylvester. 

*  The  town  record  is  obBcure. 


Oct.  22, 1764. — Chose  a  committee  to  ask  the  advice  of  neighboring  ministers 
in  a  council,  viz. :  Ezra  May,  Joshua  Healey,  Benjamin  Tupper.  ifame  com- 
mittee directed  to  provide  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Mills. 

ACCOUNT     OF     EXPENSES     FOR     THE     INSTALLATION    OF    REV. 
TIMOTHY    ALLEN,   AUDITED   AND  ALLOWED   BY  THE   TOWN, 

JUNE  4-20,  1785. 

By  Capt.  Healey : 

£  «.      d. 

To  5  gallons  of  "West  India  mm 12      0 

"  U  lb.  of  allspice 0  10 

"  i.J  lb.  of  pepper 0  0      9 

"  6  lbs.  of  sugar 0  4      6 

"  a  journey  to  Northampton  and  expense 0  7      0 

"  6  1bs.  of  rice 0  3      0 

"  1  lb.  of  cofiee,  Ij).  4f/.  time  and  expense 0  5      4 

"  sundries  llrf.,  5  lbs.  loaf  sugar  1*.  3rf 0  7      2 

"  1,4  lb.  Bohea  tea 0  19 

"  2  lbs.  Malaga  rai.sins  at  Is.  2d 0  2      5 

"  1  oz.  nutmeg 0  2      0 

"  46  lbs.  veal  at  3(J 0  11      6 

"  25  lbs.  flour 0  5      6 

"  11  lbs.  cheese 0  6      5 

"  1  bus.  French  turnips 0  10 

4  1  10 
By  Col.  Benjamin  Bonney: 

£  ».  rf. 

To  8  lbs.  pork  at  7d 0  4  8 

"  time  and  expense 0  4  0 

0  8  8 
By  Capt.  Amasa  Clapp : 

£  ».  d. 

To  12  lbs.  veal  at  3(! 0  3  1 

"  8  lbs.  butter  at  8t! 0  5  4 

"  time  and  expense 0  4  0 

0    12  5 
By  John  Russell: 

£     s.  ((. 

To  7  lb.s.  butter  at  8d 0      4  8 

"  1  doz.  eggs 0-0  8 

*'  time  and  expense 0      4  0 

0      9      4 

£  «.  ft. 

ToMr.  Thoma.s  Rodgers  for  tending 0  5  0 

"  Mr.  (^uance  for  help  to  cook 0  3  0 

"  3Irs.  Quance  for  help  to  cook 0  2  0 

"  Mrs.  Abigail  Tucker  for  help  to  cook 0  1  0 

0    11      0 

£     ».     rf. 
Total 6      3      3 

It  is  evident  that  the  town  made  ready  for  a  good  time  in 
the  way  of  material  things  as  well  as  spiritual. 

All  the  preliminary  movements  for  religious  services  were 
made  by  the  town  in  its  ofBcial  capacity,  as  was  the  custom 
in  New  England.     Church  organization  soon  followed. 

THE    CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH   OP    CHESTERFIELD 

was  formally  organized  Oct.  30,  1764,  and  the  ministers  assist- 
ing were  Kev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  of  Hadley,  and  Rev.  John 
Hooker,  of  Northampton.  There  were  seven  members  besides 
the  Kev.  Benjamin  Mills,  who  had  received  a  call  from  the 
town  the  preceding  July,  had  accepted,  and  commenced  his 
labors.  He  was  installed  as  the  first  pastor  of  the  newly- 
formed  church  November  22d,  three  weeks  after  the  organiza- 
tion. The  first  members  were  Benjamin  Mills,  Joseph  Bur- 
nell, Joshua  Healey,  David  Stearns,  Ezra  May,  Robert  Hamil- 
ton, Benjamin  Tupper,  and  Geo.  Buck.  Their  names  are 
signed  to  the  covenant.  Ezra  May  and  Benjamin  Tupper 
were  chosen  the  first  deacons  January  9th  of  the  following 
winter.  The  former  was  afterward  the  well-known  Maj.  May 
of  the  Revolutionary  times.  The  latter  became  Gen.  Tupper, 
and,  removing  to  Ohio,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  at  Marietta. 

The  first  meeting-house  was  repaired  in  1814-15,  and  stood 
till  183."),  having  been  in  use  about  sixty-seven  years.  The 
new  house  was  dedicated  Nov.  18,  1835.  July  4,  1838,  it  Was 
voted  to  build  a  parsonage,  and  it  was  erected  not  long  after. 

Record  of  Pastors. — 1st.  Rev.  Benjamin  Mills,  ordained 
Nov.  22,  1764;  dismissed  by  reason  of  poor  health,  Dec.  21, 
1774;  he  continued  to  reside  in  town,  and  became  prominent 
in  public  aft'airs  during  the  wtir  of  the  Revolution.  2d.  Rev. 
Josiah  Kilburn,  ordained  Nov.  9,  1780;  died  while  absent 
from  the  town,  in  September,  1781,  probably  about  twentj'- 
six  years  old.  3d.  Rev.  Timothy  Allen,  installed  June  15, 
1786 ;  he  had  already  preached  one  year ;  was  seventy  years 


HISTOKY   OP    HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


501 


old  when  installed  ;  his  services  ceased  in  1796  ;  he  remained 
in  town,  and  died  Jan.  12,  1806.  4th.  Rev.  Isaiah  Waters, 
ordained  Nov.  22,  1796 ;  he  remained  for  thirty-five  years, 
when,  at  his  request,  he  was  dismissed.  He  died  at  Wil- 
liamsbnrg,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  23,  1851.  Kev.  Benjamin  Holmes 
supplied  the  pulpit  for  two  years.  5th.  Kev.  Israel  G.  Hose, 
installed  Nov.  18,  1835;  he  died  while  still  pastor,  Feb.  5, 
1842,  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  6th.  Rev.  Oliver  Warner, 
ordained  June  6,  1844;  his  services  closed  hy  reason  of  ill 
health,  June  5,  1846.  Mr.  Warner,  however,  supplied  the 
pulpit  considerably  before  the  settlement  of  another  pastor. 
7th.  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Barnum,  ordained  Jan  25,  1853;  dis- 
missed Jan  25,  1855,  and  there  were  services  by  Rev.  0.  M. 
Sears  for  a  time.  8th.  Rev.  John  E.  Corey,  stated  supply, 
commencing,  as  appears  by  the  first  entry.  May  1,  1856; 
labors  closed  April  29,  1859.  9th.  Rev.  J.  W.  Allen,  labors 
commenced  May  15,  1859;  closed  May  11,  1862.  10th.  Rev. 
William  W.  Rose,  stated  supply,  labors  commenced  May  25, 
1862;  ordained  by  a  council  that  met  Dec.  28,  1862;  labors 
terminated  April  30,  1864.  11th.  Rev.  J.  A.  Wilkins,  May 
1,  1864 ;  services  closed  at  the  end  of  the  year,  May  1,  1865. 
12th.  Rev.  Edward  Clarke,  May  1,  1865,  to  April  30,  1872. 
13th.  Rev.  I.  P.  Smith,  May  1,  1872;  services  continued 
about  a  year.  14th.  And  lastly.  Rev.  William  A.  Fobes; 
services  commenced  the  last  Sabbath  of  June,  1873,  and  he  con- 
tinues, the  present  pastor. 

The  list  of  deacons  includes  Ezra  May,  Benjamin  Tupper, 
Benjamin  Pierce,  Thomas  Halbert,  Nathaniel  Coleman, 
Spencer  Phelps,  John  Russell,  Benjamin  Pierce,  Asahel  Searl, 
Timothy  A.  Phelps,  Seth  Healey,  Rufus  Burnell,  Sidney  S. 
Smead,  David  Healey,  and  William  Baker.  The  last  named 
is  the  sole  acting  deacon  at  present;  he  was  chosen  May  17, 
1861.  Deacon  Smead  removed  to  Sunderland  ;  Deacon  David 
Healey  to  Westfleld  ;  Deacon  Rufus  Burnell  died  at  Aurora, 
111.,  March  7,  1875;  Deacon  Seth  Healey  died  a  few  years 
since  ;  Deacon  Phelps  died  in  South  Deerfield. 

The  first  baptism  recorded,  Jan.  13,  1765,  Joel,  son  of  Lem- 
uel Lyon  ;  second,  March  10,  1765,  Electa,  daughter  of  Daniel 
Winter;  third,  April  14th,  Mary,  daughter  of  Abijah  Tucker. 

BAPTIST    CHURCH    OF   CHESTERFIELD. 

A  number  of  the  families  of  Chesterfield  subsequent  to  the 
Revolution  were  inclined  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  an  organization  was  eft'ected  at  an  early  date. 
The  first  house  of  worship  was  situated  near  the  road  where 
it  turns  on  Ireland  Street  from  the  road  leading  by  the  Gate 
to  Worthington.  An  accident  is  noted  in  connection  with  the 
raising:  Charles  Beswick,  Jr.,  fell  from  the  frame  and  was 
taken  up  apparently  dead,  but  afterward  recovered.  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Vining  was  ordained  the  first  pastor,  June  16,  1791. 
Elder  Ebenezer  Smith  made  the  introductory  prayer ;  Elder 
Peter  Werden  ).)reached  the  ordination  sermon,  from  1  Tim. 
iii.  15;  Elder  Asa  Todd  made  the  ordaining  prayer;  Elders 
Stow,  Warren,  and  Hamilton  joined  in  the  laying  on  of  hands  ; 
Elder  Obed  Warren  gave  the  charge.  Elder  Adaiik  Hamilton 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  Elder  Stow  made  the  con- 
cluding prayer.  This  account  is  found  in  the  Hatnjishire  Ga- 
zette of  that  year.  Mr.  Vining  was  dismissed  in  1802.  The 
next  year  Rev.  Asa  Todd  was  installed,  and  continued  pastor 
for  twenty-one  years. 

In  connection  with  this  church  it  is  interesting  to  notice 
that  among  the  first  settlers  were  some  families  of  Baptist 
sentiments  nearly  thirty  years  before  a  church  organization. 
Under  date  of  July  27  and  Aug.  17,  1767,  there  are  recorded 
in  the  town  books  certificates  signed  by  Rev.  Ebenezer  Smith, 
pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Ashfield,  stating  that  Mr.  Moses 
Bacon  and  Mr.  Wm.  White,  of  Chesterfield,  "are  conscien- 
tiously of  the  Anabaptist  persuasion,"  and  attend  church  in 
Ashfield.  We  infer  that  this  certificate  procured  their  release 
from  church  taxes  in  Chesterfield. 


Mr.  Chandler  Macomber  furnishes  the  following  valuable 
paper  in  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Chesterfield : 

"  According  to  the  ancient  records,  tlie  first  meeting  of  this  church  was  held 
at  the  house  of  Zebulou  Robertson  [Robiuson],  on  the  22d  of  September,  17H9, 
with  Luke  Bonney  as  clerk  ;  and  for  a  long  time  altei-,  the  meetings  were  held 
at  private  houses.  Oct.  G,  1789,  a  committee  consisting  of  Luke  Bonney,  Zebu- 
Ion  Robinson,  and  Seth  Taylor  was  chosen  to  provide  a  teacher.  Jan.  26, 1790,  it 
was  reported  from  this  committee  favoring  and  recommending  the  engagement 
of  Brother  Yining  as  minister,  and,  the  report  having  been  accepted,  it  was  voted 
to  raise  £45  14s.  tjd.  by  subsciiption  to  defray  the  expenses  of  ordaining  Brother 
Vining,  moving  his  family,  and  furnishing  him  with  a  suit  of  clothes.  June  15, 
1700,  Elder  Vining  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Chesterfield. 
In  the  following  May  it  was  voted  to  move  the  meetings  to  Mr.  Stone's  barn, 
and  in  1798  we  find  a  meeting  reported  as  being  held  in  the  meeting-house,  with 
Dan  Daniels,  of  Wortliington,  clerk,— an  ofl&ce  which  he  held  for  thirty  years, 
assisted  in  the  later  years  by  his  son,  Ira  Daniels.  Jau.  30, 1801,  Samuel  King- 
man, of  Worthington,  and  William  Keene,  of  Chesterfield,  were  chosen  deacons 
to  wait  on  the  church. 

"  Some  time  during  the  year  1803  the  name  of  Asa  Todd  appears  as  the  second 
minister  of  the  church,  and  in  180."),  Deacon  Keene  having  removed,  Noah 
White  was  chosen  deacon.  Jan.  31,  1807,  Deacon  Kingman  was  dismissed.  In 
March,  1808,  David  Macomber  was  chosen,  and  July,  1815,  Timothy  Austin  was 
chosen  in  place  of  Noah  White,  dismissed.  In  January,  1817,  the  name  of  Job 
Cudworth  appears  as  one  of  the  deacons. 

"  In  the  year  1817,  by  the  death  of  one  of  the  brethren,  a  fund  was  left  to  the 
church  for  the  support  of  the  communion-table,  and  a  committee  consisting  of 
Deacon  Macomber,  Deacon  Austin,  and  Dan  Daniels  was  chosen  'to  obtain  the 
money  left  to  the  church  by  our  brother,  Reuben  Hitchcock,  of  Worthington.' 

'•Previous  to  this  time — and,  as  tradition  has  it,  long  before  the  organization 
of  the  church— there  had  been  a  small  body  of  Baptists  in  the  east  and  northeast 
part  of  the  town,  holding  their  meetings  at  a  house  now  occupied  by  Morris  J. 
Thayer,  and  iu  the  year  1818  they  erected  a  meeting-houso  in  the  east  part  of 
the  town,  and  we  find  records  occasionally  of  church  meetings  iu  this  house, 
showing  that  they  were  considered  a  part  of  the  same  church  organization,  with 
the  same  oflRcers  and  minister. 

"Nov.  2, 1820,  Elder  Todd  was  dismissed  from  the  church  in  conseiiuence  of  a 
dissatisfaction  among  some  of  the  church  members  on  account  of  his  having 
joined  the  Free  illusotw,  and  also  from  difficulties  of  a  more  personal  nature ; 
but  he  continued  to  live  in  the  town  till  July  17, 1847,  when  he  died  at  the  ripe 
old  age  of  ninety-one. 

"  In  .Tune,  1822,  Rev.  Paul  Hines  was  received  into  the  church  as  pastor.  At 
this  date  there  appear  aliout  225  names  of  members  on  the  records,  among 
which  we  find  names  not  yet  extinct,— of  Curtiss,  Hayden,  Davis,  Macomljcr, 
Thayer,  Torry,  Bisbee,  Litchfield.  Bryant,  Cole,  Todd,  Cudworth,  Carr,  Higgins, 
Stanton,  Tower,  Metcalf,  Kendall,  Taylor,  Cowing,  Sampson,  AngcII,  French, 
Kingman,  Moore,  Bissel,  Robinson,  and  Bates. 

"  From  this  time  forward  the  records  are  lost,  and  exist  only — as  far  as  known 
—in  the  memory ;  but  the  facts  are  fresh  in  the  memory  of  many  now  living, 
though  the  precise  ilatos  are  lacking.  About  1825  the  meeting-house— a  large, 
rambling  building— w£is  taken  down,  condensed  in  its  proportions,  and  removed 
from  its  location  on  '  Ireland  Street'  to  a  more  central  situation, — at '  the  Gate ,' 
so  called;  and  about  the  same  time  the  meetings  in  the  east  part  of  the  town 
were  discontinued,  and  Rev.  Ambrose  Day  appears  as  pastor  till  about  1845. 

"Some  time  during  the  ministry  of  Elder  Day  it  appears  there  were  three 
deacons, — David  Todd,  Job  Cudworth,  and  Asa  Robinson ;  but  a  serious  difficulty 
having  arisen  in  the  church  concerning  the  seniority  of  the  deacons,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  bequest  of  Reuben  Hitchcock,  Deacon  Robinson,  with  about  40 
others,  was  expelled  from  the  church ;  the  main  body  of  the  church  erected  a 
new  meeting-house  at  the  centre  in  1845,  and  Almon  Higgins  was  chosen  one  of 
the  deacons.  This  meeting-house  was  occupied  about  fifteen  years,  with  Rev. 
Wm.  Smith,  Z.  Richards,  F.  Bestor,  and  Wm.  S.  Phillips  as  pastors,  when,  by 
the  removal  of  many  of  the  iufluential  members  and  the  gradual  depopulation 
of  the  hill-towns,  the  burden  became  too  heavy  for  those  remaining,  the  meet- 
ings were  given  up,  and  in  1874  the  meeting-house  was  taken  down. 

"  The  church  still  (1879)  keeps  up  its  organization,  with  about  30  members 
still  living,  who  meet  with  the  other  churches  wherever  they  happen  to  be 
located,  and  the  avails  of  the  fund  left  them  by  the  late  Dr.  Robert  Starkweatlier 
are  generally  given  to  the  Congregational  Society." 

SECOND   BAPTIST   SOCIETY    OF   CHESTERFIELD. 

Those  families  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town  who 
belonged  to  the  Baptist  Church  were  at  such  a  distance  from 
meeting  that  they  finally  erected  a  house  of  worship  for  them- 
selves about  the  year  1818.  The  building  is  still  standing.  A 
church  organization  was  efifected,  lasting  about  seven  years. 
In  1825,  owing  to  a  change  of  doctrinal  views  and  under  the 
leadership  of  Isaac  King,  Esq.,  this  church  became  the  First 
Liberal  Baptist  Society  of  Chesterfield,  more  generally  known 
as  the  Free-Will  Baptist. 

METHODIST   CHURCH    OF   CHESTERFIELD. 

In  the  year  1843,  several  families  of  Methodist  sentiments 
being  resident  in  town,  meetings  were  held  in  the  town-hall. 


502 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Josiah  Hayden,  of  Williamsburg,  a  licensed  exhorter,  and  Mr. 
Mason,  from  the  same  place,  conducted  the  meetings  regularly 
for  about  a  year.  In  1844,  Rev.  Daniel  K.  Bannister,  a  former 
native  of  the  town,  was  sent  here  by  the  conference.  In  1845, 
Eev.  E.  A.  Manning  preached  here,  a  church  was  formed,  and 
a  house  of  worship  erected.  The  edifice  is  the  present  town- 
hall,  and  is  a  neat  and  handsome  building,  founded  literally 
"  upon  a  rock,"  standing  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  public 
square.  Rev.  Mr.  Manning  remained  three  years.  In  1848, 
Rev.  Mr.  McClouth,  an  Englishman,  officiated  for  one  year. 
About  that  time  individuals  interested  in  the  success  of  the 
church  bought  a  parsonage  near  the  Eleazer  King  (now  the 
Nathaniel  W.  Ingram)  farm.  In  1849,  Rev.  Wm.  Bard  well 
occupied  it  as  the  Methodist  parsonage,  remaining  two  years. 
He  was  succeeded  for  two  years,  1851-53,  by  Rev.  I.  B:  Bige- 
low.  Rev.  John  Smith  followed  for  two  years,  1853-55;  Rev. 
E.  B.  Morgan  succeeded  him  for  one  year.  The  last  pastor 
was  Rev.  Mr.  Jordan,  in  1856,  who  remained  two  years.  At 
the  expiration  of  his  term  Methodist  preaching  was  di.scon- 
tinued.  The  house  of  worship  was  sold  a  few  years  later  for 
a  town-hall,  and  the  parsonage  was  sold  to  Joel  Ingram,  who 
still  occupies  it.  Among  the  members  of  the  organization, 
1843  to  1845,  were  Abner  Damon  and  wife,  Elisha  Tilden  and 
wife,  Elisha  Bisbee  and  wife,  Joel  Ingram,  Jr.,  and  wife,  An- 
drew K.  Baker,  Benjamin  B.  Bryant,  Martin  Shaw  and  wife, 
Elijah  Tilden  and  wife,  John  Hayden  and  wife,  with  several 
others  from  adjacent  towns. 

BURI.\L-GRODNDS. 

The  wife  of  Benjamin  Bonney  was  the  first  person  who  died 
in  town,  in  1764.  Her  grave  was  dug  in  the  present  central 
yard,  by  Abiel  Stetson,  and  the  boundaries  of  this  burial-place 
were  afterward  defined  as  follows :  "  Beginning  five  rods  west 
of  Benjamin  Bonney's  wife's  grave,  thence  running  east  eigh- 
teen rods  by  Archelaus  Anderson's  north  line,  thence  south 
thirteen  and  one-third  rods,  thence  west  thirteen  rods,  thence 
north  eighteen  rods  to  the  place  of  first  beginning,  containing 
one  acre  and  a  half"  This  ground  was  obtained  as  the  result 
of  the  following  official  action,  though  it  appears  from  the  de- 
scription that  it  had  been  used  before  the  organization  of  the 
town, — at  least,  in  the  burial  of  Mrs.  Bonney: 

May  0, 1763. — It  was  proposed  at  a  town-meeting  to  agree  upon  a  place  for  a 
burying-ground,  but  the  proposition  was  voted  dowu. 

May  10, 1704. — Voted  a  committee  to  purchase  laud  for  a  burying-ground,  and 
clear  and  fence  the  same. 

Oct.  22, 1764. — At  a  town-meeting  held  at  Mr.  Benjamin  Tupper's,  an  inn- 
holder,  the  committee  on  burying-ground  reported  that  they  hiid  agreed  with 
Mr.  .\rchelaus  Anderson  for  one  acre  and  a  half  of  land,  laying  upon  said 
Anderson's  Hill,  for  2  pounds  8  shillings,  lawful  money. 

Benmamin  Bonney,  -t 
Bknjamin  BttYANT,   V  Committee, 
Seth  Sylvester,       J 

Though  this  burial-place  was  purchased  of  Archelaus  An- 
derson, yet  the  deed  a  year  or  two  later  was  from  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Mills,  who  must  have  succeeded  to  the  farm  of  Mr. 
Ander.son,  either  wholly  or  in  part.  The  oldest  inscription 
appears  to  be,  "  Mrs.  Esther,  wife  of  Peter  Strong  ;  died  July 
(>,  1775,  aged  37."  Others  are  "Jemima,  wife  of  Eleazer 
Strong,  Feb.  17,  1787,  aged  87."  "Benjamin  Ludden,  May 
23,  1789,  aged  71."  "  Elisha  "Warner,  Dec.  2,  1787,  aged  66." 
Besides  this  central  burying-ground,  there  are  several  others. 
One  of  these  is  in  the  east  i)art  of  the  town,  known  as  Bofat, 
near  the  residence  of  Calvin  Damon.  Another  is  located  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town,  on  the  old  Torrey  farm.  There  is 
a  burying-ground  on  Ireland  Street,  near  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Ejihraim  Cole.  Another  public  burial-place  is  in  the  district 
kno.wn  as  "  the  Gate,"  and  near  the  place  of  Asa  Todd.  And 
yet  another  old  cemetery  is  located  farther  north,  near  the 
residence  of  Rev.  Edward  Clarke. 

Places  of  i)rivate  family  burials  are  ijuito  numerous.  At 
the  extreme  south  end  of  Ireland  Street  was  formerly  a  burial- 
place,  once  carefully  protected  by  a  stone  wall  and  later  by 


an  iron  fence.  The  remains  are  now  all  removed  to  the  ceme- 
tery in  South  Worthington.  A  few  graves  may  be  seen  on 
the  farm  of  Levi  Witherell,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town. 
The  Damon  family  have  a  private  burial-place  on  the  present 
farm  of  Moses  Damon,  and  this  is  not  far  from  another  Damon 
burial-place  in  Westhampton.  It  is  said  that  upon  the  Davis 
farm,  so  called,  there  are  two  graves,  little  known  to  the  people 
generally,  where  members  of  the  Quance  family  were  buried 
many  years  ago.  On  the  Ervin  Rice  farm  two  victims  of  the 
small-pox  are  supposed  to  have  been  buried,  and  there  was  a 
pest-house  there  many  years  ago,  when  the  farm  was  in  pos- 
session of  Amasa  Clapp.  Still  another  burial-place  of  the 
Damim  family  may  be  seen  on  the  farm  of  Darius  Damon, 
where  are  buried  Ichabod  Damon  and  wife.  On  tlie  farm  of 
Horace  Cole  members  of  the  Robinson  family  are  buried, 
among  them  Deacon  Asa  Robinson. 

TOWN  SOCIETIES. 
A  few  years  since  a  lodge  of  Good  Templars  was  established 
in  town,  had  quite  a  flourishing  organization  for  some  time, 
and  did  considerable  temperance  work  ;  but  it  was  finally  dis- 
continued. A  grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  was  also 
organized  here,  but  continued  its  work  only  a  few  months. 
Considerable  business  was  done  through  it  in  the  way  of  pur- 
chasing implements  and  farm  supplies  at  wholesale  prices  or 
at  special  reduced  rates. 

PLACES  OF  HISTORIC  INTEREST,  NOTED  POINTS,  CURI- 
OSITIES. 

Near  the  locality  known  as  the  Gate  is  the  deep  cut  in  the 
Westtield  River,  a  rocky  channel  extending  for  thirty  or  forty 
rods  in  length,  walled  in  on  each  side  by  high  granite  ledges. 
This  is  a  rare  specimen  of  the  grand  and  sublime  in  nature. 
Tourists  often  visit  the  place.  The  old  stage-road  from  North- 
ampton to  Albany  originally  crossed  the  north  end  of  it  by 
the  well-known  "  High  Bridge."  The  road  has  been  changed 
and  the  descent  from  the  Eastern  Hills  now  made  by  a  long 
grade  northward  to  West  Chesterfield.  Formerly  the  stages 
thundered  down  the  steep  hill  direct  and  over  the  rocky 
channel,  coming  out  a  little  south  of  the  old  Baptist  Church. 

"  Kidd's  Lookout"  is  over  in  Bofat,  in  the  southeast  part  of 
the  town.  It  takes  its  name  from  the  old  Kidd  farm.  There 
an  extensive  view  is  obtained,  including  villages,  forests, 
mountains,  and  cultivated  valleys. 

The  site  of  the  old  meeting-house  at  Utley's  Corners  can 
hardly  be  otherwise  than  a  historic  spot,  memorable  for  the 
home  struggle  over  its  own  location,  but  more  memorable  as 
the  place  of  those  town-meetings  where  the  citizens  discussed 
the  highest  problems  of  government,  where  they  met  the  crisis 
of  1775  with  heroic  action,  where  they  pledged  themselves  to 
meet  the  impending  storm  of  war  with  "their  lives  and  their 
fortunes." 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

Agriculture  is  the  principal  business  of  the  people  of  Ches- 
terfield, though  various  milling  and  manufacturing  enterprises 
have  at  times  received  considerable  attention.  The  town  is 
hilly  and  rocky,  some  portions  not  capable  of  being  reduced  to 
cultivation,  and  the  town  generally  is  better  fitted  for  grazing 
than  for  tillage. 

Accordingly,  the  raising  of  sheep  and  cattle  has  been  a  lead- 
ing object  of  the  farming  community. 

The  products  of  the  dairy  liave  formed  a  large  item  in  the 
sales  of  produce.  There  is  an  air  of  thrift  and  enterprise  about 
the  farms  and  the  farm  buildings  of  Chesterfield  which  in- 
dicates that  the  people  still  live  well  upon  these  beautiful  hill- 
sides, as  their  ancestors  did  before  them,  and  attain  a  reason- 
able competence.  They  have  not  permitted  Nature  to  fill  u]) 
the  old  pastures  with  bushes  and  absorb  the  old  farms  as  much 
perhaps  as  in  some  of  the  neighboring  towns.     Chesterfield  is, 


HISTORY  OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


503 


however,  greatly  reduced  in  population,  there  being  only 
about  half  as  many  people  now  as  in  1820. 

EAKLY    MILLS. 

''Joseph  Burnell  built  the  first  saw-mill  in  town,  it  is  sup- 
posed, and  perhaps  as  early  as  1761.  The  crank  for  the  water- 
wheel  and  the  irons  for  the  rack-wheel  were  brought  bj'  a 
negro  on  his  back  from  Northampton.  This  mill  and  its  suc- 
cessors have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Burnell  family  for  three 
generations.  The  man  carrying  the  irons  above  mentioned 
took  them  separately,  carrying  one  ahead  and  then  going 
back  for  the  others.  It  is  also  under.stood  that  Kidd  Wright 
built  a  saw-mill  about  1777,  or  even  earlier,  on  the  site  where 
the  Edwards  mill  stood  in  later  years.  Numerous  families  of 
the  Wrights  were  in  town  by  that  time,  and  the  name  Kidd 
would  imply  that  the  two  families  were  connected  by  mar- 
riage. Lieut.  Kobert  Damon  probably  built  the  first  saw-mill 
on  the  site  of  Bisbee's  mills  before  1773,  as  it  is  mentioned  that 
year  in  a  vote  to  provide  a  bridge  at  that  point.  It  afterward 
passed  into  the  hands  of  James  Cox,  and  from  him  to  Benja- 
min Pierce,  who  retained  it  until  his  death.  The  name  of 
Lieut.  Robert  Damon  is  frequently  mentioned  in  these  records, 
but  we  have  little  account  of  him ;  and  his  family  seems  to 
have  been  entirely  distinct  from  the  other  Damon  families. 
The  grist-mill  at  Bisbee's  is  supposed  t<i  have  been  built  by 
Benjamin  Pierce  soon  after  he  obtained  possession  of  the  saw- 
mill, as  above  mentioned.  The  old  mill  was  upon  the  east 
side  of  the  stream,  near  the  present  saw-mill.  The  Bisbees 
erected  the  present  mills  on  the  west  side.  The  town,  March 
3,  1777,  voted  to  raise  £150  to  build  a  corn-mill,  but  soon 
after  reconsidered  the  action.  It  is  supposed  the  site  intended 
was  where  Maj.  Littlefleld  built  one  at  a  later  date,  near  the 
"  High  Bridge,"  so  called. 

The  following  condensed  statement  of  all  the  mills  in  the 
town  is  given  upon  the  authority  of  Patrick  Br3'ant,  of  West 
Chesterfield.  He  is  himself  a  practical  builder  of  mills,  and 
personally  acquainted  with  the  water-power  of  Chesterfield 
for  the  last  sixty  years.  Commencing  near  the  south  line  of 
the  town,  at  the  junction  of  the  Dead  Branch  with  the  West- 
field,  we  have  the  streams  northward.  At  the  junction  of  the 
streams  there  is  now  the  saw-mill  of  Dexter  Damon  &  Son, 
built  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  A  little  above,  on  the  Dead 
Branch,  was  formerly  a  saw-mill,  shingle-mill,  grist-mill,  and 
carding-machine  built  by  Benjamin  Taylor,  1820  to  1830.  The 
works  were  afterward  owned  by  the  Sampsons,  and  run  by 
Artemas  Weeks.  The  buildings  went  down,  and  the  various 
enterprises  were  abandoned  a  few  years  before  the  Damons 
built  at  the  junction.  Still  farther  up  the  Dead  Branch  are 
the  old  works  of  Stephen  Taylor,  erected  perhaps  as  early  as 
1800, — originally  for  cloth-dressing ;  afterward  they  became  the 
Tilden  .scythe-stone  works.  Later  they  were  run  by  the  Mer- 
ritts,  Asa  and  Lueieu.  At  the  present  time  (1878)  they  are 
occupied  by  H.  K.  Weeks,  as  a  cutlery  establishment.  Two 
miles  or  so  above  are  the  Witherell  mills,  comprising  at  the 
present  time  a  saw-mill,  basket-factory,  and  cider-mill.  A 
building  used  for  broOm-handle  business  was  destroyed  by  the 
fire  a  year  or  two  since.  The  saw-mill  is  an  old  affair,  its  his- 
tory reaching  back  to  the  early  settlement.  Next  above  are 
the  Bisbee  mills  mentioned  above,  comprising  grist-mill,  saw- 
mill, broom-handle  business,  and  something  of  the  wagon- 
making  business.  A  few  years  ago  for  a  time  scythes  were 
made  at  Bisbee's.  Still  above,  but  on  the  East  Branch,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Dead  Branch,  is  the  site  of  the  old  Kidd  Wright 
mill.  It  was  in  later  years  owned  by  Isaac  Damon  and  Ger- 
shom  Howe,  and  then  by  Luther  Edwards,  and  by  his  son 
Ebenezer.  The  works  were  swept  down,  and  not  rebuilt,  1860 
to  1862.  On  the  Dead  Branch,  above  the  fork  two  miles  or 
so,  were  the  old  Rogers  mills,  built  perhaps  fifty  years  ago. 
Dam  swept  away  and  not  rebuilt  some  years  later.  The  Bur- 
nell saw-  and  grist-mill  were  the  first  in  town.    They  passed  to 


Joseph,  Jr.,  and  to  Francis,  his  son,  then  to  Edwards  &  Baker, 
and  are  now  owned  by  S.  C.  Damon.  As  the  site  of  the  ear- 
liest mills  in  town,  this  place  has  considerable  historic  interest. 
Northward  from  the  junction  of  the  Dead  Branch,  and  up 
the  Westfield  River,  the  first  point  to  be  noticed  is  the  site  of 
the  Lemuel  Baker  saw-mill,  built  thirty  years  ago  or  more ; 
now  all  gone  and  no  one  living  near  it.  At  the  High  Bridge 
was  a  very  old  place  of  mills,  both  grist  and  saw,  including  a 
carding-machine  and  cloth-dressing.  These  probably  date 
back  to  the  Revolution,  and  were  built  by  Maj.  Littlefield ; 
soon  after,  the  town  voted  £150  to  assist,  but  reconsidered 
the  vote.  The  freshet  of  1835  swept  these  away,  and  they 
were  not  rebuilt.  The  Capt.  Joel  Shattuck  grist-mill  was 
a  little  below,  and  also  a  saw-mill  built  soon  after  the  Revo- 
lution. William  Williams  occupied  the  buildings  last  with 
broom-handle  works  and  carding-works;  destroyed  entirely 
by  the  same  freshet  of  1835,  and  never  restored.  At  West 
Chesterfield,  Elisha  Bisbee  built  in  very  old  times  a  saw-mill 
on  Stevens  Brook,  where  Higgins'  gun-tube  works  are  located 
now ;  successive  owners  were  Capt.  Joel  Thayer,  Martin  Bry- 
ant, Reed  and  Tower  Lyman,  Litchfield,  and  Mr.  Higgins. 
I '  A  foundry  and  machine-shops  were  built  by  Mr.  Litchfield, 
1845  to  '48,  on  the  site  of  Spencer  &  Reed's  works.  They 
were  burnt.  Then  Edward  Thayer  built  a  grist-mill.  He 
had  been  the  owner  of  the  foundry  for  a  time.  The  new 
building  was  run  as  a  grist-mill,  and  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Wm.  H.  Adams,  until  Spencer  t&  Reed  took  possession,  June, 
1877.  They  manufacture  factory  supplies, — picker-sticks,  hat-_ 
racks,  rakes,  and  other  forms  of  woodwork.  On  the  site  of 
the  present  Patrick  Bryant  works  was  formerly  a  tannery, 
built  about  1825,  by  Jonathan  Burr.  It  was  burnt ;  rebuilt 
as  a  tannery,  and  owned  by  Paul  H.  Cudworth.  Of  him 
Patrick  Bryant  took  the  property,  and  opened  an  extensive 
business, — wood  and  iron  work,  machine-shop,  cider-mill, 
foundry,  and  distiller}'.  All  were  burned  except  the  distillery  in 
186U,  and  rebuilt  for  the  same  general  purposes.  Just  below, 
Patrick  Bryant  erected  a  large  new  building  for  running  a 
circular-saw  mill  and  for  wood-work  generally,  including  also 
.sheet-iron  work,  as  sap-pans  and  stove-pipe.  This  building  is 
now  owned  by  B.  H.  Smith,  and  he  has  added  the  making  of 
sieve-rims  and  similar  hoop-work.  Patrick  Bryant  still  occu- 
pies a  part  of  the  building.  Wm.  Williams,  after  the  loss  of 
the  mills  below,  built  at  West  Chesterfield,  a  little  above  the 
site  of  Healey's  present  works,  and  ran  a  saw-mill;  made 
broom-handles,  tool-handles,  etc.  Dam  swept  away  in  1845, 
and  works  abandoned.  S.  A.  Healey,  with  Mr.  Olds,  estab- 
lished the  mills  and  continued  the  same  general  business.  At 
the  present  time  Mr.  Healey  keeps  the  works  in  operation. 
Gideon  Rhoades  had  rebuilt  the  mills  after  the  dam  was  swept 
away,  before  Healey  &  Olds  took  possession.  There  was  a 
tannery  by  Jacob  Higgins,  on  Stevens  Brook,  first  built  by 
Austin  Pease  about  fifty  years  ago.  The  building  was  de- 
stroyed in  the  freshet  of  1858. 

There  are  no  further  mills  above  on  the  Westfield  River. 
On  a  tributary  coming  in  from  the  northwest,  however, 
there  are  some  to  be  noticed.  Near  the  place  of  Maj.  Pierce's 
present  residence  was  a  saw-mill,  built  by  Ned  Kaith;  car- 
ried off  by  a  freshet  in  the  cold  summer  of  181G,  and  not  re- 
built. There  was  another  saw-mill  above,  on  the  same  stream, 
about  forty  years  ago,  built  by  Lyman  Culver,  and  he  made 
broom-handles.  The  property  passed  to  his  son  Horace,  and 
is  now  owned  by  Rufus  Fisk,  who  includes  at  the  present 
time  a  saw-mill,  a  cider-mill,  and  the  manufacture  of  whip- 
butts.  Patrick  Bryant  states  that  he  made  his  first  campaign 
in  building  mills  when  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  by  erect- 
ing on  this  stream,  above  the  Culver  works,  a  saw-mill, 
which  was  run  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  then  went  down. 
Between  Bryant's  saw-mill  and  the  Culver  mills,  Jerome 
Culver  commenced  some  works  fifty  years  ago  perhaps,  but 
did  not  complete  them. 


504 


HISTOKY   OP   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


The  ten  leading  articles  of  productioa  for  tlie  year  ending 
May  1,  1875,  with  their  several  estimated  values,  were  as  fol- 
lows :  Butter,  §11,450;  maple-sugar,  §6779  ;  firewood,  §4425  ; 
heef,  §6231  ;  hay,  §25,703  ;  pork,  §4071 ;  manure,  §5988 ;  po- 
tatoes, §6451;  corn,  §2008;  veal,  §1175.  Three  more  were 
very  near  the  last,— apples,  §1167  ;  eggs,  §1143  ;  oats,  §1116. 

MILITARY. 

Generally  speaking,  all  trouble  from  Indian  attacks  had  ter- 
minated in  this  part  of  the  country  before  Chesterfield  was 
settled.  The  early  pioneers  were  not  compelled  to  face  the 
dangers  of  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalpiiig-knife, — dangers 
that  were  ever  present  to  the  imagination  or  the  actual  re- 
ality of  earlier  infant  settlements.  They  were,  however,  patri- 
otic citizens  of  the  commonwealth,  and  in  the  time  of  the  llev- 
olution,  though  their  town  organization  was  scarcely  fourteen 
years  old,  they  vied  with  other  places  in  prompt  action  and 
energetic  service.  At  the  town-meetings  of  1774  and  1775 
they  voted  to  purchase  400  pounds  of  powder,  400  pounds  of 
lead,  and  1200  flints,  •'  the  same  to  be  kept  under  the  pulpit 
in  the  meeting-house,  guarded  by  a  door  ironed  with  staples 
and  hinges."  The  town  was  represented  in  the  Provincial 
Congress  by  Eev.  Benjamin  Mills  and  Maj.  Ezra  May. 

When  the  stirring  news  of  Lexington  came  over  the  hills 
to  Chesterfield,  Capt.  Robert  Webster,  summoning  his  com- 
pany of  47  Minute-Men,  marched  to  Boston  two  days  after 
the  battle  of  Le-\ington,  April  21,  1775.  The  first  lieuten- 
ant was  Christopher  Bannister,  second,  Jeremiah  Stockwell, 
and  the  ensign  was  Everton  Beswick.  The  company  was 
mustered  into  the  regiment  of  Col.  John  Fellows,  when  their 
pay-roll  numbered  55  men,  7  of  them  from  other  towns  of 
the  State.  The  selectmen  borrowed  seventeen  muskets  to 
assist  in  equipping  this  company. 

The  public  enthusiasm  developed  rapidly  in  behalf  of  the 
patriot  cause.  Beginning  cautiously  at  the  town-meeting  of 
Sept.  29,  1774,  they  voted  not  to  send  a  delegate  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  at  Concord ;  but  two  months  later,  Decem- 
ber 21st,  they  voted  to  comply  with  the  request  of  the  Co7iti- 
nental  Congress,  and  a  committee  was  chosen  for  this  purpose, 
and  another  committee  to  see  about  arming  the  people  who 
were  unable  to  arm  themselves.  In  the  January  following 
they  were  accumulating  war  material,  and,  as  shown  above, 
their  soldiers  hurried  to  Boston  to  meet  the  foe  in  the  eventful 
spring  of  1775.  A  year  later,  June  19,  1776,  this  town,  se- 
cluded amid  the  hills  of  Western  Hampshire,  barely  fourteen 
years  from  its  settlement,  in  a  solemn  vote  declared  "that 
should  the  Honorable  Continental  Congress,  pr  the  safety  of 
the  United  Colonies,  declare  themselves  independent  of  the  King- 
dom of  G-reat  Britain,  the  inhabitants  OF  the  town  op  Ches- 
terfield WILL  WITH  OUR  LIVES  AND  FORTUNES  ENGAGE 
TO   DEFEND   THEM   IN   THIS    MEASURE. 

The  people  of  the  Old  World  may  well  have  smiled  at  these 
offers  from  apparently  feeble  sources  ;  hut  the  event  proved 
that  the  springs  of  constitutional  liberty  were  in  the  town- 
meetings  of  New  England,— town-meetings  whose  authority 
flowed  steadily  on,  equally  obeyed  under  royalty,  revolution, 
or  confederation.  A  people  who  could  calmly,  without  a  sign 
of  civil  commotion,  change  the  warrant  for  their  town-meet- 
ing from  "  In  the  name  of  his  Majesty"  to  "  In  the  name  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay,"  and  never  think  of  anarchy, 
but  remain  steadily  obedient  to  local  home-rule,  were  just  the 
men  to  place  their  strong  arms  under  a  national  government 
and  bear  it  onward  to  victory.  They  were  like  Cromwell's 
men,  who  feared  (Jod,  and  therefore  feared  no  other  being. 

It  js  related  that  Gideon  Bishee  was  a  soldier  in  Arnold's  ill- 
fated  expedition  for  the  capture  of  Quebec,  and  that  in  con- 
.sequence  of  the  hardships  of  the  campaign  and  the  actual 
danger  of  death  by  starvation,  he  with  two  others  deserted,  and 
then  very  nearly  perished  while  on  the  way  back,  barely  reach- 
ing the  settlements  alive  after  they  had  nearly  decided  to  cast 


lots  for  one  to  die  that  the  others  might  live.  There  were  30 
Chesterfield  men  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution  in  January, 
1776. 

We  are  permitted  by  the  courtesy  of  William  H.  Webster, 
of  Springfield,  grandson  of  Capt.  Webster,  to  make  copies  of 
the  following  valuable  papers  in  his  possession  : 

A  Miuler-ItoU  of  the  EigUk  Companij  in  tlm  illi  Regiment  of  Fool  in  the  OoiiUuenlnl 
Arm)/  encamped  at  Dorchester,  commanded  by  John  FeUmcs,  Ei>tj.,  S^pt.  1,  1775. 

Robert  Webster,  captain,  enlisted  April  21,  1775, 

Cliristopher  Bannister,  lieutenant,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 

Everton  Beswieli,  ensign,  enlisteil  April  21,  1775. 

AVilliiim  White,  sergeant,  enlisteil  April  21,  1775. 

Daniel  Littlefleld,  sergeant,  enlisted  .\pril  21,  1775. 

John  Uolbci-t,  sergeant,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 

James  Cox,  sergeant,  enlisted  April  21.  1775, 

Nathan  Lane,  corporal,  enlisted  May  3, 1775, 

Ricliard  Sylvester,  corporal,  enlisted  .\pril  21, 1775, 

Wait  Burke,  corporal,  enlisted  April  21, 177.'>, 

Wlieeler  Iligbee,  corporal,  enlisted  May  3,  1775, 

David  Ad.inis,  dmnimer  and  tjfer,  enlisted  May  1, 1775, 

Asa  Packard,  drummer  and  fifer,  enlisted  Ajfril  21, 1775, 

John  Shea,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775, 

Richard  Burke,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 

Josiah  Brown,  piivate,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 

Joseph  Brown,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 

Cynis  Lyons,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 

.\sa  Spalding,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Enocli  Pratt,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Zechariah  Curtis,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
William  Damon,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Benjamin  Bourn,  private,  enlisted  .\pril  21,  1775. 
Isa.ic  Buck,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 
Simeon  Higgins,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
William  Turner,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Ebenezer  Cole,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Jabcz  Cowles,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 
Samuel  Thomas,  private,  enlisted  Aug,  7, 1775. 
Eleazer  Ring,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 
Jonathan  Hill,  private,  enlisted  May  3,  1775. 
Peter  Price,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 
Bezaliel  Moffett,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 
Bartholomew  Cheever,  private,  enlisted  May  15,  1775. 
Ansil  Tupper,  private,  enlisted  May  24,  1775. 
Christopher  Grant,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Thonjas  Pierce,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Tilly  Burke,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775, 
Adam  Beale,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 
N.atlijiiiiel  Tyler,  private,  enlisted  .\pril  21, 1775. 
George  Mills,  Jr.,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775, 
Benjamin  G.  Ball,  private,  enlisted  .\pril  21,  1775. 
Timothy  Rice,  private,  enlisted  May  10, 1775. 
Stephen  Tyler,  private,  enlisted  May  24, 1775, 
Lnke  Sylvester,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775 , 
George  Mills,  private,  enlisted  May  11, 1775. 
Barnabas  Cole,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 
David  Johnson,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 
Samuel  West,  private,  enlisted  May  5, 1775, 
Samuel  Marks,  private,  enlisted  July  1, 1775. 
William  Stephenson,  private,  enlisted  July  1, 1775. 
Robert  Damon,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775, 
Samuel  Olds,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
Samuel  Leach,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 
Amos  Crittenden,  private,  enlisted  April  21,  1775. 
Josiah  Clark,  private,  enlisted  April  21, 1775. 
John  Vergson,  private,  enlisted  May  3, 1775. 

The  last  four  were  transferred  to  the  artillery  June  8th. 
Reported  as  away  upon  the  Quebec  expedition,  Wait  Burke, 
Tilly  Burke,  George  Mills.  In  some  other  accompanying 
papers  Eleazer  Ring  is  reported  as  from  Worthington,  and 
also  Wheeler  Higbee ;  from  Northampton,  David  Adams ; 
from  Bridgewater,  Asa  Packard  ;  from  Hadley,  Samuel  West ; 
from  Pelham,  Timothy  Rice.  This  muster-roll  is  for  Sept.  1, 
1775,  after  about  five  months'  service.  It  differs  somewhat 
from  the  roll  of  "Minute-Men"  who  marched  for  Boston 
April  21st.  Some  did  not  join  the  actual  company,  and  become 
a  part  of  Col.  Tellows'  regiment.  In  the  roll  of  "  Minute- 
Men"  there  are  the  following  additional  names:  Timothy 
Lyman,  Elijah  Warner,  both  sergeants;  Justice  Wright, 
Jonathan  Nelson,  Charles  Kidd,  corporals  ;  Edward  Converse, 
drunmier;  Aaron  Jewell,  Caleb  Cushman,  Nchemiah  May, 
Jonathan   Kussell,  Oliver  Taylor,   Artemas   Stone,    Reuben 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


505 


Dresser,  Juiuitliaii  Pierce,  Josiali  Perry,  Ebenezer  Parsons, 
Samuel  Niles,  Wm.  Turner,  Nathan  W.  Tyler,  Ebenezer  Put- 
ney, Prince  Cowing.  Three  of  these — Justice  Wright,  Charles 
Kidd,  and  Josiah  Perry — are  reported  as  having  returned  in 
three  days.  Others  doubtless  returned  soon.  Some  may  have 
joined  other  companies  besides  Capt.  Webster's,  and  remained 
longer  in  the  service  than  the  above  would  indicate.  All  of 
the.se  names  upon  the  muster-roll  of  September  1st  are  found 
upon  a  pay-roll  of  Feb.  26,  1776,  showing  continued  service. 
Another  paper  gives  the  value  of  the  guns  borrowed,  from 
whom,  and  for  whom: 


Borrowed  uf 


Value. 


Lent  to 


Maj.  Ezra  May 2 

Itev.  William  Lviuau 1 

Jonatlian  l!iiss-ll 2 

Jonathan  N.ls.n 1 

f'al.-l.fnsliniin  2 

,\arun  .Jeuvll 1 

Jitlin  .lc-ps-in 1 

Justice  Wright 2 

Maj.  Kzra  5Iay 1 

Maj.  Ezra  May 1 

Benjamin  Bonney 2 

David  Russell I 

William  Buckingham 1 

.Tosliua  Bailey 1 

Maj.  Ezra  May 1 

.Jeremiah  St^ckwell 2 

James  Cox 1 


II  Enoih  Pratt. 

o  Wait  Burk. 

2  David  JohnsDn. 

III  Christopher  Grant. 

2  Peter  Price. 

4  Bezaliel  Moffett. 

4  Bartholjmaw  Cheever. 

8  Nalhati  Lane. 

14  Benjamiu  Bourn. 

15  BeiyamiuG.  Ball. 

a  Tillv  Burke. 

18  Daniel  l.ittleflel.l. 

10  BarnaliiwOole. 

IG  Whe.hr  Ili-beo. 

00  Sanuiel  Tlioma.s. 

2  Tames  Cox. 

10  .lonathan  Hill. 


In  the  Shaj-s  rebellion  the  people  of  Chesterfield  were 
favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  insurgents, — so  much  so  that  when 
Capt.  Joseph  Burnell  was  ordered  out  to  suppress  the  insur- 
rection, he  reported  that  if  he  could  find  nineteen  more  men 
to  go,  they,  with  himself,  would  make  twenty.  There  seems 
to  be  no  record,  however,  in  the  published  accounts  of  that 
exciting  period  that  Chesterfield  men  reallj'  marched  to  assist 
Shays.  But  popular  sentiment  was  strong  for  resistance.  It 
is  said  three  balls  were  fired  at  the  house  of  Joshua  Healey,  who 
was  against  the  rebellion,  one  lodging  in  the  yarn-beam  of  a 
loom,  and  still  preserved.  Capt.  Jewel,  David  Macomber,  and 
Henry  Myers  were  prominent  among  the  Shays  men. 

The  war  of  1812,  exceedingly  unpopular  as  it  was  in  Massa- 
chusetts, evoked  no  enthusiasm,  but  there  were  seven  regular 
soldiers  from  Chesterfield  who  enlisted  at  that  time  in  the 
army,  according  to  the  statement  in  Vinton's  address.  The 
following  are  given  by  Oliver  Edwards  and  others  as  those 
who  went  to  Boston,  at  least,  in  connection  witli  that  war. 
Perhaps  the  list  includes  the  srt-en  above  mentioned  :  Parley 
Healey,  Consider  Cole,  Elijah  Tower  {?),  Oswin  Tower, 
Zachariah  Shaw,  Isaac  Buck,  Seth  Healey,  Lot  Drake,  John 
Hatch,  John  Pittsinger,  Lewis  Damon,  Nathaniel  Engram, 
Zenas  Damon,  Job  Cowing  (substitute),  Abner  Buck,  Jesse 
Buck,  Amasa  Clapp,  Field  Beswick.  These  men  went  to  Bos- 
ton. In  the  regular  army  were  Bezar  Ludden,  Joel  Litchfield, 
Lot  Litchfield,  Clark  Litchfield.  Many  others  were  enlisted 
or  drafted  as  Minute-Men,  but  did  not  leave  town.  Joel 
Willeut  states  that  he  saw  them  start  for  Boston  from  the 
village. 

For  the  Florida  war  Chesterfield  is  said  to  have  furnished 
one  soldier,  Joseph  Buck,  who  died  in  the  service. 

The  Mexican  war  was  participated  in  by  one  citizen  from 
this  town,  Avery  Bryant. 

Alvin  Macomber,  Joel  Willcutt,  and  others  recall  the  fol- 
lowing names  of  Hevolutionary  soldiers:  Patrick  Bryant, 
David  Macomber,   Gideon   Bisbee,  Abijah   Whitton,   Joseph 


Burnell,  Benjamin  Bryant,  George  Buck,  Prince  Cowing, 
Joshua  Healey,  Simeon  Higgins,  Capt.  John  Halbord,  Aaron 
Jewell,  Charles  Kidd,  Benjaniin  Kidd,  Samuel  Utley,  Levi- 
ather  Vinton,  Levi  Vinton,  Luther  Pomeroy,  Timothy  En- 
gram,  John  Ewell,  Jesse  Willcutt,  Jr.,  Zebulon  Willcutt, 
Joseph  Jipson,  Ambrose  Stone,  Lemuel  Bannister,  Josiah 
Perry,  Phineas  Manning,  James  Orcutt.  Some  of  these 
names  are  in  the  Webster  papers,  already  given. 

CIVIL    WAR,    1861-6-5. 

No  votes  appear  to  have  been  passed  in  1861  by  the  town  in 
relation  to  the  war,  but  enlistments  took  place  without  official 
action,  eight  or  ten  men  joining  the  army  that  year.  In 
1862  a  special  town-meeting  was  held  August  5th.  It  was 
then  voted  to  pay  a  bounty  of  §100  to  each  volunteer  who 
would  enlist  either  for  three  years  or  nine  months,  when 
mustered  in  and  credited  to  the  quota  of  the  town.  The 
selectmen  were  authorized  to  borrow  money  to  pay  the  same. 
The  popular  enthusiasm  was  developed,  not  cheeked,  by  the 
defeat  before  Richmond,  and  30  or  more  citizens  enlisted 
during  the  year. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  17th  of  January,  1863,  Samuel 
House,  one  of  the  selectmen,  was  appointed  to  visit  Boston 
and  obtain  information  in  regard  to  the  number  of  men  the 
town  was  to  furnish  to  complete  its  quota. 

Other  citizens  continued  to  enlist,  but  many  foreign  re- 
cruits were  obtained. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1884,  the  town  voted  to  pay  a  bounty 
of  §12-5  to  each  volunteer  who  shall  enlist  and  be  credited  to 
the  quota  of  the  town ;  also  to  raise  §875  to  repay  citizens 
money  which  they  had  advanced  for  recruiting  purposes. 
This  bounty  was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  war. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  22d  of  May,  1865,  it  was  voted  to 
raise  by  taxation  >>6769  to  pay  citizens  money  which  they  had 
advanced  for  recruiting  purposes,  "  one-half  to  be  assessed  this 
year  and  the  balance  next  year." 

Schouler's  "History  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Civil  War" 
states  that  Chesterfield  furnished  95  men,  which  was  a  surplus 
of  10  over  and  above  all  demands.  Nason's  "  Gazetteer"  says 
the  town  sent  56  of  its  own  citizens,  of  whom  9  lost  their  lives, 
and  the  town  also  furnished  35  substitutes. 

The  adjutant-general's  published  reports  give  68  names 
actually  credited  to  Chesterfield,  but  some  of  these  are  re-en- 
listments, lessening  the  number  nearly  to  that  given  by  Nason. 
The  list  following  is  prepared  by  a  comparison  of  these  sttite- 
ments,  together  with  the  record  in  the  town  clerk's  office,  aided 
by  the  suggestions  of  various  citizens  acquainted  with  the 
facts.  It  is  intended  to  exclude  substitutes  hired  abroad,  and 
include  only  residents.  The  whole  amount  of  money  appro- 
priated and  expended  by  the  town  on  account  of  the  war,  ex- 
clusive of  State  aid,  was  $14,662.  The  assessed  valuation  of 
the  town  in  1860  was  §415,746,  and  the  population  897. 

The  town  also  raised  for  aid  to  soldiers'  families  (the  amount, 
however,  afterward  being  repaid  by  the  State),  1861,  §36.30; 
1862,  §644.30;  1863,  §1689.21  ;  1864,  §1477.70;  1865,  §1105.50. 
Total,  §5013.01. 

The  ladies  of  Chesterfield  were  active  in  the  patriotic  cause, 
contributing  during  the  war  §375  in  money,  besides  clothing 
and  other  valuable  material  for  the  soldiers. 


SOLDIERS'  RECORD,  W.VR  OF  lfCl-65. 
Orancc  C.  Smith,  enl.  Oct.  22, 1S02,  4Cth  M.  'V.  M., 

Co.   K  ;  diseh.  Juno  1,  186:J,  to  re-enl.  in   H. 

Art. ;  served  through  to  July,  18G5. 
John  H.  Richaidson,  asst.  snrg  ,  tnl.  Nov.  19,  18G2, 

62d  M.  V.  M.;  disoh.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Lucius  C.  Taylor,  1st  lieut.,  enl.  Oct.  11,  18112,  o2d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I;  diach.  Aug.  14,  18Gi. 
Levi  Baker,  Corp.,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1803. 
Calvin  Biyant,  nins  cian,  enl.  Oct.  11,  18G2,  52d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  l.SG.i. 

01 


Edgar  Bryant,  musician,  enl.  Oct-  11,  1862,  62d 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  r ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  IS'Ji. 
Henry  H.  Torrey,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  U.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1862. 
Job  E.  Torrey  (2d),  enl.  Oct.  11,  1802,  52d  M.V.  SI., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1SG2. 
Joseph  H.  Main,  enl.  Dec.  311,  1803,  1st  Batt.  L. 

Art.;  trans.  March  12,1865,10  9lh  Bait.;  d.sch. 

June  6,  1863;    was  Aral   a  memljcr  fjr  nine 

months  of  the  o2d. 
Andrew  M.  Sturlevant,  enl.  Aug.  28,  18C:i,  1st  Batt. 

L.  Art.;  trans.  March  12,  1865,  to  9th  Bait.; 

diseh.  June  6,  ISfr'i. 


Nelson  A.  Higgins,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.V.  V.. 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  lS6:i. 
Fayette  L.  Olds,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1862,  .52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
George  W.  Skiff,  enl.  Oct.  II,  1802,  o2d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Reuben  S.  Smith,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  JI., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Emerson  S.  Stetson,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862, 52d  M.V.  51., 

Co.  1;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
Emerson  W.  Torrey,  enl.  Sept.  20, 1S61,  27tli  luf... 

Co.  A;  re-enl.  Doc.  24,  X863;  diseh.  June  :lii, 

ISO.-.. 


50G 


HISTORY    OF   THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


AlJeu  Cnlv.r,  enl.  Oct.  6, 18Gl,27lh  Inf.,  Cu.  K  ; 

disch,  March  28,  1863,  fiii-  ilisabilily. 
Hugh  Fraiii,  enl.  Fi-b.  19,  18C4,  :il^t  Iuf.,Co.  G; 

diet!  of  wniiiuts  March  ;;it,  1865. 
Daniel  E.  tarter,  Corp.,  enl.  .Ian.  2,lSM,3011i  Inf., 

Co.  G  ;  trans.  Jnne  8,  18(lo,  to  oClli  Inf. 
Edwin  Bates,  enl.  July  18,  1863,  2mh  Inf ,  Co.  1 ; 

discli.  Dec.  8,  18C:',  for  disability. 
Kathan  E.  S.  Collier,  eul.  .'Vng.  23,  1501,  21st  Inf., 

Co.  C;  re^-nl.  .Ian.  2,  1864,  36th  Regt.;  trans. 

to  06(11  Kegt.,  Jnne  8,  1865. 
James  H.  Damon,  enl.  Ang.  23, 1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 

II ;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  1864  ;  pro.  to  Corp.;  trans,  to 

36tli  Inf.;  pro.  to  .'^ergt  ;  tran^.  Jnne  8,  1865, 

to  5Gth  Inf.,  Co.  F ;  ■liscli.  July  22,  186.5. 
Timothy  T.  Warren,  enl.  Aug.  5,  1861,  21st  Inf, 

Co.  II;  disch.  July  18, 1862,  for  disab.;  re-enl, 

Aug.  22, 18C3,  2d  H.  Art.,  Co.  D ;  djsch.  Sept. 

3,  1865. 
Lewis  .4dams,  enl.  Oct.  11, 1862,  52d  M.  V.  M., 

I  ;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
John  E.  ISisl.ee,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1SG2,  52d  M.  V. 

Gi.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14, 186:i. 
Willard  C.  Bryant,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862, 52d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I;  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Oliver  J.  Damon,  enl.  Oct.  il,  1862,  52d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  I ;  disch.  Aug.  14, 1863. 
George  C.  Gleason,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  62d  M.  V.  BI., 

Co.  I;  disoh.  Aug.  14,  18G3. 


,  Co 


.  M., 


Festus   naydin,  enl.  Oct.  11,  1862,  62d  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  I :  disch.  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Wui.  J.  Nichols, Corp.,  enl.  Ang.30,lS02,37lli  Inf., 

Co.  D;  died  May  So,  1864,  at  \V:.shington,  D.C., 

of  wounds  received  in  battle  of  Wilderness, 
S\  Ivanus  C.  Bryant,  enl.  Ang.  3li,  UU2,  3"lh  Inf, 

Co.  D;  died  of  wounds.  May  19,  18G4,  at  Fred- 
ericksburg, Va. 
Daniel  G.  Collier,  eul.  Ang.  30,  1SC2,  37lh  Inf,  Co. 

D:  disch.  Sept.  2,  1SG4,  for  disability. 
Horace  Collier,  enl.  Ang.  30, 1SG2, 37tli  Inf,  Co.  D; 

died  Feb.  9,18G4,at  Brandy  J^talion,  Va.,Canip 

Sedgwick. 
Thomas  Collier,  enl.  Ang.  3(1,1802.  :'.7th  Inf ,  Co. 

D  ;  ilisch.  .Jan.  23,  1863,  for  disability. 
Samuel  E.  E.ldy,  enl.  Ang.  30, 1862,  37th  Inf,  Co. 

II;  disch  June  9,  1865. 
Ephraim  W.  Pittsinger,  enl.  Ang.  30,  1862,  3"tli 

luf ,  Co.  D  ;  disch.  June  21,  1865. 
ThL.nias  Porter,  Jr.,  enl.  Aug.  30,1862,  37th  Inf., 

Co.  D  ;  pro.  to  q.ni.-sergt.,  Sept.  5, 1862;  disch. 

June  21,  1865. 
John   D.  Smilh,  enl.  Aug.  30,1862,  37th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  killed  May  6,  1864,  at  Wilderness,  Va. 
Oralipe  S.  Sampson,  enl.  2Ut  Rcgt.,  Co.  I ;  pro.  to 

captain. 
Henry  W.  Sampson. 
Horatio  0.  Tower,  enl.  2Ist  Regt,  Co.  G  ;  died  in 

the  ser\  ice. 


E.  W.  iilden,  enl.  34tb  Kegt  ,  Co.  D ;  disch.  April 

5,  1863. 
Benjamin  F.  Whilo,  enl.  31st  Regt. 
Ednin  J.  House,  enl.  March  6,  1S64, 1st  Cav. 
I^aac  M.  Collier. 
Chailes  Ilillman,  enl.  52d  Regt.,  Co.  I;  died  March 

3,  1863. 
Elbridge  F.  Ha.\den. 
Chandler  T.  Macomber,  assis(ant  paymaster  U.  S. 

Army. 
James   H.  Macomber,  navy  snrg. ;    died  at    Port 

Royal,  S.  C. 
Orange  S.  Pomeroy,  enl.  27th  Regt.,  Co.  A  ;  disch, 

Feb.  2, 1863. 
Stephen  S.  Bobbins,  enl.  2Ut  Regt.,  Co.  C ;  disch. 

Dec.  7,  1862. 
Ab(aliain  Bobbins,  enl.  6th  N.  H. 
James  M.  Stowe,  enl.  Aug.  1861,  10(h  Regt.  Co.  F. 
Divight  Bryant,  eid.  1861,  27th  Regt. 
J-.hn  Roach,  enl.  27lh  Regt.;  tians.  to  Cav. 
Talcott  Bancroft,  enl.  37th  Regt.,  Co.  D;   discli. 

Sept.  2,  1862. 
James  M.  Hayden,  enl.  March  6,  1864,  1st  Cav. 
George  A.  Bisbee,  enl.  37th  Regt.,  Co.  D;  disch. 

Sept.  2,  1802. 
De  Witt  C.  B;ites,  enl.  52d  Ecgt. ;  dieil  at  Baton 

Rouge,  La ,  about  the  2.j(h  of  July,  186:1. 
Samuel  J.  Dunning,  enl.  27th  Regt  ,  (Jo.  A  ;  killeil 

in  the  battle  of  Newbevn. 


H  u  N  T I N  G  T  o  :Nr. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Huntington  belongs  to  the  southeru  tier  of  towns  in 
Hampshire  County,  if  the  term  can  be  used  with  reference 
to  a  county  of  such  irreguhvr  and  jagged  outlines  as  Hamp- 
shire. The  town  is  southwest  from  the  county-seat,  and  dis- 
tant from  it  in  air-line  measurement  fourteen  miles.  Hunt- 
ington is  bounded  north  by  Chesterfield;  east  by  Westhampton, 
Southamiiton,  and  Hampden  County;  south  by  Hampden 
County;  west  by  Hampden  County  and  Worthington.  The 
farm  acreage  of  the  town  amounts  to  13,334  acres,  which  may 
be  considered  the  net  area,  after  deducting  highways,  beds  of 
streams,  and  perhaps  other  small  exceptions.  The  town  of 
Norwich  was  a  part  of  Murrayfield,  and  the  title  to  the  soil 
is  derived  direct  from  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
the  township  being  No.  9  of  the  series  sold  by  order  of  the 
General  Court,  June  2,  1702.  The  present  town  of  Hunting- 
ton includes  a  portion  of  Blandford,  and  the  title  to  that  dates 
back  to  an  earlier  day,  as  fully  shown  in  the  history  of  that 
town  elsewhere  given.  Certain  special  tracts  are  named  in 
the  act  incorporating  Norwich,  as  "  Ingersoll's  Grant"  and 
"  Chadler's  Division."  These  names  refer  to  local  purchases  of 
considerable  extent  at  an  early  day. 

NATURAL  FEATURES. 

The  East  Branch  of  the  Westfield  River  flows  ihrougli  the 
entire  length  of  the  town  from  north  to  south,  diverging 
slightly  to  the  west.  It  receives  the  Middle  Branch  above 
-Norwich  Bridge,  so  called,  and  the  united  stream  makes  its 
junction  with  the  West  Branch  just  below  Huntington  sta- 
tion, on  the  Boston  and  Albany  Kailroad.  In  (his  town, 
therefore,  converges  to  a  centre  the  whole  system  of  streams 
through  which,  with  slight  exceptions,  flow  all  the  waters  of 
the  seven  western  towns  of  Hampshire  County  and  of  a  large 
territory  besides.  In  times  of  freshet  the  Westfield  Eiver  at 
this  point  displays  great  force,  and  the  town  often  sutlers 
severe  damages  to  its  bridges  and  highways.  There  are  sev- 
eral small  tributaries  of   the  East   Branch  in  this  town,  as 


Little  River,  Pond  Brook,  and  others.  Roaring  Brook  tlow:= 
south  into  Hampden  County  before  uniting  with  the  We.*t- 
field.  Massasoit  Pond,  formerly  called  Norwich  Pond,  is  :i 
fine  sheet  of  water  in  the  east  part  of  the  town,  and  has  its 
outlet  through  Pond  Brook.  It  was  made  the  reservoir  of  the 
Massasoit  Company,  and  raised  12  feet  a  few  years  since. 

In  the  southeast  part  of  Huntington  are  a  portion  of  the 
sources  of  another  distinct  "  river  system," — that  of  the  Man- 
han.  Some  of  the  mountain  rivulets  of  the  two  diverging 
systems  find  their  springs  very  near  each  other.  Horse  Hill 
constitutes  the  water-shed  between  the  two  valleys,  in  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  town.  There  tire  several  of  the  hills 
having  local  names.  Mount  Pisgah,  in  the  northeast,  next 
to  Westhampton,  is  a  highly-rocky  tract,  scarcely  settled  at 
all  at  the  present  time.  Across  the  valley,  to  the  west,  is 
Walnut  Hill.  West  of  Massasoit  Pond  is^Norwich  Hill.  Op- 
posite, on  the  west  border  of  the  town,  is  the  range  known  as 
Goss  Hill.  South  of  these  heights  is  another  elevation,  an 
extension  of  Goss  Hill.  A  second  "Norwich  Hill"  is  also 
noted,  a  little  southwest  of  the  old  meeting-house.  Near 
Roaring  Brook,  below,  is  Deer  Hill,  and  along  the  diverging 
west  line  of  the  lower  part  of  the  town  are  two  elevations, 
known  as  Little  Moose  Hill  and  Big  Moose  Hill.  Add  to  all 
these  the  numerous  hills  encircling  the  beautiful  valley  of 
Huntington  village,  and  there  is  a  sum-total  of  mountain 
scenery,  interspersed  with  pond  and  stream  and  river-valley, 
sufficient  to  tempt  the  traveler  to  linger  long  amid  these 
varied  attractions. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT— SUBSEQUENT  GROWTH. 
As  to  the  date  of  the  first  settlement  upon  the  present  terri- 
tory of  Huntington,  it  is  stated  in  Holland's  "History"  (and 
Nason's  "  Gazetteer"  repeats  the  statement, — no  doubt  after 
careful  examination)  that  "  an  Indian  family  by  the  name  of 
Rhoades  made  the  first  settlement  in  1760,  about  two  miles 
above  the  Pitcher  Bridge,  on  Westfield  River."  Rev.  J.  H. 
Bisbee,  writing  in  1876  with  the  advantage  of  local  residence, 
his  birthplace  not  far  ofi',  and  leisure  for  careful  investigation, 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


507 


declines  to  repeat  this  statement  of  the  older  historians,  and 
we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  it  rests  on  very  uncertain  tra- 
dition, and  that  the  "Indian"  portion  of  it  has  little  or  no 
probability.  If  Mr.  Rhoades  settled  there  he  removed  before 
the  town  was  organized,  as  his  name  is  not  in  the  list  of  rata- 
ble polls  in  1773;  but  thirteen  years  leaves  ample  time  for 
sri-eral  removals,  especially  if  the  blood  of  the  untamed  tribes 
of  the  forest  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  family. 

It  is  not  easy  to  decide  either  the  exact  date  of  the  first  set- 
tlement or  the  order  in  which  the  first  settlers  came  in.  There 
seems  to  have  been  quite  a  group  of  families  from  Norwich, 
Conn.,  who  undoubtedly  moved  here  somewhat  in  company. 
It  is  the  tradition  of  the  Kirkland  family  that  their  ancestor 
was  about  as  early  as  any  one.  Holland's  "  History"  states  his 
removal  as  occurring  in  17fi7,  but  his  son  Ralph  was  born  in 
Connecticut,  Jan.  26,  1768.  The  family  removed  probably 
the  following  season,  and  Mr.  Kirkland  may  have  been  here 
himself  in  1767.  His  daughter,  Mary,  was  born  at  Murray- 
field  Dec.  14,  1770.  So  the  date  of  settlement  is  reduced  to 
pretty  close  limits,  if  not  actually  determined. 

The  same  method  of  investigation  indicates  that  Samuel 
Knight  came  in  1769  or  1770;  but  the  old  town  record  of 
births  only  assists  in  a  few  instances,  for,  generally,  the  place 
of  birth  is  omitted,  and  a  family  seem  to  have  entered  upon  the 
town  records  the  birth  of  children  born  before  removing  here. 

Caleb  Fobes,  Wm.  Miller,  David  Scott,  Isaac  Mixer,  John 
Rude,  and  some  others  settled  on  the  eastern  part  of  old  Mur- 
rayfield  still  earlier,  as  shown  elsewhere.  Fortunately  there 
is  preserved  in  the  oldest  volume  of  the  town  records  the 
assessment-roll  of  1773,  and  we  thus  determine  with  great  ex- 
actness who  were  here  at  that  date,  only  four  years  after  the 
settlement  of  the  Kirklands  and  the  Knights.  It  is  of  so 
much  value  we  copy  its  names  in  full :  Christian  Angel, 
Solomon  Blair,  Thomas  Crow,  James  Crow,  David  Crow, 
William  Carter,  Asa  Carter,  John  Crow,  Caleb  Fobes,  Wil- 
liam Fobes,  Elijah  Fobes,  Zebulon  Fuller,  James  Fairman, 
Samuel  Fairman,  William  French,  John  Griswold,  James 
Gilmore,  David  Holbard,  Jabez  Homes,  Nathaniel  Bennett, 
John  Barnard,  Solomon  Holiday,  Daniel  Dana,  John  Cros- 
sett,  Ebenezer  Freeman,  Solomon  Holiday,  Jr.,  Patrick  Buckle, 
John  Kirkland,  Ebenezer  King,  Samuel  Knight,  Daniel  Kirk- 
land, Isaac  Mixer,  Isaac  Mixer,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  Mcachani, 
William  Miller,  David  Palmer,  John  D.  Palmer,  David 
Palmer,  Jr.,  Capt.  E.  Geer,  Elijah  Geer,  Mace  Cook,  Zeb 
Ross,  John  Rude,  David  Scott,  Joseph  Stanton,  John  Tiftany, 
Miles  Washburn,  Peter  Williams,  Daniel  Williams,  Isaac 
Williams,  Isaac  Williams,  Jr.,  Charles  Williams,  Jabez  Story, 
James  Clark,  Jehial  Eggleston,  Jonathan  AVare,  'B.  Peter 
Bunda.  The  above  list  shows  that  there  were  46  owners  of 
real  estate  in  1773,  6  other  person's  having  some  personal  es- 
tate ;  and  10  with  neither  real  nor  personal  estate.  This  gives 
jifli/si.r  iirtmes,  and  must  be  supposed  to  include  all  the  male 
inhabitants  at  that  time,  except  8,  who  are  counted  as  addi- 
tional polls  in  the  various  families,  as  sons  or  hired  men. 

FAMILY    NOTE.S. 

Christian  Angel.  Families  of  this  name  resided  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town.  Epaphras  Arnold  moved  to  Norwich 
in  1774,  but  owned  no  real  estate  that  year.  James  Bentley 
came  in  1774,  but  owned  no  real  estate  that  year.  Solomon 
Blair.  Families  of  this  name  were  frequent  in  Blandford  and 
Chester,  but  it  is  difficult  now  to  locate  them  in  Huntington. 
Peter  Bunda  left  town  probably  in  1773  or  '74,  as  his  name  is 
not  on  the  second  assessment-roll.  The  name  was  found  in 
Montgomery.  Thomas  Crow  settled  in  town  in  1767-68. 
John  Crow.  It  is  the  opinion  of  older  citizens  that  the  Crow 
families  lived  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town,  near  the 
Montgomery  line.  William  Carter.  His  name  first  appears 
in  Murrayfield  assessment-roll,  Aug.  20,  1771.  Perhaps  re- 
sided in  what  is  now  Russell. 


Pearly  Cook  came  from  Preston,  Conn.,  and  settled  here 
soon  after  the  Revolution,  where  Pearly  B.  Cook  now  lives. 
Children:  Linus  H.,  John,  Jr.,  Huntington ;  Philetus,  East 
Chatham  ;  Edward  W.,  Hartford ;  Mrs.  Daniel  Pitcher,  Boone- 
ville ;  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Clark,  Easthampton.  The  wife  of 
Pearly  Cook  was  a  daughter  of  Noah  Burt,  of  Southamp- 
ton. 

James  Clark.  He  was  elected  a  tythingman  in  Murray- 
field,  March  11,  1760;  a  surveyor  of  highways,  May  3,  1768. 
He  was  a  prominent  man.  John  Cook  supposes  his  place  to 
have  been  the  present  farm  of  Joseph  Castner,  over  the  line 
in  Chester.     Jehial  Eggleston  settled  in  town  in  1767-68. 

Caleb  Fobes.  His  homestead  was  the  present  Bradley  place, 
in  the  valley,  a  short  distance  above  Norwich  Bridge.  His 
name  appears  in  the  assessment-roll  of  Murrayfield,  April  19, 
1768;  and  he  was  elected  one  of  the  selectmen  of  that  town, 
May  8,  1768,  and  William  Miller  with  him,  the  majority  of 
the  selectmen  being  thus  located  upon  the  territory  afterward 
Norwich.  William  Fobes,  homestead  on  the  Deacon  Artemas 
Knight  place,  about  a  mile  south  of  the  Congregational 
church,  now  owned  by  Abner  Peck.  Elijah  Fobes,  probably 
the  father  of  the  two  noted  citizens  above. 

Zebulon  Fuller  settled  1767-68.  James  Fairman  settled 
1767-68;  homestead  the  present  Fairman  place.  Samuel  Fair- 
man  settled  1767-68;  homestead  west  of  the  meeting-house, 
where  Austin  Fairman  now  lives.  Ebenezer  Freeman  owned 
no  real  estate,  probably  left  town  1773  or  '74;  lived  near  Nor- 
wich Hill.  Jonathan  Frost  came  in  1774,  but  owned  no  real 
estate  that  year.  It  is  presumed  he  lived  on  "  Pisgah  Street,' 
so  called,  where  more  than  25  families  once  lived,  a  portion 
of  the  town  now  deserted.  John  Griswold  settled  in  1771, 
homestead  two  miles  south  of  Norwich  Hill.  Capt.  Ebenezer 
Geer  settled  in  1768-69,  east  part  of  the  town. 

James  Gilmore,  from  New  Hampshire.  His  name  is  in  tin' 
Murrayfield  assessment-roll  for  April  19,  1768,  showing  him 
to  have  been  an  early  settler;  homestead  a  mile  above  Hun- 
tington village;  buildings  gone.  '  Three  sons  went  to  Geauga 
Co.,  O.,  about  1811, — James,  Edmund,  and  William.  They 
went  out  with  ox-teams.  There  was  a  large  gathei-ing  to  see 
the  colony  start.  Gen.  Gilmore,  of.  the  army,  was  from  this 
family.  Isaac  Gates  settled  in  1774.  Solomon  Holiday.  His 
name  first  appears  in  Murrayfield  assessment-roll  Aug.  20, 
1771.  The  Holiday  family  were  located  in  Montgomerj-,  as 
older  settlers  suppose.  Jesse  Joy  moved  to  Norwich  in  1774, 
but  owned  no  real  estate  that  year;  lived  east  of  the  Hill,  near 
Westhampton  line. 

John  Kirkland  came  about  1768;  homestead  where  his 
great-grandson,  C.  H.  Kirkland,  now  lives.  It  has  been  in 
the  family  ever  since  the  first  occupancy.  First  log  house  was 
fiirther  east,  near  Roaring  Brook,  and  first  frame  house  some 
twenty  rods  east  of  the  present  one.  Samuel  Kirkland,  the 
noted  missionary  of  Central  New  York,  was  a  brother.  Daniel, 
another  brother,  settled  in  Norwich.  Their  father  was  Rev. 
Daniel  Kirkland,  of  Lisbon,  Conn.  The  children  of  John 
Kirkland  were  Joseph,  who  died  young  ;  Martin,  who  settled 
in  Norwich  (father  of  the  well-known  Harvey  Kirkland,  of 
Northampton);  Samuel  Kirkland,  who  settled  on  the  old 
homestead  (grandfather  of  C.  H.  Kirkland) ;  Ralph  and  John, 
who  went  to  Clinton,  N.  Y.  ;  Jabez,  who  moved  to  Whites- 
boro',  N.  Y. ;  Mary  (Mrs.  Dr.  Hophni  Clapp),  Easthampton  ; 
Sarah,  who  died  unmarried  ;  Judith  (Mrs.  Isaac  Clapp),  East- 
hampton ;  Anna  (Mrs,  Jonathan  Ware),  Norwich  and  Conway. 

Samuel  Knight  settled  in  1708-69.  Among  the  children 
were  Sylvester  (father  of  Lieut. -Gov.  Knight,  of  Easthamp- 
ton), Artemas,  and  Milton.  Ebenezer  King  settled  in  176.5- 
66.  He  was  a  town  officer  March  11,  1766;  chosen  a  deer- 
reeve  May  3,  1768. 

Isaac  Mixer,  homestead  near  Norwich  Bridge,  where  Horace 
Taylor  now  lives.  He  came  in  probably  1763-64.  March  11, 
1766,  he  was  chosen  sealer  of  timber  and  lumber  in  Murray- 


508 


HISTOllY    OF    THE    CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


field.  Isaac  Mixer,  Jr.,  a  son  of  the  above,  and  his  name  is 
found  among  the  early  town  officers  of  Murrayfield. 

Ebeneazer  ilcacham  settled  in  1704  or  'Go.  He  was  a  town 
officer  of  Murrayfield,  March  11,  1706.  He  was  a  prominent 
man,  and  chosen  to  many  places  of  public  trust.  Timothy 
Mann  settled  in  1774.  Several  of  the  same  family  name  were 
here,  or  somewhere  in  old  Murrayfield,  as  shown  bj'  the  list 
of  ratable  polls,  April  19,  1708. 

John  D.  Palmer  seems  to  have  left  town  1773  or  1774,  as  his 
luime  is  not  on  the  second  assessment-roll.  Zebulon  Rose  (or 
Ross)  settled  in  1707.  John  Rude,  homestead  north  part  of  the 
town, — Norwich  Hollow  so  called.  His  name  first  appears 
in  Murrayfield  assessment-roll,  September,  1770.  Elias  Rude 
(2d )  now  occupies  the  farm.  Joseph  Stanton,  homestead  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  northwest  of  Norwich  Bridge,  where  O.  T. 
Griswold  now  resides,  or  f^irther  north,  on  Goss  Hill.  Chil- 
dren :  Joseph  (who  went  West),  Daniel,  Pcleg,  Asher,  one 
daughter  (died  unmarried).  Jahez  Story ;  his  name  first  appears 
in  the  assessment-i-oll  of  Murrayfield,  Aug.  20,  1771.  Peter 
Williams,  name  appears  Sept.  14,  1709,  in  Murrayfield  assess- 
ment-roll. Miles  Washburn,  settled  near  Norwich  Centre, 
1708.     Jonathan  Ware,  east  part  of  the  town. 

Wm.  Miller  came  to  this  town  in  1703,  some  years  earlier 
than  the  most  of  the  Norwich  colony.  His  location  was  in 
the  north  part  of  the  town,  near  the  Worthington  line.  He 
spent  his  first  night  in  town  on  a  small  island  near  the  present 
.school-house,  in  the  "  Hollow,"  to  be  safe  from  the  prowling 
wolves.  His  children  were  William,  Jr.,  settled  on  the  home- 
stead ;  Nathaniel,  in  town;  and  Mrs.  Crosby. 

Mr.  Rhoades  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  first  set- 
tler, and  that  the  date  was  as  early  as  1760.  His  homestead  is 
stated  to  liave  been  two  miles  above  Pitcher's  Bridge. 

David  Scott  settled  in  town  as  early  as  1707.  He  built  the 
first  framed  house;  had  a  hundred  acres  given  him  to  build  the 
house.     It  stood  where  H.  Willard  Munson  now  lives. 

Jonathan  Pitcher,  an  early  settler,  but  somewhat  later  than 
the  others  given  above,  as  his  name  is  not  found  in  the  rolls  of 
1773-74.  His  homestead  was  not  far  from  Knigbtville.  The 
united  ages  of  himself  and  wife  reached  two  hundred  years. 

TAVKBNS. 

The  old  Mixer  tavern  at  Norwich  Bridge  has  already  been 
mentioned.  Albert  Henry  kept  a  tavern  at  the  present  place 
of  Garry  Munson,  1815  to  1820,  or  about  that  time;  still 
earlier  than  that  kept  by  Rabin  Sackett.  Hatch  also  kept  one 
opposite  the  Munson  place,  1825  to  1840.  There  was  once  a 
tavern  at  the  present  Bradley  place. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Bisbee's  history,  1870,  names  the  following  list  of  physi- 
cians who  have  practiced  in  this  town  :  James  Holland,  Leon- 
ard Williams,  Martin  Phelps,  Caleb  H.  Stickney,  S.  D. 
Brooks,  Charles  Holland,  John  II.  Gilbert,  William  Dwight, 
Noah  S.  Bartlett,  William  0.  Bell,  Charles  K.  Crossett,  Har- 
low Gamwell,  J.  H.  Goddard,  AVilliam  Elder. 

LAWYERS. 

Asahel  Wright,  who  graduated  at  Williams  College  in 
1803,  practiced  law  at  Falley's  Cross-Roads,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Chester  Centre,  where  he  died  in  1830.  Samuel 
Johnson  practiced  at  Chester  village  (Huntington)  for  many 
years,  and  is  described  as  a  man  of  unique  characteristics, 
—physically,  mentally,  professionally,  and  oratoricall}'.  He 
removed  to  the  West.  Homer  Clark,  Daniel  Granger,  A.  M. 
Copcland,  and  E.  H.  Lathrop  practiced  here  for  .short  periods. 

yKOM    TUE   TOWN    RECORDS   OF    OLl)    Mt'RRAY'FIELD. 

June  20,  1768,  the  warrant  contained  the  clause;  "  To  see  if 
the  town  will  vote  a  place  or  places  for  to  meet  for  public  wor- 
ship." They  first  voted  they  would ;  then  reconsidered,  and 
voted   the    preaching   should    bo  all    at   the   meeting-house. 


Isaac  Mixer  was  one  of  the  committee  to  supply  the  town 
with  preaching.  Oct.  14,  1768,  it  was  voted  to  have  half  the 
preacliing  at  Reuben  Walworth's  or  Jonathan  Webber's,  and 
the  other  half  at  Mr.  John  Lacor's.  Nov.  20,  1768,  the  above 
vote  was  rescinded  ;  and  "  the  six  first  Sabbaths' preaching" 
was  voted  to  be  held  at  the  dwelling-house  of  Israel  Rose  (or 
Ross),  and  three  Sabbaths  out  of  seven  shall  be  there  through 
the  year.  March  21,  1769,  it  was  voted  to  accept  a  road  laid 
out  by  the  selectmen,  "beginning  at  the  Northampton  west 
line,  at  their  road,  then  westerly  by  3Ir.  John  Kirkland's, 
across  the  river  at  the  ford-way  by  Mr.  Fobes,"  etc. 

At  the  Murrayfield  town-meeting,  March  21,  1769,  Eben- 
ezer  Meacham  was  moderator,  and  he  was  also  one  of  the 
selectmen  chosen  at  that  meeting.  Caleb  Fobes  was  made 
Town  Treasurer;  Isaac  Mixer,  Tythingman ;  David  Scott, 
Warden;  Ebenezer  King,  Deer-Reeve;  Isaac  Mixer,  Sur- 
veyor of  Highways;  John  Crow,  Hog-Reeve;  Isaac  Mixer, 
Sealer  of  Leather ;  William  Fobes,  Fence-Viewer ;  and  John 
"  Kirtlin"  was  placed  on  a  committee  to  settle  with  the  treas- 
urer,— the  first  advent  of  the  Kirklands  to  public  office  in  this 
section.  It  was  "voted  that  town-meetings  be  warned  by 
setting  up  copies  of  the  wai'rant  at  Isaac  Mixer's,  Malcolm 
Henry's,  and  the  grist-mill." 

April  13,  1709,  William  Miller  was  one  of  the  signers  to  a 
protest  against  the  town  "  recovering  cost  of  Timothy  Smith." 
John  Kirkland  was  moderator  at  that  meeting.  May  11, 1769, 
it  was  voted  to  have  half  the  preaching  at  the  barn  of  Eben- 
ezer Webber,  the  other  half  at  the  meeting-house.  June  19, 
1769,  the  warrant  contained  the  clause:  "  To  see  if  the  town 
will  discover  how  they  approve  of  the  performance  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Bascom  since  he  has  been  in  town."  At  the  meeting  a 
committee  of  "  indiflerent  men"  was  chosen  to  advise  about  the 
place  of  preaching, — Capt.  Nathan  Leonard,  of  Worthington  ; 
Lieut.  Nathaniel  Kingsley,  of  Becket;  and  Deacon  Benjamin 
Tupper,  of  Chesterfield.  The  committee  reported  July  9, 
1709,  "  two-thirds  of  the  time  at  the  meeting-house,  one-third 
at  Mr.  Isaac  Mixer's,  for  three  years  next  ensuing."  The 
town  had  voted  beforehand  that  they  would  abide  by  this  de- 
cision, and  they  probably  did.  July  11,  1709,  John  Kirkland 
was  on  the  committee  to  present  to  Mr.  Bascom  the  call  of  the 
town  to  the  ministry-.  The  same  year  there  is  recorded  a  list 
of  roads  surveyed  by  John  Kirkland. 

Oct.  12,1769,  Caleb  Fobes  was  moderator  of  the  town-meet- 
ing that  made  arrangements  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Bas- 
com. At  the  town-meeting  held  at  Isaac  Mixer's,  "  inn- 
holder,"  Nov.  14,  1769,  John  Kirkland  was  appointed  moder- 
ator. Dec.  5,  1769,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  invito  a 
council  ;  John  Kirkland  was  a  member  of  this  committee. 
Jan.  25,  1770,  John  Kirkland,  moderator,  it  was  voted  .John 
Kirkland  eighteen  shillings  for  making  valuation.  March  22, 
1780,  John  Kirkland  was  chosen  town  clerk,  and  Caleb  Fobes 
town  treasurer.  Two  of  the  selectmen  were  David  Scott  and 
.John  Kirkland. 

March  22,  1770,  Isaac  Jlixer  was  chosen  one  of  the  tw'o  con- 
shibles;  James  Clark  and  James  Fairman  two  of  the  three 
tythingmon  ;  William  Fobes,  Ebenezer  Meacham,  and  James 
Clark,  three  of  the  nine  surveyors  of  highways  ;  Caleb  Fobes, 
Fence-Viewer  ;  Isaac  Mixer,  Sealer  of  Leather  ;  John  Crow, 
Jr.,  Ebenezer  King,  Hog-Reeves.  It  was  voted  that  warrants 
for  meetings  should  he  posted  at  "  Landlord  Mixer's,"  at 
"  Landlord  Henry's,"  and  at  Wait's  grist-mill. 

April  2,  1770,  Isaac  Mixer  and  Caleb  Fobes  were  two  of  a 
committee  of  seven  to  see  the  work  done  that  was  promised  in 
settlement  of  Mr.  Bascom. 

Jan.  21,  1771,  it  was  voted  that  John  Kirkland  apply  to  Mr. 
Hawley,  of  Northampton,  and  Mr.  Strong,  of  Amherst,  for 
advice  respecting  getting  the  unimproved  lands  taxed  for 
roads  and  bridges.  This  was,  however,  reconsidered  on  the 
28th.  March  4,  1771,  Lieut.  James  Clark  was  chosen  one  of 
the  constables  ;  Samuel  Knight,  Warden  ;  Surveyors  of  High- 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


509 


ways,  Caleb  Tobes,  Ebenezer  King,  James  Clark,  David 
Scott,  Daniel  Kirkland. 

March  4,  1771,  Daniel  Kirkland  and  David  Crow  were 
chosen  Deer-Beeves;  Isaac  Mixer,  Jr.,  Hog-Keeve  and  Sur- 
veyor of  Lumber.  April  22,  1771,  it  was  jmt  to  vote  to  see  if 
the  town  would  build  a  boat  to  carry  men  and  horses  over  the 
river  at  Landlord  Mixer's;  negatived.  Aug.  19,  1771,  it  was 
voted  in  the  negative  not  to  grant  any  money  toward  helping 
Mr.  Isaac  Mixer  in  carrying  on  a  lawsuit  with  Mr.  Ebenezer 
Meacham,  for  said  Isaac  taking  said  Meacham's  cart  for  taxes. 
It  was  voted  not  to  do  anything  toward  hindering  the  river 
wearing  against  the  bank  on  Mr.  David  Scott's  land,  and 
Mr.  Meacham's. 

At  the  town-meeting  held  in  March,  1772,  John  Kirkland 
was  chosen  one  of  the  Selectmen  ;  David  Scott,  a  Constable ; 
John  Griswold,  a  Tythingman ;  Asa  Carter  and  Caleb  Fobes, 
Wardens;  Daniel  Kirkland  and  Isaac  Mixer,  Sealers  of 
Leather ;  Capt.  Ebenezer  Geer,  a  Deer-Keeve ;  Lieut.  James 
Clark,  a  Hog-Eeeve ;  the  latter  and  Samuel  Knight,  Fence- 
Viewers  ;  Isaac  Mixer,  Jr.,  Surveyor  of  Lumber.  The  meet- 
ing adjourned  to  Isaac  Mixer's  for  March  6th,  and  then  to  the 
2Dth.  David  Scott  was  on  a  committee  to  see  why  the  consta- 
bles have  not  collected  the  taxes. 

July  21,  1772,  it  was  voted  that  Mr.  Basconi  s/iould  not 
preach  any  more  at  the  river  at  Mr.  Mixer's.  Sept.  18,  1772, 
it  was  voted  not  to  raise  any  money  for  preaching  at  the  east 
end  of  the  town.  Toted  to  liai-e  no  part  of  the  town-meetings 
at  the  river  any  more.  Dec.  14,  1772,  it  was  voted  not  to  raise 
any  money  for  preaching  at  the  east  end  of  the  town. 

With  all  these  negatives,  they  voted  to  agree  to  a  division, 
and  appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the  matter,  and  named 
John  Kirkland  as  a  member  of  it. 

ORGANIZATION. 
The  town  of  Murrayficld  was  incorporated  Oct.  31,  1765, 
and  included  the  territory  of  what  afterward  constituted  Nor- 
wich. A  few  settlers  soon  located  upon  the  eastern  part,  and 
in  a  few  years  they  were  numerous  enough  to  ask  for  a  sepa- 
rate organization.  They  were  successful  in  their  plan,  and 
were  incorporated  as  a  district  by  the  following  act  of  the 
General  Court,  approved  June  29, 1773. 

John  Kirkland  and  his  neighbors,  who  had  settled  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Murray  field  about  1769,  were  from  the  town  of 
Norwich,  Conn.,  and  very  naturally  they  desired  to  have  the 
old  ancestral  name  transplanted  with  their  families  to  this  new 
plantation,  so  the  district  was  called  Norwich.  The  "  Dis- 
.  trict"  became  a  town  by  the  operation  of  the  law  of  March  23, 
1786. 

ACT   OF   INCORPORATIOX. 

"Anno  Regtii  Rcgi^  Terfii  et  Decimo  Tertio. 

"vln  .\C'T./ur  ereclht(/  the  eastpart  of  Murroi/Jidil,  iti  the  Coitnttj  nf  Hampxhire,  into 
a  scpiirate  District  by  the  nmiie  of  Norwieh  :  Whereas,  the  inhiihitant.s  uf  the  east- 
erly l)artof  the  tuwn  of  ]Murrayfielcl,iu  the  Cuvuity  of  Hampshire,  have  made  it 
appear  to  tliis  court  tliat  tliey  labor  under  great  difficulties  by  reason  of  their 
not  Ijeing  a  separate  District ;  therefore,  be  it  enacted  by  the  Governor,  Council, 
and  House  of  Represent,atives,  that  the  tract  of  land  lying  iu  the  easterly  part 
of  the  town  of  MuiTaytield,  described  as  follows,  to  wit :  beginning  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  iDgereoll's  grant,  so  called,  and  thence  extending  on  the  west  line 
uf  said  grant  until  it  comes  to  lot  No.  1,  in  the  second  division  of  lots  owned  by 
John  Chadler;  from  thence,  a  straight  line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  lot  No.  IG; 
and  from  thence,  lainning  on  the  east  line  of  said  lot,  and  on  the  e;ist  lines  of  lots 
Number  15,  28,  and  20,  until  it  comes  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Chesterfield, 
be,  and  hereby  is,  erected  into  a  separate  District  by  the  name  of  Norwich." 

The  act  then  further  conveys  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities  of  a  town,  excepting  the  right  of  representation 
in  the  Legislature ;  this  last  is  to  be  enjoyed  in  connection 
with  the  town  of  Murrayfield ;  also  that 

"  The  said  Distiict  shall  pay  their  proportion  of  all  the  town,  County,  and  Prov- 
ince taxes  already  set  on  or  granted  to  be  raised,  assessed,  levied,  and  collected 
in  said  town  as  if  this  act  had  not  been  made;  provided,  nevertheless,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  said  Distiict  shall  retain  and  enjoy  the  same  right  and  share  to 
all  the  nunisteiial  lands  in  said  town,  and  the  improvements  and  profits  thereof 
as  they  would  have  had  if  this  act  had  not  been  made." 


Joseph  Hawlcy,  Esq.,  was  empowered  to  issue  his  warrant 
to  some  principal  inhabitant  requiring  him  to  warn  the  first 
town-meeting. 

The  town  of  Murrayfield  was  required  to  allow  Norwich 
their  proper  share  of  all  moneys  already  levied  and  collected, 
and  Norwich  was  to  continue  to  pay  its  fair  share  toward  the 
support  of  all  poor  persons  already  a  town  charge.  Further, 
until  a  new  valuation  should  be  made  Norwich  was  to  pay 
one-third  of  the  province  tax  levied  upon  the  united  territory 
of  Murrayfield  and  Norwich. 

Hollands  history  states  that  the  boundary  lines  given  in 
the  act  are  unintelligible.  But  change  the  word  southicf.-.-^  to 
southeast  before  "  corner  of  lot  No.  16"  (as  we  have  done),  and 
then  suppose  the  act  to  give  only  the  line  of  separation  from 
old  Murrayfield,  and  the  ditiiculty  seems  to  disappear. 

FIRST   TOWN-MEETING,    JULY  14,  1773. 

Mr.  David  Scott,  Moderator;  John  Kirkland,  District  Clerk;  John  Kirkhuid, 
Caleb  Fobes,  David  Scott,  Selectmen  and  Assessors;  Miles  WjLshburn,  Consta- 
ble ;  David  Scott,  District  Treasurer ;  William  Miller,  Caleb  Fobes,  Tythingmen ; 
David  Palmer,  William  Carter,  Wardens  ;  Klijah  Fobes,  Daniel  Kirkland,  Hog- 
Eeeves ;  Miles  Wiishburn,  Daniel  Kirkland,  Peter  Williams,  John  Rude,  Sur- 
veyors of  Highways  ;  Ebenezer  Meacham,  William  Fobes,  Deer-Keeves ;  Samuel 
Fairnmn,  William  Fobes,  Fence-Viewers;  Isajtc  Miner,  Jr.,  Sm-veyor  of  Timber 
and  Lumber;  Peter  Williams,  Scaler  of  Weights  and  Measures;  Jonathan 
Ware,  Scaler  of  Leather. 

Norwich,  Aug.  12,  1773. — At  a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inlrabi- 
tants  of  Norwich  regularly  assembled,  chose  3Ir.  Ebenezer  Meacham  Moderator, 
David  Scott,  John  Kirkland,  Ebenezer  Meacham,  Samuel  Fairman,  Sanuiel 
Knight,  committee  to  examine  the  estate  of  the  town,  and  our  right  by  incorpo- 
ration. Voted  30  pounds  for  the  charge  of  the  district  the  present  year.  Voted 
10  pounds  of  the  above  sum  for  the  support  of  the  gospel ;  10  pounds  for  the 
schools  in  the  district ;  voted  15  pounds  of  the  above  sum  to  be  paid  into  the 
treasury  by  the  fii-st  of  .Tanuary  next,  and  the  other  15  pounds  to  be  paid  in  by 
the  first  of  May  next.  Toted  Isaac  Mixer  committee-man  to  examine  Ebenezer 
Meacham  and  Samuel  Fairman's  charge  in  going  to  court,  and  make  report  to 
the  next  meeting.  Voted  Capt.  Geer,  David  Scott,  Caleb  Fobes,  Samuel  Fairman, 
Miles  Washburn,  committee  to  examine  into  the  highway  that  the  river  dam- 
ages against  Mr.  Meacham,  and  make  report.  Voted  district  meetings  to  be  held 
at  Mr.  Fobes' ;  the  constable  to  warn  the  meetings  by  setting  up  a  copy  of  t!ie 
warrant  at  Mr.  Isaac  Mixer's  grist-null.  Voted  to  build  a  pound  by  John  Kirk- 
land's,  provided  the  inhabitants  build  it  on  their  own  cost ;  Caleb  Fobes  and  John 
Kirkland  to  be  pouud-keepei-s. 

Oct.  26, 1773. — Heard  the  report  of  the  conunittec  to  adjust  matters  « ith  the 
town  of  Murrayfield,  and  voted  not  to  comply  wiUi  the  report  of  the  committee 
of  Murrayfield.  Voted  further  on  said  report,  if  said  town  of  Murrayfield  will 
pay  to  Norwich  what  they  jiaid  toward  Mr.  Bascom's  settlement,  and  what  we 
paid  toward  the  repair  of  the  meeting-house,  or  the  treasurer  of  said  town  to 
give  obligation  on  interest  to  the  treasurer  of  Norwich,  till  it  is  paid,  for  the 
sums  of  the  proportions  above  mentioned,  the  district  consents  to  refer  the  jus- 
tice of  our  demand  respecting  what  was  paid  toward  Mr.  Bascom's  salary  from 
July  4, 1772,  to  the  20th  of  December  following  to  indifferent  men  chosen  by  a 
committee  from  said  town  and'  district.  Voted,  in  case  Murrayfield  don't  com- 
ply with  the  above  proposal,  that  a  course  of  law  shall  be  taken  ;  John  Kirkland, 
Samuel  Fturman,  David  Scott  to  make  this  repolt  to  Murrayfield  and  carry  the 
matter  through  according  to  the  best  advice  they  can  obtain. 

Voted  to  fortify  the  bank  against  Mr.  Meacham's  land  according  to  the  com- 
missioners' report,  Capt.  Geer  and  Mr.  Caleb  Fobes  to  he  a  committee  to  attend 
to  it.  Voted  John  Kirkland  £14  14s.  (irf.,  charges  going  to  Boston  to  procure  the 
act  of  incorporation. 

March  31,  1774.— Voted  to  lay  out  a  highway  fur  Mr.  Giiswold. 

At  the  regular  meeting,  two  weeks  before,  they  voted  three 
days'  work  on  the  poles  for  the  highways,  two  days  to  be 
worked  in  May  and  June  and  one  day  in  October.  "S'oted  £30 
upon  the  estates,  one-half  to  be  worked  out  in  May  and  June, 
the  other  half  in  October,  the  former  to  be  estimated  at  3s. 
per  day,  and  the  latter  at  2s.  per  day. 

Voted  the  district  meetings  to  be  held  at  Landlord  MLxer's  the  present  year, 
and  that  the  constable  warn  the  meetings  by  posting  a  copy  of  the  warrant  at 
Mr.  Isaac  Mixer's  grist-mill.  Voted,  swine  to  be  shut  up  from  the  first  of  May 
to  the  first  of  October.  Voted  the  highway  according  to  the  survey  taken  by  the 
selectmen  from  the  Northamiiton  line. 

June  19,  1774.— Voted  7  shilliiigi  1  pence  f  .ir  a  "  treasury  and  Clerk  book." 
Voted  that  the  selectmen  lay  a  road  from  the  hill  south  of  Landlord  Mixer's  by 
the  river  through  Norwich  bounds. 

March  20, 1775.— Voted  the  road  laid  for  Mr.  John  Griswold  to  the  county 
road  that  goes  by  Mr.  Caleb  Fobes'  to  Northampton,  with  recourse  to  the  survey 
bill,  and  also  the  highway  by  the  east  bank  of  Westficld  River  from  the  county 
road  below  Mr.  Isaac  Mixer's  to  Glass  Line  with  reserve  of  Isaac  Mixer  to  keep 
gates  or  bars,  two  pair  only  across  his  land,  with  recourse  to  the  survey  bill. 
In  1776  there  were  several  petitions  for  a  change  of  town- 


510 


HISTORY   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


lines.  Norwich  voted  "to  be  willing  to  receive  John  Smith 
and  others  of  Westhampton."  "Not  willing  to  receive  a 
portion  of  Blandford."  "Willing  to  receive  Abel  Partridge 
and  other.s  from  illurraj'fleld." 

The  town  of  Norwich  thus  organized  continued  with  nearh- 
or  quite  the  same  territory  for  about  eighty  years.  A  radical 
change  then  took  place.  The  movement  began  at  Chester 
village,  so  called,  a  thriving  business  place,  which  had  grown 
up  on  the  line  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Kailroad.  The  people 
of  that  village  were  in  a  very  peculiar  condition  as  to  town 
and  county  lines.  The  line  between  Blandford  and  Chester 
passed  through  one  meeting-house  and  through  a  dwelling- 
house,  so  that  a  tenant  who  lived  in  a  corner  room  went  to 
Chester  to  vote,  and  the  others  in  the  house  went  several 
miles  the  other  way,  and  there  were  other  cases  nearly  as 
ludicrous  and  inconvenient.  Local  jurisdiction  was  badly 
mixed.  It  was  pretty  ea.sy  to  change  one's  location  from  town 
to  town,  and  even  from  county  to  county.  OfBcers  were  sadly 
perplexed  to  find  their  "  precepts"  sometimes  just  failing,  while 
the  expected  prisoner  stood  only  a  few  rods  or  feet  away.  The 
people  first  endeavored  to  secure  the  erection  of  an  entire  new 
town.  When  this  movement  failed  they  then  looked  around 
for  the  next  best  thing  to  be  attempted,  and  they  asked  to  he 
annexed  to  Norwich.  This  was  successful,  receiving  the  assent 
of  the  people  of  Norwich  and  the  authority  of  the  Legislatui'c. 

When  the  annexation  was  etfected  the  town  became  so  much 
of  a  new  affair  that  there  was  some  reason  in  desiring  a  new 
name,  and  there  was  very  soon  a  movement  for  that  purpose. 
It  was  not  immediately  accomplished.  There  was  either  no 
great  activity  in  the  matter  or  considerable  opposition  was  felt. 
The  following  notes  from  the  town  records  show  the  steps 
taken  both  in  the  annexation  and  the  change  of  name.  The 
new  name  was  finally  adopted  in  honor  of  C.  P.  Huntington, 
E.sq.,  of  Northampton,  the  well-known  and  distinguished 
attorney,  who  had  assisted  in  the  preliminary  movements  and 
before  the  Legislature.  It  will  be  seen  that  he  gracefully 
acknowledged  the  compliment. 

RECONSTRUCTION — INCREASE   OF   TERRITORY. 

In  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting  Dec.  13,  1852,  there  was 
inserted  the  following  clause: 

"To  see  if  the  towu  will  concur  in  the  effort  now  being  made  hy  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Chester  village  residing  in  the  towns  of  Chester  and  Blandford,  to  be  set 
(iff  from  their  respective  towns  and  anne-xed  to  the  town  of  Norwich,  and  pass 
any  vote  on  the  same." 

At  this  meeting  Aaron  B.  Dimock  was  chosen  moderator. 
and  the  project  received  an  ample  consideration,  and  the  mo- 
tion to  concur  was  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

The  territory  was  annexed,  and  the  old  town  of  Norwich 
was  thus  enlarged  by  a  handsome  addition  upon  the  south,  in- 
cluding the  thriving  place  then  known  as  Chester  village. 

The  old  name,  Norwich,  was  not  entirely  satisfactory  to  the 
)>eople  of  the  annexed  territory,  and  a  movement  to  secure  a 
new  name  commenced  not  long  after  the  reconstruction  of  the 
town-lines. 

In  the  warrant  for  a  meeting  Nov.  14,  18-33,  there  was  the 
following  clau.se: 

"To  see  if  the  town  will  petiticin  the  Legislature  for  a  change  of  name,  .ir 
take  any  action  in  relation  to  the  matter,  and  pa.ss  any  vote  on  the  same." 

On  that  day  a  committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  matter,— Wm.  Taylor,  W.  Stevens,  E.  B.  Tinker,  Joseph 
Stanton,  G.  S.  Lewis,  Wm.  Lindsej',  J.  B.  Williams.  The 
committee  reported  Nov.  22,  1853.  The  town  first  voted  not 
to  accept  the  report,  but  a  motion  to  reconsider  was  carried. 
The  que.stion  was  then  divided,  and  it  was  voted  "  to  accept  so 
niuch  of  the  report  as  relates  to  the  petitioning  of  the  Leo-isla- 
ture  for  a  change  of  name."  Voted  to  strike  out  the  word 
Stanley  and  accept  the  remainder  of  the  rejiiirt.  Voted  to 
choose  a  committee  of  three  to  draft  and  forward  a  petition 
to  the  Legislature  for  a  cliange  of  name, — Melviii   Copeland, 


"Passed  to  be  enacted 
"  Bl.arch  9,  l.«S5. 
"  A  true  copy. 


Wm.  Taylor,  A.  B.  Dimock.  Voted  that  the  committee  be 
instructed  to  fill  the  blank  caused  by  striking  out  the  name 
Stanley  with  the  name  Huron. 

In  the  warrant  for  the  March  meeting  of  18-54  there  was 
the  clause :  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  paj'  to  certain  individuals 
any  portion  of  money  expended  by  them  in  procuring  the  an- 
nexation of  a  portion  of  Blandford  and  Chester;"  but  it  does 
not  appear  from  the  record  to  have  been  acted  upon. 

In  the  warrant  for  the  March  meeting  of  1855  there  was 
inserted  the  clause,  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  accept  the  name 
of  Huntington,"  and  "To  see  if  the  town  will  reimburse  the 
inhabitants  of  Chester  village  for  their  expenses  incurred  in 
bringing  about  the  annexation."  At  the  meeting  it  was  voted 
not  to  accept  the  name  Huntington,  and  to  pass  over  the  article 
in  relation  to  reimbursing  the  inhabitants  of  Chester  village. 

At  the  adjourned  annual  meeting  held  March  26,  1855,  M. 
Copeland  reported  the  following  act  of  the  Legislature  : 

"Commonwealth  of  Massachiisktts : 

"An  Act  to  aiithorizp  the  town  o/  Novtcich  U>  chitii{ie  U^  name. 

"Be  it  en.icted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court 
assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  as  follows: 

"Sec.  1st.  The  tjwn  of  Norwi.:h,  in  the  County  of  Hampshire,  shall  take  the 
name  of  Huntington. 

"Sec.  2d.  This  act  shall  take  effect  from  and  after  its  passage. 

"House  of  Representatives,  March  2,  ISo.'i. 
"  Passed  to  he  enacted. 

"  Daniel  C.  Eddy,  Speaker. 

"In  Senate,  March  G,  185.5. 
"  Henry  W.  Benchly,  PresiileiiL 
".\pi)roved:        Henuv  J.  GAnnNKR. 
.\ttest:        E.  W.  Wright,  Seeretiry  of  the  OnnmoiureaUh.'' 
And  the  town  seems  to  have  received  the  report  rather  in 
silence,  for  the  sole  entry  below  is: 
"  Voted  to  adjourn.  Lyman  Dimock,  Totrn  c'/ert." 

The  following  letter  from  C.  P.  Huntington  is  entered  in 
the  town  records : 

"  Northampton,  Oct.  23, 1855. 
"  Dear  Sir, — The  multiplicity  of  my  engagements  has  prevented  my  saying 
■what  I  wished  to  say  several  days  ago;  and  before  you  call  your  town-meeting 
for  November  I  wish  to  ofler  to  my  namesake-town  one  hundred  dollars,  as  the 
foundation  for  a  public  town  library  under  the  statute  of  1851,  if  they  will  vote 
as  much  moi-e  as  they  ple;isc;  or  to  any  voluntary  associjition  of  your  citizens  or 
young  men,  if  tliey  will  associate  for  a  library  or  institute,  and  raise  as  much 
more,  with  a  provision  for  an  annual  subscription  of  a  dollar  or  two  on  a  share. 
I  was  hoping  I  might  have  seen  you  some  leisure  moment,  and  inquire  whether 
you  had  anything  of  the  kinil.  I  can  think  of  nothing  else  by  which  a  couple 
of  hundred  dollars  can  so  much  benefit  your  people  (especially  the  young),  and 
afford  so  much  permanent  enjoyment  and  iustniction  as  a  library,  started  and 
kept  up  under  good  auspices  and  efficient  management.  I  should  be  glad  to 
render  any  aid  I  can  in  tlie  selection  of  books,  or  otherwise,  if  the  suggestion 
strikes  favorably  those  interested. 

"  Yours,  truly, 

C.    P.    IlrXTENUTON." 

Upon  this  proposition  a  committee  was  ajjpointed, — G.  Mun- 
son,  W.  Stevens,  Elkanah  Ring,  Jr.,  James  Jones,  William 
Henry.  The  committee  reported  favorably  at  the  annual 
meeting,  March  10,  185(i,  and  in  accordance  therewith  the 
town  voted  to  accept  Mr.  Huntington's  proposition,  and  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  take  the  nece.ssary  steps  to  carry  out 
the  same, — Garry  Munson,  W.  Stevens,  E.  Ring,  Jr.,  James 
Jones,  Wm.  Henry. 

At  the  April  meeting  of  the  same  year  the  following  votes 
were  passed,  completing  in  due  form  the  establishment  of  the 
library : 

Voted  to  establish  and  maintain  a  publi  ■  Library  within  the  town  for  the  use 
of  the  inhabitants  thereof. 

Voted  to  appropriate  for  the  foundation  and  commencement  of  said  Library  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  dollars. 

Voted  to  appropriate  annually  for  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  said 
Library  the  sum  of  fifteen  cents  for  each  ratable  poll  of  sail  town. 

Voted  to  accept  of  the  donation  of  one  hundred  dollars  made  hy  Charl&s  Hunt- 
ington, late  of  Northampton,  according  to  the  terms  mentioned  in  his  offer. 

The  appointment  of  a  librarian  was  given  to  the  school 
committee  of  the  town,  and  further  regulations  were  adopted 
for  the  safety  of  the  books  and  the  care  of  the  library. 

The  school  committee  for  the  time  being  were  also  made 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


511 


virtual  trustees  of  the  library,  with  control  in  the  purchase  of 
books,  their  care  and  loaning,  and  the  location  of  the  library. 
It  was  kept  in  a  store,  on  the  site  of  the  present  store  of 
Myron  L.  Church.  The  store  was  burned  about  1859,  and 
the  library  was  burned  with  it,  and  the  valuable  public  insti- 
tution thus  came  to  a  sudden  disastrous  and  final  end. 

The  first  town  officers  clioseu  after  the  reconstruction,  March  11, 18o4,  were 
A.  B.  Dimock,  Moderator;  Ljniau  Dimock,  Town  Clerk;  E.  B.  Tinker,  Edward 
AVillianis,  Jabez  Stanton,  Selectmen  ;  AVhitman  Knight,  Treasurer ;  Rev.  Town- 
send  Walker,  Dr.  N.  S.  Baitlett,  Charles  M.  Kirkland,  School  Conmiittee;  Jolm 
P.aiks,  Constal'le;  M'ashington  Stevens,  E.  B.  Tinker,  Edward  M'illianis,  t^er- 
seers  of  the  Poor;  G,  S.  Lewis,  Collector  (.it  Oo  cents  on  tlie  SlOf)) ;  Salmon 
Thomas,  F.  H.  Axtell,  Homer  Clark,  Horace  Tajlor,  Elias  Kiide,  C.H.  Sticknej, 
Field-Drivers;  Gairy  Munson,  H.  B.  Dimock,  "Wm.  T.  Miller,  Fence-Vieweis; 
Daniel  danger,  Esq.,  Jabez  Stanton,  G.  S.  Lew  is,  AVhitnian  Kniglit,  A.  S.  Eollins, 
Surveyors  of  Lumber;  Seth  Porter,  Sealer  of  Leather;  0.  H.  Stickney,  E.  S  Ellis, 
Wm.  T.  Miller,  Joseph  Stanton,  Sextons;  Garry  Munson,  H.  B.  Dimock,  Pound- 
Keepers  ;  Daniel  Granger,  James  Jones,  Jabez  Stanton,  George  Merritt,  Wliitmati 
Kiught,  Measurers  of  Wood  and  Bark. 

The  new  territory  received  the  town  clork'.s  office,  and  it 
has  ever  since  been  kept  at  Chester  village,  or  Huntington  as 
since  known. 

There  was  something  of  a  struggle  over  the  location  of  the 
town-meetings.  It  was  decided  bj-  a  sharply-contested  vote — 
115  to  70 — at  the  March  meeting  of  1861  to  move  them  to  the 
village.  To  some  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town  it  no 
doubt  seemed  as  if  Chester  village  had  annexed  the  town  of 
Norwich  and  captured  its  records  and  its  meetings;  but  as 
the  railroad  village  is  really  the  business  place  of  the  town, 
it  no  doubt  accommodated  a  large  majority  of  the  people 
better  than  before. 


PLACJ5    OF    TOWS-MEETINU.S. 

Town-meetings  have  been  held  as  follows :  the  place  of  the 
first  one  is  not  given.  After  that  they  were  held  "at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Caleb  Fobes"  and  "at  the  dwelling-house  of 
Mr.  Isaac  Mixer,  innholder,"  and  perhaps  at  one  or  two  other 
places  during  the  first  eight  years.  The  town-meetings  were 
held  "at  the  meeting-house"  from  April  2,  1781,  to  April  19, 
1841,  inclusive,  a  period  of  sixty  years.  A  meeting  for  Aug. 
9,  1841,  was  held  "  at  the  centre  school-house."  The  meeting 
of  March  1,  1842,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  one  held  "at  the 
town-house." 

This  house  had  been  built  pursuant  to  votes  passed  at  the 
annual  March  meeting  of  1841,  as  follows:  Voted  to  build  a 
town-house  near  Knightville.  Voted  that  said  house  be  24 
feet  wide  by  34  feet  long,  12-feet  posts,  to  be  finished  in  a  good, 
plain,  workmanlike  manner  inside  and  out,  and  painted  on  the 
outside  white.  Voted  a  building  committee, — A.  B.  Dimock, 
Horace  Taylor,  Ashley  Lyman.  The  house  cost  $347.93,  and 
the  sum  was  taken  from  the  United  States  surplus  revenue 
belonging  to  the  town. 

A  proposition  was  made  before  the  house  was  built  to  change 
the  location  from  the  site  first  chosen,  but  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  acted  upon  at  any  town-meeting.  This  "  town- 
house"  began  to  be  called  the  "  town-hall"  in  a  few  months. 

In  1852  an  effort  was  made  to  sell  the  town-house  and  build 
another  "near  Norwich  Bridge,"  or  "within  two  hundred 
rods  of  the  meeting-house,"  but  the  town-meetings  voted  to 
"pass  over"  all  such  clauses  in  the  warrant,  or  tidjourned 
"  without  day." 

Soon  after  the  annexation  of  Chester  village  the  meetings 
were  changed  to  a  hall  in  that  place.  This  was  hired  by  the 
town.  It  was  burned  in  1862.  The  present  town-hall  (so 
called)  in  Huntington  village  was  built  at  an  expense  of 
$1500.  An  association  of  individuals  paid  $1000.  The  town 
appropriated  §500  toward  the  building,  and  in  consideration 
therefor  have  the  free  use  of  it  for  all  town  business. 

SELECTMEN    FROM   THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    TOWN. 

1773.— John  Kirkland,  Caleb  Fobea.  David  Scott. 
1774.— David  Stott,  Samuel  Knight,  Samuel  Fairman. 
1775. — Samuel  Knight,  Asa  Carter,  James  Fairman. 


1770.— Jonathan  Ware,  Wm.  Miller,  Wm,  Carter. 

1777-79. — Records  appear  to  I)e  lost  fi-om  the  old  book. 

17S0.— Samuel  Knij.'lit,  Daniel  Kirkland,  David  Scott. 

1781.— John  Kirkland,  Esii.,  David  Scott,  Daniel  Kirkland. 

17S2. — Samuel  Fairman,  Wm.  Fobes,  James  Convers. 

1783. — Samuel  Knight,  Josiah  Willard,  Darius  Webb. 

1784. — S.imuel  Knight,  Darius  Webb,  M'm.  Fobes. 

1785-86.— Samuel  Knight,  Wm.  Fobes,  Jabez  BilL 

1787.— Samuel  Kniglit,  Wm.  Fobes,  Darius  Webb. 

1788. — Joseph  Wight,  Wm.  Fobes,  Silas  Pomeroy. 

1789. — 3Ioses  Montague,  Wm.  Fobes,  Joseph  Wight. 

1790-91. — Jabez  Bill,  Samuel  Knigbt,  Jesse  Joy. 

1792. — Samuel  Knight,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Walter  Fobes. 

1793. — Jonathan  Ware,  Walter  Fobes,  Samuel  Fairman,  Samuel  Kirkland,  .lesse 

Joy. 
1794. — Jonathan  Ware,  David  Scott,  Jesse  Joy. 
1795. — Aarou  Hall,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Lemuel  Fobes. 
1796. — Aaron  Hall,  Lemuel  Fobes,  Samuel  Kniglit. 
1797. — Aaron  Hall,  Zeiias  Clark,  Levi  Dewey. 
1798. — Zenas  Clark,  Wm.  Fobes,  Samuel  Kirkland. 
1799. — Aaron  Uall,  Giles  Lyman,  Eliakim  Sylvester. 
18U0. — .\aron  Hall,  Wm.  Fobes,  .Samuel  Warner. 
1801.- Aaron  Uall,  Walter  Fobes,  Samuel  Knight. 
1802. — Stephen  Tracy,  .lohn  Ellis,  Z<lclieus  Darrow. 
1803.- Aaron  Hall,  Wm.  Fobes,  Elizur  Talcott. 
1804. — .\aron  Hall,  Jesse  Joy,  Jouatban  Pitcher. 
1805. — Aaron  Hall,  Jesse  Joy,  Levi  Park. 
lSOG-8.— .\aron  Hall,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Levi  Park. 
1809, — Aarou  Hall,  Stephen  JIunson,  Sylvester  Knight. 
1810. — Aaron  Hall,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Jesse  Joy. 
1811, — .\arou  Hall,  Sanund  Kirkland,  Levi  Park. 
1812.— .^aron  Hall,  Levi  Park,  Martin  Kirkland, 
1813,— Samuel  Kirkland,  Samuel  Knigbt,  Titus  Dooliftle, 
1814, — Samuel  Kirklanrl,  Samuel  Knight,  John  W,  Stanton. 
1815-16. — Samuel  Kirkland,  Samuel  Knight,  Levi  Park. 
1817. — Martin  Kirkland,  .Yaron  Hall,  Jesse  Joy, 
1818,— Martin  Kirkland,  Aaron  Hall,  Jabez  B,  Sackett. 
1819-20.— Martin  Kirkland,  Levi  Park,  Joseph  Stanton. 
1821, — Samuel  Kirkland,  .Tosepli  Stantfui,  Azariah  Lyman, 
1822, — Samuel  Kirkland,  Joseph  Stanton,  Levi  Park, 
1823,— Samuel  Kirkland,  Erastus  Knight,  J,  B.  Sackett. 
1824. — Samuel  Kirkland,  Joseph  Stanton,  Silas  Warner. 
1825-26. — Joseph  Stanton,  Samuel  Knight,  Oliver  Clark. 
1827. — Samuel  Knight,  Francis  Harwood,  Daniel  Ajctell. 
1828-29.  -  Francis  Harwood,  Daniel  Munson,  Amzi  Allen. 
1830. — Francis  Harwood,  Darnel  Munson,  Augustus  Clapp. 
1831-:12, — Augustus  Clapp,  Abner  Sampson,  Elish.a  Leffiugwell. 
1833. — Joseph  Stanton,  Horace  Taylor,  Horace  B,  Dimock, 
1834, — Horace  Taylor,  Francis  Harwood,  Silas  Warner, 
lS;io, — Horace  Taylor-,  Abner  Sampson,  Samuel  M.  Kirkland, 
1836, — Horace  Taylor-,  Aar-on  B,  Dimock,  Harmon  Stanton. 
1837. — .\arou  B.  Dimock,  Harmon  Stanton,  Washington  Stephens. 
1838, — Aaron  B,  Dimock,  Datriel  ,Sarifor-d,  Lyman  Dimock. 
1839, — Abner  Sanrpsotr,  Washiirgton  Stephens,  Salmon  Thomas,  Jr-. 
1840, — Washirrgton  Stephens,  Seth  Porter,  Dearborn  Randall, 
1841. — Daniel  Sarrford,  Seth  Porter-,  Joseph  Kirkland, 
1842. — Joseph  Stanton,  Dearborn  Ratrdall,  James  H.  Williams. 
1843. — Joseph  Stanton,  Deirrbonr  Rairdail,  Washington  Steverrs. 
1844. — Francis  Hiu-wood,  William  Trrylor-,  Sanrrrel  S.  Stowell. 
1845. — William  Taylor,  Garry  Munsorr,  Ashley  Lyman. 
184G, — A,  B.  Dimock,  Garry  Munson,  .\slrley  Lyman. 
1847. — William  Taylor,  Daniel  Sarrford,  Harmon  Stanton. 
1848. — Daniel  Sauford,  Mortimer  L,  Higgirrs,  Harmon  Stanton. 
1849, — Daniel  Saufor-d,  Samuel  S.  Stowell,  .\shley  Lyman. 
1850. — D.aniel  Sauford,  Henry  Stanton,  Samuel  S.  Stowell, 
1851,— Harmon  Stanton,  Seth  Porter,  E,  B,  Tirrker. 
185-2, — A,  B,  Dimock,  E.  N,  Woods,  Henry  Stanton, 
1853.— E,  JI.  Woods,  Washington  Stevens,  E.  B,  Tinker-. 
1854. — E.  B,  Tinker,  Edw-ard  Williams,  Jabez  Stantcn, 
1855.— Washington  Stevens,  Edward  Williams,  Melvin  Copelarr.l. 
1856. — Washington  Stevens,  John  Park,  Jjimes  Jones. 
1857.— Garry  Munson,  Eli  L,  Edwards,  S.  S,  Stowell, 
1858-60,^ohu  Pai-ks,  C.  H.  Kirkland,  Moses  M,  Lyman, 
1801-62,— C.  H,  Kirkland,  G,  S.  Lewis,  Wm,  P,  Miller, 
1863, — Daniel  Fr-y,  Jairns  J,  Lymarr,  E.  B,  Tinker, 
1864. — John  Parks,  Charles  H,  Kirklarrd,  Jairrrs  J,  Lynrair, 
1805, — John  Parke,  Berrjanrin  R,  Coit,  Ashley  Lyman, 
1866-67. — Johtt  Pai-ks,  Benjamin  R,  Coit,  Win,  A.  Little. 
1808.- E,  Y.  Lilly,  C,  A.  Dewey,  N.  M,  Merritt, 
1869.— G,  Munson,  E.  V.  Lilly,  Dexter  Lyman. 
1870.— E.  N.  Woods,  B.  R.  Coit,  H.  Heath, 
1871.— E,  N.  Woods,  Wm,  P,  Miller,  Henr-y  Heath, 
1872,— E.  N.  Woods,  Wm,  P,  Miller,  Wellington  Sheldon, 
1873,— E.  N,  Woods,  Wnr,  P,  Miller,  Wm.  S,  Gibson, 
1874-75.— E,  N,  Woods,  Wm,  P,  Miller,  John  Parks. 
1876,— E.  N,  Woods,  A,  S,  Sylvester,  David  Smith, 
1877. — E.  N,  Woods,  Wm,  P,  Miller,  John  Parks, 
1878, — E,  X,  Woods,  Berrjaniiri  R,  Coit,  E,  D,  Rrriie. 


512 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


TOWN    CLERKS. 

.Tulin  Kirkhiiui,  1T73-7G;  records  lost  four  yeare;  Wni.  Fobcs,  17^0 ;  .Samuel 
Knight,  1781-92,  died  in  office;  Aaron  Hall,  1792-97 ;  Titus  Pomeroy,  1798-09; 
Elialiim  Sylvester,  1800;  Ilodolplms  Knight,  l.sOl-5  ;  Samuel  Knight,  180C-12  ; 
Wm.  Hooker,  Jr.,  1813-13 ;  Artemas  Knight,  lSlG-20 ;  Richardson  Hall,  1821-20  ; 
George  Dunlap,  1S27-30;  Aaron  Dimock,  1831-35  ;  Oliver  Clark,  .Ir.,  1830-37; 
Nathan  Harwood,  1838-11 ;  Henry  Stanton,  1842 ;  H.  D.  Knight,  1843-44;  Heury 
Stanton,  1845-49;  Edward  Williams,  1850-53;  Lyuum  Diuiock,  1854;  Daniel 
Granger,  1855-50 ;  E.  N.  Woods,  1857  ;  Alfred  M.  Colwhind,  1858  ;  A.  J.  Stanton, 
1859-62  ;  B.  N.  Woods,  1803-05  ;  Wm.  S.  Tinkci-,  1806-79. 

REPRESENTATIVE.S   TO   THE   GENERAL    COURT. 

Ehenezor  Meacham,  1774;  David  Scott,  1777  ;  John  Kirkland,  1770-83;  Jona- 
than Ware,  1785;  Itovid  Scott,  1788;  Aaron  Hall,  1805-12 ;  Jesse  Joy,  1813-16 ; 
Aaron  Hall,  1817;  Samuel  Kirkland,  1823-20;  Joseph  Stanton,  1830-32;  Silas 
Warner,  1833;  Aaron  B.  Dimock,  IS.'U;  Augustus  Clapp,  1.835;  Horace  Taylor, 
1830-37 ;  Joseph  Stanton,  1838 ;  Aaron  B.  Dimock,  1840 ;  Lyman  Dimock,  1841 ; 
Francis  Harwood,  1842  ;  Garry  Munson,  1844  ;  Ebenezer  B.  Wright,  1840  ;  Sal- 
mon Parsons,  IS.'jO;  M'ni.  Taylor,  1851;  Henry  Stanton,  1852;  Thomas  Ring, 
1855 ;  Charles  H.  Kirkland,  1800-04 ;  Edwaid  H.  Latlirop,  1808 ;  Elijah  N. 
Woods,  1873. 

Those  who  think  the  exemption  of  United  States  bonds  from 
taxation  a  modern  affair,  and  suppose  it  duo  to  the  action  of 
Congress  during  .the  civil  war,  will  be  reminded  that  it  is  a 
question  far  older  than  that  by  reading  in  the  town  records  of 
Norwich  that  in  1848  a  clause  was  inserted  in  the  warrant  for 
a  town-meeting : 

"To  see  if  the  town  will  petition  the  Legislature  to  invoke  tlie  attention 
of  Congress  upon  the  injustice  of  a  law  whereby  United  Slates  siocl-n  are  exempted 
front  t<i.r(Uion  in  the  hands  of  their  owners  iu  the  several  StJites." 

There  must  have  been  "bloated  bondholders''  somebody 
was  "going  for"  in  Norwich  at  that  time. 

VII.LA(4ES— .SPECIAL  OR  LOCAL  NAMES. 
NORWICH    HILL 

is  the  name  by  which  the  old  business  point  in  the  town  was 
known  in  the  early  times,  and  it  bears  the  same  designation 
yet.  It  is  rather  divided  into  two  portions :  the  northern 
part,  whore  are  mills,  shops,  school-house,  and  the  post- 
office  ;  the  southern  part,  where  is  located  the  Congrega- 
tional meeting-house,  a  school-house,  and  a  few  dwelling- 
liousos.  Together,  this  is  the  "Norwich"  of  old  times, — the 
residence  of  the  Kirklands,  the  Knights,  the  Hannums,  and, 
not  far  away,  the  Fairmans,  Fobes,  and  others,  of  1773. 

NORWICH    HOLLOW. 

This  is  an  old  name  not  belonging  to  any  village,  but 
applied  to  the  valley  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  and 
the  central,  as  distinguished  from  the  "Hill."  It  included 
the  homesteads  of  those  early  settlers,  Eude  and  Miller  and 
Pitcher.  From  the  latter  comes  the  name  "  Pitcher's  Bridge," 
an  old  and  familiar  term  in  this  section  of  country. 

KNIGHTVILLE 

lies  a  little  northwest  of  "  Norwich  Hill,''  in  the  valley  of  the 
east  branch.  Whatever  there  is  of  the  village  grew  up 
around  the  shops  and  mills,  and  the  improvement  of  the 
water-power  generally.  Its  name,  of  course,  is  derived  from 
the  Knight  familj'  in  the  town. 

NORWICH    HRIDOE 

is  an  old  point  in  the  history  of  the  town.  Here  were  located 
tlie  inn  and  tlio  grist-mill  of  Isaac  Mixer.  The  eiu'ly  town- 
meetings  were  warned  by  posting  the  warrant  at  Mixer's  grist- 
mill. Here  was  the  preaching-place  of  Kev.  Mr.  Bascom, 
of  Murrayfield,  before  the  organization  of  Norwich.  Here 
hoarded  the  first  minister,  Mr.  Butler,  preaching  in  Norwich. 

HUNTINGTON  (FORM  KRLY  CHESTER  VILLAGE). 

This,  with  its  surrounding  hills,  constitutes  the  territory 
annexed  to  Norwich  in  1853,  and  is  so  much  a  specimen  of 
civil  musak  work — a  gathering  together  of  town  fragments 
—that  its  history  is  difficult  to  trace.  It  was  originally  known 
as  Falley's  X-roads.  It  was  on  the  old  stage-route, — Boston 
and  Albany,  via  Springfield.     It  was  very  nearly  at  the  inter- 


section of  the  lines  of  four  towns, — Montgomery,  Blandford, 
Chester,  Norwich.  When  the  Boston  and  Albany  Kailroad 
had  finally  wound  its  devious  pathway  up  the  valley  of  the 
Westfield  Eiver,  this  was  known  as  Chester  village,  the 
point  of  the  station  being  within  the  lines  of  that  town;  and 
the  village  seven  miles  west  was  known  as  Chester  Factories. 
After  the  reconstruction  of  1853-55,  the  name  was  changed  to 
Huntington  to  correspond  with  that  of  the  town,  while  the 
village  west  became  simply  Chester.  These  three  successive 
najjies  have  also  applied  to  the  post-office,  the  latter  having 
been  establii^hed  early  in  this  century.  At  first  the  mail  was 
only  twice  a  week  each  way,  and  a  little  later  three  times  a 
week.  There  was  also  a  mail-route  at  one  time  from  North- 
ampton to  Falley's  Cross-Uoads,  by  way  of  Norwich  Hill. 
The  citizens  north  hope  to  re-establish  that  old  line  dail}'  at 
the  next  letting  of  contracts. 

Daniel  Falley  and  Richard  Falley  came  in  some  time  before 
1800,  and  opened  a  tavern  and  a  store,  about  on  the  site  of  the 
present  hotel.  One  of  them  lived  near  where  Pease  store  now 
stands.  Daniel  moved  to  New  York  State  1801  to  ISO-'J,  or 
near  that  time. 

The  Falley  tavern  passed  to  Collins  about  1807,  and  the  lat- 
ter kept  it  for  many  years.  Near  the  Baptist  meeting-house 
was  the  tavern  of  Wm.  Lindsey. 

In  Huntington  village,  at  the  present  time,  is  the  plane-fac- 
tory of  George  M.  Lindsey.  The  other  mills  and  improve- 
ment of  water-power  are  spoken  of  elsewhere. 

The  store  opened  by  the  Falleys  was  continued  by  Daniel 
Collins.  The  Dwights,  of  Springfield,  opened  a  store  under 
the  management  of  Wm.  Wade.  His  widow  and  sons  con- 
tinued it  for  some  time.  Following  the  Wades  were  several 
proprietors, — Augustus  Jessup,  Dimock  &  Hannum,  Pomeroy, 
Dewey,  Pease  &  Sloan.  The  Collins  store  was  continued  by 
J.  B.  Williams,  and  in  later  years  by  L.  B.  Williams. 

Day  carried  on  the  hat  business  opposite  the  Esquire  Wade 
place.  Elijah  Rice  was  a  bfacksmith  early  in  this  century. 
Mr.  Williams,  from  whom  we  obtain  many  of  these  items,  re- 
members Rice  shoeing  horses  all  one  Sunday  for  the  armj^,  in 
the  war  of  1812.  Ebenezer  Williams  was  an  early  shoemaker ; 
shop  where  the  Congregational  Church  now  stands,  after  that 
opposite  Daniels'  factory.    Peter  Whitney  was  an  early  tailor. 

In  the  later  years  of  Huntington  village  the  name  of  Melvin 
Copeland  has  been  identified  with  every  public  interest.  He 
came  to  this  place  from  Hartford  in  1842.  He  was  from  a 
family  recognized  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  for  their  great 
probity,  moral  worth,  and  intellectual  power.  Mr.  Copeland's 
influence  in  Huntington  contributed  largely  to  the  social  and 
moral  elevation  of  the  community.  He  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  a  high  degree,  and  was  elected  to  many  promi- 
nent offices.  He  was  county  commissioner  for  three  years,  and 
a  magistrate  during  nearly  his  whole  residence  in  Huntington. 
He  died  in  18G6,  aged  sixty-nine  years. 

There  is  now  a  thriving  trade  at  Huntington  village.  The 
place  took  its  most  important  advance  from  the  opening  of  the 
railroad,  that  made  this  the  business  centre  for  quite  a  large 
section  of  country. 

The  Bolton  Grant,  so  called,  of  earl}'  times,  covered  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Huntington  village,  and  his  house  stood  a  little  north 
of  the  present  station. 

The  first  postmaster  was  Daniel  Falley.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Charles  Collins,  Lewis  Collins,  Daniel  Collins,  Jr.,  Israel 
D.  Clark.  The  name  was  then  changed  to  Chester  village,  and 
the  postmasters  were  Lyman  Dimock  and  Jabin  B.  Williams. 
The  office  was  then  named  Huntington,  and  the  postmasters 
since  have  been  Lucien  B.  Williams,  Samuel  T.  Lyman,  and 
Edward  Pease.     The  last  named  is  the  present  incumbent. 

SCHOOLS. 

At  the  first  town-meeting  following  that  of  the  organiza- 
tion, £10  were  voted  for  the  support  of  schools.    The  vote  was 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


513 


reconsidered  Oct.  26,  1773,  of  the  same  year,  and  only  £4  al- 
lowed. March  .31,  1774,  voted  £8  for  the  support  of  schools, 
a  vote  for  £17  pounds  the  14th  of  March  having  been  recon- 
sidered. April  3,  1770,  the  following  school  districts  were 
arranged  ; 

One  *' beginning  Ntu'theasteiiy  corner  of  Welker's  Grant;  thence  rnnniiig 
on  the  North  line  of  wiid  grant  to  MurrayfielJ  lino ;  thence  on  sjiid  Mnrr.aylield 
line  to  the  Soutli  line  of  Deacon  Spnrge's  grant,  exclusive  of  (_"apt.  Elienezer 
Geer  and  Rlr.  Elijah  Geer,  to  Sinithanii)ton  line;  thence  on  Soutlianipton  and 
Northampton  line  till  pal allel  with  the  fiist-nientioned  honnd ;  and  thence  to 
the  said  fiist-mentioned  himiida,  ejwliiilunj  arnet  (n-rtl  ttud  hvllmfd  utrl  Mr.  John 
G 1  iswold." 

We  copy  that  last  clause  verbatim  et  literatim. 

Another  district  (it  is  not  the  same)  is  said  to  consist  of 
David  Palmer,  Nathaniel  Ormsby,  Moses  Cook,  Samuel  Fair- 
man,  Jonathan  Ware,  Solomon  Blair,  Samuel  Wood,  with  a 
committee  of  John  Kirkland  and  Samuel  Knight.  Another, 
"  Mr.  Jame.s  Fairnum's  district  includes  Capt.  Geer  and  Elijah 
Geer,  and  south  to  Mr.  Washburn's,  and  'pei-retei'  across  the 
town,  bounding  north  on  the  hill  district."  Another,  "Mr. 
William  Carter's  district  bounds  north  on  Mr.  Fairman's  dis- 
trict, and  enchiding  all  to  the  south  end  of  the  town."  An- 
other, Deacon  Miller's  district  from  the  north  of  the  hill 
district  to  the  north  bounds  of  the  town. 

These  four  names  stand  in  the  record  as  if  constituting 
another  district,  or  else  are  the  inhabitants  in  the  last  men- 
tioned above,  or  finally  are  a  committee  that  reported  the 
above  plan, — Mr.  Carter,  John  Kirkland,  .James  Fairman, 
David  Scott. 

September,  1782,  five  school  districts  were  arranged.  About 
£20  were  usually  voted  for  schools  for  some  years.  In  1700, 
£30  were  voted;  in  1792,  £45  were  voted. 

The  modern  school  system  dates  from  the  enactment  of  the 
law  of  March  4,  1826.  Norwich  chose  the  first  school  com- 
mittee under  that  law  at  the  March  meeting  of  1827, — Rev. 
B.  R.  Woodbridge,  Silas  Warner,  George  Dunlap,  Erastus 
Knight,  and  Jo.seph  Stanton.  At  this  time,  and  generally 
from  1800  down,  there  was  usually  voted  .'J300  for  the  support 
of  schools. 

The  law  was  rather  inoperative  until  1829,  when  it  was 
amended  and  made  more  effective. 

After  the  annexation  of  Chester  village,  a  rearrangement 
of  districts  took  place.  The  subject  having  been  referred  to 
a  committee,  of  which  E.  B.  Tinker  was  chairman,  his  re- 
port dividing  the  town  into  seven  school  districts  was  adopted 
at  the  March  meeting  of  18.54.  The  same  year  the  school 
committee  made  a  sweeping  attack  upon  the  school-houses  of 
the  town  in  their  annual  report.  We  extract  the  following 
sharp  passage : 

"While  men  are  making  tlieir  dwellings  more  pleasant,  comfortable,  and 
healthy,  improving  their  farms,  making  their  land  more  productive,  the  barns 
for  their  cattle  and  horses  nujre  neat  and  comniodions,  their  hen-roosts  more 
tasty  and  elegant,  and  bestowing  mnch  labor  and  care  upon  their  hog-honses 
and  barn-yards,  tliere  is  one  thing  which  seems  to  be  totally  disregarded  and 
left  ont  of  this  list  of  improvements,  and  this  slighted  and  nncared-for  thing  goes 
by  the  name  of  nch(iul-lioiis<\  Instead  of  our  school-houses  being  made  better,  we 
are  compelled  to  say  that  they  rather  grow  woi^e.  Just  step  into  one  of  them 
some  cold  day,  and  there  you  will  find  a  climate  embracing  that  of  every  zone. 
Scholars  whose  seats  are  at  a  cci  tain  distance  from  the  stove  are  blessed  with 
the  delightful  temperature  of  the  temperjite  zones ;  others  situated  nearer  the 
stove  are  sufiering  all  the  intolerance  of  the  torrid  clime;  while  those  more  re- 
mote are  undergoing  all  the  seveiities  of  the  fiigid  zone. 

"Several  of  our  school  buildings  are  so  shabby,  antiquated,  and  dilapidated 
that  they  are  good  for  nothing  save  as  curious  relics  of  dark  ages,  and  should  be 
preserved  only  as  such.  We  might  give  a  history  of  our  life  during  the  months 
spent  in  four  of  them,  and  tell  of  being  roasted  in  one,  frozen  in  another,  smoked 
in  a  third,  and  sickened  in  the  impure  air  of  a  fourth. 

(Signed)  "  E.  B.  Whight. 

"  Wji.  T.vvi.on. 

"S.  S.  SrOWELL." 

The  appropriation  for  schools  was  made  §600  this  year,  in- 
stead of  $400  as  in  18-52  and  1853,  due  perhaps  to  the  eloquence 
of  the  school  committee. 

The  quarter  of  a  century  following  this  date  has  seen  a 
marked  change  for  the  better  in  the  town,  as  the  several  school- 
OS 


houses  are  now  in  at  least  a  fair  condition.  Very  liberal  sums 
have  been  voted  in  some  subsequent  years,  occasionally  rising 
to  §1500  and  $1600.     For  1878  the  sum  of  $1300  was  voted. 

To  this  notice  of  the  schools  it  is  appropriate  to  add  a  list  of 
the  graduates  who  have  gone  out  from  this  town,  as  well  as 
others  who  have  entered  the  various  professions  without  com- 
pleting a  full  course  at  college:  Edward  Kirkland,  graduated 
at  Amherst  College  in  1831  ;  entered  the  profession  of  law  ; 
settled  at  Brattleboro',  and  died  there  Jan.  6,  1860.  Henry 
B.  Taylor,  Williams  College;  entered  the  ministry.  Henry 
B.  Lewis,  Amherst  College  ;  his  health  failing,  he  left  without 
graduating;  afterward  studied  law,  and  settled  at  Westfield. 
Homer  B.  Stevens,  Williams  College  in  1857;  became  a  law- 
yer, and  settled  at  Westfield.  Alfred  J.  Taylor,  Yale  College, 
1859 ;  entered  the  profession  of  law,  and  settled  in  New  York 
Cit)'.  Alfred  M.  Copeland  became  a  lawyer,  and  settled  in 
Springfield.  Myron  A.  Munson,  Harvard  University,  1800; 
entered  the  ministry.  Harvey  Porter,  Amherst  College,  1870; 
now  a  professor  in  the  Protestant  College,  Beirut,  Syria. 
Oscar  D.  Thomas,  Newton  Theological  Seminary ;  entered 
the  ministry,  settled  at  West  Springfield.  Asahel  H.  Lyman, 
Amherst  Agricultural  College.  Others  who  have  gone  into 
the  medical  profession  from  this  town  are  Luke  Stanton, 
Alden  Samson,  Edward  Ellis,  Horatio  (}.  Stickney,  Charles 
D.  Stickney,  Theodore  G.  Wright,  Ellsworth  S.  Ellis,  Harlow 
Fisk.  Many  others  have  filled  important  public  positions  for 
many  years,  as  Harvey  Kirkland,  long-time  register  of  deeds 
at  Northampton.  From  the  families  of  Falley,  Collins,  Mun- 
son, and  Kirkland  have  gone  out  men  who  have  become  prom- 
inent in  business  of  various  kinds. 

SCHOOL   STATISTICS. 

January,  1S37. — Eight  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  90;  average,  SO; 
winter,  150;  average,  125;  in  town,  between  4  and  IG,  180;  summer  schools,  25 
months;  winter,  21  months;  summer  teachers,  7  females;  winter,  5  males,  2 
females ;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  per  month,  $l8.fi0 ;  female,  SS.77. 

January,  1847. — Eight  schools;  attending  in  summer,  172:  average,  128;  win- 
ter, 198  ;  average,  14:i ;  in  town,  between  4  and  16,  197 ;  attending  under  4,  10  ; 
over  IG,  15  ;  summer  schools,  25  months,  14  diiys ;  winter,  23  months ;  total,  48 
months,  14  days ;  summer  teachers,  7  females  ;  winter,  5  males,  2  females ;  average 
wages  of  male  teachei-s  per  month,  817.40;  female,  SIO.II. 

Januarj",  1857. — Nine  schools;  attending  in  summer,  258;  average,  197 ;  win- 
ter, 2G4;  average,  2l:J;  attending  under  5,  10;  over  15,  12;  in  town,  between  5 
and  15,200;  summer  teatdiei-s,  9  females ;  winter,  2  males,  7  females ;  snnmier 
schools,  2G  months,  2  days ;  winter,  24  months,  3  days ;  total,  50  months,  5  days  ; 
average  wages  of  umle  teatdiers  per  month,  ^'2^  ;  female,  815.30. 

January,  I8G7. — Eight  schools;  attending  in  the  summer,  221;  average,  179; 
winter,219;  .average,  174;  attending  under  5, 13;  overl5,30;  in  town,  between 
5  and  15,  238;  summer  teacheis,  9  females;  winter,  2  males,  7  females;  summer 
schools,  29  months,  15  days ;  winter,  24  months,  10  days ;  average  wages  of  male 
teachers  per  month,  $.30.13 ;  female,  823.22. 

January,  1878. — Seveu  schools ;  repairs,  821.08;  attending,  221 ;  average,  139; 
under  5,  4 ;  over  15,  15  ;  in  town,  between  5  and  15,  194 ;  teachers,  females,  9 ; 
from  normal  school,  2 ;  school,  5G  months ;  average  wages  of  female  teachers  per 
month,  828.04 ;  taxation,  8IG0O ;  expense  of  superintendence,  8124.25;  printing, 
821..30;  income  of  local  funds  and  dog  tax, $78.40 ;  1  pi ivate  school ;  19  scholars; 
tuition,  8104.83 ;  town's  share  of  school  fund,  8229.48. 

CHURCHES. 

Rev.  Aaron  Bascom  was  settled  as  the  first  minister  of 
Murrayfield  in  1769.  The  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the 
town  which  was  afterward  formed  into  Norwich  District 
were,  of  course,  required  to  pay  their  share  of  the  expenses. 
They  insisted  that  preaching  should  be  held  among  them  a 
part  of  the  time.  This  was  granted  after  some  discussion,  and 
perhaps  dissension.  Mr.  Bascom  preached  one-third  of  the 
time  for  about  three  years  at  the  inn  of  Isaac  Mixer,  near 
Norwich  Bridge.  The  arrangement  was  not  satisfactory, 
however,  and  the  desire  for  a  separate  church  and  for  the  full 
service  of  a  settled  pastor  undoubtedly  had  considerable  influ- 
ence in  leading  the  people  to  petition  for  a  special  civil  organ- 
ization. This  having  been  obtained,  immediate  steps  were 
taken  to  provide  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  in  the  new 
district. 

Rev.  Mr.  Butler  preached  in  Norwich  for  some  months,  but 
was  not  settled.     This  was  in  1773  and  1774.     Others  were 


5U 


HISTORY  OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


emploj'ed,  but  their  names  do  not  appear  in  the  town-book. 
The  records  for  1777-70  are  also  missing,  and  the  next  name 
aj)pearing  is  that  of  the  first  settled  pastor. 

The  following  notes  from  the  records  show  the  above  facts, 
and  also  bring  out  many  iiiteresting  particulars  as  to  names, 
dates,  and  places  : 

Aug.  12, 1773.— Voted  the  pre.iiliing  to  le  lield  on  tlie  S:ibb:i11i  !it  .Tolin  Kirk- 
land'g,  Caleb  Fubes',  and  Ebenezer  King's.  Voted  .3d  ?ahl  ath  at  Mr.  Folies',  2d 
at  Mr.  Kiiklaiid's,  and  1st  at  Mr.  King's. 

Nov.  2.3,  173'J. — Voted  to  give  Mr.  Zebubtn  Butler  ,a  call  to  preach  on  proba- 
tion for  a  season. 

Nov.  20tli.— Appjinteil  Isiiac  Mi.xer,  Caleb  Fobes,  D.avid  Scott  to  treat  with 
Mr.  Butler,  "  and  in  case  Mr.  Ilntler  don't  tarry  w  ith  us,"  to  provide  preaching 
any  way  for  the  money  sulscii)  ed. 

March  31, 1774. — Voted  that  the  selectmen  shall  introduce  and  obtain  occa- 
tiion.al  preaching  as  they  have  oppoitonity  till  the  tistrict  meeting.  Voted  2 
dcdlars  to  Landlord  Mi.ver  for  keeping  Mr.  Butler  tlie  year  past.  Voted  that  the 
selectmen  sliall  provide  a  place  or  places  for  whatever  ministers  we  shall  have 
to  preach  with  ns  to  board,  and  bring  in  an  account  for  the  same. 

June  9,  1774. — Voted  20  pounds  fur  the  support  of  preaching  the  present 
year.  Voted  Landlord  King,  David  Crow,  Isa^ic  Mi.ver,  Caleb  Fobes,  and  Deacon 
Miller  a  committee  to  proportion  the  preaching  to  three  several  places,  viz.,  at 
the  house  of  Caleb  Fobes,  Ebenezer  King,  John  Kirkland,  "according  to  the 
estates  and  polls  for  the  expending  the  above  sum."  Ministerial  committee 
instructed  to  dismiss  a  minister  "if  ten  men  that  are  proper  inhabitants  make 
a  sutficient  objection  against  him,  and  try  another."  Voted  2  pounds  10  shillings 
3  pence  to  settle  with  Mr.  Butler  for  preaching  last  spring. 

Norwich,  Jan.  3, 1775. — Consideiing  the  broken  state  of  government,  and  the 
public  distresses,  we  are  still  desirous  of  enjoying  the  gospel,  and  for  the  sub- 
sclibers  to  appoint  the  place  for  preaching,  and  the  persons  to  preach,  and  set  a 
time  for  paying  the  subset  iption.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  set  our  hands. 
The  time  of  payment  is  ten  months  from  date.  Caleb  Fobes.  £1 10.-;. ;  D.avid 
Palmer,  15».  ;  Isaac  AVilliams,  £1 ;  John  Kirkland,  £2 ;  \Vm.  Cat  ter,  10«. ;  David 
Scott,  £1  10s.  ;  Samuel  Fairman,  £1  4«. ;  Daniel  Kirkland,  £1;  Jonathan  Ware, 
£1;  David  Crow,  8s.;  Zebulon  Ross,  15.i.  ;  John  Oriswold, ;  James  Fair- 
man,  12ji. 

March  0,1781. — Voted  to  accept  of  Mr.  Stephen  Tracy's  answer.  A'oted  that 
Wednesday,  the  23(1  day  of  May  next,  be  appointed  for  the  installation.  Voted  a 
committee  of  five  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements, — John  Kirkland,  David 
Scott,  Jonathan  "Ware,  Caleb  Fobes,  Samuel  Fairman. 

This  vote  was  reconsidered,  and  the  third  Wednesday  of 
March  agreed  upon. 

March  19,  1781,  the  town-meetings  were  voted  to  be  held  at 
the  meeting-house.  It  must  have  been  finished,  so  far  as  to  be 
occupied,  about  this  time.  The  first  town-meeting  being  held 
there  April  2,  1781,  religious  meetings  no  doubt  commenced 
there  about  the  same  time.  The  question  of  a  new  meeting- 
house was  agitated  somewhat  in  1782,  it  secins,  from  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  to  look  up  a  place.  This  was  De- 
cember 4th,  and  the  same  day  the  procuring  of  Mr.  Tracy's 
firewood  was  struck  off  to  William  Fobes  at  £3  8s.  A  dwell- 
ing-house was  built  for  Mr.  Tracy  in  the  fall  of  1783. 

The  first  log  house  stood  near  the  poplar-tree,  a  few  rods 
east  of  it.  The  first  church  edifice,  erected  in  1780-81,  as 
above  shown,  was  on  the  hill,  on  the  present  site  of  the  First 
Congregational  Society.  It  was  located  near  where  the  school- 
house  now  stands,  and  is  described  by  a  recent  ■K'riter  as 

"A  one-story  building,  rudely  constructed,  unsightly  in  exterior,  and  uncom- 
fortable within;  the  adornments  of  modern  times  were  wanting,  but  it  answered 
for  purposes  of  devotion ;  the  prayers  and  praises  there  were  as  acceptable  to 
God  as  though  offered  within  marble  walls  beneath  a  gilded  spire." 

The  site  of  this  house  was  not  satisfactory  to  all,  and  an 
early  etlbrt  was  made  for  a  new  house  in  a  new  place.  This 
was  only  two  years  after  the  erection  of  the  first. 

A  .second  house  was  finally  built  in  1790.  It  was  the  occa- 
sion of  many  meetings,  much  discussion,  and  no  doubt  consid- 
erable irritation.  It  was  at  last  located  where  the  present  one 
stands,  and,  as  a  compromise,  some  of  the  most  disaffected 
were  relieved  from  their  proportionate  share  of  the  expense. 

"The  building  erected  was  a  plain,  two-story  edifice,  without  any  steeple  ;  a 
porch  on  one  side  formed  the  entrance  below,  with  a  stairway  for  the  gallery  • 
-the  pul]iit  was  on  the  side  opposite  the  entrance;  over  the  pulpit  w.ts  sus|iended 
a  large  Bouniling-ljoard ;  galleries  were  on  three  sides,  with  seats  for  the  singers 
in  front  and  pews  in  the  rear  for  the  young  people.  The  pews  on  both  floors 
were  square  pens  with  seats  on  at  least  three  sides;  no  man  claimed  to  own  a 
pew;  the  people  were  annually  seated  by  the  selectmen  of  the  town.  It  was 
used  in  the  coldest  weather  without  any  heating  apparatus  except  the  foot-stoves 
of  a  few  old  ladies;  these  were  sometimo  passe.l  aronml  the  pew  for  the  benefit 


of  all  its  occupants.     The  knocking  of  men's  boots  together  to  keep  the  feet 
wa:m  often  made  considerable  clatteiing." 

This  second  house  stood  about  fifty  J'ears,  and  was  the  place 
where  the  older  people  of  the  present  time  went  to  meeting  in 
their  childhood.  The  third  house,  and  theone  in  present  use, 
was  built  in  1841,  and  dedicated  Feb.  10,  1842,  the  sermon 
being  preached  by  Kev.  E.  Davis,  of  Westfield.  It  is  in 
modern  style,  with  steeple  without  and  suitable  means  of 
heating  within.  The  congregation,  with  good  judgment,  have 
deemed  it  better  to  keep  this  in  repair  with  due  economy  than 
to  imitate  more  ambitious  places  and  build  a  house  "with  all 
the  modern  improvements,"  including  a  moriynge. 

The  church  was  organized  in  July,  1778,  composed  (as  stated 
in  Bisbee's  history  of  Huntington)  of  the  following  persons  : 
"William  Miller  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife;  Samuel  Knight 
and  Betse_v,  his  wife  ;  Thomas  Converse  and  his  wife  ;  John 
Kirkland,  Samuel  AV'arner,  Joseph  Parks,  Jonathan  W^are, 
John  Griswold,  Edward  Bancroft,  and  others  whose  names 
are  not  preserved."  This  was  the  "Congregational  Church 
of  Norwich,"  changed  in  later  j'ears  to  the  "  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Huntington,"  in  accordance  with  the  new 
name  of  the  town.  The  first  deacons  chosen  were  John 
Kirkland  and  Jonathan  Ware. 

Record  of  Ministers. — 1st.  Rev.  Stephen  Tracy,  installed 
May  23,  1784;  dismissed  Jan.  1,  1799;  resided  in  town  for 
some  years  after  his  dismission.  2d.  Benjamin  R.  Wood- 
bridge,  installed  Oct.  17,  1799;  his  pastorate  continued  more 
than  thirty  years  ;  he  resigned  .June  28,  1831,  and  removed  to 
South  Hadley.  3d.  ]{ev.  Samuel  Russell,  settled  Sept.  3,  1832  ; 
dismissed  Jan.  1, 1835,  and  died  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month. 
4th.  Rev.  Alvah  C.  Page,  settled  Jan.  1,  1835  ;  dismissed  July 
20,  1836.  Temporary  supplies.  Rev.  Vinson  Gould,  Rev.  Sereno 
D.  Clapp,  Rev.  Mr.  Pomeroy.  .5th.  Rev.  Ebenezer  B.  Wright, 
settled  Feb.  20,  1842;  dismissed  May,  1848;  afterward  chap- 
lain of  the  State  Almshouse,  in  Monson  ;  he  returned  to  Hunt- 
ington, and  died  Aug.  19,  1871.  6th.  Rev.  John  R.  Miller, 
installed  May,  1848;  dismissed  Dee.  19,  1853;  died  at  Wil- 
liamsburg, Nov.  2,  1869.  7th.  Rev.  John  H.  M.  Leland,  settled 
June  15,  1854;  dismissed  Nov.  13,  1855;  has  since  resided  in 
Amherst.  8th.  Rev.  Henry  A.  Austin,  ordained  and  installed 
Nov.  6, 1856;  dismissed  July  20,  18-59.  The  subsequent  minis- 
ters, employed  for  short  periods  as  stated  supplies,  have  been 
Rev.  Edward  Clarke,  Rev.  Wm.  E.  B.  Moore,  Rev.  F.  Hawley, 
Rev.  E.  S.  Tingley,  Rev.  C.  W.  Fifield. 

The  pulpit  is  now  supplied  (1879)  in  an  acceptable  manner 
by  Wm.  D.  Clapp,  of  Northampton,  who  has  for  some  j'ears 
been  engaged  in  active  Christian  labors,  as  well  as  actual 
pastoral  work,  though  not  ordained. 

UNION    RELIGIOUS    MOVEMENTS    AT    HCNTINGTON    VILLAGE. 

In  the  early  times  there  were  but  few  settlers  at  or  near  this 
point,  and  it  is  said  that  from  1810  to  1815  there  was  not  a 
professor  of  religion  among  the  men  living  at  Falley's  Cross- 
Roads.  There  were,  however,  three  women  who  could  not 
rest  with  this  state  of  things  existing.  They  were  Mrs.  Dr. 
Williams,  Mrs.  Daniel  Collins,  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Wade.  One 
of  them  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  another  of  the 
Methodist,  and  a  third  of  the  Congregational.  In  the  period 
from  1818  to  1820  these  three  women  held  meetings  at  the 
school-house.  They  had  some  assistance  from  younger  ladies 
in  the  district,  and  occasionally  some  help  from  abroad,  but 
the  three  were  the  pioneers  who,  with  praj-er  and  active  labor, 
laid  the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  religious  work  at  this 
village.  Under  their  eft'orts  the  old  district  school-house  was 
often  crowded  full,  with  larger  audiences  than  perhaps  either 
of  the  churches  here  now  secures. 

In  1821,  Miss  Barnes,  of  Boston,  came  into  this  part  of  the 
State,  working  as  an  evangelist,  holding  meetings  and  assist- 
ing churches  in  revival  work.  She  came  upon  invitation  to 
this  place,  and  reinained  during  the  winter  of  1821-22.     A 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


515 


great  revival  work  took  place.     Several  leading  business-men 

experienced  religinn.  TIic  women  no  longer  stood  alone. 
The}'  had  sown  in  weakness  and  tears,  but  the  glad  harvest 
hour  had  come.  Older  citizens  still  recall  one  meeting  of 
peculiar  interest,  when  the  somewhat  eccentric  lawyer  alluded 
to  elsewhere  arose  and,  with  a  trembling  voice,  told  of  his 
previous  skepticism,  and  of  the  great  change  that  had  now 
taken  place  in  his  feelings. 

After  this  for  a  _year  or  two  Kev.  Giles  Dayton,  of  Russell,  a 
Methodist,  but  not  fully  recognized  by  that  church  as  an  ad- 
hering minister,  preached  in  the  school-house  regularly,  and 
conducted  the  meetings.  After  this  the  Methodist  Conference 
sent  their  regular  circuit  ministers  here  for  a  few  years,  and  a 
class  and  church  were  formed  of  that  denomination.  The 
movement  was,  however,  promptly  supported  by  families  of 
other  sentiments.  The  chief  work  throughout  these  and  sub- 
sequent changes  was  of  a  strong  union  character.  All  de- 
nominational preferences  were  held  to  be  of  no  consequence 
compared  to  the  establishment  of  religious  meetings  somehow 
and  by  somcbodj',  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  refor- 
mation of  the  community.  A  nxoveraent  to  build  a  meeting- 
house soon  followed,  and  the  union  house  (now  known  as  the 
Baptist  Church)  was  erected  about  1836.  Each  denomination 
was  to  have  the  use  of  th& house  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
contributed  to  build  and  support  the  movement.  Not  long  after 
the  building  of  the  house,  the  families  of  Baptist  sentiments 
became  largely  reduced  in  numbers  by  death  and  removal,  and 
they  ceased  to  claim  their  share  of  the  time.  The  movement 
was  then  continued  by  the  Methodists  and  the  Congregation- 
alists.  Rev.  Cyrus  Culver,  who  had  spent  his  life  as  a  Meth- 
odist minister,  settled  here  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and 
preached  for  this  congregation,  and  the  Methodist  Conference 
ceased  its  oversight  of  this  appointment. 

This  union  movement  now  described  really  includes  what 
there  is  of  Methodist  Church  historj-  at  Huntington  village. 
The  circuit  ministers  who  were  here  from  time  to  time  are 
stated  as  Messrs.  Moulton,  Robbins,  McLauth,  Father  Tay- 
lor, Wni.  Taylor,  Wm.  A.  Braman,  Rice  Clark,  Dayton, 
Marcy,  and  Cook.  The  meeting-house  above  mentioned  was 
on  the  town-line,  a  portion  of  the  building  being  in  Blandford 
until  the  territory  was  anne-ved  to  Norwich,  in  1853. 

About  1840,  Melvin  Copeland  came  here  from  Hartford 
and  entered  upon  extensive  business.  His  arrival,  and  that 
of  others,  together  with  families  of  Congregational  senti- 
ments within  a  mile  or  two  around,  seemed  to  indicate  the 
propriety  of  establishing  a  church  of  that  faith.  It  was  not 
done  immediately,  all  still  uniting  in  the  general  work  under 
Rev.  Mr.  Culver.  About  this  time  families  of  Methodists  re- 
moved, and  there  were  several  died,  until  that  denomination 
pretty  nearly  ceased  to  claim  the  use  of  the  house. 

A  Congregational  society,  preliminary  to  the  formation  of  a 
church,  was  organized  Jan.  12,  1846,  and,  to  avoid  all  entang- 
ling questions  which  might  arise,  it  was  proposed  to  build  a 
new  house  for  themselves,  and  relinquish  to  others  the  union 
hou.se  free.  This  was  done,  except  perhaps  certain  pew-rights 
were  sold  by  individuals  afterward.  To  conclude  this  notice 
of  the  union  movement,  it  is  proper  to  add  that  when,  a  few 
years  later,  the  number  of  Baptists  in  the  place  rendered  it 
desirable  to  organize  a  church,  they  came  regularly  into  pos- 
session of  this  house  of  worship  through  the  old  pew-rights 
held  by  Baptists  through  others,  surrendered  or  donated  to 
them,  and  through  the  purchase  of  some  by  individual  mem- 
bers. It  is  still  a  neat  and  convenient  building,  kept  in  re- 
pair, and  wisely  retained,  rather  than  to  attempt  the  building 
of  a  more  costly  edifice  at  the  risk  of  debt  and  embarrassment. 

SECOND    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH    OF    lirNTINGTON    (AS 
NOW    KNOWN). 

This  church  was  organized  Aug.  26,  1846.  The  members 
received  that  dav   were  the  following:    from   the  church  in 


Norwich,  Lyman  Dimock,  Mrs.  Catherine  Dimoek,  Caleb 
W.  Hannum,  Mrs.  Minerva  Hannum,  Harvey  Hannnm, 
Widow  Hepzibah  Hannum,  Francis  Harwood,  Mrs.  Mary 
Harwood,  Milton  Knight,  Mrs.  Caroline  Knight,  Daniel 
Ludden,  Miss  Lucy  Steele,  Garry  Munson,  Mrs.  Harriet 
Munson;  from  the  Fourth  Church  in  Hartford,  Mrs.  Mary 
G.  Barber;  from  the  First  Church  in  Hartford,  Melvin  Cope- 
land,  Mrs.  Lucinda  Copeland,  Miss  Maria  L.  Lindsey  ;  from 
the  church  in  Montgomery,  Edward  M.  Taylor,  Miss  Julia 
Taylor,  Mrs.  Dolly  Taylor;  from  the  church  in  Castleton, 
Vt.,  Mrs.  Araminta  D.  Ludden ;  from  the  church  in  Chester, 
Widow  Elizabeth  Munson  ;  from  the  church  in  Southampton, 
Mrs.  Eliza  Ann  Phelps;  from  the  church  in  Becket,  Mrs. 
Lydia  W.  Williams;  admitted  by  profession.  Mrs.  Laura  M. 
Hannum,  Widow  Emeline  Lindsey;  place  not  designated  in 
the  record,  Edward  Taj'lor, — 28. 

At  the  council  there  were  present  the  following  ministers: 
Emerson  Davis,  Ebenezer  B.  Wright,  John  H.  Bisbee,  Ed- 
ward Clark,  Francis  Wairiner. 

The  first  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  pursuance  of  the 
action  of  the  society  at  a  meeting  held  Nov.  18,  1847.  They 
voted  then  to  raise  §2.500  for  that  purpose.  They  were  more 
successful  than  was  expected,  and  raised  finally  about  $4000. 
The  house  was  built  the  next  year  and  dedicated  the  first 
Wednesday  in  January,  1849. 

The  society  met  with  a  serious  loss  by  the  burning  of  this 
edifice  at  the  fire  of  Jan.  12,  1863,  which  destroyed  the  old 
town-hall  and  the  school-house.  A  vote  to  erect  a  new  one 
was  passed  within  twelve  days  after  the  fire,  and  the  present 
large  and  convenient  house  was  completed  the  same  year, 
costing  about  S7000.  A  fine  chapel  was  erected  in  1869,  at  an 
expense  of  §2000.  Of  this  sum  -SluOO  was  the  gift  of  Miss 
Julia  Taylor. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  harmony  existing  in  the  community 
and  the  liberal  views  of  those  who  founded  this  church,  it  is 
stated  that  the  minister  appointed  to  address  the  congregation 
at  the  organization  was  specially  requested  to  be  careful  and 
not  say  anything  which  would  in  the  least  reflect  unfavorably 
upon  any  other  denomination,  or  imply  any  hostility  or  an- 
tagonism to  any  branch  of  the  household  of  faith. 

There  have  been  several  seasons  of  special  revival  work  in 
the  history  of  this  church.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned 
the  year  18-50,  when  14  new  members  wore  received  by  profes- 
sion ;  18-58,  when  8  were  added;  1865-66,  when  12  united; 
1870-71,  when  18  were  received;  and  1876,  when  quite  a 
number  united  by  profession. 

A  Sunday-school  was  begun  immediately  upon  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church,  and  has  been  continued  to  the  present 
time.  It  has  a  library  of  300  volumes,  and  the  superintendent 
the  present  year  (1879)  is  David  Smith. 

Record  of  ihe  Ministers. — 1st.  Rev.  Perkins  K.  Clark,  or- 
dained as  an  evangelist  by  the  same  council  which  constituted 
the  church,  and  labored  here  for  several  years,  preaching  also 
during  the  same  period  a  part  of  the  time  at  Chester.  His 
services  here  closed  early  in  1853.  2d.  Rev.  Mr.  Eggleston, 
for  several  months.  3d.  Rev.  Townsend  Walker,  installed 
Dec.  27,  1853.  His  health  failing,  he  was  dismissed,  Aug.  2, 
1865.  He  died  at  Goshen,  July  31,  1873.  4th.  Rev.  James 
A.  Bates.  He  was  a  returned  missionary,  and  preached  in 
Huntington  one  year.  5th.  Rev.  John  H.  Bisbee,  installed 
April  10,  1867.  Labors  here  closed  May  1,  1877.  He  resides 
now  at  Westfleld.  6th.  Rev.  Henry  A.  Dickinson.  He  had 
labored  previously  at  Chester  Centre  for  ten  years.  His  labors 
commenced  with  the  church  at  Huntington,  Nov.  1,  1877,  and 
he  is  the  present  stated  supply  of  the  church  (1879). 

Record  of  the  Deacons. — Melvin  Copeland,  chosen  Sept.  28, 
1846;  died  April  5,  1866.  Edward  M.  Taylor,  chosen  Sept. 
28,  1846  ;  removed  to  Michigan.  Garry  Munson,  chosen  Feb. 
4,  18.56  ;  still  in  office  (1879).  E.  N.  Woods,  chosen  Nov.  26, 
1866;  died  June,  1878.     S.  T.  Lyman,  chosen  Nov.  26,  1866; 


516 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


moved  to  Holyoke  in  1875.  W.  S.  Tinker,  chosen  April  1, 
1877;  one  of  the  present  deacons  of  the  church.  Samuel  S. 
.Stowell,  chosen  March  3,  1877;  one  of  the  present  deacons. 
The  jiresent  clerk  is  John  J.  Cook. 

Addiiwnal  Hems. — Of  the  original  28  members  only  two 
united  by  profession  ;  the  rest  by  letters  from  other  churches. 
In  18-50,  14  were  added  after  a  few  weeks  of  special  religious 
interest;  in  18-58,  8;  in  1865-66,  12;  in  1870-71,  18;  and  in 
1876  several  united. 

Miss  Julia  Taylor,  who  donated  largely  toward  the  build- 
ing of  the  chapel,  died  March  1.3,  1870.  She  was  a  lady  of 
devoted  Christian  character,  full  of  good  deeds,  but  modest 
and  unassuming.  Were  she  living,  the  historian  would  hardly 
be  permitted  to  record  even  the  fact  of  the  donation.  Her 
name  will  be  long  cherished  with  affectionate  gratitude  by 
this  church  and  community. 

U,VPTIST   CHVRCII    OF    HUNTINGTON. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  given  in  the  account  of  the 
union  religious  movement,  we  add  the  following  account 
from  Rev.  Mr.  Bisbce's  Historical  Address,  a  sketch  expected 
from  the  pastor  of  the  church  not  having  been  received.  A 
Baptist  Church  was  gathered  in  what  is  now  Huntington  vil- 
lage in  18-52.  It  was  composed  of  members  from  diil'erent 
localities,  especially  from  the  church  previously  existing  in 
Chester.  At  a  meeting  held  for  the  purpose  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted : 

"  Jlpnoli-efl,  That  we,  Jolin  Green,  Joeeph  Stanton,  Leartus  Poiter,  EH  F.  Cady, 
Sarah  P.  Clark,  and  Laura  Porter,  after  prayerful  deliberation,  and  relying  on 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church  for  divine  wisdom  and  support,  do  now  this 
Beventh  day  of  October,  .\.D.  1852,  in  the  fear  of  God  declare  ourselves  a  visible 
Baptist  Church  in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  in 
Chester  village,  Mass." 

In  November  of  the  same  year.  Rev.  John  Green  was  in- 
vited to  become  their  minister  ;  the  invitation  was  accepted. 
Joseph  Stanton,  who  had  for  many  years  served  as  deacon 
in  the  church  of  Chester,  was  elected  to  the  same  office  in 
the  new  organization  ;  this  office  he  held  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  March,  1870.  In  1855  it  was  voted  that  this  be 
called  the  Huntington  Baptist  Church.  Between  1854  and 
1864  several  preachers  were  employed  ;  among  these  were 
Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin,  Allard,  Wheeler,  and  Hopwood. 

Rev.  Horatio  L.  Sargent  was  called  to  the  pastorate  Dec. 
26,  1864 ;  he  continued  his  active  labors  until  May  6,  1866, 
when,  on  account  of  failing  health,  he  was,  by  vote  of  the 
church,  kindly  released  ;  a  few  weeks  after  this  he  died,  uni- 
versallj'  beloved  and  lamented  bj'  his  church  and  congrega- 
tion. He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  S.  Hartwell  Pratt,  who 
commenced  his  labors  in  August  of  the  same  year  ;  he  was  a 
native  of  Wales,  in  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity and  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
He  resigned  his  pastorate  in  1867,  and  is  at  present  settled 
over  a  church  in  Lowell,  Mass.  The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  E. 
A.  Goddard  ;  he  was  a  native  of  Boston,  a-nd  was  educated 
at  Harvard  University  ;  he  was  first  settled  in  Stamford,  Vt., 
from  whence  he  came  to  this  place ;  he  closed  his  labors  here 
in  1783.  Since  that  he  has  been  settled  in  Palmer.  He  was 
succeeded,  for  little  more  than  a  year,  by  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers, 
who  was  educated  at  Madison  University  ;  he  is  now  laboring 
as  a  missionary  in  the  Indian  Territory.  Rev.  S.  D.  Ashley 
next  received  and  accepted  a  call,  and  commenced  his  labors 
June  1,  1875;  he  is  the  present  pastor  of  the  church.  The 
present  membership  in  this  church  is  100.  The  church  have 
the  old  union  meeting-house  as  their  plac-e  of  worship. 

CATHOLIC   CHURCH    OF    HUNTINGTON. 

The  first  Catholic  resident  was  John  Roach,  in  1846  ;  then 
followed  John  Gorman,  Patrick  Kelly,  and  Philip  Smith,  to 
1848;  then  Edward  Kelly,  John  Doyle,  David  Doyle,  and 
these  persons  went  for  services  once  a  year  to  Chester  (then 
called  Chester  Factories).     In  1850  services  were  attended  at 


the  house  of  Patrick  Nugent,  in  Russell  Paper-Mill  village. 
The  clergyman  or  priest  w^as  Father  Cuddihea,  who  resided 
at  Pittsfield.  In  18-53  services  were  held  in  Huntington  (then 
Chester  village),  at  the  houses  of  Doyle  and  Moore,  and  this 
clergyman  was  succeeded  by  Father  Blenkinsop,  who  held 
services  in  the  houses  of  his  people,  and  was  followed  by 
Father  Percell,  of  Pittsfield,  who  held  services  in  the  town- 
hall  once  every  si.x  weeks,  and  was  occasionally  assisted  by 
Father  Lynch.  They  were  succeeded  by  Father  McCarroll, 
of  Westfield,  and  in  1863  the  town-hall  was  burned,  and  for  a 
time  services  were  held  in  what  was  known  as  the  basket- 
factory.  The  ne.xt  pastor  was  Father  Maglinico,  of  Westfield, 
and  during  his  administration  a  site  for  a  church  was  bought 
on  what  was  called  the  Smith  lot,  in  the  south  part  of  the 
village,  which  has  since  been  abandoned  for  that  purpose,  and 
a  location  on  Maple  Avenue  is  now  purchased,  with  a  fair 
prospect  of  occupancy  soon.  The  pastor's  assistant  was 
Father  Thomas  Sullivan,  also  of  Westfield.  Father  Maglinico 
was  succeeded  by  Father  Smith,  also  assisted  by  Father  Sul- 
livan, which  last  was  succeeded  by  Father  Dermet,  who  are 
the  present  clergy  of  the  parish,  and  now  hold  services  here 
three  times  a  month,  and  when  five  Sundays  occur  they  hold 
services  four  times  a  month.  The  Catholic  population  of  the 
parish,  which  includes  all  of  that  denomination  in  Hunting- 
ton and  the  adjoining  towns  who  come  here  for  worship,  num- 
ber about  4-50  persons. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

First  may  be  mentioned  the  ancient  one  on  Norwich  Hill. 
It  is  situated  on  the  old  Shirkshire  road,  east  of  the  meeting- 
house. It  is  in  good  preservation,  and  shows  much  care  on 
the  part  of  the  living  for  the  memory  of  the  dead.  There  is 
another  burial-place  on  the  west  side  of  the  East  Branch, 
above  Knightville,  near  the  residence  in  later  years  of  E. 
Rude.  At  Indian  Hollow,  so  called,  was  an  ancient  burial- 
place.  Bodies  were  probably  removed,  or,  if  not,  the  ground 
was  w'ashed  away  by  the  floods.  In  Huntington  village  a  little 
above  the  plane-factory,  on  the  place  of  Mrs.  Joslyn,  are  two 
graves,  a  monument  marking  the  spot.  As  important  as  any 
perhaps  is  the  cemetery  at  Norwich  Bridge.  This  was  an  an- 
cient aifair.  Upon  the  old  time-stained  plat  in  possession  of 
John  J.  Cook  are  the  names  of  Ebenezer  Williams,  Duty 
Underwood,  Leonard  Williams,  Pliny  Dewey,  Charles  Culver, 
Titus  Doolittle,  Jesse  Fafnum,  Lemuel  Raymond,  Ebenezer 
Meacham,  Joseph  Stanton,  Erastus  Lyman,  Stephen  Munson, 
Electra  Johnson,  Dr.  Martin  Phelps,  John  Ellis,  Abel  Stan- 
ton, Wm,  Wade,  Moses  Hcrrick,  Elijah  Rice,  Salmon  Thomas, 
Daniel  Collins,  Grove  Winchell,  Roger  Gibson,  Zaavan  Sackett, 
Robert  Lindsey,  Levi  Dewey,  Elisha  Letfingwell,  Apollos 
Stowe. 

Early  inscriptions  are  James  Geer,  died  1789  ;  Phineas  Mix- 
ter,  1793;  Walter  Fobes  and  child,  1786-87;  Caleb  Fobes' 
wife,  1793;  Weaker  Fobes  and  two  children,  1795  and  1803; 
Ebenezer  Stowe,  Jr.,  1793  ;  John  Lindsey,  1794;  Silas  Hub- 
bell,  1783. 

This  ground,  originally  a  half-acre,  is  situated  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  on  the  road  bearing  northwesterly  from  the 
Norwich  bridge  up  the  valley  of  the  Middle  Branch.  A  few. 
years  since,  through  the  efforts  largely  of  John  J.  Cook,  this 
was  thoroughly  cleared  up  of  the  heavy  wild  growth  of  ivy  and 
larger  bushes,  enlarged  by  the  purchase  of  six  or  seven  acres, 
and  transformed  into  a  handsome  modern  cemetery.  All  this 
was  at  first  by  individual  eft'ort.  Later  an  act  of  incorporation 
was  obtained.     The  whole  expense  has  been  over  ^3000. 

TOWN  SOCIETIES. 

A  Masonic  lodge  was   organized   in  1867  at   Huntington 

village;  its  charter  dated  December  13th.      The  number  of 

charter-members  was  20.     The  several  Masters  of  the  lodge 

have  been  A.  M.  Copeland,  B.  H.  Kagwin,  Edward  Pease, 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


517 


Charles  Fay,  M.  L.  Church,  and  the  present  presiding  officer, 
James  Phillips.  It  has  a  pleasant  hall  and  is  in  a  nourishing 
condition,  the  present  membership  being  95.  Other  societies 
in  town  have  existed  from  time  to  time,  for  social  and  literary 
improvement,  for  benevolent,  temperance,  and  religious  work. 
Most  of  them  were,  however,  of  so  brief  duration  as  to  fur- 
nish little  nuiterial  for  the  historian. 

PLACES  OF  HISTORIC  INTEREST. 
Indian  Hollow  was  a  favorite  resort  for  the  aborigines  of 
the  forest,  not  only  before  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  but 
for  many  years  after  the  first  settlement  of  the  valley.  Mas- 
sa.soit  Pond,  formerly  known  as  Norwich  Pond,  is  a  tine  sheet 
of  water,  embosomed  in  a  pleasant  landscape.  The  site  of 
MLxer's  mill  and  the  old  fording-place  are  associated  with 
some  of  the  earliest  incidents  of  pioneer  life. 

INDUSTRIAL    PURSUITS. 

"  In  the  early  times  agrii-uUurc  was  the  leading  hnsineK.s  of  the  people  of 
Norwich.  Men  with  re.solnte  hearts  anil  strong  arms  removed  the  forests  and 
cultivated  the  soil.  From  the  earth  they  drew  their  sustenance.  Corn,  rye, 
oats,  and  potatoes  were  the  staple  vegetahio  productions  for  food.  Seeds  were 
sown  and  crops  harvested,  not,  as  now,  by  machinery,  but  by  hand.  Mowing- 
maehines,  horse-rakej?,  and  various  other  modern  inijilcments  of  husbandry  were 
then  unknown.  Beef,  pork,  and  mutton,  produced  by  themselves,  furnished 
them  with  meat,  while  from  the  mountain  streams  their  tables  were  liberally 
supplied  with  delicious  fish.  What  is  now  the  West,  furnishing  the  East  with 
bread  and  meat,  was  then  a  vast  wilderness,  or  broad,  unculti  vated  praii  ie.  Instead 
of  depending  upon  New  Orleans  or  the  West  Indies  for  sugar  and  molasses,  they 
tapped  the  nijiple  and  drew  the  sap  from  which  by  their  own  labor  they  procured 
a  supply  for  domestic  use,  and  often  a  surplus  to  exchange  for  otlier  necessaiies. 
Flax  was  a  product  of  much  importance  in  those  days;  this,  together  with  the 
wool  from  the  sheep,  furnished  the  clothing  for  the  people;  the  women  manu- 
factured the  cloth  from  these  articles  without  the  aid  of  machinery  propelled  by 
either  water-  or  steam-power.  They  carded,  spun,  and  wove  the  linen  and  the 
wool  by  hand  ;  the  great  and  the  little  wheel,  as  well  as  the  loom,  were  found 
in  neaily  evei-y  dwelling,  and  all  the  women  knew  how  to  use  them;  they  were 
better  players  on  these  than  on  the  piano  or  the  meludeon.  .  .  .  .Some  other 
branches  were  necessarily  pursued.  The  carjienter  found  employment  in  the 
erection  of  needed  buildings,  and  the  blacksmith  in  making  and  repairing  the 
rude  implements  of  husbandry.  These  were  mainly  of  domestic  manufacture, 
and  generally  coarse  and  clumsy  compared  w  ith  those  now  in  use.  Some  farmers 
made  nearly  all  the  tools  used  by  them  in  their  employment." 

Saw-mills  and  grist-mills  were  an  early  necessity,  and  in  a 
few  years  the  water-power  of  the  streams  was  improved  for 
a  variety  of  other  purposes. 

The  following  detailed  account  of  the  mills  and  factories 
shows  more  fully  these  diiicrent  enterprises. 

MILLS,    FACTOKIES,    ETC. 

Upon  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Manhan,  which,  rising 
southeast  of  Norwich  Hill,  flows  for  a  .short  distance  in  this 
town,  there  wa.s  formerly  a  saw-mill.  It  was  owned  by 
Loammi  Hall,  and  was  abandoned  ten  or  twelve  years  ago. 
Upon  Roaring  Brook,  at  the  present  place  of  M.  M.  Lyman, 
there  was  a  saw-mill,  a  pretty  old  affair,  erected  by  the  Ly- 
mans  of  early  times.  It  has  been  abandoned  for  many  years. 
A  little  below,  near  the  present  Theodore  Lyman  place,  was 
a  clothing-mill;  abandoned  perhaps  thirty  years  ago,  and 
built  probably  twenty  j'ears  earlier  than  that. 

In  the  northwest  corner  of  the  town,  on  Little  Eiver,  so 
called,  was  a  saw-mill  of  early  times ;  near  the  present  place 
of  the  Merritts,  given  up  many  years  ago.  The  whetstone 
works  of  the  Merritts  (father  and  son)  were  begun  about 
thirty  years  ago,  and  have  been  carried  on  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  The  works  sutfered  considerable  damage  in  the 
freshet  of  Dec.  10,  1878.  Just  over  the  line  of  Chesterfield, 
whetstones  were  made  some  years  earlier  than  at  the  place  of 
the  Merritts. 

Upon  the  main  stream  (East  Branch  of  the  Westfield),  in 
the  north  part  of  the  town,  near  the  present  place  of  E.  Kude 
(2d),  was  a  saw-mill,  and  also  a  grist-mill.  These  were  in 
the  early  years,  and  abandoned  long  ago.  For  some  distance 
below,  the  water-power  has  never  been  improved.  At  Knight- 
ville  was  first  the  saw-mill  of  Sandford,  erected  perhaps  in 
18.30. 


About  1840,  Porter  Knight  changed  the  business  to  that  of 
turning-works.  After  his  death,  Elkanah  &  Thomas  Iving, 
from  "VVorthington,  established  there  an  extensive  business, 
making  children's  cabs,  wagons,  and  carriages.  Thomas  Ring 
died.  Fire  and  freshet  both  damaged  the  buildings,  and  prac- 
tically ruined  the  enterprise.  Somewhat  later  than  the  Rings, 
Henr}'  Stanton  built  a  saw-mill,  and  also  a  grist-mill,  and 
there  was  considerable  business  done  at  that  point  about  1850, 
and  for  several  years  afterward.  The  mills  are  now  all  given 
up. 

Upon  Pond  Brook,  the  outlet  of  Norwich  Pond,  and  a 
tributary  of  the  East  Branch,  the  first  enterprise  below  the 
pond  was  a  mill  for  grinding  bark,  run  by  Selh  Porter,  1830 
to  1840,  or  somewhere  near  that  time.  Mr.  Porter's  tannery 
was  at  the  village  of  Norwich  Hill.  Near  it  was  an  ancient 
grist-mill,  owned  and  run  for  many  years  by  Whitman 
Knight.  The  building  was  afterward  turned  into  a  factory 
for  the  making  of  whip-stocks,  and  there  was  also  a  wheel- 
wright shop  there.  The  business  in  later  j'ears  has  been  car- 
ried on  by  0.  E.  Knight. 

Just  below  was  the  well-known  axe-making  establishment 
of  Caleb  Hannum,  an  old  atl'air,  and  quite  celebrated  from 
1815  to  1825,  perhaps.  His  sons,  Caleb  W.,  Harvey,  and 
Nathan,  succeeded  him  at  his  death,  in  1825,  and  they  con- 
tinued the  business  there  until  they  removed  it  to  Huntington 
village,  about  1845-4G,  and  Moses  Hannum  carried  on  the 
business  at  the  old  place  for  several  years. 

Half  a  mile  below  the  Hannums,  on  Pond  Brook,  was  the 
saw-mill  of  Willard  White,  also  numbered  among  "the  things 
that  were,  but  are  not."  Somewhat  below  has  been  a  cider- 
mill  in  later  years. 

Below  the  junction  of  Pond  Brook  with  the  East  Branch, 
the  water-power  of  the  latter  has  not  been  improved  until  we 
reach  Norwich  Bridge  and  come  to  the  site  of  Isaac  Mixer's 
grist-mill,  the  first  mill  in  the  town  of  Norwich.  By  refer- 
ring to  the  old  records  of  Murrayfield,  we  find  that  at  the 
town-meeting  of  1709  they  voted  to  warn  future  meetings  by 
posting  the  warrant  "at  lanac  Mixer's,  at  Malcom  Henry's,  and 
at  the  grist-mill."  This  would  indicate  that  Mixer's  mill  was 
not  then  built,  but  in  1773  the  town-meeting  of  Norwich  voted 
to  warn  meetings  by  posting  the  warrant  at  Mixer's  grist-mill. 
Between  1769  and  1773  was  the  date  of  this  old  mill.  It  stood 
nearly  on  the  site  of  the  present  unused  factory,  near  Horace 
Taylor's.  It  was  no  doubt  run  for  many  years,  as  "  Mixer's" 
was  an  important  point  even  earlier  than  there  was  any  struc- 
ture to  be  called  "  Norwich  Bridge."  After  the  Mixers,  the 
property  seems  to  have  passed  to  Moses  Herrick,  who  ran  at 
the  ^ame  place,  perhaps  in  the  same  building,  clothing-  and 
carding-works.  It  afterward  passed  into  the  hands  of  Clapp 
&  Taylor ;  Clapp  withdrew  and  Mr.  Taylor  remained.  The 
building  has  now  stood  idle  some  time.  Wooden  bowls  were 
once  manufactured  there,  as  early  as  1820,  perhaps. 

On  the  Middle  Branch,  emptying  in  above  Norwich  Bridge, 
are  the  wooden-bowl  works  of  Parley  Hutchins.  They  were 
preceded  by  a  grist-mill  and  a  saw-mill,  built  by  Amasa  Gib- 
son and  Horace  Smith,  1840  to  1850.  On  the  Butolph  Brook, 
uniting  with  the  Westfield  from  the  west,  below  Norwich 
Bridge,  was  once  erected  a  saw-mill,  or  at  least  a  dam  was 
built,  timbers  procured,  and  everything  ready,  and  then  the 
enterprise  abandoned.  On  this  stream  was  a  distillery, — 180O 
to  1819, — carried  off  in  the  great  freshet  of  the  latter  year. 
It  is  related  that  a  barrel  of  wines  floated  down  the  stream  to 
Westfield,  and  was  found  in  good  condition  and  secured  by  a 
family  there.  They  drank  so  much  and  so  often  that  their  con- 
dition revealed  the  prize  they  had  found,  and  it  was  recovered 
in  part  by  the  owner.  In  view  of  the  rapids  and  the  sharp, 
abrupt  falls,  it  was  a  wonderful  trip  for  a  barrel  of  liquor. 
Below  the  mouth  of  Butolph  Brook  is  the  Edgc-Tool-Factory 
of  W.  P.  Williams,  built  in  1875.  Just  below  and  joined  to 
the  factory  is  the  grist-mill,  and  also  the  saw-mill,  built  about 


518 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


fen  years  ago  by  Henry  Stanton.  They  are  now  carried  on 
by  W.  P.  Williams  in  connection  with  his  tool-factory.  On 
the  site  of  the  paper-mill  at  Huntington  village  was  a  saw- 
mill ten  years  or  more  before  the  paper  business  was  intro- 
duced. Opposite  the  paper-mill  also  was  one  of  the  earliest 
saw-mills  in  this  part  of  the  country, — went  down  by  1820 
probably.  The  paper-mill  was  built  in  18-52  by  0.  H.  Green- 
leaf  and  Lewis  H.  Taylor,  and  other  stockholders.  It  was 
opened  for  business  the  following  year,  and  was  run  for  sev- 
eral years  under  the  firm-name  of  Greenleaf  &  Taylor. 

Printing-pa])er  was  the  first  line  of  work  made,  but  for 
some  years  past  the  mill  has  been  devoted  to  the  production 
of  fine  writing-paper.  Its  capacity  is  about  a  ton  and  a  half 
per  day.  At  present  it  belongs  to  the  Massasoit  Paper  Com- 
pany, of  Springfield,  and  is  carried  on  under  the  name  of  the 
Chester  Paper  Company.  At  the  village  also  was  an  early 
tannery,  established  by  Lindsey  &  Cooley,  dating  back  to  1800 
probably.  It  was  opposite  Daniels'  present  factory.  There 
was  another  small  tannery  just  above  the  present  site  of  Dan- 
iels' factory.  The  first  water-wheel  used  at  Huntington  was 
in  propelling  a  bark-mill  just  above  this  small  tannery. 

Upon  the  site  of  the  Daniels  factory,  known  as  the  Highland 
Mills,  there  was  first  the  cotton-factory  of  Collins  &  Wade ; 
this  was  1830  to  1840.  About  this  last  date,  Melvin  Cope- 
land  purchased  the  property  and  changed  the  business  to  the 
manufacture  of  planes.  Afterward  Alfred  Copeland  made 
bedsteads  there,  carrying  on  an  extensive  business,  requiring 
large  quantities  of  maple-timber.  It  was  ne.xt  changed  into  a 
woolen-mill  by  Little  &  Stanton.  They  made  bedspreads  in 
large  quantities.  They  claimed  to  have  been  the  first  in  this 
country  to  manufacture  the  Marseilles  spread  by  power-looms. 
They  were  aided  in  this  work  by  German  operatives,  especially 
by  a  family  named  Steiger,  who  had  been  trained  to  this  work 
in  their  own  country.  Little  &  Stanton  lost  their  buildings 
by  fire,  and  rebuilt  them.  They  were  again  burned  out,  and 
again  built,  but  soon  after  gave  up  their  business  here.  Clar- 
ence Whitaker  ran  the  works  for  a  time,  making  cotton  yarn. 
Fire  put  an  end  to  this  enterprise  also.  The  Highland  Mills 
were  built,  in  1870,  by  a  stock  company,  and  run  by  the  same 
for  a  short  time,  when  they  passed  into  the  hands  of  Frost  & 
Daniels.  They  are  now  run  by  Nathan  Daniels.  The  line  of 
work  consists  of  flannels  and  robes  of  superior  quality. 

At  Huntington  village  was  also  the  basket-factory  of  R.  S. 
Bartlett  and  L.  B.  Williams,  firm-name  Bartlett  &  Williams. 
This  was  soon  after  the  railroad  was  opened.  The  business 
was  afterward  transferred  to  Northampton.  Melvin  Cope- 
land's  plane-making  business  included  carpenters'  and  joiners' 
tools  in  general.  The  same  line  of  business  is  now  carried  on, 
and  has  been  for  some  years,  by  James  F.  and  George  M. 
Lindsey.  Samuel  T.  Lyman  was  for  several  years  a  manufac- 
turer of  tin- ware,  and  also  sheet-iron  pans,  for  the  u.se  of  farm- 
ers in  making  maple-sugar.  His  successor  in  this  business  is 
Edward  A.  Allen. 

Elisha  B.  Cole  has  manufactured  baskets  at  Huntington 
during  the  last  few  years  on  an  improved  plan,  for  which  he 
received  a  patent.  E.  N.  Woods,  recently  deceased,  carried 
on  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  for  some  years.  Charles 
Pomcroy  was  also  in  similar  business.  The  Hannum  brothers 
removed  their  axe  business  to  Huntington  village  about  1848, 
and  continued  it  for  several  years.  John  Collins  had  a  wagon- 
shop  for  several  years  at  Huntington  village. 

The  ten  leading  articles  of  farm  produce  for  the  j-ear  ending 
May  1,  1875,  were  as  follows,  with  their  several  values:  But- 
ter, ?8911;  milk,  $12,000;  beef,  .$8203  ;  potatoes,  $.3464  ;  hay, 
$20,B82;  manure,  3;4.j86  ;  fire-wood,  :fio9fi7  ;  pork,  $2970;  maple- 
sugar,  §2281  ;  corn,  S21(;l. 

MILITARY. 
THK    REVOLUTION. 
Sept.  Si,  177-1.— Sninufl  Knight,  Moderator.    The  resolves  of  the  County  Con- 
greag  were  rcjwl  and  considered.    The  people  voted  their  satisfaction  with  them. 


Voted  to  choose  a  committee  to  make  return  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  tho 
sentiments  of  tliis  district  respectiug  public  distresses  of  this  province.  Voted 
that  tlie  selectmen  procure  00  pounds  of  powder,  100  pounds  of  lead,  and  2.^> 
dozen  flints  for  a  stock  for  the  district,  and  a  drum.  Voted  that  Cajit.  Ebenezer 
Geer  be  desired  to  attend  on  Thursday,  tlie  Cth  of  October,  to  lead  the  inhabit- 
ants to  the  choice  of  military  officers,  and  the  meeting  adjourned  to  that  day. 
Then  by  adjournment  met  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Miser,  innholder,  and  voted  to 
send  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress  at  Concord,  to  meet  on  the  second 
Tuesday  of  October.  Mr.  Ebenezer  Meacham  appears  to  have  been  the  dele- 
gate, as  the  .-ibove  acts  and  resolves  were  voted  to  be  delivered  to  him.  Officers 
were  chosen  for  the  military  as  above  provided,  as  shown  by  the  following 
certificate: 

"  Norwich,  Oct.  6, 1774.— At  the  desire  of  the  inhabitants  of  Norwich,  I  at- 
tended and  led  them  to  the  choice  of  the  following  militai-y  officers:  John  Kirk- 
land,  capt. ;  Daviil  Scott,  licut. ;  Ebenezer  King,  ens. 

"  Certified  :  Ebenezer  Geeu." 

The  following  agreement  was  signed  : 

"Norwich,  Oct.  G,  1774. — We  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  Norwich,  view  it  ex- 
pedient .at  this  critical  day  to  form  oureelves  into  a  '  militar  artillery'  conipany 
for  the  improvement  of  milit.ary  skill,  and  come  into  tlie  following  agreement 
and  government,  viz.,  that  the  officers  we  shall  choose  we  will  treat  with  proper 
respect  as  if  put  in  by  authority,  and  those  gentlemen,  householders  and  others, 
that  don't  choose  to  sign  the  above  articles,  we  desire  their  voice  in  the  choice 
of  officers." 

The  record  adds  this  was  signed  by  thirty-six  ;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, stops  at  that  point,  and  does  not  give  the  names. 
Little  conscious  of  the  sublime  heroism  of  these  acts,  they  did 
not  look  down  the  vista  of  one  hundred  years  and  see  his- 
torians eagerly  scanning  these  old  books  to  gather  the  name 
of  every  Kevolutionary  soldier.  Here  was  a  district  only  one 
year  after  its  formation  calmly  on/anizinr/  an  army,  and  pro- 
viding war  materials,  in  its  own  local  sovereignty,  without 
regard  to  any  higher  authority.  The  compact  signed  by  these 
tbirty-six  is  similar  in  dignity  and  historic  fame  to  tho  one 
signed  in  the  cabin  of  the  "Mayflower"  by  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  themselves.  Surely  it  is  proper  to  reiterate  the  propo- 
sition that  the  sj-stem  of  New  England  town-meetings  has 
carried  constitutional  liberty  across  the  continent. 

In  January,  1775,  it  was  voted  to  defend  and  assist  the  con- 
stable in  collecting  the  money  that  is  already  assessed  or  granted 
to  be  assessed  during  this  unhappy  state.  It  is  evident  the 
fathers  were  determined ;  still,  they  moved  cautiously',  for  they 
negatived  the  laws  of  government  "got  by  Mr.  Meacham  at 
the  Congress."  Yet  they  chose  a  committee  of  correspondence 
and  safety:  John  Kirkland,  Ebenezer  Meacham,  Wil- 
liam Carter,  David  Scqtt,  Jonathan  Ware,  Daniel 
Palmer,  Caleb  Fobes.  This  committee,  according  to  tho 
practice  of  those  times,  had  wellnigh  dictatorial  powers,  but, 
mindful  of  the  rights  of  individuals,  the  town  "enjoined"  the 
committee,  while  they  took  "all  possible  methods  to  suppress 
disorders,"  yet  that  every  person  "  s/inll  be  fairly  heard  before 
he  is  condemned,  that  we  may  enjoy  our  interests  and  jiroperty 
peaceably  and  live  as  Christians." 

Jan.  31,  1776,  the  committee  of  correspondence  ani  inspec- 
tion was  continued:  John  Kirkland,  David  Scott,  Sam- 
uel Fairman,  William  Carter,  Ebenezer  Meacham, 
Ebenezer  Kino,  Jonathan  Ware.  At  the  same  time  to 
Ebenezer  Meacham,  Caleb  Fobes,  David  Scott,  and  John 
Kirkland  was  voted  the  sum  of  39s.,  money  they  had  lent  to 
the  soldiers  of  Norwich.  Three  years  of  town  records,  1777, 
1778,  and  1779,  are  missing  from  the  old  volume. 

July  7,  1780,  it  was  voted  that  the  men  raised  by  virtue  of 
the  several  orders  of  court  of  June  last,  which  have  been  pro- 
cured and  hired  by  individuals,  shall  be  assessed  on  the  town 
at  large,  having  respect  to  past  service  done  by  individuals. 
Voted  to  appoint  a  committee  to  procure  men  under  further 
calls,— John  Kirkland,  Daniel  Kirkland,  Wm.  Fobes,  David 
Scott,  Caleb  Fobes,  Jacob  Fellows,  Stephen  Holbard. 

July  25,  1781,  it  was  voted  to  give  the  soldiers  raised,  agree- 
able to  the  orders  of  the  General  Court  of  June  30,  1781,  £4 
per  month  for  the  time  they  shall  bo  in  tho  service.  Voted 
je2G  to  purchase  1245  pounds  of  beef  for  the  Continental  army. 

Aug.  16,  1781,  it  was  voted  to  request  of  Oliver  Phelps, 
Esq.,  that  he  would  not  "strain''  this   town  for  the  last  re- 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


519 


quisition  of  beef.  Voted  to  give  dipt.  Daniel  Kirkland  and 
Mr.  Joseph  Parlv  £G0  for  their  engaging  to  do  three  year.s' 
service  in  the  Continental  army  for  this  year. 

The  names  of  the  Revolutionary  soldiers  from  this  town  or 
who  settled  here  soon  after  the  war  are  difficult  to  obtain. 
The  "History  of  Huntington,"  published  at  the  expense  of  the 
town  in  187(>,  only  gives  the  following,  doubtless  after  careful 
inquiry:  Halsey  Sandfokd,  Stephen  Angel,  Isaac  Coit.  , 
On  the  authority  of  a  vote  already  given,  it  would  seem  proper 
to  add  Daniel  Kirkland  and  Jcseph  Parks.  Stephen 
Munson  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier;  settled  in  Norwich 
about  1800,  near  the  place  now  owned  by  his  grandson,  Garry 
Munson.  Ebenezer  Williams,  of  Worthington,  was  a  Revo- 
lutionary soldier.  His  son.  Dr.  Leonard  Williams,  settled  in 
Huntington  village  about  1810.  He  had  three  sons,  William, 
Ebenezer,  Eliphalet. 

It  is  inferred  that  the  town  of  Norwich  had  but  little  sym- 
pathy with  the  Shays  rebellion.  A  party  of  insurgents  entered 
the  town  at  one  time  and  seized  the  old  Revolutionary  veteran, 
Capt.  Kirkland,  and  held  him  for  a  time,  perhaps  as  a  hos- 
tage. The  only  trace  of  this  exciting  period  to  be  found  in  the 
records  is  the  following  : 

March  25,  1782,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Meachani  and  Mr.  Abel 
Partridge  were  cliosen  delegates  to  the  convention  called  to 
meet  at  Hatfield  in  April  next.  At  a  subsequent  meeting 
their  expenses  were  allowed  them. 

WAR  OF   1S12. 

A  town-meeting  was  called  July  13,  1812,  "to  take  into 
consideration  the  momentous  and  alarming  .situation  of  the 
country  and  to  pass  any  vote  that  may  be  considered  to  be  ex- 
pedient on  the  said  subject."  Capt.  Levi  Dewey  was  chosen 
moderator,  and  they  "  voted  and  made  choice  of  Dr.  William 
Fobes  and  Dr.  Jesse  Joy  as  members  to  meet  and  assemble 
with  a  convention  to  be  convened  at  Northampton  to  consult 
on  measures  for  the  good  of  the  country." 

At  a  town-meeting,  April  4,  1814,  the  warrant  contained  the 
clause :  "  To  see  if  the  town  will  choose  a  committee  to  draft  a 
memorial  to  the  General  Court  against  war  and  the  restrictive 
measures  of  the  general  government,  and  pass  any  vote  con- 
cerning the  same."  Accordingly,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Aaron 
Hall,  Titus  Doolittle,  Stephen  Tracy,  and  William  Hooker, 
Jr.,  were  appointed  such  a  committee. 

Direct  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  war  were  of  course  un- 
popular in  New  England  in  view  of  the  public  opinion  of  this 
section  upon  the  war  itself.  Jan.  23,  1815,  it  was  voted  that 
Aaron  Hall,  Stephen  Tracy,  and  William  Fobes  be  a  commit- 
tee to  report  to  the  town  such  instructions  as  ought  to  be  given 
to  our  representative  in  the  General  Court  with  regard  to 
taxes.  The  committee  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  we  give  as  illustrating  the  public  sentiment  at  that 
time,  and  also  to  show  that  public  officials  were  denounced  as 
severely  then  as  now,  and  that  political  warfare  was  as  vindic- 
tive between  parties  then  as  now  : 

1st.  Ilesolccil,  III  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  tlxe  wliole  course  of  meiis- 
nreri  pui'sueii  by  the  general  government,  witli  regard  to  eomtnereial  restrictions 
and  tlie  present  war  with  Great  Britain,  meets  our  most  unfjualified  contempt 
and  disapproiiation. 

2d.  Itesolced,  Tliat  we  feel  deeply  alarmed  at  the  unconstitutional,  tyrannical, 
and  oppressive  measures  now  in  power;  that  if  cariied  into  etlect,  the  dear- 
bought  piivileges  of  our  common  country,  which  we  hold  far  dearer  than  prop* 
erty  or  life,  are  era-sed  and  gone  forever. 

3d.  Jtesolced,  Tliat  in  our  opinion  the  grossest  falsehoods  and  deception  have 
been  practiced  by  the  members  of  the  general  government,  or  the  people  would 
never  have  forborne  with  their  me.xsures;  that  a  continuance  of  the  war,  the 
annihilation  of  our  commerce,  the  extravagant  and  unparalleled  e.xpenditure  of 
public  property  among  their  favorites  and  supporters,  without  the  least  benefit 
to  their  country,  have  led  us  to  believe  that  they  liave  lather  songlit  to  aggran- 
dize themselves  and  the  Western  States  on  the  ruins  of  New  England. 

4th.  Ifesoh-ed,  That  we  have  no  coiitideuce  in  such  men,  nor  in  any  men  who 
shall  seek  to  betray  the  liberties  of  their  country  ;  nor  who  would  abandon  our 
whole  Atlantic  fi'{)ntier  fi  the  mercies  of  the  enemy,  and  exhaust  our  resources 


in  the  wilds  of  Louisiana,  or  in  the  more  than  wild  attempts  at  the  conrjiiest  of 
Canada. 

5th.  Jfesolredy  That  we  highly  prize  liberty  and  our  constitutional  privileges  ; 
that  we  have  borne  and  forborne  until  our  patience  is  exhausted;  that  forbear- 
ance hitherto  has  only  tended  to  increase  our  burdens,  our  taxes,  and  encourage 
our  oppressors;  that  thus  tamely  to  surrender  our  liberties  without  a  struggle 
would  be  Uie  blackest  ingratitude  to  our  ancestors  who  have  procured  our  inde- 
pendence .at  the  price  of  blood,  and  would  be  an  incalculable  injury  to  genera- 
tions yet  to  come. 

Gth.  7?ej*oh-erf,  That  we  place  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  Governor  and  Legis- 
lature of  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  Stute  authorities  of  New  England,  and  th,it 
to  them,  under  God  the  Great  Governor  of  the  woild,  we  look  for  aid  and 
direction ;  and  that  for  the  present,  until  the  public  opinion  shall  be  known, 
we  will  not  eyit^r  oitr  carrlagen,  yinj  our  coidiuental  taxes^  or  tiul,  inform,  or  a.t^iM  auif 
oliicer  in  their  collection. 

For  the  defense  of  Boston,  when  called  out  by  Governor 
Strong,  the  following  persons  are  understood  to  htive  gone, 
and  probably  others.  Perhaps  these  were  not  all  within  the 
present  town-lines:  Lieut.  Samuel  Lyman,  Ens.  Wait,  John 
Ladd,  Salmon  Belden,  Samuel  Henry,  Samuel  Sanderson, 
Harvey  Stone,  Russell  Smith,  Perkins  S.  Pitcher. 

OFFICIAL    ACTION,    CIVIL    WAR    1801-65. 

A  special  town-meeting  was  held  in  September,  1861,  at 
which  action  was  simply  taken  to  furnish  State  aid  to  the 
families  of  volunteers,  as  provided  by  law,  it  evidently  not 
being  deemed  necessary  to  oiler  any  bounty  then  on  the  part 
of  the  town.  Without  waiting  for  any  official  action,  quite  a 
number  of  citizens  volunteered  in  the  spring  and  during  the 
summer. 

July  19,  18G2,  the  calls  by  the  President  for  300,000  men 
led  now  to  prompt  action.  A  bounty  of  §100  each  was  voted 
to  volunteers  to  till  the  quota,  and  |1800  appropriated  for  that 
purpose  ;  and  August  23d  this  bounty  was  extended  to  those 
enlisting  for  nine  months  only,  instead  of  three  years.  A 
large  number  enlisted  under  these  resolutions,  and  the  roll  of 
Huntington  soldiers  rapidly  filled  up.  In  1803  the  arrange- 
ments already  made  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  without  any 
action,  and  nothing  was  done  in  town-meeting.  But  the  war 
dragged  its  slow  length  along,  and  greater  sacrifices  of  men 
and  money  were  called  for. 

April  4,  1864,  the  selectmen  were  fully  authorized  to  hire 
the  number  of  men  necessary  to  fill  the  quota  of  the  town, 
and  to  pay  each  man  a  bounty  of  §125.  June  6,  Garry  Mun- 
son and  E.  W.  Lathrop  were  appointed  to  procure  volunteers 
to  the  credit  of  the  town,  to  fill  the  present  demand,  and  all 
future  demands  which  may  be  made  upon  it;  also,  to  pay  a 
bounty  of  $300  to  each  citizen  of  the  town  who  has  been  or 
may  be  drafted  into  the  military  service  to  fill  the  quota  of 
the  town.  July  30th  it  was  voted  to  pay  a  bounty  of  §50  to 
each  volunteer  for  one  year,  §80  for  two  years,  and  $100  for 
three  years.  The  treasurer  was  authorized  to  deposit  |500 
with  the  treasurer  of  the  commonwealth  to  pay  bounties  of 
volunteers  furnished  for  the  town  by  the  State.  It  was  voted 
to  raise  by  subscription,  "  in  one  week's  time,"  ,$2000;  also  to 
assess  a  tax  of  §2000,  and  to  borrow  §1000.  All  these  steps 
were  promptly  taken.  The  war  committee  named  above  were 
active  and  efficient,  and  had  the  confidence  of  the  people. 

Jan.  2,  1865,  the  recruiting  committee  were  directed  to 
continue  the  enlistment  of  volunteers,  and  the  treasurer  was 
authorized  to  borrow  not  exceeding  §2000  for  bounty  purposes. 
May  24th,  the  town  voted  to  refund  the  money  contributed 
by  citizens  for  military  purposes  in  1804. 

The  long  agony  was  over.  The  flag  of  the  fathers  once 
more  waved  in  triumph  over  every  foot  of  the  Union.  War- 
stained  heroes  came  back  to  these  homes  and  firesides,  but 
there  were  24  who  had  fallen  in  the  fight,  and  would  hear  no 
more  the  signals  of  battle  or  the  salutes  of  peace.  Huntington 
furnished  137  men  for  the  war,  according  to  Schouler's  his- 
tory,—a  surplus  of  8  over  all  demands.  Five  were  commis- 
sioned officers.  The  entire  amount  of  aid  paid  solely  by  the 
town  was  §12,000.     The  assessed  valuation  of  the  town  for 


520 


HISTORY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


18G0  was  .?442,6.51,  and  the  populati 
families,  refunded  afterward  by  the 
^229.69;  1862,  §2227.12  ;  1863,  $3248.99  ; 

SOLDIERS'  IlECORD,  WAR  OF  1801-05. 
Charles  K.  Copelanil,  enl.  Sept.  25,  ISOl,  1st  Cav., 

Cu.  F;  disch.  Feb.  1:1,  18o:i,  fur  disability. 
Charles  H.  Ferry,  enl.  Sept.  25,  18C1,  1st  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  disch.  Nov.  7,  180t. 
William  A.  Filley,  enl.  Oct.  19, 1801,  Ist  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  di-ch.  Jan.  13,  1865.  for  disibility. 
Charles  n.  Gardiner,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1801, 1st  Cav., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  18,  1802,  for  disab. ;  died  at 

Huntington,  Aug.  10, 1802,  of  consninption. 
Frederick  Taylor,  enl.  Sept.  14,  1801,  1st  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  killed  at  Blalvern  Hill,  July  2S,  1804. 
Joseph  Underwood,  e]d.  Oct.  10,  1801,  Ist  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  disch.  Jan.  IS,  lSO:i,  for  disability. 
Harlow  Gamwell,  assf.  snrg  ,  enl.  Jan.  Ill,  1803,  2d 

Cav.;  res.  April  27,  1804. 
Edwin  F.  (biddings  corp ,  enl.  Jan.  27,  1804,  4th 

Cav.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  21,  1805. 
Joseph  R.  Gid<lings,  Corp.,  enl.  Jan.  27,  1864,  4th 

Cav.,  Co.  F;  disch.  Nov.  14,  1865. 
James  S.  Patterson,  enl.  .Ian.  27, 1804, 4th  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  disch.  Nov.  14,  1865. 
Charles  M.  Otis,  enl.  June  21,  1801,  lOtli  Inf ,  Co. 

E;  disch.  Nov.  8,  1862,  for  di.ab.;  re-enl.  2d 

11.  Art.,  July  28,  1863;  disch.  Sept.  3,  1863. 
Austin  T.  Hancock,  corp.,  eltl.  Sept.  25,  1862,  4Cth 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  180  i. 
Ileniy  Beach,  enl.  Sept.  25, 1802,  40th  M.V.  M.,Co. 

F;  disch.  July  29,  1803. 
David  II.  Coil,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1862,  46tli  M.  V.  M., 

Cj.  F;  died  June  22,  1863,  at  Ncwbern,  N.  C. 
Dudley  Driscoll,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  46lh  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29, 186:). 
Ja^oii  II.  Fjsk,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  40th  M.  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  180:1. 
Marshall  O.  Fisk,  enl.  Sept.  25,  186J,40lh  M.V.M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  ISO:J. 
Ilcury  A.  Stewart,  enl.  Sept.  2il,  1861,  2Tth  Inf.,  Co. 

A  ;  ir.nis.  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  Aug.  15, 1803. 
Edwin  II.  Coit,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  27th  Inf., 

Co.  F;  trans.  Aug.  21,  1801, to  Vet.  Res.  Corp.'. 
Watson  E.  Carr,  enl.  Sept.  2il,  1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

D;  died  of  wounds,  Oct.  7,  1804,  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 
Asa  P.  Merritt,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801, 27th  Inf,  Co.  F; 

disch.  March  24,  X863,  for  disability. 
Edward  N.  Smith,  enl.  Sept.  26,  1861,  27tll  Inf.,  Co. 

F;  re-enl.  Dec.  24,  186J;  disch.  June  20,  '05. 
Julian  A.  Wing,  enl.  Sept.  2U,  1801,  27th  Inf.,  Co. 

F;  died  Sept.  1S62,  at  New  Orleans,  La. 
Calvin  I'orler,  enl.  Aug.  20,  1861,  2ilth  Inf.,  Co.  D ; 

killed  Oct.  21,  1801,  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Va. 
Wui.  II.  Decker,  enl.  Aug.  23,  1861,  21st  Inf.,  Co. 

B ;  died  Nov.  19,  1862,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
Win.  II.  Allard,  enl.  Juno  18,  1802,  32d  Inf.,  Co.G; 

di>ch,  Nov,  20,  1862,  for  disability, 
Gilbert  W.  Brauniug,  eul.  May  29,  1862,  32d  Inf,, 

Co,  G;  re-enl.  Jan.  5,  1864;   disch.  June   29, 

1805. 
Er.iBtus  V.  LiUey,  sergt,,  enl.  Aug,  4,  1802,  34th 

Inf.,  Co,  B;  pro.  to  2d  lient,,  Sept,  1, 1861;  to 

1st   lieut.,  Nov,  25,   1804;   wounded  at  Pied- 
mont, June  5,  1864;  disch.  May  15,  1865. 
Rufns  H.  Fisk,  enl,  Sept.  2.5,  1862,  46th  M.  V.  M., 

Co,  F  ;  disch.  July  29,  186  1. 
Roland  K,  Kingsley,  enl.  Sept.  25, 1802, 4Cth  M.V. 

M.,  Co.  f ;  died  April  12,  1863,  at  I'lymouth, 

N,  C. 
James  V.  Middlebrook,   oul.  Sept,  25,  1802,  461h 

luf,,  Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  1861. 
Harvey  I'orter,  enl.  Sept,  25,  1802,  40th  M,  V.  M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,1801. 
Burwell  Seymour,  enl. Sept. 25, 1802,40th  SI.V.M., 

Co.  F;  disch.  July  29,  180:1. 
Andrew  Lacey,  enl,  Aug.  18,  1862,  27th  luf.,  Co. 

H;  re-enl.  Jan.  2,  1864;  died  July  IS,  1804,  at 

Audersonville,  Ga, 
Henry  Gouch,  eul.  Sept,  20, 1801,  27th  Inf,  Co,  K ; 

disch.  Oct.  13,  1802,  for  disab. ;  re-enl,  2d  Cav,, 

April  14,1803, 


on  121G.  The  aid  to 
State,  was,  in  1861, 
1864,  $3112.71  ;  1865, 


Esbon  J,  Burt,  enl,  Nov,  20,  1801,  31st  Inf, 

diach,  Feb,  10,  1802,  for  disability. 
Marcus  E,  Lyon,  enl,  Nov.  '20,  1801,  31st  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  died  June  8,  1802,  at  New  Orleans,  La. 
Caleb  U.  .Stickney,  enl,  Nov,  20,  1861,  31st  Inf., Co. 

B;  disch.  Jan.  19,  1863,  for  disab, ;  re-enl,  Juno 

6,  186:1,  1st  H,  Art,,  Co.  D;   disch,  Sept.  12, 

1865, 
Appleton  Vadakin,  enl,  Aug.  4, 1861,  2d  II.  Art., 

Co.  C;  disch.  May  30,  1865, 
Isaac  C,  Blanchard,  enl,  Oct.  23,  1861,  1st  Cav.,  Co. 

F;  discii.  Sept.  13.  1862,  for  disability. 
Myron  A.  Munson,  enl.  July  2S,  1804,  OUlh  M.  V. 

M.,  Co.  I;  disch.  Nov,  30,  1804. 
John  Hurley,  enl.  Oct.  15,  1802,  4Ctli  »I,  V,  JI,,  Co. 

E;  disch,  July  29,  180:1. 
Charles  H,  Kiikland,  sergt.,  enl.  Sept,  2.5, 1802, 4Cth 

M.V,  M.,  Co.  F  ;  pro.  to  2d  liout.,  June  9, 1863; 

disch.  July  29,  1803. 
Eleazer  Bryant,  sergt,,  enl.  Sept,  25,  1862,  40lh  M, 

V,  M.,  Co,  F  ;  d;scli,  July  29, 1803. 
Moses  W,  Ilannum,  Corp.,  enl.  Sept,  25,  1862,  46th 

M.  V.  M.,  Co.  F;  disch,  July  29,  1803. 
Roswell  B,  Merritt,  corp,,  enl,  .Sept.  23,  1862,  40th 

M.V.  M  ,  Co,  F;  disch,  July  29,  1803, 
Charles  E.  Roach,  corp.,  enl,  Feb.  9,  1804,  31st  Inf, 

Co.  D;  disch,  Nov.  2,  18ti4,  for  disab.;  had  pre- 
viously served  in  the  6th  Cav,  a  full  term, 
Darius  N,  Weeks,  enl.  Nov.  1801,  31st  Inf,  Co.  I; 

reenl.  Feb,  9,  1804;  discli,  Sept.  0,  1863, 
Edgar  F.  Kyle,  corp.,  enl.  May  29,  1862,  32d  Inf,, 

Co.  G ;  pro.  to  sergt.,  Jan.  5, 1804  ;  disch.  June 

20, 1805. 
Wm.  L.  Crossettc,  enl.  June  23. 1S02,  32d  Inf.,  Co. 

G  ;  pro.  to  Corp.,  Jan,  5,  1864  ;  disch.  June  5, 

1865,  by  order  of  War  Department. 
Corvelle  E.  Lewis,  eul.  May  29,  1S02,  32d  Inf,  Co, 

G ;  pro,  to  corp,  at  re-enl.,  Jan.  5, 1804 ;  died  of 

wounds,  Jlay  20,  1804. 
Samuel  Knst,  enl.  May  27,  1802,  32d  Inf.,  Co.  G  ; 

di>ch.  Nov.  7,  1802,  for  disab.;  pro,  to  Corp.  at 

re-oul.,  Feb,  17,  1804 ;  disch,  June  20, 1863. 
Wm,  Cady,  Corp.,  enl,  .\ug.  I,  1862,  a4th  Inf,  Co, 

B;  disch.  June  16,  1865. 
John  N,  Moore,  Corp.,  enl,  Aug.  4,  1862,  34th  Inf., 

Co.  U;  disch,  June  10,  1805. 
Wm.  N,  Otis,  Corp.,  enl,  Aug.  1, 1S62, 34th  Inf,  Co., 

B;  disch.  May  17,  1805. 
Francis  H,  A.xtell,  enl.  Aug.  1,  1862,  34th  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  died  July  22,  1864,  at  Stanton,  Va. 
Emerson  II.  Chapman,  enl,  Aug.  1, 1862,  34lh  Inf, 

Co,  B;  die.l  Nov,  13,  1804,  at  Salisbury,  N,  C. 
Asa  N.  Llder,  enl.  Aug.  4,  1802,  34lh  Inf.,  Co,  B  ; 

disch.  June  16,  1865. 
Ralph  Joslyn,  enl,  Aug.  1,  1802,  34tli  Inf.,  Co.  B; 

disch.  June  16,  1805. 
Alanson  C,  Lewis,  enl,  Aug,  1,  1802,  34th  Inf,,  Co. 

B  ;  disch.  Feb.  22,  1805,  lor  disability. 
Jonathan  A.  I,illcy,eiil.  Aug,  1, 1802, :J4th  Inf,,  Co, 

B;  disch.  May  13,  1805,  for  disability, 
Rufus  E.  Lyman,  enl,  Aug,  1,  1802,  34th  Inf.,  Co. 

B;  disch,  June  10,  1805, 
Levi  Phelps,  enl.  Aug.  1,  1802,  34th  Inf,  Co.  B  ; 

trans,  to  Vet.  Res,  Coi'ps, 
James  B.  Lewis,  eul,  July  20,  1804,  8th  M,  V,  M., 

Co,  II;  disch,  Nov,  10,  1804, 
Henry  E,  Stanton,  enl.  July  20,  1804,  8th  M.V,  M., 

Co,  II  ;  disch.  Nov.  10,  1864. 
George  A.  Walker,  enl.  July  20, 1S04,  Sth  M.V,M., 

Co.  II ;  disch.  Nov.  10,  1804, 
Clarence  Bartholomew,  enl.  July  10,  1804,  42d  M. 

V,  M.,  Co,  11 ;  disch,  Nov,  11,  1804. 
George  Bracketl,  enl.  July  10,  1801,  42d  .M.  V.  M  , 

Co.  II;  disch.  Nov.  11,  1864. 
James  T.  Decker,  eul.  July  16,  1864,  42d  M.  V.  M,, 

Co.  II;  disch.  Nov,  11,  1864. 
Orange  S.  .Sampson,  sergt,,  enl,  Aug,  19,  1861,  2l9t 

Inf.,  Co,  I;  pro.  to  2d  lieut,,  Sept.  2,1802  ;  to  Ist 

lient,  Oct.  :I0,  1862;  to  capt.,  April  26,  1863; 

killed  Sept.  30,  1804,  at  r.>plar  Grove,  Va. 


,?1.550.  Total,  $10,368,.51,  Of  the  men  furnished  by  the  town, 
a  number  were  recruits  hired  abroad.  Tho.se  from  the  town 
itself,  with  their  record,  are  appended  to  this  sketch. 

Co.  B; 


Phineas  F.  Knight,  corp,,  enl.  Aug,  19,  1801,  21st 

Inf.,  Co.  I;  killed  Sept,  1,  1802,  at  Chantilly, 

Va, 
Henry  A.  Weeks,  enl,  Sept.  9,  ISOl,  22d  Inf.,  Co. 

G;  disch,  July  29,1803. 
Henry  A,  Beech,  enl.  Sept,  20,  1861,  27th  Inf,  Co, 

A;  disch.  Sept.  27,  1804. 
David  G,  Hannnin,  enl,  Sept.  20, 1801,27th  Inf ,  Co. 

A;  disch.  Oct.  1,  1861,  for  disability. 
Albert  Holbroi.k,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Inf.,  Co, 

A  ;  disch.  to  re-enl.,  Dec.  2:i,  1803. 
Joseph  Stanton,  Jr., enl. Aug.  1,  1862,  34th  Inf,  Co. 

B  ;  ilisch.  June  7.  1865, 
George  F.  Horlon,  enl,  Jan.  4, 1804,  34tli  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  trans.  June  14, 1865,  to  21th  Inf. 
Leander  J,  Beals,  enl.  Aug,  30, 1802,  .37th  Inf.,  Co. 

H  ;  disch.  April  27,  1801,  for  disabibty. 
Joshua  Ilathaw.ay,  corp,  enl,  Jan.  25,  1804,  57tli 

luf,  Co,  E;  killed  May  0,1864,  in  Wilderness, 

Va, 
Benjamin   Barker,  enl,   Aug,  31,  1864,  Vet,  Res. 

Corps ;  disch.  not  given. 
Chailes  II.  Reinhart,  enl,  Aug.  31,  1804,  Vet.  Res. 

Corps;  disch.  m>t  given. 
Dwight  Strong,  enl.  Sept.  25,  1802,  4Cth  M.  V,  M,, 

Co,  F;  disch,  July  29,  1803. 
Milo  Wing,  enl.  Sept,  25,  1802,  46th  M,V,  M.,  Co, 

F;  disch,  to  re-enl,.  May  30, 1803;  re-enl.  July 

28,  1803,  2d   H,  Art.,  Co.  A  ;   disch.   Sept.  3, 

1865, 
Benjamin  F,  Hall,  enl,  Oct.  22,  40th  M,  V,  M.,  Co. 

K  ;  trans,  to  Co.  E,  Oct,  1802, 
Harvey  H,  Billings,  enl.  April  14,  1863,  2d  Cav.; 

app.  veterinary  Surg. 
John  B.  Lynuin,  Jr.,  enl,  Dec.  21, 1863,  Ist  II.  Art. ; 

wounded  in  the  Wilderness;  died  of  wounds. 

May  22,  1864. 
Wilson  G.  Stevens,  enl.  Dec.  1863, 1st  H.  Art. ;  died 

at  home  from  effects  of  wonuils,  June  25,  '64. 
William  James,  enl.  Jan,  4,  1804,  fith  Cav. 
Edward  N,  Smith,  enl.  27th   Regt,;    re-enl.   as  a 

veteran, 
Chiirles  II,  Weston,  eul,  Jan,  4,  1804,  :l4th  Regt. 
Charles  F.  Randall,  eul.  Jan,  5,  1804,  4tli  Cav.,  Co. 

E;  died  Dec.  6,  1,S64,  at  Hampton,  Va. 
Charles  E,  Halhaw.ay,  enl,  Jan,  11,1864,34th  Regt. 
Robert  Canfleld,  enl,  27th  Regt ,  Co,  A. 
Lewis  Samuels,  enl.  June  22, 1801,  G2d  N.  Y. ;  pro, 

to  1st  sergt,  and  2d  lient, 
Albert  B,  Rude,  enl.  June  3,  1861,  02d  N.  Y. ;  died 

at  Newpoit  News,  Va.,  Sept.  Ill,  1802. 
James  Coleman,  June  0,  1861,  62d  N.  Y, 
Horace  N.  Weeks,  enl,  31st  Regt. 
Albert  Thomns,  enl,  Oct.  7,  1861,  Sth  Conn. ;  re- 
enl,  Dec.  24,  1861, 
Calvin  Porter,  Jr, 
Lindsey  J.  Niles,  enl.  Aug.  1,  1862,  :J7th  Regt.,  Co. 

11 ;  disch.  April  27,  180:1,  for  disability. 
I3a.ac  C.  Drake,  eul,  Aug.  1802,  46th  Regt,,  Co.  F  ; 

died  at  Ncwbern,  June  27,  1861. 
Wm,  T.  Wilhington,  enl,  Aug.  31,  1804,  Vet.  Res. 

Coriis ;  disch,  for  disab,,  Jan.  27, 1805. 
George  W.  Filley,  eul.  1801,  1st  Cav, 
John  A,  Decker,  enl.  in  loth  Re;it.,  Co,  I. 
Austin  Richards,  enl,  in  lOtli  Regt. 
T.mothy  Coleman,  enl,  June  10, 1801,1st  Cal,;  died 

at  Camden  Street  Hospital,  B-iltimore,  Aug,  3, 

1802,  of  wounds  received, 
Henry  W.  Strong,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1861,  27th  Regt., 

Co.  A  ;  died  Oct,  17, 1802,  at  W:ishingtiin,  D,  C. 
Hugh  B.  Laidley,  enl.  Sept.  20,  1801,  ■27th  Regt,, 

Co,  A. 
John  IJuinn,  enl.  Sept,  20,  1861  (probably),  27th 

Regt,,  Co.  A. 
Nelson  Knight,  enl,  Sept.   20,   1801,   27th    Regt,, 

Co,  A  ;  died  in  the  service. 
Daniel  F.  Knight,  enl.  Oct.  17,  1861,  27th  Regt,, 

Co.G. 
Horace  H.  Gorham  (Bisbeo's  history). 
Lorenzo  Brown  (Bisbee's  history). 


The  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Munson  was  a  resident  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  and  emigrated  with  his  family,  in  1772, 
and  settled  in  the  famous  Valley  of  the  Wyoming,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Here  he  and  his  family  had  to  contend  with  all  of  the 
disadvantages  incident  to  a  new  country.  The  Indians,  too, 
were  at  times  troublesome,  and  in  1778  occurred  the  massacre 
of  the  whites.  Among  those  who  were  compelled  to  flee  from 
their  homes  was  the  family  of  Mr.  Munson,  including  Stephen 
Munson,  a  son,  and  the  grandfather  of  Garry  Munson.  The 
nurse  in  the  family  took  another  son,  and,  embarking  in  a 
canoe,  tried  in  this  way  to  escape.  The  Indians  overtook  them, 
and  they  were  carried  away  captives.  Years  after,  Stephen 
Munson  recognized  the  brother,  as  he  supposed,  with  a  tribe 
of  Indians,  but  there  was  no  recognition  on  his  brother's 
part.  Many  of  the  most  valuable  household  utensils,  brass 
kettles,  etc.,  were  buried  in  the  ground  before  the  flight. 
Stephen  Munson  was  born  in  Connecticut  about  1758,  and  was 
fourteen  years  of  age  when  his  father  removed  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  was  a  Eevolutionary  soldier  during  the  last  years 
of  the  war,  and  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service  he 
settled  at  Waterbury,  Conn.,  or  in  the  vicinity,  and  married 
Elizabeth  Andrews.     At  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  had  no 


property  save  a  little  Continental  money,  so  much  depreci- 
ated at  that  period  (1782)  that  it  was  of  but  nominal  value. 

About  1790  he  removed  to  Westfield,  Mass.,  and  thence, 
probably  in  the  year  1800,  to  Huntington  (then  Norwich). 
Hero  he  died  in  1824. 

His  widow  survived  him  a  few  years,  and  received  a  pension 
from  the  government.  He  had  three  children,  two  sons  and 
one  daughter, — Daniel,  Garry,  and  Orlinda. 

Daniel  Munson  was  born  in  Connecticut,  Jan.  22,  1786. 
He  married  Jerusha  Fowler,  daughter  of  Deacon  Ebenezer 
Fowler,  of  Westfield,  Mass.  By  this  marriage  there  were 
five  children,  four  sons  and  one  daughter, — Garry,  Stephen, 
Daniel,  Charles,  and  Cleora  Fowler. 

Garry  Munson  is  a  well-known  citizen  of  Huntington,  and 
was  born  in  that  town  (then  known  as  Norwich)  Dec"  29,  1810. 
He  spent  his  boj'hood  at  home  on  the  farm,  attending  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  in  his  fifteenth  year  the  Westfield  Academy, 
receiving  instruction  at  the  latter  five  terms  in  all.  When 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  having  a  preference  for  a  mer- 
cantile life,  his  father  started  him  in  business,  opening  a 
general  store  in  Chester  Centre.  When  he  was  twenty-one 
years  old  he  extended  his  business,  becoming  a  manufacturer 


^ctA^*-^    //^^L.t-i^-t-^ 


of  twist  buttons  (hand-made),  and  the  following  year  (1832) 
he  added  the  making  of  lasting  buttons.  His  business  increased 
rapidly,  and  in  18.3.5  he  was  employing  over  two  hundred 
persons.  In  the  spring  of  1837,  owing  to  the  introduction 
of  machinery  in  the  manufacture  of  buttons,  he  discontinued 
this  branch  of  business  in  consequence  of  competition. 

In  the  great  panic  (1837)  Mr.  Munson  went  to  Marlboro', 
Conn.,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  colored  cotton  goods. 
There  he  remained  one  year,  and  then  removed  to  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  and  went  into  the  dry-goods  business  with  Galen 
Ames,  of  that  city,  under  the  firm-name  of  Ames  &  JIunson. 
This  copartnership  existed  for  three  years,  when  Mr.  Munson 
returned  to  Huntington,  and  at  Norwich  Bridge  opened  a 
general  store,  at  the  same  time  paying  some  attention  to  farm- 
ing. He  closed  the  store  in  1847,  and  paid  special  atten- 
tion to  farming  for  one  year.  He  then  erected  a  building  at 
the  Huntington  Railroad  station,  and  engaged  in  merchan- 
dising. He  continued  four  years,  when  he  disposed  of  building 
and  stock  to  his  father.  Since  that  period  Mr.  Munson  has 
been  a  farmer,  varying  his  labors  by  the  buying  and  selling  of 
wool. 

In  his  political  sentiments  he  was  a  Whig  and  is  now  a 


Kepublican.  He  has  held  diflFerent  offices ;  was  a  selectman 
for  years,  also  assessor  and  town  treasurer ;  is  also  a  trial- 
justice.     In  1844  he  represented  his  district  in  the  Legislature. 

Mr.  Munson  was  united  in  marriage,  Nov.  6, 1833,  with  Har- 
riet Lyman,  daughter  of  Deacon  Samuel  Lyman,  of  Chester, 
Ma.ss.  There  were  born  to  them  seven  children, — Rev.  Myron 
A.  Munson,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Fair- 
haven,  Vt. ;  Ed.  G.  Munson,  stockinette  manufacturer,  in 
Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  with  whom  his  father  has  been  associated  for 
the  past  six  years  ;  H.  Willard  Munson,  farmer,  in  Hunting- 
ton ;  H.  Wilson  Munson,  a  twin-brother,  merchant,  in  the 
same  town ;  Samuel  L.  Munson,  linen  collar  nianufacturer, 
Albany,  N.  Y. ;  Emma  H.  Munson,  deceased  ;  Cleora  Fowler, 
married  to  John  K.  Judd,  of  Holyoke,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Munson  died  Aug.  18,  1860.  Mr.  Munson,  for  his 
second.wife,  married,  Aug.  14,  1861,  Mrs.  Paulina  Corning, 
daughter  of  Rufus  Smith,  of  Worthington,  Mass. 

Both  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Hunt- 
ington, and  Mr.  Munson  has  been  a  deacon  for  nearly  twenty- 
five  years,  and  was  one  of  the  original  corporators  of  the 
church  and  society,  and,  of  the  original  male  members,  he  is 
the  only  survivor  living  in  the  town. 


JABIN   B.  WILLIAMS. 


Among  the  early  settlers  of  Worthington,  Mass., 
was  Ebenezer  Williams,  who  removed  there  from 
Canterbury,  Conn.,  before  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. In  that  pioneer  period  roads  were  few  and 
difficult,  and  Mr.  Williams  was  obliged  to  transport 
his  family  on  horseback  to  their  new  home,  thread- 
ing their  way  through  the  forest  by  the  aid  of 
"  marked  trees." 

Leonard  Williams,  son  of  Ebenezer,  became  a 
physician  of  note,  and  settled  in  Chester  (now 
Huntington)  village.  There  he  was  prominent  in 
his  profession  as  well  as  in  public  affairs.  His  son, 
Jabin   B.  Williams,  whose   portrait   appears   upon 


this  page,  was  born  Jan.  5,  1800,  in  Worthington. 
The  removal  of  his  father  to  Chester  took  place 
when  he  was  four  years  old.  There  he  passed  liis 
early  life.  He  received  a  good  education,  and  when 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  removed  to 
Becket,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.  There  he  resided 
twenty  years,  after  which  period  he  returned  to 
Huntington,  where  he  died.  May  31,  1859.  Mr. 
Williams  is  remembered  beyond  his  own  immediate 
family  for  his  true-hearted  manliness,  for  his  stei'ling 
integrity,  and  for  his  fidelity  to  his  trusts  and  en- 
gagements. 

He  had  the  respect  and  the  esteem  of  the  com- 


Photo,  by  Moffitt. 


d/a^d^  C^k-^&^^.^^-.^.>z^ 


munity  in  which  he  lived,  and  during  an  active 
business  life  of  over  forty  years,  he  always,  and  with 
great  punctuality,  fulfilled  all  his  obligations,  and 
left  to  his  family  an  unsullied  reputation. 

His  political  sentiments  were  strongly  in  accord 
with  those  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  he  was 
averse  to  holding  office  or  to  public  recognition. 

He  was  early  aj)pointed  a  magistrate,  and  held 
that  position  throughout  his  life.  He  was  the  ac- 
cepted and  recognized  legal  and  friendly  counselor 
for  his  neighbors  and  the  community,  and  in  his 
judgment  and  integrity  they  had  full  confidence. 


For  years  in  Berkshire  County  he  was  the  agent 
for  the  payment  of  pensions  to  the  Revolutionary 
soldiers  in  his  vicinity.  At  his  store,  in  Becket,  it 
was  no  uncommon  sight  to  meet  thirty  or  forty  of 
these  veterans,  on  the  4th  of  March  or  the  4th  of 
September,  assembled  there  to  receive  the  bravely- 
earned  bounty  of  tlie  government  they  had  helped 
to  found.  They  indulged  in  reminiscences  of  those 
times  "  that  tried  men's  souls,"  and  fought  over 
again  the  battles  of  that  stormy  period.  Mr.  Wil- 
liams was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1853. 


B  E  L  C  H  E  R  T  O  W  N 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 
This  town  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  tlie  county, 
twelve  miles  east  of  the  Connecticut  River  and  fifteen  from 
Northampton,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Pelhani,  on  the 
south  by  Palmer  and  Ludlow,  Hampden  Co.,  on  the  east  by 
Ware  and  Enfield,  and  on  the  west  by  Granby  and  Amherst, 
Hampshire  Co.  The  town  ranks  among  the  largest  in  area  in 
the  State,  and  is  about  twelve  miles  in  length  north  and  south, 
and  has  an  average  width  of  about  five  miles. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  surface  is  rocky  and  somewhat  difficult  of  cultivation, 
but  fairly  productive.  The  south  part,  being  more  level  than 
the  other  sections,  contains  the  best  land,  althougli  some  very 
good  land  exists  in  the  north.  The  town  is  hilly  throughout  its 
entire  extent.  Great  Hill,  in  the  northeast  part,  is  a  promi- 
nent landmark.  Turkey  Hill,  formerly  known  as  Fisher's 
Knob,  lies  southwest  of  the  centre.  It  is  capped  by  "Rock 
Kimmon,"  so  named  by  the  students  of  Amherst  College  in 
1854.  This  is  a  granite  boss,  not  important  enough  to  be  called 
a  mountain,  but  forming  the  highest  point  in  the  town. 

Water-courses  are  quite  abundant.  Swift  River  forms  the 
eastern  boundary  for  a  considerable  distance,  and  affords  two 
excellent  water-privileges,  which  have  never  been  utilized  to 
any  great  extent  or  for  any  length  of  time.  Jabesh  Brook, 
which  is  more  particularly  referred  to  elsewhere,  has  its  rise 
in  Pelham,  and  flows  in  a  southerlj'  direction  through  Bel- 
chertown,  joining  the  Swift  River  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town,  near  Barrett's  Junction.  It  is  a  stream  of  considerable 
importance,  and  furnishes  several  water-privileges,  which 
have  been  utilized  from  its  earliest  settlement  by  various 
minor  manufacturing  enterprises.  Other  streams  exist  in 
difl'erent  parts  of  the  town,  chiefly  flowing  in  a  westerly 
direction.  Of  these  Batchelor's  Brook  is  one  wliich,  flowing 
westward  into  Granby,  becomes  a  stream  of  some  note  in 
that  town  and  Hadley.  Another  is  Fort  River,  which  also 
flows  westerly  to  the  Connecticut  through  Amherst  and  Had- 
ley. 

The  only  natural  bodies  of  w.iter  of  importance  are  what  are 
known  as  Upper,  Middle,  and  Lower  Ponds,  in  the  north  part 
of  the  town,  which  are  also  the  sources  of  Batchelor's  Brook 
and  Fort  River. 

RAILROADS. 
The  Amherst  and  Belchertown  Railroad  Company  was  in- 
corporated in  I85I,  with  authority  to  construct  a  road  from 
the  depot  of  the  New  London,  Willimantic  and  Palmer  Rail- 
road, crossing  the  Western  Railroad  at  Palmer,  and  extending 
northerly  through  the  towns  of  Belchertown,  Amherst,  Lev- 
erett,  Sunderland,  and  Montague  to  the  Vermont  and  Massa- 
chusetts Railroad,  at  a  point  the  most  convenient  to  intersect 
the  latter  in  Montague.  The  company  was  organized  June 
30,  1851,  and  Luke  Sweetser,  Edward  Dickinson,  Ithamar 
Conkey,  Myron  Lawrence,  Joseph  Brown,  Thomas  H.  Wil- 
liams, and  Andrew  C.  Lippitt  were  chosen  directors,  the  first 
mentioned  being  elected  president.  John  S.  Adams  was  chosen 
clerk  and  treasurer.  The  work  of  grading  the  first  section  of 
the  road  from  Palmer  to  Amherst  was  commenced  in  1852, 
and  that  section  was  opened  to  use  May  9,  1853,  and  was  oper- 
ated by  the  New  London,  Willimantic  and  Palmer  Railroad 

"  G6 


Company  under  a  lease,  until  Nov.  5,  1853,  when  it  was  oper- 
ated by  the  Amherst  and  Belchertown  Company.  The  section 
from  Palmer  to  Amherst  is  a  fraction  less  than  twenty  miles 
in  length.  The  total  cost  of  its  eonstructioji,  including  land, 
damages,  fences,  and  equipments,  was  S280,000.  It  is  now 
controlled  by  the  New  London  Northern  Railroad  Company. 
It  has  three  stations  in  the  town,  one  at  Barrett's  Junction,  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town,  where  it  i.s  crossed  by  the  Spring- 
field, Athol  and  Northeastern  Railroad,  one  at  Belchertown 
(village),  and  one  at  Dwight's  Station,  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town. 

The  Springfield,  Athol  and  Northeastern  Railroad  passes 
laterally  through  the  southeastern  section  of  Belchertown, 
having  a  station  at  Barrett's  Junction. 

SETTLE.MENT. 

The  tract  of  country  from  Shutesbury  to  Chicopee  River  was 
formerly  distinguished  as  the  best  hunting-ground  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  State.  The  hunters  were  accustomed  to  encircle  a 
large  tract  of  land  by  a  line  of  fire,  which,  burning  in  every 
direction,  gradually  enc<mipa.s.sed  the  game  in  a  circle  so  nar- 
row that  they  became  an  easy  prey  to  their  pursuers.  In  course 
of  time  the  native  forests  which  had  covered  the  land  were  in 
a  great  measure  consumed  by  this  process.  But  the  lands  that 
had  been  thus  burnt  over  were  soon  covered  with  a  species  of 
wild  grass,  aftbrding  excellent  pasturage  for  cattle,  and  for 
many  years  great  numbers  of  cattle  and  horses  were  annually 
sent  out  from  Northampton  and  Hadley  to  graze  upon  these 
hills  during  the  summer  season.  The  tract  of  land  thus  burnt 
over  included  the  territory  of  the  present  town  of  Belcher- 
town, and  the  practice  of  burning  over  the  lands  continued  for 
a  considerable  time  after  the  first  settlement. 

The  town  was  at  first  known  by  the  name  of  "Cold  Spring." 
It  took  its  name  from  a  noted  spring,  which  still  exists,  on  the 
Cyrus  S.  Bartlett  farm,  near  the  path  that  was  formerly  trav- 
eled from  Northampton  to  Brookfield  and  Boston.  After 
leaving  Hadley,  there  was,  for  many  years,  no  house  nearer 
than  Brookfield,  and  this  spring,  midway  between  the  two 
towns,  aftbrdcd  a  convenient  place  for  refreshment  to  the  trav- 
eler in  his  solitary  journej'  through  the  wilderness.  As  the 
communication  between  the  towns  upon  the  river  and  the  east- 
ern section  of  the  State  grew  more  frequent  the  spring  became 
a  celebrated  watering-place  for  travelers,  and  finally  gave  the 
first  name  to  the  township. 

The  same  territory  was  also  included  in  what  became  known 
as  the  "Equivalent  Lands,"  the  history  of  which  is  well 
known,  and  is  more  fully  considered  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
These  lands  comprised  the  territory  afterward  included  in  the 
towns  of  Belchertown,  Pelham,  Prescott,  Ware,  and  part  of 
Enfield.  At  the  time  they  were  granted  to  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut no  grants  had  been  made  to  individuals  within  their 
limits. 

In  1727  the  State  of  Connecticut  sold  its  rights  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Belchertown  to  seven  individuals  residing  in  and  near 
Boston  in  six  equal  divisions;  the  first  division  to  Paul  Dudley, 
two-thirds,  and  Col.  John  Wainright,  one-third;  second  divi- 
sion, one-sixth  to  John  Caswell  ;  third  division,  one-sixth  to 
Col.  Thomas  Fitch  ;  fourth  division,  one-sixth  to  Adington 
Devenport;  fifth  division,  one-sixth  to  Jonathan  Belcher,  Esq.  ; 
sixth  division,  one-sixth  to  William  Clark's  heirs.     During 

521 


522 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  montlis  of  October  and  November  of  that  year  the  terri- 
tory \va!-  surveyed  and  platted  by  Col.  Tiniotliy  Bwigbt,  of 
Northampton,  Col.  Dwight  was  much  employed  in  hi.s  day 
in  surveying  and  platting  towns  in  this  section  of  the  country, 
and  was  the  grandfather  of  Eev.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.D., 
afterward  president  of  Yale  College.  Col.  Dwight's  survey- 
embraced  an  area  of  27, -390  acres  of  land,  but  at  the  time  of 
the  incorporation  of  the  town,  June  .30,  1761,  its  boundaries 
included  an  addition  of  12,000  acres,  on  the  north,  a  part  of 
which  now  comes  within  the  lines  of  Enfield. 

No  sooner  bad  these  purchasers  obtained  the  Connecticut 
title  to  this  territory  than  an  attempt  was  made  to  establish 
a  settlement.  The  earlier  settlers  in  the  towns  on  the  Con- 
necticut River  had  used  the  land  as  a  hunting-ground,  and 
game  in  abundance  was  to  be  found  there ;  cattle  were  driven 
in  herds  from  those  places  to  browse  through  the  forests 
during  the  summer  season  ;  temporary  settlements  were  made 
for  the  purpose  of  bo.xing  the  pines  and  gathering  the  turpen- 
tine, and,  perhaps,  for  securing  a  competent  sui)ply  of  candle- 
wood. 

An  order  was  passed  by  the  town  of  Northan)pton  in  1G99, 
that  no  more  candle-wood  should  bo  collected  for  use  within 
seven  miles  of  the  meeting-house,  on  penalty  of  forfeiture  of 
the  same,  and  another  order  was  made,  by  the  same  authority, 
in  the  year  1700,  prohibiting  the  boxing  of  pine-trees  for  tur- 
pentine within  three  miles  ;  these  sources  of  gain  must  be 
sought  beyond  these  limits,  if  sought  at  all. 

As  a  means  of  bringing  forward  the  settlement  of  "  Cold 
Spring,"  the  proprietors  proposed  to  make  gratuitous  grants 
of  lands  to  the  settlers  in  the  older  towns  on  the  river,  upon 
condition  of  their  removal  and  permanent  settlement  upon 
the  granted  lands.  The  proposals  were  acceded  to,  and  sev- 
eral families  from  Northampton,  Hattield,  and  Hadley  re- 
moved to  the  lands  in  July,  1731.  No  records  of  the  trans- 
actions of  the  first  settlers  prior  to  1739  are  e.vtant.  From  a 
petition  on  the  flies  of  the  General  Court  in  the  State  archives, 
dated  December,  1737,  signed  by  the  settlers,  they  say  "  they 
had  twenty  families,  and  more  expected  soon  ;''  they  pray  the 
General  Court  to  grant  them  a  land-tax  to  aid  them,  "for 
they  are  about  settling  a  minister  and  building  a  meeting- 
house." 

In  another  petition  ]iresented  to  the  General  Court,  dated 
November,  1738,  the  petitioners  say  ; 

"We  have  ajrreed  with  Mr.  Nuah  Merrick  to  settle  with  ns  in  t!ie  gospel  niiii- 
ifrtry,  and  pray  for  the  privileges  of  a  township.' 

The  arrangement  was  never  consummated,  for,  in  June, 
1741,  Mr.  Merrick  was  ordained  as  the  first  minister  of  the 
town  of  "VVilbrahara.  In  January,  1739,  another  petition  was 
presented  to  the  General  Court  praying  for  the  same  privilege. 
In  still  another  petition  to  the  General  Court,  dated  Novem- 
ber, 1740,  the  petitioners  say  : 

They  "are  greatly  in  ilcht  for  hnikling  a  meeting-house,  outsiile  covered  anil 
glazed,  and  a  minister  settled;  wean-hnt  twenty  faniilies,and  owe  .Judge  Pndley 
and  otliei,'*  over  two  liniidreil  ponnds  for  lands  for  onr  minister's  settlement,  and 
to  onr  minister  between  two  and  three  hundred  ptmnds  for  Sidary  and  settle- 
ment ;  we  have  sustainetl  preiudiing  tive  or  six  years,  and  have  .advanced  the  es- 
tates of  the  propiietors  more  than  our  own  hy  settling  Cold  Spiing." 

They  followed  with  a  prayer  for  a  land-tax.  In  another  pe- 
tition a  little  later  they  say  : 

"  Three-quarters  of  the  township  is  in  the  hands  of  five  or  six  or  a  few  more 
proprietors,  who  have  drawn  us  into  difficulties,  and  now  seem  to  cut  us  ofT. 
Some  of  us  who  own  l.">0  acresof  land  only  have  been  rated  in  a  single  rate  over 
twenty  ponnds.  Some  proprietors  (non-resident)  own  thousiinds  of  acres  around 
us,  and  pay  not  a  penny." 

They  prayed  the  government  to  allow  them  to  raise  a  tax 
on  lands  of  non-resident  proprietors  ;  this  petition  was  dated 
in  1741,  and  drawn  by  Col.  Timothy  Dwight,  of  Northampton, 
who  was  the  first  signer;  it  was  not  at  that  time  granted,  but 
they  persevered  in  their  requests.  In  May,  1742,  they  fol- 
lowed with  another  petition  of  similar  import.  In  that  they 
sav  : 


"This  township  is  a  part  of  the  o^nivalent  land,  8;)  called.  Tlie  whole  was 
owned  by  a  few  children,  who  bought  it  of  Oonneclicut,  aiul  four-fifths  of  it  tie 
more  is  now  in  the  hands  of  these  gentlemen  or  others,  that  hold  under  them, 
and  live  at  a  distance.  About  twenty  of  ns  have  actually  removed  to  this  place 
with  our  families,  and  have  settled  a  minister,  raised,  covered,  aud  glazed  a 
meeting-house.  The  minister's  settlement  is  but  half  accomjtlishe^l,  nor  has  the 
cost  of  finishing  the  meeting-house  been  yet  expended  (paid).  The  minister's 
house  whijh  we  undertook  is  neglected,  and  may  rot  down  half  finisheil;  this 
is  aU  discouraging.    Our  minister  must  leave  us  if  we  CAunot  have  aid." 

This  jjetition  prevailed,  and  leave  was  given  to  tax  "all 
lands  in  the  township  one  pcnnj'  an  acre,  to  fulfill  the  contract 
with  the  minister  and  finish  the  meeting-house."  The  em- 
barrassed condition  of  the  settlers  referred  to  in  these  petitions 
retarded  the  growth  of  the  settlement. 

There  was  very  little,  if  any,  increase  of  population  from 
1730  to  1742.  After  the  power  was  granted  to  tax  the  prop- 
erty in  just  and  equal  proportions  to  sustain  their  religious 
institutions,  the  settletuent  advanced  and  success  attended 
them.  Some  of  the  means  which  they  took  to  secure  and 
perpetuate  success  appear  in  their  votes.  One  was  an  increase 
of  the  minister's  salary,  that  his  labors  may  not  be  lost.  An- 
other vote  was  pa.ssed  to  appoint  a  committee  to  see  that  there 
should  be  no  disorderly  conduct  upon  the  Sahlxdh.  The  pop- 
ulation for  ten  years  next  following  1742  more  than  doubled  ; 
in  1752  there  were  more  than  -M  families.  The  particulars  of 
the  early  religious  afiairs  of  the  town — the  central  thought 
around  which  clustered  the  fondest  aspirations  of  the  first 
settlers  of  New  England — are  elsewhere  considered. 


TlIK    FIU.ST    SETTLERS. 

Three  families  first  settled  on  the  new  territory  in  July, 

1731, — Samuel  Bascom, Hooker,  and  Benjamin  Steb- 

bins.  Soon  after,  and  the  same  year,  Aaron  Lyman  came 
from  Northampton,  and  John  Bardwell  from  Hatfield  the  year 
following.  They  made  their  selections  and  locations.  Bascora 
settled  near  where  Ebenezer  Bridgman  afterward  lived.  He^ 
built  a  small  house  some  twelve  or  fifteen  rods  from  where  Mr. 
Bridgman's  dwelling  stood,  nearly  in  a  westerly  direction. 
This  was  the  first  dwelling  erected  in  the  town,  and  tdso  the 
first  tavern,  as  Biiscom  was  licensed  to  keep  an  inn  in  1733. 
Bascom's  selection  of  500  acres  comprised  the  Moses  Hanniim 
farm,  some  of  Mr.  Bridgman's,  some  afterward  owned  by  Mr. 
Chandler,  the  Gates  farm,  and  perhaps  others  adjoining. 

Hooker  took  his  500  acres  near  the  subsequent  location  of 
Root's  mill,  easterly  and  southerly,  and  included  the  land  in 
that  section  afterward  owned  by  the  Roots,  Sabins,  and  others. 

Stebbins  made  his  selection  in  the  northwesterly  part  of  the 
town,  comprising  lands  afterward  owned  by  Col.  Zenas  Steb- 
bins, Henry  Stebbins,  Capt.  Gilbert,  and  others. 

Aaron  Lyman  settled  in  Blue  Meadow,  and  look  lands  af- 
terward owned  by  Ralph  Owen,  Alden,  and  others. 

John  Bardwell  made  his  selection  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town,  where  his  descendants  have  lived  for  several  generations. 

Of  these  first  settlers  Hooker  soon  afterward  moved  away, 
left  his  lands,  and  was  probably  succeeded  in  their  ownership 
by  Hezekiah  Root.  So  far  as  known,  he  derived  little  or  no 
benefitfrom  thesaleof  the  remainder.  Bascom  remained  on  his 
grant  about  thirteen  years,  and  then  moved  away.  Stebbins 
lived  and  died  in  the  town,  making  improvements  upon  his 
lands,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  Col.  Zenas  Stebbins.  The 
family  is  still  represented  in  the  town.  Deacon  Aaron  Lyman 
remained  as  a  permanent  settler,  raised  a  family,  and  died 
June  12,  1780,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age.  His  son, 
Josiah,  afterward  of  Goshen,  was  born  March  9,  1730,  and 
was  the  second  male  child  born  in  the  town, — a  son  of  Na- 
thaniel Dwight  (Elijah,  who  died  young)  being  the  first. 
Susanna  Lyman,  born  Nov.  10,  1734,  and  daughter  of  Aaron 
Lyman,  was  the  first.  Deacon  Lyman  left  a  number  of  de- 
scendants. 

About  1732  a  man  by  the  name  tjf  Jabez  came  into  the 
place  and  btiilt  a  small  house  on  the  west  side  of  the  brook, 


HISTOKY   OP  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


523 


and  near  to  it,  a  little  north  of  Mason's  Mill,  on  land  after- 
ward owned  by  Charles  Dunbar.  He  never  laid  out  his  500 
acres,  but  soon  moved  away.  The  stream  near  which  he 
located  took  its  name  from  him,  but  has  become  transformed 
into  Jabesh,  by  which  it  is  now  known.  The  people  gave  the 
name  of  Gilead  to  the  smaller  stream  crossing  the  road  a  little 
distance  bej'ond  Koot's  early  mill.  These  together  constitute 
the  name  of  Jabesh-Gilead,  a  city  of  some  note  in  Palestine, 
belonging  to  the  children  of  Manasseli. 

The  next  permanent  settlement  was  made  by  Col.  Timothy 
Dwight,  who  located  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  came  from 
Northampton.  He  was  proprietor  of  a  tract  of  land  extend- 
ing nearly  a  mile  each  way  from  the  centre.  He  remained  but 
a  short  time,  and  then  returned  to  Northampton.  His  son 
Nathaniel  remained,  however,  and  during  his  long  and  useful 
life  was  prominent  among  the  tirst  settlers,  and  died  March 
30,  1784,  in  the  seventy-second  3'ear  of  his  age. 

The  following  names  occur  witli  great  uniformity  in  the 
early  settlement :  John  Smith,  Joseph  King;  William,  Sam- 
uel, and  Moses  Hannum  ;  Abner  Smith,  Benjamin  Stebbins, 
Ebenezer  Warner,  Moses  Warner ;  Thomas,  John,  and  Jon- 
athan Graves;  Benjamin  Morgan,  Ebenezer  Bridgman,  Joseph 
Bridgman,  Samuel  Bascom,  Hezekiah  Root,  Robert  JJrown, 
Stephen  Crawfoot,  Israel  Towne,  Benjamin  Billings,  Thomas 
Graves,  Walter  Fairticld,  Nathan  Parsons,  EliaUim  Phelps, 
Joso]ih  Bardwell,  Israel  and  John  Cowles,  Thomas  Brown, 
Nathaniel  Dwight,  Daniel  Worthington,  James  Walker, 
Elihu  Lyman,  and  Aaron  Lyman.  Of  these,  Phelps,  Lyman, 
Koot,  Dwight,  the  Hannums,  the  Bridgmans,  Stebbins,  and 
Bascom  were  from  Northampton  ;  the  Cowles,  Bardwell,  and 
the  Graves  were  from  Hatfield  ;  the  Smiths  and  Warner  from 
Hadley. 

Particular  mention  can  lie  made  of  but  few  of  those  and 
other  early  families. 

John  Smith  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Smith,  and  grandson  of 
Joseph  Smith,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  at  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  about  1651.  He  married  Elizabeth  Hovej',  of 
Hadley,  in  1709,  and  removed  to  Hatfield  in  1711,  where  he 
was  chosen  deacon  of  the  church.  He  settled  in  Belchertown 
in  1736,  and  was  chosen  first  deacon  of  the  church  at  its  or- 
ganization in  1737.  He  was  a  prominent  actor  in  the  religious 
and  civil  aflairs  of  the  town,  and  was  authorized  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  to  call  the  first  meeting  ever  called  by  legislative 
authority  of  the  settlers  of  Belchertown  for  police  purposes, 
raising  money  to  support  the  gospel,  and  for  other  prudential 
affairs.  The  church  records  say  of  him,  "A  valuable  man  in 
his  day."  He  died  in  1777,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  Several 
of  his  sons  settled  in  town. 

Deacon  Aaron  Lyman  (formerly  spelled  Lhnon)  was  a 
grandson  of  John  Lyman,  of  Northampton,  whose  name 
occurs  there  as  early  as  1661.  He  settled  in  Belchertown  in 
1731,  and  married  Eunice,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Dwight, 
the  following  year.  He  was  chosen  deacon  in  the  church  at 
its  organization,  and  died  in  1780,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 
His  descendants  have  disappeared  from  the  town. 

Ebenezer  Bridgman  was  a  native  of  Northampton,  and 
came  to  Belchertown  in  1732.  His  father  was  John  Bridg- 
man, of  Northampton,  whose  father,  James,  was  one  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  settled  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1640,  and 
afterward  in  Springfield.  Ebenezer  Bridgman  married  Mary 
Parsons  in  1710,  and  passed  his  life  in  Belchertown,  dying  in 
1760,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  Several  of  his  descendants 
are  still  citizens  of  the  town. 

Benjamin  Stebbins,  a  native  of  Northampton,  was  a  de- 
scendant of  Rowland  Stebbins,  who  came  to  this  country  from 
England,  in  the  ship  "  Francis,"  in  1634.  He  settled  in  Bel- 
chertown in  1731,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  actual 
settler  of  the  town.  He  remained  through  life,  raised  a  family 
which  is  still  represented  in  the  town,  and  died  in  1789,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight. 


Nathaniel  Dwight  was  a  native  of  Northampton,  and  a  son 
of  Nathaniel  Dwight,  who  located  at  Northampton  in  1689. 
His  great-grandfather,  John  Dwight,  came  from  England  in 
1636,  and  located  at  Dedham.  Nathaniel  settled  in  Belcher- 
town in  1732,  married  Hannah  Lyman,  a  sister  of  Aaron 
Lyman,  and  was  a  prominent  man  in  all  civil  and  religious 
affairs.  He  .served  as  a  captain  in  the  French-and-Indian 
war,  1755-60,  was  active  and  useful  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  did  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  town.  He  died 
in  1784,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  The  family  is  still  repre- 
sented. A  second  branch  settled  about  1775,  in  the  person  of 
Henry  Dwight,  from  Western  (now  Warren),  Mass. 

Eliakim  Phelps  was  born  in  Northampton  in  1709,  and 
was  a  descendant  of  Nathaniel  Phelps,  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  that  place,  and  of  William  Phelps,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  in  1640.  He  was  the  sixth  settler 
in  Belchertown,  in  1731  or  1732.  He  lived  an  honorable  and 
viseful  life,  and  died,  leaving  descendants,  in  the  year  1777,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-nine.  For  his  first  wife  he  married  Elizabeth 
Kust,  of  Northampton,  who  bore  him  six  children,  and  died  in 
1752  at  the  age  of  forty  ;  and  for  his  second,  Elizabeth  Davis, 
of  Springfield,  whodied  in  1778,  aged  sixty-four,  and  by  whom 
he  had  several  children. 

John  Bardwell  was  a  son  of  Robert  Bardwell,  who  came 
from  London  to  Boston  about  the  year  1670.  He  settled  in 
Belchertown  in  1732,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  had 
three  sons,  Martin,  Joseph,  and  Jonathan,  who  came  with 
their  father.  The  family  has  been  active  and  influential,  and 
is  still  represented  in  the  town.  Bardwell  village  bears  their 
name. 

Moses  and  Ebenezer  Warner  were  brothers,  sons  of  Eben- 
ezer Warner,  of  Hatfield,  and  grandsons  of  Daniel  Warner, 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hatfield  in  1684.  Moses,  the  eldest, 
was  born  in  1717,  and  Ebenezer  in  1729.  The  former  mar- 
ried Sarah  Porter  in  1739,  and  died  in  1759,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two,  leaving  descendants.  Ebenezer  married  Dinah  Phelps, 
and  died  in  the  year  1812,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  Moses 
settled  in  the  town  about  1747  ;  Ebenezer  in  1752. 

William  and  Samuel  Hannum  were  brothers,  and  came  to 
Belchertown  with  families  in  1732.  They  were  sons  of  John 
Hannum,  and  grandsons  of  William  Hannum,  one  of  tlie 
earliest  settlers  in  Northampton.  William  was  born  in  1690, 
and  died  in  17.56,  leaving  three  sons.  Samuel  Hannum  died 
in  1780,  aged  eighty-eight,  leaving  two  sons.  , 

The  Graves  family  settled  prior  to  1735,  in  the  persons  of 
Thomas,  John,  and  Jonathan,  who  came  from  Hatfield,  and 
were  lineal  descendants  of  Thomas  Graves,  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  that  place.  Jonathan  was  born  in  1702,  and  passed  his 
life  in  Belchertown,  dying  in  1787  at  the  age  of  eighty-six, 
leaving  descendants.  Thomas  and  John  were  brothers,  and 
sons  of  Samuel  Graves.  The  former  married  a  daughter  of 
Isaac  Graves,  a  cousin,  and  died  in  1784,  at  the  age  of  eightj'- 
two.  .  The  latter  was  born  in  1719,  and  died  in  1798,  at  the 
age  of  eighty.  The  family  is  not  now  represented  in  the  town. 

Israel  and  John  Cowles,  sons  of  John  Cowles,  were  natives 
of  Hatfield,  and  born,  the  former  in  1720,  and  the  latter  in 
1731.  They  settled  in  Belchertown  about  the  year  1752;  both 
engaged  in  the  French-and-Indian  war,  and  went  to  the  relief 
of  Fort  William  Henry  in  1757.  Israel  died  in  town  in  1797, 
aged  nearly  seventy-one,  leaving  two  sons.  John  died  in  1811, 
aged  eighty. 

The  Towne  family  are  descended  from  William  Towne,  who 
came  to  this  country  and  settled  at  Salem  about  1640.  Israel, 
.  son  of  Israel,  purchased  a  farm  in  Belchertown,  and  settled  in 
1749,  being  then  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  married  Naomi, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Stebbins,  in  17.54.  He  died  in  1805, 
aged  seventy-eight,  and  his  wife  in  1827,  aged  ninety-two. 
Thev  left  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  a  number  settled 
in  the  town,  and  intermarried  with  some  of  the  oldest  and 
best  families.     The  family  is  still  represented. 


524 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Walter  Fairfield,  a  native  of  Lenox,  or  Ipswich,  was  an 
early  settler;  located  about  1742,  and  died  in  1756,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-three. 

Nathan  Parsons  settled  about  1740,  and  was  a  brother  of 
Kev.  David  Parsons,  the  first  settled  minister  in  Amherst. 
He  raised  a  family,  and  died  in  1806,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 

Hezekiah  Eoot  was  a  native  of  Northampton,  and  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Thomas  Root,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  North- 
ampton. Ho  settled  prior  to  1736,  married,  and  raised  a  family. 
His  brother  Orlando  also  settled,  and  died  in  180.},  at  the  age 
of  .sevcntj-two,  leaving  descendants.  Hezekiah  died  in  1792, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Benjamin  Morgan  settled  probably  in  1750,  passed  his  life 
in  Belchertown,  and  had  three  sons,  Benjamin,  Titus,  and 
Gad,  and  one  daughter,  Sarah,  who  married  Benjamin  Billings. 
Morgan  was  the  last  survivor  of  those  who  acted  in  town  at 
the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Eev.  Mr.  Forward,  in  1756.  He 
died  Aug.  21,  1812,  aged  ninety-three.  His  descendants  are 
still  represented  in  town. 

Benjamin  Billings  was  born  in  Hatfield  in  1704,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Belchertown.  He  married  Mary 
Hastings,  passed  his  life  in  the  town,  where  he  raised  a  family, 
and  died  in  1782,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Stephen" Crawfoot,  from  Northampton,  was  an  early  settler, 
before  1737.  He  served  in  the  French  war  from  Belchertown, 
and  died  in  1765,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 

Daniel  Worthington,  a  native  of  Colchester,  Conn.,  settled 
in  town  in  1753.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  French  war,  and 
went  out  in  Capt.  Nathaniel  Dwight's  company  for  the  relief 
of  Fort  William  Henry  in  1757.  He  died  at  Woodstock,  Vt., 
in  1830,  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight. 

Capt.  James  Walker  was  born  in  Weston,  in  November, 
1732,  and  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel  Walker.  He  settled  in  Bel- 
chertown in  1755,  was  twice  married,  and  had  eight  sons,  of 
whom  James,  Hezekiah,  Silas,  Jason,  and  Nathaniel  lived  to 
advanced  ages  in  town.  He  served  in  the  French  war  in  1757, 
and  died  in  1806,  aged  sevent_v-four. 


The  first  house  of  public  entertainment  was  by  Samuel 
Bascom,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  town.  He  was  licensed 
to  keep  it  in  1733,  two  years  after  the  first  settlements  were 
made.  It  was  probably  a  small  affair,  and  was  designed  prin- 
cipally to  accommodate  the  incoming  settlers.  Perhaps,  also, 
it  received  some  patronage  from  the  travelers  pa.ssing  through 
the  town  from  Northampton  to  Brookfield,  and  from  those 
persons  who  came  into  the  town  after  candle-wood,  or  for  the 
purpose  of  boxing  pine-trees  for  turpentine,  for  hunting  pur- 
poses, or  to  attend  the  large  herds  grazing  there. 

Doubtless  other  early  taverns  existed  near  the  same  time,  of 
which  tradition  does  not  speak.  Nathaniel  Dwight  kept  an 
inn  for  many  years,  as  early  as  17.50,  and  through  the  Kevo- 
lutionary  war.  Landlord  Pliny  Dwight  is  mentioned  in  the 
town  records  in  1781. 

Elijah  Dwight  kept  a  tavern  as  early  as  1783,  on  the  south 
end  of  the  town  common.     It  was  torn  down  a  few  years  ago. 

Henry  Mellen  kept  one  soon  after,  and  for  a  good  many 
years.  James  H.  Clapp  then  followed  for  twenty  years  or 
more,  and  was  a  prominent  man.  After  Clapp  it  was  kept 
by  various  persons,  including  Ephraim  and  John  Allen,  Ly- 
man Gates,  a  man  named  Topliff,  Thomas  Marshall,  R.  A. 
White,  and  Austin  and  John  White.  The  building  was 
taken  down  by  Everett  Clapp. 

Jonathan  Dwight  had  one  opposite  Mellen's,  and  kept  it 
during  a  portion  Of  the  time  that  Mellen  kept  his.     All  these' 
were  kept  in  the  central  village. 

Two  taverns  were  kept  in  "  Federal  Street"  a  great  many 
years  ago,  probably  in  the  lalter  part  of  the  last  century. 
Capt.  Asel  Dunbar  had  one,  and  across  the  road  from  him 
Elisha  Warner  kept  another.    Dunbar  was  succeeded  by  Obed 


Smith.  Cotton  Smith  followed  in  the  ownership,  and  finally 
men  named  Mellen  and  Warner.  Increase  Sikes  now  occupies 
the  house  as  a  dwelling.  Warner's  tavern  is  occupied  as  a 
residence  by  Wellington  Walker. 

A  man  named  George  Gilbert  had  a  tavern  as  early  as  1812, 
about  three  miles  north  of  the  central  village,  on  the  road  to 
Northampton.  Henry  Dwight  kept  one  early  in  the  present 
century  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  where  Guy  Allen 
now  lives. 

In  the  south  part  of  the  town  there  have  been  several. 
Samuel  Shaw  erected  a  public-house  near  Cold  Spring  at  an 
early  day,  and  it  was  first  kept  by  a  man  named  McKinney. 
Samuel  Dougherty  kept  one  near  "  Blue  Meadow"  about  sixty 
years  ago.  About  the  year  1800  a  man  named  Howe  kept  a 
tavern  of  some  repute  on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  A.  H.  Bartlett,  which  was  east  of  the  centre,  and  near  the 
present  village.  The  stage-lines  of  that  early  day  passed  by 
the  tavern,  and  the  waters  of  "Cold  Spring"  were  eagerly 
sought  after  by  travel-worn  wayfarers. 

The  hotel  now  known  as  the  Belcher  House,  situated  in  the 
central  village  and  the  only  one  in  the  town,  was  originally 
occupied  as  the  Belchertown  Classical  School.  It  was  trans- 
formed into  a  hotel  by  Adolphus  Strong,  who  became  its  first 
proprietor.  It  passed  into  the  hands  of  various  persons,  among 
whom  have  been  Col.  Darling,  Burnett  &  Cook,  and  Willard 
Owens.  John  L.  Bacon,  the  present  proprietor,  purchased  the 
house  April  1,  1875,  and  has  kept  it  since,  with  the  exception 
of  a  short  period  when  Walker  &  White  conducted  it.  It  is  a 
well-kept  and  deservedly  popular  house. 

STOBE.S. 

The  stores  that  have  been  kept  in  the  town  have  been  so 
numerous  that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  mention  them  all 
in  this  work.  It  is  probable  that  trading-posts  existed  as  early 
as  1750,  but  by  whom  kept  has  not  transpired. 

The  first  stores  of  consequence  that  existed  were  kept  after 
the  opening  of  the  present  century.  Of  these  the  first  is  said 
to  have  been  kept  by  Caleb  Clark,  better  known  as  "  'Squire" 
Clark.  During  the  war  of  1812  there  were  five  stores  in  the 
town.  Of  these,  Philo  Dickinson  had  one  in  the  building 
adjoining  the  present  post-office.  Where  the  post-office  is 
Morris  &  Clark  had  another.  Henry  Mellen  kept  one  on  the 
corner,  and  Wright  Bridgman  had  one  where  his  descendants 
have  since  continued  in  trade.  Another  was  on  "  Federal 
Street,"  then  quite  a  noted  locality,  and  was  kept  by  Jonas 
Holland,  who  was  afterward  succeeded  by  Seneca  Holland. 
For  many  years  these,  under  dift'erent  proprietors,  were  the 
principal  stores  in  the  town.  Eldad  Parsons  had  a  store  in 
the  southeast  part  of  the  town  sixty  years  ago.  E.  P.  Killam 
was  in  trade  in  1827,  and  Killam  &  Longley  traded  where  the 
post-office  now  is.  Elihu  Root  occupied  the  Mellen  store 
about  forty  years  ago,  and  about  the  same  time  Samuel  Foster 
traded  in  the  post-office  building,  but  moved  from  that  into 
the  brick  store  on  the  road  to  the  depot.  D.  Graves  &  Co. 
were  prominent  traders  in  1830.  At  the  same  time  S.  &  C. 
H.  Dwight  made  saddles,  bridles,  valises,  portmanteaus,  and 
the  like,  and  traded  where  Hamilton's  shoe-shop  now  is.  W. 
Reed  &  Son  engaged  in  the  tailoring  business  in  1830.  Calvin 
White  traded  at  "  Slab  City"  in  1835.  John  Thurston  had  a 
store  about  twenty  years  ago  under  the  old  Baptist  Church. 

Those  in  trade  now  are  E.  R.  Bridgman,  T.  R.  Green,  E.  S. 
Bridgman,  Edward  S.  Hopkins,  G.  W.  Longley,  William  E. 
Bridgman,  and  Enoch  Burnett.  Besides  these,  there  is  a 
drug-store,  and  a  number  of  small  enterprises  chiefly  limited 
to  one  line. 

PHYSICIANS. 

The  first  to  engage  in  tlie  practice  of  medicine  was  Dr. 
Estes  Howe.  He  is  first  mentioned  on  the  records  in  1770, 
but  had  then  probably  been  in  practice  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  served  one  campaign  in  the  French-and-Indian  war,  and 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


525 


accompanied  his  father,  Capt.  Samuel  Howe,  to  Ticondcroga. 
Upon  the  news  of  the  conHict  at  Lexington  he  went  to  Kox- 
bury  and  joined  the  troops  there.  He  served  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts line,  and  was  commissioned  surgeon  in  the  regiment 
commanded  by  Col.  Brewer.  He  afterward  engaged  in  the 
Continental  service,  and  was  attached  to  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Col.  Putnam.  He  was  with  Gen.  Gates  at  the 
surrender  of  Burgojne,  and  continued  with  the  army  until 
the  contest  seemed  to  be  at  an  end,  when  the  wants  of  a  grow- 
ing family  compelled  him  to  return  to  practice.  He  was  a 
prominent  and  useful  man,  and  filled  many  offices  of  respon- 
sibility in  the  town.  He  died  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine. 

The  next  physician  was  Dr.  Amasa  Scott,  who  is  mentioned 
in  the  records  in  1786.  He  lived  in  the  east  part  of  the  town, 
and  occupied  the  "old  Fenton  house,"  which  stood  near  the  old 
burying-ground.  Dr.  Martin  Phelps  succeeded  him  as  early 
as  1798,  and  occupied  the  same  house.  Dr.  Israel  Trask  came 
from  Brimfield,  Mass.,  in  179t),  was  here  in  1802,  but  soon 
after  returned  to  Brimfield. 

Dr.  William  Bridgman  resided  where  Worcester  Longley 
now  lives,  and  is  referred  to  in  the  town  records  in  1815.  He 
practiced  a  grgat  many  years,  and  finally  removed  to  Spring- 
field. 

Dr.  William  Holland  was  in  practice  as  early  as  1819.  He 
built  the  house  where  Edward  Towne  now  resides.  He  also 
lived  near  where  James  H.  Clapp  formerly  resided.  In  1832 
he  removed  to  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Augustine  Paine  came  from  Granby  in  1814,  built  the 
house  now  owned  by  Harrison  Root,  and  died  soon  after. 

Dr.  Oliver  S.  Taylor,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  in 
1809,  commenced  practice  in  Belchertown  in  1814,  and  left  in 
1817. 

Dr.  Anson  Moody,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1814,  studied  medi- 
cine and  practiced  in  1826  in  Belchertown,  and  was  a  success- 
ful and  popular  physician.  He  removed  to  Ware  village  in 
1829,  and  from  thence  to  Connecticut. 

Dr.  Horatio  Thomson  commenced  practice  in  1826  or  1827, 
and  continued  many  years.  In  1834  be  married  Lucy  M., 
daughter  of  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle.  He  resided  where  his  son. 
Dr.  George  Thomson,  now  lives,  and  after  a  long  and  success- 
ful professional  life  died  Oct.  5,  1860,  aged  fil'ty-eight.  His 
son,  Dr.  George  P.,  succeeded  him  in  practice,  and  is  still 
successfully  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  the  active  duties  of 
his  profession. 

Dr.  Benj.  Rush  Palmer  was  a  contemporary  of  Dr.  Thomson 
for  a  short  time,  and  removed  to  Woodstock,  Vt.,  about  1830. 
Dr.  Orrieh  Willis  was  a  native  of  the  town,  but  never  en- 
gaged in  active  practice  in  the  place.  He  removed  to  Hard- 
wick,  changed  his  name  to  William  H.  Willis,  and  afterward 
engaged  in  practice  at  South  Reading. 

Dr.  Charles  Robinson  was  in  practice  about  1840,  and  for 
several  years.  He  sub.sequently  went  to  Kansas,  and  became 
governor  of  that  State.  He  married  Sarah,  a  daughter  of 
Myron  Lawrence,  Esq.,  of  Belchertown,  who  published  a 
history  of  Kansas  after  their  settlement  in  that  State. 

A  number  of  other  physicians  have  been  in  practice  in  the 
town, — Dr.  Allen,  Dr.  Ijoren  Allen,  and  Dr.  Bement,  for  a 
number  of  years;  Dr.  Temple,  for  a  considerable  time;  Dr. 
Bassett,  Dr.  Roberts,  Dr.  Bottom,  and  others. 

The  only  physician  besides  Dr.  Thomson  now  in  practice  is 
Dr.  William  Robinson,  who  has  practiced  in  the  town  for  the 
past  three  years. 

LAWYERS. 

The  town  has  had  a  good  supply  of  lawyers.  The  first  to 
practice  was  Joseph  Bridgman,  many  years  ago.  The  next 
was  Mason  Shaw,  {or  a  few  years. 

Hon.  Mark  Doolittle  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1804, 
studied  law,  and  soon  after  settled  in  Belchertown.  He  was 
in  practice  for  many  years,  and  was  a  prominent,  useful,  and 


active  man.  He  filled  many  public  offices  of  trust  and  re- 
sponsibility, and  was  the  author  of  an  historical  sketch  of 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Belchertown,  one  of  the  most 
exhaustive  treatises  in  print.     He  died  several  years  ago. 

Hon.  3Iyron  Lawrence  was  another  strong  member  of  the 
profession  who  practiced  in  Belchertown.  He  studied  with 
Mr.  Doolittle,  commenced  practice  about  1820,  and  continued 
until  his  death,  in  November,  1852,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three. 
He  was  a  large  man,  of  commanding  appearance  and  im- 
pressive manners,  and  possessed  that  peculiar  organism  which 
is  calculated  to  control  and  govern  others.  He  was  prominent 
and  popular,  not  only  in  the  town,  but  in  the  State,  and  was 
identified  with  various  popular  movements.  He  repeatedly 
represented  the  town  and  county  in  both  branches  of  the  Leg- 
islature, and  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  He  was  president  of  the  State  Senate,  and  filled  the 
position  with  great  ability.     As  a  lawyer  he  took  high  rank. 

S.  W.  E.  Goddard  studied  law  with  Mr.  Lawrence,  and 
engaged  in  practice  from  about  1856  to  1863.  He  was  the  last 
regular  practitioner  the  town  has  had. 

Franklin  D.  Richards,  now  of  Ware,  practiced  for  a  short 
time  before  removing  to  that  village.  Edward  Clark  prac- 
ticed for  a  brief  period,  about  1840. 

STAOK-KOUTES,    ROADS,    AND   POUNDS. 

The  principal  stage-route  through  the  town  was  that  from 
Northampton  to  Boston,  which  was  established  at  the  opening 
of  the  present  century.  It  was  owned  from  Northampton  to 
Belchertown  by  James  H.  Clapp,  and  from  the  iatt(!r  place 
to  Ware  by  William  Phelps.  The  ownership  frequently 
changed.  An  opposition  line  was  started  by  Cotton  Smith 
and  a  man  named  Mellen,  and  run  for  a  time.  They  owned 
from  Northampton  to  Ware. 

Probably  the  first  road  laid  out  in  the  town  was  what  was 
known  as  the  "  Great  Road,"  passing  from  Hadley  to  Brook- 
field.  It  existed  in  1756,  and  was  the  one  which  these  stage- 
routes  followed,  entering  at  the  northwest  corner  and  passing 
southeasterly  through  the  town.  For  a  long  time  after  the  set- 
tlement nothing  but  "  bridle-paths"  existed.  In  1762  the  tov/n 
"  voted  to  choose  a  committee  to  lay  out  a  road  for  Thomas 
Graves  to  get  to  meeting  and  mill."  This  was  the  first  vote 
upon  the  subject.  At  a  later  day  Henry  Dwight  built  a  turn- 
pike from  Belchertown  to  Greenwich  Plains,  and  established 
a  toll-gate.  It  was  afterward  controlled  by  his  son,  and 
finally  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  grandson. 

The  first  pound  was  voted,  in  17-58,  to  stand  near  the  meet- 
ing-house. A  new  one  was  voted,  Dec.  24,  1773,  to  be  of 
stone,  40  feet  square  and  6  feet  high,  and  to  occupy  the  same 
place  as  the  old  one.  Thaddeus  Fairchild  built  it  for  £5.  In 
1792  it  was  voted  to  sell  the  pound  and  build  a  new  one. 

THE   POST-OFFICE 

at  Belchertown  Centre  was  established  about  1812,  or  a  little 
earlier,  and  the  first  postmaster  was  Philo  Dickinson.  He 
was  followed  by  Mason  Shaw.  Joshua  Longley  probably 
came  next,  and  was  followed  by  Phineas  Bridgman.  Samuel 
W.  Longley,  the  present  incumbent,  was  appointed  during 
the  first  administration  of  President  Lincoln. 

MEN  OF  DISTINCTION. 
Rev.  Horatio  Bardwcll  was  a  native  of  the  town,  and  a  son 
of  Capt.  Elijah  and  Sarah  W.  (Smith)  Bardwell.  He  was 
ordained  a  missionary  to  India  in  1815,  and  the  same  year 
sailed  in  company  with  Messrs.  Richards,  Warren,  Meigs, 
and  Poor,  under  the  patronage  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  for  the  island  of  Ceylon. 
After  remaining  at  Ceylon  a  short  time,  by  direction  of  the 
Board,  he  joined  the  mission  at  Bombay,  where  he  labored  as 
missionary  of  the  Board  until  1821,  when  his  health  became 
so  impaired  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  him  to  resign  and 
return  to  his  native  land.     In  1823  he  became  the  settled 


526 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


pastor  at  Holdon,  Mass.  In  1831  he  accepted  an  appointment 
as  general  agent  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  fur 
Foreign  Missions,  and  in  1836  was  again  settled  in  the  minis- 
try at  Oxford,  Mass. 

Eev.  Amasa  Smith,  a  brother  of  Revs.  John  and  Eli  Smith, 
and  son  of  Deacon  Joseph,  was  born  in  Belchertown,  Fob.  24, 
175G.  Hewas  elected  deacon  in  1795;  married  Sophia  Lyman 
in  1787  ;  was  a  major  in  the  militia,  and  carried  on  the  busi- 
ness of  forming  until  180"i.  He  then  left  town,  studied  the- 
ology with  Kev.  O.  Crosby,  and  was  ordained  in  the  ministry 
at  North  Yarmouth,  Me.,  May  23,  1804.  He  was  dismissed, 
and  subsequently  settled  at  Cumberland,  Me.,  where  he  spent 
the  remnant  of  his  days  in  usefulness.  He  died  there  March 
9,  1847,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one. 

Eev.  Eli  Smith  was  also  a  son  of  Deacon  Joseph,  and  was 
born  in  Belchertown,  Sept.  17,  1759.  He  pursued  a  course  of 
classical  study,  and  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1792. 
He  studied  theology  with  Kev.  Dr.  Emmons,  and  was  ordained 
and  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Hollis,  N.  H.,  Nov.  27,  1793. 
He  was  dismissed  Feb.  28,  1831,  and  died  at  Hollis,  May  12, 
1847,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 

Prof.  John  Smith  was  a  son  of  Deacon  Joseph  Smith,  and 
born  in  Belchertown,  March  5,  1766.  He  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1794,  studied  theology,  and  settled  in  the 
ministry  at  Salem,  N.  H.,  Jan.  4,  1797,  where  he  continued 
until  Nov.  21,  1816,  when  he  was  dismissed.  He  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Wenham,  Mass.,  in  1817, 
and  in  1819  received  the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Sacred 
Literature  and  Theology  in  the  Divinity  School  at  Bangor, 
Me.,  which  position  he  accepted,  and  where  he  remained  in 
the  faithful  discharge  of  its  duties  until  his  death,  April  14, 
1831,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  He  possessed  good  powers  of 
mind,  was  diligent  in  his  calling,  and  successful  in  his  minis- 
terial labors.  The  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Dartmouth  College  before  his  death.  He  attained  distinc- 
tion in  classical  and  theological  science,  and  for  years  was  in 
prominent  standing  among  the  divines  of  New  England. 

Rev.  Ethan  Smith  was  a  son  of  Deacon  Elijah  Smith  (bro- 
ther of  Deacon  Joseph),  born  in  Belchertown,  Dec.  19,  1762. 
He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1790,  studied  theology 
with  Rev.  Dr.  Burroughs  and  Kev.  Dr.  Burton,  and  was  or- 
dained and  settled  in  the  njinistry  at  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  Jan. 
2.'),  1792.  He  was  dismissed  June  23,  1799,  and  installed  in 
the  pastorate  of  the  church  at  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  March  12, 
1800.  He  remained  there  till  Dec.  16,  1817,  when  he  was  dis- 
missed and  installed  over  a  church  at  Hebron,  N.  Y.,  Feb. 
26,  1818.  He  was  dismissed  from  that  charge  Aug.  29,  1821, 
installed  at  Poultney,  Vt.,  Nov.  21,  1821,  and  dismissed  Dec. 
29,  1826.  He  was  installed  at  Hanover,  Mass.,  May  16,  1827, 
and  dismissed  about  1832.  Subsequently  he  acted  as  city  mis- 
sionary in  Boston,  and  as  an  agent  for  various  Bible  societies, 
continuing  his  active  labors  in  the  ministry  until  his  death, 
Aug.  29,  1849,  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He 
published  several  works, — one  "  On  the  Prophecies"  and  an- 
other, "A  Key  to  the  Revelations," — which  were  favorably 
received. 

Kev.  Josiah  Towne,  son  of  Amasa  Towne,  was  born  in  Bel- 
chertown, Dec.  13, 1787.  He  graduated  at  Middlebury  College, 
Vermont,  in  1812,  studied  theology  with  Kev.  Mr.  Griswold, 
and  was  ordained  in  the  ministry  at  Hanover  Centre,  N.  H., 
June  22,  1814.  He  continued  there  eighteen  years  and  five 
months,  and  died  May  3,  1855,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 

Kev.  Giles  Lyman,  son  of  Josiah  Lyman,  was  born  at  Bel- 
chertown, March  16,  1802.  He  graduated  at  Amherst  College 
in  1827,  ut  Andover  Theologi'cal  Seminary  in  1831,  and  was 
ordained  at  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  Jan.  11,  1832.  He  was  dismissed 
May  3,  1837,  and  installed  at  Marlboro',  N.  H.,  in  December, 
1840.  He  remained  there  until  1867,  and  died  Nov.  11,  1872, 
aged  seventy. 

Rev.  Lewis  Sabin,  D.D.,  was  born  at  "Wilbraham,  Mass., 


April  9,  1807;  came  to  Belchertown  with  his  father,  Thomas 
Sabin,  Jr.,  when  but  six  years  of  age,  and  passed  his  early 
life  in  town.  He  graduated  at  Amherst  College  in  1831,  and 
w-as  valedictorian  of  one  of  the  largest  and  best  classes  of  that 
institution.  Ho  was  four  years  principal  of  Hopkins  Acad- 
emy, studied  theology,  and  was  ordained  in  June,  1836,  as  a 
missionary  to  Canada.  Was  installed  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Templeton,  Mass.,  Sept.  21,  1837,  and  continued  there  until 
Sept.  24,  1872,  when  the  relation  was  terminated  at  his  own 
request.  He  was  for  many  years  trustee  of  Amherst  College, 
and  frequently  taught  the  classics  to  private  pupils. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  men  whom  the  town  has  produced 
is  Dr.  Josiah  G.  Holland,  son  of  Harrison  Holland,  who  was 
born  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  and  passed  the  first  ten 
years  of  his  life  there.  His  wide  reputation  as  a  writer  of 
both  prose  and  verse,  and  his  high  standing  as  an  author  and 
editor  in  the  literary  world,  render  a  fuller  reference  to  his 
career  unnecessary.* 

Prof  William  L.  Montague,  of  Amherst  College,  is  a  native 
of  the  town,  and  a  son  of  Deacon  Ephraim  Montague ;  also 
Prof.  Elihu  Root,  of  the  same  institution,  son  of  Deacon  Har- 
rison Root,  of  Belchertown.  The  former  is  professor  of  the 
modern  Romaic  languages ;  the  latter  of  physics.  Other 
citizens  of  the  town  have  adorned  the  various  walks  of  life, 
and  attained  to  eminence  and  distinction. 

CIVIL    ORG.AtNIZATION. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  settlers  of  Cold  Spring,  held  by 
legislative  authority  for  police  purposes,  for  choosing  precinct 
ofllcers,  for  raising  money  to  support  the  gospel,  and  for  other 
prudential  affairs,  was  convened  April  28,  1740.  The  precinct 
continued  until  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  As  early  as 
1757  measures  were  taken  to  obtain  an  act  of  incorporation, 
with  town  privileges,  but  did  not  meet  with  success  for  several 
years.  At  a  precinct  meeting,  held  Dec.  29,  1760,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  present  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  for 
an  act  of  incorporation  as  a  town.  In  March,  1761,  the  peti- 
tion was  presented,  and  on  June  23d  following  an  act  was 
passed  incorporating  the  town  by  the  name  of  Belc.hersiown, 
in  honor  of  Jonathan  Belcher,  formerly  a  large  owner  of  the 
territory  of  the  town  and  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts from  1730  to  1740.  The  letter  "s"  has  since  been 
dropped  from  the  name.  The  right  of  choosing  a  representa- 
tive to  the  General  Court  was  not  confirmed  by  the  act  of 
incorporation. 

A  warrant  was  issued  by  the  General  Court  for  calling  the 
first  town-meeting  to  Eleazer  Porter,  Esq.,  one  of  his  Majes- 
ty's justices  for  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  the  meeting 
was  duly  convened  Sept.  30,  1761.  Nathaniel  Dwight  was 
chosen  Moderator  and  Clerk  ;  Deacon  Aaron  Lyman,  Lieut. 
Abner  Smith,  and  Joseph  Bridgman,  Selectmen  and  Assessors ; 
Nathaniel  Dwight,  Treasurer ;  Joseph  Graves  and  James 
Walker,  Constables  and  Collectors;  Sergt.  Hezekiah  Root 
and  Sergt.  Daniel  Smith,  Wardens  ;  Joseph  Smith  and  Is- 
rael Cowles,  Surveyors  of  Highways  ;  Joseph  Bardwell  and 
Moses  Hannum,  Tythingmen ;  Benjamin  Morgan  and  Kbe- 
nezer  Warner,  Fence-Viewers  ;  Lieut.  Abner  Smith,  Clerk  of 
the  Market ;  Joseph  Bridgman,  Sealer  of  Leather  ;  Benjamin 
Morgan,  Deer-Reave ;  and  Caleb  Clark  and  John  Cowles, 
Hog-Keaves. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  principal  precinct  and  town 
otRcers,  so  far  as  furnished  by  the  records  of  the  town,  together 
with  the  list  of  representatives  to  the  General  Court  : 

f'OMMITTEK    OF    THE    PRECINCT. 

1742. — Johu  Smith,  Aarou  Lyman,  Nath.anicl  Pwight. 
174;i. — Jolin  Smith,  Samuel  Basconi,  Nathaniel  Dwight. 
1744. — Juhn  Smith,  .\aron  Lyman,  Nathaniel  Dwight. 
174r». — John  Smith,  Jonathan  Graves,  Nathaniel  Dwight. 
1740-48.— Joseph  Bardwoll,  Walter  Fairtiekl,  Joseiih  Smith. 

*  See  biography  in  this  work. 


]  hoto.  by  J.  Xj.  Lovell,  Amherst. 


JOSEPH   B.   GOULD. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


527 


1749. — Walter  FairfielJ,  Moses  Hannum,  Joseph  Smith. 
1750. — Steplicn  Crowfix)t,  Iteiijainiri  Billings,  Abner  Siiiitti. 
1751-52. — Abner  Sniitli,  Josepli  Bardwell,  Aaron  Lyniiin. 
1753.— Elijali  Smitli,  Joseph  Bardwell,  Hezekiah  Ruot. 
1754-55. — Nathaniel  Dwi^bt,  Abner  Smith,  Joseph  Briilfj^man. 
175(1.— Natlianiel  Dwight,  Abner  Smith,  Elijah  Sniitli. 
175S.— Nathaniel  Dwi-^'lit,  Thomas  Chapin,  Nathaniel  Thwing. 
1750.— Abner  Smith,  Hezekiah  Root,  Caleb  Clark. 
17tiO. — Joseph  Bardwell,  Joseph  Smith,  Moses  Hannum. 
1701. — Jonathan  B^irdwell,  Joseph  Smith,  Moses  Hannnm. 


SELECTMEN. 

17G1. — Aaron  Lyman,  Abner  Smith,  Joseph  Bridgman. 

17(52. — Aaron  Lyman,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Daniel  Smith. 

17G3-0G.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Joseph  Biidgman,  Daniel  Smith. 

1707. — Nathaniel  Dwight,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jonathan  Bardwell, 

1708.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Elijah  Smith,  John  Cole. 

17G9.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Daniel  Smith,  Samnel  Howe. 

1770.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Elijah  Smith,  Israel  Cowls. 

1771.— Nathaniel  Dwiglit,  Daniel  Smith,  Joseph  Smith,  Samuel  Howe,  James 

"Walker. 
177"2. — Nathaniel  Dwight,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Israel  CowLs,  Samnel  Howe,  Daniel 

Smith. 
1773-74. — Nathaniel  Dwight,  Samuel  Howe,  Daniel  Smith,  Jonathan  Bardwell, 

Josejih  Giaves. 
1775.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Nathan  Kingsley,  Daniel  Smith,  l8rael  Cowls,  Joseph 

Smith. 
1770. — Nathaniel  Dwigb.t,  Caleb  Clark,  Benjamin  Morgan,  Daniel  Smith,  Zacha- 

riah  Ed.ly. 
1777._Nathaniel    Dwight,  Caleb  Clark,  Daniel    Smith,  Jo.'^eph    Smith,  Deacon 

Clongh,  Zaehaiiah  Eddy,  Henry  Dwight. 
1778. — .loseph  Smith,  Israel  Cowls,  Jacob  Wilson,  Henry  Dwight,  Samnel  Worth- 

ington. 
1770. — Nathaniel  Dwight,  Daniel  Smith,  Samuel  Howe,  Joseph  Williams,  Elijah 

Chapin. 
1780. — Isiacl  Cowls,  Joseph  Smith,  Henry  Dwight. 

1781. — Joseph  Smith,  John  Cowls,  Isaac  Stacy,  Josiah  Lyman,  Reuben  Barton. 
1782. — Joel  Green,  Estes  Howe,  Jonathan  Flint. 
1783. — Estes  Howe,  James  Walker,  Josiah  Lyman. 
1784. — Henry  Dwiglit,  Gideon  Stebbins,  Henry  Smith. 
1785. — Estes  Howe,  Josiali  Lyman,  Edward  Smith. 
1786. — Josiah  Lyman,  Estes  Howe,  James  Walker. 
1787.— James  Walker,  Josiali  Lyman,  Henry  Dwight. 
1788. — Ebenezer  W'arner,  Estes  Howe,  Simeon  Bardwell. 
1789. — Ebenezer  Warner,  Justus  Dwight,  Thomas  Wilson, 
1790. — Justus  Dwight,  Estes  Howe,  John  Cowls. 
1701.— Justus  Dwight,  Ebenezer  Warner,  Thomas  Wilson, 
1702-93.— Park  Holland,  Henry  Dwight,  Justus  Dwight. 
1704._Heiiry  Dwight,  Justus  Dwight,  Eleazer  Clark. 
1705. — Este;!  Howe,  Amasa  Smith,  Eleazer  Clark. 
179G.— Park  Holhunl,  Justus  Dwight,  Thomas  Wilson. 
1797-08.— Park  Holland,  Thomas  Wilson,  Martin  Phelps. 
1700.— Jnstus  Dwight,  Thomas  Wilson,  Jumvs  Holland. 
1800.— Estes  Howe,  Justus  Dwight,  Eliakim  Phelps. 
ISOl. — Justus  Dwight,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Robert  Dunbar. 
1S02.— Justus  Dwight,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Eleazer  Clark. 
1803-4. — Eliakim  Phelps,  Eleazer  Clark,  John  Gilbert. 
1S05-6.— Eliakim  Phelps,  Eleazer  Clark,  Thomas  Wils3n. 
1S07-8.— Eliakim  Plielps,  Eleazer  Clark,  Jona-s  Holland. 
1809. — Elirikim  Phelps,  Jonas  Holland,  Eldad  Parsons. 
1810.— Wiight  Bridgman,  J;uion  Walker,  Zenas  Stebbins. 
1811-13.— Eliakim  Phelps,  Wright  Bridgman,  Jonas  Holland. 
1814.— Wright  Bridguniu,  Jason  Walker,  Bela  Barber. 
1815-10.— Jon !is  Holland,  Joseph  Biidgman,  Jr.,  Jnstus  Forward. 
1817.— Eliakim  Phelps,  Wiight  Bridgman,  James  Whitman. 
1818. — Wiight  Briilgman,  James  Whitman,  Jonathan  Dwight. 
1819. — James  Wliitmau,  JiuuUhan  Dwight,  Eneas  Clark. 
1820.— James  Wliitnnin,  Ja-;on  Walker,  George  Gilbert. 
1821.— Jonalhiin  Dwight,  Joseph  Biidgman,  Jr.,  Henry  Mellen,  Smith   Barrett, 

Theodore  Biidgman. 
1S22.— Jonathan  Dwight,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr.,  Henry  Mellen,  Smith  Barrett, 

Jonas  Holland. 
1823. — James  Whitman,  Smith  Barrett,  Reuben  Cook. 
1824.— Smith  Barrett,  Reuben  Cook,  Mark  Doidittlc. 
1825.— Smith  Banett,  Mark  Doolittle,  Daniel  Wilsju. 
1820. — Justus  Forward,  Jona.'^  Holland,  Jonathan  Olds. 
1827-2S.— Jonathan  Olds,  Enoch  Burnett,  Joseph  Bridgman. 
1820.— Mark  Dojlittle,  Eneas  Claik,  Reuben  Cleveland. 
1830. — Smith  Barrett,  Israel  Towne,  William  Bridgman. 
1831. — Jnstus  Forward,  Israel  Towne,  William  Bridgman. 
1832. — Justus  Forward,  Israel  Towne,  Leonard  Barrett. 
1833-34. — Justus  Forward,  M'illiam  Bridgman,  (jlideon  Ames, 
183;j. — Gidejn  Ames,  Israel  Towne,  Samuel  Perry. 
1830-37.— Gide J n  Ames,  Israel  Towne,  Simeon  Pepper. 
1838. — Gideon  Ames,  James  H.  Clapp,  Simeon  Pepper. 
1830. — Gideon  Ames,  Israel  Towne,  James  H.  Clapp. 
1840.— Gi  leon  .\nies,  William  Phelps,  James  H.  Clapp. 


1841-42.— Gideon  Ames,  William  Phelps,  Jonas  Holland. 

1843. — Israel  Towne,  Roderick  Dorman,  Jonas  Holland. 

1844. — Gideon  Ames,  George  Abbey,  llanison  Root. 

1845. — Gideon  Ames,  Leonard  Burrett,  Francis  Furward. 

1846. — Israel  Towne,  Humphrey  T.  Filer,  Henry  Bridgman. 

1847. — Israel  Towne,  Henry  Bridgman,  George  Chandler. 

1848.— Israel  Towne,  Calvin  Bridgman,  William  Phelps. 

1840. — Calvin  Bridgman,  Harrison  Root,  Roswell  Allen. 

1850. — Roswell  Allen,  George  Chandler,  Leonard  Barrett. 

1851. — Calvin  Bridgman,  Humphrey  T.  Filer,  Roderick  Dorman. 

1852. — Myron  Lawrence,  Henry  Bridgman,  Harrisjn  Root. 

1853. — Henry  Bridgman,  Augustus  L.  Gates,  George  Chandler. 

1854. — Ebenezer  W^arner,  George  Chandler,  Amos  L.  Mason. 

1855. — Ebenezer  Warner,  Luther  Holland,  Jesse  Morse. 

1856. — Luther  Holland,  Samuel  A.Shaw,  Pliineas  Bridgman. 

1S57-.58.— Wi  ight  Bridgman,  John  T.  Tliurston,  Butler  Barrett. 

1859.— Wright  Bridgman,  John  T.  Tliurston,  Wareliam  C.  Gilbert. 

1860. — Jonathan  Webber,  Harrison  Root,  Scwall  Randall. 

1801-02.— Joshua  G.  Longley,  Martin  Sedgwick,  Henry  J.  Chandler. 

1863. — Leonard  BaiTett,  Joshua  G.  Longley,  Wright  Bridgman. 

lS64r-65.— Joshua  G.  Longley,  A.  R.  Owen,  Henry  J.  Chandler. 

1800.— J.  G.  Longley,  A.  R.  Owen,  Samuel  D.  Cowles. 

1867. — Thomas  R.  Green,  Addison  Burnett,  F.  31.  Bardwell. 

1808.— Amasa  Town,  AdiUson  Burnett,  Elliit  Bridgman. 

1869. — Elliot  Bridgman,  Joslurn  0.  Longley,  Amasa  Town. 

1870.- Joshua  G.  Longley,  A.  R.  Owen,  Asahel  H.  Dorman. 

1871. — J.  G.  Longley,  Asahel  H.  Dorman,  Dexter  Davi^. 

1872. — A.  R.  Owen,  Leonard  Barrett,  Nathaniel  Dwight. 

1S73.— Nathaniel  Dwight,  Abner  D.  Hitchcock.  A.  R.  Owen. 

1S74.— Franklin  Dickinson,  D.  V.  Fuller,  Martin  Sedgwick. 

1S7.5-77. — Franklin  Dickinsju,  Enoch  Burnett,  Martin  Sedgwick. 

1878. — Franklin  Dickinson,  Enoch  Burnett,  J.  R.  Gould. 

1870.— A.  Wells  Stacy,  William  Henry  Bridgman,  Joseph  R.  Gould. 

PRECINCT    CLERKS. 
1742,  Nathaniel  Dwight;  1740,  Moses  Hannum;  174S,  Abner  Smith;  1755, 
Nathaniel  Dwight;  1750,  Caleb  Clark. 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

1761,  Nathaniel  Dwight;  1778,  Joseph  Smith  ;  1779,  Nathaniel  Dwight;  1780, 
Elijah  Dwight;  1782,  Dr.  Estes  Howe;  1783,  Elijah  Dwight;  1784,  Josiah  Lyman  ; 
1785,  Justus  Dwight;  1780,  Elijah  Dwight;  1787,  Dr.  Estes  Howe;  1780,  Oliver 
Bridgman;  1701,  Estes  Howe;  1700,  Elisha  Warner;  1700,  Eleazer  Clark  ;  1800, 
Ju.stus  Forward,  Jr.;  1815,  Philo  Dickinson;  1818,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr. ;  1819, 
William  Bridgman;  1824,  Philo  Dickinson;  1826,  J.  D.  Lyman;  1827,  Philu 
Dickinson;  1830,  Wright  Bridgman,  Jr.;  1846,  Henry  A.  Longley;  1857,  E.  R. 
Bridgman  ;  1873,  Natlianiel  Dwight ;  1874,  Charles  L.  Washburne. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

1780,  Joseph  Smith,  Daniel  Smith  ;  1781-83,  Caleb  Clark ;  1784,  '85,*  '87,  Joseph 
Smith;  1788,  Justus  Dwight;  1792-94,1796-98,  Park  Holland;  1799,  Eleazer 
Clark  ;  1800,  Park  Holland  ;  1801-4,  Eleazer  Clark  ;  1805,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Joseph 
Bridgman,  Jr. ;  1800,  Eleazer  Clark,  Eliakim  Phelps  ;  1807,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Eldad 
Parsons ;  1808,  Eleazer  Clark,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr. ;  ISOO,  Elia- 
kim Phelps,  Joseph  Biidgman,  Jr.,  Elilad  Parsons;  1810-11,  Eliakim  Phelps, 
"Wright  Biidgman,  Eldad  Paraons;  1812,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Wright  Bridgman, 
Phineas  Blair;  1813,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Wright  Bridgmau,  Justus  Forward,  Jr.; 
1814,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Wright  Bridgman,  Mark  Doulittle;  1815,  Eliakim  Phelps, 
Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr.,  Mark  Doolittle;  1816,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr.,  Eliakim 
Phelps;  1817,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr.;  1818,  Eliakim  Phelps;  1810,  Philo  Dickin- 
son;  1820,  Justus  Forward;  1821,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Jr. :  1822-23,  James  Whit- 
man ;  1824^25, Mark  Doolittle ;  1826, Dr.  Wm.  Bridgman;  1827-2S,JoBeidi  Bridg- 
man, Myron  Lawrence;  1829,  Jonathan  Ohls,  Justus  Forward;  1830,  Joseph 
Bridgman;  1831,  Justus  Forward;  1832,  Jonathan  Forward,  Jonathan  Olds; 
1833,  Justus  Forward,  Wm.  Bridgman,  Daniel  Phelps;  1834,  Justus  Forward, 
Jonathan  Olds,  Wm.  Bridgman  ;  1835,  Israel  Towne,  Daniel  Phelps ;  1836,  Israel 
Towne;  1837,  Israel  Towne,  Samuel  Strong;  1828,  Israel  Towne;  1839,  Rev. 
Chester  Tildcu,  James  H.  Clapp  ;  1S41I-41,  James  II.  Clapp ;  1843,  Gideon  Ames ; 
1844,  Henry  A.  Bridgman ;  1845,  Rudeiick  Dornan ;  1840,  George  B.  Woods; 
1847,  Harrison  Root;  1848,  Henry  A.  Longley;  1849,  3Iyron  Lawrence;  1850, 
Leonard  Barrett ;  1851,  Henry  A.  Longley ;  1852,  Calvin  Bridgman  ;  185.3,  Henry 
A.  Longley;  1855,  Ebenezer  Warner;  1850,  Samuel  A.Shaw;  1858,  Charles  L. 
Washburne;  1859,  Samuel  D.  Cowles;  1861,  Luther  Holland;  1802,  William  N. 
Fay;  1864,  Harrison  Root;  1866,  Joshua  G.  Longlej(;  1868,  Henry  B.  Blake; 
1870,  Phineaa  Bridgman;  1872,  Addison  Burnett;  1874,  W.  E.  Bridgman ;  1877, 
Thomas  R.  Green. 

VILLAGES    AND    HAMLETS. 

BELCUERTOWN    POST-OFFICE 

is  the  principal  village  in  the  town,  situated  at  the  geograph- 
ical centre.  It  \s  ranged  principally  along  the  road  leading 
from  Northampton  to  AVare,  and  is  about  a  mile  in  length. 
It  comprises   three  churches,  a  town-hall,  a  puhlic-house,  a 

*  The  town  was  fined  for  n  >t  sending  a  representative  in  1786. 


528 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


number  of  stores  and  nieohanics'  shops,  and  a  large  number 
of  dwelling-houses.  The  inhabitants  are  cultivated  and  re- 
fined. 

In  the  centre  of  the  village  is  a  beautiful  common.  This 
was  presented  to  the  town,  together  with  the  land  upon  which 
the  Congregational  Church  stands,  by  Col.  Elijah  Dwight,  by 
deed  dated  April  1,  IT'Jl.  It  was  neatly  fenced  by  the  Bel- 
chertown  Park  Association,  in  1873,  and  presents  a  pleasing 
and  attractive  appearance.  The  village  was  the  site  of  the 
earliest  municipal  enterprises  of  the  town,  and  has  always  been 
the  chief  point  of  interest. 

BARDWELL    VILLAGE 

is  a  place  of  some  consequence  situated  in  the  southeasterly 
]iart  of  the  town,  and  has  been  the  site  of  a  considerable  man- 
ufacturing business.  The  Methodist  Church  former!)'  stood 
near  there.     It  derives  its  name  from  the  Bardwell  family. 

DwroHT's  Station  is  the  name  given  to  a  small  hamlet  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  town,  named  in  honor  of  the 
Dwight  family. 

Slab  City,  formerly  known  as  "New  Mills,"  is  a  small 
hamlet  in  the  eastern  part,  on  Swift  River,  and  marks  the 
site  of  the  best  water-privilege  in  the  town. 

Barrett's  Junction,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  is  where 
the  Springfield,  Athol  and  Northeastern  Kailroad  crosses  the 
New  London  Northern. 

EDUCATIONAL    INTERESTS. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  money  appropriated  by  the  town 
for  educational  purposes  prior  to  its  incorporation.  Whatever 
was  done  before  that  time  was  by  individual  eftort. 

The  first  mention  of  money  for  a  school  was  at  a  precinct- 
meeting,  held  Nov.  18,  1756,  when  Nathaniel  Dwight,  Treas- 
urer, was  by  vote  authorized  to  receive  of  Edward  Pynchon, 
County  Treasurer,  for  the  support  of  a  school,  the  monej' 
"  granted  out  of  Sheffield's  fine." 

An  article  was  inserted  in  the  warrant  for  the  March  meet- 
ing, in  1762,  to  argue  upon  some  measure  for  setting  up 
and  maintaining  a  school  in  the  town.  Accordingly,  on 
March  3d  of  that  year  the  town 

"  Vuted  to  raise  C  pounds,  lawful  money,  ior  the  i^aying  .a  schoolmaster  the 
iie.xt  winter  sejidjn  to  teach  children  to  read  and  write.  Chose  Jo.seph  Bridgman, 
C;deh  Clark,  Jonathan  Bardwell,  Benjamin  Morgan,  and  Isaac  Coles  a  committee 
to  get  a  8cho(»lmaster,  determine  what  time  ue.vt  fall  he  shall  begin  the  school 
where  he  shall  keep  in  each  quarter,  who  shall  board  him,  and  what  wages  he 
shall  have." 

In  December  of  the  same  year  it  was  voted  that  the  school 
be  moved  to  the  several  places  ordered  by  the  committee. 

Dec.  20,  1762,  Joseph  Bridgman  was  "  voted  four  shillings 
for  going  to  Amherst  for  a  schoolmaster." 

Dec.  19,  1703,  it  was 

"  Voted  to  raise  1"2  i)ounds,  to  be  sequestered  to  the  use  of  a  school  or  s jme 
other  necessary  use  that  the  town  shall  see  fit  to  put  it  to." 

In  1764  the  sum  of  jE8  was  appropriated  for  a  school,  and 
in  1766  the  amount  was  increased  to  £10.  Dec.  5,  1767,  Heze- 
kiah  Root,  Moses  Hannum,  and  Israel  Cowles  were  chosen  a 
committee  "  to  pitch  upon  three  places  to  set  school-houses  to 
accommodate  the  town  and  report;"  and  they  reported  "one 
to  be  set  on  the  jilain  at  the  top  of  the  pine  hill,  this  side  of 
Hannum's;  one  on  the  road  between  'Jabesh'  and  '  Gilead,' 
and  one  near  to  Mr.  James  Walker's." 

The  town  voted  to  accept  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
Moses  Hannum,  James  AValker,  and  William  Kontfleld  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  get  the  timber  for  the  houses.  The 
whole  vote  was  afterward  reconsidered. 

In  1776,  £25  were  appropriated  for  schools,  and  in  1780 
"  £1000  to  support  a  school," — an  apt  illustration  of  the  state 
of  the  times  at  that  period  and  the  condition  of  the  finances. 
In  1783,  £60  was  appropriated  to  be  laid  out  in  schools,  and  a 
committee  of  seven  was  chosen  to  district  the  town.  This  was 
done  in   1784,  and  each  district  was  authorized  to  build  a 


school-house.  The  names  of  the  districts  at  that  time  were 
New  State,  No.  1,  Middle  of  the  Town,  Dark  Corner,  Turkey 
Hill,  West  Side  of  Great  Hill,  East  Side  of  Great  Hill,  North 
End  of  Great  Hill,  and  Loggtown.  In  1796,  £100  were  ap- 
propriated for  schools;  in  1802,  §o00;  in  1806,  §600;  in  1810, 
§700;  in  1812,  §1100;  and  in  1815,  §800. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  18  schools  in  the  town, 
including  a  high  school  and  grammar  school.  The  number 
of  scholars  in  attendance  upon  them  is  572.  The  average 
attendance  for  the  year  1878  was  363 ;  number  of  teachers, 
27 ;  aggregate  length  of  all  the  schools,  142  months  and  15 
days.  The  appropriation  for  school  purposes  in  1878  was 
§3500,  and  the  addition  of  other  funds  raised  the  cash  resources 
of  the  schools  for  that  year  to  S56U2.44.  The  appropriation 
for  1879  was  §3-500. 

Some  of  the  earlj'  teachers  in  the  town  have  been  Horatio 
B.  Haskett,  James  B.  Hadley,  Eliza  Burk,  Mary  A.  Burk, 
and  Laura  Abbey.  In  the  Cold  Spring  district  the  following 
persons  taught  from  1816  to  1825  inclusive:  Roderick  Dorman, 
Ambrose  Edson,  Ellis  C.  Scott,  Austin  Russ,  Wm.  H.  Whitte- 
more,  Orin  Carpenter,  Leonard  Lewis,  Calvin  White,  Wm. 
J.  Sherman,  Ira  Stacj',  Loren  Cleveland,  Diana  Phelps, 
Mary  Newell,  Azubah  Hamilton,  Elizabeth  Whitman,  Emily 
White,  and  Eliza  Burk. 

SCHOOLS. 

Besides  the  public  schools,  a  number  of  private  schools  of 
great  excellence  have  been  taught,  prominent  among  which 
was  the  Belchertown  Classical  School,  which  was  incorporated 
in  1836,  and  which  had  an  attendance  of  60  pupils  the  year 
following. 

NEW.SPAPERS.  ' 

A  newspaper  entitled  the  Hampshire  Sentinel  ami  Farmers' 
and  Maniifacfurcrs'  Journal  was  started  in  Belchertown,  in 
the  year  1826,  by  J.  R.  Shute.  The  first  number  was  issued 
in  November  of  that  year.  Mr.  Shute  died  March  21,  1828, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  C.  A. 
Warren,  who  carried  on  the  business  for  three  months,  and 
was  in  turn  succeeded  by  Warren  &  Wilson.  Their  first 
number  was  issued  Aug.  6,  1828. 

This  firm  published  the  paper  until  Sept.  8,  1830,  when  it 
was  published  by  S.  W.  Andrews,  as  the  Hampshire  Sentinel, 
for  certain  owners  whose  names  did  not  appear  in  the  columns 
of  the  paper  as  proprietors.  The  last  number  of  the  paper  was 
issued  May  4,  1831,  when  it  was  consolidated  with  the  North- 
ampton Courier,  at  that  time  owned  by  Atwell  &  Turner. 
At  the  time  of  the  union  the  Sentinel  had  about  500  sub- 
scribers, but  was  never  a  paj'ing  enterprise. 

CHURCHES. 
CONGREGATIONAL. 

As  in  most  of  the  New  England  towns,  the  first  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  to  establish  themselves  in  Belchertown  was 
the  Congregational.  This  church  was  for  many  years  the  sole 
religious  body  in  the  town,  and  to  its  support  each  of  the  in- 
habitants were  compelled  to  contribute,  as  to  any  other  town 
institution. 

No  sooner  had  the  first  permanent  settlements  been  made 
than  the  work  of  organizing  a  church  and  settling  a  minister 
was  begun.  The  precise  date  of  the  establishment  of  the 
former  is  not  known.  No  church  records  are  extant  anterior 
to  Feb.  26,  1756,  but  the  church  was  probably  organized  in 
the  spring  of  1737. 

The  subject  of  erecting  a  meeting-house  was  brought  up  in 
that  year.  A  year  after,  the  building  was  ready  for  use,  though 
not  actually  finished  until  1746,  when  it  was  "done  in  a 
manner  suited  to  their  embarrassed  circumstances."  Their 
first  building  erected  as  a  place  of  public  worship  stood  on  the 
westerly  side  of  the  road  leading  south  from  the  centre,  and 
about  seventj-'five  rods  south  of  the  present  house. 

The  first  male  members  of  the  church  were  probably  Samuel 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


529 


Bascom,  Benjamin  Stebbins,  Aaron  Lyman,  John  Bardwell, 
Jonathan  Graves,  John  Smith,  Ebenezer  Bridgman,  Moses 
Hannum,  Eliakim  Phelps,  Jos.  Bardwell,  Nathaniel  Dwight, 
Oliver  Smith,  Joseph  Bridgman,  Thomas  Graves,  Benjamin 
Billings,  Stephen  Crawfoot,  Joseph  King,  and  Robert  Brown, 
who  have  been  already  referred  to  as  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
the  town. 

The  early  struggles  of  these  men  to  establish  religious  wor- 
ship in  the  town  have  already  been  referred  to,  and  the  peti- 
tions sent  by  them  to  the  General  Court  in  the  first  years  of 
their  settlement  indicate,  to  some  extent,  the  serious  obstacles 
and  discouragements  which  they  were  compelled  to  encounter. 

During  the  excitement  which  occurred  about  1825,  in  re- 
lation to  the  institution  of  Freemasonry,  the  church  was 
divided,  and  a  separate  organization,  denominated  the  "  Brai- 
nerd  Church  and  Society,"  was  established  on  Sept.  30,  1834. 
The  two  churches  were  reunited  on  Aug.  31,  1841,  and 
the  beautiful  house  of  worship  which  the  Brainerd  Church 
had  erected  in  1834  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Baptist 
denomination. 

The  house  of  worship  now  occupied  by  the  society  was 
erected  in  1789,  but  was  not  dedicated  until  Sept.  12,  1792. 
In  1828  it  was  much  enlarged  and  the  interior  entirely  recon- 
structed at  an  expense  of  over  §3000.  Again,  in  1850,  it  was 
remodeled  and  better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  minister 
and  congregation.  It  was  put  into  its  present  condition  in 
the  summer  of  1872,  being  reconstructed  and  refurnished  at  a 
cost  of  §7000.  It  was  rededicated  Sept.  12,  1872,  on  the 
eightieth  anniversary  of  its  first  dedication.  The  exercises  of 
the  occasion  included  a  sermon  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  P.  W. 
Lyman,  an  historical  address  by  Rev.  G.  A.  Oviatt,  and 
dedicatory  prayer  by  Rev.  H.  B.  Blake,  former  pastors. 

Pasiors. — The  first  pastor  of  this  church  was  Rev.  Edward 
Billing,  a  native  of  Sunderland,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College.  He  accepted  the  call  in  a  letter  dated  Feb.  22,  1739, 
and  was  probably  ordained  in  April,  1739.  He  was  dismissed 
in  April,  1752.  In  1754  he  became  the  first  pastor  of  the 
church  in  Greenfield,  where  he  died  about  the  year  1757. 

Rev.  Justus  Forward,  the  second  pastor,  was  born  in  Suf- 
field.  Conn.,  May  11,  1730;  graduated  from  Tale  College  in 
1754 ;  taught  school  in  Hatfield,  where  he  studied  theology  ; 
was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  fall  of  1755,  and  was  ordained 
Feb.  25,  1756.  He  was  sole  pastor  till  March,  1812,  when  a 
colleague  was  settled.  He  died  March  8,  1814,  in  the  fifty- 
ninth  year  of  his  ministry,  and  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his 
age,  having  followed  to  the  grave  more  than  900  of  his  people. 
During  his  ministry  380  members  were  received  into  the 
church,  of  whom  294  joined  on  profession  of  faith.  Several 
revivals  of  religion  occurred  during  his  connection  with  the 
church,  the  most  remarkable  of  which  was  in  the  years 
1785-86. 

Kev.  Experience  Porter,  the  third  pastor,  was  a  native  of 
Lebanon,  N.  H. ;  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1803  ; 
was  tutor  in  Middlebury  College  one  year ;  studied  tlieology 
with  Rev.  Asahel  Hooker,  in  Goshen,  Conn. ;  was  ordained 
over  the  church  in  Winchester,  N.  H.,  Nov.  12,  1807,  and 
settled  over  this  church  early  in  1812.  He  retained  his  pas- 
torate till  March  9,  1825.  During  these  thirteen  years  425 
persons  were  received  into  the  church,  345  of  them  on  profes- 
sion. This  number  was  about  equal  to  the  whole  number 
added  during  the  previous  eighty  years.  Two  remarkable  re- 
vivals occurred  during  his  ministry.  In  1813,  107  persons 
were  added  to  the  church  upon  profession,  and  from  the  fall 
of  1818  through'  1819,  208  persons  united  with  it.  Mr.  Porter 
died  Aug.  25,  1828. 

Rev.  Lyman  Coleman,  the  fourth  pastor,  was  born  in  Mid- 
dlefield,  June  14,  1796;  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1817; 
taught  three  years  in  the  Latin  Grammar  School  at  Hartford, 
Conn. ;  was  a  tutor  in  Tale  College  four  years  and  a  half. 
While  there  he  studied  theology,  and  was  ordained  here  Oct. 
67 


19,  1825,  and  was  dismissed  in  September,  1832,  having  re- 
ceived 178  persons  into  the  church,  of  whom  133  were  upon 
profession  of  faith.  Since  his  dismission  he  has  been  principal 
of  Burr  Seminary,  Vermont,  also  of  the  English  department 
of  Phillips  Academy,  in  Andover,  a  teacher  in  Amherst, 
Mass.,  and  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  professor  of  German  in  Prince- 
ton College  (from  which  he  received  the  degree  of  D.D.),  and 
now  of  Hebrew  and  German  in  Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pa. 
He  is  the  author  of  several  valuable  works  upon  sacred  geog- 
raphy and  subjects  connected  with  Christian  antiquities. 

Rev.  Jared  Reid,  the  fifth  pastor,  was  born  in  Preston,  Conn., 
February,  1788;  graduated  at  Yale  College,  1817;  studied 
theology  at  Andover ;  licensed  to  preach  April,  1822 ;  was 
settled  in  the  ministry  at  Reading,  Nov.  20,  1823;  dismissed 
in  1833  ;  installed  here  Sept.  4,  1833  ;  was  dismissed  here  .Ian. 
6,  1841.  He  was  afterward  at  Tiverton,  R.  I.,  but  is  now  de- 
ceased. 

Rev.  George  A.  Oviatt,  the  sixth  pastor,  is  a  native  of 
Bridgeport,  Conn.  ;  graduated  at  Yale  College,  1835,  where 
he  also  studied  theology.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
Brainerd  Church,  in  this  place,  Aug.  28,  1838,  when  (up(jn 
the  resignation  of  Mr.  Reed)  the  two  churches  were  reunited. 
He  was  invited  to  become  their  pastor,  and  was  installed  over 
this  church  Aug.  31,  1841.  He  was  dismissed  July,  1845,  and 
took  the  pastorate  of  the  Suffolk  Street  Church,  Boston  ;  after- 
ward of  the  churches  in  Chicopee,  Somers,  Conn.,  and  Tal- 
cottville,  Conn.,  and  is  at  present  the  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Sudbury. 

Rev.  John  Clancey,  the  seventh  pastor,  graduated  at  Middle- 
bury  College,  1818;  studied  theology  at  Andover;  settled  in 
the  ministry  at  Charlton,  N.  Y.,  twenty  years.  He  was  in- 
stalled here  Feb.  25,  1846,  and  remained  until  March  27,  1849, 
when,  having  been  dismissed,  he  returned  to  Charlton. 

Rev.  Samuel  Wolcott,  the  eighth  pastor,  was  born  in  what 
is  now  South  Windsor,  Conn.,  July,  1813;  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1833 ;  completed  theological  study  at'  Andover  in 
1837.  For  two  years  afterward  he  assisted  the  secretary  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions. 
Nov.  13,  1839,  he  was  ordained,  and  went  to  Syria  as  a  mis- 
sionary. He  continued  his  labors  in  that  region  till  January, 
1843,  when,  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  wife  and  the  unset- 
tled condition  of  affairs  in  Syria,  he  returned  to  America.  In 
August,  1843,  he  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Longmeadow, 
from  which  he  was  dismis.sed  in  December,  1847.  He  was  in- 
stalled over  this  church  Oct.  2,  1849,  and  dismissed  March  29, 
1853.  At  that  time  he  became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  where  he  remained  six  and  a  half  years;  then 
spent  two  years  in  connection  with  the  New  England  Church 
in  Chicago,  111.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  settled  over  a 
church  in  Cleveland,  O.,  where  he  now  resides,  and  is  secre- 
tary of  the  Ohio  Home  Missionary  Society.  A  noteworthy 
revival  visited  the  church  during  the  first  year  of  his  ministry 
in  Belchertown,  and  100  were  added  to  the  church, — 89  on 
profession  of  faith. 

Rev.  Henr}'  B.  Blake,  the  ninth  pastor,  was  born  in  Win- 
chester Centre,  Conn.,  May  20,  1817;  united  with  the  church 
in  1832  ;  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  1841 ;  studied  the- 
ology at  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  and  graduated  in  1844.  He 
was  ordained  at  South  Coventry,  Conn.,  Jan.  1,  1845;  dis- 
missed in  May,  1855;  installed  here  June  26,  1855,  and  dis- 
missed at  the  end  of  ten  years,  June  26,  1865.  He  went  to 
Wilmington,  N.  C,  as  an  agent  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  in  1868.  He  was  then  chairman  of  the  County 
Board  of  Examiners  and  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Wilmington,  and  also  employed  in  the  training  of  colored 
preachers.  He  is  now  the  acting  pastor  of  the  church  in  West 
Springfield,  Mass. 

Rev.  W.  W.  Woodworth,  the  tenth  pastor,  was  born  at  Crom- 
well, Conn.,  Oct.  16,  1813;  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1838, 
and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1841.     He  was  pas- 


530 


HISTOKY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


tor  at  Berlin,  Conn.,  1842-52;  at  Waterbury,  Conn.,  18.52-58; 
stated  suppl\-  at  Manstield.O.,  1858-60;  at  the  Olivet  Cliurch, 
Springfield,  1860-G2;  at  Plymouth,  1862-64;  at  Painesville,  O., 
1864-06 ;  pastor  of  this  church,  1866-70.  Since  then  has  been 
pastor  at  Grinnell,  Iowa,  and  is  now  pastor  at  Berlin,  Conn. 

Rev.  Pay  son  W.  Lyman,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  at 
Easthampton,  Feb.  28,  1842 ;  graduated  at  Amherst  College, 
1807,  and  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  in 
1870;  was  ordained  and  installed  over  this  church.  May  10, 
1871,  having  previously  preached  a  short  time  in  Ashtield. 
He  takes  great  interest  in  hi.'Storical  matters,  and  is  the  author 
of  a  history  of  Easthampton,  published  in  1806.  He  also  de- 
livered a  centennial  address  in  1876  at  the  same  place,  which 
has  also  been  published. 

Deacons. — The  following  persons  Jiave  served  the  church  in 
the  office  of  deacon  since  its  organization  :  John  Smith,  chosen 
1737  ;  died  1777.  Aaron  Lyman,  chosen  1737  ;  died  1780. 
Elijah  Smith,  chosen  1761 ;  died  1770.  Joseph  Bridgman, 
chosen  1770;  died  1773.  Joseph  Smith,  chosen  1770;  died 
1803.  Edward  Smith,  chosen  1781;  removed  1793.  Elijah 
Dwight,  chosen  1793;  died  1795.  Amasa  Smith,  chosen 
1795;  removed  1802.  Eliakim  Phelps,  chosen  1803;  died 
1824.  James  Walker,  chosen  1804;  resigned  1827.  Oliver 
S.  Taylor,  chosen  1816  ;  removed  1817.  Daniel  Phelps,  chosen 
1816 ;  resigned  1854.  John  M.  Spooner,  chosen  1827 ;  re- 
moved 1846.  ■  Anson  Moody,  chosen  1827 ;  removed  1829. 
Henry  A.  Bridgman,  chosen  1828 ;  resigned  1850.  Israel 
Towne,  chosen  1829 ;  died  1853.  William  Phelps,  chosen 
1838 ;  resigned  1850.  Elisha  Abbey,  chosen  1841  ;  died  1863. 
Elijah  Amidon,  chosen  1841  ;  resigned  1850.  Ejihraim  Mon- 
tague, chosen  1850 ;  resigned  1873.  Amasa  Towne,  chosen 
1854;  died  1871.  Wareham  C.  Gilbert,  chosen  1854;  died 
1859.  Harrison  Root,  chosen  1859.  Lyman  Sabin,  chosen 
1863,  Charles  L.Washburn,  Heman  E.  Moody,  chosen  1871, 
Tertius  Cowles,  chosen  1873,  acting  deaccms. 

At  the  time  of  the  union  of  the  two  churches  in  1841,  Daniel 
Phelps,  John  M.  Spooner,  Israel  Towne,  and  Wm.  Phelps 
were  the  otficiating  deacons  in  the  First  Church,  and  Henry 
A.  Bridgman,  Elijah  Amidon,  and  Elisha  Abbey  in  the 
Brainerd  Church.  After  the  union  they  all  otficiated  until 
1850,  when  all  resigned,  Sid  the  church  then  chose  Daniel 
Phelps,  Israel  Towne,  Elisha  Abbey,  and  Ephraim  Montague. 

About  1700  persons  have  been  members  of  the  church  since 
it  was  founded.  The  present  membership  is  277  ;  Sabbath- 
school,  260;  number  of  volumes  in  the  library,  750;  Superin- 
tendent, Henry  E.  Dormau;  Librarian,  George  H.  Bruce;  Sec- 
retary and  Treasurer,  Fred.  L.  Stebbins. 

BAPTISTS. 

The  Baptist  Church  in  Belchertown  was  organized  June  24, 
1795.  The  original  members  were  sixteen  in  number,  includ- 
ing seven  females.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  a  considerable 
portion  of  its  membership  consisted  of  persons  belonging  to 
the  neighboring  towns. 

Rev.  Samuel  Bigelow,  (me  of  the  original  members,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  principally  instrumental  in  gathering  the 
church.  He  performed  pastoral  services,  more  or  less,  for  ten 
or  twelve  years.  During  this  time  the  number  of  members 
gradually  increased. 

In  1806  serious  difficulties  arose  which  threatened  the  con- 
tinued existence  of  the  church.  A  council  was  called  for  their 
adjustment  in  1808,  and  was  happily  successful.  A  revival 
followed,  in  which  from  70  to  80  persons  were  admitted  to  the 
church  by  baptism.  The  ministry  of  Rev.  David  Pease  com- 
menced about  this  time.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church 
June  10,  1810.  Hitherto,  the  church  for  want  of  better  accom- 
modations had  worshiped  in  school-houses  and  private  dwel- 
lings, and,  when  the  number  of  persons  required  it,  in  barns 
and  in  the  open  fields.  Efforts  were  now  made  to  secure  a 
meeting-house,  which  proved  successful.    The  house  was  dedi- 


cated March  14,  1814,  and  is  still  standing  on  the  south  side 
of  the  road  leading  from  the  centre  to  the  depot,  being  used  as 
a  tenement. 

Mr.  Pease's  labors  closed  in  1818,  and  he  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Thomas  Marshall,  who  continued  his  services  four  or  five 
years.  Near  the  commencement  of  his  labors  there  was  a  re- 
vival of  religion,  which  resulted  in  quite  a  large  accession  to 
the  membership  of  the  church. 

After  this  the  number  of  members  became  much  reduced, 
partly  in  consequence  of  the  organization  of  Baptist  churches 
at  other  points,  where  a  portion  of  the  members  found  them- 
selves better  convenienced.  A  number  of  ministers  supplied 
the  desk  at  different  times,  among  whom  were  Rev.  Henry 
Archibald  and  Rev.  Jubal  Wakefield,  each  of  whom  succes- 
sively acted  as  pastor,  devoting  at  the  same  time  half  of  his 
services  to  the  neighboring  church  at  Three  Rivers,  in  Palmer. 
Other  ministers  who  performed  pulpit  services  for  longer  or 
shorter  periods  were  Rev.  Messrs.  Stephen  S.  Nelson,  Cyrus 
P.  Grosvenor,  John  Holbrook,  Benjamin  Putnam,  Thomas 
Rand,  and  Alvin  Bennett. 

In  1838,  Rev.  Chester  Tilden  became  the  pastor,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  capacity  four  years.  The  next  pastor  was  Rev. 
Moses  Curtis,  who  commenced  his  labors  in  1842.  The  church 
had  now  occupied  their  house  of  worship  for  nearly  thirty 
years.  Of  ample  dimensions  and  highly  creditable  to  the  en- 
terprise of  the  society  when  it  was  erected,  it  had  come  to  need 
at  their  hands  substantial  repairs.  Just  at  this  time  the  re- 
union of  the  Congregational  Churches,  already  referred  to, 
was  effected,  and  the  house  of  worship  of  the  Brainerd  Church 
was  left  vacant.  It  was  purchased  by  the  Baptists,  who  made 
it  their  house  of  worship  and  began  to  occupy  it  with  the  com- 
mencement of  Mr.  Curtis'  labors.  The  house  is  still  occupied 
by  the  society,  although  it  has  undergone  considerable  remod- 
eling and  repairing  in  their  hands,  notably  in  1869  and  1875. 

In  1849,  Mr.  Curtis  resigned  his  charge,  and  was  soon  after 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Joseph  M.  Rockwood,  who  in  turn  resigned 
in  January,  1856.  Rev.  William  N.  Fay  succeeded  him  in 
February,  1856,  but  was  reallj'  settled  as  pastor  in  June  of  that 
year.  He  remained  until  December,  1866,  when  he  resigned 
on  account  of  ill  health,  much  to  the  regret  not  only  of  the 
society,  but  of  the  entire  community.  He  went  to  Blooming- 
ton,  111.,  and  there  died  soon  after.  By  his  own  request  his 
body  was  brought  to  Belchertown  and  interred  among  the 
people  he  had  loved. 

Rev.  G.  W.  Gates  received  a  call  to  the  pa.storate  in  March, 
1867,  but  declined.  On  Aug.  21,  1867,  Rev.  D.  Donavan,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  and  of  Newton 
Theological  Seminary,  was  called,  and  became  the  pastor  of 
the  church.  He  remained  less  than  two  years,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded in  June,  1869,  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Reed,  whose  pastorate 
terminated  April  1,  1872. 

The  church  then  employed  supplies  until  the  ordination  of 
Rev.  Wm.  R.  Warner,  in  August,  1872,  who  became  the  next 
pastor.  He  withdrew  in  August,  1873,  and  was  succeeded  in 
November  of  the  same  year  by  Rev.  Mr.  Battell,  whose  pas- 
torate was  terminated  in  March,  1875.  In  May,  1875,  Rev. 
Philip  Barry  commenced  preaching,  and  was  installed  in  July 
following.     He  remained  until  April,  1877. 

The  present  pastor,  Rev.  B.  F.  Tuck,  commenced  his  labors 
July  1,  1877.  The  deacons  of  the  church  are  Abraham  Wis- 
ton,  aged  ninety,  Henry  Graves,  and  Daniel  Sawin. 

The  church  is  in  a  prosperous  condition  and  has  a  member- 
ship of  about  75.  The  membership  of  the  Sabbath-school  is 
about  50;  number  of  volumes  in  library,  several  hundred; 
Superintendent,  Nelson  Barrett. 

METHODISTS. 

This  denomination  iirst  established  itself  in  the  south  part 
of  the  town,  near  Bardwell  village,  but  afterward  consolidated 
with  tlie  church  at  Thorndike,  in  Palmer. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


531 


The  first  Methodist  preacher  stationed  at  Belehertown  Cen- 
tre was  Rev.  William  Gordon,  from  the  Conference  held  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  oomniencing  March  '20,  18G5.  The  first 
meetings  were  held  in  the  town-hall. 

The  lay  member.s  engaged  in  starting  the  enterprise  were 
Theodore  Blodgett  and  Thomas  Haskell.  P.  Rich  and  Francis 
A.  Tahuadge  assisted  in  carrying  it  forward. 

The  membership  at  the  beginning  was  about  a  dozen.  Rev. 
Mr.  Gordon  remained  two  years.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year 
there  were  22  members  in  full  connection  and  30  probationers. 
At  the  close  of  the  second  year  there  were  34  members  in  full 
connection  and  3  probationers. 

The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  C.  H.  Vinton,  whose  pastorate 
was  very  successful,  and  large  numbers  were  added  to  the 
church. 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Vinton  was  Rev.  E.  J.  Stevens,  a  local 
preacher,  appointed  to  supply  March  30,  1869,  and  who  re- 
mained only  until  December  of  the  same  year,  the  remainder 
of  tlie  Conference  year  being  tilled  out  by  students  from  the 
academy  at  Wilbraham. 

Rev.  H.  S.  Booth,  the  next  pastor,  was  stationed  in  Belcher- 
town  in  the  spring  of  1870.  Under  his  pastorate  a  large  and 
successful  revival  occurred. 

In  the  Conference  year  of  1871,  Rev.  N.  J.  Merrill  was 
appointed  to  the  charge,  now  for  the  first  time  united  with 
Granby.  At  the  Conference  of  1872,  Rev.  S.  McLaughlin 
was  appointed  to  the  charge.  Early  in  his  pastoj-ate  measures 
were  instituted  looking  to  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1873,  land  was  purchased  for  the 
erection  of  a  church,  and  during  the  same  year  the  society 
purchased  of  the  Union  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
Springfield  their  church  building,  at  a  cost  of  i)400,  paying 
$150  additional  for  the  organ,  and  $200  for  the  cushions,  car- 
jets,  and  settees.  The  building  was  taken  down,  removed  to 
Belehertown,  and  rebuilt  at  a  further  cost  of  |5700.  The  cor- 
ner-stone was  laid  August  13th  of  the  same  year,  and  the  new 
house  was  dedicated  Feb.  11,  1874.  It  is  a  handsome  and 
comfortable  structure,  and  now  occupied  by  the  society. 

The  pastors  since  Mr.  McLaughlin  have  been  Rev.  S.  0. 
Dyer,  for  one  year ;  Rev.  E.  S.  Best,  for  one  year ;  and  Rev. 
John  Capin,  for  two  years.  Rev.  Erastus  Burlingham,  the 
present  pastor,  commenced  his  labors  in  the  spring  of  1878. 

The  church  is  free  from  debt,  and  has  a  membership  of  113. 
The  membership  of  Sabbath-school  is  125;  officers  and  teach- 
ers, 13 ;  library,  500  volumes ;  Superintendent,  Merrick  M. 
Morse  ;  Librarian,  J.  V.  Thompson. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

There  are  a  number  of  burial-places  within  the  limits  of  the 
town,  most  of  which  have  been  devoted  to  such  uses  without 
the  town  taking  any  action  upon  the  matter,  and  probably 
were  designed  simply  to  accommodate  the  residents  of  the 
locality  in  which  they  are  located. 

The  earliest  recorded  action  of  the  town  upon  the  subject 
was  at  a  precinct-meeting,  held  Jan.  3,  1743,  at  which  Deacon 
Stephen  Crawfoot,  Aaron  Lyman,  Nathaniel  Dwight,  and 
Eliakim  Phelps  were  appointed  a  committee  to  "  lay  out  a 
burving-yard  for  to  accommodate  the  southeast  part  of  the 
town." 

The  committee  made  a  return  of  a  place  "east  of  the  county 
road,  north  of  the  swamp,  at  or  near  the  south  end  of  Mr. 
Billing's  lot,  which  was  bought  of  Judge  Dudley." 

This  is  the  oldest  ground  in  the  town,  and  is  known  as  the 
"  Old"  or  "  Forward  Burying-Ground."  It  lies  about  a  mile 
southeast  of  the  central  village,  and  contains  the  remains  of  a 
large  number  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  town.  Among  the 
inscriptions  of  interest  are  the  following  : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Kev.  Justus  Forward,  pastiir  of  the  church  in  Bel- 
ehertown, who,  skilled  in  evangeUcal  doctrine,  exemplary  in  Christian  duty, 
prudent  in  council,  valiant  for  the  truth,  faithful  and  successful  in  labors,  after 


a  long  and  useful  ministry,  in  which,  with  reputation  to  himself  and  to  the 
spiritual  benefit  of  his  flock,  ho  sci-ved  God  and  his  generation,  fell  asleep  March 
8,  A.D.  1814,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  ago  and  the  fifty-ninth  of  his  min- 
istry.    Blessed  arc  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Loj-d," 

"In  memory  of  Oapt.  Nathaniel  Dwight,  who  died  March  30, 1784,  in  tho 
seventy-second  year  of  his  age.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlere  of  this  town, 
and  was  esteemed  and  employed  in  public  business  in  town  and  county  through 
his  whole  life. 

"  Come,  honest  sexton,  with  your  spade, 

And  let  my  grave  be  quickly  made ; 

Ou  Heaven's  decree  I  waiting  lie. 

And  ail  my  wishes  are  to  die. 

"  Tho'  I  must  die  and  turn  to  dust, 
I  huiic  lu  rise  among  the  just; 
Jesns  my  body  will  refine, — 
I  shall  with  him  in  glory  shine." 

The  next  reference  to  burial-places  in  the  town-records  is 
on  Dec.  8,  1766,  when  it  was  "  voted  to  purchase  some  land  to 
bury  their  dead."  "  Voted  to  purchase  two  acres  in  each  place 
that  we  have  used  for  burying,  viz. :  one  down  by  the  road 
against  Forward's  lot,  and  one  near  the  Nine-Mile  Pond." 
"Voted  that  Capt.  Nathaniel  Dwight  and  Capt.  Samuel 
Howe  he  a  committee  to  see  to  the  buying  the  two  pieces  of 
land  above  mentioned,  for  the  benefit  and  privilege  of  bury- 
ing-places." 

This  indicates  the  next  oldest  burying-ground  to  be  the  one 
near  the  pond,  about  two  miles  northwest  of  the  central  vil- 
lage. It  was  probably  laid  out  soon  after  the  first  one,  and 
of  course  not  later  than  1766.  No  others  existed  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  on  March  11,  1771,  the  town  appropriated  £30 
for  the  purpose  of  fencing  each  of  these  grounds  with  stone. 

Beside  these  two  ancient  ones,  there  are  several  others : 
one  at  Dwight's  Station,  which  is  quite  old;  one  on  Great 
Hill,  which  has  been  in  use  for  upward  of  a  hundred  years; 
two  in  the  south  part  of  the  town  (one  the  "Olds  Burying- 
ground,"  probably  nearly  a  century  old,  and  one  at  Bardwell 
village,  about  forty  years  old) ;  one  in  "  Dark  Corner,"  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town,  which  has  been  used  over  sixty 
years  ;  and  one  at  "  Blue  Meadow,"  near  "  Slab  City,"  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town. 

The  principal  ground  in  the  town  at  present  is  Mount  Hope 
Cemetery,  in  rear  of  the  Congregational  Church,  at  the  cen- 
tral village.  It  was  laid  out  about  1846,  and  contains  many 
handsome  monuments. 

NOTES   FROM    THE    RECORDS. 

Dec.  20,  1YG2. — "Voted  to  Samuel  Ilaunum,  Jr.,  3  shillings  for  going  from 
Boston  to  lUilton  to  carry  a  letter." 

Dec.  20,  1765. — "  Voted  that  the  surveyors  shall  see  to  it  that  men  come  to 
the  work  of  the  highways  seasonably  in  the  morning,  and  work  diligently  all 
the  day  till  the  ordinary  time  at  night  men  commonly  leave  work  that  are  hired 
to  labor;  and  whoever  works  but  a  part  of  the  day  shall  be  rewarded  in  such 
proportion  as  they  woi-k,  in  the  judgment  of  the  surveyor." 

March  19. 1770. — "  Voted  to  excuse  the  west  part  of  the  town  from  any  charge 
in  purchasing  the  burying-place  in  or  near  Mr.  Forward's  land  and  that  by  the 
pond,  upon  condition  they  provide  a  place  for  themselves." 

March  3, 1777. — "Voted  to  Deacon  Joseph  Smith  and  Lieut.  Joseph  Graves  24 
shillings  each  for  going  to  Brooktield  to  carry  the  missionary  interpreter  and 
six  Oneida  Indians  or  chief  warriors." 

1784. — A  bounty  of  G  pounds  was  set  on  each  wolf  killed  within  ten  miles  of 
M.  House,  or  if  track  was  taken  within  those  limits. 

1785. — "  Voted  to  choose  a  committee  of  three  men  to  correspond  with  some 
neighboring  towns  to  come  into  some  measures  to  destroy  the  wolves." 

March,  1796. — "  Voted  that  hoggs  shall  run  on  the  common  yoked  and  ringed, 
as  the  law  directs." 

In  1820,  Eliakim  Phelps  and  Philo  Dickinson  were  chosen 
delegates  to  the  convention  to  revise  the  State  Constitution. 

Jan.  8, 18'23. — "  Voted  not  to  employ  Doct.  Sylvanus  Fanslier  to  innoculate  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  for  the  kine-pock." 

EARLY    MiRRIAGES   AND   BIRTHS. 

The  earliest  marriages  recorded  are  those  of  Abner  Smith, 
son  of  Deacon  John  Smith,  of  Cold  Spring,  to  Mary  King, 
April  14,  1741.  Rev.  Edward  Billing,  the  first  minister  of 
the  town,  to  Lucy  Parsons,  daughter  of  David  Parsons,  on 
Aug.  12,  1741.  Jo.scph  Smith,  son  of  Deacon  John  Smith, 
to  Eunice  Bascom,  daughter  of  Samuel  Bascoin,  on  Aug.  28, 


532 


HISTOKY   OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1743.  On  the  same  date  Sauuiel  Bascom,  Jr.,  was  married  to 
Mary  Warner,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Warner.  Hezekiah  Root, 
son  to  Hezekiah  Root,  of  Northampton,  was  married  to  the 
widow  Mary  King,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Bridgman,  Nov. 
17,  1743.  No  other  marriage  is  recorded  for  nearly  five  years. 
The  first  birth  recorded  is  that  of  Susanna  Lyman,  daughter 
of  Aaron  and  Eunice  Lyman,  who  was  born  Nov.  16,  1734. 
The  first  male  birth  recorded  was  that  of  Elijah  Dwight,  son 
of  Nathaniel  and  Hannah  Dwight,  who  was  born  Nov.  30, 
173u,  and  died  January  19th  of  the  following  year.  Josiah 
Lyman,  son  of  Aaron  and  Eunice  Lyman,  was  born  March 
9,  1736,  and  is  the  next  male  birth  recorded. 

EARLY   ASSESSORS'    VALUATION. 

The  most  ancient  valuation  of  estates  to  be  found  in  the 
town  is  that  made  in  the  year  1743,  and  was  as  follows  :  Heze- 
kiah Root,  land,  £20;  housing,  £i;  personal  estate,  £16  6s. 
Aaron  Lyman,  land,  £36  10s.;  faculty,  £5;  housing,  £5; 
personal  estate,  £16  10s.  Eliakim  Phelps,  land,  £14;  facultj', 
£5;  housing,  £2  10s.  ;  personal  estate,  £5.  Thomas  Brown, 
land,  £5;  house,  £1 ;  personal  estate,  £4  6s.  Joseph  Phelps, 
land,  £7 ;  housing,  £4 ;  personal  estate,  £16.  Nathaniel 
Dwight,  land,  £32  10s.  ;  faculty,  tavern,  etc.,  £18;  housing, 
£4;  personal  estate,  £35  8s.  Samuel  Bascom,  land,  £46; 
faculty,  £5;  housing,  £5;  personal  estate,  £11  4s.  Nathaniel 
Cowles,  land,  £2  10s.  ;  housing,  £1  ;  personal  estate,  £7  10s. 
Daniel  Smith,  £2 ;  housing,  £1 ;  personal  estate,  £3  10s. 
Jesse  Warner,  land,  £3  10s. ;  housing,  £1  5s. ;  personal  es- 
tate, £3.  Ebenezer  Warner,  land,  £30 ;  housing,  £4  ;  per- 
sonal estate,  £12  15s.  Moses  Warner,  land,  £7 ;  housing,  £1 
10s. ;  personal  estate,  £9  8s.  Walter  Fairfield,  land,  £5 ; 
housing,  £1  10s.  ;  personal  estate,  £8  10s.  Benjamin  Steb- 
bins,  land,  £25 ;  housing,  £5  ;  per-sonal  estate,  £35.  Nathaniel 
Parsons,  land,  £12 ;  housing,  £4 ;  personal  estate,  £6  6s. 
Benjamin  Billings,  land,  £10;  faculty,  £3  ;  housing  and  mill, 
£3  5s. ;  personal  estate,  £6  18s.  Joseph  Bardwell,  land,  £12  ; 
faculty,  £5 ;  house,  £1  5s. ;  personal  estate,  £6.  Thomas 
Graves,  land,  £15 ;  house,  £1  5s.  ;  personal  estate,  £9  6s. 
Stephen  Crawfoot,  £12  ;  faculty,  £9  ;  house,  £1  5s. ;  personal 
estate,  £8.  Ebenezer  Bridgman,  land,  £17;  housing,  £3; 
personal  estate,  £7.  Joseph  Bridgman,  £16 ;  housing,  £3 
10s.;  i)ersonal  estate,  £4  6s.  Jonathan  Graves,  land,  £28; 
faculty,  £9  ;  housing,  £4 ;  personal  estate,  £21  12s.  Joseph 
Smith,  land,  £0 ;  personal  estate,  £1  10s.  Mary  King,  land, 
£0;  personal  estate,  £3  10s.  Samuel  Bascom,  personal  estate, 
£1  10s.  Robert  Brown,  land,  £7 ;  housing,  £1  5s.  ;  personal 
estate,  £8  10s.  John  Smith,  land,  £22  ;  'faculty,  £9  ;  housing, 
£6;  personal  estate,  £19  10s.  Stephen  -Fairfield,  personal 
estate,  £2.  Mehetable  Dwight,  building,  £1  5s.  ;  personal 
estate,  £1  10s. 

SOCIETIES. 
VERNON  LODOE,  A.  r.  AND  A.  M., 
was  chartered  in  the  year  1869,  as  Mount  Vernon  Lodge,  and 
t.he  first  regular  communication  was  held  on  June  23d  of  that 
year.  Prior  to  that  time  the  lodge  had  worked  under  a  dis- 
pensation. The  year  following  the  word  "Mount"  was 
dropped  from  the  name.  The  charter-members  of  the  lodge 
were  Oscar  P.  Morse,  Joseph  M.  Towne,  Calvin  Bridgman, 
White  H.  Hawks,  Phineas  Bridgman,  Henry  M.  Jepson, 
Samuel  W.  Longley,  Reuben  A.  White,  Joshua  G.  Longley, 
William  A.  Chapin,  Levi  Arnold,  Jason  Blackmer,  George  C. 
Sandford.  The  pr&ent  officers  of  the  lodge  are  William  H. 
Bridgman,  W.  M.  ;  Loman  A.  Smith,  S.  W. ;  Eugene  Bridg- 
man, J.  W. ;  William  E.  Bridgman,  Treas. ;  E.  A.  R.  Fair- 
child,  Sec. ;  S.  M.  Warren,  Chap. ;  William  F.  Carter,  Mar.  ; 
E.  M.  Shaw,  S.  D. ;  W.  H.  Hawks,  J.  D. ;  C.  L.  Kibbee,  S.  S. ; 
Calvin  Childs,  J.  S. ;  D.  Winter,  I.  S.  ;  Guy  C.  Allen,  T. 

Past  Masters.— O.  F.  Morse,  1870;  Levi  Arnold,  1871-73; 
W.  E.  Bridgman,  1874-76;  J.  M.  Towne,  1877. 


BANKS. 
THE   FARMERS'   AND   MECHANICS'   BANK 

formerly  existed  in  Belchertown.  It  first  occupied  the  build- 
ing where  Sheppard  Parsons  now  resides.  The  building  now 
occupied  by  William  Bridgman  was  erected  by  the  bank 
during  Gen.  Lafayette's  visit  to  this  countr}-,  and  was  used  by 
them  for  banking  purposes.  The  institution  liisted  about  ten 
years. 

INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS. 

Agriculture  has  constituted  the  principal  pursuit  of  the 
citizens  of  Belchertown,  although  some  attention  has  been 
paid  to  other  branches  of  industry.  The  principal  of  these 
has  been  the  manufacture  of  carriages,  for  which  the  town  bas 
been  noted  for  many  years.  The  first  wagon  ever  made  in  the 
town  was  made  the  first  part  of  the  present  century  by  Mason 
Abbey,  and  Harrison  Holland  "striped"  the  first  wagon 
painted  in  that  style  in  the  town.  The  Belchertown  Carriage 
Manufactory  existed  for  a  long  time  on  "  Federal  Street,"  and 
was  composed  of  Abbey,  Pepper,  Holland,  and  others.  Jona- 
than Bardwell  and  Simeon,  his  son,  also  made  wagons  and 
carried  on  the  blacksmithing  business  at  "  Bardwell  Hollow" 
half  a  century  ago.  Joseph  Woods  also  manufactured  thein 
in  the  same  locality.  Nehemiah  Smith  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  wagons  near  the  present  high-school  about  thirty 
years  ago.  Stephen  Packard,  Saul  Shuuiwa}',  Joel  Packard, 
Seth  D.  Griggs,  Humphrey  J.  Filer,  Park  Holland,  and 
others  have  also  engaged  in  the  same  business,  to  a  greater  or 
le.ss  extent.  The  industry  is  still  the  most  prominent  in  the 
town,  the  principal  manufacturers  being  Tertius  and  Samuel 
D.  Cowles,  and  Maynard  Leach. 

The  Belchertown  Woolen  Company,  at  Bardwell  village, 
formerly  carried  on  quite  a  business  in  the  manufacture  of 
satinets,  and  Bugbee  &  Tirrell  formerly  manufactured  paper- 
hangings,  and  J.  &  S.  Clark  wrapping-paper. 

A  small  "  shoddy"  factory  formerly  existed  at  "  Slab  City," 
and  a  large  number  of  saw-mills  and  several  grist-mills  have 
utilized  the  various  water-privileges.  The  Boston  Duck  Com- 
pany, whose  mills  are  situated  near  the  south  line  of  the  town, 
at  Bondsville,  in  the  town  of  Palmer,  contemplate  establishing 
another  mill  oji  the  Belchertown  side  of  the  river. 

MILITARY. 
The  part  which  the  town  took  in  the  earlier  wars  cannot  _ 
with  accuracy  be  ascertained.  Nathaniel  Dwight  went  into 
the  French  war  with  a  captain's  commission,  Aug.  9,  1757. 
He  received  an  order  from  Col.  Williams,  of  Hatfield,  then  a 
militia  captain,  to  muster  and  march  his  company,  without 
delay,  for  the  relief  of  Fort  William  Henry,  near  Lake  George, 
which  was  attacked  by  a  French-and-lndian  armj'  under 
Montcalm.  The  company,  under  marching  orders,  met  the 
regiment  at  Westtield,  proceeded  to  Kinderhook,  received  in- 
telligence that  the  fort  had  capitulated,  were  discharged,  and 
returned  home.  Doubtless  a  large  number  of  Belchertown 
men  were  in  this  company.  Among  these  were  Daniel  Wor- 
thington  and  Capt.  James  Walker.  Stephen  Crawfoot  also 
served  in  the  French  war  from  Belchertown,  and  William 
Kentfield,  son  of  Ebenezer,  died  in  the  army,  near  Lake 
George,  in  1756.     Capt.  Elijah  Smith  was  a  captain  in  1755. 

THE    REVOLUTIONARY    RECORD 

of  the  town  is  especially  noteworthy.  From  the  beginning  to 
the  close  of  that  memorable  struggle  the  highest  patriotism 
and  most  self-sacrificing  devotion  was  manifested  by.  the  citi- 
zens. The  odious  "  Port  Bill"  was  met  by  the  following  vote 
of  the  town : 

"  Voted  and  cho.se  ten  meu  to  inspect  the  town  and  see  that  there  is  not  any 
goods  exposed  to  sale  in  Beldiortowu  that  were  imported  after  the  1st  day  of 
December  last." 

In  the  month  of  September,  1774,  the  people,  in  public 
meeting  assembled,  affixed  their  signatures  to  the  following 
compact : 


Photo,  by  J.  L.  LoTell,  Amherst. 


DEACON  LYMAN  SABIN. 


Deacon  Lyman  Sabin  was  born  in  Belchertown, 
Aug.  15,  1813.  His  father,  Thomas  Sabin,  now 
in  his  ninety-sixth  year,  was  born  in  Ellington, 
Conn.,  Dec.  22,  1783,  and  March  20,  1806,  married 
Abigail  Dui'fey,  who  was  born  July  3,  1787,  and 
died  March  10,  1846.  He  bought  a  farm  in  Wil- 
braham,  Mass.,  for  $800,  which,  after  seven  years,  he 
sold  for  $1700,  and  bought  the  present  one,  April, 
1,  1813,  for  $2000. 

Deacon  Sabin  married  Lucy  C.  Stebbins,  daughter 
of  Samuel  H.  Stebbins,  Oct.  10,  1839,  who  was 
born  Nov.  2,  1812.  Their  children  are  Maria 
Dickinson,  born  Aug.  24,  1840;  married  T.  G. 
Longley,  of  Belchertown.  Abigail  Durfey,  born 
July  13,  1842 ;  married  Lewis  K.  Williams,  of  Kent, 
Ohio.  Laura  Sophia,  born  Dec.  3,  1844.  Their 
only  grandchild,  Marion  Sabin  Longley,  was  born 
Oct.  15,  1874. 

Deacon  Sabin's  responsibility  in  farm  manage- 
ment dates  from  his  marriage,  at  which  time  the  as- 
sessor's valuation  was, — real  estate,  $2150;  personal, 
|295.  May  29,  1840,  the  house  and  some  out-build- 
ings, with  most  of  their  contents,  were  burned;  in- 
surance $600,  of  which  $200  canceled  a  debt.  The 
remaining  property  was  $400  insurance,  150  acres 
of  land,  much  of  which  was  in  a  rough,  unculti- 
vated state,  and  no  buildings  except  inferior  barns. 
Good  fiirm  buildings  are  now.  on  the  premises,  the 
fields  are  substantially  walled,  lowlands  drained  and 
made  productive,  while  five  acres  of  prime  orchard- 
ing swell  the  farm  products.  Some  years  since  the 
Han)pshire  Agricultural  Society  awarded  this  farm 


a  premium  as  the  best-managed  farm  in  Hampshire 
County.  Assessed  valuation  1 860, — real,  $5300 ;  per- 
sonal, $1000.  Assessed  valuation  1878,— real,  $6500; 
personal,  $1385.  Increase  from  1840,  $5440.  Dur- 
ing this  period  $2000  have  been  paid  to  those  who 
have  left  the  homestead,  besides  educational  expenses ; 
while  within  ten  years  not  less  than  $1000  have  been 
given  for  exceptional  church  expenditures,  besides 
liberal  annual  payments  for  current  church  expenses 
and  charities. 

These  acquisitions  have  not  been  made  regardless 
of  domestic  comfort,  neither  as  life's  end  and  aim,  nor 
without  ordinary  reverses  of  forttme,  though  a  good 
Providence  is  gratefully  acknowledged.  They  are 
mentioned  here  simply  as  showing  that  New  England 
farming  may  be  made  profitable  even  in  hill  towns, 
and  in  the  hope  to  counteract  a  little  the  tendency 
of  young  men  to  leave  the  farms. 

On  the  fertile  soil  of  the  river-towns  the  gains 
might  have  been  greater.  Yet  the  salubrious  air 
and  fine  scenery  here  enjoyed  are  regarded  as  more 
than  a  compensation.  Deacon  Sabin  wishes  his  ex- 
perience to  suggest  to  young  men  "that  it  is  not 
necessary  to  leave  New  England,  or  to  seek  city 
homes,  in  order  to  secure  a  competency." 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  here  since  1835,  and  a  deacon  since  1863. 
He  is  a  man  of  unquestioned  integrity,  of  generous 
impulses,  one  of  the  foremost  financial  supporters 
of  the  church  with  which  he  is  connected,  and  a 
Puritan  pillar  in  society. 


Photo,  by  Moffltt. 


HENRY  GRAVES    Jr. 


Henry  Graves,  Jr.,  now  living  in  Belchertown, 
was  born  in  South  Hadley  Falls,  July  21,  1819. 
At  the  age  of  five  lie  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Chicopee,  whence  after  a  stay  of  one  year  he  went 
to  Ware,  and,  remaining  there  six  years,  removed 
in  1830  to  Ludlow,  of  which  place  he  remained  a 
resident  until  1853.  On  the  15th  of  December  of 
that  year  he  became  a  citizen  of  Belchertown,  loca- 
ting on  the  place  now  his  residence. 

Oct.  9,  1844,  he  was  married  to  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Jonathan  Wales,  of  Belchertown,  and  became  tiie 
father  of  a  son,  Moses  W. 

Mrs.  Graves  died  April  17,  1863,  and  May  8, 
1866,  he  married  Nancy,  daughter  of  Joseph  Witt, 
of  Granby.  Aug.  7,  1862,  Mr.  Gi-aves  enlisted  in 
the  37th  Massachusetts  Regiment,  and  served  through 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  participating  in  ail  the 
battles  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged,  includ- 
ing the  conilicts  at  Gettysburg,  Fredericksburg,  the 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg, 
and  Winchester,  at  which  latter  he  was  wounded  in 
the  head,  and  subsequently  confined  in  the  McClel- 


lan  Hospital  at  Philadelphia  for  five  months.  Dur- 
ing his  entire  three  years'  term  he  was  absent  from 
his  regiment  on  but  two  furloiigiis,  once  to  bury  his 
wife,  and  once  to  vote  for  President  Lincoln. 

Upon  being  mustered  out  of  the  service,  he  re- 
turned home  and  resumed  his  agricultural  pursuits, 
which  he  has  followed  to  this  time.  He  has  never 
sought  political  preferment.  Early  in  life  he  was  a 
Democrat,  but  the  war  made  him  a  Republican,  and 
with  that  party  he  has  since  affiliated. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  experiencing  religion,  he 
joined  the  Congregational  Church  at  Ludlow ;  but 
church  dissensions  led  to  his  withdrawal  and  sub- 
sequent attendance  at  the  Baptist  Church,  whicli  or- 
ganization he  joined  at  Three  Rivers  in  1842,  and 
later  joined  the  Baj)tist  Church  at  Belchertown. 
Since  1858  he  has  served  the  church  as  deacon. 

Mr.  Graves'  father  was  born  Aug.  19,  1793,  in 
Williamsburg,  Hampshire  Co.  Nov.  6,  1817,  he 
married  Selima,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Philip  Smith, 
of  Chico[)ee.  Their  children  were  four  in  number, — 
Sophia  S.,  William,  Austin  Lyman,  and  Henry,  Jr. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


533 


"  We  declare  that  we  will  take  no  iiurcnsonable  liberties  or  advantiige  from 
the  suspension  of  the  course  of  law  ;  but  we  engage  to  conduct  ourselves  agree- 
able t«»  the  laws  of  God,  of  reason,  antl  of  huuuinity ;  and  we  hereby  engage  to 
use  all  prudent,  justiliable,  and  necessary  measures  to  secure  and  defend  each 
other's  pereons  and  families,  their  lives,  rights,  and  properties,  against  all  who 
shall  attempt  to  hurt,  injure,  or  invade  them  ;  and  to  secure  and  defend  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity  our  just  and  constitutional  rights  and  privileges." 

In  the  County  Convention,  held  about  this  time,  the  town 
was  represented  by  Col.  Caleb  Clark,  Joseph  Smith,  and 
Nathaniel  Dwight.  The  latter  was  then  town  clerk,  and  re- 
cords the  fact  that  delegates  were  present  from  every  town  in 
the  county  (Old  Hampshire)  but  Charlemont,  and  that 

"They  spent  the  day  in  considering  the  distressed  state  of  the  government,  as 
the  port  of  Boston  is  shut  up  by  the  King  and  Parliament,  and  eight  or  ten  regi- 
ments stationed  there  upon  the  Neck,  and  digging  trenches  and  fortifying  them 
against  the  country ;  and  a  number  of  men-of-war  are  round  about  Boston,  in 
order  to  oblige  the  province  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  tax 
North  America  at  their  pleasure." 

Capt.  Samuel  Howe  represented  the  town  in  the  Pirst  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  in  1774,  and  in  the  Second  Congress,  the  year 
following. 

On  Nov.  7,  1774,  the  people  of  the  town  convened  at  the 
meeting-house  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  militar}'  com- 
pany. Caleb  Clark  was  chosen  captain  ;  Joseph  Graves,  first 
lieutenant;  John  C'owles,  second  lieutenant;  Elijah  Dwight, 
ensign  ;  and  Oliver  Bridgman,  clerk.  Dec.  12,  1774,  the  town 
voted  lO.s.  Sd.  to  Capt.  Zachariah  Eddy  "  for  his  horse's  jour- 
ney to  Providence  to  fetch  powder  for  the  town's  use." 

The  town  chose  committees  of  safety  throughout  the  war, 
and  gave  them  active  support. 

May  22,  1775,  Nathaniel  Dwight  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Provincial  Congress  called  to  meet  at  Watertown.  The 
town  voted 

"That  said  Nathaniel  Dwight  shall  go  armed  cap-a-pie,  as  there  is  every  day 
danger  of  an  invjtsion  by  the  King's  troops  that  are  now  stationed  at  Boston, 
viz.,  about  4000  men,  and  the  government,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  New 
Hampsliire,  have  30,000  men  that  are  stationed  round  about  Boston." 

The  records  contain  still  further  evidence  of  the  patriotism 
of  the  town,  of  which  the  following  is  a  fair  sample : 

*'  At  a  full  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Belchertown,  held  at  the  meeting- 
house, June  25, 1770,  Deacon  Aai'on  Lyman  was  chosen  moderator.  The  ques- 
tion was  put  by  the  moderator,  whether  should  the  honorable  Continental 
Congress,  for  the  safety  of  the  United  Colonies  in  America,  declare  their  inde- 
pendence of  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  they,  the  said  inhabitants,  would 
solemnly  engage,  with  their  lives  and  fortunes,  to  support  them  in  the  measure ; 
and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative  by  a  universal  vote." 

Men  and  supplies  were  regularly  furnished  in  support  of 
the  war. 

For  purposes  of  drill  and  enlistment  the  town  had  two  militia 
companies,  known  at  home  as  the  East  and  West  Companies. 
They  were  the  Third  and  Ninth  Companies  of  the  4th  Hamp- 
shire Regiment.  Of  the  Third,  which  was  the  West  Com- 
pany, Jonathan  Bardwell,  Aaron  Phelps,  and  Henry  Dwight 
were  in  command,  and  of  the  Ninth,  Elijah  Dwight,  James 
W^alker,  and  Edward  Smith. 

A  large  number  of  Belchertown  citizens  served  at  various 
times  in  the  Continental  army.  Capt.  Josiah  Lyman,  with 
his  company,  went  on  the  expedition  to  Canada,  in  1776.  His 
brother,  Maj.  Elihu  Lyman,  a  native  of  the  town,  was  also 
an  officer  in  the  war,  and  started  with  Benedict  Arnold  on  the 
expedition  through  Maine  to  Canada,  but  was  deputed  to  carry 
back  sick  and  disabled  members  of  the  command.  He  was 
then  a  captain,  and  not  a  resident  of  Belchertown  at  the  time. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  those  who  are  known  to  have 
performed  actual  service  in  the  army :  Elijah  Dwight,  Pliny 
Dwight,  Joseph  Keed,  Asaph  Kenttield,  James  White,  Samuel 
White,  Thomas  Fuller,  Wm.  Hannum,  Reuben,  Asa,  and 
Whitney  Shumway,  Elijah  Parker,  Moses  Cowles,*  Stephen 
Darling,  Joseph  Towne,  Caleb  Stacy,  Salmon  Kentfiold,  Nath. 
Dodge,  Nath.    Doakes,   Luther   Clough,   Enos    Smith,  Joel 

«  Moses  Cowles'  house  was  bur  ned  in  October,  1776,  while  he  was  serving  in 
the  war,  and  three  of  his  children  were  burned  to  death  in  the  conflagration, 
the  eldest  being  five  years  of  age. 


Greene,  Eb.  Chapman,  Elijah  Walker,  Samuel  Pollesey,  Benj. 
Burden,  Zeph.  Sturtevant,  John  Hamblen,  Jonathan  Bardwell, 
Moses  Howe,  Josiah  Lyman,  James  Walker,  P.  Gilbert,  F. 
Davis.  A  large  number  of  others  are  supposed  to  have  rendered 
personal  service  in  the  army,  hut  the  lists  do  not  indicate 
whether  they  so  served,  or  by  proxj-.  Twenty  of  the  citizens 
of  the  town  are  believed  to  have  lost  their  lives  in  the  struggle. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  the  town 

"Voted  that  this  town  will  at  all  times,  as  they  have  done  to  the  utmost  of 
thrir  power,  oppose  every  enemy  to  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind; 
and  that  after  so  wicked  a  conspiracy  against  those  I'ights  and  liberties  by  certain 
ingrates,  most  of  them  natives  of  these  States,  and  who  have  been  refugees  and 
declared  traitors  to  their  country,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  town  that  they  ought 
never  to  be  suffered  ia  return,  but  to  he  excluded  from  having  lot  or  portion 
amongst  us." 

shays'  rebellion. 

The  town  records  contain  the  following  names  of  those  who 
participated  in  the  Shays  rebellion  : 

"  A  list  of  the  names  of  several  persons  that  were  concerned  in  the  late  re- 
bellion, who  lived  in  Belchertown,  and  took  and  subscribed  the  oath  of  allegiance 
before  Caleb  Clark,  Es'i. :  Jonah  Hunting,  Samuel  Ward,  Walter  Eaton,  Obadiah 
Ward,  Sewell  Abbott,  Seth  Warner,  Mark  Stacy,  John  Stacy,  Ephraim  Hunatt, 
Daniel  Shaw,  John  Coal,  Jr.,  Solomon  Hannum,  John  Woods,  David  Converse, 
Nathan  Davis,  Ebenezer  Bliss,  Thomas  Hulett,  Nathan  Kinsley,  Calvin  Kinsley, 
Elijah  Parker,  Justin  Olds,  Amos  Ackley,  Samuel  Acklcy,  Enoch  Thayer,  J.ame8 
Smith,  John  BIcMullin,  Sav'a  Rand,  Isajic  Livermore,  Samuel  Ackley,  Jr., 
Thomas  Thurston,  Benjamin  Clough,  Ebenezer  Chapman,  Luther  Clough,  David 
Bartlett,  Jr.,  Ephraim  Clough,  Jonah  Drake,  Silas  Level,  Josiah  T\liitney,  Benj. 
Burthan,  Zebulon  Dagg,  Abel  Clough,  Thomas  Brown,  Benjamin  Billings,  John 
Ward,  Jr.,  Daniel  Kneedham,  Joseph  Bamsdil,  Barnabas  Fay,  Jacob  Wilson, 
Israel  Robinson,  Thomas  Wilson,  Nathaniel  Goodale,  Stephen  Thuisttm,  Thomas 
Torrane,  John  Saurin,  John  Sumner,  Nathaniel  Perry,  Jr.,  Mason  Hulett,  Cyril 
Leach,  Erastus  Kentfleld,  Asahcl  Hulett,  David  Town,  Wm.  Town,  Christopher 
Patten,  Thomas  Wheeler. 

"  Attest :  E.  Dwight,  Town  CJeri" 

WAR   OF    1812. 

With  the  war  of  1812  the  town  had  no  sympathy,  but  passed 
resolutions  strongly  condemnatory  of  it.  The  following  citi- 
zens are  among  those  who  served  in  the  army  at  Boston  : 
Simeon  Pepper,  Horace  Walker,  Samuel  H.  Stebbins,  Heze- 
kiah  Walker,  Jr.,  Salem  Fisher. 

WAR  OF  1861-G5. 
The  patriotic  part  that  the  town  bore  in  the  late  war  is 
matter  of  recent  fame.  Suffice  it  here  to  record  that  Bel- 
chertown contributed  nobly  to  the  preservation  of  that  Union 
which  her  sons  had  so  bravely  struggled  to  create  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  republic.  The  following  names  are  from  the  ad- 
jutant-general's report : 

Perez  B.  Brown,  42d  Mass.  Regt. ;  Myron  P.  Walker,  Clias.  H.  Atwood,  Benton 
Barrett,  Wm.  R.  Barrows,  Cbas.  Benson,  Oliver  Hyde,  Reuben  S.  Rob- 
bins,  David  K.  Sliumway,  Frank  B.  Smith,  George  Strong,  Frank  Wiley, 
Nelson  0.  Willey,  Benj.  F.  Brady,  all  in  lUlli  Mass.  llegt. ;  Martin  V.  B. 
Brown,  John   H.  Parker,  James  H.  Pratt,  Dwight  Barrett,  Stillman   D. 
Clark,  James  U.  Montague,  Chas.  A.  Pettingill,  Edwiti  H.  Atwood,  Ly- 
man J.  Bennett,  Solomon  Roads,  Augustus  D.  Alden,  Thomas  H.  Dewey, 
Sanmel  J.  Filer,  Elisha  J.  Griggs,  Edwin  C.  Hayes,  George  F.  Shumway, 
Dwight  .Sloan,  E.  P  Warner,  all  in  27th  Mass.  Regt. ;  Chas.  B.  Jackson, 
George  M.  Abby,  Wra.  L.  Bishop,  Jerome  Draper,  Richard  F.  Underwood, 
Warner  Pratt,  Wm.  L.  Ayers,  Wm.  L.  Bishop,  Wm.  Blodgett,  Edwin  C. 
Chapin,  Lyman  Ohamberlain,  Frederick  Cutler,  George  A.Goodwin,  John 
Henry,  Lucas  B.  Jenks,  Thomas  Jenks,  Henry  M.  Kentfleld,  Lemuel  S. 
Mason,  Truman  C.  Munsell,  Wm.  J.  Peeso,  Amos  M.  Ramsdell,  Richard 
Ramsdell,  Daniel  B.  Richardson,  Chas.  S.  Robbins,  Joseph  D.  Richardson, 
Russell  A.  Robbins,  Chas.  0.  Thomas,  Francis  B.  Thomas,  Harrison  D. 
Towne,  Richard  F.  Underwood,  all  in  31st  Mass.  Kegt. ;  Thomas  Shannon, 
Reuben  S.  Robbins,  Wm.  McDowell,  Albert  C.  Allen,  Wm.  Bell.  Francis 
Bishop,  Hiram  Blackmer,  Dwight  B.  Chamberlain,  Norris  Chamberlain, 
Daniel  B.  Dwight,  Ba)  moiid  C.  Flowers,  Eniulus  B.  GiUett,  Philo  Hogeney, 
Lorenzo  Joslyu,  Lorenzo  Leech,  David  Lemau,  Andrew  B.  Owen,  Horace 
C.  Ramsdell,   Lyman  A.  Shaw,  Frederick  E.  Smith,  John   H.  Smith, 
Monroe  Snow,  Jerry  W.  Scpiires,  Jonas  II.  Thayer,  John   McLau.^lilin, 
James  Whittaker,  all  in  37th  Mass.  Regt. 
Acknowledgments  are  due  to  Chas.  L.  Washburn,  town 
clerk.  Rev.  Payson  W.  Lyman,  Austin  Billings,  S.  W.  Long- 
ley,  Daniel  Sawin,  Cyrus  S.  Bartlet  and  wife,  and  other  citi- 
zens of  the  town.     "  Doolittle's  Sketches,"  and  the  Easthamp- 
ton  Centennial  Address  of  Rev.  P.  W.  Lyman,  have  also  been 
found  useful. 


GKEENWIOH. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

The  town  of  Greenwich  is  situated  in  tlie  n(jrtlieastern  corner 
of  Hampshire  County,  and  is  hounded  on  the  north  by  the 
town  of  Prescott,  in  the  same  county,  on  the  south  by  the  town 
of  Ware,  in  the  same  county,  on  the  east  by  the  towns  of  Dana 
and  Hardwick,  in  Worcester  County,  and  on  the  west  by  the 
towns  of  Prescott  and  Enfield,  in  Hampshire  County.  The 
average  length  of  the  town  is  about  eight  and  a  half  miles, 
and  the  average  width  about  two  and  three-quarter  miles.  It 
contains  12,402.8  acres  of  land,  450  acres  of  pond  and  streams, 
and  216.5  acres  of  roads,  the  length  of  the  latter  being  forty- 
two  and  a  quarter  miles. 

NATURAL    FEATURES. 

The  township  is  situated  in  a  valley,  running  north  and 
south,  and  skirted  on  either  side  by  a  range  of  hills.  The 
landscape  is  pleasantly  diversified  by  several  hills  of  promi- 
nence, by  the  east  and  middle  branches  of  Swift  River,  which 
traverse  the  town  throughout,  and  by  numerous  ponds  scat- 
tered over  its  surface.  Mount  Pomeroy  lifts  its  peculiar  con- 
ical form  just  north  of  the  village  of  Greenwich  Plains,  and 
probably  attains  an  altitude  of  700  or  800  feet.  Mount  "  Liz," 
or  "Lizzie,"  lies  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Mount 
Pomeroy,  and  south  of  the  village,  and  probably  attains  about 
the  same  altitude  as  the  former.  The  origin  of  their  names 
is  elsewhere  referred  to.  Cooley's  Hill,  also  quite  elevated, 
lies  farther  south,  near  the  Enfield  line.  The  two  branches 
of  Swift  Kiver  aftbrd  a  number  of  line  water-privileges, 
several  of  which  are  not  utilized.  The  east  branch  discharges 
its  waters  into  Moose  Pond.  The  outlet  of  this  pond  unites 
with  the  middle  branch  and  passes  on  to  the  Chicopee  Kiver. 
Numerous  small  affluents  of  the  river  drain  the  difterent  sec- 
tions of  the  town,  of  which  the  principal  is  Sunk  Brook,  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town.  The  principal  ponds  are  Warner, 
in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  Curtis,  about  a  mile  farther 
south.  East  or  Moose  Pond,  lying  east  of  the  geographical 
centre  of  the  town,  and  Davis  Pond,  south  and  west  of 
Greenwich  Plains. 

The  soil  of  Greenwich  is  fertile,  producing  the  cereals,  with 
the  exception  of  wheat,  in  abundance,  but  is  unfavorable  to 
the  production  of  grass.  Being  comparatively  free  from  rocks 
and  stones,  it  is  not  ditEcult  of  cultivation.  The  geological 
formations  of  the  town  are  not  of  special  importance,  con- 
forming to  the  general  description  of  them  elsewhere  given  in 
this  work.  Two  rocky  bowlders  on  the  Blackmer  farm,  in 
the  southerly  part  of  the  town,  have  attracted  considerable 
notice.  They  are  of  many  tons  in  weight,  and  rest  upon  a 
flat  rock.  A  slight  degree  of  power  applied  serves  to  set  them 
in  motion. 

STATISTICAL. 

The  present  population  of  the  town  is  given  at  606.  By 
the  census  of  1776  it  was  890.  The  highest  population  ever 
reached  in  the  town  was  in  1800,  when  it  was  1460.  Since 
that  time  the  town  of  Enfield  has  been  set  ofl"  from  Green- 
wich, accounting  largely  for  the  dift'erence  in  population.  By 
the  census  of  1875,  the  total  products  of  the  town  are  placed 
at  $117,363.  The  a.ssessor's  report  for  the  year  1878  furnishes 
the  following ;  Number  of  polls,  187  ;  of  dwelling-houses, 
141  ;  of  horses,  144  ;  of  cows,  297  ;  of  sheep,  157  ;  of  acres  of 
534 


land  ta.\ed,  11,107;  value  of  personal  property,  |72,090;  of 
real  property,  §200,000  ;  rate  per  cent,  of  total  taxation,  1.65. 

RAILROADS. 

The  Springfield,  Athol  and  Northeastern  Railroad  passes 
through  the  town  from  north  to  south,  and  was  first  opened 
to  traflic  in  1873.  It  has  two  stations,  one  at  Greenwich 
Plains,  and  the  other  at  Greenwich  Valley. 

The  Massachusetts  Central  Railroad,  yet  in  an  unfinished 
condition,  proposes  to  enter  near  the  upper  village  of  Enfield, 
and  pass  in  a  northeasterly  direction  through  the  town,  having 
stations  at  the  two  villages. 

MEN  OF  DISTINCTION. 
Among  the  men  of  distinction  which  the  town  has  produced 
may  be  mentioned  E.  E.  Marcy,  M.D.,  editor  and  author; 
Gen.  Amiel  W.  Whipple,  born  in  1817,  died  from  wounds 
received  at  Chancellorsville,  May  7,  1863, — a  brave  and  able 
officer;  Hon.  James  E.  Cooley,  of  New  York  City,  a  former 
State  Senator  of  that  State ;  and  Albert  White,  M.D.,  author 
of  a  volume  of  poems. 

INDIAN   OCCUPATION   AND   RELICS. 

Undoubted  evidences  of  the  occupation  of  the  soil  of  Green- 
wich by  the  Indians  are  to  be  found  within  the  town.  The  chief 
traces  of  savage  occupancy  are  found  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
town,  in  and  around  Davis  Pond,  and  near  the  junction  of 
the  east  and  middle  branches  of  Swift  River.  The  remains 
of  an  Indian,  apparently  buried  in  a  sitting  posture,  are  said 
to  have  been  found  on  the  old  Cooley  farm  many  years  ago ; 
and  on  the  farms  of  William  R.  Hale  and  Lorenzo  Davis 
have  been  found  many  Indian  relics,  consisting  of  pestles, 
broken  utensils,  arrow-  and  spear-heads,  parts  of  tomahawks, 
and  other  unique  remains.  The  former  gentleman  has  a  spe- 
cially valuable  collection  of  these  trophies,  and  takes  great 
interest  in  accumulating  them.  Mr.  Davis  also  has  a  few  of 
rare  interest.  One  stone,  owned  by  Mr.  Hale,  apparently  of 
Pelham  granite,  contains  on  one  side  the  head  of  an  Indian 
squaw,  and  on  the  other  a  bow  and  arrow,  fixed  ready  for 
shooting,  both  of  which  were  probably  carved  by  savage 
hands.  Mount  Pomeroy  and  Mount  Liz  also  testify  to  the 
presence  of  the  Indians.  The  former  is  said  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  a  man  named  Pomeroy  was  burnt 
at  the  stake  by  the  savages,  and  there  buried.* 

Mount  "Liz"  is  said  to  have  been  named  after  Elizabeth 
Kowlandson,  an  unfortunate  Indian  captive,  who  was  put  to 
death  there  by  the  savages.  She  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Rowlandson,  the  minister  at  Lancaster,  Worcester  Co., 
whose  house  was  burned  and  his  family  either  killed  or  carried 
captive  in  the  memorable  attack  on  that  place,  on  the  10th  day 
of  February,  1676,  by  the  Wampanoag,  Narrnijam^eU,  Nip- 
7mick,  and  Nashawai/  Indians,  led  by  King  Philip. f 

SETTLEMENT. 
The  territory  at  present  comprising  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
as  well  as  that  of  Enfield,  was  formerly  known  as  Quabbin-X 

*  Another  less  autheutic  story  is  that  Pomeroy  killed  a  bear  there. 

f  Barber's  Historical  Collections,  pp.  575,  576. 

X  The  name  of  every  Indian  usually  has  a  signification,  and  the  translation 
of  the  name  Qiuibbin  has  been  given  as  "  Many  Watera,"  a  name  that  would  be 
appropriate  to  the  tract  of  land  which  bore  that  early  name. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


535 


This  name  was  given  to  it  in  honor  of  King  Quabbin,  an 
Indian  sachem,  or  chief  of  a  tribe,  whose  headquarters  lay 
near  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the  river,  in  the 
southern  part  of  Greenwich. 

On  June  30,  1732,  the  General  Court  granted  seven  town- 
ships of  land,  each  six  miles  square,  to  the  descendants  of  the 
soldiers  who  destroyed  the  Narragansett  fort,  on  Dec.  19,  Ifi/o. 
The  number  of  soldiers  was  840.  This  gave  a  township  of  six 
miles  square  to  each  120  soldiers.  These  grants  were  made  on 
condition  that  each  township  should  settle  at  least  60  families 
on  its  territory  within  seven  years  after  the  grant,  settle  a 
learned  orthodox  minister,  and  lay  out  a  lot  of  land  for  him 
and  one  for  the  school.  If  these  conditions  were  not  complied 
with  the  grant  was  to  be  void.  On  the  6th  of  June,  1733,  the 
proprietors  met  on  Boston  Common,  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  they  voted  that  the  grantees  should  be  divided 
into  seven  societies,  one  township  to  be  given  to  each  society. 
Narragansett  township.  No.  4,  was  first  laid  out  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, at  a  place  called  Amasskeage,*  but,  that  land  proving 
unsatisfactory,  a  committee  was  appointed  Nov.  17,  1735,  to 
search  out  better  land  in  exchange.  Quabbin  was  the  tract  of 
land  chosen,  and  is  de-scribed  as  "bounded  north  by  Salem 
Town,  easterly  by  Lambstown  (now  Hardwick),  southerly  by 
the  Equivalent  Land,  and  westerly  by  Wm.  Reed's  land." 
The  meetings  of  the  proprietors  were  held  for  a  good  while  at 
Rehoboth,  in  the  county  of  Bristol.  This  is  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  original  grantees  never  actually 
entered  upon  their  lands,  but  resided  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State.  Hence  the  meetings  were  held  at  the  most  convenient 
place.  The  names  of  some  of  the  first  grantees  were  Joseph 
Allen,  2  rights;  John  Foster,  3;  Benjamin  Coppee,  2;  Edward 
Shove,  14;  Shubael  Conant,  6;  Ebenezer  Mun,  1;  James 
Redaway,  1 ;  John  Robbins,  1 ;  Timothy  Ide,  1 ;  John  Butter- 
worth,  1 ;  Thomas  Dickens,  1 ;  Isaac  Dagget,  1  ;  Joseph  Whe- 
t(m,  1;  Samuel  C'hilds,  8;  Thomas  Jlacumber,  1;  Comfort 
Carpenter,  1 ;  John  Reed,  1 ;  John  Hill,  1;  and  John  Wood- 
ward, 19. 

On  Jan.  14,  1736,  the  General  Court  granted  the  territory 
of  Quabbin  to  Narragansett,  Township  No.  4,  specially  grant- 
ing 1200  acres  of  it  to  James  Patterson,  Robert  Fenton, 
Edward  Miller,  James  Wheeler,  John  Patterson,  Andrew 
Turner,  Thomas  Powers,  Arthur  Cary,  Robert  Evans,  Robert 

Carlile,  Thorp,  and  Holden,  to  each  of  them  50 

acres  for  a  house-lot,  to  be  laid  out  hy  a  committee  of  the 
General  Court,  and  the  remaining  50  acres  to  be  included  in 
the  general  division. f  The  conditions  of  the  grant  were  that 
they  severally  dwell  thereon  with  their  families  for  four  years, 
put  10  acres  under  good  cultivation,  and  grant  300  acres  to 
the  first  settled  minister,  the  same  to  the  second,  and  another 
for  a  school-lot. 

On  May  12,  1737,  the  proprietors  appointed  a  committee, 
consisting  of  John  Foster,  Shubael  Conant,  Samuel  Childs, 
Samuel  Tildake,  and  Ebenezer  Mun,  to  lay  out  and  allot  the 
land  in  Quabbin.  The  same  committee  were  directed  to  lay 
out  10  acres  of  land  for  a  meeting-house  and  burying-ground, 
highways,  and  a  lot  of  the  contents  of  60  acres  to  each  pro- 
prietor, besides  ministry-  and  school-lots. 

After  surveying  Quabbin,  it  was  found  considerably  less 
than  six  miles  square ;  so  the  General  Court  granted  a  tract 
of  land,  lying  west  of  and  adjoining  Hatfield,  sufficient  to 
make  up  the  full  amount  of  territory  to  which  the  grantees 
were  entitled.  This  tract  is  now  embraced  within  the  bound- 
aries of  Chesterfield,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire. 

It  is  largely  a  matter  of  conjecture  who  the  first  settler  of 
the  territory  of  Quabbin  was.  The  inscription  on  a  tombstone 
in  the  town  of  Enfield  indicates  the  fact  that  David  Patterson 

*  So  designjited  iu  the  proprietors'  records. 

t  It  is  probable  that  these  twelve  men  were  those  who  were  already  oa  the 
soil  of  Quabbin,  some  of  whom  were  pioneere  from  Brookfield  aud  Connecticut, 
and  some  from  the  North  of  Ireland. 


was  the  first  man  born  within  the  town  of  Greenwich,  and 
was  born  in  the  year  1735.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  a  son 
of  the  John  Patterson  whose  name  has  already  been  mentioned, 
and  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived  in  the  south  parish  of 
Greenwich  (now  Enfield),  about  a  mile  south  of  the  village 
of  Enfield,  on  the  Josiah  W.  Flint  farm.  It  has  also  been 
claimed  that  families  by  the  name,  of  Gibbs,  Hinds,  Powers, 
Rogers,  and  Cooley  located  in  Quabbin  about  or  before  that 
time.  But  the  records  of  the  proprietors,  and  the  parish  and 
town  records,  do  not  support  the  assertion.  These  names  ap- 
pear prominently  a  little  later,  and  it  is  probable  that  these 
families  were  among  the  first  permanent  settlers  on  the  soil ; 
but  some  of  those  mentioned  in  the  original  grant  doubtless 
preceded  them. 

The  name  of  Gibbs  first  appears  in  the  year  1740,  in  the 
person  of  Thomas,  who  after  that  time  filled  positions  of  honor 
and  trust  in  the  town,  and  was  one  of  its  leading  settlers.  A 
little  later  Jeremiah  and  David  Powers  appear,  together  with 
William  Carpenter,  Simon  Davis,  John  Rea,  John  Townsend, 
Nathan  Fisk,  Abraham  Gibbs,  John  Harwood,  and  Timothy 
Ruggles.  Later  still  appear  Hopestill  Hinds,  Benjamin 
Cooley,  James  Nevins,  James  Wright,  James  Whitcombe, 
William  Rogers,  Luke  Hitchcock,  and Holmes. 

These  were  the  names  of  those  who  were  most  prominent 
during  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  settlement  of  the  town. 
It  thus  appears  that  among  the  first  actual  settlers  were  John 
and  James  Patterson,  who  located  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town.  The  Hinds  family,  for  many  years  thereafter  promi- 
nent in  the  history  of  the  town,  located  in  the  west  part  of 
the  present  town  of  Greenwich,  along  what  is  known  as  the 
"West  Street,"  and  near  the  then  centre  of  the  town.  The 
Gibbs  and  Powers  families,  whose  representatives  still  live  in 
the  town,  and  who  have  always  been  identified  with  its  growth 
and  development,  settled,  the  former  along  the  "  West  Street," 
and  at  the  plains,  and  the  latter  farther  north,  in  and  around 
the  "  village."  The  Cooleys  settled  along  the  east  branch  of 
Swift  River,  and  formerly  owned  the  greater  part  of  the  land 
east  of  the  "  plains."  They  were  active  and  industrious  tillers 
of  the  soil  for  many  years.  J 

The  Whitcomb  family  located  in  the  northwest  part  of  the 
town,  near  the  Prescott  line,  and  is  still  represented  in  the 
town.  Later  families  of  prominence  have  been  the  Hales, 
Cutlers,  Ayres,  Blodgetts,  Walkers,  Shumways,  Davises, 
Marcys,  Trasks,  Sprouts,  Richards,  Sears,  Blackmers, 
Vaughns,  Roots,  Fullers,  Haskells,  Hookers,  Fields,  Robin- 
sons, Douglases,  Jordans,  Stones,  Warners,  Snows,  Doaks, 
and  Earles. 

The  oldest  houses  now  standing  in  the  town  are  the  old 
Hale  homestead,  the  old  Rogers  house,  opposite  the  depot,  the 
Fletcher  Sears  house,  in  the  northwest  district  of  the  town,  the 
east  part  of  the  Northam  house,  and  the  Whitcomb  house, 
each  of  which  is  said  to  be  over  one  hundred  years  old. 

TAVERNS. 

Among  the  taverns  that  have  existed  Dr.  Trask  is  said 
to  have  kept  one  of  the  first,  in  the  last  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, on  the  Marcy  place.  About  the  same  time  Timothy 
Hinds  kept  one  on  the  old  Ayres  place,  and  these  two  were 
the  only  ones  in  town  for  a  long  time.  The  next  prominent 
place  of  public  resort  was  kept  for  a  great  many  years,  about 
the  first  part  of  the  century,  by  Col.  Thomas  Powers,  on  the 
old  Powers  place  at  Greenwich  village.  It  was  afterward 
kept,  either  in  the  same  place  or  on  the  site  of  the  present 
hotel,  by  Edmund  Raymore,  "  'Squire"  Mun,  West  Page, 
James  Danforth,  M.  &  E.  Gibbs,  Strickland  Alexander,  George 
T.  Gibbs,  Haskell  Sears,  John  0.  Carter,  Charles  Hastings, 

X  One  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  this  land  was  first  granted  to  Edwal-d  Shove, 
on  condition  that  he  would  erect  a  mill  on  the  east  branch  of  Swift  Kiver.  rail- 
ing to  comply  with  the  condition,  it  was  conveyed  to  Bcnj.  Cooley,  on  Juno  5, 
1754. 


536 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


Charles  Thrasher,  Horace  Miller,  Robert  Hay,  Warren  T. 
Croinbie,  Oliver  E.  Herrick,  and  finally  by  Alfred  A.  Whit- 
ney for  a  year  past.  It  is  now  known  as  the  "  Village  Hotel." 
A  man  by  the  name  of  West  had  a  tavern  where  John  W. 
Keith  now  keeps — the  Greenwich  Hotel,"  at  the  "plains" — 
about  seventy  years  ago.  Some  of  his  successors  have  been 
Nathaniel  Powers,  Charles  Negus,  Luke  Earle,  Nelson  D. 
Barrel,  John  A.  Weld,  Salem  Newton,  and  others.  Having 
been  partially  burned  recently,  it  is  now  undergoing  repairs, 
and  will  soon  be  reopened  by  John  W.  Keith.  Ozias  Cone 
also  kept  a  tavern  about  fifty  years  ago  on  the  Barnard  place. 

STORES. 

A  few  of  the  stores  that  have  been  kept  in  the  town  are 
worthy  of  notice.  One  of  the  earliest  was  kept  by  a  man 
named  Nichols,  upward  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  where 
Samuel  B.  Esty  now  lives.  The  building  is  still  standing  in 
which  it  was  kept,  and  is  used  as  a  store-house.  Jabez  Col- 
burn  was  in  trade  about  seventy  years  ago  at  Greenwich 
Plains.  Wyatt  Boyden  succeeded  him,  then  Amos  Howe, 
and  then  Roger  West.  The  store  stood  back  of  the  meeting- 
house, near  the  horse-sheds.  Amos  Tinney  kept  a  store  a 
good  many  years  ago,  where  A.  L.  Uoak  now  lives.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Salem  Newton. 

Timothy  Packard,  of  Monson,  built  the  present  store  at 
Greenwich  Plains,  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  A  man  named 
Allen  first  kept  it  two  or  three  years ;  then  Pliny  Allen  fol- 
lowed in  company  with  Packard.  It  has  been  since  kept  by 
a  number  of  persons  for  dift'erent  periods,  among  whom  have 
been  Jo.shua  Shaw,  Capt.  Thos.  Smith,  James  Hanks,  Samuel 
Warren,  G.  R.  Dickinson,  Lorenzo  S.  Blackmer,  Sj'lvester  F. 
Root,  H.  C.  Longley,  and  P.  O.  Bliss.  The  present  proprietor 
is  Edward  T.  King. 

Lucius  R.  Blackmer  has  had  a  drug-store  about  half  a  mile 
south  of  the  church  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 

Of  the  stores  at  Greenwich  village,  Col.  Thomas  Powers 
had  one  of  the  first  in  the  Charles  Record  house,  over  seventy 
years  ago.  About  the  same  time  Deacon  Raymore  kept  one 
farther  down  in  the  village.  Thomas  and  Elias  Smith  suc- 
ceeded Raymore,  and  failed.  Then  Ira  Haskell  ran  the  store 
for  a  good  many  years.  Ditt'erent  firms  and  persons  have 
traded  there  since,  including  Smith  &  Hodgkins,  Morton  & 
Blackmer,  Jonathan  Smith,  who  at  one  time  owned  two 
stores  in  the  village,  Calvin  Richards,  Blackmer  Bros.,  Ful- 
ler &  Blackmer,  Alonzo  Flagg,  and  Thayer  Bros. 

S.  S.  Greenleaf  had  a  store  about  1839,  under  the  building- 
known  as  the  "  Masonic  Temple,"  at  the  village.  It  was  af- 
terward kept  by  Elias  Smith,  then  Smith  »fc  Son,  and  then 
by  Smith  &  Hodgkins.  H.  M.  Brown  and  Brown  &  Root 
followed  soon  after.  The  store  was  then  remodeled  by  Robert 
Hay,  the  present  owner,  and  is  now  kept  by  Charles  Hodg- 
kins. 

Henry  M.  Brown  opened  the  store  opposite  Record's  black- 
smith-shop about  five  years  ago.  He  kept  it  four  years,  and 
then  sold  out  to  Levi  N.  Chamberlain,  the  present  proprietor. 

PHVSICIANS. 

The  earliest  physicians  who  practiced  in  Greenwich  were 
Drs.  Wm.  Stone,  Trask,  and  Robinson.  They  were  in  prac- 
tice the  early  part  of  the  century,  or  earlier.  Dr.  Stone  lived 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town  (now  Enfield).  Dr.  Trask 
resided  on  what  has  since  been  known  as  the  "  Marcy  place." 
Other  physicians  who  have  practiced  in  the  town  have  been 
Drs.  Rufus  Stone,  Clesson,  Cobb,  Elliott  Beckwith,  Elmer, 
Davis,  J.  W.  Goodell,  Norman  Smith,  J.  R.  Greenleaf,  Mason 
0.  Darling,  Levi  Chamberlain,  and  Dr.  Albert  White,  who 
was  also  an  author.  There  is  now  no  regular" practicing  phj'- 
siciun  ill  the  town. 

LAWYKKS. 

The  only  lawyer  who  ever  lived  and  practiced  in  the  town 
was  Laban  Marcy.     He  commenced  practice  as  early  ;is  1812, 


and  was  prominent  in  town  affairs  until  his  death,  on  Oct.  12, 
1860. 

STAOE-KOUTES. 

Before  the  introduction  of  railroads,  two  prominent  stage- 
routes  passed  through  the  town,  one  running  from  Keene,  N. 
H.,  to  Palmer,  Hampden  Co.,  and  another  from  Northampton 
to  Worcester. 

OROANIZATION. 

An  act  of  the  General  Court  incorporating  the  inhabitants 
of  Quabbin  into  a  parish  was  passed  June  29, 1749,  and  Thomas 
Gibbs  was  authorized  to  convene  the  first  meeting.  By  the 
provisions  of  the  act  the  inhabitants  were  empowered  to  call 
a  minister,  and  levy  a  tax  for  his  support. 

Gibbs  issued  his  call  Nov.  4,  1749,  and  the  first  parish-meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  20th  day  of  the  same  month.  Gibbs  was 
appointed  moderator,  and  the  following  officers  were  chosen : 
Clerk,  William  Cai-penter ;  Prudential  Committee,  Thomas 
Gibbs,  Jeremiah  Powers,  and  David  Powers  ;  A.ssessors,  John 
Townsend,  Wm.  Carpenter,  and  Nathan  Fiske ;  Collector, 
Abraham  Gibbs.  At  the  same  meeting  it  was  voted  to  give 
the  Rev.  Pelatiah  Webster  a  call  to  settle  in  the  ministry 
among  them.  The  particular  circumstances  attending  the 
call  and  acceptance  are  elsewhere  referred  to. 

At  a  public  vendue  held  at  Quabbin  on  Sept.  5,  1750,  the 
following  lots  were  sold  for  taxes  :  No.  1,  originallj'  drawn 
by  Edmund  Howard,  to  James  Wright  for  £32.  No.  3, 
originally  drawn  by  John  Reed,  to  Samuel  Robinson  for  £30. 
No.  42,  originally  drawn  by  Thomas  Buffington,  to  Simon 
Davis  for  £133.  No.  41,  originally  drawn  by  Benj.  Chamber- 
lain, to  Edward  Winslow  for  £.53.  No.  8,  originally  drawn 
by  Isaac  Winslow,  to  Noah  Ashley  for  £98.  No.  17,  origi- 
nally drawn  by  John  Johnson,  to  James  Wright  for  £120. 
No.  38,  originallj'  drawn  by  Richard  Jennings,  to  Noah  Ash- 
ley for  £.57.  No.  77,  originally  drawn  by  Jusiah  Denney,  to 
Benjamin  Sheldon  for  £106.  No.  54,  originally  drawn  by 
John  Daggart,  to  Samuel  Robinson  for  £56  10s.  No.  72, 
originally  drawn  by  Ebenezer  Hill,  to  Samuel  Robinson  for 
£31.  No.  75,  originally  drawn  by  Sampson  Mason,  to  Josiah 
Wood  for  £37.  No.  78,  originally  drawn  by  Isaac  Dunham, 
to  Wm.  Train  for  £45  10s.  No.  4,  originally  drawn  b_y  Benj. 
Washburn,  to  Abraham  Gibbs.  No.  82,  originally  drawn  by 
Abigail  Hubbard,  to  Jeremiah  Powers  for  £40  10s.  No.  85, 
originally  drawn  by  Joseph  Brown,  to  Thomas  Gibbs  for  £36. 
No.  80,  originally  drawn  by  Henry  Brown,  to  Jacob  Gibbs 
for  £36.  No.  88,  originally  drawn  by  John  Briant,  to  David 
Powers  for  £40.  Nos.  42,  77,  54,  75,  4,  85,  86,  and  88  were 
afterward  redeemed. 

On  March  2,  1752,  the  parish  voted  to  build  three  bridges, 
— "one  over  the  east  branch  of  Swift  River,  between  Mr. 
Webster's  and  Mount  Lizzie  ;  another  over  the  middle  branch, 
over  by  Thomas  Gibbs',  where  the  road  is  laid  out ;  and  another 
at  Pine  Bridge." 

On  Dec.  2,  17.52,  the  parish  voted  the  sum  of  £10  "  to  bo 
put  into  a  Rate  to  Repair  the  breach  made  in  the  meeting- 
house Cosed  by  the  hearry  Caien."  The  same  day  they  "  voted 
to  send  a  Portion  to  the  Grate  and  General  Cort  to  prevent 
the  Provence  Rates  levying  here  for  Several  yers  to  Com  ;  fer- 
thermore,  If  this  our  Request  Can't  be  obtained,  we  2dly  vote 
that  thier  be  a  portion  Given  into  the  Said  Cort  to  try  If  we 
may  have  Town  Privileges."  This  meeting  broke  up  before 
all  the  articles  in  the  warrant  had  been  gone  through  with, 
because,  it  growing  dark,  the  moderator  asked  the  ayes  on  a 
question  to  go  out-doors,  and  he  would  cotnc  out  and  count 
them.  The  vote  caused  dissatisfaction,  being  considered  ir- 
regular and  void,  and  so  the  moderator  withdrew,  and  a  new 
one  was  cho.sen. 

On  Dec.  17,  1753,  the  parish  chose  Abraham  Gibbs  agent  to 
the  General  Court  to  get  them  incorporated  as  a  town.  The 
result  of  his  oflTorts  was  that  on  the  20th  of  April,  17-54,  the 
town  of  Greenwich  was  duly  incorporated  and  endowed  with 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


537 


all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  imraunities  enjoyed  by  the  other 
towns  of  the  commonwealth.  The  territory  thus  incorporated 
also  included  the  present  towns  of  Dana  and  Petersham,  in 
Worcester  County.  The  name  of  the  town  was  conferred  in 
honor  of  Gen.  Greenwich. 

The  fir.st  town-meeting  was  held  at  the  meeting-house  in 
Greenwich,  on  Thursday,  Aug.  15,  17jj4,  by  virtue  of  a  war- 
rant issued  Aug.  12,  1754,  by  John  Worthington.  This  gen- 
tleman acted  as  moderator  of  the  meeting.  The  following 
town  officers  were  chosen :  Clerk,  Nathan  Fisk ;  Selectmen, 
Jeremiah  Powers,  James  Nevins,  Benjamin  Cooley,  John 
Eea,  and  Jolin  Townsend;  Assessors,  Nathan  Fisk,  Abraham 
Gibbs,  and  Benjamin  Cooley.  The  usual  minor  officers  were 
chosen,  such  as  constables,  surveyors  of  highwaj-s,  tithing- 
men,  fence-viewers,  hog-reeves,  deer-reeves,  and  a  sealer  of 
weights  and  measures. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  immediately  proceeded  to  the 
work  of  organization.  Many  of  the  measures  undertaken  to 
that  end  are  elsewhere  treated.  A  few  notes  taken  from  the 
town  records  will  best  manifest  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  people,  their  method  of  transacting  business,  and  their 
management  of  town  affairs. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1754,  the  town  voted  to  build  a 
log  pound  25  feet  square,  at  the  "  northwest  corner  of  the  ten 
acres  of  land  sequestered  for  the  town,  where  the  meeting- 
house stands."  On  the  same  day,  Simon  Davis  and  Nathan 
Fisk  were  chosen  to  prefer  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  for 
leave  to  tax  all  the  land  in  the  town  a  penny  and  a  half  per 
acre  for  the  period  of  five  years,  in  support  of  the  gospel  in 
the  town.  The  sum  of  <£8  was  voted  at  the  same  meeting  to 
provide  a  town  stock  of  ammunition. 

On  Oct.  23, 1755,  the  town  voted  to  "  shut,  bolt,  and  bar  the 
doors  of  the  public  meeting-house  in  Greenwich,  and  not  to 
be  opened  by  any-  man  without  the  order  of  the  selectmen  of 
Greenwich." 

On  March  10,  1760,  the  town  "  voted  to  Capt.  Powers  4s. 
ad.  for  3  Quarts  of  Rum  he  provided  for  perambulating  lines 
at  sundry  times  ;  also,  7s.  dd.  for  5  Quarts  of  Kum  he  provided 
for  the  Raising  of  Hind's  Bridge  in  the  County  Road." 

On  March  8,  17G2,  Rev.  Robert  Cutler  was  chosen  an  agent 
to  present  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  for  the  annexation 
of  part  of  the  equivalent  lands  and  part  of  Hardwick  to 
Greenwich. 

On  April  5,  1764,  the  town  "voted  to  give  Dr.  Stone  four 
Dolars  to  enable  him  to  git  ye  east  part  of  Belchertown  an- 
nexed to  Greenwich."  Notwithstanding  the  expenditure  of 
so  little  money,  the  General  Court  responded  to  the  wishes  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  by  an  act  passed  Feb.  6,  1765,  annexed 
part  of  the  territory  of  Belchertown  to  Greenwich. 

A  penny  tax  on  all  land  was  granted  in  the  year  1767,  for 
the  relief  of  Rev.  Robert  Cutler,  the  minister  of  the  town  at 
that  date. 

On  Oct.  3,  1774,  John  Eea  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  Con- 
cord. On  May  22,  1775,  Joseph  Hendrick  was  chosen  a  dele- 
gate to  Watertown.  On  Aug.  2,  1779,  Barnabas  Sears  was 
chosen  a  delegate  to  the  convention  at  Cambridge. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1787,  Nehemiah  Stebbins  was 
chosen  an  agent  to  the  General  Court  to  prevent  the  south  end 
of  the  town  from  being  set  off.  On  February  3d,  of  the  same 
year,  Nathaniel  Whitcomb  was  chosen  for  the  same  purpose. 
Their  efforts  proved  abortive,  however,  for  the  south  parish 
of  Greenwich  (now  Enfield)  was  duly  incorporated  June  20, 
1787. 

In  the  year  1797  a  bounty  of  $2  was  offered  for  each  wild- 
cat killed  in  the  town,  provided  satisfactory  evidence  were 
offered  that  it  was  started  within  town  limits. 

On  June  7,  1802,  a  pound  30  feet  square  was  erected  a  few 
rods  south  of  Nathaniel  Eaton's  place. 

On  Dec.  28,  1813,  Abijah  and  Thomas  Powers  were  chosen 
as  agents  to  the  General  Court  to  oppose  the  division  of  the 
68 


town.   The  following  year  Laban  Marcy  was  chosen  for  a  like 

purpose. 

On  Dec.  16,  1823,  it  was  "  voted  to  dissolve  the  meeting- 
house," and  this  was  the  last  town-meeting  held  within  the 
walls  of  the  first  edifice. 

On  Oct.  6,  1865,  Hon.  James  E.  Cooley,  of  New  York  City, 
a  native  of  the  town,  deeded  to  the  town  part  of  tlie  Azariah 
Cooley  farm,  situated  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  and  com- 
prising about  110  acres  of  land,  for  the  use  of  the  poor.  The 
deed  provides  that  it  shall  always  be  known  as  *'  Cooley's 
Home  for  the  Poor,"  and  contains  a  provision  relative  to  the 
support  of  one  James  Cooley,  and  restricting  the  amount  of 
timber  cut.  The  donation  has  proved  of  great  benefit  to  the 
town. 

The  appropriations  voted  by  the  town  for  the  year  1878 
were  as  follows  :  Highways  and  bridges,  §900  ;  schools,  $750  ; 
contingent  expenses  for  schools,  §150;  support  of  the  poor, 
§900;  town  officers,  §200;  abatement  of  taxes,  §50;  interest 
on  town  debt,  §600;  State  aid,  §200;  contingent  expenses, 
§300;  total,  §4050. 

The  following  persons  have  filled  the  principal  offices  in  the 
town : 

proprietors'  committee. 

1733. — Capt.  Redawuy,  Josiah  Conant,  Samuel  Marrik,  Joaiah  Keith,  Edward 

Shove. 
1742. — Timothy  Ruggles,  Shubael  Conant,  Ebenezer  Hartshorn,  Daniel  Lewis,  Jr., 

John  Foster,  Joseph  Wheton,  Thomas  Gibbs. 
1744. — Samuel  ChiUis,  Ebenezer  Hartshorn,  Josiah  Converse,  David  Nevins,  John 

Eoster,  Daniel  Lewis,  Jr.,  Thomas  Gibbs. 

PRUDENTIAL    COMMITTEE    OF    PARISH. 

1749. — Thomas  Gibbs,  Jeremiah  Powers,  David  Powers. 

1750. — Thomas  Gibbs,  Simon   Davis,   David   Powers,  Jeremiah  Powers,  John 

Townsend. 
1751. — Tliomaa  Gibbs,  Simon  Davis,  Jeremiah  Powers,  John  Townsend,  David 

Powers. 
1752. — Thomas  Gibbs,  Jacob  Osborne,  Simon  Davis. 
1753.— Thomas  Gibbs,  Simon  Davis,  Hopestill  Hinds. 

SELECTMEN. 

1754.— Jeremiah  Powers,  James  Nevins,  Benj.  Cooley,  John  Kea,  John  Town- 
send. 

1755.— Jeremiah  Powers,  John  Kea,  Wm.  Fisk,  Benj.  Cooley,  Abraham  Gibbs. 

1756. — JeremiaJi  Powers,  Simon  Davis,  Nathan  Fisk,  James  Nevins,  Nehemiah 
Hinds. 

1757. — Thomas  Gibbs,  Benj.  Cooley,  John  Rea,  Abraham  Gibbs,  Jeremiah  Powere. 

1758, — Thomas  Gibbs,  Nathan  Fisk,  John  Rea. 

1759. — Stephen  Fisk,  Thomas  Gibbs,  Jeremiah  Powers,  Benj.  Cooley,  Nathan 
Fisk. 

1700.— Thomas  Gibbs,  Stephen  Fisk,  Abraham  Gibbs. 

17G1. — John  Rea,  Jeremiah  Powers,  Benj.  Cooley. 

17G2-63.— Stephen  Fisk,  John  Rea,  Jeremiah  Powers. 

17(j4._Luke  Hitchcock,  Thomas  Gibbs,  Wm.  Rogers. 

17G5. — Jeremiah  Powers,  John  Rea,  Simon  Stone. 

176G.— Luke  Hitchcock,  John  Rea,  Simon  Stone,  Nehemiali  Hinds,  Benj.  Cooley. 

1767.— Luke  Hitchcock,  John  Rea,  Benj.  Cooley. 

17C8. — Abijah  Powers,  Isaac  Powers,  Nathaniel  Whitcomb. 

17G9-73. — Isaac  Powers,  James  McClnre,  Abijah  Powers. 

1774-75. — Isaac  Powers,  Joseph  Hooker,  Nathaniel  Whitcomb. 

1776.— Isaac  Powers,  Abijah  Powers,  Nathaniel  Whitcomb. 

1777. — Isaac  Powers,  Abijah  Powers,  Thomas  Tufts. 

1778. — Isaac  Powers,  Abijah  Powers,  Simon  Stone. 

1779. — Isaac  Powers,  Barnabas  Sears,  Simon  Stone. 

1780.— Caleb  West,  Abijah  Powers,  Joseph  Hinds. 

1781. — Isaac  Powers,  Barnabas  Sears,  Simon  Stone. 

1782. — Isaac  Powers,  Barnabas  Scare,  Simon  Stone,  Jr. 

1783-84.— Isaac  Powers,  Joseph  Hinds,  Simon  Stone,  Jr. 

178C.— Isaac  Powere,  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  Nath.  Whitcomb. 

1787. — Isaac  Powei-s,  Ezra  Alden,  David  Swetland. 

1788. — Isaac  Powere,  Keuljcn  Cooley,  Nathaniel  Wliitcomb. 

1789.— Elias  Haskell,  Robert  Field,  Reuben  Cooley. 

1790. — Elias  Haskell,  Daniel  Hayward,  Reuben  Cooley. 

1701.— Robert  Fiekl,  Joseph  Hendrick,  Timothy  Hinds. 

1792. — Elias  Haskell,  Simon  Stone,  Joseph  Hendrick. 

1793._Isaac  Powers,  Robert  Field,  Tliomas  Powers. 

1794,— Isaac  Powera,  Robert  Field,  Abijah  Powera. 

1795.— Isaac  Powers,  Robert  Field,  Abijah  Powers,  Reuben  Colton,  Roger  West. 

1796.— Isaac  Powers,  Robert  Field,  Roland  Colton,  Reuben  Colton,  Abijah  Powers. 

1797._Igaac  Powers,  William  Stone,  Roland  Clark. 

1798.— Isaac  Powers,  Reuben  Colton,  Roger  West. 

1799,— Isaac  Powers,  William  Stone,  Roland  Clark. 


538 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1800. — Isaac  Powers,  Reuben  Coltmi,  Elias  Haskell. 

1801. — Isaac  Powers,  Roger  West,  Benjamin  Harwood. 

1802. — Isaac  I'owers,  Benjamin  Harwood,  Elias  Haskell. 

1S03-4. — Eliaa  Haskell,  Benjamin  Harwood,  Roger  West. 

1805. — Isaac  and  Thomas  Powers,  Benjamin  lIar^vood. 

180R-7.— Isaac  Powore,  Stephen  Tilsun,  Elia-s  Haskell. 

1808.— Elias  Haskell,  Elijah  Atwood,  Renben  Colton. 

1809-10.— Thomas  Powells,  Benjamin  Harwood,  Abel  Walker,  Jr. 

1811. — Thoniiis  Powers,  James  Richards,  Abel  Walker,  Jr. 

181*2. — Thomas  Powere,  William  Stone,  James  Richards. 

1813. — Thomius  Powei"s,  James  Richards,  Ezra  Ayres. 

1814. — Thom,TS  Powers,  James  Richards,  Jesse  Fobes. 

1815. — James  Richards,  Nathan  Powers,  Benjamin  Townsend. 

18  16.— Thomas  and  Clark  Powere,  John  Tuttle. 

1817. — Thomas  Powers,  John  Northam,  Ezra  Ayres. 

1818-19. — John  Fuller,  John  Northam,  John  Warner. 

1820. — John  Fuller,  John  Warner,  Ezra  Alden. 

1821. — Laban  Marcy,  Clark  and  Thomas  Powers. 

1822-24. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Northam,  Thomas  Smith. 

1825. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  Joseph  W.  Estey. 

1826. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  Philip  Davis. 

1827. — Laban  Marcy,  Clark  Powei-s,  Warren  J.  Wing. 

1828-29. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  Jonathan  F.  Sears. 

1830. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  John  Northam. 

1831-32.— Jonathan  F.  Sears,  Clark  Powers,  Thomas  Smith. 

1833. — Laban  Marcy,  Jonathan  F.  Sears,  Daniel  Cutler. 

1834. — John  Northam,  Salem  Newton,  Joseph  W.  Estey. 

18;Jo. — Clark  Powei-s,  .Touathan  F.  Sears,  Cullen  Warner. 

18.36.— Cullen  Warner,  Thomas  Smith,  Samuel  Hale. 

1837-38. — Jolin  Northam,  John  Warner,  Esick  Dexter. 

1839-41. — Ira  Hitskell,  Laban  Marcy,  Jonathan  F.  Sears. 

1842. — Ira  Haskell,  Laban  Marcy,  Andrew  H.  Sears. 

1843. — Ira  Haskell,  Andrew  H.  Sears,  Erastus  Blodgett. 

1844. — Laban  Marcy,  Erastus  Blodgett,  Ezra  Gibbs. 

1845. — Laban  Marcy,  En\stus  Blodgett,  Elias  Smith. 

1846-48. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  Andrew  H.  Seal's. 

1849. — John  Warner,  Shuba^l  Vaughan,  Eben  W.  Bailey. 

1850. — Shubael  Vaughn,  Ezra  S.  Gibbs,  Luke  Earle. 

1851. — Laban  Marcy,  John  Warner,  Luke  Earle. 

1852.— John  Warner,  Luke  Earle,  Erastus  Blodgett. 

1853. — Luke  Earle,  Erastus  Blodgett,  Ziba  Snow. 

1854. — Erastus  Blodgett,  Ziba  Snow,  James  Hanks. 

1855. — Ziba  Snow,  A.  L.  Doak,  Charles  N.  Powers. 

1856-68. — James  Hanks,  John  T.  Warner,  Luther  B.  Fuller. 

1859.— John  T.  Warner,  Linus  Tourtelotte,  Nathaniel  Topliff. 

186(1.— John  T.  Warner,  Thomas  S.  Gilmore,  Dr.  J.  W.  Gooilell. 

1861.— Thomas  S.  Goodell,  J.  W.  Goodell,  Lyman  Tourtelotte. 

1862.— Ziba  Snow,  A.  D.  Doak,  Luther  D.  Fuller. 

1803.- John  T.  Warner,  Luke  Earle,  Luther  D.  Fuller. 

1864. — John  T.  Waruer,  Margin  Bond,  Linns  Tourtelotte. 

1865-66.— Calvin  W.  Richards,  Marvin  Bond,  Linus  Tourtelotte. 

1867-68. — Ziba  Snow,  Marvin  Bond,  LindjiU  Whipple. 

1809-71.— Ziba  Snow,  S.  F.  Root,  A.  Hunter, 

1872. — Ziba  Snow,  Henry  M.  Brown,  Elisba  Moody. 

187.V74.— J.  P.  Vaughan,  L.  D.  Fuller,  Robert  D.  Bu&sey. 

1875. — J.  P.  Vaughan,  A.  L.  Sprout,  Austin  Hunter. 

1876.— J.  P.  Vaughau,  A.  L.  Sprout,  D.  S.  Cutler. 

1877. — Joseph  P.  Vaughan,  Anson  F.  Newcomb,  Hiram  Newton. 

1878.— Hiram  Newton,  Warren  P.  Sloan,  Clark  E.  Sibley. 

PROPRIETORS'    CLERKS. 
1732-33,  Edward  Shove ;  1742,  Joseph  Wheton,  Jr. ;  1744,  Daniel  Lewis,  Jr. ; 
1750,  Paul  Mandall ;  1765,  Joseph   Moffett ;  1707,  Wni.  Rogei-s ;  1768,  William 
R<Jgei-8. 

PARISH   CLERKS. 
1749,  Wm.  Carpenter ;  1751,  Abraham  Gibbs. 

TOWN  CLERKS. 
1754,  Nathan  FLsk;  1758,  Stephen  Fisk ;  1704,  Isaac  Powers;  1780,  Thomas 
Powers  ;  1791,  Simon  Stone  ;  1792,  Eliim  Haskell ;  1794,  Robert  Field  ;  1795,  Carl- 
viu  Eaton  ;  1797,  James  Fisk  ;  1798,  Asaph  Newcomb ;  1799,  Reuben  Colton  ; 
ISOO,  Nathaniel  Eaton ;  1804,  Ahl  Walker,  Jr. ;  1811,  Sihis  Newcomb ;  1812, 
Ebenezer  Rich;  1813,  Laban  Marcy;  1815,  Ephraim  Richards;  1816,  Laban 
Marcy ;  1821,  Amos  Howe ;  1823,  John  Warner ;  1825,  Joseph  H.  Elmore  ;  1827, 
Dr.  Mason  C.  DarUng;  1830,  Pliny  Allen;  1S31  (Nov.  14),  Stephen  Douglas,  Jr.i 
1832,  Dr.  Mason  C.  Darling;  1837,  John  Haskell;  1838,  John  T.  Warner;  1840, 
Dr.  Levi  Chamberlain ;  1841,  Sanuiel  Hale ;  1844,  Cullou  Warner ;  1846,  Samuel 
Hale ;  1848,  N.  P.  Vaughan  ;  1850,  Oren  Towne ;  1850  (Nov.  11),  Thomas  Smith ; 
18f).i,  James  Hanks;  1861,  J.  P.  Smith;   1862,  David   Allen;  1877,  Robert  D. 


REPRESENTATIVES. 
1775,  Joseph  Hendrick ;  1776,  Nehemiah  Stebbins;  1777-81,  Caleb  West; 
1788-89,  Nehemiah  Stebbins;  1792-96,  James  Fisk;  1798-99,  Thomas  Powers; 
1801^,  Robert  Field;  1805-6,  Abjjah  Powers;  180S-9,  Reuben  Colton;  1810-ll| 
Thomas  Powers;  1812,  Robert  Field;  1813-14,  Abijah  Powers;  1816,  '17,  '18,  '19, 
'24,  '26,  '27,  '28,  '30,  '40,  '41,  '48,  Laban  Marcy  ;  1829,  Job  n  Warner ;  1832,  Thomas 


Smith;  1833,  Dr.  Mason  C.  Darling;  1834-35,  Jonathan  F.  Sears;  1837,  John 
Northam;  1.S3S-39, 1842,  Ira  Haskell ;  184.3,  Samuel  Hale ;  1844,  Cullen  Warner ; 
18.50,  Luke  Earle;  1851,  Ezra  S.  Gibbs;  1853,  Ira  Ha>!kcll;  1864,  Bonj.amin 
House;  1860,  Elias  Smith;  1864,  Albert  L.  Doak;  1866,  John  T.  Warner;  1.870, 
Sylvester  F.  Root. 

VILLAGES. 

The  town  contains  two  villages  ;  of  these, 
GREENWICH   PLAINS, 

as  it  is  designated,  is  situated  south  of  the  geographical  centre 
of  the  town,  between  Mount  Pomeroy  and  Mount  Lizzie.  It 
contains  the  Congregational  Church,  the  old  cemetery,  a  store, 
a  post-office,  a  hotel,  a  plating-shop,  a  railroad  depot,  and  a 
nuniher  of  dwelling-houses.  The  post-office  is  supposed  to 
have  been  established  about  the  year  1810,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  persons  have  filled  the  office  of  postmaster,  including 
William  Marcy,  Laban  Marcj',  Selim  Newton,  Dr.  Levi 
Chamberlain,  Dr.  Mason  C.  Darling,  Pliny  Allen,  Joshua 
Shaw,  Thomas  Smith,  James  Hanks,  Samuel  Warren,  G.  R. 
Dickinson,  Lorenzo  S.  Blackmer,  Sylvester  F.  Root,  H.  C. 
Longley,  and  F.  0.  Bliss.  Edward  T.  King  is  the  present 
incumbent. 

GREENWICH    VILLAGE, 

situated  in  the  northeasterly  section  of  the  town,  is  more 
extensive,  containing  several  stores,  a  hotel,  blacksmith- 
shop,  saw-mill,  post-office,  and  a  larger  number  of  dwelling- 
houses.  It  is  pleasantly  situated  along  the  east  branch  of 
Swift  River,  and  at  the  base  of  a  considerable  range  of  hills . 
The  post-office  is  said  to  have  been  established  about  the  year 
1807,  and  the  first  postmaster  is  said  by  some  to  have  been 
Warren  P.  Wing,  and  by  others  to  have  been  Gen.  John 
Warner.  The  office  has  since  been  filled  by  a  large  number 
of  persons,  among  whom  maj*  be  mentioned  Ira  Haskell,  David 
Allen,  Sylvester  F.  Root,  Henry  M.  Brown,  and  Levi  N. 
Chamberlain,  the  present  postmaster,  who  was  appointed  in 
1878.  The  mail  was  carried  from  Northampton  on  horse- 
back for  many  years  by  an  odd  character  by  the  name  of  Chas. 
Hannum.* 

SCHOOLS. 

The  cause  of  education  received  early  attention  in  the  town. 
As  early  as  1737  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  original 
proprietors  to  lay  out  a  lot  for  a  school,  and  provision  was 
made  for  the  establishment  and  support  of  schools  in  the  orig- 
inal grant  of  land. 

After  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  the  regular  and  sys- 
tematic support  of  schools  began.  In  the  month  of  Janu- 
ary, 1759,  it  was  "  voted  to  raise  £9  for  the  support  of  a  school 
for  this  town;"  also,  "  voted  that  there  be  three  men  chosen 
a  committee  to  divide  the  town  into  three  parts,  in  order  for 
the  school  to  be  kept  in." 

The  committee  chosen  in  accordance  with  this  vote  divided 
the  town  into  three  districts,  as  follows:  "All  north  of  the 
county-road  leading  from  Hardwick  to  Pelham  to  be  one 
part,  and  all  south  of  the  aforesaid  road  to  William  Fisk's, 
and  across  that  into  Mr.  Benjamin  Cooley's,  to  be  a  second 
or  middle  part,  and  those  south  of  said  line,  be  the  other  or 
third  part."  This  division  of  the  town  continued  for  many 
years. 

Various  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  schools  have 
been  made  from  time  to  time.  On  Oct.  11,  1761,  JEIO  was 
appropriated.  The  same  amount  was  appropriated  the  follow- 
ing year,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  locate  school- 
houses.  In  1764  the  sum  of  £20  was  appropriated,  and  the 
same  amount  the  following  year. 

In  the  month  of  November,  1765,  the  committee  appointed 
to  locate  school-houses  reported  as  follows :  "  1.  In  the  south 
quarter,  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  by  a  little  brook,  to  the 

'*  Hannum  also  acted  as  a  sort  of  express  and  general  purchasing  agent  for 
the  community,  and  is  said  to  have  carried  a  cross-cut  saw  on  horseback  from 
Northamptou  to  Greenwich,  for  twenty-five  cents. 


HISTORY   OP   HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


539 


west  of  John  Eea's.  2.  At  the  meeting-house  in  Greenwich. 
3.  In  the  north  part,  near  widow  "Wright's  house.  4.  At  the 
north  end  of  the  old  field  south  of  Isaac  Powers'." 

In  1793  the  town  voted  £60  for  schools ;  iu  1795  this  had 
increased  to  £100,  and  the  same  year  the  town  was  re-districted 
and  divided  into  eleven  school-districts.  In  1798,  $400  was 
appropriated  for  schools,  and  that  sum  remained  the  amount 
of  the  annual  appropriation  for  several  years.  In  1814,  §500 
was  appropriated;  in  1856,  §700;  in  1867, 1800;  and  in  1878, 
§900.  In  1870  the  town  was  divided  into  seven  school-dis- 
tricts, which  division  is  still  in  force,  the  number  of  scholars 
in  attendance  being  about  100. 

One  of  the  first  schools  in  the  town  was  kept  in  an  old  barn 
that  stood  on  the  "old  Ayres  place."  The  school  in  the 
"middle  district"  was  kept  in  an  old  house  near  Samuel 
Hale's,  and  was  taught  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hogan  for  a 
time.  The  school  in  the  south  district  was  near  the  road  lead- 
ing from  Enfield  to  Bond's  village,  in  Palmer. 

The  first  school-house  at  the  "village"  was  part  of  the 
present  residence  of  Mrs.  Selina  Morse.  The  next  was  a  brick 
building  that  stood  half-way  between  the  old  and  present 
tavern  stand,  where  Charles  Record's  blacksmith-shop  is. 

Of  the  early  school-teachers  mention  may  be  made  of  Relief 
Sears,  Elsie  Marvin, — who  is  also  said  to  have  established  and 
taught  the  first  Sabbath-school,  about  1816, — Daniel  Knight, 
Daniel  Lindsey,  a  Mr.  Foster,  and  a  Mr.  Davenport. 

CHURCHES. 

CONGKEGATIONAL. 

This  branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  known  also  as  the  "Or- 
thodox," or  "Standing  Order"  of  Christians,  was  the  first  to 
become  established,  and  for  many  years  received  direct  town 
support.  Provision  for  the  establishment  of  a  church  and  the 
settlement  of  a  "learned  orthodox  minister"  was  made  in 
the  original  grant  of  land,  300  acres  of  which  were  to  be  re- 
served for  the  first  settled  minister,  and  a  like  amount  for  the 
second. 

The  proprietors  of  Quabbin  met  on  the  14th  day  of  Maj', 
1740,*  and  voted  to  build  a  meeting-house  40  by  30  feet  in 
ground  dimensions  and  20  feet  between  the  joints.  It  was 
subsequently,  Nov.  27,  1744,  changed  to  35  by  45  feet,  but  the 
house  was  not  finished  until  1745,  because  boards  could  not  be 
procured,  as  there  was  no  saw-mill  in  the  .settlement  prior  to 
that  date.  The  house  was  built  upon,  or  near,  the  spot  where 
Capt.  N.  Powers'  house  afterward  stood,  near  the  corner  of  the 
old  grave-yard.  Each  proprietor  was  taxed  forty  shillings  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  preaching  for  twelve  months.  This 
meeting-house,  which  is  said  to  have  had  a  veritable  latch- 
string  ever  at  the  door,  and  to  have  had  its  acoustic  properties 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  addition  of  an  immense  "  sounding- 
hoard,"  remained  in  use  until  1824,  when  the  present  one  was 
dedicated,  it  having  been  erected  in  accordance  with  a  vote  of 
the  town  passed  Dec.  16,  1822. 

Meetings  were  held  as  early  as  1745,  different  ministers 
officiating.  On  Oct.  31,  1745,  John  Patterson,  Timothy  Rug- 
gles,  and  others  protested  in  writing  against  paying  money 
to  support  an  "unorthodox  minister,"  and  demanded  that 
whoever  preached  should  be  first  "approbated"  by  Rev. 
Messrs.  Cheney,  of  Brookfield ;  Edwards,  of  Northampton ; 
White,  of  Hardwick;  Woodbridge,  of  Hatfield;  and  Wil- 
liams, of  Hadley.  The  same  date  the  sum  of  50s.,  old  tenor, 
was  voted  to  James  Wright,  for  "victuals  and  lodging  pro- 
vided at  the  raising  of  the  meeting-house."  On  Oct.  4, 
1749,  the  sum  of  X60  each  was  voted  to  Amos  Monson  and 

*  The  proprietoi-s  present  at  this  meeting  were  Jedediah  Emmons,  John 
Kidder,  Keuelin  Winslow,  Tiiomas  Gibbs,  Enoch  Flines,  John  H.'irdwood,  John 
Nevins,  Elijah  Fitch,  Jonathan  Burt,  James  Wheeler,  Timothy  Riiggles,  John 
Brayman,  Samuel  Morris,  Jr.,  Wm.  Rand,  Edward  Shove,  John  Foster,  Robert 
Fenton,  Gershom  Keyes,  DaWd  Nevins,  John  Robbins,  James  Redaway,  Josiah 
Perr>',  and Reed. 


Benjamin  Dickinson  for  preaching.  John  Searl  preached  in 
1747. 

On  Nov.  4,  1749,  the  parish  voted  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Pelatiah 
Webster  as  their  first  regular  minister,  offering  him  £500,  old 
tenor,  for  his  settlement,  and  a  like  sum  for  his  first  year's 
salary,  and  afterward  the  equivalent  of  200  bushels  of  Indian 
corn,  100  bushels  of  rye,  and  75  bushels  of  wheat.  Webster 
accepted,  provided  that  after  the  first  year's  salary  they  should 
pay  him  the  equivalent  of  180  ounces  of  silver,  current  money, 
or  passable  bills  of  public  credit.  The  terms  being  mutually 
satisfactory,  Mr.  Webster  was  installed  the  first  regular  min- 
ister of  the  church  Dec.  20,  1749.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  of  the  class  of  1746,  and  remained  pastor  of  the 
church  for  a  period  of  nine  years,  during  which  time  quite 
serious  difficulties  occurred  between  him  and  the  parish, 
mainly  upon  points  of  church  government  and  discipline. 
The  town,  in  October,  1754,  voted  not  to  accept  the  "  articles 
of  church  discipline  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Webster."  He  was 
dismissed  in  October,  1755.  On  Feb.  15,  1757,  a  call,  which 
was  not  accepted,  was  extended  to  the  Rev.  Philip  Paj-son,  of 
Walpole.  Rev.  Belcher  Hancock  then  supplied  the  pulpit 
for  a  time,  and  received  a  regular  call  Aug.  16,  1758,  which, 
for  some  reason,  he  did  not  accept.  July  5,  1759,  the  town 
voted  "  to  hire  Robert  Cutler  to  preach  6  Sabbaths  on  pro- 
bation." He  seems  to  have  satisfied  the  people,  and  was 
regularly  called  Sept.  4,  1759,  being  ottered  at  first  £54  settle- 
ment and  £.50  salary.  £12  13.5.  4d.  was  afterward  added  to 
the  settlement,  and  he  was  duly  installed  as  the  second  regular 
pastor  Feb.  13,  1760.  Mr.  Cutler  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  in  the  class  of  1741,  served  a  long  and  useful  min- 
istry, and  died  "  in  the  harness,"  Feb.  24,  1786,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight,  and  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  ministry.  His  re- 
mains lie  buried  in  the  ancient  burying-ground  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Cutler  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Joseph  Blodgett,  of  Staf- 
ford, Conn.,  who  was  settled  Nov.  8, 1786,  and  who  died  Nov. 
26,  1833,  at  the  age  of  seventy- six.  Rev.  .loseph  H.  Patrick 
was  settled  as  colleague  pastor  Nov.  17,  18-30.  He  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Brown  University  in  1817,  and  a  native  of  Warren. 
After  the  death  of  Rev.  Joseph  Blodgett  he  remained  pastor  of 
the  church  until  Dec.  21,  1842,  when  he  was  dismissed.  Rev. 
Edward  P.  Blodgett,  the  present  pastor,  a  graduate  of  Amherst 
College,  in  1838,  was  installed  July  -5,  1843.  He  has  filled 
the  pastoral  office  with  great  fidelity  and  success  for  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty-six  years.  The  church  is  in  a  prosperous  con- 
dition spiritually,  though  somewhat  iu  need  of  a  new  meeting- 
house, the  storms  of  over  fifty  winters  having  visibly  aft'ected 
its  ancient  frame.  The  society  embraces  a  membership  of  128 
persons  ;  the  average  attendance  upon  the  Sabbath-school  is 
67;  number  of  volumes  in  the  Sabbath-school  library,  200; 
superintendent  of  Sabbath-school,  J.  B.  Root. 

METHODISTS. 

This  denomination  began  to  exist  in  the  town  about  fifty 
years  ago.  The  first  established  minister  was  Rev.  Mr.  Stod- 
dard. Among  those  who  followed  him  have  been  Rev.  Messrs. 
Harwood,  H.  Morgan,  J.  Knight,  Philetus  Green,  Philo 
Hawks,  J.  Lewis,  and  others.  Meetings  were  held  alternately 
in  the  "Masonic  Temple,"  so  called,  at  Greenwich  village, 
and  in  the  meeting-house  on  the  "plain,"  a  division  of  its 
use  having  been  made  between  the  Congregationalists,  Jleth- 
odists,  and  Unitarians.  For  some  unexplained  cause  the 
movement  finally  died  out,  and  no  regular  society  has  existed 
in  the  town  for  the  jjast  twenty-five  years. 

UNITARIANS. 

The  believers  in  the  unity  of  the  Deity  are  said  to  have  been 
quite  numerous  at  one  time.  In  the  year  1829,  and  about  that 
time,  the  society  divided  the  use  of  the  meeting-house  with  the 
Congregationalists  and  Methodists.  As  they  have  no  present 
organization  in  the  town,  the  names  of  the  pastors,  if  any, 
who  have  regularly  officiated  for  the  society  cannot  be  given. 


540 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


BURIAL-GKOUNDS. 

The  town  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  but  one  place  of 
public  burial  within  its  limits.  This  is  the  "  Old  Burj'ing- 
Ground''  at  Greenwich  Plains.  The  one  which  formerly 
existed  in  the  south  part  of  the  town  is  within  the  town  of 
Enfield. 

The  ground  was  laid  out  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
proprietors  of  Quabbin  May  12,  1737,  consisting  of  John 
Foster,  Shubael  Conant,  and  Samuel  Childs.  Ten  acres  of 
land  were  set  apart  for  the  meeting-house  and  burying- 
ground.  On  May  20,  1772,  it  was  voted  to  "fence  the  bury- 
ing-ground  with  stone  fence,  the  yard  to  be  20  rods  square." 
On  Nov.  25,  1822,  it  was  "voted  to  malie  a  good  board  fence 
for  the  burying-ground,  to  be  painted." 

Most  of  the  early  settlers,  especially  of  the  north  part  of  the 
town,  are  buried  in  this  cemetery,  although  some  were  never 
honored  with  tombstones,  and  those  erected  to  the  memories 
of  others  have  crumbled  away.  The  oldest  stone  in  the  yard 
at  present  is  a  small  one  on  which  are  inscribed  these  words : 

"  In  memory  of  Deac»  James  Wright,  who  DecM  July  ye  7th,  1754,  in  the  51st 
year  of  his  age." 

Mr.  Wright  was  among  the  very  first  settlers  of  the  town, 
but  from  the  fact  that  he  died  so  early,  both  in  respect  to  time 
and  age,  no  trace  of  him  can  be  found  save  this  stone. 

Other  inscriptions  in  the  yard  are  the  following: 

"  Spe  Sahtlis  JEUrma;. — Rev.  Robert  Cutler,  Feb.  24, 1786,  in  the  G5th  year  of 
his  age,  &  40th  of  his  ministry." 

"  Elizabetli  ('utlcr,  wife  of  Rev.  Roboit  Cutler,  died  of  an  apoplectic  fit,  Sept. 
2,  1774,  aged  43." 

*'  Roland  Seats,  who  died  March  22d,  1851,  aged  88.  A  Revolutionary  Soldier 
under  Washington." 

"  Moses  Robinson,  who  died  May  22d,  1839,  aged  82.  A  Revolutionary  Soldier 
under  Washington." 

"  Lieut.  Jacob  Gibbs,  who  died  Nov.  13th,  1777,  aged  51. 

"  Mrs.  Ruth,  wife  of  Capt.  Joseph  Hooker,  who  died  April  7th,  1804,  in  her 
70th  year." 

"  Rhoda,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Jacob  Gibbs,  who  died  Feb.  7th,  1767." 

Two  unique  inscriptions  are  the  following: 

"  Miss  Dolly  Poor,  who  died  Nov.  28th,  1808,  in  the  36th  year  of  her  age. 
"  Delicate  she  look'd  &  fair. 
Open,  generous,  and  sincere, 
Like  an  angel  did  she  seem, 
Lovely,  artfuU,  and  serene, 
You'd  .joyn  with  me  had  you  her  seen  ; 
pity  fil'd  her  tender  breast, 
of  every  virtue  she  profcst. 
0  may  the  heavens  befriend  her  there, 
Renowning  blessings  ever  more."* 

*'  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  dead. 
And  the  pride  of  the  living. 
Of  Mary,  wife  of  Andrew  Harwood." 

The  ground  is  in  good  condition,  and  contains  a  number  of 
handsome  stones  and  monuments. 

Danforth  Traslc  has  had  charge  of  it  for  many  years,  suc- 
ceeding his  father. 

SOCIETIES. 
KINO    HIRAM    ROYAL   ARCH   CHAPTER   OF    MASONS 

and  a  lodge  of  Knights  Templar  are  said  to  have  existed  at 
Greenwich  village  about  1827  or  1828,  and  to  have  been 
established  chiefly  through  the  instrumentality  of  Gen.  John 
Warner,  Wm.  Walker,  Warren  P.  Wing,  and  John  T. 
Jordan.  The  chapter  was  afterward  removed  to  Ware. 
The  building  known  as  "Masonic  Temple"  was  erected  by 
these  Masons,  and  some  exciting  experiences  are  reported  to 
have  occurred  within  its  walls.  No  regular  organized  body 
of  the  order  now  exists  in  the  town. 

The  only  surviving  members  of  this  early  enterprise  are 
said  to  be  Horace  Hunt  and  Henry  Fobes,  of  Enfield,  and 
John  T.  Jordan,  of  Greenwich. 

*  The  author  of  these  lines  is  said  to  have  been  Dr.  Nehemiah  Hinds,  an  early 
physician  of  Prescott. 


FRIENDSHIP   GRANGE,  NO.  55,  PATRONS   OF    HUSBANDRY, 

was  established  May  22,  1874.  It  is  in  a  flourishing  condition, 
and  meets  in  the  "  village."  The  present  officers  of  the  society 
are  J.  H.  Morgan,  Master ;  Pliny  Clifford,  Overseer  ;  Joseph 
P.  Vaughn,  Sec. 

GRANITE    LODGE,  NO.  36,  I.  O.  G.  T., 

was  organized  in  1876,  and  meets  weekly  at  Farmer's  Hall  in 
the  "village."  The  present  officers  are  H.  H.  Vaughn, 
Worthy  Chief;  William  Carrick,  Sec. 

NOTES  AND  INCIDENTS. 

The  records  of  the  town  contain  the  following  minutes : 

"  1806,  June  l6th. — Total  eclipse  of  the  sun.  It  was  viewed 
with  admiration ;  the  darkne-ss  was  so  great  that  candles  for 
lighting  the  rooms  was  necessary  ;  stars  appeared  brilliant." 

"  181G. — The  summer  of  this  year  was  remarkable,  what  is 
generally  known  or  call'd  the  cold  summer.  Grass  was  very 
light,  and  the  crops,  except  English  grain,  was  universally 
cut  off  through  the  country.  English  grain  was  remarkable 
heavy  and  good,  commanded  from  §1.50  to  ^2  per  bushel ; 
much  suftering  ensued." 

On  May  22,  1876,  a  severe  hurricane  passed  through  the 
town,  unroofing  several  buildings  including  the  town-house, 
carrying  the  roof  one  hundred  rods  away.  "  Bailey's  Grove" 
received  great  damage. 

Jan.  9,  1878,  the  depot  of  the  Springfield,  Athol  and  North- 
eastern Railroad,  at  Greenwich  village,  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

In  early  times  every  man  had  a  certain  "  mark"  for  his 
cattle,  which  he  had  recorded  in  the  books  of  the  town,  and 
by  which  they  could  be  identified  as  his  property.  A  record 
of  "  strays"  was  always  kept  in  the  town  books.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  record  of  one  of  the  earliest : 

"Taken  up  and  strayed  by  Jeremiah  Powers,  of  Quabbin  Parrish,  a  year  and 
uantide  steer  marked  with  the  toop  of  his  left  Ear  Cut  uf,  and  is  of  a  Cherry 
Brindle,  with  a  leetel  white  spot  In  his  fore  head  and  his  two  hiude  feet  white. 
"  Quabbin,  November  the  27th,  1752. 

"  Abbaham  Gibbs. 
"  Parish  Cterk.^^ 
INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS. 

The  principal  industrial  occupation  of  the  town  has  always 
been  agriculture.  Other  branches  of  industry  have,  however, 
flourished  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  splendid  water-power 
of  the  town  being  especially  utilized  at  Greenwich  village. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  Gen.  John  Warner 
established  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  scythes  at  that 
point.  He  was  afterward  joined  by  David  Allen,  his  son-in- 
law,  who  finally  succeeded  him.  The  factory  was  burned  about 
1858,  but  was  afterward  rebuilt,  and  the  business  resumed 
for  a  short  time.  Work  was  then  stopped,  and  the  machinery 
removed  to  Warren. 

About  I8I8,  Ezra  Ayres  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
pewter  buttons  at  the  old  "Ayres  place."  The  building  in 
which  the  enterprise  was  pursued  was  afterward  moved  into 
Greenwich  village,  and  is  now  a  dwelling-house,  owned  by 
Dwight  Johnson. 

One  of  the  first  blacksmiths  at  the  "village"  was  Gad 
Wright,  whose  shop  was  near  Warner's  scythe-factory. 

About  fifty  years  ago,  Warren  P.  Wing  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  "cards"  at  the  "village."  Somewhat  earlier, 
Nathan  Powers  had  a  woolen-mill  at  the  place  where  David 
Parker's  saw-  and  grist-mill  now  is. 

The  business  of  braiding  hats  has  been  quite  a  branch  of 
industry  since  the  first  part  of  the  century,  being  followed  by 
both  se.xes,  but  principally  by  females.  A  large  number  are 
still  made  in  the  town. 

The  first  saw-  and  grist-mill  was  built  about  the  year  1745, 
by  a  man  named  Holmes,  near  or  on  the  spot  where  David 
Parker's  mill  now  stands,  at  Greenwich  village.  Holmes  also 
erected  one  of  the  first  houses  in  the  town,  which  stood  where 
the  tavern  now  is  in  1768.  "Capt.  Hitchcock"  owned  the 
mill. 


JOHN  H.  MORGAN. 


An  extract  from  the  gcneftlogicnl 
record  of  Rev.  Julin  C.  Morgan,  lato 
of  Naples,  N.  Y.,  which  he  compiled 
when  eighty-one  years  of  age : 

Miles  Morgan  was  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam, of  LandafT,  Glamorganshire, 
Wales.  Miles  emigrated  from  Wales 
to  Bristol,  England,  and  from  there 
to  America,  and  settled  at  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  May  14, 1636.  Soon  alter 
his  ariival  in  Boston,  William  Pyn- 
chon,  Esq  ,with  a  nnmber  of  families, 
removed  from  Roxbnry,  and  eettled 
the  town  of  Springfield,  He  joined 
these  emigrants  in  their  enterprise, 
and  on  their  arrival  at  their  place  of 
destination  the  land  upon  what  is 
now  the  main  street  in  Springfield 
was  divided  into  shares,  and  distiih- 
uted  by  lot  among  tiie  settlers.  The 
tract  of  land  which  was  allotted  to 
Morgan  extended  on  the  south  side 
of  Ferry  Lane,  now  known  as  Cyprus 
Street,  from  the  niain  street  to  tht* 
river.  It  is  a  rich  and  beautiful  tract, 
the  house  being  about  twenty  rod» 
from  the  river. 

In  the  first  records  of  the  town  of 
Springfield  we  find  that,  in  1646,  he 
was  taxed  nine  pounds  sixpence  foi 
thirty-fonrandone-half  acres  of  land 
From  1647  to  1656  he  was  surveyur 
for  the  upper  part  of  the  town.  In 
1657  was  chosen  one  of  the  selectmen 
of  the  town,  and  held  the  office  fur 
many  years.  As  one  of  the  selectmen 
ho  signed  a  contract  with  William 
Pynchon,  Esq.,  fur  the  building  of  a 
grist-mill  upon  Mill  Brook  fur  the 
grinding  of  corn. 

Supposed  to  have  been  born  in  1615. 
Was  married  in  1643,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  to  Prudence  Gilbert. 
Miles  became  acquainted  with  Pru- 
dence on  his  voyage  to  the  "New 
World,"  and  subsequently  correspon- 
ded with  her.  In  1643  he  engaged 
two  of  his  intimate  friends  and  an 
Indian  guide  to  accompany  him  to 
the  town  of  Beverly,  where  she  lived, 
they  taking  with  them  an  old  horse 
to  convey  the  furniture  of  the  bride 
to  her  future  habitation,  and  their 
musketa,  with  which  tliey  might 
*'  turn  to  flight  the  armies  of  the 
aliens,"  who  might  molest  them  in  their  pilgrimage  to  and  from  the  land  of 
the  people  of  the  East.  Prosperity  attended  the  journey  of  uur  patriarchal 
ancestor,  and  on  his  arrival  the  hymeneal  torch  was  kindled.  The  matrimonial 
contract  having  been  ratified  in  "due  form,"  the  old  horse  received  his  destined 
burden,  the  bridegroom  and  his  companions  shouldered  their  muskets,  and 
thus  escorted  the  bride  to  Springfield,  who  walked  the  entire  distance  from 
Beverly  to  that  place,  that  is,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  By  this 
marriage  Miles  had  eight  children,  as  follows: 

2.  Mary,  bom  1644.  3.  Jonathan,  born  1646.  4.  David.  Iwrn  1648.  5.  Pela- 
tiah,  born  1650.  6.  Isaac,  born  1652.  7.  Lydia,  born  1654.  8.  Hannah,  born 
1656.    9.  Mercy,  born  1658. 

Prudence,  wife  of  Miles,  died  Nov.  14, 1660. 

Miles  (1),  or  Sergt.  Miles  Morgan,  as  he  was  then  called,  married  Elizabeth 
Bliss,  Feb.  15,  1669,  and  had  one  eon,  Nathaniel  (10).  Miles  Morgan  (1)  died 
May  28, 1699. 

Nathaniel  (10),  born  June  14, 1671,  married  Hannah  Bird,  Jan.  19, 1691,  when 
in  his  twentieth  year.  He  settled  in  West  Springfield,  on  Chicopee  Street, 
where  he  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-one  years,  and  died  Aug.  30, 1752.  He  had 
seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  All  of  his  sons  and  one  daughter  lived  to  the 
age  of  seventy  years,  and  some  of  them  attained  a  still  greater  age.  They  all 
married,  and  settled  in  the  first  parish  of  West  Springfield.  Their  names  weret 

30.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  born  February,  1692.  31.  Samuel,  born  1694.  32.  Eben- 
ezer,  born  1696.  33.  Hannah,  born  1698.  34.  Miles,  born  1700.  35.  Joseph, 
born  Dec.  3, 1702.  36.  James,  born  1705.  37.  Isaac,  burn  170S.  38.  Elizabeth, 
born  1710. 

They  possessed  some  of  the  finest  farms  in  that  town,  but  their  descendants 
are  scattered,  and  none  remain  to  tell  the  places  of  their  fathers'  sepulchre. 
Sic  Tempora  Mutant. 

Joseph  (35),  fifth  son  of  Nathaniel,  married  Mary  Stebbins,  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Stehbins,  of  West  Spingfield,  in  1735.  In  1751  they  removed  to  the  nurtli 
parish,  now  called  Holyoke,  and  settled  on  land  opposite  South  Hadley  Falls, 
one  mile  northwest  of  the  city  of  Holyoke,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of 
their  Uvea,  and  saw  their  children,  grandchildren,  and  great-grandchildren 
settled  around  them  on  the  old  plantation.    The  children  of  Joseph  (35)  were: 

44.  Joseph,  Jr.,  born  February,  1736.  45.  Titus,  who  died  young.  40.  Titus, 
second,  born  July  19, 1740.  47.  Lucas,  born  1743.  48.  Elizabeth,  born  1745. 
49.  Judah,  born  1749.    50.  Jesse,  twin  of  Judah.    51.  Hannah,  born  1751. 

Mr.  Joseph  Morgan,  Sr.  (35),  died  of  phthisis,  Nov.  17, 1773,  aged  seventy-two 
years.  Mary,  his  wife,  long  survived  him.  She  died  Dec.  7, 1798,  aged  eighty- 
six.    Of  the  other  sous  of  Nathaniel  (10)  or  their  posterity  little  is  known. 

Titus  (46),  son  of  Joseph,  married  Sarah  Morgan  (41),  May  19, 1763,  at  West 
Sprin-tield.  They  were  hoth  great-grandchildren  of  Mile3(l)  in  two  distinct  lines. 

An  extract  from  Sarah's  (41)  genealogy; 

Miles  (1),  tlie  son  of  William. 

David (4),  Wiles' second  son,  married  Mary  Clark  in  1673.  Their  children  were: 

16.  Prudence,  born  1674.  17.  Pelatiah,  born  1677.  18.  David,  born  1679. 
19.  Abigail,  born  1681.  20.  John,  born  1682.  21.  Jonathan,  born  1685.  22. 
Mercy,  born  1688.  23.  Ebenezer,  born  March  7, 1692.   24.  Benjamin,  born  1695. 

David  (4)  died  in  1731,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

Ebenezer  (23),  fifth  son  ofDavid,  married  Mary  Horton,  in  1719.  She  died  in 
1736,  and  he  married,  in  1737,  Sarah  Warner ;  she  (Sarah)  was  born  Feb.  2, 1710. 
Their  children  were: 

39.  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  born  1738.    40.  Samuel,  born  1740.    41.  Sarah,  born  1742. 


/c^O  ^Cy//ai  ^/HJ 


^ 


42.  Catharine,  born  1744.    43.  Chloe, 
born  1746. 

Titus  (46)  and  Sarah  (41)  were  mar- 
ried May  19,  1763.  Their  children 
were: 

84.  Ei-astus,  born  1764.  85.  Gains, 
born  1766.  8G.  Quiirtus,  twin  of  Gaius. 
87.  Julius,  born  1768.  88.  I'linney, 
born  1780.  89.  Archipas,  born  1772. 
90.  Titus,  Jr..  born  1776.  91.  Sally, 
born  1779.  92.  Hiram,  born  1781. 
The  most  of  these  had  large  families. 
Titus  (46).  with  his  four  brothers, 
all  settled  on  the  old  plantation  of 
their  father,  Joseph  (35),  about  a  mile 
southeast  of  Mount  Tom.  I  well  re- 
member sixty  yeiirs  ago  (1811)  they 
were  surrounded  by  their  descend- 
ants of  the  second  and  third  genera- 
tions, but  now  (1871)  not  one  of  the 
name  remains  in  the  parish.  Sarah 
(41)  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
years.  Titus  (46)  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety-four  years  and  six  months. 

The  first  utilizing  of  the  waters 
of  the  Connecticut  River  for  manufac- 
turing purposes  at  Holyoke  was  a 
saw-mill  bnilt  by  Titus  Morgan  and 
Erastus  Morgan,  his  son,  a  little  over 
a  mile  above  the  Holyoke  dam. 

Erastus  Morgan  was  a  Revolution- 
ary soldier.  In  the  olden  times,  when 
shad  and  salmon  were  plenty,  Erastus 
Morgan,  in  company  with  five  men, 
caught  in  one  night  six  thousand 
shad  and  ninety  salmon;  the  average 
weight  of  the  salmon  was  thirty 
pounds.  The  shad  they  sold  for  one 
penny  (two  cents)  per  shad,  and  the 
salmon  they  divided  and  carried  home 
with  oxen  and  cart. 

Erastus  (84),  their  eldest  son,  mar- 
ried Clarissa  Chapiu,  Dec.  31,  1789. 
Their  children  were : 

129.  John  Calvin,  born  1790.     130. 
Clarissa,  bom  1793.   131.  Joseph  War- 
ren,  born   1796.      132.  Louis   Segar,  ' 
born  1801.    133.  Huldah,  born  1803. 
134.  Quartos  Miles,  born  1810. 
Here  ends  the  extract. 
Joseph  Warren  married   (by  Rev. 
Thomas  Rand,  Sept.  14, 18201  Emma 
Wolcott,  third  daughter  of  Noah  Wol- 
cott,  of  West  Springfield.    She  wa.s 
born  Oct,  11, 1800.  Their  children  are : 
Cordelia  A.,  born  July  18,  1821.    Joseph  W.,  Jr.,  born  Dec.  9,  1822.     Hiram 
A.,  born  May  9,  1825.    John  H.,  born  Oct.  29,  1829.    Emma  E.,  born  Oct.  22, 
1831.     Lucy  Torrey,  born  Sept.  15, 1838;  died  April  7, 1839. 

In  1839,  Joseph  Warren  Morgan  removed  with  his  family  from  West  Spring- 
field to  North  Dana,  and  resided  there  until  April  18, 1854,  when  ho  removed 
to  Greenwich,  and  in  company  with  his  youngest  son,  John  H.  Morgan,  engaged 
in  general  farming  and  lumbering  until  his  death,  June  17, 1873,  aged  seventy- 
six  years  and  nine  months. 

Cordelia  A.  Morgan  married  Edward  S.  Estey.  Resides  in  New  Salem.  Has 
three  children,— Joseph  W.,  Caleb  B.,  and  Clara  Ellen,  the  wife  of  Frederick 
Bice,  of  Sunderland. 

Joseph  W.  Morgan,  Jr.,  married  Clementine  Titus,  who  died  in  June,  1866. 
Has  one  child,~Frauk  J.  Morgan.  His  second  wife  was  Clara  J.  Morgan,  of 
Naples,  N.  Y.     Resides  in  North  Dana. 

Hiram  A.Morgan  is  a  Bajitist  clergyman.  Resides  in  Middletown,Conn.  Mar- 
ried Jane  E.  Bailey,  of  Middletown,  Conn.     Has  one  child,— Mary  J.  Morgan. 

Emma  E.  Morgiin  married  Luther  D.  Fuller.  Has  five  children,— Charles, 
Frederick,  Clara,  Etta,  and  Edward.     Resides  in  Belchertown. 

John  H.  Morgan  was  born  in  that  part  of  West  Springfield  now  known  as 
West  Street,  Holyoke.  Removed  with  his  father's  family  to  North  Dana  in  the 
spring  of  1839.  Attended  the  district  school  of  North  Dana  in  the  winter,  and 
assisted  on  the  farm  in  summer,  finishing  his  school-boy  days  in  the  academy 
at  New  Salem. 

In  the  spring  of  1854,  in  company  with  his  father,  they  purchased  a  farm  in 
the  north  partof  Greenwich,  and  engaged  in  farming,  and  cutting  and  drawing 
wood  and  lumber  to  Ware.  Was  married,  Oct.  10, 1855,  to  Sylvia  L.  Smith,  of 
Winchester,  N.  H.  They  have  one  son  (adopted),  Henry  S.  Morgan,  born  April 
6,  1871.  In  politics,  temperance  Republican,  and  a  detester  of  the  use  of 
tobacco.  A  member  of  the  Congregational  society,  of  which  society  he  was 
parish  clerk  from  1873  to  1878.  Was  chosen  one  of  the  assessors  in  18G9,  also 
in  1873  and  1874.  In  1866  was  made  a  Master  Mason  by  Bethel  Lodge.  Enfield. 
In  the  spring  of  1874  was  one  of  the  charter-members  of  Friendship  Grange, 
Patrons  of  Husbandry,  and  in  January,  1875,  was  installed  its  Master,  which 
office  he  has  filled  to  the  present  time.  He  is  interested  in  the  advancement  of 
a  new  and  better  agriculture,  and  the  development  of  the  resources  of  our  own 
soil.  For  the  advancement  of  this  object,  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Swift  River  Valley  Farmers' Club,  its  first  vice-president,  and  takes  an  active 
part  in  all  its  discussions.  Is  particularly  interested  in  the  improvement  of 
the  grass  crop  and  of  sheep  husbandry;  also,  a  firm  believer  in  the  recupera- 
tive ability  of  New  England  soil. 

Sylvia  L.  Smith  Morgan  is  a  descendant  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Smith  (1),  who 
came  from  England  to  Chariestown  in  1636.  Settled  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  in 
1640;  had  ten  children;  died  in  1648.  Samuel  (2),  son  of  Henry,  born  in  1639; 
married  in  Northfield  in  1666;  moved  to  Hadley  in  1679;  died  in  1703;  had 
eight  children.  Preserved  (3),  son  of  Samuel,  born  in  1677;  had  eight  chil- 
dren; died  in  Hadley  in  1713.  Samuel  (4),  son  of  Preserved,  born  in  1705;  was 
deacon  of  the  church  in  Northfield;  had  eleven  children;  died  in  1799,  aged 
ninety-five  years.  Elisha  (5),  son  of  Saniut-l,  born  in  1734;  settled  in  Winches- 
ter, N.  H.;  was  deacon  of  church  in  Northfield;  had  thirteen  children.  Noah 
(6),  son  of  Elisha,  died  in  1853,  aged  eighty-seven.  Leonard  (7),  son  of  Noah, 
born  in  1798 ;  married  Sally  Lvnian  in  1820 ;  had  four  children  ;  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty-eight.  Henry  S.  Smith,  born  in  1822;  died  in  December,  1864.  Re- 
becca S,  born  in  1824;  died  in  March,  1851.  Sylvia  L.  Smith  fS).  born  Jan.  31 
1829      Sarah  C.  Smith,  born  Jan.  18, 1836;  married  to  Henry  W.  Richardson. 


Photo,  by  Moffltt. 


S.   p.    BAILEY. 


S.  P.  Bailey,  youngest  son  of  Eber  W.  Bailey 
and  Elizabeth  Powers  Bailey,  was  born  in  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  Feb.  13,  1818.  The  other  members 
of  the  family  were  Eber  O.,  Adeline  E.,  Stephen 
P.,  Mary  A.,  and  Sophronia  R.  The  family  re- 
mained here  until  young  Bailey  was  six  years  of 
age,  when  they  removed  to  Greenwich,  Mass.  The 
education  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  obtained 
at  the  common  schools,  but,  being  diligent  in  his 
studies,  he  secured  a  fund  of  knowledge  that  well 
qualified  him  for  his  subsequent  successful  career 
as   an    active    business-man.       The    early    part   of 


his  life  was  spent  at  agricultural  pursuits  in  con- 
nection with  lumbering.  He  found  the  business  of 
lumbering  both  pleasant  and  profitable,  and  since 
the  age  of  thirty  has  given  his  time  with  great 
success  to  that  industry. 

June  24,  1852,  he  united  in  marriage  with 
Lydia  Ann  Haskell,  of  New  Salem,  youngest 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Lydia  Haskell.  They 
had  one  child,  Addie  E.,  who  died,  aged  seven 
months.  Mrs.  Bailey  died  Oct.  4,  1857.  Mr. 
Bailey  was  married  the  second  time,  April  21, 
1863,  to  Mrs.  Abbie  L.  Wetherell,  of  Warren,  Mass. 


Lynus  TOURTELLOTT. 


RESIDENCE  w  LYNUS  TOURTELLOTT,  GREENWICH, MASS 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


541 


The  business  of  silver-plating,  pursued  at  Greenwicli  Plains, 
has  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  industries  for  a  great 
number  of  years.  It  was  first  established  about  the  year 
1818,  by  Stephen  Douglas,  nearly  opposite  the  present  store. 
Mr.  Douglas  subsequently  united  with  him  in  business 
Messrs.  Jason  Blackmer  and  Reuben  Haynes,  the  firm  being 
known  as  Douglas,  Haynes  &  Co.  After  the  expiration 
of  ten  or  twelve  years,  they  were  succeeded  by  the  firm 
of  Douglas  &  Doak  (A.  L.).  Mr.  Douglas  afterward  with- 
drew, and  the  firm  became  Doak  &  Toplitl'.  William  S. 
Douglas,  a  son  of  Stephen,  then  entered  the  business.  Soon 
after,  Mr.  Toplift'  died,  and  the  firm  became  again  known  as 
Douglas  &  Doak,  and  remains  so  at  present.  The  principal 
articles  plated  are  coach  and  saddlery  hardware,  and  the  en- 
terprise affords  employment,  in  good  times,  to  about  14  men. 
The  present  shop  stands  between  the  residences  of  William  S. 
Douglas  and  Kobert  D.  Bussey,  at  Greenwich  Plains,  and  was 
moved  there  about  forty  years  ago. 

At  Greenwich  village  a  large  number  of  smaller  enter- 
prises are  now  pursued.  A  factory  for  the  manufacture  of 
dry-goods  and  other  boxes  has  been  in  operation  for  the  past 
fifteen  years,  and  is  owned  by  S.  P.  Bailey,  who  employs  sev- 
eral men.  Charles  S.  Record  has  a  blacksmith-shop  in  the 
centre  of  the  village.  John  H.  Jordan  manufactures  carriages 
and  sleighs,  and  furnishes  employment  for  several  men.  He 
has  been  engaged  in  the  business  for  a  number  of  years.  Mar- 
shall J.  Wheeler  has  a  broom-factory,  and  employs  several 
hands.  The  saw-  and  grist-mill  has  been  run  for  the  past 
twenty  years  by  Daniel  Parker,  who  succeeded  David  Allen. 

Collis  W.  Vaughn  manufactures  picture-frames  and  mold- 
ings at  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  Wm.  R.  Manly  has  an  ex- 
cellent saw-mill  in  the  west  part. 

MILITARY. 

In  the  trying  days  of  the  Revolution  the  town  manifested 
the  most  striking  patriotism.  As  evidence  of  this  fact,  wit- 
ness the  following  extract  from  the  records:  "At  a  Loyall 
Town-Meeting  held  at  the  publick  meeting-house,  in  Green- 
wich, on  February,  y"  23  Day  of  August,  1774,  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,"  it  was  voted,  "To  provide  a  stock  of  am- 
munition. To  provide  two  barrels  of  powder.  To  provide 
200  weight  of  lead  for  the  town  stock.  To  provide  400  flint 
locks,  and  to  chose  a  committee  of  eleven  on  correspondence." 
The  committee  chosen  were  Isaac  Powers,  Josiah  Wilson, 
Jacob  Gibbs,  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  John  Rea,  Joseph  Hooker, 
John  Gibbs,  Samuel  Colton,  Nehemiah  Hinds,  Simon  Stone, 
and  Jeremiah  Powers,  Jr.  Other  extracts  could  be  given, 
manifesting  the  active  support  which  the  town  gave  the 
cause  of  liberty.  Of  those  who  served  in  the  Continental 
army  may  be  mentioned  David  Blackmer,  Charles  Bruce, 
Roland  Sears,  Moses  Robinson,  Barnabas  Rich,  Giles  Rider, 

and Pratt.     Samuel  Hale,  who  settled  in  the  town  about 

1816,  served  from  Enfield,  Conn. 

In  the  Shays  rebellion  the  record  of  the  town  is  less  patri- 
otic, the  citizens,  as  a  general  thing,  taking  an  active  part 
against  the  government.  The  following  persons  are  shown 
by  the  records  to  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  after 
the  suppression  of  the  uprising,  many  of  them  being  the  first 
citizens  of  the  town :  Wm.  Powers,  Charles  Bruce,  Isaac 
Hunter,  Samuel  Wheeler,  Barnabas  Sears,  Benj.  Furnis,  Jr., 
John  Rogers,  Cornelius  Cannon,  Levi  Town,  Stephen  Darling, 
Witt  Taylor,  Isaac  Town,  Jr.,  Oliver  Harris,  John  Brown, 
Benj.  Harwood,  Darius  Rice,  Wm.  Morton,  Robert  Black- 
mer, Solomon  Hinds,  Robert  Sears,  Andrew  Sears,  Luke 
Powers,  Walter  Powers,  Nathan  Powers,  Silas  Jones,  Na- 
thaniel Jackson,  Jeremiah  Powers,  Jr.,  John  Walker,  David 
Blackmer,  Jonathan  Lawson,  Benj.  Watson,  Solomon  Town, 
Jeremiah  Powers,  David  Lawson,  Joseph  Fobes,  Jr.,  John 
Rea,  Eliphalet  Gray,  Daniel  Shaw,  Phinehas  Thayer,  Abijah 
Powers,  Jr.,  Natt  Garfield,  Eben  Cutler,  Roland  Blackmer, 


David  Furnis,  Emerson  Gibbs,  John  Lamson,  Silas  Hayward, 
John  Hunt,  Isaac  B.  Spring,  James  Monson,  John  Elwell, 
Nathan  Mcintosh,  Simeon  Caftbrd. 

To  the  war  of  1812  the  town  sent  Andrew  Harwood,  Luther 
Root,  Ezra  Sprout,  Chester  Hale,  Daniel  Tourlelott,  Benj. 
Rider,  Henry  Fobes,  Samuel  Barton,  Daniel  Eddy,  Ichabod 
Pope,  and  Kingsley  Underwood. 

In  the  suppression  of  the  late  Rebellion  the  following  per- 
sons served  from  the  town  : 

Lorenzo  L.  Billings,  Steplicu  II.  Wyatt,  Zenas  Tolenian,  Erasmus  C.  Davis,  Asa 
P.  Wliecler,  Elnior  M.  Sprout,  Andrew  Young,  Marshall  Alden,  Elbiidge 
C.  Howard,  Theodore  W.  Foley,  .James  0.  Foley,  George  B.  Caawell,  Sam- 
uel P.  Rohbins,  Joseph  H.  Stephens,  Ahner  Mott,  George  S.  Chapin,  David 
Wyutt,  George  W.  Richardson,  Motcalf  Mai-sh,  Henry  Tiffin,  Francis  A. 
Green,  .Joseph  P.  D.  Newconib,  David  II.  Newconib,  Manshall  Ricliards, 
Patrick  McGowen,  John  L.  Grout,  Lewis  J.  Upton,  Chas.  L.  Johnston, 
Henry  T.  Pomeroy,  Arthur  U.  Pomeroy,  Sylvester  F.  Root,  Levi  P.  Root, 
Rufus  F.  Bond,  Geo.  L.  Winter,  Iloury  M.  Brown,  Stephen  A.  Gilmore,  Na- 
thaniel E.  A.  Powers,  Wm.  Oaks,  Alphonzo  Oaks. 

In  compiling  this  history  the  writer  is  chiefly  indebted 
for. assistance  and  kindly  co-operation  to  Robert  D.  Bussey, 
town  clerk,  and  to  Lorenzo  Davis,  Wra.  S.  Douglas,  Dan- 
forth  Trask,  Hiram  Newton,  Wm.  R.  Hale,  B.  M.  Whit- 
comb,  Charles  Record,  Joseph  P.  Vaughn,  and  Rev.  P.  Ed- 
ward Blodgett.  Other  citizens  of  the  town  are  also  entitled  to 
thanks. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


LYNUS   TOURTELLOTT. 

Abraham  Tourtellott,  a  native  of  France,  emigrated  to  this 
country  at  a  very  early  day,  and  settled  in  Rhode  Island. 
Michael  Tourtellott,  one  of  his  sons,  was  born  Feb.  4,  1840, 
and  afterward  removed  to  Thompson,  Conn.,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  had  twelve 
children,  all  of  whom  are  dead  except  Daniel  Tourtellott,  a 
veteran  and  pensioner  of  the  war  of  1812,  who  now  resides  in 
the  town  of  Greenwich,  Hampshire  Co.,  at  the  ripe  age  of 
ninety  years.  He  was  married  Aug.  28,  1812,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Sly,  and  moved  to  Greenwich  in  June,  1816.  He  raised  a 
family  of  nine  children,  —  Marcus,  Merrick,  Lynus,  Vesta, 
Lucien,  Urilla,  Mason,  William  (who  died  in  infancy),  and 
William  (2d).  Of  this  family  all  are  dead  except  William, 
Urilla,  and  Lynus.  A  portrait  of  the  latter  appears  in  this 
work.  He  was  born  in  Greenwich,  March  11,  1820;  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Catherine  M.  Powers,  daughter  of  Stephen 
Powers,  Jr.,  of  Greenwich.  By  this  union  there  were  four 
children, — Vesta  C,  Uri  L.,  Alvin  D.,  and  Abbie  M., — all 
of  whom  are  deceased.  Mr.  Tourtellott  is  essentially  a  self- 
made  man,  having  had  no  book  education  except  that  obtained 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town.  He  has  devoted 
his  life  to  work  at  the  carpenter's  bench  and  farming  ;  has 
been  selectman  of  his  town  three  years,  and  overseer  of  the 
poor.  In  politics  Mr.  Tourtellott  has  always  been  a  Demo- 
crat. 

He  enjoys  the  reputation  among  his  fellow-townsmen  of 
being  an  upright  man  in  all  his  dealings,  and  commands  the 
good-will  and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 


CHARLES  S.  RECORD 
was  born  in  Barre,  Ma.ss.,  Jan.  26,  1819,  and  lived  there 
until  he  was  seven  years  old.  He  then  went  to  Antrim,  N.  H., 
where  he  remained  three  years,  and  was  then  apprenticed  to 
Gen.  John  Warner,  of  Greenwich,  Mass., — distinguished  in 
military  and  Masonic  circles, — to  learn  the  trade  of  scythe- 
making.  He  remained  in  Gen.  Warner's  family  twenty-one 
years,  until  the  genei-al  retired  from  business.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  one  year  spent  at  Athol,  Mr.   Record  has  made 


542 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


Greenwich  his  home  to  the  present  time,  and  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years  hivs  carried  on  the  business  of  a  blacksmith 
at  Greenwich  village.  He  was  married  to  Maria  L.,  daughter 
of  Cyrus  and  Louisa  Loud,  of  Greenwich,  Jan.  24,  1850,  and 


town  office  fir  many  years,  and  at  different  times  been  ap- 
pointed to  various  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility,  and 
discharged  the  duties  of  the  same  with  intelligence  and 
fidelity,  and  to  the  general  acceptance  of  all.     Liberal  and  in- 


Photo.  by  Moffltt. 


^  ^^ 


^ 


has,  as  his  only  child,  one  daughter,  Clara  L.,  born  Oct.  9, 
1853,  and  married  to  Ambrose  E.  Walker,  a  native  of  Green- 
wich, and  resident  of  Amesbury,  Mass.,  Oct.  16,  1878.  Mr. 
Record  has  been  a  very  active  and  energetic  citizen,  has  held 


dependent  in  his  theological  views  and  always  judging  for 
himself,  he  has  the  respect  and  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Politically,  Mr.  Record  is  a  Repub- 
lican. 


G  R  A  N  B  Y. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

The  town  of  Granby  is  situated  south  of  the  centre,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  county,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Amherst,  on  the  south  by  the  towns  of  Ludlow  and  Chicopee, 
in  Hampden  County,  on  the  east  by  Belchertown,  and  on  the 
west  by  South  Hadley,  Hampshire  Co.  Its  lines  are  compara- 
tively regular.  Its  area  comprehends  about  16,591  acres  of 
land. 

NATURAL   FEATURES. 

The  surface  is  quite  level,  broken  by  small,  scattered  hills, 
known  by  the  names  of  Turkey,  Baggs',  Raves',  Fox,  and 
Cold  Hills.  Besides  these  there  are  numerous  small  elevations. 
A  large  swampy  plain  extends  through  the  town  from  Lud- 
low on  the  south,  the  soil  of  which  is  sandy  and  covered  by 
thick  growths  of  small  trees.  In  the  other  portions  tlie  soil  is 
productive,  particularly  in  the  northern  and  eastern  sections. 
Porter's  Swamp  and  Pitchawam  (contracted  from  the  Indian 
Pitchawamache)  Swamp  are  also  quite  extensive,  in  the  north- 
western portion  of  the  town. 


The  water-courses  are  not  abundant.  Batchelor's  Brook  is 
a  considerable  stream,  which  passes  through  the  northern  sec- 
tion of  the  town  from  east  to  west,  fed  by  various  small  afflu- 
ents, some  of  which  rise  in  Belchertown.  Forge  Pond,  in  the 
east  part  of  the  town,  is  formed  by  the  waters  of  several  small 
streams,  and  by  the  back-waters  of  Batchelor's  Brook.  Other 
small  streams  exist  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  town,  of 
which  the  principal  is  Muddy  Brook,  which  rises  near  the 
centre  of  the  town,  and  flows  south  into  Ludlow.  A  stream 
of  some  importance  enters  the  town  from  Hampden  County, 
at  its  northwest  corner,  and  after  being  joined  by  small  afflu- 
ents in  Granby,  flows  westerly  into  South  Hadley. 

Along  the  north  line  of  the  town  extends  the  Holyoke 
range  of  mountains,  the  highest  point  of  which  in  Granby  is 
known  as  Hilyar's  Knob. 

SETTLEMENT. 
The  first  grant  of  land  by  the  town  of  Hadley  (of  which 
Granby  originally  formed  a  part),  south  of  Mount  Holyoke, 
was  in  February,  1675,  when  Thomas  Selden  had  six  acres  at 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


543 


the  mouth  of  Dry  Brook.  In  1(582,  Timotliy  Nash  had  a 
grant  of  a  parcel  of  land  between  Batchelor's  Brook  and 
Stony  Brook,  adjoining  the  great  river,  "  at  the  southernmost 
part  of  our  bounds."  This  land  was  afterward  owned  by 
Emerson  Bates  and  H.  ^Moody.  In  1(580  the  town  granted  20 
aores  each  to  David  Hoyt,  Thomas  Wells,  and  Joseph  llovey, 
"beyond  Mount  Holyoke,  on  Batchelor's  Brook,"  and  in 
1088,  John  Lawrence  had  a  grant  of  three  or  four  acres  to- 
ward Batchelor's  Brook.  The  grants  to  the  four  men  last 
named  seem  to  have  become  void.  In  1684  four  men  had 
liberty  to  set  up  a  saw-mill  at  the  falls  of  Batchelor's  Brook, 
below  the  former  grant,  with  the  frame  and  right  to  timber. 
What  mills  were  erected  under  these  grants  is  not  known.  In 
the  proprietors'  records,  in  1721  and  1722,  the  "  old  mill-place," 
on  Batchelor's  Brook,  is  mentioned,  which  was  above  the  sub- 
sequent site  of  Allen's  paper-mill,  also  the  "  old  mill-pond" 
on  Stony  Brook  below  Smith's  grist-mill,  and  a  saw-mill  below 
the  pond. 

On  Jan.  25,  1720,  Hadley  voted  to  lay  out  the  land  on  the 
south  side  of  Mount  Holyoke  according  to  the  list  of  estates 
and  polls,  taken  in  the  same  month.  Various  votes  were 
jiassed  distributing  the  lands.  Meadow-land  was  voted  in 
February,  1722,  and  was  laid  out  the  same  year  in  six  mead- 
ows, named  Stonj'  Brook  Meadow,  Chapin's  Meadow,  Great 
Meadow,  Little  Meadow,  Longmeadow,  on  Taylor's  Brook, 
and  Pitchawamiche  Meadow.  Most  of  these  meadow-lands 
were  within  the  present  limits  of  Granby,  and  some  were 
swampy.  There  were  similar  mowing-lands  on  Batchelor's 
Brook. 

The  territory  now  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  town 
of  South  Hadley  was  settled  somewhat  earlier  and  faster  than 
that  of  Granby,  so  that  in  the  year  1731  the  taxable  inhabitants 
of  South  Hadlej'  numbered  thirty-seven,  while  those  of  Granby 
numbered  but  eight. 

The  southeast  part  of  Granby  was  added  to  Hadley  in  re- 
sponse to  a  petition  of  21  persons,  which  was  presented  to  the 
General  Court  in  1727,  asking  for  the  land  between  an  addition 
that  had  been  laid  out  in  1715  and  the  Equivalent  Lands,  after- 
ward Belchertown.  This  tract  was  four  miles  long  and  two 
wide,  or  eight  square  miles,  and  was  called  "  The  Crank"  in 
old  land  records  and  deeds.  The  land  was  not  considered  val- 
uable, and  in  173(5  nine  proprietors  sold  their  individual 
rights  to  Capt.  James  Bowdoin,  of  Boston. 

The  first  settlers  of  Granby,  from  1727,  the  date  of  the  first 
settlement,  to  1763  inclusive,  were,  in  1727,  Ebenezer  Taylor, 
John  Smith,  Ephraim  Nash,  and  John  Lane ;  from  1727  to 
1731,  Timothy  Nash,  Joseph  Nash,  William  Dickinson,  Jr., 
Nehemiah  Dickinson,  and  Thomas  Taylor  ;  from  1731  to  1740, 
Stephen  Warner,  Sr. ,  James  Smith,  Noah  Ferry,  Samuel 
Moody,  John  Moody,  and  Hezekiah  Smith  ;  from  1740  to  1750, 
William  Eastman,  Aaron  Nash,  Phinehas  Smith  (1st),  Seth 
Clark,  Noah  Clark,  John  Preston,  Experience  Smith,  Eleazer 
Nash,  Martin  Na.sh,  Hezekiah  Smith,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Selden, 
and  Samuel  Dickinson  ;  from  1750  to  1763,  Eleazer  Warner, 
Jr.,  Benjamin  Eastman,  John  Howe,  John  Lane,  Jr.,  Stephen 
Warner,  Jr.,  Samuel  Ayres,  Eliphalet  Green,  Timothy  Burr, 
Josiah  Montague,  Joseph  Montague,  Nathan  Smith,  Israel 
Clark,  Jacob  Taylor,  Ithamar  Amidown,  Elisha  Na.sh,  Seth 
Smith,  James  Smith,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Ezekiel  Barton, 
Rev.  Simon  Backus,  Asaph  Stebbins,  Ebenezer  Taylor,  Jr., 
William  Dickinson,  Timothy  Smith,  Peter  Domo,  Samuel 
Elmer,  Asahel  Smith,  Thomas  H.  Moody,  Charles  Ferrj', 
David  Barton,  Experience  Smith,  Ebenezer  Bartlett,  Samuel 
Vinton,  John  Giddings,  William  Negus,  Elisha  Barton,  James 
Giddings,  Stephen  Chapin,  Samuel  Moody,  Jr.,  Benjamin 
Smith,  James  Patrick,  Jeremiah  Chapin,  John  Moody,  Jr., 
Elisha  Moody,  Keuben  Moody,  Joseph  Hillyer,  Moses  Smith, 
and  John  Camp.  The  descendants  of  many  of  these  first  set- 
tlers have  disappeared  from  the  town,  but  a  few  are  still  rep- 
resented there,  and  are  among  the  most  substantial  citizens  of 


the  town.  After  the  3'ear  1763  the  settlement  of  the  town  in- 
creased more  rapidly,  so  that  in  the  year  1776  Granby  had  a 
population  of  4!)1  persons. 

In  1771  the  men  who  had  the  largest  estates  in  Granby  were 
Deacon  William  Eastman,  Jacob  Taylor,  John  Moody  (son  of 
Deacon  John,  deceased),  Deacon  Nathan  Smith,  Benjamin 
Eastman,  Moses  Moody,  Phinehas  Smith,  and  Ebenezer  Bart- 
lett. 

TAVERNS. 

It  is  jirobable  that  the  conveniences  of  a  tavern  were  afforded 
at  the  houses  of  the  early  settlers  in  an  informal  way  from 
the  earliest  ])eriod.  Timothy  Nash,  who  kept  a  tavern  in 
the  town  from  1741  to  1749,  was  the  first  innkeeper  in  the 
town.  Levi  Smith  kept  a  regular  tavern  in  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century,  for  many  years,  in  the  west  part  of 
the  town.*  About  1821  a  tavern  was  established  by  Alpheus 
Ferry  at  the  "centre."  He  kept  it  for  several  years,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Wm.  J.  Patrick.  H.  H.  Stearns  established 
the  "  Pitchawam  House,"  near  the  post-olfice  at  the  "centre," 
for  a  year  or  two,  but  abandoned  it  for  the  more  profitable 
pursuit  of  tailoring.  John  Preston,  who  was  a  descendant  of 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  region,  kept  a  tavern  in  1825 
at  the  present  residence  of  Charles  S.  Ferry,  in  the  north  part 
of  the  town.  After  his  death  it  was  kept  for  a  few  years  by 
his  relatives.  Thomas  Moodj'  opened  a  public-house  at  the 
Five  Corners,  on  the  Holyoke  road,  about  1829,  and  ran  it 
two  or  three  years.  David  Kellogg  kept  one,  about  1845,  and 
for  ten  years  thereafter,  at  the  "  centre." 


have  always  been  kept,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  different 
parts  of  the  town.  One  of  the  earliest  was  by  Levi  Smith, 
the  first  part  of  the  century,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town. 
Asa  Moody,  a  one-legged  man,  kept  one  for  a  good  many 
years,  about  the  same  period,  on  a  corner  opposite  to  Levi 
Smith's.  Still  another  was  on  a  third  corner  opposite,  by 
David  Smith.  "  Marchant"  Scranton  is  mentioned  as  serv- 
ing in  the  Continental  army  in  1782.  He  may  have  been  the 
first  in  the  town.  Eldad  Smith  succeeded  Levi  Smith,  and 
also  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  buttons.  The  first  store 
at  the  East  Centre  was  by  Aretus  Ferry,  about  1821,  and  con- 
tinued for  about  ten  years.  A  Mr.  Bridgman,  from  Belcher- 
town, opened  one  soon  after.  He  was  succeeded  in  1830  by 
Charles  S.  Ferry,  who  erected  the  structure  now  occupied  by 
Walter  Kellogg  as  a  dwelling-house,  and  kept  store  therein 
until  1835.  Milo  Taylor,  a  Mr.  Brown,  Dexter  0.  Dickinson, 
and  Philo  Chapin  have  since  kept  there.  The  latter  has  been 
in  trade  for  about  twenty  years.  William  Belcher  erected  a 
store  at  the  "centre"  about  1825,  near  the  meeting-house, 
and  kept  it  for  a  good  many  years  in  the  building  which  Dr. 
Marsh  afterward  occupied  as  a  dwelling,  since  destroyed  by 
fire.  A.  E.  Thayer  followed  soon  after  in  the  business,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Daniel  E.  Belcher. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Of  early  physicians  the  first  was  Dr.  Samuel  Vinton,  who 
was  born  in  Leicester  about  1737,  and  practiced  in  the  town 
as  early  as  1702.  He  is  mentioned  in  the  town  records  in 
1771,  and  again  in  1780.  Dr.  Daniel  Coit  is  mentioned  in 
1790  and  later  years.  Dr.  Chester  Cowls  commenced  prac- 
tice in  1796,  and  continued  until  1815  or  1820,  and  then 
removed  to  Amherst.  Dr.  Perez  Chapin  also  practiced  early 
in  the  town  prior  to  the  year  1800.  Dr.  Augustin  Paine 
practiced  about  1810  or  1811.  Dr.  Enos  Smith  practiced  in 
1797.  Dr.  Porter  Davis  came  from  Palmer  about  1823 ;  he 
died  in  1825,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Timothy  Dimmock, 
who   remained   for  some   time.      Dr.   Charles  S.   Thompson 

*  Town-meetings  were  frequently  a4joumed  to  Timothy  Smith's,  in  the  west 
part  of  the  town,  east  of  the  meeting-house.  This  may  Imve  been  a  tavern.  It 
was  quite  customary  in  early  days  to  adjourn  town-meetings  to  taverns. 


544 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


practiced  in  1830  and  1831.  Dr.  Perry  was  in  practice  about 
1820.  Dr.  Elisha  B.  Chapin  came  to  Granby  from  Chicopee 
Falls  in  1835,  and  died  in  1842.  He  was  followed  soon  after 
by  Dr.  L.  B.  Monroe,  who  practiced  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  then  returned  to  Medway,  his  former  home.  Dr.  John 
Seabury  was  in  practice  at  the  same  time.  Dr.  C.  N.  Cham- 
berlain practiced  for  a  number  of  years,  and  removed  to 
Northampton  about  1857.  Dr.  L.  S.  Marsh  soon  after  en- 
gaged in  practice,  and  continued  during  the  war  of  the  Be- 
bellion.  Dr.  Cyrus  B.  Smith,  at  present  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  the  town,  engaged  in  practice  previous  to  the  war. 
He  enlisted  in  the  service,  and  after  an  honorable  career  re- 
turned to  Granby,  where  he  is  now  in  practice. 

LAWYERS. 

The  legal  profession  is  said  never  to  have  been  represented 
save  by  Epaphras  Clark,  who  resided  in  the  west  part  of  the 
town  for  a  short  time,  but  afterward  removed  to  Enfield, 
where  he  practiced  for  a  number  of  years,  and  where  his 
descendants  still  live. 

CIVIL    ORGANIZATION. 

The  town  of  Granby,  with  South  Hadley,  originally  formed 
a  part  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  being  known  as  the  South  or 
Second  Precinct  of  Hadley.  The  Second  Parish  of  South 
Hadley  was  incorporated  in  176'2,  the  division  into  two  parishes 
being  occasioned  by  difficulties  regarding  the  location  of  a 
meeting-house.  A  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1762,  in 
what  was  afterward  known  as  the  '*  West  Parish"  of  Granby, 
on  a  spot  near  where  Levi  Smith  subsequently  resided,  and 
near  the  south  end  of  a  tract  of  swamp  or  meadow-land,  called 
by  the  first  settlers  '*  Pitchawamache. "  The  meeting-house 
was  erected  on  land  given  by  Samuel  Moody  for  that  purpose. 
A  deed  for  the  land  was  given  to  the  town  after  Mr.  Moody's 
death  by  his  sons  Samuel,  Thomas  Hovey,  Reuben,  Simeon, 
and  Enos.  The  deed  was  dated  "  the  10th  day  of  July,  in  the 
ninth  year  of  his  Majesty's  reign,  Anno  Domo,  1769." 

The  Second  Parish  of  South  Hadley  was  incorporated  as  the 
town  of  Granby,  June  11,  1768.  Difficulties  regarding  the 
boundary  lines  of  Granby  and  South  Hadley  have  frequently 
occurred,  and  have  received  considerable  attention  from  the 
Legislature.  The  line  was  changed  June  12,  1824,  June  20, 
1826,  and  June  16,  1827.  Part  of  South  Hadley  was  annexed 
to  Granby,  March  6,  1792. 

The  following  persons  have  filled  the  principal  town  and 
representative  offices  of  Granby  : 

SELECTMEN. 

1769. — Aarun  Nasb,  Samuel  Moody,  Juhii  Moudy,  Waitstill  Dickiusou,  Stephen 

Waruer,  Jr. 
1770. — Phiuehas  Smith,  Experieuce  Smith,  Eleazer  Nash,  Jacoh  Taylor,  Eleazer 

Warner. 
1771. — Benjamin  Eastman,  Tliomas  Hovey  Moody,  Aamn  Niish,  Asaph  Stebhins, 

Samuel  Vinton. 
1772. — Phiuehas  Smith,  Eleazer  Nash,  Jobu  Moudy,  Asahel  Smith,  Israel  Clark. 
1773. — Pliineha.s  Smith,  Aaron  Nash,  Benjamin  Eaatman,  Waitstill  Dickinson, 

Timothy  Smith. 
1774. — StepUeu  Warner,  Jr.,  Asahel  Smith,  John  Moody,  Samuel  Vinton,  John 

Ay  res. 
1775. — Phinehaa  Smith,  Stephen  Warner,  Jr.,  Israel  Clark,  Waitstill  Dickinson, 

Ebeiiezer  Burt. 
177G. — John  Moody,  Eleazer  Warner,  Benjamin  Eastman,  David  Barton,  John 

Ay  res. 
1777. — Keuben  Moody,  Ebenezer  Bartlett,  Aaron  Ayres,  Joseph  Lane,  Joseph 

Dickinson. 
1778. — John  Moody,  Asahel  Smith,  Josiali  Montague,  Jeremiah  Chapin,  Stephen 

Warner. 
1779.— Phi nehiis  Smith,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Benjamin  Eastman,  John  Preston, 

David  Barton. 
1780.— John  Moody,  Elijah  Kent,  Israel  Clark,  Aaron  Moody,  Samuel  Moody. 
1781. — David  Baiton,  John  Preston,  Reuben  Moody,  Daniel  R^we,  Simon  Moody. 
1782. — Stephen  Waruer,  Jr.,  Jeremiah  Chapin,  Samuel  Vint<jn,  David  Church, 

Ebenezer  Bartlett. 
1783. — John   Moody,  Benjamin  Eiistman,  Samin-l  Clark,  John  Preston,  Elijah 

Kent, 
1784, — Josiah    Montague,  Experience   Smitli,   Iteulien    Moody,   Eli   Dickinson, 

Daniel  Rowe. 


1785. — John  Moody,  Joseph  Dickinson,  John  Preston,  Benjamin  Eastman,  Sam- 
uel Clark. 
1786. — John  Ayres,  Perez  Cook,  Aaron  Moody,  Josiah  Montague,  Experience 

Smith. 
1787.— Benjjimin  Eastman,  John  Moody,  Phinehas  Smith,  Joseph  Dickinson, 

Jidm  Ayrns. 
1788. — Elijah   Kent,  Samuel  Clark,  Eli  Dickinson,  Benjamin  Eastman,  Perez 

Cook. 
1789. — Benjamin  Eastman,  John  Moody,  Reuben  Moody,  Nathan  Smith,  David 

Barton. 
1790. — Phiiiehas  Smith,  Samuel  Clark,  Benjamin  Eastman,  Eli  Dickiusou,  Aarou 

Moody. 
1791. — John   Moody,  Reuben  Moody,  David  Barton,  Joseph  Dickinson,  Eseph 

Smith. 
1792. — Phiuehas  Smith,  John  Preston,  Eli  Dickinson,  Aaron  Moody,  Perez  Cook. 
1793. — John  Moody,  Levi  Smith,  Eleazer  Nash,  Beuhen  Moody,  Enos  Moody. 
1794. — Aarou  Moudy,  John  Preston,  Phineliaa  Smith,  Perez  Cook,  Samuel  Clarke. 
1795. — John  Moody,  Eh  Dickinson,  Levi  Smith,  Joseph  Dickinson,  David  Barton. 
1796. — Samuel  Clark,  Phinehas  Smith,  Oliver  Bartlett,  Enos  Moody,  Itliamar 

Taylor. 
1797.— David  Nash,  Reuben  Moody,  Joseph  Eastman,  Nathan  Smith,  Jr.,  David 

Barton. 
1798. — Asa  Smith,  Charles  Ferry,  Jr.,  Joseph  Wett^  Phinehas  Smith,  John  Man- 

deville. 
1799. — David  Barton,  John  Preston,  Joseph  Eastman,  Noah  Clark,  Gideon  Moody . 
1800. — David  Smith,  John  Mandeville,  Samuel  Kent,  Samuel  Taylor,  Samuel 

Smith. 
1801.— Samuel  Clark,  Enos  Moudy,  Phinehas  Smith,  Israel  Clark,  William 

Eastman. 
1802. — Reuben  Moody,  Asa  Smith,  David  Barton,  Levi  Smith,  Gideon  Moody. 
1803.— Joseph   Eastman,  Eli   Dickinson,  Charles  Ferry,  Jr.,  Phinehas   Smith, 

Samuel  Kent. 
1804. — Nathan  Smith,  Gideon  Moody,  Noali  Clark,  Joseph  Witt,  David  Smith. 
1805. — Jotham   Clark,  Enos  Moody,  Charles  Ferry,  Aaron  Smith,   Nathaniel 

Nash. 
IHOG.— Phiuehas  Smith,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Asa  Smith,  Gideon  Moody,  Noah  Clark. 
1807. — Eli  Dickinson,  Samuel  Kent,  Eleazer  Nash,  Charles  Ferry,  Eleazer  Ayres. 
1808.— Joseph  Masou,  Aaron  Smith,  Joseph  Witt,  Gideon  Moody,  William  Snow. 
1809. — Eli  Dickinson,  William  Eastman,  Charles  Ferry,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Jr., 

David  Clark. 
1810.— Aaron  Smith,  Samuel  Clark,  William  Snow,  Joseph  Mason,  Luther  Ferry. 
1811. — Enos  Moody,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Samuel  Kent,  Gideon  Moody,  Christopher 

Pratt. 
1812. — Aaron  Smith,  William  Eastman,  Jotham  Clark,  Joseph  Mason,  Nathan 

Smith. 
1813. — Aaron  Smith,  Samuel  Kent,  Gideon  Moody,  Enos  Moody,  Eleazer  Nash. 
1814.— William  Eastman,  Jotham  Claik,  Aaron  Smith. 
1815. — Jotham  Clark,  Luther  Ferry,  Giles  Montague,  William  Eastman,  Azor 

Moody. 
1810.- Jotham  Clark,  Gideon  Moody,  Giles  Montague,  Aaron  Smith,  Waitstill 

Dickinson. 
1817.— Jotham  Clark,  Luther  Ferry,  Aaron  Smith,  Giles  Montague,  William 

Eastman. 
1818.— Enos  Moody,  Aaron  Smith,  Jeriel  Preston,  Jotham  Clark,  Zebina  Smith. 
1819. — John  Stebbins,  Aaron  Smith,  Samuel  Ayres,  William  Snow,  John  Preston. 
1820.— Joseph  Witt,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Orlando  Chapin,  Luther  Ferry,  Elihu 

Clark. 
1821.— Gideon  Moody,  Jotham  Clark,  Eli  Warner,  Aaron  Carver,  Levi  Taylor. 
1822. — William  Snow,  Jotham  Clark,  Heraan  Stebbins,  Alpheus  Bartlett,  Abner 

Ferry. 
1823.— Gideon  Moody,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  Orlando  Chapin,  Elihu  Clark,  Levi 

Taylor. 
1824.— Gideon  Moody,  Jotham  Clark,  Waitstill  Dickinson,  John  Filer,  William 

Carver. 
1825.— Luther  Ferry,  Orlando  Chapin,  John  Smith  (2d),  Medad  Smith,  Rodney 

Ayres. 
1826.— Medad  Smith,  Chester  Ferry,  Israel  Clark,  Jr. 
1827.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Abner  M.  Dickinson,  Reuben  R.  Eastman. 
1828.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Samuel  Town,  Chester  Smith. 
1829. — Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Chester  Smith,  Abner  M.  Dickinson. 
1830.— Abner  M.  Dickinson,  R«dney  Ayres,  Harry  W.  Gridley. 
1831.- Samuel  Ayres,  Jeriel  Preston,  William  Carver. 
1832. — Harry  W.  Gridley,  Benjamin  Witt,  Lucius  Ferry. 
1833.— Chester  Smith,  David  Church,  Harry  W.  Gridley. 
1834. — Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Benoni  Preston,  Samuel  Ayres. 
1835.— Rodney  Ayres,  Wm.  B.  Dickinson,  Chester  Smith. 
1S3U.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Jeriel  Preston,  Park  Warner. 
1837.— Reuben  R.  Eastman,  Thomas  H.  Moody,  Perez  Cook,  Jr. 
1838.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Levi  Taylor,  Chester  Ferry. 
1839.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Augustus  Eastman,  Henry  A.  Dickinson. 
1840. — James  M.  Barton,  Levi  Taylor,  Henry  A.  Dickinson. 
1841.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  Wm.  J.  Patrick,  Lucius  Ferry. 
1842.— Wm.  J.  Patrick,  Rodney  Ayres,  James  M.  Barton. 
1843.— Israel  Clark,  Jr.,  James  M.  Barton,  Samuel  Smith,  Jr. 
1S44. — Samuel  Smith,  Jr.,  Lucius  Feri-y,  James  M.  Barton, 
1845. — Rodney  Ayres,  Levi  Taylor,  Chester  Smith. 
i      1840.- Henry  A.  Dickinson,  Medad  Ferry,  Samuel  Smith. 
1847.— Israel  Clark,  Levi  Taylor,  Andrew  White. 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


545 


1848.— Israel  Clark,  Andrew  White,  Tliomas  11.  Jlood.v. 

1849. — Israel  Clark,  Levi  Tajlur,  Urbane  Carver. 

1850.— James  M  Barton,  Samuel  Smith,  Cjriis  Stelihins. 

1851.— L.  S.  Nash,  Mcilad  Ferry,  Park  Warner. 

1852. — Lucius  FeiTy,  Wm.  B.  Dickinson,  L.  S.  Nasll. 

1853. — Wm.  B.  Dickinson,  I'hilo  Cliapin,  Augustus  Moody. 

1?54. — Augustus  Moody,  liangdon  Ayres,  Fre<Ieiick  Taylor. 

1856.— Benjamin  Do  Witt,  Chlistopher  C.  Aldiich. 

185G. — Albert  Moody,  Andrew  White,  Simeon  C.  Stebbins. 

1857.— James  M.  Balton,  Paik  Warner,  Charles  F.  Clark. 

1858.— James  M.  Barton,  Israel  Chli  k,  C.  C.  AldricL. 

1859.— Charles  F.  Clark,  C.  C.  Aldrich,  Wm.  A.  Smith. 

I860.— Park  Warner,  Frederick  Taylor,  Andrew  White. 

18G1.— Andrew  White,  Park  Warner,  P.  D.  Barton. 

18G2. — Andrew  White,  William  W.  Ferry,  Simeon  C.  Stebbins. 

18G3. — Simeon  C.  Stebbins,  Francis  E.  Taylor,  James  M.  Barton. 

18G4.— Andrew  White,  C.  C.  Aldrich,  C.  F.  Clark. 

1865. — Andrew  White,  James  31.  Bajton,  Fiederick  K.  Taylor. 

18GG.— Frederick  K.  Taylor,  E.  D.  Witt,  Cliarles  Clark. 

1867.— Frederick  K.  Taylor,  E.  D.  Witt,  Newton  W.  Pease. 

1868.— Philo  Chaiiin,  William  W.  Ferry,  John  Tilley. 

1869. — Albert  Moody,  James  H.  Barton,  George  Carver. 

1870.— Charles  F.  Clark,  Samuel  M.  Cook,  James  H.  Barton. 

1871.— S.  M.  Cook,  C.  F.  Clark,  Andrew  White. 

1872.— S.  M.  Cook,  A.  S.  White,  J.  J.  Lyman. 

1873.— A.  S.  White,  J.  J.  Lyman,  S.  C.  Smith. 

1874.— S.  C.  Smith,  E.  J.  Aldiich,  W.  W.  Ferry. 

1875.— Andrew  White,  E.  J.  Aldrich,  Dexter  Preston. 

187G. — Andrew  White,  Frederick  Taylor,  James  H.  Barton. 

1877. — Frederick  Taylor,  James  H.  Barton,  Monroe  Keith. 

1878. — Spencer  Clark,  AVm.  D.  Barton,  Chester  Kellogg. 

TOWN  CLERKS. 
1769-.S1,  Nathan  Smith;  1781-86, Phinehas  Smith,  Jr.;  178G-S9, Reuben  Moody ; 
1789-1811,  Simeon  Moody  ;  1811-Sept.  26,  1825,  Charles  Ferry ;  Sept.  26, 1825-29, 
Gideon  Moody ;  1829-32,  William  Belcher;  1832-34,  Lowman  A.  Moody ;  1834-40, 
William  Belcher;  1840,  Elisha  B.  Chapin;  1841-40,  William  Belcher:  1846-^8, 
William  J.  Patrick;  1858-00,  Philo  Chapin;  1800,  D.  E.  Belcher;  1867-09,  Philo 
Chapin  ;  1809-79,  Charles  S.  FeiTy. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 
1774,. Io,siah  Pierce;  1774-75,  Phineas  Smith;  1777-87,  Phinehas  Smith;  1787 
-89,  Benjamin  Eastman;  1790,  Elijah  Kent;  1707-08,  Dr.  Enos  Smith;  1800-8, 
David  Smith ;  1809-13,  Eli  Dickinson ;  1S14,  David  Smith ;  1815,  Eli  Dickinson ;  1810 
-17, '10,  David  Smith;  1820-21,  '24.  Eli  Dickinson;  182.'>,  Cliarles  Ferry;  1820-27, 
Enos  Smith ;  1828-29,  William  Belcher;  1831-30,  Samuel  Ayres;  18:!7,  Enos  Smith ; 
183S,  Samuel  Ayres ;  1839^0, 1842-13,  Rev.  Eli  Moody ;  1844-45,  Levi  Taylor ;  1848 
^0,  Charles  S.  Ferry ;  1850,  Lucius  Fen-y ;  1861,  Chester  Smith ;  1853,  Park  Warner ; 
1858,  Lorenzo  S.  Nash;  1862,  Samuel  Smith;  1867,  Pliilo  Chapin  ;  1871, Cyrus  B. 
Smith;  1875,  Monroe  Keith. 

VILLAGES    AND    HAMLETS. 

Near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  town  i.s  located  Granliy 
Centre,  which  i.s  the  nearest  approach  to  a  village  in  the  town. 
One  store  with  the  post-otficc,  the  Congregational  Church, 
the  town-house,  the  common,  and  a  few  dwelling-houses  con- 
stitute the  village.  The  common  included  about  six  acres  of 
land.  In  1821,  John  Montague  gave  to  the  first  .parish  hy 
deed  three  acres  of  land,  to  serve  as  the  location  of  a  meeting- 
house and  a  common.  In  1845,  Joseph  Montsvgue,  the  only 
son  of  John,  gave  by  deed,  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the 
common,  an  additional  piece  of  land,  containing  about  two 
acres  and  a  half.  In  1840  the  first  parish  built  a  parsonage 
directly  opposite  the  meeting-house,  at  an  expense  of  about 
SI  500.  In  1841  a  building,  to  be  used  as  a  lecture-room  and 
high-school,  was  erected  on  the  parish  common,  north  of  the 
meeting-house. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  town,  at  the  crossing  of  two 
roads,  is  a  small  hamlet  which  approaches  to  the  dignity  of  a 
village.  This  was  formerly  the  West  parish,  and  has  alwaj-s 
been  an  influential  and  progressive  section  of  the  town. 

EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS. 
Reference  is  made  to  the  first  establishment  of  education  in 
the  town  in  a  later  chapter.  After  the  ''hireing"  of  the 
"school-marsters,"  in  1774,  regular  appropriations  were  made 
for  the  support  of  the  schools.  In  1785,  £23  were  thus  appro- 
priated, and  the  following  year  it  was  "voted  to  divide  the  town 
into  districts  or  schools."  In  1792,  £35  were  appropriated; 
in  1793,  £40;  in  1795,  £60;  in  1796,  £65  for  schooling  and 
£250  for  building  school-houses.     In  1802,  £2.50  were  appro- 


priated,  and  the  follnwing  year  a  school  committee,  consisting 
of  three  from  each  district,  was  first  chosen.  In  1805  the 
appropriation  was  §300;  in  1811,  $330;  in  1814,  ?450 ;  in 
1845,  S750;  in  1847,  ?850;  in  1872,  $1,500. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  eight  school  districts  in  tlie 
town,  besides  a  grammar  school,  the  latter  situated  at  the 
centre.  The  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  is  about  150. 
The  schools  are  under  the  control  of  a  committee  of  three  per- 
sons, one  being  chosen  each  year  for  three  years.  The  present 
committee  consists  of  S.  M.  Cook  and  Dr.  C.  B.  Smith,  the 
third  member  having  removed  from  the  town. 

CHURCHES. 
CONQKBQATIONAL. 

The  long  contest  which  existed  between  South  Hadley  and 
Granby  at  the  time  they  formed  the  south  or  second  precinct 
of  Hadley,  regarding  the  location  of  a  meeting-house  which 
should  equally  accommodate  each  section,  resulted  in  a  divi- 
sion and  the  establishment  of  a  separate  church  organization 
in  Granby. 

The  original  church  edifice  was  erected  and  the  church  or- 
ganized in  1762,  and,  in  October  of  that  year,  Eey.  Simon 
Backus,  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College 
in  1759,  was  settled  as  the  pastor.  Mr.-  Backus  continued 
pa.stor  until  March,  1784,  when  he  was  dismissed.  He  was 
succeeded  in  February,  1790,  by  Rev.  Benjamin  Chapman,  of 
Plainfield,  N.  H.,  and  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  in 
1784.  He  was  dismissed  in  January,  1797.  Rev.  Elijah 
Gridley,  of  Berlin,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in 
1788,  succeeded  hiin  in  the  following  May. 

In  1820,  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Gridley,  it  became 
necessary  to  build  a  now  meeting-house.  The  eastern  part  of 
the  town  had  now  increased  in  importance,  and  a  disagree- 
ment arose  between  the  two  sections  regarding  the  location  of 
the  structure.  The  result  was  a  division  of  the  church  and 
parish,  and  the  erection  of  two  meeting-houses.  The  eastern 
part  became  the  first  parish,  and  western,  the  second  parish. 
A  council  was  called  which  effected  a  division  of  the  church 
also.  The  East  Church  comprised  144  members,  and  the 
West  Church  130.  Mr.  Gridley,  adhering  to  that  portion  of 
the  church  which  was  connected  with  the  second  parish,  was 
dismissed  by  the  first  parish,  and  retained  bj'  the  second  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1834.  Rev.  Eli  Moody  was  set- 
tled as  the  colleague  of  Mr.  Gridley  in  1830. 

Rev.  Chester  Chapin  was  settled  over  the  East  Church  and 
parish  in  1822,  and  dismissed  in  1829.  Rev.  Joseph  Knight, 
who  succeeded  him,  was  installed  in  1830.  In  1836  a  project 
for  uniting  the  two  societies  was  consummated.  Most  of  the 
members  of  the  west,  or  second  parish,  agreed  to  leave  their 
own  place  of  worship  and  unite  with  the  first,  or  east  parish, 
upon  the  understanding,  as  the  principal  condition,  that  Rev. 
Eli  Mood}'  should  be  the  pastor  of  the  union  church  and  par- 
ish. This  resulted  in  the  dismission  of  Rev.  Mr.  Knight  the 
same  j-ear  (1836).  A  few  members  of  the  second  parish  re- 
fused to  come  into  the  union  arrangement,  and  retained  the 
property  of  the  parish  for  a  time.  The  meeting-house  was 
afterward  sold  and  taken  down  for  use  elsewhere,  and  the 
land  connected  therewith  was  sold  also. 

Rev.  Eli  Moody  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  first  parish 
immediately  after  the  union,  in  1836,  and  dismissed  on  account 
of  ill  health,  in  1839.  Rev.  James  Bates  succeeded  Mr.  Moody, 
and  was  installed  in  1840;  he  was  dismissed  in  1851,  and  died 
at  Granby  in  1865.  Rev.  Henry  Mills  was  ordained  pastor 
Nov.  23,  1854,  and  dismissed  Feb.  24,  1863.  He  was  followed 
by  Rev.  Henry  S.  Kelsey,  who  was  ordained  Oct.  28,  1863, 
and  dismissed  Oct.  21,  1866.  Rev.  John  P.  Cushman  was  next 
employed  by  the  parish,  without  settlement,  from  January, 
1867,  to  May,  1870.  Rev.  Rufus  Emerson  was  installed  pastor 
March  1,  1871,  and  dismissed  April  23,  1874.  Rev.  R.  Henry 
Davis  commenced  preaching  fur  the  parish  Jan.  1,  1875,  and 


546 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


was  installed  pastor  Feb.  16,  1875;  he  terminated  his  pastoral 
relations  in  June,  1878,  to  engage  in  missionary  work  in 
Japan.  The  pulpit  is  at  present  supplied  by  Rev.  Frank  R. 
Wait.  The  church  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  comprising 
a  membership  of  over  200.'  The  average  attendance  upon  the 
Sabbath-school  is  upward  of  100 ;  number  of  volumes  in  the 
library,  about  400. 

No  other  regular  religious  organization  exists  in  the  town. 
A  small  Methodist  movement  was  undertaken  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town  in  the  year  1850,  but  never  assumed  any 
great  strength.  A  few  members  of  that  denomination  meet 
on  Sabbath  evenings  at  the  school-house  in  that  section  of  the 
town,  and  receive  occasional  religious  instruction  from  local 
supplies. 

The  Second  Advcntists  also  meet  in  the  same  place  on  Sab- 
bath days,  and  are  ministered  to  by  difl'erent  persons.  Their 
meetings  are  often  quite  well  attended,  althougli  no  regular 
church  organization  exists. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

There  are  two  places  of  public  burial  in  the  town.  Of  these 
the  oldest  is  what  is  known  as  the  "  Old  Cemetery,"  situated 
about  a  mile  west  of  the  centre.  As  originally  laid  out  it  con- 
tained an  acre  of  land,  for  which  a  deed  was  given  to  the  town 
by  James  Smith,  July  10,  1709,  in  consideration  of  "respect 
and  aft'ection."  It  was  given  for  the  purpose,  as  expressed  in 
the  deed,  of  "accommodating  them  with  a  convenient  bury- 
ing-place  for  the  dead."  A  child  of  the  first  settled  minister. 
Rev.  Simon  Backus,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  interred  in 
the  ground. 

The  North  burial-ground  contains  tombstones  of  older  date 
than  tlie  "  Old  Cemetery." 

The  stoue  bearing  the  mo.st  ancient  decipherable  date,  at 
present  standing,  is  that  of  John  Moody,  who  died  Oct.  0, 
1709,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  Some  of  the  stones 
are  old,  crumbled,  and  illegible.  Some  others  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  death  of  the  following  persons :  "  John  Chapin, 
who  was  killed  in  the  service  of  his  country  at  Fort  Stanwix, 
by  the  savages,  Oct.  19,  1780,  in  his  twenty-ninth  year;" 
Ebenezer  Bartlett,  who  died  April  17,  1794,  aged  seventy 
years;  Deacon  John  Smith,  who  died  June  17,  1774,  in  his 
seventy-sixth  year;  Benoni  Kellogg,  who  died  Jan.  7,  1784, 
in  his  thirtieth  year ;  Thomas  Hovey  Moody,  who  died  Sept. 
8,  1772 ;  Ebenezer  Nash,  who  died  May  19,  1775,  in  his  fifty- 
fifth  year;  Nathaniel  Ferry,  who  died  July  15,  1794,  aged 
eighty-six ;  Benjamin  Eastman,  who  died  Nov.  28,  1792,  in 
his  sixty-seventh  year;  William  Eastman,  who  died  July  20, 
1793,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year;  Moses  Moody,  who  died  June 
13,  1774,  aged  thirty-seven  years;  and  others,  including  some 
of  the  earliest  and  most  substantial  citizens  of  the  town. 

A  large  addition  liiis  recently  been  made  to  the  ground.  It 
is  well  fenced,  filled  with  attractive  evergreens,  and  presents 
a  gratifying  appearance.     It  contains  five  or  six  acres. 

The  "North  Cemetery"  is  situated  near  "School  No.  i." 
It  was  laid  out  over  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  contains 
stones  bearing  dates  as  early  as  1764.  It  is  not  as  large  as  the 
"Old  Cemetery,"  containing  only  a  little  over  an  acre  of 
ground.  It  presents  a  neat  appearance,  and  contains  the  re- 
mains of  some  of  the  first  and  most  influential  residents  of 
Granb}'.  Among  the  oldest  inscriptions  are  the  following : 
Levi  Clark,  who  died  Jan.  14,  1764;  Ruth  Clark,  daughter  of 
Seth,  who  died  June,  1767;  Noah  Clark,  who  died  Dec.  20, 
1 789,  aged  seventy-two. 

NOTES  FROM  THE  RECORDS. 
A  largo  number  of  roads  were  laid  out  in  1770,  tlie  princi- 
pal one  being  from  the  County  road,  by  Stephen  Chapin's, 
across  into  the  "  Crank"  road,  at  Jacob  Taylor's  lot.  Pounds 
are  first  referred  to  in  1771,  and  the  same  year  the  subject  of 
education  began  to  receive  attention.      It  was  voted  that  the 


sum  of  £20  be  appropriated  for  schooling,  "  and  to  spend  it  by 
having  school."  In  1772  the  same  sum  was  appropriated,  and 
the  same  the  year  following.  In  1774  it  was  "  voted  that  the 
£20  above  voted  for  schooling  .shall  be  spent  in  hireing  school- 
marsters. ' ' 

Oct.  3,  1774,  Phinehas  Smith  was  chosen  delegate  to  the 
"Provincial  Congress,"  to  be  "  holden  at  Concord,  on  the 
second  Tuesday  of  October."  May  22,  1775,  the  town  joined 
with  South  Hadley  in  the  choice  of  a  delegate  to  the  "  Pro- 
vincial Congress,"  to  be  "holden  at  Watertown  on  the  last 
Wednesday  of  May,  1775."  Phinehas  Smith  was  the  delegate 
chosen  from  Granby,  and  Noah  Goodman  from  South  Hadley. 

Lather  Ferry  is  said  to  have  brouglit  the  first  one-horse 
wagon  into  Granby,  in  the  earU-  part  of  the  present  century. 
Soon  after  Charles  Ferry  purchased  one  at  Belcbertown,  and 
dragged  it  home  behind  an  ox-team,  driven  by  Charles  S. 
Ferr}',  the  present  town  clerk. 

The  town  voted,  Oct.  3,  1776, 

"  That  this  town  do  give  their  consent  that  the  present  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  tliis  State,  together  witli  the  Counsel,  make  or  enact  a  Constitution  and 
form  of  Government  for  this  Stite.  That  tliis  town  do  direct  tliat  tlie  said  Con- 
stitution or  Proposed  form  of  Government  he  m.ide  Publick,  for  their  Inspection 
and  perusal  before  the  ratification  thereof." 

In  September,  1779,  Phinehas  Smith  was  chosen  a  delegate 
to  the  Cambridge  convention.  In  1786  it  was  voted  to  divide 
the  town  into  school  districts.  In  1785,  Benjamin  Eastman 
was  elected  a  delegate  to  a  county  convention,  held  at  Hat- 
field, and  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, at  Boston,  the  follow.ing  year. 

In  1790  and  '91,  and  for  a  few  years  following,  a  large  number 
of  persons,  with  their  families,  were  "warned"  to  leave  the 
town.  Judging  frmii  the  earnestness  manifested  by  the 
fathers  in  this  labor,  they  feared  dciiopulntioii  less  than  pro- 
spective pauperism. 

In  1807  it  was  "voted  to  raise  y'  sum  of  60  dollars  for  y= 
purpose  of  encouraging  singing  ;"  also  "  to  choose  a  commit- 
tee to  see  to  it  that  the  sum  be  prudently  expended."  In  No- 
vember, 1810,  the  sum  of  §90  was  appropriated  for  the  same 
purpose.  In  1815,  650  was  appropriated.  The  same  year  the 
Rev.  Elijah  Gridley,  the  pastor  of  the  town  at  that  time,  was 
compelled  to  pay  a  fine  of  15182  for  unlawfully  uniting  two 
parties  in  marriage  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Ludlow.  The 
action  against  him  is  said  to  have  been  animated  by  malicious 
motives.  The  town  passed  resolutions  strongly  condemnatory 
of  the  proceedings  against  their  minister,  and  voted  an  appro- 
priation of  IJilOO  in  his  behalf. 

In  1830  a  vote  was  had  upon  the  question  of  preparing  a  pe- 
tition for  presentation  to  the  Legislature,  asking  annexation 
to  the  county  of  Hampden,  and  was  lost  by  21  to  19. 

The  town  appropriations  for  the  year  1878  were  $700  for  the 
support  of  the  poor  ;  $1-500  for  the  support  of  schools  ;  $700  for 
highways  ;  and  $-500  for  contingent  expenses. 

The  following  extract  from  the  town  records  is  worthy  of 
note,  illustrating,  as  it  does,  tlie  method  of  transacting  such 
business  in  early  days,  and  the  remarkable  fidelity  of  the 
office-holders  of  the  present  day,  especially  under  the  "fee 
system,"  to  the  recorded  precedents  of  their  honored  fore- 
fathers : 

"  Taken  up  Damage  feasant,  by  William  Negus,  Hog-Reeve,  a  white  barrow 
Hog  or  Swine,  about  one  year  old,  marked  wilh  a  crop  of  the  left  year  and  a  slit 
in  the  end  of  the  same  ear.  The  swine  above  described  was  tidcen  up  on  the 
twelfth  D.ay  of  Jnly,  1771,  and  was  posted  in  this  Town  as  the  Law  Directs,  and 
Entered  with  the  Town  Clerk  on  the  l:ith  day  of  July,  1771,  then  sold  by  two 
men  under  oath,  in  manner  tts  the  Law  Directs.  The  Swine  above  described 
was  sold  for  fO  15s.  Orf.  The  bill  of  Cost  for  Takeing  up  and  Keeping  and  Jlake- 
ing  Sale  of  the  Swine  above  described  is  as  follows,  viz. :  The  Hog-Reeve's  Bill 
for  Takeing  up  and  Posting,  £0  7«.  Id.  Of.  Ebenezer  Dawin's  bill  for  Keeping 
the  Hog  for  Sale,  £0  48.  9d.  2/.  Saiimel  Warner's  and  Doi:t.  Vinton's  Bill  for 
making  Sale  of  the  Hog,  £0  1«.  9d.  2f.  Town  Clerk's  Bill  for  entering  and  Give- 
iug  oath  to  tlie  men  to  make  Sale  of  the  Hog  im  the  Law  Directs,  and  Rccoiding 
£11  0«.  Wil.  n/. 

"'Test:  N.\TH.\N  Smith, '/"oiiit  C'ZcrA-." 


The  father  of  this  gentleman  was  the  Rev.  Elijah  Gridley, 
who  was  born  at  Farmington,  Conn.,  March  27,  1760,  and 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1788,  and  in  1789  settled 
as  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Mansfield.  Conn. 
In  1797  he  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  in  Granby,  Mass.  He  died  there  June  10,  1834, 
aged  seventy-four.  He  married,  April  29,  1789,  Ruth 
White,  daughter  of  Hon.  Ebenezer  Wiiite,  of  Chatham 
(now  Portland),  Conn.  Mrs.  Gridley  was  born  Nov.  11, 
1767,  and  died  May  13,  1851,  aged  eighty-three. 

There  were  nine  children,  two  only  of  whom  survive, — 
Deacon  H.  W.  Gridley,  of  Ottawa,  111.,  and  Addison  Gridley, 
of  Granby,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Elijah  Gridley  served  the  church  in  Granby 
for  nearly  forty  years.  The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Cook, 
who  was  for  many  years  one  of  his  officiating  deacons,  will 
give  a  better  in.sight  into  his  character,  as  well  as  some  idea 
of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  than  any  words  of  ours  : 

"  I  take  much  pleasure  in  sending  you  some  reminiscences 


of  your  honored  father's  character  as  minister  and  friend 
for  thirty  years.  I  can,  of  course,  select  but  few  of  the 
more  prominent  of  his  endearing  qualities.  His  address 
was  in  every  respect  that  of  the  accomplished  gentleman  of 
the  'old  school,' — frank,  cordial, and  familiar,  with  a  natural 
and  graceful  dignity.  His  acquaintance  with  human  nature 
was  profound  and  extensive.  His  energy  and  decision  of 
character  were  prompt  and  eflacient.  In  discipline,  his 
church  was  seldom  the  scene  of  discord  and  dissension. 

"  His  physical  habits  were  tho.se  of  an  industrious  and  en- 
terprising husbandman,  according  to  the  customs  of  that 
period.  His  frequent  pastoral  visits  among  a  widely-scat- 
tered people  were  usually  made  on  horseback,  and  many  a 
smile  reflected  back  his  own,  as,  with  uncovered  head,  he 
acknowledged  the  deferential  respect  of  the  children  gathered 
around  some  humble  school-house  or  by-way. 

"  His  punctuality  was  proverbial  in  the  pulpit,  as  well 
as  in  business  appointments  and  social  engagements.  His 
preaching  was  eminently  plain  and  practical ;  doctrines  were 


Photo,  by  T.  l;.  Lo«  is,  Holyoke. 


e^^Tz/c^  r-c^T«!rVi- 


clearly  explained  and  enforced,  but  seldom  formed  the 
principal  basis  of  a  discourse.  His  manner  in  the  desk  was 
animated  and  energetic,  commanding  and  retaining  uni- 
versal attention,  especially  as  his  sermons  were  brief  as 
well  as  earnest  and  convincing.  His  labors  for  the  spiritual 
prosperity  of  the  people  were  crowned  with  abundant  suc- 
cess. He  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  several  power- 
ful revivals  of  religion,  at  which  seasons  he  was  unusually 
zealous  and  devoted  to  the  great  work  in  which  his  whole 
soul  seemed  absorbed  ;  and  we  believe  multitudes  have  been 
saved  through  his  instrumentality,  who  will  shine  hereafter 
as  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
AddLson  Gridley  was  born  in  Granby,  Mass.,  Dec.  18, 
1801,  and  in  the  house  into  which  his  father  moved  when  he 
accepted  the  call  of  the  church,  it  having  been  occupied  as 
a  parsonage  by  the  two  preceding  clergymen,  and  is  still 
Mr.  Gridley 's  home,  having  been  rebuilt. 


Mr.  Gridley  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  town,  has  led  the  life  of  a  farmer,  and  is  highly 
respected  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances. 

In  1827  he  married  Sybil,  daughter  of  Chester  Ayers, 
Esq.,  of  Granby,  by  whom  he  had  five  children,  only  one 
of  whom  is  living, — Charles  Addi.son,  born  Oct.  27,  1845, 
now  a  merchant  in  South  Hadley.  Mrs.  Gridley  died  Nov. 
14,  1845. 

March  2,  1847,  Mr.  Gridley  married  Maria,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Burnham,  Esq.,  of  Lisbon,  Conn.,  and  has  one  sou 
by  this  marriage, — Edward  White,  born  Sept.  20,  1852, 
now  in  the  drug  business  at  Holyoke,  Mass. 

iMr.  Gridley  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  for  more  than  fifty  years,  toward  the  support  of 
which  he  has  largely  contributed.  He  was  a  "  dyed-in- 
the-wool"  Abolitionist  in  early  life,  but  a  Republican  since 
the  organization  of  that  party. 


'im//m/////i///////mm////"""i 


9 

ti 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


547 


INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS. 

The  industrial  pursuits  of  the  town  have  never  attained  any 
special  prominence,  and  at  present  are  of  a  minor  order.  The 
waters  of  Batchelor's  Brook,  have  been  utilized  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  since  the  earliest  date,  for  various  purpose.s. 

"  John  Preston's  mill"  is  mentioned  on  the  town  records  as 
early  as  1771.  It  stood  on  Batchelor's  Brook,  in  the  north  part 
of  the  town,  ahout  half  a  mile  west  of  the  present  residence  of 
Charles  S.  Ferry.     It  was  possibly  both  saw-  and  grist-mill. 

There  was  an  iron  forge  in  the  cast  part  of  the  town  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century,  and  was  run  by  Elijah  Kent. 
About  1812  there  were  four  distilleries  in  the  town,  each  con- 
.suming,  when  in  operation,  from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  of 
grain  a  day.  The  increasing  number  of  them,  and  the  tem- 
perance reformation,  made  the  business  unprofitable,  and  it 
was  abandoned. 

In  18.36,  Samuel  Ayres,  Jeriel  Preston,  and  Levi  Taylor 
established  a  woolen-factory  on  Batchelor's  Brook,  where  a 
successful  business  was  prosecuted  under  the  superintendence 
of  Levi  Taylor.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  exerted  a 
commanding  intluence  in  his  native  town,  was  several  times 
elected  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  represented  the 
county  of  Hampshire  in  the  State  Senate  two  years.  After  his 
death  the  manufacturing  business  was  carried  on  by  Samuel 
Ayres  and  Christopher  C.  Aldrich  for  a  time,  and  finally  by 
the  latter  alone.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1870,  and  has  not 
since  been  rebuilt.  A  grist-mill  adjoining  was  destroyed 
also,  which  is  now  (1878)  being  rebuilt  by  Mr.  Aldrich. 

About  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  last-mentioned 
mill  Israel  Clark  had  a  fulling-  and  dyeing-mill  on  the  same 
brook,  and,  after  changing  it  to  include  the  manufacture  of 
satinet,  continued  the  business  for  a  number  of  years.  He  re- 
built his  establishment  in  18.50.  There  is  at  this  point  at 
present  a  saw-  and  grist-mill  operated  by  Samuel  C.  Smith, 
who  succeeded  Smith  &  Carver. 

In  1837  there  were  two  woolen-mills  in  the  town  ;  26,200 
yards  of  cloth  were  manufactured,  valued  at  §26,200;  10 
nuile  and  10  female  operatives  were  employed. 

Anson  Brown  and  Frederick  Taylor  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  paper  on  Batchelor's  Brook  about  1853.  Their  mill 
was  situated  about  fortj'  or  fifty  rods  from  the  woolen-mill,  but 
was  burned  several  years  before  the  latter,  and  not  rebuilt. 

George  Carver  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  "  reed-ribs" 
in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town,  and  has  pursued  that  occu- 
pation for  several  years  with  some  profit.  Pe  also  has  a  grist- 
mill in  the  same  locality.  D.  D.  Chapin  has  a  saw-mill  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town,  on  Batchelor's  Brook.  Carriages  and 
wagons  have  also  been  manufactured  to  some  e.xtent. 

MILITARY. 

The  military  history  of  Granby  is  such  as  to  reflect  the 
highest  credit  upon  the  town.  Its  record  in  the  earlier  wars 
is  necessarily  identical  with  that  of  Hadley,  of  which  it  formed 
a  part,  and  will  be  found  treated  of  under  that  town. 

The  citizens  of  the  town  who  served  in  the  French-and-In- 
dian  war  were,  in  1755,  Asaph  Stebbins,  John  Moody,  Jr., 
Francis  Green,  Gideon  Moody,  Josiah  Montague,  and  Nehe- 
miah  Dickinson;  in  17.56,  Samuel  Lane,  Benjamin  Eastman, 
William  Negus,  Stephen  Warner,  Timothy  Smith ;  in  17.58, 
W'illiam  Negus,  Jr.,  and  W'aitstill  Dickinson  ;  in  1760,  Joseph 
Dickinson,  Ebenezer  Taylor,  Elisha  Barton,  Ezekiel  Barton, 
Asahel  Smith,  Thomas  H.  Moody,  Eleazer  Warner,  John 
Negus,  and  Ithamar  Amidown. 

The  Revolutionary  record  is  particularly  interesting.  Dur- 
ing all  the  changes  of  that  dark  period  its  inhabitants  stood 
firm  and  remained  faithful  to  the  cause  of  independence,  and 
contributed  practical  co-operation  and  support.  Among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  who  served  in  the  Continental  army  may 
be  mentioned  Eleazer  Warner,  Robert  Owens,  Nathaniel  But- 
terfield  (in  Capt.  Reuben  Dickinson's  company  and  Col.  Wood- 


bridge's  regiment),  Levi  Woodworth.  "  Marchant"  Scranton, 
Hezekiah  Bush,  and  John  Chapin.  The  following  votes  re- 
corded at  the  time  illustrate  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people  : 

Sept.  20, 1774. — "  Voted  to  increase  the  town  stock  of  ainmnnition,  and  provide 
tlie  town  with  a  sufficiency  of  arms. 

"  Voted  tliat  the  Tremsurer  shall  pay  tlie  money  which  was  proportioned  to 
this  town,  to  bear  the  expenses  of  the  committee  appointed  to  go  to  tlie  Conti- 
nental Congress  at  Pliiladelpliia. 

"  Voted  and  made  clioice  of  Mr.  Phineas  Smith  to  appear  at  the  Provincial 
Congress,  to  be  liolden  at  Concord,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  1774,  to 
hear,  consider,  and  determine  on  all  sucti  matters  and  causes  as  shall  then  be 
thought  necessary  in  tliis  critical,  dark,  and  distressing  day. 

June  20, 177ti. — "Voted  that  we  of  tills  town  will  support  the  independence 
of  the  American  Colonies  with  our  lives  and  fortunes,  Provided  the  American 
Congress  shall  -declare  these  Colonies  independent  of  the  kingdom  of  Great 
Britain." 

The  vigilance  and  jealous  jiatriotism  of  the  inhabitants  is 
illustrated  in  the  following  vote: 

Feb.  15, 1775. — ''  Voted  to  call  Capt.  Eastman,  Lieut.  Eleazer  Nash,  and  Ens. 
Experience  Smith  to  account  to  the  town  for  their  conduct  in  holding  commis- 
sions which  they  received  under  Gov.  Hutchinson,  and  which  have  since  been 
established  to  them  by  Gen.  Gage,  who  is  now  endeavoring  to  enforce  the  late 
acts  of  Parliament  on  the  Province  of  Slassaclmsetts  Bay." 

These  men  were  among  the  most  influential  in  the  town. 
In  response  to  the  expressed  desire  of  their  fellow-citizens  thej' 
came  before  the  town  in  open  meeting,  and,  although  they  re- 
fused to  resign  their  commissions,  they  each,  in  turn,  declared 
it  to  be  their  intention  to  observe  the  advice,  direction,  and  re- 
solves of  the  Continental  Congress ;  that  they  had  no  desire, 
intention,  or  design  to  act  from  any  authority  by  virtue  of 
their  commissions,  and,  further,  that  they  never  would.  The 
vote,  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  upon  the  question  whether  what 
they  had  said  was  satisfactory  to  the  town,  was  decided  in  the 
negative.  What  further  was  done,  if  anything,  is  not  noted 
on  the  records. 

The  events  preceding  and  attending  the  rebellion  of  Daniel 
Shays  are  only  referred  to  on  the  town  records  in  the  election 
and  sending  of  delegates  to  the  several  conventions  assembled 
by  the  sympathizers  with  that  movement.  The  names  of  sol- 
diers who  participated  on  either  side  are  not  given  ;  neither 
is  any  special  note  made  of  the  war  of  1812  and  the  Mexican 
war. 

In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  the  town  took  an  active  part, 
and  by  every  patriotic  effort  assisted  in  its  prosecution.  As 
early  as  1861  the  sum  of  $1000  was  voted  to  pay  the  soldiers 
while  drilling,  and  for  the  support  for  the  space  of  one  year 
thereafter  of  the  families  of  such  as  should  lose  their  lives  in 
the  contest.  Other  measures  follow  closely  on  the  records 
during  the  continuance  of  the  war. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  soldiers  who  served  during  the 
Rebellion : 

George  N.Fletcher,  21st  Mass.;  Simuel  A.  Chapin,  Elliot  P.  Feiry,  Lucien 
E.  Robinson,  VVm.  W.  Lind,  Christopher  Hudson,  Clias.  Batchelor,  Fred- 
erick Batchelor,  Edwin  Smith,  AUiert  Whiting,  James  D.  Haskins,  Morris 
Starks.John  C.Messinger,  Henry  N.  Green,  George  W. Cone, 27th  Mass.; 
Andrew  J.  Converse,  Danforlb  L.  Converse,  Lemuel  Warner,  Orlando 
Wilson,  31st  Mass.;  James  McCalTerty,  Christopher  T.  Welden,  Vet.  lies. 
Corps.;  Cyrus  B.  Sniich  (surgeon),  11th  Mass.;  Wm.  Bartlett,  Wm.  B. 
Clark,  Wm.  F.  Pease,  Robert  M.  Smith,  Chal>in  Warner,  Loren  E.  Gold- 
thwait,  Marvin  Onderdonk.  34tli  Mass.;  Alexander  P.  Cook,  Wm.  11. 
Cook,  Monroe  Snow,  Joseph  K.  Taylor,  Michael  ONeil,  :i7lli  Mass. ;  Ed- 
ward Rose,  69lh  Mass.;  George  S.  Stebbins,  Dwiglit  A.  Barrett,  Frederick 
P.  Converee,  Charles  A.  Rhodes,  4Glh  Mass. ;  Hiram  Tilley,  SUi  .Ma<«. ; 
Curtis  H.  Brown,  Chas.  W.  Fletcher,  2d  Mass.  H.  Art.;  Dixon  Palmlee, 
1st  JLiss.  II.  Art.;  John  Holland,  11th  Mass.  L.  Art.;  John  C.  Cor.in, 
Edward  D.  Welch.  Wm.  S.  Pi-.-ise,  l.-t  Mass.  CaT.;  Oscar  P.  Jordan,  Wm. 
■  Riley,  2d  Ma«s.  Cav. ;  John  Warner,  4th  Mass.  Cav.;  Edward  H.  Goft, 
19th  Mass.;  Jams  Foley,  20th  Mass.;  John  Johnson,  .lohii  Kiernan, 
Chas.  Duffie,  John  Bedard,  Henry  J.  Squires,  John  Sullivan,  32d  Ma-e.; 
George  Allen,  Malcolm  Bridgman,  Asaph  P.  Barton,  Charles  H.  Bates, 
David  Casey,  Samuel  B.  Dickinson,  Francis  H.  Gardner,  Chas.  W.  Hunter, 
Edwin  N.  Hunt,  Dwiglit  C.  Morgan,  Dwight  Prest.m,  Samuel  C.  Smilh, 
Wni.  A.  Smith,  Chas.  Spoouer,  Sylvester  H.  Tayloi-,  John  Tilley,  Frank 
H.  Stearns,  Chas   H.  Church,  52d  Mass. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  to  Philo  Chapin,  Charles  S. 
Ferry,  S.  M.  Cook,  and  other  citizens  of  Granby  for  valuable 
assistance  rendered  the  writer  of  this  s'  etch  of  the  town. 


548 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


DEACON  SAMUEL  SMITH 
is  a  descendant,  in  the  sixth  generation,  ofLieut.  Samuel  Smith, 
who,  with  his  wife,  sailed  from  England  April  30,  1634,  and 
landed  at  Wethersiield,  Conn.  He  remained  there  until  KSliO, 
when  he  removed  to  Hadley,  Mass.  He  died  in  ItiSO,  aged 
seventy-eight  years.  His  son  Chileab  was  born  at  Wethers- 
tield  in  1G3.5,  and  died  at  Hadley  in  1730,  aged  ninety-five 
years.  Ebenezer,  son  of  Chileab,  died  some  years  before  his 
father,  aged  about  sixty  years.  John,  son  of  Ebenezer,  died 
in  1774  or  '70.  Nathan,  son  of  John,  was  born  in  1731  and  died 
ill  1811.  Samuel,  son  of  Nathan,  was  born  in  1775  (married 
Mehitable  Burnett,  1709)  and  died  in  18(39,  aged  ninety-four. 

His  children  were  Maria,  Mabel,  Amanda,  Mabel  (2d), 
Martha,  Samuel,  Cyrus,  Eliza,  Eliza  (2d),  Harriot,  and 
Finley. 

Samuel  was  born  Dec.  22,  1808,  and  is  now  living  on  the 
farm  in  Granby  where  his  great-grandfather  settled,  and 
where  three  generations  have  lived.  Dec.  7,  183.3,  he  mar- 
ried Maryett  White,  daughter  of  Luther  and  Abigail  (Pres- 
ton) White,  of  Granby.  Their  children  were  Eliza  Thayer, 
born  Dec.  29,  183(5.  Robert  Morrison,  born  Sept.  10,  1838, 
who  enlisted  in  Company  K,  34th  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 
July  31,  1802.  He  was  .slightly  wounded  at  New  Market, 
Va.,  in  May,  1864;  and  at  Piedmont,  Va.,  he  received  a 
severe  wound,  which  disabled  him  for  field  service,  but  he 
was  retained  in  hospital  and  on  light  detached  duty  until 
the  time  of  his  discharge,  June  1-5,  1865.  Lucretia  Maria, 
born  May  19,  1841 ;  died  Aug.  26,  1842.  Marietta,  born 
June  1,  1843.  Henry  Neal,  born  May  21,  1845;  died  Dec. 
27,  1848.  Samuel  Finley,  born  July  17,  1847.  The  latter  re- 
ceived a  medical  education  and  diploma  at  Michigan  Uni- 
versity, Ann  Arbor,  1873,  and  is  now  a  successful  practicing 
physician  at  Indian  Orchard,  Mass.  Abby  White,  born 
Nov.  2,  1849.  Henry  Martin,  born  May  31,  1852;  died  Oct. 
24,  18-53.     Emma  Clarinda,  born  Sept.  3,  18-54. 

Deacon  Smith  has  filled  various  town  offices  ;  was  a  member 
of  the  school  committee  for  twenty  years,  and,  in  1863,  repre- 
sented his  town  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  He  has  been 
active  in  church  affairs,  was  a  deacon  in  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Granby  for  twenty  years,  and  was  superintendent 
of  the  Sabbath-school  for  seven  successive  years. 

He  is  well  and  favorably  known  in  the  community  in  which 
he  lives. 


CAPT.  WILLIAM   BARDWELL   CLARK, 

born  in  the  town  of  Granby,  Mass.,  Jan.  20,  1838,  was 
the  son  of  Erastus  Clark  and  Lucy  Ferry,  daughter  of 
Charles  Feriy,  Esq.,  of  Granby.  Capt.  Clark  prejiared  for 
college  at  Easthampton,  and  graduated  from  Tale  College  in 
the  class  of  1861.  On  July  30th  of  the  same  year  he  enlisted, 
and  the  next  day  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service 
in  Co.  K,  34th  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  On  the  7th  of 
August  he  married  Eliza,  daughter  of  Deacon  Samuel  Smith, 
of  Granby,  and  iraniediatel}-  joined  his  regiment,  which  was 
soon  moved  to  the  field.  Feb.  1,  1863,  he  was  promoted 
from  corporal  to  sergeant,  at  Fort  Lyon,  near  Alexandria, 
Va.,  and  was  on  active  dutj'  with  his  regiment  up  to  Jan. 

20,  1864.  Soon  after,  while  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Va.,  he  was 
commissioned  a  captain  in  the  22d  Regiment  United  States 
Colored  Infantry,  and  January  26th  he  left  for  the  camp  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  took  command  of  Company  K  of  that 
regiment. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1864,  the  regiment  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  seat  of  war  in  Virginia,  and  was  engaged  in  the 
series  of  battles  before  Petersburg  in  the  following  summer. 
In  one  of  these  he  was  slightl}'  wounded  in  the  breast  by  a 
spent  ball.  He  was  also  struck  by  a  ball  in  the  battle  of  Sep- 
tember 29th,  which,  passing  through  his  haversack,  broke  his 
inkstand,  and  another  struck  him  on  the  temple  with  suffi- 
cient force  to  break  the  skin.  The  27th  of  October  he  received 
a  mortal  wound,  this  being  the  last  battle  in  which  the  regi- 
ment was  engaged.  His  body  was  not  recovered.  We  take 
the  following  notice  from  the  Spruififield  Republican  of  Dec. 

21,  1864,  as  showing  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
comrades  in  arms,  as  well  as  by  his  friends  at  home : 

"  All  his  friends  can  testify  to  the  truthfulness  of  a  brother 
captain's  estimate  who  writes  of  him  thus  :  '  I  have  ever  found 
him  the  same  under  all  circumstances, — a  kind,  generous, 
noble-hearted,  brave,  and  Christian  man.  He  combined  the 
two  qualities  of  bravery  and  prudence  in  a  remarkable  degree.' 
And  again  :  '  His  kindness  of  heart,  modesty  of  manner,  his 
unyielding  principle,  and  Christian  spirit  ever  exerted  a  con- 
stant, though  silent,  influence  over  his  brother  officers.'  Of 
the  same  tenor  is  the  testimony  of  his  townsman,  Surgeon 
Pease,  who  writes :  '  He  was  very  much  liked,  both  by  the 
officers  and  men  of  his  regiment,  was  always  perfectly  cool 
and  brave,  and  always  led  his  men  into  action.'  Few  have 
had  a  better  record.  None  could  have  had  a  more  honorable 
death.  His  end  is  the  crowning  of  a  victor,  rather  than  the 
loss  of  a  brother,  husband,  or  son." 


P  E  L  H  A  M. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 

The  town  of  Pelham  makes  one  of  that  range  of  towns 
which  forms  the  irregular  northern  boundary  of  the  county  of 
Hampshire.  It  is  situated  in  the  northeastern  section  of  the 
county,  and  is  bounded  On  the  north  by  the  town  of  Shutes- 
bury,  in  Franklin  County ;  on  the  south  by  the  towns  of  Belch- 
ertown  and  Enfield,  in  Hampshire  County;  on  the  east  by  the 
town  of  Prescott  and  on  the  west  by  the  town  of  Amherst, 
both  in  the  same  county.  Its  northern,  eastern,  and  western 
lines  are  comparatively  straight,  but  its  southern  is  broken 
and  irregular.  The  average  length  of  the  town  is  five  and  a 
quarter  miles,  and  average  width  three  and  a  half  miles,  com- 
prising an  acreage  of  about  15,207. 

It  is  distant  seven  miles  from  Northampton,  twenty  from 


Springfield,  ninety-five  from  Boston,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  from  New  York. 

NATURAL  FEATURES. 
Pelham  may  be  fitly  characterized  as  one  of  the  hill  towns 
of  the  county.  In  its  northwestern  corner  rises  the  lofty  peak 
of  Mount  Orient,  attaining  an  elevation  of  about  one  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  affording  from  its  summit 
a  surpassingly  grand  and  unique  view, — vying  with  Mounts 
Holyoke  and  Tom  on  the  south,  Sugarloaf  and  Toby  on  the 
west, — and  exhibiting  in  the  distance  no  less  than  seven  vil- 
lages scattered  over  the  beautiful  surface  of  the  broad  valley 
of  the  Connecticut.  Mount  Lincoln,  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town,  rears  its  peculiar  conical  head  to  a  height  of  about 
eight  hundred  feet.     Pine  Hill,  near  the  original  centre  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


5J9 


town,  also  reaches  a  considerable  elevation.  Other  hills  and 
mountains  cover  the  northern,  eastern,  and  western  sections  of 
the  town,  the  south  part  of  the  town  being  more  level. 

Numerous  streams  traverse  the  ditierent  sections  of  the 
town.  Fort  River  rises  near  the  northern  boundary,  and, 
Howing  in  a  southwesterly  course  through  what  is  termed  the 
"valley,"  enters  the  town  of  Amherst,  and  finally  joins  the 
Connecticut  at  Hadley.  The  west  branch  of  Swift  River 
furnishes  the  eastern  boundary  line  between  Pelham  and 
Prescott.  Its  principal  affluent  from  Pelham  is  Purges 
Brook,  rising  north  of  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  flowing  in 
a  southeasterly  course  to  the  river.  Smaller  streams  exist  in 
the  other  parts  of  the  town. 

Several  valuable  springs,  ccmtaining  useful  medicinal  quali- 
ties, exist  near  Mount  Orient,  and  attract  many  visitors  in  the 
summer-time  to  the  town. 

The  soil  is  fertile  and  productive,  though  difhcult  of  culti- 
vation in  certain  portions  of  the  town. 

The  geologic  characteristics  are  of  some  interest.  Consid- 
erable granite,  of  a  peculiar  grayish  tint  and  known  as  "Pel- 
ham granite,"  has  been  quarried  in  the  eastern  and  western 
parts  of  the  town.  In  the  southwestern  part  large  quantities 
of  asbestos  have  also  been  mined. 

MEN    OF    DI.STINCTION. 

Forth  from  the  hills  of  Pelham  have  gone  many  men  who 
have  contributed  largely  by  their  industry,  energy,  and  strength 
of  character  to  the  moral  and  material  advancement  of  other 
communities.  Their  ancestors  were  the  hardy  Scotch-Irish 
settlers  of  the  town,  their  birthplace  its  ranging  mountains 
and  sloping  hills,  their  stock  in  trade  robust  constitutions, 
and  the  high  mental  and  moral  characteristics  of  their  fathers. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  few  towns  of  its  size  in  the  State  have 
produced  more  men  who  have  risen  to  posts  of  honor  and 
distinction. 

Among  these  have  been  Ithamar  Conkey,  afterward  a  resi- 
dent of  Amherst,  and  for  many  years  judge  of  Probate  for 
Hampshire  County ;  Dr.  Daniel  and  Dr.  James  Thompson, 
brothers  and  partners  in  professional  business  at  Northamp- 
ton ;  the  Messrs.  Southworth,  the  widely-known  paper-manu- 
facturers of  West  Springfield;  Dr.  Harkness,  one  of  the-pio- 
neer  railroad  men  of  California,  who  drove  the  first  spike  into 
the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  a  world-wide  traveler ;  Nathaniel 
Gray,  of  Sacramento,  Cal.,  one  of  that  city's  wealthy  citizens ; 
and  others  who  have  adorned  the  variou.s  walks  of  life  in 
which  they  trod. 

SETTLE.MENT. 
■  The  territory  of  Pelham  originally  formed  a  portion  of  the 
"Equivalent  Lands,"  an  accurate  account  of  which  is  given 
in  the  history  of  "Ware.  It  was  sold  by  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut to  Colonel  John  Stoddard  and  others  of  Northampton, 
and  was  at  first  popularly  denominated  "Stoddard's  Town." 
The  lands,  while  in  a  wild  condition,  were  much  injured  in 
timber  and  soil  by  the  burnings  to  which  they  were  subjected 
by  hunters,  and  by  those  on  the  Connecticut,  who  by  this 
means  secured  a  favorite  pasturage  for  their  cattle. 

Sept.  2G,  1738,  Robert  Peibles  and  James  Thornton,  of 
Worcester,  conceived  the  idea  of  purchasing  the  territory  of 
the  township  of  John  Stoddard  and  establishing  a  settlement 
therein,  and  entered  into  a  contract  of  purchase  on  that  date 
with  Stoddard.  An  agreement  entered  into  between  Peibles 
and  Thornton  on  the  20th  of  the  following  October  will  best 
show  the  plan  of  the  purchase  and  the  nature  and  character 
of  the  proposed  settlement.     It  was  as  follows  : 

"Articles  uf  Agreement  ladented  and  made  this  Twentyetli  day  of  October, 
Seventeen  hundred  thirty-eight,  Between  Eubert  Peihle.s,  of  Worcester,  in  the 
County  of  Worcester  and  Province  of  tlie  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England, 
Bla/:ksmith,  on  the  one  part,  &  James  Thornton,  of  Worcester,  afracsaid,  yeoman, 
on  the  other  part,  Witnesseth :  That  whereas,  on  the  2Gth  day  of  September  last 
past,  the  said  Robert  Peibles  and  James  Thornton  have  jointly  covenanted  and 
contracted  with  the  Honorable  John  Stoddard,  of  Xorth  Hampton,  in  ye  County 


of  Hampshire,  Esq.,  for  one-fourth  part  of  that  Tract  of  Equivalent  land  lying 
Eastward  of  Hadley  (except  Eight  hundred  acres),  which  he  bought  of  the  ex- 
ecutors of  r)ame  Mary  Saltonatall,  I.atc  of  Boston,  Dec*,  which  hind  was  laid  out 
by  Mather  Allen,  Roger  Wolcott,  and  Elieuczer  Pomeroy,  Esq",  for  Twenty-nine 
Thousand  eight  humlred  &  Seventy-four  acres,  and  also  for  one-eighth  part  of 
Siiid  Tract  of  Land,  which  the  saitl  John  .Stoddard  purchased  of  Capt.  HoswcU 
Saltonstall,  of  Brandford,  in  the  f -ounty  of  New  Haven,  and  also  for  one-eighth 
part  more  of  said  Tract  of  land  which  fell  (or  does  belong  to)  said  Stoddanl  by 
Division,  making  the  whole  ye  one-half  of  said  Tract  of  Land  (excepting  eight 
hundred  parts  of  land),  fourth  part  whicli  ye  said  Stoddard  Purchased  of  the 
Executors  of  Dame  Blary  Saltonstall,  as  .aforesaid. 

"  And  whereas,  they  have  covenanted  to  p.ay  for  the  same  as  follows,  viz. :  Fif- 
teen hundred  pounds  within  Twelve  months  from  the  Twenty-Sixth  day  of  Sep- 
tember, as  aforesaid,  &  Three  thousand  pounds  moore  in  Eighteen  months  from 
said  Date,  and  both  sums  to  said  Stoddard,  and  also  the  Sum  of  Nine  hundred 
pounds  to  Josiah  Willard,  of  Boston,  Esq^,  and  the  other  E-xecutors  of  said 
Dame  Mary  SaltoustjiU,  aforesaid.  Deceased,  on  or  before  ye  30th  day  of  June, 
1739,  and  the  fourth  Sum  of  Nine  hundred  pounds  more  to  said  Executors  on  or 
before  the  30th  day  of  Juno,  1740,  Together  with  Lawfull  Interest  from  tlie  30th 
day  of  June  last  past,  and  also  the  sum  of  five  hundred  bj  ye  aforesaid  Roswell 
Saltonstall,  at  or  before  the  Seventh  day  of  September  next  ensuing,  and  the 
further  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds,  on  or  before  ye  Seventh  daj'  of  September, 
which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1740,  Together  with  law  full  Interest 
therefore  from  the  Seventh  of  September  last  past,  all  said  sums  of  money 
amounting  unto  ye  sum  of  seven  thousand  and  three  hundred  pounds,  and  are 
to  be  paid  in  Bills  of  Credit  of  ye  old  Tenor,  &  for  which  the  said  Robert  Peibles 
aud  James  Thornton  .are,  within  six  months  from  the  said  twTnty-sixth  day  of 
September  last  past,  to  procure  and  deliver  him,  S;xid  Stoddard,  Good  and  Suffi- 
cient Bonds,  Executed  by  Pei-sons  of  Sufficient  Estate,  and  such  persons  wliose 
bonds  shall  be  to  said  Stoddard's  .\cceptance  ,TS  per  a  certain  Instrument  of  That 
well  Executed  (and  Called  an  Indenture)  under  the  hands  &  seals  of  ye  said  John 
Stoddard,  Robert  Peibles,  and  James  Thornton  will  fully  and  at  large  appear, 
reference  thereto  being  had. 

"And  whereas,  the  said  Robert  Peibles  &  James  Thornton,  being  fully  deter- 
mined to  bring  forward  the  Settlement  of  said  by  Setling  fourty  familys  Thereon 
in  the  Space  of  Tliree  years  from  ye  Date  hereof,  viz't;  each  of  them  Twenty 
familys.  And  in  order  to  proceed  thereon  with  the  moore  dispatch,  as  well  as 
the  better  to  enable  them  to  Raise  the  money  for  which  they  are  <Toyntly  to  pay 
for  the  Purch:isG  as  aforesaid,  and  for  tlie  building  and  Erecting  a  House  for  the 
Publick  Worship  of  God,  aud  Setling  of  a  minister  and  Laying  out  of  Sutable 
and  Convenient  Highways,  and  fur  making  all  needfuU  Bridges,  Causways,  aud 
Roads  in  Said  Settlement.  They  do  by  these  presents,  each  one  for  himself  and 
for  bis  heire,  executors,  and  adm",  absolutely  Covenant  and  Engage  to  ye  other 
in  ye  way  and  manner  following,  That  is  to  say, — 

"Impiimis.  The  said  Itobert  Peibles,  for  himself  and  for  his  Heii-s,  Execu- 
tors, and  Adm",  Engages  to  procure  proper  Security  in  the  time,  way,  and  manor 
as  aforesaid  to  said  Stoddard's  acceptance  for  the  one-half  of  all  ye  aforesaid  sums 
of  money.  And  the  said  James  Thornton,  for  himself  aud  for  his  Heii-s,  Execu", 
and  Adm",  Engages  to  procure  proper  security  in  ye  time,  w.ay,  and  manner  aa 
aforesaid  to  said  Stoddard's  acceptance  for  the  other  half  of  all  the  aforesaid 
sums. 

"Secondly.  That  They  will  forthwith,  or  with  as  much  speed  as  conveniently 
they  can,  have  said  land  measured  and  well  bounded,  and  then  proceed  to  lay 
out  Si-xty-one  Lotts  of  one  hundred  acres  each,  so  as  best  to  accomodate  them  for 
settlements,  in  the  doing  of  wliich  they  will  lay  out  needfull  and  convenient 
Roads  &  ways,  all  which  Lotts  shall  >b-aw  an  Eciuall  proportion  in  all  after 
Divisions,  till  the  whole  of  said  Tract  shall  be  laid  out. 

"Thirdly.  That  one  of  said  Lotts  shall  Immediately  be  sequestered  and  sett 
apart  for  ye  settled  ordained  minister  in  said  Plantation  witli  all  future  drafts, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  Ratified  to  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  and  to  be 
laid  as  accomodable  as  the  same  may  be,  and  they  oblige  themselves  to  Ratifie 
and  Confirm  ye  same  to  ye  pereon  who  shall  be  first  settled  and  ordained  aa 
aforesaid  for  the  Incouragement  of  those  persons  they  shall  admit  as  Partnei-s  or 
Settlers  with  them. 

"  Fourthly.  That  as  soon  as  ye  said  minister's  Lott  shall  be  sett  of,  That  then 
the  said  Robert  Peibles  shall  have  the  Liberty  of  Choosing  Two  lots  sudi  as  he 
sees  cause  without  draft,  and  when  he  has  so  done.  Then  the  said  James  Thorn- 
ton shall  have  Liberty  to  Choose  Two  Lotts  as  he  sees  cause  without  draft.  That 
the  Remaining  Lotts  shall  be  numbered  and  drawn  for  by  said  Partys,  or  those 
they  shall  admitt  as  P.artnei-s  or  Settlers  with  them,  so  that  each  party  shall 
have,  with  those  who  shall  hold  under  them,  thirty  lotts. 

"Fifthly.  Th.at  ail  the  charges  ariseing  in  said  Plantation  by  the  Surveying 
and  Bounding  out  of  ye  whole  of  said  Tract  &  laying  out  the  Lotts  as  aforesaid, 
and  all  the  after  Divisions,  all  needfull  ways  &  Roads,  making  Biidges  and 
Causeways,  Roads  &  ways,  the  Settling  of  a  minister,  and  building  and  finishing 
a  meeting-House,  and  all  unforseen  Charges  for  perfecting  and  Ctimpleating 
what  is  afore-mentioned  shall  be  born  by  the  persons  owning  said  sixty  Lotts, 
viz't:  one  lott  to  pay  one-sixtieth  part,  and  so  proportionably  for  what  each 
party  sliall  own. 

"Sixthly.  The  said  Robert  Peibles  engages  for  himself  and  for  bis  heirs, 
Execu"  and  adm"  To  Have  with  himself  Twenty  familys  of  Good  Convei^tion 
settled  on  the  premis&s,  who  shall  be  such  as  were  Inhabitants  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Ireland,  or  their  Descendants,  being  Protestants,  and  none  to  be  admitted  but 
such  as  bring  go.)d  and  undeniable  Credentialls  or  Certificates  of  their  being 
persons  of  Good  Conve:sation  and  of  the  Presbyterian  Peisuasion  as  used  in  the 
Church  of  .Scotland  and  conform  to  ye  Discipliue  thereof,  unless  they  shall 
otherwise  agree  he:eafter;  said  familys  to  be  actually  settled  on  the  premises  in 
three  years  from  the  date  hereof,  each  to  have  a  House  of  at  least  eighteen  feet 


550 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


square  and  eeven  feet  stiidd,  well  Inclosed  and  made  Habitable  and  upon  one 
of  said  hundred-acre  Lolls,  and  have  three  acrfs,  pait  thereof,  improved  by 
plowing  and  mowing;  and  tlie  eaid  James  Thorntun  Engages  fur  himself  and 
for  his  Heirs,  Execu"  and  adrn'^  To  Have  \sith  himself  Twenty  fnniilys  settled 
on  the  premises  in  the  time,  way,  and  manner  in  all  Regards  as  are  desmbed  as 
afores'i,  nothing  Excepted  or  RceerveiJ,  and  who  shall  each  one  perfoimasto 
building  and  Improving  as  aforesaid,  viz't,  as  is  to  be  done  on  the  part  uf  the 
said  Robert  Peibles. 

"Seventhly.  That  each  parly  have  lilieity  in  his  own  name  and  Right  to  dis- 
pc>se  of  his  Share  and  Intertst  iu  the  premises  as  he  sees  cau^e,  to  luiille  him 
fully  to  comply  «ith  what  they  Respectively  have  engaged  to  du,  as  herein  is 
already  expressed. 

"  Eighthly.  That  in  the  fiiift  and  all  future  Pivisions  all  peisuns  who  shall  he 
admitted  as  Pailuers  or  Setihis  shall  have  a  vote  in  Piopoitidn  to  his  Right  in 
all  meetings  hereafter  lo  le  called,  unless  debarred  by  some  previous  contract. 

"Ninthly.  They  each  one  engage  for  themselves  and  all  those  who  shall  hold 
under  them  that  none  uf  them  shall  take  any  cattle  to  Feed  in  ye  woods  in  ye 
iKiunds  and  Limits  of  the  designed  Settlement  in  the  lands  aforesaid  but  what 
are  Boue  Fide  their  own  propeity,  unless  ye  Settleis  hereafter  shall  agree  to  the 
same. 

"And,  Finally,  That  they  will  with  Convenient  speed  pioture  Legall  meeting 
of  ye  Proprietors  of  said  lauds  as  soon  as  they  have  admitted  of  all  or  part  of 
their  settlers,  and  in  the  Propiietois'  Took  enter  the  foiegoing  ailieles  of  agree- 
ment as  ye  foundation  of  their  Lott  Count  and  future  proceeding,  herel»y  cov- 
enanting for  themselves  scvei  ally,  and  for  their  scveial  and  Respective  Heirs, 
Execu",  and  adm",  that  they  will  proceed  agreeable  to  what  is  aforesaid  writ- 
ten, on  the  Forfeiture  of  five  Thousand  pounds  by  him  who  shall  fail,  to  be  paid 
to  the  other,  besides  Threeble  Damages. 

"  In  witness  wheie(_if,  the  paitys  To  these  presents  have  heieuuto  affixed  their 
hnnds  and  seals  the  day  and  year  aforesaid. 

"It  is  agreed,  notwithstanding  what  is  above  wiittcn,Tliat  Peibles  shall  choose 
one  of  his  Two  Lotts,  then  Thornton  one,  then  Pcihles  his  Second, then  Thornton 
his  second. 

"  KoBKRT  Peibles.        [se.\l.] 
"Thomas  Tuor.nton.    [seal.] 

"  Signed,  sealed,  and  deliveretl  in  presence  of  us. 

"  Matuew  Gray,  Jun'. 
" John  CHAxnLER,  Jrs^" 
"Worcester,  October  21, 1738. 

"  WoECESTER,  ?«. ;  Robert  Peibles  &  James  Thornton,  the  Subsciibers,  Person- 
ally appealing,  and  Respectively  acknowledged  the  foregoing  Instrument,  con- 
taining seven  pages,  to  be  their  act  and  Deed,  before  me. 

"  John  Chandler,  Ji'sr,  Jud,  Pacia." 

Soon  after  tlie  making  of  this  contract,  measures  were  taken 
to  organize  a  body  of  proprietary  settlers,  and  take  possession 
of  the  lands.  These  so  far  met  with  success  that  on  the  31st 
of  the  following  January  a  deed  was  given  to  a  company  of 
persons  by  Col.  Stoddard,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copj' : 

"  To  ail  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  Greeting:  Know  yee  that  John 
.Stoddard, of  North  Hampton,  in  ye  Count>'  of  Hampshiie,in  the  Province  of  the 
M  assachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England,  for  and  in  Consideration  of  the  sum  of 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  pounds,  in  bills  of  Public  Credittof  yeoldTennor 
in  hand  already  Received  of  the  Pei-sons  heieinafter  named,  the  Receipt  whereof 
he  doth  hereby  acknowledge,  and  himself  thereby  fully  satistied  and  Contented, 
hath  given,  granted,  bargained,  and  sold,  and  by  these  presents  doth  fully,  freely, 
clearly,  and  absolutely  Give,  grant,  Bargain,  Sell,  Release,  convey,  and  confirm 
unto  them,  their  lieii-s,  and  assigns  forever,  one-half  (excepting  eight  hundred 
acres)  of  that  Tract  of  Equivalent  Land,  lying  and  being  in  ye  County  of  Hamp- 
shire, bounded  Westeily  on  Hadley,Southwardly  on  another  Tract  of  Equivalent 
land,  commonly  called  Ct>ld  Spring  Township,  Eastwardly  on  land  called  Qiiobbin, 
North  on  land  now  called  Well's  Town,  which  Tract  of  land  was  laid  out  by 
Mathew  Allin,  Roger  Woolcott,  and  Ebenezer  Pomroy,  Esq^.^  for  Twenty-nine 
Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Seventy-four  acres,  a  more  particular  Description 
of  which  land  does  appear  by  their  Return,  entered  in  ye  Secretary's  office  at 
Boston,  w^h  half  i)art  (excepting  Eight  hundred  acres,  as  aforesaid),  by  a  Division 
la  tely  made  by  the  owners  or  proprietors  of  snid  Equivalent  land,  is  laid  in  sever- 
al ty,  and  contained  in  ye  first  Iott,and  does  contain  ye  whole  of  said  Lott  (except- 
ing Thirty-eight  acres  Two  Roods  and  thiitj'-three  perch,  which  belongs  to 
Mr.  Elisha  Williams  Doct.,  of  Yale  Colledge),  which  Lott  Lyeth  on  the  north 
part  of  said  Equivalent  Land,  and  is  bounded  north  by  ye  noith  Line  of  said 
Equivalent  Land,  and  from  said  Line  Extends  soutli  one  Thousand  and  Eleven 
Rods  and  Eleven  feet,  to  monuments  Raised  at  Each  end,  and  does  extend  from 
Hadley  bounds  on  the  West  to  the  east  bounds  of  said  Equivalent  land,  a  more 
particular  description  of  which  lott  may  be  soon  in  ye  Deed  of  ]tartition,  bearing 
Date  ye  seventh  day  of  September,  173S,  which  said  half  (excejtting  as  aforesaid) 
The  said  John  Stoddard  doth  liercbysell  and  Confirm,  jis  aforesaid,  to  thefoUowing 
perstms,  and  in  ye  following  pR»i)ortion  (viz't):  To  Hubert  IVibles,  five-sixtieth 
parts;  To  Patrick  Peibles,  one-sixtieth  part;  To  Andrew  McFarland  &  Mathew 
Gray,  Jun',  Three-sixtieth  parts;  To  Robert  Lothiidge,  Two-sixtieth  parts;  To 
Robert  Barber  and  William  Jolinson,  Three-sixtieth  parts;  To  William  Gray, 
Jun.,  one-sixtieth  part ;  To  John  McConkey,  one  sixtieth  part;  To  James  Mc- 
Conkey,  one-sixtieth  part:  To  Alexander  McConkey,  one-sixtieth  part;  To 
Alexander  Turner,  one-sixtieth  part ;  To  John  Stinson,  one-sixtieth  ;  To  James 
Wood,  one-sixtieth  part;  To  Adam  Johnson,  Two-sixtieth  i>arts;  To  Ephraim 
Cowi  n,  one-sixtieth  part ;  To  George  Cowon,  one-sixtieth  part ;  To  Samuel  Gmy, 


two-sixtieth  parts;  To  John  Gray,  Jr.,  three-sixtielh  parts;  To  Thomas  Dick, 
one-sixtieth  part;  To  John  Dick,  one-sixtieth  part;  To  John  Alexander,  one- 
sixtieth  part;  To  James  Alexander,  one-sixlieth  part;  To  James  McAllach,  one- 
sixtieth  part;  To  Samuel  Thomas,  one-j^ixtjeth  ]!art;  To  James  Taylor,  two-six- 
tieth parts  (all  the  above-named  peisons  are  of  Worcester,  In  the  Connty  of 
Worcester,  except  George  Cowon,  who  is  of  Concord,  in  the  County  of  Middle- 
sex);  To  John  ForgUBon,  of  Grafton,  one-sixtieth  part:  To  James  Gilmore,  of 
Boston,  two-sixtieth  parts;  To  Adam  Patterson,  of  Leicester,  in  ye  County  of 
Worcester,  one-sixtieth  part ;  To  Thomas  Lowdon,  of  Leicester,  one-sixtieth 
part;  To  John  Chandler,  of  Worcester,  Esq.,  one-sixtieth  part;  ToJohn'John- 
Bon,  of  Shrowsbury,  one-f^ixtieth  part;  To  Adam  Clark,  of  Worcester,  oue-eix- 
ticth  part;  To  James  Thornton,  of  Worcester,  fourteen-sixtieth  parts. 

"To  have  and  to  hold  the  afoiesaid  half  part  of  sitid  Equivalent  Land  (except 
the  Eight  hundred  acres,  as  before  excepted),  and  in  that  part  Thereof  above 
descrtbed,  with  ye  appurtenances  and  priviledges  thereto  belonging  to  them,  the 
above-named  peisons,  their  heiis  and  assigns,  foiever,  acconting  to  their  seveial 
and  Respectivf  proiwrtions  as  before  expressed.  To  their  severall  and  Respective 
proper  use,  benefitt,  and  behoofe  for  evermore.  And  tlie  said  John  Stoddard  for 
himself,  his  htiis,  &c.,  dolli  covenant  and  engage  to  and  with  the-  befoi e-named 
persons,  their  Ren-pective  lieiis  and  a.'-signs,  that  before  and  untill  the  ensealing 
hereof  he  was  ye  true,  sole,  and  lawful!  owner  of  the  juemises,  and  stood  seized 
thereof  in  his  own  nglit,  in  Fee  Simple,  and  had  in  himself  good  right,  full 
power,  and  lawfull  authoiity  to  grant,  largain,  sell,  alien,  release,  convey,  and 
confirm  the  same,  as  aforesaid,  and  that  free  and  clear  and  clearly  executed, 
acquitted,  and  discharged  of  and  from  all  former  and  other  Guifts,  grants,  Bar- 
gains, sales,  leases,  mortgages,  wills,  entails,  Joyntures,  Thirds,  Executions,  and 
In  cuml'iances  whatsoever;  and  the  said  John  Stoddard  doth  heu*by  further 
covenant  and  engage  the  before-granted  premises  witli  ye  appurtenances  to 
them  the  before-named  persons  and  their  Respective  heirs  and  Ast-igns  forever, 
to  wai-rant  same  and  defend  against  the  Lawfull  (_'laims  and  demands  of  any  and 
every  person  and  persons  whatsoever. 

"In  Witness  whereof,  he  hath  hereunto  set  his  hand  seal  this  thirty-fiist 
day  of  January,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Loid  George 
of  Great  Biitain.  &h.-.,  King  Annuq.  Doui.  17:iS-:j9. 

"Jons  STODDARn.    [seal.] 

"  Signed,  sealed,  &  delivered  in  presence  of  us,  witnesses, 

"Elisha  ]Marsh. 
"Corxk'*  WALno." 
"  Worcester,  t.«.  : 

"  M'oRCESTKR,  Feb'ry  2, 17S8. 

"John  Stoddard,  Esq.,  ye  eulscriler  to  the  foregoing  Instrument,  ]iersonally 
appearing,  freely  acknowledged  The  same  to  be  his  Act  and  Deed  Before  me, 

WiLUAM  JenisON,  Justice  of  the  Peace" 
"  H.\MPsmRE,  Rs.: 

"Spejxgfield,  Feb'y  3, 1738-39. 

'•Rec'"*  and  Recorded  in  ye  Records  of  Deeds  for  the  Connty  of  Hampshire^ 
Lib"  L,  folo  220,  tfec. 

"Per  W5I.  PVXCHOX,  JfX'R,  Reij" 

The  persons  named  in  this  deed,  togethor  with  a  few  others, 
became  the  first  settlers  and  proprietors  of  the  soil.  A  petition 
for  the  issuing  of  a  warrant  to  call  a  proprietors'  meeting  was 
addressed  to  John  Stoddard,  Feb.  1,  ITo'J,  by  the  following 
persons:  Robert  Barber,  Robert  Lothridge,  John  Dick,  Par- 
trick  Peibles,  John  Chandler,  James  Thornton,  Robert  Peibles, 
William  Johnson,  John  Stinson,  and  Samuel  Gray.  It  was 
acceded  to,  and  Partrick  Peibles  was  authorized  to  convene 
the  first  meeting,  which  was  held  Feb.  26,  1731*,  at  the  house  of 
Capt.  Daniel  He^'wood,  in  Worcester. 

John  Chandler,  Jr.,  was  chosen  moderator  and  clerk  ;  An- 
drew MuFarland,  Robert  Lothridge,  and  Samuel  Gray  were 
chosen  a  committee,  with  a  surveyor,  to  take  an  exact  survey 
of  the  whole  tract  of  land,  to  lay  out  the  same  into  six  equal 
ranges,  the  range  lines  to  run  east  and  west,  and  between  each 
range  to  leave  two  perches  wide  for  a  highway,  except  between 
the  central  ranges,  where  they  were  to  leave  four  perches  wide 
for  a  highway.  In  the  centre  of  the  tract  they  were  to  lay 
out  ten  acres  for  a  meeting-house,  burying-place,  and  training- 
field.  From  these  ten  acres  was  t()  be  laid  out  a  highway  four 
perches  wide,  to  run  north  and  south  from  the  north  and  south 
bounds  of  the  whole  tract.  They  were  further  to  lay  out  61 
home-lots,  of  100  acres  each,  and  to  proportion  the  lots 
"quantity  for  quality,"  so  as  to  make  them  as  equal  as 
possible.  One  of  these  lots  was  to  be  set  apart  for  the  first 
minister,  as  near  the  meeting-house  as  possible,  and  between 
every  three  lots  there  was  to  be  a  highway  two  perches  wide. 
Such  was  to  be  the  general  arrangement  and  disposition  of 
the  land.  The  compensation  of  the  committee  was  to  be  nine 
shillings  per  day,  and  of  the  surveyor,  Wm.  Young,  fourteen 
i     shillings  per  day. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


551 


Tli«  survey  was  duly  returned  May  1,  173!),  and  the  first 
division  of  lots  was  made.  At  this  meeting  it  was  also  voted 
that  the  sum  of  £16  be  allowed  and  paid  toward  making  a 
road  to  the  meeting-house  (so  called),  and  from  thence  to  East 
Hadley,  viz.,  a  bridle-road.  It  was  also  decided  to  separate 
the  remaining  lots  into  two  divisions,  each  lot  to  contain  40 
acres,  and  to  be  61  lots  in  each  division.  The  second  and  third 
divisions  were  drawn  Nov.  5,  1739. 

The  following  table  shows  the  names  of  those  who  drew  the 
original  lots,  and  the  numbers  of  those  lots  in  each  division  : 


No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3. 

No.  1. 

No.  2 

No.  3 

Minister's  Lott 

.     1 

56 

6 

James  Lavton 

33 

61 

29 

RDlmit  I'eihles 

>2 

52 

13 

Adam  Johnson 

34 

31 

19 

Robert  Peible^ 

..     3 

11 

2< 

James  Hood 

35 

13 

27 

.Tames  Thornton... 

.     4 

IB 

1 

William  Thornton.. 

36 

66 

20 

James  Thornton... 

.     5 

40 

4 

Samuel  Thomas 

37 

25 

16 

JohnDiok 

.     (i 

17 

44 

James  Thorntoun.. 

38 

3 

14 

Partiiok  Peibles... 

..    7 

4.5 

7 

And.  Mi-Farland.... 

39 

39 

5 

..     8 
.     9 

27 
8 

34 
50 

James  Bnvckenridgt. 
Nathan  Thornton... 

40 
41 

54 
68 

24 

.lohn  Ui"av 

46 

.John  McConkey... 

..  10 

61 

35 

Ephraiin  Cowan 

42 

24 

52 

William  Gray 

..  11 

60 

48 

Sanmel  Gray 

43 

9 

26 

James  Tlioriiton.. 

..  12 

42 

33 

Robert  Bar[)er 

44 

9 

33 

James  Tliornton... 

..  13 

22 

65 

Robert  Barber 1 

Wm.  Johnson j 

45 

29 

22 

James  Ttiornton.. 

..  14 

12 

58 

Thomas  Dick 

..  l.i 

IS 

8 

Ale.\auder  Tnruer.. 

46 

39 

12 

Butiert  I>eible3 

..  16 

6 

43 

John  Gray 

47 

37 

H 

James  Gilmore.  ... 

..  17 

41 

50 

John  Ainson 

48 

21 

18 

Mathew  Gray 

..  IS 

26 

25 

James  Alexander.... 

49 

46 

61 

Jilmes  Thornton.. 

..  19 

14 

9 

John  Forgeson 

oO 

47 

21 

George  Cowan 

..  20 

10 

41 

James  Thornton.... 

61 

1 

.30 

James  Tliornton.. 

..  21 

34 

S7 

Adam  Johnson 

52 

15 

32 

Atlum  I'attei-son... 

..  22 

•£i 

51 

James  Thornton.... 

53 

5 

ti 

James  Gilmore 

..  23 

33 

36 

James  Thornton.... 

54 

57 

2 

Adam  Cljirk 

..  at 

30 

63 

Ale.x.  Mc&inkey 

55 

53 

3 

John  Chandlier.... 

.  25 

69 

39 

.fames  Taylor 

66 

20 

29 

.lohn  Ale.xander.. 

..  2(i 

49 

17 

Robert  Lothridge... 

67 

38 

46 

John  Johnson 

..  27 

43 

54 

Thoniiis  Lowden.... 

68 

2 

59 

James  McAlIah  ... 

..  2< 

32 

15 

Sarnuel  Gray 

59 

28 

23 

Robert  Lothridge. 

..  29 

7 

40 

Alex.  McFarland..  1 
Mathew  Gray | 

00 

.Tohu  CharKllei- 

..  30 

4 

31 

James  MeConkey 

..  31 

3o 

37 

Robert  Peibles 

61 

48 

60 

William  Johnson. 

..  32 

50 

10 

The  meetings  of  the  proprietors  continued  to  be  held  in 
Worcester  until  Aug.  6,  1740,  when  the  first  meeting  was  held 
on  the  new  territory,  at  the  house  of  John  Ferguson.  The 
name  of  "  Lisburne,"  or  "  New  Lisburne,"  was  conferred  upon 
the  tract,  and  by  this  name,  with  its  variations,  it  continued  to 
be  known  until  the  incorporation  of  the  town  with  its  present 
name. 

May  16,  1743,  the  settlers  purchased  the  land  owned  by 
Elisha  Williams,  referred  to  in  the  original  deed,  for  £38,  old 
tenor. 

The  fir.st  settlers  of  Pelham  are  among  those  whose  names 
have  been  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  draft  of  lots.  Some  of 
them,  such  as  the  McConkeys  (afterward  ConUeys)  and  the 
McMullens,  and  some  of  the  Grays  lived  in  the  territory  now 
comprising  the  south  part  of  Prescott.  Just  who  was  the  first 
to  locate  on  the  land  is  not  definitely  known.  It  is  probable 
that  they  removed  from  Worcester  about  the  same  time, 
erected  houses,  and  took  possession  of  the  land.  It  seems  that 
John  Ferguson  had  a  house  erected  in  1740,  and  doubtless 
most  of  the  other  settlers  were  as  well  provided  for.  Kev. 
Robert  Abercrombie,  the  first  minister  of  the  town,  located 
in  1742,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  house  which  he  occupied, 
still  standing,  near  the  store  on  Pelham  Heights,  was  erected 
soon  after  that  date. 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  those  who  drew  the  original  lots 
never  actually  settled  in  Pelham.  Among  those  who  are  posi- 
tively known  to  have  taken  up  their  land,  and  established 
themselves  thereon,  may  be  mentioned  Alexander  Conkey, 
Robert  Peibles,  John  Alexander,  John  Gray,  James  Taylor, 
Robert  Lothridge,  James  McCuUoch,  Thomas  Dick,  Adam 
Petteson,  Ephraim  and  George  Cowen,  James  Hood,  James 
Thornton,  William  Gray,  John  Ferguson,  Adam  and  John 
Johnson,  Samuel  Thomas,  Alexander  Turner,  and  others. 
Other  families  of  influence  came  in  a  little  later.  John  Hunter 
appears  to  have  been  there  in  1749,  and  John  Clark  and  John 
Stin.son  some  time  before.  The  Crossett  family,  still  repre- 
sented in  Prescott,  came  in  about  1750.  In  1752  appear  John 
Savage,  Patrick  Peibles,  and  John  Blair.  The  Hamilton 
family,  afterward  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  the  town,  ap- 


peared in  the  person  of  Thomas  Hamilton  about  the  same 
time,  and  the  house  that  one  of  them  occupied  is  still  standing 
near  Pelham  Hollow.  A  little  later  came  Uavid  Tliomas  and 
James  Harkness.  The  Berry  family  put  in  an  appearance 
about  1755,  along  with  John  Crawford,  David  Houston,  and 
David  Cowdan.  Then  appear  in  rapid  succession  the  Meck- 
lams  (some  of  whom  lived  in  Prescott),  the  McMullens,  Hal- 
berts,  Hollands,  Thompsons,  Livermores,  and  others.  The 
Kingman  family,  who  were  identified  with  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  town  for  several  generations,  came  in  at 
the  opening  of  the  present  century,  and  the  Southworths  a 
little  later.  Samuel  Arnold,  father  of  Savannah  Arnold,  and 
grandfather  of  S.  F.  Arnold,  still  living  in  the  town,  located 
in  the  first  part  of  the  present  century.  Nathaniel  Gray 
settled  in  Pelham  at  an  early  day.  His  son  John,  father  of 
Ho.-ace  Gray,  living  in  the  west  end  of  the  town,  was  born 
in  1773.  Oliver  Smith  came  from  Walpole,  and  settled 
eighty-one  years  ago  on  the  "old  Smith  place,"  now  occupied 
by  Arba  Randall,  who  married  his  daughter,  Esther  N.,  still 
living  in  the  town.  The  Fales  family,  living  in  the  west  part 
of  the  town,  is  also  one  of  the  oldest  now  living  in  the  town, 
having  settled  there  the  first  part  of  the  present  century, 
being  first  represented  by  Daniel  and  Sewell  Fales, — the  latter 
the  father  of  Abijah.  The  Newell,  Jewett,  Stratton,  Dodge, 
Ward,  Cook,  and  Brewer  families  are  also  among  the  oldest 
and  most  influential  now  living  in  the  town.  Benjamin 
Randall  was  born  in  Belchertown,  and  settled  in  Pelham 
about  fifty  years  ago.  Wyatt  Richardson,  who  married  an 
Abercrombie,  settled  in  1835,  and  is  still  living  there.  Arba 
Randall,  living  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  located  on  his 
present  farm  forty-five  years  ago. 

Alexander  Keith  came  from  Easton  and  settled  in  Enfield, 
near  the  Pettingill  bridge,  in  the  last  part  of  last  century.  He 
moved  to  Belchertown  and  there  died.  Ariel  C.  Keith,  the 
present  town  clerk  of  Pelham,  is  descended  from  Daniel,  son 
of  Alexander.  He  was  born  June  15,  1816,  in  Enfield,  after- 
ward lived  successively  in  Ludlow,  Chicopee  Palls,  Belcher- 
town, and  Palmer,  and  finally  settled  in  Pelham,  in  March, 
1856,  where  he  has  pursued  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  ac- 
quiring wealth  and  infiuence. 

TAVKRNS. 

One  of  the  first  houses  of  public  entertainment  was  kept  by 
Thomas  Dick,  about  the  year  1760.  A  man  named  Bruce  kept 
one  somewhat  later,  which  stood  about  where  Adam  Cole  now 
lives,  on  Pelham  Heights.  A  man  named  Ketch  kept  one 
there  in  1815.  Walter  Eaton  succeeded  soon  after,  then  Eli- 
phaz  Packard,  and  finally  William  Smith,  about  1820.  Smith 
died,  and  his  wife,  Rebecca  (Abercrombie)  Smith,  continued 
the  busine.ss  for  a  time.  Martin  Kingman  erected  the  building 
now  occupied  by  Ariel  C.  Keith,  early  in  this  century,  and 
kept  store  and  tavern  there  for  upward  of  twenty  years.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Calvin  Eaton  and  others. 

.STORES. 

Of  early  stores  mention  may  be  made  of  one  kept  by  a  man 
named  Armiston,  in  the  last  part  of  the  last  century,  on  the 
"heights."  Marston  Eaton  kept  a  store  in  an  old  building 
that  stood  about  where  A.  C.  Keith  now  lives,  eaj-ly  in  the 
present  century.  He  was  succeeded  by  Martin  Kingman, 
who  erected  the  present  building.  Calvin  Eaton  succeeded 
Kingman  about  1820.  Job  Miller  had  a  store  about  the  same 
time  where  M.  E.  Boynton  now  lives,  following  Chancellor 
Wheeler,  and  being  succeeded  by  William  Conkey  and  E.  S. 
Richardson.  M.  E.  Boynton  has  had  a  store  at  the  same  place 
for  a  few  years  past. 

At  Packardsville  a  man  named  Bamsdell  had  a  store  where 
the  Widow  Stevens  now  resides,  about  forty-five  years  ago. 
After  several  years  he  was  succeeded  by  James  Hanks,  who 
kept  the  store  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  was  followed  for 


552 


HISTORY    OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 


short  periods  by  a  man  named  Whitney  and  Abraham  Stevens. 
Mr.  Stevens  died,  and  no  store  has  been  there  since. 

At  the  west  end  of  the  town,  Lewis  L.  Draper  had  a  store 
which  stood  opposite  the  Methodist  meeting-house  about  fifty 
years  ago.  He  was  followed  in  turn  by  a  Mr.  Hemingway  and 
a  Mr.  Hill.  Barrows  &  Gaskell  last  traded  there,  about 
twenty  years  ago. 

PUYSK'IANS. 

The  town  of  Pelham  has  had  a  full  supply  of  physicians. 
One  of  the  earliest  was  Dr.  Nehemiah  Hinds,  who  lived  within 
the  present  territory-  of  Prescott,  and  practiced  as  early  as  178-3. 
Dr.  Abiah  Southworth  was  a  contemporary  of  Dr.  Hinds,  but 
did  not  commence  practice  until  about  1819.  Dr.  King  en- 
gaged in  practice  soon  after.  With  him  studied  Dr.  Daniel 
Thompson,  who  subsequently  engaged  in  practice.  Dr.  Olney 
Potter  lived  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  and  practiced  in  the 
first  part  of  the  present  century.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  Amherst.  Dr.  Eaton  practiced  about  thirty-five  years  ago, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Adam  G.  Craig,  who  was  succeeded 
by  Dr.  Code.  Dr.  George  W.  Rhodes,  Dr.  Beers,  and  Dr.  M. 
Heed  have  been  physicians  in  charge  of  the  Orient  Springs 
House,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  the  latter  of  whom  is  still 
there. 

ORGANIZATION. 
The  town  of  Pelham  was  incorporated  b}^  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  passed  Jan.  15,  1743,  with  the  following  bounds  : 

"  Bounding  easterly  on  a  tract  of  Land  Commonly  Called  Quabin,  Granted  to 
a  Nunilier  of  Canada  and  Narragansett  siddiurs,  southerly  on  a  lot  of  Equivalent 
Land,  so  called,  belonging  to  tbu  RevJ  Mr.  Edwards  and  Mrs.  Rebecca  Hanloy, 
Westerly  on  ye  ea?t  bounds  of  tlie  town  of  Haddley,  and  Nortberly  partly  <)n 
the  New  Township  commonly  called  Koadtown,  and  partly  on  a  New  Township 
eomnionly  called  New  Siilem." 

A])ril  5,  1743,  Robert  Peibles,  one  of  the  "principal  in- 
habitants," was  empowered  to  convene  the  people  of  the  town 
for  the  first  meeting.  This  was  held  on  the  UHh  of  the  same 
month.  John  Stoddard  acted  as  moderator  of  the  meeting,  and 
among  the  officers  chosen  were  Alexander  Conkey,  Kobcrt 
Peibles,  John  Alexander,  John  Gray,  and  Robert  Lothridge, 
Selectmen;  "William  Gray,  Clerk;  John  Stinson,  Treasurer; 
James  Taylor,  John  Conkey,  John  Johnson,  Ephraim  Cowan, 
Surveyors.  Tythingmen,  constables,  fence -viewers,  hog- 
reeves,  assessors,  and  deer-reeves  were  also  chosen. 

The  following  votes  were  passed  by  the  town  at  the  same 
meeting : 

"  Voted  that  there  be  a  committee  chosen  to  Invite  three  ordsuned  neighbor- 
ng  ministers  to  keep  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  with  us,  and  to  consult  with 
ye  same  Whome  we  shall  Call  to  be  our  Minister. 

"Voted  that  there  be  a  C'onimittee  Chosen  to  Provide  Glass,  and  to  Glass  the 
meetting,  and  to  Build  a  Pulpit,  and  to  finish  ye  under  Pining  of  ye  meeting- 
house at  ye  charge  of  ye  town,  and  said  Work  to  be  Done  Before  Winter. 

*'  Voted  that  ye  aforesaid  Committee  for  Building  a  Pulpit  is  to  Build  a  Pulpit 
for  Dignitee  Like  unto  haddley  third  Precinct  Puljnt. 

"  Vnted  yt  ye  Selectmen  are  Directed  to  Provide  Sutable  Cloath  and  have  it 
made  up  to  Covire  Coffens  with  in  Buring  of  our  Dead  at  the  Charge  of  ye  ti.)wn." 

The  various  measures  taken  by  the  town  toward  the  work 
of  organization  are  elsewhere  detailed. 

The  following  persons  have  tilled  the  jirincipal  town  offices, 
and  served  as  its  representatives  to  the  General  Court: 

SELECTMEN. 

1743. — Ale.\ander  Conkey,  Robert  Peibles,  John  Alexander,  John  Gray,  Robert 

Lothridge, 
1744. — Conkey,  Peibles,  Gray,  James  McCulloch.  Thomas  Dick. 
1746.— Alexander  Conlicy,  James  McCulloch,  Adiun  Petteson,  John  Clark,  Robt. 

Mecklem. 
1747. — George  Cowan,  Wm.  Gray  (3d),  James  Thornton,  James  McConel,  Ephraim 

Cowan. 
1748. — James  Thornton,  George  Cowan,  Kphraiin  Cowan,  James  McCcmel,  John 

Clark. 
1749. — Thomas  Dick,  John  Fergcson,  John  Johnson,  John  Hunter,  John  l)ick. 
1750. — Ephraim  Cowan,  James  McCulloch,  Janies€onkcy,  'VViniam  Crosset,  John 

Conkey. 
1751.— Ephraim  Cowan,  James  McCulloch,  John  Conkey,  James  Conkey,  WilUam 

Crossct. 
1752. — John  Savage,  Patrick  Peililes,  John  Johnson.  .Tohn  Blair,  Thos.  Johnson. 


1753. — Patrick  Peibles,  Thos.  Johnson,  John  lavage,  John  Blair,  George  Cowan. 
1754. — Thomas  Ilaniilton,  Alexander  Turner,  John  Fcrgeson,  William  Conkey, 

David  Thomas. 
1755. — Thtimas  Hamilton,   Alexander  Turnei-,  Wm.  Conkey,  John   Fergeson, 

David  Thomas. 
1756. — John   Fergeson,   David  Thomas,   Thomas  Johnson,  John   Blair,  James 

Harkness. 
1757. — Archibald  Crossct,  Wm.  Cresset,  Patiick  McMullen,  Thomas  Hamilton, 

James  McConel. 
1758. — 'William  Harkness,  Alexander  McCulUich,  John  Hunter,  John  Crawford, 

William  Cbnkey. 
1759. — William   Crosset,  James  Berry,  William  Claik,  David   Cowdan,  Kobert 

McCnilocli. 
1700. — Jiimes    Harkness,    Thomas  Johnson,  William  Ferguson,  Tliomas  Dick, 

Robert  Lothridge. 
17ril. — Thomas  Dick,  David  Houston,  David  Cowdan,  Robert  McCulloch,  John 

Dick. 
1702. — Hugh  Jolinson,  James  Cowan,  Robert  Mecklem,  George  PetteeoD,  Isaac 

Gray. 
17G3. —  Robert  Mecklem,  Hugh  Johnson,  George  Petteson,  Isaac  Gray,  James 

Cowan. 
1764. — Isaac  Gray,  William  Crosset,  Alexander  Conkey,  Thomas  Johnson,  John 

Crawford. 
17G5. — W'm.  Crosset,  Daniel  Gray,  Patiick  McMuUen,  Thomas  Cochian,  James 

Hulbeit. 
17GG. — John  Ciawford,  Thomas  Johnson,  George  Petteson,  Thtnias  Dick,  Jnmea 

Cowan. 
17G7. — James  Halbcrt,  Archibald  Crosset,  Kobert  Mecklem,  Wm.  Conkey,  James 

Harkness. 
17GS. — W'illiam  Conkey,  Robert  Hamilton,  Archibald  Crosset,  John  Dick,  David 

Cowden. 
1769. — James  Halbert,  David  Cowden,  John  Crawford,  Robert  Hamilton,  George 

Petteson. 
1770. — Robert  Hamilton,  David  Cowden,  George  Petteson,  James  Berry,  Archi- 
bald Ciosset. 
1771. — James  Berry,  Robert  Hamilton,  George  Petteson,  John  Dick,  James  Hal- 
bert. 
1772, — John  Hamilton,  John  Dick,  Hugh  Holland,  Robert  Hamilton,  W'illiam 

Crosset. 
1773. — William  Hai'kness,  Daniel  Gray,  John  Crawford,  John  Tliuniiisou,  Robert 

Hamilton. 
1774, — Thomas  Cochran,  David  Cowden,  Daniel  Gray,  Hugh  Johnston,  John 

Crawford. 
1775. — Daniel  Gray,  Hugh  Johnston,  Robert  Hamilton,  George  Petteson,  John 

Crawford. 
1776. — William  Harkness,  James  Dunlap,  Jonathan  Gray,  Hugh  Johnston,  John 

Thomjison. 
1777. — Isaac  Gray,  George  Petteson,  James  Cowan,  Matthew  Clark,  Ebenezer 

Gi-ay. 
177S. — Josiah  Packard,  Daniel  Gray,  James  Taylor,  Jonathan  Hood,  Abraliani 

Livermore. 
1779, — Hugh    Johnston,   George  Patteson,   William  Dunlap,  Jonathan    Hood, 

Daniel  Packard. 
liao. — Samuel   Hyde,  Hugh  Johnston,  Jacob  Edson,  John  Rinken,  Thomas 

Johnson. 
1781. — Joseph  Packard,  Daniel  Gray,  Nehemiah  Hinds,  David  Cowden,  Caleb 

Keith. 
17S2. — Aaron  Gray,  Joseph  Hambleton,  Jonathan  Hood,  William  Dunlap,  Thos. 

McMullen. 
1783. — Aaron  Gray,  Jonathan  Hnod,  Willijun  Dunlap,  Jngeph  Hamilton,  Thoinixs 

McMulIeei. 
1784. — Joseph  Hamilton,  Nathaniel  Sampson,  Timothy  Packard,  John  Peibles, 

James  King.* 
1816. — John  Rankin,  Jr.,  Henry  Kingman,  John  Taylor,  David  Miller,  James 

Crosset. 
1817. — John  Rankin,  Jr.,  Jesse  F.  Peck,  Luther  Chapin,  Moses  Gray  (2d),  Con- 
stant Ruggles,  Esq. 
1818. — John  Rankin,  Jr.,  Luther  Chapin,  Jesse  F.  Peck,  Moses  Gray  (2d),  Barna 

Biigham, 
1819. — Heiuy  Kingman,  Dr.  Abia  Southworth,  John  Gray,  David  Mellen,  Joseph 

I'ierce. 
1820.— Samuel  Clark,  Oliver  Smith,  David  Conkey,  Jr.,  Moses  Gray,  Bama  Brig- 
bam. 
1821. — Oliver  Smith,  Jr.,  David  Conkey,  Jr.,  Daniel  Falee,  Barna  Brigham,  Jo- 

siah  Pierce. 
1822.— Oliver  Smith,  David  Conkey,  Jr.,  Daniel  Fales. 
1823. — Henry  Kingman,  Samuel  Hall,  Luther  Chapin. 
1824-25. — Oliver  Smith,  Ezra  Brown,  Reuben  W'estcott. 
1826-27.— Oliver  Smith,  Jr.,  Ezra  Brown,  Reuben  W'estcott. 
1828. — Ezra  Brown,  Cynis  Kingman,  Pliny  Hannum. 
1829. — Cynis  Kingman,  Ziba  Cook,  Rufus  Grant. 
1830. — Bufus  Grant,  Samuel  Clark,  Jr.,  Benjamin  Randall, 
1S31.— Oliver  Smith,  Reuben  W'estcott,  David  Conkey. 
1832. — Reuben  Westcott,  Martin  Kingman,  Ezra  Brown. 
1833. — Oliver  Smith,  Martin  Kingman,  Ezra  Brown. 

*  For  some  reason,  there  seems  to  be  an  hiatus  in  the  records  from  17^4  to  1816. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


553 


1834.— Ezra  Brown,  Asiiliiil  AlJrith,  Whipple  Cook. 

1835. — Ezra  Brown,  Knfns  Grant,  Liithcr  Cliapin. 

1836. — Luther  Cliapin,  .lohn  Harkness,  James  Tlini-ston. 

1837. — Luther  Cliapin,  Gyrus  Kingman,  .Jiisepli  Barrows. 

1838,— Luther  Cliapin,  Levi  B.  Hall,  Jared  T.  Westcott. 

1839.— Jared  T.  Westcott,  Cheney  Ablxitt,  Levi  Gates. 

1840-41. — George  B.  Pitman,  Neheniiali  W.  Aldrich,  James  Thuretou. 

1842. — Cyrus  Kingman,  .\saliel  .Mdricti,  James  Thurston. 

184.3. — Cyrus  Kingman,  Asahel  Aldiit-h,  Benjamin  Rand.xll. 

1844, — Cyrus  Kingman,  A,saliel  .\ldrich,  \V,yat  Richei"son, 

1845. — Cyrus  Kingman,  Ziba  Cook,  John  T,  Thurston, 

1S46,— Cyrus  Kingman,  Levi  B,  Hall,  Joel  Packard. 

1847.— Levi  B.  Hall,  Cheney  Al.bolt,  George  B.  Pitman. 

1848.— Calvin  D.  Eaton,  Thomas  Thurston,  Austin  W.  Conkcy. 

1849.— A.  W.  Conkey,  Thomas  Thurston.  N,  W,  Aldrich, 

1880.- .\UBtiu  W.  Conkey,  Nnhomiali  W.  Ahlricli,  Horace  Grey. 

1851. — Calvin  I>.  Kat->n,  Neheniiali  W.  Ahlricli,  llavid  Ahcrerotnhie. 

1852. — Neheniiali  W,  .\ldiicli,  flionroe  Eaton,  Lemuel  H,  Newell, 

18,53.— Ansel  A.  Kankin,  Moses  L.  Ward,  Philo  D.  Winter. 

1854. — .\nsel  A.  Rankin,  P.  P.  Winter,  Emery  Ballou. 

1865.— Thomas  Thuiston,  N.  W.  .\ldrieli,  Pliilan<ler  Bartlett, 

1856, — Thomas  Thui-ston,  Philo  D,  Winter,  David  .\bercroniliie. 

1857. — Thomas  Thni-ston,  Isaac  B.  Barrows,  Marcus  Grout. 

1858.- C.  D.  Eaton,  M.  C.  Grout,  H.  Gray. 

1859. — Calvin  D.  Eaton,  James  M.  Cowan,  Lemuel  H.  Newell. 

1860. — Leinnel  H.  Newell,  James  ^l.  Cowan,  John  Janes. 

18G1.— James  M.  <.'owau,  Warren  Randall,  Asaliel  Gates. 

1862.^TJames  M.  Cowan,  Lemuel  H.  Newell,  Philander  Baitlett. 

1803-64.— John  Jones,  Dexter  Tlionip.wn,  Alfred  Taylor. 

186,5, — John  Jones,  .\lfred  Taylor,  Aretus  J,  Cadwell, 

1866,— John  Jones,  Alfred  Taylor,  Philander  Bartlett, 

1807-68,- Marcus  C,  Grant,  Albert  Finnian,  ,\nsel  A.  Rankin, 

1869, — Marcus  (.',  Grant,  Sanford  Bo.vdeii,  Ansel  ,\.  Rankin, 

1870,— M,  L,  W.ard,  Lewis  Dodge,  Samuel  R,  Davis, 

1871,— Moses  L,  Ward,  Thomas  \V,  Stratton,  .Samuel  B,  Davis, 

1872-74.— Sylvester  Jcwett,  T.  W.  Stratton,  Alonzo  C.  Randall. 

1875. — Sylvester  Jewett,  James  Hanks,  Israel  Taylor. 

1876.— Sylvester  Jewett,  James  Hanks,  Thomas  W.  Stratton. 

1877.— Sylvester  .Tewett,  T.  W.  Stratton,  A.  C.  Randall. 

1878.— Sylvester  Jewett,  T.  W.  Stratton,  John  Jones, 

TOWN  CLERKS. 
1743,  William  Gray;  1746,  John  Dick;  May  18,  1781,  Elieuezer  Gray;  1782, 
W'illiam  Conkey,  Jr.  ;*  1816,  Ifhamar  Conkey ;  1819,  Dr.  Abia  Southworth  ;  1N20, 
David  .\bcrcronibie;  1827,  Samuel  Clark,  Jr. ;  1830,  Martin  Kingman;  1831, 
Daniel  Thompson;  18.33,  Cynis  Kingman;  1836,  Lemuel  C.  Wedge;  1837,  Bufus 
Grout;  1S39,  Asa  Tomsou.;  1840,  Calvin  D.Eaton;  1845,  Lyman  Jenks;  1849, 
Francis  Kingman  ;  1850,  Lyman  Jenks;  1852,  William  Conkey;  1853,  Erastus  P. 
Boyden ;  1854,  E.  P.  Boyden ;  18.54  (April  9),  A.  G.  Craig ;  1855,  Lyman  Jenks  ; 
1858,  David  Abercrombie;  1861,  Calvin  D.  Eaton;  1867,  Lyman  Jenks;  1.S68, 
Calvin  D.  Eaton  ;  ISVl,  G,  W.  Shepard  ;  1872,  A.  C,  Keith, 

REPRESENTATIVES. 
1780,  Capt.  John  Thompson;  1783-84,  Thomas  Johnston;*  1816,  Capt.  Henry 
Kingman  ;  1819,  Isaac  Abercrombie  ;  1824,  Oliver  Smith  ;  1827,  Ezra  Brown  ; 
1828,  Cyrus  Kingman  ;  1829-32,  Ziba  Cxiok ;  1832-33,  Lewis  Draper;  1834,  Whip- 
ple Cook ;  1835-36,  Luther  Cliapin ;  1838,  Joseph  Barrows ;  1839,  David  Aber- 
crombie; 1840,  John  Palmoter;  1841,  George  B.  Pitman;  1842,  James  Thurston  ; 
1843-47,  Calvin  D.  Eaton  ;  1850,  Nehciuiali  W.  Aldrich  ;  l8ol,  David  Abercrom- 
bie ;  1853,  Thomas  Buffum  ;  1854,  Kufus  Grout ;  1805,  John  Jones ;  1869,  Sylves- 
ter Jewett;  1873,  Asahel  Gates. 

In  this  coiini'ction  it  will  prove  of  interest  to  consider  a  few 

NOTES   FROM   THE   KECOHD,^, 
as  illustrative  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  and 
their  methods  of  conducting  town  atfairs. 

On  April  10,  1754,  the  town  voted  to  petition  the  General 
Court  for  permission  to  levy  a  tax  of  a  half-penny  per  acre  on 
the  lands  of  the  non-resident  owners. 

Feb.  11,  176-5,  "  Voted  that  the  whole  body  of  the  meeting- 
house is  to  be  made  in  Plain  Puews.'' 

Feb.  26,  1766,  "Voted  that  Thomas  Dick  is  alowed  one 
shilling  and  two  pence  for  one  Quart  of  Rum." 

As  the  use  of  strong  drink  was  common  in  those  early  days, 
especially  upon  all  public  occasions,  such  as  the  raising  of  a 
meeting-house,  the  building  of  a  bridge,  and  the  "perambu- 
lating" of  the  town-lines,  this  appropriation  was  probablj'  for 
some  such  service. 

May  13,  1819,  "Voted  not  to  set  oft"  the  East  Parish  as  a 
separate  town."  This  opposition  was  of  no  avail,  as  Preseott 
was  duly  incorporated  Jan.  28,  1822. 

*  For  some  reasjn,  there  seems  to  be  an  hiatus  in  the  records  from  1784  to  1816. 


Jan.  31,  18.54,  "  Voted  to  surrender  this  town's  Charter  ac- 
cording to  the  Warrant  calling  this  Meeting ;"  73  in  favor,  36 
against.  "  Voted  to  choose  three  Committee  to  Carry  the  same 
into  efleet."  Chose  Minor  Cold,  Isaac  15.  Barrows,  and  Grove 
W.  Hannum.  "  Voted  to  choose  a  special  Committee  of  Four 
to  visit  adjoining  towns  lo  circulate  Petitions." 

This  attempt  to  divest  themselves  of  town  privileges  is  be- 
lieved to  be  without  precedent  in  the  State.  It  failed  of  suc- 
cess, and  on  March  15,  1870,  it  was  again  voted  to  surrender 
the  charter  of  the  town,  and,  dividing  the  town  into  two 
divisions,  merge  one-half  in  Belchertbwn  or  Enfield,  and  the 
other  half  in  Amherst.     This  movement  likewise  failed. 

VILLAGES. 

There  are  no  regular  villages  in  the  town.  The  two  largest 
settlements  are  on  "  Pelham  Heights"  and  at  the  "  west  end" 
of  the  town.  The  former  was  the  original  "centre"  of  the 
town,  where  was  erected  the  first  meeting-house,  and  where 
the  "  minister's  lot"  was  laid.  The  ancient  frame  of  the  first 
meeting-house  still  stands  there,  performing  duty  as  a  "  town- 
house,"  and  is  a  unique  and  formidable  structure  yet,  and 
excites  much  interest.  Here  silso  stands  its  successor.  Be- 
sides these,  there  are  a  store,  a  post-otfice  on  the  "  heights," 
and  12  or  15  dwelling-houses. 

The  post-oSice  has  been  in  existence  many  years,  the  ex- 
act date  of  its  establishment  not  being  known.  It  was  prob- 
ably near  1810.  One  of  the  first  postmasters  was  Martin 
Kingman.  He  was  followed  by  Calvin  Eaton,  and  he  by 
Enos  S.  Richardson.  M.  E.  Boynton,  the  present  postmaster, 
has  filled  the  position  for  several  years.  The  west  end  of  the 
town  is  the  most  thickly  .settled,  although  the  houses  are  some- 
what widely  scattered,  and  are  ranged  along  the  road  leading 
to  Amherst.  Here  is  the  Methodist  Church,  a  manufactory 
of  fishing-rods,  a  saw-  and  planing-mill,  and  the  Orient  Springs 
House  (a  noted  health  institution),  besides  a  large  number  of 
dwellings.  The  inhabitants  of  this  part,  being  distant  from 
the  village  of  Amherst  only  two  miles,  transact  the  most  of 
their  business  at  that  place. 

Packardsville  is  a  small  hamlet  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  town,  adjoining  the  towns  of  Enfield  and  Belchertown. 
It  sprang  up  about  fifty  years  ago  in  connection  with  the 
Baptist  Church  which  formerly  existed  at  that  point.  It  now 
comprises  a  Congregational  Church  and  a  few  dwelling-houses. 
A  store  formerly  existed  there. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  formal  vote  passed  by  the  town  in  behalf  of  edu- 
cation was  on  April  26,  1744,  when  it  was  "  voted  that  their 
be  a  Scole  Keept  in  town  For  ye  space  of  two  Months,  one 
moneth  at  ye  Dweling-house  of  Ephraim  Cowaus  ;  one  month 
at  )-e  Dweling-house  of  William  Grays."  From  that  time  on 
the  subject  received  yearly  attention  from  the  town.  May  14, 
1745,  it  was  "  voted  that  their  be  a  Schoole  Keept  in  town  this 
Present  year ;  ye  time  for  Keeping  said  Schole  is  in  ye  months 
of  august  and  Sept.,  and  ye  Place  is  at  ye  meetting-house  of 
said  Pelham."  April  15,  1746,  it  was  also  "voted  yt  there  be 
a  Schol  Keept  in  ye  town  ye  six  months  Insuing,  or  as  soon 
as  Convency  Will  alow.  Voted  that  ye  Schole  be  Keept  two 
months  at  ye  meeting-house,  two  months  at  Ephraim  Cowans 
and  two  months  at  Alexander  Conkeys."  Thirty-six  pounds 
were  appropriated  at  the  meeting  to  "  Pay  a  Schole  master 
for  keeping  Schole."  On  March  19,  1747,  it  was  voted  to  have 
school  for  six  months  of  that  year,  commencing  with  June 
1st,  "  to  go  no  Further  East  than  ye  Nole  Betwixt  James 
Taylors  and  Alexander  Conkeys,  and  two  months  att  ye 
meeting-house,  and  to  go  No  further  West  than  ye  Bridge  at 
Ephraim  Cowans." 

On  April  16,  1754,  the  town  was  divided  into  three  parts  for 
.schooling  purposes,  and  the  sum  of  £8  was  appropriated  for  a 
school.     The  following  year  £6  was  appropriated  for  schools, 


70 


554 


HISTORY   OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


and  they  were  kept  at  the  meeting-house,  at  the  "  east  hill" 
and  the  "west  end."  The  same  year  it  was  also  "voted 
that  there  Be  aScole  House  Built  at  the  meetting-house,  at  the 
West  End  and  at  the  East  Hill."  On  March  24,  175fi,  £40 
was  appropriated  for  schools,  and  the  town  was  divided  into 
five  parts  for  schooling  purposes.  In  the  year  1700  a  com- 
mittee to  select  a  location  for  the  erection  of  new  school- 
houses  was  chosen,  and  in  the  following  year  £40  was  granted 
for  erecting  the  same.  In  the  year  1810,  .^oOO  was  appropri- 
ated for  schools  ;  in  1818,  §500.  The  town  was  redistricted  in 
1823, 1846,  and  18'jl,  there  being  at  the  latter  date  eight  school 
districts.     In  1870  the  appropriation  was  §1000. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  four  public  schools  in  the 
town,  having  in  attendance  about  100  pupils.  They  are  under 
control  of  a  board,  one  member  of  which  is  elected  each  year 

for  three  years. 

CHURCHES. 

PRESBYTERIAN — CONGREOATIONAL. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  paragraph  on  the  settlement  of  the 
town,  the  first  settlers  were  of  Irish  descent,  and  in  religious 
matters,  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  according  to  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 

No  sooner  were  the  people  located  on  the  lands  than  measures 
were  immediately  taken  to  provide  public  worship  according 
to  that  faith.  At  a  proprietors'  meeting  held  Aug.  G,  1740,  it 
was  voted  to  build  a  meeting-house,  to  raise  £100  toward 
building  it,  and  choose  a  committee  to  agree  with  a  workman 
to  raise  the  house,  and  provide  for  the  settling  of  a  minister. 
The  meeting-house  was  to  be  46  feet  in  length,  36  feet  wide, 
and  25  feet  high  between  the  joints.  The  committee  appointed 
in  accordance  with  the  vote  were  James  McCullough,  James 
Thornton,  and  Samuel  Gray.  Subsequent  to  the  first  vote 
£220  were  raised  in  two  instalments,  for  the  erection  and  com- 
pletion of  the  structure.  As  in  most  of  the  new  towns,  it 
was  several  years  before  the  edifice  was  linished.  In  1818 
it  was  removed  a  few  feet  from  its  original  location,  and  thor- 
oughly repaired.  It  was  again  repaired  in  later  years,  and 
removed  a  few  feet  farther  back.  It  is  now  used  as  a  town- 
house,  and  bears  evidence  to  its  antiquity  in  its  unique  archi- 
tecture and  ancient  form.  The  records  of  the  church  are  ex- 
tremely meagre. 

In  the  year  1740  the  sum  of  £30  was  appropriated  for 
preaching.  A  Kev.  Mr.  Johnston,  of  Londonderry,  was  first 
called  to  settle  as  pastor,  but  the  call  was  not  accepted.  On 
March  5,  1744,  a  call  was  extended  to  Robert  Abererombie  to 
become  the  pastor.  He  was  certified  to  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Jona- 
than Edwards,  David  White,  David  McGregore,  and  David 
Persons,  Jr.,  and  had  acted  as  supply  to  the  church  since  the 
summer  of  1742.  The  call  was  accepted  by  Abererombie,  he 
to  receive  the  minister's  lot  and  an  annual  salary  of  £50,  new 
tenor,  for  eight  years,  and  he  was  ordained  on  the  30th  of 
August  following.  On  the  following  day  a  protest  against 
the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  that  called  him  was  entered  by 
James  Gilmore,  William  Ferguson,  Samuel  Ferguson,  Adam 
Petteson,  John  Gilmore,  Thomas  Dick,  James  Thornton, 
James  McCuUoch,  Alexander  McCulloch,  Hugh  Graj-,  Robert 
King,  William  Thornton,  John  Sterling,  James  Gilmore, 
Robert  Ferguson,  John  Ferguson,  Robert  McCulloch,  James 
Ferguson,  James  Dunlap,  Thomas  Petteson,  George  Petteson, 
and  John  Dick. 

Rev.  Mr.  Abererombie  was  a  native  of  Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land, and  was  there  educated.  He  was  a  profound  scholar, 
and  possessed  a  library  surpassed  by  few  in  its  time,  which  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  descendants.  The  exact 
date  of  his  dismissal  is  not  recorded,  but  it  was  probably  in 
the  year  1754.  In  the  year  1755,  Rev.  Messrs.  Dickeson, 
Clintock,  and  John  Houston  preached.  Rev.  Richard  Crouch 
Graham  was  installed  as  the  second  pastor  of  the  church,  July 
8,  1703,  on  a  settlement  of  £100.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
ability,  and  died  in  the  pastoral  relation,  Feb.  25,  1771,  in  his 


thirty-second  year.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the  old 
burying-ground  adjoining  the  meeting-house.  After  the 
death  of  Mr.  Graham,  the  pulpit  was  filled  by  different  per- 
sons, including  Rev.  Mr.  Mordak  and  Rev.  Andrew  Bay. 

On  Nov.  23,  1774,  a  call  was  voted  to  Rev.  Nathaniel  Mer- 
rill, on  £70  settlement  and  £80  salary,  and,  it  being  accepted, 
he  was  installed  soon  after.  He  remained  in  that  relation 
until  about  1783,  when,  certain  difficulties  arising  in  the 
church,  he  withdrew  from  the  town.  In  the  interval  succeed- 
ing his  departure,  -the  notorious  Stephen  Burroughs  appeared, 
under  the  name  of  Davis,  and  supplied  the  pulpit  for  nineteen 
Sabbaths.* 

The  next  regular  pastor  of  the  church  was  Rev.  Andrew 
Oliver,  who  was  called  Dec.  10,  1792,  and  installed  soon  after. 
Rev.  Solomon  Spalding  had  been  previously  called.  Mr. 
Oliver  sustained  the  pastoral  relation  until  the  year  1804, 
when  he  ceased  to  officiate, — for  what  reason  the  meagre  rec- 
ords of  the  town  and  church  fail  to  indicate. 

The  next  pastor,  Rev.  Elijah  Brainard,  was  installed  in  the 
spring  of  1805,  and  was  dismissed  Oct.  17,  1811.  On  Jan.  2, 
1815,  Rev.  Winthrop  Bailey  was  called  as  the  next  pastor, 
and  installed  soon  after.  He  was  dismissed  by  council  in  the 
fall  of  1825. 

The  church  now  seems  to  have  undergone  a  decline,  interest 
in  religious  matters  ceased,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel 
were  almost  entirely  suspended. 

A  reawakening  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  until  the 
year  1837.  On  October  2.5th  of  that  year  a  council  was  con- 
vened by  letters  missive,  at  the  house  of  Nathaniel  Pratt,  in 
Pelham,  and  measures  were  taken  for  the  reorganization  of 
the  society.  ITnfortunately,  the  records  of  the  revived  church 
are  in  worse  condition  than  those  of  the  first.  It  is  difficult 
to  trace  the  history  of  the  church  at  this  point. 

The  first  minister  of  the  new  church  seems  to  have  been 
Rev.  Frederick  Janes,  but  when  he  was  installed,  and  when 
dismissed,  is  uncertain.  His  apparent  successor,  Kev.  A. 
C.  Page,  was  installed  in  January,  1848,  but  when  he  ceased 
his  labors  is  not  stated.  The  church  had  no  settled  pastor 
in  the  year  1855. 

In  the  year  1801,  Kev.  W.  H.  Dowdcn  was  pastor,  but 
when  he  became  so,  or  when  he  was  dismissed,  we  are  not 
informed. 

In  the  year  1860,  Kev.  Matthew  Kingman,  of  Amherst, 
was  stated  supply.  He  was  succeeded  for  a  time  by  Kev. 
William  K.  Yaill ;  and  in  September,  1874,  Mr.  Vaill,  pastor 
of  the  Union  Congregational  Society  of  Packardsville,  became 
the  acting  pastor  of  the  church,  and  still  sustains  that  relation. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  this  church  has  passed  through 
various  transmutations,  beginning  as  a  Presbyterian  Church 
and  becoming — for  what  purposes,  at  what  time,  or  by  what 
metuis  we  are  not  informed — a  Congregational  Church.  It 
is  probable  that  the  Rev.  Elijah  Brainard  was  the  last  Pres- 
byterian pastor,  and  that  Rev.  Winthrop  Bailey  opened  the 
era  of  Congregationalism ;  but  this  is  mere  conjecture.  A 
second  meeting-house  was  erected  about  the  year  1838,  and, 
standing  near  its  ancient  predecessor  at  the  "old  centre,"  is 
still  in  use.  The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  29,  and 
a  Sabbath-school  is  connected  therewith.  A  Sabbath-school 
library  is  also  owned  by  the  society. 

BAPTIST. 

In  the  year  1831  a  petition  was  addressed  to  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Belchertown,  by  a  number  of  persons  residing 
in  the  north  part  of  that  town,  and  in  the  adjoining  towns  of 
Enfield  and  Pelham,  asking  leave  to  organize  a  distinct  society 
at  Packardsville.  Previous  to  that  time  meetings  had  been 
held  for  a  great  many  years  in  private  residences  in  Belcher- 
town, under  the  oversight  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 


*  See  Notes  and  Incidents. 


HISTORY  OF  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


555 


The  iippliofttion  was  frtvorably  received,  tlie  society  was 
fonnod,  and  a  cluiivh  edifice  was  soon  after  erected  at  Puckards- 
ville.  The  movement  tlourished  more  or  less  for  a  period  of 
Pome  thirty  years,  under  the  pastorate  of  Kev.  Messrs.  Bige- 
low,  Burt,  Vaughan,  Smelledge,  Snell,  Emerson  Hill,  and 
others,  but  finally  experienced  a  decline. 

THE   FIRST   UNION    CONOREGATIONAL   CHURCH 

was  organized  at  Packardsville,  July  24,  18')n,  being  com- 
posed of  those  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Baptist  Society 
and  other  evangelical  Christians  in  that  locality.  The  new 
society  occupied  the  Baptist  meeting-house,  and  were  minis- 
tered to  frequently  by  students  from  Amherst  College.  The 
meeting-house  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  spring  of  18(j9. 
In  the  mean  time  the 

UNION    UONaREOATIONAL    SOCIETY, 

of  Packardsville,  was  organized,  Dec.  4,  1808,  by  the  following 
persons:  Albert  Firmin,  Oren  Sikes,  Philander  S.  Knight, 
Ziza  A.  Hanks,  Lorenzo  W.  Miller,  Asahel  B.  Shaw,  David 
Kandall,  Ansel  C.  Shaw,  George  S.  Calkins,  Horton  B.  Ward, 
Ebenezer  Ward,  George  W.  Knight,  and  A.  A.  Howard. 
The  church  formed  by  this  societ}'  was  duly  recognized  Jan. 
6,  18(39.  The  meeting-house  used  by  the  society,  and  now 
standing  at  Packardsville,  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1869, 
at  a  cost  of  about  §0500,  upon  the  original  site  of  the  Baptist 
meeting-house,  and  was  dedicated  June  28,  1871.  The  church- 
bell  was  presented  by  one  of  the  classes  of  Amherst  College. 
On  the  same  day  the  first  regular,  and  the  present,  pastor  of 
the  church,  Rev.  Wm.  K.  Vaill,  was  installed.  Mr.  Vaill  is 
a  son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Vaill,  D.D.,  for  many  years  pastor  of 
the  churches  at  Brimfield  and  Palmer,  in  Hampden  County. 
He  was  born  at  Brimfield,  was  subsequently  in  attendance  at 
Amherst  College,  and  when  called  to  his  present  pastorate 
was  sustaining  the  relation  of  pastor  to  the  church  at  Shutes- 
bury,  in  Pranklin  County.  Under  his  care  the  new  society 
has  prospered,  and  now  comprehends  a  membership  of  30 
persons.  A  flourishing  Sabbath-school  is  coimected  with  the 
church,  of  which  Darius  Chickering  is  superintendent. 

METHODIST    Eri.SCOPAL. 

The  beginning  of  permanent  Methodist  worship  in  Pel- 
ham  was  in  the  spring  of  1831,  when  Rev.  Isaac  Stoddard 
was  invited  to  preach.  Previous  to  that,  meetings  of  a 
general  character  had  been  held  in  the  town.  Mr.  Stoddard 
was  formally  settled  as  pastor  by  the  Conference  of  1831. 

In  1832  the  society  had  grown  to  a  membership  of  125.  In 
1834,  Pelham  and  Greenwich  were  connected  together  under 
the  same  pastoral  charge.  In  1836  the  society  occupied  the 
old  meeting-house  on  Pelham  Heights,  near  the  town-house. 
Between  1838  and  1843  the  present  Methodist  meeting-house 
in  the  west  end  of  the  town  was  erected.  The  deed  of  the  land 
was  given  to  "the  Proprietors  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Pelham,"  by  Augustus  Webster.  The  deed  for  the 
original  parsonage  at  the  west  end  was  made  by  Emory  Bal- 
lou,  Jul^-  5,  1847,  "  for  the  benefit  of  such  men  as  shall  be  em- 
ployed by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  preach  in  the 
west  part  of  Pelham,"  to  the  following  trustees  :  Rufus  Grout, 
David  Newell,  Lemuel  C.  Wedge,  Horace  Gray,  Zadoc  Pres- 
ton, Ansel  A.  Rankin,  and  John  Sisson.  This  parsonage  was 
used  by  the  various  ministers  who  have  been  in  charge,  until 
Aug.  11,  1875,  when  it  was  sold,  and  a  new  one  erected,  at  a 
cost  of  §1050,  on  land  given  for  that  purpose  by  Russell 
Whipple. 

The  following  ministers  have  served  as  pastors  of  the  so- 
ciety: Isaac  Stoddard,  1831-32;  John  W.  Case,  1833  ;  Erastus 
Otis,  Wm.  Gordon,  1834;  Onesiphorus  Robbins,  1835-36; 
James  Dean,  1837;  Joseph  W.  Lewis,  1839;  John  Cadwell, 
1840;  Wm.  P.  White,  1841-42;  Windsor  Ward,  1845-46;  J. 
B.  Bigelow,  1847  ;  Judah  Crosby,  1850-51 ;  B.  W.  Wright, 


1852-53  ;  Franklin  Fisk,  1854;  John  Jones,  located  1855-57; 
John  W.  Lee,  1858-59;  J.  L.  Esty,  1860;  L.  A.  Bard  well, 
1861;  Gilbert  R.  Bent,  1862;  John  H.  Gaylord,  1863;  John 
Cadwell,  1864-65;  O.  W.  Adams,  1866-67;  John  Noon,  1868- 
69;  George  Hews,  1870-71  ;  N.  II.  Martin,  1872-73;  W.  H. 
Adams,  1874;  Nathan  A.  Soule,  1875;  Joiuithan  Neal,  1876- 
77  ;  Geo.  E.  Chapman,  1878-79. 

The  society  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  having  a  pleasant 
Sabbath-school  in  successful  operation,  with  a  membership  of 
60  and  a  library  containing  300  volumes.  The  superintendent 
is  S.  F.  Arnold. 

Rev.  George  E.  Chapman,  the  present  pastor,  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  oluu-ch  in  1878,  and  is  now  in  his  .second 
year. 

The  stewards  for  the  present  year  are  L.  H.  Newell,  B.  Al- 
len, Amasa  Allen,  J.  R.  Powell,  Hugh  Anderson,  J.  G.  Ward, 
Russell  Whipple,  D.  Presho,  Hollis  Dodge,  H.  B.  Brewer, 
Timothy  Sabin. 

A  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS 
formerly  existed  in  the  town  at  the  west  end,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  the  Kelly,  Cook,  Buft'um,  and  other  families.  It 
was  never  strong,  and  has  not  been  in  active  existence  for 
more  than  fort}'  years.  The  meeting-house  used  by  the  society 
is  now  the  barn  of  J.  Willis. 

THE    UNITARIANS 

also  flourished  for  a  time,  worshiping  in  the  present  town- 
house,  and  the  movement  manifested  considerable  strength, 
but  no  regular  society  is  now  in  existence. 

THE   BURIAL-PLACES 
of  Pelham  are  quite  numerous,  most  of  them,  however,  being  . 
small  and  devoted  to  private  uses. 

The  first  ground  laid  out  in  the  town  for  that  purpose  was 
what  is  known  as  the  "  Centre  Burjing-Ground,"  situated  at 
the  present  town-house. 

In  1739  ten  acres  of  land  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  town 
were  set  apart  for  a  meeting-house,  burying-ground,  and  train- 
ing-field, and  during  that  year  this  yard  was  laid  out  and 
used  for  burial  purposes  for  many  years. 

It  has  not  been  in  use  for  a  period  of  sixty  years.  Many 
of  its  oldest  graves  have  sunken  and  disappeared  from  sight, 
leaving  but  a  crumbled  stone,  on  which  the  inscription  is 
illegible,  to  mark  the  spot  where  they  existed.  Some  of  the 
oldest  settlers  of  the  town  repose  beneath  its  sod.  The  most 
ancient  stones  now  standing  are  those  of  David  Houston,  who 
died  Oct.  29,  1765,  in  his  forty-fifth  year,  and  his  wife,  Mary, 
who  died  March  18,  1760  ;  Rev.  Richard  Crouch  Graham,  who 
died  Feb.  25,  1771,  in  his  thirty-second  year;  and  John  Pei- 
bles,  who  died  Jan.  1,  1780,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year. 

The  next  oldest  burying-ground  laid  out  within  the  present 
limits  of  the  town  was  what  is  now  known  as  the  "  West  Bury- 
ing-Ground,"  situated  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  near  the 
"  Valley  School-house."  The  exact  date  of  the  appropriation 
of  that  spot  to  burial  purposes  is  not  indicated  on  the  town 
records.  In  the  year  1819  the  fencing  around  the  "  East, 
West,  and  Centre  Burying-Grounds"  was  sold  at  auction,  and 
165  granted  to  repair  the  yards,  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
west  yard  was  laid  out  as  early  as  1760.  The  yard  contains 
the  graves  of  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  town,  and 
many  old  tombstones,  the  inscriptions  upon  which  cannot  be 
deciphered. 

The  "Valley  Cemetery,"  situated  on  the  "Valley  road,"  in 
the  west  end  of  the  town,  near  the  Gates  place,  was  laid  out 
about  the  year  1848.  It  is  still  in  use,  and  is  an  attractive  and 
beautiful  spot. 

The  cemetery  at  the  west  end,  near  the  Orient  Springs,  was 
laid  out  about  1830,  William  Harkness  being  the  first  person 
interred  there.     It  is  small,  and  contains  but  few  graves. 

The  "  Quaker  Cemetery"  was  laid  out  in  the  first  part  of 


556 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


the  present  century,  at  the  west  end,  near  J.  K.  Sibley's.  No 
stones  ^¥ere  ever  erected  there,  and  it  is  seldom  used. 

The  cemetery  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  near  the  fiirm 
of  Arba  Randall,  was  laid  out  about  1843,  and  is  owned  by 
James  Smith,  Daniel  Holbroolc,  and  Arba  Kandall.  It  con- 
tains but  few  graves. 

There  is  another  small  private  burying-ground  near  the  resi- 
dence of  Philander  Knight,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town. 

At  Packardsville  there  are  two  burying-grounds,  the  larger 
one  being  just  over  the  line,  and  within  the  town  of  Enfield. 
The  smaller  one  adjoins  the  Congregational  Church  at  that 
place,  and  was  probably  established  and  first  used  by  the  Bap- 
tists about  fifty  years  ago. 

NOTES    AND    INCIDENTS. 
From  the  records  of  the  town  we  learn  that  the  earliest 
marriages  which  took  place  in  Pelham  were  as  follows  : 

"  August  ye  2i"',  174G. — Then  joyned  in  marriage  Robert  McKee  &  Mary  Gray, 
Iwtli  of  Pelham." 

"Sept.  ye  2o,  17-lG. — Tlien  joyneii  in  marriage  .Tolm  Dick  &  Jean  McCuUocli, 
Ijotli  of  Pelliam. 

"Nov.  ye  10,  1~4G.— Then  .joyned  in  marriage  Ephraim  Wliiler  &  Hannali 
JIarkB,  botli  of  Quaben,  so  Called." 

The  name  of  "  Pelham"  was  conferred  upon  the  town  in 
honor  of  Lord  Pelham,  of  England,  who  passed  through  the 
State  about  the  time  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  In 
recognition  of  the  compliment,  Lord  Pelham  presented  the 
church  with  a  bell,  which  was  made  in  England  and  shipped 
to  Boston  for  the  town.  The  charges  for  freight  and  storage 
being  so  heavy,  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  bell  to  Pelham 
being  great,  the  bell  was  sold  to  the  Old  South  Church,  in  Bo.s- 
ton,  and  never  reached  Pelham. 

That  the  custom  of  using  intoxicating  beverages  was  uni- 
versal in  early  times  cannot  be  denied,  and  many  are  the 
stories  that  are  narrated  in  regard  to  that  indulgence.  Minis- 
try and  laity  alike  practiced  and  encouraged  their  use.  One  of 
these  stories  is  laid  in  Pelham,  and,  whether  true  or  not,  seems 
to  illustrate  the  prevailing  tendencies  of  the  times.  The 
records  of  the  town  indicate  that  difficulties  arose  between  the 
town  and  their  first  minister,  Kev.  Kobert  Abercrombie,  and 
that  he  was  dismissed  and  compelled  to  sue  the  town  for  a  por- 
tion of  his  salary.  The  foundation  of  all  this  trouble  is  con- 
fidently asserted  to  have  been  the  too  frequent  use  of  the  cup 
by  the  minister,  and  the  story  is  told  that  upon  one  occasion 
a  committee,  of  which  Deacon  McMuUen  was  one,  was  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  the  pastor  upon  his  shortcomings.  The 
committee  repaired  to  the  house  of  the  reverend  gentleman, 
and  were  received  with  great  hospitality,  some  excellent  West 
India  rum  being  immediately  set  before  them.  The  result 
was  the  committee  lingered  through  the  night  without  dis- 
closing the  purport  of  the  visit,  and  concluded  the  next  morn- 
ing to  make  a  report  to  the  church  that  Mr.  Abercrombie  find 
given  them  Chrintian  satisfaction.  They  are  said  to  have  made 
such  a  report,  and  the  matter  was  thus  amicably  adjusted. 

Pelham  was  the  scene  of  the  pastoral  labors  of  the  far-famed 
Stephen  Burroughs.  He  made  his  advent  in  the  town  about 
the  year  1784,  after  the  withdrawal  of  Rev.  Mr.  Merrill,  hav- 
ing previously  preached  one  Sabbath  in  the  town  of  Ludlow, 
Hampden  Co.  Burroughs  was  the  son  of  Kev.  Eden  Bur- 
roughs, of  Hanover,  N.  H.,  and  came  armed  with  a  few  old 
sermons  of  his  father's,  and  bringing  a  letter  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Baldwin,  of  Palmer,  to  Deacon  Gray,  of  Pelham.  Bur- 
roughs arrived  in  Pelham  under  the  assumed  name  of  Davis, 
and  was  favorably  received  by  the  people.  He  was  first  en- 
gaged to  preach  four  Sabbaths,  and  after  them  sixteen  more. 
During  this  time  he  was  stispected  of  preaching  sermons  not 
bis  own.  To  test  the  matter,  the  people  determined  to  select  a 
text  from  which  he  was  to  preach,  giving  him  notice  of  the 
request  just  before  the  time  that  church  was  to  assemble.  The 
text  selected  was  the  first  clause  of  the  fifth  verse  of  the  ninth 
chapter  of  Joshua,   the  words  being,  "And  old  shoos  and 


clouted  upon  their  feet."  Burroughs  acquiesced  in  the  re- 
quest, and  succeeded  in  delivering  such  an  excellent  di.scourse 
from  so  poor  a  text  that  he  silenced  all  carpings  upon  that 
point.  Things  went  along  swimmingly  until  the  time  for 
which  he  was  hired  had  nearly  expired,  but  one  Sabbath  re- 
maining. But  his  career  in  Pelham  was  now  ended.  The 
news  of  his  character  and  duplicity  reached  the  town,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  flee  in  the  night.  He  was  discovered  in  his  flight 
through  Greenwich  by  a  young  man  named  Powers,  of  that 
town,  and  was  followed  by  the  enraged  inhabitants  of  Pelham, 
and  overtaken  in  the  town  of  Rutland.  Here,  after  laying  Dr. 
Nehemiah  Hinds  senseless  with  a  stone,  he  took  refuge  in  a 
hay-mow,  from  whence,  after  a  long  parley  with  the  people, 
they  all  adjourned  to  a  tavern  kept  by  one  Wood,  and  enjoyed 
"Christian  satisfaction"  at  Burroughs'  expense.  Trouble 
again  arising,  the  latter  fled  to  a  swamp,  pursued  by  the 
people,  but  was  not  again  overtaken. 

THE    INDUSTRIAL   PURSUITS  OF   PELHAM, 

aside  from  agriculture,  have  never  assumed  any  great  import- 
ance. The  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  cutting  and  selling 
of  lumber  have  occupied  the  principal  attention  of  the  town. 

Some  manufacturing,  however,  has  been  done  in  the  west 
end  of  the  town,  along  the  Fort  River,  and  on  the  Swift  River, 
at  the  eastern  border. 

At  the  west  end  saw-  and  grist-mills  existed  at  an  early  day. 
Nathan  Jillson,  father  of  Araasa  and  Riley,  moved  into  Pel- 
ham in  the  year  1806,  and  purchased  both  the  water-privileges 
at  the  west  end.  At  that  time  a  saw-  and  grist-mill  was  in 
operation  at  that  point.  For  a  time  also  John  Parmenter  had 
a  fulling-mill  at  the  lower  site,  and  George  Macomber  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  clothing. 

The  Jillsons  utilized  these  privileges  for  some  time.  A 
grist-mill  was  erected  at  one  privilege  about  the  year  1826, 
and  it  was  used  for  that  purpose  until  1845,  when  it  was  pur- 
chased by  Robert  Cutler.  Part  of  it  was  then  converted  into 
a  saw-mill.  Butfum  &  AVard  succeeded  Cutler.  In  1803  the 
site  was  bought  by  Horace  Gray,  who,  in  company  with  his 
son,  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  jointed  fish-poles,  made  of 
ash  and  maple  wood,  until  the  year  1874,  when  the  business 
was  sold  to  J.  Ward  &  Co.,  who  are  still  engaged  in  that 
manufacture. 

The  other  site  was  used  as  a  saw-mill  for  many  years,  and 
in  the  year  1828  the  mill  was  used  in  turning  bobbins.  In  that 
year  a  heavy  flood  swept  down  the  river,  carrying  the  improve- 
ments at  both  places  with  it.  Horace  Gray  purchased  this  privi- 
lege also  in  the  year  183.5,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
bedsteads  and  other  general  wood  manufacture.  In  the  year 
18110  it  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  fishing-poles.  Andrew 
Mitchell  afterward  ran  it  as  a  saw-mill.  In  the  year  1807  it 
came  into  the  hands  of  Darius  Eaton,  who  now  runs  it  as  a 
saw-  and  planing-mill. 

The  east  privilege  was  also  in  use  at  an  early  day,  being 
first  utilized  for  the  use  of  a  saw-mill.  About  the  year 
1850,  Dwight  and  Henry  Hill  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  spools.  That  business  was  carried  on  until  the  burning  of 
the  mill,  a  few  years  ago. 

Among  the  early  blacksmiths  of  the  town,  mention  may  bo 
made  of  Thomas  Harlow,  who  had  a  shop  near  the  Methodist 
meeting-house,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  ;  David  Hannum, 
who  had  one  near  the  residence  of  Horace  Gray,  also  in  the 
west  end ;  and  Nathaniel  Dodge,  who  had  one  the  last  part  of 
last  century,  near  the  residence  of  his  son,  Ellison  Dodge,  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  El- 
lison Dodge,  who,  though  at  an  advanced  age,  still  prosecutes 
the  business  to  some  extent. 

The  quarrying  of  "  Pelham  granite"  has  also  been  engaged 
in  by  the  inhabitants.  The  first  stone  taken  out  was  by  John 
Gra}',  over  fifty  3-ears  ago,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town.  Levi 
B.  Hall  next  engaged  in  business  there,  who  finally  sold  out 


HISTORY  OP  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


557 


to  J.  G.  "Wai-d,  who  still  owns  and  conducts  the  business.  The 
stone  is  of  a  peculiar  grayish  tint,  and  has  been  much  used  in 
the  surrounding  towns.  The  Amherst  College  chape!  is  built 
of  it.  Stone  has  also  been  quarried  in  the  east  part  of  the 
town. 

Considerable  quantities  of  a.sbestos  have  also  been  mined  in 
the  southwest  part  of  the  town.  This  work  was  lirst  un- 
dertaken by  Lemuel  H.  Newell  about  eight  years  ago,  the 
deposit  being  on  his  farm.  Mr.  Newell  subsequently  disposed 
of  the  business  to  a  Hartford  man.  About  1871,  Rev.  John 
Jones  engaged  in  the  enterprise,  and  took  out  considerable 
material.  Two  years  later  it  was  opened  by  James  H.  Murray 
on  a  royalty.  It  is  now  owned  by  A.  F.  &  J.  Jones,  and  is 
not  much  worked  at  present.  The  quality  of  the  asbestos  is  ■ 
said  to  be  good,  and  it  meets  a  ready  sale  in  the  Boston  and 
New  York  markets. 

At  Packardsville,  Joel  Packard  and  John  Thurston  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  wagons  and  carriages  about  1830.  The 
business  was  afterward  removed  to  Belchertown. 

The  business  of  braiding  palm-leaf  hats  has  constituted  an 
extensive  branch  of  industrj-  for  over  fifty  years,  especially  on 
the  part  of  the  females  of  the  town.  Other  small  industrial 
and  manufacturing  enterprises  have  existed  elsewhere  in  the 
town. 

MILITARY. 

The  town  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  various  wars  that 
have  agitated  the  country  since  its  incorporation.  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  numbers  of  its  citizens  took  part 
in  the  earlier  Indian  wars,  though  the  only  name  mentioned 
in  the  records  of  the  town  in  that  connection  is  that  of  James 
Ferguson  in  1747,  who  was  released  from  taxation  because  he 
was  "  in  the  war." 

THE    REVOLUTIONARY    RECORD 

of  the  town  is  eminently  characteristic.  On  Nov.  9,  1773,  in 
response  to  the  circular  letter  that  had  been  issued  by  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  at  Boston,  the  town  voted  a  long 
and  philosophical  reply,  breathing  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  and 
nearly  covering  three  closely-written  pages  of  the  records. 
Something  of  its  spirit  may  be  judged  from  the  following 
extract : 

"And  if  tilings  should  ere  long  Proceed  to  an  Unhappy  Rnitture  Betwixt  the 
mother  Country  and  tliese  Plantations,  AVhieh  Heaven  forbid,  we  are  not  at 
present  much  intimidated  with  that  pompous  boasting  on  the  other  side  of  the 
waters,  viz.,  that  Great  Britain  could  blow  America  into  atoms,  as  we  consider 
the  sighs  of  the  oppressed  and  Good  Wishes  of  milions  in  the  mother  Country 
to  the  Liberty  and  Weal  Btitli  of  themselves  and  their  own  flesh,  their  Beloved 
Americans." 

Committee,  Robert  Hamilton,  John  Hamilton,  Thomas 
Cochran,  David  Cowden,  and  George  Petteson. 

Throughout  the  war  the  town  contributed  its  full  share  of 
men  and  supplies  to  the  Continental  army,  and  on  June  20, 
1776,  thirteen  days  before  the  declaration  of  independence, 
passed  the  following : 

"  Voted  by  unanimous  vote  that  We  are  willing  to  Come  under  Independency 
from  under  the  yoke  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  Provided  the  Continental 
Congress  see  fite,  in  their  Wisdom,  to  Establish  Independence  in  the  Colonies  for 
their  Safety." 


It  is  said  that  nearly  all  the  male  residents  of  the  town 
served  in  the  cause  of  independence.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  Oliver  Smith,  whose  principal  service,  however, 
was  performed  upon  the  water,  privateering.  He  assisted  in 
the  capture  of  two  ships.  Nathan  Jillson,  a  resident  of  the 
town  in  later  years,  also  served  in  the  army.  Daniel  Shays, 
afterward  the  leader  of  the  rebellion  which  bore  his  name, 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  war  from  Pelham.  At  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  at  the  storming  of  Stony  Point  and  the  cap- 
ture of  Burgoyne,  he  did  gallant  service,  attaining  the  rank 
of  captain,  and  carried  to  his  grave  an  honorable  scar  received 
in  fighting  the  battles  of  his  country. 

SHAYS'    REBELLION. 

In  this  rebellion  the  people  of  Pelham  took  an  earnest  and 
active  part.  In  the  first  place,  the  leader  of  the  insurrection 
lived  in  their  midst,  and  aroused  the  inhabitants  by  personal 
exhortation  to  that  point  of  indiscretion  whore  they  were  will- 
ing to  take  up  arms  in  the  endeavor  to  obtain  that  relief  from 
the  manifest  burdens  of  the  times  that  should  properly  have 
been  sought  by  constitutional  methods.  In  the  next,  they  had 
just  passed  through  a  struggle  involving,  to  some  extent,  the 
same  principles,  and  had  imbibed  a  warlike  spirit  and  been 
blinded  bj'  success.  So  it  was  that  almost  the  entire  town 
actively  co-operated  with  Shaj-s  in  his  movements,  and  its 
hills  at  one  time  sheltered  the  entire  insurgent  force.  The 
records  of  the  town  from  1787  to  1816  having  been  lost,  it  is 
impossible  to  give  the  names  of  those  who  served  in  the 
rebellion. 

To  the  war  of  1812  the  town  contributed,  among  others, 
the  following  persons:  Capt.  J(jhn  Taylor,  John  T.  Conkey, 
Grove  Hannum,  Luther  Thompson,  Sydney  Hannum,  Henry 
Hannum,  Luther  Lincoln,  James  Smith,  Amasa  Jillson,  and 
Leonard  Blue. 

To  the  late  war  the  town  contributed  liberally  in  money 
and  means  in  support  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  The 
following  persons  served  in  the  army  : 

Henry  E.  Wheeler,  Otis  Griflin,  George  A.  Griffin,  Erastus  S.  Soullnvick,  Steplien 
Ithoads,  Charles  K.  Cleaveland,  Sanford  51.  Lovett,  Joseph  F.  Barllett, 
Salmon  Rhoaiis,  Manly  Jin8o?i,  Han  ison  Z.  Uorr,  Chas.  H.  Horr,  John 
Shaw,  Otis  B.  Hill,  Patrick  Bailey,  Henry  Birrows,  Otis  liimball,  Frank- 
lin Bramble,  John  T.  Nichols,  J'lseph  E.  Boynton,  Joseph  D.  Whitney, 
Frederick  Dane,  Stilnian  Abercrombie,  Joseph  D.  Allen,  Dexter  R.  Barnes, 
Daniel  Cook,  Edmund  S.  Elsbree,  .\mo3  D.  Leonard,  William  P.  Alont- 
goniery,  Amaziah  Robinsoti,  Nelson  Witt,  Charles  S.  Sawyer,  Thomas 
Liiids,  Jamea  D.  Moore,  Joel  Cutting,  Francis  A.  Blodgett,  John  O. 
Bhoads,  George  A.  Gardner,  George  W.  Allen,  Truman  Squires,  Thomas 
Ferisson,  Garrett  0  Neal,  Philander  Pike,  Charles  Griffin, Salmon  Ithoads, 
Fianklin  Bramble,  John  T.  Nichols,  Joseph  F.  B.irtletl,  Charles  Griffin, 
William  0.  Kimball,  George  AVelhndl,  Ileniy  Wood,  Madison  L.  Fales, 
Norman  Fab-s,  James  Heal,  George  M.  Gungle,  Charles  Stewai  d,  George 
A.  G;irdner,  S;meon  Gilbert,  Charles  A.  Abbott,  Henry  Wood,  Madison 
L.  Fales,  Frederick  Grover. 

For  assistance  rendered  in  compiling  the  foregoing  history 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  A.  C.  Keith,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wyatt 
Richardson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arba  Randall,  Horace  Gray,  Ellison 
Dodge,  Rev.  John  Jones,  Rev.  W.  K.  Vaill,  Albert  Firmin, 
and  other  citizens  of  the  town. 


PRESCOTT. 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 
The  town  of  Prescott  is  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
county,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  town  of  Salem, 
Franklin  Co.  ;  on  the  south  by  the  towns  of  Enfield  and 
Greenwich,  Hampshire  Co.  ;  on  the  east  by  the  towns  of  Dana, 
in  Worcester  County,  and  Greenwich,  in  Hampshire  County; 
and  on  the  west  by  the  towns  of  Pelham,  Hampshire  Co.,  and 
Shutcsbury,  Franklin  Co.  The  town  is  shaped  in  the  form  of 
an  inverted  L,  and  is  about  si.Y  miles  long,  four  and  a  half 
miles  wide  in  the  widest  part,  and  two  and  a  half  in  the  nar- 
rowest, and  contains  12,700  acres  of  land,  187  acres  occupied 
bj'  roads  and  322  covered  by  water. 

NATURAL  FEATURES. 
The  town  is  somewhat  rugged  in  aspect,  especially  in  the 
southern  and  western  parts.  In  the  centre  is  a  pleasant  valley, 
which  contains  many  good  farms  nestled  among  the  hills.  The 
scene  from  Prescott  Hill,  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  is  grand, 
a  fine  view  being  afforded  of  the  surrounding  towns,  and  the 
range  of  vision  is  only  limited  by  lofty  mountains  in  the  dis- 
tance. Mount  Ell,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  is  the 
marked  feature  in  that  section,  and  attains  a  considerable  ele- 
vation. Kattlesnake  Mountain,  in  the  west  part,  rises  abruptly 
to  an  altitude  of  about  three  hundred  feet,  and  almost  perpen- 
dicular for  half  that  distance.  At  the  base  of  this  roclcy  bas- 
tion a  den  or  cave  has  been  formed  by  the  debris  from  above, 
in  -which  ice  is  pre.sent  the  year  round.  This  den  was  once 
the  favorite  hiding-place  of  large  numbers  of  rattlesnakes,  and 
is  known  as  "  Rattlesnake  Den,"  whence  also  the  name  of  the 
mountain.     Other  hills  exist  in  difl'erent  parts  of  the  town. 

STREAMS. 

The  west  branch  of  Swift  Kiver  forms  the  western  boun- 
dary of  the  town,  and  derives  several  small  affluents  from  its 
territory.  Tlie  middle  branch  of  the  same  river  passes  through 
the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  town  for  a  short  distance. 
Kuss'  Pond,  in  the  northeastern  section,  is  the  only  natural 
body  of  water  of  any  consequence  in  the  town.  Several 
smaller  ponds  and  streiims  exist  in  difl'erent  parts. 

The  soil  of  Prescott  is  good  and  capable  of  easy  cultivation, 
producing  the  cereals,  with  the  exception  of  wheat,  in  fair 
abundance,  and  varying  from  a  gravelly  to  a  clayey  loam. 
The  geology  of  the  town  is  not  of  a  character  to  require 
special  notice  here.  Stone  of  a  granitic  character  has  been 
quarried  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  The  Springfield, 
Athol,  and  Northeastern  Kailroad,  crosses  a  corner  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town. 

SETTLEMENT. 

Much  of  interest  relating  to  the  first  settlement  of  the  town 
of  Prescott  will  be  found  in  the  histories  of  the  towns  of  Pel- 
ham  and  New  Salem  (in  this  volume),  from  which  the  present 
town  was  formed. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  south  part  of  Prescott, 
which  was  taken  from  Pelham,  was  first  settled,  as  the  latter 
town  contained  forty  families  in  the  year  1742,  a  date  when 
the  town  of  New  Salem  hud  but  just  conmicnced  to  receive 
settlers. 

Among  the  first  to  settle  in  the  present  town  of  Prescott 
were  the  McConkeys  (now  Conkeys),  McMullens  (now  Mel- 
558 


lens).  Grays,  Berrys,  Crossetts,  and  Peirces.  Of  the  Conkeys 
there  were  brothers, — John,  "William,  Alexander,  and  Thomas. 
The  last  three  settled  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  near  "  Boh- 
binville. "  John  lived  on  Prescott  Hill,  near  the  present  loca- 
tion of  the  Congregational  parsonage.  The  old  house  used  by 
William  Conkey  is  still  standing  near  the  old  "  east  ceme- 
tery," and  bears  upon  the  heavy  stone  which  overhangs  its 
ancient  fire-place  the  inscription,  neatly  chiseled,  "  William 
Conkey,  June  ye  'l\xt,  1776." 

The  McMuUen  family  settled  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
town,  in  what  is  now  known  as  "Mellon  Hollow."  John 
Mellen  lived  there  in  the  first  part  of  the  present  century. 
These  two  families  were  probably  the  first  to  settle  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  Prescott,  and  are  still  represented  in  the  town.  The 
date  of  their  settlement  was  about  1740. 

The  Berry  family  settled  in  the  town  about  17.5o.  Their 
first  settlement  was  made  at  Deerfield,  in  Franklin  County, 
but  they  were  compelled  to  leave  there  on  account  of  the  In- 
dian troubles  which  attended  the  first  settlement  of  that  town. 
They  then  removed  to  Rutland,  Mass.,  and  finally  settled  on 
the  old  farm  occupied  by  Betsey  Bei'ry,  a  descendant.  The 
great-grandfather  of  the  present  John  Berry  was  a  cloth- 
weaver  as  well  as  a  farmer,  and  had  four  sons, — James,  Alex- 
ander, and  two  others,  who  went  West.  Alexander  located  on 
the  old  farm,  and  James  on  the  Gilbert  place.  Alexander  had 
four  sons, — John,  James,  Locker,  and  Alexander.  John  set- 
tled on  the  old  Berry  place,  and  died  there  in  January,  1873, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  John  and  Betsey,  his  children,  still 
live  in  town,  and  are  the  only  representatives  of  the  Berry 
family  left  in  the  place. 

William  and  two  other  members  of  the  Crossett  family  came 
from  the  North  of  Ireland  and  settled  in  Pelhamabout  the  year 
1750.  One  of  them  settled  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  and 
William  in  the  valley  in  the  south  part,  now  in  Prescott. 
James  Crossett,  father  of  Liberty,  now  living  in  the  town, 
passed  his  life  on  the  original  Crossett  place,  and  was  a  man 
of  influence  and  worth. 

Daniel  Gray  was  an  early  settler,  and  lived  where  Alden 
Reed  now  resides.  He  was  a  descendant  of  John  Gray,  who 
at  an  early  date  located  in  the  west  part  of  Pelham,  and  was 
one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  that  town.  Moses  and  Aaron 
Gray  lived  at  an  early  day  where  George  H.  Allen  now  re- 
sides. 

The  Peirce  family,  now  more  numerously  represented  in  the 
town  than  any  other,  is  also  one  of  the  oldest.  David  Peirce 
came  from  England  at  an  early  day,  and  became  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  the  north  part  of  the  town.  He  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  from  New  Salem,  which  then  included  the 
north  part  of  Prescott,  and  died  in  1779,  on  his  return  from 
the  army,  before  he  reached  his  home.  He  was  carried  four 
days  on  a  bier  by  his  companions  before  he  expired.  He  left 
four  boys, — Alden,  John,  Caleb,  and  Alexander.  John  and 
Alexander  removed  to  Maine  ;  both  afterward  returned,  Alex- 
ander dying  soon  after,  and  John  going  to  Ohio.  Alden  re- 
moved to  Leverett,  but  subsequently  settled  in  Ohio. 

Caleb  was  born  about  the  year  1775,  and  lived  in  the  old 
Peirce  house.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  had  a 
family  of  sixteen  children, — four  girls  and  twelve  boys, — bo- 
coming  the  progenitor  of  a  large  number  of  the  Peirce  family  of 


HISTORY  OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


559 


the  present  day.  He  was  one  of  the  agents  appointed  to  secure 
the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Prescott.  Of  his  children, 
Appleton  (2d),  Madison,  Clesson,  David  F.,  Pomeroy,  and 
Caleb  settled  in  the  town,  the  first  four  of  whom  are  still 
living  there,  and  the  other  two  being  represented  by  their  de- 
scendants. 

John  Pierce,  of  another  family  from  Middlebury,  settled 
in  the  closing  j-ears  of  the  last  century,  and  lived  where  H. 
N.  Grover  now  lives.  He  was  the  father  of  Appleton  Peirce 
(1st),  now  living  at  an  advanced  age. 

Peleg  Peirce,  a  half-brother  of  John,  located  in  Prescott 
about  1812-15,  and  resided  where  John  Vaughan  now  lives. 

Simeon  Pierce  (still  another  family)  was  also  one  of  the 
first  .settlers,  and  lived  where  Park  Hannum  now  resides.  A 
number  of  his  descendants  still  live  in  the  town. 

A  few  of  the  other  early  settlers  of  the  town  deserve  special 
mention  : 

Obadiah  Cooley  lived  where  F.  B.  Paige  now  resides,  the 
fir-st  part  of  the  present  century,  and  John  Mecklem,  a  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Pelham,  lived, 
at  the  same  time,  where  West  C.  Paige  now  resides. 

Seth  Peibles  settled  at  an  early  day  where  Henry  Grover 
now  lives.  His  widow  married  a  Mr.  Savage,  who  lived  near 
the  original  No.  4  .school-house,  that  stood  twenty  rods  east  of 
the  present  main  road,  on  the  Jarva  Shaw  road. 

Peleg  Aldrich  was  born  in  New  Salem,  and  settled  in  Pres- 
cott in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  where  Wales 
Aldrich  now  lives.  His  sons,  B.  Whitman  Aldrich  and  Wales 
Aldrich,  still  reside  in  town. 

Jotham,  Levi,  and  Amasa  Leach  also  settled  early,  and 
lived  on  the  Daniel  K.  Vaughan  farm. 

Buenos  Ayres  came  to  Prescott  at  an  early  date,  and  lived 
on  the  C.  H.  Gray  farm.  A  Mr.  Wright,  father  of  Gad  and 
Gains  Wright,  also  settled  early,  and  lived  where  Madison 
Peirce  now  resides. 

James  Hathaway  lived  where  Nelson  Whittaker  now  resides, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  and  was  a  farmer. 
Eoswell  Jennings,  from  Middlebury,  lived  on  the  present 
David  F.  Peirce  farm,  about  the  same  period;  also  John 
Atchinson,  in  "  Atthinson  Hollow,"  who  also  had  one  of  the 
first  four-wheeled  wagons  in  town. 

Jacob  Sampson  lived  where  J.  N.  Shaw's  barn  now  stands, 
in  the  last  part  of  the  last  century,  and  removed,  in  1820,  to 
Stamford,  Vt.  About  the  same  period  Timothy  Upton,  father 
of  Samuel,  Timothy,  and  Isaac,  lived  where  David  B.  Law- 
less now  lives. 

Paul  Haskins  was  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  lived  where 
L.  H.  Gaylord  now  resides.  A  number  of  his  descendants 
still  live  in  the  town.  Sliadrack  Haskins,  also  one  of  the  first 
settlers,  lived  where  G.  L.  Johnson  now  resides.  Luke  Has- 
kins was  here  early,  and  settled  where  Uzziel  Haskins  now 
resides.  His  father,  Joseph,  lived  where  Elder  Jones  now 
resides. 

Sylvester  Titus  came  from  Middlebury,  and  settled  early 
where  Algernon  Peirce  now  lives.  His  son,  Lucian,  is  still 
living  in  the  town,  at  an  advanced  age. 

Nathaniel  Fish,  also  from  Middlebury,  settled  at  an  early 
date  where  John  Abbott  now  resides,  and  is  also  said  to  have 
had  one  of  the  first  four-wheeled  wagons  ever  used  in  the 
town.     His  descendants  are  still  residents. 

Amos  Thomas  was  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  lived  where 
Eli  W.  Chapin  now  resides.  John  Lawless  settled  in  the 
last  part  of  the  last  century,  and  lived  where  Ira  Aldcn  aow 
resides.  Andrew  Newhall  settled  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town  early,  and  lived  where  Ellis  White  now  resides. 

Barna  Brigham  was  also  an  early  and  prominent  settler, 
and  lived  on  Prescott  Hill,  where  Edwin  Paige  now  resides. 
He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  that  capacity  married  a 
great  many  people ;  was  also  one  of  the  agents  appointed  to 
procure  the  incorporation  of  the  town. 


Nymphas  Stacy  lived  a  little  south  of  where  John  Woods 
now  lives,  in  the  last  part  of  the  last  century,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers.  Jacob  Gibbs  also  lived  where  Leonard  Lin- 
coln now  lives,  at  an  early  day. 

Moses  Gray  lived  where  George  Allen  now  lives,  as  early  as 

1800.  Simon  Stockwcll  lived  about  the  same  time  where  W. 
C.  Aldrich  now  resides. 

The  Eddy  family  settled  at  a  very  early  day  on  the  present 
Berry  farm.  The  old  house  which  they  occupied  was  after- 
ward moved  to  Prescott  Hill,  and  occupied  by  John  Atchin- 
son.    An  old  cellar  marks  its  site. 

Eden  Briggs  settled  very  early  on  the  present  farm  of  J.  H. 
King,  and  Stephen  Powers,  at  an  early  day,  where  Jason  Pow- 
ers now  lives. 

Nathan  Vaughan  came  from  Middlebury  in  the  latter  years 
of  the  last  century,  and  settled  near  B.  Franklin  Vaughan's. 
His  son  Josiah  was  born  about  1794,  and  lived  on  the  place 
now  owned  by  John  Wood.  He  died  at  an  advanced  age. 
His  descendants  still  reside  in  the  town. 

James  and  tfhipman  Shaw  came  from  Middlebury,  and  set- 
tled, Shipman  where  Varnum  E.  Vaughan  now  lives,  and 
James  where  Addison  D.  Thayer  now  lives. 

Thomas  Vaughan  came  early,  and  settled  where  Samuel 
Thrasher  now  lives.  David  Sloan  located  where  Dr.  George 
H.  Lee  afterward  lived. 

Amos  Blackmer  settled  in  Prescott  about  1810,  and  located 
on  the  Daniel  Gray  farm.  He  died  in  1820.  His  sons,  Dan- 
iel and  Peter,  are  still  residents. 

David  Hunt  was  born  in  Worcester,  and  went  from  Heath 
to  New  Salem  about  1808,  and  settled  near  the  present  Pres- 
cott line.  He  had  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  who  reached 
maturity, — Samuel,  Luther,  Lorena,  and  Horace.  Samuel 
lived  in  Prescott,  where  the  "  poor-farm"  now  is,  at  an  early 
date,  and  now  resides  in  Athol,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety 
years.  Luther  and  Lorena  remained  in  New  Salem,  and  the 
latter  now  lives  at  Holly,  N.  Y.     Horace  was  born  Jan.  15, 

1801,  in  New  Salem,  and  resided  there  for  thirty-six  years. 
He  lived  in  Prescott  for  nine  years,  engaging  in  store-keeping, 
and  finally  removed  to  New  Salem,  but  retained  his  store  in 
Prescott,  and  carried  on  business  there  for  many  years.  He 
now  resides  in  Enfield,  and  has  attained  a  ripe  old  age. 

Abel  Gilbert  came  from  Brookfield,  and  settled  where  Henry 
Grover  now  lives,  about  1818-20. 

TAVERNS. 

Of  the  early  taverns  that  have  been  kept  in  the  town,  men- 
tion may  be  made  of  a  few.  Probably  the  first  was  kept  by 
William  Conkey,  in  the  old  "  Milo  Abbott  house,"  which  is 
still  standing  near  "  Bobbinville."  It  was  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  and  the  Shays  insurrection,  and  the  latter  com- 
mander, then  a  resident  of  that  part  of  Pelham  (now  in  the 
town  of  Prescott),  is  said  to  have  mustered  his  first  recruits  at 
this  ancient  inn.  The  house  was  conveniently  fitted  for  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  used,  being  two  stories  high,  with 
capacious  apartments,  and  has  doubtless  been  the  scene  of 
many  convivial  gatherings. 

Tradition  says  that  another  early  inn  was  kept  where  the 
Congregational  parsonage  now  stands,  but  by  whom  or  at 
what  date  we  are  not  informed.  One  of  the  first  that  existed 
in  the  north  part  of  the  town  was  kept  by  Capt.  Jacob  Samp- 
son, where  J.  N.  Shaw's  barn  now  stands.  Nathan  Felton 
kept  one  for  a  good  many  years,  in  the  first  part  of  the  present 
century,  where  L.  S.  Johnson  now  lives,  on  Prescott  Hill. 
He  was  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Hinds  and  Charles  Scott. 

About  the  same  time  Joseph  Warren  Hamilton  kept  a  tavern 
on  the  hill,  where  Edwin  Page  now  lives,  and  was  succeeded 
for  a  short  time  by  Noble  Weeks. 

The  tavern  kept  longest  in  the  town  was  one  by  John  Atchin- 
son, at  "  Atchinson  Hollow,"  where  Cheney  Abbott  afterward 
lived.     He  commenced  soon  after  the   incorporation  of  the 


560 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


1 


town,  and  continued  for  many  years.     There  is  none  now  in 
town. 

STORES. 

The  first  stores  were  probably  little  better  than  trading- 
posts,  no  regular  stocks  being  kept  constantly.  As  the  popu- 
lation and  the  necessities  of  the  people  increased,  the  more 
dignified  "country  store"  sprang  into  existence.  One  of  the 
first  of  these  was  by  Peleg  Canada,  in  the  last  part  of  the  last 
century,  near  the  present  residence  of  Edwin  Paige.  Isaac 
Conkey  kept  one  there  some  time  after,  then  Joseph  Warren 
Hamilton,  and  Hamilton  &  Brigham. 

Robert  and  Samuel  Crossett  had  a  store  in  the  "  old  Henry 
place,"  in  the  first  part  of  the  present  century,  and  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Samuel  Henrj',  who  kept  it  many  years. 

Stacy  Lindsoy  had  a  store  on  Prescott  Hill  prior  to  the  year 
1820,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  firm  of  Brigham  &  Lindsey, 
who  traded  many  years.  Joseph  Hodgkins  oame  next,  trad- 
ing several  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Hodgkins,  he 
by  W.  E.  Johnson  (now  of  Enfield),  and  he  by  Liberty  Cros- 
sett, the  present  proprietor,  in  ISfiS. 

John  Atchinsun  had  a  store  in  the  Cheney  Abbott  house,  at 
the  "Hollow,"  about  1823-24,  and  kept  it  a  number  of  years. 
Allen  Beanian  also  had  one  in  Aldrich  Hall,  at  the  "  Hollow," 
about  1852,  and  was  succeeded  by  Eliakim  Hill,  Enos  S.  Rich- 
ardson, and  J.  W.  Adams. 

At  North  Pre-scott,  Elbridge  Shaw  had  a  store  about  1830, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Alpbeus  Thomas,  he  by  Thomas  & 
Partridge,  they  by  Thomas  alone,  and  he  by  Frank  Sampson 
until  1877,  when  L.  K.  Baker,  the  present  proprietor,  came  in. 

Horace  Hunt  erected  and  opened  a  store  in  18.S7,  about  a 
mile  west  of  North  Prescott,  and  kept  it  until  1869. 

PHYSICIAN.S. 

Of  the  physicians  who  have  practiced,  the  first  was  Dr. 
Nehemiah  Hinds,  as  early  as  1786,  and  into  the  present  cen- 
tury. He  erected,  and  for  a  long  time  occupied,  the  red  house 
that  stands  opposite  the  store  of  Liberty  Crossett,  on  Prescott 
Hill.  His  son  Leonard  practiced  with  him  for  a  while,  and 
continued  after  his  death.  A  contemporary  of  Dr.  Hinds  was 
Dr.  Isaac  Powers,  who  lived  in  "  Mellen  Hollow." 

Dr.  Hubbard  Vaughan  was  next  in  practice,  and  lived  about 
the  year  1819  where  Joseph  Stone  now  lives. 

Dr.  George  H.  Lee  practiced  about  182G,  for  a  period  of  ten 
years,  and  lived  south  of  the  centre.  He  was  a  man  of  influ- 
ence, and  filled  various  positions  of  trust.  Dr.  David  Hale 
practiced  about  185-3  for  a  short  time,  and  was  the  last  regular 
ph3',*ieian  who  resided  in  the  town.  Physicians  from  New 
Salem  and  other  towns  have  often  supplied  thetown. 

MEN  OF  DISTINCTION. 
Among  the  men  of  distinction  which  Prescott  has  produced 
are  Judge  Peleg  Aldrich,  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  was  born  here,  and  Hon.  E.  A.  Thomas,  also  a 
native,  who  served  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  with 
distinction.  His  brother.  Rev.  Chauncey  Boardman  Thomas, 
another  native,  is  a  church  pastor  in  Vermont. 

THE    CIVIL    ORGANIZATION, 
dates  from  Jan.  28,  1822,  when  a  tract  of  land  about  three 
miles  long  was  taken  off  the  south  part  of  New  Salem  and 
added  to  the  east  parish  of  Pelham,  and  incorporated  as  the 
town  of  Prescott.     The  boundaries  were  described  as  follows  : 

"Beginning  on  tlie  we.st  line  of  New  Salem,  at  the  snutliwest  corner  of  the 
lot  No.  2.1,  in  the  tliird  division,  now  owned  by  Saninel  Wood ;  from  thence  run- 
ning eilat  by  the  south  lino  of  that  lot  and  the  sonth  line  of  Ebcnezer  and  David 
C.  Vaugiian's  farm  to  tlio  southwest  corner  of  David  and  Lutbcr  Hunt's  farm ; 
thence  cjistwardly  on  the  line  between  said  farm  and  Samuel  IT.  Hunt's  land, 
and  on  the  soutli  line  of  William  Walker's  land  and  the  south  line  of  the  farm 
now  occuiiicd  by  Winslow  I'ackarri  to  the  west  line  of  Nathaniel  Bangs'  farm; 
thence  southwanlly  and  eastwardly  by  his  line  to  Amos  Martin's  west  line; 
thence  south  and  east  by  tlie  west  and  soutii  lino  of  his  farm  to  the  west  line  of 
the  farm  lately  owned  by  Ebenezer  Lincoln  (now  owned  by  Nymphiis  Stacy); 


thence  southwardly  by  the  west  line  thereof  to  the  southwest  comer;  thence 
castwai-dly  on  the  south  line  until  it  comes  to  the  highway  that  runs  eastwardly 
on  the  south  side  of  said  farm  ;  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  highway  east- 
wardly and  southwardly  to  the  southwest  corner  of  land  owned  by  Varney 
Pearce ;  thence  east  on  the  sonth  line  to  the  s  jutheast  corner ;  thence  north  to 
the  southwest  corner  of  tlie  lot  on  which  Samuel  Linzie  now  lives;  thence  east 
on  the  south  line  of  that  lot  and  on  the  siuth  line  of  the  lot  on  which  Rufus 
Stjicy  lives  to  the  east  line  of  New  Salem;  tlien  south  and  west,  following  the 
lineof  New  Salem  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Pelham  until  it  comes  to  the  stream 
called  the  west  branch  of  Swift  River,  being  the  line  between  the  two  parishes 
in  Pelham;  thence  northwardly  along  the  middle  of  said  stream  to  the  first- 
mentioned  boundary  on  the  west  line  of  New  Salem." 

The  name  Prescott  was  conferred  in  honor  of  Col.  William 
Prescott,  of  Peperell,  who  commanded  the  American  forces 
at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

The  warrant  for  the  first  town-meeting  was  issued  by  Barna 
Brigham,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  Feb.  13,  1822,  in  compliance 
with  the  written  request  of  Samuel  Henry,  Caleb  Peirce, 
Nathan  Felton,  Abel  Gilbert,  Josiah  Heminway,  Proctor 
Peirce,  Charles  Staples,  Stacy  Ltndscy,  Chester  Gray,  Brigham 
Mills,  and  Joseph  Hodgkins. 

The  meeting  duly  convened  at  the  meeting-bouse  March  4, 
1822.  Josiah  Peirce  was  chosen  moderator,  and  Chester  Gray 
clerk.  Barna  Brigham,  Caleb  Peirce,  and  N3'mphas  Stacy 
were  chosen  selectmen,  and  Moses  Gray,  Henry  Haskins,  and 
Josiah  Peirce  assessors.  At  an  adjourned  meeting,  held  April 
1st,  minor  officers  were  chosen. 

The  following  persons  have  filled  the  principal  town  oiBces, 
and  served  as  representatives  in  the  General  Court : 

SELECTMEN. 
1S22-23. — Barna  Brigham,  Caleb  Peirce,  Nymphas  Stacy. 
1824. — Caleb  Peirce,  Josiah  Peirce,  .Tacob  Gibbs. 
182.5. — Caleb  Peirce,  Moses  Gray,  Henry  Hiiskins. 
18-20-28.— Nathan  Felton,  Samuel  Henry,  Josiah  Miller. 
1820. — Stephen  Snow,  Henry  Haskins,  Jacob  Gibbs. 
1S30. — James  Crossett,  Jacob  Gibbs,  Henry  ILiskins. 
IKil. — James  Crossett,  Djinforth  Abbott,  Thomas  Conkey. 
1833-34.— Danfortli  Abbott,  Jacob  Gibbs,  Nathan  Felton. 
18.3-5-.37.— Roswell  Allen,  Joel  Fish,  Thom;is  Conkey. 
18:38. — Jacob  Gibbs.  Andrew  Newhall,  Elisba  Haskins. 
1S:!9.— Joel  Fish,  David  Mellen,  Nathan  Vaughan. 
1840.— Joel  Fish,  John  Gilbert,  Josiah  Miller, 
l.'yll. — Joel  Fish,  John  Gilbert,  Alpheus  Thomas. 
1842. — John  Gilliert,  Nathan  Vaughan,  Thomas  Conkey. 
lS43^t4.— Roswell  Allen,  Christopher  Paige,  Ansel  Oaks. 
184.5.- Andrew  Hyde,  Alfred  W.  Gray,  Ellis  Thayer. 
1846. — Aiulrew  Hyde,  Eli  W.  Chapin,  Josiah  Heminway. 
1847.— Eli  W.  Ch.apin,  Ansel  Oaks,  Solomon  Sibley. 
1848. — Josiah  Miller,  Alonzo  W.  Freeman,  Davil  Lincoln. 
1849. — David  Lincoln,  Josiah  Heminway,  Jr.,  Jason  M.  Hanson. 
18.50-51.- Andrew  Hyde,  J.imes  W.  Hunt,  Ansel  Oaks. 
1852. — .\ndrew  Hyde,  James  W.  Hiint,  Joseph  P.  Vaughan. 
18.53.— James  W.  Hunt,  Alonzo  W.  Hunt,  Ellis  Thayer. 
1854. — Ellis  Thayer,  James  W.  Hunt,  .\Ionzo  W.  Freeman. 
1865.— Alonzo  W.  Freeman,  Ellis  Tliayor,  Edward  S.  Estey. 
1856.— J.  W.  Hunt,  Cheney  Abbott,  Liberty  Crossett. 
1857.— Joel  Fish,  Christopher  Paige,  E.  A.  Thomas. 
1.8.58-59.— Joel  Fish,  E.  A.  Thiuuas,  A.  W.  Freeman. 
18C0.— Eli  W.  Chapin,  Roswell  H.  Allen,  Joseph  P.  Vaughan. 
1801.- Eli  W.  Chapin,  R.  H.  Allen,  E.  A.  Thomas. 
18C2.— William  H.  Winter,  J.  M.  Piper,  C.  H.  Gray. 
18B3-CC.— William  H.  Winter,  F.  B.  Paige,  C.  H.  Gray. 
1807.— C.  H.  Gray,  F.  B.  Paige,  0.  J.  Powers. 
1808. — Eli  W.  Chapin,  Lucian  Titus,  Leonard  Lincoln. 
1809-70.— Eli  W.  Chapin,  Lucian  Titus,  J,  D.  Barnes. 
1871.— ('.  H.  Gray,  V.  V.  Vaughan,  L.  S.  Johnson. 
1872. — V.  V.  Vaughan,  J.  M.  Harrington,  Nelson  \\'bitaker. 
1873-74.— 0.  H.  Gray,  M.  W.  Abbott,  George  L.  Johnson. 
1875.— J.  M.  Harrington,  G.  M.  Webber,  E.  Goodman. 
1870.— C.  H.  Gray,  G.  L.  Johnson,  L.  S.  Johnson, 
1877.— Warren  M.  .\ldiich,  H.  N.  Grover,  L.  H.  Gaylord. 
1878.— L.  H.  Gray,  L.  S.  Johnson,  V.  V.  Vaughan. 

TOWN-CLEKKS. 

1822,  Clieater  Gray ;  1824,  Josiah  Peirce ;  1827,  Cliestor  Gray  ;  1828,  George  H. 
Lee;  1829,  David  Mellen;  1833,  Simon  Stockwell;  1838,  Samuel  Henry;  1841, 
Alfred  W.  Gr.iy;  1840,  David  Mellen;  1849,  Alpheus  Thomas;  1850,  Samuel 
Henry;  1S5.5,  E.  S.  Hiiskins;  1868,  II.  B.  Hodgkins;  1809,  Fred.  N.  Peirce. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 
1824,  Josiah  Peirce;  1829-30,  .Samuel  Ileury;  1831,  Simon  Stockwell;  1832, 
James  Crossett;  18.33-34,  Danfortli  Ablnitt;  18.35-30,  David  Mellen;  18.37,  Samuel 


i| 


HISTORY  OP   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


561 


Honry  ;  1838-39,  Roswell  Allen  ;  1S40,  Joseph  llodgkilis;  1842-43,  li.W.  AWlii^h  ; 
1847-48,  Aiulrow  Hyde ;  1850,  Rev.  Nelson  B.  Jones ;  1851,  Liberty  Crossett ;  1852, 
Lucian  Titus;  1884,  Wni.  H.  Winter;  1868,  L.  Crossett;  1872,  Wales  Aldiicb. 

VILLAGES    AND    HAMLETS. 
PRESCOTT    POST-OFFICE 

is  situated  on  what  was  known  as  tlie  "East  Hill"  of  Pel- 
ham.  Here  w'as  the  centre  of  the  east  parish  of  Pelham, 
where  was  located  the  first  meeting-house  within  the  present 
limits  of  Prescott.  The  village  consists  of  a  few  dwellings, 
the  Congregational  Church  and  parsonage,  and  a  store  and 
post-oflice.  The  latter  wa.s  established  about  1822  or  1823,  and 
the  first  postmaster  was  Barna  Brighani.  He  was  followed  in 
turn  by  Stacy  Lindsey,  Dexter  N.  Richards,  Chas.  Hodgkiiis, 
W.  E.  Johnson,  and  Liberty  Crossett,  the  present  incumbent, 
who  was  appointed  in  1868. 

■  NORTH    PRESCOTT    PO.ST-OFFICE 

is  situated  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  and  lies  partly  within 
the  limits  of  Prescott  and  partlj'  in  New  Salem.  It  consists 
of  a  Methodist  Church  and  parsonage  (which  are  in  New 
Salem),  a  Baptist  Church,  which  has  been  recently  devoted 
to  trading  purposes,  a  store  and  post-oifice,  and  several  dwell- 
ings. The  post-office  was  established  in  1844  or  184-5,  and 
Horace  Hunt  was  the  first  postmaster,  and  kept  the  office  for 
a  number  of  years  in  his  store,  which  stood  about  a  mile  west 
of  North  Prescott.  He  was  succeeded  for  a  short  time  by  S. 
L.  Haskins,  and  subsequently  held  the  office  again.  It  was 
finally  removed  to  North  Prescott,  and  E.  A.  Thomas  became 
postmaster,  and  was  followed  by  Frank  Sampson  and  L.  K. 
Baker,  the  present  appointee. 

Atchinson  Hollow  is  a  hamlet  in  the  northwest  part  of 
the  town,  of  some  importance.  It  consists  now  of  a  few 
dwellings  only,  but  in  times  past  has  been  the  seat  of  a  tavern 
and  several  stores. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS 
of  the  town  were  for  a  time  identified  with  those  of  the  mother- 
towns,  and  reference  is  made  to  those  towns  for  much  of  in- 
terest relating  to  the  early  schools  of  Prescott.  The  first  school- 
house  built  in  the  town  was  probably  in  1754,  in  accordance 
with  a  vote  passed  at  that  date.  Its  location  was  on  "  East 
Hill,"  now  Prescott  Hill.  School  had  been  kept  as  early  as 
the  year  1746,  at  the  dwelling  of  Alexander  Conkey,  near 
"  Bobbinville." 

Another  early  school-house  stood  about  where  School  No.  1 
now  stands,  early  in  the  present  century.  It  was  destroyed 
by  fire  sixty  years  ago.  Some  of  the  early  teachers  were 
Caleb  Peirce,  Tristram  Aldrich,  James  Kellogg,  Josiah  Peirce, 
James  Ballard,  Polly  Smith,  and  Polly  Hathaway,  the  latter 
of  whom  is  said  to  have  taught  ex-President  Franklin  Pierce 
his  A,  B,  C's. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  five  school  districts,  and  the 
old  "district  system"  is  yet  in  vogue.  The  whole  is  under 
the  control  of  a  committee  of  three,  one  of  whom  is  elected 
annually  for  three  years.  The  number  of  scholars  in  attend- 
ance is  about  100,  and  the  amount  of  the  last  annual  appro- 
priation was  1500. 

CHURCHES. 

CONGREGATIONAL. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  south  part  of  the  town  were  con- 
nected with  the  Established  Church  at  Pelham  Heights  for  a 
long  time  after  the  first  settlement,  and  those  in  the  north 
part  worshiped  with  the  New  Salem  church.  But  the  great 
distance  which  the  people  were  compelled  to  go  to  attend  di- 
vine worship  induced  a  division,  and  on  June  28,  1786,  the 
eastern  part  of  Pelham,  with  a  portion  of  New  Salem,  was 
incorporated  as  the  east  parish  of  Pelham. 

A  church  was  organized  soon  after  and  a  meeting-house 
erected,  but  the  records  are  meagre.  The  articles  of  faith  of 
71 


the  new  church  were  first  signed  by  Moses  Gray,  John  Lind- 
sey, Aaron  Gray,  Patrick  McMillen,  Daniel  Gray,  John 
Hamilton,  Alexander  Berry,  William  Berry,  James  C.  Mc- 
Millen, John  McMillen,  and  Thomas  McMillen.  Other  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  a  little  later,  were  Isaac  Baker,  Jeremiah 
Gray,  James  Lindsey,  William  Lindsey,  Joel  Gray,  Israel 
Crossett,  and  their  respective  families. 

The  first  regular  minister  was  Rev.  Matthias  Cazicr,  a  grad- 
uate of  Princeton  College  in  1785.  He  was  installed  March 
23,  1794.  Prior  to  that  time  the  church  had  been  ministered 
to  by  supplies,  and  by  the  pastors  of  the  west  parish  of  Pel- 
ham. On  the  date  of  the  installation  of  Mr.  Cazier,  a  protest 
against  the  same  was  presented  to  the  council  by  William 
Conkey,  Minonder  Conkey,  William  Cowan,  Thomas  Con- 
key,  Joseph  Aiken,  Daniel  C.  Gray,  Joel  Conkey,  and  Samuel 
Sloan,  the  reasons  assigned  being  "  want  of  acquaintance,  dif- 
ference of  religious  sentiment,  and  lordly  ways."  Mr.  Cazier 
seems  to  have  had  a  stormy  time,  for  on  June  22,  1795,  charges 
were  preferred  against  him  by  Dr.  Nehemiah  Hinds  for  un- 
truthfulness and  profanity,  the  latter  consisting  in  his  saying 
that,  under  certain  circumstances,  he  would  say,  as  another 
man  did,  "O  Lord!  damn  such  damnable  doctrines."  After 
some  years  of  controversy,  Mr.  Cazier  was  dismissed  by 
council  on  March  14,  1798.  "^ 

The  second  pastor  of  the  church  is  said  to  have  been  Rev. 
Sebastian  C.  Cabot,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  in  1797, 
but  the  records  do  not  indicate  either  the  date  of  his  installa- 
tion or  dismissal. 

About  this  period  for  some  years  the  society  remained  in- 
active. It  was  not  revived  until  after  the  incorporation  of 
the  town,  when  a  new  church  was  formed  at  the  house  of  Chris- 
topher Paige  on  Jan.  15,  1823,  the  first  deacon  being  John 
Sears. 

No  minister  was  settled  for  several  years  after  the  reorgani- 
zation. Rev.  Ebenezer  Brown,  of  Brimfield,  Mass.,  was  the 
first  pastor  of  the  revived  church.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  in  the  class  of  1813,  was  installed  Oct.  17,  1827, 
and  dismissed  by  council  March  25,  1835.  During  his  minis- 
try an  extensive  revival  occurred,  and  the  church  was  greatly 
enlarged.  His  successor  was  Rev.  Job  Cushman,  who  was 
installed  Oct.  28,  1835,  and  dismissed  Oct.  1,  1839.  At  the 
same  time  his  successor.  Rev.  Francis  Wood,  was  installed, 
and  was  dismissed  by  council  March  8,  1848.  The  church 
then  remained  several  years  without  a  pastor. 

Rev.  Solomon  B.  Gilbert  was  next  installed,  Feb.  23,  1853, 
and  dismissed  by  council  Jan.  25,  1854.  The  next  pastor  was 
Rev.  David  Bancroft,  who  commenced  his  labors  Jan.  1,  1858, 
and,  after  a  long,  faithful,  and  popular  ministry,  died  "  in 
harness,"  March  11,  1875.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  T.  S. 
Norton,  who  commenced  preaching  regularly  July  1,  1875, 
and  has  been  employed  for  stated  periods  since.  The  present 
membership  is  49;  of  the  Sabbath-school,  about  50;  number 
of  volumes  in  library,  several  hundred;  superintendent  (pf 
Sabbath-school,  L.  S.  Johnson. 

The  original  meeting-house  was  used  on  its  first  site  for  many 
years,  and  was  afterward  moved  to  the  location  of  the  present 
one.  It  was  taken  down  and  the  present  edifice  erected  in  the 
spring  of  1848,  and  dedicated  in  June  following. 

BAPTIST. 

This  denomination  was  first  established  Jan.  24,  1772,  when 
a  society  was  formed  about  the  same  time.  They  erected  a 
church  edifice  opposite  the  "cemetery  on  the  hill,"  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town.  This  building  was  taken  down  early 
in  the  present  century  and  removed  to  New  Salem,  near  the 
town-line,  and  about  sixty  rods  north  of  the  late  locati(Ui  of 
the  Baptist  Church.  It  was  taken  down  about  1834-35,  and 
another  one  erected  on  the  border  between  the  two  towns,  and 
called  the  "  New  Baptist  Church."  The  building  is  now  de- 
voted to  mercantile  uses. 


562 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CONNECTICUT  VALLEY. 


The  society  disappeared  as  an  organization  in  1876.  The 
first  pastor  was  Ebenezer  Smith.  Others  have  been  Kev. 
Samuel  Bigelow,  Josiah  Orcutt,  Joel  Butler,  Paul  Davis, 
Calvin  Orcutt,  Asa  Niles,  Stephen  S.  Nelson,  Thomas  Rand, 

Dwyer,   George   Daland,  John  Shepardson,   Alden    B. 

Egglcston,  Elijah   Fish, Baker,  and  the  regular  pastor, 

Wm.  A.  Worthington,  who  oificiated  about  1863. 

THE    METHODISTS 

worship  with  those  of  New  Salem.  The  meeting-house  is 
within  the  borders  of  the  latter  town.  The  church  was 
formed  in  the  year  1829. 

UNITED    BRETHREN. 

This  denomination  was  established  in  the  east  part  of  the 
town  about  1855-56,  and  held  meetings  in  the  meeting-house 
that  had  been  erected  there  about  1838  by  Jason  Powers,  and 
in  which  occasional  Methodist  services  had  been  held. 

A  church  was  organized,  and  flourished  until  1865  or  '66.  Of 
the  pastors  and  preachers  there  have  been  D.  S.  Caldwell,  who 
officiated  for  about  two  years,  and  a  Mr.  Briggs. 

bt;rial-places 

The  oldest  burial-place  is  situated  in  the  west  part  of  the 
town,  near  "  Bobbinville,"  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, and  contains  the  remains  of  many  of  the  earliest  settlers. 
It  was  laid  out  in  1744,  in  conformity  to  a  vote  passed  on 
April  26th  of  that  year,  to  the  following  effect : 

"  Voted  that  there  be  one  acre  of  land  Fenced  With  a  Good  Stone  Wall,  and 
also  that  Robert  Pebels,  Samuel  Gray,  and  Robert  Lothridge  over  see  ye  Build- 
ing of  ye  s<l  Wall  att  their  own  Charge." 

That  vote  was  rescinded,  and  in  its  place  it  was 

'*  Voted  yt  ye  Buring  Place  be  fenced  With  Good  five  Rail  fence,  ye  Reals  ten 
feett  Longe,  and  twelve  Lengths  to  Each  Quai'ter." 

This  was  probablj-  the  first  fence  put  around  the  yard,  and 
was  built  by  John  Conkey  for  £5  10s. 

Among  the  tombstones  are  those  of  John  MeCrelis,died  1767; 
William  Conkey,  Nov.  5,  1788,  aged  seventy  years ;  Margaret 
Taylor,  1781 ;  John  Conkey,  April  15,  1784,  in  his  seventy- 
sixth  year  ;  James  Berry,  1782,  in  his  sixty-seventh  year,  a 
"ruling  elder;"  Joshua  Conkey,  son  of  Capt.  John  Conkey, 
April  12,  1790;  Robert  Maklem,  Oct.  5,  1780,  in  his  sixty- 
seventh  year;  Andrew  Maklem,  Sept.  25, 1783,  in  his  eightieth 
year;  James  Peebles,  March  6,  1787;  and  Capt.  Isaac  Graj', 
Sept.  9,  1786. 

To  the  left  of  the  principal  entrance  is  interred  the  Rev. 
David  Bancroft,  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Congregational 
Church.     His  monument  bears  the  following  inscription  : 

"  Rev.  David  Bancroft,  for  twenty  yeai-s  pastor  of  Cong'l  church  in  Willing- 
ton,  Conn.,  and  of  the  Cong'l  church  in  Pre.scott  for  sixteen  years. 
"  Born  Feb'y  10,  1809.     Died  Mar.  11, 1S75. 
** '  A  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed.' — //  Tim.  ii.  15." 

The  next  ground  in  point  of  age  lies  on  the  hill  above  the 
mill  of  Eli  W.  Chapin,  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  It  was 
))robably  first  used  by  the  Baptists  when  they  established  them- 
selves near  that  point,  in  1772.  It  now  comprises  about  an 
acre  and  a  half  of  land,  and  contains  but  few  stones,  of  which 
the  oldest  are  those  of  Silas  Haskins,  died  1788;  Jacob  Trask, 
1794;  and  Joseph  Packard,  Oct.  25, 1800,  in  his  sevent}--third 
year. 

The  burying-ground  in  the  rear  of  the  town-house,  com- 
prising about  one  and  a  quarter  acres,  was  laid  out  about  1838 
or  1839,  and  is  still  in  use.  The  first  person  buried  there  was 
Eliza  Ann  Titua,  who  died  March  4,  1840. 

The  ground  near  the  brick  meeting-house  contains  about  an 
acre,  and  was  accepted  by  the  town,  April  5,  1847. 

NOTES. 

After  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  a  long  contest  ensued 

between  the  north  and  the  south  parts  in  relation  to  the  proper 

place   for  holding  town-meetings.     In   1826  it  was  voted   to 

hold  one-half  of  the  town-meetings  at   "the  hall  of  John 


Atchinson,  innholder,  in  Prescott."  In  1833  a  committee  of 
non-residents  was  chosen  to  find  the  town  centre,  and  to  lo- 
cate the  place  for  the  erection  of  a  town-house.  The  com- 
mittee found  the  centre  "  to  be  Rounceville  Peirce's  land, 
about  twenty  rods  east  of  the  town  road  that  leads  by  Moses 
Gray's,  and  about  twenty  rods  north  of  the  line  formerly  be- 
tween New  Salem  and  Pelham,"  and  as  the  proper  place  for 
the  location  of  a  town-house,  "  at  the  guide-post  at  the  corner 
of  the  road  north  of  John  Berry's,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
road  leading  to  New  Salem."  The  report  of  the  committee 
was  not  adopted,  but  after  a  few  years  of  controversy  the 
present  neat  town-house  was  erected  in  the  fall  of  1838.  In 
1846,  John  Atchinson  presented  the  hearse-house  to  the  town. 

"The  "  poor- farm"  was  purchased  about  1863  of  Euclid 
Owen  for  §1800.     It  is  situated  in  the  north  part  of  the  town. 

The  oldest  houses  now  standing  in  the  town  are  those  of 
Jason  Powers,  the  Milo. Abbott  house  (old  Conkey  place), 
Nathan  Vaughan  house,  and  the  poor-farm  house  (early  oc- 
cupied by  Gilbert  Dean).  The  oldest  persons  living  are  Betsey 
Vaughan,  aged  ninety-five ;  Widow  John  Thrasher,  aged 
ninety ;  John  P.  Peirce,  over  eighty-two  years  of  age  ;  Ap- 
pleton  Peirce  (No.  1),  aged  eighty-two;  B.  Whitman  Aldrich, 
aged  eighty-one  ;   and  Appleton  Peirce  (2d),  aged  seventy-six. 

INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS. 

The  principal  occupation  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  has 
been  agriculture.  Various  pursuits  of  a  mechanical  and  man- 
ufacturing nature  have,  however,  been  followed  from  time  to 
time. 

John  Hoar  had  one  of  the  first  saw-mills  on  the  Swift  River, 
two  miles  north  of  "  Bobbinville,"  and  a  grist-raill  stood 
where  Joseph  N.  Shaw's  blacksmith  shop  now  stands,  run  by 
Amos  Thomas,  at  a  very  early  daj'.  Josiah  Heminway  also 
had  one  of  the  first  mills,  south  of  where  Uzziel  Haskins  now 
lives.  A  man  named  Cannon  also  had  a  grist-mill  in  the  east 
part  of  the  town,  the  last  part  of  last  century,  and  Asa  Moore 
manufactured  batting  in  the  grist-mill.  Dexter  and  David 
Hathaway  manufactured  carriages  early  in  the  present  cen- 
tury, near  where  Nelson  W'hittaker  now  lives.  Gregory  Ellis 
and  Samiicl  White  also  engaged  in  cloth-dressing  about  the 
same  time  where  Joseph  N.  Shaw's  blacksmith  shop  now  is. 

About  1826,  Heminway  &  W^hite  erected  a  grist-mill  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town,  and  operated  it  many  years.  Eli  W. 
Chapin  succeeded  to  the  business  for  several  years,  then  Asa 
Moore,  James  Fitz,  Alonzo  Percival,  and  finallj'  Moore  again. 

Pomeroy  Peirce  built  the  saw-mill  now  owned  and  run  by 
Eli  W.  Chapin,  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  about  1828, 
and  ran  it  until  his  death,  in  1855.  The  proprietors  since 
have  been  Alden  Peirce,  his  son,  the  widow  Pomeroy  Peirce 
(run  by  Wm.  H.  Winter),  and  Mr.  Chapin,  who  has  run  it 
for  upward  of  ten  years. 

In  1836,  Appleton  Peirce  (2d)  and  Madison  Peirce  estab- 
lished a  saw-mill  opposite  the  present  residence  of  the  former, 
and  ran  it  together  until  1848,  since  which  time  it  has  been 
operated  by  Peirce  &  Son,  Fred.  N.  Peirce,  the  present  town 
clerk,  having  joined  his  father,  Appleton  (2d),  in  the  enter- 
prise. In  1864  a  circular  saw  was  placed  in  the  mill,  and  it 
now  turns  out  100,000  feet  of  lumber  annually. 

A  number  of  other  enterprises  also  exist.  Theodore  F.  Cook 
has  a  saw-mill  at  "Pelham  Hollow,"  which  was  erected 
in  1878  to  supply  the  place  of  one  destroyed  by  fire  in  the 
same  year.  F.  B.  Paige  is  successfully  engaged  in  making 
vinegar  on  an  extensive  scale  in  the  south  part  of  the  town. 
A  cheese-factory  also  exists  in  that  section  which  has  been  in 
operation  for  ten  years.  In  the  east  part  of  the  town  are  Bar- 
row's Mills,  owned  by  Mr.  Osgood,  who  has  a  grist-mill  and 
soap-stone  factory.  A  new  mill  was  erected  in  1878.  In  the 
same  part  of  the  town  Foster  Brown  has  a  saw-  and  planing- 
mill,  and  is  engaged  in  making  boxes  of  various  kinds.  Bailey 
&  Goodman  are  engaged  in  quarrying  granite. 


HISTORY   OF   HAMPSHIRE   COUNTY. 


563 


THE   MILITARY   RECORD 

of  Prescott,  as  a  distinct  town,  comprehends  but  few  of  tlie 
early  wars.  Of  those  who  went  to  the  Revolutionary  war  may 
be  mentioned  Alexander  Conkey,  Capt.  Isaac  Gray,  Joel  Gray, 
David  Peirce,  John  Atchinson,  Stephen  Powers,  and  Jesse 
Aldi'ich  (who  served  at  Ticonderoga). 

With  the  Shaj-s  rebellion  the  people  of  the  town  are  said  to 
have  been  in  sympathj',  and  many  of  them  participated  in  the 
insurrection.  Jacob  Sampson  was  one  of  the  principal  of 
these.  At  the  time  of  the  uprising  Daniel  Shaj'S,  the  recog- 
nized leader  of  the  movement,  lived  within  the  present  limits 
of  the  town,  occupying  the  house  where  Ansel  Johnson  now 
lives.  Here  the  first  councils  were  held,  and  the  first  troops 
were  mustered  at  the  inn  of  William  Conkey,  near  "  Bobbin- 
ville,"  now  best  known  as  the  "  Milo  Abbott  house." 

To  the  war  of  1812  there  went  from  the  present  territory  of 
Prescott,  Jno.  T.  Conkey,  Samuel  Sampson,  Caleb  Peirce, 
Isaac  Upton,  Andrew  Newhall,  Chester  Gregg,  Levi  Davis  ; 


and  Samuel  and  Luther  Hunt  from  New  Salem,  near  the 
Prescott  line. 

In  the  late  Rebellion  the  town  made  a  distinct  and  credita- 
ble record,  promptly  furnishing  men  and  means.  The  follow- 
ing persons  served  in  the  army  : 

Lucian  M.  Titus,  Dextor  M.  VaHglmn,  Daniel  Lombani,  John  AbUjtt,  F.  Williarii 
Fawci;tt,  Henry  S.  Upton,  John  W.  llpttm,  William  A.  St<.ckwell,  Collis 
W.  Vanglmn,  Farnuni  Liiidsey,  James  1*.  Little,  William  K.  Caswell,  lioxter 
Oaks,  Isaac  Powers,  William  H.t>aks,  Alphonso  Oaks,  W'hitnuin  A.  .Vlilrich, 
Horace  Lindsey,  Henry  A.  Peirce,  Simon  M.  Stockwell,  Davifl  J.  Oaks, 
Marcus  E.  Vauglian,  Jason  B.  Cowan,  James  J.  Woodard,  William  Akors, 
Henry  O.  Oaks,  Martin  S.  Vauglian,  Lyman  Gibbs,  Augustus  Upton,  Levi 
G.  Osborn,  Darbey  Fakey,  Lawrence  McCartliy,  Frederick  Clapp,  diaries 
Saunz,  Merrick  C.  Bliss,  Simon  Gilbert,  Orin  S.  Oaks,  William  T.  Upton, 
J.  E.  Smitherly,  Charles  F.  Warner,  William  SI.  Tourtelott,  Georgia  H.  ITp- 
ton,  Almon  A.  Powers,  Forest  E.  Hanson,  Oscar  A.  Titus,  James  P.  Little. 

For  assistance  rendered,  the  writer  desires  to  return  thanks 
to  Appleton  Pierce,  first  and  second,  B.  Whitman  Aldrich, 
Horace  Hunt,  John  Berry,  D.  G.  Blackmer,  F.  N.  Peirce, 
Liberty  Crossett,  John  W.  Vaughan,  and  other  citizens. 


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